What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

Now in December the joy of having preserved the summer garden begins. Tonight it will be Italian-American "gravy" (okay, meat sauce) with Dreamcatcher Farm local beef, thawed heirloom tomato sauce, Pecorino Romano and spaghetti.

Fish fillets, served on a bed of savoury rice made by stir frying a selection of veg (whatever happened to be in the fridge - onion, carrot, celery, red capsicum, cauliflower, all chopped into small bits) in sesame oil, adding a tablespoon of red curry paste, and then stirring through some steamed white rice. A change from potatoes/peas/carrots/broccoli, and adds some zing to the plain white fish.

[Robin Garr]

Risotto with robust alla puttanesca flavors: Browned onions and garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and anchovies, olive oil and Pecorino Romano cheese, served with a crisp green salad and Matteo Correggia 2009 Roero Arneis.

Tonight we had soup and omlette. Made cream of watercress and potato soup that was to die for, and enjoyed a cheese omlette made with Casio di Roma.

Rancho Gordo Christmas Lima beans with their reduced liquor and the addition of caramelized onions, garlic, Benton's bacon with a drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of Romano-Pecorino cheese. Paired with a Southern Rhone red......delish.

Drew

[Robin Garr]

Locally produced beef short ribs, braised for hours and served with creamy mashed potatoes.

Last night we had sauteed boneless sirloin rubbed with Morton Rub, mini baguette, and salad with the last of our own cherry tomatoes!

Australian Lamb tips marinated in red wine and pepper and sautéed until medium rare (a wonderful product from Trader Joe's) with butternut squash risotto and marinated tomatoes over arugula. A red wine called Tehama Red from our local Burnsini Vineyards.

Last night's dinner: paltas rellenas. Unfortunately the avocados we had were almost inedible: hard, woody - obviously picked far too green to ripen, in spite of being kept a few days. So much for buying fresh from the producer's roadside stall. (The chicken, sun dried tomato strips, and crusty-toasted cheese were delicious, eaten off the top.)

Flank steak marinated, then, thin short slices stir fried with red and green bell peppers, onion, garlic, fresh tomatoes, with an Asian hoisen/red chile garlic sauce, and served over pan fried Chinese noodles. A simple green salad with red oak leaf lettuce, arugula, tatsoi, and a mix of other greens from the garden.

[Robin Garr]

A very basic chicken curry with rice, and a modest White Burg (Drouhin "Laforet" Bourgogne Chardonnay) alongside.

We had lamb shanks in tomato sauce that had previously been crockpotted all day, with pasta; and salad with store bought tomatoes. Washed down with a very reasonable but delicious Dolcetto d'Asti.

Sambar and rice (I was out of iddli batter).

-Paul W.

Guinea Hen - what chicken aspires to be. Done Tuscan style, i.e. split, rubbed with olive oil plus minced salami, oregano, sage and garlic, then roasted with an occasional basting of wine and pan juices. With mildly cheesy polenta and steamed broccoli dressed in balsamic, olive oil and drained olive juices. Nice with a 2001 Fife Mendocino "Redhead" blend.

Boy does that sound fantastic. You're so right about guinea hen, btw, do you have a regular source down there? I sometimes see them (frozen) at Whole Foods in Seattle, but beyond that they're out of my grasp.

Several butchers and grocery stores have Grimaud Farms (Stockton CA) in stock regularly, fresh and/or frozen. Other sources pop up occasionally.

Last night, one in regular rotation, our Pseudo-Viet salad. Sear ground turkey (not this time, but even better with ground pork) in oil with minced garlic and ginger, remove from pan. Saute' chopped shelled prawns and scallions in the same pan with more garlic and ginger until barely pink. Add back the pork and a generous handful of chopped cilantro. Deglaze the whole thing for about 30 seconds with a plentiful dressing made of rice vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, a few drops of Sriracha hot sauce, grated ginger, then pour the pan contents on top of a big bowl of fresh greens and radishes, and toss. Serve with steamed rice to sop up the excess dressing.

[Jenise]

Christian, that sounds delicious. I should follow your lead and prepare more larb-like meals at home. Love them, but stupidly rarely think of them.

[Robin Garr]

Mary is making broiled Bluefish Dijonnaise. I'll open the wine.

We had semi-homade (ducking!) eggplant pizza tonight. The only reason we do this is because true love has to be cow-free. So we got readymade crust, and eggplant cutlets from the deli. We painted the crust with EVOO, added a cup of our own Italian tomato sauce, sprinkled on some grated Romono, then the eggplant, then shredded Casio de Roma, and finally Penseys' Pasta Sprinkle. Considering the Casio de Roma cost $5 we didn't save anything over take out or delivery. We cooked in on a stone for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Wonderful.

First time I've entered this thread but wanted to share what will soon be this evening's meal.


I have been a devotee of choucroute garni since I first sampled it, not in Alsace but at Paris' Brasserie Lipp. Since that first long ago time, I have sought and gained enormous pleasure from this dish in many restaurants in Alsace, throughout Paris and on occasion in Lyon, Bordeaux, Orleans, Nimes and Aix-en-Provence. Not infrequently when I entertained during my years in Paris and Geneva, I would prepare this dish when hosting dinner parties and, since living in Israel I wait patiently for the onset of winter and then give it my very best here. Even though we are three days from the official onset of winter, the weather has become cool enough that this was my weekend for choucroute!

The sauerkraut was home made (started six days ago), the pork ingredients came in part from Kibbutz Mizra and in part from a butcher shop in Nazereth, the knockwurst from Hess in Jersuaelm, the herbs and the potatoes from the Carmel Shuk in Tel Aviv.

A huge pot is now cooking on the stove. In another hour the dish will be ready. The wine of my choice to accompany the meal will be the 2005 Riesling, Turckheim, Grand Cru of Zind-Humbrecht.



Choucroute Garni a l'Alsacienne

2 onions, chopped
100 grams goose or pork fat (4 oz)
1 kilo bacon, cut in thick slices (2.2 lbs)
2 kilos sauerkraut, soaked in water for 1 hour and
then drained (4.4 lbs)
1 1/2 kilos loin of pork (3 1/2 lbs)
6 pig's feet or pig's knuckles
1 piece of salt pork, about 1/4 kilo (1/2 lb)
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons pepper
2 sprigs of dill, chopped very finely
1 bouquet garni, made by tying together 1 bay leaf, 10 juniper
berries, 4 cloves in a muslin cloth
white wine as required (ideally Riesling)
1 garlic sausage
6 - 8 knockwurst
12 small - medium potatoes, boiled until barely tender
sharp Dijon mustard for serving



In a heavy skillet melt the fat and in this saute the onions
just until they are beginning to brown.

Line a large kettle with the strips of bacon. Place the sauteed
onions in the bottom of the kettle and on this place half of the
sauerkraut. Wipe the loin of pork with a damp cloth and add it to
the kettle. Add the pig's feet, large piece of salt pork, garlic,
pepper and dill and over these distribute the remaining sauerkraut
and the bouquet garni. Pour over just enough of the white wine to
cover the ingredients, cover the kettle and simmer gently for 4
hours. Add the garlic sausage and cook for another 15 minutes.
Add the knockwurst and cook for 20 minutes longer.

To serve, discard the bouquet garni and arrange the sauerkraut
in the center of a large serving platter. Surround it with the
pig's feet, sliced salt pork, sliced loin of pork and sausages.
Serve with the boiled potatoes and with sharp Dijon mustard.

[Jenise]

First time I've entered this thread but wanted to share what will soon be this evening's meal.

I have been a devotee of choucroute garni since I first sampled it, not in Alsace but at Paris' Brasserie Lipp. Since that first long ago time, I have sought and gained enormous pleasure from this dish in many restaurants in Alsace

Bravo, Daniel. That is indeed an amazing dish. So home-y and yet it can be made so elegant at service. I'm impressed with the pork products you have available to you there--somehow, I didn't expect pork to be available in Israel given both Jewish and Arab rejection of it. I make it here at least once each winter and make it similarly, though I include smoked pork hocks which a local ham producer does a masterful job of.

Jenise, Hi.....

Pork in Israel is a somewhat amusing subject.

1. It is legal for Christians to raise hogs. It is illegal for Jews to raise hogs on state-owned land. There are several kibbutzim that do raise hogs so they pave over the area with wood boards.

2. It is illegal to raise hogs on or above state-owned land for the purposes of food. The way around that is to declare each of the hog farmers as part of university associated research stations investigating the habits of various animals.

3. Because all but one of the supermarket chains in Israel are kosher, they cannot sell pork products. About a decade ago, Russian immigrants opened a new supermarket, at first that to cater largely to the large immigration from the former Soviet Union but now, with pork products, shell fish and all of the other "abominations" readily available this chain (Tiv Ta'am) has become one of the best places in the country to shop.

4. From time to time the fanatics do act up and demonstrate against butcher shops that sell pork. Their demonstrations invariably raise business in those shops by 20%. I will say though that a fine way to commit suicide would be to open a pork specialty store in some of Moslem and Jewish quarters. As a thoroughly political observation - while the Palestinean Authority in the West Bank tolerates the sale of pork, Hamas in Sinai will jail (and worse) anyone who tries to sell it.

Among the reasons I sometimes refer to Israel and some of our neighbors as "Disney-Land Middle-East"

Best
Rogov

Seared and roasted rib eye with blue cheese on my part and butter on hers. Also split a mini baguette and some succatash. Simply wonderful with a nice Argentine Cab.

Jenise, Hi.....

Pork in Israel is a somewhat amusing subject.

1. It is legal for Christians to raise hogs. It is illegal for Jews to raise hogs on state-owned land. There are several kibbutzim that do raise hogs so they pave over the area with wood boards.

2. It is illegal to raise hogs on or above state-owned land for the purposes of food. The way around that is to declare each of the hog farmers as part of university associated research stations investigating the habits of various animals.

3. Because all but one of the supermarket chains in Israel are kosher, they cannot sell pork products. About a decade ago, Russian immigrants opened a new supermarket, at first that to cater largely to the large immigration from the former Soviet Union but now, with pork products, shell fish and all of the other "abominations" readily available this chain (Tiv Ta'am) has become one of the best places in the country to shop.

4. From time to time the fanatics do act up and demonstrate against butcher shops that sell pork. Their demonstrations invariably raise business in those shops by 20%. I will say though that a fine way to commit suicide would be to open a pork specialty store in some of Moslem and Jewish quarters. As a thoroughly political observation - while the Palestinean Authority in the West Bank tolerates the sale of pork, Hamas in Sinai will jail (and worse) anyone who tries to sell it.

Among the reasons I sometimes refer to Israel and some of our neighbors as "Disney-Land Middle-East"

Best
Rogov

I find this intriguingly interesting. Perception is a strange beast. I would have never dreamt that Tel Aviv is such a beautiful sea coast city nor have believed that Jews, in that part of the world, eat pork and dine on hamburger at Dixie.....

Drew

Drew, Hi...

Two things to keep in mind:

(a) Tel Aviv is an island within Israel, probably the only city where the most orthodox and the least observant have come to a comfortable modus vivendi. Indeed there remain problems, especially in Jaffa where Jews now reside in homes that were "abandoned" during the war of 1948, one school of historians saying that the Arab population left of its own accord and the other that they were fairly forcibly loaded on to trucks and sent to Jordan.

(b) On a lighter note, non-observant Tel Avivians know that there are only three important questions in the world:

- Is there life after death?
- Is there life after birth?
- Is there life without bacon?

Best
Rogov