What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Sounds great, Barb.

I did have to look up Bush Dust: "Bush Dust is a mixture of Tasmanian Native Pepper, Macadamia nuts, Bush tomatoes, herbs and spices. Originally designed to have on crusty bread with olive oil, but you can use it however one desires." So, kinda like focaccia topping?

Jeff, I guess that would work fine. I hadn't had any in the cupboard for years, ie since last time i came across it in Tasmania. I use it on grilled meats and..... can't remember but I think it found its way into lots of things. Good research! I'm a sucker for local products that dare to be themselves.

[Jenise]

Barb, I'd have been all over that, too. 'Dust' sounds dry but the ingredients sound wet. Which is it?

Dinner tonight: our first steak on the Kamado and coal-baked potatoes.

It's a dry powder with a little bit of kick and a nice bit of tang as well, hint of sweetness, lovely paprika colour to it. I find it a nicely balanced taste, which is why I think I have used it in all sorts of things in the past.


Tonight it's bangers and mash. With King Edward spuds from Tassie, add horseradish and lots of butter.

[Jenise]

It's a dry powder with a little bit of kick and a nice bit of tang as well, hint of sweetness, lovely paprika colour to it. I find it a nicely balanced taste, which is why I think I have used it in all sorts of things in the past.

Tonight it's bangers and mash. With King Edward spuds from Tassie, add horseradish and lots of butter.

I used to buy King Edwards all the time when I lived in England. So much more fun, btw, to buy potatoes by name vs, as it works over here: yellow, red or baking.

[Jenise]

Dinner tonight: Pasta marinara with fried Italian Sausage patties.

Dinner last night, on the cutting board:

2017-10-13 21.15.57.jpg

Clockwise from lower left: Stilton, Brebirousse Argental, mustard-coated fried lotus root, mortadella, turkey breast, rabbit and pork cheek pate, crostini, seedless red grapes, Damson paste, and the last little slices of two Olympia Provisions sausages I bought in July (Alsacien, Loukaniko).

Not shown: dijon mustard, a glass of Beaujolais and a glass of abbey beer. (The beer was the better match.)

[Jenise]

Jeff, that's beautiful. Tell me about the mustard coated lotus chips--I understand what the lotus/loofah is, but I've never seen them prepared that way.

[Jenise]

Casual French bistro dinner of crepes and salad tonight, with fillings of chicken and vegetable stew or ratatouille with a garlicky side salad--for 26. It's the dinner meeting for planning the upcoming Xmas dinner.

Jeff, that's beautiful. Tell me about the mustard coated lotus chips--I understand what the lotus/loofah is, but I've never seen them prepared that way.

They are a snack that I bought at a shop in Japan so I can't tell you much. They were fried completely crisp, like a potato chip, and coated with a mustardy dressing that clung and dried to the chip. Not a dusting, like a bbq chip, but a coating.

Great beer food.

And that must've been one hot fryer because lotus root is pretty crunchy but it's also pretty much water.

[Jenise]

Interesting stuff! I love it pickled, but fried is something new.


Yesterday was Meatless Monday so we had homemade tomato bisque for lunch with a cucumber salad, and dinner was a variation on a puff pastry flatbread in the NYT featuring leeks, mushrooms, fennel and goat cheese. I just happened to have one lump of frozen pizza dough, leeks, chanterelles and goat cheese on hand. Close enough! Also no fennel, but a medium sized yukon gold potato sliced thin on a mandolin worked as a filler. A garlicky green salad finished the plate.

Which we ate while watching Baby Driver, an art-house kind of cops and robbers movie with a bazillion interesting car chases.

[Jenise]

Made cacio di pepe last night. I usually use aged pecorino but this time for a lark I used a young pecorino di tartufo and served it with a 12 year old village Burg. Pretty. Darn. Good.

Made cacio di pepe last night. I usually use aged pecorino but this time for a lark I used a young pecorino di tartufo and served it with a 12 year old village Burg. Pretty. Darn. Good.

Nice. Pretty hard to go wrong with pasta and cheese. And Burgundy is always a treat.

[Jenise]

Isn't it? I sure regret not having invested in more Burgundy when it was more reasonable.

[Jenise]

Pot roast tonight. My body's craving protein.

Isn't it? I sure regret not having invested in more Burgundy when it was more reasonable.

Sure. One can always think that way. Because it is true. But there is still value to be had in Burgundy, as well as future price increases!

[Jenise]

Isn't it? I sure regret not having invested in more Burgundy when it was more reasonable.

Sure. One can always think that way. Because it is true. But there is still value to be had in Burgundy, as well as future price increases!

I find it hard to figure out where those good values are, though. Some of my local friends would like to be Burgundy buyers but can't afford it, and those who can seem more interested in other things. I'm kind of in my own little world when it comes to pinot noir.

I find it hard to figure out where those good values are, though.

Well they are not in Vosne or Chambolle! Which is why I think you are (partially) correct to lament not buying more in previous decades But the crazy price inflation has not really come to most of the Cote de Beaune, or even many good producers in less fashionable parts of the Cote de Nuits. Or frankly even newer less established names in high prestige villages.

One of my personal favorites is Louis Boillot, with good 1ers in Gevrey and Volnay for $50-80. Maybe not bargain basement prices, but for those terroirs it is still good value. And if you go further afield, screaming values like Prudhon St Aubin 1ers for $30s.

But I think the small Burgundy production probably means that the specific value producers vary by local markets. So maybe your local market is not the strongest on value Burgundy? There's always the internet...

[Jenise]

But I think the small Burgundy production probably means that the specific value producers vary by local markets. So maybe your local market is not the strongest on value Burgundy? There's always the internet...

Very true. Our local market isn't strong on anything except big under-$20 WA reds. There's definitely a contingent of us who 'get it' but we're small in number. Ground zero for us is a local deli where the owner, who loves Italy, Rhone and Burgundy above all else, stocks Occhipinti, Pegau, and lots of AFWE stuff. I should hit him up.

Soups!

#1: My wife loves those bagged salad things (blurghhh) and manages to rip through one or two a week. But she went away last week, and when she got home the bag she had in the fridge (unopened) was distinctly unappealing looking. It still smelled good though, so...Cream of Salad-In-A-Bag Soup! Sweated the whole bagful with some butter and a little added onion, reduced some vermouth over it to almost sec, built a roux on it, then added some fresh chicken stock and let it simmer. Then, into the Mighty Mighty 1970's Vitamix for a ride, then through a chinois, and finally a splash of sriracha to finish. It was surprisingly good.

#2: We were cruelly interrupted by a person from Porlock in the middle of Port 'n Pear night earlier this week, and had to therefore put up several sliced pears and a good block of Buttermilk Blue cheese before they could be consumed (we drank the port, though). So I had these now brownish fruit slices that my wife would have none of, but were still good. So: diced up the pear and cooked the cubes in butter til they caramelized a bit, then lit 'em up good with a splash of brandy. Added some onion, then chicken veloute. After simmering, in went the cheese to melt. Hit it with a nob of butter, then the stick blender. Viola! Pear and Blue Cheese Soup.

There was rather more pear soup than I intended, so there's still a fair amount left after gorging on it last night. So I think over the weekend I'll turn some into a loaf of bread, some into cookies, and if there's still some in the pot I'll thin it out and make crepes. Maybe stuff it with...figs? Something. Gotta think about that one, but there's definitely potential there.

Gotta love home cookin'.....

Tom, how creative you are! Sad salad and brown pears transformed, silk purses indeed. Well done you.

Tom, how creative you are! Sad salad and brown pears transformed, silk purses indeed. Well done you.

Thanks, Barb!

[Jenise]

I've had various versions of lettuce soup, and they're surprisingly good. Also, I have a book on the cooking of Southern France written in the early 70's, and lettuce is/was used in surprising ways in a lot of savory dishes there. It's a very interesting book that preserves a sunny cuisine not yet blessed by mass transportation and based only on what was locally growable. So though French techniques are evident the foods include a lot of citrus, a lot of vegetables as they were so easy to grow, a lot of lamb (which the coastal mountains were full of) and not as much beef and dairy.

So going through the freezer came across 2 lobster tails (from Aldi, they are green tails in the shell and pretty good for the money) so found a recipe for lobster stew on the inter web which included other things in the house, asparagus, zucchini, tomato paste, cognac. Sounded good so it’s on the way now, I’ve sautéed onion, the chopped lobster shells, flamed with the cognac added tomato past
Te and that is part way through its reduction and tasting pretty good so I think it os going to work well.