What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

There were four. A plain Jamesons, a 10 yr single malt Bushmills, a Sextant (my contribution), and a Bushmills Black label. The Sextant was immediately the most appealing, the darkest and spiciest and most different and the 10 yr the least giving. But after sipping over and hour or so, and testing with and without food, the refined subtleties of the 10 yr single malt, which was also the closest to a Scotch single malt, became the most appealing. The other five present pretty much agreed.

[Jenise]

Last night I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner except that I really really really craved carbs. So I decided a sensible dinner would be rice bowls--brussels sprouts on chicken-flavored Rice-a-Roni followed by a shared bowl of strawberries. Yes, I love Rice-a-Roni. It's all about that fake chicken flavor a la Liptons Soup that I loved as a child and have never stopped loving, though I only recently rediscovered it. Unfortunately, the extra lovely brussels sprouts--small and dark colored, looking VERY fresh and lovely--turned out to be flavorless. I ate more of mine just for the health/fiber aspect, but it was work and Bob only ate two or three. Bummer.

And then I'm going to make angel food cake. I've got 10 egg whites waitin' for me....

And it's good. I made a loaf and a dozen cupcakes. I have plenty of liqueurs and sweet syrups to drizzle over them.

Angel food is not bad but it's not going into any kind of regular rotation.

[Jenise]

Jeff, my lack of sweet tooth leads to a preference for dry, plain sweets so angel food cake is a favorite. No syrups required!

Last night I made pasta marinara.

Tonight, it is Rose Harissa, lemon chicken, it has been sitting in that delicious bath since yesterday morning on a bed of sweet onions and surrounded by yellow, orange, and red bell pepper chunks. All to be roasted this evening. Also, a potato salad with purple, yellow, and red potatoes, green onions from the Farmer's Market, dried oregano and dressed with horseradish, lemon, olive oil, and a little apple cider vinegar. A young cucumber, radish salad on the side.

Jeff, my lack of sweet tooth leads to a preference for dry, plain sweets so angel food cake is a favorite. No syrups required!

Last night I made pasta marinara.

Jenise, my husband loved angel food cake as well, never wanted anything else for his birthday. I served it with fresh strawberries and whip cream on the side. I love it because it is so light and not overly sweet.
The pasta marinara is also a favorite of mine. Have not had any carbs lately either. My last was a Greek Salad with fresh tomatoes, olives and more. Sure was good!

Sichuan dry-fried beef tonight.

-Paul W.

I never knew that Angel Food had such a devoted following!

I have skinned some Georgia peaches, I will toast a few almond slivers, and I'll bring out my candied kumquat syrup ...and Cointreau... to decorate the actual dessert plate.

Meanwhile, we're making a pot of mashed potatoes, sauteeing broccoli rabe with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, and the main will be roasted poussin with a pan sauce that I will bulk-out with chanterelles.

[Jenise]

Jeff, as kids, angel food was one of the few cakes our mom made (but from a mix). Usually served like Karen describes during strawberry season. I love it to this day.

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm making chicken fried steak Saudi style. Background: in 1979-1980 I lived in a small construction camp two hours north of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. Groceries were available at a vegetable souk and two small Arab stores about five miles away in Rahima (the only town), for beef, chicken, and dry good staples like rice and dried milk we had a camp commissary. The beef was from Australia and strange-tasting to our American palates, but someone there figured out that if one sliced the tenderloin thinly and soaked it in wine with garlic for a week then flour-dredged and fried it, it was quite delicious. We called it Chicken Fried Steak.

I've had some pounded chuck steak soaking in grenache with garlic and bay leaves for a week now in an attempt to recreate that Saudi specialty. I'll let y'all know tomorrow how that turns out.

Jeff, as kids, angel food was one of the few cakes our mom made (but from a mix). Usually served like Karen describes during strawberry season. I love it to this day.

Y'know, it's growing on me. It's light and just a little sweet. The liqueur was too strong for it (maybe need a mister?) but the fruit and almond slivers were excellent accompaniments.

[Jenise]

I'm working down the freezer again. This is an admirable effort, if mildly unhealthy since it seems that most of what I've stockpiled tends to be beef. Today I selected a mildly freezer burned flank steak to trim and braise.

When I was growing up in Wethersfield, CT, the town had a Strawberry Festival each spring when the locally-grown strawberries were in peak season. The canonical way to enjoy strawberries in New England is with shortcake (a close relative of the scone), not with angel food cake.

-Paul W.

Each year, near the end of May, a sweet foothill community called Happy Valley has a strawberry festival. Everyone gets a huge strawberry shortcake. The have all sorts of things to do for the kids, sack races, pony riding, face painting, lots of booths, food, and strawberries galore. It is a full day of fun and the community loves it. I never buy the strawberries unless I know they are red all the way through. I check around until I find the perfect ones. Usually pick them up at Farmer's Market. However, there are a lot of street corner venders who come here from "who knows where". I never buy from them because they want you to buy a flat, and I do not need a flat, they argue with you but will eventually break on up. I have no time for that.

In NYC, the only topic of conversation worth having about strawberries is the future of the Tri Star. This is a hybrid plant, fussy to grow, hard to pick, produces only small fruits, and... they are perfect. Michelin star chefs fight over them when they come to market in the fall.

I have had them occasionally and they are really good. I never buy the ridiculously huge, dry, sandy-texture berries sold in all the supermarkets.

The latest excitement about Tri Stars is, however, bad: the main nursery that provides the plants was bought-up by a big cooperative who discontinued them, for fiscal reasons. Another has stepped up but supply is shaky yet: https://www.grubstreet.com/2019/08/the-plight-of-the-tristar-strawberry.html

The half of the flank steak that didn't become Sichuan dry-fried beef tonight will become either Cantonese stir-fried beef with green peppers or Thai Crying Tiger Beef. Haven't decided which yet.

-Paul W.

Tonight I'm making chicken fried steak Saudi style. Background: in 1979-1980 I lived in a small construction camp two hours north of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. Groceries were available at a vegetable souk and two small Arab stores about five miles away in Rahima (the only town), for beef, chicken, and dry good staples like rice and dried milk we had a camp commissary. The beef was from Australia and strange-tasting to our American palates, but someone there figured out that if one sliced the tenderloin thinly and soaked it in wine with garlic for a week then flour-dredged and fried it, it was quite delicious. We called it Chicken Fried Steak.

I've had some pounded chuck steak soaking in grenache with garlic and bay leaves for a week now in an attempt to recreate that Saudi specialty. I'll let y'all know tomorrow how that turns out.

Where did you get the wine in Saudi??

I have been sticking to a Mediterranean way of eating and am loving it. Usually have salads for lunch and this one is a little different.
The avocado salad consists of ripe avocado, lemon juice, hard boiled eggs, greek yogurt, celery stalk, shallot, chopped parsley, chopped dill, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes or Aleppo pepper flakes, evoo. Lightly mash avocado and add the rest of he ingredients. Serve on bread or lettuce wrap, ciabatta rolls or a romaine lettuce leaf. I am serviing it on a large slice of a Cherokee Heirloom tomato, sprinkled with Trader Joe's granulated black garlic.

[Jenise]

Where did you get the wine in Saudi??

We made it. Seriously. We'd go to a Saudi market that had red (a very light red, but still) and white grape juice in those kind of bottles with the permanent closure like Grolsch beer. Fill up a red 5 gallon jerry can, add brewers yeast, wait a month, and BOOM, you had wine. We got inventive, adding banana peels for tannins and maybe a few strawberries to make a pale rose. It was dreck but strangely, what some people made was better than what others made even with the same base ingredients so there was some kind of luck/art to it. Of course, only making five gallons at a time, it was hard to get started. And you never really got ahead--living in a one bedroom 'house' you didn't have room for production, you were just making a month worth at a time. But let me assure you, if you went to someone's house in October and they served you vintage April? You KNEW you were special.

[Jenise]

After the luxurious meal at Canlis on Wednesday and heavy dim sum brunch the next day, all I wanted for dinner last night was guilt-free produce. We had a green salad with crushed garbanzo dressing and a big bowl of first-of-the-season cherries.

Jenise, the Rainer cherries are out now, love those too! Just picked up a small bag of them...$7.

Yesterday, I bathed a very meaty baby back pork rib rack in a little vinegar from a jar of marinated asparagus and garlic, coated the rack with onion, garlic powder, a little salt and mignonette pepper. Then added soy sauce, and brown sugar on both sides. It will be cooked for 2 hours at 350, then uncover for 30 minutes. This recipe is about 70 years old. My mom used spareribs. Also making a cabbage salad given to me by an investigator at our police dept. when I did a cookbook as a fund raiser. Salad consists of cabbage, Top Ramen Chicken noodles, sesame seeds, sliced almonds, and green onions. Noodles are broken and toasted along with almonds and sesame. Add shredded cabbage. The dressing consists of a bit of sugar, light oil, white vinegar, salt, and pepper mixed with the chicken seasoning from top Ramen. It is surprisingly delicious. I had a califlower head that needed using up, so I steamed the florets and put them into the food processor with butter, dried thyme, and a little non-fat sour cream. Delicious mashed cauliflower in place of spuds.

Did you know that vinegar is great with fruit? Breakfast this morning was, strawberries (red all the way through) mango, huge blackberries, and peach slices. Sprinkled with Sparrow Lane D'anjou Pear vinegar. They have the most amazing vinegars, been using them for years, mostly on fruit, but great in salad dressings and marinades. I buy their Champagne vinegar by the gallon. Pair it with Stonehouse Extra Virgin Lisbon Lemon oil. If you have not tried this oil, do so...fabulous stuff!

[Jenise]

Karen, versions of that salad run rampant in my neighborhood. Agreed, the inclusion of the ramen noodles is fantastic.

Friday night I made grilled chicken legs that had been marinating all day and served them on canned hominy (don't laugh, I love it) lightly crisped with a small knob of butter, black garlic sprinkles, and powdered ancho chile. At service, I threw a handful of chopped fresh dill, parsley and sage from the garden over each plate. Great flavors.

And last night we went all French bistro with black truffle and fresh sage omelettes with green salad and toast.

[Jenise]

Didn't cook on Sunday, and last night I made a meatless Chinese stir fry of snow peas, water chestnuts and shitake mushrooms in a garlic/black bean sauce.