What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Grilled Chuck Eye steaks tonight with broccolini and mushroom salad.

Sounds like funny-looking swordfish to me, but what do I know.

Simple stir-fried beef with snow peas for tonight.

-Paul W.

A few days ago, I was browsing David Leite's The New Portuguese table and came across his momma's Braised Beef in Wine and Garlic. Being the tweaker that I am I decided to do it my way, using most of the ingredients except for the Chourico. Instead of a chuck roast, I used what I had in the freezer, a flat cut of sirloin tip which is much leaner and less waste. The meat has been marinating since yesterday morning, in garlic cloves, red wine, tomato paste, a port wine from the Douro region, oregano, bay leaves, sweet and smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, onion, salt and pepper. It is cooking in the slow cooker with onions, beef stock, and a can of stewed, sliced tomatoes. Later I will add baby Yukon Gold potatoes, carrots, celery, celery leaves, and a drizzle of balsamic. I am tossing in a handful of Shishito peppers, just for fun. Toasted Ciabatta bread slices will soak up those lovely juices.
The peppers ended up being delicious and added a pleasing flavor to the dish. The meat came out perfectly moist and done just how I liked it. I tore it apart into chunks and let it soak up the juices.

[Jenise]

Grilled Chuck Eye steaks tonight with broccolini and mushroom salad.

Sounds like funny-looking swordfish to me, but what do I know.

Uh, that was last night, Friday. The swordfish was a Thursday meal and post.

[Jenise]

Karen, that sounds delish and you remind me that I have that book. Bob got it for me for a Xmas present a few years back but I don't remember seeing it since. Must hunt around.

Today's lunch is fig and feta: perfectly ripe figs dressed with nothing more than a scratch of black pepper, and some French feta given a few drops of EVOO and a sprinkle of marjoram.

In the oven: the season's first pot roast.

[Jenise]

What a great lunch, Jeff. Nothing more needed. And--pot roast. Yes, it's time isn't it.

Yesterday we managed to get as far as 2:00 with nothing more than toast for breakfast. Bob makes toast every morning when he makes our coffee, two slices, and cuts them in half. I get one of the halves, and Bob eats the rest. Considering that we'd slept poorly and been up since before 6 a.m., that was a long time to go on just toast. So I made a late lunch/early dinner of tomato paella (I'm absurdly long on tomatoes at the moment.)

My initial foray into tomato paella was a recipe by Mark Bittman published in the NYT. Recently discovered that French/English friends of mine use almost exactly the same recipe but published in the UK by one Elizabeth David. Who borrowed from who, we'll never know. I know Karen makes it as well. Well, yesterday I 'went there' with the approximate proportions but deviated to turn the flavors Mexican with Ancho chile powder not smoked paprika, more onions and garlic, some cooked tomato jam I made, and Mexican oregano. The result with a side green salad was outstanding. A few hours later, we had a few fresh plums.

That sounds delish Jenise, am going to try that. Have not made it yet as I need to cut down on the size of dishes I make now, and that makes a lot. Just saw my recipe yesterday and thought that I needed to reduce it by at least half.

[Jenise]

Karen, I can't recall the ratios called for except that I found the dish a bit wet in the past. This time, just winging it and because I was using a generous amount of tomato jam, I went straight 2:1. That is, 1.5 cups Matiz paella rice (it's low talc, a great product for paella) and 3 cups water. Made about four servings which is perfect. Plenty lunch for two, seconds for Bob, a few sneaked bites out of the fridge for me yesterday and Bob's lunch today. I honestly prefer this tweak to the original recipe.

Last night the other half of the flank steak from which I made stir-fried beef with snow peas became Sichuan dry-fried beef. I took the opportunity to try out the gong jiao (Sichuan Tribute Pepper) that I had bought from the Mala Market. This is grown in the village of Qingxi and was a favorite of the Chinese emperors, who demanded it as tribute. I can see why they liked it so much. It is very aromatic and really provides that "ma" tingle to a dish.

-Paul W.

I've been away from serious cooking recently but came back to Wisconsin to find the best ever crop of apples. Cox's Orange Pippin, Talman Sweet, Stayman Winesap. The Golden Delicious are quite plentiful as well but we have this for pollination purposes and although a good apple they are flabby when eaten in a tasting comparison with the others. The Pippin is exquisite in complex taste on the tart side and crisp texture that holds shape when cooked. David Liebowitz"s Tarte Normande shows this apple off perfectly. https://www.davidlebovitz.com/aux-pomme ... -normande/
I've made the recipe in ramekins without the pate sucree and added an extra egg yolk and almond meal to bulk up the custard. Agree, best warmed a bit and without IC or powdered sugar.
My husband has been giving a lot away. How much applesauce can you freeze? Searching for savory uses for apples.

The Pippin is exquisite in complex taste on the tart side and crisp texture that holds shape when cooked.

Lucky you. I can't get Russets or Pippins here in NYC. (When I had Boston customers, however, I could get them at the greenmarkets there.)

My husband has been giving a lot away. How much applesauce can you freeze? Searching for savory uses for apples.

Yes, we're awash in apples here, too. I think they're Red Delicious so good but not great. We also give them away to children, curious grownups, anybody really.

But I don't have so much that I can't finish them up sweet. Already made one pie, I've teed-up a French apple cake for next, will do some kind of medieval or beggars' tart, the NYTimes had a good betty recipe recently. Fortunately, apples are not perishable!

As for savory apple recipes, I've only ever found a few:
-- Guinea Hen Normande, basically a chicken in a pot with apples, Calvados, and cream
-- Cut matchsticks and add them to cole slaw
-- Mix with butternut squash and proceed with whatever (e.g., savory Fall tart, puree soup)
-- Serve on the side of roasted bratwurst or kielbasa
-- Add to a pickle mix or kimchi
-- Raw with shaved fennel (hold the orange), or the old standby, Waldorf Salad

[Jenise]

I haven't looked into many savory applications for apples. I do love them lightly poached in a cognac gravy over roast pork. And a French friend of mine just made a soup based on apples, celeriac, fennel and cream.

Wish we got orange pippins here. In fact, I'd kill for the green pippins of my childhood. They were my favorite eating apple, though very different from most people's preferences: dense, tart, super crunchy. That's my kind of apple.

I had a plan for dinner last night that changed 100% when I went to the supermarket. I saw ground beef and decided I wanted, no make that badly needed, meat loaf. But I didn't want to make it 100% beef, so I sidled down to the ground turkey and got some of that, on the way passing 1 lb pkgs of Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage.

Do understand that I have no recipe for meat loaf. I just deal with ratios as is true of almost all my cooking: 1 egg per 1 lb of meat, and maybe two handfuls of panko crumbs turned into a paste by just enough cream and wine to get the consistency I want.
Seasonings vary. And I rarely buy things like this. But I was tempted because it's a very fine grind, extruded in little noodle like lines about the thickness of vermicelli. It's chock full of good Italian flavors. Plenty of preservatives too, of course, but when I saw this in the meat case the little went on. I took the sausage, kept the turkey, and put the beef back.

And oh am I glad I did. I did the panko, cream and egg thing as described above with a shot of white vermouth, and simply added a generous amount of Penzeys ground pepper mix (one of my very favorite seasonings these days--in an application like this, coarse ground from my grinder can't hold a candle,) a sauteed onion and one carrot, grated. The result is one of the best meat loafs I've ever made. I skipped a gravy for health reasons and served thick slices on a bed of steamed zucchini. This morning for breakfast, Bob got a pan-fried slice topped with a fried egg and accompanied by a broiled tomato. Tomorrow he'll get a meat loaf sandwich. And there's probably enough for another one on Friday or Saturday--as long as I don't nibble on it, as I am wont to do.

Cox's Orange Pippin, Talman Sweet, Stayman Winesap. The Golden Delicious are quite plentiful as well but we have this for pollination purposes and although a good apple they are flabby when eaten in a tasting comparison with the others. The Pippin is exquisite in complex taste on the tart side and crisp texture that holds shape when cooked.

Cox's Orange Pippin is a super eating apple. As to keeping it's shape when cooked, we call the type of apples that don't cooking apples*. Their flesh collapses into a mush when cooked. In the UK the prime example is Bramley. I got windfalls from our neighbour and just stewed them to make apple sauce for roast pork.

As for Golden Delicious..... From their name I understand they are intended to be eaten when yellow. The French exported them to us when green with the advertising slogan 'le Crunch'. We had a gorgeous assortment of delicious apples here but the supermarket stocked the perfect green Golden Delicious which had only the crunch in its favour - but bland to the n'th degree.

*Unfortunately people now believe a cooking apple is tart and needs sugar, but they're just as sweet as any 'eating' apple and make a lovely apple pie.

Another type of apple is a cider apple; I have never eaten one but I understand they are tart. They're grown to make cider (UK cider is an alcoholic beer like drink, we call non-alcoholic sweet juice from apples apple juice)

On the menu tonight are braised lamb shanks. Two nice shanks cooked in onion garlic, fresh thyme, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, bay leaf, Merlot, pomegranate juice, honey, and chicken stock. Surrounded by fresh whole carrots. Also, a simple rice dish with chicken stock, juice, and zest of lemon, onion, brown mustard seeds, and vermouth. The salad will consist of baby arugula, fresh blueberries, goat cheese, and sweet almonds. I candied the almonds yesterday in honey, butter, olive oil, and salt. Also made the dressing which is lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, honey, olive oil, and black pepper. A very yummy combination of ingredients.
A friend and I are braving the rain and heading to Farmer's Market in a bit, will see what kind of trouble I can get into there with all the fresh fall veggies starting to appear.

[Jenise]

Oh Karen, that sounds SO good. I have a pair of shanks in the freezer and can't wait to braise them; it's a favorite here at Chez J! But I'm having to be super careful these days. For reasons I won't go into here, I elected to go off my gout medication so I have no protection but diet and red meat is one of my biggest enemies. And it's not that I ate so much red meat in the first place. Rather, my body has naturally elevated uric acid--it's a family curse.

Background: went on a rant recently about a friends who I mentioned in another thread. They both of terrible diseases--often deadly--brought on by poor food choices, and they will be on meds for the rest of their lives because of it. It dawned on me while ranting that I might be guilty of that, too, with regard to gout. So now I'm literally putting my money where my mouth is and will get tested soon to find out if I've made enough of a difference.

Hi Jenise, eating issues are the curse. As I have aged, I'm finding that red meat when matched with tomato sauce or canned tomatoes upset the tummy a bit. However, these lamb shanks did not bother me even with the Merlot, pomegranate juice, and various spices. A Tums seems to clear it up because it happens in the middle of the night, so I just pop one of those in my mouth. This is a Williams Sonoma recipe I found years ago and it is usually my go-to recipe for lamb shanks. My favorite Asian grower has fabulous peppers this year, so many sizes and colors, mostly sweet and mild all packed up in a nice bunch for $5. So yesterday I also made a sheet pan of roasted peppers, tomatoes that needed to be used up, red and yellow zucchini, and whole basil leaves thrown in. I used fresh garlic oil, Mexican Oregano, salt, and Mignonette pepper. Love that I can eat them all week either for lunch or dinner. And peppers are a favorite veggie for me and the caloric value is a plus. I love the Fall veggies as well, but hate to see the fabulous tomatoes he grows beginning to decline in how much he is bringing. His cherry tomatoes are addictive and I snack on them all day long especially when I get a chocolate or the dreaded Hawaiian Sweet and Spicy Chips craving. Has kept me on my diet and I am almost there. Switching to the Mediterranean way of eating suits me and I am not craving all the stuff I kept in the house to keep weight on my precious Gene. I
Hoping you receive good results on your testing.

[Jenise]

Karen, you really struck a chord with me about stuff around the house to keep weight on our men. Same here. Right now there are chocolate croissants, peach pie, Oreos, and various savory snacks for him. I don't touch them. Fortunately I don't care for sweets and those items really aren't too much of a temptation, but what I feed him to keep weight up and what I eat trying to lose it are very much at odds.

This weekend I oven-dried about four gallons of tomatoes. However my oven quit--TWICE!--during the 3 hour bake. I'm hoping to roast a half chicken for dinner tonight, but not sure if the oven can finish the job. What a pain.

I picked up a Sugar Dumpling squash which I will halve and stuff with - surprise! - apples (mixed with a little butter, thyme, and cinnamon). That will go in the oven with a sheet-pan of chicken pieces, probably keeping them really simple. (Jim nixed a maple syrup glaze and, anyway, I need some really plain, white food this week. Yes, also making jello and bought some broth. You know.)

I've been away from home for some months, my husband holding down the fort so to speak. He asks for lamb osso bucco today because we have a pack of four 2" slices of lamb shank in the freezer and I can't refuse. I never make it the same way twice and today having about 1/2 c Imperial Stout from Wisconsin Central Water's Brewery decided to have a go at a Stout braised lamb. The Stout is black with a sweet, malty aroma but a molasses bitter edge. Nothing at all like Guiness. Little/no hops flavors. No idea how this is going to turn out never having cooked with stout before but browned shanks, caramelized Vidalia onion, garlic, caramelized tomato paste, a stalk of rosemary, a bit of Worcestershire and enough chicken stock along with the Stout for a long, slow, oven braise. Maybe should have added carrots or other root veg for sweetness but I thought to keep it simple to see how it works then decide how to tweak. Don't think we'll be drinking the other bottles

Let's see... stout, onions, red meat... sounds like carbonnade!

[Jenise]

Sounds wonderful. My oven if possibly out of order; don't know when I'll be doing the lamb shanks I was hoping to get to this week when it started raining again (like today).

[Jenise]

Today I made an absolutely fantastic salad. One big bunch of green kale was torn off the stems and chopped well, then mixed with the juice of 3 lemons, olive oil and salt and allowed to meld overnight. Next day, I added some roasted nut oil (I used peanut but any would do), a tsp of honey, chopped walnuts, and the results of cooking one cup of wild rice in about two cups of water, drained then added to the kale while hot. Incredibly satisfying, incredibly healthy.

Well, that Stout braised lamb was woefully under seasoned. Should've used some anchovy, not just Worchestershire, more rosemary and definitely sweetness from root vegetables. I have a small boned leg roast to work on next.

I live about an hour away from Lake Michigan and an avid fisherman gifted me with fresh salmon roe and smoked salmon. The eggs are in the right state of maturity, perfectly processed and already saw deviled eggs and a breakfast omelet but tonight making a fettuccini sauce with the smoked salmon and garnishing it with the roe. Diced shallot sweated in butter and white vermouth seasoned with white pepper, a bit of nutmeg and Thai basil. Asking advice on using Thai basil in a new thread. Surprised that the flavor pales compared to its aroma.