What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Now I've done it. On Monday evening as I was preparing to take food out to the table for our guests, I saw this 120 foot long, 30 feet tall-above-the-water-line yacht on approach to our marina, which we're only two houses away from the entrance of. It very recently moved into the neighborhood where the average large boat is 28 feet. It belongs to a chocolate magnate from Vancouver, and I've only ever seen it coming in like that once before. I wanted a picture, and I rushed for my cell phone but tripped, landing my face into the thick square tubular frame of a Barcelona chair and ripping the hell out of my upper lip and left cheek.

I had big plans to gather the groceries to try Karen's Ottolenghi recipe last night, but I spent the day at the hospital instead. I'm now full of sutures, and there are many lacerations inside my mouth as well. All drinks have to be delivered via a straw and I cannot tolerate salt or acidity. Even water stings.

SHIT SHIT SHIT.

Not sure how I'm going to get through this. In normal times, not that my life is normal anymore, I struggle to find the balance of low calorie for me and high calorie for Bob. It just got a whole lot harder.

Ouch. Sounds painful (and possibly scarring). Ensure for you! (...if it's too soon to be flippant, I'm sorry...)

I know your pain Jenise, so I want to share something with you. A few years ago, it was Christmas season and I was loading up our RV with family gifts for a trip to Sacramento. I was in a hurry, loading from the steps of the RV, and shoving the packages inside to put away later. My last gift was large and I moved up a step to put it inside. Forgetting that I had moved up, I stepped back to the driveway and fell into the air. I landed on my tailbone and wrists. I heard a loud crack...I had broken my wrist and injured my tailbone. I spent the afternoon at the doctor's office and going to x-ray. My doctor told me to stay home and rest as my tailbone was badly bruised and the orthopedic docs have closed their office for a week. I learned that it is not wise to rush especially as we get older, I hated being down, and unable to care totally for myself. Yes, I have followed my advice, even when an emergency happens, I take a breath and slow down. We are not as young as we used to be. I wish you a speedy recovery and don't hesitate to call in a home helper if you need one.

[Jenise]

Ouch. Sounds painful (and possibly scarring). Ensure for you! (...if it's too soon to be flippant, I'm sorry...)

Flippant's good. I'm the first one to make a joke out of these things.

[Jenise]

Karen, your injuries were worse than mine. I'm mostly temporarily inconvenienced and while it's not fun having a face full of sutures thank the heavens, nothing broke. I am ridiculously lucky to have missed my teeth and nose. Speaking of rushing for things, an orthopedic surgeon I spoke to yesterday said I wouldn't believe how often 'rushing to find the cell phone' is the cause of injury.


So we actually went out to lunch after my appointment and I kind of ate sushi. I had to use a fork and cut them in small pieces in order to deliver the food past my lips and lacerated gums, but it worked.

So I'm actually going to make dinner tonight: risi bisi. That's what Hungarian friends of ours called rice cooked with peas. I'm going to do both with ground pork in the mixture--as long as I can eat with a spoon, I'm golden.

You are a tough cookie Jenise, nice to hear you are dealing with it and moving forward. I think mouth injuries heal quickly, so if that is true, you should be getting better each day. Those cell phones are the cause of many types of injuries. Mine stays in my purse, or on the charger, and during the rest of the day, it sits on a table. It is not an after-market body part for me like it is for so many who carry them on their person 24/7.

[Jenise]

Karen, most of the time my cell phone is either in my purse or on a corner of the kitchen counter. I still have a land line for most everything and neither children nor grandchildren so I'm not expecting calls on my phone. It rarely rings and I go days without using it except to make sure I have it in my car when I leave the house. What I do is take pictures of wine and food, and on Monday I put it on the kitchen counter for that purpose. While Margot and I were outside initially apparently a window cleaner I texted earlier phoned me back, and our guest Dave was inside, heard my phone ring and offered to bring it out to me, which I declined. Either he or Bob then moved it to the coffee table in the den nearest the screen door exit. I wouldn't have put it there in a million years. And that's why when I wanted to take a pic of the yacht I couldn't find it, called it from the house phone and then rushed to get to it before I missed the shot. Sigh.

Get well soon, Jenise.

It's heirloom tomato season at our local high-end farm stand (Lull Farm, Hollis NH). They have about 30 different varieties. On Tuesday I made a bacon, lettuce, and Brandywine sandwich. Yum!

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

It's heirloom tomato season at our local high-end farm stand (Lull Farm, Hollis NH). They have about 30 different varieties. On Tuesday I made a bacon, lettuce, and Brandywine sandwich. Yum!
-Paul W.

DROOL. Let me tell you, it's the worst kind of misery for a tomatoholic like me to have a mouth full of lacerations during the peak of tomato season.

It's heirloom tomato season at our local high-end farm stand (Lull Farm, Hollis NH). They have about 30 different varieties. On Tuesday I made a bacon, lettuce, and Brandywine sandwich. Yum!
-Paul W.

DROOL. Let me tell you, it's the worst kind of misery for a tomatoholic like me to have a mouth full of lacerations during the peak of tomato season.

Yeah, really.

Brings back a memory: I was six and just had my tonsils removed (using ether, btw). I was lying and drooling on a cot below a crank telephone on the wall and just outside the kitchen where everyone was enjoying spaghetti and tomato sauce. My uncle kept saying in a loud voice so I could hear, "Boy! Sure is good!"

I had my tonsils removed in a hospital. I have no idea what the anesthesia was but I do remember that they brought me ice cream when I woke up.

I had my tonsils removed in a hospital. I have no idea what the anesthesia was but I do remember that they brought me ice cream when I woke up.

I could have written this! I think tonsillectomies are less common these days than the 60s.

It was definitely ether. I had to count backwards from 100. Every time I've used carburetor starter, I'm reminded of my tonsils.

I had my tonsils removed in a hospital. I have no idea what the anesthesia was but I do remember that they brought me ice cream when I woke up.

I could have written this! I think tonsillectomies are less common these days than the 60s.

And, on this topic: A few months ago I had cause to chat with an anesthesiologist, an older man, who said that he remembered those kind of days, too, but nowadays they don't do that anymore -- too many issues with gluten or dairy or whatever.

I understand, but that's sad, anyway.

[Jenise]

I could have written this! I think tonsillectomies are less common these days than the 60s.

They are. My dear mom was something of a crusader on this, having been the victim of a botched procedure herself wherein a doctor attempted removing hers in his office and she nearly bled to death. So while every other kid in the neighborhood got their tonsils pulled prophylactically at a certain age, we didn't. Mom insisted that tonsillitis was a minor inconvenience we'd grow out of and tonsillectomies just a cash cow procedure for doctors and hospitals. I believe history has proved her right.

[Jenise]

But hey, I made real food for dinner last night. Blackened scallops served over a spicy green chile-cilantro rice with undressed (salt and vinegar are problems right now) sliced lemon cucumbers for a side.

My housekeeper and her husband raise pigs and cattle. I give her all my kitchen scraps for the piggies. She recently gifted me a beautiful pork shoulder. It is bathing in the slow cooker now with Cuban-style Mojo sauce. It is made with fresh orange juice, lime juice, garlic cloves, dried oregano, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper. I threw in red onion. A sheet pan, with Yukon Gold potatoes, large green onions, colorful bell peppers, garlic, Japanese eggplant, and many varieties of baby summer squash dressed with chili garlic oil, Spicy Chili Crisp, Calabrian chili, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper will be roasted later. Fresh asparagus cooked on a grill pan, brushed with a little garlic oil, then seared at room temperature with Feta cheese and fresh lemon juice will round out the meal.

[Jenise]

Karen, that sounds great. But I'm surprised to see both Chili Crisp and Calabrian Chiles in your ingredient list. Don't they kind of cancel each other out vs. highlight each other's strengths?

No plans yet for dinner. I made Bob a glorious 4-egg omelette for breakfast, possibly the best I've ever tasted. I seasoned it with black truffle salt, stuffed it with provolone, cooked it in the solidified fat skimmed off the terrine I made last weekend and threw in a handful of the leftover rice from last night's dinner. Flavors were bomb, and the texture added by the rice--I've not done this before and didn't know what to expect--was incredible! The omelette was lighter and fluffier and the crumbly texture added by the rice had a great mouthfeel. For getting protein AND calories into Bob, an A++.

I went back to Lull Farm yesterday and brought back four kinds of heirloom tomatoes. OMG are they good! So much lovely aroma and flavor. It'll be very sad when fresh tomato season is over and I have to go back to supermarket golf balls.

Tonight I'll be making chicken and tasso jambalaya. Tomorrow I'll be cooking up some ratatouille.

-Paul W.

"Karen, that sounds great. But I'm surprised to see both Chili Crisp and Calabrian Chiles in your ingredient list. Don't they kind of cancel each other out vs. highlight each other's strengths?"

I knew a comment would be made about that! When I realized I only had about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the Chili Crisp, I pulled out the Calabrian Chili. It was a match made in heaven and the veggies turned out excellent, nicely browned, and full of flavors. In fact, I had to cover and put away the sheet pan before it was completely cooled. I could have eaten the whole thing.

Spending the day in the kitchen, no matter what I might actually wish to do.

Sunday gravy. Macerated cherries. Mint chocolate chip ice cream cake.

[Jenise]

It was a match made in heaven and the veggies turned out excellent, nicely browned, and full of flavors. In fact, I had to cover and put away the sheet pan before it was completely cooled. I could have eaten the whole thing.

Well that's cool, then!

I got all my stitches taken out yesterday which means I can eat and drink normally again and tomorrow Bob surrenders his dentures for repair, so today's meals are going to be a last hurrah of sorts because for the next two weeks we, or at least he, will have to survive on pureed food. The Vitamix is going to get a workout!

So I invited friends for dinner. I promised a "standard meal of meat, potatoes, veggie and salad" and that's what I'll deliver, but not in the order they expect. We'll start with the veggies: asparagus lightly blanched and coated with lemon juice, olive oil and grated parmesan. Followed by the potatoes which I'm calling Vindaloo Vichysoisse. Something I made up in my head and then executed yesterday in a test batch, it's the classic leek and potato mixture made lighter by using only one large potato supplemented by one zucchini, and using half the usual amount of cream and making up the difference with raw cashews which cook with the other ingredients and add an ethereal quality to the creaminess, and made spicy with the seasonings for yes, an Indian Vindaloo. I was planning that as a cold soup on a hot day, but the way things are looking, it's going to be a hot soup on a cold day. The Vindaloo will be a perfect segue into the main course: two 24-hour curry-cured 2" thick ribeyes sliced and served over a bed of arugula. Steak Florentine, you might call it, Bombay style.

My guests love Indian food so this will be right up their alley. And I'll have a lot of fun--haven't had much fun in the kitchen lately, so this feels like my old self.

Very creative Jenise, and will be delicious, I'm sure. It's nice to hear you are on the mend. Does Bob like Ensure? Gene loved the vanilla and Strawberry and I kept a supply in the fridge. He used them sometimes instead of lunch and always as an afternoon snack. We went through cases of that stuff and it did help him to maintain his weight. I also used them as a base to make smoothies and added fresh strawberries, peaches, other berries, or whatever was in season. I have a small blender and it was perfect for doctoring up the Ensure when he wanted a little more.

[Jenise]

Bob hasn't tried Ensure yet but it's on my shopping list. I've been mixing an excellent protein powder with oat milk and a little scoop of espresso ice cream to create an equivalent, and he loves that but Ensure would be something he could serve himself. And we're at the point where he needs to if I'm busy.