What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Tonight: meat loaf! A 50/50 blend of ground turkey and ground beef mixed into a panade of oats, fresh bread crumbs, lots of pecorino cheese, worcestershire sauce, shallots, white pepper, black pepper, cream and dry white vermouth. Roasted in an open loaf surrounded by carrots and celery.

Tonight's supper came out of a butter chicken recipe that's somewhat famous among Instant Pot fans. It was developed by a woman named Urvashi Pitre. She's been written up in the New Yorker for it and it appears that she was able to parlay this into a cookbook deal. It's a very easy and fast prep, with the only garlic, ginger, and cilantro requiring any cutting up. You pretty much just throw everything (a can of tomatoes, spices, ginger, garlic, and chicken) into the Pot, pressure cook it for a while, pull the chicken out, blend the sauce, add butter, cream, and the cilantro, and then put the cut up chicken back in. The whole process is maybe an hour total from walking in the door with the groceries to eating. I'm not a butter chicken expert, having only had it a few times at Indian buffets, so I have no idea how this would compare to a good example. It was very tasty, with extremely tender chicken and a spicy, rich gravy. What it lacked was the complexity of many Indian dishes. I have read that the original butter chicken involved a long marinade in yoghurt and spices, which would certainly add a lot.

As an aside, I had always thought that butter chicken was something that someone in an Indian restaurant had come up with to serve to Americans. The typically mild spicing and the richness of the butter and cream are tailor-made for the American palate. Turns out that it was developed in Delhi in the '50's and was famous in India before it made it over here. Live and learn.

[Jenise]

Mike, I had presumed the same thing about Butter Chicken. In fact, I thought maybe it was Canadian more than American--I honestly had not encountered it (at least by that name) until moving up here. And up here, it's EVERYWHERE.

Last night we had a bottle of Tavel that Bob was dying to have, and I'd thawed out scallops with no plan of how to cook them. So thinking through Tavel's herbaceous qualities, and being particularly long pecorino cheese at the moment (I sent Bob to the store with that on his list and he brought home three different versions!) I decided to make a fettucine cacio de pepe with tarragon. The herb match was terrific, and so was the sweetness of the scallops with the fruit in the wine. Could not have been a better match. Our first course was small avocado halves stuffed with shaved fennel and chopped olives in an orange vinaigrette.

I decided to make a fettucine cacio de pepe with tarragon.

I like that.

Our first course was small avocado halves stuffed with shaved fennel and chopped olives in an orange vinaigrette.

I like that, too!

Just enjoying bright colors on my new cutting board.

cutting board sm.jpg

[Jenise]

Lovely! So what are you going to do with the fennel stalks?

Lovely! So what are you going to do with the fennel stalks?

All that you see there was sliced, sauteed with some spinach, seasoned with black pepper, basil, a little (fading) truffle salt, a splash of madeira, a few sun-dried tomatoes (cut into strips) and a couple tablespoons of toasted pine nuts. Served alongside (the ever-popular) pan roasted sesame-crusted wild salmon. Crostini on the table, as well.

[Jenise]

Great combination. The stalks of fennel are quite good but very few people use them. It's nose to tail cooking of the vegetable kind.

Last night I made the Sichuan dish "Ants Climbing a Tree" using Fuschia Dunlop's recipe. Using Pixian doubanjiang (fermented broad bean and chile paste) instead of substitutes makes a big, positive difference.

-Paul W.

We picked up some really pretty rapini at the farmers' market this morning. I ended up preparing it using a recipe I found here. First, you parboil some small boiling potatoes, Those are then peeled and cut into pieces. Then you blanch the rapini in salted water. Get some oil into a pan and add a few whole bruised garlic cloves. Once they're golden, take them out and put the potatoes in. Saute the potatoes until golden and crispy and remove them. Add more oil, put the garlic back in, and then saute the blanched greens. Once they're done, throw the potatoes back in and toss it all together. It didn't work perfectly - I used small red potatoes and should have stuck with the Yukon Golds that were listed in the recipe. The red potatoes never really crisped up, and that was a little disappointing, Still, it was a delicious dish, largely due to the excellent quality of the rapini. (A squeeze of lemon added at the end didn't hurt, either.)

We had the greens and potatoes with roasted chicken, and it made for a very tasty meal.

[Jenise]

Mike, great combo. I love that dish.

Tonight I'm making seared scallops with a coconut-kaffir lime sauce that I'll serve on Ramen pillows. in Hawaii. neener neener.

[Robin Garr]

Tonight I'm making seared scallops with a coconut-kaffir lime sauce that I'll serve on Ramen pillows. in Hawaii. neener neener.

I hope you and Bob are having a blast, Jenise! <envy>

Tonight I'm making seared scallops with a coconut-kaffir lime sauce that I'll serve on Ramen pillows. in Hawaii. neener neener.

Is that a riff on your fave kaffir prep?

Hawai'i... say hi to Honalee for me. I've had "Puff the Magic Dragon" stuck in my head for two days now.

[Jenise]

Hanalei! That's on Kauai, and a slightly different kind of Paradise, though no less lovely.

The dish (I cook every other night) was a fun inspiration. Found these giant scallops (2 per person). Was going to fall back on my fave Marcella Hazan prep then, while standing in the grocery store, kind of slapped myself--Im in Hawaii, cook Hawaiian, dammit! I had just seen fresh kaffir limes and leaves at the Farmers Market outside in the parking lot, so I grabbed a can of coconut milk and, on the fly, three pkgs of Oriental flavor Top Ramen that I hoped I could turn into pan-crisped noodle pillows in lieu of a good fresh noodle. That wouldn't strike anyone else as Hawaiian, but the only time Ive had those in someplace other than a Chinese restaurant was at the home of a Chinese friend's mother in Oahu, so for me that Hawaii connection's indelible.

The Top Ramen worked fabulously. Lightly cooked in boiling water then removed to paper towels to dry while I had my evening Mai Tai I (unrinsed, so they'd be klingier and hold together in little patty shapes), then crisped up at service an hour later. I even used one of the seasoning packets as the salt component in my sauce.

The sauce was a full can of the cheapest cocnut milk in the store thinned with some chicken broth from a can for body, the aforesaid packet, and a couple kaffir lime leaves, all reduced by half. After removing from the heat, i grated in the peel from two whole kaffir limes.

I topped each serving with thin rings of marinated cocktail peppers and the caviar from finger limes. My word, are those special little things. If I could find them routinely, my kitchen would never be without 'em.

Served with a NZ sauv blanc.

I have read about finger limes but never had one. They look weirdly wonderful.

How did you crisp the dried-off ramen? Oven or pan? I've tried crisping ramen noodles in a fry pan but they tend to stick and then fall apart.

Hmm... you thinned the coconut milk but then reduced it?

Dinner last night was doro wat.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I have read about finger limes but never had one. They look weirdly wonderful.

How did you crisp the dried-off ramen? Oven or pan? I've tried crisping ramen noodles in a fry pan but they tend to stick and then fall apart.

Hmm... you thinned the coconut milk but then reduced it?

Finger limes are superb. Tiny pearls of sweet lime flavor that burst with a little 'pop' in the mouth.

I pan fried them in a nonstick skillet that was in the condo.

Re the coconut milk, the chicken broth added body and then I took it down to a better texture than the milk had been straight from the can (much thinner than my usual brand).

[Jenise]

Dinner last night was doro wat.

-Paul W.

Sounds great; planning to make some this week.

Dinner last night was doro wat.

-Paul W.

Did you make injera with that, Paul?

[Jenise]

I'm home!

And tonight's the neighborhood wine tasting. I did all the organizing for that before leaving knowing I'd be coming in at midnight the night before, including putting a boneless leg of lamb in a recipe (well, I no longer have the actual recipe, but I remember the ingredients posted here long ago by Bob Hendricks) into a blender mixture of green onions, cilantro, soy sauce and honey that went straight into the freezer, then came out last night to thaw. I'll grill that off later today and fan out thin slices over an orzo and herb salad.

[Jenise]

Having an Open That Bottle Night dinner party this evening. Am serving a more or less Mediterranean meal of:

Artichoke bruschetta
Foie gras on toast with carrot/pear/kumquat jam
Salad course: shaved fennel, romaine chiffonade, watercress, walnuts and purple daikon radish with lime/roasted walnut oil vinaigrette, all topped with a disc of pan-fried, panko-crusted chevre cheese
Main course: a Nicoise version of beef bourgogne with orange peel, nicoise olives, morels and red carrots
Dessert: vanilla ice cream with a pan toffee of shaved almonds and unsweetened coconut

I'm opening a '95 Caymus Special Select--back when Caymus was good--and a 99 Woodward Canyon Dedication Series Cab (one of WA's best, and a GREAT year), and one guest is bringing a '91 Pahlmeyer. Have no idea what else is coming.

We took bruschetta to our second neighborhood pinochle party, which happened yesterday afternoon. For the first version, we used baguette toasts with one thin layer each of nduja (a very spicy, spreadable pork concoction) and quince paste and a topper of a very good local raclette. The other had the toasts covered with a white bean puree. The first one was pretty good although the particular nduja I was able to get (made by Olympic Provisions) didn't have a lot to it other than heat. That was a little disappointing as I've had other versions in which the flavor of the meat was much more prominent. Still, not a bad combo. The white bean puree included fresh dill, mint, and parsley, and it was fine. I was in a rush to finish it though, and should have spent a little more time on it. I took the leftovers today and added more dill as well as some gochujang, and that really took it to another level.

Overall, good contributions to a very fun afternoon.

[Jenise]

Made a fennel/artichoke/orange pizza last night to take to our Bellingham wine tasting group. Of the seven regulars, one's vegan and another vegetarian, and those who are neither aren't die-hard carnivores, so vegetable-based food is appreciated.

The Top Ramen worked fabulously. Lightly cooked in boiling water then removed to paper towels to dry while I had my evening Mai Tai I (unrinsed, so they'd be klingier and hold together in little patty shapes), then crisped up at service an hour later.

How did you crisp the dried-off ramen? Oven or pan? I've tried crisping ramen noodles in a fry pan but they tend to stick and then fall apart.

I pan fried them in a nonstick skillet that was in the condo.

Tried this tonight and it worked well. Good texture and roastiness. I used dried basil, salt, and basil oil to flavor the noodles partway through the cooking, but I need to amp-up the flavor for next time.