What's Cooking (Take Four)

Does anyone have any good recipes for dog or cat? Asking for a friend.

[Jenise]

LOL! I'm still laughing at that. So is my cat.

Today we woke up to what is definitely, inarguably, the end of summer. Lunch was broccoli, kale and cheddar soup with a cucumber, tomato and arugula side salad. Dinner's going to be a small pot roast.

I have a friend with a Korean mother-in-law. Whenever the family dog misbehaved, she used to recite in Korean her recipe for dog.

-Paul W.

I have recently read that even Koreans have basically stopped eating dog. Traditional maybe but they have caught the American fever for pets.

I am appalled that anyone would eat a dog or a cat. I have a wonderful son, the kindest person, who does amazing things for his family and I recently learned that he shoots doves and eats them...I have two dove couples in my yard, they are such elegant birds, their behavior towards each other is loving, and I don't understand how anyone could shoot them. I saw a homeless guy abusing his dog a couple of years ago. I stopped my car and gave him a good talk, threatening to take the dog home. The poor animal was taking the abuse from him and did not so much bare his teeth. Ugh! I don't care how hungry someone is, there is always something one can eat from outside in the environment. Even roots of many plants, leaves, bugs, and much more.

Does anyone have any good recipes for dog or cat? Asking for a friend.

A Haitian undocumented immigrant, one presumes.

I read recently about a scandal when some European country (Germany, IIRC) found horse meat in IKEA's Swedish meatballs. It turns out that, as in France, horse meat is eaten in Sweden.

-Paul W.

And in Germany, and in Japan.

[Jenise]

I spent the day working on house projects, 'guy' stuff my husband used to do but can no longer. I don't know what I'm doing in this department but I even went out and bought a caulking gun for gosh sakes. It was an unexpectedly sunny day, about 70F, and nice enough to sit outside with a glass of wine which I ended up doing to congratulate myself. And that took all the starch out of me. The dinner I planned was out the window and instead I mixed rice, tomatoes, calabrian chiles, thyme, chicken broth and chopped raw chicken breast together for a fast and delicious arroz con pollo to pair with a crispy green salad.

Tonight we're going to a themeless wine tasting, the neighborhood thing for about 50 people. I'm going to take pepperoni bread. This is not something in my wheelhouse, but something I recently caught a video of when looking up 'pepperoni bread' after reading a reference to it somewhere. For a how-to video the version I watched was pretty amateurish (her small diameter pepperoni dried out and cupped on a hot day and refused to be rolled up effectively), but I got the gist of it and liked the idea. Essentially, pepperoni and cheese are rolled up inside a square of pizza dough into a torpedo/baguette shape and baked. I'll embellish, as I am wont to do. I'll bake them in the Clubhouse ovens and serve hot.

On the menu today is Portuguese Braised Beef Shanks...browned on both sides, coarse sea salt, and multi-colored ground pepper, cooked in beef stock, red wine, dark molasses, onions, garlic, Guajillo chile pepper, and an Arbol Chili pepper. (my addition). The seasoning bag contains bay leaves, multi-colored peppercorns, whole allspice, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. These are cross-cut and about 1 inch thick.
Laura Calders Pommes De Terre a la Boulangere...a simple recipe using butter, olive oil, sliced onions, salt, pepper, sliced potatoes, fresh thyme, and beef stock. Veggies are layered along with the seasonings and cooked for 2 to three hours.
I have a bunch of summer veggies. I am thinking of doing another simple dish by slicing them and cooking them in a golden tomato sauce, Riesling, and basil, topped with a little Parmigiano Reggiano. Shanks are in a new slow cooker that does browning, steaming, and slow cooking in the insert. Very cool!

[Jenise]

Karen, your shanks sound mouth-watering good. I've never cooked beef shanks--it's just not a cut I see or notice in my local stores. (I've done veal a number of times, not that it's common around town either.)

I've got concepts of a plan for a steak I bought from a cattle farm in Arlington yesterday that we picked up on the way to/from Seattle on another mission. May defer to the French style of butter basting with fresh herbs.

Roasted a pork loin: split it in half, fill with sage, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, grated ginger, craisins, s+p, tie back up. At the same time, roasted some potatoes and a couple cut up delicata squash (yay! they're in the market now).

Made a green chile cornbread early today. Used a cast-iron skillet. Nice.

For din-din, made kung pao chicken (using Costco rotisserie chicken for third time).

Ooh, you remind me to say: I used the last breast of last week's roasted chicken to make a variant of kara age: rolled cut-up chunks in s+p+cornstarch and did a shallow fry (maybe 3/4" of oil). Came out really well, never knew I did that so well!

We had our first thunder, lightning, and rain here in the valley. So welcome after the hell summer we had. It is only in the 70s today, so I am taking a container of Italian Veggie Soup from the freezer for a nice warm lunch. The Rustic Bakery came out with a new sourdough flat cracker, Sweet Onion, and Creme Fraiche, I tasted one yesterday...yummy.

[Jenise]

Karen, I'll bet the weather change brought relief to all. I guess fire season isn't entirely overwith down there (but it's cold and wet up here already, so it's obviously on the way).

I just received a shipment of dried porcini mushrooms. Despite my near-fatal allergy, long cooking seems to get rid of the problem though, in typing that, I wonder why I would trust it to be the case. At any rate, tonight I'm planning a long-cooked Tuscan chicken dish where tomatoes and other veggies are added to the pan of just-browned chicken and braised for about two hours. The veggies melt away and the porcini mushrooms are *the* important seasoning element.

Like this?: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=35524

[Jenise]

That's the one! And bless you for looking it up. It's a recipe that looks deceptively simple, but the result is far more complex than you'd guess. I didn't realize I'd posted it here though I remember, now, Paul commenting on having made it. Anyway, I decided to make the dish but can't find the book I know it's in, so I winged it. I was pretty close to right, though I added a few bay leaves.

Chicken porcini sounds like a winner, wish I had seen before Tuscan dinner last week.
Betsy did a great Rick Martinez NYT recipe (I only did the grilling) of chicken in a Tajin/agave/garlic glaze last night, only improvement is I'd actually use food processor for sauce next time, for more consistent brushing.

That's the one! And bless you for looking it up. It's a recipe that looks deceptively simple, but the result is far more complex than you'd guess. I didn't realize I'd posted it here though I remember, now, Paul commenting on having made it. Anyway, I decided to make the dish but can't find the book I know it's in, so I winged it. I was pretty close to right, though I added a few bay leaves.

YW. I think you posted it a second time, too. Anyway, as it has stood the test of time, I suppose I should finally go make it.

Yes, I've seen the very beautiful, sliced/dried porcini. They are, actually, of a very high grade, imported from Italy, and moderately pricey, and they smell good enough in the store, but I have never used them.

Nowdays, the best dried shrooms I can easily get are from Sabarot, a French company. I also buy occasionally from WineForest.com. (But I live in NYC, there should be somebody around here with really tippy-top porcini!)

I have a wonderful son, the kindest person, who does amazing things for his family and I recently learned that he shoots doves and eats them...I have two dove couples in my yard, they are such elegant birds, their behavior towards each other is loving, and I don't understand how anyone could shoot them.

"It's not against any religion
to want to dispose of a pigeon."

Tom Lehrer, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Chicken porcini sounds like a winner, wish I had seen before Tuscan dinner last week.
Betsy did a great Rick Martinez NYT recipe (I only did the grilling) of chicken in a Tajin/agave/garlic glaze last night, only improvement is I'd actually use food processor for sauce next time, for more consistent brushing.

It was very good last night. I probably used more porcini than called for even though the mushrooms I have are VERY strong. Also, I finished each plate with a drizzle of white truffle oil.

It's National Cheeseburger Day today. Lots of el cheapo deals out there.

Pan-sauteed orange roughy in macadamia oil/butter tonight, seasoned with a lemony, thyme spice/herb mixture. Been a long time since I've eaten that fish, but it has been showing up in Albertson's lately. I think it's one of the best-tasting fish. Even Edie ate her entire fillet.

That Tuscan Chicken and Porcini recipe is a real winner. It's amazing that something that simple can be that good!

-Paul W.