2) That man can live without butter. Or rather, that *I* can live without butter. I never planned to, it's just that the partial cube I had left when this whole thing started got left by mistake on the prep table overnight such that one of the cats drug off like road kill and licked it to smithereens under a dresser. Unable to somehow remember to buy more when at the store, I just used olive oil or nothing in the places that I'd have usually used butter, and we haven't really missed it.
3) That a rice cooker/steamer is an incredible little tool. It not only makes rice and steams a lot of the usual suspects (tamales, for one) but it's the most perfect little chinese dumpling steamer. I pack the little steamer dish with the dumplings, and I mean pack because it's not big and I need to feed two with what I produce, and when they're done I turn them onto a plate where they remain fashionably molded. A drizzle of soy sauce and another of chili oil, plus a sprinkling of fresh chives finishes the dish beautifully for service (six feet away on the bed
). And no the dumplings do not all stick together--they come apart in perfect, separate pieces with just a nudge from a chopstick. 4) Here's another rice cooker/steamer triumph: steamed artichokes! Take a jumbo artichoke, cut off the stem and top 1/2", splay the leaves a little bit, then place it upside down (stem end up) in about two inches of water and a few pinches of salt. Set it to cook, and when it clicks off to the warming setting after about 15 minutes just leave it alone another 15. In just 30 minutes, then, you have a perfectly cooked artichoke. But even better--make a second onem then mix about 2 tblsp of good EVOO and 2 tblsp of vinegar with two cloves of smooshed garlic and a healthy dose of salt and drizzle that over the cooked artichokes in a glass bowl. Cover, set aside, and the next day you have a great lunch for two of perfectly steamed AND marinated artichokes. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the leaked marinade.
5) Tamales are extremely versatile, and Costco sells good frozen tamales. Forget the #3 combo plate presentation, we health it up a bit by serving them atop a room-temperature chopped salad of tomatoes, cilantro, onions and canned black beans.
6) At the risk of sounding like Sandra Lee, the other half of the rotisserie chicken one can't finish braises very nicely with a minimum of extra ingredients in a crock pot, and believe me I have only a minimum of extra ingredients around at the moment with which to season food as I saved out only salt and pepper, no herbs or spices, in kind of a fit of not having to choose among my children--I didn't have room for all of it, so I kept out none of it. But a bit of wine, some fresh garlic, and fresh bay leaves from the garden can do a lot.
7) It's great to have a neighborhood place to go when you don't have anything on hand to eat. Prior to this, I didn't think much of any of the local restaurants and frequented exactly none of the few there are, most of which are oriented toward unadventurous food for tourists, but we've made a bit of a second home out of CJ's Beachhouse because we drag along our own bottle(s) and sit in the bar where Steve the barkeep, who lives in our neighborhood, takes good care of us and never charges us corkage. There are worse places to spend an evening away from home.
Haven't done much other shopping in the frozen food aisle, but say what you will about Martha Stewart, winter cold lasted longer than expected and spring is taking it's own sweet time about coming around (it was only 40F today, with a bitterly cold wind). So all the grilled food we thought we'd live on we're not doing, and one of our salvations has been Martha-brand slab-style chicken pies. Sold at Costco, they have a deliciously crispy crust and a filling of right tasty chicken, vegetables and herbs that's almost disturbingly similar to what I make when I make my own chicken pies from scratch. One pie (there are two per box) feeds two just right--I plate it with a garlicky fresh green salad and pour a little Cotes du Rhone on the side. Laugh all you want but it's saved me from calling Little Caesar's even once.9) Never ever been one to season fish with garlic which I thought brought out a metallic flavor in the fish, but unable to make sauces (and still out of butter) we've discovered that the fresh Alaskan halibut that's suddenly around is quite fabu topped with nothing more than EVOO, smashed garlic, salt and pepper (though a bit of parsley, dill or cilantro is a nice addition). I buy a 1 lb size piece and leave it whole to roast on the barbecue skin side down. In about 30 minutes that gorgeous white flesh is baked through and ready to separate easily from the skin. I've roasted salmon that way, but somehow never thought to treat halibut that way let alone season it with fresh garlic. No problem--it's a permanent addition to our repertoire.
(then again it is one of those smaller microwaveable things - although darn, I need to learn how to make dim sum soon).