What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

That Thai-marinated duck sounds wonderful. What's in your Thai marinade?

-Paul W.

Finally read the ingredients on the label. You'll laugh, first item: Sriracha.

They were tasty, but didn't have any flavor I'd readily identify as Thai. Good, just a little sour, and def not worth paying for someone else to do it for you.

Finally read the ingredients on the label. You'll laugh, first item: Sriracha.

And probably that awful Huy Fong Rooster brand, too.

Tonight I'm taking a suggestion from another thread and having dinner-sized BLTs.

-Paul W.

And probably that awful Huy Fong Rooster brand, too.

I wasn't too fond of sriracha until I got a bottle of Lee Kum Kee.

Tonight is going to be some type of kung pao with jasmine rice. Then Edie can also have some fried rice tomorrow.

[Jenise]

Dinner last night was going to be a steak salad--outside on the deck, with an OTT red wine. Probably a Bordeaux.

But on the way home from town late afternoon I stopped at a friend's to pick up some rhubarb she had for me. (Here, for your amusement, is the message Rita left to let me know about it as interpreted by Comcast's voicemail recorder: "Hi Denise this is Anita. I went over to the store and I harvested-randy-bard-so-let's-just-either(?) give me a call or drop by nothing nothing.") They said hey let's share a bottle of wine on the deck, out came the cheese and tortilla chips, and there went the next two hours and my steak plans.

I had to go ahead and cook them, so lunch today will be cold steak with tomato salad. Dinner, either tequila shrimp tacos or scallops with a carrot-kaffir lime puree.

Dinner tonight was chicken breast pounded thin, seasoned, sauteed, with a mole sauce sauce poured over. Wonderful! This a wonderfully simple and quick dish, great for unexpected guests or if you don't feel like cooking something really involved. I used a jarred mole and thin it with some chicken broth (you can also use water).

I also cooked a couple of ears of white corn, using a technique that my receptionist convinced me to try last year: simply place the unhusked corn in a microwave for three minutes (I put two in and zap for 6:30 min). The husk peels off easily and the silk just falls away.

Yes, I know there are other methods, such as boiling, grilling, and even using a pressure cooker. And I really like grilled corn, but there's no way I'm going to fire up a grill and go through all the rigmarole for only two ears. FWIW, I like butter, salt, and cayenne on my corn.

FWIW, I like butter, salt, and cayenne on my corn.

But if you put those on first, they all come off when you peel the husk.

Definitely apply after cooking.

No wonder I had to keep using more and more cayenne to taste anything.

for something completely different, Betsy made "Indian nachos" last night
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0JTMZt4 ... -bQYvpfFgA

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... rch&rank=1

Today's my birthday and I'm going to have coq au vin, a grand cru Burgundy, and a 1955 (birth-year) vintage Port to celebrate.

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

Happy birthday, Paul!

Happy BD, youngster!

Happy BD Paul, Eager to hear about the Burg( and the Coq au vin)

Happy Birthday, Paul!

[Jenise]

for something completely different, Betsy made "Indian nachos" last night
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0JTMZt4 ... -bQYvpfFgA

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... rch&rank=1

Looks and sounds quite delicious.

[Jenise]

Happy birthday, Paul!

Last night was crab cakes over slices of fried "mush". Lots of sizzling pans!

Pork chop for dinner, with a Korean BBQ sauce. Nice bite.

I scored some el cheapo tomatoes today at 25 cents/lb. Of course, they were tasteless, but I bought 40 cents worth. No wonder some people don't like tomatoes; they've never tasted a real one. I've also known people who don't like asparagus. Invariably it's been the canned-type green mush. Once they taste the real thing a turns on.

I started playing the piano again last night at a French restaurant (I've played there since 2005). Owner said she would comp Edie and me a meal next Friday. The cook says he'll pick out a great steak for me. I almost always get the filet with brandy peppercorn sauce. Yum.

I don't know about you, but we're experiencing restaurants around here forever are closing their doors d/t the covid-19. And our two dollar theaters (theatres to you Brits) have closed forever, also.

The weatherman says we have 5% humidity (it's a dry heat) today. We've had haze from Arizona wildfires (global warming is a "hoax," you know) around for the last week, but the temperatures haven't been too bad.

We've also had people drinking hand sanitizer, and at least one has gone permanently blind from ingesting methanol. Should've used Clorox.

Last night I made grilled jerk chicken.

-Paul W.

The last of my wagyu bavette last night.

NYC is just entering Phase 2 so we'll see soon who does or doesn't reopen.
= The eager-beavers are easy to spot: the City is allowing restaurants to expand onto sidewalks and the parking lane (no blocking crosswalks or bus stops) so little enclosures are popping up in front of the go-getters.
= A few places still have plywood up on the windows in case the BLM riots reach them; hasn't happened yet so it looks like an unnecessary precaution.
= Some of the sidewalk-pickup-only places are letting people enter, some are not.

This morning: eggs Benedict.

Tonight, Edie had fried in olive oil/butter polenta topped with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and garnished with Parmesan shavings. I had a bison ribeye.

[Jenise]

Last night I made grilled jerk chicken.

-Paul W.

I've only made that once in my life; really should try again! There's just so much to do!

Yesterday I planned scallops for dinner. Got out of bed thinking they'd be in this super silky carrot and kaffir lime sauce I made earlier this week--the flavors got into my head and I had to experiment. Had no goal beyond that. Result was heavenly but it would only work with seafood, an idea I shelved till the weekend. Then Friday I made a vinegarry hoisin-ginger sauce for another purpose, so what about adding that. And during the day yesterday I talked with a friend who was making a pesto sauce, and I've got some of that lying around, too.

Oh, and I had cold leftover swordfish and felt some concern about some fresh shitakes I bought last week. So with all those inputs over the course of a day, dinner was kind of like an episode of Chopped:

1st course: swordfish stuffed shitake mushrooms with Chinese chile paste and mac nuts
2nd course: Rare Wine Co. pasta with three scallops, three sauces, and a ESJ Bone Jolly Rose

The combo of that serious rose with that pasta dish was one of the highlights of my recent cooking and wine-pairing life.

It all sounds yummy, Jenise. In that carrot and kaffir lime sauce, do you use leaves or the lime zest?

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, I used the leaves. Sweated a bit of onion in OO, added the carrot and life leaf and a bit of water. Cooked until carrots were tender and cooking water had reduced a bit, then pureed in the Vitamix, adding back water to get the right texture and adding a bit of seasoning. The Kaffir flavor was very evident.

[Jenise]

Tonight: tea smoked duck.