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What's Cooking (Take Three!)

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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:37 am

Last night we had grandma food: a simple cucumbers-in-vinegar starter followed by pan seared pork chops slowly baked to perfection post-sear for 20 minutes at 250, which gave me time to make mashed potatoes and a humble milk gravy. I absolutely ADORE this dish.

Speaking of pork, on my list of things to do yesterday was look for a whole pork leg roast of the type that I sometimes see at Easter though offhand I can't say I know anyone who cooks one--they all buy those spiral hams, if they cook for the holiday at all. Well, I found one at my first stop, nicely sized (not too large), skin-on, so the cracklin's gonna be good!!!! Haven't had one of these in 20 years.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jeff Grossman » Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:27 pm

Grandma knew what she was about. I consider it high praise when my cooking is compared to someone's favorite gram.

Re the pork... skin on? I've seen nice recipes to roast a ham but that's already brined and trimmed.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:32 pm

Yes, skin on. The cracklin' (never pronounce the 'g') is a delicacy. Though of course my Grammy made these regularly in my childhood and they always included mashed potatoes, my favorite accompaniament is a more modern leek and mushroom bread pudding.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jeff Grossman » Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:06 pm

Just got back from the store: lots of "picnic shoulders" available at $0.99/lb.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:37 pm

Not surprised. Around here, a shoulder aka Boston Butt is pretty frequently available for $1.99. There were many where I shopped yesterday. But the actual leg/ham, called sirloin when it's removed from the bone and sold in slices, is rare. I paid more, but admit I didn't look. $24-something and it's probably between four and five pounds max in weight.

Really looking forward to it. No plans yet for tonight. I was expecting bad news, but it came and it's good instead, so where I figured I wouldn't be hungry later I'm now in need of celebration plans. Gray ugly day here. Something braised would be delightful.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Peter May » Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:00 am

20210407_roast-cauliflower-300.jpg


Roast Cauliflower steaks with roast okra. Roasted cauliflower has a nutty flavour, okra becomes crisp and crunchy and the tarka dahl acts as a sauce.

The wine was

20210405_Weekday-Wines-wed-250.jpg


2018 Bodega Virgen de la Sierra Calatayud Cruz de Piedra (Spain, Calatayud)
Spanish Garnacha which Jo loved so much she asked me to order more
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:18 am

Pete, that looks great, the combination of the cauliflower and the dahl especially. But why not put the sauce underneath the cauliflower? Those steaks are so pretty, it's a shame not to be able to see it all!

Dinner last night for us was finger food: thick Wasa multi-grain crackers with a soft-rind herb and garlic cheese, then a plate of lightly pickled watermelon radishes and lastly a plate of fried shrimp with a very good Aligote.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Peter May » Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:49 am

Jenise wrote: But why not put the sauce underneath the cauliflower? Those steaks are so pretty, it's a shame not to be able to see it all!


Because I never thought of it :)

Next time!
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Fri Apr 09, 2021 12:05 pm

Tonight I'll grill a flank steak. I'm trying to seriously work down my freezer, and I got wistful for a flavor from childhood wherein chuck blade steaks were marinated in a mustard-garlic-sherry-Worcestershire sauce marinade. I'm going to try those flavors on flank instead. Not sure what else will go with that--probably grilled asparagus (come and get me, Mr. Gout, come and get me!) and something involving potatoes.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Larry Greenly » Fri Apr 09, 2021 12:24 pm

Just for consideration: oven-baked potato wedges. After soaking in water to remove excess starch and dried off, I usually shake them up with a little olive oil, oregano and salt, then bake at 350F on a sheet for about 45 min or until browned and crispy on the outside.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Fri Apr 09, 2021 12:25 pm

I was thinking of something similar, Larry, GMTA. I do the soak too--but boiling water poured over. It softens the perimeter which gets crispier as a result during the bake. Often add garlic as well. Sounds like the perfect thing!
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:17 am

Bought a thick 1 and 2/3 pound slice of fresh ahi yesterday at Costco. Separated the best block to sear coated in seeds for lunch today and turned the rest into poke which I served on sticky rice with a pile of crisp, cold, salted cucumbers. No wine needed. Life is good.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Paul Winalski » Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:11 pm

I got my new shipment of tasso from North Country Smokehouse so I made poorman's jambalaya last night.

-Paul W.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Larry Greenly » Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:52 pm

My scores today: a 750-ml CoorsUSA 60326 porcelain mortar and pestle for $2.99 (way larger and heavier than my other one) and a shrink-wrapped hardcover Oxford Companion to Food for $2.99. :D
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Thu Apr 15, 2021 5:03 am

Your life is so much more interesting than mine, Larry. I just felt happy to get a perfectly sized-for-two piece of Chilean Sea Bass at Costco, land of everything being large enough for six or more.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jeff Grossman » Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:32 am

Jenise wrote:Your life is so much more interesting than mine, Larry. I just felt happy to get a perfectly sized-for-two piece of Chilean Sea Bass at Costco, land of everything being large enough for six or more.

And you're lucky at that: patagonian toothfish average around 20 lbs, which gives you a filet big enough for 15 people! :wink:
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:28 pm

Tonight: lamb shanks with mint and rosemary on potatoes and green chard tossed in a bechamel sauce.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Christina Georgina » Sat Apr 17, 2021 6:41 pm

Fresh ceci beans ! Don't see them often around here except at the Mexican market. Will cook these tonight for sure, to good to pass up. Will braise them in chicken stock with shallot, a bit of rosemary and garlic . Chicken shashlik - thighs marinated with garlic, half hot paprika, cumin grilled and served with pickled white onions that turn pink from the red wine vinegar and pomegranate juice [ would throw in pomegranate seeds if they were still in season ] Always cook with what looks great on the day at the market.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:21 am

Oh that sounds so good, Christina. A recent issue of Chris Kimball's Milk Street was all about pomegranate molasses which I own but almost never cook with. I realize you didn't say 'molasses' but your shashlik is in the realm of recent recipes. They used it in ways I'd have never thought of, like a tomato salad, and all this was based on travels somewhere (Turkey, maybe?) which is the basis, these days, of Kimball's work. He explores, he eats, he reports. BTW I'm quite impressed with what he's doing these days--no wonder he had to get away from that boring Test Kitchen stuff. I'm a subscriber now. Most interesting food site on the web, for me.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Christina Georgina » Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:58 am

Two books with lots of pomegranate molasses ideas are the very old ( 1994 ) Paula Wolfert's Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean and Samarkand Recipes & Stories From Central Asia & the Caucasus (2016). Jenise, I believe you probably have the former and that you would love the later which has wonderful salads, vegetable, rice dishes and kabobs. For grilled meats pom molasses is diluted and used either as a marinade or finishing baste. Wolfert says it has no function as tenderizer. The tamarind, pomegranate glaze for roasted/grilled meats in Rawa Bishara's Levant is another great recipe.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:37 pm

I'll take a look. The bottle I have is at least 10 years old and should be replaced.

Hey, here's something I just stumbled over in a Mark Bittman newsletter. (I am not a member of his site, but I get the occasional email trying to convince me to join.) This Ghana-ese seasoning called Kitchen Pepper was recently featured, and I plan to make some today. For context, I'll include the whole article with a question to all: ever cook with sweet potato leaves????



Kayla Stewart
Apr 15

Ghanian Crab Stew. Photo: Kayla Stewart
Before the pandemic, Michael Twitty found himself visiting Ghanaian chop bars in his travels around Ghana. As he watched people chopping onions and peppers by hand, he reflected on his own grandmother and culinary upbringing. He also saw — nearly everywhere he went — a pot of rice, a dish that’s come to define part of his culinary career.

Twitty’s new book, Rice, links the proliferation of rice across the South to its African origins. Recognizing the ubiquity of rice in Asia, Latin America, and other parts of the world, Twitty doesn’t claim Africans invented rice; instead, he presents a forgotten and often ignored history of African influence in how rice is cultivated, prepared, and served throughout the South and the world.

“It has so often been told, much like barbecue and other areas of our food culture, that we're [Black Americans] tertiary, we're not primary,” said Twitty. “And I think it's still important that people realize that, that's not how this goes — that we're the center of this history.”
Twitty’s Rice is part of a University of North Carolina Press series that recognizes the history and influence of Southern ingredients like pecans, okra, crabs, and oysters. It also reminds readers that rice, as we know it in the South, is inextricably linked to the agricultural and culinary contributions of enslaved Africans.

“The most important thing for me was to show the kinship between two sides of the ocean and the dishes that resulted from the forced migration of Africans, as well as the resistance of those Africans to assimilation — the drive to maintain our culture and our history around food,” says Twitty. He illuminates dishes like red rice, a Southern favorite that can be traced directly to West Africa, and gumbo, introduced here by enslaved Africans.

Recognizing the global uses and production of rice, Twitty describes “the dance” rice takes in dishes around the world: with chicken in perloo, with Vietnamese herbs in cơm tấm, and with beans in Haitian cuisine. “It's Kurdish; it's Cuban; it's Iranian; it's Korean; it's Vietnamese; it’s Sephardic Jewish; it's Italian,” he says. “[Rice] is in so many different forms, but essentially it's this interplay between those global stories, the country cooking that’s shared between different ethnic groups, and the African origins of the dish.”

Through dishes like jollof, coconut rice, and sausage pilau, he also introduces the history of Southern varieties, such as the storied beginnings and legacy of Carolina Gold rice. Yet he points out that rice is still a meal, side, and snack of the present and future, in the South and beyond.

For Twitty, rice is a connective tissue between all cultures, largely crafted by Black and Brown women.
“If the aliens were going to come down and get the most common human being, it wouldn't be somebody on the set of a sitcom in the West — it would be a Black or brown woman cooking a pot of rice.” When he wrote his book, Twitty leaned on support and guidance from friends, family, and colleagues, some of whom offered recipes. He also included recipes from his former blog and from his travels to West Africa. He also recounted his visit to Ghana, a country I traveled to, as well. “I’m feeling this connection and connectivity, but also this diversity,” said Twitty of his time in Ghana. “There are many ways to be Black.”

Having spent time in the Volta Region, I was eager to try Twitty’s Ghanaian Crab Stew, a recipe inspired by his time in the country’s coastal communities. For Twitty and me, it serves as a connection that a nation we both adore. The result is a bright stew that includes crab represents what one might find in a Cape Coast market. This dish is by far one of the simpler stews I’ve prepared, a welcome recipe for weekday dinner. As Twitty points out, amping up hot peppers and doubling the garlic and ginger give this dish more punch. Enjoy this stew with white rice, and be sure to make Twitty’s Kitchen Pepper, an excellent seasoning to have on hand.

Ghanaian Crab Stew
Makes: 4-6 servings
Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
• 1 medium yellow onion or 6 green onions, green and white parts, minced
• 1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 pound cooked blue crab meat
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger or ginger paste
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic or garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Kitchen Pepper (see recipe below)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable, chicken, or beef stock, homemade or store-bought
• Chopped parsley, for garnish
• 4 cups cooked long-grain
• White rice, for serving
Instructions
1. In a medium bowl, mix the onion and habanero. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the onion and peppers, and cook for 5–7 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper to the pan. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes begin to soften and break down, about 10 minutes.
2. Flake the crab meat into the pan and add the ginger, garlic, kitchen pepper, salt, and stock. Stir, turn the heat down to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with rice.
________________________________________
Kitchen Pepper
Makes ½ cup
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground mace
• 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to six months.
________________________________________
Sweet Potato Leaf Stew
Makes: 2-4 servings
Time: 40 minutes
Michael Twitty writes that this is the original greens with rice. “This version is from the Rice Coast of West Africa. The flavor profile of sweet potato leaves is akin to spinach meeting collard greens. If you cannot find sweet potato leaves and don’t grow them yourself, substitute finely shredded collards and spinach mixed together.”
Ingredients
• 2 pounds sweet potato leaves, washed and stemmed
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup peanut or vegetable oil
• 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to tste
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 4 cups cooked long-grain white rice, hot, for serving
Instructions
1. Tear the sweet potato leaves into small pieces or cut them into very thin strips. Fill a small saucepan with water, add the salt, and place the pan over high heat. When the water is boiling, drop in the pieces of sweet potato leaves. Cook quickly, uncovered, until the leaves are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the leaves and puree them briefly in a blender until semismooth. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, for several minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the peanuts (if using) and ground cayenne pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add the sweet potato leaves, stir, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and gently cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by at least half. Serve with hot white rice.
— Recipe from Rice, by Michael W. Twitty. UNC Press
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Christina Georgina » Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:54 am

Very interesting. Didn't know sweet potato vines were edible and have never cooked with them. A little further investigation indicates that the ornamental sweet potato vines can be used provided no herbicides/pesticides. It might be worthwhile to try growing sweet potato for the vine use.
A North African green that I have used for stews is malokhia which is readily available frozen and dried. Takes some extra steps to minimize the thickening effect [ has some of okra's slipperiness ]
Thanks for post.
Mamma Mia !
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Jenise » Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:01 am

The only vine of that type I've had (and loved, btw) is that for chayote squash. 3-4" lengths showed up in some dish at a high-end restaurant and I was so taken with the flavor, emerald color and distinct crunch of them that I asked what they were. On another trip when I had a kitchen, I bought a handful of the young tips--vines plus leaves--at a farmers market and stir fried them with ginger and garlic--major yum. In Hawaii, like everything, it's a year-round crop and any unpicked excess is thrown back in the ground to grow again. Sweet potatoes however, being in the nightshade family, would have concerned me without further investigation.

I'll bet there are a lot of vines/leaves that are not only edible but delicious.
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Re: What's Cooking (Take Three!)

by Paul Winalski » Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:55 am

I'm definitely going to try that Kitchen Pepper recipe. It looks similar to the rub used in Jamacian jerk dishes.

Potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant are all members of the nightshade family. In the case of the potato, the starchy tuber is the only part of the plant safe to eat. Sweet potatoes are members of the morning glory family and their leaves and vines are safe to eat.

-Paul W.
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