What's Cooking (Take Four)

In all seriousness, that sounds identical to the recipe for "yummy balls" that my wife's family makes. I love them. Though we often double the sauce ingredients because otherwise there's too little. A classic!
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Wow - I would have never guessed that these would be popular, although they really are good. I had a leftover one for breakfast this morning warmed up on some leftover egg noodles. It was delicious. Next time, though, I think I'll spice them up a little with some garlic and maybe some thyme or oregano.

[Jenise]

My mystery beef turned out to be a thick prime filet mignon. It was wrapped in just Stretch Tite, and it was large, so I'm sure the thinking would have been: "there were three in the pkg so I'll serve the smaller ones and save this large one, which we'll share, probably next week so I don't need to go full Ziploc."

Well, next week never came. At this point probably not good enough for a steak course so it's good that I planned to braise it, and braising away it is right now with onions, chopped fresh tomatoes, chicken broth, a big splash of Noilly Prat white, pepper, a bay leaf, two garlic cloves and a chile de arbol. This is the first meal I've truly looked forward to in a while. Last night dinner was just strips of bell peppers.

Sounds like perfect way to use imperfectly stored beef!

Betsy made onion smashburgers last night with jalapeno, really tasty. Recipe called for mayo on rolls, I was hesitant but it worked. Helped that for the first time in NY I found Duke's in the supermarket.

I picked up a whole, organic chicken at the store this week. Yesterday, I seasoned it inside and out, then made a marinade of olive oil, butter, and juice from Bruno's Peppers. I've given the bird several swipes with the marinade, then placed it on a bed of sweet onion, whole garlic cloves, carrots, and leeks. This morning, I stuffed it with lemon wedges, cut up a few red potatoes, dressed them with EVOO, Black Truffle oil, celery salt, and white pepper. I tossed the potatoes over the veggies surrounding the chicken. This will be roasted later this afternoon. I am also sauteeing Swiss Chard with fresh garlic, and will drizzle a good red wine vinegar over it at serving.

[Jenise]

Sounds like perfect way to use imperfectly stored beef!

Betsy made onion smashburgers last night with jalapeno, really tasty. Recipe called for mayo on rolls, I was hesitant but it worked. Helped that for the first time in NY I found Duke's in the supermarket.

It was. That kind of steak, wrapped like that, would have been purchased at Costco (where you buy a tray of four) and pre-dates Bob's decline, before he lost the ability to handle a knife and fork, so probably 10-12 months old. And while some would say that braising is a waste of prime filet, I have to say that the velveteen texture of this cut (which is what I don't like about it as steak meat) made one of the best pieces of braised beef I've ever had the pleasure of eating. I seriously wouldn't have predicted it.

Love onion smashburgers! Would have loved the addition of jalapenos too. Fresh?

Yes, not generally a fan of filet as steak, but that sounds delicious as a braised dish.

Yes, fresh jalapenos, enough heat to make interesting without overwhelming (Betsy makes me taste every jalapeno before using)
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... eseburgers
followed pretty closely except for aged cheddar for the cheese

I'm going to make Sichuan stir-fried ground pork with minced hot chiles. Among the hot chile selection at Lull Farm were attractive red chiles called lantern chiles. Never had them before so I decided to try them. It turns out that they are close cousins of the habanero and scotch bonnet. I will be using only a few of them along with long hot green chiles. Should make a nice color contrast. And won't be fatal.

-Paul W.

Tomorrow's plan is a classic: whole roast chicken with butter, tarragon, and cognac. On the side will be a pan of Robin's fennel gratin and a couple simple baked potatoes. Somewhere on one of those roasting pans I'm going to find room for a couple maitake mushrooms.

Today was the biennial harvest of the apple tree in the front yard. So I now have about 100 apples in my fridge. (I gave away an equal number to my upstairs neighbor, my neighbor across the street, and any passing child (or grown-up) that expressed interest.)

Therefore, also on the charts for tomorrow: Apple Tart. (To be followed soon by French Apple Cake, American Apple Pie, another tart -- I've got two pieces of short pastry -- and then, finally, applesauce.)

Try a Russian Sharlotka for yucks.

[Jenise]

I love French apple cake! Leave the icing off my piece, please.

I just made a spicy raw tuna and bamboo tartare to take to a dinner party tonight, as well as crackers from won ton skins to go with it. The hostess is serving cioppino, and it was my intention to lighten her burden by supplying an appie. I have many times learned at the last minute of a guest's similar intention and gratefully dropped plans to make something I'd just about run out of time to do. I hoped it would be the same for her. We'll see when I get there but her response was that she's making stuffed dates. Not exactly an intuitive lead-in (and it's horrible for wines) but oh well!

Try a Russian Sharlotka for yucks.

On my list, too! I have noted your posts on it.

Jenise, I rarely drink wine anymore, but I cook with it all the time. I also recall when we owned Liquor Barn, our store manager gave me information on pairing wine with figs. I also found this info, which I found interesting.
https://www.wineenthusiast.com/basics/h ... T60GOLRYnV