What's Cooking (Take Four)

Paul, would be great. You remind me that I have a whole pkg of fresh snowpeas that I should plan on using very soon. The week will get away from me very quickly.

The Cantonese stir-fried beef with green peppers recipe is very versatile. In addition to snow peas it works well with asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower. Since I always have leftovers I don't make it with broccoli or cauliflower. Although they're fine right out of the wok, the brassicas tend to go stinky when reheated.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I combine all sorts of meats and vegetables, Paul. I don't make a specific named dish so much as I make 'wokness' based on mood and what's on hand. But not, like never, broccoli. Much as I like it in other types of foods, somehow broccoli with ginger and soy sauce tastes bitter to me. And god forbid someone (like a restaurant) just throws it in the wok without blanching it first so it's yellow and hard when supposedly 'done'. Don't like that one bit.

It has been my experience that if broccoli is yellow, it is past its prime. I always toss it out. I buy lots of veggies, and sometimes one gets buried in the bins of the fridge, and I forget about it. The other day, I bought a nice head of cabbage because it was small, not like the giant heads that are appearing in the grocery stores now. I came home and was putting everything away, only to find out I had a new head of cabbage already in the fridge. There will be a lot of cabbage dishes in my lunches and dinners for a couple of weeks. I miss cooking for Gene; he was always up for new things to try, and was my taste tester. He did not mind eating leftovers either, something that many folks dislike.

And god forbid someone (like a restaurant) just throws it in the wok without blanching it first so it's yellow and hard when supposedly 'done'. Don't like that one bit.

You'll notice that the beef-with-green-peppers recipe calls for a preliminary stir-fry of just the veggies--about a minute or so, until they just start to change color. Then you remove them from the wok, stir-fry the beef, and then add the veggies back. The preliminary stir-fry of the veggies is to, as the Chinese say, "break the rawness".

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I understand that, Paul, but it doesn't work well with broccoli which both looks and tastes better if blanched (or Chinese steamed in a wok with a little broth which cooks away). Anymore, few restaurants take that important step. They seem to load up on broccoli for both color and as in inexpensive space-taker.

[Jenise]

In answer to the title question: 35lbs of braised flatiron steak, 90 crepes, 8 lbs of mushrooms, 7 lbs of zucchini, 3 lbs of chestnuts....

Yowza! That's a lot of cooking.

I'll be spending this afternoon folding wontons.

-Paul W.

Only 3# of chestnuts? How will anybody find them?

That reminds me, I've only roasted chestnuts twice this season. I should go get another batch. They make some smoke but I really like them.

[Jenise]

They're going to be a garnish. And I cheated, didn't roast them myself. It's a middle eastern product I found at Costco. Six envelopes containing around 20 chestnuts for $7 at Costco. I've tossed them with black truffle salt.

I've had those packaged roasted chestnuts, although I used them to mix in with mashed potatoes. I thought they worked really well, although I've never roasted my own so I have no good comparison.

I scored three gallons of peanut oil today for $30. That should last me a while.

And we got invited for a Xmas buffet at the Sheraton (same place we ate on Thanksgiving). Yay!

I brought 78 (one package of wonton skins' worth) deep-fried pork wontons to the New Hampshire Astronomical Society's annual December pot luck get-together. That used up about 1/2 the filling I'd made from a pound of ground pork. I'll spend Sunday afternoon with another wonton folding session. These will be destined for soup and boiling and so will be the leaf wonton fold as opposed to the flower fold. I'll be dividing them into packages and freezing them. Wontons are great to have around for a quick,convenient soup or meal.

-Paul W.

A very old family recipe, baby back pork ribs drenched in low-sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, mignonette pepper, and Real Salt. baked in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Tomato Paella, made with Bomba Rice, white wine, evoo, onion, garlic, tomato paste, saffron, Spanish pimenton, salt and pepper, topped with one red and one yellow heirloom tomato, sliced into thick slices, sliced parsley and basil for garnish. A salad dressing made from 1 small lemon, diced very fine, fresh lemon juice, honey, garlic, salt, pepper, fresh thyme leaves, and evoo. This will go over coleslaw made with green cabbage and shredded carrots.
The Paella is cooked on the stove, then finished in the oven so the tomatoes can roast and get a slight char.