What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Ah, that one. How were the stuffed peppers? I like your idea of using cauliflower as a carb alternative.

[Jenise]

Last night, caught unawares at dinner time as I am most nights because it's so boring to plan food for myself, I took a pkg of chicken thighs that I'd had other plans for, browned them lightly then added water, onion, two arbol chiles, and a bay leaf to make a classic chicken soup. Lazy, but still one of my favorite foods on earth. Feeling uninventive, however, I ate two of the thighs and stored the rest overnight. This morning I put it back on the stove with a big wedge of cabbage, and then promptly got distracted. By the time I got back, the cabbage was almost liquid. So now what? I had a rutabega given me by a friend who's leaving town for a month, and a container of Campari tomatoes that were shrivelling. Diced those up, added a teaspoon of paprika because it would add color and a teaspoon of dried dill weed because I almost never use it so this would be different, added Quebec seasoning for a more complex version of salt and a handful of ziti to bulk it out. The result was one of the most delicious soups I've had in a long time. The whole thing was just one haphazard move after another but the result is something deliciously special.

I think a lot of classic dishes got invented by accident or mistake. Consider Chinese pot sticker dumplings. I have no doubt that this dish came about because someone forgot about a pot of boiling gyozu dumplings until after all the water had boiled away and the dumplings were brown on the bottom.

-Paul W.

I'm on my own for the next week and a half or so, and the leftovers finally got to the point that they need to be thrown out. While at the grocery store looking for other stuff, I came across bundles of broccoli rabe that were on sale. For supper, I ended up blanching that rabe and then sauteeing it with some anchovy paste, lemon zest and juice, and chicken thighs that I had roasted yesterday. Spices included red pepper flakes and urfa biber, which is something I came across in the spice cabinet. Don't know when we bought it, so maybe it's something my wife picked up. It's a Turkish pepper that's crushed and left a bit wet (with a little oil added, according to the label). It's not terribly hot but has a nice smoky flavor. (And yeah, I forgot the alliums. So sue me. ) That all got tossed with cavatappi and leftover roasted pine nuts. It came out nicely, and since I made way too much, I'll be eating leftovers for some time to come.

Today on my menu is thin spaghetti with shrimp, scallops, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, parsley, clam juice, Lisbon lemon juice and zest, and wine. My salad will be a long-time favorite: red and yellow heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, garlic-flavored homemade croutons from sourdough bread, marjoram, thyme, and a red wine vinaigrette. I will be doing something with fresh green beans...thinking shallots, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, zest, and chicken stock.

How are the heirloom tomatoes up there, Karen? I see them around here - I guess they're from Mexico - but haven't tried them.

They are tasty in a salad, and very pretty, Mike, not as great as the local ones in summer, but certainly not bad for this time of year. I am using sweet basil and marjoram, sea salt, and white pepper. I also use a tasty red wine vinegar in the vinaigrette with fresh garlic. My DIL loves the fresh marjoram and says it makes the salad.

[Jenise]

Fresh marjoram IS delish, Karen, isn't it? I sometimes throw in on a plain cheese pizza about five minutes before I pull it from the oven. I have it in my herb garden. What little is left is about to croak (we're getting frost, and it's only 39 in full sun today), but it should come back great in spring.

Not cooking today, as I'm going to dinner and a show. If there are any NPR fans here, I'll be seeing Ira Glass.

I'll have to give those tomatoes a try, Karen.

Lunch today (and for the past several days) has been a slab of homemade ciabatta, sliced and drizzled with EVOO and then toasted for a bit. After that, I put a couple of thin slices of mortadella on one of the bread pieces and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes., Then some sauteed shishitos and then some mild provolone go on top and it gets put back under the broiler to melt the cheese. The other piece of ciabatta goes on top of that. It's a very tasty sandwich.

The sammie sounds just great! I love those flavors.

Fresh marjoram IS delish, Karen, isn't it? I sometimes throw in on a plain cheese pizza about five minutes before I pull it from the oven. I have it in my herb garden. What little is left is about to croak (we're getting frost, and it's only 39 in full sun today), but it should come back great in spring.

Not cooking today, as I'm going to dinner and a show. If there are any NPR fans here, I'll be seeing Ira Glass.

Jenise, my marjoram stays all winter. A few years ago, I bought a free-standing, waist-high planter box from Lowe's that holds thyme, marjoram, parsley, and chives. It is a few steps away from the kitchen and under the house's eaves. Thyme survives all winter, as well. I plant chives and parsley every spring, although there is a small plant of parsley coming up in the Thyme. The rosemary, tarragon, and sage are out in back of the house in raised planters, which I never use anymore for tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, zucchini, etc I used to plant each year. We have many Farmer's Markets around here, plus I have a neighbor who still has a large garden, and since Gene passed away and I quit doing the huge garden, he keeps me stocked with tomatoes. cukes, and some zucchini.

Imam bayaldi, broadly put, is a chunky style of ratatouille... similar ingredient list but the eggplants are only halved.

Fainting imams are us:

bayaldi0.jpg

bayaldi1.jpg

How is that?

I will open it tomorrow. Should be served room temp or slightly warm.

It has been in the low 30's here, and I wanted something hot for lunch. Not wanting to defrost a tub of one of the many soups I keep in the freezer during winter, I took a small amount of raw cauliflower florets I had left over, plus Brussels Sprouts. I cut everything into the same size pieces and put them into a gratin dish that I had added a bit of avocado oil to the bottom of the dish. Season with garlic salt, then put spoonfuls of Cream of Chicken soup with herbs over the top. I took it straight from the can, no water added. I had a bag of those lovely mini peppers and put three on top, a red, a yellow in the center, and another red. A little more soup over the top
and drizzled a little red wine vinegar over all, and finished with Parmesan Reggiano. Into the oven at 375° for an hour. OMG, this was awesome. I will finish it off today.

[Jenise]

Karen, your gratin sounds delish. I don't use many 'cheats', but that chicken with herbs soup is one of the few. That plus a dollop of sour cream makes the best creamed spinach!

Yesterday I made a cabbage slaw with chopped hazelnuts, a mac salad with a dressing of ground marinated artichoke hearts, and a rack of ribs with a truffled barbecue sauce to take to my brothers for watching yesterday's games.

Today I'll make roasted garlic mushrooms that I'll stuff with goat cheese and green onions when they cool down--going to a wine gathering at 2:00 and these will make a nice between-meals edible.

While it snowed I made two oeufs en cocotte for lunch and a big pot of "hamburger soup" to have during the week. (I'll try to be more ambitious next week but Life is very busy at the moment.)

I will open it tomorrow. Should be served room temp or slightly warm.

I served it slightly warm. Three things jump out: the majority flavor is cooked tomato (think: thick and dark like a compote), the minority flavor is eggplant (there are chunks in the sauce, there is a hint of its bitterness), and the texture is very rich and smooth (it is from a family of Turkish foods based on olive oil; Italian caponata is similarly velvety). There is very little seasoning; I wonder if there are accompaniments that are expected to be on the table.

I liked it. That jar is probably four appy portions.

I found a bunch of recipes for making imam bayildi from scratch. This one, for example. They all involve splitting a small eggplant/aubergine in half lengthwise, making a slit down the middle and flattening the eggplant, and filling it with the stuffing, which is mainly tomato-based but does have hot pepper flakes in it. I'm definitely going to have to try this one.

The name means "the imam fainted". The colorful tale is that an imam (Ottoman official) married the daughter of an olive oil merchant and received twelve large bottles of the best olive oil as part of the dowry. On the first night the imam asked his wife to make something delicious using some of the olive oil from the dowry. She made a delicious dish of aubergines stuffed with onions and tomato. It was so delicious that the imam demanded it be part of dinner every day. But on the thirteenth day, no aubergines at dinner. When the imam asked where were the aubergines, his wife replied that she couldn't make the dish because all of the olive oil was used up. On hearing that the imam fainted.

The dish does call for frying the aubergines in a good bit of olive oil.

-Paul W.

The posting about eggplants reminds me that I have not had eggplant in a long time, as I no longer grow them. I always liked the longer, slender ones the best and made my version of eggplant Parmesan. It has fewer calories than the original recipes, and I love it. I also like it in a good Ratatouille.

[Jenise]

It's a Turkish pepper that's crushed and left a bit wet (with a little oil added, according to the label). It's not terribly hot but has a nice smoky flavor.

Sounds a lot like Aleppo Pepper.

I found a bunch of recipes for making imam bayildi from scratch. This one, for example. They all involve splitting a small eggplant/aubergine in half lengthwise, making a slit down the middle and flattening the eggplant, and filling it with the stuffing, which is mainly tomato-based but does have hot pepper flakes in it. I'm definitely going to have to try this one.

I like the look of that recipe; I'm going to snag a copy.
I'm surprised the jarred one doesn't have more onions (they're cheap and plentiful so why stint?).
And, for Jenise, the recipe directly calls for Aleppo pepper (which I think of as slightly sour, moreso than smoky).

ETA: So, that's what I did: I sliced a shallot, simmered it in butter, and added it to the jar along with a goodly shake of Aleppo pepper. Improved. The imam fainted faster.

It's a Turkish pepper that's crushed and left a bit wet (with a little oil added, according to the label). It's not terribly hot but has a nice smoky flavor.

Sounds a lot like Aleppo Pepper.

Fairly similar. The heat has a similar character, coming on late. It's a bit hotter, though, and quite a bit more smoky. It's black, so it may actually be ground smoked peppers.

[Jenise]

Thanks for the explanation, Mike, not something I've seen or tasted.