What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm going to pan sear a small smoked pork chop and serve it over Taiwanese cauliflower with a mustard pan sauce.

Speaking of Thai soups, my friend just informed me he's getting an all-expenses paid one week visit to Thailand to cover a circuit board manufacturer. Color me jealous.

I told him to bring back a cute girl. He said he'd bring back two.

After a couple of chilly, rainy days, it was sunny today but still pretty chilly. I made Caldo Verde, using Kenji's recipe from Serious Eats. It's a favorite of ours.

Easter dinner will be coq au vin.

-Paul W.

After I made the shrimp with glass noodles this past Monday, my wife developed a hankering for Ants Climb a Tree, so she made that tonight. We had it with roasted asparagus, which was only made because the asparagus has been in the fridge for a while and we needed to get it cooked. A frappato that clocks in at 11.5% abv was a nice accompaniment.

Asparagus and frappato! Can Spring be far behind?

Rio Zappe beans are back in season, and I got my package from Rancho Gordo earlier this week. Yesterday, I made a favorite of Gene's cooking the beans in Chicken broth, with onion, garlic, chipotle powder, smoked Spanish Paprika, Mexican oregano, jalapeno pepper, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, salt, and juice from one lime. This will go with my menu for this week: cross-cut beef shanks in the slow cooker, with salt, pepper, cinnamon, bay leaves, onion, garlic, beef stock, a good cab, a touch of honey, dried Guajillo chile pepper, and one Ancho dried pepper. This is a Portuguese recipe with my tweaks, of course.

I am also going to make a potato and green cabbage casserole. Cabbage will be shredded, topped with salt, pepper, thyme, and green onions, sliced, and potatoes will be Yukon Gold sliced with tarragon, salt, and pepper. I will add a middle layer, a sliced heirloom tomato topped with salt and fresh marjoram from my herb tub, and the casserole will be topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake in the oven until done, and the cheese gets a nice crust.

That sounds like a good casserole! (...yes, yes, I'd have to replace the cabbage with something but the whole idea is good...)

Jenise... Also sounds good, and very French (swap that dill for tarragon and you're in the French countryside for sure). I have a couple little birds in the freezer....

I just took two partridges out of the freezer. Their turn comes sometime this week. Pan sauce of mustard, vermouth, and peppercorns you say?

That sounds like a good casserole! (...yes, yes, I'd have to replace the cabbage with something but the whole idea is good...)

Jeff, you do not like cabbage?

[Jenise]

Jenise... Also sounds good, and very French (swap that dill for tarragon and you're in the French countryside for sure). I have a couple little birds in the freezer....

I just took two partridges out of the freezer. Their turn comes sometime this week. Pan sauce of mustard, vermouth, and peppercorns you say?

And a dollop of cream.

That sounds like a good casserole! (...yes, yes, I'd have to replace the cabbage with something but the whole idea is good...)

Jeff, you do not like cabbage?

Alas, cooking cabbage (or any of the cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi)) tends to bring out a sulfur-y smell that I just can't abide. If the vegetable is raw (e.g., cole slaw) or fermented without heat (e.g., kimchi), then it's fine with me!

I can sometimes eat steamed broccoli, and even less occasionally, seared fresh (not frozen) brussels sprouts.

But it remains my one intrusive eating quirk.

We're having some friends over for supper tonight, and I'll be making pork loin braised in milk, risotto with asparagus and peas, and a beet-Asian pear-feta salad.

[Jenise]

Yesterday it warmed up here 20 degrees. Suddenly it was 70F, and time to uncover and set up the patio furniture. My brother and his partner came over to help, so I quickly cooked a bundle of asparagus and a bag of shrimp to set out with a bottle of white Bordeaux when we were done. That was dinner.

Tonight I'm going to make myself a steak. I've been craving beef. Don't know what I'll serve it with, but I'll be happy!

Alas, cooking cabbage (or any of the cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi)) tends to bring out a sulfur-y smell that I just can't abide. If the vegetable is raw (e.g., cole slaw) or fermented without heat (e.g., kimchi), then it's fine with me!

Agreed about the stinky nature of overcooked crucifers. Alas, my mother was a US old-school cook when it came to vegetables--cook the living daylight out of them. As a kid I mentally classified the crucifers as the "stinky vegetables". By far the worst of all was Brussels sprouts. My take on them was that they took all the obnoxious character of a whole head of cabbage and concentrated it into something that you had to bite into at least once before you could swallow it. I had no problem with raw veggies or with sauerkraut.

I've since come to like most crucifers as long as they're not overcooked. I'm fond of stir-fried baby bok choy and I routinely make Thai curries containing broccoli and cauliflower. I still avoid Brussels sprouts, though.

-Paul W.