What's Cooking (Take Four)

Due to circumstance, Saturday is often a fish dinner now. Tonight was a bit of an outlier,however: I made some Sichuan cucumbers (Bittman recipe) and salmon salad. Yes, the Blue Plate special. I had acquired a couple cans of some fancy brand of salmon -- wild-caught, humane nets, dyslexic Tahitians rowed the canoe, etc. -- and paired them with the end of the box of Passover matzoh. Crunchy and good.

Been a while since I used my cast-iron plett pan, so I made Swedish pancakes for breakfast along with a cheese omelet and sausage. Even cutting the recipe in half still yielded a bunch of pancakes. I bought the single-use pan in the late '60s, which cost me six dollars. Now, they're five or six times as expensive.

[Jenise]

I am currently fascinated by black garlic, so am making a marinade with hoisin and fish sauce for chicken, which I'll grill tonight.

Breakfast this morning was a nice slice of garlic-and-herb sourdough bread, slathered with roasted onion-and-garlic jam. Slices of tomato on top with fresh parsley leaves, then a fried egg on top, which was cooked in a spray of coconut oil, and seasoned with salt, white pepper, and a bit of red pepper seasoning. Very yummy and filling.

Rack of lamb scheduled for tonight. Still deciding how to prep it. (Small rack so I don't anticipate a long cook.)

Betsy and I did first ramp forage of the year Saturday, but were going to dinner in city (upscale Mexican). So Sunday night we did sauteed scallops on papparedelle with a ramp pesto/ricotta sauce. The pasta was a Rachel Ray recipe (adapted by NYT), pretty sure first time we have ever done anything by her, but it was delicious. Tonight miso black cod (sable).

Betsy and I did first ramp forage of the year Saturday...

Are they easy to find? Some of the folks who show up with piles of ramps at the farmers market look very 'unofficial', making me think they grow like weeds. But of course not outside my apartment, so...

Rack of lamb scheduled for tonight. Still deciding how to prep it. (Small rack so I don't anticipate a long cook.)

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

they grow in mature hardwood forests. We have a 85 acre conservation area with trails near us (3-4 minute walk), we have 3-5 spots where we know they come up each year. Not hard to spot if you know what to look for. They grow in patches. It's a little bit of work to dig up, they tend to grow by roots and rocks. The convention is to not take more than a 1/4. We met 2 young men (hiking out as we were hiking in) who were very excited about their first ramps. When we got to one of the spots we know, they had clearly completely dug up about a 1/4 of the patch. The idea is cull plants from all over, so they will come back next year. I think they just didn't understand, you're supposed to take from across the patch.

"Hm," he said, looking more carefully at the package, "this is a rack of venison."

...which changed my plans not at all; it merely strengthened my resolve to hit the rare side of medium-rare.

I went for a nut-crusted prep: First, dose the rack with herbes de provence (and s+p, and I added a bit of celery seed as that is often good with rich, red meats); sear it in a hot pan. Set it on a baking tray, curved bones facing down. Spread mustard all over the top (I mixed a little grated ginger into it) and completely pat on a pistachio-breadcrumb-lemonzest-gratedparm-butter mix. Roast for 10 minutes at 400*F then continue at 300*F until it hits the mark (about 8 more minutes to hit 125*F). Rest it 10 minutes, then cut the chops apart.

The rack was perfect. I even took a picture! I served myself double-thick chops, a baked potato on the side, and the last portion of imam bayildi. I opened a Brovia 2011 Barolo to go with it; the earthy, minerally, somewhat severe wine matched the firm, just slightly gamy meat with the rich crust.

Happy Birthday to me.

Happy Birthday Jeff! Venison sounds great.

[Jenise]

Jeff, that sounds amazing. I've never had venison on the rack (although I had reindeer once). I would never have thought of adding celery seed to the rub, either. I like the sound of that.

Last night I had halibut. Spent $30/lb on a 1 lb filet at the Indian reservation market thinking I'd eat a third and have leftovers for salad lunches (I like cold fish) but the fish was absolutely TASTELESS. This is a problem I have encountered here frequently. I don't know in how many days after being pulled out of the water it loses it's flavor, but even buying it from the natives who caught it doesn't guarantee pristeen freshness. I was SO bummed. But the seagulls had a pretty fancy breakfast today!