What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Monday's dinner was grilled chicken wings. The wings were marinated overnight with sumac, onions, lemon juice, and olive oil. They were coated with za'atar just before grilling. The recipe called for an accompanying dip based on yogurt and fava beans. I didn't have any fava beans so I used tzatziki instead.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I've been on a Mexican binge lately. Earlier this week I did a complete dinner of salsa (homemade from whole chiles) and chips, peel and eat shrimp, guacamole salad, rice/grilled zucchini with cumin/chocolate-red chile coated grilled pork tenderloin, and NY cheesecake drizzled with red jalapeno jelly. For the wine choice, guests brought Cab Francs and we had a blind tasting with the main course.

Last night we had corn on the cob with a tomato salad. Vegetarian meals like that are not uncommon--we love corn so much it easily supplants any need for meat. The tomatoes were crisp, sweet and crunchy little sugar plums, halved and tossed with oil, vinegar, fresh garlic and golden oregano from my garden. Golden oregano is so good I'm just amazed that I'm seemingly the only one who grows and uses it. I've never heard of it outside of my own affection for it.

Dinner last night was hong shao ji (red-cooked chicken), made with wings that weren't used in the za'atar grilled wing recipe.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

We had fresh Alaskan halibut last night. I'm still in a Mexican zone, so red chiles were present in several ways on the plate but wow was it good--did EXTREMELY well with an 06 CdP that's 100% grenache. Yes, seafood CAN taste great with red wine!

But can red wine taste great with grenache? (One must ask the right questions.)

[Jenise]

Pass me your Rayas, you don't have to drink it.

I have done that (scroll down to the Rayas): http://winedisorder.com/comment/56/9387/

Last night I did A roast dinner for myself with a small piece of pork belly as the protein.
Tonight I simmered the leftover pork meat with some shiracha, and ketchup! Added some Heinz baked beans sliced Green onion. Heated a corn tortilla with grated cheese popped in the pulled pork fresh tomato and rocket.
Ordinary bits and pieces but a tasty meal.

[Jenise]

Sounds pretty tasty, Barb. Corn tortillas are more versatile than most people realize. I'm having 30-40 people over this afternoon for a wine pick-up party and promised them 'Mexican Hot Dogs'. Grilled weiners slathered with Maille mustard rolled in heated corn tortillas. You'll never go back to buns again once you try this--unless you're the type who likes a 'loaded'. The party is just a ploy to entice people to come get this wine out of my garage TODAY rather than subject us to the deadly slow drip of drop-ins for the next two weeks.

Last night we had pan-grilled steaks--seared in salt in a hot cast iron pan with a room temperature side dish of halved cherry tomatoes that had been marinated with garlic, olive oil and white vinegar for half an hour and finished with a handful of fresh oregano from my garden. This has become my favorite steak accompaniment. The clean, sweet acidity of the tomatoes and vinaigrette with the light garlic and herb element is the perfect foil for fatty rare beef. No other vegetable needed, and it's low carb too.

Last night's dinner was roast pork lo mian.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, 'lo mian' is new to me. Can you describe?

Tonight our main course will be highly seasoned ground lamb crepinettes on pureed peas with mint.

Lo mian is the correct Latinization for what's usually called "lo mein".

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Ah, thanks.

Last night's dinner was awesome, the lamb in the crepinettes was seasoned with garlic and red wine and made a perfect launching pad for middle eastern or French flavors. The lamb was in fact sizzling in the pan and I still hadn't decided which way to go, so went in a third direction altogether: Iceland, where lamb is THE meat. The crepinettes were nestled on a pea puree seasoned with cumin seed and topped with batonets of carrot tossed with a mintish dried green herb mix I bought in Iceland. On the side, some chunks of pickled rhubarb (which is very popular there). I opened an 06 Vieux Donjon for the wine pairing.

Tonight: black truffle omelettes. I bought a whole fresh black truffle at Pikes Place market on Thursday. Old Burgundy with that.

So, a cold, wet, windy, winters day the fire is burning..... so a spud in foil, chuck it in the fire, lots of butter salt and pepper, a side of tomato and baby rocket. And a glass of Brands Laira cab sav.
Comfort food.

Tonight's dinner will be Cantonese stir-fried beef with snow peas (helandao chao niu rou).

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

So, a cold, wet, windy, winters day the fire is burning..... so a spud in foil, chuck it in the fire, lots of butter salt and pepper, a side of tomato and baby rocket. And a glass of Brands Laira cab sav.
Comfort food.

That sounds so good, Barbara, comfort food indeed.

[Jenise]

Lunch today will be an old favorite combination from childhood: french fries (oven baked) and an iceberg lettuce salad dressed with just white wine vinegar, canola oil and salt. I fell in love with it when at the Hoover Hotel in downtown Whittier where I grew up, where I'd sometimes go with a friend for lunch. We were only about 10 years old, and these two items ordered a la carte were essentially all our little allowances could afford but no matter, we thought we were dining like Audrey Hepburn.

Dinner tonight will be at a friend's home.

[Jenise]

Last night I made an anniversary dinner for us and another couple whose happy event also occurs this week. We started with champagne, no food, then a first course of seared foie gras on toast point on a salad of shaved brussels sprouts and frisee, all doused with a toasty sweet-sour dressing of sesame-apple cider syrup-garlic. Utterly fantastic with an 07 Spatlese. The next course was a lobster risotto with a wild yeast sauv blanc. The final course was a coffee-crusted prime tomahawk rib eye grilled on the Komado with an '01 Bordeaux. One two inch steak per couple served on a sizzling hot steak platter topped with English peas, pea shoots and sugar snap peas flash-fried with gin. SOOOOOOOOOOO good. No dessert.

Happy A-day! Ours was June 7.

Sugar snap peas sizzled in gin! What a great idea.

The whole dinner sounds excellent.

[Jenise]

Happy A-day! Ours was June 7.

Sugar snap peas sizzled in gin! What a great idea.

The whole dinner sounds excellent.

Happy A day right back at you! The pea thing--I've done it with sake too, but have found that the botanical flavors of gin works great. And I always have gin around, so that's easy. Put a little olive oil in a skillet, get it hot, toss in the peas, swirl them around for about minute, not more than two, add salt and a splash of gin, cook off the booze and you're done. Extra points if your gin catches fire and creates a spectacular flaming tableau to entertain your guests, as mine did (for the first time ever, it was a bit disconcerting but I just acted like I planned it that way.) About 3-4 minutes total cook time. Optional: add chopped mint to the finished peas.

Sounds like an easy try. I think I have the end of a raspberry-flavored gin hereabouts. (It was a gift, don't look at me like that.)

I have various schnapps, too: hazelnut, apricot, and rowanberry. Presumably, the same technique works if I find the right food to marry the flavor.

Making lime marmalade, 2nd batch. The first was good so I’m going again. A microwave recipe which reduces the stress.
The citrus is very productive here. Lime and lime cordial on the agenda.
Finding people who like grapefruit to gift. Our first lime tree, labelled and from a proper garden shop turned out to be a grapefruit, gack!!

Dinner tonight is steak frites with grilled tomato and caramelised onion.

Wait a sec. The nursery, presumably staffed by people who know plants well -- especially the ones they sell -- gave you a "lime" tree that actually produces grapefruit?

Wait a sec. The nursery, presumably staffed by people who know plants well -- especially the ones they sell -- gave you a "lime" tree that actually produces grapefruit?

Yep, well we chose it because it was labelledTahitian Lime. Took me a few tears Ipoh thinking there was a soil deficiency, then actually tried one of these weird “ mutant limes ’ then the penny dropped. Couldn’t remember which nursery we bought it. Can’t eat them myself but plate ripping out healthy plants. Local ,grapefruit lovers are grapeful. Occasionally their bounty tends my way with passion fruit, eggs etc.