What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Schnitzel? ::smiley in lederhosen::

[Jenise]

Tonight: a cassoulet of sorts inspired by a comment of Jeff's about last week's bean soup and the discovery of some frozen duck confit I didn't realize I had.

[Jenise]

Tonight: fresh ling cod and shrimp, wherein the cod is roasted and the shrimp are separately sauteed in a beurre noisette with garlic and poured over the fish to finish. Will serve with flowering spring kale sprouts, and of course a ubiquitous salad course. Day One of Bobo's birthday week celebration.

Lamb Wellingtonopolous... Put a good sear on some cubes of lamb that was previously roasted with lots of garlic, rosemary, and pepper. Do a dry (or nearly dry) saute of spinach, sweet red peppers, and mushrooms then season with toasted pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, basil, thyme, more black pepper and more garlic. Now, roll out the puff pastry, lay a few raw spinach leaves along the bottom, heap on the meat, then the saute, top with cubes of feta, fold it over, and bake a little while in a hot oven.

Very yum.

[Jenise]

Jeff, the name made me laugh out loud. Sounds great.

Last night I made roast duck, and very nearly cremated it. My oven's been acting up, so I tentatively set it for 300F before heading over to a friend's with a container of a really great matzoh ball soup I'd just made. When I got back the oven was spitting and smoking. I put a digital thermometer in to see what temp it was really at and watched, amazed, as the numbers crested at 496. GREAT. So I turned the oven down to 200, where it appeared to cook at about 330.

When the duck came out, an apple pie went in and we just held our breath.

Last night I made roast duck, and very nearly cremated it. My oven's been acting up, so I tentatively set it for 300F before heading over to a friend's with a container of a really great matzoh ball soup I'd just made. When I got back the oven was spitting and smoking. I put a digital thermometer in to see what temp it was really at and watched, amazed, as the numbers crested at 496. GREAT. So I turned the oven down to 200, where it appeared to cook at about 330.

Just switch to a 'hot and fast' recipe and you're good. Was the skin crispy?

When the duck came out, an apple pie went in and we just held our breath.

But now you're watching it. And you could cover it with foil, if the top starts browning too much. I bet you made it come out just fine.

[Jenise]

Just switch to a 'hot and fast' recipe and you're good. Was the skin crispy?

No, didn't even get that bennie out of it. Probably because of the slow finish. {pout}

Last night we had coconut-crusted rack of lamb on roasted cauliflower finished with a lemony thyme-laced bechamel and paired with a '99 Jaboulet Hermitage.

Tonight's main course: veal osso bucco and risotto milanese.

Last night we had coconut-crusted rack of lamb on roasted cauliflower finished with a lemony thyme-laced bechamel and paired with a '99 Jaboulet Hermitage.

I'm confused. I am imagining rare lamb with a crispy coating of coconut shred -- not sure how that goes -- but then wetted down with bechamel? Or, was the bechamel on the cauliflower?

[Jenise]

The cauliflower was napped in the bechamel. That went on the center of the plate and two double-ribs of roasted lamb rack were criss-crossed over the top. All good!

Last night we had roasted veal shanks (cooked for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker) finished in a Marsala reduction over orzo mixed with fresh garlic, cream and parmesan cheese. With that, a 2005 St. Innocent Seven Springs pinot.

Sounds good.

[Jenise]

So last night: ground turkey tacos (forget the health factor, though that's a plus, I prefer ground turkey to beef in taco filling) and Quilceda Creek cabernet. Still living the Bobo-rama!

Health factor, zero, don’t tell your cardiologist.
My final Easter lunch menu turned out thus,

Smoked salmon on pickled fennel with a tomato medley, olive oil, lime and capers.
Cassoulet
Artisan cheeses with fresh fruit

[Jenise]

That sounds wonderful, Barb.

The other evening: I acquired a 2.5# pork roast. I think this is the sort of thing, despite its good provenance on the animal, that can dry out very easily before it is completely cooked so I favor a style of roasting it on top of a bed of aromatic vegetables.

First, I still had a couple spoonfuls of reduced Amarone. I smeared that all over [it ], rolled it in some bread crumbs mixed with caraway, charnushka, and fennel seed, and gave it a quick sizzle all around. Then, I thinly sliced a head of fennel, added a few sliced mushrooms, a little oil and madeira, Grains of Paradise and rosemary, for a variant choucroute to make itself in the roasting pan. Lay the roast on top and into the oven until it quick-reads 135F.

I liked this one. The meat was still a tad firm, maybe I need to switch to a tenderloin, but I liked the choucroute and am looking for ways to improve it.

[Jenise]

Jeff, love the combination. But a question: do you brine? A hydrating quick two-hour soak in lightly seasoned water will be the perfect foil against drying. Greater tenderness, too.

Jeff, love the combination. But a question: do you brine? A hydrating quick two-hour soak in lightly seasoned water will be the perfect foil against drying. Greater tenderness, too.

I don't. Maybe I should. How much salt/seasoning and how do I know how long?

Quick post-mortem for tonight's meal of roasted porchetta, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus with morels and green garlic butter:

The porchetta (pork loin rolled up in the attached belly with herbs and such stuffed in there) was great. I've put it together myself in the past but this time I purchased a 2.5 lb piece that was done by our local butcher. The skin was perfect, all brown and crackly. The pork was tender and very good, but they put in way too much rosemary for my taste. Still very good, though, and I am currently in a pork fat oriented semi-coma. (And 2 1/2 lbs of this is enough for two people to eat for a week.)

The asparagus/morel thing came about when we happened upon all of the fixings at the farmers' market this morning. It all went together very nicely, with the green garlic butter a nice addition to the asparagus and morels. Only downside was that I was unable to get all of the grit out of the morels. I gave them three good agitations in cold water but that still wasn't enough. I'd be interested in hearing any foolproof methods for getting all of the grit out of all of those nooks and crannies.

And the mashed potatoes, of course, were great.

Grit in the morel... rinse. rinse, rinse, and rinse some more. That's all you can do.

[Jenise]

Mike, sounds great. I love rosemary and have a hard time imagining what too much is, but yes the rosemary, garlic and basil should be there harmoniously in combination. Heavenly when done right. (Last time I had porchetta was in a restaurant owned by Seattle's most famous chef that is noted for it's wood fire cooking. I ordered the nightly rotisserie special, porchetta. I imagined this big fat piece of juicy garlicky pork meat similar to the filling in an amazing porchetta sandwich I had in Vancouver...but what in fact I got was two half inch thick slices of porchetta originally cooked god knows when--probably not the day I ordered it--grilled to a char. No garlic or herb flavor at this point, and definitely no juice: just char. And that was a $30 entree.)

But yeah what Jeff says on the morels--that silt either floats out or it doesn't. Trying hard is the best you can do.

Last night's choucroute garni with an excellent gruner veltliner was heavenly. At the last minute I opted not to add potatoes to the braise, but instead did spaetzle at the last minute. It has probably been two years since I made spaetzle, and it had Bob and I wondering why I don't make it more often. As Bob said, "like every day." It's so easy and so good. From start to finish, a bowl of freshly made rustic noodles in the time it takes a pot of water to come to boil.

Thanks, Jeff - I'll go well beyond three rinses next time.

Jenise - I generally like rosemary and I have a much higher tolerance for it than my wife does, but this was way too much. I almost wonder if you're supposed to brush off that part of the filling as it did do a nice job of flavoring the surrounding pork.

And I love spaetzle but never make it. Probably ought to remedy that.

Thanks, Jeff - I'll go well beyond three rinses next time.

Jenise - I generally like rosemary and I have a much higher tolerance for it than my wife does, but this was way too much. I almost wonder if you're supposed to brush off that part of the filling as it did do a nice job of flavoring the surrounding pork.

You're welcome.

When I marinate a leg of lamb, I lay on the garlic and rosemary with a trowel but I do brush some off before I roll it up.

[Jenise]

And I love spaetzle but never make it. Probably ought to remedy that.

Let me remind you how easy it is. Put pot of water on to boil. For two main course portions, in a bowl, mix 1 cup of flour with 1/4 c milk and 2 eggs. One would normally season with half a tsp salt but I sometimes don't--with my salty sauerkraut braise, salt-lessness was a plus. But I added nutmeg. Sometimes I add caraway or poppy seeds. Or chopped fresh herbs. By the time the water's boiling you're ready to grate/pour/scrape (pick a method, I have a spaetzle device) the dough into the water. About three minutes later they're done. BOOM, spaetzle. Pro tip: spray your grater with cooking spray first.

[Jenise]

We had a silly dinner last night--kind of a clean-out-the-fridge kind of dinner while watching the Mich-Villanova game.

Started with white asparagus. On hand for a week, the spears had got a bit brittle and quite a few broke while I was peeling their nether regions. So, hell, I cut all of them in half and poached them for about 15 minutes, drained them and set them to marinate in a little white vinegar and grapeseed oil. Was going to go white truffle there, but in the meantime I had opened a 2013 Liquid Farm Bien Bien chardonnay that was in full secondary development, nutty and a bit diesely like a White Burgundy and throwing off some truffle scents of its own. If I'd added truffle oil to the marinade it would have cancelled out that aspect of the wine, so I changed my approach, piling the cut spears like cordwood onto small plates and topped each with pesto and chopped roasted hazelnuts. I don't usually put asparagus and chardonnay together, but with this wine and those embellishments, it worked.

Next course was pan seared shrimp and blistered cherry tomatoes with garlic.

After that we were still hungry, so I doctored some leftover pizza with chili flakes, parmesan and olive oil and threw them in the toaster oven to crisp up.

[Jenise]

I don't. Maybe I should. How much salt/seasoning and how do I know how long?

I recommend it. Pork is the one meat I brine almost every time--that is, not wafer thin chops but really thick ones, yes, and small boneless loin roasts. No recipe required, just add salt and sugar (and some sprigs of herbs if you have them, thyme is always great) to hot water and enough to taste strongly pleasant to you, then cool quickly and dilute with a few ice cubes. About a tablespoon of each salt and sugar to one cup water should be about right. Dunk the pig parts. Two to four hours will deliver juiciness and tenderness without overly breaking down the meat fibers in the way you might be familiar with in koshering.