What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Larry, it happens.
I tried my hand at tarte tatin yesterday, made a nice apple tart but the apple was overcooked and the caramel not taken nearly far enough. It really needs that bitterness to cut the sweet. Oh well plenty of apples to give it another go sometime.

[Jenise]

Bob burned our steak. Cooked it on the Egg. I coated it cowboy style in coffee, sugar and salt. He brought it in BLACK. "It flamed up on me." But you were standing right there, Bob. "Yes, but it flamed up. I couldn't help it." That doesn't make any sense, Bob. "Well when I opened the lid..." YOU WERE COOKING IT LID DOWN?

I think he's getting Alzheimers.

Well, I suppose you could use the steak as a charcoal briquet for your next bbq.

Pumpkin likes 'well done'.

[Jenise]

Well, I suppose you could use the steak as a charcoal briquet for your next bbq.

LOL. Apparently I am going to have to supervise the next grilling event. This is two times in a row he's blown it; the scary part is that he seems genuinely mystified that I think it could have been avoided.

Pumpkin likes 'well done'.

Pumpkin must be from Texas.


Jenise:

For me, I frequently cook steaks using the oven method (I can't remember if I've posted this before). I grill the steak for a couple of minutes on each side to get grill marks using my cast iron ridged skillet (you can use outside grill). Then I place the steak on a cooling rack in a cookie sheet into a low oven (325F) for 15-20 minutes or so (depending on thickness), until it's to your liking. It's very forgiving, and you can get med-rare all the way up to the surface. Don't forget to pull the steak out a little early, because its temperature still rises as it relaxes. Once you settle on the timing, it's pretty easy for future steaks.

[Robin Garr]

Veggie carbonara with slivered asparagus and green beans, chopped walnuts, pastured eggs and Grana Padano. Loosely based on a recipe from La Cucina Italiana.

veggie-carbonara.jpg

[Jenise]

Tonight we'll be having grilled marinated chicken thighs--sherry, soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, vinegar--with bok choy and shitake mushroom fried rice.

Made the Jenise shrimp and grits with a spinach salad. Dessert was pineapple, blackberries, jicama, and yogurt.

Sounds wonderful, Jenise. I'll be making Bengali-style masoor dal and potatoes, to go along with the last of the idli batter.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Pumpkin likes 'well done'.

Pumpkin must be from Texas.


Jenise:

For me, I frequently cook steaks using the oven method (I can't remember if I've posted this before). I grill the steak for a couple of minutes on each side to get grill marks using my cast iron ridged skillet (you can use outside grill). Then I place the steak on a cooling rack in a cookie sheet into a low oven (325F) for 15-20 minutes or so (depending on thickness), until it's to your liking. It's very forgiving, and you can get med-rare all the way up to the surface. Don't forget to pull the steak out a little early, because its temperature still rises as it relaxes. Once you settle on the timing, it's pretty easy for future steaks.

Larry, I have an indoor grill so can easily do this, and it's how I handle thick pork chops which I want to keep as tender as possible at a perfect pale pink medium. The cowboy steak option I described here, though, requires outdoor/charcoal grilling, to set up that sweet crust.

[Jenise]

Last night's marinated Asian chicken on fresh shitake mushroom fried rice was absolutely superb. I could eat it all over again tonight.

But Bob requested something "...and waffles", and I'm kind of leaning toward Indian flavors. So I'm going to do breast of pheasant prepared in two steps, sous vide then grilled, and I'm thinking curry flavors with a rosemary and charred kumquat pan sauce.

Tartiflette tonight.

[Jenise]

Tartiflette! Yum. In NY you'd have no trouble getting Reblochon, or however you spell it, but is that what you use or do you go for a substitute? (I've never made one of these, btw. Nothing about it I wouldn't love but I just haven't.)

Broadly said, I can get reblochon and I would choose it. Under current lockdown, however, most of my good local providers are shut or have difficult access. I could order a good one by mail but I decided that was all too much fuss.

I went to my best remaining option and was able to get a nearly-2# chunk of Chaumes -- also soft and stinky. That worked pretty well. The house still smells like fromage de France.

It came together very well, overall. The sauce came together in mere moments, no need to fuss to thin or thicken. Very pleased with that.

Add a salad and you're on. (Although, as it turns out, a piece of bread for mopping the plate is not a bad idea, even though the meal already has plenty of starch.)

I'll try to remember to post the rc later. (I'm on my work computer now.)

the tartiflette sounds great (and I can still get Reblouchon)

last night Betsy made stuffed peppers, but ground beef package was bigger than she needed, so also made meatballs (Ottoloenghti recipe that actually is for ground turkey), with a yogurt/sourcream/sumac sauce. Green couscous and fried cauliflower/scallion in a tahini sauce. I really don't think I've ever had an Ottolenghi recipe I didn't like.

[Jenise]

Tonight we're having a vegetarian Chinese stir fry of asparagus, fresh shitakes, and scallion greens on jade rice. Had planned it for last night but made a trip to town and couldn't resist the opp to buy fresh fish. This time, first of the season fresh Alaskan halibut which I seared with a miso crust. When done, the fish went on top of a raft of cooked asparagus and the whole was doused with a raw sauce of orange juice, dijon, tarragon, EVOO and shallots. Paired it with a Greywacke Wild (yeast reference) Sauvignon Blanc; could NOT have been better.

I really don't think I've ever had an Ottolenghi recipe I didn't like.

Indeed. Really great palate and taste. My only complaint with the recipes is that they are too fiddly and involve too many ingredients/steps. But I can't fault the taste.

Had a small Delmonico steak and a warm spinach salad. Edie had only the salad.

[Jenise]

So the big bag of asparagus I bought at Costco last week never turned into the food I'd planned and on Monday I cooked it all (albeit al dente, so suitable for recooking.) Part of it went under Monday night's halibut, and yesterday the tips went into a stirfry with fresh shitake mushrooms, green onions, and bamboo in chile oil. It was a gorgeous dish, piled on top of steamed jade rice and finished with shaved mac nuts and a sprinkle of finely diced pickled chiogga beets--the color and zing of which took the whole dish to another level. The remainder of the asparagus got cooked with some chopped leeks and potatoes into an asparagus vichysoisse which will probably be today's lunch.

All of which are things I'd normally do, but I'm nonetheless enjoying being so much more fastidious in lockdown about using EVERY usable scrap. I enjoy the challenge. For instance, I cut off part of one of last night's potatoes that had a huge growth on it--I'll plant it and grow more potatoes. I don't have a lot of plantable area at this house--not one inch of it is wasting water on lawn--but there are places to stick food in the ground between other things, so why not.

...yesterday the tips went into a stirfry with fresh shitake mushrooms, green onions, and bamboo in chile oil. It was a gorgeous dish, piled on top of steamed jade rice and finished with shaved mac nuts and a sprinkle of finely diced pickled chiogga beets--the color and zing of which took the whole dish to another level.

Love the description of this stirfry!

Jenise, what is jade rice? That stir-fry sounds wonderful.

Tonight's dinner will be Sichuan stir-fried minced pork and chiles, with jasmine rice.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Jade rice is somehow treated with matcha green tea Comes out a lovely shade of pale green.

The dish was great, I'll post a picture of it.

For something to do, I've been turning mere dinners into events. Tonight we're taking a trip to Spain. The menu is mushrooms stir fried with garlic and sherry, spicy chicken and shrimp paella, green salad, a Rioja, and the movie "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" by Terry Gilliam and starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce. I might even think up a sherry cocktail. Should be a ball!

¡Olé!