What's Cooking (Take Three!)

We had scallops tonight, a favorite seafood of mine. I seasoned and dusted them, gave them a fast sear in butter, then made a pan sauce with garlic, madeira, Dijon, half-and-half, and a little grated parm. (I forgot the paprika!) Served with baked potatoes that were sliced and sizzled till crispy.

Does anyone remember Laura Calder, a Canadian I believe who had a cooking show years ago. I watched her show and liked the symplicity of her food. I have been trying to find a recipe of hers and finally came across it, hiding behind my favorite lamb shank recipe. So I made both today. 2 onions are thinly sliced and sauteed until golden in 2 Tbsp butter, then add half to a buttered casserole dish. Slice 1-1/2 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes on a mandolin, place half on the onions. Salt, pepper and thyme. Place rest of onions, rest of potatoes, add salt, pepper and thyme. Pour 1 cup of beef stock over the top. Place lid on dish or cover tightly with foil and cook at 300° until tender, two to three hours. Remove lid last hour to crisp top if you want.
Then I made the pomegranate Merlot Braised lamb shanks. They are browned first then cooked in sauteed onion (I had a leek, so used that), garlic, tomato paste, fresh thyme, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, bay leaf, the wine, and pomegranate juice. I had pomegranate syrup, so used that. Added a little red wine vinegar, and a little pomegranate vinegar and 2 Tbsp. of honey. Cook in slow cooker until lamb is very tender. Serve with resulting juices, and top with fresh parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Please excuse any spelling errors, I had to change a receiver to another USB port, and now I have lost my spelling helper. Until I find the issue, I may have some misspellings.

I was tasked with bringing a side dish to a Georgian themed dinner so I decided on stuffed eggplant using sun dried eggplant shells a friend discovered at a Turkish grocery. They look like this https://www.pinterest.com/pin/835980749580791603/ . More than 50, stem end eggplant halves threaded onto twine. I looked at a number of recipes on YouTube for ideas as there were none in any of my cookbooks and came up with a mish mash of several of them. I rehydrated them by boiling for 5 min and then soaked in cold water another 30 min. I did a vegetable rice stuffing with diced onion, fennel, carrot, garlic, red pepper, seasoned with caramelized tomato paste, harissa, cilantro and pomegranate molasses. I stood them vertically in a small saucepan and cooked them in a sauce of water, pomegranate molasses and tomato paste. A tahini sauce was available at serving. They were terrific. Will look for dehydrated pepper halves at that grocery. Anxious to do a dish combining both of them. I can see them as appetizer or side dish or even a main dish using ground lamb or beef. THey can be served hot, cold or room temp. A very interesting form of eggplant.

Just had one of those lunches that is probably pretty common for folks on here, but uncommon for the average person. It was not particularly difficult or laborious, but used some great ingredients from the farmers market and came together in such a nice way, and really the pinnacle of home cooking.

Juicy omelette with spinach and leek, fluffy quinoa with cumin oil, and crunchy fennel salad with dill, lemon and lemon oil.

Great textures, flavors, colors, etc. You could easily pay too much for worse food in a restaurant and would be happy if every 'fast casual' 'healthy' meal came out this good. But that's the only option for many people, while we can do this ourselves!

[Jenise]

Does anyone remember Laura Calder

I do, very much. So does Bill Spohn, her show was originally aired on the Canadian Food Network. Some episodes showed up down here but it never aired in its entirety the way it did in Canada. One of the last shows ever on the Food Network that was serious about real cooking--and French home cooking at that. That potato and onion gratin sounds wonderful.

[Jenise]

I was tasked with bringing a side dish to a Georgian themed dinner so I decided on stuffed eggplant using sun dried eggplant shells a friend discovered at a Turkish grocery. They look like this

Wow. I have never seen or heard of anything like that. What a fascinating item! How cool to have things like a Turkish grocery in your environs. Washington state is very sterile in that regard.

I've heard of hollowing out and stuffing fresh eggplant skins before, but dried ones are new to me.

When I bought some pork belly to make lardons for coq au vin, I intentionally bought more than I needed so I could use the rest at twice-cooked pork. The first cooking phase (boiling the whole pork belly) takes place tonight. The stir-fry will be tomorrow.

-Paul W.

We celebrated V-Day yesterday. Dinner plan: cocktails, fennel and orange salad (garnished with olives, almonds, and mint), shrimp cocktail, crab cakes (in a very delicate style), a cheese and charcuterie board, and finally as much chocolate as you can handle (including homemade almond bark and peanut butter cups).

[Jenise]

Always impressive what you concoct in that tiny kitchen of yours, Jeff.

We had our favorite Superbowl gameday food: fried chicken. A local market does a really great job with it, we just sprinkle with Tabasco when we get it home to up the game. With it, though I actually held a container of roasted and salted peanuts in the shell in my cold dirty little hands at the store, we resisted any other unhealthy food and enjoyed the chicken with green bell pepper and celery strips in garlic salt and vinegar, plus plain cherry tomatoes. A brilliant syrah rounded out the meal.

Loved the halftime show, hated the final score.

Always impressive what you concoct in that tiny kitchen of yours, Jeff.

Thank you.

Loved the halftime show, hated the final score.

My college friends thought both were pretty dismal. (I ignored it altogether: had brunch with some friends, had a long phone call with another, and roasted a chicken.)

--

Tonight, halibut and quinoa. For prep on the halibut, I mixed chili powder (mostly cumin), thyme, and allspice. Worked very nicely, sizzled in a cast iron pan.

[Jenise]

I'm trying to cut back on carbs, and yesterday was Monday vegetarian, so we had eggplant parmesan with tomato-garlic sauce (and no pasta). I probably haven't made that in six years, should do it more often. Just love it.

Starting prep for a friend's birthday dinner tomorrow. She's requested homemade pasta so I'm making the pappardelle today and a chicken liver ragu tomorrow. She loves chicken liver and that was her first choice on a list of options. Thinking I will precede that with steamed artichokes Roman style since there are some nice looking chokes in the store now and follow with a radicchio and pink grapefruit salad. Trying to keep the bookends light.
Dinner for us tonight is deviled veal kidney on toast and the rest of the okra I had leftover from making jambalaya.

I've never heard of putting okra in a jamabalaya before. Gumbo, yes, but not jambalaya. The jambalaya recipes that I have use the Cajun Trinity (onion, celery, green bell pepper) and sometimes tomato, but nothing else. How much okra do you use?

-Paul W.

Yes Paul, you are correct. I am guilty of cultural appropriation and should have called the dish gumbolaya! I used the trinity but for 1/2 c rice added 1/2# homemade andouille, 1/2 # shrimp and about 2 cups of frozen bhindi cut into 1" lengths and dices tomatoes and stock. The fresh okra at my Indian store looked sad so I opted for the frozen baby bhindi. I riff depending on what I have and vary consistency from more soupy to less. I've substituted jamon serrano or chorizo or even smoked ham. I guess I consider this dish as a " fridge raid" possibility.
Thanks for asking for clarification. I riff on dishes that I have some affinity for in use of seasonings but I would never do the same with the cuisines that you are at home in and despite many cookbooks have not developed a comfort with Asian dishes to the extent that I can take off and know that it will be OK.

I don't think of it as cultural appropriation. I think of it as clever innovation. A cuisine where things can only be done the traditional way is one that is doomed to extinction. I'd be worried that okra might run into its slime problem a jambalaya. That of course is the whole point of using okra in a gumbo--as a thickening agent. Do you cook the okra with the Trinity in your jambalaya or do you add it later?

-Paul W.

No slime when adding the frozen okra after the Trinity. Package did indicate that not thawing would diminish slime however, I have made this dish with fresh okra and never had a slime problem either.

[Jenise]

I need to learn how to prepare okra some day. Love the flavor, hate the texture. I understand that dry-frying or what you might call pan-charring them will retard that tendency, but I haven't proven it to myself.

Grilled marinated chicken thighs tonight with salad. (Yes, I'm dieting.)

Maybe freeze-dried is the way to go? The okra that went to the moon, and all that.

I need to learn how to prepare okra some day. Love the flavor, hate the texture. I understand that dry-frying or what you might call pan-charring them will retard that tendency, but I haven't proven it to myself.

Roasted okra is a pretty friendly preparation. Crispy or with a slight chew depending on how far you go, but no slime.

Also, I know it's the eternal cop-out when it comes to food, but the raw materials really matter. Even in NC, I never buy okra from the supermarket, those specimens are usually too big (and therefore more slime, not to mention woodier texture). Even at the farmers market, I'm extremely particular about only buying specimens when people have them small and delicate. (Apparently it grows very quickly and can get out of hand in a matter of hours/few days).

We could say that about anything, but other vegetables (e.g. carrots) can be more forgiving. Okra is not. IMHO.

[Jenise]

That's a good tip, Rahsaan. Out in the west we don't see a lot of fresh okra--it would be rare to find it in a supermarket, but the Asian market that has a lot of Indian/middle eastern customers often does. I wouldn't have known to buy the smaller ones. Is there a typical season for it?

Btw, I loved okra when I was a child, my grandmother made it--boiled. My brother was merciless, though, about the "loogies" and that must have been what turned me off. As I already said, I remember loving the flavor.

I wouldn't have known to buy the smaller ones. Is there a typical season for it?

Summer. Okra and tomatoes are a classic combination and they arrive together.

For fun, I picked up a box of Asian Kitchen Pad Thai Noodle Kit. So, dug into it yesterday, very simple, just soften the noodles in hot water, make the protein veggie stir fry. I used Bok Choy, and large shrimp. Topped it off with sliced green onions, and cilantro, then threw in a handful of peanuts. I also gave it a sprinkle of Chinese Five Spice. Not bad and the noodles were nice.
The enclosed sauce packet was OK, I did add a bit of soy sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, and lime juice.

[Jenise]

I love Five Spice, Karen. Have you ever tried Barbara Tropp's 10 Spice? You have to make your own, but wow, so worth it. I keep both on hand.

For dinner tonight: tacos. But more like taco meat in lettuce leaves similar to the Asian method, going for reduced carbs. I'll fry some tortilla crisps for Bob.

[quote="Jenise"]I love Five Spice, Karen. Have you ever tried Barbara Tropp's 10 Spice? You have to make your own, but wow, so worth it. I keep both on hand.

I have not tried that Jenise, but I do have the China Moon cookbook, will look it up. I was introduced to Chinese Five Spice by a neighbor years ago, who did cooking classes in her home. They were lots of fun and I took along our teen age daughter. It is one of my favorite spice blends and adds so much to a dish.