What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

I'm thinking of conjuring up some kind of spicy rice dish and a green chile drizzle for color, and will start with guacamole salad.

Speaking of rice dishes, have you had a chance to try out that dirty rice recipe yet?

-Paul W.

Nope, life suddenly got complicated. But will soon, I'm very hungry for it!

My favorite sweet potato is the Japanese sweet potato called Satsumaimo. They have a purple skin and white interior which turns sort of yellow when baked. They are the best tasting sweet potato I have tasted , but have a very short season. I watch for them a small market near our house which is the only market I know of that has them around here.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/satsuma ... %20cooking.

Yes, that is a great cultivar!

[Jenise]

PorkRillettes.jpg

So these were the little terrines I made for Bill's wine luncheon yesterday. Created a lower fat version of pork rillettes than standard, added 2 lbs of sliced shitake mushrooms to the shredded pork to replace about 1/3 of the meat with a vegetable, put a thin layer of duck liver-cognac pate on top, then topped that with an aspic made from the leftover pork juices. Each was plated with four spears of asparagus lightly marinated in a black truffle vinaigrette, a spreading knife, and thin baguette toasts.

Those look great!

Yeas they do look wonderful!

Quite elegant, I must say!

Bravo, Jenise!

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Funny thing about those terrines--I have a thing for the shape 'square'. My house has 13 4-ft square clerestory windows, when I bought new ceiling light fixtures I bought square ones, I replaced all the round door knobs with square ones and I even have five spares in a cupboard for future renovations. I don't know why it's a thing with me, but it's a thing with me.

So when I saw those little square ramekins at a local store about 15 years ago, my heart just about leaped out of my chest. I bought 12.

So how often have I used them? Only 3 or 4 times. Turns out, the quantity that they hold is relatively small, only 4-5 ounces. The most exciting thing about making these rillettes was the opportunity to use them!

Lamb chops have been marinating since yesterday in a mix of fresh garden parsley mint, rosemary, salt, pepper, olive oil, water, onions, All Spice, lemon juice, and fresh garlic, blended up and poured over the chops. Serving with a Schwann's product of multigrain blend combines orzo, quinoa, broccoli, red bell peppers, carrots, red and brown rice, black barley and lentils. A convenient blend that is very tasty and I usually add my own herbs, and fresh citrus juice, maybe a little soy. I am roasting carrots with the chops.

[Jenise]

Sounds good, Karen. We didn't have plans for last night as we were going to a wine tasting, but I felt ill in the afternoon so we bowed out. Dinner was the baguette I bought for what I was taking to the tasting and an apple.

Better this morning. Lunch will be veal parmesan made from some lovely cutlets I bought yesterday in Canada. Not making dinner.

Last night was leftovers from the chicken sauce not-very-piquant. I threw in a good dose of Inner Beauty hot sauce and that restored the piquant. But it did alter the flavor profile a bit.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, why not just add cayenne pepper? Or even just chili flakes? Either way, you'd get heat without changing the profile--unless one wanted to do that just for variation's sake, which is fair.

There's one more serving of chicken sauce not-very-piquant left and I think I'll take your advice, Jenise, and just add some cayenne. I was curious to see how adding Inner Beauty would turn out.

I also have leftovers of Chinese stir-fried ground pork and minced chiles made with the wimpy jalapenos. I'm going to try adding some Laoganma chile sauce to that, just for yucks.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I haven't cooked at home per se all weekend. Today's Monday and I'm kind of hungry for an all-tomato paella, so that's going to be tonight's meatless meal--with a green salad, of course. Tomorrow: pork chops and dirty rice.

Wilted spinach salad, onion soup.

I added a good bit of cayenne to the last of the chicken sauce not-at-all-piquant. That got the heat level up to something respectable, but that burst of heat when you bite into the bits of chile is missing. Still, it does rescue the dish.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Just made a cream of asparagus and spinach soup for lunch. Simmered asparagus trimmings for an hour to get an asparagus broth and went from there. Delish. Also put a chicken in an Indian-inspired marinade. You know the vivid green mint sauce you get for dipping in some Indian restaurants? Well, I made that and then added yoghurt and put slashed chicken pieces in that to marinate. Tonight, I'll roast and serve with some flat Indian breads (not naan, but I don't have another name for them, but bought them frozen) and a cucumber salad. This is the only way I will knowingly digest yoghurt.

Also put a chicken in an Indian-inspired marinade. You know the vivid green mint sauce you get for dipping in some Indian restaurants? Well, I made that and then added yoghurt and put slashed chicken pieces in that to marinate. Tonight, I'll roast and serve with some flat Indian breads...

Sounds like a tandoori technique, but in green instead of red.

Too lazy to cook today. Bought a frozen Philly Steak frozen pizza for a song and made a tossed salad. I love Philly Steaks and I love pizza, but the combo, although somewhat edible, was a combo I'll never buy again. Too weird.

[Jenise]

Sounds like a tandoori technique, but in green instead of red.

Exactly right. And fantastic. Absolutely loved it.

[Jenise]

Too lazy to cook today. Bought a frozen Philly Steak frozen pizza for a song and made a tossed salad. I love Philly Steaks and I love pizza, but the combo, although somewhat edible, was a combo I'll never buy again. Too weird.

If you had it made by a good pizzeria, you might have a different opinion. At a Japanese restaurant in Philadelphia, we had a (hot) Phillie cheesesteak sushi roll. Not like anything we've ever had before, but good. REALLY good.

I think tonight I'm going to pan sear scallops, shrimp and cherry tomatoes with a lot of garlic and serve that over pasta.

Got a couple of bags of fresh sugar snap peas for a song. I love 'em. They're great just to snack on. >Crunch.<

Ah, the beautiful end of winter veggies are starting to appear at the grocers, Farmer's Market not open for a couple of weeks yet. I found a beautiful bunch of red Swiss Chard, deep green leaves and dark red stems. Did a sauté with several Bok Choi fresh garlic and finished off with apple cider vinegar. So good.

St. Patty's dinner for me tonight, a day late... 4-lb flat cut corned beef, naturally cured, has fat cap on, seasoned, placed fat side up on roasting pan, a little water poured around the meat. Pan is covered with tight lid. Red Bliss potatoes, carrots, cut about the same size, and cabbage cut into 1/2 inch slices. are coated with butter and creamed horseradish. They go on a sheet pan, a line of each to roast along with the meat on a separate rack, put in oven later. It is served with a Horseradish, Cream Sauce, made with non-fat sour cream, horseradish, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and 1/2 tsp. of sugar. Fresh Italian parsley with lemon zest for garnish.