What's Cooking (Take Three!)

So going through the freezer came across 2 lobster tails...

Ah, Life is good, just stumbled over some lobster tails... please pass the cognac, thank you, James.

I've had various versions of lettuce soup, and they're surprisingly good. Also, I have a book on the cooking of Southern France written in the early 70's, and lettuce is/was used in surprising ways in a lot of savory dishes there. It's a very interesting book that preserves a sunny cuisine not yet blessed by mass transportation and based only on what was locally growable. So though French techniques are evident the foods include a lot of citrus, a lot of vegetables as they were so easy to grow, a lot of lamb (which the coastal mountains were full of) and not as much beef and dairy.

I went through a phase in my youth where I was trying all sorts of dishes based on lettuce, brought about after becoming entranced by Prosper Montagne's trestise on them in Larousse Gastronomique. A very brief phase. Most of his recipes called for braising them, in various liquids then served hot, cold, and with various finishings. Those I grew tired of quickly. I more enjoyed his lettuce soufflé, and also stuffed lettuce - like stuffed cabbage, but more delicate. And like you, I quite enjoy lettuce soup still

I think I'm getting queasy just reading about green soup.

I think I'm getting queasy just reading about green soup.

You should try it, Jeff. It's delicious, and it chlorophyll's you up!

[Robin Garr]

I think I'm getting queasy just reading about green soup.

Spinach soup is good, though.

So going through the freezer came across 2 lobster tails...

Ah, Life is good, just stumbled over some lobster tails... please pass the cognac, thank you, James.

James was turning out the freezer because Jeeves is going to Aldi to buy sone more lobster tails!!

[Jenise]

I'm back from a week of great dining in Los Angeles. Cooking tonight for just the two of us: no idea what I want to eat, and the fridge is bare.

Decisions, decisions.

[Robin Garr]

Welcome back, Jenise! Do you live too far from delivery Chinese or pizza?

Crudite, sushi, affetatsi -- no cooking!

[Jenise]

Welcome back, Jenise! Do you live too far from delivery Chinese or pizza?

I do. We're on our own out here on Birch Point.

So I got two lamb shoulder chops out of the freezer--that's a start. I have no idea yet what's going to happen to them, and that may end up depending on whether or not Bob gets the kitchen faucet put back together (he had to do that today? Really?). I haven't even been to the store yet, the only vegetables in the house are a pair of bell peppers.

[Jenise]

Crudite, sushi, affetatsi -- no cooking!

But cooking isn't the problem--shopping is! Or was. And in fact still is--haven't been since returning from L.A. The only produce in the house was a big beefsteak sized tomato, fully ripe but pure green in color so that got cut into wedges and marinated in a bit of vinaigrette for a starter salad. For the main course, inspired by a 12 year old New Zealand syrah which sounded like a fun contribution to the NZ thread on the wine side here, the lamb shoulder chops got garlic-crusted and pan-fried for serving atop a potato and green olive hash.

Today: definitely going to the store.

Cacio e pepe has been on the radar a lot lately and it's one pasta dish I had never made or eaten. (No turnips, thank you very much!). Kinda ridiculous for something that simple, so I made it with bucatini last night. Thin slices of leftover pork tenderloin went on top just because I need to use that up. It was delicious and went nicely with a frappato from southern Italy.

[Jenise]

Cacio e pepe has been on the radar a lot lately and it's one pasta dish I had never made or eaten. (No turnips, thank you very much!). Kinda ridiculous for something that simple, so I made it with bucatini last night. Thin slices of leftover pork tenderloin went on top just because I need to use that up. It was delicious and went nicely with a frappato from southern Italy.

I hadn't tried the dish until I saw Anthony Bourdain in Rome describing it in such fawning terms that it became apparent to me that the dish was more than the sum of it's parts, and it is. A few weeks ago I made a version with a fresh truffled pecorino--now THERE'S the dish.

[Jenise]

Yesterday at Whole Foods, I found skirt steak. That's a cut I love but rarely see up here, and if bychance I find one, it's just one. I was able to buy four, 5 pounds' worth, so that's an excuse for a Mexican Steak dinner. Invitations are going out right now.

I love skirt, bavette, hanger - all of them. We rarely eat them, though, as my wife is one of those people who'd rather have a taste-free-melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon than a deeply flavorful piece of skirt steak that has a little chew to it,.

Tonight's work in the kitchen: Made the egg nog for New Year's Eve. I am always flabbergasted that an uncooked beverage made of raw eggs and sugar (+cream, vanilla, booze) remains non-lethal and even improves over the course of a month or two.

[Jenise]

I love skirt, bavette, hanger - all of them. We rarely eat them, though, as my wife is one of those people who'd rather have a taste-free-melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon than a deeply flavorful piece of skirt steak that has a little chew to it,.

Oh what a dilemma! I feel for you. I love that chewy meat and don't care so much for filet because it's too soft, almost mealy at times, and occasionally a bit liver-y. The skirt steak was wonderful. I marinated it all day in a mixture called 'Garlipeno', something I read about in the Los Angeles times about 20 years ago and have loved ever since, a purposefully coarse (not over-processed, smooth is a liability) sauce of fresh jalapenos, garlic and olive oil all whizzed together and coating the meat, hopefully rubbed in such that the crevasses in the skirt steak hold in some of the small sand of vegetables.


Here's today's cooking, just started, the pork loin sous vide for tonight's faux vitello tonnato. What's pork in Italian, anyway?

SousVideTonnato.jpg

Meatless Monday - Vegan Potato Soup w/ crispy fried garlic kale and EVOO fried sourdough toasts.



Jason

[Jenise]

Oh, delish! We went meatless too. Just a salad, both because Meatless Monday and because I'm trying to drop the five pounds I gained in Los Angeles last week. One of these days you when I'm down there, you, me and Semaj need to get together.

Oh, delish! We went meatless too. Just a salad, both because Meatless Monday and because I'm trying to drop the five pounds I gained in Los Angeles last week. One of these days you when I'm down there, you, me and Semaj need to get together.

I saw you were in the area. I was in New Hampshire and then Boston. Trying to keep warm. Yes, I would really enjoy getting together and what the heck, let's open some weird wine. Haven't seen Semaj in awhile so it would be great to catch up.

Oh, and if you ever wanted to road trip, I go tasting in the WV every February.

Jason

Maiale Tonnato... tunnied pork. Should work well. Used turkey on 2 occasions for tonnato - Tacchino Tonnato. Heck, almost anything would taste good under that magic tuna sauce blanket! Needed a luncheon dish for 40. The first go around didn't work because the turkey breast shredded instead of slicing. Second time was better. Less poaching time, removed the breast and put it back in the poaching liquid when it was cooled. Let it sit overnight and sliced rather thickly. Still wanted to fall apart. Pork will be perfect. This is one of those dishes that benefits greatly from meld time.

[Jenise]

Maiale Tonnato... tunnied pork. Should work well. Used turkey on 2 occasions for tonnato - Tacchino Tonnato. Heck, almost anything would taste good under that magic tuna sauce blanket! Needed a luncheon dish for 40. The first go around didn't work because the turkey breast shredded instead of slicing. Second time was better. Less poaching time, removed the breast and put it back in the poaching liquid when it was cooled. Let it sit overnight and sliced rather thickly. Still wanted to fall apart. Pork will be perfect. This is one of those dishes that benefits greatly from meld time.

I can appreciate the problems with the turkey. The pork was WONDERFUL. At 140, four hours, it was the loveliest uniform pink edge to edge--if I'd told them they were eating veal, they'd have believed it. I used my meat slicer to cut and decided to go with a thin shave instead of distinct slices. I realize this isn't the traditional way, but I put the tuna sauce (heavily dosed with fresh oregano from my garden, and so attractive a force on its own that I skipped the anchovies) on the bottom of a long narrow glass platter, and heaped the piles of shaved pork on top. That way I could make enough for ten people without taking up a lot of room on the one long narrow table (with wine bottles and glasses everywhere) we'd all be sitting at. Wish I'd taken a picture to show just how pretty the meat was.

[Jenise]

Dinner tonight: cornmeal crusted fresh true cod on a bed of sauteed broccoli rabe (which will respond as well as the fish to fresh lime juice).

Last night, I threw together a pasta sauce of onion, tomatoes, pancetta, and red pepper (a sorta amatriciana) for some bucatini that was lying around. Ate the leftovers this evening.