What's Cooking (Take Two!)

We had our neighborhood progressive dinner last night. We were house #3 on the list, so I made pulled pork and hot and sour cole slaw. The star of supper was made by my wife and served at the dessert house (the last one of the evening, of course). She put together a "Mexican Opera Cake" from the book My Sweet Mexico by Fany Gerson. It involved a bunch of layers, including chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, Rice Krispies with Nutella (for a crunchy layer in the middle), buttercream, and two layers of almond cake soaked in tequila syrup. This one covered a full sheet pan and was cut into beautiful squares that some mistook for Napoleons. It was a truly amazing and very professional dessert. I think she outdid herself on this one.

Mike your wife's dessert sounds truly amazing, did you get photos?
must have been a greet evening.
Hope you are keping in god health.

Barb -

It really was pretty. I'll try and get a photo up when I get home this afternoon.

Thanks - all is very well on the health front.

Here's a photo, although not a great one. It looks better in person.

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A modified version of Kung Pao chicken for dinner tonight. I didn't have any peanuts, so this was a stir-fry using Fuschia Dunlop's seasonings (from her Sichuan cookbook), with diced chicken, scallions, celery, and red bell pepper, the seasonings being sliced garlic and ginger, dried red chiles, and Sichuan peppercorns. Chinkiang black vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, rice wine, and sesame oil being in the sauce added at the end. Served over jasmine rice.

-Paul W.

Tonights dinner is our families chili recipe that our kids loved. Instead of hamburger I am using ground chicken, onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper,lots of red kidney beans, and Grandma's Spanish Seasoning, a batch of my home made tomato sauce which has some peppers in it. Also adding a few Hatch chilies which we processed last summer. We also have a few wedges of quesidilla left over from last nights Beef and Barley Soup.

[Jenise]

Been an off week for cooking here. Spent all day Tuesday on errands in Seattle and came home to just a late steak with stir-fried vegetables. Lunches have been more interesting as I've had a lot of leftovers to use up and they're the kind that suit lunches very well. Today, mache salad, flatbread with soumaintrain cheese and a pasta y fagioli soup. Tonight, we're not dining at home but going to the local Indie Film theater for "dinner and a movie". There's a pre-movie aperitif, then the movie, and dinner afterward on tables and chairs set up in the lobby by the best caterer and restauranteur in town. Movie's "Mostly Martha", and the tickets were $120 each so it's going to be pretty damned good. I'm also doing the prep work for tomorrow night's wine club--South African wines, so I'm doing Sosaties (tamarind-marinated lamb on skewers), Geehrys (rice cooked with saffron and cinnamon bark), and curried green beans.

Tomorrow's going to be a Thai chicken curry, most likely red, possibly massaman.

-Paul W.

Tonight is pizza made with a shredded zucchini crust, (almond flour, egg, fresh herbs, cheese, salt) topped with sugar plum tomatoes, turkey pepperoni, red onion, 2 cheeses, and a home made sauce made from my tomatoes last summer which contains garlic, and peppers. I may add black olives. Served with a simple salad with myriad lettuce, arugula, and parsley from the garden, with an Italian vinaigrette.

Movie's "Mostly Martha", and the tickets were $120 each so it's going to be pretty damned good.

You will love the movie, Jenise. The English subtitles can be a bit difficult at times, but it is well worth it. Much better than No Reservations.

Tonight is pizza made with a shredded zucchini crust, (almond flour, egg, fresh herbs, cheese, salt)...

Is all that for the pizza crust? Not sure I'm following. And if those are the ingredients, what happens to the zucchini?

Last night decided to do something a little different - for us - and have sweet potato waffles for dinner (of course without all the sugar or silly spices you might see in recipes, just sweet potatoes). We also had scrambled eggs and a shredded carrot salad, and it was all fun. And interestingly enough, went with 2002 R. Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Auslese and 2012 Coudert Tardive. Of course that was the beginning of the Coudert before it got more air and progressively darker and deeper, at which point it would have been too much for that food.

[Jenise]

Movie's "Mostly Martha", and the tickets were $120 each so it's going to be pretty damned good.

You will love the movie, Jenise. The English subtitles can be a bit difficult at times, but it is well worth it. Much better than No Reservations.

I had seen it before, actually, and totally agree with the difference between the two movies. And I love subtitles--at least, compared to dubbing. So, not a problem.

Tomorrow is "the BIG game" (so they tell me) when the Seahawks play some team from San Francisco. For some reason people are going to gather at my house to watch. To be a team player, I have promised to cook hot wings and pan pizza. I'm not a big pizza fan, but I do have a good, quick tomato sauce and a pesto that I will use for the base. Not sure what I will use for toppings, so I am open to suggestions for both meat and veggie (for me and a girlfriend) pizzas. I'll let you know how it all comes out.

[Jenise]

Jo Ann, one of the best pesto-based pizzas I ever had was topped with asparagus and goat cheese. Another had thinly sliced potatoes and leeks--think vichysoisse. Arugula with either or both.

Tonight is pizza made with a shredded zucchini crust, (almond flour, egg, fresh herbs, cheese, salt)...

Is all that for the pizza crust? Not sure I'm following. And if those are the ingredients, what happens to the zucchini?

The pizza crust had 4 cups of shredded zucchini in it....It was delicious.

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Wow. A very new take on pizza crust. At least to me. Nice work. Fun to think outside the circle!

Wow. A very new take on pizza crust. At least to me. Nice work. Fun to think outside the circle!

Not my idea, it is all over the internet...many ways to cook it and ingredients to put into it. I chose a simple method and am doing an article and photos on it for Linda Stradley. Will post the link, when she gets back home and does the article, with pictures and posts it to her website. It was fun to do, savory, and delicious.
FWIW, I have tried different pizza crusts, even a shredded potato.....I like this because the zucchini gives it a clean/fresh taste. I am getting baby zucchini from an organic grocer who gets fresh stuff in everyday. I love the taste of them and have been doing many things zucchini IN JANUARY! We are in a serious drought and the temps approach 80° every afternoon.

...To be a team player, I have promised to cook hot wings...

Whether you fry, broil or bake them, the skins must be crispy. This is how I do the sauce:
2½ lb. Chicken wings
¼ c. melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Durkees (Frank’s Red Hot) hot sauce
1 tsp. Vinegar
1 tsp. Ketchup (optional)

Pretty nice dinner party at our house last night. First course was scallops in an herb arugula sauce with 2004 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Spatlese #10 everything went well together and it was a nice way to get ready for eating.

Main course was gnocchi in tomato sauce (getting greenhouse tomatoes from farmers market right now is still better than canned tomatoes or anything from supermarket), red cabbage salad, sauteed swiss chard and kale, with 2005 ESJ Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah. The ESJ was decanted for a few hours and was absolutely gorgeous, all clicking together and I'll be looking forward to drinking the rest of my bottles.

For dessert it was my first time making poached pears, in a white wine (German riesling) and vanilla sauce. Delicious. Our friends' 2-year-old couldn't stop eating the pear (which is not a common sight). She is subliminally developing a German riesling palate, good for her!

Our friends' 2-year-old couldn't stop eating the pear (which is not a common sight). She is subliminally developing a German riesling palate, good for her!

Excellent! Best to get them while they're young.

...To be a team player, I have promised to cook hot wings...

Whether you fry, broil or bake them, the skins must be crispy. This is how I do the sauce:
2½ lb. Chicken wings
¼ c. melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Durkees (Frank’s Red Hot) hot sauce
1 tsp. Vinegar
1 tsp. Ketchup (optional)

Thanks for the recipe, Howie. You are right, the wings were perfect when I took them directly out of the fryer and doused them with the sauce. But, 15 minutes after they sat it was not the same experience. Personally, I could have used a pinch of cayenne in the sauce, but Carl doesn't like too much heat. Next time I'll do them in batches as people order them up. The pizzas were great. I made sausage, salami and onion for the meat eaters and potato, leek, mushroom with herbed chevre for my girlfriend and me. I'll be making that one again. I have some leftover ingredients and my husband wants a repeat tomorrow.

Had a little time to cook today and we have a bunch of Meyer lemons sitting in the house, so I made a lemon chicken recipe out of The Splendid Table. It involved sauteing chicken pieces in olive oil, removing them from the skillet and adding onion, carrot, sage, Italian parsley, and then sauteing that mix for a while. When that was nearly done, some lemon zest went in and then some garlic, some lemon juice, and some canned tomatoes and their juices. The chicken went back in and the whole thing cooked with a lid on for a while and then with the lid off to reduce the sauce. I served it with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. It was very good, with a rich savory sauce that was great with the potatoes. The Meyers did not provide much of a lemony kick, as one would expect, but it was still delicious. Only downside was that the breast meat was a touch dry. If I do this again, I'll use thighs or leg quarters only.

That sounds great Mike....know what you mean about the breasts. I've never become attached to Meyer lemons, aren't they half lemon and mandarin? My tree is a Eureka lemon and we love the flavor of them. We are cooking many things lemon right now.

Tonights dinner is a pork tenderloin that has been marinating since yesterday in pomegranate balsamic, with a little apple cider vinegar,honey, Dijon mustard, olive oil, fresh garlic and rosemary. Also, Israeli Toasted Couscous topped with roasted eggplant, colorful bell peppers, red onion, garlic, lots of lemon, evoo, basil. Toasted pine nuts for garnish and a sprinkle of parsley.