What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Ground meat, chopped sliced grated vegetables, onion, celery, carrot, green beans, cabbage, a packet of chicken noodle soup, simmered together. And the sooo exotic finishing touch.....canned bean shoots and soy sauce . Wow.

Sounds authentic! Authentically Aussie, not Chinese, but I remember as a kid eating chicken chow mein that would be unrecognizable to anyone even 1/16th Chinese.

Oh yeah, definitely authentic Aussie, suburban, working class mum food! And nothing wrong with that. Hey Jeff, if I can get the original recipe from my mum I'll post it. Maybe you could make a vat of it for pumpkin one of those weeks when you run away from home.

I seem to do more interesting things with leftovers!
So I picked up a cloth on the bench and... found two sheets of my pasta left over and left to dry.
Of course they were dry and broke up as I picked it up. Looked actually fun, so I roughly broke it all up into pieces 2-6 mm, cooked them and mixed the with a cup of leftover spicy tomato vegetable soup and sautéed sliced mushrooms and the grated parmigiana that was lurking as well. Grilled a steak and sliced it over the top. Yummmm

[Robin Garr]

I think you recreated a famous Italian pasta that's made by breaking up dried pasta sheets into irregular pieces, Barb! I wish I could think of the name of it right now.

Robin, the name is "maltagliati". dried pasta dough broken into pieces of different size.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, the name is "maltagliati". dried pasta dough broken into pieces of different size.

Thanks, Heinz! "Malfatti" kept coming to mind, but that's Sicilian and more like misshapen gnocchi.

Yes, maltagliati is what happens to the crumbs at the bottom of a box of lasagna!

Thai green curry tonight to go with the hot weather.

-Paul W.

We had the older daughter and her new boyfriend over on Saturday night, so I made boeuf bourguignon using a streamlined version of a James Peterson recipe. Had that with mashed potatoes and roasted cauliflower. We had plenty left for dinner last night. Tonight, the younger daughter decided she wanted to roast up some chicken, so we're doing that and having it with leftover mashed potatoes (I made way too much of that on Saturday) and some quick fried shishito peppers for something green.

Fired up the grill again. Similar menu: swordfish, shrimp kabobs, filet mignon.

(Yes, I know, I know. I was making a mini Surf 'n' Turf for myself -- half portion kabobs, half portion filet -- but, gee whiz, is that a dull steak.)

My next effort, however, I think is going to be octopus. My fish store sells 2-3# bundles, already pounded. So I think I just need a red wine marinade and charcoal.

Whatever plans I had (not many ) went out the window when friends dropped by for a coffee after a weekend fishing trip. They kindly shared their bounty with us.
So we had a lovely whle bream baked with fennel followed the next night when we did fish tacos with the flathead fillets. Sooo good to have really fresh fish.

Dinner last night was Thai mahogany fire noodles. This batch came out particularly incendiary.

-Paul W.

With friends coming for Christmas in July in three weeks, it is time to get cracking.
So today I made a traditional Christmas pudding, cooked and ready to reheat on the day,
When t will be turned out, presented flaming at the table and served with brandy custard.
Also prepped the dough for Latvian spice cookies which will rest for a week or so and then be rolled, cut and baked.
And the butcher has orders fo get me some pheasants.

[Jenise]

Wow, that's going to be an amazing dinner.

Tell me about the dough for the Latvian spice cookies. I've not heard of a dough that needed to rest for a week--why does this? What happens? Does it ferment?

Yes - I am also curious about that.

Yes - I am also curious about that.

I am not an expert baker, so I couldn't get into the chemistry details. But I did recently learn about traditions in Poland (and elsewhere in Northern and Eastern Europe) of letting dough age for weeks, months or even years before making Christmas cookies/gingerbread and the like. It blew my mind, but you can probably find more info on the internet.

It is just a cookie dough with heaps of spices ( I'll post it) and it is about developing the flavours really, no fermentation involved, no actual time frame it can be left for months ( down here in the fridge) It just develops flavour and I find it good to make a big batch of dough and grab bits to bake off a tray or two when I need, have time or the oven is on.
Or i imagine if you have streams of visitors over the festive season.
As a Christmas cookie from the colder climes probably no issues with it going off

[Jenise]

It is just a cookie dough with heaps of spices ( I'll post it) and it is about developing the flavours really, no fermentation involved, no actual time frame it can be left for months ( down here in the fridge) It just develops flavour and I find it good to make a big batch of dough and grab bits to bake off a tray or two when I need, have time or the oven is on.
Or i imagine if you have streams of visitors over the festive season.
As a Christmas cookie from the colder climes probably no issues with it going off

Does it have eggs in it? I'm guessing no--they'd be the ingredient that needs a preservative if left for months.

[Jenise]

Last night we had a wonderful risotto. I'd planned something else earlier in the day but by dinner time was preferring to skip meat, and I had fresh maitakes on hand. So those with a handful of basil and the finishing touch of pistou and truffle oil drizzles made a pretty splendid dinner. Risotto's becoming my fallback--I've probably made more of them in the last year than I did in the prior ten years combined.

Today, on the other hand, is meat intensive. I'm having 14 people to dinner, it's a planning meeting for the next neighborhood wine tasting. To draw volunteers I said, "And dinner's on me." More volunteered than I expected. The meal's going to be pretty simple: a help-yourself salmon carpaccio using store-bought lox-type salmon layered with onions and capers soaked in lemon juice for a first course, and a giant platter of arugula seasoned with parm, lemon juice and EVOO, tiled over with sliced roast pork loin. Pickled radishes, cold pesto green beans and fingerling potato salad on the side. A relatively easy meal for a hot summer day. Again, guests will just help themselves.

I was actually a little flummoxed on the timing for the pork since I also have to be conducting the meeting, then it dawned on me: sous vide! They (four packets about 1.5 - 2.0 lbs each) are 'cooking' right now and will be ready when I am--I just have to open and slice.

I was actually a little flummoxed on the timing for the pork since I also have to be conducting the meeting, then it dawned on me: sous vide! They (four packets about 1.5 - 2.0 lbs each) are 'cooking' right now and will be ready when I am--I just have to open and slice.

Nice use of the sous vide to solve a kitchen problem.

[Jenise]

Nice use of the sous vide to solve a kitchen problem.

YES! I'd never looked at this device as a timing solution, just a way to create certain textures. But it sure was handy.

[Jenise]

Tonight: veal scallopini in a wine sauce on roasted zucchini spears.

Tonight: veal scallopini in a wine sauce on roasted zucchini spears.

Very traditional-sounding, La Jenisa.

[Jenise]

Tonight: veal scallopini in a wine sauce on roasted zucchini spears.

Very traditional-sounding, La Jenisa.

And easy and summery. Also, a vegetable-intensive dish wherein a little meat goes a long way. Four ounces each was a perfect portion, where we typically eat 8-12 ounces each.