What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Had a funny sort of day and spending evening prepping ratatouille and meatloaf (the Batali sn one Jenise posted recently) for lunch tomorrow. Lacking the will to make anything to eat I butter pan fried the truffle sandwich I had infusing in the fridge for just such a moment. A glass of a nice Pinot noir. Just the ticket. Might have to order another truffle.

[Jenise]

We're getting very inexpensive Australian truffles here, Barbara, I'm ordering some this morning!

Last night I made bacon-wrapped pheasant breasts braised with cabbage and juniper berries, a Nordic idea mined from the wonderful book Fire and Ice. Pretty awesome with a good pinot noir.

We're getting very inexpensive Australian truffles here, Barbara, I'm ordering some this morning!

I hope they are good! What sort of price are they asking and do they say whereabouts they are from ie state, region.
It is absolutely the time of year for them here and many areas have had frosts which is a good thing for flavour development.

[Jenise]

Barb, I'll find out!

Tonight we're having dinner with friends who live a bit further down the bay. Their daughter and SIL, who are very cool people, are staying up here for a week and it's always fun getting together with them. Our first order of business will be a martini contest. I'm bringing three gins and Chuck will provide three, and he'll serve as bartender. I'm making the appetizers to accompany the contest: a swordfish brandade and a green pea hummus for spreading on thin toasted slices of homemade sourdough crostini, plus a bowl of marinated smashed cucumbers. I love the way green vegetables 'talk' to gin, peas and cucumbers especially. And the brandade will be a very appropriate entry for the main course to follow wherein a giant paella pan will be placed on an open fire on the beach filled with garlic and butter in which they'll cook fresh dungeness crab, shrimp, salmon and I don't know what else (mussels and clams will be excluded in deference to my husband's severe allergy).

I predict the sixth gin will be declared the best.

[Jenise]

LOL, Jeff, but really not like that. We'll make one martini and split it five ways (the daughter's pregnant, so not a participant), then compare among the group. All will be equal, I assure you.

I'm a fan of Bombay Sapphire for martoonies.

[Jenise]

Larry, check out my post about the martini contest in the wine section.

Tonight we're having green chile burgers and jalapeno-potato salad.

Yum! I had two of those last Saturday. I hadn't had a burger with buns for a long, long time.

First the first time in history, the Hatch Chile Festival is shut down this year due to covid-19. And today, we're enjoying record heat heat due to the climate change hoax. I've lived here for 50 years, and I've noticed a big difference.

And my motor in my swamp cooler suddenly pooped out two days ago. I wanted to take a nap, but I was on top of the roof for 2-3
hours installing an extra motor I had in my garage.

I'll look at your gins with interest. Right now, I don't what I'll have tonight. No energy. Edie might get homemade pesto pasta w/mushrooms (it's quick and easy).

[Jenise]

The Hatch festival--what a loss. One of many, of course. My version of the green chile burger: arugula, chiles seasoned with vinegar and salt, Tillamook Muenster, and red onion slices on a grilled kaiser roll. No sauce.

Today I've been cooking. Made a fresh tomato sauce for pasta, like the vodka version but using gin because 1) we don't have vodka and 2) even if we did I think the botanical nature of gin makes it a superior match for tomatoes. A small pork loin roast is in a sous vide bath. Plans for this are loose--I was looking for something else and it jumped out. I took that as a sign, should be great cold. Since I have argula on hand right now, would in fact be a perfect time to make a cold dinner pork version of vitello tonnato.

Tonight's dinner will be grilled Italian sausage, spaghetti with pesto, and a green salad.

-Paul W.

For Edie tonight, bucatini w/pesto, salad, avocado half with unfiltered EVOO and balsamic vinegar, and my red grape sourdough bread baked this morning. Pour moi, a ribeye, corn, similar avocado, tossed salad. And this afternoon, a couple of gin and tonics (to ward off the coronavirus, of course).

We're going through some record heat in Albuquerque, but it's not nearly as bad as Phoenix or other places. Luckily I fixed our swamp cooler pronto. And I just threw the old motor into the recycling bin an hour ago.

Just tossed a bunch of things in a roasting pan: little yellow potatoes, carrots cut into chunks, big mushrooms cut into slabs, and parts from two chickens, with lots of fresh herbs: sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme. (And a splash of EVOO and s+p.) Easy.

[Jenise]

Invited friends to dinner tonight, and based on things on hand without a grocery run, I'm making this Italianish menu:

Finger food: swordfish brandade on sourdough toast
Primi: vitello tonnato substituting a sous vide pork roast for veal, arugula on the side spritzed with truffle oil and maldon salt
Secundi: Individual casserole dishes of rigatoni or orrechiete and cauliflower florets in a garlic cream sauce with tons of parmesan cheese and butter-fried fresh sage*

Easy menu and helps me out as I'm super-long on fresh sage and parmesan cheese (I probably have 5 pounds). And yes, I know that the pasta is usually primi, but in this case the reversal makes sense in order to have the wine order go sparkling, white then red.

Tonight: key lime popsicles.

Tonight: key lime popsicles.

Nice. Tart and refreshing with just lime juice, sugar and water?

I essentially made frozen key lime pie once, mixing key lime juice with the condensed milk. But the flavor of the popsicle was too muddy. If I did it again, would go fresh and tart and veer away from the pie influence!

[Jenise]

It's Bastille Day!!! Definitely cooking French tonight. Coq au Vin!

It's Bastille Day!!! Definitely cooking French tonight. Coq au Vin!

That sounds great. Too late for me today, but I might make that tomorrow. Are you going red or white?

Tonight: key lime popsicles.

Nice. Tart and refreshing with just lime juice, sugar and water?

I essentially made frozen key lime pie once, mixing key lime juice with the condensed milk. But the flavor of the popsicle was too muddy. If I did it again, would go fresh and tart and veer away from the pie influence!

This was pie: sweetened condensed milk, half and half, lime juice, lime zest, salt. No added sugar or water. The goo tasted very good, sharp and creamy. I'll report back when I try one.

Next up is orange/Campari. And then maybe lemon/Thyme. (These would be proper ices so make simple syrup, blend, freeze.)

Tonight: key lime popsicles.

Nice. Tart and refreshing with just lime juice, sugar and water?

I essentially made frozen key lime pie once, mixing key lime juice with the condensed milk. But the flavor of the popsicle was too muddy. If I did it again, would go fresh and tart and veer away from the pie influence!

This was pie: sweetened condensed milk, half and half, lime juice, lime zest, salt. No added sugar or water. The goo tasted very good, sharp and creamy. I'll report back when I try one.

Next up is orange/Campari. And then maybe lemon/Thyme. (These would be proper ices so make simple syrup, blend, freeze.)

Glad the key lime popsicles worked out. But it sounds like you have many tasty options and inspirations!

I'll report back when I try one.

OK, just tried them. These are excellent: good balance of sweet and tart. A keeper, even if, somehow, it only made 7 freezer-pops when the recipe promised 10.

Orange/Campari is definitely next. The zucca d'amore does not favor lemon/thyme so I'll hunt up some more. Probably just a bit of cornstarch would convert chocolate milk into fudge pops, eh?

Lamb steak sort of agrodolce ie with sweetness of caramelised onions and the sourness of tamarillo.served on grilled cos heart and with Parmesan topped spud.

Very loosely based on a mix of ideas gleamed from gurgling the ‘net.
Including one by a certain Sue Courtney who mentioned Pinot noir in her recipe which was convenient as I’d bough a bottle of Lightfoot and som PN. Those kiwis know their tamarillos.

[Jenise]

Last night I made duck schnitzels.

Yup. Sriracha-marinated duck breast meat pounded flat and coated with panko seasoned with ten-spice powder, pan crisped and topped with a stir fry of shitake mushrooms, green bell peppers and green onions seasoned with garlic and ginger. Bob declared it a '10' but I don't agree. Was delicious but needs work to become a restaurant-quality dish which is always my aim. The suite of vegetables was delicious but would benefit from a unifying sauce, and it should go underneath the schnitzels, not on top. Quite good with a young pinot noir.

Five-spice powder I've heard of. What's in ten-spice powder?

-Paul W.