eunny jang

We had a roast chicken with giblet stuffing, real macaroni and cheese, and broccoli with lemon and asiago. No pics, as it was just a lazy cold-weather meal. But it sure hit the spot

Oh! I am going to do that this weekend, hopefully...yesterday was so ugly and gloomy it was all I could do to drag myself to the store at all, much less trek to Cleveland Park for pancetta and good cheese...I promise soon Deviled eggs! Can you mail me some? Better yet, can I crash your party?

I'll spill It was improvised pretty hastily - 1/8" slices of parsnip, fennel and cipollini onion. The parsnip and fennel were boiled (VERY) briefly in heavily salted water; the onions were caramelized. Constructed like a traditional potato gratin: layered in a buttered dish, each layer starting with parsnip and spread with fennel/onion. The onion/fennel mix dotted with butter, salted and peppered, and sprinkled with just a little gruyere. Finished with some whole milk poured over, more cheese, and stuck in a 400 degree oven with a weight...I sprinkled it with buttered breadcrumbs and ran it under the broiler before serving. You'll probably want to let it rest for a bit before you cut it; mine fell apart, but 5 minutes of rest would have helped that. Enjoy! Eunny

Ok! I admit it! I did this last night and it was amazingly delicious. Remembered at the last minute that I had a small jar of caviar in the fridge. Cooked the tots, dabbed them with the sour cream, topped with little eggies...Yum! =R= ← Oh! My! Goodness! I think I was kidding. But now I'm dying to try it.

Thank you to everyone for your good wishes Percy: nah, I'm doing the same old boring technical writing thang. Really and truly fall weather here. The leaves are almost off the trees Cold, steady rain. All I wanted to do all day was hide somewhere warm and dark and quiet with a big bowl of something rich and my knitting needles. Short rib carbonnade (kinda) Meaty shortribs, scrupulously trimmed of surface fat (but the silverskin kept on). Seared with salt; then braised for hours with thin-sliced onions, beer, stock, mushrooms, and bay. Finished with a mustard "crust" - just whole-grain dijon run under the broiler. Over buttered/parslied egg noodles, accompanied by carrots roasted with thyme and some dressed greens. It always surprises me that long cooking brings out flavors that are impossible to achieve otherwise. I kept tasting the (very simple) stew in the beginning, thinking "this tastes okay, I guess, but it would be good with rosemary, thyme, etc etc". Tasting it after three hours was a revelation: inky, complex flavor, with no seasonings but salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. It was gooood.

Do they have the skin on? If so, you can get away with a spice rub and a good sear - turn, cook the flesh side in some liquidy crushed tomatoes and capers, or in a bed of thinly-sliced onions and wine, etc etc. If they're boneless AND skinless, I would bread and fry them. I like to pound them thin to cut cooking time.

Chocolate is the tar buildup in the devil's lungs. Why would you ruin a perfectly good pretzel, potato chip, pork rind, strawberry, ginger piece, citrus zest, or banana by coating it in the most insidious of all coatings - chocolate? Might as well wrap it in a hair shirt. I will stop crashing this thread now Yours, Eunny the chocolate hating freakshow

That's a bit of an understatement. Not very breakfasty, but damn tasty. ← I was trying to play it cool

Susan - I am checking in to tell you how much I appreciate this blog, and HOW BEAUTIFUL YOUR PICTURES ARE!!! It's turning wintry very quickly here in DC, and I am staring at the photos of your beautiful home, weather and food longingly. I keep sighing loudly and muttering under my breath Re: The Cuban - I had to laugh when I saw that picture - we cooked a "chicken under a brick" last week, except it was really a "chicken under a barbell weight". I like to press my cubans for an hour before cooking - sort of like a pain bagnat - and then toast them, lightly pressed. Gets everything appropriately smushy and puts just the right amount of cruch. Again, thank you for doing this!!!

Yup. A big ruffly red-leaf lettuce leaf, or butter or bibb if you're feeling rich. Think about how quickly they wilt in vinaigrette - they really hoover up fat.

All I want to do today is hide, preferably somewhere warm and dark and quiet, with a big creamy beer and something meaty and rich. Where?

You've hit the nail on the head, unfortunately. Just remember to take the solids out, get any grease you can off of them, and store them seperately. A couple other tips for when you don't have the time to chill overnight: - if it's a very small quantity of liquid, ladle it in a metal bowl and either put it in the freezer or in a larger bowl of ice water. - skim scrupulously with a large metal spoon (boring, but works if you're patient enough). - When the liquid is almost completely defatted, running a paper towl or a lettuce leaf over the surface works suprisingly well to get the lingering droplets.

I have an idea I've been playing with for a little while now - very thin, small ravioli filled with a dab of cream and a smallish salted, peppered and unbroken egg yolk. The short cooking time would leave the yolk runny - plated with rendered pancetta, a drizzle of melted butter and shards of cheese. Maybe a couple crisp-fried sage leaves. One would get a plate of innocuous-looking ravioli with butter sauce, but would be suprised by the run of egg yolk. A few judicious swabs of the plate, and you'd have a delicious bite on your fork. Just an idea. Think I'll try it tonight.

There are always lots of trucks on 16th Street at Harvard, in front of the church's playground. Anyone with a report? I might investigate this weekend.

the house cured pork belly in the style of bacon at palena is decent, i guess.

I have never craved sugar in my life. I really dislike chocolate, most candy, sweet pastry, sticky gloppy junk. I don't get PMS or associate any negative symptoms with any point of the cycle, either. Which is why I was so surprised that today, I thought I was going to die if I didn't get a cookie immediately. And then I didn't even really want it once I had it in my hot little hand. Edit: to make at least a little sense

I like cumin on my popcorn.

Oh, yeah - chickpeas roasted hot in plenty of oil and tasty seasonings are an awesome little poppable snack. I'm weird, but I like limas and favas cooked this way too.

Without a doubt, chana masala. Here's my non-authentic, tastes-good-to-me version: Cumin, turmeric, red pepper and asafoetida (2:1:1:pinch), toasted in a pan with salt and hot oil. Plenty of smashed ginger added and cooked just till the fragrance blooms. Dried chickpeas, water, green chile and tomatoes - a good two or three hours of cooking. Plenty of lemon juice, a little more ginger stirred in before serving. A little cilantro.

Oh, this just reminded me of the time I made seared tuna steaks...rare, of course. He got up and microwaved his. (How come there is no smilie like the heart one but shows tears bursting forth?) ← And the Lobel's Wagyu ribeye cooked to medium, and that only after some hand-wringing. That one almost made me cry.

I hear you on the chicken and pork doneness thing. It's a shame when you cook a beautiful duck breast and you know that some small part of your companion can't really enjoy it, because it's poultry and it's rare.

Oh, that liquid bandage stuff works too.

Pressure. If it's in an awkward place, like in the webbing between your fingers, and it's bad, you're outta luck. Apply heavy pressure until it's staunched at least a little, tape that sucker up TIGHT, change if/when the bandage bleeds through. For bad cuts, butterfly closures and the gel-pad sticky bandages (sort of an offshoot of what runners use to cover blisters) work well. Don't put either of them on until the bleeding has slowed to an ooze.

tater tots cooked very crisp, a slight depression made in one side, and filled with a wee dab of sour cream and some good caviar. I think I just made my head explode.

Egullet helped me lose four hundred pounds, escape a terrible marriage, get my high school diploma, and kick that crack habit. Then, it got out the tourniquet after a terrible thresher accident, and with gentle and infinitely patient care nursed me back from the brink of death. Is there anything that egullet can't do?