Norm Matthews

While at the Asian market the other day, I noticed packages of bulgogi and kalbi in the freezer section. It was all ready to thaw and cook. We both were happy to find that they were both good. They will be good to keep some in the freezer for a quick meal. One package would not have been enough for the two of us though. Notice the cooking direction on the package.

Charlie showed me a recipe in the Koreatown cookbook and asked if I would make it. He said he had it once at a restaurant and it was really good. I made it and he said it was perfect so it goes on the keeper list. It is Daeji Kalbi. It has a quite a spicy marinade for baby back ribs that have been cut apart before marinating. It makes quite a mess on the grill though. I added a few slices of beef short ribs to see how that worked and it didn't. They were quite tough. I made a spicy baby eggplant to go with it and some creamed corn. A friend told me about making a potato water sourdough starter and I tried it. It was ready to use today but I didn't take as much time as I could have with it. Still it turned out OK.

I got a pretty good hunk of fresh salmon at the Asian Market today because I saw a recipe for Thai Salmon that looked good. The sauce is coconut milk with chili paste, garlic, ginger, lemon grass brown sugar, and lemon. We liked it. We had it with radish kimchi and rice.

Our dinner tonight was pork chops, spinach and cornbread.

We had tacos tonight.

I cooked the Cornish Hens that didn't get thawed in time for dinner yesterday.

I get in breakfast ruts. For a long time I only ate a poached eggs on toast with sausage. Then for a long time I only had Julia omelets with sausage and toast. Then it was scrambled eggs. Now I am trying to lose weight and skipping breakfast most of the time. But sometimes now I have some Cheerios and berries.

I was going to have game hens and cake for dinner but the hens didn't get thawed in time so we ordered take out from a Mexican restaurant. A while back Charlie was watching a show where people who had never been to the USA were given typical food from here. It was about people from Ireland tasting Southern food. He brought me the recipe for Hummingbird Cake and said it looked really good. I don't generally have the patience to stack and ice cakes, and I didn't do a photogenic job on this one but took pictures anyway. The recipe asked for three cake pans the same size. I had two the same size and one smaller so it came out sort of domed shaped. We both thought it was good but I won't make it again unless I get a request for it.

Charlie suggested dinner again. This time he asked for ribs in the smoker. I left the ribs in about an hour longer than I planned to and they were falling off the bone when I cut them. A while back, @Ann_T mentioned using rye flour for sourdough starter so I tried it. I put a cup of rye and cup of water in a stoneware jar and let it set about 4 days before it started to bubble. When it did I fed it again and the next day it was a very active starter; so I made my usual sourdough french bread with it and it turned out very well. The potato salad and coleslaw came from a deli. The butter is Irish Whiskey butter that I forgot to put on the table for St. Patrick's.

Charlie suggested today's menu. He wanted grilled chicken dark meat and Mac and Cheese. He said I could decide what vegetables. I seasoned the thighs with poultry BBQ seasoning and apple flavored BBQ sauce was added near the end.

This my be considered heresy but it works for me. When it comes out of the oven, I paint the top with butter then when it has cooled a little but still warm, I either wrap it in plastic or put it in a plastic bag. That will make the bread soggy if you take it out too soon but if you let it set overnight, the moisture will reabsorb into the the crust and leave it softer than just butter alone. .

That is interesting. My first thought was the lack or gluten in rye flour but I immediately realized that you don't need gluten to keep wild yeast alive, you just need it for raising the bread. I am currently without a sourdough batter and am thinking about starting one again. The last one was ten years old and still alive but it didn't seem to be as lively as it used to be.

I wanted to get a chuck roast but they were out of them so I got a tri-tip instead. I think it's the first time I ever cooked one but not the first time I ever ate one. Back in 2003 tri-tips not heard of in Kansas, nor I gather, much of anyplace else outside of California. At that time I was getting ready to retire and a friend asked me what I planned to do next. I said that in September when all the other teachers are back at work, I want to send them a picture of me sitting on some sunny beach with an umbrella drink in my hand. She said that she, Darrell and Joanie were going to be at Pismo Beach for several days in September and I was welcome to join them so I did. One day for lunch we stopped at a grill and we all had tri tip sandwiches. Yesterday I also made some Swedish Rye bread and we had that with the roast.

1/4 C. brown sugar 1/4 C. light molasses 1 tbsp salt 2 tbsp shortening 1 1/2 .c boiling water 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1/4 C. warm water ( 110-115º) 2 1/2 C. rye flour 2 to 3 tbsp. caraway seeds plus enough all purpose flour to make a soft dough (3 to 4 C.) It's hard to get much of a rise out of any yeast bread that does not have at least some wheat flour.

I made some Swedish Rye bread from the 1969 Farm Journal of Homemade Breads. I used to make it alot but haven't made it much lately... perhaps because it is not as easy to find rye flour anymore.

Using half a bag of noodles and cabbage leftover from previous meals, i added hickory smoked sausage for a fall back dinner we have every so often.

MMMM Breakfast in March after the 17th

We had company for dinner tonight. Charlie told me they were invited yesterday. They came early and I forgot to take before pictures. These are some leftovers. I had taken a brisket point and brined it for three weeks, but it was so big, fatty and thick that it could have uses another couple of weeks. The flat coned beef we had was bought from Heritage foods. It was from Wagyu cattle imported in from Japan and raised in Texas. It was good but next year I'll go back to brining my own flat. We had with it some scones, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, strawberries with whipped cream and angel food cake. I made a Guinness mustard sauce and an Bushmills horseradish sauce too.

As for suggestions about how to make a juicy hamburger, James Beard would put a little piece of ice in the middle of the hamburger to keep it from cooking as much as the outside and Anne Rosenzweig, owner of the Lobster Club in NYC would put a pad of butter in the middle. She combined fresh thyme, sage, parsley, chives and rosemary in a blender, stirred it into softened butter, then inside a piece of plastic wrap, she rolled it into a log and refrigerated it until ready to cut off a piece and put inside the hamburger.

Yes, it's puff pastry.

@scamhi If your wagyu is as nice as the waygu corned beef I am expecting tomorrow, it should be delicious. I have been brining a choice brisket point for about 3 weeks and plan to cook both for St. Patrick's day to see how they compare. Your beef looks so good though. I made some chicken stock with a large roasting chicken yesterday and when my son saw it, he wanted chicken pot pie so that's what we had today.

The pan is small and I almost never use it for anything except eggs, so I don't have much need to toss but it's shape is well suited for flipping and tossing.

This pan came from the Home Store a few years ago and is longer lasting than any teflon pans I used to have. It has no markings so I don't know what it is. Other that that, I have only Calpnalon, stainless, carbon steel and cast iron . I used to buy teflon and then replace it every 8 to 12 months or as soon as they stopped being non-stick. I have resigned myself to using a little oil or butter in the the pan for whatever I am cooking. I am no longer tempted to try any pan just because it claims to be non-stick. PS Even pans that are in no way non-stick (stainless) will be easy to clean if they are run under hot water while they are still hot from the stove and given a quick rub with a bristle brush.

A friend sent me a recipe for fish that used a seasoned coating made with part of a packet of powdered mashed potatoes. I used garlic flavored. It was good but I substituted a pounded chicken breast and I added garlic bread, egg noodles and Alfredo sauce. In the past I have used ground up potato chips in a fried coating but this was the first time I used a commercial mix for mashed potatoes. On a whim Charlie ordered some strawberry flavored Coke from Japan. I expected it to have an artificial strawberry candy flavor but it was not very sweet at all. Tasted like they used real strawberries. It was very good.

My opinion of Omaha Steaks as a gift is, I'd rather get something else.