Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Improving my cooking skills (2003)


MatthewB

Recommended Posts

Well, this is not a J & J recipe, but today I made soup-made stock from smoked turkey & duck carcasses overnight, added wild rice dressing, corn, pickled onions, shredded dark meat-turkey & duck, & to pick it up a bit, a couple of shakes of Sriracha chili sauce-it was pretty good, even my son, who ate next to nothing at dinner yesterday, downed 2 bowls.

A large piece of beef sounds good right about now, though, & maybe a cauliflower gratin (wanted to make it for T-day, but knew noone else would eat it-ha, when they have no alternatives...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, this is not a J & J recipe, but today I made soup-made stock from smoked turkey & duck carcasses overnight, added wild rice dressing, corn, pickled onions, shredded dark meat-turkey & duck, & to pick it up a bit, a couple of shakes of Sriracha chili sauce-it was pretty good, even my son, who ate next to nothing at dinner yesterday, downed 2 bowls.

That sounds pretty good - as does the cauliflower gratin. Luckily our kids love cauliflower ("mommy, it's just like white broccoli!").

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anyone is interested, we're having Alex & his wife over for dinner tomorrow night & I'm going to do the Bruce Aidells' roasted beef loin.  Super easy & super good.  I could PM the recipe.

You know Ms. Alex and I are looking forward to this.

Alex is bringing a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

The crust is graham crackers, hazelnuts, toasted almonds, almond extract, brown sugar, and Plugra. The filling is cream cheese, pumpkin purée, sugar, farm eggs, bourbon, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice w/extra cinnamon.

Thanks for the Alton Brown turkey method. We're making ours on Sunday and will do it that way, with a simple brine. We'll start with chestnut soup; accompany the turkey with Mark Miller's Amarillo mole sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, and bulgur pilaf; and finish with a cranberry-orange-ginger sorbet.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matthew:

What about Pepin's indivudual Yorkshire puddings? I think they're in JandJ.

I've never done Yorkshire puddings but I should soon. Good idea, Maggie!

I just returned from grocery. Here's the menu . . .

Starters

-- Chicken Liver Mousse w/ rye bread & chopped onions (Pierre Franey)

-- Stuffed Mushrooms (Bittman)

-- Olives, cornichons, etc.

Main course

-- Roasted beef fillet w/ balsamic pan sauce (Bruce Aidells)

-- Roasted rosemary potatoes

-- Baked Fennel w/ Garlic Butter & Vermouth (Jamie Oliver--thanks, Heather!)

Dessert

-- Alex's pumpkin cheesecake

-- Ginger wafers

I'm thinking about serving a Falanghina with the starters, a Barolo with the main course, & a Pineau des Charentes with dessert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a Pineau des Charentes with dessert.

I think of Pineau des Charantes, chilled, as an aperitif rather than a desert wine.

I think I'd want something green, or maybe carrots with the meat to cut some of the richness, or even a salad before. I also like roast onions with beef, or even drop some roast onion ice-cream in the middle of the yourkshire puds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a Pineau des Charentes with dessert.

I think of Pineau des Charantes, chilled, as an aperitif rather than a desert wine.

I think I'd want something green, or maybe carrots with the meat to cut some of the richness, or even a salad before. I also like roast onions with beef, or even drop some roast onion ice-cream in the middle of the yourkshire puds.

Perhaps Calvados with dessert then?

I like your other ideas. Have to wait till next time though as I'm too lazy to run to the grocery again.

The slackers shall inherit the earth? :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i just purchased a nice piece of ocean trout from newfoundland (insert newfie joke here). some restaurant in town must have passed on it :wink: . the fish guy said it was like a lighter tasing salmon. any ideas on how to prepare this?

i was thinking of serving it with rice and broccoli.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i just purchased a nice piece of ocean trout from newfoundland (insert newfie joke here). some restaurant in town must have passed on it :wink: . the fish guy said it was like a lighter tasing salmon. any ideas on how to prepare this?

i was thinking of serving it with rice and broccoli.

Is it what is sometimes called "red" trout? I broil it, and serve it with lemon, so no fancy suggestions here.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a great meal, MatthewB. You get extra credit for hosting so soon after Thanksgiving. We're still grazing on leftovers here, but I wish I were joining you.

Heather, did you ever report on how your first risotto went?

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With all the hoopla this week and the sale of our house (we have a contract on our place, and drew up an offer on a new house today), it never got made. :blush: Maybe I'll do a leftover turkey risotto this week.

I picked up Lidia's Italian Table and A New Way To Cook at the library today for some more inspiration.

J & J's Lamb Barley soup is looking good too.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just checked out New Way myself! Want to do a meal from it?

By the way, I still haven't seen any reviews of the new CIA at home book, but I just purchased it on Amazon, where the affiliated discount sellers are offering absurdly low prices. I have no idea why it's being sold so cheap. The book just came out in September.

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just checked out New Way myself! Want to do a meal from it?

Yeah! Give me a couple of days to get over the bug my kids have given me. :sad:

There's an old thread I started with recipe suggestions from torakris and Matthew, among others. I will poke around tomorrow and find it.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just got back from our evening with Matthew and Michele, and I wanted to post before crashing. Everything indeed was wonderful, including (especially) the company.

We did have the Pineau as an aperitif (my first experience with this -- it went down all too easily) followed by the Falanghina (also my first) with the stuffed mushrooms and chicken liver mousse.

The beef with pan gravy turned out perfect, and the fennel was an unexpected but well matched partner.

The electric Bodum vacuum coffee maker most assuredly rocks!

Pumpkin cheesecake, ginger cookies, and Calvados -- now that was an inspired combination.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just checked out New Way myself! Want to do a meal from it?

Great time with Alex & the Ms. :biggrin:

Seth, you need to know celery root. Now that you've a copy of NWTC, get to page 81. "Celery Root & Apple Puree." Old School (if you consider French Nouveau as Old School). Wonderful stuff.

Now build a menu for us that incorporates it with some J&J action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That sounds great. Should we add something green?

Another salad? I've had a hankering for salads after all of the rich food this past week. While leafing through ANWTC I found Bitter Greens with Seasonal Fruits and Roasted Nuts, page 417. Sound good, or is that too much fruit in one meal?

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That sounds great.  Should we add something green?

Another salad? I've had a hankering for salads after all of the rich food this past week. While leafing through ANWTC I found Bitter Greens with Seasonal Fruits and Roasted Nuts, page 417. Sound good, or is that too much fruit in one meal?

It does sound like a little too much fruit. I think I might make this menu tonight, but just steam some broccoli or something. Or I might reheat some of my leftover Thanksgiving squash braised in cider. But that again might be too much apple.

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...