Dinner! 2002

[kitwilliams]

Last Sunday. Fresh Sand Dabs from the Long Beach Farmer's Market Fish Man. Ever-so-lightly dipped and breaded, fried, a squeeze of lemon. Melted in your mouth. Served with Beefsteak Tomatoes, warm from the sun, with a simple cream vinaigrette.

Ahhhhhhh....

[SobaAddict70]

tonight (Saturday): couscous with chopped dried cranberries, caramelized onions, sliced chicken breasts (from lunch) and cilantro; steamed broccoli with a pat of basil-nutmeg butter. Cranshaw melon slices. Green tea.

SA

[SobaAddict70]

Sunday dinner with my grandmother and mom. Grandma I haven't seen since 1985, so it was a lot of catch-up, but fun nonetheless. My grandma is a fantastic cook...guess it runs in the family, hehe.

Kari-kari (oxtail stew), pancit (vermicelli wth vegetables and shrimp), anchovy and shrimp paste with garlic (to be served with the kari-kari) and fried stuffed bean curd skin with chorizo, chopped pork, crispy shallots and five-spice-powder (served with banana ketchup).

Wilfrid and cabrales, the kari-kari you had at Elvie's Turo-Turo is a far insipid version compared to my grandma's version. Think of well-made kari-kari as a Filipino version of pot au feu.

Kari-kari (adapted from Antonia S. (my grandmother); note I don't have exact quantities, only the technique)

Prepared bagoong

Dried shrimp (optional)

Garlic

Tripe

Oxtails

Sliced ginger (optional)

Green beans

Baby bok choy

Eggplant

Onions

Garlic

Chopped peanuts (or peanut butter)

Patis [fish sauce]

For the anchovy paste:

1. Fry some bagoong with 3 to 5 cloves of minced garlic in 2 T. peanut oil, adding some reconsituted dried shrimp (optional). Cook for a few minutes, until garlic is lightly browned, and set aside.

For the kari-kari:

1. Clean the tripe thoroughly and cook by boiling in two changes of water. The second time you boil the tripe, add a few pieces of ginger if you like.

2. Cook the oxtails by par-boiling them in three changes of water. Add some sliced ginger to the water the third boiling, if you like.

3. Prepare the vegetables separately by stewing them with slow-cooked sliced onions and browned garlic. Sprinkle some patis when done.

4. Combine the oxtails and tripe; add chopped peanuts or peanut butter (which has been mixed with enough water to form the consistency of a liquid sauce). Simmer for a few minutes or until meats are cooked through, adding water from time to time if the sauce becomes too thick.

5. At serving, combine the vegetables with the oxtails and toss thoroughly so that the vegetables are covered in sauce. Serve with the anchovy and shrimp paste as an accompaniment.

SA

[Wilfrid]

Thanks for that, Soba.

I had the Beloved one at the burners yesterday, making bacalao con huevos. She prepared the salt cod in Dominican fashion by repeatedly rinsing it in hot water. It takes about forty five minutes, is far superior to soaking it in the fridge for a couple of days, and makes it complete bullshit that so many restaurants serve salty salt cod and think it's supposed to be that way. Da bastards.

The cod and eggs served with plain boiled rice, and flushed down with a Bodegas Montecillo white Rioja (2000) which was a little young and sharp for my taste.

[Jinmyo]

Soba, very interesting.

Wilfrid, rinsing under warm water sounds fine. But doesn't this involve constant manipulation?

[Adam Balic]

Could we get an exact method for this de-salting, I'm sick of soaking my cod. Doesn't the hot water "cook" the cod, or isn't it that hot?

Have been looking at Varenne over the weekend - interestig recipe for Otter and soot custard.

[Wilfrid]

Otter again, how dull.

Well, I would like to give you a precise method for the salt cod, and I keep trying to look over her shoulder. Yes, it does require periodic manipulation, and the cod starts to flake up. So it's not suitable if you are committed to serving the cod in big slabs. On the other hand, you can also pluck out bones as you go. But I was wrong about the water being hot.

Essentially, it goes like this. Put cod in saucepan, run coldwater over it and rinse it thoroughly with your hands. Drain, replace with fresh water, and simmer on the stove for about fifteen minutes. Then drain this water, and put it back under the running cold tap again, rinsing with your hands. Then back on the stove for another fifteen minutes. Repeat the process (cold rinse, hot simmer) four times. Then add whatever you like to cod and finish it - you'll find the cooking process is quite far advanced already.

This works with any salt cod. Give it a try, and let me know if you have problems.

[Priscilla]

East-Coast (Staten Island) relatives visiting, digging the present temperateness of our West Coast weather.

At ambient temperature:

Bruschetta with a raw sauce of Roma tomatoes from the garden, garlic, a little onion, sage, olive oil, salt, pepper

Little bites of canteloupe with little ribbons of proscuitto.

Chicken which'd been slow-roasted on the grill over mesquite

Piemontese green sauce, very piquant

Red potato salad with chives

Georgian green-bean salad, (thank you Helena Sarin!) with beans from the garden that grow intensely royal purple and cook to regular old green

Bread adapted from the so-called Italian bread in Mr. Bernard Clayton's Breads of France

Homemade ice cream and a quatre-quarts cake

All outside, as it was temperate.

[Jinmyo]

Potatoes (Yukon golds shaved on the mandolin, simmered in cream, baked with a panko and parmesan crust, sliced into [perfect!] rectangles, garnished with fresh tarragon); soup (puree of kale and parsley with much garlic and sambal olek); eggs (frittatas with mushrooms, red and cubanelle peppers); salad of microgreens and selection of cheeses (Oka, 5 year cheddar, camembert, Stilton, chevre) with fresh baked pain de Pepin (Jacques' recipe).

[hfaze]

italian pride day:

sauted spinach (sea salt, cracked black pepper), fettuccini (heavy cream, butter, parmeian, ricotta, pepper) and tomato sauce (roma tomatoes, EVOO, shallot, oregano, garlic, sea salt, merlot)

[FoodMan]

Spice brined chicken served on top of a warm lentil and Urud Dahl salad. I brined the chicken for 48 hrs. it came out very moist, tender and juicy. I am sort of new to this whole brining thing but I will certainly do it more often. Have a look:

[Jinmyo]

FoodMan, that looks great. One doesn't really need to brine chicken for too long. I've never found that more than eight hours makes any difference.

[bushey]

Jinmyo, when can I come for dinner?

Wilfrid, please describe the baccala con huevos a little further. One of my best friends is Portuguese and she introduced me to (I'm going to mangle the spelling) Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa. The codfish is in big flakes, with rings of onion, slices of potato and hard-cooked eggs. Very delicious. The only time I've used salt cod at home was to make Brandade de Morue and it was wonderful, but I must've done too good a job soaking because we had to add a lot of salt at the table!

Last night: pan fried hanger steak, oven fried potato chips (white and sweet), heirloom tomato salad and cracked-wheat baguette. For lunch today I had the leftover tomato salad on toasted baguette, with fresh mozzarella, lightly broiled to melt the cheese. Yum, yum. People here in cubicleville eyed my plate with envy.

[FoodMan]

FoodMan, that looks great. One doesn't really need to brine chicken for too long. I've never found that more than eight hours makes any difference.

I think you are right. I did not really mean to brine the chicken for this long (actually it was supposed to be about 8hrs). It's just that we got invited to two dinners in a row and I did not get to cook my chikcen till Monday. I was actually scared it will come out too salty after 48hrs of brining, but it was pretty darn good. I would like to brine some pork chops next maybe.

FM

[Dana]

Brining is certainly the way to go. I brined last years' Thanksgiving bird in a Coleman cooler in the garage. It was the best tasting and juciest ever. I'll be trying those pork chops, though. I used allspice berries and peppercorns for the turkey. Wonder if something else would be better for pork?????

Anyone????

[Wimpy]

A friend came over for dinner. Served 500 gr. of wagyu beef in 4 slices.(Mom, bless her heart, brought me some from Tokyo), salted with Sel Grise de la Guerande (extra fine) and fried in a cast iron pan to medium rare. Sliced in strips and piled on grated daikon (white raddish), put ground pepper and poured some ponzu sauce (soy sauce with rice vinegar).

Served with rice, stir fried bean sprout and ground pork, and with side dish of Ayu (don't know English name for this fish) rolled in giant kelp (kombu-maki) as well as with chirimen kurumi (walnuts and tiny dried fish cooked in soy and sugar combo).

And just because I wanted to try it, made pizza with anchovy bought in France. Cheese was combo of mozzarella and danish esrom (a little ripe). Duznt go with Japanese stuff above, but wat da heck. The taste of anchovy packed in salt is far superior to supermarket stuff which is already filletted and in olive oil.

[FoodMan]

Brining is certainly the way to go. I brined last years' Thanksgiving bird in a Coleman cooler in the garage. It was the best tasting and juciest ever. I'll be trying those pork chops, though. I used allspice berries and peppercorns for the turkey. Wonder if something else would be better for pork?????

Anyone????

Alton Brown has this pork brine recipe in his book:

1tbs juniper berries

1tbs whole black peppercorns

10 whole cloves

1.5 cups kosher salt

1/2 cup molasses

2 quarts water

I have not tried it but I will soon. Let me know if you do what you thought about it.

FM

[Jinmyo]

Risotto alle mandorle (toasted almonds, fresh parsley); roasted lamb shoulder with a sauce made from the jus and huge cremini mushrooms and dried porcini with rosemary; tomato and mint salad; crostini and Sicilian pecorino.

[Miss J]

Funny disaster last night: I was tired, cooking whilst talking to partner, AND trying something new as well. The sequence of events went something like this:

1. Put rice on hob.

2. Take salmon fillets out of fridge. Think about making herb crust. Instead, pull out copy of A New Way To Cook and follow recipe for the Sichuan Pepper rub (recommended for salmon).

3. Coat fillets. Melt butter/oil in pan.

4. Sear fish. Turn rice down.

5. Pop fish into oven to finish off.

6. Make salad (shaved cukes with dash rice vinegar, pinch sugar & sesame oil) whilst rabbiting away at partner.

7. Realise several minutes too late that I've turned down the wrong pan, and my rice is now burning.

8. Rice is ruined. Start warming packaged naan in oven instead.

...finally get patched-up dinner together. A few bites in, my partner looks up with a strange expression and says, "Something's weird." Sure enough, something is weird. My high-grade Sichuan peppercorns are doing their high-grade thing, and that tingly pins-and-needles sensation is waging guerilla warfare on my mouth.

Note to self: when making Sichuan pepper rub in the future, USE SUPERMARKET SICHAN PEPPER.

[Adam Balic]

Hehehehe .

Made worst meal ever last night.

Felt very ill yesterday (well hungover anyhow), so lost all sense of what is right in the world.

Made following sauce for pasta:

Fried off onions in EVOO + Pancetta, anchovies and fennel seeds. Added pinch of cloves, chillie and cinnamon. Added blood orange juice and fresh tomatos. Reduced and added pasta and cubed buffalo Mozarella.

Guess how it tasted . Cured hangove though.

[Jinmyo]

Oh, Adam. Thank you for your sacrifice. Now we will all know to never ever do that.

[Adam Balic]

Oh, Adam. Thank you for your sacrifice. Now we will all know to never ever do that.

No really it cured the hangover. It's magic I tell's ya. Had no food in the house really, that the Devil and the fact I have been reading medieval recipes all day made me do it. The only other thing I had in the house and didn't use was a sachet of cuttlefish ink. Should have just eaten that instead.

[Adam Balic]

Jinmyo (or whoever else may know) - is there much spice used in Japanese cooking, either historically or in extant cooking?

[Jinmyo]

Adam, what do you mean by spice?

There's shichimi togarashi:

White Sesame Seeds 1 part

Black Sesame Seeds 1 part

Nori 1 part, shredded

Chile Powder 4 parts

Poppy Seeds 1 part

Sichuan Pepper 1 parts

Sea Salt 2 parts

Yuzu and such.

What are you asking?

[Adam Balic]

Oh, just interested in the use of spices in cooking and if it is common to most cultures at some point or if it is specific to a given culture.

What dat? Grapefruit? Bleack! Oh I see, no I wasn't having a go at you for not liking "spice".