eG Foodblog: JAZ - Park and Shop

[mochihead]

Marrow bones!!! <3<3<3

Will you be getting some and making dinner with them anytime during your blogging?

It's been storming non-stop over here, too. We've been in flash flood watch for the last 2-3 weeks now. At least it's warm rain! Keep dry, Jaz!

[JAZ]

After a quick stop at the corner market (that's actually in the middle of the block) for a bottle of wine, it was time for the produce market.

They carry a lot more than produce, as you can see from the pictures.

Today I didn't have too much to get -- potatoes, milk, half-and-half, lemons, limes, and a small red cabbage, along with some lighter items like herbs.

Between the butcher and the produce store (with the non-corner store for a small selection of things like paper towels, soap, cat food and other grocery items as well as beer and wine), I can do a lot of my shopping close by. The main constraint is what I can carry up the hill, and somehow I always seem to push it to the limit.

These shops, however, close by the time I get off work, so on work days, they're not an option. ON work nights, if I need to pick things up, I go to the stores on the other side of the hill, which I'll show you tomorrow.

Now, though, it's time to finish getting dinner ready.

[snowangel]

Janet, is that a typical price for bacon? I know that almost anywhere I go here in the Twin Cities, bacon like that (meaning not Neuske's is about $3.99/lb, unless it's on sale (a dollar off). Do they smoke their own?

[racheld]

This is going to be GREAT!!! Our #4 Son lives there and we're going to visit this Spring. Have never been West of Colorado, so tell lots and lots about your area.

Cookware Gadgets

Dish Junkie

[birder53]

I have bar envy! Let the drinks begin!!!

[JAZ]

...and don't forget...we want pics of your kitchen!!! (Open those cupboard doors and show your stash  )  Am very much looking forward to your blog!!!

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Okay, here's the first round of kitchen pictures. (Maybe later I'll take pictures of the insides of the cabinets.)

The cabinets at the end are my pantry, for the most part -- I use the upper shelves, which I need a stepladder to reach, for storing some seldom-used dishes and other things I don't need very often. The breakfast bar and stools are a set I bought for a previous really small kitchen that had no counter space. It doesn't get too much use now because the light isn't great there and it's so far from my kitchen tools, but it's nice to have a place to set the stuff I pull out from the cabinets.

The cabinet on the left by the stove holds about two thirds of my cookware -- saucepans, skillets, stockpots, saute pans and a few miscellaneous pieces. Almost everything, actually, except for my Le Creuset.

For the size of my flat (less than 600 sq. ft.), my kitchen is pretty good sized. As you can see, it's long and very narrow in parts -- galley style, I guess. It's great for one person (or the right two people), but with the range and sink across from each other in the narrowest part of the kitchen, you have to like your kitchen partner pretty well.

Here's a better shot of the range area:

When I moved in, the range was all alone there; a friend helped me put together the counter next to it, which is just a John Boos cutting board on legs, with brackets attaching it to the wall. You can't see it, but there's a shelf underneath where I store cutting boards and my pressure cookers.

I also have a microwave cart, which hasn't actually ever had a microwave on it but does hold my trio of appliances -- the blender, Cuisinart and Kitchenaid mixer.

Behind it, you can see my spice shelves.

I have a theory about San Francisco houses. It seems to me, from very unscientific observation, that probably half of the houses in the city were constructed with built-in ironing boards in the kitchens or laundry rooms. And my guess is that only a very small fraction have kept them intact with ironing boards. All the rest now only have an alcove like the one here, which most people seem to use for spices or display shelves. I use mine for spices.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the kitchen -- I've lived in places with bigger kitchens that still didn't work as well as this one. Sure, it has really ugly yellow 60's style countertops, but I can live with that. The floor is also ugly, but it's mercifully soft -- I've dropped bowls and even glasses and they've survived.

The rest of the kitchen, and the dining nook.

I love the shelf that runs the length of the dining nook, because it holds a lot of my cookbooks -- they're far enough away from the kitchen that they don't get greasy and dirty, but close enough to get to easily.

The reference, research and "literary" food books live in this bookcase, near my desk, which is right outside the kitchen (the beauty of having a small place is that nothing is very far away from the kitchen). But I think I either have to find more space, or stop buying books.

That's the end of the tour. I have to go wash dishes, and then I'll post about dinner.

And cocktails!

[JAZ]

While I did the preliminary prep for dinner, I had a variation of a Lillet-based drink from an old Martha Stewart Living magazine.

It's a nice aperitif -- lighter in alcohol than most cocktails.

2 oz. Lillet Blonde

1 oz. gin

1 oz. orange juice

dash bitters

small handful of basil leaves

Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice and shake hard. Strain out into a tall glass filled with ice and top with soda.

Dinner started with short ribs sprinkled with salt, smoked paprika and a little ground chipotle.

After they sat for an hour or so, they went into a low oven (275 degrees) for a couple of hours.

I've almost always braised short ribs, so learning about slow roasting them was sort of a surprise to me. But it's a great way to cook them.

Toward the end of the cooking time, I made a glaze of demi-glace, Dijon mustard and maple syrup.

The glazed ribs went back in the oven for another 45 minutes or so, while I finished the rest of dinner.

But first, another small cocktail.

The Alfonso Special from CocktailDB.

Again, with more vermouth than gin, it's a lighter cocktail, but very well balanced. Not as sweet as I imagined.

To go with the short ribs, I decided on sweet and sour cabbage, which I haven't made in ages. I watched my mom make it so often I don't need (or have) a recipe.

Start out by sauteeing some onions in butter.

Add red cabbage, vinegar (I used apple cider and port vinegars), brown sugar, salt and pepper. I also added some diced apple because I had it around.

Cover and simmer until tender.

With some chipotle-laced mashed sweet potatoes, that was dinner.

[Lori in PA]

What kind of pots and pans are you using? Do you love them?

That's a very nice looking dinner, btw.

[Safran]

Jaz,

Dinner looks GOOD! And those cocktails!

Did I read right when you said pressure cookers? Why and which models? Do you use them often? I thought I was the only one with two pressure cookers, a tall one and a squat one. Again, this is such a cool blog. Thank you for showing us your kitchen. I could work in there too.

[Anna N]

Janet,

I always have admiration for anyone who cooks only for themselves and admire them even more when they take the trouble to plate attractively! Very nice. I too am very interested in your cookware and gadgets.

Thanks for blogging.

[Chris Amirault]

Dinner looks great, Janet. Do the short ribs get tender roasted in that short time? Reminds me a bit of Korean barbeque.

Can you tell us a bit about your favorite mixology books? Where would you send a novice?

[Smithy]

Beautiful dinner, Janet! I like the wavy rectangular plate.

Your kitchen looks well laid out, but as you noted, small. How do you keep from running out of counter room as you work? Do you clean as you go? I tend to use a lot of dishes for the prep and cooking, and by the time dinner is ready I've put a large cutting board over the sink for more room. Do you have any tips for me?

As for your statement that you need to find more room or stop buying books: the answer is obvious. Will you be shopping for another bookcase during the blog?

[JAZ]

What kind of pots and pans are you using?  Do you love them?

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They're Demeyere -- Sirocco line, and yes -- I love them. The sautepan and saucepans in the pictures have a thick copper disk bottom, with stainless inside and out. (There's also a layer of something magnetic in there, so the pans can be used in induction burners). With the copper disk, they're very responsive to changes in heat, which is great, but I think it's the little things that put them way ahead of, say, All Clad. Both the pan handles and the lid handles stay cool, and everything is welded on instead of riverted, so you don't have rivets to collect crud and make them impossible to clean. They have a sharply defined lip, so you can pour from them easily. And if you need to remove the lid while you're cooking, there's a slot in the handle where the lid handle fits so you don't have to lay it down somewhere (I'll take some photos so you can see what I mean). Sorry! End of commercial.

Did I read right when you said pressure cookers? Why and which models? Do you use them often? I thought I was the only one with two pressure cookers, a tall one and a squat one.

I got them as a set (a special deal from the manufacturer when the rep came to the store for a demo). There's a 5.5 qt. stockpot shape, and a 2.5 sautepan shape. Honestly, I don't use the small one much at all, but the great thing about the set was that it came with an extra lid -- not for pressure cooking, but just a glass lid that fits either pan. So if I make soup, for instance, and want to reheat it before serving, I have a plain lid. And that also means that I can use either pan without using the pressure function. The 5.5 qt one, for instance, is a good size for pasta.

Your kitchen looks well laid out, but as you noted, small. How do you keep from running out of counter room as you work? Do you clean as you go? I tend to use a lot of dishes for the prep and cooking, and by the time dinner is ready I've put a large cutting board over the sink for more room. Do you have any tips for me?

I wish I were better at that (cleaning as I go). I try, but it always seems that the closer I am to dinner time, the less time I have for cleaning, so I put it off. The sink is usually completely full of dishes by the time I'm done. And that's one disadvantage of having so much cookware and kitchenware -- I hardly ever have to use the same thing twice, so I usually don't, which means twice the dishes at the end of the night.

However, the way my kitchen is laid out makes it a little easier to get prep stuff organized. I prep at the long yellow counter because that's where the light is best, and then as I get ingredients ready to go, I set them on the wood counter by the stove. If I have something that needs to set or rest, I can use the breakfast bar at the end of the kitchen, so it's out of the way.

[Dave the Cook]

Dinner looks great, Janet. Do the short ribs get tender roasted in that short time?

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I don't know why more people don't use this technique, because it's fabulous. Janet was part of the kitchen crew that hot-smoked short ribs for staff meal at Varmint's Pig Pickin'. Here's what ronnie_suburban had to say:

The short ribs were even better than they looked in the picture. They needed nothing more than a gentle tug to pull away from the bone -- but the tender beef wasn't mushy in the least. The ribs held the perfect amount of semi-melted fat.

[Dave the Cook]

I wish I were better at that (cleaning as I go). I try, but it always seems that the closer I am to dinner time, the less time I have for cleaning, so I put it off. The sink is usually completely full of dishes by the time I'm done. And that's one disadvantage of having so much cookware and kitchenware -- I hardly ever have to use the same thing twice, so I usually don't, which means twice the dishes at the end of the night.

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. . . and now those as unobservant as me come to realize what was missing in your kitchen tour: a dishwasher.

[Abra]

I grew up in San Francisco and your kitchen makes me nostalgic for the miniscule ones I used to be used to. Now, though, my hat's off to you for being to produce such a nice-looking one in a very small space.

Hey, I have a bottle of absinthe coming my way. What's a good thing to do with it?

[JAZ]

Sorry I haven't had time to get to everyone's questions and comments.

Abra, take a look at this Absinthe topic from the Spirits and Cocktails forum, and I'll get back to you with some specific suggestions later.

Chris, I promise I'll have some cocktail book suggestions too, but in the meantime, you could check out this topic.

I was planning to post about making gingerbread this morning, but a series of, um, difficulties arose, and now I'm running really late for my book club, to which I'm supposed to be bringing the little mini-bundt gingerbread cakes. We'll see if they turn out, and if not, well, thank god there's a really great bakery on the way to BART that makes wonderful individual tarts.

I will explain, in detail, with photos, the disastrous morning I had when I get back this afternoon.

While I'm gone, I wonder if I could ask everyone for some suggestions about the rest of the week.

I've got the ingredients for Sara Moulton's Smoky Salmon Chowder, which she mentions here in the Chowder Cook-Off, so I'm planning on that tonight.

I'm also planning to try Russ Parson's "Cowboy Cassoulet" (discussed here). But I still have a few extra days to account for.

I have a Hearthkit insert in my oven, and I keep swearing that I'm going to work on perfecting pizza crust, so that's one possibility.

I just got a Kitchenaid pasta attachment, although I'm not sure I can make pasta and take pictures at the same time.

Earlier in the thread, someone asked if I was planning to get marrow bones -- I love them, and it wouldn't take much to talk me into getting some.

Anything else? I wasn't really planning on a restaurant, but I could stop on the way home from work at someplace interesting.

Anything else? (Please, no baking requests. I've had my disaster for the week!)

[rjwong]

Anything else? I wasn't really planning on a restaurant, but I could stop on the way home from work at someplace interesting.

How about some Chinese? Is there a good Chinese market/restaurant in your neighborhood? Or is Chinatown your closest option?

If you could, Janet, your mixological background, please. Are you much into wines? Or more into "the hard stuff"?

[Marlene]

Earlier in the thread, someone asked if I was planning to get marrow bones -- I love them, and it wouldn't take much to talk me into getting some.

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topic, topic, topic, I really want to see what you do with these. I've never done anything with marrow bones except use them for stock.

What is your favourite thing to make for yourself?

[percyn]

Nice blog Jaz !!

Marlene, I recommend soaking the marrow in water overnight, then roasting the marrow bones in the oven at 350F until the marrow is just cooked. Top with fluer de sel and serve with toast...hmmm !!!!

[Kouign Aman]

Jaz, that dinner looks delicious. I've always braised short ribs too. Thanks for the new technique to try.

All your kitchen "stuff" seems lovely; that tall glass with the blue glass ribbon on the bottom especially so.

Thank you for blogging, and please count my vote for marrow bones one day this week.

[Safran]

Another vote for marrow bones...oh and could we please have a close-up shot of the cookbooks on the window sill?

Edited March 12, 2006 by Safran (log)

[Pan]

Janet, if you do stop by an eatery, I'd vote for your favorite taqueria, but just because a taqueria is the first place I'd visit after (and possibly before) putting down my bags doesn't mean you have to. I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever you decide to do this week.

Sorry about the disastrous morning.

[srhcb]

I see a nice Park & Shop sold on eBay last month for a little over $60.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PARK-AND-SHOP-...3QQcmdZViewItem

Maybe your sister or an old friend bought it?

SB (I assume that collecting Parking Tickets could result in the jail time?)

[Rebecca263]

Let's see: Park & Shop(I just called my sister and we squealed the name together!), lovely gin drinks, personalized Bloody Marys, amazing food from a kitchen of tiny space, a cat named Mookie, and you live in SF, our next planned trip! Yay! Thanks, and I agree, I'd like to see your take on marrow!