Salt-crusted herbed tenderloin
Swiss chard with pine nuts, quatre épices, and crème fraîche



Now in my regular rotation.

Last night was the remainder of the pork tenderloin, which I had browned in chunks and then finished in the oven the same night I sliced off medallions to make sandwiches. The chunks of tenderloin were reheated with the leftover pinto beans, rice, and spinach from the other night. I also threw together a soup that was a cross between baked potato soup and French onion.

Sweet potato ravioli with sage cream, brown butter and prosciutto

With thanks to Thomas Keller.

Six-spiced short ribs with pan sauce
Wild mushroom mac 'n' cheese
Sauteed rainbow chard with red wine vinegar

Red leaf lettuce salad with tomato, cucumber, and blue cheese stuffed green olives
Beef brisket
Fresh lima beans (Eastern Shore)

Last night:
Braised beef brisket--which had spent 5 days in a cooked wine marinade and was out-of-this-world delicious
Fricasseed chanterelles
Scalloped Yukon Gold potatoes
Brussels sprouts sauteed with garlic, golden raisins, pine nuts and lemon zest

2005 Joguet Chinon "Les Petites Roches"

Herb-brined Eco-Friendly pork rib chops, charcoal-grilled with hickory smoke chips
South Carolina mustard bbq sauce
Buttered green beans
Artisan grits with cheese
Mashed sweet potatoes (leftovers)

2007 Viña do Burato Rebeira

Pan-roasted spatchcocked chicken with "autumn spice blend,"
More swiss chard with creme fraiche and pine nuts
Crusty country bread
Good gravy

Get it? "Good gravy!"

No?

oriental chestnuts, shredded cabbage and shrimp.

this is one of the more successful weekly mark bittman recipes i've tried out of the new york times recently. each of the three main ingredients is sauteed successively in peanut oil and united at the end, with garlic, ginger, dark seasame oil, soy sauce and scallions coming into play at various stages. peeling chestnuts -- even just half a cup -- is always a pain; it's peeling off the inner skin that nearly defeats me, but they are almost worth the effort -- browned and a little crunchy.

he also has a delicious recipe for pears, roquefort cheese, walnuts and lettuce, and now is prime season for it. the cheese, unfortunately, is selling for $20 a pound at whole foods, though you only need about $7 worth.

this is also the right time of year for deborah madison's Winter Squash "Pancake" with Mozzarella and Sage. the trick is to keep browning the pancake or mashed squash in butter until it becomes browner and browner but not burnt. she suggests stirring it up each time you want to form a new surface to brown on the bottom of the pan; but repatting it into a pancake becomes progressively more difficult the longer your sautee the squash. the recipe is relatively fast, after you've softened the squash in the oven. (i was listening to garrison keillor the whole time -- "indian summer is like starting up a romance after your first heart attack.")

I heard that peeled chestnuts are available cheap at the Asian supermarkets (Grand Mart, Lotte, etc). Haven't investigated yet, though.

sounds like a smart alternative -- although you probably have fresher, moister, better-tasting chestnuts when you buy them now at the farmer's market. i think that's part of the reason they aren't easy to peel. i was told to keep them in a damp towel in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator and use them quickly. the bittman recipe is aimed at seasonality, by the way. i'm not the biggest fan of chestnuts, and have made soups with them that are too rich for me, but i thought they turned out really well this time.

by chance, did you happen to find a good price on there somewhere?

Costco Pentagon City. This is the second year they have sold Canadian chanterelles. (I can't recall exactly what I paid, but it was around $8 a pound.) I found them in the cold produce room. I can't guarantee that they will still be there if you go, however.

Last night:
Mixed green salad with lemon vinaigrette
Spatchcocked, herb-brine Eco-Friendly chicken, oven-roasted over
sweet potato, parsnip, fennel and onion wedges
Pan gravy
Roasted chanterelles
Braised Tuscan kale

2007 La Volcanique Cotes du Forez

The Volcanique from Verdier-Logel rocks!! They do make another Forez that Bassin's used to sell, but the Volcqanique is the more terroir driven of the two. 100% Gamay from the Loire and grown in some of the highest vineyards in all of France. Another Addis winner. I order a case through Riley and I think he now carries in on the shelf.

Not too many everyday dinners to report lately, but I did get really inspired a few weekends ago to make homemade chicken stock (which I'd never done before). Using Tom Colicchio's recipe from "Think Like A Chef," I first made white chicken stock, which I then turned into brown chicken stock. The flavors were really great--it will be hard to use store-bought stock now!

Last weekend, for my parents' birthdays, I used the chicken stock to make Carrot and Fennel soup (from an old Gourmet magazine), which was delicious. It didn't come out as smooth as I would prefer (I need an immersion blender), but the flavors were clean and lovely. Roasting the veggies made my kitchen smell yummy, too!

I also made braised lamb shoulder (from an old Bon Appetit magazine), which took about 2 days to do, but which was totally worth it. The meat was SO tender, and the pan gravy was awesome. It was like lamb pot roast--very warm and comforting.

Oh, and Zora--I'm going to San Antonio this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have a chance to try REAL, homemade, fresh corn tortillas. I'll let you know how it goes.

I am assuming that the Volcanique I drank the other night is a 2007. It might be 2006. there is no vintage date on the label. I bought it at Arrowine yesterday. The last time I bought it, maybe a year ago or more, it was $9.99 a bottle and it has gone up $3 a bottle. I really like cru beaujolais with roast chicken and the way prices have been going up for good beaujolais this gamay is still a bargain even at $12.99 a bottle. I'll probably go to Ace Bev when I want to get some more.

Ginger carrot soup*
Whole grain toast with Kerrygold butter

Evolution "American White Wine," Oregon**

*Why oh why am I destined to, every year, every single year, try to puree the season's first soup in the food processor and not the blender like I should and wind up making a mess of my kitchen, machine, and every other thing in the immediate vicinity? It's like there's a little part of my brain that enjoys laughing at the rest of my brain's inability to learn anything, ever.

Tasted good though.

**Love this stuff

Beef tenderloin chain cheesesteaks
French fries cooked in peanut oil, beef tallow, and bacon drippings with from-scratch garlic aioli
Lipitor

Last night was a quick pizza, with shallots and mild and hot Italian sausage. I used a bag of refrigerated Trader Joe's pizza dough, which I hadn't tried before. It seemed a bit too sticky and I didn't get it rolled out properly. I thought it was a bit too bready last night, but it's better leftover.

Red leaf lettuce, tomato, and avocado with vinaigrette
Brisket sandwiches on kaiser rolls
Sauerkraut and half-sour pickles from the pickle vendor outside Eastern Market
[I put the sauerkraut on my sandwich; my husband ate it on the side.]

Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup, sounds strange, smelled amazing, and tasted even better.

Cedarbrook's sweet Italian sausage
Braised fennel
Potato gratin w Romanesco and leek

Dessert thus far: the half of an enormous Gold Rush apple not finished at lunch

The other night:
Galbi
Soon doo chigae
Ready-made spinach from Korean Korner (cheaper than buying it uncooked!)

Osso bucco with gremolata
Risotto Milanese
Roasted purple cauliflower and romesco

2006 G.D. Vajra Langhe

Italian sausage over oven-cooked polenta*
Roasted wedges of radicchio, one w Gorgonzola
Roasted carrots

Herbal tea w honey and lots of Meyer lemon juice
Home-made, organic, crystallized, local ginger

*Whole Foods on P Street still carries the yellow corn grits in bulk. Not sure why neither Silver Spring nor Tenleytown doesn't, but I'm happy. And while Buford would not approve, I absolutely adore this effortless way of making polenta!

Fettucine with homemade plain tomato sauce. It's the most flavorful, complex, interesting meal I've had in a week.

Last night

iceberg wedges with bacon and dressings
t-bone steak with onion rings
vegetable cake (carrot, zucchini, and green beans)

My first Stomboli. Next time I must remember that the cheese goes on last or else the blowouts will ooze precious cheese.

Herb-brined Eco-Friendly chicken, spatchcocked (I love that word) and oven roasted over
Bermuda onion wedges, fingerling potatoes, purple cauliflower
roasted carnival squash halves with butter and honey
sauteed chanterelles with creme fraiche, fresh herbs and Meyer lemon zest

2006 Ch. Thivin Cotes de Brouilly

One of the nicest things about a major head cold is you can be resourceful in throwing together leftovers without worrying about how it all will taste.

Onion sautéed w two carrots. Garlic clove. 2 scallions. A cooked sausage. The rest of a head of frisée, chopped up, rinsed thoroughly and tossed in to wilt. Smelly remnants of potato-Romanesco gratin blotted, sliced.

After it's heated through, caramelized, liquids reduced, a spoonful of sour cream.

Semi-potluck at my place. Gumbo, roasted veggies, and kit kat bars from Happy In The Kitchen. Too much wine and beer. It'll be tough to work on my budget assignment tomorrow but the company was worth the headache.

Mushroom Soup that was more like a stew. Crimini.

Chanterelles
Oyster Shrooms
Enoki
Shitake
A Porcini or two

Chased by a harvest beer that was pumpkiny

Curry chicken salad (garlic mayo, dark mustard, red curry powder, onion, raisins*, walnuts**)
Whole grain toast

*With the inevitable post-Thanksgiving curry turkey salad, I omit the raisins and stir in a spoonful of leftover cranberry sauce, which I prefer for its tartness.

**Should've toasted them! Rookie mistake!

Crockpot beef rump roast
Taglatelle with sherry vinegar sauce and vegetables
Roasted delicata squash with thyme and button and chanterelle mushrooms

Cup of three-lentil soup w roasted, local chestnuts
Mushrooms on broiled polenta
Salad of frisée w avocado and shallot vinaigrette

Royal trumpet mushrooms and a handful of chanterelles prepared by adapting recipe of Susan Herrmann Loomis: boiled on high heat in saucepan w white wine until latter evaporates, juices exuded, then reabsorbed. Butter and chopped shallots. Meyer lemon juice. Seasoning. Creme fraiche, heavy cream and Parmesan.

Daikon, carrot, and pork shoulder stew
Spinach and sesame rice

Bone-in pork chops, salted, peppered, and broiled, topped with caramelized shallots and Granny Smiths cooked in dry white wine and butter. Served with a big green salad.

Roasted stuffed pumpkin
Pan-fried pork chops topped with with sauerkraut

The stuffing was the crumbled remainder of a vegetable cake (green beans, carrots, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes) I had made several days before, moistened with a little butter and some chicken broth. It came out wonderfully.

Seems like it was DR porkchop day yesterday...

Last night:
Stovetop grilled, herb-brined Eco-Friendly pork rib chops with South Carolina mustard bbq sauce
Oven roasted quince
Braised purple kale
Leftover scalloped potatoes
Drop biscuits

2006 La Colombaia Valpolicella Ripasso

It's funny when that happens .

Tonight:

Chicken noodle soup
Cottage pie (leftover pot roast topped with smushed cauliflower in cheese sauce)

Chinese wintermelon soup. Comfort food on a cold night like this....

roasted kabocha squash soup
miso-crusted oven roasted salmon
haricots verts

2007 Strauss Gelber Muskateller

Curry-mustard marinated pork loin
sweet potato
haricots verts

good eats tonight:

Herb brined oven-roasted Eco-Friendly chicken, so much more tender and juicy than last week's chicken, which must have been doing a lot of aerobic exercise.
Puree of golden cauliflower and celery root*
Haricots verts with roasted red pepper, roasted garlic and lemon

2006 La Volcanique Cotes du Forez

*This was a particularly felicitous combination. I stewed equal amounts of cubed celery root and golden cauliflower florets together with a small onion in water until everything was soft. then I drained and pureed it in the Cuisinart with some butter, creme fraiche, whole milk yogurt, salt and white pepper until it was completely smooth. It was sweeter and more refined and with greater depth of flavor and complexity than a combination of either veg with potato. I encourage everyone to try this sometime as a side instead of mashed potatoes. Also, with the golden cauliflower, there is the bonus of beautiful color as well.

What constitutes an austere G-20 menu outside of fast food and gruel?
(I bully rich kids in Georgetown and steal their sour quince logs.)

Wednesday: roasted salmon with lentils, in an insanely good sauce (mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, parsley, and leftover lentil cooking liquid).

Last night: homemade gnocchi!!! First time ever, they came out really nice. I didn't make a homemade sauce to go with them, though--next time.

Last night:



Kiritanpo nabe -- kiritanpo (dumplings made of cooked, pounded rice), chicken thigh, maitake mushrooms, seri (Japanese parsley), carrot, and shirataki (noodles made from devil's tongue jelly) stewed in a dashi/soy sauce/sake stock.
Steamed rice

Tonight, we're having leftover nabe and steamed rice alongside some awamori (sort of like Okinawan shochu).

Last night:

shrimp and grits with andouille and tasso--my attempt at a wonderful version of the dish that we ate while we were in Savannah. Like a shrimp gumbo served over stone ground grits. I think that I didn't get the brown roux quite dark enough. I was afraid that it would burn. But it was delicious nonetheless.
braised kale

2006 Don Olegario Albariño

Roasted salmon fillet with maple-soy glaze
Mashed sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar
Steamed baby rainbow chard with balsamic vinegar and black pepper

The salmon was from Costco, and they have cut back on the size of the pieces they sell. The prices per package are slightly less now than they would have been, but the pieces seem substantially smaller for the price. Has anyone else noticed this? I don't really mind the smaller pieces, so much as what seems to be an elevated price.