I like cooked cucumbers. I had a recipe I used to make at some point that featured cooked cukes, but I forget what it was.

This,
followed by this,
maybe some of this stuff.

Plus,

this little stud mixed with

[click] [again, click] on these
with a slice of one of these guys.
Think this will be good?

I take you are feeling a bit sickly. However, I believe you are on the right track in battling your "infections." G&Ts are ALWAYS good.

Feel better soon.

A trip to Super H inspired me to make something Japanese...

Slow roasted black cod ($1.99 a pound for whole fish!) with white miso sauce
on Soba noodles
Sauteed shiitake and maitake mushrooms
Wakame seaweed

Lychee-infused sake (made a couple of months ago, and waiting for the right meal...)

By the way, if anyone is looking for sake, Super H is the place to go. They have a dozen or more different premium sakes, and plenty of everyday ones, too.

How did it turn out? I'm a sucker for lychee everything. Will you splain the process?

I peeled about a dozen fresh lychees, took the seeds out and cut them in half. I put them in a glass jar and poured a medium-sized bottle of sake over them, and let it sit in the fridge for about a month (probably didn't need that long, but it got shoved behind some other things and was forgotten about. I had saved the sake bottle, so I strained the sake back into the bottle and put the screwtop back on. Kept in the refrigerator.

I have had lychee-infused sake at Beacon in Los Angeles, which was quite sweet, so I imagine they made a sugar syrup and poached the lychees or used canned lychees. I liked this better. The lychee flavor was subtle, and it was still very dry, which went well with the food.

Was it labeled black cod or did you know it by sight? I love black cod but have never seen in it the stores in the area.

I might just have to drive out for some, at those prices.

-Romaine & tomato salad w/ honey shallot vinagrette
-Portabello mushroom caps
-Bunless Thanksgiving burgers (ground turkey with rosemary, thyme, sage, onion, garlic, panko breakcrumbs, balsamic vinegar, and red wine)

Pork chops w/garlic-tarragon pan sauce
Couscous
Mixed vegetables
Flaky biscuits

hot dogs with pickled cucumbers and onions
stewed red and yellow tomatoes
garlic cheese bread

It was labled and was, in fact, black cod--also called sable fish. It has a very distinctively patterned skin, which I recognized, since I used to be a fishmonger at BlackSalt. I had not planned to cook fish yesterday, but when I saw it, I was astonished at the price. The fish were on display, on ice, so it was possible to see the eyes and gills and see that they were in good condition. I asked for a smaller fish than they had on display, if possible, because they were HUGE. One of the guys behind the counter went into the walk-in, and brought out a smaller fish. I paid between $10 and $11 for it--enough for two meals for my family of three. Of course, they would not filet it, I had to do it myself (they scaled and gutted it), but I have saved the head and bones for stock.

It was very fresh and tasty. One of those fortuitous bargains you run across occasionally. If you like black cod, and can manage a whole, large fish, I would definitely head out there today to see if it is still on sale.

Crabcakes (Recipe on the back of the can from Trader Joe's. It's pretty basic, and it works. Maybe a little filler, but you can scale that back)
Roasted pepper aioli
Asian Slaw from Good Eats
Boston lettuce and 'spring mix' (it's not spring. That didn't occur to me at the time. Still, good peppery counterpoint) salad with a lemon/champagne vinegar dressing

not-quite-caramelized onions, garlic, apples, cinnamon, and chicken apple gouda sausage slices in a white wine-chicken broth reduction
swiss chard with balsamic

I topped my apple onion mixture with garlic gouda from Cheesetique

Now THAT'S good fall fare!

LOL. I actually said, whilst eating the meal, "This tastes like fall."

Tonight: cowboy ribeyes from Cheesetique with coarse kosher salt and mignonette pepper; baby cabbage cole slaw; potato salad with pickled onions and cukes; and Shoebox Oven/Cheesetique Pao de Queijos Myohmy...

Simple and fast: homemade kefte in pita, with chopped cucumber and tomato relish, plain yogurt, and fresh mint.

Pork loin with apple/onion/cornbread/calvados stuffing, Calvados sauce
Baby Brussels sprouts with bacon and vinegar glaze
Roasted fingerling potatoes
Apple/pearsauce

Also excellent chocolate cake courtesy of sister Jenn

Marinated roasted red peppers
Balsamic-glazed roasted cippolini onions
Marinated fresh borlotti beans
Roasted eggplant tapenade
Roasted beets with orange oil and lemon juice
Cherokee Purple tomatoes, cucumbers
Young Pecorino Romano and Humboldt Fog
Leftover lavender-brined charcoal roasted chicken

2004 Obvio Malbec

Gingered plum crumble
Vanilla ice cream

Roasted Boneless Pork Loin with Hard Cider Gravy
Roasted apples stuffed with cornbread stuffing
Braised cabbage with fresh herbs
Smashed potatos with Peas
Pumpkin Pie (pumpkins from garden)

Grilled sesame-ginger chicken breasts
Near East rice pilaf
Steamed garden green beans
Minute Maid limeade

After my braised short ribs/pumpkin orzo cooking marathon yesterday, sometimes it's nice to knock out dinner in 25 minutes. Plus, my little boys liked this one better

steak salad with feta and cucumbers
cream of roasted tomato soup with fennel and carrot--the Shoebox Oven Pao de Queijos make excellent croutons for soup! I had a few of these left from yesterday and heated them up and used in place of the croutons recommended for the soup

Wood-grilled chicken breasts marinated with mojo criollo.
Cuban black beans and rice.
Asparagus
2005 Whitehaven sauvignon blanc.

Rustic tart of mixed mushroom duxelles, corn and lavender chevre
Charcoal grilled wild coho salmon
Green beans

2005 Tittarelli Torrontes

Poulet Basquaise, from Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Well-flavored Cibola chicken and a sauce made with peppers. onions, white wine, and homemade stock. The stock gave the sauce some body - I would not use a boullion cube as suggested - but on the whole I found the finished dish lacking in depth*.
Served over rice with garlicky beet greens.
Sancerre
Strawberry gelato for dessert.

*I am not loving the Les Halles cookbook. The profanity is mildly entertaining, but every recipe appears in a better version in another of my cookbooks.

Forgive my apparant arrogance but any recipe calling for a "bouillion cube" is a recipe in a book that I will ignore. I have spent far too much time-and money-nurturing stocks.

It was a little suprising. The recipe calls for chicken stock, but suggests that it could "handle" a boullion cube, presumably because it's strongly flavored, and so that novices don't put the book down and give up because they don't have a freezer full of stock. The percentage of non-cooks buying this book is probably high.

I'd be willing to be that boullion appears in the professional kitchen more often than we would care to think about.

leftover baby cabbage cole slaw
pattypan squash stuffed with a mixture of bread cubes, onion, apples, turkey bacon, and squash
balsamic glazed pork chops [a recipe I think I grabbed from here a while back--great with the squash!]

Turkey chili with beans.

I'm tinkering with my recipe for the picnic

Grilled knockwurst with shaved onions and dijon mustard on toasted ficelle. The knockwurst was from from Balducci's - I don't remember the brand but it was garlicky with a good snappy casing.

Really delicious green beans from some vendor at Penn Quarter.

Bombay gin & tonic for dessert.

Pasta with olive oil, garlic, red pepper, and Parmesan [I know...] and the remnants of a bottle of Guelbenzu Ribera del Queiles.

Absolutely true 100% real Buffalo wings, a beef on weck, Wardynski Polish Sausage and sponge candy with Chuck Schumer and all Buffalonians at the Senate Building

Grilled ham, steamed rice, and calabacitas (zucchini, corn, garlic, onion, cheese, and green chile) adapted from my grandmother's construction. Washed down with a Corona for the full "home in New Mexico" effect.

Smoked sable is one of my new favorite things-- absolutely delicious. It's on sale this week at Calvert-Woodley (though still damn expensive at $11 a half pound). Served with a citrus salad (an idea from the Babbo cookbook).



And then some Pasta Lo-Carbonara from M. Richard's new cookbook.

Braised sauerkraut with riesling vinegar*, juniper berries and caraway seeds, Eco-Friendly pork chops, bacon and frankfurters

Quince and Vidalia onion compote

Roasted beets

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

2005 Sherwood Estate NZ Pinot Noir

*the braising liquid also included dry vermouth and chicken stock

This meal was an improvisation. I pulled out the package of pork chops and realized it was too small a portion for two, so I started thinking about how to enhance it. I had a can of German sauerkraut from Rodman's, and put it together with franks and bacon I had on hand, leftover beets and mashed potatoes from two nights ago. I thought--"pork, cabbage, potatoes, gotta have apples." Except I can't eat apples, but I had gotten some quinces at Balducci's today. I would have had a bottle of riesling with this, except I didn't think about what wine to drink until it was too late to chill some in the fridge. The NZ pinot was delicious, and a really good QPR at $15--recommended by Ben Giliberti a couple of months ago in the Post, and it paired really well with the pork and everything else. Funny how a last minute, off the cuff meal can sometimes be tastier and more satisfying than a carefully planned and executed one.

short ribs with beets
braised beet greens with balsamic vinegar
rice

Prosecco Vino Frizzante Martellozzo
cambzola cheese

Cuvee Emile Willm Vin D'Alsace Pinot Gris Reserve 2000
Seared Scallops with truffle extra virgin olive oil, gray salt, parsley

Estate Raffale 2002 Diamant
Broiled shrimp cocktail, with homemade cocktail sauce

1989 Chateau La Laguane Haut Medoc
Roasted Strip Loin with Blue Castello crumbles
Twice baked potato with 16 month old cheddar
Madeira infused sauté mushrooms with cream
Tomato basil salad
Roasted asparagus with truffle oil
Corn bread stuffing savory stuffed gala apples

Cheese Plate with Rocchetta, Gorgonzola Dolce, and a Italian hard cheese

Grand Marnier bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé
Grand Marnier

15 year old single malt

Yeah, I thought about doing that too but I get tired of the same old, same old

Braised chuck roast, marinated x 3 days in a cooked wine marinade, with mushrooms, scarlet turnips, cippolini onions and golden beets

Polenta with fresh corn

Green beans with roasted garlic and lemon zest

2001 Dom. La Monardiere Vacqueyras

Peach Crisp

4:1 Tanqueray Ten martini with a dash of Angostura bitters (because it was one of _those_ days)
Ham, red pepper, and mushroom frittata
Buttermilk biscuits

Grilled, spice-rubbed hanger steak

Braised kale and turnip greens

Potato and celery root mash

2005 Mollydooker Two Left Feet

Last night was a layered plate of ravioli: homemade ovendried tomatoes on the bottom, topped with buffalo mozzarella slices and a scattering of basil leaves. The hot pasta was arranged over the top, then finished with a drizzling of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and grated garlic gouda. It looked really pretty.

Just finished an experiment: kabocha squash soup. Halved the squash, scooped out the seeds, coated lightly in olive oil and roasted until very tender and lightly browned. Scooped the flesh into a pot in which I had been slowly cooking minced shallots in butter; added chicken stock and apple cider and cooked half an hour or so to be sure the squash was tender after all. Blended this, returned to pot, seasoned with salt, pepper, a bit of thyme, a bit of ginger, and a tiny dusting of cinnamon. Added heavy cream 'til it tasted right. Might add a dash of sherry right before serving. Oh, and minced chives.

To be served with La Tur on toasted baguette slices and a green salad. And probably an Allagash White.

A good night to use the oven.

whole wild Alaskan coho salmon ($5.49 a pound at Costco), en papillote*
roasted fennel
baked russet potatoes

bartlett pear crisp

2005 Turkey Flat rose'

No filets for sale, but they had whole fresh fish on ice, gutted, scaled and with the head off. At that price, how could I resist? I've gotten so used to the flavor/texture of grilled salmon, that this was a wonderfully pleasant change of pace. The fish was packaged in heavy duty foil with fresh thyme and Italian parsley, chopped shallots, slices of lemon, olive oil, S&P and a splash of dry vermouth. When it came out of the oven, the meat was succulent and tender and tasting of the sea. The skin was too flabby for us to eat, but the dog told me it was superb, mixed with her kibble.

Jonathan liked the pear crisp better than any of the other baked fruit desserts I've made lately. I put ginger and cardamom in with the pears, which were so sweet, they didn't need any extra sugar.

We just finished a very satisfying, fairly basic, meal:

Pan-seared filet mignon, medium rare, with mushroom-shallot sauce (using vermouth; I didn't have an open bottle of red wine)
Whole (enormous) farm fresh green beans with toasted slivered almonds
Red potatoes with butter, parsley and parmesan

Had some of Azami's last batch of posole and homemade tortillas. Does anyone have a good strategy for keeping dough round as you roll it out? The tortillas were quite tasty, but looked more like maps of Ohio than tortillas.

Were these flour or corn tortillas? I have a tortilla press for corn tortillas--roll a small ball of masa about the size of a walnut, put it between sheets of heavy-duty plastic (from a cut-open zip-lock freezer bag) and then into the press. If the ball of masa was round, the tortilla will be round.

Tonight - Grilled pork tenderloins with applewood-smoked bacon wraps and Granny Smith apple-pork stuffing accompanied by apple cider riesling sauce

Roasted red potatoes

Steamed broccoli with fresh lime juice



Last night - Mussels and chorizo in tomato-basil sauce over linguini with fresh crusty ciabatta to mop up



Tomorrow - let the belt out a notch

Tonight is chicken fricassee, according to a Marcella Hazan recipe. I've made this many times, but tonight I didn't have enough chicken so I'm rounding things out with some chicken-basil-sun-dried tomato sausages.

Started our Marcella Hazan evening with a Tanqueray Rangpur on the rocks (thanks, Sthitch!). Dinner was risotto with sausages and mixed greens with olive oil and vinegar, followed by Marcella's pear tart.

zoramargolis: Thanks for the tortilla press hint. Tortillas at issue were flour, so if the press would work for them as well, I may invest once we have more space.

Sunday:
Roast Lamb Loin Chops, Roasted Redskin Potato Wedges, Roasted Cippolini Onions, Pan Sauted Brussel Sproats (in butter and lamb drippings), Creamy Polenta with Smoked Fontina Cheese.

Click to view attachment

Monday:
Left over lamb, potatoes, brussel sproats mixed with salad greens, olives, fontina cheese, and a vinaigrette