scottmcl

Lovely pot roast. Small cuts in the beef stuffed with pieces of garlic. Seasoned with salt. Crushed all spice, black and green peppercorns, pickling spices; quickly dry roast the spices and rubbed them all over (the beef, not me). Marinated in about 1/3 to 1/2 bottle red wine and a chopped onion for 24 hours. Rendered some pork fat in a dutch oven and browned the beef. Remove. Saute in fat a carrot, some fennel stems (why not?), a few rough cut shallots. Tossed in the fried fatty pork for good measure. Put the beef back in on top of the veges and pork pieces. Dump the marinade over the roast and pour about 1/2 bottle of red wine into the dutch oven. Bring to a simmer on stove top and toss into the oven. Cook at around 280-300 degrees for 5 hours (just check for very slow bubble, no boil). Removed the meat. Strained the sauce, reduced it and thickened very, very slightly with a little beure manie. Best pot roast I ever had (ok, i didn't eat beef for 15 years, but still). Consumed with braised fennel root and crusty bread. Yummy.

Hell no. Anything that gets my butt into the kitchen and cooking must be a good thing :-)

No, I don't mean, "Let's get drunk and cook." Rather, I find that having a few (or way) too many cocktails while watching Turner Classic Movies (or whatever) will suddenly jog my memory of those fennel bulbs sitting in the vegetable crisper. "Gosh, I was going to try braised fennel," I suddenly recall, and gingerly stumble my way to the kitchen. On rare occasions, I might even be inspired by the liquor to experiment successfully. For example, using leek greens in just about anything to be eventually strained or put through a food processor. Hell, why just use the leek whites and throw the rest away? Or taking those left over Turkish white beans, giving them a nice puree and making a tasty crostini. Am I the only one oddly inspired to cook by a few stiff drinks? Is this only a fetish of single male cooks? Any other tales of successful culinary adventures while good and sloshed?

Re: the rolled meatloaf, I went out and picked up a few ingredients and made one myself soon after reading the posting. Meat variation: pork + beef; tomato juice (from a can of tomatoes); fresh bread chopped fine; egg. Chilled before rolling. Filling variation: spinach, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil. Parmesan on the top of the roll and then a few tablespoons more tomato juice. Came out with a lovely color on top, and nice look to the slices. Yummy too! This is a lovely dish. Very tasty and lazy - nothing is time critical until the final baking. Made with a side of stewed tomatoes just like momma used to make every time she made meatloaf.

Chicken Schnitzel (panko crumbs) with a little anchovy/butter/wine sauce. Yum. I never make anything like this, and it brought back fond memories of the occasional childhood trip to a German restaurant back in Syracuse, NY and Balt, MD. Steamed broccoli tossed in garlic/lemon/butter.

Cream of cauliflower soup with leek greens and thin strips of ham. Yum! (Recipe adapted from old standby "Joy of Cooking")

I like brains and jellyfish - yum! Same for random mammal meat (goat, bison, etc.) But an old Chinese g'friend brought over the 1000 year old eggs. Blech re: taste, texture and smell. My kitchen smelled for a day or so afterwards. Another weird (to me) food I really didn't like was marmite.