naxos

NYE It’s been a year like no other and I decided to treat myself and Mr. to a caviar sampling. And then because I had just made chicken soup the day before, I decided to try my hand at pho. Of course it wouldn’t be authentic but I had all ingredients on hand and we miss our local pho dinners. And for dessert we were gifted a box of Mallomars which we microwaved to perfection-

Has anyone ordered caviar from Browne Trading Co.? Or order from Black Salt? A treat for this NYE seems to be something to look forward to since we have not dined out nor ordered takeout since March.

David Lebovitz recently had a recipe for chocolate marshmallows that looked interesting.

I have been baking with this for at least a year and have been very happy with the results, especially in butter cookies and shortbread. It goes on sale from time to time at Harris Teeter.

Cookie baking time. Using the 1995 Gourmet Magazine Basic Butter Cookie recipe and all it’s varieties, I made mocha butter balls and coconut sticks (which are my favorites.) https://www.caskata.com/blogs/news/new-blog Also Greenspan’s world peace cookies. Now to deliver to friends

Sheet pan chicken thighs- with apple, shallots and kalettes which were tucked under the chicken which kept them from burning for the 45 minutes at 425.

Thinking about trying to recreate Black Salt’s Thai Coconut seafood stew- which might be mor like Tom kha goong- but the green or red chili paste might be good to add Today’s lunch was from Bon Appétit turkey leftover recipe- but I subbed poached chicken thighs for the turkey. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mouthwatering-turkey-with-glass-noodles

Comfort food dinner last night. My Twin Springs produce order included an enormous cabbage and I decided to make stuffed cabbage with a side of mashed potatoes.

My daughter has a Thanksgiving Birthday. Every year she requests this Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake from Epicurious.

Any updates on the available fish?

While I am sorry to hear about the economic fallout of the business, the last Greenberg turkey I ordered 2 years ago was basically inedible- too much smoke and too much salt.

Garlic crumb crusted oven baked halibut with roasted Brussels sprouts and small purple potatoes. To me, fresh halibut is most delicious when cooking time is very carefully monitored, otherwise it can become dry. Today is set aside for comfort food- chicken soup grandma’s way.

Last night Julia Child’s French Onion Soup- definitely a blast from the past but very delicious.

Last night NYT Takeout-style Sesame Noodles but added poached chicken. With fall chill in the air today, made a batch of soup with sweet potatoes, honey nut squash, leeks and chicken soup which was in the freezer.

Risotto? With clams, mushrooms and sausage?

Delegation is a good thing😂

Sourdough raisin- experimenting with einkorn flour which was substituted by WF

Julia Child’s Chicken Bouillabaisse and a romaine, avocado and red pepper salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I had all the ingredients except an orange for its peel which I bartered with a friend for some Twin Springs corn.

Oops... forgot text NYT spinach and feta pie recipe by Ottolenghi And with the chermoula on top

Hoisin-Glazed baby back ribs (Milk Street recipe), rice, cilantro lime slaw and whoopie pies on the deck.Niman Ranch from Harris Teeter.

I was the recipient of a large portion of candy roaster squash from Buffalo Gap Farms in the Shenandoah region. I am not a squash fan but I roasted some for soup and puréed some for my infant granddaughter. It’s a very mild tasting squash that needed some punching up with some curry flavor. Will serve it chilled pranks with a dry coconut cilantro almond jalapeño chutney .

In my opinion, the best avocados are from Mexico and California. The season for Mexican avocados runs from end of summer til May. Now this season we find mostly Peruvian avocados which I find to be inferior- often totally unripe until they ripen after a week or so and then often have large rotten areas or those nasty small fibrous brown spots. The Peruvian avocado supply is relatively new to US. About a dozen years ago I travelled with a group of college students to Peru and we met with some agricultural minister who purported to have found a way to export perfectly ripe avocados.My experience has been that he over promised. Check the label on the avocado. the Mexican avocados will hopefully be back in the market soon

A neighbor found the last box on the shelf at HT. Not certain why there is a shortage 🤷‍♀️

I’m intrigued by the tiny amount of starter! I too have some shaping problems but the bread usually turns out ok. This one is softer with a tighter crumb- I think it needs a good Stilton to or epoisses to accompany it. Sadly I have neither but might do a rush WF order.

I’ve gotten the basic sourdough bread down to where I am baking a loaf a week easily. So decided to branch out and adapt yeasted pumpernickel raisin bread( what I called Russian rye growing up) to using a sourdough starter. I used a Silver Palate recipe which promised the bread I recalled as a kid but I think the ratio of flour to water was wrong and I ended up with a very dense grainy dough. After 3 hrs or no rise, I added some yeast and kneaded it in. Loaves did not rise overnight in fridge but I baked anyway - little oven spring but the bread has a nice soft texture a bit heavy on the molasses. Not quite what I remember but pretty good.