Eating Local Part 2

Tonight, a revised version of what I had planned for last night before the trout showed up: venison loin- the last of what Kenny gave us in the fall- some leftovers, and some other locally grown treats. To begin, and for Milo's dinner, a pizza with pesto, sliced morels, and mozzarella. The morels have the most intensely umami mushroominess and they blended heroically with the sweet cheese and tart pesto.
















The second course, about an hour later (because both Chris and John came over separately to get some unplanted seedlings, dig some mint and nettles out of the field, and take a trout each since we only cooked two last night) was the venison loin, seared in a pan and then finished in the oven with whole garlic cloves, then garnished with a sorrel/goat cheese/horseradish sauce and refried cubes of the polenta from last night. The meat juices completed the plate, and we drank the remaining Mas de Gourgonnier and Turonia that were in the fridge. Pretty great, and almost all grown right in the area; as far as I can tell, only the salt, pepper, wine, and maybe the garlic came from far away.

Eating Local

This morning we had an omelet made from eggs given to me by Kurt at Elijah's Café when I stopped by for a smoothie to cheer Milo up since he has a cold, and ended up leaving with half a pound of fresh morels and the eggs as well. In keeping with such bounty, I was all set to write an entry, using the same heading, featuring the last of the venison Kenny brought us last fall, when lo and behold he showed up while I was weeding the garden this afternoon with four fat trout he caught today up near Mt. Tremper. I went shopping soon after, because we were low on many things, and more importantly out of coffee, so this is what we had tonight (while the venison waits for tomorrow.)

While the fish cooked in parchment with herbs and garlic, the morels and fiddleheads had a light sautée in Vermont butter and garlic and locally grown and ground polenta bubbled nearby with some very unlocal salt and pepper. To finish, a splash of the chicken broth I made at lunch time (local chicken) deglazed chopped sorrel wilted in another bit of butter. Fiddleheads and morels, apart from being two of the most alien looking delicacies, also epitomize Spring and complement each other well. Salt, pepper, and wine aside (2006 Crios Torrontes- lush, floral, perfumed and springy) everything else on the plate came from our area. Best of all, we finished the meal with a salad of baby greens from the garden, which we ate with no dressing of any kind; it was like a greens tasting, with peppery mustard and arugula and funky, meaty bok choy and hon tsai tai. Profound and intense, and cut just minutes before.

Daube

Phillipe and Lea invited us for dinner at their place with John and Debi. Phillipe made daube provençal, one of his specialties, as well as asparagus and tomatoes stuffed with eggplant and rice. The daube was mighty, with intense lamb and herb flavors, a nice spice from marinated olives, perfect potatoes, and melting meat. The company was grand, and John and I both brought wine: a 2000 Gros Noré Bandol, a 1998 Clos des Brusquières CDP, a 1996 Tollot-Beaut Aloxe-Corton, and a 1997 Jaboulet Cornas. Yum.

New Toy

I got a saladacco, or spiral slicer, the other day and used it tonight for the first time. The cheap ones were not well reviewed, so I sprung for the $60 version and it worked like a charm. Half a sweet potato, peeled, then spun through the gadget using the middle blade yielded a nice bowl of orange curls. Tossed with scallions, half a jalapeño, and a dressing of peanut butter, flax and sesame oils, nam pla, cider vinegar, tamari, and the juice of one lemon, it made a more than adequate substitute for green papaya salad, one of my all-time favorites, that I've been craving lately with the warmer weather. I also banged out a by now pretty standard vegetable curry, with acorn squash, cauliflower, tofu, sweet potato, carrot, chard, and peas in a coconut sauce. A plate of papadums and another standard, the 2005 St. Urbans Hof riesling, completed the meal.

Warming Up

Chris came over, solo, bearing gifts of salad greens and nettles (he's wearing gloves because he was pulling leaves off stems before we steamed them) and I had been to the fish market and bought scallops and halibut to play with. I marinated the scallops in olive oil, pink pepper, Celtic salt, and hebes de Provence that I mashed together in the suribachi, then seared them in the iron pan with a bit of butter, deglazed with wine, and served on a bed of our neighbor Deb's arugula (she got hers planted well before ours.) I also made polenta, and the halibut marinated in a pesto of cilantro and ramps before going in the iron pan as well. A handful of chopped ramps followed the fish and garnished it on top of the polenta (locally grown, stone-ground, and organic.) We started with a Château de Roquefort Corail, then had a splash of Pleiades XV that Chris brought, opened the day before and thus smooth and gorgeous, and then a 2001 Guigal white Hermitage to accompany the main meal. A perfect preview to what lies in store for all of us once all our gardens start producing.

The Raw And The Cooked

It got humid, and I was in the woodshop all day so something light and quick was called for. The leftover brown rice (we always make too much, so there are easy options in the following days) and some wilted watercress became maki, and carrot "noodles" from the peeler tossed in a sauce of cider vinegar, tamari, mustard, and sesame oil with a garnish of black sesame seeds. A bit of ground beef mixed with ginger, garlic, pepper, and scallion went inside wonton skins to make little gyoza- browned in a drop of oil, then steamed, covered, with the addition of a splash of water. They got a drizzle of tamari, ume vinegar, and sesame oil, and a healthy handful of scallions to finish. To go with this mixture of the raw and the cooked, a 2005 Clos de Paulilles Collioure which had enough grip to handle the meat and was still light enough for the veggies, with an herbal quality that did well enough with the Asian condiments.

Soup and Salad

The rib bones from yesterday, still with a bit of meat on them- and lots of flavor left to give- went in a pot with onion, carrot and herbs to brown a bit. Then a bowl of soaked cannelini beans, water, and a bit of salt, and it all bubbled for two hours. I pulled all the good meat off, chucked the rest, and stirred in a handful of chopped oregano from the herb garden. Finished with chives (also from the garden) and accompanied by a salad of local greens (though not yet our own) it was a perfect meal for a cool evening after an absolutely perfect day. We drank a Mas de Gourgonnier rosé, one of my favorites, and a great match. From my old neighborhood in the Lubéron, it has a wonderful minerality that goes with this kind of earthy food, and particularly well with that magical bass-and-treble-at-the-same-time flavor that is white truffles.

Mothers' Day

This tantalizing triskelion is made up of espresso-rubbed, homemade sauce-basted, and apple wood from our tree-smoked pork ribs cut apart and arranged over mashed sweet potatoes and the yams from the night before and garnished with the pineapple salsa. For Mothers' day, we opened one of Christine's favorites: a 2001 Carver Sutro petite sirah, which is finally coming into its own as a rich, gorgeous wine. Next time I want to try it along with a Sirius.

Tropicalia

It was a perfect day, and they had Marlin at the market, so I made a version of the way I had done it in Costa Rica a couple of years ago. First, a pineapple salsa, with jalapeño, lime, scallion, cilantro, and salt, which sat and marinated while I did the rest. A light rub of cinnamon, chile, and pepper on the fish, and Japanese yams went into the steamer. When the yams were done, I threw the fish in the iron pan to sear. Finished fish rested on a plate while I mashed the yams and cleaned the pan with escarole and ponzu. We drank a 2005 Crios rosé, which I like better than last year's; it's drier and less candy-like.

Garden

Here, finally planted (except for two beds of hot-weather things) is the garden. In a couple of weeks we'll be getting the first mesclun, and after that many other things. It was a ton of work, but now that the beds are done they should be pretty easy to prepare in subsequent springs.

Summa cum laude

Seriously muggy and hot today, with afternoon thundershowers giving us our first rain in a full week. Nice to give the sprinkler a break, especially since I was doing some space-mandated editing in the garden; rhubarb came out of a bed and into the ground near the fence, carrots got reduced to make room for salsify, burdock, scorzonera and parsnip, and tomorrow the celery/celeriac gets cut in half to make room for daikon and radish.

So tonight, with the heat and the vegetables foremost in mind, a vegan feast. Pappadums, sautéed zucchini, radicchio salad with truffle oil, blue lentils with leek, mint and scallion, and tempeh with the very poular BBQ sauce. Washed down with the bright 04 Turonia albariño since we're out of rosé, a condition which I will remedy tomorrow.

Chez Liz

Liz invited a few people over for a dinner and bonfire. Everyone brought something, and we grilled many veggies- eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, radicchio, onions, asparagus- plus fish and chicken. Phillipe made a crazy leek salad, Sirkka made roasted potatoes, John made salad and brought an intense daikon and ikura relish, and Chris manned the grill while I dealt with squid and tuna; a pesto/umeboshi/lime mixture went in & outside the squid, then they cooked over a hot fire for a minute per side, and the tuna got a good sear before slicing into strips and getting a jalapeño slice and sesame-soy drizzle. All this was thoroughly enjoyed outside by a roaring fire. Dessert was Liz's trademark cashew pudding on fruit, and we drank lots of good wine- the standouts were a 1999 Kistler chard (my last), and a 1997 Brunello and a 1989 Côte Rôtie that John brought (I forgot to write down the producers.)

Christine's Birthday

I rubbed and roasted a whole chicken, and threw a bunch of sweet potatoes into the oven as well, with lots of garlic and thyme. Crimini mushrooms, sautéed with garlic and deglazed with white wine, went into the blender with the burdock from a couple of days before plus just enough water to spin into a thick purée. Once the bird came out, I made a roux with the fat in the roasting pan and then added white wine, water and, once it reached a good consistency, the mushroom/burdock mixture. On top, trumpet mushrooms, also sautéed with garlic and parsley, and deglazed with wine. On the side, escarole done the usual way. We drank a 2005 Étude pinot noir, which is a yummy wine but was much too young and tart. Dessert was birthday cake- dairy free, juice-sweetened banana cake. Milo was near-hysterical about it.

Another Dinner

This time at Rick and Julie's house, where they've been playing with sous-vide cooking, using a vacuum sealer and a hot water bath to slow-cook meat and fish so that they're perfect all the way through. In this case, New York strips that he had dry-aged for a month in a special fridge, then cooked at 128˚ for 4 hours, each in its own bag, then seared up in a pan to put a good crust on the outside. Along with these, Julie made a wicked salad, roasted sweet potatoes, cooked kale in a little chicken broth, and asparagus with a bit of bacon. To go with this feast, Rick went deep into the cellar; we began with a 1971 Bouchard Le Corton, then opened a 1966 Beaulieu Georges de la Tour Reserve, then finished a 1990 Sorrel Hermitage they had opened a few days earlier. Dessert was a fantastic mango-banana sorbet accompanied by a 1988 Bonny Doon Muscat vin de glacière. There is simply nothing like decades-old great wine, and being able to switch back and forth between pinot noir, cabernet, and syrah from such old and wonderful bottles was a treat.

Chef Jeff

We went to visit Jeff, Eve, and their two boys for an early dinner on a beautiful day. It was at their house during grad school that the tradition of epic dinners really embedded itself in my psyche as an essential component of life. Good ingredients, improvisation, and great people all combined to make some meals that I'll never forget. Jeff had made his trademark grilled squid, and pan-roasted salmon in a sauce of puréed greens, chiles, and cream. Eve made wild rice, and a cooked beet and carrot salad with goat cheese. Dessert was fruit salad and dark chocolate. It's too bad we see them so rarely.

Visit

In Evanston, visiting Christine's Mom, I wanted to give her a night off so I made dinner (having shopped earlier in the day.) Seared bluefin tuna, dressed with hot garlic-infused sesame oil, got two contrasting salads: a mango salsa with red onion, tomato, cucumber, and lime and radicchio chopped fine with salt and truffle oil. The sweet mango complemented the slightly bitter radicchio. I also cooked some burdock and a big bowl of chopped bok choy.

Comfort food, but healthy

A cold, crappy day, that hindered the installation of the garden fence so it will take another morning to complete. In response, something comfortable and simple: roasted chicken thighs with a spice rub perched on sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs that roasted on the rack below the chicken. We drank another 1997 Teófilo Reyes Ribera del Duero.

Light

The warm weather and impending garden are inspiring so many culinary thoughts these days; when the plants wake up it seems crazy not to have every meal centered around them, with meat or fish as a garnish, or a rich side dish. So tonight, on the eve of the garden fence going in (and thus despite the lack of any actual vegetables) wild Alaskan salmon was an appetizer to a very simple plate of rice, steamed sweet potato, and sautéed bok choy, all with a tahini/miso/mustard/lemon sauce. The sashimi had the usual sesame oil heated with smashed garlic, then nama shoyu and lemon added after sauce- so the hot oil and then the lemon juice cook the fish a tiny bit- and it was garnished with garlic chives from the yard.

Spring!

This pic is from lunch, actually; I almost made potato salad last night but the spuds ended up in the curry instead. So today I steamed cubed new potatoes and tossed them with olives, pickles, ramps, scallions, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a dressing of olive oil, cider & balsamic vinegar, mustard, and lemon juice. Really tangy, creamy, and addictive, and served on a bed of mesclun.


















For dinner, brown rice, pinto beans (soaked, then simmered with cumin and coriander seeds, onion, garlic, chile powder, cinnamon, and paprika) and a salsa of grape tomatoes, jalapeño, onion, cilantro, and lime. Rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla with avo, they hit the spot. Both of these meals show how quickly the gears shift when the weather warms up.

Melting Pot

The many-flavored sauce entered the home stretch with this one, as it became a curry with cauliflower and fingerling potatoes added, plus the requisite spices (and a couple of ramps; they just arrived, and we're eating half of them and planting the other half.) It keeps getting richer and deeper, and may be the first recorded instance of sopressata ending up in a curry.) I also made little rolls with wonton skins, filled with shiitake, shredded kale, and scallion. They look deep-fried, but I used only a tablespoon of olive oil on the pan. Their sauce was ponzu/soy/rice vinegar/honey and we drank another Turonia albariño.

The same, but different

Chicken thighs, leeks, and some sliced shiitakes browned in the big sautée pan, while sliced burdock cooked with more shiitakes until soft, then had the rest of the oyster soup added to it, along with the last spoon of osso buco demi-glace, parsley, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper. Then the sauce went in the chicken pan (deglazed first with a splash of red wine) and it all cooked together for a bit while I steamed some broccoli- which I can't seem to get enough of these days- to go on the side. This kind of hovered between chicken with gravy (specifically the burdock-mushroom gravy from Xmas) and turkey with oyster stuffing, and meshed well with the lavish pleasures of a Pleiades XV.

Two if by sea

The leftover oysters went in a pot with cubed new potato, the rest of the turnip/daikon mash, a bit of tomato paste, garlic, a squeeze of lemon, and water to cook into a chowder of sorts; in order to amplify the chowderness (chowderivity? chowdertude? chowderosity?) I whisked in a bit of yogurt and butter at the end, along with some halved grape tomatoes for color and contrast with the paste. The corn meal from the oysters did a great job of thickening this up to a rich stewy consistency.

While the soup was cooking, I made rolls of smoked salmon, avocado, pea shoot, and garlic chive (from the yard) with a peanut/lemon/miso/ponzu/truffle, olive, and sesame oil sauce with grape tomatoes as a garnish. We ate this first, and drank a 2006 Château Roquefort Corail- the first rosé of the season (which might be optimistic, given the storm right now bearing down on us like a shotgun full of snow.)

Pizza Plus

I got some shucked oysters from the market, rolled them in corn meal and spices and browned them in a pan. They weren't quite the fried oysters we had at Uglesich's in New Orleans a few years back, but they weren't bad- and no doubt a tad healthier- especially with a horseradish mayonnaise I whipped up. I was sad to hear that they decided to close, but given what happened soon after it seemed like a prescient decision. Having the waiter there tell us "You have ordered well, Jedi" ranked up there with having the snarky indie-record store clerk compliment me on my purchases once years earlier back in the city.

To go with the oysters, a pizza with artichoke, roasted pepper, olive, herb, garlic, parmesan and topped with pea shoots when it came out. We drank a 2001 Belpoggio Brunello, which has the finesse of that great year, but none of the funk and whallop one looks for in a great Brunello.

Osso Buco

Another cold, snowy day warranted some hearty food, so pasture-raised Veal shanks from the freezer got a good long braise in the dutch oven along with carrot, leek, onion, parsley, fennel seed, herbes de Provence, dried porcini, and red wine. Meanwhile, I steamed cubed turnip and daikon and whisked polenta with parmesan and pepper. I was trying to make two identical-looking creamy bases for the rich meat, but didn't get the roots soft enough (even though I did match the colors pretty well.)

So the mashed parsnip mixture became quenelles instead, and the strained and reduced braising liquid became a sauce for all. Pea shoots wilted in a pat of butter with salt and lemon went on top. We drank a 2002 Fagus de Coto de Hayas Selección Especial old vine grenache that John brought for paella night but we didn't get to. It has all the red fruit and tanginess you expect from grenache, with good depth and smooth tannins. New world style, but without the cloying sweetness; old vines and good winemaking make this well worth a try.

Cold outside

I had made a broth from a chicken leg bone and the steak trimmings from the other night plus carrot, celery root, and onion, and tonight added galangal, ginger, garlic, and lemon juice. After simmering for a bit, I strained out the pieces and added the two leftover baked squash halves and the soft carrot from the original broth, then stick-blended it all smooth and added back tiny bits of the super-tender steak. To complete the meal, a salad, and soba with a tahini/soy/nam pla/vinegar/sauerkraut juice sauce and black sesame seeds. We drank a 2004 Leitz Dragonstone riesling, which worked particularly well with the floral galangal and sweet squash flavors in the soup.

Yummy

Chris, Liz, and Nissa came for dinner while Sirkka and Christine were in the city. Chris brought a big steak, and a bottle of 1990 Batasiolo Barolo that was tragically corked. We grilled the steak, baked acorn squash, braised burdock with galangal and ginger, sautéed bok choy, and made a salad. I opened a 1999 Martinetti Barolo "Marasco" which was gorgeous. Liz made an amazing cashew-vanilla-grapefruit cream that we ate on grapefruit and blood oranges with toasted almonds.

Oh, Cod

Christine bought some cod, and some mushroom fettucine, so I got to work. For the pasta, a simple idea ended up as a pretty complex sauce: turkey bacon, spicy green olives, dried tomatoes in oil, parsley, garlic, and pepper all cooked in a bit of butter and olive oil until lightly caramelized, at which point I added a pinch of flour to turn it into a roux. Then yogurt, parmesan, and white wine completed the emulsion, which, along with some green peas and a drop of truffle oil, coated the pasta beautifully. The fish got a bit of pesto rubbed on it, then cooked low until just done. We finished the Turonia and Numanthia from paella night; the former still elegant, flowery, with great acidity for food, and the latter still tasting like Australian movie-candy wine, as if the 5 days siting open on the counter never happened. It's an open question whether any of this kind of wine will bear aging, or just lose its sweetness altogether and be finished in 5-10 years.

⁄⁄¡Ole!

Christine got me a big Paella pan for my birthday back in November, and we finally got around to using it. First off, I made homemade merguez and chorizo the day before, and let them sit in the fridge overnight before forming the meat around wooden skewers and grilling them up. Shrimp shells made a broth with vegetables and wine, and red pepper, peas, shrimp, mussels, clams, and bay scallops rounded it out. Everybody brought something good and the table was plenty full- salads, pizzas, cheese, and a bunch of desserts. All the wine was Spanish: a 2004 Turonia Rias Baixas for an aperitif, then a 1998 "Les Terrasses", a 1995 Tinto Pesquera, a 1996 Flor de Pingus, a 2002 "La Viña de Andres Romero" and a 2004 Numanthia. I liked the Pesquera best, but the Pingus and les Terrasses were good too. The Romero tasted more like a Cali pinot than anything else (in a good way) and the Numanthia is very new-world style but powerful and elegant. I'll be interested to see how it ages.

Meat & Potatoes

I went to Fleisher's today, to get fixins for tomorrow's paella, and couldn't not get one of their dry-aged top sirloin steaks (on account of how gorgeous they are and also we haven't had one since Christmas.) I baked some sweet potatoes, and quick-braised a head of escarole, just like last time, and made a pan sauce with red wine and a pat of butter; the meat had salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence for a simple rub. All these remarkably sophisticated flavors did well by a 2003 Finca Sandoval Manchuela, which could use a bit more time, but has a lusciousness that makes it enjoyable now. And if you think we've been hitting the Spanish wines hard lately, just wait until the post about tomorrow...

Maki

Completely exhausted from rototilling the garden, and with next to nothing in the fridge, I punted; the brown rice allowed for efficient use of the few things we had. Fillings included roasted acorn squash, chopped wasabi peas, avocado, carrot (shaved super-thin with the peeler) and minced ume plum. That was it. No sides, no wine, just simple food and then bed.

Mas Feesh

This meal ended up as kind of a variation on the tuna/striped bass meal from last week, but it was all wild salmon. Another Nobu-style sashimi, this time with lime juice and zest, and black pepper added to finish. The rest of the fish got the simple pan treatment after a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and cinnamon. I steamed broccoli and cauliflower and brown rice was going in the cooker. For the sauce this time, a slight variation, with white wine, lemon juice, mustard, capers, and a drop of agave syrup. We finally finished the second half of the Banneret, which had been in an airtight decanter. Still nice, but without the oomph in the middle that a great Châteauneuf should have after being open for a while.

Thai Styley

The rare and wonderful presence of galangal in the fridge governed the direction for dinner tonight; absent kaffir lime leaves, or even non-slimy cilantro, (shudder) this magical rhizome pulled the whole meal into Southeast Asian territory all by itself. The chicken carcass simmered with its gravy plus more water, ginger, galangal, and garlic. Minus the bones, and plus coconut milk and lime juice, it turned into a pretty good tom kha gai. (The preserved lemons did a good job of covering the lemongrass part.) Meanwhile, some TVP had been simmering with dried mushrooms until they were all soft. I added tamari, nam pla, rice vinegar, and ginger, plus flour to thicken, and tossed it all in the wok, followed by a bunch of soaked rice noodles with soy, vinegar, and sesame oil, and then a bunch of watercress with smashed garlic:

Braise the Bird

Our 3.5 quart Dutch oven holds a chicken perfectly, and helps infuse the bird with whatever flavors go in there with it. In this case, they were carrot, onion, preserved lemon, herbes de Provence, ras el hanout, and white wine. Once the bird was cooked, I added shredded kale to the sauce and thickened it with a bit of flour to make it gravy. And that was it- chicken, gravy, and a 2003 Domaine du Banneret CDP, which had lovely cedary and herbal qualities, along with good fruit; 2003 was a tough, hot year but this one is not bad at all.

Less is More

Back from a gig in Providence, and not so much in the fridge. Some of Kenny's venison from the freezer provided the focal point for a rainbow of leftovers: half an acorn squash roasted while a quarter of a red cabbage braised and a sweet potato steamed. The last of the beet salad rounded out the brilliantly colored substrate for the buttery tender strips of meat, rubbed with salt, pepper, and ras-el-hanout. Seared up in the iron pan, they harmonized wonderfully with the complex sweet, earthy, and tangy vegetable flavors, as well as with a 1996 Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero.

Feesh

I was in the city all day, and stuck in traffic for too much of the time, but I mustered the strength to pick up some fish for dinner. Unable to choose, I got wild sea bass and a small piece of beautiful tuna. Rubbed with black pepper, the tuna made a nice seared sashimi with hot garlic-infused sesame oil, then ponzu drizzled on it.
















The main course was pan-roasted sea bass over the cauliflower purée from yesterday (without agar) and wilted spinach with garlic. I made another blood orange-wine pan sauce because Milo likes it so much and it looks pretty too. This was all very well met by our last bottle of 2003 Siduri Sonatera pinot noir, which, while not even close to Burgundian, is one of their funkier single vineyard wines. Too bad we won't have a chance to see how it ages.

Using The Force

I usually try to have the meal come logically from what needs to be eaten, whether leftovers or a veggie that's getting tired. Tonight the cauliflower Christine steamed for Milo was the jumping-off point. Puréed and mixed with a drop of truffle oil, ume shu, soy milk, salt, and dissolved agar, then chilled, it became a sort of vegan panna cotta. Acorn squash, sweet potato, and carrot curry with coconut milk went around them for a nice complement, and a bit of lime zest finished the plate.










The second course could accurately, if inelegantly, be called meatball salad; the remaining lamb mixture from the fridge had gained sausage-like depth of flavor from all the added seasonings, so I made little meatballs with it, and, once they were done, used a bit of their hot fat as the base for an in-bowl vinaigrette (ume shu, salt, and pepper added to the greens, then a dribble of hot fat) that wilted the mesclun nicely and gave the whole salad some of the meatball richness. Both dishes went well with a 2005 St. Urbans-Hof riesling, which, though cheap, has fruit, flowers, decent acidity, and just enough sweetness to handle the curry spices.

Dim Sum

Far from traditional, but close to awesome, these various tidbits were filled as follows: the little egg rolls with ground lamb seasoned with garlic, rice vinegar, curry powder, tamari, ume shu, and pepper; the shu mai with the white bean/artichoke mixture, topped with black sesame seeds; and the wontons with finely shredded red cabbage, carrot, and scallion. In the middle of the plate is kale quickly cooked with a smashed garlic clove in a drop of the frying oil (which by then had some rendered lamb fat in it.) The dipping sauce for all this was tamari, Melinda's hot sauce, rice vinegar, agave syrup, and lime juice.

Hitting bottom, but in a good way

This meal was literally made from the last food in the fridge (although not the freezer.) From the last of the grilled lamb, some leftover kidney beans, a carrot, half an onion, a bit of kale, some dried porcini and a splash of wine came this instant risotto. Well, not really instant, but it didn't involve broth since the various components all flavored the water as it cooked. Just the right amount of lamb gave it good depth, and we each had a glass of the 2005 Nieto Senentiner Cabernet that Christine had opened while I was in the city.

More Old Wine

I finally made it over to Kris and Ken's place for dinner, and it was great. Sujit and James joined us, but alas Mary and David did not since his flight from Paris was so late due to bad weather. In order, the courses that Kris prepared were as follows: first, sea bream with celery root purée and caramelized garlic, enjoyed with a 1986(!) Pouilly-Fuissé "Les Reiss" from Ferret which was fascinating, and then a white 2004 Priorat called "Les Brugueres." Next, foie gras on raisin toast with homemade jam, paired with first a 1990 Les Lys Montlouis and then a 1979 Rieussec Sauternes, which did sweet in two completely opposite ways- one transparent and delicate, the other unctuous and honeyed. The next course was a curried poussin risotto, creamy and spicy, and we continued with the same whites.

The reds began with my 1996 Remirez de Ganuza, still a current favorite, and praised by all. It accompanied duck confit on braised carrots and cabbage, which had a very appropriate St. Patrick's day feel to it. We moved on to Sujit's 1998 Durand Cornas, which none of us guessed (I was the farthest off) and then to a 1999 Valdicava Brunello that Kris had decanted when I arrived. The main course was guinea hen roasted with boar bacon on top and rapini on the side. We opened Sujit's second mystery wine, a 2001 Beaurenard CDP, which we did better with, and Kris stumped us again with a 1989 Chinon "Cuvée des Verennes du Grand Clos," which was pretty over the hill but interesting since we had talked aging Loire wines earlier in the evening. Then cheeses, the standout of which was a Robiola "Rustica." Quite a night.

Old Bordeaux

Danny got hold of a 1978 Mouton Rothschild, and thus a dinner was called for. John and Debi came too, and brought a 1979 Pichon-Lalande. I made more of the cannelini-artichoke mixture, and spread it on the toasted homemade bread, then topped each one with a quarter of an artichoke (alla Romana, of course) and a drizzle of truffle oil. These were insanely hearty and great with the 2004 Quintarelli "bianco secco" that John brought along as well as a brown rice and bean risotto, port marinated seitan, and he braised radicchio in coconut water and pesto.
Danny brought potatoes, salad, and cherry planks that he had milled himself. The lamb, opened up and rubbed with a Moroccan lemon/olive/garlic/parsley tapenade, went on the planks over the fire after a quick char on the outside.













It was all delicious, and the 2 old wines were fascinating studies in great wines from lesser years; John called them "wise old women you need to listen to carefully." Though not powerful, they were elegant, seamless, and very different from each other. More different still, and much younger at only 15 years old, our 1992 Beringer offered a distinctly Californian take on the same idea, and while delicious, and at its prime, couldn't rival the subtlety of the other two. And it's the first time I've ever had a Mouton that came out before Star Wars.

Pasta e fagioli

I went to Fleisher's to replenish the freezer, and get a lamb shoulder for tonight, and I also got some of their pastrami, which is insanely good- really salty and peppery and smoky- and used some of it in place of pancetta in the soffrito for cannelini (made from dried, of course) along with onion, carrot, and herbs. I sautéed a head of escarole with lemon, oil, and garlic, just like they do at Pepe Giallo. The beans deglazed with wine, then tomatoes, and then a bag of al dente whole wheat penne dumped in to finish; normally this dish is more of a soup, but I like it thicker. Having said that, for lunch today all the leftovers got added to the last of the chicken stew, canned tomatoes, escarole, and even brown rice and made a wicked rainy day fridge stew for all of us.

Bread!

I got this recipe from Andrew's blog, where he has a link to a no-knead bread recipe from Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery. I used half whole wheat and half white flour, but otherwise followed it exactly. The point is to make a wet dough and let it rise and ferment for 18 hours, so time does your work for you, then bake it inside a preheated Dutch oven in your oven so that the steam gives it a lovely crust. It worked really well- crusty outside, moist and chewy inside, and the whole upstairs smells like fresh bread.

Almost Spring

I had been thinking about this for a few days; it always works out best when I cook what I really want to cook and tonight was no exception. Trout "en papillote" stuffed with garlic and herbs went in the oven along with twice-baked potatoes (for their second time) after baking and getting mashed up with garlic chives, (newly visible now the snow is melting) truffle oil, thyme, salt, pink pepper, and olive oil and put back in their skins. The trout produced ample juices for its own sauce, which were all contained in the parchment. Finished under the broiler, and with a big baby green salad with a mustard vinaigrette, they did their part to nudge winter into spring. In honor of the first warm day of the year, we opened our last 2000 Guigal white Hermitage, which is full of honey and hazelnuts.

Welcome Back

Christine went to the city, so Milo and I were alone this weekend. Yesterday, we made chicken stew with shiitakes, carrots, parsnip, celery root, moroccan lemon, and white wine, and today for lunch I added Lebanese couscous, the kabocha purée from salmon night, some red cabbage, and more roots, letting it simmer until all was soft. We'll have the rest for lunch tomorrow.

For her return, I defrosted 2 duck breasts, steamed a mixture of celery root and parsnip, boiled a couple of beets to make salad, and chiffonaded some kale. The beet salad is also for tomorrow, since it gets so much better after a day or two, but I used the cooking liquid (as before, an efficient substitute for juice) as the base for a sauce: some red wine, a splash of cider, a bit of agave syrup, and a handful of sliced kumquats reduced to a nice thick consistency. The kale I cooked in the same pan as the duck, with onions, after pouring off the excess rendered fat into a jar. We tried a 1997 Clos Mogador Priorat; these big Spanish wines are amazing for their depth and longevity, especially given their price; this had many Bordeaux-like characteristics, not least some tannins which could use another 5 years or so to relax.

Salmon again

I almost made the wasabi pea crust again for this salmon, but opted instead for cornmeal and spices (paprika, pink pepper, herbes de Provence, cinnamon.) Steamed kabocha squash made a super-creamy mash, and needed nothing but a little oil and salt, and then, still in the same pan, I browned shiitakes, then wilted spinach, each time with their own fresh smashed garlic clove. Last, another orange-based sauce: OJ, wine, tamari, agave syrup, pink pepper that reduced to a medium thickness and went with everything, just like the 2001 Domaine la Millière CDP which is still one of the best deals we've gotten in a while (thanks to Mary.)