VT post xmas

Alan had to go home, but the rest of us schlepped up to Vermont for more eating and occasional walks with the kids. The first night we had more steaks, which had marinated since before Christmas in a bit of soy and rice vinegar, then got a rub of coffee, garlic, pepper, salt, and grated dried Chinese mushrooms (the intensely chocolatey ones, which were the inspiration for the cappucino-mushroom soup that I'll get to someday) and seared up just right in an iron pan. With various sides, including a 2001 Dead Arm, to my taste the most French of Aussie wines, except maybe for Grange, which is 3 times the price.

The next night we had carrot risotto, Mat marinated (sesame oil, soy sauce, tabasco, lemon) and grilled salmon and swordfish (amazing, especially the swordfish) asparagus, and Andrew's salad. A Sine Qua Non pinot noir #6 took this already fantasic meal to a whole other level. I'm very glad that I have two more of them in store.

Xmas

Mat & Emily, Andrew, and Alan joined us for Christmas dinner. We roasted a capon, stuffed with our version of her Mom's stuffing: whole wheat bread, onion, celery, shiitake, Moroccan lemon, smoked pork broth, lots of herbs, and that which did not fit into the bird got well basted with fat and baked in a pan separately.

Along with the bird came roasted kabocha squash, gravy made from a purée of burdock and dried Chinese mushrooms whisked into a roux made from the hot bird fat, cranberry sauce (sweetened only with maple syrup) and kale. We began with yet another Pleiades, and finished with a 2002 Sirius. Dessert was a pretty perfect pear tart (the glaze was strawberry wine cooked down with orange whiskey and honey to a syrup) and vanilla ice cream. Fantastic.

Christmas Eve

As per Christine's family tradition, we had pea soup for dinner. This one was pretty great, since it had layers of flavors due to its composition; the last of the frozen smoked rib-based soup from the summer, plus smoked pork broth from the huge hunk that ended up as pulled pork, plus a new batch that began with bacon and finished with Fleisher's homemade kielbasa. All added together, and simmmered until the new peas were just right (and the older ones were a perfectly smooth velvet) this one was a real symphony of pork flavors suspended in a creamy substrate of peas. With crusty bread and creamy, funky cheese, it was a perfect beginning to a week of family and more or less constant eating.

Warmup

Chris, Sirkka, and Nissa all came for dinner before their trip, and I had gone shopping for Christmas so we had lots of good stuff in the house. First, the last of the cauliflower soup, increased a bit with more milk and butter, then served in little cups and finished with pepper and a drop of truffle oil.

Then, big shrimp, cleaned but with the shells on, dredged in cumin, cinnamon, pepper, salt, curry, garlic, and oregano, then seared in an iron pan and finished with a bit of wine.


















I wilted a big bunch of spinach with garlic and oil, mashed a pile of steamed sweet potatoes, and finally seared a big top sirloin steak that had a coffee, garlic, salt and pepper rub liberally worked into it. This meat (from Fleisher's, of course) is really like land sushi; I just seared both sides for about 3 minutes each and then let it rest for 10 to heat through. Gorgeous.

We drank another new Pleiades (see what I mean?) and then a 2003 Cheze St.-Joseph Ro-Rée, which also represents a great mouthful of wine for the price.

Sweet Latkes

As a sort of Hanukkah meal I made sweet potato latkes, pan-seared salmon, and kale. The latkes really worked; while much less fatty than traditional ones, they had a lot of flavor and covered the full spectrum of texture from crunchy outside to creamy farther in and still a bit al dente in the middle. The salmon got an apple cider/honey/soy reduction and we washed it down with another Pleiades.

Cauliflower soup

This started off as a roasted cauliflower with a cheese and porcini enhanced béchamel poured on it, the product of a rainy day and some boring cheddar in the fridge. The next day, I threw it all in a pot, added some more mushrooms, buttermilk and water, and once it was totally soft stick blended the whole thing into this creamy goodness. Mushrooms and cauliflower really get along, and the combination of cheese, milk, and buttermilk really elevated the earthy flavors.

Back

Upon return from Miami, I found some lamb chops in the freezer, and since I had eaten pretty badly on my trip got excited to make some home cooking. So parsnip and sweet potato purées, steamed kale with lemon and garlic, and the chops crusted with mustard and herbs. We drank one of the new Pleiades (XV) which just arrived, and it's a particularly good one. It will be fascinating to see how it ages, but I doubt we'll be able to keep it around long enough to find out. For the money, I think it's the best wine made in America.

Thanksgiving

In Chicago, with Christine's Mom, Aunt, & Uncle, a smaller gathering called for a more modest meal and thus turkey was not on the menu. Instead we had a roasted pork loin, stuck with garlic, and a cranberry/red wine reduction with ginger and lemon, and mushrooms cooked in the pan drippings then flamed with cognac to finish. Along with this lovely roast, which had brined all day and was really juicy and flavorful, we had roasted roots (carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, red and yellow beets, celery root, garlic, and apples) and puréed roasted red kuri and kabocha squash, plus kale and Arlette's roasted asparagus. We began with Susana Balbo's Torrontes, then moved on to a 2000 Carver Sutro petite sirah which is finally hitting its stride.
















For dessert we had a pear tart I made earlier in the day (with a passion fruit/clementine/cointreau/honey glaze) and Arlette's chocolate cake. A good simple Thanksgiving- not a big blowout, but better for the quality of people and food, and the space to enjoy both.

Dim Sum

Fresh from a shopping trip to Chinatown in the city, all the new treats inspired this inaccurate but damn tasty dinner upon my return. It's hard to find gai lan and long beans anywhere else, so I loaded up on them, as well as baby bok choy. The long beans sautéed in the last of the pork belly, then had garlic, sambal oelek, rice wine and ponzu added to finish. The gai lan tossed with tons of garlic and ginger finished with rice wine and the last of our soy sauce (I wish I had bought some more on my trip; it's so much cheaper down there.) We had two kinds of dumplings: shu mai with a filling of puréed lotus root, black beans, and umeboshi paste, and gyoza filled with shredded bok choy, carrot, and onion. I fried the gyoza and steamed the shu mai, and the dippng sauce was ponzu with some heat added.

Kofta-esque

Sometimes we get lucky, and my evening survey of the fridge immediately suggests a plan. This was one of those times. We liked to order malai kofta from our local Indian place back in Brooklyn, and I saw the makings of a mutant variation in the remnants of recent meals. So, for the balls, leftover steamed Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and cauliflower puréed along with brown rice and sweet potatoes as well as onion that I cooked fresh with oil, various seeds, and a thumb of ginger all went in the food processor along with half an egg an a bit of flour. These fried in a pan to firm them up, then went into a mixture of black beans, coconut milk, tomato paste, eggplant, spinach and spices which I stick-blended into a gorgeous thick sauce. Garnished with cilantro and lime, it tasted pretty authentic considering it was made of scraps and I have no idea how it's actually made.

Return of the revenge of the son of fridge soup

I've always been a fan, especially in colder months, of keeping a pot of soup going day after day by adding leftovers or new ingredients to it every day or two (reheating it fully every time) so that it remains a work in progress- hitting certain plateaus of completeness but then undergoing slight or radical changes based on the nature of what gets added and subtracted. This particular version had its genesis back in the lamb shanks, and the leftover stew (plus quinoa and black radish) on subsequent nights had cabbage, kale, tortellini, pesto, chicken broth, and ultimately the rice and beans from 2 nights ago added to it. Milo had the penultimate bowl for breakfast this morning.

The rice and beans from 2 nights ago: pork belly (and INSANE mole-flavored sausage from Salumi that Andrew sent me as part of a birthday sampler from Seattle) rendered, then onion, celery, and carrot, plus cumin seeds and powder, then soaked black beans plus their liquid bubbled for 3 hours until al dente and perfect. Served on brown rice with grape tomato salsa, avocado, and "Margaritas" made from strawberry wine that Mike brought on Friday, orange-infused Scotch from Mary, tequila and lime juice.

Pre-birthday

3 couples came to dinner the night before my birthday, so I bought a bunch of good things and figured out how to put them together. I knew I wanted slow-cooked lamb shoulder, so that morning I put a 4-pound beauty into a big pot with the usual aromatics plus lemon, cumin, kombu, dried porcini, wine, soy, and vinegar and, once bubbling, put it in the oven for about 8 hours at 225˚. Then I strained the liquid, pulled the meat apart, and put it into a smaller pot with just enough of the liquid to cover and simmered it on the back of the stove for another 2 hours until it was time to eat it.

The first course was smoked trout that I made earlier, made as before into little soufflans but with the recipe tweaked a bit due to an egg shortage. They went with sautéed local oyster and shiitake mushrooms, shredded kale quickly tossed in a pan with oil and lemon, and a chopped radicchio/butter/wine sauce poured over all of it.
















Next the lamb, on whipped parsnips with yogurt and truffle oil, and Danny's roasted vegetables, with a dab of mint/rosemary/garlic chive pesto on top. And then pear tart, along with amazing local blue cheese and a Montbazillac that, for the money, is a worthy substitute for sauternes without breaking the bank.

Indian Summer

An unbelievably beautiful day today; I spent some of it moving rhododendrons to make room for the garden, which is tilled and awaiting a fence. I went shoppping too, to get things for tomorrow's dinner, and I picked up some wild salmon among other things. Crusted with sesame seeds, and seared, it sat on mashed sweet potatoes and kale sautéed with a bit of pancetta and garlic. Just right for the cool evening; the richness of the pork fat brought this dish firmly into fall despite its inherent lightness, especially without a sauce. A 2000 Joblot Givry "Cellier aux Moines" bonded nicely with the fall themes, including that magic leaf-must smell.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Tonight, in honor of the rain, good hearty fare that hit all those exalted kid-food notes while still being refined and healthy. Instead of breading and frying the slices, I usually bake them with a little oil and salt, or sautée them so they're soft. Grilled is best, because then you get the amazing alchemy that fire works on eggplant combined with the whole bubbly cheese and tomato sauce context, but the rain tonight precluded grilling. I did add layers of spinach as well, and the mozzarella was the real deal, the herbs were fresh from outside, and a little truffle salt really amped up the tang of parmigiano reggiano. Another rich, earthy, and affordable 2001 Domaine La Millière worked with the spectrum of simple flavors that intertwined so satisfyingly; there's a magical sweetness that results from the baking of tomato and mozzarella.

Curry, but different

We've been enjoying the combination of cauliflower and tofu in a coconut-based curry, so I revisited it, but this time the sauce had the rest of the kabocha and gravy added to thicken and deepen it. Broccoli, peas, and a nice mix of seeds and pastes rounded out the flavors. It's important to let this kind of thing simmer a bit to really reduce and marry the flavors; it also greatly benefits from having the already-deepened leftovers added since they have so much to offer already.

More Rockin' Chicken

Sort of Moroccan, with a Southern twist: a whole chicken slowly stewed with lemons, olives, cumin, ras el hanout, onion, celery, carrot, sweet potatoes and herbs until it was falling-apart tender, then all solids removed to bowl & board while the liquid thickened with some flour to make a fantastic gravy. Meanwhile baby spinach wilted with garlic and more lemon, and gave a nice tangy counterpoint to the rich sauce. A Pleiades XIV couldn't have worked better with the dish; it matched the acid of the lemons, and the sweet spices, and even the tangy spinach. This one really worked on all levels.

Another Visit

Noah and Deanna came up for a night, so we had crispy tofu in a pungent peanut sauce (PB, sesame oil, vinegar, lime, umeboshi paste) as well as faux BBQ tempeh (molasses, ketchup, tamarind, vinegars, hot sauce) rice, roasted kabocha, and the last of the red cabbage from rib night. We drank a 2003 Turley Keig vineyard zin and a 2003 Siduri 2003 Sonatera vineyard pinot noir.

Lamb Shanks

Cooked slow, until they fell off the bone, with onion, celery root, carrot, riesling, cumin, shiitakes, garlic and herbs, and served over quinoa. Chris made an amazing salad from their garden, and cooked Richard and Susan's black radishes in sake and soy until they were perfectly tender. We started by finishing the riesling, then had a 2002 Marquis Philips cabernet S2.

Supplì

The paella rice (after having been made into maki for lunch the next day) now became supplì, or arancini, with bacon and mozzarella inside and corn meal outside since we had no bread crumbs. A very simple tomato sauce, salad, and Susana Balbo's Syrah/Bonardo blend. Comfort food for the fall.

Paella

For the second night of their stay we made paella. 5 kinds of sausage from Fleisher's (one each of what they had) plus scallops and clams, plus chicken legs, all in arborio rice with saffron and a broth made from earlier chicken bones and carrots, celery root, onion, and parsley. I browned the chicken, sausage, and scallops in the same pan, using their rendered fat, then threw in the onion and rice to start the main dish. Once arranged, brussels sprouts went in, and I added peas and the scallops just before serving so they didn't overcook. We drank a 2000 Guigal Condrieu, then a 2003 Cocodrilo cabernet from Argentina (first time- well received all around), then a 1996 Remirez de Ganuza Rioja Riserva which was as elegant and deep as ever.