Why Not Lamb?

The question was posed so casually that I couldn't say no...

2/26/10
The creation:
Pan-seared lamb shoulder with duck-fat-fried potato and cauliflower 

What's in the fridge?
1/3 red onion
1/2 lime
wild rice
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:
red onion
Hmm, since there was pretty much nothing in there to begin with...

Ingredients purchased:
lamb shoulder 
potatoes
cauliflower

The creative process: 
Our wine buyer at Crush is a quiet man. A dear, sweet, hilarious and endearing, quiet man who, I learned today, is also a very, very serious foodie. When I offhandedly asked him, "What should I have for dinner tonight?" and he nonchalantly replied, after a moment's consideration, "Why not lamb shoulder with potato gratin and anchovy-mint sauce?" I looked at him, my mouth agape, and realized he was very serious. I couldn't say "No" to him. Especially not after he told me I ought to pair the lamb with the Clos de Gamot Cahors: "I once had lamb shoulder with the Clos de Gamot, and it reminded me of all the reasons why life is worth living," he (still casually) commented.

Like an addict to the street corner, I shoved that malbec in my bag and made my way to The Meat Hook as fast as possible to ask for the best deal on baby sheep. $9.99 a pound for this pretty little--actually big 'n thick!--chop-looking-like nugglet of lamb shoulder.

Thinly-sliced potatoes, red onion and cauliflower florets got a good pan-fry while I took to the lamb. Salt and pepper, medium-high heat, three minutes a side, and those fat pheromonic hunks of tender, gamey, delectable lamb were enough to make me cast duck breasts to the curb...

The verdict:
I have found a new favorite animal to consume. Sure, I've had loads of lamb before, but the unadulterated simplicity and quality of these suckers shut down past experiences. Oh, and that Cahors really did give me some insight into why life is worth living. Angular, masculine, defined and pulsing with wet earth/rocks/ripe red fruits, it paired just terribly well with the seductive bits of lamb I sucked off the shoulder bone. There may have been audible moans of pleasure...

Semi-Sad Soup

Today I call attention to the fact that I don't do everything incredibly well. Like, I don't make Get-Well Soup as well as Sarah does. I'd like to say that every cooking story of mine is a success, but sometimes innovation does not equal incredible. Tonight was one of those nights. Sarah: Please give me the recipe for your amazing Get-Well Soup!

2/25/10

The creation:

Winter greens soup with ginger

What's in the fridge?
Leftover chicken
1 slice guanciale Nevermind; ate that last night while preparing chicken)
small hunk of Stilton Nevermind; ate that earlier tonight)
ginger (this appeared while I was on vacation??)
1/3 red onion
1/2 lime
wild rice (Frozen. I had forgotten about this!)
chicken stock
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:

chicken

ginger

wild rice

chicken stock

Ingredients purchased:

1 sweet potato

2 bunches fresh spinach

1 bunch fresh broccoli rabe

The creative process:

Sarah made Get-Well Soup for me a few weeks back. I have been craving it ever since. Stock plus ginger gave me the idea, but I figured "Why not throw in some extra goodies I have on hand!" I added some wild rice, convinced that the texture would be a complement to the soup. I added a bit of chicken, sure that some protein couldn't hurt. Basically, I chopped up some sweet potato and ginger and covered it with water and stock and brought it to a boil before tossing in loads (I mean loads) of chopped spinach and rabe. 

We should also discuss at some point my apparent inability to properly clean that much fresh spinach. Gritty soup is not remotely appealing. Sigh. If only I had a Salad Spinner! Or the patience to properly clean 2 pounds of spinach. Anyway.

After the greens were in, I dumped in more stock, the rice, and some chicken. Heated it through, S&P to taste, et voila! Oui??

The Verdict:

... Non. This soup was not very appealing. Underwhelming in terms of flavor; aforementioned grit factor; texture not all that thrilling; too little ginger and salt. And now I have a fat pot of it to get through during my next few days' lunches.

Knife Skills Put to Use: Hacking up a Chicken

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Knife Skills class at The Brooklyn Kitchen. It was fantastic. I learned how to make plateaux, juliennes, and something else I can't remember the French word for where you make teeny tiny little cubes. I also learned how to hack up a whole chicken into individual pieces so I don't have to waste so much money buying those damn chicken breasts! I also hate chicken breasts: so lifeless and tasteless and dull dull dull.

So last night, I thought it would be brilliant to use my new skills and make chicken--not a whole roast chicken, which takes much too long, but some sort of pan-fried chicken. I had to use those mushrooms up, and I had a tiny bit of citrus on hand. Having been gone for a while, refrigerator replenishment was necessary, but I got some good stuff and used it all up...

2/24/10

The Creation:

Citrus-glazed chicken with hazelnuts, mushrooms and roasted fennel

What's in the fridge?
mushrooms
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
chicken stock
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:

mushrooms

guanciale

onion

lemon

Ingredients purchased:

1 whole chicken from The Meat Hook  

hazlenuts

fennel

blood orange

red-skin potatoes

The creative process:

To be perfectly honest, this was about drinking a bottle of 2003 Jadot Meursault Genevrieres that was past its prime. I wanted something to go with this, and the combination of fruit and nuttiness in the wine seemed to beg for a creation like the following...

I hadn't the time or patience for a recipe, so after hacking up the chicken (it turned out beautifully! Thanks, Knife Skills class!) I chucked some olive oil into a frying pan, salt-and-peppered the chicken pieces, and dumped them into the pan over high heat so the skin got all yummy brown. Then I threw in the mushrooms and hazlenuts and squeezed a whole bunch of blood orange over it. Cook cook cook for maybe 20-25 minutes, until I thought it was done, then took out the chicken and let it rest while I deglazed the pan with a splash of wine and some more citrus juice (lemon this time). Reduced a bit, then served over the chicken with a side of mashed potes and roasted fennel. Josiah takes all the credit for the fennel, which I could have eaten on its own for days on end, it was so amazing.

The verdict:

Quite remarkable! The pairing was spot-on, even if the wine was a little dead (lacking acid and fruit expression, mostly just flattish slightly oxidized nut notes). The complexity of the dish was delightful, and there's enough leftover for TWO more meals. I even ate the damn chicken breasts, and they were succulent and flavorful and fantastic--totally unlike the crappy skinless/boneless/tasteless variety you find Saran-wrapped in the grocery store. Plus I made stock out of the carcass and discarded fennel stalks! Like.

A Break from Blizzards

I took a trip last weekend. A fabulous, delightful trip where, instead of figuring out what to make with canned goods and fading tubers, I got to revel in fresh lobster and dayboat wahoo.

My aunt and uncle own a beautiful little spot in the Florida Keys that's right. smack. on the water. I spent my mornings sleeping in and dining on fresh fruit with rum-saturated whipped cream, followed by my afternoons in the sun with sandy beer and fresh, homemade lobster rolls, followed by my evenings sipping Henriot and scarfing stir-fry with seared tuna and swordfish. Tough, tough life.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, my mushrooms sat and waited for my return...

You Can't Go Wrong with Loads of Cheese

2/17/10

The Creation:

Fast Eggplant Parmesan

What's in the fridge?

eggplant
mushrooms
fresh Mozzarella
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
chicken stock
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key Ingredients Consumed:

eggplant

fresh Mozzarella

Sugo

The Creative Process:

This was purely a result of having to get rid of that eggplant. Conveniently, I had all of the other ingredients on hand (since I pretty much *always* have Asiago or Parmesan as well as dry pasta. Since my dear friend Sarah locked herself out of her apartment, I made this quickly and improvisationally (word?) to soothe her: Quickly fry salted eggplant slices in olive oil (high heat!); drain and line on baking sheet. Top with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan; smother with sugo or tomato sauce and bake for a bit until it's all bubbly and browning on the top. Serve over pasta.

The Verdict: 

It's really hard to go wrong with fried eggplant and loads of cheese. I like the full-process version better, but this was pure delight in a pinch. I also drank it with a bottle of La Sibilla Piedirosso from Campania, Italy--$11 at Crush and a good cheapie to get me through the night and packing for Key West!

Comfort Food, Midwestern Style: Redux

2/16/10

The Creation:

Byerly's Wild Rice Soup

So, what's in the fridge (items listed newest/most recent additions to oldest):

ham steak
eggplant
mushrooms
fresh Mozzarella
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
chicken stock
rabbit stock
3 stalks celery
frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:
ham steak

celery

white onion

chicken stock

rabbit stock

Ingredients purchased:
carrots

wild rice

The creative process:
It's been snowing and sleeting for I think 24 hours straight. I needed a meal that consoled me, so I looked back to the Minnesota childhood and dug up an old favorite: Byerly's Wild Rice Soup. Let's just say there's a reason this is ultimate Midwestern comfort food, and it has to do with a stick of butter and a cup of heavy cream. The dash of sherry doesn't hurt, either.

The verdict:
I took it easy on the butter and subbed milk for cream, plus tossed in some celery (it had to go), and the results were fantabulous still. But now I have a crap-ton of leftover, cooked wild rice that I need to figure out what to do with...

Comfort Food, Midwestern Style

2/15/10

The creation:
Maple and citrus-glazed ham steak with parsley-butter fingerling potatoes and twice-baked sweet potato

So, what's in the fridge (items listed newest/most recent additions to oldest):
eggplant
mushrooms
fresh Mozzarella
fingerling potatoes
Twice-baked sweet potato
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
3 eggs
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
fresh parsley
chicken stock
rabbit stock
3 stalks celery
frozen peas
Maple syrup

Key ingredients consumed:
fingerling potatoes
parsley
twice-baked sweet potato
maple syrup
eggs

Ingredients purchased:
ham steak

The creative process:
I'll say right up front that Cook's ham steak is not remotely local/organic/sustainable. But it's a childhood favorite--even Dad, during The Rice Age, could cook a great ham steak. Mom's "secret" OJ and brown-sugar glaze is a cinch and so, so freaking tasty. I had a craving for this, so I caved--though I will say that the "20% water added" note freaked me out a bit. Must look into what exactly this means and why so much ham has this....

I was out of stock on the brown sugar, so hey, maple syrup is the same color and also sweet. Why not? Dumped a bit of that into the pan and added some OJ; reduced a bit and then tossed in the ham, cooking until it was hot and stuff. It's just ham. Then took out the ham and reduced the sauce some more so it was thick and gooey before pouring it over the ham. YUM. Boiled fingerlings smothered in butter and chopped up parsley tasted like Spring, despite the falling snow outside. And I just shoved that ol' sweet potato into the ham pan and let it heat right up.

The verdict:
Easy and delish. I liked this meal very much--it took me all of 15 minutes and went down super well with a glass of--wait for it... Chocolate Milk!

...Oh and for dessert I may or may not have made a Devil's Food cake with whipped peanut butter frosting so as to polish off my last three eggs...

Hangover Pizza

2/14/10
The creation:
Homemade pizza with eggplant and mushrooms

So, what's in the fridge (items listed newest/most recent additions to oldest):
fingerling potatoes
Twice-baked sweet potato
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 tub cream cheese
pizza dough (enough for one small pie)
San Marzano tomatoes (3/4 can)
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
3 eggs
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
fresh parsley
chicken stock
rabbit stock
3 stalks celery
frozen peas
Maple syrup

What's always there:
milk
butter
flour
rice
dry pasta
peanut butter
grape jelly
Parmesan or Asiago
salt and pepper
nuts (usually almonds and pecans)

Key ingredients consumed:
pizza dough
San Marzano tomatoes
lemon

Ingredients purchased:
fresh Mozzarella
eggplant
mushrooms

The creative process:
Okay, so today wasn't *all* that creative. Last night was a raucous one of vintage Champagne followed by fried chicken and karaoke in K-Town that wrapped up at 6am, so after putting in a full day at work, I wanted nothing but hangover food and my bed. Pizza dough and San Marzano tomatoes were just the siren song I craved. And eggplant and mushrooms are, like, in my category of pretty-much-vegetables, so I didn't feel so bad when I loaded extra mozzarella onto the thing.

The verdict:
San Marzano tomatoes plus a squeeze of lemon, some salt and a dash of EVOO equals perfect pizza sauce. However, four-day-old pizza dough apparently doesn't hold its shape as well as it did on day one. The thing stretched too thinly in the middle, and my excessive toppings made it all soggy and leaky through the bottom. I was hungover and couldn't have cared less: I folded the thing in half, cranked up the heat in the oven so the crust would get somewhat crisp, and called it a calzone. The flavor was spot on, even if it looked utterly miserable.

How I Cook and Eat:

1) I have a healthy obsession with food--in the Michael Pollan sense: REAL FOOD. Not "food product" or chemicals or corn syrup. And I shell out to feed this obsession. Local/sustainable/organic/what-have-you costs money... as it should; and I prioritize this.

2) At the same time, I'm ruthlessly frugal. I save eighths of onions, slivers of avocado, single slices of guanciale, and single teaspoons of duck fat (all things that have truthfully existed in my refrigerator in the last three days).

3) I spend most of my day thinking about what is in my fridge and cupboards and dreaming up delicious dinners I can make with leftovers. I take special pride in a well-concocted leftover creation! Having to throw out food makes me anxious. I won't lie: Occasionally, I save money (and trips to the market) by taking risks and eating things Martha says I should have thrown out last week. I have yet to get sick.

4) I admit that I am not in any way about low-fat, low-carb, low-sugar anything--as a regular runner/swimmer/walker/yoga-practicer, I have relatively little concern about caloric intake and simply try to eat from all of the food groups and in moderation. I strongly believe that eating REAL FOOD from responsible sources is the most essential part of a healthy diet.

5) I balk at recipes. Cooking is therapeutic and creative for me--recipes give me a good place to start, but following them step by step is something I never do. Therefore, you won't see recipes here. To learn "how to cook" you have to have a sense of adventure and willingness to sometimes eat your failures. I think this is good for me!

The Beginning: The Rice Age

When I was a little girl, my mother opened an ice cream store. My mother: the lovely soul who, until then, had cooked a thoughtful, well-balanced, nutritious and delicious meal for our family every night of the week. When she began working at the shop every day, my sister and I thought we had it made--Ice Cream Forever!! But then we saw what was really happening...

We had entered The Rice Age.

The Rice Age (now affectionately if not ruefully referred to as such) was the period of a few years during which Mom would cook once or twice a week, and Dad would play Leftover Creation Master on the remaining nights. Dad was great at two things: Kraft mac & cheese and RICE. So, naturally, all of our dinners included his areas of expertise. Mom's pot roast on Sunday? Then Monday and Tuesday involved a sort of rice and pot roast stew. Not bad. Mother was home to make pork tenderloin on Wednesday? Stir-fried pork with rice was a certainty on Thursday. OK. But then came nuked nuggets of pork (or could it have been pot roast?) in gravy with (the also omnipresent) frozen peas dished up over... you got it--Rice. Again. On Friday.

Visualize three years of this. Sure, Dad's creations got colorful: like the time he insisted that microwaved Green Giant Brussels sprouts in butter sauce were sure to be a hit....

And yet, nearly two decades later, I'm realizing that Dad's daring/thrifty character in the kitchen was perhaps--shocker--quite influential and inspiring. So here's to you, Dad (and you, Mom)! What can I make with half a bell pepper? I have plenty of ideas... and very few of them involve rice.