We had friends over who keep gluten free (daughter is celiac), so I made a tapas and snack spread. Tortilla de patata with pimentón aïoli, cheese plate w/ summer sausage and Speck, assorted pickles and olives, GF crackers, baby tomatoes and dip, honey-roasted peanuts, cashews, and some gf brownies.
Say hello to S’more!
Other than a pretty dismal experience using the German IH cooktop at the condominium I stayed at for 9 days in Bangkok (VERY temperamental and even difficult to use/understand for the building engineer!) and making cookies for Santa with a friend’s kids, I didn’t have the chance to do much of any cooking while in Thailand or Malaysia (my morning sandwiches don’t count as “cooking” in my book!) So between that issue and not eating anywhere near the amount of vegetables I should have been eating while away, I was itching to cook anything…especially something full of vegetables!
So I made a hearty soup using Maggi additive-free vegetable bullion, 2 beaten eggs, deep red “kintoki” carrots, from neighboring Kagawa Preferred, daikon including the stems), local sweet potatoes, a bagged mushroom, cabbage and bean sprout mix, kabocha squash, glass noodles made from sweet potatoes (rather than the usual mung beans), soy sauce and a little doubanjiang. I made a rather large pot of it and my friend whom I’m staying with enjoyed it as much as I did…which is saying something as she’s a fairly fussy eater! Surprisingly we were able to finish the whole pot!
I made a similar dish the next night sans the kabocha and bagged mushroom, cabbage and bean sprout mix, but using Maggi additive-free chicken bullion instead of their vegetable one. Unfortunately, the missing ingredients in the 2nd pot I made were obvious as the 1st night’s pot of soup was much better.
In any case, I’m happy to be able to cook again and be able to eat lots of vegetables…and a hearty soup warmed my body up here in cold (6℃/43°F) Tokushima!
We enjoyed another excellent dinner at Cafe Panache in Ramsey, NJ, including filet mignon topped with blue cheese, in a bordelaise sauce; seafood pasta in a cream sauce with lobster, shrimp, crab, and mussels; hamachi crudo with avocado, seaweed, ginger; octopus with eggplant caponata. It all went great with an excellent red blend and cabernet.
Year-old frozen homemade very fancy bolognese is not good.
Sad face.
Breakfast is WFD.
Uli’s breakfast links, scallion scrambled eggs, and buttermilk biscuits with a bit of sharp cheddar worked in. All the colorful food was off-camera: the last of the creamed garden spinach, and a choice of homemade raspberry or peach jam (or both).
I haf intended on making a stuffed green pepper for dinner tonight but today’s chores took a little longer than planned. So I decided to have Monday’s risotto tonight and
everything else will get bumped a day forward.
We both love stuffed green peppers - I haven’t made them for years. It’s a lot of work for just the two of us, but I always make enough for leftovers. I’m going to go dig out my recipe - I got it from someone on Chowhound a long time ago and we love it. What’s in your risotto? It looks delicious.
I spent too much time and energy on a quiche Lorraine for supper tonight and after all of that, I really didn’t enjoy it much but DH liked it. I substituted pancetta for bacon because of my aversion to smoked meats. The pancetta was very strong and salty - not a good decision. I’ll let him enjoy the leftovers.
I love stuffed green peppers too and I usually make a batch of them. But I have one green pepper left, one serving of rice and one serving of ground beef so I am only making one this time.
The only thing in the risotto is some leek, sundried tomatoes and arborio rice cooked in vegetable stock and a little grana padano added at the end.
I figured yesterday I would be stuck inside all day because of snow . Guess what im doing tomorrow. Digging out and using the snowblower.
So tonight listening to Sade , drinking wine , making dinner .
Hamburger patty , mashed potatoes, a mixture of sautéed onions , garlic, Brussel sprouts , cabbage. With a dash of Agostino Recca anchovy juice. Cheers.
I’ve seen that picture before! You do get a lot of snow where you live…
Clear tomorrow. Rain the rest of the week. Yay !!!
I’m at my happiest when I’m cooking or making drinks for others. My mom’s two best friends also happen to be [semi] co-workers of mine as I occasionally lecture at the place where they all work together and became good friends. So, they are kinda my friends too in a way. Interesting dynamic. So it was not a chore to invite them. I was quite looking forward to it.
Food is love. I’d say that as an Italian but every culture probably has that mindset. I’ve been cooking my brains out for six years after my dad passed unexpectedly and we had one bad luck incident after another. Our small family got smaller. Then the only grandparent I knew passed three years ago. The family is ever-shrinking. Its quite depressing, actually. As an only child with limited extended family that we do not bother with (I could go on and on as to why), I try not to think about it.
My delving into food and drinks is probably some kind of psychological suppression! But I’d rather cook and entertain than be on medication. It is good medicine on its own.
Every single day is a struggle but being in the kitchen is my medicine. Doesn’t answer your question but its where I’m coming from.
And a nice full glass at that!
Something good came out of a disaster of a night! I took mom to one of our favorite restaurants for her birthday. I won’t say the name, but people that know me can probably guess. We got there and the dining room was closed due to a recent kitchen fire. Tables in the bar area were open. They were cooking out of a food truck in the parking lot and the waitress told us waiting times would be longer than normal. No problem. We’re not in a rush. Anyway, the appetizer arrives ice-cold. Not warm or lukewarm, but frigid. Whatever. We didn’t complain. But then my entree came out also cold and they forgot hers altogether and said it would have to be made. The server came over and apologized. I said mine really was not edible. I asked her to touch a vegetable on my plate-- I literally handed her a carrot. She did touch it and apologized profusely. I get it. Its not her fault. They were doing the best they could. But I did ask to just cancel hers and take mine back and just give us the check. It was a huge disappointment-- I was more upset than mom was. She thought the app was fine and enjoyed her drink.
On the way home, we picked up Chinese from Number One in Matawan. It was a random stop, never been there before but they had good reviews. It didn’t really matter as it was pushing 10 PM and around here that might as well be midnight. We got home and ate in front of the TV. This was AMAZING Chinese food, better than our usual spots. Excellent dumplings, egg rolls, and my chicken and broccoli with fried rice was the best I’ve had in years. Saved the night.
As for the restaurant, I know this is a temporary situation and they closed the dining room and limited their menu, but they really need to figure it out in the meantime. Wait times are whatever to me-- if you keep me plied with bread and martinis, I’ll wait all night. But the quality suffered horribly and the reaction from our server was one of “This keeps happening”. She got a good tip because I understand, but others would not be so forgiving.
I get that but also, having started taking medication a few years ago (thank you, COVID)…it can make such a difference. Wish I hadn’t waited til I was 38.
Oh, I don’t doubt it would help at all. Just trying to make due while I can. For as long as I can.
Albondigas, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, tomato paste, cumin, Mexican oregano, pepper, sazón, chicken broth, cilantro, served with tortilla chips, avocado, radishes and a margarita.
Our meal plan has gone out the window quite a bit due to laziness but I’m finally back on track. I made a Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry served over brown rice. It’s delicious and well spiced, my partner did say he’d like it without the cauliflower and with chorizo instead. We’re chorizo fiends so I’ll give it a go soon.
Aww, hugs. Cooking (and perusing farmers markets) is therapy for me too so IKWYM. Your mom is very lucky.
If you ever need another maternal figure to cook for, my kitchen is just down 95 in the DC area! My young adult sons are good at cleaning up the kitchen after meals but I’m still waiting for one of them to cook a whole meal
