But I was already in bed reading before the ball dropped in Times Square.
But I heard fireworks going off locally, so I said “Yay, Happy New Year” (with absolutely no real enthusiasm) to Murphy who was lying on the bed next me. He didn’t care either and moved down near my feet to sleep there all night. Finny didn’t come up to poke his whiskers in my nose until morning.
Such is my life.
Dinner tonite was a massive, thick-cut bone-in pork chop, seasoned with olive oil and s/p and Penzeys Tsardust Memories seasoning blend, and pan-seared in olive oil before removing to a pan to go into the oven.
A half cup of unpasteurized apple cider was reduced in the same pan after pouring off the fat, with a pinch of Penzeys cracked rosemary added, and it was then poured over the chop to be finished in a 375° oven.
A couple of Yukon Gold potatoes were chonked up, seasoned with olive oil, s/p, and paprika, and roasted until done, and Brussels sprouts were halved and tossed with olive oil, s/p, and garlic powder and roasted until crispy in the convection oven.
Poached a whole chicken to make some meals for the week and a bunch of broth, which is all BF will be able to consume on Wednesday, ahead of a procedure on Thursday. I used some of the chicken, broth, and soft veg to make a risotto tonight. No leek or black pepper in BF’s bowl. This was delicious and I now I have an excuse to buy more arborio rice!
Last night’s festive libations needed to be soaked up, so a couple slices of diBruno’s bacon & two scrambled eggs from a friend’s hens with fresh dill were in order for brunch.
No need to give up entirely on our plan to eat more healthily, of course.
I had two beautiful heads of broccoli in the fridge that I initially had planned on roasting as a side to X, but pivoted to this pretty basic recipe for shrimp & broccoli on the WOL website. I used a bag of wild gulf shrimp from Aldi that weren’t the greatest quality (certainly nowhere near the – presumably farmed – frozen black tiger shrimp they sell as well), despite using the baking soda/salt/sugar/ice water bath/marinade to tighten & plump them up.
It was ok – tasted a lot like boring Chinese take-out TBH, and the peppers didn’t impart much heat to the sauce itself, so we made sure to have a bit of pepper with each bite. I also added some togarashi to the rice. Plenty of unexpected leftovers, too.
Black eyed peas cooked with leeks, garlic and ham. Mr Bean ate them over rice while I skipped the rice. I’m all for any food traditions that are thought to bring good luck.
When rabbit is on sale, I can’t resist buying it, so tonight was hunter’s style rabbit on rice. The rabbit stew is from Omar Allibhoy’s Tapas Revolution. The Big J is now asking for it at least once a month. It’s good.
Day 1 of the new year started off beautifully with blue skies and sunshine, that didn’t last long. Let’s hope that isn’t an omen.
Black eyed peas, ham shank and collards from the freezer. Leftover chile cheese cornbread. I forgot to make a salad. Rose bubbles from last night.
Penne with Radicchio Pesto - penne with sautéed radicchio, shallots and lemon zest and a pesto made from radicchio, pine nuts, lemon juice, parmesan, garlic and olive oil. Finished with some mozzarella and basil.
Interesting to read this given my observations of my my (vegetarian) nephews over the past two weeks.
We used to have cut “salad” (cucumber, carrots, tomatoes) set out at every meal, a habit from my dad’s childhood that my mom continued. This was in addition to cooked veg, of course
I brought this back while the boys were here — large bowls of sliced raw cucumber and carrots set out with lunch and dinner, and at every single meal, they cleaned out the raw veg before the adults showed up to eat. Mac and cheese — raw veg gone. Grilled cheese — ditto. Full indian vegetarian lunch — yup, no raw veg left. (Yes, we started cutting another batch for the adults .)
The cold, neutral crunch is a lot more attractive than I had imagined.
I make pretty good dosas, but these were something else!
(The accessory to skill may be the dosa pan, which is used for nothing else – when I fried bread on it, I was scolded… but without skill, that dosa pan is worth nada.)
before the ball dropped in Times Square.
who was lying on the bed next me. He didn’t care either and moved down near my feet 
to sleep there all night. Finny didn’t come up to poke his whiskers in my nose until morning.
.)
