I made Shakshuka tonight, with berber spice, urfa biber, onion, red pepper, feta, scallions, and cilantro. cubes of ciabatta underneath, too, to thicken it up. Really good.
and my Sunday cooking project - Kenji’s crispy fried shallots - 2 batches - about 20 shallots. And the resulting shoil - good stuff!
55* today -2” hail on roads -pouring down rain and fog. Fried food! Takeout tonight on the way in. Fried catfish, oysters, bacon stuffed shrimp (yum), stuffed crab that actually has shredded crab in it!! onion rings, hush pup along with cocktail and tartar sauce. Coleslaw on his plate. I couldn’t eat it all. Been awhile, missed ya’ll. Trying to play catch up.,
19 to 19 with 7:22 to go in overtime. With Tony Romo officiating.
We enjoyed another sensational dinner at The Circle Restaurant in Fredon, NJ including an excellent special of NY strip steak with a Miso butter compound, and crispy fries in beef fat; our favorite lobster dish with guajillo compound butter; another favorite of hen of the woods mushrooms with celeriac puree, pickled jimmy nardellos, yuzu kosho, and mushroom demi glaze; awesome tempura fried lamb ribs with Korean BBQ glaze, smoked aioli, and pickled shallot; creamy burrata with prosciutto di parma and melon chutney. It all went great with a couple of excellent cabernets.
I’m off to drown my sorrows. 
Dinner was San Francisco cioppino, warm sourdough baguette, roasted garlic, parsley butter. The was a red snapper and wine with.
Super Bowl get together with friends, way too much food (and drink).
I made:
-– Arayes (kabab-stuffed pita) with herby yogurt
-– Buffalo chicken momos
-– Orange olive oil cake with caramel-rum-orange sauce
My friend who hosted made:
— Afghani chicken leg (tangdi) kababs
— Lotus root crisps
— Chicken kathi rolls (takeout)
Also:
— A giant box of assorted fresh Levain cookies
— Gajar (carrot) halwa cake bites, which came with the kathi rolls
It was a fun finish (but a disappointing halftime show and pretty weak ads).
The Splendid Table cookbook has an interesting chapter around the history of ragu Bolognese with a number of different recipes. There is also an older version described as Baroque Ragu with mix of different meats - pancetta, ground pork and beef, pork sausage, chicken thighs and chicken gizzards (all of them diced), cooked together with carrot, celery, onion, garlic, tomato paste, hints of ground cloves, bay leaf, white wine, chicken broth and finished with a little bit of heavy cream. Served over fettuccine and with parmesan
I rarely ever use recipes at all for anything I make, but sometimes I am looking for outside inspo - dishes I’d not thought about in a while, or those that haven’t been on my radar.
I also subscribe to their newsletter, so it’s rather convenient to hit save on a mouthwatering dish I am reading about while having my morning cuppa. I’ve not made enough dishes of the 580+ in my recipe box (huh! 
) to have any strong opinion about whether they are reliably good or no bueno, but the worst reaction I’ve had in the past was a lukewarm ‘meh.’
Certainly not the end of the world, and it adds more variety to my routine 
My sister! I think we must have been separated at birth.
For the celery salad lovers: https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=5a0cb412ade4e230f7039bc5&s=65ca24863f5c0a7705c611c8&linknum=2&linktot=49
I made a double batch of ATK’s black bean soup (less water, onion, and chipotle and omitting the cornstarch slurry) and brought it to a friend who’s having major surgery this week, along with all the toppings: veggie chorizo crumbles, sour cream, Fritos, cilantro, red onion, oyster crackers, cheese, limes, avocados; mini corn puddings, bagged avo-ranch salad, and bakery cookies. Hope it helps take a load off.
I added ham to just our part:
Making Julia Turshen’s Confetti Meatloaf and Creamy Mashed Cauliflower (both from Now & Again) for dinner. Balsamic marinated cucumber to get some green on the plate.
Terrific to have you as a friend.
Mapp tofu, served over steamed broccoli. No pucs, because as usual, my sauce didn’t thicken properly. Cornstarch experts, what might the problem be? I added 1 T per cup of liquid, brought to a simmer and then turned down immediately so as not to over cook. Not enough heat?
After having to drive out of town and back today for a doctor’s appointment (we enjoyed some lovely Vietnamese fare for lunch), dinner was a very simple affair of my pouring a chipotle corn chowder I’d procured at the local farmers market last week into a soup pan & heating it up. I hadn’t expected the soup to be fully pureed 
, so I added a cup or so of frozen corn to it. I require texture as long as I can still eat solids 
I added a dollop of Canadian sour cream, a drizzle of cilantro oil I’d made up with TJ’s frozen cilantro blobs, and a scattering of scallions and pepitas, and served it in my favorite shallow bowls. While I don’t have a fancy-shmancy squirt bottle like @mariacarmen 's lovely BF, I think it came out quite pretty 
The soup had a really nice kick to it – surprisingly so, given where we live & the farmers market’s clientele, and was quite filling.
No cooking mañana - we’re playing our annual Mardi Gras show at the gay bar, and I foresee oyster shooters, muffulettas, gumbo, etc. Should be a good time 
French onion soup. Caramelized onions, deglazed with white wine, boxed beef broth, bay leaf(which I took out early because I thought it was a little too much), s & p and some raw onion grated in at the end to cut the sweetness. ATK is right on the money with olive oil coated and baked croutons instead bread slices. A little splash of color with daffy’s. My thoughts go out to my fellow HO’s in the NE. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as predicted.
Great idea with the croutons…
I had broth and mussels left over from the cioppino. I strained the broth and put it on to simmer while I sauteed chorizo, carrots and leeks. Added those to the broth along with the mussels, veg and tiny bit of crab from the cioppino and cooked just until everything was warm. Added a splash of heavy cream and parsley. Salad of little gem, red leaf, green onion, radishes, avocado, peppercorn ranch.
That’s nice of you to say, thanks. It’s a big-deal surgery.
