We do for each other. It’s been a long friendship. (Kids call me the term for mom’s sister — tho mom has a sister 
)
I was worried about the kids’ palates having changed, but everything got eaten which is always gratifying. (The youngest one ate up ALL the extra dumplings after he finished dinner, while the adults were absorbed in conversation 
)
This brandade recipe looks good, i’m gonna try it! Thank you!
The recipe doesn’t call for it, but the first time I had brandade, it was broiled on top, so I do that when I make it. (When o ate it at Buvette, where the recipe is from, it was served cold / room temp — still delicious.)
Dinner last night was in Fishtown at Mulherins, a name that doesn’t immediately imply Italian food, and yet, it’s supposed to serve some of the best in town. There were several dishes that appealed to us, but there’s only so much we can put away, and a 24oz dry-aged ribeye isn’t one of them — even shared between the two of us that’s an obscene amount of meat — and so, tough decisions had to be made.
We started off with the crispy octopus (a must on any menu for us)
and the gem lettuce with anchovy dressing, parmigiano, mollica — basically a Caesar. I really liked it, but I like almost any salad I don’t have to prepare myself 
The octopus showed up in a tempura-like batter, which we found unnecessary. Octopus don’t need no stinkin’ batter! The lemony white bean purée and the ‘spicy’ (not) arugula pesto painted on the plate went well with it, however.
Our secondi were tortellini alla panna with mortadella & pistachio ‘gremolata’
& agnolotti with chestnut, chanterelles, and truffle.
The little pasta pockets were delicate and tender, both with distinctly flavorful fillings. The gremolata, however, consisted of a handful of raw pistachios thrown atop the tortellini. I’d expected something a little closer in resemblance to actual gremolata — like chopped & toasted pistachios with a citrus & herb element, which would’ve brightened up the dish. My agnolotti were fab — a little chestnut sauce was painted on the plate, there was a goodly number of chanterelles, and a few shaves of rather flavorless truffle. Both were generous portions & on the rich side, and we struggled a bit finishing them, not wanting to take a doggie bag home. That unfortunately also nixed our plans to try the pistachio cake with pistachio anglaise & olive oil gelato. Good thing we had a gorgeous tiramisu from the Italian bakery waiting for us at home.
The wine bottles were $$$, and glasses around $16, so we stuck to a lovely European-style pilsner from a Vermont brewery they had on draft,
and forewent any digestifs from the extensive amaro selection. A dry AF martini for both of us at home did the trick.
Overall a nice meal, but I’m not sure we’d return. The search for fab Italian continues…
My father liked to eat those cold. Not my style! 
Thank you for fostering! I hope her days become sunnier and sunnier.
DH swings both ways - hot or cold. 
I made a brandade with fresh cod fillets once, sous-vided to 120F. It was much better than my salt cod version.
Just cover it in a 10% brine (roughly 1TBSP salt per cup of water; if you have a scale measure 20g salt in a tared container and add water to make it total 200g). It will last for months in the fridge.
It came in a sealed tin, already covered in brine. I’ll make a huge dent in it, but I really shouldn’t
The Bulgarian feta I get is in a small plastic tub, and the brine probably isn’t enough. When I open it, I brine it in an old take-out soup container, topping up as necessary.
I started making my own brine a while back, the one I was getting with my feta, seemed kinda off a few times. Now I rinse it and submerge it in my own homemade brine. This new feta in the tin, the brine seems very good.
Looks good. You can just top off the brine in that container.
Actually, I take that back. I’d hesitate about saving food for a long time in an opened metal container, and would use plastic or glass instead.
Glass. With a lid.
I freeze feta all the time. I cut it into piece and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Then I put all the piece in a container. This way I’m able to pull out a reasonable sized chunk as I need it.
That’s what I was thinking after I opened it, might have to buy a new glass storage container.
Pan fried noodles with squid, shrimp, mushrooms and carrots, adapted from The Woks of Life. Broccoli rabe in place of choy sum. Lots of chile oil to finish!
