I made chili verde last night. The prep took much longer than I had thought. Same with cook time. So it has become dinner for tonight!
Not sure whether to serve this over rice or over hominy. The sauce is so good that I want to sop it all up!
Sides: tomato/avocado salad, grilled zucchini with oregano, possible chili garnishes: cilantro, sour cream, lime, radish.
Wow, so many great meals, I was catching up with 140 posts! Enjoyed so many of them!
The worst was working on a vacation trip… (on train, in café while waiting for train, or while others was having fun in the same room)… work is delivered!!! Finally on vacation!!! YAYYyyyyyyyy !!!
Not cooking much these days, and recovering from the lack of sleep…
At friends D and E, a roasted lamb with dried fruit, very lovely.
Cakes we bought for the dinner (clockwise from top left, raspberry tart, éclair, raspberry cheese cake, passion fruit, Chrismas mini chocolat log, lemon tart. Each cake we divided into 4 parts for 6 of us. The best was the passion fruit!
Dinner at friend V and A’s house last night
Leek soup. I forgot to take a photo of the main, which was sausages ragout with potatoes
Cheese platter, Comté 40 months, an English blue cheese, probably Shropshire Blue
Pear chocolate tart.
Will be cooking tomorrow!
It’s chicken.
My friend said “Haha, I’m taking you for real life Crazy Rich Asians.” So, at this moment, we’re sitting in her Uncle’s mansion in Long Island. (It would be too off-topic to share all the crazy details. ) Their house helper made us cold sesame noodles.
Helper made those? Wow.
Haha, sounds like fun, don’t mind more details…!
I’d love to hear more details too!
I am always blown away by the inspiration, talent and creativity! Sometimes, my appeptite is satisfied just reading through WFD. WE are a fortunate lot to share such abundance with those we care about.
The next few days, while munching on a fabulous holiday feast, during my family’s favorite time of year, I am going to be thinking about each and every one of you and your own festive celebrations. Smiles that I never expected but have come to appreciate.
2018 was a banner food year in the Rooster kitchen due to this generous forum and supportive cast of characters. Even my Grandmother has seen a change in my ability to pull a real meal together and trust me that’s high praise.
Tonight, we shared an early dinner with our mailman Doug and his wife. Doug is retiring at the tender age of 70, he delivered to 400 doors a day, 16 miles of daily walking, abs of concrete and loves Sunday gravy. My wife usually leaves a container in the mailbox but tonight he sat at our table so we could say goodbye. Lucky duck is moving to Aspen. I baked a loaf of bread and and made eggplant rollatini to take home. I am going to miss his postal jokes.
The next few days will be a delicious food coma but my favorite part is always going to be the music we make when we get together.
Peace to all,
Rooster✌️
Shout out to my son visiting Istanbul, and others with changing traditions.
And dinner at Farmstead in Napa. HB, Z!
The chile verde was excellent! Served it over hominy which provided a nice texture. I basically followed the recipe below, subbing another mild pepper for the cubanelles since they were not available. Only change I would make would be to do a larger cut for the onion. I’d prefer a little more crunch in the chili. The pork was tender as can be, the heat from the peppers quite nice and the color of the sauce gorgeous!
I fired up the Wok I gifted myself tonight to pull together an Asian Stir Fry using Rice Noodles, Fresh White Shrimp, and poor people mushrooms. It turned out very tasty. Thank you Cuisinart.
aka, white button?
Yup.
Our dinner being prepared.
Many hours later, completed Fujianese feast.
After a few years of designing and building the house, my friend’s Uncle moved here from China. They bought the plot, demolished the preexisting house, “terraformed” the land, and custom built every part of the manor. While we were driving over, I was told everything was imported from China. I remarked, “Isn’t everything imported from China?” As soon as we stepped inside and I saw the handmade furniture and chandeliers, I understood what they meant. I’m standing on a heated marble floor as I’m typing this. I think I need an instruction manual to figure out how the toilets work. There are at least eight 80” flatscreens. The kitchen has 4 Wolf ovens! They have all sizes of Le Creuset and Staub cookware. (I thought it odd for their style of cooking, but the food was executed well.) On top of that, the next street over, their daughter (my friend’s cousin), did the exact same thing and built her own mansion. We walked to her place after lunch for an afternoon snack. I could die happy in her laundry room. I’ll ask if it’s okay to post pics because I can’t do this place justice with my writing. We were just going to spend a couple hours here, but we decided to live in opulence the rest of the day. We’ve all found our personal heaven. For me, I’m drinking all the expensive, perfectly brewed pu-erh I can before the day is over.
What a feast! The crab looks so good.
Cheese toast - i assume that’s similar to grilled cheese??- just has an ageless timeless cross culture appeal that can’t be beat. I mean, Hot Carbs and cheese?? (My definition of comfort food = Hot Carbs)
Ha! You’re at red farm for dim sum??
And yes, the bagels really are better. Looks like some delicious finds lately!
Oh, do have it over hominey at some point, that corn flavor would be great with a chili verde
Before i left nyc my good friends had a bunch of people over for brunch! I was cutting it a bit close for my flight that afternoon but so glad i was able to make it.
I didn’t have time to make anything to bring so i brought some fancy single origin local roasted coffee beans as a hostess gift. The beverages included a diy bloody mary and mimosa station as well as coffee and tea (i am afraid of the good Limoges cups she has!! So i asked for a regular mug)
The friend who makes famous coffee cake brought it, lots of almonds and blueberries and butter are involved (i had just two bites to avoid tummy retribution while traveling)
Dinner last night was at some point on the longest flight of my life (surrounded by small children and unhappy babies plus a loud talker), peanut butter clif bar and apple, side of v8. Whatever.
Jaggers is glad I’m home!
Was out running errands tonight with my sister, she picked up sushi and i had some edamame. And a few glasses of wine with her while we wrapped gifts 
Later i really just wanted raw veggies! Basic bowl of cucumber and zucchini with olive hummus, mom and dad had (meaty) tacos earlier
Lots of treats in the house, too many with dairy but there’s gotta be dark chocolate around here somewhere to have with my tea in a bit
I thought of you, Linda. We just returned from spending a really fun evening celebrating my daughter-in-law’s birthday at Dali. Food, service, vibe, kitsch, everything was delicious and celebratory. I indulged in my first porron! My sons seemed pretty comfortable with it, but I managed to wear quite a bit of the cava we ordered. I eventually got the hang of it, mostly. My daughter-in-law had a ball, and knew many of the long-time servers. Just a great evening. (Dali is a Spanish tapas restaurant in Cambridge MA).
That is such a cute dog! I love the photos of him when you visit your family.
Merry Christmas John to you and your loved ones!
