What's For Dinner #57: The Keep On Keepin' On Edition - May 2020

i love that combo.

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Mr Bean went out sea bass fishing for the first time this season. The Sprout made his fish mask in honor of the trip. They caught their limit. I made ceviche as the fish could not have been fresher.

IMG_7993

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The Cod, set for yesterday, dropped tonight. Yukon Gold spuds as a side…

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Bruta photo of Niman pork chop, apples in Calvados, pan deglaze, squashed potatoes

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Tomorrow would have been my dad’s birthday (and a month from now is the 3rd anniversary of his passing). This is a tough time of year for me but I’ll try to just lift a glass and toast all the good memories, and there are lots of them. Sometimes, it feels like just yesterday while others it feels a lifetime away. So here’s his favorite drink (and mine): a gin martini, straight up, with an olive.

Dinner was a slow-cooker pork loin in a cranberry dijon gravy with mashed potatoes. No pics. While it tastes very good, it photographs like hell.

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We had some outstanding takeout from one of our favorite restaurants, Bistro D’Azur in South Orange. This was actually the last restaurant we dined in before the lockdown 2 months ago. We enjoyed NY Strip steak au poivre with an herbaceous pink peppercorn demi glace, crispy Spanish chips, sautéed spinach, garlic confit, foraged mushrooms; excellent lobster crepe with huge chunks of lobster; mushroom and asparagus risotto; mahi mahi, and lemon meringue for dessert. It all went great with an awesome Chateauneuf Du Pape.










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Linguine alla puttanesca.

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Did this instead


Nothing to see here.

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Damn . Can I say that . I love beets .

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Lifting a glass to you and your dad. Cin-cin!

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Sister and I had a sort of odd mix of foods for dinner tonight: A small kurubota pork shoulder she spit-roasted in her oven, just salt as the seasoning, conservas de navajas from Spain (canned razor clams), fresh burrata with black summer truffle pieces (amazing), a sweet baguette, and butter. Super rich, and very good.

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@mariacarmen, here’s a link to the Ottolenghi recipe for charred cherry tomatoes that inspired my dish. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/23/tomato-recipes-salad-red-onion-chickpea-chinese-ginger-yoghurt-yotam-ottolenghi

I found the treatment to be agreeably riffable. As in: I didn’t have the spices and herbs called for and we were still happy. I subbed ground cumin instead of cumin seeds, Korean chili flakes instead of Urfa, and crumbled dried Greek oregano instead of thyme and fresh oregano. Also omitted lemon strips.

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Thank you!

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A classic! Love the bowl.

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I haven’t posted much recently. Have had some health issues beating me down. A hernia pressing on my intestines making eating no fun. But recently has been better. Surgery on the schedule just not soon enough in this pandemic

As it was a good day. dinner was grouper, sweet potato and corn

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Looks good, and be well!

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Well, after a week of sandwiches, slow-cooker meals, the BF cooking one night, and one takeout night during a very listless and blah period for me in the kitchen, I have returned to actual cooking. I think I got my mojo back.

I intentionally chose something with lots of steps, though quite easy when all is said and done. Chicken Sorrentino. Sautéed chicken after a dredging topped with roasted eggplant, prosciutto, mozzarella, and pecorino romano in a blush tomato sauce. Served over rigatoni. While I had a jar of Trader Joe’s organic tomato sauce staring me in the face, I went the homemade route with my own sauce which included a deglazing in sweet vermouth, butter, and cream (yeehaw).

Steps:

Result:

Earlier in the day, I also made Jacques Pepin’s no yeast, no knead soda bread since I decided too late in the day that I wanted a fresh loaf of bread. And, well, I also have no patience for baking. Easiest thing I’ve ever baked. Start to finish about an hour. Result was crusty and flavorful (though a bit dense).

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Slept WAY in.
Read a lot during the day.
Did laundry.
Made dinner.

Seasoned liberally with salt and freshly ground pepper, some chicken thighs were pan-seared in hot olive oil and butter for about 5 minutes on each each side, removed from the pan, then added a large minced shallot to the pan and sauteed until soft. One cup of chicken stock added and reduced, and 1-1/2 tsp of dried tarragon and 1/3 cup of heavy cream added. Whisked all together, put the chicken thighs back in and finished cooking.

Rice pilaf and steamed green beans alongside. With wine.

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Soda breads are a bit dense for sure. The crumb is more cake-like than bread-like, I find. Big advantages are that you don’t need yeast and how fast you can be eating fresh bread, which is worth about a million points on my scorecard right now.

I like Pepin recipes overall so you’ve piqued my curiosity.

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He posted the video on his Facebook the other day. The dough was literally done in half the time it took the oven to heat. 30 minutes covered with a metal bowl and while he said another 30 uncovered, mine only needed another 15ish (my oven runs hot over time).

Nice to know I’m only an hour away from fresh bread when the BF is at work. He is the real baker…and the one with patience!

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