Today was a busier cooking day than I had expected (or wanted, probably).
We had indian food, which is unusual for a Monday.
I made a giant amount (in my mind) of dal in the PC (well IP really) then split it between the plain dal my mom makes that the kids love, and dal fry for the adults. Have vacuum sealed and frozen the rest in meal portions.
Also roasted cauliflower for the third day in a row - coated with a spice paste for the adults, lighter for the kids. This is my whole cauliflower prep, sped up given the time to dinner by quartering each head. Turned out very well, and I like more caramelized surfaces so I might keep the shortcut.
Main even was lamb stewed with beets - a family recipe and favorite (and the only way my sibling and I would agree to eat beets - or spinach or okra, other versions of this dish - until well into young adulthood!) made by my grandmother and then my dad (mom too, but this is one of dad’s signatures). Vegetarian version with potatoes. Sibling cooked this, and even with my interventions the lamb took ages, so I ate half my dinner first as a vegetarian plate, and ate the rest once the lamb was done.
Such a nice setting! Do you know how much time Mrs. P spends on it during busiest seasons? I have big dreams until April, but get overwhelmed by May. I need to edit to something more manageable for me.
Either we repetitively made more or less the same dishes, that I’ve posted here before, or I’m starting losing the habit of taking photos before the meals.
Some of the random dishes.
Roasted duck breast marinated with espelette pepper and paprika, roasted Brussel sprouts.
Cold beetroot onion soup with hot potatoes, cream and chives. Sweet and sour due to sherry vinegar, some lime juice and the sweetness of beetroot. Husband isn’t a fan of beet but he asked for more.
This isn’t photogenic, but it was my attempt to reproduce a 3-star chef’s signature dish by Eric Frechon (selling 75 - 80 euro in his restaurant as starter), showed in last week’s Top Chef France. Cooked the leek under a grill under burnt, yes charcoal burnt with a soft core inside the burnt leaves. Sliced open the leek and added oyster, seaweed butter, Timut pepper and some crispy breadcrumbs and served with a lemon juice with chives, oyster tartar. The restaurant version included other seafood like crab, crayfish etc and you would be served with 2 leeks instead of 1 for each of us at a party. It was a success with neighbours, there was a slight smokey taste, the contrast of leek and oyster and lemon was good.
Pizza from SE dough I froze a couple weeks ago. Salami finocchiona, bacon, a little goat cheese, fresh and shredded mozz, oregano, chili flakes, topped with arugula, chili crisp at the table. Needed more cheese. And I want a bendier crust, and darker. Big salad on the side.
Thank you! Mrs. P spends quite a bit of time on designing and planting the different trees, plants, vines, and flowers on the deck (and matching the colors with the furniture and pillows ). We just expanded our deck this year so it took even longer. She spent 3 hot days over the weekend planting the trees , plants, and vines (which were sitting in our home due to the unusually cold Spring we were having in NJ. It finally warmed up enough to permanently plant everything). She still has a little more planting to go, plus constant fertilizing and maintenance during the season.
Tonight was pork chili verde with brown rice, topped with cilantro, avocado, black olives; chili lime corn & avocado. For a made up recipe, this was great.
Tonight I made Hawaiian pizza served up with mixed greens with smoked blackberry vinaigrette and leftover lemony kale salad. I had many more than 2 pieces .
Never really learned to make french omelettes, but with all these eggs lately, why not? Obviously still working on technique… Bacon kimchi omurice today.
Chicken Scallopini. It is similar to Marsala only I used dry vermouth as the wine (any call for white wine, I use dry vermouth-- same for substituting sweet vermouth for red wine when called for-- just adds a lot more depth), the chicken is cut into medallions instead of left whole as cutlets, and there is less butter and cream in the sauce. It is a much lighter version, and I actually liked it more. Side of orzo with spinach, adding to the “lighter” theme as opposed to using rigatoni or mashed potatoes, for example.
Stuffed zucchini with breadcrumbs (both Italian and panko), mozzarella, pecorino, parsley, garlic, olive oil, zucchini innards, and a touch of Trader Joe’s fermented Calabrian chili paste. No recipe. Just two zucchini that I didn’t want to go to waste. And FYI: that chili paste packs a punch!
But not exactly. I just needed something to guide me. But I appreciated that this leaned towards mushrooms and cream as opposed to the piccata-esque lemon-based sauce that most Scallopini uses. I used shallots instead of regular onion, but I’ve never found that mattered. I also used slightly less butter and cream than called for, and upped the wine and chicken broth.
- coated with a spice paste for the adults, lighter for the kids. This is my whole cauliflower prep, sped up given the time to dinner by quartering each head. Turned out very well, and I like more caramelized surfaces so I might keep the shortcut.
). We just expanded our deck this year so it took even longer. She spent 3 hot days over the weekend planting the trees , plants, and vines (which were sitting in our home due to the unusually cold Spring we were having in NJ. It finally warmed up enough to permanently plant everything). She still has a little more planting to go, plus constant fertilizing and maintenance during the season.
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