omg on those croquettes!!
and kitty - such a handsome boy!
3 Likes
that pie crust is stunning!
Today we brought dinner to our friends whose little one was sick all holiday - chicken pot pie, cucumber salad in red wine vinaigrette, locally made apple butter ice cream, and a bottle of French Sauvignon Blanc.
Then for our dinner I made pork coppa steaks (marinated with garlic, olive oil, crushed fennel, rosemary, and red pepper flakes and fresh sage, then seared in butter). I fried CSA potatoes and pear wedges in the drippings. Plus some buttered peas with dried mint on the side. Really tasty - I saved some of my steak for tomorrow.
22 Likes
That pie for your friends is beautiful and so is your dinner.
How do you do your pork coppa steaks, with details if you don’t mind. I have tried a few and they were gorgeous raw but I feel like I let them down because they weren’t that great the way I prepared them. Yours looks amazing.
1 Like
We’ve had several neighbors (one in her 90’s and one in her late 70’s) whose Thanksgiving plans were derailed by Covid concerns (all about grandchildren). This virus is not leaving us anytime soon. We shared our meal with an old friend - all of us are vaxxed, boosted and live reclusive lives.
8 Likes
We enjoyed another excellent dinner of our favorites, at Bloom in Verona, NJ, including short ribs, bulgogi with kimchi fried rice, shrimp with gochujang and wasabi aioli, escargot, bulgogi tacos, butternut squash soup, fried shishito peppers, and truffled fries. It all went great with an excellent Syrah.
10 Likes
These were about 2" thick and reasonably marbled, which helped. From eating I feel like there’s a lean side* and a side with more intramuscular fat, which is more succulent.
I already told you about the marinade. I took the steaks out about 20 minutes before cooking. At cook time, melted 1 Tbsp butter in a large non-stick skillet on MEDIUM heat. Misted the pan with canola oil as well. Then I cooked the pork on all sides, flipping about every 3 minutes, until I started getting temp readings around 130-135°F. Then let the meat rest before serving. I never raised the heat above medium and turned it to low for the final few minutes.
Hope that helps?
*ETA: I just read that the coppa is “a collection of muscles that is an extension of the loin that runs through the pork shoulder. When butchered, it has a barrel shape and is best suited for charcuterie or slow roasting. Being in the shoulder, it has a lot of fat, and it is a muscle that gets used a lot, resulting in more flavor. The tenderness has a lot to do with the quality, breed, fat content and diet of the animal.”
This makes sense - I felt like the leaner side was loin or similar to loin.
4 Likes
BF made açorda à alentejana - one of our favorites from Lisbon, a garlic, egg & stale bread soup. He makes an excellent version. Big glugs of good Portuguese olive oil. So delish. I had mostly broth with egg, asparagus, and a little of the tomato/olive salad. Giving the old tum a bit of a rest (after our usual fries brunch today!)
19 Likes
Lamb stew with kabocha squash, potatoes, carrots, chick peas, raisins, tomatoes in a mixture of coconut milk and lamb stock. Cardamom, fennel seeds, cumin, coriander, bay leafs and star anise as seasoning and finished with fresh mint, pomegranate seeds and a gremolata of almonds, parsley and orange zest.
14 Likes
After too many days of eating too much, and having a few last CSA veggies to use up, I decided to make a make a quick shakshuka for dinner. It included onions, Swiss chard, kale, roasted tomatoes, olives, a poached egg and topped with feta. Served with the obligatory potato latke for the first night of Chanukah. Sour cream added later.
19 Likes
Got the booster on Friday, I switched to another vaccine this time. Strange, got more effects than my first dose. So easy meals…
H got some guanciale a few days ago, I found some Pecorino in the fridge, with pepper and yolk, I made the traditional Carbonara for Saturday.
Sunday was truffle burrata with the last garden tomatoes and purple shiso.
Followed by braised pork roast with smoked paprika, green garden tomatoes, some can tomatoes, leek and chardonnay.
17 Likes
Love this, and another like for using a cardboard box to deliver!
1 Like
Very clear broth, how did you make it?
1 Like
it’s just plain water that you simmer garlic cloves in, cilantro sprigs, add a little salt, day old dried bread, drizzle a good amount of good olive oil, and a poached egg. you can poach the egg in the same water but it could make it cloudier. it’s really just a garlic broth.
3 Likes
Simple and good way to use dried bread. Thanks!
Tonight I transformed leftover turkey legs into ramen. Topped with some freshly poached chicken breast and chili oil. Really good for a cheap, quick meal. The star for me, though, was a CSA collard green slaw with a sweet, garlicky sesame-peanut dressing. 
(There should be an emoji with a heart for the tongue.)
Dessert was on theme:
18 Likes
Sticky caramelized shrimp, coconut rice. Radish kimchi, pickled carrots and turnips salad, rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing. The caramel could have been a little stickier, but after an incident where my cleaver stuck to the counter I erred on the side of caution. It was delicious.
14 Likes
Hard to see under all the stuff but this was a quinoa bowl with broccoli (roasted in the oven with olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika, tumeric), red pepper and chickpeas (sauteed with onions, garlic, ginger and a hint of cinnamon), topped with pickled cauliflower, granny smith apple, coriander, mint and drizzled with a tahini/lemon sauce
13 Likes
After eating turkey in some fashion for the past 5 days, I am so thankful! that today we ate pizza for dinner. It’s KA’s wonderful sourdough crust, topped with sundried tomato spread, sausage, onions, cherry peppers, artichokes and mozz. Totally hit the spot.
15 Likes
Your flavor combinations are so exciting!
1 Like
