Quick meal tonight. Boneless center cut pork chop seasoned with s/p and seared on both sides for a couple of minutes in hot olive oil. Removed, added a bit more olive oil to the pan and added thinly sliced red onion and a peeled and sliced apple.
Sauteed that for a few minutes, seasoning with dried thyme, dried cracked rosemary, and rubbed sage, then added a blend of 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp of Dijon mustard and stirred to get all the tasty bits off the pan.
Added the chop back in, spooned some of the softening apples and onions over top, covered and cooked on medium-low until the chop was done and the sauce was reduced.
Sliced and served over leftover sour creamy mashed potatoes with asparagus alongside.
A couple of Wednesdays ago I got a terrific caldo de mariscos at a little hole in the wall Mexican place in Brooklyn. Naturally I became obsessed with replicating it, so I gave it a shot. I got reasonably close, but Pronto Cafe’s version is definitely better.
I made three giant spinach-artichoke and cheese crustless quiche with tater tot topping and 3.5 dozen pumpkin muffins for our teachers. So I paid someone else cook for dinner. Aaaah.
I enjoyed some tacos at a newly opened taco place near me called Tacos is Life. Unfortunately they were out of the beef Birria tacos (which I was looking forward to trying for the first time). However, I did enjoy the chicken Birria tacos, as well as the shrimp and al pastor. I also had the al pastor and chicken empanadas, as well as the Mexican street corn (not pictured). It all went great with an excellent Cabernet/Shiraz blend.
Spent the day making jam/jelly out of my summer fruit harvest (all stashed in the freezer until I found time for it!). Sour cherry jam, elderberry jelly and a new-to-me combo, raspberry-gooseberry, simply because I had both on hand! Will be given out as Xmas gifts over the coming weeks.
Somehow, standing over a hot stove all day gave me a craving for deep fried food, so Buffalo wings will be dinner. Crudites, too!
Tonight I took my time roasting the chicken thigh and was rewarded with super crisp skin and meltingly tender meat. Reheated leftover rice with baby peas. Made a quick pan sauce with sautéed shallots, white wine, highly enriched chicken stock from two days of roasting, seeded and smooth Dijon and a bit of cream. So good!!
“ Chi-Star House, Richmond Hill “ - Inconsistent but still some wonderful food.
Ever since the sudden closure of two of my favorite, Cantonese ‘wok-hay’ stirred fry specialists….’Maple Yip’ and ‘Judy’s Cuisine’. For consistently fine, traditional, homey and well executed Cantonese fare, in a less formal surrounding, “ Chi-Star House “, operating under a similar business model, has become my regular go-to place. This, until rumors started to circulate regarding internal ownership feud that resulted in the departure of its talented co-owner chef to rivals like ‘Starchiva’ and/or the newly opened ‘Kingsfield’. The uncertainty put a temporary stop to my visits.
Based on latest feedback from trusted, long standing ex-chowhound ‘SkylineR33‘. He affirmed to me that, of all the Chinese places he has eaten recently, ‘ Ch-Star ‘ is still stellar in certain areas and ranked pretty high on his go-to list. As such, I decided to gather ‘the gang‘, brave both nasty wind and rain and give this Richmond Hill icon an overdue re-visit.
Welcomed by a familiar, diverse menu and augmented with daily specials posted on the surrounding walls, the four of us ordered a few of our perennial favourites, enhanced by a daily specials or two.
We had the following:
Jumbo Tiger Prawns with Maggi Sauce accompanied by stirred fried rice-vermicelli ( a stupendous dish that impressed in both presentation and taste. Lovely use of the super-aromatic Chinese celery in the stirred fry vermicelli )
Stirred fry sliced beef with Chinese Kale aka Gai-Lan. ( This is one gorgeous dish!..our perennial favourite stir fry. Never fails! Well seasoned and caramelized beef with great Wok-Hay smoky aroma Perfectly cooked veggie )
Sauteed Filet Mignon Cubes with Port wine glaze and minced garlic ( Lovely, exotic aroma and taste profile. Highly recommended. One of top 10 house specialities )
Stirred-fry Cauliflower with mixed Chinese preserved meat and sausages ( Poorly executed and very ordinary tasting. Total lack of inspiration )
‘Advanced order‘ - Hand held oil-poached crispy skin free range chicken ( A total disappointment! Flaccid and limp skin. Under-seasoned! )
Stirred-fry lotus roots with fermented brown bean curd ( Passable but not as good as ‘Best Choice’. Again, dish was under-seasoned )
Overall, I would rate this a very inconsistent meal with quality of food, all over the place! Certain stand-out dishes like the Tiger prawns, sliced beef with Gai-Lan and the Port wine glazed beef cube came close to delivering wow-factor. Sadly, these stand-outs were offset by some barely passable and close to failure dishes. Maybe, ‘trying to avoid potential pit-falls in ordering’ forms part of the fun and dining experience at this place? Ha!
BTW, reservation is a must! Place was fully packed at 5.30 pm!!
Original plan this morn’, pleasant cruise to Half Moon Bay and restock our fridge/freezer with some fresh caught fish off the boat. Noble idea, reality in the form of rain and jet-lag hit HARD.
Re-woke at 4:30 pm:
DW had cheffed up a pot of Oden. Cold weather comfort.
Poblano stuffed with albondigas, salsa. Cauliflower in a cheese sauce (sharp cheddar, smoked pepper jack, sazon). Little gem salad with radish, green onion, black olive and chipotle ranch. There was a bourbon, apple cider and sangria.
Pork burgers spiced with parsley, fennel seeds, paprika, oregano, red pepper flakes and garlic, topped with sautéed green peppers and onion on a brioche bun with roasted garlic aioli
Tonight’s dinner was a fail… After making home made spinach pasta, I came up with the idea of trying to make Jalapeno Pasta (something with a little Southwest kick to it). I cleaned the seeds out of three Jalapeno peppers and put them in the food processor along with eggs, salt and a small amount of olive oil. I pureed that, then added the flour. I thought 3 peppers would be enough to make a spicy pasta, but it was bland.
Finally cooked the chicken I defrosted a few days ago: it was a cold and rainy day, enough motivation apparently.
Made one of our standard home preps, which is usually what I’m craving when I haven’t cooked them in a while.
I hadn’t cooked the whole bag of frozen haricots vert the other day, so I cut them small and made them home-style as well, very simple with just a few dry spices, no aromatics.
Chapatis from the freezer and rice from the fridge rounded out the meal. Ate some for a late lunch, and some more for dinner (though I had plans to make pasta from the new Smitten kitchen cookbook and made confit garlic to that end, but that was just one thing too many).
(@retrospek I’ve got candles going to work on that slow-cooked chicken aroma )
We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at The Farmer’s Daughter including chargrilled dry aged cowboy steak with caramelized onion butter, and Brussel sprout casserole; grilled portobello steak with pesto puree, and fire roasted tomato pepper puree; seared char with black rice, maple glaze, fried kale, and parsnip crisps; delicata squash rings and eggplant stack; fried oysters with honey horseradish aioli; and reginetti pasta with grilled artichoke hearts. It all went great with an excellent red blend and cabernet.
Aaaah.
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