Change o’plans. The weather was too nice today to huddle over hot pot, so we decided to grill a couple of swordfish steaks seasoned with a mix of Penzey’s Greek & Lemon Pepper seasonings.
I roasted a couple lbs of broccoli according to the NYT “recipe” minus the garlic. Broc coulda been slightly crispier for my taste, and I found it rather bland, despite using Tony Cacheres instead of just salt, added grated parm on top, and ample squeezes of lemon juice before serving. Lotsa room for improvement and, perhaps not surprisingly, plenty of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch
I transformed some of the leftover pork stew into soup with garden spinach, smoked paprika, carrots, celery, broken lasagna, chickpeas, and broth. Really tasty although I was left with the same amount of leftovers. My husband calls that “alchemy.”
Duck legs, duck fat roasted potatoes, baked romano beans with tomato, spaghetti squash with maple, ginger and cinnamon.
I made a duck and bacon black-eyed pea cassoulet, as well, with 2 of my 6 duck legs, but the peas were still too firm, so I kept cooking them. Hopefully they’ll soften up.
I was watching A Nation of Banchan which made me want pretty much everything I saw, but I had no banchan at hand, only some old kimchi, leftover ssam sauce, lots of scallions and leftover steak.
So I made almost-bibimbap, but the lack of sufficient toppings left me wanting. So then I went back and sauteed the lot, making effectively kimchi fried rice like I had planned to a few days ago.
Also made steamed egg which was my favorite part of the meal.
Grrrl dinner. Deviled eggs with creme fraiche & caviar. Shrimp cocktail. Okra with tarragon ranch dip. And a Last Word, with a shout-out to @JenKalb for the tiny lime garnish.
Super simple. Cut up, put in strainer, sprinkle with water, cornmeal, AP flour, salt and pepper. Shake until coated. Then saute over high heat, preferable in a cast iron, but if you’re too lazy to get it out, a regular old frying pan will do. Don’t stir them around too much - let them char in spots.
Last night’s dinner was Breaded Liver (baked), mashed potatoes with brown gravy and peas. It was easier to bake the liver, as I had heated up the oven to bake some bread.
Canned peas… Oddly, we both like the “Walmart” brand of canned peas.
Yes, I had a slight “gravy breach” into the peas. I didn’t think to put gravy on the liver. The liver was crispy and tasty. I mixed a little garlic powder into the bread crumbs, prior to coating.
I rinse the liver in a wire strainer, shake off the excess water, dredge in (all purpose) flour (both sides), shake off the excess flour, dip in an egg wash (one egg, one teaspoon of water - well beaten in a shallow bowl) [again, both sides], then into the bread crumbs. I’ll sprinkle a little bread crumbs on top of any missed areas (if necessary). I add a little garlic powder to the breadcrumbs (optional). I spray a piece of parchment paper with (olive oil) non-stick spray (on a baking sheet) and bake at 375 (F) for about 25 minutes.
I imagine you could substitute your favorite spice for garlic powder. Occasionally, I’ll add a little cayenne pepper to my bread crumbs, which is also good.
I can’t take credit for this breading technique, this is my mother’s method, that she taught me.
I will try harder to do the photos again. In the meanwhile, the last few dinners: pizza made with KA sourdough discard crust. Toppings - pesto, garden tomatoes, fresh mozz, crumbled crispy salami, evoo, hot honey. Day before was Japanese curry with katsu chicken, noodles, carrots, and tofu skins. There was also a lazy day of frozen potato vareniki and veal pelmeni, mixed. I can’t remember beyond that. Swiss cheese brain.
The beans are delicious but not photogenic and here they are in the pan.
Tonight (Friday), I am repurposing the beans into cod chowder with grape tomatoes, carrots, lovely little local potatoes. It’s Rhode Island-style so will remain clear (ie, without cream or milk). Local bread on the side. B will probably have more salmon on a salad. It’s still early here chez digga (not even 6 pm). But if I don’t report now, it may never happen.
Season of the soup continues…
Made a big batch of kale/sausage/bean and potato soup. I usually add fresh rosemary, but I forgot to buy it when I went shopping for all the other ingredients so I added bacon instead.
Back to my Friday standard: a large steak tip grilled on the grill pan, finished in the oven to medium rare, with Ballymaloe steak sauce on top.
No sour cream for a baker, with TPSTOB&SC, so I roasted the last of my Yukon Gold potatoes (a large one) with olive oil, s/p, and Herbs de Provence. Finally, steamed broccoli because I went out the last 2 nights, so the asparagus and green beans went bad. I’ll be at Wegmans tomorrow to restock on various things, including veg.
A big glass of wine. Or two. Because it was a week.
" J.San Sushi and Market, 3365 Steeles Ave E, Toronto " - IMO, still the best quality/price ratio, ‘create your own’ Donburi in town!
Toppings selected included: Ikura, Salmon Belly (x2), Blue Fin Akami, Hamachi (x2), Kanpachi (x2), Madai, Botan Ebi (x2), Boston Uni, Tobiko…all these for less than $45!
My daughter’s less extravagant creation, replacing Botan Ebi , Akami, Kanpachi with Hokkaido Scallops and Portuguese Ika costs only $33!
The shine emitted from the fish reflected the freshness of the fish!
so I added bacon instead.
