Told in a few lousy cell phone photos:
Jambalaya (the holy trinity of onions, celery, and bell peppers sauteed, plus garlic, tomatoes, rice, and chicken stock, then near the end andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp which had all been dry rubbed with a paprika/pepper/cayenne/oregano/celery salt mixture).
Plus spicy cucumber pickles, deviled eggs (olive oil / mustard, no mayo) with pickled celery, corn on the cob, salad, and Abita beer from Louisiana.
A few weeks ago I had friends over for some Japanese food (sushi, as well as various rustic dishes focused on a few simple ingredients, inspired by Japanese Farm Food).
Boiled Edamame with Hickory-smoked Salt (from The Meadow)
Smashed Cucumber Pickles: Japanese cucumbers roughly crushed with a dowel and torn into irregular chunks, mixed with a whole stalk of sliced green garlic, sea salt, and a little ginger, and sealed in a ziploc bag in the fridge for two hours before dinner. Really good– one of my favorite new kinds of pickle.
Turnips and Leaves Pickled in Salt: sliced Tokyo turnips along with the freshest leaves, salt, young ginger, dry red chile (a little), an entire Meyer lemon’s worth of zest (in lieu of yuzu), and salt, also refrigerated in a bag for two hours, then rinsed in water to cut down on the salt.
Snap Peas: Fried sliced young ginger and red chiles in sesame oil, then added the snap peas for just three minutes, until they started to turn bright green. A bit oily but still quite good.
Fried Shishito Peppers: no recipe needed…
Cured Salmon Roe: Fresh salmon roe, rinsed several times until the water ran clear (very gently to avoid breaking them), mixed with a little sea salt, another meyer lemon’s worth of zest and juice, then let sit for a few hours. Served on top of a seared slab of salmon, topped with a little lemon-infused flake salt.
and of course, the team-effort sushi: Dry sushi rice rinsed and drained 8 times until the water ran clear, boiled with a strip of kombu, spread out on a board and drizzled with rice vinegar while vigorously fanning to rapidly cool it. Then rolled up in nori with some mix of maguro, toro, hamachi, salmon, shiso leaf, avocado, cucumber, and pickled ginger. With fresh-grated real wasabi root (a rare find, from Nijiya).
Great food and company, one of the best evenings in a while.
What I meant to be a quick solo dinner at home turned into my first time making something oyakodon-like.
Sauteed a chicken thigh in a little sesame oil with garlic for 10 minutes.
Poured some chicken broth and a little soy sauce and brown rice vinegar around it, then let it simmer covered on medium until mostly reduced and thick, another 10 minutes or so. I poked at the chicken and it didn’t look pink any more…
Cracked in two eggs, whisked them, and covered it again to steam them on low for another few minutes. Then laid it out on cooked rice (rinsed 6 times until clear, mixed 1:1 rice:water, brought to a boil, then let sit covered on low heat until done, about 20 minutes). Not bad, but it could have used less soy and some other sauce or seasoning at the end. Hmm.
Plus my new favorite quick pickles (inspired by Nancy Hachisu’s Japanese Farm Food): coarsely smashed/hand-torn cucumbers + sea salt + minced green garlic (bulb and stalk), mixed together, sealed in a ziploc bag, and refrigerated for an hour.
I made a moist, tasty roast chicken for 4 tonight. Tip of the hat to ei-nyung for the recipe and low-temperature tips (I added fennel, as I tend to do):
I picked up a local, pastured chicken, peppered and salted it (about 2 tsp sea salt), put it in a Dutch oven, and surrounded it with 8 cloves of garlic, two minced shallots, minced carrots, rosemary, bay leaves, and a sliced bulb of fennel.
I browned it breast-down on the stovetop for about 6 minutes, then flipped it for another 7, stirring the vegetables around the edges to cook them.
Then I covered it with both foil and the lid for a tight seal and slid it into a 250F oven for 80 minutes.
I took it out, rested it under foil for about 15 minutes before carving, and made a simple gravy: I took out the roasted vegetables (to serve on the side, minus the bay leaves, as almost a vegetable jam), strained out most of the fat, and cooked the juices down with the juice of two meyer lemons, making about a cup of brightly tart/rich sauce.
A spinach and farmer cheese salad, some very sweet first snap peas of the season, carrots, baby radishes, and a friend’s excellent shaker lemon pie rounded out the meal. It’s good to be back in springtime.
I had a Thai green curry craving but it was pouring rain, I was hungry after a bike ride, and I was missing essential ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, and coconut milk… no luck.
What could I improvise out of nearly-empty cupboards to scratch that general itch (aromatics + heat + umami + fat) in under 30 minutes?
For a curry paste I minced and fried up: shallots, coconut oil, fresh turmeric root, some hot dried chili brought back from Singapore, tinned anchovies (loosely filling the role of shrimp paste / fish sauce), a little lemon zest, and some dried lemongrass and ginger.
I stirred a cup of boiled rice and a pile of fresh nettle leaves into the paste for about 5 minutes, and voila!
It was good. I think the anchovies really tied it together.
Steamed nettles (I’m obsessed), eggs, tuna, roasted beets, and Cowgirl St Pat (nettle-wrapped spring cheese).
Seared a delicious half-pound Five Dot Ranch ribeye 4 minutes on each side in a cast iron skillet and set aside to rest.
Deglazed the pan with red wine, added a pat of butter, and fried (very thin-sliced) three cloves of garlic, a cippolini onion, and a beet.
Yeah, that was good.
A nice breakfast at home after a long week:
Poached eggs, spinach, nettles (good!), bacon, first peas of the season, and a dressing of olive oil, black pepper, poppy seeds, fresh horseradish, and orange juice.
Cod filet marinated in lime juice, minced serrano, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and chipotle powder for 15 minutes.
Cast iron skillet preheated (dry) to medium-high, and some tomatillos in-husk toasted on it for maybe 6 minutes, covered, shaking them around like popcorn so they didn’t burn, then removed and diced.
Coconut oil melted in the skillet, the fish filets fried about 4 minutes on each side until flaking apart and just done.
Eaten on a plate brought back from a trip to Merida, in passive voice.
Spontaneous snack plate for dinner: radishes + cold butter (an amazing combination– trust me), mozzarella and olives on basil leaves, smoked mackerel on crackers with piles of black pepper and fresh horseradish.
