Cooking

Unfortunately, a friend I was planning dinner with caught sick, so I had spare pizza dough I’d made yesterday, rising overnight in the fridge… Rather than toss it (but also not motivated to make sauce), I made a quick pizza bianca (olive oil, garlic, rosemary, mozzarella) as the first lunch of the new year: I tried a new cooking method in my somewhat limited electric oven, and it worked reasonably well: Preheating the oven to 500F with pizza stone on the top rack, sliding the pizza onto the stone, then switching the oven to broil and cooking for 10 minutes– letting the preheated stone cook the bottom of the pie while the broiler element cooks from above at the same time. ...

Sliced tangerine, satsuma, grapefruit, lemon, with pomegranate, feta, balsamic vinegar. Spaghetti boiled to al dente, drained, a little water reserved. This pasta water, heavy cream, olive oil, and lemon zest boiled, then tossed with the pasta, along with grated pecorino and two lemons’ worth of juice. Delicious! (hat tip to holly)

A casual summer lunch while homebrewing. Excellent Jasper Hill aged cheddar, Dirty Girl dry farmed tomatoes, candy stripe figs.

I hadn’t made pizza in many years. But now that I have a pizza stone and a peel, I have no excuse. I made a basic dough (flour, olive oil, water, yeast), with 3/4 king arthur all-purpose white flour and just 1/4 hard winter whole wheat to be on the safe side… but it rose and kneaded fine so I’d try 1/2 whole wheat next time. I made it in the morning, kneaded it for 10 minutes, let it rise all day, punched it down, and patted it out by hand into a round (I may try rolling it next time). ...

I impulsively picked up some grass-fed korean-style shortribs at Olivier’s Butchery, marinated them in a mix of shoyu, toasted sesame oil, red chiles, and crushed garlic for a few hours, then cooked them on a hot dry cast iron skillet (3 minutes each side) and tossed them on a bed of rice and toasted nori. Note a bad dinner for 20 minutes of actual work and $6.

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 rolls, as well as various 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. ...

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… ...

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 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. ...

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.