Tag Archives: Cooking

Salmon & Mushrooms in foil

5 Mar

I splurged a bit on ingredients– some wild-caught (I’d just read Righteous Porkchop) salmon,  between layers of sliced shallots, hedgehog mushrooms (so disturbingly spiny-looking when fresh…), black trumpet mushrooms, and kalamata olives, along with black pepper and Meyer lemon juice. No added salt (letting the olives stand in for that). I wrapped the whole stack in foil, crimped the edges, and baked it at 400 for about 17 minutes. Delicious!

“Served” (to myself, as a solo dinner) with sunflower sprouts and watermelon radish, which I amused myself by cutting into squares and arranging into houses of cards. Just because.

Bean & Kale Soup, Steak, Squash, Spinach Salad

27 Dec

Using the new pressure cooker to try to make beans quickly:

A mix of classy-looking anasazi beans and white navy beans from Tierra Farms, soaked for about 12 hours, drained, then combined with 3 cups water per cup beans, half an onion, two bay leaves, two dried guajillo chiles, a few garlic cloves. Pressure cooked for 15 minutes (from the time the steam started escaping), which it turns out was longer than needed– they were very soft by the end of this.

At the same time, a few slices of bacon, a diced onion, and a few cloves of minced garlic were fried, then mixed into the cooked beans along with a shredded head of red kale, some paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, and simmered for another 20 minutes or so. Good, though it could have simmered for longer. I’ll see how it is after sitting a day.

Also part of dinner: squash (butternut squash cut in half, rubbed with sesame oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted at 400F until soft– about 30 minutes. Kept in the fridge for a day, then reheated and mixed with a bit of maple syrup), a steak (seared on a stovetop grill), salad (spinach, pomegranate seeds, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar), Acme sourdough, tea, wine, and chocolate. A simple feast with friends, from about an hour of evening-cooking effort.

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Chick peas, spinach, broccoli, redemption

21 Dec

Chick peas, spinach, broccoli, redemption

Nothing fancy: Chick peas with onions, lots of garlic, cardamom, turmeric, a little tahini, lime. Roasted broccoli and spinach salad. And a Russian River Redemption (belgian-style blonde).