Month: December 2007

December 11, 2007

The Vegetable Orchestra.

December 6, 2007

I normally never buy the skinless, boneless chicken pieces, since the fat and bones are essential for flavor and stock-making, but it’s what they had at the place I went shopping. At least they had thighs. I marinated them all day in lemon and tangerine juice with garlic, ginger, cardamom, yuzu kosho, and rosemary, then threw them in the wok, followed by pak choi and some of the marinade thickened with flour. Served on brown…

December 3, 2007

Last year, we got a pass on December; it was so warm that the daffodils came up and we raked up the willow leaves just before Christmas. This time around, not so much. Snow, sleet, wind, and freakin’ frigid. So tonight, ironically, the freezer yielded the bulk of our dinner. Sweet potato gnocchi dough left from Thanksgiving, mirepoix, and kale were the bulk of it, supplemented by request with cranberry sauce- slightly undersweetened, with cider,…

December 2, 2007

Last night I made mushroom risotto (a chicken carcass needed brothing) with shiitakes and dried porcini. Today I rolled it in nori, and the chick pea curry (warmed) in tortillas with pickled serranos. Pickled beets on the side. Yum. The pickled things are really doing it for me right now, and I love dispatching leftovers efficiently.

December 2, 2007

Have you ever wondered why your homemade Indian food never quite achieves the rich, satisfying depth that even the cheapest restaurant delivers all the time? There are two reasons. The first is that if they’re any good, they grind their own spices fresh every day. The second is butter. Clarified, yes, but butter. And cream. In copious quantities. I discovered this shocking- SHOCKING- fact the other night when I absently glugged the last of some…

December 2, 2007

I just learned that the OED‘s word of the year has been announced, and it’s Locavore. Hooray. If recent history has taught us anything, controlling the terminology is a prerequisite for leading and winning the debate.