Month: April 2009

April 29, 2009

Sometime last week, before the heat wave, we had one of those perfect spring days that just makes one all giddy, what with all the fecundity and the burgeoning and the blooming and the sweet breezes and such. There was still a chill in the shade, though, so something roasty seemed appropriate, and firing up the grill to celebrate the season seemed pretty mandatory. I spatchcocked a good chicken and gave it a rub of…

April 28, 2009

This will be a quick one, since I’m completely knackered from the continuing herb (now technically herb and fruit) garden which I’ll take pics of when it’s done. Until then, I’m going to try to make some progress posting some of the backlog of meals that lurk on my desktop, mocking me. Since I’m too tired to cook tonight, it’s nice to have some things on hand. A couple of weeks ago, we went to…

April 27, 2009

On a recent trip to a local market, and thanks in no small part to the random peregrinations through the store which the company of a small boy can engender, I happened upon a certain freezer compartment stuffed full of various exotic game meats- many of which are responsibly farm-raised in the vicinity. I was pretty excited, and loaded up our basket with several different cuts from several different beasts: venison, elk, bison, and quail-…

April 26, 2009

I’m so heinously behind on posting- there’s just too much other work in the studio and garden (I’m redoing the herb garden right now, to make it extra elegant and much lower maintenance) and I can’t seem to deal with the computer a whole lot. But, since I did recently write the Reuben thing for TNS, here’s a follow-up that shows the final destination of that glorious, smoky hunk o’ cow after some parts were…

April 24, 2009

I have once again written a guest post at Thursday Night Smackdown, so you can go there to read all about my almost entirely home-made Reuben, and then feel bad about what you’re making for dinner, and just give up and order Thai food. Should you want to read the other posts I did there last fall, you can find them here and here. They’re actually pretty good, since I worked on them for a…

April 21, 2009

The giant meaty lamb bone from Easter got me inspired to do something besides lamb sandwiches or lamb fried rice with the leftovers. I made a big pot of pho with the bone, using half of it in other things and freezing two quarts for later. Lamb makes a wonderful (if untraditional) pho. I’ve been trying to branch out with the sourdough starter- though I am overdue to make bread- and thought that gyros with…

April 21, 2009

It was just Milo and me this weekend, so we had lots of fun gardening and doing some cooking. Between the holdovers and new sprouts in the garden and the various wild edibles popping up all over, we’ve been eating big bowls of leaves every day for a week now. It’s wonderful. In related news, trout season has begun, and our neighbor brought over a couple of beautiful rainbows for us. Milo loves whole fish-…

April 20, 2009

I think a lot of food bloggers cook as much for their blogs as they do for themselves; it’s understandable, since basking in the glow of validation that we receive from complete strangers all over the world is addictive and we all love attention. But what I enjoy most- especially these days, when I simply do not have the time to indulge in the complex cooking that most gratifies me- is the simple, ongoing mixture…

April 13, 2009

Growing up, the two main holidays in my family were Passover and Thanksgiving; it was not a coincidence that both center around a meal. These days, since we observe nothing in particular, Sunday was better for us and our guests so that’s when the meal happened. I do have sentimental attachments to the Seder, but only the people- not to the tedium and all the rules. My Grandmother used to make a mean leg of…

April 8, 2009

The wife wanted squid, and not for the first time lately; she’s been craving it. So she went out and got some, and since Milo went along for the ride they came home with a formerly live soft-shell crab that he fell in love with. (The guy behind the counter cut its face off with scissors so I didn’t have to. I’m going to call that a plus.) When they got home, I dredged the…