Jody and Anna came to visit, and they had requested the ribs we made last time in Brooklyn. So we had them, and red cabbage kraut, and mashed roasted butternut squash, and roasted blue potatoes with garlic. We drank three different 2002s from Thackrey: an Andromeda, an Aquila, and a Sirius. Surprisingly enough (although maybe not, given their youth) the Andromeda, which is the least pinot noir-tasting pinot noir I’ve ever had, won for its…
Year: 2006
The green soup became little pancakes with the addition of a couple of eggs and some flour, and half a red cabbage simmmered in spices and wine until nice and soft. Combined, they were sort of like blinis and kraut- a strange homage to my Eastern European ancestors. Finished with a yogurt sauce in place of sour cream, they satisfied pretty well that autumnal craving for hearty food, as well as the need for simple,…
Tofu, cauliflower, sweet potato, and peas simmered in a sauce of coconut milk, tomato juice, water, lime juice, green curry paste, two curry powders, and a dab of vindaloo paste as well. It simmered until all the veggies were super tender and the liquid had thickened to a good sauce. I made a side of spinach wilted in hot oil with mustard and fenugreek seeds, with yogurt added at the end. Rich, hearty, and completely…
This is a tad out of order, but whatever. I put the meat into the marinade after the dinner party and cooked it low on the stove all night. Come morning (about 10 hours later) I separated all the bone and fat from the meat, and strained the liquid, then skimmed it. All the meat, pulled apart into strands, went back in half the liquid (the other half waits in the freezer) and reduced along…
Seeking once angain to consildate leftovers, I took the daikon I had steamed upon return from the road trip and added it to some wild Alaskan salmon along with some of Chris’ burdock, the rest of the pumpkin filling and their parsley pesto. I also took the mustard greens from Richard and Susan and sautéed them with garlic. Hearty, earthy, and pretty clean. We opened a 2002 Jadot Beaune “Bressandes” to keep the Burgundy theme…
Chris & Sirkka and John & Debi came over, plus the girls, and I had gone into Kingston to procure a hunk of pork since John and I had been talking about it. Flisher’s was closed, but we had left messages, and I banged on the door. Some poor cleaning guy let me in, and Josh coached him over the phone in the art of cutting the sirloin off a whole pig leg on the…
Four chicken legs formed the base of a stew that combined new and leftover ingredients; the kale and cabbage from previous nights, and the last of the chicken/lamb broth plus fresh sweet potato and carrot and herbs from outside. Once tender, I pulled all the meat off the chicken bones and let it thicken some more. Good, and even better the next day for lunch.
We went to Beacon to hear an old friend play chamber music in a beautiful old hall originally built as a library. Afterwards, we went to a place called O II for dinner. Inventive, hearty as the season calls for, and reasonably priced, although the wine list is awful. We ordered 5 small plates and shared them all. First mushrooms in a rich meat reduction with a cap of puff pastry and a crab cake…
Beautiful New York Strips from Alaska farms, cooked rare and accompanied by raw grated daikon, as well as steamed slices, with a pan sauce of red wine and Banyuls vinegar and a bit of demi-glace. Eaten with a lovely 1999 Lisini Brunello, which, though young, was drinking well. I bought a bunch of the ’99 Brunellos; it will be good fun to see how they age.
So the bounty from Richard and Susan, being far too much to fit in the fridge, was of neccessity reduced by soupmaking. Amazing turnips, radishes, daikon, kale, turnip greens, parsley, cilantro, rutabaga, and leeks became about 2 gallons of rich, velvety green purée, some of which will be frozen and the rest used this week. Food as medicine in the truest sense. I cannot wait to have a garden next year.