I had the boy all day today, so I wisely thought ahead and pulled some beef shanks out of the freezer to thaw. By late afternoon I was beat, but at least had the beginnings of dinner under way. I peeled and sliced some burdock I dug up a couple of days ago- nice big fat roots- and threw them into the rice cooker with yesterday’s chicken broth and the local 10-grain blend augmented with…
Year: 2008
I woke up this morning figuring that I should have planned something nice for Easter, but that since I hadn’t- bad parent/husband that I am- I should pretend that I had and figure out what I could bust out convincingly. To begin with, we had eggs. A good start, and lucky, because the wife she likes the eggs so we’re often low or out. And I had bought a big bar of organic super-dark chocolate…
So the chicken I wanted to make yesterday waited patiently until today, and received a totally traditional treatment. No fancy anything. Fingerling potatoes roasted with garlic cloves and rosemary, steamed broccoli, lemon-pesto gravy, and a salad of our amazing baby greens that are really shooting up now that the days are lengthening. I’m working on some ideas, so sometimes auto-pilot is a good way to fly. In keeping with tradition, a pinot noir to go…
I wanted to roast a chicken tonight, and Milo wanted to come to the store with me. When we got there, he instantly saw and requested a whole red snapper so I obliged him. He even asked for it from the guy behind the counter, and once we got home he couldn’t wait to hold it. The fish just fit in our big sautée pan with a little butter to crisp up both sides, then…
After a couple of days in the city it was wonderful to finish of with another stellar dinner at Kris & Ken’s house. Because it was a weeknight, Kris kept it “simple” which for them means only three courses and five wines. Here’s what we had: For an aperitif, a glass of Planeta “La Segreta” 2005, followed by a 2002 Chablis grand cru Valmur by William Fevre that was a beautiful accompaniment to shrimp on…
Yesterday I was out in the garden taking advantage of our recent thaw to dig some burdock and look for stray potatoes (there was one, but it was rotten.) I also thinned the Asian cabbage, because it’s really forming heads now and I want them to have room. I know that all the brassicas are going to bolt in short order, but in the meantime it’s pretty great to have fresh greens right out the…
There were some particularly beautiful organic artichokes at our local store yesterday, so I picked a couple out and today they came in super-handy. Milo wanted kidney beans, and we had white ones, so I put them in water to soak and then went to work, jumping back in around 3 to simmer them with sautéed onion, garlic, and rosemary so they’d be ready at 5 when I normally knock off for the day. (Pre-child,…
Since I’ve been galavanting, I wanted to make a dinner tonight that made up for my absence, so I stopped at the store on my way home (after very nearly running out of gas because one of the service areas was closed) to get a few things. So we had elk medallions on parsnip purée (with the now-customary combination of yogurt, vanilla, and truffle oil) with a reduction sauce of red wine, hama-natto, cinnamon, and…
Thursday I caught a ride with John to Boston for Micro’s 10th anniversary show; it had been a while since I saw them play, and nothing beckons like a night out with dear friends while other dear friends play 2 sets of Moroccan-infused face-melting alien sex funk. Before the show, Andrew and I went to get many fabulous pizzas from nearby, which we ate with a White Barn 2005 Syrah-Grenache blend, a 2001 Chèze Saint-Joseph,…
I’ve been tending to forget to make pre-fermented pizza dough the night before, so lately I’ve been using a much simpler (if less tasty) recipe that only takes about three hours to rise- though I do make it half white- half whole wheat for better taste and nutrition. Unfortunately, our tired-ass old yeast just didn’t have what it takes to make the dough light and bubbly. The end result was more like a really big…