It’s Sausage Saturday, Winter Edition, and today I’m braising sausage with cabbage. I typically use green cabbage, but I opted for red today and decided to give the dish a Caribbean twist. As planned, I incorporated cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. To enhance the flavor profile, I consulted Google AI (Gemini), which suggested balsamic vinegar and ginger (I had some fresh ginger in the freezer).
Category: Cook
The Secret of the Chef of the Duke of Lévis-Mirepoix
Today, I’m feeling lazy, so I took a shortcut with my pot of beans. I used half a container of mirepoix from Trader’s, saving me from chopping carrots, onions, and celery. I don’t know of any other store selling mirepoix, which always mystifies me. Dwight used the rest of the mirepoix to make a pea soup, adding a handful of his homegrown pea shoots and bringing it all together with an immersion blender.
Needs Must
When I woke up, it was a frigid 6°F outside. There was no way I was going outside today. To get some exercise, I spent 45 minutes on an exercycle in the workout room. It’s Sausage Saturday, but we’re missing the main ingredients: sausages and ice cream. Instead of sausage, I’ll make chicken pot pie using chicken from the freezer. And instead of ice cream, Dwight baked apple crumble, which is cooling now.
Wot No Turkey?
Spent most of the afternoon making veggie moussaka as the main dish for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. Porcini mushrooms, lentils and chickpeas nicely fill the meat space. The dish required red wine (3 cups); the cook required some too, but a much lesser amount.
Book and Biscotti
While Dwight baked these almond biscotti, I stretched out on the couch with a novel I’d checked out from the library on my Kindle, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. The Remains of the Day is still my favorite, but none of his novels has disappointed. Early samples of the biscotti didn’t disappoint either.
Comfort Food Foundation
Made a 24-hour chicken bone broth which I filtered four ways this morning. Now it’s setting up in the fridge, waiting for me to skim off the fat. I’ll freeze it in smaller portions to use in dishes where I want the flavor and smoothness to shine. On Friday, I picked up chicken parts from an Asian market; of course, I couldn’t resist grabbing some Japanese KitKats while I was there.
From Ug to Yum
Picked up ingredients for a braise, including one each of these gnarly beauties: a rutabaga and a celeriac.
Colorful Greens
Picked up a bunch of local Swiss chard to stir-fry with dinner. Normally this veggie is not on my radar, but Dwight suggested I should look out for some.
All Set for Sausage Saturday
Looked straight ahead as I walked past Kramarczuk’s extensive display of cakes to pick up garlicky house-made Ukrainian sausage at the meat counter. Next, I braved the chilly walk-in beer cooler at Surdyk’s, just down the road, for a local brew. Earlier I’d picked up crusty bread, a massive cabbage, and ice cream at Seward… Continue reading All Set for Sausage Saturday
Sunday Afternoon
As you walk through our home today, you walk from great cooking smells to the intense smell of rubbing alcohol. I’ve been preparing dinners through Wednesday, Dwight’s been spraying plants that have attracted bugs. Tonight, mushroom risotto; tomorrow beans (with a Spanish-style sofrito base) and rice; Tuesday, risotto patties; Wednesday, beans and polenta. “Food is… Continue reading Sunday Afternoon