A bag of rice arrived today, grown in Niigata, Japan. Because Japan exports very little of its crop, I had to specially order it. In a traditional multi-course meal, plain rice is served just before dessert to be enjoyed entirely on its own. Adding soy sauce is considered rude. Having failed to replicate that perfect glossy texture and subtle flavor at home, I’m finally going to try cooking the real thing.
Category: Cook
Reflections on sausage and cabbage
Dwight headed down to the weight room, which gave me an opportunity to cook up a surprise for dinner. For one week only, it’s Sausage Sunday (as opposed to Sausage Saturday). No surprises there: it’s a variation on a sausage and cabbage theme. Here it is, reflecting in a slow oven for about 2½ hours, hopefully undergoing a magical transformation.
Focaccia Friday
We subscribe to the bi-monthly Cook’s Illustrated from America’s Test Kitchen because we like its analytical approach to cooking. Recently, Dwight has vowed to try one new recipe per month from the magazine, something I strongly encourage. Already, his banana bread and biscotti are the best; today, it was the turn of focaccia, hopefully a new Friday tradition.
Building a pot of joy
Coastal Seafoods is probably the best seafood store in the Twin Cities, and it was conveniently on my walk home from my gig at the library this morning. Tonight’s menu: seafood stew with cod, halibut, peppers, onion, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, saffron, coconut milk, squeezes of lime, and anything else I can think of to round it out.
Passing on the fiddleheads
Picked up a bunch of this locally grown asparagus at the farmers market this morning. The rhubarb looked good too, but my sister-in-law recently gave us a huge armful from her garden. We’re not too crazy about fiddleheads, though they did look decent. I didn’t see the fungus lurking in the corner: Google Lens is giving conflicting answers on it, so maybe it’s just as well.
The best-laid plans…
Once in a blue moon, we feel a bit lazy and pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner. Today was meant to be that day: I was busy volunteering, and Dwight spent much of his day horizontal, recovering from the same cold I’ve just managed to shake. Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be. The rotisserie shelves were empty, and when I asked, there was none ready in the back. It was time for Plan B: cooking from scratch.
Local farmers¹ vs. a tacky billionaire²
Picked up a bunch of ramps for a stir-fry from our local farmers market¹. The ramp season in Minnesota is remarkably short, lasting only about three weeks. Sadly, it’s still too early in the season for local cruciferous vegetables, so I reluctantly walked over to Whole Foods² where I found some healthy-looking dino kale from Michigan and red chard from California.
Linguistic roots
I had to go to the tool chest for a rubber mallet to help me chop this rutabaga without losing any fingers. If I were doing this in the UK, I would call the veggie a swede or a turnip. Here in the US, however, the term “turnip” is reserved for the smaller white variety. Right now, the rutabaga and four other types of root veggies are assimilating themselves into a lamb stew.
Risotto repurposed
Tonight: leftover mushroom risotto, repurposed. Stabilized with fresh breadcrumbs and egg, then coated in panko. Served on Spode, just because. Salad by Dwight. Enough excitement for one day.
Avoiding phytohaemagglutinin
I’m making a kidney bean dish for dinner and decided to switch up my routine. Instead of my usual quick hot soak, I started with a 24-hour cold soak in the fridge. My original plan was to use the slow cooker, but I recently learned about a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin. To destroy it, the beans must be boiled vigorously on the stovetop for at least 10 minutes. Since I have to boil them on the stove anyway, I’ll finish the entire dish there, as I’ve always done.