Category: Cook

Picked up (and purchased) celeriac at the local farmers market at Mill City Museum (a former flour mill). I used to be wary of this craggy root, but now happily add it to a braise or gratin.

Started filling the fridge.

Prepared the final meals for Tip-the-Fridge Week: strata, ready to bake; risotto patties, ready to fry; vegetable soup. Stale bread, leftover vegetables, homemade stock, and leftover risotto all came from the freezer. I used up all our eggs and most of our milk.

It’s Tip-the-Fridge Week. You can hide a lot in a pot pie.

Made jerk chicken marinade. For something so simple, there’s a surprising number of ingredients. A coffee grinder we keep for spices and an immersion blender brought all this together in short order. I froze half for another day.

Made a special trip across the Mississippi to stock up on Spam at Lunds. For some inexplicable reason, the stores where I usually shop don’t carry Spam. We use this fine Minnesotan product to make musubi.

I’m cooking basic baby back ribs this afternoon: rub with fresh garlic and a dry rub, then cook low and slow (225°F). The simple dry rub varies, but I usually include paprika, salt, brown sugar, and black pepper. A dish of water on the lower rack increases the humidity.

Achieved new culinary heights: assembled Spam Musubi, a fusion food popular in Hawaii. Minnesota: Spam (fried). The can makes an excellent musubi mold. Japan: soy sauce and nori. California: sushi rice. Next time we’ll add mirin to the rice to make it stickier.