Feeling a bit lazy today, reduced Sunday dinner to an assembly operation. I like to cook bean dishes a day ahead as they improve by standing. Ingredients include ham shank and hot-soaked beans from the freezer, and fresh mirepoix (ready cut up from Trader’s). I’ll sweat the mirepoix and freeze half for another time. Rice… Continue reading Sunday Dinner: Some Assembly Required
Category: Cook
Sunday Roast
Tonight: wild salmon from Alaska on a cedar plank on the barbecue. Snap peas and new potatoes from the local farmers market. Parsley to go with the potatoes, ultra-local, from our balcony.
Sunday Roast
Veggies from the barbecue, chicken thighs still on the barbecue. Simple Sunday dinner, easy cleanup.
Halibut and Gratitude
Tonight’s our anniversary, so I whipped up a special (well, for a Monday night) dinner. Halibut baked in parchment is so easy, yet feels a touch exotic. Accompanied by an eight buck bottle of New Zealand Sav Blanc from Trader’s we had a fine meal, grateful for our years together. The extra halibut (in the… Continue reading Halibut and Gratitude
Starting Low and Slow
Prepared a dry rub and applied it to baby back ribs which I then placed in an oven at 250°F. Low and slow. This was a chance for a slow cycle ride, ducking occasional rain. As the afternoon progressed, the sound of thunder intensified, prompting me to crank harder on my return home. Back home… Continue reading Starting Low and Slow
Sausage Saturday’s Back!
It’s the first Sausage Saturday at home in two months. Dwight says my braise is so much better than his, pure flattery, it means I cook. It does help to push up the umami by remembering to brown all the ingredients, including the cabbage, then adding tomato paste, shoyu and fish sauce. Meanwhile, Dwight completed our taxes today and I’d rather cook.
Finding Hygge
Bitterly cold outside, Dwight baking banana bread and cornbread, me curled up with a murder mystery novel set in Osaka.
The Annual Replacement of the Spices
Replaced spices older than (arbitrarily) 15 months for a total of about $8. Freshness is optimized by buying whole spices in small quantities.
Sunday Roast: Toad in the Hole
The bacon sausages are from a farm near Minneapolis. I improvised gravy with a base of chicken broth from the freezer and some heavy cream. The veg was slow-braised cabbage to which I added several umami boosters including fish sauce and tomato paste. Somewhat monochromatic, but good on a cold, windy night.
Smoke-Roasted Salmon on Cedar Plank
Salmon smoking on a smoldering cedar plank for dinner tonight. This is probably the last time we use the barbecue until spring.