What a difference a couple of weeks make. Having fully pivoted into high spring, we have shifted away from storage crops and braises towards just-picked salads and herb-heavy sauces or garnishes. Everything is so perfect and new that a little goes a long way, allowing for the much subtler warm-weather eating that those of us with seasons have been pining for so ferociously for so long. For example, here’s something from a while back, and…
Category: Seafood
This will be a quick one, since I’m completely knackered from the continuing herb (now technically herb and fruit) garden which I’ll take pics of when it’s done. Until then, I’m going to try to make some progress posting some of the backlog of meals that lurk on my desktop, mocking me. Since I’m too tired to cook tonight, it’s nice to have some things on hand. A couple of weeks ago, we went to…
The wife wanted squid, and not for the first time lately; she’s been craving it. So she went out and got some, and since Milo went along for the ride they came home with a formerly live soft-shell crab that he fell in love with. (The guy behind the counter cut its face off with scissors so I didn’t have to. I’m going to call that a plus.) When they got home, I dredged the…
The other day I got a call from our free fish source, so later on I went to pick up a bag full of super-fresh hake and cusk. Upon return home, a perusal of the cabinets and fridge yielded a pretty perfect array of complementary flavors: a red bell pepper that Milo wanted, a little bit of heavy cream, some tomato purée, and a last pinch of saffron. With the addition of a bag of…
With so much work to do, it’s been pretty hard lately to rise much above maintenance mode in the kitchen. I don’t even feel the urge to get fancy or spend all day messing around with various components or techniques so that dinner can be a unique and creative improvisation like I did so much in the winter. Having said that, I still want things to taste good, and given the chance I will incorporate…
Christine has been in Florida with her Mom for just about a week now, so Milo and I have been enjoying our time together. Much Lego has been involved, as has some gardening- planting early things, mulching the ramps (they’re coming up) and putting a cherry tree next to the garage. It’s still pretty cold- tonight it will go down to a totally unreasonable 15˚- but the days are warming and I simply will not…
On Saturday Kee and Todd came for dinner. We’ve only been meaning to get together for a year, so the event was right on schedule. They’re both Southern, so I took it upon myself to violate one of their most sacred culinary traditions in that reckless and insensitive way that I have. It’s one of the reasons we have to keep inviting new people over. The white beans from the other night, whirled with garlic…
Homemade sourdough, this time with 30% whole wheat, where the dough sat in the fridge for 6 days getting good and sour. And, building upon this tangy, crackling foundation, some carciofi alla romana and local, organic navy beans pressure-cooked with guanciale, mirepoix, herbs, and smoked duck broth, and finished with truffle and olive oils. I’ve been loving the shellfish lately, especially given their highly sustainable status, and big bowls of this (here steamed with sake,…
So the wife comes home from the store the other day armed with a tub of fat scallops and a pack of good bacon, and suggests that it would be a good idea if I wrapped the former in the latter. I did, fastening them with rosemary (perfect, because a bunch of branches on the plant just died to due the unhappy combination of underwatering and proximity to the radiator.) I put them on circles…
I have not been feeling it in the kitchen- and by extension, here- at all lately; it’s pretty much the norm when I have momentum in the studio (and I have a lot right now.) So on Saturday I ground gears pretty badly trying to get from studio mind to kitchen mind in time to make dinner for Liz and Duncan. It all came together, which was kind of a surprise given the haphazard approach…