There was talk of burgers; good beef was procured. But just because I’m posting doesn’t mean I’m not working like a lunatic- having never before built a skinny octagonal pyramid 16 feet high that can be assembled on site in a field with no power tools, I’ve been frantically doing math (which I sucked at last time I had to do any, over 25 years ago; I was the only person in the history of…
Category: Wine
Though it looks like an excess of consecutive red meat consumption around here, there was actually a day in between- my last day of solitude- wherein not much interesting was et. This meal honored the return of my family, who actually really missed me and were pretty excited to be home again. I defrosted a butterflied piece of lamb leg and gave it a quick rub with Moroccan-type flavors. While it rested, I made a…
It’s been a while since my last post, and I’ve covered a lot of ground since then, but I will keep this entry brief by concentrating on the highlights, and the pleasure of having had other people cook for me for much of the last ten days. In Chicago last week, Jeff and Eve- with whom our tradition of mighty dinners really got rolling during grad school there in ’94- made a simple yet perfect…
It was a perfect day today: warm, gently breezy, cloudless. I of course had to spend the bulk of it hunched over this wretched appliance, but I did break out this afternoon to do some gardening and then hit the store for a couple of things. On the way back up out of the valley, there are some particularly nice views of the mountains North of town from a couple of places. Down here, all…
After a great dinner party Sunday nearby- where I didn’t have to make a damn thing- I got another break last night in the city as I dropped in on Kris and Ken following a very productive day. David joined us, and later Mary, and we had simple food and excellent wine: curried chicken with okra and mashed potatoes (Kris makes incredible curries) followed by chili and rice, then 5 cheeses, then possibly the best…
I let Milo choose dinners this weekend, since I’m tired, and tired of fancy cooking after the exertions of the past week or so. My Dad is English, and when I was growing up he was allowed to make breakfast on Sunday in the full-blown tradition of his people: bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, potatoes, and bread, all fried in the bacon grease. When I was an impoverished grad student in Chicago I would often make…
The New Yorker came today, and in it is a profile of Grant Achatz, molecular gastronomy wunderkind and chef at Alinea in Chicago, and his work and dramatic struggle with tongue cancer. Christine and her Mom go to the city tomorrow, so I wanted to make something a little fancy to send them off. And there were some nice new ingredients that she bought; when somebody else does the shopping there can often be unexpected…
In an effort to make this evening’s meal easier on me, Christine and her Mom bought some fresh porcini ravioli at a local place. I was partly relieved, and partly sort of wished that I could have made them myself. Having said that, it’s a busy week for me and was grateful to put the extra time to good use. For a sauce, I took the rest of the crème fraîche and poured in about…
We were supposed to go out for dinner tonight, then come home for her favorite dessert (see Valentine’s day.) But she has a cold, and Milo is getting it, so I scrambled to finish the preparations for Saturday’s big party (and tonight’s intended dessert, which is in the fridge for baking tomorrow) so I could run out and get something. Since she loves her a burger, I got some buffalo burgers at a specialty place…
So there was this pork shoulder in the freezer. It had been there for a very long time (properly vacuum-sealed, don’t worry) and the warm, burgeoning gorgeousness all around- plus the fact that the smoker is right next to my studio, so I see it 20 times a day- inspired me to thaw it and do things to it. To begin, the espresso-based rub, and then a bit of time to sit while I lit…