Monthly Archives: April 2011

A Pleasant Walk, a Pleasant Talk Along the Briny Beach

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I think the new name for this blog should be just “Do What I Want,” as that seems to have been my method these last several days. I want sweetbreads? I go git ‘em. Yesterday I needed a tin of sardines. No problem! Today it was mussels or moules frites to be exact. And I believe the journey to the moules started innocently enough. Maybe it was, hmmm, I should make something simple in as few pots as possible with small effort, but big results. Then I probably thought, we should definitely do something with the big pot of oil … Continue reading →

An Offal Blair Tribute

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It all started with a nubbly, gnarly looking celery root in my fridge. As I stood there staring at it, I could only think back to the heavenly artichoke puree a couple nights ago and knew I’d have to cook it in milk and blend it up with some butter. I then was thinking about what sorts of things I’d put on top and instantly thought of something like fried chicken. I didn’t really want fried chicken but something smaller, more delicate, but equally crispy. I thought of small birds like quail and then I thought of sweetbreads and then, … Continue reading →

RIBEYE!

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I can’t believe it took us this long to cook up some ribeye after Meatless March. I suppose the bulgolgi should count, but it just isn’t the same as some grilled chunks of BEEF. Our remaining pickins were slim so we took out the bokchoy and some pork and shrimp dumplings and sesame pancakes I had gotten at H Mart. Odd, but good and the only real tragedy was dropping, and shattering the bowl of  two small remaining pieces of meat on the way to the fridge. I swear it must have looked like I was just aiming for, and … Continue reading →

An SF Tribute, a Denver Tribute and a Pile o’ Belly

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On Monday night we ate a six course meal with seemingly bottomless glasses of wine in a dank and crowded basement of a Victorian mansion. It was our first dinner with Noble Swine, one of the underground supper clubs here in Denver. Ryan had first heard of them when he went to meet his new neighbors, the Black Shirt Brewery which was hosting one of their dinners. The standard protocol is that you sign up for an email notification, you reply that you are interested and then they tell you the day before where the dinner is. It seems we … Continue reading →

Back to Veggie: Eggplant Stacks

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In pondering tonight’s dinner, I mentally went through what I thought might be in the fridge, assuming there were most likely hidden items I didn’t remember. Thinking of baby brussles sprouts and patty pan squash, small, round eggplant and big, fat zucchini, I settled on making some melty stacks. We had some broccoli pesto in the freezer which I thought I could balance with a walnut/sundried tomato pesto. So I heated about 1/4 cup of grapeseed oil and toasted a handful of walnuts which were then skimmed out directly into the blender. I then did the same with two garlic … Continue reading →

Thanks, H Mart

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We took a trip to H Mart yesterday, a large and impressive Korean grocery store in Aurora. The entrance is flanked by all manner of specialized electronic gizmos from humidifiers shaped like frogs, to $400 rice cookers to a whole row of kimchi refrigerators. I am always tempted by such machines, but force myself to keep walking toward the homemade tofu stand, the heart-stopping, loud and dangerous-looking machine which periodically explodes out rice cracker things and endless rows of produce. I had no real agenda, so I just pushed the shopping cart (the best kid car cart there is, where … Continue reading →

OMG Asian Fish Tacos

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Shortly before Meatless March I had purchased a couple whole snappers for a dinner party. I thought at the time that I probably only needed one, but wanted to be safe and ended up with about 2 1/2 times the amount we’d need. So we cleaned and froze the extra fish which has been staring up at me from our large freezer in the basement. Eyeing me each time I reached in for a black bean burger, chik patty or loaf of bread. So I finally thawed the sucker out. Last time we deep fried the fish whole served with … Continue reading →

Decadent Cheese Sauce Take 3

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This morning I decided to stir some of the cheesy sauce (from this meal and this one) into some eggs for my daughter’s breakfast. Because our two nonstick pans were in the sink, I decided to grab the appelskiver pan. If you don’t know what that is, you probably have seen it on tv– happy families making round balls of stuffed pancake love in a pan with seven indentations. I had made jam-stuffed pancakes before and they were as fabulous as you’d think and make breakfast a truly festive occasion. I added some butter to four of the cup thingies … Continue reading →

Decadent Cheese Sauce Take 2

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The day after we had the lentils with gooey, crispy, frenchified garlic cheese bread, I still had a huge bowl of the gooey cheese sauce left. I packed half of it in a bowl to take to my mom’s so we wouldn’t eat it all, then set off to the store for some ham and butter lettuce. When I got to the deli, there was a sign saying Friday 5 Dollar Ham Event. My special day! It sounded downright festive, but turned out to just be that black forest ham was only $5/lb. I figured that would be as good … Continue reading →

Comfort, Decadence and All Things Balanced on a Plate

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Early in the day I thought of lentils for no real reason. I might have been thinking, what do we have that is cheap and easy and can be made in one pot? (which you will soon see is laughable considering the outcome). I may have felt the morning chill and wanted something warm and comforting. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been working on a website for our friends’ new restaurant Petite Jacqueline (A Bistro) in Portland Maine and just about everything on the menu makes me drool. All I know is I thought of lentils, a poached egg and … Continue reading →