Monday pancakes

Kind of a random idea for a weekday night: make a batch of pancakes and eat them with whatever happens to be in the house. I used a basic batter with yogurt (no sugar), and went from there. For toppings we did canned cherries, cheese, ham, rhubarb-ginger jam, etc. One noteworthy variant was pancakes "tatin": I started by melting a bit of brown sugar in the the pan, topped that with a slice of apple ring and let that cook a couple of minutes before topping it with pancake batter and proceeding as normal. Mmmmmmm, caramel apple pancake.

Sunday: trout

On Saturday Nik brought us a couple rainbow trout he caught nearby. Last night I tried to out them to good use, though it has been a long time since I did anything with whole fish.

I took a simple approach based on a combination of ideas from Bittman and Le Menu: I filled the cavities with the greens from some spring onions, dredged the fish through seasoned cornmeal, and then pan-fried them in some olive oil. I split the bottoms of the onions in half and cooked them split-side down in a hot pan until they took on a bit of color. Since I didn't do the best job the world has ever seen of flipping the fish (to put it mildly... the pan was a bit too small is my excuse), I removed the filets before serving.

I also made a tartar sauce by combining some home made mayonnaise with finely diced pickle, chives, some lemon juice, and a couple dashes of Tabasco.

To go with the fish we had steamed potatoes and sauteed asparagus; both of which turned out quite nicely indeed. The potatoes, in particular, were a good second vector for the tartar sauce.

Of course we also had a big green salad.

Saturday: meatloaf with rhubarb sauce

This was a recipe from last month's Le Menu: a meatloaf made with mixed ground meat, brät, grated carrots, onion, ginger, curry powder, chopped prunes, and bound with egg and breadcrumbs. While baking it gets brushed with a glaze made from apple juice, butter, and honey. The meatloaf is served with a sauce made by softening minced onion in a bit of butter, then adding apple juice, rhubarb, lemon zest, some vinegar, and sugar. Simmer until the rhubarb softens, then purée.

To go with this i did steamed vegetables (carrots and kohlrabi, cut into threads) and rice cooked withia bit of carrot and onion.

The meatloaf was quite good: it was borderline too sweet, but it didn't really go over the border.

Tuesday soup

A nice soup to use the stock I made from Sunday's chicken carcass: cook sliced garlic with piri piri chilis in some olive oil until the garlic starts to take on some color. Add diced onion and small diced carrot and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add chicken stock and canned beans and bring to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes then add lemon juice and bit of light cream (inspirations from Romania) and serve topped with parsley.

Together with bread and some chees this made a very nice meal.

Monday leftovers

To finish off the roast chicken from Sunday I took the leg and thight pieces and sauteed them in olive oil until they took on a nice crunch. As a side I did a batch of baked rice using the recipe from La Cucina de Mama.

Simple but good.

Sunday: roast chicken and vegetables

I somehow don't end up making roast chicken very often, but last night it seemed like the thing to do.

I followed the technique from Bittman and roasted the bird in a skillet (actually in the grill pan, which was exactly the right size for is) surrounded by vegetables: potatoes, yellow carrots, onion, and celery root. After the bird was done, I made a sauce by adding white wine and a bit of cornstarch to the pan juices.

As a side I sauteed some chard stems with salt in olive oil. When they were about ready to go I added some pureed tomatoes and black pepper.

This stuff turned out very nicely.

Saturday: asparagus

After a week away, I was in the mood for a big portion of vegetables. Lucky for me that Andrea had picked up a bunch of green asparagus from the Alsatian farmers.

The prep was the usual: sauteed with onion (we didn't have any shallots) in butter.

Combined with a big green salad this was a very satisfying meal.

Wednesday: Spinach pockets, Geschnetzeltes

Ah, the fun of doing random things in the kitchen:

For the spinach pockets: cook some garlic and sliced leek in a bit of olive oil until the leek starts to take on some color. Add a bit of flour and cook a couple more minutes. Add white wine, salt, and wilted spinach and cook, stirring frequently until most of the liquid is gone. Wrap this with diced feta cheese in pieces of puff pastry (blätterteig) and bake at 220C until nicely colored.

For the geschnetzeltes: cook the beef in a single layer in a very hot pan with a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until it's nicely browned on one side. Stir in some flour and let cook another minute or two. Add some cognac and let the liquid evaporate. Add prepared mustard, water, piment d'espellete, and black pepper. Let simmer a couple of minutes and then serve.

Along with a big beet and lettuce salad these made a very good meal.

Sunday: Spinach mass + Farinata

Constructed to use the contents of the biokiste: wilt some spinach in the microwave, drain it, and chop it. Slice some leeks and cook with diced cooked potatoes until the leeks soften. Add the spinach, shredded bärlauch (it's that season again), some lemon zest, a splash of white wine, and some salt and mix well. Let cook a few minutes then serve with grated parmesan, chives, julienned bärlauch, and piment d'espelette.

To go with the spinach I did a batch of farinata that could have turned out better. I'm not sure what happened (probably a lack of attention), but the flat breads themselves ended up being somewhat dry. Still, the flavor was quite good.

With a big green salad this was a nice meal. Probably should come up with a better name for it than "spinach mass" though. :-)

Friday: pork steaks, bratkartoffeln, spinach

Last night somehow turned into a big cooking night.

We started with margaritas because it was Friday, and we could. :-)

For the pork: marinate pork loin steaks with tarragon, garlic, tabasco, cider vinegar, and some salt. After about an hour in the marinade, dredge in flour and then sauteed them. For the sauce: cook sliced garlic with some piri piri chilis in a good amount of olive oil until the garlic starts to take on a bit of color. Add small-diced carrot and onion and cook until the onion is good and soft. Add whole cumin and some ground coriander and let cook a couple more minutes. Add tomato puree, rosemary, bay leaf, and some salt and let simmer, covered, 30 minutes or so. Serve the pork on top of the sauce.

I also did bratkartoffeln with onion and spinach sauteed with pine nuts and raisins and then tossed with a bit of wine vinegar.

Of course we also had a green salad.

mmmmm, good eating.

Wednesday teriyaki

Making teriyaki has been on the list for a while, particularly after having lunch at Tokyo Subway when we were in CA.

I guess it's been quite a couple years since the last time I did this.

To go on top of the rice with the chicken I did: chopped, steamed spinach tossed with sesame oil, salt, and a bit of mirin; and carrot cut into ribbons, then briefly cooked (microwave) and tossed with salt and tossed with rice vinegar and mirin.

As a vegetable side I braised some diced kohlrabi and cabbage with soy and sake.

Tuesday basics

Last night I did two very simple dishes:

1. schnitzel: pork loin pounded thin, seasoned with salt and piment d'esplette, and breaded; served with lemon
2. saffron risotto: onion, rice, saffron, white wine, stock

Combined with a green salad, these made a really nice meal.

Monday: Joe's special

Given the big bag of spinach from the biokiste, making Joe's special was pretty much a must. No deviation from standard practice here.

Sunday: Roesti

To go with the leftover bbq pork I did a rösti. On the side we had steamed kohlrabi sticks with herbed quark and a big carrot salad with a citrus vinaigrette (lime, lemon, orange, rapeseed oil, tabasco, cilantro, salt).

Saturday barbecue

It's not quite summer yet, but the weather was acting summery, so we had friends over and did a southern barbecue:

1. margaritas
2. pork shoulder rubbed with "All South" rub (I substituted hot paprika for the chili powder and cayenne), smoked over hardwood logs, and basted with beer. Served sliced.
3. beacon butcher barbecue sauce
4. cole slaw ("Tidewater Coleslaw")
5. baked beans ("Grandma Wetzler's Baked Beans")
6. cornbread (my usual variation with extra corn meal and whole sweet corn)

With the exception of the margaritas and barbecue sauce, the recipes are all from Thrill of the Grill.

Altogether an excellent kickoff to grill season.

Another loaf of bread

Friday morning I started another loaf of the rye version of no-knead bread; this morning I finished it. This loaf ended up somewhat squat and ugly (I chose a bad shape when letting it rise) but it still tastes great.

Thursday's salads

Last night I did a collection of salads to celebrate being back and having a big new biokiste to work with:

1. potato salad with vegetable broth from a recipe in Wiener (this was the main driver of the idea... there were lots of potatoes to use)
2. diced steamed beets tossed with olive oil, balsamico, rosemary, salt, and white pepper
3. steamed kohlrabi sticks with lettuce and herb quark (chervil, tarragon, parsley)

We also did bread and cheese.

Tuesday: Asian chicken salad

A quick one to help recover from the flight back from CA:

Thinly slice some cabbage and toss with lemon juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Toss in thinly sliced onion, grated carrot, and some coarsely chopped cilantro leaves. Let stand 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Before serving toss with some sesame oil. Serve on lettuce, topped with shredded chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken from the Coop), and peanuts. Garnish with some quick-pickled cucumbers (thinly slice, 20 minutes with salt, rinse, ring out, toss with rice vinegar).

We ate this with bread and a nice white wine and were quite pleased.

SF Restaurant notes part 3

1. Thursday: Hong Kong Chinese (Lunch, Mtn. View)
2. Friday: Tokyo Subway (Lunch, Menlo Park)
3. Saturday: Lunch at Jon and Cati's
4. Sunday: La Fiesta (Mtn View)

SF Restaurant notes part 2

1. Tuesday: Bouchon (Yountville) for lunch; Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar (Healdsburg)
2. Wednesday: Bistro Ralph (Healdsburg)

Food combination note for later: roasted asparagus with white miso and lemon