Monthly Archives: March 2006

03.31.06
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These Prawns Have A Shell of a Flavor…

Prawn ShellShell of a flavor… get it?

I loved the headline so much that I clipped this recipe from the Boston Globe, sometime around 1980. And good for me… though I don’t cook it often, it is one of my favorites.

In this dish, the shells of the Prawns flavor a stock that is used for cooking couscous to serve with the prawns. An extra dollop of stock sends more flavor back to the Prawns as they cook.

So what if you can only find Shrimp in your market? Use the Shrimp. Technically, they’re different critters, but commercially, the terms are used interchangably. Some think Prawns looks more classy on a menu or in a recipe.

This “trick” can work with lobster, as well, using the shells to make a broth or sauce. In fact, the poached fish dish that I posted earlier, essentially uses the fish juices to help the sauce.
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03.30.06
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Spareribs, Carrots and Romaine

This is the first in an occasional series of Good Eatin’, kind of a sidebar usually involving leftovers (LO), where I will describe an easily put together meal that we enjoyed very recently, maybe yesterday.

Good Eatin’
The spareribs have been wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for over a week. I got the Winter Ribs recipe from Mark Bittman in the New York Times recently, planned for leftovers and now they await.

Spareribs
Pop into preheated Toaster Oven at 350 ° for 15 minutes. About halfway through warming, slather with bottled BBQ sauce of choice.

Carrots
I have a bunch of baby carrots. Trim and wash. These are way too little to peel. In a saucepan, put in juice of a small orange, (actually, I had a tangelo) some white wine (or vermouth or water), a teaspoon of Honey Dijon, and a pat of butter. Bring to a boil, add the carrots and simmer, covered for about 4 minutes—until carrots are tender, but not mushy. Plate the ribs and carrots, reduce the remaining pan liquid to 2 or 3 tablespoons and pour over carrots.

Romaine
Split and trim a head of romaine. Slather on creamy dressing (I had Marie’s Chunky Blue Cheese in the refrigerator).

ribs_n_carrots.JPG

Now, that’s Good Eatin’.

03.28.06
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Poached

the_fish_poacher.JPGPoached Striped Bass
with Vodka Sauce

We own an actual fish poacher. It sits on top of our dining room armoire and I can’t recall having it down since we moved to San Francisco in 1992. Don’t look for it on my essentials page.

When I was surfing the New York Times Dining and Wine section the other day, I spied Poached Salmon with Vodka Sauce. That looked interesting, so I downloaded it to my “to cook” folder. There are over thirty recipes in that folder and more coming every week, so I don’t have a prayer of cooking them all. As time goes by, I delete the ones that no longer look interesting. This recipe will just be in the back of my head when I go to market. I didn’t really think about cooking a whole salmon, but I figured I could do it with a fillet.

We bought the fish poacher in Boston to poach a four-pound salmon for a party. In James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking there is more than one recipe for poached fish and in my cooking-for-parties phase I poached a few salmon, as well as other fish and shellfish. I especially liked the Poached Fish with White Wine Sauce and Shellfish a la Nage, “,a la nage is the French term for a style of preparation in which shellfish are both cooked and served ‘swimming’ in a white wine court bouillon and eaten hot, tepid or cold.” Shrimp, crayfish or small lobsters are excellent prepared in this manner.
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03.24.06
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Cookie Monster

Cookie MonsterSAN ANDREAS COOKIES

I’m not a baker, but I have baked.

My mother baked a lot. I probably participated in baking at home, but my first memorable baking experience was with a lemon meringue pie. The occasion was a dinner, prepared with Wally (Carol’s roommate’s boyfriend at the time) in Carol and Sue’s apartment kitchen as a preface to my asking Carol to please marry me. I think I asked her before in Doug’s beat up ’53 Chevy, parked in front of my fraternity house (in the front seat!). But this occasion was with ring. The pie, crust made from scratch, was a success, as was the proposal.
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03.21.06
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Charcuterie, a review

CharcuterieCharcuterie
The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing
by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
Illustrated. 320 pages. Norton $35

I would not have bought this book; now I have to buy this book.

In February, son Eric emailed a request for Charcuterie, in case I had a review copy and didn’t want to keep it. When I think charcuterie, I think sausages. Living in an apartment in the city, I’m lacking the space for sausage equipment and, okay, the desire to use up my pork scraps for sausages (like I have scraps, I buy my meat trimmed). Eric, on the other hand, buys a half-hog each year, loves to make sausages and is a staunch advocate of Fergus Henderson’s book, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. He needs Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing.
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03.17.06
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Halibut with Warm Cabbage Slaw

HalibutI had a recipe already picked out when I bought the Halibut at the Farmers Market on Saturday, but then when I went back and re-read it, Halibut with a Vegetable Nage, it sounded a lot like the New England Boiled Dinner I did last week. A nage is a broth, generally vegetable, which is made by cooking vegetables and herbs in water. Then you strain and discard the vegetables and use the nage to poach additional vegetables. A purist would poach the vegetables and the Halibut in the nage, but in that recipe the halibut is marinated and then grilled and served with the vegetables au jus.

Meanwhile, I made my “lunch soup” with Savoy cabbage. As is often the case, I had half a head of cabbage left over. Maybe I can do my Halibut with braised cabbage.
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03.13.06
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Slice 'n' Dice

Slice ‘n’ Dice Dinner—The perfect eats-for-one caper.

snow_on_SAAB.JPGIt was nearly seven o’clock and I was watching the tail end of the news when Carol called to report that there was a hailstorm going on at San Francisco State and she’s not driving home until it’s over. A hailstorm! In San Francisco! With thunder and lightning! Oh, and she had dinner at her meeting.
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03.10.06
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Cincinnati Chili

Sally Redmond’s Cincinnati Chili
Cincinnati_Chili.JPG
Sally lived across the street from us in Newton, and though she isn’t from Cincinnati, her husband Jeff is. In any case, they would have a Kentucky Derby Party every spring, with Mint Juleps, their own Tote Board, and this chili, served in small bowls. It was generally accompanied by creamy Cole slaw, since this chili has some spice.

The party would start well before the five o’clock Derby, so we could get our bets down and our tote board correct, and last into the night. Money changed hands. As the evening became night, dancing ensued in the living room. I often wound up dancing with Sally to tunes from Jackson Browne’s Late for the Sky LP.
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03.07.06
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New England Boiled Dinner

NE_boiled_dinner_.JPG

Ah yes, the celebration of winter vegetables combined with the early spring treat of Corned Beef, traditionally at its peak of popularity around St. Patrick’s Day.

The Academy Awards are close enough to March 17, so that corned beef is readily available. We like to have folks over for the Oscars in order to share catty remarks and ooohhh and aaahhh, make fun of folks and generally enjoy one another’s company. This year there will be four of us. I’m making a New England Boiled Dinner and planning for leftovers for Corned Beef Hash.
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03.02.06
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Tuesday Toss

Food_Book.JPGMenu: Sausages, Tossed Potatoes, Baby Leek Salad

I have a blank booklet I call the Food Book. In it I write down the stuff I bring home from the Saturday Farmers Market, so I can see what we have that’s fresh. We have two vegetable crispers in our undersized refrigerator (renter’s remorse), but they are themselves undersized, and even so, stuff can get lost in there.

I don’t need the Food Book to know that I bought some fine young leeks at the Mariquita Farm stand. They were my buy of the day, something new in season that makes me want to create something. Today is the day. What to do? I took a look at French Women Don’t Get Fat, a wonderful book by Mareille Guiliano. She’s a big fan of leeks, but she didn’t have a recipe to tickle my fancy. On to the ol’ standby, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Vegetables. There’s a nice Baby Leek Salad there, I’ll go with that.
Food Book
But that’s not dinner!
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