Dateline: March 30, 2021 Dumplings with guest

 Bill and I met our friend Jeri down in Chinatown for lunch and a shop at Hong Kong Market.  I purchased some dumpling wrappers and rice noodles, along with some leafy greens, chinese leeks, and flowering chives.  What does one make with all of this?  Dumplings!

I made 2 fillings, one vegetarian and one with some left over spicy chicken.  The vegetarian filling was a mix of shredded cabbage, flowering chives, scallions, leeks and any other vegetation I could chop up and get out of the fridge.  I stir fried it for a bit and seasoned it with soy, shaoxing, and chili crisp.  To fill the wrappers, I put a teaspoon or so of the filling in the center of the dough circle, and wet a finger and traced around the edge of the wrapper and folded the wrapper into a half moon shape.  Pushing hard on the edges to seal them tight.

For the chicken filling, I chopped up the spicy chicken finely and added some scallions, leeks, and other bits I had in the fridge that were already cooked.  I didn't need to add seasoning as the spicy chicken was already quite flavorful.  I placed 1 teaspoon in the center of the wrapper, wet the finger, and sealed into a half moon shape, I then pleated the top edge to distinguish the different types.  Bill came into the kitchen and I recruited him to make the rest of the dumplings.

The problem is that the video doesn't play when one clicks on it.  SO, no video until I can figure out how to make it work correctly.  Sadly, his intensity is awesome.

Bill the master dumpling maker! He will not replace an Asian Grandma in a restaurant window, but he is a good student and with practice, he could make a batch on his own! His pleated ones were better looking than mine!

So, after the dumplings were made and laid out on trays covered with a damp towel.  I set about cooking them.  That is where the trouble started.  The big mistake I made was now oiling the bottom of the pan I was cooking the dumplings in.  What happened is that they stuck to the bottom and got crispy, but the crispy part stayed in the pan!  

I put a steaming rack over the pan frying ones and steamed the veggie dumplings....they were too doughy.  I think the ratio of filling to wrapper was incorrect.  More filling would have worked better, and I guess boiling them would have been the way to go as well and then browning the boiled ones afterwards.  I tipped the steamed ones into the pan.  You can see the bottom is browned but most of the pleated ones stuck fast to the bottom of the pan.

I also made some stir fry with rice noodles.  There was left over filling of both types, so I combined them and then tried to figure out how to make the noodles work.  I decided to steam them, then unroll, and cut into noodles.  The concept was good, the issue was in the execution.  The noodles were hot, damn hot, so handling them was difficult and being an impatient cook, I just couldn't wait for them to cook down enough to handle easily.  I managed to get them unfurled and cut and mixed in with the left over filling.  I also steamed some green beans and added them to the mix.  That dish was better than the dumplings.  Although the dipping sauce was ok, next time, I will search for a more vinegar based sauce.  The one I used had dark soy in it and the molasses really came through too strongly for me so I added more Chinese vinegar to balance out the taste.  With garlic, ginger, scallions, cilantro, hot pepper slices and sesame oil it was quite tasty.

Dateline: March 26, 2021 Grilled Rack of Lamb

I was pawing through the freezer and found a rack of lamb.  It was a beautiful day, so it was grilling time.  I marinated the lamb, after cutting a slit between the bones, with a puree of preserved lemons, garlic, and red finger peppers.  This was rubbed all over the rack, front and back, and it was put to the side while I made a salad.

The rack was put on a hot grill along with half of a red cabbage that I found in the fridge.  I closed the lid, and let it go for about 6-8 minutes, then flipped it over to the bone side, closed the lid and let it go for another 5 minutes.  Tested the temp, bingo, for me, 130°F and I pulled everything off the grill.

Cut the rack into lamb chops and served it up.  Yummers!

 Nota Bene:  The red cabbage was fabulous.  Sweetly charred and cooked through.

Dateline: March 24, 2021 Another Trip to a French Bistro - Cider Braised Chicken Thighs

I had chicken thighs that needed to be cooked, and as I unpacked them, I saw that they had their bones and skin! Ok this is going to be a twist on a sheetpan, but not in a sheetpan.  A casserole that can go in the oven at high heat is needed or a large lidded frying pan.

I used Cider Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Greens , by Lidey Heuck.  This is a FABULOUS recipe.  OMG I can't say enough how delicious this was.  I did make some tweaks, I didn't have apple cider, so I used hard apple cider which made the dish dryer and I used about 1 tsp of agave syrup to turn it toward the apple cider vein.  

This was not a difficult dish, but again, I napped, I have go to stop doing that, and was pushed for time.  The shallots melted down into lovely slurp-able shards.  I used black kale as the green and used a frozen baguette as suggested to sop up all the lovely juices. This is a keeper you must give it a try.

The chicken is gently fried skin down first and then after braising, is put in to broil to crisp up again.  Excellent touch, if I might say so.  The sauce was a lovely, tangy, mustardy melange that was absolutely bread worthy.

Dateline: March 23, 2021 Smoked Chuck (Beef)

I had a large piece of chuck roast and was aching to get into the smoker.  In my night time wanderings around the apartment, I decided that I would smoke the beef the next day, well, actually, later that same day.  I prepped the meat by seasoning with a mix of equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Put the hunk of meat in a sealable bag and put into the fridge for the night.

By 9:00 I was setting up the smoker for 220°F, high smoke, and by 9:30 the roast was in the smoker.  I was hoping that it would be done by dinner time.  You can never tell how long these things will take.  

By 3:30, I had reached the stall of 155 - 165° and I wrapped the roast in butcher paper and returned to the smoker.  I had to leave the house by 4:15, so I started the oven at 225° and went out to the smoker at around 4 to put the meat in the oven to finish up going to 200°F.

I got home around 7 and quickly pulled the meat, sliced it in half, and then turned the cut side down to cut against the grain.  Sometimes in these chuck roasts the grain is wacky and it is easier to cut it when you halve it.  It's a trick I learned from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt in his treatise on smoking chuck.

I served this with left over roasted veggies from the merguez sheetpan dinner and a new trick of mashed rice-potatoes.  I had made congee earlier in the week with left over rice from take out by putting the rice in the Instant Pot with a quart of chicken stock, a 2 in chunk of peeled ginger and a very large clove of garlic.  Both were kept whole for easier fishing out at the end.  Set the IP on the porridge setting and what came out was a very soft mass of flavorful rice.  I took this out of the fridge and used an ice cream scooper to take out several balls of this rice-potato mash and heated in the microwave.  The texture really is much like mashed potatoes, the flavor is not rice-y, a new and wonderful starch on the plate.  

The meat was so moist, gravy was unnecessary and frankly, unwarranted.  The meal was very satisfying and delicious.  Drank a lovely Riserva Chianti with it.  Cheers!

Dateline: March 22, 2021 Sheetpan Merguez Redux

Another nap ate into prep time for dinner, I think it is now a nasty habit which is playing havoc with my sleeping at night.

What was in the freezer -- ah, merguez sausage, done.  Veggies in fridge, done.  Ok sheetpan dinner coming up.

I used for the veggies, brussel sprouts, baby peppers, red cabbage, green cabbage, collards, carrots, butternut squash, broccolini, and onions.  Chop into reasonable pieces, coat in olive oil, salt, and pepper and top with frozen sausages and throw into a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.  At 30 minutes, turn the sausages over to brown on the other side and set the table.

Fresh out of the oven

plateful of goodness

These sheetpan dinners are getting more frequent, perhaps because I am taking long naps in the afternoon.  Just saying, it's a possibility, but not causal.

Dateline: March 21, 2021 Korean Squid and Scallion Pancake

The squid had to be used, and I was pressed for time....why?  Because my nap took longer than I thought it would.  So I only started to prep this at about 6 pm and we had a 7 pm zoom call.

I used Melissa Clark's Scallion Pancake with Squid recipe.  Pretty straight forward, I had all the ingredients and didn't need to finagle anything!  The squid was beautiful, once again from Fresh Direct.  Bodies were cut into rings and tentacles were cut in half.  Batter ingredients were measured and prepped and pan was heated by 6:45, so in went half the batter and it cooked up nicely.  Then came the hard part!

I used a straight-sided pan, which was very stupid of me.  A sloping sided pan would have allowed the spatula to get under the pancake much more easily.  The pancake broke up and had to be turned in pieces.  Not a problem in terms of taste, but presentation of a lovely dish was out of the question.

The taste was quite nice, in fact, very good!  In the future I would add more liquid than the called for 2 cups.  The batter was very thick and that may have caused the turning issues as it wasn't going to flow into itself and create a solid surface.  The dipping sauce was very good and accented the seafood quality perfectly.

finished messy product, but the taste was great

These were quite filling, we ate 1 and half of the second one and were both quite full.  I realized looking at the photo I did add a sliced red finger pepper for something interesting, as well as 1 chopped leek.

Dateline: March 20, 2021 Rotisseried Chicken on the Grill -- Welcome to Grilling Season

So I was going to make some squid, but I didn't know when Bill was going to be getting home, so I went with chicken on the grill....not just any chicken, but done on the ROTOQ-360, as my first foray into the grilling season, which seemed fitting on the equinox.

I coated the chicken with Galena Street rub from Penzey's.  Inserted the prongs and wound it up about 40 times.  I am thinking that in future, I need to wind it up for more that 50 times, it took longer on the grill, and I had to use the crank to wind it up again.

In the little pan that comes with the ROTOQ I put some little potatoes, mini peppers and broccolini with dusting of salt and pepper.  The got coated in chicken juice and Galena Street as well.  I took it off the grill when the thigh reached 180°F and the breast was around the same temp.  The chicken was very moist and perfectly cooked.  The veggies were not over done.

Chicken

veggies

Dateline: March 18, 2021 Corned Beef Hash and Poached Eggs--Breakfast for Dinner

 It seemed like the thing to do, make hash from most of the leftover corned beef.  I have never made corned beef hash before.....I rescued the remaining veg from last night, chopped up the potatoes and carrots and then realized I would need a lot more "stuff" to make a meal of it.  I chopped an onion and a couple of small potatoes and took the eggs out of the fridge.  

I heated a pan and added the onion.  When it softened up a bit, I then added the raw potatoes.  Lidded it and went to do something else.  In returning to the pan, the onions looked lovely, but the potatoes were still quite raw.  How do you solve that?  I figured I needed to steam them so I added 1/2 c of water to the pan, lidded it up again and did something else.  Returning I found they were still very firm, so another 1/2 c of water and closed it up again.  All of this is happening over 15-20 minutes or so.  On the third check, the potatoes were almost done, so they would finish up when I added the rest of the stuff.

Into the pan went the cooked veg and the diced up corned beef.  I lidded it and got out a smaller frying pan to poach the eggs.  In thinking about the eggs, I was longing for a poached one.  So that's what Bill got too!  I filled the pan with water, added a couple of T of white distilled vinegar and a pinch or two of salt.  I left it on a low heat because I didn't want to fight waiting for a rolling boil to simmer down.  I turned my attention to the eggs.  How was I going to get them into the pan so that they didn't spread all over.  Aha!  I got out 4 small metal bowls, contemplating should I cook the eggs directly in the little bowls.  I decided against that idea, and cracked and put one egg into each little bowl.  

I checked on the hash again, smashed up some of the bigger chunks of meat and mixed things together.  I didn't salt because the meat was pretty salty on its own, but I did pepper things liberally.  I hash was sticking to the bottom of the pan.  I could scrape it up easily, so back to the water and I added a couple of splashed over the heavily browned spots and began to scrape them in earnest.  As soon as it came up in one spot, it got crusted over in another.  I decided to add about 1/4 c stir it around, and lid again and lowered the heat, hoping that the steam would loosen up the crusty bits.  It worked!

Now was time for the eggs.  I stirred the water in a circle to get a whirlpool going, but not a really strong one, and tipped in the first egg.  The white spread a tiny bit, but I coaxed it back into place, I nudged the egg from the bottom so it wouldn't stick, and repeated the process 3 more times.

I used a slotted spoon to remove an egg and placed it on a wad of folded up paper towel to absorb any vinegary water that was clinging to the egg.  Put them into a dish and, voila, we had dinner ready.

corned beef hash

poached eggs

Dateline: March 17, 2021 Slainte, Y'all! Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread!

I had a very large corned beef in the fridge that I got at costco, and was planning to make pastrami, but it is just too damn cold out to baby sit a smoker.    

I got a text from my friend Jeri, and she asked if I was making soda bread.  And bingo, I thought, why not.  I used Martha Rose Shulman's whole wheat with raisins and walnuts, but I subbed in pine nuts and currants instead as that was what I had.  I also used powdered buttermilk and water.  Worked just fine!

Beautifully brown loaf that smelled wonderful and tasted even better.  A keeper!

The corned beef and cabbage comes from NYTCooking as well, Sarah DiGregorio recipe.  I've made it before in the instant pot, this time in the oven.  It smells good.  I am not sold on the use of Riesling as the braising liquid.  It definitely smells sweet when I open up the pot.  

After three hours, I flipped the piece over, it was about 6.5 lbs to start, and after trimming off most of the fat, I guess it was around 5.5 or so.  Still a big hunk of meat.  At about 4 pm, I stabbed the meat and it was almost tender, so in went the veggies, and the lid was closed again for the last 1.5 hours.  This photo is taken after that 1.5 hours.  It sat on the stove for about 15 minutes to cool a bit and then we ate.

Nota Bene:  This soda bread is some of the best I have ever eaten, so good that Bill said yes to me making it again the next day.  The currants and pine nuts are a perfect combo - slightly sweet fruit and buttery nuts.

Dateline: March 16, 2021 Pork Ragu Maiallino

 I have been obsessed with no tomato pork ragus lately.  I have been wanting to try Maiallino's version for a long time, so what the heck.

I had some pork shoulder in the freezer and pulled it out to thaw a bit so I could cut out most of the fat on the surface and any pockets hiding within.  I cut each piece that I had into thirds, about the size of the shreds that I wanted at the end of the cooking.

Essentially, the pork is braised in a flavorful liquid until tender, then shredded while the liquid is by half.  There will be a lot of liquid, even after reducing, save about 1.5 - 2 cups for another purpose. Enrich with butter, yup, butter.  Oh boy oh boy did it add something fabulous to the sauce.  Throw in a half handful of grated parm, some dandelion greens (recipe called for rocket, did not have but did have dandelion greens), and parsley.  Slide in the shredded pork, and start the pasta water boiling.  

There are no tomatoes and NO Garlic in the sauce.  It is delightful  The suggested pasta is broken lasagna sheets, but I went with calamari pasta rings.  Many broke open so end result was with some wide strips of pasta.

What I would do differently, I would use more stock, I would shred the pork finer and thinner pieces.  Don't get me wrong it was delicious, but less elegant than I would have wanted.  Don't forget to use the lemon juice, it helps cut the richness of the sauce.  Pass the cheese and everything will be very quiet.