Friday Lester

And final bonus snow bunting:



February in North America, even in sunny (currently rainy) SoCal, is a good month for flipping out.

I am making macaroni and cheese this evening, but a kind of fancy one, with manchego and leeks.

Today, if I had an extra 200,000 Euros, I would buy this.

This week has been horrible

I love roasted cauliflower. It began with a cauliflower gratin several months ago. Then the roasted cauliflower soup on Thanksgiving. Now I want to make cauliflower everything--it's a winter vegetable, after all. I'm remembering, too, how much Indian food uses cauliflower, so tonight I'm making something vaguely Indian. It's a good excuse to use some of the mustard seeds I've been hoarding.

My Love Roderick Usher Part Trois

Thank you, Slate, for pointing out that my beloved Vincent Price has a cookbook. Just listen to him describe how to make Viennese Stuffed Eggs!

Having people over makes me happy

and makes me love our apartment in spite of the wall to wall carpet. Here's what I've made for our 3rd annual Labor Day party:

• Baba Ghanouj
• Skordalia (Greek potato and almond dip/sauce, one of my favorite things ever)
• Hummus with Paprika and Whole Chickpeas (the most fancy hummus I've ever made)
• Egyptian Spiced Carrot Puree (I also love this, mostly for the spice topping part, which is made of toasted ground hazelnuts, coconuts, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds, and other stuff)
• Roasted Red Pepper Involtini (little rolls made out of roasted red peppers filled with a ricotta mixture. These taste good but fall apart)
• Roasted tomatoes with honey and thyme (they are so good! Good on bread, especially with some ricotta)
• Rice Salad with Merguez and Preserved Lemon Dressing (I couldn't actually find any Merguez, so I used some spicy chicken sausage, but it tastes good)
• Three Pea Salad (hurray for peas!)
• Beet Salad with Candied Marcona Almonds (Marconas are addictive even when they're not candied. And I love roasted beets)
• Cheese, fruit, etc

This is a fairly long list, but it really only took me a few hours on Saturday morning (which left plenty of time for hooping and the beach), with some final preparations today before I head off to yoga. I roasted anything that needed to be roasted outside on the grill, so I didn't even have to heat up the house.

I grilled

dinner. On a grill.

I am nostalgic in the most self-indulgent way possible.

This picture was taken in Singapore, ten years ago to the day. Actually, I'm not that self-indulgent or nostalgic. It's just overcast and the last day of my half-vacation. I'll go for a walk. Clean, organize, read more Anna Karinina, ponder deep issues such as

What kind of cake should I make?

I've always been fond of carrot cake, but I also have a recipe for an almond-plum cake with crème fraîche and a crazy banana layer cake with mascarpone frosting. However, since Mark and I can only eat so much cake (and I'll make a second cake for his birthday later in the month), I wonder if I should make something simpler, like flan (which I love but have never made). I won't be doing any cooking until this weekend.

I was behind on posting, but not on writing.

I posted more poems at See it Everywhere.

I think I am going to make this Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses soon. I love stew, but stews aren't so great when the weather gets warmer. This is a summer stew!

No one drove into the lagoon.

I'm listening to (but not watching) Chris Pusateri read ("If Martians exist, then so do presidents," he just said) over at the Continental Review. I'm learning to enjoy all of this recorded poetry--just please, If you ever have a party, and I ever come, please don't play poetry on your stereo or whatever slick or crappy sound system you have (and also, don't play any avant garde jazz). I love poetry and avant garde jazz, but if you play either at a party, well, it's about the same thing as just telling your partygoers to go away and party somewhere else. Now I know that some of you "partygoers" would rather party alone, and that's ok with me--just stay away from my parties.

Anyway. Thank you Continental Review. I like to listen to poetry. Alone. When I'm not at a party.

The Chargers didn't win. No one drove into the lagoon.

I made pizza for dinner. The last time I made pizza, I forgot that I actually own a rolling pin, so rolling out the crust was difficult--the resulting pizza was tasty, but the crust was uneven and doughy in places. Tonight, I remembered that I own a rolling pin, so I rolled out the dough--the pizza crust was even, slightly crunchy, and uniformly cooked.

I have complicated feelings about most PBS adaptations of Jane Austen novels (and complicated feelings about the novels (marriage, wealthy, wealthy men)), but I am going to watch the PBS adaptation of Northanger Abbey this evening.

Recipe Radar

Some kind of a Spanish-style fish soup with white beans and saffron. I've seen lots of recipes that use clams, but I can't eat shellfish, so maybe I'll make it with halibut or monkfish.

I have two more whole trouts in the freezer courtesy of our neighbor. Anyone have a favorite way to prepare trout? I'm getting bored with my various fish preparations.

A lentil and sausage soup. I make a version of this a few times every winter. I saw one recipe that calls for fennel, which could be interesting.

A very basic but tasty brunch recipe: baked eggs with potatoes and chorizo. Mmm.

Winter greens: I tend to make some version of braised greens (maybe with beans and prosciutto, or a more middle-eastern version with chickpeas, or a spicy version with sausage). Does any one have any favorite winter green dishes/recipes?

Something with eggplants. Eggplants are good in the winter.

I'm a bit sick of winter squash for the moment, so I'm taking a break.

I'll have to start working again on Monday, but until then I have a few days to mellow out and prepare for, well, Monday.

I'm back in SoCal with Mark and Lester.

We're feeling well enough, but not super well, so I decided to make chicken soup--quite the project as it turns out. I made stock from scratch with sauted onions, leek, and hacked up pieces of chicken--bones and skin, too--braised and then simmered in water with bay leaves and salt. This is the most hands on stock I've ever made, but the cooking time was only 40 minutes (20 braising and 20 simmering). I put the chicken breasts in with the water, and they were perfectly finished at the same time as the stock. This was nice, because I just cooled and shredded them and then added them to the soup at the end. After that, the rest was easy--potatoes, parsnips, carrots, etc. I also added some savory, because I have it, and fresh ginger, because ginger is good for every kind of illness. The end result was very good.

I got a flu shot today.

I had a pumpkin ale.

I cooked with tomatillos for the first time. A pork stew. The broth was good, but the pork never got as tender as it usually does. What did I do wrong? Was it it meat or me?

I am thinking about what to pack for the trip to DC and NY this week. Is the silver-knit dress too 70s-style evening wear? Which heels do I bring--the purple peep toe fake croc platforms or the black patent-leather peep toe sling backs? And since I can't really walk around in either, which other shoes do I bring? Slouchy boots?

All of this is a way of avoiding making the final decisions about what to read.

More cooking thoughts

The Roasted Peppers with Chickpeas and Goat Cheese was unexpectedly good. I thought it might be kind of bland and basic, but that was the one starter that everyone ate up.

I'm fond of Zaalouk, especially when accompanied by yogurt and olives, but its no good for people who don't like eggplant.

The Fish Cakes were also very good, but I don't think I used a firm enough fish--they didn't really hold together enough with red snapper. They'd probably work best with halibut or mahi mahi. Also, I poached them in a kind of spicy tomato sauce, which was one of the cookbook's suggestions. I think that this made me feel too much like I was eating meatballs, even though they tasted nothing like meatballs. Next time, I'll use a firmer fish and pan fry them.

The Roast Cod with Potatoes and Tomatoes tasted a lot like the bacalhau that Lija made for Mark and I when we visited her and John Havelda in Porto. But less salty, since I didn't use salted Cod. My potatoes also stuck to the bottom of the pan. Next time I will make this in my cast iron dutch oven.

The chicken was super good. I like how many Arab and middle eastern cuisines pair sweet and savory flavors. I like fruit with meat, and the combination of pears and caramelized shallots wasn't overly sweet.

The Couscous with spring vegetables was also good, though basic. I'm not sure I did a good job with the broth. I didn't have patience for the couscous when I made it.

Recent cookings

For now, I'm focusing on Morocco, although eventually I'll try some recipes from Turkey & Lebanon.

Zaalouk (Mashed Eggplant & Tomato Salad)

Felfa Wal Hummas Wa Jban (Roasted peppers & Chickpeas with Goat Cheese)

Kefta Bil Hout (Fish Cakes)

Hout Bi Batata Wa Tamatem (Roast Cod with Potatoes & Tomatoes)

Djaj Bil Bouawid (Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions & Pears)

Kesksou L'Hodra (Couscous with Spring Vegetables)