Pressure.. part 2

So that chicken curry?
Eh... it was ok. Not very flavorful. The good part is, it was fast. It just didn't come together quite like I hoped. It didn't even look that good, hence no photo.

Please, pressure cooker... prove me wrong! Show me that I didn't waste $45 (hooray for an excellent coupon). I know I can do my mom's famous lima beans with a smoked ham hock, but the question is... will Andrew's white bean allergy translate to lima beans?

Under Pressure

I finally replaced the scary jiggly-top Presto cooker that I inherited from my mother in law. While it cooked serviceable lamb shanks on more than one occasion, it spit and bubbled, always making me a bit nervous that I'd be cleaning lamb bits out of the can lights in the kitchen. I joined the 21st century and picked up the Fagor, it has lots of pressure release safety valves, which makes me feel better.

First up was a pork stew with tomatillos. It's been a while, so I can't remember where it came from. While not as yummy as the stew from Suzanne Goin's Lucques book that I have made before, it was really good. And, best part ... really really fast!

Speaking of fast, I still love the Jacques Pepin "Fast Food My Way" series, and he has a really nice, easy chicken bouillabaise that comes together with simple pantry ingredients, and even a rouille to swirl in. Perfect for a cool evening after a baseball game. The kielbasa I used wasn't the greatest (sorry Farmer John, stick to hot dogs, ham & bacon...), but this dish always gets raves around here.

I have grand plans for a chicken curry later this week from Lorna Sass' book Cooking Under Pressure. Can't wait!! Of course, it's been about 80 degrees this weekend. Wait, isn't it still winter??

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, so lots of repeats, soups, and cheap eats. There were 4 briskets smoked in the cookshack for various events... tired of brisket!
I did Eggs in Purgatory again(but did not photograph) and came up with the best method - 8oz can of plain tomato sauce, 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes w/basil & garlic, plus seasonings to taste (oregano, crushed red pepper, s&p)... simmer a bit, poach eggs in sauce, serve over toasted sourdough with some arugula & olive oil on the bread before putting on the sauce & egss. GREAT and CHEAP! Hooray!

Coming attractions: more with the pressure cooker; some Ethiopian derived recipes from a friend; CORNED BEEF from scratch .. turned into Pastrami by the CookShack....

Curry for a cold night

Well, it really wasn't THAT cold, but last weekend I made this curry from Jamie Oliver with a funny name, Jalfrezi. I can't find the location of the original recipe, but here is a link to it. The recipe I found had a curry paste method as well, or you could use store bought (which I did).
One thing about this recipe, it makes a LOT of curry. Enough for us to have 2 meals, with seconds. It has a lot of ingredients, and I was a little suspicious of the cauliflower (which I love). It was really delicious, with just the right amount of heat. I didn't have any fresh chillis so I used a couple dried anchos.

Then, this fail-fest - a "shepherds pie". It tasted ok, but really not spectacular. I'll leave the cottage pie cookery to The Olde Ship.

New Year's 2009

We were a smaller group than usual this year, but that's ok - we still had a fabulous night of good friends, good food & good wine!

We started off with a wonderful rose, Montaudon, to go with gougeres that I made with some English cheddar, and stuffed with some truffle pate whipped into some cream cheese (in my new 4 cup Cuisinart).
We also had some home smoked trout by Andrew, that was brined in a maple syrup based brine (but perhaps left in a bit too long, as it was a tad salty), smoked with apple wood in the Cookshack. We served that on granny smith apples with a dab of horseradish cream.
Our friend Andy made a sweet corn chowder, with red pepper & crab that was outstanding. It was really thick and wonderful, like maque choux and butter made into a soup. I hope he wrote that one down (I know he probably didn't)! That went perfectly with a 2006 Turley White Coat that we picked up a while back in the Paso Robles tasting room.

I made olive crusted rack of lamb, from this recipe on Epicurious, which came together like a breeze -- I made the topping earlier in the day, then just had to sear off the racks, paint them with a bit of dijon, and press on the crust.

It was cooked perfectly if I say so myself (though the crust didn't want to stick), and went well with a parsnip potato mash with olive oil (no cream), and just a simple wine sauce made with veal stock reduced and red wine/shallots/rosemary reduced.
Next time I'll thicken the sauce a bit more, but the flavor was definitely right. We had a magnum of 2003 Vieux Telegraph La Crau to go with the lamb, and finished up (after a little walk and Travis Pastrana jumping the rally car on TV) the wine with some Beecher's Flagship cheese and some smoked almonds - home smoked again -- one with bbq rub (top secret) and one with hot sauce (Red Rooster) and brown sugar. The hot ones were addictive. Somehow I had no photos of the almonds... and they are all gone. He will be making more of the hot ones for sure!

For dessert, our friend Kate made a winter fruit ravioli in phyllo pastry, with some sauce that was to die for - reduced berries & wine. I need to make sure to get some ice cream to use up the leftovers! We had a Konzelmann Vidal Ice Wine with this.

Then we talked, laughed, cleaned up, and mocked Ryan Seacrest before popping the cork on a Dom Ruinart Brut & watching some illegal fireworks in the night sky.
All in all, another very nice evening in a great tradition.

Week 1 of food coma.....

So, Christmas version 3 on the Central Coast was again "the best ever". This time it was just 5 of us in the house, which was definitely less hectic. There were no scheduled activities, it was nice to laze around, take walks, go to the beach, and just enjoy the peace. Speaking of the beach, this one turned out pretty good:
For Christmas Eve, I made cioppino, with fresh fish from the fish market in Morro Bay (supplemented by some crab legs from the grocery, they were on sale...). Local California halibut, the sweetest bay scallops, the shelled crab, and some fresh clams went into a thicker version of my family marinara recipe, just simmered long enough for the clams to open and the fish to cook.
This turned out great! I took my dad's advice and made sure the marinara was nice and thick so that the stew wouldn't thin out like bouillabaisse (like theirs did in Colorado this year.... sorry Dad!)

Some dead soldiers:
Oooh, learning how to use depth of field on my DSLR camera, hehe:

Cannolis to round out a semi-traditional Italian American Christmas Eve, then off to wait for Santa:


Andrew cooked up some quail to go with a spectacular mini-vertical of Loring Cargasacchi Pinot on Saturday:
All in all a great weekend for food, I feel like I had my fill of cream cheese based items though. Grand plans for New Years as usual, with photos to follow....

Way overdue

I got this cookbook for Christmas last year (or maybe the year before), it was one of those "I should probably have this". I borrowed my mother in law's copy just previously to make something, I can't remember what now..

Anyhow, it really screams 80s to me, but I've been meaning to try making the famous Chicken Marbella. So I did, but I cut the recipe way down (the recipe in the book serves about eleventy billion people I think, sheesh). You know what? It was really good!! The balance between the marinade, the dried plums (er.. prunes), the olives & capers. I would absolutely make this again! Maybe even for company.


Speaking of company, the holidays are well underway and aside from our annual barbeque the day after Thanksgiving, we have yet to have company over. I'll be making cioppino and probably canolli (if I can remember to buy shells before Monday) in the Los Osos house for Christmas Eve, so I'll be sure to take some good photos and post on it.

Rest and recovery

After too many weeks of this, we had a brief respite at the coast. That and the big guy was a statistic of the H1N1 flu... he was out for a whole week with a terrible fever and aches. But, he felt good enough for a 5 hour drive.. well worth it to get to this:

After a day spent at Pismo Beach, and an afternoon of just lolling about the house, we headed down to the fish market in Morro Bay and picked up these beauties, live spot prawns. Andrew was brave and did the skewering.. yes they were still alive here.

Not so live anymore, made for great surf and turf.

I really have been cooking at home for a change, but just comfort food this week now that we are over flu and colds.. soup, pot roast, chicken divan, sausage and cabbages... things I have posted about before, and fall back on when I am busy.

Oh, and this cheap thing -- eggs in purgatory. Poached eggs in tomato sauce over toasted tuscan bread. Yum!


Its almost recipe testing time for the New Years extravaganza though, yay!