This is a decidedly Northwest interpretation of Basque Seafood Stew.
I poached Wild Steelhead in olive oil. While that was slowly cooking, I sauteed some locally made Andouille, halved shallots, and carrots. I added some lobster stock and pimenton, then the mussels, clams, and squid. Plate and serve.
We drank a 2001 Bodegas Lan. 01 was such a good year all over the world and a great value. It was a bit cool, which means it didn’t get rave reviews but did get good aging tannins. Check it out!
I boiled up some potatoes and mashed them with Nancy’s creme cheese. It is truly fantastic stuff and I would put it up against any creme fraiche. I served that under roasted vegtables including carrots, cauliflower, and artichoke hearts. The artichoke hearts shoudl go in first since they take the longest. Just before taking out of the oven, I topped the veg with bread crumbs and lemon zest to add some crunch.
We drank a 2004 Rotenberg Pinot Gris from Domaine Erhradt.
I got some really nice red leaf lettuce at the market. I boiled the rice noodles quickly, then dressed them in a fish sauce, garlic, chili, lime sauce. I pan seared the pheasant breasts with some ginger and black pepper and garnished with avocado. We could only eat 2 or 3 of these large wraps.
With the collars this time I made a home made teriyaki and served it over Soba noodles that i poached in a crimini mushroom and sake both.
When I dressed out the duck for Cassoulet, I cut off the breast but left the bone on. I sealed them in a vacuum pouch with herbes de provence and a bit of salt and pepper. A few days later I place them skin up in a pan and cooked for 10 minutes, then broiled the skin crispy. I sauteed shallots and then reduced with marionberries and some leftover cotes de ventoux.
We drank a youngs double chocolate stout.
I finally made a trip to the Vietnamese grocery for a bunch of dried noodles. My favorite solution to bits of vegetables in the fridge is Pad Thai noodles. This time we had asparagus, carrots, red onion, and birdseye peppers. I made my pad thai sauce from a bottle but added some massaman curry paste from mae ploy. Peanuts on top of course.
As I have noted before, I hold a proper cassoulet in the most high regard. It is a religous, cultural, and moral experience. In this version I made confit of duck legs, wings, and innards in the same pot as browned lamb shanks, garlic cloves, rosemary branches, diced esplette pepper, back pepper, and lemon thyme. After 6 hours, i chilled overnight and reserved some of the fat for another use. I harvested some fresh cranberry beans from my yard and added them to the pot with a bit of water. to finish, I added sauteed whole shallots. Then I formed the crust with equal parts parm reggiano and panko plus a little epice rabelais and broiled.
We drank an 01 kestrel Syrah (WA) and a 96 Groth Cab (CA). Fantastic pairings. We were so excited to eat it, that the picture below is of the leftovers.
The salad that came first was pears, cantaloupe, mint, and rogue creamery smoky blue. We drank a 96 Alexandria muscat (OR) with that.
It is getting toward the end of fresh herb season so I made the oft blogged pesto pizza. the twist this time was some fresh mozzarella, asparagus, and domestic prosciutto.
I sauteed some carrots with orange bell peppers and red onion in a bit of olive oil (but not too much). Then I added butter, galangal, lemongrass, ginger, cayenne, garlic, and probably some other stuff. I blended and served with some butter sauteed mushrooms with chervil.
For the quesadilla I used 3 year aged cheddar and a bit of ancho chili pepper powder with a spinach tortilla. The whole thing was a bit California but we ran with it.
We had a fabulous Spanish dinner out the other night which inspired me to do my own tapas style dinner. Armed with gross amounts of olive oil and garlic, I made shrimp. I didn’t eat many of the shrimp, preferring to dip crusty bread in the oil infused with Esplette peppers.
Steaming below are some mushrooms with oil, garlic, oregano, and sherry vinegar.
The bell peppers below were sauteed in oil then stuffed with Manchego and finished on the grill.
I don’t dig on dried pasta but when the fancy hits us I whip up some multi egg dough with 1/3 whole wheat flour. I just roll the dough thin then roll it up in a log and slice it like a sushi roll. I sauteed up a bunch of fall vegetables with a healthy dose of olive oil and grated some piave on top.
We had some funky spelt flour wraps so I went with the theme and roasted some zucchini and red onions with a bunch of spices. I made a home made yogurt sauce with some tatziki seasoning that my mom picked up in Greece. A little siricha to top it off.
The seared tuna salad might be trite but gosh, it’s good. I got some fresh albacore and rolled it in cayenne, salt, and cumin then seared all sides and let rest. I made a salad of bell peppers, julienne of carrots, and romaine. I dressed it with ground ginger, yogurt, rice wine vinegar, seasame oil, and some hungarian paprika.
My buddy had a Steelhead he caught smoked by a local smokehouse on alder, cedar and mesquite. I sweat some onions then added potatoes and milk and cooked until done. I added some fresh corn shaved off the cob and the Steelhead plus heaping grinds of pink peppercorns. I finished with a bit a tarragon.
As frequent readers know, my lady demands pizza, burritos and Cassoulet with regularity. I made some pesto from the garden with loads of sage and some purple thai basil. I used about 1/3 whole wheat floor and a fair bit of olive oil in the crust. This creates a tender crust. Some day, I’ll get a proper pizza oven for the back yard.
Local berry season is in full swing, so 3 meals a day get berries, as if i need more tannins.
Here I’ve toasted cardamom, allspice, and cinnamon briefly then added milk and reduced. I chilled briefly, then mixed in eggs and vanilla extract. I fried in butter and enjoyed.
I warmed the lamb slightly and ate it on toasted bread with some melting Gorgonzola.
I got some local Superior farms lamb and marinated it over night in hot pimenton, crushed hazelnuts, garlic, red wine, coffee and rosemary. For our little garden dinner party, I stoked up a fire of rosemary branches. I placed the boneless leg immediately on the grill with more branches and limited the airflow to let it smoke for the next hour, turning a few times. I roasted some potatoes with chervil and olive oil.
I reduced the marinating liquid with 10 shallots and a bottle of taylor fladgate. See below. We drank some old, dusty Rioja.
A cheese course was appropriate.
We’re looking at a Bucheron, Gorgonzola Dulce, Manchego, and Tome de Savoie.
We had some friends in town so we ate a proper breakfast before heading to wineries. I made a hollandaise with lavender, thyme, and sage. Then I picked through a crab and split it among the toasted english muffins and poached eggs. Everyone demanded a second.
I hadn’t made scalloped potatoes in a while so I thinly sliced up some Yukon gold potatoes and poached them in milk, uncured bacon, nutmeg, and mushrooms. Once they were fully cooked, I mixed in some Three year aged cheddar and flour. I let that thicken, then broiled for a crisp. I served with garlic and olive oil sauteed broccoli. We drank a Columbia Valley Syrah.
