So...whats for dinner?

Thanks for the egg discussion. I too start w/cold water & turn off the fire to let them sit for 15 minutes once the water boils. Then putting in an icewater bath. I'll have to try Special's method of cooling slightly then shaking the pan.

Lunch was a Hatch Chili scone from the Central Market bakery. It was so good that maybe dinner will be the same.

I have a lot of All-Clad stainless cookware, and the mfr. recommends “Bar Keeper’s Friend” mild abrasive powder for stains (but not on any nonstick coating): make a paste, rub it on gently and let it sit till it almost dries, then scrub with a pot-scrubbing pad. Doesn’t emit the VOCs that Calphalon’s paste cleaner does, and it’s a bit gentler than Bon Ami. Repeat if necessary. Any gunk remaining can be removed with a Brillo pad, elbow grease, and a good deal of patience & persistence. My grandma used to swear by "sour salt” (citric acid crystals) for lifting burned-on food from stainless, enameled steel or aluminum pots--make a solution, bring to a boil and then let sit and cool overnight--the gunk just floats to the surface. For cast iron, I first use coarse salt and crumpled aluminum foil--recently bought a stainless-steel chain mail scrubber. To season, I rub the pan while warm with Crisco, wipe with a paper towel, then bake in a 400-degree oven, let it cool, wipe again and put it away. Maybe I don’t use my cast iron enough, but I’ve never been able to achieve a slick surface.

Bob came home early, and went right back out--took the CTA train to a dinner at the Peninsula downtown. No spouses invited--doctors only; they’re being subjected to a spiel by a Medicare-billing specialty company. So I will pan-sear a coho salmon fillet I’m defrosting, as well as some sort of salad or sauteed snap peas and corn on the cob (trying Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe of dropping them into a pot of boiling water, immediately turning off the heat, covering and letting them sit 8-12 minutes). My goal is to avoid any shriveling of kernels. Instead of butter & salt, I will rub them with a cut clove of garlic dipped in olive oil and then lime juice, sprinkling with a tiny bit of cayenne or hot paprika.

I normally shuck and rinse the corn and then wrap the ears in paper towels for nuking for 3 min. for 1 ear and 4 min. for two--but unless I eat it right away the kernels do shrivel. To avoid heating the kitchen too much and making my neck sweat, I’ll try nuking it in parchment per your suggestion.

Despite my best efforts to avoid sweating into my hair--even wearing a high paper-towel collar while awake & active--I carefully moved my hair off my neck every time I turned over in bed but awoke this morning with one lock of my hair frizzy and some waviness in the layers beneath it. Had to flatiron it again. I suspect that may have been in vain--the salt in the sweat probably dissolved the keratin in that area while I slept. Am resigned to having to flatiron that section and clip my hair up every night once I’ve shampooed it tomorrow night, until the next treatment 3-4 mos. hence......unless I give up on it. 4 pm tomorrow cannot come too soon--exactly 72 hrs. since I walked out of the salon; I will jump into the shower.

I have no idea what the hair problems are. Couldn't follow that. I was always frizzy, finally kind of liked it, only to loose all of it to chemo.

Tonight I made an Indian cauliflower dish to accompany our local restaurant's tandoor chicken. Makes Mr. SMT very happy, and since my feet are on fire, I agreed to accept the assistance.

*susan*

I asked my retiring co worker what her favorite cake was a few months ago (knowing I would bake on when she finally left and to my surprise, she said "pineapple upside down cake." Now, I have not had this cake since I was a kid but I decided to bake one for our outgoing friend. Here is the result. I hope it is good! lol

april - beautiful, classic and old school! We love food porn on this thread!

Sandy - the "dressing" may be the difference. I always leave the corn wrapped in the wax paper until I serve it at the table or cut it off the cob. Everyone puts butter, oil, salt as they choose. Sorry yours shriveled.

Oh April, I can tell you're going to be hard on my diet.

BTW - don't know how many of you will remember Sandra from San Antonio from this thread and the book thread, but we're meeting for lunch tomorrow. Also jbDayton is joining us. Really looking forward to getting to know two more members in person.

Mine was bi-color from Whole Foods, from some unspecified farm in WI. Last year, between my mammo and my diagnostic imaging, my singing partner & I played the Sweet Corn Festival in Sun Prairie, WI. Not only did we get a big fat check, we were paid a dozen ears of sweet corn apiece. Steve's wife is allergic to corn, so he gave me half of his allotment. I realize now that may have been the beginning of my fall from low-carb grace, which I had previously blamed on the post-ultrasound pity-party that began with my New Orleans culinary debauch. When you come home with 18 ears of corn, have just so much freezer space, and you run out of people to take them.....

So I cleared out old spices and herbs from my cabinet and lo and behold: my (20-yr-old) bottle of 12-yr-aged Cavalli balsamico tradizionale turned up. But I noticed it wasn't as viscous as I remember--and there was some very thick coating on the sides of the bottle. (Wonder if I can try nuking it ever so gently to try to melt the coating back into the liquid? I know people take cheap balsamic and reduce it by cooking on the stovetop to make it thicker & sweeter, but that coating contains the sugars that make balsamico what it is supposed to be--a syrupy elixir). Anyway, I cut up the strawberries and basil and mixed in about a teaspoonful of the balsamico. It was good, but more acidic than I remember. After all, Italians sometimes drink it straight from the spoon or even in a shot glass as a “digestivo." I'd paid about $75 back then (red seal balsamico today goes for easily double that) and figured it would only get better--it had been stored in a cool dark cabinet, I then turned to my bottle of San Giacomo Essenza “condimento"(presumably) balsamic, which ran me about $30. It was much more viscous. So I turned it over and read the label, expecting to see wine vinegar, caramel color and/or sugar......nope, just “cooked grape must." I noticed the lack of the little IGP seal that has become standard on even supermarket “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena." Then I looked at the town of origin: Novellaro, which is in Reggio-Emilia. And the grapes? Trebbiano and Lambrusco.....same as tradizionale. My best guess is that they can't call it “balsamico tradizionale" because it isn't aged the minimum 12 years, and it's too good and pure to be “condimento." Hence the “Essenza" label (sort of nudge-nudge, wink-wink to the conoisseurs). But it sure tastes like that Cavalli used to!

I tried to gently heat the Cavalli 30 seconds on power level 3. A little bit of the gunk on the sides began to precipitate out. I stuck a cocktail stirrer straw in to try and scrape down the sides, and it sank into very thick gunk on the bottom. So I stirred and shook, stirred and shook, and gradually it became a bit thicker & sweeter, though not as much as it had originally been. I'm wondering if I can try something like a bamboo skewer to dislodge some more of the goo. There's nothing on the net about how to de-precipitate separated tradizionale, only how to cook down the cheap stuff.

[Edited: Just read the label on the San Giacomo “Essenza” bottle--in the upper right-hand corner it says “Balsamico Riserva.” The hang tag on the Cavalli says it was bottled “22-03-96,” so that makes it 20 years since I bought it. And the red label stuff from Reggio Emilia is 12-yr-old; silver is 20, and gold 25. Of course, those color labels reflect only the age of the youngest cooked must poured into the first 100-L barrel--because balsamico tradizionale is decanted gradually into a “batteria” series of ever-smaller barrels of different woods. (Sort of like a sherry or madeira solera, and like those, the batteria is stored in an attic), Finally, the smallest barrel gets tapped--and what goes into it can have much older stuff in it. There are different batterias for red, silver and gold--a gold labeled bottle, which started with must poured in to the first barrel 25 years before bottling, might contain a small percentage of balsamico that is a century old.]

The funny thing is I am not a big sweets eater nor am I a big baker. I can bake some mean cookies and brownies from scratch (due to Xmas Cookie sharing/exchange activities when I first got married at the ripe old age of 20!!) The cake was the first time I ever made this type of cake and I hope that my co-workers love it. I am hiding it in my office as we speak. My retiring friend is leaving at noon, so we will gather in the conference room at 11 for a send-off. I will send the rest home with her.

I also brought about 2 dozen of the 3 dozen cookies I made so she will be very happy about that as I always bake choc. chip cookies for pot-lucks if I am on dessert detail. We have them quarterly in my office. Generally, I do savory and the one who is retiring does sweets. She makes the best carrot cake I have ever had and I am sure going to miss it. She would make it every year for my birthday...sigh.

Tonight I am making my Mom's stuffed peppers. I will always think of her when I make them as it reminds me of growing up and how she would stretch meat by making things like stuffed peppers that were almost half rice...LOL. I love them anyway and so does hubby so it will be a treat. It is a summer dish as bell peppers are lovely and plentiful in the summer months. One of my peppers is a meal! I get the HUGE ones. Will post a picture tonight. I love food porn as well.

Sandy, there is nothing like fresh sweet corn. I get it around the corner from a farm near me and I shuck and cook when I get it home. I like it almost raw - only a few minutes in the boiling water and then out. It is one of the summer treats for sure. And at 2.50 for a dozen ears, it is a bargain!

I had two jumbo fried “barnyard” eggs for brunch--mopped up the excess gorgeous orange yolk with slices of a wonderful little tomato. Whatever yolk remained on the plate, I swept up with some arugula and a splash of lemon “white balsamic” and one little hit of gray sea salt. I might do frisee salad tonight--topped with another ripening small tomato, one more egg, and a crumbled slice of bacon. Then again, maybe “zoodles” with pesto, and a Caprese on the side. (Need to make another batch--out of Parm. Reg., so I’ll use some pecorino that’s getting hard. And way more olive oil than I think it needs--this batch is pretty thick and I need to thin it with oil in the pan).

Bedo - I had a hibachi many years ago when I lived in an apartment. It was great for one or maybe two people. This was in the days before propane grills when everyone used charcoal.

Lunch was fun. We went to Baba Yega (yes, it does mean witch). 30 years ago the restaurant had basically one room and a patio with a tree growing through the roof. They have expanded several times & taken in the two shops next door. They have a lovely patio w/tropical plants & a waterfall & koi. It's been a mainstay for Sunday brunch for years. Lines are always out the door. $25.00 for a breakfast line for custom omelettes, waffles, french toast, bagels & lox, bacon, sausage, ham, danish pastry. Then 5 or 6 meats & fishes, the same number of main dish casseroles, tons of assorted vegetable dishes, huge salad line including fresh fruits, & then desserts. They have lots of vegetarian options but I had planned to order a French Dip today. Discovered they have a lunch buffet on Thurs & Fri now for $15.00 Oh my - pork loin, shrimp rosa, salmon, tacos, quesadillas, fresh asparagus, eggplant parm, and a bunch more main dishes & vegetables on the hot line. Salad line - green & curried & pasta & artichoke hearts & broccoli. Fresh fruit line - excellent melons & berries. Dessert was espresso tres leche cake, strawberry cake w/lemon & mini tarts with chocolate chips. Needless to say i won't need to eat again today.

It was so nice to meet Sandra from San Antonio and jb from Dayton. Sandra is in Houston because her DH is in isolation at MD Anderson and we wanted to give her a quick break. None of us had met before so we had LOTS to talk about.

The name Baba Yaga (Russian for Granny the Witch, or Strega Nonna) made me think you were going to describe a Russian restaurant. Now I’m jonesing for a trip into the Loop for Russian Tea Time: salmon roe & blini, smoked fish, Russian appetizers, borscht, beef Stroganoff and strong hot tea--sipped through a sugar cube from a glass in a silver holder. (Bob starts with an iced vodka flight--I go straight to the champagne).

April....beautiful peppers! My mother also used to make stuffed peppers often, which we enjoyed. I have cooked mine in the oven in the past, so mainly made them in cool weather.

Russian dishes, with the exception of borscht and stroganoff hold little appeal for me. I am not a fan of caviars, smoked salmon, etc., so I would be less likely to be found in any Russian Tea Room. DH would love all of that! His mother was Russian....but did not cook so, fortunately, he came to our marriage with no expectations for me to replicate her fare! I would have happilymade borscht but he had lived in a house during grad school with five guys who had a housekeeper/cook in residence. She made that beet delight extremely often, and he has never wanted to eat it again. LOL

So sweet!

We have our grand-dog Olivia this week. She's adorable too, but is every bit a puppy, constantly into things she's not supposed to be, chewing chewing chewing! I will miss her, but am happy enough she is going home tomorrow.

I've been to the knee doc this week only to find that my right knee is shot. I've been having lots of pain the past few weeks, sharp pain, not like the usual occasional soreness. It's been very difficult to sleep in spite of taking every over the counter pain reliever available and even a prescription one. As it turns out, I have advanced arthritis, bone on bone and spurs. There are several options before replacement, so I've started on a heavier duty nsaid than Aleve and icing. It has helped and things are way better, so yay! Like most of us with cancer, I was a bit worried in spite of a good mammogram and dexa scan.

Tonight is grilled brats, corn on the cob and the cole slaw that didn't get made a few days ago. The half head of cabbage still languishes in the fridge. I'll probably cut up a garden tomato or two as well. I've taken to cooking the unshucked ears in the microwave for several minutes, then cut off the bottom, hold onto the silks, shake the ear and it slips right out without the silk. They are perfectly cooked and I've never had one shrivel.

Nance - cute granddog. Sorry to hear about your knee but glad you're getting some pain relief. I like the idea of microwaving corn before shucking. I'll try it. Somehow you've been in my thoughts so I'm glad to see your post.