IMages didn't stick.....

Ming’s Masa Pancakes

Ming did a show in Mexico featuring the corn fungus Huitlacoche – like any American cook could ever find it (thanks to Archer etc and GM corn – did I say I’d never be political?) .
But he did do a Masa and shrimp pancake that Mott adapted ( and I complained about) from his recipe – the Huitlacoche butter to be substituted with green chile and yoghurt.
Two people “adapting” a recipe not the best idea – but we did manage to have breakfast together.
This was not so much “adaptation of” as “inspired by”

Our version - Essentially a cup of masa, 3 eggs ( can whip whites separately and fold in – which we did – not sure lightness noticeable), 1 cup milk, ¼ cup scallions, diced shrimp, salt and pepper – we didn’t have any corn, but I think some frozen white corn would give more taste … You want a thickish batter.

Corn and Shrimp "Pancakes" Topped with Huitlacoche ButterMing's Quest : Episode FLMNG-133 -- More Projects »
Ming Tsai and Candelario Tello Marquez inspect Huitlacoche in Mexico.
Ingredients:
1 cup masa harina 2 egg yolks 1 cup milk 3 egg whites lifted to soft peak 1/4-cup butter 1/4-cup scallions 1 cup corn kernels taken off a cob that has been dry roasted with the husk on until blackened 1 lb. shrimp shelled, de-veined, and cut into 1/4-inch dice grapeseed oil or lard to cook salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
Pre-heat a large skillet or comal or griddle on medium high heat and coat with lard or grapeseed oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the corn meal, eggs and milk.
Fold in the whites, butter and scallions.
Fold in the kernels and shrimp.
Ladle about 4 ounces of batter into the hot oil.
Brown on both sides, about 3 minutes a side.
Drain on paper towels and season lightly with salt.
Huitlacoche Butter
Ingredients:
1/4-cup butter, softened 1/2-cup huitlacoche, removed from corn and sautéed until just tender juice of 1 lime salt and black pepper to taste

phooey - I never know the order photos are going to appear -seems to be no logic..

Clams, then bastard Asian soup

The urge to eat fried clams comes round periodically, but when it is satisfied, “nearly nothing” for dinner seems right. As we were near Trader Joes *(footnote below), it all seemed to work out.
We settled on hot and sour soup in a jar - while usually skeptical of any ready-to-eat thing in a jar, Trader Joe better than most. It was pretty good, mushroom was predominant taste, but what is this grey spongey stuff? (tofu) We were not sure we had enough, so added some chicken stock we had in freezer, a piece of aging lemon grass, some newly bought TJ frozen rock shrimp (footnote 2), and udon noodles (eh- I think vermicelli better). Yes – bastard Asian soup, but I held back on adding Vietnamese dipping sauce.
Then fresh garnish, for flavor more than appearance – squeeze of lemon juice and fresh chives (footnote 3)
Their korma simmer sauce is outstanding – and we have others on the shelf ready to try.
TJ frozen wild-caught rock shrimp – small and tasting of the sea, only that this last batch had a lot of ice crystals in the bag which I didn’t wash off before adding to soup – a mistake – they often hold taste of freezerburn. In fact I find important to rinse off these ice crystals from any frozen product – peas etc.
Leftovers, packaged foods can be “lifted” by addition of something fresh in the reheating or serving. Chopped fresh herbs the most obvious, lemon or lime juice does wonders. Splash of vinegar or vermouth , fresh chopped tomato ( if it has good flavor) onions and peppers are zippy.

Skillet Masa Cornbread with bacon drippings...I know...you are weeping.
My cooking partner (hopefully to be a frequent guest contributor) has developed an iron skillet passion - fueled by Alton's pitch for using one. Alton did his steak Diane in one, finishing it in the oven, for convincing reasons.(see Food Network website) So in this house it is down with Caphalon and AllClad . And masa is the ingedient of the moment.
So this is/was a tasty breakfast - tho imagine the tomato cooked (looks like a red plastic egg) - and maybe the green chile could go in the batter.

Mexicanish-Latinish dinner inspired by thoughts of a fresh masa corn tortilla. Tho a bit problematic in the making, ( they can be sticky to press out) the flavor is superior to anything storebought. It probably helped that we fried them in lard.
Leftover chili atop – green chile as condiment – and we had these plantains heading over the hill that became tostones. A condiment of fresh tomato, shredded lettuce and a dollop of yoghurt….salsa as alternative.

Libyan Soup again...
I'm going to cut you all off if someone doesn't try this and comment.

and Steak Diane PS - yes - it works fine without cream, - THO you have to watch that shallots don't burn since there is no liquid - and the steaks do have to cook a bit more. I might add a splash of vermouth (or white or red wine) to help with this next time. Could also use beef broth. I didn't use cream, becuase I didn't have any....

weekend eating often involves...work projects?
and always a fire
this was the occasion of land-clearing for the new garden shed
Joe insisted on grilled onions and peppers with his sausage - on French bread
ooh-la-la
And Jimmy said "Just wait to you see what I bring next time...."

how many cooking shows can one watch in one day...
prerecording essential .

Started with Sara who is doing some weird retro stuff these days -70's cocktail party pigs in a blanket? click
Julias Great chefs series -Jaspar White making corn fritters which have to be fried in corn oil. Mott is fervently taking notes.

Next Julia and sga Martinez who is making chiles rellenos - stuffed poblanos in a onion, garlic & tomato (all pan roasted and charred, blendered) plus cream sauce. Beautiful - served in a wide soup bowl, lots of sauce, chili ( I think cheese-stuffed) in the middle and garnished with thin slices of radish

Julia and Alfred Portales ( Gotham Bar & Grill, NYC) a duck lesson. He carved up a muscovy (best flavor) duck - really only for the breasts. Rich stock from browned hacked carcass and legs, red wine - splash of mushroom soy ( got to get some of this stuff), ginger
Sauteed well-scored breasts, lots of pepper, then sauce over
Meanwhile searing thin wedges of cabbage (savoy?)
Then he got silly arranging the plate - cabbage nestled beside duck (so far so good), steamed baby bok choy, sitting up - with leaves pulled out so lightly steamed (or raw) sno peas could be inserted at rakish angles.
One bite of bok choy and you've got a collapsed mess on your plate.

Ming's series on Fine Living - pretty good - he is practical. This time he fished for Mahi-Mahi then cooked it simply - sort of Asian style with what? maybe I had cooked too much by then.

For dessert Alton was doing chocolate, but we started our own cooking.

cleaning off my desk - Steak Diane

from NYT Mark Bittman, the Minimlist, with my adaptations

2 6oz fillets
salt and pepper
1 TBL oliveoil
2 TBL butter
1 TBL minced shallots or onion
1 tsp Dijon mustart
1 tsp Worcest.sauce or to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream (or 1/2&1/2)
Chopped fresh chives or parsley [ not just for looks, flavor,too]

Flatten slightly with palm of hand or mallet - to 1 inch thick
Season - be generous with pepper
In skillet just large enough to hold quantity of steaks
Combine oil and 1 TL butter
Sear steaks on both sides until just brown, about 2 min per side.
Remove to platter

Wipe pan clean [ah- this is to get rid of butter residue that can go black]
Add other 1 TBL of butter and shallot or onion
Cook about 2 minutes, until tender [if butter starts to look like it is burning, add bit of oil]
Stir in mustard, Worcest., cream
Salt and fair amount of pepper [just mallet-cracked for more aroma]
Stir - adjust seasoning
Return meat and accumulated juices to pan, turning it over a few times til it cooks to your liking - another 1-2 min for medium-rare
Remove to plate, add lemon [maybe optional, will change taste]
Coat with sauce -
Garnish with chives or parsley.

Leftovers for lunch - Red Cabbage and Pork

RED CABBAGE - talk about easy....

Slice cabbage, thinly if possible
Cook with a little water or chicken broth til done (20 minutes)
Splash of balsamic or other vinegar before serving.
Salt essential.

OR...add any or all of the below for PIZAZZ
Onion - sauteeed in oil til soft (Recommended)
Chopped bacon bits, sauteed to render fat (also recommended)
Chopped or grated apple added along with the cabbage

while we're on the subject of fish...
has never been my favorite protein - but with all the fresh fish around, we're eating it more and loving it - or maybe we are loving the onions et cetera that we smother it with.
A Wm-Sonoma cookbook from 1993, Fish, with Joyce Goldstein doing the reicpes (there was a series, Potatoes, Vegetables, Soups etc. which some family members own - I think this series, at least the Fish one is terrific - and I'm searching for the Shellfish one - a garage sale item)

Baked fish alla Veracruzana ( no photo - yet- but tripod now permanently a kitchen fixture). I've made a couple adaptions, the choice of fish for one - as it calls for red snapper. I actually use 2 pieces of fish then have lots of sauce left for pasta - chicken - over eggs...
The Cinnamon is the magic ingredient - maybe the chili powder too...eliciting a "what is that taste?" comment. It's nicely spicy, but not really hot...without the jalapenos that is

4 cod pieces - 5-6 oz ea - or why not chicken breasts?
1/4 olive oil
2 large yellow onions - or more
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp dried oreganao - I am scant on this
2 tsp chili powder
pinch of ground cinnamon
4 fresh jalapenos (green chiles?), chopped (OPT) -I don't use these)
2 cups drained, chopped canned plum tomatoes or 6 fresh
grated zest of 1 lemon or lime ( I like lime)
2 TBL lemon juice - I'd use lime if I am denuding a lime
salt and peper to taste
3 Tbl chopped flat-leaf parsley (OPT)

Preheat oven 400
Lightly oil baking dish, place fish fillets in it
In large saute pan - Oil, onions until translucent (8-10 min)
Add everthing else (except s&p and parsley)
Simmer 5 minutes -
ADJUST SEASONING - salt and pepper
Pour over fish
Bake till opaque - About 15 minutes
Sprinkle with parsley (OPT)

still on Vietnamese dipping sauce - garlic? Correction: 1 or 2 or 3 or or 5....gloves of garlic-. And maybe a version with a mix of lime juice and vinegar has the most complex taste. And this actually has a different name (than the ohter two versions) in Vietnamese.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce –

Introduced to us by our Vietnamese family, this sauce is addicting… tho you may have to get used to the flavor of fish sauce. Mott’s been trying versions of spring rolls so we often have this sauce around – I will put it on anything to perk it up – leftovers, salads, etc. Ingredients are simple, you can alter to taste -

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

1 garlic clove
4 TBL fish sauce
4 TBL lime (or lemon) juice
3 TBL sugar (or less to taste)
3-4 fresh hot chilies (optional)

You can also use vinegar, tho prefer the lime juice version

1 garlic clove
8 TBL fish sauce
6 tbl white vinegar
1 tbl sugar
3-4 fresh chiles ( optional)

salt cod winner was Italian style - with garlic, onions, tomatoes, olivs and pinet nuts - over diced polenta cubes ( a Mott touch)

back to Kingston - hot dog heaven

dinner quandary - the salt cod has been soaking for 2 days now and will be eaten tonight, but Mott doesn't know what recipe to use - will it be codcakes with bechamel sauce (too New England) or cod Italian style - with tomatoes and onions and potatoes - or Portugueuse style, layered with fried potates and onions..
we have some sauce from a baked fish Spanish style -( Wm-Sonoma recipe - worth passing on) a dash of cinnamon, the magic ingedient - you don't know what it is exactly (unless you use too much) but adds something complex to taste...
will report

image try

image experiment -
a couple of weeks ago we went to the University of Rhode Island in small town near Providence for a photography exhibition. Lunch was on our minds as well....surely in a college town, some ethnic something.
But Kingston is a pretty New England village with almost NO commercial activity to speak off. Puzzling. There was a strip mall near the campus with a dry cleaner, a package store, a grocery store, a branch of universtiy bookstore, video rental, 2 steak and cheese sandwich places, 2 pizza places, 1 Mexican take-out, Subway, a Dunkin Donuts, and a snazzy hot dog place. ..Spikes. So we had done up hotdogs - mine a Reuben, Mott's an ultra hot with sliced peppers and jalapenos and tabasco on it. I heard him say - "its so hot, I'm not sure i can eat this..." that was a first.

having trouble with image....

whoops - I guess you can figure out the previous post - I had made 2 columns for the ingredients....

I've done it...I guess because every third conversation in this house has to do with food in some way - and could getting it in writing mean I won't repeat myself?

And will it be long-lived? Depends on the interaction I get from the food besotted.

Mott made for lunch a recipe from NYT 4 Jan 06 ... yummy - easy - we've made it several times, proportions don't have to be exact - you can leave out most anything you don't like or is exotic ( saffron, cilantro) and it is still tasty... .I wish I had a photo... I think the tripod will have to be setup and left as a piece of scultpure.

LIBYAN SOUP

2 tsp olive oil 1/2 cup barley ( or orzo)
1 1/2 cup chopped onions 1 cup canned chick peas (or other bean)
1/2 lb, chunked boneless lamb shoulder 1 Tbl finely chopped cilantro
you can use chicken thighs ( BUT DON'T) 1 Tbl finely chopped flat parsley
4 med tomatoes - fresh or canned 1/2 dried mint
1/2 can tomato paste - 3 oz (opt)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp saffron threads ( opt)
salt and pepper to taste
8 cups water

1.Brown meat and onions in oil. Add tomatoes, tom. paste, paprika, cayenne saffron, salt and pepper. Stir - then add 8 cups of water. Simmer - 45 minutes
2.Add barley and chickpeas and cook 15 minutes or until barley tender ( maybe a bit longer). Add cilantra and parsley. Taste and adjust salt and cayenne. Add dried mint. Cook 5 minutes

I think you'll love it - have even put some leftover chopped spinach in it - the spices and lamb carry it.