A few weeks ago my dad proudly told me about a recipe he made up for scallops.  I’ve never really cooked with scallops, or been particularly in love with them, so it took me a while before I decided it was the time.  Heading home from work today I was uninspired, but after some thought it was a pretty easy decision.

I called up my dad for a refresher in his culinary vision, and hit Whole Foods to pick up the ingredients I was missing.  In true form, I did a few modifications (notably, RFCS instead of bullion), and whipped it up.

It truly blew me away, the richness of the sauce paired with the creamy texture and the complex, subtle flavor of the scallops was more than I could have hoped for.  My dad told me that when he first made this meal, he repeated it the night after, and the night after that.  If we didn’t have a whopping chicken brining for tomorrows dinner, we’d probably do the same.

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Cooking can sometimes be about delicate flavors and a careful presentation. Other times, it’s about getting messy, having fun, and pigging out. Erik and I had both had a pretty long day, and we both knew that we needed to cook something. Never would either of us have guessed how perfect this meal was for our mental state.

We had some chicken limbs left over from a chicken stock endeavor from last week. Tonight was the last night to cook ‘em, and we had been dreaming of hot wings. We poked around the web looking for recipes, and the resounding theme was surprising: Coke, as in Coca Cola. Neither of us is really into soda, but we decided, tonight is the night to go crazy. We simmered and grilled almost 5 lbs of meat over the course of an hour, cleaning up the kitchen from the weeks’ messes along the way. It turned out so juicy, delicious, and caveman-satisfying that we barely managed to save two legs for lunch! Click to continue »

yum!

Left: just pan 2 Right: total mixture

Pan 1:

onions

garlic

mushrooms

eggplant

spices (pepper…. allspice…)

RFTS

milk

Cook these in this order (waiting after the garlic, spices, RFTS for timing).

Pan 2:

chicken

spinach

spices (nutmeg…)

Cook for 15 minutes with only the water of the spinach.

Place contents of pan 2 in pie crust, cover with contents of pan 1, and close crust.

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.

I recently returned from an adventure race in Abu Dhabi,  which was a blast.  Not only was the scenery and experience out-there and wild, they wined and dined us (well, at least dined) like royalty.  In fact, I believe some royalty may have been present at some of these events!  They did a lot of things right in the cooking department and it’ll take me a few more weeks of thinking to sort out some of the more elaborate dishes they had!

One that really struck me was a grilled lamb cutlet dish that was served with a bizarre mint sauce.  Checking my surroundings (terraformed desert in the middle-east) a few times just to be sure, there was definitely avocado in with the mint!  The little chunks of avocado probably came from a few block away from my house in Santa Barbara.  It was an inspired combination, one that I had to repeat.

So we did!

We started with about a one and a quarter pounds of lamb cutlets ($17.99/lb, really?).  I was certain I had to make this dish, so cost exited the picture rapidly.  Since Erik had such a great time braising meat for his Day-Off Stroganoff, I decided to try my hand at it.  First I rubbed salt and ground pepper onto the meat.  Then, I sauteed a shallot, some garlic, and a few bay leaves in bacon grease, and covered that with enough chicken stock to cover most of the meat (eyeball it, don’t add the meat yet!), we used 4 cups.  Then add a spash of red wine and bring it to a boil.  Remove from heat, and add in the meat.  Put it in an oven at about 250°F for 20-30 minutes.  We’re not trying to cook anything through, here, just trying to infuse some good flavors in the meat.

Braising in RFCS and Red Wine

While the meat is braising in the oven, get started on the avocado/mint sauce.  Erik (the Guaco-man of the house) used 3 large (unfortunately not-quite-ripe) avocados, a big bunch of mint, some green onions, and 2 jalapeños the juice of a lemon and a half.  Kinda like a minty guacamole.  Then I made it gooier with olive oil and extra lemon juice, the texture is pretty important here.  It should be more like a sauce, and less like a guacamole.

Caramelizing Onions

With the leftover braising juices, I made about two cups of quinoa, which I topped with caramelized onions.

More Seasoning!

Then we simply sliced the cutlets into singlets, and brushed on a mixture of olive oil, minced rosemary, salt, and pepper.  We grilled the singlets hard and fast.  We liked them pretty rare, and enjoyed the incredible quality of the meat.

Grilling the Cutlets

Yes, the $17.99/lb was worth every penny.

Yes! We got to eat that!

I think we did the grand cooks at the Park Rotana Hotel one better.

Well, summer is gone, and fall is officially here. You’re either ready to reap this freaky-assed harvest or you’re not. The last of the heirloom tomatoes are gone, but $9/lb chanterelles are back!

Funky Fungi

These funky fungi remind me of home; their earthy (Erik jokingly says manure-y) aromas fill the house and help to warm the frigid confines of our poorly insulated abode.  I bought 3 pounds, not really knowing what I was going to do with most of them (they’re great for breakfast with eggs, but I had to have them that night).  Rummaging around the house, I decided on polenta and bread as a double-hitter starch, because that’s what we had.  Also, because it’s delicious.

Frying Polenta

Polenta’s no problem, just slice and fry.  Chanterelles can be a bit tricksy.  Don’t get them wet; just blot them with a paper towel or brush to get the chunks of forest off of them.  I’ve never bought ones that were so contaminated that they had to be washed and meticulously dried, but you may have to go there.

I like to slice them length-wise, preserving their awesome shapes, but also allowing them to be a bit more bite-sized.

Slice 'em length-wise

Simmer the cleaned, sliced chanterelles slowly with some garlic, and serve with your choice of red wine and some kind of starch.  The polenta was amazing.

This one’s a simple one, but it’s just too good to leave it unwritten!

Chanterelles with Polenta and Fresh Bread