a rather italian week, it seems

• polenta with turkey sausage and caramelized onions
• spaghetti alla bolognese
• squash apple soup, boule au levain
• beet risotto
• tortilla de papas y chorizo

tasty things

• finally found pixian (broad bean) doubanjiang (郫县豆瓣酱) for even better mapo liver & tofu!
• pad grapao and grilled eggplant salad yam makreua yao, “attractively smoky… hot, and equally sour and salty” (David Thomson’s Thai Food is full of such descriptions attempting to capture the unique balance of sweet-hot-salty-sour that characterizes each dish.)
• pizze: bacon+date+besciamella, merguez+spinach+feta, pear+gorgonzola+honey
• kashmiri dum aloo slow-cooked baby potatoes in yogurt-fennel sauce
• kale saag paneer, saffron rice
• rice (either tossed or maybe full on fried rice) with shanghai bok choy, garlic, and dried shrimp

nextweek

I’m planning to go stock up on some Indian and Chinese ingredients this weekend. In order to prevent myself from overbuying fresh perishable ingredients, these are the things I plan to make next week with fresh stuff.

• tindora with curry leaves and coconut
• stir fried baby bok choy with dried shrimp
• mapo liver and tofu looks sublime; bought liver at greenmarket today
• if they have sorrel, gongura dal

to eat

• dal with scallions
• tender potatoes with coriander and fenugreek, yogurt rice

Two things from last week:

• turnips with mustard braise; quinoa
• squash apple soup and challah

a couple constraints

I have things tuesday and wednesday to plan around so an unusually ordered list…

sunday

something thai with tasty fresh squid

monday

leftover chorizo potato soup, bread, wine

tuesday

Burns Supper chez Bob (haggis!)

wednesday

something simple after Haiti Noir (NYT) (pasta and frozen tomato sauce?)

thursday or friday

squash apple soup and some kind of bread

friday or thursday

braised turnips with mustard sauce

foods

• pasta with celery root pesto; Gavi or Orvieto
• potato-chorizo soup; bread from silver moon; the very good Rioja I got a few weeks ago
• pizze: beet-chèvre, parsnip-potato-rosemary, pear-gorgonzola
• calzone: turkey sausage, roasted tomato sauce
• some Indian cabbage dish
• some Indian chicken dish
• (with above: black-cardamom rice, yogurt rice)

this week

• sweet-tart paneer with potatoes and cauliflower in vinegar sauce, sirka paneer
• fried flounder roe, mixed greens salad
• acorn squash soup, pretzel rolls
• penne with squashy béchamel and salami

Scott: my Vicki-food mule (among other roles)

• palak paneer, yogurt rice
• salad: mesclun, beets, apples, turnips, croutons
• roasted turnips with paprika and poppy
• sweet potato and butternut soup with bacon and mustard greens, no-knead bread
• beet risotto and salad
• roasted sweet potatoes and pork dumplings

food this week

• green peas and kidney beans with yogurt and cream (rajma mutter)
• boiled eggs with tamarind and chile sauce
• john dory baked with potatoes, thyme, and lemon
• stir-fried mushrooms and broccoli with oyster sauce
• aloo palak, yogurt rice

brassica season

• Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Sage & Hazelnuts
• either raisiny or anchovy-y roasted broccoli, quinoa
• salad with giant roasted chioggia beet, chèvre
• roasted turnips with poppy seeds and paprika (¿Italian? this sounds positively Hungarian)
• tortilla española

next week

Heading to chicago this weekend and will bring back some Vicki things like beets and turnips — nevertheless got some tasty things here especially end of season and green things.

• my favorite beans and tomatoes (end of season for both)
• kale, peanut, pineapple stew
• tortilla española and salad with apples and radishes
• chile garlic eggplant with pork (made last week, craving again already. and eggplants near end of season.)
• gingered chickpeas (unmade from this week, still want)

food this week

• roasted acorn squash with chile vinaigrette
• wilted mibuna with sesame oil
• chile garlic eggplant with sliced pork
• spaghetti squash salad with lemon, olives, and feta
• spiced lentils and roasted carrots
• gingered chickpeas

now with more beets!

• roasted beet soup with leeks (quick veg stock), challah
• the still-unmade mapo tofu
• some fish with lentils and mustard crème fraîche
• jalapeño-cheddar cornbread? (maybe next week) with some tomatoey rajma
• pasta with fresh tomato, mozzarella, arugula

nomm

• mpotompoto! plus some crumbled frozen tofu
• spicy potatoes with chiles and tomatoes, molagha urulikazhangu
• mapo tofu with mushrooms
• bengali summer squash with shrimp and chiles, lau chingri maach
• pad see ew with romanesco

what I’m eating this week

• tortilla de papas y chorizo
• penne alla norma (eggplant, fresh tomato, parsley, ricotta salata)
• tofu with pickled mustard greens
• (not made last week) potatoes and peas with curry leaves
• some kind of dal with fresh green chiles
• beans and tomatoes and bread

first real week in ny

• plantains and cabbage with pigeon peas (paruppu)
• stir-fried shanghai bok choy with dried shrimp
• chile garlic eggplant with ground pork
• okra with curry leaves and coconut
• white + sweet potato with peas and curry leaves

Week Ten

Week Ten
Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

• roast chicken with plums, jasmine rice
• tomato frittata / tortilla, salad with apple
• turkish eggplant ground beef pasta, or chinese eggplant and beef with black bean sauce
• green bean terrine with fresh tomato sauce
• tarragon crab salad appetizer, perhaps on papad
• guacamole

‘house wine’

The idea behind this wine club was to bring the wine that you always like to have on hand – perhaps buy by the case, or for me, tend to replace when you drink one. This is rare for me; my general feeling is that there is simply too much wine in the world to repeat very much at all. Even some things I like quite a lot, such as the Bellum Providencia or Domaine des Aubuisières Silex, I will only buy once or twice more.

The proximate impetus was a text from Matt, one of our gracious hosts. He was enjoying a glass of Luzón Verde, a 100% Monastrell from Jumilla. He suggested that we should do a Monastrell (Mouvèdre) night, but his particular inspiration made me think of my own former house wine, which I had not had in about a year. The Finca Luzón is .7 Monastrell / .3 Syrah, and better for it, imo, though we could not taste them side by side as now the Verde has disappeared from Chicago merchants. I first bought this in 2007 and was shocked at the quality for (then) $7. It’s $9 now, but well worth it. For me at least, it is more interesting than its peers. Thus my selection remained my favorite wine of the night, but there was one standout discovery, the Roaring Meg Pinot Gris 2009 from NZ. NZ is primarily known for Sauvignon Blanc, but the style is one I generally dislike, too heavy on tropical fruit flavors with rarely enough acid to balance it (my favorite Sauvignons Blancs are from the Loire: see my #1 pick, from David, at the first wine club). I recently had a decent Pinot Noir from NZ but not one I would buy again.

And so, on to the list. Although for some, this was the result of just grabbing what was at hand or running into the wine store, I did get a better sense of a few people’s palates. I have only a couple people’s notes – such are the difficulties of hosting at someone else’s home – so remarks are mostly my own.

Finca Luzón 2008 (Mike)

as good as remembered. more tannic, could hang out a couple of years.

Root:1 Cabernet Sauvignon (Matt)

more oak than I remembered, but lots of nice cherry. good structure. lingering dark fruit.

Zafrika Pinotage (Paul)

strange plum flavor; lots of sour cherry and overwhelming raspberry. would be good with chocolate mousse, maybe?

Cambria Pinot Noir, Julia’s 2008 (Chris)

very light, pleasant strawberry. ideal for roast chicken, or hummus.

Marqués de Cáseres Rosé 2009 (Ben)

too fruity and not enough acid – this is the sort of thing I would add an ice cube to. would be quite good with summer squash dishes.

Trentatre (33), TJ’s (Jon)

much softer than I remembered – would not serve with pizza, which is the category I previously assigned it to. apparently considerable merlot in the blend, a shame. quite good for the price, but rather boring.

Il Valore Sangiovese, TJ’s, (Claudio)

drink with pasta. boil pasta in it. sure. cheaper than the 33, but I liked it better. very nice everyday choice.

Kendall-Jackson Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Aaron)

unremarkable but ok, as the only sauv blanc of the group. would be my pick if I ate predominantly seafood.

Humbrecht Pinot Gris Alsace 2008 (Jacob)

strong lychee with some guava and a hint of grapefruit. surprising lack of crispness for alsace, but made me think, this is why they so often blend it with sylvaner.

Ste Michelle Merlot 2006 (Alan)

Roaring Meg Pinot Gris 2009 (Shaardad)

some of the characteristic NZ passionfruit, but with a background of peach and hints of lime. really excellent; the only standout for me.

Alamos Torrontes 2008 (David or Wes)

banana. I hate bananas. I hate torrontes.

Golden Gate Cab NV

wood chips, vanilla oak.

Alamos Malbec

too much oak (my problem previously with this one), but after some time in the glass this dissipated and I got some more plum out of it; still not a favorite malbec even for the price.

Hess Cabernet (JP)

thin. do not want.

week nine

week nine
Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

• szechuan dry-fried green beans
• salad with hard-cooked egg and rare steak
• gazpacho, with some cantaloupe
• quiche with bacon, zucchini, and oregano; salad
• thai cantaloupe basil salad
• spicy potatoes with chiles and tomatoes, molagha urulikazhangu; or stewed potatoes with tomatoes and garlic, tamatar bateta (660). They are similar but the latter is more tomatoey, as befits the season.
• roasted chicken pieces with spicy plum chutney

week eight: corn!

week eight: corn!
Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

• tacos de calabazas horneadas, frijoles de olla, rice
• some variant of meat chili
• tagliatelle with corn and bacon pesto
• roasted corn soup with tasso, mesclun salad
• gai pad krapow chili basil chicken, cantaloupe basil salad, sticky rice
• more oat-apricot blondie things