Cooking Update Post

Wife told me I needed to do another entry related to my continuing post-Dad death reconciliation but I'm not up for heavy writing today.  That would include doing an entry on the transition process.  So I think we'll punt and do a nice, mindless entry on food - always a favorite subject.  Even though I've been refocused on work and putting lots of effort into it (hence the scarcity of entries lately), that doesn't mean that cooking hasn't been taking place. 

Last weekend, Memorial Day, I had the close friends Derf, Agent W, Wild Bill and Jill over as I frequently do on the 3 day holidays.  I wanted to do some grilling type stuff but not be tied to cooking when the guests were here (a goal of mine).  So I did dishes where I grilled food in advance that was then served later.  This included:

Hungarian Pulled Turkey - This was my own invention.  I created a flavor rub of onions, garlic, Hungarian Paprika (lots!) and caraway seed.  It's cooked down and cooled.  I rubbed this on two turkey thighs.  I let this marinate for two days.  Then I pressure cooked the turkey until it was almost cooked.  I finished it on the grill for another half-hour.  Then you shred it and put in a sauce made from the marinade.  In theory.  In actuality, these were incredibly tough turkey thighs and I had put them BACK in the pressure cooker for another 45 minutes to get them soft enough.

Persian Eggplant and Walnut Dip - I got this from a favorite cookbook.  You put garlic slivers in the eggplant.  It is grilled for 20 minutes until charred on the outside and soft.  When cooled slightly, you pull the charred skin off.  Walnuts are blended into a powder.  The eggplant is added with olive oil, lemon juice, and yogurt.   Blend until smooth. 

Turkish Roasted Fennel - From the same cookbook. Fennel bulbs are sliced.  They are marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and chopped shallots for about two hours at room temperature.  The fennel slices are grilled until just soft (about 20 minutes) and have a nice dark glaze from the balsamic (I know, I know de-I using balsamic!).  You pour the leftover marinade over the fennel when it is done and serve at room temperature.

Sri Lankan Potato Salad - (ditto the cookbook)You saute a bunch of shallots with coriander, cardamon and chile in oil.  This is the dressing for the cooked potatoes.

Then this Friday, Wife and I had a luncheon for a number of volunteers who do work for a networking group I operate.  We told them this was not from the organization but was our personal thank you.  I told everyone to come at 1 PM and to not schedule any work afterwards as much wine would be offered.

I had some pate and vichyssoise from our last party in the freezer.  We also made:

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Salad with a lemon, garlic, anchovy vinaigrette.  Before you poo-poo the anchovies in this, they are not strong at all but add a depth of flavor and saltiness that really sets off the sweetness of the peppers.

Tortilla (Spanish frittata) of potato and onions

Warm Dal Salad with Lime Juice, Cilantro, and Roasted Fennel

Tomato Salad with Fresh Oregano - This one showed the power of simplicity and great ingredients.  There are these tomatoes we get from Costco called Campari that have better flavor than any other kind I can buy.  I simply sliced them and sprinkled them with olive oil we had brought back from Spain, a tiny bit of aged sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, and chopped fresh oregano from our garden.

Fresh Salmon Salad - I call this fresh because we roasted the salmon, let it cool, and then flaked it.  I made an aioli (garlic mayonnaise), and added chopped celery, chopped daikon, and chopped oil cured olvies.

Wife made her 18 hour bread (she is getting better and better results with this) and an incredible chocolate filled babka (sort of coffee cake) for dessert that used Nutella for the filling.

Everyone seemed to have a great time.