For whatever reason, I am taking the current lock down and COVID surge much better than the first one in the spring. Maybe it is because this one is so much worse. Now I have a number of people I know personally who have become sick. Maybe it is because in some ways it was so obviously going to happen. Maybe it is because I know the drill now whereas before I was in denial and wondering why we had to do things the way we did.
But a big part of it is that I simply have more time and can be more relaxed. When the first shock of the pandemic lock downs took place, I was just at the launch point of the Theodora Project. For months, I was scrambling to save it, relaunch it as a totally virtual learning environment, forcing it to bootstrap income because donor funding had dried up.
Fast forward nine months and the project is stable, has WAY more support in terms of both financial and people working on it. While there are significant aspects of the model that need to be tested in 2021, I and the others working with me can see a clear way forward and a great potential.
As a result as we went into the holiday season, I focused on chilling and for me that means cooking. I missed the whole first lock down wave of cooking mania so maybe I was just catching up. So without further ado here is what I've been cooking up
Paella
Most of our ingredients
Clockwise from top, shrimp and scallops marinating in olive oil, garlic, sherry wine and pimenton (smoked paprika), special Spanish short-grain rice, chorizo sausage and jamon serrano, aromatics (shallots, onions garlic & pimentos)
You will also need some strong chicken broth with saffron and a well used paella pan
Saute the cured meat in olive oil
Add the aromatics
Add the rice
Add the stock
Cook until it becomes thick soup consistency. Then add the seafood.
Put in a 325 oven for 20 minutes. Take out and let rest covered for 10 minutes
Forget to take picture of the final product
Put remember to take a picture as you are actually eating it
Deviled Eggs
Forget to take picture of all the ingredients which have come together as a flavor base of shallots, garlic, chorizo sausage, pimentos, sweet and hot pimenton (notice the similarity? I bought a lot of Spanish food products recently)
Using my trusty Thai mortar and pestle work the flavoring into the egg yolks
Add Mayo and continue to work until smooth. Check the seasoning
Not exactly the best filling job but damn tasty
I am working hard to get out of certain cooking ruts by perusing a series of old but excellent cookbooks I inherited from my Mother called the Good Cook published by Time Life back in the 1970's I believe. Each book is about an individual subject such as beef, lamb, eggs, sauces, desserts, etc. I wanted to make a pot roast and thought my methodology had gotten stale so I checked out options in the Beef book. Here is what I ended up doing.
Brown the meat well after seasoning and putting on flour which you beat into the meat with the dull edge of a knife so the flour sticks and you get a good brown crust. This worked well.
My aromatics of choice are parsley, celery, carrots and leeks...A Lot of Them
Add some canned tomatoes. I used beef broth and white wine as the cooking fluid. I cooked this baby for 6 hours at 325 turning the meat every hour and a half or so
Forget to take pictures of the rest of the process which included doing a major flavor adjustment. I found the sauce was too sweet so I added some Thai Fish Sauce which as a salty umami punch and some apple cider vinegar for acidity.
Also don't take pictures of draining the sauce and squeezing all the flavor out of the aromatics, returning the sauce to the pan and finishing the accompanying vegetables (potato, carrot and daikon)
AND FOR GOD'S SAKE FORGET TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
Need a break from cooking?
All time best Winter Orchid
All Wife's work
The joke is that we got this as a present from SiL 2B and for the longest time Wife thought it was an artificial plant. Now we honor Wife for bringing the artificial plant to life! Let us know if you need any resurrection services.
5 comments:
I've never read a cooking blog that avoids posting pictures of the finished products. As always, you are on the cutting edge of blog practices.
I am particularly interested to try the pestal way of making deviled eggs. Although it is so damn cold it may have to wait a few months. I definitely also enjoy cooking as a way to relax! Probably also because I tend to drink while I cook....
He cooks
and he knows things
Lovely and pretty post! Bet it was all very tasty too!
I have been in a rut in every imaginable way lately, and particularly with cooking. On my best days, I manage to make something hot. Bonus if it includes something nourishing, like a vegetable. But this post just inspired me to make a menu plan now and then and actually use some of those cookbooks I tend to collect (but not use.) :-)
Your foods look beautiful (and delicious,) as always.
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