In the interest of 1: getting back in the habit of more regular blogging, and 2: because I like to cook/talk about cooking, I am going to talk about tonight’s dinner, and tomorrow’s dinner plan.
I was tired tonight (and my wrist is acting up, a lot). There was some “pepper steak” in the fridge, so I picked up some onions and mushrooms from the market.
I did a poach of finely diced onions in olive oil. While it was cooking (I moved the temperature up and down from “hot” to mild boil), I minced the stems, and then the caps of a pint of crimini. Those got tossed in, and the temp was dropped to a bit below, “hot”.
That simmered for about 30 minutes, to make a duxelles. I pulled the excess oil off, and used that to cook the steak, in two batches, with a deglazing in between. The reduced deglaze put over the meat as it rested. Some campanelle pasta on the boil, and a bunch of pan-fried (no oil, just hot iron). Tossed the meat in the duxelles, and the pasta in truffle oil. Served the meat/duxelles, over the pasta.
Tomorrow I’ll be hard searing a salmon, and letting it cool. I’ll flake it, and toss it with a dill mayonnaise. I’m going to making some massed root vegetables. One of my partners can’t eat nightshades, nor parsnips (because they have inulin), so I’m going to play with carrots and a little of something else (at least a little of which is going to be more oil-poached onions). The salmon flakes will be put into a chopped leaf salad.
Jan 15, 2013 at Jan 15, 0637 EDT
When you’re working with tubers, I’d suggest not ignoring turnips … especially _if_ (& perhaps only if) you have access to the Japanese varieties, at the “slightly smaller than ping-pong balls” stage. And, yeah, that probably means having a garden in which you can grow them (Kitazawa Seed Company, in Oakland, CA, has been my Prime Source for seeds of these & other exotic Asian vegetable plants for the past 60+ years). [I'm especially fond of "Tokyo Market" and "Tokyo Cross" as tubers, and "Nozawana" & "Hinona Kabu" for the greens, as well.]