Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Paul,

It's the combination of sprouts and ricotta salata which worked really well. It was an experiment, and a successful one.

I think sprouts + pecorino romano would work well too. You need a salty dry cheese though.

Tonight was fairly ambitious...
Started with Potato and Leek soup (Emeril recipe)
Main course was mini potatoes, boiled and tossed in shallot, parsley and butter, braised beef short ribs, braised brussel sprouts, glazed pearl onions with a veal stock reduction as a sauce. I was pleased with the outcome; it was small ( I went real nouveau cuisine on the sizing) but plenty rich and satisfying enough. For example, the soup was only 150ml, but that is pretty good for such a rich soup and does you nicely. Meat and potato portions were also quite small, but with the sauce the beef was extremely rich. This is living

Soup for me too. I have a cold ...

Yup, soup sure is great when you have a cold. What sort of soup?

Inspired by the board, tonight we had Carnita's (had more butt chops in the freezer...), black beans, rice and pico de gallo to give it all a bright (and hot!) flavour.

I see a lot more soup in our future...

Tonight was duck two ways...first, duck rillettes made from confit, then duck breast cooked SV and finished in the pan. Both with a wild mushroom/demi sauce finished with a touch of mascarpone. Served with salad dressed with candied pecans, dried cranberries and gorgonzola in a light vinaigrette.

I actually ate very little...this injury has killed my appetite, but I'm told it was good.

Amy

Paul,

Italian butter beans, leeks and butternut squash. Good thing it turned out well because we have around 1 gallon left over ...

I made rippli, a kind of ham from the rib area, on a bed of apples and sauerkraut (with a potato grated in it too). It isn't wintry here at all but the days are shorter and this all seems right. I did get a pork roast on sale and there is going to be something carnitas like in my future.

Mary

Fuzzy, that sounds good. I'm quite fond of butternut, and the beans sound like a good addition.

Amy, duck breasts are in my immediate future (bought a duck yesterday for some confit), any particular thoughts?

I just break it down (rendering any fat I might need) and bag the breasts along with your choice of aromatics). I confit the thighs in the SV, shred them then put over a sieve (china cap works great) to separate and congeal the fat (put in the fridge). Follow any rillette recipe that appeals, and follow directions. I ultimately form mine into cakes (think crab-cake size), coat in panko, and saute.

I make whatever sauce inspires after I brown the breasts.

Amy

Oh, I've never saute'd rilletes, that sound like a lovely idea. I've made confit quite a few times (SV and traditional) -- we really like it with things like salad (shredded) -- but almost always just buy legs and start from there. This time, the whole bird, so I look forward to breast experimentation.