The joy that came from a not-yet-thawed chicken breast.

Wherein Mr Ullman discovers the usefulness of soaking very dry fennel in soy sauce for twenty minutes

I came home and discovered that the chicken I was planning to cook tonight wasn't thawed. It was kinda thawed but I would have to regig my plans for it and would likely be eating around 9 pm.   Time to re-plan.  

I had a half of a pork steak sitting in the fridge.   That was a start so I went from there.

Cooked up some lentils, chopped some sweet onion, shallots, garlic, fennel leaves ( my last organic box included some really dry fennel.  The flowers are very usable but the leaves leave much to be desired) and a small potato.  

I put the potato and fennel into a bowl to soak in soy sauce while the lentils were cooking.  The potatoes would cook slightly  in the acidity of the soy sauce  and I figured that it couldn't cause the dry fennel leaves any more harm.

Once the lentils were done I seared the pork , put everything into a bowl, added some cream of mushroom soup and capers and tossed.  I sprinkled a small amount of Sage Derby on top and baked for twenty minutes.

For a shot in the dark it worked very well.  I won't repeat it as such but it is worth playing with.

Dill sauce and other wonders.

Wherein Mr Ullman discovers Chocolate mint and becomes a better man.

Unlike my usual entry here I am going to give you measurements this time. This is because the entry has more to do with the sauce then the entrée. The sauce is a dill sauce and the entrée is salmon.

I have a tried and true dill sauce for fish. I have made so many times that I really don't need to measure things out any more. I know what a ¼ cup of baby dill feels like in the hand and can draw a tablespoon of capers by sight wins me bets and impress the hell out of women who have a sense of humor. The capers thing has actually won other people money in bets but that is another story.

Ok, the usual dill sauce is built like this:

1. 8 oz of plain yogurt (Something of a problem these days since the industry has seemed to embrace 6 oz or 32 oz packaging)
2. A quarter cup of green onions.
3. A quarter cup of fresh baby dill weed.
4. A tablespoon of capers.

Fairly straightforward and yummy. However, last night I didn't have a quarter cup of dill so it was time to do some adventuring.

In the organics box I got some fennel. The problem of a lack of dill weed was solved by adding fennel greens to to make up the difference. That wasn't all the notable. Fennel is sweeter then dill but they they do work well together.

What is notable is chocolate mint. The apartment building I live in has an herb garden that consists of a few easy plants and a number of volunteers. The chocolate mint is one of the volunteers and since I never have used it before I thought what the hell. I took five leaves, chopped them up and put them into the sauce. This turned out to be a great idea.

Chocolate mint tastes like chocolate in the same way that Watermelon Jolly Ranchers taste like watermelon – you can see the point of the name but that is about all. Chocolate mint added a fine bit of sweetness to the tartness of the dill. The salmon was wonderful.

A respectable Mac and Cheese

Wherein Mr Ullman finds a Mac and Cheese worth repeating and learns 

that Mr. Broman's muse favors Miller Lite

A very good supper tonight. I didn't get the grocery store on Saturday so tonight depended on what I had around the house. As things turned out what I had around the house worked out well. What I actually made was the old stand by Mac and Cheese. However, it was a Mac and Cheese with a great deal of thought.

First, the protein. Lentils. I like lentils for a number of reasons-- not the least of which is that they are very single friendly. They are a two for one food. If you need a half a cup you measure out a half a cup. You then add a cup of water, bring to boil, reduce to low, cover and forgot about them for twenty minutes. They very tasty too.

So that being started I went on to other things. My usual Mac and Cheese is boiling a store brought pasta, adding some cheese and baking. Not today.

I took about a quarter of a red onion and sliced it somewhat thin but didn't dice it. Since red onions are layered I broke it apart into circles. I also took some fennel stocks and leafs and chopped them up. Fennel stocks are what celery should have been. The leaf, when fresh, is simply great.

I also cut off about a ¼ of an inch by two inches from my celery root and chopped it up somewhat finely. I put some oil into my stock pot, fired up the burner to medium high and placed the onion, fennel, and celery root into it. I discovered I had about a third of a potato that was on danger money so I chopped it up and added it. I added a dash of parpeka, allspice and and a generous slash cinnamon. I stirred occasionally.

I cooked the above until the onions were translucent (whatever that means). I then added about a pint and a half of water, the noodles, some more allspice just for the hell of it, and let the noodles cook.

Once the noodles were done I drained the stock pot and started a second burner toward medium. I grated some cheese. I returned the noodles and everything else to the stock pot, added the lentils and some of the cheese and tossed. I added the rest of the cheese to the top, sprinkled on some more cinnamon, covered and let it cook for about 10 more minutes

The result? An incredibly tasty supper that is, unlike all of its Mac and Cheese and stir-fry brothers, something going on my repeat list.

A simple cold sauce.

Wherein Mr Ullman offers a sauce rather then a meal

This is a sauce I occasionally make. It does not heat up well so I serve it cold as a dip when I use it on fish or crab or as something I brush on after cooking in the case of pork or beef. It is also tasty on potatoes.

This is what you need:

About a quarter of a red onion

Fennel, four or five stems and a bit of the bulb (fresh).

A table spoon of horseradish sauce

A splash of apple cider vinegar

A one cup container

Chop the fennel and red onion together finely.

Fill the contain half the way up with a good oil, I used toasted sesame this time but olive or peanut oils also work fine.

Add the splash of vinegar and the horseradish and stir.

Add the fennel and oils and stir again.

While I haven't tried it I think a tomatillo would be worth adding.

Tonight I used it on a beef loin sirloin. I baked it for about a half hour at 400. I took it out of the stove and let it rest while I made up the salad. Brushed on the sauce and take everything to the dinner table.