sybarites

Stir-fried Noodles with Singapore Lamb Curry I arrived home yesterday to find Marc at work in the kitchen on supper. It was a book-club-meeting weekend and technically, I should still have been full from the exceedingly large amount of brunch consumed just hours earlier. However, I was prepared to rally my courage for a new and delicious meal. (In my family, if you feel full, you’re not done yet. I learned early to eat every meal as though I would never see food again. )
At any rate, it turns out that the dinner preparations were not for me, but for his Mom who was due to arrive shortly and who officially warranted the dinner-making. Luckily, it makes no difference to me in whose honour a meal was planned or prepared so long as I get to partake. Plus, I had some champagne from the weekend that miraculously made it through the bookclub unscathed (if only for the fact that the “ladies” were already too hungover to consider Mimosas in the morning) and that was set to compliment the curry quite well.
Both Marc and I rapaciously devoured both our first and second helpings in the time it took Shirley to eat one little bowl, due to the chopstick factor. She was determined, though, and in the end (thanks to the stab-a-noodle technique), she won.
It is marvelous what curry does to lamb. What is it that makes them so remarkably compatible? Same grandparents? A shared fondness for India? Perhaps it has to do with the lamb we buy; it comes boneless from the butcher (Second To None Meats) and is locally raised. In fact, it costs less than chicken though it does involve some removal of silverskin – America’s Test Kitchen taught us how to do that properly. Sliced up thin and cooked semi-rare, it slides right up to the noodles without hesitation and brazenly demands their cooperation. And the noodles, Lord love ’em, are suckers for a saucy lamb dressed in spices.

This is Marc ordering a pizza:

We ordered from the sad little chain-store-pizza-joint down the street because we were actually too lazy to go to the one that makes a much better pizza but which is a few blocks away. The night before, we had cheeseburgers and onion rings from the Burger Inn (marvelous, as always). Right now, Sam is eating healthier than we are and his dog food contains mechanically-separated meat byproducts. Before we both pale from exposure to junk food, we must get off the couch and COOK, already.

Warm Jasmine Rice Salad with Shrimp and Thai Herbs
Finally, FINALLY, we have been able to find dried shrimp to put in this dish. Long, long ago, Marc made this salad as an accompaniment to a tuna thing with shiitake cream sauce. (This was back when we were first dating and had somehow, unintentionally, launched a competition of cooking and trying to impress the pants off each other with our culinary skills. We are simple folk: the way to our hearts is through our stomachs. The battle rages on.) At the time, dried shrimp were nowhere to be found, but the salad was delicious nonetheless and did indeed charm me to pieces.

Since then, we’ve made this several times but still had found nary a dried shrimp; that is, until we “discovered” the Asian market. Love that place- it really seems to have launched a new era in our menus in the last few weeks have been distinctly Asian-themed. Anyway, not only did we finally find the dried version, we also found some good frozen ones as well and Marc was practically skipping with anticipation as we left the store. Strangely enough, the dish was not elevated to new level of delectableness by the addition of this one ingredient but we now have a whole bag of shriveled shrimps in the freezer so we have to make this many, many more times. Twist my rubber arm.

This is definitely a salad but is big enough to be a meal unto itself. Marc had to use rubber gloves to chop the Thai chilis and that ingredient was worth the danger pay. Spicy, shrimpy, crunchy -with the fresh cucumber- I have no doubt that this will be a permanent fixture in our repertoire. Incidentally, it would probably make a brilliant potluck item and would charm the pants off any friends and co-workers, assuming that is the goal, of course.

Teriyaki-Glazed Sea Bass
This dish was very pretty: lovely colours, nice fish, bright greens. But it is hard for me to issue a verdict on its good-ness because we over-cooked the fish which made it taste less than great. The enoki mushrooms, however, were quite tasty, which is key because that one ingredient is why we tried this recipe. We saw them at the market two weeks ago and added them to a new list of Ingredients With Which We Should Try To Cook. I would be tempted to try this recipe again to see if we could get the fish right and to be able to say “enoki” some more. e-NOH-kee. (Wasn’t that a character from the 1980s Jennifer Connelly movie, Labyrinth?)

Pea Shoot and Spinach Salad with Bacon and Shiitakes
The salad, on the other hand, was scrumptious if only for the fact that it involved bacon. We halved the recipe, but added the full amount of bacon as indirectly instructed by bacontarian.com. Actually, the pea shoots added an interesting, but subtle, pea-flavour next to the spinach and the simple vinaigrette highlighted the flavours but was light enough not to instantly wilt all the leaves and drown the shiitakes. Next time, I would serve this as a starter rather than a side so as to appreciate the flavours unadulterated by a bossy entrée.

Lemon Cakes with Basil Lemon Syrup
This. Is. Brilliant.
This is the third time we’ve made this dessert in as many weeks and is part of the motivation for creating this whole, silly blog. Truth be told, this cake is the last one leftover from the wee wine-tasting party we had on Labour Day. We invited a couple of wine-loving friends over to open the “special bottles” that Marc has been saving since 1998. By the time dessert was ready, there were six of us sitting around enjoying the wine so we portioned out smaller sections of the cakes, each with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh basil. The verdict was unanimous: fab u lous. “It tastes so fresh and clean and light. I would definitely choose this over any chocolate dessert on a menu.” “My pastry chef could learn from this recipe.” “I’m sad because I only have two bites left.” It almost stole all the wine’s thunder.

Of course, the wine: for this meal, it was Sagramoso Valpolicella Ripasso, 2002 and, because we are lushes, some Folonari Valpolicella Ripasso, 2003.

For the party, we had Marc’s favourite white, Evolution, from Oregon and his “specials” from Chile: Casa Laspostolle, Cuvée Alexandre, Merlot, 1996 and 1997. It was interesting (and deliciously luxurious) to be able to compare the different years; the ’96 was more oaky with a distinct taste of vanilla and the ’97 had just the faintest touch of mint. I don’t know if that is officially what those wines are supposed to taste like, but that’s what I tasted and it’s my party so I’ll wax oenologic if I want to.

Janet

Gai Choy With Stir-Fried PrawnsIndeed, we are enamored of our new found friend, the Chinese mustard green. So much so, in fact, that we attempted our second recipe involving this spicy, leaf-ed vegetable this week. Alas, this meal was a dud. It didn’t taste bad (after all, there were shrimp involved) but it was nothin’ to write home about.

Plus, there was the frustration factor to consider: we were using pointy-ended, Japanese chopsticks and trying to eat non-sticky rice. The result is that the two of us were practically licking the saucy rice out of the bowls because we couldn’t pick it up. Marc will deny this and say that I was the only one having trouble because I haven’t had enough practice using chopsticks. I am DEEPLY offended by this as I have been using chopsticks since I was six* and the difficulty encountered during this meal was not a result of operator error. It shall be noted that I was not the only one trying to eat while trying to look around the bowl in order to see the TV. So, there.

What We Drank: water – a direct result of Eric & Robyn’s wedding the previous evening. (The red wine made me perform a skit in front of the wedding guests. It shall not be forgiven for this.)

* To broaden our wee horizons when we were little, my Mom once made Chinese food at home. Take into account that this was Alberta in the 1980s and we may or may not have had very little exposure to anything close to Asian culture. To counter that, Mom made an evening of it; this involved taking the legs off the kitchen table so we could eat cross-legged on the floor, wearing our bathrobes and wide-brimmed hats made out of brown paper grocery bags stapled together (to simulate traditional Chinese dress, I assume), and using chopsticks. So, there.

Update: The fish sauce we purchased from the T&T Market may not have been the best choice. It was too fishy, salty and sweet, which is exactly what was wrong with the dish. The supermarket variety appears to be watered down and doesn’t quite have the same flavour.

Cappuccino
This is my daily morning ritual. Praise be to the coffee gods, you let me face the world.

I am a little hung over because of the wedding last night. Coffee was a life need today. Of course, the footlong B.M.T. from Subway aided as well. Janet’s comfort food is grilled cheese sandwich made with Cheez Whiz. I can’t understand.

Lentil Soup with Six Vegetables from Janet’s Quick From Scratch Cookbook
Janet had to run out for an emergency golf shirt purchase at Old Navy. I got to do all the cooking.

When we were at the T&T market last weekend, we picked up gai choy because we didn’t expect to find escarole, for which the recipe called. We didn’t taste it until tonight, and we were surprised to find it tasted spicy, like horseradish. It complimented the lentils. According to Hormel, gai choy is related to mustard.

The La Vieille Ferme was one of our better wine picks—balanced and tannic. I wasn’t familiar with the Côtes du Ventoux region. It’s a good value that I’ll buy again.

Day 4 consisted of leftovers if you were wondering.

Marc

Szechuan Noodles with Peanut Sauce
A tasty change from the everyday. Only the noodles were cooked. Most of the work was cutting vegetables into matchstick sized slivers. It has a fresh flavor that’s great for a warm summer’s day. I’m always skeptical of vegetarian meals; I’m making this one again. We primarily made this because we had leftover napa cabbage from last week, but I’m glad we did. So good.

The recipe says it makes 6 servings—for 6 sumo wrestlers after spending 40 days in the Gobi. We have at least 8 meals. I tried to call Jordan and Holly to pawn off some. They weren’t home.

Martín Santos Malbec
The wine tonight is another $10 bottle. Jan is keeping me in line. I sometimes long for the days when $17 was the low end. I can feel my palette slipping away. I’m sure that has nothing to do with the smoking.

Peach and Blueberry Crisp
Jan’s mom took a microwave cooking class in the ’80s. Apparently this recipe is the only one that was good. We usually make it with apples or rhubarb. This is better.

Marc

No BBQ? No problem.

Caramelized Corn with Onions and Red Bell Peppers
Marc, being the wonderful person that he is, made this whole meal all by hisself. My back was strained (not at all related to the sexcapades) so he took 2 hours out his life to concoct this purtty meal. As side dishes go, the corn was very tasty; Marc will definitely be making this again. I think it helped that he had gotten most of the ingredients at the farmer’s market in Cochrane so they were bright and big and very fresh. And, for the record, let me just state, that my directions to the farmer’s market were quite clear and that any wrong turns that may have been made (whilst I was enjoying coffee with Chris A.) were entirely due to operater error. That being said, I couldn’t ask for a better chef/partner who would build a whole, precious dinner while periodically checking on me in my pathetic, back-strained, Sex-in-the-City-watchin’, wine-medicated state.

Sweet and Tangy Oven-Barbecued Chicken, courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen
This receipe is one we saw demonstrated before ever attempting construction. On TV, we watched America’s Test Kitchen build this chicken for all of us poor people who do not have a balcony nor backyard and, consequently, do not have a barbecue. Sadly, we have lived ONE ENTIRE SUMMER with no access to any form of barbecue. That being said, we have been blessed by His Noodly Appendage with this version of oven-barbecued chicken that actually almost replicates what you would expect from a grill. Marc made the skin-on version, which is fine, if you like eating skin. Actually, I have to admit that even though I don’t appreciate skin-eating, this was still excellent, as the butcher gave us the free-run chicken breasts. Indeed, the sauce told us to put it into a wee bowl and dip pieces of the delicious chicken into it. We were in no position to disagree with The Sauce (it is the boss of us) and, as a result, subjected every tidbit of chicken to it. Of course, a barbecue would make this brilliant.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
Made up by Marc! Highly unusual- he didn’t even use a MEASURING SPOON!!- but nonetheless, perfect. That little rosemary plant on our windowsill is actually fulfilling its destiny.

Folonari Valpolicella
Well, who doesn’t love red wine? Though, it’s no Zenato. Marc looks forward to trying the Ripasso but we do not hold our breath. Altogether, non-offensive. (Note: Unlike the majority of North Americans, we have not become wine snobs as a result of having viewed the movie “Sideways”; we were always wine snobs.)

For dessert: what can top a fresh, ripe watermelon, with juices running through your fingers? Maybe sexcapades.

Meatitarians.
Darwinists.
We love Monty Burns.

Sea Bass with Citrus and Soy
Apparently, I was to have tasted this nearly a year ago when Marc cooked it one night when we were first dating; he hoped I would come by but I was busy dating three other men and two women so didn’t join him for dinner. My loss—this was a lovely way to honour The Sea Bass. Plus, it was so recycle-y: the marinade for the fish was re-used as the liquid to steam it and then, when the fish was done (to perfection), the liquid was reduced to make the sauce. And because of the pretty, little scallions flirting their way across the top of the fish and the udon noodles, we decided to take a picture and start a blog. Hence, Day 1.

Tangy Eggplant, Long bean, and Cherry Tomatoes with Roasted Peanuts
I started this salad on my own and when Marc came into the kitchen, he asked, “What smells like feet?” We tried to determine from whence the smell came and narrowed it down to either ‘roasted peanuts’ or ‘fish sauce’. Smart money is on the latter. Anyway, despite the feet sauce and the eggplant, with whom Marc has a tenuous relationship, it was really tangy (see recipe title). The long beans were worth the 20 minute drive to the asian market ’cause they were all crunchy (and because we saw cleaned TURTLE in its shell wrapped in plastic on a styrofoam tray. It had no head.)

We drank Ruffino Chianti. To quote Marc: “It’s whatever. Uninspired. I’ve had it a billion times.” It didn’t contradict The Sea Bass nor the long bean but it didn’t do them any favours.

Visual Accompaniment: nothin’. We didn’t even turn on the TV; we watched Sam beg for food instead.

Janet