Sausages with Onions and Peppers

Friday 13 December

Inspired by the Italian version you'd get at the Feast of San Gennaro, this was made Iberian by using two Portuguese linguiça and a Spanish chorizo.  The seared onions and green peppers were more canonical - or canonized, especially after they had braised under cover with a drench of white wine and the rich spicy juice from the sausages.

Rolled Sole en Papillote

Thursday 12 December

Holt got the inspiration for this from Gordon Ramsay's The F-Word. 

It solved the problem of Trader Joe's frozen sole packages containing seven or eight little soles to the pound.  They are too thin and delicate to cook flat, so rolling them works brilliantly; we just had parsley for seasoning, as the garden is still snowed under.

We parboiled the carrots to make sure they were tender, and used sliced zucchini as the vegetable base.  Each of us got our own packet from the oven, moist and steamy.  Done.

Salmon Steaks with Risotto Cakes

Wednesday 11 December

Smoked duck risotto cakes is one of the major reasons for making smoked duck risotto, just as smoked duck risotto is one of the major reasons for smoking a duck.  These were just shaped and coated with panko before being fried in butter and oil.

As part of our series of combi oven tests, we threw in a pair of salmon steaks topped with chopped scallions and butter and hit them with steam.  They came out tender and juicy, as did the garden carrots we simply halved and boiled (and topped with more butter). 

As Julia said, "With enough butter, anything is good."

Meatloaf with Two Spuds

Tuesday 10 December

If you make meatloaf with two pounds of meat, you get one immediate dinner, one leftovers dinner, and a couple of sandwiches.  

Today was the reheated leftovers, adorned with an experimental sweet potato cooked with high steam in the combi oven (not as good a job as the microwave, actually) and mashed regular white potatoes with butter and cream. 

Just as good as the immediate meal, and quicker.  Just don't forget the ketchup.

Smoked Duck Risotto

Monday 9 December

As previously mentioned, on Saturday Barbara made a broth out of a bag of smoked duck and quail bones - the latter only a tiny handful, but we would hate to waste them.  After simmering for four hours, we cooled and strained the broth, picked the meat from the bones, and let the fat rise to the top in the fridge.

That allowed us to make our favorite smoked duck risotto, starting with a chopped quarter onion sautéed in butter (don't know why we didn't mention that last time), and ending with the scraps of meat, a shower of cheese, plus the parsley that made it into the fridge before the garden got covered in snow.

Classics Holiday Party

Sunday 8 December

The Gutzwillers kindly agreed to host our department's annual party, which made it so much nicer than the ragtag atmosphere and heavy food typical of our recent venue, Baba Budan's. 

There was a large selection of wines, beers, and soft drinks, and we were able to circulate and talk to many different groups quite comfortably.  Arnold's downtown catered the food, which meant a more intriguing line of specialties: soft pretzel bits with cheese and mustard dips, a baked brie wheel, a big platter of sliced meats and cheeses, crudités and fruits, salsas and chips, leafy salad, green beans, and for the main course, both meat and vegetarian lasagnes.

For dessert giant platters of cookies and chocolates were brought out, including Jack's own kourabiedes - that dusting of powdered sugar down everyone's fronts perfectly echoed the snow outside.  So thanks, Kathryn and Bob, for a very pleasant party.