Sous Vide Cooking, Anyone? 1/26/19

22 hours of cooking  down, 50 hours more to go

I've been having a blast using  my new Sous Vide machine to turn tough cuts of meat into succulent tender gourmet delights.   Of course there are  one  or two big drawbacks to  the Sous Vide method: It takes a really long time, and lots of patience on the part of the chef for the technique to work its magic.  

This weekends magic trick is  72 hour  short ribs.  Yes, you read that right.  I said the short ribs have to cook for 72 hours. More specifically they are being poached for 72 hours in a water bath at  131.5 F for 72 hours. Bruce can't believe he has to wait 72 hours before  he can eat them.  Fortunately he's sampled the benefits of this method of cooking and is entirely sold  on the trade off of wait time versus umami.

Of course I am not entirely crazy. Delicious or not, 72 hours is a very long time to be cooking just one meal.  I have been purchasing larger size cuts  for the really long cook time recipes, and then repackaging the finished entree into several  smaller portions which can be frozen and  rewarmed for quick to the table future meals.

Ms Kat is becoming a Grumpy Old Lady: 1 ' 19

Ms.  Kat  is getting up there in years  and  showing signs that she is joining Bruce and I  in feeling   the weight of her years.   Her vision never was all that  great, but now she is also losing  her hearing.  Whenever she loses sight of us, she goes into a panic attack and starts screaming at the top of her lungs until one of us catches her attention to tell her we are still right here for her.  In addition  she is has developed a sensitive tummy, and whenever she  becomes  afraid, she starts barfing up her stomach contents.   

We've  both had a lot of appointments this past month which forced us to leave her home alone a lot, and she seemed to be seriously paranoid .  In fact she  has never been left alone for more than 10 hours straight and always has bowls of both wet and dry food and water before we leave. I guess when you can't see or hear well, and can't use a phone to call for help, those 10 hours must seem interminable to a lonely scared  little kitty.  She seems sure every time we go out the front door  that we were about to leave her locked and alone to die of starvation and thirst. 

Her panic attacks were starting to keep us awake at night.  And while Senior house cats are notorious for becoming picky eaters,  we  have become increasingly worried about her not getting enough nutrition, so I headed over to Petco today to see what OTC products they might help.

I found two:

There are several ways to administer digestive medication to a cat,  but after looking at the directions I decided the only one that we were at all likely to get Ms. Kat swallow is  The Homeopet Drops for Feline Digestive Upsets . We  are supposed to be put directly into her mouth before feeding her. Hah!  I'd like to see someone try that. LOL We hid the drops in a very small serving of her favorite wet food. The product doesn't have any detectable smell,  and if it does have a taste,  the portion of food  I'd mixed the drops into was so small that she had consumed it all before she even had time to notice any off taste.  So far so good. Ms Kat has been able to keep her stomach contents to herself and is showing no sign of digestive distress.

Sentry puts out several types of cat calming products.  I chose their 30 day Calming Collar, because Ms Kat is used to wearing a collar; and I thought it would be less stressful that products I'd have to spray on her coat, or shove down her throat.  The thing seem to start soothing  the second I put in on.  No more  panicked meowing,  No more frantic screams in the night as she chases around searching for us.. I'll let y'all know if I am wrong, but  I do believe this is going to work. 

Udon Stir Fry: 1 '19

Yesterday, Bruce and I watched a "Milk Street" TV program on Japanese home cooking.

We loved their recipe for stir-fried  udon with mushrooms, and decided to try making it from memory for dinner tonight. It took a lot of chopping to prep all the ingredients before  cooking, but the stir frying went really fast.

We plated it in large bowls  with a side of  quick pickled fresh radish.  Mmmmmm!  So good!

I can't believe we ate the whole thing.

New Year's Day Walk on the Beach 1 ' 19

 We  were blessed today with clear skies so we were able to continue our tradition of taking a walk on the beach on New Years Day .

It was  perfect  beach walking weather

Temperatures were in the low 70F s and there was a light refreshing breeze 

Other than a couple of other people, 

 

we had almost the entire beach to ourselves

 I said 'almost' because there were a hundreds of terns, skimmers, gulls, pelicans and other shore birds lining the edge of the water awaiting the next incoming tide.

The tide  was lower than either of us could remember it ever being. It felt like we were walking to where the sky met the sea.  It was the perfect start for the new year.

 

Deciding upon a perfect New Year's Resolution: 1 '19

 Its windy and  raining again

which makes it the perfect weather to stay home 

 think about my new years resolutions.

Of course I can always recycle last years.  Quite a few of those resolutions have not been met. Aand some of those were written down for a 2018 goal, but rose to a priority level in 2017, after I'd thought about them for awhile in 2016. 

Then again they'll probably still be waiting for me in 2020

so  I could go easy on myself  by making

my new year's resolution  something  achievable like remembering to write 2019 instead of 2018.

Happy New Year' Day Brunch 1: '19.

Bruce surprised me with  a special New Years Day brunch for us this morning.  He made us a Bacon, Brussels sprouts, and Goat cheese tart.  Oh, sooooo good ...... paired with a mango mimosa... it was to die for.  

Happy New Year's Eve:12' 18

 

 
We've reached the end of the 2018 year. 
Looking back on the months gone by,
as the new years starts and an old one ends,
we think what brought us happiness,
and we think of our loved ones and friends.

We celebrate last year's resolutions met, 

and all those we soon will to set.

The table is ready for a New Years eve feast.

 

 We'll  be ringing in the new year, if you please,
with 
a  first course of  salad and goat cheese.

 Then  an entree of  roast beast,
and rice middle east.

Actually it's a lamb chop
(paired with white and red wines, at least)
 and followed by desert,
then champagne to pop.

Tonight we will eat, drink, and be merry,
for tomorrow we diet.

Our party will last until the noisemakers go quiet. 

So let's lift our glasses
in a toast to everyone
to the old year now behind us, 
to the new year, just begun.

Christmas Dinner 12 "19

Bruce used his new Air Fryer to rotisserie a Cornish Game Hen with Sweet Chili Barbecue sauce for our Christmas dinner. CC added Indonesian Fried Rice, and Chinese Snap Peas as the sides, and Triffle for desert.

PI Christmas Selfies:12 '18

  No doubt you have heard the proverbial expression

'the best laid plans of mice and men .., which is used to signify the futility of making plans when the ability to execute them is beyond one's full control.

Once Again....the proverb holds true ...

 

Our plan was to take advantage of a brief break in the rain 

  and  take some selfies on Pawley's Island Beach

capped in our Santa Hats

 for posting  Christmas morning.

The wind was so strong and sand so biting,

 that we couldn't keep our eyes open,  

much less keep the Santa Caps on our heads.

LOL!  

Merry Christmas, everyone

PS  We still had a great time on our favorite beach.

Baby It's cold outside: 12 '18

Oh, My.  We had a very early hard frost last night. (first of the winter season). I was supposed to start on decorating the outside back yards today ( or at least the deck and back porch),  but everything is frozen solid.  Even the birdbath.

If I try to  touch any of my plants right now, I will damage the foliage, not to mention risking frost bite because I don't own any winter clothing. 

So  I focused  my attention today upon lighting up the inside of the Carolina Room (which is indoors but visible from the  outside) with icicles lights and snowflakes.

Neighborhood Holiday Decor Competition II: 12 '18

Neighborhood Holiday Decor Competition

Part II

Our House 

When it comes to decorating competitions,

for CC, it is:

GAME ON.

As soon as Hanukkah (and the freezing weather) was over,

CC began retrieving from storage all the Christmas  ornaments  and lights which she  had brought with us from California.

She stung the retrieved  ornaments and lights from the  existing foliage.

 

 

This gave a elegant but glitzy effect by day,

and a lot of twinkle by  night. 

 Next she added local forest foliage greens  and locally collected, red berries, and local pine cones sprayed silver to the potted plants for a simple, eye-catching display in the daylight,

and  glittering elegance at night.

Neighborhood Holiday Decor Competition 12 18

Time's are a changing.

This year has seen several new people move onto the street. AND, one of the HOA Board member's has her family spending Christmas with here in South Carolina.  The visiting relatives brought with them early Christmas gifts of lighted  yard ornaments.

As soon as the board members lights went up, the newbies began decorating their front and back yards  as well.

There are now 6' snowmen  street side

along with  golfing pink flamingos

  and with life size alligators 

swallowing Santa by the golf course.

Bruce calls it the Christmas decorating competition. That may be true, but I love it. It feels like a fresh breeze has swept through this rather stodgy neighborhood leaving a most welcome bit of whimsy and fun in its place.

Hanukah Holiday Decor 12 '18

 Throughout all of the years we have lived here, most of our neighbors  were away visiting their relatives in other states at Christmas. The few who remained, did little to decorate the exterior of their units other than hanging a wreath on their front door and stringing a few lights around their doorway.

Our front yard has what Bruce calls our Hanukkah Holiday theme.  Other than maybe a blue six-sided star in the upstairs windows, and a menorah in the kitchen window, there isn't any decorations to be seen from the exterior of the house.

Hanukkah Holiday Feasts: 12 '18

 When it comes to eating Hanukkah can pose a seriously bad news /good news dilemma.

• The bad news is that Hanukkah comes but once a year.

• The good news is that it lasts for eight great food-filled days and nites. 

• The bad news is all that great food can really pack on the pounds,

• The good news is that there is a healthy alternative. 

 For many Americans, Jewish food is synonymous with the Ashkenazi dishes served in New York-style Jewish delis across the country. The Eastern European countries of Germany, Poland, and Russia where these dishes originated had cold harsh winters, so meals consisted of high carb grains, root vegetables, and stews. Many ingredients were brined, peppered, or soured to help preserve them. And many of these Ashkenazi dishes call for fruits which also added much-needed calories in the cold climate.  As delicious as they are, eight days and nights of calorie-laden Ashkenazi dishes can really pack on the pounds. 

 

Fortunately, there is a legitimate kosher alternative.  It's called Sephardic cooking.  Sephardic Jews lived in Spain and Portugal until about the 15th Century when the Inquisition pushed them out of those countries.  From the Iberian Peninsula, they migrated to countries like Greece Turkey and Morroco.

Because of the Mediterranean climate, they lived in Sephardic Jews had access to fresh vegetable fish, fruit, and spices.  The Sephardic diet became an extension of the Mediterranean diet with influences from all the countries around that Sea.  In their new homelands, these Jews adapted their dishes to suit the kosher law, while utilizing the local crops to create healthy flavorful food that is still compliant with kosher law.

Fortunately for us, the South Eastern United States,  has a large Sephardic Jewish population, so recipes and ingredients for Sephardic Hanukkah dishes are more readily available.  This has made it a  lot easier for us plan menus that include some of Bruce's Eastern European  Jewish traditions, while countering their caloric intake by pairing them with a low carb recipe from my Sephardic collection.

 So here are a few of the meals we had for the 2018 Hanukkah Holiday.

Sun December 2  

Classic Sephardic Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic,

Honey-garlic-green-beans,

Mashed butternut squash

 Sufganiyot

 (air fried/baked (not deep fried) jelly doughnuts)

-/-

 

December 3

Sous vide beef chuck roast 

With burgundy orange sauce 

Mashed yams

Kale and roasted beet salad( not shown)

with maple balsamic dressing

-/-

December 4
Sephardic  pan-seared grouper
Pumpkin polenta with pepitas and goat cheese

While cod or salmon is  common on the Ashkenazi Hanukkah menus in the Northeast,  it is hard to find either fish fresh in the Southeast, so I fell back on the Sephardic style and pan sear a grouper we picked up fresh off the local shrimp boat. 

-/-

 December 5

Crispy pan-fried panko potato latkes 

While family recipes vary, most people observing Hanukkah will eat some version of the  potato pancakes called latkes at least once during the holiday. It is traditonal to fry the latkes in oil in remembrance of the oil that miraculously burned for eight days. Bruce like to dip his latkes in either sour cream while I like home-made apple sauce with mine.

-/- 

 

 December 6

Baked beef, lamb and eggplant meatballs 

on a bed of 

Roasted fennel with

Roasted red bell pepper sauce

-/-

 December 7

Savory Kugel 

 This is a great example of how the same Kosher dish  can differ widely dependent upon the origins of its cook.
Kugal, at its heart is basically a mac and cheese dish.

An Ashkenazi Kugel almost always has raisins or currants and is somewhat sweet;  a Sephardic Kugal is prepared without fruit and often uses more pungent cheeses and herbs to add flavor and zest. 

I  made ours with mushrooms leeks and feta cheese.

-/-

December 7
Seared-lamb-chops-with-rosemary-and-garlic

Twice baked latkes

Steamed artichoke 

-/-

 

 December 8  

Sous Vide veal chop 

with mashed potatoes 

and tri color salad

 -/-

 December 9

Matzo ball soup 

and  a mixed green salad 

After a week of feasting we needed something light and healthy to relax our digestive tracts.

 -/-

And what you ask, was Bruce's favorite recipe?

Probably the Sufganiyot.

He doesn't get them hot out of the oven very often,

 

 so he scarfed the whole plate down while they were still warm and fresh .