Happy Halloween

I have a number of updates for you today. I realized in reading back over some postings that I haven't been very good about updating.

But before I do that I have to relay what I made this week. I cooked up the motherload legume and veggie stew, which saw me through three lunches and three dinners. It had a medley of dried beans, fresh Romano beans, purple bok choy, Romanesco broccoli (these last three from the Dupont Circle market), garlic, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes. I think that's it, though I feel like I'm forgetting some ingredients. Oh, aleppo pepper, which I've been looking for and finally found.

And I whipped up a pineapple upside-down cake in my cast iron skillet because I'm trying to get better at baking. Next I'm trying my hand at pie, probably the Cook's Illustrated method, then a layer cake. I should mention that we're not eating all these sweets by ourselves.Not that there's anything wrong with that ;). I've been good about sharing at the office.

Onto the updates:

• I never gave a report on the cooking classes I've taken thus far. Well, actually, I guess I did on the knife skills one, but I never mentioned that the other two I'd signed up for were cancelled. Boo hoo. And, of the two I recently registered for, only one has happened; the other (Pasta 101) is in a couple weeks. The Fall Beer Dinner was lots of fun. We made mussels in beer with bacon and cheddar breadsticks; grilled veal chops with a beery mushroom saute; beer-battered potatoes and onions; haricot vert; and apple and amber beer crisp with raspberry crème chantilly. Drooling?

• I'm still volunteering at DC Central Kitchen as often as I can. I try to do it every week, but it's so popular with big volunteer groups (think: office teambuilding activity) that it's hard to get in! I'm not complaining. I'm just happy that they're getting the help they need to prepare all the food - 4,000 meals every day!!

• Lastly, I guess you figured out that I didn't make the cut to be on Mad Men. Sigh. Big sigh. Tear. Many tears. Waaaaaaaaa. Oh well. I hope Roger waits for me (and that the show's on the air for another couple years) because I haven't given up on that drink.

Photos From My 'Busy Days'

Browning the goat plus mise en place

The stew ready to eat

Salted-caramel goodness

Pear-ginger puree pre-6 hours in the oven

Nice and leathery

Busy Couple Days In The Kitchen

I've had a busy couple days. Thank goodness it was in my kitchen. Cuz if you gotta be busy, it's best to be busy cooking. That's my opinion anyway.

Yesterday I made "Salted-Caramel Budini." That's Italian for puddings. The recipe is courtesy of Tasting Table, adapted from Marcie Turney of Barbuzzo et al. in Philly. I didn't have four 8-oz. ramekins so I made eight 4-oz. ones. I've already had two of them, and I plan on eating another for dessert tonight. They're my new favorite dessert, and I'm pretty sure they'll become yours, too.

Last night I whipped up a batch of pear and ginger puree to make "Pear-Ginger Leather" today. It's still in the oven after almost three hours. Think it's going to take at least a couple more to completely dry out. Will let you know how it turns out. Next week I'm making "Plum-Cinnamon Leather." I found the recipes here.

Also cooking up now is goat shoulder stew. I found the goat at the Dupont Circle farm market this weekend. It came frozen so I defrosted it in the fridge the past couple days. I got it nice and brown on all sides in my Dutch oven. Then I set it aside while I sauteed some chopped onion. I added it back in along with garlic, carrots, potatoes, beef stock, water, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. It's been on the stove for two hours and it'll probably be on at least a couple more. Will definitely report back on this. I have very high hopes considering the AMAZING smell filling our apartment right now.

I'm realizing that I haven't spent any time on KFW writing about kitchen tools and cooking techniques. Allow me to start remedying that. The above recipes are brought to you by tempering, the Silpat, and the Maillard Reaction respectively.

Photos to come...

Lastly, I have an update. Our balcony garden didn't yield nearly as much as I'd hoped. Blame it on not having as much full sun as I'd originally thought. Out of 13 pots we got arugula and spinach, a couple radishes, no cucumbers or tomatoes, one (yes, one) tiny pepper, and herbs galore. Better luck next year (which seems to be what I've said the past few years; gotta turn this black thumb green).

Paella Pic