Sunday Treasures

Major forward motion yesterday in my mission to master a few key Japanese dishes, namely Tonkotsu Ramen. Jen, my partner in food porn crime, and I were walking around chatting after coffee and she dragged me to the Meathook. (Ok, so I really wanted to go, but there was a lot of snow and puddled sludge along the way.) We each selected 2 sausages from the case, resisting the temptation to buy one of every beautiful red hunk of meat in the place. Then I remembered that I needed pork knuckles to boil with the ribs for making the tonkotsu broth.

When I asked for them, the butcher brought out 3 gorgeous joint pieces with some leg meat still attached. Excited at the thought of making my yummy broth, I asked question up on question about the meat until he finally introduced me to the Japanese guy working behind the counter who just so happened to have worked in a restaurant that made Tonkotsu. Drat that I can't remember his name (Tichi? Kiti? Chiki?)! But he thinks my name is Jim so we're even for now.

Anyway, he scoffed at my knuckles so I told him I'd be back with my recipe and he can help me fix it up. I also offered to bring in a sample of the outcome if he'll critique it for me.

I was almost beside myself with delight at the thought of what synchronicity had brought this person not only into my life, but into my meat market. So after Jen and I said our good-byes, I scuttled home to make brunch for my very grouchy, but very sick husband - Weekend Eggs (recipe to follow), With fresh rosemary focaccia and one of the sausages. For myself, I also whipped up a blood orange and gin gimlet (recipe below as well) and a big pot of chili - half for later in the week and the other half for freezing until the making of my chili mac for a friend's Superbowl party. I'll be sure to type that recipe up later this week and share.

We ended the day with this recipe  for Braised Leeks and Pappardelle from Jaime Oliver. It was magical!

 

Well, chicken marsala turned into chicken piccata, on of Christian's favorites so I don't exactly have a recipe to share because I just whipped it up. But over gooey, buttery, salty chicken and capers, we had our first big finances discussion as husband and wife. The topic? How over budget did we go on our wedding? And by we I mean me. But it wasn't so bad. We worked it out and set our financial goals and toasted with a nice chardonnay.

Today after bootcamp in the city, I indulged in one of my favorite pastimes: cooking brunch with what's left in the fridge. And we feasted! I had made an Italian white bean and tuna salad for lunches this week and had some left. Since C was not feeling well, I divided what was left into 2 roasting dishes and added a good amount of chicken broth. It got schwimmy in the oven at 375 and then I cracked an egg on top, sprinkled with parmesan and slid it back into the over for another 6 or so minutes. It was delicious with 7-8 drips of Franks Redhot. I wished the yolks weren't quite as done, but it was still very good and many complements came from my sick husband.

This was followed by a salad of grilled chicken and fennel with grapefruit and avocado. Fantastic and packed with vitamin C. I hate when food bloggers write about what they made instead of just including a recipe. But I don't feel mine are quite ready for documenting just yet. I'm still just experimenting after all.  But one of my experiments, stuffed mushrooms in red wine just went pretty well so I'll be working on the recipe and posting soon. I'm actually thinking of working on a variation that uses bourbon instead of wine to make it all caramely and salty sweet. More to come, but first, tonight is steak night. I love steak night. There's so little prep work that I make things up to prep. Garlic butter is waiting patiently in the refrigerator for me to plop the blubbery good dollops on top of our crisply seared rare steaks that will rest beside watercress with blood orange vinaigrette. Can hardly wait!

FOB Married and Ready for Duty. But What Does That Mean?

Oh dear. What am I doing here on the blogosphere? This is really not my style, primarily because I am tech sav deficient. In fact, computers are actually afraid of me. But I just became a new wife, fob from January 1; and I'm a little antsy about my new life. I have a new name and a new role and am struggling to create a somewhat new identity to go along with those things.

Going from single gal to bride was thrilling. But going from bride to wife is a little scary. What will I make for dinner? Was it zucchini or parsnips he said he didn't like? He hates dessert? Fantastic! I'm a terrible baker and training for a half marathon so we don't need those half dry/half gooey cupcakes lying around anyway.

We moved in together a few months before the wedding and already went through some of the growing pains. But now those pains, even though mild in nature, are so much more permanent. I really think about it now when I want to toss my jeans on his side of the bed or when he neatens my stack of mail and gently reminds me that it's been there for over a week. "Whoa! This is for real", I often think to myself. We even have a joke when things get tense or annoying: "Only 50 more years!", which has now turned into, "only 49 more years, 11 months and 4 days!" Our good humor is one of the things I treasure most about our relationship....er, marriage. (This will take some getting used to.)

And I want to make it the absolute best that it can be. We're excited now and thrilled to see one another at the end of every day. But maybe it won't always be that way. Or maybe it will. But how can we endeavor to even reach such a goal? How do we keep it fresh and fun and romantic and joyful?

Christian, my husband, is a big foodie. In fact, we both are and it's been a central theme in our relationship from day 1. Also, I love to cook and sometimes do a pretty decent job. So for my first act, I'm just gonna keep him fed and hope he enjoys the "experiments"! On tonight's dance card: chicken marsala with roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts. If it turns out well, I'll post the recipe tomorrow. But if not, I'll post his reaction for entertainment value.