Why I know my husband loves me

Because with minimal begging---in fact, none---he bought me the 2010 and 2011 editions of Cooking for Two from Cook's Illustrated. For a couple of weeks they were offering both books for the price of one, and since I haven't been getting the CI magazine for some time, it was unlikely that I would already have seen any the recipes. I spent last night and today leafing through the 2010 book and pasting my little neon sticky notes (thanks Heidi!) on must-try recipes. I even made two things from the book for dinner tonight (which see below). I was doubly happy to see the books arrive yesterday because unfortunately, there is ample reason to be wary when you are dealing with the marketing department of Cook's Illustrated---just google "Cook's Illustrated" and "complaints." Anyway, I'm happy. We aren't anti-leftovers by any means, but with some foods they're not practical, and it's very helpful to have recipes already scaled down and tested to ensure they work for two people. And of course I am devoted to Cook's Illustrated in their meticulously detailed directions and explanations of technique, not to mention the way they head off any "substitution disasters" with notes like "do NOT substitute fat-free milk here" (not that I would be inclined to that particular swap-out).

So tonight I made the "spa chicken" and the bacon-braised green beans from Cooking for Two 2010. The chicken...boring story, but the result was that I overcooked it. Still, it wasn't bad, and I loved the flavor of the mock broth (water, smashed garlic, thyme, soy sauce of all things) used to poach them. I'll definitely be trying this again with one of the lean sauce recipes given (I had too much going on on the stove tonight to attempt that).

The green beans were just fantastic. Best ever. Before, I didn't really have a recipe for slow-cooked green beans, which is how M prefers them (Cracker Barrel is the standard for him); I had tried different ingredients (always chicken broth, usually garlic and onions and bacon) with varying success. This recipe used a small amount of broth, onions, bacon, thyme, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. I was a little wary of the vinegar, but after tasting the finished product I was a believer.

I also made these dumplings from Epicurious, which are essentially pierogis without the work. They were very good with a bit of spicy brown mustard to dip them in, and are certainly easy compared to pierogis, with no dough to roll out and cut. I actually preferred the taste of these to my one attempt at real pierogis.

In other news, today I discovered smoked herring, aka kippers. Trader Joe's sells tinned fillets packed in oil for $1.99, and I adventurously picked some up while I was there yesterday (forgetting, as usual, several TJ's freezer staples I needed). I briefly researched whether I'd need to pick out any bones (no), de-skin the fillets (no), or rinse before using (conflicting reports---I did). Then I experimented rather uncreatively on the tuna salad theme for lunch: to the shredded fish I added a dab of mayo, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, and parsley. I broiled it briefly on buttered toast and it was delicious. Smoked herring will definitely be a new pantry staple.

Tapas

M has said in the past that he strongly prefers the standard American "format" for a meal: a meat and two sides, with some kind of carb/starch, all served simultaneously of course. I could eat snacks for dinner all the time, I don't care. But I thought maybe he would go for something like a little tapas spread, where there is at least some meat involved and a variety of small things, still resulting in a balanced meal. Tonight I tried that out with success.

 The nasty burnt-looking stuff on the bread is pesto. I'm realizing the consequences of too little lighting when you're taking pictures of food. The fritters look burnt too but they weren't. You better believe I yanked them out of the scary pot of 375 degree oil as soon as possible...

The Spanish tortilla we had tried before a couple of times, and I felt like it needed something more than Frank's (our favorite sauce for all things egg and/or cheese based). Little wonder, because it's made of four things: potato, egg, onion, and olive oil---all good flavors, but none of them has anything really interesting going on, not to mention the rather monochromatic color scheme. In the CI Best International cookbook, they suggest serving the tortilla with Romesco sauce, a strange (to me) assortment of ingredients including roasted red peppers, bread, almonds, and sherry vinegar. I mixed that up in the blender today, trusting the collective genius of CI, and it was just what we needed. I think I could eat this sauce on just about anything.

The salt cod fritters, also a CI recipe from the Spain/Portugal section of Best International Recipe, were the first thing I've ever deep-fried. I was so scared of starting a fire. I probably should have watched a how-to video first or something, just to get used to the violent reaction that occurs after something is lowered, however gently, into 3" of hot oil. At the risk of sounding indelicate, I truly almost wet my pants when I started putting the fritters in---I thought all the bubbling and foaming was going to rise right over the top of the pot and create all manner of calamity, like a fire. It didn't; the turmoil subsided after the first couple of minutes, when I got up the courage to stir as the recipe instructed (I thought surely any disturbance of the oil would start a fire---noticing a pattern?). Yet I survived six minutes of deep-frying, and it was 110% (just to be cliché) worth it. Light and crispy, and the salt cod tasted neither overtly salty nor like cod. Just like clean, fresh fish enveloped in glorious fried-ness. Thankfully since I am cheap and I needed 1 1/2 jugs of vegetable oil for this (normally you can strain and reuse frying oil, but not when it's been used for fish), we won't be indulging in these on a regular basis. Not to mention the whole pyrophobia thing.

In case anyone has trouble sourcing salt cod as I did, I hear the Dekalb Farmers Market has it, but I had to get mine at Whole Foods, kept (oddly) in the freezer section in a little wood box at $10/lb. For Whole Foods I reckon that's not bad. I still have another half pound for use next week, probably with a Daisy Martinez recipe, because I read through her cookbook and approximately 50% of the recipes call for salt cod (about 75% call for $$$ serrano ham). Slight exaggeration, but come on, Daisy, we're not all TV stars and doctor's wives. I think I should have gotten her previous cookbook if I wanted more homely Puerto Rican food. 

Pre-dinner we had a nice simple drink of 3 parts ginger ale to 1 part dry vermouth, with a little lemon peel at the bottom of the glass. Dessert was the lemon ice cream I made earlier this week from Lebovitz's book, with Delicje cookies (the Polish version of Jaffa "biscuits:" spongey fruit-filled cookies dipped in chocolate). And we are now out of ice cream, which is a sad place to be facing yet another day in the upper 70s...come back, February!