The numbers keep getting worse and our Governor, Mayor and health officials are talking about a full shutdown again. For us, this means very little for our daily lives, as my husband and I have been pretty locked down since March. Some say I’m living in fear. They are right. I am terrified of this thing, and I think more people should be. All the statistics and what ifs still cannot predict what will happen in any individual case of the disease. I know three people in one household who got it. One was fine with very little symptoms. One seemed like he was suffering a mono-level illness. The third spent days in the ICU and required major intervention. And even if I were not afraid of what it could do to me or a member of my family, I want to be part of the solution to stopping it. If I don’t get it, I cannot spread it. Anyway, let’s talk about something more fun like food.
Thursday (11/12) – I made a pretty weird but delicious dish. I sliced and seared some polish sausage and tossed it in a sauce made from diced tomatoes, shallots, garlic and parmesan with some penne. Hey, I didn’t have any Italian sausage or pork thawed, so I improvised. It was actually delicious.
Friday (11/13) – I got all ambitious and go out my Jacque Pepin cookbook. I deboned chicken legs, which I will tell you is quite the ordeal. I made his chicken “sausages” in mushroom sauce. This was delicious, though next time I might skip stuffing them and the use the sauce on some chicken thighs.
Saturday (11/14) – I made bieroks. If you have never had these, they are also referred to commonly as cabbage burgers. It’s basically a baked white bread roll stuffed with beef, onions and cabbage. I love these, but they are a lot of work. I started on them at 2pm and finished right at 6pm, which was good since we had a virtual dinner party with some friends. Also, I made 32 of them, so we have leftovers galore. Next week I am going to see if I can find a good deal on Beyond Beef and make more for my vegan child.
Sunday (11/15) – I made seared cod in a brown butter herb sauce and parmesan smashed potatoes. It wasn’t bad. I am typically not a cooked fish fan. I love sushi, but I don’t often enjoy cooked fish. But the herbaceous butter sauce really was delicious.
Monday (11/16) – I made refried black beans, rice and corn on the cobb for dinner. I was not thrilled with how my beans came out this time. I think I undercooked them initially, and so it came out pretty dry. I guess dry isn’t exactly the word. It was more like you can use it as spackle. Oh well, can’t always knock it out of the park.
Tuesday (11/17) – It was my husband’s birthday and he wanted a sausage and garlic pizza. So I roasted a head of garlic during the day and I made my second attempt at the pizza crust dough recipe. This time, I reduced the oil slightly and I let it rise for several hours. This one was much better. I didn’t quite get the crisp I want, but I believe I now know how to fix that. Stay tuned because I’m sure there is going to be try three soon. But I made two pizzas, one with sausage and the roasted garlic for he and I, and one with cheese and mushrooms for the kiddo. Everyone was pretty happy.
Wednesday (11/18) – We had changed the schedule, so we had the kiddo Monday and Tuesday since Tuesday was the husband’s birthday, so Wednesday it was just us old folks. So, we had bieroks for dinner again. Did I mention I have a lot of them? But they make an excellent late night snack too.
So another week down and no one in our household or either of my kids’ households are sick. I am grateful every day that I can say that. And I’m still coming up with interesting concoctions in my kitchen. I’m strongly considering breaking out the sourdough again. I want to bake almost every day, but I’m having baker’s block. Hopefully, the sourdough will provide some inspiration.
Foodie's Delimma 