The February/March 2006 issue of Fine Cooking is awesome. Here’s a link to the table of contents, but it’s going to break when the next issue comes out. Some of the highlights are a gratin of winter greens; roasted chicken thighs; braised short ribs; and rice noodle stir-fries. I love winter cooking.
Last night’s dinner was almost entirely from Fine Cooking. I made Yukon Gold home fries with my home-rendered lard and that smoked Spanish paprika I got at Penzey’s. I had some nice pancetta, broccoli, and purple garlic sitting around, so I made the slow-cooked broccoli from the previous issue of Fine Cooking. Iris especially enjoyed the sticky, crunchy garlic slices. Then, when the potatoes were done, I scrambled a few eggs in the same pan so they picked up a bit of paprika.
Before dinner I rubbed some short ribs with an Asian spice rub, and today I will braise them. This is from a Molly Stevens article, also in the current Fine Cooking. As editor Susie Middleton put it, “Seriously, I could live off the Asian-Glazed Braised Short Ribs,” so if they’re not good I’m going to call her up and be all, “Twenty aught-six is hosed, dude.”
Then, to celebrate the end of 2005, Laurie and I drank some Moscato d’Asti, watched a classic Scrubs episode, and went to bed at eleven.
I don’t know how good the Penzey’s smoked pimentón is, but I’ve tried three different domestic brands which all sucked. Finally I gave up and ordered from the online Spanish food retailer La Tienda and got this. I haven’t cooked with it yet but it smells amazing (where the American brands smelled like nothing).
The Penzeys stuff is imported from Spain, and it was excellent. I didn’t use very much, and it was a major smokefest. In a good way.