Dover Sole

There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of dover
Tomorrow
Just you wait and see

There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow
When the world is free

Vera Lynn sang those words in 1942 as the bombs were falling on Britain. Interesting choice of lyrics, since there are no bluebirds in Europe. Poetic license or alternative facts? You be the judge.

Tonight's dinner was brought to you by the waters under those white cliffs... Or, more accurately, from the waters off the west coast of the USofA. It seems that most Dover Sole sold in the US is actually Pacific Sole. Who knew? At least it was wild-caught.

But regardless of where it came from, it was rather tasty. I did a really simple flour/egg/flour/egg dredge and dip and then a saute in butter. It only took a couple of minutes.

After the fish came out, into the pan went some minced leeks. Then a splash of white wine - along with lemon juice and lemon zest, capers, parsley, and another pat of butter - because, well... butter. It was a bit of a mashup between a meunière and a picatta. About as simple and basic as one could get.

Rice and asparagus. As I said... simplicity.

And speaking of simplicity, here's Vera Lynn singing the White Cliffs of Dover in simpler times when the whole world was at war.

 

And on a somewhat different note, earlier today, our new Mr. President said "We have to start winning wars, again..." As a person who has - unlike Mr President -  gone to war, this is what I have to say to that:

 

 

Instead of winning more wars, we really need to stop starting them in the first place.  #RESIST


Friday Fish

Going to a Catholic School in the '50s and early '60s, Friday Fish was an absolute. That was every Friday - not just the Fridays during Lent. In theory, of course, Catholics are still required to abstain from meat on Fridays, but can eat meat if they do another sacrifice or good deed in its place. Back when I was a kid, the US church was liberal in its politics and very conservative in its rules. Today, the politics are conservative and the rules have been liberalized.

Go figure.

But those Meatless Friday Dinners of my youth... My mother wasn't a huge fish fan - other than fried shrimp or petrale sole - so our meatless meals rarely were seafood. She made a great tuna salad mixed into iceberg lettuce, but fish sticks and all of the other fish portioned things of the day were not on our plates. I actually grew up not knowing who Mrs. Paul was. I also never had boxed macaroni and cheese - mom made her own - and it was awesome!

Fast-forward 55 or so years and here I am cooking scallops and remembering those thrilling days of yesteryear.

They were thrilling, too. There's something to be said for never having had fish sticks or boxed mac & cheese as a child. While mom kinda took our likes and tastes into account, the reality is, we ate what she liked. She was the cook, she made the meals, we ate what she cooked. Or, we didn't, but then we didn't get dessert. Very simple. Very basic. No ambiguity.

It's also funny looking at her cook books from back then and seeing the 'convenience foods' that were used... Today, it would all be considered cooking from scratch and the convenience foods of yesterday way too much work.

How times have changed.

So... somewhere along here I was talking about cooking scallops, tonight. Mom would have liked these - a simple saute in butter and olive oil, some parsley, basil, shallot, white wine, and lemon. Served with white rice and fresh green beans with sliced almonds.

The rice took 20 minutes, the green beans less than 10, and the scallops less than 5.

Quicker than fish sticks. Eat your heart out, Mrs. Paul.

 

 


Sunday in the Kitchen

We've been out of Victor's pasta sauce for a couple of weeks. Since the garden tomatoes haven't even been planted, yet, it was time to get the canned tomatoes in gear. We can't go long without pasta sauce in the house - and I'll be damned if I'll buy the stuff.

We have this one down to a science. 14 28-oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes - along with a bottle of wine, tomato paste, and some water - will yield 14 quarts of sauce - with enough left over for dinner.

We have a great system, too. Victor makes the sauce, I jar it. Neither of us has to do much work, this way. I did help with the opening of the cans, though. No electric can opener in this house. It's manual, baby! I think the only electric can opener we've ever had was an under cabinet opener in our house in San Leandro. I don't recall using it, much, but, we're not usually opening a lot of cans...

Victor's sauce is not vegetarian. He always cooks off some pork; ribs, chops, or whatever is around. I picked up a small pork loin for this batch.

It cooks up really nice and is shreddable when it's done. It's part of the dinner we have - it doesn't go into the jars.

After simmering nicely, it's time to fill the jars.

Sauce is hot, jars are hot, pressure canner is getting hot...

It takes 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure to get perfection.

Playing tag-team in the kitchen really does make this effortless. Most of the time is simmering or unattended pressure-cooking. We watched movies, I baked a loaf of bread, played a few games of Scrabble... It's nothing overwhelming. And the payoff is fantastic.

I cooked up a package of mafaldine since Nonna wasn't here - she doesn't like any sort of long pasta - and topped it with lots of freshly-grated piave I picked up at Downtown Cheese at Reading Terminal Market. Piave is a DOP Italian cheese produced in the Dolomites. Good stuff.

And since we were going to have fresh sauce with pasta on our plates from Florence, we needed a loaf of bread. I reworked a recipe from a while ago and made a really good cheese bread.

Crusty on the outside and really light on the inside.

The original recipe called for pecorino, but I used up the last of a few cheeses we had in the 'fridge.

Pecorino Cheese Bread

  • 1 pkg active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded pecorino cheese
  • 1 egg mixed with water
  • sesame seeds

Mix yeast with water to proof. In a stand mixer, add half the flour and the sour cream and begin to mix. Slowly add the grated cheese and the rest of the flour, mixing until it all holds together. Continue mixing for about 10 minutes or until a firm, smooth dough is made.

Form into a ball, rub a bowl with oil, coat dough, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled.

 

Punch down, turn out to counter, and let rest about 15 minutes. Form into a loaf and place on a baking peel liberally coated with corn meal. Cover, and let rise until doubled.

 

Preheat oven with baking stone to 375ºF (190°C).

When dough has risen, brush with an egg mixed with water. Sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds and make two cuts into the loaf with a sharp knife.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until nicely browned and hollow-sounding when tapped.

Cool on wire rack.

All in all, it was a relaxing day with lots accomplished. Not bad, at all.


The Diner Version of Thanksgiving

My impulse-buy of the day, yesterday, was a turkey breast.

I had most of the makings of a turkey dinner, already - I just hadn't planned to put it all together as such until I saw the turkey in the meat case of the local market.

Potatoes? Check.

Cranberry sauce? Check.

Bread cubes for stuffing? Check.

I even had leftover corn pudding in the 'fridge and turkey gravy in the freezer. This was a meal that was destined to be.

It was the diner version of Thanksgiving - no green beans, no sweet potatoes, no pumpkin pie for dessert, but it really did hit the spot - and there's leftovers.

Victor has turkey stock boiling away on the stove, right now. I see some serious turkey soup in our future. And maybe a hot turkey sandwich.