In Gourmet:
> Now, you cynical lot may be wondering, who would describe a cucumber as “transcendent†under any circumstances?
and in the Seattle Times:
[Parsnips — when prime time is past, purée is the perfect solution](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2008584999_pacificptaste04.html)
> There’s no reason to remove the woody core as long as you pass the purée through a sieve. Coring parsnips is a big pain. Also, cream is awesome.
In my imagination, I am starring in a new Food Network show called _Gourmet Prowler._ On each episode, I break into someone’s house and have to make myself a gourmet meal of whatever I find in their kitchen.
I came up with this idea because there are eight legs of duck confit aging in the fridge, and I pointed out to Laurie that this would constitute the jackpot for any gourmet prowler. I’ll let you know how the confit turns out in a couple weeks when it’s ready.
P.S.: The confit is aging in the traditional vessels of Gascony, made by _La Jeune Fille de Caoutchouc._
It’s only been nine years or so that I’ve been complaining about my rice cooker. It cooks good rice, most of which sticks to the pot and has to be soaked off. I got tired of waiting for it to die after I read in the Washington Post that rice cookers tend to last for thirty years, so I put a new rice cooker on my Christmas list.
I ended up with the mellifluously-named Panasonic SR-G06FG, and tonight it made its maiden voyage, producing Japanese-style rice for teriyaki chicken night.
It worked great. I was surprised to find that this model doesn’t have a keep-warm function, but I don’t think I care. The rice sat for 30 minutes before dinner, and it wasn’t cold. I was even more surprised to find that it was no joke to say that most of the rice stuck to the old rice cooker: I made my usual 1.5 cups (real cups, not the cup that comes with the cooker) of rice, and instead of it being just enough for the three of us, it was absurdly too much. Cleanup was a snap, too.
People on Amazon report that the nonstick coating on this model tends to start flaking off after a year or so, and you can’t buy just the bowl. I hope that doesn’t happen, but if it does, I will probably break down and buy one of the expensive Zojirushi models.
Speaking of which, why does Zojirushi sell over 30 models of rice cooker? I’ll bet Steve Jobs eats a lot of rice. Could they get him to come in and take over the company long enough to consolidate the line into three smart-looking rice cookers? Prices would start at just $599.
(P.S.: Zojirushi actually sells a rice cooker that lists for $373. Alas, poor comedy.)
Iris has declared that her favorite fish is no longer mackerel, it’s trout. This doesn’t strike me as an improvement, but you can’t pick your friends’ favorite fish.
So I’ve been buying rainbow trout, which is not exciting, but it’s relatively inexpensive and sustainable. Sometimes I roast it whole, but often I fillet and saute it, and if I ask the fish counter guy to fillet it, (a) I never know what I’m going to get, and (b) Iris is disappointed, because she likes to see the whole fish. Probably I am being too hard on the fish counter guys, but I still haven’t recovered from the time I asked them to scale a piece of salmon and they had no what I meant.
Anyway, my filleting technique is not exactly going to get me on Iron Chef, so I consulted YouTube and came up with this English guy:
One minute and 46 seconds later, I pulled out my honesuki and did my best filleting job ever.
Has YouTube ever saved your dinner?
We’ve made and devoured two batches of homemade tamales in the last month. If you have never made tamales, I assume it’s because (a) there is a tamale truck parked outside your house, or (b) you’ve heard that they’re hard to make.
(Before we go any further, yes, I realize the Spanish singular is *el tamal,* but “tamale” seems like a perfectly good English word to me.)
Tamales are not hard to make. They are extremely simple to make. Maybe I’m breaking some sort of *tamalista* code by revealing this. Furthermore, tamales are actually better if you cook them ahead and reheat them. Further-furthermore, tamale-making produces delicious byproducts. From the last batch, we have leftover pork filling that will go into tacos or burritos, plus a bunch of rich, garlicky pork stock that will form the basis of tortilla soup.
Finally, you can make a lot of tamales for not a lot of money.
We’ve tried two different pork tamale recipes, one from Rick Bayless and one from Zarela Martinez. Both were good; the Martinez recipe was slightly better, if only because the pork had a little vinegar in it. It’s hard to go wrong. Next time we’re going to try doing a cheese and green chile filling and a chicken with tomatillo filling. My only tips are: use good lard; spread the masa thinly (I used an offset spatula); and don’t skimp on the soaking time for the husks.
Iris has gone crazy for tamales. She has had tamales for four meals in the last three days. Okay, actually, so have I.
If you have a couple days off between now and 2009, and you’re not as snowed in as I am, please do me a favor and make some tamales. I want to hear about it.