What's Cooking?

[rps]

Pork Tonkatsu with Yuzu Cherry and Mizuna - really excellent -> especially as a gift from the daughter.

[Flysmallie]

Looks tasty. My daughter would love that.

[rps]

Looks tasty. My daughter would love that.

My daughter signed me up for a gift card with Plated as a Father's Day gift. The pictured meal is one made from one of their shipments of ingredients plus recipes. Pork tonkatsu is a panko breaded pork cutlet. The salsa has cherries, citrus, oil, and garlic. The mitzuna is one of those semi bitter lettuces and the dressing was soy sauce, citrus, garlic, and ginger. All in all it was a very good meal.

[rps]

A few years ago you may have seen or heard of an animated movie called Ratatouille. When they made the movie they hired Thomas Keller of The French Laundry as the food consultant. As the movie tells us, the dish is actually an old French farm wife vegetable stew to use late summer produce. The dish was an first or second week teaching recipe at Cordon Bleu in London. I do not prepare mine like Thomas Keller or as I was taught at school. Instead, I found a recipe by Frank Stitts in his book, Southern Table, and I use it as the pattern to prepare the dish.

Ingredients

Red onion, diced

Eggplant (I prefer what they call Oriental eggplant), diced

Bell or other sweet pepper, seeds and pith removed and diced

Squash (crook neck or zucchini), diced

Tomatoes, seeded and diced but reserve the seeds and jam

10 leaves Basil, chiffonaded

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs. Herbs de Provence

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra Virgin olive oil

Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil to near smoke point in a large non stick skillet. Fry the onions until translucent and edges begin to brown. Add to the tomatoes. Do the same for the sweet peppers, egg plant, and squash. During the last minute of the last vegetable fry, add the garlic and continue frying until fragrant. Add the basil to the mixture and salt and pepper heavily. Add the herbs. Use a strainer to drain the tomato jam from the pulp and seeds and add that. Add an additional Tbs. of the EVOO. Mix well.

Note: The first five ingredients should be equal in amount, anywhere from 2 to 4 cups each.

[Gavin]

Nice find yesterday! Spent the week on Ft Myers Beach with the Family and suffered through several lackluster overpriced meals. Wanted a simply prepared fish dinner last night so my bro-in law and me ran down to the fish market in Bonita Springs. Not much of interest and no whole fish. Asked the fish monger were we could find some whole fish and he told us about the International Market in Naples. Off we went. Awesome Latin Market and the weekly special was whole red snapper for 3.99 a pound! Bought 5 snapper, some plaintains, bottle of Mojo marinade, lemons, limes, cilantro and some stuff to make salsa. $50. Scored the snapper, stuffed with lime, lemon, and cilantro poured on the mojo and tossed them on the grill while my bro-inlaw fried the plantains and our wives made the salsa. Best meal we have had in a long time!

[rps]

Nice find yesterday! Spent the week on Ft Myers Beach with the Family and suffered through several lackluster overpriced meals. Wanted a simply prepared fish dinner last night so my bro-in law and me ran down to the fish market in Bonita Springs. Not much of interest and no whole fish. Asked the fish monger were we could find some whole fish and he told us about the International Market in Naples. Off we went. Awesome Latin Market and the weekly special was whole red snapper for 3.99 a pound! Bought 5 snapper, some plaintains, bottle of Mojo marinade, lemons, limes, cilantro and some stuff to make salsa. $50. Scored the snapper, stuffed with lime, lemon, and cilantro poured on the mojo and tossed them on the grill while my bro-inlaw fried the plantains and our wives made the salsa. Best meal we have had in a long time!

My heavens that sounds good!

[joeD]

Quit saying "fish monger" you dill rods. This isn't turn of the 20 th century New York Lower East side where wooden carts are pushed by mustachioed men hawking the latest catch to the tenement melting pot . Good grief. You go to a store and buy fish from a teenager you wankers.

Fish mongers. As if. Gawd. Get over yourselves.

Fish monger.

Tally Ho!

[Chief Grey Bear]

For somebody that hates this thread so much, you sure spend a lot of time here.

[joeD]

Correct. I love food and cooking. My job is to poke a stick at people who say "fish monger" and post every living thing they do in a kitchen. Food culture and its acolytes are getting a little too self satisfied and misinterpret their constant postings to societal importance.

"If you don't like it Joe, then just don't look at it and leave us alone!!!"

True.

Yeah, but you're an itch I have to scratch.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Well I have to admit I like poking a stick every now and then.

Glad I haven't posted those Bologna and cheese sandwichs I've been eating!