Meal No. 202: Chicken Sorta Piccata

Another new recipe, based on an idea for chicken piccata that I cut out of a copy of Cuisine at Home. I mean, I guess it's chicken piccata but I didn't have any capers on hand. But I also didn't miss those capers.

Meal No. 201: Thai Basil Chicken

In spite of promises and forecasts to the contrary, winter continues to rear its ugly head. Temps for December were significantly colder than normal, and snowfall has already been greater. More wintry weather visited downtown Winston-Salem Monday and Tuesday, but it was a lot of wintry mess. It began as snow and could be lovely coming down, but accumulation looked to be only a bit better than an inch. This was followed by freezing rain and drizzle, so it got a coating of ice to top it off.


Not really all that pretty to look at, is it?

But the need to eat persists, and it was best to stay in and off the roads. I'm glad I had done my stock-up shopping already and was ready with a list of meals to tackle.

This evening, another new one: Thai Chicken with Basil, found in the same issue of Cook's Illustrated as the barbeque I made this weekend.


I already know that if I make this again, I do not want to put quite as much fish sauce in it. That's too much anchovy taste for me. And I fear that I may have overdone the dried chili peppers, because this packed some heat. But the flavor was great.



Cook's Illustrated No. 102, January-February 2010, pp. 12-13.

Meal No. 200: Poached Salmon

Not just poached salmon, but accompanied by a delicious chilled rosemary dijon cream sauce.


A heap of couscous and some baby Brussels sprouts, and the indulgence of some cheap moscato to boot.

The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (1999)
p. 216

Allison M. Jones, 1926-2011

Standing at the sink, executing clean-up from the evening's meal, and my cellphone rang. It brought the sad, sad news that my mother had passed away at 11:24 pm. A little something went out of this world with her.

Godspeed, Mother of mine.

Meal No. 199: Indoor Pulled Pork BBQ

Using the good guidance I can depend on from Cook's Illustrated, and with Boston Butt pork shoulder again on sale at one of my usual grocery stores, and with people returning for our second night of watching the fifth season of Doctor Who...and with time off the road during this week of sad loss and a long good-bye to my Mother...this evening I wanted something involving that I could immerse myself in while I prepared it. All that added up to creating delicious indoor pulled pork barbeque.



Previously, I made this for Meals 71, 114, and 162, and I imagine I'll come back to it again and again.




Liquid-smoke enhanced yellow mustard is rubbed on the pork, after it's brined a couple of hours, and then that is coated with a mix of salt, sugar, black pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper.






And it is really outstanding with a side of blue cheese coleslaw, let me tell you.

Cook's Illustrated, No. 102, January-February 2010, p. 6-7.

Small Progress on Van Gogh Bathroom

The calendar tells me that it is dangerously close to four months that one of the brand-new bathrooms has been in a state of partial demolition and therefore unusable. That's a pretty expensive room for me to have paid for and then have no use of for all too long.

However, today I was blessed with a few short hours of work by my general contractor, who has at least finished laying the rest of the tile in there. He says he will be back next weekend to grout it and set the toilet.

You know, I was very patient when the problems with the HVAC leak led to mold underneath the tile as well as damage to the ceiling over the wetbar in the kitchen. But that patience has probably come back to bite me on the bottom, because I fear it made it seem I did not care that this has dragged on so long.

Meal No. 198: Chicken Casserole with Parmesan Cream Sauce

While I do take solace in kitchen time, I am also in the mood right now to keep my meals simple and comforting. A crew was reporting for a long-planned night of watching the 5th season of Doctor Who this evening, so I turned to one of my casserole books to help me be ready to feed several mouths.


The choice tonight: a basic chicken and rice casserole whose goop is a parmesan cream sauce.


I didn't fancy it up with extra fixings...I let the casserole stand on its own. It got us through the night.



Recipe from:
The Big Book of Casseroles (2000)
Maryana Vollstedt
p. 114

Meal No. 197: Moravian Chicken Pie

The waiting mode continues, and I take no small measure of comfort from being in the kitchen and making things for others to come and share at table. Although it was only about two weeks ago, I was ready for the comfort and pleasure of another round of Moravian Chicken Pie. And once again, it was pretty darned good.

I'm not sure I ever remember baking sweet potatoes before, but I had to have them with this meal tonight. Pretty good, but the butter and cinnamon and sugar certainly helped.

Meal No. 196: Teriyaki Steak Fingers

This evening I have once again turned to a recipe I got from out-of-state family: teriyaki steak fingers, cooked up on the grill, and it really hit the spot this evening. I did not want a complicated meal to prepare.


Nice color, for those who are inclined to value the aesthetics of a meal.


The couscous cooked up exactly right this evening. Makes me think about something a seller at the downtown farmers market told some friends of mine about why her sweets and baked good were always so good: use double the amount of butter.


The steak also went well with a colorful and varied salad:

Preparation for Family

It is a sad week at the Roediger House. My mother, Allison M. Jones, who was badly injured in a car accident in September 2004, seems to be entering her final hours and days. Her little body is finally giving out and shutting down. She is a spunky little survivor, having pulled through a wreck that by all accounts should have killed her; unfortunately, there was serious brain damage and she could no longer live without care and assistance. And that was sad, because even as a 78-year-old at the time of the accident, she was still riding her bike to the post office in our hometown of Buies Creek and living most independently.

With this serious decline in her health this week, the family has been called in, including a flight in from out-of-state coming into Raleigh-Durham International Airport. From there, we headed down to Harnett County to spend some time with Mother.

Rough times like these exacerbate a family tendency to be underinformative about plans, so I didn't know if I'd have houseguests or not. We have no idea how this is all going to play out, and this is 2.5 hours from Mother. But in anticipation of her arriving, I set to trying to be ready to extend a proper welcome and gracious hosting. I whipped up some southwestern dip and made sausage balls and cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies. It has long been a tradition that when out-of-state family flies into RDU, we greet them with sausage balls as a snack at the end of their trip.

My Hands & I Hate Winter

I would like very much to go on the record about how much I hate winter. And given how much I like being in the kitchen making things, which means I do a lot of hand-washing and dish-washing, cold weather is brutal on my aging skin.


These pictures capture what happened to the skin on my knuckles when I was preparing the giant feast for Christmas Eve Eve.

Meal No. 195: Shrimp & Grits

There were leftover grits from last night's seared creole scallops and creamy southern grits, and large easy-peel shrimp were on a good sale at Lowe's Foods here in Winston-Salem. So that made setting tonight's menu rather easy.


I've got a pretty handy and easy recipe for spicy garlic shrimp (click here for a picture of what all goes into it), and in the picture above, that's cooking up in the foreground while another batch of sherry cream sauce is going on the far burner.

Close-Up of Cooking Shrimp

Pretty in Pink


That's some lovely shrimp, and I think you can see even some of the herbs and spices and garlic clinging to it, fresh out of the pan.

The reheated grits from last night were waiting to be topped with those spicy garlic shrimp, but I first doused them with a healthy heaping of sherry cream sauce:


And on went the shrimp:



And it turned into a delicious and good-looking meal. Not true shrimp & grits, New Orleans-style. But a nice stand-in on this chilly Monday evening.


Those shrimp were also good on a well-dressed salad:

Meal No. 194: Seared Scallops & Southern Grits

After a long stretch of time away from home, working and then seeing family out of state, it was good to return to the kitchen. But I did not reach for a new recipe. Instead, I was drawn to the seared creole-style scallops over creamy southern grits that I made right before Christmas.

I think it was better that first time, although I'm not complaining. I managed to over-salt either the grits or the sherry cream sauce.

But it did not slow me down when it came time to enjoy this scrumptious concoction while watching a couple more episodes from the second season of the original Star Trek series.

Welcome to 2011

Happy New Year's Eve

City living rears its head again: a traffic stop as spotted from the back upstairs bedroom on the north side:


Wonder how much this sight will be repeated across the City this New Year's Eve? I hate to be away from the amazing and marvelous Roediger House on this evening of fun and celebration, but I'm glad to report I get home tomorrow.

Chimney's Weak, Chimney Sweep!

Here's a shot of the house, taken from the top of the parking deck across the street. If you'll look at the two chimneys, you'll notice the one on the right is taller and more complete looking than the one on the left. Here's a closer-up shot of the taller one:



Well, the one on the left is a bit of a problem. It's not presenting a very sturdy front, and frankly it keeps me a bit worried.





I'm not sure how compromised its mortar is, but when I've looked at both chimneys up in the attic, just below the roofline, I'm not inspired with confidence. One of these days, that puppy's got a good chance of tumbling down, I fear. So on the to-do list with this great old hulk of a house is getting it dismantled to a certain extent, and rebuilt. In the meantime, I'll continue to sweep up the debris it sheds in good winds or harsh rains, after the fragments tumble off the roof above the side porch.