House Husbandry

Working on putting a dinner party together for Saturday night. Menu's been decided and I'm trying some things out in advance of the actual prep on Saturday.  Today I focused on a scallop amuse bouche, using a single sous-vide scallop, atop some beet horseradish.  I haven't tasted it yet, but it sure looks pretty. The scallops cook at 140 for just 30-40 minutes.  They've been turning out really nice.  I tried them this morning with defrosted scallops and also with frozen.  The frozen ones need to cook closer to the longer time.  The defrosted ones were pretty well done at the lower end of the time frame. Currently working on trying some vegetables.  I've cut some carrots up and added a little salt and pepper, as well as argan honey and a little butter.  There's also a beet sliced up with some capers, onion, and salt and pepper.  I can't wait to see how these turn out.  I haven't tied any vegetables yet.  They need to cook at 18...

1 small onion 1 small potato 5-6 large carrots 1 small piece of lemongrass 1 small piece of ginger Curry powder 1 can coconut milk 1 lime Cut ginger, lemongrass, onion and potato into small pieces and add to hot pot with olive oil. Saute for about 5 minutes or so.  Chop carrots and add to mix.  Saute for a bit and add the curry powder.  Add stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are soft.  Puree with an immersion blender or the old margarita maker.  Add cocount milk.  Blend a little longer to smooth it out some more.  Serve with a splash of lime juice.

It's cold, so it's time to make soup again. I made a Broccoli with Roasted Garlic soup yesterday that turned out quite well. 2 Heads Garlic 2 small onions 1 small potato 1 head of broccoli 4 cups of chicken stock Pre-heat oven to 400°F.  Slice the top off of the head of garlic and drizzle with olive oil.  Place on a baking sheet or in a garlic roaster and roast for at least 30 minutes.  Cool to handle. Chop onions and potato and saute in olive oil until the onions begin to get soft.  Coarsely chop the broccoli and add to the pot.  Add garlic now that you can handle it.  Add stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in batches with a regular margarita blender. Season to taste.  Wasn't that easy?

So ... I made the best meal last night.  Sous Vide duck breast. Step 1: Buy more than you think you'll want to eat cos you'll want more. Step 2: Get a sous vide thingy. Step 3: 135 for 2-4 hours. Step 4: Eat

Only thing to do is to make some soup beans.  Already made chicken noodle soup earlier this week, so I can't eat that again. Started yesterday.  Soak the beans for a day.  Yes, a day.  Bay leaf in the water. The next day, drain the beans and add fresh water to cover.  I then added some garlic, celery, carrots, onions, dried mustard and salt pork.  I've also got a veggie bouillon cube in there for a little more flavor. It's sitting on the stove now and has been there for about two hours.  Need to go check it soon.  It smells good.

The better half and I moved again and we're nearly settled in.  It's taking most of my time.  This is a big place.  Lots to do.  Lots of husbandry.  Lots of things to figure out. The water here in Chicago is really hard and the prior owners never bothered to wipe the walls down after taking a shower.  Nearly every time I'm in the shower it's getting spritzed with one chemical or another and then getting wiped down.  It's slowly improving, I think.  I've used straight vinegar, Lime-A-Way and Barkeeper's Friend so far. There's been a bit of deferred maintenance, too.  I was shocked to hear that in the 8 years the prior owner (let's call them PO) was here, they never once had the exterior windows cleaned!  I could not believe it.  Since the house is four stories in total, with a two story window brightening the foyer, I wasn't going to get on a ladder to do it, but it was only about $250 to have it done.  What a difference cle...

We had some pillows on our couch that we've had for about two years.  They'd gotten sort of sad and flat and I was looking at possibly replacing them.  Not necessary!  Pop those bad boys into a dryer for 10-12 minutes on medium heat and you can pull out fluffy, full pillows in no time.  I spent about an hour fluffing all the pillows in the house back up and you can too!