lionfish is - as you know - an invasive and dangerous species imbalancing the reef ecosystem, but they are tasty!
lionfish is a firm, white, light tasting fish that makes dynamite ceviche! or fried. always fried! in a tortilla with the works!
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Good to know! The last time I was in the Keys (including Keys Fisheries - yum!) was just before the lionfish menace started getting public attention.
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Made a big batch of cinnamon sugar spiced nuts. They make the whole house smell great.
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We got some lamb kidney and lamb liver from a local farmer this week. We have some ideas from our Jacques Pepin cookbook, but if anyone has any experience or recommendations, I’m open. Let me know!
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Dinner was the exotically named “yellow chicken rice”; basically a Thai variation on chicken biryani with some coconut milk and an amazing salsa verde-variant. The original recipe is from here.
A few things I did/would do differently:
- increased the chicken-to-rice ratio (for the T1 diabetic teen) (did);
- used the chicken stock I made last month instead of water (did, but it didn’t add much TBH);
- add at least half a teaspoon of salt (will do next time);
- stuck all the sauce ingredients in the blender and purée (did - WINNER!); and
- used fried shallots from a packet (did; too lazy to do anything else).
I love those Thai/Vietnamese/Cambodian sauces that are served clear with herbs floating, but in this case I stuck everything in a blender. It’s much more like salsa verde than say, nuoc chấm in that it has (a) no umami and more acid; and (b) a more ‘saucy’ texture.
So in summary make this, but blend the sauce, add salt and buy a pack of fried shallots.
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Nicely done. Great photos too.
Cheers!
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Lamb liver is like calves liver - the less you do the better. Slice thinly and flash-cook on the hottest surface for the shortest amount of time is best. Ideally you’ll have bits of liver with a caramelised crust and a pink centre. (And rest for a few mins).
Good to serve with caramelised onion and fried sage.
I’m drooling now.
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The Petit Four Adventure, Part 1
for @ClutchLinkey and @anon3072533
There was an attempt to make the cake for petit fours, since I now have a working refrigerator/freezer.
I treated the exercise as a Technical Challenge, because the recipe had about as much instruction as that.
Shallow pans? I used two jellyroll pans, and that made the cakes way too thin. As in, one burned at around 10 minutes. The other was inedible. I had to bin them and start over. There are no photos.
So I made a plain Victoria sponge in one jellyroll pan, and it’s in the freezer awaiting frosting and dipping. Even though the directions don’t say I should put a crumb coat of buttercream on first, the Internet does that, and I’m going to learn from their mistakes (hopefully). The next parts will be documented, even if I have to just post “nailed it!” as a caption.
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I’ll send you my shipping address 
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Grilled flat iron steak, sautéed wild chanterelles w/butter, and fresh-baked sourdough bread. 2011 Montinore Estate Reserve Pinot Noir.
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I want this right now!
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I’ll admit it: the beef wasn’t as tender as I’d hoped. Flat iron is touted as the 2nd most tender cut of beef. This wasn’t. I quick seared it over hardwood charcoal, with just a little smoke from a chunk of applewood. 4-5 minutes. It should have been tender. It wasn’t.
Oh, well. The chanterelles were the star of the show. And the wine. 
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I’ve never heard that, and it’s a cut from the chuck primal where tough stuff lives. Pretty universally see it described as a tougher cut.
The best bet for a tender flat iron is making sure it hits mid rare, and slicing thing across the grain. From the photo it looks like you hit all that.
I’m not really a fan of the cut, it’s beefy sure. But it’s become popular mostly because it cheap, and the grade or source of it is really important. Like I’ve had luck with Certified Black Angus, but Choice has been hit or miss. I think the marketing around it has oversold it’s tenderness. Some times it’s just tougher than expected. Think it works better for stir frys, though long sous vide works well.
Flank steak is usually cheaper and more available (here). And it’s both more tender and more reliably tender, while being no less beefy. It’s a lot like skirt, but tends to be bigger easier to cook and less stringy.
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Flank steak is one of my favorite cuts. When I was younger we ate lots of flank steak and round steak and I never knew about the idea that beef was supposed to be tender enough to cut with a fork. To this day beef that soft feels off to me. Flat iron steaks are one of a bunch of cuts created and promoted by the beef industry, to keep people eating beef.
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There’s some good stuff in there. God, I miss affordable beer.
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aren’t they always?
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Agreed on the quail eggs. They need to be done super delicately, or else they don’t really taste like quail eggs. Otherwise you may as well eat chicken eggs.
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