It’s been a month of relaxation and recovery, with another slightly manic interlude woven in the middle. Now I’m slightly preparing myself for the Christmas-New Year dash. It will be both nice that the usual fixtures can be there this year (with many sincere thanks to the scientists and researchers behind the vaccine) and a bit strange after a year without them. In the same way I’m still not sure I’ve settled back into a good version of the new normal.
In my quest for Christmas patisserie redemption, I’ve been baking even more croissants. I’m getting better, but there does come a point where one has too many croissants. It may be necessary for me to find more of an audience to enjoy the products of my practice.
One batch was extremely good, though lacked regularity in a few places. I blame the imperial measuring system and my inability to easily do base-2 math in my head for sub-inch dimensions. I can’t blame American ignorance as much for my inability to uniformly brush egg wash onto the croissants.
Moving to the more quotidian, I ventured back into a few favorites. First, an always wonderful lemongrass chicken. I don’t know there’s much to say about it other than to praise its excellence. I served that with some nicely charred baby bok choy. I keep meaning to try Kenji’s trick for getting a bit more of that charred flavor without a gas wok, but it’s one more item that would run afoul of my no-new-stuff-until-the-renovation-is-done rule.
Sticking with an inadvertent chicken theme — I don’t log and photograph everything! — I also did a nice improvised coq au vin. I have issues with the idea of one canonical “true” recipe, but I will admit my version this last month was not especially classic. A mirepoix and huge glug of red wine to be sure. No tiny onions, mushrooms, or lardons, however.
Keeping with the warm and stewed theme — more expected at this time of year — I did a River Cafe-style fish stew as mentioned a month ago. I wasn’t quite as luxe as the original with my choice of fish, and I have to admit it didn’t make for quite as nice a photo.
The tahini-crusted eggplant that I did as a veggie option was a bit more photogenic.
More for professional than personal reasons, I also made my first trip to New York since the world went into lockdown in 2020. There were a few misses, but I did try a great Japanese restaurant called Jukai. I ordered the sushi omakase, and it was fantastic. More than anything, it was reassuringly Japanese. The miso soup arrived at the end of the meal with no spoons in sight. I loved the understated and slightly awkward cheesecake at the end of the meal. And of course the fish was excellent. I don’t usually lug around or use my fancy camera in restaurants, but I had it, and I thought it was worth the social awkwardness to take a few photos.
The trip also gave me a chance to swing by the Metropolitan Museum and see the newly-renovated British decorative arts galleries. It’s always fun to look at early modern teaware. When tea first arrived in Europe, it was incredibly expensive. Early teapots are entertainingly and correspondingly tiny.
For the month ahead, there’s always a lot to do food-wise in the run up to Christmas and New Year. As mentioned, my first goal is croissant redemption. Here’s hoping I can still pull off a successful batch in the now less familiar environment of my parents’ kitchen. Cooking for large groups is always a double-edged sword. There’s a part of me that enjoys feeding more people, and another that dreads the work and bristles at the constraints imposed by needing to cater to the less adventurous.
I’m less involved in the production of other favorites. Mostly I’m thinking here of mochi, a great way to ring in the new year.
At least with my family, I often feel like there’s biscuit overload. I love doing more traditional Spritzgebäck with a piping bag rather than a special machine with dies. There’s something too synthetic about those for my taste. From my adventures in Danish culture last year, I’d highly recommend doing pebernødder, a classic julekage. It’s the cardamom that really does it for me. From Italy, I discovered torcetti al burro a few years ago, and I’d recommend them, too, for something a bit different.
On a slightly lighter cardamom note, some Danish kardemommeboller would be great at a Christmas breakfast or lunch. They’re much more spice-forward than something like a cinnamon bun that can often lean hard on the sweetness of frosting. For those looking for more of a challenge, I love a nice panetonne.
No holiday meal would be complete (at least in my book) without mashed potatoes. I don’t know they’re a dish dying for reinvention. Still, I’ve been enjoying Philippe Etchebest (probably best known for hosting the French flavor of Kitchen Nightmares) on his YouTube channel. He suggests doing mashed potatoes the same way I’d make gnocchi, baking the potatoes rather than boiling them. I’m very much a convert. It’s a lot cleaner, the baking process adds a bit of extra character, and by driving moisture out, it creates more space for delicious butter and milk.
Outside cooking for these large family events, I’m going to continue my exploration of stews and braises. Starting with a poulet basquaise. I have a funny relationship with this dish. In France, it has a reputation as the dish that people trying too hard to impress people make for dinner parties. At the same time, a good one is a pretty tasty dinner that doesn’t require too much effort.
There’s a part of me that really loves the idea of making a wet polenta and dousing it in some kind of red wine sauce. Perhaps this is the moment to braise down some beef short ribs.
I’m still not sure a monthly cadence or indeed this format quite accomplishes what I want. Though for now I don’t have any better ideas, so I’ll probably find myself back here in a month.