lamb meat loaf, ersatz gyros

The problem with the gyros here, not really much of a problem, was texture and insufficient fat. That and the fact it wasn't roasted on a spit. Online instruction direct the cook towards more of a meat loaf which at first I resisted.

There sure was a lot of that lamb. Still have some left frozen. And the pork too. This is ground lamb, pork, and beef. All very low in fat, and that will not do. Added olive oil, and to retain whatever fat those meats contain and the oil supplemented, I added my own sourdough breadcrumbs, along with a few eggs and some milk. Plus Worcestershire sauce s/p. Instead of shrinking, the meat actually puffed up like a loaf of bread. It's utterly delicious, but it's hardly gyros. Therefore, it must be considered a meatloaf -- the best meatloaf I've ever tasted. No brag. Just fact.

The sauce here is catsup and Worcestershire and I'm not going to do that again. I still have my own tzatziki so there is no point in using this second-rate red menace.

If you have never tried meatloaf made predominantly with lamb then pork then beef, I urge you to try it. Do consider breadcrumbs, just enough to adjust the texture and to help retain fat and moisture. Forget about catsup, that's for children.

This batch produced two of these meatloaves. It was totally worth the effort of grinding and mixing the meat. If I would have added diced onion, I'd sweat them first to cause them to shrink before being packed into the loaf.

poached egg with pasta

This is unbelievably delicious but I have to work on it a little bit more before it goes on the menu. I'm visualizing serving it as a separate course following a salad. The idea is to enlist a guest or possibly two and produce the pasta right there, engaging the guests, you see. It's fun! Attach the motor to the pasta machine just to make it even more fun. While that's going on, poach enough eggs to perfection with a few extra and keep them warmed until the pasta and sauce is ready. Homemade fettucini, white sauce with Parmigiano Reggiano and pancetta or bacon and basil, poached egg coated with parsley, and probably a few chunks of fresh tomato on top.

I'm seeing this happening all at once and coming together at a precise moment. I practice it in my mind: Pasta being mixed, rolled out, cut cooked and drained; thin white sauce prepared, grated cheese, fried pork of some kind; basil and parsley torn and chopped and ready to go; nearly a dozen eggs poached. Onto pre-warmed plates, pasta coated with sauce, sprinkled with pork bits Parmigiano and basil, topped with poached egg covered with parsley and decorated with bright tomato. Served in disappointingly small amounts on salad plates following a salad as a second course leaving diners wanting for MOAR !!!!11!1!11.

Then give it to them, later, the extra. If they want it, to take home.

The alternative to this is carbonara, but that's closer to a raw egg and wouldn't reheat very well.

[note to self: make sure you have enough disposable containers.]

Pasta made quickly, the usual way. This time, cut by hand. Shown here already a number of times. Surely you'd be annoyed to be shown it again. Use search up there for "pasta" or "atlas." I detached the Atlas from the work surface because I'm having more fun rolling out the pasta and cutting it by hand. I can do it now quite expertly.

Here I used thyme because I have it on hand and I haven't any basil. Thyme is not that great of an herb for this. Basil is the herb to use.

chicken liver paté with oats

Do those up there look appealing or what? This is my latest invention that will soon be taken up by all the most daring restaurants and caterers and sweep the nation in my mind.

True story: I dreamt this. That's right. I woke up a little bit confused because the part about presenting them in pop-up cards didn't make sense. I woke up thinking,"But the card has to fold flat and so that wouldn't work down here in the real world." How odd that something wet as tzatziki and three dimensional as liver balls does work in pop-up cards in the dream world. So I narrowed down the idea to just the deep-fried breaded chicken liver pate held together with oats. It occurred to me later this is a little bit like haggis, minus all the other offal, and not being lamb, of course.

I did not know if the liver should be processed before or after cooking it. I still don't know which is best. I do know this makes the most unappealing sludge I've ever seen. Like poo balls. The adhesive quality of the oats works fine. I also added my own sourdough breadcrumbs. The flavor is very mild in spite of the fresh and dry herbs I added in abundance, thyme, sage, and summer savory.

I almost included cornmeal but didn't.

Almost included egg in the mixture but didn't.

Dust in flour, drench in egg/milk, dredge in Panko. Deep fry @ 350℉ / 175℃ for just a few minutes, if even that.

Yogurt tzatziki is the perfect accompaniment.

Edit: Oh! I forgot. Diced half a large white onion and fried it in butter. I was distracted and the onion burned a little bit. It soaked up all the butter so I added more. Then crushed garlic and the trimmed chicken livers. Piled in the herbs to excess. Removed from pot and used the same pot to cook oatmeal. As the oatmeal cooked I saw it needed more liquid. Instead of water I added red wine which I intended to include with the liver. The combination of cooked wine and butter is extraordinary. I wanted that combination included in my mixture. Here, it's added to the oats, not the liver, the two things, oatmeal and liver with onions would be processed together eventually.

When I bought the chicken livers (Bell and Evans from Whole Foods freezer) I forgot that I used the last of the oatmeal I had on hand to prepare a dry mixture in advance. That mixture was shown down there ↓ a few posts ago. It contains a bunch of trail mix and dried fruit. It also contains cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar. I can pick out the nuts and fruit but can not do anything about the cinnamon and brown sugar. Too bad. Used it anyway. This might account for it not having a heavy chicken liver taste.

If I were to adjust the mixture that remains before deep-frying it into little balls, I will consider diced bacon along with all the bacon grease. Possibly more wine, depending on how much I choose to loosen the mixture.

Edit II: There was a lot of mixture remaining. The next day I did add diced fried bacon, and ground corn (popcorn) cooked in chicken broth and wine. White wine this time. With more butter. This diluted the liver flavor further and enhanced it with polenta flavor. It pretty much doubled the amount. It formed into balls easily, firmed when chilled, and deep-fried to dark golden brown within minutes. I find it utterly delicious. I'd be pleased to serve this with a thicker tzatziki sauce for nearly any kind of gathering.

raspberries with sweetened ricotta and chocolate

Ricotta with honey and vanilla.

Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips and milk a few tablespoons each , ⚡⚡ zapped ⚡⚡ for ten seconds.

Fuzzy wuzzy tender little berries.

I make a great crust. * exhales on fingernails, buffs nails on shirt * It's no problem at all. But sometimes I just don't want it. Other times, that's all I want. There's no rule that sez they must always go together.

cheese sandwich, cheddar, 100% whole-wheat

Blimey, with thymey. Fried in salt-free butter, mmmm butter. Aged cheddar.

On my bread. Myyyyyy bread. My lovely straight-up 100% whole-wheat that IS NOT like a brick. Although I'll allow it's more dense than your stupid foam bread. Sorry. I'm breadly arrogant that way. Nobody makes bread as good as mine, even a bakery.

But I'll tell ya, with that strong aged cheddar, it's altogether a bit much so I lightened it up by spooning fresh homemade tzatziki over it, and man oh man did that ever hit the spot.

pork cubes, sauce, tomato, cucumber, tzatziki

I sure like having these pork cubes around. Now they're all gone. You know what that means don'tcha? MOAR! Except next time I'm not going to pressure cook 'em.

The flavor forfeited by hard steaming with pressure was recovered by using the liquid for sauce along with other strong flavors, red wine, touches of garlic powder and some kind of prepared curry. Sauce + cubes enhanced further here with my own blend of chile flakes (three separate packages of different types of dried peppers, torn open, seeds dumped, and processed to flakes in a coffee grinder dedicated to everything that's not coffee).

This batch of tzatziki is runny but I don't care. Didn't drain the yogurt, but did squeeze the cucumbers. Added the lemon juice not just the lemon zest. It tasted weird. Needed salt. Still weird, kind of bitter. Added honey. Fixed. Still lacked some depth so added scant 1/8 teaspoon mixed pepper flakes. Now it's wonderful but still runny. Three huge cucumbers, peeled and de-seeded, processed then strained for 16 oz. Greek yogurt plus diced onion, fresh garlic, salt, honey, chile flakes.

mussels

bacon

onion

garlic

butter

thyme (Not the right herb, but I don't care. Try chervil, parsley)

dry white wine

Mmmm. Put 'em in a pot. Put on a lid. Steam. Check to see if they're opened. Finger-food. I ate all two and a half pounds, on account of when it comes to mussels, I'm a total pig. I actually like the cooked buttered wine a lot better than the same wine in a glass. I'm totally no-class that way.