Turkey Cordon Blooey

1 deboned turkey thigh
Alton Brown's poultry shake (or your own)
chili oil
4 strips bacon
4 stalks white asparagus
4 lychees, chopped
handful shredded mozarella

Preheat oven to 375F; heat a cast-iron skillet over a medium-high flame. Spread out the turkey thigh. Season it liberally on both sides with the poultry shake and rub with some chili oil. Sear in the skillet, 2 mins on each side, then remove. While the turkey is resting reduce heat under the skillet and cook the bacon. When the turkey is cool enough to handle, roll it up with the bacon, asparagus, lychees, and mozzarella inside. Secure with short skewers if necessary.

Put the turkey back in the skillet and bake for half an hour.

Vacation post: steamed asparagus with ginger-lime sauce

Fresh asparagus

1 large thumb ginger

2 c water

2 limes

2 T cornstarch

dark brown sugar

Slice the ginger into 1/4" rounds. Make an infusion: put the ginger and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add the juice of 2 limes. Mix the cornstarch with a little water to make a slurry, add to the ginger-lime infusion. Stir until it begins to thicken then remove from heat. If desired, sweeten to taste with dark brown sugar.

Drizzle over steamed asparagus.

This Is How You Empty A Fridge

Ginger Filet of Beef

1 6-8 oz sirloin or filet
kosher salt
1 T ginger-scallion oil

Pan-sear the filet and finish in the oven as described here, but without peppercorns. Spoon the ginger-scallion oil over the meat immediately after removing from the oven and allow to rest.

Passionfruit Curried Cauliflower

half-dozen cauliflower florets, quartered
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

pinch kosher salt

1 T olive oil

1/2 c passionfruit juice drink
1 T green curry paste
1 t cornstarch
5 canned white asparagus spears
1/2 small cucumber, chopped
handful cilantro leaves, chopped
1 lemon wedge

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the cauliflower, onion, and jalapeño with a pinch of kosher salt until they just start to soften. Add the passionfruit drink and curry paste, stir to mix, and bring to a low boil until the liquid reduces by about a third. Mix the cornstarch in a little water to make a slurry, add and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and add the cilantro, asparagus, and cucumber. Squeeze in the lemon just before serving.

Served with leftover miso rice.

This Grocery Store Is A Big F'ing Deal

I've been living in one of Atrios's dreams of an urban hellhole without a car for several months. My grocery shopping has therefore been limited to what I can reach on foot (or bicycle) and what I can carry. I live right off a big shopping district so it's not like it's a hardship - there are wonderful vegetable stalls, fresh spices, bakeries just steps away. But it's urban rents so while there are 5 different grocery chains nearby, they're all small stores with limited selections.

Today a friend drove me out to the burbs to one of the biggest, fanciest-ass grocery stores in the entire nation, the Tiv-Taam in Rehovoth Rishon LeTzion. The store has a bar in it. Actually it has TWO bars - one's a wine bar with a great pub food menu, and the other is a noodle bar and a sushi bar and a Guinness-on-tap bar. And since Tiv-Taam is the not-kosher shopping chain, the place was hopping late on a Friday afternoon. I'm told it's a major destination for the secular folks on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Yes, this is how strange and sad my life has become. I'm gushing over the experience of going grocery shopping.

I didn't lose my mind completely - the leg of lamb looked gorgeous but I would've needed to buy a freezer to put it in. The gigantic cowboy ribeyes were pretty damn impressive as well but I would've needed a bank loan. So instead I went vegetarian with some items I haven't seen at a reasonable price in the city.

Asparagus salad

5 stalks white asparagus
1/4 avocado
1 slice red onion
1/2 small cucumber
pinch kosher salt
1 T rice vinegar
1/2 t mirin

I will cop right away to this: the asparagus came out of a jar. Fresh asparagus in Israel is, well, see above, bank loan. And of course we're way out of season. But it worked for this application. Nothing fancy; peel the cucumber, chop everything up and toss it with the vinegar and mirin. Let sit while the rest of the meal is prepared.

Sauteed Shemeji Mushrooms

1 package (3-4 oz.) brown shimeji mushrooms
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 t extra virgin olive oil

Trim the base so the mushrooms are all separate stalks. Heat the olive oil over medium heat; add the mushrooms, toss for a minute, and add the garlic. Sautee, stirring, until the mushrooms just start to darken. Remove from heat and plate immediately; residual heat will cook them just a little more. While still warm, top with 1-2 t of Francis Lam's ginger-scallion oil.

Sauteed Enoki Mushrooms

1 package (~2 oz.) enoki mushrooms
1 T butter
lime zest

Trim the base and separate the mushroom stalks. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the mushroom with a small pinch of kosher salt and saute gently for no more than two to three minutes. Garnish with lime zest.

Miso rice

Prepare white rice as normal but add 1 T dark miso per cup of water

Using rice vinegar and the sweet mirin in the salad prevents the mild flavor of the white asparagus from being overwhelmed. The avocado is buttery and rich in flavor and soft in texture; the cucumber, onion, and the acidity of the vinegar make a great counterpoint.

The shimejis are toothsome and garlicky with the savory flavor amped up by the giner oil. The enokis are buttery and rich. And the saltiness of the miso in the rice brings out the different tastes of the fungus.

I enjoyed all of this with some country onion bread from the Tiv-Taam's bakery, and I'm going to finish the evening with my other big find - a bottle of Tullamore Dew, and at darned near duty-free price!