The Hollow Leg Diner: Catching up again

It's either ADD or laziness, but I keep going through long stretches where I ignore the ol' Hollow Leg Diner (the blog, not the kitchen). So here it's been six months since I posted anything. Now it's time to go through a quick flashback to see what's been happening in the Gaxiola kitchen.

BBQ-fest

We gathered La Familia Lopez at the house for a big ol' BBQ dinner. Ribs, two types of mac n' cheese, corn bread, potato salad and mixed veggies.

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The serving line is ready for business

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Shrimp Diablo

I have been making a lot of sourdough bread of late, so I'm constantly trying to find ways to incorporate it into the dinner menu. This was shrimp diablo en croute with braised asparagus. The toasted sourdough soaks up the sauce from the shrimp diablo like a big flavor sponge. Ain't nuthin' wrong with that.....

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Brandada de bacalao

A Basque classic. Bacalao (salt cod) poached in olive oil with garlic. The bacalao is mixed with mashed potato, cream and garlic-infused olive oil. I also added a little asiago and Parmesan cheese as well. I got this recipe from Cocina Para Los Amigos my go-to source for all sorts of Spanish/Basque good eats.

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Budget Cioppino

No fresh dungeness crab or mussels, but I still made a passable cioppino from stuff I had around the house. I had a killer tomato sauce left over from an earlier dinner, so I started looking through the fridge to see what I could make with it. I had celery, carrots, Italian parsley, basil and a package of imitation crab meat (that's like opening the mystery basket on Chopped. Luckily, I had some fish stock and frozen cubes of shrimp and white seabass base in the freezer. I also had a couple of pounds of frozen shrimp and scallops that I bought on sale at Von's. I whipped up the ersatz cioppino in no time. To top it off, I made garlic bread from a loaf of sourdough that I had just baked. I split the loaf, rubbed it all over with fresh garlic and brushed the top with a mixture of melted butter, olive oil and Italian seasoning. For less than fifteen bucks we had a big old pot of tasty cioppino and sopped it up with killer homemade garlic bread. Can't beat that with a stick.

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My Triple D inspiration for the cioppino - the Putah Creek Cafe

Trying New Stuff

Every couple of months I get bored with what I'm cooking and I try out new stuff. Over the last few months I have tried my hand at Sichuan and Indian cuisine. The Sichuan period started innocently enough. I went to the 99 Ranch Market to get some soy sauce and mirin and I walked out with a cart full of all sorts of cool stuff.

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In addition to about a dozen different sauces, various types vinegar and spices, I also got Sichuan pepper (prickly ash) and a couple of fermented Sichuan chili pastes. I tried out a couple of different dishes using the Sichuan-style seasonings. It definitely is hot and very flavorful. I really like the numbing effect of the Sichuan pepper and the heat of the chili paste. I made some awesome noodles and mushroom-veggie stir fry with this stuff. I haven't summoned the courage to make an honest to goodness Sichuan hot pot yet. That's coming eventually. You have to work your way up to it. You need to get used to the burning mouth, violent heartburn and hot poo before you go the full Monty.

Keeping with the hot poo theme, I also have been doing quite a bit of Indian food. I am totally in love with India cuisine. Indian food is spicy, hearty, colorful and just damned good. Because I'm an unrepentant carnivore, I am partial to Punjabi-style dishes. I mean, what could be better than mutton or lamb in thick, rich, spicy gravy?

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One of my favorite Indian recipes is murgh makhani (butter chicken). It takes some work, but it is just incredible. Basically it is tandoori chicken in a spicy, buttery tomato gravy.