A bit of food

[pecunium]

Today I did a little cooking.

While I was in Sierra Vista, I stopped at the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop.

It had a book I was looking for, and have been for ages.

The Nero Wolfe Cookbook.

Someday, just to say I did, I will make Capon Souvaroff. It calls for 1 1/2 pounds of pate de foie gras and 8 black truffles.

Truffles are amazing. Forget the comments people make of them being like mushrooms. They are to mushrooms what a modern car is to a horse-drawn carriage; related, but radically different.

A truffle is smokey, earthy and musky. It's dense, and in chunks has a fleshly solidity, it doesn't squish.

TJ's has a truffled cheese, but (for reasons of cost) have enough truffle in it.

But heat will make things more noticable. So I used it to make grilled cheese sandwiches, with buttermilk bread, the sweetness as counterpoint. To go with it I made modified some tomato soup. Some fresh oregano, and a dash of cumin.

It was very good, a pleasant, related, counterpoint to the sandwich. Some white wine would have gone well, but the Red Tail Ale I had was nice, as an afterwards.

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I lost a copy of that, it's out of print, and I'm really trying to find a new one. The ribs with sauce in it are amazing. I also intend to make the famous sausages some day.

One of the funnest cookbooks I've ever owned.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of copies for under $20 at bookfinder.com.

I poked through it a while ago, and was faintly ill at most of the recipes even though I usually like high fat food. I may have been overestimating how much of each dish one is supposed to eat. However, it recommends baking corn--you peel the husk back, strip off the silk, then wrap the husk back around the ear, and bake it. This works.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Wow, someone other than me and the person who got me started with Stout's books knows about Nero Wolfe and the cookbook.

I would love to get my paws on one, even though I lack 95% of the skill necessary to be able to use it.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

He is one of the most famous detectives in fiction, right up there with Holmes, Poirot, and Marple.

There have been radio series (both in the US and Canada), two television series, and the books are still in print (In part because of the most resent series).

There are elements of Wolfe in Spenser (though I've had more success deriving recipes from the latter than the former).

The skill is so-so, some things are matters of knowledge, tempered with experience, some are just tricks.

TK

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I paid a dollar for mine, unwilling to wait for the lady who could make change.

Most of the dishes are meant for smaller portions. I may, at some point, try to make, not a capon Souvaroff but a couple of gamecocks. That can probable be done with 1/3 lb of pate, and 2 truffles, which would still be pricey.

The only problem is whom to eat it with, as Maia likes neither of those things.

TK

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Much as I enjoy truffles, I simply cannot condone this tampering with My Comfort Food. The tomato soup much be Campbell's and made with water, not milk. Whole wheat has replaced white, and Colby or Cheddar has replaced less-than-actual cheese, but one can only go so far.

K.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

:)

Campbell's is ok, but the boxed soups of TJs have replaced it (and Swanson's chicken broth) as the ready-made stock of choice.

Maia's comfort food is cheap mac and cheese (referred to as cardboard), and tuna salad; heavy on the celery and pickles, light on the tuna and mayonnaise.

TK

[tenderberry.livejournal.com]

Trust you to take a staple meal - tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches - and create a gourmet feast! Mine own efforts are a bit simpler - a dash of Merlot and soy sauce in the canned tomato soup - not picky about what brand - and mushrooms, tomato slices, w/ extra sharp cheddar cheese and jack cheese on extra sour rye - and I'm happy -

[antiquated-tory.livejournal.com]

Oh, Nero Wolfe and the meals he and Fritz (?) used to make! And not being allowed to talk work at meals. Obviously one of the reasons Archie took his crap and kept working for him, besides Wolfe being a genius.
There was one book set at some kind of gourmet's convention, with the dishes described in pornographic detail and a few of the recipes in the back.
Dang though, your post really set off some nostalgia for me. I was completely addicted to Rex Stout in High School, and I think he's the first person who made me interested in cooking.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

The unanswered question in my mind -- and one I'm almost afraid to ask, although the wrong answer hasn't seriously damaged my relationships with several people who Don't Do It Right -- is whether you toast the bread (I use a large cast-iron skillet) first on the sides that will be adjacent to the cheese. Otherwise, it's heresy, as vile as using sponge-cake rather than sweetened Bisquick-type biscuits for strawberry shortcake.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

For myself, I'm a heretic, but being an ecumenical sort, I can toast the insides for you.

TK

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

"Too many cooks"

Fritz Brenner, swiss, with french affectations; keeps a boar's head he shot in the Vosges, as well as a pot which was, purportedly, used by Julius Caesar's cook on campaign.

TK

[firedrake-mor.livejournal.com]

I like the way you think about cooking! There's hope for the younger generation yet! And I -know- that's not a skill you picked up in the Army!