Text 7223, 88 rader
Skriven 2013-11-28 05:33:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: thanksgiving 520
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Owing to a lack of Internet where I am writing from, and my
unwillingness to go out until my clothes dry, you will
probably be full of turkey and stuffing by the time you
read this.

Wednesday was woefully wet and windy, and I got plenty
moist despite traveling under 100 miles almost all in
metal conveyances. My friend Rosemary was entreated to
pick me up at the end of the train line so I didn't have
to slog half a mile to the bus stop and then take two
buses and an hour and half to go the last 30 miles or so.
On the way we stopped by the fishmonger on the water in
Wickford. The weather was so bad I was surprised that
they were open - and somewhat gratified to see that the
building was still standing, for that matter. Instead of
parking in the little lot, we went right up to the door,
and in the last ten steps, major soaking occurred.

I was commissioned to make dinner for 7 to 9 people, and
the cod looked good at $11/lb - flounder, which used to
be a cheap fish, looked limp and cost $15, as much as
lobster meat if I did the slaughter myself. So 3 lb of
cod it was, destined for a drizzle of sherry and melted
butter and perhaps a few breadcrumbs on top.

They had Nantucket Bay bay scallops for $25/lb, but
these are so hard to come by, so I got 20 bucks' worth
for lunch - 75c per little nubbin of meat - this served 3,
so an extravagance but cheaper than eating in a restaurant.
I made agli'olio and rolled the scallops in it until just
done; served this over spaghetti. The scallops were not
quite so incredible as the ones I'd had from the fishmonger
on Nantucket but still sweeter, tenderer, and drier than
any others I've had from anywhere in the world in years.

One impetus for this purchase was that the other day
before my Boston trip Rosemary and I had gone to a Gregg's
(local chain), and I'd had scallops baked in buttered
crumbs (despite my misgivings, I sometimes order scallops
even though their chance of being good are not good;
Rosemary played it safe and had a reuben, which was
respectable). The dish came out; instead of the tasteless
Chinese trash fish cooked to the consistency of erasers
that I feared, I got decent New England product cooked to
the consistency of rubber erasers. What a waste. Salty
wild rice medley from a high-quality boil in bag came with.

Anyhow, for dinner we had Rosemary's brother and sister-in-
law, plus her widowed sister-in-law Linda with nephews two;
the one having come up on the train after mine (during the
storm) and the other having missed his flight that would
have gotten him in before the storm and been rescheduled,
luckily, on a flight that got him in just after the worst
of it. I did the cod as described, and it was close to
perfect; the vegetable, after some discussion, was sauteed
broccoli, quite nice; for starch I made risotto, which was
okay until I called for some stock to enrich it with, and
Rosemary brought out from the freezer something that turned
out to be stock made from last year's heirloom turkey; six
months ago it was probably fine, but a year is pushing it.
The stuff was slightly off as a result, so I authorized the
use of vast quantities of cheese on it - the available stuff
being Romano, a substance I truly hate, but whatever.

Dessert was Tate's Ginger Zinger cookies, a gluten-free
gingersnap with big chunks of candied ginger baked in: these
are really very nice.

--

We're having a gluten-free lactose-free refined-sugar-free
no-hormones-added dinner in a few hours: Rosemary's grandkid
has shacked up with this guy who has some major dietary
issues, and they're running an organic farm together, and
that's where we're going, if anyone can get up the long,
rutted, muddy road to the place. I'm looking forward to a
reexamination of the products of the organic free-range
turkey raising business; not so much to the other things,
which will involve many interpretations of rice-flour and
nut-flour pie crusts, soy-based custards with pumpkin,
and the like. Free trade coffee with dessert of course.

--

I hope you have a Thanksgiving that is gratifying in
every way, as I trust mine will be.
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