A Nice, Relaxing Weekend

Lots of good stuff to report:

Progress

I've lost another two pounds. I'm still ahead of the game and gaining ground, not weight. I'll be ramping up my exercise plan a little bit this week.

Chocolate

I've been a chocolate snob for a while, but haven't had any for weeks because of the diet. I tried a tiny piece of bittersweet chocolate while making dessert for Sunday dinner (haven't made dessert in weeks, so treating ourselves), and it was so sweet I didn't even like it! I have no desire for eating solid chocolate anymore!

Of course I'll cook with chocolate, but I'm going to control the amount of sugar in recipes containing it. And substitute cocoa for part of the chocolate. Tonight's dessert had too much sugar in it and was larger than it should have been. I have my bearing on very small dessert portions now, and using less sugar in the recipes. Tonight's was the last dessert of normal size and sweetness that I'll ever create. I'm not a kid anymore.

Gourmet cooking with less fat

Maybe it was my impatience with waiting for the new sous-vide equipment to arrive, but I came up with something a little similar.

Saute de-stemmed cremini and shiitake mushrooms in a little butter and salt, reserving the stems for the sauce. You don't need much butter at all if you cover the pan in the first couple of minutes to generate steam that condenses into water that drips back into the pan and sort of braises the mushrooms. Remove the saute pan from heat.

Mince a single piece of thick bacon and fry to render its fat. Toss in a minced onion, some bay leaf, green peppercorn, reserved mushroom stems, and thyme. Add a bottle of pinot noir and reduce by 3/4, then add a few pieces of glace de viande and a little water or stock. Simmer a bit, strain through a chinois, pressing on the solids. Add a tablespoon of Grand Marnier, two teaspoons of honey, and adjust for seasoning with Kosher salt and white pepper. Instead of mounting with butter, just thicken with a thin slurry of cornstarch. You should end up with a small amount of strongly flavored sauce.

Bring the mushrooms back to high heat and dress with a couple ounces of sauce, then saute until the mushrooms are thickly glazed.

Trim chicken breasts, sprinkle with cognac, season with salt and white pepper, and toss in some fresh herbs. Wrap each separately in a square foot of plastic wrap, then in a square foot of aluminum foil. Steam for ten minutes, turn and steam for another six minutes, then let rest for fifteen minutes before unwrapping and slicing across the grain in 3/8" medallions.

Fan the medallions across the plate and drizzle the sauce sparingly over the center of the fan, and serve with a few mushrooms.

Family dinner

Had The Three Musketeers (David, Matt, and Jimmy) over for Sunday dinner. It was nice to relax for a while and share a decent meal (see above).

KBO!