fucking perfection

just finished dinner. sigh....

cast iron seared strip steaks, horseradish creamed leeks (with gruyere this time. mmm.), roasted potatoes and turnips, buttery peas and great lakes christmas ales.

that is what i am fucking talking about!

experiments!

the other day i had a reeeeeeal craving for some indian food - palak paneer to be specific - but out in the sticks there is nary an indian joint. looks like i'd have to tackle it myself.

luckily the spice corner is just a hop, skip and a jump from my place of employment so the martini and i hit it up one afternoon after work. it rocks! $11 got me several different spices and herbs and paneer! woohoo! $2 for a big, frozen chunk of paneer!

armed with my paneer and new spices and manjula's wisdom i headed home to make my very own indian cuisine for the very first time.



it was easy!! and it turned out amazing!! even skeptical mike who asked, "is this like tofu? is it going to be a real meal?" liked it. woohoo! palak paneer is in the arsenal!

after the first couple of frosts i realized that i needed to complete a final harvest out in the garden. i picked all the onions and they are currently curing in the garage on a tarp. this weekend i'll stuff 'em into some pantyhose and hang 'em in the basement. i've never stored onions before - it's an experiment!

i also picked all the leeks, cut a bunch of kale and pulled all the rosemary.



remember hank? he's growing up so fast. sigh....



i washed and dried the rosemary and cut off the root ends. then i shoved it all into a freezer bag and stuck it in the freezer. sources say it will last and taste close to fresh. we shall see. it's an experiment!



kale.

we have eaten a ton of it this summer/fall and we'll continue to eat it into the winter! i removed the stems, washed, chopped, blanched, shocked and froze this kale in several small freezer bags. plus the kale is still kickin' out there! i'll probably freeze some more!



here's a sink full o' leeks!

with a few of these i tried out a recipe i found for horseradish creamed leeks. i love horseradish. i love cream. and i love leeks. seemed like a winner!



here are the elements - the edmund fitzgerald is key during leek experimentation.

first things first - melt some butter!



while the butter was doing its thing i washed the leeks and cut them down the middle but not all the way through.



mmm...leeks, butter and cream.



another look. mmm....



i removed the leeks from the pan and put them in gratin dishes. i stirred in a big blop of horseradish and some parmesan cheese into the buttery creamy sauce. then i poured the creamy source over the leeks and added a lil' more parmesan on top for good measure.



these went under the broiler for a just a few minutes until they were
brown and bubbly.

man oh man. i wish i had a photo to show you but this looked and smelled so killer that we scarfed 'em down without a thought of capturing an image.

go make this. FANTASTIC!