I suspect Al was pleased rather than alarmed at the loss, and is monitoring to ensure it does not return.
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Ah, I see now it looks like that. Congrats, Al! Shedding 50lbs is not easy when youâre actually trying to do it!
I put on about 15 or maybe 20 extra lbs in my 40s. Lordy, I would run round and round the track and the lbs just stayed right where they were. Eventually took them off but it wasnât easy and took much more effort and time than I imagined it would.
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A departure from the TV dinner last night: Shrimp and Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry. Shrimp were marinated in garlic infused oil, salt, soy, and grated ginger, while we made a quick stock from the shells. Tossed in the wok, in proper order, with garlic and ginger, salt cured jalapeno paste, Shaoxing, sesame oil, soy and stock, white pepper.
Came out nicely!
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Fish Salad, and the tinned seafood discussion in that other thread probably inspired me to add sardines instead of chicken. Made with a similar technique as caesar.
I usually donât but pulled the fillets out and removed the spines.
Mixed in the bowl first:
All oil and juice from the tin
Juice of 1/2 meyer lemon
1 coddled egg
Small squirt of Worst sauce
A little dijon
Small squirt of tabasco
Lots of fresh cracked pepper
Little olive oil
Some capers and brine from the jar
Whisked it all and added romaine, some arugula (needed to get rid of it), fennel fronds and the fish. Mixed it well, letting the fish break up into the salad. First time doing this one and it was really good.
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Got a really nice ~2.5lb greenspotted rockfish. Seasoned entirely and filled the cavity with shallot/leek, fennel scraps from prep with some garlic, meyer lemon cubes and tarragon. Scored and slathered with a mix of EVOO, tarragon and microplaned garlic.
Roasted at 400 for about 30m.
Served over savoy cabbage and fennel braised with Ouzo and some stock, fennel seeds, lots of black pepper, shallots, leeks, red pepper flakes, rice vinegar.
Huge fan of cooking these whole fish and the yield over filets. Plus the cheeks and misc head meat, collars are a bonus when dismantling it. The bones really arenât problematic.
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The best parts!
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Reset 2025 - Day 12 Breakfast/Day 11 Dinner - Ode to Leftovers! We roasted another capon, using the same fantastic semi-Asian brine, with the same method and resultant incredible sauce. But todayâs post is about the leftovers and auxiliary bits. First, my favorite breakfast hash with capon, brussel greens and romanesco sautĂ©ed in capon sauce so rich it needed no egg on top. Next, last nightâs white meat dinner (we always eat the dark meat first two nights). Finally, some of my personal stars - heart, liver, skin, and bonjiri (tail). Yesterday, we made stock and the last of the white meat will go into soup for tomorrow.
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Tell me that is NOT your home oven???
I feel a major jealousy fit that might bring a slight depressive mood and maybe a good cry in the showerâŠ
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Itâs one of them. We have a regular Blue Star range, a commercial Electrolux combi oven and the wood burner in the kitchen. We love the kiss of smoke, but it is a rather major undertaking to get it going if itâs just dinner for us. 
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If anybody needs me, Iâll be crying in the shower.
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We had to build a whole house to get the kitchen, if that makes you feel better.
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A few years ago, we instituted a culinary tradition in our little family.
When itâs my wife or the boys birthdays, they can pick whatever they want me to make as a meal and Iâll put my heart and soul into it. I do retain a right of refusal (or veto) to be used in extreme circumstances. For example, two years ago, my oldest asked for âlots of caviarâ. Well guess what bucko, youâll get all you can eat caviar once you pay for it! On the same year, the youngest asked for hotdogs and cucumber. Love my boys.
With the fun and success of this tradition, I also introduced the random not-birthday-semi-birthday get what you want meal.
When I feel like it, I ask each of them to pick a dish (not a full meal this time) and that becomes dinner for this day. Whatâs fun is that there is no discussing it between all involved parties. So it can lead to surprising mix-and-match items 
.
Tonight was such a night.
Kid #1 chose octopus.
Kid #2 chose boudin aux oignons (blood sausage).
Wife chose âguĂ©dilles aux crevettesâ or basically shrimp rolls.
The octopus was a little tough (probably the pan sear in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, I normally broil it in the oven). I couldnât keep the blood sausage casing intact during cooking. The shrimp rolls were okay (pretzel buns missing from the picture).
Not my most screaming success. But hey, they all seemed really happy, so Iâll chalk that up as a win.
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What makes me feel scared is that between the wine cellar I want and the kitchen I now do, my next house might be just those 2 rooms and a tent! All kidding aside, amazing wood burning oven! Iâm limited to my outside brazero when I want that hit of smoke.
Thank you. We are now destined to be poor in perpetuity, but well fed and never unnecessarily sober.
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Did you poach the octopus first?
Yes. I poached it earlier today and let it cool. I seared it tonight in the pan. I normally put it on broil in the oven with the rack in the upper slot.
But there are other variables here. Itâs the first time I use frozen octopus. I couldnât find fresh one. I let it thaw in lukewarm water before poaching it. And it was frozen tentacles only, not the whole octopus.
Never frozen octopus is very difficult unless you buy it at the source. Weâve only been able to source it in Japan and Spain.
Iâll ask my fish monger if itâs fresh or frozen and then thawed. I always assumed it was fresh, silly me. He gets it from Portugal and sometimes Greece. Portuguese octopus is through his distributor and Greek is directly from his cousin.
Do you pound the meat prior to cooking it? I used to beat it with a mallet but stopped doing so a while back when I noticed it didnât make a discernable difference if poached (slow boil).
I donât pound it, but I am accustomed to it being tenderized before sale.