We'd bought ling cod and halibut at a farmers' market on Thursday. The ling
cod was simply pan-cooked with butter and served with scalloped turnips,
glazed carrots, and steamed sugar snap peas. We had the fish bones and about
half a pound of uncooked fish left over.

Friday night I made a broth using the uncooked ling cod and its bones, a
2x3-inch rectangle of kombu (dried kelp), a pint of cherry tomatoes which I
whirled briefly in the food processor, a drizzle of soy sauce, and a little
bit of sugar. That cooked merrily together for about 45 minutes, after which
it was strained. It still looked pretty murky, so I clarified it with a
couple beaten egg whites. We had a nice bunch of Tuscan kale, which I
chopped up and cooked with some water, salt, and butter. I puréed about
three-quarters of a cup of garbanzo beans and added it to the broth. (I
wanted it to look like miso soup, with the purée slightly settled in the
clear broth.) Finally, the halibut was sprinkled with kosher salt, rubbed
with mustard, and cooked in a mixture of olive oil and butter. The kale was
mounded into the center of soup plates, the broth was poured around, the
halibut was placed on top, and the dishes were garnished with inch-long
chive sticks. We had fresh-from-the-bakery whole wheat French bread to sop
up the broth.

Last night I browned salted short ribs well in grapeseed oil, removed them
from the pan, deglazed with diluted coffee, then added about five
tablespoons of nuoc mam and two small heads of chopped garlic. That was all
covered with collard greens whose stems had been cut out but the leaves left
mostly intact. The pan was covered and went into a 250°F oven for three
hours. (At the 30-minute mark I salted the collard greens.) I peeled and
cubed two small celery roots. The cubes were cooked in salted water until
soft. While they were cooking, I put milk, white pepper, and cream cheese
into the mixer bowl and put the bowl on top of the stove to warm up. (The
bowl wasn't on a burner, it was just sitting on top of the stove. That area
gets pretty hot when the oven is on, and the bowl was also sitting next to
the burner which was simmering the celery root cubes.) When the celery root
cubes were soft, they were drained and then beaten with the milk and cream
cheese. For a salad, I cup up a couple local pears and dropped them into
water which had been acidulated with apple cider vinegar. I put half a bag
of mixed salad greens into a salad bowl, and put the pears on top. I
simmered some candied ginger in apple cider vinegar, added salt and
grapeseed oil, and made it into a salad dressing in the mini-chopper. While
the ginger and vinegar were simmering, I toasted some almonds to sprinkle on
top. Finally, I cut up a small butternut squash, microwaved it, and roughly
mashed it with butter. We drank a forgettable/regrettable bottle of red wine
with the meal.

Bob