3. Iorich

I hate to say this, but I am starting to wonder if Brust is losing his touch. I liked this one a lot better than the previous book (Jhegaala), but it felt rushed and a bit sloppy. The plot was okay to my mind, and it was nice to see Vlad back in his element, to meet up with characters we haven't seen in a while (I am fond of Kiera, though I almost wish Vlad had never found out, as I'm getting tired of the winking). I was astonished and somewhat peeved to find that we have skipped eight years in what I think of as the mainline continuity. We do finally get to see Cawti and young Vlad, though in a somewhat perfunctory fashion.

Perfunctory is also the word I want to use to describe the ending to Iorich. I think it would have been more interesting if Vlad had screwed it up, to be honest--had gotten the wrong guy, or something like that. For all of the years and the weird things he's been through, in this book he seemed to be operating on an autopilot keyed to the first couple of books; I'm not seeing the growth I would have expected to see with such a time lapse.

There is a lot of snappy dialog, lots of bits that I liked, and things move along briskly to a happy ending, but as a whole work...? I am starting to worry that Brust has no idea where to take the series at this point. There were Vlad's early years, and those were fine, and then his life sort of fell apart and we got into the whole massive meta-plot with the gods and the Jenoine and the Great Weapons, and then... well, I have no idea what happened, but we seem to be back in a new stasis, forward in time.

Vlad has been on the run from the entire Jhereg forever now (and yet manages to spend this book running around Adrilankha without a major problem), and has now managed to piss off the Left Hand as well as the Right. He's in a completely untenable position, it's getting a little old for this reader, and I'm not sure the author has a plan to get him out of it.

Of course, he also has a Great Weapon, which has yet to do anything, so far as I've noticed. It does, if I remember the early years of the series correctly, offer Vlad a hedge against the fact that the Jhereg wants to destroy his soul, and I will be quite interested to see if it is ever so employed.

Basically I enjoyed this book, I just wish that we would get some kind of resolution, or even discernable forward motion, on... something.

Barefoot Contessa Seafood Gratin

For this week's "cook from a book" goal recipe, I turned once again to the Barefoot Contessa and somehow landed on this as something that would be different from my usual cooking, and somewhat fun to make. I was planning to work from home that day, so I would have the extra time to fuss in the kitchen.

I suspect that for most people, this is one of those "use every pot you own" type recipes--I certainly used most of mine, along with an army of prep bowls. The result, however, was probably the best thing I have made in months. This was, to my mind, restaurant-quality stuff. Maybe not the French Laundry, but a decent restaurant.

I made a fair number of changes. I don't like shrimp, and for only two of us 1 1/2 lbs would have been way too much anyway, so I used bay scallops and cod.  I wasn't about to go looking for fresh tarragon in January; instead, I sprinkled some herbes de Provence among the bread crumbs. And I don't own any gratin dishes, so I used a relatively small baking dish.

It was amazing. I took a picture, which I will add to this post at some point.

The only other thing I want to mention is that this is really, really, really rich. So if you're making it for a dinner party or something, make sure dessert is on the light side!


1 cup seafood stock or clam juice
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons good white wine, such as Chablis, divided
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
8 ounces raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half crosswise
8 ounces raw halibut, cut into1-inch chunks
8 ounces cooked lobster meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups julienned leeks, white and light green parts (2 large)
1 1/2 cups julienned carrots (3 carrots)
1 cup panko (Japanese dried bread crumbs)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place 4 individual gratin dishes on sheet pans. (If recipe is doubled serve it in a 14 by 9 1/4-inch oval gratin dish.)
2. Combine the stock, cream, 1/2 cup of the wine, the tomato puree, and saffron in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add the shrimp. After 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp to a bowl. Add the halibut to the stock for 3 minutes, until just cooked through, and remove to the same bowl. Add the cooked lobster to the bowl.
3. Continue to cook the sauce until reduced by half, about 12 minutes. Mash 1 tablespoon of the butter together with the flour. Whisk the butter mixture into the sauce along with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
4. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saute pan. Add the leeks and carrots and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of wine, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender. Set aside.
5. Combine the panko, Parmesan, parsley, tarragon, and garlic. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and mix it into the crumbs until they're moistened.
6. Divide the seafood among the 4 gratin dishes. Strew the vegetables on top of each dish. Pour the sauce equally over the seafood and vegetables and spoon the crumbs evenly on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve hot.

Three Vegetarian Recipes

Although obviously not vegetarian, we do eat that way three or four times a week, most weeks. Last week we had three winners, at least one of which I had never made before (another one we couldn't remember for sure). So as part of today's triple-post, I give you:

• Portobello Mushroom Fajitas -- The only conceivable problem with these is the serving size. If you actually want this to feed more than two people who aren't very hungry, make some sidese! They were fantastic.
• Fried Rice with Broccoli and Eggs -- Doesn't get much more economical than this, and quite tasty as well. Could make a good lunch if you have a cooler.
• Stir-Fried Tofu with Mushrooms, Sugar Snap Peas, and Green Onions -- This is a recipe I probably make every couple of months (which for me is frequent!). There's not much too it, and it's so very good.

 Half a week's worth of wonderful vegetables right there!

2. What We Eat When We Eat Alone

A delightful little dessert of a book, this makes no pretense to being a scientific survey. Instead it muses, in a pleasant, rambling fashion that recalls the best after-dinner discussions, exactly on what the title says: the things we feed ourselves when there is no one else to take into account, and why. There are recipes, and many of them sound worth making, but this isn't really a cookbook, more a browsing book.

Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

Yesterday I got a crit on the entire Book 1 draft. It was from someone whose work I had read a week or so back (we had agreed to do a swap); I was very impressed by her writing, and so nervous about what she might think of mine that I went off and did housework instead of reading her feedback.

This morning I finally opened the file. She wasn't shy about pointing out the problems, but she also said such positive things that I am in, I don't know, a state of shock? This is someone who is under no obligation to be nice to me, offering an opinion that I am capable of writing publishable work*, that the novel has issues but it also has merit. I am either going to cry or sing. :)

*It does not of course follow that it ever will be, but hey -- can't hurt.

Cauliflower, Cheese, and Tomato Soup

I have made some very good soups from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. This is not one of them. I'm not going to bother typing it out unless someone asks for it. It wasn't actually bad, but the texture was extremely cauliflower-y (and I like cauliflower), and for a soup with so many ingredients, it suffered overall from a lack of identifiable flavor--just a big muddle of vegetables.

This was week 3's cookcook, by the way; so far, I have managed to adhere to my goal!

Polenta with a Wild Mushroom Sauce

Wow, have I gotten behind on this blog. The "year of cookbooks" continued into week two with Flavors of Tuscany, a lovely book I got for Christmas about a million years ago.

I had only tried polenta once, at a restaurant in Somerville, and was underwhelmed by the experience. I thought it was time to give it another try. I had intended to make the lemon chicken from this book as well, but I forgot to plan for marinating, so used my old Bistro Chicken standby instead for the entree, and a big romaine salad. The polenta and sauce were a first course.

I'm not going to include the polenta recipe, as the stuff I bought turned out to be instant, and whatever kind you use you can figure out how to cook it. The instant seemed fine to me, but I'm not exactly an expert on the stuff.

1 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, preferably fennel-flavored
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1/4 flat-leaf parsley
1 28-oz can plum tomatoes with their liquid, coarsely chopped
1 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary
2 sage leaves, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cover the dried porcini with very warm water in a bowl and set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
2. While soaking, slice the sausages no more than 1/2 inch thick. In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, saute the slices in the oil until they lose their pink color. Set aside to drain on paper towels.
3. Drain the mushrooms in a sieve lined with cheesecloth placed over a bowl to catch the liquid. Rinse the drained mushrooms under running water, then chop them coarsely. Reserve the mushrooms and the soaking liquid.
4. Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the oil in the skillet and saute gently until soft but not brown. Stir in the tomatoes, rosemary, and sage. Simmer gently, uncovered, until thick, 20-25 minutes, then add the mushroom liquid, the mushrooms, and the sausage (note: since it doesn't tell you how much liquid to use for the mushrooms, this is a judgment call). Continue cooking, uncovered, 15-20 minutes. The sauce should be very thick. Add salt and pepper if necessary. 

We found the polenta sort of "meh." OK, yes, it's a basic grain, it's supposed to be bland. Not sure what all the excitement is about the stuff. The sauce was quite good. We had the leftovers on pasta the following night. The leftover polenta was warmed in some butter and, with the addition of some grated cheese, made for a fine lunch.