#I keep wanting to type cinque chibi

[copperbadge]

[ID: A photograph of a building in Chicago through my window; in one corner my spider plant is photobombing the image. Through the window, snow can be seen falling against the urban backdrop.]

It's snowing in Chicago for New Year's! Everyone who bought a cute cocktail dress to wear out to the parties tonight, I'm so sorry. Maybe invest in some kind of dramatic greatcoat that will keep your butts warm.

Me, I've put the stracotto di manzo on to slow cook (fourth dish I'm cooking, third course in the Festa Alla Cinque Cibi) and I'm about to sit on the sofa and not do much for a bit.

The stracotto di manzo recipe, like the burik recipe, comes from Portico, a Jewish-Italian cookbook (there's an online version here) and I did make a few alterations; I hope people know that whenever I talk about changing a recipe it's because I'm changing it to suit my tastes or laziness, and that's not a critique of the recipe. In this case, I halved the recipe since I'm only one man and four pounds of pot roast is too much. I also replaced the sauteed onions-celery-garlic mixture with my Special Sauce, but mainly because I had the Special Sauce handy and it's the same flavor profile more or less. No celery note, but I'm indifferent to celery.

[ID: three images; left, a photo into the instant pot, showing a golden-brown mess on the bottom; center, a bottle of Bay Bridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon; right, the "special sauce" after the wine has been added, which is now a surprisingly appetizing-looking green liquid flecked with gold.]

The "special sauce" is a mixture of caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and my homemade pesto (roasted cashews, fresh basil, salt, roasted garlic, olive oil). I browned the beef chunks in olive oil and removed them, added the special sauce just long enough to get it good and hot, then added the wine and deglazed the pan. They say you should only ever cook with wine you'd drink, but I don't like wine at all, so like a good San Francisco boy I bought some California Cab in the $5-$10 range and hoped for the best. When it arrived it turned out it had been on markdown, so that is right there some of your finest $2.50 wine. I'll use the rest in a ragu sauce or to thin paint or something. How long does jet fuel keep in the fridge?

[ID: A shot into the instant-pot of large chunks of beef bubbling away in a red sauce, bits of gold "special sauce" still visible here and there. None of you can smell the garlic and basil I'm smelling right now but I wish you could.]

Anyway I didn't get a photo of the beef browning, but once the special sauce and red wine were on the boil, I added a massive can of tomato puree and the browned beef, brought it up to bubbling, then switched over to slow-cook. I've got it on the lowest possible setting but that might be slightly too low, so I'll check the temp in two hours and re-evaluate. It's just feeding me and I have no set time to eat, so if it takes all day it takes all day.

All that's left now is the second fry on the Carciofi Alla Giudia, which will be the last thing I do because you serve that warm and there's no real way to re-heat it after the second fry.

Breakfast was a slice of homemade pizza and like four amaretti cookies, because I am only ever classy by appointment.

#food #sam cooks #festa alla cinque cibi #I keep wanting to type cinque chibi #yes the feast of the five adorable manga characters #I think they call that Ouran High School Host Club