let it carry you
a perfect roast, winter risotto, and holiday cookie ideas
Is it me or did we go from December first to the fifteenth in about eight minutes? Usually when I have a lot of variety in my daily schedule, as I do now, I don’t find time moves as quickly as does when I’m under more of a routine, but that hasn’t been the case this month, and I’m scrambling to do all the things we need to do before the holidays. This is a brief newsletter because there is so much else going on, but if all goes well I’ll have good news to share with you next time. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
On the weekend I went back out to my mom’s to help her with some gift wrapping. The less injured of her two ankles can support a bit of weight for a short time so she’s more mobile than when I was there last, but tasks like this are easier with a second person to move things and grab supplies when needed so she doesn’t have to keep using the knee scooter to get around. Anyway, we managed to get the majority of it done, aside from a few things that hadn’t arrived yet (and whatever she has for me, obviously). Beforehand we had dinner at the Black Sheep Pub where she and my stepdad are regulars, so the staff always have their drinks on the table by the time they sit down. The fries there are excellent, even if the taplist isn’t as much to my taste.
We also had our first band practice for my New Year’s Eve set, which I’m really excited about! The last time the hosts were able to have this party it was 2019, due to the nature of *gestures at everything* and this will be their last holiday living in this house, so we’re all determined to give the legendary shindig a proper sendoff. The practice went well, especially for a first jam session, and reminded me just how great sharing music feels.
Liang and I made plans to go to Zubu Ramen after learning that they do a ramen flight of four of their more popular ones, a very fun novelty. However, neither of us was in the mood for a flight, it seemed— I had the tonkatsu with black garlic oil and Liang had the December special which was bone marrow broth with wagyu beef. They torched it for her right at the table which was pretty cool. Tuesdays, as we discovered, they have all-day happy hour so I had a 1oz glass of the yuzu wine as an apéritif and really enjoyed it (Liang got the plum wine). Sadly, tragedy struck when, after I packed up my remaining soup in a takeout bowl and put my coat and hat back on, I left it sitting on the table and didn’t realise until I was getting on the seabus. Forgetting your leftovers at the restaurant always feels unreasonably devastating, doesn’t it?
This time of year I’m always full of big dreams of things I want to cook, but whether I have the time and will to get around to actually making them is another thing. However, it was brought to my attention while getting butter out of the freezer that there were two whole chickens in there I’d forgotten about, and I had a moment where I briefly became both of my parents. But since I’d bought buttermilk not long ago to make my birthday cake, the plan to make Samin Nosrat’s buttermilk roast chicken followed naturally. It can seem intimidating to cook a whole chicken but I find it easier and more forgiving than cooking just pieces of it, and then you can add the bones to stock later, too. This recipe is great because it’s very little work and only three ingredients— buttermilk, chicken, and salt— and yet it’s perfectly delicious and juicy every time. I cook it in a 10” cast iron pan and then make gravy from the drippings after dinner, which we put in the freezer in case a poutine craving strikes a few months later
I’d intended to make this salad to go with it, but forgot to cook the squash, so I made a kale salad with apples and pecorino instead, in a honey mustard vinaigrette. The only thing that could have improved this dinner would be if there was also fresh, crusty bread to eat with it, and I just wasn’t able to get it together to make a loaf in time. But if I want to make that happen in the future, well, I do still have another whole chicken in the freezer. Apparently.
The only other thing I really made this week was a butternut squash and leek risotto from the book Six Seasons. I made it once last winter and really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it even more this time. It’s an interesting recipe because it uses the squash innards and some roughly chopped pieces to infuse the broth with more squash flavour. I let it simmer while prepping the leeks and getting the other ingredients out on the counter (and dashing back to my computer to write little things in a story as I thought of them). The rest of the squash gets grated to go into the risotto directly, in two stages so they vary a little in texture, which I like, though I imagine I’d like it less if I couldn’t grate the squash using the food processor.
Risotto is somehow always both less and more work than I expect. Recipes always confidently say things like “about 15 minutes” and then I’m still standing there half an hour later because I don’t cook in an industry kitchen or on a gas range. But it’s never difficult, just a lot of waiting around for it to get to a nice, creamy texture. This has an amazing flavour from the broth and the leeks, and the sweetness from the squash is tempered with chili flakes. Parmesan, parsley and sage stirred in at the end add richness and depth. This dish had the honour of starring the one butternut squash that made it out of our garden this year— I think a few passersby may have taken them off the vine as they walked past down the alley. But don’t worry, we still have a bunch of spaghetti squash we didn’t plant and never asked for!
This weekend we have a dinner with some of Jeff’s family, for which I need to make a vegetable dish I haven’t had time to think about, but I’ll be flipping through Six Seasons and the Veganomicon later for inspiration. I’m also looking forward to doing some holiday baking next week, with some favourite seasonally-appropriate movies on in the background (Muppet Christmas Carol, Klaus, and Jeff’s perennial pick, Go). I’d hoped to share my mom’s lemon bar recipe with you this year, but unfortunately I ran out of time to get it from her and type it up. Under fear of what will happen if I don’t, I’ll be making the gochujang caramel cookies again— the link is a gift link, so even if you aren’t a subscriber you should still be able to view it. And here are links to my own recipes published previously:
lavender snickerdoodles
ginger molasses cookies
zimtsterne
If you still have a few last-minute gifts to grab and need ideas, you could look my gift guide from last year, or the year before. I’ll be taking the next couple weeks off from writing, so have a great rest of December, however you’re choosing to celebrate or not celebrate, and I’ll see you in January.
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so donations for cookbooks or future treats (or to support eventual moving costs 😓) are much appreciated. Lastly, RIP to the wonderful Andre Braugher. Truly no one was doing it like him.