Several days ago I got a small box of chopsticks from Amazon.
Chomping at the bit to use them.

Eating alone, today.
Don’t want to spend a lot of time but neither do I ever want to waste a meal.
It’s cold outside.
So, Hot Pot.
Yes.

So easy when a tub of our own chicken stock is waiting in the freezer.
I rummage through the refrigerator for ingredients before I go out shopping.
I find lettuce, celery, and red onion.
Not much else.

Remembering that Amazon is featuring halibut fillets at Whole Foods, at a special price for Prime Members.
Love halibut.
Certainly that will be the centerpiece.
Along with clams which I admire for the taste.
The rest I’ll decide when I get to the market.

In the event, from the fish counter I got 2 single scallops, 4 16-20 shrimp, half pound halibut, skinless, smelts, yes, love them, and the 4 clams.
From the vegetable bins: a 6oz bunch of spinach, 4oz of mushrooms, trumpets, 1 leek.
That should suffice.

______________________________________
Tagging Today
Monday, December 10, 2018
My 242nd consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
Time is 12.01am.
Boston’s temperature will reach a high of  37* with a feels like temperature of 23*. Sunny.
The last several days past and coming have all been, all will be, of the same rhythm.
It’s really easy to prepare for.

Dinner is Hot Pot.

__________________________
Question of the Day:
What is Hot Pot?

Short Takes: Festival of the Lights

______________________________
Love your notes.
Contact me @ domcapossela@hotmail.com

Tommie Toner lived all of her life in the South and weighs in on Chris posting on “Just Mercy.”

Thanks for sharing!
This is a very powerful message!
I loved reading the responses as well.
Since I have lived through much of recent civil rights happenings, I have very mixed feelings about the present situation in our country and around the world in regard to the seemingly increase in tribalism, exclusion, and lack of compassion.
I feel exulted when I see so many Black professionals making a positive impact on our community when only a few years ago, Black children were struggling to get an quality education.
On the other hand, I am frightened by the hate groups who are writing swastikas on the walls of higher education buildings in my own community as well as in countries writ-large.
I was thrilled when Obama became President, and now I am heartbroken when I see what is happening under the present administration in relation to human rights and social justice. 

My hope is that through leaders like Chris and my grandaughters, positive change will take hold and create a new generation of mindful, caring people.

Chris, you are a thoughtful, intelligent person and a great writer. We are very fortunate to know you - much less love you.

__________________________________
Answer to Question:
Hot Pot
Note that this recipe abandons the traditional and lovely cooking of the meal at the dining room table.
In my experience, the effort is not worth the reward.
Everyone’s experience is different.
End of apologia.

In this recipe, the boiling pot will be carried from the stove to the dining room table.
We will serve ourselves small bowls after small bowls until the Hot Pot is empty and cold.

So set the table with a trivet and soup ladle for the Hot Pot, soup bowls, plates for bones or any discard, soup spoons, chopsticks, and a small bowl for the orecchiette.
A bowl of orecchiette.
Also, small bowls of Asian dips.
I used low-sodium soy sauce and wasabi for this.
But any number of sauces would be fun.

Udon noodles are traditional with Hot Pot.
For me, they are a lot of calories.
For this outing I used the Italian orecchiette, but only 1 oz per serving.
Boil the pasta and remove from pot while still very, very chewy.
They will cook some more in the Hot Pot.

Note that the ingredients for this dinner will vary every time we make the meal.
With the proper chicken stock as our base, everyone of them will be delicious.
Here’s one meal I made recently.

Serves two.

Bring 4 cups of chicken stock (recipe in the website) plus 3 cups of water to a boil.

Thirty minutes before service:
Wash the shells of the little necks and oysters and set them into the boiling broth.
When they open, remove the clams from the broth and then remove them from their shells, reserving the clams.

A deviation from the recipe: the chef’s pre-dinner treat:
Remove the oysters from the broth.
Likely the oysters will not be opened.
Open the 4 oysters with an oyster knife (very easy since the gentle creatures have passed) and, sharing them with your cook’s assistant, swallow them along with the broth in the shell. Oyster stew in its most simple.
Note that we open oysters by inserting the tip of the knife into the rear hinge of the oyster shell and twisting it apart.

Back to the dinner.

Ten minutes before service:
Add into the boiling pot:
1 teaspoon salt
1T fines herbs
4oz red onion
4oz mushrooms
2oz leeks, cut into 2” sections
4oz spinach leaves or watercress
2oz celery, leaves when available, stalks cut into 2” pieces
2oz carrot pennies
Simmer.

Five minutes before service:
Bring the pot to a boil and add:
4 shrimp, size 16-20
4oz squid, tubes and tentacles
2 scallops, u-12
8oz firm fleshed fish like halibut
4 dumplings, bought from market
Simmer for 5 minutes.

At service, when removing pot from stove to table:
Add the orecchiette.
Add small fresh smelts that cook on impact
Add the reserved clams.

The hot pot will come to the table and stay for the duration of the dinner.
Serve the noodles in a bowl. Ladle a little broth from the hot pot over them to keep them loose.
Diners each get a soup bowl and serve themselves, noodles first, and then the hot pot.

Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
Also, a shaker of spices assembled to our taste. I used a quarter ounce each of ground cumin, ginger, onion, curry, nutmeg, cayenne, and garlic.

_______________________________
Good morning on this Monday, December 10, Christmas now 15 days away.
Whereas Hanukkah ends today at sundown .
Today we devoted most of the blog to Hot Pot, when I’m inspired to make it and how.
We also read a comment on Chris’ posting from one of our southern friends.

E basta.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?

See you soon.

Love

Dom