Improvised

Eastside Road, December 3, 2012—

WE'RE STILL OFF our feed: this has been a tenacious cold. All Lindsey wanted was some chicken soup, so I chopped up some onion, carrot, and celery, browned it in olive oil, and added chicken stock.

I wanted more, so I cut up two or three small potatoes and more onion and browned them in oil; then added water to steam them, and a dozen Brussels sprouts I'd cut trimmed and cut in half.

Meanwhile I made myself a chile relleno: I charred the Poblano pepper, scraped off the skin, butterflied it and got rid of seeds and ribs, then put a few slices of St. George cheese inside and folded it shut again.

I whisked the white and the yolk of an egg, separately; dredged the stuffed pepper in a bit of flour, then in the combined whisked egg, then back in the flour; and then I fried it in hot olive oil in the small black iron skillet.

That was it, and it sufficed.

Red table wine, "Guadagni," Preston of Dry Creek, 2011