Last night was

salad of arugula, radishes, avocado, and truffle cheese with strawberry-balsamic vinaigrette
pan fried pork chops
butternut squash-potato gnocchi with fried sage butter

I loved the gnocchi, though there was flour all over the kitchen when I was done . My husband thought they were too heavy, but that's probably because I made them too big. It was getting late and I wanted them done. I think they'd make great dumplings in chicken broth. I also ate some for breakfast this morning

Dinner on Sunday night was beef stew with a horseradish sour cream.

Txaggie,

Wow, that looks amazing. Would you be willing to share your recipe or method. Yum!

Blueberry pancakes, maple syrup, sausages, tater tots, and orange slices. Pure comfort.

I've got a new addition to the rotation: from the October 2006 Food & Wine, the Apple-Riesling Roast Pork. Roast pork loin (instead of tenderloin) with apple/sausage/goat cheese stuffing with apple cider riesling sauce wrapped in applewood smoked bacon (finished on the grill for crisping the bacon). Served with egg noodles and broccoli; standing O from the 5 and 3 year olds as well as wife and mother-in-law!

Slow-roasted pork shoulder
Green chile/cheddar scalloped potatoes
Sauteed kale with toasted garlic and balsamic vinegar
Apple crumb pie

Fricassee of veal and mushrooms (crimini, shiitake and oyster)
Pan-crisped grits cakes
Green beans with Meyer lemon olive oil

2005 Step Rd. Chardonnay

Seared bacon-wrapped scallops
Green beans almondine
A truly terrible baguette from Balducci's
Rocky Road Fudge (the rest goes to the election day bake sale at the school)

Daniel, I never get their baguettes, only the ficelles.

I will pass that info to my wife. However, my new office is across the street from Breadline, and despite some slips there, they still put a good product out. I'll be buying bread there most of the time, I'm sure.

pot roast
butternut squash roasted with butter, herbs, and ginger
steamed broccoli
Guelbenzu 2003 Ribera del Queiles (from my new favorite wine shop )

for dessert: roasted dates filled with mascarpone (yep, like at Komi - shockingly easy to make at home)

(all in front of the first fire of the season, trying to not ruin our appetities with election coverage)

Sauteed chicken livers with mushrooms and bacon
Garlic mashed potatoes
Oven roasted asparagus
2005 Sherwood Pinot Noir

After dinner sweet-- election results...

Wednesday: A spin on Nigella Lawson's onion pie -- cheese scone dough topped with thinly sliced, caramelized onions and bits of Sunday's leftover slow-roasted pork shoulder.

Last night: Beef and bean burritos with lots of green chile and cheese; Pilsner Urquell.

Not dinner, but lunch. I put on my very best June Cleaver ruffled apron and played the adoring housewife fixing a fancy lunch for the man of the house:

Mussels, with butter, shallots, white wine, lime and cilantro.
Baguette
Epoisses and raspberries for dessert.

Aha! We had mussels with butter, garlic, white wine, lemon, and parsley for dinner last night, along with garlic bread made from a baguette, and a frisee salad with radishes and cucumbers. (No dessert, though.)

Mussels are pretty incredibly cheap compared to much of the seaood counter. I got these at Whole Foods and they were fresh and sweet.

Dinner for visiting cousins from Canada who are foodies and who fed us lobsters when we visited them in Montreal last summer:

Appetizers - Crostini with fresh fava mousse, chicken liver mousse or caponata; La Quercia prosciutto; Niman Ranch salame; kalamata olives; cucumber slices

2005 Gelsomina Lambrusco Montovano

First - Roasted tomato and poblano soup with creme fraiche, basil chiffonade and Meyer lemon zest

2003 Venica Tocai Friulano

Main - Charcoal roasted herb-brined chicken from Sunnyside Organics; oven roasted farmers' market root veg, cippolini onions and fingerling potatoes with lemon-garlic olive oil

2004 Hartford Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Salad - Mesclun from Heinz's stand at Dupont Market with lemon vinaigrette

Cheese - Old Chatham Hudson Valley sheepmilk camembert; Firefly Farms aged goat blue; Roccolo aged Italian cows' milk; homemade membrillo, dried Mission figs and black grapes

Dessert - Honey-cornmeal cake with spiced, wine-poached Seckel pears, reduced wine jus, creme Chantilly (this was a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new book she called "Fig Cake for Fall" with wine-poached figs pressed into the top of the cake batter before baking. I had made the seckel pears the day before and was looking for a cake or cookie to accompany them. I combined the two elements - pears and cake - and it turned out fantastically well. It managed to be simultaneously rustic and elegant.

Bttt NV Muscat de Beaumes de Venise

One Pan Sage-and-Onion Chicken and Sausages
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Edamame Succotash

Very comforting!

homemade garlic sausages, from a recipe in Ruhlman's Charcuterie
white beans with garlic, tomatoes and sage
sauteed baby chard

This week is insanely busy so I am trying something different - planning ahead instead of having to figure out dinner every day at 5pm. Maybe I'll be able to stick with a menu this time. On the menu this week:

Pork stew with tomatillos, green chiles, and hominy
Gruyere soufflee with tomato coulis
Beef and pork ragu lasagne (recipe in the new Fine Cooking)

Leftovers on the day the kids have a 4:30 PM doctor appointment, and pizza for the kids Friday night while Mommy and Daddy are at the oyster riot.

Beef stew with carrots, potatoes, and peas
Potato bread
Chocolate-raspberry cupcakes with marbled ganache glaze

Steak au Poivre
Potatoes Lyonnaise
Zucchini persillade

And to complete the theme: Malbec.

ETA: The same combined forces of Puritanical laws and forgetfulness also meant that the role of Cognac in tonight's presentation of Steak au Poivre was ably played by bourbon.

Posole, with pork and mild green chiles. The kids hated it. I swear I should just feed them grilled chicken, rice and broccoli every night.

And to top it off, while serving them leftovers from last night's dinner because they wouldn't eat the posole, I dropped a meatball in tomato sauce on my olive green suede Mephistos.

Really? Please do tell!

Would you be willing to post your recipe?

I can't guarantee that this is how Komi does it, of course, but the result was good. Clean and dry fresh dates and pit them (I snip a small hole in one end and use a swizzle stick to push out the pit); pipe in some mascarpone (no fancy equipment, just a plastic bag with the tip cut off); drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil, and a tiny sprinkle of coarse sea salt, and pop into a warm oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

Pan seared pork loin chops with bourbon-sage pan sauce
Roasted red potatoes tossed with garlic, mustard, and crushed red pepper
Green peas
Tonight's lesson: When you store all your butter in one compartment, read the wrapper carefully before whisking the butter into your pan sauce, lest you end up with really salty sauce.

I didn't really use a recipe this time, but there are several good ones on the web that are probably more authentic. This is more like a pork stew with hominy:

1 1/2 lbs of trimmed pork butt, cut in largish stew pieces
about a quart of strong chicken stock, plus water as needed
large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of good quality canned tomatillos (use fresh if you're not in a hurry) drained and quartered
canned green chiles - to taste
8 oz. dried hominy

Soak the hominy overnight, then cook and drain according to the package.

In a dutch oven, brown pork in olive oil, then remove and pour out all but a tablespoon of fat. add onion and garlic, cook until fragrant. Add a small amount of the stock and scrape up the brown bits, then add the rest along with the tomatillos and chiles. Add water if the stock isn't enough. Bring to a simmer, then cook until the pork is tender. Add the hominy, and cook another 20-30 minutes to thicken the stew. As with most stews, this is better if it sits a day or so in the fridge.

Garnish with hot sauce, shredded lettuce, pickled jalapenos, sliced radishes, and chopped cilantro.

Last night:
Roasted kabocha squash risotto
Charcoal-grilled, lavender-brined pork tenderloin
(Veggie-teen had a roasted portobello stuffed with fresh fava mousse, mozzarella di bufala and spiced crumbs)
Haricots verts with Meyer lemon-garlic oil

2005 Pillar Box Red

Bosc pear crisp with vanilla ice cream


Tonight:
Gratin of mixed baby kale and four cheeses (comte, cheddar,bufala, and Reggiano)
Not sure what else...

I would love to have the recipe too, I love Posole.A nice steaming bowl topped w/shredded cabbage,onions,sliced radish,cilantro,tapatio chile sauce, and just a sqeeze of lemon.....mmmm....I can taste it now,lol.

I'm making a friend's recipe for Burgundy beef stew. It's been cooking for some time now and smells heavenly. We're still recovering from our gluttony last night at bebo, so I think it will just be this and a simple red leaf lettuce-cucumber salad with vinaigrette. (I have some white anchovies and olives that might find their way onto the salad as well ).

Marinated flank steak
Roasted asparagus topped with lemon juice and lemon zest
Roasted potatoes and garlic
Olive and rosemary bread with flavored olive oil for dipping
Chocolate mousse with homemade whipped cream

Beets and goat cheese with walnut coulis
(Stole this Viridian recipe from chef Burrell, who was kind enough to relay the ingredients to me one night-- toast some walnuts and whiz up in a blender with yogurt, orange juice, sherry vinegar. Really, really good with beets)

Tarte flambe (aka bacon and onion pizza)

Last night was a Burgundy beef stew and green salad.

Last night:
Pan fried skate filet
Remoulade with homemade aioli
Sauteed jerusalem artichokes
Pan-roasted melange of "wild" 'shrooms (chanterelles, oysters and shiitakes)

2005 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner

Quote of the meal: "Mo-om! Did you put PARSLEY in this sauce? I HATE parsley!"

If the kid will eat a skate wing, I'd say that's not too bad

Thick boneless pork chop braised with red wine
Celery root salad with scallions
Quince and apple sauce (would be good with cranberries)
Buttermilk mashed potato
Braised collard greens

A bit overboard on the American (South)/Italian combination, but after a full week of making stock, peeling chestnuts and just picking or scrambling eggs, this was the first concerted effort to eat a real meal for quite some time.

Three Thanksgivings with no turkey. So I'm roasting one tonight. So sue me. I like turkey. At least I like my turkey.

This gave me pause. While oyster and shiitake mushrooms are widely cultivated, it was my belief that the chanterelle (along with the cepe and the morel) had defied cultivation. A little Googling turned up a lot of stuff about chanterelle cultivation, but it seems to be mostly in the context of scientific literature, and as a work in progress. Does anyone know if chanterelles are being commercially cultivated?

I'm working on oyster stew with roasted root vegetables. It will be served with a salad of romaine, tomato, cucumber, feta, and olives, plus cheeseburgers on whole wheat buns, topped with some reserved tomato slices and lettuce. I'm thinking the burgers might be overkill, but leftover stew and salad will be good since I won't be here to cook dinner tomorrow night.

Same here. I was feeling bereft of turkey leftovers and a carcass to make soup out of, since we ate someone else's turkey this year. And then I was at Whole Foods on Saturday, and they had a cute little 8-pounder, free range. Not too expensive. I herb-brined it for two days, and today I smoked it with applewood chips in my Weber kettle. Unstuffed, it took less than 1 1/2 hours to get to the right temperature. And it was delicious, lightly smoky and very juicy, much more so than the one we ate on Thursday. No stuffing. I served it with gravy and:

Roasted, then mashed buttercup squash with maple syrup, fresh ginger, nutmeg and lemon zest
Braised kale and turnip greens
Basmati rice

Lotsa leftovers. Oh yeah!

I think these were probably wild-- they were quite clean, but I did wipe out a few pine needles from some. The oysters and shiitakes were cultivated, for sure.

Fava croquette atop roasted portabello
Steamed broccoli and (wait for it...)
KitKat bar

Me three! And since I made the stuffing, I still have a pile leftover at home, as well as some gifted cranberries and and sweets. Being a white meat fan, I'm thinking of picking up a turkey breast tonight or tomorrow to roast. Anyone have any advice on how to keep that baby moist and tasty? Temps? Flavorings? I've never cooked one before.

Brine or salt it for 24 hours. Rinse, dry with paper towels and let it dry in the fridge for at least 12 hours before cooking. Oil the skin with EVOO or softened butter. Use a meat thermometer and pull it out of the oven when it hits 160 degrees. I like to make a flavored brine with aromatic veg and fresh herbs. Instead, a lot of people like to work a flavored or herb butter under and on the skin prior to roasting. Start the oven high for a short time to brown the skin and turn it way down to roast until done. (Like 425 for 15 or 20 minutes and then down to 300 or 325 until done -- it's impossible to say how long it will take, since the size and weight of a turkey breast will vary considerably).

Thanks for the good tips! I think I'll give it a go this weekend.

Now. If you've just had a god-awful day and are dog-tired and certainly not going out once you get home... what do YOU do for dinner?

AND you don't have a well stocked fridge or pantry?

Fridge and pantry are semi-stocked. For a single person.

But in any case, what do you do when you've had one of those days? Order in? Suck it up and nosh cheese and crackers? Cook your tried and true comfort food? What?

God-awful day you say? Girl Scout Samoas, ice-cream, and a quality adult beverage. Bugles or wasabi peas during your post-prandial DVD. You can ask forgiveness at the gym later.

Cook up some pasta, drizzle with good oil (I like black truffle), and top with parmesaen or piave, salt and pepper. Pour a big glass of favorite drink. Sit on couch and enjoy your carbs until you muster enough energy to go to bed.

Strawberry lemonade for cocktail hour (I added a little rum to mine )

A tofu and peas curry from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.
Harpoon IPA

Vodka
with a side of pasta