Last night:
Chicken with lemon, sage and pancetta sauce
Broccoli rabe with garlic and red pepper
Orzo pasta with butter and grated parmesan

Half-sheet pan-sized (which would not have been a sufficient quantity on its own, hence the apres-dinner foray to the DG). Cheese-containment was obtained through a combination of precision ingredient placement and expert divvying of final product.

The first in this week's series of meals planned for comfort food reasons from "Nigella Bites," Chicken with Chorizo and Cannellini Beans. I think I'm in love, although I am giving a big thumbs-down to the (mushy!) Bush's beans.

Marinated French lentil salad with roasted red peppers, roasted beets, homemade chevre on a bed of frisee with lemon vinaigrette,

Charcoal grilled, spice rubbed Eco-Friendly lamb leg chops
Basmati rice
Braised kale

2005 Henry's Drive Pillar Box Red

Grilled Cornish hens marinated in olive oil and rosemary
Risotto with brocoli rabe

2004 Chateau de Chasseloir Muscadet Sevre et Maine (awesome, just awesome)

Baguette and butter
Asparagus Alla Milanese
Braised Veal Chops with Parsley Dressing

I love making this asparagus recipe when asparagus is in season. It's really satisfying. It would also be great for brunch. I hadn't tried this veal recipe before and proceeded somewhat differently than the recipe indicated, as some of the steps seemed wasteful/redundant. I scaled it back to make only 3 veal chops and used butter instead of margarine (definitely not kosher). It was good but not spectacular. It made a nice complement to the asparagus, though.

Dinner on Sunday was spaghetti and meatballs and roasted broccoli. It's not the most appealing picture, but the meatballs sure were tasty. The recipe is from Cook's Country.

What do you mean by "eco-friendly"? Is that just the brand name?

Eco-Friendly is Bev Eggleston's outfit--local, grass-fed, humanely raised meat, which is sold at the Dupont Circle farmer's market. As many restaurant menus do, I sometimes name the source of an ingredient I use, if it is special and significant to the outcome of the dish. In this case, the lamb was fresh, not frozen, and not shipped halfway around the world from Australia or New Zealand, as is much of the lamb that is available around here.

Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks for the idea! This sounded so good that I made it tonight. Excellent stuff.

Jasmine: Hendricks gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, Campari.
Recipe #2 from "Nigella Bites": salmon cakes served with ketchup and green peas. Fine, and easy enough to cook straight from the freezer during the Idol, but not nearly as good as the chicken, chorizo, and cannellini beans.
Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie ice cream.

It is strawberry season here in Florida with Plant City berries everywhere. While the ones you see in the stores are ok, the ones you see being sold off of trucks on the side of the road are killer. I picked up a flat for $6 on my way back from Panama City today even though that is completely opposite direction from Plant City from me. Berries and yogurt for dinner tonight. I'm thinking of taking a field trip to Plant City this weekend just to check it out.

Gimlet: Hendricks gin and fresh lime juice
Pan fried loin pork chops
Braised rainbow chard with red wine vinegar
stuffing with sage
Julie's organic mandarin orange sorbet bar

Frisee and butter lettuce salad with Bosc pear, toasted pine nuts and P'tit Basque cheese, sherry vinaigrette
Flounder en papillote with herb butter, Meyer lemon zest and white wine
Oven roasted asparagus
Basmati rice

2005 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner

Blackberry-pear cobbler with vanilla ice cream

Salad of oak leaf lettuce, red & golden beets, goat cheese & toasted walnuts al Hersch
Butternut squash gratin w roasted garlic, onions caramelized w sage & thyme, topped w fresh breadcrumbs (modification of recipe from Deborah Madison)
Le Puy lentils, inspired by Heather, cooked w diced mirepoix, garlic, parsley & some chicken stock
Apple
____________________________________________________
Sources for ingredients listed below in order of appearance:
Salad: Twin Springs Farm, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods. Vinegar: Rodman's; EVOO: TJs; S & P: WF
Gratin: Safeway, TJs (never again), Brookville & Giant, TJs (best place for herbs), Safeway & WF; see above for EVOO, etc. Gruyere, Grana & butter: WF
Lentils: WF, TJs, Brookville & Giant. Chicken in stock: WF.
Dessert: Pink Lady from Giant

Leftover pan fried pork chops turned into barbecue sandwiches with Gold's horserasish for a kick. Who else here thinks that barbecue is happiness on a bun?

Is this the cut you're referring to?



How was it sold: rolled into a roast or were the chops tied? What was the price/lbs? Was there an upcharge for slicing? Hungry stomachs want to know.

Omaha Steaks sole fillet stuffed with "scallops and crabmeat," and recipe #3 from "Nigella Bites:" Double Potato and Halloumi Bake. I substituted feta, and I rather like it. Can't say it goes particularly well with the sole, but so it goes.

When does an "adapted" recipe become your own?

Chinese style roasted chicken thighs with the following changes: slathered the thighs with a mixture of garlic and ginger paste (leftover from my Indian cooking phase), Tamari, honey, and rice wine vinegar; then coated in Panko and baked.

Stir-fried asparagus tossed in sesame oil, sesame seeds and Tamari

Baked sweet potato

Thursday night was herb crusted pork loin roast stuffed with prunes and served with Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread (the lighter version of the Bittman recipe, using honey and buttermilk, to which I also added some currants). That bread was a nice accompaniment to the pork

I reheated slices of leftover pork loin last night and served them a mushroom sherry-cream sauce. The original roast was a double loin roast, so this made nice thick double boneless pork chops. We also had toasted Parmesan-garlic bread. I've really got to start making vegetables again .

A very large glass of Domaine de la Pepiere 2005 Muscadet. Yep, just that. God, it's been a long week.

Dinner tonight was roasted chicken (Thomas Keller's method), roasted baby carrots, and potato rosti. The wine was Chateau Mourgues du Gres 2005 Fleur d'Eglantine. A good meal before the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler tomorrow.

Grilled flank steak sourced from My Butcher, sauteed suger snap peas and twice baked potatoes. Chateau Pontet-Canet Pauillac 2000.

Nice and easy pasta dish: Tagliatelle with slices of chorizo, broccoli rabe, cherry tomatoes, and plenty of red pepper flakes. Something about sausage and broccoli rabe is so damn good. What was not good was the produce vendor at Eastern Market trying to sell me about 1/3 lb of the rabe for $12. Jeebus, she's a sweet ol' lady and all, but WTF? I got a pound instead from the vendor down near the bakery area for $3.50.

Steamed artichokes, served cold with Meyer lemon vinaigrette
Charcoal roasted, herb-brined chicken
(Grilled garlic-shiitake tofu for Vegi-teen)
Braised chard
Cheese grits

Pear-almond tart with brown butter, vanilla ice cream

2005 AWS (American Winetaster's Society) Mendocino County Pinot Noir

Rare grilled steak (Thanks Michael), baked potato, green salad. Lemon sorbet (no dairy) for dessert.

Minestrone, hearty fresh-baked bread, and mixed greens with vinaigrette.

Sometimes, the simplest things are the best: Linguini with (canned) tuna & spinach, and lots of olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.

ETA: Giving credit where credit is due.

Every dinner has its story, or something like that . I went to make dinner last night and saw several ingredients I really needed to turn into something quickly before they got even with me by going bad.

plum tomatoes
button mushrooms
random garlic cloves starting to get green inside
the remaining half of a huge onion
an open container half-and-half from early March
an open container of chicken broth
a very expired egg that was still sitting in a bowl I had put it in long ago when I was going to use it for something else
a package of corn grits that had started to split open in the freezer
one Pillsbury premade pie crust*

So...I made a polenta pie: premade pie crust in the bottom of a glass baking dish; crust filled about 1/3 - 1/2 way with polenta made with chicken broth and finished with half-and-half; then a layer of sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and garlic with a premixed Penzey's herb mix (basil, oregano, garlic, and thyme); topped with grated romano cheese. It came out really well. The refrigerator is getting emptied out enough that it might get cleaned sometime soon


*remaining from last fall when I had apples that were starting to rot and wanted to make a quick pie without making crust. The package was dated December something.

A great group-cooked dinner this past Saturday night, to kick off the 2007 grillin' season:

Marinated, grilled & sliced skirt steak
Roasted potatoes with garlic and smoked paprika
Aoili
Blanched asparagus and sliced strawberries in a clementine vinaigrette

:-D

My first-ever tri tip, dry-rubbed and broiled, served with corn salsa, sauteed mushrooms, and asparagus. Mmmm. $5/lb. All hail Trader Joe's.

Grilled burgers, with store bought crinkle-cut fries.

Damn you people! All of you!

I was perfectly happy with my McNuggets and Whoppers. Then you had to introduce me to: Corduroy, Circle Bistro’s burger, Dino, Hitching Post’s “mutant” chicken and – worst of all – polenta! Dammit! Now, just the thought of a Ruby Tuesday burger makes me gag!

With that in mind, I tried Keller’s roasted chicken tonight. To put it in perspective, I have never – EVER – cooked a whole chicken; I’ve been content with chicken parts, favoring the dark meat, or perfectly satisfied with WF’s roasted chicken. I was a bit worried about the amount of salt, but I proceeded, boldly, and dumped a whole tablespoon of Kosher salt on the thing. (I had to read the instructions several times over to make sure it wasn’t 1 teaspoon.)

The verdict: pretty good; the skin wasn’t as crisp as I would have liked. And, my tongue still burns from the salt. Would I do it again: you betcha. I probably won’t use Keller’s recipe, but I will experiment with other’s. Yup, you guessed it: future late night readings will focus on the poultry entries in Cook’s Illustrated, Bon Appetit, and Fine Cooking.

I had promised to share the chicken with a neighbor. So, at 11:07 p.m., I’m sneaking through the hallways with this big ol’ plate of chicken. Although I told her I would deliver it tomorrow, after tasting there was no guarantee that the chicken would have made it through the night.

The question remains: what to do with all of those Swanson TV dinners?

I made an Ethiopian meal again last night, only this time fewer dishes and a smaller quantity of food. If I gauged this correctly, I should have just about the right amount of injera left to match the quantity of leftover food .

Yegomen Kitfo (collards with spiced cottage cheese)
Yebeg Alicha (mild lamb stew with onions and green peppers)
Yetakelt Wat (spicy mixed vegetable stew)

Composed Salad for a Warm Spring Evening:

Mesclun, baby spinach and oakleaf dressed with Meyer lemon vinaigrette
Tomato
Avocado
Tuna
Sardine
Cucumber
Hard-boiled egg
Feta
Olives
Pepperoncini

2005 Oxford Landing Viognier

We can eat outside because the mosquitoes haven't yet arrived!

Gillian Clark was featured in an early Source article where she roasted a chicken for a crowd. She also used a Tablespoon of salt. I made the recipe as written, but found that the salt made any sauce from the pan juices inedible. There are better ways to roast a chicken, IMHO.

RE: the TV dinners. I'll bet you have some elderly neighbors (particularly of the single, male variety) who could use them.

I'll take the brownie, Legant, if you've got the meatloaf dinner.

* * *
I resurrected the last Moosewood cookbook I ever bought to make Tauhu Goreng Kechap, an Indonesian dish with deep-fried tofu.

A few nights ago I deep-fried the tofu until it developed a wonderful golden crust and creamy interior, but gained a pound. Deep-frying light tofu is a bit like Diet Coke with pizza anyway, so last night I compromised by stir-frying the thin triangles of drained tofu and was pleased with the results, especially since a number of contrasting textures remained.

The best thing about this vegan dish is the simple sauce since it has the entire range of tastes: salty, sweet, sour & hot. Use your own judgment for proportions in mixing together:

• A light Japanese soy sauce
• Lime juice
• Chili Garlic Sauce (Vietnamese; Rooster logo)
• Just a little sugar
• Minced shallots & garlic (more of former than latter)

I stir-fried lots of shallot rings in peanut oil until they began to brown, then added minced garlic and the whites of scallions and the tofu. When the tofu was completely warm and the texture became silky, I tossed in rings of scallion greens.

This was plated on top of brown rice. Sprinkle on sauce. Pile on blanched Mung beans (fill strainer w the bean sprouts and hold in boiling hot water for no longer than 30 seconds before plunging into an ice bath) and decorate plate with thin seeded cucumber slices. More sauce. Chopped roasted peanuts and reserved scallion rings.

Hendrick's Aviation, chicken and prosciutto tortellini with pesto, and mixed greens with vinaigrette. And the Idol.

Had a large handful of folks over tonight, making use of the new toys:

Corn Dogs
Pommes Frites
Twinkies

The corn dogs were my homemade bratwurst (might try a more emulsified sausage next time, maybe something spicier) with a modified corn batter from the Good Eats "Man Food" episode.
The frites were just simple double-fried frites.
The twinkies were yellow cake mix + vanilla pudding mix, with a basic cream filling based on a can of marshmallow cream, baked in one of these. flavor was pretty close to the real thing, which means i can branch out and try different flavors next time.

Excuse me, I'm going to go have a coronary. After I clean my kitchen.

I don't know which is scarier: the fact that you made Twinkies? Or, that you have a pan in which to do it?

My version of comfort food: spicy skirt steak and creamy pasta with peas. I briefly marinated the skirt steak in olive oil, lime juice, garlic, a splash of hot sauce, cumin, sea salt and pepper. Seared it (about five minutes a side) and let it rest for five minutes while I finished the pasta.

The pasta, rotini, was prepared with butter (lots of it), bread crumbs, a splash of light cream, parmesan cheese and dried sage.

brisket cooked for several hours with unsalted V-8 juice, red wine, onions, celery, carrots, kosher salt, pepper, bay leaf, and garlic, then shredded and served over no-yolk egg noodles
green salad

dessert was a cocktail and a glass of wine at Ray's.

The annual matzo lasagna feast was served up to the usual suspects (10 in total) tonight at casa oro. This year we dined on matzo ball soup, a simple mixed greens salad, lasagna (choice of meat or veggie...for those at the table really keeping kosher), and a flourless chocolate mousse cake. Dinner was accompanied by four bottles of some kind of red (a Linden Claret, some Bordeaux from Trader Joe's, and a couple of California pinot noirs)...oh and a bottle of kosher-for-Passover Coca-Cola. I love that stuff!!!

I'm still working on getting various odds and ends cleaned out of the refrigerator so it can be scrubbed down more easily. We started last night with tortilla chips and homemade guacamole.

The main course was a layered choucroute garnie-type dish:

sliced onions sweated in some olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven
sauerkraut seasoned with celery seed and black pepper
hot Italian sausages and andouille sausages
sliced green peppers on the top
white wine and chicken broth poured over and brought to a simmer

Baked until the sausages were cooked to temperature.

I forgot the potatoes I was going to put in. I'll add them when I serve it as leftovers...if I remember

Yesterday, I made a small batch of doro wat and served it with the last of the lamb and the vegetables. I added more collards to the yegomen kitfo and we had more of that. Still a few pieces of injera left.

Pan-seared Eco-Friendly pork loin chops with a succotash of Scarlet Runner beans, carrots, asparagus, green garlic, Marasch pepper and Meyer lemon juice and zest

Tomato and garlic-rubbed crouton

2005 Epifanio Ribera del Duero

Herb Crusted Crown Roast of Lamb
Roasted Carrots
Celery Root Mash
Assorted American Artisan Cheeses
Key Lime Pie

2000 Delectus Lodi Syrah
2004 Kilikanoon Covenant Syrah

No-Knead Bread and butter
Roast Lamb with White Beans
Asparagus Bundles with Proscuitto and Portobello Jack Cheese
Meyer Lemon Eclairs

Broiled Fish With Sweet Soy (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
Okra with tomatoes & green chilis
Brown rice

Healthy!