Slow Roasted Salmon

The Green Egg

Crab Dynamite

Salmon in the Smoker

Salmon and Okinawa Yams

Cherry Pie

We invited Paul and JoEllen over for dinner and decided to Smoke a Salmon in the Egg. This is recipe we love to make and eat. For some reason this particular Wild Salmon from McCall’s Meat and Fish was the best we ever made. We did leave the salmon longer than usual in the marinade, perhaps that was the reason. No matter it was fabulous. You can find the recipe for Honey Cured Smoked Salmon on our blog of: January 15, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We had Hummus and Toasted Bagel Chips from Joan's on Third Street, outside on our patio before the proper dinner started.

We started, with our standard Crab Dynamite. This is an appetizer that never fails to wow people. We love it! We serve it with Rice and Japanese Seaweed Salad. You can find the recipe on our blog of: September 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We served Baked Okinawa Sweet Potatoes topped with Crème Fraiche.

Dessert was my new favorite Cherry Pie from Cake Monkey. It was a great night of food and conversation.

Pork Braised in Milk

I love Pork Braised in Milk. The milk curdles and becomes a flavorful gravy as it condenses and blends with the natural fluids from the pork. This is a super easy dish and the leftovers make great sandwiches. We served the pork over Polenta with the thickened milk / pork gravy on top. Yum! You can get the recipe from our blog of: October 17, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with an Asparagus Salad from a new recipe we found in The New York Times. I never would have thought of a Strong Mustard Vinaigrette over the Asparagus, but it is a great recipe.

Asparagus With Mustard Vinaigrette

New York Times

Here is an easy, springtime recipe that takes no time at all and puts the light flavors of the season right onto your table. Cooking time is key: both the asparagus and the eggs must be watched carefully. Arrange everything on a plate beautifully, and throw open the windows to spring.

INGREDIENTS

1-½         pounds large or medium asparagus

4         large eggs

1         small shallot, finely diced

2         tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

2         tablespoons Dijon mustard

¼         cup extra-virgin olive oil

1         tablespoon finely cut chives

PREPARATION

1.   Snap off and discard the tough bottoms of each asparagus spear. If using large thick asparagus, peel the lower ends with a vegetable peeler. Medium asparagus will not need peeling.

2.   Bring a medium saucepan half filled with water to a boil, carefully add the eggs and simmer briskly for 9 minutes (10 minutes for a slightly firmer yolk). Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to cool. Shell the eggs and set aside.

3.   Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, place the shallots, vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let shallots soften for 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard to dissolve, then whisk in the olive oil to make a thick dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4.   In a large stainless-steel soup pot bring 4 quarts of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the asparagus and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until just done. Remove asparagus with a large strainer and spread out on a baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Asparagus may be served warm or at room temperature.

5.   To serve, place asparagus on a platter or individual plates. Spoon the vinaigrette over the asparagus. Garnish with quartered eggs (or roughly chop the eggs if you prefer). Sprinkle with chives.

Thai Pork Fried Rice

When ever we eat at Chi Spacca we always bring home the extra pork from the Tomahawk Pork Chop and make Thai Style Pork Fried Rice. It is wonderful. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 24, 2013. Click the date to get the recipe. It is comfort food at its best!

Hawaiian Style Ribs

Pat Applying the Marinade

Crab Cakes!

Ribs Anyone?

Bok Choy

Cherry Pie

Pat and Doshi stayed at our house and decided to cook Hawaiian Style Ribs for us. They had prepared the rub and brought it with them. We purchased the ribs Saint Louis Style Ribs at The Farmer's Market from Huntington Meats.  Surprisingly Saint Louis Style Ribs are hard to find.

We started with Crab Cakes from Cape Seafood. They are ready to fry, and they are delicious. We also purchased his Tartar Sauce.

We cooked the Ribs on the grill. It was almost like being in Hawaii! They also brought us Bok Choy that we cooked in the egg. 

We invited Tom and he loved it all (as did we).

For dessert we had a Cherry Pie from Cake Monkey. It was a great meal.

Chicken Provencal

I love Chicken Provencal. We often make this recipe. You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 26, 2015. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Salad of Prosciutto, Almonds and Nectarines. 

Flavored Rice and Halibut

Rice Flavoring from Japan

When we were in Japan we purchased several boxes of Rice Flavorings. If you have a rice maker (and you should if you like rice) after adding Rice and Water you stir in the box of flavorings. This one was a chicken seasoning. It has actual pieces of chicken in it. You simply stir the flavoring in to the rice mixture before cooking, close the cooker and let it make perfect rice. We served the Flavored Rice with our leftover Halibut. I have been to two different Japanese Markets in DTLA and haven't found the exact box yet. I need to go to a big Japanese Market and maybe I can find it. Meanwhile at most Japanese markets you can find a wide variety of rice seasonings.

Roasted Halibut With Lemons, Olives and Rosemary

We saw a recipe in The New York Times for Roasted Halibut With Lemons, Olives and Rosemary. McCall’s Meat and Fish had beautiful Halibut, so it was an easy call to make this recipe. It is excellent and the Halibut is so moist and flakey. This is a great recipe. It is especially wonderful because there are NO bones!

We started with an Asparagus Salad with our new favorite Mustard Vinaigrette. You can find the recipe on our blog of May 9, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

Roasted Halibut With Lemons, Olives and Rosemary

New York Times

INGREDIENTS

2 (8-ounce) halibut fillets, preferably at least 1-inch thick

1-½         teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, more to taste

Kosher salt

Ground chile pepper, preferably Turkish or Aleppo

2         rosemary branches

1         small lemon, very thinly sliced

¼         cup sliced, pitted calamata or other good-quality black olives

PREPARATION

1.   Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place fish in a baking dish, brush fillets with 1 teaspoon of oil and season with salt and chile pepper. Top each fillet with a rosemary branch and several slices of lemon. Drizzle remaining oil over lemon slices and sprinkle with additional salt. Scatter olives over fish and pan.

2.   Bake until just opaque, about 10 minutes. If lemon slices have not browned or singed (this will depend on how thinly you slice them), place pan under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve drizzled with more olive oil; sprinkle with more salt and chili, if desired.

Risotto and Slow-Roasted Salmon

We started with an Asparagus and Fava Bean Risotto. The two spring vegetables were both fresh in the market and we couldn't resist. You can find our basic Risotto recipe in our blog of October 15, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe.

We followed the Risotto with Slow-Roasted Salmon With  Cabbage,   Bacon,  and  Dill. This is a favorite recipe of ours. You can find the recipe on our blog of: May 31, 2014. Click the date to get the recipe. 

Colonoscopy Meal

It was time for my 5 year colonoscopy. In the days before the procedure I needed to eat white foods (no green vegetables, tomatoes or nuts). We decided to make Cauliflower Soup and . The recipe for the Cauliflower Soup can found on our blog of: January 26, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. For the main course we had Mac N' Cheese. This is such a great recipe. If you haven't made it you should.  You can get the recipe by looking at our blog of: Dec. 27, 2007. Just click on the date to get to the blog. The best news is the test results were fine, I don't need to go back for 5 years!

Fontina, Orecchiette, Wild Mushroom Pasta

We found this recipe in The New York Times for this very rich baked Fontina, Orecchiette, Wild Mushroom Pasta. You can find it on our blog of: March 1, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Salmon Salad and then The Hungry Cat Salad. You can read about why it is called The Hungry Cat Salad on our blog post of: November 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Spring Fava Beans and Asparagus

Spring means Fava Bean Pasta. Fava Beans need to be double peeled.  I love this pasta. We make it every year in the spring. We started with Asparagus Topped with an Fried Egg.  The pasta is highly flavored with my favorite seasoning: bacon. You can find the recipe on our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Pasta Bolognese

Shumon joined us for dinner. We started with a Tangerine, Salad. We then had Pasta with Bolognese Sauce from a New York Times article about Marcella Hazan. The pasta sauce is mild and rich. It is very good.

Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce

The New York Times

After the death in 2013 of Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author who changed the way Americans cook Italian food, The Times asked readers which of her recipes had become staples in their kitchens. Many people answered with one word: "Bolognese." So here it is: Ms. Hazan's classic, go-to Bolognese sauce, which one reader called "the gold standard." Try it and see for yourself.

INGREDIENTS

1         tablespoon vegetable oil

3         tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta

½         cup chopped onion

⅔         cup chopped celery

⅔         cup chopped carrot

¾         pound ground beef chuck (or you can use 1 part pork to 2 parts beef)

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1         cup whole milk

Whole nutmeg

1         cup dry white wine

1-½         cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice

1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds pasta

Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table

PREPARATION

1.     Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat them well.

2.     Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.

3.     Add milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating -- about 1/8 teaspoon -- of nutmeg, and stir.

4.     Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add 1/2 cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

5.     Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

Clam Chowder Black Cod and Rice with Mushrooms

We had left over Black Cod with Miso Sauce. Normally I don't like left over fish but the Black Cod makes great leftovers. We let it warm to room temperature and served the fish with Rice. On our last trip to Japan we had brought home several boxes of Rice Flavorings that are added to the rice. This one happened to be Chicken and Mushroom.  If you have a rice cooker it is a no-brainer. Simply measure the rice and add the appropriate amount of water, then stir in the contents of the box. Any Asian market will have a variety of flavors and if you can't read Japanese, just look at the picture on the cover. We started with Clam chowder that we had purchased at Cape Seafood.

Black Cod with Miso Sauce

Hot off the Griddle

We wanted to check out the new fish market Cape Seafood. It was just opened by Michael Cimarusti the owner of Providence Restaurant and Connie and Ted's. We bought some beautiful Black Cod with the intention of making Black Cod with Miso Sauce one of our favorite fish presentations. We first had it of course at Matsuhisa Restaurant. You can get the recipe from our blog of: May 12, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. It is wonderful.

We started with an Asparagus Salad. Boil the Asparagus for 3 minutes. Top with brown Butter that we sautéed breadcrumbs in. Sieve a hardboiled egg over the top or combine with the breadcrumbs finally sprinkle with salt and pepper. Perfection!

Sausage with Pot Roast Sauce and Polenta

We finished the Pot Roast leftovers. We just loved the sauce. Rather than throw it out, I decided to keep the sauce and add Sausages to it. We served it over Polenta. The idea was a good one but it didn't work. The Pot Roast Sauce and the Sausage did not make for a good paring. It might have been a factor of the flavor of the Sausage we chose. Oh well, we tried.