Easter Lamb

 

Click the video to watch me light the lamb

Tom requested we make Rosemary Smoked Lamb for Easter. The lamb comes out with an amazing smokey taste. Alan Gan joined us. You can find the recipe on our blog of December 17, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe. The recipe is from Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. Mark recently died and was one of our favorite chefs. We will miss him!

With the lamb we served a Cabbage and Potato Gratin. We really like this recipe. You can find it on our blog of: March 7, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with an Asparagus and Burrata Salad with Hazelnuts.

Tom brought and excellent Cake for dessert.

Buttermilk Chicken and Snap Peas

I like crispy Chicken Skin! Of course it is unhealthy, but it seems a lot of good things I like are! This recipe for Buttermilk Chicken creates Chicken with wonderful crispy skin. You can get the recipe on our blog of: June 24, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

Since Snap Peas are at their best in Spring, we made them using a new recipe: Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas. They were excellent and a great accompaniment to the Chicken. We will make this recipe again.

Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas

Food Network

 

Ingredients

 

1-1/2   pounds fresh sugar snap peas

1          tablespoon good olive oil

1-1/2   teaspoons kosher salt

¾         teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sea salt or fleur de sel, for serving

 

1.            Remove and discard the stem end and string from each sugar snap pod.

2.            Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas, salt and pepper and saute, tossing occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes, until the sugar snap peas are crisp tender.

3.            Place the sugar snap peas in a serving bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

 

Asparagus Pasta

Spring means Asparagus season! Asparagus Pasta is a regular for us, we will make it several times. This is one of those dishes that could make me a vegetarian! I key to this dish is to use excellent Parmesan Romano Red Cow Cheese. It is the best! This is also a dish that reheats well. Like all of our pastas if you plan to reheat them save some of the Pasta water and sprinkle a little on the pasta when you reheat it. It will enhance the taste. You can find the recipe for the Asparagus Pasta on our blog of: April 17, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Shrimp with Sausage and Polenta

 

Shrimp and Sausage with Polenta is a great dish. It hits all of my eating delights! I highly recommend it! You can find the recipe on our blog of: October 7, 2019. Click the date to get the recipe. It is a dish that reheats perfectly.

We started with a Trout Salad with toasted Hazelnuts and Vinaigrette. Once again the key to a great Polenta is to use: Anson Mills: Artisan Handmade Coarse Rustic Polenta Integrale. It makes perfect Polenta. 

Vaccinations Free us!

Hungry Cat Salad

Even though Hungry Cat, the restaurant, has closed - we continue to make their Salad. I like the avocado, egg and lemon juice. It is a great 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.

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

Buttermilk Roast Chicken is a favorite of ours. Especially when you make it over sliced sliced Brussel Sprouts and Potatoes. It all cooks into a delicious one pan dinner. I especially like the crispy skin, unhealthy though it is! You can get the recipe on our blog of: June 24, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

Paella

We have been watching a lot of Spanish TV and both of us just finished reading a 4 volume 2200 page book set in Barcelona during and after the Spanish Civil War (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books - an exceptional book). It was only appropriate that we made a Paella. We were shopping at McCalls Meat and Fish and they were selling a box of Paella Broth. We decided to purchase it use it to make our Paella. The dish turned out quite good. We would use it again. You can find the recipe for the Paella on our blog of: September 16, 2017. Click the date to get the recipe.

Lobster Fried Rice

Having been vaccinated we felt comfortable driving to Newport Seafood (our favorite Chinese restaurant). We always get their Special Lobster. We ordered a Lobster and other dishes to take home (they have no indoor or outdoor dinning). 

After having a great Chinese dinner safely at home, the next night we proceeded to make  Thai Lobster Fried Rice with the leftover Lobster. We use the recipe for: Fried Rice with Crab from Thai Street Food by David Thompson. We simply substituted the crab with Lobster. It was as good or better than any Fried Rice we get a restaurants. This is a recipe (with Crab or Pork or Shrimp, or Lobster) that you should try. The fried rice is unbelievably good!

You can get the recipe for fried rice from our blog of: April 4, 2013. Click the date to get the recipe.
 

Hoisin Roasted Asparagus

 

Spring means fresh Asparagus. We have been trying various recipes. We liked Hoisin Roasted Asparagus. It was a perfect complement to go with our leftover Chinese Food. It was very easy to make. Will make this simple recipe again.

Hoisin Roasted Asparagus

The Omnivore’s Cookbook

 

In this recipe, you just need two ingredients – olive oil and hoisin sauce. Simply toss the asparagus in them and throw them over direct fire. The asparagus will be charred beautifully and become tender in texture, slightly sweet, and extra flavorful. Of course you can cook this dish in the oven, too. We love serving this dish as a side for dinner because it takes just eight minutes to cook in the oven. I include both methods in the recipe.

 

Ingredients

 

1       pound asparagus , tough ends removed (*see footnote)

1       tablespoon olive oil

2       tablespoons hoisin sauce (or gluten-free hoisin sauce for a GF version)

 

Instructions

 

1.            Preheat oven to 230 degrees C (450 F).

2.            Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread asparagus and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat well.

3.            Add hoisin sauce. Toss again to cover asparagus evenly with the sauce. Arrange asparagus so that the thicker stems are near the rim of the baking sheet. Leave some space between the asparagus spears, so they will crisp up, not become steamed.

4.            Bake for 5 minutes. The asparagus should be almost cooked through, but still a bit chewy. If you’re using thicker asparagus, you might need to add another minute or two. Toss again and return the tray to the oven. Turn on broiler and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the sauce is slightly caramelized. You should watch it closely after turning on the boiler. When the asparagus is done, transfer the it to a serving tray immediately so that it stops cooking.

5.            This recipe can be used on the grill, too. To grill asparagus, build a moderate two-zone fire and place asparagus over direct fire. Flip every minute, until the asparagus is cooked through. If the asparagus gets charred too quickly (mostly likely if you’re using thicker asparagus spears), move them to the indirect fire and grill until they cook through.

6.            Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

 

Try to select thin asparagus spears. They coat with hoisin sauce better and will be more flavorful.

 

Beef Stroganoff

Another Prime Rib, another Beef Stroganoff. What is better use of leftover Prime Rib then making Beef Stroganoff? We love it! You can find the recipe on our blog of: December 1, 2020. Click the date to get the recipe.

Butter-Braised Asparagus

Spring means Asparagus. We found a recipe for Butter-Braised Asparagus. It was a perfect accompaniment to our leftover Prime Rib and Mashed Potatoes. Previously we simply boiled the asparagus for a few minutes. This is a definite improvement! Try it!

Butter-Braised Asparagus

New York Times

 

For the first-of-the-season asparagus, keep it simple with butter, lemon and sweet herbs. For the best texture, peeling the stalks really makes a difference. 

 

Ingredients

 

1-½  pounds large or medium asparagus

6       tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

2       tablespoons lemon juice

½      teaspoon lemon zest

1       tablespoon snipped chives

1       tablespoon roughly chopped parsley or chervil

1       teaspoon chopped tarragon, plus more for garnish

1       tablespoon chopped dill, plus more for garnish (optional)

 

Preparation

 

1.            Snap off and discard the tough bottoms of the asparagus spears. If using large, thick asparagus, peel the lower ends with a vegetable peeler.

2.            Put butter in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus in one layer and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the asparagus is firm-tender, about 3 minutes. Take care not to overcook them; they should still be bright green. (They will continue to cook a bit once the heat is off.) Remove the asparagus from the pan and place on a serving platter.

3.            Turn heat to high and simmer briskly until most of the liquid has evaporated, a minute or so. Add lemon juice and zest to the buttery juices. Turn off heat and stir in chives, parsley, tarragon and dill, if using. Check seasoning. Spoon the sauce over the asparagus, garnish with a few herb leaves, and serve.

 

Prime Rib

Whole Roasted Cauliflower from Tom's Garden

Why not have a Prime Rib dinner at home? Can't go out for it. This turned out as good as any restaurant cooked Prime Rib. We purchased the Prime Rib from Flannery Beef.

The perfect starch was Lemon Puréed Potatoes. The recipe for the Lemon Puréed Potatoes can be found on our blog of: November 25, 2020. Click the date to get the recipe.

Tom had brought us a giant Cauliflower from his garden that we roasted. the recipe for Whole Roasted Cauliflower is on our blog of: Feb 27, 2017. Click the date to get the recipe. We always wanted a second oven and we finally a Wolf Counter Top Oven. It has a thermometer that can be placed in the in the meat and notifies you when the meat has reached the exact temperature. It really works it isn't a toy! What a dinner!

Classic Prime Rib for a Small Crowd

The New York Times

 

This scaled-down version of the traditional holiday roast is incredibly easy to prepare. In addition to the beef, you need only red wine or stock, garlic, salt and pepper. Serve it for Sunday dinner alongside a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes and something green

 

Ingredients

 

1     (3-rib) roast, about 5 pounds, trimmed of excess but not all fat

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 or 2        cloves garlic (optional)

1       cup red wine, stock, or water

 

Preparation

 

1.    Bring the meat to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator at least an hour before cooking, preferably two. (For a larger roast, make it three.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.    Place the meat, bone side down, in a large roasting pan. Season it with salt and pepper. If you like garlic, peel the cloves and cut them into tiny slivers; use a boning or paring knife to poke small holes in the meat and insert the garlic into them.

3.    Place the roast in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, undisturbed. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees and continue to roast about 1 hour; check in several places with a meat thermometer. When no spot registers under 125 degrees (120 degrees if you like your meat really rare and your guests are of the same preference), the meat is rare; cook another 5 or 10 minutes if you like it more well done, then check again, but in no case should you let the temperature of the meat go above 155 degrees.

4.    Remove the meat from the oven. Pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat, and place the roasting pan over a burner set to high. Add the liquid and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until it is reduced by half. Slice and serve the roast, splashing a little of the sauce on the meat platter and passing the rest at the table.

 

Polenta with Sausages

Many times we have made the recipe Polenta con Salsicce, (Polenta with Sausages) from The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli. This recipe is an absolute winner! The Porcini Mushrooms makes for a rich sauce. When served with Polenta it is a perfect cool evening dinner! You can find the recipe on our blog of: June 9, 2014. Click the Date to get the recipe.

The recipe was enhanced by using an absolutely amazing Tomato Sauce. Pianogrillo Estratto di Pomodoro. Click the link to get it. This is fantastic. It actually has the consistancy of Peanut Butter, you don't need that much and you can keep the leftover in the Frig. This is a product that is incredibly intense. You should definitely get it! 

Chicken Braised with Potatoes and Pine Nuts

Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't. We didn't care for Chicken Braised with Potatoes and Pine Nuts  For one thing the Pine Nuts loose their crunchiness in the cooking. Doesn't make much sense to us. However, don't take our word for it, if it sounds intriguing to you by all means go for it!

Chicken Braised with Potatoes and Pine Nuts

New York Times

 

Margot Henderson is the chef at Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch, where London’s cool kids wait hours to score a garden table for lunch. Her food is mainly English classics, but this one-pot meal — more home cooking than hipster — has hints of Spanish and Portuguese flavor. Except for the sherry vinegar, the seasonings here (bay leaves, cloves, saffron) can be adjusted for your taste and the contents of your spice drawer. 

 

Ingredients

 

3       tablespoons olive oil

6       bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Salt and pepper

2       white or yellow onions, sliced

2       celery stalks, chopped

8       garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and left whole

⅔      cup dry white wine

3       tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus more if needed

3       tablespoons pine nuts

4       dried bay leaves

4       whole cloves (or a pinch of ground cinnamon)

Pinch of saffron (optional)

1       pound baby potatoes, washed and halved

3       ounces kale, stemmed, leaves thinly sliced

2       tablespoons unsalted butter

¼      cup chopped Italian parsley, plus more for serving

 

Preparation

 

1.    In a Dutch oven large enough to hold the chicken in one layer, heat the olive oil over high until shimmering. Season chicken pieces on the skin side with salt and pepper, then lay them in the pan, skin-side down. Adjust the heat so they sizzle but do not pop or scorch. Cook until skin is deeply browned and comes away easily from the pan, about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2.    Add onions, celery and garlic to the fat in the pot, season with salt and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Deglaze with the wine and vinegar. Stir in 1/2 cup water, pine nuts, bay leaves, cloves and saffron (if using). Return the chicken pieces to the pan, and nestle them into the liquid, skin-side up.

3.    Cover tightly and let cook undisturbed over the lowest possible heat until cooked through, about 45 minutes.

4.    Add the potatoes, then add more water until the liquid barely covers the potatoes. If in doubt, use less; you can always add more. Cover again and cook another 20 minutes.

5.    When ready to serve, gently reheat. Taste the cooking liquid and season with salt, pepper and a drop more vinegar if needed. Stir in the kale and simmer, uncovered, until completely cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter and parsley and serve, sprinkling each serving with more parsley.

 

 

Shu Mai-Style Burgers

Shu Mai-Style Burgers are a favorite. I love Dim Sum and these burgers have the taste profile of them. Pork and Shrimp are the main ingredients. What could be better? We have made these many times. You can get the recipe on our blog of: June 30, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We made a house favorite: Stir-Fried Green Beans With Pork and Chiles. This is an excellent variation on a Chinese Stir Fry. We often make it. Give it a try if you haven't made it. You can find the recipe on our blog of: November 9, 2018. Click the date to get the recipe.

Roast Cod with Black Bean Sauce

Roast Cod with Black Bean Sauce is delicious. I like the flakiness of the Cod and Black Bean Sauce adds a kick to the rather bland fish. You can get the recipe on our blog of: December 21, 2020. Click the date to get the recipe.

Steak

Once again, Steak! We sure are eating a lot of it during the Pandemic. You can get the recipe of how we cook Steak on our blog of: February 17, 2018. Click the date to get the recipe.

Roasted Salmon and Jeera Rice

We always are looking for a new fish recipe we can make. Especially for Salmon, which is one of our favorites. Roasted Salmon Glazed with Brown Sugar and Mustard one from the New York Times was great. We served it with Jeera Rice. You can get the recipe for Jeera Rice on our blog of: June 20, 2018.  Click the date to get the recipe.

Roasted Salmon Glazed with Brown Sugar and Mustard

 

New York Times

 

This is what we call around here a no-recipe recipe, the sort of meal you can cook once off a card and you'll know it by heart: salmon glazed with brown sugar and mustard. The preparation could not be simpler. Heat your oven to 400. Make a mixture of Dijon mustard and brown sugar to the degree of spicy sweetness that pleases you. Salt and pepper the salmon fillets. Place them skin-side down on a lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheet, slather the tops with the mustard and brown sugar glaze and slide them into the top half of your oven. They ought to be done in 12 minutes or so, and they pair beautifully with simple braised greens.

 

Ingredients

 

 Salmon fillets, preferably wild or farmed organically

 Dijon mustard

 Brown sugar

 Salt and black pepper

 

Preparation

 

1.    Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

2.    Make a mixture of Dijon mustard and brown sugar to the degree of spicy sweetness that pleases you. Salt and pepper the salmon fillets.

3.    Place the salmon fillets skin-side down on a lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheet. Slather the tops of the fillets with the mustard and brown sugar glaze and slide them into the top half of your oven. Roast for about 12 minutes, then serve.

 

 

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti is a favorite of ours. I love it! It also freezes exceptionally well,  waiting to be re-heated and made crispy again! It also vegetarian! You can find the recipe on our blog of: October 21, 2014. Click the date to get this great recipe!

Chicken Vesuvio

 

Chicken Vesuvio is a nostalgia tribute to Cathy's Chicago upbringing. Although the history of the dish is convoluted and probably lost in myth, the dish was great. We will make it again an be transported back to the Windy City. You can the recipe on our blog of: October 21, 2019. Click the date to get the recipe and the story behind Chicken Vesuvio.

Risotto with Pork Sausage and Porcini Mushroom

 

Risotto with Pork Sausage and Porcini Mushrooms is a great recipe. We make it often. The trick as with many recipes is to have excellent ingredients. Shop wisely! You can find the recipe on our blog of: April 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Mystery Salad

 We made a salad with leftover potatoes. Can't identify what it was made with. I am sure it was great😃