What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

Locally made fresh "Sour Power" sauerkraut with carrots and celery, browned onions and garlic and a dab o' Dijon, over mashed potatoes and turnips. 

[Jenise]

Yum, I would love that dish, Robin. How often do you eat meat anymore?

Tonight we're doing more barbecue testing with some pork chili-oil and rosemary marinated pork chops, grilled bok choy and daikon radish.

[Robin Garr]

Yum, I would love that dish, Robin. How often do you eat meat anymore?

Tonight we're doing more barbecue testing with some pork chili-oil and rosemary marinated pork chops, grilled bok choy and daikon radish.

I mostly save the carnivorism for restaurant reviews. Going mostly veg at home - and taking care to exercise - has proved to be a good way to keep my weight and fitness under control while (along other things) doing reviews for two different local weeklies and our "other" Website. I've found the key to success is going creative, tossing the recipe books, and having fun with meatless main courses rather than viewing it as a penitential rite.

I'm going to make a batch of beefy chili for a friend's Superbowl party tomorrow. Mostly beef. Home-made chili powder.

I screwed up, I took 5 beautiful Ancho peppers (from Penzey's) and cut them in half, seeded and stemmed, and then put them in the oven while I was making Keller Toast. It was too hot and too long, they crisped up perfectly for grinding into powder but they also smelled burned and looked black. I went ahead and ground them into powder anyway. Not entirely sure what to do, I mixed with some tomato sauce to get an idea of the taste -- NOT really burned tasting, and I could taste some of the sweet and hot that I remember. I dunno. I probably will use some of it...

The recipe calls for 3 TB of New Mexico chili and 3 TB of Ancho. I can probably get by with just one TB of this semi-burned stuff.

Last night dinner was okay. It wasn't a Super Bowl special, but it is one that my family regularly enjoys. I made Cornish Hens with a Texmati Royal Blend rice. This is the first time I bought this product, and I wouldn't recommend it. It's puffed rice, and, not very high quality wild rice. But, the sweet potato hash was slammin'. I always wonder why I don't prepare this dish more often. We always enjoy it when we have it. It is some obscure recipe I found years ago in a sidebar to an article on trout fishing. Simply, it is sauteed dices sweet potatoes, onions, apples and herbs. A perfect side dish.

Sweet Potato Hash.jpg

[Jenise]

Last night dinner was okay. It wasn't a Super Bowl special, but it is one that my family regularly enjoys. I made Cornish Hens with a Texmati Royal Blend rice. This is the first time I bought this product, and I wouldn't recommend it. It's puffed rice, and, not very high quality wild rice. But, the sweet potato hash was slammin'. I always wonder why I don't prepare this dish more often. We always enjoy it when we have it. It is some obscure recipe I found years ago in a sidebar to an article on trout fishing. Simply, it is sauteed dices sweet potatoes, onions, apples and herbs. A perfect side dish.

Sweet Potato Hash.jpg

Major yum! Could see that for breakfast with a slice of fried ham. Or hey, dinner. (I love ham.)

But, the sweet potato hash was slammin'.

I could eat that.

Yesterday we had green chile cheddar potato skins ('cause I just needed them!), and Stuart made his Squash Croquettes.


Squash croquette mixture before forming.

Quinoa ! What a wonderful thing to work with. I made a red quinoa pilaf tonight... fried some red onions in olive oil, added some diced zucchini, hot pepper and leftover red quinoa that had been cooked in vegetable stock. Terrific texture. A very quick side for pan fried lamb chops [ sorry the latter spoiled the vision for you vegetarians but the husband is the carnivore ]

[Robin Garr]

A simple version of Lobio, a Georgian dish of green beans, onions and garlic tossed with scrambled eggs with chopped walnut and dill and fiery hot peppers. 

While watching last night's episode of Chopped, I was inspired to quickly create a dessert. So I found a can of blackberry pie filling in the pantry (it came with the house, I swear!), added some blueberries from the freezer, then threw together a batter of whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, 2% milk, and a little Limoncello creme from the liquor cabinet. I didn't measure anything, but it came together fairly well, although the cobbler ended up with more crust than filling. Gail pronounced it tasty, so it worked well enough for my purposes.

cobbler_2249.jpg

When we went to Italy in 2000, I tasted Zuppa di Pane for the first time. I managed to find the recipe and have made it several times a year ever since, especially in cold weather. It is just delicious, especially with crunchy toasted bread broken up as croutons. This isn't a new picture but this is what I did this week, step one, the deconstructed soup. The red stems of the Swiss Chard have been cut up -- they go in with the initial frying of onions, carrots, and celery, the "aromatici." The combination of chard, cabbage, and spinach in the soup just gives a wonderfully savory flavor to the broth.



http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~deis/soups.html

The other night we had three tired houseguest arrive from the east coast so I made one of our favorite lasagna recipes. Sausage, wild mushroom lasagna with red pepper-tomato sauce. One of the layers is a porcini bechamel that I could eat as a soup. Anyway, it was a hit, even using turkey Italian sausage.
Also re-made the Fig's restaurant white chocolate challah bread pudding with raspberry sauce that I made for New Years. I already had the raspberry sauce in the freezer so it was a no-brainer.

Robert, I am impressed by that thrown-together blackberry cobbler! Nice!

[Robin Garr]

Mmmmarinara! Made from fresh tomatoes right out of the garden last August and frozen until now. Summer in February!

Vegetarian items for the last couple of days.

A couple of days ago, made that black bean soup with ginger/garlic that Robin had posted about (though with some variations - adding in some cumin and coriander powder with some ground chipotle peppers for heat). Last night, leftover soup and brussel sprouts, halved and tossed with olive oil and then topped with Malden sea salt and black pepper. Tonight it's masoor daal with paratha.

Mmmmarinara! Made from fresh tomatoes right out of the garden last August and frozen until now. Summer in February!

As much as good tomato sauce is appreciated in the summer, it's extra special in the middle of winter. The dish looks great.

Just threw together a salad with some things I had in the fridge before going off to run errands. I will definitely be making this salad again...even if I have to buy all of the ingredients special next time to make it.

Baby Arugula
Slivers of roast chicken
Shaved Manchego
Toasted Pinenuts
Julienned Fuji apple
Tossed together with a vanilla-citrus vinaigrette

I could eat that, Carrie.

[Jenise]

Yesterday was a big, long day. Went from a lunch at one couple's home in Vancouver to dinner at another couple's house down here and didn't get home until 1 a.m. Today, it wouldn't take more than ramen soup to make me happy and foodwise today I want it simple and low-key.

But I'll be shopping for tomorrow night's dinner for eight wherein four courses will be out of the following items: marinated grilled eggplant/teleggiio cheese involtini, proscuitto terrine, fennel and cherry tomato salad, home made pasta with a buttery pomodoro sauce made from the last jar of marinara sauce made from my own tomatoes, a creamy veal/artichoke/mushroom stew, and a different take on a cheese course: ricotta/pea/lemon spread with grilled bread. All the wines will be Argentinian malbecs; I've invited three couples over to help choose the wines for next week's neighborhood tasting.

Last night I browned some venison stew meat (dredged in flour with smoked paprika, cumin, sea salt and black pepper). After overnighting in the fridge, the meat went into the slow-cooker with diced potato, carrot, yellow onion, celery, red bell pepper, and bay leaves. The stew really hit the spot after work this evening.
Oh, the venison was thanks to Gail's marksmanship last November.

Gail pronounced it tasty, so it worked well enough for my purposes.

I would have tried it.

[Jenise]

Last night I browned some venison stew meat (dredged in flour with smoked paprika, cumin, sea salt and black pepper). After overnighting in the fridge, the meat went into the slow-cooker with diced potato, carrot, yellow onion, celery, red bell pepper, and bay leaves. The stew really hit the spot after work this evening.
Oh, the venison was thanks to Gail's marksmanship last November.

Was Gail a hunter before you met her, or have you taught her all this?

Gail hunted with her first husband, way back when she was 20-ish, and actually took one deer with a bow. But she hadn't hunted for about 20 years when we got together (husband #2 had an irrational dislike for guns and hunting). I reawakened her inner huntress.

Decided to try a Moroccan take on risotto this evening. I took some chopped up chicken thigh meat and rubbed it with a mix of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and paprika. When things were ready to go, the chicken was browned in a saucepan and then removed. Onions, garlic, and fresh ginger went in along with some turmeric and more of the spice mix. Did the typical risotto thing with chicken broth, white wine and vialone nano, adding some chopped preserved lemon, harissa, and lemon zest along the way. Towards the end, the chicken went back in with some thawed frozen peas. Came out the way I wanted it to, with lots of flavor from the spices and delightful little chunks of preserved lemon.