January 2013
1 post
5 tags
Roasted Fennel on Flatbread + Olives and Raisins
My new favorite vegetable is fennel. In my Christmas dinner, it appeared in a salad with oranges and an orange vinaigrette. For friends’ New Year’s Eve dinner, I brought a bean and roasted fennel dip.
Tonight, it’s Grilled Fennel Flatbread with Olives and Sultanas from Food52.
This calls for making a yeast crust. Mine is underway…dough is sitting and I’m...
November 2012
5 posts
3 tags
Farro with Roasted Acorn Squash
For Thanksgiving, I bought squash and fruit to arrange in a bowl on the dining room table.
That’s over.
Time to eat them!
I found this recipe in Epicurious for roasted acorn squash mixed with farro. I like this site because the reviews can be very helpful.
While the recipe calls for cooking the farro for one hour, someone kindly points out that farro grain comes several ways....
2 tags
Happy Thanksgiving!
4 tags
There Will be Tarts....and Potatoes --...
Again this year our friends RO and SRO invited us for Thanksgiving…a feast for 18.
Yesterday, I picked up C and her friend T from the train. This morning with some of their help, I’ve been making my dinner contributions for tomorrow.
I started with tarts for desert. These mini-tartlets are only 2-3 bites each. This is a recipe from Fine Cooking from long ago. I made three...
5 tags
Pasta with Dried Mushrooms & Asparagus
Another make-it-up-on-the-spot dinner. I have the ingredients…just can’t find a recipe that uses them all!
I have some fresh asparagus, dried mushrooms, a shallot and dried pappardelle.
I’ve made a portobello mushroom creamy pasta, so I’m using that recipe as a guide.
Soak the dried mushrooms and save that mushroom water. Blanch the asparagus then cut stalks into...
2 tags
Curried Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup
I have to quickly put a dinner together. It’s cold outside. So, it will be soup.
I have lots of carrots. (My 5 pound bag survived the Super Storm Sandy.) And I bought a few sweet potatoes today.
I’m working from this recipe from Food52. Curried Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup From my quick search of recipes online, many comments about sweet potato soup was that it was a little...
October 2012
4 posts
3 tags
Zucchini Bread
Monday, October 29, 2012
This morning waiting for the worst of Hurricane Sandy (aka Hybrid Storm, Frankenstorm, etc.).
Looking through the refrigerator with the possibility of loosing power, I saw a big zucchini from the farmers’ market. How it got lost for so long, I can’t claim to not know. It is my refrigerator after all!
First thing, I made a zucchini bread. Two cups grated...
Roasted Chicken on Acorn Squash
A perfect fall dinner from Melissa Clark, New York Times Wednesday Oct. 24, 2012, Roasted Chicken on Delicata Squash. My vegetable bed is acorn squash.
This was soooo easy, and has lots of flavor. I used thighs and drumsticks. Put them in a bowl so you can mix them with the seasonings and oil. Salt and pepper of course, sage and she called for coriander seed. I had none, so did without.
...
Sofrito
This is just a building block for a future dish.
I discovered this a couple of years ago when I was making dinner for a dozen friends to celebrate MS’s birthday. I knew I want to make a Porto Rican pork shoulder that is slow roasted, covered in a mash of garlic and seasonings. Easy and delicious.
Then I went hunting for the right side dishes. It had to be rice and beans, but I...
4 tags
BOO! I'm Back - Dinner and Halloween Dessert
It’s been way too long, I know.
I’ve heard from many of you, “How’s your blog?” ”Are you eating anymore?”
Well, since it is fall, I’m making my first squash soup. The recipe is from our friend SD. I know I posted this before, but you might be inclined to give it a try now.
Butternut Squash Soup
Cut in half and clean out the seeds. Season...
May 2012
1 post
4 tags
Dinner: Sunday, May 6 2012
It’s been awhile. I keep making dinners I’ve already posted about. No need to bore you. You really don’t want to hear about another quiche!
Yesterday, I walked my very first race, the Long Branch Half Marathon. When I got home with some very tired muscles, I wanted to make a celebratory dinner.
What better than a steak! This was my opportunity to try the Nathan Myhrvold modernist cuisine...
April 2012
1 post
4 tags
Dinner: Wednesday April 4, 2012
Lately, I’ve been making the usuals for dinner, nothing to blog about. Many times, I’ve already written about a particular recipe or meal.
Tonight is one of those meals: Pasta with Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, a recipe from the New York Times. It can’t be any easier.
At Trader Joe’s I got these heirloom cherry tomatoes. And that’s why I posted tonight’s dinner.
Don’t they look...
March 2012
6 posts
4 tags
Dinner: Tuesday March 27, 2012
Tonight I’m making a spinach ricotta pie for dinner. Thought I’d do a frittata, but when I was going through my recipe book I saw this. I have not made it in ages.
Easy!!!! And I don’t follow the recipe. First, I just don’t put this mixture into a pie crust as called for. The filling reminds me of a cheese layer in lasagna. No need of a crust for that flavor.
One 15 oz. package of ricotta...
4 tags
Dinner: Monday March 19, 2012
Leftovers after the St. Patrick’s Day are MS’s favorite. The first re-purposed dinner is always Ruben sandwiches.
I lost track of time today, so at 6:00 I dashed out to get rye bread and horseradish for the Thousand Island dressing. But I forgot to get sauerkraut.
Oh, well. I have Swiss cheese and the leftover cabbage. I sliced it thinly and put it on the sandwiches.
The homemade Thousand...
4 tags
Happy St. Patrick's Day 2012
As my family and many of my friends know, I’m not big celebrator of St. Partick’s Day.
I don’t intentionally wear green. Avoid the parades. Never tasted Guinness. I let my name speak for itself.
But I do love corned beef. And cabbage that has not been boiled-to-death is delicious. Boiled potatoes and butter are divine.
For years, I bought the supermarket packaged corned beef. But I have...
6 tags
Dinner: Thursday March 15, 2012
Last Saturday MS and the daughter went to New York City. They went to the Upper Westside to explore and stopped at a few favorite spots. Happily for me their visit included Zabar’s.
Among the goodies they brought back included fresh potato gnocchi and a wedge of Grana Padano Parmasan.
Tonight for the gnocchi, I’m making the easy tomato sauce from Marcel Hazan. One can (2 pounds plus) of...
4 tags
Dinner: Monday March 12, 2012
Tonight is a quick dinner that I made often, but have not written about yet. I’m making homemade individual pizzas with dough from Trader Joe’s.
I like to keep a package of dough in the freezer. I cut one package (one pound) of dough into quarters, and roll each piece out on a piece of parchment paper.
Everyone gets to top it with what they want or I should say, what I have on hand. ...
6 tags
Dinners: March 5 & 9, 2012
I have some catching up to do!!
The daughter, CS, came home from college for her two-week spring break and she brought a friend. So, I’ve been cooking lots. And visiting grocery stores more often!
Some dinners have been family favorites — Roasted Chicken and Chicken Pot Pie. I didn’t take any photos.
I’ll catch up with two dinners – both recipes from Silver Palate.
Earlier this...
February 2012
4 posts
3 tags
Dinner: Tuesday February 28, 2012
It was spring-like yesterday and today. I’m inspired to make a cold pesto pasta salad. And it is perfect with grilled sandwiches. Remember one of my dinner mantras: if a sandwich is grilled – it’s dinner!
I use a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for this pesto mixture for a pasta salad. The changes to the recipe are using a mix of fresh basil and fresh spinach, and using olive oil and...
4 tags
Dinner with Friends: Saturday February 25, 2012
We’re having dear friends for dinner tonight, JB and her husband DB. Their oldest son started college this fall, too. We’ll have lots to talk about!
This is an opportunity to try something I experimented with on Valentine’s Day. (I didn’t blog about it because I had trouble posting to my Tumblr, and that week I was in NYC most days.)
Back in January, Melissa Clark in the NY Times, wrote an...
3 tags
Dessert: Saturday February 11, 2012
We’re going to dinner at our dear friends RH & MH tonight. I’m bringing a dessert. Because this is MH’s annual sweethearts’ dinner, my dessert must be Valentine appropriate – chocolate!
Several years ago, MH had a dinner in honor of her husband’s Valentine birthday. All the couples had such a good time, MH has kept up the tradition. It is so nice to do something special in the middle of...
3 tags
Dinner: Monday February 6, 2012
The hellebore has blossomed!
No snow on the ground and 50 degree temps today, so I’m making chicken soup. If I wait, it will be too warm later this month!.
I use a “recipe” for chicken soup. For too many years I made terrible soup – too weak, too lifeless, too flavorless. Berta’s Chicken Stock in Silver Palate Good Times Cook Book is where I start now. I’ve learned the value of using...
January 2012
10 posts
4 tags
Dinner: Monday January 30, 2012
I’m making one of the easiest pasta in my dinner repertoire: Roasted Cherry Tomatoes from the New York Times 2001. But of course I’m making a substitution – grape tomatoes instead because that’s what was in the store.
This calls for a pound of tomatoes; I just use an amount that tightly fills the bottom of my baking dish. Slice each tomato in half and place cut side up. Top them with about 1/3...
7 tags
Dinner with Friends: Saturday January 28, 2012
Last night, we had dear friends over for dinner. I’ve known SY & FY since college. Our kids grew up calling each other “cousin”. We’ve shared many meals.
For this dinner I wanted something easy to make, with simple, unfussy ingredients. And something somewhat seasonable for a January evening.
Winter Dinner with Friends
Appetizers
Corn salsa,
Guacamole
with corn chips
Fresh...
5 tags
Dinner: Friday January 27, 2012
Chicken tacos, or chicken wraps, whatever you call them, they’re a quick dinner tonight. I have some frozen sofrito I defrosted and will use in white rice to liven it up.
First, I get the rice going. Put oil in the pot and because the sofrito is watery, cook it down and add salt, pepper and cumin. Pour the rice in and cook about a minute or two. Then add chicken stock to cover the rice...
3 tags
Dinner: Tuesday January 24, 2012
Pasta is tonight’s dinner. I’m making carbonara which is so easy and very comforting.
It’s a simple arrangement of basic ingredients: 3 eggs, 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, about ¼ pound of bacon, 3 garlic cloves, about 1/4 cup lemon juice and pasta.
I use Trader Joe’s apple wood smoked bacon which has great flavor. I microwave the bacon strips first, then cut them and finish sautéing...
3 tags
Dinner: Monday January 23, 2012
I decided on my dinner destination this morning, carrot soup. Reason: I have a 5 pound bag!
Roasted Carrot Soup from Food52 sounds good.
It’s an easy recipe. Though it did involve me driving to Penzey’s, the spice store, to get a jar of vegetable soup base, and the chicken base I desperately needed.
Slice the 1 ¾ pound of carrots, mix with olive oil and put under a broiler to brown.
Ready...
2 tags
Dinner: Tuesday January 17, 2012
Dinner tonight started with three chicken thighs and canned tomatoes left from yesterday’s vegetable soup. I searched on “chicken and tomatoes” and found Flambéed Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic from Food52.com.
I have flambéed before, but not as part of the recipe. So, my experience with that technique is a little random. And as usual, I don’t have all the ingredients: ½ the number of...
3 tags
Dinner: Monday January 16, 2012
Cold! Cold! Cold this morning! When we woke up it was just 10 degrees. Those weather folks predict the temperature will climb. But I’m motivated now, this morning, to make dinner –Vegetable Soup from Flavors of Tuscany by Nancy Harmon Jenkins.
I love this soup because it is easy, and so flavorful. The ingredients or techniques are not unusual or difficult. The soup uses cooked beans - pureed...
2 tags
Dinner: Friday January 13, 2012
Dinner has been bubbling in the oven for a while. I’m making a Julia Child beef stew from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume I: Casserole of Beef with Wine and Vegetables.
This is one of the easiest stews I’ve ever made. Three pounds of beef – I used rump roast beef round and some bacon. Vegetables are sliced carrots, sliced onions, smashed garlic, chopped up tomatoes (I used...
5 tags
Dinner: Wednesday January 11, 2012
I’m making a quick dinner tonight. Keeping it simple and using what’s in the refrigerator. I have two boneless pork chops, a few mushrooms, left over mashed potatoes, and an assortment of frozen veggies.
For the pork, I’ll sauté them in the fabulous grill pan. They might be thick enough to just brown on the stove top and then put into the oven for a few minutes to finish. I’ll see how it...
3 tags
Dinner: Tuesday January 10, 2012
It’s been awhile. MS’s need for a bland diet lasted longer he expected. So, my dinners were just too bland to blog about. This weekend the daughter returned to college.
It’s been a long time since I made pasta in a red sauce. MS can’t eat this yet. I have diet-appropriate leftovers for him.
For myself, I’m making the easiest sauce I’ve ever seen. Marcella Hazan’s Red Sauce III...
December 2011
11 posts
1 tag
Christmas Dinner 2011
Our dear friends SRO & RO and their two daughters joined us for our Christmas Dinner, a long standing tradition. The dinner menu changes year to year, but with enough constancy for the diehard traditionalists – who usually are the three daughters!
Christmas Dinner
2011
Appetizers
Gravlax
Gorgonzola cheese torta w/cranberries
Marinated olives
Salad
Greens with fennel & oranges...
3 tags
Dinner: Tuesday December 20, 2011
Now that the daughter is home from school, some of her favorite dinners are on the menu.
Tonight, dinner is pasta with white clam sauce. Nothing fancy. No clams in the shell. While that would be wonderful this is a simple meal.
I make a béchamel sauce from Marcela Hazan. I toast the flour just a bit. I use canned clams, so I strain the clam juice and use that in the béchamel. If it needs a...
6 tags
Christmas Cookies: December 18, 2011
Today on the list: getting the Christmas tree up, lit and decorated, and baking Chocolate Caramel Chews.
This recipe is from one of my favorite cookie cook books, Rose’s Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Bernabaum. These fit perfectly with my simplification strategy for Christmas this year. Anytime you can cut many from one large piece makes life easier! And these always get rave reviews from the...
3 tags
Christmas Cookies: December 14, 2011
Simplify. This is my motto for Christmas baking this year. Make only three or four varieties. I’m starting to bake later than in previous years. That will ensure I don’t make too many.
Tonight, I’m baking rugelach. I use a recipe in Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies. I’ve been using this book for years, and years. It was an early purchase from Book of the Month Club.
Her...
2 tags
Dinner: Tuesday December 13, 2011
Dinner is chili tonight. I don’t think MS will be digging into a bowlful. But I’ll also make rice. That he’ll like.
I use a recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook, chili for a crowd. I halve the recipe and will have lots to freeze for dinners and lunches for this winter.
The recipe calls for ground beef and Italian sausage. I like the combo. This is in no way authentic Texas chili. This...
Dinner: Thursday December 8, 2011
Back to almost regular meals. The doctor told MS he needs to eat more salt. The avoidance diet he’s been on has depleted his salt levels. Prescription: potato chips!
Well, I didn’t dash out to get the chips yet. So, tonight dinner is salmon cakes. One of our favorites. Without the daughter here for dinner, I don’t have to make two versions, with onions and without.
They are easy to...
Dinner: Friday December 2, 2011
MS requested chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. This is a step up from totally bland food. I made a pot pie a couple of weeks ago so, I’ll save you from all the steps again.
I roasted a whole chicken breast. This is Ina Garten’s recommendation for recipes using cooked chicken, e.g. chicken salad. It’s much easier than poaching and more flavorful. (Though, I would use the poaching...
4 tags
Dinner: Wednesday November 30, 2011
The leftovers are gone. Turkey soup made and eaten. Time to get back to cooking, again.
A twist though, MS has some stomach issues. He’s off of plain broth and is on a bland diet.
Tonight’s dinner is simple pan grilled chicken breasts, baked sweet potato and oven roasted Brussel sprouts but those are just for me.
I love my grill pan. I just salted his chicken.
Mine, I seasoned...
November 2011
9 posts
4 tags
Thanksgiving 2011
We’re had dinner at our dear friends, SRO & RO with their family. Lots of people around a big table — wonderful.
I brought mashed potatoes and a dessert.
For the potatoes I used Melissa Clark’s recipe from the November 16th New York Times. Mashed Potato Casserole
Mash Yukon Gold potatoes with sour cream and butter. Add chopped chives and put into a casserole dish. I made it on...
3 tags
Dinner: Wednesday November 23, 2011
On this Thanksgiving eve, I want an uncomplicated dinner. I still have some Thanksgiving dinner prep to do – pumpkin tarts.
I’ve decided on a cheese soufflé from Dorie Greenspan’s book, Around My French Table. This choice may not seem uncomplicated but it is.
I never made one till I got this book from my dear friend, JT, for my birthday this year. It requires only two techniques: making a...
4 tags
Dinner: Tuesday November 22, 2011
The daughter, CS, comes home this evening for Thanksgiving break. Today, I’ve been busy with Thanksgiving food prep. (I’m not doing dinner, but am taking potatoes and dessert.)
I wanted to do chicken thighs for dinner tonight. CS says the food served at college doesn’t often include a meat on a bone.
I didn’t have a recipe in mind but I do want to bake the chicken in the oven. I...
3 tags
Dinner: Wednesday November 16, 2011
It’s been rainy all day. I want a comfort meal. It has to be warm, earthy, easy and fast.
I have a recipe for portabella mushroom and sherry pasta from an older Fine Cooking Magazine. But because I have less than the full weight of mushrooms the recipe calls for, I’ll supplement with dried mushrooms.
Recipe calls for butter and olive oil. Add the chopped mushrooms (fresh ones), salt and...
Dinner: Tuesday November 15, 2011
How could I resist a purple cauliflower?
I couldn’t. It was sitting there at Saturday’s greenmarket next to the yellow cauliflowers. This one was calling me.
I found a cauliflower and pear soup on Food52 blog. My soup won’t be creamy white…I don’t think.
You start by sautéing a leek and shallot. Then add cut up cauliflower, 2 potatoes, 2 pears, fresh sage and thyme, cooking till everything...
5 tags
Dinner: Monday November 14, 2011
Pork chops and scalloped potatoes – this is dinner tonight. I can’t believe it is so dark outside! It is fall even though temperatures were warm today.
On the blog Food52 I found this simple recipe for pork chops with balsamic onions. The chops are coated in and eggs, flour and panko breading. The recipe calls for fresh herbs – I have none. So, I’ll substitute dried rosemary, thyme and...
