Eating Dinner With My Family

We decided to make this for our European tour themed progressive dinner on Saturday. So I wanted a practice run  just to prepare for the big day and it is Thursday.   It is really an outstanding dinner and not too hard to make, but is really decadent, so it can't be an every day dinner.  We had it with mashed potatoes this time; we thought it would be a good side for the upcoming dinner, and this was the test run.  It worked really well.  Sorry for all the short posts, I am a month behind. Roast Pork with Mustard Sauce 3 lb pork roast 4 T  pork fat 2 T  butter optional 1 1    onion sliced 1    carrot sliced 2 ea garlic I bouquet garni 1/3 c  cider vinegar 10    peppercorns crushed 1 1/2 c  whipping cream 2 t  mustard dry mixed with an equal amount of water 1  -2 tablespoons butter unsalted and softened Preheat oven to 325....

This throwback Thursday was picked by  husband, but my son's favorite fish is salmon.  (maybe even favorite protein)  Just be careful, it's easy to put too much of the brodetto and this isn't soup;).  This time the dinner wasn't as picture worthy as the last time I made it, but just as tasty.  I can't get over the pea puree.  It is amazing!   This time the picture looked bad too. It is also because of my over ladling of the brodello.  Oops!  In the end, this dish is good ( good enough to be one of the first to be repeated), looks pretty, easy to make, and is a little different. Salmon In Lemon Brodetto With Pea Puree Lemon Brodetto 2 Tbl olive oil 1 shallot diced 2 lemons juiced 1 lemon zested 2 Cup chicken broth 1 Tbl chopped fresh mint leaves Pea Puree 2 Cup frozen peas thawed (about 10 ounces) 1/4 Cup fresh mint leaves 1 Clove garlic 1/2 Tsp kosher salt 1/2 Tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 Cup extra-virgin olive oil ...

My husband picked tonight's throwback meal.  It was never a super favorite of mine, but I do like it.  Ok, it's my issue with chicken, I admit it.  Everyone loved it, I am the only particular one that had an issue.  It isn't hard to make and the lemon sauce is really great.   Get a baguette and a salad and you are done. Chicken Saltimbocca With Lemon Sauce 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves 8 large fresh sage leaves 8 Slice prosciutto (about 3 ounces thinly sliced) 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour plus 2 Tsp all-purpose flour 1 Tbl butter 1 1/2 Tbl olive oil 2 Tbl dry white wine 1/2 Cup low sodium chicken broth 2 Tbl fresh lemon juice Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap on work surface. Using mallet, pound chicken to 1/3-inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place 2 sage leaves atop each chicken breast half. Top each chicken breast with 2 prosciutto slices, pressing to adhere. Spread 1/2 cup flour on plate. ...

This is one of our favorite recipes. We used to have it every soccer practice night. While I did "create" it, it is based loosely on a steak salad at a local restaurant. Since the T-bones were in sale I got that instead if the usual New York Strip.  I need to apologize for the lighting on the picture, I was at a wine tasting and not there to add my meager photography skills. However, my husband was perfect were it counts, the cooking part.  I am putting the recipe I have in my computer here.  You can see the original post on how to make the steak, balsamic reduction etc.. or you can use your own recipes and just try the combo.  We love this salad! If you want a more detailed recipe, you can see the original post .  (I'm feeling lazy sorry) Steak Salad Arugula (and Other Greens If You Wish) Tomatoes Scallions Bleu Cheese Balsamic Reduction Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salt Pepper Steak Cooked Medium Rare mix the arugula, tomatoes and scallions.  sprinkle...

This throwback meal is arguably one of my husbands favorites.  Whenever he thinks of it, gets this kind of dreamy look in his eyes and says something along the lines of "oooh that is a good one!"  We all like it, but it holds a special place in his heart.  It is also one of the easiest meals ever.  It takes less than 10 minutes start to finish.  (If you can cook all sandwiches at once otherwise you will need about 5 minutes more)  I cooked two sandwiches at a time and I spent about 15 minutes.  The pickles are not optional for us but I left that in the instructions in case it was a deal breaker for some of you.  You need to try this sandwich!  Serve it with a salad and you have a great meal!  Cut it in to small wedges and you have an excellent appetizer.  It is fast enough for any meal, with any time constraints, but delicious enough to be a wonderful dinner. Inside-Out Grilled Ham-And-Cheese Sandwiches 4 Tbl unsalte...

It's Halloween and I am making some dips for our annual cul de sac party but luckily it's also a Thursday and I know exactly what fast/easy/tasty dish to make. The spicy sausage pasta. (The sausage was even on sale!  It's fate!).  The family really loves this!  (and soooo easy!)  I left the cheese off this one and we didn't miss it. Spicy Sausage Pasta  olive oil  smoked sausage  diced onion  cloves garlic, minced  low-sodium chicken broth  Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild  heavy cream  penne pasta  salt and pepper  Monterey Jack cheese, shredded  thinly sliced scallions Recipe and instructions here

For throwback Thursday, my son got to choose, and he choose a family favorite: Spicy Corn Chowder.  Other than getting the corn off 10 ears, the recipe isn't hard.  I suppose a slacker solution would be frozen, but cutting corn off the cob isn't that hard, and we even did it the day before.  We froze the cobs and are going to make corn broth with them later.  This soup is really amazing.  My family likes to add a few dashes of  Tabasco Chipotle Hot sauce.  It is smoky and with some heat that really makes the soup outstanding.  We don't bother with the cheese because it really doesn't need it. Spicy Corn Chowder 1/2 Lb thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon (6-slices), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces 1 medium yellow onion cut into 1/2-inch dice 3 scallions thinly sliced 2 celery ribs cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch d 1 Tsp fresh thyme 5 Cup fresh corn kernels (from 10 medium cobs) 1/2 Tsp pu...

The boy took the pictures.  Not great :) For throwback Thursday, I chose a meal I didn't really want again as I was going to be out.  My husband loved this the first time we had it, and while I enjoyed the flavor, it was my issues with raw chicken, again, that prevented me from being able to enjoy it.  Even the boy likes it despite the presence of those evil mushrooms ;). Chicken In Tarragon-Mustard Cream Sauce 3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 Lb skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-in Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 Lb white mushrooms thinly sliced 1 large shallot minced 3/4 Cup dry white wine 1 1/4 Cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 1/2 Cup heavy cream 2 Tbl grainy mustard 2 Tbl chopped tarragon Buttered noodles for serving 1. In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the skillet in a single layer.    Cook over high heat, turning once, until browned bu...

My son choose (and photographed) tonight's throwback meal.  He loves these latkes.  I was at a benefit at the Ormond Wine Co for breast cancer research. They made chicken fingers to go with it.  So, just a short post today.  Mostly for my personal information and to share what we loved so much we had to have again.  Potato Latkes Our Note: double everything but the egg, use  only 4 of them.  otherwise it is too soggy. 2 Cup potatoes Peeled And Shredded (4 cups) 1 Tbl onion Grated (2 Tbsp) 3 eggs beaten (4) 2 Tbl flour (4 tbsp.) 1 1/2 Tsp Salt (3 tsp) 1/2 Cup oil for frying 1.Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible. J2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together. 3.In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch t...

My husband choose this throwback Thursday dish.  I followed the sauce recipe, but the meatballs I played around with a little bit.  Mostly, I just made my life easy by getting the meatloaf package of ground beef/pork rather than get a package of both meats and most likely have odd bits I didn't need for tonight's dinner.  As always, if you don't eat beef or pork, you can switch out the meat for other ones, but the beef & pork combo is traditional and I think the tastiest.  I totally am loving the greens in the meatballs.  I don't know where I first saw this idea (and it was most like spinach that was in the original recipe), but I have used collards and now bok choy with fantastic results.  (my next experiment will involve the leavings from my juicing, but that is for another time:)  I also love coating the meatballs in bread crumbs. This coating absorbs the juices (and fat) cooking out of the meatball and adds a lot of flavor and a nice crisp...

Ahh these throwback Thursdays are teaching me about the fallibility of memory. This ranked among the top 10 things we ever made, and was a strong contender for #1, and it was still delicious, but it didn't neatly make me faint and cry with joy the way I  remembered it.  My boy, who picked this TBT dish, still proclaims it a 5 star dish! My husband too.  I really enjoyed it and truth be told the sriracha cream does still make we weep with joy, but I was a smidge disappointed. Perhaps, in the exalted perfection of memory, I set my expectations too high. I shouldn't be complaining, it was a fine, nay excellent dinner, but I had put the memory of it on so high a pedestal, I should have known, it was going to lose in the comparison. I hope I haven't put you off the dish with my lamenting my first world problems. It is an outstanding dish.  It looks pretty too. (Although I think that the first post picture looks better than tonight's) It isn't too hard, or pricey. By thos...

So for the second installment of throwback Thursday, I picked these short ribs. My husband had mentioned them recently believing them to be PBE (pre blog era) and wanted them. However they were on the blog so I surprised him with them tonight. I was off to the monthly wine tasting, and since I don't dig meat on a bone, I wasn't too disappointed to be missing dinner. The boys adored them. This time, by throwing in the potatoes in with the meat, it made for an easy meal. Just toss a salad and you are done. Yes the braising takes a bit of time, but the only real work was the chopping the onion and browning the ribs.   Short Ribs With Creamy Mustard Sauce 3 lb Beef Short Ribs 1/2    Onion Chopped fine  1 c  Beef Broth, Plus More As Needed 1/2 c  Heavy Cream, Or More  2 Tbsp Dijon or other good mustard Salt And Pepper Canola Oil 1 pound of red potatoes, quartered unless really small, then half them Heat a la...

My family has been grumbling that so many meals we absolutely adored are not made again, or worse, forgotten about. I had thought about doing throwback Thursday for a while now, but being miserably sick prompted me to finally have the boys pick an oldie but goodie. (With the caveat that it was easy for my poor sick self). My husband picked this baked orecchiette with pork sugo. I remember really liking it and it made a ton which will be breakfast and/or lunch for us so I can hopefully relax and get better. The good: it was as tasty as I remembered!  The pork was on sale so the huge (and I mean huge!)  pan of pasta cost about $10. Add a salad and you have 2 dinners for just over $10!  The ok: they didn't have orecchiette at the store (and being sick I wasn't making pasta!), so I opted for small shells. I think they got a bit overlooked and were too small for the sauce. I think farfalle would be a better substitution  I halved the original recipe (I'm giving you the po...