Eating Dinner With My Family

Tonight's dinner is one that I have been wanting  to try for so many reasons.  First of all, 2 whole eads of garlic?!  (yes I halved the recipe)  I was drooling at this point.  Secondly, I haven't tried any Anthony Bourdain recipes yet, and because he says it is one of the most popular at Les Halles.  I was multitasking too much while making it and am positive I ruined it beyond anything edible, yet here I sit unable to breathe as if it was thanksgiving dinner.  I made mashed potatoes (use a ricer please! it makes the best mashed potatoes!) and sauteed escarole to go with it.  I can't wait to make it again,  I didn't think the picture looked too pretty but hey it's in the tasting right? Oh and I didnt' have a demi glace, I reduced a bit of the fancy chicken stock (not broth) to replace it.  I know it wasn't the same but not too terrible:) Mignons De Porc à L’ail 4    heads of garlic confit 4    pork ten...

Well I wanted to try a pork tenderloin recipe from Anthony Bourdain, but pork tenderloins come in two packs.  I wasn't going to cook both for dinner for just the four of us, so a quick search of food and wine and I found this.  I was a little leery, ground ginger and raisins.  Neither are some of my favorite things.  Top that off with the use of apple juice.  I know there are pork chop and applesauce lovers out there, but I am not one of them.  I am getting over my reluctance to try anything that mixes sweet and savory but I still am not a fan.  Well I prepped the Bourdain recipe for tomorrow and trimmed the tenderloin for tonight's dish.  (I'm proud of myself; this is another (one of many) issue of mine.   It was good.  We all liked it better than we thought we would.  The ginger was unmistakable, but not overpowering. It suggested steamed greens with it, but my boys wouldn't be too happy with greens in general so I opted...

Well tonight's dinner, while tasty, was a bit of a misstep in two ways.  First of all, the tomatoes are raw, (didn't notice that) and my husband doesn't like to eat tomatoes raw.  Secondly, it is really a summer dish and tonight was one of the coldest of the year. It wasn't a cold dish, but not really hot one either.  Still, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all but my husband, who ate leftover chicken and dumplings and was a very happy camper.  I will make this again, but I will, next time, throw in a pinch of red pepper flakes in with the oil and garlic.  No salt was needed, I left it out along with the pepper.  Oops, but  I think I would like the red pepper better:)  I also wanted to use up the Stilton from the other night, and viola, a quick search of the web and we have bread sticks with our pasta. Spaghetti With Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic, And Feta Cheese 4 Servings 1 1/2 lb tomatoes (about 3),seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 c...

Pizza night tonight!  One new one for me and one traditional one for the boys;).  Now I LOVE mushrooms and am a big fan of goat cheese, but during the cooking, I had my concerns about how it would turn out.  It appeared that there wouldn't be enough mushrooms. (true) The beachamel tasted sour and not much of goat cheese. I was so worried.  Turns out it was really tasty.  I would have liked more mushrooms. I didn't use a variety, just portabello and I made one large pizza instead of 4 small.  Both will be preferable in the future.  More mushrooms and in a variety will really make this better, and the smaller pizzas will fix the soggy center that was present.  Still a tasty dish I want to make again.  (maybe not soon since I am the only mushroom lover, (nay liker) in the family. Mushroom and Goat Cheese Béchamel Pizzas 2 T  unsalted butter 3 T  all-purpose flour,plus more for dusting 1 1/2 c  milk 2    ounce...

WOW and WOW. I remember making this dish once before almost 12 years ago and thinking it was really good. I am in the camp of the light fluffy dumplings vS the heavy noodle like dumpling and this is a fluffy dumpling.  The sauce is amazing.  The original recipe involves roasting your own chicken and then using that meat.  I roasted some chicken breasts in butter so it would be faster. (next time I think I will poach or boil as the chicken was a bit over cooked) It would be super easy to use some rotisserie chicken and I'm sure just as good.  I thought the sauce was not thickening like it should, so I made a slurry of about a tablespoon of butter and a heaping tablespoon of water;  shook it well and added it to the simmering liquid.  It worked like a charm. I consulted the original recipe and found a tablespoon of flout I was not sure what it was used in. (maybe that's why I omitted it in the typing of it) Perhaps that is what it was there for.  Also k...

I have wanted to try this for so long, but it did disappoint a little. More cheese and port would have helped.  The rolls seemed to absorb a lot of the flavors. Some bites were very tasty, but most were just, in the words of Randy Jackson, pitchy. I made a couple of deviations from the recipe. I used woodears instead of the shiitake, I used ground chuck and the buns were egg bread knots from the bakery. The buns were very similar to brioche.  Dried shiitakes seem to be on strike, and the meat was 20% fat like the homemade combo of different cuts. I don't think that they were significant changes, at least not enough to ruin the dish.  Now I might make it again.  I have umami powder left over, but it didn't wow.  Now we are going out to the cul de sac and celebrate the coming new year:) Umami Burgers With Port And Stilton  4 Servings 1 c  ruby port 2 lb mixed ground beef brisket skirt steak and sirloin steak ...

Well after the orgy of high fat over eating over Christmas, I was planning on doing something light. Mission not really accomplished. I, instead of planning and shopping, decided to make a soup out of anything that needed to be used in the fridge I will apologize now for the vague instructions, but I was winging it and just trying to make a warm dish on this cold night that will use up food that was on the verge of being wasted. Despite the lack of planning, we were all really pleased in the end. The boy pronounced it a favorite, and my husband declined the addition of leftover beef. (he also said some really nice things about my cooking skills! (blush)) The following measurements are estimated, but I am pretty good at guesstimating when it comes to cooking. Only 100% for sure is the water. I did measure it. We served it with grilled sourdough.  Oh and any suggestions for names would be great! Improv Soup 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 cups of peeled baby carrots 3 cups of ...