Eating Dinner With My Family

I love this recipe for company.  It isn't too labor intensive but looks very impressive and is much less expensive than it fancier beef cousin.  I am not a fan of pork but am ok with the tenderloin.  I normally do not like fruit in with my savory dishes either but I can handle it in this one.  I actually like it very much.  We had company tonight, so I busted out my fancy company recipe:).  With it I made some rice cooked in chicken broth and some butter and my friends brought a lovely salad with lots of colorful veggies. (yellow peppers, tomatoes, spinach, etc...) with a choice of Cesar, ranch and raspberry vinaigrette for dressing.  Pork Wellington 1    whole egg 1 T  water 1    -ounce dried apple rings 1    whole pork tenderloin approximately 1 pound 4 1/2    ounces thinly slice prosciutto ham 1/4 t  kosher salt 1/4 t  freshly ground black pepper 1 t  chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 t  all-purpose flour 1    sheet puff pastry,thawed completely 1 T  whole-grain mustard

Well this dish was one enormous pain in the butt from start to finish.  It was pretty tasty at the end but not pretty and not really worth all the effort.  I put it in the fixable file.  It is from a top chef winner so I'm sure with a professionals skill it would we easier and perfect but in my less adept hands it was just a hot mess.  This was supposed to be yesterday's dish, but when I looked over the recipe at three, (normally plenty of time to prep and make the dish) I realized that there were a good 5 hours of prep before I could even start the final dish, so I make the stock and refrigerate it and make tonight's scheduled dish yesterday.  Of the 9 "cakes" I made, only 2 resembled a cake and not a bowl of pasta.  I know this means I made them a bit too big. (there was to be 12) However, I could not get them to hold any sort of cake shape and the only solution was to use an egg ring I had and press the cake mixture into it and lift the ring.  I couldn't br

I love pho, but this one is a lo cal copy so I wasn't sure how I would like it. I was a bit concerned when I googled the noodles.  They are almost calorie free, (never tasty) and they said that for the uninitiated they had a unpleasant smell.  (turns out like they smell like dirty socks soaked in musty fish sauce!)  This was a super quick recipe.  The only thing that might take you time is the slicing thin of the tenderloin, but your butcher can do that for you and then dinner would take 10 min tops.  The first few bites I wasn't sure I liked it.  I think I put way too much basil on mine and I was getting a lot of it in the first bites.  The meat was heavenly.  It looks raw in the picture, but once I dunked them under the broth, they were a perfect medium rare.  Thin slicing is key in this dish.  The noodles were odd, but they kind of grew on me.  They are made of tofu and like a cup of them was 20 calories. So from first bite I was saying we won't make this again, the boy

Well we have a ham, pasta with vodka sauce we love, and I thought I would try this vegetarian, lighter and spicier cousin of that dish. The tomato portion was pretty spicy when I tasted it. I had started a bit earlier than I needed to so I tasted it and put it off the heat still with the lid ajar.  If you love this sauce, you could make batches up to this point and freeze it, but I haven't tried this yet.  I would then gently reheat it and add the cream and cheese etc... and finish the recipe.  It was a bit spicy; I felt no need to add the additional red pepper flakes and even added a touch more cream to try and tame the heat.  If you are not a spicy lover, I would recommend halving the red pepper flakes initially.  You can always spice it up later.  I liked the omission of the ham, but missed the smokiness.  My husband added ham to his because he missed it in this dish.  Next time I make this I will add a few drops of liquid smoke to it and see how that goes. Rigatoni With Spicy

My husband's plate was the picture plate tonight.  He put WAY too much siriacha! The odds of me liking this dish were a million to one.  I don't like chicken. I loathe seeing it raw, particularly the dark meat.  If I see it raw I am grossed out and don't want to eat it.  Chicken thighs smell awful raw. I hated this dish from the moment I started it.  Add to that that I am sick and tired and in a bad mood. Oh and they looked like wet garbage.  Loose, wet "meatballs" that didn't hold their shape and of smelly gross looking chicken and green paste.  (I know I am totally selling you on this dish right?:)  I was gong to skip dinner since I really had no appetite but I am a big girl and very much interested in the culinary arts, so I was going to at least try them.  I don't have to like everything but I do need to try everything for knowledge's sake.  I steel myself for horror I am about to put in my mouth and found myself thinking it wasn't too bad

After the mediocre reception of the other carbonara recipe, I thought I would try an different one.  I thought this one would be superior in several ways.  1) It has cream in it, and that couldn't hurt.  2) This recipe has peas in it.  Not only do I love peas, but I thought it would add another flavor element to the dish that was needed.  And 3) this recipe is from 2 Top Chef contestants I thought seemed to be really great chefs.  (as always click on the title of the post for a link to the original recipe.)  This one was better.  I did have some issues with the dish, but not flavor wise.  The peas and pancetta were not evenly distributed.  No matter how much mixing I did, they sank to the bottom of the pan and I had to hunt with a spoon to put some over the top of the pasta.  The sauce was also a bit thin.  Not horribly so but I would have liked it a bit thicker and dare I say a tad less cream.  The other recipe was perfect in its consistency, but lacking something in flavor.  At t

I have only had fennel bulb once before and I did not care for it.  It was baked into some dish I made many years ago that we vowed to never make again. (yeah it was that good;) I am also not a fan of licorice which is another strike against the poor fennel plant.  I have to say I really liked it. The boy wasn't a fan so I didn't make him eat the sauce.  It just goes to show you never know if you really don't like something until you try it in many forms.  I think it was the long slow cooking time that mellowed the flavor of the bulb and made it more palatable for me. Perhaps also the strong flavors of the curry powder helped tame the fennel.  I'm not 100% sure what did it;  I am only sure that I enjoyed it. I served it with a green salad with a "dressing" of some left over coleslaw from the fish tacos we made for the progressive dinner.  That worked well too and it used up leftovers. Salmon Steaks With Curried Fennel-Wine Sauce 3 T  vegetable oil 2    lar

Well we had our second progressive dinner.  This time the theme was Mexican. I think it was another success.  I am already thinking of our next theme:).  I know some think the traveling from house to house is a bit silly but I think it really makes the party.  The change of scenery gives each course it's own vibe, and the people you are sitting near or talking to changes too.  It makes a real difference. Tonight we started with some homemade salsa and chips with homemade sangria. Then we had our fish tacos with a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc,  My husband even made a taco stand out of some cherry wood we had. Next we had a spicy chicken tortilla soup with a bottle of sangria. The heat was perfect.  Just a little bite without overwhelming the soup.  I also loved the baked tortilla chips.  I think they are even better than fried.  For salad we had a really unique and delicious Mexican Avocado salad made with beans, yellow peppers, onions, tomatoes and avocado wit

Well while this was not a dish I think I will make again, it certainly was not a bad way to use up an entire extra ham we had from making stromboli on the 18th.  I served it with rice and a salad.  It was pretty quick; it certainly was fast since I didn't need to really cook a protein.  The sauce came together pretty quick and it could be made ahead of time.  A solid "c" meal:) Griddled Ham Steaks With Spring Onions And Mustard 3/4 lb pearl onions 1 T  unsalted butter 2 T  extra-virgin olive oil,plus more for frying 1 lb spring bulb onions,sliced 1/4 inch thick 2 t  chopped thyme 1    garlic clove,minced 1/2 c  dry white wine 3/4 c  low-sodium chicken broth 2 T  Dijon mustard 1/3 c  chopped parsley Salt and freshly ground pepper 4    eight ounce ham steaks about 1/3 inch thick 1. In a small saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the pearl onions until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and trim the onions, then squeeze them from their skins. 2. In a lar

Well we had a wonderful vacation to Disney and Zip lining at the zoo. We did cook but I was taking a vacation from the blog as well.  However I had to share something that I thought was really a great technique.  My friend said her mom always stuffed the chicken cavity with an onion.  YUM  and the bonus the onion chopped and tossed in some rice with the chicken drippings made a tasty side dish.   So if you are cooking a whole bird, throw two halves of an onion in it and enjoy;)

Well this dish started with a meh, and ended with a mmmm?  Initially there was a bitterness that I wasn't digging.  I still am not sure what.  There is also a lot of black pepper and I am not a huge fan of aggressive pepper.  All that made my initial impression of this dish less than favorable.  In the end I was won over.  I think there is some tweaking to be done, but we all decided we wanted to have this again. It is a pretty quick one; it isn't the fastest dish ever but not a super long cook time which is always a plus. Spaghetti Alla Carbonara Kosher salt 1    Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 4 oz fatty pancetta or guanciale sliced 1/4 inch thick and cut into 1-1/2 Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 c  diced red onion 2    large eggs,chilled 1/2 lb imported dried spaghetti (Setaro brand,avaiable online was reccomended) 1/2 c  lightly packed,freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano [Note: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/authentic-italian - spaghetti-carbonara.aspx  ] Bri

Not to sound like a broken record, but another good and tasty meal.  The tomatoes didn't get the sandwich watery, the cheeses were wonderful and the garlic rubbed on the outside perfect.  We did buy a Tuscan Garlic loaf from the Publix bakery, and unbeknown to us, it was chuck full of whole garlic cloves, but not too much garlic in the end.  The loaf was a bit on the small size, diameter wise, so we made 6 instead of 4 sandwiches.  We used last night's aioli as a salad dressing and it was super yummy. With the exception of grating the cheese, which didn't take long, the sandwich required almost zero labor and was ready in a snap.  If you are pressed for time for dinner, you could always pre grate the cheeses so you save some minutes on those days that you only have a short window for dinner. Garlic-Rubbed Grilled Cheese With Prosciutto And Tomatoes 3 oz grated aged Gruyère (1-1/4 cups) 3 oz grated fontina (about 1 cup) 2    Tbs. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 1/4

Our worries that this would fall apart were unfounded.  We did add a coating of bread crumbs since the patties seemed a bit too moist. They weren't needed for flavor but they were our insurance policy.  The whole thing was very good and we all liked it a lot. My husband wanted to add cucumber slices to his next time but he still really liked it as is.  I think this is a great and easy way to get some omega 3's in to you diet.  Even those who aren't a fan of salmon should like this.  The aioli was really tasty, but there is at least a half a cup leftover and I was very liberal with it's application.  All and a very good meal. I think they would be really good without the bun too as a salmon cake. Salmon Burgers With Herb Aïoli 2    small cloves garlic Kosher salt 1    -1/2 cups mayonnaise 1/3 c  finely chopped fresh chives 2    Tbs. finely chopped fresh dill 1    -1/2 Tbs. Dijon mustard 1    Tbs. fresh lemon juice 1/8 t  cayenne Freshly ground black pepper 5 

Before the sauce WOW!  I have to say this was one of those omg meals.  It does have a lot to do with the fact that it is tenderloin.  The meat just melted in your mouth.  But there is a reason this is a classic dish,  I haven't had it with the mustard and prosciutto before; both of these were really great additions.  I also have to say I am not a huge fan of pate.  I loved it's omission in this recipe.   We all devoured this recipe.  Some small changes, I cut the recipe in thirds.  I neglected to realize that a 3 lb tenderloin was WAY too much for the four of us, so I only cooked a one pound section of it.  The rest we cut in to steaks and vacuum sealed them in bags bound for the freezer.  Also it seems that green peppercorns in brine are MIA in the area right now, so I left them off.  I have made green peppercorn sauce before, and I like it better without them.  Last time we made the green peppercorn sauce, we nearly burned down the house. (it was our first flambe)  This t

My husband loves barley.  I am neutral but not a huge fan of soup.  I really liked it; everyone really liked it.  If you take the chopping out of the equation, this is super easy and fairly fast.  It could easily be adjusted to be meatless, but the pancetta really was nice in it. I was worried that the soup wouldn't be done in 20 as the package of barley says it takes 40 minutes, but it was tender and tasty.  I didn't get as big as I remember it getting when cooked in the traditional way, but tender and tasty. Barley Minestrone 2    Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 c  finely diced pancetta (about 1 ounce) 2 c  large diced Savoy cabbage 1 c  medium diced yellow onion 1 c  sliced carrot (1/4 inch thick) 1/4 c  medium diced celery 2 ea garlic,minced 2 qt homemade or low-salt chicken broth 1    14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes,with their juices 1/2 c  pearl barley,rinsed 2    large sprigs fresh rosemary 2    -inch square Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional) Kosher salt

I have had a plan for years now to make a dessert every Sunday.  Today is the first time I actually did.  I gave my husband a list of about 40 (trimmed down from hundreds) recipes that we haven't made or weren't yet on the blog.  I asked him to pick 7 for the week.  One of the seven was this recipe, so I guess I have to make a dessert this week;).  I rounded out the week by adding the salmon burger to the week's recipes.  I have always known that my dessert skills were practically nonexistent, so I dove into this one pretty excited and anxious.  I think coconut cream pie is one of my all time favorites and it looked fairly simple, but this is still straying into the science realm of cooking that always strikes a bit of terror in me.  Well it came out great.  I little loose to cut into neat wedges, but delicious. Coconut Cream Pie 1 c  (250 mL) granulated sugar 1/4 c  (50 mL) cornstarch Pinch salt 1 c  (250 mL) unsweetened coconut milk 4    egg yolks 2 c  (500 mL) w

Pizza night again:)  Although I do feel calling this pizza is a bit of a stretch.  Not that it wasn't yummy, but the cheese was hidden among the dressing on the salad.  I loved poached eggs and they did make a lovely addition to the salad.  I think a bit more egg would have been nice.  I think next time I will poach an extra egg or two and cut them up in the salad.  That way, there is some of the lovely yolk in every  bite. Pizza With Pancetta, Poached Eggs And Arugula Salad 1 lb frozen pizza dough,thawed 3 T  extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 t  chopped rosemary 4    ounces thinly sliced  pancetta 2 T  fresh lemon juice 4    large eggs 2 T  freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 bn of arugula (1/2 pound) thick stems discarded 1. Set a pizza stone on the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 500. 2. On a lightly floured work surface, stretch and roll the pizza dough into a 14inch round. Transfer the dough to a floured pizza peel, s

Well as the only one who likes tuna, this was one for me only.  The husband was working and I had seen a tuna noodle casserole recipe at the bottom of some recipe I was looking at.  I began craving it.  I am not sure why, aside from the fact that I probably haven't had some since before 1990.  I have to say I liked it.  It wasn't  a blow you away meal, but I went back for more:).  I liked the fact that the veggies sill had a bit of crunch to them.  I cooked the sauce on a little bit lower temperature because I was afraid it would burn as I was multitasking.  I would make it again; the boys would rather that I had hated it. (hehehe)   Easy Tuna Or Chicken Noodle Casserole 6    ounces egg noodles 2 T  butter 1    (10 ¾ ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup,undiluted 1/2    -1 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste,I used 1 teaspoon) 3    -4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (optional) 3/4 c  milk (or can use half-and-half cream) (I used 2/4 milk 1/4 half and half) 1

I did a smaller portion with 1 egg Dinner was only eaten by the boy and myself.  I happened to really like it; the boy, not so much.  He did eat it all, but wasn't a fan.  I didn't have the salsa Lizano.  A quick search of the Internet returned that the salsa in question is a Costa Rican condiment that had cumin and is a bit sweet and spicy.  One person noted that they have used Worcestershire instead with good results.  Well of the 3 Tbsp required, I used 2 of the Worcestershire and 1 of a mild hot sauce that is loaded with cumin called Micanopy Gold.  I will keep the recipe and plan on making it again, but the boy could take it or leave it. Rice And Beans With Fried Eggs  3/4 c  long-grain white rice Kosher salt 2    Tbs. canola oil 1    small yellow onion,cut into small dice 1/2    medium red bell pepper seeded and cut into small dice 2    large cloves garlic,minced 1/2 t  ground cumin 1/4 c  canned tomato sauce 1    (15-1/2-oz.) can black beans,drained and

I get to go out with the girls again to my all time favorite hang out.  ( http://ormondwineco.com/ )  I left the husband to reinvent a previous recipe we have made and really liked.  (see 12/12/11) It was made almost the same except the fillings.  He cooked up some chorizo we had on hand, but it wasn't quite enough so he diced up some of the leftover steak as well and threw that in.  They thought the end result was a bit pitchy. I tried it reheated later and it was alright.  I remembered the sour cream and they didn't.  I think that would have made the dish.  Reheated fried thing are never as good and I seemed to like it better than they did.  (ahh the magic of sour cream:) Chorizo And Cheese Arepas 2 c  Masa Harina,(maseca Brand if Possible) 1 3/4 c  Water,Hot (plus 2 Tablespoons) 2 c  Red Cabbage 1/4    Small Red Onion,Thinly Sliced 2 T  Red Wine Vinegar 1/2 lb Chorizo (sauteed) 4 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded Hot Sauce Pickled Jalapeno Peppers Sour Cream Cila

We have discovered a new favorite!  I picked this originally for my husband.  He loves all kind of nuts, and now that we know that my daughter's peanut allergy is non existent, (YAY!) I am trying to put nuts back in our diet.  I have been putting this one off because  A) the almond butter was $15 (yikes) and I wasn't sure I would really dig it.  I liked it WAY more than I thought I would.  I was telling my husband that since I used so very little of the jar of almond butter, I needed to look for more recipes that use it.  He nixed that right away.  He said we can make this one more often! I have to say, it is super fast.  I had the sauce done before the pasta had cooked.  (I set the water to boil when I started)  Also, I didn't start diner until the boys were already on their way back from the soccer fields (10 minutes away) and I was done before the boy was dressed after his shower.  Delicious and quick!!  Perfect.  I do think it needs most of the pasta water; it was pret

Well my first really foray into baking did not start well.  There was no instant yeast to be found and the information I have found on the Internet was not very helpful in making me happy with substituting the rapid rise I planned on trying in its place. Since I saw someone did use the instant successfully in this recipe and I saw someone else say the instant is more potent, and because another post said it didn't rise as high or as fast, and despite the fact I know baking is a science with exacting procedures I decide to double my yeast!  Then 20 hours later, my dough was really wet and practically liquid.  Well since I was already throwing caution to the wind, we added a liberal dose of flour and worked it in.  The result, not bad!  Certainly very pretty looking.  The crust was a bit tough and chewy, but not unpleasantly so.  If you sliced it very thin, it was perfect.  Well next time, I will make sure I get instant yeast, but I am now hopeful for future baking projects:)  Thank

I didn't go hunting for brioche. I used an egg bread made in to rolls.  I was an ok dish.  I love salty, but I thought it was a bit too much.  Without the bread it was way to salty.  Seriously a teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 of pickles.  WOW! I also think I got my pancetta too thinly sliced because it gnarled up in to theses shriveled semi crisp pieces.  They were crisp, but not as crisp as I would have wanted bacon to be so, meh.  All in all, unless I hear from my husband that he loved it, I will most likely delete it. I didn't hate it, but it is no where as good as many of the dishes we have made before.  As always, I am on a quest to try a new recipe every time I cook for a year so this was part of that experiment and I'm ok with a dinner with a grade of 'C' tonight.  You never know how good a recipe will be.  As a simple veggie to have with it, I sliced some tomato and drizzled it with a balsamic reduction. Crisp Pancetta And Egg Salad Sandwich 6    large har

The measurments for this recipe are approxomate.  I should know, I made it up:).  Yes it is based on many recipes we have tried before, but this is my own improv one night, and we wrote it down becasue we liked it.  All the amounts are based on large veggies; I often add more than the recipe says just to add more veggies to the diet.  This time I used the el cheapo crab; the kind that looks like string.  I thought, it's a cake, does it really need to be the fancy kind?  Well it really should, but the trade off made for some very smooth cakes!  I took last night's cuke relish and mixed in some mixed greens and it made for a very tasty salad.  I had some left over pasta; I tossed that with some butter, parm. cream and garlic as a starch for the boy.  I took a smidge.  (only in the intrest of learning if it worked well mind you;) Of course it is a keeper, I made it up.  However, I always play with my recipes.  Crab Cakes 2 Servings 1 small can Crab, preferably lump 1/4 c  Br

Another try at a new take on a burger.  They are always popular and ever so tasty.  This was surprisingly good.  I am a loaded burger kind of gal.  (everything but mustard) I need mayo, tomatoes, pickles and onions(I just do.), and am happy to add everything else. (just not mustard lol)  I am finding that there is life beyond those toppings.  This burger is very flavorful.  I was even happy with just the relish as a condiment.  It needs a lot of the relish to help keep it moist, but YUM! Everyone wolfed theirs down.  I did make 2 small deviations: 1) they were cooked in a skillet inside not on a grill. 2) I did not grind my own coriander seeds. The salad was a bit of a miss for me.  I improvised a dressing using the rest of the yogurt I had with some lemon, Dijon, salt and chives.  The burger is a keeper! Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers 1 lb ground lamb 1/4 c  minced white onion 1    medium garlic clove,minced 2 T  finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 2 t  finely chopped fre