Eating Dinner With My Family

I started this recipe a week ago and fortune smiles on me because we were making "pepperoni pizza" with the leftover pepperoni sauce from last night and I needed a recipe for the blog.  I messed up and used 80 proof vodka.  It tasted like lemon vodka to me.  We needed to add some club soda or sprite to make it drinkable.  I think it will make a very cool ingredient in drinks but I can't see us sipping it by itself.  You should note that the simple syrup seemed to settle and freeze where the alcohol did not.  So we had to let it warm up a bit before we could mix it and taste it. Limoncello 2 lb lemons,about 8 to 10 750    ml vodka,100 proof 2/3 c  water 2/3 c  sugar Carefully remove the zest from the lemons using a microplane or rasp grater, being careful not to remove any of the white pith. Reserve the lemons to make lemonade or squeeze and freeze the juice for later use. Put the lemon zest into a lidded glass container that is at least 2- quarts in size. Pou

Tonight we had some old dear friends over.  I hate to make them guinnea pigs, so I made roast chicken with pepperoni sauce for dinner.  Served with pasta with a garlic butter and baguette.  We had this dessert at the second of our progressive dinners and I figured that while my baking skills are subpar, I could pull this one off and knew in talented hands it was stellar.  This recipe came to me from the lovely and talented Gwynne who has her own website to help promote local businesses.  I love what she is doing to help create a supportive enviorment, and network for small business owners. Sadily, in my less skilled hands the dessert was not as good as hers, but still pretty great!  It does somewhat violate what I am trying to do (making everything from scratch), as I am buying croissant dough, but there are some things that I will learn how to do when I have a bit more pastry skill;). Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie 2    (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,softened 1 c  white sugar 1

I know we like burgers and seem to have found many good recipes for them and this one is no exception.  The thing I love about this one is that it seems pretty light, for a burger that is.  The site I got it from said it was like 600 calories. (as always click the recipe title for the link to the source when I know it)  That isn't bad for a burger.  They are plenty of ways to shave calories too. (lighter mayo, smaller burgers, no bun etc...)  I am not a huge fan of turkey, but the curry paste (I used red) makes the turkey really flavorful.  I think this is one we are going to have to repeat and soon;) Thai Curry Turkey Burgers 1    -1/4 lb. ground turkey (not ground turkey breast) 2    Tbs. red or green Thai curry paste Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil,for the grill 1    medium lime 2/3 c  mayonnaise 3/4 c  thinly sliced seedless cucumber 1/4 c  fresh cilantro leaves 1    small shallot,thinly sliced 1    Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar 4    sesame

My darling boy is back from a week at my MIL. He loves crab legs, so I got some for him. To go with them I thought this would be a great side as it is a starch and a veggie. It wasn't exactly what I think of as a savory bread pudding. It was more of a savory custard with a bread toping; it was kind of like cobbler. All the oddity aside, it was a very delicious dish. It won't reheat to the same dish because the crispy topping will soften, but I still think it will be tasty tomorrow for breakfast;). It would also make a good vegetarian main dish. A little bit of work; cutting up the baguette is what I'm thinking of. I also chopped the spinach after cooking it. Baby Spinach And Garlic Bread Pudding 2 T  unsalted butter 15    ounces baby spinach,stems removed 2 T  water 1    small garlic clove,minced Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1/4 lb French baguette,crusts removed, bread cut into 1/4-inch 2    large eggs 3/4 c  heavy cream Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Delicious but not photogenic First of all a great big THANK YOU to The Red Apron for a second nomination for the Versatile Blogger award. I am very pleased and excited to be part of the food buzz blogger community.  I am getting to know so many cool individuals in one of the best ways possible, through their food! As for the dinner, I was a little upset when I realized this wasn't a proper burger on a bun.  All that disappointment faded with the first bite.  When I googled the recipe in the grocery store, I saw some other bloggers had tried this and recommended adding to (some even suggested doubling) the amount of kimchi.  I decided to measure a full cup of the kimchi after chopping.  It was perfect.  The panko coating was wonderful substitute for a bun.  The mayo was great; the spinach was out of sight!  My only complaint was I would have made more spinach.  I liked an equal portion of pork and spinach with a little mayo for each bite.  We used almost all of the spinach for

You are probably  thinking what I was when I saw the title of this recipe, "uh isn't that called a gyro?"  And you know what we would be right, but a gyro is pretty darn tasty,  This is a basically gyro except the lamb is in crumbles.  It was very tasty but I do prefer the more laborious gyro meat.  I have never been a fan of ground meat broken apart and cooked so I may be a bit biased.  I thought the meal was tasty and my husband, who has no such bias, loved it.  The one thing I found annoying, was the order of the instructions really should be reversed.  I had scanned it, but neglected to notice that the relish was to be made an hour ahead of time.  It all worked out as my husband was late coming home and I was waiting to cook the meat until he arrived, but really it should gone at the beginning so I am moving it;). Greek Taco Lamb 1 T  olive oil 2 lb ground lamb Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2    red onion,minced 1 t  dried oregano 4 ea garlic

I don't remember where I found this recipe originally, but a quick search turned up the food network site, so I am assuming I got it there.  It was pretty good; my husband loved it.  We both think that there was way to much bread for the filling.  We thought maybe in lettuce next time?  You also can't be stingy with the sauce.  I was at first thinking of it like mayo, but it is more like a 1/4 mayo and you really need a lot at least with all that bread. With extra sauce and some hot sauce, I did really enjoy it.  I just want to say thank you to Gwynne because we changed the dinner to this dish since we broke out the fryer for her party, we wanted to use it while it was out and full of oil.  Also, my husband, wanted to try a french fry technique that he heard on an NPR show.  Most restaurants use a twice fried method of making their fries.  One at a lower temp to cook the potato through and a second time at a higher temp to crisp the outside.  The show he was listening to (I bel

Tonight I revisit a recipe I haven't made in a long time.  This one was once a frequent item in our kitchen but for some reason it fell by the way side for a while.  Perhaps it is because it is a simple recipe and I was looking to tackle more difficult items.  Perhaps it is just like most things in life and just part of a cyclical pattern.  My determination to have a year of different meals hurt and helped this little dish.  It got pushed away in the beginning (we are now about day 260 of that year) but ultimately I guess I was longing for an  oldie but goodie and I happened to get a lovely butternut squash in my Front Porch Pickings basket.  I left out the optional meat, but I do really like it with the prosciutto.  I usually just put a couple of slices in the toaster and toast until crispy. (it depends on your toaster oven but mine works best on the medium/ light setting) I am going to need to keep this post short, as I am helping a friend do the food for her party. Roasted B

Guest Chef tonight!!! This is dad/husband sitting in on the blog, so forgive the typos and creative spellings that are inevitable as I hunt and peck my way across the keyboard.  My wife and I don't see eye-to-eye on a few things, and gumbo is assuredly one of them.  For me, it is one of the best things to ever come out of ours, or any other kitchen...for my wife, not so much.  I don't know how long it has been since I've made gumbo.  I know it is a PBE (pre-blog-era) food, but it has probably been five years since our last gumbo, because our son claims to have never eaten it before.  Gumbo is a labor of love, so if you are not sure it is a food you like, let someone else make it for you the first time, or you will curse the colossal waste of time you will spend tediously stirring your roux.  The shopping list can be as basic or as complicated as you like, but the ingredients listed in this recipe should make it into the pot in some quantity.  The fine folks at Wikipedia j

I wanted to do something lighter tonight.  I found his dish from Giada De Laurentiis on the food network website .  I didn't have high hopes because it was lighter but I do like Giada's recipes so I thought I would give it a go.  It was very tasty.  The yogurt gives the illusion of  cream. (yes it is full fat yogurt but there isn't much) So a light dish that tricks you in to thinking that it is not. And while it wasn't an OMG dish, it was very good for light dish.  My husband and I both thought a little more mustard would have been nice; the boy ate a double portion;). Broiled Tilapia With Mustard-Chive Sauce Fish Vegetable oil cooking spray 4    (5 to 6-ounce) tilapia fillets Extra-virgin olive oil,for drizzling Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Sauce 1/4 c  plain,full-fat Greek yogurt 2 t  agave nectar or honey 1 t  Dijon mustard 1/4 c  lemon juice (from 1 large lemon) 2 T  chopped fresh chives Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper For

Well after a long day at the beach that included a pretty good hike around the nature trails of a local park, we had a late lunch of some giant slices of pizza at Lenny's .  We were all too full at dinner time to want to eat. Totally worth it; it was a great day of playing in some big waves, building enormous sandcastles and hiking through some beautiful scenery.  What goes better with beach than daiquiris?  Not too much.  So we invited some friends over to have some drinks and have a game night.  This is my mother's recipe for strawberry daiquiris but we also switched out the fruit and made some mango ones too.  It must be the heat, senioritis, or  whatever but I have totally slacked since Sunday.  I got to get back to work on proper meals tomorrow!  We did serve some meat, cheese and fruit with the drinks.  And after the company left, we nibbled on some leftovers, but those don't count as a recipe;).  So instead I share my mom's recipe that has been on every family

Ok I am kind of cheating.  This was made as part of last night's Father's day dinner for my husband, but I knew we were going out to eat tonight so I made last night's desert tonight's post:).  Even though we went out, it was a fun family experience consistent with my whole eating dinner with the family mantra.  Unfortunately I have no control over how unprocessed it is but hey it was worth the trade off.  We ate dinner at a local restaurant we had gift certificates for.  Then walked over to the beach and strolled up and down the water as the last light faded from the sky.  The kids loved running on the sand and making footprints.  I showed them the turtle nests we needed to avoid. (big mistake for the 2 year old.  She all of a sudden became afraid the baby turtles were going to bite her.  No I have no idea why; one of her favorite stuffed animals is a baby turtle)  So a refreshing stroll after dinner then back towards the car and got a quart of our favorite coconut ice

Happy Father's day all you dads out there!  I let my husband choose tonight's dinner.  He choose this one because of the word crispy.  I got to say it was a darn good choice.  We all loved the moist chicken and the unbelievable gravy.  I think this is what I want to  make for thanksgiving from now on.  Shallots to add some $$ to the price of the dish, so to avoid that you could use very small onions quartered or pearl onions halved.  We bought a whole chicken and cut it into breasts and whole legs.  The wings, which weren't called for in the recipe, went into the freezer for future broths.  I used the red miso as that was what was available at my nearby health food store.  When salting the shallots and chicken, go light and make sure to use the reduced sodium chicken broth.  It is easy to over do it and the resulting gravy will be too salty. I served it with mashed potatoes and arugula salad.  I got exactly what I wanted with this dish, an over the top tasty meal that looke

I know I am trying to do a year of different dinners , but I am going to have to amend that to a a year of different recipes .  I got green beans again from my Front Porch Pickings basket and I have to make Fusilli with Green Beans, Pancetta and Parmigiano again.  It was just too good, but I am making kale chips with the kale I got in the basket.  I adore kale chips and this recipe looked so good, and I happen to have miso on hand for the dinner my husband requested for father's day.  Two things about the ingredient list. 1) Almond butter is quite pricey.  You can make your own. Click here to see one way to make it. 2) I love nutritional yeast !  It is my absolute favorite popcorn topping.  I love it on buttered toast.  I am always looking for ways to use it.  It is available on line or at health food stores.  I like it when it is sold in bulk.  Much better prices that way.  I told my son when he was like 2 that it was cheesy powder.  The name has stuck, and he still loves it. O

Tonight we had a bit of our own burger throw down.  We invited some dear friends (who made the most tasty Champagne mojito!) over to help us decide which burger was better, the BLT Burger with Garlicky Mayonnaise or the Italian Sausage Burger with Garlicky Spinach .  The sausage burger won hands down.  It's kind of sad really to see this BLT burger we absolutely loved, paled in comparison to the sausage one when they were eaten only 3 days apart they seemed so close.  It might be that the beef was more well done than we wanted.  We were testing making them as sliders and which bun worked better.  As a side we wanted to try this grilled broccoli recipe.  It was good but had some issues. Issue one, there was way too much liquid and the butter would not incorporate all of it.  We used a pinch of cream of tarter and a blender to finally mix it completely together. Issue two was it was no where as good as the similar grilled corn recipe.  Not bad, but not great.  I did like the slight

While this is a tasty dish, it is more notable for is ease and versatility.  Nothing could be simpler and who isn't comforted by baked pasta.  I made this and put it in the oven before going to my monthly wine tasting with the girls at Ormond Wine Co .  My darling husband didn't take a picture. That's ok, I don't have a real recipe;).  One on the things that makes this tasty (and easy) is the fact that the pasta is cooked in flavorful liquid.  It is completely adaptable to what you like in a pasta.  You want meat?  Brown some up and mix it in with the pasta before cooking.  You like veggies?  Throw them in.  This is a great dish to use up leftovers.  Any meat or veg from the previous night should taste great.  (ok maybe that hot curry from the night before wouldn't work but I game if you are lol)  I haven't tried it yet, but since it cooks for so long, any veg that tastes good boiled could go in raw in theory.  I even made a small baking dish of pasta without ch

Well even though we have narrowed our burger choices for the next progressive dinner down to two, I am enjoying trying all kinds of burger recipes and making great use of our new grill.  Tonight's was very good, not  near as great as the  BLT Burgers with Garlicky Mayonnaise or the Italian Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Spinach but pretty good! I didn't measure out the blue cheese; I just gave my husband all of it to put on the burgers as needed.  He thought he was supposed to use all of it.  Needless to say we had too much cheese on the burger and had to take some off.  Other than that, I really liked it.  You could smell and taste the tarragon.  I'm usually not a huge fan of tarragon (which I found out is names so since it looks like a dragon tongue:) but I liked it in this.  I also used an onion roll not the brioche or challah as I had onion rolls on hand. Beef Burgers With Blue Cheese And Caramelized Onions 2    Tbs. unsalted butter 2    medium yellow onions chopp

I try to make my husband a desert every now and again,  I am not a baker, but he has a sweet tooth and I like to learn new skills.  His all time favorite combination is peanut butter and chocolate.  Give him a Reese's or a nutty bar and he is a happy guy.  In fact before we had kids, I used to give him nutty bars as a "father's day" present from the dog.  I decided to try a peanut butter pie.  This recipe is pretty easy and makes a tasty but off the charts rich pie.  I like a lighter and fluffier PB pie; this one is more like cheesecake.  It's kind of a good thing that he loves it and I think it's alright;).  In a weird genetic quark, my son, who will never turn down sweets when he can get them, doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate.  If he didn't look so much like my husband I would think maybe we had someone else's child.  Its not like I don't enjoy PB and chocolate! Peanut Butter Pie Chocolate Crust 1 1/2 c  (150 grams) chocolate waf

Today we had our 'dinner' at lunchtime since my husband will be away at dinner time.  I had always wanted to try a croque madam but have never made it before.  It was very good but very rich!  I had bread which had very large slices of bread so we all had too much to eat since it was so rich.  Half sandwiches for everyone next time;). Croque-Madame Sandwiches  5    Tbs. unsalted butter 2    -1/2 Tbs. all-purpose flour 1    -3/4 cup milk (whole or low-fat) 2    Tbs. brandy 2 t  Worcestershire sauce 1/4 t  fresh thyme 1/4 t  grated nutmeg Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 sl country-style white sandwich bread 4 t  Dijon mustard 4 oz Gruyère,grated (1 cup) 12 oz leftover roasted fresh ham sliced (or substitute sliced roast pork 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano,finely grated (1/2 cup) 4    large eggs,at room temperature Melt 2 Tbs. of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking just until it turns beige, a

I had planned on making a  Chicken Saltimbocca recipe I had gotten from Food & Wine that was contributed by Lidia Bastianich .  I love that recipe and I was convinced it was pre blog so I could safely make it.  WRONG.  I had made it back in October.  Well what am I to do?  I don't want a repeat.  I have another saltimbocca recipe from Publix apron meals,  It is fast but not as good as the recipe by LB.  So to the computer and I found this one from Bon Appetit on food.com. (as always click the title to get to the original recipe when I know the source:)  It was quite good. I made a pasta sauce with some leftover marinara,wine, sun dried tomato pesto, garlic, olive oil, ricotta and cream.  It wasn't too bad and it got rid of 4 things in my fridge!  yay No wait 5 things.  I had accidentally cooked too much pasta a couple of days back so I was using that up too! Chicken Saltimbocca With Lemon Sauce   4    boneless skinless chicken breast halves 8    large fresh sage leaves

Having recently been reacquainted with an old love (spaghetti squash), I decided to make it again. That is one of the wonderful things about getting a local/ seasonal produce basket.  Not only are you eating better quality foods, at a better price, and supporting local farmers, but it expands your palette.  You discover or are reintroduced to fruits and veggies that have eluded you. This dish served as the starch and veg of our meal.  With it I broiled some coho salmons with a thin layer of homemade Honey Mustard .  I went a little lighter on the pine nuts than the original recipe called for because a) I;m not the biggest fan and b) they are pricey.  I liked this recipe a lot.  The nuttiness of the pine nuts and brown butter were perfect with the sweet/earthy flavor of the squash.  The only issue I had with the dish was that when I salted and peppered, I left it a little under salted because of the parm that was to go on top.  Since it is so salty, I didn't want it to put it over t

I didn't cook dinner tonight.  I insisted on finishing all the leftovers in the fridge.  It is the beginning of summer vacation and I want my fridge free to cook up a storm.  But I did make the drinks for tonight's dinner.  I used the lovely pineapple mint that came in my Front Porch Pickings basket.  The kid's and I loved it. It is a lovely refreshing drink for hot summer days.  I also like that you can control the sweetness. I think for summer parties this would be a great beverage because you can serve it to everyone, but can spike it with some rum for the adults that are so inclined.  It is also super easy.  It is best freshly blended; it tends to separate a bit after it sits. Watermelon And Mint "Agua Fresca" (Fresh Fruit-Blended Water) 8 Servings 4 c  watermelon,seeded and cubed (about 3 pounds) 1/2 c  water 24    mint leaves,divided 8 T  super-fine sugar (adjust if too sweet when using a naturally sweeter watermelon),divided 4    very thin lime s

Not a great or fancy dinner tonight but it was good enough.  I decided to use up the bits of green pepper. jalapeno and onion in the fridge in twice baked potatoes.  I was going to make the potatoes O'Brien of my youth, but it seemed like too much work.  Twice baked potatoes are a great way to use up odds and ends.  In addition to using up some produce, I got rid of 2 oz of goat cheese and some Monterrey jack too.  Basically to make twice baked potatoes, you bake them, scrape out the insides and make mashed potatoes of them and add whatever ingredients to them you fancy and bake them again about 20-30 minutes. Everything should be cooked before it goes in to the potato. I sauteed the veggies and added them to the mashed potatoes I made from the baked ones.  The only thing that I think is super important, is to make mashed potatoes with a ricer.  It makes a world of difference.

We are a crunchy veggie type of family and this recipe totally delivers on that.  I got these lovely green beans from my Front Porch Pickings basket.  Almost the same day I got this recipe from finecooking.com .  I took it as fate and put it into my recipe queue.  Oh thank you fate!  I love this recipe for so many reasons. First of all, I love a recipe that calls for a 1/2 a box of pasta rather than the full pound or worse the 3/4 box that leaves you with a 1/4 box to take up space in the pantry. (see my insanity posts to learn about my battles with the pantry and the fridge) This is perfect in that you have enough to make the recipe again and that it is a bit light on the pasta for the traditional recipe for four. (yes it says 2-3 in the original recipe, but with a salad it is plenty for 4) I love this recipe because it is simple and allows the veggies to shine without covering them with a ton of other flavors; I love that it is delicious, simple, fast and full of pantry staples.  My

Tonight another test burger in anticipation of the upcoming progressive dinner.  This one is a close tie to the sausage burger.  OMG!  It was so good.  I did use the 2 pounds of meat, but I made 5 burgers.  I think they were still a little heavy on meat, but oh so freakin good.  My husband, who had already declared the sausage burger the one we were making, now couldn't decide between the two.  I think we may still make the sausage one, but only because there will most likely be lots of beef burgers  I used the teaspoon of hot sauce (chipotle Tabasco kind).  So here I am, sitting full and super happy with my meal and totally content when the discussion of tonight's meal begins.  We do this for thoughts for the blog, future uses of the recipe, and changes we might want to make etc...  The real star of the burger is the garlicky mayo.  It was super!  And then my husband ruin's my night by calling it baconaise.  Ewwww!  I can't believe the product that has been the focus o

As you may or may not know, I get a by monthly delivery of local, organic produce from Front Porch Pickings.   I was also honored to be picked to write recipes for their news letter on those same weeks.  I gave them the spaghetti squash frittata recipe I love, but also looked around for some more unusual applications for the spaghetti squash.  I happen to really like Indian spices and I think they go  well with the sweetness of the squash, but this recipe I hadn't tried yet. I liked it but I was sad that the squashes natural delicious flavor was smothered by the heavy spices.  I think it would make a lovely vegetarian meal and for a pretty healthy meal it was really tasty.  I think that the mixture would be nice over rice. We had this with salad, rice and I made 2 steaks as my husband, father and son prefer having some meat, but as there were only two we all had nice small portions and filled up on the toasts and the salad (with some very tasty peppers and tomatoes also from my F