What's cooking?

along with our family stuffed baked potatoes.

Sometimes, I too would like to stuff my family into a baked potato

Ah, I can assure they would not be as yummy as the ones our family enjoys. Better sentence, eh?

[Robin Garr]

Crispy risotto cakes made from last night's leftover roasted fennel risotto with extra Parmigiano-Reggiano, dusted with flour and pan-fried in a little butter.

At the staff Christmas party this year someone made and brought NY cheesecake. It occurred me that I hadn't made cheesecake for years. So, I made one for New Years day dessert this year. I got this recipe for Perfect Cheesecake from the website SimplyRecipes.com. And, it is truly perfect! The only thing I would do differently is grate in about 1Tbsp lemon peel.

Cheesecake.jpg

Tonight it is Jambalaya, from a recipe I have had for a very long time and it is excellent.

I love jambalaya! Looking forward to a more detailed report!

I did the recipe for Linda's site Robin...she just got it up, so here are the details your requested. Just a simple recipe, but we love it - lots of flavor.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/KarenCalanchini/Jambalaya-RoastedLemon.htm

Roast beef (eye round) with baked potato, roasted parsnips, and a vegetable pan saute (fennel, broccoli, mushroom). Making winter work for me!

[Robin Garr]

Chik'n stir-fry with shredded carrot, celery, green peppers and onion with fiery Sichuan-style spice.

[Robin Garr]

I did the recipe for Linda's site Robin...she just got it up, so here are the details your requested. Just a simple recipe, but we love it - lots of flavor.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/KarenCalanchini/Jambalaya-RoastedLemon.htm

Thanks, Karen! Looks great!

Our New Year's Eve theme this year was "Renewal", so I made a Passover dish. It was a cauliflower kugel topped with toasted almonds. It was ok, but even with a couple of additions to the dish (shallots, notably), it was a bit bland and unexciting. Needed something to zing it up or to raise the richness quotient.

Salmon Burgers cooked in a little safflower and sesame oils, topped with spicy Hoisen/Sriracha sauce with pickled cucumbers in ginger, apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes and garlic.

[Robin Garr]

A simple, fresh omelet, fluffy and light, containing no more than fresh free-range eggs, salt, pepper and a splash of water, done quickly at high heat in organic butter scented with a little fresh ginger and garlic. A few scattered pale brown spots might still earn the wrath of a CIA professor, but I'll take the delicious taste of browned butter over an imaginary chef-instructor's rant, thank you.

[Robin Garr]

Roasted curried cauliflower, florets cut in thick slices, then tossed with onions, peanut and sesame oil, salt and pepper and Madras curry powder, and convection roasted at 400F for 25 minutes, turning twice.

Made my first gnocchi tonight, spinach with ricotta and Parmigiano. Served in tomato sauce with fresh oregano they were pretty damned tasty, and only a tiny percentage fell apart in the water! They also went remarkably well with a 2011 Huet Le Mont Sec.

A simple, fresh omelet, fluffy and light, containing no more than fresh free-range eggs, salt, pepper and a splash of water, done quickly at high heat in organic butter scented with a little fresh ginger and garlic. A few scattered pale brown spots might still earn the wrath of a CIA professor, but I'll take the delicious taste of browned butter over an imaginary chef-instructor's rant, thank you.

We had an overnight guest -- and the omelet I made this morning looked remarkably similar to yours. But mine had chopped chives and a bit of Dubliner cheese inside. Pretty tasty.

[Jenise]

Made Bob an omelet this morning with Idaho camembert and chopped broccoli. First thing I've cooked in a week. I'm still sick, but now he's sick too so he needed some culinary comfort which he can't do for himself. Have some 'country style ribs' that I'll oven-roast for later. Just a green salad with that. Bob's still hungry, though I have no appetite.

[Robin Garr]

Made Bob an omelet this morning with Idaho camembert and chopped broccoli. First thing I've cooked in a week. I'm still sick, but now he's sick too so he needed some culinary comfort which he can't do for himself. Have some 'country style ribs' that I'll oven-roast for later. Just a green salad with that. Bob's still hungry, though I have no appetite.

I hope you're both better soon, Jenise!

Tonight started branching out in the winter pizzas as I'm already tired of canned tomato sauce sauces. Or, more accurately, my wife is tired of them and keeps talking about how much different/worse they are from the summer fresh tomato sauces (which we kept going through November).

So tonight was pizza with parsley almond 'pesto' and maitake mushrooms. Quite delicious and my wife was a very big fan. It went pretty well with 2011 Huet Clos du Bourg sec, although not as perfectly as last night's gnocchi and '11 Le Mont.

Last night I took a venison tenderloin from the freezer, only 1 month from harvest, and jerked marinated it then sauted in olive oil and butter until medium rare....delicious. Served with fresh green beans, asparagus and baked potatoes.

Last night was our neighborhood's winter progressive dinner. The night ended with dessert at our house. I didn't contribute any food, but my wife and daughter went all-out. My wife made little salted caramel pots de creme, chocolate meringue cookies, and financiers with raspberries. My daughter stole the show, though, with her tart. It was a chocolate crust with a layer of salted caramel and a top layer of chocolate ganache. She made a large, a medium, and a small. The large did have a slightly burned zone on the outside of the crust, but they were otherwise perfect. She got rave reviews for them.

Made a bucket of lemon-parmesan baked chicken. I suspect it's even better cold than hot.

[Robin Garr]

Slivered snow peas and sliced onions scented with ginger and garlic and served over fettuccine in a light Mornay.

Saturday night I made beef stroganoff wrapped in crêpes served with a nice Barolo.
Sunday night I made the classic cheese fondue - made and served with a Picpoul.
Last night, Monday, I made Bul-Kogi served over rice. I had an open bottle of Pinot Noir so we finished that. It takes some time to make the marinade (a Craig Claiborne recipe) so I made twice what I needed so I could freeze some.

Tonight is a slow roasted pork shoulder with colorful bell peppers, onion, roasted head of garlic, marinated sweet peppers, fennel seed, tomatoes, smoked paprika. Recipe inspired by Jamie Oliver. Very pretty and not even cooked yet. Also, refried beans with a little bacon, onion, garlic, red taco sauce and Jack Cheese, baked in the oven. Served in corn tortilla with avocado, greens, and lemon flavored sour cream.

[Robin Garr]

Another free-range omelet for dinner, this one stuffed with roasted asparagus and onions plus some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, quickly made in browned butter scented with fresh ginger and garlic.

NJ and I are collaborating on making some bagels today. Hopefully with both of us in the same kitchen nobody gets hurt. We are still searching for a recipe that satisfies our "bagel jones", so we'll give Celia's recipe a whirl this time around.
http://figjamandlimecordial.com/bagel-making-tutorial/