What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

Bratwurst (locavore, of course, and all that good humanely raised/hormone free stuff) with sauerkraut and a baked potato. And beer.

[Robin Garr]

Tonight's dinner-to-be, a T-bone steak from Barr Farms in Rhodelia, Ky. It looks big enough for two meals, prompting a dilemma: Pan-sear and oven-finish the whole thing and save leftovers? Or split it and hold back the strip or tenderloin side for another night?

We had a rib eye steak cut in half with her getting the best of the eye, cooked restaurant style with a pat of butter on her side, and a little blue cheese on mine; a half of a Brule, and sliced very ripe purple Brandywines from Mexico, that we picked up from Whole Foods yesterday. Washed it down with a Knapp Serenity. Yum, yum!

Last evening, I tried my hand at making an alfredo sauce. For the cheese, I shredded all the parmesan I had on hand, and filled it out with some romano, and still lacked a bit making full cup of cheese. So, like an idiot I used the wife's version of parm, which is to say I used that horrible Kraft stuff in the green can. The part of dinner I was more pleased with, was the shrimp. I used a little over a pound of raw 26-30 count. Sautéed 2 large cloves of garlic in olive oil, and a pinch (very small amount) of crushed red pepper. When the olive oil became fragrant from the garlic, I tossed in the shrimp for about 2 minutes. the fettuccine was ready for the table, and we were too. I do think that this could become a signature dish at my house, but without the grainy Kraft stuff in the green can/bottle.

Hey, it is over 40F. today so I'm on grill duty this evening. A couple of ribeyes that definitely qualify as local as I pass the farm on my daily walk.
BP

Meatball subs and Shipyard Prelude Ale.

[Robin Garr]

Six-pound local roasting hen, split, butterflied, stuffed with garlic ... gently rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse black pepper and kosher salt ... roasted at 400F until the flesh was juicy and the skin as crisp as glass.

Fine match with a Wine Focus wine, Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue 2006 "Tradition" Coteaux du Languedoc.

[Jenise]

I have two chicken breasts thawed for tonight's dinner. Woke up craving something Chinese-ish, but I might braise them with mushrooms and rosemary just because I'm long on week-old criminis right now. Not sure how I'll flesh out the rest of the meal, to which I give a lot less attention than I used to since carbs are quite literally off the table for now.

[Robin Garr]

Last night, Mary wanted saag paneer, but we didn't have any yogurt and we didn't have any paneer, so I had to improvise, using extra-firm tofu for the "cheese" and a heavy-cream/lemon-juice mix as "yogurt." Despite this mistreatment, the result was passable. Not fully authentic, of course, but passable.

Tonight we have some humanely raised pastured pork from a new supplier, Field Day Farm near Louisville, which has provided great organic produce for quite a while but just got into meat. They're thin, so I'm thinking I won't do the usual pan-sear, oven-finish technique that I use for thick chops. Maybe saute onions, garlic and mushrooms and use this - plus maybe just a skosh of chicken broth - for a quick braise.

Spaghetti tonight. Homemade sauce, home made pasta, and the home made french bread is just out of the oven. The little cottage in the country smells like a piece of heaven.

[Robin Garr]

Spaghetti tonight. Homemade sauce, home made pasta, and the home made french bread is just out of the oven. The little cottage in the country smells like a piece of heaven.

MMMmmmmMMMMmmmm ... say, how long does it take to get up there from here? Half-hour?

Chinese red-cooked chicken wings. I've taken to tossing in a piece of star anise (a full eight-point star). The aroma while it's cooking is amazing and fills the house.

-Paul W.

Last night, it was duck legs braised in red wine with fingerlings roasted in duck fat and sauteed chard with shallots.

[Jenise]

Chinese red-cooked chicken wings. I've taken to tossing in a piece of star anise (a full eight-point star). The aroma while it's cooking is amazing and fills the house.

-Paul W.

Doesn't it? I used a Five Spice powder dry rub on my roast chicken breasts last night, and the aromas were divine--made me wonder why I don't use it more often, as I love it so.

[Robin Garr]

Chestnut tagliatelle from Abruzzo topped with an onion-scented roasted red-pepper cream studded with crispy bits of pancetta.

[Jenise]

Chestnut tagliatelle! Never had such a thing, sounds lovely. Something new you've picked up?

[Robin Garr]

Chestnut tagliatelle! Never had such a thing, sounds lovely. Something new you've picked up?

Our local international specialty food shop lived up to its name: Lotsa Pasta!

Apparently chestnuts are very common around Abruzzo, and lots of Abruzzese dishes are made with chestnuts or chestnut flour.

It's pretty good - a fresh-dried tagliatelle, golden in color, with a slightly more delicate flavor than wheat pasta. I couldn't detect much chestnut (or other odd aroma/flavor).

Lobster casserole (part of a larger seafood-themed pre-V-Day dinner).

Pork chops slow cooked in olive oil with baked potatoes and sauteed broccolini. Reviews from the rest of the family were uniformly positive.

[Robin Garr]

Fooling around with jarred Italian-style roasted red peppers again, this time buzzing a quick puree with sauteed onions and garlic as a pasta sauce with Barr Farm local beef meatballs for Abruzzese penne. Paired with M. Lapierre "IX" Raisins gaulois Vin de France, a wacky unclassified Gamay made in Beaujolais and imported by Kermit Lynch, $11.99 locally.

Fooling around with jarred Italian-style roasted red peppers again, this time buzzing a quick puree

I love pureeing roasted peppers, especially in the winter when it's hard to get such flavor out of the available offerings. I often use it as a pizza topping, although I have to be careful to dilute it because it can get cloying.

Fooling around with jarred Italian-style roasted red peppers again, this time buzzing a quick puree

I love pureeing roasted peppers, especially in the winter when it's hard to get such flavor out of the available offerings. I often use it as a pizza topping, although I have to be careful to dilute it because it can get cloying.

I do that to mix with spaghetti sauce - great in lasagna with mushrooms and spinach.

Just made a big pot of split pea soup. Two big meaty ham bones, 3 lbs. split peas, 8 onions, 1 lb. of carrots and 1 head of celery.

Lobster casserole (part of a larger seafood-themed pre-V-Day dinner).

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