What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

I'm thinking about a meatless meal featuring some kind of spinach cream/puree on fettuccine, but I need to kick it up a notch with a flavor boost that's either compatible or delightfully contrasting. A teeny taste of chipotle en adobo?

[Robin Garr]

I'm thinking about a meatless meal featuring some kind of spinach cream/puree on fettuccine, but I need to kick it up a notch with a flavor boost that's either compatible or delightfully contrasting. A teeny taste of chipotle en adobo?

I ended up following the general pattern of my recent experiments with buzzing roasted red peppers: Saute onion and garlic, add chopped fresh spinach. Buzz with a little creme fraiche. black pepper and a homeopathic touch of chipotle en adobo. Toss in some chopped Italian black olives and serve over the rest of those Abruzzese chestnut tagliatelle for the other night. Mary gave it two thumbs up.

[Jenise]

I'm thinking about a meatless meal featuring some kind of spinach cream/puree on fettuccine, but I need to kick it up a notch with a flavor boost that's either compatible or delightfully contrasting. A teeny taste of chipotle en adobo?

I ended up following the general pattern of my recent experiments with buzzing roasted red peppers: Saute onion and garlic, add chopped fresh spinach. Buzz with a little creme fraiche. black pepper and a homeopathic touch of chipotle en adobo. Toss in some chopped Italian black olives and serve over the rest of those Abruzzese chestnut tagliatelle for the other night. Mary gave it two thumbs up.

Thanks for mentioning this: inspired what I'm going to make for tomorrow night's wine tasting, as you reminded that I have had some jarred red peppers in the pantry for about a year now and that they're so versatile. Will buzz those with some smoked cheddar, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and anchovies to make a puttanesca-flavored topping for small puff pastry discs.

Fettucini with thick smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms, parsley, parmesan red pepper flakes, splash of fresh lemon, with a spinach salad.

Alone tonight. Pan seared a small ribeye in a cast iron skillet with coarse salt and pepper. Had it with a huge arugula salad with citrus vinaigrette, shaved parm and candied pecans.
Ate on a TV tray watching Top Chef. Total bliss...one more episode to go before I am caught up. Oh, the wine was a Merlot from a friend's vineyard in Tuscany. Really, really nice.

NJ earlier proclaimed we had loads of blueberries from last season in the freezer. Result = Blueberry Buckle.
Also started a couple of batches of bagels using Peter Rinehart's recipe. We've made these once before and they are very, very tasty and very, very close to the New York style bagels I recall from my youth.

Dinner with friends just back from OS,
Grilled scallops in the half shell with ginger shallot butter
Crispy skin salmon on minted pea puree
Grilled stonefruits with mascarpone and almond bread
A very enjoyable dinner for a warm, very humid evening.

[Robin Garr]

Long, busy day today, so it came down to ordering in a pizza or making an omelet. The latter even seemed like less work, with fresh free-range henfruit and sharp Cheddar in the omelet, fresh broccoli on the side, and a little taste of Talisker for sitting around with afterward.

[Robin Garr]

Spinach risotto with lots of onion and garlic. Restaurant trick: Starting with a chunk of butter makes it good.

Spinach risotto with lots of onion and garlic. Restaurant trick: Starting with a chunk of butter makes it good.

Finishing with a chunk of butter doesn't hurt either!

[Robin Garr]

Spinach risotto with lots of onion and garlic. Restaurant trick: Starting with a chunk of butter makes it good.

Finishing with a chunk of butter doesn't hurt either!

Right you are! I skipped it this time, though ... used enough at the beginning that the desired richness was there. More would have been excess.

Cassoulet for dinner with my partner's Weight Watchers leader!:

cassoulet 1 2011 small.jpg

[Robin Garr]

Long-braised beef short ribs from Adam Barr's nearby farm. Very nice with Laurel Glen 2008 Reds Lodi California Red Wine.

[Jenise]

Dinner with friends just back from OS,
Grilled scallops in the half shell with ginger shallot butter
Crispy skin salmon on minted pea puree
Grilled stonefruits with mascarpone and almond bread
A very enjoyable dinner for a warm, very humid evening.

Cool that you can buy scallops on the halfshell there--they're very unusual here.

[Jenise]

Cassoulet for dinner with my partner's Weight Watchers leader!:

cassoulet 1 2011 small.jpg

What are the meat patties there, Jeff?


Tonight: Chinese-smoked duck, heavily seasoned with five spice powder. Will serve with a stir fry of green onions, shitake mushrooms, bok choy and broccolini.

Cassoulet for dinner with my partner's Weight Watchers leader!:

cassoulet 1 2011 small.jpg

What are the meat patties there, Jeff?

Thick slices of saucisson a l'ail.

[Robin Garr]

Mary made an awesome Portuguese kale soup for a light, early dinner tonight, using short-rib beef stock and substituting Italian sausage for the Portuguese linguiça. Two thumbs up!

[Robin Garr]

Leftover braised short ribs deconstructed and turned into a ragout with its own broth plus green peppers, onions, garlic and diced turnips, served with Maison François Martenot 2007 "Pré Royal" Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits.

Pan-seared halibut, ever-so-slightly dressed with herbes de provence, white pepper, and paprika.

toasted plain bagel with cream cheese.

Apple pie ice cream.

Last night, it was chicken breasts and thighs, some dusted with 5-spice and some with a Cajun spice rub, simply roasted. Served them with a wild rice/brown rice blend and broccolini sauteed with garlic and sesame oil.

[Robin Garr]

The beef short ribs that keep on giving come back one more night as a rich vegetable-barley soup.

Haddock fillets, buttered potatoes, cooked spinach and Pinot Gris.

[Jenise]

Not sure about dinner yet, but yesterday a friend called from a local market. He'd ordered five pounds of veal bones to make a stock with. To fill the order the butcher had to order a minimum 50 pounds, and since his computer didn't have a tag in it for Veal Bones, which he had planned to sell for $3.49, he said the hell with it and just priced them as Beef Bones at $2.49. So did I want any?

Hell yes. So I've got three huge pots with 20 pounds of veal bones and various seasonings burbling away--demi glace, coming up!