What's for dinner?

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm planning to make Katie's Italian sausage-and-cheese risotto. Will open with an arugula salad tossed with marinated mushrooms and served on a bed of sliced capicolla.

An absolute mishmash tonight...Stuffed clams for an appetizer, spinach salad with a Champagne vinaigrette, venison chili (beans for me, no beans for Jody) and blue corn bread.

Given our cold, nasty weather, I'm planning meatball soup.

Spinach and mushroom quiche. Beef Wellington on the horizon.

Friday nites are date nights for the wife and I. We'll be going out to eat at a local bistro and then the theatre.

A traditional stew of cabbage, Polish Sausage, tomato, onion, garlic and lots of paprika. Served with sour cream, black bread and inexpensive Petite Syrah.

The children are having honey mustard chicken thighs with a raspberry sauce, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes. My husband and I are having steak and kidney pie.

Prawns pan-grilled with a little sesame oil and garlic, refried beans, and a wedge of iceberg lettuce with thousand island dressing.
How's that for eclectic?
And pear crisp for dessert.

John

[Jenise]

Prawns pan-grilled with a little sesame oil and garlic, refried beans, and a wedge of iceberg lettuce with thousand island dressing.
How's that for eclectic?
And pear crisp for dessert.

John

Your dinner made me laugh out loud--but you knew it would!

[Jenise]

A traditional stew of cabbage, Polish Sausage, tomato, onion, garlic and lots of paprika. Served with sour cream, black bread and inexpensive Petite Syrah.

Sounds very Hungarian. Way back when, was your family name Farkas?

[Jenise]

Friday nites are date nights for the wife and I. We'll be going out to eat at a local bistro and then the theatre.

Great tradition, Armand. Don't ever stop.

[Jenise]

The children are having honey mustard chicken thighs with a raspberry sauce, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes. My husband and I are having steak and kidney pie.

Ah, the good old days of separate meals for the kids. There were a lot of dinners like that at our house when I was a child, but the kiddie meals were never as elegant or involved as what you made last night--more along the lines of noodles in hot milk and butter.

Jenise - It's an easy, slow cooker recipe with little time involved in preparation, unless, I suppose, you bake your own bread. It was passed on by friends whose background is Alabama farmer and West Virginia coal miner. Go figure.

[Jenise]

Jenise - It's an easy, slow cooker recipe with little time involved in preparation, unless, I suppose, you bake your own bread. It was passed on by friends whose background is Alabama farmer and West Virginia coal miner. Go figure.

Well it sounds just like my evil stepmother's cabbage rolls without the roll--and she was Hungarian, and her last name was Farkas which she told us was Hungarian for "wolf"--hence my putting 2 and 2 together and getting 7.

Well, last night it was revised Lemon Pasta with Baked Shrimp posted elsewhere with Riesling. Tonight we had Rib Eyes cooked in the restaurant method, slathered with blue cheese; sourdough bread, salad, and Merlot ('07 Knapp, Cayugo Lake). Tomorrow it with be Meatball Sandwiches with Shipyard Prelude Ale.

>> Your dinner made me laugh out loud--but you knew it would! <<

It is sort of West-Coastian, isn't it? The flavors worked out fine, the Dry Creek Chenin Blanc didn't hurt, and of course pear crisp can salvage any situation, even if it doesn't need salvaging.

John

Weekly pizza night. And this one was particularly good. Oyster mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and the first artichokes of the season! (What a relief to have a different taste). Plus parsley and El Chamizo cheese. We were both very pleased.

Weird night. We invited a couple over and (when they asked what to bring) told them a salad or a side. I decided on a James Peterson recipe for pissaladiere and a fish/shrimp chowder. Our friends ended up bringing a salad and a side of roasted potatoes. So we started with the pissaladiere, went on to the salad, then the chowder and roasted potatoes. Dessert was a pound cake flavored with brandy, sherry, and orange flower water served with strawberries in balsamic and whipped cream. Something of an anarchic meal, but it was all very tasty.

Aiming for barbecued spareribs.

Since Celia's post about Ricotta Gnocchi have been going to town with all variations - ricotta, potato and semolina. By far, the most elegant are the ricotta....The local BelGioso Ricotta con Latte is absolutely perfect. It is creamy because of the whole milk with no excess moisture. 1# of this ricotta, 1 egg, 1/2 cup grated cheese [ I like a mix of Parm and Romano ] 3/4 tsp salt and a scant 3/4 c flour . A wetter ricotta must be drained so as not to use excess flour. A quick test is to put a spoon full of ricotta on a paper towel and watch the moisture ring. The Bel Gioso left less that 1/2 inch ring over 5 min. I tried draining it over night...1# in a sieve lined with a coffee filter left absolutely NO whey in the pot and the coffee filter was not totally wet. So, draining this brand is not necessary. This brand is by far the best Ricotta, other than home made , I have available for making whatever calls for ricotta from ravioli, pie, fritelle, to gnocchi.
Although I love browned butter-herb sauces I feel that these little pillows need a more substantial sauce unless you dolly up the gnocchi mix with goats milk ricotta or lots of black pepper or very finely minced herbs.
Such an easy, elegant dish. Thanks Celia for the reminder.

[Jenise]

Since Celia's post about Ricotta Gnocchi have been going to town with all variations - ricotta, potato and semolina. By far, the most elegant are the ricotta....The local BelGioso Ricotta con Latte is absolutely perfect. It is creamy because of the whole milk with no excess moisture. 1# of this ricotta, 1 egg, 1/2 cup grated cheese [ I like a mix of Parm and Romano ] 3/4 tsp salt and a scant 3/4 c flour . A wetter ricotta must be drained so as not to use excess flour. A quick test is to put a spoon full of ricotta on a paper towel and watch the moisture ring. The Bel Gioso left less that 1/2 inch ring over 5 min. I tried draining it over night...1# in a sieve lined with a coffee filter left absolutely NO whey in the pot and the coffee filter was not totally wet. So, draining this brand is not necessary. This brand is by far the best Ricotta, other than home made , I have available for making whatever calls for ricotta from ravioli, pie, fritelle, to gnocchi.
Although I love browned butter-herb sauces I feel that these little pillows need a more substantial sauce unless you dolly up the gnocchi mix with goats milk ricotta or lots of black pepper or very finely minced herbs.
Such an easy, elegant dish. Thanks Celia for the reminder.

I'm going to put this on the menu this week. We get Bel Giosa fresh mozz here--Costco carries it, and I love it, so I wonder if they have the Ricotta? I'm prepared to make my own with good local organic milk, but with your recco I would be tempted to try the Bel Gioso too--could mean the difference between getting around to the gnocchi or not.

Since Celia's post about Ricotta Gnocchi have been going to town with all variations - ricotta, potato and semolina. By far, the most elegant are the ricotta....The local BelGioso Ricotta con Latte is absolutely perfect. It is creamy because of the whole milk with no excess moisture. 1# of this ricotta, 1 egg, 1/2 cup grated cheese [ I like a mix of Parm and Romano ] 3/4 tsp salt and a scant 3/4 c flour . A wetter ricotta must be drained so as not to use excess flour. A quick test is to put a spoon full of ricotta on a paper towel and watch the moisture ring. The Bel Gioso left less that 1/2 inch ring over 5 min. I tried draining it over night...1# in a sieve lined with a coffee filter left absolutely NO whey in the pot and the coffee filter was not totally wet. So, draining this brand is not necessary. This brand is by far the best Ricotta, other than home made , I have available for making whatever calls for ricotta from ravioli, pie, fritelle, to gnocchi.
Although I love browned butter-herb sauces I feel that these little pillows need a more substantial sauce unless you dolly up the gnocchi mix with goats milk ricotta or lots of black pepper or very finely minced herbs.
Such an easy, elegant dish. Thanks Celia for the reminder.

CG,

Never in a million years would I have guessed that BelGioioso (I think that may be the correct spelling but I'm not sure though) would make a decent Ricotta. I learn something in each and every one of your posts.

Last night was braised pork shoulder chop, polenta, and haricot vert washed down with a nice merlot from Facelli Winery. The pork was done with balsamic vinegar, white wine, chicken and beef stock, onions and mushrooms. Tonight it is marinated flank steak.


-mike

[Jenise]

Last night was braised pork shoulder chop, polenta, and haricot vert washed down with a nice merlot from Facelli Winery. The pork was done with balsamic vinegar, white wine, chicken and beef stock, onions and mushrooms. Tonight it is marinated flank steak.


-mike

Got a recipe for that pork? Almost sounds like an Italian version of Filipino adobo by way of Coq au Vin. And what's not to love about that?