Risotto, Red Chard, Pancetta, Pomegranate
This summer, while sitting at the dock of Matthew’s beach, one of my chef friends said to me with great excitement, “I think I have constructed the perfect hamachi dish: grapefruit, lavender, fennel-saffron puree, fennel pollen”. I looked at him, wide eyed, and asked him how many times he had tested the recipe. He looked back at me, laughed a little due to my ignorance and said, “No, Stage. It is all up here” as he pointed to his thick head of black hair. Read the rest of this entry »
Mission Fig and Nicoise Olive Tapenade
Why is it then when you love to cook you get duped into making food for every event? Even when you are not there because you are being someone’s Kitchen Bitch! I guess I don’t really mind making the food (that’s the fun part), but I do like to be with my friends when they are eating my food and partying before they go out.
Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Parsnips
I thought of this Donna Hay recipe after I made Molly Steven’s Braised Chicken with Hard Cider and Parsnips over the weekend. I decided to make Molly’s recipe after this rave review and this one. Actually, her recipe is all over the blogosphere. Who knew that it would take me TWO years to find the cookbook and begin to blog about this stunning recipes. I feel so out of the loop. Bare with me. You will be seeing a lot more of her recipes.
Anyway! I decided to pull this old recipe from the archives because although Molly Steven’s braised parsnips give Donna Hay’s a run for her money, they still are not as good. The simplicity of baking the parsnips with just brown sugar and butter is genius and still ceases to amaze me.
Beef Tenderloin with Shallot Port Reduction
Randomly, I had a Friday night show off of Nutcracker. This is about as rare as seeing two shooting stars in a row! So, I decided to use my time wisely and utilize leftover ingredients that I had in my house to create this dish. It was one of those “a little of this, and a little of that” experiments.
Sometimes, those “a little of this, and a little of that” dishes end up getting thrown out and we order a pizza, but this one actually seemed to work out. I am pretty sure I just came up with what I am going to be serving my Mom, and brother for Christmas dinner.
And, all on a Friday night OFF from “cracking the nut”…..
Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Grapes
My best friend Kylee gave me a cookbook for my birthday. It is recipes from Food and Wine that concentrates on recipes featuring herbs and spices. She knows me well! It didn’t take long for Erik and I to begin salivating over the recipes and marking the ones that we wanted to try.
The first recipe that caught my eye was a recipe for Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Mashed Potatoes in the center of the bowl. Although it looked amazing, it was colorless (meaning light yellow). Because I am about to perform again, I figured I would go for a healthier, more colorful looking dish.
I loved this recipe because it used roasted grapes, which I have been seeing more and more in the past month (just like my last year’s discovery of peach and prosciutto). I even made a salad from the most recent Bon Appetit that uses roasted grapes that was outstanding.
Have you ever roasted grapes before? Have I just been in the dark?
Bing Cherry and Rosemary Crisp
Rosemary? In a Crisp?
I know it sounds odd. But, it works. The rosemary adds a lemony pine flavor to the sweet topping.
I made this for an impromptu dinner party. The kind I only have when I am off of work for five weeks, and bored out of my mind! I start researching recipes, getting inspired, and get an itch to make a giant production.
These are also the kind of parties where the wine flows, and you can never drink enough water to feel good the next day.
