Swimming

Little j and I went swimming we got home @ 7.That girl made little j some mac and cheese and we had left overs enchiladas.

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a recipe that was from That Girls aunt Karen. It is a very good and simple dinner. It was a staple in our house when we were in College. The only problem with this recipe is that it calls for Green chile enchilada sauce which for some reason it is very hard to find in any grocery store in the local area. We did have a can of the green sauce in the pantry and I supplement it with some green tormatilla salsa.

2 chicken breast
8 oz of Jack cheese
2 cans of green enchilada sauce
small can of diced green chiles
6 flour tortillas

Boil the chicken breast till cooked. Shred the chicken add 6 oz of cheese, the chiles and one can of sauce. Combine and spoon into the tortilla and place into glass baking dish and pour the other can on top of the tortillas and spread the rest of the cheese on top. Bake @350 for 30 mins

Veal Piccata

One of the simplest and quickest meals is veal piccata (or chicken, whatever your preference). There are lots of recipes out there, so I say pick one that works for you and stick with it. My recipe is from The New Best Recipe. The best piccatas have tender meat, and a light lemony sauce. I served ours with spaghetti and fresh steamed broccoli. Big J and I also enjoyed a couple of glasses of Viogner, one of my favorite white wines.

Back In the Kitchen

After handing over dinner responsibilities to Big J for several nights I finally found my way back into the kitchen. Honestly after four 10-hour days of writing cooking dinner felt like a vacation. I missed dinner with the Js last night, so it was nice to be back at the table with them again.

I've been in the mood for a hearty bean soup lately and dinner tonight fit the bill. I adapted the recipe slightly from my go-to recipe finder Epicurious. And here it is:

White Bean and Ham Soup

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried rubbed or 2 tsp fresh sage, minced
1 lb ham (from leftovers or a ham steak), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 can 14.5 stewed tomatoes
2 15 oz cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
9 oz fresh spinach

Heat oil over medium heat, add garlic and sage and sautee until fragrant. Add ham, broth, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a gentle boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Serves 4.

French toast and scrambled eggs.

Since That Girl was going to pull a late night and not have dinner with us I asked little j what see wanted to have? She said she wanted french toast and eggs. I fixed up some french toast, scrambled eggs and a bowl of That Girl's home made applesauce.

Any time little j has syrup at home she likes it in a little bowl so she can dip it it ( sometimes I catch her just dipping her finger). little j was hungry as she was going to town on her french toast and eggs. I commented how hungry she was and asked her " what did we have for lunch" she replied " jelly and peanut butter sandwich and you had a egg sandwich" I asked her if she liked egg sandwiches and she said she never had tried it...so she grabbed a chunk of french toast and a piece of egg and dunked both pieces in the syrup and then went directly into her mouth. She then grabbed the bowl of syrup and said " Dad you need to dip your eggs into the syrup" she wouldn't quit asking me until I dipped my egg into the syrup ( which I like... but That Girl can't stand!) Then little j said " this is the best dinner ever"!

As you can see the simply dinners are the one's that little j likes the best...or any dinner where there is a little bowl of syrup to dip into!

Home made Pizza

Pizza pie! When I stopped at Mona Lisa Pasta a couple weeks ago to get pasta sheets for that Girls Ravioli dish I picked up a ball of frozen pizza dough. Little j helped me shape the pizza dough ( even though she put a hole in the middle of the dough trying to twirl the dough) she did a good job. I used three different types of cheese. Mozzarella, Cheddar, and Gruyere. I took Some ground pork and ground beef we had left over from making meat balls and browned that with some garlic. I also took some mushrooms and sauteed them with red wine and garlic. I used some tomato paste for the sauce and sprinkled dried thyme piled the cheese and on one half spread out the mushrooms and the meat. I had the pizza stone in the oven and the oven preheated @ 425 I cooked the pizza for 15 mins and served it with a arugula salad with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Friday Night Steak

Today That Girl and I were talking today and we decide that we hadn't have had steak for a while so we decided to have Friday night steak. Before I picked up little j at her school I dropped by Food of All Nations and picked up a couple of steaks some red potatoes and bottle of wine and a special dessert for little j.

The Menu:

Caesar salad With That Girls special Caesar dressing
Filet mingnon
Broccoli
Red potatoes.
Bogle California Zin

I roasted the red potatoes with a little olive oil in the oven @ 425 for about 30 mins. I grilled the steak for about 3 min per side and it came out a perfect medium rare.

It was a good Friday night dinner. little j finished her meal with a cupcake with frosting and sprinkles. That Girl finished hers with a coconut macaroon.

Play Date!

Well it was another night not eating at home. little j and I ran into some friends on our way out of little j school and we had a improvised play date at our friends house. That Girl stayed home and worked on her project.

Our friends fixed a nice dinner of spaghetti, sauteed spinach and a green salad. The girls had a great play date and I got to visit with my friends. I think tomorrow I will be back in the kitchen and will fix a home cooked meal.

Horse and Hound

Since that girl has had her dissertation in full swing 10-12 hour days 7 days a week to try to get her final draft in by Feb. 6. Our dinner time schedule has be a little off. So little j and myself meet that Girl at the Horse and Hound restaurant. I had a craving for Fish and chips. little j ordered the chicken fingers which is odd since see usually orders some kind of noodle dish or some kind of hot dog product. But, the chicken strips were really good. They were three large strips of chicken that were d freshly battered before being deep fried and served with a real tasty seasoned fries. She ate all three chicken strips.

The at Girl and I each had a dinner salad that was pretty unforgettable and split an order of Fish and Chips. The fish was all right I wouldn't rush back to get some more, But I would recommend the chicken strips.

Big J takes a night off

Big J was signing up little j for swim lessons today and the classes fill up quickly, so he had to be there right at 5:30. That meant I was in charge of dinner. From our weekly menu I chose cheese ravioli. This is a very easy dinner with all nutritional elements and big taste.

We get frozen cheese ravioli from Whole Foods. It is easy to use, tasty, and a good canvas for whatever you might want to add to it. In this case kale, roasted butternut squash, brown butter and fresh sage. This is sort of my own recipe so here goes:

Cheese Ravioli with Kale and Roasted Butternut Squash
1 bunch cleaned, ribbed and chopped kale
4 Tbs butter
1 medium butternut squash cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 servings (about 36) frozen cheese ravioli
1 Tbs minced fresh sage

Place the diced squash on a small sheet pan and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook kale for 10 minutes in salted water.
At the same time, place the butter in a pan over medium low heat to brown.
After kale is done, remove from pot (use a slotted spoon or something similar and keep water in the pot for the ravioli).
Heat about 1 tbs of olive oil in a 12 inch sautee pan over medium heat, add and sautee garlic until fragrant. Add kale and cook until warmed through, about 6 minutes.
While the kale is cooking, cook the ravioli to al dente.
Divide the sauteed kale in dishes.
Place browned butter in sautee pan, add ravioli and toss, then add butternut squash.
Plate the ravioli and butternut squash on top of the kale and sprinkle with sage.
Serve with grated Parmesan and course ground black pepper.

Serves 3

Taco Bar!

When we were in college there was a great little psuedo-Mexican place (it billed itself as 'healthy Mexican') that we went to frequently. On Sunday night they had a taco bar that was just a little under $6 -- what a steal. All you can eat tacos for $6 -- where else would you find college students on a Sunday evening?

Whenever I do meal planning Big J asks for tacos. Here is my dirty food secret -- I HATE ground beef! So as you can well imagine, I rarely acquiesce to his request. However, I have this great cookbook for diabetics that has a the one and only taco recipe I like. Now you may be asking yourself, "Why does That Girl have a diabetic cookbook?" Well, Big J, who is part Native American (Chickasaw to be specific) is diabetic. It's hard to believe that a man who looks so healthy would have type 2 diabetes, but alas it is true. In any case, this recipe is one of our favorites from the book, and since Big J is in charge of dinners for the next few weeks of course that is one of the very first meals he chooses to cook.

In the true spirit of our kitchen he adapted the recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1 Tbs chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
a few ounces salsa
one small can chopped chilis

On the side he had a bowl of chopped romaine dressed with oil and vinegar, flour tortillas, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Yum!

This was a great meal to come home to after a long day dissertating (I made good progress, by the way!).

Thanks for the yummy dinner Big J!

Turkey Chili

That Girl spent the day working on her little project today. As she was heading out the door she asked if we could have dinner @ 6 and if I had any questions about dinner. I answered yes and no. She wanted to be able to watch the Packers game which kicked off was at 6:30. We decided on Saturday that we would have Turkey Chili, a simple and good football dinner.

We received this recipe from an old couple that lived next door to us before we move out east. It is a super simple and very tasty dinner. All you do is to saute a whole onion and a few garlic cloves, brown a pound of ground turkey add 3 cans of beans ( I used kidney) add a whole 56 0z bottle of V8 or any other tomato juice. I used the spicy version. I added a couple of TSP of Chili and Cumin powder to give it a little more kick. It was good. I also made some corn bread muffins. little j likes hers with some honey... me just a big slab of butter.

It was a nice cold Sunday night dinner. The only thing better would of been if the packers would of won.

little j's favorite

Last night, after almost a week away from the kitchen, I cooked dinner. We had one of little j's favorites: barbecued chicken. There is a really good recipe in a back issue of Cook's Illustrated (one of my very favorite cooking magazines) for oven barbecue chicken. The sauce is simply ketchup, molasses, dijon, maple syrup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire, chili powder, cayenne, and grated onion. The secret to this sauce truly is the grated onion which is cut and then grated with a microplane. It adds the onion flavor without needed too much onion (it calls for 2 tbs.) and also you don't need to puree the sauce once it cooks.

So the chicken is totally straightforward, brown the breasts on both sides, set aside, heat the sauce, add the chicken back to the sauce and coat, put it in a 325 degree oven until temp is 130 degrees, set on broil until chicken reaches 160. Done. It is succulent, juicy with a subtly sweet but tangy sauce.

I served it with a Waldorf salad, one of Big J's favorites, made with apples, toasted walnuts, celery and dried cranberries with a light dressing of mayo, lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar. We also had whipped sweet potatoes. For those I baked the potatoes until soft (baked sweet potatoes are much more flavorful than boiled) and then whipped them with a bit of butter, 1/2 and 1/2, orange juice, orange zest and cinnamon.

Talk about needing portion control! It was one of those simple meals where little j declares, "It's so good I can't stop eating!"

Friday Night Out

Last night Ms. J volunteered to watch little j, so Big J and I had an adult evening out. We started at a new wine bar on the Downtown Mall called Siips. It bills itself as a champagne and wine bar, and although it has an extensive wine list it only has four champagnes. That said, the champagne I had was wonderful -- creamy, bubbly, with a clean finish. Big J had a zinfandel blend which was also delicious -- he describes it as bold and oakey.

We had some trouble deciding where to have dinner. We wanted to go somewhere "cozy" although we couldn't really describe what we meant by cozy, we knew there were certain places that didn't meet our criteria. We finally settled on Petite Pois, a cozy little French bistro with no more than 10 tables and a tiny little bar. We've been there before and have always been happy, last night was no exception.

Lately we've been pretty conscious about our portion size so it is not uncommon for us to share an entree which is exactly what we decided last night. We started with a delicious chicken liver mousse -- it was deliciously creamy and complex, the gherkin accompanying the mousse were perfect palate cleansers. We also shared the spinach salad which was quite possibly one of the best I've ever had with goat cheese, red onion, and a light bacon vinaigrette. Yum!

For our main course we chose the seafood stew. They were more than happy to give us a split plate at no extra charge -- it turned out to be the perfect portion of amazing saffron cream broth stew filled with mussels, scallops, clams, shrimp and calamari. It would have been easy to overcook the seafood in a stew such as this, but they were perfectly succulent. It was amazing.

We ended the evening with a trip to Barnes and Noble to look at some books and sip coffee in the cafe. I know, it wasn't particularly in keeping with our "local" evening, but there's really no other place in town that has both magazines and coffee. It was a delicious evening.

Snow Day!

A snow storm moved through today which closed the schools @ 1100. That Girl spent the day at the library and I spent the day with little j. She spent part of the day with a neighbor girl sledding and playing.

On the menu was spaghetti and meat balls. The meat balls were a combination of ground chuck and pork. It actually was a very simple recipe that consisted of cutting up two pieces of bread and soaking them in buttermilk for 10 minutes then adding 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper. You form into balls and fry for about ten minutes.

That Girl helped me out in the kitchen after we picked her up from the library. She finished up the pasta sauce and made some cut green beans.

It was a good snowy night meal. little j enjoyed it... she loves noodles.

Swimming and Applebee's

For the next 3 weeks I (Big J) will be taking over most of the cooking and the blogging... So for the first night little j and I went swimming and out to her favorite restaurant Applebee's. little j had a corn dog with apple sauce and lemonade. I had the spinach salad with shrimp and a glass of water. It was fine but it was not a home cooked meal from That Girl's kitchen.

I hope to try to keep up with That Girl's blog over the next couple weeks so she can get her "little project" done

Guest Postings

Over the next three weeks I am going to be fully immersed in dissertation writing so Big J has graciously agreed (or perhaps he insisted) to take over pretty much all aspects of our home life. This includes cooking dinners. So of course it also includes keeping up with our daily dinner blog.

He'll be witty, he'll be funny, he'll be brutally honest about cooking for our precocious 5-year old. Feel free to heckle or praise as he tackles the world of blogger!

(A note about Big J: He's the guy all my girlfriends love. He gives back rubs, hugs, and amazing compliments. Most importantly, he is incredibly supportive of this crazy dissertation process.)

Tuna Noodle Casserole for the 21st Century

Whenever I don't know what I am going to fix for dinner or I am late starting I turn to the old standby. In the 60s this might have been known as tuna noodle casserole, but I much prefer my updated version. The basic recipe is tuna, garlic, olive oil, capers, lemon juice and zest, and pasta. The only cooking involved is the pasta although I generally warm up the tuna mixture in a 200 degree oven while the pasta cooks.

This recipe lends itself to tinkering and variation: chicken instead of tuna, the addition of steamed vegetables, a variety of herbs, different types of pasta based on what's in the pantry. Really whatever you want. As long as you have the staples you are good to go. And the big plus is that it takes only as long as it takes to boil water and cook pasta -- say, 20 minutes? Take that Rachel Ray!

I set off the smoke alarm!

Another roast chicken night, but this time instead of using my regular All-Clad pan I decided to try it out in the cast iron frying pan. It was a good idea because it really browned the skin better than the other pan. However, I didn't put foil on the rack below and it splattered on the element and filled the kitchen with smoke. I tried opening the front door and back door, but it's 35 degrees outside, so Big J quickly ended that.

Of course I will use the cast iron again because it really was superior, but I'll be a little more careful about placing foil underneath the pan.

Other elements of the meal included sliced cucumber with a touch of white wine vinegar and very yummy roast carrots and parsnips with an apple juice reduction.

A Long Awaited Dinner

Tonight I made something I have been wanting to try out for almost 5 months: soft egg ravioli. I first had the dish at Dopo, a little restaurant in Oakland (see this post) and have been wanting to try my hand at making it at home ever since. I wanted Big J to experience the dish as much as I wanted to have it again. (Note: little j did not have the ravioli, but I reserved enough pasta to make her very wide noodles.)

Well, it turned out so-so. Actually better than so-so, but certainly not as amazing as I remembered. First of all, I had Big J get the pasta sheets from our local pasta shop yesterday afternoon and I had planned to make it last night. However, due to the migraine, I had to put it off one day, so the pasta wasn't as fresh as I would have liked. Also, I think the pasta could have been thinner and I definitely would have made it conform more to the filling.

Secondly, I would have preferred to use fresher (as in fresh from the hen within the last week) organic, free-range egg yolks. As it was, the eggs were the regular organic free-range kind we get at the grocery store every week -- that is, they were probably at least 1 month old.

Finally, I think one raviolo would have been plenty, but when I planned dinner I hadn't planned on our impulse purchase of one dozen fresh oysters.

So our Sunday dinner menu:

Hood Canal and West Haven Oysters on the half shell
Caesar Salad
Soft Egg Ravioli on Sautéed Spinach finished with Brown Butter Fried Sage
2005 Edgefield Pinot Noir Blanc

Here is my recipe for soft egg ravioli:

1/2 c. Ricotta
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 egg yolk
1/4 - 1/2 c. grated Parmesan
Fresh grated nutmeg
Salt
Ground Pepper

4 egg yolks
1 egg white

Pasta sheets

4 Tbs. Butter
12 - 15 sage leaves

Mix ricotta, lemon zest, egg yolk, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Cut pasta sheets into 8 5x5 inch squares.

Divide the ricotta mixture between four squares (about 1 1/2 Tbs.) and use the back of your measure spoon or tip of your finger to make a nest. Gently place an egg yolk in each of the four "nests." Brush the edges of the pasta with egg white and then lay the remaining squares over the nests.

Seal the sides using a ravioli or biscuit cutter. The ravioli can be whatever shape you prefer. I suggest sealing as close to the filling as possible without smashing it down and breaking the yolk.

Meanwhile, heat butter over medium-low heat making certain that the butter gently browns -- it should be fragrant and nut brown in color. At the same time, heat a pot of water to boiling.

Gently boil two ravioli at a time for 4 minutes. Take care not to turn the ravioli over. They should stay upright as if poaching an egg. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon and cook remaining pasta.

When butter is brown, place sage leaves in and fry briefly.

Plate the ravioli and top with fried sage leaves, drizzle browned butter over the top and finish with grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Saturday Night Pizza

De ja vue? No...but we had leftovers and I had a migraine. Big J did make a nice salad to go along with the leftover pizza, so I'm not complaining.

Friday Night Pizza

Tonight Big J and I picked up little j from school and went out to pizza at Mellow Mushroom. In addition to an amazing beer selection they have really good pizza. I think the success of the pizza, besides good toppings, is the fact that they have the best pizza crust that I have ever had...and this from a woman that routinely either leaves crust on the plate or feeds it to the dog. Mellow Mushroom pizza crust is made from spring water, vitamin-enriched, high gluten flour and wheat germ then finished with plenty of parmesan as it bakes.

Big J and I had a half Kosmic Karma (sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomato, spinach, feta, pesto) and half House Special (a bunch of everything). I should say that I had Kosmic Karma and Big J had the House Special. little j had cheese pizza.

I also had a really nice porter from somewhere in Ohio. I don't remember the first beer Big J had, but his second beer was a Rye and it was quite possibly the most bitter beer I have ever tasted. It was so bitter I almost spit it out. Blah! But Big J liked it.

We concluded our dinner with Arch's Frozen Yogurt, a Charlottesville institution. little j chose a vanilla kiddie cone with marshmallows and Big J and I shared a small blueberry cheesecake. It was nice to have an evening away from the kitchen -- or have Big J take care of dinner, as he put it.

Quick and Delicious

Tonight the Js actually did go swimming. I knew they wouldn't be home until late so I wanted to fix something quick and easy -- stir fry always fits. This was an easy one: thinly sliced sirloin marinated in sherry and soy then sautéed with garlic, celery, scallions and pea pods and finished with about 3/4 of a cup of tomato juice (in this case, Knudsen's Spicy Tomato). And served, of course, over rice. Yum! It took me a total of about 2 minutes between chopping and cooking and even setting the table. And as soon as the Js walked in it was ready to go. What could be better? (Well, there are leftovers for my lunch tomorrow!)

A note about stir fry -- if you don't have a dedicated pan I highly recommend investing in one. I got a Joyce Chen wok a few years ago and it has seasoned nicely. They key is to really take care of it --and never, ever wash with soap. In fact, I try to just wipe it out unless there is something really sticky. Using a wok is an art, understanding how to use the sides and move things around the pan takes some practice and the results are really worth it.

A Bit of A Crockpot Failure

During the winter months I like to break out the crockpot at least once a week. For those that think the crockpot is a way to quicker dinners, think again. Yes, it is helpful in terms of allowing you to have a meal that has cooked/braised/baked/whatever all day in the middle of the week. But for a really good crockpot meal it takes some preparation.

My recipe book of choice is The Slow Cooker Ready and Waiting Cookbook: 160 Sumptuous Meals that Cook Themselves. The premise of the book is that if you are willing to do a little preparation upfront (sauteeing, browning, broiling) you will be rewarded by flavorful meals. This isn't your mother's "throw a can of cream of mushroom soup, stew meat and vegetables in and hope for the best" kind of book. This is a "most recipes take at least 30 minutes of prep work before you can leave for the morning" kind of book. But let me tell you, for the most part the pre-work is worth the result.

Last night, however, was an exception. I tried a new recipe that I had high hopes for: Hill Country Ribs. This recipe quite simply requires broiling the country style ribs till brown (about 10 minutes) and tossing them in the crockpot with your favorite barbecue sauce, cook on ow for 5 to 6 hours and then enjoy. Easy enough, but I put the ribs in too early and by the time I took them out they had fallen off the bones and the the sauce had developed a bit of a bitter taste from cooking too long.

I served the rib meat with oven roasted sliced potatoes and sautéed spinach. I can honestly say the best part of the meal, at least for me, was the spinach.

The other problem last night was that the Js had planned to go swimming, but when they arrived at the AFC they found out there was a swim meet, so they got home about an hour earlier than I expected and I was just prepping the potatoes to put in the oven. So I got a little flustered and the potatoes, instead of coming out with a nice crispy exterior and warm fluffy interior, were sort of floppy and not at all crunchy. They were cooked through, but just not to the yummy potato perfection that I've achieved before.

So, all in all...not so great. Big J said it was "okay," which means it's a meal I won't be repeating. I'll save the ribs for a Sunday barbecue.

Tuesday Tostadas

I fixed one of Big J's favorite dinners tonight -- Black Bean and Chicken Tostadas. It is such an easy meal of tortillas (I use flour because I am the only one of the three of us that likes corn) topped with black beans, shredded grilled chicken, Mexican cheese (such as cojita), sour cream, and romaine tossed with olive oil and tangy cider vinegar.

For me, it is really the romaine and cider vinegar that makes the tostada. I love that tang in contrast to the earthy black beans coupled with the creamy cheese and sour cream.

As usual, little j ate a "deconstructed" tostada. I have to wonder when she will be willing to mix foods.

Monday Mushroom Polenta Pie

Tonight we had Mushroom Polenta Pie, a favorite that I adapted from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. It is essentially polenta topped with a mixture of sautéed mushrooms, chard, onions and garlic, sprinkled with Parmesan and then baked for about 20 minutes. I like to serve it with Mario Batali's marinara sauce that I keep on hand. I accompanied the dish with a simple salad of arugula, Tuscan olive oil, red wine vinegar, course fresh ground pepper and shaved Parmesan.

Along with a sliver of the mushroom polenta pie, little j had a dish of peas, a tortilla and homemade applesauce. I don't want people to think that I am in the habit of making her separate dishes, but I am just realistic about what she will and won't eat. I was pretty sure she wouldn't eat the main dish, but at the very least I expect her to take one bite and she usually does well with that request.

A note about the polenta pie, should you look up the recipe and be so inclined to make it: the recipe calls for the polenta to be spread in a 9"x12" pan (or something like that), I always use an 8"x8" pan so the polenta is a little thicker. I think it cuts better and makes for a heartier, and therefore smaller, portion. Also, it is essential to let it set for at least 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. I think it goes without saying that this is a dish that works very well as leftovers. In fact, Big J and I should have enough for a couple days.

Simple Sunday Dinner

Our stand-by for Sunday dinner is typically roast chicken, but since we just had that a couple days ago and I was meeting my dissertation girlfriends at 3:30 for coffee I decided to go with something pretty simple: Ginger Shrimp and Soba Noodles from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. Definitely a make-again recipe with one modification.

The recipe said to sautée the shrimp in the juice of one lemon, 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil. Easy enough. But then it doesn't say whether to keep the shrimp in the sauce or to remove them. So, I kept them in. Unfortunately, the lemon overpowered the sauce (soy, sherry, apple juice) that was made to accompany the dish. When we took a bite the complex flavors were briefly evident but were overpowered by the tartness of the lemon. Next time I will definitely remove the shrimp ffom the sautée sauce with a slotted spoon, dump the sauce, then combine the cooked noodles, shrimp, broccoli and soy-sherry-apple sauce and heat.

Regardless...a good meal with enough leftovers for both Big J and I for lunch tomorrow.

Evening Out

Last night our wonderful neighbor Ms. J offered to watch little j so Big J and I (I know, so many Js!) could have a night out. I had already planned a delicious dinner, but hadn't started on it, so I was certainly up for going out.

Generally, when we have a chance for an evening away from home we choose to have dinner at one of C'ville's numerous, and often fantastic, restaurants. However last night we really wanted to see Sweeney Todd, so our dinner out time was limited, combined with the fact that neither of us was really excited about any of the food options close to the theater. So we ended up at Cheeseburger in Paradise -- and surprise, surprise we both had burgers -- mushroom swiss for Big J, blue cheese for me -- accompanied by fries and a house salad with blue cheese. There was a beer for Big J and a very large margarita on the rocks with salt for me. As far as a chain burger goes, it was pretty good. The salad was mediocre at best; I generally prefer more than iceburg. But the company more than made up for any shortcomings in the food. Sometimes it's nice just to have a meal just with adults, without coloring, without wiggling, without the possibility of a meltdown.

little j also went out to dinner with Ms. J. She had, and I quote: "Fresh noodles with oil." Meaning, she had spaghetti with nothing on it except olive oil and a little salt.

Disclosure

In the spirit of providing complete information about our weekly meals I've decided to include a weekly note on the planning and shopping, complete with grocery bill. Now, I haven't discussed disclosing our weekly grocery bill with Big J, but I think he'll be for it since he essentially sees this blog as a way for us to have a record of our eating habits over the course of a year.

Generally I shop on Sunday, but we were running low on milk and, more importantly, cream for our morning coffee, so I decided to go today instead. That of course also meant menu planning for the week. So after combing through cookbooks and consulting with the Js, I came up with the weekly menu and shopping list and headed out the door.

An hour and a half and $214.02 later, I returned home with four giant bags of groceries (I bring my own bags). Now I must tell you that the total also included one non-food item (fabric softener) and 6 bottles of wine (which will not be consumed in one week). So, if you take those things out then the total bill was more like $169. Of course there is some wine involved with cooking (both for the dishes and the cook), so it really isn't fair to take that out. In any case, let's say we do -- then take 169/3=56 and then divide that by 7 and that is $8 per person per day for a whole week. That seems pretty reasonable to me.

Post-swimming Dinner

Dinner reviews:
little j: "It was good. It was delicious. I liked the special crepes, especially the honey with cinnamon."

Big J: "The poached eggs were really good with the crepes."

All around a good dinner with on-hand ingredients. After work, Big J took little j swimming so I had some extra time to myself in early evening. I wanted to do something for dinner that would be easy and have some staying power since I wasn't sure exactly what time they would be home.

On our Friday night menu: Crepes!

I actually made two: a savory crepe and a sweet crepe. But I accidentally served the sweet crepe with dinner (oops!). No matter, it still turned out okay. For little j, I included scrambled eggs and a side of mixed vegetables. For Big J and I, I sauteed spinach and placed it in four crepes then topped them with poached eggs and some grated Parmesan. This was a combination I hadn't tried before, and it turned out great.

For dessert, I chopped some bittersweet chocolate and stirred it into some warm heavy cream for crepes with chocolate sauce. Although little j preferred hers with honey. So after I flipped the crepe I drizzled it with honey and added a sprinkle of cinnamon, folded it and slid it on a plate and finished it with a dash of cinnamon-sugar. She loved it.

A Dinner Prediction

Tonight I fixed a family favorite: roast chicken. During a recent visit to Polyface Farms we decided to try out some of their meats and we were not disappointed. Their pastured broilers have great flavor and taste incredibly fresh. I think we will plan to buy more since we have roast chicken so often.

Along with the chicken I made roast beats with a light sauce (simply reduced orange juice, a touch of vinegar, grated orange peel and finished with a touch of butter), sauteed spinach, and my homemade apple sauce.

And now my prediction: There are very few meals that I repeat within the course of a month, but I believe when I look back at 365 dinners there are going to be quite a few (20+?) roast chicken dinners. And I believe this for one simple reason: it's one of the easiest and versatile dinners I make.

If you haven't made roast chicken in a while I highly recommend it. I use Thomas Keller's "My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken" recipe. If you closely follow his technique you are guaranteed a delicious and succulent bird. And though it sounds a little odd, try it with a little butter -- it's so decadent it should be illegal!

A perfect meal for a cold night

On Sundays I generally make a weekly dinner menu and then a corresponding shopping list. With the holiday on Monday/Tuesday I didn't do that and so I am sort of cooking meals on the fly this week and looking deep in the freezer for what is available.

It is really cold and windy today so I thought a soup would be perfect and I was craving some white beans (good fiber!). I did a quick cookbook and internet search and found a recipe for
Sausage and Bean Soup. Perfect! I had everything it called for with the exception of kale and I had to go out so that was no big deal. Fortunately my in-laws brought some linguica when they were here in September. I never really know what to do with it, so finding this recipe to use some of it was bonus.

I served it with a sourdough wheat boule and sliced pears. Because little j doesn't like anything that is mixed I made (okay, heated up) some tomato soup (Amy's) for her. The sausage and bean soup was delicious and one that I will definitely make again. Big J said it reminded him of the watercress soup that his mom used to make for his dad -- and he really liked it. It helped remind me why I like kale so much. (Note to self: find more uses for kale this winter!)

Forget the ham!

We had what might be considered a "non-traditional" New Year's dinner last night: mussels! This is one of our favorite dinners and I use a recipe out of Thomas Keller's Bouchon that is absolutely perfect. After finishing the mussels the broth left behind is a complex mix of garlic, thyme, saffron and mustard.


But last night I made a slight mistake. I was on the phone with my aunt wishing her Happy New Year/Birthday and wasn't really paying close attention to what I was doing and I forgot a key ingredient: saffron. I didn't realize it until Big J said, "This is good, but I like the recipe with saffron better." Damn!

The key to this dinner (other than paying attention) is to have everything else ready to go when the mussels go in the pot because they only take two minutes to cook and they should be served immediately so they don't overcook and get rubbery (nothing worse than a rubbery mollusk!).

The other key is not forcing your five-year old to eat mussels! So instead I sauteed little j some shrimp and cooked up her perennial favorite -- pasta.

On a separate note I highly recommend Bouchon. If you like French bistro fair this amazing and beautiful book has delicious and accessible recipes, most of which are written to serve 4 -- perfect for hosting an intimate dinner party.

New Year's Dinner Menu:
Salad of Mixed Greens with Tuscan Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, and Parmesan Shavings
Mussels with Saffron and Mustard
Baguette
Sliced Bartlett Pear
Sauvignon Blanc

New Year's Eve Celebration

Forget the fact that Big J and I both fell asleep minutes before the new year, our real celebration occurred over dinner with good friends. The menu:

Spiced Pecans
Olives
Dates with Goat Cheese Wrapped in Prosciutto
Afton Mountain Vinyards Tête de Cuvée, Virginia Sparkling Wine
Swiss Fondue
Hot Pot Fondue
accompanied by:
Polyface Farms Flank Steak, Shrimp, Baguette, assorted vegetables,
garlic aioli, hot mustard, horseradish sauce
Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon
Individual Mexican Coffee or Cinnamon Splendora's Gelato Baked Alaska (recipe below)
Kluge Estate Cru
Shenandoah Joe Smokey Mountain Roast Coffee

It was a wonderful celebration and we all wondered why we don't do fondue more often. Since both families have small children (a five-year old for us and a 9-month old for them), we ended the evening about 8 p.m. with a small fireworks display complete with sparklers. As the evening wound down little j fell asleep on the couch and Big J and I spent a quiet couple of hours in front of the fire with glasses of his uncle's port.


Individual Baked Alaskas

Pound Cake
Gelato or Ice Cream
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar

Slice pound cake about 1/2 inch thick and cut into 6 rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a 1/2 cup ice cream scoop, place one rounded scoop in the middle of each pound cake round. If you are making ahead, at this point you can place cookie sheet in the freezer until just before preparing the meringue.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In the bowl of a standing mixer place egg whites with a pinch of salt and beat on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add in sugar and beat until stiff glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes.

Mound meringue over ice cream. Place in preheated oven for up to 6 minutes until brown. Watch carefully -- gelato melts much quicker than traditional ice cream so it may not take quite as long (3 - 4 minutes). Alternatively, if using gelato, you can place the sheets under a broiler on low until browned.

Serves 6.