Chicken Confit

After about 3 hours.


After 12 hours.




Finished

Italian Sausage


Liverwurst

Pork liver, ground pork, and pork fat


After 3 grindings


After cooking 3 hours. Surprisingly tasty.

Pomegranate Mango Martini


Pomegranate, Roasted Beet,
and Orange Salad


Carpaccio and Truffled Capers
with Roasted Tomatoes and Shitakes


Grilled Romaine with Maple Vinaigrette
and Sesame Quail Eggs and Bacon


Tuna Tartare with Caviar


Roasted Bone Marrow
with Parsley Salad and Toasted Pumpernickel


Chilled Beet Soup Shooters


Grilled Tenderloin with Foie Gras and Morel Cabernet Sauce
and Whipped Shallot Potatoes


Cheese Plate with Port Reduction
and Dried Lychees and Cranberries


Kahlua Flan
with Grated Mexican Chocolate


Fresh Roasted Kona Coffee

It's been a month since I've posted here. I went to Florida for a few days and didn't get back into the blogging habit. I still made a few things.

March 20th I made some roasted red pepper hummus.


March 21st, Green Been Risotto


March 24th, Scrambled Eggs with Hash Browns


Sweat Pea Soup


Lamb Chops with Spearmint Cherry Sauce and Lemon Couscous


Cheese Plate for dessert


March 26th, Sushi


April 2nd, Garlic Naan


Palak Paneer


April 8th, We celebrated Easter at my sister Judy's house.
I made Lobster Deviled Eggs with Hawaiian Sea Salt


Roasted Yellow Beet Salad


Judy made this lamb - excellent


We had a durian for dessert.





Weird.

Ingredients
salmon fillets
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Melted butter, for brushing salmon

Instructions
Preheat the broiler. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice about 8 to 10 sliced angles into filets, to help flesh more completely soak in the glaze.

In a small bowl or cup, mix the salt, pepper, and dry mustard.

In a medium glass bowl, heat the honey in the microwave for 30 seconds to liquefy. Remove from the microwave and mix in balsamic vinegar.

Brush the top of the salmon fillets (not the skin side) with the melted butter. Season the flesh side with the spice mixture. Brush with the honey-balsamic mixture, reserving some for later.

Lay the salmon fillets on an oiled broiler, skin side down.

Cook the fish for 10 minutes. Baste with honey-balsamic and cook until is done.

Serve immediately.

Ingredients
1 pound green beans
2 cups orzo (rice shaped pasta)
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
6 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola\
Salt and pepper

Fill a 4-quart kettle 3/4 full with salted water and bring to a boil for beans and orzo.

Chop onion and mince garlic. Quarter and seed tomatoes. Cut quarters lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Trim beans and cut into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet cook onion and garlic in oil over moderate heat until onion is softened. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until tomatoes are softened, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.

Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In boiling salted water blanch beans 1 minute. With a slotted spoon transfer beans to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans well in a colander and pat dry. Add beans to tomato mixture and return water in kettle to a boil. Boil orzo until al dente and drain in colander. Add orzo to bean mixture with vinegar, parsley, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to combine well.

Truffle oil, balsamic Margherita


Three cheese galic

Ingredients
2 onions, chopped
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 bag of sauerkraut
1 pound skinless smoked kielbasa, cut into chunks
1 can tomato soup

Instructions
Cook bacon until slightly crispy. Add onions and cook until translucent.

In a crock pot add all ingredients and cook on low for 4-8 hours. Easy.

Piecrust
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
6 tablespoons cold water, plus 5 tablespoons cold water, as needed

Filling
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To prepare the piecrust, combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening with your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons water over the flour, and gently toss with a fork. Push the flour to the sides of the bowl, add the remaining cold water, and mix until all is moistened and combined. Divide the dough in half, and form each half into balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

In a large mixing bowl toss the apples with lemon juice. Combine the sugar, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. Add the apples and toss until completely coated. Set mixture aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one ball into a 12-inch circle, and place into a 9-inch pie plate.

Transfer the apple mixture into the pastry lined pie plate. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the apple mixture.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until apples are tender.

Ingredients
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Freshly cracked black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Instructions
Heat heavy cream over low-medium heat in a deep saute pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with nutmeg and freshly cracked black pepper. In a large stockpot, cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Quickly drain the pasta and add it to the saute pan, gently toss the noodles to coat in the alfredo. Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl. Top with more grated cheese and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Swiss, cheddar and brie with green onions on tortillas, fried in butter. Delicious.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 whole eggs, beaten
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces milk, room temperature
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

Instructions
Preheat waffle iron.

In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl beat together the wet. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle the waffle batter onto the iron and cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

Yes, tofu can be delicious. Here are two examples I made last week. I almost didn't post them because they both use sauces from Trader Joe's. They are made exactly the same - just two different sauces. I chopped two onions and sauteed them with some olive oil and garlic and added cubed tofu and a handful of frozen green beans. Then, I added the sauce. When it was hot, I served it over rice. Easy. Alex loved both of them. Now, as I write the post, I forgot what each of them were. The first is some Chinese thing, Ginger Something, Something. The second is some Cilantro Curry Something or Other. It's Indian with the disconcerting warning on the label, "Not meant to be eaten raw. Cook thouroughly." Despite me not remembering what they were, they were both delicious.