Menu, last week of Feb

Su: out (North Coast Nosh(!!))
M: taco salad
T: "Satay" Noodles with Greens (this wasn't awesome; won't make it again)
W: out
R: "Highbrow" Franks & Beans
F: leftovers
Sa: Indian-Spiced Red Lentil Soup

first post of 2014(!?!)

our menu last week:

Su: roasted sweet potatoes; sauteed chard
M: Glazed Sausage; Sauteed Cabbage
T: out
W: Mac & Cheese
R: left-over Cream of Parsnip soup (from Roots)
F: Mushroom Bourguignon; egg noodles; salad; Apple Sharlotka
Sa: left-over Cream of Celeriac soup; grilled cheese

a cocktail recipe from V

Honey-Lemon Vodka

• 2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz orange liqueur
• 1/2 oz honey liqueur
• juice of 1 Meyer lemon

Pour all ingredients over a shaker 1/2 full of ice. Stir for 20 seconds. Strain into desired serving container.

Old Favorites: Menu, Week of Feb 17

Su: Mac & Cheese
M: Curry of Indeterminate Ethnicity; Naan
T: out
W: Parsnip & Leek Soup
R: Goosh Buns
F: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Sa: Braised Chicken; Corn Bread

Menu Week of Feb 10

Su: pizza w/ Italian sausage & roasted red peppers
M: pasta w/ marinara sauce
T: roasted sweet potatoes & sauteed kale
W: out
R: V-Day dinner at Blackbird
F: gnocchi w/ sage butter sauce; salad

Leftovers! Menu, Week of Jan 27

Su: left-over lemony lentil soup; bread
M: pasta with red sauce (made Sunday)
T: Beef Rogan Josh; Naan (made by frying peach-sized lumps of bread dough in ghee, 2-3 min per side)
W: Mexican Corn Chowder
R: omelet with left-over wild-mushroom ravioli filling (...still need to write up the original recipe)
F & Sa: out

Winter Menu, Week of Jan 20

Su: Salmon, Fennel, & Potato Bake; Apple Cake (...there was lettuce for salad, but I utterly forgot about it)
M: Pasta Fazool (mostly cooked on Sunday); bread
T: Cider-Cooked Pork Chops; baked potatoes
W: left-over veggies from Sunday, mixed with some canned tomatoes and cooked with eggs
R: Eleanor's Bean Casserole
F: bread & roasted garlic
Sa: roasted sweet potatoes & brussels sprouts

we're trying to eat a bit more fish these days...

Eating more fish (salmon, specifically) was a NY's resolution of mine many years ago. I did it (whatever "it" was - I think it was probably 4x/month or similar). I'd read something about how salmon was supposed to be good for your heart, which is why we did it (heart disease runs in my family like wow). But the unexpected benefit was that, after a few months, I had dramatically fewer migraines, and the ones I did have didn't seem to last as long. This is all completely anecdotal, obviously, but for me the correlation was pretty clear. However, it turns out that, try as I might, I'm still not a huge fan of fish. These days I take fish oil tablets (which I still would swear are helping keep my migraines at bay) and we've only kept a few recipes from that long-ago period of frequent fish eating.

This recipe is one of the ones I remembered really liking, though we haven't had it in years, so I requested Victor make it the other night. One thing to note - we both forgot that the recipe as originally written (I got it from an article in Health magazine) doesn't really allow enough cooking time for the potatoes. I think it would make sense to do one of the following: slice the potatoes VERY thinly (with a mandoline), braise them in the first step by adding some chicken broth and covering the pan with foil, or pre-cook the potatoes slightly by microwaving or steaming them.

That said, with some extra time in the oven, this was delicious. We ate the salmon the first night, but had a lot of veggies/potatoes left, so they became part of dinner another night, mixed with some tomato puree and cooked with a few eggs on top.

Salmon with Potatoes, Onions, and Fennel
(adapted from Health Magazine, June 2001)

• ~ 1 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled, halved, and very thinly sliced
• 1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
• fennel bulb, trimmed, bulb halved and sliced (about 2 C)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
• 2 Tbsp drained capers
• 4 5-oz salmon fillets
• 4 Tbsp crumbled feta
• 3 Tbsp seasoned dried bread crumbs
• 1/4 C vermouth, dry white wine, or broth

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray an 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray and arrange potato slices over the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; bake 10 min (or more - see headnote).

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine onion, fennel, sugar, and thyme. Toss to combine. When you take the potatoes out of the oven, pour this mixture on top. Sprinkle with capers. Bake until potatoes are softened and fennel tastes nearly done (at least 15 min).

Meanwhile, combine feta, bread crumbs, and vermouth or broth. Toss gently to combine. When the veggies are done, put the salmon, skin-side down,  atop them. Spread cheese mixture over fish and vegetables. Bake another 20 minutes, or until salmon is done to your liking.

serves 4

Menu, Week of Jan 13

Sunday: Slow-Cooker Stuffed Greens; salad
Monday: Sweet-and-Sour Rice Bowl (I loved the combination of veggies in the stir-fry, but this recipe turned out to be incredibly bland; we rescued it with large amounts of SoyVey)
Tuesday: bread, roasted garlic, salad
Wednesday: lentil soup and more bread (need to type this recipe up)
Thursday: pizza
Friday: out

Slow-Cooker Stuffed Greens

Even though he was sick, V still managed to put this together while I was out running errands. We both loved it, though I think the next time we make it I'll just use cabbage - I missed its flavor here.

Italian Sausage Stuffed Greens
adapted from here

• 4-6 large greens leaves (Swiss chard, kale, or collards)
• 1 lb. of ground Italian sausage
• Handful of breadcrumbs
• Small handful of Parmesan
• ½ onion, shredded
• ½ zucchini or carrot, shredded
• 1 egg
• 2 T. tomato paste
• Tomato Juice or V8
• Fresh Herbs, chopped

Wash greens and make an inverted “V” in the base of the leaf to remove the steam. Combine the sausage, breadcrumbs, parmesan, onion, zucchini (or carrot), egg, and tomato paste. Divide mixture and using the greens, roll into “burritos”. Place in crockpot and cover with tomato juice or V8 and fresh herbs. Cook on high for 1 hour and low for 3 hours.

Serves 4

Eye of the Storm, Mid-Flu Season 2012-13

We were actually both well for almost the entire week, but Victor finally succumbed Saturday morning. In between our illnesses, though, we got some tasty food in.

Su: Zuni Chicken; Roasted Carrots; Vanilla Bean Pudding
M: Mushroom Ravioli & Sweet Potato-Sage Ravioli in broth (still need to write up these recipes); Dark & Stormy Sorbet
T: Chipotle Red-Bean Chile
W: out
R: "Snacker" Pizza (ended up being topped with an eccentric mix of turkey "snack sticks" and a single smoked-mozzarella stick)
F: left-overs
Sa: Quince-Rosemary Glazed Ham; Braised Leeks & Potatoes; Pan-Seared Brussels Sprouts; Pear Sorbet

Travel Menu (late December)

Whew - will I ever get back to posting regularly here?

We were out of town part of last week for the holiday, so I did an (unusual for me) two-week menu plan. I hate coming home from a trip and having to eat out yet again because there's nothing edible in the house: this is my solution.

Su: simple pizza from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook (still need to write this up) link here
M: my grandmother's beef stew (somehow, I've never posted this recipe, either)
T: left-over cannellini bean soup
W: dinner out
R - M: out of town
T: pasta with red sauce
W: goosh buns (my, but we get A LOT of ground beef from our meat CSA)
R: roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed kale, smoked brats (massive quantities of all, as we had guests)

still just barely finding time to cook, let alone post...

last week:
S: tomato & cinnamon chickpeas (Urban Pantry)
M: kale salad & bread
T: left-overs
W: pasta with mushroom sauce (a variation of this; sauce was actually a frozen left-over, too)
R: cauliflower florets roasted with bacon; bread; roasted garlic
F: out

two weeks ago:
S: wild mushroom ravioli (from How to Cook Without a Book; I need to write up this recipe sometime - very very good & easy)
M: ginger-caramel shrimp & rice
T: tuna noodle casserole with crispy leeks
W: miso tofu & garlicky kale; rice (leftover)
R: lamb shepard's pie (recipe from our meat csa)
F: leftovers

Week of Feb 26

* Chickpea & Kale Curry
* Roasted Sweet Potatoes
* Leek and Potato Braise

Menu for Week of 1/29/12

Creamy Parsnip & Leek Soup
Braised White Beans
Kale Salad
Chicken & Fennel Potpie

Saturday supper

Saturday: roast chicken; roasted sweet potatoes; napa cabbage with balsamic vinaigrette

Just our usual Zuni chicken dinner, with the addition of the salad. We've both been really craving uncooked greens recently, and fortunately Victor likes his salads just as unadorned as I do. So, nappa cabbage sliced as for slaw and tossed with this dressing. I made the dressing with Rockridge Orchard's "Rocksalmic" faux balsamic vinegar - it was delicious but came out tasting like honey-mustard dressing. I don't know if that was because of the vinegar, or the particular (strong dijon) mustard I used, or what.

well, that worked out pretty well

Sunday: Braised White Beans; sauteed greens; bread. Apple Sharlotka for dessert.

I made all the recipes pretty much as-written.

For the braised beans: It took about 45 minutes on medium-high before I was satisfied with the beans' caramelization. They smelled amazing - the finished recipe was good, but wasn't quite able to live up to their initial aroma. I added about 1.5 Tbsp strong Dijon mustard, lots of salt, a bit of better-than-bouillon (chicken flavor), and a bunch of pepper. I ended up simmering the beans for just under two hours (I started with the saddest looking bag of discount beans from the grocery store, but then soaked them for two days. YMMV.)

The greens were a bunch of semi-random greenery that had been floating around the fridge - a half-bag of Trader Joe's prewashed greens that I picked up in a moment of panic on Christmas Day and a bag of greens from last week's farmer's market excursion. I cut up a single strip of bacon, fried it 'til crispy, and then cooked two garlic cloves a bit before adding the greens, some smoked paprika, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I added some water to steam, and kept cooking 'til we were ready to eat.

Because we decided (somewhat last minute) to have someone over for dinner, I made Smitten Kitchen's Apple Sharlotka as well. I LOVE this recipe, and I don't even know if I cooked it enough. Was it really supposed to be creamy in the center and crisp around the edges? Does it matter? It was delicious, and I'll definitely be making this again. But for the time it takes to cut up the apples, it's very low-effort, and the ingredients are minimal.

I can't speak for my dinner companions, but for me, this meal was a total success.

Menu for week of 1/22/2012

Sunday
Monday
Wednesday 
Friday
Saturday

snowed in

We're having a cozy few days as we wait for the roads to clear. Fortunately, I had planned a couple of fairly elaborate meals, so we've been eating well *and* keeping ourselves entertained.

First, a pair of recipes from the always-awesome Smitten Kitchen: carrot soup with miso and scallion meatballs with soy-ginger glaze. These were both wonderful and pretty dang easy to make. The glaze was so good that V kept trying to think of new uses for it (he tried it on ice cream, but unfortunately he said it made the ice cream taste "like blood").

Last night we made chicken stew with sweet potato biscuits. I couldn't quite bring myself to use all the butter called for in the chicken stew recipe, but made it with a single stick of butter instead. Also definitely a recipe I'll be making again (though hopefully in a situation where we won't be required to eat it all ourselves....).