What is your most coveted kitchen item? Something you really could not do without. And, while you're at it -- what is your most quirky kitchen ritual? ...
Archives for January 2006
Risotto with Shrimp & Asparagus
Risotto Coi Gamberi E Asparagi Doesn’t that sound yummy? Well, it was. Only a million little things followed the dinner hour that precluded me from sharing. Most notably, DD caught an icky case of the stomach bug and so rather than savoring the perfect combination of shrimp and asparagus, I was doing loads and loads of laundry and clutching my Lysol spray bottle like a weapon to defend my territory. Risotto doesn’t require as much ...
Mouton & A Bottle of White
Once upon a time, there were three little children who had very discerning tastes. On a particularly dark and rainy day the mother had grown weary of small demanding voices. Had they not been served with love whole-wheat pancakes with fresh berries and bananas for breakfast? Were they not content with their much requested pepperoni pie for lunch? And was the otherwise dreary day not spent placating the little children with basketball, ...
Italian Meatball Soup
Soup du Jour Growing up I never really liked soup. I always felt like I was getting cheated out of a real meal. Plus, who likes canned soup anyway??? To be fair, I don’t dislike all soups. The tortilla soup at the Mermaid Bar is amazing. And, I recently had a savory pumpkin soup at Russell’s Bakery that was very tasty. However, I have the habit of skimming right over soup recipes in cookbooks. In fact, I can count on two hands the ...
Easy Raspberry Vinaigrette
Saturday Night Fever I might have a fever or maybe just a general malaise. Thank goodness it was a lazy Saturday. For the first time in months, we had nothing on our calendar. I actually read a book for most of the afternoon. Reading is usually an indulgence saved for the final moments of the day. I felt extra sinful camped out in bed with my latest read. I contemplated not cooking tonight. Despite the fact that I had everything ...
Halibut with Honey & Oranges
Our Pace is All Wrong About a week ago, I pulled The Pace of Provence off my bookshelf. I bought the cookbook several years ago and remembered I hadn't used it in a while. It's a fascinating book written by a French woman who lives in Seattle. She is also a nutritionist. Her recipes are traditional, healthy and very tasty. All of her meals have been adapted to be low in fat and heart healthy. With the South of France as my ...
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Husband was on the west coast all week. I hate it when he’s out of town. If there is a flipside it’s that the children know they get pizza for dinner and I usually don’t cook. Other than that, after a night or two it’s just not much fun being out-numbered by the littles alone. One of husband’s favorite meals is spaghetti and meat sauce. I don’t actually follow a recipe when I make the sauce because I tend to use whatever I have ...
Easy As Pie (Pepperoni Pie)
We took advantage of the holiday weekend and made a quick get-away to the ranch. Although short and sweet, it was nice to breathe the proverbial fresh air that the wide open range provides. Tonight feels like a Sunday rather than a Monday. And I did not have time to make my usual beginning of the week pilgrimage to the grocery store, so after a quick inventory I determined I had just the ingredients for the North End Italian ...
Polenta & Italian Sausage Gravy
Polenta: Italy's Cornbread Who knew cornmeal could make such a tasty dish? As a native Texan, I grew up eating cornbread, so I know cornmeal has outstanding merits. But until tonight I had never attempted to make my own polenta. Although time consuming and a bid monotonous (after the roux anything seems like a breeze), once I turned the polenta out onto a pizza board and topped it with grated fontina cheese I couldn’t get it to the ...
All Hail l’Ail
All hail l’ail. Looks can be deceiving. Dinner tonight did not resemble the masterpiece (ahem, airbrushed) photographed in my cookbook. But despite its more humble appearance, the Roasted Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic was sumptuous. I should have browned the chicken longer for a more rich color; however, it was cooked perfectly and fell off the bone into a pool of garlic and wine sauce. In a word: ‘Yum’. Departing from the more ...