Chez Denise et Laudalino

Chez Us Favorites of 2009

2009-12-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la la la. This is the season for sharing and we want to share with you a few of our favorite things from 2009. Last year we gave a subscription to our favorite cooking magazine, Gourmet; cannot possibly do that again! This year we are going to give one lucky reader a few of our favorite things. Click the present to be directed to the Chez Us posting!

Chez Us

2009-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

We have been getting a few emails asking "where is Chez Denise et Laudalino"? In case you have not heard, we have new digs and a new name - Chez Us. You will want to come over to visit us as we have new and tasty recipes, fun give aways and we are working on new cooking videos! Just a little taste of what you have been missing - We wanted to give thanks for your kind readership and in doing so, we are sharing our family pumpkin pie recipe as well we are giving away two cookbooks all about Thanksgiving. Hurry on over, you all all week to enter but you do need to do so over at Chez Us!

We've Moved!

2008-04-01T21:48:00.001-07:00

We are very excited to share with you our continued dining experiences in the same small kitchen, just a different look and feel.

Come dine with us at ... Chez Us!

French Cab Franc

2008-04-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to par-take in a WBW event for sometime, but never have had the chance. Not only is this our first one; but, it is also about an area we love - French Wines. Gary, from the Wine Library is our host for this event - thanks for picking a great region! We are not sure how to really write about a wine as we usually just drink a lot of it and write about food, so we decided to break it up with each of our comments!

We chose a 2005 Cuvee de la Chevalaerie Bourgueil at the price of $16.00

We opened the bottle and let it sit for about 15 minutes, to "breath". I did take a sip after opening, mind you, only a baby sip. It was hard on the palette - lots of rough tannins and a strong alcohol scent.

15 minutes of breathing ....... I thought the color was a rich ruby and the first smell was earthy almost that of wet dirt. The Tannins were still pretty strong and the alcohol scent was still there. L. (who loves to drink all wine, but really does not know much about them) also thought it was a bit tannic and rather light. He did taste some berries and thought the bouquet was wonderful and well as the powerful color.

30 minutes of breathing ....... I thought the smell was not as intense but still somewhat earthy/mossy. I was getting a bit of a plum scent as well, rather jammy actually as well as a bit of spice, maybe pepper. L. still tasted the tannins and felt the smell was not as pungent and he did taste some earth at this point.

1 hour of breathing and time for dinner..... I thought the wine had really softened up and you could really taste the fruit (berries/plums) as well as a bit of spice that was somewhat green, maybe a bit of a bell pepper. L. thought we should just eat dinner and enjoy the wine!

Overall, we both loved the wine, it really softened up and had lots of flavor, a rather complex wine by changing so much during the evening. We gave it a 3 wine glass rating (out of five)and would definitely drink it again. I feel that it would be a good wine to cellar and try in one year and again in two years - I see it really developing even more.

Fried Dough .... again

2008-03-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

at least the recipe! With reference to my post about fried dough; otherwise, known as Malassadas or Filhoses, I have received many requests for the recipe. I have to apologize as I was waiting for approval to leak the secret recipe. Drum Roll please ........ Malasadas!

March Click Event

2008-03-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here is our entry for the March Click Event!

Great Grandmother's Silver for everyday because everyday is special for us.

The Perfect Party Cake

2008-03-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Moven over at Food Art and Random Thoughts is the hostess for this month's Daring Baker Challenge. I was going to sit out it out as it has been a challenging month for me in so many other ways .... did I really need another challenge this month? As well, I was scared to have a big beautiful cake sitting around the house for L and I to devour. When I woke up yesterday morning I told L how I was going to use this months challenge as one of my two, to not do. Even though I felt it would be the easiest one I have done as of yet. Well ...... he convinced me that I should not give up and I should do it.

So, yesterday at 5pm, I was making Dorrie's Party Cake, to take over to an impromptu dinner party at our friend's J and A's home. Was I crazy to try to make a cake at 5pm for a 730pm dinner party!?!?! Kind of.......

The recipe is so simple to follow, everything just started falling into place, so easy. The house smelled of sugar, buttermilk and sweet Meyer Lemons - was delicious! Then came the time to whip up the buttercream .... I could not keep my fingers nor my sweet little god-daughters out of the shiny meringue and buttery goodness - we were being pretty naughty over the kitchen aid!

I used tart raspberry preserves for the filling as the recipe calls for. I was worried I may run out of buttercream to frost the cake so I did skimp on the buttercream between the layers - now I know better. I opted out of the coconut part of the challenge only because I am not a big fan of flaked coconut.

I was finished with the challenge by 645pm, just enough time to wipe off the flour from my hands and pretty up for a dinner party. The cake turned beautiful and what a wonderful combination of flavors. The tartness of the buttermilk, the sweetness of the raspberry preserves and the freshness of spring that came from the Meyer Lemons was really nice. The cake was light and not to dense and the buttercream was amazing light and fluffy. We served the cake with a chilled glass of Lemoncello - everyone loved it!

Thank you L for convincing me not to give up on this challenge and Thank You Dorrie for creating a beautiful recipe - we will be using this more often!

Down Under again ...

2008-03-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

I was enticed to jump on the Donna Hay band wagon, again! Vanessa over at Vanessa Frida's Journal, enticed me! As well, I just had to make this Coconut and Basil chicken, again, as Diane and Todd over at white on Rice Couple sent us this fantastic care package, which had the missing ingredient from the recipe - Kaffir Lime leaves!

All I can say is ... these leaves made all the difference! I halved the recipe and put two leaves in, while I was yoga'ing all I could smell was lime. My stomach was a grumbling! I was simply amazed at what a difference this made. Bursting with flavor almost too much flavor - maybe just one leave next time. Sorry Honey, you missed a great dish tonight; but, I will definitely make it again for you!

French Onion Soup

2008-03-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been DYING to make French Onion soup - don't ask me why, because I do not know. Maybe it is the looming French Gourmet magazine on our counter ... not sure. L. was getting ready to leave town so I figured I would load him up on onions and garlic, not sure why I decided to do that either!

I have this recipe from Moosewood cookbook, that I use. I found it about 20 years ago and love how simple it is to make and how rich it tastes. I have tweaked it over the years ... I now slow cook the onions until they are caramelized and I add some garlic to it as well I do not make it vegetarian. I use a good rich beef stock - I love the richness of the beef stock and the color the soup turns.

To serve I toast slices of baguette, that have been drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with crushed garlic. The richness of the stock and onions really compliment the garlicky goodness of the toast!

Breakfast for Dinner

2008-03-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

We did not make a big Easter breakfast, brunch or dinner, like we normally do. I did have a dinner planned; but, then after waking up, we decided to be low-key and just relax.

So for dinner last night, I made what I had intended for Sunday night - Eggs Benedict and roasted Tarragon Asparagus. I stole the idea from a post I saw on White on Rice Couple's blog - Sunday Breakfast. I also associate Easter and Spring with Roasted Asparagus and Eggs Benny and what the heck, breakfast for dinner is always something fun to do!

Definitely was a nice change!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

From our kitchen to yours!

Virgin Pork Tenderloin Chef

2008-03-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have never made pork tenderloin, even though it is one of L.'s favorite dishes. I found this recipe for a pork tenderloin with arugula endive and walnut vinaigrette in the March issue of Gourmet magazine (which is dedicated to French Bistro cooking - one of our favorites!!!). Since I was not working yesterday, I decided to make a special dinner for L.

I was a bit nervous for some reason. Maybe because it was my first time or maybe because it is one of L.'s favorite meals or maybe because he talks about how great his mother's tenderloin is. Not sure why, but I was a bit nervous.

After I laid out all the ingredients, I even read through the recipe, which is something I never do - I usually pull everything out and just start cooking. This quick read through definitely put my mind at ease and I was excited at this point, this would be easy and I was confident very good. L. poured a brandy and relaxed and I started doing what I do best, cook. The recipe was really easy, you sauté the pork with a little olive oil and then put it in the oven to continue roasting. While it is cooking you make a salad of Arugula (I used spinach, mishap at the market) and endive. After the porker is done, you make a really nice caramelized vinaigrette using the pan juices, some red wine vinegar, toasted and crushed walnuts and garlic - the garlic really gave this vinaigrette a great deal of flavor with the pork and the salad, together.

I was so happy, my tenderloin came out ultra moist, you did not even need a knife to cut it, and it was very flavorful with the salad and the vinaigrette. L. did say it reminded him of pate, maybe because the pork was so fresh? Or maybe he is use to his mother's recipe. Regardless, I am not afraid anymore and we will be eating the "other white meat" more often!

Lemon Risotto with Chili Shrimp

2008-03-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

with Bill Granger, well, not Bill Granger himself but one of his recipes. You must be thinking that L. and I have taken Chez down under these days, first a week of Donna Hay and now Bill! I have not made on of his prized recipes, in awhile and decided that I would make this for Goretti and Patricia's last meal with us; something special.

I love this risotto recipe as not only is it light in flavor; but, with ingredients as well - no cheese and no butter. Just the basics here, stock, olive oil, onion and rice and then flavored with lemon zest and lemon juice at the end. Served with it is a spicy garlic and chili shrimp. You quickly sauteed the shrimp with some olive oil just until golden and a nice pink, then at the very end you add this wonderful paste of garlic and chilies. The finished result is a nice spicy garlic shrimp (the hot part of your dish) cooled off with a warm and ultra creamy lemon risotto. I love to serve a simple oven roasted asparagus that is lightly drizzled with olive oil and sea salt with this dish, it really compliments the lemon in the risotto.

Definitely takes you down under for a night!

Whoo Hoo

2008-03-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to blog about this great package we got in the mail last Friday; but, have been so busy with family in town and work, that I have not had a chance until now.

I had mentioned in a previous post, about Coconut and Basil Chicken, that I could not find Kaffir Lime leaves so I have to use Lime Zest ...... well, Diane and Todd over at White on Rice Couple (you should be reading their blog for some great fun!!) read our post and offered to send us some lime leaves. So NICE!!! Well, even nicer, was receiving this great package in the mail - full of Kaffir Lime leaves, Kaffir Limes, Mandarins and Meyer Lemons and all from their yard!! We were super excited to receive such a great package and we can not wait to use everything - well, everything that is left. Mandarins did not last long - not past one night in fact!

Bloggers are great - Thanks Diane & Todd!!

Tarragon and Pancetta Roast Chicken

2008-03-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

L.'s aunt Goretti from Boston and his cousin, Patricia, from the Azores are visiting us for a few days and I decided to try out a new dish on company; which, mind you is something I usually never do. I have a standby roasted chicken dish that I seem to serve whenever we have people over for dinner from out of town. After all, you can not go wrong with the chick, everyone loves a good chick, right?! Well, MOVE ON OVER stand-by chick, you have just been replaced by the new chick in town - Tarragon and Pancetta Roasted Chicken!

This chicken is not only SUPER easy but it is so darn good. The skin is raised on the chicken and lightly stuffed with a breadcrumb, tarragon and pancetta mixture and then cooked to perfection. The stuffing sealed in all the juices, making an ultra moist and juicy chicken - so succulent! I usually do not care for tarragon; but, with the saltiness and flavors of the pancetta it was just like spring time in Italy!

You have to try this one, it will be your new favorite dish to fall back on.

Thai Basil and Beef Salad

2008-03-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Donna Hay, again! Love Love Love this recipe! You can tell by this recipe that we are in the summer edition of her magazine. Very tropical tasting with the lime and ginger in the dressing and cool and refreshing with the bite of the cucumber with just enough kick from the spicy red pepper - kind of grabbed you at the beginning and then just drifted into your taste buds! The beef fillet we used was from Marin Sun Farms - can you say BUTTER???!! The beef from this farm, has to be the best there is, at least in this area. Melt in your mouth, no need for a steak knife beef, just melted onto the coolness of this salad! YUM!

You will definitely be tasting more of this over at our house.

Roasted Fennel Rice (otto)

2008-03-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

The past few months we have been big Fennel fans - love it so much that we are going to attempt to grow it this year, eeks! We love it sliced up raw in our mouths or in a salad, slow cooked with a chicken or now, roasted with shallots and garlic for the topping of a rice (otto) dish I had been dreaming up while on the treadmill - I do some of my most creative cooking thinking while working out!

Risotto also known as Arborio is a staple in our house. I ALWAYS have at least a cup of it in the "pantry" so that I can whip up a nice basic Risotto when in a pinch as what we should eat. Why should this night be any different?

I poured a nice glass of wine, turned on some Sade (it was just that kind of night) and started the prep work of roasting my sweet little fennel. Smells of licorice, garlic and shallots filled our house and they were caramelizing perfectly! Now it was time to heat up my stock and start the meditating process of cooking the risotto.

Where was it? Not where it should be. It should be somewhere is our tiny pantry. I tore it up, no where. Just a cup of brown rice. S#*&! I had a great filling and hot broth, what the heck I would give it a whirl. After, what seemed liked minutes, I realized this would never work. Rice does not make risotto. Tossed in the broth and slow cooked it. Luckily, it was somewhat soft and creamy rice so I tossed in a pat of butter and a little Parmesan at the end and topped the mixture with the lovely caramelized fennel. On the upside the nuttiness of the brown rice went nicely with the fennel and cheese. Not risotto but a darn good dish of rice (otto)

Hay Hay Hay

2008-03-07T17:14:00.001-08:00

Another fantastic Donna Hay recipe was cooked at our house last night. I am in love with her recipes - so simple and so good!

Thursdays are our late night to eat so I am always looking for something simple to cook, that is not a left over, from a frozen box or can; something fresh, easy and delicious. The Asparagus and Mint Pasta was just perfect.

This dish SCREAMS Spring and Easter. A light cream sauce made of minced garlic, lemon juice, asparagus, mint and sweet peas (okay they were frozen, but I imagine fresh ones would be pretty fantastic as well). I was afraid that the sauce may be a bit heavy with all the cream that is added; but, it was exceptionally light, very refreshing with the Meyer lemon and mint undertones. We use whole wheat pasta which is not as pretty, but I like to think it is "healthier" as well it added a nutty flavor which blended very well with the sauce and salty pancetta chips that garnished the dish.

This is a great dish to add to your Spring menus - flavorful and easy, dinner in under 30 minutes!

Coconut and Basil Chicken ....

2008-03-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

Donna Hay style!

I was not going to blog about this as we were having a pretty crappy evening last night and I have come down with this nasty cold, again; but, I just looked at the photos that L. took and I just had to tell you all about it! Not only is this dish incredibly easy to make but it is so tasty.

Just imagine it ..... Lightly seared chicken breast which have been seasoned with only salt and pepper, then you rip them to shreds while making this ultra creamy broth of ginger, lemongrass, garlic, coconut milk and fish stock (I used chicken stock, fish stock freaks me out!!!). When everything is cooked (only takes a mere 30 minutes) you ladle the broth over the shredded chicken and top with diced spicy peppers, Thai basil and Kaffir Lime leaves (I can not find them in the bay area) but we used zested lime instead. Oh my .. just thinking about it makes me hungry all over again! I served some simple brown rice along side it, just in case we needed a filler, but you really don't, the dish is plenty!

Here is the recipe ... more Donna Hay on the menu for tonight!

Lemon Pork

2008-03-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been very busy and have left us very little time in the kitchen. When I read Tartelette's post about her fruit salad with Blood Orange Syrup, I knew exactly what we had to do! So our day started with us having our friends, the M.'s over for breakfast - MEM gave me a waffle iron for breakfast and I was anxious to break it in! Perfect way to start our day ... good friends, homemade waffles with Blood Orange Syrup and lots of coffee!

The past couple of months, I have been visually inspired by Donna Hay. We own a couple books and I have recently discovered her magazines - a must have if you love to cook! Unfortunately, I do not cook from them that often, mainly because I just forget. This week we have declared it Donna Hay week at our home.

What I love about her recipes are that they are simple and use very fresh ingredients. Tonight we decided to go with a Lemon Pork dish. I did adapt it a little. I used eggplant instead of tomatoes, did not have lemon thyme so I zested Meyer lemon on the top. The dish came out beautifully. Bursting with flavor - the milkiness of the pork, saltiness of the pancetta, a bite of garlic, the savoriness of the thyme and the zing of lemon created a wonderful marriage of flavor. The taste was very fresh, clean and likable!

Daring Baker's February Challenge - Pain Francais

2008-02-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

The Daring Baker's challenge for February was hosted by Breadchick Mary over at The Sour Dough and Sara over at I like to Cook. Drum roll please! It was Julia Child's Pain Francais. (click here to see more photos of this challenge)

When I first read the recipe given to us by Breadchick and Sara, I was scared, very scared, 15 pages of instructions! WOW, this was going to be the mother of all challenges for me thus far. I was sure I was going to use this as one of my two I could bail on. Then I stared reading other comments from fellow DBs and I became inspired, should we say very inspired or just DAMN INSPIRED! I could not wait!

There was only one weekend in the entire month that I could do this and we were kind of busy - friend in from Hawaii, errands, dinner with friends - but, I knew I could make it work. So, Saturday rolled around and I did errands, worked, picked up the house, blah blah blah and dinner time hit! "Damn, I forgot the bread and now I had plans on Sunday with the friend!!!" But, I was confident that I could make it work ......

I got up early Sunday, started the lengthly process. So, far very good! The first rising was perfect and right on my tight schedule! Got it all ready for the next round of keeping warm and headed out for lunch and shopping with friend. It was hard to cut it short and fast because of a loaf of bread, so it ran a little late. Got home, still perfect! All was working out so well. I was very confident and very happy. Proceeded with the remaining steps and then molded the dough with my new pastry canvas and tucked it all in next to a warm heater and headed out to dinner! We had a fantastic dinner with friends but once dessert ended I started watching the clock and thinking about my perfect little breads at home. Again, I did not want to bolt over a pan of bread, so I held out as long as I could and finally told L. we had to leave. Then they started talking about after dinner drinks - NO!!! Thank god the host decided to kick us out since it was a school night!

Got home and all still looked perfect! I could not believe I had done it and still had a day of fun without sitting at home waiting for all the rising to take place. Now was time to unmold the beauties and get them ready to bake! Only 30 minutes until I could call it a wrap and head to bed!

Well, let's just say - never be over confident when baking bread, especially this bread! They collapsed! They were flat baguettes! The color as beautiful! The texture was fantastic! The flavor was well, very french! But, something happened when I unmolded them - lost all their air, they were flat!

Moral to the story ..... Never be over confident until they come out of the oven! Was it a challenge - of course! Was it fun - definitely! Will, I make them again - on our next rainy weekend!!

Pizza

2008-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

We had some left over dough from a Jamie Oliver night - tossed it into the freezer, thawed today and then let it rise for a couple hours tonight, while we were at spin class. It came out wonderful! Topped it with some caramelized shallots and garlic which I added some crushed fennel seeds and chili peppers to while it cooked. I topped the crust with a very small amount of mozzarella and then tossed the shallot mixture and some arugula over the top. The finishing touch was some pancetta, crushed pepper, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil!

Was fantastic!

Simple Salad

2008-02-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

We are back on our spin schedule, which means we need to come up with a couple easy meals for Tuesday and Thursdays. Not only did we get home late but there is nothing really left in the fridge since we were playing in Yosemite last weekend instead of doing house stuff.

I was able to toss a a couple cutlets(who knew Lil's cutlets would go so far) into the freezer, from the other night; before, L. devoured them. At least we had some protein to work with. As well we had a half of a head of butter lettuce in the fridge and some frozen pizza dough left over from the HHDH #17 challenge. What did I come up with, you are asking yourself?

I rolled the dough out very thing, topped it with some fennel seeds, olive oil, sea salt and crushed pepper and baked it into a thick and crispy cracker. While the pizza was crisping away, I tossed in the chicken cutlets to warm them up. In the mean time, I tossed a salad together of lettuce, red onions, chick peas and made a light dressing of olive oil, red vinegar, and lemon juice. Once everything was cooked and warmed, I chopped up the chicken and tossed it into the salad. Simple and easy and ready in 30 minutes.

Gift from Austria

2008-02-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

We received a very nice gift from a business colleague in Austria - two bottles of Klug-Voltl Gelber Muskateller Wine and a bottle of Kernöl Oil, otherwise known as pumpkin seed oil.

In keeping with the RSBC superfood challenge, we used the Kernol oil as our pumpkin - after all, it is made from pumpkin. Does this count? To start off our meal I tossed together a salad of red butter leaf lettuce, thinly sliced red onion, toasted hazelnuts and then I drizzled the Kernol oil over the top. The oil is rather rich in flavor and texture, instead of the usual balsamic vinegar, I squeezed some Meyer lemon over the top as the acid part of the dressing. Tossed it with some sea salt and crushed pepper. The oil is not only rich in flavor and texture but also very nutty, it definitely complimented everything in the salad. It was very good!

Not sure what to serve with the wine, so we opted to make some of Lil's chicken cutlets. This time I threw fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic and a chili pepper in the food processor with the bread crumbs and made a very fragrant breading. The flour mixture I added some smoky paprika, salt and pepper to it. The different layers of the wine (pear, melon, a little green apple as well as a bit of mineral) really complimented the cutlets. We really enjoyed this meal full of new and exciting flavors!

We thought the crispness of the wine would also be perfect for a summer picnic - guess what we will be doing with the next bottle! Thank you Rainer!

In keeping up with the RSBC Challenge, I ran 3xs and we both biked 15 miles.

My Birthday

2008-02-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

I have been on the "I am 40 fence" for the past year, yesterday around 7 am (birth time - it really is not your birthday until that time) I jumped over the fence and I am officially in my 40s. WOW! I do not feel 40; but, then again, what is a 40 year suppose to feel like? We laugh about how we take more vitamins now and how we have to exercise like a crazy person to drop those 5 pounds; otherwise, I am not 40. :)

I am lucky that I have a supporting family, fantastic friends and a man who is always there for me! I think Jen over at Use Real Butter really summed it up when talking about doing things for the one you love; L and I feel the same exact way. Now for a birthday, I feel that, this day is yours and only yours and you should definitely do what you enjoy. We did spend the day at the office working - we are starting a business together - which is exactly what I wanted to do. Then he surprised me by telling me he was going to cook dinner for me. Now this is BIG! He never cooks and when he does it is the one thing he knows how to make, his signature dish, Chili. While, I LOVE to cook, I was welcoming this evening of relaxing! And he seemed very excited to surprise me with an evening of food by Laudalino.

Let me set the visual for you - we have a tiny one bedroom apartment, maybe 450 sq feet in total, and our kitchen (kitchen part is no more than 20 sq. ft.) is part of the living room/dining area, so there is no where to go relax unless I want to go for a run in the garage, leave the house for awhile or take a nice glass of Lillet into the bedroom and work. I took the Lillet and left him in the kitchen to have fun! It was humorous when our friend D. stopped by with flowers and gifts, to have her come into the room I was confined too; but, we laughed as we (L and I) always seem to make it work!

While I am sipping and chatting with D. there was the occasional dish falling or pots being banged in some strange matter but not once did L. ask for help. I was becoming even more impressed, he was doing it! I was so happy and surprised to come out and find the table set (with candles even), a small gift (a little journal, a "love" journal) and a wonderful meal of his ever so famous chili right down to all the extras - avocado, sour cream, cheese, onions, corn muffins and a nice bottle of wine. It was really fantastic! I was very surprised and very happy - My MAN did this for me! I was very touched by his love for me!

We did laugh during the meal as he started a whole new food craze last night - instead of Euro/Asisan food it was Euro/Mexican food. He made the chili not only with beef but Italian sausage. The "cheddar" cheese was actually a hard orange cheese from France - very flavorful and rich. The wine was very full bodied Italian. As well he admitted to how tired all this prepping and cooking left him (notice him falling asleep during dessert) and that now he knew why I was so tired at the end of the night. Puzzling?!

It really is the little things that matter the most. The fact that he put all this effort into making my day special, was the best gift of all! We will be taking Chez on the road to Yosemite this weekend, for the rest of the birthday celebration and to just chill, read some books, shoot some photos and completely reconnect; so, until next week .... have a great weekend!

Come dine with us soon!

Guess What was for dinner ....

2008-02-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

You guessed ..... right! Again & again. What more can I say? Hmmm, we hate leftovers and have had the same thing three nights in a row - we can not believe it! Thank god it is like a fine wine, ages well with time. To shake things up, I tossed together a green salad with tiny sweet tomatoes and goat cheese! Promise we will be eating something new very soon.

Do come back and dine with us again!

Leftover Night

2008-02-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

I was bumping around the world of food blogs today, when I should have been working, when I stumbled upon Sunita's World. Sunita hosts a monthly event about spices we have never taken part in this; but, after I began reading about it, I became interested. I saw that the current month's challenge involved Star Anise, now I was not sure what I would make with it as I usually just use it as a prop in photos, then I suddenly remembered that I used it in our Japanese Pot Roast and since we ate out last night we were dining on this outrageous meal again, tonight! Let me tell you after sitting in the fridge for a day, the flavor really blended even more, it was even more fantastic. You have to try this recipe!

So, here you have our entry for Sunita's very fun event!

Japanese Inspired Pot Roast

2008-02-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

While, we have only joined Meeta in one of her Monthly Mingles - we had a great time. I was not going to do this months only because it was a "one-dish" meal and what comes to mind for us involves a crock pot food or casserole type meal, neither appealed to us, so we decided to sit this one out.

I was getting ready to put away my February issue of Food and Wine, when I decided to take one last flip through it. There on the cover was the topic, "the Ultimate One-Pot Meal". I slowly turned to page 101, thinking it was going to involve a crock-pot or would be a casserole. So happy to see it was a nice slow braised meal cooked in one-pot and in the oven. The perfect meal for the lazy Saturday night we were planning.

FW gives you four options and we chose the Japanese style. We did use a few potatoes instead of the Daikon. As well I cooked Udon noodles instead of the egg noodles they suggest. The pot-roast was very easy to make and while it is cooking the house smells truly incredible. Great way to get the mood going for a "lazy but romantic" evening.

While the roast was slowly cooking we used up the left-over bubbly from our pre and Valentine's dinners. We added a couple splashes of Bonny Doon Framboise and garnished with raspberries. What a great way to end your day and start your evening!

Then it was time to really chow down on the pot roast and buttered udon noodles. The roast was very tender and the carrots and potatoes were not over cooked, a slight crunch to them still. The broth was very flavorful - the saltiness of the Soy Sauce, and the sweetness of the Mirin and the Star Anise (which I almost did not add as I like to photograph with them) brought a very interesting flavor, a little spicy and not overwhelming, very exotic, definitely worked very well together - we loved it! Served a hunk of crusty bread with it and we popped open a lovely Bordeaux from the Loire Valley. For dessert we had a couple meringues left over, which, I made with my sweet little 4 year old friend, E. for Valentines - she is all about pink and love - I topped them with raspberries and drizzled deep dark chocolate over the tops.

Truly a great evening with the one you love!

Second Week of Run, Swim, Bike and Cook

2008-02-16T16:28:00.001-08:00

Happy to report that we are still doing the challenge with Chou over at Balance. We did much better this week and are beating down the cold, that we both seem to have now! I got in three power walks as well as a run - felt great! L. got in a spin class and some bouldering. Next week should be a better week!

As for the cooking portion of the RSBC challenge, the food was Quinoa or Beets and it had to be a dessert. Well, since I could not figure out a way to add a beet to dessert and for that matter, L. does not really like beets, I went with Quinoa. We love Quinoa - we actually eat it a lot; but, mostly as a side with dinner, not a dessert. This was a challenge. I found one recipe on the Food Network for a pudding . Figured it would be somewhat like rice pudding so I went with it. It came together easy enough, smelled good, looked good and tasted okay. I put it into some cute little bowls, put it in the fridge to chill while we had dinner with some friends and half way through dinner I just had second thoughts - thank god I did not serve it, it was terrible!!! Oh well, guess we will stick with Quinoa as a side with dinner. Great challenge, though, Chou!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T16:39:00.001-08:00

L. and I really do not "celebrate" V~day. We both are strong believers that all these special "things", should be things that are done throughout the year, not saved up for one "big" day. And, since we eat pretty well on a nightly bases, why should this night be any different or for that matter stuck out at a restaurant, paying over priced prices for food that is not that good because it is so busy - save it for a rainy day! In the same breath, it is kind of hard not to get a little sucked into all the pink & red fluff everywhere, so I do always pick up a little token of my love, a bottle of pink bubbly and a card.

Now, since I LOVE to cook as well, I know L. was expecting the big fancy french meal; but, I surprised him with a Jamie Oliver pizza of Pancetta, artichoke hearts and an egg! He was quite surprised!

For dessert I made L.'s favorite dessert, Iles Flottantes - a big Thank You to Tartelette for a wonderful recipe! Not only was it delicious but very easy.

Pre Valentine's Dinner

2008-02-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

We had our friends M. and C. over for a little pre-Valentines Day dinner. We popped open a bottle of bubbly and L and and I made this Jamie Oliver quiche - Tiger's Quiche. The photos (and you can not see them because BLOGGER is blogging) do not do it justice - it was fantastic!! Served a light green salad and some warm crusty French bread with it. Fun evening of bubbly, food and friends!

Flat Leaf Parsley and Pasta

2008-02-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

Cookthink is hosting a monthly challenge and this month it just happened to be Flat Leaf Parsley. I was not even planning on entering this challenge because this is basically just a staple dish in our house and then I realized after finishing the meal, that it may be perfect!

We keep three fresh herbs in the kitchen, in a vase on the counter at all times - Basil, Cilantro and Flat Leaf Parsley. Whenever you are in a pinch for some extra added flavor or maybe a little bit of garnish to your dish. A favorite standby in our house when we are either tired or pinched for time is a simple dish of sauted garlic and olive oil with the added bonus of Flat Leaf Parsley - to give that nice clean and fresh taste, kind of like early spring, as well as a dash of color!

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup

2008-02-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

We are trying to be somewhat healthy this month and are trying to stay motivated with the Ironman meets Ironchef challenge over at Balance. I found this Thai Chicken Coconut Soup and we decided to give it a try. While it was good, it was just okay. We will probably not make this particular recipe again as it was rather brothy (is that a word), not enough substance, even for a soup. It was just lacking something .....at least it was healthy!

Fried Dough ...

2008-02-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Also, known as Malassadas or Filhoses.

When I saw that Helen of Tartelette and Peabody of Culinary Concoctions were hosting the first ever Fried Dough Fest, I knew I had the perfect recipe! L.s' mothers Malasada. The first time I ever had one was not with L. but instead over in Honolulu at Leonards. I fell in love ... who could resist fried dough, stuffed with coconut cream! I love them so much that I eat them twice if not three times a day when I am over there; nothing like stuffing oneself before stuffing yourself into a swimsuit! Then I met L. and found out he was Portuguese and from San Miguel Island, where these morsels orginated - what a lucky girl was I, a hunky guy who's mother could make these for me or better yet teach me how to make them, then I could stuff myself silly full of fried dough!

They are really pretty simple to make. A easy yeast dough that you let rise for a couple hours, heat up some FAT and fry baby, fry, then dust them with a little sugar! Remember, not to think about your diet as you are inhaling them, because one is never enough!

First week of Run, Swim, Bike & Cook

2008-02-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

We have joined Chou over at Balance for Food for the annual RSBC. I hate to inform Chou and everyone else that we/I did not do as well as we/I would have liked! See my sorry excuses that I sent Chou!

We are participating; but, not too well this week. L. had to travel for business, I came down with a crappy cold which is lingering this weekend and I did not get a chance to make the Kale Hash I wanted to make for breakfast today. But, on the upside, we did well with the working out part, or at least I did. I walked Monday - Wednesday, anywhere from 2 - 3 miles, on the hills of San Francisco & mind you not a leisurely stroll but a hustle of a walk and I ran a mile two days, as well - I think the run triggered the cold to settle in my chest. So, we did part of this great challenge; but, not enough in my opinion. Next week for sure!!!

Soba Noodle Salad

2008-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Our friend B. introduced us to this creation of his - we love it! Quick and easy and full of flavor.

Dark Chocolate Madelines

2008-02-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

with essence of fresh Seville Oranges. I love Seville Oranges and I always buy them when we are in Europe. Unfortunately, I have never seen them in the Bay Area; which, has bummed me out as I have wanted to try making David Lebovitz's Orange Marmalade.

Today was my lucky day. I stumbled upon Seville Oranges at one of our favorite little neighborhood markets, Bi-Rite. I had to buy them! All the way home I thought about what I would do first besides the obvious .... devour them! Then it hit me, I had to come up with something sweet and chocolately - Death by Chocolate like - as well, I wanted something for L. to take back to Boston for his family.

These little cakes are perfect for someone you love or for a sweet sinful little snack - as well they are simple to make!

Not Superfood

2008-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

but Superbowl highlights!

We went to our friends D. & JT's house for the superbowl - a low key Sunday afternoon with good friends and lots of beer and great food - warmed olives flavored with oranges, garlic, & rosemary, lots of veggies with spinach dip, homemade guacamole, lots of chips and salsas and then grilled sausage with a warm red & yellow pepper slaw on toasted bread - YUMMY!!!

Thanks, D & JT!

Jellie Bellies Unite!

2008-02-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Dust off your bikes, unpack that swimsuit at the bottom of your dresser, pull out your running shoes from the way back part of your closet, it is time for you to join us while we jump start our year! You may even enjoy it as well!

January was incredibly busy for us - lots of extra hours of work, trying to catch up with friends that we had neglected during the previous year and just attempting to regroup for the new year. All this "busy" time left us no gym time or for that matter very little exercise time - the crappy weather we have been having has not made it easy either!

I stumbled upon Balance, when I was looking at Lemon Meringue Pies and saw that Chou was hosting the Ironman meets Iron Chef event - I knew that this was the perfect thing to get our Jelly Bellies off of the couch and back into the swing of things! As well, we had been cleaning out the fridge and pantry for the past couple of weeks, so we would definitely have some room for some great Superfood.

Check back weekly for an update as to how we are doing!

Sushi Saturday

2008-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

Sushi Party Photos

Almost a year ago, I took a culinary course on making sushi - great gift from L. We were making sushi every Saturday for a couple months; but, then we got busy with life and have not made it in awhile. So, we invited our friend, R. over for dinner and we rolled!

Making sushi is not as hard as one thinks. The hardest part is getting your rice cooked and seasoned just right. I am not there yet, definitely need to practice more. The next part that is the most time consuming is all the prep work. Lots of washing, dicing and slicing. I always figure the above will take about 3 hours to complete. I usually wait to roll when our guests arrive, as well, it is fun to be the "sushi" chef ... rolling, laughing, drinking sake; a very social evening.

We picked up lots of sake, Japanese beer, Salmon, Maguro, Dungeness Crab and Tuna - you MUST use sushi grade! I get most of the fish at a Japanese market as well Whole Foods does have sushi grade fish, once in awhile, you have to ask for it. We also used ginger, spicy little Portuguese peppers, cilantro, avocado, green onions, mango and sesame seeds and sesame oil for filling and for seasoning.

The end result - a great evening of homemade sushi and sashimi!

Liquid Comfort

2008-01-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

Here is our entry for the Click event over at Jugalbandi!

Pasta ..... Terrible Pasta

2008-01-29T20:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, the bad thing about using everything you have in the kitchen is that you eventually run out of the good stuff and are left with the stuff you really do not like - chicken basil sausage that was a terrible hit last month, some left over broccoli and a tiny bit of cheese. Now, I did think it would all come together but the sausage was SOOOO bland, I added a ton of salt and Portuguese peppers, shallots, garlic, pepper - nothing worked! Then I cooked up some whole wheat pasta thinking that would at least add that nice nutty flavor - NOT! I think this was terrible. L. said it is okay - OKAY, he ate about 4 servings - that goes to prove the man will eat anything!

Duck Fat Risotto

2008-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

For one of our holiday celebrations I made Cassoulet. While that bit of heaven was baking all day long, I skimmed off the extra stock and duck fat and tucked it away into the freezer for something special.

Not that cleaning out the kitchen is special but I just knew that special stock would make a wonderful risotto and it did! I kept it very simple, shallots, garlic, a little Thyme, white wine and the hidden gem. Now, L. claims he hates duck, well, he gobbled this up and was quit surprised to learn it was "duck". Served it with some simple sauteed spinach - lots of olive oil, garlic and Meyer lemon zest and the left over bottle of white Burgundy. For dessert we had some of that left over Bittersweet Chocolate Tart. Amazing what you can come up with, with all the things just laying around the kitchen. Too good of a meal for being a Monday.

If life gives you Lemons ...............

2008-01-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

make pie! Jen, from The Canadian Baker, was our hostess this month and she challenged us with making a Lemon Meringue Pie. This was my first time making a Lemon Meringue Pie and I even got L. to help out - we actually had a lot of fun doing it together! We made it for a dinner party we had a couple weekends back and our guests loved it. We loved it so much we made, it again, the next day and then again the following weekend!

We did use our lemon of choice which is the beautiful Meyer. As well I do not own a pie pan so we used a tart pan. The pastry dough was light and flaky and the filling was a beautiful shade of yellow and had just enough pucker! Meringue well you just can not go wrong with any sort of meringue. The first two pies came from the same recipe and unfortunately, once you cut into the pie it was more like floating islands on lemon soup - great flavor though. The second time around, we cut the water down but it was still rather runny. The flavor was so fantastic that it really did not matter to us nor our guests!

Want a taste of the drool fest click the blue link!

Bittersweet ...

2008-01-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

bit·ter·sweet (btr-swt) n. 1. A woody vine of the genus Celastrus, especially the North American species C. scandens and the eastern Asian species C. orbiculata, having small, round, yellow-orange fruits that open at maturity to expose red seeds. Also called staff tree. 2. See bittersweet nightshade. 3. A dark to deep reddish orange. adj. 1. Bitter and sweet at the same time: bittersweet chocolate. 2. Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure: a movie with a bittersweet ending. 3. Dark to deep reddish-orange.

There have been a few episodes the past couple of months that have been "bittersweet" for me. This event came at a perfect time.

As well, I am a chocolate addict. I would eat it everyday of the week if I could. The darker and the deeper the chocolate the better. No semi-sweet, milk chocolate for me!! It is like a bad drug. For this event which was hosted by Apartment Therapy The Kitchen, I choose a bittersweet chocolate tart - I love it because it is incredibly bitter (70% chocolate) and just a little sweet (hardly any sugar). I love to have it drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, or a drizzle of cream, or maybe a ripe red raspberry; but, this time around, the slight bite of the chocolate and the slight sweetness of the crust went incredibly well with a deep dark espresso! Pure sin ..... all things bad turned into one good thing!

Unfortunately, for you the viewers, the photos are terrible. As it was a very last minute decision, I forgot until half way thru the process that I was suppose to take a few photos of the baking process as well a few of the finished process. Because of chilling times, etc.. I missed all the wonderful natural light and had to work with what I had. I can assure you all ... this is a fantastic tart and you should definitely make it when you are feeling the need to be a little bad!

Pasta e Ceci

2008-01-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

During the day on Saturday we had a nice break from the rain and cold; but, it came back just in time for dinner. It was a good night for some comfort and a good night to join Meeta over at What's for Lunch Honey and her monthly mingle - comfort food!

As I mentioned earlier in the week we are using up everything in the house - sort of a pre-spring cleaning. So, we are limited as to what we have on hand. I have been dying to make this lovely soup, recipe from one of Jamie Oliver's books, and lucky for us we have everything in the house. As well, it is pure comfort on a cold and rainy night!

Pasta e Ceci is like a peasant dish - simple, hardy, very easy and full of flavor - onions, garlic, a small amount of celery, chickpeas and a little pasta. If you like chickpeas this soup is for you. We added a loaf of our favorite crusty french bread and opened up a bottle of Italian wine to compliment it (ever since we had a FANTASTIC bottle of Italian wine at Delfina, we have been lushing after them). Was a very nice and cozy evening.

Cast Your Vote

2008-01-25T07:45:00.000-08:00

Over at The Garden of Eating for COMFORT FOOD! We submitted Lil's Beef Stew - pure comfort for a cold, windy, and rainy night - just pop open a bottle of vino, add some crusty bread or biscuits and you have pure comfort!!!

Whole Wheat Pasta ...

2008-01-24T20:41:00.001-08:00

The lovely Andrea is hosting "Grow Your Own" this month, was not sure we could partake as the weather is killing our garden but we found a few survivors out there, so here we go .....

I wanted to go for a sort of "Thai" or "Asian" taste, on the spicy side for tonights dinner. I browned some garlic and Portuguese chili peppers (the only thing still living in our garden) in olive oil until they were lightly crisp and very fragrant. I used whole wheat pasta because I like the nutty flavor, the texture and it is suppose to be better for us. After cooking the pasta (and draining it) I tossed some left over homemade butter into the pot of noodles, threw in some spinach for color and added the browned garlic mixture, sprinkled some Parmesan on top and we were ready! Very delicious for a dish that came from a near empty fridge and pantry!

Favaish

2008-01-23T20:22:00.000-08:00

This week is clean up week at our house. Every couple months, I like to go through the pantry (all of one shelf), the fridge and the freezer (not that we really freeze anything but some bacon &/or pancetta, a bottle of gin, some ice trays, random glasses and the occasional food item that makes it there - the D. of Chez does not believe in frozen food) and we use up everything we have. Actually, I go through the entire house - closets, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen cabinets, etc... and everything that has not been used or thought of in the past few months - GONE! Minimalist. But, we are not here to tell you about your house but rather about what we eat every night for dinner. So, we are back in our kitchen now .... like I said we use up everything we have left. I get very creative and sometimes I come up with some old favorite dish that I kind of forget about or maybe I come up with some new ones that we start using all the time. Tonight it was an old favorite of L.s ... Favaish.

L.'s mother makes favaish and she makes it very good, I will never be able to make it the way Mom does. Mine is probably more noveau but he likes it, too! Unfortunately, the vision I had for it quite did not happen because of the frozen bag of Fava's I used, they ended up being more like mush or split peas - that is why I prefer fresh, but what is a girl suppose to do in the dead of winter! Regardless, when you add a bottle of wine, some crusty french bread, you have a fantastic, flavorful meal!

Apetite Bom!

We both hate leftovers ...................

2008-01-22T19:39:00.001-08:00

and we rarely ever have them. But, Lil's Beef Stew just keeps on giving! While it is very delicious and we highly recommend the recipe; we are glad to see it ago on the 3rd night!

Note to selves, cut recipe in half next time.

Dedicated to Tia Anne

2008-01-21T19:12:00.001-08:00

I was feeling kind of nostalgic today. On the train, with L. reminising about trips to Paris, riding the Metro, heading back to the apartment with cheese, baguette and wine in hand - toss in a couple pastries, too!

When we finally got home, to our realistic home, it was rainy and drizzly, so we or maybe just I, needed some comfort food. I knew just what to make.

Mile high biscuits, from the Hollyhocks and Radishes cookbook, that my Great Aunt Anne, gave me - it was one of my first cookbooks, loaded with comfort food. The biscuit recipe is definitely the best one I have ever made. It has been awhile since I have opened the pages, but for some reason, thinking about Paris, food, being with the ones you love, she came to mind - maybe because of her sense of adventure and Paris is exactly that for both myself and L.

Regardless of the sentiment behind this meal, it was lovely. L. poured us a glass of Lillet, while I made the dough for the biscuits (keep in mind L. hates when I make biscuits, not because he dislikes them, because he can not just eat one or two - he eats ALL of them) and warmed the stew. We set the table, simply with tea lights in the little glass yogurt jars from Paris and opened a bottle of RN13 Vin de pique-nique and set down for a nice evening!

Hay Hay its Donna Hay # 17

2008-01-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

We love Donna Hay, well, at least the photos in her cookbooks and the magazines we buy. They are truly a piece of art to look at, and to drool over. Have yet to try out the recipes.

So, I was pretty excited when I saw this event listed on one of my favorite blogs and fellow Daring Baker, 80 Breakfasts. We were going to some friend's house for a pizza/kid party last Saturday night so this was the perfect opportunity to try out Donna's pizza recipe.

Don't let homemade pizza dough intimidate you. It has to be one of the easiest things to make. I even made some extra for the freezer. In keeping with the theme of the event we made a couple of the Class Tomato pizza as well as a favorite for the kids - pepperoni. We also made a fennel and spicy Italian Sausage, before putting the cornmeal on the stone we mixed some garlic salt into it. This was our favorite!

You should definitely add this to your recipe box as a favorite. The crust was fantastic, crisp and flavorful and not chewy and you can get as creative as you want with toppings! You will be seeing this over at Chez, very often in 2008!

Lil's Beef Stew

2008-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Garden of Eating hosted a challenge this month - comfort food. The beginning of the month I wrote about a chicken cutlet meal we had at our friends L. & P.'s home - the cutlets were outstanding as well as the beef stew she made. We have been talking about it all month and after a very long week and weekend, we decided we needed some comfort. So we picked up the ingredients and slow cooked this fantastic beef stew all afternoon. The beef was incredibly tender, literally melted in your mouth. The stew is made with white wine so it gives it a beautiful color, not typical of your gray colored stews, when you use red wine. The vegetables are cooked just enough to hold their colors with a little crunch to them - perfect! The only addition I did was to throw some brown mushrooms in, that we had in the fridge. We served it with some crusty french baguettes and a bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape. Warm, cozy, bursting with flavor and very comfortable!

Brownie in a bottle ....

2008-01-21T09:56:00.002-08:00

okay this is not a meal nor a challenge of any sort, just something we wanted to share because the packaging was so cute and the final product was delicious. Our friend E. gave us brownie mix for the holidays and we had a chance to whip them up for a pizza party we went to on Saturday night. This brownies were bursting with flavors - chocolate, butterscotch, and walnuts. YUMMY!

Thursday Night ...

2008-01-19T17:15:00.001-08:00

We had sushi - found a hidden gem, Moshi Moshi.

Cheated tonight

2008-01-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

.... too busy to cook. Picked up some Lemon Chicken with Spinach soup (was homemade) at Wholefoods, warmed it up along with a baguette and tossed together a salad .... hmmm, boring; but, good.

Quiet Kitchen

2008-01-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

It has been somewhat slow around our place the past few days - lots of meals out at friend's homes to catch up. Had dinner at Farina last night - Boo - should had eaten at Chez Denise et Laudalino!

Saturday Night

2008-01-13T18:34:00.001-08:00

we decided to have our friends J. & D. over for a French feast, sort of a delayed ringing in the New Year sort of thing. Was a great evening!

Unfortunately, we started drinking the bubbly and did not get many photos - you will just have to drool over the thought! Started the evening with a bottle of Champagne and pepper & Parmesan gourges. The two go really nicely together - bubbles and pepper that is. Then we moved to a grapefruit and avocado salad with a Dijon dressing. Nice combination, crisp coolness of the avocado and the tang of the grapefruit, followed by the mustard dressing. The main course was a roasted lemon chicken with onions and croutons - all were from the Paris cookbook by Barefoot Contessa, which I highly recommend (easy and good recipes) and some sauteed green beans. Was a fantastic evening of food! Dessert was ....... well, that is a secret! A Daring Baker Secret! You will have to come back in a couple weeks for that and you will NOT be disappointed!

Lazy

2008-01-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

...... maybe it was the weather or something, but, we were lazy tonight. L. had left over soup from the other night. I had a hunk of baguette smothered in butter and Roquefort cheese - Divine! The only thing missing was a big glass of earthy red wine!

Ribollita

2008-01-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

We got the Jamie Oliver, Jamie's Italy cookbook for Christmas - pretty excited as we watched the filming of the making of the book while it was airing.

Since, it is such a chilly night and since L. really loves Kale, I decided to make the Ribollita recipe from the book. Very easy recipe! Very delicious! The only thing, mine came out to "red", I think because I used crushed tomatoes instead of whole ones. Regardless, the flavor was fantastic!

Nothing too exciting ...

2008-01-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

just some left over soup from the other night. Tossed together a salad of baby greens with celery root and baked a batch of biscuits, mainly to warm up the house - it is freezing out! Did I mention, we are trying to lower our cholesterol so we are adding flaxseed to everything!

Okay, time to sit back, drink some tea and listen to L. complain about doing dishes!

Gluttony .....

2008-01-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

that is what the past weekend has been all about. Upon arriving back home with a very rainy weekend in store, we decided we should stay as close to home as possible! Every January, we give up alcohol for a month and start eating healthy, again, at least better than we had the past holiday season. This time we decided to take advantage of the terrible rainy weekend and stay in and indulge before the clean living starts up. We definitely fulfilled that sin - lots of good food being cooked, bottles of wine & champagne to be drank, lots of sleep and being lazy in front of a TV (which we never do), some shopping and one incredible dinner out at Delfina.

Tonight we decided to start the clean living with a simple soup - a Provencal vegetable soup with Pistou, served with a crusty loaf of bread and some very creamy blue Roquefort - incredible!!!! Now we are settling in to warm up the evening with a cognac, the last drip of alcohol for the month!

Chicken Cutlets

2008-01-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

We had a meal over at our friend's L. & P's house, while we were back east that was really fantastic, not only the company but the food. L. made a beef stew that was light and flavorful for the adults and then she breaded some chicken cutlets and fried them, for the kids. We are not big fans of fried food; but, these cutlets were outstanding and we could not stop eating them! So simple, too! She tossed them in flour and egg and then rolled in bread crumbs and panko and fried them up in olive oil. These little fried cutlets have been on our minds for days now, so we hit the market and picked up some chicks! I did not have any flavored breadcrumbs laying around so I crushed leftover croutons from last night and mixed with the panko. As well I tossed in some Italian flavored salt into the flour.

I made a light butternut squash risotto with caramelized shallots and garlic folded in. Went nicely with the chicken cutlets and a nice bottle of white wine!

Thanks, L., for introducing us to some good "fried" food! This will become a staple in our house!!!

Frisee Salad

2008-01-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

We are back. Back in our cozy little house! Back to eating delicious meals with you all!

While we love being away visiting the family in Boston and eating wonderful meals twice a day, we definitely start looking forward to our simple life and good living on the W. Coast. We came home to crazy rain storms and decided it would be nice to pick up a few bottles of wine and enough food to last us a couple days and to just hunker down at home - food, wine, movies, being lazy on rainy days and reconnecting for the New Year! With one exception of dining at Delfina on Saturday night - CAN NOT wait for that!

Our first meal was one of our favorites - Frisee Salad with a warm bacon dressing and poached eggs, crusty loaf of bread, a hunk of blue cheese and a bottle of Chateauneu de Pape - Can not come up with a better way to bring in the new year!

Best of 2007

2007-12-31T07:33:00.000-08:00

We have had a great year cooking, eating and blogging with you all - thank you for your readership! We got to talking a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be fun to unveil us and to highlight some of our favorite meals from 2007. So, sit back, click on the photo link & enjoy!

We wish each and every one of you a very happy New Year!

Come dine with us soon in 2008!

Best of the Best ...

2007-12-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sandra over at Un Tocco de Zenzero and Zora of 1x umruhren bitte are hosting the Best of 2007 recipe collection. We had a very hard time deciding on the one recipe that we felt was the best but we think we nailed it down to the most requested dish at our home - "The Grilled Veggie Lasagna".

We are going Nuts ...

2007-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

about the Click Photo Event! This month's theme is all about Nuts. We had some extra Cranberries and Pistachios and since I wanted it to be somewhat "holiday" like, I mixed them up and recreated a favorite dish of ours, Sticky Buns for our friend, S. who was out visiting from Boston, we think he loved them! Back to photography .... we thought the color of the nuts worked nicely with the crannberries, so we shot away. As well, the buns were FANTASTIC!

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas from Boston!

2007-12-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

We wanted to take a moment to thank you for your readership the past few months, we could not have done it without you! We wish each and everyone of you a fantastic holiday season and we look forward to sharing our cooking with you in 2008! Come dine with us soon!

Buches de Noel

2007-12-23T17:24:00.001-08:00

This is quick - as we are jumping on a flight soon. Wanted to share our December Challenge with the Daring Bakers - one of my favorite holiday desserts that I have not had in a while, Buches de Noel or otherwise known as the Yule Log.

I have more to write about this challenge and the comedy that took place making it but I will have to write more this week. In the meantime - Happy Holidays to each and everyone of you!

If you are inclined to make this for the holidays, here is the recipe (a little secret, it is very easy!!)!

Well, here I am as promised to write about the Challenge of the Yule Log. Now, I love Yule Logs but do not think I have had one in years let alone attempted to bake one. Remember ... I do not consider myself a "baker". Anyhow, I am definitely more comfortable behind my trusty and much loved kitchen aid lately and have been embracing the challenges. Unfortunately, I did not get to put the love I wanted into the Buches de Noel. I had all these visions of making a deep chocolate filling, or maybe one made of burnt caramel and bergamont or maybe a nice deep blood orange one, etc... then time took over our or my life. So, I followed the recipe, which is fine but I always like to add a twist when I am allowed.

The next part of the challenge for me was to do it at my sister's house. You say to yourself, what is that problem? Well, my sister D. does not cook, let alone bake, so I had to bring along pans, parchment paper, etc....and keep this a secret. You see we have been keeping this little blog a secret from our families and friends, and were waiting to do the unveiling over the holidays. So, my family could not understand my obsession with this Yule Log. I kept saying I joined this group and had to test the recipe - they went along with it as they are always eager to eat whatever I whip up.

The recipe was going along nicely ... batter was mixing up perfectly, tasted marvelous, I was super excited! Put it in the oven and forgot about high altitude. Fortunately, I remembered towards the end and got it out just in time. A bit crunchy but soft enough to roll - there is a god! The butter cream was Divine - could not keep the fingers out of the bowl - L. was yucked out about this! While, everything was chilling, I poured myself a glass of Christmas Vino and started on my marzipan mushrooms. I have to say - I was NOT happy about doing these, how the heck am I going to make this blob of stuff look like a mushroom. Well, it worked out fantastically! I was super excited, they looked great! Maybe a little to brown but they looked damn good! So, I set everything aside to put the log together in the morning for the big photo shoot - my family would clearly find me crazy once I started shooing pictures of a Yule Log!

Next morning I woke up, put the coffee on, laid out the rolled up cake and took the extra butter cream out of the fridge. Ahh, a hot cup of coffee and enough time to put this project together and just in time for the wonderful morning light to shine through for the photo shoot! "WHERE ARE THE MUSHROOMS?" I ask a few times. My sisters standing there - "I did not do anything with them." I am going crazy by now! Then my sister D. says, "the ones on the plate last night; I threw them away, why would you want old mushrooms for a cake?" Needless to say, it was back to the drawing board and time to make the marzipan over and make new mushrooms - at least I had that practice run! As L. said, "I guess we can tell who does not get enough time in the kitchen, to be able to tell a real one from a fake" (hee hee ha ha).

So, we came clean and shared our little blog with everyone. I told the passionate story of the Daring Bakers and how I have come to love this group of talented bakers and welcome and grasp every new challenge with eagerness! That is our story of how the log became the Christmas Yule Log!

Menu for Hope

2007-12-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

I feel terrible that the date slipped my mind - we meant to par-take more actively in this, than just telling you all and only donating! We still urge you to go and donate. The amount raised will go to support the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. For more information and the program, please visit one of my favorite blogs, Chez Pim and to donate visit here! Every little bit helps!

Our apologizes ...

2007-12-17T21:24:00.001-08:00

for leaving you stranded in our kitchen for so long! We have had a terrible time, trying to find time to stay home - too busy, since coming back from the Costa Rica. Definitely, dying to get some quality time hunkering down at home - maybe 2008!

We did get a chance to toast the holidays with some friends of ours over the weekend - D., JT, & S. (who is in from Boston). I have been dying to cook a Cassoulet since taking my classes at Tante Marie - what better time than now!

Started the evening with a nice bottle of bubbly wine and Gougere Puffs - I did not have Gruyère cheese so I compromised and added what I had on hand - goat cheese! They came out a little heavier than usual but very tasty, especially with a glass of bubbly! We then moved on to the star attraction, Cassoulet! I was quite happy - the duck fell off the bones, and the flavor was fantastic. Could use a touch more salt but otherwise, very good. For dessert I whipped up a Chocolate Souffle. I had some extra pistachios so I crushed them with sugar in the old food processor and coated the sides of dish before adding the sinful part of the souffle. Not the same as I usually make, more like pudding with a crunchy topping, very rich and sinful. We highly recommend!

Overall, a fantastic evening. Great Friends and good food - the best way to ring in the holidays!

Tribute to Julia

2007-12-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

I have to say I have never used a Julia Child recipe until tonight. We were craving something easy & French and I stumbled upon this recipe by the master herself.

Served it with a simple watercress salad with Tartelette's vinaigrette recipe. Wonderful!

Christmas Cookies

2007-12-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Susan over at Food Blogga is hosting a Christmas Cookies extravaganza. I had to bring some cookies to our annual cookie exchange party and figured I would kill two birds with one stone so to say. I normally bake up a storm during the holidays but time has just slipped away and this year, this will probably be it! Do enjoy!

I made some of our favorites around here, the traditional French Macarons. I decided to use Helen's recipe minus the peanuts. I did tweak it a bit, see my version here. I normally use a much more complex recipe and I have to say, I really liked how this one turned out. (mums, the word) I may be switching!

I filled them with a traditional Italian buttercream - one filling was a very dark chocolate and the other was flavored with crushed candy canes.

Applewood Bacon

2007-12-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, I said we were back and I was ready to tackle the kitchen by my apron strings; but, then I got ubber busy with company, work, life! I finally had time to make a meal and boy did it feel good! Did not have much around the house as the other task I need to do is some "real" grocery shopping; but, I did not have shallots, garlic, broccoli, applewood bacon, Roquefort and pasta. So, I caramelized the shallots and garlic, added the bacon and broccoli. Then tossed it all together with the Roquefort and pasta. Pop open a nice red wine and Voila, dinner was served! Dessert was some French Vanilla Ice Cream (ashamed to say, not homemade this time around) topped off with some of our new favorite ice cream sauce .... Salted Caramel, recipe courtesy of Helen over at Tartelette .

We are BACK

2007-12-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

and ready to start cooking and have you over! Took last week off from the old apron strings and are ready to hit IT for the holidays! Be sure to keep checking in for some outstanding holiday bonuses! See you soon at Chez Denise et Laudalino!

CLICK!

2007-11-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Before I jet off, I wanted to get my entry in for the Click event for November.

It was easy for us as we were craving one of our favorite dishes, Spicy Soba Noodles.

We used our Canon SD1000 for this shot with a macro setting.

Disconnect

2007-11-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

L. is over in CR racing away right now, I am here trying to get myself ready for holiday and I have not cooked in a week. We started this blog with the intentions of sharing what we eat no matter what it is. Overall that is what we have been doing but as you can tell I have a tendency not to post what I eat when L. is out of town. I don't eat! Well, I do, but a bowl of soup is not that exciting for me nor for you, right? Occasionally, I do get a bit more daring and toss in a little extra morsel but this week, I have been trying to fit back into my teeny tiny bikini and just stay above water - too busy! So, what am I saying? It has been declared National Soup Week over at Chez.

I am off now, to meet my man for a much needed holiday! We are completely disconnecting in Costa Rica; no phones, no TV, no internet, no blogging, just us and a few icy cold beers and an abundance of seafood!

Come back & dine with us soon! Maybe we will bring back some new ideas for our kitchen!

Bon Voyage

2007-11-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

L. left for the La Ruta de los Conquistadores, last night. We have been living and breathing biking for the past 11 months. This was our first Saturday in so long that we could lounge around the house on a Saturday, drink coffee, watch a movie and just enjoy each other company! In honor all of his hard work & to give a guy a decent meal before his trip, I used my skills learned at Tante Marie and made an outstanding dinner!

We started with a mixed green salad with a light French Vinaigrette. I picked up some outrageous Roquefort and forgot the bread, so I crumbled it over the salad. The cheese was fantastic and while good on a salad would had been better with a baguette - live and learn. Despite the raining day and night, we picked up some of these steaks we found a couple weeks ago - by far the best we have had, ever - and tossed them on the grill. Lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. The star attraction with our steak was my new favorite potato - potatoes fried in duck fat and sprinkled with sea salt. OH MY GOD! These morsels with a nice grilled steak and a full bodied red wine are to die for!

We kicked it up a notch for dessert and made crepe Suzette.

The entire evening was fantastic - the food, wine and most of all my hot guy, I am so proud of him!

Pancetta

2007-11-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

I love the salty and smoky taste on pancetta! Nothing like it when you saute it with some olive oil and then throw in some caramelized onions and garlic and some sweet broccoli! Easy meal when you toss it with some pasta! YUM!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

2007-11-06T21:55:00.001-08:00

The Denise of chez took the last week off - beat! Even though I LOVE to cook and especially for L., and it completely relaxes me, I took the week off! Back at it before we head out for holiday! Tonight I made a simple Spaghetti Squash with a butter/olive oil sauce made with shallots, garlic, capers, peppers and lemon. Light and fulfilling!

I want to suck your blood .....

2007-10-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

or at least eat your Vampire Cake! I got this idea from Baking Bites. I was going to make cute little coconut cupcakes to go into these adorable boxes I found for Halloween; but, then decided I need something scarier! I can not wait to give them to M, E, and M, when they come trick and treating tomorrow!

I made a basic chocolate cupcake, filled it with very red buttercream and then frosted it with more buttercream! Kind of tastes like a twinky - of course, I had to have one!!

One Bostini Cream Pie & Two Forks, Please

2007-10-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

The Daring Bakers strike again! Our hostess for this month's challenge was Mary over at Alpine Berry and she chose the Bostini Cream Pie. The original recipe is from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni in the Napa Valley as well as Scala's Bistro in San Francisco. By the way, the mashed potatoes at Scala's have even more butter in them than the Bostini!

Long story short, I put this challenge off until the very last moment - today! I just was not that inspired, maybe it was because I am not a big fan of the Boston Cream Pie and this was all to similar. Then I thought about it ... my man is from Boston, the Red Sox's will probably win the series and I should just challenge myself regardless if I like Boston Cream Pie or not. So, I seized the bull by the horns and did it! The recipe is very straight-forward and simple. I think I was done within two hours. My custard came out really nice - even though it did not set in the molds; but, I did anticipate this, so I saved some just in case. My cake had a spring to its step and the blood orange juice/zest I used was divine. You can not go wrong with dark bittersweet chocolate and butter for a glaze!

As I mentioned I was suspect on the custard in the mold and I am glad I went with my gut .... it did not work. So, I spooned the leftover custard on a plate and went from there! The outcome, we both really enjoyed it! The creamy vanilla custard was fantastic with the orange cake and a bit of chocolate. Would I make it again, Yes; but, for company who do not have a heart condition - something like 1000 calories a serving!

Unusually Warm Sunday Evening ...

2007-10-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

We were driving over the bay bridge early afternoon and noticed that the bay was very calm ... almost eerie, actually. I hate to say it, as I just put L. for a plane, and I would hate to be home alone, but it seems like earthquake weather. Or maybe the eerie is because of the big H. day coming up this week. ;)

Regardless, we decided it was a good reason to pick up some steaks and toss them on the barbie! They were Marin Sun Farmsbeef steaks and they were OUTSTANDING! Really truly OUTSTANDING! Just coated with some olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled them up! Served along side was a warm "french" potato salad, which I learned in my French Cooking class a couple weeks ago. Can not beat a steak and potato dinner served up with a little red wine to wash it all down! Nice meal before putting my man on a plane .... :(

SpaghettiOs with Meatballs

2007-10-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Not the kid kind though! This was the adult version! My friend E. found these cute little O's at Trader Joe's. As soon as I saw them, I knew I must have them. I made a sauce with slow roasted yellow onions, garlic and pancetta. Then I added some nice thick Pomi Tomato sauce as well as some left over red wine from the night before. I then created my famous meatballs and made them into minis, browned them and tossed into the sauce. After a couple hours .... Voila! Served with a very hearty Italian Red wine, can't beat it!

Thursday Night

2007-10-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

another late night spinning. Luckily, I had a few minutes before we left to toss together a gratin. So all we had to do was pop it into the oven and Voila, lovely french food for dinner! This was an endive and prosciutto gratin that I learned to make in my French Cooking classes a couple weeks ago. When I started putting it together, I had a feeling L. was going to give it a BIG VETO like he did to the Leek Soup; but, he did not! It was too tasty with all that smokiness of the Prosciutto and cheesy sauce!

Cold Weather Food

2007-10-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

for a WARM night! Well, the menus were planned last weekend so we will eat! One of our favorite winter dishes is a spicy Kale Soup with White Beans - L. loves an egg on top, I do not like eggs on things that they should not be on .... pizza, soup, etc... I have been dying to make some dishes from my French Cooking weekend so I tossed together this super yummy watercress and celery root salad. Dessert, we had some Roasted Pumpkin Ice Cream left over. I found it not as sweet as I would had liked so I made a warm caramel sauce for the top - okay, after sitting in the freezer for a day and a half the pumpkin has really combined in flavor and with the caramel sauce on top, can you say "Thanksgiving"?

The Incredible Edible Egg

2007-10-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

to the rescue. We love our Tuesday Night spin class, except for the fact that we do not get out of there until almost 830pm and our instructor is informing us that we NEED to drink a liter of water and eat protein within the next 45 minutes to fully reap the benefits! Okay ... besides eating a crappy bar this is next to impossible. By the time we walk thru the gym, say hi to a couple people, get into the car, drive home, look for parking and then attempt to make something, we are past the 45 minutes! Until now! We declare Tuesday EGG NIGHT!

Sauteed zucchini with shallots and olive oil turned into an Omelet served along side a tossed green salad and some crusty warm bread ... and some water and a Liter of Wine?! ;)

Fall was almost in the air .....

2007-10-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, definitely felt like fall ... crisp air filled with the aroma of crunching leaves and even rain, that left us cold, damp and turning on the heat. This inspired me to grocery shop thinking along the lines of comfort foods - lots of apples, squash, whole wheat pastas, that sort of thing; warm cozy food! Well, the weather turned, the day was hot and the evening was romantically warm. Which was good as it gave us a chance to put away the patio heater, the deck umbrella and clean up the garden.

Tonight's dinner started out as a cozy warm evening in (due to what we thought was a early fall/winter arrival), but came around as a nice evening at home, together! Linguine and Clams served over whole wheat pasta! A glass of crisp buttery white wine! A loaf of warm Crusty Bread! Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Ice Cream for dessert - which, was inspired by my step-mother's pumpkin pie recipe, she makes the best pie I have ever had!

As well this dinner was part of a special event GYO -Grow Your Own. Our hostess, Andrea, over at Andrea's Recipes initiated it. Thanks to the insane weather we have been having ... rain on & off the past couple of weeks, upper 70's and low 80's this week, our herb garden is doing outstanding! All the peppers we thought would die are turning vibrant red and the basil and thyme are growing like crazy again! For this dish we used our Portuguese Peppers and Basil from our garden.

As good as Chez Panisse (almost)

2007-10-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well ... the next best thing! Poached Egg with Curly Endive Salad, courtesy of Alice Waters and the Art of Simple Food. The salad was delicious - simply delicious! I love this style of salad and always forget just how much until I have it. This recipe will or has become a staple in our house!

Dessert was the last of the Mascarpone Ice Cream with the last of the season Blue Organic Strawberries which I roasted and we will have for another couple months - slurpy yummy!

Roasted Chicken Soup cont .....

2007-10-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Late night Tuesday w/working and the gym. So, I took the left over soup soup from last night and threw in some soup I had hid in the freezer ... remember that oh, so delicious soup from the past!? Served with a toasted baguette and goat cheese which was sprinkled with Thyme from the garden and cracked black pepper. The perfect way to end the evening? Why, homemade marscapone cheese ice cream drizzled with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Ganache.

Comfort Food

2007-10-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I was exhausted from all the cooking I had done over the weekend, so I roasted a chicken for dinner. I took half of a chick, lifted up the skin and slide butter, shallots, garlic and thyme between the skin and meat. I then sprinkled course sea salt over the top, threw it in the oven with some acorn squash and roasted them all. The meal was simple and delicious. Monday night, I took the left over chicken and turned it into a simple roasted chicken broth & tossed in a little thyme and pasta, whipped up some biscuits and we had dinner. Perfect meal for an evening that came upon a rainy day.

Two Days in France

2007-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

www.flickr.com

Well, not exactly but the next best thing. Denise of Chez spent the past weekend cooking, eating and tasting wine at Tante Marie .

I took a French Food and Wine Course over the weekend - which I highly recommend. The school is small, intimate and very professional with a casual and laid back feeling all rolled into one fantastic program. Mary Risley, the founder of Tante Marie is very personable and welcoming - as if we all just came to her home! Everyone taking the course was interesting (from all over the country as well as Bay Area) and we all enjoyed the same passion - COOKING and FOOD! The instructors, Jessica Lasky (food) and Shelley Lindgren (wine) are knowledgeable, fun and very personable. I can not say enough pleasant things about my experience - I will definitely go back!

We spent the entire weekend learning about the different regions of France with regards to food and wine as well as getting our hands dirty in the kitchen. We made everything from Pepper Gougeres (can you say super YUM), Salade Lyonnaise, Classic Bouillabaise, Beef Daube, Duck Cassoulet, Quail with Grapes, Celeryroot and Endive Salade, Fig Clafouti, Crepe Suzette, and the list goes on and one!

We tasted and drank wines from Champagne, Alace, Bordeaux, the Rhone and may other wonderful areas in France.

I wish I could give you all a nibble; but, I can't. You can entice your taste buds here! This is simply a wonderful way to spend a weekend!

We are so lucky to have great friends

2007-10-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Purple Box does to me, what the Blue Box does for most women I know!

Our friends E & W just got back from Paris .... when they asked what we wanted all I could think of was a new copy of my beloved Plan de Paris par Arrondissement and French Macaroons.

Much to our surprise we got just that as well as extract goodies! Let me just say this ... Salted Caramel, is to die for! Not to mention we were able to relive our holiday thru their memories!

When is the next plane leaving??!!!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

2007-10-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

I remember my mom making this once before, when I was very small. I thought it was funny that you could get spaghetti out of squash. I do not remember ever having since. We were enticed at the grocery last week, so it came home with us and sat on the counter, where we stared each other down until last night.

I roasted it - after I dulled my knifes trying to cut it in half - covered with Spanish Olive oil and salt and pepper. Then I tossed together a sauce of browned butter with sweet Italian peppers, shallots, garlic and capers - sprinkled lightly with Parmesan cheese just before serving!

We are in love with Blue Organic Strawberries - if you can find them, BUY them! We are pretty sure these are the best strawberries in the Bay Area right now. I am so crazy over them, I always buy two boxes ... we eat one and I roast the others! For dessert tonight I used the leftover Tapioca and drizzled some Roasted Strawberries over the top - YUM! The orange flavoring in the pudding with Roasted Strawberries is wonderful!

Simple

2007-10-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

We both have been exhausted the past couple weeks. Look at the stove, let the ideas float in and out of our heads and just plop down. Have been craving radishes so I made a simple green salad with radishes, kidney beans and ultra creamy blue cheese, served it with warm crusty bread for dinner. As well, a little comfort food for dessert - Tapioca flavored with orange and cardamom, not quit like grandma made but still comfortable!

Ratatouille ...

2007-10-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Finally got a chance to check out the movie Ratatouille & let me say, I was inspired by that Rat, to make his favorite dish for dinner tonight! I made a roasted layered Ratatouille which was fantastic! Served it with a simple green salad with radishes and pomergrantes and lightly drizzled with simple french vinaigrette. Last week I was inspired by Jaden over at the Steamy Kitchen, to make her perfect coconut rice - which is easy & fantastic. Tonight, I took it to another level ... made the rice and then turned it into Coconut/Cardamom Rice Pudding - YUMMY!

End of a long week ...

2007-10-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Friday night found us both exhausted. I tried to come up with something good for dinner but did not have it in me, we were two tired souls for dinner. All I could come up with was Eggplant Masala (into Indian food lately) and a caramelized shallot Quinoa. Simple and good!

Not Cooking ...

2007-10-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have not had a chance to get behind the stove all week, hence the reason for no new stuff! L. is traveling (which is not the excuse) and I have been working over-time! I have some great ideas brewing, though, and can not wait to WOW my man when he gets back with some great meals. Hoping to hit the kitchen, again, tomorrow. So please keep checking in & dine with us soon ......

I can not wait ..

2007-10-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

to know what the October Challenge is! I was hoping it would be announced before I start my day. I am an addict now - an addict to the DB group! Someone, Help Me!

The 3 Ps' for Dinner

2007-10-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Plums, Pizza & Pinot Noir and some Lamb (yes, I know, more meat); but, we did cut down portions! We have been waiting to open up this bottle of Pinot Noir, that our friend I. and company (Dept. C) are making but we needed the right dish.

Recently, there was an article in the SF Chronicle on Pinot Noir and what to serve ... there it was Lamb, Plum & Smoked Mozzarella Pizza , so we whipped up a mini, tossed together a simple mixed green salad with radishes (just like grandma use to make) and popped up the Dept. C. Point Noir - the meal was great, the pizza was interesting (I will make again but add more spices to it) and the Pinot was smooth and definitely complimented everything in the pizza. As well, this was the last meal for our Eat Local Challenge - everything was local this time!!!