BLT's and Borsht

I thought that soup and salad sounded good this weekend so I decided to go outside of the traditional comfort zone and create a nice soup.

Traditional borsht has a lot more ingredients than I wanted in my soup, so I just decided to keep the flavors simple. I roasted red beets at 350 for a while and added some whole carrots and a part of an onion to the pan after about 15 minutes of roasting. After they were done roasting I blended them up individually. For the beets, I blended them with a little beef stock and a touch of cream to ensure they were smooth. I wanted the carrots to be a different texture so I didn't blend them as long but still added a touch of stock and cream to them. As you can see in the picture they are a rougher chop.

The colors were even brighter in person and the soup was warm and delicious. Because of the amount of roasting, the sugars came out in the beets and it didn't taste overwhelmingly earthy.

For the BLT, I just kept it traditional, except for replacing the lettuce with Arugula.

Friday Night Bistro

I had been craving something a little richer so I decided to do a simple bistro meal with steak and au gratin potatoes last Friday night. I cooked the strips in my cast iron skillet to medium rare with a nice pepper crust on them. It would probably have been more bistro like to make the au poivre sauce, but I decided to skip it. I topped the steak with bleu cheese and microgreens.

I stayed pretty traditional with the potatoes, using an aged gruyere and vermont cheddar. I also added chives to them and some cream so they would have a little sauce. I used Yukon Gold's and they seemed to melt into each other while baking.

I really love mushrooms of all kind. For this dish I simply sauteed up some crimini's and added a balsalmic glaze that I brought back from Italy. The glaze is really thick and cooks down pretty well. They were a nice complement to the steak.

Beef Shanks with Polenta and Crunchy Salad

Beef shanks are something that I don't use all that often, but I really enjoy them for a change of pace. I prepared these like a traditional osso bucco, browning then braising and adding tomatoes to prepare a sauce.

I chose not to cook these too long so that they maintained some of their texture and we were able to cut through the large pieces of meat. Although the picture doesn't look all that appetizing, they were quite good.

I left the polenta fairly rough and didn't add milk or much cheese to keep the texture grainy, which I think succeeded in keeping the richness of the dish to a minimum.


I had a lot of veggies around so I decided to make an arugula salad with a lot of crunch and flavor. I chose to add the diakon, fennel and kumquats to the salad. I also added stilton and topped it with a peppadew.

I topped the salad with a light vinaigrette.

Thai Veggie Wraps with Fried Rice

I've been spending one day each week this year eating only vegetarian meals. I don't spend much time planning the veg meals and they just seem to happen. Because we had a vegetarian friend over for dinner, I decided to spend a little more time. I know that there is shrimp on the board, but I only added it to Abby's wraps.

I used Thai wraps that I get at my Asian food store and have to soak in cold water for a couple of minutes to get them to be pliable so I can use them. The ingredients I used in these particular wraps brought a lot of crunch and heat. In order: Mint, blanched green beans, diakon radish, kumquats, ginger, jalapeno, carrots, fennel bulbs, scallions and a little touch of basil. I served them with two sauces, one hot chili and the other sweet chili.

I enjoy fried rice a lot but don't order it out much. I prepare mine with soy sauce, sambal, scallions, ginger, and a dash of fish sauce. I also use an egg to bring it together. The flavors complemented the wraps well and made the meal feel more fulfilling.

Grass-Fed Sliders

I like to keep my burgers simple, tending not to fuss with extra ingredients blended with the meat. This time, I just used 85/15 grass fed beef and added salt and pepper. That's it. I gently rolled them into small balls and added them to my cast iron skillet on medium high. I added shallots in the pan to caramelize and add flavor.

I added gruyere and capped the pan with a lid so that it would steam the cheese a little. I added them to wheat dinner rolls and served with blanched green beans that I topped with a simple mustard vinaigrette.

Six Hour Simmer

On Sundays I really like making something that needs to cook most of the day. This past Sunday I simmered a spaghetti sauce for 6+ hours. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to make a good sauce and how people still eat the pre-bottled stuff from the grocery store. I start by sweating an onion and carrots with three whole cloves of garlic. I  added 2 lbs of fresh sweet Italian sausage - I prefer the sweet because of the fennel seeds that are added too it and I always add my own red pepper for heat. and let it cook but not brown. I wanted it to be tender while reducing all day and find if it is too browned then you get little chunks throughout the sauce. After removing the fat I add a little zinfandel to deglaze the pan and then add two large cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes. It's really worth it to buy good canned tomatoes. I also like Muir Glen a lot, but you can't beat the original.

I'm picky about basil so I added a little of it chiffonaded to the side of the plate. As you can see, after 6 hours of simmering the sauce was steaming hot. Of course, it's topped with Parm Reg to complete the dish.

Now that's some HOT SAUCE!

Leg Of Lamb w Braised Kale

I went about 29 years thinking I hated lamb. In fact, I used to order it out at work dinners just to keep trying to like it. It wasn't until last year when I started making it at home that I really started to love it. I was researching lamb and apparently the difference is that a lot of the lamb that we are getting in the states these days is domestic (at least at Whole Foods). Whereas, traditionally lamb was coming from Austrailia and New Zealand (which I still see at Costco and other big box food stores). I find the american lamb a LOT less gamey and more enjoyable.  I typically marinate the leg or chops in mint, rosemary, garlic, shallots and olive oil at least over night. I trim the fat off and roast it.

I really enjoy lamb medium rare and serve it with a mint and cucumber yogurt sauce. I paired this leg with braised Kale and broccoli raab.

To braise the kale, I start with sauteeing down pancetta and white onions.

After this has achieved the right amount of browning, I add the kale and red pepper flakes for about 4 minutes.

I use the kale to scrape up the fond at the bottom of the dutch oven and then add chicken stock and let it braise for 7-10 minutes. It's amazing how much flavor it has when served and it's super healthy.

Tonights Dinner: Roasted Organic Chicken w Blood Oranges

Abby was in the mood for some roasted chicken this week, so I decided to spice it up by adding blood oranges under the skin. I stuffed it with lemon, parsley and white onion and roasted it over yukon golds and fresh carrots.

I kept it simple and roasted it at 375 and it turned out really juicy and fresh tasting. I typically brine my chickens for a day in heavily salted water, but I didn't with this one. It was so juicy that I'm not sure that brining is necessary.

Salmon en Papillote

Aside from salt caving, cooking fish en papillote (parchment) is my favorite way prepare fish. I got some really fresh sockeye from the market and whipped it up fairly quickly last night. I learned from my dad a long time ago that placing the fish on aromatics or citrus really brings out the best in the fish and esentially steams it while heating through convection. This time I used Blood Oranges, Lemon, Ginger and Shallots. I was surprised at how much the ginger influenced the aroma.

After adding the fish on the lemons, I sprinkled the skin with togarashi (A commonly used Japanese 7-spice blend that typically includes red chile pepper, roasted orange peel, yellow and black sesame seeds, Japanese pepper, seaweed, and ginger)

 I also made couscous with blood orange, scallions and mint, which was really light. I lightly sauteed brussels sprouts as the veg.  I admit that the plating is a little ridiculous, but on a cold day the brightness was really nice. The fish didn't look great without the skin, but tasted good.

Steak Salad w/ Homemade Croutons and English Stilton

I'm a big fan of stilton bleu cheese and since we bought a nice chunk of it, I thought it would best be served in a steak salad. I used a strip steak and simple olive oil/balsamic dressing with the salad, which consisted of an organic medley of greens.

I made the croutons fresh from a loaf of rosemary bread I had lying around, they were really unassuming and added just the right amount of crunch. I simply seasoned them with salt and pepper and toasted them with a nice olive oil.

Prime Time

Prime Rib is typically something that I only eat at a restaurant, unless it's Christmas Eve. This was the best prime rib that I have ever made along with the best Jus. Again, I wish that I had a photo of it sliced, but I was mesmerized by this thing.

For the Jus, I used beef base and water and added dried porcini mushrooms and a splash of red wine and sprigs of rosemary and thyme. The earthyness of the mushrooms really shone through and I will be adding them to every jus I make in the future.

NYD > NYE

I think we enjoy NYD more than NYE around here. In fact, we were all in bed before 11 on NYE, which is badass.

We had some close friends in town from LA, so we decided to have a feast. I made homemade Lobster Mac & Cheese with Gruyere and Cheddar. It was ridiculous. So good, in fact, that I forgot to snap photos. I was able to make a double batch and freeze one, so potential pics to come in the future. I hand picked the lobster from claws the night before and do have a pic of some of those.

Because my friend from LA is a rib addict I made 2.5 slabs. I divided them into two styles. The first, was asian influenced and marinated with ginger, jalapeno, mae ploy, sweet chili sauce, siracha and a touch of OJ. The second batch was honey bbq and I marinated them with a rub, fresh sliced apple, orange and a touch of olive oil. They turned out really well for being baked in the oven at 325 for almost 2 hours.

The scallions were a nice touch on the Asian ribs. I added mirin and honey to the sauce which tasted sweet up front but had a nice residual heat .

Viva La.....France?

When choosing wine for the holiday season I decided to stick with all wines from France. My palette isn't very good at distinguishing a good Champagne and am yet to taste the nuances of a good bottle. I prefer a rose champagne or any Prosecco or Cava to a brut Champagne any time. The bottle of Perrier Jouet was very good, but didn't inspire me to go out and spend big money on Champagne any time soon.

The red was a '07 Gigondas, which was really solid. Domaine Raspail Ay Gigondas(Gigondas Description)When I started drinking wine (in college), we drank a majority of Rhone Valley Reds for some reason. This wine took me back to the old days, except for the fact that I only had two glasses.I still think that there are better deals out there, but sometimes you can't beat an old standby.

I don't drink a lot of white wines, but I know what I like. I really enjoy a sav. blanc if it's from NZ or a Sancerre from the Loire Valley. The bottle on the left is a '08 Les Pechignolles Pouilly Fume and was really good with surprising minerality.

I'mmmmm Baaaaaaaack - NYE

Since I decided to outsmart my Mac and move all of my pictures from the iPhoto folder in order to back them up, I've spent the last month getting everything in order. Happy to be back.

There are some traditions in our family that I don't dare touch, and King Crab on NYE is one of them. This year I got nearly 4 lbs of primo legs and simply steamed them. The only thing that I did a little different was melt local organic butter with a clove of garlic for dipping, which was delicious.

If pulling out straight legs of meat is any indication of how the new year will be, it's going to be one for the ages...