A Blog is a Girl's (this girl's) Best Friend

Okay, ladies, I have a tip for you.  If you want delicious dinners prepared for you on a regular basis, create a blog.  Last night, I came home from the gym to find John whipping up a feast in the kitchen.  I was not allowed to enter to see this magic happen, but I was told that he wanted this creation to be on the blog.  So while he busily prepared dinner, I got to hang on the couch watching the Oscars and drinking his home brew.  He even set the table and served us a fresh and tasty steak salad.  The steak was New York prepared to a perfect medium rare placed on top of parmesan crisps.  On the side onions cooked in a rosemary whiskey sauce were arranged next to garlic bread over a bed a salad that had the most delicious dressing.  The salad dressing included:

 fresh thyme, garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, dijon, olive oil, honey, and meyer lemon zest.  The only downfall to this fabulous dinner is that John was so tired I couldn't talk him into doing the dishes, but I guess I have to earn my dinner with not just words alone.

Sunday Brunch

On Sunday, John and I were invited downtown to the Barajas family home  for a special brunch.  We were absolutely overwhelmed by the beautiful spread that Aly and Eric prepared for us.  First off, I noticed that the table was set with their beautiful china that captures the fun energy of sunshine with its blue and yellow design.  Eric and Luke added to the setting with the fresh gerber daisies purchased at the farmer market that morning.  Aly totally out did herself hosting us with her special breakfast pie (yes, men, pie not quiche).  She served this with the most amazing sausage that John and I have ever had for breakfast--apple sausage patties--yum!  Luke's favorite was the cinnamon coffee cake that is a family recipe--I hope to post it up here as well because this is a treat that I definitely want to have as part of my recipe repertoire.  Finally, the brunch was capped off with parfaits that consisted of fresh fruit, granola, and goat's milk yoghurt.  It was so wonderful to get together with our special friends--we can't wait to do it again!

Saturday Brunch

Erika invited the girls and babies to get together to spend time eating and chatting over Saturday brunch this weekend.  The potluck brunch brought us together and gave us a chance to share a variety of breakfast specialties.  Erika made the amazing frittata pictured above that consisted of eggs, ham, and cheese baked in the oven.  Adrienne made her delicious fruit salad--we are lucky to live in Southern California where we can get pineapple and blackberries that are so sweet and tasty in February.  Jacki brought some tempting chocolate covered strawberries--I had three so I guess I got my chocolate vitamins for the weekend!  I brought the mandarin orange and vanilla upside down cake (recipe at link).  I enhanced the recipe with a teaspoon or rosewater, which gave it a flowery taste that worked well with the other flavors.  This was my first foray into rosewater and I definitely intend to use it again, maybe as the star of the dessert--I will keep you posted.  Finally, to complement the sweets with another savory dish, Tina made breakfast crostinis with ham, asparagus, and fontina cheese.  She says the secret is the dijon butter that serves as the spread on the bread before putting on the toppings.  Of course, these tasty dishes were accompanied by mimosas and the beautiful view of the Myers backyard.  What a way to spend a Saturday!

Comfort Food

I get to go to my parent's house usually once a week for a visit and to eat dinner together.  My Mom always asks me what I want to eat and sometimes I pick one of my favorites: moussaka, Cornish game hen, anything with eggplant, and cassoulet.  Yesterday, my parents made me a delicious comfort food dinner, perfect for a rainy day, cassoulet.  Their recipe is not as elaborate as some French versions, so I invite you to give it a try.  The recipe is in the comments link below, enjoy!

V Day = Chili Day

John and my Valentine's tradition is to spend the day cooking chili, play games, and just hang out together around the house.  This takes all day, so it is rare that we get to celebrate on the actual holiday, but this year we made chili on Valentine's day.  Every year, John says I think this is going to be the best chili and I dutifully agree, but this year, I know that it was the best chili I have ever tasted.  I think this is due to John's special chili preparation technique that he implemented for the first time.  He roasted the chiles, soaked them in water, and then scraped the innards from the skin to use just the soft insides of the chiles to prevent any bitterness from entering the pot  (this is serious business folks!).  In years past, I have been the sous-chef, but luckily John has dropped my role from the chili preparation, so I could just eat cheese and drink champagne (see post below).  Once the chiles were extracted from the skin he grinded them with fresh bell peppers and roasted garlic in the blender.  At the same time, he individually cooked the tri-tip with masa harina so the meat was browned before the chiles and wine was added.  This mixture cooked for three hours and was then served with aged cheddar, avocado, and scallions.  V Day Chili 2009 was the best I have ever had!

Chiles, chiles, chiles

I  Cheese

For a Valentine's treat I headed over to my favorite cheese shop, Venissimo, to pick up some tasty eats for John and me so we had something to nibble on while we waited for the chili to cook.  I knew we were going to drink some bubbly with the cheese and said so to the woman who was helping me at Venissimo ( as a side note--this must be one of the best jobs around, and I would gladly sacrifice some weekend hours to devote to the cheese shop, in exchange for cheese of course).  A gleam came to her eye and she started pulling out the most delicious selection of French cheeses--a triple cream brie, a hard and swiss-tasting cheese named Comte, a salty blue cheese Saint Agur, and our favorite of the day ewephoria.  Ewephoria tastes like an aged gouda and it was super sweet and delicious, perfect with the elegant bottle of Taittinger champagne we shared.  Talk about true love!

Raclette

On Saturday ( we had a great dining weekend!), my parents had John, me, and his parents over for a traditional Swiss dinner, Raclette.  Now most of us know the most tasty and comforting Swiss dish: fondue.  Raclette is a close second.  Raclette is the name for the grill as well as the cheese used in the dish.  

The dining process works simply: everyone is served some cheese to put in the little drawers to melt, once the cheese melts you pour it out on potatoes. A special bonus of the Raclette is the grill on top of the appliance.   Grilled sausages and vegetables  are also so good with melted Raclette cheese poured over the top of them!  My Mom also served German pickles, gerkins, with the feast for a salty, crunchy contrast.

You don't have to go to Switzerland to experience the wonderful deliciousness of Raclette, you can buy a grill on Amazon or at Sur la Table (this is where I got the picture above).  Raclette cheese is easily available at Trader Joes.  But be warned--it is a stinky cheese--so don't let it sit in your refrigerator for long...

Friday night, date night, at home!

I came home Friday night to John preparing a Friday night surprise dinner...First off, we have oysters on the half shell with champagne.  The oysters were accompanied by three sauces: red wine vinegar with red onions (French style according to John), Tabasco (New Orleans style according to John), and horseradish.  I tried them all, but the New Orleans sauce--not my style--and decided that the best way to eat raw oysters is with red wine vinegar and onions or shallots.  

Second course, centered on one of my favorites, spinach, that was prepared with shiitake mushrooms and a cognac sauce.  John bought four bunches because from past experience one is just not enough, so lucky me we have leftovers.  This was accompanied by scallops prepared simply cooked with salt and pepper--delicious!  The last player on the plate was the pan-fried new potatoes.  These can serve as an side partner to many meals so I copied the recipe below:

Pan-Fried Friday Night Potatoes

Quarter new potatoes (John used baby Yukon Golds) and put in a Dutch oven with olive oil over medium heat for 25 minutes.  Once cooked, add fresh garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and chopped up bacon.  Yum, yum!

Soup's On!!

Chelsea hosted the bookclub this month and per bookclub tradition prepared a wonderful dinner for us girls.  After 9 years, the bookclub has a few "rules": the hostess picks the book (usually), the hostess cooks (or picks-up) a delicious dinner, and then we drink lots of wine, eat wonderful food, and eventually talk a bit about the book.  This month's dinner included a wonderful salad with berries, nuts, and fresh veggies along with two awesome soups.  Chelsea made both the Tomato Basil Soup and the Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch.  They were both healthy, flavorful, and delicious.  I am hoping to post the Tomato Basil recipe below (once I get it--hint, hint) and the Chicken Noodle recipe can be found in the Hungry Girl recipe book.  According to the website, the Hungry Girl philosophy is to eat delicious food that is healthy and low or no carb. This requires some smart ingredient substitutes.  For example, instead of wheat noodles the soup had soy noodles.  These were delicious and much more healthy than the carb-loaded regular noodles.  For Hungry Girl soup recipes click here.  Hungry Girl also suggests using pumpkin as a replacement for eggs and oil in baking.  Chelsea employed this trick successfully for her peanut butter brownies, which were super gooey and rich.  Thanks, Chels, for introducing me to Hungry Girl and for making a delicious dinner for us Hungry Girls!