los angeles food fun

I enjoyed various Farmers Markets while visiting Los Angeles.  While I did enjoy a hot fudge sundae for dinner one night while at Disneyland, there were other memorable meals pictured here.  I had a sushi salad one night, enjoyed pizza and pasta on the patio at Areal in Santa Monica http://arealrestaurant.com/, and mozzarella grazing at Obika  http://www.obikala.com/

rack of lamb

This is such an easy quick dinner - I love to roast up a rack of lamb, this one is served with a mustard shallot sauce.  Add a side salad from whatever vegetables are around and there you have a tasty  dinner on the table quickly.

grilled thai beef salad

I like to head outside to the grill instead of heating up the kitchen in these hot summer months.  I was able to garnish this with some purple basil from the garden.

spring pasta

This one is a sauce of sauteed asparagus, prosciutto, cream and parmesan to go with whatever pasta I had in the pantry at the time.  A great combination of creamy and salty with the fresh springtime sense of asparagus.

shrimp with pancetta and rosemary

With the wonderful garlicky sauce we enjoyed some crusty bread to sop it all up.  From a recent issue of Saveur magazine. http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Gamberi-al-Rosmarino

egg and couscous dinner

I love getting farm fresh eggs.  For this dinner I made a 'nest' of ham, pesto and goat cheese in a ramekin, topped with an egg then baked.  The side dish is Israeli (pearl) couscous cooked up with dried cranberries and topped with chopped pistachios.

a foodie in new york city

Here are some shots from a fantastic few days in midtown Manhatten:  the pasta counter at Eataly  http://eatalyny.com/, a burger from The Shake Shack in Madison Square park
 http://shakeshack.com/, wonderful gnocchi at Caffe Grazie (conveniently by the Metropolitan Museum of Art)  http://www.caffegrazie.com/, and a look at a bread vendor in the amazing food hall at Grand Central Station http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/go/dirlisting.cfm?currcat=2138210767

tropical beef

For this dish I made some coconut rice (rice cooked with coconut milk) and mixed in some macadamia nuts and basil.  This sat under some grilled Maui beef (see the meat section at your local Trader Joe's).  It seemed fitting to garnish it with some fresh mango.  Then I also did some delicious stuffed zucchini cups, topped with a homemade tomato sauce.

stove-top clambake

We don't live anywhere near an ocean, but wanted to kick off the warmer weather with a clambake, so we did it in a big pot on the stove.  Yes, handling the live lobster was like a scene from "Annie Hall".  We just made some lemon-butter dipping sauce to enjoy with the lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, corn, sausage and potatoes. 

international flavors

For this meal I did Chicken Meatball Yakitori (almost cooking the meatballs through before grilling and glazing) along with Roast Cauliflower with Turmeric and Cumin.

lamb chops for a spring dinner

We are having success with growing arugula in a large container in the garden.  For this meal I just pan-seared some lamb chops and made a quick vinaigrette with the pan juices to lightly wilt the arugula.  I also quickly sauteed some snap peas, adding in some of our bountiful garden mint. 

tortilla soup

Here is a look at the pico de gallo base that I used with some homemade stock to make some delicious tortilla soup.  Garnishes include avocado slices and lime. 

spaghetti al vino bianco

This is an interesting way to cook pasta - I cooked it about half-done in boiling salted water and drained it, then the rest of the cooking was done with a small amounts of white wine (risotto-style).  With the addition of fresh spinach, browned pancetta, pine nuts, and plenty of freshly grated cheese this was a fun and tasty experiment.