wishing you a sweet and flourishing 2014

Here is a strawberry shortcake from last summer, and a shot of the garden in its prime, to remind us all of the goodness of life!

many healthful greens - pasta and salad

I did a bow-tie pasta shape and the sauce included goat cheese, bacon and chard.  The salad was arugula, sliced snap peas, and fresh mozzarella.

trout, potatoes. and dessert - oh my!

Here I have wrapped some trout with bacon and tucked in some herbs so it is all ready for the grill.  We had these delicious creamy chive smashed potatoes as our side dish, then a banana cream pie for dessert (notice that the crust is painted with chocolate!).

Merry Christmas 2013!

The table is set for today's meal:  assorted meat and cheese appetizers, glazed ham, garlic scalloped potatoes, brussels sprouts roasted with bacon and garlic, baby greens with cranberry gorgonzola dressing, rolls, molten chocolate cakes and eggnog ice cream.

a new mouth to feed

My daughter arranged an early Christmas surprise for me - meet Marshamellow, an 8 week old feral rescue:

kale chips, homemade pimento cheese, asian chicken salad

This was my first attempt at making pimento cheese and it was SO tasty.  Here I spread it on toast points (and broiled it) as an appetizer, along with some freshly made kale chips, before enjoying an Asian chicken and cabbage salad.

vegetables and cheese and egg - yummy!

On a base of creamed chard I have a baked egg topped with cheese.  I stuffed and baked a yellow squash too.

memories of garden tomatoes, and a delicious calzone

I just ran across this photo of a meal from July - I had harvested this beautiful tomato and had to make a caprese salad with some fresh mozzarella, basil, oil and balsamic.  That was easy enough to compose while my sausage/pepperoni/ricotta calzone baked.  I just put my favorite fillings into a store bought pizza dough, baked, topped with a marinara sauce.

squash blossom summer memories (lamb too)

When the garden had many squash blossoms, I made a ricotta-squash blossom filling for these delicious tortelli (large tortellini) and topped them with a sage-butter sauce.  The main course pictured here is grilled lemon-thyme lamb chops.

summer memories of corn, kale, manicotti

We grew so much kale this year - I often turned it into addicting kale chips for snacking.  This evening I also made fresh creamed corn to go with our stuffed manicotti.

oven fried shrimp; blueberry pies for dessert

This was an easy (and healthful) way to make a lot of 'fried' shrimp for dinner.  I dredged them in flour, dipped them in whisked egg whites (with a touch of mustard), then a final coating in a mixture of panko, corn flake crumbs, spices, and a touch of oil.  Baked on a rack at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then folks could dip them in their favorite seafood dipping sauce.  I enjoyed making fresh blueberry hand pies for our decadent dessert.

chicken and kale

This is a Chicken Divan casserole, with a raw kale salad for our side dish.

july soup, salad, and dessert

It was much warmer a few months ago when I raided the garden to make a squash blossom soup that included corn and green chile.  Our main course was pork schnitzel with a tomato salad also fresh from the garden.  We also enjoyed a delicious blueberry crumble for dessert.

mini-meat loaf, salad, cake

These 'mini-meat loaves' are a combination of ground beef and lamb, baked up in muffin tins.  Here I served them with a feta sauce and a salad of greens and cucumber.  We saved room for dessert - a chocolate bundt cake with a vanilla glaze.  I always laugh when I think of the bundt cake scene in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

roasted beet salad - pasta with shrimp

Here is a memory from this summer.  I love to stuff and fry squash blossoms - here they are atop a salsa.  I got some golden beets from a farmers market and roasted them for a salad with greens, orange sections, and blue cheese.  Our main course is pasta with shrimp, spinach, and Parmesan shavings.

shrimp tacos, margaritas, and lemon pound cake

I did shrimp (soft) tacos for dinner so we had to have our hand-squeezed margaritas too.  There is also a glazed lemon pound cake for dessert.  Getting your citrus for the day - lime in the drinks and lemon in the dessert.

chicken, asparagus, and a cocktail

I love the color (and taste) of the Watermelon Sidecar cocktail we had with our baked deviled chicken and asparagus/red bell pepper stir fry.

lamb and potatoes

I made an onion-mint sauce to go with this lovely grilled rack of lamb, with pan-sauteed potatoes on the side.

steak and salad

I marinated a flank steak in a chipotle-honey sauce, which then glazed it as it grilled.  Here it is served with one of my new favorite salads (because we grew a lot of kale this year!):  kale with chopped smoked almonds, dates and Parmesan shavings.  I lightly dress it with a vinaigrette that I put on the kale about 20-60 minutes ahead of serving so it softens a bit.

roasted salmon

I had never tried slow and low roasting for salmon before - it was easy and delicious.  The filet was seasoned with lemon, thyme, salt and pepper.  Lining the pan with foil also made for an easy clean up!

scenes from a summer party

I had some friends over for a vegetarian lunch - I put the menu out on a chalkboard and here are some shots of the food.

exceptional fried egg sandwich

This could be breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner with so many flavor layers.  Maple-glazed bacon, Sriracha mayonnaise, arugula, flash-pickled onion all on sandwich roll and topped with a fried egg.  Delicious!

chicken kiev and salad

Mmm - butter and chicken!  To balance the healthfulness, the salad is shaved summer squash with nuts over greens.

smothered pork chops

These have a wonderful onion gravy on top.  I had some squash blossoms in the garden at the time so tempura fried some as our side dish.  Not pictured here - we had some white chocolate chip blondies for dessert.

we do like lamb, we do like beets

Here we have some lamb chops fried in a Milanese-style, accompanied by a sun-dried tomato pesto.  The beets are roasted, then smashed for a final pan-fry and smothered with roasted garlic atop a bed of arugula.

gravy gravy everywhere

I made these veal rollups (roulades) and decided that I must have mashed potatoes, then I must have a creamy gravy, then I must put it all over the plate.

pasta, pesto and poultry

We had a bumper crop of basil this year so I decided to make pesto but added it to ricotta for a creamy pesto sauce for the spaghetti.  I also did a baked version of Buffalo-style chicken wings - spicy!

cajun fish

Living in a land-locked area, sometimes we just get seafood cravings.  Cheaper than a trip to the gulf coast, this dinner was a cajun pan-fried fish topped with shrimp sauce.

spicy stir fry and veggies

I love the nutty, sweet flavors that come out from roasting just about any vegetable.  My basic technique for roasting almost any vegetable is to cut things in about equal sizes, coat lightly with oil, season, and bake at 400 degrees until done and a bit browned.  The garnish on this plate is a bunch of mixed veggies I found while cleaning out the refrigerator - I just roasted them all up.  The main dish is a spicy chicken stir fry that I served over brown rice (I love the convenience of the already cooked and frozen rice at Trader Joe's).

pork, corn and squash

We make a lovely vegetable dish here in New Mexico called calabacitsas - it consists of summer squash, green chile, fresh corn, onion - and maybe a touch of cream.  Here I served it with a pork cordon bleu (just like chicken cordon bleu but made with a pork cutlet).

grilled lamb and creamed spinach

I marinated the lamb chops in a pomegranate-rosemary blend which left a nice glaze after grilling.  Fresh spinach turned into a lovely creamed dish to go with the lamb.

colorful and tasty too!

Take a look at this beautiful blush macaroni and cheese - there is a little bit of tomato paste in the cheese sauce, along with fresh spinach.  I roasted some tomatoes to place on top.

crab cakes and asparagus - light and easy

What more can be said?  The crab cakes were oven baked instead of sauteed.  The asparagus goes great with lemon and some Pecorino Romano shavings.