lamb chops and garlic

I pan seared some lamb chops (cut from a frenched rack of lamb) with a garlic sauce.  I had some leftover creamed spinach to go with them.  Get out a bottle of some fine red wine and enjoy the evening.

spaghetti bolognese

For us this is a bowl of comfort.  Just a homemade classic red meat sauce over good pasta, topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

seafood and spinach

I used a soaked cedar plank to steam clams and shrimp in the oven.  They were served with a green onion mayonnaise and also some creamed fresh spinach on the side.

roasted chicken, and pears

I could use the oven for two purposes:  roasting a chicken (with scallions and white wine) and also baking a maple-glazed pear for dessert.

pork carnitas

I made a batch of oven roasted (low and slow) pork carnitas, then shredded the meat to serve on warm corn tortillas with refried black beans and guacamole.

rack of lamb with red wine sauce

I like to get the 'frenched' racks of lamb that are easily available at Costco or Trader Joes - they are usually about 24 oz. and perfect to feed two of us.  Here I browned the lamb, then roasted it to medium-rare and let it sit about 10 minutes before carving.  The drippings are used to make a red wine-shallot pan sauce.  These are served over some garlic mashed potatoes.

spring holiday dinner

Here is what we enjoyed for Easter:  sweet and spicy glazed pork belly started the meal, then we enjoyed our main course of a roasted asparagus salad with smoked beef tenderloin, pasta with smoked salmon and peas (note the fresh chives from the garden), and garlic/Parmesan rolls.  For dessert we had mixed berries over angel food cake with a limoncello/mascarpone topping.  The mint was just starting to pop up in the yard so we had a tiny fresh garnish too.