small lamb meatballs

This was a spiced ground lamb mixture that I formed into small meatballs and fried.  I served them with a Greek yogurt dipping sauce for dinner, I think they would make a nice appetizer on little skewers to dip.

homemade burrito comfort food

I make up a dozen of these at a time, then individually wrap and freeze them so a comforting dinner is always readily available.  My filling contains ground pork, ground beef, onions and green chile all spread over refried beans and topped with cheese.  I like to smother them with red chile for serving.  The side of Spanish rice is an old family recipe that has just the right balance of onion, tomato and cumin.

elk pot roast

A lunching companion brought me some game meat from her family so I prepared an elk chuck roast in the slow cooker just as I would a beef pot roast.  Elk is super lean so I used the pan juices to reduce down to a very thick sauce (with red wine) to use as a gravy.

scallops with grapefruit and bacon

Thanks to Food and Wine magazine for this bright entree - I love the tang of grapefruit and capers with the sweetness of scallops and the salty bacon, all held together with a white wine sauce.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/scallops-with-grapefruit-and-bacon

braised chicken in white wine sauce

Chicken thighs are my favorite part - juicy, flavorful dark meat.  Here they are browned and then braised with shallots in a white wine sauce.

lamb meatballs

I have been enjoying my journey with ground lamb. Here we go to the Middle East with some ground lamb meatballs, served with sauteed onions on top. There is Greek yogurt and a chutney-like sauce on the side so you can mix-and-match your bites of meatball, sauce, and pita bread (almost like soft tacos).  Happy Valentine's Day!

tamale and chile

We like to stock up on the big, meaty tamales from El Modelo in Albuquerque. I just thaw them, steam them, and top with my own chile caribe for a winter warm-up meal.