Today I baked. Mika wanted me to make brownies from scratch, and as I'd never made them, I decided to give it a shot. I used this recipe from epicurious.com, which had gotten great reviews. The recipe was for a 9"-square baking pan - but who has a 9" baking pan? The two standard ones pyrex ones I have are 8X8 and 9X13. So I decided to use the 8X8 one instead.

I should have used less batter. As it was, the brownies rose a lot and were undercooked - they were pretty crispy on the top but still wet in the middle. They were pretty good, I thought, though I still like Trader Joe's brownies better. The girls didn't like them. I'm actually happy about that, as I had no idea just how bad brownies are. They are pretty much sugar and fat. I don't think I'll make them again. I should say that these brownies are particularly rich, so you wouldn't want to eat more than a little bit anyway.

A couple of days ago Mika said she wanted to make pizza - from scratch. I was resistant at first, but I figured, what the heck, I can try it - so I did today. Needless to say that Mika's enthusiasm for the pizza was all gone, and she didn't help at all. And as the only topping she likes is cheese, she wasn't even excited about putting toppings on the pizza.

To make the dough I used this recipe, which had also gotten pretty good reviews. I'd never made pizza dough before - my only experience with pizza had been using the pizza dough you can buy at Trader Joe's. But, making it from scratch gave me the opportunity to use the hook attachment on my mixer, which had been rather useless until now.

The dough itself wasn't hard to make, just a matter of mixing the ingredients. I was amazed to see that it actually rose - my aunt used to make pizza when I was a kid, and she often complained that it didn't rise. But we are in summer, and it's pretty warm here, so I'm sure that helped.

The problem was working with the dough. It was so hard to get it to not stick to the working surface and my hand. Turning it was impossible, stretching it just as hard. *sigh* These, btw, were the same problems I'd had with TJ's pizza dough, so my technique may just be terrible.

In any case, I finally sort of stretched it and made the pizza.

For the sauce I used this recipe, also from epicurious.com, which basically consisted of simmering a can of crushed tomatoes with a little olive oil for an hour, and then seasoning with salt. I was surprised at how good it actually was.

But the results - the dough, the sauce, the cheese (I made a mozzarella only pizza) weren't great. I thought the dough tasted pretty good, but the problem was that the taste of both the dough and the sauce completely overwhelmed the cheese. You couldn't taste it at all. Now, mozzarella is a very light-tasting cheese, so I understand that, but all pizza-places manage to make mozzarella pizzas that taste much better.

Oh well. I've learned my lesson, from now on, I'll order in.

A couple of nights ago I made balsamic-glazed sirloin steak from a recipe from epicurious.com. Mike thought it was quite good, but I didn't like it. I thought it lacked flavor, and it wasn't very tasty - despite all the good ingredients in the marinade. It was also not as tender as the steak I'd made a couple of nights before, despite being pretty much the same type of steak. I wouldn't make it again.

So, you ask, why blog about it? Well, it's so if I come across the recipe again, and I'm tempted by it, I can do a search on my blog and find that I didn't like it the first time around :-)

For the last few years, I have been celebrating my birthday with a Free Form Games murder mystery role-playing game. This year I chose their newest addition, Lei'd to Rest, which takes place during a luau in a Hawaiian beach. There was no question that I'd have to make Hawaiian food for dinner, and fortunately there is no lack of online resources as to what to cook for a home-made luau. The menu consisted of the following - recipes and comments are below:

• Kalua Pig
• Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs
• Macaroni Salad
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• Mai Tais
• Luau Punch

A couple of nights ago I made this recipe for braised bbq spareribs. I thought it was OK - Mike really liked it.

I was happy to find the recipe because it's winter and I don't want to have to BBQ outside - most recipes for ribs require a grill. IT was also extremely simple to make.

I cooked them for a little over 1 1/2 hours, they probably needed more time. They weren't as tender as I would have liked and they were still a little pink. I coated them with E&J's BBQ sauce which, IMHO, is the most delicious BBQ sauce out there.

In all, I may try to make them again, but I might also look for another recipe.

I made this recipe for braised lamb shanks today - a dish very similar to oso bucco. It was pretty good, the shanks were succulent and fall-of-the-bone (even though I cooked them under 2 hours, rather than the 2 1/2-3 the recipe called for). The sauce was pretty nice, but nothing outstanding. I'd probably look for a new recipe next time.

I served it with whole wheat couscous and steamed broccoli.

I finished my "A" cuisines several years ago, only to later find out that I had neglected to cook any Azorean food (the Azores are little islands that belong to Portugal). There is a whole website online dedicated to Azorean recipes, but I wasn't really inspired by them. I did find a very good recipe for chicken with wine, which was all I cooked for my Azorean menu.

Country style pork ribs are almost always on sale, but I never buy them because I never know what to make with them (other than carnitas). This time I figured I'd look for a recipe before I went to the supermarket. This recipe for saucy country-style oven ribs from epicurious got great reviews and seemed relatively easy to make. It was, but the results weren't really my cup of tea.

Like some of the reviewers suggested I only boiled the ribs for 15 minutes, and they were pretty tender (though not forked tender) when they were done. I also cooked them in my braising pan, rather than a baking pan, I'm not sure how much of a difference that would have made.

My problem, however, was with the sauce, not the ribs. It was just too tangy for my taste. It wasn't too overwhelmingly tangy, but I just prefer less tangy flavors. Mike, on the other hand, liked it. But as I'm the one cooking, I wouldn't make it again.

I made this recipe for honey and vinegar-braised short ribs a few days ago (sorry, no pictures). I really love short ribs and I'm hoping to find the definitive braised short ribs recipe some time soon. Unfortunately this was not it. The sauce was very good - and there was a lot of it, even though I had decreased the recipe by 1/3rd, but it wasn't out of this world. It also didn't really infuse the ribs with enough flavor. All in all, I liked it - but not as much as other recipes. I probably won't make it again - and will continue my search for the best braised short rib recipe ever. If you think you have one, LET ME KNOW!.

Safeway has been periodically having tri-tip roast on sale for something like $3-4 a lb. Pretty cheap, all in all. It's not the tastiest of cuts, specially the Safeway brand which emphasizes tenderness over flavor, so I looked for a recipe that would infuse some flavor in it. This recipe for Hoisin-Marinated Tri-Tip Roast sounded pretty good and it got good reviews. Alas, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. The outside of the meat was nicely caramelized and very tasty, but the flavor didn't make it all the way through. I don't think I'd bother making it again.

Last night I threw my annual Halloween party - a smallish event (as I have a small house) for both kids and adults. I was originally thinking of making a Creole menu - but then my friend Arthur asked me to make empanadas, my signature dish. Arthur is moving away (darn him!) so I figured I'd owed it to him. That meant changing my menu, which wasn't that big a deal, as I recycled many old favorites. I served.

-Tortilla chips with guacamole (storebought)
-Deviled eggs (Mike's favorites)
-Meat empandas
-Chicken Satay
-Chocolate chocolate chip cookies
-Pumpkin pie (from Costco)
-Spider cake

The menu wasn't very Halloweenish, but I wasn't inspired this year. The food, however, was great. Mike loved the deviled eggs and was happy to have some leftover for today. The meat empanadas received raves - specially from Arthur. I was very happy with the chicken satay. I changed the recipe a little bit because I remembered that last time the sauce had been too spicy to eat. I used 1 Tbsp of red curry paste in the peanut sauce instead of the 3 I originally had written in the recipe - and 1 1/2 tsp of red curry sauce in the chicken marinade instead of 2. It was great, the chicken was only slightly spicy and the sauce was restaurant-quality. I'm going to modify my recipe to show this.

The cookies were pretty good, not spectacular but child friendly. I think next time I'd try another recipe, though, just to see if I can find something even better.

The cake turned out just like the one in the picture. Once again I used a bunt cake from Lucky's (old Albertsons), good n'plenty's cut in two for the eyes and a pink full good n'plenty for the nose. Kids loved it.

For drink we had water, coke, Tropical punch and wine. I don't know what the first few bottles we had were (people brought them with them), but the latest was a 2005 Virgin Vines California shiraz which my friend Alistair in particular liked very much. I'm not one for Shiraz in general, but this one was very nice - even though it came with a screw cap (a la Australian wines). I'm pretty amazed that Virgin has gotten into wines as well, they seem bent on getting into every industry. In any case we enjoyed it.

The party went very well, we had as many adults and children as our house could accommodate and the kids seem to have a great time running around and playing. I was really surprise how 12 kids could not only fit in our house, but play so well together. Hurray for little kids!

Some times mistakes can turn up well. Last Monday I went to the supermarket with my shopping list, which was supposed to include 2 1/4 lbs. of sweet onions for a Calabrian onion soup I meant to make. Alas, I wrote 2 1/4 lbs of sweet peppers instead - an easy mistake to make given that I had peppers on my mind, Calabrian cuisine uses a lot of peppers. I didn't buy 2 1/4 lbs of sweet peppers because that seemed like a lot, peppers don't weigh that much. I saw a little bag of small sweet peppers, though, and decided to buy those instead. When I got home I realized my mistake, and I was left with the problem of what to do with the peppers.

Amazingly enough, I couldn't find any recipes for baby sweet peppers - other than stuffed peppers, which I wasn't crazy about. So I thought and thought and decided to go with what I knew, and make this recipe for pollo al chilindron or chicken with peppers. I didn't do it exactly like last time, I didn't use green peppers, both because I didn't have any and because I thought that would make it too spicy for the kids (not that I should have bothered, as they didn't eat any). The results were pretty good, however. It wasn't delicious, but it was homey and satisfying, comfort food. I ate the sauce with bread and it was very good.

Last night I made Coq au vin, a favorite recipe of mine. I got that recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, and I'm not sure how authentic it is. When I've had coq au vin at restaurants, the sauce has been more bitter and more liquid. However, it's absolutely delicious (if incredibly fattening), and I'd recommend it as a special treat.

My sister Kathy came to visit us this weekend. Her birthday is on Monday, so we decided to celebrate it while she was here. She wanted a special dinner, and I told her I'd cook anything she wanted me to (except for Beef Wellington, I just couldn't commit to that). She chose this recipe for Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze that I had made before. I decided that I wanted to braise with wine instead, so went to epicurious and found this recipe which sounded pretty good. It was! Restaurant quality I would say.

I did use 3 1/2 tablespoons of the herb mixture on the ribs. I considered putting the rest of the mixture on the pot (I think there must be another use for the mixture or they wouldn't ask to make so much), but ultimately didn't. Not sure if it'd have made a difference. I also didn't put the vegetables on the blender after cooking. I'd already messed up enough plates and I didn't have to have more dishes to wash (we don't have a dishwasher). The sauce was a little chunky but still delicious.

In all, I'd make this recipe again in a heartbeat.

I served it with mashed potatoes, and, before the meal, my Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette, which is delicious and a favorite of Kathy. For dessert we had birthday cake.

I made this 1956 recipe for Rosemary chicken a few nights ago. I rotisseried the chicken rather than roasting it, which meant I couldn't really baste it during the cooking process. It was fine. Mike really liked the flavor of the chicken, though it was too mild for my taste. The skin tasted great, but it wasn't crispy enough. I don't think I'd make it again.

Last night I made this recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Marsala Sauce. It was very good, though the sauce was pretty similar to the chicken marsala one I made a couple of weeks back. That one was absolutely delicious, while this one was just quite good. I'm not the biggest fan of pork, so I'm not sure I'll make this exact recipe again, but it's worth making at least once.

Tonight I made chicken with prosciutto, rosemary, and white wine, from an epicurious.com recipe. It was delicious. The sauce was intense, with bold flavors, and went great with the chicken. The chicken, by itself, was plain enough that my kids would eat it.

It was also fairly easy to make, all I had to chop was the prosciuto, the garlic and the rosemary (no onions). Definitely a keeper.

A couple of nights ago I decided to make pork chops and apple sauce. Truth be said, I wanted to make something with pork chops, because they are always on sale at Safeway (of course, that one day it turned out they didn't have any on sale, but that's just my luck). I looked for a recipe in epicurious and came up with this one. I know that pork chops and apple sauce are an American classic, and I haven't really cooked classic American food despite living here. It also appears that there is a classic Brady Bunch shtick on this dish that makes people laugh. The food, however, did not. This Epicurious.com recipe was delicious and quite simple to make. Apparently the key is in marinating the pork chops, I assume to somewhat brine them and make them softer. My only problem with the recipe is that the breading stack to the pan, and as the breading was the best part, we missed it on the chops.

Friday night I made a Bahraini stuffed leg of lamb for dinner. I messed up on the lamb - it came out too chewy - but the stuffing was great, albeit too scant for how good it was.

Recipe at here.

Last night we went to the San Leandro Historical Society's BBQ. Mike has become a real San Leandro history buff and he wanted us to join. They provided the hot dogs (which btw, were very good) and we were all asked to bring a side dish or a dessert. Now, my first instinct was to buy some dessert at the supermarket. I'm not really one for cooking for potlucks. But Mike wanted me to make my Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette, and I complied. This is really one of the best salads I've ever eaten and the one I make when I'm called to produce a salad.

It's also an incredibly expensive salad. This time we had to go to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients - saved for the raspberry vinegar - and it cost us about $20. Pretty shocking, I thought.

Still, it's really good. Next time I make it, though, I'm going to decrease the olive oil by a 1/4 cup - have 3/4 cups of EVOO rather than 1 cup. I think it was a bit too soggy as it was (but it tasted so good!).

I was happy I brought it to the event as apparently most of the ladies are bakers, so there were a plethora of desserts but mine was the only green salad. I tried the pineapple upside down cake, the applie pie and the peanut butter cookies and they were all excellent. Those ladies are really good bakers.

I can't make it tonight :( I forgot I had to take Camila to swimming lessons and it won't give me enough time. I guess I'll make it Friday, but meanwhile, what do I feed everyone tonight?

It's been a long time since I've made anything from my international cooking project. In this project I cook food from around the world alphabetically. Alas, I've been stuck in "B" for about 5 years, which is very depressing. Part of the problem, the main part, is that I insist on making full-menus - with appetizers, entrees and desserts - and that I usually reserve these for dinner parties. If I'm going to make a formal menu, it'd be great if others could enjoy it. But Mike and I have been so busy since the kids were born, and of more importance lately, since he was elected to the School Board, that we no longer have time to entertain. Indeed, I'll be having friends for dinner this weekend and I'll be making a Brazilian menu (does anyone have a suggestion for an appetizer that will go with a feiojada?) , but that's the first time in over 6 months.

So I've decided to start making these dishes nightly. I may not hit all the courses anymore, - but then again, the Western division of dishes into courses does not always suit other cuisines anyway - but at least I'll make some progress.

Last night I made a Burmese Beef and Potato Curry. It wasn't great, but it was good, comfort food. I didn't start by liking it, but it grew on me to the point that I ate all of the curry :) I served it with TJ's frozen naan bread, which I thought was pretty good (even if I let it get a little crispy while I was busy doing other things).

I served it with leftover chianti, and it didn't go very well with it. It basically stole away the flavors from the wine.

Tonight on the menu: Bahraini stuffed leg of lamb.

That's it! I can't cook Indian food. No matter how much I try, I always seem to fail. It's a pity because I love Indian food, specially the one served at restaurants in California. I could eat the food from Favorite India every day.

This time I made balti lamb tikka, lamb marinated on yogurt with chili powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, garlic, cilantro and tomato paste. It was a failure. Edible, don't get me wrong, but in no way good. The recipe came from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook, which my brother and sister in law got me for Xmas a couple of years ago. I don't think I'd used it more than once before.

Perhaps it's my choice of recipes, perhaps it's my technique, perhaps I'm just doomed. But I think I will keep trying.

I know it's late, but I'm finally blogging about my Thanksgiving 2006 meal. As you may recall I wanted to make something not too traditional as Lola and Ignatius were coming after they had already a traditional meal at their family's. But while the menu kind of worked out, the timing didn't. I was a bit early with the cooking - though not with the putting the kids to sleep - so by the time Lola and Iggy arrived we were pretty much all packed up. Oh well, they got to enjoy dessert.

Anyway, the menu went pretty much according to plan. I didn't serve the bread with any of the dips - it was just us and I was too busy cooking, so we went straight to the main dish:

Braised Whole Chicken with Bread Stuffing and Bacon. As I say in the recipe, it was quite good though I managed to cook the damn thing upside down. Kids liked it, we liked it.

Zuni's Mashed Potatoes. I didn't use buttermilk, just cream, and they were delicious - but they did turn cold too quickly. I'm making them again for Xmas and this time I think I'll use the buttermilk.

Chevy's Corn Tomalito. It was good, but it had too high a corn kenel to pudding ratio. Next time I'd use half as much, I might also use a bit more sugar. Note that there are two tomalito recipes going around, I used this one - the one that uses butter and is cooked in the oven.

Green Bean Casserole. I wanted to make this as it's such a traditional Thanksgiving dish and Mike said he liked it. Well, he didn't really like my version. Perhaps it was 'cause I used fresh green beans, steamed, instead of canned ones. In any case, I doubt I'll make it again.

Apple Pie. I use commercial crusts (which didn't prove that good this time) and I toss sliced peeled apples, cinnamon, sugar and a pinch of ground cloves.

Store bought pumpkin pie.

That was it, we enjoyed most of it and had a great time together - even if it took me all day to cook :)

I have been so busy with work, SLCAN and Mike's Campaign - not to mention the girls and trying to keep up with the home, that I haven't really have much in the way of time to cook regular food, much less international food. But by sheduling it over a month in advance, I managed to get an evening for a meal with our (new) friends Parker & Donovan. I made Bosnian food, and once again I was quite surprised at how good it was. Their kofta-like meatballs, seasoned only with salt, pepper and Hungarian paprika, were particularly delicious.

The menu and recipes will be up on my website as soon as I can manage the time.

Yesterday, for once in a blew moon, our Sunday was not booked (saved for an early morning meeting at Zocalo, where I enjoyed a chocolate croissant if you want to know), so I suggested to Mike that we have friends over for some Zachary's. We hadn't had some in a while, and, you have to admit it, their pizza is phenomenal. Instantly we thought of Eddie and Arthur, given that they're out "last minute dinner friends;" this is not to say that we don't have dinner with them on other occasions, but they're often game for a last minute meal.

Alas, we didn't have a good connection when we were talking on the phone - and I think my accent is getting thicker, people keep asking me to repeat myself - so Eddie understood "daiquiris" instead of "Zachary's;" by the time we clarified the confusion Eddie had a craving for daiquiris and Mike for Zachary's - so we ended up getting both.

Zachary's - one chorizo, one extra cheese - was as good as usual, and surprisingly warm by the time Mike got it home. It helped that we were all ready to eat by then. The daiquiris were also very good, even though they came from a frozen mix - much better than the second batch Arthur made, this time using frozen strawberries.

So we had Zachary's and daiquiris, and a great evening seeing friends.

The meal was specially good as our food prospects for the week sound dire. We have meetings tonight, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm thinking of having a date on Friday - it's been a while. So tonight we'll probably have some frozen ravioli and no ideas what I'll have the other nights. Something VERY quick - as I've discovered that I just cannot have Camila in the kitchen while I cook. Yesterday she burned herself with the George Foreman. :(

anyway, happy cooking or eating out :)

Last week was my birthday - and this year I decided to celebrate it thrice. I had a "Murder Mystery Birthday party" the Saturday before, a pizza & cake party the evening of, and a tea party the Saturday following it. Plus my friend Regina took me out for brunch the day after the first party. Cool birthday week :)

The murder mystery we played for the first party was Free Form Game's Curse of the Pharaoh, a role playing game situated in Egypt in the late 19th century. I didn't really want to serve an Egyptian menu - I lived for a year in Egypt and I wasn't terribly fond of the food - but I still wanted to keep with the Middle Eastern theme - while keeping things as easy as possible. So I served an array of spreads: flavored hummus and Tahina sauce from Trader Joe's, leftover bulgarian red-pepper and eggplant spreads, homemade cucumber-yogurt salad (salt diced cucumber and let it drain, mix with plain yogurt, crumbled dried or fresh mint, chopped garlic, season with salt & pepper) and pita bread. I also added some stuffed olives, also from TJ's. For dinner I made my famous Chicken Tagine with honey and apricots. This is a relatively simple dish to make and it's absolutely delicious. It also escales well (I doubled the recipe to serve 13, and we probably had enough food left over for 4), it's exotic yet accessible and works great for company. People loved it. I served it with buttered couscous.

For dessert there was birthday cake - a little chocolate & almond cake from Just Desserts I got at Costco. It was $15 - the same price as their larger chocolate cakes (which I was going to get before I saw these ones) - and much, much better. The cake was quite moist and very rich, and it fed 13 of us with several leftover slices. I served it with vanilla ice cream.

In all, the food was excellent, the game a lot of fun, and the company couldn't have been better.

Thank you Mike for organizing it, and Regina, Lola, Iggy, Vienna, Frank, Victoria, Geoffrey, Penelope, Ramiro, Desiree and Grant for coming and making it possible!

---

The day of my birthday I had a small party to which a few friends who couldn't make it to the mystery party came. I got stuffed pizzas from Zacchary's, which are, of course, my favorite. This time I ordered a Mediterranean pizza for the vegetarians among us and it was quite good - it has feta cheese, artichoke hearts, olives and peppers. Of course, I got a cheese one for the kids and a chorizo one for the meat lovers among us. We were all in cheese heaven.

I also made my mixed greens salad and I actually ate quite a bit of it :)

For dessert I got a Safeway three-mousse cake. I've gotten this cake several times before and it's always a crowd pleaser. Nobody can believe it actually comes from Safeway. It's also about $15 and it feeds 12 quite easily (it's also rich so you don't need to serve huge slices).

In all I had a great time, and I was quite happy to be able to share this time with friends.

--

Finally, last Saturday I went to tea with my usual gang of friends, though this time Boris also joined us. We went to the Garden Court at the Palace Hotel and, of course, I had a great time. I already wrote a review which is waiting Mike's editing but in summary the place was beautiful, the food was amazing, the teas were high quality, but the service was rushed and we felt unwelcomed to linger. That's too bad as otherwise it could have been a superb experience.

Afterwards we went to the Ferry building and tried some olive oils. I was too full to try anything else, though Charlotte actually managed to eat a whole hotdog! It was a nice afternoon.

Now my birthday is over, but Sunday is mother's day so I still have something to look forward to :)

A few weeks ago we had our friends Victoria and Geoffrey over for dinner and I made a Bulgarian meal. I had never cooked Bulgarian food before (thus this project) and I was pleasantly surprised. It was much better than I thought it could be. I was very surprised to find out that Bulgarian food has quite in common with Californian food, in particular its emphasis on local, fresh and seasonal ingredients. Bulgarians are particularly fond of vegetables, and its cuisine (which is a relative of both Balkan and Ottoman cuisine) features many vegetarian main dishes. As I have several semi-vegetarian friends, it's good to know where I can find recipes they may like.

My menu and comments are available at http://www.marga.org/food/int/bulgaria/

During my trip to Rockridge earlier this week I picked up some rabbit at Enzo's Meat and Poultry shop. It was then time to look for a recipe, and as usual Epicurious came to the rescue. Even though I now own a gazillon cookbooks, I often resort to Epicurious as their recipes are user-reviewed and this one for Rabbit with Mustard Sauce got good reviews.

It was great. The rabbit itself wasn't that wonderful - but then again, I seldom find rabbit meat to be that flavorful by itself - but the sauce was delicious. It was also fairly simple to make and calls for few ingredients. I think next time I'll make it with chicken instead, however - and I'll definitely make it again!

My friend Desiree turned 34 last weekend and she celebrated by inviting us to dinner at her house. She made a delicious and gorgeous Cuban menu and I thought it should be immoratlized by pictures. Alas, I was too busy eating so I forgot to photograph the arroz con pollo which was the dinner's main dish.

The girl can bake - not only was the bread gorgeous but also delicious, specially with the soup

The breadpudding was delish

Every time we buy meat at Costco it lasts us 3 dinners, I don't like to freeze meat, so once again we had tri-tip for dinner. This time our dinner menu was:

Grilled Tri-Tip with Blue Cheese Butter
Truffled Mashed Potatoes
Grilled Asparagus

To make the blue cheese butter mix softened butter with blue cheese and some chopped garlic (I used the blender to mix it well). Put on wax paper, roll and refrigerate until it hardens. Slice it and serve on top of the meat.

The blue cheese butter worked well with the asparagus as well. To prepare them I washed & dried them and tossed with olive oil and chopped garlic. Grill for about 4 minutes.

To make the mashed potatoes I boiled three peeled and quartered Russet potatoes. I mashed them and mixed with a couple of tablespoons of leftover creme fraiche, a tablespoon or so of milk and as much truffle oil as I needed to get the desire flavor. I also added some kosher salt.

Once again we had a great dinner.

For dinner tonight we had grilled tri-tip, grilled corn, migas and a celery salad.

Aside from vacío, which you can't get outside of Argentine/Latin butcher shops, tri-tip is my favorite cut to grill. It's flavorful, tender enough and just yummy. I sprinkle it with kosher salt in advance (can also put pepper) and then take it out of the fridge half an hour before we grill it. It's great.

The migas are from an Aragonese recipe. This time I made them just with grapes. The sweetness of the grapes were a nice contrast to the saltiness of the meat - though the whole meal was screaming for some wine, which I hadn't taken to the back yard.

I had a lot of celery to get rid of, and this recipe for celery apple salad dijon seemed like a good way to do it. It was easy, quick and Mike thought it was unusual but good.

In all, it was a great dinner.

A few weeks ago I made a Breton dinner for a few friends and I've finally put up the recipes at:

http://www.marga.org/food/int/brittany

All the food was very, very good - and as soon as it gets cool enough to cook at home again I'm going to make that chicken again.

Saturday night we had our friends Aamani and Kavin over for dinner. Kavin is a vegetarian and, of course, I wanted to make a menu that would be appealing to him. I wanted to integrate the dinner with my international cooking project but, alas, there are not many cuisines that are vegetarian friendly. I consulted my friend Regina, a semi-vegetarian herself, and she suggested Indian, Ethiopian or Mediterranean food. Indeed, she said I could make a vegetable couscous. And that's when lightening struck - couscous, North Africa, Berbers. As I am working (still) on the "b's" this seemed providencial. As it was, I did not have Berber cuisine in my list of cuisines to cook - and even today I'm not sure if there is such a thing as Berber cuisine distinct from North African cuisine - but it was easy enough to add it. After some time searching for recipes online I found enough to make a whole menu.

The food was all delicious, Aamani and Kavin were very impressed and I have a couple of new recipes to incorporate into my repertoire.

You can find my Berber menu at http://www.marga.org/food/int/berber/

Last Sunday night I finally cooked my Bahian dinner - as in food from Bahia, Brazil. I had been planning this meal for a WHOLE year. First, I couldn't find dende or palm oil, an essential ingredient of Bahian cuisine. A friend finally gave me a jar, but I was then missing malagueta peppers which I finally came across in a Latin store in LA. Finally armed with all the ingredients, I set a date for the meal and invited my friends Boris, Vienna and Frank over.

The meal was a great success, the food was excellent and unusual. My friend Vienna is from the Caribbean and she hadn't encountered those types of flavors either. As everything is cooked with palm oil, everything is awfully fatty but I imagine Bahians can get away with it as their protein mostly comes from seafood, which is usually low in saturated fats. The palm oil makes most dishes pretty orange as well.

In all, I'm very pleased with how the meal turned out and you can find the whole menu here.

Next on the menu: I may make some more Bolivian dishes this weekend and I have a Berber meal planned for next week.

My international cooking project has been on hold for several months. A difficult pregnancy and a small baby are not really conductive to entertainment. But I miss it, and I want to get through those damn "B"s so I've planned a couple of international dinners in the next few weeks (Bahian and Berber) and decided to make this "Bolivian" week at the Marga household. Rather than cook a whole Bolivian dinner for my family, however, I