I made lamb chops from this epicurious.com recipe last night for the adults, given the lamb chops were on sale at Lucky's for 50% off. I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception of using unfiltered apple /juice/ rather than /cider/ - because I could either get filtered cider or unfiltered juice. The results were quite good, but not spectacular. I'm not sure that there is a spectacular way of preparing lamb chops, though :-) Still, next time I'll try something else.

I made this tonight, from an epicurious.com recipe. I used tri-tip steak instead of tenderloin ($3 lb vs. $11lb at Safeway), and the steak came out very nice, tender enough and tasty. That said, I'll probably not make this recipe again (unless I have some hoisin sauce I need to get rid of), because while good, it wasn't special enough.

Last night I made my first stir fry. Ever. Really.

I had meant to try one before, I had bought the sauces, but for whatever reason I never got to do it. Then a few days ago I found the jars of stir-fry sauce I'd bought at the supermarket (probably over a year ago, they don't have an expiration date, and by God I hope they're still good!), and decided to use them. That's my new plan: either cook international recipes or recipes that use up the ingredients I already have at home. Come to think of it, this is not really a very new plan - and it's not one that works particularly well. Yes, I use up ingredients, but I buy new ones to make the new recipes, so that it becomes a huge food cycle. At least we rarely eat the same thing twice - if that's a good thing.

Anyway, back to my stir fry, I can't believe how easy it was. I sliced some thin-cut pork cutlets (I'd have bought chicken, but it wasn't on sale, and I almost only buy meats on sale now), stir fry them on some oil for a few minutes, I removed them, dumped out the fat, and then stir fried some broccoli, celery and snow peas for a couple of minutes. I returned the pork, added the sauce, and voila! That was it. The results were pretty good. Of course, I only ate the pork, which was a bit tough (I will try chicken next time) and a bit bland (next time I should salt it, rather than rely purely on the sauce), but mostly good. The sauce (Kikkoman Stir-fry Sauce), was very nice - somewhat reminiscent of teriyaki, but not as sweet. It gave a good flavor to both the veggies and the meat. Mike liked that the veggies were still crunchy. Camila ate a tiny bit of pork and broccoli, but she didn't complain later that she was hungry, so I guess that's all she wanted. She hates food with sauces, but I just told her there was no sauce on the pork. She can be pretty clueless sometimes.

Mika didn't eat any of it - she was doing her homework and didn't want to be disturbed by dinner. She ate some grapes (88c lb at Safeway this week!), and I guess that was enough.

Anyway, the moral of this story is that making a stir-fry is very easy, and I should plan to make it again in those nights when I don't have much time to cook. I'll probably try chicken next time, see if it's more tender, but I liked the thin pork cutlets because they had very little fat to get rid of, maintain their shape, and were incredibly easy and quick to slice up. I'll also try new veggies next time (though my kids only like a limited amount of veggies): some mushrooms, some red peppers (for color if nothing else), mini-corn, if I can find it at the supermarket, etc.

My 2008 Christmas Eve Dinner may very well be my last Christmas dinner for a while. I loved the menu and I loved cooking it and serving it and eating it, but it was a two day affair (three, if you count shopping), and it was exhausting. I also spent more time in the kitchen during the meal than I really wanted to. I'm also not sure that it made sense financially - taking my guests to a relatively nice restaurant would have probably been cheaper. But hey, it was a nice experience and the food was great.

This time dinner included Mike and I, our two daughter, my father & sister, and our friends Lola and Ignatius. Great company.

I started by serving a Mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I wanted to use the very expensive balsamic vinegar Mike got me for Xmas last year. The results were very good.

This was followed by Butternut squash soup with cider cream. Apparently my father has not stopped raving to my mother about the soup. Everyone else also said they liked it, and given that Mika (my 6.5 yo) had seconds, I'm inclined to believe them.

The third course consisted of panettini served with Hot artichoke & spinach dip and Mushroom ragout. Everyone loved the dip - I enjoyed the mushrooms. They're both dishes I might make again (the dip definitely if Kathy, my sister, requests it again) - plus I now have a dish for it.

The fourth course was supposed to be Rost Rack of Lamb with Madeira Peppercon Reduction served with Toasted Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Parsley, Roasted cauliflower and steamed broccoli. Alas, I neglected to trim the lamb, and it took much, much, much longer to cook than I imagined. Alas again, by the time I realized that, I had already served the sides - so the couscous turned out to be the fourth course. Fortunately, it was absolutely delicious.

The cauliflower wasn't as successful. I'd cooked it in the toaster oven because I didn't have the main oven was busy with the lamb (and I only have one oven). I removed it when it started to brown, and that apparently was too soon as it was undercooked. I had to throw out most of it.

It took quite a while for the lamb to hit the table, and I did have to cut it in individual chops in order to cook it quicker (which reminds me, I really need a carving knife), but it was absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend serving it on the rare side of medium-rare (as I did by default). It was moist, tender and incredibly flavorful. I did buy it at a good butcher, Enzo's Meat & Poultry's in Rockridge, and at $17lb it was $4-5lb more expensive than the lamb at the supermarket & Costco. But it was domestic, which I wanted, and I think well worth the price. It couldn't have been better.

The sauce, on the other hand, was a complete failure. On the one hand, it would have been a crime to cover the taste of the lamb with any kind of sauce. Really, I should have thought of that. On the other, the sauce itself wasn't that good. I didn't like the briny taste of the peppercorn, and I might have reduced the madeira too much because I thought it was almost bitter. Fortunately, I had the good sense of only putting a little bit on my plate.

Dinner ended with two desserts. I made a Low sugar apple-sauce for my dad, and everyone ended up loving it. It's made with apple juice concentrate instead of sugar - but apples still have a lot of natural sugars, so it's still not the best.

I also made Cornmeal cake with buttermilk ice cream. I don't think this dessert was as popular as the other one, but I personally liked it very much. The cake was sweet and a tad dry, but the ice cream added the moisture it needed. They both definitely compliment each other very much - neither is as good by itself. The buttermilk ice cream was pretty good - it had great consistency, very creamy though dense (and not at all crystally), and its lemony taste is reminiscent of cheesecake. It's definitely a dessert I'd recommend.

I had planned on serving hot chocolate with speculoos, a Belgian spice cookie I'd made the day before. IMHO, the speculoos were great, and the kids themselves loved them - but Lola didn't seem to be very impressed. A couple of people ate one, but most of us were too full from dinner. I did leave some for Santa, who ate at least one :-)

And that was dinner. We had a Treana viognier/marsanne wine with the earlier part of the meal and a Deloach Zinfandel with the latter part. The white was better than the red.-

Last night I threw a Hanukkah dinner and invited my friends Desiree and Charlotte along with their families. It went very well, though I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing latkes. I'm thinking that next year I may prepare them in advance and keep them warm in the oven - while I love the fresh latkes, it did keep me away from the party for most of the evening.

This time I served my famous Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette, to great acclaim as usual. It really is a wonderful salad.

The latkes were from my usual recipe. As usual they were great. I served them with sour cream and apple sauce (homemade by Desiree).

The main dish was Wine-Braised Brisket of Beef with Caramelized Pearl Onions and Dried Apricots. Quite good, and my guests ate almost all of it (either they were very hungry or they really liked it).

For dessert I wanted to make homemade doughnuts, but this simple recipe was a complete failure. The doughnuts were too crispy on the outside, semi-raw on the inside (I do admit this was probably my mistake, it was hard to keep the oil at a constant temperature), and just not very tasty. I gave up and bought regular donuts and the donut store.

This week, I've made a couple of more dishes from my bible, epicurious.com. I did my usual "I have this ingredient, now let's find a recipe that uses it". In this case it was star anise, which I've had for a time, and have now used in three recipes in a week :-)

Monday night I made Vietnamese lemongrass pork. This was a dish similar to the grilled pork served at Vietnamese restaurants. It was quite good, though not really restaurant quality. I think what was missing for me was the grill flavors - I used my George foreman instead. The pork had a subtle lemongrass taste, and the accompanying sauce was very good - but perhaps had one too many tablespoons of fish sauce. I don't feel compel to make this dish again, but then again, I seldom make a dish more than once.

Last night I had Braised Lamb Shanks with Coriander, Fennel, and Star Anise. Often times recipes are the result of evolution, cooks take a dish passed on by others, modify it somewhat, until with each modification it becomes something else. This lamb dish, however, seems to be the sort of dish that has to be specially created and experimented on by a very creative cook. It uses elements from different cuisines to come up with something original.

It was also quite good. The flavors were really different, the pepper and the fennel stood out, but were mollified by the other spices. I wouldn't say that I was in love with it, and like the dish above, I probably won't make it again, but I was definitely glad I made it and ate it, and do look forward to the leftovers. Mika, my 6.5 yo, liked the meat as well.

I served the lamb with an Israeli couscous/orzo/babychickpea mixture from Trader Joe's, and I think the two went very well together.

Chicken with lemongrass sauce from epicurious. Mike liked it, I thought it was OK but I couldn't really get the lemongrass in very small chunks, even though I have a good food processor. And the little lemongrass stalks were pretty unpleasant to chew. I wouldn't make it again.

I made this roast chicken w/ rosemary orange butter recipe last night. Perhaps it would have been good with the sauce, but the vegetables burnt (my fault, I forgot to stir them), so I couldn't make it. Without the sauce the chicken was pretty tasteless. My regular rotisserie chicken is better.

As usual, I'm just recording this so if I come across the recipes again, I will know not to make them.

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!

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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.

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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 decided to try a different dish every other night or so. I started last night by making Picante de Pollo or Spicy chicken, an easy yet very typical dish. I'd been meaning to make it for quite a while, but finding yellow pepper (ají amarillo) wasn't easy. It doesn't seem to be available in any of the Latin stores in this area (though I'm told somewhere in the Bay Area there is a large Chilean community) so I had to wait until I went to LA to get some. Even then, I could only find "sauce" rather than powder kind, so I had to adjust the recipe.

It was OK, I thought it was pretty tasteless myself but Mike was very happy with its chicken flavor. It was a bit too spicy for Mika, though, and I'll probably won't make it again, though I'll certainly eat the leftovers.

I have often written about how rotisseried chicken is one of my favorite meals, none the least of it because it's so easy to make and yet so good. So we have it for dinner probably once every two weeks or so. I used to make my own spice rub, but now I just buy a pre-mixed Cajun rub for greater ease. Last time I made it (Sunday) I used a Safeway organic chicken. At about $2.60 a lb this was almost twice as expensive as their Foster Farms, but organic food is expensive. Mike found it to be particularly juicy, which I'm not sure was a good thing - I didn't think it tasted particularly better than regular chicken. Still, when we can afford it I'll probably buy it.

We served it with snow peas that Mike had bought at the farmer's market, I steamed them, he ate a whole bunch of them.

For dinner tonight I had a carnitas special quesadilla from Taqueria Los Pericos. As usual it was good, large, though I wish they had better quality guacamole.

Last night I made a cheddar cheese fondue from that fondue book I bought at the library sale. It was quite simple, I browned about 1/2 cup of chopped Canadian bacon, added a glass of white wine and 1/2 lb of shredded medium Cheddar mixed with a couple of tablespoons of flour. To that I added 2 tablespoons of Calvados. I served it with fresh sourdough bread, apple slices and sliced, grilled chicken and apple sausages.

The fondue turned out OK, but it was too thin and too alcoholic tasting - if you make it I'd only use 1/2 cup of wine. I also wouldn't bother with the Canadian bacon. It was good with the sausages, but it didn't work at all with the apples.

Some time ago I ran across the website of a Gastronomic Society from the Basque province of Alava. Wednesday night I finally made a recipe from the site, oxtails in red wine sauce. Unfortunately they didn't turn out well. But hey, I have one more "A" in my list of international cuisines.

Last night I made the above mentioned dish, also from the All About Braising cookbook I got from the library (and which I'm going to buy). It was good, though not worth all the trouble. A roasted leg of lamb is just as good (particularly the Armenian Leg of Lamb recipe) and much easier and cheaper to make - so I wouldn't make it again. But we did enjoy it a lot.

It consisted of a boneless leg of lamb stuffed with a mixture of Italian parsley, mint, rosemary (you could also put thyme and/or sage), garlic and shallot, then rolled and tied up and browned on olive oil. The leg was then braised on a mixture of red wine and broth (I used beef, the book called for veal, lamb or chicken broth) with chopped onion and carrots, parsley stems and a little bit of chopped rosemary and mint. The lamb was then sliced and served with a reduction of the braising liquid.

I served it with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes from a box. Fresh mashed potatoes would have been better, but I hate peeling potatoes. When I mentioned that to Mike he told me he actually likes doing it - so in the future I'll make home-made mashed potatoes.

In any case, it was a great dinner. Mika wasn't too enthused by the lamb, but she did eat a lot of green beans :)

Last night we went to our friend Regina's house for dinner. I had gotten her the Les Halles cookbook for Christmas and she made a meal out of that. The main dish was "pot au feu". She had been hesitant to make it as the concept (boiling meats and vegetables together) just didn't sound good. But many people have told her how much they loved the dish so we figured there might be something to it and it was worth trying.

It turned out to be pretty much what we expected, boiled meat and vegetables in a thin broth. It reminded me very much of Argentine puchero, which is pretty much the same thing with a less sophisticated name. The meat was very tender (of course) but pretty insipid, though it was helped by mustard. Iggy liked it, though, probably because he grew up eating boiled foods so there was a comfort element on that. And indeed, my mom used to make puchero for my sister quite often, so she, at least, likes it. The rest of us will skip it next time.

Lola also made some pot-au-creme for dessert and I thought these were really yummy, though they didn't seem to like them as much. To each their own.

A couple of nights ago I made the Lomo de Cerdo al horno con Cebolla & Puerros recipe from the Delicioso Spanish cookbook. It's a very simple recipe from Catalunia, but unfortunatelly it wasn't very good. The pork loin, roasted surrounded by onions and with some white wine, wasn't very flavorful and it was a bit dry. The mixed onions were delicious, however. Still, I won't be making it again.

Christmas Eve dinner was a huge success. All the food I made was simple and easy to make yet delicious. Everyone - not the least me - was impressed.

I put up the menu and recipes already (they are at http://www.marga.org/food/party/xmas04/), as I failed to do it in previous years.

Christmas day we had a frozen lasagna for lunch and then went to the Oriental Tea House for Chinese, we were the only non-Chinese people there!

Yesterday we ate leftovers, and that's what I assume we'll have for lunch as well. For dinner we're taking K. to Chevy's, as that's where she wants to go.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I prepared a (reduced) Thanksgiving feast for our small, nuclear family. Still - cooking for 3 or 7 is not that different and I did spend a fare amount of time in the kitchen. Enough to realize that there is no way I'll be able to cook Xmas dinner next month - when I'll be almost 8 months pregnant.

Dinner came out well, but nowhere near perfect. The problem was clearly that I didn't pay enough attention - pregnancy brain, tiredness, I have tons of excuses. I did leave tons of dirty dishes for Mike to cook, however.

We started with a sweet pumpkin soup, made from a Trader Joe's base I'd previously bought. All you have to do is add some sour cream and milk, and it's very good but very sweet. A jar should be enough for four as an appetizer, as you can't quite handle too much more of the sweetness. Mika liked it and ate quite a bit as well.

Then it was time for the main meal.

I made Roast Turkey with Prosciuto-Hazelnut Crust from this recipe at epicurious.com.

I started by brining the chicken (a free range, organic 12-pounder) in a solution of kosher salt, sugar, dried thyme and bay leaf the night before. Then I rinsed it (note, some of the thyme leaves stuck to the turkey skin), dried it and let it sit in the fridge for several hours before cooking. I cooked it according to instructions, but I wasn't able to baste it as part of my baster was inexplicably missing. I also overcooked it somewhat. I'd checked the turkey and it had been at 172 - when I checked 10 minutes later it had shot up to 180. Clearly I should have taken it out at 172. Live and learn.

The turkey was very good, I found the drumstick a tad too salty but Mike found the breast was fine. It was, however, too dry - though Mike said he expects that from turkey. Still, I wanted something jucier. Mike loved the skin where the butter had been.

The accompanying gravy was rich and thick and tasted quite good, but the bits of meat made its consistency too disconcerting. The recipe didn't call for it, but it should definitely had been filtered. In any case, I wasn't able to palate it - knowing that it was made from the internal organs gave me a case of the willies. This even though I have no problem eating foie gras or pates made out of innards. Oh well, let's blame it on pregnancy.

I made mashed potatoes from the Zuni's cookbook recipe. I'd previously made it and loved it. Once again, they were a big hit - I'll make them again for Xmas and quadruple the recipe. This time they were too lumpy, I didn't spend enough time mashing the potatoes and I should have probably whipped them for longer (I was afraid they'd get gummy - they didn't), but the taste was all there. Oh, and this time I didn't use buttermilk, just whipping cream.

Finally, I made Stove Top stuffing, which I like so much that I never see a need to make any other kind. We made the sourdough kind with salted butter, and I found it a tad too salty - Mike didn't. I had meant to mix it up with grilled chopped apple-chicken sausage, but I totally forgot. Pregnancy brain again.

I had also meant to make green beans, but we left them in the plastic bag overnight and they had mold by then.

For dessert I made an apple pie. I used frozen Marie Callender pie crusts and they were very good, they tasted great in combination with the apple stuffing. They were too thin, however, so it wasn't possible to cut off a piece of pie without having the whole thing disintegrate, and my proportion of apple-stuffing to crust was too high (I used four granny smiths, next time I'll use 3), but the pie was delicious, in particular with some Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. I had meant to make a sugar-free pie, using Splenda instead of sugar, but once I started adding the spleanda to the apples I realized the taste just wasn't there so I used probably twice as much sugar as splenda. My other ingredients were cinamon and a dash of nutmeg and ground cloves.

Today our leftovers are mostly turkey and pie. The pie held up great and Mike said his turkey sandwich (bread, turkey and mayo) was awesome.

When I saw the white stilton with apricots at Trader Joe's I knew I had to try it. I hadn't had white stilton before, but I love blue stilton. White stilton apparently is a younger version of blue stilton to which the blue mold has not been added. I have to say that without the mold it's just not as satisfying. In this version it's mixed with dried apricot pieces. It's good but nothing extraordinary.

The cheese has a light flavor , slightly more pungent and salty than creme cheese. Its natural flavor is almost completely overwhelmed by the sweet apricot, however. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it tastes good, though I'd have preferred a stronger cheese taste. It has a crumbly texture which makes it hard to spread or it by itself, perhaps its best used would be crumbled over a salad or another dish.

I did like the idea of combining apricots with cheese, though, and I think a bagel with cream cheese and apricot preserves would probably be delicious.

Finally, after months and months of planning to cook Bhutanese food, I started doing it. I decided that I will cook 3 dishes in 3 separate nights. Last night we had Kewa Phagsha, spicy pork with potatoes. It wasn't half-bad.

The recipe for it is at http://www.marga.org/food/int/bhutan/pork.html

Alas, I forgot to take a picture of the dish, though it wasn't particularly attractive. Basically large slices of potatoes with small pieces of pork.

Tonight I'm planning on making Ema Datshi, chili & cheese, Bhutan's "national" dish. Nothing that I've read about it makes it sound appetizing, so if it doesn't work out I'll just boil some frozen ravioli.

I had heard about Trader Joe's pizza dough for a while, so during my last TJ trip I bought some of the herbs & garlic one. It's in the refrigerated section, right next to the pizza sauce (which I also bought). Add some pre-shredded quatro formaggio, some pepperoni and fresh pineapple and alas, we have pizza.

Of course, I first needed a pizza stone and I secured one at the new "dd's discount" store that opened in San Leandro. This is basically a Ross store selling cheaper crap - kind of like a McFrugals that concentrates on clothing. But they do have the same type of stuff that Ross has, including some cooking items. I got a Farberware pizza stone for $10. It was not a bargain.

I had washed and let dry the stone as the instructions said, but I found myself without the necessary cornmeal to put under the pizza. The instructions said to not use flour as it would burn, so I decided to just put the pizza on the stone. It wasn't a good idea. As the pizza cooked it merged with the stone and it became impossible to separate it. We basically had to cut through the crust to eat it. It was really good, though now I think I have a useless stone. I don't know if it'll be possible to clean it though I'll try. If I get it clean, I'll certainly will make pizza again and next time I won't skip the cornmeal :)

Ropa Vieja (literally, "old clothing") is an old Cuban recipe used to spruce up leftover meat. I got the recipe from the Frugal Gourmet on our Immigrant Ancestors many years ago, and it has always been one of our favorites. The recipe itself is pretty simple, requiring the cooked meat to simmer with chopped onions, garlic and green peppers in tomato sauce and wine. The only spices are salt and bay leaves. But it's unbelievably delicious.

The dish is quite laborious, however, as you first have cook the meat (unless you have tons of leftover roast around) and then shred it. It shreds easily but it takes quite a long time to do it. Stopping yourself from eating the meat while you shred it is also quite a task.

I usually serve Ropa Vieja with rice, but this time I served it with quinoa. I wanted to try it. We weren't too impressed. The package instructions - cook it in a rice cooker with twice as much water as quinoa - made for a soupy mess. next time I wouldn't use more than 1 1/2 xs water. I don't think we liked the slightly nutty/bitter taste of the quinoa, though it did grow on us. Perhaps it will be better with other types of sauces. I still have some more, so I'll probably make it again.

I love milanesas. They're not very healthy and they're a bit of a pain to make (or rather, to clean up after), but they are soooo good.

Last night I made them with some very thin meat from Safeway I didn't even need to beat up. The empanadas were extremely tender and wonderful in thin slices of sourdough bread with lemon juice, tomato slices and baby spinach. Yummmm.

Recipe

Kathy wanted meat with sauce and I decided on making a beef stroganoff. I've made one years ago without great success, then had a great one prepared by a Russian friend in Italy so that I can now really tell the difference between good and not-so-good. The recipe I found at allrecipes.com was supposed to be great, it got 5-star ratings, but at least in my hands it ended up being not-so-good. It was edible, all right, but it didn't have much flavor. Maybe I should have used more mustard.

Kathy wanted beef for dinner last night so I decided on this easy marinade recipe. It calls for Italian dressing, Worcestershire sauce & BBQ sauce. I used tri-tip, which is a good grilling cut.

They were OK - Kathy didn't think they were flavorful enough. I think I should have salted the meat before marinating it.

Tonight we are going to Casa Madrid for dinner - I can't wait.

Oftentimes when I ask Mike what he wants for dinner, he tells me "chicken cordon blue". He had no idea what chicken cordon blue was, but it sounded French and complicated and he figured I wouldn't make it. That way, he didn't have to actually think of something I could make for dinner.

Every time he mentions it, I call his bluff, tell him what chicken cordon blue is (for some reason he keeps forgetting) and he backs off from it. Finally, I figured that the best way to finish this routine was to actually make some chicken cordon blue so he could decide for himself whether he wanted it or not. I'm not sure now if that was such a great idea.

Chicken cordon blue (fried chicken breasts stuffed with ham & cheese) has never sounded that appealing to me, it made me think of '50s housewives, but I was determined to find a good recipe. I couldn't find any on epicurious.com, but allrecipes.com had plenty of well-rated cordon blue recipes. I decided on this one not only because it got great reviews, but because it was very simple and it came with a sauce. It was a great choice. The chicken was quite good and the sauce worthy of its many calories.

I diverged from the orginal recipe in a few ways. I used prosciuto instead of ham, Provolone cheese instead of Swiss, and beef bouillon instead of chicken bouillon. I also cooked it for only 20 minutes instead of the required 30 as several reviewers had complained that the chicken was too dry. The chicken was fully cooked after 20 minutes so it didn't require any extra time.

This dish is actually good enough that you could serve to company.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 slices Provolone cheese
4 slices Prosciuto
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. paprika
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp. chicken or beef bouillon granules
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are very thin. Place a slice of cheese and prosciuto on each breast. Fold over and fasten with toothpicks. Mix the flour with the paprika. Dust the breasts with the flour mixture.

In a large skillet melt the butter. Brown the chicken breasts on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until done.

Remove the chicken from the pot and keep warm. Mix the whipping cream with the cornstarch. Whisk gradually into the simmering sauce. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Monday night I made braised lamb shanks with caramelized onions from this Epicurious recipe. They smelled wonderfully but tasted flat. I think next time I make lamb shanks I may use the Zuni Cafe recipe for braised oxtails.

Tonight for dinner I made Estofado de Vaca Aragonés from the Delicioso cookbook. It was pretty good though not special enough to merit making again. Of course, I let it dry out in the pot which may have decreased the flavor. It was very tempting, though.

According to the book, this traditional Aragonese stew has been made in the same way since the middle ages. It's interesting because it has a definite Middle Eastern taste to it - though it's not sweet, as a similar Middle Eastern dish might be.