Category Archives: Dinner

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.