Tried and True

These are things we’ve tried and liked enough to make again. 🙂

SOUP
Carrot Ginger Soup with Lemon (Epicurious)
Alton Brown’s lentil soup
Yellow Split Pea Soup (Epicurious)

 

 

 

 

 

 

SALAD
Salad Nicoise (Epicurious)

MEAT
Sliced Grilled NY Strip on a bed of arugula dressed with lemon-infused olive oil (or a few drops of fresh lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil). Add white beans.
Moroccan Chicken Brochettes, Tomato and Cabbage Tabbouleh from Bon Appetit, July 2014, p 60. Excellent!
Scallops and Leeks with Romesco sauce (adapted from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home)
Arrista alla Porchetta from Molto Mario (p 373)
Rice with roasted cherry tomatoes
Chicken Pot Pie (Epicurious)
Florentine Roast and Polenta (both from Giuliano Bugialli’s The Fine Art of Italian Cooking).
Roast (Sterling Silver Boneless Eye of Round) generally using the Braised Beef Shoulder with Red Wine and Bacon recipe from Daniel Boulud’s Braise, page 2).
Lamb burgers (Bon Appetit, July 2014 p 60).
Zucchini and zucchini blossoms souffle (NY Times)
Grilled chicken (marinated overnight in Stonyfield Farm yogurt, sliced onion, sliced lemon, salt, olive oil). Serve with Basmati rice (made with a “tadik”) and small mixed salad with Mozza lemon vinaigrette.
Venison ragu with pasta (and over rice for the gluten-free guests). I substituted ground venison for the beef sirloin in Giuliano Bugialli’s excellent sugo di carne recipe from The Fine Art of Italian Cooking.
An adjusted version of grilled pork and peaches from NY Times (M used garlic, olive oil, rosemary). This recipe is a terrific discovery, not difficult, and can be modified in many ways.
Polenta with Mushrooms and Soy. Seriously tasty and perfect for a cold night, followed with a salad.

FISH
Cod with curried zucchini (from Mark Bittman’s terrific matrix of white fish 12 ways. This is an incredible resource and every single one of the recipes is excellent.
Salmon (baked, with olive oil, lemon zest, fresh green onions); potatoes (sautéed, with onions); baby romaine with Mozza lemon vinaigrette
Baja Fish Tacos with Southwestern Slaw (Culinary Institute)
Salmon (olive oil, green onions, lemon zest), baked at 350 for 8-10 minutes
Salmon with Fennel and Pernod.  This is one of the BEST recipes from Epicurious and has become one of our favorites. It takes some attention but is well worth the effort. Friends brought a nice Meiomi Pinot Noir that went very well with the dish, which we followed with a baby romaine salad tossed with a white balsamic vinegar and lemon-infused olive oil.
Risotto with bay scallops. Saute scallops in olive oil and butter, set aside. Make risotto, th
en add scallops and frozen peas at the end.
Seared Scallops with Caper Raisin Sauce (we tried it with halibut and it was wonderful.) Asparagus with shallots.
Salmon with cabbage-jicama slaw

PASTA and RICE
Spaghetti Carbonara. This is one of our family’s favorite comfort foods.  We’ve had enough requests for the recipe that I wrote it up and took pics and posted it on my food blog. 🙂
Pasta with tuna and tomatoes. A can of diced tomatoes, a can of tuna in oil, 2-4 T olive oil in a large bowl. A couple hours later, cook the pasta (fusilli, farfalle or penne) and add it. Tasty stuff. Leftovers can be put in a gratin dish and baked at 400 for about 10-15 minutes until there’s a bit of crunch, then drizzled with a bit of fresh olive oil.
Pasta all’Amatriciana (you can make the basic tomato sauce the previous day if you’d li
ke).
Pasta with tuna and tomatoes. A can of diced tomatoes, a can of tuna in oil, 2-4 T olive oil in a large bowl. A couple hours later, cook the pasta (fusilli, farfalle or penne) and add it. Tasty stuff. Leftovers can be put in a gratin dish and baked at 400 for about 10-15 minutes until there’s a bit of crunch, then drizzled with a bit of fresh olive oil. Yum.