I Really Should Make This More Often

I made chicken marsala last night for the first time in years. I recall that my last attempt involved a lot of measuring and worrying about cooking times, which is kind of a downer, even if the results are good.

This time, I reviewed a couple of chicken marsala recipies, got the jist, and walked away from the books. I did what made sense based upon what I've learned from spending so much time in the kitchen lately - and it worked fabulously! It was quick, easy, painless and delicious. And, gosh, I like egg noodles!


I have found it is very difficult to take photos of food with a flash, which is really my only option when making dinner after 7pm. It always looks weird, and I'm way too hungry at that point to even think about using a tripod. Thus, my very stark-looking food pics.

Never Again. Probably.

I was SO excited to make my first rack of lamb for Easter dinner. I even discussed my plan of attack with a culinary instructor (I took a pasta-making class on Saturday) who had some great suggestions. I was ready, I thought. But each step of my plan introduced a completely unexpected hurdle:

1. Trimming the lamb of fat made it start to separate from the "rack." This scared me. The rack is kind of important here, right?

2. How do you sear a piece of meat that doesn't come in good contact with the pan - there's a rack in the way!?

3. The most frustrating part: once I decided the lamb was done roasting and resting, I went to cut the rack into rib sections. There was a bony part that ran all the way across the rack that was nearly impossible to cut through. I managed to cut through a few, carefully avoiding my fingers, and undoubtedly dulling my newly sharpened knife. Very frustrating.

4. I created a tasty crusty coating for my lamb (carmelized shallots, bread crumbs, and thyme a la Sara Molten) that was scarcely present on the cut lamb since there's hardly any meat on the little things!

The meat was flavorful and tender, but this, I've decided, is a meal best left to great restaurants.

My pea polenta, on the other hand, came out quite good, as did the roasted acorn squash. Maybe *leg* of lamb next year?

Brown Eggs Are Local Eggs...

...but they aren't quite right for Easter egg dying. Perfect for turning into egg salad for Easter lunch, though!



I used, for the first time, a new hard-boiled egg recipe that resulted in both yellow (and not gray-green) yolks and mostly easy-to-peel shells: Cover fresh eggs in cold water with a teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil, turn down the heat a bit, cover and cook for 13 minutes, followed by an ice bath (I ran mine under cold water in the sink for a while). Worked quite well!

Look, Ma! No silverware!

Hmmm. Not much flavor, either.

I really wanted to make nice chilled fresh summer rolls with shrimp and basil. Unfortunately, I had gathered all but one important ingredient at Stop&Shop this weekend when I learned that they did not carry that last ingredient - the summer roll rice wrapper. Kind of important... I couldn't put all of the other stuff back, so I improvised, deciding upon baked shrimp eggrolls and chicken lettuce wraps.

The lettuce wraps were OK. However, you can't bake eggroll wrappers: they're little square sheets of pasta, so to me, there were parts that tasted like the edges of an overdone lasagna. I really have to get over my fear of deep frying...right after I buy a fire extinguisher.

Pest-o-Rama

I was thrilled yesterday to make my very first homemade pesto. Another of Giada's recipes, it was a citrus pesto with lemon and orange zest/juice, pine nuts, basil, garlic, and parmesan. It came out great (and I got to use my fabulous food processor!), and I served it atop pan fried tilapia accompanied by roasted asparagus with lemon zest and shallots.

What My Mom Made

Huge thanks to my super-creative, crafty, skilled mom who made us a beautiful Japanese-inspired "Bento Box" wall quilt for our living room! We love it!

Pile o' Pilfered Pods

Oh, how I like extra salty steamed edamame! Finally, I found some (at Whole Foods) and got to cook them and share with John the fun (and thirst) that comes along with this super healthy food. (Was too hungry to take a photo pre-consumption...)

Kristy's Baby Shower Invite

My cousin's baby shower is in April, and she is planning a jungle decorating theme for the nursery (based upon a style currently available at Target). I decided to match her chosen theme as I designed the invitations to her shower, using fun paper from the Paper Source (from which I created the little elephant illustration).


A close-up:

See, this blog's not all food!

Pseudo-Dolma

One of my fondest memories from a trip to Turkey (twelve years ago now!) involved the discovery of dolma: homemade dolma, specifically, created by someone who spoke no English so there was no chance of getting the recipe. (It should be mentioned that, at that time, I didn't know how to turn on an oven so it never entered my mind to ask.) Stuffed peppers and tomatoes with a delicious tomato-based sauce, ground meat (lamb?), and a side of Greek-style yogurt. This picky eater couldn't get enough.

I've been on the prowl for an authentic dolma recipe since then, and have been frustrated with my search results. Nothing quite "looks" right. Still, I decided to give one of the recipes a try tonight. My stuffed peppers didn't compare with those I had in Turkey (although I made them with ground turkey!), but we both really enjoyed them:

Yum, Steamed Meat! ...OR... How I Long for a Charcoal Grill!

I continually try (and rarely succeed) to grill beef on our grill pan. Because there is nowhere for juices or marinade to go, instead of creating beautiful grill marks, I create steam. I don't want to eat steamed meat! (Too close to a "boiled dinner" for me...)

So, although my first carne asada was flavorful, and two of the pieces kind of grilled on one side...I was disappointed.



We have a portable propane grill, but I became increasingly paranoid of potential explosions throughout the summer of '06. With warm weather around the corner, I am considering getting a charcoal grill. I have to admit, though, that Brad Delp's recent bizarre suicide technique gives me minor pause.

We were starving when we got home last night and I took some liberties with the recipe. Surely, preslicing a flank steak will both make it marinate AND cook more quickly - right? (I think it mostly just made more steam.) I did create a pretty good spontaneous side of black beans with garlic, a little salsa, lime juice, and that magical Goya adobo stuff:



Inspired by both Roberto's Taco Shop in Las Vegas and Mexico Lindo in Melrose, I am going to make a second attempt at carne asada soon.

Or maybe we'll just eat out?