Sunday
Our friends John and Janice leave tomorrow morning, so we’re giving them a hearty dinner – buffalo tri tip, mashed purple potatoes, and roasted Brussels sprouts. The tri tips come from Tender Cuts, our local frozen meat supply house. I went to buy one, only to find that, this time, they are packaged in fours. I decided to take them all. It has taken several days of refrigerator time to thaw them enough to separate, and more hours on the counter to thaw two of them to the point that they can be cooked direct on the grill, rubbed with Magic Dust.
Monday
It feels funny – no company in the house. Today is a new recipe, Lamb and White Bean Chili from the New York Times. I made this one pretty much as written, using ancho chili powder. The lime and yogurt were excellent finishing touches. This one I’ll make again.
Tuesday
So what do you cook for Valentine’s Day? We’re having a family favorite – grilled ahi tuna with sticky rice and homemade teriyaki sauce, with some grilled asparagus on the side. We rub the tuna with a bit of oil and season it with salt and pepper. Hubby watches the grill carefully so that the thick pieces of fish are just a bit pink inside when he takes them off the grill.
The teriyaki sauce is simple – equal parts dry sherry, sugar, and soy sauce, with some slices of fresh ginger thrown in. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and cook over medium heat until reduced by at least half. It does make a bit of a mess on the stovetop, but it is delicious. For this dinner we were five at table, and I used 2/3-2/3-2/3 proportions for the sauce.
Slacker Wednesday
Cheese and spinach ravioli with meat sauce from the freezer, livened with the addition of fresh shiitake mushrooms and fresh basil. Comfort food.
Thursday
Today is a “using up” day. We’re cooking another buffalo tri tip because we didn’t end up with much left over from the last ones – we sent most of them home with our friends. I’ve got half a butternut squash left from making soup, and we have leftover smashed purple potatoes, and I’ve got a bit each of horseradish sauce and tomato chutney.
The potatoes I packed into a small skillet with a splash of olive oil to make a potato cake. Using a plate to turn it, I cooked it until brown on both sides. What a yummy way to use leftover mashed potatoes.
And we have leftover tri tip for sandwiches!
Friday
Today is Farmer’s Market Day. After filling my baskets and bags to overflowing, we swung by the strawberry man’s corner, and picked up a half flat of berries. Oh, boy – good stuff. Onions, shallots, purple potatoes, cara cara oranges, tangerines, tangelos, lemons, zucchini, grape tomatoes, red swiss chard – I feel rich!
One of our local markets had such a good deal on pork butt that I couldn’t resist, so today I’m doing another Kālua pig in the slow cooker. We have whole wheat buns and I’ve done another recipe of mustard barbecue sauce. And Hubby grilled some asparagus – one of Charles Drew’s specials today was two bundles of lovely asparagus for $2.50.
Saturday
We’ve invited a friend for dinner tonight, and he’s a guinea pig for a new recipe, a Giada de Laurentis Meatloaf Parmesan on this page. The intriguing thing about this one is in how the meatloaf is shaped – 8” x 12” x 1” on a large baking sheet – and how it’s finished. Giada’s quick marinara is both in and atop the meatloaf, and the finish has the meatloaf separated into 8 squares and topped with more marinara and mozzarella. I used fresh mozzarella and it melted perfectly.
With this we have lovely green beans finished with butter and toasted sesame seeds, a recipe titled Frosted Green Beans with Sesame Seeds from The Silver Spoon. And I’ve made the America’s Test Kitchen Quick Cheese Bread again. I’ve made this three times, and the last two I’ve forgot each time to add the melted butter. I’m beginning to think I don’t really need it!
Next week I’ve got a couple of organic chickens from Chaffin Farms in Butte County. Janice brought them to me. So we’ll have good chicken and great stock. And I’ve got venison patties and some lamb shoulder. I’m thinking lamb stew of some sort.