First Fall Dish – Lamb Stew with Backyard Garden Vegetables

I probably say this every year but fall is by far my favorite time of the year to cook.  It’s nice to get back in front of the stove after cooking on the grill all summer.  I just feel more creative in the fall, there’s only so much you can do with the grill, andContinue reading “First Fall Dish – Lamb Stew with Backyard Garden Vegetables”

Palette de Porc a la Biere (ou en anglais Beer Braised Pork Shoulder with a Dijon Mustard Sauce)

Over the weekend Cheryl requested something new and untried for Sunday dinner and said she’d pick from the cookbook shelf.  The winning recipe of the ones she chose: Bourdain’s Palette de Porc a la Biere; a.k.a beer braised pork shoulder with mustard sauce.

A Haggis for Burns Night

Last year around this time Cheryl tasked me with making some haggis for a Burns Night, an annual celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns held on his birthday January 25.  Basically a good excuse to get together, drink whisky, and eat some haggis.  The problem last year was we came up with idea onContinue reading “A Haggis for Burns Night”

Tomato Bisque

Every Monday night there’s a TwitterChat I usually participate in called #FoodieChats (follow @foodiechats or @foodiechatsCHI for updates) where the moderator asks themed questions and people tweet their responses.  It’s a fun way to interact with the “Twitter Community” and I occasionally get some good ideas from it.  This week’s theme was “Eating Red” soContinue reading “Tomato Bisque”

Creamed Onions, or if you want to be fancy, Blanquette d’Oignon!

So last week was Thanksgiving here in the USA and every year there are always new recipes intending to “update” or “modernize” old classics.  That’s all fine and well but after last week’s dinner it has occurred to me most people really like the old school dishes which they grew up with and nothing willContinue reading “Creamed Onions, or if you want to be fancy, Blanquette d’Oignon!”

The Best Thanksgiving Stuffing Ever!

This was one of my first posts when I started this blog a year ago and seeing as how Thanksgiving is just two weeks away I’m re-posting it, and I’ve added some pics I took when I made it last year to go along with the “recipe.”  Every Thanksgiving the one thing I look forwardContinue reading “The Best Thanksgiving Stuffing Ever!”

Spanish Tortilla – Another Delicious Treasure from our Barcelona Adventure

A couple of weekends ago Cheryl and I were in San Francisco for a wedding and we were reminded of many good memories from our joyous day.  My thoughts usually end up thinking about our honeymoon and inevitably about what we ate.  I’ve previously posted about a cooking class Cheryl and I took while onContinue reading “Spanish Tortilla – Another Delicious Treasure from our Barcelona Adventure”

Mushroom and Carrot Risotto

Ah risotto.  Siiiiiiiigggghhhhh.  I’d say this is one of those dishes every budding home chef ate at a restaurant or saw Mario make on tv and said to themselves “I have to learn how to make this!”  Risotto’s not quite the Holy Grail of home cookery but I’d say it’s one of the top adventuresContinue reading “Mushroom and Carrot Risotto”

What’s for Sunday Dinner: Caramelized Onion and Duck Tart

A couple of weeks ago I bought some frozen duck legs with the intention of making confit.  I don’t use the traditional method of cooking them in duck fat, I cheat a bit by slowly cooking the legs in olive oil.  It achieves basically the same result, some preserved duck legs you can pull outContinue reading “What’s for Sunday Dinner: Caramelized Onion and Duck Tart”

Weeknight Dinner – Shepherds Pie

I think I previously mentioned our fridge was broken and we had to get a new one, which was delivered on Tuesday.  While it sucked to have everything in the freezer thaw out completely it did provide an opportunity to clean out the fridge of all those unused items which find their way to theContinue reading “Weeknight Dinner – Shepherds Pie”