Random Winter Dinners

Lentils have become one of my favorite things to cook recently. They have a wonderful buttery flavor and you could put whatever you want in them. This is my take on a wonderful Indian dish called dal makhani. Believe me it tastes more exciting than it looks.

Here is a nice skillet supper with pasta, sweet potato, sausage and sun dried tomato.

Summer Cake

A nice light cake for summer: raspberry-peach filled lemon layer cake with raspberry buttercream frosting. Too bad I forgot to take a picture until it was almost gone!

Wisconsin Gruyere

A new good cheese I had tonight, a domestic Gruyere from Roth Käse in Monroe, WI

Carrot Soup, Fresh Beets, Flank Steak

Just a random dinner really. The carrot soup, "Potage Crecy," is one of my favorites.

Starting the carrot soup and braised beets

Smooth and creamy after blending

Searing the flank

Mushrooms drowning in red wine, a beautiful sight

A very red meal with flank steak, mushrooms in red wine sauce and braised beets

Enjoyed with a nice glass of Cabin from Hookstone winery in Wisconsin, order yours today! Hookstone Winery

Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers

Also on vacation: jalapeño peppers, stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar, bacon and cilantro, cooked on the grill in this cute little holder until roasty. Mmmmmmm, watch out they've got a kick.

I Caught You a Delicious Bass

On vacation in Wisconsin this summer I enjoyed some wonderful cuisine provided by the Chippewa Flowage. Delicious bass, fresh caught by Uncle Gary and Aunt Cindy, stuffed with lemon and garlic and cooked on the grill. What could be more delicious?

On the grill

On the plate

Strawberry Season

Early summer is strawberry season, and these parfaits were the logical conclusion when Nourse Farm had their fresh strawberries ready to go! They were some of the sweetest, reddest strawberries I have had in a long time.

Marche Jean-Talon

While in Montreal, we visited one of the city's famous markets, Marche Jean-Talon.

We didn't have breakfast before going here, and I had a little bit of beast in me as I bit into my much anticipated date bar from a patisserie in the market. Before this I devoured the maple syrup tart before Ben could even get out the camera.

Mmmmm roasting meat on a spit. This place had roasted lamb, chicken, beef, and Merguez sausage.

I order the special of the day, 2 for 1 Merguez sausages. This dog also wants the sausages.

I am less beast-like after my sweets and sausages.

Au Pied de Cochon

Near the corner of Chateaubriand and Duluth in Montreal, you find Au Pied de Cochon.

Au Pied de Cochon is the reason I went to Montreal. I saw it on an episode of No Reservations and I HAD to go. When I realized it's only a 5 hour drive from Boston, I was there the next weekend. This is what we had:

Foie Gras Cromesquis: these were completely unbelievable. Really, words fail me. Basically, this is a cube of foie gras terrine, which has been breaded and deep fried. These are one bite affairs, you pop it in your mouth, bite down, and the molten center fills your mouth with sublime pleasure. I could eat way too many of these.

Pickled tongue: so tender, so good.

My main course, Plogue a Champlain: this is a buckwheat pancake topped with cured ham, brie cheese, and a large piece of foie gras which has been sauteed in a maple syrup glaze. This was amazing, one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Ben's main, the foie gras and boudin tart: housemade blood sausage and foie gras on top of a buttery flaky tart crust, awesome, and as you can see, it was huge.

Apparently we forgot to take a picture of dessert, which was the dark chocolate pot de creme. I think by that time we were both so completely satiated it didn't cross our minds. The whole meal was thoroughly awesome, I'd do it again anytime. Just a 5 hour drive...

Leg of Lamb

I actually made this stuffed, roasted leg of lamb for valentine's day, but never did post it! So, here it is. This was really really good...

I ordered a 3-4 lb boneless leg of lamb from the butcher, but it still needs trimming.

Once trimmed, pound it to an even thickness and spread it with the garlic herb filling.

Roll it up and tie it tight!

Sear the tied up roast on all sides.

After spreading with mustard, the breading is pressed on.

Here is the finished roast, golden brown. No no, don't touch, it needs to sit for 15 minutes before carving.

We had these sauteed pears with a mustard sabayone for starters.

Enjoy the meal with a nice glass of wine. This Hess Collection 2004 Cabernet was fabulous!

Eggplant Bites

Ok Shane, here's your eggplant creation. They're easy to make and delicious, I think I will keep the pesto around from now on because I could eat it on just about anything. Recipe is below the photos.

I used two small eggplants: look for skinny uniform Italian or Japanese eggplants rather than the big ones.

For the sundried tomatoes, you have two options: dry or oil packed. I used some of each, so take your pick. The oil packed ones are particularly delicious.

Here's the finished sun-dried tomato pesto. It is quite delicious.

First peel the eggplant, you will want a very sharp vegetable peeler.

Cut it into 1/4" pieces.

Set up a breading station with cornstarch, egg wash, and breadcrumbs in separate bowls.

Happy frying eggplants.

Here's a pile of nice golden brown eggplant rounds cooling.

Make the cheese filling while the eggplant cools. I love this chevre from Vermont Butter and Cheese Company.

Here's the finished goat cheese filling.

Here's a closeup of the finished product. Kinda cute aren't they?

A whole plateful.

Recipe:

For sun-dried tomato pesto:
~1/2 cup oil packed sundried tomatoes or dry sundried tomatoes that have been soaked in scalding water for 10 minutes
2 cloves fresh garlic
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
grated zest from 1/2 lemon
few leaves of basil
~1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil depending on what type of tomatoes you used (use less if you use oil packed)
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

For eggplant:
2 small thin Japanese or Italian eggplants
~1/2 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, well beaten
~1 cup bread crumbs (mine were garlic and herb)
oil for frying

For cheese filling:
1 small package goat cheese (I used vermont butter and cheese company)
few spoonfulls of the tomato pesto
1 tbsp creme fraiche (you could leave this out if you feel it is creamy enough without, but I thought it made it extra unctuous)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
few leaves chopped basil

Directions:
Put the ingredients for the pesto, except the parmesan, in a food processor and process, pushing down sides as needed, until well blended. Set aside in a bowl and mix in the parmesan. Try not to eat before the eggplant is done.

Peel the eggplants and cut them into 1/4" rounds. Coat the slices in the cornstarch, then dip in egg wash, then coat in breadcrumbs. Fry in hot oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Set aside to cool.

Place all ingredients for the goat cheese filling in a bowl and mix until creamy and well blended.

Pair up the eggplant slices by size, put a spoonful of filling between them and top with a dollop of the pesto. Serve with red wine (yes you have to).

Chocolate Souffles

Yes I do drink red wine with chocolate.

On my birthday weekend, I was allowed to go wild with chocolate. So, in addition to having Ben make me a very dense chocolate birthday cake (a Reine de Saba, aka "Queen of Sheba") I made these intensely bittersweet chocolate souffles from Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet which I recently bought due to a nice 40% off coupon from Borders. Thanks to Alice for giving me my chocolate fix this weekend and many to come. My new Le Creuset heart shaped stoneware ramekins my parents sent me for my birthday arrived just in time and inspired the souffles since I had been wanting a set of ramekins for just this purpose for quite a while. Here they are!

All good things start with a large block of chocolate.

Ben caught me with the butter. I swear I was just buttering the ramekins.

Folding whipped egg whites into the chocolate batter.

Filled ramekins.

Baked and ready to eat.