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Some days I think it’s impossible to get my youngest to eat what we’ve made for dinner (or breakfast and lunch) if it’s not one of his limited favorites at the moment. He said he was NOT going to eat … Continue reading
My husband and I are embracing sous vide cooking. Recently he prepared a leg of lamb —dividing it into more reasonable portions for a family of five, marinating it with rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil, vacuum sealing each portion and freezing two that we would eat at a later date. He could have done each lamb portion with different marinades, but kept with his favorite, classic choice. The remaining portion he cooked in a water bath with an immersion circulator (which was a wonderful gift from my generous brother).
I absolutely love the way lamb is cooked a la sous vide. I don’t think I’ve had a more perfectly cooked leg of lamb. I usually like my lamb on the medium side of done rather than medium rare or rare like I like beef. This method cooks the meat the same temperature all the way through– not more well done on edges and more rare in the center.
It might not look it from this photo, but the lamb is medium.
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Bacon potatoes! Lightly saute a couple slices of bacon then toss with slices of unpeeled but scrubbed potato (so that the fat slightly coats them), tiny bit of salt and black pepper. Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes. Watch … Continue reading
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Fried chicken that’s only lightly fried then baked to finish cooking. (Less absorption of fat for those who are so concerned. But just as delicious!) Soaked the chicken drumsticks in buttermilk overnight then coated them in flour mixed with thyme, cayenne, … Continue reading
My very generous brother, whose latest passion is cooking especially via the Modernist Cuisine cookbook, has given me some essential tools so that I too can cook with many of the methods highlighted in the book. He gave me the Modernist Cuisine at Home, an ARY VacMaster Chamber Vacuum Sealer, vacuum sealing bags (think they’re thicker than 3 mils and BPA free) in two sizes, a PolyScience Immersion Circulator for cooking sous vide and he’s actually sending me some more supplies including citric acid and malic acid. It’s been fun learning new, and using some old, methods of cooking. The cookbook itself has amazingly beautiful photographs. You can find many of these items in my Have to Have link on the lower right side. (Have to Have recently co-sponsored a dinner and ticket to the Broadway showThe Heiress with Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens-Downton Abbey’s Matthew Crawley. Unfortunately Ms. Chastain was not performing that night but I still enjoyed the cringe-worthy play.)
The other day we defrosted a big piece of top round steak (a gift from my sister-in-law) and decided the best way to cook it was sous vide. Top Round (London Broil) is a fairly tough meat that greatly benefits by marinating and needs to be cooked the right way so it comes out tender. This is a two day process by first placing it in a vacuum sealer bag with marinade then vacuuming and sealing and refrigerating overnight. The next day we prepare the water bath and immersion circulator (you can use a bucket to cook this way!) and preheated water to 135˚F (57˚C).
Cooked the steak (just place bag in water) for 5 hours. 
Right before we are ready to serve, we seared the outside of the steak in a lightly oiled, hot iron skillet. 
Sliced and served.
Simple Steak Marinade
3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil (need the olive oil to conduct heat in bag)
Handful of fresh thyme, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper
Prepare above then coat the steak and vacuum seal.
The meat was tender, succulent and perfectly marinated. The flavors were phenomenal— vacuum sealing the marinade really permeates the steak thoroughly. It was perfectly and evenly cooked, although my husband would have preferred it slightly, on the rarer side than it was. (130˚F for 4 hours would have accomplished that.) We served it with a plain green salad, snow peas and roasted potatoes. All the boys loved the entire meal and there was nothing leftover.
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Made lamb slider burgers the other night. Why have I waited so long to make these? So delicious! My New Zealand born mother said when I told her I left her one to eat while babysitting, “Yuck, that doesn’t sound … Continue reading
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I used a turban squash (a type of winter squash or pumpkin) that was sitting on my counter for the past week or so. It was in my last CSA bin of the season (too short). Winter Squash Soup 1 … Continue reading
I just got back from a wonderful few days in NYC. I was one of 5000 bloggers at the #BlogHer12 Conference. It was humbling, inspiring, exhausting, fun, a learning experience but the best part was that I’ve come away with new friends, contacts and a realization that I have a lot of work to get my blog looking the way I really want it to.
I didn’t leave my husband with any pre-cooked meals, frozen ready-to-cook meals or instructions. He’s a chef and I figured the meals were the least of the problem. I did forget to tell him to water the hanging petunias on our front porch but I think they’ll recover. I was not shocked upon my return that the laundry was undone or the kitchen floor disgusting… hey, I barely ever get the laundry folded and away and I’m not a constant-enough mopper (though I do sweep daily). It was nice to feel appreciated; my husband said he realized why I hardly ever get the laundry completed. Though, really is it ever really finished?
So, before I left I did make what I thought was an awesome meal on a sticky humid evening. I’d bought a gorgeous looking cod filet (over 1 pound) and knew that I wanted to grill dinner on the hot and humid night. Who wants to cook in a hot kitchen in the dog days of summer? So this is how I grilled it:
Summer “Grilled” Cod
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
juice of one lime
palmful chopped cilantro
handful quartered cherry tomatoes
1 chopped scallion
1 chopped garlic scape (the center stalk of fresh garlic— good pic here)
salt and pepper
I took the filet of Cod and wrapped it in tin foil. Before closing it up I sprinkled the spices on it, added all other ingredients on top then placed on grill for about 10 minutes. While it was cooking I also grilled some zucchini, squash and eggplant. I did cook the snap peas inside, but they only take 3 minutes in a small pan of boiling water. I used my frozen TJ’s Org Brown Rice— 3 minutes in the microwave. I could have set my rice cooker before we left the house that morning but I didn’t know what I was going to see in the market. And since I knew not all my kids would eat the grilled vegetables, I made a plain green salad with avocado. Overall, a delicious and awesomely nutritious dinner.
Even Rosie thinks it’s hot tonight.
All three of my kids, weren’t as in love with the fish as I was, but still ate most of it. It was my middle son who ate the most. He also ate the zucchini but refused the eggplant. My youngest loves snap peas and salad, so success all round. 
My husband made some yummy beef kalbi (Korean short ribs) that are marinated in all sorts of yumminess including mirin, kiwifruit and 7up (yes, 7up!). He grilled the beef along with some gorgeous striped eggplant, and served with brown rice and a plain salad. 
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A simple way to make a delicious avocado salsa/chunky guacamole. Use Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde (Tomatillo salsa) to add nice spicy twist. I find sometimes chili peppers aren’t hot enough or are too hot and then sometimes their heat … Continue reading