liamsaunt

Inspired by Ann_T's lovely photo above, I made soft boiled eggs for breakfast this morning. I just wish I had Ann's bread to go with them instead of the standard supermarket variety!

Last night we did pizza and movies. We keep all of our names in a mason jar and draw one out every Saturday night and that person gets to pick the movie. We ate early last night and so drew two names. My sister (Sense and Sensibility) and my nephew (Jurassic Park: The Lost World...groan). As you can see people have varying tastes in movies! And in pizza also, I made four kinds of pizza to suit varying tastes of the group. Plain old margharita style: White clam (husband's favorite) Pepperoni (nephew's favorite) Carbonara (niece's favorite)

got home later than usual the past couple of nights and did not have as much time for cooking, so went with some fast standbys. On Wednesday I made baked eggs And last night I made spicy sausage and pepper sandwiches

A couple of recent meals. Sunday we had chicken parmesan sandwiches to eat with the football game. Better luck next year I guess, but at least I don't have to host a Super Bowl party now, which is always a huge production. Monday I made braised monkfish with bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and white wine And last night was salmon with baked ratatouille

This morning I made a couple of things to take for work lunches this week. A wheatberry and vegetable salad And a turkey vegetable soup made from the remnants of the turkey I roasted for dinner yesterday

The other night I made ramen bowls to use up all of the random vegetable bits in the fridge. I topped husband's with a pre-cooked smoked duck breast that I found in the freezer and mine with some more of the chicken that I used in my sandwich the other evening Refrigerator crisper drawers have now been (temporarily) restored to order.

Last night was use up the fridge sandwich night. My husband's, with leftover rib roast from Saturday: Mine, with chicken marinated in fish sauce, and some of the never ending carrot-daikon pickle And the other night when it was freezing, I changed our menu from fish tacos to pasta puttanesca. Lots of garlic, red pepper flakes, and anchovies, and some haddock thrown in as well since I had it to use up: More fridge bin ends will make up tonight's dinner as well.

Crushed avocado and kumato tomato on ficelle bread. The lighting in my office is not the best.

Thank you! The greens on the burgers are baby arugula. I had some family over for a dinner and to watch the Patriots game (yay Patriots!). When I have groups I often serve buffet style. I usually don't take photos of group meals because it is so hectic but I decided to try and take some yesterday. I made a mustard coated rib roast sliced there was also chicken with mushroom white wine dijon gravy for those who don't eat red meat (like me!) but I did not get a picture of that for some reason. sides were mustard roasted potatoes whisky glazed carrots spinach gratin onion rings There were also homemade dinner rolls, but I did not get a picture of those. I planned to serve an apple crumble for afters but we finished eating too close to game time to have time for dessert.

Quick dinner last night: salmon burgers with chili aioli

I have been eating this butternut squash and pinto bean chili over brown rice all week. It does not look like much, but it tastes good. I don't usually like to eat the same thing in a row but it has not bothered me with this dish. Recipe from the New York Times: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016032-vegetarian-chili-with-winter-vegetables

A bunch of vegetables and noodles in miso broth with some salmon

Yesterday my fish share was hake, and I wanted to do something different. I found a recipe on NYTimes cooking for a dish called Cha Ca La Wong, and decided to make it. This required running around to multiple stores on my lunch break to find things like fresh tumeric, Thai basil, and dry fried shallots, but the result was worth it. Lots of bright, spicy flavors. Terrific for a cold night.

Linguini with clam sauce. An old favorite that I have not made in a while for some reason

Egg, bacon and cheese on a toasted poppyseed bagel

Thursday night I made a spinach and gruyere souffle

I have that cookbook. I have not used it in a few years, but I do remember that the roasted chicken balsamico with potatoes is really delicious. I take notes in my cookbooks when I make the recipes, so I will flip through it this weekend and see if there were any others that I really liked and can recommend.

A cold Tuesday night meant a big bowl of comforting congee

I did the feast of the seven fishes last night. It was a lot of food! We started with some salmon tartare and a glass of champagne Then had some clams casino My niece made some sushi, this roll is based on her favorite roll at a restaurant we like on Cape Cod called Mac's Shack. It has tuna, avocado, mango and cream cheese. I don't like fruit or cream cheese in my sushi so did not try it smoked salmon deviled eggs bacala fritters with garlic aioli mini scallop rolls with smoked paprika mayo lobster sliders and the main course, tuna bolognese there were also lobster stuffed mushrooms that I missed getting a picture of.

Dinner tomorrow is settled. Thanks to nagging from people that are coming, I am doing Feast of the Seven Fishes. Yes, normally a Christmas Eve thing, but we have normally done it on NYE in my family. So, the menu is mostly appetizers to be consumed over hours: fried Wellfleet oysters mini scallop rolls with smoked paprika aioli mini lobster sliders on brioche smoked salmon devilled eggs tuna sushi (made by and mostly consumed by my niece ha) bacala fritters main: linguini with clams, and a simple salad of bitter greens Lots of champagne and other wines with all. We are all very great friends and family, and everyone coming is spending the night at my house, so the excess garlic and wine is just fine :-)

Dinner tonight. I attempted homemade sushi for the first time for my 14 year old niece. I got the tuna from the sushi counter at our local Wegmans. It was a bit tricky at first (the saddest aka first roll is in the back somewhat blurred by my camera haha) She ate the whole plate other than the two she graciously allowed my sister and husband to sample. And then asked what was for dinner! She is going to be an expensive date someday. Adults had salmon burgers with ginger-lime aioli and soy glaze. Apparently this recipe won some burger contest a while back. It was good but I prefer my usual salmon burger with lemon-dill aioli.

Happy Anniversary Shelby! I have New Year's Day figured out. I am doing a ham, and a turkey roulade for the folks who don't eat ham. Sides are potatoes au gratin, sweet potato puree with pecans (yes, two kinds of potatoes, but the people eating ham want sweet potatoes and the people eating turkey do not), brussels sprouts and spinach. I have not figured out New Year's Eve yet haha! I have some friends coming over and am trying to come up with something easy. Maybe pizza, maybe spaghetti and meatballs. I had originally planned fish stew but the kids won't eat that and one guest is allergic to mussels. Hmmm...hopefully inspiration strikes soon!

Last night I cooked a heritage turkey that my husband ordered from D'Artagnan. It was my first time cooking a heritage bird. The flavor is much stronger than a typical bird, and there is much less meat too. There were five of us dining, and there is only a very small ziplock of meat left. Typically I would get at least three meals from a turkey. We all liked the heritage bird very much. Well, except for my niece who complained that there was not enough meat on the legs haha. I am going to make some sort of soup out of the carcass and leftover gravy this afternoon. Served with mashed potatoes, green beans, and these maple roasted acorn squash wedges

Yesterday I made Eric Ripert's recipe for roasted capon stuffed with mushrooms and truffles. It was very tasty. Served with mashed potatoes, shredded brussels sprouts, and whisky-glazed carrots. Leftovers were made into a bunch of stock that will be made into a chicken stew or soup for after the football game this afternoon.

Here are some photos from my group dinner on Sunday. The house salad. I like to make this because my nephew always takes at least two bowls and his vegetable intake is somewhat limited these days And a platter of fried chicken No photos from the last few days because I got whomped with a stomach bug. There is something about this time of year, I always seem to get sick with something or another! So annoying. I am better now, and have some interesting meals coming up this week since I am off work until January 5. No cooking today, as I am going to my husband's family for Christmas eve, and they do not do home cooked food at gatherings, it is catering only for them. This used to annoy me, but now I just make sure to bring along a nice bottle of wine and enjoy the company :-) I am doing a prime rib roast for my family tomorrow.