liamsaunt

Happy Birthday to me. I had my family over for my birthday. What do you make when you have nine people, one pescatarian, one who eats absolutely no vegetables, one allergic to crustaceans, and one aging Dad with health issues whose favorite food is pizza? Pizza. It was too warm to cook inside without turning on the AC (which I refuse to do in May, especially after our record breaking 100+ inches of snow this winter). So I grilled them. I got a new grill a couple of weeks ago, and am still getting used to it, but overall am pleased. Pepperoni (for the non-vegetable brother and my pepperoni loving nephew) Eggplant (for my Mom, sister, and me) Peppers and onions (for my husband) Margarita (for my niece) Dad was thrilled, which made me happy. Leftovers divided up among all for lunches during the week.

Crab cakes with mustard sauce and asparagus from the first farmers market of the season

I did not make the bread. I purchased it at a Lebanese market near my home. My bread making skills are pretty limited. I can do pizza dough, grilled pita and naan, and the recipes in the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Everything else I have attempted has been hit or miss. Luckily, there are places near me that make bread I enjoy.

Sabih. I got the recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook.

monkfish tacos

Fridays are often pizza nights here. Here is last night's.

chicken and vegetable stir fry with rice

Haddock tempura

It was just a package of pre-sliced various mushrooms I picked up at a farm stand. I remember chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, cremini, and shiitake. The star was supposed to be the fresh morels I bought at the same stand, but when I went to clean them they were filled with worms. I know morels can be wormy sometimes, but this was around 75% worm, 25% mushroom! It was gross and after trying to clean them for a while I gave up and threw them out. Luckily I had only bought enough for two so I only lost $6 worth of morels. Next time I will only buy them if they are loose in the bin rather than under cling wrap, so I can look for worm-to-mushroom percentage. Here is another fish dish, roasted halibut nicoise. I know have been posting a lot of fish dishes, but fish is one of my favorite foods.

spaghetti with asparagus and wild mushrooms

hake with white wine sauce

Cusk in green curry sauce

breakfast sandwich

the dressing was 1 cup cilantro, 1 avocado, juice of 1 lime, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1.5 tsp vinegar, plus salt and pepper, all blended up in a food processor.

The snow has finally melted off my porch and I was able to grill for the first time in 2015. Chopped salad with grilled chicken and creamy avocado dressing. A fast weeknight dinner that made leftovers for lunch yesterday. The dressing stayed bright green, which was surprising to me.

Last night's dinner. Scallops from my fish CSA over creamy corn with a red pepper sauce.

Savory Belgian waffle with cheddar cheese, sausage, and scallions cooked in it

The recipe was from Rick Moonen's book Fish Without a Doubt. That's one of my go-to books for fish. Everything I have made from it has been pretty delicious. I made pizza last night. Margharita for the kids, and white clam for the adults. It was good but oh so garlicky. I think I still reek of garlic this morning.

Omelet stuffed with brie. Maybe a little too much brie, as you can see it split and the cheese started leaking out. Oh well, it tasted good.

Spaghetti with tuna. I was not sure if I would like it, but this was actually pretty good. I used the jarred Ortiz tuna in olive oil. I am trying to clear out the fridge before a trip to Paris next week, so I am pretty much down to pantry stuff.

A couple of quick meals from this week after work. Roast pork sandwich with cherry peppers, arugula and swiss cheese (leftover pork from Sunday) Spaghetti with roasted peppers, breadcrumbs, and egg

It was a Haas avocado. It was a very nice one though. No pictures from today's family meal as it was too hectic. I made a bone-in mustard crusted roast loin of pork (my Mom made the gravy as she deems mine inedible, haha) gruyere-broccoli stuffed chicken with brandy cream sauce for the non-pork eaters, roasted broccolini, spinach with butter, and zucchini/summer squash saute. Plus papas du quesas that were way too much work for the outcome in my opinion though the potato lovers had seconds. My sister helped with prep. My brother, who is what I call a "meatatarian," because he eats NO vegetables, said the pork was excellent. So I guess it was. I ate the chicken so can't say for sure.

Crispy chicken with chimichurri sauce

We have been eating a lot of eggs this week. Thursday I only had a few minutes to make dinner so threw together one of our favorite sandwiches: bacon, egg, avocado, tomato: and last night I made cheddar souffles with a big salad

Hake cooked in parchment with sake, shiitake mushrooms, bell pepper, scallions, and chives. Served with rice and baby bok choy.