Jerk Pork

Craig loves a recipe for Jamaican jerk sauce from the Thrill of the Grill, and on Thursday I came home to find him already prepping it for Friday! He used it on extra-thick pork chops, which he grilled to perfection. I was surprised by the jerk sauce--it didn't taste all that interesting to me on its own, but with the pork it was wonderful. Craig also made grilled sweet potatoes (my favorite pork chop side) and grilled asparagus, which were nearly as spicy as the jerk sauce. We drank Dogfish Head Brown Ale, and thought it went very well with the meal.

Spanish Tortilla

I had a bunch of egg whites in the freezer, left over from the zabaglione we took to NY, and used them to make a tortilla Espanola on Wednesday night. I cooked sliced red potato and spring onion in the pan first, then threw in leftover sausage from Saturday and the egg whites. Topped with a basil-arugula pesto (WAY too much salt, but good in small quantities), and accompanied by steamed asparagus, it was a nice quick weeknight meal, and I guess healthier than it would have been with the yolks.

Sausage and Pretzels

On Saturday I made a dinner I love, grilled sausages with homemade pretzels and cabbage. I got herb and garlic pork sausages from WF, and only slightly overcooked them. I tried baking the pretzels on the grill, and you can see they sort of puffed up and got deformed, but they were still really good, especially with the yellow mustard. I braised purple cabbage, granny smith apple, and red onion in OJ (didn't have apple juice) with lots of caraway. Craig didn't like the cabbage as much as I did, he thought it was too mild, but I really liked it as a counterpoint to the strong salty sausage and mustard, and it's the closest thing to sauerkraut I'll probably ever get him to eat. We drank a beer Chris gave Craig, the Allagash 4er, which was malty and wonderful and went perfectly with the meal. I could eat this every weekend.

Halibut

WF had a sale on Pacific Halibut, and Craig used it to put together a lovely meal on Friday night. It was a beautiful spring day and he was able to fire up the grill for the first time (!). He grilled the halibut steak and served it with a puttanesca-type salsa, over white rice, with Swiss chard alongside. This was really good, he did a great job grilling the fish, and I really liked the salsa. We agreed that it was a little salty though, and Craig thought he'd cut down on the olives next time. I never agree with cutting down on the olives, but he's the chef! Delicious. Craig served it with a lovely fruity white, Jean Marc LaFage Cote Est, a blend of Grenache, Chardonnay, and Marsanne, not too fruity, just right.

Pasta with Asparagus and Peas

On Wednesday I made an Epicurious recipe, pasta with asparagus, peas and prosciutto. It's pretty light, made with white wine and broth. I used good whole wheat shells, and it only looks like there's a ton of peas because I forgot about them and threw them on at the end. This was really good, although I think more herbs would have pepped it up a little--next time I think I'll try mint. The wine I used was a Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc, leftover from Craig's birthday party last summer. I had planned to drink some as well, but (maybe it sat too long?) it was terrible! Really undrinkable, and I'll drink just about anything. And yes, I know you're never supposed to cook with wine you wouldn't drink, but it was all I had and the pasta still turned out pretty good.

Rabbit Stew

On Saturday night I took last weekend's rabbit and bacon out of the freezer and tried to make something of it. No wonder it was tough to bite before--I braised it in a 2006 Belleruche Cotes-du-Rhone for almost 4 hours before it was tender!
We were supposed to share an artichoke as a first course, but it took longer to cook than I'd thought it would, so we had it alongside, with a mayonnaise vinaigrette which was very good.
Then the rabbit, enjoyed with the same wine it was braised in. I sauteed onion, carrot, celery, garlic, 3 of my new juniper berries, fresh thyme and fresh parsley with the bacon, used those in the braising liquid, then strained it when the rabbit

was done. I then cooked the liquid down with some sauteed mushrooms, red pearl onions, and shredded carrot. Delicious! The presentation, atop whole wheat egg noodles, didn't really do it justice, but how was I to know it would be so tasty? The meat was so sweet, I'll definitely make rabbit again. This could be really elegant with some sour cream stirred into the wine reduction, maybe served over roasted yukon golds.

Celebrating Squid

Last night Craig tried a recipe from Epicurious that was supposed to celebrate squid.  Squid are tender either cooked very little, or cooked for a long time, and this recipe called for stewing them in a spicy tomato broth for about half an hour.  They were so good!  The broth was just the right amount of spicy, although we agreed with reviewers that it needed something.  We had it with some bread dipped in an herb olive oil, then in the broth.  The fennel in the oil really added to the flavor of the stew, so we thought next time some fennel seed should go in at the beginning, then maybe the whole thing should be topped with an herbed oil puree.  Craig chose an unoaked Chardonnay, 2006 Stone Creek, because I don't much like oaky Chardonnay.  This was definitely a meal worth repeating, especially now that squid season is approaching.

Grains and Legumes

Amidst all our crazy gourmet moments, Craig and I have been trying to eat food that's pretty healthy, and I've been making use of the NY Times Recipes for Health section--sometimes the recipes can be pretty bland, but the ones for whole grains seem good. Below, wild rice and asparagus:

I've actually made this twice now, because it's really tasty and easy. It's wild and brown rice, tossed with a walnut vinaigrette and walnuts, herbs, and asparagus. I toasted the walnuts and served it over spinach for a dinner salad.

This is another recipe from the Times, royal quinoa with tofu and snow peas.

My royal and prole quinoa were mixed together, so I used those, and it didn't quite toast up the way the recipe said it would, but it was good. The tofu is crisped up in the pan and the whole thing is tossed with a sesame ginger vinaigrette. Again, I threw in some spinach, steamed with the snow peas.


The recipe for chicken and brown lentils with Moroccan dressing is from Epicurious. I used chicken thighs, and served it warm over more spinach:

All three of these were really easy and pretty good, and are good served room temp. Now that we've eaten our whole grains and legumes and spinach, we're ready for jellybeans!

Rabbit

I cooked rabbit for the first time last night. When I called to order it from Antonelli's (the place where you can choose your chicken), the guy asked if I wanted the head. I decided I wasn't ready for that and said he could keep it.

I used a NY Times recipe that calls for marinating the rabbit pieces in vinegar and spices for 8-12 hours, then wrapping them in bacon and roasting them. It was pretty easy, although I was a little behind and it only marinated 6-7 hours.

Craig liked it better than I did. The flavor was pretty good, but getting the meat off the bone was really difficult, whether with a knife or my teeth, and I don't think the bacon really added anything. Maybe I should have marinated it at least the full 12 hours. I plan to use the leftovers in a stew this weekend though, figuring that might soften it up.

The accompaniments were delicious--roasted asparagus that really tasted like asparagus, and oven potatoes with rosemary and balsamic vinegar. We drank a wine that was supposed to be good with game, Domaine de la Croze Lirac Bel Air 2006, which was wonderful, intensely flavored but really drinkable. It would be really good I think with some strong cheese.

The Next Morning

....And we continued the good eating in New York the next morning at Wendy's, with a crazy good strata, made with St. Andre, prosciutto, basil pesto I think, and a really good bread. I tried to eat the entire pan myself, but was told I had to share.

Megan Ate Goooooood in New York!

Wendy, Donna, and Steve have regular dinner gatherings, and they were kind enough to invite Craig and me last weekend. I plan to return on a regular basis! Donna and Steve hosted, turning out some amazing food in their newly remodeled kitchen (beautiful cabinets!). We started with white wine and hors, delicious spanikopita, mini quiche, and an amazing cheese platter, with Gorgonzola, aged Asiago, Prato Disan Tati Pecorino, Delic de France Grand Camembert, Selections Creamy Blue, and French Tome de Savoie Raw Milk. I would be hard pressed to name a favorite--I loved them all!

We were served a really good shrimp cocktail--the shrimp were from Chinatown, although probably not originally, and Donna made the cocktail sauce, which was a zillion times better than the jarred version.

And we started on the red wine...my palate will remember this day. We had a vertical tasting of wine from Vineyard 29, ("Aida" Napa Proprietary Red from 2000 and 2001), De Toren Fusion V 2002, and 2004 St. Clement Napa Valley Oroppas. Each became my favorite until I tried the next one.

The African chicken peanut soup was really delicious. It was rich and velvety without being heavy, and the peanut flavor was there without being overpowering, and the chicken was so tender.

After all that soupy goodness, our palates needed to regroup, and we were served a lovely Riesling sorbet.

The entree was chicken with a mushroom-fennel ragout, with so many different mushrooms in it. It was served with muddled potatoes (a first for me) and delicate spring asparagus. So good and such a welcome for spring.

I've maxed out my post pictures, but dessert was more tasty than pretty anyway. It was my contribution, a Cointreau zabaglione served over vanilla bean pears sauteed in pinot grigio and some crumbled merengues (WF, not Hollie). Next time I'd use less sugar, but it was good and I'll probably make it again. The dessert wine, though, was spectacular. 2003 Rieussec Sauternes, a beautiful golden color and just the right amount of sweet.

Sweet!