An old friend...

Always comforting. Reliably warm & toasty. Like a favorite sweater on a crisp New England day....


(roasted butternut squash and sage risotto w/roasted basil garlic shitake mushrooms)

Mushrooms are Beautiful

Sometimes instead of planning out dinner
it's better to just go to the fruit stand,
click your heels three times
and pick whatever looks the best.
These shitake mushrooms looked like dinner to me...

Honey Sesame Challah Rolls

This recipe would taste even better with help from Tiana's bees...

The following is what happens when I have a surplus of time on my hands...

Tuscan White Bean & Garlic Soup

Roasted Dominican Eggplant and Spinach Salad with a Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Yeah, you know the drill.....

Fizzy Raspberry Basil Lemonade

Indian Baked Chicken with Apricot Couscous and homemade Naan

Last Thanksgiving I made a full on Indian feast and it was good. In particular, the recipe for marinating the turkey was most successful. So I tried it again, but with organic chicken legs and thighs. The marinade is perfect for spring because it is bright yellow-- thanks to the turmeric. It also includes greek yogurt, garlic, minced onion, fresh ginger, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and lemon juice. Let it sit for at least 4 hours- mine sat for 6, and then drizzle with melted butter and bake at 425 (one hour for the legs, about 35 minutes for the thighs). The result is perfectly crispy and tender. I served this over a wilted spinach salad with chickpeas, orange bell peppers and sauteed onions. I also put together a toasted almond and apricot couscous and grilled homemade Naan bread with a cilantro yogurt dipping sauce and a mint chutney.

QIM's public service announcement about HFCS

I dont usually deviate from my photo parade of food and commentary.... However, we recently went to the Food Film Festival, Food for Thought, and watched a terrific film about the corn industry in this country and how this staple food has morphed from a useful culinary go-to item for nutritious home-baked things into a frankenkernel of doom. Yes folks, I just said the word frankenkernel.

Corn really is everywhere-- and in the places we least expect it. I'm not talking about tasty jalapeno corn bread, or corn tortillas or sweet corn on the cob.... Something darker is afoot.

In its more deviant, hyper-processed state it provides consumers with the deceptively delicious HFCS: High Fructose Corn Syrup. Now most of us know that it's totally not cool to consume a diet of mountain dew, oreos and hot dogs...However, HFCS has a way of appearing in the most seemingly innocuous of places-- for instance, the english muffin. Now, if you have been reading along for a while you know that I have a soft spot for the E-M, and was deeply saddened to realize that HFCS was residing in the nooks and crannies of a most delicious breakfast item. It was a dark realization and there was a brief moment of silence. But, then happily I noticed tucked behind the standard muffins, just out of sight, that Thomas' just launched a HFCS-free brand of muffin-- gentle reader, all is not lost.

HOWEVER, more seriously and most alarming to me is the very present threat HFCS poses to kids who grow up eating 100% processed foods and are washing it all down with soda a.k.a. liquid candy. The result is generation upon generation of kids that are so jacked up on sugar that they are almost guaranteed to become part of the ever-widening obesity epidemic in this country and are seriously at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. I find this overwhelming and sad.

So, in an effort to be more conscientious in my own kitchen, I have deliberately taken steps to remove HFCS item from our pantry and take a closer look when we purchase everyday things like juice, crackers, breads, granola bars. There are some things that are hard to give up.. like coca cola (sweet elixir of life) but it's worth a second look.

For those that are interested in learning more about the festival go here: www.foodfilmfest.com.
for those that are interested in the documentary about corn, check this out: http://www.kingcorn.net/

Samaka Harra

Samaka Harra (Syrian Spiced Fish)

This cannot be easier. Take a whole red snapper, or sea bass if you prefer.... and then completely cover it with a pureed mixture of tomatoes, chilies, cumin, onion, garlic and bake until it flakes apart perfectly. You will know it's done when the tail feels like it will come right off if you pull it a little. I served mine with Himalayan red rice and sprinkled everything with fresh cilantro.

Wishful Thinking

Thai Seafood Noodle Salad

So.... maybe we are celebrating the summer months a bit prematurely. This would have been perfect on a hot July afternoon with a tall chilled pitcher of sangria... Instead we made it in April and ate it inside -- still tasty though. Vermicelli noodles, cilantro, shrimp, scallops and squid, all mixed up w chili peppers, fish sauce and lime juice and then sprinkled with peanuts. Don't be deceived though-- it looks easy and it is-- but prep time is insane and involved nearly all of our mixing bowls and pots! I have decided that being the master of my Thai kitchen involves at least 3 giant pots of simultaneously boiling water and multiple, simultaneous ice baths. The key word here: simultaneous. * Not recommended for kitchens with limited counter space ;)

The Obvious Choice

What's a girl to do when she has roughly twelve pounds of smoked ham left over from her dinner party? Make a soup! And slice, dice, freeze etc. (i even made a ham salad, but it wasn't famous enough to make it to the blog). The Sous Chef and I are finished with ham for a very, very long time. But the soup was a hit. Yellow Split Pea & Ham with asparagus tips and red pepper. It had a nice spiced and earthy flavor due to the cumin. A nice final send off!

Ham: The Aftermath

If there is one word that summarizes our Easter experience, I'd have to say that word would be "pig". We pigged out, we ate pig -- you get the picture. We threw a dinner party and cooked our hocks off but we were too busy to take photos. Sadly, I will have to leave the gluttonous vision of this culinary adventure to the gentle reader's imagination. I will give you the menu though....


Snacks: cheese plate, homemade tapenade, sauteed shrimp with slivered garlic, parsley and pimento.
To Start: Alaskan King Crab, fennel and blood orange salad in a cilantro citrus vinaigrette, Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
The Main Event: Bourbon & Molasses Glazed Smoked Ham (the one food photo I did manage to take)


also...
Pureed parsnips, roasted baby carrots and asparagus, roasted butternut squash risotto w/crispy sage, garlic mashed potatoes and sarah's awesome chocolate cupcakes.



Before:

And the aftermath....