New recipe, August 31, 2011

Tonight's new recipe is Gin Rickeys, from Epicurious. We both had meetings and dinner, so the recipe is a cocktail.

New recipe, August 30, 2011

Tonight's new recipe is Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Shaves Squash and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds from Epicurious, with Spanish Rice and a salad of Heirloom Tomatoes, Scallions and Avocado
Wonderful meal!!

Wine: 2008 Château d'Aqueria Tavel Rosé

New recipe, August 29, 2011

Tonight we had Feijoada (again) with spaghetti, with sautéed yellow squash with dill, and garden fresh heirloom tomatoes with sweet peppers. Nothing on this menu was strictly new, so Carl also made a Green Tear cocktail, from originalabsinthe.com as an after dinner drink. Delicious, as was the whole meal!

Wine: 2007 Red Wire, from New Zealand. Nice wine!

New recipes, August 28, 2011

Tonight's meal, featuring Dwight Davidson's smiling face, is Brazilian Feijoada (sorry, I can't find a link to the recipe, but this is like chile con carne--a million variations are out there), from Perfect Pairings, with sautéed turnip greens with garlic, lemon juice and korean pepper threads (from the garden), orange slices and rice.

Wine: 2009 Predator Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi Appellation. Nice with this dish!

New recipe, August 27, 2011

Tonight's new recipe is the Absinthe Minded Martini, from originalabsinthe.com

As we attended the joyful wedding of Carl's friends, Tom and Krystal Schledwitz, we didn't cook this evening.

New recipes, August 26, 2011

Today's new recipes are Chicken Kebabs and Nectarine Salsa (we used peaches) and Herbed Couscous from Cooking Light. Yum!! These were both delicious! We will do these again!

Wine: New Age Rosé from Argentina. Nice strawberry, but a bit sweet for us. A fruity but less sweet rosé would be great with this meal!

New recipe, August 25, 2011

Tonight's recipe is Gwyneth Paltrow's Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano, from Epicurious, with fresh heirloom tomatoes and peppers from the garden, and sliced avocado.

Wine: 2010 Crios Rosé of Malbec--a nice, not spectacular wine, worked nicely as a complement to the spaghetti.

New recipe, August 24, 2011

Tonight's new recipe is Spicy Shrimp and Bell Pepper Stew (Enchilado) from Epicurious, fresh heirloom tomatoes on the side. Very tasty dish!

Wine: Liana 2009 Pinot Grigio

New recipe, August 23, 2012

Pork Tenderloin with Tangy Grape Salad from Cooking Light, with more heirloom tomatoes from the garden. This is a delicious recipe--low in fat, but big in flavor, largely from the mustard in the sauce.

Wine: Domaine di Prieuré 2006 Bourgogne. Nice with this recipe!

New recipes, August 22, 2011

Both from Epicurious (the photo is with Chef Carl): Chicken Breast with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce, and Watermelon and Citrus Salad. Both are wonderfully flavorful!

Wine: the chicken was a nice match with Rosso di Rocca Vino da tavola (NV). It was a bit of a stretch for the salad, but overall it worked pretty well.

New recipes, August 21, 2011

Today's new recipes were African Adobo Rubbed Pork Chops ( a riff off African Adobo Rubbed Tuna), a Salad of Watermelon, Goat Cheese, Microgreens and Figs, inspired by Hemispheres, the United flight magazine, and a plate of fresh heirloom tomatoes and banana peppers from the garden.

Wine: 2009 Infinite Monkey Theorem Petite Sirah.

Here is a closeup of the salad. The magazine was silent on the subject of a dressing, so we used a little lime juice and olive oil, and added a couple kalamata olives on the side.

New recipe, August 20, 2011

Homemade Danish Butter Cookies, from grouprecipes.com. Having eaten nearly all of Jeremy's box of Anna's Danish Butter Cookies in college, Mark is still trying to make amends! The cookies were enjoyed! We also had pasta with 2 sauces put together by Tim, red pepper slaw from Mark, and several wines supplied by everyone. And Jeremy's son Sammy picked the perfect watermelon!

New recipe, August 19, 2011

Today we gathered with Mark's college roommates to celebrate their collective 200th birthday. Besides us, we will spend the weekend with Bill Kunze and his wife Perri Strawn, Jeremy Lieberman, his wife Adriane Concus and their children Jesse and Sammy, and Tim and Cara Hoxie and their boys Phil, Ben and Teddy.

Our (new) contribution was Rick Bayless' Grilled Salmon Vera Cruz with Lemon Thyme Scented Salsa--the salse is what you see here. Thanks to Scott for grilling the perfect salmon! This was delicious! We also had great steaks made by Tim, salad, and Tim baked a fabulous apple pie and blueberry pie.

Wine? We had several! It was a wonderful start to a weekend of fun.

New recipe, August 18, 2011

Today's new recipe was the Chicken Liver Salad from the Sept 30 Wine Spectator. Very rich! If you like chicken livers, you will like this dish!

Wine: 2006 Château Cailletau Bergeron Bordeaux Rosé. Nice match!

New recipe, August 17, 2011

Today's new recipe was Seared Sea Scallops with Lemongrass Sauce and Basil Mint Cilantro Salad from Epicurious. We had it on a bed of quinoa. I used tomato sauce rather than whole canned tomatoes in the sauce, so it came out a bit sweet, but the mix of flavors with the salad was great!

Wine: Crane Lake Pinot Grigio 2009

New recipe, August 16, 2011

From the September 2011 Food and Wine, we had the Mixed Green and Herb Salad with Figs and Walnuts (MAKE THIS SALAD!) and more of the Indian Barbecue Chicken.

Wine: Chateau Cailleteau Bergeron 2006 Bordeaux Rosé

New recipes, August 15, 2011

From the September 2011 Food and Wine: Indian Barbecue Chicken, and Corn on the Cob with Seasoned Salts, with grilled zucchini on the side. Yum! The corn was especially delicious!

Wine: Domaine de Belle Marie, Vin de Pays Des Collines de le Moure. Nice match!

New recipe, August 14, 2011

Tonight's new recipe was Indonesian Goat Curry from Calvin Schwabe's Unmentionable Cuisine, with steamed basmati rice, and a garden salad with a Viandox vinaigrette. Thanks to Pat and Chris for the goat meat!

Wine: Finca Flichman 2007 Malbec. A perfect match!

New recipes, August 13, 2011

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner with our friends Pat and Chris, who brought us elk for dinner. We made Venison Steaks with Gin and Juniper, (we used elk) from Everyone Eats Well in Belgium. We remade the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Parmesan Tuiles from Food and Wine, but used the Parmesan Tuiles recipe from Rick Tramonto's Amuse Bouche. It was a fantastic dinner!

Wine: Barnard and Griffin Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. This was a great match for the dinner.

New recipe, August 12, 2011

Today's new recipe was Mexican Seafood Sauté with Avocado Mango Salsa from Epicurious. Tasty!

No wine--we were driving to Tabernash for the weekend.

New recipe, August 11, 2011

Curried Pea Frittata with Tomato Chutney, from Epicurious. The side is a sliced avocado dusted with smoked paprika. Simple and delicious!

Wine: Wild Hare California Chardonnay

New recipes, August 10, 2011

Spicy Chipotle Roasted Potatoes, from EatingWell.com, and Chicken Thighs with Creole Mustard Orange Sauce from Epicurious. Both are very good, and they are good together. The sliced heirloom tomatoes from the garden were a great addition!

Wine: Gargantuavis Pinot Noir 2007 Vin du Pays d'Oc. Has a great label. We knew this might not be a great match for the meal, and it wasn't, but it also just didn't seem to rise to what we know Pinot Noir can be.

New recipes, August 9, 2011

From Food and Wine: Parmesan Tuile with Heirloom Tomato Salad. We had trouble with the tuiles--very small and burnt rather quickly--but the salad, with fresh heirloom tomatoes from the garden, was fantastic! From Epicurious, Ribeye Steak with Red Wine Sauce, also fantastic!

Wine: Lindeman's South Africa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005--great fruit, leather and tobacco--really nice with this meal!

New recipe, August 8, 2011

We made Guam Volcano Tuna (Pepper Crusted Tuna) with Ginger Wasabi Dipping Sauce, but then realized we've done it before! Still wonderful! The new recipe (from Epicurious) is a Noodle Salad with Mango and Gingered Cucumber. Yum!

Wine: Villa Wolf 2008 Gewürztraminer

New recipe, August 7, 2011

Thai Chicken and Watermelon Salad, from Food and Wine, with steamed basmati rice. Oh my god is this good! This is a recipe you have to make.

Wine: Château Cailleteau Bergeron 2006 Bordeaux Rosé

New recipe, August 6, 2011

The main course is grilled French Sausage from Marczyk's Fine Foods in Denver. The new recipe is Sour Cream Cucumbers from Epicurious. It reminds me of a cucumber salad my mom used to make. We had it with a warm bagette.

Wine: 2005 La Truffière Côtes du Rhône

New recipe, August 5, 2011

Tuna Steak au Poivre from Epicurious, with pea shoots, a quick cucumber pickle, and a tomato salad (fresh from the garden). Delicious!

Wines: 2010 La Noche de San Juan Malbec Rose, with a lovely aroma and flavor of dried strawberries and vanilla; and 2010 Casa do Valle Vinho Verde Rose, with a strawberry jam aroma and flavor, a bit drier and more acidic than the Malbec. Overall, we preferred the Malbec with this dish.

New Recipe, August 4, 2011

Today was a travel day, and we had pizza with Mark's family for dinner. The new recipe was Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail, which was on the label for the Blood Orange Bitters.

New Recipe, August 3, 2011

Today's new recipe is another fun sorbet from Rick Tramonto's Amuse Bouche, a Pea Mint Sorbet in Almond Tuile Cones. Once again I can't find his recipe online. The peas give this an unusual creaminess for a sorbet--you would swear there is milk or cream in it, but there isn't. It is as tasty as it is green!

New recipes, August 2, 2011

Today was our day to cook for the family reunion. We started with a collection of goat cheese from Basalt, just down valley from Aspen. They were all delicious. The salad was a Panzanella that we have made many time before.

The main courses were a Pork Tenderloin marinated in Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes

, and (new for us) a Mario Batali recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Negroni Vinaigrette (sorry, I found reviews but not the recipe online). The recipe is from Italian Grill, and while it has many steps, it is not hard. It was delicious, and won a lot of kudos from the family, even after the tenderloin in balsamic, which we made before.!

Dessert was an Olive Oil Cake with Candied Orange from Epicurious. Amazing dish! The key is adding the orange syrup to the cake--it was fantastic!

New recipe, August 1, 2011

Today's new recipe was a Saffron Champagne Sorbet in Orange Tuile Cones, from Rick Tramonto's Amuse Bouche. This was a surprise hit, even with most of the kids! Yum!