New recipe, December 31, 2013

The Drankenstein cocktail, from Tim Federle's Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist. We give this a 3.

New recipe, December 30, 2013

Stuffed Delicata Squash from the January/February 2014 Eating Well. We substituted a couple things--quinoa for bulgur, ground buffalo for ground beef. We like the flavors, and would have like more chili flavor-- we give this a 3.

Wine: Cuvée du Plessy Côte Rôtie 2007

New recipe, December 29, 2013

Spicy Tilapia and Fennel Stew from the December 2013 Cooking Light. A great warming dish! We give this a 4.

Wine: Villamedoro Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2008

New recipes, December 28, 2013

Pork Tenderloin Paprikash with Apple Salad with Mustard Dressing from the January/February 2014 Cooking Light. These are both nice. We give the Paprikash a 4, and the salad a 5 (use half the oil it calls for--the flavors are still excellent).

Wine: Evolúció Tokaj Furmint 2011

New recipe, December 27, 2013

Pan Roasted Chicken with Harissa Chickpeas from the January 2014 Bon Appétit. Delicious, this gets a 4.

Wine: Red Wire Hawkes Bay 2007

New recipe, December 26, 2013

Today's new recipe is another breakfast dish--Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Caramelized Apples from the January 2014 Food and Wine. This is another tasty dish with great flavors--the ricotta and lemon are nice touches! We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 25, 2013

Our contribution to the Christmas feast is a salad--Butter Lettuce with Apples Walnuts and Pomegranate Seeds from the January 2012 Bon Appétit. This was tasty. Good with apples, would be even better with a perfect pear. Instead of store bight glazed walnuts, we used freshly toasted walnuts--great!  We give it a 4.

New recipe. December 24, 2013

Today's new recipe is a breakfast dish--the Baked French Toast with Pecan Crumble, from the December 2013 Bon Appétit, served with a reprise of the Citrus Salad with Tarragon. Carl's mom says they get a 5. We agree!

New recipe, December 23, 2013

Breakfast today! Grapefruit with Chile and Rosemary from the January 2014 Bon Appétit. This may sound odd, but it is delicious! We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 22, 2013

Baked Sweet Potato Chips from the December 2013 Food and Wine. The recipe does not even come close to cooking the chips in the time allotted. But with more time, they were tasty. Might try a higher temp. Other online recipes cook the chips at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once.  We would try this approach next time.  We give this a 3--after microwaving these to doneness, these were great, but cooked according to the recipe they were disappointing.

New recipes, December 21, 2013

Roast Chicken with Walnut Pesto from the December 2013 Food and Wine. We used game hens. Both the birds and the pesto were good, we didn't really see the benefit of combining them. We give this a 3.
Served with an off the cuff salad--arugula dressed with walnut oil, white wine vinegar and Viandox, with perfect pears, toasted walnuts. This was great--we give it a 5.

Wine: Brophy Clark Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2009

New recipe, December 20, 2013

We had tasty left over beef stew for dinner, so the new recipe is a cocktail:
Joly's Pisco Sour from the December 2013 Bon Appétit. This is excellent--we give it a 5.

New recipe, December 19, 2013

Classic Slow Cooker Beef Stew from the December 2013 Cooking Light. It is a solid, tasty beef stew--we give this a 3.

Wine: Brézème Côtes du Rhône 2007

New recipe, December 18, 2013

Slow Cooker Chicken Verde from the December 2013 Cooking Light. Poblanos are hard to predict--spicier would have been better but this still gets a 4!

Wine: The Formula Robert's Shiraz 2006

New recipe, December 17, 2013

Chickpea and Sausage Minestrone from the December 2013 Cooking Light. A nice variation on minestrone, we give this a 3.

Wine: Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2008

New recipe, December 16, 2013

Creamy Mushroom Fettucine from the November 2013 Cooking Light. Just the right balance of flavors, including fresh thyme. We give this a 4. Served with a green salad with pomegranate and pistachios.

Wine: Domaine de Pellehaut Harmonie de Gascogne 2009

New recipes, December 15, 2013

Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Relish from the December 2013 Bon Appétit. The relish blends so well with the fennel rub in the chops, creating layers of flavors. We give this a 5!
Served with Winter Greens Salad with Squash and Cranberry Vinaigrette from the December 2013 Eating Well--also really wonderful combination of flavors, we give it a 4.

Wine: Eos Estate 2006 French Connection

New recipes, December 14, 2013

Seared Steak with Braised Leeks and Chard, from the December 2013 Cooking Light--very good, we give it a 4. Served with White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon from the December 2013 Bon Appetit. This was bold, we didn't think the flavors quite blended the way we would like--we give this a 3.

Wine: Olga Raffault Chinon 2007 "Les Picasses"

New recipe, December 13, 2013

It has been a busy week, so tonight's new recipe is one more cocktail--a warm drink--Bran's Dram, from the December 2013 Bon Appétit. Very enjoyable and soothing. It gets a 4

New recipe, December 11, 2013

The Old Pal from the February 2012 Bon Appétit. Solid flavors, this gets a 3.

New recipe, December 10, 2013

A Confederacy of Ounces from Tim Federle's Tequila Mockingbird

Nice, we give this a 4.

New recipe, December 9, 2013

Corpse Reviver 3000 from the Tipsy Texan. Nice flavors, this gets a 4

New recipes, December 8, 2013

Vegetarian Tikka Masala from the December 2013 Eating Well. Served with a salad created by Carl with mâché dressed with rose water, lime olive oil, Maggi, Mongolian Fire Oil, rice wine vinegar.

The tikka masala is delicious and gets a 4. The salad gets a 5.

Wine: Huia Dry Riesling 2010

New recipe, December 7, 2013

We had several holiday parties today, so the new recipe is the Oaxacan Winter Cocktail, from the Denver Post. There are nice layers of flavors here, but you have to like mescal. We give it a 3.

New recipe, December 6, 2013

Sticky Korean Lamb Skewers from the December 2013 Cooking Light (we did it with lamb chops). Good Korean flavors--we give this a 4.

Wine: Domaine Allimant-Laugner Gewürztraminer 2011

New recipe, December 5, 2013

General Tso's Chicken from the December 2013 Eating Well. This is enjoyable, nothing that grabs you as unique, so we give it a 3.

Wine: Franclieu Récolte Mâcon Charnay 2011

New recipe, December 4, 2013

Chicken and Chickpea Tagine from the December 2013 Cooking Light. Nice flavors! We give this a 4--be careful not to overgrown the chicken! Served with a snap pea red bell pepper salad.

Wine: Evolucio Furmint 2011

New recipe, December 3, 2013

Tangy Italian Beef Sandwiches from the December 2013 Cooking Light. You'll note we skipped the bread. Nice flavors, we give this a 3--as a sandwich it might have popped more. Served with a green and tomato salad.

Wine: Poggiotondo Chianti Superiore 2009

New recipe, December 2, 2013

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts from the December 2013 Cooking Light. Very nice, we give this a 4.

Wine: Franclieu Récolte 2011 Mâcon Charnay

New recipe, December 1, 2013

As we went out for dinner, tonight's new recipe is the Orange Scented Dark Rum and Dubonnet Aperitif from the December 2013 Food and Wine. Three drops of orange flower water might not sound like much, but it really makes this drink! We give it a 4.

New recipe, November 30, 2013

This is the Apple Brandy Braised Pork Tenderloin from the December 2013 Cooking Light, served with Winter Salad with Avocado Pomegranate and Almonds from the December 2013 Food and Wine. Both were very good, with layers of flavors. We give them both a 4.

New recipe, November 29, 2013

Visiting our friends Rich and Tim, who let us cook for them. The new recipe is (upper left hand corner) Citrus Salad with Tarragon from the December 2013 Bon Appetit. This is amazing--it gets a 5!
Served with a perennial favorite, the African Adobo Rubbed Tuna from Epicurious. Still gets a 5!

New recipes, November 28, 2013

We had Thanksgiving at our house. We did 2 new turkey recipes, both from the November 2013 Bon Appétit: the Chile Rubbed Turkey (above), and the Fennel Chile and Maple Dry Brined Turkey. Both were quite moist and very tasty--we give them both a 4.  It was a nice family day together!

New recipe, November 27, 2013

We've been working to get ready for Thanksgiving, so it was Chipotle and a new cocktail tonight: the CEO Cocktail from Gary Regan's The Joy of a Mixology. Very tasty--we give this a 5--a delight!

New recipe, November 26, 2013

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Preserved Lemon from the October 2013 Cooking Light. Yummy, we give this a 4!

New recipe, November 25, 2013

Cauliflower Steaks with Maitake Mushrooms and Brown Butter Caper Sauce, from the November 2013 Cooking Light. Served with some sliced roast turkey breast. This sounds delicious, and we found it a bit plainer than we expected. Certainly a nice dish, we give this a 3.

Wine: Fire Road Sauvignon Blanc 2012

New recipe, November 24, 2013

Grilled Tuna and Broccolini with Garlic Drizzle (we used broccoli) from the October 2013 Cooking Light. We give this a 4.

Wine: Radio-Coteau Savoy 2010 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

New recipe, November 23, 2013

Smothered Vinegar Pork Shoulder with Apples and Kale, from the November 2013 Cooking Light. We used pork tenderloin, and we give this an enthusiastic 4.

Wine: Domaine Jean Pascal et Fils Meursault 2009

New recipe, November 22, 2013

Crispy Chicken Breasts with Chermoula and Escarole, from the December 2013 Bon Appétit. We give this a 4. Served with a tomato green onion salad with a vinaigrette with blood orange olive oil.

Wine: Viña Urbezo Cariñena 2001. This wine considers to surprise us--it was never intended to be laid down, but it is still delicious!

New recipe, November 21, 2013

The Bacardi Cocktail, from Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology. This is quite tasty--we give this a 4.

New recipe, November 20, 2013

Crispy Pork Stir Fry with Baby Bok Choy from the November 2013 Cooking Light. We ended up using the adolescent Bok Choy we had. The flavors are standard but nice--we give this a 3.

Wine: Huia Marlborough Dry Riesling 2010

New recipes, November 19, 2013

Pan Seared Chicken Breast with Rich Pan Sauce from the November 2013 Cooking Light. This is quite simple to make, and quite delicious. We give it a 4! Served with a loose riff on Winter Squash with Spiced Butter from the November 2012 Bon Appétit. Loose because we used a mutant zucchini, minimal butter, and chicken stock instead of water. It was actually quite nice, and we give it a 3. With roasted winter squash, we think this would be spectacular--looking forward to trying it again!

Wine: Fire Road 2012 Sauvignon Blanc

New recipes, November 18, 2013

Two from the November 2013 Cooking Light: Port Stained Beef Medallions (you steam the tenderloin, which sounds so odd but gives amazingly tender meat), and Mexican Broiled Corn Salad. For the salad, I browned corn kernels and the onion in a dry skillet rather than broiling everything (too many steps!), but we still got the charting and caramelization. There were still a lot of steps, and the dressing sends this over the top. These both get a 5!

Wine: Fattoria Rodáno Poggialupi 2007

New recipe, November 17, 2013

Beef Tenderloin Swiss Chard and Caramelized Fennel Tacos, from the November 2013 Cooking Light. Delicious, it gets a 5!

Wine: Vin de Tabula Rasa 2009

New recipe, November 16, 2013

Chicken and Mushroom Fricasee from the December 2013 Food and Wine. Nice, we give this a 3. Served with arugula salad.

Wine: Joseph Drouhin Chorey les Beaune 2010

New recipe, November 15, 2013

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Salad from the December 2013 Food and Wine. We give this a 4--very nice flavors! Served with sliced cucumbers and D'Artagnan Venison and Pork Sausage with Cherries.

No wine--off to the theater.

New recipe, November 14, 2013

Aloo Gobi from the December 2013 Food and Wine. The Indian flavors could have been more forward with this, we give it a 3.

No wine--off to the theater!

New recipes, November 13, 2013

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Onions, from the November 2007 Gourmet, and Pomegranate Mint Relish from the November 2013 Bon Appetít. Served with a grilled lamb chop. We give both new dishes a 4--very nice!

Wine: Amethyst Cabernet Sauvignon 2003