March 7, 2011 new recipe

Carl made a fabulous Shrimp with Mango, Avocado and Sweet Chili-Ginger Vinaigrette from Epicurious.com. He accompanied with the Roast Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinagrette from David Chang's Momofuku--we love this dish, and keep coming back to it.

The wine was a 2009 Domaine de Pellehaut. While this a very nice wine, with grapefruit and peach aromas, I think IO overestimated its ability to balance the very spicy brussels sprouts. Ah well!

February 25, 2011 new recipes

Carl went all out today--three new recipes, all from Epicurious.com. We had Triple Pepper T-Bone Steak, accompanied by Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Red and Yellow Pipérade, and Brussel Sprouts with Marjoram and Pine Nuts. Am I allowed to say OMG? These were delicious!

We drank a Forefront Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 with this. In the aroma and flavor, it had plum, butter, a little violet and strawberry, a hint of cabbage, some white pepper. It was very nice with the potatoes and the steak. Brussel sprouts are always a dicey match with wine. Here, they didn't compete, just didn't sing together!

January 21, 2011 new recipes

Dinner on 1/21/2011 had a fabulous new dish for us, Persian Style Chicken, with Walnuts, Onion and Pomegranate Sauce (Fesenjan), from the Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl, and Flemish Brussel Sprouts, from Everyone Eats Well in Belgium by Ruth van Waerebeek. They were both quite good, but they did not seem pefrectly suited for each other.

The wine was a 2003 Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, which worked very nicely with both dishes.

January 12, 2011 new recipes

Dinner on 1/12/2011 was Seared Scallops with Crispy Leeks. This recipe is new, and comes from the EatingWell.com website. It was tasty! The key to the leeks, which are crisped in a very hot over, is to be sure to spread them out in a single layer. Otherwise they get a little mushy.

We had this with some Farro, and with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Grapes. This recipe was given to me by a coworker. You just cut equal parts of red or black seedless grapes and brussel sprouts in half. Lightly oil with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roast at 350 degrees until they look done. It is so simple and so easy!

January 4, 2011 new recipe

Dinner on 1/4/2011 was an Asian affair. As he has many times before, Carl made the Roasted Brussel Sprouts recipe from David Chang's Momofuku. The roasting gives them a lovely caramelized flavor, but the key is the spicy fish sauce dressing. David Chang serves them over puffed rice--so far we haven't tried that, but they are also spectacular with some white rice.

The new dish was Fried Chicken Wing Drumettes in Cilantro Batter, from David Cost's excellent cookbook, Asian Ingredients. These wings have a fantastic flavor, but I think we both decided that it was more fried food than we would usually eat.

Once again, I can't remember what the wine was.

December 30, 2010 new recipes

Dinner on 12/30/2010 was Venetian Style Risotto with Peas, and Steamed Brussel Sprouts with Maple Vinaigrette.

Both of these were new. The risotto came from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, well loved and used in our house! The brussel sprouts came from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. Both were good, they did not seem to be the best fit with each other though. Live and learn!

I don't recall the wine.