March 31, 2011 new recipe

This evening we went to see "Ruined" at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It started at 6:30, so we ended up getting dinner on the way home. It is a play of amazing power, about women surviving in the midst of the horrors of ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If you are in Denver, it is a very thought provoking play, and we recommend it highly.

Since we did take-out for dinner, the new recipe is once again a cocktail--Mango Cilantro Margarita, from Epicurious.com. It is an interesting combination of flavors, but we would have liked the mango to be a little stronger, and the cilantro a little less. Will have to try it again!

March 30, 2011 new recipe

This evening I went to dinner with my friend and colleague Susan Pharo. So the new recipe was the cocktail we drank while watching the finale of Top Chef: All Stars--a Blackberry-Poblano Margarita, from Epicurious.com. Yum!

March 29, 2011 new recipes

You might wonder why the sudden interest in kumquats! Well, our tree had ripe kumquats and we needed to do something with them, so Carl found options! Tonight's dinner was a Cucumber Raita, and grilled pork chops with Curried Kumquat Chutney and Caramelized Cumin Roasted Carrots from Epicurious.com, both of which were new, and both of which were delicious.

The wine was the 2009 Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer, a nice match with such spicey food!

March 28, 2011 new recipe

Tonight, Carl made Sauteed Chicken over Wilted Spinach with Kumquat Sauce from Epicurious.com. I was surprise at how well this worked (I was expecting sweet), but it was great!

The wine was a Crane Lake 2009 Pinot Grigio. It was a very nice match--it was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the dish.

March 27, 2011 new recipes

Tonight, we had to celebrate Carl's birthday again, with our friend Dwight Davidson. The meal was a grilled New York Strip Steak (salt, pepper, and olive are all that I put on it), Horseradish Mashed Potatos from Epicurious.com, and Wilted Spinach with Lemon Juice.

We enjoyed this with Forefront 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, a very nice match!

I decided to try a variation on the molten chocolate cake. I riffed on the Molten Chocolate Cake with Cherries, adding some cinnamon and hot chili powder (1/2 teaspoon for 3 cakes). If anything, a little more chili would be even better!

March 26, 2011 new recipes

Since tonight was Carl's birthday (55!!), everything was new! The main dish was Duck Scallopine with Green Apples and Malavasia from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano (sorry, I can't find a link online!). I served it with Mashed Potatoes with Brown Butter and Scallions from Epicurious.com, and Mario's Spiced Cabbage from Lake Garda (sorry, also no recipe on line!), though I did it with red cabbage, since that is what we had. Though each of these was delicious, the cabbage was a tad too spicy for the relative sweetness of the main course. The potatoes were fabulous with the duck!

The wine was 2008 Sciarpa Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which complemented everything very well.

We had dessert with a Clairette de Die--Molten Chocolate Cake with Cherries from Epicurious.com. Dirty little secret--molten chocolate cake is insanely easy to make. Try this!!

March 25, 2011 new recipe

Tonight, we headed up to Winter Park to ski, so we had Chipotle Burritos (if you can't cook, might as well have tasty food!), so the new recipe was a cocktail: Sizzling Mojito, fromRick Bayless' Fiesta At Rick's. Sorry--the recipe isn't quite all the way out there on line!

March 24, 2011, new recipes

Wow, Carl did a great job this evening! We were headed to a fabulous production of "Homebody/Kabul" at the Curious Theatre, so we didn't have a wine. The dinner Carl made was Gwyneth Paltrow's fabulous Parmesan Asparagus with Poached Egg from Food and Wine, and the Red Cabbage and Warm Spinach Salad from Epicurious.com. Both of these were fabulous!

So you may be wondering why we think so many of the things we cook are great. First, we only cook things that look really interesting. But also, when we are cooking from a site like Epicurious, we usually don't bother with anything less than 3-4 forks. Other users have to love it for us to feel like it is worth it. Our fellow cooks' opinions are definitely helpful!

March 23, 2011 new recipe

This evening, we had Paneer Curry with Peas, from Epicurious .com, and a Bell Pepper Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Caraway Seeds that I made up. Our friend Bill Kunze joined us, here on a business trip from the Philadelphia area.

Wine: Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer 2009. A very nice match to the moderate spiciness of the curry.

March 22, 2011 new recipes

We started this evening with a Porch Crawler, a recipe from Food and Wine. This is a really wonderful cocktail--fun and with a little but not excessive zing from a serrano pepper. Make it!

Dinner was a Roasted Halibut with Wine-Braised Fennel. Also from Food and Wine, also a wonderful dish!

The wine was a 2007 Vie Di Romans Piere Sauvignon Blanc.

March 21, 2011, new recipe

Tonight we had Braised Duck Legs with Leek and Green Olives, courtesy of Epicurious.com. It was served with lightly buttered noodles, and a tomato-basil salad. It takes awhile to braise the duck, but it is otherwise a very simple dish to make--lets the different ingredients speak for themselves!

Wine: EOS Estate French Connection 2006--a Bordeaux/Meritage style wine, worked nicely with this dish!

March 20, 2011 new recipes

This evening we started off with Baba Ghanouj, from Epicurious.com. In reading a little about Baba Ghanouj on the web, there are a lot of variations out there, and a lot of opinions about what is right. This was easy and quite tasty--I am looking forward to trying other recipes in the future.

The main course was also new, a Lentil Soup with Spicy Italian Sausage, also from Epicurious.com. You might consider this a rustic dish, but it was fabulous. The vegetables, including celery, onion, carrot and parsnip gave it a wonderful, sweet earthy depth.

The wine was a 2007 Stoller Pinot Noir.

March 19, 2011 new recipe

The new recipe today was Italian Sausage and Wild Mushroom Risotto from Epicurious.com. It was excellent! It takes a long time, but this is the creamiest risotto I have ever made, and the flavors were excellent! We had it with the Pea Salad I made earlier in the week.

The wine was a 2008 Terredora DiPaolo Aglianico--a very nice match with the risotto!

March 18, 2011 new recipe

Carl is home--yay! This was his quick welcome home dinner, before we headed up to Winter Park to ski and board. It is Fresh Corn Soup Topped with Roasted Corn Guacamole, from Epicurious.com. We both thought the guacamole was fabulous. The soup would have been quite bland on its own (even with the jalapeño in it!), but the guacamole made it all work!

As we were driving to the mountains, we didn't have a wine this evening.

March 17,2011 New Recipe

This evening, I attended the premiere of the latest video in the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Diversity series. "Children of Adam" is about our middle eastern patients and colleagues, and was excellent, as all the other videos have been. Since I enjoyed tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, and baklava there, this evening's recipe was a cocktail, the Silver Monk, out of the most recent Food and Wine. It is tequila based, so it has some margarita like elements, but it also has chartreuse, so it is definitely uniquen. I enjoyed it, and it seemed singularly appropriate on St Patrick's Day!

March 16, 2011 new recipe

This evening's dinner is Grilled Italian Sausage with Warm Pepper-Onion Salad from Epicurious.com, along with steam broccoli with seasoned lemon butter made by Dwight. Both were fairly simple but very tasty! Delicious food does not have to be complicated!

The wine was the 2006 Santa Margherita Chianti Classico--wonderful!

March 15, 2011 new recipe

This evening we had Grilled Shrimp with Grilled Pineapple Salsa, from Epicurious.com. I decided to serve it in a tortilla bowl, and that is a slice of manchego on the side, which was a curiously pleasant counterpart to the salsa. The shrimp and salsa were very good! I have been intrigued by how good fruit based salsas can be.

The wine was a 2009 Leitz Out Rheingau Riesling. I pity the poor wine that has to take on the flavor of pineapple, but actually this worked reasonably well--I think the other flavors in the salsa (salt, jalapeño, red onion, cilantro) balanced out the sweetness of the grilled pineapple, so it didn't overwhelm the wine.

March 14, 2011, new recipes

Hoping Carl enjoyed a fabulous dinner in London. Tonight I made Pork Chops with Apricot-Tomato Chutney, from EatingWell.com. The recipe called for canned tomatoes, but I used fresh. There is no sugar in the chutney, so the only sweetness comes from the dried apricots--this resulted in a nicely balanced chutney, flavorful but not very sweet. I was very pleased with this! I served it with Broccoli Sauteed in Garlic and Blood Orange Juice. This is a riff off Mario Batali's Broccoli Sauteed in Wine and Garlic. The citrus juice brightened it nicely and it was a great complement to the pork chop. I would do both again!

The wine was a 2004 Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage--fruity, with dark red fruit, not a lot of oak. I hoped it would be a nice complement to the pork, as well as the brighter citrus and tomato-apricot flavors. It worked even better than I hoped! A very nice meal and wine combination!

March 13.2011, new recipes

Carl enjoyed a proper British pub this evening. Dwight and I had Crisped Chicken With Chimichurri and Avocado, courtesy of the Denver Post, and a Pea Salad from Epicurious.com. I have to say both were flavorful and delicious. The salad was so easy, I thin it was my favorite! But I also recommend the chicken. If you do it, the chicken breast is not going to be done in 6 minutes unless you pound it thin or cut it into 1/4-1/2 inch thick pieces. If you don't, it just takes longer, though it didn't cause any problem.

The wine, which was a delightful match, especially with the tarragon in the peas salad, was a 2008 Glass Mountain Chardonnay.

March 12, 2011 new recipe

Carl enjoyed a sushi dinner this evening in London; I enjoyed the Asian Shrimp, Pineapple and Peanut Salad from Epicurious.com, which originally appeared in Bon Appétit. I had it with a little couscous, which honestly was not necessary, and didn't really add anything to the dish. But the dish was fabulous all by itself! And very quick and easy.

The wine was a 2007 Aresti Late Harvest Gewürztraminer. Between the pineapple, the mint, and the hot pepper, I thought this would take a pretty bold wine, and this worked quite well with the salad.

March 11, 2011 New recipe

Here is Dwight, enjoying our new recipe for the day--Warm Arugula Bread Salad, from EatingWell.com, served with a sweet turkey Italian Sausage. Simple, and very flavorful!

Carl is en route to to London. I am hoping his trans-Atlantic meal surpasses this one (but I doubt it!).

The wine is a nice little Nebbiolo--the 2006 Matteo Correggio Roero. Really nice with these foods!

March 10, 2011 new recipe

Tonight I looked on Epicurious.com for a recipe involving steak--I wanted to make something really nice for Carl before he heads to London for a week (sigh!). Make this one! I made Grilled Lime-Curry Rubbed Hanger Steak with Fresh Melon-Cucumber Chutney. Couldn't get Hanger Steak, so I used beef flatiron top blade steak. These are cuts I don't really know, but as you can see the meat turned out perfectly. This is so tasty! We had it with oven roasted potatoes with salt and pepper, with a little Harissa Sauce to dress it.

The wine was the 2007 La Spinetta Il Nero di Casanova Toscana Sangiovese. It played nicely, as I expected, against the lime juice and salt in the marinade for the meat. It was a very nice send-off meal, though of course, I would rather we be together all week!

March 9, 2011 new recipes

Tonight's recipes come from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican. We had Herb-Green Rice with Peas and Quick Fried Fish with Toasted Garlic. (Sorry, I can't find either on other sites). We had it with a quick red cabbage and carrot slaw dressed with the Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette from Holly Arnold Kinney's Shinin' Times at the Fort. The fish and the rice were both delicious, flavorful without being very spicey. The slaw was a nice counterpoint.

The wine was a 2009 Crane Lake Pinot Grigio, which worked nicely with all the dishes.

March 8, 2011 new recipe

Tonight we enjoyed Chicken Vesuvio from Epicurious.com, with grape tomatoes with salt and pepper. It is an easy and delicious recipe.

The wine was a 2006 Lan Rioja Crianza--worked nicely with this flavorful, mildly spicy dish.

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!

March 6, 2011 new recipe

We do want to use a slow cooker to help us achieve our goal of at least one new recipe a day. Thanks to the Denver Post for this recipe from Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever by Diane Phillips. We made and loved the Fruited Chicken Tagine, and especially liked the fact that it took care of itself while we had a great day on the slopes! We served it with grape tomatoes with a little salt.

The wine was the 2009 Leitz Out Riesling--it was a good match, since the dish has some sweetiness from the fruit and a good zing from some cayenne.

March 5, 2011 new recipe

We decided to have dinner at the Sunspot, at the top of Winter Park today. So the new recipe is breakfast: Breakfast Couscous with Dried Fruit Compote, from Epicurious.com. As the reviews say, you can really do this any way you want, but I have to say this was really good! It is really quick, but the couscous is a great base for the fruit, which is really accentuated by the nuts. The combination was delicious! We left out the teabag (Carl and caffeine do not mix), but I do agree with the reviewer who said the lemon juice is key--it helps balance the sweet fruit. Make this!

It was breakfast, so I hope you weren't expecting a wine!

The Sunspot is a lodge and restaurant atop Winter Park. On Friday and Saturday, you can take the gondola to the top for a 5 course meal. We decided we had to check this out. It was a very pleasant experience overall--great service, gorgeous venue, a lot of fun! You are waiting for comments about the food. The butternut squash soup was excellent, and the entrees (grilled venison and buffalo) were done beautifully. We thought the appetizer (smoked trout mousse), the salad (mixed green salad with roasted citrus vianigrette) and the dessert (chocolate mousse) were middle of the road. It was very nice, but we wish they would kick it up a notch!

March 4, 2011, new recipe

This evening, we had a quick repast so we could drive to Winter Park for a weekend of skiing. This is Rick Bayless' Sun Dried Tomato Guacamole, from Fiesta at Rick's. That's feta you see on top. This was a wonderful quick meal!

Since we were driving, there was no wine with this one.

March 4, 2011 new recipe

Today's dishes are both new for us. The Lime and Coconut Shrimp with Curry Sauce is from Epicurious.com. My first thought, seeing deep fried shrimp, was that this was going to be too much. Well it was fabulous, and it made a great lunch the next day, as well! Peas with Horseradish came from David Chang's Momofuku. As someone who enjoys Wasabi Peas, I have to say this was definitely better!

The wine was a Wolf 2009 Gewürztraminer. A great match to these flavors!

March 2, 2011, new recipe

Tonight, we took our inspiration from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, looking, I might add, for something quick! We did Tuna Sicilian Style with Shallot Frittata (sorry, no link out there!). We had a nice arugula salad with the Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette from Shinin' Times at the Fort that Carl made yesterday. A lovely meal!

The wine was a 2009 Liana Pinot Grigio--a nice match to the meal!

March 1, 2011 new recipes

We decided we are going to try some slow cooker meals as part of this grand experiment. Tonight we had Spanish Brown Rice with Spicey Sausage, from Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann's Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. Carl served it with a salad with Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette from Holly Arnold Kinsey's Shinin' Times at the Fort. The vinaigrette was wonderful. The rice was simple but tasty.

We drank a 2007 Muga Rioja Rose with this--it is a very nice rose!

For dessert, we had sliced strawberries dressed with a little balsamic vinegar and sugar. Such a simple but elegant dessert!