New recipes, April 30, 2012

Thanks Marguerite Burns for the Penzeys blends. We had chicken thighs with the Galena Street Rib & Chicken Rub, Sautéed Yellow Squash with the Fox Point Seasoning, and from the Cooks Illustrated Cookbook, Orange and Radish Salad with Arugula. The salad gets a 4! Both spice mixes are great, so while there isn't a formal recipe, we give then 4s as well!

Wine: 2011 Bieler Père et Fils Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rosé

New recipe, April 29, 2012

The new recipe was Seared Sea Scallops with Wilted Watercress and Bacon from the May 2012 Cooking Light, served with the wonderful Spring Panzanella with Asparagus from the April 2012 Food and Wine. The Panzanella gets a 5 (to me the big challenge with this is to defire the onion if it is hot--the onion flavor is important, but it shouldn't be hot). The scallops get a 3.

Wine: Terredora Dipaolo Faranghina Irpinia 2010

New recipe, April 28, 2012

Arnaud's Special Cocktail, from Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. We give it a 3

We attended another event tonight, so didn't cook dinner.

New recipe, April 27, 2012

The Moonlight Cocktail, by Gary Regan, in the San Francisco Chronicle. We had to have something to do with Creme de Violette! It is very nice--we give it a 3.

We attended the Kaiser Permanente Summit Awards tonight, so no dinner recipe.

New recipe, April 26, 2012

From the May 2012 Food and Wine: Grilled Pork Banh Mi. Excellent Vietnamese sandwich. We give it a 4! Served with a plate of sliced tomatoes.

No wine, beer: Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA, an excellent match

New recipe, April 25, 2012

Pork and Plantain Enchiladas with Black Bean Purée from the May 2012 Cooking Light. Very tasty, great bright tomatillo salsa, AND many steps in construction, so overall gets a 3. Served with a green salad.

Wine: Robert's Shiraz Small Gully 2006. Tim!

New recipe, April 24, 2012

Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa from the May 2012 Cooking Light. Delicious salsa--we give it a 4! Served with a salad of tomatoes and home grown sprouts.
Wine: Vin de Tabula Rasa 2009

New recipe, April 23, 2012

Cumin Spiced Fish Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa from the May 2012 Cooking Light. Delicious! We give it a 4
Wine: La Spinetta Tiscana Vermentino 2009--nice match!

One more recipe, April 22, 2012

The Chihulytini, from the Denver Post. This cocktail was created in honor of the Dale Chihuly Show at the Foothills Arts Center.
Yum! Visually stunning and very delicious. We give it a 5

New recipe, April 22, 2012

Thai Soup with Banana Flower from asiasociety.org. We had a banana flower and needed to do something with it. Could have been a bit spicier--next time will chop the serranos. We give it a 3.
Served with Pork and Vegetable Curry from Jennifer Brennan's The Original Thai Cookbook. It was a bit mild today, I think I let the proportions of vegetables get a little out of hand. We give it a 3, can be at least a 4 when it is spicy!
Wine: Guy Drew 2010 Russell Vineyards Riesling

Mark and Carl are training for the Triple Bypass Ride in July. Yesterday we did a 60 mile ride around Denver going south through Cherry Creek Reservoir, south on Jordan Road, connecting with C470 to Chatfield Reservoir, down the Platte River to the confluence with Cherry Creek, then up Cherry Creek back home. It was great. There are lilacs blooming all over town and the Western Chorus Frogs are mating. We even see Irises and Poppies which are very early this year. The trail goes through many prairie dog towns along the way. Today we road down Cherry Creek to the Platt River then north to Clear Creek to Golden, Colorado. This was a 70 mile ride. The weather was beautiful. We saw a wild turkey in one field along the Platte River. This is the first wild turkey I have seen in Colorado. On our way back from Golden we rode through about 50 young guys on skate boards. They were quite good and fun to watch. Getting home we chowed down a quick late lunch and went to see the Yves St. Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It was beautiful. Such a talented man with a expansive vision of women. Mark is looking for a banana flower soup recipe while we are sitting on the south patio having a Goulden Carolus beer. The vegetable garden is nearby and growing beautiful leafy veggies. Turnips, beets, spinach, radishes, mache, onions, pak choy, and green and red lettuce. Yum.

New recipe, April 21, 2012

Kumquat Ice Drops from Kumquatgrowers.com. This was our after dinner treat, as we attended the Human Right Campaign Mile High Gala. The flavors ate interesting, a little too salty on some pieces. We give it a 3

New recipe, April 20, 2012

The new recipe was inspired by the Noodles with Broccoli Recipe in Anne McDowall's Step by Step Asian Cookbook. Inspired because we used udon instead of rice noodles, Chinese broccoli instead of regular, and no pork. It was quite tasty (didn't mess with the sauce), and we gave it a 3.
We served it with the Vietnamese Goat Chops with Galangal and Lemongrass, which still has fabulous flavors and got a 4. Had the goat we used been more tender, it could have been a 5.
Wine: Van Duzer Estate Pinot Noir 2008--worked nicely!

New recipe, April 19, 2012

We attended a fund raiser for the Mental Health Center of Denver, so this is a cocktail--the Kona Swizzle, from the March 2012 Bon Appétit. Very tasty--we give it a 4.

New recipe, April 18, 2012

From the May 2012 Cooking Light, Jerk Chicken and Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers. This was quite tasty--we give it a 4
No wine, as we headed to see Wicked at the Denver Center.

New recipe, April 17, 2012

Happy Tax Day! Today's recipe is Shrimp Fried Rice from the May 2012 Cooking Light. This version drastically cuts the calories usually found in fried rice by cutting (guess what?) the oil and the rice, and replacing them with lots of veggies. And it really is pretty good. Would do it again, so it gets a 3.
Wine: Antis Torrontés 2010

New recipe, April 16, 2012

Beef Filets with Red Wine Sauce and Roasted Veggie Fries, from the May 2012 Cooking Light. Quite a nice job with great flavors and many less calories than would have been traditional with steak and fries. Gets a 3.
Wine: Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Vignes Franches 2006

New recipe, April 15, 2012

Pistachio Chai Muffins from Cooking Light. I made them a day ahead, which might explain the relative dryness. Nice flavors, though, so they get a 3

New recipe, April 14, 2012

From Epicurious, the Open Faced Bacon and Egg Sandwich with Arugula. It's breakfast, since we'll be going out to dinner. In the absence of arugula, we used our home grown sprouts. There is a lot of radish, so it has a pepperiness similar to what you might get with arugula. Nice breakfast, gets a 3

New recipes, April 13, 2012

Lemony Snap Peas from the May 2012 Cooking Light--yum! Gets a 4--easy and delicious. Served with Spanish Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Manchego and Jamón Serrano from the March 2009 Bon Appétit. I deviated in a couple places--on the absence of dates I used figs, which tasted great. I also didn't butter the bread, which may have been a mistake-it is tasty but needed a little more moisture. The butter might have helped, or a fig jam instead if dried figs. Gets a 3 as we made it.
Wine: Santa Margherita Chianti Classico 2006

New recipe, April 12, 2012

William Bent's Buffalo Tenderloin Filet Mignon from Holly Arnold Kinney's Shining' Times at the Fort, served with a tomato salad with home grown sprouts, and a stuffed grape leaf. The buffalo gets a 3- nice flavor, not as tender as I might hope.
Wine: Santa Margherita Chianti Classico 2006

New recipe, April 11, 2012

Today's new recipe is Udon noodles with mushrooms, fresno and yellow bell peppers in a harrisa soy sauce. Served with a tomato salad and Kwak beer. No source--creative inspiration!


Yum! It gets a 3.

New recipe, April 10, 2012

A cocktail, as we had an event and a play. From Epicurious, the Old Pal. I guess it is what the old pals drink when they aren't having Manhattans! We give it a 3

New recipes, April 9, 2012

Pecorino Crusted Chicken with Mushroom Salad, and Spiced Lemon Rice, both from the April 2012 Bon Appétit. Quite tasty, and worked well together--we give them 4s
Wine: Garnacha de Fuego 2009

New recipe, April 8, 2012

We had Easter dinner with Mark's family, and our contribution, from Epicurious, was this Lemon Roasted Potatoes, which got a good review from the family. We give them a 4

New recipe, April 7, 2012

Today's new recipes was really a riff on the Japanese Style Trout with Dashi in the May 2012 Food and Wine.  We use sole, skipped the dashi, and used julienned yellow squash sprinkled with Shichimi Togarashi (a Japanese spice powder) instead of carrots and leeks.  It was quite good, even with all the changes--we give our version a 4.  The changes were based mainly on what we had or didn't have in the kitchen.  We served it with pan roasted asparagus with sesame oil and soy sauce.

Wine:  Guy Drew 2010 Russell Vineyard Riesling from Montezuma County Colorado.

New recipe, April 6, 2012

Orecchiette with Pork Saffron and Basil Sauce (couldn't find this online--sorry) (we used turkey) from Sally Griffiths Great Pasta Sauces. Tasty dish, we give it a 3.
No wine, we are headed to the theater.

New recipe, April 5, 2012

We went out to dinner with the family to celebrate the 80th birthday of Mark's mom, Ann Groshek, including the surprise appearance of her sister, Rita Burns. It was a great time!
So tonight's new recipe is the Polynesian Cocktail from Mr Boston's Official Bartender Guide. This gets a 2--we didn't think the flavors were very good. Ah well!

New recipes, April 4, 2012

From Epicurious, we once again made African Adobo Rubbed Tuna Steaks, which are still a 5!  We served it with Green Tea Noodles with Sesame Ginger Sauce (we used regular udon) from Susan Fuller Slack's Japanese Cooking for the American Table.  Also a 5--this was delicious!

Wine:  Neyers 2010 Carneros District Chardonnay--fabulous wine, great with these dishes!

New recipe, April 3, 2012

From the March 2012 Cooking Light: Shrimp Tacos with Green Apple Salsa. This is delicious, and really inexpensive! The recipe says it costs $9.99 to feed 4--with our workout schedule, it feeds 2 of us, but still delicious and healthy. The lime zest in the salsa is especially good. We give these a 4.
Wine: Viña Urbezo Cosecha 2001 Cariñena. We bought this wine last year--it is much older than it should be, but still tastes great! Very nice with a spicy Mexican dish!

New recipe, April 2, 2012

Chicken Cacciatore from the March 2012 Cooking Light. Nice recipe, loaded with vegetables, which we like. Could use more herb flavors, so we give it a 3.
Wine: Tenuta Sant' Antonio Nanfrè Valpolicella 2008

New recipes, April 1, 2012

Grilled Goat Chops with Galangal and Lemongrass (Dê Nuróng) and Salt Pepper and Lime Dipping Sauce (Muôí Tiêu Chanh) from VietWorldKitchen.com, served with brown rice, a quick cucumber red pepper pickle, and a Carrot Radish Pickle. Yum!
The Carrot Radish Pickle needed a little more pickle--it gets a 2.  The chops were great--we give them a 4, and that was with a little more char than intended on the grill!
Wine: Côtes du Rhône Brézème 2007--wonderful wine!