January 6, 2011 new recipe

Dinner on 1/6/2011 came from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's. This time Carl did the whole recipe, Achiote-Seared Shrimp with Quick Habanero-Pickled Onions. This was the first time we did the shrimp, but not the first time for the onions (and not the last time, either!).

Simple, and fabulous. We had a Riesling with this, but I don't remember which one.

January 5, 2011 new recipe

Dinner on 1/5/2011 was simple and very satisfying. This Polish Barley Soup came from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, by Brother Victor Antoine D'Avila-Latourette. Delicious!!

Don't recall the wine.

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.

January 3, 2011 new recipes

Dinner on 1/3/2011 was a tasty yet simple affair. The Quick Habanero-Pickled Onions, was a new recipe for us, from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's cookbook. The Shrimp From the Devil Priest, from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, was served over Basmati rice.

Delicious!

The wine was Leitz Out 2009 Rheingau Riesling. Rieslings are fruity, even when they are not sweet, making them a good match for spicy food.

Our cooking adventure

As many know Mark and I love to cook. We cook everyday unless something like going out to dinner gets in the way or we are traveling. So we have decided to cook a new dish everyday this year. I actually started on Monday before the new year. I made Omelet de Lyonaise which is an onion omelet topped with a white wine vinegar that you heat in the drippings from the omelet and pour on top. Tuesday I cooked Mesquite smoked chicken with roasted potatoes. I bought Mark a cold smoker for Christmas and his mother bought me a set of different woods to use in it. So I must admit that I actually used Mark's gift before he had a chance. He did of course get to eat the chicken. On Wednesday, I made carrot ginger soup and Thursday I cooked risotto with peas and prosciutto with a side dish of Brussels sprouts with a maple walnut vinaigrette.

Friday Mark and I went out to Dinner with his parents, Ann and Mike and his sister Mary with her husband Kenny and their three kids, Georgia, Julia and Brett. Since I could not cook I had a dish that I love yet have not ventured to make yet. Chioppino.

Last night Mark made a terrific meal, curried black eyed peas, chanterelle mushrooms cooked in butter shallots and garlic. The main dish was chicken thighs cooked with juniper berries. Fantastic although I think it made me dream of gin last night.

Tonight we are having Grilled rack of lamb with honey pasilla glaze, Roasted new potato salad with poblano Mayo. After a day on the slopes I can hardly wait.

January 2, 2011 new recipes

This is the dinner on 1/2/2011. Carl and I were in the mountains, near Winter Park. The temperatures were very cold for skiing. That didn't stop us, of course, but we wanted a nice warming meal afterward. The main course was Grilled Rack of Lamb with a Honey-Pasilla Glaze, from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's cookbook (one of my Christmas presents). He has such a love of Mexican food, and so many good recipes! The Salad of Roasted New Potatoes with Poblano Mayo came from the same book. We also had a salad I make often with caramelized corn kernels, and diced cucumber, red bell peppers, dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette and shredded basil or tarragon.

The wine was a garnacha--a fruity red wine that often matches well to spicy foods.

January 1, 2011 new recipes

New Years Day, 2011. We made Chicken with Juniper Berries, from Ruth van Waerebeek's Everyone Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. We also made Fresh Chanterelles with Shallots from Epicurious.com, and a green salad. Both were new to us.

Our usual green salad is made with a very simple vinaigrette--olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little Viandox. Viandox is a Knorr product, which our friends Anne and Gilles introduced us to when we visited them in France. We have not been able to get it in the US, so we tend to return from France with a bunch of bottles in the suitcases! It is a salty sauce with yeast extract, some spices, soy sauce, and beef extract.

Being New Years Day, we also had to have black eyed peas. I modified the Curried Black Eyed Pea Soup recipe on Epicurious.com. I didn't use bacon, just olive oil and the smoked paprika for the smokiness of bacon. It was really nice! The chanterelle recipe also came from this site.

I can't remember what red wine we had with this.