Sage Cubed

Another brined pork recipe that was amazing! And sage makes an appearance in all three dishes! We have the leftover Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Pasta form last night, roasted maple-sage root veggies, and a sage brined pork chop. All were amazing. I was a little worried about the sauce but it turned out to be a delicious combination, don't skip it!

Pork Chops with Squash and Sage

(adapted from the Food Network)

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
12 fresh sage leaves
4 bone-in pork loin chops (3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise (I added some turnip too)

2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 4 sage leaves in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add 5 cups cold water. Submerge the pork chops in the brine and refrigerate for a couple hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Chop 3 sage leaves; set aside. Toss the remaining 5 sage leaves with the squash, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and sprinkle of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the pork and pat dry. Add to the skillet and cook until a meat thermometer inserted sideways into the center registers 140 degrees F, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Divide among 4 plates.
5. Add the chicken broth and the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar to the skillet; simmer, stirring, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, the reserved chopped sage, and salt to taste. Drizzle the pork with the sauce and serve with the squash.

Sage is the name of the game!

I did not have a game plan for dinner tonight but inspiration struck as I was leafing through a Food Network magazine waiting for our staff meeting to start. I love it when dinner comes together (especially when you heavily edited a recipe!), you have all the ingredients at home, and you're using up leftover bits. In this case I was using up leftover pumpkin, cream, onion, and fresh sage. The added bonus being I got to open a bottle of wine! Who doesn't like that? Plus gemelli pasta makes me insanely happy for some odd reason.

Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Sauce

(from my kitchen!)

Ingredients:

1 box of fun shaped pasta (GEMELLI!!!)

2 tablespoons butter

10 sage leaves

1/4 cup red onion, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup light cream

2 generous pinches of nutmeg

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to box.

2. Melt the butter and saute the onion and garlic for two minutes. Add the sage leaves and saute for two more minutes.

3. Whisk in the pumpkin, cream, and nutmeg.

4. Add in wine and parmesan. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Toss with pasta and serve with extra parmesan cheese.

Tablescape!

Herbed Croutons

I raided the Mother Unit's garden before we left which resulted in a fridge full of beautiful fresh herbs. I chopped up some of the rosemary and oregano for these lovely herbed croutons. Mr. Lawyer is making one of his delicious salads. Tonight's features apples, cheddar cheese, cucumbers, and red onion over romaine and tossed with a little yogurt ranch dressing. These croutons will make a lovely, and crunchy, addition!

Homemade Herbed Croutons

Ingredients:

Bread (I used sourdough)

Herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and red pepper flakes)

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1. Cut bread into appropriate crouton cubes.

2. Lightly coat the croutons with olive oil. Mix in desired amount of salt, pepper, and herbs.

3. Preheat oven to 400. Bake croutons for 10-15 minutes or until they reach the desired crunchy texture. Stir them occasionally for even browning.

Nerd Things

Mr. Lawyer's post-Christmas fun involves playing with his new electronics and dvds. My post-Christmas fun involved spending over an hour cleaning and reorganizing my spice cabinet while rocking out to ABBA. Why yes, I did get made fun of for that (someone came home early and caught me in the act!).

Fun present that started the reorganizing! I love that Penzeys uses cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and nutmeg for packing purposes. Any ideas for saffron? I've never used it before!

I have an insane amount of essential oils, extracts, pastes, and emulsions for baking. They are obnoxious little bottles that get knocked over and have a nasty habit of hurtling out of the cabinet towards the floor. I have solved this by putting them into a cute little box for easy access and containment purposes. I don't know why it took me two years to think of this. 

My masterpiece!

Top Row (L to R): various salts and peppercorns, extracts and oil box, jars of nuts and things

Middle Row (L to R): baking ingredients, a row of asian ingredients, a row of sweet things (cinnamon, molasses, corn syrup, etc), a row of vinegars, and a row of oils.

Bottom Row (L to R): heavily used items (olive oil, vanilla, garlic powder) followed by an impressive array of herbs and spices.

Butternut Sauce

Need a change of pace from traditional tomato pasta sauce? Then this is your recipe! This butternut sauce was rich and delicious. It was definitely a heavier dish than I expected, it was very filling. I found several different versions of this recipe: some used onion or leeks, more or less butter, boil or saute squash, etc. One even sautéed the squash in half a cup of butter! Sounds amazing but I went with the more healthy recipe form skinnytaste.com.

Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Parmesan Sauce

(Pinterest find! Adapted from skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon butter
8 oz spaghetti
1 cup leek, white part only, sliced and diced (about 1 large leek)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
4 sage leaves, sliced thin (I only used two)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup pasta water, reserved
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft. Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.
2. Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
3. In a large deep non-stick skillet, melt the butter, sauté the leeks and garlic over medium-low heat until soft and golden, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and the reserved pasta water, little bits at a time, to thin out the sauce. Stir in parmesan cheese and sage and mix in pasta until well coated.

Hurricane Chili!

In August 2011 during Hurricane Irene I made some fabulous Hurricane Potato Soup. This time around I went with some Hurricane Chicken Taco Chili and it was a hit. I will definitely be adding this to my chili recipe rotation. It was chock full of beans, the corn was a nice touch, and the spice was spot on. It's from a healthy recipe site and was created with weight watchers in mind so it's super healthy! 

I also made my own taco seasoning. So fancy! I loved it so much that I will be making a larger batch to keep on hand. It's easy to customize if you want more or less spice and if you're concerned about sodium you can tweak the amount of salt (or completely omit it), something you can't do with pre-packaged taco seasoning!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (some versions use cayenne pepper)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

(adapted from skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 16-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies (I used Hunts diced tomatoes with zesty jalapenos!)
1 packet taco seasoning (I used two tablespoons homemade seasoning)
1 tbsp cumin (I only used 1 teaspoon)
1 tbsp chili powder
24 oz. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts (I only used two and it was fine)
chili peppers, chopped (optional)
chopped fresh cilantro, cheese, sour cream for serving
Directions:
1. Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. (**I sliced my chicken breasts into smaller strips to reduce the cooking time**)

2. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream.

Your Defeat Tastes Delicious

Tonight we had our second round of Mr. Lawyer's striped bass. All during dinner he kept muttering things like "this is what you get for fighting so hard" and "your defeat tastes delicious." It was amazing but I might love the cajun seasoning on the grill version better (that's just because I like it spicy!). This recipe had a lighter, lemony taste and the thyme really shined through. I did have some extra thyme branches that I just threw on top while it roasted, it smelled divine!

Herb and Lemon Roasted Striped Bass

(from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

4 (6-ounce) striped bass fillets
1 lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place fish on pan. 

2. Grate lemon rind to measure 1 teaspoon; juice lemon to measure 1 tablespoon. Combine rind, juice, oil, thyme, oregano, salt, and black pepper; drizzle mixture over fish. 

3. Bake at 425° for 13-15 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.

Pasta Sauce Change Up!

This was a nice spring-like change from regular red pasta sauce. I used fresh parsley and basil, dried thyme and omitted the marjoram. The only thing I really changed was adding the extra butter and all the herbs to the hot pan at the end to help melt it and blend the flavors. Then I tossed it with the pasta. It was easy, quick and would work well in a pinch. Nice change but not an overly exciting photo! You can see a little bit of the herbs but there isn't much to show with a butter sauce!

Fettuccine with Garlic Herb Butter

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
6 ounces dry fettuccini pasta
1 teaspoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 teaspoon butter. Add garlic and cook for 30 to 60 seconds or until garlic begins to turn golden.
3. In a small bowl, combine parsley, basil, marjoram, thyme, 1 tablespoon butter, salt and ground black pepper with cooked garlic; mix well. Toss with pasta and serve.

Refrigerator Primavera!

I had some random leftover Superbowl veggies that needed to be dealt with. I loosely followed this recipe for no cream pasta primavera and it came out wonderfully. I had carrots, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I used herbs de provence instead of italian seasoning and would recommend it. It jazzed it up a bit and it was a nice break from the traditional flavorings. It was delicious. End of story.

I'm too distracted by the Syracuse game to alter the recipe and must go yell at the television. As a friend said "YOUR MOM IS A HOYA!". 

No Cream Pasta Primavera

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and
cut into 1 inch pieces
5 spears asparagus, trimmed and cut into
1 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black
pepper
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a bowl, toss squash, zucchini, carrot, red bell pepper, tomatoes, green beans, and asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Arrange vegetables on the baking sheet, and roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender.
4. Heat remaining olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until tender. Mix in cooked pasta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with roasted vegetables and sprinkle with Romano cheese to serve.

Jive and Chive!

We had a whole bunch of chives left over from our Hurricane Potato Soup and I didn't want to waste them so I whipped up a quick and delicious compound butter to go with my lovely french bread. Yum! I imagine this would be absolutely amazing on a steak.

Parmesan and Chive Butter

(adapted from Whole Foods)

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Directions:

1. Mix it all together! The longer it sets before you serve it, the more the flavors will mix together.

Lemongrass Adventure!

In my little balcony garden I've been growing some lemongrass and have been hankering to give it a try. I found this Thai inspired pork dish that would be an adventure because I had never cooked with lemongrass or fish sauce before. I'm not sure I had enough lemongrass to properly flavor this dish as my stalks are still rather skinny. It did smell wonderful while I was preparing it! You peel off the outer layers, then crush the stalk with a flat edge of a blade (to help release the flavor), and then chop it up. The fish sauce is slightly fishy (obviously) and salty, not unlike clam juice. Between the fish sauce, tamari/soy, and sesame oil the dish was a little salty but not in a bad way. It definitely had that Thai flavor to it. The more I ate the more the dish grew on me. It had a unique flavor of salty and sweet/sour lime. I plan on investigating Thai cuisine further!

I did marinate the chops over night and that was the best decision ever. These were the moistest, most tender pork chops I have ever made. The recipe got big points there!

Lemongrass Pork Chops 

(from the Domestic Man Blog)

Ingredients:


2 large, thick cut pork chops (bone-in, center cut preferred)

3 stalks of lemongrass, chopped (1/2 cup if using pre-chopped lemongrass)

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp each water and fish sauce

1 tsp each sesame oil, black pepper, sea salt, tamari (or dark soy) and potato starch (omitted)
1/2 cup chicken broth
juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp coconut oil (I used olive oil with a dash of coconut extract)
Directions:
1. In a food processor puree 2/3 of the lemongrass, 4 of the garlic cloves, the water, fish sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, salt and 1/2 the lime juice. Pour the mixture into a ziploc bag with the pork chops, and marinate for 2-4 hours (or overnight).
2. Remove the pork chops from the bag and pat dry with a paper towel. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and put a heavy duty baking pan inside the oven to heat it up. Heat up the coconut oil in a different pan on the stovetop on high heat.
3. Sear the pork chops for three minutes on each side as the oven is heating up. Don’t discard the pan when you’re done with it!
4. Place the pork chops on the baking pan in the oven and cook for six minutes. Flip the pork chops and cook for another six minutes. Immediately transfer them to a plate and cover them with tin foil, letting it rest for at least five minutes.
5. Return the pan you used to sear the pork chops to the stovetop, and turn the heat to med/high. Add the remaining 1/3 of the lemongrass and 2 garlic cloves and saute for about 30 seconds, then add the chicken broth, tamari and the rest of the lime juice, scraping up any pork bits that were stuck to the bottom of the pan. As that simmers for a few minutes, add a little water to the potato starch to create a milky liquid. Add this liquid to the pan, stirring constantly, and remove from the heat once it gets to your desired thickness. 

The Other White Meat

Quick, easy and delicious! Mr. Lawyer even said: "this is one of the best pork chops I have ever had". And he swore up and down it wasn't a boyfriend lie. We used fresh rosemary from Rivet, my rosemary plant  (A friend of Weggy!). This recipe has a nice flavor, but it wasn't overly rosemary-ish. On the down side, there wasn't a lot of sauce (and I'm a sauce girl!). Definitely a keeper recipe. It was served up with some garlic linguine.

Modenese Pork Chops

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 (1 inch thick) pork chops
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary (or fresh!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Directions:
1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook chops in butter, turning once to brown evenly.

2. Pour in wine, and season with salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until chops are tender. 

3. Transfer pork chops to serving plates, and spoon sauce over the meat.

Herbs and Things

I had quite the little windowsill herb collection back in Syracuse. And an extensive veggie collection that took over both the back and front porch (5 types of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, lettuce, plus some strawberries and sunflowers). I am currently working on building it up again which is tricky with the lack of space.

Holy Weggy! I transplanted and moved him to the balcony. Clearly he's enjoying it, he use to be so little. 

As you can see I have a TON of basil. But what to do with all of it? Which brings us back to the multitude of edible things grown in Syracuse. Freeze it! A quarter of the freezer at the house was full of frozen herbs but no one ever complained because who doesn't like fresh herbs that are free for the taking?! I followed this method found at Better Homes and Gardens. I had every little freezer bag labeled and dated. Some things were chopped, some things weren't. I never made the paste (maybe this year) but I do currently have frozen pesto (leftover from the other day)! And in cute little christmas tree shapes because I don't have a normal ice cube tray. I should probably get some...

I'm a fan of freezing lots of things in little portions: broth, sauce, coffee for iced coffee (doesn't water it down!). Why waste the little left over bits and it makes it easy for future cooking when you only need a little bit and don't want to open a new container!

A Kitchen Adventure

Last week Amanda had us over for dinner to break in her untouched stove and oven! I made the hazelnut cream stuffed snickerdoodles and Amanda made an amazing pasta dish with sides (asparagus and rosemary bread, mmmmmm). It was yummy and I plan on making it sometime soon, I especially loved the fresh herbs in it. Amanda thought it could use some more tomatoes (I agree) and the sauce could have been thickened more (I could go either way). Mr. Lawyer liked the lighter sauce because he got to mop it up with the bread. I liked the shrimp, Amanda wasn't too sure,  we were worried about the clam juice being over powering but I couldn't really taste it but Kevin could and liked it. We were like the Three Bears in Goldilock's Kitchen! The one thing we could agree on: It was delicious and a keeper!

Penne with Shrimp and Herbed Cream Sauce

(Giada!)

Ingredients:
1 pound penne pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, roughly chopped (or more!)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup clam juice
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and set aside.
2.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until the shrimp turn pink and is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp and set aside.
3. Add the tomatoes, 1/4 cup basil, 1/4 cup parsley, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine, clam juice, and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the cooked shrimp, the cooked pasta, and the remaining herbs. Toss together until all ingredients are coated. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve immediately.

Satay Chicken Pizza

In grad school I developed a slight obsession for Thai food and recently I have been brave enough to start experimenting with it in the kitchen. Granted it's normally in some Americanized version (my spicy peanut shrimp linguine which has yet to be featured here) or a pre-made kit but you have to start somewhere right? I'm also hindered by Mr. Lawyer's dislike of peanut sauces (and bean sprouts!).  I recently had the Thai Chicken Pizza from California Kitchen which was delicious but the copycat recipe had a bazillion ingredients, looked time consuming and required you to make your own pizza dough (my arch-nemesis!). I found another more simple recipe for Satay Chicken Pizza that used pitas instead of making your own crust, ingenious! I also had some satay sauce by Spiral Foods which did not have an overwhelming peanut flavor so the Lawyer could enjoy it.

Satay Chicken Pizza

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, chopped into pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup prepared Thai peanut sauce (I used a whole lot less)
1 to 3 green onions, chopped (depending on how much you like green onions)
4 small (4 inch) pita breads
Shredded provolone cheese

1 carrot, shredded

Cilantro, chopped peanuts, or jalapenos for garnish
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Saute chicken pieces in hot oil for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the soy sauce and brown sugar in during the last minute and let it simmer down. This adds some flavor and color to the chicken.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
3. Spoon desired amount of peanut sauce onto each pita. Sprinkle 1/4 of the browned chicken and 1/4 of the scallions on top of each. Top each pizza with cheese. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

4. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes and sprinkle with carrots, cilantro, jalapeno or peanuts.

So pretty. Such a keeper.

Reasons why this dish is wonderful:

1. No homemade pizza crust diaster!

2. Individual pizzas are easy to customize if you don't like something! I put more sauce and less cilantro on mine.

3. No need to cut it into pieces, pitas are easy to pick up and devour!

4. Provolone Cheese! I was a bit confused by this ingredient...provolone cheese and thai food?! But it worked really well with the flavors and added a nice tang to it. 

The perfect compromise sauce: light on the peanuts and a nice bit of zing

Notes on cilantro: I don't love it but I keep trying it in hopes that one day I will at least be able to enjoy it (much like my hunt for a super drinkable red wine. I'm leaning towards Pinot Noir by the way). It does not taste fresh, citrusy or lemon-limey to me. In fact it tastes kind of soapy, too much ruins a dish so I am always very reserved with it. Evidently this is fairly common and the NY Times ran a whole article on it which can be found HERE.

Dinner Party!

What's a girl to do when she's missing Upstate NY and all it's snowy glory? Throw a dinner party of course! Because then you're just spazzing out about food. Luckily Woody and Amanda decided to indulge me with less than 24 hours notice because that's how they roll.

The Menu:

Drinks: Homemade Lemonade, artfully crafted into Vodka Lemonade Martinis by the masterful Woody

Apps: Chicken Wings from Amanda

Dinner (by Giada!): Caramelized Pancetta and Fennel Salad and Creamy Baked Fettuccine with Asiago and Thyme
Dessert: Zucchini Nut Bread Cookies

And it was all pretty yummy. I would definitely make the salad again even though I couldn't find pancetta and subbed in some prosciutto. I'm slightly enameled with fennel (but only cooked/baked and absolutely no fennel seeds!) The pasta was decent but obviously not your normal heavy mac and cheese. It was light and slightly tangy from the asiago and creme fraiche, the thyme added a nice subtle flavor. If I made it again I would definitely beef it up with some chicken or veggies to give it a little extra something.

Caramelized Pancetta and Fennel Salad

(By Giada, Everyday Italian)

Ingredients:
1 bulb fennel, halved and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
5 slices pancetta (prosciutto or bacon can be substituted)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 ounces (about 6 to 7 cups) mixed salad greens
Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, toss together fennel, pancetta, garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place the ingredients on the baking sheet in a single layer. Cook until the pancetta is crisp and the fennel is caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, place the salad greens, crumbled pancetta, and caramelized fennel. Toss the salad with the Red Wine Vinaigrette and serve immediately.
Red Wine Vinaigrette

Ingredients:2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:

1. Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired

Creamy Baked Fettuccine with Asiago and Thyme

(By Giada, Everyday Italian)

Ingredients:
1 pound fettuccine pasta (I used rotini because that's what I had on hand)
2 cups grated Asiago cheese, plus 1/4 cup
2 (8-ounce) containers creme fraiche
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
3. In a large bowl combine the 2 cups Aiago cheese, creme fraiche,Parmesan, thyme, salt, pepper, cooked pasta, and pasta cooking liquid. Gently toss until all the ingredients are combined and the pasta is coated. Place the pasta in a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup asiago cheese. Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Let sit for at least 5 minutes and serve.

And now I'm not going to cook for the rest of the week. Hooray leftovers!

Buttered Toast Crispy Fishwiches

This post is for my dear Guenevere who requested a fish recipe! The Valentine's salmon that the lawyer made was quick and yummy but salmon is not for everyone so this recipe uses a more mild fish. Recipe Rant: Oh Rachael Ray how I despise you and your tv personality. Not to mention your abbreviations and measurement system. But oh how I love your recipes!

Buttered Toast Crispy Fishwiches

(Rachael Ray Magazine)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons melted butter, plus some for toast
1 1/2 cups Panko crumbs
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning, a palmful
1 tablespoon onion powder, a palmful
1 tablespoon garlic powder, a palmful
Zest of 1 lemon
A couple of tablespoons thyme, freshly chopped
A couple of tablespoons chives, finely chopped
4 pieces cod filet, 6-ounces each (or other firm white fish, such as tilapia)
Salt and pepper
2 egg whites, beaten
4 sandwich-size English muffins, toasted and buttered or some other yummy crusty bread
Garnishes:
Lemon juice or malt vinegar, oil and vinegar-dressed slaw salador shredded iceberg lettuce, bread-and-butter pickle slices, finely chopped red onion
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
2. Pour melted butter over Panko crumbs and work into the crumbs to evenly distribute. Season the crumbs with Old Bay, onion and garlic powders, lemon zest, thyme and chives.
3. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and coat in egg whites, then crumbs and arrange on slotted broiler pan or cooling rack arranged over baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until deeply golden and crispy, and dress with lemon juice or malt vinegar.
4. Serve on toasted muffin or muffin bread with slaw or shredded lettuce. Top with pickles and onions, and muffin top or toasted muffin bread.

I've made this recipe three times and it's great. It's easy, quick, and baked not fried! I've always used tilapia. One time I omitted the fresh thyme and chives and another I subbed a splash of lemon juice for the zest. Every time it was yummy! The first time I made it into a sandwich but it's so delicious and filling you don't really need the bread (plus it's less carbs!). The Old Bay and Panko crumbs are pretty clutch so I wouldn't recommend changing them. Fresh herbs are way better than dry but if you do decide to use dry herbs make sure to reduce the amount! (a 1:3 ratio, if it's 1 tablespoon fresh, use 1 teaspoon dried) Oh! And I added some shredded parmesan to mine because I'm a cheese fiend.

Look at those fresh herbs from my garden!