What's cooking?

For dinner:
Cod with Swiss chard, Chestnuts, and Pomegranate molasses
Mushroom risotto ( yummy leftovers!)
Salad with orange and pomegranate with citrus vinaigrette

Prepping for Xmas:
Peppermint snicker doodles
Bacon-leek quiche a la Julia
Holiday M&m cookies with Aiden (priceless)

My house smells wonderful - but a bit confused...
Deb

[Robin Garr]

Lima beans braised with onions, garlic, butter and sage and black, red and Sichuan peppers. With ciabatta rolls and a salad, it's a sufficiently hearty veggie dish to serve as a main course. 

Where do you get your limas?

I tried recreating Roots Eggplant curry tonight. It was okay, but not nearly as good. I had too much coconut milk in it, the curry was a little different (as all curries are!), and the flavor wasn't as complex. It was okay, though.

[Robin Garr]

Where do you get your limas?

Charles, I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that they were just a standard brand of frozen baby limas from Whole Foods. On the other hand, part of my plan was to see if braising in a flavorful, butter-based liquid low and slow would plump up the limas like the memorable side dish at Lynns, and it did that. I'm pretty much drawing the conclusion that this procedure - irrespective of flavorings - is probably a better way to cook frozen limas than boiling them in a quantity of plain water and then draining the excess, as per most package directions.

You should be embarrassed! I was expecting that you drove to Shelbyville to a Farmers market to get hand-picked limas or grew them yourself.

[Robin Garr]

You should be embarrassed! I was expecting that you drove to Shelbyville to a Farmers market to get hand-picked limas or grew them yourself.

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

You should be embarrassed! I was expecting that you drove to Shelbyville to a Farmers market to get hand-picked limas or grew them yourself.

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Did Jesus say that?

[Robin Garr]

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Did Jesus say that?

Voltaire.

Robin - I had limas too on Sunday night. Mine were from the dried beans section at Nuts N Stuff. I had never seen Christmas limas before and bought some that have been in my pantry for a while. It seemed seasonally appropriate. I decided to riff on rice and beans and served them with some fregola - Italian pasta that's basically toasted Israeli couscous.

[Robin Garr]

Robin - I had limas too on Sunday night. Mine were from the dried beans section at Nuts N Stuff. I had never seen Christmas limas before and bought some that have been in my pantry for a while. It seemed seasonally appropriate. I decided to riff on rice and beans and served them with some fregola - Italian pasta that's basically toasted Israeli couscous.

Luvs me some fregola. Thanks for the post and the great pix, Ken!

[Robin Garr]

Polenta with Point Reyes blue cheese and Swiss chard sautéed with garlic. The Swiss chard is still thriving in our garden in the week before Christmas even after a couple of frosts.

Robin - Looks, awesome - I know that spinach tastes sweetest at this time of year, after the first frost. Did that happen to your chard?

My wife and I felt a cold coming on, so we had spicy soup to ward it off. Pho broth with ramen, poached egg, pickled carrots, spinach, serranos, jalapenos and basil.

Christmas eve...whats become some what of a tradition, we are cooking are animal friends in the barn a Christmas animal cake. We go the pantry at the end of the year and any cereal and or grain product of unknown origin gets thrown in the batter. This years loaf included an ancient jar of sorghum,granola, corn meal, flour, oats, two old cans of condensed milk, yeast packets,cracked corn and a few other odds and ends from the pantry.
In the morning everybody at the barn...ducks,geese,chickens,goats,cats and dog...will all get a little special holiday cake to supplement the regular feed. Dog also gets a giant smoked leg bone from Stan at Dreamcatcher and the cats some canned tuna.
We were also blessed with the birth of two new goats this morning...while their feeding on mama tonight, maybe they will be up for some holiday barn cake in the morning....

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I love that idea, John. Good for you!