What's cooking?

Nothing calms me like a chicken pot pie!

My husband is the same way. We've been eating a lot of comfort food lately.
Deb

A variety of dinners of late:

Beet, daikon, celery root. Pickled celery, fennel. Roasted pinenuts, strawberry.

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Turnip "risotto", pickled celery, smoked duck breast, balsamic/caramelized onion coulis.

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Gonzo dogs: kimchi, kraut, broccoli/mustard slaw, shichimi togarashi potato crisps.

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and more dinners:

Valentine's day dinner. K requested a "red" menu. Beet, pomegranate & strawberry soup with goat cheese panna cotta & mint. Blood orange Caprese. Fregola with pomegranate & sauteed radicchio.

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Probably my favorite of all this. Celery leaves & mint. Blood orange. Pickled bleeding heart radish & celery. Italian Olio.

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Here is a picture of the recipe that I will be competing with at the ACF Southeast Regional Conference. It's for the Minute Rice "Flavors of the Mediterranean" Recipe Contest. I will be cooking live on the trade show floor, next Saturday, head to head against 3 other chefs for a $500 cash prize and a chance to represent our region at the ACF National Convention in Las Vegas this summer.

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Here's the recipe if anyone wants to try this at home:

Lamb Kafta & Apricot, Olive, Tomato Tagine with Caraway Rice
2 Lbs. Ground Lamb
2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Ginger
3 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Garlic
2 Tablespoons Ground Turmeric
4 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
2 Teaspoons Caraway Seeds
4 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
4 Teaspoons Fennel Seeds
4 Teaspoons Allspice
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup Diced Red Onions
½ Cup Dried Apricots, halved
½ Cup Golden Raisins
½ Cup Pitted Olives (any variety)
1 14 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes
1 16 oz. Can Tomato Sauce
¼ Cup Fresh Cilantro
2 Tablespoons Fresh Grated Lemon Zest
1 26 oz. Carton Chicken Stock
3 Cups White or Brown Minute Rice
1. In 6 or 8 qt. Dutch Oven or other braising pan, add Chicken Stock and Caraway Seeds and bring to boil. Add Minute Rice, stir, cover and remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from pan, fluff rice and set aside in covered dish to keep warm.
2. While rice is resting, combine Ground Lamb with 2 tablespoons Cumin and 2 teaspoons each Cinnamon, Fennel Seeds and Allspice, incorporating well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Form Lamb into 2 oz. meatballs (approx. 16 ea)
4. Heat Olive Oil in pan and add formed Meatballs and Red Onions Cook until Meatballs are lightly browned on all sides and Onions are translucent. (about 3-4 minutes)
5. Add Minced Ginger & Garlic and all remaining spices and sauté for about a minute, stirring well, being careful not to burn.
6. Stir in all remaining ingredients except Cilantro and Lemon Zest and bring to boil.
7. Cover, Reduce heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
8. For service, place cooked rice in serving dish and ladle meatballs with sauce over top and garnish with Cilantro and Lemon Zest.

Makes Approx. 4-6 servings

[Robin Garr]

A spicy Sichuan-style stir-fry of marinated tofu, thin-sliced snow peas and onions, ginger and garlic.

Goo luck Dan, looks tasty. I just finished reading Mourad Lahlou's book, which is pretty great:

http://www.aziza-sf.com/mourad_book.html

[Robin Garr]

Rigatoni with lentils and garlicky tomatoes, a Northeastern Italian pasta recipe from Lidia Bastianich, with sautéed broccoli added to make it dinner in a dish.

Mexican-inspired dinner with my folks:
Guacamole with Blue corn chips
Chicken enchiladas
Burritos with chile verde pork
Black beans with garlic and cumin

The chile verde pork is the best mexican I've ever made, so I'm posting the recipe here. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/chile-verde-with-pork-recipe.html
We use it solely as a burrito filling with a little cilantro and sour cream ( not by the bowl) and the flavor is amazing. It's a decent amount of work, but well worth it; it makes a good amount and freezes perfectly. The only change I made to the original recipe was to use my usual pepper roasting technique - broil them untill blackened and put in the paper bag, then peel the peppers dry- not under water.

Deb

just started playing with wood ear (black fungus)

this was an easy one, tasty, easy to change up. I used some almost dead portobellos with the gills cut off instead of shiitakes:

Bok Choy with Wood Ear and Shiitake Mushrooms

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-ea ... -mushrooms

[Robin Garr]

Spicy red lentil dal with rice and fresh spinach, a simple and delicious Indian-style dinner.

Practicing for Easter, I made a small version of Italian Easter specialty Torta di Pasquetta (also called Torta Pasqualina). Pic is not mine:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sQVWShyd-ew/T ... ualina.jpg

We're going to make it with quail eggs for the Easter buffet this weekend. The small batch was wunnerful.

Back from Italy early yesterday, and decided to treat the family to a dinner using some of the wonderful food we brought back:

Primi
Porcini & Truffle sauce on Morelli brand Tartufo pasta, with 3 year old Parmesiana -Reggiano (Note: if you ever see this brand of dried pasta somewhere- get it- it's fantastic! http://www.pastamorelli.it/en/)

Fresh greens with balsamic dressing

Secondi

Roasted Pork loin stuffed with rosemary & garlic
"Greedy" potatoes ( re-created from a great meal in Chianti - Yukon gold potatoes roasted in great olive oil and drippings from the pork. )
Homemade herb foccacia with olive oil from the farm we stayed at.

We finished with Gelato Gilberto gelatto and clementine biscotti, served with Vin Santo ( a new liquor for us). Perfecto!

Biggest surprise of the trip- the bread in Tuscany is terrible. ( no salt and pretty tasteless). I'm not sure where the recipe for my favorite Tuscan Peasant Bread came from- but it sure wasn't Tuscany!

Deb

Salmon patties w/ homemade tartar sauce.

[Robin Garr]

... bread in Tuscany ... no salt ...

That's actually part of the tradition. I assume it's because they expect you to eat it with cheese or something else that brings the salt to the party. (Salt also slows the action of yeast, as I'm sure you know, and it may have some ancient connection to maximizing the activity of natural leavening.)

[Robin Garr]

Salmon patties w/ homemade tartar sauce.

Great "food porn" image, Michael. Thanks!