Ube Pancakes

Ube (purple yam) pancakes topped with blueberries and drizzled with melted butter and maple syrup... yum!

Summer Backyard Dinner

A laid-back mid-Summer backyard dinner under a tree.

On the table: shrimp tostadas, fried plantain, watermelon and mango/strawberry smoothie.

Happy weekend!

Watermelon

Summertime is for eating watermelons :-)

Winner, Winner...

... chicken for dinner on a balmy summer evening. 

Beef Stew with Olives

Beef stew cooked on low fire for two hours with potatoes, olives and smoked paprika.

Scooped up with a baguette and washed down with a glass of red wine.

Cheers!

French Toast

Mini French toast made from left-over baguette and topped with blueberries and strawberries.

Wagyu Burger

Homemade burger patty. The arsenal: Mishima Reserve American Wagyu, a sprinkle of salt and a generous cracking of black peppercorns.

Chorizo de Cebu

On the table: chorizo de Cebu, steamed rice sunny side egg, coffee and flowers from the garden.

Grilled Chicken and Peaches

Tonight's dinner - grilled chicken, asparagus, potatoes and peaches. The water was infused with cucumber, strawberries and blueberries.

Flowers were picked from the backyard from butterfly bush and dill.

It's almost summertime!

Valentine's Day

Last year's Valentine's Day was French-themed with salade de mesclun, gratin dauphinoise, boeuf bourguignon, souffles au chocolate and a bottle of red from Bordeaux. 

From France, we're heading southwest to Spain for some Spanish tapas.

Chicken & Chard Sandwich

Lunch today while working from home.  The chicken salad was made last night... chicken thighs, mayo, sour cream, sweet relish, celery cut into small pieces, rock salt and black pepper. 

The chard was a last minute idea. I just picked a bunch of young leaves from the garden.

Salmon En Papillote

I raved the first time I had bass en papillote at a cozy French bistro, Bistro Provence, on North Pass in Burbank.  That place, though highly rated, has closed its doors a couple of years ago.
  
En papillote is French for “in paper.” It is a method of cooking where food is put into a folded pouch of parchment paper and then baked. I have made this dish a number of times.  I have used salmon, cod, branzino and halibut. 

Tonight I used salmon, placed on a bed of couscous, then topped with sliced onion, cherry tomatoes and lemon.

For the wrap, I used aluminum foil because the parchment paper I bought was apparently not meant for the oven. Aluminum or parchment?? … I prefer parchment.

Here's another blog entry for Salmon El Papillote

Nathan’s Hotdogs

A few years ago, we went to visit a colleague friend in Nuremberg, Germany.  We hopped on a train at Munich Hauptbahnhof then met her at Nuremberg train station.  We walked around old town, passing a bridge, a market and a church on our way to Schöner Brunnen to turn a ring and wish for a baby (that’s for another blog). 

From there, we walked up on the hill to the castle, then walked down to this lovely bratwurst place to have Nürnberger bratwurst, a small thin sausage grilled over a beechwood fire and eaten with sauerkraut.

Thinking of that meal makes my mouth water, so I drizzled oil on the pan and put some Nathan’s hot dog – yes, from the same place that sponsors the famous hot dog eating contest. 

I fried the hot dogs, constantly turning until they are cooked through and golden brown. A squirt of ketchup, a drip of mustard, some mayo and some sweet relish… yum!

Breakfast on a Skillet

I used the left-over potatoes and golden beets from last night's supper, then added ham, pepperoni, eggs and chard from the garden.

Summer Friday

Prepared a colorful supper on my first Summer Friday off.. roasted pork marinated in mojo criollo sauce, potatoes, golden beets, red bell pepper, sauteed Swiss chard, cucumber and hard-boiled eggs.  

Ate outside while a mockingbird perched on its favorite spot serenades us from a distance. 

Dolmas

The grapevine we planted in December is thriving. Tiny leaves started sprouting in early March and now it is fully covered with leaves.  I cut about a dozen leaves, soaked them in water for about 3 hours and then filled them with a mix of rice, ground beef, pine nuts, diced onion, salt and pepper.  Then, I arranged them on a pot, covered with water and then simmered for 45 minutes.  I put a heavy baking dish on top so they stay in place.

Voila, there goes my dolmas… my first attempt at making them.

Easter Sunday

How we spent Easter Sunday after church… 

No Meat Dinner

… baby bella mushrooms, eggplant, garbanzo beans, Campari tomatoes and hardboiled eggs.

Iraque Kitchree

The arsenal: basmati rice, lentil, onion, cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, ground ginger and pepper flakes

... then, garnished with thyme from the garden

Salmon, Shrimp and Asparagus

I broiled some salmon belly, shrimp (head-on and unpeeled) and asparagus drizzled with lemon juice and seasoned with garlic powder, salt, black pepper and a generous sprinkling of Cajun spices. Yum!