Thursday, January 26, 2012

A Week's Worth of Meals

I can hardly believe that it's Thursday evening, and it is the first evening where we didn't have plans after work! It's nice to sit down and have a relaxing dinner, and catch up on some TV. With all this business of being so busy, I didn't have time to share all the wonderful things I made, so I thought I'd do a little week-in-review type post.

On Sunday, the menu called for Rock Shrimp Tempura and Hayashi Stew, both from Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking. I decided to make the tempura because I found rock shrimp at a local winter market, and it's an ingredient that is very hard to find. When I see things like this, I sieze the opportunity to use them in recipes I may not cook otherwise! This was a very cool play on a buffalo chicken type of thing - the shrimp were fried after being tossed in a tempura batter, but half of them were then coated with a chili sauce, while the other half were tossed with a wasabi sauce. The dish was also served with celery and cucumber, dunked in a handmade ranch dressing, a little something to cool the palate between the spicy sauces. I decided to serve it with a very simple Japanese beef stew, and some white rice. We used the tempura as an appetizer while the stew simmered!



On Monday night, we had friends over for dinner and massages. That's right...my vegetarian friends, who I realized, also eat fish! Hooray! I opted for a chapter out of Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys, called How To Fry Fish. Since this was a whole menu of items, it worked out perfectly for an impromptu dinner party. The main course, of course, was a fish fry with a Piquant Tarragon Mayonnaise. With it, I served Salt-Roasted New Potatoes, as well as a Green Bean Salad with Pickled Shallots. As an appetizer, I put out some melon mixed with lime juice and mint. A refreshing starter for this meal!






On Tuesday night, we had our weekly hydrotherapy session for the puppy, to work on building her muscles and save her from the pain of her hip dysplasia. By the time we get home on these nights, it's pretty late, but I had bought some Caribbean-marinated steak tips at that same Winter Market, and whipped up a batch of Lemon and Caper Mashed Potatoes, as well as a Fennel, Red Onion and Parsley  Salad to go along with them. This picture didn't come out great, but nonetheless, there it is!


Last night, we had some friends over for dinner as well, and I opted to make a risotto this time around. You all know how much I love making risotto! This one is from Jamie's Italy and in Italian, is called Risotto con Cipolle Bianche Dolci, Cotechino, e Timo, or Risotto of Sweet White Onions, Cotechino Sausage, and Thyme. It was a really delicious risotto, with a lot of bold, rich flavors. I served it with a simple dish of greens, cooked Italian-style, in some olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice!


And that leads us to this evening! Since I've been cooking up a storm amidst our busy schedule, I decide to make something a bit simpler today. The menu was entitled Sick Day and comes from Tyler Florence's, Dinner at My Place. I made a really simple chicken soup with carrots, onions and celery, but into that I added some store-bought tortellini, as well as some chicken-apple sausage. The original recipe calls for the uncooked sausage to be made into roasted meatballs...but I bought the pre-cooked kind, so I just sliced 'em up and threw them in the soup. It was really yummy, and soothing on a cold winter's night. With it, I served some baguette slices, toasted in the oven, and baked goat cheese seasoned with some black pepper. It was a totally simple and comforting meal!



Ah, a week in review! I hope that you enjoyed it, and I promise to get back on track this weekend. Tomorrow night, I'm going to try a new restaurant with my dear friend, Heidi. Don't worry, I will report back on Saturday! We've also got another chapter from The Professional Chef on the way, and don't forget to comment on the previous post to enter to win a bottle of MonaVie's (M)Mun. There's lots in store for the coming weeks, and I'm very excited to get started on all of it! We're also going to have people over for the Superbowl, so I have some planning to do!!! 

So much food, so little time!

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