Hello to all my long lost fellow cyber chefs.  I apologize for the very long absence from the blog, but unfortunately my struggle with my migraine headaches took much longer (a full two years fighting) than I had anticipated.  Luckily, thanks to what my husband and I refer to as my “miracle drug,” I am just now starting to put my life back together, and part of that includes picking the blog up again.  So thank you to my loyal readers who have stuck with me, and welcome to those of you who have signed on during my silence.  Hopefully you will all enjoy the new posts to come.

And I hope you especially enjoy this particular dish – I think I have chosen a good one to start with.  This recipe comes from the most recent issue of Bon Appetit – from their “Fast, Easy, Fresh” section.  For those of you not familiar with the magazine, every month they designate a couple of pages to “every day” recipes that you can prepare quickly that are relatively healthy.  This section is what I consider to be the unsung hero of the magazine.  The flashy cover stories, the big photo spreads and the recipes featuring exotic ingredients are fun, but some of my best go-to meals have come from “Fast, Easy, Fresh.”  So if you are a BA reader, don’t skip over this section next time (as I admit, I used to do).  Instead, give the recipes a close read and see that several of them are very enticing, especially when they are offering exactly what the category promises – meals that are “Fast, Easy, Fresh.” (more…)

I have been thinking a lot about balance recently – mainly because my life is severely lacking in the balance department.  With a fairly demanding work schedule, coupled with the bakery’s busy season, on top of being a new wife and learning the ins and outs of marriage, and trying to eat healthy, and trying to exercise, and working on the blog, I am pretty overwhelmed.  I have not quite mastered how to make it all work.  And that is pretty much the answer in and of itself – it can’t all work.  I need a better balance of work and play, of marriage and me. (more…)

Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I was really tired and almost to the point of suggesting take-out, but I had to pick up some prescriptions, so off to the grocery store I went (I use my in-store grocery pharmacy).   While I was waiting for my prescriptions, I started to peruse the produce section.  I was pretty sure I was going the bagged salad route – a 5 minute, add some grilled chicken, call it a day meal.   However, a large display of portobello mushrooms caught my eye (on sale of course) and I decided I would cook.  Even the most tired of people could not have turned up these beauties.  I turned around and spinach was buy-one-get-one and the meal began to take shape.  I grabbed a tomato and headed to the cheese section.  To my luck, my a log of my favorite brand of goat cheese was about to go out of code and was therefore 50% off.  (This is a good shopping tip – when produce, meat or other perishable products get close to their sell-by date, many stores will discount the item.  As long as you use the food that night, there is nothing wrong and you usually get a great deal.)

So I headed home with my prescirption, portobellos, spinach, a tomato and a small log of herb goat cheese.  I knew the general dish I was going for, but wanted to see if there were any special ways to jazz up a simple mushroom.  I found a great marinade on epicurious.com (this should be your culinary internet go-to, after the blog of course:)  and allowed the whole portobellos to sit in a great blend of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy, marsala wine and some herbs and spices.  The original recipe called for a 4 hour marinating time, but since I was originally thinking take-out, that simply wasn’t happening.  I got the mushrooms soaking as soon as I got home, but by the time dinner rolled around they couldn’t have been marinating more than a hour and they turned our great.  Portobellos are easy to marinate because you can use their cap shape to your advantage.  When the marinade is poured over the mushrooms, a large amount collects in their cap and is allowed to soak.  Portobellos on their own are always great, but the addition of a couple of key flavors really helps to make this a WOW dish. (more…)

This is one of my “wow” factor meals – something that sounds as wonderful and interesting as it tastes.  The best part is, this recipe comes from a Cooking Light cookbook, so not only does it pack some serious flavor, but it is easy on the waistline too!  The sauce is the real star of this dish.  (And the most complex aspect of the recipe, however very worth it.)   With a unique combination of sweet blackberry with savory pork, the sauce is a rich, dark, luscious dressing for the meat.  It ends up a deep purple color and feels like blackberry velvet in your mouth. (more…)

I hadn’t made this dish in years, until just the other night.  Having my left over dill from the Veal Paprika, I was determined not to let it go to waste (as so often my bunches of dill do).  I remember liking the recipe very much, but for some reason, it fell out of my regular repertoire years ago.  What a shame that was!  I forgot how wonderfully light and flavorful this dish is (and healthy and quick too!).  The salmon is grilled with a simple seasoning of salt, pepper, and lots of fresh dill.  The fish is then beautifully presented over “pickled” cucumbers, which marinate while the salmon is cooking.  All in all, this could easily be a 15 minute meal.   With a short ingredient list, easy preparation, a low calorie count, and refined taste, this meal is certainly a winner.  I vow to keep it in the rotation from now on.

Recipe: Dill Encrusted Salmon with Pickled Cucumbers

Have left-over dill?  Try:

Recipe: Veal Paprika

I would have to say that this was my first “signature dish.”  And it all came about with an elementary school raffle…

Years ago, my mother won a “Father’s Day Grill Basket” in a school fund-raising raffle.  At the time we neither owned a grill, or had a father that was at all interested in grilling, but nonetheless, we were now the proud owners of a grill basket.  A normal person would have given the basket away to a family with use for all the utensils, cook books, and funny grilling apron, but no – not my mother.  Instead, she marched herself to Home Depot and bought my father a grill for Father’s day.  Clearly this was the logical way to go about making sure this basket of goodies was put to good use.  So Father’s day rolled around and my father was presented with not only a new grill, but a whole basket of grill paraphernalia.   I have mentioned before that my mother was never all that interested in cooking but I promise you that my father was even less so.   And so from that day on, the grill became my new toy that benefited not only my dad, but my entire family.  (more…)