Grandma’s Curry

Rumor has it that my Grandmother got this recipe from Ladies Home Journal or Good Housekeeping or one of the magazines in the 50’s/60’s. This is by NO means authentic…but it is a good use of leftovers and is incredibly quick to make. I have made my own improvements…such as substituting Coconut Milk for regular milk…which will also work but I prefer the texture and creaminess that you get with the coconut milk. Don’t tell my family though…they apparently hate coconut milk…but love my curry! 3 T butter 3 T flour 1 c Chicken Stock 1 c Coconut Milk 1 T Curry Powder (we prefer Hot Curry Powder; and you can be as generous as you like) 3 c Chicken (cooked) 1/2 t salt Mix butter and flour in sauce pan to make a roux. Stir in curry, chicken stock and milk until smooth. Add chicken....

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Easy, Elegant Sunday Dinner

I remember the days before I found Christopher Ranch. Buying garlic and ginger to have on hand, only to go use it and find it wasn’t good anymore. The time spent peeling, chopping, and crushing. This menu is simple, easy and elegant enough to serve to guests. Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce Salad with Orange-Sesame Dressing Fettucine Alfredo (athough, if we hadn’t already had rice 2 of the last 3 meals, I would have done a Jasmine rice) Served with 2008 Pine Ridge Chardonnay Dijon Clones...

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Easy, Elegant Sunday Dinner

I remember the days before I found Christopher Ranch. Buying garlic and ginger to have on hand, only to go use it and find it wasn’t good anymore. The time spent peeling, chopping, and crushing. This menu is simple, easy and elegant enough to serve to guests. Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce Salad with Orange-Sesame Dressing Fettucine Alfredo (athough, if we hadn’t already had rice 2 of the last 3 meals, I would have done a Jasmine rice) Served with 2008 Pine Ridge Chardonnay Dijon Clones...

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Sesame-Orange Dressing

1 cup orange juice 1 teaspoon honey 2 teaspoons sesame oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup water 1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce (optional) 1 shallot, chopped 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger Cook the orange juice in a saucepan until reduced by half. Combine with the honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, water and hot sauce in a blender. Add the shallot and ginger and process until smooth. Store in the refrigerator. Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Firecracker-Spinach-Salad-with-Orange-Sesame-Dressing-235683#ixzz1WMxSSQpd...

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Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Mushroom Cream Sauce

This recipe was adapted from epicurious.com. Personally, I don’t know why anyone uses green onion when shallots are so much more interesting. 6 6-ounce tuna steaks, each about 1 inch thick 2 tablespoons peanut oil 3 tablespoons butter 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger 4 garlic cloves, chopped 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced (or mixed wild mushroom blend) 6 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice Lime wedges (optional) Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional) Preheat oven to 200°F. Sprinkle 1 side of tuna steaks with pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Place tuna steaks, pepper side down,...

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Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Mushroom Cream Sauce

This recipe was adapted from epicurious.com. Personally, I don’t know why anyone uses green onion when shallots are so much more interesting. 6 6-ounce tuna steaks, each about 1 inch thick 2 tablespoons peanut oil 3 tablespoons butter 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger 4 garlic cloves, chopped 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced (or mixed wild mushroom blend) 6 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice Lime wedges (optional) Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional) Preheat oven to 200°F. Sprinkle 1 side of tuna steaks with pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Place tuna steaks, pepper side down,...

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It’s a dinner…so it must be a party!

So I had drinks earlier this week with a woman from work. I’m sure this will frighten some of you but we really could have been separated at birth! So I decided to have a dinner party and introduce Darcy and her husband Matt to some of our friends. You can only imagine the chaos that will ensue. Champagne with St. Helena Olive Oil Company  BALSAMIC VINEGAR Methode Tradizionale (19 year old) Summer Corn Chowder Roasted Lemongrass Chicken Coconut Lime Rice Grilled Summer Vegetables 2005 Dutch Henry Argos Hillside Cheese Course (Mt. Tam, Manchego, Covadonga Spanish Blue) Blueberry- Lime Parfait 2009 Mill Creek Vineyards Gewürztraminer Estate 1995 Dolce Winery Late Harvest...

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Improved Summer Corn Chowder

We’ve had lots of corn in our veggie box from our Fulton Farms Community Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) box. They have some of the best corn around but I was looking for something different than grilled corn-on-the-cob. Plus I need something that I could serve to 10 dinner guests. I found a recipe for Summer Corn Chowder with Scallions, Bacon & Potatoes on Fine Cooking that looked good but the reviews were mixed. The changes I made were a hit with my dinner guests. The original recipe calls for jalapeno peppers which I’m not a big fan of…they really don’t seem to add all that much flavor or heat. So I substituted chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. John isn’t a fan of scallions so I substituted shallots. When making this for your vegetarian friends, I cook that bacon separately so that...

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Max’s Miso-Glazed Tenderloin of Beef

This recipe comes from Too Hot To Touch by Louisa Edwards.  Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t appear on her website yet. I was especially excited by this recipe because I am a big fan of Yuzu!! Ann’s Variation We prefer many other cuts of beef to tenderloin. Hanger steak is one of our favorites because of the taste and price. We also prefer grilling to roasting. Use the same approach – get a good searing on the outside of the beef before adding the first coating of glaze. 2-1/2 lb beef tenderloin 1 T butter 1 T neutral oil (like grapeseed or canola) For the glaze: 2 T Toasted sesame oil 1 T Yuzu juice 2 t ginger...

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