What's cooking?

It is windy, rainy and very cool in the north state so I wanted a casserole dish, with yummy flavors. Dinner would be done this morning and I could curl up with a fire, a good book and Jazi (the dog) by my side. I was inspired by a chicken noodle casserole I saw, but it was made with canned stuff. So I made a chicken noodle casserole from scratch. Chicken beasts cooked in a rich home made chicken stock made even richer by the addition of more chicken flavor. I shredded the chicken from the bones, then sautéed white mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Then a sauce was made with butter, flour, nutmeg, the chicken stock, white wine, and thickened. A layer of egg noodles went into the bottom of the dish, Layers of chicken, and the mushroom mixture on top and the sauce poured over the contents. Because I wanted bread crumbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan on top, I decided to experiment. We love, love a product called Oven Fry, which is a coating for oven frying chicken. I melted butter and mixed it with the Oven Fry and added a layer to the top of the casserole and finished off with the Parmesan. A taste test the sauce gave me proof that this is going to be very tasty.
Lettuce from the garden with the last of the tomatoes and a nice white wine will make for a nice dinner by the fire.

I made a corn chowder with cubed sweet potato, cubed ham, a little bacon, a chipotle (en adobo) and a bit of cream.

In the background, sweet onion, leek, celery, garlic, chicken broth.

Between the bacon and the chipotle the flavor was nicely smokey and a bit hot. Very enjoyable.

[Robin Garr]

Yay! I got my iPad FTP app working again, so food photos are back.

Fresh fennel and onions with diced carrots, braised in ripe Sicilian olive oil with bay leaves, garlic and green lentils. I continue feeling mixed emotions about posting pictures of dishes that were delicious but that frankly look like a mound of brown. I'm hoping they're of value, though, to those who like the concept and might use the photo and detailed description as a kind of mini-recipe with enough info to try it yourself. Feel free to post your comments or advice.

Fresh fennel and onions with diced carrots, braised in ripe Sicilian olive oil with bay leaves, garlic and green lentils.

I made something very like this just the other day!

Not all food is of beautiful color, however those of us who cook know that and take in the ingredients for their own value. Everything there is very healthy and it is something I would make and photograph. Your picture is great by the way.

[Robin Garr]

When Mary cooks, we get more traditional food: Chik'n pot pie! Gardein chik'n, potatoes, carrots and peas, onions and garlic with sage and thyme velouté under a pâté brisée crust.

That's my kind of meal, Robin. Yum.

Last night was pork belly in red sauce over sticky rice served with green salad and miso vinaigrette. It was really yummy!

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Tonight it is a cross-rib roast, rubbed down with balsamic, evoo, fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, roasted to medium rare. Also, Yukon Gold potatoes roasted in evoo, garlic, fresh lemon juice and oregano, and water. Potatoes are roasted on high heat, until bottoms are crispy, turned and roasted to crispy again. They become infused with the garlic and lemon. A plate of heirloom tomatoes, scattered with Black Price cherry tomatoes, sprinkled with red wine vinegar and tarragon.

[Jenise]

Last night was pork belly in red sauce over sticky rice served with green salad and miso vinaigrette. It was really yummy!

Absolutely fantastic, Jo Ann. Love your presentation--so humble it makes the dish look a lot more simple than it really is, and that speaks for so much Asian cooking.

I ended up making a nutmeggy veal and oat meat loaf last night that I served under a pile of fresh chanterelles. Prettiest, cleanest I've ever seen and purchased at the Whole Foods in Lynwood. My cat's hospital is nearby and we're there often so we've been able to pick up more interesting stuff for the table lately than what's available up here. However, Lynwood's not exactly Bellevue so the variety is pretty pedestrian even compared to, say, the Roosevelt store.

Not cooking tonight: going to a Cowboy Ball at a converted chicken coop in the local countryside. Food is being catered by a local smokehouse. I've going in style: got a pink cowboy hat, a pink toy six-shooter and a cowboy boot to drink out of.

[Robin Garr]

mise en place for tonight's mushroom risotto. Spiraling out from the center counter-clockwise, crimini mushrooms, onion, garlic, kosher salt and Telicherry pepper, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and butter, mushroom stems for the broth, Tuscan olive oil and Arborio rice.



The finished mushroom risotto. It's ... brown. But it's delicious, so that's okay.

Dinner tonight as posted above, Cross-Rib roast with Greek Potatoes. A surprise twist we loved, was the tomatoes with red wine vinegar and French Tarragon. They were left to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Big cauldron of ham and bean soup has been simmering for a couple of hours. It is sure to take the chill off what will be a brisk autumn evening here in the Ohio Valley.

[Jenise]

Lunch was a fried rice bowl to make use of the last green onions from our garden and leftover brussels sprouts.

Dinner will be something made with the ground meat ball I took out of the freezer. I have no idea what kind it is (that is, whether it's beef or lamb) or what I'll do with it yet, but I decided that it had to go!

Wow, must be the cooler fall weather inspiring all these great dishes! They all look and sound wonderful.
We are on the first night of our RV trip back to CA, staying near the Pennsylvania/Ohio border. It's 40 degrees and raining. So glad I thought to thaw out a shepherd's pie I made about a month ago out of left over seven-hour leg of lamb shredded with its braising liquids, carrots, and topped with rich mashed potatoes. It was the ultimate comfort food.
The salad was leaf lettuce, arugula, pear, celery, walnuts and blueberry cheese tossed with champagne vinaigrette. I'm writing it down so I don't forget the combination. It was a keeper.

The salad was leaf lettuce, arugula, pear, celery, walnuts and blueberry cheese tossed with champagne vinaigrette. I'm writing it down so I don't forget the combination. It was a keeper.

Carrie, this combo sounds great. The blueberry cheese sounds like something I might find at Trader Joe's? How long does it take you to get to CA?
Have a safe trip.Is you place there in any danger from the big storm?

The salad was leaf lettuce, arugula, pear, celery, walnuts and blueberry cheese tossed with champagne vinaigrette. I'm writing it down so I don't forget the combination. It was a keeper.

Carrie, this combo sounds great. The blueberry cheese sounds like something I might find at Trader Joe's? How long does it take you to get to CA?
Have a safe trip.Is you place there in any danger from the big storm?

Hi Karen, it takes us five or six days to get back. We are driving through Ohio now and are catching some of Sandy's outer bands. We live about an hour inland on the east coast so hopefully won't have any damage. Our hearts go out to all the people in her path. Scary!

Tonight's dinner is grilled halibut with pineapple salsa, zucchini cooked with shallots, garlic, white wine and fresh tomatoes. Fresh spinach from our garden sautéed with garlic and lemon juice. Also a salad of all sorts of greens, again from our garden, with a champagne vinaigrette.

Lovely butternut squash risotto tonight with a stock from dried porcinis. Cheese was Vacherin Fribourgeois and topped with a bit of parsley. Delicious and could have gone in many wine directions, but just water tonight.

A friend of our gave us a couple of pork tenderloins, so I cooked them up last night with a spicy dry rub. Served that with a potato gratin, sauteed broccoli, and some kinds of bright orange kabocha squash that was coated with cumin, salt, pepper, and a couple of other spices and roasted in wedges (as per Karen's kabocha).

Tonight I am using up a bone-in chicken breast and two legs, which will be roasted in a maple syrup, Rice Vinegar, Dijon, butter and curry glaze. Served with Brussels Sprouts, roasted with walnut oil, then drizzled with a fig balsamic at the finish. I made Carrie's salad with arugula, celery, blueberry cheese, pears, but used pistachio nuts instead of walnuts, with a champagne vinaigrette.

Had to use up the last of the red and green chard harvested from the garden. Made a quick batch of crespelle and stuffed them with the chard sauteed with onion, garlic and a bit of hot pepper. Sauced with a reggiano balsamella, baked and then served with a streak of garden marinara. Sad to see the end of the garden.

[Robin Garr]

Polenta with Italian-style "sausage," grilled peppers and onions.

Tonight is a seafood stew with sea scallops and shrimp. Green salad with mixed greens, baby salad turnips in white and red, celery heart stalks, multi-colored cherry tomatoes with a citrus vinaigrette, and fresh baked ciabatta mini loaf.