Beef

Since it was just Larry and I tonight, we splurged on our favorite peppery filet mignons. Larry wasn't overly crazy about the scallion/peas but I liked it. We both loved the pound cake. The lime in it went perfectly with the blueberries.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Baked Potato
• Quick-Braised Peas, Lettuce & Scallions (Fine Cooking #92, p. 51)
• Blueberry-Lime Pound Cake (Fine Cooking #93, p. 73)

Wine: Ridge 2000 Lytton Estate Syrah (Dry Creek Valley, California). Excellent Syrah - I think it's probably at its peak right now. Which is good, since this was our last bottle.

This was a perfect dinner. I really love the fregola - the mushrooms are chopped small enough for me not to care that they're in there. We just had these filets a month ago, but Larry requested them again. The butterscotch pudding was another test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. Easy and delicious.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Fregola with Wild Mushrooms, Sherry & Cream (Fine Cooking #90, December 2007, p. 42)
• Oven-Roasted Cauliflower
• Best Butterscotch Pudding (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)

Wine: Ridge 2003 Pato Vineyard Mataro (Contra Costa, California). Decent, but definitely on its way out.

This method of preparing filet mignon is now my standard. We really love the pepper coating, and it's not overpowering because the peppercorns are cooked prior to coating the meat. This is about the only way we ever eat beef anymore. The potatoes were really delicious, and Larry loved the mushrooms. I even had a few and thought they weren't bad... for mushrooms.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Roasted Baby White Potatoes with Rosemary, Fennel & Garlic (Fine Cooking #91, March 2008, p. 41)
• Balsamic Sautéed Mushrooms (Fine Cooking #91, March 2008, p. 47)

Wine: Rafanelli 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, California). Still drinking well.

We liked the chili from this cookbook so much we decided to try something else. This is just ground chuck cooked with onion, bell pepper, spices and canned tomatoes, and topped with a masa crust. Again, I think I have an oven issue so I had to cook it longer than was specified. It was good, but I thought it was too runny. We made the garlic bread with the bread I baked earlier today, and it was delicious.

• Masa Harina-Beef Casserole (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, p. 194)
• European Peasant Bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

This was another test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. I don't think I'd make these again, but I liked the technique of using the food processor to coarsely grind very cold beef for the burgers. We don't make a lot of burgers, and these seemed a little greasy. Good, but not good enough to make again.

• Ultimate Beef Burgers (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)

Barb, Steve and Kent came over for one of our traditional pre-ZAP dinners. We're all volunteer leads for the January festival, so we get together a few times over the year to meet and brainstorm. This was easy to do on a weeknight because everything was done ahead of time. The only thing I did tonight was re-heat the stew, make the mashed potatoes and assemble the salad.

The stew is my usual bastardized version of this old Julia Child recipe. I grind up the veggies into a thick gravy, and only add mushrooms and pearl onions as vegetables. The pound cake was okay. I think I baked it too long. It wasn't my favorite thing from Whole Grain Baking, that's for sure.

• Goat Cheese, Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 98c)
• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Chives (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 61)
• Chocolate Pound Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 387)
Wine: Valdez 2005 Simoncini Late Harvest Zinfandel. We are big fans of Valdez and picked up this bottle at a wine shop in the city. It was delicious. We also had wine that Kent and Barb and Steve brought... but I'm too lazy to note those here.

This steak was pretty good. Normally steak for us is strictly filet mignon, because we don't eat beef very often. But we couldn't resist making something out of this article on Mexican-style steaks. We made our usual black beans, and picked up some frozen cork tamales from our local (and excellent) Mexican grocery.

• Steak with Three-Chile Sauce (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 47)
• Black Beans
• Corn Tamales

This was lunch today. Cook's Illustrated sent me a recipe to test, for making roast beef out of an inexpensive cut of meat. Yum! Nothing magical about this - in fact, it's not much of a recipe. Just plenty of salt the day before, make sure the meat is dry, sear it, then roast it slow and low at 225 degrees. We don't eat very much beef but this is really lean and I always have a hard time getting enough protein in my diet so it's probably a good thing.

The sandwiches are made with toasted sourdough bread, fresh heirloom tomatoes, a bit of horseradish and mayo, and pea shoots.

• Inexpensive Roast Beef (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe) Sandwiches

Jay was here for dinner tonight - and we had a meal that screams Summer. We hardly ever make hamburgers - in fact, we probably haven't made them at home in years. We usually make turkey burgers. And even at a burger joint, Larry and I both tend to order turkey burgers. So these were a real treat, and absolutely delicious.

We decided to make the burgers after watching a burger contest on Food Network. The mix of flavors was great - I was worried that it was too much, but the flavors marry well with each other. I don't usually like burgers with too much stuff, especially cheese and bacon, but I didn't mind at all here. I think the best part was the teleme cheese and the fig and arugula topping.

We liked the cobbler, but I think my usual berry crisp is better. Not sure I'll make this one again.

• Born in Berkeley Burgers (Food Network Challenge, Build A Better Burger III)
• Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil
• Roasted New Potato Salad with Dijon & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 40)
• Cinnamon-Cornbread Cobbler with Blueberries (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 41)

Wine: Tait 2005 Ballbuster (Barossa Valley, Australia). Huge, high alcohol cuvee (Shriaz/Cab/Merlot). Tasty.

Since today is a holiday, I figured it would be a good day to work on another test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. I had a big Niman Ranch pot roast in the freezer already, so there wasn't a lot of shopping to do. Overall, we really liked this dish. The sauce was flavorful, the meat was tender. It took a lot of time to make but that's okay since it's not a workday.

• French-Style Pot Roast (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Chives (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 61)
• Spinach & Cucumber Salad with Yogurt-Mint Dressing (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)

Wine: Amphora 2000 Jacob's Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, California). Excellent Cab. I love Amphora wines. This was a gift from Larry's former boss.

After a day of strenuous exercise (today was a long hike on the Dipsea Trail), I like to make a nice filet as a recovery dinner. And the perfect recovery beverage, a hearty red wine.

I've made pepper-crusted filets in the past, but this method is different - cooking the cracked peppercorns in the oil mellows out the flavor a bit and helps the pepper really stick to the meat. We both really loved the filets and I'll definitely use this recipe again. Larry liked the reduction sauce better than I did - I think a standard pan sauce would have been just as good. He especially liked the cherries. The potatoes were good but nothing special. The salad was different. The dressing has just a teeny bit of oil in it so it's a good, flavorful low-fat alternative to a standard dressing, and the cantaloupe makes it kind of creamy. Still, I'm not sure I'd make the salad again.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Port Cherry Reduction Sauce (America's Test Kitchen)
• Potatoes Lyonnaise (America's Test Kitchen)
• Mâche with Spicy Melon & Pink Peppercorn Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 51)

Wine: Merryvale 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California). A nice soft Cab that was a gift from a former co-worker. Good with the steaks.

Another test recipe from Cook's Illustrated. This was also good but I have a lot of feedback for them on the recipe. We loved the noodles - even though I really don't like peanuts and Larry doesn't really like cold sesame noodles.

• Tangerine Stir-Fried Beef with Onions and Snow Peas (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)
• Peanut Sesame Noodles (Gourmet, June 2002)

I'm not much of a meatloaf lover. I'd probably never make it, but Larry likes it. And it's definitely comfort food - something I grew up with. Normally I use a recipe out of The Best Recipe, which uses a mixture of beef, pork and veal and has a ketchup-based glaze.

I used beef, pork and turkey in this version, which also has mushrooms in it (I think they add a nice flavor) but no glaze. Larry said he likes the other one better. I think this one is fine if I just add the glaze next time.

Neither one of us liked the polenta and greens. The recipe is also in Cooking New American and Fine Cooking's Side Dish 2007 special issue, but I only mention that so I can note in multiple places to never make it again.

Not-like-Mom's Meatloaf
Serves 8

1 ounce dried porcini or other mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for at least 30 minutes
1 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound fresh shiitake, porcini or other wild mushrooms, stems removed if using shiitakes; thinly sliced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef round (85 percent lean)
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground veal or turkey
3 slices pancetta, bacon, or lean salt pork, about 1/8 inch thick

Remove dried mushrooms from soaking liquid. If using shiitakes, remove and discard stems. Chop mushrooms and set aside. (Save soaking liquid for use in soups, stews or pasta sauces.)

In a small bowl, soak bread crumbs in cream while you prepare remaining ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Remove onions and garlic to large bowl and set aside. Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan and increase heat to high. Put in soaked dried mushrooms along with fresh mushrooms and saute, stirring constantly, until mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to onions in bowl.

Stir in eggs, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix well, then add ground meats and soaked bread crumbs with any liquid. Knead gently, using your hands, until everything is well blended. Rinse a large loaf pan (10 by 5 by 4 inches) with cold water and pack the meat into it. Invert loaf onto a flat roasting rack on top of a foil-lined baking sheet with (1-inch sides) or a shallow baking dish or gratin pan and remove loaf pan. (Or you can form a loaf on the baking sheet or in the pan.)

Place slices of pancetta, bacon or salt pork on top of the meat and bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until internal temperature is 155 degrees. Remove meat loaf from oven and let it rest, loosely covered with foil, for 10 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Per serving: 418 calories, 29g protein, 30g fat ( 12g saturated), 8g carbohydrate, 821mg sodium, 161mg cholesterol, 1g dietary fiber.

From "The Complete Meat Cookbook'' by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly (Houghton Mifflin, 1998)

• Not-like-Mom's Meatloaf (The Complete Meat Cookbook)
• Gratin of Polenta with Greens (Fine Cooking #31, March 1999, p. 27)

Wine: Novy 2000 Syrah (Napa Valley, California). Yum! Novy makes great wines. Peppery with concentrated fruit.

Scott is still here, and I figured some nice steaks would be good, and fairly quick to make after work. We normally have filet mignon when we have steak at home, and I think I'll stick with it. It's leaner, and we're just not used to the marbling in rib-eye. The steaks were good but not as good as filets. I really liked the orzo (the recipe is also in Cooking New American and Fine Cooking's Cooking Fresh 2005 special issue).

• Pan-fried Rib-Eye Steak
• Orzo with Spinach, Shiitakes & Caramelized Onions (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 44)
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Boston Lettuce Wedges with Mimosa Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #75, Holidays Winter 2006, p.90c)

Wine: Chumeia 2002 The Odyssean (Central Coast, California). Pretty good, a blend of Sangiovese, Barbera and Cab.

I usually order something from Niman Ranch for my dad for Christmas (this year was the steak lover's pack), but this year I also ordered a couple of rib-eye steaks for us to try. I like the principle of Niman Ranch, and I love their pork. The steaks were good, but I've had better. Lots of marbling and a they tasted a bit like grass-fed, although I don't think they were.

I made a quick pan sauce with shallots, beef stock, cognac and thyme. The carrots and potatoes were both very good, although I used medium-sized red potatoes this time. I definitley like small Yukon Golds better. The macaroons were especially for Jay. They were good but very moist - I think they probably should have cooked longer. The recipe for the carrots is also in Fine Cooking's Quick & Delicious 2006 special issue, and the macaroons are also in Fine Cooking's Chocolate 2006 special issue.

• Pan-Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks with Pan Sauce
• Glazed Carrots & Shallots with Thyme (Fine Cooking #55, January 2003, p. 54)
• Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
• Chocolate Cherry Coconut Macaroons (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 84)

Wine: Rafanelli 2002 Cab (Dry Creek Valley, California). Excellent as usual. One of the better vintages for Rafanelli.

It was kind of brisk today - fall is definitely here. I was craving chili and happened to have this recipe with me. It was really, really good - and really easy to make.

• Beef & Black Bean Chili with Chipotle & Avocado (Fine Cooking #77, March 2006, p. 98c)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Valdez 2004 Rockpile Road Zinfandel (Rockpile, California). This is a wine from a new, small producer - the owner is a former fieldworker in the wine country. We first tasted this wine at ZAP almost two years ago, and it was lucious and a big fruit bomb. I wish they would have bottled it then, because when it was released this summer, it wasn't as good. We were the first customers, however, and we now have a case of this wine. It seems a little out of balance, but it has good structure. It may just need time in the bottle. I'm not very good pinpointing what's wrong with a wine, but I can tell when it's not quite right. However, it opened up after some time and was much better later on.

Jay came for dinner tonight, and I made a menu from an older issue of Fine Cooking. Larry picked the article out, and I thought it sounded really good. We were looking for something a bit extravagant, since Larry and I both ran a half-marathon today.

The menu has a timeline, and much of the work can be done ahead of time. The only thing I did ahead (last night) was make the Butterscotch Custard. I used mixed greens instead of curly endive in the salad. Larry and Jay really liked the sauce for the tenderloin - it would make a really nice pan sauce.

The Butterscotch Custard was really good, but rich. Both Larry and Jay say it's a make-again. It was pretty easy to make. Next time, I'll definitely use smaller ramekins. Also, I had some problems with the condensation from the foil dripping on to the custards when I checked them for doneness. It made some of the custards looks kind of lumpy but didn't affect flavor.

• Endive Salad with Blue Cheese, Pears & Spice-Candied Walnuts (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 70)
• Filet of Beef Wrapped in Bacon with Wild Mushroom & Rosemary Sauce (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 71)
• Celery Root & Apple Purée (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 72)
• Butterscotch Custard (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 72)

Wine: Pine Ridge 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California). This wine was a gift, and a nice one at that. Soft tannins and very drinkable. Perfect match with the tenderloin.

Carsten came over for dinner tonight. I've been dying to make the Cottage Pie ever since this issue of Fine Cooking hit the mailbox. It's such a homey, hearty dish - exactly the type of food I love to make. The beef stew portion is excellent on its own. We all really liked it. Larry loved the salad. The banana cream pie recipe came from my recipe box. It's got a great vanilla custard, with sliced bananas in the middle.

• Goat Cheese, Lemon & Chive Turnovers (Fine Cooking #80, September 2006, p. 86c)
• Cottage Pie with Beef & Carrots (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 62)
• Roasted Butternut Squash & Pear Salad with Spiced-Pecan Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 58)
• Banana Cream Pie

Wine:
- Domaine Zind Heimbourg 1998 Pinot Gris (Alcase, Germany). Carsten brought this wine - it was good with the turnovers. It's an off-dry wine.
- Ridge 1999 Dynamite Hill Petite Sirah (York Creek Vineyard, California). Delicious.
- Oremus 2000 Tokaji Azsú 3 Puttonyos (Hungary). We picked up several bottles of Tokaji in Budapest on our vacation this month, and since Carsten was the one that suggested we check them out, we opened one for dessert. This one was a bit too sweet for the banana cream pie, but it was really good. The designation 3 Puttonyos is the least sweet of the Azsú style Tokaji wines.

I bought a huge, thick filet mignon today for dinner. The steaks were so big that I only bought one for the two of us. I was going to cook it on the grill so I didn't have to heat up the kitchen, but as usual I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a yummy pan sauce. And this is a good one. I used brandy instead of Irish whisky.

• Filet Steaks with an Irish Whisky & Cream Pan Sauce (Fine Cooking #80, September 2006, p. 43)
• Baked Potatoes
• Trader Joe's Spinach Salad

Wine: Byington 1997 Bates Ranch Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz Mountains, California). We picked this up a few years ago at a local winery - it was inexpensive, but fairly tasty. It's done well over the years and turned out to be a really, really nice wine. Still has some fruit, and the tannins aren't overpowering. Polished would be a good word to describe the wine.

The Epicurious review on the cookbook "The Carefree Cook" raved about these short ribs, so I've wanted to make them every since I got the cookbook. I made the short ribs yesterday and refrigerated the ribs separate from the sauce so I could easily pull the fat off the sauce today. They were good - the end result is very similar to my beef stew. I don't think I'll make them again, though, because neither one of us are that crazy about short ribs. I'd rather make beef stew. The mashed potatoes were good, nothing out of the ordinary, but good with the sauce from the short ribs.

• Short Ribs Provençale (The Carefree Cook, p. 104)
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (The Carefree Cook, p. 269)

Wine: Rafanelli 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, California). We bought a half-case of this when it was released, and are glad we did. It's very drinkable now, well balanced and not too much oak.

Jay came over for dinner tonight after we completed the Wine Country Metric Century bike ride today. A beautiful ride, but being in the saddle for that long calls for a dinner of protein and carbs.

• Filet Mignon
• Whole Foods Spinach Salad
• Baked Potato

Wine: Ramazzoti 2003 Raffinto Super Tuscan Blend (Sonoma County, California). Joe Ramazzoti was in Locals delivering wine and poured for us today after our ride. This is a nice wine.

Fred and Alyssia came for dinner tonight. We provided the meal, and they brought fabulous cabs to drink. The dinner menu was easy - a good filet just needs simple sides and a yummy dessert to follow.

• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Fennel & Red Onion with Arugula (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 48)
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Chocolate-Berry Pot Pies (Just a Bite, Gale Gand, p. 228)

Wine:
- Siduri 2002 Muirfield Vineyard Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, Oregon). Larry wasn't thrilled with this wine. Good, but it's expensive so he expected more. Siduri wines are Burgundian, I think we both just like fruitier styles better. I still liked this wine, though.
- Scherrer 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley, California). Fabulous, just fabulous. Soft and easy to drink.
- Del Dotto 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California). Also soft but more heavily oaked than the Scherrer. Still really wonderful.
- Meeker 2002 FroZin (Mendocino County, California). Bursting with raspberry, not too much residual sugar, and perfect with dessert.

I haven't made traditional Spaghetti & Meatballs for a very long time. I have an old recipe that I usually use, but this time I decided to try something new (from Fine Cooking, of course). The recipe had caught my eye when this issue came out because it's from Rao's, a very old family restaurant in East Harlem, New York. The title of the article is "The Best Ever Spaghetti & Meatballs". I hate it when recipes are titled like that, because who's to say it's the best ever? Plus titles like that build up expectations, so that disappointment is that much more acute when the food doesn't live up to the claims. I decided to try it and see if it was the best I'd ever have.

The sauce is just a basic marinara. The meatballs use a mixture of ground beef, pork and veal - Whole Foods was out of ground veal so I had to use their meatloaf mixture. The only time I ever eat veal is in meatloaf and meatballs. The idea of veal grosses me out so I try not to think about it. Everything came together pretty quickly - about two hours start to finish. It wasn't the best ever, but it was pretty good. I've missed garlic bread, that's for sure.

• Spaghetti & Meatballs (Fine Cooking #71, May 2005, p. 51)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: David Bruce 1999 Ranchita Canyon Sangiovese (Paso Robles, California). This was my first glass of wine since December 4 of last year. Even though I'm still under doctor's orders not to have alcohol, I had a couple of glasses anyway. I can't imagine Spaghetti & Meatballs without a Sangiovese. This is a really nice wine.

A rare beef night in the house tonight - Larry's request. When I make beef, it's almost always filet mignon. Even though I don't like mushrooms, I will eat Chantarelles because they have a nice texture. Costco had them (of all places), and for eight dollars a pound! I made the whole pound and they were good.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Sautéed Chantarelle Mushrooms
• Sautéed Spinach with Garlic
• Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Chile (Fine Cooking #67, November 2004, p. 49)

Wine: Rafanelli 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, California). Last bottle of this vintage, and quite excellent. It's clearly at its peak right now.

Amy and I made a simple, but extremely yummy dinner tonight after a long day in San Francisco. It was really quite perfect.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Sautéed Spinach with Garlic
• Baked Potatoes

Wine: Amphora 2003 Mounts Vineyard Syrah. A really, really yummy Syrah. Very fruity for a Syrah, but still pretty big. Perfect with the filets.

Jay was here for dinner tonight. After a long (100k) ride today, Larry was definitely up for a hearty dinner. And I wasn't up for anything complicated. It really hit the spot. I did the spinach in the same manner I've been doing it lately - sauté some chopped garlic in olive oil, then wilt the spinach with salt and pepper. Very simple, very good.

This cake is driving me crazy. The crumbled topping completely melted into the cake. I checked measurements twice this time to be sure, since last time I had the same problem. I guess the only solution would be to add the topping later. Also, the huge fresh blueberries I used this time all sunk to the bottom. I used only blueberries this time. Next time, I'm going to try frozen wild blueberries, and I'm going to add the crumb topping halfway into baking.

Oh, and I found out I was out of baking powder as I was making the cake. Instead of running out or sending Larry out, I used two parts cream of tartar to one part baking soda. It seemed to work fine.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Baked Potatoes
• Sautéed Spinach with Garlic
• Berry Buttermilk Cake with Vanilla-Scented Créme Fraîche (Fine Cooking #72, July 2005, p. 43)

Wine: Dave & Donna's 2002 Syrah. This wine was made by some of Jay's co-workers. It was pretty good. Light for a Syrah, but nicely balanced.

After our 63-mile bike ride today, Larry wanted a nice, simple steak dinner. I agreed that this would be a nice recovery meal. I make my usual stuffed baked potatoes, which are hardly any effort at all. They're basically just baked potatoes with a lot of sour cream and a bit of butter and chopped scallions. I like cheese on the top of mine (just a bit of Cabot sharp cheddar), but Larry doesn't. I usually cut back a bit on the sour cream. They can be made with low- or non-fat sour cream, but they just aren't the same.

Larry isn't a big fan of blue cheese, because he thinks the flavor is overpowering. I've been using Stilton instead lately, and he really likes it. Still that blue cheese flavor, but much more mild.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Baby Spinach Salad with Red Bartlett Pear, Stilton Cheese, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Wine: Chiarello Vineyards 2002 Eileen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California). A really, really nice Cab. Very soft and well-balanced.

I've talked Larry into having beef twice a month, although this was the first time this month I made beef. The main reason I want to make more beef is only because I want to drink more beef-friendly wines like Syrah, Cab, and Merlot. I cooked the filet mignon in a cast-iron pan as usual, my favorite way to cook it.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Fennel & Red Onion with Arugula (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 48)
• Smashed Red Potatoes with Basil & Parmesan (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 51)

Wine: Thomas Fogarty 1997 Reserve Merlot (Santa Cruz Mountains, California). Neither one of us is that crazy about Merlot, but this one was nice. Very mellow and not overly oaked.

We don't eat a lot of beef, so when we do, it has to be yummy. High-quality steak, usually. I bought a dry-aged rib-eye steak from Whole foods (we split it because it was huge), and I seared it in a cast iron pan. The only way to cook a steak, in my opinion. Tonight was date night - jazz, wine, candles, and dinner at the table instead of on the couch in front of the TV.

- The potatoes were excellent. Larry wants them again. They were really simple to make, and can be made ahead.
- The greens were also excellent. I liked the mixture of spinach, kale and chard. I used two different kinds of kale. Larry had seconds. It wasn't an overpowering dish, so it went well with the steak, which was the star attraction. Larry picked this recipe out of a cookbook he got me for Valentine's day (sweet guy!).
- The cake was delicious as usual. My ganache didn't break this time.

• Seared Dry-Aged Rib Eye Steak
• Mustard and Rosemary Roasted Potatoes (Fine Cooking #42, December 2000, p. 53)
• Winter Greens with Currants, Pine Nuts and Brown Butter (Fields of Greens, Annie Somerville, p. 254)
• Chocolate-Amaretto Heart

Wine: The Maiden 1998 Red Wine (Napa Valley, CA). We decided to open a special bottle of wine tonight in the spirit of Open That Bottle Night. This was the first expensive bottle of wine we ever bought. It was good, really good. Really tannic, so it could have sat in the basement for another few years. Very concentrated and a little hot, in my opinion. We decanted it and drank the whole bottle.

I'm in Austin visiting Amy again. Tonight we made dinner for Gary. It was very good, especially because Amy and I got to cook it together. The sweet potatoes were especially yummy with a couple of large pinches of chipotle powder (for two sweet potatoes, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper).

We shopped at the fabulous Central Market (I wish there was one near me). The cauliflower was grown here in Texas, and is huge. As is everything in Texas. The flank steak was so easy, and the sauce was perfect with it, with just the right amount of tarragon.

• Seared Flank Steak with Shallot-Mustard Sauce (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 82c)
• Oven-Roasted Cauliflower
• Oven-Roasted Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries

Wine:
Rosenblum 2000 Rustridge Zinfandel
Rafanelli 2001 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California)
Both wines were excellent. The Rosenblum had more fruit, I think, but both are well-balanced, yummy Zins.

I made meatloaf for Larry and his dad tonight. This is one of Larry's favorites. I normally stick to my standard recipe from The Best Recipe, but I saw a recipe that was similar in Fine Cooking, so I thought I'd try that tonight instead.

- I still used the ketchup-based glaze from The Best Recipe meatloaf recipe. I skipped wrapping the loaf in bacon, as I always do. I think this version is more tender than the Best Recipe version, and I liked the flavor. I think Larry likes the Best Recipe version better.
- I served this with leftover potatoes from last night, since I'm sick with the flu and wasn't up for a lot of cooking.

• Classic Meatloaf (Fine Cooking #3, February/March 1999, p. 33)

My aunt Carol, my great-aunt Al and my cousin Jeanine were here for dinner tonght.

- Amy made this flank steak not too long ago, and it sounded really good. Everyone liked it. I think I went light on the salt, though. I missed it. I probably should have done the Mediterranean style considering what I served with it, but it wasn't bad.
- Potatoes, fantastic as usual. This is easily my favorite way to make potatoes.
- We bought three pounds of fresh peas at the market yesterday and after eating a bunch of them raw (yum), we still had enough for dinner. This is a really nice recipe. With fresh peas, I think the ingredients should be top quality and simple - just enough to show off the peas. Really, really good.
- I made these lemon bars earlier in the day to take to work - using up more of the Meyer lemons since I've been too lazy to juice them all and freeze the juice. I took most of the bars to work, and they disappeared quickly, with a few people coming back for seconds. I don't know, they just weren't my thing. I added the ginger to the crust but didn't use any on top. Next time I'll just leave it out.

• Latin-Style Flank Steak (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 44)
• Fresh Peas with Lemon and Chives (Fine Cooking #45, July 2001, p. 46)
• Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
• Gingered Lemon Bars (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 64)

Wine: Rafanelli 1999 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Oh, my. This is drinking really well. Proof that the '97 Zin is done. This still had bright fruit, good structure. Jammy.

We hadn't had steaks in quite a while, so tonight I made one of our very favorite simple meals. The steaks turn out so nicely in a cast iron pan, and we prefer cooking them that way rather than grilling them.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Fennel & Red Onion with Arugula (Fine Cooking 62, January 2004, p. 48)
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)

Wine: Ridge 1999 Lytton Estate Syrah (Sonoma County, California). Yum! One of the best Syrahs we've got. Meaty enough for steak, but not so much that it's overpowering. Really nicely balanced. I was afraid we hadn't cellared it long enough but it was terrific.

This recipe was on the cover of the recent issue of Food & Wine Magazine. It looked good to me - I've been craving spaghetti and meatballs, so I thought this would be a good substitute. It's in the "fast" section of the magazine - it says it takes 30 minutes to prepare, but it took me about an hour, thirty minutes of which was actual cooking time. I liked the end result, though - the mixture of ground beef and ground turkey was nice.

• Pappardelle with Red Wine & Meat Ragú (Food & Wine, February 2004, p. 98)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: David Bruce 1999 Ranchita Canyon Sangiovese (Paso Robles, California). A really nice everyday red. Well balanced and stands up well to meat pasta.

Amy and I made dinner for Jay, Larry and Fiyaz tonight. We wanted to do something simple, because we made fondue for our lunch.

- We made a classic fondue. It was excellent. We learned that we're supposed to dip the bread in a figure eight motion to keep the cheese stirred.
- The cream sauce for the steaks calls for a jar of Il Trullo Funghi Porcini in Olive Oil. We were irritated that Food & Wine would require an ingredient that was impossible to find - we looked at the specialty Italian store as well as the local gourmet market. In addition, the bottle retails for fifteen dollars. We used a mixture of cremini mushrooms and King Oyster mushrooms instead of the jarred mushrooms. The sauce turned out really well.

• Classic Swiss Three-Cheese Fondue (Fondue, Rick Rodgers, p. 18) with cubed sourdough bread
• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Seared Steaks with Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce (Food & Wine, March 2004, p. 173)
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Arugula Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Wine: A. Rafanelli 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon. We have one more bottle of this... it's still very good. It's softened quite a bit over the past few years.

Cold weather and a short amount of time to make dinner called for a big pot of Cincinnati Chili. It was perfect.

• Snows Chili (alias Cincinnati Chili) (Hollyhocks & Radishes, Bonnie Stewart Mickelson, p.104)

A pretty plain dinner tonight. I was craving beef. Larry really liked the fennel and spinach I did with the scallops last week, so I made that as a side. I was in kind of a hurry, so it wasn't as good as last time - it needs to be cooked fully before adding the spinach.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Wilted Fennel & Spinach Salad (Fine Cooking #63, Feb/March 2004, p. 83C)
• Baked Potato

Wine: Christopher Creek 1999 Estate Reserve Syrah (Dry Creek Valley, California). A really good Syrah, well balanced and perfect with steaks.

Today was the final day of preparation of the beef stew we ate tonight. Martin was here for dinner. Yesterday, I made sure that I didn't cook the beef so much that it was falling apart. Today I removed as much fat from the top of the cooled stew as I could. I then performed the most tedious task during this process - I picked out all of the chunks of meat and set it aside in a separate bowl.

This is where I begin to deviate from the Julia Child article. I continued cooking down the liquid and vegetables on the top of the stove, to further break down the vegetables and to concentrate the flavors.

I strained the liquid into a gravy separator to further defat the sauce, then I put the solids through a food mill. Pushing them through a strainer would probably yeild about the same results. The goal is just to get as much of the liquid out of the vegetables as possible. I added some of the defatted liquid to some flour and heated the liquid back up. I then began to add the slurry to the liquid to thicken it - I just keep adding it until it's a nice gravy consistency. I added the beef back to the liquid and put it back in the oven at a low temperature. The goal now is just to get the meat to be super-tender and falling apart.

I added sliced portabella mushrooms and peeled pearl onions close to when the stew was done, and continued cooking it until it was all done. I also added more beef stock as needed (two cups total) to keep the amount of liquid consistent. Somehow, Liberty Cafe's mushrooms are really tender - I can never get mine to be like theirs.

• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)
• Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Glazed Carrots (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001 p.24)
• Baby Spinach Salad with cherry tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Wine: Pezzi King 2001 Carreras Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Decent, not great. We bought this as a future, and it was fantastic in the bottle. We have several more bottles, so time will tell.

Today I brought the stew to a simmer on the stove, then cooked it at a low temperature in the oven until the meat was tender. If we were going to eat the stew tonight, I would have continued through the rest of the steps, straining and cooking it further.

I continued my four-day stew today. I separated the meat from the vegetable marinade and dried it on paper towels. I cooked the vegetables and liquid until they were soft, removed them from the pan, and browned the beef in batches. The beef creates a really nice fond on the pan, so when it's done I deglazed the pan with a bit of water. I added the scraped up brown bits to the beef back in my soup pot, then covered it with the cooked vegetables, diced roma tomatoes and bay leaves. I added red Zinfandel wine (1999 David Bruce Paso Robles - something good but not expensive) and about a cup of beef stock. I used a bottle of wine that was already open, so I added the contents of the bottle plus more beef stock to cover the beef mixture.

This will sit all night in the refrigerator. Tomorrow is the most labor intensive day. If we wanted, we could have the stew tomorrow - I would just need to cook it until the beef is fork-tender. But I think we'll have it Sunday.

My Christmas project this year was to make a double batch of chicken pot pies for the holidays. I put two chickens and double veggies into the roaster, but I make the dough in two separate batches for ease of handling.

I also started a batch of beef stew - I usually make it over three or four days. The recipe comes from an article Julia Child wrote for Food & Wine Magazine years ago. I've modified it to resemble the beef stew at Liberty Cafe (same place that makes the chicken pot pies). It consists of tender stew meat, a thick, rich gravy, pearl onions, and sliced portabella mushrooms. I serve it over mashed potatoes. I don't like beef stew with a bunch of overdone, mushy vegetables in it.

Today, I put the raw stew meat into my favorite Le Crueset soup pot along with thinly sliced onions and carrots, salt, cracked peppercorns, crushed garlic, sprigs of thyme, olive oil and red wine vinegar. After tossing everything together, I put in into the refrigerator, covered, to marinate for the night.

• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)

Tonight was about meeting Larry's craving for red meat. Yes, the potatoes are really from a Knudsen cookbook. They're really, really good (but not good for you). Find the recipe under my recipes link.

• Pan-Seared Filet Mignon
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Delicata Squash Rings (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, p. 440)

Wine: A. Rafanelli 1998 Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). A yummy wine from one of our favorite producers. I would normally drink a Cab or Syrah with steak, but this bottle was open. It's big enough to stand up to steak.

I'm finally back from Reno, and Larry got to pick the dinner menu tonight since I was gone for his birthday on Monday. Although I think I'm a capable cook, I have always failed at most pies. Larry loves apple pie, but every time I tried, it just didn't turn out right - until late last year, when I found a recipe that I could successfully execute. This is a beautiful pie, and it doesn't require a lot of time. It tastes great, too.

Jay was here for dinner tonight. It's been cold and rainy, so Larry asked for Cincinnati Chili. Even though he's from Ohio, Larry had never had Cincinnati Chili before I made it for him. I think it's more of a southern Ohio thing. It's very saucy and has spices you wouldn't consider in chili - allspice and cinnamon. And it has chocolate in it. It's really really good. Cincinnati Chili is served over spaghetti, then topped with a variety of ingredients - tradionally, cheddar cheese, chopped onions, and oyster crackers.

• Snows Chili (alias Cincinnati Chili) (Hollyhocks & Radishes, Bonnie Stewart Mickelson, p.104)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Tonight we had more of the frozen beef wellingtons that I made last month.

- I poached a lot of tuna this week, so I decided to try out another appetizer. This came together quickly, but the texture was weird. And I'm bothered by how much butter is in there. I started out with a minimal amount of butter, but ended up adding most of it to get a less dry texture. The pâté ended up being very smooth - which is what the recipe called for, but the picture shows a more flaky product. I think I'd prefer more flaky. However - this grew on me, and I've decided it's a good party food.
- I've decided that if I cook the wellingtons to 140 degrees, they're just pink inside and perfectly cooked.
- I love this gratin - not only did it taste really good, but it didn't require any layering like many gratins do. I'm becoming a big fan of gratins. I modified this recipe since I was out of russet potatoes - I just used yukon golds, and it was still delicious. The horseradish isn't hot in the finished dish. I will add less salt to the final mixture next time.

• Mini-toasts with Fresh Tuna Pâté Scented with Rosemary (Fine Cooking #42, December 2000/January 2001, p. 45)
• Individual Beef Wellingtons with Mushroom, Spinach and Blue Cheese Filling (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 40)
• Sweet Potato-Russet Potato Gratin with Horseradish and a Dijon Crust (Fine Cooking #60, November 2003, p. 60)
• Baby Spinach Salad with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Breanna's Poppyseed Dressing

Wine: David Coffaro 2000 Cabernet Franc (Dry Creek Valley, California). Finished up the bottle - still good and nice with the wellingtons.

We finally got to try the Beef Wellington tonight (I originally put them together here). I loved that they were so easy to cook - they went straight from the freezer to the oven and were done in just over an hour.

- The recipe says to cook the wellingtons to 110 degrees. I like my beef a little less bloody, so 130 to 140 degrees is appropriate for me. Larry said that the blue cheese overpowered the flavor of everything else. I used a very mild blue cheese (Point Reyes Blue). I agreed, and next time, I'll leave out the cheese. I'm not a big fan of mixing meat and cheese. Other than that, they were really good. The pastry was excellent, flaky and buttery. We shared one wellington between us.
- I had a delicata squash sitting in the pantry, and I really didn't know what to do with it. It was excellent this way. I have a sugar loaf squash also, and I found out that it's a type of delicata. I'm going to do it the same way (peel it, scrape out the seeds, scrape it in rounds, saut饠it in some olive oil, and top with salt, pepper, and parsley.

• Individual Beef Wellingtons with Mushroom, Spinach and Blue Cheese Filling (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 40)
• Delicata Squash Rings (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, p. 440)
• Baby arugula salad with cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Wine: Cinnabar 1999 Syrah (Lodi, California). Yummy! We have one more bottle. Well-balanced and concentrated, very fruity for a Syrah.

I decided to try to make individual Beef Wellingtons this weekend. The article (Fine Cooking #42, p. 40) interested me, because they are made ahead and frozen before cooking them. I like the idea of having something as elegant and yummy as this just waiting for me in the freezer.

I have a couple of reservations about the dish. First, I don't like mushrooms or cooked spinach. The wellingtons include mushrooms, cooked spinach, carmelized onions, and blue cheese (all wrapped up with filet mignon in puff pastry dough). Larry doesn't really like blue cheese, so I bought Point Reyes Blue - a very mild blue cheese.

Putting these things together took a long time. I hope they're worth it. I had to prepare and sautée the spinach and portabella mushrooms, sautée the sliced onions, sear the steaks, and roll and cut pastry rounds out of the puff pastry sheets. It was a lot of prep work, and still more to come.

All of the ingredients needed to be chilled before assembling the wellingtons. The pastry stays frozen until assembly.

To assemble the wellingtons, all of the ingredients needed to be organized into six piles each, because they need to come together quickly so the pastry stays cold. The pastry had to be cut some more (into a cross shape) before all the ingredients went in. They looked pretty good when I was done, although I worry about the seams coming undone.

I'm dying to try these.

We got figs in this week's Planet Organics delivery. I don't really know what to do with them, so I searched around for a recipe. Other things I got this week that I need to figure out how to use: a black spanish radish, sweet potatoes, and lots and lots of kiwi.

- The figs were pretty good grilled like this, except the pancetta kept slipping off. It would work better to hold it in place with a bamboo skewer.
- I got grass-fed Rib Eye steaks from Whole Foods tonight. Grass-fed beef is supposed to be better - for the environment, for the cattle, and for people. It has less saturated fat and higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin E than corn-fed beef. It definitely tasted different that corn-fed beef. I didn't especially like it, but I think it's an acquired taste. I think it tasted more earthy.
- King Oyster mushrooms are the best, and this is a mushroom hater speaking. They're meaty and have a good texture.

• Grilled Figs with Goat Cheese & Mint (Fine Cooking #40, September 2000, p. 59)
• Pan-fried grass-fed rib eye steaks
• Sauteed King Oyster mushrooms
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)
• Spinach salad with hard-boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and Smoked Bacon Vinagrette (Festive Favorites, p. 51)

Wine: Rafanelli 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, California). This is a great Cab, and we now only have a couple of bottles left. It's one of the best vintages of Rafanelli Cab.

This casserole is something my mom always made for us when I was growing up. This is what I think of when I think "family recipe". This is a homey, non-fancy casserole, but it's great to make ahead and is excellent left over. I usually make it just before we go on vacation, so whoever is staying over with Ginger has something they can just reheat for dinner. I put the casserole together yesterday, and just popped it in the oven to cook tonight. It consists of layers of shell pasta, ground meat mixture (ground turkey, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, garlic), sour cream, and cheese (cheddar and mozzarella). The casserole obtained its name from an Italian I used to know, who was making reference to my heritage. I think the name fits.

- I've made a few changes to the casserole over the years, including switching to ground turkey instead of ground beef, I use fresh mushrooms instead of canned, and I used canned diced tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes. I can think of a few other things to make it even better - fresh tomatoes in the summer, and fresh mozzarella.
- This is my best chocolate chip cookie so far. I have a few other recipes I'd like to try. The secret is good, fresh butter, and high quality chocolate chunks. I add walnuts to mine.

• Polish Lasagna (Sheri's Recipe Box)
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Fine Cooking #56, March 2003, p. 55)

Tonight was an odd mixture of food that I was either craving (hamburgers) or had on hand and needed to use while it was still fresh (heirloom tomatoes, peas). The burgers didn't really go with the pasta, but separately everything was very good.

- These burgers were really good and very simple. I usually don't like cheese on my hamburger, but it was shredded and mixed with roased peppers so it was very subtle.
- The pasta would make an excellent vegetarian main dish. Always good to remember, since we seem to have more and more vegetarians over for dinner.

• New Mexican Chile-Sirloin Burgers with Salsa Verde (Food and Wine, June 2003, p. 141)
• Pasta with Peas and Basil (Fine Cooking #38, May 2000, p. 45)
• Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil

This was a good, different way to make filet mignon. I usually just sear it with lots of pepper in a cast iron pan, then make a quick pan sauce.

- I had some difficulty keeping the herb crust stuck to the meat, but it was still good.
- Yes, I made frozen potato wedges. So I'm lazy.

• Herb-Crusted Been Medallions with Zinfandel-Shallot Sauce (Williams-Sonoma Fresh and Light, p. 52)
• Trader Joe's Frozed Potato Wedges
• Arugula Salad with bosc pears, Point Reyes blue cheese, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil

Wine:Bogle 1998 Merlot (California). I don't know where we got this bottle, but I'm positive we didn't buy it ourselves. Merlot is our least favorite of the mainstream red varietals, but it was okay with the meal. It was pretty light for a Merlot.

Fiyaz came for dinner tonight:

- For the steak, I used filet mignon from Costco (they have the best meat), and I cooked in a cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of grapeseed oil.
- The Mafia Cookbook is one of my favorites. It's written by a former mobster and includes interesting stories with recipies in between.

• Steak au Poivre (The Mafia Cookbook, p. 104)
• Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Knudsen Cooking For Compliments, p. 89)
• Spinach and baby arugula salad with hard-boiled egg and Smoked Bacon Vinagrette (Festive Favorites, p. 51)
• Mushrooms sauteed in butter (a varietal very similar to Trumpet Royale/king oyster)

Wine: Alhgren 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz Mountains, California). Very nice, vanilla nose and wonderful with the steak.