Fine Cooking #97

This beautiful, delicious marmalade isn't something I'd make all the time, but it's fabulous and this first batch was worth it. It's a very labor-intensive product, cutting all of that lemon zest up into threads. I used Meyer lemons - my lemon of choice when I happen to get my hands on some. The marmalade is perfect on a slice of just-baked bread, and I can't wait to try it stirred in some yogurt.

• Lemon-Ginger Marmalade (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 19)

Just me for dinner tonight. Well, not really dinner, more of a snack while I was making the lemon tart for tomorrow. These are good and quick to make, but very spicy.

• Salt & Pepper Shrimp with Garlic & Chile (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 90)

Mark, Edith and Jay were all here for dinner. The chicken is just a take on coq au vin. Good, but nothing special (I seem to say that a lot lately, wondering if I'm getting overly picky). The chocolate mousse was a hit and a definite make-again. Creamy and thick, and easy to make.

• Creamy White Bean & Herb Dip (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 76)
• Wine-Braised Chicken with Shallots and Pancetta (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 8)
• Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 86C)
• Garlicky Braised Kale with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 49)
• Real Chocolate Mousse (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 25)

Wine:
- Rosenblum 2005 Carla's Vineyard Zinfandel (San Francisco Bay, California). Really, really good. Well balanced and what a Zin should aspire to be.
- Thumbprint 2005 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Lighter than the Rosenblum, so we should have opened this first. Okay, but disappointing after the Rosenblum.

This was an interesting way to bread turkey cutlets. The recipe calls for salted popped popcorn that is then put through a food processor, then used like breadcrumbs. I had to figure out the popcorn thing first. We usually use SmartPop microwave popcorn, butter flavor. I don't think I know how to pop regular popcorn anymore, so I looked around at the store and settled on Orville Redenbacher's reduced fat Natural Popcorn. Basically just popcorn, oil and salt.

We really liked everything tonight. The turkey was interesting, and I pretty much like anything with farro. The sorbet was delicious and creamy.

• Popcorn-Crusted Turkey Cutlets with Cherry Tomato Salsa (Whole Grains for Busy People, p. 78)
• Farro with Broccoli Rabe & Prosciutto (Whole Grains for Busy People, p. 109)
• Blood Orange & Mango Sorbet (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 47)

We really liked this pork chop. Larry loves pretty much anything jerk, actually. I threw together a black bean salad, which we really liked, and sauteed some plantains for a quick and relatively healthy Caribbean-style dinner.

• Spicy Jerk Pork Chops (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 88)
• Roasted Corn, Black Bean & Mango Salad (EatingWell, Summer 2004)
• Sauteed Plantains (EatingWell)

We loved this pasta. I used spicy chicken Italian sausage from Whole Foods, and fresh whole wheat fettuccine. It had a nice mix of flavors, and I think one of the reasons we liked it so much is that the chicken sausage was really good.

• Fresh Pasta with Sausage & Mushrooms (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 91)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

This sauté sounded interesting, but it turned out kind of blah. Not something I'd make again. Not like it was bad, it just wasn't anything special.

• Chicken Sauté with Lemon, Cumin & Parsley (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 90)

I was skeptical about these sandwiches. First, I'm not that crazy about turkey lunchmeat. And even though these don't have corned beef (which I don't like), anything titled reuben just doesn't appeal to me. But I'm so glad I made them! Great sandwiches. The slaw, with the pickles and the updated Thousand Island dressing made with sun dried tomatoes was really nice.

• Smoked Turkey Ruebens (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 89)

Kent came for dinner tonight, a pre-ZAP planning meeting (we're all volunteer leads for the Good Eats & Zin event). Whole Foods had both halibut and their sustainable Chilean sea bass... sea bass is my favorite, and it was half the price. So I went with the sea bass. We really liked the fish and the salsa a lot. The blood orange salad didn't do much for us.

Larry loves carrot cake. I don't but I make it occasionally anyway. He loved this version. The cream cheese frosting is spectacular.

• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Sear-Roasted Sea Bass with Blood Orange Salsa (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 42)
• Blood Orange & Radicchio Salad with Hazelnuts & Shaved Parmigiano (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 42)
• Lemony Salt-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes (Food & Wine, October 2006)
• Classic Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 72)

Wine: Four Vines 2005 Naked Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County, California). Tonight's dinner just wasn't going to match with a red, with all of the oranges, so we reluctantly pulled out one of our few whites. If I'm going to drink a California Chardonnay, I like it unoaked, like this one. Pretty good.

We used up the last of the roast pork in these pork sandwiches, which are also packed with a quick coleslaw (which I made with Napa cabbage since that's what was in the refrigerator). They turned out pretty good and made a nice lunch for us.

• Pulled-Pork Sandwiches with Cabbage, Caper & Herb Slaw (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 51)

I love hash. Larry says he doesn't like it, but he likes it every time I make it. This is a great way to use up leftover pork roast, and while it made a nice dinner, it would be great for breakfast as well.

• Pork & Potato Hash with Poached Eggs & Avocado (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 52)

Jay came for a late dinner tonight. I couldn't get my act together and got the roast in the oven kind of late, so we didn't eat until almost 8:30. I love pork shoulder. By far my favorite cut of meat. This would have been better if I would have lowered the oven temp a little more and let it cook another hour. It wasn't pull-apart tender like it should be. Still good, though. Jay and Larry loved the escarole. I wasn't crazy about it. I like escarole in soups but not like this.

The tart is beautiful and different. Love the crust and the custard filling, but the oranges are too juicy. I tried to drain them as much as possible but still too much juice seeped into the custard.

• Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Carrots, Onions and Garlic (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 50)
• Sautéed Escarole with Raisins, Pine Nuts & Capers (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 16)
• Smashed Potatoes with Horseradish Créme Fraîche (Fine Cooking #82, December 2006, p. 46)
• Orange & Brown-Butter Tart (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 46)

Wine: Four Vines 2005 Biker Zinfandel (Paso Robles, California). Good but not spectacular.

This is kind of a big meal for just the two of us, but the entire menu from this article sounded really good, so I figured why not. We liked everything, especially the potato salad. Definitely something to make again. This menu is great as a make-ahead meal for company, because the last-minute stuff is quick and very little effort. The only change I made was to roast the broccolini instead of boil it. Because I generally don't like vegetables boiled, especially broccoli or anything broccoli-like.

The cake is very much something Larry likes, with warm spices and ginger. The interesting ingredient ingredient is grated butternut squash. It's an excellent cake, light and flavorful. Larry says definitely make it again, and I agree.

• Creamy White Bean & Herb Dip (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 76)
• Pan-Seared Skirt Steak with Warm Radish and Red Onion Pickle (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 76)
• Broccolini with Kalamata Dressing (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 79)
• Roasted Potato and Mushroom Salad with Mascarpone (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 79)
• Buttermilk Cake with Vanilla Icing (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 80)

I've been home sick with the stomach flu for the past two days and am at the point where I need to get some food in my stomach. For some reason, Asian food always sounds good to me when I'm sick - especially soups and soy sauce. I liked the tofu, but Larry was just lukewarm on it (he didn't like the carrots). It's easy to make. We both loved the bok choy, which was also very quick to make.

• Red-Cooked Tofu (Fine Cooking #97, February 2009, p. 89)
• Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy with Garlic (Gourmet, November 2007)