Salad

Excellent dinner tonight. It seems like whenever I try to slap something together at the last minute, it turns out really good. We both really loved these chicken thighs, and I plan on making them again soon. Larry is becoming a fan of chicken thighs - as long as they're boneless.

• Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs (Cooking Light, March 2007)
• Garlicky Roasted Potatoes with Herbs (Cooking Light, December 2006)
• Butter Lettuce with Creamy Black Pepper Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)

I instantly knew I would like this salad when I saw the recipe. Crab, shrimp, avocado, butter lettuce and toasted coconut. Yum! Larry even liked it - even though he's not crazy about coconut. It added a nice bit of crunch and sweetness. I want to make this again.

• Coconut Crab & Shrimp Salad (Cooking Light, October 2005)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Jay came over for polenta lasagna, salad, and the ever-delicious garlic bread tonight. The lasagna recipe is written to be very convenient, using processed foods - not my favorite, but I used good-quality ingredients (such as organic jarred marinara sauce) and it turned out to be delicious. Next time I may use a flavored polenta. This is written as a vegetarian recipe, but I decided to use turkey Italian sausage instead.

Our salad was perfect. Larry picked the dressing, and I added chives and fresh tomatoes. The dressing recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Cooking Fresh 2005 special issue.

• Polenta Lasagna (Cooking Light, October 2005)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Chives, Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Ridge 2001 Syrah/Grenache (Dry Creek Valley, California). Yum. Really big and oaky.

Jay was here for Sunday dinner as usual. The fish was excellent, but I used halibut instead of flounder (not available). The peas were to die for. I picked up a bunch at the farmer's market. Larry especially liked them. I'm a huge fan of bread salads, but none of us were that crazy about the fattoush.

• Broiled Flounder with Parmesan "Caesar" Glaze (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 65)
• Fattoush (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 35)
• Fresh Peas with Lemon and Chives (Fine Cooking #45, July 2001, p. 46)
• Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 68)

Wine: Rosenblum 2005 Rousanne (Santa Barbara County, California). Rousanne is one of the few whites that I really like. This is a really nice wine, floral and spicy, and perfect with dinner tonight.

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.

I made this potato salad to bring to a party yesterday. It's basically just boiled red potatoes, grilled veggies, and some oil, vinegar, cilantro and chile powder. I wasn't overly crazy about it, but a couple of people at the party asked me for the recipe and several people raved about it. Larry also thought it was good, but not the greatest potato salad ever.

• Southwestern Potato Salad (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 26A)

I love Chinese chicken salad, and this is a good one. Larry and I both really liked it.

• Chinese Chicken Salad (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 59)

Another Sunday night dinner - tonight we used the grill for both the chicken and the salad. The chicken wasn't anything special. The effort making the brine and the spice rub was wasted, because it tasted just like grilled chicken. Good, but nothing special. I cut back on the salt in the brine since I was using a Kosher chicken.

Jay and I both liked the salad, which involved a quick grill of halved hearts of romaine. Larry wasn't so crazy about it, but he doesn't especially like blue cheese dressing, either. The beans were excellent, though. I used huge runner cannellini beans from Rancho Gordo, which took forever to cook but they were worth it.

• Beer-Brined Butterflied Chicken (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 55)
• Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Blue Cheese Dressing (Fine Cooking #73, September 2005, p. 58)
• White Beans with Garlic, Lemon & Parmesan (Fine Cooking #58, July 2003, p. 45)

Wine: Atelier 2004 Rockpile Zinfandel (Rockpile, California). Yum. I don't think I've ever had a bad wine from Rockpile.

This pasta was good, easy to make and just the right amount of heat from crushed red pepper flakes. And excellent with garlic bread to mop up the extra sauce.

• Rigatoni with Spicy Tomato-Vodka Sauce (Fine Cooking #77, March 2006, p. 82C)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Chumeia 2003 Dante Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel (Paso Robles, California). Good, even better with the pasta.

We were just so-so on the linguine tonight. I don't know what it was about it. Larry said he didn't like the chorizo - but it's the good Spanish chorizo I normally buy. I thought there was too much linguine (I used whole wheat, by the way). I made half a recipe, which should have served 2-3, but I think we could have served two more people. I don't like having leftover seafood.

• Linguine with Shrimp & Chorizo (Fine Cooking #83, January 2007, p. 82A)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

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.

Jay was here for dinner tonight. This chicken was very easy to make and also very tasty. The brown sugar-cumin rub created a nice carmelized coating on the chicken, and the guacamole sauce complimented it well.

• Cumin-Dusted Chicken Breasts with Guacamole Sauce (Cooking Light, January 2007)
• Mixed Greens with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Creamy Parmesan Orzo (Cooking Light, March 2004)

Wine: Sapphire Hill 2002 Winberrie Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). One of Sapphire Hill's better wines. A good everyday Zin.

This is an all-Jay weekend - he was here for dinner again tonight, since I bought over two pounds of halibut today. I love halibut and this dish is really delicious.

• Cornflake-Crusted Halibut with Chile-Cilantro Aioli (Cooking Light, March 2004)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions (Cooking Light, December 2002)

Ron and Jay came over for a spur-of-the-moment end of the week dinner. We delivered Ron's Rafanelli to him - he usually takes part of our allocation. I shopped at lunch so dinner was pretty quick to make. We loved this salad. I'm obsessed with butter lettuce.

• Goat Cheese Crackers with Hot Pepper Jelly (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Chicken with Marsala, Mushrooms & Gorgonzola (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 43)
• Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 86C)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Bourbon-Chocolate Mousse (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, Back Cover)

Wine:
- Gamba 2004 Estate Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). One of our favorites.
- Amphora 2003 Mounts Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Delicious.

Sunday night, so Jay was here for dinner. The chicken was good, but just your regular everyday roasted chicken. Nothing exceptional. I love butterflied roast chicken. We all loved the potato salad, and the escarole was pretty good too (both can be found in Fine Cooking's Side Dish 2007 special issue).

• Yogurt-Marinated Butterflied Chicken (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 53)
• Braised Escarole with a Parmesan Crust (Fine Cooking #18, January 1997, p. 43)
• Roasted New Potato Salad with Dijon & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 40)

Wine: David Bruce 2004 Pinot Noir (Central Coast, California). Good, as are most David Bruce Pinots. I've really been drawn to Pinot lately.

I've been craving crab, and since I love avocado I thought this salad would be yummy. It was good, but not as good as I had hoped. I don't know, it needed something more.

I picked this out only because I happened to have this issue of Fine Cooking sitting out. I've suffered from an icky cold all week, and by the time I finished cooking I just wanted to go to bed. So Jay and Larry got to enjoy this meal without me. They said it was good - especially the ragout and the salad.

• Chicken & Shrimp Ragout with Curry Spices (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Toasted Almond Rice (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Spinach & Cucumber Salad with Yogurt-Mint Dressing (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)

Fiyaz came for Thanksgiving dinner, and Jay showed up just in time for dessert. It was a nice, relaxed Thanksgiving meal. Larry had asked for a stuffed turkey breast instead of a whole turkey, and he wanted apple pie instead of pumpkin pie. Everything was good - especially the squash soup. I love the croutons. My potatoes were a little thin for some reason, but they worked out okay after they were baked. We did the goat cheese crackers again, this time on Carr's whole wheat crackers, and they were much better.

• Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons (Bon Apetit, December 1996)
• Goat Cheese Crackers with Hot Pepper Jelly (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Dried Apricot & Date Stuffed Turkey Breast with Marsala Glaze (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 49)
• Potatoes Mousseline (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 41)
• Spinach & Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts & Warm Bacon Dressing (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 55)
• Apple Pie Covered with Leaves (Fine Cooking #54, Winter 2003 Holiday Baking Issue, p. 43)

Wine:
- Ramazzotti 2005 Zin-Giovese Rose (Dry Creek Valley, California)
- Inniskillin 2003 Sparkling Ice Wine (Niagra Peninsula, Canada). Fiyaz brought this wine for dessert - and it was very tasty.

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.

Jay came for dinner - I made the rest of the dishes from the tapas party, and added the butternut squash salad again, because I thought Jay would like it (he did). Both Jay and Larry thought they would rather have plain chocolate instead of the toasted bread with chocolate, but I liked it. The shrimp was okay, a little bland.

• Seared Shrimp with Pimentón & Sherry (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 82)
• Roasted Butternut Squash & Pear Salad with Spiced-Pecan Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 58)
• Toasted Bread with Chocolate (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 82)

Wine: Sapphire Hill 2001 Reserve Chardonnay (Russian River Valley, California). Drinkable, but nothing fantastic.

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.

For Jay's birthday, I made him halbut on the grill pan (yum), and he requested something chocolate-y for dessert. No problem there. The Chocolate Pot Pies are always a hit. He also mentioned that he had a good hot bacon vinaigrette on a spinach salad at a restaurant recently, so I thought I'd try this recipe - it also has roasted sweet potatoes in the salad, and it's really good. I'm on a salad kick lately.

• Pan-Grilled Halibut
• Spinach Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Hot Cider-Bacon Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #13, February/March 1996, p. 36)
• Summer Wheatberry Salad (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 39)
• Chocolate-RaspberryPot Pies (Just a Bite, Gale Gand, p. 228)

Wine: Pisoni Estate 1999 Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands, California). We picked this up a few years ago at a liquor store in Monterey. It wasn't a wine that was easy to get, nor was it inexpensive. However, it was a little dissappointing. Not that it was a bad wine. But a Pisoni-made Pinot from Santa Lucia Highlands? I expected fabulous.

Jay was over for dinner, and I made a dish I had meant to make a few weeks ago. It sounded good, and it was. Not earth-shattering, but good. And easy to make. The bread salad was really good, although I've made a few now and this recipe isn't my favorite. Larry wasn't that crazy about the slaw so I probably won't make it again. The blueberry cake, though - I could have eaten the whole thing.

• Pork Medallions with Port Wine-Dried Cherry Pan Sauce (Cooking Light, July 2004)
• Grilled Sourdough Panzanella (Fine Cooking #80, September 2006, back cover)
• Buttermilk & Herb Cole Slaw (Fine Cooking #80, September 2006, p. 48)
• Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake (Fine Cooking #80, September 2006, p. 69)

Wine: Viansa 2000 Barbera Rose (California). It's been too hot for a heavy red wine - I'd have preferred a Pinot Noir with this dinner. This rose probably sat in the cellar too long. It was drinkable, but had too much residual sugar.

I really thought this chicken would be tasty. I like pomegranate. And honey is always a nice addition to a glaze. But I really didn't like the final flavor at all. Neither did Jay. Larry liked it, though. We all loved the farro salad. This was my first time using farro, and I think it's one of my favorite grains. It's flavorful and kind of chewy - a nice texture.

• Honey-Pomegranate Roasted Chicken Thighs (Cooking Light, December 2004)
• Farro Salad with Corn and Tomatoes (Cooking Live, Foods Of the World: Global Grains)

Wine: Gamba 2003 Moratta Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River, California). We've been hoarding this, but now that we have a few bottles of the latest release, we can drink it more freely. This is one of my favorite Zins, but it's big. A big fat cherry bomb.

I made this pasta salad for a Fourth of July block party. Pasta salad usually leaves something to be desired, but I thought this might be nice because of the arugula. It was nice, but didn't knock my socks off. I used whole wheat pasta, which probably wasn't the best choice.

• Shells with Arugula, Feta & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 43)

I picked up some fresh halibut yesterday, not knowing how I was going to cook it tonight. A glance at this issue of Fine Cooking revealed a yummy-sounding recipe for halibut along with recipes for potatoes and a salad. Jay was here for dinner, and he and Larry liked everything.

The dates were an experiment based on a dish we had earlier in the month at a restaurant. I only used a drop of honey in the cheese mixture, but they were still very sweet. Good, but I think I prefer dates stuffed with goat cheese.

I thought the potatoes were good, especially since they had no butter. I loved the sage with the halibut but wasn't that crazy about the prosciutto wrapped around it. I loved the salad because it was different, and I obsess over finding interesting salads. I especially love Boston lettuce and I liked the texture that the hard-boiled eggs (pushed through a fine sieve) added to the vinaigrette.

Larry requested the crisp, but I didn't have any. Reports came back positive. I thought it was a good dinner overall, especially since I didn't even start making it until 6, and we were at the dinner table by 7:30.

• Lemon Mascarpone-Stuffed Dates (Food & Wine, January 2006)
• Prosciutto-Wrapped Halibut with Sage Butter Sauce (Fine Cooking #75, Holidays Winter 2006, p.90c)
• Smashed Parslied Potatoes (Fine Cooking #75, Holidays Winter 2006, p.90c)
• Boston Lettuce Wedges with Mimosa Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #75, Holidays Winter 2006, p.90c)
• Blueberry-Cherry Fruit Crisp with Crunch Crisp Topping (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p, 52)

Jay was here for dinner tonight. I was looking for something to do on the grill since it's been kind of warm out, and I wanted something quick too since time was so short this weekend. The whole dinner was really good. Larry and Jay really liked the salad and the salsa a lot. I've been wanting to make this wheatberry salad for a very long time, so I was happy to see the recipe re-printed in Fine Cooking #79 - it got me thinking about the salad again. I love grains, especially grain salads. I liked everything (except the asparagus, of course).

• Grilled Pork Chops with Fennel-Paprika Spice Rub (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 40)
• Cherry Tomato Salsa with Capers & Green Olives (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 40)
• Summer Wheatberry Salad (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 39)
• Grilled Asparagus

Wine: David Bruce 2002 Truchard Vineyard Pinot Noir (Carneros, California). Yum, another excellent David Bruce Pinot.

Larry and I took Coco to Ed Levin County Park today for a Memorial day picnic. The park is in the hills of Milpitas, and is quite large so we had no problems finding a nice spot in the shade, near one of the ponds. Coco was thrilled to be out somewhere new, and Larry and I enjoyed the beautiful weather and yummy lunch that I packed.

I made the salad components yesterday, so that all I had to do is layer and dress it. I made the Aïoli and cooked the pancetta yesterday also, so it wouldn't be a lot of work to put everything together. The sandwiches are toasted so they didn't get soggy at all. They're a fancy version of a BLT with avocado, and are really tasty. We liked the salad, too. The recipe is re-printed in Fine Cooking #79.

• Pancetta, Tomato & Avocado Sandwich with Aïoli (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 90c)
• Barley & Black-Eyed Pea Salad (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 37)
• Thick Scottish Shortbread (Fine Cooking #26, May 1998, p. 54)
• Lemon Curd (Fine Cooking #26, May 1998, p. 54)
• Mini Watermelon

Jay was here for dinner tonight. I wanted something like fried chicken and potato salad for dinner, so this was my take on it. I love this chicken. So simple. And the potato salad was really good. Jay and Larry loved the zucchini. Both the salad and the zucchini are also in Cooking Fresh 2005, and the chicken is in Fine Cooking 101 Delicious Chicken Recipes.

• Chicken Under a Brick (Fine Cooking #36, December 1999, p. 35)
• Creamy Potato Salad with Radishes, Lemon & Dill (Fine Cooking #52, September 2002, p. 45)
• Sauteed Zucchini with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Basil (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 49)

Wine: Martin Family Vineyards 2002 Red Rooster Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Pretty good.

Jay came for dinner tonight. This is one of my favorite types of dinner - very homey. The chicken was good - nothing special, just chicken. Flavorful, moist, but not something that blew us away. The bread salad was a big hit (I absolutely love bread salad), as were the tarts. The tarts are very summery and can be made mostly ahead of time.

• Butterflied Chicken Dijon Grilled on a Bed of Thyme (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 54)
• Bread Salad with Corn, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil (Fine Cooking #52, September 2002, p. 43)
• Grilled Asparagus
• Mixed Berry Tarts with Lemony Filling (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 69)

Wine: Sapphire Hill 2001 Tom Feeny Ranch Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). A decent, everyday Zin.

The spice rub was really excellent. We used boneless pork loin chops again. I wasn't sure how the salsa would turn out - it sounded kind of odd, but it was actually not bad. The salad was pretty good, too.

• Grilled Pork Chops with Ginger, Cinnamon & Clove Spice Rub (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 41)
• Green Grape Salsa with Scallions and Mint (Fine Cooking #79, July 2006, p. 41)
• Grilled Potato, Corn & Red Onion Salad over Arugula (Fine Cooking #39, July 2000, p. 48)

Wine: David Bruce 2001 Syrah (Santa Cruz Mountains, California). Good, but not as good as the Novy we had last night.

This dish had been on both Amy's and my to-do dish, so it made sense to make it together. We had a lovely bike ride with Shayla, then all had dinner together. Prep was simple for the chicken, and the cucumber salad was quick too. We picked up fresh cucumbers at the farmer's market and fresh dill at Boggy Creek Farm for the salad, which was part of the same Hungarian menu article as the chicken. We also got the potatoes at Boggy Creek Farm - in fact, as we were selecting potatoes, one of the farm employees was brining in more potatoes that had just been dug up. Very, very fresh. We all loved the salad and the potatoes. The chicken was good, probably not a make-again.

• Chicken Paprikas (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 34)
• Cucumber Salad (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 35)
• Gratineed Red Potatoes with Chives (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 52)

Wine: Seghesio 2003 Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California). Gary picked this wine up on Amy's birthday - it's a nice, inexpensive Zin. Tasty, too.

The plan for tonight's dinner started with a plan to make the Potatoes Boulangére. Larry saw the recipe in an issue of Fine Cooking that I had laying out, and we both wondered why I had never made them before. The dish is similar to a potato gratin, but without the cheese and cream. It was excellent. In fact, the whole meal was yummy, although Larry was just so-so on the salad.

• Garlic Chicken with A Crunchy Chip-Basil Crust (Fine Cooking #25, March 1998, p. 37)
• Potatoes Boulangére (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 49)
• Tri-Color Salad of Belgian Endive, Arugula & Radicchio with Shaved Parmesan (Fine Cooking Fresh 2006, p. 38)

Wine: Sapphire Hill 2001 Winberrie Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). When we both tried this wine, we both said "wow!". Usually Sapphire Hill wines are nice, everyday-type of wines. This is a big fruit bomb with a bit of residual sugar.

Jay came over for dinner again tonight (this is our standing Sunday night dinner). I had planned this chicken for a couple of weeks ago but never made it because it required an overnight marinade.

- The chicken recipe is also in Fine Cooking's 101 Delicious Chicken Recipes special issue. I'm such a sucker for special issues. Anyway, it was really, really good. Larry says it's a definite do-again. It's virtually no work for dinner, too - almost everything is done the day before.
- Pan fried potatoes - how can they not be good? I like them just like this, fairly unadulterated. I don't really like them as much when you start adding things like onions and peppers.
- Larry said he kind of liked tonight's salad better than last night's. They were both good.
- The souffle cakes were good, not super fantastic. I'm not a big fan of white chocolate. If I make them again, I'll do dark chocolate soufflé cakes with the chocolate-raspberry sauce. I was going to do that tonight but it will take some advance planning to do it.

• Lemony Balsamic-Mustard Marinated Roast Chicken with Rosemary & Garlic (Fine Cooking #62 January 2004, p. 50)
• Pan-Fried Red Potatoes with Pancetta & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #71, May 2005, p. 10)
• Forty Shades of Green Salad (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 53)
• White Chocolate Soufflé Cakes with Raspberry-Chocolate Sauce (Fine Cooking #68, Holiday Baking Winter 2005, p. 69)

Wine: Steven Bannus 2003 Pinot Noir (Central Coast, California). This is a very inexpensive wine that Jay picked up - pretty good for the price. Very fruity and a nice, jammy nose.

It's funny how I'll pick out a few things that I want to make, and when I actually read the recipes it turns out that the dishes share some ingredients and will tie together nicely. In tonight's case, there was lots of garlic, and both the salad and the potatoes had lemon, too. Overall a good meal. Jay came over even though it isn't Sunday - he and Larry did the 60k Tierra Bella ride today (Coco and I went to obedience school so I didn't ride).

- We all liked the pork roast, although it could have spent a little less time in the oven. I was worried about having dinner done by 7 and ended up putting the roast in a bit early. Also, the roast was very thick. It would have been better to have a thinner roast to make butterflying and rolling easier. Larry thought the milk solids that were left in the gravy were weird, but it tasted good. Next time, I'll strain the gravy in addition to de-fatting it. This recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Weekend Cooking special issue (along with the recipe for the potatoes).
- This salad was sooo good. I loved the zucchini like this, and I'm not a fan of summer squash. It was different and a nice change from the usual salads I make. I had been wanting to make something like this ever since I had a raw zucchini salad at a cooking demonstration at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. Instead of slicing the squash into ovals, I peeled it and sliced it into long, thin strips. This recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Fresh special issue (the latest one).
- The potatoes were good but nothing special.
- Dessert was dark chocolate and a late harvest Zin.

• Roast Pork Loin with Garlic & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 53)
• Summer Squash Salad with Lemon, Capers & Parmesan (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 53)
• Mashed Potatoes with Lemon & Garlic (Fine Cooking #72, July 2005, p. 46)
• Dark Chocolate

Wine:
- David Bruce 2002 Truchard Vineyard Pinot Noir (Carneros, California). Typically delicious David Bruce Pinot. We drank the whole bottle. Mmm.
- Napa Cellars 2001 Late Harvest Zinfandel (Napa Valley, California). Really nice - not too sweet (8% residual sugar). Perfect with dark chocolate.

This is the third and final recipe I've made from an article on pork tenderloin (out of Fine Cooking). All of the recipes were really good. I prepped most of tonight's dinner last night. The pork would have benefitted from a longer marinade time, and I cut back on some of the cooking oil.

• Spicy Korean-Style Pork Medallions with Asian Slaw (Fine Cooking #78, May 2006, p. 32)

Wine: Cline 1999 Syrah (Los Carneros, California). Good - I wouldn't have paired a Syrah with this salad, but the article suggested a lush, rtruity red with a lot of tannin. It worked surprisingly well.

I've been wanting to make this dish ever since this issue of Fine Cooking came out. Finally, I had most of the ingredients at home and the time to make it. Trader Joe's didn't have Bosc pears (they never do, and I wasn't willing to go to the OTHER grocery store), so I just used Asian pears. Bosc would have been more flavorful, but these weren't bad.

The balsamic vinaigrette is used to deglaze the pan after the pork is cooked, and the warm vinaigrette wilts the arugula. The vinaigrette will break if it's overheated - mine did. If this happens, it's possible to re-emulsify it if it hasn't been too overheated. I used a blender and strained out the chunks that formed from overheating (McGee has a good explanation of broken emulsifications). The trick with this vinaigrette is to have the pan hot enough for deglazing without breaking the sauce.

• Wilted Arugula Salad with Sauteéd Pork, Pears & Blue Cheese (Fine Cooking #77, March 2006, p. 82c)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Windward 2002 Monopole Pinot Noir (Paso Robles, California). This is a good Pinot - beautiful strawberry nose. But it's Burgundian, and I'm a fruity wine kind of girl. Still good, just takes me a bit of time to get into it.

We had Jay and Ginger over for dinner tonight. I was pretty sure I wanted to make chicken, and after looking through a bunch of old Fine Cooking magazines, decided on these stuffed chicken breasts. Dinner was good overall, but probably not the best choices as far as make-ahead. Everything required too much attention.

The pan sauce uses verjus (vair-ZHOO) as the acid, instead of something like lemon juice or vinegar (although a combination of vinegar and cider would have worked). Verjus is the tart, fresh juice of unripe wine grapes. The advantage of using verjus is that it's very wine-friendly. It would make a nice wine-friendly vinaigrette for a salad, I think.

- I really liked the sables, but Larry thought they were too cheesy. I have a bunch of dough left over that I'm going to freeze for another time.
- The chicken breasts were pretty good. I'm not so crazy about mushrooms but it was okay like this. I bought huge Rocky free range breasts for this, and I'm glad I did - it made stuffing them much easier than if I would have tried to create pockets in smaller breasts.
- Everyone loves this squash dish. I don't know why I don't make it more often. Trader Joe's carries diced butternut squash, which makes preparation a snap.
- All I can say about the spinach salad is "candied walnuts". I want to eat them by the handful.
- Larry picked the dessert out of Bittersweet. I'm not crazy about coffee desserts, but I made it anyway and cut back on the amount of coffee. Jay hated it, Larry and Ginger loved it. I was so-so on it. It was a breeze to make, though. I loved the shortbread crust.

• Mrs. Lenkh's Cheese Sablés (Fine Cooking #74, November 2005, p. 10)
• Chicken Breasts with Mushroom-Pancetta Stuffing & Verjus Sauce (Fine Cooking #49, March 2002, p. 51)
• Braised Winter Squash & Potatoes with Mustard & Shallots (Fine Cooking #31, March 1999, p. 37)
• Spinach & Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts & Warm Bacon Dressing (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 55)
• Warm Mocha Tart (Bittersweet, p. 278)

Wine: 2003 Sapphire Hill Bastoni Vineyard Palomino (Sonoma County, California). A nice, well-rounded white. I think there are only three wines in the state made with the Palomino grape. We know the people who grow the grapes, which makes it even nicer to drink.

This salad was really yummy - especially the chicken. Very hearty, and easy to make. I used Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn and cut back on the onions.

• Baby Romaine Salad with Spicy Chicken & Warm Chipotle Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #74, November 2005, p. 55)

I've been craving this salad. I love the combination of avocado and bulgur - I'm a big fan of grains anyway. Larry likes it but not as much as I do. It's got an excellent mix of unsaturated fat, protein, and whole grains - very healthy.

• Chicken and Bulgur Salad with Avocado (Food and Wine, September 2002) with Mixed Greens
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Amy and I decided to make an easy salad for dinner tonight, since we're still recovering from last night's tapas party, and we're getting ready for another party tomorrow night. This was really easy and light. We both thought there was too much oil in the dressing, and Amy thought it needed something.

The recipe is also in the first Quick & Delicious special issue (green cover), and there are some slight differences - that recipe calls for canned beans instead of dried, and adds shrimp, to make it a main-dish salad. We decided to add grilled shrimp, but marinated it first using the recipe for Chili Lime Shrimp from Gourmet.

• Black Bean & Corn Salad (Fine Cooking #40, September 2000, p. 45)

Katie and I made these burgers for Larry and Les. Yum! They're easy to make, too. We served them on honey wheat buns instead of on ciabatta.

- The bean salad is excellent, and Larry loves it. I used two cans of aduki beans in place of the kidney and the black eye peas.
- I wasn't paying attention while making the crisp and grabbed the baking soda instead of the cornstarch. Bleah. It had potential.

• Seared Turkey & White Bean Burgers (Fine Cooking #58, July 2003, p. 86C)
• Mixed Bean Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Cooking Light, September 2004, p. 213)
• Pear & Brown Sugar Crisp (Fine Cooking #23, November 1997, p. 70)

After a week eating crappy trade show food in LA, I was ready to have some good comfort food at home. Jay was here for dinner, and I made exactly what I was craving - roasted chicken and bread salad. Both were excellent.

• Chicken Under a Brick (Fine Cooking #36, December 1999, p. 35)
• Grilled Bread Salad with Tomatoes & Spicy Greens (Fine Cooking #58, July 2003, p. 38)

Wine: Ridge 2002 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel. Yummy fruit bomb of a wine.

Mom, Cousin Jeanine and Great Aunt Al were here for dinner tonight. I wanted Zuni chicken (mainly for the bread salad), but I didn't want to make two chickens. Instead, Larry chose the pork recipe and I found another recipe for a bread salad. I made up my mind early in the week to make the tart this weekend.

- Neither one of us liked the bean dip very much. It's okay, but not as good as fresh hummus.
- The pork tenderloin is very good this way, and very easy to make. Larry grilled it perfectly.
- I used heirloom cannellini beans that I got at the Ferry Plaza farmer's market. They were excellent - meaty and delicious. They needed a lot of time to cook and some could have cooked a bit more by the time dinner came around.
- I loved this bread salad. I could have eaten the entire bowl. Larry really liked it too, but thinks the Zuni one is slightly better.
- I liked the tart, too. The filling is a chocolate-raspberry ganache. I used golden raspberries for part of the top - they're really yummy. Larry wasn't crazy about it, but everyone else seemed to like it.

• White Bean and Artichoke Dip with Pita Chips (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 86)
• Pork Tenderloin Grilled in Rosemary Leaves (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 90)
• Grilled Bread Salad with Tomatoes & Spicy Greens (Fine Cooking #58, July 2003, p. 38)
• White Beans with Rosemary & Olive Oil (Fine Cooking #19, March 1997, p. 37)
• Chocolate-Raspberry Tart with a Gingersnap Crust (Fine Cooking #52, September 2002, p. 66)

Wine: Ridge 2001 Del Carlo Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Another lovely Ridge Zin. The second bottle will benefit from some more time in the bottle.

I got home after 7pm tonight, so it was kind of late to cook, but I felt like making dinner anyway. I shopped for dinner and got everything done within two hours - not bad. Larry liked everything. I especially liked the chicken. The chili rub is like a dry rub paste.

The bean salad is supposed to have grilled shrimp in it - I just omitted it and adjusted the ingredients accordingly. The salad is originally from Fine Cooking #40, but was adapted for the special issue listed below.

• Chili-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado-Mango Salsa (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 86C)
• Black Bean and Corn Salad (The Best of Fine Cooking, 101 Quick & Delicious Recipes, Fall 2003, p. 26)

Wine: Ridge 2000 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel (Paso Robles, California). Not as much fruit as some Ridge Zins, but still nice. Opened up after a while. This was more of a before-dinner wine.

Fiyaz and Jay were here for dinner. There was fresh asparagus at the Farmer's Market this weekend, and despite my distaste for the stuff, I bought some anyway and used it in the pasta. It didn't flavor the dish too much. I picked mine out and gave it to Larry.

- The pasta dish was good, not fantastic. I made the caramelized onions yesterday, and they were really, really good. I made a huge batch. I used whole wheat penne for the pasta, although the recipe called for gemelli (I was out).
- The salad recipe was one I liked from last week's class at Home Chef. I liked it in class, but tonight I looked at the recipe, and thought that 3/4 cup of sherry vinegar was way too much. I cut it in half and still thought it was too tangy. Won't make this again, although I like the idea of a warm salad.
- Both the pasta and salad called for pancetta. Fiyaz doesn't eat pork, so I used turkey bacon instead. Not quite the same, since the turkey bacon is smoked, but still good.
- The mousse was really, really easy to make and everyone liked it. But it was too rich for me - I could only eat a tiny portion. And after time in the refrigerator, it got kind of dense.

• Penne with Asparagus & Caramelized Onions (Fine Cooking #71, May 2005, p. 62)
• Warm Escarole and Butter Lettuce Salad (Home Chef, Essentials II Series)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)
• Quick Chocolate Mousse (The Best of Fine Cooking, 101 Quick & Delicious Recipes, p. 104, adapted from Fine Cooking #54)

Wine: 2001 Martin Family Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California). Pinot probably wasn't the best match for dinner, but I really didn't feel like a white. This is a nice wine, very reasonably priced. The Martins are nice people, too.

It was just me for dinner tonight. This is a nice one-person meal that's quick to make and really yummy. I love seared scallops.

• Seared Scallop Salad (Fine Cooking #44, April/May 2001, p. 90)

Brian was here for dinner tonight. My standard Zuni chicken and bread salad wasn't as good as the first time I made it. Not sure why, probably because I wasn't paying attention while I was cooking. It was still good, just not as good as before. I chose the chocolate roulade, because we made a roulade in my cooking class a couple of weeks ago. This dessert took a lot of time to make - a lot of steps, and I didn't think it was that great. Low work/reward ratio. I won't make it again.

• Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad (The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, p. 342)
• Chocolate Roulade with Raspberry Filling (Fine Cooking #61, Winter 2004 Holiday Baking, p. 75)

Wine: David Bruce 2001 Bien Nacido Mt. Eden Clone Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley, California). Yum. Could have sat in the bottle for a few more years. A really big Pinot.

I chose this chicken because I thought it would be nice with the polenta I've been craving for weeks now. These aren't necessarily something to make on a weeknight, but they can be made up to three hours ahead. Larry really liked the chicken breasts, but thought the polenta was nothing special (I loved it, I've made it a bunch of times before).

My Home Chef class this week was on composed salads and legumes. The salad we had tonight was similar to one we made in class. Our Planet Organics delivery this week included some wonderful baby fennel, so I added that to the mixed greens, along with shallots, cherry tomatoes and chopped shallots. I made a vinaigrette using meyer lemon and orange juices.

• Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach & Goat Cheese (Fine Cooking #69, January 2005, p. 62)
• Polenta with Goat Cheese & Fresh Sage (Fine Cooking #29, November 1998, p. 61)
• Mixed Greens with Shaved Baby Fennel, Shallots, Cherry Tomatoes, Toasted Pecans and Citrus Vinaigrette

Wine: Sapphire Hill 2001 Tom Feeney Ranch Old Vines Zin (Russian River Valley, California). Yum!

I love Deborah Madison, and her Local Flavors cookbook is one of my favorites. This appealed to me because Larry and I both love fennel, and the dish is very simple, mostly just fennel and lemon and pasta. The salad was good, too, but Larry said it's not something he'd want all the time. He's not crazy about endive or stilton.

One note about the recipe: it calls for two tablespoons of butter in the ingredients list, but the instructions only refer to one tablespoon. I used two, but it would have been fine with one, I think.

This menu was somewhat of a tribute to Deborah Madison and Greens Restaurant. Deborah Madison was the founding chef of Greens, and Annie Somerville, who trained under Deborah Madison, is the current chef at Greens.

• Pasta with Golden Fennel (Local Flavors, Deborah Madison, p. 47)
• Winter Greens with Apples, Pecans and Stilton Cheese (Fields of Greens, Annie Somerville, p. 16)

I made Larry roasted chicken for our Valentine's Day dinner tonight. I skipped the Zuni bread salad and made a baked goat cheese salad and butternut squash orzo instead.

- I couldn't find any chickens smaller than 4.5 pounds at Trader Joe's. I was worried that the Zuni method wouldn't work as well with a chicken this large, but I just used the upper time limits in the recipe and it turned out beautiful as always. I used cast iron this time, and I'll save the drippings in case I want to make a bread salad later this week.
- Amy suggested this salad last month when I was visiting her in Austin. She's been making it for years, using a recipe clipped from the paper. We liked the salad. It's really elegant and a nice change from a plain green salad. We each had some crusty french bread with it, and spread the warm goat cheese on it.
- We had a similar butternut squash orzo at ZAP's Good Eats and Zin event this year. The only difference was the ZAP version had crispy bits of fried sage and serrano ham in it. This was a nice addition, and I'm going to modify this dish the next time I make it. The version we had tonight was still very good.
- The cake was easy to make, and is really pretty and oh so delicious. Amy gave me the recipe, cut from a newspaper. The original recipe calls for Amaretto, but I followed Amy's lead and used Grand Marnier. The only problem I had was that my ganache became a bit grainy as it cooled. McGee says that "With chocolates high in cocoa solids, the cocoa particles can eventually absorb so much moisture that they swell and stick to each other. The water-deprived emulsion then fails, allowing the fat globules and droplets to coalesce, and the fat to separate from the swollen particles. This is why high-chocolate ganaches are often unstable and coarsen with time."

• Zuni Roast Chicken (The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, p. 342)
• Baked Goat Cheese Salad (The Cheese Lover's Cookbook & Guide, Paula Lambert, p. 126)
• Butternut Squash and Sage Orzo (Bon Apétit, March 1998)
• Chocolate-Amaretto Heart

Wine: Sanford 2001 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills, California). Yum. Sanford makes wonderful Pinots. Larry and I picked this up last summer at the winery, on our way back from a trip to the winery. Really intense and chewy. It could have easily sat in the cellar for another year or more because of the firm tannins.

Amy and I made this wonderful chicken tonight, and we even let Gary have some too. It was so much fun making it together. We agreed that the recipe could be written in a more organized way - it's full of details and very long. We made one change from the recipe - we didn't cover the chicken after salting it, and when it came out of the refrigerator the next day, it looked weirdly dry. Amy was worried but I reassured her that this would make the chicken skin so nice and crispy that she would actually eat the skin for once (she did!). We used more bread than the recipe calls for, and doubled the vinaigrette. The vinaigrette doesn't need to be doubled, even though we used more bread.

• Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad (The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, p. 342)

Wine: Renwood 2001 Grandpere Zinfandel (Amador County, California). This wine is made from a clone of pre-prohibition vines. It was excellent. Well balanced, soft, muted fruit. I really liked it and so did Amy.

We had our regular grilled salmon tonight (Jay was here for dinner), but instead of marinating in honey (along with garlic, soy sauce and green onion), I used maple syrup. Larry and I both think honey works better. We had potatoes and salad leftover from last night, and I decided to try something different with the rest of the Brussels sprouts that were still in the refrigerator. Everyone liked these. I didn't have pancetta, so I used Niman Ranch cured bacon - which was a fairly significant change to the recipe, but it was still pretty good. Oh, and I didn't add the water at the end of the recipe.

I had all sorts of problems with these cookies. I really wanted them to turn out, because I had something similar from Central Market the last time I visited Amy in Austin. The dough was way too dry - I reviewed what I did, and don't see anything different - except I weighed my flour like I usually do, instead of measuring. I usually calculate 5 ounces per cup - maybe that was too much? Larry thought these tasted just like the tops to my chocolate pot pies. The spice is very subtle - I'd like to add a bit more pepper.

• Grilled Salmon with Garlic, Green Onion, Soy Sauce and Maple Syrup
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Pancetta (Gourmet, January 2001)
• Smashed Red Potatoes with Basil and Parmesan Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 51)
• Spinach & Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts & Warm Bacon Dressing (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 55)
• Spicy Chocolate Cookies (Real Simple, November 2004, p, 258)

Wine: David Bruce 2000 Brousseau Vineyard Pinot Noir (Chalone, California). Oh, so yummy. Much more full bodied than last night's Pinot, but still had hints of cherry.

Steve came for dinner tonight. We started off with wine and some of the cheese we got during our last trip to the Cheese Board Collective: Baita Fruili, and Istara. Larry thought he liked the Istara a little better.

- I started the roast chicken following the instructions in Fine Cooking, which were very similar to the preparations for the Zuni Cafe roast chicken. I decided to cook the chicken using the Zuni method - higher heat, no roasting rack, hot skillet, and turning the chicken twice during cooking. Perfect.
- I almost didn't make the Brussels sprouts, since I was already making potatoes. I consulted Amy, and she thought it was too much food. Well, Larry overruled and we had them anyway. And they were good! Roasting is a good way to make them - not like the hated Brussels sprouts of my childhood. I wouldn't mind roasting them without the potatoes next time.
- Larry and I both liked these potatoes. I really liked that they had no cream or butter, just olive oil and some parmesan. I went easy on the parmesan. The recipe says it serves four, but we could have served a lot more people, even without all the other side dishes.
- Larry said he really liked this spinach salad, and I did too. It was different enough to stand out. I can't stop eating the candied walnuts.
- Neither of us were happy with this dessert. Steve said he liked it, but in my opinion, way too lemon-y. And although I cooked it just until the spongy top left a slight indentation, the custard part was too liquid still. I won't make these again.

• CheeseL Baita Fruili, Istara
• Roast Chicken (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 42)
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Potatoes and Bacon (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 47)
• Smashed Red Potatoes with Basil and Parmesan Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 51)
• Spinach & Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts & Warm Bacon Dressing (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 55)
• Lemon Pudding Cakes Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 62)

Wine: Storrs 1999 Sunnyknoll Ranch Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains, CA). Very nice, earthy with cherry and well-balanced.

Our friend John mentioned last weekend that he makes this chicken quite often, and that it's very good. I've been wanting to make it, so I picked up a chicken this week (kosher). This was an excellent meal - one I'd like to repeat soon. Larry said both recipes are definitely keepers. Larry especially loved the goat cheese with the kale (I used dino kale).

- The recipe for the bread salad called for eight generous ounces of bread. I didn't think this looked like enough, and ended up using the entire loaf - double what the recipe called for. I used a 3.5 lb. chicken and the cooking times were perfect, but at 500 degrees instead of 475 - I never even had to check the temperature of the chicken, either. I normally butterfly chicken when I roast it, but since the cooking method in this recipe is so specific, I left the chicken whole (I heated a 10-inch skillet on the top of the stove, then put the chicken in breast-side up, placed it in the oven, and turned the chicken over several times at specific intervals). I was worried that the kosher chicken would be too salty, since the recipe calls for salting the chicken the day prior, but it was fine. The pan drippings were to die for. I used arugula for the greens in the bread salad.
- The addition of the goat cheese to the kale is optional, but it really made the dish nice -the combination for the cheese and the slightly bitter kale was really nice.

• Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad (The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, p. 342)
• Garlicky Braised Kale with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Sea Smoke 2002 Botella Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills, California). We bought this wine on a whim at Vintage Wine Merchants when we were there for a tasting. It's a very reasonably priced Pinot at $25/bottle, and we got the last one. Our friend Ralph had recommended it. It is an ex