Brine – lean meat’s best friend

When you are grilling or roasting lean meats, brining the meat will keep it moist and add flavor.  I use the same basic brine with turkey, pork and chicken.  The brining time changes from 1 hour for thin cuts of meats (less than 1 inch) to overnight for a whole turkey.  The brine adds salt … Continue reading

Mediterranean Zucchini Galette

A friend of mine showed up at my office with a bag of produce from his farm.  The bag included a rather large zucchini – the official orphan vegetable of Summer.  I said, “you could make Zucchini bread”.  He answered, “You could… but after you have had zucchini bread several times….” So, I had a … Continue reading

Pea and Tarragon Risotto

Risottos are great dinners.  They are versatile and easily adapted to what’s on hand.  The Williams-Sonoma’s Risotto cookbook has been my starting point for many risottos including this one.  Fresh sugar snap peas and tarragon are the flavoring elements.  Parmesan cheese adds depth and helps build the creamy texture.   We served this with a … Continue reading

Pork Medallions with Sage and Marsala

Pork tenderloin medallions are great weeknight dinner.  They are an easy to cook light meal.  These medallions have sage leaves pressed onto the meat and they are finished with marsala wine for a sweet sauce.  I served this with a asparagus and cannellini bean salad for lighter Spring dinner. Recipe: Pork Medallions with Sage and … Continue reading

Lamb with Mint Gastrique and Root Vegetable Hash

A mint gastrique makes a sweet and tangy pan sauce for organic lamb chops from the market.  The sweetness of the lamb and gastric is offset by the rich earthy and spicy root vegetable hash.    The two together make a really wonderful dinner.  The hash would be great with eggs for brunch or dinner. … Continue reading

Sirloin Tip – 3 more meals

One of the things I preach and practice is “cook once, eat many times”.  This doesn’t mean the same leftovers, night after night, all week long.  It does mean many different meals that follow on from the first dish.  Last weekend, we made the slow grilled sirloin tip roast.   During the week, we used … Continue reading

Slow grilled Sirloin Tip Roast

John Priske of Fountain Prairie Farms talked me into buying a sirloin tip roast.   It is a beautiful cut of meat that I hadn’t cooked before.  He showed me other steaks from the same spot.  They had gorgeous marbling so I thought it would be a good cut served rare to medium-rare off the … Continue reading

Oops – forgot the film moment

So – a bit of a mistake Saturday night – I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera.  I shot some lovely pictures of the Market Dinner I made but they are all in my memory and none in my computer.  The picture of the butterfly that has been hanging out with … Continue reading

Chilled Asparagus Soup

We hit 92°F yesterday so dinner called for something chilled to beat the heat.  Chilled asparagus soup made for a cool, clean and refreshing dinner on a hot May day.  The soup was garnished with blanched asparagus tips, chive blossoms and sour cream.  It was served with a cheese board of local cheeses:  Hidden Springs … Continue reading

Grilled Trout with Lime and Thyme compound butter

Tonight’s dinner was trout, simply prepared and grilled on the barbecue; served with a quick lime, thyme and garlic compound butter.  The side dishes were grilled asparagus (easy and delicious) and oven chips. Recipe: Grilled Trout with Compound butter and Grilled Asparagus Summary: This is a quick and easy dinner that is great for a beautiful … Continue reading