Fresh Flavors Of The Season

Bright green for dinner. A tangle of fresh spring asparagus, roasted in the oven served lazily poised atop multi-colored quinoa tossed with fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint) and lemon juice. Slightly bitter radish green pesto layered on top. Super fresh and satisfying like a cool spring day on a plate.

Bacon and Eggs For Dinner

Yesterday I toddled over to the farmer's market. Putting away the beautiful fresh produce seems to shine a spotlight on purchases left over from the week before. Asparagus had to be used, one lone leek rattled around the vegetable bin. Still tasty but maybe not starring role pretty, I thought soup -- puréed into a silky, creamy soup.
I started 1 leek, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 large shallot (all chopped) in a pan with melted butter. Before they colored I added in 2 bunches of chopped asparagus (reserving a few of the prettier tips for garnish), and a couple stalks of celery. Next went in 6 cups of chicken stock a little S&P and the soup simmered for 20 minutes. Everything puréed in the blender and went back into the now cleaned pot. Just before dinner I added in the last bit of cream from a bottle set to expire and warmed the soup through (and tasted for seasoning). To serve, though it's hard to see in these deep bowls, I topped the soup with a poached egg and a few blanched asparagus tips. So much for the eggs.
Little gem lettuce are a sweet miniature romaine variety. I've tried to grow them with not much success so when I see them at the farmer's market I try to grab at least a dinner's worth. Tonight these sweet little head lettuces starred in our crunchy dinner salad topped with crisp bacon, salty Bay Blue cheese by Pt Reyes Farmstead cheese and honey vinaigrette.
Bacon and eggs in an unexpected way.

Veggies For Dinner

Fried eggplant and bacon wrapped asparagus bundles. Not quite or usual weeknight fare but a tasty way to clear out the vegetable drawers before I leave our beloved ranchette and my beloved James for a few days.

Asparagus Risotto

Such a happy time of year -- birds nesting and the farmers' markets are stocked with cherries, apricots and bright green asparagus. I get so tired of apples and kale and chard that seeing peas and asparagus return each year is like greeting long lost friends.
Today I took my precious bunches of fresh asparagus and turned them in to a filling risotto for James' dinner.
First I cut the asparagus into 1" pieces and put most of the thicker stems (not the very woody parts I cut those off and threw them in the compost) into a pot barely covered with water and let them come to a boil and bubble away until soft -- about 5 minutes. Meanwhile I finely chopped the white and light green of one young leek, about 1/4 of a small red onion and two cloves of garlic.
I started a skillet with 2 Tb of olive oil and 1 Tb of butter. When the oil was hot and the butter melted I added in the chopped aromatics and let the onion mixture cook for about 3 minutes until just soft and translucent. Next I added in 1 1/2 cups risotto rice (I used arborio but there are several varieties of short grain starchy rices that work well) and let the rice toast in the oils for another 3 minutes or so. When the rice was shiny I added 1/2 cup of champagne. Now usually I would use white wine but we didn't have any handy and I found several bottles of bubbly on the shelf so champagne risotto it is. I let the wine cook down until almost gone and then started to add the chicken stock about 1/2 cup at a time. Each time letting the stock cook down until just about gone and then adding my next ladleful. While the rice was cooking I puréed the cooked asparagus in the blender. After 15 minutes I added in the pieces of asparagus I had not boiled in the saucepan and kept adding stock for about another 7 minutes until the rice was tender and creamy and the asparagus cooked through.
With the risotto off the heat I stirred in about 1/2 cup of the purée from the blender, 2 TB of butter and a healthy handful of grated parmesan. When the butter melted into the creamy rice I served James' dinner topped with piquant shavings of pecorino cheese.
Spring in the kitchen.

Spring Spaghetti

Finally. Relief from the endless stream of winter vegetables. We love broccoli, cauliflower and kale but come this time of year I am anxious to see a glimpse of spring in the market -- tender fresh peas and finally crisp green asparagus.
I started with chopped onion sautéing in a good quantity of olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Next I tossed in the cut asparagus and about 1/2 tsp of crushed red chiles. After another 5 minutes the asparagus was barely tender and I added in the drained pasta, a splash of pasta cooking water,  a couple tablespoons of fresh goat cheese, and fresh thyme. After a few turns in the pan the cheese melted into a creamy, delicate sauce.
A simple dish to highlight the flavor of spring.

Dinner With Friends

With K and D coming for dinner (one for the first time) I thought it best to rely on the tried and true -- our recipe standards. To start I whipped up a plate of our "house specialty appetizers." "We have to come up with a name for those," James says.

I spread fresh ricotta on rosemary sea salt flat breads (we like Margaret's Artisan Bakery brand), lay on a thin slice of prosciutto, a section (a half or quarter) of a very ripe fresh fig, and drizzle with olive oil and a good quantity of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkled with chopped fresh mint and flaky sea salt these are probably our easiest and most popular (James loves them) little treat to serve before dinner or with drinks.
I love having a few vegetable dishes that are equally good warm or at room temperature. It gives me a chance to prepare for guests without a lot of last minutes fuss. I quickly roasted asparagus (20 minutes at 400º) as a side dish. Those are beautiful, edible borage flowers on top. They have a very light almost cucumbery flavor.

My go-to summer squash recipe is a quick sauté in olive oil flavored with garlic, chiles and herbs. When the oil is hot but not smoking I add in the garlic and the squash and toss until the vegetable is nicely coated with the oil. I sprinkle in dried chilies, cover the pan and let the dish cook over medium low heat for about 5 minutes until the squash is tender and just a bit browned on the edges. After a few minutes cooking uncovered the liquid is reduced and the squash is tender and flavorful. Off the heat I mix in chopped herbs, usually chopped fresh mint but tonight I decided on basil and parsley since our starter was flavored with mint. Summer squash cooked this way are equally good mixed into hot pasta, spread on crostini, or served as a side dish.

I usually don't fry for guests. It can be messy and has to be done at the last minute. But, I had two birds left from our poultry CSA in the freezer, James loves fried chicken (although since we have our own flock he has shied away from eating chicken in general) and this lemon marinated Italian style chicken is unusual, easy and the taste is hard to beat. It's always a hit. I served a bit of this summer's favorite sauce -- arugula hazelnut pesto -- on the side.

As strange as it may seem, "Fridge Pie" is a regular dessert around here. When the fruit at the Farmer's Market is really beautiful I tend to buy too much. I get excited when the seasons change and the winter of eating apples and citrus gives way to baskets overflowing with plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots. Sometimes those stone fruits, along with whatever else might be inching towards the jam pot in the fridge come together between flaky pastry for a "fridge pie." Humble beginnings but still delicious enough for company.

Tonight I chopped a variety of stone fruits and a couple wayward apples and tossed them with sugar -- I used about 3/4 cup. I let the fruit sit for about an hour so the juices would come out then I drained the fruit reserving about 1/4 cup of liquid which I mixed with 3 TB of cornstarch to make sure my filling wasn't runny. I mixed the cornstarch back into the drained fruit along with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a dash of Lillet liquor for a mildly citrus, slightly floral accent. The fruit was laid in my prepared crust. I fashioned a lattice top, brushed the crust with egg wash, sprinkled with sugar and baked for 40 minutes at 400º and another 40 minutes at 350º. I tented the top with foil halfway through baking to keep the crust from turning too dark. The pie was fruity, not too sweet, and just right with a scoop of creme fraiche ice cream.

"Fridge Pie" is always a little different, but always make a great dessert.

Asparagus Spaghetti

Spaghetti is always good for dinner in a hurry.

While the pasta boiled I cooked some asparagus in salted boiling water and set it aside. Then I added the vegetable, cut into pieces, to the drained pasta along with a glug of olive oil, a last hunk of Delice de Bourgogne -- a tangy washed rind cheese, some chopped prosciutto, a splash of olive oil, a knob of butter, black pepper, crushed red chiles, a sprinkle of parmesan and a dollop of ricotta. I gave it all a good stir which helped the heat of the pasta melt the cheese and butter into a light, uncooked, easy summer sauce.

Dinner With Denny

I needed an easy, make-ahead, look like I can do it in my sleep kind of dinner for a friend of James' that was coming to dinner. Costco had a big tray of scallops on a super sale. I figured I could build a dinner around them.

We started off with a tray of cheeses and paté easy and always a hit. And, another good excuse to use our home candied kumquats. Then for our meal I steamed some asparagus and dressed them with sliced blood oranges, olive oil, sesame oil, and toasted hazelnuts.
Though they got a little crispy on top these baked scallops really are the ultimate convenience food. With the oven set to 375º I melted some butter with white wine and snippets of prosciutto and sliced garlic in an enamel pan. Then I added in the scallops and coated them in the sauce, and topped the whole dish with crumbled ritz crackers (I can hardly believe it myself) and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. The scallops baked for 10 minutes and then I put them under the broiler for 3 (should have been two) to crisp.
As a second side dish I pulled our a recipe I have been saving for eons. Roasted radishes. The trimmed radishes are sautéed for two minute sin hot oil and then put into a 500º over for 15 minutes to cook through. Then back on the fire I added in butter, lemon juice, and the reserved radish greens just until they wilted. The radishes were the hit of the night. Now there is a seldom heard phrase. But, it'll be more common around here soon.

Fava And Asparagus Panzanella

Today I harvested the last container of fava beans. I wanted a dinner dish that showcased my beloved beans, no heavy sauces or cover ups. I wanted my favas to be front and center. I glanced through a couple cookbooks and landed on a fava bean panzanella (bread salad) in Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. (James gave me the book for Christmas and this is the first recipe I've made) I decided to riff on this simple salad for James' dinner.

In the past I have always made bread salads (usually with tomatoes) with stale bread that gets ever so slightly mushy as it sits in the dressing. Robertson opts for crispy pieces of bread, so first I made a tray of croutons by tossing chunks of bread (torn not cut) in olive oil and salt and a sprinkling of herbes de provence. That was Robertson's idea but I thought it was a nice touch. The croutons baked for 15 minutes at 400º.

Next I turned my attention to the vegetables. I thinly sliced one red onion and soaked it in 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and water to cover for 30 minutes. A quick pickled onion for the salad. I shucked, blanched and peeled my precious fava beans and steamed asparagus (cut in bite sized pieces) for the salad. I tossed the salad (bread and vegetables) with a handful of fresh mint leaves and a quick dressing made from the zest and juice of one lemon combined with 1/2 cup olive oil and salt. Since ours was a main course salad I topped James' panzanella with a lightly poached egg and shavings of parmesan cheese.

James is a big bread lover so I thought this salad would be a giant hit. Turns out James said the bread made it harder to get to the fava beans. He had to dig for them. So, I guess my beans were the stars after all.

Double Grill Pan Dinner

Driving home from work I was dreaming up ways to use my new grill pan and came up with this doubled grilled dinner. First I rubbed the pan with a bit of olive oil and laid in some trimmed asparagus sprinkled with coarse salt. I let the spears color in the very hot pan. They weren't quite as tender as I wanted so when the color was right I splashed the pan with a bit of water and the resulting steam finished the asparagus perfectly.

Next I prepped some sandwiches. The rosemary bread was thinly spread with butter and Dijon mustard. I topped the bread with 1 slice of prosciutto, several spears of grilled asparagus, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and slices of gruyere cheese. I buttered the outside of the sandwiches just a bit and laid them in the grill pan with the Le Creuset panini press (a weighted ridged lid with a handle) on top. Five minutes on a side and we had creamy melted cheese and beautiful Martha Stewart eat your heart out grill marks.

Asparagus Pasta

I needed something quick and easy that would use up the asparagus I had nearly forgotten about in the vegetable bin. That says pasta and I started salted water boiling. I blanched the cut asparagus in the water for about 2 minutes and then added in into a skillet where I had sautéed a chopped shallot and one minced clove of garlic in olive oil and butter. I poured in just a bit of heavy cream and a couple cubes -- minus the rind, of delicious, dense goat's milk clochette cheese. I cooked that for just a few minutes, added in the drained pasta (long ziti today, although I think the shorter shapes are better with a sauce like this, James loves the long round noodles), salt, pepper, and a bit of grated lemon zest. After a couple turns in the pan dinner was served.

Spaghetti with Asparagus, Artichokes, and Smoked Mozzarella

Having good ingredients makes a quick dinner better and easier. While I was driving home from work James started the water boiling. All I had to do was sauté the asparagus in olive oil with chopped pancetta and garlic, add in some roasted artichokes, chili flakes, and a squeeze of lemon juice and wait for the pasta to cook. I drained the pasta and added the sauté mix along with a good sized handful of parmesan cheese, a knob of butter, and about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. I stirred until the parmesan and the water (along with salt and pepper) made a creamy sauce, tossed in some cubes of smoked mozzarella and called James to the table.

Maybe it's cooking, maybe it's combining, but for us it's a late dinner in a hurry on work night Monday.

Soup and Sandwich Night

The bottom vegetable bin in our new fridge is just too cold. James says it's because I stuff them too full. Maybe true.

None the less we ended up with some partially frozen asparagus -- a shame to waste but too frosty to serve as a side dish. Soup was the only way to salvage it I figured. And so it seemed like a night for soup and sandwich dinner.

I chopped the asparagus (2 bunches), 1 large shallot, and 2 cloves of garlic and added them to a sauce pan along with chicken broth to cover, and a pinch of crushed red peppers. I brought the mixture up to a boil and allowed it to simmer for about 15 minutes until the shallots were tender. I put the contents of the saucepan, along with 2 TB of olive oil and a large handful of fresh spinach into the blender and pureed. I served James' soup with a dollop of fresh ricotta.

On the side some dressed up grilled cheese. Rosemary bread, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, butter and a extra thin layer of honey toasted in a pan and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

"Freezer" Dinner with Friends

James and I just put in our order for a cattle share from Hearst Ranch, and so, anticipating needing room in the freezer, I invited our friends Eric and Shari over for a freezer dinner -- what I could make from what I could find. Only one problem, when it actually came down to looking there wasn't much in the freezer at all. A couple of flavored butters from or annual oyster events, some left over chilis and stews from the "fridgeventory", a random package of puff pastry, and a couple of frozen naan. Nothing very inspiring and no hoard of proteins waiting to be conquered.

I had to make a trip to Costco the other day (that's how I ended up with 5 lbs of mussels) and staring blankly at the meat case I spied a brisket. That might be fun, I thought, and compared to the whole filet roast I also thought might be "fun", a pretty good value. With no menu idea I put the brisket in the cart and headed out.

Brisket seems so American, so barbeque, so corn on the cob. I had a big jar left of that delicious Chilean Spicy salsa I made the other day and thought that might be a good combo. I decided to smoke the brisket with a rub of Pimentón, onion powder, salt, sugar, cumin and pepper to echo the flavors in the salsa. At least we'd be clearing some space in the fridge.

What to serve with brisket -- it just seemed too dull, too 4th of July to go with corn on the cob and cole slaw but that's always what leaps to mind with brisket.

I've been flipping through Saveur magazine and in spite of the 6lbs of meat covered in dry rub in my fridge I keep turing my head towards rustic French dishes, crispy Fougasse and vegetable ragouts. It didn't seem to go together but I decided why not. A quirky dinner best appreciated by friends.
We are cheese lovers as are our friends Eric and Shari. When I saw burrata at Costco (why don't I go there more often) I immediately imagined this riff on nancy Silverton's Caprese Salad from Mozza Restaurant. Oven Roasted cherry tomatoes, pesto sauce brightened with a finish of lemon juice and creamy soft cheese.
I've never made fougasse before, or eaten it. Something about Saveur's picture of the herb and olive topped bread made the recipe impossible to ignore. Besides I am getting a little weary of no-knead style breads (although there are a few to come). It was nice to have my hands in dough again and these crisp breads, although I don't know if they even vaguely resemble the authentic variety, were perfect with our array of cheese, olives, and thinly sliced salumi.
The main course. I really wasn't sure how long to smoke the meat. I heated the gas grill and then turned off the middle and right burner. I put the meat in a foil roasting pan over the un-heated part of the grill. Over the flames, using two more metal pans, I poured a bottle of beer in one (for a little extra moisture) and filled the other with soak mesquite chips. About 4 and half hours later (and about 45 minutes resting time covered in foil) we had smoked through, pretty tender meat ready to soak up the spicy salsa.
Well, something had to come from the freezer. Back in April James had kindly shucked and frozen the fava beans from our front yard winter crop. With the addition of some farmer's market asparagus and artichokes this vegetable ragout, also from the June July 2010 issue of Saveur magazine, seemed like perfect way to showcase our winter crop and clear a little space.
Light summer tasting potatoes? I split a little pile of yellow fingerlings rom out garden and roasted them in the oven with olive oil , salt and pepper until the cut edges were crisp and golden brown. Following a recipe I saw on epicurious, I topped the potatoes with an herb salad of parsley, tarragon (a favorite of James' but not one of mine -- I figured that was good way to keep me away from the potatoes), mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil sprinkled with finely chopped hard boiled backyard eggs (thanks girls!).
Dessert was another matter. I started by wanted to get Jim Lahey's chocolate coconut bread checked off as I am baking my way through his My Bread cookbook. James doesn't eat all that much chocolate -- and, as if the case with most sweet things that are bad for my pants size I have a hard time staying away from it, so . . . it seemed like a good idea to have some friends to eat it with us in case it was really really good. But can I serve toast for dessert? And, what goes with toast? I found a recipe for buttermilk pudding (another one from epicurious) that seemed like a good combo and I had buttermilk waiting to be used in the fridge. Done. But then while flipping through Lahey's cookbook, checking my ingredients I spotted sweet foccacia, now that had to be delicious and used apricot jam and I could substitute in my own homemade stone fruit jam, left over from my pop tart filling. Besides, didn't seem like a bad idea to have a backup in case that coconut chocolate bread (what the hell will I ever do with that) was underwhelming (as indeed it was) Deconstructed bread pudding? Toast and milk pudding for dessert? Different but not too bad. I suppose -- and, two more recipes down.

Now all I need is a freezer dinner to clear out from my freezer dinner.

Asparagus Pizza

I'm not sure where I got the idea. I must have seen it somewhere but I just don't remember. But I had pizza dough in the freezer and a couple bunches of asparagus in the drawer. I stretched the thawed dough out across my oiled baking pan. Holding each asparagus spear by the woody stem I used a vegetable peeler to shave off thin strands which I dropped into a bowl along with two thinly sliced shallots, a 1/2 tsp of crushed red peppers, two minced cloves of garlic, about 3 TB of olive oil and, of course, salt and pepper.

I spread about 1/3 of the asparagus over the stretched crust and then covered that with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan and about 5 oz of mozzarella (fresh but not the kind packed in liquid -- it makes the pizza too watery) cut into 1/2 inch cubes. On top of the cheese I spread the rest of the asparagus mixture in a big delicious tangle. The pizza baked for 20 minutes at 500º.

"I can just eat one more slice," James said before he reached for almost 3 more. "It's good."

One pot dinner?

I love Thomas Keller. He is probably my favorite chef and I aspire to his totally unachievable greatness.

But, one of his greatest talents is his uncanny ability to turn a one pot peasant dish into a kitchen full of dirty pans and trays and seemingly endless hands on work.

Admittedly I was particularly proud of the carrots in our yard and wanted to find a dish to highlight them. Pride, as they say, goes before a fall.

But, the asparagus in the fridge was calling my name. It was just so fresh and springy. This was no time to listen to reason or be seduced by haute French chef Daniel Boulud's one pot soup.

While mindlessly flipping through the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, looking for what the super chef might do with asparagus, I had already spied a recipe for Spring Vegetable Garbure. The photograph showed spring produce at it's just harvested best, food porn for gardeners. Didn't the carrots, potatoes, fava beans and green beans I had labored over and raised from sprouts deserve this royal treatment? I was hooked.

I didn't know at the time but a Garbure is a thick vegetable stew from Southwest France often flavored with pork, and sausage or duck confit. Keller's recipe starts with cooking down carrots, leeks, and onions (2 cups each) under a cover of pork skin -- yes the skin off a slab of bacon -- for 35 minutes. Once the fat has rendered out and the vegetables are soft he instructs to remove the pork and add in 8 cups of chicken broth and simmer for 20 minutes more. That pot is drained (into a second pot) to leave the flavorful broth that is the soup's base.

Meanwhile a host of other vegetables: fava beans, English peas, green beans, cabbage wedges, and asparagus are individually blanched in boiling water (the fava beans are peeled), shocked in an ice bath and laid on paper towels to drain. Small creamer potatoes (both red and yellow) are peeled and cut into eighths and brought to a boil along with a sachet of bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns, and garlic then cooked until tender. The carrots get a similar treatment with a teaspoon of honey and another sachet. Five pots, two trays, three colanders, a drawer full of utensils and counting.

"This looks healthy," James said as he pulled his spoon through the brightly colored bowl. He nodded as I, his dinner time tour guide, pointed out the ingredients that had come from our yard. "It's good," he said reaching for another slice of the cheese toast I offered on the side. "We can eat healthy," he declared.

Now I just have to worry about the dishes. Sigh.

Dinner With Shelly

I just didn't want to do anything too elaborate -- after all it was just a holiday weekend dinner with a close friend . . . and I had plans during the day. First off a springtime version of our house favorite appetizer: rosemary crackers, fresh ricotta, prosciutto, and cherries (we usually do fresh figs but have to wait a bit for those to be in season) sprinkled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, black pepper, coarse salt and fresh chopped mint. Good but not great -- I think I will try it with the dark red deeper flavored cherries next time, or maybe roasted apricots.
A home variation of a Chez Panisse favorite. Marinated rounds of goat cheese (I left them to soak in olive oil sprinkled with fresh thyme and rosemary), rolled in fresh bread toasted crumbs and baked for 6 minutes at 400º until the cheese was just warm and soft. I placed the warm cheese on a bed fo lettuce fresh from our garden dressed with red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar (1 TB each) and walnut oil (1/4 cup).
Whole grilled shrimp. I rolled the shell on shrimp in butter melted with chopped shallot, basil and parsley and tossed them whole on the hot grill until they were just a bit browned and cooked through.
This one is staying on the make-ahead salad list. Blanched asparagus covered by a cucumber salad with wilted green onions (you soak them in the water from cooking the asparagus for 30 minutes) chervil, mint, tarragon, and chives dressed in a light red wine vinegar vinaigrette flavored with dijon mustard. Easy, beautiful, and summer fresh tasting.
For dessert an old standard. I call it California upside down cake. Really it's fridge fruit cake -- whatever is left in the fruit bowl at the end of the week -- today it was white peaches, nectarines, and apricots. I was wishing I had a handful of slivered almonds to sprinkle in with the fruit. First I melt a stick of butter in an oven proof pan and add in 3/4 cup of brown sugar and leave over medium low heat until it just starts to bubble. Then I arrange the sliced fruit on top and cover with a light cake batter, an adaptation of another Chez Panisse recipe.

For the batter. Cream 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar with 4 TBs of butter. Add in two egg yolks 1 at a time. Mix together 1 3/4 cup (less 1 TB) cake flour (or 1 1/2 cup regular flour), 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp of either nutmeg of cinnamon, to your taste, and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl. Alternate mixing in the flour mixture in 3 additions with 1/2 cup of milk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla extract. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites to firm peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the already mixed batter and spread the lightened batter over the fruit and sugar in the baking pan. Bake about 1 hour and 10 minutes (check after an hour) at 350º.

It's really good for breakfast too.

What Wes and Eric Had For Dinner

The boss comes to dinner -- circa 2010. How to master the art of looking prepared yet causal Have everything ready without seeming like you made an effort at all. How to, in short, be the perfect hostess -- more June Cleaver than Lucy Riccardo. Start with cheese.

At the risk of alerting the authorities I'll point out a delicious Alpine style saucisson sec a French friend carried lovingly (and illegally I might add) in his suitcase for us. Wild boar with just a hint of spice and a healthy (as in heavy not good for you ;-)) dose of tasty fat. "This is the real thing," he assured, "Not what you get in a supermarket."

I pared that treat with a selection of cheeses, A slightly peppery sheep's milk Manchego from Spain, Petit Basque -- also sheep (not such great planning there I guess) but smoother and nuttier, always a great paring with saucisson, Humboldt Fog, a soft goat cheese with a center line of ash from Northern California, and Pt Reyes blue a cow's milk treat from Marin County, CA. Alongside this selection I offered a few loaves of homemade bread (Stecca from Jim Lahey's killer cookbook, My Bread), and piping hot gourgères -- the French bits of magic that turn flour, water, butter and eggs into airy puffs just begging to be filled with a thin slice of saucisson and cheese (they made killer hors d'oeuvre mini BLTs!) or popped in your mouth warm from the oven.

Now onto dinner -- served family style.

I tried to come up with sides that could be made in advance and tucked away to serve at room temperature leaving just one or two things to finish while guests are watching . . . you know -- just to prove you really made it all. A killer plan for easy hostessing.

The farmer's market is full of irresistible spring veggies so I shopped and then decided on our dishes. What could be simpler than quickly blanched asparagus served room temperature with hazelnut dressing and finely chopped eggs -- from our "girls" of course

This delicious tangle combines arugula, parsley and grilled apricots (I did that earlier in the day and had them waiting to toss the salad) with a rosemary vinaigrette and serves the crisp veggies on a bed of thinly sliced prosciutto. Salty, sweet, crunchy all at once and all I had to do was toss it together before bringing the salad to the table.

Here is the super simple, prepped in advance, star of the dinner show -- a salt-crusted sirloin (Chateaubriand cut -- extra thick), impressive, easy, and can be prepped an hour before roasting -- gave me just enough time to get the kitchen cleared up before guests arrived.

To assemble I coated the steak with pepper and seared it on all sides in a pan with hot olive oil. I let the meat cool for about 15 minutes while I made up a paste of kosher salt and water (might have been better to use egg whites). When the steak had cooled down I fully covered the meat with the salt paste -- I used about 4 cups of salt but I probably could have gotten away with less. After 25 minutes at 425 degrees and 30 minutes resting time (before cracking the crust) the grass fed steak, which can be tough or even dry, was perfectly cooked and tender.

That's our friend Eric cracking the crust before serving.

And the beauty on the plate, thinly sliced and served with a delicate butter lettuce pesto.
I just had to show off our home-grown potatoes with another make ahead dish. Crisp tender green beans, and steamed potato wedges tossed together (while still warm for maximum flavor) in olive oil with plentiful chopped herbs (thyme, chives, parsley and mint).

Dessert went by so quickly I barely got a picture. This is all that's left of a blood orange crostada I made with the fruit from our front yard tree and had waiting in the freezer for just such an occasion. We served the ruby colored tart with vanilla gelato and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce. Another make ahead success.

Roast Chicken With Potatoes, Asparagus, And Lemon

Some days even when I am home all day dinner seems to get away from me. And then as the oven clock is ticking I have to figure something out that will be tasty and quick. Mercifully i have just been to the farmer's market so I have a lot of choice ingredients to rely on.

I think it's been kind of cold lately in our part of Socal and my backyard garden is overflowing with lettuces, broccoli, chard, brussels sprouts, cauliflower -- not exactly the bounty of spring. But our local farmer's market had beautiful asparagus and I couldn't resist a few stalks of the spring time treat -- although I admittedly had no plan for a dish.

Flipping through ideas on the internet I came across a one pan dish that seemed perfect for a cook in a hurry.

I poured potatoes, olive oil, butter, garlic, and S&P into a roasting pan and popped them in the oven at 475º for 20 minutes. When the potatoes were just starting to crisp I put my chicken pieces -- generously seasoned with salt and pepper and popped the pan back in the over for another 20 minutes. Next came the asparagus chopped into two inch pieces, a whole lemon cut into 8 wedges, and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs. I mixed all those into the hot potatoes and chicken and popped the roasting pan back in the over for another 10 minutes until the asparagus was crisp tender.

Served with a bit of the pan sauce overtop this impromptu chicken dinner was a bit of spring for a new year LA winter day.

Leftover Night

One more Christmas cookbook -- sort of. James bought me Thomas Keller's new Ad Hoc cookbook for Christmas, but -- as often happens -- he couldn't wait and gave it to me early. So I got an extra Christmas and a little extra time to peruse TK's idea of family style meals.

It's a lot to jump into. The great chef obviously has time for perfection and an army of sous chefs, line cooks and commis ready to simmer his sauce and peel his asparagus.

I had planned to pan fry a few leftover slices of Christmas prime rib I tucked away (obviously this post waited a bit to publish) but Keller, along with the two bunches of asparagus in the fridge, kept calling my name. Asparagus with tomato bacon stew. Simple techniques and ingredients cook down for more than a hour to a rich sauce with just a hint of porky flavor.

First, lardons of slab bacon render (chalk up 30 minutes) and are set aside with about half of the released fat. To the remaining oil are added chopped leek, onion and garlic which cook until just soft -- 5 minutes or so -- then canned tomatoes (I admit it, I veered -- we had fresh so I ground them up and used them) which cook down for 45 minutes (an hour and 20 minutes and counting). Half of the resulting mixture is puréed and returned to the pan to cook down for 15 minutes more (now we're at an hour and 35 minimum). As a finish, the bacon is stirred in to warm through. While the sauce was finishing I trimmed and peeled (yes Keller says peel and so I peeled) the asparagus which was cooked in a wide sauté pan with the reserved bacon fat and a bit (3 TB) of chicken stock. After 6-7 minutes (well, we didn't quite hit two hours) the asparagus are tender but not soft with just a bit of delicate bacon flavor.

The sauce was rich and still fresh tasting and a nice change. I could see it would easily liven up a simple grilled halibut or other hearty fish. But the real revelation? Pan roasted peeled asparagus.

Will I be peeling asparagus every time? Probably not - although James did feign shock that it was my first time in spite of his obviously exalted, peeled stalk worthy station in life and at the dinner table. But for some special Sunday night (Ad Hoc at Home is a Sunday leisure time cookbook -- nothing to turn to for a bit of weeknight kitchen fun) I might give it another turn.

Now I am eyeing a vegetable bin full of carrots for Keller's Nante Carrot Stew . . . next time I have a spare couple hours.