Saturday Night Pizza Dinner

Sliced mushrooms, red onions, and chopped garlic topped with raclette, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses -- and, of course, a drizzle of olive oil, chili peppers, and oregano.

Eggs For Dinner

Thanks to the girls and spring coming we have plenty of eggs so I decided, continuing my week of dinners from the garden, to bake James a little casserole of eggs. I melted olive oil (about 1 TB) and butter (about 1/2 TB) under the broiler (with the pans on the second rack down to be a bit further from the flame) and then poured in three raw eggs. I topped the eggs with finely chopped herbs (parsley, marjoram, and oregano was what I had on hand) and garlic and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. I popped the casserole back under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the eggs were not quite set. They finished cooking by resting for a minute (out of the oven) before being served. James had some buttered rosemary toast for dipping.

Fresh backyard eggs for a bistro style supper.

A Sign Of Spring

I'm still trying to make dinner all week right from the garden. Tonight, spaghetti with fresh peas, lettuce, and prosciutto.

First I cooked strips of prosciutto (well Jamon Serrano -- that's what we had) in a bit of olive oil until crisp and set them aside. Next I added in a bit more oil and 2 TB of butter and sautéed 1 finely chopped red onion with salt and pepper until tender. I added in shelled fresh peas, roughly chopped butter lettuce, white wine and chicken broth and allowed the mixture to cook for about 5 minute until the lettuce was wilted and the peas were bright green and tender.

I added the vegetables to the cooked, drained pasta (back in the cooking pot) and mixed in a large handful of parmesan cheese, a knob of butter, a splash of the pasta cooking water, and half of the crisped prosciutto. I gave everything a good stir until the pasta was coated with a smooth creamy sauce and served James' dinner garnished with the remaining prosciutto.

James had seconds. I'm holding onto this recipe -- a perfect spring garden dish.

Crock Pot Collards

Freezer biscuits (homemade and stored to cook as needed) and crock pot collards form our own backyard. A make ahead, late night, home-grown dinner.

Soup For Supper

I knew late days were coming so I pre-made this soup -- up to stirring in the home grown escarole -- to have dinner ready in a jiffy. I cooked lentils in water and chicken broth with chopped garlic and fresh bay leaves from our garden. In a separate pot I sautéed bite-sized slices of Italian sausage until browned. I removed the sausage from the pan and cooked minced garlic, chopped onions, carrots and celery in the sausage fat (along with a little olive oil) then added back in the sausage and the lentils in their liquid, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked until the lentils were tender. At that point I put the soup away in the fridge until tonight when I brought it back up to a simmer, added in big handfuls of chopped escarole and allowed the soup to bubble for about 3 minutes until the greens were tender. To serve I sprinkled the soup with parmesan cheese and heated up some homemade bread from the freezer. A perfect late night dinner.

Comfort Food From The Garden

I decided not to go to the farmer's market this week, and finishing work at 7 am the morning of only had a little bit to do with my decision. We're not taking full advantage of our garden and before I turn the beds fully over to spring crops I thought we should celebrate the last of our winter crops. Tonight, Tuscan kale and a bit of burgundy chard. While looking to make the most of my late in the season but still super fresh produce I stumbled on an earthy recipe from Italian culinary matriarch Lidia Bastianich, polenta with white beans and black kale. The beans are cooked simply with olive oil and bay leaves (I did that a couple days in advance). The kale is quickly braised with chunks of bacon in plenty of olive oil, and the polenta is velvety soft and laced with easy melting nutty (I used Gruyere, Toma and Parmesan) cheese. This is the kind of simple Italian cooking where the ingredients, not technique, play a starring role. A perfect way to show off our garden's bounty.

Basketball Burgers

Sliders ready to pop in the oven.

To say James is always in the mood for burgers is a bit of an over statement. Sometimes he is in the mood for pizza. Honestly he is usually happy with whatever I decide to make but some days he has something in mind and today he asked for sliders. I figured I should go all out and whip up some bacon avocado burgers on mini King's Hawaiian dinner rolls with a big batch of yukon gold french fries. We had dinner watching UConn squeak by Kentucky on the way to Monday's finals.