Navarin Printanier 4_26_12

Navarin Printanier 4_26_12

Pronounced ‘de-lish-us’! Wish Dorie had provided a pronunciation guide for us non-French speakers so we could sound well-traveled and epicurean as we serve up her dishes!  Guess I need to go to Babel.com for that!

This is the first time I’ve had ‘lamb stew’.  The tenderness of the lamb was, no doubt, due to Husband’s cutting and trimming of the 3 pound semi-boneless leg of lamb.  You see, I forgot what boneless cut I was to buy when I was at Shop Rite.  I just remembered lamb and boneless.  Husband made me promise never to ask him to do butcher’s work again!  It took him about an hour and a half to cut out the various ligaments and tendons from that leg!  And did I mention that well over a pound was lost in the trimming.  I looked at a much smaller amount of cubed lamb in the bowl than what I had hoped for, but persevered on.  The turnips, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas were easy to cut up and toss into the rich beef broth (I use Better Than Bouillon, which is excellent tasting!) with the thyme, bay, salt and pepper. I used ketchup for the tomato paste as it was all I had. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t find any beautiful little onions, the white onion cut into 1 inch chunks were a worthy substitute.  Husband was peering over my shoulder into the pot and commenting on the wonderful aroma of the lamb browning in the olive oil.  It came together in under 2 hours.  I served it over fettuccine (I know, I know, always the pasta!). 

We were quite vocal as we ate with lots of mmmm’s while we ate with relish.  Nephew said it was ‘the best [Dorie dish] yet’.  Husband said ‘delicious’ several times.  Son missed a great dish, but I doubt he would care.  The new girlfriend is all the substance he needs right now (lol) and he was out to celebrate her grandfather’s birthday with her family.  He’s been out for several nights in a row now and I envision an empty seat for many more nights to come.  Sigh!  Nephew is currently girlfriendless so Husband and I welcome him to dine with us and he comes willingly.  He loves good food!  At least we had one ‘young ‘un’ at the table with us (though he’s nearly 20).

Guess what we are having for dinner tonight?  Yep, you guessed right—leftover navarin printanier!

Coconut Friands

Coconut Friands 4_22_12

I didn’t get to bake these up until Sunday due to a hectic week.  I decided to toast my coconut flakes and so I did.  Mixing up these little coconut sweets was quick and easy.  Never thought whipping up egg whites, vanilla, melted butter, and flour could result in such a rich little treat.  We enjoyed these fresh from the oven on Sunday afternoon with a cup of coffee, while it finally rained here in southern New Jersey.  Both the rain and the friands were fitting rewards for all of the gardening and weeding done on Saturday. 

Sardine Rillettes 4_12_12

Sardine Rillettes 4_12_12

I date myself when I say the one-liner, ‘everything tastes better when it sits on a ritz’.  I can't help it, that catchy advertiser for Ritz crackers is from, what, the 80’s-90’s?  So I used a whole grain cracker to hold the sardines though a lettuce wrap or pita would be good also, but I didn’t have those on hand.  So I mounded the cracker with what I called ‘poor man’s tuna fish’.  I added the cornichons to the mix and thought it added taste and texture.  We didn’t wait 2 hours to munch on these but ate them straight from the bowl.  No fancy presentation here!  Husband loved it.  I liked it.  Son and Nephew nowhere around to taste this, but I think Nephew would like it, Son not so much (a pattern here?). This might be good formed into a ball and rolled in something, maybe shredded cheese.  This would make a nice addition to an assortment of appetizers.  

Surprisingly tasty.

Asparagus & Bits of Bacon 4_5_12

No stress at all about cooking this side dish.  I decided to turn it into a main dish by adding our household favorite - pasta!  I tweaked the recipe further by substituting pancetta (an Italian bacon) for the regular bacon.  I refused to boil the asparagus when the microwave will do the job in a few minutes.  I cut the asparagus spears into thirds to work along with the pappardelle (Italian wide noodle) noodles. I also zested a lemon to add to the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil (I couldn't bring myself to use walnut oil for this dish, maybe as the side dish).  I added ground fresh black pepper to this lemon/olive oil mix. Putting it together was a cinch in the 12 inch fryer before serving in pasta dishes.

Mangia!  Husband declared it excellent with all the foods and flavors he loves.  Nephew said it was 'pretty kickin' ass good'.  Son said the pancetta was too salty (I think he loves being arbitrary!).  Absolutely delicious and I will be making this again soon as our Jersey asparagus will be out soon and will be around for a couple of months to come. 


Happy Easter, Happy Passover to All!