YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME........

I have always loved artichokes but have never mastered cooking them.  The baby ones have been showing up for the last couple of years and have been teasing me! There was an article in this weeks NYTimes Dining section which I could not resist, Pan Roasted Baby Artichokes.   Just the 3 of us for dinner tonight, did roast beef, some roasted vegetables and this was our green veg......... albeit fried!  Alan's verdict was 'a disaster';  Joseph's was: 'I hate artichokes.but these are.... not bad'.  My big mistake was not trimming them enough.  You really feel like you are throwing away 3/4s of your vegetable and in this instance that was not quite enough! Does look good though, don't you think?  The flavour was excellent, we just had to take off a couple fo extra leaves which were chewy and stringy to get to the good part, worth it in my view, and a lesson for next time!
One note, you cook these in a lot of oil, recipe does not say to use a slotted spoon ro remove from pan to serving dish, but that is what I did and would recommend.

JUST ANOTHER BUSY SATURDAY

Well, not that busy but I knew I would not want to spend too much time in the kitchen and I knew I wanted to eat fish tonight.  I turned to my 'could be better organised' folder of recipes that I collect from various sources that I like the sound of, and found Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon with Rice and Broccolini.  

This is really meant to be that perfect mid-week meal, pretty quick and all cooked in one pan.  However, I was never one to follow the rules and I'm glad I didn't, it was pretty good, I will do it again.  Of course I changed a few things:  substituted lemons for the limes (I had some that needed using) and I omitted the cilantro as Joseph does not like it.  The pan I used was a little small, which I knew but I thought it would look good!  I had to cook some of the broccolini separately, which was fine.  The rice was perfect which  I was relieved about, have tried something similar where it was not.  This is definitely a recipe to play with and I'm sure it will still be just as delicious.

A CLASSIC SALAD

This is one of my favourites - made it to take to a friend and didn't bother to look for a recipe.

PEAR AND GORGONZOLA SALAD:

• Head of Romaine lettuce
• 2 pears - just ripe! Slice fairly thin, lengthways 
• about 3 ozs mountain gorgonzola cheese
• half cup walnuts - lightly toasted
• balsamic vinaigrette - with a little honey added

This salad need to be presented on a platter or shallow dish.  Toss the lettuce in some of the dressing and arrange as the base. Top with the pears, drizzle more dressing onto them.  The cheese is too creamy to crumble, you will need to dice or just break apart with your fingers and scatter evenly over the salad, the do the same with the nuts. Enjoy!

JAMIE'S SCALLOPS

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH CRISPY PROSCIUTTO, ROASTED TOMATOES AND SMASHED BEANS.  Have done this many times, I think Charlotte originally told me about this recipe, it is easy, quick and delicious, what else is there?! Didn't fuss too much with the presentation of the Arugula this time, as you can see, regretting that right now.
Couple of notes:
I always make the beans first, while the oven is warming and then reheat just before serving, otherwise there is too much to do all at once.
Don't know if all my friends are bigger eaters than the rest of the world but I always do 2 cans of beans to serve 4 people and never have any left over!
I have started to roast the prosciutto in little piles rather than slices, you can sort of see in the pic, I find the slices get crispy too quickly.
Not sure I have ever remembered to buy a red chili when shopping for this dish, a dash of red pepper flakes works just as well.
Have done it with largish cherry tomatoes, also looks good!
It really needs that extra slug of good oil just before serving, enjoy.

An ex-pat 4th of July!

Happens to also be one of my best friend's, birthday so we have celebrated together for many years.  The table was heaving with delicious things and I am going to share what I contributed.
First of all I did beef short ribs.  First time I enjoyed these they were cooked by my now son-in law and the best chef ever, of course!  Next time I had them was as a sandwich at Table 8 in South Beach during one of those memorable girlie vacations.  On the strength of that hangover  meal Jules bought us all Govind Armstrong's book and I have to admit this is the first time I have dipped into it.  I cannot find a link to the recipe, the link here is a hint but you might want to buy the book.  The sandwich included pickled red onions which were just as fantastic with the short ribs, served as a meal instead of a sandwich.   Fellow guests added a green and potato salad and it became a memorable meal.  Was having such a good time that I forgot to  take a pic of the short ribs, but you can probably imagine them......

The meal was finished with Charlotte's wonderful berry cobbler and  Blondies, I had attempted for the first time.  I think they were ok but room for improvement here, thank goodness for hungry and forgiving teenagers!  Next time I will cook them for a minute less.  This was a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and as I have said before I cannot share their recipes, annoyingly.

Thank you Charlotte and John for another wonderful evening.

Perfect summer evening, Julia, Peas and Halibut!

Alan and Joseph are at a regatta for some of the weekend so Julia and I are having a girlie evening.  Started with a movie, plan was to come back to my place for margaritas and dinner.  Had to serve something that we could cook pretty quickly.  I cut this recipe, Peas with Halibut, out of the NY Times back in 2004 and have made it several times since.  The peas part is a great side dish, apparently cooking peas with lettuce and mint goes way back,  I was first served this by my oldest foodie friend, Jock, yonks ago!
Anyway, did small amount of prep before we went out, sliced the scallions and diced the bacon, and cooked it up whilst finishing the last few sips of Julia's most delicious margaritas.
One note, if you want a more healthy dish you can omit the bacon, I have never done that so cannot vouch for it!  I usually use the largest scallions I can find. Only thing I change is that I do not add any oil to the pan before I fry the bacon, it is not necessary, and I do pour out some of the bacon fat, leaving just enough to fry the onions in, honest!