Dan’s brother Sean and his lovely wife bought us the most wonderful and creative gift for Christmas this year — an exclusive tasting menu at a very upscale local restaurant. At his namesake eatery, Chef Stephan Pyles has a small area (only 4 seats) where he hosts and cooks his “Fuego” tasting menu. The menu features seasonal ingredients and showcases an array of molecular gastronomy techniques, from airs to reverse spherification to virtual smoking. We were presented four courses with seventeen separate dishes, each beautifully presented and demonstrating true genius. It was easily one of our finest dining experiences. (The photos do not even come close to doing this meal justice – we didn’t bring our good camera and the lighting was low. But hopefully you get the idea of what an amazing time we had.) Continue reading “Fuego at Stephan Pyles”
Month: January 2011
Weekly Menu (Jan. 29)
Saturday
Sunday
- Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya, Homemade Sourdough Bread
Monday
- Stir-Fry Pork (with leftover pork tenderloin)
Tuesday
- New York Strip Steaks with Arugula and Parmesan
Wednesday
- Take-Out
Thursday
- Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup (with Homemade Sourdough)
Friday
- Dinner Out
Chicken Cacciatore
This is delicious “comfort food” recipe that we found in Cook’s Illustrated Italian Classics, when we were looking for a way to use sage from our garden. This recipe isn’t as quick as some of our weeknight dishes, but you could easily make it on a weekend and have the leftovers (if there are any) the following week. We weren’t really sure if we would like this recipe the first time we made it, since we (I) aren’t huge fans of stew-like dishes, but we were pleasantly surprised. It has just the right amount of stew type ingredients (meat, tomatoes and mushrooms), and we love just about any recipe that includes chicken thighs. Continue reading “Chicken Cacciatore”
Potato Leek Pizza
We love pizza. As you may know, we recently discovered how easy it is to make pizza dough at home. Since then, we’ve made several different kinds of pizza, including this rather unusual Potato Leek Pizza from the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. Leeks are in season around here and this is a really good way to use them. Think of the best loaded baked potato you’ve ever had, but even better because it’s in the form of a delicious thin-crust pizza. Continue reading “Potato Leek Pizza”
Guacamole Salad
If you’ve spent any time here at FoodieLawyer, you know we are big fans of Ina Garten. The woman is a genius when it comes to food. She came up with one of our favorite side dishes for homemade Tex-Mex: guacamole salad. It’s healthy, fresh and delicious. A friend of ours who first made this salad for us loves it so much that she would sometimes make a batch to eat for lunch all week. It’s that good! Continue reading “Guacamole Salad”
Korean Chicken
This is a great weeknight meal because it uses just a few simple ingredients, and you can do the majority of the cooking either the night before or the morning of your meal. The chicken cooks in less than an hour with very little attention, and the flavor is amazing – spicy yet tangy at the same time. This recipe is a good example of how easy it can be to cook Asian food at home that is as delicious (or even more delicious) than your favorite take-out. One of these days, we ought to throw a dinner party featuring this dish and some of our other home-cooked Asian specialties. Continue reading “Korean Chicken”
Pasta and Vegetables with Warm Lemon Vinaigrette
Since we still have a few Meyer lemons on our tree, we’ve been looking for good new recipes featuring lemon as a key ingredient. We came across this pasta recipe and decided to try it. We also like the fact that it is a vegetarian dish (and by “we,” I mean me. Dan is less enthusiastic about my one-vegetarian-meal-per-week initiative.) This recipe also meets our criteria of being easy for a weeknight. Although we served the pasta with a sauteed chicken dish, it could easily be its own main dish. Continue reading “Pasta and Vegetables with Warm Lemon Vinaigrette”
Duck Breast Prosciutto
Apparently, January is the time for new culinary experiences here at FoodieLawyer. First, we made bread. Now, we’re curing meat in our garage. We are participating in “CharcutePalooza,” which is a year-long collective effort of a group of bloggers to execute monthly challenges using “charcuterie” — a collection of ancient methods for preserving meats. Michael Ruhlman’s book on charcuterie is the guide for each of the challenges. First up, duck breast prosciutto. Continue reading “Duck Breast Prosciutto”
Weekly Menu (Jan. 15)
Saturday
- Roasted Game Hen, Cheese Grits with Green Chiles, Brussels Sprouts
Sunday
- Pasta with Persephone’s White Bolognese, Salad
Monday
- Fish Tacos, Avocado Slices, Chips and Salsa
Tuesday
- New York Strips with Little Italy Relish, Lemon Pasta
Wednesday
- Potato Leek Soup, Rustic Italian Bread
Thursday
- Big Steak Salad (with Leftover Steak)
Friday
- Dinner Out
Pico de Gallo
If you’re familiar with Tex-Mex cooking at all, you know that pico de gallo is a staple of this type of cuisine. Even though we don’t cook Tex-Mex all that often at home, we certainly eat a lot of it at local restaurants. We never really considered making homemade pico, until we found the recipe for “Disappearing” Pork Tenderloin, which includes pico de gallo as a topping for the pork. One of the great things about pico is how versatile it is — you can use it with many different dishes (not all of which are traditionally Tex-Mex), from pork tenderloin, to tacos, to fish. Delicioso! Continue reading “Pico de Gallo”