baked ziti, made with a tub of our now-favorite meat sauce (riffed on from Emeril) from the freezer, to which heavy cream was added while reheating, dried chili flakes, minced fresh basil. more parm reg, full-fat shredded mozz, then into the oven for gooification, broiler for Alongside, the BF’s pretty little salad of endive, cabbage, leek, basil, parsley, toasted pine nuts, blue cheese crumbles, and a little daikon because we had it.
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Pappardelle, shrimp, asparagus, and chopped tomatoes in a light lemon-cream sauce with shallots and garlic. Probably plated way more than I should have, but it was shrimp and asparagus.
Wine. Talenti gelato for afters.
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Flap steak kebabs in a marinade of olive oil, soy sauce, smoked paprika, jalapeno powder, cumin and tons of garlic. Pan roasted cherry tomatoes and baked spaghetti squash with tons of butter and asiago cheese alongside. Portuguese red to drink. Very satisfying meal all around!
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This will be part of tomorrow’s dinner. A chuck roast smoked, rested and pulled. May smoke some chicken as well tomorrow and need to think of sides
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An old recipe from a 1959 Good Housekeeping that was updated in the mid-80s is WFD tonight: Mushroom Chicken Imperial, with basmati rice and sauteed spinach with garlic and toasted pine nuts.
Wine.
There’s The Ten Commandments on the flat screen on the night before Easter. As usual. But I’ll probably see what’s On Demand again tonight.
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I found some gorgeous asparagus today and then poked around for something to do that was more involved than my usual steam/salt/eat. Found this on food52, i almost followed the recipe but left out the brown sugar and laughed at the 1/4 tsp measure for sesame oil (i have the measuring spoon and it holds almost a drop!) so i just used a little dribble. It was easy to put together and really delicious.
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Poached chicken with Ginger and spring onions. I used small French chickens for this meal otherwise 2 normal chickens would be too much food.
I got the most expensive soy sauce for this. Had to read the label carefully to avoid the kind with all kinds of crap in it. Next time you buy soy sauce try reading the ingredient list and you’ll know why.
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Perfect
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It ended up being 84° on Easter in the Boston area. So what did I do? Yep - I turned on the oven to roast a boneless leg of lamb! Because that was our family tradition for Easter dinner. And I didn’t turn on the A/C - but I did pull out a couple of room fans for the living room and bedroom for later.
Lamb was rubbed with minced fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roasted at 450° for 20 minutes, then finished at 325° until registering 140° on an instant read thermometer.
Baby potatoes were steamed and then roasted in the convection oven after being tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of Herbs de Provence. Green beans were steamed. Wine was served, and since I didn’t make a dessert, some Cuarenta y Tres was the afters.
My appetizer was mid-afternoon - manchego, mebrillo, Marcona almonds and some grapes.
Gratuitous pics of some Easter iris and tulips, and a thoroughly unimpressed Alfalfa. Although he did appreciate ALL of the open windows. And almost went out through the slider screen to chase a bird who landed on the deck railing. Eejit.
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That lamb looks amazing, I keep going back and clicking on the picture drool
I’ve included something for fur baby Alfie
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Today was like summer- it was in the low 80s! My good friends decided to have a brunch bbq on the terrace and i volunteered to come early and help. I brought some gorgeous asparagus and eggs which i then turned into delived eggs for an appetizer- not really my thing but they were gobbled up quickly and people seemed to love them. (Only photo i took apparently)
I made the salad (massaged kale salad that my friend the hostess loves) while she made burger patties. They grilled burgers and had those on brioche buns
I had entirely too much sparkling rose, an assortment of grilled asparagus, bell pepper, salad and some of the thick corn tortilla chips.
I was full, tipsy, and ready for my nap by 5pm!
I wanted something and just steamed a big pile of edamame, sprinkled with flakey salt. Side of sliced cucumber and baby carrots with furikake
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We hosted an Easter brunch yesterday that ended up being an all-day rager! The weather was gorgeous and our guests seemed to be hitting it off, so after some drinks on the porch and some more drinks on the porch, before I knew it it was 11pm! Luckily we have a couple of spare beds and plenty of couches, because we had crashers.
Anyway, dinner itself was really wonderful (if I do say so myself). I went a little overboard with the menu and dirtied virtually every dish in the kitchen, but it was worth it. The mains were smoked pork shoulder with a balsamic-mustard BBQ sauce and sous vide salmon on minted pea puree. The salmon was FABULOUS - this was my first time doing it sous vide and the texture was really incredible. I followed Serious Eats’ method/temp/timing instructions - 118 degrees for 30 minutes and then two minutes under the broiler to crisp the skin, and it was perfect. I might even try 115 next time if I’m just cooking for myself.
Everyone gobbled up the potato gratin and Parker house rolls (yay carbs!), but the fennel slaw was the surprise hit of the party - shredded fennel, red cabbage, carrots and radishes with a dressing of ACV, mayo, coriander and fennel pollen, plus TONS of cilantro and fresh serrano peppers. Really good. Deviled pickled eggs were also well received (I have yet to make any kind of deviled egg and not have every single one be eaten!).
Tried Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe for pineapple upside down cake and IMO it was a fail - very dense, dry and sweet cake. I think next time I do pineapple upside down, I’ll try it with a sponge cake, so that it will nicely absorb juice or rum after the fact.
I took photos of the appetizers and cake but forgot to get any of the main meal, whoops! BTW, apparently vegetables are out - this crudite platter went completely untouched!
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@biondanonima, aww… I would be all over the crudite. The rest looks lovely as well.
@LindaWhit, nice looking lamb. I really like your app, though!
@chowdom, thank you!
You people who made all those eggs… hats off. Too much work for me. 
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Thanks! The dip in the center is delicious too - homemade with fresh dill. I was really surprised it didn’t get touched, but when there are deviled eggs to be had… 
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Made a big batch of lamb meatballs. It’s also the rest of my lamb mince. It’s going to be mostly chicken and Spanish(-style) food til June.
In the mince: harissa paste, kebab spice mix, raw onions and garlic.
Sauce: tinned and some fresh tomatoes, Turkish red pepper paste, more onions.
Grated turmeric and olive oil stirred into the warm pearl couscous.
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Ohhh, those lamb meatballs look wonderful, Presunto!
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That sounds like a fantastic delicious success!! I suspect there was just Too Much Good Stuff to have the crudite tempt people- but now you can make an awesome chopped salad with the leftovers and dip!
Your pickled eggs are so professional looking and that fennel salad sounds like such a great combo…
Back from Mt Shasta . Great to put food on the stove again . Simple salad with radish and romaine . Baby asparagus cooked in butter mixed with eggs topped with Monterey Bay rock crab . Wine to drink . 
Cheers .
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Left over from the 5 spices pull pork, by adding parsley and potatoes and fresh onion, there it goes, it even looks like a bistrot dish, but still the strong taste of ginger and spices and a tat of sweetness, it is no way an European dish.
I followed this brocoli in a small shrimp sauce from a Pierre Gagnaire recipe book. I used 45 minutes to get rid of the shells of the shrimps! The head and the shells was then cooked and infused with hot water for 15 minutes. After filtration of the liquid, add butter and potato starch, add brocoli stem and shrimp and heated up gently. Added the sauce onto the cooked brocoli. The dish was good, but I don’t think I want to peel the crevettes gris again.
A classic, mackerel coated with a Dijon mustard sauce: butter, chopped onion, lemon juice, lemon zest, cream. Cook the fish in oven for 25 minutes. Delicious.
Lamb from Allaiton, heavenly good. Sided with an endive risotto. I couldn’t find a white wine for cooking, I just open a Domain Martin Judd Riesling, a 2010 bottle. the dish was so fulfilling. And the drink!
For dessert, our neighbour bought from Brittany a Far - Far Breton, it’s a flan. It’s ok, H loved it. I’m not that much a fan of flan dessert. This one is more dense than a pudding.
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Yeah, will be Spanish here too… COTQ will be fun!
@biondanonima
Easter brunch is very colourful, I’m sure it tastes as good too. Sorry for the pineapple cake, is it the same concept as the upside down apple tartan, instead of puffy pastry you make a cake? I would like to give a try. I tried a apple and mango tartan, was good.
@Scubadoo97
I want to be there to try your pulled pork! Like smoke flavour.
