Low carb copycat version of Olive Garden’s zuppa Toscana (i.e. the only thing worth eating at Olive Garden). Bacon, Italian sausage, shallots, garlic and kale, plus rich homemade chicken stock, half and half and lots of black pepper. Topped with copious amounts of Parmigiano reggiano. Would have been better with a big hunk of bread, but that would defeat the purpose of the low carb makeover! 
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Thai Panang Curry Chicken
Brown 3 cut up chicken breasts in coconut oil and Evoo, as well as 4 medium potatoes and a 4 carrots in my wok.
Deglazed the wok with Shao Xing wine
In a separate Le Braiser, Creuset
I add 13.5 ounces of the lighter part of the coconut milk and half a bottle of the 7 ounce of maesri red curry paste( I used to buy the 4 ounce one that comes in a can but could not find it so used the 7 ounce in a jar) , to a Le Creuset braising pot, let it simmer in medium heat until oil was rendered .
Then I added the browned chicken and vegetables to the le Creuset braising pot,Add bay leaf, the zest and juice of 2 limes( had a Meyer Lemon from my garden ready to add but did not need to use it to substitute for amir leaves and lemongrass as they are not readily available in my grocery ), Grind some black pepper and 2 tablespoon of Indonesian satay sauce. When chicken was tender, I added the reserved coconut cream, let it thicken a bit.
I did not have any vegetables in fridge, so opened a can of green beans, but think the beans are too soft and so, will just eat it as a side dish. There is a lot of gravy ( ?) so, it will be great with rice.
Not willing to go out and get garnish as it is darn cold and raining! It will do as long as it taste good.
Taste pretty good with rice. I guess this is my meal for the next 2-3 days
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Tyler Florence’s hunter’s minestrone adding green beans and leftover grilled zucchini. A little bit of shell pasta to entice the kiddo.
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Panang red curry chicken
Forgot I added tons of garlic, ginger and precooked caramelized onions
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I love the before and after pictures ccj! Looks amazing - enjoy the next three days
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A quiet day.
Patriots won. 
Marinated a couple of BISO chicken breasts in a buttermilk mixture noted in the recipe below. Only marinated for about 8 hours, and while it was moist, there wasn’t much flavor, even after adding Aleppo pepper. My search continues for a good buttermilk marinade.
Rice pilaf and roasted Brussels sprouts with Penzeys Tuscan Sunset and s/p.
Wine.
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Totally agree. Doesn’t add much flavor. How about homemade buttermilk ranch?
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I think I have to add WAY more of the additional ingredients than many recipes call for: Salt, pepper, herbs, saffron, paprika, curry, cayenne pepper, etc. Whatever blend of herbs and spices I like.
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Spaetzle with beef bacon, gruyere, sauteed red onion, thyme and pepper, with peas, green beans and a mixed salad tonight.
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I do not roast chicken breast , only use it like my recipe above or when I poach it for chicken salad etc.
I like using chicken breast using Kenji Lopez Serious Eat’s pounded chicken breast fillet marinaded in buttermilk then pan fried after dipping it in flour, eggs and panko mixed with parmesan ( 40%-60%) then add mozzarella cheese and parmesan, into oven till
cheese melt and then add home made tomato sauce.
But here are two recipes if you want to roast it after marinading with buttermilk that might work
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I’m making spaetzle for Christmas . I haven’t made it in ages . Any tips or recipe used . Going to push the batter through a colander into hot water.
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We loved Bistro D’Azur so much that we went back a week later for another outstanding dinner. Details and mouth watering pictures are in the below link for those that are interested.
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You should know by now that I’m not much of a recipe cook. For 2 HUGE servings, I put a cup of flour in a bowl, salt and pepper it well, add an egg and enough water to make a thick pancake-like batter. Then you and I diverge. I am totally hooked on this apparatus. You just spoon the batter into the carrier and thrust it back and forth over the pot of boiling water, In seconds your entire batch is in the pot, cooked and floating, ready to be scooped out/drained.
Spaetzle are my dinner party secret weapon and family comfort food.
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I use the imported bagged spaetzle mostly. The recipe on my spaetzle grater worked well. It’s fairly basic. Flour, eggs, salt. I guess don’t overmix the batter so they aren’t dense or tough.
Recipes are just a guide. You should see my focaccia from a recipe tonight. Under cooked dough with a hard crust. You know where that’s going . Lol
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This is how we got hooked on spaetzle. But the bagged, dried ones took so long to cook, like 20 minutes. I can literally leave a dinner party table, stir the ingredients together and have spaetzle on the table in under or around 5 minutes.
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Two dinners fails tonight. Made birria de res for tomorrow’s dinner, wanted to try making quesabirria, those amazing tacos that are all the talk in the Bay Area right now. But I cut the recipe by about 3/4 and then overdid it on seasoning, and it’s way too clove-y. I’ll shred the meat tomorrow and we’ll have it for tacos, but I don’t want to use the broth.
And tonight’s dinner - sort of a carbonara. It tasted quite good, but it was too dry. I added panko bread crumbs fried in the bacon fat, and also those TJs fried onions I can’t get enough of. I actually did use the pasta water, but it all got sucked up. The BF can doctor it up when he eats the leftovers as his late night snack.
MEH. Just one of those nights.
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