Polenta: Italy’s Cornbread Who knew cornmeal could make such a tasty dish? As a native Texan, I grew up eating cornbread, so I know cornmeal has outstanding merits. But until tonight I had never attempted to make my own polenta. Although time consuming and a bid monotonous (after the roux anything seems like a breeze), once I turned the polenta…
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All Hail l’Ail
All hail l’ail. Looks can be deceiving. Dinner tonight did not resemble the masterpiece (ahem, airbrushed) photographed in my cookbook. But despite its more humble appearance, the Roasted Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic was sumptuous. I should have browned the chicken longer for a more rich color; however, it was cooked perfectly and fell off the bone into a…
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Italian Meatloaf
Re-entry is hard. We are all tired, still on an adrenaline high from the Longhorns victory at the Rose Bowl and our visit to Disneyland. Our homecoming has been a big dose of reality. A post-holiday messy house, laundry up through the chimney, and the realization that all the hustle and bustle of Christmas is no more than the usual…
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December 31, 2005
In which we begin our 9th year…. Husband & I are celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary tonight as well as the end of another year. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at La Fonda San Miguel last night. After all the hustle and bustle in my own kitchen for Christmas, I thoroughly enjoyed a night out. My knife nipped fingers and…
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Baked Ham & Cheese Risotto
Ah…were it always like tonight. Yesterday, (before my knife injury) I made a Risotto, Ham and Cheese dish for this evening. The recipe recommended making the dish in advance for the flavors to blend. So, with the main dish already prepared, my time in the kitchen was brief consisting of only blanching green beans, roasting red and yellow peppers and…
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Sea Bass in a Leek & Red Bell Pepper Sauce
As luck would have it, the day I decide to keep a cooking journal (of sorts), I sliced through my left ring finger with the Wusthof knife I got for Christmas. Sadly, I cannot type….gladly, however, I did muddle through the recipes I am trying for this evening’s meal. In addition to the incredibly sharp Japanese-style knife, husband gave me…
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