Awhile back I made this recipe, but decided to alter it just a bit from the last version. I wanted a pronounced lemon flavor, and wanted the lamb to be utterly tender, so I marinated the meat for 24 hours, turning the bag a couple of times during that period. I used a larger leg of lamb (Australian boneless, from Costco), so have changed the recipe to accommodate that. If you have a smaller roast, just reduce the marinade quantities some. The recipe is very forgiving. The lemon juice, however, helps to tenderize the meat, so it needs contact with the protein for a longer period. Steven Raichlen’s recipe is a good one, and I merely enhanced it, I believe. It comes from his book, The Barbecue! Bible, a book I turn to over and over again for grilling ideas.

The result? The meat was utterly tender and very tasty with the oregano rub and the hint of lemon. The lemon did not overpower it at all. I used our Meyer lemons, since we have so many of them right now. You have lemons? Use this recipe for a lovely meal. If you don’t have a rotisserie, just grill the roast over heat until it’s brown, then away from the heat (indirect cooking method) until it’s cooked through to your liking. Rare? Take it out at 140. Medium? Remove at 160. Our roast was not an even thickness, so we removed it at 160 and the center was still nicely red/medium rare. Delicious. The leftovers will go into my favorite Shepherd’s Pie with Chipotle Sweet Potatoes. A real treat and one Dave and I always enjoy.
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A year ago: Pork Ragu on Pasta
Two years ago: Triple Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Sauce

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Last week we made a purchase . . . of a Brinkman electric smoker (at Home Depot, for about $70). I’ve wanted one for a long time, but it meant just one more “appliance,” and this one with storage issues. But with only one kitchen oven at our house at the desert, initially I thought we’d smoke the turkey. But we ended up not doing so – we baked the turkey and all the sides were able to go in the heated oven once the turkey was removed, and the turkey rested (foil tented). It worked out just fine. But in the interim, we did buy a smoker anyway. We bought an electric one because I figured my DH would not really want to tend to the briquettes over many, long hours of slow cooking. That was probably a good decision, although you can’t control the temperature much with an electric smoker.

First, I wanted to give the smoker a test run, so I bought a beef brisket. I dutifully read the brochure that came with the smoker. It indicated about 25-30 minutes per pound of brisket. Having had no experience with a smoker I assumed it was correct. I also went online to read some of the smoker websites to get another opinion. They all said about the same thing. Well, no the time was wrong, maybe because of the small size. I really don’t know. After 2+ hours the meat had only gotten to about 110 degrees which made no sense at all. The smoker was at about 250. Finally, after another 30 minutes and hardly any increase in temp, we brought it in the house, I wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven for about another 1 1/2 hours. THEN it was cooked through and tender as could be. Everybody enjoyed the meat, once it was cooked enough. Uhm. Shall I tell you what time we ate? Probably about 8:30 pm. Not one of my finer moments!

So I should have learned that the smoking meat seems to take longer than you might think. So a few days later I bought two 7-pound pork shoulder roasts. We were having a big dinner party for 18 people (well, 15 adults, 2 youngsters and a 2-year old baby). First I brined the roasts in a store-bought brining mix. I started this a day before, and they brined overnight. Then I dried off the roasts with copious sheets of paper towels, then patted the roasts all over with a store-bought rub for pork. Then they went into the preheated smoker. For hours and hours. With some mesquite wood chips and a pan of water in the bottom. The roasts smoked for about 6 hours. Not long enough. But at least they were cooked. I ended up having to slice the meat rather than pulling it apart, as was my plan. The flavor was stupendous, though. And we can’t wait to try it again. I now have a smoker cookbook in hand, and will use some of its sage advice before we try the next smoked meat. I made a Kansas City-style cole slaw (not memorable, no mayo, slightly sweet), some of the delicious garbanzo bean salad with Feta, green onions and cilantro, a friend brought a green salad, and I served the pork for soft sandwiches. I also made a new batch of the red peppers for meat, which went well with the pork sandwiches. And I had a generous bottle of barbecue sauce for those who wanted it that way. We ate one whole roast and part of the second one. Hungry crowd. I’ll let you know how the next one turns out.

Two years ago: Free-form turkey tortilla soup (from leftover Thanksgiving turkey)

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These ribs were just awfully-darned good. Especially with that sauce you can see there beside them. This is another recipe from the cooking class I took earlier this week. All about pork. These were Berkshire ribs – so delicious. But I’d eat these with just regular pork just to have them. The sauce is SO easy; I kid you not. The time consuming thing is baking the ribs for 2 hours before you can grill them or brown them a bit. At the very last minute (no more than 5) you can slather them with the sauce, and serve the sauce on the side as well.

Each of us got 2 ribs to enjoy. Not nearly enough, although everything served to us that night was  pork, and there were no sides. No salad. No veggies. Nothing. I craved something to go with it, even some cole slaw or salad. But, these were good nonetheless. This recipe may be the first one I make.

The ribs are patted heavily with a dry rub – in this case the chef used one called “Butt Rub,” from Bad Byron. It’s salt, pepper, granulated onion, granulated garlic, paprika, chipotle powder, and a non-caking agent. Nothing else, so you could try to make it yourself. I just don’t know the proportions, but what I wrote here is the order listed on the label. Anyway, then the ribs were placed in a disposable pan and ordinary root beer was added, about 1/2 inch deep. They were covered well, then baked for 2 hours in a 325 oven. Meanwhile you make the sauce in the blender (or food processor) and simmer it for 20-30 minutes. Easy. It contains sweet onions, garlic, red bell peppers, canned tomatoes, some bottled hot sauce (not Tabasco, but some other kind of bottled spicy red sauce), brown sugar and lemon juice.

We still have some baby backs in the freezer from our 4-H pig from 2008. I think this would make an outstanding dinner for two. We have just about enough to share between two of us. No, you can’t have any!
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A year ago: Mexican Chicken Salad Take Two

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Here on this blog I’ve talked about Cindy Pawlcyn before. She’s the famous chef from Mustard’s Grill in Yountville. And Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. I wrote up a restaurant review of the latter, back in 2007 after my friend Cherrie and I ate there. My friend Linda gave me the ‘>Mustard’s Grill cookbook a couple of years ago. I’ve not made very many dishes from it (don’t know if I’ve even written up a single one), but Linda has been telling me that I needed to try the Mongolian Pork Chops. Finally, I did. They’re really good. Not too spicy hot – just seasoned highly with Asian condiments. According to the recipe in the cookbook, this is one of the menu favorites at the restaurant.

We used the last of our precious 4-H pig pork chops (the Berkshire pig we bought last summer) for this. They were oh-so tender. I had bone-in chops, not boneless, as you can see from the photo above. You can use either one, although the original recommends bone-in, exactly 1-inch thick.

You prepare a marinade that contains a lot of hoisin sauce (more of that than anything else), plus a tad of sugar, soy sauce, sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, a scallion, some hot sauce, black bean chile sauce, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and some cilantro (including some chopped stems). The pork is marinated in that mixture for at least 3 hours, or overnight (overnight is better), then grilled briefly to get grill marks, then slowly cooked to 139 degrees (still slightly pink in the middle).

To accompany this I sautéed some sugar snap peas and mushrooms in a little butter, then during the last minute of cooking I added some rice wine vinegar (about a tablespoon) and a very small splash of dark sesame oil.  The mixture gave the sugar snaps a little Asian twist.
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A year ago: Chocolate Spice Cupcakes
Two years ago: Spicy Garlic Cashew Chicken (oh yes, EVER so good)

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For my dear hubby’s birthday dinner (celebrated a couple of weeks late) that we had with friends last weekend, I knew his first choice would be beef. Steaks, specifically. Good steaks. Make that really good steaks. Our favorites are rib eyes. We made the mistake two summers ago of buying USDA Prime steaks at our local independent market/butcher. We both thought we’d died and gone to heaven. Now we’re spoiled, and don’t want the regular, pedestrian steaks at all. Costco to the rescue.

Now, in case you don’t know about it, Costco now carries (at least in our part of the country) prime steaks. The story goes like this (according to our local newspaper Food Editor, Cathy Thomas), because of the recession, fewer people are going to steakhouses. Or if they are, they’re perhaps not ordering those fantastically thick high-ticket steaks for which they charge an arm and leg. So the beef distributors have had to find new avenues for the extra-tender beef. Enter Costco on the scene. Their prime rib eye steaks are about $8-11 apiece, packaged in fours. Generally Dave and I share ONE steak. For this dinner I prepared 4 steaks for 6 of us, assuming maybe the guys would like an extra portion. Actually, we had enough leftover to serve dinner to friends the next night.

Over the years I’ve learned to trust Hugh Carpenter. He’s one knowledgeable chef. And an innovative menu creator. In addition, he and his wife have authored several cookbooks. Either last year or the year before, when we celebrated Dave’s birthday with this same group of friends (we all bring out our very special – read expensive – red wines to share with one another), we had another one of his recipes: Rib eye Steaks with Amazing Glaze. That one is a real favorite of ours. I’ve made it many, many times, always to raves. But I didn’t want to serve the same thing, so I went to his book, Hot Barbecue (where the other Amazing Glaze rib eye recipe came from also), and chose this one.

Carpenter explained that although the recipe requires a few steps to prepare, it’s worth it. It requires that you have a fairly extensive spice cupboard. It also requires a bit of sitting time (for the steaks to absorb the spice flavors). And you have to make the red pepper sauce. That was the most amount of work in the total prep. And even that wasn’t all that difficult. Just took a bit of time sitting on the stovetop simmering away (to reduce the quantity). The sauce becomes a bed for the steak. The steaks were slathered with minced fresh garlic, then the spice mixture was patted on. They sat for 8 hours in the refrigerator so they’d absorb the flavor.

The spice mixture was fun to make (well, it was for me, anyway). First a group of whole spices (pictured left) were toasted in a dry skillet (allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and whole cloves). They required a bit of stirring (no burning allowed), but once the pan got up to a high heat, they began to smoke lightly. Immediately I turned off the flame and poured the spices out onto a plate to cool. Those were then whizzed up in my spice grinder (it’s a coffee grinder, but I dedicate it for spices). Other items were added to the mix: chile powder, dark brown sugar, dry thyme, dry mustard, salt and freshly grated nutmeg. That’s it.

The red pepper sauce is composed of bottled roasted red peppers, chicken stock, red wine, honey and some spicy Asian hot sauce. Be careful of the hot sauce – once it’s boiled down to a thicker consistency, that will heighten the spiciness (heat). Do not add salt.

Dave was more interested in this dinner menu than usual – because he really wanted the wine to pair well with the food. We brought out a very special bottle of wine. Those of you who know my husband already, will find it no surprise that he tells lots of stories. (He’s a gregarious kind of guy, can walk into just about any room, crowded or not, and make conversation with total strangers, and will tell stories about sailing, or his artificial legs, or a trip we’ve taken.)

A few months ago we were shopping at our number one upscale market (Bristol Farms) in Newport Beach. If we go there together (it’s a 30-minute drive from our house to Newport Beach), Dave will leave me to go through the aisles, while he spends most of the time in the wine department. The store has one wine cabinet that’s all locked up, but you can see the wines inside. And their price tags. (This story has made the rounds of all of our friends, Dave is so proud of himself!) As he glanced in the rows behind glass he spotted a 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Anyone into wine knows that’s one really great French label. We rarely buy French wine. But as Dave examined the label, he knew – bingo – that’s the bottle we have at home. THEN he looked at the price tag. Of course, an upscale market would charge a premium for all their wines. But, gee whiz. Big but gee whiz. They are charging $850.00 for it. Wow. Yikes. Zippity-do-dah! He came – all but running to find me – to tell me about it. And THAT’s the wine we drank with dinner last Saturday. Somebody gave us a bottle of 1990 Lafite Rothschild nearly 20 years ago. We think the bottle was given to us by our friend Russ – the little scribble on the label says 7/93 Ru–? B’day. We think that means Russ gave it to Dave for his birthday in 1993. If so, Russ, we THANK YOU. Likely it was nowhere near that much money in 1993.

So how was it, you ask? Well, we decanted it and let it air for an hour, and poured it into our Reidel Bordeaux/Cabernet wine glasses. We did all the snobby wine things – swirling, sniffing, more swirling, looking through the glass to see the clarity, more swirling and sniffing. The bouquet was beyond wonderful. Had that slightly brown side of red color. It was sensational. Not worth $850 for sure, but we’re grateful for the bottle. We each had a small glass of it with our appetizers (a Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spread on Garlic-Oregano Grilled Pita Bread, some Caramelized Onion on toasted baguette slices and some Brie with blackberries). I’ll be posting ALL of the recipes from this dinner in coming days.

Then I served a chilled Avocado Soup (like Guacamole in a glass) with a spoon, which we enjoyed before we sat down to dinner. We ate outside by candlelight to the low-setting sun. We opened a bottle of Jordan Cabernet, then a magnum of Canoe Ridge Cab.

Now, let’s get back to this fabulous meat . . . those spice-marinated rib eyes (pictured right, as they squeezed into a ceramic bowl to “marinate”) were put onto the hot grill, seared both sides, then put off to the side (not over direct heat, in a racked pan) to continue cooking until they reached about 123 degrees F (medium rare). Meanwhile, I had cooked some fresh corn on the cob and slathered the hot ear halves with a little bit of butter, then sprinkled them with the spice mix I used on the steak (I just made more of it from the beginning). The corn was a real highlight. I’ll be writing up a separate blog post about that. I also set out a Lebanese Layered Salad (which was ever so good). When the steaks were served I slathered a bit of the red pepper sauce on the piping hot plates, put the steak on top, then sprinkled it with fresh goat cheese chèvre and minced cilantro. Dinner was done. The rib eyes were fantastic. I don’t use that word all that often. They were SO good – the sauce and spice rub made it, though. I didn’t think I’d like the goat cheese, but it also was a nice foil to the beef. Yes, indeed, I’ll be making that recipe again. And maybe I’ll be making just the sauce by itself (Carpenter suggested you could use it in a variety of other ways) and freezing small portions so when we have a steak next time we can have more of that slather.

For dessert I wanted to make tiramisu, because it’s one of Dave’s favorites anyway. I had a new recipe (via America’s Test Kitchen). It was really, really good. I’ll post all the recipes in the next week. I apologize for this loooong recipe for the steak. It’s really not that hard. Believe me! And worth the time for sure.
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A year ago: Wellesley Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two years ago: Goat Cheese Chive Muffins (a favorite)

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Can you really see the chop? Nicely charred on the outside. Tender and juicy on the inside. Perfectly grilled to 120 degrees F. Covered in a lovely mixture of herbs, garlic and olive oil.

The herbs, L-R: Italian parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage leaves underneath and some oregano.

There they are raw – with the herb mixture packed on. Ready for the grill. These were ever-so easy to make (took about 10 minutes to cut the herbs, chop and combine, another minute to slather them on the meat). My DH grilled them for 2 minutes per side over high heat, then put them off on a medium-low burner for about 8-9 minutes, until the meat thermometer registered 120. We left them tented with foil for 5 minutes and devoured them. The chops are available at our Costco – lovely 1 1/2 inch thick rib chops from New Zealand. Seven of them were about $16. We ate two apiece and there’s enough left for me to have one and my DH another two at another meal.
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A year ago: Flank Steak with an Orange Marinade
Two years ago: Roasted Poblano Asiago Soup (a southwestern treat – one of my fav’s)

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A vote was taken a couple of mornings ago on what the crew wanted for dinner. The consensus was chicken. I just had to find a new recipe, that was all. The first book I turned to, Hot Barbecue by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison, had just the thing. A marinated chicken in Caribbean-type spices and influences. We had chicken breasts and thighs in the freezer. The marinade was not difficult at all – just some different things in it than you might think for a chicken brew. Orange zest, orange juice, olive oil, Grand Marnier (yum), brown sugar, soy, a bit of Asian chile sauce to give it a tiny hint of heat, fresh mint, fresh ginger, then freshly grated nutmeg, some allspice and cinnamon.

I had a fresh pineapple sitting out, and it was the PERFECT accompaniment to this chicken, grilled along side the chicken pieces. I also made a green salad (with veggies) and since I’d made more of the Caesar dressing than the recipe indicated from the Caesar the other day (I had a hunch we’d use it), we ate the last of it with the salad accompanying this meal. I made some home-made croutons with some leftover baguette we also had, tossed with the garlic and Parmesan butter we had also. The bread cubes, once tossed with the melted garlic butter I baked in the oven (convection-bake) for 4 minutes at 400. They were perfect – slightly crunchy on the outside and still slightly soft on the inside of each crouton. Once the chicken was grilled, along with the pineapple slices, I garnished the chicken with cilantro and mint (chopped). The little bit of sugar (brown, plus from the juice and Grand Marnier) made the outside of the chicken slightly crispy. I liked that. I’ll be making this again.

It’s now 2 days later and my DH and I have been enjoying the leftovers of this. The marinade permeates the entire chicken – it’s even more prominent in the cold chicken than it was hot off the grill. The breasts were a little on the dry side, so the grilled pineapple was a great side for the chicken too.

A year ago: Chocolate Ribbon Dessert
Two years ago: Tex-Mex Jicama Salad

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Can you say that five times fast without stuttering? Will you laugh with me as I say this is a mouthful? Ha! These luscious quesadillas are filled with cheddar, jack and goat cheese. And mushrooms. Draped over them are strips of grilled (marinated first) skirt steak. On each quesadilla is a dollop of salsa verde (tomatillos, jalapeno, garlic and cilantro), and the light colored sauce on the steak is aioli mayonnaise zipped up with mustard, vinegar and chipotle chiles in adobo sauce.

Skirt (flap) steak is thin and takes a short time on the grill.

Skirt steak – also called flap steak – is a fairly thin meat that is very flavorful. It’s a tender cut, but likes to be marinated too. Only caution – don’t overcook it or it will be tough. Grilling the meat for about 4 minutes on each side is about right. Adjust a minute either way depending on the thickness.

There are several steps to this steak entree. However, I assure you, it will be worth the effort. I just wish I had a sous chef here in my kitchen to do some of the chopping and mincing required. When I win the lottery . . . Since that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, guess I’ll have to do the work!

All the steps in this meal are quite easy, however, so don’t let the length of the recipe deter you from trying it. First you need to marinate the meat overnight (makes it more tender and lots more flavorful). You can make the aioli the day ahead (it’s cinchy, actually). The salsa verde isn’t all that hard since it’s cooked in a saucepan, then poured into a blender with the other ingredients. So really, it’s not all that difficult either. That you want to make an hour or so before eating as the cilantro begins to break down after that.

The quesadilla is baked in a 400 oven for about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile you need to get all the quesadilla filling ready. They are assembled about 20-30 minutes before dinner and are popped in a 400 oven. During that baking time, you’ll prepare the steak – it gets drained, blotted with paper towels, then grilled (outdoor or inside stovetop) for about 4 or so minutes each side until it’s barely done and still pink in the middle. For the quesadillas you will use – if available where you live – Mission brand tortillas. (Frankly, I never buy them, because they’re a kind of cheap-o brand – others are better.) But for this purpose, you want a more pastry-like flour tortilla and Mission brand are exactly what’s needed. Once the quesadillas are baked, cut them up into wedges (each person eats half of a quesadilla), put them on a piping hot plate and add the skirt steak strips, the salsa and the aioli. Garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro and you’re done. The recipe is Phillis Carey’s, from a cooking class a couple of weeks ago. If you like Mexican food, you’ll really enjoy this. It’s easy enough to make these kid-friendly too or for the palate-challenged (without the chipotle chiles if you so choose). Make the sauces, just reduce the “heat” if you must.
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A year ago: Lemon Ginger Frozen Yogurt
Two years ago: Avocado Butter (an appetizer for crackers)

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Ever had skirt steak? It’s an odd piece of beef – also called a flap steak. Comes from the belly of the steer, sometimes covering part of the ribs or below. Often it’s covered in silverskin (which needs to be removed – get your butcher to do it for you ). It can be chewy – that’s why you marinate it. It’s tasty, though, and perfect for grilling. The steak itself is thin – very thin actually – and when it cooks it shrinks, big time. You can grill it on an outdoor, or stovetop grill, either one. Cut it up into manageable pieces (like it halves or thirds (about the size of your hand). It cooks up in no time (remember, it’s thin) so it only takes a couple of minutes per side (until it’s still pink in the middle). You remove it to a cutting board and slice it across the grain (there’s a definite grain to skirt steak) into small strips (as in the photo above).

In this salad, the meat is marinated with lots of garlic, olive oil and pepper (and some fresh thyme sprigs). Meanwhile you make homemade croutons which are baked briefly, then combine with some tomatoes, onion, olives and arugula. Add a bit of basil and you’re done. It’s not required, but there’s a little bit of blue cheese-butter that tastes fab on the meat. That’s it. And oh, is it wonderful! The recipe came from Food & Wine, but is Suzanne Goin’s creation (she’s the chef at Lucques, in Los Angeles). If this is any representation of her recipes, I’m going to be paying a lot more attention!
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A year ago: Green Salad with Chevre Dressing
Two years ago: Cauliflower, Bacon & Mushrooms

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You know how it is about the weather influencing what you decide to cook for dinner? If it’s a rainy day I like to stay in and bake something. Cloudy, cold days often mean soup. A warm balmy night often triggers salads of some kind. Well, my bell weather was working the day before when the temps were in the 70’s and 80’s, but the next day it was cold. But I’d already decided what I wanted to make, so what can a girl do except follow through? So even though it was cool weather, I made salad for dinner.

The recipe came from a Bobby Flay episode I watched on the Food Network several years ago. It reminded me of a favorite recipe – one that won a reader’s recipe contest in Cooking Light for a Crunchy Shrimp on Couscous Salad with a yummy dressing. That’s what I was thinking about as I flipped through my to-try recipes. Mint is in season, I think, and this salad was perfect – hot, grilled marinated shrimp served on a bed of tabbouleh salad.

Since lemon and lemon juice are frequently seen in my recipes, it’s probably no surprise that I’d like tabbouleh, right? I remember exactly when I first had it – it was about 1970, served to me by a friend of my mother’s, Ruth Spilmer. Ruth was a very good cook, and one day she invited a few friends over for a lovely lunch. Remember, back in those days when most women didn’t work, that’s what we did to entertain . . . we invited lady friends over for a nice luncheon – crystal, china, the whole deal. No alcohol though. The other thing I remember about Ruth was her shoes. She always wore spiky high heels. She wore them morning, noon and night. At home, she wore the kinds with feathers around the toes. She said that for so many years she’d worn high heels that her tendons couldn’t stretch to wear flatter shoes, so she just had to wear heels from the moment she stepped out of bed. I can’t imagine! Isn’t it funny sometimes, the things you remember?

So back to this luncheon – what else Ruth served, I don’t remember, but the tabbouleh was a stand-out. I’d never had Bulgar wheat – didn’t really even understand what it was (a parboiled wheat berry that’s been sliced, chunked). But all it takes to make it chewy and edible is a soak in boiling water for an hour or two. And the addition of some key ingredients, namely lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and green onions makes it salad. Ruth always added diced cucumber and diced fresh tomatoes too. I’ve made her recipe off and on for years. So, this Bobby Flay recipe has been changed – only to make the tabbouleh salad like my friend Ruth did. We had it for leftovers a few nights later, and I just added bit more cucumber, tomato and that time I added radishes. And more arugula. So then I had to add a tad bit more lemon juice and olive oil too, but not much.
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A year ago: Salmon Filets with Orange & Leek Cream Sauce

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