Pork Chops in the Fall

Living in San Diego means that we don't get many clues for the changing of the seasons. Fall is just like any other month of the year: warm, clear, sunny. So instead of relying on the rain or changing leaves to tell me it's the fall, I change my cooking habits.

So for the first posting in a long time, here's a quick and simple way to enjoy the harvest season.

Marinated Pork Chops with Cranberry Sauce

For the cranberry sauce:
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 bag (12 oz) whole, fresh cranberries, rinsed
2 t. apple cider vinegar

2 t. cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger
2 t. thyme
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 T. kosher salt
1 t. black pepper
2 center cut, bone in pork chops, no more than 3/4" thick.

First, for the cranberries:

• The cranberry sauce recipe comes straight off the back of the bag, except I add a little apple cider vinegar at the end. You can omit it if you like or substitute a little orange or apple juice.
• Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 20-30 minutes until thick and all cranberries have popped.
  
• Cool for 10 minutes but keep warm.

Now the chops:

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag.
• Add pork chops and toss with the marinade to coat evenly. Let rest for up to 4 hours, but at least 30 minutes. If you're going to marinate for more than an hour, place the chops in the refrigerator. Take them out to marinate on the counter an hour before you plan to cook them.
  
• Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet (cast iron is best) over medium heat. The oil should be very hot and shimmer in the pan. (You can add a small amount of pork fat to the pan and if it immediately begins to fry, you know the pan is ready)
• Add the pork chops to the pan and cook for about 6-8 minutes until the chops are nicely browned on the bottom. Turn over.
• Cook for another 4-6 minutes on the second side or until the chops are cooked through, but slightly pink in the middle.
• Allow the chops to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with cranberry sauce and applesauce.
  

Visiting the Parents: Lunch

Yes, I know. I've been very bad at updating this little blog of mine. Easter was how many months ago? 

I am up in the North Bay visiting my parents and family for the weekend. A quick lunch was in order, and here's what we cooked up.

Mixed Berry Salad

Spinach with lemon garlic vinaigrette

Grilled cheese with cheddar and Reggiano

I am sure you were expecting something a bit more gourmet, but frankly there is hardly a better lunch out there.

The berries were simple: sliced strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and mango (for fun). Toss them together and walk away for five minutes.

Here's the vinaigrette recipe:

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, halved

1 tsp. dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. each fresh thyme and rosemary

1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil

Mix the first five ingredients together in a bowl or mason jar. While whisking continuously, add olive oil. If you're using a mason jar, add half the oil, shake vigorously, then add the second half and repeat.

When you're plating your salad, toss a few pinches of fresh herbs (or in this case a mixture of cayenne pepper, thyme, and paprika) on top along with fresh cracked pepper.

The grilled cheese was a simple mix of sliced cheddar and grated Reggiano. I grill my sandwiches on cast iron (the best) to a dark brown.

Enjoy! More updates to come, I promise.

Poached Salmon with Fennel

There are dozens of ways to prepare fish, but what of the healthiest ways is poaching. Poaching is simply cooking foods, proteins typically, in simmering water. 

You can do this on the stovetop in a dutch oven or saucepan, but I actually find that using a glass dish and your oven (set to 325°) is more gentle and leads to more tender fish. 

Here's the technique:

• Pre-heat oven to 325°
• In a baking dish place two pinches of kosher salt, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon of dried dill. 
• Pour boiling water 3/4 up the sides of the baking dish. Stir to dissolve salt.
• Place a fillet of salmon, skin side down, into the baking dish. The water should cover the fish, but if it doesn't place some lemon slices on top to help keep the exposed fish moist.
• Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, then check the fish. When it's done, it should be pale in color and firm. 

What about the fennel? I use the same technique here as I do for my Super Onion Mixture, just without the onion. 

1 large bulb of fennel, sliced into very thin, even slices

5 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 pinches kosher salt

• Pre-heat oven to 350°
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a oven-proof skillet (cast iron if you have it)
• When hot, add the fennel and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, or until the fennel starts to appear translucent. 
• Place the skillet in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is dark brown and caramelized evenly.
  

This photo below shows the fennel with about 10 minutes of cooking time left in the oven.

Dinner for Two

Sometimes I am so grateful that I'm only cooking for two.  :)

This meal was a great end to the weekend. Simple, but really, really delicious. 

Bone-in Center Cut Pork Chops

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

Sautéed Zucchini with Garlic

We'll start with the Bone-in Center Cut Pork Chops. 

• Pre-heat oven to 375°
• Rub both sides with a spice rub of kosher salt, pepper, and dried sage. 
  
• Let rest for 10 minutes at room temperature on a clean surface (or the butcher paper they were wrapped in).
  
• Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet until hot; add chops.
• Sear both sides of the pork chops for 4 minutes per side, until dark brown.
• Place skillet into the pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes, or until the chops are cooked through.

I know you were probably taught that pork has to be cooked until it is completely white (and dry and tough for that matter), but it's really okay if there's a little pink in the center. 

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

The truth is, these are the same mashed potatoes from the previous meal. But to kick them up a bit and make them less like leftovers and more like incredibly good mashed potatoes, I added some "caramelized" onions. And honestly, they aren't true caramelized onions, which take hours to prepare. Instead these are onions that are first browned in a pan, then baked until dark brown. Not quite as good as the real thing, but certainly delicious enough.

• Slice a medium yellow onion into 1/8" slices.
• Toss into a pan with hot olive oil, and sauté for 10 minutes, or until brown, like this:

• Bake in a 350° - 375° oven for about 20 minutes, or until dark brown and soft. They will be sticky and sweet.
• Mix onions into a batch of mashed potatoes (use your favorite recipe, or this one if you don't have a favorite) and serve.

Sautéed Zucchini

Unlike the par-boil/sauté method described for vegetables like green beans, I like to simply sauté zucchini and other squash in a pan with a little oil and garlic.

• Quarter the zucchini lengthwise into spears
• Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan
• Add one clove minced garlic, and fry for a minute.
• Toss zucchini spears in the oil and sauté for 3 - 5 minutes.
• Add a splash of white wine (or water, if you must) and cover for a few minutes until the zucchini is tender.

It's that easy.

Enjoy everyone! 

Seth

Dinner for Five

Sometimes Jared thinks it's a good idea to invite people to our tiny little apartment, which is barely large enough to accommodate two of us. Tonight was one of those nights.

Our three guests, Andrew, Jessie, and Becca enjoyed the following menu. Becca, a vegetarian, opted for pan sautéed zucchini instead of the fish.

Arugula Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Red Onion, and Feta

Carrot Ginger Soup

Baked Sole with Edamame, Corn, and Chardonnay Butter Sauce, served over Mashed Potato

Mixed Berries with Grapefruit Mascarpone Cream

Here are the photos, recipe to follow.









Arugula Salad

As with most green salads that I serve with vinaigrette, I dress the greens first, then add the other ingredients. I enjoy this because it evenly distributes the dressing and allows you to use less of dressing, which if I make it, has quite a bit of oil in it.

My lemon vinaigrette is 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 3 T. of white wine vinegar, a pinch each of salt and pepper, and 1 t. of dijon mustard. Whisk or shake (in a mason jar!) to combine.

The rest of the salad is fairly obvious by the photo above:

Arugula, washed and stems removed
Toasted Walnuts
Red Onion, sliced very thin
Feta Cheese, crumbled finely

Carrot Ginger Soup

There are many ways to make this soup, but I really like the subtle ginger spice in the background in this version. Instead of roasting or pre-cooking the vegetables in any way (which you can do with excellent outcomes), I simply add the vegetables to the chicken stock, and boil until tender. The soup is finished in the blender until smooth and delicious.

2.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
Carrots, two pounds peeled and chopped into large pieces
1 large Russet Potato, peeled and quartered
1 medium piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1/8 t. ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste

• Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large stock pot or dutch oven.
• Add onion, carrots, potato, and fresh ginger pieces to the stock.
• Simmer for 8 - 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
• Reserve the fresh ginger, and transfer the rest of the soup to a blender, and blend until completely smooth.
• Return to the stock pot, and return reserved ginger. Add ground ginger, salt, and pepper. Garnish with green onion, and serve.

Baked Sole

We'll start with the basic preparation technique for sole. I use a similar technique for basically any thin fillet of fish, including catfish, tilapia, or even salmon.

Salt and pepper both sides of the fillets. Add a small amount of oil to the top and wrap in parchment. If you wish, you can add lemon slices to the parchment pouch. Place on baking sheet and bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on the size of the fillet. The flesh should flake, but be moist and no longer translucent.

The sauce is really basic, but absolutely delicious. This is NOT your everyday sauce, because eating it every day would give you a cholesterol problem. But on special occasions, it's a winner.

1 cup white wine
2 T. butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
A handful each of frozen corn and frozen edamame (substituting frozen peas is okay, too)
Fresh tarragon (optional)

• Bring the wine to a boil and reduce by half
• Add butter and whisk until the butter is melted
• Add cream and salt, and whisk until sauce comes back to a boil.
• Add frozen vegetables and stir until heated through. Your sauce will be almost boiling. Turn off heat.
• Add tarragon just before serving. This sauce will be thin and should be poured over your fish (also good on just about anything else)

Berries with Mascarpone

I love this dish. As a dessert it's plenty rich, but is packed full of nutritious berries. I make it extra special by adding grapefruit juice and zest to the Mascarpone cream.

It's all about technique: macerate the berries with a sprinkling of sugar. Set aside for 15 minutes or up to two hours.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese, 3 T. of milk, the zest from a quarter of a grapefruit, and 3 T. grapefruit juice. Add more if you want a stronger grapefruit flavor.

Top the mascarpone mixture over the berries and serve. Garnish with mint or a spoon. It's even better when you're sipping Limoncello
at the same time. :)

Soup + Salad = Dinner

This post will start with the photos:



The Salad

1 sweet potato, oven roasted for 60 minutes until tender, then cut into medallions
1 head red butter lettuce, washed and torn or chopped into bite-size pieces
Fresh goat cheese, rolled into 1" balls (enough for two per person)
Almonds, crushed into small pieces
Any vinaigrette dressing you choose (homemade if you wish)

I crush the almonds by putting them in a zip lock bag and smashing them to bits with a heavy pan. Then I toss the cheese balls into the zip lock bag and shake to coat.

Pre-dress the salad, then place a good handful on each plate. Add two cheese balls and the sweet potato (still warm). Eat. The contrasting textures, flavors, and temperatures is remarkable.

I think you'll really like this.

The Soup: Cauliflower and Potato Puree

This soup is so, so, so, so easy. It does require the use of a blender, but you can turn this into a rustic country soup by using a potato masher instead of a blender, if you prefer.

1/2 red onion
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 T. ground coriander
1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cubed
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 cups chicken stock (homemade is best)

1. Saute the red onion and whole garlic cloves in olive oil until the red onion is translucent and the garlic is slightly brown.
2. Add a pinch of kosher salt, black pepper, and ground coriander and saute for a few more minutes until the kitchen is really aromatic with the smell of coriander.
3. Add potato and cauliflower and toss to evenly coat the vegetables with the spices.
4. Add stock, cover, and simmer for 7 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
5. Blend the soup in a blender (might need to do this in a couple of batches) until smooth. Return to the cooking pot.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with bread. Garnish the soup with white truffle oil, or olive oil.
   

Happy Lunchtime!

The Return of Braised Chicken Thighs

I'll admit something here, even though I'm not particularly comfortable with the fact that you're going to learn one of my tricks: I'm a bit of a technique junky. A few months ago when I bought chicken, I bought only whole legs and roasted them. Now I can already tell that these next few months are going to be the months of braised chicken thighs. The technique is so simple, and the flavor of the dark meat is incredible.

Tonight's meal was inspired by the leftover Jicama and a nice juicy mango from the weekend grocery spree. Those two things became a reprise of my Mango & Jicama Salad, along with some red onion and half a serrano chile. I omitted the sugar and the cayenne pepper (the serrano is plenty hot).

Just like the Moroccan Chicken Thighs, I browned each thigh on each side.  The seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic powder (embrace it), and paprika.  Add the following braising liquid:

1 c. chicken broth (homemade is best, of course)

1/2 c. water

2 t. lime juice

1 clove garlic

3 T. pickle juice (from the homemade pickles, if you have them!)

Cover and put in a 325° oven for 45 min, or until chicken is tender.  

Serve.  Happy eating!

xoxo

Seth

Oh, and below is the chicken with an alternative presentation. That is, I cut the meat off the bones for Jared. I am so whipped.

Weekend Baking/Cooking Marathon

Last weekend, I went crazy. Instead of having a nice relaxing Sunday watching the Chargers win their first playoff game in 13 years (I think, I don't actually watch football...ever), I decided to bake one or two things. It was raining, I had just come home from the grocery store (went over budget, again), and Jared and Kelie were about to start watching the game.

When I was at the store, I found some nice cucumbers sitting there, just staring at me! There is this restaurant in Petaluma called Dempsey's and among other things, they have the best Bread and Butter Pickles I've ever had. So, when those cucumbers were just sitting there, I thought it was time I tried to replicate Dempsey's masterpiece. And since pickles take about 12 hours to make, I started on those first thing.

Here they are finished, and while this is definitely a Claussen pickle jar, these are definitely home made and so much better. An approximation of Dempsey's pickles -- not quite the real thing -- but really good nonetheless.



After the pickles were nicely salted and resting in the fridge, it was time to bake. I started with a Lemon Yogurt cake, borrowed happily from Ina Garten. When I'm baking, I always have the tendency to mess something up. I don't follow recipes well, and so I'll mess up the order, the quantity, the temperature, or any of a number of other things (there's a reason nobody got to see a post about the Christmas Marshmallows I made...what a disaster!)

After the Lemon Yogurt cake, I realized I had three bananas that were about to go bad. Wham! An hour later, Banana Pistachio Bread was in the oven. Simple and delicious.

I had bought too many apples because I was daydreaming while putting them into my cart. So when I got home and realized that I had 10 extra apples for the week, I decided to do the only sensible thing: make Applesauce! Applesauce is the easiest possible thing to make. I make mine with a little Apple Cider Vinegar. Makes it just a little extra tart and helps break down the apples faster while cooking.

After applesauce came the dinner prep.  On the menu was Ceviche with Sea Bass and Scallops and a Radicchio and Endive Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing. Oh, and for the hell of it, I also made Buttermilk Biscuits from this previously-posted recipe.

They take 25 minutes start to finish, so it was an easy investment.

A long day of cooking in the kitchen, but the Charger's won, and I had a good time.  Here are the recipes/techniques for everything above:

Bread and Butter Pickles

Easier than making pudding, first slice very thin several cucumbers and a white/brown onion.  If you have a mandoline (slicer) this is made much easier. And as for the type of cucumber, I'd use an English cucumber or Persian cucumber.  Avoid the garden (typical) cucumber for this.

Pour half a cup of kosher salt on top of the cucumbers/onions, then place in a colander over a bowl. Place a damp cloth over them, then in the fridge for 12 hours or so.

Once they've cured, rinse them and dry them well.  You want to remove all that salt from them.

In a pot, boil equal parts rice wine and distilled white vinegars, along with coriander seed, whole garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, a cinnamon stick, cumin seed, celery seed, and ground turmeric.  Add vegetables and heat back just to scald -- don't let it reach a boil again!

Turn off the heat, let it cool, then place in clean jars.  Eat on...well, anything.

Applesauce

Easy.  Chop up into small pieces whatever apples you have leftover.  You should peel them first. Add half a cup of water for every 2 pounds or so of apples.  You can add cinnamon, cloves, whatever you want at this stage.  I usually squeeze a little lemon juice and a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, too. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the apples are soft.  It helps to mash them up with a potato masher.  If you want really smooth applesauce, put the whole shebang in a blender. If the sauce needs sugar, add sugar.  If it needs more tartness, add a little more vinegar and/or lemon juice. Eat.

Ceviche

Chop up into small equal parts soft white fish and bay scallops.  Cover with lime juice and a pinch each of sugar and kosher salt.  Let sit for 8 - 15 minutes until the fish is opaque and the scallops are firm when pinched.  Discard the lime juice.  Toss with cilantro, kosher salt and black pepper. Serve.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Now is a good time to remind you that if you're baking, always always always use unsalted butter...at room temperature.

But I'm actually just going to send you to the Food Network website on this one.  Use whole milk yogurt. Seriously. Do it.

Banana Pistachio Bread

This is my all-time favorite Banana Bread recipe.  I just substituted the walnuts for pistachios. Since the pistachios were salted, though, I omitted the rest of the salt from the recipe.  

8 T unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c whole wheat flour
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. 

2. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat.
3. Sift all-purpose flour, soda, salt together, stir in whole wheat flour, add to butter mixture, mixing well.
4. Fold in bananas, vanilla, walnuts.
5. Pour into pan. Bake 50-60 min, or until vake tesster comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then on rack.

Enjoy my friends! xoxo!

Moroccan Chicken

Several months ago my mom bought me a braising sauce for use with lamb or chicken. It was a rather large jar, and so tonight when I wanted to use it on 4 chicken thighs, I thought it would be a bit of a waste. So, doing the right thing, I made the best replication I could.  Here it is:

6 oz tomato paste

1/3 c. chicken stock

1/2 c. beef stock

3 T. of apricot jam

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 T. lemon juice

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. curry powder

1/4 t. coriander

1/4 t. cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/3 c. brown onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed.

Brown chicken thighs on both sides in a dutch oven, starting with the skin side down.

Pour braising sauce over chicken thighs, ensuring that each piece is covered with sauce.

Cover your dutch oven and place in a 325° oven for 60 minutes.

Enjoy!

I served this with an indian-spiced Broccoli and Potato Gratin.  Follow the step-by-step from this post. I omitted cheese, and just increased the flavors of garlic, turmeric, cumin, and white pepper.

Quick Thai Dinner: Soup and Salad

I had six shrimp and not a clue what I wanted to do with them. When I think of shrimp I always think of various Asian cuisines first, and tonight's Thai Soup and Salad menu was a perfect way to use them.

The Soup was the most time consuming, but only because there was a lot of prep work to complete. The salad was a simple mix of mango, jicama, and red onion. Recipes to follow, but first the pictures!



Sadly I don't think these photos do justice to the meal, but at least they give you an idea of what you're after if you try to recreate it later.

Mango and Jicama Salad
1 medium sized mango
1 medium sized jicama root
Scant 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
Juice from 1/2 a lime
A pinch each kosher salt and pepper
2 pinches sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper (optional)

Julienne equal parts mango and jicama and place them into a bowl. Precision slicing here would make for a more beautiful presentation, but certainly is not required. Anyone looking up at the photos above can see that.

Next, squeeze half a lime over the top of the mango and jicama. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and sugar over the top and toss gently.

Thinly slice 1/4 of a small red onion. You want to be really careful here to keep your slices thin or the red onion will overpower the rest of the salad. You need about 1/4 cup red onion, but can do with a little more or less, as desired.

If you're not serving this alongside a rather spicy soup, I'd add crushed red chili peppers at this point.

Let the salad sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Tom Kha Soup with Shrimp
This is a standard soup in Thai restaurants. It's my favorite of the Thai soups and is really easy to prepare. A bit of chopping in the beginning, but then you essentially throw the whole bit into a pot and stir.

1/2 medium brown onion, sliced course
1/8 cup finely minced garlic
1/8 cup finely minced galangal or ginger
1/8 cup finely minced lemongrass root or lemongrass puree
2 teaspoons Green Thai Curry Paste
3 cups chicken broth
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
1/2 cup shiitake or straw mushrooms (or use whatever mushroom you have available)
1/2 cup bell pepper (any will do, but green bell peppers are disgusting and shouldn't be used...pretty much ever), sliced.
1/2 cup chopped carrots (in a pinch, use those bagged baby carrots!)
Two small gold or red potatoes, chopped
The juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1/8 cup basil leaves
1/8 cup kaffir lime leaves (if you can find them, otherwise substitute a bit of lime zest)
Fresh cilantro, for garnish

In a dutch oven, sauté onion over medium-low heat until translucent (about 8 - 10 minutes). Add garlic, galangal, and lemongrass and continue to cook for two minutes more. Add curry paste and stir until it coats the onion mixture. You're probably going to sneeze...more than once, I'm guessing.

Add chicken broth and coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots, potatoes, lime juice, fish sauce, basil leaves, and kafir lime leaves. Cover.

Simmer for 10 minutes or so, or until vegetables are tender. Add shrimp (or chicken, or pork, or tofu), and cook an additional 3-5 minutes to cook the meat, depending on how big the pieces are.

Garnish with cilantro and serve!

Country Dinner

I realized last night that I am NOT going to make a career in food photography.  While the meal was delicious (albeit a bit country and rustic), the photos were not the most inspiring I've seen. At any rate, here it is, last night's dinner:

Stew of Beef with Vegetables and Egg Noodles

Apple and Rosemary Galette 

If you want recipes, just leave me a comment.  They were both pretty standard (though I did use four cookbooks to piece together the proportions for the galette...of course).

xoxo

Happy Christmas!

Hey everyone!  Happy Christmas!  Even though it's still 2007, and I said I wasn't going to post anything until the new year, I just had to write down the Christmas dinner that we finished tonight.

Our family has this tradition...okay, it's not a tradition yet, but it will be!  Anyway, story still applies, we have this tradition of making our Christmas dinner inspired by a different ethnic cuisine every year.  This year: Indian.

I'll cut to the chase.  Here's the menu:

• Indian Spiced Roasted Rack of Lamb
  
• Cauliflower and Potato Gratin
  
• Braised Carrots with Fennel, Onion, and Cumin Seed
  
• Buttermilk Drop Biscuits with Cumin Seed, Black Pepper, and Cayenne
  
• Orange Cardamom Ice Cream (recipe not included...call me lazy)
  

As you might pick up from the recipes that follow, we didn't exactly succeed in making every dish to its Indian-inspired roots.  But this meal was fantastic anyway and the smells and flavors of Indian cuisine did shine.

If you're interested, here are the (admittedly rough) recipes:

Indian Spiced Rack of Lamb

1 or 2 racks of lamb, frenched

Indian Spice Rub: indian curry powder, coriander, turmeric, cumin powder, salt, black pepper

Olive Oil (or other vegetable oil)

• Rub all sides of lamb with spice rub.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
• Pre-heat oven to 450° and set the oven rack to the center of the oven
• Brush fatty side of lamb with olive oil, then place in roasting pan, on a rack, oiled side up.
• Bake for exactly 20 minutes for rare, 25 minutes for medium-rare.
• Let lamb set for 5 - 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Cauliflower and Potato Gratin

1 large or 2 small heads of cauliflower

5 small red potatoes

4 T. butter

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

4 T. all-purpose flour

2 c. milk

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 large handful Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or more to taste.

1 small bunch of parsley (about 1/4 cup total)

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Using a sharp knife (or if you're smart, a mandoline) slice the potatoes 1/8" thick.
• Trim cauliflower to medium-sized florets
• Par boil in salty water (it should taste like sea water) for 90 seconds.  Rinse under cold water, or shock in an ice water bath to stop the cooking.  Set aside.
• In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add garlic.  Saute garlic to infuse flavor into the butter, but don't brown it!
• Add flour and cook for about 3 minutes.  You might want to use a whisk here, so that your roux is smooth and there are no floury lumps.  Those lumps make for bad gratin!
• Add milk and buttermilk, whisk until smooth, and turn heat down to medium low.
• Continue to stir the white sauce until it is smooth and thickens up.  It should take about 5 minutes, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. 
• Now is a good time to add the cheese.  Stir quickly so that it melts evenly into the sauce.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• In a buttered baking dish, add a thin layer of sauce and spread with a spatula to coat.
• Add a layer of potatoes (about half of them here) and then cover with another layer of sauce.
• Add a layer of cauliflower, and again add sauce on top.
• Finally, top with the rest of the potatoes, more sauce, and into the oven it goes.
• Bake for 30 minutes, until the potatoes just start to turn brown.
• Mix the melted butter and bread crumbs together and sprinkle evenly on top of the gratin.  Bake for 10 minutes more.  
• If at this point, the topping isn't brown and crispy, throw it under the broiler for a few minutes.  That will definitely do the trick.

Braised Carrots with Fennel, Onion, and Cumin Seed

Olive Oil

1 large fennel bulb (or two small ones, or three really small ones, or four...just kidding), sliced thin.

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1.5 T. cumin seed

2 healthy pinches of kosher salt

8-10 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces

1.5 c. chicken broth

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add fennel, onion, cumin seed, and kosher salt.  Saute for 10 - 15 minutes or until both the fennel and onion are soft and translucent.  You're not trying to brown the onions -- the salt helps you in this regard. Instead, you're just trying to bring out their natural sugars.  Be patient.
• Add carrots, stir two or three times until the carrots are coated evenly with oil.
• Add chicken broth and cover.
• Simmer on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits with Cumin Seed, Black Pepper, and Cayenne

We didn't invent the wheel on this one.  This recipe is happily borrowed from Cooks Illustrated, and I've shared their recipe with you here.  We add 1 teaspoon of cumin seed, 1.5 T of black pepper, and a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne to the flour. Otherwise it's exactly as it appears in the magazine!

2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
2	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon sugar
3/4	teaspoon table salt
1	cup buttermilk (cold)
8	tablespoons  unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps (see photo below).
• Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (biscuits should measure about 2 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches high). Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
  

And that was dinner!  I was supposed to take pictures beforehand to post here, but I'm new to this game and I forgot.  I'll do better next time.

Until then, Merry Christmas!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday and I will be back next year...or tomorrow if I can't resist (again).

xoxo