Dans Gourmet Restoration

So I died and went to heaven tonight.  Some of the women with whom my wife works out had been talking about grilling Romaine lettuce during exercise class last week.  She said to me - I think I pulled a recipe for that somewhere...... and lo and behold, in our massive recipe files - she found it!  Its from Better Homes and Gardens, June 2013 ( yeah I know - we save a ton of stuff!!  But in this case it was worth it!)  We did this salad ....... almost....... exactly to the recipe.   It called for grilling corn on the cob, but we were hungry, so I had a bag of frozen sweet white corn, and sauteed it in butter till slightly caramelized.  The finished product was crunchy and nicely charred, the dressing was amazing.  We gave it a 10 out of 10.  In fact, we are going to an outdoor cookout tomorrow night - I think I will bring it - it is the PERFECT company dish.  Especially one to bring and really wow your host.  Make the tumble and the dressing ahead of time - grill the lettuce for a coupl

Kudos to Cooking Light for this recipe - REALLY tasty, and fairly easy to make.  Total time to cook, about 25 minutes.  We just used off the shelf  Stop and Shop Italian Sausage links - very tasty, with lots of fennel.... yumm. Ingredients: 1 tbs olive oil 12 oz Italian Sausage - chopped.  If you get links - squeeze out of the skin. 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper 2 cups coarsely chopped onion 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot 3 garlic cloves, minced 3 1/2 cups water, divided 1 15oz can  unsalted tomato sauce 2/3 cup polenta 1 oz parm cheese, grated ( about 1/4 cup) 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish Directions: Heat, oil in large, high sided skillet.  Crumble, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes or so.  Stir in pepper.  Remove sausage from pan, and remove pan from heat - do NOT wipe out pan.  Add onion, carrot and garlic to pan, Cook 7 - 9 minutes until tender ( add a splash of water if needed to help the carrots along), cook until tender.  Add sausage mixture, 1/2

Cauliflower Fried Rice! Yummy Fried Rice, with no Rice! So I made this the other night, while my wife is away on a biz trip.  Pretty simple recipe - no rice involved.  You can make it vegetarian, but I chose to add some Chicken.  I also took the time to dice and saute fresh carrots, instead of using the tasteless frozen peas/carrots combo.  I used a knife to dice up the cauliflower - I think a food processor would render it too fine.  It's good to be a little chunky. So, here it is: Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower, cleaned, center cut out.  ( I quartered it and diced it by quarter, a little easier, than trying to dice the whole thing) 1 egg, beaten 1 small onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup carrots, diced fine ( about 3 medium sized) 2 stalks celery medium diced 1/2 c frozen peas 2 TBS soy sauce 1/2 TSP Sesame oil Pea sized squirt of Ginger paste ( tubes available in the produce section) 3 Green onions, not the white parts. 2 TBS olive oil 1 pkg pre cooked chicken breast,

Ok, so I decided to join the prepared meal revolution.  Lynne signed us up for Blue Apron.  I had a co-worker ask me - " so you are a chef... (cook, but that's ok, most don't understand the distinction), and you are getting prepared meals sent to you?"  I was like - yeah - it's ok.  Be interesting to try.  Sooooo, we signed up.  Three meals a week for sixty bucks a week.  Lynne and I tend to sit on Sunday, and go through recipes, etc to decide what we want to eat for the week, then shop for the ingredients.... and hope we feel like making it all as we go.  We are both VERY busy, and some nights, to be frank, we just don't feel like cooking.  I paint at night, she is working on a blog... just  a lot going on.  So, we plan on seven meals, and make maybe three or four.  The rest ends up in the trash after a week or so.  So we thought we would try Blue Apron for Sat, Sun, Mon - when we usually actually DO cook ( Pasta Vita/ salads/ omelets the other nights). So, B

This is a favorite of Lynne and I  - always good.  Serve it with boiled baby reds ( or tri colors in this case) and home made slaw.... yum Dans Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce: (Serves 6 dinner portions) In a large stainless bowl: ·            ·          1lb fresh crab meat ( I use claw - it's fine, and it's not worth spending 10 bucks more for lump - really doesn't make that much of a difference) ·          4 cloves garlic minced ·          1 shallot minced ·          3/4 cup frozen tri color pepper strips, minced when frozen ·          2 tbs butter ·          (combine last 4 ingredients in a fry pan, and saute till translucent,  then add to bowl with crab meat) ·          1/4 cup mayo ·          1 egg, beaten in a cup ·          2 tsp dill ·          3/4 cup parm cheese ·          3/4 cup bread crumbs ·          3 tbs old bay seasoning ·          1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper ·          1/4 tsp ( to taste ) cayenne ·          3/4 tsp garlic powder ·          3/4 tsp c

Made this last night - super simple, and really tasty.  The salsa was a little sweet, a little spicy - and a fantastic compliment to the fish.  The fish is simply poached in a foil pouch on the grill, in coconut milk, with a little red curry paste in it, and a few extra pieces of fruit in there.  I just bought the pre peeled fruit in the produce section of my market. The coconut rice simply replaces half the water with coconut milk - perfect with Jasmine rice. Ingredients: 1 can coconut milk, stirred, and divided in half. 4 small Mahi Mahi fillets 2 cups mango chunks 2 cups pineapple chunks 1/2 sweet red pepper, diced 1/2 small onion, diced 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs brown sugar 3 tbs white wine 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes ( to taste) 1 tsp red curry paste 1tsp fish sauce 1/4 cup sliced green onions, divided. Directions: For the fish: Lay two pieces of foil, about 18" long on the counter.  Lay fish fillets in center, season with salt and pepper.  Fold edges of the foil op to make a "