Dans Gourmet Restoration

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), c...

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 p...

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/ sa...

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) ·   ...

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...

This is totally NOT the way I would cook sea scallops, but had  a work friend recommend this recipe with HUGE props.  I complicated it a bit, but it really WAS good.  I downloaded the pics, but lost them somewhere in the morass of my laptop..... so this is an artless post....lol.  This dish is cooked on the grill in foil - kind of like the old Boy Scout recipe for cooking on an open fire.    So, here it is: Ingredients: 3 cloves garlic - minced 2 small summer squash - I spiailized mine - but sliced THIN will work One lemon - zested, ( and put aside) and the juice separated 3 pc of bacon, cooked, and diced 3 slices of tomato - cubed to about 1/2 inch Garlic and onions in burnt butter 1 tbs onion - minced 2 tbs butter 5 tbs white wine Heat butter in sautee pan, Add onions, and garlic, and sautee till the butter turns slightly brown.  Remove from heat, and set aside. Make tin foil tray, and add burnt butter, garlic and onion mix.  Add 5 tbs of wine -...

This is one of my favorite recipes - very easy to make, and really tasty!  Make the sauce the day before so it has a chance for the flavors to blend.  If you don't have a red chile pepper, use about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes  - to your taste.  I added some roasted sweet peppers too. Sauce: 1 small clove garlic, minced 1 small fresh hot chile, chopped, including seeds ( careful here - if you don't like heat, leave the seeds out) 2 1/4 tsp sugar 2 tbs rice vinegar 2 tbs fish sauce 1 1/2 tbs water 1 tbs fresh lime juice ( about the juice from one lime.  zest it first, and reserve for garnish) about 1/1 - 1 lb fresh sea scallops - 12 or so 1 tbs olive oil 1 tbs butter 1 tsp sesame oil 3 Baby Bok Choy, washed, sliced in half,  and tossed in olive oil and garlic powder.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes until starting to brown. Preparation:For the sauce - pound garlic, chile and sugar to a fine paste with a mortar and pestle. ( use the back of...