Saturday, September 29, 2012

Anniversary

Yesterday was me and Richard's anniversary. We celebrated by going out to a an amazing dinner at a restaurant here in Madison called L'Etoile, and this morning we went to our favorite place for brunch, Graze :)

Voss Organics heirloom tomato salad, edamame, sweet red onions, La Quercia prosciutto, Thai basil, fresh mozzarella, Thai chili-red wine vinaigrette


Fountain Prairie Farm beef tenderloin carpaccio, Voss Organics celery, quick pickled cucumbers, arugula, buffalo shallots, Dunbarton Blue cheese dressing 


Grilled Ruby Red shrimp, shishito peppers, sweet corn-SarVecchio purée, cornbread crisps    

Housemade pappardelle, pan roasted calamari, pancetta, Niçoise olives, oven dried Black Earth Valley tomato sauce    

John & Dorothy Priske’s Fountain Prairie Farm dry-aged, grass-fed steak, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, roasted cippolini & mushroom ragoût, broccoli raab, Moody Blue-bone marrow compound butter, cabernet jus 


Alakan halibut, chili braised Maine lobster, sweet corn, polenta cake, sautéed pole beans, Hollandaise    

Gingerbread bread pudding, ground cherries, earl grey ice cream

Cheese plate


Chicken fried steak and sunny side up eggs

Pancakes with door country cherries


Egg scrambler with peppers, yellow onions, spinach, and cheddar cheese

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This stuffed acorn squash is really similar to the sweet potato hash that I just wrote about. Delicious and simple, a great meal or side dish!


Recipe
Serves 2

1 acorn squash
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 apple, diced
1/2 bag of spinach
2 italian sausages, diced
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Brown sugar

Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 50 minutes, or until squash is cooked through and tender. Scoop out a bit of the inside of the squash.
Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the apple, and cook until softened slightly. Stir in the italian sausage until warmed. Add a bit of brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in spinach until wilted. Place the sauté mixture inside the squash, and return to the oven for 5 or 10 more minutes.


Rack of Lamb and Sweet Potato Hash

Last week Richard and I made this delicious dinner of rack of lamb and sweet potato hash. It might sound complicated, but it is actually pretty simple. We marinated the lamb in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and lots of garlic, and then we roasted it for about 25 minutes at 450 degrees. 
For the hash we first roasted the sweet potato in the oven, and then we sautéed onions and apples, a little garlic, then added the sweet potato and quickly wilted the spinach at the end. The meal was delicious and best of all felt like fall :)


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Quinoa with Brussels Sprouts

This is a really easy and healthy meal that is great for lunch or dinner, and it also would be great as a side dish. 


Quinoa with Brussels Sprouts

Quinoa
Brussels Sprouts
Dried cranberries
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 a lemon (for the juice)

Cook the quinoa according to the directions (I did mine in a rice cooker which is super easy). Rinse the brussels sprouts and cut them in half the long way. Heat olive oil in a pan, and place the brussels sprouts cut side down. Sauté until the bottoms have browned, and then flip over and cook for a few more minutes until the brussels sprouts are cooked through but still a little crunchy. Add the brussels sprouts and the oil to the quinoa, and then stir in the dried cranberries. Salt and pepper to taste, and add a squeeze of lemon juice for a little extra flavor. 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Cuban Dinner

Earlier this week Richard and I had a free night so we decided to make dinner. I had bought a flank steak at Whole Foods, so we had a cuban themed dinner. We breaded and fried the steak with onion salt and garlic powder, cooked the black beans with some garlic, onions, and green peppers, and made plantains in a style called "tostones." To make tostones you first fry the plantains on both sides until they are browned, then squish them flat, and fry them again. They turn out soft and crunchy and are delicious with a little bit of salt.



Monday, September 3, 2012

Pizza Party

My friend Amina has an outdoor wood burning pizza oven. We decided that before we all went back to college, we had to have a pizza party!
She had amazing ingredients like squash blossoms, shrimp, garlic confit, onion confit, lots of kinds of cheeses, vegetables, chicken, fried eggs, truffle oil, basically everything that you could ever want on a pizza! This is our end of summer feast.