Dark Days – Flank Steak, Chanterelles, Fingerlings, and Romanesco

Last weekend, Marin Sun Farms was running a special at their stand at the Ferry Building farmers market - all cuts of meat were buy one, get one free.  If you have ever bought natural, grass fed, pastured, humane meat, you know this is a major deal.  I convinced my husband to get up early and [...]

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Braised Sausages and Grapes with Apple-Root Vegetable Mash

It’s a cold and rainy weekend here, so I wanted to make something comforting and satisfying.  In preparing the sausuages, I loosely followed this recipe from Food & Wine.  For the mash, I was inspired by this Martha Stewart recipe for mashed parnsip and apple, and this Ina Garten recipe for pureed celery root and apple.  [...]

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Pasta with Pancetta, Escarole, and Leeks

I had an insane week, running around to meetings all over the place.  When Friday came, I just wanted some good food and a giant glass of wine.  There wasn’t much in the house, but I had a head of escarole crammed in the back of the fridge that I had forgotten I bought last weekend [...]

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Dark Days Week 18 – Roast Beef with Mushrooms and Shallots and Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes

The weather is warm and gorgeous and the dark days are definitely over in this part of the country, though the challenge continues for a few more weeks.  In solidarity with my brethren in colder climates, I made a warm, hearty wintery dinner this week.   Our meat CSA, Marin Sun Farms, delivered to us this [...]

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Dark Days Week 15 – Citrus Marinated Pork, Roasted Potatoes, and Radicchio Walnut Salad

This week, I prepared another piece of meat from my meat CSA through Marin Sun Farms – a boneless leg of pork.  Not something I’ve ever eaten before, as apparently the vast majority of this cut goes to making hams.    There wasn’t even any useful instructions in the Joy of Cooking.  The series of tubes to the [...]

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Red Wine Linguini with Broccoli Rabe

So, I think we are all in agreement that pasta is delicious and wine is delicious.   Well, imagine having them together.  Not just a glass with your pasta, but all in one, delicious, winey-carby bite?  Yes, such a dream is possible with this Michael Chiarello recipe. I don’t really have much else to say about [...]

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Apple Cider Sauce

I really like gnocchi.  I usually cheat when I eat it, and use a package from Trader Joe’s.  I made ricotta gnocchi once, and while it was good, it was too rich for me to want to eat regularly. This gnocchi recipe, however, is awesome.  I want to make it all the time.    It’s labor intensive, but totally worth [...]

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Lunch in Wine Country

Over the weekend, we took a friend on a drive up to Napa Valley for some wine tasting and gorgeous views.  I packed a picnic lunch and we stopped at the gorgeous Diamond Oaks winery to eat. On the menu were chicken salad sandwiches, olives and roasted peppers, fresh strawberries from the farmers’ market, olive [...]

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Not at all like Mom used to make…

Growing up, a staple at family parties was keilbasa in grape jelly.  There was other stuff in it, like ketchup or barbeque sauce, and probably some Lipton French Onion Soup mix, because wasn’t that stuff in everything in the 70s and 80s?  The dish was usually served warm, in a crockpot or on a hot plate [...]

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Red Wine Risotto with Mushroom Marmalade

This is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever made. It is so amazing that I don’t even know where to start. It tastes like a restaurant dish. It is sophisticated and comforting at the same time, and it is just absolutely delicious. The recipe is a little tricky, but the marmalade can [...]

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