super yummy! One day I’d love to try making risotto :-)

It's simple to make risotto.

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Last nights dinner was baked center cut pork chops, brushed with bbq sauce as they baked. And roasted radishes, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts with Cavenders seasoning.

Sure, but not to make it well. That takes practice, I haven't been able to replicate what I can get at a restaurant that knows how to do it right. It's very possible I don't have the patience for it.

That looks delicious!
Perhaps you lack patience for it.

Thanks. It was tender and moist. Unlike my housemate's that I had to stick in a skillet on high for 10 extra minutes and burn for him.:rolleyes:

Such a waste of good food to burn it.

Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday farmer's market? I used to live near the downtown farmer's market but loved biking to the Sunday market. And loved the meals I'd cook those days! Yours looked fantastic.

Tonight Mr CE made NYT's roast tomato and white bean stew. It was featured in one of the recent What To Cook This Week/Weekend columns as a dish that had 4000+ 5-star ratings. My husband likes his animal-based proteins, so I half-heartedly suggested it but didn't push it...and last night when we were menu planning for the week, he said he wanted to make it. Amazing! I told him the only thing he should do differently next time is make a double batch. We had it with the Cook's Illustrated's almost no-knead bread, which I made for Thanksgiving, and it was delicious. (Also fantastic -- despite the fact it's Dec. 1 and we've had below-freezing temps, I was able to cut fresh parsley and thyme from the garden as he was prepping it. Oregano, marjoram, mint and scallions are also still going strong. Maybe rosemary, too, though I didn't look closely.)

We shopped the day before Thanksgiving at the Wednesday Farmers Market at Arizona and Second. My daughter lives in Chicago. She regularly shops at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park on Saturdays.

GCM is great, but doesn't hold a candle up the Santa Monica Farmers Markets! I used to live at Sixth & Broadway, so was a couple blocks from corky 's (and my) fav Bay Cities and not far from the farmers markets. I miss it, particularly this time of year!

Grilled boneless sirloin steak
baked potatoes
baked sweet potato
mixed salad (green red orange)
sauteed onions
sauteed mushrooms

We always go to the Wednesday SM Farmers Market when she's in town; we got there at 7:00 am for their 7:30 am opening and were in the third group to be let in once they opened (it's capacity controlled due to the pandemic). When I visit her in Chicago, I go with her to the Lincoln Park Saturday farmers market. When she attended medical school in Cleveland, I went with her to the Shaker Square Market - she had a fabulous wild mushrooms forager there - and when she college in St. Louis it was Soulard Farmers Market. The Santa Monica market is in a class by itself, though; before COVID devastated the restaurant business, I used to enjoy running into some of the top chefs in town while shopping there.

Sounds great. I love beans, but my partner will not come near beans of any kind so I don't get an opportunity very often, unless I'm out or willing to eat them all myself. The only chili he'll eat is Cincinnati (gag). And, wouldn't you know, my favorite soup is Navy bean? And, I come from a family in which baked beans are a holiday (any holiday) tradition. The best thing at Thanksgiving this year was green bean casserole. :D

From what it seemed, the dish came together very quickly. Maybe something to make for your lunches? I am not typically a baked bean person, but there is a very soft spot in my heart for SugarFire barbecue in St Louis and their baked beans, which are excellent! The last time I got them, we got back to my brother's house only just discover they had an accidentally omitted the beans :( Too far away to drive back and get replacements.

I'm a big fan of NYT recipes, so i probably will make them at some point. I have a cousin who will eat anything so if and would come for lunch. And, if there is too much, she's always happy to take home leftovers.

The risotto talk got to me.....with shrimp, asparagus, sundried tomato .
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meatballs (improved with less liquid; still hard to keep perfectly round)
Fusilli with parm
spaghetti with Rao’s marinara
fresh spaghetti with Rao’s marinara

Gorgeous!

Take out from two Michelin starred n/naka.

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Sorry about the orientation of the photos. I have no idea how to correct it.

So delighted to be back to limited entertaining at home! Tonight it will be blinis with smoked salmon and lumpfish roe, followed by Squid and chilis with black beans, followed by Camembert, Stilton and green salad, followed by sliced oranges with pomegranate seeds, pistacchios and coconut yoghurt. And, most importantly, some good company!

Sounds excellent! You had me at the opening course.

I'm trying to picture "squid and chilis with black beans", but can't. Is this a stew? Or the beans are on the side? It sounds like a Mexican dish, is that correct? Or maybe Asian?

That looks delicious!

We did takeout from there about a month and a half ago -- it was so good.

Turkey tetrazzini, made from scratch (no canned soup)

A few pieces of Trader Joe's english toffee for dessert. Not quite as good as Sees, but still quite tasty.

I did Pei Wei yesterday. It was pretty good too! ;)

He hosted a free cooking demo on Zoom last night that I along with 8,000+ other people were lucky enough to join. I'm trying his artichoke recipe this weekend.

Returned to this restaurant with 2 Teochew friends who have known the chef owner since their younger days . We are talking like more than 50 years ago but they lost touch when the restaurant closed for a few years ( Even though chef was in touch with their centenarian father over Chinese New Year ) before re opening at the current location .
The trio had catch up yarns in between courses and at the end , all in Teochew which we do not understand .
Shared 2 cold crabs ( small Sri Lankan ) and varied the menu with “ original “ dishes along with some must haves from our previous visit . These crabs were really moulting and one had a soft shell already forming . The “ butter “ was deliciously full and smooth .
Other dishes tried included double cooked , fried and poached , threadfin , and in Teochew custom , when the “ mains “ ended , then siu bee ( in Teochew , siu mie in Cantonese ) with bits of crisp flat fish ( flounder ) were served .
We did not have noodles of any sort unlike last Thursday ‘ s braised “ mee pok “ - shaped like fettuccine / tagliatelle .
Ended my meal with 5 crystal dumplings , had 4 sweet & 1 savoury , saved room after last Thursday ‘ s experience . They ( shui jing bau ) are served usually in sets of 2 , black & white / sweet and savoury & 6 pairs were reserved . Switched my savoury with others not ‘ into ‘ desserts .

looks delicious!

On a related note we did this recipe for dinner tonight: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/...burst-tomatoes

Can I tell you how happy I am that it's December and in the last three days I've cooked with scallions, mint, thyme and parsley fresh from my garden?

Fish taco supper with accoutrements


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Parsley and rosemary will probably be there all winter. If they are in pots, I would take them in the garage or cover them if there is a frost warning. The scallions might make it too.

Finally felt like summer this arvo. I was in the sluggers, tongs in hand, cricket on the TV, BBQing a chicken for us. Served it with some boiled potatoes and spinach which I put some parsley, chilli, garlic lemon sauce on.

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What’s your bbq seasoning for the chicken?

I had salt, pepper, fennel seeds and a bit of garlic powder.

The scallions and parsley are in pots, rosemary isn't. We're zone 5 and rosemary traditionally isn't a perennial here, but parsley, chives, mint, dill, she, oregano, tarragon and thyme (all of which I have) are perennials. Since this was my first season of planting, I didn't fully recognize which were perennials and which weren't, so many of my perennials are in pots and some of my annuals were in the ground. I will probably transplant some of the perennials to the ground in the spring.

thank you! :-)
the thighs are definitely gorgeous!

Last night I made the NTY recipe for "Gourmet Hamburger Helper." It may sound rather pedestrian, but it's surprisingly good. I made it the first time because my partner enjoys comfort casserole cheesy type foods. Pre-pandemic, he took leftovers to work, microwaved it and was eating it in a luncheon meeting. Everyone wondered what it was because it smelled so good. As the NYT spiel says, it "melds the indelible comfort of macaroni and cheese with the complexity of a good Bolognese.

He would love my Frankenstein creation - Big Mac Casserole. Basically, imagine all the ingredients and flavors of a Big Mac (except the lettuce), down to the sesame seeds on the bun, in casserole form.

I would like it! However, of the two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, he likes the beef and cheese. :D

Boneless pork chops with mustard sauceRoast cauliflower with brown butter-black garlic-anchovy bread crumbs

Around this time last year I was in Melbourne on business with a frriend and we went to a bar in St Kilda that had "Big Mac loaded fries". It was literally everything on a Big Mac except the bun on top of fries. It was so good. The only problem was the people we'd been meeting with during the day were taking us out for dinner and we were both full as a state school by the time we'd finished the chips.

I found a pic of said creation on FB.

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A friend makes excellent chili so I got a bowl...with cheese, chopped red onions and sour cream. She gave me some corn tortillas to go with it but I think they are fake corn tortillas made with flaxseed or something weird.
A beer to wash it all down.