Lamb Burgers

Mix some feta and chopped shallots and chopped spinach into the ground lamb. Grill up the burgers. Good on pita or any rolls with hummous. I like a cucumber yogurt salad with these, spiked with lots of mint.

Risotto w Spring Vegetables

In this case spring peas and asparagus. Yes I did go to the farm stand. Everything is in abundance now and not a million dollars a bunch, unless you only eat organic. I almost never eat organic vegetables cause they're TOO EXPENSIVE and if I did I'd be eating a vegetable twice a week instead of twice a day, which is my preference. I cannot live in fear of non-organic produce or produce grown outside of my state or country and I do not appreciate having those foods demonized by the food police. I say anyone who is eating lots of fresh, home cooked food and mostly laying off the Twinkies is doing ok. But local and seasonal is reasonably priced and delicious and that's what I bought this weekend in between shifts at the stove at work.

I'd go chicken stock, white wine, lots of butter and parmesan with this. Throw the peas and asparagus in midway and they'll be perfectly cooked by the time the rice is done. If you have a pressure cooker you should probably add the veggies after you open the lid and yes you'll be done in 6 minutes while some people are stirring and stirring but that can be fun with a glass of wine and someone to chat with.

I also nabbed really nice baby arugula and beautiful strawberries, so a salad to go with and berries and cream for dessert.

Tabbouleh

Remember tabbouleh? Maybe you've been eating it regularly for years but after seeing it sit forlornly on the kitchen counter at hundreds of college parties I just crossed it off my list. Now a hundred years have gone by and I want a big fresh bowl of it loaded with excessive amounts of parsley and plenty of good olive oil and fresh lemon. I think I saw a picture of a beautiful bowl of it in a glossy magazine that was profiling Morrocco or Tunisia or some such gorgeous place. They say it's good for you and for sure it goes with anything you were thinking of serving, protein wise.

Have a good weekend!

Salmon Hash

I've got a beautiful salmon fillet in the fridge and I'm thinking I'll slow roast it and use some for salmon hash and some for a salmon salad to eat another day. I make salmon hash with big chinks of salmon, diced potatoes, onion, lots of parsley and minced jalapeno. Kind of a riff on the snapper hash at Rosa Mexicana. It should have diced red pepper too or green pepper if you like that but I simply cannot abide green peppers so I only use red. Scallions would be good too.

And sauteed spinach or a spinach salad with a sweetish vinaigrette. I splurged on a fancy bottle of French apple cider vinegar and it has been going fast. I'm not supposed to say this, but I like

it much better than balsamic vinegar.

The salmon salad will be chunks of salmon tossed with red onion, capers, parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest, olive oil, s&p. It's the way my friend Lucy makes it and I could live on it.

Spare Ribs and Cole Slaw

I was up early today so I rubbed a rack of spare ribs that my mother gave me with a quick dry rub of s&p, smoked paprika, cumin and a little sugar and stuck them in a 300 degree oven for an hour and a half. Now they're cooling and tonight we'll eat them with cole slaw and potato salad. Took time but no effort and the house smells GOOD!

Summer Hours

I am just back from four days of cooking at my Mom's restaurant. I thought I could post every day before reporting for work but the days go by in a blur. As I will be cooking there every weekend I have decided to adopt summer hours. From now until Labor Day weekend I will post Monday through Friday. Cheers and thank you!

Linguine with Scallops

Sear some scallops while the pasta cooks then deglaze the pan with white wine, maybe some garlic too. Toss together, in the pan, the pasta, scallops, parsley, toasted bread crumbs. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil.