Avocado, Shrimp & Mango Salad

This simple but sophisticated salad requires some prep but comes together quickly.  Enjoy with a crisp white wine for a light refreshing afternoon meal.


Ingredients:
Fresh greens, washed ~ 2/3 Gallon in volume
1 or 2 fresh mangoes
2 medium tomatoes
1 lb. raw medium shrimp
1/3 C mayo
1 Tbsp horseradish
1/8 C lime juice
1 avocado
1 tsp each of salt, sugar, fresh ground black pepper


Procedure:
Dice the tomato and mango. 
Poach the shrimp in quickly simmering salted water for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until just done.  Drain the shrimp and rinse under cold water to avoid tough shrimp. (Note: You can also add flavoring to the poaching liquid, e.g. a quartered lemon, cayenne pepper, shrimp boil powder, whatever you like) 
Mix the mayo, horseradish, lime juice, salt, sugar and pepper in a small dish.  Toss greens, mango,  tomato, shrimp and dressing together in a large bowl.  Plate and garnish top with fanned avocado half.
Makes 2 large salads or 3-4 small salads.

Pork & Sprouts

Above and below are pictures of a recent meal Ken made for a good college friend of mine. The entire meal was just fantastic. The top image is of a squash blossom salad with baby greens and roasted eggplant, zucchini, and pine nuts. It was a refreshing and flavorful start to our meal. I certainly wasn't the only one to consider how improper licking the plate might be.

Above is an image of the walnut encrusted pork with a brussel sprout and corn compote. The pork was moist, nutty, rich, and yet somehow still light. The gravy was mouthwatering. As always Ken's brussel sprouts were fantastic. This was the first time he had included the corn and made more of a medley. It was a great variation of the dish and very tasty.

For dessert, we went to a local custard shop in Champaign called Jarling's a Custard Cup. The custard is rich, creamy, and made fresh on site. We only live a few blocks from the place and are often tempted on summer nights to take late night jaunts over to enjoy some custard with the flocks of ever-present customers. Jarling's frequently wins awards and excellent reviews from all kinds of folks-- I highly recommend stopping by if you're ever in Champaign, IL.

Elk Steaks

I only have a second, but wanted to put up some pictures of a dinner we had with a few friends a month or two ago. The main course featured elk steaks from a local Illinois farm. This elk meat was extremely tender and had a subtle nutty flavor. We've been making an effort to buy local produce and meat so this elk is an excellent option. Elk also requires substantially fewer resources to raise than something like beef-- so that's good too!

Mixed greens with homemade caesar dressing & croutons (infinitely better than store bought)













Elk Steaks with leeks, roasted vegetables, and a savory puff














Chocolate covered cream puffs and after dinner games











As always, please feel to email or comment with recipe requests etc.

Tilapia with Fall Harvest Vegetable Medley

So as I'm behind on posting and have a lot less free time for everything, I probably won't put up recipes for every set of pictures I post. If, however, there is a recipe that anyone would like, please feel free to post a comment or email me.

These photos are from a dinner we had with a visiting friend about a month ago. The salad is a pretty basic balsamic reduction vinaigrette with fresh greens. Ken made a version of goat cheese croutons that we've really enjoyed on a number of occasions. They're quite tasty and are from The Wine Lover's Cookbook which I previously mentioned in this post. We also had a three step cornmeal breaded Tilapia with Burre Blanc and a medley of squash, zucchini, and shitake mushroom. Ken has really been enjoying this vegetable medley and you'll probably see it accompanying a few other dishes. At some point, I will post pictures and a recipe for the vegetable dish, as it’s become one of our favorites.

Ravioli

Apologies again for being bad about posting. I have a whole bunch of images just waiting to be put on-line but I seem to be continually pre-occupied with this whole school thing... and sleeping. Sleeping is nice.

In any case, I thought I'd put up some photos of a recent visit from a couple friends of ours. We had a lovely weekend with them and spent a lot of time playing cards, drinking, and catching up. On Saturday night, we decided to make ravioli as its sort of a fun and interactive dish. In fact, making ravioli always reminds me a bit of doing arts and crafts during day camp... except that you can eat your final project. Hmmm, well I guess arts and crafts often involve dry pasta, which technically you could eat... and there are always some kids that eat a bit of paste... but I'm sure this final project tastes way better.
Anyway.

We started the meal with a scrumptious fresh cesear salad with homemade crutons and dressing (see above). Ken made the pasta and the fillings but we all worked together to stuff them. The fillings were a shitaki mushroom and cream filling, a chevre and savory filling, and a roasted corn and peppercorn cheese filling. The fillings were all pretty amazing and we ended up eating the extra with spoons. Once the pasta was cooked, we tossed it with butter and roasted garlic and served it with green beans. The three raviolis went together very well and melted in your mouth. Mmmm. To the left you can see pasta pictures and Friel and John putting the ravioli together. I also have other pictures of homemade pasta from different dinners, so I hope to write a more detailed account of how to make pasta when I post about one of those meals.

Take care and I'll try to post again soon.

One Last Dinner in Chicago

On one of our last nights before we packed everything away into boxes, we had a quiet dinner with two of our dear friends. In many ways, it was like so many dinners we'd had before in that apartment. The company was lovely, the food was amazing, the wine flowed freely, and the tiny kitchen was sweltering and nearly uninhabitable. I will miss Chicago and my friends, but Ken and I are both glad to be living in a house with central air and a usable kitchen.

Below are pictures of our meal. Unfortunately, I do not recall the wines we paired with each dish (although I do remember that our friends brought over a lovely red). Below, I've written the names of the dishes and a few of my impressions of the food.



Mixed greens,
fig compote with prosciutto, and blue cheese.



This dish was quite remarkable. I would never have thought to add warm figs to a salad, but the gently sweet, soft, warm tones and textures of the figs contrasted well with the prosciutto, lettuce, and blue cheese. This may be my new favorite salad.

Ruby Red Trout Fillet poached in lemon juice, shallot, and butter with a chive buerre blanc.
Served with sauteed baby leeks and chive mashed potatoes in a potato cup.

The trout was perfectly done and the sauce was really delicious. It was a lovely light meal for a hot day. The leeks were also flavorful, very well cooked and went well with the sauce. I think the only complaints about the plate were 1) the potatoes could have been a bit more creamy and 2) the sauce, while extremely tasty, might have been more visually striking if it were of a slightly different color.


Bananas Foster












The bananas foster were good but not particularly surprising. We remembered, belatedly, that one of our guests detests bananas. Nevertheless, she managed to choke down most of the desert- saying she had never enjoyed a banana more. Of course, I don't know if that says more about Ken's bananas foster or our friend's politeness. In any case, for most of us the heavy creamy desert was quite appealing after such a light meal, but the ice cream melted very quickly. With that heat, it took only moments for the hot bananas and cool ice cream to turn into a luke-warm soup. Oh well. Everybody loves soup.

A Feast for the Fourth

On the fourth of July, Ken and his father (pictured left) made a six course birthday feast to celebrate both Ken's mother's birthday and my birthday on the 5th. They spent a lot of time planning the meal and each had their own ideas reflected in the final menu. It was a magnificent meal and a tasty treat for all of us. We spent over 4 hours savoring the food, wine, and lovely company. At the end of the meal, Ken's mother announced she had never had a better birthday and I think I might have to agree.

Below I have listed the menu and paired wines next to photographs. I will try to post about the specific dishes and how they were prepared very soon.

Moules Meuniere
served with a 2004 Quincy
(Sauvignoun Blanc)












Salad of field greens, red pepper, radish, and crispy fried pumpkinblossoms with a walnut oil, balsamic reduction vinaigrette












Seared sea scallops with sauteed green beans and shiitake mushrooms with a port shallot sauce
Served with a 2003 Auxey-Duresses (Chardonnay)












Black pepper and mustard rubbed Filet Mignon served with broccoli and roasted potatoes and a mushroom shallot sauce.
Served with a 2003 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon











Three layer red white and blue cheesecake with almond sponge cake, mascarpone cheese mousse, morello cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and chantilly cream icing

Camping: Carne Asada

On our first night camping, Ken made carne asada and a baby green salad with strawberries and some left over raspberry vinaigrette. Both dishes were surprisingly simple to make and tasted fantastic. I don't know why I had never thought to make a salad while camping before, but it was refreshing and the children loved the strawberries. Ken made the carne asada by marinating the beef in lime while he cut vegetables for the salsa and prepared the peppers. Once the salsa was made, he grilled the meat and peppers. Everyone assembled their own tortillas with the meat, peppers, salsa, and cilantro. We ate standing around the picnic table in a silence that was disrupted only by chewing and compliments for the chef. The food disappeared with remarkable speed.

Beginnings: A Farewell Dinner

I have been meaning for some time to begin posting pictures of Ken's food, some recipes, and descriptions of our cooking endeavours. Up until this point, I have been quite successful at avoiding actually carrying out this plan, but now, as I have a pretty long list of other things to do, I guess its time to begin.

As these things go, it seems somehow fitting that a beginning should start with a farewell. Below are photos of a lovely 5 course meal that Ken made this Wednseday as a farewell dinner for a good friend of his who is moving away from Chicago. I intend to post pictures of the prep (with recipes?) very soon. Apparently, my todo list just got longer. I hope you enjoy the pictures.


Moules Meuniere
(mussels poached in wine and shallot broth)
Served with 2005 Séguinot-Bordet Chablis













Berry Salad
(field greens, strawberries, raspberries, candied walnuts and Cabrales blue cheese with a raspberry mustard vinaigrette)













Seared Poppy and Sesame encrusted Tuna Loin
(with sauteed shitake & green beans, and a ginger shallot, soy-reduction and beef demi-glace sauce.)
Served with 2005 Michael Sarrazin, Bourgogne Rouge (Pinot Noir Les Vielles Vignes)













Followed by a 2005 Vega del Rio, Rioja from Calificada













French Silk Pie










Strawberry, Blueberry and Lemon Gillato
Served with 2005 St Christopher, Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling - Spatlese