Short Ribs Provençale (Monday April 27, 2010)

Tonight we had some grass-fed beef ribs we bought from New York Beef at our farmers' market. It was braised for 2 1/2 hours in a Provençale-style along with potatoes.  For dessert we had leftover strawberry-rhubarb cobbler.

Skate & Wheatberries (Saturday April 24, 2010)

This morning we picked up (among other things) some skate, ramps, and asparagus at the nearby farmers' market.

I fried the skate wings and made up a Provençal-style sauce out of the ramps (wild leeks), tomatoes, parsley, and capers. To go along with the fish, Janet made a wheatberry & sour cherry salad and I simmered some asparagus.

Bar Breton (Thursday, April 1, 2010)

What great company for an evening out to dinner at Bar Breton. Ethan's friends just flew in from Thailand, and Ethan just got back that afternoon from Baltimore/Philly.  The next morning we were driving 11 hours to Ann Arbor, MI.  I hope we'll be seeing John and Ann again...maybe a trip to Thailand?

Check out my post on Bar Breton.

Brunch at Norma's and Chicken Thighs, Potatoes, and Tomatoes (Feb 27, 2010)

We met our friend Yumi for brunch at Norma's, for her first time.  I think I've been there at least half a dozen times now and the food is consistently great.  There's usually a long wait to get a table so luckily I thought ahead and made reservations.

[NOTE: The Burger Joint is located across from Norma's.  In case you forget to make a reservation, don't just sit there going hungry.  You can eat a burger first while you wait...then you go ahead and order your "real" brunch at Norma's - yes, I have done this before.]

Yumi and I both ordered the Huevos Rancheros and Ethan ordered the Foie Gras Brioche French Toast.

a complimentary strawberry/blueberry smoothie shot

huevos ranchero

foie gras brioche french toast

We were planning to have dinner at Ippudo, but the brunch kept us full pretty late so Ethan made dinner at home.  He made Jamie Oliver's, Crispy and Sticky Chicken Thighs with Squashed New Potatoes and Tomatoes which we ate with leftover wheat berry and Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach from yesterday.

Chou Rouge a la Limousine (Feb 23, 2010)

I've been noticing that I only had one French meal in the labels to the left. So I was determined to up that number and get another vegan notch on the cooking spoon, too. So I looked through Mastering the Art of French Cooking and, after eliminating all the recipes that called for butter or cream or veal I was left with red cabbage braised in red wine.

It's actually an interesting recipe... It cooks very slowly (5+ hours) and calls for red wine, carrots, onions, apples, and chestnuts. Also bacon, goose fat, and beef stock--but I substituted olive oil and vegetable stock to keep it vegan-legit.

The french title for the dish provoked a few thoughts. Limousine, I gather, means chestnuts... Who knew that high school students have been going to proms in stretch chestnuts? I figured out a few years ago that choux creme is French for cream puffs (because that's what the Japanese bakeries call them). But now I'm guessing that the puffs are being compared to cabbages (which kinda makes sense, I guess).

Anyway, here's the cabbage pre-five-hour-braising:

Here's after the cooking:

Julia Child's recipe mentioned that the acidity in the apples & wine help keep the cooked cabbage red. Yeah, and I think the red in the red wine didn't hurt either!

Plated (along with some potatoes) and ready to eat!

Cheese Souffle (January 20, 2010)

Yummy, yummy!  Ethan made his super amazing cheese souffle - actually, the recipe is from Julia Child.

Light and fluffy!

• Cheese Souffle 
• Red Leaf Salad