Chili-Lime Grouper w/Corn Cakes & Spinach

Had a very special old friend and her new baby back in the neighborhood. Seeing as how she's not a huge meat eater we opted for a seafood favorite of ours; Grouper, this time chili and lime flavored. Marinated the fillet in a paste of lime juice, chipolte pepper, garlic and olive oil, then broiled it as the rain prevented grilling. Finished it with a lime/jalapeno/shallot butter along with sauteed baby spinach. Seems the hit of dinner were my Silver Queen Corn Cakes which I make with local grown Silver Queen corn, cornmeal, flour,baking powder, eggs, onion and touch of honey.

Italian Night

Had a taste the other day for Spaghetti and meatballs. Started with the basic mix of ground beef, lamb and pork, added some home grown herbs, panko couple of eggs and a few veggies. Rounded them up an into a hot oven for a delicious topping to our cappilleni all smothered in a garlic marinara sauce. Put sliced local grown golden heirloom tomato on top of field greens for the perfect side.

Salsa Verde w/ Clams over Linguine

Thinking about dinner last night and was asked to use Clams, Linguine and Salsa Verde. I came up with a Green Sauce (translation for salsa verde), using tomatillos, jalapeno pepper, pine nuts, lime juice and from our garden parsley and cilantro blended together with olive oil. I steamed the Clams in a fish stock, added some chopped clams to the sauce and poured it over the linguine. To go with I made an arugula and field green salad with marinated mushrooms and heart of palm. To sop all the remaining juices a sour dough garlic/cheese loaf.

On the way home Sunday, we decided pizza would be a good idea, but not just any pizza, Grilled Pizza. So, we stopped by our local pizzaria (who we know pretty well!), to get some of their fresh pizza dough. We always make extra sauce when preparing pasta, so I pulled a container out of the freezer, checked the produce bin for an assortment of peppers and onions, a few links of sausage, and some fresh Mozzarella and Fontina cheeses.
Grilled the veggies and sausage, shredded the cheese, and rolled out the dough into individual pies. Tossed the dough on the grill to get them half baked, turned 'em over, put the sauce and toppings on, mixed up a chopped salad, and here we have it!! Fun and delicious and low cost.

Braised Scallops with Risoto

While shopping the other day Wendy noticed some mighty fine looking Sea Scallops in the case. Needless to say she picked up a few for Sunday's Dinner. Along with the scallops she got some thick cut bacon. We decided on a Mushroom/Asparagus Risotto to go along side. Prepped all veggies for the risotto and started the 40 minute process of constant stirring, while making a seasoning blend for the bacon. We used brown sugar, curry, and cayenne pepper, pressed the bacon in the mixture and wrapped a slice around each scallop, then quick seared them to perfection.

Syd's Birthday Favorites

Sydney has turned 25, so we went out to Ohio to spend her special day with her. The plans were to go out to a favorite restaurant to celebrate, but the day got away from us and we decided to make a party of cooking her favorite foods. Greek style lamb chops with taziki sauce, Mediterranean green beans, and roasted potato wedges. And, not to forget strawberry margaritas from their margarita machine.

Beef Ribs

Found some good looking beef ribs at the meat counter the other day and it was really nice out, so we decided to the traditional finger-lickin' cook-out food. A dry rub on the ribs and on to the hot coals until they were barely done, finished them off with an apple/honey glaze. Some home made mac and cheese (recipe courtesy of Alton Brown), and sauteed string beans for a wonderful meal.