Mac ‘N’ Cheese on December 16

We were up for something comforting and easy on this night.  Mac ‘n’ cheese always fits that criteria.  I used cheddar and smoked goat cheese in the besciamella and topped the dish with toasted Parmesan bread crumbs.  Bruce made a salad of arugula, apple, pear, dried blueberries, cherries, prunes, and topped with toasted (very spicy) pumpkin seeds.  The dressing was raspberry and strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.  We enjoyed a bottle of Parallele 45 cotes du rhone 2006.

Spicy Tofu with Pork and Steamed Rice on December 15

We made another of our favorite tofu dishes on this night with lots of chile, garlic, ginger, and stir-fried ground pork.  Steamed jasmine rice and fresh picked cilantro was served along with roasted kabocha squash topped with miso sauce.  We enjoyed a nice bottle of French rose: Chateau Routas 2008.

Penne Rigate with Prosciutto, Snowcap Beans, and Cabbage on December 14

We had leftover cabbage from dinner on the 12th, so I decided to make a pasta dish with it.  I soaked some snowcap beans (from matt-cyn farm) for a few hours, cooked them, and added them to sauteed onion, prosciutto, the leftover cabbage, chicken stock, FPP, and tomato paste. I simmered the sauce for about 20 minutes, and then tossed in the pasta.  We enjoyed the dish with grated Brenta Stagionato cheese from Trentino Alto-Aldige (the last shipment of the cheese of the month club), along with a Caesar salad with leftover dressing and aged goat cheese from Sardinia.  The wine was Bonterra cabernet sauvignon 2007.

Prosciutto Wrapped Sea Scallops with Wild Rice on December 13

We bought some sea scallops at Freddie’s the other day; I’ve mentioned before that we don’t normally buy seafood at the grocery stores–we prefer to support the local fisherman–however, Freddie’s is the only place we can buy these particular scallops.  They are nice big sea scallops that have been previously frozen.  I like using them because they are not sitting in that nasty liquid preservative that makes them impossible to brown.  These guys have to be defrosted over several days, and drained of the water they produce. But once they are dry, they sear very nicely.  For this application I wrapped prosciutto around them, seared them in olive oil, and seasoned them with fennel salt, green chile, and orange olive oil.  I cooked real wild rice (in chicken stock) with sauteed maitake, shiitake, sweet tooth mushrooms, and green onion, and served the scallops on top of the rice.

Bruce made a delicious salad of arugula, dandelion, radicchio, dried blueberries, apple, and toasted pumpkin seeds.  The salad was ringed with triple cream brie and goat cheese, and dressed with blackberry ginger, white balsamic vinaigrette.  We drank a bottle of Tre Nova Secopassa 2004.

Crab Cakes with Sauteed Cabbage and Root Vegetables on December 12

Since it’s crab season we’ve been able to buy whole Dungeness crabs at great prices.  We bought 4 and flicked them to get almost 2 lbs. of lump crab meat.  I made crab cakes using homemade breadcrumbs, egg, mayo, worchestershire sauce, dijon mustard, green onion, parsley, lemon juice, and FPP.  I made a great dipping sauce with sour cream, mayo, chipotle in adobo, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro.

Bruce whipped up a beautiful dish of sauteed shredded savoy cabbage, parsley root, celeriac, and fennel, with a gremolata of parsley, green chile, black pepper, lemon zest, and fennel salt.  We enjoyed another bottle of Cristom 2005 Syrah.