Post #101 ~ Roasted Yams with Herb Tenderloin and Crimini Mushrooms

This was a quick meal that went from ingredients to table in 30 minutes.  And half of that time was spent on my computer, so it's "walk-away" friendly!

Here's what you'll need:

~ 1 yam
~ Sesame oil
~ Honey
~ Cinnamon
~ Course ground salt
~ Butter
~ EVOO
~ 1 tenderloin steak
~ Fresh herbs of choice (I had oregano and savory on hand)
~ Crimini mushrooms

First, preheat the toaster oven (bake: 375) and wash and pierce the yam.  Then microwave it for one minute (my microwave is a 700 watt one, so time might vary).  Warming it makes it easier to slice.  When it's done, slice it into half-inch rounds.  Put them in a ziplock baggie with a dash of sesame oil, a bit of honey, some cinnamon, and some honey.

: : PAUSE : :

This was total improv work.  In our household, when we make sweet potatoes / yams for turkey dinners, we make a stringy, caramelly sauce to go with them.  It consists of butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and quite possibly more butter.  It's absolutely heavenly.  However, I have the tendency to have very little control when I'm around a pot of the stuff, resorting to eating it not only on my potatoes, but also on turkey, stuffing, spoons, and even, in one desperate moment, off of my own fingers.  So I have yet to prepare it in my own home, for fear I would go into sugar shock and die.

And then what would we do?

So I totally improvised, figuring that roasting made things sweet, and honey made them sweeter.  And cinnamon... well, cinnamon's just plain great.

: : UNPAUSE : :

So into your baggie goes the ingredients and the slices.  Shake them around really well, then lay them on a pan and bake them for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.  Spend the first fifteen minutes doing anything you like, but be on hand for the next 15, because that's when you'll cook your steak.

I decided to keep this really simple, so I did the steak and mushrooms in one pan on the stove top.  Into a pan I put a tab of butter, the herbs, and a dash of EVOO.  I quartered the criminis and tossed them in.  When everything was good and simmering, I put the steak right in in the middle.  I turned it a few times and cooked it for the remaining time until the potatoes were ready.  You may need to toss it back on for a few minutes, or it might be done enough for you at this point.

I enjoyed this meal with a glass of merlot from Red Rock.  This merlot is round, bright and fruit forward, tasting of ripe bing cherries.  It was the perfect companion for this meal - bold enough to stand up to the earthy flavors of the herbed steak and mushrooms, yet soft enough not to fight the sweet, roasted yams.

All in all, a good meal!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL



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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

ONE HUNDREDTH POST ~ Tomato Pesto Salmon with Lentils (sorta) and Roasted Brussels Sprouts (plus, a bonus meal!)

So a few nights ago marked my one hundredth post!  I really thought I would feel more pomp and circumstance, but to be honest, it was just another fun evening of cooking, no more or less special than all the others.  I experimented, I enjoyed some old favorites, I made some mistakes, and had some successful enterprises. All in one meal!  Pretty much summarizes the Accidental Chef journey thus far...

So last nightI decided to continue my foray with lentils. I'll tell you right now, it didn't work out as well as I would have liked, but I've learned in the process.

Here's what you'll need:

~ One fillet of salmon
~ Wegmans (or comparable) prepared sundried tomato pesto
~ EVOO
~ Sesame seed oil (or EVOO)
~ Brussels sprouts, quartered
~ Fresh herb of choice (oregano for me!)
~ Sea salt
~ Lentils
~ Patience

After a relaxing evening of prepping for a meeting, responding to emails and (the best part!) a Skype chat with my adopted-uncle Kenton who's currently teaching overseas, I was in a very good mood, and ready to top the evening off with a good meal.  I put some Madeleine Peyroux on my GoogleMusic player, poured a glass of last night's Carmenere, and set to work.

First, I boiled some water in a shallow pan and put the lentils in.

: : PAUSE : :

Here's the thing.  Websites about lentils are not too helpful.  The instructions I found stated that lentils take "anywhere from 10 minutes to one hour."  So, I boiled them for 2 minutes as instructed, and then let them simmer while I prepped the brussels sprouts.  In retrospect, I may have jumped the gun on deciding the lentils were done.  So follow these instructions, but know that lentils take longer to cook.  I'm not sure how long, exactly.  I'll get back to you on that.

: : UNPAUSE : :

So I boiled and simmered the lentils and danced around the kitchen to Madeleine, and used a brand new tool for the brussels sprouts.  It's called an Ulu, and it's a knife native to the indigenous people of Alaska.  I actually have been in possession of it for well over a year and a half, but sadly keep forgetting to use it.  I must say, it made very short business of quartering the brussels sprouts.

I drizzled sesame seed oil over the brussels sprouts, a generous gift from my friend Darrin, who knows a guy in Austin, TX who makes his own sesame oils and roasted seeds.  I have to tell you, the sesame seeds are SO good, I occasionally grab a pinch out of the jar when I'm passing through the kitchen just to munch on.  Super yummy.  The oil is also equally good, giving any dish a certain rich, nutty flavor.  I've been using this sesame oil a LOT in my cooking (in the aforementioned "un-blogged" meals) and will have to suffer the pains (ha ha) of cooking with it a lot more so as to inform you all of its many uses.

So, over that I sprinkled sea salt and fresh oregano.  Into the pre-heated toaster oven they went, on broil, at 350.  I tossed them around occasionally as I cooked.

I drained the lentils, figuring this HAD to have been enough time (I was wrong) and put them in a prep bowl with some hot water and about a teaspoonful of the pesto.  I covered them, figuring this would cook them the rest of the way through.

Into a pan I started some of the tomato pesto simmering.  Into that I added a bit of EVOO and blended it together.  I sauteed the salmon for 2 minutes on one side, 3 on the other.  I ended up having to toss it back in to cook it just a little more, so I'd probably end up leaning toward 2, flip, 3, flip, 2.  That should do it, for future reference.

I put the brussels sprouts on the plate, spooned on some lentils, and topped that with the tomato pesto salmon.

And the lentils were NOT cooked all the way.

Everything else was very yummy, but the lentils had a certain "underdone" crunch to them.  After reading up on it, it seems that the Internet is pretty unanimous on the whole "don't eat underdone lentils" thing.  Given that the next day would be the first day of my new class, I decided not to risk it and tossed them.

The rest of the meal was fantastic, though.  The tomato pesto gave the salmon great flavor, and the brussels sprouts were infused with the nuttiness of the oil and the sweetness that all veggies seem to get when roasted.

I ended up having leftover salmon, which I saved for the next night's meal:

I added some fresh oregano to the container to infuse it with flavor while it sat.  The following night, as I said, I taught a class, so I returned home exhausted and very, very hungry.  A quick yet satisfying meal was in order.  Earlier that day, I had decided to master, once and for all, lentil cooking.  I cooked them in a small pot of water for about 45 minutes altogether.  They definitely looked more cooked, with some of them falling apart in the water, but most of them maintaining their shape.

When I returned home that night, I started some water boiling immediately, and cooked my favorite tortellini for 10 minutes.  At five minutes in, I started the salmon, some tomato pesto, and the lentils sauteeing in a stick-free pan.  When the tortellini was done, I dumped it in and tossed the whole thing around for a bit.  What resulted was a flavorful, quick, satisfying meal (that also happened to go great with the remaining Carmenere!).  All in all, a satisfying 100th post - a combination of items that gave me two meals, a learning experience, and, most of all, a fun, relaxing way to spend a few evenings.

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninety-Ninth Post (One more!) ~ Cooking with Lentils

This past week, I was on a cruise with my family in the Caribbean to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  I've got to say, all the good food made me really miss blogging.

Don't get me wrong - I've been cooking and eating LOTS of good food over the last few months - I just haven't been blogging as much as I'd like.  Hopefully, that shall change.

Certainly the inspiration to reach 100 posts will help nudge me!

So, while we were on this cruise, I ordered a phenomenal pork roast dinner.  The pork was fork-tender.  The bread was crackle-perfect and the wine robust.  But what really stole the show for me (I'm sure to the chef's chagrin, should he have known) were the perfect little lentils spread under the roast.  I was immediately reminded of how much I love these little beans.  Perhaps it's because they're tied to a memory.

When I was a junior in college, I had a schedule during the winter months that allowed me to take a morning class and then drive back to my apartment for a breather before heading off to night classes.  I had, if I recall, about an hour and a half total for a break.  I'd throw my bags on the floor, take off my shoes, and prepare a hot lunch.  More often than not, it was a bowl of Campbell's soup (I wasn't such a cook back then).  One of my favorites was lentil soup.  I'd line up a re-run episode of Frasier on my DVR, sit with a heating pad on my back to relieve the chill and eat hot soup, relish in a good laugh, and, though I didn't know it at the time, build memories of my very first apartment and independent young adulthood, memories that will stay with me, steeped in nostalgia, forever.

So as I tasted the lentils, these memories came to me, and I told them to my family.  We talked about how food can be so closely tied to memories, and I resolved myself to return home and blog the very first meal I cooked.

Which happened to be lentil soup.

About which I knew absolutely nothing.

So I hit up AllRecipes, and came across this one.  I decided that my first foray into lentils would be well-instructed.  If this venture went well, I'd continue on unassisted.  One of my favorite aspects of soup is that it can be (and in my and my mother's opinions, SHOULD be) a laissez-faire kind of thing.  I decided to alter the ingredients a little to make it a bit more "throw-in-a-pot-and-walk-away."

Here's what you'll need (and as you can see, I followed the original recipe very closely but with a few substitutions in method - I'm not trying to pass this recipe off as my own!):

~ 1 (12 oz.) bag Wegmans pre-cut, pre-washed course mirepoix 
~ 1/4 cup EVOO
~ 2 cloves chopped garlic (although I think I'd press it next time)
~ 1 tsp each dried basil and oregano
~ 2 bay leaves
~ 1 (14.5 oz.) can tomatoes in whatever form you can find them in (I ultimately found "diced in juice")
~ 2 cups dried lentils
~ 8 cups water
~ good handful baby spinach, rinsed but not cut
~ splash red wine
~ fresh oregano
~ salt

I pre-measured everything before I even turned on the pot.  Doing so makes for faster dump-and-go soup-making.  While the original recipe calls for chopping onions, carrots and celery, I decided to cheat with the pre-made mirepoix.  I started the EVOO simmering and dumped in the whole bag.  I let it cook until the onions were nearly translucent, then added the garlic and the herbs (and wow, did THAT smell good!).  I added a good amount of salt at this point.  I let it cook the recommended 2 minutes, and added the tomatoes, lentils and water.  I walked away for an hour and change, coming back to stir it occasionally and take in the fantastic aromas.

Finally, I turned off the heat and let it sit for about an hour until I was ready to eat.  I turned it back on and added the final ingredients.  The original recipe calls for vinegar.  In my opinion, wine just makes me happier than vinegar.  Unless we're pouring it over curly-cue french fries.  So I added a splash of the Carmenere I got for this meal.  The recipe also calls for sliced spinach, but I opted to go for baby leaves so I wouldn't have to do anything to them.

I let the soup bubble for a few minutes while I changed into my PJs and poured the wine (mine is a comfortable household).  I ladled the soup into my bowl and topped it with a bit of fresh oregano.  Then, I grabbed my soup, grabbed a crusty rosemary roll from Wegman's bakery to go with it and grabbed my glass of Carmenere and sat down to enjoy.

This Chilean wine, by Arboleda, was on sale at the wine shop right around the corner from my old apartment (see?  I told you I was feeling nostalgic!).  It's full, ripe, rustic, and steeped in berry flavor.  It made a fine companion to this meal.

The soup also did not disappoint.  The lentils were tender and flavorful, the vegetables were perfectly cooked, and the fresh oregano gave a punch of bright flavor to the stewed ingredients.  I feel as though I may have found a new favorite bean!  Versatile enough to be a side or a main course (as well as being healthy AND inexpensive), this is not the last you shall read of lentils from THIS accidental chef!

Yours in the love of good food, wine, and nostalgia,
AL


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninety-Seventh Post ~ Hearty Tomato Vegetable Soup

Today's high was 63 degrees, and I was in heaven in my jeans and hoodie.  I'm what you might call an "Autumn-Winter" person, and today's weather made me feel the change of the seasons and rejoice with it.

And what better way to rejoice than through cooking?

I decided to make a pot of vegetable soup to enjoy throughout the week.  With that decision in mind, I went a little nuts in Wegman's produce department.  Here's what I got, but you can choose any veggies you wish!

~ Carrots, onion and celery (for the classic mirepoix base that my family seems to gravitate toward for all things soup)
~ Acorn squash (if Autumn were a veggie, this would be it)
~ Portobello mushroom (for the sheer sake that I've never cooked with one before)
~ Largish tomato
~ Zucchini (locally grown, of course)
~ Handful leftover fingerling potatoes
~ Fresh herbs (rosemary, sage and oregano - As Wegmans didn't stock any, I found myself giggling over the pun-ready thought, "Why, I won't have any THYME this week!")
~ Four beef bullion
~ Dash white wine
~ Sprinkling of white pepper
~ One clove garlic, coarsely chopped
~ ...And one mystery ingredient which shall be exposed later

So I went home and set to merrily chopping my veggies.  I had about a half-pot full of water (my traditional dutch oven in which I make all my soup) boiling at this time, and into the pot went the coarsely chopped celery, onion and carrots, soon to be joined by the dash white wine and herbs.  Next went some fingerlings.

I pierced the squash and microwaved it for one minute to make slicing it easier.  Then I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, and cubed it and tossed it in the pot, skin and all.

Next went the portobello, the zucchini and the tomato, skin on as well.  After that went the garlic and the pepper.  By now, things were starting to smell real good.  The problem was that it was tasting a bit bland.  I added some beef bullion and a bit more salt, but to no avail.  Just at that moment, my mama called.

: : PAUSE : :

Somewhere in our ancient history as humans, mothers leaned with their daughters over the crude vessels they had fashioned to hold the night's stewed offerings, whispering to them that if they just added a pinch more of that, or a dash more of this, it just might be a bit more like they remembered it from their childhoods.

Truly, life has changed little since then.  I cheerfully announced that I was making a stab at vegetable soup for the first time, and my mother suggested...

Spaghetti sauce.

Seriously.  I was a little befuddled too.  "Or," she said, "I would add V8 juice to our vegetable soup.  That's what gave it that kick you liked."

So THAT'S why the V8 juice would show up in our cart when I would join my mother for trips to the store.  God knows I'd never DRINK the stuff...

: : UNPAUSE : :

So since I didn't have any V8 juice around, I thawed out a frozen third of a jar of Wegman's spaghetti sauce from the freezer and dumped it in.  The soup slowly took on a more minestrone appearance and smell and - yep - it started to smell more familiar.

(I peeked at the ingredients, and aside from the olive oil, all of the ingredients in the spaghetti sauce were ones I had added already - onion, tomato, salt, spices, garlic... but perhaps in more concentrated form).

I slowed it down to a simmer, tasting here and there.  I'm new at vegetable soup, and after turning off the heat and letting it sit for a while, I was surprised to find that the rind of the squash stayed in tact with a bit of flesh left, but the pulpier parts of it seemed to naturally incorporate into the broth, giving it a wonderfully sweet taste and rich texture.

I enjoyed a bowl of it for dinner along with a few slices of a multigrain baguette and a glass of Tall Poppy Shiraz.  All in all, a satisfying meal that I'll enjoy throughout the week!

Yours in the love of good food and wine (and a few words from the wise),
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninety-fifth Post ~ Prep Ahead Mussels with White Wine, Garlic, Herbs & Tomato

After I get done lecturing, I feel emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted, in a really rewarding kind of way.  Typically, I do call-ahead take-out from Panera, where I can grab my healthy, foodie meal to go, drive back to my apartment, and collapse in front of my TV to dine on panini, salad and a nice glass of wine.

But I'm trying to think outside the lunchbox for some easy alternatives.

Enter mussels.

You all know my love affair with these mollusks - easy, inexpensive, quick and oh-so-yummy.  What's not to love?  It's a quick meal in and of itself, but I thought I'd do some prep to make it even quicker.  My efforts paid off.

Here's what you'll need for tonight's meal:

~ Mussels (1 lb does it for me - unfortunately, Wegmans misplaced the special order I had called in early this morning, and I ended up having to wait for a while with two exceptionally apologetic and friendly seafood staffers while they painstakingly looked for the code to ring up a single pound of mussels, which is not a usual purchase.  Hence the call-ahead.  But we found it - #6755.  Immortalized herein)
~ White wine (tonight's was a lively Portuguese Gazela vinho verde - as clear and effervescent as sparkling water - but with a great deal more citrussy, fresh character!
~ Garlic (1 clove)
~ Fresh herbs on hand (savory, thyme and oregano for me!)
~ 10 or so pieces of oven-roasted tomatoes from the Mediterranean bar.  Super yummy.
~ 2 tbs. butter
~ Coarse-ground salt to taste

In the afternoon, I prepped the broth.  Into my pan went some white wine, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, two pats of butter and salt.  I slapped a lid on and put it into the fridge.

End of story.

I came home this evening with my pound of mussels and a baguette, let the pot come to temp while I greeted my puppy and set my bags down, and then started it simmering, rinsed the mussels and plopped them in.  They cooked covered for 3 minutes while I poured myself a glass of chilled wine and sliced the baguette.

Not 10 minutes in the door, I was sitting down to one heck of a savory meal.

Panera, you know I love you - and I'll probably see you Thursday.  But this was a great way to kick off my week!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Ninety-fourth Post ~ Mediterranean-inspired lamb and tortellini (okay, not really)

I say "not really" because I'm lying in the title.  "Inspired" implies forethought and premeditation.  This was a very un-pre-meditated dinner, insomuch as I didn't realize what meat I was working with until it hit the pan.  This is one of the posts through which I truly feel I've earned the "Accidental" in my blog name.

Let us begin at the beginning...

I occasionally reap the benefits of large meat purchases made by my parents.  Here and there, I'm bestowed gifts of meat which I merrily store away in my freezer and use throughout the year.  Tonight, I found, buried in the back of my freezer like a lost Christmas present beneath the tree, a particularly tempting parcel of... hamburger.  For that's what I was certain it was.

So I decided that hamburger sauteed with bruschetta would render a lovely meaty, savory sauce, perfect for the remaining tortellini that was just shrieking to be eaten up in my cupboard (only a true tortellini-lover knows how loudly and plaintively cheese-filled pasta can shriek).  So I thawed out the rich, red parcel of meat, got out my ingredients, and set the patty into the hot pan into which had already been spooned a large helping of bruschetta.

Where my senses were greeted with decidedly "NOT BEEF" messages.  The savory, rich smell hit me first - one that, for lamb-lovers, is positively intoxicating.  The juicy texture reached my spatula next.  This was not ground beef - this was ground lamb.  I had brought it home intending to make my mother's delectable orange-glaze sauce (caramel, really) that she serves these patties with (along with a bed of white rice to soak up the remaining sauce).

I would not normally have thought lamb+bruschetta = tortellini dish!  But that's what I had in front of me in the pan.

And I'm here to tell you that this was one happy accident!

Here's what you'll need:

~ 1 ground lamb patty (you'll most likely have to special-order these from your butcher, but they're oh-so worth it)
~ Pre-made bruschetta
~ Touch of black truffle oil
~ Dash of balsamic vinegar
~ Tortellini
~ Fresh oregano

So, as previously mentioned, start a pan heating on low-medium with 2-3 heaping tablespoons of bruschetta.  Start a small pot of boiling water going at the same time.  Add the ground lamb to the bruschetta.  Break it up and stir it around.  Let it cook uncovered for about 5-7 minutes, adding some truffle oil (this puts it over the top) and covering it for the remaining time the pasta cooks.  Drain the pasta and uncover the sauce.  Relish in the savory aromas!  Toss the tortellini in the sauce and allow it to meld for a minute or so on low-to-no heat.  Top it with fresh oregano for a truly wonderful dish.

I paired this meal with the Petite Sirah by Crane Lake from last night.  Oh, dear readers, this was a good, good pairing.  Perhaps Sirah and lamb were made for each other, for fruity notes sang from this wine that hadn't been as evident last night.  Spices came to the fore as well, blending harmoniously with the rich flavor of the lamb but not fighting the bruschetta at all.

All in all, a good meal.  Accidentally, of course!
Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Eighty-fifth Post ~ Savory Marinated Strip Steak

Easy to prepare, quick to cook - what's not to love?

Here's what you'll need for this meal:

~ Strip steak
~ Soy sauce
~ Garlic (jarred or crushed)
~ Whatever fresh herb you have on had (wait for it - OREGANO!)

Place the raw steak in a zip-lock bag.  Pour in an ample amount of soy sauce.  Not only does soy sauce add a delicious flavor to meat, but it also tenderizes steak!  One of my favorite meals as a child was my mom's soy-sauce steak over buttered toast - read about it here!  (And pardon the photo - that was before I had a camera with a "food" setting!)

Put about a teaspoon of garlic into the bag along with a sprig of whatever herb you might want - seriously - the herb could really vary anywhere from rosemary to sage to marjoram to thyme - the sky (er... earth?) is the limit!

Let the steak marinate in the refrigerator while you get some work done.  Get the steak out before you're ready to cook so it has time to get back up to room temperature.

Preheat a toaster oven or other heating apparatus on broil at about 375-400 degrees.  Put the steak - marinade, herbs and all - onto a tin foil lining and broil for around 5 minutes or until it's cooked to your preference.

I served the steak with some leftover ratatouille - a perfect pairing for the savory flavors of the salty soy sauce and zesty garlic!  Naturally, I also had a glass of French Maid with it...  Hey - I'm snowed in - give me some credit for varying the ingredients on hand!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Sixty-eighth Post ~ Lamb Wellington

Tonight I was in the mood for something special for dinner. I had gone to Wegman's to stock my freezer full of meat (never too soon to prepare for Autumn?) and I bought two lamb chops. I found in the refrigerated foods section a Pilsbury sheet of seamless roll-out dough - perfect for my next attempted creation:

Lamb Wellington. Beef Wellington has always caught my eye, and so I thought I'd try to improve upon something that's already pretty grand by changing it from beef to lamb.

Traditionally, wellingtons (of any sort, I suppose) are coated with pate or foix gras. I decided to make my own mushroom pate. Here's what you'll need for tonight's meal:

~ Lamb chops

~ Seamless pastry dough

For the pate:

~ Mushrooms (I used baby pearls)

~ Garlic

~ Dijon mustard

~ Fresh herbs (I chose oregano, rosemary and chives)

~ EVOO

For the side, I had a vegetable medley from the freezer section.

SO! Finely mince the mushrooms and herbs. Put them in a pan with some EVOO, garlic and a hint of Dijon. The aromas that will start to fill your kitchen will let you know pretty quickly that you're on the right track with this.

After the pate has melded, put it in a prep bowl. Briefly brown the lamb in the same pan. Pop the canister of dough (this has always made me jump, ever since I've been a child. It's like someone hands me a live grenade). By now, the pate has cooled. Cut two squares of dough and set a piece of lamb in each one. Top with the pate and wrap and seal the little parcel with the dough. Bake on 375 for about 15 minutes, longer if you like your meat cooked well. In the mean time, heat your veggies in the microwave, go downstairs to reset your breaker because you always forget you can't run two heating apparatuses at the same time, and uncork your wine.

About halfway through, I spread a little butter over the top of the wellington.

I served tonight's meal with a 2004 Italian red by Saladini Pilastri. It was oaky and enhanced the rustic taste of lamb that I've always found so appealing, and was fruity enough to refresh the palate between bites.

All in all, a good meal! Not a good picture, so much - I left my camera at my parents' house and had to resort to my cell phone. The next post will be better photographed, I promise!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.