Fourteenth Post: Hamburger and Mac & Cheese ~ All Grown Up!

Here's a classic comfort favorite that's given a new spin with some cheese that you might have on hand (if you're a fan of Wegman's cheese flights, which I am) and some marinade.

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This was also a good dinner for tonight because it was minutes in prep time, which was good, as I have a pitiful puppy on the sofa demanding attention - Ginny was spayed today, and it has taken some wind out of her normally full sails...

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So, here's what you'll need for tonights quick, easy and tasty meal:
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For the hamburger:

~ 1 ground beef patty

~ herb marinade

~ basil (optional)

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For the mac & cheese:

~ pasta (I use the term "mac" loosely: penne worked just as well
~ cheese you have on hand (I used Beemster classic, sage derby and Yancy's XXX sharp and a little parm)

~ butter

~ white wine

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One sick puppy (optional)

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Get your water boiling and put some marinade directly on your hamburger patty in the pan. Don't start it heating just yet. While your water is boiling, sit with optional puppy. Once water starts boiling, toss in pasta. Sit with puppy. Smell scorching pasta and race in to actually stir it once or twice. In between, sit with puppy.

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Once you've got a few minutes to go on your pasta, start the cheese and butter melding. Pour in a bit of white wine. Check on puppy. Stir sauce and drain pasta into collander. Check on puppy. Start the heat under your hamburger and marinade. Check on puppy. At this time, pour your pasta into the pan with the (by now) creamy, cheesey sauce. Let it simmer. Flip burger. Check on puppy. Flip burger again, toss pasta around and put it all on a plate. Top burger with fresh basil, if you like. I am getting to enjoy basil on pretty much everything. Watch, I'll be on Medical Mysteries with some strange basil-induced overdose.

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This meal came together nicely. The burger was nice and juicy (the trick, I've learned, is a very low flame). I think the pasta would have been better with a little bit of cream, as it wasn't quite as "saucy" as I had hoped. It still tasted very good, though.
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Check on puppy.

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Pour self a glass of Norton Cab to hopefully chill out a bit.

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Check on puppy.

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Enjoy meal and wine while sitting next to puppy.

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Yours in the love of good food and wine and the stressful moments in life that they help us through,

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.

Thirteenth Post: Breathing New Life into Tough Steak

It happens. Sometimes you get a steak that just doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped. And as you're sitting there chewing on this darned piece of meat until your jaws ache because you're sure not going to throw it out, you come to the decision that there's nothing to be done with tough meat. Right?.

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Wrong!

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I prepared some steaks the other night when my mother came over for dinner, and of course, because I was preparing food for someone other than myself, bad luck was on my side. The fire alarm was relentless, the broiler inconsistant, and in the end, the steaks were tough. My mom told me that when she had bad luck with steaks, this was always her fallback plan (I always thought it was just a yummy way to cook steak, little did I know...)

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What you'll need to save your steaks:

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~ Steak that has caused you personal, emotional harm, cut up into smallish pieces (use the aforementioned Crocodile Dundee knife from post #12 to maximize feelings of proper revenge)

~ Leftover juices from cooking said steak

~ Soy sauce

~ A baggie and a bowl

~ Time

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After eating and apologizing to your guest(s), smile to yourself with the secret satisfaction of knowing that later on in the week, you shall reincarnate your steak into a delectable dinner for you and you alone. Place the chopped pieces of steak in a baggie in a bowl (It will leak. Trust me). Pour in the remaining juices (I had broiled it in the herbed marinade from post #8, and had added some fresh rosemary). Add some soy sauce. Soy sauce is one of nature's marvels. Not only is it awesome on sushi, but it also acts as a tenderizer for tough meat. Let your steak marinate in your fridge for a few days.

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When you do decide to eat it, heat it in the baggie in the bowl in the microwave for about 2 minutes or under. Serve it over buttered toast.

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::PAUSE::

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It's a very common practice in our family to eat steak on top of buttered toast. It was not until quite recently that I learned that buttering one's steak is a very English thing to do. Perhaps this was my family's way of, over time, adhering to their cultural culinary habits without actually having to admit to putting butter on their steak ("It's not on the steak! It's on the bread which is under the steak, see, I've not buttered my steak at all...")

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::UNPAUSE::

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So you'll need:

~ Bread

~ Butter

~ A toaster

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Just in case you needed help with that one. Extra snark in this post is courtesy of my English ancestry.

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I served tonight's dinner with some baby bella mushrooms sauteed in white wine and olive oil with some fresh basil and a bit of grated parmesan. I uncorked my last bottle of Norton Cabernet Sauvignon (ultimately, a good decision - the cork was crumbly!), which became fruity in the face of the salty marinade, but full-bodied enough to stand up to the ::ahem:: butter.

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And the steak was delightfully tender!

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Yours in the love of giving food a second chance,

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.

Twelvth Post: Last-minute luncheon of fruit and chicken salad

Jenny and I have been trying to get together all summer. When we finally determined that Thursday would work, we set our plans for a lunch at my new place. I needed a lunch that I could put together quickly but still have it look festive and yummy.

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Here's what you'll need for this summery plate:

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Fruit salad:

~ Seasonal fruit (I chose blueberries, strawberries, one banana and the salvaged part of a nectarine that I dropped on my way home from the store)

~ About a tablespoon of honey

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Chicken salad:

~ Baked chicken (I chose Tyson's natural chicken breast, pre-cooked and packaged!)

~ Dried cranberries (raisens, dried cherries or chopped apple would work just as well)

~ Celery (about 3 stalks)

~ A good amount of Miracle Whip

~ One leaf lettuce per serving (optional)

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On the side:

~ Strawberry yogurt

~ Mint leaf garnishes (0ptional)

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:::PAUSE:::

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Everything in the kitchen is easier, I'm discovering, if you have the right utensils. And this meal was made into an under-20-minute prep thanks to a whacking great Crocodile Dundee type of knife. I whipped out a cutting board and my knife and went to town. In between preps, I'd rinse the blade and go back to work. One knife, one chopping block. Easy, peasy, one-two-threesy.

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:::UNPAUSE:::

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So get out your chopping block and your awesome knife. You'll need two largish bowls for each salad prep. For the chicken salad:

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Dice about 3 stalks of celery

Throw the cranberries in the bowl with it

Coarsely chop the chicken and toss it in

You can season it with a little onion salt and pepper, if you wish

Add desired amount of Miracle Whip and stir to blend it all together.

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Chill in the fridge until ready to serve on your plate on top of the lettuce. Now rinse your knife and cutting board, and back to work!

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For the fruit salad:

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Toss blueberries into the bowl

Slice strawberries into slivers

Cut up the banana

Add any other fruit (like my poor bruised-on-one-end nectarine)

Drizzle a bit of honey over it - a tiny amount - and toss the salad in the dish

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Serve with yogurt for dipping! The nice thing about this meal is I was able to put the plates together and let them chill in the fridge until we were ready to eat.

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I paired this lunch with organic lemonade - and paired it later on with a fabulous slice of strawberry-apple pie from Jenny!

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And that, my friends, is a quick luncheon fit for a month's worth of catching up!

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Yours in the love of food and girl talk,

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.

Eleventh Post: Meat, Cheese, Bread, Fruit ~ Enjoying the Simple Things

Cooking involves combining tastes for maximum enjoyment. But sometimes it's just nice to savor each of those tastes independently.
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As long as I can remember, my favorite lunch was what my mom named a "Goodie Lunch." In grade school, nothing made me smile more than snapping open a tupperware container to find neatly rolled slices of ham or turkey, a piece of cheese, crackers and some fruit or vegetables. (Yeah, I seriously had the world's greatest mama.) Today, I enjoy grown-up "goodie lunches," and have fond memories of my lunchbox days!
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This type of selection can be prepared as a larger plate, and might serve as a rustic offering at the next party you host or attend! There's something timeless about its appearance - and in fact, there's very little about this selection of food that has changed in a good number of centuries!
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Today, I got a hearty slice of ham off the bone (which I can use for dinner later on this week, too!) a cheese flight (this week's: Beemster classic, sage derby and Yancy's XXX sharp) which came with a bunch of grapes, and a bulk roll. Paired with a tall glass of lemonade, it's the perfect lunch to nibble on as I work on grading papers!
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Yours in the love of savoring the timelessly simple things one at a time,
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.

Tenth Post: Salmon that Rests on its Laurels with Garlic Snap Peas

To me, salmon is the king of fish. Sure, your snapper is fresh and light, your tilapia is melt-in-your-mouth delicate, but salmon, well, it's the fish that eats like a sirloin steak.
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I went back and forth for a while with the patient fellow at the Wegman's fish counter over the best deal for the smallest salmon fillet available. Well, the best deal meant a lot of de-boning, and I just wasn't in the market for that this evening. The farm-raised was priced by the cut, so I ended up with a piece of fresh-caught salmon priced per pound. I got probably the tiniest fillet in the display, so the damage was just over $2.50. Not bad for a fish that spent its life gliding through glacial waters off of the shores of Alaska. And I might add that I may be ruined for salmon forever...
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Anyway. I also purchased some fresh rosemary to see if there was that enormous of a difference between fresh and dried. Let's conclude that I shall be purchasing a rosemary plant to befriend my basil one in the near future.
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Here's what you'll need to make tonight's meal:
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~ 1 salmon fillet (Take my advice; go for the best price. It'll always taste better if you know you haven't spent your week's grocery money on one meal)
~ lemon juice
~ salt and pepper to taste
~ olive oil (again, I heart EVOO)
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For the side:
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~ Sugar snap peas (take a couple right out of the bag and eat them raw - they're like the candy of the vegetable world)
~ 2 small garlic cloves
~ salt and pepper to taste
~ olive oil
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About two hours before you're ready to eat, open the package of salmon and tuck two sprigs of rosemary on either side of it, or sprinkle the whole thing with dried rosemary. Now squeeze some lemon juice on it, and add a dash of salt and pepper. Close the package back up, and go learn about the muscles in the face, or whatever else you have to study for the next two hours.
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Before you start cooking, mince your garlic cloves. Mincing, I've discovered, is a little nicer than pressing, and leaves some of the punch of the garlic for your actual mouthful, rather than in the pan.
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Get out one medium and one small pan. Put about 1.5 tablespoons of EVOO in each. Start the larger one heating. When the oil is just starting to release vapours, carefully place the salmon and rosemary (hopefully looking cozily like one unit) into the pan. It'll sizzle happily. When you see it turning opaque about one quarter the way up, turn it carefully (I used two forks). The rosemary may have to be re-tucked along the sides.
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Around this time, turn on the burner under your smaller pan. Place your snap peas in the pan and salt and pepper them to taste. Sautee them for about 3 minutes or so. Add the garlic, toss, and immediately remove from heat.
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Around this time, you'll want to turn your salmon again. This particular cut was tricky because the middle was quite plump, and I didn't want to overcook the outsides while undercooking the middle. I actually turned off the heat before the middle was fully cooked, and the heat of the pan and the fish finished off the middle while I got the snap peas onto my plate and the wine poured. I then transferred the salmon to the plate, keeping the rosemary to add a bit of it here or there to a bite.
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I paired tonight's dinner with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Medoza, Argentina from Bodega Norton vineyards. It was, in my opinion, a perfect pair. The fruitiness and tannic balance of this Argentine Cab served to keep the salmon from ever tasting "fishy" - rather, it gave the whole meal a sense of completeness in softening any harshness in the natural taste of salmon, enhancing the rosemary essence, and providing a strong counterpart to the garlic in the snap peas.
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All in all, a delightful meal. Interestingly enough, the whole meal (sans EVOO, salt/pepper and other seasonings, which can be considered cupboard-staples) ran about $4.00. Add one glass of this wine, which I got in a sale cart at a small, off-the-beaten-path plaza wine shop (you can find some serious gems in the non-franchised stores!), and you're up to $5.00. Try doing that at an upscale seafood restaurant! Plus, I got my salmon cooked just the way I like it!
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Yours in the love of food and wine and their harmonious balance,
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AL
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P.S. And for those of you who aren't ancient Greece and Rome geeks - the title of this post is in reference to the laurel crown given in the past to Greek victors either athletic or poetic. I thought the rosemary on either side of the salmon resembled it, and it seemed fitting for the King of Fish.
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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.

Ninth Post: "Golden" Crispy Chicken

So tonight I had a craving for comfort food. Which seems like an oxymoron, because I rarely have met a food that hasn't provided me with some sense of comfort. But I digress.

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Tonight's dinner was also serving the much-needed purpose of The Great Fridge Clean-Out. You know what I mean - those last lonely food items that you would normally toss because they're just so scant, but would feel really guilty about doing so: those last three tenderloins that you have to eat soon... a lonely egg... some cheese that's not really enough to do anything with... one sad little chive... some broccoli that you know you'll enjoy once you've cooked it, but sitting there in its plastic bag it's just really not screaming at you.

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So I decided to make something zesty and crispy and comforting out of it all.

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~~~PAUSE~~~

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I've tried sauteeing chicken with coating in the past, but it's never really crisped nicely for me. Tonight I learned the secret: Really hot oil. I also learned the surprisingly shocking and off-putting sensation of teensy little oil burns. So proceed with caution.

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~~~UNPAUSE~~~

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What you'll need for tonight's dinner of convenience and danger (Like a James Bond love affair...):

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~Olive oil (I use an off-brand EVOO)

~Chicken tenderloins

~Hard cheese that can be grated (I used some leftover parm and some San Joaquin Gold)

~1 Egg

~Herbs (I used my newfound favorites: fresh basil and chives)

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Add whatever side you wish to serve or is needing to be eaten. I chose freshly steamed broccoli crowns with butter.

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So. Get everything out and ready. As I said, my parm was getting low, so I grated some San Joaquin Gold into it. It came in one of my cheese flights and is really nice and tastey. I thought it would add some zip. Into the grated cheese I snipped up the chive and two large basil leaves whom I suspect are sapping all the sun and water from the rest of the plant. I broke the egg into my prep bowl and scrambled it. Into the egg mix I plopped the chicken tenderloins and moved them around a bit to coat them.

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Next, start a good amount of olive oil heating in your non-stick pan. Roll the chicken tenderloins around in the cheese herb mixture. Set them gently into the oil. Jump back and nurse your teensy little oil burns and grab a longer fork.

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Meanwhile, you've had your broccoli steaming in the microwave. Take it out to drain it and melt some butter into it.

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Turn your the chicken tenderloins with caution. Note the beautiful golden color they turn!

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Right about now, you'll start to notice how good everything smells. That's the cue for your fire alarm to go off. Turn the chicken once more and go fan the alarm.

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When the chicken is golden on each side and your broccoli is lush and green and you can hear the guys downstairs laughing over your screeching fire alarm, dinner is ready to be served.

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I paired tonight's meal with a Chambourcin by Vetter Vineyards. I haven't had any experience with Chambourcin before, so was surprised to find how tart it was. I rather liked it with the saltiness of the cheese in the chicken. It had that sort of lemon-in-your-water-makes-you-pucker-a-bit refreshing, summery quality to it.

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A fine meal for a lazy Sunday.

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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.

Eighth Post - Marinated Lamb Tenderloins with Zesty Asparagus

Ah, here's to celebrating the approach of the holiday weekend! Well, let's be honest... since when have I needed an excuse to celebrate by cooking?
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Tonight's dinner: marinated lamb tenderloins with asparagus. Here's what you'll need. Seeing as it's Thursday night, you probably want something easy to cook. I know I did...
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~Lamb tenderloins
~Herb marinade (see, I told you this was easy...)
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For the veggie - I chose asparagus because it's one of my favorites. I always take a few out of the bundles in the produce department. Why should I buy more than I'm going to eat? Five stalks for $0.54. Who can beat that?
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~Asparagus (as much as you want to break the bank for)
~Olive oil
~Chives
~Lemon juice
~Salt and pepper to taste
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And you thought the tricky part would be the lamb!
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So: Tonight is Thursday, and I have office hours and teach a course after (public speaking). I knew I'd be hungry, but very tempted to go the bowl-of-cereal route that has often tempted the late-night diner. Not so. I had a plan.
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I thawed out the three lamb tenderloins and placed them in a shallow dish. I poured on a bit of a herbed marinade. I used one I got from Meg - Two Sisters Gourmet balsamic Mediterranean herb dipping and grilling oil. Only I didn't use it for dipping or grilling. Hm. I would suspect any balsamic vinaigrette or marinade would do. I covered it with plastic wrap (to prevent my entire fridge from being marinade-scented) and stuck it in the fridge before I walked out the door.
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I ran to the store after class and grabbed some asparagus. Then straight home I went and took the lamb out of the fridge and let it get a little less chilled while I checked email and fed Ginny (Chef Michael's Pate for doggies, naturally).
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I got out my non-stick frying pan as mentioned earlier, and my smaller pan that used to be non-stick but is now so badly scarred from knives and forks that it's really not non-stick any more. In the larger pan, I placed about a tablespoon of olive oil and the asparagus. Out of nowhere came the thought of squeezing a little lemon juice onto them. In addition, I snipped up some remaining chives and salted and peppered them. In the other pan, I placed the lamb and the marinade from the dish.
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~~~PAUSE~~~
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I love lamb. And that would seem a silly thing to pause you for except for the fact that I feel the need to emphasize the fact that I've never had particularly good luck with cooking it. Chops come out dry. Shanks are unrecognizeable when I'm through with them. My mom makes a fabulous ground lamb patty in candied orange sauce, but ground lamb is not easy to find. So I decided to try my luck with tenderloins.
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Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: Lamb tenderloins are the way to go. Small strips of lamb richness that barely shrink when you cook them... juicey, flavorful - MMM!
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~~~UNPAUSE~~~
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So start up your two burners. Don't be shocked when the asparagus starts hopping about in the oil like I was. Turn the flame down and toss it around a bit. The marinade with the lamb will start sizzling nicely. Let it simmer and turn the chops every so often. Slice into your thickest one to make sure it's done to your preference. I prefer a little dark pink in the center, so my lamb and veggies were done around the same time.
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The lamb was tender and packed with flavor. The asparagus was perfectly yummy and the lemon, I think, added a little extra zest.
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I paired tonight's dinner with a Californian Pinot Noir (Arroyo del Sol by Arroyo Seco vineyards, 2005) - normally $24.00/bottle, I got it on sale at Premier for half-price. A little bit of a splurge, but I've been saving it for a special occasion. And getting lamb right IS a special occasion. Being New World, it's fruit forward, but with enough earthiness to balance out the herbs and lamb. It's one of the few wines out there that pairs well with asparagus, and so all-in-all, the whole thing came together nicely.
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And I have now found my favorite cut of lamb for cooking!
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Yours in the love of good food and wine (especially lamb and pinot),
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.

Seventh Post: Scallops in Roquefort Cream Sauce with Pasta in Herbed Butter

Scallops are a food that I've loved since I was a child. Yes, I was a foodie since Day One. This is actually one of the dishes I cooked immediately after moving into my new place. At the time, I had thought about posting it, but I inhaled it before I could photograph it. Honestly. It was a knee-jerk response; I couldn't help it.

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So, due to you, my loyal readers, I have attempted to replicate the meal for the sole purpose of posting about it.

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And since I have about 3 loyal readers, we all know the real reason I cooked this again is because I LOVE SCALLOPS.

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This is a pretty easy and quick meal to cook. I'd say 15-20 minutes total. Here's what you'll need:

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~Scallops - since they vary greatly in size, I'll leave the number up to you. I purchased these monster scallops from Wegmans - given the size, four was more than plenty.

~Heavy cream

~Roquefort (or any bleu; gorgonzola would be nice as well)

~Parmesan

~White wine

~Olive oil

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For the pasta:

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~Pasta (whatever kind you fancy. As previously mentioned, I heart rainbow rotini)

~Butter

~Herbs (I am growing quite fond of fresh basil)

~Chives

~Salt/pepper to taste

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Start your water boiling for the pasta. In the mean time, get everything out. I'm learning, as I grow more serious about culinary hedonism as a hobby, that prep bowls really serve more of a purpose than just making people in cooking shows look fancy. Having everything measured, cut, ready, and at your fingertips cuts time and mess down considerably when cooking. I bought a really cute nesting set of 5 orange prep bowls (at Wegmans, naturally) the other day and have been enjoying them tremendously. Here's a pic of my counter set for cooking:

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So you've got your water boiling (salted to taste), now add your pasta. Keep an eye on the clock; pasta will be done in 10 minutes. Remember your wooden spoon so it won't boil over.

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In the mean time, get your herbs prepared. If you're using fresh, snip them into a small prep bowl. As previously mentioned, I'm falling in love with chives - all the zest of garlic and onion without the mess! I snipped about three of them into little pieces into a bowl. If you're using fresh basil, snip an appropriate amount into the same bowl. You can use dried basil if you don't have any fresh; I have for years!

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Once that's done, start about a tablespoon of olive oil sizzlin' in your non-stick pan. I bought a really cute Italian non-stick pan (from TOPS! HA!) that has really been a life-saver. I highly reccommend a non-stick. Toss your scallops onto the pan and just brown the outsides of them. Put them into a prep bowl.

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Let the pan cool a little bit; toss in some roquefort (I used some from the same flight I mentioned in the last post). Add some heavy cream and some white wine. (I used some of Victorian Chautauqua from Vetter Vineyards that I've been enjoying throughout this week. It's light, fruity and sweet. It really is a great companion to the roquefort, whether you're eating and drinking them separately or cooking them together.) Stir around a bit and tilt the pan so that the sauce is not spread too thin over the hot surface of the pan; you don't want it to scald. Once it starts sizzling, add some grated parmesan. You want the sauce blended and creamy before you place the scallops back in the pan.

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Put the scallops back in the pan and allow them to cook in the creamy cheese sauce. Occasionally, tip the pan so that the sauce flows around the scallops. Turn them occasionally. If you're cooking on a large pan, keep them toward the middle over the direct heat of the flame.

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While your scallops are cooking, melt some butter in a medium sauce pan or skillet. As soon as it start sizzling, add the fresh (or dried) herbs and turn off the heat. Drain your pasta and dump it into the skillet. Toss it around the herbed butter and let it sit there until your scallops are done. Watch for them to be completely opaque in the middle.

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When the scallops have turned golden brown around the edges, serve with the pasta. I paired tonight's dinner with a Chardonnay (my most favorite wine of all). I went on the "similarities" pairing principle - scallops are rich and buttery and so is Chardonnay. I uncorked an organic Chilean chard by 35° South of San Pedro vineyards. It has a sweet, vanilla aroma, and is quite heavy in body. It paired beautifully with the scallops and their sauce, never allowing the meal to get too rich. It's oaky enough to let you taste earthiness, which I think is the perfect compliment to this seafood dish.

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All in all, it's a lovely dinner!

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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.

Sixth Post - Spiced Pear with Cheese Flight Appetizer

Ah, girl talk... nothing beats it. So when my friend Meg called, we made plans for a full-fledged evening of chatting and food. She'd bring the beverage and dessert (wine and chocolate, of course!) and I would cook dinner. I decided to start things off with an appetizer that actually originated as a sneaky plan of my mom's to get everyone in our family to the table for dinner.

See, during family dinners, we always get carried away with the visiting part, and no matter how many times or how loudly you ask everyone to get to the table, no one will listen. My mom solved that problem by wafting the smell of this appetizer through the air, and magically, everyone turned up at the table to eat it. She could then get the last-minute dinner things prepped while everyone was in one place - eating the appetizer.

Here's what you'll need. Note the flexibility of ingredients - that's what makes this such a nice easy app!

~1 can half pears in heavy syrup

~Brown sugar

~Extract - vanilla, almond, even cherry brandy works

~Dried fruit - cherries, cranberries, raisens, apricots, anything goes

~Small bowls/dessert dishes

~The capacity to not scald yourself with extremely hot liquid

Place a pear half in a dessert dish with a bit of its own syrup. Add brown sugar (a good tablespoon or so) and then add a bit of extract. Place a piece of dried fruit on top. You can even garnish that with a clove or a sweetened nut. Put the dishes on a plate (because they will boil over) and put them in the microwave for about 3 minutes. When they're about the temperature of molten rock, take them out of the microwave. This produces the effect of an intoxicating aroma that will be sure to get everyone to the table. Don't worry - if your dinner guests move as slowly as my family, the pears will cool enough to an edible temperature in no time.

~~~PAUSE~~~

No matter how simple a recipe, there is ALWAYS something that can throw a speedbump into the leisurely road that was your dinner. The trick to this, I've learned from observation and experience, is not to panic, but rather, to take stock of what you have on hand and use it. Creativity as a last-minute fix can lead to some pretty fun inventions.

~~~UNPAUSE~~~

So I prepared to make this appetizer for Meg tonight, and upon surveying my pear supply, forgot that I had eaten most of the can the other day on my way out the door... leaving the two smallest halves in the can. Well this just won't do. I supplimented the lack of pear by adding two dried apricots and ample almond extract, but still wasn't satisfied. This was supposed to be a dessert dish brimming with fruitful goodness. It just looked scant.

Thankfully, WEGMANS came to the rescue! I had one of their cheese flights for one in my fridge (don't I always?) so I cut a slice of bread (Wegman's hearty potato, naturally) into six small squares (3 for each of us) and toasted them in my toaster oven. I then placed a slice of each kind of cheese on them. The effect was an appetizer consisting of the spiced pear and apricots and three squares of toast with cheese. The cheese in this week's flight was strawberry cheddar, St. Andre (a sheep's milk cheese with a taste that's a cross between brie and chevre) and roqueforte.

So what you'll need for the second part:

~1 slice of bread for every 2 guests

~An assortment of cheeses

Meg brought over the most lovely pinot noir called Gala Rouge by Bon Vivant vineyards. It was the perfect wine for our evening! It paired wonderfully with the pear appetizer and cheese, and then it continued to pair well with the parmesan chicken, tortellini in herbed butter and green beans... and it even went delightfully with the Cadbury dark and milk chocolate bars she brought with the wine!

Dinner with a good friend, wine and chocolate... the triumvirate of companionship!

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.

Finally taking a breath of air...

Well, my friends... the move is over. Ginny is (nearly) housebroken. My final papers are written, and I'm taking my first real breath of air since... well, you can check the date.

As you can see by the pictures, my kitchen is now ready for Accidental-Chef-style cooking! Actually, truth be told, it was ready a few weeks ago, but with all the school work I had to catch up on after the move, my posts would have been something like:

There once was an herbed lamb chop served with basil green beans and a snappy Spanish red.

The End.

And it'd be accompanied by a picture of stripped-clean lamb bones and an empty wine glass.

So I took a little haitus, and now, I'm back! So stay tuned in the weeks to come for summer cooking fun, including:

~Quick, last-minute food for entertaining that will make it seem you slaved for hours

~Simple desserts for one with whatever you've got lying around

~How to dress up a Wegman's gourmet pizza

~And of course, there will be lots of wine pairing, including tips for tricky summer foods, like sushi!

Stay tuned and stay cool - the summer is a-comin' in!