We were supposed to be having our classic chicken dinner tonight but we started watching a cooking program where the contestants were making chicken wings. I knew we had a couple of wings from the chicken we bought today and also some pre-made frozen ones. I could not pass up the lure of chicken wings. I cut up carrots and cauliflower to serve with the wings. The two sauces are Buffalo sauce from the pre-made package and blue cheese dressing. Yum!
I seem to be having trouble getting back into the routine of taking pictures of my dinners! Trust me, John baked the fish and made the rice. I prepared the mustard sauce and cooked the broccoli. Hopefully I will remember to take a picture tomorrow!
This week we have three events. Our daughter, Sarah, is going to start making one shared dinner per week. We do not know what it will be yet. The other event is our grandson’s birthday. We are meeting at our son’s house in the late afternoon so I am thinking it will be an hors d’oeuvres party. I have volunteered to bring shrimp cocktail. This week also begins our healthy eating regimen.
Although I grew up close to New York City I never, ever had Manhattan clam chowder. My father had an iron rule against any type of seafood. He hated it and it was not allowed in our house, period, end of discussion. So my first exposure to New England clam chowder and any type of seafood was while I attended college and through various boyfriends in Boston. John was one of them.
We change it up a bit each time we make this chowder. This time we used shrimp stock instead of bottled clam juice and half and half instead of full fat heavy cream. It turned out really tasty!
Light clam chowder
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs of celery, diced
2 leeks, dark, woody green parts removed, ¼” coins
10 ounces russet and new potatoes, medium dice
2 sprigs thyme, picked
2 sprigs tarragon
6 ounces dry white wine
2 bottles/16 ounces clam juice
Juice from 2 cans chopped clams (~8 oz.)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup heavy cream (your choice)
12 ounces chopped clams (2 cans, reserved liquid, see above)
3-4 slices of toasted hearty bread or oyster crackers (optional)
In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, and add onion, celery, leeks, potatoes, tarragon, and thyme, stirring to coat. Season with salt, and cook over low heat until the vegetables have just started to soften, taking care not to brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and then add the clam juice and reserved clam liquid. Simmer until potatoes and vegetables are cooked through.
Stir in the cream taking care not to boil. Add the chopped clams, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
Serve with toasted bread, saltines, or oyster crackers (optional)
Our salmon is thawed and is the partial star of our dinner on Friday night. I say partial because the Brussels sprouts and mustard sauce are both stars too. John cooks the salmon in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes. It is cooked through but not dried out. The rice and the mustard sauce were made earlier in the day. At the same time as these other components were being made I prepped the Brussels sprouts so all I have to do is cook them while John roasts the fish. It is a very successful dinner with everything hot and ready at the same time.
We are supposed to be preparing salmon tonight but we do not take the salmon out of the freezer in time for it to thaw. So we change gears and make Thursday’s dinner plan tonight.
Chickpea stew is one of those empty the refrigerator kind of dinners. I cut up onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, zucchini, and add canned tomatoes with chiles. The broth is chicken but you can use vegetable stock to keep it vegan. Along with the chickpeas a half cup of ditalini gives the stew/soup extra body.
To see the recipe that is the basis for my chickpea stew see https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015767-chickpea-stew-with-orzo-and-mustard-greens
Black-eyed peas are supposed to bring good fortune if you eat them on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. And who doesn’t need a little more good fortune!?
My recipe comes from Food and Wine. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/black-eyed-pea-stew-sausage I have to admit we did not have quite the right ingredients so we ended up with a combo of frozen and canned black-eyed peas and pork plus turkey sausage. Since I did not have a jalapeño I used a can of Rotel for tomato plus jalapeño. I made a mix for corn bread which turned out to be not enough mix in too big a cake pan. It ended up being about 3/4” high. Nonetheless it all turned out pretty tasty and I am hoping for a lot of luck this year!
Happy almost 2025! We rang out the old year with roasted Chilean sea bass (15 minutes at 400F), smashed new potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and seared Brussels sprouts with a touch of dry sherry. It was a very good dinner for a special occasion. We also had a bottle of Rombauer Chardonnay and toasted the new year with Imagery rosé brut. After tomorrow it is back to healthy eating!
I am back! After taking a cruise, dealing with some medical stuff, and celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah I am ready to get back to cooking dinners, eating sanely, and posting my weekly menu and daily dinners. Happy New Year!!
I am taking a little break from posting my daily dinners. My regular postings should continue mid-December.
I used my mother’s recipe for meatloaf. It consists of a pound of ground beef, chopped onion, an egg, bread crumbs, and Worcestershire sauce. Plus it does seem to need quite a bit of salt. I moosh it all together into the shape of a loaf and bake it in the oven for about 40 minutes or until its internal temperature is 140F. I do not like rare meatloaf.
In addition to the meatloaf I made some of our Incredibly Delicious Brussels Sprouts, and mashed up a large sweet potato that I microwaved for about 8 minutes. I seasoned the mash with salt and chipotle powder which gave it a nice smoky heat.
I was looking forward to meatloaf sandwiches but we ate all the meatloaf at dinner. It was both nostalgic and yummy.
Tonight I made an easy dinner —rotisserie chicken reheated in gravy, rice that John made and I complemented with fresh tarragon, and asparagus. The asparagus was on sale for $1.47/lb. so I made some tonight and saved the rest for John’s omelet tomorrow night. Simple dinner but satisfying.
Since we are leaving for vacation tomorrow and must get up at 2 AM to catch our flight, Breakfast for Dinner seemed the best route to take. John made an omelet with asparagus, cheese, and ham and I simply had scrambled eggs and toast.
Tomorrow we will embark on a trip to Hawaii by boat. I figure that there will be some interesting dishes I can write about and we are going to participate in a couple of culinary experiences along the way .
Omnivore 