This is kind of like a mini Thanksgiving on a weekday night. It consists of a sliced rotisserie chicken breast heated gently with the jus from the chicken bolstered with some “chicken gravy” from a packet. Instant mashed potatoes with herbs and some steamed broccoli are the sides. I am only missing cranberry sauce!
Tonight’s dinner was easy to make but seemed pretty fancy. John grilled the steak and the baked potato. I guess I should say microwaved potato. I cooked the potato through in the microwave and then split it in half, seasoned it with salt and olive oil, and handed it off to John to give it some char on the grill.
Another really tasty part of our dinner was the roasted cauliflower. I turned the oven on full blast, 550F, tossed the cauliflower in a plastic bag with olive oil and salt, and started to let it roast on a sheet pan when the oven hit 350F. The oven continued heating up while the cauliflower roasted for 20 minutes. It was really delicious!
Weekly Menu October 21-27, 2024
Monday
Salmon with mustard/tarragon sauce
Rice, Brussels sprouts
Tuesday
Grilled steak
Baked potato, cauliflower
Wednesday
Classic chicken
Mashed potatoes, asparagus
Thursday
Out to dinner
Ethiopian cuisine
Friday
Scallops
Broccoli, rice
Saturday
Family party
Taco bar
Sunday
Breakfast for dinner
Eggs, vegetables
John did a superb job cooking the salmon in a 400F oven for 12 minutes. I was in charge of making the sauce which is the same as my mustard sauce from last week with the addition of fresh tarragon from our daughter’s garden, heating up the rice, and cooking the Brussels sprouts in a large frying pan cut side down so they would brown in the butter and sherry.
Great dinner!
Using pantry and freezer components makes this dinner a snap. The meatballs are Rosina’s home style and the sauce is Rao’s tomato and basil. The meatballs defrost while cooking in the sauce which I supplement with chili flakes, garlic powder, and dried oregano. We always buy Barilla pasta which was on sale this week at Smart and Final for $.50/lb.
By the time the pasta is al dente the meatballs are warmed through. I remove the meatballs and finish cooking the spaghetti in the sauce with the addition of some pasta water. I put the sauced pasta in the bowls, followed by the meatballs. Then I put a dollop of residual sauce over the meatballs. The final touches are grated Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a rosette of basil.
Making a sheet pan dinner is really easy and the clean up is a snap. The vegetables I included were onions, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and carrots. They were seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and ground garlic. I preheated the oven to 400F and cooked the sausage and the vegetables for 30 minutes.
Although my enchiladas don’t take a pretty picture they certainly taste good. In a 9 X 13 pan a put a layer of salsa verde. Then, in seared white corn tortillas, I put shredded chicken, cheese, onion, and a little more salsa verde. I roll them up and snuggle them into the dish with more salsa verde and cheese on top and then into the oven for 40 minutes at 350 F.
During the pandemic we started celebrating holidays that we hadn’t observed often in the past to break up the monotony. Last night we celebrated Sukkot a Jewish harvest festival and a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. Although part of the tradition is to build a temporary structure outside to eat in we merely moved our dinner to the patio. The sukkah or booths reflect the temporary buildings that farmers spend time in during the harvest and the shelters that were used during the exodus.
In addition to eating, blessings are said over the various components—the wine, the bread, the food, and a blessing over a bunch of myrtle, willow, and palm fronds plus a etrog or citron. We used a large lemon instead.
I really do not remember why we settled on stuffed cabbage as the appropriate meal. Both John and I remember having it growing up. It’s more of an Eastern European dish which fits in with John’s Polish ethnic background but certainly not with my English/Irish/German one. Maybe my mother found a recipe in a magazine and decided to try it out.
Our cabbage was stuffed with a combo of ground beef, rice, and vegetables. I cook it in a sweet and sour tomato sauce in the Instant Pot. Sarah helped in the prep and also made some biscuits to soak up the sauce.
Needless to say it is a lot of work. We only make stuffed cabbage for this holiday so it always seems special and very yummy!
Hamburgers made out of Kobe ground beef and grilled outside along with a southwestern inspired salad with tomatoes from the garden makes for an excellent late summer/autumn dinner. (Summer lasts a little longer here than in other climes.)
I have been trying to get some dinner prep done earlier in the day when I have more energy. Early in the afternoon I made the mustard sauce and cleaned and sliced the Brussels sprouts.
Here is the recipe for mustard sauce —
Mustard Sauce
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard (optional)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or whatever vinegar you have)
1 tablespoon water
Dash of sugar or sweetener
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon capers
2 cornichons, finely chopped (small un-dilled pickles)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Mix all the ingredients except the parsley in a bowl. Adjust the levels of salt and pepper. Can be made ahead up to this point. When ready to serve, mix in the parsley.
Later John pre-heated the oven to 400F and put the seasoned tilapia in to cook. At the same time I started cooking the Brussels sprouts. Here’s my recipe for what my family calls “incredibly delicious Brussels sprouts.”
BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH DRY SHEERY
1 pound Brussels sprouts
½ cup water
Salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons butter
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Trim stem ends and halve Brussels sprouts. Cook sprouts cut side down at high heat in a covered pan in the salted water for a few minutes. When sprouts are getting tender uncover the pan let the cooking liquid mostly evaporate. Then add the butter, sugar, and sherry. Continue cooking until sprouts have browned.
The fish cooked in 12 minutes in which time the Brussels sprouts were done and I had reheated the rice. We served the fish and rice with some of the mustard sauce and enjoyed the incredibly delicious Brussels spouts on their own.
Omnivore 