Pasta with Roasted Onions, Radicchio and Blue Cheese (RC Cook's Country February / March 2013)
Very quick to make, used Chiriboga Blue Cheese (a mild, but still quite flavorful blue) and this turned out very well. Shannon wasn't a fan of the mildly bitter aftertaste of the radicchio, which I can understand, but over all, it was still a very good dish.
Chicken Cordon Bleu for Two (p28 Cook's Country February / March 2013)
So I ended up having a cheese explosion and so they didn't look as pretty as I'd like, thus no pictures, but it still was quite tasty and not that tough to do. I used a very nice Gruyere, and a not so nice slices of ham. It came together very well. I'll certainly try to make this again sometime, perhaps with better ham.
Creamy Pappardelle with Leeks and Bacon (p75 Bon Appetit February 2013)
So this is a sort of play on a carbonara and it works. It had a nice combination of flavors and textures. What was depressing about this meal is that I opened up some mixed herbal greens (store bought) well within the supposed expiration date, and was overwhelmed with rankness. I miss farm fresh greens.
Spiced Pumpkin Pancake
I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice, so I used a combination of spices that make up pumpkin pie spice and made this. It turned out well, though because of the color of the batter, and the consistency, it was a bit difficult to tell the doneness, so I may have overcooked a couple. Even so, it was still a nice dinner and a good use of the leftover pumpkin that I have.
Rigatoni with Spicy Calabrese-style Pork Ragu (p72 Bon Appetit February 2013) (Friday)
This was really damn fantastic. So does it need the 4 hour simmer? Who knows? I alternated between using water and tomato juice to keep the liquid there, and used a couple of extra spices, but really, this is probably the best tasting pasta sauce I've made. Worth the time? I'm not sure, but considering I'd stir, set the alarm on my phone, and watch tv / nap and then come back and stir some more when it went off, it wasn't that much of a burden, other then the time to have to start. So I guess it makes for a nice weekend meal.
Crispy Lentils with Ground Lamb
So this was really good. What I didn't like is the assumption that I would have just cooked lentils on hand and there were no suggestions as to how to prepare them. So I guessed, added some spices and went from there. and it ended up working out. A little lamb supplemented with a bunch of lentils, it works out well.
