MENU FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 6, 2010  

I never did get around to making the escarole soup last week, which is why you see it on the menu this week – I’m not going dotty and repeating myself.  At least not yet…. 

ShopRite has T Bone/Porterhouse steaks on sale for $3.99. And they will cut to order so we can get a lovely 2” steak.  I’ll do Lidia’s fabulous Beef Maremma – Warner can do it on the grill pan.  Nothing could be simpler – or better. A little pasta and a vegetable and we’re all set. They also have Pollock on sale at $4.95.  I’ll do a braise of that tomorrow night – full of flavor and good for a cold winter’s (or almost winter) night. 

Shortly before Thanksgiving I picked up a copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. It looks to be fabulous!  This is the first time I’ve been able to cook from it – and I do so with great anticipation. It would appear to be a huge labor of love.  Over 500 pages and I believe it retails for about $35.  Compare that to Ina Garten’s How Easy is That which is a little over 200 pages and retails for the same amount….. 

 For the record, if you are near a Costco, check out their cookbooks.  Their prices on cookbooks are the best I’ve found.  Anywhere.  They have a limited number of titles, but they are well worth checking out. One cookbook I found there recently is Molly O’neil’s One Big Table. She goes national with the theme she used for her New York Cookbook where each recipe is offered by a unique individual with a background story.  Good reading and hopefully great cooking.  I use the New York book a lot. 

We’ve had some good eating again this week. Tonight I’m looking forwards to cooking up my Joyce Goldstein’s Sauerbratten which has been marinating in red wine, ginger snaps, onions, carrots, vinegar etc. since Weds.  With, of course, the potato pancakes and red cabbage.  I’ll serve the apple sauce with sage with this, instead of the Julia Child recipe. 

Also good were last night’s New Orleans Shrimp, the devilled tilapia, the tikka masala and the butternut squash and sausage gratin.  I did the latter with Warner’s turkey sausage with cranberries and it made for a lovely, homey dish. We love Jasper White’s fried fish – it is so light  one could eat a ton of it – and of course the lo mein is fast, healthy and a great way to deal with leftover beef/pork/poultry/shrimp.  Alas, cooking for two…. 

Mon. AM             New Orleans Omelets with Shrimp 

Mon. PM              Braised Pollock with Fennel, Tomatoes 

    and Kalamata BA 4/95

                             Steamed Rice

                             Sautéed Zucchini

Tues. AM             Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs BA 2/03 141 

Tues. PM              Sauerbraten

                             Potato Pancakes

                             Red Cabbage

Weds. AM

Cheddar Omelets with Scrapple 

Weds. PM             Lamb Riblets with Lemon Dill Marinade GM 6/82 48

                             Poblano Risotto with Herbs ME 88

                             Sautéed Carrots with Lemon

Thurs. PM            Filet of Sole Grenobloise 60  min

                             Quinoa Pilaf with Red and Yellow Peppers CIACAH 214

Fri. AM                Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs 

Fri. PM                 Lidia’s Steak Maremma

                             Fresh Pasta with Gorgonzola Sauce

                             Baby Peas

  Wine: Greg Norman Shirazz 2006

Sat. AM               Barbara Kafka’s Split Pea Soup BK-S 

Sat. PM                Chinese Chicken Wings CCI

                             New England Boiled Dinner   CCI

                             Cream Drop Biscuits

(OK, it isn't pulled turkey sandwiches, but we had this left over steak.)

Sun. AM              Pulled Turkey Sandwiches 

Sun. PM               Mustard Batons AMFT 14

                             M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken AMFT 204

                             Herb Speckled Spaetzle with Fresh Herbs AMFT 372

                             Sautéed Asparagus

Speaking of cookbooks, the CIA has issued one on Charcuterie, as much text as recipes it does look interesting. And Ruhlman's and Polcyn's second work on the subject should be out soon. 

Putting out the whole Proscuitto (or in that style anyway) at Thanksgiving was impressive. I'll be hauling the ham out of the deep freeze this week, to spend time curing before hanging in the basement until May. In May it goes in the wine cooler and will be joined by a second, planning on purchasable in April.