The picture is not much to look at, but the soup is amazing. The celery root makes it just a little sweet and the cauliflower makes it creamy. Very simple to make too. Just simmer cauliflower and celery root in broth and milk for 20 our so minutes, puree and add salt and pepper to taste.
Given how much ladypants is working these days, she deserves something special for Labor Day. I, made her Vietnamese Noodle Salad, Chicken Adobo, and Turmeric Rice. Makes for a nice meal and will work great as leftovers too.
Recently, I have been a big fan of dishes that let me use everything that I need to get rid if in the refrigerator. This salad is a real fridge cleaner. Vermicelli noodles, lemon, fish sauce and anything else I happen to have.
By the by, contrary to what one might think, it was incredibly difficult to get vermicelli in San Francisco. I went to Chinatown to find them. The problem was, I took ladypants. A 20 minute errand turned into 3 hours of shopping. Hmmmm, maybe it wasn't the vermicelli that was difficult. Maybe it was something else.
San Francisco gets cold and foggy this time of year. That's why I decided it was time for some beef stew. Well, that and because ladypants loves beef and potatoes. This stew has a hint of Indian spice because I used a bit of grahm masala and chilli. Good stuff.
The final farmer's market bounty was mint chocolate pesto. I used toasted walnuts, a couple if ounces of bitter chocolate, sugar, a but of lemon juice and a bunch of spearmint. It is the perfect sauce to accompany the strawberries.
Today was a real farmer's market sort if day. I bought two bunches of basil, some walnuts and some of the most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen. I toasted the walnuts and used them in a real nice pesto. When I added toast and tomato, it became the lunch of champions.
I bought an entire flat of strawberries at the farmer's market for $8. A great deal, but then I had to figure out what to do with that many strawberries. I broke out the old mortar and pestel and made some freezer jam. Now, I just need to bake some bread to put it on.
Spring is here and it is time for something healthy. I made a green bean and lentil salad. The secret ingredient is barley.
It had been a while since we had a big cooking night. I decided to make spinach tortellini and pizza with Italian sausage, mushrooms and blue cheese. The crust was homemade with just a touch of cornmeal. We ate leftovers for lunch. it made for a good week.
A long week and a particularly tough Friday combined with ladypant's new job called for a celebration in the form of pizza night. The crust was a standard french bread recipe with the addition of olive oil and about half the yeast. The toppings were mushrooms, caramelized onions, blue cheese and mozzarella cheese. One pizza had homemade pesto for the sauce, the other had tomatoes instead. Only the tomato pizza got photographed. The pesto pizza was gone before a photo could be taken.
Sometimes simple is overrated. Sometimes cheap is overrated too. So we splurged on filet minion. I prepared it with a red wine reduction. I served it with asparagus tossed in a red wine vinegarette. Everything was simple, yet delicious.
Today, we mainly had leftover arroz con pollo from yesterday, but we needed some vegetables too. Thus, cauliflower salad from Simple Foods.
It's been a long time. Ladypants has been working nights, so there hasn't been much cooking. However, she has switched back to days. It called for a celebration, so I cooked arroz con pollo. It was delicious and fun.
