Jan is hosting this year’s Ladies Christmas Get-together. Some of her friends are vegetarian. I am making a chicken dish for the meat eaters and a pasta dish for the pasta lovers. We decided that a soup would be a good dish for the vegetarians.
Karl’s Italian Vegetable Soup
Filed under Main Dishes, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vegetarian MD
My original plan for this year was to get a small turkey (10 pounds) and to spatchcock it. I was planning to lay the turkey over the dressing so that the turkey juices would drip onto the stuffing. However, for the second year in a row, Whole Foods got my Kosher turkey order wrong. I still got a turkey, but it was 16 pounds—way too big to lay over the pan if I opened it up. I would have to go with a more traditional approach.
Karl’s Thanksgiving Orange and Sage Roast Turkey
Filed under Holidays, Main Dishes, Poultry, Turkey
It is crab season here in California and Jan really likes crab. Many seafood soups include potatoes and—with my diabetes—Jan is encouraging me to use starchy foods that are lower on the Glycemic index. Barley is only 25 on the GI—Russet potatoes are 111.
Karl’s Crab and Barley Bisque
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood, Soups
Baked chicken? Boring. I ate a lot of baked chicken as a kid, and it was boring. (Sorry dad). But stuffing baked chicken can be awesome. It transforms a boring, bland and surprisingly tricky dish into a delicious and spiffy one. This is the spirit behind the butcher counter pre-stuffed chicken: easy peasy elegance. Except for the fact that every pre-stuffed chicken I’ve ever bought has suffered from vague cooking directions, watery chicken, and too much stuffing. I’ve also screwed up a plethora of stuffed chicken recipes all on my own: over stuffing, over cooking, under cooking, simply falling apart.
So tonight when I made an awesome stuffed chicken, it was a Eureka Moment. All of my past mistakes were made clear, resolved by serendipity and hindsight. I had everything I needed, I treated the ingredients right, I listened to my gut when cooking, and I served right away.
Jan and I were reminiscing about chili dogs the other day. Jan used to live only a mile away from Angelo’s in Fresno—a victim of eminent domain for the high speed rail—and in her mind the home of the ultimate chili dog. Eilene decided that she wanted chili dogs for her birthday meal—19 as of yesterday.
Karl’s Chili Dogs
Filed under Beef, Broiling, California Fusion, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
The kids are not coming over this week end, so Jan requested baked beans and hot dogs. Most Americans would grab a can of Van Camps or Bush’s (Heintz, if you’re British) and be good to go. I decided that I wanted to make my own.
Karl’s Boston Baked Beans
Filed under Beans, California Fusion, Main Dishes, Pork
I made challah this weekend and it was so successful that I had to make it again. The question was: What do I serve with it? After several rounds of bargaining, Jan and I settled on lamb stuffed bell peppers.
Karl’s Lamb and Apricot Kofta Stuffed Bell Peppers
Filed under Lamb, Main Dishes
Jan wanted “roasties” for dinner. I had thought that Eilene was going to eat out with her friends. Two hours before dinner, she announced that she was bringing two friends over for dinner. Roasties for two had suddenly become dinner for five. Time to get creative.
Karl’s Honey Lemon & Herb Chicken and Roasties
Filed under Chicken, Main Dishes, Potatoes, Poultry, Vegetables
I am finally getting around to posting the meal I served Jan’s childhood friends last Saturday. This is basically my noodles Florentine recipe with meat added. While this is a dish is a meal in a bowl, I served it with a side of steamed broccolini.
Karl’s Chicken Florentine
Filed under Chicken, Main Dishes, Pasta, Poultry
Jan’s friends are coming to town for the Quilt Festival, for me this means several special dinners and this year Jan has ordered a special breakfast. For the first meal on Friday I decided to do a fish stew. Most of the European stews were out, because Barbara doesn’t like tomatoes. Japanese Yosenabe seemed the obvious choice.
Karl’s Yosenabe II
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 