Jan wanted something light for dinner. I went on-line for ideas and was surprised what some people—especially the diet cooking magazines—considered “light.” In my mind, anything with pasta is not “light” by definition, but easily a third of the recipes were some form of pasta and sauce.
Karl’s South of the Border Salmon Patties
Filed under California Fusion, Fish, Main Dishes, Salads, Seafood
Jan requested a “light” dinner, by which she meant low carbohydrates. I decided to do “South of the Border” salmon patties. This, of course, called for guacamole. Having already mixed Mexican and Northwest cuisines, I decided to take it a step further and mix grilled plums with my avocado.
Karl’s Grilled Plum Guacamole
Filed under California Fusion, Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian
Eilene’s friends are coming over again and Jan suggested that I make a quiche. Several years ago Jan taught in Paris and brought me back a French cookbook. I have attempted several recipes from it, but I have never been able to follow their directions.
Karl’s Quiche Lorraine
Filed under Breakfast, Main Dishes, Vegetarian
I had some French onion soup left over from the other night. It had turned into an onion jam and—although the flavor was not bad—was a bit too “oniony” for most of Eilene’s friends. I was getting few takers for the leftovers. I decided that one way to buffer the flavors—and use up the leftovers— was to turn some of it into savory crackers. I will freeze the rest, in portions, to use as “soup starters.”
Karl’s French Onion Soup Crackers
Filed under bread, California Fusion, Side Dishes
Adapted from Simply Recipes
I went to Panera Bread and had their French onion soup the other day. It reminded me of my mother’s soup, but it is not one of the recipes I copied down when I left home. I thought I could do better than Panera, so I decided to gave it a try.
Karl’s French Onion Soup
Filed under Main Dishes, Soups, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Miriam has requested a Spanish style seafood stew for this Sunday’s dinner. What she meant was something like a cioppino with Spanish chorizo. A problem here is that she and her husband, Chris, are on the low-carb Adkin’s Diet.
Karl’s Zarzuela Mixta
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood, Stews
Jan made the dessert for our Fourth of July weekend dinner. It of course had to be patriotically themed, but the recipes in the newspaper were all full of sugar. The kids are on the Atkins diet so sugar. The berries themselves are suspect, but she did not have to add extra sugar the whipped cream.
Jan’s Red, White, and Blueberries
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Holidays, Treats, Vegetarian
Miriam bought me some really good balsamic vinegar and I decided that I would use it for my Fourth of July dinner. Actually, she bought me two bottles, some Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia (the really good stuff—“do not use this in a salad dressing!”) and some BalsaMela, a Balsamic apple vinegar. I decided to use the second vinegar to dress my bean medley.
Karl’s Green and Wax Bean Medley
Filed under Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I decided to experiment with pickled green pepper (Piper nigrum ). This is a new spice for my family, so I plan to go cautiously. When I did my surf and turf for Miriam’s birthday I discovered just how good a tri-tip could be with simply salt and pepper.
Karl’s Salt and Pepper Tri-tip
with Green Pepper Sauce
Filed under Barbeque, Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
Jan and I were watching a BBC documentary series called The Spice Trail, detailing the sources, history and uses of six common spices. One of the spices detailed was black pepper. It turns out that the ornamental pepper trees of my youth have nothing to do with the spice on the table.
Karl’s Green Pepper Sauce
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Vegetarian
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 