his Greek Salad

Of course he has his own way of doing everything, and cooking cannot be an exception. He thinks about the experience of eating and attacks the little irritants. Croutons that shatter when you fork them? Simple -- crush them and put them in the oil first. Problem solved. Crispy bits with each bite of salad.

So he got this idea about how to do Greek salad, and I can never get enough. He puts all the good stuff together in a bowl, lets it marinate together a bit, and then -- at room temp, of course -- you just spoon it over chunks of cucumber and tomatoes, and red onion slices. What's in the bowl? Kalamata olives, rough chopped, sliced pepperoncinis and plenty of them, herbs (oregano and fresh dill, with a little thyme), chunks of creamy feta, all covered in yummy olive oil.

Just look, you'll see what I mean:

When the tomatoes are good and fragrant, and the
cucumbers are sweet and crisp, and the red onions are
thinly sliced with their own crunch...and then you
spoon this luscious stuff on top? HEAVEN.

Watching Rome and eating caesar salad

We've been catching up on the HBO show, Rome, which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with tonight's dinner, except both feature the noun "Caesar."

He makes caesar salad dressing from scratch. He grinds the anchovies, coddles the egg. Grates the parmigiano reggiano into fine little threads of that dry delicious cheese. We were out of croutons so the salad was missing that bit of deliciousness, but it was so tasty. Heaping platesful of salad, the crunchy and juicy romaine lettuce topped with all that strong garlic and anchovy wonderfulness.

Catching up

I've gotten behind and have a few meals to post! It's hard, when he cooks so many good meals.

Korean hotpot -- these are extremely heavy stone pots with lids. You heat them up like mad, in a 500 degree oven, then layer in white rice, followed by whatever you wish. Cover with the very heavy lids and bake for a bit. He made some great pork in Korean barbecue sauce, and added bamboo and water chestnuts and celery, and there was ginger mixed in, too. Amazingly good. The rice gets crunchy around the bottom and sides.


For New Year's Eve, we had standing rib roast, baked potatoes, and fried okra. The roast was amazingly delicious. Vegetarians, look away:

And finally, my plate:

Finally, no self-respecting Texan would let New Year's Day pass without eating blackeyed peas for luck. More peas = more good luck. You can either have a big pot of peas, or you can make something quite luscious called Texas Caviar. Lime, cilantro, jalapeno, tomatoes, celery, onion, and blackeyed peas, served cold with tortilla chips. You really should click all these photos to see them enlarged and close-up. Your mouth will water.

Pork Katsu

Our Christmas Eve/still-doing-the-Hanukkah-thing dinner was pork katsu with rice and a green salad with ginger dressing. SO good, spicy and tender pork.

Breaded pork tenderloin cutlets, quick fried and crunchy --
he does crunchy better than anyone
a platter full of crispy pork cutlets ready to eat
green salad, avocado, and ginger dressing. Plus pepper, obviously
my plate, with a little saucer of katsu sauce
a bite, ready to go into my mouth
ready for the close-up -- luscious pork

Merry Christmas Eve, y'all.

Manna

Nearly every night, the dinner that M makes for us is incredible. At worst, it's just fantastic. But some nights, for whatever reason, our dinner tastes like the kind of food people in heaven must eat. Tonight was just one of those nights. The menu: filets mignon in a red wine reduction with onion and mushrooms; salad; and my favorite bread. OH MY GOD.

So, starting with the onions and mushroom, sauteed in butter.
The next step -- red wine.

The platter of steaks, cooked to perfection -- rare.
Topped with those deep red wine-y mushrooms.

Even the salad was absolutely perfect.

My plate, with a piece of my favorite bread and
that luscious steak

See -- so tender and soft, it really did
melt in my mouth

And so juicily red and rare.

You just can't imagine how delicious this meal was. Perfect, in every way; even he had to admit it.

Almond-crusted bluefish

We really enjoy bluefish, and I love the way he covers it in toasted almonds. The smell of the almonds toasting makes my mouth water and makes it hard for me to wait:

Here's a close-up view of the great fish

And out a little further....

And here's the whole fish presentation.

We also had fresh noodles with butter and parsley
(with lots of salt and pepper of course)

And the salad was particularly good tonight, for some reason --
very simple, just lettuce and blue cheese and red onions. But the blue cheese was very sharp, and the cold crunchiness perfectly complemented the luscious fish.

the raw ingredient for tonight's supper

He's got something in mind with this plump, juicy, fist-sized shrimp that involves cheese and bacon. Man, my mouth is watering.

Tonight's salad is courtesy of the color green:

The finished dish, Atkins Deluxe:
cheddar, cream, butter, bacon, shrimp:

Dinner at home, finally

We've been out of town and haven't eaten at home for awhile. Tonight's dinner tasted so wonderful, partly because it's good to be eating his cooking again, and partly because it was just so delicious:

grilled hanger steaks, crunchy bread

salad with homemade (and very chunky) blue cheese dressing

fried chicken and caesar salad

Since he's on Atkins, he couldn't make a thick crunchy crust on the chicken. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he did it anyway, without much flour. So crispy and crunchy, and so juicy and moist.

And he makes his own caesar salad dressing from scratch, coddling the eggs, grinding the anchovies, blending the garlic and all the other good stuff. I wish you could taste it.

salad days

It's the late salad days of summer, and I seem to have lost my appetite. These two factors contribute to tonight's dinner of three salads:

standard salad, lettuce, avocado, boiled eggs, jarlsberg cheese, and bacon:

the most luscious tomato, feta, pepperoncini, and red onions in olive oil
with special secret stuff:

fresh corn sliced off the cob, drizzled with olive oil and a squeeze of lime:

Really REALLY good. Salad days, yeah.

missed two dinners

Thursday night -- roasted pork loin, tomato & aged provolone salad, and crusty bread. The sauce for the roasted pork loin was sherry, cream, and mustard, really luscious on the tongue.



Friday night: oven fried chicken and salad. The chicken was coated in a mixture of mustard, heavy cream, wine, and seasonings, then tossed in bread crumbs. It was really moist and delicious, in a very crispy crust.

mussels and cobb salad

A great summer supper -- mussels in lemon and garlic, and a big cobb salad full of avocado, fresh tomato, bacon, boiled eggs, shredded blue cheese, and lettuce: