Lemon Dill Salmon dinner 16/06

I sloshed white wine and lemon juice over the fillets before I sprinkled lemon zest, dill, salt and pepper over the fillets. Then I baked them in a high oven for about 2o minutes till they were just done. I served them with Rice Pilaf, steamed Carrots and Snap Peas and Parsnip Fries. The first time folks see the parsnip fries they get very excited thinking that they are french fries. Most folks are not too disappointed when they taste the parsnip fries as they are very sweet when cooked this way. The vegetarian dish is Menestra. it is a spanish stew with artichoke hearts, root vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin puree, green peas and sherry that is seasoned with paprika, ground de arbol pepper, salt and black pepper

Stinky Mac n' Cheese Lunch 15/06

After the Wine and Cheese party there is always left over cheese. Quite often it is the stronger cheeses that remain in larger amounts on the cheeseboards at the end of the evening. So on the Monday following I always make Stinky Mac n' Cheese to use up the leftover cheeses. Some folks look forward to this dish as much as they do the event that generates this delicious dish. To balance all the "cheesy goodness" I like to serve a robust multigrain bread and a green salad with the Stinky Mac n' Cheese. Every year it is a different mix of cheeses and every year it is very tasty.
Below  and to the right are photos of Watermelon that was served with lunch and Butterscotch Pecan cookies for the afternoon snack. I am attempting to procure watermelon with seeds as they are much sweeter and are more fun to eat  than the seedless variety.

The Weekly Menu

The one menu item that has not been shown in the following posts and will likely require an explanation is the Hotel California Melt and the Hotel Baltimore Melt. I'll start with the hotel california melt, I once worked on and cooked for the site crew at the WFF. The backstage area where we lived while constructing the festival sight is called Hotel California. Later on I worked at a blues bar as the asst. manager/cook. All I had for cooking equipment was a very small pizza oven. So I created various hot sandwiches for the patrons to munch on while hey listened to the blues. I tried to come up with interesting names for these sandwiches.  I named the Capicollo and Provolone melt the Hotel California in homage to the backstage area where i spent many weeks over the years. The Hotel Baltimore Melt, the veggie melt, is a nod to the Norman Lear TV show called Hotl Baltimore, a favourite of mine from the early seventies.

Fried Pickerel with Hemp and Sesame/Wine and Cheese

Every year we have a Wine and Cheese Party. We all chip in a little cash to buy lots of different cheeses and we bring our favourite wine to share with everyone.  I usually make something light for dinner as we also make hot appetizers to be served with the cheese and crackers.  This year I made Pickerel with Hemp and Sesame seed.

Below are some photos taken of the food being prepared and set up ready for the party  to begin.

Pickerel Latke BLT

I saw a recipe for Pickerel BLT in a blog last week and thought what a splendid idea. However i woulndn't be able to make all the toast required and have it remain fresh. So what to do? I decided Latkes would be the way to go.
Above is a close up of the PLBLT on the flattop waiting for its Latke lid. Fortunately we were only feeding 30 folks so all the PLBLT's fit on the flattop. We transfered them to a sheet pan for service. We served them with homemade Tartar Sauce and Zippy Fish Sauce, a variation on cocktail sauce. the zip comes from barbecue sauce and extra horseradish and lemon juice. I was thrilled when I heard the first "this is so tasty".

Wednesday Dinner 10/06

Tonight we served Pork Chasseur and Ratatouille with Herb Polenta, steamed vegetables and
Asparagus. I grilled the chops while i made the sauce by sauteing onions, garlic, leeks,  peppers and mushrooms. I then added chopped oregano, sage, thyme and rosemary. I deglazed the pan with red wine and then added chopped fresh tomato, basil and parsley. After checking the seasoning I added chunky salt and pepper and poured the sauce over the chops and finished cooking them in the oven. I made the Ratatouille in the same manner as the sauce but also sauteed Zucchini, Eggplant and Garbanzo Beans before adding the wine and herbs.

Wednesday Lunch 09/06

Lunch was a simple Alio e Olio pasta with Caesar Salad and French Bread. The morning snack was Coconut Meringue Cranberry Tarts and the afternoon snack was Pumpkin Chew cookies. I schedule an easy day as we were also preparing appetizers for the Annual Wine and Cheese Party on Thursday night.