 For the past few months, I've lucked out big time with M getting home early and taking over dinner duties.
But of course there are still those nights when that doesn't happen and we just need some tasty, healthy comfort food. My go-to has been this spicy/sweet Pomegranate BBQ Tofu recipe, along with beets (yay, winter root veggies), protein-rich quinoa, and dietary-fiber-rich greens.
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 Okay, the weather has not given spring a kind introduction, so we decided to take the initiative and say, "Spring, we love you. You are very welcome here," by making a pretty vegan dessert on its behalf.
No rocket science to this recipe, but it was delicious, cheerful, and pretty. This V-Day, M and I decided to impress each other with our culinary cleverness and creativity. The mission: to come up with surprise dishes for each other. The challenge: making everything go well together. The solution: taking a cue from Iron Chef, M suggested we have everything include lavender. Suffice it to say, it was the best V-Day dinner this thirty-something's ever had. Partly out of generosity and mostly out of desire to remember how to make these things, we present...le menu! Let us know if you make any of them!
 Lavender Lemon Drop Martinis Makes 6 servings Ingredients (local and organic whenever possible):
Combine lavender, water, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir frequently until sugar dissolves. Cool however you can. If you can wait a couple of hours, do it. If not, that's what the freezer is for. Pour vodka, lemon juice, and your newly made simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Serve in cocktail glasses rimmed with sugar and add a twist of lemon peel to complete the picture.  Lavender Vinaigrette Arugula Salad Makes 6 servings Ingredients (use local and organic whenever possible):
Blend all ingredients in a blender. Sprinkle on arugula, toasted pine nuts, and whatever else you love in a salad, and voila! Lemon Lavender Risotto  Makes 6 servings Ingredients (local and organic whenever possible):
Prepare the asparagus by breaking off and discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 o 1 1/2-inch pieces. Sauté with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until tender and set aside. Over medium heat, sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil until the onion is translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the rice and sauté until the rice becomes slightly translucent with small white dots in the middle. (This takes about a minute.) Add 1 cup of the vegetable stock. Stir continuously. As the liquid cooks down, continue to add liquid one cup at a time, alternating between the vegetable stock and the white wine. After 10 minutes, add the lemon juice and continue stirring. After about 18 minutes, begin testing the rice every 2 minutes. (NOTE: This entire process of adding liquid takes about 20 minutes, and you must stir continuously.) When the rice is almost done, add the lavender and asparagus. Remove the rice from the heat after 2 minutes. Add the cheese and mix again. Spoon into a serving bowl, sprinkle with pine nuts, and enjoy.  Lavender Crème Brulée Makes 4 servings Ingredients (local and organic whenever possible):
Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add lavender. Let sit for about an hour, then strain lavender out. Bring cream back to a boil, then remove from heat. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar together in a large bowl. Very slowly, mix in the warm cream, a couple of tablespoons at a time to make sure the eggs don't scramble. Pour the mix into four 4-ounce ramekins and place in a baking dish. Fill the baking dish with hot water - enough that it comes about halfway up the cups. Bake 25-35 minutes, until the custard is firm on the sides but a little jiggly in the middle. Remove ramekins from baking dish and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar equally on top of each. Use a torch to lightly brown the sugar, then dig in.  If you're looking for a tasty mac n' cheese recipe, try this one we whipped up for the Wisconsin dairy people at 30days30waysmacandcheese.com |
M & D Cook
Chef M and Sous Chef D share some of their faves. Commence drooling. Oh, and PS, it's all vegetarian. Holl-er. Archives
January 2011
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