Oh man oh man oh man

Looks so simple. Tastes fantastic. Costs pennies.

I took my squeeze to the airport late this morning as she went to concertize in Prague and Dresden. I had to teach soon after but I managed to squeeze a pretty tasty lunch in there. Simple and delicious.

The chicken is stuffed under the skin with home-made hot almond wood smoked bacon and dipped into olive oil laced with my spice rub. Then it's cooked in a cast iron pan to brown and roasted in a hot oven for a short while. The lemons were also tossed in the oil and roasted along with the chicken.

Some of the juice in the lemons carmelizes so after cooking it's sweet and sour. I squeezed them right over the chicken. The skin is crisp and the bacon adds a smoky flavor. The sweet and sour lemon really brings it all together and makes it taste clean.  If I had been a good boy I would have removed the skin but, well, I guess I'll confess. I made two of them. I have no leftovers. I picked them clean.

Along with the chicken I had one of those weird generational foods I grew up with. My dad likes mashed potatoes with peas and so do I. Today I cooked a couple of parsnips with the potatoes and whipped them.

It took 45 minutes for me to make this lunch but a lot of it was spent waiting so I got other things done like practicing and playing with the dog.

If you enjoyed the recipe or have any comments I'd love to hear them.

Lamb and clams!

It was a busy day, with teaching in the morning, a trip to the dog park and general running around. Still I managed to produce a pretty tasty lunch.

I cooked up a batch of red pepper and onion oil. The peppers and onions get really sweet and I used them on a flame toasted piece of bread.

The meat is a lamb sirloin steak, tied in a circle. I let it rest, coated it with olive oil and seasoned it with salt then browned it in a cast iron pan. I finished it in the oven and served it with my intense sour cream dressing.

While the lamb was resting I quickly cooked the green beans in the same pan. They were fantastic.

I also made Clams with Celery and Vermouth.

In case you can't tell from the picture, it was fabulous! All of it.

Sloppy seconds

Saturday was a busy busy day. Teaching at home then off to De Anza College for rehearsal then concert. Romeo and Juliet, Rhapsody in Blue and Tchaik #6.

Lunch was fast. A coulotte steak sandwich and black bean soup (click for recipe). I like to make things like bean soup when I am teaching. I love things I can throw together and stick in the oven for a few hours.

Today I am teaching in the morning then over the hill to play in Santa Cruz County Symphony. I'll probably have left overs when I get home. I'm looking forward to it.

When tri-tip roast is on sale

I make steaks. Not as tender as a rib eye or NY,  but a lot of flavor and nice to eat. Today I rubbed it with my spice rub, cooked it in a hot cast iron pan on top of the stove and while it was resting grilled some veggies in the pan. I took them out and made coffee gravy in the pan and poured it over the steaks.

The sweetness of corn, the beefiness of beef...

You thought pasta salad was boring, didn't you?

I got to eat this!

Today's blog (smack) is about (nom nom nom) pasta (gorge) salad. On days when I have a rehearsal or concert in the evening I frequently skip dinner so I like to have a good lunch. I've got a rehearsal at Stanford Chamber Choir this evening in Memorial Church. This is a 12" serving bowl and there are about three cups of pasta salad. Those are four large, juicy shrimp.

I started making this salad when my kids were small and I wanted a way to get green things in their tummies. This worked!

The shrimp were coated with olive oil and curry powder then grilled in a hot cast iron skillet. I deglazed the pan with orange juice (from the tree) and kept that aside. Hmm, got one shrimp left. Must..type..

The pasta is acini di pepe (pickle seeds!) shaped like little pencil erasers. I added olive oil and red wine vinegar, a bunch of cilantro, most of an English cucumber cut into dice, the zests of two oranges and a lemon and the juice from all three, celery seeds, ground cumin, black pepper and salt.  I have garnished it with the shrimp, some peeled cherry tomatoes and Kalamata olives. I poured the deglazing liquid over the shrimp.

Total cost for my meal today including the shrimp is about $3.25. And I have about a gallon of pasta salad left over.  No more shrimpies though. Sigh.

Since pasta is bland and the basic recipe is just pasta, oil and vinegar you can do just about anything with this. Maybe next time I'll make it with cider vinegar and chopped green apples.  Maybe ham and pineapple.

Can't..type..must eat..pasta salad..

Grow your own garlic, bay leaves and rosemary!!

So many things we can grow and enjoy. Edible plants look beautiful and taste glorious.

We love to grow our own garlic. Once you have used it right out of the garden you'll realize what you have been missing  We love to use immature plants that have not developed a bulb yet. They look like scallions but are a little tougher and have a mildly garlickly flavor. They are great pureed into a black bean dip or soup.

Just break the cloves apart

 If you harvest them after they have developed a bulb but are not quite mature they will have a water chestnut type of texture and a mild garlic flavor. They will not have the dry papery cover they develop later.

It's easy to grow.  You can use store bought garlic to get started as long as it hasn't been irradiated or totally dried out.


Just take the cloves, paper and all and plant 1/4" deep. Just push them in the ground. Push the flat end into the soil and leave the pointy end up, just below the surface.

We use old plastic containers.

You just fill the container with fairly rich soil and plunk the cloves in there. The green tops are tougher than scallions but they have a nice light garlicky flavor.

Mediterranean bay leaves have a wonderful fragrance

We like real Mediterranean bay leaves which are not the same as the bay laurel we get from California.

The California laurel has a eucalyptus aroma but the Mediterranean ones are mild and flowery.

Rosemary is really pretty when the little blue flowers show up!

Trip to Gayle's

I played two concerts in Watsonville this morning and convinced my carpool to let me stop in Capitola to get some food from Gayle's Bakery. I got an oak-roasted chicken, a beet and endive salad, Kalamata olives and boquerones, those fishly little fish from Spain.

Simple and delicious

I tore up some olives and added them to the salad with some shredded orange peel and juice, a splash of cider vinegar and some boquerones.

Some dry toasted rye bread, fresh fruit and pickled tobasco peppers filled out the meal.

How many things are there that are wrong with this presentation? Ow, quite a few. Notice that there is just too much food for this plate. Also the lack of a real shape makes it difficult to look at.


It looks difficult to eat. Plates should look inviting!