Orzo with lamb

Using some left over lamb, I made a brothy orzo with spinach and zucchini. I started by cooking some onions in olive oil, then added cooked lamb cut in tiny cubes, fresh spinach leaves cut small, and tiny cubes of fresh zucchini as well. Mix it, let it cook for a minute and add some water and sea salt. Once the water is boiling, I add the orzo. So delicious, it was exactly what I was in the mood for.

Preparing for Easter - Lamb

I have cooked a small leg of lamb as a preparation for Easter. I'm trying to decide what recipe to use and have made a first trial this week.
I marinate this piece of lamb on the night before with some olive oil, herbs, lemon, and garlic. And on the actual day I cooked it with wine. I then make a special sauce from the dripping at the end to serve it on top. It comes out delicious and the lemon is a good complement to the lamb.

Hamburgers

Instead of grilled hamburgers, during the colder months, when we have no grill out, I like to fry the burgers in butter and garlic and then caramelize some onions on the butter to serve it on top. I serve this burgers with rice and steamed broccoli.

Grilled Salmon with baked potatoes, green beans, and broccoli rabe

Tonight's dinner is my resource to an unplanned dinner, that is still very healthy. I always have salmon in the freezer and it defrosts very quickly, so when I don't have anything else planned and it's getting to be time for dinner, I take some salmon out. When I have very little time, I cook some couscous on the side to go with it. Tonight, since I had some time and an enthusiastic assistant, I made some baked potatoes and side vegetables.
I added olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and rosemary to the salmon, olive oil and garlic to the steamed green beans, and cooked the broccoli rabe on olive oil and garlic separately.

Veal with Sun dried tomato sandwiches

This past weekend we made some sandwiches and had a picnic in the park, after a morning of playing outside and in the playground.
I made these sandwiches with veal cutlets cooked in garlic and butter, added some vintage irish cheddar, sun dried tomatoes with olive oil and some mayo (for me, Hungry Dad preferred his with mustard).

White chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I have been feeling like trying this cookies for a long time. I used this recipe and they were amazing and pretty simple to make.

Fresh Fruit

I just love all the colors of a bowl full of fresh fruit. I later made a fruit salad for dinner but forgot to take a picture.

Mini Banana Walnut Muffins

On the weekends I always try to make something different for breakfast. And yesterday me and my assistant made this mini muffins. I've fallen in love with the size of this muffins because is just so easy to pack on a bag and take it as a snack somewhere, making less crumbly mess than the regular sized ones.
They were delicious and a great partner for our scrambled eggs.

Maccaroni and cheese

Pretty much every time it snows, our wonderful neighbor makes the most delicious Mac and cheese I've ever eaten. We feel so lucky that she always shares some with us. Tonight was no exception, she came over around dinner time with a big tray of it, enough to have my sick assistant jumping up and down.
What I love about it, is that it is very smooth and creamy, yet very strong flavored. She uses strong hard cheeses in the mix and some fresh black pepper, keeping it distinct from the common flavored mac and cheese (which I'm not a big fan of).

To go with it, I made some grilled salmon with lemon and herbs, and mashed baked acorn squash. A dish we can definitely add to my portfolio of invented dishes. Not that I was trying to be fancy, I simply didn't know what I was doing, since I have never cooked an acorn squash before and the other day I just felt like buying one.

Once it was baked, I peeled it and placed the big mess inside of a dish. Added butter, brown sugar, salt, and a little bit of water. And put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Mixed well and it came out smooth and sweet. Delicious.

Lemon Madeleines

I got a madeleine pan for Christmas that I haven't used it yet. So today when Sonny and Rachel came to visit in the morning and for lunch, I wanted to make something that would be good to eat before lunch, yet that would serve as dessert after lunch as well. I thought of a dry cake but then decided to try my madeleine pan for the first time. I used Martha's recipe as a base, using less lemon than she asks for. Next time I might use even less lemon juice (just half a lemon + the lemon zest).
As soon as they came out of the oven and had time to cool off, they were crispy on the edges and soft on the inside. But even after it lost that initial crispiness, they are still very light and delicate. My little assistant loved them!