April 6-April 15

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta:

I made this as an appetizer at school.  The light sweetness of the corn panna cotta is contrasted by a spicy fresh kim chee and the salty bitterness of a kalamata tapenade.  I was looking for a sauce and found frangipane and chervil crème fraîche next to each other in the cooler: inspiration.  Painted on to the plate, it adds a slight grassiness and enhances the sweet taste of the the panna cotta.

• Corn Panna Cotta: I found these as leftovers
• Kim Chee: Salted brunoise of zucchini, carrot, candied orange peel with paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, cumin
• Tapenade: Brunoise of kalamatas, anchovies, capers

Banana Ice Cream:

This is a pretty simple and delicious dessert that we certainly didn't invent.  Bananas are frozen then blended to ice cream consistency.  Here we added in and then topped them with chocolate sauce.  Below that are two attempted desserts that were not terribly appetizing (one was the same banana ice cream with bananas that were way too old and icy, viz. use rather fresh ones; the other was just too acidic and boring).

• Bananas, chocolate sauce

• Left: really old freezer bananas, cocoa powder, chunky peanut butter
• Right: yogurt, brownie crumbs

Surf and Turf:

As usual, dinner was dictated by what we had in the refrigerator.  Available proteins: strip steak and shrimp.  Add in brussel sprouts and seaweed (actually, we forgot to add the latter), and you get surf and turf.  I also worked out a new pasta recipe for this (ratio is 3 eggs:19 oz bread flour) to get a stiffer dough than I usually make.  I also used the dehydrator to slightly tighten up pasta sheets in order to form them into shapes a little more easily.  The result: lovely bows, firm shapes, dry storage capability and al dente product.  Jeremy also used a court bouillon to poach the shrimp and steam the steak, infusing a huge amount of flavor.

• Court bouillon: red wine, water, achiote verde, garlic, paprika
• Sauce: leftover parsley gravy, sun-dried tomato mustard, golden syrup,  yogurt, chives
• Pasta rolled out with chives, brussel sprouts, shrimp, strip steak

Biscuits with Parsley and Sausage Gravy:

• Gravy: parsley, Grazziano's sausage, cream, gorgonzola
• Biscuits

Sautéed Brussel Sprouts:

• Sauce: gravy from the biscuits above, butter
• Sautéed brussel sprouts, tomato, yogurt

Chicken Truffle Sausages with Red Lentils and Broccoli Stalk:
Jeremy made this chicken forcemeat at school.  There was extra so it made it's way home with us.

• Sausages: Chicken thigh/leg meat, cream tarragon, truffle oil
• Broccoli: Sautéed in chili oil with mirin, soy sauce, parsley, and red chili flakes
• Red lentils, yogurt, parsley

Carrot Lady:

Jeremy carved this at work the other day.  The bust and legs are held together with a skewer dowel.