More food pics
I love it when Denny posts arty photos of food I cooked. It’s such a nice synthesis of our hobbies.
This meal is from a few weeks ago, kind of a “welcome to fall” themed meal. I think I posted recipes earlier.
On the menu:
* Pear and hazelnut salad with bleu cheese and balsamic vinaigrette
* Squash ravioli in brown butter hazelnut sauce (see also arty shot of me making the pasta)
* Apple, pear, and dried cherry pie
Is Denny getting paid somehow for the clickthroughs from this site?
Hah…nope, though maybe he should be.
Aprille, how long did it take you to prepare and cook that meal? Do you make cooking your evening activity since it is like a hobby for you? Everything you make always sounds so delicious, and I always wonder where you find the time.
Thanks, Em, that’s nice of you to say. I pretty much only do the all-out meals on weekends; there’s no way I’d have time on your average weeknight. That meal took me pretty much all day, but it wasn’t constant effort. I made the pie and the ravioli filling in the morning, then the pasta dough in the afternoon. Then around dinner time, I threw together the salad, boiled the ravioli, and made the sauce (really easy, just butter and toasted hazelnuts). I like to do things that can be partly made in advance.
Plus it helps if you open the wine while you’re cooking, not just when you sit down to eat. 🙂
I remember reading about the white dishes from Cooking.com.
I am interested in white square dishes and would like to know how you chose the one you have? Thanks.
I think I just looked around at Cooking.com (because we had an online registry there for our wedding) and found those dishes. I read positive reviews of them, so I put them on the registry, and we got them. I like them a lot. They feel pretty heavy-duty, and the bowls are a good size, and they’ve held up well in the dishwasher.
Where do you find your Hazlenuts and are they a bit spendy? I have only been able to find them a couple of places and they are always very expensive. My hubby loves them as they are a very traditionally used nut in Ukraine.
Hey, Melissa. How’s it going? The hazelnuts weren’t too expensive because my local grocery co-op sells them in bulk. They’re a lot per pound, but I probably didn’t get even a quarter pound of them, since I was using them more as a condiment than an actual staple.
Aprille, that looks fabulous! 🙂 You are definately on a much higher culinary level than I am. I did recently find a recipe for Pecan-Crusted Tilapia that may become a weeknight favorite that I’d like to share with you and your other readers. From Cooking Light:
Pecan-Crusted Tilapia
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or snapper fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided (I substituted Canola Oil for its nutritional benefits)
4 lemon wedges
Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.
Thanks Aprille. Things are great, my husband and I are out in CA now so we’re still exploring the new area for us. I’ll have to see if I can find a co-op of some sort. We do have some great lower priced specialty food stores called Trader Joe’s. They have some great wines and imported beers as well as lots of organic foods. I bet they will have some there.