THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

I have been cooking. Promise. But finding time for cooking is not the same thing as finding time for blogging, unfortunately. For Christmas Eve dinner I adapted a recipe for pheasant with wild-rice stuffing from the City Tavern Cookbook and applied to it to three Cornish hens. I think it was ok, but the burgundy marinade was probably a bit overpowering for the hens. Here they are ready to be roasted: Finished product: The most ambitious part of that endeavor was my first try at homemade demi-glace. I'm not a patient person, and demi-glace requires patience. Let's just say that. I think mine was too watery, but it did taste good. What I'm really excited about, however, is the iPad I received for my birthday. I've used it several times already, along with the AllRecipes.com iPad application , which I really enjoy. Of course any user-upload site for recipes can be hit or miss, but I do find that the reviews on AllRecipes usually tell the tale pretty well. (Sidenote: If y...

Somerville, MA is a great city. I love living here, and this year's new Winter Farmer's Market just added to my joy. It runs between now and March, and it has been inspiring to see people trudging out in the cold, ice and snow, to the Armory (yes, the market is inside). This past Saturday, I stocked up on locally grown leeks and potatoes, grabbed some hot Italian sausage from Stillman's , and then ventured upstairs to buy some FRESH FISH from Jordan Brothers Seafood. Yes, that's right: haddock from Gloucester, and scallops from Maine. Not frozen--fresh. When she showed me the scallops I might have cried, just a little. Oh, and I picked up a baguette, brioche, and potato bread. Scallops don't require a lot of fuss, but are easy to overcook. I pulled out my San Juan Classics Cookbook (San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, not Puerto Rico) and went straight to the shellfish section where I found a recipe for "Sautéed Prawns or Scallops" from Thibert...

I've been away on vacation/visiting family so I haven't posted in awhile. When I returned from my trip, however, I had a burst of great cooking experiences. Due to copyright issues, I won't post the recipes that are not otherwise available online (in which case I've linked to them), but I do have some pictures to share. First, I made Ina Garten's " Savory Palmiers " (or see Back to Basics , 43) for a social event. I approached this with some fear as every time I open a package of puff pastry I hear this in my head. This is since my last attempt to make baked brie, which came out more like an exploding puff pastry volcano of brie. However, much to my surprise, they came out pretty darn well! My favorite part of the recipe was making the homemade pesto. All pesto is NOT alike, and Garten's recipe (or see Back to Basics , 44) is by far the best I've ever tasted! Can you really go too wrong with homemade pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and...