Tilapia with tomatillo salsa and maque choux filled avacados

Tony and Jin were coming for a visit and were kind enough to allow us to cook for them. I had some ripe avocados and decided to go for this family staple. We had a great time chillaxin with good friends. The simple recipe is here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/tilapia-with-tomatillos-and-avocado-filled-with-maque-choux-recipe/index.html

Osso Bucco

This was a particularly good batch of osso bucco. We need to find a new source for the veal shanks. We are running low. We tried a new Tempranillo that was very spicy. It is the current focus of my fleeting wine passion.

Tostados

How do you make a little taco meat stretch into a full meal? This is what I tried. Lightly brush corn tortillas with oil and bake them until they are crispy. Top them with refried beans, taco meat, red onion, chopped lettuce, sour cream, and a little jarred salsa verde.

Venison with potato gratin and green beans

I pounded out some venison loin and made a dredge for them. The green beans were blanched for 6 or 7 minutes then shocked to stop the cooking. Then they were tossed in rendered bacon and sautéed red onion. The gratin was canned, diced potatoes with cream, garlic salt, Parmesan, mozzarella, and topped with panko. You throw that in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes or until it bubbles and you have a nice side dish. Heather made her infamous biscuits.

Jambalaya Night!

Heather had the idea and we had all the ingredients so we made jambalaya. I made some french bread to go with it. The key to this recipe is to finely shred the chicken. Heather loosely followed Emeril's recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/kicked-up-jambalaya-recipe/index.html

Hamburger steak with onions and mushrooms, crowder peas, and chipotle sweet potatoes

This was a simple, weekday, quick meal. I peeled and steamed some sweet potatoes while Heather cooked up the hamburger steaks with that rich stock that makes the meal. The crowder peas were canned.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chipotle-smashed-sweet-potatoes-recipe/index.html

It has been a while.....

When I started this blog, I told myself that if I didn't keep it updated, it would go away. Well life got in the way of updating all the time and it went to the backburner (pardon the pun). Not surprisingly, there were very few comments about it not being updated. Now there have been several requests in the same week so I will make the time necessary to get caught up. If anyone was disappointed, I apologize. If you weren't, I understand.