Recipe #66 - Gado Gado Salad

The flavors of peanut and coconut were meant to go together. This Indonesian-inspired salad from Mark and Sheri' DuMond is one that can be changed depending on what you have on hand. We didn't include tofu, bean sprouts or cucumbers, but you certainly could.

Mesclun salad greens
1/2 cup soybeans, boiled, drained and cooled
1/2 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup snow peas

1 cup light coconut milk
1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1 tsp. red curry paste
1 tsp. sriracha hot chili sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

To make the dressing, put the ingredients from coconut milk through soy sauce in a blender and buzz until smooth. Add soy sauce, lime or whatever to get the flavor you desire.

Arrange on salad plates the greens, soybeans, chickpeas, egg, tomatoes and snow peas. Serve the salad with the dressing separate.

Recipe #65 - Beet Salad with Bleu Cheese & Hazelnuts

We've been doing variations on this classic for years.

Makes four servings.

1 large or 2 medium red beets

2 Tbsp. high quality aged balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

8 cups mesclun salad greens
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts
2/3 cup crumbled bleu or gorgonzola cheese

Roast the beet(s) in a preheated 400 degree oven until cooked through to the point a sharp knife slips easily in and out. Remove the beets and allow to cool enough to handle. Remove all peel and cut the beets into small batons.

Add the balsamic vinegar to a small mixing bowl and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To assemble, dress the greens with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Place a pile of greens on each of four chilled salad plates. Place some beet pieces evenly around the salad. Sprinkle each salad with chopped hazelnuts and crumbled bleu cheese and serve

Recipe #64 - Lime Cilantro Salad Dressing

It's summertime, and we usually lean toward recipes for cool things and salad. We concocted this dressing to have with some homemade Mexican food, but it's good any time.

This is an easy and refreshing dressing for a green salad. You could also use it for inclusion in a tostada creation.

Makes about a cup and a half of dressing.

1.5 cups fresh cilantro leaves
Juice of one lime
1 cup low fat sour cream
3 Tbsp. low fat milk
Salt & pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a small blender or processor and buzz until well blended. Scrape the sides as needed to ensure all the cilantro gets evenly buzzed into the dressing. Add a little more milk if it's too thick.

Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.

Recipe #63 - Peach Salsa

We had a 4th of July BBQ with our next-door neighbors, and strived for something a bit different. We grilled some fresh salmon and served it with a little goat cheese and this peach salsa. It was interesting, with the mix of sweet/spicy, tart/earthy, and smoky grilled fish.

Makes a couple of cups of salsa.

5 fresh ripe peaches
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeds and pith removed, finely diced
Juice of one fresh lime
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. chipotle Tabasco sauce

Make sure the peaches are fully ripe. Slip each peach into boiling water for about 10 seconds, which will allow you to slip the peels off by hand much easier. Dice the peach flesh and place in a large mixing bowl.

Saute the diced onion in the olive oil until cooked through but not browned. Add to diced peaches.

Add the diced bell pepper, jalapenos, lime juice, salt and Tabasco sauce and mix the salsa gently but completely.

Season to taste with additional salt, pepper and/or Tabasco and store in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Check out "Twins in the Kitchen" for More Great Recipes and Stuff

For more recipes and ideas, check out the site that Mark and Ace DuMond are doing with a bunch of family and friends. The URL is http://twinsinthekitchen.blogspot.com, or you can just click here to check it out.

The site was created as a result of an idea that came about at a mini-reunion in western Idaho in early October. (Read about it here.) So far, friends and family from as far away as Alaska and England have contributed recipes to the blog. A few of the recipes are repeats of those which appear here, and vice versa.

Check it out ... and if you have any recipes you'd like to share on the site, email them to Mark DuMond (cafedumond@comcast.net).

Recipe #62 - Homemade Veggie Burgers

We've been enjoying prepackaged veggie burgers for years, but recently tried coming up with our own version. We'll continue tweaking it but this recipe turned out to be moist and flavorful.

Makes about six burgers.

1 large portobello mushroom, stemmed, wiped clean and coarsely chopped
1 cup canned black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
1/3 cup canned diced green chiles
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg

1 cup cooked brown rice
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1/2 cup cooked brown rice

2 Tbsp. canola oil

Put chopped mushroom in a food processor and pulse into fine pieces.. Add the beans, chiles, Worcestershire, chili powder, salt, breadcrumbs and egg, and process until well combined.

Stir in the brown rice, corn, zucchini, carrot and onion. Form six burger patties. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add canola oil. Place the burger patties into the pan and grill for about five minutes per side until crispy and heated through.

Serve the veggie burgers on whole wheat buns with sliced tomatoes, sliced avocado, lettuce and a lemon-garlic aioli.

Recipe #61 - Avgolemono Soup

This is by no means an original recipe. After all, the Greeks have been making variations of this soup for centuries. But this is our version of a classic.

Previously, we published a recipe for avgolemono pasta with veggies. But this is a more traditional avgolemono as a soup, with the base of eggs, lemon and rice.

Try it with a greek salad (easy to make with kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, greens, feta cheese and a lemon-feta-olive oil dressing) and some warm ciabatta bread.

1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
4 egg yolks
6 cups rich vegetable stock
1/2 cup long grain white rice
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup frish lemon juice
Zest of 1 fresh lemon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Stir the milk and cornstarch together. Whisk in the egg yolks until well beaten and mixed with the milk-cornstarch.

Put the veggie stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Using a soup ladle, put 1/2 cup of hot broth into the egg-milk mixture, whisking the entire time. Add a few more ladles of broth, continually whisking.

Pour the egg-milk mixture into the broth pot very slowly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low simmer and add the butter, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Warm over very low heat.

Serve with salad and bread. A good wine match would be a soft chilled rose or pinot grigio.

Recipe #60 - Jazzed-Up Hash Browns

Potatoes can be boring. But they don't have to be. Try this with poached eggs and toasted slices of ciabatta bread.

Makes four servings.

2 Yukon Gold potatoes, shredded and thoroughly rinsed and squeezed dry
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeds and pith removed, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. canola oil
Essence and lemon salt as desired (recipes follow)

Mix together veggie ingredients in a large bowl. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet until hot, then add veggies. Stir to distribute butter and oil somewhat.

Cover pan and allow to cook for about five minutes. Check the bottom side with a spatula to see if there's any burning. When it seems well browned on the bottom, flip the spuds to the other side. (You may need to do this in sections; it's OK for this process to get messy, as it doesn't need to be perfect.)

Continue cooking with the cover on for several more minutes. After both sides seem well browned, check the interior of the spud mixture to make sure everything is cooked through. Flip around in sections to get things as browned and crispy as you like.

Sprinkle with essence and lemon salt and serve hot.

ESSENCE:

Full disclosure: We lifted the recipe for Essence from the legendary Emeril Lagasse of Food Network fame. We wanted to have some of this stuff around all the time, but decided to alter the recipe to cut back on the salt content. So this recipe is identical to Emeril's with the exception of half the salt.

2.5 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. dried crushed oregano
1 Tbsp. dried crushed thyme

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously. Keep this condiment in your pantry for use any time.

LEMON SALT:

1 cup sea salt
Zest of 2 fresh lemons

Put salt and lemon zest in a jar and shake well. Keep tightly sealed. It will keep indefinitely.

Recipe #59 - Lobster Mashed Potatoes

Adding lobster to just about anything gives it a lift in a decadent direction.

Makes four servings.

1/4 lb. lobster meat, diced
6 Tbsp. seafood oil (simmer lobster, crab and/or shrimp shells in grapeseed oil and strain)
1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Put the spuds in boiling salted water and cook until soft and cooked through. Press through a potato ricer for smooth, or mash with a masher for slightly lumpy.

Add the cream and 4 Tbsp. of the butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the rest of the butter in a saute pan and cook the diced lobster just until cooked and heated through. Fold the lobster and half the seafood oil into the mashed potatoes.

Put the finished mashers on plates along with whatever other components of the meal you're serving. Drizzle the remaining seafood oil around the plate just prior to serving.

Backstage with the Doobie Brothers

We don't post often about music here, but here we'll make an exception.

It all started at the Jackson Hole Airport. We were flying home from Wyoming and our sister-in-law Sallie DuMond, who is a supervisor of security at the airport introduced us to one Michael Hossack, who happens to be a drummer with The Doobie Brothers band. That was cool enough -- to meet a rock star from way back when. He was heading to the Pacific Northwest to play some concerts in places like Coeur D'Alene, Idaho and Portland, Oregon.

Then Michael asked us if we'd like to see the show in Portland two days hence. Who were we to say no? So we flew down to Portland on Friday, May 15th, went to the will-call window at the Rose Garden and there were comp tickets to the show and backstage passes. We ended up with great seats, along with some other folks who also had received free passes. Seated just to our right were a pair of 22-year-old groupies (complete with circa-1973 albums they were hoping to get autographed). To our left were a couple of attorneys, one of whom was Kent Spence, son of the celebrated Western-garbed lawyer Gerry Spence. We wandered around backstage with our newfound friends.


But we found out that backstage passes aren't the same thing as "dressing room access." No big deal though, it was still pretty cool to be able to be part of the whole backstage thing.

The Doobies opened the show with a set that was very well-done and included pretty much every song you might remember from their heyday. They were followed by The Allman Brothers Band, which is also still very good after all these years. It's great to see a group with guys in their 60s playing along someone in his 20s (Derek Truck).

Michael Hossack called us a couple days later to see how we liked the show. Well ... we liked it! A huge thank you to Michael for his thoughtfulness. We'll never forget it!

Recipe #58 - Spicy Thai Shrimp Soup

This is a delectable soup that originally came from our wonderful sister-in-law, Sallie DuMond. Elegant yet simple!

2 Tbsp. peanut oil
2 Tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 Tbsp. lime zest
1/2 cup white rice
3/4 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
4 green onions, finely sliced

Heat the peanut oil and add the ginger and red peppers. Saute for about one minute. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add shrimp, mushrooms, coconut milk and onion, and cook for five minutes.

Add lime juice and garnish with green onions. Enjoy!

Recipe #57 - Grilled Garlic Naan

No meal of Indian food is complete without naan, the classic flatbread that's traditionally cooked inside a tandoori oven. But most of us don't have a tandoori oven, so here's a simple recipe for great garlic naan you can make at home.

1 pkg. dry active yeast
2 cups warm (105-110 degrees) water
4 eggs
6 Tbsp. lowfat milk
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/4 cup sugar
8 cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt

Combine yeast and water and set aside for about 10 minutes until foamy. Mix all other ingredients, except for the flour, in a large bowl. Wait a few minutes, then combine the two bowls of ingredients. Add in the flour a little bit at a time, mixing with your hands until it's a wet and sticky dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface, adding more flour as necessary until you have a smooth, firm dough.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Cut the dough into a couple dozen pieces and fold each piece into a ball. Put the pieces onto a flat surface, cover again with plastic wrap, and let rise for another hour.

Roll the pieces of dough out on a floured surface into flat rounds about 9 inches across. Brush each side with melted butter and grill over medium heat for a minute or two per side, until puffy and grill-marked.

Recipe #56 - A Latin Side: Vegetables with Cilantro Pesto

When planning out a homemade Mexican-themed meal, sometimes you want to think outside the box (with the box being the traditional rice and beans).

So try some fresh veggies coated with a lively pesto, substituting cilantro for basil and pumpkin seeds for pine nuts to create a fresh-tasting pesto that's quite different from the usual basil pesto.

Makes about four servings.

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

16 tiny peanut potatoes (not much bigger than your thumb; if you can't find them, use fingerlings or small red new spuds and cut them into bite-size pieces)

16 stalks asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips

4 scallions, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced

Put the cilantro, pumpkin seeds, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper into a small food processor and buzz for 10 seconds or so. Slowly add the olive oil until well emulsified, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Keep at room temperature or refrigerate and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Bring a small pot of salted water to boil and add the peanut potatoes. Lower the heat to medium, simmer and cook the spuds for a few minutes. Add the chopped asparagus and cook for two or three minutes until the potatoes and asparagus are tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the bell pepper and scallions. Saute for a few minutes, reduce heat to low and add the cooked potatoes and asparagus. Add the prepared cilantro pesto and stir everything around for a couple more minutes until the veggies are all heated through and thoroughly coated with the pesto mixture.

Serve immediately.

Recipe #55 - Peanut Sesame Lime Soy Salad Dressing

Had a hankering for a taste of Asian, and decided to make something based on what we had on hand.

Voila -- a fresh tasting Asian dressing with distinct melding of citrus, soy, sesame and peanut. Hell, if we'd had some fresh ginger laying around, we probably would've added that too.

This is good on some simple mixed salad greens, and add whatever you like (tomatoes, cucumber, soybeans, sunflower seeds, onions, grated carrot, you name it).

2 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce (we use "reduced sodium")
1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
1 tsp. sriracha hot Asian chili sauce
1 cup canola oil

Place all ingredients in a small blender or food processor and buzz well to combine. This recipe makes about a cup-and-a-half of dressing. Store leftover dressing in a tightly sealed jar and refrigerate for later use.

Recipe #54 - Beans, Pasta, Spinach & Cheese

We made this with black beans, which is fine, but the beans tend to "dye" the rest of the dish with their color. We decided to try white beans instead on the next go-around.

1/2 lb. bite-size pasta (rotini, farfalle, cavatappi, etc.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 15 oz. can great northern (white) beans
1/2 cup rich vegetable stock
Salt & pepper to taste
6 oz. fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded asiago or other hard cheese

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and toss with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking.

Heat the olive oil in a wok or large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper and cook for another couple of minutes, then add the beans, stock and spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted throughout and season with salt and pepper.

Add in the cheeses and stir thoroughly. At this point, you can do one of two things: Either serve immediately as is, or put the whole thing into a baking dish, top with additional mozzarella and asiago, and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven until the cheese on top is melted and starting to get bubbly.

In Praise of Great Films - Misunderstood Masterpieces

Ninth in a series by Mark DuMond

We recently posted about films that were "Flawed Masterpieces." That got me to thinking about movies which I can certainly proclaim masterpieces, but don't completely understand them.

That's a paradox. How can you say something is a masterpiece when you don't entirely get it?

I'd respond by pointing out certain examples in the worlds of creative art and music. I've been to a lot of art museums in the world and seen some art that I would consider masterpieces. But did I totally get it? Not unless someone came up to me and explained it. I've been a fan of the music of Pink Floyd for 40 years, and I've listened to some music they produced that I considered to be masterpieces, and without really understanding what they were about. ( I think it's possible even Pink Floyd didn't really know what they were about.)

So, is it therefore possible to call a film a "masterpiece" when you don't really get it? Here are a couple of examples of what I'm talking about:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
This film was groundbreaking in so many ways. It had special effects that no one had ever attempted before (at least at that level). The movie went places no movie of its kind had ever gone. I first saw it when I was 17 years old, and was so transfixed that I sat there and watched it a second time. I've seen it so many times since that it's almost certainly the one film I've seen the most times in my life.

Yet ... I still don't completely understand it. But that doesn't detract from the fact that this is one of the best movies ever made. And it was made by the masterful Stanley Kubrick. His body of work is amazing. Not all his films were loved by everyone, and they weren't all commercial successes. But he never made one that wasn't interesting.

I've read many synopses, reviews, explanations and opinions of 2001, and no two are exactly alike. Simply put, this movie can mean different things to different people. And it obviously isn't for everbody. (If you like your movies tidily wrapped up and easily comprehended, go rent something else.)

But if you haven't seen this one from beginning to end, give it a try. Then maybe you can explain it to me.

Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Big fan of David Lynch since the days of Blue Velvet and then the Twin Peaks series. Come to think of it, I don't think I completely understand anything he's ever done, with the possible exception of The Elephant Man (and of course The Straight Story, which is 180 degrees out of whack for a David Lynch film, given his bizarre oeuvre).

Indeed, not every one of Lynch's films are in the "good" category to me. He lost me totally with movies like Wild at Heart and Lost Highway. However, Mulholland Dr. is riveting and maddening and interesting and wildly entertaining. At the very end, as the woman in the balcony utters the word "Silencio" (don't worry, that doesn't give anything away), you realize you've just seen a masterpiece. Lynch was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for this movie, although that was the only Academy Award recognition the film received.

If someone asked me to explain Mulholland Dr. to them, I couldn't do it. If I watched it again, I still couldn't do it. For a pretty brief and cogent explanation, go to the Movie Pooper site.

But not before watching the movie!

Recipe #53 - Crab-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are great in and of themselves. But they're even better when dressed up with additional ingredients. For an example, check out our Recipe #32 (Veggie Bakers).

This recipe ups the ante by adding a little decadence: crab meat. We first tried this recipe several years ago, having lifted it from an ad by the Washington State Potato Foundation. It was originally created by Kathy Casey, one of Seattle's better-known cooking legends. We altered it a bit to make it "our" recipe, but it was certainly inspired by the one we found in the magazine ad.

The freshness and quality of the crab you use in this dish is critical. Very fresh crab meat is sweet and delicate, but crab that's been sitting around too long can turn this recipe into an unpleasant affair.

Makes four servings.

4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and punctured with a fork

8 scallions, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
2 tsp. olive oil

1/4 cup lowfat milk
1/4 lb. neufchatel (reduced fat) cream cheese
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. canned diced jalapeno peppers
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 cup shredded asiago cheese
3/4 lb. very fresh high-quality crab meat
1 8-oz. package frozen artichoke hearts

Extra asiago or other cheese for topping the spuds.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put the potatoes in the oven and bake until very tender and cooked through. Start checking on them after 45 minutes by pulling a spud out and sinking the tip of a sharp knife into the center. If the potato offers any resistance, put it back in the oven and keep checking every five minutes or so. After you're sure the potatoes are well baked all the way through, remove them from the oven and allow to cool for 10 or 15 minutes.

While the spuds are in the oven, heat the olive oil in a small skillet, add the green onions, and saute for a couple of minutes just until they're cooked but not browned.

Meanwhile, add the frozen artichoke hearts to boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool quickly. Chop them into bite size pieces.

Mix together in a large bowl the milk, cream cheese, mayo, jalapenos, garlic and cooked scallions.

After the baked potatoes have cooled a bit so you can handle them, cut the tops off lengthwise and scoop out as much potato flesh as you can, leaving a thin shell that can stand on its own. Add the potato pulp to the mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the crab meat, chopped artichokes and asiago cheese.

Using a large spoon, put the potato mixture back into each baked potato shell. Sprinkle additional cheese on top of each spud. Put the potatoes back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are golden and the spuds are cooked through.

Other than a simple green salad, you don't really need anything more than this to make a first class meal.

Recipe # 52 - Spring Vegetable Frittata

A frittata is also known as an Italian omelet. Instead of putting fillings into a folded-over version of an omelet (classically known as a French omelette), the ingredients are mixed into the eggs and the whole thing is cooked very slow and then finished in the oven.

This is one of many dishes we make that are very adaptable to whatever you happen to have on hand.

Makes four servings.

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
8 scallions, cleaned, trimmed and chopped on the bias
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1 small red potato, diced
8 stalks asparagus, sliced thin
1 small bunch broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1 large poblano pepper, stem, seeds and pith removed, finely diced
1/2 lb. fresh baby spinach, stemmed and shredded

6 eggs
2 Tbsp. lowfat milk

1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
1 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese

Heat the butter in a large skillet with an oven-ready handle. Add the scallions, shallots and garlic. Stir fry for a couple minutes. Add the potatoes, asparagus, broccoli and pepper. Stir fry for about five minutes until the vegetables soften. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts.

Preheat the broiler.

Beat the eggs and milk until well-mixed and frothy. Lower the heat on the veggies and add the eggs. Allow to cook on the low heat for a few minutes. Lift the cooked eggs on the bottom with a spatula and bring to the top. Cook for a few minutes more, continuing to fold the cooked frittata over to get the whole thing cooking evenly through.

Sprinkle the top with the grated cheeses. Put the frittata into the oven under the broiler on the top rack. Check after a minute, and then every 30 seconds. Remove the frittata from the oven when the cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown.

Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

A frittata is great as a brunch dish, but with a green salad and a hunk of warm sourdough bread, it's also a wonderful dinner item.

Recipe #51 - Truffled Lobster Mac & Cheese

Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. This recipe is comfort food taken to a new level. The richness of the truffle oil adds an element of decadence, and the minced lobster is devine. Try this with some steamed asparagus and green salad, along with a nice pinot gris or unoaked chardonnay.

3/4 lb. cavatappi (or pasta of your choice)
1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium lobster tail, meat removed and chopped
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. unbleached flour
2 cups lowfat milk
2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp. truffle oil
Salt & pepper

1 cup medium cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Add the cavatappi pasta to boiling salted water and cook to package instructions until al dente. Drain in a colander. Add olive oil and shake to coat so the pasta doesn't stick together.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small skillet and add the chopped lobster meat. Saute for a few minutes until the lobster is cooked through and opaque. Seat aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk it to create a roux. Add the milk and whisk over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Add the cheese and stir the sauce until the cheese melts. Add the truffle oil and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked pasta and lobster to the pot and stir gently to combine. Pour the whole mixture into a baking dish which has been treated with non-stick spray.

Top with additional grated cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly and the cheese on top is beginning to brown. Allow to sit for a few minutes and serve.

Recipe #50 - Asian Dumplings with Curried Coconut Sauce

Up to fifty recipes published here already. Give us another year and we may be ready to put out an actual cookbook...

We rarely make Asian dumplings. Why? For the same reason we almost never make ravioli or tortellini from scratch at home. It's a lot of time and work.

However, if you're up to the challenge and have the time, here's a recipe for some veggie-tofu dumplings that are pretty good. If you prefer meat instead of tofu, you can substitute lean ground pork or chicken.

Perhaps one way to make the process easier would be to invite several friends over for dinner and let 'em labor in the kitchen, doing the busy work of assembling the dumplings or shui mai.

Makes four to six servings depending on whether it's an appetizer or main course.

8 large dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 lb. fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 lb. firm tofu, drained and pressed dry with a towel
1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
1 Tbsp. prepared oyster sauce
1 tsp. sambal oelek (spicy red chile sauce)
1 tsp. dark sesame oil

Combine all these ingredients in a food processor. Pulse it a few times until you have a coarse mixture. (You don't want to run it too much or your filling will become to liquidy.) Chill the filling mixtured for a couple hours in the fridge. Meanwhile, make your sauce:

1/4 cup rich vegetable stock
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
2 scallions, finely minced
2 Tbsp. dry white wine
1 Tbsp. prepared oyster sauce
1 tsp. honey
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. powdered galangal or powdered ginger

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and keep in the fridge until it's time to make the dumplings.

36 wonton wrappers
6 Tbsp. cornstarch

Scatter the corn starch across a large cookie sheet. Put a scant teaspoon of filling on each wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper over filling to turn a square into a triangle. Press out as much air as possible. Using a fork, fold the edges over and crimp tightly and completely. (You don't want filling leaking out during the cooking process.) Store the dumplings on the cookie sheet while making the rest of them.

3 Tbsp. peanut oil

Heat the oil in a wide, flat non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the dumplings to the pan and fry for two or three minutes, until they're golden brown on the bottoms.

Pour in all the sauce, cover the pan, and steam the dumplings for a couple minutes more over medium heat, until they're firmed up. Remove the pan lid, put the heat back on high, and shake the pan around to keep the dumplings from sticking and to glaze them with the reducing sauce. Serve immediately.

Recipe #49 - Avgolemono Pasta with Asparagus and Artichoke Hearts

We've been tweaking this recipe for several years. Avgolemono soup, a Greek-inspired staple through the centuries, is thickened by egg yolks. This pasta dish has the same theme in mind, with a rich and lemony sauce.

Makes four servings.

3 egg yolks (use the whites for a low-cholesterol omelet)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper

8 oz. frozen artichoke hearts
3/4 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed and sliced in one-inch pieces
3/4 lb. fresh pasta (orecchiette, fettuccine, fusilli, piccolini, whatever floats your boat)
1 cup freshly grated asiago cheese
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice, followed by the whipping cream.

Put the artichoke hearts into a saucepan of boiling salted water. Cook until heated through, a few minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a wok or large skillet. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook until done, about three minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the skillet. Bring the water back to a full boil and add the pasta. Cook until al dente.

Reserve two cups of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta and add it to the wok with the veggies. Slowly add a cup of the cooking water to the egg/lemon/cream mixture, whisking the whole time. Then add this mixture to the pasta and veggies, along with most of the asiago cheese and parsley. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Toss with a large spatula or spoon over medium heat. The sauce will thicken in a few minutes. Add small amounts of the cooking liquid to make it more creamy.

Serve with the rest of the grated asiago on the side. This goes great with a small piece of grilled salmon and a green salad.

A good wine match would be an unoaked chardonnay or a South African sauvignon blanc.

In Praise of Great Films - The Flawed Masterpiece

Eighth in a series.

Film history is replete with movies that get much-deserved acclaim despite what, in this author's opinion, are fairly obvious shortcomings. One can certainly enjoy a film, even elevate it to "classic" stature, while being able to point out its flaws. This is doubtlessly a highly arguable tenet, so let the debating begin.

Here are some movies which in my estimation are very enjoyable yet contain imperfections which I can't help but point out:

Love Actually (2003) - This movie is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end, with scenes that reverberate with humor, true emotion, wit and style. (Who could forget Emma Thompson's silent meltdown when faced with her husband's infidelity on Christmas Eve, or Colin Firth attempting to propose to his foreign lover in terribly broken Portuguese, or Bill Nighy's character expressing his love for his longtime agent/manager?)

But ... this film is guilty of a sin many movies commit: Too many unnecessary storylines. The two plot points which Love Actually should have jettisoned are obvious. The first involves a couple who are apparently placed in the uncomfortable "position" of being stand-ins for an adult movie. They meet cute and end up together, which is all well and good, but the scenes they are in push the movie into R-rated territory, which is unfortunate in that it limits the film's audience with a limited payoff. This entire plot point could have been eliminated with zero damage to the overall movie.

The other piece of the movie which could have been hacked out was the ongoing bit involving the young Brit who dreams of going to Milwaukee in America because of a gnawing desire to drink American beer and meet American babes. First of all, why a Brit would want to desire American beer is a complete mystery. And the whole storyline plays out like a sitcom, which is totally out of place for a British film that seems to pride itself on emotional honesty.

Take these two plot lines out of Love Actually, and you have a shorter, better picture. With apologies to writer/director Richard Curtis, it's just my humble opinion.

No Country For Old Men (2007) - I'm guessing most folks who saw this movie ended up with a final "Huh?" at the very end of the film. I don't have a problem with movies which end abruptly or without assumed resolution, but the way this one ended was indeed problematic.

In a film that follows the lives of three very different characters through a harrowing journey, you can't necessarily expect the storylines to be neatly wrapped up with a tidy ending. But this movie cuts to black at a point where you're just beginning to wonder how things are going to play out. It's a filmmaker's prerogative to steer his movie to whatever finale they choose, but it feels cheap and incomplete to the audience when a film just "stops" as opposed to reaching its conclusion.

Crash (2004) - Big fan of this movie, which won Best Picture at the Oscars. However ... there are a couple of flaws which we must point out:

There's a scene where Terrence Howard's character is involved in a pursuit by the LAPD, and ends up pulling over and waving a loaded gun around, only to be "talked down" by a police officer and sent on his way. Sorry, but nobody's buying that. An African-American is chased by LAPD, then gets cornered in a cul-de-sac, gets out of his vehicle with a handgun. And the cops chat him up and then let him go? Sorry, but in real life his ass would be riddled with bullets with the whole thing being captured by news channel helicopters.

Another troubling aspect of this picture is Matt Dillon's cop character. He did a great job playing the character and there's much to like about the portrayal. But this cop was a blatant racist, spewing vicious invective, who also committed sexual assault against an innocent black woman early in the movie. In uniform. Yet we're supposed to feel sympathy for him because his father is sick and later in the film he saves the life of the very woman he assaulted earlier. No sale. This guy or anyone like him should be kicked off the force and put in jail.

Australia (2008) - There's much to like about this movie. The scene involving the herding of cattle before they go off a giant cliff is worth the price of admission alone. But Australia is guilty of a serious blunder.

It's way too long, and it should have ended long before it did. There's a point about an hour-and-a-half in where the two leads (played by Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman) reach a town with their cattle, they finally reveal their love for each other, they embrace and kiss, blessed rain falls to end a long drought, the music swells and ... hey, this would have been a grand place to fade to black and roll the credits.

But here's the thing: The film then goes on for ANOTHER HOUR. Years go by, the couple breaks up, a world war takes place, a boat full of children is put in peril, villains are in nearly every scene (with everything but Snidely Whiplash mustaches to paint them with cartoonish evil). It's like a whole second movie is tacked on to the film.

Australia could have been a very nice little 90-minute film, but instead became a bloated, overblown, soapy misadventure.

However ... the aboriginal kid was pretty cool.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Yeah, we know this is a worldwide phenomenon and critical fave, and in fact we loved it too. But there are some storyline flaws which can't be ignored.

First, there's the issue of the main character's brother. The rapidity by which he goes from innocent good kid to total criminal is unrealistic. It literally takes place overnight. Or same day actually. Try getting your dry-cleaning done that quickly.

Then, toward the end of the movie (spoiler ahead), the brother transcends back from bad to good even faster! Over the course of MINUTES he has an apparent epiphany, gives the keys to the crime boss's car to the girl his brother loves, immerses himself in a bathtub full of cash, and commits suicide by gangsta. All this in a screenplay that won an Oscar!

The other flaw in the story is the basic premise of the main character being arrested and tortured because of his success on a game show. Really ... we're supposed to believe that someone answers a few questions correctly on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and they immediately get abducted by the authorities and submitted to horrendous beatings and torture throughout the night because of ... what? Because they have too much knowledge in their brains? Because they might have had advance advice on the questions on the show? This is a crime worthy of severe beatings and torture in India? If I was from India, I'd be offended by the very notion of this film.

So ... Slumdog Millionaire is a very enjoyable film, although if you removed the story flaws we've pointed out here, the movie would not work. Think about it: the beatings and torture create the necessary tension and dread, and the criminal brother aspect adds the rescue-the-girl-from-the-bad-guy part of the story. What would you have if you took those two elements out of the movie?

Answer: A guy winning a million bucks on a game show after growing up poor in Mumbai.

Recipe #48 - Borscht, Vegetarian-Style

Granted, most borscht recipes call for meat, bones and beef stock, but our version omits all that. We use a rich "purple stock" which is made with trimmings from "red" veggies such as red onion, red cabbage, and of course beets.

Makes eight servings.

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 small red onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced2 red potatoes, diced
1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
2 large or 4 small red beets, peeled and diced

4 cups purple veggie stock

Salt & pepper

1 cup light sour cream
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill

Heat the oil and butter in a large soup pan. Add the onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes over medium heat.

Add the cabbage, potatoes and beets. Saute for a few minutes more. Add the veggie stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Continue to simmer the soup until the potatoes and beets are soft and cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in wide soup bowls (preferably white to better show off the deep red color of the borscht). Whisk the dill into the sour cream. Add a large dollop of dilled sour cream to each bowl of soup and serve with hot bread and green salad.

Recipe #47 - Mega-Veggie Pizza

We are utterly unable to make a simple plain pizza. Each one is different from any previous creation, and all are colorful and tasty. Sheri' is a pizza artista!

This is an example of a pizza which can make use of ingredients you might have already sitting in the vegetable and cheese drawers in the fridge.

1 premade pizza crust dough (we used one by East Coast Dough Co. of Seattle, Washington.)

2 tsp. olive oil
1 small can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves, cleaned and stemmed
1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 cup kalamata olives, thinly sliced
2 cups broccoli florets, bite sized
1 cup chopped asparagus
1 roasted red bell pepper, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Roll the dough onto a pizza stone that's been pretreated with olive oil and dusted with flour. Prebake the crust for five minutes in the oven.

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan and add the garlic and chili flakes. Saute for a couple minutes and add the tomato sauce. Heat to a simmer, then spread evenly across the pizza crust.

Scatter the parmesan cheese across the pizza. Carefully spread the spinach leaves in a single layer across the entire pizza.

Next, artfully and evenly spread the artichoke hearts, olives, broccoli, asparagus and roasted pepper strips across the pizza. Then spread the grated cheddar over the top.

Bake the pizza in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crispy and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with a crisp green salad.