We get nearly all our meats delivered from our dairy, South Mountain Creamery. In addition to its own beef herd, South Mountain sells pork, lamb and poultry products from other local farmers. But one thing we’ve learned is that just because it’s local doesn’t always mean its good. We’ve had bacon from the farmers market that [...]
Entries Tagged as 'dinner'
Tom’s Thin-Crust Miracle Pizza
December 8th, 2009 · No Comments · Recipes, dinner
Brother-in-law Tom has a genius method for making pizza. He rolls out his dough ahead and par-bakes it on a pizza pan. When you arrive at his house, he has a stack of pizza crusts on the kitchen counter ready to go as well as myriad sauces and toppings on the stove. He tops a [...]
Tags: pizza
Oxtails And Friends
November 23rd, 2009 · 2 Comments · Recipes, dinner
Some braised meat dishes are so rich they take your breath away. I place oxtails in that category. Richness dictates smaller portion sizes, which fits oxtail perfectly since this is one piece of meat that is mostly bone. Oxtail belongs to that group of odd bits that butchers in a bygone era would practically give away. [...]
Tags: beef·braise·entertaining·fall
What We Had For Dinner: Lobster Salad
November 19th, 2009 · No Comments · dinner
When we heard our friend Darren was planning to visit from Maine we immediately placed an order for lobsters. How can you not when a 1 1/4-pound lobster costs only $5? Well, pity the pour lobster fishermen. This recession has knocked the stuffing out of the lobster market. But we are happy to step up [...]
Hors d’Ouevres Buffet From The Garden
November 9th, 2009 · 2 Comments · dinner, garden
Our kitchen could be in a museum, it’s so old. But it’s big enough to fit a dinner party, start to finish, and the big island has enough counter space for a substantial buffet, a real advantage feeding a crowd.
When six friends came to dinner last night we went to the pantry for hors d’oeuvres [...]
Tags: buffets·entertaining·pickles
Brined Pork Tenderloin
October 29th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Recipes, dinner
The menu my wife devised for a recent catered dinner party included a pork tenderloin brined, then grilled. The pork was so outstanding–as evidenced by guests visiting the kitchen to make comments–I thought the process was worth sharing.
There’s nothing really new about brining meats to infuse flavor, but pork seems to benefit especially. This particular [...]
Salad Again!
October 13th, 2009 · 5 Comments · dinner, garden
A journey ends, another begins. The garden is a continuous wheel, slowly turning. We try to keep up. Sometimes we lope ahead. Sometimes we simply rejoice at what springs from the soil, what our little partnership with nature has produced.
Pardon me if I sound ridiculously emotional about our salad greens. But it has been so [...]
Chicken Thighs In Red Sauce — Hunter Style
September 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Recipes, dinner
This dish sounds an awful lot like the classic chicken cacciatore, but it’s really a shortcut using some leftover marinara sauce that I had in the fridge. I don’t think anyone will be complaining.
I’m partial to the dark meat on poultry. I supposed that makes me incorrect where the diet dictocrats are concerned, since the dark [...]
Grilled Lamb And Pomegranate Swiss Chard
September 8th, 2009 · No Comments · Recipes, dinner, garden
Forgive me garden mother for I have neglected my Swiss chard.
We consider chard one of our most reliable vegetables. It marches through almost any kind of weather and doesn’t seem to mind how many times you harvest: It just grows back. We usually plant the ruby variety of chard but this year planted some green [...]
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, one mile from the White House.
