This is my last chance to get up an Easter recipe. These potatoes will accompany our Pomegranate Molasses Lamb Chops.  I’m naming them double smoked because of the delicious smoked Gouda and the ever popular smoked paprika.  During cooking classes last week at Les Gourmettes, our guest chef, Joanne Weir, needed to borrow a bottle of my smoked paprika and was shocked by how much I use… the bottle was nearly empty. I do love the stuff!

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Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for yours truly. First off, my sister and niece, Sloane and Raina, along with Marissa and I, are going to get up at the crack of dawn and drive to Tempe to participate in Pat’s Run. Pat’s Run honors American Hero, Pat Tillman and benefits The Pat Tillman Foundation which raises funds benefiting Tillman Military Scholars. If you don’t already know Pat Tillman’s story, you really need to learn about him!

After the run, (in all honesty we are walking, but walking fast!) Marissa and I will race home, pack up, and get ourselves to Berridge Nurseries on Camelback and 46th Streets for the Art in the Garden event that I will be cooking at, beginning at noon.  This is the recipe I’ll be making, I realize it may look a bit intimidating with 25+ ingredients, but the majority of those are vegetables, herbs, and olive oil, so give it a whirl. I hope you’ll stop by the event and say “hello”.

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This would be another wonderful Meatless Monday meal, just leave out the chicken.  I added it because my dad was coming for dinner and it isn’t dinner if meat is not included for him… he is old school to the max! The chicken does benefit and stay lovely moist and juicy roasting under the vegetables this way. We’ll be using half of the ratatouille for these roulades and save the remaining half for tomorrow’s ratatouille lasagna.

I couldn’t find any really good looking tomatoes in the grocery store, so I substituted canned diced tomatoes, always the way to go when there are no good tomatoes around.

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Whenever I’m in Costco, I check to see what fresh fish is available and if I see ahi tuna, I can’t pass it up. Seared ahi is light and refreshing, so is this salad. It was too hot to use the grill the other day when I made it, so I used the grill pan instead, but if weather permits, use your grill outside and eat al fresco!

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It’s no secret – I love potatoes. This is a light, flavor-packed, and healthy potato side that is easy enough for a weeknight and fancy enough for company.

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This lovely spring or summertime tart is perfect as an appetizer, placed atop lightly dressed greens for a salad, or as a side dish for fish, poultry, pork, or beef. Basically it’s good anytime and anywhere! I created it while trying to use up things I had in my fridge (what’s new?) including the zucchini, caramelized onions, and blue cheese.  I always have Parmesan and puff pastry on hand, so this was a no-brainer. Feel free to add in whatever you have on hand as well; such as sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, or tapenade… the possibilities are endless. If you’re not the huge fan of blue cheese, that I am, substitute in another good melting cheese… say Fontina, or just use more Parmesan. Just get in that kitchen and create!

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Well, while my posts have been all about cheese the last three days, we’ve been in the middle of a big-time cold spell and we’ve been having soup every single night! Don’t love the overnight freezing temps (poor plants!) but I do love having the perfect excuse to have soup all the time.  Here’s a hearty favorite.

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There were about 25 lovely ladies at my BFCP last night, none of whom actually went shopping earlier in the day. A few did admit to cyber-shopping, but no one went near the malls… smart friends, have I!  The light menu I served is below and while typing it up I realized that it is basically a vegetarian menu, even though none of the attendees are vegetarians. You can get away with this when it’s an all-girls group, but don’t try it when men are involved! I say “basically vegetarian” because my shooters used chicken stock, but one can easily substitute vegetable broth. And luckily, everyone loves cheese, because just about every recipe has it! The first three dishes have already been posted here and you can access them by just clicking on the desired recipe name. The final two are both from a wonderful cookbook called The Big Book of Appetizers by  Meredith Deeds and Carla Snyder. Meredith taught classes last week at Les Gourmettes Cooking School and these were two of the delicious recipes she demonstrated. Not only was the food great, but Meredith was a wonderful and entertaining teacher. I highly recommend the book, check it out on Amazon by clicking on the title above. With Meredith’s permission, I am posting the recipe for the tart today and the dip will be up tomorrow. Bonus: There is a special “Black” playlist to go along with the menu at the bottom of this post.

Black Friday Cocktail Party Menu

FOOD
Hot Feta and Tomato Spread with Pita Chips
Edamame Hummus with Crudités
Potato, Parsnip, Pear, and Parmesan Shooters
Blue Cheese Marinated Mushrooms
Rustic Goat Cheese Tart with Caramelized Balsamic Onions
Feta Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper, and Pine Nut Dip

BEVERAGES
Splits of Freixenet
Red and White Wine
Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider

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Today I can’t decide which recipe to post. The one that uses the rest of the duck that I received back on Tuesday of last week. Don’t worry, I’m not just now using the duck – nearly a week later! I’m just getting around posting it. Or the recipe that uses up the leftover homemade marshmallows from the S’Mores Party…  OK, decision made – I’ll put up the yummy duck recipe today and use the marshmallows tomorrow…

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I learned of a new, new to me anyhow, cut of beef from a most unsuspecting place; One King’s Lane, an online deep discount shopping site! I am somewhat addicted to the site and need to take a break from checking out what they are offering each day. Although I do have quite a bit of my Christmas shopping done! The one day I will not give up checking on is Sunday. On Sundays, they offer food and or kitchen products. About a month ago their featured items were lobsters (already posted about that!) and Estancia free-range, grass-fed beef. Honestly, I don’t know if the beef we purchased from there was so wonderfully delicious because of the source or if it was the beef cut, bavette steak; but wonderful it was!

If you enjoy flank and skirt steaks,  you will adore bavette steak! Also known as flap steak, bavette has much of the characteristic of flank or skirt steak. Although fibrous and chewy, all three cuts are packed with flavor.

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