Simple Pleasures

I love the berries of summer and finding new ways to incorporate them in meals. In my opinion a simple salad for lunch on a hot day is a great way to experiment with the flavors of berries. In order to combat the junk food craving my 5 year old is having we took a trip to Dean and Don's and came home with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums, and nectarines. My son has already eaten all of the raspberries and blackberries, but I got my hands on some of the blueberries before they were gone too. I made a simple salad of rocket greens, 1 oz. of feta, a handful of blueberries, lemon juice, and pepper. Next time I will have to add just a hit of zest so that I can add another bold color to this dish. Simple but satisfying lunch.

Bresaola and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

I love Italian meats, one of my all time favorites is Bresaola. This air-dried salted beef is a beautiful shade of reddish purple that makes it a eye stopper when used in a rocket salad. Which is how I normally serve it. The other evening I decided to go for something a little different. I drizzled the meat with olive oil, squeezed a little lemon juice on it, added some fresh grated Parm and cut up some crusty bread and enjoyed with a montepulciano d'abruzzo. The earthy cherry and raspberry flavors of this type of wine make it an easy to drink red wine that with just a hint of acidity and tannins that make it hard to miss with these or almost anything else at the dinner table. Find a bottle and give it a try.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

My husband loves Greek food, since he is going to be out of town for bit I asked what he would like to eat and a good bye meal and he asked for leg of lamb. I have never made this before, but boy would I again. This came out great, my only issue was that so many recipes for lamb tell you to cook it well done, why would you want to ruin a leg of lamb this way beats me, but I got mine out of the oven before it was too late. We served this up with some Mediterranean Style Humus from Trader Joe's, a Greek salad, and pitas.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

1 2-4lb butterflied leg of lamb

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 lemon

4 cloves of garlic

some fresh oregano

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Rinse lamb and pat dry. Place lamb fat side up in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Using a knife make 3 slices spread out evenly in the lamb and add 1 clove of garlic into each slice. In a small dish or measuring cup pour 1/4 cup of olive oil, add the zest of 1 lemon, and the juice from half of the lemon, mince some fresh oregano and 1 clove of garlic and add to oil. Mix well and pour over lamb. Cook lamb for about 10-15 minutes per pound (for rare) basting lamb every ten minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy.

Salmon in a Foil Packet

OK, we are heading down to the last week of lent and I have made salmon for dinner almost every Friday since the beginning of Lent in a way that I was sure my guys would eat and devore. I am not always one to stick to the same dish, but when it works and the 5 year old actually eats without a fight in less than 4 hours, you tend to want to stick with what works. Well to be honest I am bored with salt and sugar salmon and I wanted something new. Salmon was not even on the menu until we headed to one of our favorite places to get fresh fish and they had wild caught salmon on sale for $6.99 a pound. I had told someone recently to try this recipe since she was having issues getting fish to turn out good and this is one of the easiest recipes that I have ever made. I taught one of my friends who doesn't cook (her oven wasn't used for over a year) how to make this and she was able to do this too.

Grilled Salmon Packets:

Salmon Fillet or Steak

Salt and Pepper

Lemon, sliced

Fresh Dill

Pat of Butter

Take a salmon fillet or steak and place on a piece of tin foil large enough to make a packet around the piece of fish. Season both side of fish with salt and pepper. Place skin side down and top with a pat of butter. Using the butter as an anchor, put some sprigs of fresh dill on the fish and top with a slice of lemon. Wrap up foil packet and place on a preheated grill for about 5 minutes on high. Check for desired doneness and serve when done.

Scallops, Finally

I wrote about this recipe awhile ago on Foodbuzz, but I have not made it in forever as my guys are not couscous fans. I had been craving this so on Friday, I made them up some greens and I enjoyed my couscous. For those not on Foodbuzz here is the recipe, for those on Foodbuzz sorry for the repeat.

Simple Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Pepper Couscous

couscous to serve 2

zest of one lemon

juice of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of black pepper

6 large/jumbo scallops

¼ cup of Marlborough sauvignon blanc

In large heavy bottomed skillet heat butter on high/ medium high heat until about to brown, add scallops and sear on both sides for about three minutes each side. While butter is heating and scallops are cooking, prepare couscous according to box directions. When scallops are done searing place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice to pan and deglaze, reduce wine, lemon juice, and butter mixture until thick. When couscous is done mix in lemon zest and pepper. Plate couscous, add scallops and pour sauce over the plate. Eat and Enjoy!