apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm going to try to recreate a meal I had at a restaurant a few weeks ago. The dish was suckling pig confit over a bed of lentils and brussels sprouts, topped with a poached egg.

I'm going to see how it works to sub some bacon for the suckling pig (because...I don't know how to suckle a pig). I think the flavor of the bacon will come through enough that it'll feel like a tasty, decadent dish.

We're having our very last jar of homemade tomato sauce with some little local pastas, and either red or white wine depending on if it snows this evening.

asparagus panzanella! i'd seen the recipe years ago and am finally trying it. tho to make it a little spring-ier, i'm omitting the olives and cuke, and cutting the tomato; also am adding a little pancetta and some fresh peas.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/asparagus-panzanella

I've got the meat for smokey beef tacos in the slow cooker now. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/smoky-beef-tacos?autonomy_kw=boneless chuck&rsc=rf_result3
We'll have this for dinner tonight with sweet potato fries and make the leftovers into BBQ tacos Sunday.

And on the stove in the dutch oven is tomorrow's dinner, chipotle black bean soup.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Bean-Soup-with-Chipotle-Chiles-109246

My goal is to restock the freezer with weeknight meals & oatmeal bars and not to have to go to the store again until Wednesday. I think I can do it.

Stuffed artichokes and that goat cheese basil flatbread for friends/company. My house has been on the market and I haven't been cooking at all. It's been wonderful to just get messy in the kitchen and have all those rich smells wafting through the house. :::sigh:::

Speaking of restaurant recipes, I have really been craving some shrimp with roasted fennel in a nice cream sauce a la Muriel's in New Orleans. So good, but no fennel for me just yet.

As for the weekend, who knows. Probably trying to eat some stuff from fridge and freezer. (But hey, there are choco tacos in the freezer :D)

Absolutely nothing. It's my birthday weekend (yes, weekend) and I'm eat out all weekend.

Just made crostini with goat cheese and ramps for dinner.

Also plan on making turkey burgers tomorrow (back when the weather forecast was good for grilling).

Ravioli and chard tomorrow.

Most looking forward to: making breakfast tacos with a side of plantains Saturday morning.

Gotta use up the greens that were in the vegetable box this week.

ok, I have to gloat. We got an 80-degree day, in April! In Wisconsin, that's a rare thing! Anyway, we grilled sockeye salmon on hickory planks, and brushed on ginger-hickory sauce. Mmmmmm...I'd lick the planks clean, but you know, slivers.....

Gonna be hard for us to top that one. Maybe I shouldn't have set the bar so high for the first grill of the year....

Oh, Faith, that's such a gorgeous photo of the jug of flowers. I can't help it--I just love old fashioned things.

I bought my first bundt pan! The bavaria model from Nordicware. I'm making Smitten Kitchen's Guinness Chocolate Cake to christen it.

We also bought a new barbecue, just a Weber charcoal grill, so I'll be making pizza outside on Sunday--very excited for that. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

We're hosting a Soup, Sandwiches, and Sweets pot luck on Sunday. Can't wait. Our friends cook so well.

forthright fattie, doesn't a "suckling pig" refer to a pig still nursing from it's mother and about 2 to 4 weeks old? i think it is similar to a milk fed calf.

My own oven-fried fish sandwiches made from leftover fish in the freezer. Thaw the fish, put it all in the blender, patty it out and oven-fry in your own breading of choice. Put it on a bun and yum!

@Hilde--wow, crostini w/goat cheese and ramps sounds good! I'm headed to the farmer's market w/my little one in a bit--if they've still got ramps that may be our afternoon snack.

My parents are coming tomorrow. Lunch will involve something from the farmers market--probably new potatoes. I'm going to make that Nigella Lawson Guinness cake for the first time so I'm looking forward to Sunday brunch dessert.

Not much cooking this weekend due to too much social life BUT my best friend and I are breaking out the Gin & Tonics on the front porch!

That photo of the flowers is beautiful!!!

I made a delicious Spring Miso Soup with asparagus, edamame, wild garlic leaves, spring onions, and udon noodles.

I thought I was done with soup now that the winter is over, but this one was very light.

I'm going to try the following recipe before Blood/Moro oranges come to the end of their season, plus the salmon looked wonderful at Whole Foods...

http://www.sunkist.com/recipes/pungent-crusted-salmon-with-moro-orange-salsa_543.aspx

I'm thinking about serving it with coconut rice.

In this interim before salmon really start hitting the decks, I am making up a marinated skirt-steak for grilling on the deck with melted chard greens from the supper book from splendid table and my made-up brown-rice and barley recipe. In Seattle we have clouds with occasional sun--ok for the Weber.

Grass-fed beef burgers w/ smoked cheddar and bacon for dinner tonight along w/ an asparagus tabblouleh salad from 101 cookbooks. Mmmm!!

I made the Parisian bagels from the Slate article. They turned out amazing, I made two batches today because they are so quick, and disappear very fast once they come out of the oven.