This weekend is going to be a good one for food...

Tonight of course is the fish fry at church. But tomorrow... I'm thinking maybe the chicken and lemon soup from the December edition of Martha Stewart Living, Roasted feta with fig-thyme compote, and a Bon Appetit recipe for gnocchi gratin with gorgonzola dulce... though I'll probably substitute bleu d'auvergne for the gorgonzola... 'cause that's what I got. Still trying to decide on an appropriately decadent dessert. Anything that results in more beautiful pictures for my blog and delicious food in my belly is a winning strategy in my book!

I've been totally hooked lately on this side dish... jasmine rice pilaf with toasted pine nuts and vermicelli. I think it would go perfectly with your leg of lamb. The recipe is here...
http://circle-b-kitchen.squarespace.com/food-and-recipes/2013/2/27/jasmine-rice-pilaf-with-pine-nuts-and-vermicelli.html

Throwing a birthday party this weekend for my daughters (36 and 39!). They couldn't be more different so am making them each a personalized version of chicken parmesan. One gets hers in burger form and the other gets it in pasta form. Everyone loves the cheesecake that's for dessert. Gotta love the weekend!! Have a great one there!

I've been on a sweet potato kick lately and am using the weekend as an opportunity to make a tagine with sweet potatoes and this amazing spice mix I got at the famers market when I was home in LA over the holidays. If you're craving sweet potatoes over the weekend, I highly recommend these Ottolenghi sweet potato cakes; topped with a poached egg, they make for a totally divine brunch: http://chocolateandchard.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/sweet-potato-cakes-with-poached-egg-and.html

Its a beautiful 75 degrees here in Northern California/Central Valley so that means grilling weather. We are hosting my in-laws tonight to celebrate my daughters 5yr old birthday so tonight will be grilled tri-tip with mushrooms and garlic bread and a romaine, blue cheese, walnut and apple salad. Desert will be the super epic rainbow birthday cake (back by popular demand at the request of my DD). Tomorrow is undecided but I've ordered ahi from the farmer's market so that will be seared on Sunday night. Looking forward to eating well.

I'm hosting a party tonight, and I've had one batch of chili going in the crock pot all day while I've been at work, and then when I get home, I'm whipping up some vegan chili for the non-meat-eaters. It's still getting brisk at night here in Houston, so chili will be perfect!

Too much on the schedule; I won't get into the kitchen other than to clean until Sunday. Then it's going to be prepping for the week's meals after my grocery run.

I'm going to be making a pumpkin pie (from scratch) for the first time. I've been craving one for awhile now. Plus I'm going to try to make my own Naan bread and a nice, spicy red lentil soup! Lots of new things for me this weekend.

Mmmm. I'd probaby make a nutty pilaf (almonds or pine nuts, cinnamon) and roasted squash with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and a little sea salt. As a matter of fact.....

Going to make a batch of chocolate chili scones (http://www.kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2013/02/chocolate-chili-cranberry-scone.html)
And a pot of rutabaga apple soup (http://www.kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2013/01/rutabaga-apple-soup.html). If I get time I want to try and make some granola for the week and my son wants to try the Weeliciious PB&J banana muffin recipe.

I have a fancy/crazy idea for you to use at your dinner party if you are serving leg of lamb: one of the chef instructors at the school I work at tells students a great story about a dinner he attended where each person had a shallow charger "bowl" type of plate set in front of them, filled with sprigs of fresh rosemary. Then, when the lamb was served, it was presented in a seperate and slightly smaller plate, and set right on top of the charger filled with rosemary. Before the guests cut into their lamb for a bite, a caraf of steaming hot water was passed around so that the guests could pour a bit over the rosemary in the charger. The aroma from the steaming herb enveloped the guests, and with every bite of lamb, they could taste rosemary, even though there was not a smidge of herb on the meat itself. Such a cool/classic experiment to show off how taste and aroma are so tightly linked!

Anything tastes good with a leg of lamb. Seriously.

As for my plans, Saturday night I'm going to make the cabbage, cauliflower, & cheddar pasta that I've had bookmarked for months. Sometime this weekend I'd like to make vegan blueberry banana muffins. And that's about it, I'm trying not to get swamped with leftovers this week.

Serve lamb with spiced applesauce (with raisins in it), pilaf, and top quality feta cheese---with a generous helping of olive oil poured over it. Crusty bread---lots of it :)

Back on the curd train. Last weekend I tried blackberry curd, and it's almost gone already. I still have enough frozen berries left for at least a single batch, but if I can I'm making a double batch. Then I might need to make some gluten free crepes. I tried a recipe a couple weeks ago for crepes using brown rice flour, and they were delicious.

Inspired by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's post on Serious Eats today about his vegan breakfast, I'm inspired to finally make Scott Jurek's refried bean recipe from his book.

Put my big crock pot to use and made beef & tomato stew tonight, served with farro. Leftovers will come in handy next week. A batch of vanilla cupcakes planned tomorrow. Sunday night might be roasted pork tenderloin and a simple garlic-anchovy pasta. Love weekend cooking and family meals! : )

Last night I made a version of Ann Burell's stuffed calamari braised in spicy tomato sauce. I served it along side some sauteed kale and baby spinach. It was absolutely delicious and definitely something I'll make again. I wanted to try it out in a a small batch before using the recipe for entertaining, and this one was definitely a winner! If you like seafood I highly recommend this!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braised-calamari-stuffed-with-shrimp-spinach-and-herbs-recipe/index.html

We are apartment hunting, so the weekend is very busy, and future weekends will be too. I usually do a lot of cooking on the weekend, so this weekend I'm trying to figure out how to modify my routine for the time being so we eat well, have leftovers for lunch, and I don't spend hours doing it. Hmm.....

For Sunday breakfast I'll be cooking Shakshuka again, for the third week in a row! My family can't get over this recipe that tastes like sunshine, here in grey old England: http://and-here-we-are.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/shakshukah-edible-morning-sunshine.html

We just moved into a new house and are having my parents over for brunch, this Chard, Sausage & Feta Frittata was great 'cause I could make it the night before & I could concentrate on last minute cleaning today!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Frittata-Bites-with-Chard-Sausage-and-Feta-359351

Absolutely frigid here w/the wind chill & had great plans for some comforting chili with black beans & sweet potatos and hot crusty bread. Buuut, dh called dibs on the kitchen so it's his 5 bean, five alarm chili for dinner tomorrow instead. Still warm & comforting but doesn't relieve my boredom. Not in a snuggle-down-for-a-good-movie mood so I'm off to search for some new & interesting way to use the sweet potatoes. Truly, I could eat them 3 meals a day.

Cooked for a friend today that is recovering from back surgery. Made two recipes from Bon Appetit's February Issue-Spicy Pork Ragu (for my friend's husband to have over rigatoni), and a Quick Pomodoro (for my friend to have over ravioli, she hasn't had much of an appetite). Then a beef stew and some banana espresso chocolate chip muffins. I adore cooking for other people!

For a quick starter, I made salmorejo (not sure that's the correct spelling), an Andalucian chilled tomato soup/dip - easier even than gazpacho, and delicious. For the main course, roast tarragon chicken, duck fat potatoes, roast sweet potatoes, greens tossed with olive oil and lemon zest.

For the salmorejo, whizz together in a blender:

7 large, ripe tomatoes (including skin!)
2 slices of stale bread, remoistened in a little water
1 clove of garlic
2 tblsp white wine vinegar
180ml good olive oil.

Season well, garnish with some chopped hardboiled egg, serrano or iberico ham, and voilà!

I'm making homemade pizza tonight to end a relaxing weekend. My dough is really sticky though, so I'm getting annoyed.

I made that Jamie Oliver milk chicken last night, it was unbelievable. Tonight is your one pot pasta e fagioli, which became a fast fave after I tried it the first time. Yum!

We did a Dutch Oven Chicken (French Chicken in a Pot)
http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2013/03/low-slow-3-dutch-oven-chicken.html

And, a Chicken Broccoli Pasta
http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2013/03/chicken-broccoli-pasta-tasty-leftovers.html
Yum!

quite a bit actually ;) I tried a new recipe from Bobby Flay, made a fried egg breakfast sandwich and also this Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus perfect for Meatless Monday: http://www.mangotomato.com/2013/03/love-hummus-then-make-this-roasted.html

I was a little cold this weekend, so some Chili was in order! I actually use quite a bit of Turmeric, Curry Powder, and Fennel Powder in it...makes it taste a little different but so very good!