Menu of the week March 10th and Cocktail of the week: grapefruit drops
The pic above is of my meyer lemon blooms on my new “prepare for global warming” lemon tree (Remember, I live in MI, not in CA or FL where this might be common).
I truly have good intentions of posting all about my great trip. I returned to work chaos and it has only gotten worse, it even keeps me up at night. On the bright side, it will be over eventually and I have all of your wonderful blogs and bloganionship (companionship for bloggers) to keep me moving. Thanks for being my food support group.
I am not sure why I had such a tough time coming up with a menu for this week. I think it might have to do with the fact that I ate 95% seafood/shellfish last week and really want to recreate all those dishes and my darling BF really doesn’t care for shellfish (read hates except for crab cakes). So, I keep turning my mind off and on. We went grocery shopping the day after our return and loaded up on greens of all sorts. Swiss chard, broccoli rabe, broccoli, savoy cabbage, arugula, leeks and fennel. The only thing better than feeling good about a fridge full of greens would be to feel great about a fridge full of our home grown greens. Soon! We ordered a tremendous amount of seeds to start indoors and they will be here soon!
Even though it is Monday, I did start this menu on Saturday and just haven’t had time to post it (how is that possible over a weekend?).
Saturday: Comfort food in a bowl
Grass fed beef stew with thyme and braised savoy cabbage. I had never slow braised my cabbage in the oven before, but it was a winner. I ate almost 1/2 a head by myself that eve - luckily it was a small cabbage.
Sunday:
Lunch: Pacific NW fusion
Spicy Mergetz lamb sausages grilled and shrimp risotto (tip: use leftover risotto to make risotto balls and stuff them with a piece of mozzerella, dip them in egg wash, dip them in bread crumbs and fry when you are feeling decadent - see pics of mine (just the balls) on San Pellegrino’s site here and click on Italian Risotto)
Dinner:
Hot and sour soup with asian pork meatballs and rice noodles and homemade spelt (yes, I know it has gluten for those of you new to my post) potstickers
Monday: Italian eaze
Broccoli gratin with a roasted garlic, dijon mornay sauce (kicked up leftover roasted garlic white sauce from pizza night last Friday) and chicken piccata with pancetta (Italian eaze because I just put this dish together so fast, under 30 min and it is in the oven…which is good for me)
Tuesday: Mediterranean breeze
Grilled marinated swordfish with a fresh fennel slaw, GF pesto pasta and broccoli rabe
Wednesday: Pork, the other white meat
Some of our pig share pork chops on the grill (rub yet to be decided) and asparagus risotto (yes, I am on a risotto kick, sorry) and arugula salad
Thursday: on the road for an evening meeting
Friday: Weekend getaway up North with friends at a cottage on a lake in the snow.
And now for the cocktail, the moment you have all been waiting for: My dad and stepmom stopped by on their way back from their Farmer’s Market vacation in Florida (they sold dried cherries from MI at the market there) and brought me about 20 pounds of grapefruit, red navel and normal navel oranges. And, something else extremely cool: A meyer lemon tree and a key lime tree. There was one lemon on the tree already and it is in tonight’s piccata. So the theme this week will be grapefruit. I hope to candy some of the peel and then use it as a garnish for a grapefruit and vodka, we will see. First we have to eat dinner and then go buy cat food.
i’m out
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[...] Fresh Ginger also has a delightful gluten free menu. Her broccoli gratin and Hot and Sour Soup sound pretty fantastic. [...]
We share a love for Florida citrus, Ginger of the North, but I have a grapefruit, Meyer Lemon, and mercot tree in my yard in Tampa. I’m about to go drink some Tangerine juice the hubbs brought to Georgia the other day (he’s on Spring break).
I would LOVE to know where they sold those cherries — could I buy some?
Ginger of the South
I will see where he was, I really should know the name of the town they stayed in. You at least get to keep your tree in your yard! I will put mine outside once it is warm out (esp for pollinating), but the rest of the time, they will be indoors. I was hoping to snag a mango tree too, but apparently those don’t come in dwarfability. I am sure we could ship you some dried cherries if you can’t find them down there. We have them everywhere in MI. They are very healthy, full of antioxidants and helps lots of people with arthritis.
Ah tangerine juice! I love fresh squeezed juices of all citrus! I am embarrassed to say, I don’t know what a mercot is. Enjoy your hubby’s spring break!
Mmm, what a menu! Risotto sounds sooo good. Broccoli gratin, how delicious! How did it turn out?
-Sea
Sea,
Both risottos were great. I get on risotto kicks and then switch to polenta kicks, both are easy to manipulate and dress up with so many different ingredients and spices. The broccoli gratin was tasty, almost too tasty! I used my leftover white sauce on it and cheddar and bread crumbs. I could have eaten the whole casserole alone, but my boyfriend had to fight me off!
Ginger