I love fall and the food that comes with it.

Its simple. Food in the fall is wonderful. I love summer veggies, but I just go crazy for some dishes and their spices. I am a huge fan of cinnamon and love that I can smell it in many dishes in the fall and winter. We have moved into making our fall dishes and I am very excited. This week Mark has pulled out two beautiful fall dishes and one of our favorite go to dishes and I can tell you they were wonderful. Eventually I will take pictures of him actually cooking the food, but for now you get the finished product.

I have split up the posts since they all need their own credit. I will start with last night -- smoked pork chops, braised pears, and buttermilk biscuits. My sister Kat came over for dinner so it was a dinner filled with red wine, and even a little sip of some Makers Mark.

The smoked pork chops have become a staple in our household. We were introduced to them by our friends at Busch's Country Corner. You can visit them at the market in the market house for many wonderful meats. They told us we had to try these smoked pork chops as an easy week night meal and they were right. A simple sear in our cast iron skillet and they are ready to eat. Mark decided that pears would be a great addition to this dish three weeks ago when we first tried them. He sauteed them in a pan with some brown butter, added a simple syrup and then flambeed them with whiskey. Tonight's choice was Makers Mark and it will remain in the recipe if I have anything to do with it. This dish is a great mix of salty and sweet and the biscuit was a great item to soak up all the beautiful syrup from the dish.

All Three dishes with the wine glass and Makers in the background.

A close up of the pears and pork.

I am sure we will have many more of these pork chops - however if you would like to try visit our friends at Busch's.

http://www.findlaymarket.org/busch.htm

Our trip to London - through the food

I am still kicking myself for missing a ton of photos of the wonderful food we at during my trip to visit Mark in London in March. I was flipping through photos and realized I had to post pictures of the market we visited and as I recall all of the wonderful things we ate while we were there, I am regretting every time I didnt have my camera.

We attempted to not be tourists when we went to London this trip. Mark has been there before as have I, so we focused on just spending time together and small food adventures. We did slip once and visit the London Eye, but neither one of us ventured there before and it was a great view of the city. I dont regret it, but realized I wasnt as fearless as I had hoped. I sat on the bench in the middle of the pod the entire time and only ventured out toward the glass for a few quick photos.

If you have never been to London, its worth a trip. I went for the first time in college for a soccer trip and loved it. We didn't venture out very much for food, but this trip I attempted to hit all the favorites. When I arrived, Mark was in an all day meeting so it was up to me to travel with no cell phone to find him. I had directions and had planned my tube route prior to the trip but once you exit the underground, you are on your own. Thank the Lord a nice lady saw me twice and realized I was lost. Only a bit of time later and I found the conference center that he was meeting at. I stopped for a burger and a pint prior to heading back to Ealing where we were staying. I can say that even ordering a burger was a little hard when you are tired and all you want to do is sleep.

After finally making it back to the house we were staying, getting lost for 2 hours on my adventure back to the underground (I am a total idiot now looking back at it - just stop and ask) I found my way to Mark and his co-workers for a pint at a local bar near the event space they were meeting at. We decided not to stay with them for dinner so we could venture out to find something interesting. Mark decided that we had to eat in China town and I am not regretting that decision at all.

We arrived at China town with no idea as to where we should eat. We went by our old rule - if there is a line it must be good! It did not fail us. Once we were inside, Mark realized this was the same spot he had eaten before and we were excited to try many dishes. Mark and I ordered peaking duck, a noodle dish as well as a seafood soup that was listed as very spicy. When they brought out the soup it was a bowl full of red chili's in broth with seafood. Mark was sweating while eating it but it was worth every bite. We didnt get photos but you cant go wrong with any of the places in this little spot. I suggest going with our fail-safe rule of finding the line if your adventures take you here. I hope to be back to visit soon!

Here is a link to the China town organization in London - http://www.chinatownlondon.org/cuisine_eatingout.php

Our tuna adventure

Tuna is another staple fish we tend to purchase at Hyde Park Fish Market every time we go. Sometimes I go in with a plan to get another type of fish, however, tuna always seems to call my name. On this shopping trip, our intention was to get something other than tuna (although I am not sure what) and we ended up taking home a beautiful piece of tuna to enjoy. Mark has been making variations of couscous in the last year (all available at Dean's Mediterranean Market in Findley Market) and he had another wonderful dish idea.
This dish consisted of two tuna steaks - lightly seared so they are essentially rare inside, couscous, roasted cherry tomatoes and roasted red onion and topped with an olive tapanade. The couscous was a perfect match for this dish. The roasted tomatoes and onions were enough vegetable not to overpower the dish, and the tapanade was a great garnish/sauce for this meal. Here is one photo of the finished product:

of course, it didnt stop there. This wonderful night I was also treated to homemade butterscotch pudding with homemade whipped cream. I have never had a homemade pudding before, but this could be a terrible discovery. The butterscotch was devine and rich, but a perfect dessert to finish our night. I would give you the recipe, however, he didnt even share it with me. It was a total surprise dish I am anxious to learn how to make at some point in the near future.
Here is the end result:


All in all, another great creation by my wonderful (now) husband. One day I will post on one of my dinners, that is, if I actually remember to take a photo soon!

Scallops, oh how I love them.

You can pretty much cook a scallop any way you wish and I am a fan. I think they are fairly addicting. I have found my favorite come from Hyde Park Fish Market since they are "dry" scallops. For those of you who don't know, dry scallops are fresh scallops that have not been treated with phosphates. On a side note, these phosphates also cause the scallops to absorb water which will end up costing you more at the store and they shrink down when cooked. While I don't find "wet" scallops inedible, I would prefer them dry any day.

We usually make a trip once or twice a month to Hyde Park fish market to get some delicious fish. They have beautiful sushi grade fish (even roe) and lots of other beautiful options. We opted for some scallops and Mark decided to get creative. When we do scallops, we typically make this recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scallops-with-Asparagus-238094
This time, Mark ventured off on his own to make this beautiful creation:

As some of you might understand, bacon goes with everything. This time it fit perfectly with scallops. Mark thinly sliced the potatoes (Yukon golds) and pan fried them like a chip. After cooking the bacon, he drained most of the grease, then seared the scallops in the same pan. After a garnish with some chives - it was perfect. I wanted way more than I was served (as always with scallops) but it was perfect for our dinner. As much as I would pay for this later, I could eat this dish every night. The buttery taste of the scallop with the fresh crisp bacon was a perfect combination. While we still love our go to asparagus and scallop dish, this is a great substitute for those times when you are out of asparagus, or looking for a quick alternative for some scallops.

Crab cakes and Fennel

Certainly not together in this post, and not exactly sure if they would ever be great together, but I am sure some Iron Chef will do it at some point. We love fennel and use it quite a bit in the winter. I think its one of those items that you just have to have when its cold. It goes well in a salad, roasted as a side and you can even use its parts for garnish. Here are a few of our lovely fennel favorites:

Pork with roasted fennel: Mark roasted both the pork and fennel which is delicious.


Crab Cakes with fennel salad: Yes I know I stated that crab and fennel don't go together, but since these aren't on the same plate they don't count. We had some left over crab meat to use up, so Mark started to experiment with a crab cakes a few different ways. They were great with his fennel and citrus salad. (He even garnished with the fennel.)


I must say, fennel wasn't something we typically ate prior to the past year. We have had it so much now, that I am not sure what else we ate prior to it. Its getting to be that time of year, and I can say I am pretty excited about the pork and roasted fennel dish again. To view the recipe visit epicurious.com under Fennel-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel Wedges.

Wow a year has come and gone and I found lots of pictures to prove it!

I was filtering through the thousands of photos from the last year that are still sitting on our lovely memory card when I realized that I didnt post some of our favorite dishes in the past year. I am going to start posting a summary of the dishes, and will hopefully go into more detail moving forward.

The past year has been crazy busy for us. Mark switched groups at work, moving his team base to London which required more travel than before, we were engaged and married, I took a new job requiring me to travel more and we have all kinds of fun new tools from the wedding. Most of my family and friends knew that the majority of the gadgets they were purchasing us for our wedding and shower gifts would be new adventures for Mark, so I promised to document as many of them as possible. I will start posting in batches, going from February until now and hopefully capture some of what we have been doing this year!

We are back, and better than ever!

To say we have had a busy year is an understatement. Mark was traveling overseas, we became engaged and were married all in the last 6 months. I would never recommend having such a busy year, but after seeing a piece of our wedding pictures and enjoying such a memorable time. Now that we are home and settled we have lots of new tools to play with.

When we started to register for wedding gifts we never knew how generous people would be. It makes me rethink how I purchase wedding gifts in the future (not that mine have not been nice in the past, I just have a new found appreciation for thought in a gift). We have many new tools that we are excited to use and share. Today we start with the ice cream maker. Not a necessity, but luckily my aunt found it just as interesting as we did! I will be posting more, as we acclimate into our new married life and hopefully sharing many adventures with you as we explore our kitchen and entertain the many people that have made our wedding so memorable!

Our Anniversary

I love duck breast. I have never even thought to attempt making it myself, and that is the one thing I will always order when I go out for a nice dinner. Mark and I took a visit to Eckerlin's meats at Findley Market for our usual stop. They have wonderful meat and items like Kobe beef steaks (they are pricey but worth it if you want a treat) and have great beef options. We were looking at a few steaks when I spotted the duck breast. I was ready to give it our first try at home. Now I say, I gave it a try, but I actually sat on the couch while Mark made this dish.

It was our anniversary (end of three years, beginning four) so we decided to make a great dinner at home. As Mark prepared the duck, I was a little nervous. When you crisp the outside skin of the duck, it seems a little gamey. The smell was overwhelming. It was way too strong for me. As he put it into the oven to roast I thought of a few different ways to bail out on dinner. As I waited patiently a new aroma entered the house. Wild Mushroom risotto.

I love risotto. Even though its not on the diet plan, I can splurge for the good event. The smell was wonderful. We purchased a wild mushroom mix from Madison's at Findley Market and Mark rehydrated them in a small bowl with water. Mark made his risotto (as you would normally prepare risotto) then he added just the juice from the mushrooms to the stock. This smelled like heaven.

As time went on i couldn't wait. The duck was perfect. Crispy skin and beautiful juicy finished breast. The Risotto was perfect. I could eat it everyday. Here are the photos. I cant even describe how great this was. If it was good for me, I would be skinny.

And I wonder why I am having trouble loosing weight.

If any of you have talked to me lately, you know I am on a huge workout and diet plan right now. I am working out 3-5 days a week and its keeping me pretty busy. I have been working on portion control and with food like we have had lately, its making it hard.
Last weekend Mark made Roasted Pork Tenderloin with roasted fennel. He sauteed it and braised it in homemade chicken stock and finished it with a little butter, white wine, and lemon juice. It was wonderful. The pork tenderloin was cooked to perfection rubbed in a few spices and fennel seed. Its a great dish and I hope we make it soon. Here are some pictures.

The roasted Fennel

The pork added.

Weekend Market experience

We made our weekly trip to Findley Market this weekend. We are getting into the deep winter dishes of stews and braised meat with a few roasted chickens thrown in to lighten it up. We stopped by Kroeger Bros. meat counter only to see a new item... CAMEL meat. Yes, you heard me right, we bought two camel sausages to try. I can tell you one thing, I am extremely nervous about eating things I consider weird. This is definitely one of those meats. We plan to cook this on Wednesday so I am certain to have pictures and stories posted. I plan to catch up on the pictures and let you know what else we have been up to in the way of cooking this week. I have a few posts to throw on including the Rookwood Pub, Bella Luna, Arthurs, and of course a few of our meals we have been making at home.

Until then....