A Week in the Life

I get it. You don't have a lot of time to devote to planning a week-long menu. Turns out, all I do is think about food morning, noon and night (yes, I dream about food). So here you go. A one-week full menu with sustainable, seasonal ingredients. It also has repeat ingredients throughout the week (with minimal repeat dishes) to keep your costs and waste to a minimum.

You have: a menu, a grocery list and the full recipes for each dish. Some of the recipes are linked to outside sites...these are the food blogs I most frequently visit for inspiration.

I'll provide these for you routinely if you're finding them helpful. So let me know what you think.

The Menu:
Sunday
Brunch: Eggs (any-style) with sausage, toast and orange slices
Per person: 1 egg, 1/2 sausage link, 1 slice toast, 1/2 orange
Dinner: Spicy shrimp tacos with carrot slaw and black bean soup (shrimp recipe serves 2; soup makes 6 servings)
Per serving: 3 shrimp in a flour tortilla topped with 1/2 cup carrot slaw.
Carrot slaw: Peel and julienne 3 carrots. Toss with 1/2 cup champagne vinaigrette
Champagne vinaigrette: 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup champagne vinegar, 1 1/2 canola oil. Whisk mustard and vinegar together. Slowly which in oil until thick. (Keep excess for recipes throughout the week)

Monday
Breakfast: Yogurt with honey, orange and almonds
Per serving: 1 container of yogurt, 1/2 orange, 1 Tablespoon of almonds, 2 Tablespoons of honey.
Lunch: Black bean soup with avocado salad
Avocado salad: 1 avocado, 1/2 shallot, juice from 1 lime, salt, pepper. (Serves 2)
Dinner: Mushroom Bhaji over barley (recipes serves 2)

Tuesday
Breakfast: Breakfast tacos
Per serving: 2 scrambled eggs, in a flour tortilla, topped with a dollop of avocado salad, cheese and warmed black bean soup
Lunch: Veggie wrap
Per serving: 1 flour tortilla, 1/2 avocado, carrot slaw, cheese, black bean soup, champagne vinaigrette
Dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs (recipe makes 2 servings for 2 people)
I cooked the two pieces separately so my meatballs and my sauce are separate for other recipes used throughout the week. I also used only ground beef for the meatball recipe since we have a ton of beef in our freezer.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Fried eggs diablo
Heat up remaining spaghetti sauce in a small skillet. Once simmering, lower heat to keep the sauce just barely simmering. Crack 2 eggs into the sauce and cover skillet with lid. Once the egg has reached your desired doneness (about 2-3 minutes), salt and pepper. Serve with toast.
Lunch: Meatball sandwich
Per serving: 2 slices bread, 2 meatballs, sauce for topping
Dinner: 3-bean chili (scroll down about halfway for the recipe)

Thursday
Breakfast: Yogurt with honey, orange and almonds
Serving suggestion above.
Lunch: Winter salad
Per serving: 2 cups escarole, 1/2 orange, 1/4 cup almonds, 1/4 cup cooked barley, carrot slaw and champagne vinaigrette.
Dinner: Mushroom bourguignon over barley (recipe makes 2 servings for 2 people)

Friday
Breakfast: Poached eggs over chili
Heat two servings of chili. Poach two eggs, one at a time. Serve poached egg over chili with some hot sauce on top.
Lunch: Mushroom bourguignon
Dinner: Pasta with sausage, escarole and fresh mozzarella
Per serving: 2 oz. uncooked pasta, 1/2 link sausage, 1 cup escarole, 1 oz. mozzarella. Cook pasta in salt water till desired doneness. In a skillet, brown the sausage. Add the escarole and slightly wilt. Remove from heat. Combine pasta with sausage/escarole mixture and add mozzarella.

Saturday
Brunch: Huevos Rancheros
Heat up 2 servings of black bean soup. In a dry, hot skillet, warm up two flour tortillas. Top tortillas with black bean soup (which will have thickened throughout the week), avocado salad, 1 fried egg and cheese. In the summer, serve with fresh tomato salsa (not in season right now)
Dinner: Barley risotto (recipes serves 3-4 people)

Grocery List:
It looks extensive, but I would be stunned if you didn't have a ton of these ingredients already living in your pantry and fridge.

Dairy and Protein

• 1 dozen eggs + 6 eggs
• 1-2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 lb. shrimp (I advocate wild-caught, U.S. shrimp)
• 2 links of pork sausage (any seasoning type you like)
• 4 containers plain, Greek-style yogurt
• 1 lb. unsalted butter
• Chunk of Parmesan cheese for grating
• Mexican cheese (queso fresco)

Fruits and Vegetables

• 3 oranges (or other in-season citrus fruit you can find)
• 1 head of escarole (or chickory, arugula, etc.)
• 1 bunch carrots
• 14 oz. button mushrooms
• 2-3 large portabello mushroom caps
• 1 head of garlic
• 5 yellow onions
• 2 red onions
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 small bag of pearl onions
• 3 avocados
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 limes

Grains, Bread, Packaged Goods and Spices

• Panko bread crumbs
• Barley
• Pasta of your liking
• 1 package flour tortillas
• Wheat bread (or other whole grain bread you like)
• 16 oz. bag of dried black beans
• 15 oz. can pinto beans
• 15 oz. can black beans
• 15 oz. can kidney beans
• 15 oz. can white beans
• 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
• 28 oz. can whole San Marzano tomatoes
• Small can chipolte peppers in adobo sauce (Mexican food aisle)
• 1 bottle red wine
• 1 bottle white wine
• 1 bottle champagne vinegar
• 1 bottle canola oil
• Vegetable broth (2 containers)
• Small can or squeeze bottle of tomato paste
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Ground coriander
• Cumin
• Chile powder

Homemade Parisian Gnocchi with Freshly Made Tomato Sauce

This task may seem daunting at first, but I promise you it was fairly painless, worth the extra effort and got everyone into the kitchen. Try it. Please.

The gnocchi recipe is taken from Thomas Keller's Bouchon.

The sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated when serving. The pasta dough needs to be made at least 30 minutes before you cook it.

Tomato Sauce
Raised a good little Italian girl we definitely have a family recipe, but I was intrigued by a new recipe I came across recently and really wanted to give it a try because it started with fresh whole tomatoes. It definitely has a different taste than your typical sauce. I think it would work best with pizzas and as a dipping sauce, but it worked well enough with the gnocchi (though they were so good, next time I'm just serving them with brown butter).

Ingredients:
6 large tomatoes, halved
1 stalk from a fennel bulb, chopped coarsely
1/2 pod of vanilla
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 bay leafs
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 large bunch basil, roughly chopped
1/2 cup olive oil


1. Place large stock pot over medium high heat. place tomatoes, cut side down, into pot.

2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Add fennel and vanilla.

3. Let the tomatoes cook for about 3 minutes, then press down on them gently with, well anything (potato masher, can, wooden spoon) to release the juices.

4. Reduce the heat to barely a simmer and let it do its thing for about 2 hours...stirring every now and again to keep the flavors incorporating.

5. You'll end up with a fairly thick paste.

6. Add the garlic, basil and olive oil. Stir well to mix. Ready to serve whenever. This isn't your canned tomato sauce. It will be a lot thicker than a "sauce" you typically spoon over pasta.

Parisian Gnocchi
3/4 cups water
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon salt
1 cup flour, sifted
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon each: chives, parsley, thyme
1/2 cup shredded Comte or Gruyere cheese
3 to 4 large eggs

Have everything ready to go before you start. Once you begin this is a fast moving recipe.

1. In a medium saucepan combine the water, butter and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium.

2. Add the flour all at once and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan. The dough will look glossy and smooth. Continue to stir for 5 minutes making sure the dough does not color. There will be a thin coating in your pot and you will smell the flour starting to cook.

3. Remove from the heat and add to a mixing bowl (or Kitchen Aid mixer if you prefer). Add the mustard, remaining salt and herbs. Mix just enough to incorporate ingredients.

4. Add cheese and 2 eggs, one at a time beating with a wooden spoon (or your Kitchen Aid) until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one. Add the next egg and mix well. At this point test your batter/dough. When you stick a silicone spatula in and it doesn't move down it at all, add the last egg. If it very slowly makes it way down, don't add the last egg. Yes, the dough is one sticky mess.

5. Put the dough in a piping bag or a large freezer bag (with a hole cut in one corner to pipe through) and let it sit for 30 minutes.

6. Bring a GIANT pot of slightly salted water to boil. Really the biggest pot you have. You want the gnocchi to have a wonderful pool to swim in.

7. At the stove have the following: your dough, a knife, a slotted spoon, some paper towels to put the cooked gnocchi on.

8. Begin piping. Every 1 inch cut the dough so you have little gnocchis diving into the boiling water. Work in batches of 20. The gnocchi will drop in and rise as they cook. Once they have risen to the top...cook for another 2 minutes to avoid any raw dough or belly bomber gnocchi. You want light fluffy gnocchi. Trust me. This last part is the fun part...everyone was jumping in to help at this stage.

Serve hot and love the awesome.

Pan-Seared Filet Mignon on a Bed of Roasted, Glazed Root Vegetables

The glazed vegetables and the red wine reduction can be made ahead of time and reheated when you are ready to serve, yet again, another convenient party recipe.

Glazed, Roasted Root Vegetables

Below are the veggies I used, but you can use parsnips, carrots, turnips, whatever is starchy and hardy.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, cut into wedges

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into wedges

4 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons sugar

1 thyme sprig

1 rosemary sprig

Chopped parsley (3-4 Tablespoons)

Chopped chives (3-4 Tablespoons)

3-4 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

Salt

1. In a large pot place all the ingredients and add water to just cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Reduce heat and let gently simmer for 15-20 minutes. The vegetables should be soft enough to push a fork easily into them, but not mushy. Remove the veggies and add to a roasting pan.

3. Further reduce the liquid in the pot until a glaze consistency (leaves about 3-4 Tablespoons of liquid).

4. Pour glaze over vegetables and place into the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes (until the start to brown lightly.

Red Wine Reduction

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine (pick something on the sweeter side that you would drink...reductions intensify the flavor of the liquid and a bitter wine will not make a delicious reduction)

1 thyme sprig

1 rosemary spring

1 bay leaf

3-4 black peppercorns

1 Tablespoon honey

1. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced (thickens to the consistency of NyQuil about 40-50 minutes).

3. Taste to make sure the reduction is sweet enough. If it needs more sweetness add a touch more honey.

4. Strain reduction to remove the herbs.

Pan-Seared Filet Mignon

Ingredients:

1 large filet mignon

3 Tablespoons back fat (I had bacon that morning so this was on hand for me, you can use butter)

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the over to 400 F. Pat dry the steak. Season heavily with salt and pepper.

2. In a small skillet melt bacon fat over high heat. Once smoking hot, place the steak in and do not touch it for 2 minutes. Walk away.

3. After two minutes, flip and walk away again for another two minutes.

4. Depending on the thickness, you will need to throw the steak into the oven to finish cooking it off. I like rare, so I only do this for another 3-4 minutes. To avoid any drying out, I may or may not put a Tablespoon of butter on top of the steak while it's cooking...just saying.

5. Let steak rest for 7-10 minutes before slicing.

To plate: Place veggies on plate and top with 2-3 slices of steak. Drizzle with 2-3 Tablespoons of red wine reduction and some of the awesome buttery, fatty goodness from the steak pan, because that just should not be wasted.

Grilled Sea Scallops Served on an Onion-Fennel Confit with an Orange Reduction

The great thing about this recipe (other than the taste) is that you can make the confit and the reduction a day or two in advance and just heat them over low heat before serving; making it a great party recipe since it only takes 5 minutes to grill up scallops and plate before getting back to the party yourself.

The below amounts make 4 servings (with a little leftover reduction and confit).

Orange Reduction
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

1. In a saucepan, bring the orange juice to a low boil.

2. Reduce to a simmer and let the juice reduce until there's only about 1/4 cup remaining (will be the consistency of NyQuil and it takes about 40-50 minutes depending on your simmer heat). Be sure to check in routinely to make sure your juice doesn't boil over.

Onion-Fennel Confit (adapted from Thomas Keller's Bouchon)

I truly think fennel is the most underrated vegetable. I'm an anise hater by nature (no black licorice, no sambuca, etc.), but I love fennel since it's a more subtle, fresher flavor. And once cooked it's sweeter with barely a trace of the anise flavor. Trust me, try it. I served it to a table of black licorice haters and they all ate it up.

Ingredients:
2 bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
5 sprigs parsley, 5 sprigs thyme, 5 sprigs chives, 1 bay leaf (bundled in cheesecloth)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add 1/4 warm water to a large saucepan over low heat. Add butter and whisk until butter melts.

2. Add fennel, onion, herb bunch and pinch of salt. Stir together. Place a piece of parchment paper tightly over the vegetables and tear a hole the size of a quarter in the center (essentially you are steaming the veggies slowly.

3. Over the most minimum of simmers you will cook the mixture for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. Steam will rise out of the hole in the parchment paper, but the vegetables will not brown.

4. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste.

Once you're done the veggies will be super soft. If there's a lot of liquid left in the pot, raise the heat a little to boil it down. Once the mixture cools you can refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Grilled Sea Scallops
4 large sea scallops, halved
1 lemon, halved

1. Place a grill pan over very high heat.

2. Pat down your scallops before grilling.

3. To go against everything you've ever read, heard, done...I threw the scallops right onto the screaming hot grill pan. No oil, no salt, no pepper. There will be enough flavor in the other ingredients that I really wanted the scallop to just shine for what it is.

4. Light brown grill marks will appear. Grill for no more than 2 minutes a side. You will see the scallop turn from translucent to a pearly white when it is cooked. If you put your finger in the middle there will be some give (not too squishy and not too hard; how's that for precise?).

5. Grill the lemons, cut side down until dark grill marks appear (this caramelizes the lemon making the juice sweeter).

To serve:
On a plate, place 1/4 cup of the onion-fennel confit. On top place two grilled scallop halves. Drizzle with 3-4 Tablespoons of the orange reduction. Quarter the lemon and place one-quarter on each plate. Encourage everyone to squeeze lemon over the whole dish to brighten and lighten some of the deep the flavors.

White Bean and Rosemary Soup with a Parmesan Crisp

White Bean and Rosemary Soup with a Parmesan Crisp

Soup
Ingredients:
2 cans organic white (cannellini) beans
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 large branch of rosemary
1 quart chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Champagne vinegar for flavoring

1. In a large stockpot over medium heat saute the onions with 1/8 cup of olive oil. Stir frequently to avoid burning or browning the onions. You want them soft and translucent. This usually takes around 10-15 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and stir until cooked (about 2 minutes). Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will leave a bitter taste. If the smell of garlic gets very pungent remove the pot from the heat to stop the cooking.

3. Add the beans, the stock, rosemary and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Remove the rosemary and bay leaf. In batches, puree the beans and stock in a blender. Once smooth add puree back into the stockpot over low heat.

5. Add (1) remaining olive oil and (2) extra chicken stock to bring the mixture to your desired consistency.

6. Add between 3-4 Tablespoons of vinegar, tasting after each Tablespoon in order to brighten (but not overpower) the flavor of the soup. Salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Parmesan Crisp

Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a silicone mat) make six 3-inch wide circles of cheese.

3. Bake between 10-15 minutes, but watch closely...once they start to brown and bubble pull out. Remove from the baking pan before they set. Garnish in soup and serve!

Steakhouse Dinner At Home

I love beef.

As I continue to hone my skills as a home cook, mastering the steak was my biggest obstacle. Why couldn't I get my steaks like Morton's, Flemings, Ruth's Chris' or even Outback? I'd buy a great cut of beef and make the world's most expensive hockey puck. No longer. And here are the secrets:

Steakhouse Steak:
(calories: roughly 325-350 per serving)

2 thick-cut (at least 3 inches thick) steaks of your choice; I recommend a filet or a rib-eye
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 stick of butter
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. cracked peppercorns or fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400. Heat a large iron skillet over high heat until scorching (about 5 minutes). The skillet is a key ingredient.

While the skillet is heating, pat your steaks dry with a paper towel. Drying the steak will give you a great sear on the outside of your steak. Brush olive oil on each side of the steak. Mix together the salt and pepper on a plate and coat each side of your steak with the mixture.

When the skillet is screaming hot, lay down each steak and don't touch them for 2 minutes. Don't even look at them. Walk away. For 2 minutes. After 2 minutes switch sides and repeat. Place 1 Tbsp. of butter on top of each steak then place in the oven (in the skillet) until internal temperature reaches 125 (medium-rare); typically between 2-5 minutes.

Remove from oven, place another Tbsp. of butter on top. Cover with foil and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Heavenly Onion Rings
(calories: 200 per serving; I'm guessing here...it's actually not that much butter...)

1 medium yellow/Vidalia onion
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 stick butter

Slice onion into rings about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Mix breadcrumbs, salt and cayenne pepper in a small dish. Dredge onion in egg then coat with breadcrumb mixture. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Drop onion into bubbling butter. Turn after brown on one side (about 2 minutes). Cook another two minutes and remove.

Sauteed Spinach with Caramelized Mushrooms
(calories: 135 per serving)

1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped
1 small box white, button mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, grated
salt/pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Let them alone to get brown on one side. After 2 minutes turn. Mushrooms should be a golden brown. Add garlic and spinach. Add a touch more of salt and pepper. Let spinach wilt slightly. Serve.

Crawfish Monica

Michael discovered this recipe at The New Orleans Jazzfest which we try to go to every year. It quickly became a favorite of mine. It's out-of-this-world. It is also not something you can eat every day. So relax a little when you see the ingredients and the calorie count. Moderation is key here.

You can also lighten it up by using half the butter and cream. Or just serve less of it with a salad. I suggest going all out and trying it the right way first though. We'll be lightening up the dish in another post.

For this particular recipe, I used all organic ingredients.

New Orleans-Style Crawfish Monica
(Makes 4 servings, 715 calories per serving)

1 stick of unsalted butter
7 cloves of garlic, grated
5 green onions (scallions) chopped
1 jalapeno, diced
1 pound crawfish tails (easy to find down South...sorry New England)
16 ounces half and half
1 Tbsp. salt (add in batches and taste along the way; this can get salty quick)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 lemon
Fresh chopped cilantro
8 oz. fusilli pasta

To prepare: In its own pot, prepare the pasta according to the directions. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic, green onions and jalapeno. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the crawfish tails and saute for another 2 minutes. Stir in the half and half . Slowly add the salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Try to only allow a soft simmer. You don't want to boil the cream. If your butter or cream seems to be separating (you can see oil spots), stir with a whisk for a minute.

Add in the cooked pasta and stir well to coat. Let cook for an additional minute. Spoon into bowls and squeeze with lemon and sprinkle with cilantro. The garnishes help add an element of fresh and lightness to an otherwise heavy dish.