Use Those Ingredients!

Every year for Christmas, a good friend of mine makes this beautiful red pepper jelly and I never know what to do with it. It sits in a lonely cupboard and eventually gets pushed to the back until I do a reorganization and make it a priority to use it.

Now it's back in front and I have found there's nothing more fun than taking an unusual ingredient and building meals around it. The red pepper jelly is the new staple for my now "grown up" grilled cheese.

Here's what I do:

-one piece of bread gets mustard

-the other gets red pepper jelly

-salami

-goat cheese

-avocado

-arugula

Brilliant! I can't wait to use this for crostini. I'm nearly through the jar and already raided my dad's stash for when I run out. Luckily, Christmas is just around the corner.

Any ideas from your end? What item in your cupboard is leaving you stumped as to what to do with it?

One Pig Dinner

Last week, I found myself in Healdsburg, at a Montessori school getting CPR and first-aid certified to be exact. "When in Rome," I thought afterwards, and went to Zin Restaurant, as the locals do. Having worked here just after college and again last year, this is like a second family. So yes, I'm biased.

Wednesday is One Pig Dinner Night featuring one of Tony's Local "Old Spot and Berkshire" Cross Hogs. And here I thought I was just getting an appetizer. But wait, the bread! I forgot how tangy their homemade super sourdough is. Don't mind if I do.

I went for the wine pairings, the lovely and local Sanglier Rose and Quivera Zin, both of Sonoma County. And then ate more bread.

The first course came and went- Hard Cider Braised Pork Cheek and Shank on Falls Mill Grits. It was so amazingly delicious that I couldn't bear to put my fork down to take a picture. But gee whiz, was it something else.

Second course was Smoked Shoulder and Spicy Grilled Loin, with white beans and Eastside Farm swiss chard. I cleaned my plate. 

The grand finale was maple pecan bread pudding with candied bacon. I am loving all the bacon in desserts these days! I had it stretched onto long skewers and dipped in chocolate, and then recently as a bacon cupcake. The fatty, salty, smokey flavors just beg for sugar to round them out.

Thanks for a terrific night, Zin!

The Road Kill Menu

Last week in my writing class, I was feeling the grind of the semester and the drudge of homework. And not just any homework: writing, where there is no clear fill-in-the-black to an assignment per se, but endless possibilities, with a bit of the subjective thrown in.

For a perfectionist, this is hell. In that moment, I didn't even want to think of the drivel I would produce under a 10-minute prompt deadline.

Until ... a lovely assignment to write a "road kill" menu of at least four entrees, consisting of "stomach churning, disgustingly awful things one could ever imagine appearing on a dinner plate."

Here are some of the class results:

Bird Drop Soup
Kitten Pot Pie
North Country Steak smothered in Moose Saliva
Armadillo Cutlet
Fresh-Boiled Roadkill of the Day
Housemade Skunk Ravioli
Transmission Fluid on Ice
Day Old Coffee
... and those are just a few

A nice break from serious personal essay and character development.

What's the most disgusting thing you'd want to add to the menu?