Now we're both sick, but the Wine-Braised Chicken is not! With Eric on the mend while Charisse is just getting started, this cold is interfering with our ability to get posts out in time. Somethings going around the Bay Area, even Patrick Marleau seems to be out with this bug (Sharks still won game 1). Next week should be better though. Don't worry, Blogger has an extensive antivirus system, so you can't catch this from the pictures or the recipe. We served this with mashed potatoes and carrots as Patrick and Monica Farnsworth's anniversary gift dinner, and what a great meal it makes. Actually, a well cooked meal, some wine and martinis and a great night with family always makes the best gift one can give. That and diamonds.The actual dish is really a very basic, easy to make, one pan meal. We haven't talked about this much, but when

Charisse writing here today, Eric's been lying sick on the couch since Sunday. He's such a whiner when he's sick, but I forgive him, but that leaves me to write the post myself. I know I have mentioned before about my new found love of leeks!  But truly, they are the greatest! Like a giant scallion, leeks are the perfect pair of any potato, egg or hearty soup dish.  I ran across this grilled leek recipe in Fine Cooking and thought it might be an interesting twist for a warm salad type dish.  I really like the flavor combo of the oniony leek, roasted pepper, goat cheese and basil, although I feel like it might have been too much leek texture.  Next time I think this dish would translate good as a kabob, adding some other veggies like mushrooms and squash.  The

Last weekend we had our good friends Cherelyn and Dave and their two kids Jake and Joey over for dinner. We had a great time as always, but got stuck on what to do for dessert. Grownup desserts that are amazing and can rock your world sometimes fall flat when put in-front of pair of pre-teen boys. Tres-Leches cake is amazing, but very different and different does not always pair well with kids. Especially when you try and explain that soaking their cake in milk for an hour makes it taste good. We talked about what to serve and tried to think of all the desserts we liked as kids. Charisse was a weird kid and liked all that fancy grown up food, but Eric was more of the Ice Cream, Cookies and Birthday Cake kind of kid. We had some ice cream in the freezer but that would be a terrible blog

This dish was made just for Charisse, an Italian dish baked with cream, cheese, and fresh herbs and vegetables.  But this recipe has a twist, ricotta gnocchi! Now Charisse and I are both fans of the famous potato gnocchi, but neither of us have ever done a ricotta gnocchi before. Charisse pulled this recipe from one of Rachael Ray's holiday magazines, and has been holding onto it for about 2 years now. Last week we were having some friends over and finally decided to try it out. Now keep in mind that ricotta gnocchi aren't as cute and compact as potato gnocchi but they are definitely easier to make. While potato gnocchi tend to come out as neat and tidy little football shaped foods, the ricotta is more free form and unique. We found that broiling them in the oven with the sauce improved the texture making the tops of

Charisse has always loved artichokes, a favorite food since she was a kid. They really are a great little kid food, you get to pull them apart leaf by leaf, scraping the meat off with your teeth, what fun! So to celebrate that artichokes are quickly coming into season and our local market had the most gigantic and beautiful artichokes available this weekend and we couldn't pass up the chance to do an artichoke dish. Now we usually chow down on artichokes with just a bit of salt and pepper, but we decided to try a classic by dipping our leaves into a buttery hollandaise sauce. This was the first time we've done a hollandaise sauce and it was a challenge! Halfway through Charisse said her arm felt as though it would fall right off after all the constant whisking but it was

Some days you just want a big juicy steak. And potatoes. And bourbon. All at the same time. Clearly, this was a meal that Eric designed. We've been hanging onto a vanilla bourbon sauce for a few months now, and the potatoes have been a fancy staple for a few years. Putting them together with a pan-seared filet mignon was one of the best tasting decisions we've made all year. The sauce is seriously good enough to eat all by itself, but it definitely tastes better with steak. The potatoes are based on a technique we saw on the Food Network one day (yeah, we sit around watching the food network, when Eric doesn't have a Sharks game on). Now a more elaborate method for these potatoes would be to alternate garlic with small pats of butter and mix in any other spices or accents you want, but we generally

Last Saturday was Charisse's day to cook us a date night dinner. In our plan, we had all afternoon to chop, mince, slice and create a romantic three course meal for two.Unfortunately, that didn't work out so well. Our good friend had a baby shower that morning and after all the fun and games Charisse didn't get home until 6:30pm and was completely exhausted and coming off a sugar high from all the cake and baby shaped jello (yes, a baby shaped jello mold....it was a bit scary!). So instead of mincing, chopping, and slicing, Charisse ended up horizontal on the couch debating whether or not to order a pizza for dinner. Unfortunately we can't  blog about Pizza Guys (our favorite pizza place in San Jose, and no, its not a paid link!) so she gathered all her strength and dragged herself to the kitchen. We diced and sliced going

Charisse's mom brought over the Easter edition of Martha Stewart Magazine conspicuously on the same day Charisse told her all about this new kitchen toy she'd bought, a tart pan. Low and behold, right in the middle of the magazine was a great recipie for a tart. Coincidince? We think not. Now for anyone who doesn't have one, and wouldn't know where to find one or what it looks like even if they did find it (ahem, Eric) a tart pan is basically a short sided pie tin with an edge that falls away from the base. You can see the tart on its base with the edge taken off to the right. A tart is something thats actually fairly easy to make, especially compared to a pie or cake, so having a tart pan around is probably a great idea. They are inexpensive and come non-stick so they are

There is something about a whole chicken roasting in the oven that just makes you feel like your home. It is the quintessential supper, a dish that grandma used to make on a chilly winter evening, maybe while talking about life in the "old country", whatever country that may be. It's a comfort food that will never go out of style no matter what age you are or where your from. Nearly every culture has some form of small roasted fowl, and every one we've tried reminds us of home. We love roasting a whole chicken, even though we don't do it as often as we'd like since it takes quite awhile.The aroma of a roasting bird makes the entire house smell amazing and the sizzle coming from the oven makes you drool with anticipation! There are many ways to roast your chicken, pan roast with or without a roasting

This salad was the most simple yet one of the most delicious salads we've served to date. Charisse and Eric are both big fans of a basic mixed green salad, maybe just a few red onions, or some grape tomatoes and a tasty balsamic dressing, and they are super easy to dress up.The thing that make this salad special are the warm, baked medallions of goat cheese that lay on the top just waiting to be sliced into. We are addicted to goat cheese especially Eric. Seriously Charisse has to ration it out otherwise the appetizer would become the main course! Goat cheese has a very distinct taste and texture so it might be something you have to get used to. Goat cheese texture is both crumbly like feta cheese and soft when compressed. The taste is very similar to feta, but smoother so if you like cheeses such as