Rae, Helene’s mom, came to visit for Easter weekend so I cooked for two of my favorite girls! I took some pictures below. So here is the menu I prepared:

Breakfast
Quiche Lorraine

Lunch
Layered Lebanese Salad
Lemon Basil and Smoked Paprika Deviled Eggs

Supper
Grilled Lamb Chops
Sweet Potato Chutney
Aromatic Parsnips and Carrots

Quiche Lorraine

Helene made me choose what to cook Saturday, so I decided on Moroccan which I haven’t done much of. I chose Lamb Tagine Recipe with Carrots, Olives and Preserved Lemon for the main course with Moroccan Chickpea Stew on couscous for a side. I also tried my hand at making Moroccan Semolina Bread for sopping the rich sauces. It was all pretty good but the lamb tagine was the best.

This is the first time I’ve tried this cut of meat. The picture looks terrible but the meat was great. I barbecued it for about 2 and 1/2 hours at about 300 degrees. When we started eating it, it reminded me of prime rib. After dinner I looked it up and was surprised to see that it _was_ prime rib! I keep on learning…..

I wanted to do some light cooking after Valentine’s Day so made this nice chicken dish. It came out very moist and had a nice Mediterranean flavor.

I gave Helene a choice of going out for dinner or me cooking for Valentine’s Day. She chose me cooking so I spent a wonderful day in the kitchen! For an appetizer in mid-afternoon, we had Cold Roasted Moroccan Spiced Salmon. Then for dinner we started off with Hearts of Palm and Baby Spinach Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette. For the main course we had Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops for the main course with Potato Gratin and Sweet Pea Risotto as sides. We also enjoyed Helene’s wonderful whole wheat bread and some rose wine. Then for dessert I made Chocolate-amaretto Pave with Amaretto Creme Anglaise. It  all came out pretty good. I think the dessert was Helene’s favorite! The pictures are below.

Here is table Helene set and Helene sitting at the table she set.

Cold Roasted Moroccan Spiced Salmon

Hearts of Palm and Baby Spinach with Citrus Vinaigrette

Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops

Potato Gratin

Sweet Pea Risotto

Chocolate-amaretto Pave

Chocolate-amaretto Pave with Amaretto Creme Anglaise

Well, for Christmas Helene bought me the bible of cooking–Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. So, to punish her (and her mother Rae), I made three dishes from the book. I chose Casserole-roasted Duck with Turnips and Sausage and Apple Stuffing (Caneton Poêlé a Ux Na Vet) for the main course. I had never cooked duck and, according to Helene, it was good. (Click pictures to enlarge.)

I made the stuffing with Honeycrisp apples, sausage, and spices. I forgot to take a picture in a proper bowl so this is in a food container. The taste was a nice mix of tart, sweet, and savory.

To go along with the duck, I added turnips and carrots to the casserole toward the end of the duck cooking. They had a nice flavor from cooking in the duck juices.

As a side, I made a Celery Root in Mustard Sauce salad (Céleri-rave rémoulade). I had never done anything with celery root and this was interesting. I also made a Butter Lemon Sauce (Beurre au Citron) to go on top of the steamed broccoli (no pic).

And, here is my wonderful wife Helene and great mother-in-law Rae digging in!

And, of course the Christmas cats!

Helene bought me Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Christmas! I have been wanting this for a while although it seems pretty intimidating for a foodie like me. So, for my first dish I made Poulet En Cocotte Bonne Femme in my new enamel-clad cast iron casserole. I used a 5.5 pound stewing hen and it came out pretty good.

I saw this on the CBS Early Show and wanted to make it. I needed a Dutch oven so this was a good excuse to get one. In this recipe, you use pizza dough as a “seal” for the cover. This holds in the juices and gives some nice bread for the au jus. The roasted chicken is put on a bed of sautéd  brussel sprouts and then covered with the mushrooms and au jus. Very nice!

Helene found this nice Tomato-Shrimp Sauté in her “Smart Choice Recipe Collections” book and wanted me to make it. It had shrimp, roma tomatoes, thyme, black olives, zucchini, garlic, roasted red peppers, and red pepper flakes. It was quite good on a bed of linguini. We also had some warmed naan bread that she had bought. Very tasty!

Helene picked a couple of recipes from the book Great Good Food by Julee Rosso–cod with garlic and curried broccoli.

For a side dish, I found spicy sweet potatoes at Manjula’s Kitchen. It was all pretty good although the broccoli was the best.

Cod with Garlic

Curried Broccoli

Spicy Sweet Potatoes