My new favorite Sunday activity – making homemade bread! Robert made Green Chili Stew yesterday because it was raining and we were talking about this bread that we had bought once that was a perfect match for Green Chili Stew. It was like a regular French bread but had grainy bits of cornmeal in it. We haven’t been able to find it since so I decided to try making it myself. My bread turned out delicious – warm, moist, and crunchy. I used cornmeal and some coarse polenta for more crunch. I made sure to not put in too much flour while I was kneading because that can make it really dense. It’s hard to do because the dough becomes really sticky but it is important. I sprayed the oven walls with water because that is supposed to make the crust crisper but I’m not sure if it really did anything. I think I’m going to start making bread regularly on Sundays and freezing half of the dough for later in the week. That way, I can make smaller loaves for the two of us and avoid spending $3 to $4 on bread that we can only eat half of. In other news, I used my new salad spinner for the first time lat night. It really works! My lettuce was nice and dry. Also, Robert’s Green Chili stew turned out fantastic so it was a great Sunday dinner all around.

This week I went way outside of my cooking comfort zone and cooked a whole fish! Nothing huge – just a 1.5 pound snapper but it still barely fit in my biggest pan. I think I like the idea of cooking whole fish more than actually doing it. People used to cook whole fish more in the previous generation so it has a cool, retro quality to it. And it looked really pretty (as pretty as a dead fish can look) in the pan before I cooked it. I placed the fish on a bed of sliced lemon, fennel bulb, and carrots and then I stuffed the cavity with lemon thyme and garlic, drizzled it with olive oil and white wine and roasted it at 475 degrees. As usual, I overcooked it. It was really hard to tell when it was done. Plus I spent about 10 minutes after removing it from the oven trying to figure out how to carve and serve it so I’m sure that helped to make it even more overcooked. It tasted fine but I don’t think it was really worth the trouble. I guess I’m a little squeamish when it comes to carcasses – I didn’t like the way the eyes turned white as it cooked and how these teeth came out and stuck to my pan. If I try this again, I think I’ll have them take the head off for sure. All in all, it was a pretty fun experiment but, until I find myself catching my own trout in the woods, I think I’ll stick to neat, pre-cut fish fillets.

Ever since Robert and I started dating, we have gone out for Sunday breakfast. It’s a nice treat but there aren’t nearly enough restaurants offering breakfast in our neighborhood and, those that do, are usually so crowded that you typically have to wait for a table. Lately, I’ve been making breakfast at home instead and it has been so nice. I love not having to get up and leave the house right away and there is nothing better than eating a freshly-cooked breakfast in your PJs. Last week I made your typical scrambled eggs, soysage, fried potatoes combo but, instead of toast, I whipped up some miniature blueberry-cornmeal pancakes. That was delicious. Today I took it a bit easier and made French toast and bacon for Robert. I also made a quick berry sauce for the French toast (just frozen mixed berries, sugar, and a bit of cornstarch for thickening. I didn’t have any lemon otherwise I would have added lemon juice too.) Next week, I think will be something southwestern like migas or huevos rancheros. Mmm…I can’t wait.

It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I’ve written. So much for that New Year’s resolution! I made some interesting seafood dishes this month. First, I made almond-crusted salmon served with a lemon-leek cream sauce. That was very good and actually quite easy to make. I served it with fresh pea risotto. I will be including those recipes as part of my upcoming Spring menu on elliemay.com. Next was another salmon dish for Valentine’s day. This recipe featured salmon topped with a saffron-mussel sauce. Also very easy to make. The mussels at Pike Place market looked crummy so I used clams instead. It was still good but not quite as attractive as it would have been with the black mussels contrasting with the orange salmon. Then last week, I made “Dick Clark’s seared tuna pizza” from epicurious.com! The pizzas are topped with wasabi-soy sauce and thinly sliced rare tuna and scallions. Very pretty. Next time, I think I’ll try one of the user’s suggestions and top the pizzas some asian greens dressed with orange juice and sesame oil and then lay the tuna slices over that. Now, I’m off to my favorite taco joint for their awesome seared prawn tacos. I can’t get enough seafood!

Last night I made Mexican tortilla soup for the first time ever. It was pretty good but there are some things I need to change for next time. I toasted, soaked and pureed the dried chilies but there were still some dry, flaky bits in the soup which I didn’t like. I might try pureeing for longer or just using a good quality chili powder instead (not very traditional but who cares!) I suppose I could try straining the chili puree but that seems like a lot of extra work. The other thing was that it was a little thin. I know that’s how it is supposed to be but I might add some zucchini or corn next time for added bulk. I was a bit spooked at the idea of deep-frying my own tortilla strips but it was really easy. I only needed about 1/2 cup of oil and the strips fried really nicely; no smoke, sputtering or grease fires. I may have to start frying my own corn chips. That way I can make chips that are the perfect shape for scooping salsa. Robert and I decided that trapezoids would work best because you always end up biting off one corner of the triangle chips in order to get the right amount of salsa onto the chip. Look for my tortilla soup recipe on elliemay.com soon.

Last night we celebrated my mom & sister’s birthdays with Mexican food! It was delicious and may have to become a new January tradition. We had chips, salsa, and guacamole (of course) and a really fantastic shrimp cocktail appetizer. I may need to get the recipe and put it up on elliemay.com. Then, we made pork tamales for the meat-eaters and sweet potato tamales for the vegetarians. The sweet potato tamales were really good and easy to prepare because they didn’t have a filling; it was really just a sweet potato, masa, cinnamon, and chipotle chili dough wrapped in corn husks and steamed. They were really good served with a spicy green salsa. Other dishes included mexican rice, anasazi beans (the recipe for which which you can find on elliemay.com), and really good stir-fried green beans with garlic and lime. The sweet potato tamales and green beans were from a Southwestern Thanksgiving spread in a recent Sunset magazine so, if you have that issue, I highly recommend those two recipes. The highlight of the night was the crepes with dulce con leche and pecans. We aren’t usually a dessert-eating family but these were extremely delicious and will certainly be made again in the future. Yum!

Last night I let Robert have the night off from cooking because he’s been working really hard lately. I used his leftover red chili sauce to make huevos rancheros. It was really good. I cooked up some black beans with onion, garlic, cumin, and oregano. Then I heated up flour tortillas, topped them with the black beans, fried eggs, a touch of cheese and the red chili sauce. Then, I made a fresh pico de gallo to serve on the side. Yum. This is a fast dinner that’s is really healthy too (as long as you don’t load it up with cheese, sour cream and guac, that is.) I may put a recipe up on elliemay.com but huevos rancheros is kind of one of those “use whatever is in your fridge at the time” type meals so it’s hard to write a definite recipe for it. Talk to you all later!

Hello everyone. Last night I made vegetable pot pies from scratch for my post-election dinner (I was in need of some serious comfort food.) They were really good. I used potatoes, carrots, zucchini, corn, red bell pepper, spinach, and tarragon. I put chicken in Robert’s. The crust was a very rich cream-cheese pastry that was easy to make. It was a totally high-fat dinner but very much what I was looking for. I’ll be putting the recipe up on the website soon so look for it. Talk to you all later!

Yum, I just had a taste of Robert’s Green Chili Stew and it’s turning out pretty good. We’ll probably eat in another hour; he still has to add the zucchini. It’s the perfect night for Green Chili Stew. I love watching Robert cook. This time he just used one packet of green chilies so the stew is hot but not burn-your-mouth-off hot like in times past. I was going to put the recipe on elliemay.com but, since most people can’t get authentic New Mexico green chilies, it isn’t really worth it. They say anaheims are the same thing but I don’t believe it. Plus, most Green Chili Stews are made with pork or beef anyway. If you want our vegetarian version, though, just e-mail me. Talk to you soon.

Hi everybody. Sunday is fast approaching so you know what that means – Robert’s turn to cook. I hope he makes Green Chili Stew. We have a ton of green chilies in our freezer right now. If it’s sunny, I guess that wouldn’t work. I’ve had margaritas that past two Sundays. Maybe I will make my famous Nevada Cocktails tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll just stick with beer. That’s always best with Green Chili Stew. Talk to you soon.