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A few days ago, right after Mother’s Day, Mia and I were really tired and headed off to the Olive Garden for lunch. We normally skip restaurant meals as they are usually high in sodium but lack of energy prevailed and the Olive Garden won!
I was surprised when Mia ordered Chicken Parmesan; she said “what’s not to like? fried chicken and pasta!” — typical Mia.
Chicken Parmigiana is an American revamp of a classic dish from southern Italy based on eggplant usually made by breading and frying chicken breast, covering with sauce and cheese and baking in the oven. While I have made Chicken Parmesan through the years, I never really liked it left-over, and needed a new approach! I needed to find a way to make this a part of a healthy, week-night dinner and give it legs. [...]
Petra Mediterranean Restaurant has amazing pita bread! Really, the food is great but the bread is incredible! Of course, hot, freshly baked bread is always delicious and this is Petra’s calling card. I almost always stop by Petra’s when I’m in San Luis and have a grilled vegetable sandwich on a freshly baked pide. Very often I also buy a stack of bread to take home to scoop up Hummus or Labneh or to make Vegetable and Hummus Pizza on Pita Bread.
This is a seriously delicious, easy to prepare, healthy and delicious light meal or snack. Adjust ingredients or swap vegetables to your liking and enjoy.
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I drove to SLO today and decided to drive the scenic route through the Nipomo Mesa, wind my way along the coast through Arroyo Grande and then through the Edna Valley. The drive is beautiful and peaceful and one always encounters roadside produce vendors.
My tomatoes aren’t quite ripe yet so I purchased a couple of pounds of delicious, vine ripened and sweet tomatoes along Los Berros. I love to visit this little stand in the small, warm valley below the mesa where juicy, ripe, tomatoes are piled in baskets for one to choose and pay on the “honor system”.
Caprese is a remarkably easy to prepare salad and should be made of only the very freshest ingredients! Vine ripened tomatoes, Mozzarella Bufala, fragrant Basil Leaves and copious amounts of the best olive oil are the foundation for one of the tastiest salads available!
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The most wonderful time of year is when fresh tomatoes arrive in the garden but just a bit before that some pretty darn good ones arrive in the store. Tomatoes are wonderfully delicious, sweet and juicy and full of good for you stuff.
Extremely simple to prepare and a real treat is a fresh tomato pie. Flaky pastry filled with tomatoes and topped with cheese makes for a wonderful light lunch and is perfectly complimented by a salad of Spring greens. [...]
The ideal meal, in my opinion, is one that you can pick up with your hands, is full of flavor, satisfies compliment wine and make my guest say “Yum Yum”. Piquillo Rellano Crostoni meet all of my criteria!
Piquillo Peppers “Little Beaks” are grown in Northern Spain and provide a mildly piquant unique taste. These little peppers are roasted over open coals and are both deliciously sweet and savory. Piquillo Peppers have a thin flesh which is perfect for stuffing. I love to make Piquillo Rellano with a variety of different fillings but the little peppers are especially good with Chevre.
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 I love an easy to prepare, quick to the table dish that has a high satiety value. Mushu Beef Wraps fit the bill!
Mushu is a favorite of mine when dining in a Chinese restaurant and this dish captures the lovely flavors of Mushu and the ease of preparation that anyone who works for a living needs. Great dish for a week night meal! [...]
When Mia and I were first married we were tremendously poor. For Christmas gifts one of our first years I created a Biscuit Mix which I bagged in plastic bags, Mia made small canvas bags and we made a stencil “Ron and Mia’s Biscuit Mix” and carefully stenciled our brand upon each bag. The bagged biscuit mix and an instruction card were placed in the canvas bags and the bag was closed with raffia. How crafty huh?
The “Biscuit Mix” was a commercial product, Bisquick, and I added 1 tablespoon of Seasoning Salt, big with us back then, and a couple of tablespoons of dried parsley. It was a success! Cute and well received. My mother-in-law loved it and asked for the recipe for a couple of years. [...]
Seriously, some days, like everyone else, I have too much to do and would rather get fastfood. Because we don’t do fastfood, that is not an option!
Today sucked! Nasty customers, lots of looky loos, complaints and a bunch of, frankly, bullshit. Tired, I left work a half hour later than I should have to get dinner on the table. I had removed two pork chops from the freezer on my way out the door for work with no particular plan other to to “pork my bride” and at least had that five minutes to my credit. [...]
My friend Dante brought me a wonderful bottle of Sanford Pinot Noir today and, having tasted a glass at a restaurant, I couldn’t wait to finish my day and enjoy this wonderful bottle of wine. Mia was at the beach for our friend, Royann’s, birthday and I had worked a long day – perfect for some music Mia wouldn’t like and a great bottle of wine – oops, better eat too! OK, I admit, when I’m alone, and not cooking for other people, I use the KISS method (keep it simple stupid!) for my meal; delicious and easy and, must go with wine – preferably a Pinot Noir.
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 Greek Salad – yum! Nothing but the freshest ingredients comprise a Greek Salad. Tomatoes, ripe and fresh, red onions, cucumber, kalamata olives, feta cheese, olive oil and fresh herbs. Fresh and fabulous flavors that make you feel great just looking at the salad.
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