What makes Friday fun when you’re 31

Oh, how Friday nights have changed.

While I fondly recall the Fridays of my younger days, rushing home to get ready for a big night out, I must say that I’m equally fond of the much more relaxed approach we now take when kicking off the weekend.

Happy hour? Sometimes.

Meeting up with friends for dinner/drinks/trouble? It still happens.

I find that more and more that the energy I used to dedicate to prepping for a blowout night I’m now redirecting into firing up the stereo when I get home, cracking open some beers or a bottle of wine, cooking a great Friday night dinner and relaxing with my sweets. Yes, this might seem a little sleepy compared to what some you have got going on, and yes, I’m only 31, not 101, but sometimes it feels really good to get home and just chill. And, all this relaxing on Friday night means we’ve got plenty of energy for weekend shenanigans Saturday and Sunday.

Last Friday was nice and warm, a prelude to the much warmer (OK, blazing hot) summer days we have ahead of us in Sacramento. It was the perfect night to fire up the barbecue for some delicious lamb burgers. I’ve only made lamb burgers a couple times and knew I wanted to top them with a little bit of red onion, possibly some cucumber too. My good friend Kimmy made the great suggestion to make a “quick pickle” of the veggies, and the result really made the flavor of the meat sing without overpowering it.

Last Friday’s pre-summer vibe also inspired me to mix up some frosty cocktails. I’ve recently developed a love for the sweet, clean flavor of elderflower liqueur thanks to friends Melissa and Mike, who recently hosted cocktail hour during a neighborhood progressive dinner. They served white linens, a drink they originally discovered at the Shady Lady Saloon and that features elderflower liqueur.

I found a couple recipes online and made a couple tweaks, using Hendrick’s Gin (tastes great with cucumber) and opting for agave nectar instead of simple syrup. This just might be my new summer cocktail.

Lamb burgers with Quick Pickle 
1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber
⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 lb. ground lamb
⅓ cup chopped fresh mint
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup crumbled feta
Four sandwich thins or buns of your preference

For the quick pickle: Combine cucumber, onion, rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar in a bowl. Let sit for one hour and drain excess liquid.

 For the burger: Mix ground lamb, mint, cinnamon, paprika, garlic and feta in a bowl to combine. Form four patties. Cooking on the grill for 4-5 minutes each side resulted in some mostly done (not pink) patties. Place patty on bottom half of bun, add a scoop of pickled veggies and top with the other half of the bun. We rounded out the meal with a side salad of green-leaf lettuce, red bell pepper and the best (store-bought) dressing ever.

White Linen 
1 ½ ounces Hendrick’s Gin
½ ounce elderflower liqueur
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce agave nectar
Two slices English cucumber, slightly muddled
Soda water
Ice

Combine first five ingredients in a glass (I used a mixer because I made two drinks at a time). Add some ice and some soda water and enjoy!

Getting saucy with baked potatoes

We’re not big baked-potato people, but every once in awhile a spud topped with all kinds of goodies sounds amazing. The next time you get a hankering for a baked potato, give this low-maintenance meal a try.

BBQ Chicken Baked Potato 
2 chicken breasts
2 cups Kansas City-style barbecue sauce (this was enough sauce to cover the chicken in my little Crock-Pot)
2 tablespoons dried minced onions
4 russet potatoes, baked to your liking and split lengthwise
Garnishes: shredded cheddar and sliced green onion

Place chicken breasts, barbecue sauce and minced onion in slow cooker. Cook on low setting for 8 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred meat with knife and fork. Return meat to slow cooker so the chicken gets nice and saucy. Top each baked potato with a heap of shredded chicken and garnish with cheddar and green onions.

The Kitchen in one word: Wow!

My favorite Wisconsinites, Chris’ parents, came out to California last week for visit. No trip to visit their favorite son is complete without dinner at The Kitchen, and Chris and I are always delighted to share the experience with his parents.

 The Kitchen serves a decadent, multi-course demonstration dinner. Nothing is off limits at this restaurant, where they invite guests to stroll through the kitchen, chat up the chefs, peek into the wine cellar, even do dishes if that’s what floats your boat. The menu changes monthly, and every ingredient has a story. But instead of trying to recall each of these stories, how about I just show you some photos?

Here’s what we feasted upon last week.

First Course: Tortilla Soup with Maine Lobster, “Creamed” Chorizo, Avocado and Smoked Chilies 

Second Course: A Salad of Foie Gras, Frisée, Sea Grapes, Grilled Chicken, Fennel and Crisped Brioche 

Not pictured (because I was too busy throwing elbows to get the best goodies): The intermezzo, when you’re invited to leave your seats, stretch your legs and help yourselves to a variety of sushi, sashimi and other treats.

Third Course: 100-Mile Salmon, Dungeness Crab Béarnaise, White Asparagus Flan and Preserved Meyer Lemon

Fourth Course: Slow Roasted Young Beef, Duck Breast and Crispy Skin with Shepherd’s Pie and Black Peppercorns

 Aaaaannd, Dessert: Nancy’s Carrot Cake with Butter Crunch Ice Cream, Caramel Popcorn and White Chocolate.

A different-yet-delicious take on lasagna

While grocery shopping the other night I passed by some rotisserie chickens that smelled particularly good. Before I knew it, I had tossed one in my shopping cart and started formulating a plan to make the following dish using meat from the ready-to-eat bird. Pesto makes everything taste better, including the jars of alfredo sauce that also ended up in my cart. The pesto and alfredo tasted so good together that I found myself sampling the sauce a few times (quality control, right?) while assembling what turned out to be quite a winner of a midweek meal.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Lasagna
2 15-ounce jars alfredo sauce
 ½ cup prepared pesto
 12 oz. bag frozen artichokes, thawed
3 cups cooked chicken meat, diced
9 lasagna noodles
1 bunch spinach, rinsed and chopped
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup grated mozzarella (optional)

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water. Whisk alfredo and pesto together in a bowl. Pour ¼ cup sauce into 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish. begin layering remaining ingredients, starting with three lasagna noodles and continuing with chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and sauce. Ingredients should be enough for two layers, topped with three final noodles and sauce. I noted that cheese is optional with this recipe because I think the lasagna has plenty going for it already without the cheese. If you want cheese, sprinkle it on top of the lasagna before covering the dish loosely with aluminum foil. Cheese or no cheese, you’re going to want to bake the lasagna for 30-40 minutes. Remove the lasagna from the oven and allow it to sit for a few minutes before serving.

Taking a bite outta Boston

Chris and I recently spent a long weekend in Boston. It was my first time visiting Massachusetts and I had an absolute blast exploring Boston. Please believe the hunt for restaurants began as soon as I booked my flights! Here are some of the highlights:

Redbones was packed Friday night but well worth the wait for delicious barbecue.

Chris ordered the ribs and I went for the “meat and three” because I’m a sucker for trying as many sides as possible. I’m happy I did because the macaroni and cheese, greens and corn pudding were all quite good, as was my barbecue chicken and the buffalo shrimp we got to start the meal.

We got our history fix by walking the Freedom Trail

and ended up at the delightful Neptune Oyster.

Chris enjoyed the raw bar’s finest

and I savored every rich, buttery bite of my first-ever lobster roll.

Great dim sum brunch at Myers + Chang, where offerings included crispy salt-and-pepper calamari with jalapeños,

lemony shrimp dumplings, chicken congee and dan dan noodles with spicy peanut sauce.

Dinner at Sportello was pure heaven from start to finish (had a couple cocktails at Drink, the bar downstairs, before dinner).

Pheasant soup

Strozzapreti with braised rabbit, picholine olives and rosemary

Veal loin with peas, fava beans and mint.

If you have a favorite restaurant in Boston please let me know, as I definitely want to go back for another visit!

Speedy soup is simply taco-licious

Not sure how I got it in my head that I wanted to make taco soup, but it’s been simmering in the back of my mind for a little bit. It’s a chili-like soup that gets its flavor from taco seasoning. After conducting a quick recipe search, I started building my shopping list.

One ingredient that kept popping up was ranch salad dressing mix, which upon first glance might seem a little off but I’ve tried it in chili before and was happy with the results, so there you go.

The majority of this soup’s ingredients are canned, and I must say it’s quite enjoyable to open up all those cans, pour them into a pot without draining anything, and being done with a good portion of the prep. The soup is super easy and cooks up in no time, making it the perfect weeknight dinner.

Taco Soup
1 pound ground turkey
1 white onion, chopped
1 15-ounce can kidney beans
1 15-ounce can pinto beans
1 15-ounce can black beans
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
1 cup corn (I always keep a bag of corn kernels in the freezer)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch salad dressing mix

Possible garnishes: grated cheese, green onions, tortilla chips or strips, sour cream, avocado

Brown ground turkey in large soup pot. Add chopped onion and cook for a couple minutes over medium heat, until onion is slightly translucent and fragrant. Add corn and pour contents of cans, without draining any of them, into pot. Stir in taco seasoning and ranch mix packets. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve soup in bowls and top with desired garnishes.

Quick, easy and veg-friendly weeknight winners

Some of the tastiest meals I came up with during our (now long-forgotten) vegetarian month were quite quick and simple.

For example, I made a speedy tomato sauce that worked well with back-to-back weeknight dinners. All it took was one 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes, one red bell pepper, diced, and a handful of garlic cloves, minced. I crushed the tomatoes by hand and simmered them (and the juice in which they were canned) with the pepper and garlic for a few minutes before puréeing everything.

This sauce tasted great simmered with some sliced Tofurkey Italian Sausage and a can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained), served atop a huge plateful of spinach which I wilted with a couple dashes of soy sauce and some red pepper flakes.

The sauce tasted equally delicious the next night with Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs and whole wheat spaghetti.

Some other successful veg-friendly meals that I’d make again even if I wasn’t trying to avoid meat:

• Trader Joe’s Masala Simmer Sauce heated up with a can of chickpeas and a few handfuls of fresh spinach and poured over brown rice. A piece of masala tandoori naan (also from TJ’s) on the side was great for soaking up the sauce.
• Sandwiches with Trader Joe’s Masala Veggie Patties (toasted in a frying pan), tandoori naan, micro greens and spicy hummus
• Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro, wrapped in wheat tortillas 
• And assembling this trusty lasagna took just a couple minutes without cooking up any Italian sausage.