What better way to celebrate the holiday than with these veggie topped grilled hot dogs. This recipe comes from the Food and Wine magazine. Enjoy!

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. minced shallot
2 Tsps. chopped capers
1 Tbsp. chopped dill pickle
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds, toasted
8 hot dogs, cooked
8 hot dog buns, toasted
8 slices of crisp, cooked applewood-smoked bacon
1 cup chopped tomatoes
4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1/3 cup small basil leaves

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the shallot, capers, pickle and toasted caraway seeds.
2. Put the cooked hot dogs in the buns; top with the bacon and tomatoes. Toss the lettuce and basil with some of the caraway remoulade. Top the dogs with the slaw. Serve any remaining remoulade on the side.

Serve with: Ice cold lager!

There were six eggs. Six fresh eggs delivered to us by our friend Gail. She has a family of spotted and feathered girls living in her back yard. She feeds them and loves them and in return….they give her eggs!
There were six eggs. Two were whisked together with the fresh herbs she creatively tied to the egg carton and scrambled up for my breakfast. Three were used to make the pasta which follows this post.
I have one egg left.
What will I do with that one beautiful egg!

First of all….I hope everyone is having a great holiday filled with great food and wine!
Today I whipped up a little something that turned out just fine! Perfect for a late spring afternoon.

As I said above, I made the spaghetti, but you can also used store bought. Here is what I put into the fabulous topping to pour over your cooked pasta:

Approx. 9 oz. spaghetti
1/2 lb. pancetta, cut into 1/4 inch thin ribbons
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb. (21-25 count) shrimp, peeled, tails removed and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 Tsp. (be generous) red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
12 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
2 Tbsp. fresh, chopped parsley for garnish
3 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
2 generous handfuls of fresh spinach

1. Cook pancetta ribbons until brown and remove from pan. Do not throw out rendered fat.
2. Cook shrimp in rendered fat and olive oil.
3. When shrimp are almost finished cooking, toss in chopped garlic. Cook for one minute while stirring, then add white wine, tomatoes, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a light boil.
4. Turn off heat, add cooked pancetta and spinach.
5. Stir until spinach is wilted, pour over platter of pasta, garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Wine Served: Pio Cesare, Gavi

I bought thin cut pork chops, cut the fat off then cut them into medallions. I fried them in extra virgin olive oil after dredging them through flour, eggs (fresh from the chickens!) and Panko. I served them with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus, and dizzled it all with a mustard-caper sauce I adapted from a 1997 Bon Appetit recipe.

Mustard-Caper Sauce (none of these ingredients need to be in exact amounts)

1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup sliced shallots
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. capers
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

Put all of the ingredients in a small pan and heat until shallots are tender.

Another cold, grey day. Lunch should be really special!
I grilled some thin cut pork chops (with olive oil, salt and pepper), put some cherry tomatoes on kabob sticks and covered them with olive oil (always virgin), and herbs de provence and put them on the grill with the chops. One hour before that, I made Hasselback potatoes which is the only recipe, for this post, I think you really need.

Hasselback Potatoes (from 500 potato recipes)

Serves 4 (I only made two, baking time is the same)
4 large potatoes
75g/3oz/6 Tbsp. butter
45ml/3 Tbsp. olive oil
50g/2oz/1 cup fine, fresh breadcrumbs (I used panko, and much less than called for)
50g/2oz/2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used much less cheese)
salt and ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Peel the potatoes, then, and this is the crucial part, cut them widthways, not lengthways, down to three-quarters of their depth at 3mm/1/8 inch intervals, preferably at a slight angle. (It is a good idea to thread a skewer through the potato three-quarters of the way down before cutting, so that your knife travels just to the point you want it to reach and no farther).
2. Wash the potatoes in cold water, then arrange, cut sides uppermost, in a deep, ovenproof dish.
3. Melt the butter in a small pan, then add the olive oil and mix together. Brush the mixture over the potatoes, then season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs (panko) and the grated cheese.
4. Roast the potatoes in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, depending on their size, until golden brown and fanned apart along the cut lines. Serve hot.

Wine served: 2002 Louis Latour, Puligny-Montrachet

So…I woke up this morning thinking I should try and make bread. A few days back, while looking for something down in the basement in the “cooking” department, I found our bread maker, which we rarely use. In the recipe book I found the recipe for French bread.
Not realizing I needed an official baguette pan, I had to improvise, hence the bricks!
I’ve already put in an order for a baguette pan.
However, the bread is quite nice. With the use of a baguette pan the bread would have been browned more on the sides and bottom, but all in all…..a success.

Step 1: Ingredients must be at room temperature and they should be added in the order listed below.

active dry yeast 1-1/4 teaspoons
bread flour 3 cups
salt 1 teaspoon
granulated sugar 1 teaspoon
water 1-1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon

Step 2: Select DOUGH on your machine
Step 3: Press START
Step 4: Divide finished dough into 2 equal pieces
Step 5: Place dough on a lightly greased baking sheet and let rest for 5 to 7 minutes
Step 6: Roll each half in a long strand and place on a lightly greased trough, baguette pan. Cover, let dough rise in a warm place for approximately 1 hour or until dough doubles in size
Step 7: With a sharp knife, make 6 diagonal slashes across the top. Sprinkle or brush with water.
Step 8: Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown
Step 9: Remove and cool on a rack.