From The Kitchen

My man planned out our meals last week. He's on his last rotation which is actually a lecture three days a week for three hours. So his help was much appreciated. He cooked pan seared fish (not Tilapia) with Emeril's Spring Corn and Tomato risotto (yum) on Monday.

On Tuesday he made pulled pork barbecue in the crock pot. He found a recipe that cooks the pork in root beer. Then you drain it and add whatever barbecue sauce. He used some Kentucky sauce that Dr. Bec and family gave us for Christmas. It was awesome. We put the pork on ciabatta rolls from Whole Foods. I actually found the roll to be too much and I preferred the pork on its own. The side is one half the recipe of Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese from Smitten Kitchen. I'm not a mac and cheese kind of person but I have seen the light. This mac and cheese uses fancy pants cheeses- Gruyere and White Cheddar. Holla back. I had this for lunch all week and I was sad to see the mac and cheese go.

Next my culinarily gifted husband cooked chicken enchiladas on Wednesday while I was at Zumba. We usually have trouble keeping the chicken tender, but Michael succeeded in making some really fabulous enchiladas.

Now let's talk about how far our culinary adventures have come. We don't cook much red meat. I tend to overcook everything and I feel like our stove isn't good enough for really good meat. In perusing our Emeril's cookbook I saw this recipe for Rack of Lamb with Creole Mustard Crust and Rosemary Creamed Potatoes and Rosemary Jus. I thought it sounded tasty and without a doubt in my mind I told Michael we should have our friends over on Saturday.

I admit when it came down to it I was a little nervous. Emeril suggests cooking it medium rare. We have a digital thermometer so we can get the right temperature but I've never cooked anything like lamb. I got the meat from the Organic Butcher. (This is definitely a special occasion kind of meal). The butcher was surprised to learn that I was the one who would be cooking it. Seriously, I get no respect. I guess I don't look like I'm an experienced 58 year old to him.

First you have to sear the meat in a skillet. This means that our apartment will fill with smoke because the "vent" just blows the smoke back into the kitchen and the fire alarm will go off. Meanwhile Theo will cry "OMG THE HOUSE IS GOING TO BURN DOWN AND WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE. WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU WHY AREN'T YOU HEEDING MY WARNING?" in this really alarming high pitched whine. I guess it's good to know that if the house ever really is on fire we're know before the alarm goes off. So I preemptively opened a window. I should have opened all of them because I was choking on smoke while I was searing the racks. The good news is that they turned out perfectly. That's right. I cooked rack of lamb.

We served it up on the fine china and drank 14 Hands' Hot to Trot Red Blend. I don't know much about pairing wine with food but I think this wine really complemented this meal. I really haven't been much into red wine lately but this wine has such a smooth finish.

I didn't have the mental capacity to make dessert as well so I bought ice cream. Ben and Jerry's Phish Food, and Haagen-Dazs Bananas Foster and Amaretto Almond Crunch ice creams. The Bananas Foster ice cream is spot on. Seriously if you like Bananas Foster, go to the store. Right now. I'm looking at their website and I see there is another limited edition flavor- Blueberry Crumble. I didn't see that one but now I'm thinking I need to locate it.

After dessert our bottle of wine was empty and we decided to have vodka gimlets and play Scrabble and Bananagrams. Michael managed to completely dominate. I want a sober rematch.