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Recently, Whole Foods had on Prime Member special, wild caught Atlantic cod for $8.99/lb. Cod is a favorite fish of my husband, therefore, what better reason to pick up a pound. I wanted to prepare something that was fairly quick and easy. A web search brought me to the website “Everyday Food” and the recipe baked cod with potatoes and olives. 
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My local food store had a special on flank steak last week for $6.99/lb., a great price. I picked up the last one and now had to find a new recipe.  Although, I have a half dozen recipes on my blog, I turned to my reliable resource, the NYTCooking app, and found another wonderful recipe from Melissa Clark for Grilled Flank Steak with Worcestershire Butter.  Flank steak can be a chewy piece of beef. However, if sliced thinly across the grain, you shorten the steak fibers and make the meat easier for chewing.
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 Ms. Clark’s recipe takes 45 minutes to prepare, not counting marinating time.  Mine marinated for at least 2 hours. However, you can go as long as overnight. The marinade contains fresh thyme sprigs, garlic, a jalapeño, fresh chives, Worcestershire sauce, dark brown sugar and fresh lemon juice. Unfortunately, when I picked up the tomatoes, I neglected to purchase a jalapeño pepper. I substitute red pepper flakes in its place.
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This cooler weather has certainly been delightful for helping to inspire me to cook more interesting meals. Whole Foods recently had a Prime Member special of Arctic Char, a new variety of fish that my husband and I tried for the first time.
 
Arctic Char, part of the fish family called Salmonidae, is a cold water fish found in alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Arctic Char is lighter and milder in taste than salmon.  A web search lead me to the website www.food52.com for a recipe called broiled lemon-honey Arctic Char with citrus sauce. The recipe for the sauce recommenced using a mix of citrus, I only had lemons and orange juice on hand. The recipe suggested a blend of citrus such as tangerines, navel oranges, Cara Cara oranges, nectarines or blood oranges. The recipe has a prep time of 30 minutes and only five minutes of cooking (the fish is cooked under the broiler). Besides the citrus, you’ll need honey, olive oil, fresh minced chives, a neutral oil and flaky sea salt.
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The other day when I came home from, I wanted something I could prepare for supper without much fuss. I scoured through a few websites and then found an easy Marian Burros recipe on the The NY Times Cooking app for Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is such a versatile cut of meat and it cooks relatively quickly.

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The weather has shifted cooler and it’s time to start cooking comfort food. I was in the mood for the ultimate comfort food, meatloaf.  While I do have several meat loaf recipes, I wanted something new and I found one that was created by American’s Test Kitchen, Ketchup-Brown Sugar Glazed Turkey Meatloaf. ATK developed this recipe as cooks were swapping ground beef for ground turkey and finding the turkey meatloaf was solid like a brick. Swapping beef for turkey requires adjusting your recipe to take into account the lack of fat in ground turkey. 
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​I was recently watching an episode of America’s Test Kitchen where co-host Bridget Lancaster was demonstrating how to make Cod Baked in Foil with Fennel and Carrots. It just so happened that Whole Foods had a Prime Member special on “Sustainable Wild-Caught Fresh Atlantic Cod Fillets” for $8.99/lb. What luck, I didn’t have to think of what to make for supper and my main ingredient was on sale.
 

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​Once during a visit to Williams-Sonoma, I picked up a recipecard for Butternut Squash Risotto. The recipe sounded delicious.
 
While Williams-Sonoma does sell organic butternut squash puree ($16.95), I find it easier to purchase fresh butternut squash and cook in a pressure cooker to make my own puree. You can also cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and roast till tender. With a spoon, scrape out the tender flesh and mash. Another cooking method is to peel, cube and place the squash in a pot with a steamer basket and cook until tender.
 
You’ll also need unsalted butter, fresh sage, vegetable or chicken stock, caramelized onion, olive oil, Arborio rice, fresh rosemary, white wine and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Prep and took time is 50 minutes each. 
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​The peak season for cauliflower is now through November. With that in mind, I recently purchased a small head of cauliflower at Delicious Orchards, Colts Neck. Many, many years ago when I use to make weekly trips for my produce (now I use their personal shopping service and have my husband pick up my order), I used to grab their recipe handout sheets.
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​Last week, Whole Foods had bone-in pork chops on Prime Member special for $4.99/lb. I couldn’t resist finding a recipe in which to stuff the pork chops. I found a few recipes, but nothing that particularly caught my eye. I changed my search to a stuffing recipe and found a interesting one from Ina Garten on the Food Network website. The recipe was Herb and Apple Stuffing made with bread cubes, butter, yellow onion, celery, Granny Smith apples, fresh parsley and rosemary and chicken stock. Unfortunately, this recipe made enough for 8 to 10 servings, I was merely stuffing two pork chops.
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​Now that cooler weather is upon us, I’m ready to change my style of cooking.
 
My daughter participates in a CSA program at Dreyer’s Farms in Cranford. In a recent box of farm fresh vegetables, Dreyer’s includes a newsletter and recipes. One recipe recently was for Apple Cider Pulled Pork from the website A Taste of Home(in conjunction with their magazine, A Taste of Home). It’s a terrific slow cooker recipe. Although the recipe called for pork butt, I purchased a shoulder, which worked out just fine. You’ll also need an onion, celery, apple cider and seasonings (seasoned salt, ground mustard, paprika and ground coriander) 


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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