​Perhaps you or someone you know, enjoys eating wild game. My husband does eat venison, quail and pheasant. Preparing wild game is not everyone’s cup of tea as they may find it difficult to find a recipe or, when they find one, they’ll wonder if its good.  
 
A friend gave me several packages of dressed quail. I did find the website “Hunter, Angler, Gardner, Cook,” and made a few of their recipes. This time I took a chance, to see The New York Times Cooking  web page had any recipes; in fact, they did! I selected a recipe by Mark Bittman for Quail Roasted with Honey, Cumin and Orange Juice. This recipe used pantry staples of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed orange  juice (I cheated in used Wegmans Premium Orange Juice, no pulp, 100% orange juice), honey, minced garlic and cumin. The recipe received favorable reviews from other cooks. 

Recently, I had a customer come into the shop where I work telling me about the most delicious molasses ginger cookies he had. He purchased them at a stall at the Madison Square Park Holiday Market in Manhattan. I remembered that in my recipe box I had a such a recipe from my late mother-in-law and I told him I would dig it out and make a batch.

I have tendency to go into pumpkin overdrive during the fall season. This year, my daughter found a recipe in the November 2020 issue of BON APPÉTIT Magazine for Pecan Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies.
 
For the recipe you’ll also need ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, flour, baking soda, salt (either table or kosher, but see recipe for amounts), butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla, semisweet chocolate (you can use chocolate chips), dark chocolate chips and pecans. If you don’t want to make the pumpkin pie spice recipe the author gives, use store bought. It will be used in the following recipes.

​Last week I was sitting at my computer on a beautiful November day. The temperature is the low 70’s. It’s a glorious day to be outside and take in the warmth and sunshine before it fades away.
 
Here’s a brief rundown of the recipes I’ve found that are tasty, easy to prepare and are family friendly. The first recipe I found in an e-newsletter from @nytcooking for Cornbread Tamale Pie. I used my Le Crueset braiser to make it a one pan dish. Your base is a beef chili with a cornbread topping, think Mexican-style pot pie. The second recipe I made was from Lidia Bastianich’s website, Lidia’s Italy, My Mother’s Chicken and Potatoes. Bone-in chicken legs (I used breasts) are browned with bacon roll-ups and are combined with golden brown red skin potatoes, onion pieces and fresh rosemary to create a hearty meal. It’s easy to adapt to feed 2 or 4 or more. The last dish is also from Lidia and is from her book, “Lidia’s Italy,” Braised Pork Chops with Savoy Cabbage.

​Last week ShopRite had on sale flatiron steak for $5.99/lb. Flatiron steak is cut from the flat muscle located off the shoulder blade. It was the first  time I purchased this cut and I knew it needed to be cooked medium rare (135°) and thinly sliced across the grain. The recipe I found was on a website called Chelsea’s Messy Apron. I chose it because of the sundried tomato sauce that accompanied the steak.
 
For the sauce you’ll need 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil and herbs and extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I made the tomato sauce using my blender’s mini cups.