Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Catfish Nuggets -- One for You and Three for Me

It has been a very cold couple of weeks here in New England. My lips are cracked, hands are dry and everybody is coming down with some sort of cold. Last Wednesday I was not even motivated to cook dinner! The horror! Coming to the weekend I still felt not 100% back to normal, but somewhat regained some momentum. As a result, we were able to try some daring dishes again! Here's what we had for lunch yesterday: Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Catfish Nuggets. Yep, you heard me right. Not filled with the regular prawns, or the rarer shredded chicken. But catfish nuggets. And it was delicious! It was so good that instead of the intended two rolls/ person, I ate three without even thinking!

The choice for the filling was obvious and yet not entirely so.

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon -- Another Reason to Get Up a Bit Early on Sundays

The first time I tried an eggs Benedict was at this very cute breakfast/lunch place named The Pantry. They were only open till 2p.m. everyday, and I remember thinking: how could a place remain open with such short business hours? Then I saw the line, ordered the food, bit into the Blackstone Benedict I ordered, and my question just evaporated into thin air. Of course they could stay open! With all the deliciousness, why weren't they opening a 2nd or a 3rd little pantry?!

Elephant Ears from Scratch

I have failed miserably attempting to make a flaky croissant, so many times. The dough would always break. The temperature was never right, and the croissants were never flaky enough. Until recently, I followed this recipe from King Arthur, and my culinary confidence just got kicked up a notch! Puff pastry is such a versatile vessel, you can make croissants (duh), blooming brie, fruit tarts, and last but not the least, elephant ears!

A Lunch Surprise -- Lox Sandwich

Back in college, there was nothing that I'd like more than a lox bagelwich as my grab-and-go sandwich from the dorm. The saltiness and smokiness from the salmon fillet, balanced with a hint of lemon juice and fresh dill, a generous smear of cream cheese, all encompassed with a bagel fresh from the bakery. Give me a lox bagelwich and I will stop complaining about the fact that I had to run during lunch hour.

So here is what I put in D's lunch box today as a surprise -- believe it or not, for over three years, we have never even had smoked salmon together! Some twists from a typical lox sandwich: I used lime instead of lemon, just because I prefer the tanginess from it. Also I used fennel fronds instead of dill. I love fennels and keep buying them faster than we can consume, and we always have plenty fennel fronds to spread here and there, and everywhere!

Cozy Side Dish -- Tircolor Quinoa with Cranberries, Apricots ash -- Tricolor Quinoa with Apricots, Cranberries and Toasted Almondsnd Tosted Almonds

Happy New Year! We got back from our New Orleans trip, where we successfully experienced delicious food, all kinds of awesome drinks and great hospitality. This trip also helped us both putting on two pounds, so yay for me and nay for D.

Back in New England, we just had a very very cold week, and our salads just stopped being appealing when it was 10 degrees out. After a bit of experimenting, we have settled on this fragrant, slightly sweet, and very healthy side -- tricolor quinoa with apricots, cranberries, and toasted almonds.