Chicken Liver Pate with Wine and Cilantro -- aka Chicken Liver Mousse or "Terrine de Foie de Volaille"

I never really liked winter. Having lived in the north part of this country for over a decade, I see winter as this long season (usually six months) consisting of cold winds and short days (and horrible snow storms sometimes). ..Until I went to southern France, where you could have an outdoor Christmas market in December, drinking mulled wine and sampling foie gras. What fun! How delicious! Oh, I miss it terribly...

Well, mulled wine isn't that hard to make. In fact, we've been making it every winter now. Homemade foie gras though, is tough. I mean, unless you live in the center of a metropolitan city or live in the middle of nowhere on a farm, where can you lay your hands on some goose liver here in the states?

No worries, I've found a cure, namely the chicken liver pate -- "terrine de foie de volaille" if you will. It is just like foie gras, but a bit less fatty. Perhaps a little healthier as well? (Oh, did I mention it's Paleo compatible?)

Heart Warming Chicken "Noodle" Soup with Spaghetti Squash -- for ONE, on a rainy day

As if things can't get worse, I got a cold, with a bloody nose. The rain outside did not help lightening my mood, either. Sigh. I had to do something to cheer myself up. My lunch did the trick -- it was so comforting that it may have cured my cold!

(Addictive) Cured Arctic Char (Gravlax) -- how to cure fish (fast and cheap) at home

Do you like sashimi? Do you have trouble laying your hands on some sushi grade fish (which is quite common in small cities) like I do? Well, I have a solution for you. Actually I have several: from marinated sardine, to drunken crabs. Today, however, it is all about curing fish.

Rye Berry Salad with Grilled (Wine Marinated) Chicken Breast, White Eggplant & Purple Dandelions -- eating with your eye

I have been a lazy bone, especially when it comes to blogging.

It is not that I am tired of cooking -- I still cook everyday, and have managed not to repeat a single dinner for several months (with the exception of ratatouille and fish en pappillot). I'm also not tired of blogging -- it's still in the back of my head. In fact, there are so many pictures of food stored in my phone my local storage is running short.

The problem is: the day is getting shorter and shorter nowadays, and by the time I finish cooking, there simply isn't enough natural light to make the dish look as appetizing as it really is. I would usually spend a good 10 minutes moving the plate from one spot to another, holding down my urge to just devour the dish because it smells so good. Finally I'd be too hungry, and ended up settling on some photo snaps, and finish dinner in 5 minutes, hoping that lightroom will save the world when it comes to under/over/uneven exposure. (Don't judge the fact that it took me less time eating that fiddling with the lighting situation.)

Guess what? It is weekend today, which means that I got to visit the farmer's market and finish cooking before sunset!

Vegan Wheat Berry and Grilled Vegetables Salad -- holding on to summer

It is labor day. Some may argue that it signifies the start of the fall season. I am not ready to let go of summer yet. Call it wishful thinking if you will, but I can feel the summer air around me, especially after a 90-minute hot yoga full of sweats. Yes, summer is still around.

How else does summer seep through? Take a look at our dinner tonight and you will find out.

Grilled corn, eggplant, and summer squash, with warm wheat berries and crispy italian bread cubes, in a light lemon-olive dressing. What could be a louder shout for summer?

No-Bake Dried Fruit Coffee Bar -- a perfect post-workout snack

D has started working out again: bought a new bike, and has been going on 25-mile rides on weekdays and 50-mile ride on weekends for the past couple month. Believe it or not, one can easily burn over 1500 calories per ride!

To help with a speedy recovery, I made this yummy treat after reading this article about caffeine and cycling.

Toasted Sesame Hummus -- no tahini on-hand

Last weekend we had some friends over for boardgames, and I had the sudden craving for hummus -- the creamy, smooth, nutritious spread that is perfect on a piece of pita bread that you share with someone. But our pantry was not stocked with tahini. I mean, really, who can use a jar of tahini fast enough, ever? If you read my beer-nut butter recipe, then you probably won't be shocked that I am even too lazy to buy tahini, and this is what I settled with.

I have seen some really tasty food as the product of desperation. This hummus once again strengthened the case. 

Pota-toma-to Pie -- a savory pie to celebrate summer (my first pie contest)

9th Square is a fun neighborhood -- bar crawls, soccer village, and now a pie contest! Here is the deal: for $15 dollars, you get to enter the block party with tables piled with pies, where you get unlimited pies, ice creams, live music, and a cash bar. Everything goes to charity, and if you bring a pie to share, you get to get in for free. Sounds like fun huh? I mean, can you think of a better way to start of the weekend than all-you-can-eat pies?

Salmon Steak en Papillote with Spinach, Summer Squash and Cherry Tomatoes -- dinner in a packet

Believe it or not, the all time most popular post on this blog is about using the "en papillote" method to cook whiting fish. It was among the first few posts that I wrote, the formatting was a mess, the pictures were directly from a low-quality cell phone camera, and I didn't even write out the recipe in the end! I don't feel my post  did the method justice -- it is a fool-proof method to cook a delicious fish (and a ton of other things).

There are three things about "en papillote" that I love. It is easy -- all it takes is some assembling and you can just throw it into the oven. Done! It is also pretty hard to mess up. Cooking fish can be hard because it gets dry quite easily. But with all the juices sealed in, it almost guarantees the moist fish with packed with flavors. I like the fact that I get to OPEN something as well. If you get it at a restaurant, it is like a surprise parcel. Even when making it at home, it is still mysterious as you never know how things will turn out exactly. It also reminds me of Christmas time and makes me very happy.

Want to guess what is "en papillote" this time? (Technically one would use parchment paper, I am cheating a bit with heavy duty aluminum foil here. )

Oven Roasted Ratatouille -- affordable farm to table cuisine

If you are like me, you probably watched the infamous Disney movie featuring a mouse chef before having tasted the dish. I still remember the night I went and watched this American film dubbed in French during my year in Montpellier, and coming out of the movie theatre, hungry for a plate of ratatouille. I was somewhat shocked, a couple days later, to found out that this dish was such a pantry stable, that it actually came in a can (just like tomato puree)!

Never the less, if made right, this dish is a killer. My good Swiss friend Stephanie brought it over for a Thanksgiving's dinner once, and oh mine, the nicely roasted turkey found itself neglected that night.

Herb Roasted Split Chicken Breast -- end-of-the-week dinner hack

It's that time of the week again -- we departed from the excitement from the last weekend; lunch rotation has made a full round from sandwich to wraps to salad to leftover casseroles, and dinner had gone through beef/pork/salmon/tofu, yet the next grocery trip is not quite here yet. You wanted to make something delicious but am already somewhat worn-out. It's high time, to pull out some chicken breast from the freezer, again.

A life-changing trick I learned recently was to defrost meat in the fridge with added spice and herbs, which forms a pseudo-marinade -- The flavors sink in while defrosting, and no additional time is needed at all. 

Healthy Crispy Beef Sliders with Homemade Buns -- perfect for a summer picnic

I love everything that summer brings us -- the sun, the beach, music festivals, county fairs, vineyard trips, fruit picking, and picnics! The ladies from D's family is going to have a girls' night out tomorrow with some great poetry and delicious food. I have been so excited that I started the food preparation way far in advance.

In my opinion, no social gathering shall be complete without some good bread and cheese, and of course we need to make our own bread. 3 days before the event, I had to drag D for some groceries, most importantly -- flour. Between the D&D sessions and Game of Thrones parties, we ran through a whole 5 pound of flour within a week. Record usage within one day: three loaves of crusty bread + home-made pasta + Arya's lemon cake = 12 cups of flour/day! We also hulled home six packs of cheese, some greek yogurt, crab sticks, ground beef, and the regular salad stuff. I became immediately happy 5 hours after the grocery trip, because of these cute slider buns came out lovely.

Farm Fresh Hangover Detox Smoothie -- for someone you love

One perk of being a graduate student here is the numerous social hours -- monthly happy hour and First Friday at Five, biweekly TGIF, spontaneous outings, etc. It also helps to have brilliant and generous friend who offers to pay for beer as his new Science article is getting super hot. It's no surprise then we got to kick start our weekend with some free pizza and beer, from where D and others moved on to a restaurant downtown for dinner, and continued with flowing delicious beverage, until...until it's time to crash. (I got home early, not 100% by choice -- I was still recovering from the night before, from pitchers of Negra Modelo at the allegedly best Mexican restaurant in CT.)  D's hangover today was only natural -- I just need to find a CURE to it.

This brings me to another perk of living here -- an awesome food co-op and a great farmer's market a few blocks away. Fresh from the market today -- garlic greens, rapini, and a cherry tomato plant.

Fresh Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs with Asparagus and Cauliflower -- quick (and balanced) weeknight dinner

I was going to write the past weekend, including the last show of the season at the Yale Rep, hanging out with friends at our place catching up till 3 a.m., a tasty Mother's Day brunch with D's family, a great run of Dungeons and Dragon's, and a Game of Thrones viewing party...Then I quickly realized that we were so busy DOING things, that we only took ONE photo, for all that have happened!

Though this photo is of my favorite people -- J&C enjoying their fluffy chocolate pancakes at the Mother's day brunch. The pancakes were bigger than their faces! J kept saying that his hands got dark (because of the melted dark chocolate chips), yet both seemed to have enjoyed lunch very much. They finished the pancakes without a single drop of maple syrup. I love how they stuck to the true taste of a plain old chocolate chip pancake! The brunch for adult included bacon & salmon eggs Benedict (with homemade hollandaise sauce), hash browns, more bacon, and mimosa (of course)! We were too busy eating and chatting for pictures. So...I won't be writing about that.

Instead, I will be writing about random dinner, that I happened to snap a couple shots before it was gone.

Chicken & Wild Rice Skillet -- stretching the leftovers into a tasty one-pot meal

You may have already known how a great roast chicken is done, but do you know how to transform the leftovers into a magnificent dish? Guess what, we are going to show you a way!