It has been a while between posts, but I've been cooking! Time to catch up:
Pear & Gorgonzola Salad:
It was almost funny for me to see a recipe for this pear and gorgonzola salad which is so ubiquitous these days. But then I thought about when it was published, 14 years ago, and how it was probably pretty modern at that point. I make some combination of this salad for so many occassions, and often throw in some sort of glazed or spicy nut for a little crunch. This time I did it with some great arugula I picked up at the farmers market, and as usual it was yummy
Chicken Under a Brick
I actually really liked this technique for cooking the chicken, it was the first time I had tried it this way, and found it much easier than I had expected. I had the butcher butterfly the chicken for me so that was super easy. I doubled the rub as I like a lot of flavor on/under my chicken and salted it first, which I think helped (but I'm also a salt fiend!) Chris loved the skin, while the meat came out moist and not over cooked. I was worried it was going to stick to the pan but shockingly it didn't. I'm not sure if I can say I prefer this over the Zuni roasting method but it was a nice change of pace
I might skip the spaghetti with fried eggs recipe-- I'm a big fan of carbonara type preparations, I'm just trying to eat healthy these days (trying to lose this nursing weight!) and there is no way of pretending that one is even close! Besides, I'm eager to get to the braised squid preparation!
Treat
For the treat, I thought I would share the valentines treats I made for Elisha's preschool class. I got the idea and recipes for the black and white brownies from Smitten Kitchen. I love her writing, ideas and recipes! Elisha loved helping with the cutting out of the hearts. They came out a bit dry so they cracked a bit, but were tasty and still very cute.
I got the template for the toppers from another blog, LivingLocurto.com, and then customized it a bit. You print them on cardstock and then staple them on the top of ziploc bags, and they look really snazzy and professional. I will definitely use this type of idea for lots of other applications, including goody bags for Mr. Joshua's one year birthday party, which is approaching far too rapidly!
T
Squid and more squid! So I decided to do squid 2 ways last night. 1 # this way and 1 # that way. Bittman's way and one of my go-to restaurants Union's way. I'd forgotten how much liquid comes out of these squiddOs. I used some anchovy paste in a tube I had in my frig. You MUST add acid to these squid. Did not add extra sauce to my finished dishes. It was too fishy for my taste (probably the anchovy). I really enjoyed the whole dish when I squeezed fresh lemon juice on top!. The artichokes were delicious. I will prepare artichokes this way more often. 
