I know Mark hasn’t posted any recipes lately. There just simply isn’t any time. Not to say that he hasn’t been cooking dinner every night because he has, but business has been steadily busy since, well, Christmas, and there hasn’t been a lot of downtime for him in the evenings which is when he used to write recipe posts. We just ate a delicious dinner last night of sesame beef with red pepper, for example, but we scarfed that down too fast to take a photo, and let’s face it…sometimes you just want to eat. The kids used to complain and protest when they were too hungry to wait as I sabotaged our dinners to take photos, but lately I’ve been too lazy to go set up a spread and style some food shots (yeah, we’re a bit weary, can you tell?).

But here are a few simple photos from recent dinners: cold soba noodles in broth with wasabi sesame seeds, some marinated and crispy fried tofu (which Claudine miraculously ate!), and a Thai noodle dish concoction with homemade meatballs.

So I almost forgot that we are going away for a few days next week. Couldn’t come at a better time. We’re both a bit stressed from clients (me) and Father’s Day orders (mostly him, though I have been making gift boxes galore the last few nights). I can tell that I’m stressed because I am eating endless pieces of leftover broken brittle as a nervous habit (this has to stop! I’m going to the dentist in 2 weeks!). So we are totally looking forward to closing up shop and running away from cookies and clients for 4 days. But not to worry, I will still be here as my computer is practically attached to my lap. And besides, what else are we supposed to do in a shared hotel room with the kids as they are (hopefully) sleeping from 8:30pm and onwards? Can’t turn on the TV. Can’t talk too loudly. Can’t leave the room. Yup, like I said, I’ll be here.

Here’s another childhood favorite of mine. Its origins are unknown to me (Mom?), but it was a fairly regular dinner item in my house. I remembered it several years after I moved to New York and had to call my Mom each time I wanted to make it because I neglected to write down the recipe. This time I just kind of made it up based on the three main ingredients: shrimp, minced clams…and crushed Ritz Crackers. I know it sounds a bit weird, but the tastes and textures all work quite well together.

Shrimp and Ritz Cracker Stuffing (serves 4-6)

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 Tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
2 cans minced clams, drained, reserving the juice
1 12-ounce box Ritz Crackers, roughly crushed
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the shrimp, garlic, lemon zest, parsley and clams in a mixing bowl. Mix in the Ritz crackers, lemon juice, melted butter and white pepper. Mix in just enough of the reserved clam juice to achieve your desired consistency - more juice will make a moist stuffing, while less will be a bit drier and more crackerey (is that a word?). Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the top. Bake for about 20 minutes until the shrimp are just cooked through. Run under the broiler for several minutes if you want a crisper top. Serve immediately, with an extra squeeze of lemon juice if desired.

I have no idea where I learned this technique for cooking fish, but it’s a quick and easy way to cook fish without resorting to frying. Simply put, fish is baked on top of vegetables and herbs in the oven. It’s versatile as different types of fish can be used, as well as most vegetables and herbs. Last week I baked salmon on top of fresh fennel, onions, and sliced lemons, with a generous sprinkle of chopped tarragon. It was served with soft polenta, fresh corn and some garlic-sauteed shiitake mushrooms. The fish stays moist, almost as if it was steamed. I usually just bake the fish in one large piece and break it up into individual portions after it is cooked.

Tarragon Roasted Salmon (serves 4)

1 medium onion, peeled
1 small fennel bulb
1 lemon
1 large salmon filet, about 1-1/2 pounds, skin removed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped tarragon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the onion, fennel and lemon into 1/4-inch thick slices. Spread them in the bottom of a baking dish. Put the piece of salmon on top. Brush the olive oil on the salmon, then sprinkle with the salt, pepper and tarragon. Cover the pan with foil and bake for about 30 minutes until the fish is just cooked. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your fish. Cut into individual portions and serve immediately.

My mom used to make a tasty chicken and rice casserole when I was a kid. She made it for us when she visited last December and the girls seemed to like it. I thought of the dish last week for some reason while trying to plan some meals. I set out to make my own version using brown rice, green olives, and cheese, all of which were different ingredients than what was in my mom’s version. The chicken itself is different, as I used boneless thigh meat instead of whole pieces. I was frankly surprised at how well it turned out. When I hear the words “brown rice casserole” I think of the food that Jenna and I sometimes ate at the campus vegetarian restaurant in college (which was not that bad actually). This one tasted rich, hearty, creamy, and very satisfying - perfect for a freezing day in March.

Brown Rice and Chicken Casserole (serves 4-6)

1-1/3 cup brown rice
2-2/3 cups water
1 Tablespoon butter
4 boneless chicken thighs
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
6 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup roughly chopped green olives

First, cook the brown rice. Bring the water to a boil with the first measure of butter, plus a pinch of salt. Meanwhile, wash the rice and drain it well. Add the rice to the boiling water, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the rice is completely cooked. Set aside.

Next, cut the chicken into large bite-size pieces. Toss with the flour, the 1 teaspoon salt, and the 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. When it is hot, add the floured chicken pieces and cook for several minutes on each side, until they are lightly browned (they do not need to be fully cooked at this point). Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Melt the butter in the same pan. Add the onion and saute for several minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic, cumin, and the final 1 teaspoon salt. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Now add the carrots, red pepper and stock. Cover and cook over medium heat for several minutes, or until the vegetables just start to soften. Turn off the heat. Now mix in the cooked chicken, followed by the cooked brown rice, the grated cheese and the green olives. Mix it all together gently but thoroughly. Transfer the mixture to a buttered casserole dish, preferably one with a cover. Put the cover on and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Macaroni and cheese, while quite popular with the kids, is nevertheless kind of a last-minute dinner for me to make when I’m either out of ideas or short on time. On these occasions I make a stove-top version that ends up being a bit like the kind from a box - tasty, but it sometimes feels like cheating. It had been a while since I made a baked version, but it’s more substantial than my stove-top version and I definitely feel better about serving it to the family as “dinner”, especially paired with some steamed vegetables. I did, however, make the mistake of using Jarlsberg cheese this time which is very similar in flavor to Swiss cheese, a cheese that Mia really doesn’t care for (unless it is on a Cuban sandwich). Fortunately any other good melting cheese will do.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese (makes a deep 9×13-inch pan)

1 pound macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
15 ounces ricotta cheese
10 ounces grated cheese (cheddar, jack, swiss, or any other good melting cheese will do)
Salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni according to the package’s instructions. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. When melted and bubbling, whisk in the flour. Stir and cook for one minute. Whisk in the milk just a little bit at a time, waiting until the previous addition has been incorporated before adding more. When all the milk has been added, cook on medium heat for a few minutes until it has noticeably thickened. Remove from the heat. When the macaroni has finished cooking, drain it and then add it to the white sauce. Stir well, then stir in the ricotta and half of the grated cheese. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour into a buttered 9×13-inch pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top, then put it into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, until hot and bubbling. If you like a crisp top, cook it under the broiler for several minutes. Serve immediately.

I am anxiously awaiting the day when both my kids are able to eat spicy food. For most of my adult life I have cooked spicy meals for myself, but I’ve had to tone it down to accommodate their tastes. I especially miss making Thai food. I have probably mentioned before that it is the first cuisine that I really learned how to cook. My friends and I would cook elaborate multi-course Thai dinners just for fun, and we would make most everything from scratch - even our own curry pastes. So, when Mia chose some mussels for dinner from the fish store the other day, I decided to try to make them into a non-spicy Thai curry. I happened to have several ingredients at home already that I would need. First, a bunch of cilantro with the roots still attached. Not very exotic, but an important ingredient for a nice curry paste is cilantro roots (not stems), and too often they are trimmed off. Second, and definitely more exotic is fresh turmeric root. It looks like fresh ginger with a dark orange tint. I saw some at the Park Slope Food Co-op and was so surprised to see it that I bought a full bag without knowing what I’d do with it. It’s rarely used in traditional Thai curries, but who said I was trying to make anything traditional? If you do like things spicy, just add a few Thai chilies along with the other ingredients when making the curry paste.

Mussels with coconut milk and fresh turmeric (serves 3-4)

2 lbs mussels, well scrubbed
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 bunch cilantro, with roots, washed well
1 lime
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 can coconut milk
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (soy sauce can be substituted)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Place 5 cloves of the garlic, turmeric, ginger, cilantro roots and the zest of the lime into a mortar. Pound it by hand until it turns into a fairly smooth paste. If you are feeling lazy, or don’t have a mortar and pestle, feel free to use a food processor or blender - just make sure it is smooth enough. Heat the oil in a wok. Slice the remaining clove of garlic and add it to the hot oil. Cook it until it starts to turn golden, then add a large spoonful of the curry paste. Stir and fry for just a few seconds. Immediately stir in the coconut milk, followed by the fish sauce and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, add the mussels, and cover. Simmer for several minutes, until all the mussels have opened and are cooked. Stir in the juice of the lime, along with some leaves from the bunch of cilantro. Serve immediately.

If our kids had to choose one thing to eat for dinner every day, it would be pasta. Specifically plain pasta with just butter and parmesan cheese. I’m sure that there are many children in the world with the same preference and even I wouldn’t touch tomato sauce when I was young, so I’ll usually make pasta once or twice every week. The trick is to keep it interesting for the grownups and find something that the kids end up liking as well. I thought this dish would be a sure-fire winner - it’s just a classic white clam sauce, but I figured it had the appearance of a plain pasta so the kids might go for it. I even splurged for some fresh cockles from New Zealand to top it off (I used chopped clams in the sauce as a cheap way to add some substance). Mia liked the pasta itself, but strangely did not like the cockles - she usually has no trouble with clams. And Claudine was intrigued at first and may have even taken the tiniest of tastes, but in the end had to have her plain pasta. I always save a little bit without any sauce.

Linguine with White Clam Sauce (serves 4)

1 pound dried linguine
2 pounds cockles or littleneck clams, scrubbed and cleaned
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 small can of chopped clams, drained
1/4 cup roughly chopped Italian parsley
salt and black pepper to taste
freshly grated parmesan

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente. Prepare the sauce at the same time. Heat the olive oil in a large pan until hot. Add the sliced garlic and cook just until it starts to turn golden. Add the cockles or clams, along with a small amount of the broth. Cover immediately, and cook until all the clams have opened, 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped clams, and a little bit more broth. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pasta has finished cooking. When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the pan with the clams. Add the parsley, salt and pepper, and additional broth if you like your pasta a little less dry. Put it into serving bowls, arrange the cockles or clams on the top, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Park and playground in the morning. Thanksgiving meal around 3. In our family, the turkey is never carved at the table, but instead it’s shredded in the kitchen and brought out with the rest of the food, buffet style, eaten on paper plates. Is that weird? It’s never a formal sit down dinner and the spread is always a clash of 2 cultures - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and canned cranberry sauce, intermingled among the Korean dishes and soups. And what did Ms Picky Claudine have for her Thanksgiving meal? Some bites of apple, oranges, plums and asian pear. Oh and a few cookies. Could be worse, I guess…