These steaks can have quite a bit of kick (depending on the kind of harissa you use, of course) and are excellent on the grill or seared in a hot skillet. I love this recipe because it packs a wallop of flavor with very little effort. I served the thinly sliced steak with a spinach, fennel and chickpea salad with a smoky lemon-tahini dressing. The creamy dressing provided a soothing foil to the heat of the meat. Good stuff.

Smoky Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Searing Meat on the Cast Iron Skillet

Finished Product: Harissa-Marinated Steaks

What’s the best compliment one can bestow upon an avid home cook? A good ole’ fashioned plate-lick. A plate-lick of the two-fisted, full tongue extension variety.
A moan of pleasure is always good too, as is a squeal of delight followed by a recipe request, but not much beats an exuberant plate-lick.
Needless to say, I was overjoyed when my Supper Club dish was met with a hearty tongue swipe of the plate. Yeah! Who knew a fennel and avocado salad with candied kumquats and horseradish dressing could inspire such delight? I do think it was the dressing, so if you haven’t yet made it, what are you waiting for?
The salad was just the start of what turned out to be a delicious parade of food during our 10th Supper Club dinner. We were all so busy laughing, chatting and licking plates, that nobody bothered to take any photos of the gorgeous dishes. Bummer for my blog.
Our hosts for this particular dinner chose a theme similar to that of the foodie TV show Chopped. The hosts gave each of us three ingredients, which we then had to use to create our given course for the meal. Ingredients and courses as follows:

• First Course Mystery Basket: horseradish, avocado, mascarpone cheese
• Main Course Mystery Basket: duck, chocolate, rosemary
• Side Dish Mystery Basket: eggplant, walnuts, capers
• Dessert Mystery Basket: lemons, tomatoes, ginger

The results? Succulent, perfectly cooked duck breasts paired with a mole-type sauce. A chunky eggplant dish topped with a flavorful parmesan crust. And a silky lemon panna cotta paired with a tomato jam and a tomato-ginger chutney. In other words, a complete success! I look forward to the next Supper Club event, which we are hosting this spring. Theme to be determined.

Red-Wine Braised Duck

Crunchy skin.
Tender, melty meat.
Silky sauce packed with vegetables.
And a final, vibrant punch of gremolata.
This duck dish is everything it’s supposed to be, without all of that greasy, scary duck fat. Going into this I was afraid my stomach would have to handle a fatty grease bomb, but not even close. The trick, it seems, is roasting the duck legs separately until the skin is crispy and most of the fat rendered. The juicy legs do get a final bath in the sauce, but then you can pull out trick number two: skim the sauce with a slice or two of bread to soak up any fat pooling on the surface. Works like magic. The only change I made to this recipe was to substitute chopped fennel for the celery as that is all I had on hand. Served it over brown rice and paired it with a Napa cabernet.

Gremolata

Duck Up Close

A refreshing citrus salad paired beautifully with the duck and I look forward to making this all summer long to pair with BBQ.

Citrus & Chickpea Salad

Ginger-Apricot Shrimp

Yum! This meal was so warm and satisfying on a chilly March evening. Although this shrimp dish often tastes better the day after it’s made, I decided to make it the same day and ramp up the flavor profile by tweaking some of the ingredients. I doubled the spice paste and sauce mixture and made sure to use hot Madras curry powder rather than a mild version. The result? A fabulously fragrant and spice-packed meal that warmed the belly. Roasted and caramelized cauliflower seasoned with just sea-salt and pepper help temper the heat and provided a nice foil to the highly spiced dish. I prepared the spice paste and sauce mix on Sunday, which meant this came together very quickly after a long day at work.

Roasted Cauliflower

Sundays are my leisurely cooking days, so I usually try to create a 3-course meal for us to linger over on Sunday evenings. Last night was no exception. We enjoyed our first and second courses at our kitchen bar and then sat down to the main event at our dining room table surrounded by candles. A heavenly way to wrap up a weekend.

Squash on Toast: Really? Smooshed up squash slathered on toast? Yes! This appetizer sounds as boring as can be, but trust me, it’s utterly delicious. The last time we served it at a dinner party, people went nuts and it disappeared fast. Try it. It takes very little effort and yields wonderful results.

Squash on Toast

Fennel and avocado salad with horseradish dressing and pancetta-wrapped dates stuffed with mascarpone: This was an experiment for our upcoming Supper Club as I am charged with developing a dish using avocados, horseradish and mascarpone. I have to say my horseradish dressing was wonderful and it will now be a recipe staple for us. My mascarpone-stuffed dates, however, were a complete failure. I tried one stuffed with plain mascarpone — had to spit it out. Tried another stuffed with mascarpone and lemon rind — spit that out too. The final version (stuffed with mascarpone, lemon rind and horseradish) also ended up partially chewed inside my napkin. They were all unbelievably unpleasant and cloying. I knew the date and mascarpone combo had the potential to be disgustingly sweet, but I was hopeful the salty bacon and bracing horseradish dressing would provide a good foil. Alas, I was wrong. Complete failure. Oh well, at least I now have a fabulous go-to horseradish dressing for salads.

Fennel and Avocado Salad with Horseradish dressing

Roasted chicken with grapes: Not much beats a Sunday roast chicken. The slowly caramelized grapes provide an unusual hit of sweetness. I adore this simple dish.

Roasted Grapes: simply roast seedless grapes drizzled with olive oil in a 250 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until caramelized. Delicious with chicken, duck or pork.

Roast Chicken