For over thirty years the Spring Mill Café in Conshohocken, PA (consisting of two buildings located next to the Spring Mill Creek) has prepared dishes using the finest and freshest foods available, buying their ingredients from local farms and farmers. The dishes are designed around the availability of fresh and seasonal ingredients and are artfully plated and presented.

Our last visit was two-and-a-half years ago with daughter Julia when she was in visiting from LA., and we were seated in the “general store” built in 1831 (above), the site of all our previous dining adventures at Spring Mill. This most recent visit however with the Oldhams, Maria Odilia (MO) and Steve, had us dining in the converted farmhouse (below) across the driveway from the main building. The farmhouse was built in the 1840s as storage and stables for the store and its presiding family; was converted into a living space in the 1950s; and it wasn’t until a few years ago that it also became part of the restaurant.

We were lucky enough to have a choice of tables before everyone else arrived and we chose a cozy corner banquette that was flanked on two sides with pews and chairs on the outer edges. Thanks to our waiter Nate for taking our group photo.

Their menu is not extensive but well thought out and includes vegetarian options, along with a few nightly specials. So for starters, both Steve and I settled on the soup du jour, a Creamed Asparagus topped with Crabmeat. It was silky and subtle with small chunks of tender asparagus and a decent dollop of tender sweet crabmeat.

Russ knew ahead of time that he would be starting his meal off with one of their patés and chose the Truffled Chicken Liver Pâté with a crock of pureed chicken liver, baked with cream, black truffles and brandy, served with sliced baguette, cornichons and whole grain mustard. Maria Odilia decided on the Salade de Betteraves, plated with roasted golden beets with baby kale, Bucheron goat cheese, and a pomegranate vinaigrette. expecting red beets, you was pleased to see the golden variety on her plate.

By this time, the entire restaurant was filled and conversation scaled up a couple of notches. A topic of discussion became the circular stairway in the center of the room  leading to the second floor and the only bathroom—consisting of a very tiny sink, but large clawfoot blue bathtub—apparently a leftover from it’s days as someone’s living quarters. As the evening wore on, the traffic up and down those winding stairs became quite a side show.

Steve’s initial entrée choice was the mushroom vegetarian option, but quickly made an about-face and chose the Lapin au Pruneaux, a Stony Hill Farm braised rabbit with red wine, mushrooms, and fingerling potatoes, garnished with a lardon and prune tapenade served in a large bowl.

Both MO and myself were on the same wavelength and opted for the Espadon aux Capres, which was a grilled swordfish steak with a caper fennel butter, served over a winter root vegetable puree. Eating with your eyes first, each dish was a feast to behold, but MO complained loudly about the lack of color on our swordfish plates. Being a fellow artist I had to agree. Luckily, we had ordered a side of the vegetable du jour which happened to be haricot verts, so we quickly remedied that faux pas with the addition of some green. Otherwise, totally scrumptious!

Well, no surprise that Mr. Russ got the Duck Breast Cassoulet, one of his top faves. The duck breast was seared with a pork and duck confit, and accompanied by white beans, sausage, and a tomato sofrito. Let’s just say, it’s still sits in a place of honor near the top of the list.

Not a dessert eater myself, the others wanted to indulge in at least a “taste” so they decided to split one order of the Mousse au Chocolat, a traditional light and fluffy French chocolate mousse topped with fresh raspberries and whipped cream—which came with four spoons…

All-in-all, a lovely evening that was nearly three hours long. After we finished dinner, we took MO and Steve over to the main building to check out the digs. Nearly 10 p.m., it was already set up for the next day and deserted of patrons (except for the manager who was tending the books). An interesting fact: they cook all of the meals in the main house and have to transport any orders for the farmhouse, outside across the driveway. We wondered aloud how dicey that must get during bad weather… Now time to finally bid each other adieu for our 30-minute, but easy ride home.

This riff on Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange is based on a recipe from famed Italian chef/author Lidia Bastianich. It’s infused with scents and flavors that I associate with comfort, family and joyous occasions. My mom used to make a Sunday supper of Orange-Juice Chicken that was my favorite meal growing up. Over the ensuing years, I’ve made many a roasted chicken with a similar flavor profile. Here’s yet one more with the surprising ingredient of orange liqueur.

As it’s roasting, the fragrance wonderfully perfumes the air both indoors and out. Luckily, dinner is ready in about one hours time, so you won’t have to wait all afternoon to indulge in the memorable feast. Good God almighty, it was fantastic! The skin was sooo crispy, the meat soooo succulent, and the sauce soooo flavorful—you can’t help but enter the “Zen Zone” while savoring every morsel, seriously!

While this would be equally good with garlicky mashed potatoes or creamy polenta, we paired it with our favorite Baked Rice, recipe below. If you don’t have a double-oven, allowing you to cook both the chicken and the rice at the same time, lower the temp to 400° once you remove the chicken. Make sure to have completed steps 1 through 3 at this point. As the covered chicken rests on a platter and you make the sauce, the rice can cook for the allotted 15 minutes.

Using kitchen shears, cut out the back bone. Save it, the neck, and wing tips for the freezer body bag for the next time you make homemade chicken stock.

End up with two wings (minus the tips), two thighs, two legs, and four breast quarters.

Want to spice things up? Add some heat to tonight’s pork chop dinner. This Spicy Jerk Pork Chops recipe is based on the fiery Jamaican seasoning known as jerk, made of Scotch bonnet chiles, ground spices, garlic, and herbs. Right up my alley…

We like things on the spicy side so I included two habaneros. Of course you can adjust the heat by reducing the amount, and/or type, of chiles you add. And while I only cooked two chops, I still made the same amount of seasoning, saving any leftovers for a future use.

Our broiler, usually a bone of contention with me, worked fine for this dinner, go figure! Although I would have preferred the pork a bit less done and so you might want to broil for only 6 minutes each side and check the temp, adding an extra minute if needed.

NOTES: I lined our broiler pan with tinfoil for easy clean-up. Spread the jerk mixture only on the top side and place on preheated grill pan; then when you flip the chops, spread more seasoning on the second side. This helps insure a lot of the mixture doesn’t fall off.

This dinner was so easy and so quick, and made even more so with the frozen side dish of all natural, Alexia Cauliflower Risotto seasoned with parmesan cheese and sea salt. You simply dump the contents of the bag into a microwave-safe bowl, cover and zap on high for 4 minutes, stir, and zap an additional 1 1/2 minutes. Can’t get more easy than that! Low in calories, fat and cholesterol, it was surprisingly good.

The frozen cauliflower risotto is poured directly into a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave on high for 4 minutes, stir, and heat for another 1 1/2 minutes, done!

Another quick weeknight meal, Chicken Thighs in Tomato-Ginger Sauce brings a wonderful change of pace to the hum-drum monotony of getting something on the table quickly. Seasoned with warm spices, this Indian-inspired chicken dish is savory and comforting. The small amount of butter swirled into the sauce may seem like an unusual addition, but it adds richness and flavor, and softens the tomatoes’ acidity.

While it is traditionally served with basmati rice or naan, we took a shortcut and tried Alexia’s brand of frozen Butternut Squash Risotto. Not usually into processed side dishes, it’s not a bad idea to stock pile a few good ones because they certainly come in handy when you’re in a hurry or don’t have any fresh produce around. A few weeks ago we tried the same brand of Cauliflower Risotto and prefer that over the butternut mix—perhaps because it visually more resembles real risotto.

As far as the canned tomatoes, we had a 28-ounce crushed tomato in the pantry and figured that was a good enough substitute for a smaller quantity of thighs (we only cooked six) even though they weren’t “fire roasted.” Overall, we thought the flavors were very well-balanced and the garam masala and cayenne added just the right amount of heat.

By Dabney Gough from Fine Cooking

Sometimes a robust and nourishing soup is just what you need to soothe the soul and calm the day-to-day frenzy of modern life. Hearty Spanish-Style Lentil and Chorizo Soup with Kale might be just the ticket. And we know just how healthy lentils and kale are, so we can feel good about eating this soup.

A long cooking develops a certain amount of sweetness in the chopped onion, carrot, and parsley, as well as removes any trace of unpleasant sulfuric compounds in the onion. These sweated aromatics offer a pure, sweet background taste that not only allows the soup’s primary ingredients (smoked paprika, chorizo, lentils, and sherry vinegar) to come to the fore but also seemed to fortify their individual flavors. Three quintessential ingredients provide this soup with authentic Spanish flavor.

SMOKED PAPRIKA: Pimentón, made by drying red peppers over an oak fire, offers a distinctive rich and smoky taste.

SHERRY VINEGAR: Lightly sweet sherry vinegar boasts assertive yet balanced acidity.

SPANISH CHORIZO: This heady sausage combines coarsely ground, dry-cured pork with a hit of pimentón.

French green lentils, or lentilles du Puy, are preferred, but it will work with any type of lentil except red or yellow. Grate the onion on the large holes of a box grater. If Spanish-style chorizo is not available, kielbasa sausage can be used. Since we already made this once with chorizo, we decided to switch things up and use kielbasa this time.

Rinse the kale, then de-stem the tough stalks and discard. Chop leaves into 1/2″ pieces.

Red wine vinegar can be substituted for the sherry vinegar. Smoked paprika comes in three varieties: sweet (dulce), bittersweet or medium hot (agridulce), and hot (picante). For this recipe, the sweet kind is best.

To ensure creamy, well-seasoned lentils with intact skins, soak them in a warm brine for 30 minutes before cooking. For a rich, vegetal flavor, sweat onion, carrot, and parsley in a covered pot to provide a background taste to the main ingredients: heady smoked paprika, meaty chorizo, earthy lentils, and tart sherry vinegar. To finish the soup, garnish it with an Indian preparation called a tarka, a mixture of spices and aromatics bloomed in oil, shown below.

This stately lady in Langhorne Borough, Bella Tori at the Mansion, dates back to 1898. Philadelphia entrepreneur, Howard Reifsnyder, built the Greenwood Mansion (as it was known then) as a summer home for his family until it was sold to Mollie Woods Hare in 1921. Then used as The Woods School for Handicapped Children and Adults, until it was purchased in 1999 by Paul Manes who took over 5 years restoring “Bella” to her original grandeur. In November 2005, the mansion reopened its doors as a beautiful victorian restaurant and catering facility featuring Italian fare.

A few short minutes from our home, Bella has been the site for many a memorable meal, including our wedding dinner reception in 2012, above. We also enjoyed a New Year’s Eve dinner (date forgotten); and an Easter Sunday brunch in 2014, below, after enduring a cross-atlantic flight from Italy when jet lag was so severe, we couldn’t even contemplate the thought of cooking—an unusual predicament for us to be in.

Our most recent visit was on St. Patrick’s Day with our friends Rosanne and Gary Zarrilli. Granted, Bella’s menu is not even close to Irish, but that didn’t deter us because we started out at home with some decadent Reuben Dip and a bottle of Killian’s Irish Red to tide us over until dinnertime.

The ride over is literally two minutes from home and we could have walked save the fact that it was blustery cold. Upon arriving at the 9,000-square-foot establishment, we were promptly seated in the main dining featuring a Mercer tile fireplace. The decor is lavish and very Victorian, and the noise level is pleasantly low key.

For starters, we agreed to split a bottle of Marques de Riscal, from one of our favorite wineries in Spain. Our waitress Keira (decidedly Irish) was a small bundle of pep and kept the evening going at a leisurely pace, and was kind enough to take our group photo.

Even though we noshed on some of that Reuben Dip, we went all out and ordered a few more appetizers. Russ and Rosanne were fixated on the Oysters Bienville, and chose to split the selection. Four beautifully baked oysters with shrimp, bacon, ham and mushrooms were topped with sherry cream and Parmesan bread crumbs. Thoughtfully plated with two forks, they adored them!

Gary chose the Winter Bella Salad comprised of baby spinach, Bartlett pear, dried cranberries, chévre, pickled red onion, toasted almonds and dressed with a pomegranate vinaigrette. I was torn between that and the Shrimp Le Jon, but with Russ’ persuasion, I opted for the shrimp (because he was going to eat some of it.) Three roasted shrimp were stuffed with horseradish grain mustard, wrapped in bacon and served atop a lemon sun-dried tomato aioli with a basil chiffonade, exquisite!

There were so many good options under the Entrées, that it was difficult at best to make up our minds. After some back and forth, Russ chose one of his favorites, the Chasseur Veal Osso Buco. Slow-braised in a hunter sauce, it came plated over roasted butternut squash with a side of spinach risotto topped with a citrus gremolata. He was very impressed that they served it with a spoon in the bone to scoop out the marrow—to him, a sign they know what they’re doing.

Again I was torn between the French Quarter Shrimp & Scallops, which Rosanne selected, and the Dijon Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb. Choosing the latter, my four ribs (you could also order eight), were perfectly cooked, seasoned panko crusted New Zealand lamb chops which came accompanied by a red wine demi-glace, and paired with grilled asparagus and an overcooked baked potato (the only misstep of the entire experience.)

Rosanne’s seafood dish of grilled scallops and shrimp arrived in a Creole tasso sauce and were tossed with roasted trinity vegetables, cheese and scallion grits. While Gary didn’t surprise any of us with his choice of Veal Parmitori, a ginormous cutlet, lightly breaded and fried and topped with Pomodoro sauce and aged provolone cheese over a bed of linguine. Suffice it to say, we all denied dessert and took four doggie bags home.

We’re looking forward to patronizing Bella on a Friday when you can bring your own bottles of wine with no corkage fee (the DaVinci Bar is still open) and they feature a live classical guitarist in the house. It’s a fabulous place to celebrate any special occasion or just because you want a good meal. Below are some pics of that great Sunday brunch.

Whole-grain orecchiette or shells star in this makeover of a classic Italian pasta and bean soup. With butternut squash, borlotti beans, and a bright sage pesto, it’s perfect for a chilly evening. And unfortunately here in the Northeast, Winter continues her steady and determined grip on our area, refusing to let Spring usher forth. So we must find ways to counteract the cold…

Borlotti beans, also commonly referred to as the cranberry bean, is a dappled white and red bean related to the kidney and pinto beans. This is a common bean in Italy where it is used for soups and with pasta. Depending on where you live you may have a tough time, like us, finding this bean at your neighborhood grocery store. You can check your local Walmart store which sometimes stocks these beans. What we didn’t know until after the fact was, you can buy them easily enough online at Amazon.com. In a pinch, we substituted it’s cousin, pinto beans.

The sage pesto was the “bomb,” it was sooo good I could’ve eaten it with a spoon! Make sure to swirl a generous amount into your pasta e fagioli. While mine was purposely not as saucy as indicated in the directions, any leftover would be fabulous as a condiment, a sandwich spread, or as a topping for baguettes and crackers. That’s of course, if you have any leftover…

Let’s not overlook the health benefits of butternut squash. Low in fat, it delivers an ample dose of dietary fiber, making it an exceptionally heart-friendly choice. It provides significant amounts of potassium, important for bone health, and vitamin B6, essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems. The folate content adds yet another boost to its heart-healthy reputation and helps guard against brain and spinal-cord-related birth defects such as spina bifida.

The squash’s tangerine hue, however, indicates butternut’s most noteworthy health perk. The color signals an abundance of powerhouse nutrients known as carotenoids, shown to protect against heart disease. And, as if that weren’t enough, butternut squash may have anti-inflammatory effects because of its high antioxidant content. Incorporating more of this hearty winter staple into your diet could help reduce risk of inflammation-related disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Feeling better already…

Although I did it the old fashioned way—with a knife—the reason many folks don’t include Winter squashes in their recipes is because they’re a pain to peel, am I right? Yes, you can buy the pre-peeled and diced variety, which can run you upwards of $7 or more per pound at a local grocery store. Compare that to $1.49/lb for the whole squash variety, and you’ve got a very significant savings—the pre-cubed costs over four times more! Well here’s an easy method to peel a whole squash:

1. Prick the skin of the squash all over with a fork.
2. Slice off both ends of the squash.
3. Microwave the squash for about 3½ minutes. This softens the skin considerably.
4. Let the squash cool enough to handle, or use a towel to hold it, and simply peel away the skin.

By Maria Speck from Fine Cooking

March 17 was upon us and we had company coming for appetizers and drinks before venturing out for dinner. I was hoping to serve some Harp lager, but the store had every, and I mean every, brand but Harp! So our next best choice was some Killian’s Irish Red, to pair with the Classic Reuben Dip. And to scoop up all the gooey goodness, we supplied slices of a chewy marbled rye—a perfect starter to kick off a St. Patty’s Day evening.

Many folks eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day (even if they’re not Irish.)  Well, the Reuben isn’t Irish at all, so it baffles me why it’s an “Irish” staple on this holiday. As one origin story tells it, Reuben Kulakofsky, a Jewish Lithuanian-born grocer residing in Omaha, Nebraska, was the inventor!

No matter, the corned beef, sauerkraut, and rye bread combination all make it feel like it was meant to be Irish. This dip combines all of those classic flavors and transforms them into a fabulously creamy dip. It’s amazing how so few ingredients can pack such an incredible gastronomic punch. Yes, this is a diet-buster, but a little goes a long way…

“Ithe agus taitneamh a bhaint as” (Eat and enjoy!)

Nothing like a little pressure to light a fire under one’s creativity. What prompted this culinary brainstorm was the end of my Master Gardner class where each student had to give a 5-minute presentation on a subject matter of their choice. I decided to talk about how gardening influences my creative pursuits and how that ties in with my social media venues (including this food blog).

At this point in the presentation I am describing the creation of concrete cast elephant ear bird baths. A step-by-step tutorial, is available on my blog.

For a little “bling” I dusted some of the cookies with colorful sparkly powders.

What does that have to do with food you ask? Well, I do consider cooking and baking an art form. So my final slide in the presentation hinted at the edible snacks I provided the class later that evening. You know I design decorated sugar cookies for all sorts of occasions, so I thought flowers and butterflies would be an appropriate choice for Master Gardners.

Plus, based on some Internet investigation, I concocted a new Sunflower Truffle candy (recipe below) for those who need their chocolate fix—and for a bit of whimsy on the table. The flowers harden up quite well, but if any of the petals break off, just place the bottom end in some real hot water for a few seconds and “glue” them back to the base.

Now that took care of the sweet component, but I also wanted to provide a savory nibble or two. So after a little research on Pinterest, I found these wrapped cheese lilies and stuffed grape tomato bites that are just adorable. For stuffing purposes, you can basically use anything you want to. I filled the “tulips” with a roasted garlic and herb cheese spread, and the “calla lilies” with tuna salad and a carrot stick. Both were enhanced with some greens like scallions, parsley and dill.

My final contribution was the cheese and cracker platter. I ordered extra thick cheddar and French gruyere cheese slices from the deli and cut out shapes using mini cookie cutter flower shapes. They were then topped with a hot cherry pepper circle and placed on Roasted Red Pepper Triscuits.

Since it’s Springtime, these would be a great addition for any gathering you have coming up. Hint, hint…

Optional: Using a leaf tip, pipe green leaves. Then “glue” the hardened leaves to the petals with some of the melted green.

A chocolate with a higher cocoa percentage such as 70% will make a rich, not-too-sweet ganache. The chocolate jimmies will add some more sweetness.

Don’t stop with creating yellow sunflowers only. Think “inside the flower bed” and make Purple Coneflowers, White Daisies, or colorful Osteospermums by swapping out the hue of the chocolate melts. The possibilities are endless, and you don’t even need a green thumb…

I have to give a shout out to fellow soon-to-be-Master Gardner Cindy for her beautiful biscotti basket!

Some of the class sample the snacks during break time:

We recently dined at Tre Fratelli (three brothers in Italian-speak), a BYO behind an unassuming storefront in the Summit Square shopping center in Langhorne, right on the border with Newtown. Many years ago we patronized the restaurant with good friends Barb and Brad, but hadn’t given it another thought since then because of the plethora of great Italian restaurants within a ten mile radius.

But it came back on my radar since I’ve been parking my auto nearby when I carpool with a few other ladies to my Master Gardner class. So I made a res for a Saturday night—again with Barb and Brad—and we were pleasantly surprised over the more modern and tasteful, yet muted grayscale decor. (The front of the house is more casual and caters to take-out and pizzas.)

Behind Barb and Brad was a large sliding barn door separating the other dining room for hosting private parties.

Tasty pizza and flavorful pasta are the restaurant’s big-ticket items, but we opted for three entrées and a hot sandwich. The main dishes were plentiful (more than enough for an ample doggie bag), and instead of sides of pasta, Russ and I chose their vegetable medley. (Gluten-free options available upon request.) With the entrées came a choice of a garden or Caesar salad, Russ’s favorite if he can get it topped with whole anchovies.

Veal Parmigiana, lightly fried and topped with tomato sauce, and baked with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. (Russ)

Bellagio: Chicken sautéed with prosciutto in a light plum tomato sauce and baked with aged provolone. (Lynn)

Domani: chicken with roasted garlic chicken stock, romano cheese and fresh sautéed spinach. (Barb)

Steak & Cheese Stromboli stuffed with mozzarella cheese and served with a side of sauce. Small and large sizes available. (Brad)

The overall consensus was good, and the sound level was very pleasant allowing for easy conversation. But with all of our other nearby choices, we wouldn’t make this our preferred Italian restaurant. However it’s nice to know it’s there in a pinch.

Very few foods seamlessly cross cultures, but meatballs are one of them. They can run the gamut from Lebanese kibbe, Syrian kafta, Japanese tsukune and Greek kephtedes to Vietnamese nem nuong. Granted, you may not be familiar with many of them, but I’m pretty sure you’ve tasted an Italian meatball or two in your lifetime. For this recipe Toronto-born and San Francisco-based Chef Christophe Hille raises the bar with his Italian Meatballs with Tomato & White Wine Braise.

They’re familiar and, most importantly, they taste good—which ultimately translates into a food that never goes out of style. What varies are the other ingredients and how the meatballs are cooked—braised, sautéed, roasted, grilled, boiled or fried. In its most basic form, a meatball starts out with ground meat—pork, beef, veal, lamb or a combination thereof. For binding, a starch, usually bread or breadcrumbs (sometimes potato starch or rice) gets mixed in. Eggs or other liquid contribute moisture; while herbs, spices and cheese add flavor. Here, prosciutto scraps impart a deep flavor.

FYI, contrary to popular belief, in Italy you won’t likely find a dish on the menu called spaghetti and meatballs. While it’s largely known as an Italian dish, spaghetti and meatballs actually didn’t originate there. Sure, Italy has their own version of meatballs called polpettes, but they’re different than what you’ve likely had in the past and are primarily eaten sans spaghetti.

Frugal folk have always made use of the little scraps of meat that were left over from butchering, but weren’t big enough to serve on their own—but could be chopped and extended with a bit of day-​​old bread. The range of variations they’ve concocted could, and probably should, keep us in meatballs for a lifetime. But we’re talking just one meal (with probable leftovers) with this recipe.

Since it takes up most of the afternoon to prep and braise, it’s best to make when you have a block of time, most likely a weekend. For us, it was a recent blustery Sunday. We found the recipe in an old copy of the San Francisco Chronicle insert “In the Kitchen,” gifted to us from our brother-in-law who resides in the Bay Area on the “Left” coast. Simply put, these meatballs were fantastic—a definite two thumbs up!

It’s not likely you’ll be able to purchase packages of ground meat in exactly 10-ounce portions. So do what I did and measure 10 ounces each of the pork and beef, mixing any leftover together and make patties out of them. Then vacuum-seal and put them in the freezer until it’s grilling weather.

Following the original directions, we tried to brown the meatballs in a roasting pan in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Even after adding 6 more minutes, they weren’t very browned, as shown below.

The original directions have you roast the meatballs in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Next time, we’re skipping that step and will only use one large dutch oven. We’ll brown the meatballs in it first, remove them and make the sauce, scraping up any precious browned bits. Then add the meatballs back into the pot and put in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. We thought it a waste of time to try and brown the meatballs in a separate roasting pan. In fact, I added an extra six minutes in the oven and they still weren’t very browned! Saves you from cleaning an additional pan too. The directions below reflect this time-saver.

Here’s one for your Top Ten most impressive, braised, company-worthy dishes—but you’d rather keep to yourself. We’d been salivating over the Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks in Pinot Noir recipe ever since Russ came across it on, of all places, All-Clad.com by John Shook and Vinny Dotolo.

It was several weeks before we got around to making it, but we did think ahead and put in an order for 4 lamb shanks with the butcher a week prior to braise day. And we were thrilled with the gorgeous shanks, each weighing about 1-pound and trimmed of excess fat.

It’s a good idea to prep everything before you start cooking.

While it’s not too complicated to prep, it is a time-intensive process because of the 3-hour braise. Whenever one of the kids is in town for a visit, we try to provide a culinary teaching moment, and this time son David was the lucky recipient of making riced garlic mashed potatoes as one of our sides.

David rices the potatoes while Dad tends to the sauce reduction.

Do not skimp or omit any of the ingredients because all together they lend a wonderful depth of flavor that is brightened by the lemon. And the lamb, when done, is so fork tender the meat just falls off the bones. We paired ours with the mashed potatoes which made perfect vehicles for nesting more sauce.

Directions indicate that the carrots are optional, but they absorbed all of the flavors and were perfect mouthfuls of yummy goodness, so I say, make sure to include them. And simple steamed asparagus rounded out the meal.

Unfortunately, except for a few potatoes, there were no leftovers. And I’m pretty sure, if we had cooked more shanks, David would have consumed a third! Our weather here in the Northeast is still pretty cold and windy, making a perfect backdrop for a long, slow braise. Don’t miss the opportunity to gift yourself and stretch your culinary know-how…

Most working folk I know don’t want to have to worry about spending too much after-work time in the kitchen prepping and cooking a healthy meal. Plus it gets mighty boring serving the same ol’ thang week after week, am I right? It pretty much floats my boat, even as a retiree, when I can assemble a nutrient-rich, colorful and flavorful meal and have it on the table in no more than 30 minutes.

Enter Seared Tilapia with Spicy Orange Salsa. Don’t care for tilapia? This zippy salsa is delicious with just about any type of fish or shellfish, including halibut, shrimp, and scallops. Serendipitously, we had some tilapia fillets in the freezer so they fit the bill for a Meatless Monday menu. I only cooked two fish fillets but was going to make the entire batch of salsa. But once I prepped two of the oranges, I knew it would be plenty—plus any extra wouldn’t hold up well if I tried saving it.

If you don’t want too much spicy heat, don’t use the entire chile. The recipe indicates to use the chile seeds although I think for many people, that would be overpowering. Even though we prefer spicy food, I decided to remove the jalapeño seeds and the salsa was plenty spicy without overwhelming.

The most labor-intensive aspect of the recipe is prepping the oranges and getting the individual segments lose from the membranes. If you’re not too adept at that, it may throw you over the 30-minute mark. Another quick time-saver, our side of garlicky sautéed spinach was an auxiliary nutrient booster, taking but mere minutes to prepare.

NOTE: The salsa can be made up to 2 hours ahead. Cover and keep at room temperature.

By Shelley Wiseman from Fine Cooking

Making seafood stock is similar to making chicken stock; it takes time and attention, but the final result makes it well worth the effort. However, if you have a pressure cooker, the actual cooking time is only 5 minutes as compared to hours using the conventional stovetop method.

Here’s a quick way to make your own shellfish stock with the shells from crabs, shrimp, and lobster. Over the course of time, start stockpiling the shells in ziploc bags and freeze them until you have enough. It’s not above us to ask our waiters to bag up our crab and lobster shells when dining out for this very reason. You can also use mollusk shells, fish heads and bones.

Currently we have a stash of chicken, beef, ham, and now shellfish stock in our freezer. For storing purposes we reuse quart-size yogurt containers for 4-cup measures, and large ice cube trays for smaller amounts. These come in real handy when a recipe calls for lesser amounts such as a half cup or a few tablespoons of broth.

The combination of lentils, chickpeas, and pasta makes this a filling main-course soup. The robust spices, herbs, and lemon juice deliver big flavor despite the lack of meat in the dish. If you only know lentil soup as a plain and rather homogeneous dish, prepare to be wowed by the Moroccan version known as harira. We sure were!

Found in our latest Cook’s Illustrated magazine, this Moroccan Lentil and Chickpea Soup is native to the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is full of warm spices and fresh herbs, which play more than just a supporting role, and tastes more like an Italian minestrone. Like countless other regional dishes, harira’s exact ingredients vary from region to region and even from family to family.

This recipe carefully streamlines the ingredient list and technique of this classic Moroccan soup to deliver all the bold North African flavors you’d expect from harira in just a fraction of the time. Using canned chickpeas rather than dried saves about 2 hours of cooking time, and paring down the number of spices to a key five make it a dish most people can prepare without a special trip to the market. Using large amounts of just two herbs makes for quicker prep and a more efficient use of fresh ingredients. Finishing the dish with fresh lemon juice helps focus all the flavors.

The Swiss chard was gorgeous, and even though the original recipe didn’t call for it, we chopped up the stems and included them int the soup.

Based on several reviewer’s comments, Russ increased most of the spices by 50% and added salt when cooking the chopped onion, celery and Swiss chard stems. These are noted in the list of ingredients below. When it was done we both had to have a small bowl and we were impressed with how tasty it was!

We didn’t have enough brown lentils so we added French green lentils to equal one cup.

For a vegetarian version, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth and water. You can also garnish this soup with a small amount of harissa, a fiery North African chili paste, which is available at some supermarkets.