Fricassée of Chanterelles

Have I mentioned recently how much I love mushrooms? I really love mushrooms. Maybe it was finally switching grocery stores (to one that actually carries varieties other than white button, grumble grumble), maybe it was finally buying the mushroom-loving cookbook Canal House Cooks Every Day, but there's just something about mushrooms that clicks with me. I love their weird, alien shapes, I love their infinite variety, I love the skill that it takes to correctly harvest them. But most of all, I love their taste.

Prosciutto and Arugula Pappardelle

The reaction to this dish was pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. Peter cleaned his plate, looked at me and said, "This might be the best thing you've ever cooked for me." Part of me could have been a little miffed (as this dish is far easier than some of the others I've made for him over the years) but when your goal is to satisfy and please the ones you love with food, well...that's a job well done right there.

What Would Keller Do?

Answer? In all likelihood, he would make a meatball. Like most culinary enthusiasts, I revere Thomas Keller as a deity. A benevolent deity, whose sublime cookbook Ad Hoc at Home is chock full of bad puns like Keller cradling a certain eating implement with the caption "I love to spoon." How can you not love a guy like that?