Meatballs were made with equal parts beef, pork and turkey along with a little tomato sauce, salt, bread crumbs, oregano and tarragon.

Asparagus was steamed and mushrooms were cooked in butter with some salt. 

A grocery store around here sells a cut of meat that they rather deceptively call boneless ribs.  They are actually a rather tasteless cut from the chuck.  Charlie and I both made the mistake of getting them at one time or another. There have been some in the freezer for months and I decided to get rid of them by pressure cooking them in the instant pot with the sauce in the recipe below.  They turned out pretty good but I didn't take a picture of dinner today but here is some of the leftovers.  We had them with rice and a salad.

Short Ribs With Chinese Flavors

• MARK BITTMAN YIELD4 servings TIMEAbout 5 hours

Slow cookers get a bad rap in the world of accomplished chefs, but Mark Bittman loves his. He calls it his "Monster of Braising," and he claims to use it every day. Here is his recipe for braised short ribs with soy sauce, honey, cinnamon, star anise and ginger.

Featured in: Slow And Low Is The Way To Go. 

INGREDIENTS

• 8 short ribs, about 3 pounds

• ½ cup soy sauce

• ¼ cup sugar or honey

• 3 star anise

• 6 scallions, trimmed

• 1 3-inch piece cinnamon

• 5 nickel-size slices of ginger

• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

• Salt

• Cooked white rice for serving

• Chopped scallions or fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

PREPARATION

1 Combine all ingredients, except salt, rice and garnish, in slow cooker. Cover and cook until meat is very tender and falling from bone, 5 hours or more on high, 7 hours or more on low. Taste and add salt if necessary.

2 If you like, remove meat, strain liquid and refrigerate meat and liquid separately; skim fat from liquid, and reheat with meat. Serve hot over white rice garnished with scallions or cilantro.

Chorizo Sandwich with Peppers and Olive Oil Cilantro sauce

Chorizo and Sauteed Pepper Sandwich with Lemony Olive Oil-Cilantro Drizzle

This sausage and pepper sandwich is inspired by Portuguese flavors: bell pepper, onion, garlic, cilantro, lemon, paprika, and chorizo. How can you go wrong with that?

• PREP TIME: 30 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1 hour YIELD: 4 sandwiches

I got some chorizo sausages from D'Artagnan the other day and decided to try this sandwich recipe with them today.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1 to 3 fresh red chiles, such as cayenne, Thai, or red jalapeño, stemmed and chopped

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon hot pimentón (hot smoked Spanish paprika)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons Portuguese or Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 red bell pepper, julienned (about 2 cups)

• 1 yellow bell pepper, julienned (about 2 cups)

• 1/2 yellow onion, julienned (about 1 cup)

• Freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

• 1 1/2 pounds smoked chorizo sausage (or other spicy sausage, such as linguiça or spicy Italian), cut into 6-inch lengths and halved lengthwise (8 pieces)

• Four 6-inch loaves Portuguese stick bread, or four 6-inch sections French bread, split and lightly toasted

DIRECTIONS

• Combine the lemon juice, chile pepper(s), garlic, paprika, pimentón, salt, and 1/4 cup of the cilantro leaves in a blender, and puree. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the 1/3 cup olive oil to form an emulsion, and continue to blend for 1 minute, until the mixture is uniform. Transfer to a small serving bowl and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Set aside.

• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers, onion, a few generous pinches of salt, and a pinch of black pepper, and cook until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, stirring occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside on a large plate.

• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the sauté pan. Add the sausage, in batches if necessary, and cook until browned and blistered, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the plate with the peppers and onion.

• Arrange the toasted bread on a clean work surface. Place 2 sausage pieces on each bottom half of the bread. Drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Divide the pepper-and-onion mixture among the 4 sandwiches, and drizzle a bit more of the sauce on top. Gently press the top halves of the bread over the filling, and serve immediately.

Steak and shrimp dinner

I wanted to make a clam or oyster appetizer but the two stores I went to were out. One guy said they were out of season but this is a month with an R in it so it should be in season.  Anyway, I settled on shrimp.  We also had green beans, baked potato and a salad.

20 Minute Honey Garlic Shrimp

yield: SERVES 4 prep time: 15 MINUTES total time: 20 MINUTES

Ingredients:

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce (I use reduced sodium)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

optional: 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 lb medium uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined1

2 teaspoons olive oil

optional: chopped green onion for garnish

Directions:

Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (if using) together in a medium bowl.

Place shrimp in a large zipped-top bag or tupperware. Pour 1/2 of the marinade mixture on top, give it all a shake or stir, then allow shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or for up to 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate the rest of the marinade for step 3. (Time-saving tip: while the shrimp is marinating, I steamed broccoli and microwaved some quick brown rice.)

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in the skillet. (Discard used marinade2.) Cook shrimp on one side until no longer pink-- about 45 seconds-- then flip shrimp over. Pour in remaining marinade and cook it all until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more.

Serve shrimp with cooked marinade sauce and a garnish of green onion. The sauce is excellent on brown rice and steamed veggies on the side.

Smokey Fish Chowder

Smoky Fish Chowder

• MELISSA CLARK YIELD3 to 4 servings TIME40 minutes

Evan Sung for The New York Times

This chowder is a more complex and smoky interpretation of a classic New England fish chowder. Made with hot smoked paprika and a little Vermouth or white wine, it’s got more spunk than a simpler, more authentic recipe, without losing the spirit of the sea. If you can’t find fish stock, you can substitute bottled clam juice, or even a good, flavorful vegetable stock. Either way, you’ll end up with perfectly balanced bowl of soup that needs nothing more than perhaps a few crackers on the side to make it shine.

Featured in: A Weeknight Fish Chowder Reminiscent Of The Shore. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ounces bacon (about 3 to 4 slices), diced

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 medium leeks, white and light- green parts, thinly sliced

• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed

• ¼ teaspoon hot smoked paprika

• ¼ cup dry white vermouth or white wine

• 2 cups fish stock, store-bought or homemade

• ½ pound fingerling potatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

• 3 thyme sprigs

• 2 cups whole milk

• 10 ounces flaky white fish, such as flounder or cod, cut into 2-inch chunks

Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
518 calories; 31 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 26 grams protein; 109 milligrams cholesterol; 1275 milligrams sodium

PREPARATION

1 In a heavy pot over medium-high heat, brown bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

2 Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pot. Add butter and let melt. Add leeks and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring frequently, until leeks are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in paprika; cook 1 minute. Pour in vermouth and simmer until almost completely evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in stock, 1 cup water, potatoes, thyme and remaining salt. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

3 Add milk and cooked bacon to pot; bring to a simmer. Add fish and cook until just opaque, 2 to 4 minutes. Use a fork to flake fish into large pieces. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove thyme. Serve immediately.

Japanese-Style Beef Stew

I tried a different recipe for pot roast today. I found it in the NY Times. I used chicken stock, mirin and sweet potato.

Japanese-Style Beef Stew

• MARK BITTMAN YIELD4 servings TIMEAt least 1 hour

The beef stew here will be unfamiliar to most cooks, though it has much in common with the classic American dish. It is Japanese in origin and loaded with the warmth of soy, ginger, sweetness (best provided by mirin, the sweet Japanese cooking wine, but sugar or honey will do, too), winter squash and the peel and juice of a lemon. These simple and delicious counterpoints make a great stew.

Featured in: The Minimalist; Warmer Up From Japan. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless chuck in 1-inch to 1 1/2-inch chunks

• 2 cups chicken stock, water or dashi (see note)

• ¼ cup soy sauce

• ¼ cup mirin, honey or sugar

• 10 nickel-size slices of ginger

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 lemon

• 1 ½ pounds peeled butternut, pumpkin or other winter squash or sweet potatoes in 1-inch chunks

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

513 calories; 11 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram

polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 51 grams protein;

128 milligrams cholesterol; 1331 milligrams sodium

PREPARATION

1 In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, sear meat until nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer chunks to a medium-size casserole.

2 Add stock to the skillet, and cook over high heat, stirring and scraping until all the solids are integrated into the liquid. Pour into the casserole with soy sauce, mirin, ginger and a couple of grindings of pepper. Peel lemon, and add peel to the mixture. Juice lemon.

3 Cover, and cook on top of stove (or in a 350-degree oven), maintaining a steady simmer. Stir after 30 minutes. Then check meat every 15 minutes.

4 When meat is nearly tender, about 45 minutes, stir in squash and continue to cook until squash is tender but not mushy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add salt if necessary, then stir in lemon juice. Serve.

Tip

• To make dashi, you need two ingredients that are probably not in your pantry: kelp, a seaweed; and dried bonito flakes. Both are sold in Japanese markets, where kelp is called konbu. You can also find kelp at any health food store. The process is simple: immerse a four-inch piece of kelp in two cups of water and warm it over low heat (do not boil) for about 10 minutes. Add a handful -- about half a cup is right -- of bonito flakes and turn off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes, then strain.

Pork Chops with Jerk seasoning, brown sugar, pineapple and mushrooms

The ingredients in the topping on the pork chops are in the title.  The Jerk seasoning was 1 Tablespoon and the brown sugar was one Tablespoon.  The seasoning was moistened with Ponzu and mushrooms were added.

Dessert was Strawberry Shortcake.