Tonight's Dinner - Not so local - The Izaka-Ya Sushi (LA)

Amazing sushi (and not a scene)!

Get the spicy tuna fried sticks for an appetizer.

Greenhouse Greens

A staple this winter - salads from the greenhouse at the farm. Just picked that afternoon. Yum. A simple Red Wine Vinaigrette is a classic. Toss in pepper and some sea salt.

I use olive oil in my Vinaigrette's - the one above calls for sunflower - which is nice as well.

Thomas Keller's Rosted Chicken with root vegetable mash and greenhouse greens

Quick Roasted Chicken Recipe from my new Thomas Keller Cookbook with a medley of roasted vegetables (parsnip, sweet potato, squash, garlic, shallots, onions, and turnips served with a green salad picked by Dan only an hour before the meal at our farm's greenhouse. Dressed with a classic french dijon vinaigrette.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

After reading the December issue of Food and Wine I was inspired to make this cake. I used less confectioners sugar and more lemon juice / lemon zest in the frosting so that it moistened the cake a bit and was a bit less sweet.

Pan Crusted Swordfish with Beet Salad, String Beans and Corn Bread Stuffing

A new favorite of our has been become the swordfish. We like the swordfish at Amagansett Seafood the best, or as Dan calls it "Michael's swordfish."

Normally I just salt and pepper the fish and throw it on the grill (yes, I still use the grill in the winter) but tonight I had cook it in the sautee pan because we are out of gas for the grill and I keep forgetting to refill the tank!

What is great to top the swordfish with is a little balsamic butter sauce. You can use this when either grilling or cooking on the stove top in your sautee pan. So simple and so good. Start by melting about a tablespoon of butter on low, add in a squeeze of honey and then remove from the heat and whisk. Then slowly add in a good quality balsamic vinegar. As soon as you bring the swordfish in from the grill drizzle it over top. Oh, and if you want you can squeeze lemon over the swordfish or add some lemon juice to the sauce.

We are still getting beets from the root cellar and so this is an easy salad to make. Slice beets into quarters (ours were small beets so you may want cut each quarter in half) and then drizzle with salt pepper and olive oil and roast. If your oven has convection then use this for a quicker roasting time. I almost always use convection for beets. I dont bother to peel them bc I prefer not to deal with the stains on my hands and cutting boards.

While the beets are in the oven, slice a quarter or half of a red onion and let it sit in a vinaigrette while you cook everything else. I normally like a classic red wine vinaigrette, but with beets I add a sweet citrus like blood orange or Clementines. Tonight I added blood orange.

When you take out the beets wait for them to cool a bit then with a paper towel rub off the skins. They will come right off.

Chop up some mint and add to the onions marinating in the vinaigrette. Then you can add the warm beets and top with a fresh (local) goat cheese.

I just steamed the string beans because the rest of the meal was quite heavy.

The cornbread stuffing was actually from a left over corn bread I made the day before that we didn't finish. I caramelized some shallots from the farm and some mushrooms and then mixed in some fresh chopped thyme and rosemary (I have a few plants in my kitchen) and mixed with the bread a drizzle of olive oil and popped into the oven for about 10 minutes.

Bad pic...