Welcome to another segment of......

What I Have Been Up To in the Kitchen Lately......

Hello, gentle readers!  It has been too long, and I have been busy in the kitchen, but sporadically.  I want to share with you, via photos, however, the recipes I have been working on.  Some have turned out great, and some need a little repairing.  Let's take a look!

As we all know, I am not much of a baker, but I have fallen for these mini brownie cupcakes which I dip in melted Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips with Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Raspberry Squares chopped up as toppers.  One word:  Yum!

Chicken Milanese with Fresh Vegetable and Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce.  This one is for a lazy weekend!  Warm, fun, delicious!

My Christmas Dinner (part of):  Christmas Tacos!  Braised and Pulled Pork Shoulder (Pibil), Braised Beef Short Rib Tacos, and, for my mom, plain old ground beef Tacos.  The Pork Shoulder Butt roast and the Beef Short Ribs were braised in Mexican beer, chicken stock, and homemade guajillo sauce.  

Mini Pizzettes with chocolate cream cheese spread (Philadelphia), fresh raspberries, with grated Hershey's milk chocolate bar.   One word:  DELISH!

Chicken Pakoras with a garlic sriracha dipping sauce.  Oh, sooo good!

Farfalle with Bacon Fresh Tomato Sauce topped with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Not my prettiest dish, but my Penne Bake with Linguica and Escarole is pretty healthy.  I have been on a tomato-based sauce made with all fresh ingredients as my New Year's Resolution.  This dish was no exception.  I also added fresh Fresno chiles and fresh basil. 

I love to cook with my cast iron skillet.  While I have a Beautiful pizza stone, courtesy of my dear friend and cooking partner in culinary crime, Maria, I decided to try making pizza in the cast iron skillet.  Quick, fun, easy.  This is my meatball pizza with fresh sauteed shallots, cheddar and jack cheese, and my special cheese topper, Oaxaca.  I am crazy about Oaxaca these days!

Made this on a whim.  Lamb chops marinated in evoo, finely chopped rosemary, lemon zest and lemon juice, and garlic.  I marinated them for an hour, then seared them in my cast iron skillet and finished them off in the oven.  Great taste, very tender!  

Rigatoni Bolognese.  Hearty, meaty, with fresh veggies and fresh herbs.  Perfect for a cold winter's day!

Spaghetti with fresh vegetables and herbs.  

As part of my New Year's Resolution, the above are my Soyrizo Tofu Tacos.  It takes a very long time to get just the right consistency, but well worth it.  I am gong to work on this one again tomorrow!  More to come!

Thank You for taking the time to view this segment of "What I've Been Up To Lately".  

Go and get creative in your kitchen!  Enjoy!