Always on that cooking grind… I have a lot of recipes I’d like to share with everyone via my Pinterest finds and memory bank. Here are a few more weeknight specials:

Dish One:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.

Okay… it was a busy week this week and I decided to make a casserole we could both just heat up on-the-go. Eric had a crazy class schedule and I had my WSET course two nights in a row and lunches for work to think about. To be honest, I eventually got sick of this, but if you have a family of 4 that needs dinner quickly one night or maybe even two nights in a row, this casserole is golden. It involved sliced deli honey ham, swiss cheese slices, bread crumbs (panko), shredded chicken, and a nice cordon sauce on top (whole milk, butter, flour, smoked paprika, dijon mustard, lemon juice, white pepper, and parsley). Basically, you line the casserole dish/tin with the shredded chicken and ham, then cover it with slices of swiss cheese, then pour the sauce overtop of the dish, then finally add the bread crumb mixture over everything and bake it for about 45 minutes until the bread crumbs are golden brown. *TIP: you must cook the chicken before placing it in the oven for the final bake. Check out the recipe here: http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/07/chicken-cordon-bleu-casserole/

Dish Two:

Pan Seared Scallops with Proscuitto Wrapped Asparagus and Wild Mushrooms on Wild Rice- Paired with a Spatlese from Pfalz, Germany.

OMG. I don’t know why we decided this night was a ‘special occasion’ of sorts, but I wanted to go all out for a delicious dinner, and man was it ever worth it. The scallops were seared just enough to contain the juicy texture, but with a slightly toasted exterior, and the proscuitto was seared for a few seconds enough to retain its elasticity around the asparagus, but still had its crunchy exterior as well.

All of this buttery goodness paired perfectly with the buttery, sweet, full spatlese from Germany.

Dish Three:

Fajita Night Ft. Lettuce Wraps and Lime Yogurt

Well, everyone needs a fajita night! We decided to try fajitas with beef and they were delicious! The beef was pan fried with red peppers and teriyaki sauce. We went for the healthier alternative and wrapped all of this in lettuce. I also opted for healthier sour cream- also with a bit of flavour- and added lime yogurt. This truly felt like a beautiful Mexican supper.

Dish Four:

Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers with a fresh Italian Salad on Garlic Rice.

This was a very fresh week of seafood, and we were both very okay with that. Mind you, shrimp and pineapple skewers are my forte on the BBQ, but we don’t have one here, so the oven had to do. I paired this dish with ExP Merlot/Syrah/Zinfandel. This wine had a lot of flavours and to be honest, I wouldn’t pair it like this next time. This type of shrimp was very light and the pineapple kept those tropical flavours. Next time, I would match this with a nice tropical white- perhaps a sweet Germany riesling, or even a more tropical Pinot Gris.

Dish Five (The Encore):

Another Dish of Eggplant Parmesan Meatballs-Perfected.

I finally perfected the eggplant meatballs! We had family over and it is always such a good spaghetti topper.

Last time I made these, they turned out too watery and fell apart. This batch was blended more finely and all the spices stuck right in the middle. As soon as I rolled them and placed them on the pan, I could already tell they were much better than the last time.

These ended up tasting exactly like meatballs. I know that’s the point, but I was really excited! I love making these, but it takes a good chunk of time and I wanted them to be perfect. I baked them and then pan seared them with tomato sauce, more parmesan and more basil and tossed them over a bed of spaghetti. I paired this with another bottle of the ExP Merlot/Syrah/Zinfandel. It paired really well with this simply because of the general rule- anything tomato based pairs well with Zinfandel.

Once again, here is that beautiful recipe: http://www.theironyou.com/2015/09/eggplant-parm-meatballs.html (LOVE THIS BLOG!)

More to come from MTL.