Great Balls of Tachino

Had to make a test batch of Turkey balls as it's been a while. I asked the crew what they wanted for their holiday lunch and it was unanimous-turkey meatballs and lasagne.

C'mon....give me a challenge!

Anyway...I had leftover Cilantro and use that in the turkey balls. Was OK, but not sure it entirely worked.

Saumon Poche a la Mayonnaise

This was in the latest issue of Saveur. I used Trout instead of salmon. Since we don't have a poaching tray, I let is 'braise' in the wine. Upper half was delicate and mostly steamed. The lower half that was in the wine took on a firmer texture but had more of the wine flavor. BOTH were great. Why don't we eat more fish like this??

I made the mayonnaise from scratch too:
1 egg yolk 1/2 tsp dijon, 1/4 cup sunflower oil (I used peanut) and 1/4 cup olive oil.

Then I proceeded to forget about it when I got into the fish.

c'est la vie.

The key to making a decent mayonnaise is having all the ingredients at room temperature.

Spanikopita

These were also for the party and a hit. think that we had 4 left (one guest took 8 of them home-good thing we made about 40)

I busted out a classic cookbook (that mom gave me a long time ago; Frugal Gourmet cooks three ancient cuisines) Instead of Feta we used Ricotta though. The dill and spinach filling are a super combo. (dried dill at that....would be spectacular with fresh dill or even tarragon)

Braciole

OK, finally got em right. Made two batches for the GB Party; Mushrooms and carmelized onions and the other had roasted red peppers. Both were a hit and hardly any leftovers :( but as usual I set aside a few for me during the cooking)