Well, my first "adventure with meat" was pretty discouraging. I went to the farm market and did not see ANY lamb OR turkey OR fish, and even the all beef sausages were $5.49/lb. One stall had about 15 different kinds of sausages, but they were all expensive and also they all sounded like they were pork based. I also saw at the same place about 10 different kinds of hamburger patties, which gave me inspiration for maybe trying to make a Mediterannean style patty using the recipes above, maybe with feta cheese. I think the market must have been low on meat because I went late in the day on the last day. That's when you can get the good deals but apparently that's when they are out of meats, lol! I did score some pita and some hard rolls for a song. Then, I found out the fish market in my neighborhood closed at the end of last year, but there is still that other one that Ruthanna recommended to check out. Good thing I have two weeks to prepare. There's also a kosher meat market in my neighborhood. Boy, am I ever finding out a lot about meat! Here's a link to the recipe for the cake. I like the idea of cupcakes, because I can make one batch ahead and freeze them. I made ricotta cupcakes before and they were fab. Only thing is, I think I am going to change the menu a bit depending on what meat I do and maybe not do this cake since I will probably do corn chips for the appetizer. Now I'm thinking six layer dip, (no beans since that's an entree), corn chips, mint lemonade, kofta or shwarma with pita and tzatsiki and tahini dressing, potato salad, calico baked beans, (maybe some grilled marinated Mediterranean veggies too) and coleslaw or tossed salad. For dessert, baklava, smores, and pineapple or some other fruit thing. Kind of ecclectic but that's my taste. Here is a link that might be useful: Cranberry orange cornmeal cake

OOH I love Rosemary. We are in the process of thinking out a new herb garden and you can bet there will be a number of rosemary plants. Probably my favourite recipe using rosemary is a Sausage and Rosemary pasta sauce. It is also wonderful in bread, cooked with lamb, pork, beef and chicken. Here are a few favourites. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ========================== Adapted from Robert Alda's recipe. 4 to 6 Italian Sausage, hot or sweet, or combination Olive oil 2 shallots 3 ounces of Mortadella 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 to 4 cans tomatoes (depending on number of sausages) . Par boil sausage for 2 to 4 minutes. Mince Mortedella and shallots in food processor. Heat in oil in large pot and add mortadella and shallots. Remove casings from sausage and mince in processor and add to pot. Cook until meat starts to brown on the bottom. Add the rosemary and basil and the wine. Simmer until wine has evaporated. Puree tomatoes but leave some texture and add to pot. Simmer for at least 1 hour. Remove any fat that surfaces. Serve over fusilli or Conchiglioni (shell) shaped pasta, to pick up the little bits of sausage. Options: I have made this without the Mortadella and it works. When I don't have good Italian Sausage I make this same dish using ground pork. Saute the pork and season with the shallots, couple of cloves of garlic, hot red pepper flakes, grind some fennel(optional) with the rosemary and basil, and then follow the above directions. (Tastes almost identical) Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Beef Tenderloin - Kabobs ======================== 2 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into cubes (from 1 inch to 2 inches) 2 - 3 cloves of garlic minced 1 large shallot, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped/ and/or Rosemary 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped 1 cup red wine 1/2 cup olive oil salt Black Pepper - Coarsely Ground 2 Green Peppers cut into squares 2 large white onions- cut into 1/4's (option: Large Cherry Tomatoes) . Cut beef tenderloin in to nice size cubes. Mix together all of the other ingredients and marinate the beef for about 4 to 6 hours. Par Boil onions and green peppers for less than one minute. Drain and cool in icewater. REmove meat from Marinade and thread onto metal or wooden skewers, placing a piece of green pepper and onion inbetween each piece of meat. Grill on high heat. Turn a few times. Tenderloin should be served rare to medium rare so these do not take long to cook, depending on your grill. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ===================== http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls?destination=node%2F423 Potato Rosemary Rolls Makes 18 small rolls or 12 hamburger sized buns 1 potato, cooked and mashed 1 lb (3 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour 3/4 - 1 cup water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground sage leaves Cook the potato until soft, either by boiling or baking in the oven or microwave. For this batch I chopped up and boiled the potato. I then reserved a cup of the potato water to add to the loaf, figuring it had additional nutrients and starches that would help my loaf. Mash the potato. Removing the skin prior to mashing is optional: if you are using tough skinned potatoes like russets I would suggest removing them, but with soft skinned potatoes such as yukon gold or red potatoes I typically leave them on. The chopped up skin add nice color and texture to your rolls. Combine the flour, mashed potato, yeast, salt, pepper and herbs in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cups water and knead or mix for 5 to 10 minutes, adding more water or flour until a consistency you are comfortable working with is reached. I added close to a full cup of water and ended up with an extremely sticky dough that was difficult to work with. I was only able to shape the rolls by repeatedly dipping my fingers in flour. The end result was wonderful though. (I encourage amateur bakers to push the limit of what they think they can handle, moisture-wise. More often than not you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results, though you can go too far and end up baking a pancake, which I've done more than once.) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a moist towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, typically 60 to 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, gently degas it, and shape it. For rolls or buns you can weigh them if you like or just eyeball them. I cut racquetball sized chunks of dough (larger than golf balls, smaller than tennis balls) then rolled them into balls in my well-floured hands. I placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment, placed the entire sheet in a plastic trash bag, and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour again. While the dough rose, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. If you have a spritzer, spray the top of the rolls with water right before placing them in the oven. Place them in the center rack and bake them for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake them for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size. My large hamburger bun sized rolls took close to half an hour to bake. You'll know they are done when the bottom of the rolls is solid and slightly crispy. If you have a probe thermometer, check the temperature inside one of the rolls. When the internal temperature is approaching 200 degrees F, they are ready to pull out of the oven. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Italian roasted chicken (Rosemary Lemon) ======================================== Edited November 10th, 2006 This recipe is my version of the Italian Chicken we use to order in a Italian restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie. It can be made with small roasting chickens, chicken pieces or cornish game hens. 2 Cornish Game Hens 3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary 2 heads of garlic, peeled and cracked salt, pepper juice from one or two lemons lemon zest (optional) hot red pepper flakes 1/2 cup olive oil Kalamata olives (optional) chicken broth . If using roasting chickens or game hens, split the birds down the back and remove the back bone. Place the chicken halves or pieces in the roasting pan. Toss in the garlic cloves and the sprigs of rosemary. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. squeeze the lemons over the chicken and drizzle with the olive oil. You can prepare the chicken up to this point and let rest in the fridge for an hour or two. Roast in a 450°F Check after about 20 minutes and add some chicken broth to the pan. This will stop the garlic from getting burnt. (If you are using the olives add them now) Add more if needed. When chicken is done, remove from pan and add a little more chicken broth, stir and serve sauce over the chicken. My favourite side with this chicken is Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

Looks delicious, Bobby! I'll take that top one in the last photo with the nicely carmelized chicken pieces!! Try soaking the skewers in water for about an hour before threading the food on them. Doesn't totally prevent burning, but certainly helps! Also, I now use 2 skewers per kabob and it keeps the food from spinning around. I don't know if that was an issue for you, but it's sure frustrating when you're working over a hot grill and a few pieces just won't stay the right direction. The combinations are endless! Deanna

I have a number of favourite "dinner party" recipes. One of my favourites is Chicken Breasts Perigord. They can be prepared earlier in the day and cooked later. Chicken Breasts Perigord Source: Lucy Waverman This flavorful and elegant chicken is stuffed with a combination of fresh and dried mushrooms. Because the breasts are stuffed under the skin, the stuffing moistens the chicken meat and keeps it juicy. Use either dried porcini or dried Chinese mushrooms; they have the most flavor. The sauce can be made ahead of time and the breasts stuffed a few hours before baking. 6 Dried mushrooms 1/2 cup boiling chicken broth 2 tablespoons butter 4 shallots 8 ounce fresh mushrooms finely chopped 1 teaspoon dried tarragon or basil 3 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs 1/3 cup whipping cream 3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 6 single boned chicken breasts, with skin on. Sauce 1/2 cup chopped onions 1/4 cup dry red wine 1/2 cup mushroom-soaking liquid 3 cups chicken stock 2 tablespoons port or Madeira 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon cold water salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. . 1. Soak the mushrooms in boiling chicken broth for 20 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid and the mushrooms separately.Chop the mushrooms. 2. Preheat the oven to 375°F 3. Heat the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and dried and fresh mushrooms. Saute until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in the basil or tarragon, bread crumbs, cream and parsley. cook until the cream has reduced and the filling is thick. Season with salt and pepper. 4. Divide the filling in six portions. with your fingertips, make a pocket between the skin and the flesh of each chicken breast. Stuff the filling under the skin of the chicken breasts. Season the breasts with salt and pepper and place in a buttered baking dish large enough to hold the breasts in one layer. 5. Bake for 30 or 40 minutes, basting occasionally, until the juices run clear. 6. To make the sauce, in a frying pan, combine the onions and wine. On high heat, bring to a boil and reduce until you have 1 tablespoon of liquid. 7. Pour in the mushroom liquid, reduce to 2 tablespoons and then add the chicken stock and continue to boil until the stock is reduced by half. Add the port and simmer for another 2 minutes, or until the sauce is smooth and strongly flavoured. 8. Combine the cornstarch and cold water and stir into the sauce, simmering until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add any juices from the chicken. To serve, pour the sauce over the chicken breasts. OPTION: I also add Green Peppercorns to the sauce. I only use dried Green Peppercorns, not brined.