Easter 2026

Rob and Dyce were kind enough to invite us for Easter dinner at their house on a gorgeous day, clear enough to see all the way to Mt. Adams in Washington. Some food was eaten. Some rosé was drunk. Some tales were told.

How Appropriate for Easter
Dyce's Deviled Eggs

Starter Cocktail, Hugo Spritz
Prosecco, St-Germain, Mint, and Soda Water

Hard to Beat Patty Green Tempranillo Rosé

Rob's Ham

Barbara's Asparagus
with a Sort of Pistachio Pesto

Potato Gratin

Carot Salad: Salade de Carottes Râpées
Found Everywhere in France

I Made Biscuits for the Ham

Ann Made Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Stunning Sunset: Three-Fingered Jack, Black Butte, Mt. Jefferson

Bendiversary 2026: Cassoulet Encore

Once again, seemingly more quickly this year, February is upon us in a flash. We have crammed our February celebrations (Valentine's Day, my birthday, and the anniversary of our moving to Bend) into a single celebration that we call our Bendiversary. It is now tradition that I make a cassoulet for us and our friends. We invited Rob and Dyce and Michelle and Andreas; sadly, Rob and Dyce were feeling poorly and had to back out.

Celebrating with Michelle and Andreas

While I am in the kitchen cooking, Ann handles the table in the dining room and always does such a nice job. 

For our meal, cassoulet is a given, leaving only an appetizer to devise, along with the de rigueur salad, the necessary light and acidic counterpoint to the heavy and decadent cassoulet. For once, I thought not about what guests would like, but what I would like for an appetizer to celebrate my birthday.

If I had some foie gras, I would have made torchons. If I had rabbit liver, I would have made a terrine. Sadly, while those items were always available to me in the restaurant trade, I cannot get them here. Never fear, I started my charcuterie career with chicken livers and they would suffice beautifully for this meal.

I chose to make a mousse, a dead simple affair involving cooking minced shallots and fresh thyme in butter, then adding chicken livers and cooking until just barely done. Lacking cognac (it's a pain in the rear to visit the liquor store), I drizzled in a bit of high rye bourbon and let that cook off. The livers went into the food processor with a bit of white pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. After spinning them up, I added just enough heavy cream to smooth out the paste. I transferred the mousse to a bowl while still warm, letting it set up in the cooler overnight.

Croustades, Mousse de Foie de Volaille, Cornichons

Brut Sparkling Nerello Mascalese
Excellent with Liver Mousse

When I made cassoulet at the restaurant, several times a month in the winter, I had access to all the classic ingredients: large white Tarbais beans, house-made duck confit, meaty and garlicky saucisse de Toulouse, and plenty of poitrine de porc (pork belly). After we butchered one of our hogs, cassoulet was sure to be on the menu. Now in retirement, I do not have access to hogs, ducks to confit, and many other things. Happily, I can get outstanding American-grown cassoulet beans from neighboring California. Everything else, I have to wing, substituting things that I do have.

Traditionally, cooks make cassoulet in an earthenware pot called a cassole, from which the dish has taken its name. At the restaurant, we made it in a huge rondeau, a flat round braising pan that would take an entire shelf in our commercial oven. At home, I have a decent-sized enameled cast iron cocotte that serves six. I also have a smaller rondeau that serves eight. When I have made cassoulet in the past, I have made batches from a kilogram of beans, enough to serve a dozen or more. Heretofore, I split the cassoulet between the cocotte and the rondeau with excellent results, if slightly different cook times.

In the last year or so, I purchased a deep roaster that could easily hold the entire batch, simplifying my life. Never having used this pan for cassoulet before left the cooking and cook time a bit of a crapshoot, but it worked wonderfully.

I cannot believe how many people put bread crumbs on cassoulet. Scream with me: FAUX PAS! One of the glories of a cassoulet is its crust. This crust develops over time. Once it forms, I punch it back into the liquid and let it reform, again and again, up to seven times. This is cassoulet. The following series of photos shows the progression.

Cassoulet Assembled, Ready for Oven

Cassoulet, After 4th Punchdown

Cassoulet Ready to Serve, After 7th Punchdown

Cassoulet is a load in the stomach, meaning that it really needs no side dishes. I always serve it with a salad with a really classic acidic mustardy shallot vinaigrette. The acid helps refresh the palate from the rich flavors of the long-cooked beans and meats. This dressing I made with mustard, tarragon vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and minced shallots. I make the tarragon vinegar by stuffing a bottle of rice vinegar with fresh tarragon and leaving it in the dark pantry for weeks to flavor. The salad changes with my mood and what is available. This is is baby spinach, julienne of apple, julienne of fennel, and toasted slivered almonds.

Spinach, Apple, Fennel, Almonds, Shallot-Tarragon Vinaigrette

So Good!

I am already looking forward to my next cassoulet, which I am going to make in less than a week for a wine event we are having at the house.

July 4 Celebration

Each year, we celebrate the Fourth of July and the country where we live. I am not a political person, but this year, I am decidedly not feeling at all patriotic, nor am proud of certain things that are happening in our country. Still, we persevered with our celebration in the hopes that this country will right itself. Right is a poor choice of verbs in this instance. Perhaps I should have chosen the verb center.

We invited Rob, Dyce, Dyce's parents who are in town from Italy, and new friend Brad to throw down with us.

Lyn, Brad, Neal, Dyce, Ann, and Rob

The menu ended up as a pseudo-Greek affair. I like burgers for the 4th, but had a hankering for my lamb burgers which blow beef burgers out of the water. From there, it was not a stretch to want to pair the burgers with tzatziki and horiatiki. But then, Ann wanted orzo too, so I combined the orzo and horiatiki to create a cold pasta salad. Then I wanted an appetizer I could make in advance, so after a bit of head scratching, decided on tiropitakia, cheese-filled phyllo pastries. Ann volunteered to make her delicious berry and brioche summer pudding and asked me to make a sorbet. We settled on lemon-thyme and the menu was complete. The recipe for the sorbet is in a separate post.

Some wine was drunk; some food was eaten; some fun was had!

Lamb Burger with Feta and Pine Nuts

I love my lamb burgers and this year, for a change, I recorded a rough recipe because I have had requests for it in the past.

Lamb Burger Recipe

This recipe scales well so I have expressed it in terms of seasonings for a single pound of lamb. In reality, I made a 4-pound batch and I eyeballed everything. It is always a good idea when mixing a batch of forcemeat like this, to cook a tiny bit and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Also, this mix gains flavor in the refrigerator so plan on mixing everything a day or even two in advance. I scaled out six-ounce burgers, my preferred size.

Per pound of ground lamb:

1/4 c dry white wine (substitute red wine or water or stock)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon Pimentón de la Vera agridulce (smoked paprika)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced (I used way more than this!)

small handful of toasted pine nuts

2 ounces sheep’s milk feta, crumbled

optional, if you have spice grinder:

pinch dried rosemary, finely ground

pinch dried thyme, finely ground 

Procedure:

Mix liquids and solids well to distribute salt and spices.

Add lamb and gently mix. Using hands is best.

Refrigerate overnight or two nights.

Patty into burgers or shape into kefta (oval meatballs)

Cook to desired temperature. I like medium rare.

Tiropitakia and Tzatziki

Tiropitakia Ready for Oven

Our appetizer was the tiropitakia (little cheese pies) that you see in photos above. I just went with my gut which said to mix chopped kalamata olives, chopped marinated sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, lemon zest, and grated pecorino cheese with a tub of ricotta cheese. For savory pastries like this, I brush the phyllo layers with olive oil (and for sweet pastries, I use butter). I brushed the tops of the little triangles with olive oil and sprinkled them with oregano and coarse salt before baking until browned in a moderate oven. A recipe for tzatiki is in this post.

Orzo Salad

The pasta salad was simple. I mixed a bunch of olive oil, lemon juice, kalamata brine, and oregano (my usual horiatiki dressing) in a large bowl. Then I cut the horiatiki vegetables and cheese smaller than usual, because otherwise, they would dwarf the small orzo pasta. The usual suspects are: tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta. I omitted peppers because I didn't feel like I wanted them. So there.

I put all the salad ingredients into the dressing for about an hour to marinate. The red onions, I sliced very thin and soaked in several changes of cold water to mellow them out. In the morning, I par-cooked the orzo a couple minutes shy of being done, knowing that it would finish softening in the refrigerator. This is a useful technique for all pasta salads. After cooling the pasta under running water, it went into the vegetables and I tasted for salt. Salt this salad carefully because the kalamata brine, olives, and feta are already salty.

Into the fridge to mellow for a few hours the salad went. Just before serving the appetizers, I put the salad in a serving bowl and garnished with the onions. Just before serving dinner, I mixed everything well to distribute the onions and redistribute the dressing.

Ann's Beautiful Summer Berry and Brioche Pudding

Lemon-Thyme Sorbet with Summer Berry Pudding

Easter 2025

Rob and Dyce invited us over for Easter dinner starring a huge Berkshire pork ham from Snake River Farms. They went all out with cocktails, deviled eggs, the ham, a potato-chile gratin, chilled asparagus, and an arugula salad with blood oranges, almonds, and blue cheese. I kicked in a batch of buttermilk biscuits at Dyce's request.

Dyce Cocktailing It

Prosecco, St. Germain, Sparkling Water, Lime, and Mint

Gorgeous Dill Pickle Deviled Eggs

Queen Lola

Arugula, Blood Oranges, Almonds, and Blue Cheese

The Guest of Honor

Potato and Chile Gratin

Biscuits, Because Ham Does Not Want to Dance Solo

Chilly, Just Before Sunset

Another Easter is in the books, a great day with great friends. We had a wonderful time on a beautiful day, talked and laughed a lot, drank some rosé, played with the dogs, and ate far too much food. Thanks so much to Rob and Dyce who went overboard in cooking way too much delicious food and being such gracious hosts.

Polenta with Mushroom Ragoût

It's been a quiet few weeks at home since we got back from Santa Fe in early December, weeks in which we have uncharacteristically not done any entertaining. At long last, we had Andreas and Michelle, newly engaged, over for dinner. Ann asked me to make polenta with mushroom ragoût and then suggested a Caesar salad served on a romaine leaf to go with the polenta. I decided to roast some olives for a simple appetizer.

Roasted Olives

Roasted olives may be the easiest thing in the world to make. Fundamentally, you toss olives with herbs, spices, garlic, and olive oil and roast them for a few minutes in the oven.

Olives, Ready to Roast

I mixed several kinds of olives from various sources with minced garlic, fresh rosemary leaves, tangerine peels, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, fennel pollen, and a splash of olive oil. They sat on the counter for a couple of hours before I put them in a moderate oven and roasted them for 15-20 minutes or so.

"Caesar Salad"

Caesar salad has been done over and over and over and I wanted to do something different, while still adhering to Ann's vision of a salad served on a romaine leaf. In my reimagining, I would use a lemon-anchovy aïoli both as the base of a dressing and as a garnish. And I would add the bulk of the cheese to the salad in the form of a pecorino romano crisp. Finally, Ann wanted croutons, but Michelle cannot eat gluten. I wrestled with fried polenta cubes before deciding to go with chestnuts spiced with oregano, garlic, salt, and a touch of pimentόn. 

Starting the Aïoli: Anchovies, Garlic, and Peppercorns in Mortar

After pounding two cloves of garlic, three anchovy fillets, and four black peppercorns to a smooth paste, I mixed this base with a cup of commercial mayonnaise and the zest of one lemon. I put it into the refrigerator to bloom and marry the flavors for several hours. I used commercial mayonnaise because I only wanted a final yield of one cup of aïoli. I find it much easier to make mayonnaise in quart quantities, and I just did not want that much product in the refrigerator.

Next I grated a big bowl of pecorino romano, most of which I formed into long pecorino crisps on a silicone mat on a sheet tray. The rest, I reserved to mix into the salad.

For the chestnuts, I spiced them like I would croutons, by melting a little butter in a pan and cooking the freeze-dried chestnuts for a minute, then tossing them with a mix of salt, granulated garlic, dried oregano, and a pinch of pimentón.

I have these freeze-dried chestnuts thanks to my friends Yael and Dan back in Virginia. They grow truffles in an orchard that they planted in front of their house. Hazelnuts and chestnuts are the happy side-effect of growing truffles. I have been working with the chestnuts to find good uses for them and this is a very natural and delicious use. These spiced nuts are an addictive snack, not to mention a great way to add crunch to a salad.

To make the salad dressing, to a half a cup of aïoli, I whisked in the juice of a lemon and an equal amount of olive oil. Then I thinned the dressing to my desired consistency with cool water, an amount probably equal to the lemon juice and olive oil. I re-seasoned with a tiny pinch more of coarse ground black pepper. The remaining aïoli went on the plate to anchor the pecorino crisp in place so that the salads could go to the table with mishap. 

"Caesar Salad" with Pecorino Crisp, Anchovies, and Spiced Chestnuts

I greatly prefer this salad to any other Caesar-type salad that I have ever had. It seemed to be a great hit with everyone.

Polenta with  Mushroom Ragoût

The star of the dinner was polenta topped with a sexy ragoût of mushrooms and an even sexier poached egg. The poached egg was my addition to Ann's idea. The yolk just adds extra creaminess to the dish. I also flavored the polenta with a big sprig of rosemary as it was cooking for about an hour (my corn was fairly coarsely ground).

Rosemary Polenta, Mushroom Ragoût, Grated Pecorino, Poached Egg, Green Onions

I cooked the polenta at least 90 minutes in advance and held it warm, ready to finish at service, using a trick from the restaurant. Once the polenta had cooked, I laid a piece of film wrap directly on the surface of polenta and forced all the air out from under the film. In this way, the polenta stays warmer and does not form a skin on the surface. Then at service, I swirled in a bit of butter and cream and stirred it rapidly while bringing it right back up to temperature.

And now some food porn pictures from the mushroom ragoût, made by sweating a couple of leeks in butter with a bunch of fresh thyme, then adding the fresh mushrooms and cooking, then adding the reconstituted porcini and its rehydrating liquid, all to be cooked down to a nice ragoût.

Rehydrating Porcini
The Water From This is Liquid Gold, an Umami Bomb

Paper Sack of Chanterelles, Oysters, and Shiitakes

Prepped Mushrooms Ready to Cook

It felt good to get back in the kitchen and cook something other than our standard low-fat, complex carb-laden nightly fare. It feels good every now and again to splurge a bit at the table. And I think I came up with a winner of a salad technique.

Everyone had a good time and we put a hurt on a few bottles of Langhe Nebbiolo.