Tandoori Chicken

We made this loosely following a Cooks Illustrated recipe, which recommended rubbing a dry spice mixture into the raw chicken before applying a wet yogurt-and-spice mixture. It came out great! Also on the dinner plate (not pictured) was jasmine rice, yellow split peas cooked like chana dal, and sauteed spinach.

Birthday Dinner

You can cook a meal at home that's better than 90% of restaurant dishes. Spend your money on quality ingredients, not table service. The menu: pepper-crusted pan seared New York strip steak (finished in the oven), saffron-pepper scallops, mashed potatoes with mushrooms sauteed in steak fat, and roasted green beans. Who has room for cake? (Ok, I always have room for cake).

Perfect Grilled Cheese

This is how I make a grilled cheese sandwich: spread butter on one side of a good bread like sourdough or multigrain, and place butter-side down in a cast iron pan. Place slices of a good cheese like extra sharp cheddar on the top of the bread. Put a lid over the pan to promote cheese melting. When it begins to soften and melt, add thin slices of a ripe, real tomato. Keep checking the underside of the bread to make sure you like the toasty brown color that's happening. Add the top bread layer, and flip after re-buttering the pan to brown the other side. Voila! Best eaten with piping hot tomato soup sprinkled with hot sauce like Tapatio.

Healthy Dinner

Turkey kielbasa, boiled red potatoes, roasted green beans, sauerkraut, caramelized onions, schmear of dijon mustard.