Josh Shear

What else would you do with a week's worth of leftovers except start making omelets? And, of course, apologizing for the hideousness of the photo you took with your cell phone.

I'm going to just run on the assumption that you know how to make an omelet. If not, here's a reasonable primer.

My Sunday morning breakfast was made with roasted peppers, catfish and pineapple chunks left over from the catfish bites we went over yesterday, along with some mozzarella I had left over from the eggplant caprese from Wednesday.

And since I'm a dork, that's cinnamon toast. And you won't be surprised to hear there was coffee nearby.

This was the unexpected winner of the night. I kind of went out on a limb with this but it worked out.

First, roast some peppers and let them cool.

Next, sautée two catfish fillets in butter, lime juice and peppermint, and let them cool.

I used canned pineapple for this, but you could certainly cut up some fresh pineapple. Your call.

Cut the peppers and catfish into bite-sized pieces. Stack a bite of catfish on top of a bite of pepper, and top it with a piece of pineapple. A toothpick goes a long way toward holding it all together.

Refrigerate and serve cold.

We're taking a break from the roasted peppers today, but don't worry, they'll be back Thursday and Friday!

This is an easy one, and pretty darn delicious.

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 large beefsteak tomatoes
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil leaves

I prefer to draw some of the liquid out of the eggplant. To do that, slice the eggplant, arrange the slices on a paper towel, lightly salt the slices, and put another paper towel on top. You can do this in multiple layers as long as you keep a paper towel between the layers. Come back in about an hour; your eggplant will have dried a bunch and your paper towels will be soaked.

You can slice the tomatoes and mozzarella (matching the number of slices is the way to go) while you wait.

Start with the eggplant, then add a slice of tomato on top of that, then a slice of cheese, then a basil leaf.

The end. See how easy that was?

Food week continues here on the blog with a roasted pepper hummus you can dip pretty much anything into.

First, you should roast some peppers and let them cool.

Next, get out your blender. This recipe is scalable, so I'll just give you the ratios I used based on one can of garbanzo beans (also called chick peas).

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• water (just have your sink nearby)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 roasted pepper

Purée the beans, adding water as you go to help. Add oil and garlic; blend. Add pepper last.

Note: If you wind up adding too much water, you can boil some of the liquid off.

I hosted a small gathering over the weekend and, as usual, cooked too much. So, I'm taking the week to offer up my recipes on the blog.

The theme of the night wound up being roasted peppers. It turns out that roasting six of them gives you more than you need to work with. If you've never roasted your own peppers, you're missing out. As you know – because you've bought the jarred ones – roasting brings out the sweetness. But jarred roasted peppers tend to be salty and briny.

Roasted bell peppers

I used orange, yellow and red peppers (they're all sweeter than green). Seed and wash the peppers and cut them in quarters. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. I added rosemary and basil; I've been known to use clove on occasion, as well.

Place the peppers in the pan, drizzle lightly with more olive oil. After about 8 minutes, flip the peppers, roast for another 5-6 minutes.

Line a plate with paper towels, then put the peppers on the plate to cool, but don't let them dry completely. These will last in the refrigerator for a few days.

Salsa

Now for the salsa. Ingredients:

• 1 roasted pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 large beefsteak tomatoes, cut into eighths
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 jalapeño peppers, sliced
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion and jalapeño pepper. Add tomato and water, turn heat down to medium and cover. Bring to a boil.

Add remaining ingredients. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Drain some liquid if desired (I prefer my salsa on the thick/chunky side).

Makes about 3 quarts, and would qualify as a mass-market medium salsa. A tablespoon of cayenne pepper or another three jalapeños would kick up the heat a bit.

I love simple foods. These are frequently foods that originate in cultures that are old, poor, or both. These are also civilizations that have found ways to fill their dietary needs with these foods so that they don't, you know, die.

This recipe is scalable, either up or down (this is quite a bit of food. I decided to make it on a Friday night with the expectation it would last me at least the weekend). It's the lazy version of this (I didn't make the tortillas or the salsa).

Tacos

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or jack)
• corn tortillas

Put the rice on to cook. I use a rice cooker, so I use a 1:1 rice:water ratio to make it a little bit dry. If you're making the rice in a saucepan, you probably want to go 1:2 rice:water.

In a saucepan, combine black beans, salsa and hot sauce. Bring to a boil then simmer, stirring occasionally.

Warm the tortiallas – you can do this either in a frying pan (a half minute or so on each side over medium heat) or the microwave (about 15 seconds for two).

Onto a tortilla, spoon rice, then salsa and bean mixture, then sprinkle some cheese. I put two in the microwave for an additional 20 seconds to melt the cheese, but that's up to you.

Eat.

You're sick? You're broke? No energy? You wish someone would just make you some chicken soup?

Quit your whining. Here's how you do it, on a budget, and quickly.

You'll need:

• 6 drumsticks ($1.42) [You could splurge $5 and get a whole chicken, but I'm trying to keep it cheap for you].
• 1 can of chicken stock (69 cents)
• 1 large onion (99 cents)
• 1 large potato (79 cents) [optional]
• 4 carrots (50 cents)
• 2 celery stalks (30 cents)

[With the drumsticks and the potato, we're at $4.69.]

Put the chicken in a pot, skin and all. Pour the chicken stock in there, put some water on, put it on high heat.

Peel the onion, and chop it into quarters (it will separate), and drop it in the water. Peel and chop the potato, add it to the water. Chop the carrots and celery, add them to your soup.

With me? We're at, what, 6 minutes, and less than $5?

Here's the tough part: wait until it comes to a boil. Stir.

Turn the heat down to medium and cover, then go take a 2-hour nap (seriously, you're sick, you need the rest).

When you wake up, pick up each drumstick with some tongs, the skin and meat should more or less fall right off the bone (you may have to encourage it with a fork). You can toss the bones, and it's up to you whether you leave the skin in the soup or not (it's got kind of a strange consistency, you might want to pull it out).

You're all set to eat, now. Get better.

Can I just brag for a moment how amazing I am in the kitchen? OK, I'm done. Now, read on. Unless you have an eating disorder, as you will get fat just reading this recipe.

You'll need:

1.5 sticks of butter
1.5 pints of cream (or half-and-half, whatever)
8oz water
8oz sharp cheddar, chopped up into manageable pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
Broccoli, chopped
Salmon, cut into bite-sized pieces
Bay scallops
Shrimp
Salt, rosemary and basil to taste

Melt the butter. Sauté the garlic and onion. Add a half pint of cream, and bring to a simmer.

Add the cheese, stirring, then add the water. Stir until the cheese melts. Add the broccoli.

Add the rest of the cream. Add salmon, shrimp, scallops, and spices. Keep at a simmer until shrimp and seafood are cooked. Serve over pasta.

Enjoyed with a 2006 Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay (PDF).

I took my first shot at vodka cream sauce this weekend. It was the result of still having about a cup left sitting in the fifth of vodka I'd bought for a party three years ago.

This was easy, and it came out awesome. Also, the alcohol is boiled out, so don't sweat that if you decide to try to make it.

You'll need:

• olive oil
• garlic
• vodka
• cream (about twice as much cream as vodka)
• diced tomatoes (I was feeling lazy so I used a 16-oz can)
• basil, thyme, oregano
• I like it spicy, so I also added some chili paste and crushed red pepper

Roast the garlic in the olive oil. Drain some of the liquid from the tomatoes, and add it to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Add vodka, cream, and spaces, bring to a boil, then bring it down to a simmer. Let it simmer for a while so the alcohol boils out.

Cook the chicken in the sauce so that it absorbs the flavor.

Pour over pasta.

Note: I roasted whole cloves of garlic and left them in. I happen to enjoy my garlic, so no big deal if I had forked a clove of garlic instead of a small piece of chicken. If you're cooking for guests, maybe you want to crush the garlic, or fish it out before adding the vodka and cream.

Amy, Dwayne, Libby and I did a long, slow dinner last night.

It's been my experience the past few years that doing dinner has meant arriving, sitting down for a drink and warm-up conversation, sitting down to eat, clearing the table, and regrouping for a cookie and a sitcom before wrapping up. Total time? Maybe two hours, probably less. It's a rather minor investment in time.

My guests arrived around 6:00 last night, and we sat down to appetizers. There was a bit of a warming-up period, as Libby had not yet met Amy and Dwayne. After maybe an hour and a half, we sat down to dinner. After clearing and doing a partial clean-up, we moved on to dessert, and everyone moved on a little before midnight.

That's how dinner's meant to be done.

Recipes

I'm presenting you these recipes as ingredients lists and preparation instructions. I do my measurements by taste, and I do my cooking by feel, so you'll have to have some confidence in the kitchen to follow these.

There were two eggplant appetizers, medallions and babaganouj.

Eggplant Medallions

Eggplant
Beefsteak tomatoes
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar

You need to give yourself some pre-prep time for this. Slice the eggplant, and place it on a paper towel. Lightly salt it, and cover it with another paper towel. Let it sit for about 45 minutes. This draws out some of the liquid.

Bake the eggplant for about half an hour, then let it cool to room temperature.

On a serving tray, lay out slices of eggplant. Cover with balsamic vinegar. Top each slice of eggplant with a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella, and a leaf of basil.

Serve chilled.

Babaganouj

Eggplant
Tomato
Roasted red peppers
Spanish olives
Olive oil
Water
Garlic salt
Rosemary

Purée everything in a blender. Serve cold with crackers or bread (we used Triscuits).

Served with two beers: Hennepin and Three Philosophers.

Dinner included a salad, topped salmon, asparagus and rice. It was paired with a 2007 Lindemann's Bin 65 Chardonnay. We decided universally the wine was mediocre, and we're not recommending it.

Salad

Mixed spring greens
Radishes
Grapes
Grape tomatoes
Walnuts
Feta cheese

Dressing: Balsamic vinegar, honey, oregano, basil

Salmon

Sauté Atlantic salmon filets in apricot nectar, Guinness, brown sugar and cinnamon. Top with topping (below).

Topping

Sauté chopped Cortland apples, walnuts, onions and raisins in butter and cinnamon.

Asparagus

Steam asparagus stalks in water seasoned with oregano and cloves.

Rice

Season brown rice with masala spices (usually a combination of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and others).

Libby did dessert, Armagnac-prune-chocolate cakes topped with Armagnac whipped cream and Armagnac-soaked prunes. You'll have to watch her blog for the recipe (I'll update here when it goes up).

Dessert was served with American Honey, a bourbon-based, honey-flavored aperitif.