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I'm in the mood to cook...but am drawing a complete blank as to what I want to fix.

Have to go grocery shopping tomorrow...has anyone cooked anything fabulous this week?

How about a nice pot of vegetable beef soup!

I like to put lots of different veggies in there.

Carrots, merliton, corn, corn on the cob (cut in 3), green beans, lima beans, tomatoes, cubed sweet potatoes, squash, cabbage, onions, garlic, parsley and a nice roast cube or beef shanks.

Speaking of shanks, some Osso Buco would be nice too.

These are 2 things I've been wanting to cook, but just haven't found time yet.

I've been making different soups.

Last was chicken veg with carrots & onions & yellow squash.

Before that was lentil (the little french green ones), carrot, spinach finished off with some Indian spices.

Both were great & hit the spot!

As a matter of fact, I'm making Osso Buco for Dixie and Doug this weekend.

I love vegetable soup and just use whatever bits of veggies I have in the freezer or fridge. Lately I've started adding a can of blackeyed peas. I don't remember why I started doing that but I really like it.

I'm curious to know how you make your Osso Buco.
I make mine slightly different each time.

Tell us about yours & what else do you serve with it?

This week's best dinner was the marinated grilled boneless chicken thighs with oven baked fries and a salad with grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. Simple but delicious. The pork I marinated & grilled was just as tasty. I think we had angel hair pasta with that one.

Edited to say: I just thought of something you could try. We like this very much: Pound chicken thighs or breasts thin, layer cheese and or tomato and or ham, season with whatever you like, roll up, coat with a little mayo and breadcrumbs and bake.

Isa and LadyWho, if I was cooking this weekend that's the way I'd go, veggie soup! It's supposed to be kinda cool Saturday and Sunday and I always have liked to have a pot of soup going on a back burner on cool days. Makes the house smell nice, too. Don't forget some French bread to dunk in your bowls of soup!

Jeeves wrote:Isa and LadyWho, if I was cooking this weekend that's the way I'd go, veggie soup! It's supposed to be kinda cool Saturday and Sunday and I always have liked to have a pot of soup going on a back burner on cool days. Makes the house smell nice, too. Don't forget some French bread to dunk in your bowls of soup!

well, that is where you can't take the country out of this girl...forget the french bread...I'd fix a big pan of cornbread for my soup.

Sometimes I don't know what I'm cooking until I'm finished, as today's dinner. First I plucked a big lemon off my tree and decided it would taste good with chicken. I took 4 chicken breast, breaded with whole wheat flour and sauteed in some olive oil. While that was cooking I mixed the juice from the lemon, the lemon zest and chicken broth together and poured over the chicken. After a few minutes I took the chicken out and set aside. In the pan I added a whole tomato, cut in small pieces, some poultry seasoning, some saffron stems(? not sure what to call them), chicken broth, white wine and dried apricots and simmered until it started to thicken. Put back in the chicken, covered and cooked on a very low simmer. I think it's a keeper but don't know what to call it yet. Any ideas?

To make osso buco, I dust seasoned veal shanks with flour, brown them in olive oil and butter. Then a little water, white wine, basil, thyme, parsley onions and just a little tomato paste. Oh, and a little lemon zest. Carrots and celery. Cover and simmer for two hours or so, strain the broth and there you have it.
It's good with pasta, rice, or as in this weekend, roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Not terribly original : grilled garlic/rosemary-marjoram/ cracked pepper crusted USDA prime ribeyes (Dorignac's had them on sale $10 lb., trimmed), blue cheese salad w/ chopped pecans and bacon. Bought a bunch to freeze but none have made it there.