Filet Mignon with Balsamic Red Wine Reduction and Blue Cheese Butter.

I rarely indulge in red meat but when I do I always opt for the filet mignon. It's the lowest in fat among beef cuts (a 6-oz serving of broiled beef tenderloin has 370 calories if all fat is cut off), yet supremely tender. The flavor is a little muted making it a perfect accompaniment to bolder toppings and side dishes but it still presents so beautifully: the thicker the cut (2 1/2 inches or more), the more impressive and tasty.

Swiss Chard, Lentil and Lemon Soup

I made this soup a while ago and when I posted it on Facebook I got so many requests for the recipe. I had to make it again just so I could figure out...uh...how I made it?! This is mom's recipe for lentils cooked with potatoes and swiss chard in a lemony broth. The problem is mom passed the recipe from her brain to mine, Star Trek-style. No recipe, no nothing.

So while it looks like I blew you guys off when you requested the details, I was secretly panicking that now I would have to reverse-engineer this process... So today I had a craving for this soup and decided, what the heck, I have some time to re-create it.

Oven-Baked Salmon and Brussels Sprouts with Black Bean Garlic Sauce

Combined with potassium-rich Brussels sprouts, oven-baked salmon is a nutrition-packed meal that makes an unbelievably quick and wholesome dinner when you are pressed for time and short on ideas. I make it a point to serve salmon at least once a week. Any leftovers are served on a bed of greens the next day, and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar dressing. 

Oat Soda Bread

Hey guys you've heard me talking about this bread for about a week now.  I fell in love with this simple loaf when I spied it on Heidi Swanson's gorgeous blog, 101cookbooks.com.  The great thing about it is the few ingredients needed and the minimal time required to put it together, pop it in the oven and then enjoy with warm, salted--yes I said salted--butter. I hope you love the taste as much as I did. And go to Heidi's blog. She's truly talented and an amazing food photographer. 

Mustard Onion Pork Cutlets

I am finally up and running on this new Mac and feeling a little more like I know what I'm doing. The transition from PC wasn't so bad but it does takes a little while to get comfortable doing the same thing in a completely different way. I have been cooking and baking and taking lots of pictures; now I just have to put everything up! I'm hoping in my absence Blogger has made some progress in making things easier for users. Here we go...

This recipe was in the January 2011 issue of Cook's Country and it caught my eye because it fits in my lifestyle these days: fast, reasonably healthy, and no "deal breakers"...you know, those pesky steps or pieces of equipment that just make you say, no freaking way...