This Week’s Menu: Two at the Table Menu Week of October 11, 2015

We have a fairly light social schedule this week, which gives us a bit more time to cook. We have three new recipes on tap, plus an old favorite, and we’re excited to try them all. 

Tony was inspired on Sunday to make something we don’t make very often: mussels. He found a simple recipe for Mussels Steamed with Vegetables in White Wine. We had most of the ingredients on hand already (carrots, celery, even leeks, all from the French Chicken Pot Pies we made the week before last), so all we had to do was buy some mussels and we were good to go.

We’ll have leftover Bucatini all’Amatriciana on Monday night, but will try a new recipe on Tuesday: Food & Wine’s Salmon, Broccolini and Fresh Red Chile Papillotes. This recipe involve enclosing the salmon in parchment paper and steaming it. We’ve made a similar recipe before – Ina Garten’s Herb-Roasted Fish – using red snapper, and it was very good, so we’re excited to try a similar approach with salmon.

On Wednesday, we’ll make a recipe we planned to make a little while ago but didn’t get around to: Delish’s Grilled Portobello Steaks with Sundried Tomato Aioli and Baked Zucchini Fries. If it turns out well, we’ll keep it in mind for future vegetarian nights!

Kim will be at a New York Junior League meeting on Thursday and Tony will be on his own. Since the baseball playoffs are in full swing, Tony will order in something ballpark-y, like a burger or maybe even hot dogs. On Friday though, Kim is going to make one of our favorites:  Rachel Khoo’s Lemon Lavender Chicken. We’ve written up this recipe before, and we’re looking forward to making it again. We’ll pair this up with a sparkling wine: a Blanc de Blancs from Bedell Vineyards, which we picked up on our last trip to Long Island.

Tony’s cousins Rosa and Vincenzo came over from Italy for his parents’ 50th anniversary party. We’re hoping to take them out to dinner Saturday night at Piccolo Venezia, an Italian restaurants in Astoria, Queens (where Tony grew up), which is a local institution. It’s one of Tony Bennett’s favorite restaurants, so we always hold out hope, however slim, that we’ll see him there!