This Week’s Menu: Two-at-the-Table-Menu-Week-of-Oct-30-2016

After a very successful Oktoberfest dinner with our friends Krista and Lynee last night, with a menu that featured Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels, Kim’s very own salad of mesclun, diced pear, walnut, and blue cheese (from Dutch Girl Cheese) with a white wine vinaigrette, Cooking Channel’s Mustard-Brined Pork Loin with Sautéed Brussels Sprouts (all of which we paired with Oktoberfest beers from the Goose Island, Flying Dog, Blue Point, and Sierra Nevada breweries), and Kim’s apple-based take on Christian Constant’s Summer Fruit Crumble, we turn our attention to the coming week.

Kim will be on her own on Monday night, when Tony will be doing some photography (details below). Kim has her French class on Wednesday, so Tony will be on his own, which will probably translate into grabbing beers with his brother.We’re having a pre-marathon get-together with our friends Tom and Sharon on Saturday night where we’ll have a big pasta dinner to help Tom prepare for the marathon on Sunday. That still leaves us with plans to make dinner four times this week, so here’s what we have in store.

On Sunday night, we’ll make a vegetarian chili, namely, The Kitchn’s Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Quinoa Chili. This recipe appealed to us because we thought it sounded really tasty, we haven’t made chili for a long while, and we knew it would create a enough leftovers to get us through the week. With all the Oktoberfest beer we have in the fridge, we’re not doing a wine pairing with this dish, but will see how it goes with beer.

On Monday night, Tony will make his annual pilgrimage to take photos at the Village Halloween Parade. He’s only being doing it for two years, but has really come to enjoy it. It’s a unique challenge–taking photos at night of thousands of people all on the move, each with a consumer more amazing than the last–but it is lots of fun. Tony’s dinner will probably be a granola bar or two; Kim will no doubt have something a bit more appetizing. 

On Tuesday night, we’ll make a dish we had planned for last week but didn’t get to: The Kitchn’s Quick Coconut Chicken Soup. We’ll pair this with a white wine, 2015 Clos du Mont-Oliver Chateauneuf-du-Pape that we purchased last week to have with it.

We’ll make a new dish on Thursday night, Real Simple’s Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms and Baby Greens. We’ve really come to like polenta and have had good luck with it, like when we made Real Simple’s Polenta Bake with Shrimp a few weeks ago, so we’re confident this dish will be another winner.

Our final dish for the week will be Cooking Channel’s Lemon Scented Crispy Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Baby Carrots. This dish will be prefect for a Friday night in the fall and may require a specific trip to Columbus Wines and Spirits to find a fun pairing.