[speaker001:] okay okay now as you were saying
[speaker002:] I said one thing we've been doing around here is trying to find ways of having uh my husband likes gourmet food
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and I'm trying to figure out how how to feed him so he'll eat this stuff and the kids will eat it too and it's not going to be fattening high in fat or high in cholesterol get's to be a a real chore with little kids who basically want every thing covered in cheese
[speaker001:] right that's true um I have the same problem I've uh in fact both of us like cheese uh my children are grown now um and I also like ice cream so
[speaker002:] I just have been fortunate with that I have never really had an ice cream fetish but I'm married to somebody who just feels that you know if you offer it to him he'd eat a hot fudge sundae every night of the week
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] and I hate him for it
[speaker001:] yeah well everyone has their own little things right his is ice cream or hot fudge sundaes but I tell you what we use to do even when the children were growing up every Friday night
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] would be our night that um uh put to kids to bed when they were younger and my wife and I would would uh she'd set the dining room table with candles and no one disturbed us no one called on Friday night and we would just have this quiet dinner for the two of us and that uh that's held up until our youngest is graduating college in the couple of weeks and we still do that
[speaker002:] wow
[speaker001:] um well we also like to do is we like to cook out a lot even in the winter time we got we got a grill and I've got like a wood shop off the garage and I've got a a like an over hang and we keep the grill out there so I just out and we you know grill steaks or salmon or whatever
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] um so um so I can give you something that we like to do
[speaker002:] give me something that's really easy to do
[speaker001:] or well clams casino if you like clams casino
[speaker002:] I love clams but I'm not sure what clams casino are and I don't know if I could find clams that I would eat down here in Texas
[speaker001:] oh yeah well but well I like well you lived in Boston so you know a little about you know
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and in a restaurant they they just kind of serve them on a half shell with a little bit of uh stuffing what we like the to do is uh is to cut them out and then cut them into little quarters or eighths you know not so much just one big bite
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and then cut up fresh peppers and fresh tomatoes and fresh celery and bread crumbs and mix it all together and pre cook bacon so it's kind of soft
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and put a strip of bacon over the top of that and then and then pop them in the oven
[speaker002:] God that sounds good
[speaker001:] and we usually have that and then we'll have a salad and I'll throw a steak on the grill with uh what I call a potato bake I buy a uh couple of yams and some either red potato or either white potato and I put them in a microwave and cook them so they're fairly soft and I slice them I peel the yam slice that
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] I slice the white potato with the skin on I slice up a mild onion preferably a onion
[speaker002:] now in Texas it would have to be ten fifteen
[speaker001:] oh and then I put it in tin foil and I interweave put a I put a slice of white potato and slice sweet potato and slice of onion and then I do that until I got the size of a baked potato put butter and salt on it garlic close the tin foil and I throw it on the grill cause I like it a little crispy on the bottom so I throw it on the grill maybe about
[speaker002:] uh
[speaker001:] ten minutes before I put the steak on and then once once the steak is done that's usually done and then we have uh
[speaker002:] God that sound wonderful
[speaker001:] and then either spinach I like spinach or uh asparagus because we grow own asparagus we have asparagus patch so in fact right now it's it's in season so we just go out and there lop off a few and then whatever you want for desert
[speaker002:] well I'll give you one that that that I I put together modified out of a Heart Smart Cookbook now my husband really thinks that this is one of those French fancy French sauces
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] so when he when he request this I always tell him he has to take the kids for an hour and it really only takes about fifteen or twenty minutes to do but it gives me forty five minutes to sit by myself where it's quiet
[speaker001:] that's nice
[speaker002:] but what you do is you go take you can use pork tender loin it's more expensive but I and I like the leaner cut of pork
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] the um like the center cut pork chops
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and you you need to have them thick at least a three-quarters of an inch think
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] and all you do is take those things and coat them in lemon pepper marinade
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] on both sides
[speaker001:] um when you say lemon pepper marinade you put lemon juice and pepper together
[speaker002:] no just the uh the you know you can do that just that you buy just lemon pepper
[speaker001:] the spice that you buy  okay all right
[speaker002:] and then you take about two tablespoons of butter which you know most people kind of go you know this is a low fat recipe but it is
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] and you just melt that in a skillet
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] you broken the uh the pork chops or the pork fillets
[speaker001:] okay uh-huh
[speaker002:] you just brown them on both sides and I like to get them at a good golden brown
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] and then just take them and stick them on a plate and keep them warm and into that same skillet add the juice of lemon about anywhere from a quarter to a half a cup to that you add two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
[speaker001:] two
[speaker002:] and one teaspoon to a tablespoon depending on how much you like it
[speaker001:] two tablespoons wait wait a minute that was two tablespoons of Worcestershire
[speaker002:] uh yeah Worcestershire
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] and then anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and what you do is you just cook this down and it makes a a really pretty almost dark black brown viscous sauce
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] it's pretty spicy now I like to throw in just a you know a shot of white wine and then you just take the pork chops put them on a serving platter pour this sauce over it and I garnish it with fresh cut chives it really is a really pretty entree to look at
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] uh-huh and the sauce I mean it has kind of this nice complex flavor where you feel that somebody's you know played around with this all afternoon
[speaker001:] yeah that
[speaker002:] and I have served it to company
[speaker001:] so so you cooked the the pork is cooked at that point then okay
[speaker002:] and uh-huh but you know the trick with pork most people think you have to cook it at a hundred and eighty five degrees well done
[speaker001:] oh no no
[speaker002:] you don't have to do that it can still be pink in the middle and that makes all the world of difference
[speaker001:] oh uh um
[speaker002:] the other thing that that I've really got into down here in Texas is fresh uh herbs
[speaker001:] that's what we do we we grow our own and dry them and
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] well see I don't have to try them cause they'll they'll pretty much grow all winter long and if
[speaker001:] yeah you guys are kind of lucky down there
[speaker002:] oh I don't know we also have you know foot long roaches all year long too
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] hey don't laugh don't laugh but what makes a really elegant um just a side dish and most people don't have any idea what it is why they don't I don't know and you can make it a day ahead of time because I just take about a cup of fresh cut basil I mean I really like basil
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] and then cook spaghetti and I the the this is smaller thread spaghetti it's like the cappelletti is the better
[speaker001:] okay yep
[speaker002:] add and I add almost equal parts parmesan cheese a a healthy balance of garlic I mean I really like garlic
[speaker001:] oh that's what we do we yeah
[speaker002:] yeah so you're basically makes a kind of a a pesto
[speaker001:] like a pesto yeah
[speaker002:] yes but if you serve it cold it really is just a wonderful
[speaker001:] so is it a cup of basil leave fresh basil leaves
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh and pine nuts and if you can't get pine nuts because to me they're always kind of mushy I just grind up walnuts and use that in it
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] it really is nice
[speaker001:] yeah that's uh
[speaker002:] and even my kids will eat it and they've gotten to be kind of food snobs one of them went over to
[speaker001:] we're going we're going to have that Friday we're going to do the pork and we don't have the we don't have any fresh basil but we've got dried well we'll have to go down to the market
[speaker002:] dry basil doesn't have quite the taste
[speaker001:] it doesn't you can't pesto out of it they've got some pesto frozen though
[speaker002:] yeah I keep I do that and I find that it tastes just about as good and I freeze it in like little half cup quantity so I can even pull it out whenever I want to
[speaker001:] but I like that I like those uh-huh I like that sauce with the pork
[speaker002:] you you'll be surprised you'll be really surprised at just how simple it is and and it's not a a clear cut you know this this this and this it's kind of to taste
[speaker001:] and yeah that's what I'm going to do because we each take turns doing it you know I usually do the grill work and you know it depends if she makes uh uh anything with shrimp on it or not you know she'll do that but I'll do the grill stuff but this is nice this is I can cook the pork on the grill
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and just make the sauce
[speaker002:] you know what also is really good just really really good and really really simple if you like to do grilling if you can get a hold of fresh sage
[speaker001:] yep yep
[speaker002:] have you ever worked with that just take the fresh sage and and you know crumble it so that you you release the oils
[speaker001:] yep
[speaker002:] pour you know put that stuff over fresh pork chops and if you've got balsamic vinegar there
[speaker001:] we do we make all of our vinegars in fact we do canning too we do all of our own canning and
[speaker002:] oh I love that stuff oh I do my own vinegars too but just put a a touch of balsamic vinegar on that until