Top 5 Home-cooked Meals

There are a lot of reasons why I love my husband, and his superb culinary abilities are certainly high on that list. I credit him with expanding my gastronomical horizons and inspiring me to try my hand at baking. When we moved to Chicago, I started Gastronomical Wayfaring as a way of keeping track  of and sharing the recipes we've tried and enjoyed. In honour of David's birthday today, I thought I'd consider the Top 5 best home-cooked meals he's ever made. Click through on the names to get the recipes!5. Pecan-crusted trout with orange-rosemary butter sauceWe don't get much opportunity to eat fish, so when we do it's nice to savour it. This particular recipe was a surprise for us. We were a little dubious about the orange juice in the sauce, but it added a wonderful dimension to it all. The whole dish is delicate and complex, complementing without overpowering the fish. And, because it's fish, it's relatively quick and easy to actually put together.4. Roast chicken for les paresseuxThis translates to "roast chicken for lazy people", so we were immediately intrigued. It turned out to be a solid, straightforward recipe for roast chicken, yielding deliciously moist chicken. One of the fun tidbits this recipe suggested was actually including the chicken liver in the cavity while its baking and then taking it out and eating it (sometimes we even supplement with extra store-bought liver because it's so tasty!). It also suggests placing bread below the chicken while it bakes, so then it's soaks in all the  chicken juices. Yum.3. Pork tenderloin with appleOne of the early cookbooks in our cookbook collection was The Country Cooking of France, which became one of my favourites. This dish in particular rose to the top for us. We are big fans of pork + sweet in general, and the caramelized apples provide a great tangy, sweet counterpoint to the pork. Plus, I am sucker for a great gravy, and this one is a doozy.2. Fettuccine AlfredoThis dish deserves a spot on this list not only because it's delicious but also for its ubiquitous presence in our lives. It is definitely a go-to meal for us, as it is also relatively quick and straightforward to make. Creamy, with a hint of spice--it provides a nice base over which you can add shrimp or breaded chicken or your choice of tasty accoutrements.1. Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jamWe were first inspired to make this dish after having some truly delicious meatballs in Stockholm. Our first attempt at making them ourselves were seriously good, and I think we've only improved upon them since. I love the combination of the earthiness of the meat, sweet and tangy lingonberries and creamy mashed potatoes. They are fairly time-consuming to make, particularly if you grind your own meat (which we like to do, as it really improves the flavour), but they do make fantastic leftovers. Plus, making and rolling the meatballs can be a fun activity to do together.