bits & pieces

I think Johnny Mathis missed the mark...

2011-03-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

(sung to the tune of "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas")

It’s beginning to look a lot like Le-ent,
everywhere you go;
Take a look in the church kitchen; they’re cooking once again
With sausages and pancakes in a row.

It's beginning to look a lot like Le-ent,
Ashes on your head,
But the soberest sight to see is the cross that will be
Draped for forty days.

To give till it hurts and to pray without perks
Is the goal of Barney and Ben;
Denying self meat and good things to eat
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for Vigil to start again.

It's beginning to look a lot like Le-ent
All up in the nave;
There’s the Litany, boy, it’s great! The priest gives you a clean slate,
but only at church, so show up and behave!

It's beginning to look a lot like Le-ent;
Penitence will start,
And the thing that will make you sing is the change that God will bring
Right within your heart!

bowl of creamy goodness

2011-03-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

This is fettucine with creamy chicken sauce from the last issue of Everyday Food. I followed the recipe exactly (for once in my life!) except that the original called for pappardelle instead of fettucine. I live in the country which is a wonderful thing except when you want to purchase more uncommon pasta like pappardelle. Oh well.

The newest Everyday Food was in today's mail which was so exciting. It's great to come home to a new magazine or cook book in the mail. It's almost like getting a package. Almost. Getting a package in the mail is like Christmas. Yeah, that good.

not edible

2011-02-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

Lenny bought these little carved wood farm animals from The Country House and I am just crazy about them.

I am trying to spend more time in this room working on some new crafts for spring. Inspiration is a funny thing indeed.

oh my gosh, it's paprikash

2011-01-30T10:49:00.000-08:00

The first time I can recall eating chicken paprikash was in Detroit. A family in our church there talked about having us over for paprikash all the time. I had never even heard of paprikash, so I was rather excited by the prospect. I really enjoy trying new foods, especially if I do not have a concept of what they should be. Finally, paprikash was prepared for us and I must say, it did not dissappoint. It was chicken stewed in a tomato sauce with onions and paprika with homemade dumplings poached in the sauce and finished with a little sour cream. Delicious!

I have prepared a couple of different paprikash pots in the 8+ years since then and was excited to see another paprikash recipe in the November issue of Everyday Food. The original recipe can be found here. I made a couple of small changes - I used smoked paprika instead of sweet and once I browned the chicken, I put it in the oven on a baking sheet at 400 degrees while I was preparing the sauce. I only added the chicken to the sauce at the end and did that really just to coat it a bit. I wanted the skin to be crispy. I dislike rubbery chicken skin, or meat for that matter, and many times cooking chicken on the bone in a liquid results in just that.

I thought it might be fun to prop my pictures to be similiar to the ones in the magazine. I am a total amatuer with a camera and I find that mimicking photos I see teaches me a bit about composition and blah, blah, blah.

Now I think it was just really unoriginal.

My husband liked this very, ver much which always makes me happy.

cooking with celebrity chefs part 1

2011-01-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is Ina's chicken stew with biscuits.

Well, almost Ina's... I made a couple of changes. I used half as many onions and I added about half a cup of diced celery. My husband and I both love this dish. It is great comfort food and tastes better the next day.

Of all the celebrity chefs, I think I enjoy Ina Garten the most. I believe she is that person she protrays herself as on her show - a rich lady with a somewhat nervous laugh who likes to cook for her husband Jeffrey and her friends. That's cool. I also adore her house - so lovely.

sour cream coffee cake

2011-01-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

A few days after I made this I went to a function where coffee cake was served, only the coffee cake served there was covered in a lot of sweet, gloppy icing piped all over the top. I prefer my coffee cake a bit more subtle.

This is wonderful served with coffee! I know. I know.

For the crumb topping:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

For the batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for cake pan
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for cake pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make topping: In a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, pecans, oats, cinnamon, and salt. With a pastry cutter or your hands, blend until butter is incorporated and mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make batter: Butter and flour an angel-food cake pan or 14-cup Bundt cake pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on high, scraping down bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition. Add sour cream and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat just until combined. With a rubber spatula, fold in pecans; transfer batter to pan. Top with crumb topping and, with a butter knife, gently fold some of topping into batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack and let cool.

it is splendid

2011-01-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

Maccaroni and cheese made from the Splendid Table's recipe for 21st Century mac and cheese sans saltines. I don't like saltines in my mac and cheese. I do however love Lynn Rosetto Kasper - I could listen to her talk about food all day.

I made the dogs a new bed

2011-01-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

I think it is safe to say that Pebbles likes it. I couldn't get a good picture of both dogs on the bed - Huck Finn is the most camera shy dog I have ever met.

I know that dog beds can be bought all sorts of places and that they are pretty cheap. I made my own since I was sick of throwing away the cheap ones. After three years of dog beds that just didn't live up to my expectations, I knew I wanted a soft but solid core - if it is just fluffy stuff it all goes to the corners leaving beagles basically sleeping on a piece of fabric on the floor surrounded by soft stuff. They don't like that. I also wanted a water and smell resistant cover under the outer cover. I think my reasoning here is pretty clear but I will tell you - beagles are nasty little creatures. Cute but nasty. I also wanted it to be durable. I wash this thing (at least) once a week so it needs to stand up to that kind of wear and tear.

I bought a length of 3 inch thick foam from Joann's. I bought it when it was on sale 50% off since it is wicked expensive. I wrapped this in quilt batting to make it softer. I used a shower curtain liner to make the interior water and smell resistant cover. This is sewn shut and is not intended to be removed. Before sewing this shut, I stuffed poly-fil in on both sides of the batting wrapped foam to make it even softer. Beagles like soft. I bought a washable decorator grade cotton fabric in a neutral print since I am a neutral kind of fabric buyer. I made the piping which was probably the longest part of this project - cutting that much fabric on the bais and piecing it together and then wrapping it and sewing with the zipper foot. I decided to make both covers gussetted to lessen the strain on the seams. All in all I am very pleased with this dog bed. I think I spent close to $75on it but if it lasts more than a year, I will come out ahead. My thinking is that I can always cut open the water and stink proof cover and restuff it and make a new cover since the foam core seems to be holding up really well. I also am considering making another bed for the living room where they currently have a basket with a blanket and trying egg crate foam bed topper for people for the core of the bed.

let's talk soup

2011-01-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that I actually kept cooked beef tenderloin in my freezer for 4 months. It's even harder to believe that I actually used it to make something after 4 months. Normally, I just trow it out after 2 months in the freezer. In these tough economic times in which we live, I am living by the motto of "waste not, want not." I also live by "live and let live" but that's another story for another blog post.

I thought it would be fun to make vegetable beef soup from the leftover meat and by fun to make I actually mean fun to eat. I love soup. Especially in the winter months. It's good, easy, filling, inexpensive and comforting.

Vegetable beef soup - 8 servings

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 stalks of celery, cleaned and sliced
1 large sweet onion, large dice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 28 ounce can of diced peeled tomatoes
6 cups of beef stock - homemade or boxed - I try to buy the low sodium stuff when I buy the boxed
1 14 ounce can of green beans, drained - I try to buy the no salt added
1 cup of uncooked, medium pasta shells
1 pound of cooked lean beef - I had tenderloin leftover from something else, but top round would work as well
1 teaspoon of herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat and add the carrots, onions, celery and herbs de Provence. Cook stiring often until tender - about 6 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and beef stock. Let this all simmer for about 15 minutes before adding the pasta shells. Add the salt and pepper. Once the shells are cooked - about 9 minutes - add the canned green beans and cooked meat and allow to warm through in the soup about 5 minutes. It's so good with crusty bread or corn bread or grilled cheese (sharp cheddar!!) sandwhiches.

the one where I endeavor to start over...

2011-01-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's a new year, so I firgure it's a chance to breath some life and love into ye olde blogge. I hope everyone had a fabulous 2010 and that 2011 is even better. 2010was a good year for my little family. We moved to a lovely new town in a lovely new state for Lenny to start work at a lovely new church. The Beagles are both healty and happy and playful and cute. While my health in 2010 was less than what I had hoped for, I managed to avoid hospital stays and that makes me happy.

Concerning food for New Year's Day, I grew up eating blackeyed peas and rice and pork chops. Lenny always had sauerkraut with potatoes and sausage. I think each is supposed to bring good luck and money which is cool. We are having the sausage with kraut and potatoes since it just seems like a good idea. I am not a huge fan of sauerkraut honestly. I can't say that I dislike it but I can only eat small amounts at a time and always with sausage and mustard. I do love mustard of all kinds. Right now we are still in our pj's watching the Rose Bowl Parade which is just carzy for us since it is noon!

I am not big on resolutions but I am going to make an attepmt to blog with more regularity this year. I am told that besides cooing I am really good at organizing and homemaking/cleaning. I take these things for granted actually. I assume that everyone knows HOW to do these things, they just choose not to do these things. I say this to say that I might start blogging more about organizing and cleaning projects along with cooking and the occassional crafty items.

making gobs of whoopie pies

2010-10-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

I've moved a lot in my life (4 states in 10 years of marriage) and I'm always enthralled by the local or regional cuisine with each move. We now live in the greater Pittsburgh area. Most notable among the cuisine here is the dentency to put french fries ON things... sandwhiches, salads, etc. It is rather good. The other day I got a sandwich with french fries on it and was given the option of a side with it. I of course picked the onions thus giving me onion rings and french fries... MWAHAHAHAAHA! Anyway, another culinary treat around here is the gob or even gob cake. Also, there are mini gobs. Gobs seem to be whoopie pies which are rather trendy right now. Only, they have never gone out of style in NW Pennsylvania. Reminds me of when Lenny served at a church in Detroit and I was helping to put out the table signs for their "Harvest Dinner" and I remarked and how chic and retro the signs were. Picture a drawing of a 1950's lady with a waistline so narrow Blondie would be jealous serving a whole turkey to her pipe smoking, arm-chair-seated husband. My comment meet with blank stares and a giggle from someone in my age group who grew up in that church. She explained to me that they were not chic and retro, these table signs were original from the 1950's. We had a good laugh at that. Ah, it all comes back around, no?

Anyway,gob cake is a thick rectagular layer cake with frosting only on the inside which is cut into squares. I have never seen a round one, yet. There is a burnt sugar gob that is wonderful. I think that was my first gob cake that I tried when we moved here. Gobs are 2-3 inch cake-like-cookies sandwiched with frosting in the middle. They are fabulous. Mini-gobs are the same as gobs but are a bite size 1 inch version. Here is my first attempt at gobs or whoopie pies if you prefer. (I do prefer whoopie pie to gob. Whoopie pie is just cuter and these are stupid cute.) These are pumpkin with a cream cheese maple filling. I plan to put chocolate chips in some of the filling when I serve these at a women's meeting tomorrow night.

Here's the recipe I used -
Pumpkin Gobs

2 cups brown sugar 2 eggs
2 cups pumpkin 1 tsp cloves, cinnamon, ginger, salt
3 cups flour baking soda, baking powder
1 cup oil and vanilla

Cream together sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Add vanilla, then add dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly and drop by tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Fill when cool.

For the cream cheese filling -
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons of maple syrup

In a mixer, fitted with a paddle, add the cream cheese. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, lemon juice and maple syrup. Beat until smooth.

overcoming my weaknesses

2010-09-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

I am feeling better but I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about biscuits. I have admitted it before that I cannot make biscuits. Until yesterday. I made these lovely, cheddar buttermilk biscuits using Ina Garten's recipe. I really do enjoy Ina Garten. Her recipes are simple, straightforward and they always work out well. These biscuits were really yummy - we had them for breakfast with soft scrambled eggs and sausage and then for lunch with turkey and provolone on them.

I followed the recipe exactly. I was shocked that there was an egg in the recipe - I canp't recall putting an egg in my biscuits before this. Maybe that is why my biscuits were always nasty... I don't know. I am just glad I found this recipe!

sick

2010-09-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am home sick for a few days with nothing to do but lay in bed and play Nancy Drew games. Beats staying in the hospital.

fabric

2010-08-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am planning to make a patchwork table runner for Thanksgiving. (Yes, I know there are a few holidays and occassions between now and then.) It is hard for a lot of people to think about Thanksgiving when it is warm outside but lately I have been thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas more often than now. I have been looking at this Martha Stewart Holiday baking magazine from last year over and over and planning which cookies to make this year and how to package them and so on and so on. It's kind of sad.

Anyway, back to the table runner - yes, those fabric there in the picture as a patchwork runner. As fabulous as it is, I don't think the orange fabric will make the final cut. Maybe... I don't know.

simple

2010-08-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

This is my first orchid. Wish me luck.

I have been thinking a lot lately about being simple. Not that I am complicated by any stretch - life has gotten a lot more simple since we moved to PA in February. I am completely off of the "earn to spend" treadmill... well, almost completely. I often feel guilty about only working part time but I know a full time job would involve a new wardrobe, perhaps a new car, hiring a housekeeper, more convenience food, more eating out, more stress, etc. I really don't want any part of it anymore. More money would be nice but not at that cost.

I don't know where I am heading with my thoughts on simplicity but I know I am interested in the concept of owning less than 100 personal items and having only what I need versus what I want. So, this post is certainly to be continued...

a sewing box and a month long commitment

2010-07-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lenny brought this lovely vintage sewing box home for me. An elderly lady in our parish passed away back in April and her family are just now sorting her belongings. Apparently, she was a crafter and a sewer. This was among her possessions and her family insisted on giving it to Lenny for me to have. They are rather fond of my husband. It was full of sundry items - old wooden spools of thread, a lot of elastic, a dollar sign money clip (alas, no money was in it) and several pieces of candy. Yeah. I have since cleaned it out and I it is just crazy how very much I am in love with this thing. Certain mid-century items are so fabulous and wonderfully made. Another mid-century item I would love to own is one of those vinyl coated woven laundry hampers. Oh, and a martini!

So, last month I kept track of how much money we spent eating out. It's crazy stupid how much we eat out... especially considering that I am a trained chef. Sigh. I hope this next statement isn't terribly arrogant sounding but it's not like any of the restaurants we eat out at are preparing anything that I can't do equally well or even better. We usually eat out for the following reasons - 1) I don't feel well and do not feel like cooking. 2) Poor planning.

So, my challenge is one month, no eating out. We do have a scheduled lunch about mid-month so that will break the rule right there but if we can make the remainder of the month that would be great. So far, so good but it is only July 2nd. We had meat loaf with mashed potatoes and Caesar salad last night and Italian sausage with soft polenta and fresh tomato sauce tonight. Both are items I normally do not make but love to eat. Oh, the meat loaf was really awesome grilled this morning for breakfast with mashed potato pancakes and poached eggs. Sound strange but it was really awesome.

I am also going to make an effort to post more of the everyday type of food we eat in hopes that I will have a log (haha, a weblog if you will...) of recipes that we enjoy.

well, hello gorgeous!

2010-06-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

Is there anything quite as lovely as peonies in your kitchen window sill?

I don't think so.

frogs who don't fit it

2010-05-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

So, I bought this frog pillow about 2 years ago. I really like it but it just does not really go anywhere in my house. It's cute but it's just not me. So, I decided to recover it with a patchwork pillow front.

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, mostly. It is a little less sophisticated than I would have liked but that is ok. The back is brown with small white polka dots on it. I have never put welting on a pillow or anything else for that matter. It was a pain in butt until I figured out how to do it and then it was pretty easy. I would be a little embarassed for anyone to take this cover off and look at the inside of the pillow since I had to run the corners through the machine at least 4 times each. I trimmed them up after the fact but it is still rather "stitchy" on the inside.

It definately goes better with my house now. I think I will put it in the nearly ready guest room.

Dad

2010-05-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

My father passed away February 22, 2005. He was 66 years old. Today would have been his 70th birthday. The picture above is from his first birthday. He had a pony at his party.

I am not sure if I should say happy birthday or rest in peace. Maybe I should just say this - not a day goes by that I don't wish I had known you better.

painting the guest room with Pebbles

2010-05-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

She was very helpful!

I totally want this...

2010-04-24T17:35:00.001-07:00

It's a migracap for migraine sufferers. It provided cold therapy and total blackout - both of which I want when I have a bad migraine. I normally put a frozen gel pack (affectionately known as my freezy pack) and a pillow on my head. The husband worries that I will suffocate one day. The only downside I can see on this is that it cost $78. Yikes!

Opening (birth)Day 2010

2010-04-21T15:33:00.001-07:00

Lenny bought me 2 tickets to Opening Day for my birthday earlier this month. I decided to take him with me. It just seemed the right thing to do. I like to joke about who I should take with me to the game whenever he gives me tickets for an occasion. It's just fun. I think he always knows I will take him with me. I think.

This was not, unfortunately, to see my beloved Detroit Tigers but our new home team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. I love baseball enough to not really care who is playing. I also love ballpark food. Not the posh stuff served in the suites. No, the real ball park food - hot dogs, peanuts, french fires, beer, soft baked pretzels... you know, junk food. Here is my first baseball hot dog of the year, loaded with relish, onion, mustard and ketchup (so I don't have to really taste the hot dog) and that is PNC Park in the background.

H is for Huck

2010-03-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

I have long known that my boy beagle is built like a football player. He now has a varsity sweater to prove it. I am so proud of him for lettering. What a good boy!

I used the pattern from Martha Stewart's website. I decided to put just one letter on my sweaters (P is for Pebbles... or it will be) instead of spelling out dog - I know my dogs are dogs, so I don't need to identify them as such. (Completely tongue in cheek here, I thought "dog" was pretty cute on the sweaters for Martha's French bulldogs). Since I am making one in blue for each dog, I want to be able to tell them (the sweaters, not the dogs...) apart. I am not sure why I want to tell them apart, but I do. Anyway, my first thought was to put the letters on the chest but my husband suggested I put them on the back at the haunch area.

I purchased all the supplies for this project at Joann's except for the elastic cord and cord stopper which are recycled from an old fleece sweater of mine. This project took about 45 minutes from start to finish. Polar fleece was on sale 40% off, so this was a pretty cheap project.

For my Maryland friends who are curious about my new house in PA, the picture of Huck in the sweater was taken in the church office which is downstairs in the basement. The picture of just the sweater was taken on my living room floor. I promise that pictures of the new house will follow soon!

moving

2010-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

We really are moving into this lovely house next month! Wow!

they're coming for you, Barbara...

2009-12-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

I could spend a couple of paragraphs gassing on about where I have been and what a terrible, naughty little blogger I am but I think we are all above that, right? I mean, really.

Ah, owls. Aren't they cute. I made one of these a few months ago for my friend Heather and now I am seem to be making them in large batches to sell in a local shop and I actually listed some on Etsy! Who am I, right? Generally, I look at my handmade items and I think that they are just not really worth selling and I seriously lack confidence on this topic. Fortunately, there has been a very positive response to these, so I am feeling a little better.

The title of this post is from Night of the Living Dead -- one of my favorite, very scary movies. I usually don't go in for seriously scary movies but that one is a favorite. The husband and I get all snugged up under the covers and watch it together. It's the best. Every time I look at all these owls all together, I think of that part where Johny is teasing his sister Barbara in the graveyard, saying, "they're coming for you, Barbara... they're coming for you..." I just love it. Of course Johnny gets eaten by a zombie but he really had it coming what with teasing his sister like that.

I guess it's time to breath some new life back into the old blog.

bells are ringing

2009-09-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Two very dear friends of mine are getting married on October 10th. No, they are not getting married to each other, they are each getting married to someone else. It's a tad bit confusing but I am so overwhelmingly happy for the both that I held one party for both of them to share!

Whenever someone I know gets married, I always find myself reflecting on my own wedding day and my marriage in general. I don't know if that makes me self centered but I suppose it is natural to some extent. Honestly, my wedding day is really the first major life milestone that I really, honestly felt like a different person afterward. Graduation didn't make my any different, really. I think it is because the wedding ceremony itself if what makes one technically married. Right? Walking in a graduation doesn't earn the diploma, the years of schooling that proceeded are what's important. The wedding ceremony for me really looked to the future that we would share together as husband and wife, not back at the time we spent dating, so I supposed that has something to do with my feelings.

My wedding day was a sunny, windy Tuesday in March and I recall it as one of the happiest days I remember. I wish all the best to my friends and their future husbands -- lots of love, laughter, and companionship.

Ok, enough of my musings. I promised folks at the party recipes for the items I made. Here is the menu and some recipes. I will post more later.

Lemon pesto goat cheese dip with crudites
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with marinated feta cheese
Hummus with pita
Chicken kabobs marinated in yogurt and coriander
Roasted shrimp scampi
Sherry and mixed berry trifle

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with marinated feta cheese
1 7-to 8-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 pound large cherry tomatoes

Toss cubed feta, oil, shallot, and oregano in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the tops off of 24 tomatoes. Scoop out tomato pulp with melon baller or small spoon. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on serving plate.

Stuff hollowed cherry tomatoes with marinated feta. Drizzle with additional olive oil.

I thought these were really very good! I think I got this recipe from Bon Appetit like eons ago and it originally included a slice of kalamata olive in each tomato.

Lemon pesto goat cheese dip with crudites

10 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup homemade or purchased pesto
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
Assorted vegetables (I used cremini mushrooms, red pepper, and broccoli)

Blend cheese, sour cream, 1/4 cup pesto, lemon juice, and lemon peel in processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl.

Sherry and mixed berry trifle
1 1/2 cups dry sherry
7 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pound of fresh strawberries, ashed and sliced
2 pints of fresh blueberries
3 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Fresh raspberries, for garnish, optional
Mint leaves, for garnish, optional
1 angel food or pound cake (really, you can buy this already prepared at the bakery)cut into 1 inch cubes

Place the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and remaining 1 cup sherry into the top of a double boiler. Whisk until completely combined. Place the top pan over simmering water (do not let water touch the bottom of the top pan). With a wooden spoon, stir over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until the custard is quite thick, about the consistency of mayonnaise. Let cool. Whip the cream with the confectioners' sugar. Take half of the whipped cream and add it to the cooled custard, stirring well. To assemble: In the bottom of a trifle bowl layer 1/3 of the cake cubes, 1/3 of the berries, and 1/3 of the custard. Continue layering, ending with custard. Take the remaining whipped cream and completely cover the top of the custard. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Serve with additional whipped cream, fresh berries and a sprig of mint, if desired.

sick as...

2009-08-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

I wonder where the saying, "sick as a dog" originated? My dad was really good at knowing the origins of cliches -- especially if they were of military origins. Why not sick as a beaver or sick as an ox? Hmmmm... I suppose I could Google it but it just seems to require too much effort just now.

I am sick as a dog. Not a happy little beagle in a basket sick but miserable, homeless stray dog sick. I haven't felt like cooking and even if I did, I don't feel like eating. It's very sad. My stomach is hurting like crazy and I have a constant low grade fever for a week now. I will see my doctor for the 4th time in a week today. Sigh. I dread the thought of going to the hospital because frankly it is a horrid place full of sick people and it really smells terrifically bad.

Happy birthday Heather!

2009-08-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

My fabulous friend Heather had a birthday last week. I made her this reusable grocery bag. This was a rather daring move on my part since Heather makes handbags. I was feeling a little intimidated but I was betting she would like it and that it was something she would not make for herself. I only made her some linen produce bags to go with it and she seemed to really appreciate those. I hope to see her using this bag at the local farmer's market this Saturday!!

Update - I should mention that I did take some heavy inspiration on this (especially the polka dots) from Posy Gets Cozy but did not use her pattern. I am sure it is fabulous but I didn't think I needed a pattern for something like this... I just used an exsisting, ugly reusable bag that I got from the store for the pattern. I would rather figure it out on my own than spend $8 on a pattern.

and then you stir it some more

2009-07-27T10:37:00.001-07:00

Few foods are as comforting to me as risotto. It is comforting to eat and for me, I find it terrifically comforting to prepare. I know folks seem to carry of about how terribly difficult risotto is to make but I think that is to scare away any would be future risotto chefs from discovering the immense pleasure of eating homemade risotto. I think they want you to spend 25 bucks a plate for it at the local Italian bistro!

The secret to making really good risotto is to add the liquid slowly and stir it continuously. Yes, continuously. The jar of arborio rice from which I prepared the pictured risotto called for it to cook for 30 minutes and to have 3 cups of liquid added to 1 cup of rice. My cooking time was closer to 45 minutes and I added closer to 8 cups of liquid. I needed substantially more liquid since I had other items in there besides the rice... like mushrooms, shallots, etc. Much like when you make chicken and rice, it requires much more liquid than the normal liquid to rice ratio of 2 to 1. Same idea here.

I do not recommend trying to saute or boil something while stirring the risotto. I prepared a roast in the oven to accompany this since it really did not require any attention from me. I wanted to give the risotto my full attention. The results are well worth the effort.

Mushroom risotto

8 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound fresh white and crimini mushrooms, sliced, set aside about 1 cup of these
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, divided
Salt and pepper
1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms, wiped of grit
1 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

Heat the chicken broth in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Pour 1 cup of the hot chicken broth over the dried porcinni mushroom. Let stand for about 30 minutes, and drain reserving the liquid.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic, cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms (fresh and dried, reserving about a cup of the fresh mushrooms), and herbs. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly browned, season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and stir quickly until it is well-coated and opaque, 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook until it is nearly all evaporated. Stir in the reserved mushroom liquid. Now, with a ladle, add 1 cup of the broth and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Add the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time. Continue to cook and stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more. The risotto should be creamy, but not mushy at all. Like rice pudding. Stir in Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons of butter.

In a separate pan, saute the reserved mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of butter and add them at the end when the risotto is cooked. This gives multiple layers of mushrooms through the dish.

Enjoy this with beef or roast chicken or all by itself.

this dog

2009-07-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

This dog, Pebbles, is a sweet, silly little thing. She has taken to hiding between the sham pillow and the other bed pillows every morning while I am in the shower. I come pack into the bedroom and wonder where that silly dog could possibly be. The tip of her tail gives her away every time.

She did not seem to mind me moving the pillow a bit and taking a couple of pictures. She does love the camera.

The camera does love her at well.

I took the pillow completely off and she rolled on her back to show me how submissive she really is! A truly submission puppy would not have gotten in the bed in the first place but would have gotten in her crate like a good little girl.

But what can I do?

I love this dog.

blog! blog!

2009-07-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

A recent conversation between my better half and me...

Better half: "Are you ever going to blog again?"

Me: "Yes."

Better half: "..."

Me: "..."

Sometimes I have nothing to say and really not a good way to well... not say it! Sometimes I have to go on a diet and really scale back on the serious cooking. Sometimes I do that.

Until I find some inspiration, I might suggest these blogs -
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ - funny!
http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/ - compelling and amazing!
http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/ - hilarious!

2009-07-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

uh huh

2009-07-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

I just haven't really felt like blogging lately... I'm cooking really but well I just don't feel like taking pictures of food lately. I'm sure I will be back soon.

Here's a link to one of the funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcCH4dW7dLA

what a wekend

2009-06-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

My husband and I had a surprise visit from old friends and their amazing sons yesterday! Well, actually they are old friends of my husband's from grad school, but I am happy to claim them as old friends, too. They have three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and all three are smart, funny, cute, and just amazing. I was really feeling the desire for three smart, funny, cute and amazing sons yesterday. Sigh... I still have the beagles, right?!? They are at least funny, cute, and amazing.

We had a great weekend despite the terrific thunderstorms all day on Saturday. We both got some much needed rest, did some much needed housework and spent some much needed time in each others faces.

I bought some boneless, country style ribs recently at the grocery store. I was not too sure what to do with them, actually. I mean isn't a boneless pork rib really just loin meat? Anyway, I decided to braise them in beer and barbecue sauce along with some spices and tomato paste. Wow was that a winner! The beer lends richness and bitterness, the tomatoes have rich and sweet undertones and the meat was tender and very flavorful. I decided to make sandwiches on cheap, white hamburger buns since that is what I had in the house. I served the sandwiches with homemade steak fries and green beans with bacon. OK, so maybe not the healthiest meal but I never claimed to cook healthy food now did I?

I really should have used my green plates since these french fries are about the fall off the edge here but oh well.

Beer and barbecue pork ribs
2 lbs. of boneless, country style pork ribs, washed and dried well
1 bottle of beer (I used Harp ale)
1 cup of prepared barbecue sauce (I used Stubbs original)
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of yellow mustard
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon on paprika
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Heat the olive oil in an oven safe pan large enough to hold all the ribs. Salt and pepper the ribs liberally and then add to the pan. Sear the ribs on every side until golden brown - about 8 minutes total. Remove the ribs, add all the other ingredients except onions to the pan and mix well and let it come to a full bubbling boil. Add the ribs back in and place the onions on top of the ribs. Cover and put in the oven. I cooked mine for 2.5 hours at which time they were falling apart and the liquid was reduced to a thick sauce. Check on it every 30 minutes or unsure that there is enough liquid. If it evaporates too quickly, add about 1/2 cup of water or stock to it.

it's not like making shoes

2009-06-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

Peach and blueberry cobbler must be one of the greatest things ever. Not too sweet and the blueberries turn the filling a lovely ruby red. Oh, and with a little bit of vanilla bean ice cream... it's heaven I tell you!

Peach and blueberry cobbler
8 peaches, peeled and sliced, about 6 cups
1 pint of blueberries
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar, divided, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for skillet
1/4 cup of heavy cream, plus more for brushing

Directions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl add the peaches, blueberries, water, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon and mix well to coat the peaches and blueberries evenly; set aside.

Prepare the dumplings: Into food processor add the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter into small pieces. Add it to the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand. Mix just until the dough comes together. Add the 1/4 cup of cream. Don't overwork; the dough should be slightly sticky but manageable.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Add the peach and blueberry mixture and cook gently until heated through, about 5 minutes. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls over the warm peach mixture. There can be gaps, the dough will puff up and spread out as it bakes. Brush the top with some heavy cream and sprinkle with some sugar; put it into the oven on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Cook for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling.

cookie soldiers

2009-06-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Seeing all these little peanut butter blossoms all lined up makes me smile. I feel much this way when I see the pens in the stationery store... rows and rows of pens, neatly lined up by color, like disciplined soldiers ready to march.

I made these cookies for my fabulous friend Heather. I must admit that I have never made this type of cookie before last night. I never much cared for these when I had them as prepared for the church cookie walk. This is really strange since i love peanut butter and chocolate. I found them to be hard and a real challenge to eat. When I was plopping the kisses into the cookies last night, I recalled reading over on Sarah's blog that peanut blossoms are really phenomenal right out of the oven so I gave that a try. Whoa doggies, that was really amazing. I mean, really amazing!

This recipe is from the Hershey's website and can be found here. I did not make any substitutions or changes to the recipe. Even cooled, these were not hard but rather stayed nice and chewy including the kiss in the center. Oh, so tasty.

puppy love

2009-06-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

I was very happy for my husband to come home yesterday.

A week is a long time to be apart from the love of your life.

I made fried chicken and waffles for him for dinner to celebrate.

We had a nice quiet evening together.

I think this little tri-colored lady was even happier to see him than I.

Well, maybe not.

table for one, please part 3

2009-06-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days that I just feel so fatigued. I woke up feeling completely worn out. Ugg.. I hate that feeling. The bad part about fatigue and me is that it could be nothing or it could be an early symptom of an infection or it could be a side effect of the medications I take or it could be a Behcets flare. Sigh. I hope this time it's nothing.

I have been doing really well not eating junk food or eating out while my chubby hubby is away. I can't make any promises for tonight since I just want to crawl into bed. I had pasta Alfredo last night. I recall a young chef I worked with calling Alfredo sauce "a triple bypass on a plate" which is rather amusing. I love creamy things, despite their artery clogging reputation and I cannot remember the last time I had pasta Alfredo. It is such a simple yet rich dish.

1/4 pound dried penne pasta or pasta of your choice
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, for garnish, optional

Directions

Cook the pasta in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8 minutes for my penne).

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute until tender. Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 7 minutes. The bubbles will get really big as the cream thickens. It should coat the back of a spoon and be nice and thick.

Add the pasta straight from the water with a slotted spoon and the add half of the Parmesan and toss to combine thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Serve immediately.

table for one, part 2

2009-06-10T06:43:00.001-07:00

Wednesday already? Seems this week is going rather quickly. I was really dreading spending the week without my husband but it hasn't been too terrible, actually. Lenny jokes with me that saying something isn't too terrible isn't really much of an endorsement and he is certainly right about that! Can you imagine a book jacket with a review as follows - "It's not too terrible" raves Kelly!

Speaking of books, I am reading Valley of the Dolls right now and while it is certainly more ummm... well, it has more sex in it than my usual reading, I am enjoying it! I was determined to finish it last night. I must have read 150 pages but just could not stay awake for the final 25-30 pages. Oh, well, I have a date with that book tonight. Other than much reading, housework and playing "big dog" for the beagles, I am keeping myself busy watching the BBC's latest version of Robin Hood and I did watch the Wizard of Oz the other night. I love that movie very much.

We have had absolutely the most terrific thunderstorms on the eastern shore of Maryland the past two nights. The only trouble with thunderstorms is that the beagles are afraid! Ok, so maybe I am a little afraid, too!

I made shrimp with tomatoes and soft polenta for myself for dinner and was really rather pleased with it (now there's an endorsement). I got the recipe from Everyday Food. I had enough soft polenta left to have it for breakfast with a poached egg, so it was like totally a win-win situation.

I cut this recipe in half but ate all the shrimp and tomatoes but only half of the polenta, so I don't really know if this recipe would feed four for dinner. I did not consider what I ate to be more than a normal serving.

Shrimp and tomatoes over soft polenta from Everyday Food
1 1/2 pounds frozen medium shrimp, thawed, peeled, and deveined (tails removed)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, in juice

Soft Polenta
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons butter

1. Season shrimp generously with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add shrimp; cook until opaque throughout, turning occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining tablespoon oil to pan; cook garlic and red-pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and their juice along with 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have broken down and become saucy, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make Soft Polenta. Just before serving, stir reserved shrimp into tomatoes. Divide polenta among four bowls; spoon shrimp and tomatoes over polenta.

Soft Polenta
1. In a large saucepan over high heat, bring 4 cups water with 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper to a boil. Very gradually, add cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, whisking often, until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in butter until smooth.

table for one, please

2009-06-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

My husband is gone for a full week. He left yesterday and will not return until Sunday, June 14. It's just me and the beagles. There is a temptation to eat junk food every night while standing in the kitchen. I am going to make an effort to cook every night for myself and sit down in the dining room to eat. This is Linguine alla Carbonara and it was absolutely delicious, rich, and decadent. I was feeling sorry for myself in my loneliness and this did the trick, you know? I used a recipe from Nigella Lawson but cut it back significantly since she calls for 1 pound of pasta per serving! Yikes! I cannot imagine the belly ache I would have if I ate that much pasta in one sitting. Wow.

There is something about cooking for one and eating alone that is really rather strange to me. I suppose I view food and a community endevor and not just something one does for nutrition. Eating Linguine alla Carbonara alone seems a little creepy... like, I know I have a problem now that I indulge in good food when I am alone. Having said that, I am not sure what else to say here.

Recipe time?

The loneliest pasta in the world, modified from Nigella Lawson's recipe so I didn't have a terrible belly ache from eating too much

1/4 pound of linguine
4 ounces cubed pancetta (rind removed)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth
2 eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/8 (just a splash, really) cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly ground nutmeg

Directions

Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta.
In another large pan that will fit the pasta later, cook the pancetta cubes in the oil until crispy but not crunchy. Pour over the white wine or vermouth and let it bubble away so that, after a few minutes, you have a small amount of salty winey syrup left. Take the pan off the heat.
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, Parmesan, cream, and pepper. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, but since you want it kept al dente start checking it 2 minutes before end of the recommended cooking time.
When the pasta is done, remove approximately 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. Put the pan with the bacon cubes back on the heat and add the drained pasta, tossing well to coat with the syrupy pancetta. Take the pan off the heat again and add the eggs and cheese mixture, swiftly tossing everything to mix. Thin with pasta water, if needed. Grind over some more pepper and grate over the nutmeg to serve.

a proper feast

2009-06-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

My husband asked me to make Tandoori chicken. He even went to the store for all the ingredients. Of course he brought home strawberry yogurt by mistake instead of plain which made me giggle. Can you imagine tandoori chicken made with strawberry yogurt instead of plain? Yes, very tasty indeed. I have never made tandoori chicken before and was surprised by how easy it was.

I used a recipe from Savoring India by Julie Shahni which was really fabulous. The recipe is available online here. I grilled mine over charcoal (there is an option to broil it instead). Both beagles were really dialed in on the whole concept of grilling and then were totally enraptured by the smell of the chicken. Speaking of the chicken, it was tender, smoky, moist, flavorful... just perfect really. It wasn't red the way tandoori chicken is in restaurants but that is OK with me. I made homemade naan, orzo and rice pilaf, and hummus to serve with it. It was truly a feast and we were in heaven. Now I just need to find a use for 32 ounces of strawberry yogurt.

wicked, bad, evil, naughty blogger!

2009-05-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I helped a friend prepare for a dinner party at her house. Her son's bassett hound stood up on its hind legs and licked the potatoes that were on the counter. She exclaimed, "wicked, bad, evil, naughty dog!" at the poor pooch. I was in the dining room and didn't see what Winnie the hound had done but rather I just heard a rather proper, almost British exclamation of "wicked, bad, evil, naughty dog!" I laughed myself silly. She also once called Winnie a miserable cur. I think there is something to be said for creative insults to animals who misbehave. I always borrow from the book Rebbecca and call my beagles "filthy beggars". Not the most original but really, they are filthy beggars.

Ok, so I have been a very wicked, bad, evil, naughty blogger lately. I have been cooking and I have been eating... I just have not been blogging about it at all. I guess I am streaky (you know, I get on a good steak and then fizzle out) when it comes to blogging. I fear I am streaky when it comes to everything in life. Sigh.

I made chicken bouillabaisse recently. Here it is -

Very delicious and a lot of fun to make. Some foods are just more fun to cook than others and I would say this one is way up there. I used Jacques Pepin's recipe from Food and Wine and it can be found here. I did not use the Pernod or the tarragon at the end since I liked the more subtle anise flavor from the fennel seed. I also took my chicken off the bone when it came time to serve since I couldn't see fighting with the bone at the dining room table. If you make this, be sure to make the rouille which is a homemade garlic mayonnaise. It is excellent and is guaranteed to give you garlic breath for a week!

a little alliteration or life lessons learned

2009-05-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

The following is a sample of things I have learned through experience over the years.

Ahem-

1. You can indeed teach an old dog new tricks.
2. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.
3. Cats hate water and the people who put them in the water.
4. I cannot eat whatever I want and wear single digit sized clothing.
5. I will always love my family no matter what.
6. Curtains really do add a lot to a room.
7. Having a creative hobby is very important to my mental wellness.
8. Even a crazy, super neat freak, introverted, silly, ultra-conservative yet completely irreverent girl can find a man who loves her in this world!
9. Having a pet (or two) is a very good thing.
10.Beef and broccoli, no matter how tasty it is, will never be photogenic.

Beef and broccoli
Serves 4
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup beef stock
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (careful! it's hot!)
Ground pepper
1 1/4 pounds top sirloin, cut diagonally across the grain into 1/2-inch-by-3-inch strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 head broccoli, florets separated into bite-size pieces
1 medium onion slice
4 white mushrooms, sliced
Coarse salt
In a large, shallow bowl, mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce and sarachi sauce, Add meat; toss to coat. Let marinate 15 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. In two batches, cook meat until browned, turning once, about 2 minutes per batch. Remove meat.
In same skillet, fry broccoli in remaining oil over high heat until bright green and crisp, tossing often, 2 minutes. Add onions and mushrooms to pan and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes.
Stir together remaining soy sauce, beef stock, and cornstarch, add to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 30 seconds. Return meat to pan; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with jasmine rice and some egg rolls that your husband picked up on the way home!

birds in Florence

2009-04-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Chicken Florentine is one of those dishes that was so popular in the 1960s. I wasn't alive in the 60s but I have it on good authority that this was popular back then. I think that usually Chicken Florentine is served as either something rolled up or made into a casserole and served at church potluck suppers around the Midwest. Don't get me wrong, I love a good church potluck in the Midwest. I just wanted something a little different -- something that was really about the chicken and the spinach and not canned soup and egg noodles. I also did not want to roll up a boneless chicken breast with a paltry amount of spinach inside that mostly wants to ooze out to freedom on a bake sheet. So, this is chicken breast, seared and then poached in a cream sauce, the cream sauce is finished with sauteed spinach and Parmesan cheese, and then poured over the chicken, topped with more Parmesan and then browned under the broiler. All in all, very tasty indeed.

just like heaven

2009-04-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I don't often think about what heaven is like. I think heaven is so far removed from what I can conceptualize I just decide to leave it as something or rather someplace to look forward to. Today, I just hope there is short bread, chocolate, and toffee in heaven. Oh, and a strong cup of coffee with real cream and sugar.

Caramel toffee crunch bars
(a recipe I have but cannot cite the source from which I got it)

1 1/2 cups of AP flour
1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

6 ounces of milk chocolate - finely chopped
3/4 cup of Heath toffee bits

For the base: 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. instant espresso powder or finely ground instant coffee
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 sticks (8oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 oz. bittersweet or premium milk chocolate, finely chopped

For the topping:
6 oz. bittersweet or premium milk chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup Heath toffee bits

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line the pan with foil and butter the foil. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, coffee, salt and cinnamon. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another three minutes or until the mixture is light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and turn off the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. You’ll have a very heavy, very sticky dough. Scrape the dough into the buttered pan and, with the spatula and your fingertips, press it into a thin, even layer. I have to flour my finger tips to pull this off.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the base is bubbly. It will look as though it is struggling to pull away from the side of the pan. Transfer the pan to a rack and turn off the oven.

Scatter the chocolate evenly over the top of the hot base and pop the pan back into the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, until the chocolate is soft. Remove from oven and immediately spread chocolate over bars, using offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the toffee bits over the chocolate and press them down lightly with your fingertips. Place the baking pan on a rack to cool to room temperature.

If, by the time the bars are cool, the chocolate has not set, refrigerate them briefly to firm the chocolate. Carefully lift out of the pan, using foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Trim the edges if they seem a bit thick. Cut about 54 bars, each about 2 inches by 1 inch, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Resist the temptation to eat it all.

curry house

2009-04-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

When I was a student in culinary school, I very much wanted to learn to make food that was outside of my culinary microcosm. I think I have said before that I turned my nose up at much of my culinary heritage which was southern, country cooking. I have of course come to my senses now and I embrace all kinds of food. Thinking back to my younger years, I recall a group of students took a trip to China and since I was dead broke, I did not get to go. I listened to their stories and looked at their pictures and video tape with much envy. I still have not been to China - heck, I've not been anywhere really. I do feel a longing to travel -- see the world, taste the food, etc. Far too much conspires against me in that regard. Far too much.

In this grisly day and age I find myself living, I think it foolish to dwell too long on what I do not have and instead look admiringly at what I do have. Yes, yes, I know it is all together hokey to say, but chin up, every cloud has a silver lining and all that!

I made Chicken Tikka Masala which, I believe, is not real Indian food but rather a creation from London curry houses. I find it utterly fascinating that different cultures have migrated from their homeland and develop a new type of cuisine in their new home. Like Italian-Americans and Chinese-Americans cook, serve and eat food that is not Italian or Chinese but is a new type of cuisine that uses food available in America and seeks to please a more American palette. I cannot be alone in this. There must be a Facebook group for people who are fascinated by the evolution of ethnic cuisine away from its country of origin, yes? Perhaps I will start one.

Back to the Chicken Tikka Masala. It is basically a dry rubbed spiced chicken, coated in yogurt and garlic, cooked and then combined with a Masala sauce. It's really very tasty and different. I also made curried peas and homemade pita bread to serve with it. I used the basic bread dough from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day to make the pita. That book really is amazing. I should have made the naan as demonstrated on the web page but did not really think of it.

For the Chicken Tikka Masala, I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen that you can get for free by registering on their website. I understand that they are rather picky about folks posting their recipes on the web, so I will just leave the link.

Here is the Curried Peas recipe -
2 tablesppons of olive oil
1 small Vidalia onion, diced fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
1/2 cut of chicken broth
1/2 cup of plain Greek strained, full fat yogurt - I like this one
cracked black pepper

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, curry powder, and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in peas and cook, uncovered, until peas are tender, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the yogurt,and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

hoot, hoot

2009-04-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

I made this little owl for my fabulous friend Heather. The story behind how I came to make this owl is an interesting study in something I like to call, "It's a small world-wide-web after all!" I have followed a blog called "The Scottish Cow" for a little while now. Unfortunately, it has not been updated in sometime. Andrew is busy making beer, I think. From there, I linked to a blog called "Looking In", which is fabulous in an understated, unassuming way. So, from Looking In, I followed a comment to "Polka Dot Bug" who made some really cute owls of her own... turns out Polka Dot Bug is the Scottish Cows wife??!! Yes. Small world, huh? After looking at the picture of the darling owls she made, I was inspired to make my very own original owl for my friend who loves owls. Got all that? Good!

I played around with making my own pattern and I think he is pretty cute, if I do say so myself. His name is Ollie the Owl and obviously he likes trees and is not nocturnal.

it's my party

2009-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Why yes, that is a Pepperidge Farm chocolate fudge 3-layer cake, now with chocolate confetti topping! What can I say, I did not want to make my own birthday cake this year. Lenny made me a cake from scratch one year when we were first married and I couldn't believe the amount of chocolate he managed to get all over the house. Yes, all over the house.

I had a great birthday really. We had cake and ice cream and then Lenny beat me at games! Five times he beat me. Geez, you would think the guy could let me win on my birthday! Losing five games in a row to my husband makes me realize that some things about me have not changed birthday after birthday. I have never been very competitive. Other things that have not changed... hmmm... I think I am as sarcastic as ever. Things that have changed (for the better) - I am much more compassionate with age and I seem to fuss over the house and like cute things more and more.

On a completely different note, I may post some pictures soon of things I have made recently. I have this odd aversion to really sharing things I've made with the world. I usually give my homemade creations away as gifts but have been encouraged by others to actually try to sell them. That is a whole new world of insecurities for me but it might be a good idea to put myself out there for a little vulnerability and see what happens.

one pan cooking

2009-04-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

My husband was completely underwhelmed by this dish. He said he just wasn't in the mood for shrimp or broccoli so I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't like this at all since it is roasted shrimp and broccoli. I was absolutely crazy in love with this dish! The lemon, the spices, the fact that it is roasted in one pan! Washing up was so easy, you know? Ok, so I did make a pot of jasmine rice to go with it but really, a fabulous meal for two dirty pans is a complete miracle in my house!

Now, if only I could convince Lenny to love this dish.

Roasted Shrimp with Broccoli
Serves 4

1 pound broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot chili powder
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined - I took the tails off, too. I hate to have to work for my food once it is cooked!
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
Lemon wedges, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss broccoli with 2 tablespoons oil, coriander, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chili powder. In a separate bowl, combine shrimp, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

2. Spread broccoli in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Add shrimp to baking sheet and toss with broccoli. Roast, tossing once halfway through, until shrimp are just opaque and broccoli is tender and golden around edges, about 10 minutes more. Serve with lemon wedges, or squeeze lemon juice all over shrimp and broccoli just before serving.

For the life of me, I cannot recall where I got this recipe. Maybe here? I know that I added the garlic to the recipe but otherwise I had it printed out without any indication of where I got it. I don't think I have ever roasted shrimp before this, brocolli definately but not shrimp. I was very impressed with the tender little pink sea creatures that resulted from roasting them.

light and airy, warm and gooey

2009-04-03T09:02:00.001-07:00

My list of favorite foods is topped by eggs and cheese. Chuck roast is on that list too, but that's a story for another day. I would be perfectly happy to eat eggs everyday of my life and cheese just makes me inexplicably happy. I just think cheese makes life better is all.

This was breakfast this morning. Friday during Lent equals no meat. Cheese omelets it is! I recall learning to make omelets in culinary school and the chef I took egg cookery from (yes, egg cookery was its own class. Heaven for me!) emphasizing that a proper omelet should never have any brown on it. Never. He was right, of course since brown on eggs equals burnt flavor, no matter how subtle. A good cook should be able to taste even a subtle scorching on an egg. Also, according to my chef instructor, an omelet is never flipped. Regardless of all that food snobbery, the finished flavor of a delicate cheese omelet is amazing, I think.

My husband and always call cheese omelets "omelet du fromage" in honor of his little brother, Josh. Josh visited us about 5 years ago and had apparently seen the episode of Dexter's Lab where Dexter endeavors to learn French from a record (do kids even know what records are?) while sleeping but the record gets stuck on "omelet du fromage" and that was all he could say the next day. Josh walked around our house saying "omelet du fromage" until I thought I would go mad with wanting a cheese omelet! Ah, the cheese omelet, one more fabulous culinary creation associated with Napoleon. Wouldn't it be fun to compile all of the foods associated with different historical figures? call it "Cooking History" or something like that.

Cheese omelet
3 large eggs (I know, a lot of eggs but we are not eating any meat or wheat products)
1/8 cup of heavy cream - really just a splash
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
a few fine grinds of black pepper - white pepper is better, if you have it
1/4 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tablespoon of butter

Heat a non-stick pan (for a tri-folded French omelet, I use a 9 inch pan, so a Western omelet that is folded in half only, I use a 6 inch egg pan)with the butter over medium heat. Don't heat the pan and then add the butter or the butter may color brown which in turn will color the omelet brown. Whisk the eggs with the cream and salt and pepper. Once the butter is foamy and melted add the egg mixture. Using a heat proof, rubber spatula swirl the eggs around and move the pan back and forth gently. Very gently, you don't want to wear the eggs, you want to eat them. Once the edges begin to set, lift the edge and tilt the pan to pour the uncooked liquid under the omelet as it cooks... do this all around over and over until you do not have any liquid left. Add the cheese right down the center and then fold one side over the cheese. Slide the omelet folded side first onto a plate and use the pan to flip the other side over for a French omelet. Really, if you have a nice non-stick pan that isn't too hot, this should be super easy.

There are all sorts of toppings possibly, more cheese, spring onions, chives, etc, etc. I was in the mood for a cheese omelet... just the delicate balance or the light and airy eggs and the warm and gooey melted sharp cheddar. Maybe we''ll have these for dinner tonight, too!

Anniversary Strawberry Pavlova

2009-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my 9th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe it has been nine years already. I can honestly say that I love my husband more today than the day I married him. I am a better person today than I was nine years ago, because of him. I really didn't know my husband all that well when we got married but he really did sweep me off my feet. Such a romantic, that man! I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and that together we would be just fine. We had a small wedding in Tennessee. I lived in Ohio, he was in grad school in Boston, my family was in Florida and his family was divided between Ohio and Indiana. Tenneessee seemed like a good place to marry. We thought about eloping but then decided to invite family. I am glad we did. The wedding pictures with my dad are some of the last pictures I have of him.

The picture above is the back of my very wrinkled dress and veil. I loved those little rosettes; they were the only embellishment on an off white, matte satin, a-line dress. I loved that simple dress so much.

For our anniversary I made a strawberry Pavlova. I know that Pavlova is made with raspberries but strawberries just sounded better. I know Ina Garten makes this with mixed berries and calls it "Chantilly meringue with mixed berry sauce" or something like that. Strawberry Pavlova is so much easier to say, I think. We really enjoyed this! Pavlova is a very grown up dessert since the flavors and textures are rather sophisticated. I love it. I did not give up on my sugar free and wheat free decisions, since I made this whole thing with Splenda. Wow, I love that stuff but it is super expensive!

Pavlova
5 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup Splenda or fine sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups very cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
zest from 1 orange - divided in two
1 lb. fresh strawberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup splenda

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. It is important that the bowl is clean of any fat or the meringue won't fluff and rise correctly. I sometimes wipe the bowl with vinegar to be extra sure. Add 1 cup of the Splenda and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Spread this into a 10 inch circle onto the parchment paper. It will be about 3 inches thick.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringue is dry and crisp. Turn off the heat and allow the meringue to cool in the oven for about 4 hours. If it cools in oven this way, it will get and stay crisp. The mantra for meringue when I was in culinary school was "dry and crisp but never brown" I think Splenda browns more easily than sugar because this browned in about 45 minutes but was not dry.

Meanwhile, cut the strawberries in half or for large ones in quarters. Combine about half of the strawberries and the water and Splenda in a small sauce pan along with half of the orange zest and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash with a potato masher. I think I should call my potato masher just a masher since I mash everything with it except for potatoes. Cool this sauce completely and then stir in the remaining strawberries.

I like to put the bowl and the whisk into the freezer for about a half hour before whipping the cream since a very cold bowl, whisk and cream will make very nice, fluffy whipped cream. Whip the cream with an electric mixer with a whisk. When it starts to thicken, add the Splenda, vanilla and orange zest and continue to whip until you have stiff peaks.

To serve, remove the parchment from the meringue (it should peel right off) and spread the whipped cream on it. Top with the strawberry sauce and enjoy! By the way, this doesn't keep well at all, so enjoy ALL of it with someone you love!

it's coming!

2009-03-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should be this excited about Easter but what my mind is really fixated on this week is baseball. Opening day is April 6 and although I am not going and I did not purchase "Extra Innings" this year (so I have no way of watching my beloved Detroit Tigers) I remain rather excited!

Opening Day in Detroit was always a treat despite the less than cooperative weather that Michigan could cook up for Spring. I have not been to Opening Day since we have moved from Detroit. It just doesn't feel right. What I think I miss most of all is going to games in Detroit in May and June when the weather is warm but not too hot. We usually sat in the cheap seats. Almost always we were early enough to watch batting practice and eat our fill of junk food at Johnny Rocket's. I can remember the feel of the sun on my face and the smell of a myriad of pork products wafting down from the concession stands. Then there was the game itself and my passion of keeping score. I have not the words.

Ok, so now I should think about Easter.

alternate morality and chicken with leeks and goat cheese

2009-03-25T06:22:00.001-07:00

I am actually still cooking. I mean, a girl does have to eat during Lent. I am off sugar completely and actually not eating any starchy vegetables or any wheat products. I must admit that while I miss the comfort of carbohydrates, I do feel better off of the sugar. The trouble with me and sugar is that the more I eat of it, the more I want to eat of it. This probably means that I actually have a real problem with sugar, yes?

I often think that eating healthy and being "green" have become the new virtues that Americans recognize publicly. I am somehow stuck in the Victorian age where you can indulge in food and not recycle but please don't ever lie, cheat, or steal! I would never think of cheating on my taxes or my spouse but my diet, eh, well who cares?

I recall that two years ago during Lent I was discussing giving up sugar and whatnot with a coworker. I remember that he said, "I have a terrible sweet tooth, so it's best that I just avoid sweets altogether." I thought to myself, "WOW, what a concept! I mean I have a terrible sweet tooth, too but I FEED that baby whatever it wants." I smiled and nodded but honestly, I have never forgotten about that! All humour aside, I know that my decisions about sweets (along with some help from a certain evil medication) have caused me to put on a few pounds in the last year and a half.

All that aside, I made this dish recently. It was most tasty! I got the idea from a magazine that I cannot recall just now. I get a couple of cooking magazines and I must admit that I never actually cook the recipes in the magazines. The magazines remind me or inspire me to cook certain things. Perhaps that does not make sense but that is generally the way it works out for me. I think that is why I love Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson... neither of them present me with difficult recipes but rather a concept of what to cook. Ok, picture and recipe time.

Chicken with leeks and goat cheese

4 chicken thighs
4 chicken legs
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
10 ounces white mushrooms , wiped clean and sliced thin
2 leeks , white and light green parts only, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1/3 cup lemon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 goat cheese
2 tablespoons of heavy cream

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Cook chicken skin side down until skin is deep brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn chicken over, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until second side is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to baking dish and place in the oven while making sauce. Bake chicken is cooked through, maybe 10 minutes. (If, like me, you just cleaned your oven until it was so shiny and clean it was fit to be on Martha Stewart's show, you will probably need to clean it again after cooking this. Chicken legs and thighs render a lot of fat. Just saying.)

Discard the fat in skillet. Melt the butter in the skillet over high heat until it foams . Add the mushrooms and leeks and cook until the mushroom liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook until almost evaporated, about 1 minute more. Add the broth and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in goat cheese and simmer until thickened, another minute. Add cream and simmer until thickened. Don't boil this or the goat cheese may curdle. That's just not pretty.

I served this with asparagus. My husband liked it pretty well and I will probably make this again in the near future.

I didn't give up beagles for Lent

2009-03-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

A couple of little tri-colored beagles that I know smelled super funky, so they got a bath yesterday. After they were reasonably dry, I let them out of the kitchen. Huck, the shy one, promptly went upstairs to hide under the bed where he could feel safe from any further torture from his usually loving mistress. Pebbles decided to find a sunbeam to warm her little mass for the afternoon. She managed to locate a particularly good sunbeam that happened to hit a couch cushion for most of the afternoon. Trouble is, in my house, beagles are not allowed on the couch... when I walked over to take her off the couch, I must admit, my resolve about dogs being too nasty for the couch quickly waned.

Very quickly.

Actually, I felt myself changing my party affiliation from "NO DOGS ALLOWED!" to "but gosh, she's so cute on there" in a flash.

Yes, I must register with the "but gosh she's so cute on there" party today.

Can you blame me?

where I have been

2009-03-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I gave up all sorts of food for Lent and just for my general health recently, so I don't have much to blog about lately. Not food anyway. I have been making all sorts of crazy little crafty items that I should post pictures of on here but I just haven't done it. Tomorrow is another chance to be perfect. Other than the crafty items, I have been doing some spring cleaning around the old farm house. Woo-hoo!

welcome spring

2009-03-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

We finally got a good amount (10 inches, I guess?) of snow here on the eastern shore of Maryland. I even got an unexpected day off from work. Oh, it was wonderful... I had a leisurely breakfast with the husband, lounged with the precious beagles, made an Easter present for my mom (more about that later), and had pot roast with mashed potatoes. Sigh...

We are doing this Lenten study at church on classic Christian writers, like St. Augustine, C.S. Lewis, Rowan Williams, and some other great men who I forget or have never heard of in the first place. Last night was St. Augustine.

Since my husband is teaching the class, we were early. Wicked early. I remembered that I made promises to folks who don't get to see a lot of the white stuff that I would take pictures of the snow for them. I braved the cold with my trusty camera.

What a gorgeous winter afternoon. I saw a cardinal, but he flew away before I could get his picture. Birds fear me.

Hmmm... lovely even with the killer icicles!

I was happy to get back inside to warm up by the fire. The snow is pretty but I am really ready for spring.

mellow yellow

2009-02-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

So, I was really excited about making chicken cashew curry. It was really very good. I do not have a lot of experience making curry anything; this type of cooking is always an adventure for me. The end result was tasty -- mellow, smoky, and shockingly yellow! There are random bright yellow stains on my kitchen counters still. I refuse to clean with bleach. Eventually, the yellow will come out of there.

I borrowed heavily from Nigella Lawson's recipe for the same from her cookbook Forever Summer... well, I guess I borrowed heavily but in looking at the original recipe, I think I made more changes than not.

Chicken cashew curry

3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Serrano chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
5 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup cashew nuts, heaping
3 tablespoons full fat yogurt

Heat oil in a wide saucepan and fry the onions gently, sprinkled with a little salt to stop them burning, until softened and then add the garlic, chilies, turmeric, cumin, ginger, cardamom, and coriander and cook,stirring, for another minute or so. Remove the onions from the pan. Salt the chicken well and brown on all sides over high heat. Remove from the pan. Add the onions back in and then the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and add the chicken back in with any accumulated juices. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is just about cooked through. Check the seasoning and add the peas, cooking for another 5 minutes or so. Add the cream to the curry and simmer until thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Toast the cashew nuts in a dry frying pan until colored a little, then tip in the cashew nuts into the chicken mixture.

I served this with a spoonful of the yogurt over basmati rice and naan. It was rather good but I think next time, I will make it a bit hotter in flavor.

while shepherds watched their flocks by night

2009-02-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

I imagine shepherd's pie has many different interpretations. The authentic is lamb stew covered with mashed potatoes... I think. As I have mentioned before, I am pretty Irish/English, so I guess I have it in my blood to like this kind of food. What I made last night as pictured above is not authentic shepherd's pie but since I was originally planning to make tacos, I considered this an upgrade, you know? Nothing wrong with tacos but I unfortunately don't have the chops (literally) to eat crunchy things right now. Behcet's disease (which I apparently have) causes very painful mouth ulcers with flare ups (which I am apparently in the middle of yet again) so hard taco shells were out of the question.

Ok, enough of my pity party. I wanted something rich and creamy and I was certain I wanted mashed potatoes. Enter shepherd's pie. I really didn't care that I was feeling pretty lousy and lacked the energy to make this... although cooking is effort, it really does make me feel better. It is my thing. My thing.

Shepherd's pie that is not authentic but is pretty darn good anyway modified from Alton Brown's episode "Oh my, meat pie"

Ingredients
For the potatoes:

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
6 cremini mushroom, washed and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup fresh or frozen English peas

4 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the sour cream and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the sour cream, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion,carrots, and mushroom and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
Add the peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

it's been too long

2009-02-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long since I posted a picture of my beloved beagles! Here they are in a sunbeam. I used the portrait setting on my camera and the sunbeam was behind me, so they are well lit but everything around and behind them is dark.

I love these dogs.

A new favorite - Avgolemeno (chicken soup with lemon-egg sauce)

2009-02-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am Irish/English. No Italian and no Greek blood in me.

I am not sure why I really desired to make this soup in the first place. I don't know what made me search for recipes for lemon chicken soup but I am very glad I did. I think it is basically that I love soup and wanted something different. I am blessed to have a husband who is willing to go out on most culinary limbs with me and try something new.

This soup was so lovely and wonderful. I was not feeling well at all the day I made and ate it. Which makes me wonder -- I don't know how much I have mentioned before on this blog about my health but the short version is I have a chronic illness. This is new within the last couple of years and has been a big adjustment for me. Anyway, the soup. Yes, I was feeling really lousy but I was so determined to make this soup and I am happy that I stuck to it. The end result was well worth all the work and the soup made me feel better, really. I got a recipe from Cat Cora on the FoodTV website. I used orzo instead of alborio rice since I... well, I just wanted to, really. Rice didn't sound all that good in there to me, honestly. Tender cooked orzo however, really did.

Basically, the soup is a homemade chicken broth strained, cooked onions and dried pasta added in along with the cooked chicken meat. Then the whole thing is thickened with a tempered egg and lemon mixture.

I served it with bread and a salad with kalamata olives, goat's cheese, and a light vinaigrette. I was hesitate to add the egg mixture to all of the soup since we were going to eat the leftovers for lunch the following day. Many items thickened with egg will curdle when reheated since it can be just too much stress and I was scared of that happening to my leftovers. I am pleased to say that this soup did not curdle when slowly reheated over low the following day.

Avgolemeno (adapted from Cat Cora) serves 8
1 (3 pound) free range chicken
12 cups cold water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 leek, cleaned and quartered
1 carrot, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups finely diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
2/3 cup orzo
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions
In a 6 to 8-quart stockpot, combine the chicken, water, and 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; immediately reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and skim the foam from the surface. Add the leek, carrot, and bay leaves and continue to simmer with the chicken until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove chicken from the broth, and allow meat to cool. Strain the broth and skim the fat. (Place the broth in the refrigerator to make it easier to skim.)

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Dice the meat into large cubes; refrigerate until ready to use.

Return the broth to high heat, add the orzo and onion and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is almost cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the chicken and reduce the broth to a low simmer.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the lemon juice, eggs, and pepper. Ladle 2 cups of hot broth into a measuring cup with a pourable spout. While whisking, slowly pour the 2 cups of broth into the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of salt. Stir well to blend. Divide among bowls and serve immediately.

A proper bolognese sauce

2009-02-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

I should preface anything I say here with the following: My family heritage is Irish and English. You won't find a drop of Italian blood anywhere. Not a drop.

I really wanted to make a proper bolognese sauce for linguine the other night. I had it in my mind how good it was going to be. I could just about smell and taste it. I could imagine what it would feel like to eat it. Yes, I said that. I am a foodie.

I went to the grocery store and discovered that I was not only unable to get pancetta but there was not a bit of ground veal to be found. I live in the boondocks. However, I pressed on! I bought salt pork for the pancetta and used straight ground chuck instead of a mix of chuck and veal. I suppose this was more humane anyway.

This is a far cry from the "spaghetti sauce" I ate as a child. That was tomato sauce with meat. This is meat sauce with tomato. There is a world of difference between the two really. I think of bolognese sauce as a savory meat pudding almost. It is thick, creamy and delicious. The meat is tender and practically melts into the sauce... it becomes the sauce in a way.

I am going to stop now. You just have to try it for yourself.

Bolognese sauce
6 ounces salt pork or pancetta, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 1/4 cups finely chopped carrots
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/3 crushed tomatoes
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 pound linguine pasta, prepared according to package directions
Finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it is crisp and has released almost all of its fat, about 6 minutes.

Add the onion, carrots, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very soft and lightly browned around the edges, about 6 minutes.

Add the ground chuck and cook, stirring to break up any clumps, until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the , garlic, and crushed tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so that the sauce just simmers. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.

After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, add the milk a little at a time, like 1 tablespoon or so at a time over 1 1/2 hours. By the end of the 1 1/2 hours, the milk should all be in and the sauce should be very thick.

I promise

2009-01-29T07:41:00.000-08:00

When my husband sees that I made chocolate chip cookies for him while he was away (again!), I am going to be the most popular girl in school! I just know it.

Chocolate chunk, orange, and pecan cookies, makes 18 3 inch cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 3-ounce bars bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/3-inch chunks
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F Combine flour, baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, unsalted butter, grated orange peel and vanilla extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Mix in chocolate chunks and pecans.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto 2 baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until just firm to touch and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool.

Simple and tasty

2009-01-27T09:38:00.000-08:00

My husband and I both really enjoy this meal. I think the recipe might be from Real Simple magazine originally, but I am not sure. Spinach is one possibility here -- escarole works or arugula would be tops, really. I served this was saffron risotto but I think next time I will add some little fingerling potatoes to the mix. Prosciutto would be good in there, too.

Spinach with Italian Sausage and White Beans

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. of Italian sausages
2 small onions cut in wedges
2 cloves of minced garlic
5 cups of baby spinach leaves, washed with the stems removed
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 15-ounce cans Cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
1/2 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Brown sausage on each side and cook until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer sausage to bowl, leaving drippings in pot. Add onion to pot and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook 2 minutes. Add beans, stock and sausage and simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors. Add spinach and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl. Top with grated Parmesan, if desired.

I need to reorganize the categories on my blog. I guess I was being somewhat short sighted when I started. I don't think I trusted myself to really follow through for the long term on blogging but I really do enjoy blogging my recipes and pictures, even if no one else really reads it. Anyhoo, I want to be able to find each recipe more readily so I think I will start labeling the recipes by ingredient and meal time. So, this is recipes, sausage, beans, dinner. Yes? That might be rather too specific but I will forge ahead that way and see what happens.

hooray!

2009-01-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

So, I have been sick lately and not cooking at all. Well, since I was sick to my stomach, I was cooking white rice and poached chicken breast cutlets. Which I must say, is not very exciting. I am feeling better, so I will make something good tonight.

I wanted to call my husband and say something nice to him this morning. It's just nice to call and say nice things to your spouse. I feel like it is my mission in life to make sure that my husband knows that I am his biggest fan. Only, all I could think of this morning was Bugs Bunny saying, "bricka bracka firecracker sis boom bah, Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny rah rah rah!" in the cartoon Super Rabbit. So, I called my husband and substituted a nickname of his for Bugs Bunny in that cheer. He laughed. Mission accomplished.

Here is Bugs Bunny saying it at 1:17 in this video.

cream of potato soup

2009-01-15T07:52:00.001-08:00

I have been on a big soup making kick lately. I made vegetable beef soup and split pea soup within the last two weeks. Last night I made this cream of potato and leek soup. I have a list on my refrigerator of meals to be prepared and that includes at least one more soup and chili. I do have to keep a list of dishes that I plan to make or else I will go to the store, buy all the ingredients, put them away and completely forget about it. Three days later I am wondering why I bought this particular combination of food items and I generally end up making something completely different from them than was originally intended. Funny that, no? Besides, I LOVE making lists. I could keep a list of where my lists are located!

I blame my soup, stew, and chili making binge on the cold weather. Indeed, we are expecting a high temperature of 20 tomorrow. Brr... that's cold for Maryland. I grew more accustomed to that kind of weather in Detroit but my blood has quickly thinned out in the two years we have lived here. Of course Detroit is expecting a high of like 3 degrees today, so I guess that is something I should think about, huh?

Anyway, this soup was a request from my husband. He said he wanted this soup to be creamy but also to have chunks of potatoes in it like a chowder. So, that is what I made for him. The most important thing for me when I make soup is that it really taste like what the star ingredient is. Chicken soup should taste like chicken, cream of mushroom like mushroom, and carrot soup like carrots, right? Right! This soup really tastes very potato-y (potato-ish?) with leek as a supporting role and I was very happy about that.

Cream of potato and leek soup that is creamy but has chunks in it like a chowder
Serves 6

5 thick slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon of cooking oil
1 leek, white and tender green part, sliced and washed really well
1 cloves of garlic, minced
3 celery ribs, chopped
1/4 cup of AP flour
4 large russet potatoes, washed, peeled, and cubed
1 cup of half and half
2 cups of chicken broth
fresh chopped parsley or chives would be good
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Heat oil in a large stock pot or sauce pan over medium high heat and add the bacon pieces. Cook until crispy and all the fat is rendered out about 5 minutes stirring occasionally so it doesn't burn. Remove the bacon, reserving all the rendered fat. Add the leeks, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the leeks are tender. Add all the flour at once and stir until well combined. Add the chicken stock, 1/2 and 1/2, salt and about 3/4 of the potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a good simmer and simmer until the potatoes are very tender about 20 minutes depending on how small you cut them in the first place. If the soup gets too dry or thick, add more chicken stock or even some milk. Remove soup from the heat and with a hand held immersion blender, blend up the potatoes in the stock and cream. It should be smooth and thick. Return to the heat and add the 1/4 of potatoes reserved. Adjust heat to maintain a good simmer to cook the potatoes to fork tender, about 15 minutes. Add most of the bacon back in, reserving a little for the top when you serve it. Finally, adjust the seasoning. Depending on how salty your bacon was, you may need more salt. I served mine with cheese toast made with Italian break and a little Gruyere cheese. The Gruyere was really good with this since it it a smoky cheese.

Ok, so next soups up in my house are homemade chili and a Greek lemon and chicken soup that is thickened with eggs. Sounds awesome, right?

I am still really excited about the things I was excited about yesterday. Only now I am excited about eating the potato soup for lunch today instead of dinner yesterday and pitchers and catchers report for Spring training one day sooner.

things I am excited about

2009-01-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day. Who am I??

I just wanted to share a couple of things that I am excited about right now.

1) Pitchers and catchers report for Spring training one month from today! (Go get 'em Tigers!)

2) The final season of Battlestar Galactica starts this Friday!

3) U2 has a new album coming out in March!

4) I am making potato soup for dinner tonight!

That's all.

chicken piccata

2009-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

So, here is last night's dinner which was really delicious. I probably should have waited for the weekend to make this or a weeknight when I was feeling better since this was a lot of work to prepare and then a lot of clean up. I almost envy those people who don't have my obsessive cleaning disorder, you know? Maybe I could have just left the dishes and gone to bed last night but I would have laid in bed tortured by the thought of dirty dishes and the potential threat of mice moving in. I live in a drafty old farm house on a farm and in two years, I have not seen a mouse. I know the previous occupants had mice and that my neighbors have mice. So, I am either the best housekeeper in the world or I have good snakes living on the property. I am not sure which is true. I like to think it is the former.

When I was single and living in Ohio, a friend used to often invite me to dinner with her family. She was married with two kids. I quickly learned that an invitation to dinner meant that I was cooking dinner for them. Since she didn't clean up after each meal, cooking dinner for them meant I was cleaning up their breakfast and lunch mess before I could make dinner. I think she only washed the items that she needed to make the next meal when she needed them. I didn't mind too much, obviously since it happened more than once. She also put the pots and pans that dinner was cooked in right on the table to serve. (To which I say, Martha Who?) I don't say this about my friend to say that I am better than she is, we just had a very different approach to cooking and cleaning. Her approach mad me feel like I was going completely crazy. I felt a little like that last night making dinner. Since my husband was home sick yesterday (poor guy), I came home to a sink full of dirty dishes. My usual approach would be to clean all of that up and put it all away before even starting dinner but then we would have eaten dinner at like midnight and of course the sick husband was really hungry at 5:00 when I got home! So, I tried to work around it. Big mistake, you know? My kitchen is small and one thing is so depended on the other, you know? For instance, if there are dishes in the sink, where can I wash veggies or drain something? Wow, never again. I obviously have to start with a completely clean kitchen. Ok, rant over.

Anyway, back to the chicken piccata - I served it with polenta and spinach with goat's cheese and pine nuts. All of this was a big hit with my husband. Normally when I make polenta, I serve soft polenta which is creamy and spoon-able. My husband wanted firm polenta cut into shapes and then seared, which is also very good. I won't go into a lot of detail but for the soft polenta, I use a 8 to 1 ratio of liquid to corn meal and for the firm type that can be sliced, I use a 6 to 1 ratio. So, 1/2 cup of corn meal to 3 cups of liquid.

Chicken piccata
serves 4

8 chicken cutlets (so that's 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half)
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
8 thin fresh lemon slices

Gently pound cutlets to even thickness (somewhat less than 1/2 inch). Season with salt and pepper then dust with flour, shaking off excess flour.
Add oil to a sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. Sauté cutlets 2-3 minutes on one side; flip the cutlets over and sauté the other side 1-2 minutes with the pan covered. Transfer cutlets to a warm plate; pour off fat from the pan.
Deglaze pan with wine and add minced garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly browned and liquid is nearly gone, about 2 minutes. Add broth, lemon juice, and capers. Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side 1 minute. Transfer cutlets to a warm plate. Remove the pan from the heat. Finish sauce with lemon slices and butter. Stir gently until butter melts. To serve, pour sauce over cutlets and lemon slices.

This is the spinach with pine nuts and goat's cheese. It is spinach, sauteed in a little olive oil with salt and pepper. When the spinach is wilted, I removed it from the heat and added pieces of goat's cheese and then the pine nuts. Easy-peesy-hot-and-cheesy. Literally.

my holiday in pictures

2009-01-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

reality does indeed bite!

2009-01-05T06:34:00.000-08:00

So, I have been off work since December 19 and I have been wonderfully lazy! Wow... what a fabulous two weeks I have had with my beloved husband and the beagles. Today it is back to work for me and Lenny is in Alexandria taking a very intense exam that is needful for ordination. He will be there for most of this week and I already miss him terribly. I always feel like life is in a bit of limbo when my husband is gone. That may sound extremely weird to some but in the 8 and 3/4 years we have been married our lives have been so tightly woven together that I feel incomplete without him. God speed to you, sweetie and come home safe and sound!

Anyway, Christmas was fabulous, my husband gave me LL Bean wicked good slippers and a fabulous new stock pot. Those were really the stand out gifts for me this year. Also, there was a really super trip to KMart that involved me getting a lot of new (well replacement really) kitchen gadgets... a new can opener, a meat thermometer, spatulas, a pepper mill, can tappers, pastry brushes, and I forget what else! How wonderful for me, right??

I did make my traditional English Christmas dinner complete with Yorkshire puddings and that was really tasty and worth all the work. Pictures to come maybe. Besides much cooking, I really super cleaned the house (who knew that a small city made of grime was behind my stove?), helped with the Christmas pageant at church, and read a couple of books.

Wednesday is Epiphany and I will start to take down all of the Christmas decorations tonight maybe and it's back to the reality of working for a living everyday. I guess the good news is that the days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner.

Happy New Year!

cookies and tassies

2008-12-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

I really need to go and purchase a chest freezer so I can start making Christmas goodies earlier in the season and freeze them. Instead, I find myself going home from work every night and baking until I am exhausted. I still have some cookies to finish and one little handmade item for my friend to make tonight.

Shall we take a look at the items I have baked already?

These are chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies. So, one way to describe these cookies is really delicious. Another would be pain-in-the-neck! I don't know if it was the fact that my oven decided to despise me and run very hot burning 2 dozen of these cookies in 4 minutes or if it was making the dough but they were just troublesome. Troublesome but very tasty. Worth it all. The recipe is from Martha Stewart and can be found here.

Ok, so much simpler to make and also very tasty are these lovely to look at jam thumprint cookies. Just a basic shortbread with raspberry preserves. Only, I did not have seedless raspberry preserves so I have to strain all the seeds out. Once again, these cookies are worth the trouble. Totally.

My mom introduced me to these pecan toffee tassies last year at Thanksgiving and I was instantly hooked. The recipe is from Paul Dean, who is always a wizard when it comes to baking. They are like mini pecan pies. The recipe calls for a 10 ounce bag of almond brickle chips. I live in the middle of nowhere and sometimes have trouble finding these. Right now at the grocery store in the baking ailse there are toffee pieces that are Heath bar so they are basically brickle with chocolate. I used these this year and they are still amazing. Just amazing.

Even without a big freezer I have amassed a stockpile of cookies and tassies this week. I also made rocky road fudge which is one of the very best inventions ever. I suppose it is for the best that I don't have a freezer, since this way the cookies are all fresh and tasty.

hugs to you!

2008-12-15T07:08:00.001-08:00

Big hugs to the person who first thought to make a brownie sundae! These things are so amazingly fabulous. I really didn't need to eat it but I did anyway. I used Tyler Florence's brownie recipe. I did not include the walnuts because my hubs hates them. I thought about using pecans instead but decided to go nut free for these brownies. The brownies took longer to cook that Tyler's recipe states as many people detailed in the comments on Foodtv.com. I love the user comments feature on cooking websites and blogs! It is usually a good heads up to know that something takes longer or is very, very sweet. There is always one loan voice crying foul against the crowds but I think if 55 cooks agree it is too sweet that one guy saying it's bitter is just trying to cause trouble. Ah, but such is life, no?

So, I am wicked busy and burning the midnight oil to get some last minute items made for my mom and sister. I need to get these items in the mail by Wednesday or pay through the nose for shipping which I do not want to do!

making dinner with my biggest fan

2008-12-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but from the moment I pulled the turkey bones from the freezer to the moment I finished this turkey noodle pot pie, Pebbles was right under foot. I normally have a lot of K-9 company in my kitchen but even more so on Sunday afternoon! Every time I turned around, there was Pebbles. She wasn't just underfoot, she was intently watching my every move in the kitchen. If I moved in such a way as to block her view, she would lean over to get a better view of carrots being chopped or (her favorite) when I removed all the meat from the boiled turkey bones. I hesitate to say carcass but that is what it was. Carcass just sounds so... terrible.

I can't really blame her. This was a really good dish. Turkey pot pie really but with noodle style dumplings (Anne's brand as pictured) added instead of potatoes. Woof, this was good. These are the times when I cannot imagine not having the dogs nor can I remember how lonely I must have been without a small, tri-colored, sous chef in the kitchen.

I am now ready to have beef for Christmas. Turkey is so cheap; it's hard to pass it up but I don't want turkey again. I want a traditional English Christmas dinner this year with Yorkshire pudding and rib roast! Hold the brussel sprouts... I can just never get into them.

I did reward Pebs for her vigilance and excellent supervisory skills by putting a spoonful of the filling into her and Huck's dinner bowls along with their kibble. Spoiled rotten crazy beagles.

close to being my favorite

2008-12-08T08:18:00.001-08:00

I really don't have a favorite anything, you know? I don't have a favorite ice cream flavor, pair of shoes, or tv show. I usually like a thing or not but of the things I like or dislike, I do not rate them beyond that... usually, I said. There are exceptions, obviously,to everything in life. Pink might be my favorite color, Diet Coke my drink of choice and I am pretty sure that beagles are the best dogs in the world.

Having said all that, Scrooged, starring Bill Murray just might be my favorite Christmas movie. I am as shocked by this as anyone else!! I would think my favorite Christmas movie would be something much more traditional and romantic but Scrooged really has it all!

I am looking forward to curling up with my husband and the beagles with a nice cup of homemade hot cocoa and really snuggling in to watch it this coming weekend. Here is the trailer, courtesy of youtube. I am now pondering what life was like before youtube but I'll save those musings for a different day.

the secret...

2008-12-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

to writing good Christmas cards is having really good, homemade hot cocoa or hot chocolate, depending on what you like to call it. Don't forget the marshmallows! Oh, or whipped cream would be good on there, too. With some sprinkles or a candy cane. Yummy!

The most fabulous hot cocoa in the world

1 1/2 cups of dry, instant milk powder
1 cup of confectioners sugar (or Splenda for a more calorie conscience hot cocoa)
3/4 a cup of cocoa powder
3/4 a cup of white chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Whirl all this together in a food processor until the chips are ground finely. I mix about 1/3 a cup of this mix with 1 cup of hot water or even milk for an extra rich treat!

black eyed pea and turkey cassoulet

2008-12-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

Last night, when I was making dinner, I was thinking about my former life as a chef. I sometimes miss the work but I never actually miss the job. I fear that perhaps that only makes sense to me.

There is a certain honestly that is found in any sort of hands-on labor that I enjoy immensely. I actually like cleaning my house (when I feel well) and I think that it is the fact that the work is so evident. There is really no subjectivity about it at all -- a thing is dirty, it needs to be cleaned and it's just me and the dirt, you know? No body pushes me around. I either do it or I don't. I feel much the same about cooking. So, I miss cooking professionally but I do not miss being a chef. True, I can cook at home but I lack the full arsenal of truffle oil and beef tenderloin that I had as a professional. My creativity at home is only limited by my grocery budget and that seems to be getting ever tighter!

I was a pretty good chef. My real weakness was making new dishes. My cooking philosophy is truly, there is nothing new under the sun. If the goal was to recreate a classic, (preferably French) dish, I could usually pull that off flawlessly and with little effort. Where I always got tripped up was making things that were called a classical dish name but was not that dish. Like... Osso Bucco made with something other than veal shank like lamb or even chicken! I just never really "got it" when it came to that type of cooking.

So, last night when I made this dish and called it cassoulet, I was feeling a little challenged. The little French chef that lives in my head was screaming (in a heavy, French accent of course), "Cassoulet is made with white beans, duck, pork, and sausage, not black eye peas and turkey!" I made it anyway. It was wonderful. Rich, savory, smoky, and lovely. Sigh.

As usual, I cannot take credit for thinking this up all on my own. Cooking Light ran a story on Reveillon - a 19th century Christmas-meal tradition among French Creoles that is still around in New Orleans. Part of the menu was a duck and black eyed pea cassoulet. I did not use this recipe, really just the inspiration of the black eyed peas standing in for the white beans.

Here is my recipe-

Turkey and black eyed pea cassoulet

4 thick slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 pound of smoked sausage, cut in half and then sliced
1 medium onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
32 ounces of frozen black eyed peas
2 teaspoons of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
2 cups of shredded left over Thanksgiving turkey meat
1 cup of bread crumbs
3 tablespoons of olive oil

In a dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is crispy. Remove the bacon reserving all of the rendered bacon drippings. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often until browned. Remove the sausage again reserving the drippings. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, salt, thyme and 1 tablespoon of the parsley. Cook this, stirring often until it is all tender - about 10 minutes. It should smell really good in your kitchen now!! Add the broth and peas. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the peas are tender and the mixture is quit thick. Using a potato masher or fork, mash some of the peas. Add the sausage and turkey, stirring gently. Bring this to a simmer and cook for another 15 minutes or until the turkey is warmed through and the mixture is really thick. Top with the bread crumbs, the remaining parsley and then drizzle with the olive oil. Place uncovered under a preheated broiler to brown the bread crumbs. Once it is browned, top with the bacon pieces. Let this stand for about 5 minutes and then serve. Serve with a citrus dressed salad, rice with a toasted pecans and bread. I served mine with biscuits since we did not have any good bread, which was really good, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a very nice Thanksgiving. The husband and I are spending the day with the beagles at home with no guests. I am cooking all the usually Thankgiving Day fare. I brine my turkey, which since I started doing it, I absolutely swear by!

I will probably watch the James Bond marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Not because I like James Bond movies (I don't) but because there is supposed to be a sneak peak at the new Battlestar Galactica season that starts in January! Actually, we will watch the parades like most folks.

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

dutch baby!!

2008-11-24T07:05:00.000-08:00

I always try to make something special on Saturday for breakfast. I prepare breakfast everyday but Sunday in our house. We usually grab something from the golden arches on Sunday morning on the way to church. I don't know why we have fallen into this routine but we have. I think it is because we have to be up and out of the house on Sunday an hour earlier than during the work week.

This past Saturday morning I was awake at about 5:30 and could not get back to sleep. I got up and took the dogs out. It was cold. The beagles were very quick about what they had to do and both of them went back upstairs to sleep. I made a pot of tea and sat down and read a book for awhile. It is always lovely to curl up with a book in my husband's arm chair. I never sit in my chair if his chair is free... it's funny, the chairs are actually a man's larger wing back chair and a smaller, more dainty arm chair that is a ladies' chair. Regardless, I had a great time curled up reading. I live in a funky, old, drafty farm house but I love it anyway!

Ok, so on to the Dutch baby. I had never made this before last Saturday! I love making new food for the first time. It is such a treat. Although, I have made popovers and this is really just a giant popover! It came out of the oven all puffy and golden brown and rather quickly deflated, which I understand is what it is supposed to do. We thoroughly enjoyed this with powdered sugar and lemon. I think I not have something to compete with buttermilk pancakes for my favored weekend breakfast!

Oh, before I forget, this was from Alton Brown's recipe and can be found here.

soup and sandwich

2008-11-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

This is butternut squash soup with sage and a kind of croquette monsieur. It's like grown up soup and sandwich. I made this soup for a friend's birthday party lunch last November and it was very well received. My husband and I have long enjoyed it but it was nice to hear from others that it was good. Oh, my delicate ego! It is unlike other butternut squash soups I have had in that it is neither as thick as baby food nor is it bright orange. I don't really like those types of soups. This soup is light and creamy and truly savory. Delightfully savory and an acceptable color for food to be.

butternut squash soup with sage and sausage
4 – 6 servings
1 large butternut squash, about 3 pounds, halved, seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound sweet (this important, don't get the hot or spicy kind) Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped dried sage
1/2 teaspoon chopped dried marjoram
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream, or more to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Lightly coat the squash halves with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Season the inside with salt and pepper and place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until very tender, about 45 minutes. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and set aside. Throw the peel away.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the remaining vegetable oil and, when hot but not smoking, add the sausage. Cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until the onions wilted and starting to caramelize, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, sage and marjoram, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the cooked squash and chicken stock, stir well to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
With a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor or blender, puree the soup. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean saucepan. Add the cider vinegar and stir to combine. Add the cream and adjust seasoning, to taste.

The sandwich, as i have already said is a type of croquette monsieur. I know there are so many variations of this sandwich out there on the interwebz but here is mine. When I taught cooking over the summer, this was a big hit with the girls! I was surprised!

Croquette Monsieur
serves 2
4 slices of good white bread
4 ounces of good quality sliced ham
2 ounces of sharp cheese - Gruyere is traditional but baby swiss or even a sharp cheddar would work
3 tablespoons of butter

For the mustard sauce
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of dijion mustard
1 tablespoon of whole grain coarse mustard
1/2 cup of milk

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir together to make a roux. Add the milk and then stir in the mustard and some salt and pepper to your taste. No, just assemble the sandwiches with the ham, cheese and then the mustard sauce. Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter over high heat and once it is foamy, carefully add the sandwiches and turn once the first side is golden brown. It's really so good! Maybe less mustard for folks who don't like mustard and I think you could get the same creamy mustard effect by mixing the mustard with some mayonnaise, but you didn't hear that here!

someone wants to snuggle!

2008-11-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

Huckie-may-may, you look so cute snuggled up in your basket!!

a time to stew

2008-11-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

So, we had the strangest weather this past weekend. Saturday started out bleak and rainy then it was 77 degrees and sunny. Yesterday was windy and chilly and today is just cold! It's just strange. I think we are expecting snow tonight.

I made beef stew yesterday for dinner. I think I have mentioned this here before, but I love soups and stews. I mostly enjoy very savory soups. Yesterday, I wanted my stew thick (like gravy) and rich without a lot of acidity. I usually put tomatoes (diced or whole) in beef stew but yesterday, I just put a little tomato paste in at the beginning and let it develop into a nice, rich, think, beefy, good time! I usually put peas into my stew as well, but I was not really in the mood for peas yesterday. The husband and I were very happy with this dinner, although my husband confessed he is not crazy in love with pearl onions like I am. We watched the Steelers' game (the husband is a big fan) while we were eating dinner, and I think the fact that the Steelers won made dinner all the better for him!

Beef stew 6 servings
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
3 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
10 small red potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups pearl onions, peeled
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.
While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and the paprika and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan; you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.
Add the stock to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the stock has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, minced garlic, ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
After 1 1/2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, and pearl onions. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Obviously, I served mine with cornbread. I love cornbread.

Chinese takeout

2008-11-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

We had Chinese takeout last night since I was not feeling up to cooking.

This was my fortune.

Call me crazy, but today I would be happy with just the good health!

chicken kiev

2008-11-11T05:42:00.000-08:00

Chicken kiev is one of the first dishes I learned to make when I was about 15 years old. I really enjoy making and eating this dish. I was determined to make this last night for dinner, although my husband had to be at a meeting at 7.I didn't have a lot of time but I did manage to prepare this with roasted garlic potatoes and a vegetable medley in about 45 minutes time. Ok, so the veggies were of the frozen variety in a little microwave steamer pouch. In cooking (just like everything else) you have to pick your battles wisely! I choose to die on the chicken kiev hill last night, not the mixed-veggie hill.

Ok, so it doesn't look like much on the outside but again a cliche' comes to my rescue: it's what's inside that really counts!

Chicken kiev (on the fly)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning chicken
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning chicken
4 ounces of Gruyere or provolone cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup of flour
2 large whole eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
2 cups bread crumbs
Olive oil, for frying

Combine butter, parsley, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Place chicken breasts, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Pound to 1/8-inch thickness. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper.

Lay 1 chicken breast on a new piece of plastic wrap and place 1/4 of the butter mixture 1 ounce of cheese in the center of each breast. Using the plastic wrap, fold in ends of breast and roll breast into a log; roll very tightly twisting the ends. Place chicken in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Place flour in one pie pan, egg and water mixture in another pie pan and bread crumbs in a third pie pan.

Heat the oil in a large saute' pan.

Dip each breast in the flour, the the egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Gently place each breast in oil, seam-side down, and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side and then into a 350 oven for another 5 minutes.

I let them rest for a couple of minutes, then slice into 5 or so slices. The butter and cheese are so good and melted. It's like those little chocolate lava cakes that make their own sauce, you know? Yes, chicken kiev makes its own sauce.

fallen leaves with Pebbles

2008-11-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

Who knows what Autumn looks like through the eyes of a beagle?

I spent much of last week and this past weekend sick so I didn't cook much of anything. I did manage to take the beagles out yesterday afternoon with my husband and I got this shot of Pebbles looking at the blanket of leaves in our front yard. I was a little shocked when I walked outside to find that the walkway to my front door was not discernible due to the leaves... it was as if the sky snowed leaves on Saturday night!

Anyway, I knelt down to see what it was Pebbles was so dialed in about - ears all perked up and head held so alertly. I could not see or hear anything that was so intriguing but thankfully she held the pose long enough for me to get this picture.

This is the farm where I live. Yesterday was a lovely, brisk, fall day. I don't anticipate we will have too many more of these but I count myself blessed beyond measure to get to experience even one of these days and to share it with my husband.

That is what is known as the concrete barn. My brain is stupid and when I hear someone say, "the concrete barn" I imagine a barn filled with concrete. I think of it as the yellow barn. My house is the blue shingled house just visible across from the yellow concrete barn.

My house numbers and some dried corn hanging on my blue shingled house.

All the corn has been harvested off of the farm now. There is still some hay to be harvested. Soon it will be gone and winter will be here for sure!

time flies

2008-11-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, Election Day already. I cannot believe how quickly 2008 is disappearing. I did my civic duty this morning and cast my ballot.

"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society" - Oliver Wendell Holmes said that and it makes me laugh. That quote is actually over the front door to the IRS building in DC. I wonder why it is not really a directly proportional equation, you know? If taxes are what we pay for a civilized society, then the higher taxes the more civilized we should be right?

Anyway, this is a blog that is supposed to be about food. I think I will make clam chowder for dinner tonight and not think about the election until tomorrow when it is all said and done.

more pumpkin

2008-11-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

I really did not think my husband would like these cookies but I was so wrong. He really enjoyed them. I had planned that in the event that he did not like them, I thought I would bring them in for my coworkers but Lenny liked them so much he said, "these are my cookies!" Funny man who never learned to share.

Anyway, these are spice and pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing and they are wicked good if I do say so myself. They are kind of like eating little cakes. Yes, your own little cake. I made about 3 dozen of them. I do not expect them to last the week in my house as the husband and I each have a terrible sweet tooth!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. Lenny and I watched old monster movies until we were bleary eyed. That is our Halloween tradition. I cannot watch modern horror movies but give me a monster movie with Boris Karloff or Vincent Price and I am so happy. The Universal pictures are certainly my favorites! There is a certain drama that those movies portray that has been entirely lost in this day of gore and torture.

rock soup

2008-10-31T07:39:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about the fable of rock soup when I was making this. Perhaps all the talk about the economy has me fearing I will be forced to eat rock soup but I like to think my thoughts were driven by light-hearted memories of grade school. As a child, I enjoyed the hearing the story so immensely! I found it to be funny and I think that for as much as my eight year old brain could grasp the concept of irony, I kind of got it.

Here's the short version - some travelers (in some versions they are soldiers) come to a village with an empty pot and although the travelers are very hungry, the villagers are not willing to share any of their food. The travelers fill the pot with water and drop a rock in it, and put it over a fire. A villager becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers reply that they are making "rock soup", which they say is really wonderful but could be made better by adding some carrots or onions, which the villager shares with them. Again, other villagers ask what they are doing and the travelers say that the rock soup is getting there but would be better with some potatoes, seasonings, etc. Each villager adds something until the travelers finally have an edible and nutritious soup to eat, which they share with the villagers.

I had one ambitious teacher in maybe the third or fourth grade who actually made rock soup with us one day. What a hoot that was for me! I remember telling my father about it when I came home from school and since my dad was as much of a nerd as I was/still am, he really found it amusing. Or at least he pretended to.

This is actually ham and bean soup. I am a big fan of country type soups made with what is normally considered to be trash items such as ham hocks and beans. My husband and I really both enjoyed this soup with some homemade bread. I think I have posted bean soup on this blog before but this is a different recipe. I think. Yes, it is since I was looking to make it less rich and more of a broth based soup. I did not puree any of the beans here and I omitted the pat of butter for serving. Instead, this soup has red wine vinegar stirred in at the end, which gave it a nice acidity that is not overpowering at all.

Ham and bean soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound diced ham
1 onion,chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs,chopped
6 garlic cloves,minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
2 smoked ham hocks
1 pound dried navy beans,soaked overnight in cold water
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Heat the oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking. Add diced ham and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Stir in broth, water, hocks, and beans. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until beans are completely tender and soup is slightly thickened, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the hocks from pot. (If desired, let cool 5 minutes, then shred meat and add to soup.) Stir in thyme, pepper, and vinegar. Serve.

hanging on to autumn by eating cake

2008-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

The weather around here as changed pretty dramatically and it is somewhat unpleasant. It is as if we went straight from summer to winter and that's no fun. I mean, honestly, snow flurries in October? I know I should not complain since I live in a place that doesn't really get all that cold but I feel like complaining about it right now. Anyway, I am going to try to hold on to autumn for awhile longer by eating all things pumpkin, apple, etc.

Pictured above is a really lousy picture of a really delicious pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. I am just learning really to use me new camera, so I guess that is my rationalization for the crummy picture. I made this cake shortly after getting the new camera. Regardless of the bad picture, the cake is fabulous. I think the recipe might be from a cooking magazine but as I am not sure I cannot give credit.

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting

Cake
2 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15-ounce) can of 100% real pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling but the puree)

Frosting
6 tablespoons unsalted butter,softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese , cut into 8 pieces and softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs, oil, and granulated sugar until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add pumpkin, and mix until incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture and mix until only a few small lumps of flour remain, about 1 minute. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool cake completely.

2. For the frosting: With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese 1 piece at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Frost cake and serve.

The worst part about making this cake is waiting for it to cool enough to frost it!

Swiss(ed) steak

2008-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

There has been a trend in my house lately of braising meat and serving it with some sort of starchy yumminess - like mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta. What can I say? It's just so very good, especially this time of year when the weather starts to get cooler. The weather was cool and rainy this weekend, so it was perfect for braising meat.

This is Swiss steak. Ok, so it is not really from Switzerland but it's good none-the-less. Swissing refers to the complete torture that the meat is put through in order to make it tender enough to eat. I wonder why beating meat into submission is called "Swissing"? I guess I'll never know. Maybe Alton Brown talked about why it is called that on the episode on which he prepared Swiss steak. I make mine from his recipe which can be found here. I cannot recall if he explained the connection between the action of swissing and the the name Swiss steak. I was lucky to remember what he cooked!

comfort food (again)

2008-10-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

I know that it is completely inauthentic Italian food.

I know that as far as culinary skill is concerned, it is just about as easy as it gets.

All that aside, at the end of a particularly bad day, in the middle-ish of a particularly bad week, spaghetti and meatballs just hit the spot.

Don't forget the Parmesan cheese and garlic toast!

I would post my recipe for this, but honestly, I don't have anything new to bring to the spaghetti and meatballs party. It's all been done. I will say my recipe is close to this one by Tyler Florence but I simmer the meatballs in the sauce instead of cooking them in the oven.

TGIF!

beagles live here

2008-10-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

I don't want to forget.

Actually, as long as beagles live with me, they probably won't let me forget!

I think this morning what I want to remember is the importance of the relationship I have with these little creatures and from that reminder, think about the importance of the relationships I have with other creatures!

Like many people, I have a lot of roles in life - wife, daughter, sister, friend, employee, supervisor, parishioner, and yes, dog master. With each role comes a lot of good, great, amazing, scary and wonderful times. With each also comes a lot of responsibility.

Once again, from my lips to God's ears I implore, "Oh please, never let me forget."

I can't make biscuits.

2008-10-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

I really cannot. Biscuits are my culinary Achilles' tendon. I have tried several different recipes. Unfortunately, all biscuit recipes yield the same thing in my kitchen: a lump of tasteless, dry, nastiness that is not worth eating.

Biscuits are pretty basic when you think about it. I mean, I can make puff pastry from scratch, but not biscuits? I can make pate' brisee but not biscuits? So, I can only make highfalutin pastry doughs but not down home pastry dough?

It's really sad but I guess life goes on for me, just without homemade biscuits. I guess the reason it is so shameful is that I am from the south and well, ladies from the south who cook should be able to make good homemade biscuits!

Pictured above is my husband's all time favorite breakfast in the whole wide world! Biscuits and sausage gravy! I cheat and use these frozen biscuits from the grocery store. I get the buttermilk ones. I love buttermilk biscuits.

Sausage gravy with biscuits - serves two

3 biscuits - homemade, if you dare!! (I cook 3 because I eat 1 and Mister eats 2)
1/2 lb. of fresh sausage (I use this one)
2 Tablespoons of A/P flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
salt and black pepper to taste

Crumble and cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. Stir in flour until dissolved. Gradually stir in milk. Cook gravy until it is all thick and bubbly. Then take some of it out - like maybe 1/3 of it and whirl it in the blender or with an imersion blender and then put this whiled up gravy back in with the remaining gravy. This way, there are sausage chunks and a lot sausage flavor in the gravy and it's just heavenly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot over split open biscuits. My hubby likes it topped with over easy eggs. He's an animal!

the grinch who made banana nut bread

2008-10-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

If that old adage of "you are what you eat" is true, I am in big trouble here!

I think the man that lives with me would be happy if there was a endless supply of banana bread in our house. We never eat all the bananas we buy before they turn black and neither of us enjoys overripe bananas. I blame Dr. Seuss and that song from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas for our aversion to mushy bananas. You know, something about a banana with a greasy black peel.

Instead of eating them, I take the black bananas and freeze them with the intention of making banana bread. Trouble is, I usually just end up with frozen black bananas that never seem to become banana bread. I don't really know why this is. I think I have sort of issue with actually taking things back out of my freezer once I put them in there.

So, I am proud to say that I took some frozen black bananas out of the freezer, left them to thaw in the refrigerator and then made banana nut bread from them! Super kudos to me, huh? Yes, my husband is overwhelmed with joy as I made two loaves of banana nut bread! Yes, two loaves!

So, I suppose I should share the recipe, no? I modified a recipe from Posy Gets Cozy which she states is modified from Nigella Lawson, who is my best culinary friend in the whole wide world!

Super frozen black peel banana nut bread
makes 2 lovely loaves

2 1/4 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
4 medium really ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of pecan pieces

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and combine well. Add the pecan pieces and toss them around in the flour mixture. If you wait and add the pecans after the wet ingredients are added, the pecans may sink to the bottom of the pan and burn there. Yuck! Mix the melted butter and sugar until blended. I use a wire whisk but I guess you could use a mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture. Stir just until mixed. Pour into two 8" x 4" loaf pans liberally coated with cooking spray and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

On a completely different note, my vacuum cleaner had to go to the household appliance retirement home and I purchased a new one. You know how people say they are going to drive their car until the wheels fall off, well I actually drove the wheels off of the vacuum. It started to get very annoying to put one of the wheels back on every 3-5 minutes while vacuuming and then Friday I could not find the wheel. I think that I will probably find it in the dogs' toy basket.

On second completely different note, I think my doctor was right about my foot having tendinitis and not a stress fracture since it feels somewhat better this morning. I did very little this past weekend. Well, very little compared to what I wanted to do this past weekend.

limping and cooking

2008-10-16T06:30:00.001-07:00

I am particularly challenged in the kitchen lately since I am really not supposed to be walking around on my hurt foot. I am usually very stubborn about such things. I think I will die with a feather duster in one hand, a saute' pan in the other, and a sewing project in the other... Oh wait, I don't have three hands!

Regardless of doctor's orders, we do still have to eat at my house and I am growing weary of eating out. Pictured above is a simplified Chicken Cacciatore with soft polenta. I really enjoyed this meal and it only took about 45 minutes from start to finish. I suppose it could be done more quickly, but I do not race around the kitchen even when my feet are healthy and feeling awesome.

Chicken Cacciatore with soft polenta

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped into big chunky pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped into big chunky pieces
12 ounces quartered cremini mushrooms
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/4 cup of chicken stock

Trim chicken of any fatty nastiness, pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.

Add onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms to skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, stock, and browned chicken along with any accumulated juices and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes.

Transfer chicken to serving platter. Add tomato paste and simmer sauce, uncovered, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken. Serve with soft polenta. Soft polenta is an easy side dish that is basically 4 parts liquid to 1 part corn meal plus any flavorings you want in there. I added Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to mine to keep it simple.
I need to start doing a better job proof reading my blog posts when I post them since I went back and read a couple that were just full of mistakes. I hate grammatical mistakes that are just typos. Like, I promise I understand verb subject agreement from singular to plural, I just miss the "s" sometimes on my nouns.

I think all my plans for the weekend (apple picking, chair refinishing, super house cleaning) have been ruined by my foot. Curses!! I guess I will have to sew and other seated activities.

leftover heaven

2008-10-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

We had beef and noodles over the weekend. The weather is so nice and cool that I am enjoying turning the big oven on. We had left over roast beef which means one thing in my house and that one thing is roast beef hash. My husband did not have roast beef hash before he married me and I am proud to say that he now loves it as much as I do. I must confess here that I went through a period in my life (mostly while I was in culinary school) where I eschewed many of the foods that I grew up eating. Southern food items like hash, black eyed peas and rice, and hush puppies (to name just a few) did not measure up to my new found culinary sophistication. What a dumb bunny I was, huh? I happily embrace my food heritage now. I basically just had to rework these food items into my own recipes using fresh ingredients and I am usually pleased with the results.

Ok, so enough of my self important blathering. Above is the hash with the requisite two eggs and at least one piece of toast. This was my husband's plate and he had two slices of toast. He was hungry. I poached the eggs last night since we were both in the mood for that but usually I cook them over easy to go with hash. I recognize that roast beef hash is perhaps not the most photogenic of dishes but I am pleased with the picture, all things considered.

Roast beef hash - serves 4 (or 2 really hungry people who completely lack self control with such items)

1 cup of cooked chuck roast, cut into small pieces
2 russet potatoes, washed and diced small
1/2 of a large Vidalia onion, diced small
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of butter

In a large saute' pan, over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of each butter and oil and add the potatoes and salt. Saute the potatoes until they are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and increase the heat to high. You may need to add a bit more oil or butter, depending on several different factors but if it is not sticking, you probably don't need it. Cook the potatoes and onions until the onions are tender and the potatoes begin to brown about 10 minutes again. Add the roast beef and season liberally with salt and pepper. Continue to saute' for about 10 more minutes or until it looks really good.

As I mentioned before, we eat this with 2 eggs atop it and toast. I also like a glass of milk with my hash.

new camera, take 2

2008-10-14T07:14:00.001-07:00

So, my favorite UPS man brought me my new camera last night. Actually, he is the only UPS man I ever see. I think that might be because I live in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, back to the camera. I was eager to get batteries in it and start taking pictures of just about everything in the world. I very much want to get out on the farm and take some pictures of the hay that is all bailed and the gorgeous colors of the corn, soybeans and fall foliage but unfortunately, I have injured myself somehow. Apparently, I have tendinitis in my right foot so I am limping around everywhere in pain. I was relieved that it is not a stress fracture. Well, hopefully it is tendinitis and not a stress fracture. I really won't know until the end of this week.

Regardless, all that babble above means I am stuck in the house limping around. It's great! I decided to take the new camera for a spin around the house and I chose to shoot some of my favorite things - beagles and Diet Coke! Above is Mr. Huck Finn in his basket. Actually, the beagles share that basket downstairs. It is rather funny to watch them pack themselves in there. I took this picture without the flash but the sun was still up.

There's Pebbles on the bed looking lovely and lady like. She is actually a nasty dog but you would never know it looking at this picture, would you? I took this on the natural light setting and I must say that I like the overall effect. There was only one lamp on in the room behind Pebbles. The lighting is really soft and pretty and it looks warm. My sheets are actually more of a taupe or beige and the coverlet or bedspread is off-white but overall it looks very yellow in this picture.

A Tale of Two Beagles - It was the best of dogs, it was the worst of dogs...

Just kidding, she's not that bad, really. Ok, so this is Huck and Pebbles on the bed together laying like a couple of commas side by side. I love it when they do that. Again, you would never guess how nasty they really are since they look sweet and angelic. Same camera setting (natural light) and only one lamp on in the room behind the beagles.

Oh, Diet Coke, how I love you! You are the very best, calorie free, carbonated soft drink in the world! Ok, so I used the macro setting for this shot without the flash. It was fully dark outside by this time and I had one lamp on to the left of the Diet Coke. I need to play with the aperture a bit to get more focus on the can and less on the window and curtains in the background. I guess I need a little time with my new camera to fully appreciate its functions but I must say, I am pretty happy with it initially.

new camera!

2008-10-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

I ordered a new camera yesterday. It is a Fuji Finepix S700. I think I will be happy with it. The only real drawback is that I realized too late that this camera did not get good reviews for quality shots in low light which is definitely the lighting situation in my kitchen in the winter time. I guess I can compensate for that somehow.

Actually, this camera was not on my initial list of cameras that I thought I wanted since I feared it was out of my price range. Turns out, it is not.

I cannot wait for it to get here. I am excited. Yes, excited.

I had an email exchange with a friend about my fear that this camera was stolen. I was unsure how someone came into possession of 100 refurbished Fuji Finepix cameras and she (jokingly) suggested that I email him and ask if the cameras were stolen admitting that this could be awkward. So, I (jokingly) typed up that email and sent it to my friend. It went a little something like this...

"Dear Sir,
I realize I am a nutty fool for asking this, but how did you happen to come into possession of 100 refurbished Fuji Finepix S700 cameras? I am not a cop or a fink or anything but I want to make sure that you did not steal them. You see, I obsessively worry about purchasing stolen goods and would hate to buy a camera from you that might be... well, as those young people say "hot"! I am sure you can understand my moral dilemma here because buying a "hot" camera would make me an accomplice or, at the very least, an enabler and well, Jesus hates an enabler!
All best,
A crazy obsessive freak"

Happy Friday!

perspective

2008-10-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

I did actually cook last week while my sister was visiting but I guess we did not really get any pictures of those items... among other things, I made Chicken Tikka Masala which was fabulous. The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, the fine folks who bring us Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines. This particular recipe is free on their website but you do have to register to get it. I will start posting again about food very soon. I am going to order a camera today! Yes, today! Although we had pizza for dinner last night at my house. I didn't make the pizza. Heck, I didn't even make the phone call to order the pizza. Anyhoo, my point is that a pizza box wouldn't be a very exciting picture for my blog...

The picture above was taken at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden last week. It is called House 1 from Roy Lichtenstein and is completely amazing. I was a little more than mesmerized by this house as it is an optical illusion and a lesson on perspective and reminder that things are not always what they appear to be.

Here it is again from a different angle. The side shown in the first picture is actually the concave or rather folded side in the picture above. I found a video on Youtube that better illustrates the houses overall effect but really one should see it in person as the video is bumpy and does not or really cannot capture the full effect.

sacred space

2008-10-08T05:53:00.001-07:00

My sister and I visited the Baltimore Basilica last week. The cathedral is majestic without being pretentious and lovely without being precious. I did not post any pictures of the high altar or the stations of the cross, as those are indeed special. One should see them in person. The above mural is the ascension of Christ painted on the small dome over the high altar. To me, it is so perfect in every way. Looking at it, I knew real hope in the promises of God.

I pause when I think how many people pass through and light a candle. Each candle represents someone's prayer - regret for the past or thankfulness for the present or hope for the future. I lit a candle, too.

That is the Papal umbrella on the left there.

The large dome in the center has a carving of the Holy Spirit as a dove. Each little flower there is actually carved, not just painted. Amazing!

Beneath the church is a crypt and a chapel. The brick arches which support the church are visible and although it is only 200 years old, the feeling is much older. Down one shadowy aisle stands this statue of Christ the man. I lack the words to express my thoughts and feelings about this statue and it's placement in the church. The overall effect was rather profound for me. I certainly do not want to plunge right over the deep end on my blog (which is supposed to be about cooking after all!) but I realized looking at that statue that I have indeed been too casual or perhaps cavalier with God. I intend to be more... well, more intentional!

This is a shot looking up the columns on the portico with one of the small domes and the cross atop it visible. What a gorgeous, perfect day!

Longwood Gardens

2008-10-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

I had a great visit with my sister. We went to DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia while she was here. We also spent a little time in Chestertown but I guess I take that for granted since I spend most everyday in Chestertown... although that was probably my favorite day.

We went to Longwood Gardens which is about an hour outside of Philadelphia. I do not have words to express how beautiful the gardens there are so here is photographic proof! The picture above is obviously a lovely blanket of fall mums. So soft and pretty.
This guy and his companion guard the entrance to the topiary garden. Look, he's smiling at you. That means he likes you.

All of the flowers in the flower garden are grouped by color and then type. The result is truly stunning.
This shot is looking back over the "large lake" to the gazebo. Very pretty.

Looking up at the sky through the gazebo.

The Italian water garden was one of my favorites. My husband asked if the water was from Italy. Funny guy! Again in the flower garden - purple! These arches are so "Secret Garden" they made me want to cry.
This is the bell tower which really did not have bells in it but those electronic chimes. I guess that is ok.

I am looking forward to taking my husband to Longwood Gardens sometime soon! It is a dreamy place.

another kind of ragdoll

2008-09-25T08:20:00.001-07:00

This is my friend Lindsay's lovely kitten. Her name is Layla... isn't she lovely? Those blue eyes, that soft fur, the pretty paws, whiskers and ears just make her a real show stopper in my book. I do not have the words to express how soft Layla is, honestly. I saw pictures of Layla before I met her and I thought I knew how soft she would be in person. I was wrong. She is as soft as she looks times 10. No, times like 100! She is sweet and soft and elegant looking. It's too sad that I am allergic to cats or I would want a Layla. My friend and her nice fiance adopted Layla a couple of months ago and just last weekend they adopted a boy ragdoll kitten and named him Leif. After the Viking. Cool, huh? He's cute, too. See?

Lindsay and I were talking about how it is just so neat to have two of an animal that kind of match. As most folks who read here know, I have two beagles and I must admit that having two beagles seems better than having one beagle and one jack russell, you know? Nothing wrong with JR terriers but our OCD seems to spill over into animals.

Not much is going on in my life just now. I am preparing for my sister's much anticipated visit and working a lot! I finished the quilt, which is good. I will post pictures of it soon, I promise! I have not bought a camera, yet since I am hoping to test drive my sister's camera next week. I haven't really been cooking a lot since we seem to be out and about every night at dinner time. We had Mexican last night. Oh, chili rellenos, how I love you!