December 31, 2012 by Andrea

Pork Soubise (My Version)

Today was another adventure in sauce making. Can you tell I have off for a few days? I went back to the cookbook and found a pan jus based sauce. Thus one called for an onion purée to thicken the sauce. So on to the vegetable purée section. Turns out to add flavor and texture to a pan sauce, a vegetable purée can be added in place of a roux or flour/cornstarch. And since I had the time … I made my first attempt at a stewed onion purée.

I will admit to changing the recipe a bit – even though I shopped this weekend, I did not have five pounds of onions on hand. But I used two and a half (about 4 large onions) with two pats of butter – maybe two ounces total. The recipe is pretty specific that you need to sweat the onions and do not let them brown or caramelize. (I think a carmaelized onion version of this would be fantastic and may have to try it soon.) So the onions cook down with lots and lots of stirring. I may have stopped cooking a little soon, but the onions were soft and translucent and all the liquid in the pan had evaporated.

I added a quarter cup of cream, mixed it well then puréed it the blender until it was almost smooth. It looks like mashed potatoes; I did decide to not strain the mixture. I wanted to see what it was like unstrained and figured it would be easier to strain later if need be.

So the pork – one butterflied pork chop with salt, pepper and ground thyme. Into a hot pan with olive oil, and cook until done. Remove the chops, pour off the oil (I poured it into the pan for the kale and tomato) and deglaze the pan with a half cup stock. I like veggie stock, so that is what I used. Reduce and then add a few tablespoons of the onion purée. Here is where I deviate from the recipe. I added the onion purée and then a splash of whiskey. Just a small splash, but I thought it needed something. Back into the pan went the pork just to meld the flavors a little.

I really like the way this came out. Bob even declared it one of my best pork dished yet. And since I now have plenty of the onion purée in the freezer (in individual portions like I did with the leftovers of the broken sauce from yesterday) this is a quick weeknight meal now.

After all these meat dishes lately, I think tomorrow will be a tomato and leek quiche -crustless that is.

December 30, 2012 by Andrea

I was feeling saucy

My first attempt at a Beurre Blanc sauce. I gave Bob the option of two proteins for dinner and he chose chicken with Beurre Blanc sauce. So … to the cookbook I went, and read, and pondered and shopped. (We didn’t have any white wine and not enough butter to make this.)

The directions looks pretty simple – half a cup white wine, half a cup white wine vinegar (I substituted white balsamic vinegar as that is what I had on hand) with 3 ounces chopped shallots.

Cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated.

Then add a quarter cup of cream. Add a pound of butter and whisk over high heat until all the butter is incorporated. This would be where I made my mistake. I should have either added all the butter at once over high heat or added it one piece at a time over low heat. Instead I added it one piece at a time over high heat – almost like I do for the famous French Silk Pie – but over heat. The results were a tasty, but broken sauce.

It did taste good. And it worked over the chicken and brown rice (from my veggie basket this week – go figure) and veggies.

All in all, not a bad meal. I think I can get the sauce right next time. But in the mean time. I am freezing portions in muffin tins to make a base for future sauces and meals. Can’t let a pound of butter go to waste!

December 23, 2012 by Andrea

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Eve …

And all through the house, all the creatures were stirring, but thankfully not a mouse.
The ovens were on with goodies to bake
In hopes of a fabulous Christmas feast for a hunger to slake.

Ok, that is the best I have today. (with help from Bob after a very strong beer.) It’s not very good, but it is in the holiday spirit. And it leads nicely into my day of baking.

My Christmas prep adventure stared with my attempt to wrap Bob’s present. The box is larger than it looked and when a new roll of wrapping paper failed to cover it, after trying a few other rolls first, I improvised.

.
I’m claiming the double paper in an effort to be more festive, but really, I don’t think I had much of an option.

But the baking started yesterday with the peppermint marshmallows. I found the recipe last year and decided I had to try them. While not technically difficult they are a little time consuming.

Corn syrup, sugar, water and salt combine with crushed peppermint candy to make a sticky, sweet oh-my-it-burns-when-you-accidentally-touch-it goo. That isn’t a bad thing, but it is a warning. Making marshmallows also involves a lot of whipping and some creative use of confectioners sugar. Every surface the mixture will touch needs to be coated in confectioners sugar so it doesn’t stick – because trust me, if you leave even a little not coated, it will stick.

Bob helped with these today – he cut the marshmallows into little squares for me. That may not sound like a lot, but given my inability to cut a straight line and all the other baking I was doing, it was huge for me. The results when covered with a bittersweet chocolate are perfection. Even Bob who does not like marshmallows has indulged in several at a time.

My other baking adventures today included the pecan pie cheesecake with the yummy goodness topping and a caramel chocolate pie. Now the cheesecake is easy … No real issues there, but the chocolate pie sometimes makes me question my sanity. Do I make it because I love the pie, because it gives me an excuse to ask Bob to rub my shoulders, or because it is just one of those things that you make just because. Probably all three, but mostly because it is such a good pie. Not an easy pie, but it is darn good.

The pie starts out looking like this

After about twenty minutes of whipping over a double boiler to about 160 degrees so it doesn’t kill anyone, it looks more like this

And after more whipping to cool it down, and the addition of the chocolate, butter and whipped cream it looks like this

Worth every second of shoulder pain for this one.

And just because she is super cute, a gratuitous picture of Miss Leia who helped with all the wrapping.

December 15, 2012 by Andrea

Away In A Manger

One of the thing that I remember most about Christmas time is the Crèche. It, for some reason, has a prominent place in my mind when I picture Christmas as a kid. Whether at Grandmom’s or our house, I see the lit nativity … And hear dad as he tried to get the wires right every year. We’ve had he manger for a while … Housing the troll and cow bride and groom from the wedding cake, but now it holds the full scene. Thank you Val for letting me have it.

We were a little concerned about the space, but with the exception of the palm trees that no longer exist, the star that I could not get to stay and the icicles that I could not get hung, everything fit. Bob did surgery on one wise man and one shepherd. I think it looks pretty good.

Maybe next year I will ask Bob to tackle the lighting and figure out the icicles. This year, I just wanted it up.

There was not much food news this week. I was fighting a cold (the cold won Thursday) so it was take out and soup this week. Today I felt well enough for simple dishes so for breakfast I made banana pecan waffles.

I know, they don’t look like much, but the pecans are the ones Mom (Bob’s Mom to be clear) sent us from the grove in Georgia. We know fresh ingredients make a huge difference, and honestly, nuts are no different. Yes, they last forever if kept in the freezer, but really, if you ever get a chance, go for fresh. It becomes very hard to buy them in the grocery store out of season. The bananas came from my veggie basket last week so they were super ripe and super sweet. Perfect for waffles.

Dinner was a Japanese comfort food dish … Chicken cutlets crusted in panko with an onion sauce. The original recipe calls for pork, but I had chicken, so we used that and I replaced the rice in is with barley. Used what I had on hand. The sauce is on onion, sliced thin, one cup chicken or veggie broth/stock, one quarter cup soy sauce, one quarter cup miran, a few slices on ginger and a pinch of sugar. Let it boil then simmer until it reduces (about a half hour total) just a little and the onions are soft. The chicken is dredged in seasoned flour (just salt and pepper) then in egg, then in panko bread crumbs. Pan fry in a little oil and it’s a dish. Not the best/healthiest dish out there, but darn good.

And I got a chance to use my fancy new thermometer.

I have Mom and Dad’s mailbox luck with kitchen thermometers. No matter what, I kill them. They die quickly and sometimes dramatically. Given that, I was hesitant to spend the money on a really good one, but I heard so much about these, and well … I made the mistake of asking Bob if I should get one. I should have know the answer … this is the man who bought his own laser. Thermoworks makes these (by hand according to the website) in England and every review I read gushed about them. So I got one. And I have to say, I love it. Three seconds (tops) to get an accurate reading. It actually gave me two reading in about one second. Clear temp display and easy to keep clean. And it just looks cool. It is a good thing they are expensive or I would be tempted to get multiple colors.

The cats were in super cute form. Leia kept moving from the tree when I tried to get her picture, but the other two did let me get theirs.

Happy one more week to Christmas!

December 9, 2012 by Andrea

Hark, How the Bells

A few months ago Bob asked if I would go to a concert with him. Jonathan Coulton does geek/nerd Indy Rock type music. Songs like Code Monkey and Artificial Heart. You know, geeky songs. Upbeat and fun, but listen to the lyrics and it is … Interesting. So, knowing how much Bob likes this guy, and it was in St. Pete, so not far … sure, I’ll happily go. But what he didn’t know (or forgot to tell me) was that there are no seats to this show. Standing only in a small front of the stage area.

Mosh pit comes to mind, but I was told I can’t really say that as there was a good two feet between people, but I’m not sure. I had to watch the rather large purse of the girl in front of us to ensure I didn’t get hit as she danced. But, I will say, we had a very clear view.

And I felt normal height, bordering on tall. Seriously, I looked at the women near us, and I was at least as tall as most and clearly taller than many. Are geeky girls just really short? Val, I see an experiment/study in this. Maybe a genetic cause that makes short girls geeky or the geeky ones shorter than average? Hmm. … Hmmm …

With the really, really long week, I didn’t do much cooking, but today I did a lemon meringue pie. We are heading to a friend’s for dinner, and dessert is my contribution.

If anyone remembers the old Tasty Cakes, the ones before they began shipping all over the country, this pie is very reminiscent of the original TastyCake Lemon Pies. Flaky crust (1 stick unsalted butter, 1.5 cups flour, 1/4 to 1/3 cup water – process, roll into a ball, refrigerate for 20 minutes, roll out, bake at 350 for 10 minutes …. you have crust) with a creamy, lemony filling and fluffy meringue. This is based on an Alton Brown recipe, but I, of course, changed it. Zest of two lemons, juice of three, sugar, corn starch, water, salt, butter, egg yolks and done. Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks. I had to add the juice of a lime today as I only had two lemons. Oh well, we’ll see how it tastes later.

Somehow I still have not received my Wimbledon Ballot. Mom and Dad got theirs, Erin got hers, but I’m still waiting for mine. I have high hopes for getting tickets this year; it would be nice to check another thing off the “to do” list.

December 2, 2012 by Andrea

It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Yes, every year when the tree begins to go up, I use the same song for the title every year. Let’s just call it tradition.

There was a debate about the tree this year, pretty much between me and my little brain. I wanted a tree larger than the little tabletop tree, but I didn’t want to mess with the nine foot artificial one in the attic. So … Bob and I went out Saturday and found a five and a half/six foot tree. Live tree. Yes, I am being brave this year and taking a chance with a live tree, glass ornaments and three cats in the house.

We did keep it fairly simple, Bob got his Star Wars ornament (at least I think it is Star Wars)

and I got Cinderella on the tree.

I think Cinderella is the better ornament as she does have the best shoes. Bob doesn’t think that is all that important in deciding the cool ornament criteria. I still contend shoes are highly important.

This is the first year we really put a tree up since the first year we were here. We pulled all the ornaments down and started putting them up. Some were from my collection – mostly cats and cute things – a few were Bob’s, and most came from Mom and Dad’s old collection. I had forgotten how many of those were glass, which is very pretty, but maybe a little formal. But interspersed with the others, they look lovely. We also found …

This ornament is older than me, and possibly older than Dad. This came from the box with great grandmom’s ornaments in it. I was reluctant to put any of them up as it is a live tree with cats in the house, but we decided to go for it. We didn’t put a lot of them up, but we did add one or two just because, hey, we have them, why not. (crèche set should be going up this week!)

On the food front, we had Mom and Dad and Aunt Dolly and Amilcar over for lunch and I got to use all the wonderful things from my basket. They included …

A yellow tomato and goat cheese salad with basil and white balsamic vinaigrette. Mom thought this was peppers and mozzarella, and was pleasantly surprised by they flavor. I also experimented with rainbow chard and came up with

This was a total experiment. I toasted pine nuts in sesame oil then tossed the chard with garlic and salt and wilted them down. I added Parmesan cheese and tossed it all together with basil. Dad thought it was good, Mom and Aunt Dolly had seconds and Bob declared it “a definite do again.”. Experiment a success!

One a side pet note, Gracie hated her pretty pink, sparkly bell collar so much she took it off. No clue where it is, she came home one evening with it totally gone. How she managed to get out of a buckled collar, I do not know, but really wish I did.

November 26, 2012 by Andrea

Artisan Cheese Company, Sarasota

I am breaking from my Christmas Song/Lyric themed post titles for a somewhat special edition. A week or so ago Bob and I, while running errands, tried the Artisan Cheese Company downtown. So this is technically not a travel post, it is a local travel post. Tourists in out own home town so to speak. Anyway, I had asked Bob to find a cheese shop and he found one not just within driving distance, but locally. We had lunch there a few weekends ago and loved it. Tonight we had the Cheese 101 Class.

It was fantastic! We sampled 13 cheeses, from a very mild mozzarella to a very strong blue. Everything was paired with wines (3 total) and small accommodations like nuts, fruits, bread, chutney, etc. Louise, the owner, and her husband Parker, created a fun, entertaining, but highly informative atmosphere. Can you tell we loved it?

Some of the highlights …

I am a huge goat cheese fan, and this had to be some of the best I’ve ever had. Yes, it rivals the Scottish goat cheese we had over the summer. Creamy, buttery, with a … Strong is the wrong word, but flavorful taste. I have had a few glasses of wine as I write this, so bear with me.

Next favorite was a sheep’s cheese called Lamb Chopper. We had picked this one up the last time we were there, but forgot that it was the same cheese. Velvety, smooth, beautiful color and suck an amazing taste … I could say I could eat this for dinner, but in all honesty, we HAVE eaten it for dinner … Recently.

There were several other really good cheeses in the mix and I loved how pairing them with a little wine, an apple slice, some honey or a nut totally changed the flavor. Louise was fantastic with suggestions for what to pair with which cheese, so we got a full range of favors.

The last cheese we tasted was a blue. Great Hill Blue is a Massachusetts cheese company that has been doing small batches for a long time. I don’t like blue cheese and had every intention of skipping this one, but Bob had such an expression of rapture on his face that I had to try it. Not my cup of tea, but I will say, it had an amazing texture. Creamy, light, and smooth which is not what I expect in a blue. However, it still had that super strong taste that did not work for me.

I had a better post in my head as we were taking part in the tasting, but I left my notes on the table.

Clearly, however, we liked everything enough to come home with a bag full of stuff. Wednesday’s dinner will be cheese, crackers/bread and wine. We can’t wait. … And I told Bob that I want to do the cheese tasting again. That alone should tell you how good this was.

So … Check out http://artisancheesecompany.com and if you are within driving distance of Sarasota, stop in. You will not be sorry you did.

November 25, 2012 by Andrea

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It is officially the holiday season, and that means baking! But … I have to confess, I lost the bacon bread recipe.

For those who don’t know the story, Grandmom J. had the best bacon bread. The slightly sweet bread with the savory, slightly salty filling of bacon and onions. It was one of the food highlights I vividly remember from growing up. (Now if I could figure out dad’s mom’s chiffon cake icing I would be set … but that is a whole other day.) I don’t think anyone ever had written recipe so I tried, and erred, over a few years until I found a combination that worked; it almost tasted just like grandmom’s. But … as I am doing more and more frequently, I misplaced the recipe. Can’t find it. I wanted bacon bread so badly today (really says the holidays to me) and I just could not find it.

Bob suggested that I try making it anyway – after all it is something I made so many times I knew the ingredients by heart. But the proportions … was it three eggs or four? 1/3 cup milk or 1/4? Salted or unsalted butter or does it not make a difference? Well … I took everything out and started. I stared at measuring cups hoping the right combination would come to me in a lightbulb moment. And … for the first time ever … I wrote down what I did AS I did it. Shocking, I know. I kept track of what I did, how much, for how long, etc. (and took pictures, of course – I love my iPhone!)

So … I took a stick of unsalted butter and melted it in a small pan with 1/3 cup milk. I used regular fat free milk, but I think the soy milk I usually use, or full fat milk would work better. Once that melted I added 1/4 cup of water to cool it slightly.

In a bowl, I combined 1 tablespoon yeast, 1/2 cup flour and slightly less than 1/4 cup sugar. Mix then add the butter mixture and stir. Wait a few minutes to ensure the yeast isn’t dead (I look for bubbles and foam) then add eggs. This was the tricky part. I had two actual eggs (I know, I could have gone to the grocery store, but I could have searched the house for my recipe again too) and egg whites for Bob’s omelette lunches. So … in goes both eggs and the equivalent of one more egg. Mix well and pray a little, then add four, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. (About 3 cups, but one of the few things I remember from a bread class is that the amount of flour you use in baking can vary wildly depending on humidity, so don’t be afraid to add more or less than a recipe says.) Knead and let rest, covered in a warm spot.

The dough should rise for about an hour, then punch down and knead for another few minutes. Put back in the bowl, cover and let rest again. (I never said this was quick, just good.) After about 30 minutes, punch the dough down again and the roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness. I divide the dough in half just because it is easier to work with.

While the dough is resting the second time, chop one small to medium onion and between 1/2 and 3/4 pound of bacon. I used about 1/2 a package of bacon plus some leftover ham for today’s trial. Cook the bacon down until some of the fat is rendered then add the onion and cook, stirring frequently. You want the bacon cooked, but not crisp for this. Then, spread the mix over the rolled dough, but not totally to the edge – you want to leave room to roll.

Once the dough is rolled, transfer to a baking sheet, cover and let rise again as you heat the oven to 325. For a glossy crust, use an egg wash and bake for about 30 minutes. It may be a little longer or a little shorter, but you are looking for a golden crust.

The results … not bad. The overall bread was good, and it had most of the flavor I was looking for. But … I think three actual eggs, soy or whole milk, and maybe a touch more sugar would be right. But it did make for a great addition to lunch … the Wild Rice Soup!

Happy start to the holiday season!

November 22, 2012 by Andrea

Thanksgiving – Non-Traditional

Happy Thanksgiving – the celebration of the settlement of the new world and the survival of those who made the harrowing trip. At least that was the idea originally; now it is the beginning of the holiday season, the start of shopping madness and the forced happiness to demonstrate that one has the “holiday spirit.”

Despite that cynical beginning, I do love the holidays, but I miss some of the real spirit of the season. Christmas decorations are up at Halloween, Christmas carols are heard on Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving is just the feast before the shopping rush. Or it can be that. I still refuse to play carols until the day AFTER Thanksgiving, will not shop on Friday (and totally refuse to shop today) and take the day to relax and be thankful for all I have.

We didn’t travel this year (a complete first for me). Yes, we did not spend Thanksgiving with any extended family, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t cook. And only cooking for Bob and one co-worker/friend I had the freedom to go very non traditional and experiment. And there were lots of experiments today. I went safe with the ham and went with a Honeybaked Ham. Yes, it is cheating, but what a way to cheat. I did, however, make …

Homemade stuffing. My nod to tradition. I made the bread (yes, this is totally homemade), used leeks, bacon, apples, sage, celery and thyme. It came out pretty good – but the bread does need to be harder before soaking in the veggie broth. Not bad for a first try.

First there is a tomato/mozzarella salad with basil (from the garden) and balsamic dressing. This should be a summer dish, the tomatoes were so pretty, I just had to do it. The other dish is a celery and apple “slaw.” It is almost a salad, but I wanted to ensure there was something that was not sweet and added some crunch. And really, I had apples and celery in my basket last week, so I HAD to use them. Both of these were very simple and hard to mess up, so I knew we would have something to eat today.

Then was the experiment I was most excited about – mashed squash. One is an acorn squash and the other is a butternut squash. Both were roasted on the grill and mashed with caramelized onions that I made yesterday … Yes, I caramelized onions all by myself. And yes, it does take an hour to do it, so do not believe the recipes that tell you it takes ten minutes. …. This was a good dish and made a great substitute for mashed potatoes. The squash was just savory enough to take the caramelized onions. My only complaint is that that cooled really, really fast. As in it was the last dish finished and it was the coolest on the table. But, they still tasted great.

Then came the roasted green beans. I am not a huge fan of green beans, but I got some in the basket last week and wanted to use them today. So … I marinated them with olive oil, sage, garlic, scallions and a little salt then roasted them on the grill as I did the squash. They looked a little weird but tasted really, really well. I may come to like green beans yet.

If you are a dessert fan, I highly recommend the Pecan Pie Cheesecake. This is one of my favorites.

The cheesecake itself is pretty basic, but the yummie goodness on top makes this dessert. It has brown sugar, cream, butter, whiskey and toasted pecans. The ingredients don’t tell the whole story, but just think of a warm, velvety pecan pie and you begin to get the idea. The crust is chocolate wafer and toasted pecans which just adds a depth of flavor that is magical.

So this was our experimental, non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We didn’t travel, didn’t do turkey, are not going shopping, but are celebrating in a classic sense – we are thankful for all that we have, those we love and the health and blessings we enjoy each day. To me, that makes this a perfect day.

Oh, and if you need one more sinful delight Caramel hot chocolate with homemade caramel whipped cream. YUM.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Get ready for the post titles to be holiday songs – I get to enjoy them for one month a year, so I made the most of it!

November 17, 2012 by Andrea

Where Have All the Christmas Cards Gone?

Yes, those are tomatoes. Beautiful heirloom cherry tomatoes fresh from the farmer’s market today. I feel a tomato-mozzarella salad or sandwich coming soon.

But today was not all about food; it was a good portion about food, but not all about food. We had a bunch of errands to run today including pet food (never a good idea to run out of that), people food in the form of cheese, and fresh veggies. So I started with the farmer’s market this morning where I found those lovely tomatoes, some baby bok choy and a few other veggies to make throughout the week. Then on to the pet store and then continuing the search for Christmas cards.

Has anyone else noticed the dearth of cards this year? When did this happen? I started looking for cards a week or two ago. Target did not have a selection, WalMart had a very limited and very poor selection and even the stationary store only had a handful. Yes, I looked at Amazon, but trying to find specific cards there was just way too much hassle. We hit Barnes and Noble (I do love bookstores) today and even that was depressing. I remember tables and tables of cards when I worked at Borders all those years go. But now … one table. That was it, just one. I did manage to find cards I liked, but it was just depressing.

On a happier note, we have found a cheese shop in Sarasota. This was very exciting to us although I am embarrassed to say that it has, apparently, been there for a little while and I totally missed it. I really have to get out. More. But, We stopped in for lunch today and both had

Five cheese Mac & Cheese and a salad. Yes, this is totally and completely off Bob’s diet, but as we both ate the entire thing, I can honestly say it was worth every carbohydrate and calorie it contained. And … The shop is incredible. Lots of unique cheeses and a really exceptional staff. We found a sheep’s milk cheese for a dish I want to make over the next week and maybe for Thanksgiving and an herbed goat cheese that I swear is amazing. Maybe not the goat cheese of Scotland. But totally different and wonderful. Both are U.S. cheese’s too, which somehow pleases me. Now I can’t wait for the Cheese class! Yes, we are taking a Cheese 101 class and I am super excited.

Sixteen Paws

The random adventures of Andi, Bob, and four furry creatures

Category Archives: Food