Blizzard! That means we stayed home the day after Christmas. Fortunately, I packed a big briefcase of work and kept plenty busy. Late afternoon it finally quit snowing so Connie and the snowblower tackled the driveway. I kept plugging away at one of my projects. About 6pm I finally got around to thinking about dinner. It was supposed to be one of those evenings that I made something complicated. The plan was to get home from the office at 5:30 and dig in. So much for that plan.
On the way back from our Columbus, OH visit, I read a Saveur listing 101 iconic dishes. It started wtih a Spanish tomato soup called Salmorejo. I love tomato soup. Whether it's plain cream of tomato or chunky tomato basil or gazpacho, I love the stuff. This was a recipe I wanted to try.
I'm not sure what time the blizzard actually started but it was well under way when I got my lazy self out of bed about 7:30 in the morning. To make the Salmorejo I needed a baguette. And, there was leftover corned beef that was begging to be made into corned beef hash. (You'll have to check back for that recipe.) But, I had no potatoes. What I did have was everything to make the pumpkin goat cheese pasta I'd planned for dinner. To battle the elements or not? The grocery is half a mile away.
Tomato soup and corned beef hash won. Thank goodness because both were fabulous. This is probably unlike any tomato soup you've ever had. In some ways it's like gazpacho because of the sherry vinegar and the olive oil. In other ways it's like a pureed panzanella salad because of the bread. Then, you put the chopped hard-cooked eggs and pancetta on top and those take it way over the top!
While I was cooking and working Wee Mac was checking out the activity outside then snoozing my the register in the bookcase:
The end result was that this was dinner. The pasta never got made that evening. Actually, what happened with the pasta is a great story - for another day...
Salmorejo
Chilled Spanish Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
2 t kosher salt (the recipe called for 3 TABLESPOONS - no way I was putting that much salt in!)
28 oz can diced tomatoes plus the juice (the recipe called for 8 cored, halved and seeded roma tomatoes - which would be great if they weren't selling rock flavored tomatoes at the grocery)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 small yellow onion, finely minced
1/2 baguette (the recipe called for 10 oz, I winged it and used half of a good-sized baguette,) torn into pieces
2 T sherry vinegar
1 c extra virgin olive oil
3 hard boiiled eggs, chopped
8 oz diced pancetta, browned and drained
Directions:
As you can see from the ingredient list, I took a number of liberties with the recipe. That's nothing new. I'm not one who believes in making it as is the first time. For one thing, sometimes I have to substitute ingrediens (the pancetta was supposed to be ham or prosciutto) or I think an ingredient might be a big bully (the salt.) At any rate, this is so easy to put together.
You start by putting the salt, tomatoes and juice, garlic, onion and baguette in a heat proof bowl.
Heat a pot of water to boiling. Pour a cup of the boiling water over the mixture. Allow it to stand at room temperature for an hour. Put everything in the bowl of a food processor. Add the vinegar. Puree until it's smooth then gradually pour in the olive oil. Use extra virgin olive oil as it's an important flavor in the soup. Don't wimp out and either use too little (the bread flavor will win) or use regular olive oil (blah.) Chill and serve topped with chopped hard cooked eggs and pancetta and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
adapted from Saveur
After a few evenings of not being home for dinner, I just want to be HOME! I'd never make it as one of those road-warriors. I like to cook dinner at my house. This past week was one of those weeks where we were out more than we were in. By Thursday (which felt like Friday) I was ready to cook my own dinner and enjoy an evening at home with my hubby. The weather looked like it was going to be cold and snowy. All the more reason to stay home.
And, a great reason for a fire in the fireplace. Here's Wee Mac checking out the fireplace then enjoying the fire:
With the big party coming up in a few weeks, we've got to start stocking up on wine and beer. And, we needed to do a Sauvignon Blanc testing. That meant I needed to make something that'd go well with a crisp white wine. Out came my trusty list of recipes to try. Top choice? Catfish Pecan from Commander's Wild Side. This cookbook is rapidly becoming the most used cookbook in my collection. And, with one exception, everything has been fabulous.
Out to the freezer to collect catfish, peppers and pecans. I had cod, flounder, tuna, shrimp, scallops and tilapia. No catfish. Hmmp! Tilapia would have to do. What to serve with it? Quinoa would be perfect. A bit nutty but nothing that'd overwhelm the fish. And, more of the fantastic asparagus we'd had the other evening. From yet another bargain bin cookbook.
What did we think? Fabulous. I'd make it again tonight. Make sure your pan and oil are really hot so you get a great crust on the fish. That was the best part! Since I was only making two small tilapia filets, I didn't make a whole recipe. The recipe below is as I made it.
Tilapia Pecan
Ingredients:
for the fish:
1/4 c pecan halves
1/4 c flour
2 t Creole seasoning (we use Emerils)
1 egg
1/4 c milk
2 tilapia filets
1 t Creole seasoning
2 T olive oil
for the Olive Oil Meuniere Sauce:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c minced bell peppers (I used green and orange)
1 T minced shallot
1/2 c pecan halves
1 t thyme
1 lemon, halved
5 shakes Tabasco
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t Creole seasoning
Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the 1/4 c pecan halves, flour and 2 t of Creole seasoning. Process until it's smooth.
Put the pecan flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Whisk the milk and egg together in another wide, shallow bowl.
In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil to shimmering. Sprinkle the filets with the 1 t Creole seasoning. Dip them in the milk/egg mixture then in the pecan flour. Saute until they're nice and brown on both sides. Remove the fish from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean. Put in the extra virgin olive oil, bell peppers, shallots, pecan halves and thyme. Cook for a couple of minutes then add in the leftover pecan flour. There shouldn't be more than about a tablespoon of that left. Cook that for a couple of minutes. Finally, squeeze the lemon halves into the pecan mixture. Add the Tabasco, Worcestershire and Creole seasoning.
Serve the sauce over the fish.
adapted from Commanders Wild Side
The other day I bought fresh broccoli at the grocery. For the stems. LOL. Now, you think you have proof that I've really lost my mind, don't you?
Until a few years ago, broccoli stems were cut off and tossed. Then, broccoli slaw became popular. I've been tossing the peeled and sliced stems into salads ever since I discovered how good they are - and how good FOR you they are.
Our dinner menu was a meat, a salad and sweet potato. I can't even remember what the meat was to be... Ah, old age is a wonderful thing! Connie said a salad and the entree would be enough for him. I still wanted some sweet potato. On top of that, I had some leftover broccoli stems to use up. And, some canned whole beets. And, some spiced pecans. Now, in my opinion, blue cheese and beets are soul mates. Rather like Connie and me :-)
Fine then. I'd make a salad and include sweet potato. How to do so? My mind immediately went to croutons. How about shredding a third of the potato and frying it in some vegetable oil? What's the worst that could happen? It'd taste horrid. I had a plan.
What did we think? Connie says he has a new favorite salad. I've opened another can of beets and bought broccoli for the stems. And, we're working our way through the sweet potato. We loved the combination of flavors and textures. This is one we'll make regularly!
I didn't measure as I went but will give you a rough idea of what I did...
Connie's Salad
Ingredients:
shredded lettuce
sliced canned beets
peeled and sliced broccoli stems
crumbled blue cheese
spiced pecans
butter
Emeril's seasoning or other Cajun seasoning
brown sugar
fried sweet potato shreds
olive oil
red wine vinegar
mustard
finely minced shallot
sugar
salt
pepper
Directions:
Make the dressing first and set it aside.
Whisk together about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a heaping teaspoon of dijon mustard, a finely minced shallot and about a half a teaspoon of sugar. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Next, make the spiced pecans. In a small skillet melt about a tablespoon of butter. Add a handful of pecans and allow them to brown. Toss in a couple of teaspoons of dark brown sugar and Emeril's seasoning. Once the sugar has caramelized, remove the pecans frm the heat. (Remember - these were leftovers so I don't have prep photos...)
Now, it's time to fry the sweet potato shreds. In a small, sturdy saucepan, pour about 1/2" of vegetable oil. Heat it until it's shimmering. While it's heating, peel about a third of a large sweet potato and shred it on the large holes of a grater.
I did not pat it dry in paper towels. Once the oil is hot, add half the sweet potato shreds.
Stir them occasionally and keep a REALLY good eye on them because they'll go from perfect to burned in a heartbeat! You want to get them nice and brown and crispy. Drain them on paper towels. See the cool tool I scooped them with? That's one of the things Mom didn't take along when she moved to her independent living apartment. Lucky me!
It's finally time to assemble the salads:
Start with a big handful of lettuce. Top that with beets, broccoli stems and blue cheese. Drizzle with the dressing. Sprinkle over the spiced pecans then top with the sweet potato shreds.
We made a new recipe for pulled pork. It was supposed to be in the slow cooker but instead we did it in the pressure cooker. No matter. It was pretty darned blah. And, there I was with three pounds of pulled pork...
So, for lunch I mixed some barbecue sauce and blue cheese and made bbq sandwiches. Good. A decent second meal. Now to come up with something interesting for a few more...
How about pork chili? Sounded good but probably needed more cooking time than I was interested in on a weeknight. I was thinking black beans, onions, carrots, beer, chilies and some assorted spices.
Ok, so how about pork manhattans? We had beef manhattans almost weekly in my grade school cafeteria. I'm sure I've had some that were better but I certainly don't remember those.
Finally, I settled on pork reubens. I could double or triple the pork by adding in bacon or pancetta and some sausage. Or not. My one concession to the fact I was dealing with pork and not corned beef was to add some chopped green chiles to the thousand island dressing. And, because I was dealing with pulled pork and not pork slices, I decided to chop it and mix it in with the sauerkraut when I heated it up. Now, that was a lucky break. The pork absorbed some of the sauerkraut flavor and stayed VERY moist. In fact, I think I'll do the same next time I make a corned beef or turkey reuben.
What did we think? Very good sandwiches. The sauerkraut certainly stood out more than it typically does with a reuben but that was fine with us since we love the stuff. The thousand island dressing with chilies was a great addition. I'd not change a thing!
Since I didn't get photos taken when we had these for dinner, I used the leftovers for lunch the next day... That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Here's how you put these together:
Toast your bread or bun
Slather it with 1000 Island Dressing with some chopped green chiles tossed in
Mix pulled pork with a can of Bavarian sauerkraut and simmer it in a medium saucepan until it's warm
Squeeze the moisture out of the pork mixture before putting it on the bun
Top the pork mixture with thinly sliced Swiss cheese
Broil until the cheese melts
Either top with another slice of bread/bun or not
enjoy!
There's bee a lot going on around our house. Much of the chaos is due to one Wee Mac Connelly. Much to Connie's chagrin he joined our family in August of this year. He was a stray at the office and made it clear he'd like to go home with us when he beat me to the car! Now, Wee Mac is in the process of learning good cat manners. We have a bottle of NO water in about every room. It's just a spray bottle full of regular tap water. But a good squirt or two and a loud NO work wonders. He's managed to learn that kittens do not come in the dining room while their humans are eating. The one exception was the time he was lolling in the sunshine at the far end of the dining room. He announced himself when we came in the room. The meow was translated as, "Please don't make me move, this sunshine feels so good." We let him stay and enjoy. Then, there's the Mom, cat, bed game. Who gets to sleep where? George prefers my pillow. Oh, I get a little bit of it but he gets the majority. Gracie likes my feet. And, Wee Mac loves the crook of my knees. Makes turning over very interesting! A couple of days ago he had his first experience with the oil from a can of tuna. My but that was a wonderful cat treat!
George is pushing 18. He's had kidney disease for eight years now. And, for eight years I've made him his own food. Here's a link to the recipe: George food. Over the years George has had his blood tested every year. It's not fun and I don't blame him for yowling a bit. This year, I took the old guy in for his checkup and found that he'd GAINED 1/10th of a pound. Amazing. Doc about danced. I did too. George just wanted to get in his carrier and go HOME. He probably never noticed that Doc didn't check his blood. I was glad that he didn't have to get stabbed once again. But, first we had to check out. He was not amused when Trixie came up to say hi.
Ah, the life of a cat around our house! Pretty cushy job, eh?
Well, now, on to cooking for a minute. I know you'll be shocked to hear that we had leftover turkey. I turned it into Curried Turkey Salad. And, no, I didn't measure. I was just happy to throw together something good that used up the turkey.
Curried Turkey Salad
Ingredients:
turkey
apple
celery
toasted pecans
craisins
mayo
curry
lemon juice
mustard
Directions:
Mix the mayonnaise, curry powder, lemon juice and mustard to make the dressing. Toss it with the rest of the ingredients. I topped it with the toasted pecans so they'd not get soggy in the leftovers.
Years ago I read that there were four types of food people. I can't remember much about the article but it boiled down to the fact that I crave pasta and butter. In fact, if forced to choose one category to eliminate from my diet it would be sweets. Fortunately, Connie feels the same way.
Both of us felt lousy today. Sore throats, achy, runny noses. I made it almost through the day then came home at 4:30 and took an hour-long nap. Connie spent most of the day on the couch at the office. We were both in the mood for comfort food.
Then, I opened an email from my friend, Shelley, asking for the recipe for garlic spaghetti I'd talked about at our last meeting. That sealed it. Garlic spaghetti for dinner. Shelley, this one's for you! Just wish you and Bill were here to share!
This recipe is actually Connie's. I remember the first time he made it for me. We'd been dating for a few weeks. He had a rare weekday evening in town and came over to my place and cooked for me. I know, is he a snag or what? He wasn't accustomed to keeping leftovers. I was. The leftovers went in the fridge for the next evening much to his chagrin. But, I was oh, so happy to have them and not have to cook that evening!
Along with the garlic spaghetti, I made one of our favorite salads: Romaine Hearts with Haloumi Matchsticks. Since the garlic spaghetti is not exactly good for you, I added hearts of palm and beets to the salad. I think that's going to be a permanent change!
This is one of those super flexible recipes... Just put it together like you like...
Take butter and melt it. I used four tablespoons for two of us. Chop a couple of cloves of garlic - VERY finely please. Toss them in the melted butter. Add olive oil. Not EVOO but the regular stuff. Add as much olive oil as you've used butter. Then, add in whatever kinds of garlic you've got around the house. We typically have an open jar of Trader Joe's crushed, garlic powder and garlic salt. If you don't have crushed garlic, you might roast some and squish it in. Now, leave that on very low heat and let it get happy for about half an hour.
Get your pasta water ready. And, get some parsley chopped. And, some cheese grated. We use whatever's around - or a mix thereof. Parmesan, romano, grana padano, gruyere...
Cook your pasta and drain it. We prefer thin spaghetti but you can use anything you want. Add the pasta to the garlic butter and toss it well. Pile it in pasta bowls and top with some parsley and cheese. Inhale the fabulous aroma. Nothing like it, is there? Time to eat :-)
Between the transition being one of the most traumatic and difficult things I've ever gone through and dealing with a totally tone-deaf rep of the builder we'd like to use to add on to the house, I've been very quick to tears recently. That's totally unlike me and it honks me off totally that I'm being such a wuss. Today I was at my wits end and I called a friend. We'd not seen each other for about six months. Way too long. I actually felt a bit guilty calling because I wanted a phone number for a different builder so that maybe, just maybe we could get someone who'd hear what we've been saying. What I got was pure comfort. She knew exactly what to say and what questions to ask. Now, my friends, that's a gift that few people have. I am SO lucky to have my wonderful husband and my family and my friends. Tonight, though, I'm particularly lucky to have my friend Nancy. Thank you, Nancy! Now, if I could just find a builder who'd listen...
So, you're wondering what we're up to? Over the last couple of years I've changed my business model. It's meant being able to downsize my staff by half. And, that means I don't need the 3.000 square foot office we occupy. We're also scanning in old documents to attempt to go paperless. Over the last couple of years we've eliminated almost half of our filing cabinets. My dream is to move our office home. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to toss a load of laundry in then head to the computer and work until the bell dings? Or, to head to the kitchen and put Liz's pot roast in the oven to turn into an incredible dinner then head to the conference table for a client meeting? BTW - if you've never tried Liz's pot roast, you need to. Pot roast has always been one of those dishes that my mom made best. Now, it's Liz's I crave. Major YUMMMMM!
What's the point of all of this maudlin chatter? Well, it really doesn't relate to the recipe at hand. It's more venting. Now, back to cooking.
We made our own Thanksgiving dinner after T-day. That way we'd have leftovers. YAY! One of the dishes I made was from Food Network Magazine. It was called Green Beans wtih Walnut-Parsley Sauce. Now, the green beans were on sale at the grocery. Actually, they had a coupon in the paper that if you bought so many dollars worth of groceries you'd get a free pound of green beans. They should've paid us to take them and deliver them to our compost pile! Some of the worst green beans I've ever had in my life. I'm not even sure if cooking them until they were mush would've helped. It was sad too because the walnut parsley sauce was fabulous. We both pretty much scraped it off the beans and ate it and left the beans. Next time, I'll use the little haricot verts that they sell at Trader Joes or Sams. Because this pesto is seriously good.
Green Beans with Walnut Parsley Sauce
Ingredients:
1/3 c toasted walnuts
1 1/4 c parsley
1 small garlic clove, smashed
2 t Worcestershire
1/2 t lemon zest
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 c olive oil
Directions:
This is super easy. Put everything but the olive oil in the bowl of your food processor. Process until it's a smooth paste. Drizzle in the olive oil. Didn't I tell you it was easy?
Adapted from Food Network Magazine
I
just sat down and looked for a recipe in my blog. Then, I realized it was one I'd semi-written and never posted. There are 96 of those. It's time for some short posts with recipes, don't you think?
We had lamb shanks in the freezer. I'm on a mission to use up all the extraneous stuff in the freezer. After a bit of research, I determined that none of the recipes were exactly what I was looking for. So, I made one up. We loved this. The flavors had SO much depth and complexity.
Lamb Shanks
Ingredients:
2 lamb shanks
1 large sprig rosemary
1 T peppercorns
1 T olive oil
1/2 tin anchovies
1 handful (1/2 c) fresh cranberries
8 oz red wine (not sweet!)
8 oz white wine (not sweet!)
2 c or one can beef broth
2 c carrots
1/4 c tomato paste
Directions:
Brown the lamb shanks with the olive oil, rosemary and peppercorns. Once they're nice and brown, add the other ingredients and simmer for 2-4 hours or until the shanks are VERY well done. You can thicken the sauce if you'd like. In our case, in spite of being in a dutch oven, it cooked so far down that I actually had to add a bit of water.
As I started writing this blog I was sitting in a conference room in Kansas City for some advanced planning education. On a weekly basis, I do a radio show with a colleague from Kansas City. Most of those of us who do the show were there. It was a time to see old friends and meet some new ones and to eat barbecue. And more barbecue. I've had all the other kinds of barbecue but in my mind, Kansas City style is the gold standard. Having been to KC before, I knew where I wanted to go and had a cooler in the trunk so we could bring some home and freeze it! Connie called this our red meat tour :-) Here's the tale:
Saturday afternoon in Collinsville, IL we got to the hotel and unloaded the car and headed for Cahokia Mounds. On the way we stopped at a place called Bandanas for a couple of bbq sandwiches. We split a pulled pork and a beef brisket. The pork was good and the brisket was average at best. BBQ fast food. I knew it'd get better.
Sunday around lunch time we arrived in KC. Again, we unloaded the car and headed out. This time, I was on a mission. Gates BBQ. Burnt ends. Now, Connie'd had burnt ends once. They were big chunks and were kind of chewy and just didn't trip either of our triggers. I knew he'd love Gates. But, would he order a burnt ends sandwich? Nope. He wanted ribs. Now, you know we share. So, I got half the ribs and he got half the sandwich.
And, he wished he'd gotten the WHOLE sandwich. His eyes practically rolled back in his head. He declared that the best. You see, the folks at Gates take a couple of cleavers to the burnt ends. They chop them into oblivion then douse them with sauce and slap the whole mess onto a hoagie bun.
Sunday evening was the welcome reception. Afterward, my friend Melissa's hubby Doug picked us up and the four of us went to Garozzo's for chicken spiedini. This was a new dish for me. And, it's one I plan on being very well acquainted with! Basically, you pound a chicken breast thin then coat it with a cheesey bread crumb mixture, roll it up, marinate it in Italian dressing and grill it. Then Garozzo's has one of four ways you can order it. Connie and I got the tomato basil sauce and Melissa and Doug got the garlic sauce. Either way you're going to get a LOT of garlic. This was one fabulous meal!!!
Monday morning it was time to get to work. Bright and early. Lunch at the hotel was bbq. Gates sauce was one of the ones offered. Connie was a happy boy. I had Oklahoma Joe's sauce. Monday evening we all went to Gordon Biersch. Connie's meal was great. Mine was average. Overcooked salmon. I'm just about to the point that I'm done ordering salmon out. It's always overcooked in my opinion. Tuesday morning we were back to work again... Tuesday evening we were on our own.
Oklahoma Joe's it was. Several folks had recommended OJ's as their favorite bbq. It was VERY good. We once again split a pulled pork and a beef brisket sandwich. Except this brisket sandwich had provolone cheese and an onion ring on it. Nirvana!
On our way back to the hotel, we made a run to Jack Stack's. This is the bbq joint that's closest to fine dining if you will. Here you can get lamb ribs, crown prime beef ribs and just about any kind of bbq you want. We'd brought that cooler along just for the run to Jack Stack's.
Wednesday morning we got to Dean's office at 6:30 am. Yup, you read that right. Much to my chagrin I found out there are TWO 6:30's in a day. Wow, who'd have guessed. Time to tape the show with Dean, Bud and Ken. Ken was in from Detroit. Dean and Bud are the ones who are typically on the show. Here are the guys:
10 and we were done taping. Time to head to Indy. We got on the highway and Connie says, "I wonder what time Gates opens?" I said well you'd better get off the highway because this is the exit you take to get there. Half an hour. It was worth the wait. We sat in the parking lot and talked about all the stuff I'd learned and the ideas and how wonderful it was to spend time with our friends. Then, the doors opened. Two burnt end sandwiches were ours. One to split at 10:30 for brunch. Another at 1:30 for lunch. Ah, road food never tasted so good!
Andria's Steak House. Home of my favorite steak sauce. You've undoubtedly read my comments about it. When the grocery store that carried Andria's was gobbled up by a bigger competitor, my access to this liquid gold was gone. Connie got busy on the internet and found that we could order it online. And, he found that Andria's is actually a restaurant in Collinsville, IL.
Several years ago I started collaborating with a colleague in Kansas City. That meant an annual drive from Indy to KC. Collinsville is a short drive south of I-70. I now had the perfect way to stop for dinner. The biggest problem was that that would add a couple of hours to an eight hour drive and just called out for an overnight visit. Being a frugal gal, I couldn't justify paying for a hotel room just to be able to eat dinner at Andria's. Then, Connie was doing a bit of reading about World Heritage sites. He found that the largest city north of Mexico in 1250 AD was situated right there in Collinsville, IL. It's real name is lost to posterity. Now, it's known as Cahokia Mounds. We now had our plan.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Collinsville. Connie had a surprise in store for me. The world's largest ketchup bottle. I know, I laughed too. It used to be a water tower. Now, we've seen the largest egg AND the largest ketchup bottle. Am I living right or what?
Once we'd seen the ketchup bottle, we were off to the interpretive center at Cahokia Mounds. It was incredibly well done. We learned about the various types of mounds and how the people lived. Then, we spent a bit of time exploring the mounds. 10,000 to 20,000 people lived there at one time. The largest mound is called Monk's Mound. It covers 14 acres and took 300 years to build. About 15,000,000 buckets of dirt. I climbed to the top. About the height of a ten story building. Do you think I was a bit excited about having successfully climbed?
From CAhokia Mounds we went straight to Andria's. What a charming restaurant!!! Max, grandson of the developer of the fabulous Andria's Steak Sauce and son of the current owners was our fabulous waiter. The wine list was reasonably priced and offered us so many wonderful options. We selected a Duckhorn Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon.
Salads were great. We both loved the gorgonzola dressing.
Then it was time for our entrees. Perfection on a plate. Usually I have to order rare to get medium rare. At Andria's medium rare is true medium rare.
Service was perfect. We absolutely loved our visit and will figure out how to get back to Andria's. In the interim, I've got a case of the sauce to keep me happy. It not only is perfect on steaks, but in burgers and on about any other protein you can think of.
