Blue Cheese and BBQ Sauce

Tonight was a trip to Sam's to get the ingredients for George's cat food.  I knew we'd get home too late to do too much, so bought a rotisserie chicken while we were there.  Gave Connie three choices - with the 2nd merely being a riff on the first.  One was sliced chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus with parmesan, pimento and bread crumbs.  Two was the first with a bbq sauce on the chicken.  Three was a warm roasted potato, chicken, asparagus and blue cheese salad.  He went for option two.  I roasted the fingerling potatoes with a good handful of garlic cloves (thank you Sam's for selling them pre-peeled!)  Did our normal with the asparagus.  But, I must mention - we are SO spoiled with the wonderful veggies we get from our yard and the CSA that asparagus shipped in from halfway around the world just doesn't have the same flavor!  Then, the five.  I took about 1/2 cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and crumbled in about 1/4 cup of blue cheese.  Put it in a small saucepan and heated it over medium heat until the blue cheese had melted into it.  Now, I am the sauce person.  Is there extra gravy?  I'm there!  Extra sauce?  I'm there!  Extra dressing?  I'm there.  They're my downfall.  A vast majority of the extra calories I consume are in sauces, dressings and gravy.  Connie on the other hand could care less about the same.  Tonight was different.  I ladled a bit of the blue cheese bbq sauce over his chicken.  He took a bite and got a funny look on his face.  Pretty soon he was dipping his finger in and licking  the sauce off.  He couldnt' figure out what in the world it was but he liked it.  I finally broke down and told him.  YUM was his response.  Then, he did the unheard of - got up and got the saucepan and put MORE on his chicken.  First time in 5 1/2 years I've seen him get more sauce.  So, we have a new five here :-)

Holiday Party

Every January we have a holiday party.  Started out using a caterer for part of the fare but he failed miserably a couple of times.  Delivered a practically raw turkey breast, late, etc.  Now, I do all the cooking.  The recipes will follow over time.  For now, though, here's the bill of fare.

Bill of Fare




Meats, Fish and Seafood


Turkey breast with Grand Marnier Cranberry Compote


Pork Tenderloins with Scallion Mustard Mayonnaise


Beef Tenderloins with Horseradish Sauce


Honey Glazed Ham with Apricot Mustard Sauce


Gingery Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce


Teriyaki Flank Steak Skewers


Sassy Shrimp


Smoked Salmon with Whipped Cream Cheese, Red Onions and Capers






Crudite


Fresh Herb and Caper Tapenade


Blue Cheese Dip


Roasted Pistachio Dip






Crackers


Brie with Cranberry Chutney


Buffalo Chicken Dip


Caramelized Onion Dip


Clam Dip


Crab Rangoon Dip


Ham and Cheese Ball


Dilled Brie and Smoked Salmon


Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Spread


Peppadew Spread


Rustic Chicken Liver Mousse


Shrimp Butter










Hot Bites


Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts in Chili Sauce


BBQ Potstickers


Corn Wontons


Harry Carey’s Crab Cakes


Curried Cheese and Ripe Olives on English Muffins


Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce


Mushroom and Goat Cheese Puffs


Rumaki






Chips


Rum Soaked Black Bean Salsa


Mexicali Salsa


Smoked Salmon Tartare






Antipasto and Cold Bites


Antipasto Platter


Caesar Deviled Eggs


Chorizo and Fontina Stuffed Dates


Citrus Marinated Olives


Cream cheese and Amaretto Apricots


Crispy Salami Rolls


Cream Cheese Olive Pecan Bites


Eggs with Crispy Anchovy Crumbs


Italian Marinated Vegetables


Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce


Mushroom and Goat Cheese Puffs


Rumaki


Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Deviled Eggs


Smoked Trout and Alouette on Crackers


Desserts


Apricot Pate du Fruit


Brownies


Butterscotch Brownies


Eggnog Cake


Pirouettes with Cheesecake Sauce


S’mores on a stick

Maple Syrup and More

While we were on Cape Cod, I bought a new cookbook called Cranberry Cooking for All Seasons.  Not only do we love cranberries, but the intro is a wonderful history of the cranberry in New England.  I had a bag of cranberries to use up.  Ditto several butternut squash and some chicken breasts.  I found a recipe for stuffed acorn squash and thought it'd be good done with a baby butternut.  It was.  We gave it a five.  I hunted thru the chicken recipes I've clipped and found one that went perfectly - chicken breasts glazed with a mix of fresh ginger, soy sauce and maple syrup.  Last, but not least, I just bought the new Ina Garten cookbook.  It's called Back to Basics and has her typical scrumptious fare plus gorgeous photos.  I thought I'd seen a salad I liked when I read the cookbook.  Right.  Not only was it there, it also has maple syrup in the dressing.  Perfect.

Glazed Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c maple syrup (shagbark hickory would work as well)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
sprinkle of cayenne

I used the skillet in which I'd browned the bacon for the salad.  The fond undoubtedly added to the depth of flavor in the glaze.  Brown the breasts on both sides.  When they're within about 10 min of being done, pour the glaze over them.  Baste them with the glaze every minute or so. 

Butternut Squash stuffed with Cranberries

1 very small butternut squash
1/3 c chopped pecans
1/2 c chopped fresh cranberries
2 tbs brown sugar
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 c orange marmalade
sprinkle of cinnamon.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Remove the seeds.  Bake cut side down for 15 min at 350.  Turn the squash over and stuff them with the filling.  Bake for another 15 min.

Cooking on Cape Cod

After a LONG day of travel, we finally got back from Cape Cod last night.  I love going out there to see Greg and Matt and their girlfriends, Mary and Jessie.  But, cooking in Auntie Barbara's kitchen is a bit challenging.  Over the years I've added critical items like a grater.  But, there are still a LOT of items missing.  Like, knives that really cut.  And, soup spoons.  And a grabber that's not in two parts...  So, I consider it to be kind of like camping.  We started with the kids favorite meal - Chicken Caesar Lasagna.  It's easy to make and is a family favorite.

Chicken Caesar Lasagna
one rotisserie chicken
1 or 2 jars alfredo sauce
1 or 2 packages frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
9 lasagna noodles
1 pkg grated 5 Italian cheese

Boil the lasagna noodles.  While they're boiling, pick the meat off the chicken.  Mix it with the sauce, spinach, roasted red peppers and lemon juice.  Schmear a bit of the sauce mix on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Lay 3 lasagna noodles over that.  Top with 1/3 of the sauce mix, followed by 3 more lasagna noodles, and so on until you have three layers.  Bake at 350 for 45 min.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for another 15 min.


The next night we wound up at our favorite pub to watch our Colts and have dinner.  Captain Parker's has won all kinds of clam chowder cook-offs.  We started with cups of that, of course.  I had a little piece of the best prime rib I think I've ever had.  Tender, flavorful, juicy.  Perfect.  Turns out the Captain was there and wandered in to say hello.  He wound up giving us a couple of their mugs as mementos.

Friday, we wandered toward Sandwich (the quintessential New England town) stopping at various galleries and book stores and shops.  I was on the hunt for a couple more Christmas presents and some stocking stuffers.  Found them!  On the way we saw a sign for LOBSTERS.  So, we found it on the way back and meandered up the driveway.  Turns out the guy has a tank on his front porch packed with lobsters he caught that day.  YUM!  The "tree" in the front yard was a mountain of lobster pots strung with lights.

Saturday we had glop and roasted broccoli.  Another family favorite with a newbie - to them at least.  It's the 4th time we've made the roasted broccoli in a month!

Glop
What a name for a dish.  This started when I was in 8th grade cooking class.  We made a dish with macaroni, tomato juice, hamburger and cheese.  Over the years, I've tweaked the recipe more than a bit. 

1 lb ground round
1/4 c Andria's steak sauce (believe me - this is the best - order it online)
1 package Kraft mac and cheese, prepared according to directions
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice
2 tsp basil
10 oz Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar, grated

Brown the ground round with the Andria's.  Drain the liquid into a fat strainer and pour the good stuff back in.  Mix everything else in and enjoy!

Sunday was Lou's Barbecue Beef, Jane's rice and clean up the kitchen for five salad.  Lou's BBQ Beef was in the 10/26/09 post.  Jane's rice was what we always had as kids with fried chicken livers.  That was a huge treat - still is. But, now, I fix Jane's rice with lots of different things.  It's kind of a haphazard recipe - no specific instructions.  You'll wind up with about 3 cups of rice so you'll want to start with about a cup of uncooked rice.  Uncle Ben's converted is the best.  Take a measuring cup if you're more comfortable using that to determine the amount of liquid.  I've done this one so long that I just eyeball it.  Drain a 4oz can of mushrooms - pieces and stems - into the measuring cup.  Add white wine for another 1/3 -1/2 of the liquid.  Then, use water for the rest.  Dump the liquid, rice, a package of dry onion soup mix and the mushrooms in your saucepan and cook until the rice is done.  If it starts to get too dry, pour more wine or water in.  Chef's choice!

Elegant Dinner

When we prepare the beef tenderloins for the annual holiday party, there are always great trimmings.  We've never quite figured out what to call the piece that's about a pound or pound and a half that looks like a small roast.  We thought it was the chateaubriand but later read that that's a part of the big tenderloin.  At any rate, we had one of the pieces still frozen.  Since I'm still working on cleaning out the freezer, I decided the next three meals would be beef, swordfish and lamb chops.  Back in about 1984, I created a stuffing for lamb chops.  It's been my go-to recipe since then.  Last night, I decided to try stuffing the beef with the same.  Since I had a package of button mushrooms and another of portabellas - both of which needed to be used up - and since we're going to have lamb chops Monday night, it made sense to just make a big batch of stuffing.

Lamb Chop Stuffing
8 oz. mushrooms, chopped and sauteed
2 chicken livers, sauteed and chopped very finely
1/4 c chopped, cooked bacon
1 tsp thyme or tarragon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, very finely minced
1/2 c red wine, more if needed to keep the stuffing moist
2T shaved parmesan

Sautee the mushrooms until almost dry.  Add the onion and garlic and some of the wine if necessary.   Cook until the onion is softened.  Mix in the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Now, for those of you who run screaming from the room at the thought of liver, you can undoubtedly leave it out.  But, it really plays well with the other flavors and you cant' really tell it's there.  So, be brave, try the stuff.


Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce

1-2 lb piece of tenderloin
1 c stuffing (above)
2 T olive oil
1 T flour
2 t beef base
1 c red wine
1 T butter

Cut a pocket in the center of the tenderloin, leaving about an inch at either end.  Stuff the tenderloin with the stuffing and tie it in 3-4 places.  We use the cooking rubber bands.  They're so easy to use!  Heat your oven to 400.  Put the tenderloin in a baking dish or pan and roast it for 15 min.  Yes, I know you usually brown it first.  But, Cooks Illustrated just did an article on tenderloins and they found that it's better to brown it after roasting.  So, I tried it that way.  When the tenderloin comes out of the oven, start the olive oil.  Get it to the shimmering point in a heavy skillet.  Brown the tenderloin, being very careful not to cook it too long.  Remove the tenderloin from the skillet and put it aside to rest.  Tent aluminum foil over it to keep it warm.  Pour the pan drippings from roasting the beef into the olive oil.  There shouldn't be much  Add the flour to the olive oil and stir until the flour is cooked.  Pour in some red wine, stirring constantly.  Once that's thickened, add the beef base and the rest of the red wine.  Stir until it's thickened.  Add the butter last to give the sauce polish.  It'll change the color and texture and flavor.  Slice the tenderloin.  Put a puddle of sauce on each plate and lay a slice of tenderloin on the sauce.


Along with the beef, I made a variation of rosemary potatoes and Daddy's fried potatoes.  He always sliced the potatoes and fried them in bacon fat with salt and pepper as the seasoning.  I sliced them thinly and slowly cooked them in olive oil with salt, pepper, garlic and crushed rosemary to season.  They cooked for about an hour and a half and were perfect.  Some were crunchy, some were melt in your mouth soft.  YUM!

We also tried a mixture of cauliflower and asparagus roasted and drizzled with the lemon juice and soy sauce, then sprinkled with sesame seeds.  They were good but not as good as the broccoli was done the same way.

Last but not least, I made an onion herb focaccia bread.  New recipe and pretty easy.  Stretch refrigerated pizza dough out on an oiled, rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle some olive oil over it then rub it around to cover the entire surface.  Sprinkle it with sea salt (I grind mine,) crushed rosemary and a bit of red pepper flakes.  Set aside until puffy - about an hour.  Make dimples with your fingers.  Then sprinkle with very finely sliced red onion (about half of a medium one) and about 1/2 c shaved parmesan.    Bake for 17 min at 400.

Clean Out the Freezer for Two

We're trying to clean out the freezer so there's room for all the party food the first week of January. Gads, it's only a month away! Tonight I decided it was time to finish one of the last of the pork tenderloins. They'd been marinated in soy sauce, bourbon and brown sugar then grilled. I made the spicy cranberry sauce and warmed the tenderloins up in that. Then, made some couscous and tossed in a handful of dried cranberries as it was cooking. Alongside, I served broccoli with sesame seeds. That was fabulous. Absolutely a five! We gave the cranberry sauce and couscous a four. It was really good too, but could've used a bit more ginger flavor. Next time I'll try adding a bit of ground ginger.

Spicy Cranberry Sauce

One can jellied cranberry sauce
1 T country Dijon mustard
2 t soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
2 T finely minced crystallized ginger

Melt the cranberry sauce in a saucepan and add the other ingredients.



Roasted Broccoli with Sesame Seeds
Preheat oven to 450. Separate broccoli into florets. Put them in a baking dish that’s large enough to accommodate them without being crowded. Drizzle broccoli with olive oil. Roast until browned – about 20 minutes. Toss with a drizzle of soy sauce, a small splash of lemon juice and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

About a week ago I made some risotto. Trying to clean out the massive quantities of homemade chicken stock in the freezer... Since John Marvel doesn't get mushrooms at home and he was going to get to share the risotto, that was the flavoring. Now, risotto is one of those things I didn't even have until a few years ago. I loved it at first bite. It sounds pretty intimidating to make but is really quite easy. And, you can pretty much put in anything as long as you've got the wine, stock and onion.

Mushroom Risotto

Heat 5 cups of good quality chicken stock. Saute 8 oz of mixed mushrooms (button, cremini, shitake...) in 3T of unsalted butter. Set them aside. Saute one small onion, diced, in 2 T butter and 1T olive oil. Add 1 1/2 c Arborio rice and stir until slightly golden. Add 1/2 c dry white wine. Once it's absorbed, add the stock 1/2 c at a time, stirring frequently. Once the rice is creamy and the stock has been absorbed, add 1/2 c grated romano cheese, about 2t of white truffle oil (optional,) salt and pepper and the reserved mushrooms. Serve with more grated romano.

Couple of homeruns for dinner tonight. We had some leftover chicken breasts so I pulled the poultry file. Chose the first 16 that appealed. Gave the stack to Connie and he picked his top 8. I went in and picked my top 4 of the 8. He declined to choose any further so I picked tonight's winner. Made a bunch of changes...


Chicken Breasts with Lemon Olive Sauce
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Penzey's Tsardust
1/4 c olive oil
1 c chicken broth
3/4 c white wine
1 T corn starch
1 T roasted garlic
2 T Penzey's freeze dried shallots
1 c TJ's cracked green olives, pitted and chopped

Sprinkle the chicken with Tsardust (cinnamon, garlic, marjoram and some other herbs and spices) Broil or grill them. (I used a grill pan.) While the chicken is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken broth and part of the wine. Put the corn starch in a bowl and mix in enough of the wine to create a slurry. Mix that into the sauce mixture. Add the garlic, shallots and olives. Stir until thickened. Add the cooked chicken breasts and coat with the sauce. Cook garlic/olive oil couscous (takes 5 min once the water is boiling) and serve with the chicken and sauce.

Garlic Vegetable Salad
We made Melissa's carrots (Melissa D'Arabian - glazed carrots -foodtv.com) and Ina Garten's Broccoli with Garlic and Soy Sauce for a party last weekend. I took the leftovers and dumped them on a bed of lettuce then took Ina's sauce idea and created a salad dressing from it. A good spoonful of crushed garlic, a splash of lemon juice, a good pour of soy sauce and some evoo.

We gave both of these a 5 out of 5 and would happily have them again tomorrow.