Italian Margarita

We've had weird weather here in Indiana.  A couple of weeks ago we had snow.  Then we had tornadoes that destroyed some small towns in Indiana and throughout the Midwest shortly thereafter. Our hearts go out to those in the path of those storms.  Our friends at Huber Winery were spared.  They watched the tornado skip around the farm.  As did the good folks at Capriole Farms (makers of incredible goat cheese.)  Now, we've set a record for a high temperature.  I'm actually going to leave the office a bit early and work in the garden then finish up some work at home later. 


We have a lot to be thankful for, as do most people every day.


We actually got to watch the IU / PU basketball game. Yet another thing to be thankful for, GO HOOSIERS!  IU won and now they're in the big dance.  For those of you not in the know, there's a huge rivalry between Indiana and Purdue Universities.  Those of us from IU like to remind our Purdue friends that the view in their Mackey Arena is better than that in our Assembly Hall.  You see, we've got too many championsip banners in the way.  LOL.

Our Colts are doing spring cleaning.  Ok, maybe it's more than that.  We'll show up this fall and will know about three of the players.  Happily, one of them will be Reggie Wayne.  Good old number 87.  He's fun to watch. 


So, as is our tradition on a Sunday, it was cocktail night. Rather than a retread, Connie says, “Let's try something new”. I am scoured the saved recipes, as he delved through his books.


Computers are both a boon and a bane. You want to find something? “PLEASE WAIT.” Well, it's not as if I had a choice. The programmers might as well design a message that says, “Sit there, sucker, while we load a whole lot of crap, that even if you knew how to use it, you wouldn't want to. PPPPPPPLLLLLLLBBBBBB!”


Okay, that feels better. The old vent your spleen trick.


So I pull up the Italian Margarita. We don't have sweet and sour mix, but Connie assures me that it is pretty straight forward. Now here is something interesting, people that know us, probably know us as competitive, but not geeky. Well as it turns out, we're both pretty knowledgeable about math and science, etc... We both analyzed this problem and discussed the solution.  So, the drink took another 15 minutes to make as we debated about the precise makeup of the sweet and sour. 8 oz of lemon juice to 2 tablespoons of sugar. I, the cook, broke it down as I know, 16 tablespoons in a cup, versus 2 in the recipe. He breaks it down by measuring how many ounces are in 2 tablespoons (1) versus the 8 called for for the lemon juice. Anyway, we finally figured it out and we decided that the recipe was wrong. The first pass at the drink told us that it got the sour, but forgot the sweet. We are going to make our sweet and sour from now on with our world famous :-) simple syrup. Probably half and half. The drink finished much more nicely. Tart to start, and sweet to the finish. Just like Connie likes me! (He added that - thank you sweetie!)


Italian Margarita

for two, of course


2 oz Amaretto (we use diSaronno)
4 oz sweet and sour mix (we made our own)
1 oz gold tequila (we use Jose Cuervo)
1 oz triple sec (we use Dekuyper's)
Salt for the rim of the glassOrange or lime wedges for garnish (we used limes)


Truth be told, Connie did not add the salt. I am not that fond of it, and he just didn't bother since the drink was at least 15 minutes late to begin with. The salt could cut down on the simple syrup modification, but to each their own! What ever you do, never forget to toast the one you love and enjoy!

adapted from winedinedaily.com

Chicken Piccata and Glazed Potatoes

Since our ill-fated trip to The Villa Restaurant a couple of weeks ago I've been craving chicken piccata.  REAL chicken piccata.  Not the crud they served that was made with salt and balsamic vinegar.  I wanted lemon juice and white wine and capers.  As luck would have it, we ran errands Sunday afternoon and one of the magazines I got through while we were driving around was another old Cuisine at Home.  Unbelievable.  There was a recipe for chicken piccata.  I didn't even have to hunt for one.  I also found a great recipe for glazed potatoes in the latest edition of Everyday Food.  Those would be perfect along with some asparagus. 


Actually, I'd planned on making one of the recipes I found from my Secret Recipe Club blog but it took too long so asparagus was the substitute.  If you want to see the Secret Recipe Club post, please check back next Monday :-)


By the time we'd spent about five hours in the office, then took leftovers over to Mom, bought some seeds at The Garden Center, trudged through Sam's Club and picked up the last few items at Marsh, it was well after 5 pm.  I still needed to spend a couple of hours finishing a financial plan for next week.  And, prepping for a couple more reviews.  Yup, it was about 7:30 by the time I finally headed to the kitchen to fix dinner.  i was pretty darned glad it was a relatively quick and easy meal. 


What did we think?  This made up for the horrid dinner two weeks ago.  The chicken was moist and tender and very flavorful.  The potatoes were great.  Just a hint of sweetness and very tender.  And, the asparagus made a perfect dipstick for the last of the piccata sauce.  Best of all?  We had leftovers for lunch!


Chicken Piccata


Ingredients:


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c flour
2 T olive oil
1 t garlic, finely minced
1/4 c white wine
1/2 c chicken broth
2 T lemon juice
2 sliced lemons
1-2 T capers
2 T butter
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley


Directions:

Cut the chicken breasts into cutlets.  I actually cut them into cutlets (cutting the breast into half so you have two very thin cutlets) then cut those in half.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Dust the chicken with flour. 

When the oil is shimmering, add the chicken to the skillet.  Saute until it's a bit brown then turn. 

Remove the chicken from the pan and add the garlic.  Deglaze with the white wine.  Once the wine has almost cooked away and the garlic is browned,

add the chicken broth, lemon juice, capers and lemon slices. 

At this point, I thickened the sauce with a bit of cornstarch mixed with chicken broth.  Add the butter and melt it into the sauce.  Add the cutlets and pour the sauce over them.  Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.

adapted from Cuisine at Home

Glazed Fingerling Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 lb small fingerling potatoes

2 T unsalted butter

1 1/2 c water

salt and pepper

3 T honey

2 T cider vinegar

1 T butter

1 t fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

Use a skillet for this dish.  Combine the potatoes, two tablespoons of butter, the water, salt and pepper in a medium skillet.  Make sure the potatoes are in one layer. Cook the potatoes until they're tender.  It'll take about 15 minutes.  Once the potatoes are fork tender, increase the heat to boil off most of the water.  Once the water has pretty much evaporated, add the honey, vinegar, one tablespoon of butter and thyme. 

Continue to cook until a glaze has formed.  Remove from the heat and allow the potatoes to cool for a couple of minutes prior to serving.

adapted from Everyday Food

Pomegranate Prosecco Cocktail

First, the disclaimer, we don't use champagne.  We happen to like Prosecco.  We find it slightly drier and more approachable than champagne.  It's just a preference, and although neither one of us were big on bubbly, we have, over the past couple of years, found that sparkling wines have their place in the rotation.  Adding to that, our friend, The Wine Guy, Doug Pendleton, sells this wonderful Prosecco in 187 ml bottles (6 oz), Riondo, from Spago Negro.


Last night, my brother and sister-in-law came over for dinner.  We'd cleaned the house and generally scurried around, and we had a bit of time before they were due to arrive.  Connie had chilled the wine for dinner. I'd marinated the pork tenderloins in Hanger One Spiced Pear Liqueur, brown sugar and Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce.  The sweet potatoes were cut and ready to be roasted.  The head of cauliflower was cored, slathered with olive oil and ready to be roasted.  I could actually unwind for a couple of minutes.  I asked for a glassof wine or a cocktail.  Connie said that a champagne cocktail might be nice because it's lighter and we have the whole night in front of us.  Then I hit on it.  What about some of that wonderful pomegranate liqueur, Pama mixed with the Prosecco?


Home run!  This was not only delicious, but beautiful.  This is going to be a regular cocktail for us.


Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail


1 1/2 oz Pama Pomegranate liqueur
3 oz Prosecco


Pour the liqueur into a flute, top it with the Prosecco, toast the one you love, and enjoy!

Steakhouse Steak

I'm working my way through a stack of old cooking magazines.  Like ten years old.  Antique.  Please don't ask me why I've saved them.  It's just that I hate to toss cooking magazines.  This morning on the way to work I read an old Cuisine at Home.  The lead article was about Steak House Searing.  Now, I've always been a steak grilling kind of gal.  Stovetop steaks were not on my radar.  Comes from having a father who thought the only way to cook a great cut of meat was on the grill.  Even though we didn't see him much since he lived in Orlando and we lived in Indy, grilling became part of our lives.  My brother, John, is the grilling pro.  Man, he's perfected grilling.  I can only hope to come close. 

Let's add up the facts.  1) I had an article about steak house searing.  2) There were a couple of pieces of tenderloin left from the trimmings from the holiday party.  They'd been in the freezer long enough.  3) I was REALLY hungry for beef.  Kinda the perfect night to fix some tenderloin.  Add in the fact that a gal who'd been a friend of my mom's and who'd played bridge with Connie died a couple of days ago.  She was the original creator of Jane's Rice - which is perfect with beef.  Oh, and we're having company for dinner tomorrow night so getting the house a bit clean was a great idea.  A quick dinner would help. 

Now, the magazine had some great sauce recipes.  Not on our diets these days...  I decided to make a change to the morel dusted ribeyes recipe and try the rub on the tenderloin pieces.  It turned out to be a good call.

What did we think?  I think I may have found my new preferred way to cook a piece of tenderloin.  The crust was perfect.  The interior was medium rare.  Flavor, great.  Tender.  We loved the steak.  And, the Jane's Rice was awesome as normal. 

Here's the basic premise.  Preheat your oven to 425F.  Cut the tenderloin into serving size pieces.  The article calls for cutting them about 2" thick. Mine were close to that but not perfectly shaped.  Rub the steaks with whatever rub you're using.  I used our morel dusted ribeyes rub but substituted brown sugar for white.  Then, you heat an ovenproof skillet.  I mean heat that skillet.  The recipe called for using oil.  I had some butter and thought that'd work.  Not so much.  I dropped it in the HOT skillet and it burned pronto.  Here's what it looked like after about 10 seconds:

I poured that out and wiped out the skillet and poured in some oil.  In went the steaks.  Five minutes on high heat, flip them then five minutes in the oven.  Pull the pan out - watch out for a hot handle! - and set the steaks aside to rest for five minutes. 

Now, the recipe in Cuisine at Home says this'll create rare meat.  It says to roast for seven minutes for medium rare and nine for medium.  My pieces were not uniformly thick AND I didn't remove them from the skillet immediately upon removing them from the oven.  So, I wound up with medium rare.  Which was fine.  I'd have preferred rare but Connie prefers medium rare so it worked out just fine for him. 

Foodie Adventures

This weekend was pretty much foodie nirvana!  It actually started on Friday with lunch at Seasons 52.  Connie and I went there several years ago in Orlando with my older brother John and his wife, Linda.  It was very good but I don't remember it being extraordinary.  Friday's lunch certainly was extraordinary.  We call it the Kappa Lunch Bunch.  It's a group of sorority sisters who get together for lunch several times a year.  We rarely repeat a restaurant.  I think Seasons 52 will be an exception.  Everyone seemed thrilled with their food.  Gay had the fish tacos and raved about them.  Lori, the hamburger.  Mary, the sushi.  Patty the salad and bruschetta.  Debbie and I had the portabello mushroom flatbread.  The others at the far end of the table seemed to be as happy as we were but were too far away to chat with.  The flatbread was perfect.  Thin slices of mushroom, four kinds of cheese, fresh spinach and roasted garlic drizzled with truffle cream.  Here's a photo of my flatbread:

Friday evening was the Indy Wine Fest.  It's a fund raiser for WFYI - the public radio station.  No, the food wasn't great.  Well, except for the eggplant.  But, the focus was on the wine.  300+ wines.  All you can test.  Several wines disappeared early.  We'd gone through the list and highlighted several we really wanted to try.  They ranged from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnays to Pinot Noirs and Cabernets.  There were a few bubblies thrown in for good measure.  We were smart about the whole deal and took a cab downtown.  The reds really weren't at their best not being served with food.  The whites were a different story.  Awesome!  We had several that'll go on our list.  And, we got to spend some time with our dear friend, Chef Joseph and his partner Juan.  We also got to chat with some of the folks from Huber Winery and were very relieved to find out that they watched the tornado skip around the farm and had no damage.  Now, we need to confirm that our friend, Maggie (who owns Rosewind Farms) is ok.

Saturday morning it was up at the crack of dawn to head to Columbus for a meeting.  Connie took a nap and I met with my clients.  One of my favorite kinds of meetings - the yes you can afford to retire ones!  Makes it all worthwhile!!  From there, we were off to Burton's Maplewood Farm for the National Maple Syrup Festival.  We've gotten to know the Burton's from the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market.  Their syrup is amazing.  I always have a bottle of it in my fridge. 

Registration was at the school.  On our way down we'd passed our friend JJ Boston from Chef JJ's Back Yard in Broad Ripple.  He was driving his Big Green Egg Bus.  We'd honked and waved and laughed that he was probably heading to Medora.  Indeed he was.  On our way into the school we bought a "tour" from JJ.  A pork taco, a beef slider and frites.  All were fabulous.  A total home run!  Here's JJ:

Inside the auditorium there was a maple syrup and King Arthur flour cooking contest going on.  One of the judges was a friend of mine from way back when - Rick Hofstetter.  Rick and his wife own the Story Inn.  Not only is it a great place to stay but the restaurant is worth the drive!!

We boarded the bus to the farm at the school.  Aussie was helping:

Oh, and yes, it was a school bus.  No seat belts and teeny, tiny, windy southern Indiana roads.  Yikes!

Off the bus and up the driveway.  Lots and lots of buckets!  Here's Connie, Mark and Chris:

And, some of the buckets:

Then, off to the side was a re-enactment of a coffee house.  Fascinating.  One of the estimates is that there was a coffee house for every 250 Londoners in the 1700's.  The gal described the entire process of coffee making from roasting the beans to the sugar. 

Up the hill we saw the man eating chicken:

I know, I did the same thing.  GROAN.

They had a lot of vendors set up.  One of our favorites was Local Folks.  We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with the owner.  We've talked to his wife at the farmer's market but haven't bought any of their products because I prefer to make my own pasta sauce etc.  That'll change now that we've tried their mustard.  Wow, was that stuff ever good.  Mark loved their blueberry preserves.  In fact, he named that as one of his favorite things about the day!

Our other favorite was a fellow who was working with clay - primarily plates.

From there we were off to the other re-enactors.  First up was a family fixing dinner.  The fellow was cutting up a pumpkin and was going to roast it over the fire with port and maple syrup.  Sign me up!  He was going to toss the seeds for the heirloom pumpkin so I asked if we could have some.  We now have a baggie of wonderful seeds! 

Next, we learned how maple sugar is made.  Best of all, we got some samples.  Here's Connie chatting with the fellow about the various sugar molds. 

The last re-enactors were Lenape (Delaware) Indians.  This fellow was  softening a deer hide to make moccasins.  He said he'd first soaked it in deer brains then was rubbing it on this rope.  He was SO interesting to chat with. 

After we finished with the festival, we were off to find two local covered bridges.  The Medora Bridge is in pretty good shape.  The Shieldstown bridge, not so much.

Finally, on our way to drop Chris and Mark off in Columbus, we stopped at The Brick in Jonesville for one of their famous hamburgers.  I can see why folks love them!

Meet the Candidate

Whew!  It sure feels good to sit down.  We had a meet the candidate for a friend of ours who's running for Congress - Dr. John McGoff. 

It was at the office since parking's easier there AND it's a lot easier to clean.  Ok, fine.  Cleaning's the biggest reason :-)  Tuesday night I made two veggie dips.  The ubiquitous dill dip and green herb tapenade.  Wednesday night I actually left the office at 5:00 to head home and start cooking. 

Here's what we got done Wednesday:

blue cheese spread
crab remoulade dip
black bean salsa
baked brie
shrimp with bloody mary cocktail sauce
hard cooked eggs with anchovy crumbs
chicken salad
spuma di tonno (tuna foam)

Our "bar" was the top of the shredder box.  The appetizers were on pretty much every available surface in our "family room" area.  Here are a couple of shots of the party:

Now, let's get to the important part - appetizers!

The blue cheese spread is from one of my favorite cookbooks - Back Home Again.  It's from the Indianapolis Junior League.  My notes show I first made it in August, 1995 and rated it "Awesome."  Indeed it is.

Blue Cheese Spread

Ingredients:
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/3 crumbled blue cheese
1/3 c lowfat yogurt
1/4 c toasted, chopped pecans
2 T minced chives

Directions:
Whip the cream cheese.  Mix in the blue cheese, yogurt and chives.  This is best done with a mixer.  Then, fold in the pecans.  Serve with crackers, baguette or sliced apples.


The crab remoulade dip was my invention.  I knew I didn't have time for crab cakes with remoulade sauce.  And, with just a toaster oven at the office heating them would be tough.  None of my crabmeat dip recipes sounded like what I wanted.  So, I made one up.

Crab Remoulade Dip

Ingredients:
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 20 oz can crabmeat (we use Trader Joe's claw crabmeat)
3 T capers
1 T lemon juice
6 T cream
1 T Old Bay seasoning
2 T chopped shallots
2 t dijon mustard
1/2 t Tabasco
2 t Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Whip the cream cheese.  Add the other ingredients with the exception of the capers, shallots and crabmeat.  Blend them with your mixer.  Fold in the capers, shallots and crabmeat.  Pour the mixture into an ovenproof baking dish.  Heat at 350 for about 20 minutes or until bubbly.  Serve with crackers or baguette.


When I pulled Back Home Again out to get the blue cheese spread recipe, the cookbook fell open to Black Bean Salsa.  Gotta make that.  I love the fact that this can be made with rum or tequila.  I've used both and have to say what is best depends on my mood :-)  I'm a huge fan of black beans - well, just about any bean! - and this is one of my very favorite ways to enjoy them.

Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 T chopped green onions
1 navel orange, peeled and chopped
2 T finely chopped red bell pepper (I've been known to sub green pepper)
1 T dark rum or tequila
1 1/2 t Dijon mustard
1 1/2 t red wine vinegar
1 T fresh OJ
1/2 t grated orange rind
1/4 c vegetable or olive oil

Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients.  I've found that it's best to mix the beans and dressing ingredients the night before then let them all get happy together in the fridge.  Then, right before serving, I add the jalapenos, orange etc.



Next up was the baked brie.  We've made a dozen variations on this.  Cranberry chutney, peach preserves, you name it.  This was the first baked brie I ever had - back in 1978.  And, it remains my favorite.

Baked Brie

Ingredients:
wedge of brie
brown sugar
pecans

Directions:
Put the wedge of brie in an ovenproof baking dish. 

Pack brown sugar on it - about 1/4" deep. 

Arrange pecans over the brown sugar.  You want to cover the entire wedge. 

Bake until it's nice an melty.  About 20 minutes at 350 should do it.



You're actually supposed to poach the shrimp for this in a vodka broth.  It's fabulous but not absolutely necessary.  What is necessary is this fantastic cocktail sauce.  I'm a lover of St. Elmo's super hot cocktail sauce made with fresh horseradish.  That wimpy stuff just doesn't cut it after St. Elmo's.  This is the first homemade version that's passed my test.  I found the recipe in Coastal Living.  We first made it up at Donna and Phil's and all of us just inhaled this.  Then, I made the sauce for our holiday party and the same thing happened.  Seems like everyone else feels the same way I do!


Shrimp with Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients:
1 c ketchup
1/2 c chili sauce
1/4 t celery salt
1 t Tabasco
3 T prepared horseradish
2 T lemon juice
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 T vodka
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients and serve chilled.

Getting close to done.  Next up, salami wraps.  Here's another of my inventions.  Connie loves salami.  For some reason, I fried some - maybe to go in a grilled cheese?  Who knows.  All of the sudden it felt like a good idea to mix it with some whipped cream cheesa and chopped green olives and schmear it in some fresh salami.  The first year I made these for our holiday party they were inhaled.  Ditto the second year.  They're totally wicked so that's the only time we typically make them.  Guess what?  Connie requested them for this occasion.  I said what the heck, let's make them.

Salami Rolls

Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, whipped
1/2 c chopped green olives (fine with pimento)
4 oz salami, chopped and fried and drained
4 oz salami, thinly sliced

Directions:
Mix the cream cheese, green olives and salami.  Schmear about a teaspoon onto each slice of salami and roll it up.


Next to last, hard cooked eggs with anchovy crumbs.  I really wanted to make deviled eggs.  But, they're such a pain in the tookus to transport.  We've made this recipe a couple of times for our big holiday party and they've been very popular.  They'd be a wonderful alternative.

Hard Cooked Eggs with Anchovy Crumbs

Ingredients:
10 hard cooked eggs
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 anchovy fillet, finely minced
1/2 t garlic, finely minced
1T unsalted butter
2 anchovy fillets
1/2 t lemon zest
3/4 c panko

Directions:
Cut the eggs lengthwise into quarters.  Mix the mayonnaise, anchovy and garlic.  Melt the butter in a small skillet.  Add the 2 anchovies and stir until they melt into the butter.  Add the panko and stir until it's browned.  Stir in the lemon zest.  To serve, dollop a bit of the mayonnaise on each egg.  Sprinkle with the panko crumbs. 


Almost done.  Chicken salad.  For years and years I made Ernie and Sue Kobets type chicken salad.  They're the wonderful folks who own the Illinois Street Food Emporium.  Some of the best food in the city.  Just wish it was closer.  Ok, I shouldn't wish that.  I'd blow my budget and calories on their fabulous croissants...  Then, one day I had the chicken salad at Patachou.  Nirvana.  I tried making my own version and found it was very easy and oh, so good.

Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
1 chicken, meat shredded
red grapes, halved
pecans, toasted and chopped
mayonnaise

Directions:
Since the size of chickens varies so much, it doesn't make sense to put measurements on this one.  You want to end up with a dense chicken salad.  It's the difference between chunks of chicken and shredded chicken. 

Last, but not least, we did an antipasto platter:

Right about now my friend Monet is probably reading this and wondering if I'm totally daft and have forgotten the desserts.  You see, I actually had some bar cookies left from the holiday party.  They've been in the freezer since then.  We're not big sweet eaters so we've not touched them.  We're still working on the box of mint meltaways from Marianne, the caramels and the amazing chocolate pretzels from Heather that were hostess gifts from the party.  I was going to make cheesecake dip to go with Pirouettes but decided this is my opportunity to clean out my freezer!  The desserts that were left over after the party - they left with Dr. John to go to his colleagues in the emergency room!