delishes-delishes

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2009-05-25T12:49:00.002-07:00

To my brand new blog site!

Green Grass Living

Can't wait to see you there.

Pasta Poison

2009-05-18T19:56:00.003-07:00

This may not look like its poisonous, but believe me, it is. And we ate it for dinner tonight

Ages, eons and centuries ago, when Nick was 5 or 6, we were having dinner at Olive Garden. Nick, as usual, was having Fettucini Alfredo and (gasp!) there was a penne noodle in with his fettucini.

And being the loving, kind-hearted and caring parents we were, Paul and I managed to convince Nick that eating different kinds of pasta together created poisonous toxins. We even got the server to back us up!

Eventually Nick's common sense kicked in, however it took a couple of years. which was nice, because its always good to have easy entertainment as close at hand as a box of spaghetti mixed with a couple of pieces of farfelle.

Now fast forward to tonight. Once again, I found myself with partial boxes of fettuccini, linguini and spaghetti noodles. So I combined them and served them together.

And thus, I have poisoned my family.

Deliciously.

Garlic Lemon Shrimp Pasta

Cook according to directions on box and drain, reserving approx. 1/2 c of the pasta water:
1 box fettuccini (c'mon, be daring and mix in some linguini)

Combine in a bowl and marinate 15-20 minutes
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
3 cloves garlic, crushed
zest from 1 large lemon
2-3 T olive oil

Heat additional 2 T olive oil and 2 T butter in a large skillet
Add 2-3 cloves garlic to oil and saute until it starts to smell delicious
Add marinated shrimp (cook in two batches if necessary to avoid crowding)
Season with salt & pepper

When shrimp is cooked, remove to bowl; set aside.
Squeeze juice from 1 lemon into pan
Add 1/4 cup heavy cream.
Season to taste with salt & pepper
Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired.

Add pasta to pan and mix to combine. Stir in shrimp.

Serve with grated Parmesean.

Where the Green Grass Grows

2009-05-17T07:26:00.003-07:00

This past week has been a challenge.

And yes, in this case, "challenge" is a euphemism for "hellacious".

Paul and I are used to working long, hard hours. When we owned our business in Texas, there were many weeks when we both had to work 60-70 hours, and we would drag ourselves into the house at some horrendous hour and stumble to bed hoping to shut our minds down long enough to get even just four hours of sleep before we had to start all over again.

Those days, those weeks were hard. And because we were both very instrumental and involved in the business, one of us never had a week like that, those weeks hit us both.

Since moving and taking jobs in the "real world", we haven't had a whammy week like that with both of us hit at the same time. Until this past week.

The non-profit I work for had its big annual fundraiser this week, which meant early mornings and late nights. And Paul's company decided to do re-sets of all the area stores, and pulled all store managers in to work twelve-hour long overnight shifts. This meant that on a good day, Paul and I saw each other for 15 minutes between the time he got home in the morning and the time I dashed out the door to work.

But really, this schedule, while exhausting, couldn't knock us down. Nope, we had to find other things to really challenge us.

Like adding a mandatory-participation science fair on the same day as the fundraiser.

And receiving an order of 100 baby chicks of which 40 were dead when delivered, and 4 more died in the next couple of days.

Then, just to really add to the fun, we had a dog cut her paw and run in circles around our living room carpet, necessitating an emergency call to a carpet cleaner because we just didn't have the time/energy to take care of it ourselves. And like the blood stains in Macbeth, these also are reappearing and now we have a hundred little round stains all over the carpet.

But don't forget that we also have a farm to run, and this week required intensive gardening with over 100 tomato plants going in along with numerous other veggie starts and seeds.

AND it was also the first week of chicken processing, with 50 birds needing to be processed and packaged for customers.

And with customers coming to pick up birds, the house had to be at least a little bit presentable, and we had to make that happen.

...

So, here I am at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, and for the first time in over a week, I feel like my brain has started to return to its normal processing speed. And although most of the muscles in my body are still screaming at me. I can look look back and see that through this past week's screams of frustration, tears of exhaustion and chaos of life, there are certainties all around me.

I am certain that life is good. Through the open door beside me, I see rows of tomato plants, I hear the twittering of birds and the clucking of hens, I feel the calmness of the morning and the peace of the land.

And I am certain that I am blessed. I have an amazing husband who works hard to support us. I have three boys who are growing into strong and capable men, I have parents who step up to help when I'm stumbling.

And so, again, its six in the morning. My house is messy. My carpet is spotty. My laundry is piled up. My cupboards are bare of anything that resembles food and I have no idea where the hens have been laying their eggs lately, but they're not using the henhouse.

But I smile. Because I am certainly happy.

Farewell, Betsy

2009-05-10T19:48:00.002-07:00

Betsy was a good hen.

Her gentle clucking as she roamed the yard was so...chirpy. She always kept her black and white feathers so sleek and shiny. She was a model hen in every way.

Betsy, that coyote took you before your time. We will miss you.

And don't tell the others, but I liked your eggs the best.

Heartbreaking

2009-05-07T20:12:00.002-07:00

© 2009 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA

Nick's culinary arts school burned down Tuesday.

Gone.

Demolished.

Nothing left.

His teacher, Chef Becky, lost her knives, her notes and her cookbooks. I'm going to donate the three America's Test Kitchen cookbooks to her. I'll miss them, but they're going to a good cause.

Apparently the other cookbooks she really likes are Jacques Pepin's. I just can't give mine up, though, they were a Mother's Day present years ago.

Also in the same building was the Nursing Assistant, Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant and Computer classes. And everything is just gone. All the kids' work that they've done over the year. It's just so sad.

The culinary class will share the school district's kitchen through the end of the year, and they're hoping to have the facility rebuilt by next fall.

My heart hurts for Chef Becky.

Seis de Mayo

2009-05-07T00:19:00.002-07:00

I suppose that after the Mexican army defeated the French army at the Battle of Pueblo, they were tired. Too tired in fact, to do much celebrating.

In fact, I'm willing to bet that they waited until the next day to really celebrate their victory.

Which is what I did. I waited until the day AFTER Cinco de Mayo to make our Mexican meal.

So, as you look at these delicious veggie quesadillas, I would like you to keep in mind that I'm not a day late and I didn't procrastinate. I was being empathetic.

Getting on the Pioneer Woman Bandwagon

2009-04-23T19:34:00.005-07:00

This week I was organized. I had a menu plan. It was a great menu plan.

But then last night, driving home from work, I realized that even though it was Thursday, I didn't want meatloaf. It was too pretty outside to make meatloaf. Meatloaf should be made when its cloudy and drizzly. Not when its bright and sunny and almost warm.

So I had to change my plan. Quickly.

Then I remembered my friend Ree. OK, I guess that in order to call her a friend, we ought to have had some kind of two-way conversation. So far our friendship was defined from me reading about her photography, food and life on her blog. And if that makes me a friend, she's got a LOT of friends. 'Cause everyone's reading her blog it seems.

Everyone also seems to be cooking her recipes and raving about them, like her Pork Tenderloin over at The Big Red Kitchen, her Pasta Carbonara over in The Kitchn, and several of her dishes at Lauren's Kitchen.

I remembered one of her recipes I'd seen for BBQ Meatballs. And, as usual with her blog, I remembered the photo looked Drool-inducing, want-to-lick-my-monitor, amazing. Then I pulled up the recipe, and my mind was set on making this recipe the moment I read this line:
"You'll know they're done when your house smells so good you want to marry it."
C'mon. Really. Who could resist a promise like that?

And the promise was fulfilled. After about 20 minutes in the oven, the boys started appearing in the kitchen asking what smelled so good. I popped the oven door open to see if they were finished yet, and my mouth immediately started watering from the smell.

She was right. I wanted to marry my kitchen.

Then, as we ate dinner, I realized that I was wrong. I can't marry a kitchen, no matter how good it smelled.

I want to marry the meatballs.

Or maybe just a torrid love affair.

Pretty in Pink

2009-04-21T21:20:00.002-07:00

Ahhhh...smoooooth....creammmy....riiiich...

Tonight's dinner was the same pink sauce that Anna and I made with the gnocci last month, only this time I served it with fettuccine and shrimp.

Hush. I don't care that it looks like spaghetti. It's fettuccine. I didn't forget to buy fettuccini. And you can't prove it.

Cause it's gone. Gobbled up.

You should have heard the table. Nobody was talking. We're not supposed to talk with our mouths full.

Time Travel and Pie

2009-04-20T06:32:00.003-07:00

I have come to believe that the internet is a time portal.

I sit down to check out a couple quick things and the next time I blink, and hour's gone by. Or two.

Sometimes three.

So if you visit my house and find that I didn't get my kitchen floor mopped, and wonder why there's laundry piled up, know that it isn't my fault. I just got caught in a time warp.

Then sit down and have some of Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie.

Strange how I can always find the time to cook, though. Isn't it?

The Problem with Pigs

2009-04-17T18:29:00.004-07:00

Pigs are destroyers.

It's one of the things that you just don't know until you see the dead daffodils.

Or the torn up lawn.

Or the broken door to the shop where the food is kept.

They love to roam, rut and roll. Its part of their nature. Unfortunately, it's also detrimental to landscaping and the checkbook.

But in the end, I'll forgive them.

Cause I LOVE bacon.

Corn Chowder for a Cold Day

2009-04-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

I don't get it. What is wrong with the weather around here? Apparently people who could see the outdoors and don't work in a windowless basement (like I do) experienced snow, hail, sleet and rain. Just over a week ago was some of the prettiest weather we could have asked for.

I try to be optimistic, but sometimes, it's just impossible.

So, to warm us all up from the nasty cold weather, I made a big pot of corn chowder. And to make it a little more special, I provided toppings for everyone to choose from.

This is a super-easy, super-quick, super-scrumptious dinner that everyone enjoys. Add a loaf of sourdough bread, and you'll feel warm to the core.

Corn Chowder
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 c flour
4 c chicken broth
2 c milk
2 med/large yukon gold potatoes
1 bag frozen corn
salt & pepper

Cut the bacon in 1/2" pieces, and fry until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. pour out all but about 1/4 c bacon grease. Add onions and saute in bacon grease until softened. Stir in flour and cook for a minute or two.

Add chicken broth and milk. Wash potatoes and cut into 1" dice. Add to pot. Season with salt and pepper and cook until potatoes are tender.

While potatoes are cooking, whiz 1/2 bag of frozen corn in food processor until mostly smooth. Add milk or water to facilitate if necessary. After potatoes are tender, add pureed corn. Return soup to boil. Season to taste.

Remove from stove and stir in remaining 1/2 bag frozen corn.

Serve and enjoy. Topping suggestions we love include:
Tomatoes, cheddar cheese, jalapeno, green onions and the crisp bacon from the first step of the recipe.

PS: This makes EXCELLENT leftovers!

Missin' Texas

2009-04-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

First, let me start by saying we LOVE living where we do. The greeness of everything...being close to family...life in the country...almost everything.

What we don't love, however, is the lack of Tex-Mex food. Most of the restaurants around here are Cal-Mex. If you don't think there's a difference, then you've never had Tex-Mex. Less cilantro, more cheese. Less grilled, more fried. Less veggie, more meat.

I was in the mood for some real Tex-Mex food. Some remember that great restaurant-we-used-to-go-to-food. Some hearty, beefy taquitos. And the only place to get them around here is at my own dining table.

To make your own taquitos, you will need:
Day One:
- Roast (4-5 pounds). Choose a roast that would be good for pot roast (chuck, round-bone, etc.)
- 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (in the Mexican Food section of every grocery store I've
ever looked for them in)
-2-3 cloves garlic
Day Two:
-1/2 onion (sauteed)
1/2 pound cheddar cheese
1 pkg corn tortillas (probably about 20)
oil

Day One:
So yesterday I did some preparation. I whizzed the chipotles, the included adobo sauce and the garlic cloves around in my food processor. This mixture was dumped over the roast in the crockpot and after I turned the roast over a time or two to distribute, I plopped the lid on the crockpot, set it to low and walked away for about 6 hours.

After 6 hours, I pulled the roast out, and put it in a bowl in the fridge. The sauce that was left behind in the crockpot I poured into a separate container and also refrigerated it.

Day Two:
Fast forward to tonight. Pulled the roast out of the fridge and Nick and I hand-shredded the meat, pulling the chunks of fat & gristle out. The sauce was de-greased (easy since the fridge chilled it into a layer on the top of the container and I just had to lift it out and throw it away). The sauce then went in a saucepan with some sauteed onions and reduced about 1/2. The reduction went into the food processor and was whizzed around until smooth.

At this point, you'll have to make a decision as to how much heat your family wants. I added all the sauce to the bowl of meat, but next time I'll probably just add 1/2 of it. It was pretty spicy. Of course, if you would rather have little spice, you could use a mild taco sauce or even just tomato sauce. Grate about 1/2 pound cheddar cheese and mix that in with the beef and chipotle sauce also.

Pour 1/2" or so of oil into the bottom of a pan and set it on a medium burner to heat up.
Turn the oven on to 425 and set out a rimmed baking sheet.

When the oil in the pan is warm, it's time to begin. Place a tortilla in the oil until the tortilla starts to bubble up, and immediately remove tortilla to a board covered with a couple paper towels. This warms the tortillas up enough that they won't crack when you roll them. Place about 3 T of the beef mixture on the tortilla, and roll them up into a tube shape. Set them on the baking sheet with the edge down to keep it rolled. I did them in batches of 3.

Please note, this will make a mess! Your stove will be covered in dripped oil.

Once you have used either all the tortillas or all the meat, pop the baking sheet in the oven. Bake about 15 minutes, then pull them out and turn them upside down to continue crisping for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole (if you're not allergic like me) or salsa.
Then close your eyes and imagine you're in Texas.

Austin's Chocolate Cake

2009-04-12T18:01:00.004-07:00

Like most families, we offer the kids their choice of dinner and dessert for their birthdays. And for the past six years or so, Austin's birthday cake has always been the one that I created in response to his indecision. His two favorite desserts are chocolate cake and french silk pie. And trying to choose between the two for his birthday dessert was causing him to totally stress out.

So I combined the two. Made a chocolate cake with french silk pie filling between the layers. It became an instant classic in our home, and ever since, the combination is known as Austin Chocolate Cake.

The only thing I have struggled with over the years is the icing. Because of the filling, it needs to be kept in the fridge. Which meant that the traditional buttercream frosting just didn't work. Buttercream is best at room temp.

So last year I experimented with a ganache, and that was the answer. The cake I use is a chocolate wacky cake (otherwise known as a crazy cake or vinegar cake). It isn't too sweet, has a good chocolate flavor, and is fairly substantial. You could use whatever your favorite chocolate cake recipe or mix is.

My recipe for french silk pie uses raw eggs. I know where my eggs come from, so I have no problem with it, but if you would rather not use raw eggs yourself, you can either use the liquid egg whites that are sold in the little milk-type cartons, or there are even eggs that are pasturized in the shell.

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Austin's Chocolate Cake Cake:
Cake:
3 c flour
4 T cocoa
1 t salt
2 c sugar
2 t baking soda
3/4 c salad oil
2 c water
2 t vinegar
2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter & flour 2 round cake pans. Mix all ingredients together with mixer.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.
Bake 35-45 minutes until done according to the toothpick test.

French Silk Filling
Mix until light and fluffy:
1/2 c Butter
3/4 c Sugar
Melt & cool slightly
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
Add chocolate to butter & sugar mixture. Mix to combine.
Add:
1 t vanilla
1 egg
Beat until smooth & silky.
Add:
1 egg
Continue beating until smooth, light and silky.
Fold in:
4 oz Cool Whip or equivalent of whipped cream, beaten with 1 tsp gelatin powder to stablize.

Chill to firm before using for filling.

Eggs + Air = Deliciousness

2009-04-09T05:42:00.004-07:00

Even though I disdain Valentine's Day as a "made-up" holiday, I am willing to use it as an excuse to make a delicious dinner.

The highlight of this year's valentine's meal was the souffle at the end.

Paul and I have a very special relationship with souffle. It was the dessert we had at our very fancy, way-out-of-our-price-range, first anniversary dinner. It is now funny to think of how overwhelmed we were by the sheer fanciness of everything.

It was a prix fixe menu. Not wanting to appear too unsophisticated, we ordered iced tea instead of sodas. I have no recollection of what appetizers or salads we had, though I know they were there. For the entrees, I went with the pepper-crusted steak while Paul thoroughly enjoyed the duck. And then we had dessert.

This was the first time ever that we had been required to commit to a dessert before the meal even began. But, as our very kind and patient waiter explained, souffles take time.

The dessert of the day was the Grand Marnier Souffle. We each had one placed in front of us, then the waiter plunged two spoons into the middle of them to make way for a dollop of whipped cream.

We were enchanted and impressed, and loved every moment of it. And ever since then, the souffle has held a special place in our hearts.

At that time, with my limited cooking skills, I never even considered trying to recreate the dish. Eight years ago I was braver and made my first souffle for our 10th anniversary.(Holy Cow! How OLD am I?) It was very egg-y tasting. Think puffy, sweet scrambled eggs. Not a good thing.

But over the years, my cooking skills have continued to improve, and I had a fridge-full of fresh, beautiful eggs that were calling to me. So I tried again, and it worked.

The recipe I used can be found here, so I won't retype it. The only think I did differently was not using orange oil, since I didn't have any.

Otherwise, it was really easy. Buttered and sugared the ramekins, and made the recipe up to the point of beating the egg whites. Then, after dinner, it was a simple matter of beating and folding in the egg whites, spooning everything into the ramekins, and baking.

And savoring.

Can-free Cooking #2

2009-04-06T19:15:00.008-07:00

A few months ago I shared my absolutely delicious recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas that are made without the dreaded "can-a-soup". Trust me, make it once, and you'll never go back.

Now here's another can-free recipe, this time for a regularly-mocked standby dinner. Tuna Noodle Casserole. It doesn't take any more time than the canny recipe, you can make the sauce in the time it takes to bring the water to a boil and cook the noodles. OK, it's not totally can-free unless you make your own chicken broth, but at least it's "can-a-soup"-free.

And it's good.

Really, really good.

Can-free Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 pkg egg noodles
2 T Butter
2 T oil
1/2 onion, chopped
mushrooms, sliced (quantity depends on how much you like mushrooms)
1/2 c flour
Salt & Pepper
2 c chicken broth
1/2 c cream
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 cans tuna (I like the tuna in oil...it just tastes better)
3 oz cheddar cheese, cubed + 1 oz, grated
frozen green peas (again, quantity depends on how much you like peas - substitute a different veggie if you don't like 'em at all)
leftover potato chips or bread crumbs

Cook egg noodles as directed on package.
Melt oil & butter together. Saute onion & mushroom until onions are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown. Season with salt & pepper. Mix in flour. Add chicken broth. Cook, stirring often until thickened. Add cream and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until thickened again.

Mix together drained noodles, sauce, tuna, peas and cubed cheddar. Put into a casserole dish. Top with grated cheddar mixed with potato chips or bread crumbs.

Bake at 375 until cheese is melted and casserole is hot.

Enjoy!

Setting the World on Fire ... well, my steak at least

2009-04-01T06:47:00.007-07:00

When I started really cooking, it was kind of a big deal if I made a meal that had nothing to do with boxes. I remember several years ago purchasing a box of roasted potato seasoning mix. Seriously. I cut up potatoes and then sprinkled this box of seasoning over them. What an eye-opener it was for me when I one day realized that I could use the spices in my own cupboard and achieve the same, if not better, results!

But I would do things like spend hours making Chicken Cordon Bleu, and then serve it with Rice-a-Roni and canned green beans on the side. Or make the most delicious and fluffy mashed potatoes from scratch, and then drown them in a packaged gravy mix.

Now, I'm not so snobby as to say that convenience foods don't have a place. Even as I type this, I must admit that there are cheap, frozen pizzas in my freezer and canned chili in the pantry (that's for Paul's chili dogs). But I have gotten to the point where I realize that for the most part, someone with even a moderate amount of experience in the kitchen can make a meal entirely from scratch that will WOW almost anyone.

It sometimes just takes a bit of bravery.

Last month, I got into a conversation with Temperance, one of the founders of Recipes to Rival. I have been particularly lax in participation of the recipes over the last couple of months. Part of that is because of my crazy life. But I was also a little uncertain of some of the recipes that were chosen. Not that I thought they were bad choices...don't misunderstand me! It was more the fact that I didn't know if my family would eat them, and it sure seemed like a whole lot of work for something that was such a gamble.

Basically, I was being a wuss.

But during this conversation with Temperance I realized that I really didn't have a right to complain if I wasn't prepared to do something about it. And when Temperance told me that her planned co-host for March's challenge had to back out, I felt compelled to step up and put my money where my mouth was. So I became March's Recipes to Rival co-host.

Because it was so last minute, we had a very short amount of time in which to choose a recipe. I wanted something that had a classic technique that would challenge, but not frighten (too badly). Temperance wanted something special for her birthday month. After a couple days of debate, inspiration hit.

Flambe'!

Temperance thought it sounded like a great idea, a quick recipe search found a delicious sounding Steak Diane Flambe' recipe, and we were set. Ready to light the world on fire. Or at least, beef and mushrooms on fire.

It was fun. I had a hard time getting a good picture of the fire, it doused itself out so quickly, but the results were stupendously delicious. A couple weeks later I flambe'd some mushrooms for dinner and it was just as good.

I guess that means I need to make sure there's always brandy in the house.

Oh, the sacrifices I make.

But, what this showed me is that while flambe' sounds scary, it's really pretty approachable and quite fun. I look forward to an opportunity to Flambe' For Friends. (Sounds like a fundraising event, doesn't it?)

Here's the official link to the Recipes to Rival Steak Diane Flambe' post, recipe included.

Enjoy!

THE FINE PRINT DISCLAIMER: I do not require that you flambé, if you choose to flambé and burn down your kitchen, don't sue me. If you choose to flambé try and get a picture (I recommend getting someone to help). Remember when playing with fire keep a fire extinguisher close and never use water on a cooking fire.

It's Spring, and that means...

2009-03-27T19:01:00.004-07:00

Chickens!

And just in time, my dear, wonderful friend Kimberlee designed a gorgeous website to let the world know and to let those in Washington order!

Stop by and check us out!
www.pasturedsensations.com

Serving Sizes

2009-03-24T21:37:00.009-07:00

On a regular basis, I cook for seven people. Four adults, two teenagers and an 11-year-old who almost doesn't count because he doesn't like to eat things that aren't cereal. So when I cook dinner, its important that I make enough for dinner. And if I'm lucky, there'll be enough leftover for my lunch the next day.

So when I make a recipe I usually aim for 6-8 servings. That's a fairly safe number for us. Usually.

The other day, after watching the Throwdown with Bobby Flay Arroz con Pollo episode, I decided to make Bobby's Adobo Seasoned Chicken and Rice. I was almost scared away by the 27 ingredients. Seriously Bobby? 27 ingredients? Do you know how much concentration it takes to not lose your place in a list of 27 ingredients? We don't all have two sous chefs!

Anyways...the recipe says it serves 4. I should have known it was lying. I should have thought it through. But I had just gotten home from work. I was tired and my brain had already gone through it's shut down procedure. And I was much more worried about how much turmeric I had because that's not a spice I keep close track of.

When I saw that it called for 4 chicken thighs AND 4 chicken breasts, I should have known. Then the 3 cups of rice should have clued me in. But I blindly followed along. Used 2 whole cut-up chickens (they were small birds) and 6 cups of rice. And it made enough for 2 whole meals AND a leftover lunch.

It was good...next time I may have to find a way to kick up the flavor of the chicken some, but the flavors were all really good. I must admit that I only used 26 ingredients. I didn't know how green olives would go over as an ingredient, so I skipped them. But otherwise, it was really good. Which is a good thing when it makes as much as it did! For you, I'll give you the "4 serving" sized recipe.

But consider yourself warned.

Adobo Seasoned Chicken and Rice
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay, 2008 (www.foodnetwork.com)

Mix together:
2 T kosher salt
2 t granulated garlic
1 t granulated onion
1 t paprika
2 t freshly ground black pepper
2 t ground turmeric
1 T finely chopped fresh oregano leaves (I used 1 t dried oregano)

Season both sides of chicken with above spice mixture.
Heat:
3 T olive oil
in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Place chicken in oil skin-side down, in batches, in necessary, and saute until golden brown. Turn the chicken over and cook until the second side is golden brown.
Transfer the chicken into a separate pot with all cooking juices, cover and alow to cook through over medium heat. Keep warm.

Place the browning pan back over high heat, add:
2 T olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
1 medium green bell pepper, finely diced
1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
Cook until soft.

Add:
About 1/3 c tomato powder or 1-2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced (I used 2 T tomato paste)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Cook for 1 minute.

Add:
3 cups long-grain rice
Stir to coat the rice in the onion mixture, and cook for 1 minute. Then add:
4 3/4 c chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper
Bring to a boil. Stir well, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.

Add:
1 c frozen peas (not thawed)
Cover and continue cooking until rice is tender. (About 8 minutes)

Remove pot from heat and let sit 5 minutes covered. Remove the lid, fluff the rice and gently fold in:
3/4 c pimento stuffed green olives
3/4 c pitted picholine olives
Freshly chopped cilantro leaves
Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Finely chopped fresh oregano
Squeeze lime juice.
Add the chicken to combine and serve.

Gno Joking

2009-03-18T06:48:00.005-07:00

While sitting in restaurants looking over menus, Paul and I converse about the many different options. We point out dishes to each other that we think they would enjoy and we discuss items that neither of us has ever tried. And then the server comes to take our order. And the same thing happens practically every time. I do one of two things:

If I haven't tried a variety of items on the menu, I test the waters and order something new.
If I've already tried many of the items on the menu, I order whatever sounds best at that moment in time.

And Paul also does one of two things:

He orders the exact same meal every time, no variation.
He can't choose between two dishes (usually having tried both before), so he tells the server to choose for him.

I like to explore things I haven't tried (within reason...after all, there are somethings that I truly think are really not meant to be eaten). I rarely end up highly disappointed. I know what I like and order within those parameters.

Paul, however, wants to be absolutely certain that he likes what he orders. So he orders the same thing every time and is also rarely disappointed.

But how boring!

This past weekend we had a similar experience, but not at a restaurant. It was at my sister's. Anna and I try to get our families together monthly, enjoying each other's company and making some good food. Anna is my co-conspirator in the kitchen. She likes to cook (not quite as much as I do, I fear), and she likes to try new things.

So once we found a mutually acceptable day, Anna and I needed to choose the menu. Neither of us wanted to get too wacky with things this month, but we definitely wanted something new. Something that would expand our repertoire and our palettes. After throwing around a couple of ideas, we finally both realized that neither of us had ever made, or even eaten, gnocchi.

Thus a dinner was born.

Paul was disappointed. He'd been hoping for something more familiar. Something safer.

But safe isn't fun.

And we wanted fun.

So, not knowing what was ahead of us, Anna and I dived into the world of gnocchi.

We used this recipe from Recipezaar. The dough was pretty easy to make, and in case you're wondering, if you forget to add the clarified butter when the recipe says to, you can easily go back and mix it in at the end. We meant to do it that way, to make sure that YOU have the best information possible. Really...did it all for you.

Once the dough was made, Anna and I disagreed on how to shape the gnocchi. On T.V. I've seen people use forks to make pretty little ridges in the pasta. Anna though they should be more like shells. So we each did our own. Mine are on the left, Anna's are on the right.

They both worked about the same in the long run, though we should have made them smaller. They were too doughy. The delicious sauce we made was also from Recipezaar. I may never make gnocchi again, but I will absolutely make this flavorful, creamy, spicy sauce again. We added spicy Italian sausage to it, but really, it wasn't necessary. It was amazing and will be wonderful with fettuccini or penne. Or just sopped up with a couple pieces of bread. Or eaten with a spoon.

The Shoemaker's family

2009-03-08T16:21:00.004-07:00

I'm sure you've heard the old adage about the shoemaker's family going without shoes...well, apparently the same holds true for the chicken farmer's family. Except for us, it's chicken we're having to live without.

Last year was supposed to be a test year to see if there was enough of a demand for the pastured chickens in the area and if it was something we were willing to do. The answer to both was yes. In fact, the answer to the first question was a very enthusiastic yes! So much of a yes in fact, that Paul started selling the chickens I had counted on to see us through the winter! I finally had to put my foot down and tell him the rest of the chickens were for us.

Even with that, I've all but run out of chicken now. And since I am completely unwilling to eat the comparatively flavorless and less healthy meat that's sold in the grocery store, we're all impatiently waiting for the weather to warm up enough for us to get more chickens out in the pasture.

Each day we're getting closer and closer to the day we get our first batch of chicks. I just sent out the announcement email to our previous customers telling them to get their orders in now!

If anyone reading this is in the Puget Sound region and would like more information on getting pasture-raised, organic, soy-free chickens, email Farmer Paul at pasturesensations at gmail dot com.

As for me...I'm off to place my order! I will NOT run out of chicken again!

Layered vegetable and cheese and pasta casserole

2009-03-02T19:49:00.005-08:00

My first real job that didn't involve caring for children was at the just-down-the-street Safeway deli. It wasn't a bad job for a 19-year-old, and I got to try lots of things I'd never had the chance to before. Things like pastrami (don't like it) and havarti cheese (love it!) I discovered that there was more than one kind of potato salad (old-fashioned, mustard and German) and that very few of the salads were made in-store. At that Safeway deli I learned the secrets to delicious fried rice (someday I'll share) and deli trays.

But my favorite discovery in that Safeway deli was the vegetable lasagna. At that point in my sheltered life, I'd only recently discovered that lasagna could be made without cottage cheese - and it totally blew my mind that it could be made without tomatoes or meat also! I fell in love.

The lasagna was layers of pasta separated by carrots, broccoli, cheese, cream sauce, and who knows what else. And it was goooood.

That was way back before I ever became a cook. That was back when I thought Hamburger Helper was gourmet cooking. When I was impressed with my own mad cooking skills because I baked a potato in the microwave. When hot dates were treated to rice-a-roni beside a pre-seasoned frozen chicken breast (don't worry...I cooked it first). So there was no WAY I even dreamed of trying to make lasagna myself!

But, like all good things, my days of veggie lasagna came to an end. I moved on; the deli in the city I moved to never had veggie lasagna, and although I often heard veggie lasagna mentioned, I always ended up disappointed when I found it made with a marinara sauce.

In the years since discovering that I can cook, I've toyed with the idea of recreating that veggie lasagna. The one thing that has held me back, however, is Farmer Paul's reaction. Apparently, if it doesn't have meat and tomato sauce, he feels that it can't be lasagna.

So it has stayed a fond memory.

That is, until I saw February's Recipes to Rival challenge: Homemade Ricotta cheese. I knew right then and there that I would try my hand at my memory. And it would be cheesy and veggie-y and delicious.

But you know how you remember something from years ago and then you try it again and you wonder why you thought it was so good way back when? Well, my homemade veggie lasagna was NOTHING like that. It was gooood.

But, to appease Paul, I can't call it lasagna. Instead, it's layered vegetable and cheese and pasta casserole deliciousness.

And did I mention it's goooood?

Layered Vegetable and Cheese and Pasta Casserole
(aka Veggie Lasagna)

4 1/2 c thin white sauce (the consistency of cream)

Mix together veggies:
2 cups chopped carrots and broccoli (I used my food processor with the slicer blade), lightly boiled in salted water until crisp-tender then quickly cooled in ice water to retain the color and stop the cooking.
1/2 c cooked spinach, chopped and squeezed dry

Mix together:
2 c ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 large clove garlic, chopped
salt & pepper

Grate:
8 oz fontina cheese
6 oz gruyere cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese
4 oz parmesan cheese

12 - 15 no boil lasagna noodles (3 per layer...I used 12 for 4 layers)

Assembly:
Spread a little bit of white sauce on bottom of 9x13 baking dish (this keeps the lasagna from sticking)
Lay 3 noodles on top of sauce.
spread 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Spread 1/3 vegetables over cheese. Sprinkle 1/4 of grated cheese over vegetables. Pour 1/4 white sauce over top.

Repeat layers two more times.

Finish with the last 3 noodles and remaining sauce and grated cheese.

At this point, I covered it in plastic and put it in the fridge for the next night's dinner.

To bake: Preheat oven to 325. Bake lasagna, uncovered for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until bubbly, golden brown and ooey-gooey delicious.

Cheesy Goodness - Recipes to Rival: February Edition

2009-02-28T19:45:00.003-08:00

There are two kinds of food hate. There's food that you dislike the taste and/or texture of...liver, lima beans, split pea soup. Then there's the mental-block food hate...or should I say mental-block food "dislike with the passion of a thousand burning suns" (we don't say "hate" in this house!) For me, this latter category includes bugs (no matter how much chocolate is involved) and cottage cheese.

While I personally haven't ever met anyone who thinks the first item on that list is strange, I have met many who are surprised at my devout dislike of cottage cheese. I can't explain it. I just know that the thought of eating it makes me feel violently ill.

When I was little, Mom used to make cottage cheese salad - a mixture of cottage cheese and fruit cocktail. When this so-called "salad" appeared on the dinner table, I immediately started in with the excuses. I wasn't hungry. I had a big lunch. My stomach hurt. Anything ... ANYTHING to avoid cottage cheese! But Mom wasn't dumb. She saw right through it and always called my bluff. I was eating dinner, including a healthy portion of the dreaded cottage cheese salad and that was that.

Other than that icky concoction, the only thing my enormous cottage cheese dislike affected was lasagna. Mom's recipe called for cottage cheese. I didn't (and still don't) care that you can't actually taste the cottage cheese. Just like every kind of mental block dislike, the knowledge of its presence made it inedible. Still does.

I was quite old, probably over 18, before I discovered that lasagna could be made with a cheese that wasn't cottage. Ricotta became my hero. Ricotta made lasagna delicious. I suddenly knew why everyone went cuckoo for lasagna.

So...fast forward to now. The Recipes to Rival challenge for February was a two-parter. #1 - Make my own ricotta cheese and #2 - Use it in a recipe.

Today...Making the ricotta. Tomorrow...the meal.

Here's the official R2R post for making ricotta. You'll need 1 gallon of milk and 1 quart of buttermilk. As long as neither one is ultra-pasturized, it should work.

Follow the directions...it takes about 1 - 2 hours, depending on how aggressive you get with the temperature dial on your stove. Mine was done in just under 2 hours. But it was easy time, just stirring occasionally and monitoring the thermometer.

1 gallon of milk and 1 quart of buttermilk yielded about 3 pounds (6 cups) of ricotta.

Cinnamon can make anything better

2009-02-27T21:32:00.001-08:00

It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's more that I haven't enjoyed cooking lately. Someone in the house has been sick, or work's been crazy, or something's been happening and I just have not been inspired.

So a couple of weekends, I was the sick one. Horrible cold - a chest cough, sore throat, sneezes, aches and pains. When Mom suggested chicken soup, it didn't sound like it would be the magic cure it usually is. You know what sounded like the magical cure?

Cinnamon rolls!

I have issues with cinnamon rolls. They either seem to be too bread-y, so sweet, or don't have enough cinnamon. There aren't many cinnamon rolls I like that I haven't made myself. So, in spite of feeling like I just wanted to roll myself up in a ball and moan, I got my butt in the kitchen and made some delisiousness that would make anyone feel better.

These were soft and full of cinnamon goodness. The bread was wonderful. My only disappointment was that flavor from the orange zest didn't come through in the end. Next time, I'll try adding in a couple tablespoons of orange juice and seeing if that kicks the flavor up some.

Now I'm going to be a bad blogger and just give you the ingredient list, but not the step-by-step instructions. If you've made a yeast dough before, this is just like that. If you haven't, find almost any bread recipe and follow those steps. It's really not that hard!

Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
1 pkg yeast
1 1/4 c warmed buttermilk
1/2 c sugar
1 t salt
6 T butter, softened
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
4 1/2 - 5 c flour
1 T orange zest
Filling
1/2 c butter, softened
white sugar
brown sugar
cinnamon
nuts if you want 'em. I used pecans cause Farmer Paul loves pecans in cinnamon rolls.

Again...bad food blogger that I am this morning, follow someone else's directions for cinnamon rolls. They're all assembled the same way. Be sure to butter your pans before you put the rolls in. Let them rise, bake until they're done. I think mine took 35 - 40 minutes.

If you want icing, add it. Maybe make it with a little bit of orange juice for flavor. And eat them warm. It'll cure what ails you.

A Dinner with my Valentine

2009-02-15T09:41:00.005-08:00

I dislike Valentine's Day. When I was a kid, it was SO MUCH FUN. After all, the combination of pink hearts, paper doilies, crafts and candy brought out the girly-girl in me. But once I got past elementary school, the holiday started to lose its appeal.

Since I've had kids, I've gotten some of the crafty Valentine's fun back in my life, as you can see from the winning 5th grade "Funniest Valentine's Bag" above. But really, I'm perfectly fine if the day passes without a single mention of it. Most years we have no celebration at all. It's too commercialized for my taste.

This year, however, Paul used Valentine's Day as the excuse to get me a wonderful, delicious present. A bottle of deliciously aged balsamic vinegar and another of black truffle oil. So of course, I had to create a meal worthy of this deliciousness.

We started off our dinner with shrimp sushi that had nothing to do with either the balsamic or the truffle oil. But it was sure good!

Then, we moved to the salad, which was dressed with the oil and vinegar combination. All I have to say, is Holy Crap! The combination makes for a fantastic dressing! We demolished our salads. Not a leaf was left.

Continuing on, we moved to the main course -- Rib Steaks with Balsamic Mushrooms, sauteed spinach with garlic and baked potato. After the sushi and the salad, we were pretty stuffed. Although everything was good, we couldn't even eat half of our steaks.

We paced the meal out while watching When Harry Met Sally. First sushi, then we started the movie. A Pause after the airplane scene for our salads, and another one after the "I'll have what she's having" scene for our steaks. When the movie was over, it was dessert time.

And dessert was Amaretto Souffle with Balsamic-Drizzled Strawberries and Amaretto whipped cream. You'll notice how yellow the souffle is...that's cause they're made with eggs from our wonderful hens. Oh, the wonder of real eggs!

I'll post later with the recipe for the souffle. Now that I've made one and it turned out so well, I'll be making them often.

Winter Blahs and Leftovers

2009-01-18T12:04:00.005-08:00

Lately, I have had a serious case of the blahs. Weeks are flying by in spite of my efforts so slow things down. In the last month, we had record snowfalls which have resulted in record floods. Our back field is now a lake (thankfully the house and animal shelters are elevated well above the waters). Because of the amounts of water everywhere, fog has been the word of the day for the last couple of weeks. The sun is trying to shine through the fog, but I don't think it'll be able to break through.

It's not all blah, though. Last weekend we counted six (6!) eagles "hunting" in our yard, perched in the trees and on fence posts. We have geese and ducks swimming in the cow pasture outside the bedroom window and, even for a short while we have lakeside property!

With these blahs, my cooking enthusiasm has sunk. It's been a bunch of just-something-on-the-table nights. Strangely, as I look back at the meals we've had, it's the leftover dinners that have been the most interesting. For example...

1. Leftover Chili
One of my lovely sisters came over last Friday and made chili for all of us, with plenty for leftovers. Some of the leftovers found their way into chilimac casserole...leftover chili, mixed with noodles and covered with cheese. Wonderful!

2. Leftovers from Pizza Night
I also recycled leftover pizza toppings and garlic bread into pizza bread. It was amazing!

3. Leftover Roast Chicken
And finally with leftover chicken I made a delicious, cheesy Broccoli, Chicken and Cheese soup.

Beef "Roast"anoff

2009-01-07T06:40:00.010-08:00

Paul and I went to the same high school, and senior year we even had two classes in common - government and economics. I remember him clearly in both. In government, he was the one that always argued politics with the teacher and was told to sit out in the hall a few times for being disrespectful (his version is that he was winning the "discussion" so the teacher sent him out to save face).

In economics, he was the kid that came in late most days, but was never marked tardy because he'd always bring the teacher a donut or cup of coffee.

Yeah...he thought he was a real Ferris Bueller.

I was the quiet one, mostly unnoticed, just doing my work.

Paul and I did get paired up to work on a project together in government, and we got along just fine. I think we even got a pretty good grade on that project. Also that year, Paul went out a few times with my best friend Angie, but they really didn't hit it off. Then everyone graduated and we all moved on to our new lives.

Almost a year later, Angie's boyfriend wanted to go dancing but Angie didn't like to dance, so she wanted me to double-date with them. I wasn't seeing anyone at the time, and was working as a nanny (how do you meet guys while working as a nanny? You don't.) So Angie started going through her address book in an attempt to find a date for me.

I refused to go out with the ugly guy who bragged about being a nude model for the community college art class...refused to go out with the one that snorted when he laughed...and wouldn't even consider another guy that...never mind why, just know that I wouldn't consider him.

Then Angie pulled Paul's name out of her book, prefaced with "I didn't hit it off with him, but you might. What about Paul?" And I agreed. A phone call was made, we went dancing that night, and have been together pretty much ever since.

Now, at this point, you're probably wondering what in the world this has to do with the picture at the top of the post. Well, the very first meal I ever made for Paul while we were dating was Beef Stroganoff. With canned green beans on the side.

It was YEARS later before he told me that he doesn't like Beef Stroganoff.

That is, until last night!

Apparently, the combination of leftover prime rib combined with wonderful flavors that do not involve any "cream-a-soup" cans, and I have one again won his heart.

And I have an Uncle I've never met to thank for it. "Uncle Bill" on Recipezaar.

Good ol' Uncle Bill.

Uncle Bill's Kiev Beef Stroganoff (or Beef "Roast"anoff)
2 lbs beef tenderloin or leftover prime rib
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup butter
2 medium onions, sliced thin
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 lb small fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon tomato paste
16 fluid ounces beef broth
3 fluid ounces vodka I used red wine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
8 oz sour cream

Cut beef tenderloin into 1/2 inch cubes and add to a medium size mixing bowl.
In a small mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, salt and black pepper.
Pour mixture over cubed tenderloin and mix well to coat.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to marinate.
**I used left-over prime rib and skipped the above steps
In a medium size frying pan on medium-high heat, melt butter, add onions and saute' for 5 minutes.
Add marinated meat mixture (or add leftover prime rib at the very end and just heat through) and saute' an additional 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add dry mustard, mushrooms, tomato paste and cook 10 minutes longer on medium high heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir in beef broth and vodka and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, whisk together water and flour until smooth.
Add flour mixture slowly to frying pan, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.
Just before serving, stir in whipping cream and sour cream until well blended.

Traditions and Resolutions

2008-12-27T18:32:00.005-08:00

The first Christmas Paul and I were married, we had just moved to a new apartment, so we didn't really have a Christmas tree. However, I did insist on buying a tree-top angel to bring a little bit of home to the place, since when I was growing up, this angel was always on the top of the tree:

At some point during the following year, our puppy found its way into the box of Christmas decorations and tore everything up, including the angel. That meant, of course, that we had to get a new angel. But that was the year we were broke (we had a little baby by then), and so we just got a little, very inexpensive angel. She's pretty enough, but I wanted something more for my annual tree. So the next year we bought another, and a tradition was started. The picture at the top is a few of our angels. My absolute favorite is the Texas angel in red. At this point, we're at 18 angels...or we would be except for the crappy weather that has kept UPS from delivering my angel to me for TWO WEEKS!!! I'm trying to be patient, however, it's getting a bit old. (New Year's Resolution #1---Patience.)

Eggnog. is one of those love it or hate it kind of things. Me? I love it. If it was available year-round, I'd buy it year-round. I guess it's a good thing it's a limited-time only, get it while you can thing then. Or as Dad says, we'd all be the shape of weeble-wobbles.

Eggnog is a major part of our Christmas tradition. It is what makes Christmas morning extra special for us.

Come Christmas morning, after presents are opened and I've had my first cup of coffee, I move into the kitchen, thickly slice the bread (this year we bought cinnamon swirl bread - yum!) and quickly dip it into a bowl of eggnog mixed with a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg. They must be cooked slowly, over a medium-low heat otherwise the sugar burns. When served with a side of sausage and drenched in warm maple syrup, nothing else says Merry Christmas quite like it. (Resolution #2---eat healthier)

On this day, 17 years ago, I was holding my day-old baby and enjoying a New Year's Day steak dinner compliments of the hospital. Yesterday, to celebrate Nick's birthday, we went out for Mexican food (delicious!) then came home and had a cherry/pineapple dump cake with ice cream. Because the cake was hot from the oven, we stuck the candles in a bowl of ice cream (that's what's on fire in the picture of Nick and Austin above). We'll have a big birthday dinner for him this weekend when I have more time to spend cooking it.

Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures! (Resolution #3---make fun family time a bigger priority. The kids are growing up so fast!)

Proof that my son loves me...

2008-12-21T08:47:00.003-08:00

He's only heard about it, never tasted it for himself, but when Nick's culinary teacher passed out the recipe for French Onion Soup, Nick decided he would make it for me cause he knows how much I love it.

Whoever created the combination of the perfectly warming-to-the-bottom-of-your-toes soup, with the crunchy bread and the ooey-gooey cheese on top, was a genius. And I thank him or her.

In preparation for the soup, I made some homemade beef broth a couple of weekends ago, using soup bones saved from the last time we filled our freezer with beef.

Nick couldn't believe how long it took for the onions to carmelize and was very impatient during the process. The only change we made, was that we deglazed the pan with sherry, which is not an ingredient that was included in his high school recipe.

It is so much fun to see (and taste) Nick's kitchen skills developing. He's such a great kid.

French Onion Soup

2 1/2 pounds onions, sliced thin (we used 3 medium onions)
2 oz butter
6 cups beef stock
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 t Worcestershire Sauce
salt & pepper to taste
Hearty bread, grated swiss, parmesan or other good melting cheese

In a heavy pan, over medium-low heat, melt butter and add onions, turning so they are all coated with butter. Carefully carmelize the onions without burning. This is a long, slow process and may take as long as 45 minutes. Cook them until VERY brown.

Deglase the pan using some of the beef stock (we used a splash of sherry).

Add stock, thyme, pepper and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil, then simmer 20-30 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with bread and melted cheese.

Yum!

Snow Ice Cream

2008-12-18T19:03:00.006-08:00

It has been snowing for the last couple of days. Snowing a lot!

Yesterday I braved the elements and went into the office, but was smart enough to bring my work laptop home with me so I didn't have to worry about it today...I'm up against a Friday deadline, so a non-working snowday was NOT an option.

It snowed almost all day long. The boys went out and pelted each other with snowballs for a while, and Paul got a hankering for some ice cream. Really - ice cream! It's snowing big, fluffy white flakes. I think hot chocolate and Paul thinks ice cream. He apparently has always been fascinated with the idea of snow ice cream and today was the day!

We carefully filled a bowl with clean snow, made the base and folded in the snow.

Wanna know something funny? It tasted JUST LIKE REAL ICE CREAM!

Who knew? (Besides Laura Ingalls, of course)

Snow Ice Cream Recipe #1
source: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art38570.asp
Ingredients:

1/2 c. sugar
1 c. cream
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
Pinch of salt

Place the above ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix with an electric mixer. Add fresh snow..approx 5 - 6 cups and mix in to blended mixture.
Eat immediately.

NOTE: Always make sure you've had snow falling a while before you collect snow for ice cream so you know it will be clean and free from contaminates.

Matured Tastebuds

2008-12-15T07:04:00.004-08:00

When I was littlewe had Koolaid every night for dinner. My siblings and I fought over the honor of choosing the flavor packed and mixing it up. Red was my favorite. It was as much a part of getting ready for dinner as the plates and silverware. That pitcher just had to be on the table.

And there were many Sunday mornings that before we left the house for church, Mom would throw a roast in the oven for later that day...like 4 or 5 hours later. I remember those roasts. Well done (VERY well done), with roasted potatoes and carrots, all covered in gravy. The roast was terribly dry, but that's what roasts are like...right? That's what gravy is for, after all!

I left home with the idea burned in my brain that meat...all meat...was to be cooked until there was nothing left to cook. This included roasts, steaks, hamburgers, pork loin, everything! When Paul and I got married, if we ever went out for a "fancy meal" all steaks were ordered well done. And we would have sent it back if it came any other way.

Somewhere, somehow our tastes started to change. I stopped thinking that KoolAid was a great additions to meals, and I realized that with the sole exception of pot roasts, beef is best somewhere between barely and really pink, depending on its application. And along with the pink comes juiciness, tenderness and flavor!

I also realized this last week that a roast can be part of a weeknight dinner, even if its not cooked in the crockpot. Somehow, even though I discovered that roasts should not be cooked through and through, I never made the leap to the one hour of cooking can be done after work.

But this week, the stars were aligned. When I asked Paul to pull a roast out of the freezer, in my mind I was thinking a chuck roast to go in the crockpot, but instead he grabbed a sirloin tip roast and I knew that if I crockpotted that thing, it would turn into a lump of petrified wood. So, resigning myself to a late dinner, I came home from work, looked the cooking time up online and was thrilled to see a one-hour cook time. By 7:15, we were sitting down to a juicy, delicious roast. A little later than normal, but not too much. And man...was it worth it!

Try it yourself and see. But may I suggest pairing it with a nice red wine rather than KoolAid.

Sighs

2008-12-06T19:39:00.004-08:00

This has been a strange week for me. It was my birthday, and it hit me kinda hard. I'm getting old. It put me into a bit of a funk most of the week, and I'm afraid that my family took the brunt of it. Because of timing, my birthday dinner is postponed until next weekend when Nick will prepare a gourmet feast of my favorite foods.

In preparation of one of the courses, I spent today making beef stock with bones that have resided in our freezer for a couple of months now. I thought of taking a photo of the stock, but there's nothing photogenic about it. It's just brown.

In an effort to get me out of my funk, Paul and I took a drive last Sunday. Not having a particular place we wanted to go, we just drove north along a couple of smaller highways.

We passed through many small towns, passed a lot of vehicles that had Christmas trees tied to the roofs, and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. At one point, we pulled into a little parking lot and watched the North Cascade Elk Herd for a while. I wish they were closer, but the scenery was beautiful.

Here's the same photo, zoomed in so the elk are visible:

We also saw probably 10 bald eagles, but none of them cooperated for a photo shoot. But the river where we spotted 5 of them at the same time was amazing with the fog hovering over the water.

When we got home, the boys had gotten the Christmas decorations out, put the lights on the house and set the tree up. So we spent the rest of the evening decorating the tree and my funk was gone.

Then a couple of days later I looked out my back window and sighed deeply with contentment. After all, THIS is my backyard.

I am blessed.

You'd Better Hurry!

2008-11-29T13:32:00.003-08:00

One of my favorite blogs (her photos are AMAZING!!!) is giving away a knife. But tomorrow's the last day to enter. Check it out here: Steamy Kitchen Knife Giveaway. My choice is the Fusionwood Chopper in the Jessica color.

**crossing my fingers!**

2008-11-25T19:35:00.003-08:00

Comfort foods are a very personal thing. Within the same family, everyone has their own unique preferences.

Now Farmer Paul, he's a gravy guy. Biscuits and sausage gravy, fried chicken liver with potatoes and cream gravy, pork chops with potatoes and cream gravy, turkey with giblet gravy...you get the idea.

Nick...well, Nick likes everything. But he really loves Tuna Pasta Salad. Austin goes for homemade burgers and baked beans and Ryan is all about Spaghetti and Pizza.

For me, it's a good brothy soup. Zuppa Toscana-style potato soup, meatball soup and, best of all, chicken/turkey Noodle soup. Not just noodle soup, but Noodle with a capital "N" soup.

This is the soup I grew up with. A delicious, cooked-for-hours broth with chicken or turkey, carrots, onions, sometimes green beans and mounds of homemade noodles. It's simple, but it's just so...so...so warm. Austin and Ryan don't care for the noodles much. Paul and Nick can take them or leave them as long as there's plenty of broth. And that works great for me, cause I would just as soon eat all the noodles myself and leave the rest of the soup for them.

I wish I could give you an exact recipe for the noodles, but I can't...sometimes it takes extra flour, sometimes extra milk. But this'll get you started:

Before you begin the noodles, your broth (with your veggies of choice) must be completely cooked, ready to eat.

On the clean counter, make a pile of about 4 cups of flour. Then make a little ditch in the middle. Crack in 4 eggs, add 2 teaspoons salt and 4 Tablespoons of milk. Start mixing the wet ingredients with a fork, slowly incorporating the flour into the mixture.

At some point, it'll get too hard to keep mixing with the fork. So get in there with your hands and mix until it comes together. Knead it a few times until it forms a smooth ball of dough, and then you're done.

Make sure the counter is generously floured (you don't want the noodles to stick), roll the dough out to about 1/8" - 1/4" thick. Use either a pizza cutter or a big knife to cut it into strips about 1/2" x 1 1/2". Drop the noodles into the pot of rapidly boiling stock. Stir the noodles down occasionally. After the noodles are all in, continue cooking for 10 minutes.

Eat as soon as it's cool enough that you don't burn your mouth.

And plan for leftovers...it's even better the next day!

Real French Fries

2008-11-23T17:11:00.003-08:00

Ryan: "But what do you use to make fries?"
Me: "Potatoes and oil"
Ryan: "What else?"
Me: "That's all, potatoes and oil."
Ryan: "But they're too good to not have other stuff in them."

When Farmer Paul and I got married, the agreement was that he would take care of any bugs and/or rodents that dared to invade my space (and, as we lived in Texas, the bug part of it came into play often). In exchange, I agreed to take care of all of our frying needs. Again, being in Texas, this covered everything from bacon to okra to jalapenos to turkeys. We have both benefited greatly from the deal.

Frying has never concerned me. I have gotten huge blistered burns from oil (lesson #1, NEVER attempt to cool even a little bit of oil down quickly by adding cold water!!) but It's never scared me for long. I know there are plenty of people that are afraid to fry, and many who have bad - read greasy - results from their attempts. But it's really not difficult, though it can be messy.

Today was the best kind of day for frying. Cool outside, but not cold, meaning you can keep the doors open and air moving through the house, but you're not going to get too hot or cold. So, on a perfect frying day, we decided to make homemade fries. And really, all it takes is potatoes and oil along with your seasoning and condiment of choice.

First peel (or not, depending on your preference) several Russet potatoes...however many you want. Cut them into french fries, and put them in a big bowl of cold water. Let them soak at least an hour. I haven't soaked them more than about 2 hours, so I don't know if longer would cause problems.

After they've soaked, heat your oil to 350. No more, no less. I make mine in an electric skillet, if you have a fryer, that's great. Stovetop frying is touchier and more difficult to keep the oil at the proper temperature.

Dump your potatoes out into a colander while the oil heats and allow them to drain. If they're still pretty wet when the oil is hot, use a towel to dry them a bit more. Again...oil and water don't mix!

Set out a cookie sheet covered with a couple layers of newspaper which in turn is covered with paper towels. The newspaper does a good job of soaking up extra grease.

Add some of the potatoes to your oil. Again, I can't tell you how many, just don't put too many in or the oil temperature will drop and you'll end up with greasy fries. Swoosh the fries around a couple of times to make sure they're not sticking together. After 3-5 minutes, the fries will look like this:

Pale, soggy and un-fried looking. That's fine. Just put them on the paper towels and move on to the next batch. Keep going until you've cooked all the potatoes.

Now raise the temperature on your oil to 400 or 425. My electric skillet only goes to 400, so that's what I do, but the higher the oil, the browner your fries will end up. Dump your french fries into the colander to free up your cookie sheet. Replace the newspaper and paper towels if necessary.

Once the oil is at 400, put your first batch of fries in the oil. Then start watching. After a bit, they'll start floating. Start watching for them to get nice and golden brown. Scoop them out of the oil, season and eat as soon as they're cool enough to handle.

I like dipping them in a mixture of ketchup and horseradish. Farmer Paul's condiment of choice is A1 Pepper Sauce, Nick goes for Jalapeno Ranch, Austin's a Frank's Hot Sauce mixed with ketchup addict, and Ryan eats them plain and dry. Take your pick. It's all good.

Can-Free Enchiladas

2008-11-18T20:13:00.007-08:00

Several years ago there was a very popular little store not too far from me in Texas that had a thriving business selling "home-made" food that was packaged for freezer or oven. It was supposed to be a step up from a regular deli and a couple steps up from frozen dinners. I thought it was a great idea, so I went in a few times and bought meals.

I must have gotten pretty unlucky with my first casserole...some pasta thing with chicken. One of my first bites had a huge piece of fat rather than chicken. Kinda ruined the dish for me. I tried a couple different dishes that were pretty good, they definitely did taste better than frozen, but then I got a huge shock. While looking at their little pan of Sour Cream Enchiladas, I read the label and discovered that they used canned cream of chicken soup!

Now I know there are a lot of really good cooks out there that use cream of chicken soup, but I always have considered the canned cooking approach to be cheating. Besides, this store was charging me $12 for an 8"x6" pan of canned cooking! I know that a big part of their business was busy people saving time, but let's get real! I don't need some chi-chi store to make a canned-soup casserole for me!

So I started to play and I discovered how easy it is to make the enchiladas without the canned soup. It takes just a little bit more time, but not much, and it is So. Much. Better.

Since I figured it out, I never use canned soup anymore. Anytime a recipe calls for it, I use the basic method below, and adapt accordingly, adding mushrooms or cheese or just onions.

If you have the chicken pre-cooked, this is actually a pretty easy work-night dinner. It also keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge before cooking. And it freezes nicely, too.

Sour Cream Enchiladas
Filling
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
3 T butter
4 T flour
2 c chicken stock
1/2 c half-and-half
1/2 t cumin
1/2 c sour cream
1 can chopped green chilis
1 - 1 1/2 c Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
chopped jalapenos, if desired

Filling
3 chicken breasts, poached and shredded
6 flour tortillas

Topping
1/2 c Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
1/4 c sour cream
milk to thin as necessary

Saute onions and garlic in butter until soft. Stir in flour until thoroughly combined with butter. Slowly add chicken stock, whisk until smooth.

Cook until thickened, add half-and-half and cumin. Return mixture to simmer. Slowly stir in sour cream, green chilis, optional jalapenos and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (The cheese is pretty salty, you probably won't need much.)

Spread a couple spoonfulls over the bottom of a 9"x13" pan - this will help keep the enchiladas from sticking. Spoon filling mixture into flour tortillas, roll to close tortillas and lay them, seam side down in pan.

For the topping, using the pan you cooked the filling in, mix together sour cream and cheese. Season with salt & pepper. Mix with milk to a easily spreadable consistency. Spread over the top of the enchiladas.

Bake at 375 until hot, melted and bubbly.

There's a First Time for Everything

2008-11-14T05:59:00.004-08:00

...Even sushi!

Once again, we found ourselves at Anna & Sean's. Kids playing guitar hero downstairs, adults cooking and chatting upstairs. I puttered around, panfrying potstickers and sauteeing shrimp for Anna while she made the sushi.

I do question whether this really was my first sushi experience. I have a vague memory of maybe, possibly having the Japanese mother of one of the girls in my 6th grade home ec class come in and show us some of her native cuisine. And I'm pretty sure seaweed came into the discussion.

Keep in mind, we were in a small village in the middle of the Canadian prairie...most of us had never had any fish other than in stick form and sushi was so completely off our radar as to be completely alien to us. I clearly remember her frying wonton skins and making a soy sauce dipping sauce for them. I liked those! But I can't remember anything more than knowing I was expected to eat seaweed in some form. And I have to assume it was sushi. Quite possibly I wimped out. I was a real weenie about some things back them. (But not now...I'm not a weenie now...usually.)

So, back to the present. Anna was making shrimp and smoked salmon sushi and had assured me that the only raw things would be vegetable. She always takes such good care of us when we're over there, so I wasn't worried. Maybe just the teeniest-tiniest bit nervous about the seaweed wrap. But worried? Nah!

Well, we loved it. Paul especially. Anna did such a great job making the rolls. They looked just like they were supposed to, were perfectly flavored and oh, so pretty.

For my part, I marinated a couple small flank steaks in soy sauce, ginger, scallions and garlic then threw them on the grill (in the pouring drizzle). The flank steak was good, but the sushi far outshone everything.

So, thanks to Anna and her mad sushi skills, I am no longer afraid of sushi.

As long as I know what's in it.

Betrayed by the Girls

2008-11-08T10:51:00.007-08:00

We've got five hens that we raised from day-old chicks. They are collectively known as "the girls", although I also call each one Betsy. It just sounds like a hen name, and I can't tell them apart, so they're all Betsy.

Hens don't start laying eggs until they're 4-6 months old. We got the girls last March and they started laying eggs in August. Of course, they didn't all start at once. For a couple of weeks we got 3 eggs a day. Then it went up to four and finally all the girls were giving us an egg every day.

And what eggs they are! Thick, deep yellow yolks. Deep, deep yellow. So yellow that it changes the color of pancake and sugar cookie batter.

We gave a few away to family and friends when we fell behind on using them. But it never took long for the egg carton to fill back up. Like the bottle of wine in the old Christmas classic movie "The Bishop's Wife." Magical, really.

Then last Sunday, we changed our clocks for daylight savings. And we stopped getting our five eggs a day. In the course of one week, we have gone from five a day, down to two. And I'm afraid that even the two will disappear soon. And I'll have to start PAYING for eggs again. Store-bought, dull, mass-produced eggs.

Oh, the humanity.

Too Tired to Think of Dinner

2008-10-31T06:45:00.006-07:00

Thursday night I came home from work exhausted. I feel guilty saying that. After all, I don't do manual labor. I don't stand on my feet all day. I don't even interact with customers. I sit at a desk and ... and ... well, I write a lot, I go to meetings, I research some, I review and revise budget numbers, make the occasional phone call and I do absolutely nothing that should lead to the type of total mind and body numbing exhaustion I felt last night.

Add that to the fact that I hadn't pre-planned dinner, and I was lost. Nothing thawed from the freezer and nothing was inspiring me.

I didn't worry too much really. Paul usually has an idea or two of what sounds good to him.

Nope. He'd had a big lunch and wasn't very hungry.

Now, at this point, I could have just let it go and told everyone they were on their own. But the problem with that was that I didn't want to be on my own for dinner. I wanted a warm and comforting family meal. Oh, and quick and easy.

I poked around online a little bit to see if anything caught my fancy. My limitations included avoiding heavy tomato sauces and spice since Mom was eating with us. So no spaghetti, no Tex-Mex.

Finally I found an eggplant/tomato/cheese/pasta recipe that I thought would be usable, despite not having any eggplant. I figured I'd just substitute ground beef in and it would be fine.

But when I got the package of pasta down out of the cupboard, my eye caught sight of the recipe on the back. It was titled something like "Beef, Tomato and Basil Pasta Bake". Exactly what I was going to wing from the other recipe!

Now, I'd love to type the recipe here for you, but I can't. I have tried to teach my kids to put trash in the trash can and sometimes they remember to do that better than others. This was one of those times.

But believe me when I say that it was good. Here's what I did:

I browned ground beef, onion and garlic. Added several cut-up Roma tomatoes. Added some 1/2 & 1/2, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Then I mixed in 2 big handfuls of chopped up fresh basil. Mixed in the cooked pasta and little pieces of fresh mozzarella. Dumped it in a buttered baking dish, sprinkled it with parmesan and ran it under the broiler to get hot and bubbly.

It was warm and comforting, but not heavy. And it was really done quickly. Everyone ate it, most had seconds. And I'll add it to my "I should make this again" file.

And so should you.

Worth the Effort?

2008-10-28T20:14:00.008-07:00

I've always been a little afraid of winter squash. I remember having it once as a kid and disliking it with the passion of a thousand burning suns. (We don't say "hate")

Then there was the time that we were low-carbing it and I made spaghetti squash instead of real spaghetti. No matter what they tell you, it's not an equal substitution.

And last year I nuked an acorn squash and, while it was good, I wasn't amazed at the taste.

So when Paul brought home four delicata squash from the farm, I didn't know what to do with it. Paul looked it up online and found a recipe that pretty much treated it like mashed potatoes. He made them, and while the flavor was promising, for some reason the squash turned out rather pasty.

We had 2 squash left, and so I started looking to see if there was something else I could do with them, and I stumbled across a recipe on Epicurious, and apparently it's originally from The Herbfarm Cookbook.

Paul had warned me about what a pain it was to peel. Well, the recipe said to just peel it with a vegetable peeler, so I figured it couldn't be too difficult...right?

Wrong.

This thing is a pain in the patooty (we also don't say butt). The skin it too thick for easy peeling using a potato peeler, but too thin for a knife without taking off a bunch of the edible part too.

Well, needless to say, I stuggled through with a combination of peeler and knife, and that was the hardest part of the recipe by a long shot.

Everything else was simple and straight forward, and behaved itself quite well.

And it was delicious. The herbs and cider boil down and create a wonderful glaze. The sherry vinegar and herbs keep it from being too sweet. The only thing I did differently was to use dry rubbed sage rather than fresh.

So was it worth the effort to peel? Yes.

Will I make it often on a weeknight? Probably not. It just takes too long.

Delicata Squash with Rosemary, Sage and Cider Glaze
6 servings
2 medium delicata squash, peeled & cut in 1/2" pieces
3 T unsalted butter
1/4 c coarsely chopped sage (I used about 1 T dry rubbed sage)
1 T coarsley chopped rosemary
1 1/2 c apple cider
1 c water
2 t sherry vinegar
1 t salt
freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in large skillet over low heat. Add sage and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 - 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs.

Add squash to the skillet. Add the apple cider, water, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20-30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper as needed.

Enjoy!

The Color of Fall

2008-10-25T15:51:00.002-07:00

Wow. Have you ever seen such a monochrome color photo before?

We harvested the pumpkins from the garden a couple of weeks ago. Farmer Paul and I spent a weekend roasting, cubing and canning some of them. I'd never canned pumpkin before, and information on the web had made me very nervous. There are warnings everywhere about not canning pumpkin puree. Apparently it's a very high source of homemade botulism! But pumpkin cubes are alright to can. So we did.

It takes hours to can pumpkin. The pressure canner alone takes 90 minutes, not counting the heat-up or cool-down time. Really, after it was cooked, cubed and in the jars, it was still a full 3 hours before it was finished.

So last week I decided that I needed to know how if the whole process was worth it. But I wanted to make something out-of-the-ordinary to test it. I'd made a pumpkin custard a while ago, and it really was just a crustless pumpkin pie...good, but no Wow! to it. Pumpkin bread is always good, but nothing new & exciting there.

So I figured I'd try a pumpkin souffle. You know, there's not a lot of pumpkin souffle recipes around. I finally found this one at Ben Bakes a Cake and decided to give it a shot.

It ended up being a very good choice. I've only made souffle once before, so I wasn't entirely sure when to pull it out of the oven. If you're nervous about making a souffle, this might be a good one to try, It's apparently pretty forgiving...I pulled it out of the oven, put it back in, pulled it out and put it back in again before I decided that it looked close enough to what I figured "done" should look like. And it didn't deflate at all.

I served it with whipped cream that had been sweetened with maple liqueur. Very yummy.

The souffle could be a little sweeter, but with enough maple whipped cream, you probably won't care!

Wings of Buffalo

2008-10-19T10:51:00.007-07:00

I've mentioned before that there are some things that are better made in a restaurant than at home. The internet if full of copycat recipes that home cooks devour, hoping to recreate their restaurant favorites in their own kitchens.

My experience is that some of these are very close. Some are good, but not very close to the restaurant version. And others are waaaaaay off and don't even taste good! Of the one's I've taken a stab at, the most successful by far is the sauce for buffalo wings.

A lot of places seem to have very liberal definitions of wings. They stretch the definition to include everything from BBQ to Hotter-than-Hades. Real buffalo wings, at least in our household, are lightly breaded, fried & tossed with the magical combination of Frank's RedHot Sauce and Butter.

Over the years that we've been making the wings at home, I have modified and morphed the recipe until it is now exactly the way we like it.

I'll make 50-60 pieces at a time. Any leftovers are put in the fridge, un-sauced, and the kids heat them up for lunches and snacks over the next couple of days.

My procedure (not really a recipe) is as follows:

1. Cover the wing pieces in buttermilk. Dump in a bunch of Frank's RedHot Sauce. Mix and let marinate for 1-3 hours.
2. Mix together a flour dredging mixture of flour and seasoned salt. Don't know quantities, but if you were to taste a little pinch, you could taste the flavor of the seasoned salt, but it wouldn't be very salty.
3. Heat oil (I use and electric skillet to monitor the temperature easiest) to about 350'.
4. Dredge wings in flour and put in hot oil. Fry until cooked through.
5. While wings are frying, melt 1/2 stick of butter and mix in a bunch of Frank's RedHot Sauce. Taste it until it's the spiciness you want.
6. Remove wings from oil & drain on paper towels. Place still-hot wings in a large bowl. Drizzle Buffalo Sauce over them, toss to coat.
7. Do your best to cook them as fast as they are eaten.
8. Any leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge for use next time.

Finally!

2008-10-16T19:41:00.004-07:00

I know, I know. The photo is about as ugly as it gets. But the entire point of it is that it's a PHOTO! Taken with my camera! My new camera. You know...the one that hasn't been dropped.

Dinner was chicken in cream sauce with tomatoes and arugula. It tasted fine, but was pretty bland. I'm not going to bore you with the recipe because it won't be worth your time to make it.

But there's a picture!!!
And that's what matters.

Cruise Ship-style Dining

2008-10-14T23:32:00.005-07:00

This past Saturday was one of those that had Farmer Paul and I out running around town all day. We started out heading into town (Snohomish) to do a couple of things. For lunch, Paul wanted to get seafood at Chuck's on 1st Street. Chuck's is a character restaurant. Not in the "Mickey Mouse" kind of way, but in the "sitcom" kind of way. Sitting at the bar, dunking my fish & chips in tartar (delicious!), enjoying show. Andy cooked up a store in front of us in the open kitchen...keeping everything perfectly synchronized, the waitress was running to keep up with the busy Saturday lunch crowd and Chuck greeted everyone coming through the door, alternating between the pleasant remarks for the average customer walking in, to the familiar "gruffer" greetings for the regulars (which includes Paul). Good, enjoyable small-town comfortableness.

After lunch we wandered through some of the shops as we made our way down to where we parked the car. In one of them, an Italian import shop, the owner offered us a taste of truffle oil (I've always wondered what it was like...and the answer is...very good! But $17 a bottle good? not until I'm rich!) and a taste of balsamic vinegar. Of course, I've tasted balsamic vinegar before...there's almost always some in the cupboard. The one he was sampling was a 10-year-old vinegar and it was very nice. As we talked a bit more, he must have decided he liked us, cause he pulled out the good stuff. It was, he said, a 20-year-old bottle of balsamic. The difference in taste was surprising. The older vinegar was candy-sweet with the tangy bite of vinegar still there. It was also $60 for a bottle. Paul and I came up with the idea of drizzling it over our Christmas morning french toast. Don't be surprised if it ends up wrapped under our Christmas tree this year!

Well, the day went on into the evening. After haircuts, dishwasher shopping and other random errands, we found ourselves thinking of eating dinner. We were near a bar & grill we've enjoyed several times, so we stopped and went in. At this point, it was almost 8 and the place was full with people waiting outside. We put our names on the list to get a table in the dining area, but then went and stood near the bar tables which were seat-yourself. All available tables in the area were taken, and there was another couple ahead of us waiting also. After 15 minutes or so, a table opened up and the couple started to head over, but then the man turned around, asked if it was just the 2 of us waiting, and suggested we join them at the 4-top table rather than waste the extra 2 seats.

So we cruise-shipped it. Sat down at a dinner table with another couple that were complete strangers and had a fantastic time introducing ourselves and being socialable. Kelly's a truck driver who went to Spring Creek Barbeque in Fort Worth a while back while visiting his sister in Dallas (oh, for some of Spring Creek's fresh hot rolls!!!), and Margie works for an insurance company and shared some proud-mom stories of her kids who are mostly grown up and out on their own. Over the hour or so we were there, we talked about chicken farming, construction (good & bad) going on in Seattle and the surrounding area, and lots about classic rock.

It certainly was not the dinner experience I thought we would have when we went into the building. It was better.

Maybe next time we'll extend the invite.

Addiction

2008-10-11T09:16:00.002-07:00

I just ordered a new camera. I was going to wait for a while, but really, I miss having one! I've never been the kind of person who has taken photos of every milestone in the kids' lives. I'm the one that had rolls of undeveloped film in every drawer, just waiting for me to take them to the drugstore for developing.

Scrapbooking? Me? Never even considered it.

So why, why do I feel so lost without a camera now?

Because I can't take pictures of my food!!!!

I can't show you the contents of my pantry that is getting fuller and fuller of canned stuff every week. You don't get to see the jewels that are my very first attempt (and very successful attempt) at making bread and butter pickles. Or Nick's super-delicious cheesecake.

And I want to try my hand at making tamales, but I don't want to until I get my camera!

Cooking seems so meaningless without it. I guess that means I'm addicted to my camera...or at least to taking pictures of my food!

It'll be here in 5 days...
...and counting!

Lessons of Masa

2008-10-07T05:59:00.004-07:00

I'm sad. My camera broke. Totally, completely and unfixable. That camera has been through a lot with me. We got it right before vacation one year. Some of its first pictures included killer whales at Seaworld and kids playing on the beach at Galveston. That was just about forever ago.

And recently its what I've used for all my food photos. Family reactions to this latest adventure have ranged from enthusiastic and helping me style the food to mildly amused and/or impatient depending on level of hunger.

But, alas, the time has come for me to part ways with my old trusty camera. Its been good to me. But it got dropped by people who will remain nameless (though they know who they are!). So I'll have to find the money to get a new one. And then figure out which one to get. And then second-guess the one I do get. Sigh.

So now you know the reason that I didn't begin this post with a photo of a stack of homemade tamales. Corn husks stuffed with masa and filling and cutely tied on the ends with thin strips of husks. Plump tamales, piping hot right out of the steamer, served with a delicious and unusual cabbage, chile and pineapple salad on the side.

I have wanted to learn to make tamales for a long time. When we owned our business in Fort Worth, we would occasionally need to bring in temp workers to help out with some of the work that had to be done by hand, and our favorite workers were a group of 4-6 Mexican women. They were the best! They were cheerful, quick and accurate. And Mama made incredible tamales that she would bring in for everyone to have for lunch. I miss Mama's tamales.

I've floated the idea of making my own a couple of times to Farmer Paul, but he has always steered me away, convincing me there's more to it than just a recipe. So a couple of weeks ago in the food section of the paper, there was a link to cooking classes and one of the options was a tamale class in Seattle. And I decided that the time had come, the time was now, it was time to go-go-go learn tamales now. (Sorry...Dr. Seuss snuck in for a moment)

Anna played the part of the loving sister and accompanied me so I wouldn't be along, and after work yesterday, in the driving rain, we headed to Seattle and the cooking class to learn the secrets of tamales.

I'm not going to post the school's recipe for tamales, but really...there are recipes for it all over the internet. The secrets of tamales as they were revealed to us, however, are as follows:

Use real butter or (preferrably) lard and beat it in the mixer until it is very light and fluffy.
Let the corn husk do the work. Put the masa dough in the husk and, using the husk, roll it back and forth, letting the dough work itself into the proper shape.
Don't put too much filling in. Just a tablespoon will do it.

And that's about it! I'm going to try to make them myself very soon, and I'll find a way to take pictures when I do. In class we made two versions. One had corn and pablanos mixed in with the masa but no filling; the other had a chicken and chorizo filling. I thought they were both good, but not great.

MINE will be great. Just you wait and see!

It feels so wrong to not have a photo at all, so here's a "Crazy Hair Day" photo from several years ago.

Recipies to Rival - My First Challenge

2008-09-30T22:00:00.004-07:00

Way back in one of my previous lifetimes I worked in a grocery store deli that included a Chinese food take-out area. For several months I was assigned to Chinese take-out duty, meaning that I stood over the deli cases full of Chinese food for eight hours a day. Which did two things. First, it introduced me to some dishes that I might not have tried otherwise, like Kung Pao Chicken and Pot Stickers; and second, it made my hair smell like chow mein. (As a date once told me...boy, did he know how to sweep a girl off her feet!)

I never developed much of a taste for the Kung Pao Chicken, however, I love pot stickers with their soft, chewy dough and wonderful savory meat filling. Mmmmm...

Now, I'm comfortable enough in the kitchen that I don't shy away from much. Yeast breads of any type? Been making them for years. Totally from-scratch homemade pizza? Almost weekly. Expensive Rib Roast? Every Christmas. But pot stickers? I never even thought about even trying to make them at home!

Pot stickers are one of those things that you just get out , along with Fried Onion "Flowers" and Fajitas. Why pot stickers? Well, first of all, they look so labor intensive. And secondly, they look REALLY labor intensive! C'mon, all those teeny tiny little pleats - really? Who has the time. And how much better could homemade really be? I had no interest in finding out for myself. They could remain a mystery to me.

Until a couple of weeks ago, that is. That's when I joined a blog group known as Recipes 2 Rival. The R2R group each month takes on a recipe and collectively posts their experiences making it. When I saw that my first challenge recipe was pot stickers, I had mixed feelings of interest and dread. C'mon, all those teeny tiny little pleats! And then, reading further, I saw the real challenge...the dough must be made from scratch! Pleats and rolling a dough I've never worked with paper thin? This was going to be interesting.

But it was what it was. And I determined to face the challenge head-on. Pleats, dough and all. Figuring I would make a party out of it, I called my sister Anna (you might remember her from our Curry adventure) and we found a mutually acceptable date for a Chinese Dinner feast.

Armed with the R2R pot sticker recipe and a bag full of ingredients, we headed over to Anna's. The menu was fabulous. Hot & Sour Soup, Peanut Noodles, Chinese BBQ Pork and of course, Pot Stickers.

The dough came together perfect. I used the Kitchen Aid to mix it up, and after letting it sit for about an hour, it was easy-peasy to work with. The filling was also quick and easy to mix together, though after thinking that it seemed wetter than I expected, I looked closer at my recipe and realized I had added some of the ingredients for the dipping sauce into the filling. Not much to do about it at that point, I'd just have to go with it & hope it was good.

So I rolled and Anna pleated and Sean steamed and fried. And it was good.

If I had read all the comments from my fellow R2R-ers, I would have realized that we shouldn't have steamed the dumplings before putting them in the frying pan. It made for pot stickers that, well, stuck to the pot and fell apart. But they were delicious! Everyone agreed, even all five kids!

Which may be a first for that group!

For the recipes, go here, and to see what everyone else did, go here.

Ryan's Birthday Wish

2008-09-20T07:11:00.004-07:00

One thing that really has me puzzled is how my children can keep having birthdays and getting older while I really don't think I've gotten older. The pages on the calendar keep turning and I guess I celebrate my birthday once a year like they do, but they seem to be growing older (and taller) much, much quicker than I do. I don't feel like I could possibly be 11 years older than I was when my youngest child was born!

This week was Ryan's 11th birthday so of course he got to choose his meal and his cake. His meal was homemade pizza which Nick and I have down to a science at this point. Nick makes the dough and sauce and gets all the toppings ready before I get home from work, and I spend the next 2 hours making pizza for everyone.

The cake, though, took a little bit more work. About 5 years ago, Austin "designed" his own cake (which you'll have to wait until March to find out about), and that cake is known in our house as "Austin's Chocolate Cake." Ever since then, Ryan has wanted to have a "Ryan Cake" and has challenged me to make a cookie cake. Not a cookie that we put candles in, but a chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate cake merged deliciously together.

The first year I tried to incorporate cookies into the cake itself by dropping cookie dough into the cake batter and baking. That was just weird. The cookie dough pieces sunk to the bottom of the pan (of course) and it really didn't look or taste very good. So last year I tried making a giant cookie and putting it between the layers. The problem with that was the cookie was too hard and I couldn't cut through it. Not pretty.

So this year, I made a bigger cookie and cut out a circle the size of the cake, thereby avoiding the hard edges of the cookie. Then I cut it in wedges before putting it between the cake layers.

This time it worked! Beautifully! I don't think I needed to pre-cut the cookie into wedges, I just need to make sure it's not over cooked.

And I think the quest for Ryan's cake is complete. It was interesting to have the cookie in the middle like that, but it really made for a very rich cake (so cut small pieces).

Happy Birthday, Ryan! Made for you with love, I present...
"Ryan's Chocolate Cookie Cake"

Cake Memories

2008-09-13T09:12:00.007-07:00

Jen was one of the three interviewers that interrogated me during my second interview for my job. The questions I remember her asking were along the lines of "Do you have a problem sharing an office? Can you focus with distractions going on?" And I walked away feeling good about the interview, and pretty sure that Jen would be my new office-mate. I was right.

Jen was a great office-mate. Her kids are younger than mine, but she's as proud of them as I am of mine. And she has a wonderful sense of humor with just the right amount of sarcasm thrown in.

Several months ago, she brought her leftover birthday cake in for the office staff to finish off. It was a fluffy, very light pink concoction. And it was then that I heard her sorrowful missed cake opportunity story.

The story takes place back when Jen was young...kindergarten or first grade. Back in the days when hopscotch and jacks mattered and holding hands with a boy was a serious commitment. Her family was attending the annual school fair. Little Jen was running with delight from one game to the next, giggling with her school mates and trying with all her heart to win a "cool" prize in the beanbag throw.

And then she saw IT. The ultimate cake. The cake that would haunt her far into her adult life.

It was fluffy and pink and a little lopsided and...and...and perfect! She had to have it.

Little Jen tried with all her heart to win the cake walk. Round and round and round she went, eyes never leaving that cake. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Right before her eyes, the cake was chosen by someone else, and through a misty veil of tears (did I mention that we also share a love for Anne of Green Gables?), she saw her dream vanish.

Fast-forward to 2008. She's now happily married with two wonderful boys and a fantastic office-mate. But the image of that cake has never left her. Her loving husband tries every year to find someone who can re-create the cake. But every year, there's something just not quite right. This year, it's not quite pink enough, and the icing isn't swirly and fluffy enough.

As I listen to this story and her description of her cake, a memory starts to form in my mind. A memory of birthday cakes made by my Mom and covered with what we referred to as "marshmallow frosting." It was my brother Eric's favorite frosting and what he always requested on his birthday cakes. I resolved to test my theory for her next birthday.

But, alas, Jen is moving on to another job. There will not be an upcoming birthday cake opportunity. So I decided I had to move, and move fast if I wanted to test my frosting theory. I decided to make her farewell cake.

Since she never saw the inside of the cake, it was really open to interpretation. Her interpretation was a white cake with a "yummy" filling. But it had to be a really yummy filling. So between the layers of the cake, I filled it with some of my homemade 3 Berry Jam. After all, homemade jam is yummy. Right?

Then I made the frosting. It's really very easy to make. It's just a meringue with corn syrup added. And to make it pink, I added grenadine which added a wonderful flavor. The most difficult part of the whole procedure was transporting the cake. I don't have one of those cake carrier things (probably should put it on my Christmas list), and the frosting is REALLY sticky. But with ingenuity and a combination of skewers and plastic wrap I managed to wrap it well enough for transport. And off to work we went, the cake and I.

I told Jen the cake was in the kitchen, and made sure she understood that I would not be offended to hear if it wasn't right. After all, I was just making an attempt. But when she came back from seeing it in the kitchen, there was joy in her voice and a smile on her face. It was incredibly close to her memory. It wasn't tall enough - one more layer would have done it, and there weren't enough peaks in the frosting. But otherwise, Wow!

But the satisfaction is bittersweet. I'm thrilled that I got so close to that distant cake memory, but Jen, I'm going to miss you around the office. We made a great team. Good luck with your new job, and I'll be sure to say hi when we bump into each other in the grocery store (or casino!)

Marshmallow Frosting
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c corn syrup
flavoring (vanilla, grenadine, your choice)

Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
With beaters still running, slowly add corn syrup and flavoring.

Why Have Fish for Dinner? For the Halibut!

2008-09-11T20:55:00.004-07:00

I know, dumb joke. But I say it every single time I buy, cook or eat halibut. My family expects it now. And it makes ME laugh!

We've actually had this halibut (snicker) in our freezer for a while. A neighbor gave it to us several months ago, and I just have never done anything with it. When I pulled it out to thaw yesterday, I figured I'd go to my fall-back fish cooking method...butter, lemon, and pepper. But the closer I got to cooking time, the less I wanted the same-old, same-old. So, once again, the internet. (How did people cook without it?) I found a couple of recipes for rubs and I took bits and pieces from them and finished up with this beautiful (just look at that color!) rub.

And the flavor! KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! I just wish I had only put the rub on the top of the fillet because it completely overshadowed the fish - very bold flavor. But good.

And it'll make a delicious lunch tomorrow with a salad!

Spicy Fish Rub
Mix together:
1/4 c brown sugar
2 T salt
1 T garam masala
2 T chili powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
3 T paprika
2 tsp allspice
1 T black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin

Coat top of fish fillet with mixture. Place on baking sheet & let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Cook at 425 until cooked through.

It's All Greek To Me

2008-09-09T18:42:00.004-07:00

Now I'm sure that this is not an old Greek family recipe, lovingly passed down from one generation to the next. And it's probably not one you'll ever find on the menu in a Greek restaurant, but it should be. I would totally order it all the time.

Farmer Paul's new job has him working the swing shift which means he leaves for work about 1 hour after I get home. Crappy timing if I'm going to insist on still having a family dinner. But, the good news is that we're done with dinner so much earlier that I can spend my evenings getting ready for tomorrow's dinner. (OK, maybe not such good news!) And luckily I've got capable children and a helpful mother who get things going before I walk in the door.

When I pulled these chicken leg quarters out of the freezer, I intended to cook them teriyaki, but when it came time to assemble in the crock pot this morning, I just wasn't in a teriyaki state of mind. A quick internet search, and I found this recipe (I modified it a bit from the original.) It took about 20 minutes this morning to throw it all in the crock pot before I left for work. When the boys came home, they switched the crock pot off and by the time I walked in the door, I just had to do a couple of side dish things and dinner was set!

This is definitely going in my recipe rotation. Everyone, except Ryan, loved it. But he doesn't like much lately...except grilled cheese. I'll give credit to Farmer Paul and the junior farmers of the family for the great chicken I had to start with, but as for the recipe execution, the credit is mine...all mine!

Greek Crock Pot Chicken
8 bone-in chicken legs and/or thighs
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 large carrots, cut in 1" pieces
1 large onion, cut in 8 pieces
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes (you could use tomato paste if you had it.)
1/2 c dry sherry
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (c'mon! buy a real lemon! don't use the bottled fake stuff)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed

Brown chicken in a large pan in olive oil, turning to brown all sides. Place chicken in crock pot.
Dump remaining ingredients in crock pot. Stir to combine.
Cook on low for 6 - 6 1/2 hours.

I served this with orzo pasta that I tossed with butter, lemon juice, oregano, salt & pepper. The juice from the chicken, drizzled over the orzo was perfect. It was good. Very, very good.

A Curry Worth Staying Home For

2008-09-01T06:52:00.008-07:00

My sister and her husband finally convinced us to go try Indian food with them a couple of months ago. I'd only ever had curry once before, and it was in a restaurant that had a different menu page for 9 different Asian cuisines. Their pho was good. Their curry was not.

So when Anna & Sean wanted to take us to an Indian place shortly after we moved here, we resisted and talked them into going to a Japanese hibachi place instead.

But, finally, they persevered and we set a date. Farmer Paul was definitely nervous before we went, asking what he was getting himself into. I asked a friend at work who gushed about this dish and that, and so armed with the word "tandoori" we headed off to dinner.

And LOVED it! I have no idea what I had. It was chicken. And creamy. And good. Paul & Sean's dishes were the best of the four. And we went home satisfied.

Fastforward to two weeks ago. Paul surprised my by saying that he would like to have curry again. Since we're watching our budget, the only solution I have is to make it myself. So Anna & Sean were invited and I started searching for recipes and pieced together the meal: Indian Spiced Chicken with Spinach, Indian Spiced Veggie Patty and Naan.

The Naan was good, not great. I cooked it on a super-heated pizza stone which one website said was the closest to a tandoori oven I could get at home. It cooked perfectly, I think I just need to work on the recipe some because it wasn't as light and fluffy as I remember. But that could be due to the fact that I used wheat flour, trying to move towards the healthier side of things.

The Veggie Patties never happened. When Paul saw me come in from the garden with a handful of green beans, he suggested I make Chinese-style, garlicy stir-fried green beans. It sounded good, so I went for it.

But the Chicken. Aaahhh, the chicken. It was warm, mildly spicy, and full for rich flavor. Sean's not a big fan of spicy, so I toned it down for him assuming that the rest of us could add spice if we wanted, but I don't think anyone did. THIS is going on the meal rotation.

Oh, and why did noone tell me that basmati rice was SO GOOD?!?

I substitued curry powder for some of the individual spices rather than buy whole bottles of things I might never use again. It worked well, but if you want the actual list of spices, click the link to the original recipe. I also added more cream than it originally called for, because it looked too dry. And the original called for frozen spinach, but I subbed about 5 ounces of fresh and it was the perfect amount. All of the amounts listed in the recipe below are the amounts I used.

Indian Spiced Chicken and Spinach
adapted from the Food & Wine Website

SERVES: 4

The flavor of this dish is rich, fragrant, and mellow--not hot. You can make the sauce ahead of time and simmer the chicken in it just before serving.

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
2 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large jalapeño peppers, seeds and ribs removed, minced
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes, drained
1 cup heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups water
1 5-ounce packages spinach leave
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 3 pieces each

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and butter over moderately low heat.
Add the onion and cook until starting to soften.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 2 minutes.
Stir in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and salt.
Cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute, and then stir in the jalapeños and tomatoes. Add the cream, cinnamon stick, water, and spinach to the pan.
Bring to a simmer; cover the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the chicken, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

Crispy Greens

2008-08-28T06:41:00.004-07:00

The past few Saturdays Farmer Paul and Nick have been going out to a CSA farm and lending them a hand. In exchange, they bring home a box full of produce. These boxes of produce have made me realize that I've not been very adventurous comes to veggie choices.

I know that I'm not an adventurous meat eater. I'm fine going through life never knowing what things like goat, snake and gator taste like. I am at peace with the knowledge that a piece of bear meat will never cross my lips. (and no, Paul, that is NOT a challenge!)

But I'm surprised that there are so many common veggies I've never eaten. The unusual veggies I've received in my home have been things like Swiss Chard, Sorrel and Kale.

I was informed these nutritious greens are wonderful when lightly mixed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and roasted to a potato-chipy crispness. I tried this one night for dinner. I set the bowl on the table, explained what it was as I passed the bowl to Mom. Mom took her "Thank You" portion, passed the bowl on to Dad, took a quick taste test, and took the bowl back from Dad to transform her "Thank You" portion into a "Hey, this is pretty good" portion. I don't know how to describe it, but the crispness is that of a very fragile potato chip, while the bitterness of the green and the sprinkling of salt combine for a very unique, and addictive flavor. Even the kids ate it!

Unfortunately, we were so busy eating it that I didn't take the time to make sure I had good pictures (and really, the mashed potatoes in the background are just a white blur - ugly!) So I'll have to make it again. Soon. Really, really soon.

First, Take a Zucchini the Size of Manhattan...

2008-08-24T22:08:00.004-07:00

This time of year you start dividing your friends into two groups. Those that have it and those that don't. The "it", of course, is zucchini. Cause if they've got zucchini, chances are you'll get zucchini. So if you don't want a bagful of random squashes (what is the plural of squash? squeesh?) you know who to avoid for the next couple of months.

If, however, you have a KILLER recipe for zucchini bread, then welcome your friends wholeheartedly into your home and drop hints like crazy and you may just get lucky!

In order to take out some of the more processed ingredients (mostly white flour), I made a couple of substitutions from the original recipe. But this is excellent, and as Austin and Ryan will testify to, it doesn't taste AT ALL like zucchini.

Zucchini Bread
makes 2 9x5" loaves

3 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1 3/4 c sugar
3 c grated zucchini
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are excellent in this)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 loaf pans.
Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
Divide batter between the loaf pans.
Bake 50-60 minutes until tester inserted in middle comes out clean.
Enjoy!

Family Trip to the Market

2008-08-16T21:12:00.006-07:00

Needing a nice family outing to get everyone out of the house and away from each other's throats, we decided today to load up in the car and drive the 1/2 hour to Seattle's Pike Place Market. I did have a vague hope that we would have a pleasant stroll through the market, find some perfect veggies and seafood for a delicious, seasonal meal. What was I thinking!?!?! It's a Saturday in August, the market's crowded and noisy and it's hot.

After fighting through the traffic, we actually found a great parking spot that wasn't too outrageously expensive and only involved climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest to get to the market. We started wandering, but it seemed like no matter where we were, it was in the midst of a chaotic mess of people. about an hour into it, I started to get crabby. It was time to find lunch.

Seattle. Waterfront. Tourists. Fish & Chips. Ivar's. One seems to lead strait to the next, doesn't it? We asked a couple of people where we could get good fish & chips, and we got 2 suggestions, one of which was Ivar's. I know...you don't have to lecture me. There are Ivar's everywhere and totally commercialized, but I kept reminding myself that it wouldn't be a chain if people didn't like it. So they must be good. Seattle! Waterfront! Tourists! It had everything going for it!

Everything, that is, except comfort, value and taste. The fish was fine, but didn't have much of a fish flavor, and the chips were limp and greasy. The only place to sit was in an outdoor seating area that had me telling the boys not to touch the table with their hands after they'd washed them. So I'm going to have to get me some cod soon and do fish & chips right.

We never did go back and get stuff for dinner. I didn't want to face that crowd again. We just came home and made chili. So much for seasonal! But it was soul-comforting.

The Student Surpases the Teacher

2008-08-15T22:14:00.007-07:00

There comes the realization in a parent's life that the child is starting to connect the dots. The big lessons and the little lessons that you've taught over the many, many, many years start to lose some of their randomness in the child's minds and becomes a cohesive mass of knowledge. And then they use that newly realized knowledge and perform beyond what you perceived their capabilities to be.

I have been concerned for several years now that we really messed up when raising Nick. Don't get me wrong...he's a great kid. He's got an ever-ready sense of humor, a tenacity and work ethic that exceeds that of many grown men, a kind heart and a quick and sharp intelligence that makes conversing with him very enjoyable. Not the perfect child, but a perfect part of our family.

So where did we mess up? Well, he has grown up with a gourmet's palette. Because of my love for and talent for cooking, he believes, with all his heart and soul, that food should always be great. An occasionally great meal isn't sufficient for him. Pizza really ought to be homemade, or at worst the best (read expensive) of the takeouts. Spaghetti sauce should NEVER come from a jar unless it's a jar of my homemade sauce that I've canned. I never need to bother with buying canned soup which is a completely unacceptable substitute for homemade. We don't need to bother buying the pre-made cookie dough 'cause he would rather spend the extra couple of minutes making his own recipe that includes a touch of maple and is so much better. Even Rice Krispie Squares must be homemade. How did we manage to create this monster?

Last Spring he decided that he wanted to apply for the culinary program at the high school. It's an alternative program that has the kids spend 1/2 of their day at a distant campus learning culinary skills and cooking, and the other 1/2 day in their regular classrooms. With kids (11th and 12th grades) from 14 school districts applying for the 40 openings, the competition is tough. During his interview he was asked what his first choice destination would be if he could go anywhere in the world to eat. You know what my gourmet child replied? Paris? Rome? New York? Wrong! He answered that he would go home for his Mom's (that's me!!!!) cooking. And he got accepted into the program. One of the very few Juniors who were accepted.

This rave of pride for my oldest child leads me to the photo you see above. It's a cobbler filled...loaded...with peaches and blackberries. I bought a couple boxes of peaches for eating and canning purposes and of course, our property is covered with blackberry bushes. So while Farmer Paul and I were out for our Anniversary dinner, he recruited Austin as his sous chef and modified a peach cobbler recipe to include blackberries. And it was a total, complete, ultimate success.

So join me in recognizing the skill of my son who won't let me get away with convenience if it sacrifices taste and who has been helping me in the kitchen since he was tall enough to peer over the edge of the counter. Here's his Peachy Blackberry Double-Crusted Cobbler. The one thing we did decide that needed to be changes, was that the filling should be cooled down before putting the cobbler together to bake. Otherwise the butter in the pie crust melts as soon as it hits the fruit, and the crust doesn't end up flaky.

DOUBLE CRUSTED PEACH COBBLER

FOR THE CRUST:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping and rolling
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
7-10 tablespoons ice water
FOR THE FILLING:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
Pinch salt
6 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 cups blackberries
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream (for brushing top)
cinnamon-sugar (to sprinkle on top)

TO MAKE THE CRUST:
Place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough just comes together.

Remove dough and knead lightly on a lightly floured surface until it just comes together. Divide the dough in half and form into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Once dough is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll each disk into a the approximate size of a 9x13" pan, approximately 1/4-inch thick. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and return to the refrigerator to chill until ready to assemble.

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
Melt butter in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the sugar and water and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add remainder of ingredients and cook for 15 minutes until thickened. Refrigerate until chilled (1 hour or more)

TO MAKE THE COBBLER:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place half of the peach mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 buttered baking dish using a slotted spoon. Top the peaches with 1 layer of dough.

Bake until the crust is light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and top the crust with the remaining peaches and cover with the other crust. Brush the top crust with heavy cream, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, and return to the oven.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbly. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Yield: 12 servings

A Cobbler from the Wild

2008-08-13T21:26:00.007-07:00

Life up here just keeps getting better and better. First the garden started coming in, then the chickens and now blackberries.

When we moved in, there were wild blackberry bushes everywhere and getting them under control was one of the first tasks that they guys tackled. They knocked down tons of bushes with the tractor and then we got six goats who have been eating them and keeping them from growing back. But we still have plenty left.

A couple weeks ago, Farmer Paul took a hike around the property to collect enough blackberries for dessert and came back with a dozen. That's is...12 berries in the bottom of the 2 gallon bucket. So we waited. And waited. For two weeks. And then today happened. I came home from work to a bowl on the counter overflowing with the luscious, sweet fruit.

But then I had to make the most difficult decision of my entire day. What to do with them! Just eating them with some whipped cream was tempting, but didn't seem celebratory enough. After all, at this point I can walk out my back door and eat as many berries as I want. It needed to be better than that. What Farmer Paul wanted was a wedge of pie crust tucked into a bowl of berries and topped with whipped cream. What Nick wanted was pound cake covered in berries and cream. Austin and Ryan are easy, they just wanted dessert. Pie crust and pound cake take too long for a weeknight dessert and since I didn't want to have to wait until 10 before we had dessert, I still had to decide what to do. I started going through my cookbooks.

Then Mom swooped in and rescued me from my indecision. She brought in an old cookbook of hers and flipped it open to a Quick Fruit Cobbler recipe. Quick and easy to whip together...bakes in 40 minutes. Works for me.

Unfortunately, the 40 minutes was more like 60, so it was still later than I wanted before we had dessert, and it was just O.K. Everyone else liked theirs, but I didn't even bother finishing mine. It wasn't good enough to waste the calories, especially with our anniversary weekend coming up. I'll save my calorie allowance for that!

Quick Fruit Cobbler
from the More-with-Less Cookbook
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine in bowl:
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c flour
3/4 c milk
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Pour into 9x9 greased baking pan.
Add:
3 c. fruit - fresh, frozen or canned.
Bake for 40 minutes. (or an hour!)
I also added about 1/4 c rolled oats to the batter because I was afraid that the fresh berries would add too much juice to the batter.

Pre-Season Thanksgiving

2008-08-09T19:19:00.005-07:00

If you can have Christmas in July, then why not Thanksgiving in August?

We had some chickens that had to be processed this past week and they did a turkey too. My thought was that I would do something fun & novel with the turkey. Maybe throw it on the grill or break it down and do different, untried-before dishes with the different parts. Apparently, I was the only one who didn't immediately think Thanksgiving Dinner.

So, as we watch a preseason Cowboys game, we'll eat preseason Thanksgiving leftovers.

And turn on the air conditioning!

Summer Evenings

2008-08-04T08:24:00.001-07:00

The good thing about having a sister who lives on a lake, is, well, having a sister who live on a lake invite everyone over for a sweet summer evening.

My aunt and uncle were in town from Arizona, so everyone went over to Anna's for a family get-together. I took the Pasta Caprese as my potluck contribution and others provided veggies and salad and chips and dips and Anna and Sean made their delicious ribs for us all. I didn't get pictures of the food, because I was helping to put it out, and by the time it was all out, so by the time I had the chance to grab my camera, it wasn't very photogenic anymore, so I just grabbed a plate and joined in.

Of course, the only way to end a Summer's night get together is roasted marshmallows. It's been years since I've had one, I'd forgotten how delicious they are.

The Delishesness of Summer

2008-08-03T11:09:00.004-07:00

Boy oh Boy was this ever good! This was one of those meals that happens when all the stars line up right. I had the leftover Julia Child Sauteed chicken, tomatoes that were right on the edge of starting to get mushy, and a handful of basil that needed a place to show off. And it found it, tucked among a mound of farfalle pasta. The recipe was super-easy...chop the tomatoes and a little bit of onion. Squeeze in 1/2 a lemon, a few glugs of olive oil, some of those little fresh mozzarella balls if you've got 'em and some salt and pepper. Then cook the pasta...whatever kind you like. Once the pasta's done, drain it, mix it with the tomatoes, some chopped up basil and Parmesan cheese. If you want to make it a meal, dump in a bunch of shredded chicken. Without the chicken, it's the perfect side dish to take to a BBQ.

And really, how can you possibly go wrong if you show at a BBQ with this kind of tomato-ey, basil-y goodness. After all, doesn't the combination just SCREAM summer?

Peas and Potatoes in White Sauce

2008-07-28T20:12:00.005-07:00

Another delicious meal from our garden (except for the sausage). This was a nice, quick, summery dish that I grew up eating. New potatoes and fresh peas in a light white sauce. Add a garden-fresh salad and a couple of cranks of pepper and I'm good to go!

There's really no recipe here, Dad said that Grandma used to put fresh mint in with the peas and potatoes, but I'm having trouble imagining that flavor combination. Maybe I'll test it next time...maybe.

Farmer Paul and I did have a disagreement about the peas though. Growing up, the peas in this dish were shelled. But when Farmer Paul saw me shelling these peas, he got quite upset that I was "sending the best part of the pea to the compost pile." So, instead, I used those peas in the salad, picked more peas from the garden, cut them in half and added them to the boiling potatoes during the last minute of cooking time. And it was a good decision. They were so sweet and tender.

Like me.

Dinner, Courtesy of Julia Child and Farmer Paul

2008-07-27T21:07:00.009-07:00

I recently read a bit about Julia Child. She wasn't a natural-born cook. It took a lot of determination, learning and effort before she became The French Chef we have grown to love and admire. Realizing this has made me appreciate her even more because I certainly didn't start off very well either.

My big disasters were your common "rice carefully scooped out of the pan so as not to disturb the burned layer stuck to the bottom", the "chicken that was oh, so carefully roasted and then served half-raw", and the ever-popular "nutmeg-instead-of-chili-powder tacos" (OK, maybe that one's not so common). But these disasters have over the years turned into the remember-when stories that, apparently, can be used to enhance any conversation that Farmer Paul's involved in. But when I growl as he starts relating the stories, it's mostly in good humor because they really don't bother me anymore. First, I figure he's earned the right-after all, he did stick with me (In a couple of weeks it'll be 17 years!) through all those meals, even encouraging me to keep trying until eventually I got it figured out. And second, anyone who has eaten my food lately KNOWS that I've got it figured out!

And this takes me back to Julia Child. She also started out as a poor-to-average cook. But through determination and trial and error she got it figured out. However, while she was classically trained in France which probably helped her learn much quicker than I did, my lessons have been a little less formal. My training has consisted of soaking in multitudes of techniques, explanations and tips such as those offered by Jacques Pepin, Alton Brown, Bobby Flay, Joanne Weir, the America's Test Kitchen staff and of course, Julia Child. And reading cookbooks. Lots of them.

One truth that I have discovered as I cook and share my food, is that the truly great meals always start with truly great ingredients. And that's where Farmer Paul enters the picture. Everything you see in the picture above (except the butter & herbs, but we're working on that!) was grown on our land. It's all from here. Not an hour ago, the salad ingredients and carrots were growing contentedly in our garden, enjoying the sunshine and light breeze until Nick picked several handfuls of the crisp, sweet, fresh lettuce, spinach and peas. And while he was there he grabbed a few carrots for me to steam and dress with browned butter.

And then the chicken. Our chicken. All-natural, pasture-raised, soy-free, organic chicken. We got the birds when they were just a day old and nurtured them until they were big and healthy. Then they were...processed...and just two days later, here they are, gracing our dinner table.

While great food is great food, it is with Julia's inspiration that tonight's dinner became amazing. So with a grateful heart and thoroughly satisfied tastebuds, I dedicate this glorious meal to Julia, a master teacher whose recipe for Sauteed Chicken guided me tonight. Julia's ability to break the meal down into understandable, rational steps gives nervous cooks confidence. Her inspiration for teaching came from a desire to take the mystery and exclusiveness out of cooking and make it accessible so that home cooks would be successful cooks and be inspired to keep trying.

Here is Julia's Sauteed Chicken recipe from the Julia and Jacques, Cooking at Home cookbook. Thanks Julia for sharing your passion and gifts with the world. And thanks Farmer Paul for planting the garden and raising the chickens (with help from our young farmers, Nick, Austin and Ryan) and giving me such amazingly perfect ingredients to work with. And thanks to Lisa over at Champaign Taste for hosting a Happy Birthday roundup honoring Julia. Be sure to check out her blog to see others who participated.

Julia's Simple Saute of Chicken with Herbs
4 pounds fresh, top-quality chicken parts (thanks, Farmer Paul!)
3 Tbs or more unsalted butter plus 1 Tbs oil
1/4 c dry white wine or dry vermouth
1 cup chicken stock
salt & pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (you don't even need to peel them, just hit 'em hard & toss 'em in)
Several springs of fresh herbs (I used thyme), but she also suggest tarragon or sage
2 Tbs minced shallots or scallions (I didn't have any, so I used just a bit of finely chopped onion)
1 Tbs butter to enrich the sauce

1. Browning the Chicken: This will take a good 20 minutes of careful cooking. Have a clean tray or platter ready. Set the pan over moderately high heat, swirl 2 Tbsp of butter inside with the 1 Tbsp oil When the butter foam starts to subside, lay in as many pieces of chicken as will fit comfortably without crowding. Turn the chicken every minute or so, letting all surfaces brown a nice walnut color.
2. Interlude: Pour out and discard all the browning fat, leaving the crusty browned bits in the pan. Pour the wine into the pan and scrape up the browned bits, adding a bit of the chicken stock if needed. Pour this liquid out of the pan and into the remaining chicken stock. Set aside.
3. Finishing the Saute: This step will take 20-30 minutes. Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set the pan over moderate heat, adding the remaining tablespoon of butter. When melted, return the dark meat to the pan. Cover and cook slowly for 7-8 minutes. Then turn the dark meat over and add the white meat, which needs less cooking. Baste the chicken with accumulated pan sauces, add the crushed garlic cloves and the herbs. Cover and continue cooking at a low sizzle, turning the chicken and basting with pan juices several times for 12-15 more minutes. Start testing for doneness when chicken juices begin appearing in the pan. The chicken is done when the meat is tender when pressed and its juices run clear yellow when the meat is pierced deeply.
4. Deglazing sauce: Remove chicken to a platter, cover and keep warm for the few minutes it will take to make the sauce. Spoon out and discard excess fat, herbs and garlic from the pan juices. Set the pan over heat, stir in the shallots or scallions and boil rapidly for a minute. Pour in the reserved wine and stock and boil over high heat, scraping up the browned bits. When reduced to a light syrup, swish in the optional butter and spoon over the chicken to serve.

Note to Self...

2008-07-24T06:44:00.002-07:00

Always read the labels on the spices before dumping them on top of ribs! Curry Powder is NOT the same as Cumin, and is what gives ribs that "unusual" flavor.

*Sigh*

Baking Bread

2008-07-19T17:57:00.004-07:00

I know-it's July and who in their right mind bakes bread in July. Well, who in their right mind ever said I was in MY right mind! But if you could smell it baking, you would forget any criticism that you have of me and beg, BEG for a piece slathered with real butter and then you would coyly ask if I still had some of that strawberry jam that I made a couple of months ago, and then you'd pout when I said I didn't cause Austin and Ryan gobbled it down, so you'd "settle" for the triple berry that I do have, and you'd be in heaven.
Especially if you were Farmer Paul.

The Best Tasting School Project

2007-06-19T03:38:00.003-07:00

The biggest struggle we have with homeschooling our youngest, is that the program we use requires projects be done, recorded, and submitted. (Actually, a picture of the final project is encouraged!) RJ's first project is to make something that reflects his cultural background. Examples of things they give are a Navajo blanket, origami, or an African mask. So for a month, I have been wondering what our cultural background is. I was born and raised in the middle of the Canadian Prairie - Mom is from Michigan, Dad's from that same Canadian Prairie. Paul is born and raised in Texas, but his Mom is from Oklahoma and his Dad is from Tennessee. And there's really not very much of a unique culture that we, or our families, have ever celebrated. The best idea that I could come up with is Southern Cooking (from Paul's side of the family). We toyed with the idea of having RJ make a whole Texanish meal...Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Biscuits. But there were two problems. First problem...its a hundred degrees outside! Air Conditioning can only do so much!

Second problem is that he's 9 and the most cooking he has done on his own is scrambling an egg for breakfast. I knew that a big meal like that would end up with me cooking...and him observing, since I'm not ready for him to start deep-frying yet. Not really in the spirit of the project.

Suddenly, it hit me. Apple Pie. I remember Paul's father making wonderful Apple Pies. He loved them. (My MIL is not such a good cook, and I have never known her to make more than the filling for a chocolate pie that FIL had made the crust for.) Paul remembers his Nanny making apple pie...actually, all kinds of pie and sweets and, well, all kinds of everything.

So - Apple Pie! Something RJ could relate to and enjoy, and easily participate in the creation of. Brilliant!

So to the farmers market we went. The apples only looked so-so, but it made for a better photo op than the produce section of the grocery store. As we left, I realized the girl that took our money charged us and extra$0.20 per pound, so by not paying close attention, I lost a dollar on the deal. Then we took the apples home, put them in the fruit bowl and got on with our lives. Its amazingly difficult to find time to make an apple pie. Work has been crazy busy, and RJ has been intent on going out to play with friends every chance he got. Finally, a week later, I could no longer procrastinate. We had to make the pie.

I decided not to be worried about making it like his grandfather or great-grandmother did. After all, I reasoned, if they could have used a food processor to make the crust, I'm sure they would have! Although I did peel the apples by hand, rather than the Pampered Chef thingy that is supposed to make that task much easier, but in reality mostly makes a big mess and leaves you with apples that are half-peeled because they weren't perfectly round. Besides, if I hand-peel, then I get to try for the world record longest unbroken apple peel! (I don't think I came even close!

and, finally, I submit, the first apple pie RJ participated in from beginning to end:

And it was delicious! A little "juicy", but perfect crust, and wonderfully spiced apples. As Paul said, this is the best tasting school project we have ever done! Even better than then cell model that NJ made out of gumdrops!