Copperpots

Turtle Soup

2010-11-11T22:16:00.004-05:00

Living in Florida opens up some great adventerous seafood eating opportunities, and we just happen to live very close to an awesome little fish market that specializes in local catches. Every visit there are different offerings from the waters of Florida. From the big prize fish like tuna and swordfish, to less known local river fish and fresh specialties like alligator and frog.

I've seen turtle at this particular market before, but only frozen, and I am hesitant to buy frozen seafood with the sea at my doorstep. However today they had fresh soft shell turtle, and I didn't hesitate to grab some!

Now before anyone freaks out and says, ZOMG cute turtle! Or ONOES they are protected! Trust me, these guys aren't any cuter than an alligator -and living right beside them, they have to hold their own- and are definitely not sweet little gentle slow pokey creatures, they can actually be quite aggressive. Combine that with their great abundance in just about every single pond and river you can find (which is a lot), they are perfectly legal to hunt in Florida, during their season of course.

Turtle isn't as wild and exotic as you might think. The flavor is quite nondescript, and quickly picks up the flavors of what it is being cooked with. Which is probably why the most popular recipe for turtle soup is very robust with ingredients like cayenne, tomato, lemon and Worcestershire Sauce.

Ingredients

For the Stock:
1 lb turtle (soft shell, or snapping turtle), bone in
4 cups water
1 onion, quartered
2 Tablespoons whole peppercorns

For the Soup
Meat separated from the stock, bones removed and cut into small pieces
Stock
1 quarter onion
2 Tablespoons tomato puree
1 half lemon
1 Tablespoon Cayenne
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Ground pepper and salt to taste

In a pot bring water to a boil and add cleaned turtle meat, 3/4 onion and peppercorns.
Let simmer slowly until the meat begins falling off the bones, approx 2 hours.
Strain Stock and return it to the pot. Remove turtle meat from the bones and cut into small pieces, then return the meat to the stock, keeping on a low simmer.

Dice remaining quarter onion and sautee in olive oil in a pan until translucent. Add flour and stir until thickened into a roux. Add a ladle of the turtle stock and stir until thickened. Stir in tomato paste. Pour contents of pan into the stock pot and stir until well blended. Add parsley, cilantro, cayenne, juice from the lemon, Worcestershire Sauce, pepper and salt to taste.

Serve and enjoy what was once a delicacy to Presidents and across Victorian England. Now its simply a local pleasure.

Olive Focaccia

2010-10-29T12:39:00.002-04:00

This is a bread I've been baking for years, and it is absolutely epic. Doesnt even need butter, but if you're feeling particularly decadent, go for it and dip a chunk of that bad boy in some seasoned olive oil or slather on that butter. You won't die, I promise... not right now anyways!

So here ya go.... the ULTRA SEKRIT RECIPE!

3 cups bread flour
1tsp salt
1 sachet yeast
2 T olive oil
9 oz warm water
a whole mess of Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

(for topping)
More friggin olives
2 T olive oil
Sea salt
Thyme or rosemary or whatever

Method

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in salt followed by the yeast. Pour in the olive oil and water and mix it all together to form a dough.

Turn out the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.

Place the dough in an olive oil greased bowl and cover for about 1.5 hours until it has doubled in size. Knock back the dough by kneading it again for a minute or 2.

Knead half the olives (the ones you wont be using for topping) into the dough. Drop some in, fold it over, drop some more in, fold it over, rinse, repeat... you get the idea.

Divide the dough into quarters and then shape them into rounds. Place them onto a nonstick or greased cookie sheet and push little dimples into the tops with your fingers. Drizzle oil all over the tops then sprinkle with salt and herbs. Stick the remaining olives wherever you think they look nice, I usually stick'em in those dimples, they seem to stay put there.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden.

Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool.... This step doesnt usually work too well for me and I play hot potato while trying to tear a chunk off to munch down while its still burning hot!

They only last a couple of days so eat'em quick or give them to people you like. :)

Masoor Dal & Raita

2010-10-18T08:29:00.007-04:00

So we've decided to cut out mass produced meats from our diet.

Yup... me... Queen Carnivore of the World... is reducing meat from her diet.

Not because I buy into the evangelical preachings of PETA, or because I believe ZOMG animal fats are POISON (I'm pretty sure the human race would have died out long ago if that were the case). My reasons are simply because the meat "industry" is destroying part of our human culture (farming), and killing off entire species and replacing them with quite unnatural meat producing science projects. Creatures that are treated just like that, a product, an invention. I just want to do my part to help support those farmers who are literally fighting the fight to keep some quite ancient traditions, and breeds, alive.

We had for the most part already cut out big industry beef by purchasing our beef from Peter at Running River Ranch... but I was still buying tyson chicken and mystery pork.

So as of last week, our meals have been mostly veggies bought at our local produce market (that specializes in local organic produce), as well as fish bought from our fish market, which also sources all of its fish from local fishermen. Thank you Florida waters!

And for the occassional treat, I've been seeking out local farmers who raise and pasture feed heritage breeds, such as the beef bacon I scored at the farmers market. Still trying to find a source for chicken however. In any case, besides fish, meat will be a rare, maybe weekly event on our table.

All of this brings us to last nights dinner, which will probably become a staple as Dave is a huge curry fan! So flavorful and so filling. I've decided there is something mentally wrong with people who don't like Indian food!! ;)

Masoor Dal

1 cup red lentils
1 half large onion, diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
1 (6 ounce) can tomato puree
2 cup peas

Method

Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear, put the lentils in a pot with water to cover and simmer covered until lentils tender - approx 30 minutes.
While the lentils are cooking: In a saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in vegetable oil.
While the onions are cooking, combine the curry paste, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, salt, sugar, and ginger in a mixing bowl. Mix well. When the onions are cooked, add the curry mixture to the onions and cook over a high heat stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the tomato puree and reduce heat, allow the curry base to simmer until the lentils are ready.
Drain the lentils and mix them and the peas into curry base and serve immediately.

Cucumber and Tomato Raita

This recipe is ridiculous easy... you pretty much don't even need a recipe.

I use greek yogurt, about a cup, dice up about a quarter of a cucumber and a quarter of a tomato
and blend it into the yogurt, adding a bit of water until its a consistency I like.

You can mix all sorts of stuff into a raita for different flavors, cilantro, cumin, even fruit. It is usually served to help soften the blow of the spicy curry. ;)

Farm Fresh Breakfast

2010-10-16T12:27:00.004-04:00

This mornings breakfast! I scored big time at the farmers market! Found a local farmer who has pasture raised cattle and sells all sorts of grass fed beef -Deep Roots Meats. I also found someone selling raw dairy and fresh eggs. So for breakfast was bread I baked this morning with raw butter smeared all over, farm fresh eggs, and beef bacon! Who'da thunk! Beef bacon! Nice alternative for folks who can't eat pork! And it was gooood.

Beef bacon comes from the belly, or "navel", of the cow, just like pork bacon does. :) It was salt cured... really awesome.. at first you get the salt and fat and it seems like bacon, then you're suddenly hit with this intense beef flavor. Its like steak & eggs meets bacon & eggs! Epic breakfast for sure.

Beef Wellington

2010-07-03T16:59:00.008-04:00

Because what Dave wants for his birthday dinner, Dave gets for his birthday dinner.

It has become a bit of a tradition now that I make Dave whatever he can dream up for his birthday dinner no matter how outlandish. One year it was Lobster Thermadore, another it was surf and turf along with escargots.

This year Dave wanted Beef Wellington. The most challenging part of this, finding a whole beef tenderloin. And as luck would have it, Publix came through and just happened to have one, which they kindly cut in half for me. I love Publix.

I was a bit nervous about cooking up a very expensive cut of meat, hidden away inside of a pastry shell, where I had no familiar method of telling its doneness, no touch, no visual... just had to go on instinct on this one.

So I read through quite a few different recipes for Beef Wellington, and took tips and instructions from a few, like searing the beef and letting it cool back down before wrapping it in pastry, to prevent the juices from making the pastry itself soggy. Good tip I thought.

It was much easier than I had anticipated. I had visions of presenting it to Dave and him promptly throwing it on the floor and calling me a donkey a la Gordon Ramsay. But to my delight, I cut timidly through the shell and into the meat, and it was perfect! My first Beef Wellington, SUCCESS!

So I'll share the recipe I created by combining about half a dozen I dug out of books and the interwebs.

Beef Wellington with Foie Gras Pate and Wild Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 beef tenderloin, trimmed (I cut mine down to be small enough for just 2 portions, the rest is in the freezer for future noms.)
.5 lb assorted wild mushrooms (I had shiitake, cremini, woodear, chanterelle)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 oz smooth pate (I used a foie gras & truffle pate)
2 T butter
3 T fresh flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1lb ready made puff pastry
1 beaten egg to glaze

Let the beef sit until it reaches room temperature. Then, in a lightly oiled pan on high, sear the outside of the beef without leaving it long enough to begin cooking through. You just want a sear here. Set the beef aside and allow it to cool back down.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook the onion until they begin to soften, then add the mushrooms and continue cooking for about another 5 minutes until they are soft and nicely colored. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set the mushrooms aside to cool.

Once the mushrooms have cooled, bled in gently into the pate and set aside.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to a sheet large enough to enclose the beef. Spread the pate mixture down the middle of the pastry and lay the beef on top of the mixture. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg and fold the pastry around the meat into a neat parcel. Place the meat onto a baking sheet, seam side down (pate side up), and brush the pastry all over with the remaining egg.

Bake for 40 minutes or so, until the crust is golden and puffed up. Transfer to a serving board and LET IT REST FOR 10 MINUTES!

Cut into thick slices and serve.

We had this with a green salad and some beautiful little potatoes, parboiled and sauteed in butter. And of course a side of English mustard.

Highland Cattle Beef: Sirloin

2010-03-07T19:29:00.008-05:00

Yesterday we made a 240 round trip journey to Zephyrhills Florida for one purpose. To visit a very special cattle rancher. His name is Peter, and runs the Running River Ranch in Virginia, with his wife Patty, raising these beautiful animals.

I'll be using his hides for use in my leatherwork. I have a separate post over on my art blog if you're interested in hearing me yammering on about that.

But of course, the hides isn't what keeps his business booming. It is the beef. And being the food nerd I am, I had to try his Highland Cattle beef.

You may or may not remember my adventure a few years back acquiring a quarter of a whole free range, grass fed motherload. This wasn't quite the epic haul. But the beef was equally astounding.

The Highland Beef Haul, left ot right:

kidneys, tongue, heart, another kidney, another heart, 4 ground beef patties, 2 massive sirloin steaks, and a beef eye round.

Running River Ranch's beef is fantastically flavorful. Tender despite its lower fat content. Rich and beautiful, everything you would expect from cattle raised in an environment they're meant to be. Outside, eating grass, rolling around, and just being cows.

Now grass fed beef is naturally much leaner than mass produced, corn fed, never get to walk around, beef you buy in the supermarket. The general rule I hear is "slow and low".

But I don't particularly live by this rule. Depending on the cut of meat... if you know what you're doing... you can get an excellent seared medium-rare steak (the way I like it).

I have the stove and oven method of cooking grass fed cuts in the post I linked above, but today, I wanted to try it on the grill.

Obviously, I wanted to TASTE the meat... so absolutely no marinades, just kosher salt and freshly ground pepper pressed into the flesh.

Method:

Most importantly, make sure your meat is at room temperature before cooking. Otherwise you will end up with a piece of meat that is dry and overcooked on the outside, and raw in the center. This is a VERY important step. Don't skip it and then come back complaining it didnt work right.

Crank that grill up as high as it will go. We had it at 500 degrees. Just before plopping it onto the grill, drizzle some olive oil on the side you will be putting on the grill.

You're going to be working fast here, 3-4 minutes on each side should about do it if you like it medium rare like we do.

Once you've flipped the steak once, put a nice nob of butter on top (dont be shy) and let it finish cooking, watch for flare ups as the butter drips down into the flames. Do not be afraid. Fear makes bad cooks!

Once its cooked to your liking, take it off the grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes. This is also important, you need to let the juices that have been rapidly moving inside from the intense heat slow down and re-settle. This is essential to a juicy tender steak.

After you've had your moment with your inner Highland caveman with all that fire and flaming meat. ENJOY!

Home Made Chicharrones

2010-01-26T15:29:00.005-05:00

Also known as, Pork cracklins.

I've always been huge fan of all forms of pork, especially kinds that include a nice crispy skin. This does not include the horrible bastardization of pork rinds you find all across America that are so distant from their original incarnation theyve become nothing more than lightly flavored pork Styrofoam.

So wouldnt it be my luck, that once again, I find another oddity at Publix. Sort of like that heart I found a while back. I was looking through the pork cuts when my eyes landed on a simple small pack of pork skin. Just... pork skin. And only one. 46 cents. I grabbed it and rummaged through the rest of the pork, but indeed this one the only one... I have never seen pork skin at Publix before..... usually the skin is removed from every cut of pork the is sold in the US.. due to our strange squeemishness of sush things. Little do we realize, like the rest of the world knows, that this is probably one of the tastiest bits on the pig.

Americas most neglected pig bit.

So I took my little piece of skin home and prepared some chicharrones.

First, I cut the skin into little squares, and simmered them, skin side down, in water mixed with about 1 TBSP of baking soda for about 10 minutes. This supposedly conditions the skin for frying.

Once drained, cooled and very thoroughly dried (you're about to fry these and water + oil is NOT good) , I added a tiny bit of oil to my cast iron pan, and began frying the skin, fat side down first, to render the fat and finish crisping any meat still attached. Then, flipped them over to the skin side and let them crisp up til golden and bubbly. And drained them on a paper towel just like you would bacon. At this point while they were still hot, I sprinkled a generous amount of salt all over them. Salt is the only seasoning you should need, as the pork flavor on its own is wonderfully savory and strong.

I will say though... be prepared for some massive popping and splattering!!! I even had one piece completely jump out of the pan.

They turned out very tasty.... really wish it was easier to find skin like this. I was very pleased with my first attempt at home made chicharrones. :)

Fried Gator

2010-01-24T11:47:00.010-05:00

One reason to love living in Florida...and in this case... befriending a very unique breed of hunter.

After our regular outing to the Central Florida Highland Games last weekend, and playing at the archery range for a little bit, I decided I'd like to get back into archery. So I hopped in my little car and scooted myself over to an Archery Shop I'd driven past several times.

After picking out a bow (and noticing some beautiful hand-made ones)... testing it, and deciding to buy it, I paused and looked at all of the trophies on the walls.

Some of you might not know I work with leather, so I thought to myself, they must do something with these hides. So combined with the fact that I had just had a conversation with a Highland Cattle farmer about how he has to waste his beautiful hides because he can't find a tanner in the country to make it worth anything to him... but said he would sell untanned hides to me if I could learn to, or find someone, to tan them for me.. I was spurred to ask.

And out from the back of the shop came a most unique fellow. Not only does he tan all sorts of hides, from deer to gator.. and even more bizarre, fish and frog.... he even collects bark from trees to make his own tannins, as well as builds bows from the horns and bones of the animals his family hunts.

Truly.. nothing of the animals these people hunt go to waste. The way it should be. I love these people. And thats not because he offered to teach me tanning... or hooked me up with some fresh gator.... which is what this post is actually all about! Who'da thunk it right?

So yea... after about 2 hours of awesome conversation with this gem of a man.... and we got on the subject of cooking... he rushed off and back again with a frozen chunk of fresh wild Florida gator.

Very cool. I had only ever had silly little "gator bites"... made from farmed gator... that probably wasn't even raised in Florida and was god knows how old. Leaving little in the flavor department.

This gator was fantastic.... and did not "taste like chicken".... if I could compare it to anything, the texture was more like frog... and had a flavor closer to catfish... which you probably know I adore, since we eat it every single week.

I cooked it pretty much like I would fry chicken (or catfish!)....

Marinated it in 2 beaten eggs with a generous amount of cayenne and garlic powder for about 2 hours.

Then, dredged each piece in salted and peppered flour and fried til nice and golden in some oil in my iron pan.

I also made the dipping sauce.... about a cup of mayo, squirt of ketchup, spoonful of brown mustard, 2 spoonfuls of horseradish, several shakes of Franks hotsauce, some more cayenne, and a few shakes of garlic powder. Yea... I didnt get too specific, just kept messing with it til I got a flavor I liked. :)

Hopefully everyone gets to meet a person as awesome as this guy!

To Eat a Jack-O-Lantern

2009-11-03T09:28:00.009-05:00

Everywhere I searched on the web I was told jack-o-lantern style pumpkins are not for eating.
"They're too stringy,
they're too watery,
they don't have much flavor".

The jack-o-lantern only sat outside for a couple of hours, and was washed and cooked thoroughly before using. I would definitely advise against using a jack-o-lantern that has been sitting outside for longer than a few hours....

Nonsense I said.... they were made for eating before they were made for decorating! I couldn't bring myself to waste so much potentially useful pumpkin.

So I set out to prove the common feelings about our poor field pumpkin wrong. And I can gladly say it was a success!

So let me tell you how I proved wrong the three points above!

"They're too stringy"
Well this was just a silly reason, and a very easy one to fix at that. After roasting the pumpkin and removing the skin, I mashed the flesh with a fork then put all of it into a food processor for a few minutes until it was beautifully smooth. Absolutely no stringage!!

"They're too watery"
Another easy fix! I took the above puree and put it in a pot over medium heat and simply reduced it down (evaporated the water) until it was nice and thick. :) Water problem solved.

"They don't have much flavor"
Now this was just a silly statement. Really. Think of the pumpkin flavored foods you eat. Pie.... muffins.... can you really pick out the pumpkin flavor? More than likely what comes to mind is the flavor of nutmeg. I really don't think a little bit less robust pumpkin like the field pumkin is really gonna kill that flavor! ;-) Have you ever tasted that canned pumpkin?? Well needless to say my field pumpkin puree tasted much better than the tinny stuff!

To get to the puree stage isn't too complicated... just time consuming. After all, thats a lot of pumpkin!!

I used a meat cleaver and just chopped the heck out of the thing into large chunks and laid them out on 2 foil lined cookie sheets, and covered them with more foil. Heat the oven up to 325 and roasted for several hours, until all the flesh was soft.
Let it cool a little then scrape the flesh from the skin into a large bowl, mashing with a fork.
Put it in a food processor until it is nice and smooth. If you end up with excess water like I did, just stick it in a pot and reduce it til it is nice and thick. I heard some people say they used coffee filters, etc, but that just sounded like more time and a mess to me!

And there you have your own pumpkin puree!! Good use for a pumpkin that usually sees its end in a trash can. :(

In the end I used standard pumpkin recipes that called for canned pumpkin.... and everything tasted just as good (if not better) than if I had actually used the pumpkin from the can. The pumpkin soup is a favorite of mine I've been making for years, as well as a pie. I used the standard Eagle Brand Pumpkin Pie recipe that is tried and true.

Curried Pumpkin Soup (vegan friendly!)

12 oz pureed pumpkin
1 onion diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 TBS curry powder
1 TBS cumin
olive oil

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, curry, and cumin; saute, stirring often, until onion is soft and fragrant.
Stir in pumpkin, and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve

Oven Roasted Veggies

2009-10-01T17:59:00.003-04:00

Every now and then I get a serious craving for squash... usually acorn or butternut. And when this happens, it becomes the main feature of the plate, and we go all veggie for dinner that night.

SO simple... and I know my dad has asked me how I cook my squash several times.

It is so simple in fact... a recipe is literally not needed.

Take whatever veggies you like... we usually go with 2 carrots, halved lengthwise, 1 small sweet onion halved, one tomato halved, and squash, first cut in half and then into consecutive crescents... like the photo up there.

Heat the oven to 425.

Place the veggies on a pan and liberally coat with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Cook for about 30 mins.

Voila!

We usually have this with cous cous or in this case, brown rice. :)

Mahi Mahi with Citrus Pan Sauce

2009-09-30T17:43:00.004-04:00

So my normal method of mahi usually goes..... marinade for about 4 hours in either lemon juice, minced garlic and olive oil, or marinade for about 2 in lemon and orange juice, then throw it on the grill. Every time. No deviation. I do the same with swordfish and shark.

For whatever reason... while the mahi was marinading... I was struck with a desire to fancy it up a little. But what to do? My mahi was already having a leisurely bathe in OJ.... hmmm....

Why no just poach it right in its marinade and make a sauce from the liquid!?

So this is what I did.. and it worked awesome.

Ingredients

1 lb Mahi Mahi
enough orange juice to cover the fish in the dish you will marinade and bake in
1 lemon (for juice)
1 fish bouillon
garlic powder
2 knobs of butter
1 T corn starch

Method

Place the fish in an oven safe dish, and squeeze your lemon juice all over the fish. Pour just enough orange juice to cover the fish. Marinade for about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully pour out some of the orange juice so it only comes up about 1/4 of the way up the fish. Add enough water so it is cover halfway. Sprinkle on the garlic powder.... and crush up the bouillon to a powder and sprinkle it on as well.

Place a knob of butter on top of each fish and stick it in the oven until the fish feels like it will flake with a fork. About 30 mins.

Remove the fish from the oven and carefully take the fish from the liquid and onto a plate to rest.

Meanwhile, heat a pan and pour all of your orangey cooking liquid into it.

While the liquid heats and begins to bubble in the pan... in a separate bowl spoon some of the liquid in with the cornstarch and mix it well. When the liquid in the pan begins to boil, slowly add the cornstarch mixture a bit at a time, stirring often, until it begins to thicken.

Place the mahi on serving plates and pour the sauce over each one equally.

Nomnom!

I think if I had thought of this in advance, I would have used white wine in place of water in the sauce... but alas... I had no wine.. and the water served its purpose. :)

Steak & Kidney Pie

2009-06-04T12:21:00.002-04:00

Last nights Steak & Kidney pie.

Lamb Shank Pie

2009-05-29T16:56:00.001-04:00

So this one didn't come out near as pretty as the one in the book, but that's mainly because I dont have a dish deep enough to keep those bones upright. So in the end they fell over causing all the filling to gush out all over the top of the pie crust. Oh well... it sure didn't effect the flavor!!

We're pretty set in our ways as far as how we like to stew our lamb. So adding jam to the mix had me nervous... I knew it would be good, but as good as our tried and true method?

Yes and no.

Yes... it worked very well! There was a nice tang there that was a nice change. But in the end... I still think I just like lamb the way we usually do it... more than likely because that's just how I'm used to it now!

fugly pie

Pie Tuesdays!

2009-05-26T15:49:00.003-04:00

So I've had this cookbook for a while now, Pie by Angela Boggiano. Being the pie fiend Dave is, not to mention he has converted me by proxy... we were ecstatic to stumble on this book in a Barnes & Noble about 2 years ago. Since I have randomly cooked a handful of the pies in it... like the pork pie ... they've all been excellent... and therefor, after thumbing through the cookbook last week, I've decided everyone should enjoy at least one pie a week and have declare Tuesday PIE DAY!

The book is laid out very conveniently, it seems they start with simplicity working their way through to more difficult pies, then a modest sweet pie section,and as an American, its not really needed, there is no shortage of sweet pie cookbooks here... but I might go ahead and do them as well.

So I am starting today with the first recipe in the cookbook, Lamb Shank Pie. The house already smells kick ass.... I will post it all tomorrow! :)

Durian Smoothies for Fresh Breath.... or not....

2009-05-12T14:48:00.004-04:00

A durian in smoothie form I think is a good initiation for someone who wants to try Durian... but is a little scared to go whole hog. However, unless you can find durian already shelled... it is inevitable to have to suffer the onslaught of the worst of the durian... its funk.

Personally I don't think the flavor is anywhere near as offensive as its smell... and reminds me very much of mango... with a hint of sulfur... or roast garlic..... heh. So I think the mango really brings out the best of the flavor of the durian, while still leaving a hint of what makes the durian so legendary... without being too frightening.

Durian Smoothie:

2 cups durian
2 cups mango
1/5 banana
1 cup coconut water
crushed ice as you prefer

Throw the fruit and coconut water into the blender first and blend til smooth. Add ice until the smoothie is at your preferred thickness.

Enjoy and dont kiss anyone! XD

Baked Potato Chowder

2009-03-12T13:41:00.005-04:00

nomnom

I made this today totally on a whim. Someone on Facebook (evil facebook) mentioned cooking potato soup, and for some reason, it just sounded.... right. Considering we currently have a ton of potatoes, and a bunch of bacon in the freezer.... pretty much every ingredient was laying around and needing to be used up.

It's incredibly rich and heavy.... perfect if you're REALLY hungry... which I wasn't... and ended up putting way more in my bowl than I could even remotely handle. But very tasty none the less!

Ingredients

5 baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
1 cup chopped green onions
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese, and Romano cheese, mixed
6 ounces sour cream
2 chicken bouillon (I use oxo)

valley of ingredients

Method

Bake potatoes 1 hour in a 400 degree F oven. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and green onions, cook until soft. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually pour in the milk while stirring until all the milk has been added. Bring heat to medium and keep stirring until the soup mixture starts to get thick.Add bouillon cubes.
Add the potatoes, salt, ground black pepper, bacon and cheese. Stir well and continue to heat for about 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend. Stirring well, mix in the sour cream until well blended with the soup. Serve immediately.

I Heart Stew

2009-02-17T17:45:00.003-05:00

One interesting thing I have noticed with the fall of the economy, is some more unusual bits of meat for the American market, cheap, offal being sold in our regular supermarket. I would have never have imagined finding ox heart, chicken feet, or kidneys outside of ethnic markets this time last year. But now, they are popping up in my little white bread Publix, and it gives me warm fuzzies.

So I jumped at the chance to try ox heart, which I'd never had before, and at $2.30 for a whole one.... how can you argue?

I chose a very simple recipe, as I really wanted to get a feel for the flavor of heart. And let me tell you, it is fantastic. More like very lean beef than offal, with a very very slight kidney-like flavor and texture. But I am betting if you were feeding it to people with a palate that isn't used to the flavor of kidney (like most of us yanks)... they would have no idea they are not eating plain ol beef. Which I think could be a huge help to families struggling, to cut corners with such a large nutritious piece of meat, at such a bargain price!

Heart Stew

Ingredients

1 whole ox heart, cut into cubes
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
flour for dredging
salt and pepper 2 TBS each
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
olive oil
1 cup oxtail soup
1 pint beer

Method

Dredge heart in flour mixed with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot like a french oven, once hot, sautee heart in oil until browned on all sides.
Add onions, carrots and celery, stir until onions begin to go transparent, adding oil if necessary.

Add oxtail soup, beer, bay leaves and thyme.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and cook in oven for 4-6 hours at 250 degrees, or until heart is at desired tenderness.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

They'll never know what they're eating. But they'll know it tastes wonderful, and warm, and filling. :)

Pop's Stewed Lamb & Dumplings

2008-07-21T10:57:00.005-04:00

On June 1st, Poppy Evans, my husbands mother, passed away. She was a fascinating woman, one that I wish I could have known longer/better. She lived what seemed to be an amazing life, born in and growing up in London, during World War II, evacuated as a child to live with a strange (but now dear) family. I wish I had asked her to tell more about her youth. She traveled all across the globe in her lifetime.... I am sure she had the most astounding of memories. A life to be envied, and remembered.

But one thing she did teach me was how to make her stewed lamb and dumplings, which is also Dave's most favorite comfort food. So here I will share it with you all.

Please note those items marked with a * were not included in the recipe she taught me... and are a result of me always over complicating things. ;-) She didn't teach this recipe to me written down... she cooked from memory and sight, like any great cook. So my measurements are estimates, as her directions were "about that much".... and "so it looks like that". Also note that many of the ingredients are British brands... and trust me when I say natural suet from your butcher... does NOT give the same results as boxed vegetable suet, trust me, we tried!

Ingredients

1-2 lbs lamb meat (Poppy always used lamb neck, but for lack of good pickings in Florida, I use leg, and cut into 1 inch pieces, but still include the bone in the cooking!)
1 50g packet powdered Oxtail soup mix (or 1 pint canned)
1 T whole peppercorns*
2 bay leaves*
2 cloves minced garlic*
1 onion, sliced*
1 T sugar*
3 sprigs fresh thyme*
2 OXO lamb cubes
2 carrots, chopped*
2 stalks celery, chopped*
2 T olive oil
flour for coating lamb

for the dumplings:
4 oz self raising flour
2 oz Atora brand shredded vegetable suet
1 T finely diced fresh parsley*

Method

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sugar and cook until the onions caramelize and are nice and golden. Add garlic, carrot and celery and sautee for a couple of minutes. Empty pot into a bowl and set aside.

Put flour and some salt and pepper into a large ziplock. Drop the lamb in and shake around until the lamb is well coated. Drop the lamb in individual pieces at a time into the pot and sautee until the lamb is lightly browned. Return the vegetables to the pot, and pour in water until everything is covered.

Add the OXO, and all herbs and peppercorns.

Reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer for about 4 hours, skimming off muck as it settles on top.

Allow to cool, cover, and place in fridge over night.

The next day, remove from the fridge and scrape off any fat. Heat back up to a low simmer, and prepare oxtail to package instructions, and add it to the stew.

Create the dumplings.
Mix the flour, suet, parsley and salt. Slowly add water until the dough is firm but pliable... about 5 T. Divide dough into 8 balls with floured hands. Place on top of the simmering stew, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Passion Fruits and other Delights

2008-05-18T18:41:00.008-04:00

So for 2 years, I've been babying, growing, and loving this tiny little passion fruit plant (Passiflora Edulis) It started as a tiny little two leaved plant, which I trained up a 5 inch trellis, until it outgrew that, and we moved it outside to about a 6 foot trellis around a year ago. I think at that point, once it set root in its native Florida soil with lots of fresh sun and water, it absolutely took off! Quickly outgrowing its trellis, we built a larger wood one into the wall. At this point, it has outgrown even that, reaching up towards the roof, in a few weeks more I imagine it will indeed, be creeping its way across the top of the roof. But before that happens we plan to get one of those arch trellises and train it over it. I never ever imagined it would get so large and happy.

But for all its ginourmousness, it still hadn't flowered, I had begun to fret I'd bought a dud. A big glorified vine. Until a couple of weeks back, while weeding, I looked up and saw a single solitary fruit. Now I know they take several weeks, even well over a month, to ripen, and can not be picked before then. Then they rapidly change colors within a few days from green to deep purple, yellow, or orange, depending on which sort you have, and drop to the ground. Mine will be purple.

So today I decided to take a peak to see if it has begun changing colors, and lo!! It is still there, massive at this point that I dare say its reaching the size of a small mellon, but still green...

This is the big one, the first one I found, over a month old now,
and showing no signs of being ready to ripen, but absolutely HUGE!

And scattered all over the vine were dozens and dozens of flower buds, and closed flowers (they close at night, and being that I checked early in the morning, they hadn't reopened yet) Not only that, I counted 9 (that I could see) fruits growing!!!

Little adorable, green fruits, covered in tender sweet baby fruit fuzz =D You can only imagine my glee. I could have been looking at a basket full of kittens if you went by my state of cute overload.

As if the nature-at-its-cutest could find no end, I even found an adorable little red ladybug who had decided one of the buds would make for a perfect napping place. I am sure she was just as happy as me to be surrounded by such pretty flowers.

In celebration, I made scones from scratch (being as you can't buy them prepared, at least not proper English ones) in the US. Topped them with butter, strawberry preserves, and clotted cream. mmmmmmmm.

Like Peanut Butter and Mayonaise

2008-03-18T10:41:00.004-04:00

Okay... I love boiled peanuts plucked from one of the many dodgey little stands across the Florida highways. And I love me some Starbucks, sipping it while reading a book in their store.. or from a paper cup while hunched in front of my computer.

But recently one of the peanut stands I normally pass while on my drive to Orlando made this unlikely and strange cross-over.

Even out in the boonies.... you can now have a grande mochachino with your spicy cajun peanuts.

St. John Resaurant, London

2008-02-12T12:26:00.000-05:00

Well after watching Anthony Bourdain last night in London, I figured its about time I should share our own venture to this famous (but seemingly well kept secret) restaurant!

I have to say this was one of the main things I was looking forward to for our honeymoon... sad isn't it?? Our whole schedule was sent into chaos due to our canceled flight, and we were unable to rebook our reservations at St John. But we were determined, and simply showed up for lunch one day. Lucky for us, there were a handful (like... TWO) tables open in the bar area.

Although this meant we were limited as far as selection, I was happy to see the main thing I was there for, Marrow Bones, was on the Bar menu.

Besides, we were there for lunch anyways, and had not long before finished off a HUGE English breakfast complete with goose eggs, REAL British bacon, and black pudding. So we weren't starving by any stretch of the imagination.

Let me just say how excited I was to be there. I have Fergus Henderson's book.. and have tried cooking many of his recipes, including the marrowbones. You can see my attempt here.

The interior was very unpretentious, with an open prep-kitchen... its so comforting seeing fresh veg being peeled and readied right there in front of you.

At one point a waiter rushed by with a whole roast suckling pig... and I squirmed in envy!
The next time we go... we're inviting a group... including you foodies in the London area I know read my blog! And we're getting one of those!!

So lets get to the good part! What we had!!!!

Like I said, I had the marrow bones.... and of course they were TO DIE FOR. I can understand why this is Bourdain's declared death row meal.

A generous amount of silky smooth roast beef bones, served with home-made bread, a parsley and caper salad, and a bit of grey sea salt to season to your own taste. It was just wonderful. And the staff was incredibly friendly even to this gushing American.. and he patiently showed me the "proper way" to eat it.... even though I already knew how... I just wanted to bask in the experience a little longer. :)

Being the Brit Dave is, he went with a classic Welsh Rarebit. You can tell by looking at this the quality of cheese, and bread that love and care was put into such a simple dish, known by so many names all around the world.

Next time, we plan to book way in advance, with a back-up booking as well just in case of a flight fiasco again! ;-)

I will easily say, even though I've only had this one simple dish there.... it is my favorite restaurant in the world. =) If something as simple as Welsh Rarebit and Marrow Bones can be so spectacular, one can only imagine what the rest of their dishes are like.

Deep Fried Mars Bar

2008-02-06T20:15:00.001-05:00

Nemesis Innards

There comes a point in every foodaholics life that they finally meet their match. Their Arch Nemesis. Gone are the days of "I can eat ANYTHING!". I drag my sad little feet away in defeat.

Who is this mighty foe you ask? Well I will tell you. It is an abomination. A mutant freak "treat" that only men in skirts could conjure.

It is.... the Deep Fried Mars Bar.

I've been an attendant at the Florida Highland Games for about 7 years running now. And every time, I see that stand, "Meat Pies and Deep Fried Mars Bars", beckoning me. During our last visit, I finally mustered the courage to try one.

A deep fried mars bar is exactly that. One mars bar, battered, and deep fried. How is that possible?? Its like some strange Wonka paradox. Like Fried Ice Cream.. but Fried Ice Cream is from Heaven.

Unfortunately, I knew I was going to lose this battle before my teeth even sunk through my first bite. And that bite was unfortunately, the bite that made me abandon any urge for additional bites. And that single bite is the one pictured above. My bite of defeat.

First it was a brief break through an extremely thin crisp of outer batter, but that was where my horror began. For just below the crisp is pretty much runny batter, mush mingled with melted chocolate (magma hot chocolate mind you)... then nougat so soft you are almost surprised when your teeth suddenly touch eachother. But as you try to aid your mouth in its escape, evil strings of glue-like caramel latch on and don't let go. Once free, the mouthfeel I could only imagine is similar to that a dog experiences when given too much peanut butter.

It was all very traumatizing.

Fortunately, my husband is a Brit, and his arteries have grown immune to this sort of onslaught. Anything battered and fried becomes fair game and prized eating.

But for this girl... one bite of one deep fried mars bar is enough to know I've found the highest of edible adversaries.

Our Wedding!!

2008-01-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

So here you are!

These are some photos (from our kick ass photographers Root Photography) of some of the awesome food we enjoyed at our wedding. The club was nice enough to let me design our menu.. and the chef did an absolutely incredible job! We had guests from all over the world... one particular who travels quite often, dining in some of the best spots on the globe. He commented that the lamb was some of the best he had ever had. Needless to day I went straight to the chef and told him! =) He said, "Yea... I can screw stuff up pretty well!" haha =)

For starters we had roasted garlic and french bread.
Along with an AWESOME greens salad with dried cranberries and blue cheese.

Followed by choice of rack of lamb in a mint chutney or chicken crepes with a Calvados cream sauce and apples. (no one got a pic of that one tho dangit!)

Then of course... THE CAKE! Topped with an Eiffel Tower (for those of you who don't know, that is where Dave proposed!) =D
It was delish. So glad we found such a talented pastry artist in town (Sweet Temptations Bakers, Melbourne, Florida). And the cake tasted great to boot!!

I had intended to hand sculpt all of the wedding favors (see above), but the wedding guest list just kept getting longer and longer until I couldnt keep up any longer.... so...

We ordered these for all of the guests, and gave the faerie heads to special guests and relatives. =)

Loch Fyne Fish & Oyster Bar : Nottingham

2008-01-14T17:34:00.000-05:00

Loch Fyne is one of the many places we decided on a whim to eat at while we were on our honeymoon. We were on originally aiming to eat at an Indian Joint we had just watched on Kitchen Nightmares the night before.. but alas.. they weren't open for lunch.

I also realized while we were there, that this awesome little fish restaurant, is actually a CHAIN!
A CHAIN! For God's sakes! We can't even get privately owned restaurants with this sort of quality food. I've decided Brevard Florida is officially one of the worst places for restaurants in the world. Inundated with Chili's, and TGIFs on every other corner.

Anyways, I digress.... this place... even though it was a chain... ROXORED!

The raw bar is completely open, as you can see, and we had some awesome seats right next to it, so I could watch the girl there with her mad shucking skills. From where we sat, I could also spy into their kitchen.. and watch the ever fascinating madness that happens back there. The only prepackaged anything I could see back there were OXO granules... which I assumed were for gravy making... like the bangers and mash Dave ordered.... but I was at a seafood joint.. and was totally all over some fishies. Especially after eating meat pie after meat pie after meat pie. (Not that I dislike meat pies... and Todd Sweeny was a kick-ass movie btw)

We went for their fixed menu which included an appetizer and entree for £11 (about $20)
I had the raw oysters. I love raw oysters... and being a Florida girl, I've had many. But these oysters tasted distinctly different than the ones I am used to coming from tropical waters. Their flavor was much lighter and cleaner. They were really very good... but I think I do honestly prefer my robust ones from home.

For my entree I decided to go with the whole grilled sardines. I'd never had sardines this way... and admit to have only ever eaten them from those little cans (and oh how I love them). Needless to say they are MUCH bigger... which also means much bigger bones! Although they were cooked perfectly and tasted awesome with that balsamic vinaigrette ... it took a LOT of willpower to convince my brain it was okay to chew and swallow the bones! But isn't that presentation awesome? Could you ever imagine seeing something like this in an American chain restaurant?? I think not!

To finish Dave and I both ordered an Irish coffee... done the proper way!! Yay!

So in the end, very impressed with the food.... totally envious that we don't have places like this back home (oysters a plenty... but you'd never find a whole fish bone-in of any kind anywhere save maybe an authentic Chinese or Vietnamese joint).

On the bad side.. the service was pretty crap. The staff were all nice... but it just seemed they kept forgetting we were there.. and it wasn't just us... several tables around us looked a bit confused and lost trying to spot their servers. It ended up taking over 2 hours to get through that little lunch (not that I was in a rush or anything) But our server actually left before even giving us our bill.... so... needless to say, we left no tip!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

2008-01-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

So... usually on Sundays we roast a whole chicken. Just the two of us usually only finish off half of it, the other half usually going into my salads for lunch. Well being that I was a particularly bad eater the past week, we were left with half a chicken that needed eating pronto!

Dave loves chicken pot pie. I guess its the closest thing to any sort of meat pie (btw, Sweeny Todd... AWESOME movie) that is easily accessible here in the States. Cracker Barrel, apparently, is the Mecca of Pot Pie.

I even went so far as making the pie crust from scratch using the "Good for Everything" pie crust recipe from Dorrie Greenspans "Baking" book. Its a damn fine pie crust. As if I needed an excuse to use my new mixer *grins with glee*

Filling

1 half of a cooked chicken, cut into pieces
2 sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
3 stalks sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1 chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions, celery and carrots in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and thyme. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Stir in peas and cooked chicken.
Pour hot liquid mixture into oven-proof bowl (we used soup crocks). Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I'm making a turkey today....... I am all over some turkey pot pie.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-28T15:13:00.001-05:00

Our first Christmas spread as a married couple!

And we're back!!!

Things should start getting back to normal here at Copperpots now that we're home, married and getting back into the groove of a normal routine.

The Wedding went without a hitch.. only a slight delay in our flight for our honeymoon, but Virgin Atlantic took care of us by comping our tickets in flyer points! :) So, our next trip is on them! I've got lots of foodie stories to share (including a lunch at St John!!!) from the wedding and honeymoon that will be coming soon, but for now, its Christmas!

My loaded plate

For Christmas this year I decided to make a goose again. Cut a couple slits in the breast skin, stuffed them with whole garlic, and roast it for about 3.5 hours at 350. Turned out perfect... meat literally just fell from the bone.

With it we made mashed potatoes, whipped up in one of our AWESOME wedding presents, a kitchen aid mixer (WOOT!)

Along with some honey-blasamic glazed carrots, home made Challah bread, made from scratch giblet gravy.... and then of course the obligatory green bean casserole!

Of course everyone knows the best part of Christmas is watching the cat play in the wrapping paper. And without question, it is mandatory to give Bailey her gift of a pinch of catnip under the Christmas tree.

So I give you, this moment of zen....

Where have I been!?!

2007-10-12T16:45:00.000-04:00

I've heard from a couple of you asking where I've disappeared to and I've been slacking at giving a response!! I haven't disappeared really.... but I will tell you that planning a wedding is a HUGE distraction, especially when I've decided I'm going to hand sculpt the wedding favors.

But I am still cooking.... nothing out of the ordinary... no recent lobster thermadores at least. I also lost the awesome camera I had with the sweet macro mode... so I am currently out a decent camera.

OH! But we did receive our first wedding gift! A Le Creuset cast iron French oven!!!! I plan on making pot au feu this weekend in it! :)

It will probably be a while before I start making my regular posts again.... after this whole wedding thing passes (hahahaha!) ;)

But for now, I leave you with this moment of zen...

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil

2007-07-25T10:32:00.001-04:00

Just look at that. You know you want it. I saw it on the cover of this month's Food & Wine magazing, and TOTALLY wanted it.

You can find the recipe here, but I decided to do it open face style like they had it on the cover. Ended up fork and knifing it, and it was soooo good. Who'da thunk a simple marinade of lemon, olive oil & thyme could rock so much?? All precariously perched atop some of Publix's rockin olive bread.

Poached Sockeye Salmon & Summer Vegetables

2007-07-18T10:58:00.001-04:00

A dinner I whipped up the other night. The market had some beautiful sockeye salmon, and I just could resist getting some... its a rare treat.

I placed the salmon into a baking dish, rubbing all sides with olive oil. Covered about half-way with white wine, sprinkled with Tarragon, and one bayleaf on each fillet. Popped it in the oven at 375 for about 30 mins, or until it was done.

While it was baking, I chopped up some zucchini, red bell pepper, and onion. Sauteed the lot with some minced garlic. Seasoned with salt and pepper, and a sprig of fresh thyme.

Super yum and super easy. =) And... isnt it purty?

Sundried Tomato and Chaumes Stuffed Burgers

2007-07-12T12:30:00.000-04:00

This was a yummy burger inspired by Amanda over at What We're Eating. She made these like a YEAR ago now, and I've just gotten around to making them. Goes to show how often I make burgers! Hers, of course, look infinitely better than mine... but... they were tasty!!

I've got about a ton of ground grass fed beef stashed away in the freezer, and decided it was about time to make use of some of it. So following Amanda's lead, I stuffed the patties with some chunks of Chaumes cheese, and sundried tomatoes. Sauteed some mushrooms with some bacon and used them as a topping.

Total, artery clogging, foodgasm.

Pork Pies

2007-07-08T14:58:00.001-04:00

Dave loves pork pies. A traditional English meat pie, served cold. The idea seemed strange and a bit ew to eat a meat pie cold... especially pork.... I'm not sure why exactly. I had never seen, or even heard of one until last year when we went to visit his mum in the UK. The photo below is of my first pork pie during that visit (upper center), along with some other British specialties... some I've had, some I hadn't.

That was the first and last time I'd had pork pie. But every now and then Dave wishes aloud that he could find them here in the U.S.

But as luck would have it, we found this totally kick ass cook book called "Pie" Typically, here in the US... anything labeled "pie" is going to be of the sweet variety. But curiosity got the better of us, so we picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages. How glad we were that we did when we realized this was a VERY British Pie cookbook.

Needless to say, we bought it, and first order was Pork Pies. And I realized pretty quickly that I'd picked a more complicated recipe from the book. A jelly needed to be made from pigs feet, I worred at first I wouldnt be able to find them in our white bread markets, but thankfully the butcher at ours said he could order some, I'd just have to wait a few days.

Another complication, was that the dough had to be "hand raised" or hand formed, and held in position by parchment and string. I dont have any springform pans (though they have now made their way onto my wish list).. and I wanted to do this the traditional way anyway!

Many steps of making this included, making the jelly... making the filling... making the dough, which has to be formed while its still warm, otherwise it is unmanagable when cool. A hole is poked in the top, then baked. After it cools, only then is the jelly poured into the hole, to fill the spaces created when the meat shrinks during cooking. This is why, I learned, pork pies are eaten cold.... jelly turns to liquid when warmed... so when you eat it cool, you are treated to these beautiful little clumps of jelly scattered around and throughout the meat filling.

Dave has made a pork pie lover out of me. =)

Duck with Pear & Crushed Peppercorn Sauce

2007-06-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

I just love duck. Love it. Usually I will prepare it with a more tangy sauce, like Raspberry... but I decided to try pear this time, as I had a few laying around that needed using. It turned out beautifully.. and was incredibly quick and easy.

Duck with Pear & Crushed Peppercorn Sauce

2 duck breasts, with skin
1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup Calvados, Apple Brandy, or other apple liquor
1/4 cup duck demiglace
2 TBSP whole black peppercorns, crushed
1 tsp corn starch
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 cup apple juice

Score the duck breasts skin. Pat dry and season with salt. Place a pan over high heat until very hot. Reduce heat to medium and place duck breasts, skin side down into pan. Cook for 15 minutes or more depending on how well you like your duck cooked, then flip, cooking for an additional 5 minutes.

Place duck somewhere to keep warm and tent with foil.

Pour off all but 1 TBSP of the rendered duck fat from the pan. Return the pan to heat and sautee the pear until it is nice and golden. Add Calvados to deglaze the pan and scrape up the bits with a wooden spoon. Let reduce to a syrup. Whisk together the corn starch and apple juice and add to the pan. Add thyme, demiglace and peppercorns. Stir until thicken, add salt to taste.

Serve duck with sauce spooned over.

Enjoy!

Lobster Thermador

2007-06-26T13:57:00.001-04:00

So yesterday was Dave's birthday. Of course, I asked him what he wanted me to cook for him... and he said he had Lobster Thermador once in Africa, and really enjoyed it. Well... I've never had it before, nevermind cooked it.. but I LOVE lobster and was more than willing to give it a try. Besides, there is an awesome lobster company in Cocoa Beach that sells whole Maine lobster for dead cheap, and I'd been waiting for an excuse to try them out! (Maine'ly Lobster 321-799-4700)

So I picked up a 3 lb beastie on my way home from work and set to work.

He wasn't particularly pleased at his situation.. and let it be known by thrashing around and pinning his legs over the pot just as I was trying to drop him in. Do lobsters hiss? I swear he was hissing at me! (and no I dont mean the "whistle" of steam... he wasnt in the water yet at that point) My sister called at this very moment asking for details on a cream sauce... Carrie, if you read this... the photo above was when I was screaming in the background while Dave was trying to relay my instructions for said cream sauce. Note to self... it is easier said than done to dispatch a giant live lobster into boiling water while dictating a recipe for caper cream sauce to your sister over a speaker phone.

In the end the lobster ended up in the pot and out again, ready to be prepped. This was also new to me, as in my world the lobster is done at this point and all thats needed is drawn butter. It took a LOT of will power to restrain myself from eating one of those whole succulent claws. As luck would have it, however, Dave doesnt like lobster tamale... and OMG do I ever. Its like... little drops of lobster heaven... and this one had a LOT. Finger lickin good.

So that helped curb my desire to eat all the other tastey bits.

Another note to self.... cracking a lobster (especially the claws) with a chef's knife isn't as easy as the pro chefs on TV make it look. I ended up resorting to a meat pounder to crack the claws, while simultaneously flinging lobster bits all over the kitchen (and Dave, who was innocently watching).

mmmm... lobster and Moet..
Dave needs to have birthdays more often

I will say the hardest part of the recipe was simply splitting the shell for presentation. And the little bit of induced trauma from a feisty lobster who decided to pull the "cat not going in the carrier" move on me.

A simple bechamel went over the diced meat, made from tarragon, dijon and Romano.

I do think I still prefer lobster simply steamed and eaten straight from the shell. But it did look impressive and regal on the plate. :)

And here I give you... the aftermess.

Lobster Thermador

1 whole lobster, about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds
2 lemons, halved
1 onion, quartered
1 bouquet garni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a pot of salted water containing the lemons, quartered onion and bouquet garni to a boil. Add the lobster to the boiling water and cook for 8 to 12 minutes. Remove the lobster from the water and place in a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process of the lobster. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes for a blond roux. Add the shallots and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the wine and milk. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. This sauce will be thicker than a normal Béchamel because it will be used as a filling. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the stove and stir in the mustard and tarragon. Remove the lobster from the water and split the lobster in half. Remove the tail meat from the shells and with the back of a knife, gently crack the claws. Dice the tail meat and fold in the Béchamel sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese and reseason if necessary.

Divide the mixture and spoon into the two lobster tail shells. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the lobster. Place the filled lobster on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Garnish with parsley.

-Ganked & modified From Emeril's

Tuscan Bean & Vegetable Soup

2007-06-19T19:03:00.001-04:00

I didnt have a chance to make it to the market to pick up meat for dinner tonight, so I had to rummage something together from the pantry and veggie drawers. When this happens, dinner doesnt typically turn out very spectacular. But tonight was a pleasant surprise... and I think I will forget to get meat for dinner more often!

I had a couple of cans of beans, and tomatoes... theyre always in there.. its almost like they multiply. Onions and garlic are always stocked in my kitchen. And then I had some leftover squash and zucchini that I didnt use with dinner last night. And of course... that Romano rind thats been lurking in the cheese compartment that is good for nothing other than this very sort of thing!

Tuscan Bean & Veg Soup

2 cans cannellini beans, drained
1 large can whole or crushed tomatoes
1 zucchini, diced
2 summer squash, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 rind parmesan or romano
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or more for heat)
.5 T thyme
.5 T parsley
2 tsp sage
salt & pepper to taste

Sautee onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil until it begins to go transparent. Add zucchini and squash. Continue until softened. Add tomatoes, broth, beans, cheese, and seasonings.

Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.

Serve and enjoy!

Skewers Restaurant, Indialantic Florida

2007-06-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

Starter: Baba Ghanouj, falafel, tabouleh, humus

For fathers day we decided to try something new. Out of necessity if nothing else, since my dad is vegan, in Brevard that leaves very few options! So we opted for Greek/Mediterranean.

So let me tell you about Skewers! At least our experience of it on one random night.

The food... the food was fantastic. I mean just look at those pictures! They did taste every bit as good as they looked. And me not being a very big fan of Greek food to start with, its really saying something! The falafel was fresh and crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Smooth flavorful baba ghanouj, and thick creamy humus. All of it tasted very fresh.

I am a HUGE lover of baklava, and the one we had there was probably the best I've ever had. Not too syrupy... and that wonderful crispy multilayered action you get with phyllo pastry. Yum.

Also, the Turkish coffee was fantastic. I'd only had it once before and then it was so thick and bitter I couldnt finish it. But at Skewers, it was perfectly sweetened, not bitter at all.. and seemed to be flavored with Anise.

But if only I could finish my review of the place based on food alone.
Although we had reservations at 8pm... the hostess left us standing at the podium for 10 minutes while she went and "cleaned the table" (there were clean tables everywhere in the restaurant). While we stood waiting, wondering if we had been forgotten, a man came in from the garden just outside and asked a passing waitress why they hadnt been seated yet, he was told they were "cleaning his table" 25 minutes ago!

After finally being seated, it took another good 10 minutes before our water was even brought.. and another several before a drink order was taken. Mind you, I do not mind a long drawn out meal... but I'd better have a drink to occupy myself! That being said, service went on slowly like this for the rest of the night, but I didnt mind so much then as I had my drink! ;)

I'm also not sure if our waitress was new... but when she brough out our salads she held them down and said "Who ordered what? I dont know which of these is which."... of course, we'd never been there so we didnt know either! Also, when we asked about dessert, she said they only had baklava and key lime pie... even though their website says they have Bananas Foster Flambé,Grand Marnier strawberries, baklava and Cheesecake of the Day!

The crowning moment however was when Dave (a Brit who is not familiar with Florida bugs - aka small animals) asked, "Lea, what kind of bug is that?". Horrified, I looked over his shoulder to see the BIGGEST palmeto bug I have ever seen. I have lived in Florida most of my life, so that is really saying something. For those of you who dont know.. they are giant roaches (the largest in fact) that FLY!!! While I stood huddled in the corner waiting for someone to get rid of it, my dad joked that he thought he saw a sadle for it somewhere. The waitress even fled in fear of it, and seconds later the whole kitchen staff came running out in aprons and plastic gloves. One of the cooks cupped it under a glass and took the thing away. My dad said casually, "I hope that cook changes his gloves before he goes back to cooking."

It is a good thing I dont get squeemish with food... although I still enjoyed the baklava and coffee that followed, they were both comped on the bill.

So in the end, it was a fantastic meal... not so good service.. and if you dont mind dining with small animals... you're all set.

The Moo Motherload

2007-06-06T17:56:00.000-04:00

So I've been horribly neglecting Copperpots and all of you wonderful foodie friends lately! No excuses! I wont let it happen again! ;)

Anyways... on to the MEAT of this post!

A while back we went in on a mixed quarter of100% grass-fed and finished beef from a local dairy farm... the same one that my contraband dairy originated from. This farmer only slaughters twice a year... and only if he has enough people interested. And I'll tell you... this beef is well worth it.

I've never been a huge beef eater... saving it for the occasional really good steak house, or cooking it for special occasions. But this beef has had me eating more beef in a one week span than I normally would in an entire month! And not necessarily because we're trying to eat our way through our supply before it passes its prime... but because its honestly just THAT GOOD. The flavor is unlike any beef I had ever had. I understand now why I was never been big on beef... because all along I've been eating CRAP beef! The flavor is almost flowery... every cut I've cooked so far has been incredibly tender and juicy. My method for steak is simple...

Preheat oven to 450.
Dry the steak and season on both sides with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
Heat some oil in an oven proof pan until it begins to smoke.
Open all windows.
Sear the steak on one side for about 4 monutes, until you have a nice crust going on.
Flip it, stick a knob of butter on top, and stick it in the oven for another 8 minutes.
Take it out, let it rest for 5, and EAT IT!

This is how I cook every cut of steak... be it filet... t-bone... or rib steak. It always works perfectly. Assuming of course its a decent size cut.

I know I will be a very sad camper when our supply runs out.. and I have to settle again for the flavorless grey sad excuse for beef they sell at the supermarket.

Grilled Tuna with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

2007-04-17T07:26:00.000-04:00

I'd never cooked with tomatillos until last night... theyve always been an enigma to me... little tomato looking things... wrapped up in a delicate paper skin.

Turns out they are quite tart.... but when combined with something sweet, like honey... you have a pleasant sweet and tart action going on.

We were really happy with this one... alot of work for a week night.. but there is enough of the salsa left over to have with something else.

First you start with a marinade-

1 medium sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic
.5 cup tightly packed cilantro
1 jalepeno (seeded if you want... we dont hehe)
2 T honey
2 T olive oil
1 T cumin
juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Throw all that into a food processor and blend until smooth. Cover the tuna with it and let marinade for 1-2 hours.

Meanwhile... roast the following for 30 mins-
1 lb tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
2 jalapenos (again.. if you want.. seeded)
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot

throw it all into a food processor and blend.. then add:
.5 cup cilantro
.5 cup white wine
2 T honey
salt and pepper to taste

Blend until smooth.

Pour into a saucepan and simmer for 30 mins.

While that is simmering... remove the fish from the marinade and grill.
Serve with the salsa spooned over the top. We had this with some Spanish red (brown) rice.

Lamb Chili

2007-04-04T16:16:00.000-04:00

This is my twist on an American classic. I start it off as a classic chili... meat, tomato and spices ONLY. I based this recipe on a Chili cookoff champion's recipe... then I go astray adding veggies a beans... as I like a beanie chili. It is also my opinion that lamb is more suited for chili... but hey... I'm no cowboy! You can of course replace the lamb for beef... and leave out all veggies and beans.. and have yourself a very authentic Texas chili in your bowl.

Start with the below-

1 lb ground lamb (or beef), brown, drain, and add-
1 cup lamb broth
1 can (8 oz) no-salt tomato sauce
1 whole jalapeno, with slits cut into the sides
.5 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
.5 Tbsp Mexene Chili Powder

Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Then add-

3 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 cube lamb bullion
¼ tsp brown sugar
1 pk Sazon Goya seasoning

Continue simmering, covered for 30 minutes.

Then add-

1 tsp Mexene Chili Powder
.5 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt

Simmer for 15 mins.

Then add (optional)-

1 chopped onion
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 can red kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans
1 half a bottle of dark beer

Leave covered and simmer for additional 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Sorry you crazey Brits.... but we dont eat our chili on rice.... that was the strangest thing I'd ever seen when I saw chili and rice on menus in the UK! We eat our chili with corn bread!!!

The Milk Dealer

2007-03-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

The below story is a dramatization... its all hearsay and I don't have a clue who it happened to. The pictures above are actors only portraying contraband dairy products.

It was 9pm... and the long waited phone call comes in.

"We are meeting at the gas station at the interstate exit in 10 minutes... bring $37 cash. Look for a white unmarked truck."

Nervous with anticipation for the upcoming transaction.... picking up the contraband that I've been craving for months..... I get in my car in the dark of the night and head for our meeting point.

In the far corner of the parking lot... out of the view of cameras... I see my contact. I pull up and tell him my name.. and he signals me to pull up behind him.

Nervously he glances around and opens a cooler in the bed of his truck.

"Have you tried this before?"

"No.... but I've been wanting to for ages!" I say as I take the jug from his hand. Fresh... raw... grass fed cows milk. Most likely it was still inside said cow yesterday. No factory farms... no big corporate involvement... no federal regulations. Sadly, and rediculously... illegal.... for "human consumption" anyways.

More goodies he reaches for and hands over.... raw cheese.... a dozen pasture hen eggs.. all different sizes and colors. He holds them up like diamonds, showing me how each one is unique and beautiful. A pale green one he points out affectionately, "This one here... these kind are really special, lucky you got one of these."

I hand him my cash and before we're even back in my car he is already in his truck and pulling out to the street.

I feel giddy.... it all went down without a hitch.

We get home and without a blink 2 glasses are pulled from the cupboard and filled to the brim with thick rich milk.

Like a fine wine we swirl... watching the "legs" cling to the sides. We stick our noses in and inhale.... it smells sweet... slightly grassy... like fresh hay in a barn.

Then what we were waiting for... the tasting.

I* took a sip and it was by far the sweetest milk I'd ever tasted... smooth and clean. Again with just the slightest hint of grass. Needless to say this gallon is now almost empty.

I love opening that fridge and seeing that happy jug chilling in there... cream floating blissfully on top.. the way its supposed to. And knowing it came from a happy cow... who grazes in the sun. Why and when did such a God-given natural right become a crime? It is sad indeed.

Its a matter of time before they release the Soylent Green.

*I is actually the family cat.... She has very strong communication skills.

"Greek" Whole Wheat Pizza

2007-03-21T09:08:00.000-04:00

So now that Dave and I are free from our double mortgage payments.. we can start eating like normal people again, and have our fill of all the fresh veggies we want. I dug around a bit online and combined a few ideas for this pizza and came up with this. I was worried all the moisture from the tomatoes and spinach would make the dough soggy... but to my pleasant surprise it didnt, and the crust turned out nice and crisp... just the way we like it. Dave said, "This is horrible, never make it again." Which tends to mean the opposite. ;)

INGREDIENTS:
Whole Wheat Pizza dough (I used Boboli)
Several handfuls of spinach
a handful of pine nuts
2 cups of feta
2 sliced and seeded Roma tomatoes
cooked chicken
olive oil
2 t red pepper flakes (or more if you like it)
garlic powder
salt

METHOD:
Preheat your oven to 400. Wilt the spinach in 2 T olive oil, with the pepper flakes.
Toss the chicken with the garlic powder.
Sprinkle a bit of olive oil over the dough, followed by the feta, wilted spinach (with the oil and pepper flakes), tomatoes, chicken, pine nuts and salt.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Ulysses Prime Steakhouse

2007-03-19T14:45:00.000-04:00

So to make up for the dreadful meal that was the Alamo (and the 6 months of double mortgage Hell).... we decided to try a new spot in town. We had super high expectations, as it is owned by the same people who own one of our other favorite restaurants, "Cafe Margaux". And these expectations weren't let down... at all.

Even though both of the items I wanted to try as an entree weren't available that night (Wagyu beef!)... and even though it was tiny and cramped (quite spacious though if we pretended we were in Paris)... I still believe I had the best meal, and enjoyed myself more than I ever have at any restaurant.... ever.

We started with a bottle of Banfi Chianti.. and the waiter clued us in on Margaux's upcoming Banfi wine tasting dinner.... bonus.

For starters I ordered Duck Foie Gras.... I honestly didnt even realize duck foie gras existed! But although it was quite diminutive in comparison to goose... it was every bit as good... and perfectly prepared... Crisp outside... soft, buttery inside... served atop sliced figs and toasted Challah. I could have just sat there and gourged myself with that all night... seriously. Dave ordered lobster bisque... and unfortunately I cant say I tried it... as that meant I would have to share my precious foie gras... and that was definitely not gonna happen.

After finding out that I couldnt get my highly anticipated Wagyu filet.... I opted for the wet aged beef filet. All sides are a la carte.. so I ordered some sublime little chippolinis in a goat cheese bechamel. I didnt realize it until it arrived, but all steaks come with a whole roasted lobe of garlic. Yea... definitely NOT date food. Its a good thing Dave is used to my funk. ;) As for the steak. O-M-G. Its hard to believe steak this good can even be found in Brevard. My knife only needed one gentle pass and it just slid through like butter. It doesnt even need to be mentioned that it was cooked perfectly. Steaks at Ulysses are always served with 4 different sauces to sample.... not that they need it... but it is fun to taste the different flavors.

They create their own desserts at Ulysses. This impressed me very much... it seems so many restaurants... especially in our town.. opt to serve thawed frozen sponge cakes and horribly waxy cheesecakes. I almost went for their banana cake they were serving.. until I found out there was peanut butter in it... why... WHY? So instead I had the challah bread pudding... I dont know why I suddenly have this complete obsession with bread pudding... but it was every bit as good as I was hoping it would be. Dave ordered a flan... but I was honestly too distracted by my own pile of sugary goodness to glance more than twice at his plate! ;)

And just when I thought it couldnt get any better... the waiter absolutely floored us when he wrote on a card with our cheque the number and website that is their source of meat (!!!)... so that I could fulfill my Wagyu craving. Whataguy!

So if you for some freak reason ever find yourself in the Space Coast area of Florida... and want a truly wonderful dining experience.... there is absolutely nothing that can even touch Ulysses.... I'd even say its better than any of the fine steakhouses I've been to in Orlando. So there ya go.

234 Brevard Avenue
Cocoa, Florida 32922

The Alamo Mexican Kitchen

2007-03-14T16:34:00.000-04:00

The whole experience was so bad that I'm not even sure where to start.

I dont think the fall of this restaurant is its lack of being "authentic"... but that the quality is just BAD.

The tortilla chips were not the golden, crisp warm chips you would expect from an authentic restaurant.. they were so pale and palid I wondered if they hadnt come straight from a bag.

The salsa, though it was fresh.. was so runny there wasnt enough substance to make it stick to the chip.. I was tempted to ask for a straw.. but didnt because I was at this point in fear of our waitress, and I'll tell you why-

A table of eldery people were sat near us... and were for the most part ignored except that they were given drinks. After sitting for some while they asked for their waitress, as they had been sitting there for some time (and it was no exageration, their drinks were already half empty). From the other side of the restaurant comes charging out their waitress, who yells half way across the place, "You dont have to start a commotion!! We are on a rotation here, and you arent the only people in the restaurant!" No way to treat a customer if you ask me... especially one who really wasnt that angry to begin with. If it had been me I would have walked out at that moment. But being that they were elderly with a handicapped person... leaving was obviously not a simple solution. So they opted for asking for a different waitress...

Drama over I decided to focus on our own meals that were just arriving.

Sorry so dark, I was trying to be incognito! ;)

The side items seemed pre-plated, so that the entrees could be plopped down in the center. The refried beans were covered in a thick dry crust... the cheese on the rice well melted and rehardened to cause an unpleasant clump. Daves "Albertos Special", which was supposed to be a beef and potatoes dish... had no potatoes to speak of. The diced tomatoes used as a garnish on my tamales had obviously been sitting out for quite some time and were so dry they literally disolved on your tongue. Not pleasant.

The fried ice cream, not fried at all, but rolled in a corn flake honey concoction... a cop-out I've seen plenty of times at cheap Mexican joints.

We will not be returning. Its fascinating that this place has been in business as long as it has (40 years!)... maybe it was good once upon a time.. but its sad that they are riding on old reputation alone.

5885 S Us Highway 1, Rockledge, FL 32955
Tel: (321) 632-2549

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

2007-03-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

I am pretty much a purist when it comes to Carbonara. No cream.. simply the power of the raw egg.

I'd actually never made carbonara until Dave's brother recently visited, and proclaimed it is his favorite dish. Of course... I made my mind up then that I would make the best carbonara ever. So I looked to the Silver Spoon... who else would give me the most authentic and wonderful recipe ever?

I've made it several times since now... deciding it is also now one of my favorite dishes (not to mention one of the easiest!) .. and now have a recipe I stick to and now have memorized.. not that there is much to it...

You will need:

half a pound of pancetta, cut unto little cubes
2 T butter
half a cup of grated Parmesan
half a cup of grated Romano (I sometimes use Romano only... cause I like it so much)
3 eggs, beaten
enough spaghetti for 2 servings

Method:
Melt your butter and fry up the pancetta in it til its as crispy as you like.
Cook up your pasta in some seriously salted water.
Combine the eggs and the cheese.
Toss the spaghetti into the pan with the pancetta. Toss.
Remove from the heat.
Add the cheese egg mixture and toss again.
Serve.

*Homer drool*

The Paradox

2007-03-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

I just thought I would share what turned up in the break room at the office today.

It gave me a good chuckle.

Frogs Legs in White Wine

2007-02-28T17:47:00.000-05:00

Ahhh... yet another reason that I love my Silver Spoon cookbook. What other cookbook offers and ENTIRE SECTION dedicated to our little Kermit friends?

Its been quite a while since I had frog legs... the last time being at a French restaurant as an appetizer.. and I really wanted to recapture the lemony garlic flavor that they created, they were so wonderfully light and delicate.

In the end I opted for the Silver Spoons "Frogs in White Wine"... and modified it a tiny bit.

Unfortunately I think the legs might have been thawed and refrozen.. or just frozen way too long.. as they turned out more chewy than I had hoped. I've decided next time I will try to get them fresh from Claytons... or else slow cook them in a Gumbo or somesuch.

I will also confess I took some sick pleasure in making the legs dance around a bit in a little froggie chorus line before tossing them in the pan. I couldnt resist.

Bring 1 c white wine and 1 c chicken broth to a boil in a large pan. Add onions, salt pepper and freshly chopped parsley. Add frog legs and cook for about 10 mins. Remove legs. Strain the cooking liquid and bring back to a boil. From 1 T flour and 1 T butter create a roux. Add this to the cooking liquids. Return legs for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add 2 beaten egg yolks combined with the juice of 1 lemon. Stir til encorporated and serve.

I suppose you could do this with shrimp... but then youd miss out on the fun of the chorus line now wouldnt you?

Corned Beef & Crepes

2007-02-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

Strange combination I know... but it worked! Really!

I decided to have a go at making crepes for the first time.. and the night before we had them with nutella and bananas... unfortunately, they were eaten before any photographic evidence could be made.

The following morning I decided to make use of the crepes that were leftover.... but the only breakfast-type thing I had was eggs... and a little packet of hollandaise (yes... we cheat in this household!). But it needed meat. Hmm... I kept poking my head into the fridge.... churizo... too overpowering..... balogna.. hehe nooooo... hmm... leftover corned beaf? At first I ignored it and continued my mission on through the cupboards and then on to the freezer. Nada. Well I though... people eat corned beef hash for breakfast... this wont be hash... but its corned beef! :P So I threw it in there while scrambling my eggs with a bit of diced onion. Wrapped it all up in a crepe, drizzled some hollandaise on that bad boy... garnished with a coupla tomatoes for prettiness.... and VOILA!

It was actually pretty damn good! Note to self.... corned beef goes really well with some eggs and hollandaise! :)

Julia Childs Crepes Fines Sucrees

3/4 cup cold milk
3/4 cup cold water
3 egg yolks
1tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp orange liqueur, rum, or brandy
1 cup flour (scooped and leveled)
5 tbsp melted butter
An electric blender
A rubber scraper An iron skillet or a crêpe pan with a 6 1/2- to 7-inch bottom diameter
2 to 3 tbsp cooking oil and a pastry brush
A ladle or measure to hold 3 to 4 tbsp or 1/4 cup

Place the ingredients in the blender jar in the order in which they are listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute. If bits of flour adhere to sides of jar, dislodge with a rubber scraper and blend 3 seconds more. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hour or overnight.

Brush the skillet lightly with oil. Set over moderately high heat until the pan is just beginning to smoke.

Immediately remove from heat and, holding handle of pan in your right hand, pour with your left hand a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan. Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to run the batter all over the bottom of the pan in a thin film. (Pour any batter that does not adhere back into your bowl; judge the amount of your next crêpe accordingly.) This whole operation takes but 2 or 3 seconds.

Return the pan to heat for 60 to 80 seconds. Then jerk and toss the pan sharply back and forth and up and down to loosen the crêpe. Lift its edges with a spatula and if the under side is a nice light brown, the crêpe is ready for turning.

Turn the crêpe by using 2 spatulas; or grasp the edges nearest you in your fingers and sweep it up toward you and over again into the pan in a reverse circle; or toss it over by a flip of the pan.

Brown lightly for about 1/2 minute on the other side. This second side is rarely more than a spotty brown, and is always kept as the underneath or nonpublic aspect of the crêpe. As they are done, slide the crêpes onto a rack and let cool several minutes before stacking on a plate. Grease the skillet again, heat to just smoking, and proceed with the rest of the crêpes. Crêpes may be kept warm by covering them with a dish and setting them over simmering water or in a slow oven. Or they may be made several hours in advance and reheated when needed. (Crêpes freeze perfectly.)

As soon as you are used to the procedure, you can keep 2 pans going at once, and make 24 crêpes in less than half an hour.

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One
October 2001
by Julia Child
Knopf

Soft Chicken Tacos

2007-02-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

So lately we've been eating a LOT of roast chicken. Its cheap... its easy.. and it means leftovers. Although the leftovers usually end up in the form of a chicken salad sandwich... tonight I decided to use it up for chicken tacos.

Good news by the way! We sold the old house... so after we recoup and catch back up, we should be able to eat "normal" again! Yay!

Anyhoo... I whipped these up tonight from what was sitting round in the fridge, quite yummy I must say! :)

2 shredded cooked chicken breasts
half a small Mexican Churizo sausage
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 chopped jalepeno
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

heat oil over med-high heat. Once hot, add the churizo until it begins to brown, smooshing it up. Add onions and sautee until they are transluscent. Add spices. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 mins. Reduce to low, add chicken, cover and leave for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through.

Serve in warm corn tortillas, with guac, lettuce sour cream, shredded cheese and several generous drops of Cholula.

Nothing like a Good Poke on Valentines Day

2007-02-14T18:55:00.000-05:00

Thats right. A good fresh, spicey, RAW poke. What are you looking at me like that for? Eh? What? Its pronounced "po-kay"!! Perv!

We decided to do Valentines at home tonight... since my lame ass car decided to dash away any chances of going out by deciding to have a near blow-out the day before Valentines, causing us to need to buy 2 new (low profile! ><) tires. Gah. But all was not lost. I decided we'd have Dave's favorite, poke. If there is anything I "cook" more often than anything else... this is it. Easy. Reasonably priced (thankfully we have a fish market nearby that sells sushi grade tuna at an excellent price).. and always tastey. We paired this up with the regular Japanese sticky rice, and some simply presented tofu garnished with chopped green onion and ponzu.

Of course I had to get all fancy and doodle a little heart on the plate... to make it a bit more special than usual.

I hope you all had a pleasant Valentines!!!

Cavolo Verza in Padella

2007-02-03T18:37:00.000-05:00

This was another one from Silver Spoon! I'm telling you there are some incredibly convenient recipes in this book. Lots of, put all the ingredients together- walk away- recipes. And this is another... another I questioned! Oh Silver Spoon, I shall question you no more!

If you like cabbage this one will be right up your alley... really nice and comforting for a cold evening... not that we have many of those down here in Florida!

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
3 potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 Savoy Cabbage, cored and cut into strips
1 T Parmesan, grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt & pepper

METHOD
Melt half the butter in a large skillet and make a layer of half the potato slices on the base, then top with the cabbage and parmesan.

Beat the eggs with the milk and a pinch of salt and pour into the pan. Make a layer of the reaming potato slices on top, season with salt and pepper, and dot with the remaining butter. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and cook over low heat for 1 hour.

Tori No Kara-Age

2007-01-28T14:18:00.000-05:00

This has been a long time favorite of mine.

Back in 98.. when I was living on my own for the first time.. and was teaching myself how to cook.. I discovered this website. Even though they havent updated it in years, it is still by far one of my favorite places to go for unusual but simple recipes.

To me.. this is the ultimate chicken nugget.
For the original recipe, step by step photos, and a charming story... click here.

2 tablespoons soy-sauce
1 tablespoon grated ginger-juice
2 tablespoons Sake
0.5-1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2-2.5 tablespoons Katakuriko (potato starch)
1 piece of minced garlic

Combine all ingredients and marinate... for one hour to overnight.

Sometimes I will roll the chicken in flour before frying... sometimes not... it all depends on my mood. But I think I prefer it without the flour.

Preheat oil on medium heat (160 C). Deep-fry chicken until golden brown about 3-5 minutes.

Deviled Chicken

2007-01-23T21:15:00.000-05:00

I've been having alot of fun with my new Silver Spoon cookbook. Some of the recipes just read so stupidly simple.. I wonder if there were steps left out. This was one of those recipes.

As much as I was positive it wouldnt work right... the chicken wouldnt cook all the way through... it would dry out... the skin would get soggy... it did work. And it worked perfectly.

Although the flavors werent exactly what I'd considered deviled.... there actually wasnt much to it at all... I almost wonder if the American version of chili powder is different from the Italian version of chili powder.

METHOD
Heat 3 T olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and fry in the oil on both sides until nice and golden, about 15 mins. Generously sprinkle chili powder on both sides, reduce the heat and continue cooking for 45 minutes, turning frequently.

Easy right?

Steak & Kidney Pie

2007-01-21T14:48:00.000-05:00

Let me just take this moment to say raw beef kidney smells like shit. Literally. So much so that I fear that I may be put off from kidney!!!! =( I'd never handled raw kidney before... and I mean it makes sense that it should smell that way... but really... I wasnt expecting it to be THAT obvious.

Okay.. now that I have you all good and appetized for some shitty offal... let me tell you about this FANTASTIC Steak & Kidney pie!!!

Don't get me wrong... I really like Steak & Kidney pie... and even more importantly.. its one of Dave's all time favorites. So I put my mind to it that I would make Dave a good steak and kidney pie, since I'd found some kidneys at Wal-Mart.

I dug up a recipe from one of Dave's old school Brit cookbooks.... and modified it a bit since I am too much of a slacker to make my own crust! It turned out to be a really, really, good pie... even if it did smell like poo.

Steak & Kidney Pie

1 large onion, chopped
3 ounces butter
1.25 lbs beef stew meat
.5 lb kidneys, cut into pieces
1/3 C flour, seasoned with salt & pepper
1 Bayleaf
1 T parsley
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1.5 C beef stock (I just used OXO)
2 T tomato puree

Fry the onion in the butter til well browned. Set aside.
Toss the steak and kidneys in flour, and saute lightly... transfer to a casserole. Add onion to meats. Add bayleaf, parsley and a generous sprinkling of salt & pepper.
Mix the stock with the worcestershire sauce and tomato puree and pour it over the meat mixture. Cover and simmer in a 325 degree oven for one hour or until the meat is just tender. Remove and allow to cool.

Place a sheet of puff pastry over top... poke a hole in the middle, and brush with a whisked egg.
Place in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until the pastry shell is golden.

Iron Chef Mom: Meatloaf Challenge

2007-01-19T17:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently... when I posted about my Alton Brown meatloaf a couple of weeks back.. my mom took it as a challenge. So she invited Dave and I over for a meatloaf throwdown.

Oh mommy dearest... please forgive me for my silly statement that Alton's meatloaf is better than yours... after all.. it had been about 15 years since I last tried your meatloaf... and I wonder how I forgot its meatloaf masterpieceness.

Ironically... after she told me her recipe.. it turns out it is almost EXACTLY like Altons. Great culinary minds must think alike. Although.. mom did some things I liked that Alton did not.. for instance, she left nice big chunks of carrot in her meatloaf.. which gave a nice texture... with some bites having little surprise crunchies stashed away to discover. However she doesnt glaze her meatloaf.... and I do believe if we took my mom's meatloaf.. and covered it with Alton's glaze... we would have .. THE MOST AWESOMEST MEATLOAF..... IN THE WORLD!!!!

Stay tuned... because I do intend to make said meatloaf.

$20 Groceries Round 2

2007-01-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

So we're on to week 2 of the $20 grocery budget! And I think I am starting to get good at this!
It was off to Wal-Mart again... and I was looking forward to what the innard section would offer me. It seems it is sort of luck of the draw when it comes to that section... they had a different selection... ox tail... beef tongue... but unfortunately the prices were higher.... for instance the tongue was just over $7. I did score some more chicken livers... and just as I was starting to feel a bit defeated I spied the motherload of chicken.

$4.70 for TEN POUNDS of chicken leg quarters. TEN POUNDS!!! I kept looking over the price tag to see if I wasnt reading something right. When I was checking out I was waiting for the real price to ring up.. and when it didnt.. I felt the need to run quickly from the store before they realized their horrible pricing mistake.

chicken loot.

I divided it up into zip bags, two quarters each bag.. enough for one meal for both Dave and I.... it filled 5 bags. I think I might be able to show up Mr. Dollar a day!
So now I get to figure out all different ways to cook these birds up! Definitely doing fried chicken in my skillet one night. I'm also going to take advantage of the 20+ pages of chicken recipes in the Silver Spoon. :)

In the end, this was the grocery list:

Cabbage - $1.33
Bananas - $.69
Kale - $1.38
Carrots - $.76
Celery - $1.44
Chicken Livers - $1.33
Beef Stew Meat - $4.64
10 lb Chicken Leg Quarters - $4.70
Eggs - $1.98
Milk - $2.09

Grand Total - $21.56

Cheesy Grits and Eggs

2007-01-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite breakfasts. Unfortunately, Dave isnt a big fan of grits or polenta... so I only have it when he is away.. or isnt hungry for breakfast. The latter was the case this morning... so yay for me! ;-)

I tried making my eggs a different way this morning, instead of frying them... I got the Silver Spoon cookbook yesterday, and in it is a recipe for "shirred" eggs. Basically just stick the eggs in the oven at 325 for 5 mins and voila. I think they produced perfectly shaped and cooked eggs!

For the grits-

half a cup of grits (or polenta... but grits are better =P)
2 cups of milk
a knob of butter
cheese (about half a cup shredded... I used glouster and parmesan today)
3 chopped scallions
dash of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the grits and milk with onion and garlic powder until they start to get creamy. Add butter til melted. Add cheese til melted. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve with eggs on top!

MMmmmmm.

Chicken & Cream of Mushroom Soup over Rice

2007-01-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

Just in case you guys think I always cook all fancy.. I'm gonna dash away all your dreams!
I am sure everyone who was a kid in the US was fed a concoction similar to this one at some point in their lives. I'm sure it has.. or once had a proper name.. and it seems everyone cooks it a little different. I was the odd ball though, my mom never fed this to me... and I had never tried it until I moved out into the world on my own. I had a room-mate who would cook everything.. a whole chicken... like 4 cans of cream of mushroom soup... several packets of powdered French onion soup mix... lots of milk.. and lots of rice... she'd stick the whole thing in the oven on low all day... and in the evening we'd all dig in... picking out little bones. I thought she was a genious. We all always begged her to cook it for us.

Since then I've tried other people's versions... and all of them said their mom used to make it all the time. Some did it in casserole dishes... some in slow cookers.... but none quite like my old room mate.

I never have figured out how to make it the same way she did.... but this is the way I've found I like it. Definitely not haute cuisine... but it is a comforting dinner..... and cheap!!C'mon... get it touch with the white trash inside.. you can do it! You know youve got those cans of mushroom soup lurking in the pantry! And dont you even try to deny that is a packet of powdered onion soup mix hiding in that dark corner of your cupboard!

If anyone knows what the heck this thing is called... please fill me in!

INGREDIENTS

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 packet French onion soup mix
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
4 chicken thighs

cook rice (I like Jasmine)

Put all of the ingredients except the rice in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

If you want to pick the bones out before serving... go for it (I do)....

Serve chicken over rice with the mushroom soup concoction ladled over top.

Amanda's Mac & Cheese.. sort of

2007-01-11T20:09:00.000-05:00

So... I totally ganked this recipe from Amanda over at What We're Eating, and it became what me and Dave were eating. I had to modify it though... since I didnt have all the fancy pants ingredients she used.... but I did have enough stuff stashed away in the fridge that I could make something close enough!

I modified the cheeses... used Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Valencay (chevre), and Double Gloucester... I also used plain button mushrooms in place of the crimini and shitake... cheapo canned Italian bread crumbs in place of the panko.... nixed the truffle oil... but hey! I did have some goose fat in the freezer from Christmas so I used that in place of the bacon fat! MUAHAA!! Oh.. and I also threw in some chopped up leftover turkey.

Totally awesome recipe Amanda!!!!

Southern Fried Chicken Livers

2007-01-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

This was our dinner Monday night... even though its a bit ghetto... fried chicken livers always was.. and probably always will be.. one of my favorite methods of consuming innards.

The house smelled sooooo good while these bad boys were frying up... and I was happy to get to use one of my christmas presents from Dave, a cast iron skillet.

I am so happy there is still another half pound of chicken livers left.. because I am soo making this again next week.

Oh.. and never you mind that beer that cost half as much as the entire weeks groceries!

Southern Fried Chicken Livers
1/2 lb chicken livers
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dredging
Shortening, for frying

Melt shortening in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan over medium heat.

Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season livers with this mixture. Dredge livers in flour and shake off excess.

Place livers into the pan and fry until cooked through, turning once.... dont overcook them, or they'll turn out chewy and bitter.

Drain livers on a rack over a sheet pan lined with paper towels.

We had this with mashed potatoes and mustard greens cooked in pork stock, sprinkled with vinegar.

$20 for Groceries for a Week

2007-01-09T19:44:00.000-05:00

Dave challenged me. I accepted.

Ring the dong, cause we're on like Donkey Kong!

Now.. I'm not one to take the easy way out and just buy a bunch of ramen and kraft. I wanted to do this and still use REAL FOOD. So I went through my cupboards to see what could be stretched through the next week... a wide array of seasonings... some pasta, noodles and macaroni... and bajillion different cheeses... and of course staples like milk, butter, flour.. a lifetime supply of cream of mushroom soup. "I can do this".. I thought.

So I set off early on Sunday morning to my least favorite store in the world... Super Wal-Mart. But my little bit of research online on the topic "$20 grocery list" told me that Wal-Mart was the way to go... even if I can seriously feel my I.Q. drop and any bit of class I might have melt away as I walk through the huge sliding glass doors.

But as I perused the sadly plastic wrapped uniform cuts of meat... lo and behold my eyes spied an entire shelf of organ meats. It was as if the Offal Gods were smiling down on me and my $20 budget challenge... oh yes... we would win. The shelves were LOADED with innards I didnt think could be found outside of ethnic markets miles away from my little white bread town. Beef kidney... tripe... seperately packaged chicken hearts, gizzards.. and turkey necks!

Oh yes I am sure you all are sure I've lost it now.... but I have to take Bourdain's side on this one. Offal is some good shit. Okay not literally... but you get the point.

In the end... this was the loot...

5 lbs Russet Potatoes $2.24
3 lbs yellow onions $1.98
Jasmine Rice $1.54
Mustard Greens $.98
6 Chicken Thighs $3.06
Stew Beef $3.35
Chicken Livers $1.33
Beef Kidney (3 whole) $2.35
Green Onions $1.17

Grand Total (after tax) $18.00

Now.. what am I making with the above grub you ask?
Well this is the weeks menu-

Monday-
Fried Chicken Livers, mashed potatoes & Mustard Greens

Tuesday-
Home made Mac & Cheese

Wednesday-
Chicken Thighs slow cooked in cream of mushroom soup over rice

Thursday-
Soba Noodles with stir fried brocolli

Friday-
Chicken Teriyaki

Saturday-
Steak & Kidney Pie

The best part is there is still half a pound of chicken livers.. and another 2 kidneys that I can stretch over to next week..... might Dave take a challenge part 2??

Cookin yer Goose!

2007-01-06T18:21:00.000-05:00

I know its pretty late for a Christmas post... but for the past couple weeks we had company in.. Dave's family to be exact... visiting from the UK. So needless to say the last thing on my mind was jumping online and blogging about all the face stuffing Ive been doing! And there was a LOT! Unfortunately... I didnt do much photographing... didnt want to freak out the future in-laws too much by my strange habits of taking shots of everything I eat... I know they thought it was strange enough that I seem to enjoy being in the kitchen a little too much.

But I did want to share that I decided to go out on a limb and cook a goose for Christmas! Even though Dave nor I had ever had goose, at least that we could remember!

The goose was fantastic!! I definitely think it will become a Christmas tradition in our home... a welcome break from turkey and ham. And a major bonus was that I managed to trim loads of fat off the goose before I cooked it... now I have a nice stash of goose fat in the freezer to use at my leisure... mmm...

Ahhh... above is Dave's plate.
At 12 is the brussels sprouts Dave's mom made with her uber-top-secret recipe... good gawd they were good... like butter in the center...mmmm.
3 o clock is honey glazed carrots... using the same recipe I used for Thanksgiving that went over very well with my dad and sister. This is the recipe I use... I omit the parsnips.
At 7 and hugging the left of the plate is some goose breast. I think its flavor falls somewhere between duck and turkey... VERY yummy. I'm not sure why its not more popular. This was the recipe I used for the goose... I also made the caramelized apples... I think those are hiding between 1 & 2 o-clock.
Smack in the middle is mashed taters.. also courtesy of Dave's mom. I made gravy following the recipe below... probably the best gravy recipe I have ever found.. and finally gives me an excuse to use up ALL of the giblets.. neck included!

The Most Awesomest Gravy EVAR

Reserved neck, heart and gizzard
6 cups water
3 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 onion, halved
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 small bay leaf

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all purpose flour

Place reserved neck, heart and gizzard into large saucepan. Add 6 cups water, 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, carrots, onion, celery and bay leaf. Simmer over medium heat until stock is reduced to 3 cups, about 2 hours. Strain stock into bowl; reserve neck and giblets. Pull meat off neck. Chop neck meat and giblets.

Melt 5 tablespoons butter (or some of that reserved fat!! mmmm!!) in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add 5 tablespoons all purpose flour and whisk 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock and up to 1 cup reserved pan juices (juices are salty, so add according to taste). Simmer gravy until thickened to desired consistency, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add chopped turkey neck meat and giblets; season to taste with pepper.

Hungry for a month

2006-12-28T08:55:00.000-05:00

Remember a few months back when I posted about Dave and I going on a grocery budget (due to TWO mortgages!! >_<).. and then went on my raging fit about how horribly a person has to eat with so little money? And how its just impossible to eat healthy.. and how jacked up society is.. etc etc... (hey it was a bad day)...

Dave just sent me this link to this guys blog. It is absolutely fascinating. He challenged himself to live off of (well... feed himself off of) no more than $1 a day, and blogged about it. It is also a bit inspiring to try a similar challenge... I'm sure my tastebuds are too spoiled to eat nothing but ramen and rice for a month... but you seriously cant beat an $8 grocery bill for a week! O_O

Anways... thought some of you out there in foodie land would appreciate this one! =)

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2006-12-19T06:58:00.000-05:00

This is the curry pumpkin soup I have listed on my wedding menu. =) I've made this soup for years now and it always just hits the spot, especially at this time of year. If youre feeling especially adventurous... serve the soup in little individual hollowed out pumpkins.... or serve from one very large pumpkin (might want to line the pumpkin with plastic to prevent leaking!! (learned this one the hard way!!)

This recipe is so rediculously simple.

Although this is most easily made with canned pumpkin.. it works just as well with most pureed squash... particularly butternut! =) MMM!

INGREDIENTS

* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 tablespoon curry powder
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 3 cups chicken broth
* salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until onions are transluscent. Add curryand stir until fragrant.

Stir pumpkin, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree soup.. or serve chunky style ;-).

Serve with a dallop of sour cream.

Meatloaf Meatloaf Double Beatloaf

2006-12-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

There is a fellow at work... and all we ever talk about is what we cook... or what we've eaten... and we both look at eachother in wonder and ask, "How is it you dont weigh 300 pounds?"

So he told me that last night, he made a meatloaf. I honestly couldnt tell you the last time... if ever... I've craved meatloaf. But as he described his jalepeno infused meaty masterpiece... I was suddenly struck with inspiration.

Mind you, I've never made a meatloaf on my own... and the last time I was near one was probably when I was a kid and my mom passed the "dirty work" of mixing everything together to me. So I needed a good recipe... and who better to turn to than good ol' Alton Brown?

I've decided Alton Brown is the food God. I am going to make a little altar to him and hang it over the stove... sort of like the Chinese kitchen God.

Dave told me it was "the best meatloaf he's ever had".... okay well granted he says he's only ever had meatloaf once before... EVER.

Log o meat.

But I agreed... it was also the best meatloaf I've ever had as well (sorry mom!!). Some of the methods seemed strange to me... first there seemed to be a HUGE amount of veggie vs meat going into it... but omg it worked. I was also confused reading the recipe that it wasnt baked in a loaf pan. It took a little bit of online investigating to figure out why.. and the reason is to keep the loaf from stewing in its own juices. Dry heat = good.

I wouldnt change a thing about this recipe. Nada. It was that good.

Alton Brown's Meatloaf

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and broken
3 whole cloves garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
18 ounces ground chuck
18 ounces ground sirloin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 egg

For the glaze:
1/2 cup catsup
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey

METHOD

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Chicken with Stilton and Grilled Pears

2006-12-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I got this recipe out of a diet cook book! O_O I've been cooking out of this book quite a bit for the last few weeks, as Dave and I are trying to eat more healthy.. and I have been trying to adjust my cooking style from heavy cream and butter, without sacrificing quality for crap diet recipes designed for people who are trying to break themselves from McDogfood.

So far every recipe I've tried has been very good.. although I think I might get burnt out of tomatoes soon! ;-) This one, thankfully.. didnt call for a single tomato.. AND... I got to use blue cheese. The original recipe calls for Roquefort.. but I had Stilton on hand... so that is what I used. =)

I also roasted some acorn squash since it looks so yummy and tempting sitting there in produce.. just saying.. "eat me! eat me!"..... what? Squashes dont talk to you?

Anyhoo.. this is a modification of the original, & scaled down for 2.. but still just as healthy! =)

INGREDIENTS

1 large chicken breast, cut in half
2 T Stilton
.5 C fat free yogurt
a quarter of a red onion, diced
1 scallion, chopped
ground white pepper
kosher salt
1 pear, cut into 6 slices
lemon juice

METHOD

For the sauce, combine yogurt, onion, scallion, white pepper, and Stilton in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cover the sliced pear with lemon juice.

Salt and pepper the chicken breast and grill until cooked, adding the pears to the grill once the chicken is about half way done.

Serve with the Stilton sauce spooned over top of the chicken and pears and enjoy! =)

Rajya Metok - Tibetan Yak Cheese

2006-12-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

The Tibetans have a name for yaks which roughly translates into "a wish granting gem that gives you everything you want."

The cheese itself may not be an old tradition... but the culture and people it breathes new life into is perhaps older than all of cheesemaking history. The yaks that produce this cheese have been grazing on the same pasturelands for over 40,000 years.. grazing naturally on dozens of plants and flowers growing in pure, unpolluted soil.

I think its pretty common knowledge that the people of Tibet have a hard fight to keep their culture and traditions alive... and the particular group of Tibetan nomads who produce the milk for this cheese are just that sort. With the Chinese invasion.. much of their culture was repressed.. their yaks were taken... their lifeblood.. generations of livelyhood... lost. In the 80's, the yaks were returned.. but much was forgotten. So along comes a monk with a vision to link the nomads back to their yaks... and at the same time be able to be self-sustained. And that vision was cheese. Sounds like my kinda monk!

From what I understand this is a very very new cheese... targeted specifically to a Western palate... the Tibetans themselves typically only use yak dairy for butter, yogurt, milk and apparently a very sour short lived cheese. But if this is a way to help give these people the ability to live the way they are accustomed to and preserve their traditions.. and I gain some yummy cheese out of it.. I am totally in.

So I totally rambled about that didnt I? I sort of accidentally stumbled upon this stuff on igourmet while shopping for some cheeses.... I was intrigued... and decided to do a little research. Not only is the cause behind the cheese a righteous one... but the cheese, and the cheesemaking process is like a curd-nerds dream come true. Animals free to roam under the sun, chewing happily on whatever their tastebuds drive them to... hand-milked by nomads who have been doing so for thousands of years.

So youre probably wondering how on earth it tasted? Just like that... it tastes of the earth. Dave looked at me like I was nuts when I told him it smelled almost like the inside of a stable.. hay... the musky scent of a large cloven animal. The texture is hard and grainy... much like a pecorino. Definitely a grating cheese. It does not melt on the tongue.. rather it sort of begins to crumble, and from what I read it has to do with the unique protein content in the cheese since the dri (a female yak) produces a milk with twice the protein and minerals of cow's milk. The flavor is very mild and milky at first... but give it a moment and the flavor intensifies into sharp and sweet. The lingering flavors afterwards are earthy, milky... perhaps even a little minty.

In the back is our wedge of yak cheese... we tasted this tonight with a Valençay we also ordered from igourmet.. I could do so much damage at that place I tell ya!

I definitely recommend this cheese to anyone who wants to enjoy a wonderful pure cheese steeped in a bit of a different sort of tradition.

Order your own.

Some cool info packed links:
tibetcheese.org
cowsoutside.com
slowfoodusa.com
colorsmagazine.com
World Tibet Network News

Raglan Road - Downtown Disney

2006-12-03T09:57:00.000-05:00

Last night we met up with some friends who were visiting from Blackpool England. They visit about every other year.. ever since I was about 11 years old when I became penpals with the daughter (Sarah) of the family. I always look forward to their visits, although we all make it a point to keep in touch during the time in between. Now, Sarahs husband has an aversion to food that isnt "normal"... (i.e. non-Brit fare)... so I suggested that we give Raglan Road a try. Its a new place in Downtown Disney (they always stay at Disney)... and one that Dave and I hadnt tried before... (I pride myself in having tried just about every single restaurant at Disney ;-))

Like most restaurants they brought out some bread for starters... nice dense soda bread... but for dipping they gave us a "Guiness & Honey Reduction with Olive Oil". It tasted more of honey than anything, but I thought it balanced out the soda bread nicely... although it was a bit disapointing considering how cool it sounded.

I ordered the Shepherds Pie... the presentation was fantastic! Unfortunately the flavors didnt impress me as much. The menu read that the mince was supposed to be beef and lamb... and honestly I tasted no lamb at all. But... it was pretty!!

Dave ordered Fish & Chips... his comment was.. "eh". We agreed that the Fish & Chips are better at the Rose & Crown in EPCOT. Though... they were presented nicely too.. complete in paper wrapper.

The dessert on the other hand was fantastic. We ordered and shared a sampler... and judging by how we all attacked it at once, we all enjoyed the bread & butter pudding the most. Served complete with its own little jugs of two sauces, Vanilla Creme Anglais.. and a butterscotch caramelly thing that I didnt touch cause I'm not the biggest butterscotch fan. Besides the bread pudding was vanilla ice cream with raspberries in a yummy little cookie shell... and a chocolate mousse. All were fantastic.. but I'm stickin with the bread pudding!

Service was ok... our waitress was attentive, but the girl who brought out the dessert just plopped it down in front of us without explaining the different sauces. We had to wait for the waitress to come back and explain them. Also a warning that an 18% tip is added to the bill for parties of 6 or more. Well more than I would tip if I had been given poor service.

All in all though the time was enjoyable.. the atmosphere is nice, dark and ambient.. I also noted that parties with small children were all seated in one isolated section of the restaurant.. I liked that! The food was presented beautifully... altho the flavors fell just short of what I would anticipate after catching sight of my leaning tower of Shepherds Pie.

Wedding Menu: Draft 2

2006-11-30T13:14:00.000-05:00

So I finally gave the club manager my hopeful menu to go over with the chef. I'm really hoping its do-able!

This is what I submitted-

***

Curried Pumkin Soup

***

Field Greens Salad with Apples, Walnuts and Stilton

***

Rack of Lamb with Chutney-Mint Glaze

OR

Chicken Crêpes topped with Apples and Walnuts in Calvados Cream Sauce

(Both served with Potato Puree and Haricot Verts)

***

Artisan Cheese Plate
(assortment of 3? - Buche de Chevre, Saint Nectaire, Stilton?… will get back on this!)

***

Wedding Cake!!

***

In the end I decided against the mochi ice cream. Too much room for error... I have a feeling if left too long plating and bringing to the table, they will start to melt. I had visions of people dressed in their finest.. not really sure about the contents of the mochi.. biting in and having melted ice cream dribble down their fronts. Not good. So I decided to go with a cheese course instead of an actual cheese display. The cheese course I ordered when Dave and I went to Paris left a HUGE impression on me.. I think I'd like to share that with our wedding guests. =)

Also ditched the duck... Jeff made a good point that seared duck might be easily screwed up... no necessarily true with a roast lamb... I agree I'd rather have lamb done right than duck done horribly!

Do you guys think the crepes will be a problem?

So.. what do you all think so far??

I'm wondering what the chef will say...

Amanda.. what do you think??

Deep Southern Fried Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T10:36:00.000-05:00

For the second year in a row now, we've been invited to my step-dad's sister Patty's Thanksgiving party in Osteen Florida, on the banks of the St Johns River.... AKA... "BFE"... "the boonies".... if there was a place that would be labeled the definition of the "Deep South"... this is it.

The thing I like most about going out to Patty's is that there is so many entertaining things out there. Never a dull moment. Patty's husband Alan decided to give my uncle Dave a ride on his dog laden jeep (these people have about a dozen dogs.. each with their own individual bed in their massive bedroom)

Above is a shot of my uncle in the passenger seat..

we followed them down to the docks where we boarded a pontoon boat to ride around the St Johns...

Dave looking dashing...

We arrived at a little spot where Patty said they spend their evenings together watching the sun set.. and drinking wine... sounds good to me!

Wasnt much long after we got there that Alan and Dave showed up out of the swamps.. dogs and all...

..no... theyre not spoiled at all...

After all the excitement Dave and I decided to have a moment swinging on the swinging chair that hangs from a giant old oak..

My step-dad and Uncle Dave hanging out by the same tree...

One of Patty and Alan's many wonderful toys...

My sister, taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Dave, my sis, my uncle and my step dad hanging out by Willy's cage..

Willy...

More of Patty and Alans critters..

Let us not forget the reason we were here!!!!

The deep fried TURKEY!

As you can see... this job has been claimed "man work".

My uncle, being very excited at the prospect of fried turkey... it is indeed very exciting!

The spread!

It aint the most beautiful bird.. but OMG you will never put a more wonderful piece of turkey in your mouth. If I'd been left alone with it... I guarantee there would have been no stopping me devouring the whole thing. Turkey crack I tell you!

If you ever get a chance to have deep fried turkey... take it. Nothing beats it... nothing.

And... I leave you with this moment of zen.

Dim Sum Madness!

2006-11-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

Boy have I ever been slacktastic with the blog this past week!? Trust me I do have excuses! Between housewarming parties, deadlines at work, and Holiday parties with the fam... poor copperpots has been neglected! But fear not! I've been having lots of foodie fun and have more than a fair share of photos for drooling over! =)

So lets start with the dim sum extravaganza Dave and I had not long ago!

I had masses of char siu left over from a dinner I'd prepared a while back and wanted to make use of it. So that meant Congee!! And of course some char siu bao!

So first thing was first.. and that was preparing the congee, since it takes around 4 hours to get nice and thick the way I like it.

I started with the ever lovely century eggs...

I dont imagine many people would eat my congee if they saw these little buggers before they were finely diced and thrown into the pot to simmer away...

I mean they are UGLY as anything... but they really arent as scary as you'd think.. as long as you like the flavor of eggs.. because they are VERY eggy!!

Above is one sliced open... they pretty much look like black jello... with a grey/green yolk in the middle.. yea I know, not exactly the way you want to see an egg.. but trust me, I believe they are what give an authentic congee its unique flavor. Just be sure to dice them up finely or you might OD on egg flavor! ;-)

Below is a shot of the congee probably 2 hours into its cooking... eggs just added... yum. I am always fascinated with how just 1 cup of rice can turn into this much soup... I decided next time I make congee I am only going to use a half a cup... the two of us can never finish the whole lot.. and too many leftovers would just burn us out I'm sure. Never tried freezing the stuff... not really inclined to.

I decided to do something different with the char siu bao this time.. I carried on making the filling as I usually do, but used the pastry recipe from Chow Times.

Although I liked Suanne's recipe for the pastry better than the one I'd used before.. Dave said he prefered the yeast based bun. So I guess its a matter of taste. =)

The greens in there is an Asian green called yu choy sum... I just boiled this up and served with some warm oyster sauce poured over top. Choy sum gets these beautiful little yellow flowers... so pretty.

I also ended up with a little extra dough.. so I decided to make a couple of dan ta (Chinese egg tarts) to round the whole thing off.

All of this did take forever... but its what I do now that I am hoooked on dim sum (thanks to an old room mate from Hong Kong that made me an addict)... and cant make it all the way to Orlando to hit up Chans... I have to do it myself! =( But its goooood.

Mexifast... err... Breaxican....?

2006-11-15T07:41:00.000-05:00

Ok so this really isnt that Mexican... with the exception of some Cholula in the eggs and a dallop of salsa. ;-)

Nothing really to this, but I thought it came out pretty so I figured I'd share!

Just some scrambled eggs with cheese, onion, and diced bacon (sauteed the onions and bacon first) with a bit of cream and Cholula mixed in.

A good dallop of salsa... sliced avocado.. and some sour cream drizzled (diluted with water) over top.

OLÉ!!

UBER Roast Chicken

2006-11-12T08:42:00.000-05:00

So I found this retardedly easy recipe for a roast chicken over at epicurious.... so easy looking, it couldnt POSSIBLY come out right.. unless all stars were in alignment and I had all the Gods favor. Except.. the reviews were all raves... and... this was a recipe by Thomas Keller. With his name attached to it.. how could it not be good?? But how HOW could it possibly be so simple!?

Seriously... three ingredients, an oven and a sautee pan.. and NO basting. I'd never DREAMED of roasting a chicken in anything but a roaster, with a rack.. and lots of basting with gobs of butter. I thought to myself... this chicken must come out super dry.... or burnt... or it will explode in my oven splattering fat and make a huge smokey mess. None of the above.

I cranked my oven to 450...trussed my bird as directed... plopped it on my ungreased sautee pan (wouldnt it stick!?!?)... sprinkled some salt and pepper over top.. and stuck the thing in the oven, just like that.. stressing that I must have missed some essential step. I kept creeping over to the oven to peer in the window at it... waiting to see smoke wafting off.. or horrible uneven cooking... I resisted busting out the butter to baste. But I watched in fascination as the skin started to crinkle... and turn a beautiful gold.... could it really be as good as it was looking???

O-M-G YES. I had to resist the animal like urge to down the whole thing right there on the cutting board... I had to be a good girl and share with Dave...... but it was MINE! MY PRECIOUS.. oh wait... thats something else.... ehhemmm.... It was at least a struggle not the want to tear all the crispy skin off, it was heaven. The meat just oozed juices (as you can see from the pond of juice the other half of the bird is sitting in in this photo)

It was... by far.. simple the BEST roast chicken I've ever had. I couldnt even believe how simple it was, and that it actually worked. I am never doing chicken another way (at least whole).

Simple Roast Chicken
Thomas Keller

INGREDIENTS

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

Unsalted butter (optional)
Dijon mustard (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken — I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone — I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes (rotating every 15 mins). Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip — until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

Spaghetti Squash with Watercress Pesto

2006-11-09T07:36:00.000-05:00

Because pinenuts make everything better.

I love some spaghetti squash... its one of those things I was completely oblivious of its existance until fairly recently. And then had one of those moments of "where have you been all my life!?". Dave too was fascinated by it... "How did you get it to come out in all those little strands??" .. as if there were some secret technique to it other than just scraping it all out with a fork. Plus its a godsend for anyone looking for a pasta fix.. but either wants to avoid the carbs.. or just simply wants something more nutritional than pasta. And more tastey imo!

I had this bag full of watercress that I had intended to use for something else, but never did... and it was reaching the end of its bag-life... so it needed using. I decided I'd make a pesto from it.

INGREDIENTS

1 spaghetti squash
1 6oz packs watercress, finely chopped (reserving a few leaves for garnish)
½ clove garlic, crushed
a generous handful of toasted pine nuts
3 TB freshly grated parmesan
2 tbsp olive oil

Slice in half and clean out the spaghetti squash. Place face down in an oiled roasting pan. Roast your spaghetti squash in an 350 degree oven for about an hour. Let cool until you can handle it.

Place the chopped watercress, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Season to taste.

Tip the spaghetti squash on its side over a plate and with a fork scrape out its yummy innards onto a plate. Place a dallop of the pesto on top and sprinkle a few toasted pine nuts over top.

We had this with balsamic chicken.

=)

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2006-11-06T07:56:00.000-05:00

It was the night of green stuff!

I had 2 bell peppers, and still have a stash of "meat gravy" in the freezer... so I decided that I should probably make use of some more of it.

I took my bell peppers, cut the tops off and emptied them.
Combined my meat gravy with 2 eggs, about a cup of cooked jasmine rice, breadcrumbs, and a bit of shredded mozzarella.
Stuffed all that glop into my peppers.
Sprinkled a bit more mozzarella on top.
Placed those bad boys in the oven at 375 for about an hour... and voila!

Served it up with some other greeness.. spinach. MMMm... greeeeen.

I've always sucked pretty bad at stuffing things... but these turned out pretty darn good! Maybe I'll get brave and attempt squash next... I love squash.

Of course to keep with the green theme we had going... we treated ourselves to a bit of the green from Paris. ;-) Something enchanting about this drink... maybe its just all the stories that surround it... because really it doesnt seem to have much effect other than what any regular beverage would (then again, we've never gone past 1 glass each... it does anebriate quickly!!)... But it is so much fun to watch, when the sugar mixes with the drink, it almost seems to glow.. an effect the French call the louche.

White Lasagna

2006-11-03T07:25:00.000-05:00

So I was on a mission. A mission to make "white lasagna". A white lasagna that would have chicken, and spinach, and white cheesy sauce. But alas!!! No such recipe could this little girl find in all her books and all her websites! So, I set out to make the lasagna in my head anyways.... with our without the stinkin recipe!

I started by poaching a couple of chicken breasts til they were tender and could be shredded (slow cooker, several hours). I cooked up my lasagna noodles and set them aside. I combined a couple cups of ricotta, 4 eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and some grated Romano. Then I made a bechamel sauce... (2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 1/4 cups milk, heated).. added a VERY heaping handful of more grated Romano and stirred til melty. Let Dave lick the spoon and pan.

Then the fun part.. layering....

Noodles, spinach, chicken, bechamel, noodles, ricotta, noodles, spinach, chicken, bechamel, noodles, mozzarella.

I then baked this at 350 until the mozzarella was melty and golden in spots.

For have absolutely no recipe or guidelines whatsoever.. I thought this turned out pretty dang good! =)

Help! Our Wedding Menu!!

2006-10-30T15:56:00.000-05:00

So, to those of you who dont know what I do for a living, I'm the in-house designer/web person for a military retirement community in Florida... which happens to have a very nice golf club, and this is where we've decided to have our wedding reception (Dec 1, 2007). I am lucky in this respect because it has made me friends with the club manager, and the chef. And they have basically told me that I can create whatever menu I want (as long as it is do-able in banquet proportions - approx 75 peeps).

Now, as excited as I am, I've never done anything like this! I've only been to a handful of banquets, and therefor never paid huge amounts of attention to what was being served.... so I need help!

I've come up with this to start with... I know I have to keep people with picky palettes in mind... but I dont want a standard chicken/steak menu either... I want duck.. or lamb... or something just a bit out of the ordinary....

Help! HELP!! =)

So.... lets call this Wedding Menu Draft 1!

***
Curried Pumkin Soup
***
Field Greens Salad with Raspberries, Walnuts and Stilton
***
Pan-Seared Duck Breast with a Raspberry Coulis
OR
Prime Rib something...?
***
Yukimi Daifuku
(Mochi Cake Ice Cream)
***
Wedding Cake!!
***
and of course..
a big kick ass cheese display
***

Hehehehe... I'm sure to some of you that menu sounds very familliar! ;-)
The pumpkin soup is something that I've made several times.. dead easy... pumpkin puree, diced onion, butter, curry powder, salt, pepper... super easy to increase in qunatities. I'd really like to have duck or lamb at our wedding.... but anyone know how difficult it would be to actually do duck breasts for a banquet? And the prime rib... would that be conflicing with the duck as a dark meat? I dont think chicken would work... 2 poultry? And fish? So many people hate fish... why must there be picky eaters!? WHY WHY!? As for the mochi cake... I dunno.. a friend suggested it and I thought it would be something fun to throw in there in anticipation to the cake part. ;-) They are simply bite sized droplets of icecream wrapped in a rice cake, that can be eaten with the fingers.. see this pic here...

Anyways... I'd love to hear feedback!!!!! =)

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

2006-10-28T11:23:00.000-04:00

I've never been much of a baker.... all the measuring and precision... I am too much of a zen cooker to be any good at following exact directions. More often than not, I never cook the same dish, exactly the same way twice. I do not own a single baking book.... but I own dozens of cookbooks... and this collection is constantly growing.

So when Sara over at I Like to Cook invited me to take part in her newest Cookbook Spotlight.. I was definitely up for the challenge.

Once I received my copy of Baking, from my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan I was like a little kid with a brand new toy. What to make!? What to make!!?? My pantry was in a sad state as far as baking ingredients. My flour in its jar was of questionable age... and I soon realized just about every recipe called for either vanilla or almond extract, brown sugar, buttermilk, or powdered sugar.. none of which I had in stock. I knew I would soon need to make a trip to the store to get some baking staples...

But in the mean time, I did have what was required to make her "basic biscuits";

Flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter and milk. What good cook doesnt have those things in stock!? I've never actually been successful at making biscuits, and its shameful as a southerner!! Perhaps the recipes I was using were too complicated, or didnt tell me NOT to overmix the dough (most likely). But Dorie lovingly explains how the dough should look... and how the chunks of butter will melt leaving those nice fluffy pockets inside. My biscuits turned out beautifully. Suddenly... for the first time.. I felt a spark of confidence as a baker!

I fervently searched out my next baked victim.

My mom always used to make lemon poppyseed cake, and I loved it so. Now, not being a baker meant I didnt have cake pans, or square pans, or loaf pans (I've since remedied this).. but I DID have a muffin pan!! An lo and behold! There I found a recipe for lemon poppyseed muffins!

I donned my baking cap (okay... pretend I donned a baking cap).. and set out gathering my ingredients... even pulling out (gasp!) measuring utensils! I measured everything out exactly as she said... and was oh so careful not to overmix. The batter seemed thicker to me than any muffin batter I'd seen before... but I continued on, refusing to stray from the recipe. I placed the muffins in the oven, full of anxiety that they would burn, or be raw inside, or turn into rocks... but I left them be, and resisted the urge to open the oven and poke at them. Once their recommended time was up... I took them out... and let them cool, again.. resisting the urge to poke at them.

They looked EXACTLY as they did in the picture. This was a big moment for me because as far as baking goes, this has NEVER happened to me. Okay.. good so far.. but how will they taste? Am I gonna break a tooth!?!?

Once cooled I iced them up, and finally... got to taste.

OMG. Soft, fluffy, slightly sweet and lemony with that little poppyseed crunch.

The baker in me has awoken.

Thank you Dorie..... and thank you Sara for inviting me. =)

Now I flip the pages... wondering what I will make next... Blueberry Crumb Cake maybe?

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter
2 T poppy seeds

For the Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 T lemon juice

METHOD
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs niether greasing not paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them

To make the icing: Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl and add about 1.5 T of the lemon juice. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional juice , a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

Introducing: BBQ Confessions

2006-10-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

Is blogging contagious? I think it is!!

Dave has decided to create his very own food blog... and since he is the man.. and men like FIRE and MEAT.... his is all about his adventures on the grill! His first post is up and its all about the fantabulous grilled chicken he cooked us the other night... BBQ made with curry.... leave it to a Brit to curry up some BBQ! ;-)

Yes, I know its just what you all need.. ANOTHER food blog to keep up on... but if youre a junkie like I am.. you can never get enough of the food porn!!!

Bangers & Mash... and Greg

2006-10-26T07:51:00.000-04:00

Not long ago we had Greg over for dinner in exchange for some manual labor (aka moving a 600+lb pool table), and we had one of our faves, bangers & mash. We are so fortunate to have a meat market in town that actually sells some pretty authentic bangers... of all things.

The highlight of the evening though wasnt the bangers.. or the mash... but Greg deciding he would try a whole dried habanero. I wish I had taken pictures... but I think I was lost in the hilarity of the moment.

We were simply showing off our massive stash of habs.... frozen, pureed, in salsa, dried... when he says "Lemme try one of those dry ones".. and proceeds to pop the entire thing in his mouth. "MMmm... this isnt so bad..." he said as he crunched away, oblivious to the horror that was soon to come. "Hmmm... man that thing has a little bit of a kick in the end...."..... "I think I could use some water...." I handed him a glass watching as a strange habanero hue started taking over his eyes....so I offered some milk... which he quickly chugged. It wasnt long before his face had inherited the color that his eyes had taken on... and tears were streaming down his face.

I am not really sure if he fully recovered before leaving.. or if he could taste the bangers & mash... in the end he professed, "Yea... I think thats one of the dumbest things I've ever done..."

On a side note.... I never could figure out why they found my serving of bangers so funny.....

Segura Viudas Cava: Brut Reserva Heredad

2006-10-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

Okay! OKAY!!! I confess. We bought it because the bottle was pretty. GOSH!!!!

But seriously... who can resist it? It has to be the prettiest darn bottle I've ever seen a wine in, and with the major plus that it was only $20, modestly priced compared to the $59 I've found elsewhere!

Apparenly this region of Spain has been producing wine since pre-Roman times. I am easily impressed by history... I am the one who spent near $40 on a bottle of olive oil while in Italy because I was told that those very olive orchards produced the olives and oils during the height of the Roman Empire. Stop laughing. Should I mention that the bottle of olive oil was my most expensice purchase while there? Leave it to me to spend all my money on food stuff. But I digress....

A wine with history!! And in a nifty bottle... AND at a good price.

We'd both been craving some of the bubbly savoring the memory of our first night in the house... and we'd been really good with the spending.. and decided to treat ourselves a little. And I think Dave agreed that even though it wasnt French (and thankfully didnt try to call itself Champagne like all the Californians do (can you even handle this gank-fest!!?!)

Once again, since I am no wine critic... only a wannabe... I dug up this little review by someone obviously much more versed in the subject!

"As good as any top French vintage Champagne.

Rich in texture, creamy and supple, with toast, pears and vanilla on the nose and a refreshingly lingering finish."

Yea.... what he said.

Angel Hair Pasta with a Creamy Mushroom Romano Sauce

2006-10-20T07:25:00.000-04:00

Amazing how fancy one can make food sound when in reality I was in a panic because I had no idea what to cook.... only 2 chicken breasts and 1 trout that I need to stretch out through all of next week. I didnt really want to tap into my maranara supply since I've had enough of that flavor this week from the leftover lasagna. So I rummaged through the fridge and pulled out some bits and pieces of things left over unused from the picatta (mushrooms)and from the lasagna (romano) and came up with this. It was actually pretty freaking good! =)

INGREDIENTS
about a dozen sliced cremini mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 T olive oil
.5 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
.5 cup whole milk
1.5 cup shredded Romano
1 T parsley
2 t cayenne
salt & pepper to taste
a couple handfuls of toasted pinenuts

METHOD

Sautee your garlic for a few moments in the olive oil, then add the mushrooms. Sautee until they are nice and soft.

Add wine and boil off the alcohol for one minute. Add chicken broth, and continue boiling until reduced by half. Add Milk and return to a simmer, add romano and stir until melted. Add parsley, cayenne, salt & pepper. Toss with cooked angel hair pasta. Serve with a sprinkling of pine nuts on top.. cause in my world, everything tastes better with pine nuts. ;-)

Dave's Beer Ribs

2006-10-19T07:24:00.000-04:00

So Sunday I let Dave cook. ;-) And I took crappy pictures.
He decided to make his ribs that he has been telling me all about as long as we've been together... but had yet to make for me! =P

First, he asked me to make a rub for them... I'd never made a rub before so I jumped online a combined a few different ones I found depending on what we had in stock. We were short chili powder so it did prove to be a challenge... but in the end I wound up using: dry mustard (I used dry English mustard), paprika, cayenne, parsley, black pepper, mrs. dash, and salt. We let them sit with the rub in the fridge for about 3 hours...

From here Dave completey took over. First he boiled them in 3 bottles of dark beer (his own brew!)and some water for an hour....

Here they are fresh out of the pot, rub still intact...

Then to the grill they went to cook for another hour... occassionally basting with some BBQ sauce. Unfortunately it was getting late at this point, and here we can see Dave basting in the almost-dark:

They turned out delish, with a bit of a bite from the rub. To accompany them I made some salt baked potatoes... whisk one egg white, covering the potatoes with the whites, then roll the potatoes in kosher salt. Bake for an hour in the oven at 425. These will give you the crispiest crunchiest potatoes ever... though I would suggest scraping a bit of the salt off first before serving.

All in all it was very nice to not cook for a change (hehe)... and I am pretty positive we smelled up our little neighborhood like some yummy smokin ribs!

Japanese Pubs on the Horizon?

2006-10-18T14:14:00.000-04:00

Just read this article from Beverage Trends magazine... apparently the peeps who brought us PF Changs are testing a new restaurant based on Japanese pubs. Mind you, nothing can touch the real thing when it comes to Chinese food.. but as far as American chain restaurants are concerned, I don't think Changs is half bad... plus I kinda like the idea of an American spin on a Japanese pub... especially since the only Japanese we get around here are strictly sushi joints... often questionable... unless one goes all the way to Rangetsu in Orlando....

Anyhoo... here is the article:

Beverage Trends Newsletter
P.F. Chang’s unveils Japanese-pub concept

By Lisa Jennings

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. has opened the test store here of its new concept, Taneko Japanese Tavern, a restaurant-bar patterned after izakayas, the neighborhood pubs of Japan.

The 144-seat potential prototype features an exhibition-style kitchen with a wood-fired oven and charcoal robata grill as the centerpieces. Specialties include wood-roasted yellowfin tuna, wood-roasted oysters and shishito peppers, American kobe beef, and Kurobuta pork chops, as well as traditional noodle, tempura and sashimi dishes. Drinks include Japanese micro-brew and imported beers, as well as sake, wine and cocktails made with shochu, an alcoholic beverage distilled from rice and sometimes characterized as Japanese vodka.

The Arizona Republic, one of the state’s major newspapers, described Taneko as P.F. Chang’s “most ambitious concept.” Management has indicated that the average check per person will be $30. The typical tab at the company’s namesake brand is under $20, and a customer usually spends under $10 at Chang’s fast-casual brand, Pei Wei Asian Diner.

Taneko’s menu was developed by executive chef Tim Coonan with the help of Japanese cookbook author Hiroko Shimbo and chef Hiroji Obayashi, proprietor of Los Angeles’ Hirozen Gourmet Restaurant.

Taneko was the brainchild of P.F. Chang’s veterans Rich Sullivan and Paul Muller, both of whom were involved in the creation of the company’s namesake concept. Mark Evensvold, an operating partner within the P.F. Chang’s system, is the local operating partner for the new venture.

The test comes as The Cheesecake Factory Inc., the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based casual-dining chain, is readying its own Asian spin-off. The casual-dining powerhouse has released few details about the upstart concept, but executives have indicated that its fare will be more pan-Asian than Chinese.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer restaurant critic Rebekah Denn has cited izakayas, Japan’s version of the gastro-pub, as one of the U.S. restaurant industry’s next big things. She noted that the restaurant-bars are popular in Japan as a place to stop off on the way home from work for a quick meal and a few drinks. Seattle already sports several, she reported in an August article on emerging trends.

P.F. Chang’s has insisted that Taneko is merely a test site, not necessarily the genesis of a new chain. The company has focused with limited success in recent months on reversing same-store sales declines within its P.F. Chang’s and Pei Wei brands. The operator reported a 13.8-percent increase in total corporate revenues, to $231 million, for its third quarter, but said that comparable sales at its namesake chain dipped 0.5 percent from a year earlier despite a 2.5-percent menu price increase. Same-store sales at the company’s Pei Wei Asian Diner chain also fell, down 1.5 percent from the prior year for the quarter ended Oct. 1, despite a 2.7-percent price hike. But Pei Wei’s comps rose 1.2 percent during September, the company indicated.

P.F. Chang’s, based here, operates 142 China Bistros and 97 Pei Wei’s.

Mini Focaccia

2006-10-17T07:31:00.000-04:00

So I know this post is a day late... but I did bake this bread yesterday, officially on World Bread Day. ;-)

I decided to make my handy ol' stand-by, mini-Focaccia. I would usually make this with olives, but alas... I had none. So I improvised and used misc dried herbs, and some caramelized onions & garlic.

Mini-Focaccia

INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour
1 cup tepid water
3 T olive oil
1 packet instant dry yeast
2 t salt

METHOD

In a large bowl combine flour, salt, any herbs you would like and yeast. Make a well in the center and add water and olive oil. With your hands combine until you have a nice springy dough. Toss onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover to rise for 1 hour. Knock back down and form into 4 small dough balls. Place whatever toppings on top you prefer, onions, olives, tomatoes, sea salt (always sea salt!), cheese, your imagination is the limit! Drizzle with olive oil. Cover and let rise again for 30 mins. Bake in a 375 degree oven until they start turning golden. Enjoy with some herbed olive oil!

We enjoyed this bread last night with some of my chicken piccata. =)

Lasagna

2006-10-16T07:23:00.000-04:00

So Dave told me that he likes lasagna. That was all I needed to hear to make my decission on what my kitchen adventure would be this weekend.

I've had this old cookbook called Italian Immigrant Cooking forever... my mom bought this for me for Christmas years ago, the few things I have cooked from it were wonderfully simple and delish... so I decided to go with its recipe for lasagna... starting with the "Brooklyn Meat Gravy" (aka marinara). This recipe I would soon find out... would supply me with a life time supply of this meaty marinara.

First I would need FIVE pounds of tomatoes. I've never used anything that called for so many tomatoes, and I really lucked out as Publix was having a sale on some really beautiful "on the vine" tomatoes, they smelled wonderful and tomato-ey, which I thought was really unusual for supermarket tomatoes.

Publix was also having a massive sale on Ronzoni pasta... so we stocked up on that as well, expect to see a LOT of pasta dishes from us in the upcoming weeks!!! =)

I had way too much fun making this.

INGREDIENTS

For the "Meat Gravy"
2 T olive oil
5 lbs tomatoes
1.5 cups diced onion
.5 cup minced garlic
2 T oregano
2 T parsley
.5 cup sugar
.5 t fennel
1 lb Spicey Italian sausage, skins removed, browned and broken apart
20 small meat balls, minced up
salt & pepper to taste

For the Lasagna
1 lb ricotta
1 cup grated Romano
1 cup grated Mozzarella
2 T parsley
2 eggs
9 sheets lasagna noodles, cooked al dente, tossed with olive oil

METHOD
Cut crosses in the bottoms of your tomatoes, and drop them in boiling water for about a minute to loosen their skins, shock in iced water, and peel. Mash them up in a large bowl... removing any stems or hard bits.

Sautee the garlic and onions in the olive oil until they are soft and transluscent. Add tomatoes and their juices and the sugar. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add herbs and meats, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-5 hours, or until the sauce has reduced to a thickness you like.

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine Ricotta and 2 eggs and stir until well blended. Add Romano and Parsley and combine. Take a baking dish and spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom.
Add a layer of lasagna noodles. Spoon the cheese mixture over the noodles and smooth. Add another layer of meat sauce and noddles and continue this way until the cheese mixture is gone. Top with a layer of noodles and grated mozzarella.

Bake until the cheese is melted and begins to turn golden in spots.

Serve with a bit of meat sauce spooned onto the plate, with a square of the lasagna centered on top.

Pure bliss.

Uber leftovers.

The Trinity

2006-10-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

Is there a more perfect combination?
Balsamic vinegar, roasemary, and garlic. I can't think of three things that compliment eachother better.

Now and then when I am short on ingredients I'll throw this together, because thankfully, my mom has a massive rosemary plant that has taken over the better part of her herb garden. She is always more than willing to part with some, and always gives me more than I asked for.... for instance this bit here:

I asked for a couple of sprigs, she gave me what appears to be an entire plant. Not that I'm complaining!

We managed to find a bottle of table wine even cheaper than our regular cheap wine.. and I wasted no time making use of it...we have no shame! Altho.. I agree with Dave that this one wasn't near as tastey as our regular table wine... this one had aromas reminscent of.... rubbing alcohol. Hrrmmmm.

We didnt have an red bell peppers, so I used orange this time... I definitely think red tastes better... We also didnt have this with salad.. instead using some more of the masses of pasta supplied by mom. Thats the thing I really like about this recipe, its so versatile and so easy, and always makes for good leftovers.

VALRHONA

2006-10-12T14:23:00.000-04:00

O-M-G. I have just found my new favorite chocolate.
Sexy name for a sexy chocolate.

I am sitting here, savoring the little square I broke off of my first ever bar of Valrhona.. and I am finding it hard to concentrate on anything else but how envious the rest of my body is at the extasy my tastebuds are experiencing right now. Rich, bittersweet velvet slowly melting and wrapping itself around my tongue... deceiving me at first with a pinch of cool sweetness, then the rush of the heat of lush strong pure decadent chocolate... am I blushing??

I've heard of this chocolate before, but have never tried it until now, thinking, "Could it really be that much better than Lindt?"... considering that its about twice as much per bar... I couldnt justify it.

Okay I've changed my mind. This stuff makes Lindt taste like Hersheys. They actually make vintages of their chocolates... based on region and year grown, like wine. These people are serious about their chocolate and it shows.

I'm gonna return to my orgasmic moment now. Thank you.

Tuna Casserole

2006-10-11T20:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes... there's nothing that can hit the spot like a good ol' casserole.... or sometimes... there's nothing you can do but scrounge together a can of tuna and a bag of noodles your mom gave you for dinner!

But you wont find a single can of campbells in this tuna casserole.. nuh uh! If I'm gonna make a casserole... I'm gonna do it right! And its gonna have wine in it damnit!!

This recipe is based on one I found and modified from epicurious. I love that place. Its like allrecipes for food snobs. hehe.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 (6-oz) cans tuna, drained
6 oz dried curly egg noodles (preferably Pennsylvania Dutch style; about 3 1/4 cups)
1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs
Grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon olive oil

METHOD

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Cook onion in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with a pinch of salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add wine and boil, stirring occasionally, until evaporated. Remove from heat. Remove onions to a warm bowl

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in the skillet over moderately low heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add broth in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Whisk in milk and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and salt. Flake tuna into sauce and stir gently. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Cook noodles in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain noodles in a colander and transfer to baking dish. Add sauce and peas and stir gently to combine, spreading evenly.

Toss together bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl. Drizzle with oil and toss again, then sprinkle evenly over casserole. Bake until topping is crisp and sauce is bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve with some buttered bread. Make grandma proud.

Calves Liver with a Port Reduction

2006-10-10T19:50:00.000-04:00

Okay it wasnt completely a reduction.. I got impatient and threw in some cornstarch at the last minute... yes... cheater I am. ;-)

This dinner was inspired by all of the wonderful offal I've been drooling over on a daily basis that Ros over at Living to Eat has been cooking up. I wish I had access to half of the innards she does over there in London. But here in the states... where you're lucky to even find calves liver... chicken and beef (usually frozen!) are about as good as it gets. If I lived in Orlando, I know of a couple of Asian markets where I could get my grubby paws on kidney... but I digress.

Thankfully we have a nice meat market in town that usually carries fresh calves liver. Joy! I love Petty's.

I based this recipe loosely on what I'd read from Ros...

INGREDIENTS
4-6 calves liver slices
flour for dredging
1 onion, sliced
lots of butter (2 tbsp to start)
olive oil (just enough to keep the butter from burning)
1/4 cup Port wine
1 cup beef broth (I cheated and used one of Dave's OXO cubes.. those things are like beef boulion on steroids, I highly recommend trying this stuff to my fellow Yank readers)

METHOD
Dredge your livers in flour.
Fry your livers on both sides until nice and golden... I dont know what was up with mine, but they were sucking up the butter like mad... I think I used almost a whole stick in the end! O_O So if that happens, keep adding a little butter to keep things from drying out. Once your livers are cooked, remove them and keep them someplace warm (I usually shove everything in the oven). Add a bit more butter to the pan and sautee your onions til they are nice and soft. Add Port to deglaze and let simmer for about a minute to burn off the alcohol. Add beef broth, and reduce.... or cheat like me halfway through and mix some cornstarch and water and dump the lot in. ;-)

Serve with the sauce poured over your livers.

Dave also made an attempt at making mushy peas, they didnt turn out exactly as we had hoped.. Dave says he is inclined to think that a different sort of pea is used in mushy peas... anyone know?

Blueberry Nests

2006-10-08T16:59:00.000-04:00

This is the kind of happy accident that happens when EVERYTHING goes wrong.

I started off last night with every intention of making a blueberry struedel.

For one thing, I didnt have enough blueberries... no big deal, I'll reduce the recipe by half and sub some of the blueberries for strawberry preserves. I also didnt have any almond extract.. also no biggie... I'll change the flavor a little by using cinnamon instead.

Then things got really interesting... I pulled out my phyllo, AFTER I had already made the filling, only to discover that the phyllo was stale. Sh*t. I'd remembered reading somewhere once in a recipe where phyllo was set out to dry, then tossed in butter to make "nests". Okay... dry... stale... whatever. Only that recipe called for a pie pan. Yea, I'm not a baker... so no pie pans here. Hmmm... I do have a muffin pan though! WOOT!

They really ended up beautiful.. as always my photos do 0 justice. I think they would have been just gorgeous with a bit of a vanilla cream sauce drizzled over... maybe a mint leaf for garnish.... so simple and pretty. Of course... we're poor at the moment and we dont have things like vanilla or cream or fresh mint.. the only reason I made stuedel ... err.. was going to make stuedel was because we were both having an insane sweet tooth so, I scrounged together what I had on hand for a fix. ;-) But work with me here people!

So.. ultimately.. here was my accidental recipe. =)

1.5 cups frozen blueberries
.5 cup strawberry preserves
1/3 cup sugar
.5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 pack of stale / dry phyllo

Preheat your oven to 400.
Grease a muffine pan.

Mix together in a saucepan the blueberries, preserves, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon until hot and gooey, about 5 mins.

Shred the phyllo and toss into melted butter (I did this in batches).
Create little "nests" from the shredded phyllo on the bottom of each muffin well, making sure that the phyllo covers the sides... to make a little bowl for the filling. Fill each nest with the filling. Top each one with a bit more of the buttered phyllo.

Bake until the nests are golden on top.

I love these kinds of accidents. Now I have a purpose for old unused phyllo. =D

Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Raspberry Coulis

2006-10-06T10:04:00.000-04:00

Since I had a few people ask me about this recipe the other day on my meme post, I decided I'd go ahead and share the recipe with everyone. =) This isnt something we've had any time recently.. but coincidentally, the meal pictured here we had exactly one year ago today.

This is, by far, one of my favorite dishes.

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 duck breasts
* 2 teaspoons sea salt
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1/2 cup red wine
* 1/4 cup Chambord liqueur
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 6-12 fresh raspberries, pureed with a tsp of lemon juice

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven on broiler setting. Use a fork to score the duck breasts through the skin and fat but not all the way through to the meat.
2. Heat a small amount of butter in a large heavy skillet on medium high. Fry the duck breasts skin side down, until the skin browns and fat runs out, about 10 minutes. Remove the breasts from the pan, turn and fry skin side up for another 10 minutes. Remove breasts from pan, and allow to rest on a baking sheet. Mix the sea salt, cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the skin of the duck breasts. Pour most of the fat out of the frying pan (reserve for frying new potatoes).
3. Mix together the red wine, Chambord, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Pour into the pan, and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Add raspberries, and simmer for another minute until heated through.
4. Broil the duck breasts skin side up, until the sugar begins to caramelize, about 1 minute. Slice the duck breasts thinly, pour a little sauce over the top, and serve warm.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp & Cabbage Salad

2006-10-03T07:12:00.000-04:00

Trying to make use of the remaining cabbage we bought for our okonomiyaki, I decided to try my hand at an Asian style cabbage salad. This was so incredibly flavorful... is it possible for something to have too much flavor? Well... if youre wanting something with a LOT of flavor.. definitely try this one. Dave liked it in any case.. so much so that he was going through the bowl trying to find the little crispy bits. ;-) It was an incredible combination of sweet, salty, sour and spicey.

I used the same recipe for the spicey orange ginger sauce & shrimp, simply broiled with some 5 spice powder sprinkled over top. The recipe for the cabbage salad I ganked from allrecipes... I modified it a little and came up with this:

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 head cabbage
* 1 bunch minced green onions
* 1/3 cup butter
* 1 package ramen noodles, broken
* 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
* 1 cup slivered almonds
* 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Finely shred the head of cabbage; do not chop. Combine the green onions and cabbage in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Make the dressing: In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool slightly then pour over cabbage.
4. Make the crunchies: Melt the butter in a pot. Mix the ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds into the pot with the melted butter. Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake the crunchies in the preheated 350 degrees F oven, turning often to make sure they do not burn. When they are browned remove them from the oven.
5. Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve right away or the crunchies will get soggy.

Okonomiyaki

2006-10-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

Dave and I were looking through a Japanese magazine the other day... I am always so fascinated by all the photos of food that some of them have. And while admiring all the exotic looking delicacies, we kept seeing photos of okonomiyaki. So as you can imagine, by the time we were done looking at it, we were both craving some.

We followed the same recipe Shizu gave us again... but this time we used shrimp instead of pork. I have to say it is much better with pork.

I am predicting that okonomiyaki is going to make an appearance in this country withing... eh.. say 10 years. And its gonna be huge. I mean this is just like the ultimate junk/party/hangover food EVER.

I actually took a photo of it this time.

If you ever get the chance... or want to freak out some friends... buy and use kastuobushi (aka dried bonito flakes). It is super thinly shaved dried fish. So fine that the light steam coming off your food will make it wriggle. It was really quite disturbing the first time I saw it. Good times. =)

Inviting All Foodbloggers

2006-10-02T10:58:00.000-04:00

I was tagged for this joint project by my wonderful friends waaaay over in Germany at Kochtopf!

WHICH MENU WOULD YOU SERVE BLOGGING FRIENDS FOR A WELCOME DINNER UPON THEIR FIRST VISIT TO YOUR HOME ?

*******

Since this is my first time ever making a menu.. I am positive I am making a tremendous amount of faux pas... also... its hard to pin point exactly what is "seasonal" in Florida... because in Florida we are growing the summer foods that cant be grown in the rest of the country at this time of year. And at the same time are shipped the foods that the rest of the world considers "in season". I didnt want to kill myself trying to make a real "in season in Florida" menu.. and confuse everyone else in the process... so when it comes down to it... if I wanted to cook for a bunch of other foodies, I'd probably want to stick with what I know I am good at. =)

So here we have it!

Bloggilicious Menu

***
Curried Pumkin Soup
***
Field Greens Salad with Raspberries, Walnuts and Stilton
***
Tomato and Garlic Shrimp Bruscetta
***
Pan-Seared Duck Breast with a Raspberry Coulis
& Crisped New Potatoes
***
Italian Coffee
Fresh Strawberries with Melted Nutella & Crushed Hazelnuts
***

Beverage: Since my favorite is red, I'd probably pick mine and Dave's favorite, Chateuneuf de Pape, and perhaps Gewurztraminer with the 2 first courses. The coffee would be made in my nifty little Italian coffee maker.

to this shin-dig I would invite:

Jeff & Stephanie from C for Cooking
Tyler & Amanda from What We're Eating (what kind of masochist am I inviting a chef??)
Maltese Parakeet, Mooncrazy & Doodles from Peanut Butter Etouffee
Ros & The Goon from Living to Eat
Susan from The Porcini Chronicles

I tag them to host a virtual Welcome Dinner, too.

Daredevil Night

2006-10-01T09:48:00.000-04:00

Dave and I had some adventures in the kitchen last night.

First, I wanted to jar the rest of the habaneros I had.... I had to boil the vinegar solution first, and I can tell you the smell that produces makes you feel like you live in a salt & vinegar chip factory. So that jar is now off in a dark corner of the fridge to pickle and get nice and pissed off for the next 4-6 weeks.

Dave also made a couple of jars of the Angry Nosebleed Salsa, which we had a little bit of last night. He tried making it differently, by having the tomatoes in chunks instead of pureed. Yea, that didnt work... the habs are so hot that eating even a tiny chunk of tomato was waaay to hot. This stuff is only edible in very very small bits at a time... like... tomato crumb small.

The best part of the night though was the beer. While moving, Dave found a box full of bottles of beer that he home-brewed over 4 years(!) ago! We decided to be brave and try some. It was actually still pretty good... so we enjoyed a couple of bottles. I don't think there were any bad side effects, no halluscinations were induced... but I'll let you know as soon as our cats second head goes away.

Habaneros Anyone?

2006-09-28T16:56:00.000-04:00

These are some of the habs that a fellow at my work has been donating to me over the past few days. Apparently he has a plant almost as large as I am that produces masses of these angry little buggers, so many that he can't give them away. Well... I changed that. haha!

I made a pot of what we've dubbed "Angry Nosebleed Salsa".. since it literally gave our friend Greg a nosebleed. I plan on making a few more batches of it up and jarring it... giving it to unsuspecting friends. MUAHAHAA.

I've also tossed several into the freezer... with unkown future destinations.

I am also drying out a bunch.... Dave naively took a nibble off the tip of one of the dried ones thinking the process might mellow their fury.... hehe. That was fun. I'm hoping to harvest some seeds from some of the dried ones as well... so I can grow my own shrub of death.

Another plan I have... that I am hoping to tackle in the next week.. is to make a blueberry habanero sauce.

Gonna pickle some too....

I'm starting to feel like the Bubba Gump of Habaneros. Pickled habaneros, blueberry habaneros, habanero hot sauce, dried habaneros, habanero salsa....

Steak @ Gregs

2006-09-25T10:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we were invited over to our friend Gregs for his often bragged about steaks. His uber high top secret recipe... which from what I understand makes up the bulk of his diet... obviously means he has had a LOT of practice making these steaks. And ooooh boy did it show.

He marinated the steaks for 30 hours in his concoction, which tenderizes the meat and adds a rich strong flavor. He then cooks them over a high flame... letting the flames lick the meat... making the fat on the edges crisp up oh so yummily.

The meat just literally melted in the mouth with a burst of flavor. Crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside. I wish I had leftovers. I couldnt believe I ate the whole thing. We had his steaks with a family recipe of baked (grill baked in his case) potatoes, which are covered in bacon and salt... which gives the skin a nice flavorful crisp. Bacon on the OUTSIDE of a potato! I'd never thought of that! It worked!

My contribution to the feast was some very very angry salsa made from a couple of the massive mound of habaneros a friend at work gave to me (I'll be making a post about those tomorrow).

All in all, good food, good company. Even the dog was sleepy from a full and content belly. ;-)

Garlic Shrimp Linguini with a Creamy Blue Cheese Sauce

2006-09-22T08:45:00.001-04:00

I had a sizable wedge of Stilton I needed to find a use for.... my mom gave us a box of linguini over the weekend... and I have some frozen shrimp.... so I decided to combine these things for our dinner last night. I thought it was pretty nice... very strong tangy blue cheese flavor. Plus it made the kitchen smell soooo nice. Definitely not something you would want to eat though if you dont like blue cheese!

INGREDIENTS

3 cloves of garlic, minced
a big chunk of blue cheese (we used Stilton)
a buncha shrimp (12-16?)
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1/5 cup white wine
1 cup cream
olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with warm water
fresh or dried parsley
cooked linguini (or any other pasta)
salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
Sautee garlic in butter and olive oil in a large deep pan for a minute or so, and add shrimp. When shrimp are cooked remove them and place them somewhere to keep warm. Deglaze pan with the wine and let simmer for a minute to cook off alcohol. Add cream, and return to a simmer, stirring constantly, add cheese until melted. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Toss the sauce with your pasta, arranging shrimp on top. Sprinkle pine nuts all over. And enjoy!!! =)

What Happened to Real Food?

2006-09-21T09:51:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a book called Real Food, and it has catapulted me into a keen interest in.. well.. REAL foods... and our complete lack of access to it!

So much of it is treated like a drug trade.... deviants meeting at exits off of highways, or at gas station parking lots.... exchanging the contraband that is raw dairy. Why is it that buying or selling a natural foodstuff, that since the dawn of time has been our natural right... is now a crime? Stories of armed inspectors raiding raw dairy farms as though they were drug labs, farmers being treated as nothing more than crack dealers, run rampant..

Then, meats we humans have been eating for centuries... foie gras, horse.. both recently seeing bans across the country all in the name of "animal rights". But wait.... as an example many of the horses consumed were pet horses or retired race horses who were on their way to their end anyways. These animals for the most part lived healthy lives, were able to run and graze. Why waste? Is that the better end? Sure, I agree it sounds cruel to put poor old Blackie on the dinner plate... but his life was probably by far a better one than that of the chickens who are caged so tightly together that their beaks must be lopped off to keep them from pecking eachother... or the highly intelligent pigs, who's natural instinct is to dig and roll in earth... are intstead caged over hard cold concrete. Cows milked so dry that their skin hangs from their bodies, never even seeing the light of day.... It makes one wonder what is REALLY the driving force here. Why is the government telling us what we can and can eat? They tell us it is for our own health, for ethical and moral reasons... but if that is so why is nothing done about the mass meat farms? Why then do I have the choice to eat nothing but McWhoppers my entire life? Concerned for my health indeed....

Not to mention the industry that is mass produced produce. I've learned that it is near impossible to find farm co-ops in my area... simply because local farmers have been run out... farmers who's families have been farming for centuries now have to turn to something else, as there is no competition for the giant that is the big industrial farms producing and shipping unripened produce to your local walmart. why pay $1 for that floret of broccoli, rasied lovingly in rich soil, picked at its peak, full of nutrition and flavor from a local farm... when you can get a something that looks like broccoli and kinda tastes like broccoli, grown in poor sick soil, ripped from the earth by some great machine long before it should be - shipped to where you can buy it at your local supertore for 20 cents?? It might not be as nutritious, or tastey, but it fills you up, and thats what matters most right? Seems like thats all that matters anymore.

Chicken Piccata

2006-09-19T10:22:00.000-04:00

So, we officially had our first "real" home cooked meal in the house last night!

I do prefer my tried and true recipe for Chicken Piccata, I dug up the old original I found online a while back... and remodified it to the way I do it below. ;-) This recipe was what I came to trying to make something similar to the chicken piccata at Cheesecake Factory that I love so much. =)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, flattened with a mallet
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
1/4 cup cream
2 tbsp capers

DIRECTIONS:

In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together flour, salt and paprika. In a separate dish or bowl mix together egg and milk. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture, then in seasoned flour.

In a large skillet, heat butter or margarine over medium high heat. Saute chicken pieces until golden brown. Add mushrooms and saute for 3 to 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine the broth, wine, lemon juice and cornstarch. Mix together and pour mixture over chicken and mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium low and let chicken mixture simmer for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Add cream and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add capers in the last moments. Serve over angel hair pasta! mmm! =)

First Night in the New House

2006-09-15T08:34:00.000-04:00

So last night Dave and I spent our first night in our new house. It was a blast, so exciting! There is no furniture in the house yet, so we threw blankets all over the bedroom floor, it made for one massive bed! ;-) The cat has placed us on her blacklist, and has taken up the pantry as her center of operations.

Of course first order was to get the important part all set up, THE KITCHEN!!!

We popped our bottle of Moet, and enjoyed it with an incredibly romantic dinner of..... Zatarains Smothered Chicken!!! Thats right folks! We spared no expense!

Here's a couple shots:

View of the Great Room

View out the Living Room Window

Needless to say it might be a few before I can make another post... we will be moving all weekend, but I'll post as soon as I cook our first proper meal in the house! =)

Oh, did I mention Dave carried me across the thresh-hold the first time we entered the finished house? hehehe *^_^*