Almost Healthy

Crispy salmon skin!

2012-02-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

I have been eating a lot of smoked fish, particularly salmon and trout. I generally don't eat the skin, and have been giving it to my pets.

I had a lovely piece of salmon skin today, and I thought of tasty crunchy salmon skin sushi rolls I have enjoyed in the past. So, I sliced the skin into thin strips, heated some olive oil in a small pan, and threw the salmon skin in. It spattered a lot. And, whoa, Nelly! It's delicious!

Sorry, pets.

Yes, wow, I still have a food blog!

2012-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Holy moly, it has been a while. I have cooked and eaten lots. But, I've also been really busy with the last year of medical school and the whole single mom thing.

I'll post some pics and a retrospective soon. But, in the meantime, let's talk anti-inflammatory diet. And pine nuts.

I may have an autoimmune inflammatory disease. Well, actually, I definitely do. I have psoriasis. But, I also may have had a small flare of psoriatic arthritis. And it may not have been my first.

So, one of my ways of approaching this is to reform my diet a bit. Get me more almost healthy. Get it? Get it? The title means so much. I am going to try to adhere more to the whole anti-inflammatory diet thing. The anti-inflammatory diet has elements of a lot of other eating programs that purport to improve health: avoid processed and simple carbs, increase vegetables, increase good fats, increase fish and lean meats, and emphasize antioxidant rich plant foods.

It also helps out hat I already like these foods. I just went to Costco and bought a bunch of smoked fish, and a huge bag of pine nuts.

Today,so far, I had a salad made from my friend's home grown butter crunch lettuce, smoked salmon fillet, flaked, and toasted pine nuts. I made a simple dressing with agave and soy sauce. I figured the salmon and pine nuts were oily enough that I didn't need extra oil in the dressing. It was delicious.

I had a bowl of a close approximation of this Indian spiced carrot ginger soup, which was also delicious. I put toasted pine nuts on top.

I also made a batch of an approximation of this Cabbage Crunch salad. As you may have guessed, I substituted toasted pine nuts for the almonds and sesame seeds.

I also made fresh basil and parsley pesto last week. I still have more pine nuts.

Dusts cobwebs off

2011-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking. I swear.

I have just been really, really, really busy. Med school will do that to ya.

Anyway, I will try to post some pics and some tastiness soon. Now, on to making cookies and steak fried rice:)

Recent foodie-ness

2011-01-23T10:34:00.001-08:00

I went to the Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens yesterday. It was great. I am mildly tempted to try to enter the chocolate cake or cupcake competition next year, but it seems to be more of a decorating contest than a taste contest. Decorating isn't my strongest point.

I got to see Hedy Goldsmith from Michael's Genuine Food and Drink do a cooking demo. I am totally going to try the Milk Chocolate Jellies. S is a jellies nut. I am a Michaels' Genuine nut. I was so happy when they opened here. For a major city with no shortage of restaurants, there was a real dearth of excellent food. I was not surprised to read they won a James Beard award last year. Hedy, the pastry chef, was fun to listen to and gave good demo. She not only makes killer doughnuts and pop tarts, she also has a great personality.

Interestingly enough, I have found blogs called Almost Healthy and Foodie Loves Picky. Both were started after my blog and my blog name change. Do you know how I know? I did what these bloggers evidently didn't do. I googled the names before I used them.

I don't care all that much. I am not making any money off this blog, and I only post about once a month now. I just, well, I don't know. I don't think they stole the names, and I don't think they are going to make any money off of them, either. I kind of wish they had done a little searching first before they picked those titles.

If I ever do try to do any cooking for money, ever, which is a not-so-secret dream of mine, I am planning on using the name "Almost Healthy". I have said that on this blog before, and I am repeating it now. Just in case.

Let the baking orgy begin!

2010-12-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

I made three pounds of spiced nuts tonight. There will be six more pounds made, at least, by the time Christmas rolls around.

I combined two recipes, one from Smitten Kitten, and one from America's Test Kitchen, and made three pounds of almonds at once. I chose to make almonds, because even though I like pecans, not everyone does.

So, here is my finagled recipe for...

Sweet and salty rum spiced nuts

1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg white
1 tablespoon dark rum (can be substituted with water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound whole raw almonds, unsalted

Preheat oven to 300, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

Mix the ingredients from the brown sugar to the allspice in a medium bowl, breaking up any clumps

Beat the egg white, run and vanilla together in a large bowl with a whisk until frothy.

Add the almonds to the egg white mixture and toss until coated. Dump the sugar mixture into the almonds and mix until evenly coated. Spread the nuts on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on the baking sheet, breaking apart any nuts that are stuck together as they cool.

Yum.

Belated Thanksgiving post

2010-12-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took so long to get up the Thanksgiving post!

Thanksgiving was mellow this year. I didn't have the kids. I made dinner for my mom, my brother, his wife, and her parents. It was fairly simple.

My mom got chorizo that she didn't end up using for stuffing. I put some of it in my stuffing, but there was enough left over to make spur of the moment chorizo stuffed mushrooms. They were delish.

I made an herbed butter to put under the skin of the turkey.

The rest of the dinner was pretty basic. I made a gravy with the neck, since the turkey had no giblets. (!! I know!) I made fresh cranberry sauce. I also made fresh whipped cream with fruit for dessert. The guests brought the other sides.

Another week down

2010-10-24T18:43:00.001-07:00

This week was rough. I worked seven days straight. Five more to go before I get a day off. Even though I got out at noon today, I was pretty exhausted. After a nap, I decided I wanted to cook for the week even though I worked all weekend. I made artichokes with melted butter and tortellini with peas and bacon in cream sauce for tonight's dinner. Tomorrow we will be having sausage and swiss chard lasagna. I also roasted a chicken with a lemon in it for Wednesday.

I am really liking having the dinners made during the week. I decided I needed to make smaller dinners, though. The 11 x 9 casseroles are way too much for the kids and me. Although the kids and I were fine eating shepherd's pie for three days, I still ended up having some left over.

I divided the lasagna into three loaf pans (which is how I used to make lasagna for two way back in the day). I froze two and put one in the fridge for tomorrow. I plan to make some of the same casseroles again - the kids liked the shepherd's pie and the chicken lemon artichoke pasta a lot. But, I will be most likely dividing those into smaller pans, too.

Even though I was tired today, it is so much better the whole week to have dinners made. And,I just don't like driving through or eating out at cheap places, and we can't really afford it. I also don't like most premade foods.

Yawn. Alarm set. Time for bed.

Quote for the day

2010-10-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

Forgiveness is not the misguided act of condoning irresponsible, hurtful behavior. Nor is it a superficial turning of the other cheek that leaves us feeling victimized and martyred. Rather it is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past.

-Joan Borysenko

Catching up

2010-10-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

I have been really busy with the single mom thing and the medical school rotations thing, but I have been keeping up with feeding the family. Just not keeping up with blogging about it.

I also just realized that the name of this blog is more than just about my cooking. My life is getting to the point that it's almost healthy now. I'm still working on it. I still have doubts. For example, I know that Picky, and perhaps members of his family, are reading this blog and my other blog. That is probably one of the reasons I haven't been posting that often on either.

I know he read this post because he showed up at Z's birthday party with my kitchen knife, of all things. Leave it to Picky to blemish a party day with some petty nonsense. But, I was happy to see the knife. I have to think in the Almost Healthy mindset. Instead of being worried that his family knows how I feel about their treatment of me, I should be comfortable in the fact that I never treated them badly; I bent over backwards to cook them amazing food and cater to them. It is ridiculous that I feel any sort of angst over admitting out loud that I was treated absolutely atrociously. How does that make me the bad person? If Papa Picky (Picky's father) refuses to ever come to my house again, that means I will never get bullied by him again. I shouldn't feel bad; I should rejoice.

Maybe if I complain on here about his keeping the patio table my former mother in law gave me after saying he was just going to keep it until he got a dining room table will lead to him showing up randomly with my patio table. Here's to hoping for a shred of decency. Or, he can sit outside at his new place at one of the two patio tables with seating for ten and eat take out by himself. I can still be happy that it's not my problem any more.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Here is some proof that I have been living, not just ruminating about what Picky's family thinks of me:

S loves talking about Mexican food for some reason, but it seems like whenever I make it, he only eats a little bit. He loves talking about tacos. In fact, he is dressing up like a taco this Halloween. I'm not kidding. Well, I made these shrimp tacos the other night, since Z has trouble chewing the steak in the steak ones I love to make. They were a huge hit.

Here is a favorite breakfast for Z. He asked for it on his birthday. It's nothing fancy, but it reminds me of my childhood. I love it that he loves it. Bananas, peanut butter, and honey:

The weather is getting beautiful. The kids and I love to eat outside, and now that Picky isn't here to object, we get to do it whenever we want. It's wonderful, even if we have to push some cheap folding tables together. I made this cajun catfish with browned butter the other night, and it was scrummy:

I was so proud of myself last Sunday. I posted on Facebook that I deserved a mother of the year award. I made baked French toast for breakfast, folded three loads of laundry, put together my new vacuum / steamer and vacuumed the house, took the kids out for a picnic lunch in a park, and we played ball there and went on a nature walk, made THREE dinners from scratch - one for that night and two for the week, and built a fort with Z. Picky blew it off saying I thought I was mother of the year for just cooking and doing laundry, but I am confident that I did more in one day as a parent than he could pull off in a month. Two months if it was football season, or if a new video game just came out. And, I got the added bonus of not having to do anything but heat up dinner all week, and we had delicious, homemade food.

Here was the most popular meal from the week - chicken and pasta with artichoke, peas and lemon:

And finally, even though I said I wasn't going to talk about Picky any more, I was pretty perturbed that he complained that I wrote about "hating his family" on my food blog. I didn't say I hated them. I said I was upset at how I was treated surrounding food, especially considering the fabulous meals (and endless creme brulee!) I made for them without complaining. Just scroll through the posts on here and check it out. But, since I already vented about it on this post, I might as well finish it off with a laugh. I was in the ER this week to admit a patient, and I saw someone's snack sitting in one of the employee areas. I will most likely never get to cook for Papa Picky again, but if I do get the honor, I think I will hook him up with something like the spread I saw in the ER:

I questioned putting this up, but then I realized he has always treated me with barely concealed hostility, almost since the day he met me. I can continue to cower and be afraid, and listen to his family members telling me how it's my fault and I deserved to be cursed at and treated like dirt on the bottom of his shoe, or I can be Almost Healthy about it and have a good laugh.

Farinata!!

2010-09-21T15:29:00.001-07:00

I have a new favorite recipe. I saw a food show a while ago. I can't remember the name of the show, or even what channel it was on. I tried to search for the exact recipe, but wasn't able to find it. But, I was able to find another recipe for the same dish, and it was phenom. And cheap. And simple. And almost healthy!

It is a garbanzo (chick pea) flour flatbread. I have seen it described as a "pancake", even though it is entirely savory. It was so easy to make, has very few ingredients, and was soooo delicious. It has a complex, unique texture and flavor, which is amazing considering how simple it is. Garbanzo flour is a specialty ingredient, but it isn't that hard to find if you have access to a health food store. And, it was $3.00 a pound, so it's hard to complain.

I used this recipe. I heated the water before adding it, since every other recipe I found says to do so. I opted to add the onion and rosemary. I also grated some Parmesan-Reggiano on top because I seem to remember the dude in the show doing it. And, why not? Everything is better with cheese.

Oh. wow. I ate it, I ate some more, I ate leftovers for breakfast, and I am making it again tonight so I can have it for breakfast for the rest of the week. I told the kids we will be eating it for every meal for the rest of our lives, so get used to it.

Here is the lousy photo of my farinata:

Pickiness abounds

2010-09-08T19:20:00.001-07:00

So, I was talking about food near someone today who started making "yuck" faces- one of my pet peeves. Don't yuck my yum, people. The really funny thing is, she immediately started arguing about how she doesn't like most seafood, but she "isn't picky". She won't eat anything with a shell - crustacean or bivalve. And most fish is "too fishy". Seafood is usually a good litmus test to me as to whether someone is a picky eater. Then she proceeds to say she doesn't eat any cheese unless it's melted. (?!!!) She hates goat cheese, only likes cow cheese, but will eat feta (which she kept arguing with me wasn't goat cheese. It is. It is sheep cheese, too.) She will eat watermelon but not cantaloupe or honeydew. She won't eat any "gamey" meat, like lamb, goat, rabbit, venison, etc.

And she kept defending that she wasn't a picky eater. Right. Whatever, everyone is entitled to her food issues. Just have a little insight into the fact that you have them, and these aren't inherently gross foods.

Star Wars breakfast!

2010-08-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

I got these Star Wars pancake molds from William Sonoma. I couldn't resist. We had lots of fun making these.

Z, when I asked him to smile for the photo: "Mom, I need to look at what I'm doing!"

It took some getting used to in the beginning - some of the first ones were a bit overdone. Consider it the dark side!

Foodie kids!

2010-08-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

My mom and I introduced my kids to one of our family foodie traditions: artichokes. My father took my mom out for artichoke when they were dating, and it has been a family delicacy since. The kids loved them!

And, they qualify as almost healthy. Vegetables, but dipped in melted butter. Mmmmmm. I was happy because they both filled up before they got down to the hearts, so i got to eat lots and lots of the heart, which my mom and I agree is the most important part.

Back from beyond, ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-08-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long hiatus. I broke up with Picky (note the blog name change), and moved my kids and I across town. I have been getting used to a new kitchen. For the most part, I am cool with the new kitchen. I really, really miss my gas stove. I have one of those glass topped ranges now. Ehhhh.

I miss the double sink. I miss my new fridge with the freezer drawer on the bottom. I thought I would miss our metro shelving with the hanging pots and pans, but my new kitchen has plenty of storage, and there is significantly less dog hair on everything when it's stored behind cabinet doors. I left Picky a lot more kitchen supplies than he uses or deserves (and he has complained about what I took, natch), but the only thing I really miss is one of the nice knives I left. I need to order a similar one, since I am most likely not going back to the wonderful restaurant supply store near Picky's sister's house where I bought it.

I don't miss cooking for someone who is rude, with so many food issues, and his extended family. And I sure as hell don't miss being bullied to make really high maintenance food, like crème brûlée, on short notice, for really ungrateful people. I would slave over gourmet food for Picky and his family, only to have his dad insult my cooking, Picky give me his usual backhanded compliments (if I got one at all), and his mom tell me that her best friend could make it better, and did she tell me how nice it was to be cooked for since she cooks all the meals when she visits her stay-at-home mom daughter?

She never even made a pot of coffee at my house, even if I had to be at the medical school for an 8 a.m. exam. I was late for one exam (and should have been turned away at the door, but luckily wasn't) because I had to make coffee for her and Picky's dad, and then she somehow forgot she had promised to take Z to school since they stayed the night before I had an exam with about one days' notice. They never, ever, ever asked me about my schedule before making plans that involved me and my family, even though every other member of the extended family doesn't work or go to school. They would make plans, and then inform me, and if I complained or tried to negotiate, I would have to brace myself for the guilt-trip and/or wrath.

But, I seriously don't want to turn this into a complaint-fest about Picky and his family. I am happy to revive this blog with new, fun posts about me and my kids. So, consider this the Picky-and-family exorcism. On to the fun posts!

Eggs with artichoke and havarti

2010-05-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yup, more eggs.

I made soft boiled eggs, and put them over artichoke bottoms, on which I had melted a piece of havarti cheese over a slice of Canadian bacon. It was delicious. The artichoke bottoms were from the refrigerator, however. They were too cold. it would have been better if I grilled them a bit first before I melted the cheese over them.

This is similar to a design it myself Benedict I order at one of my favorite restaurants: Croissants du France on Doral St. in Key West. They serve eggs in brioche, and used to have an artichoke Benedict. As is my curse, it is off the menu, but they still make it to order when I come. I get it with black forest ham and Hollandaise. This was similar enough.

Food tour of San Francisco

2010-05-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I just went to San Francisco for the ACOG convention. I managed to get in a fair amount of munching and food shopping. I even took a few pictures. Here is a wrap up.

It started in the airport. I forgot to bring ginger, which really helps me with motion sickness. I was happy to find a sushi kiosk where they let me take unlimited packets of pickled ginger. My traveling mates and I were a little alarmed by the suggestions that we put the chopsticks in our ears and nose.

I had grass fed steak tartare at A Girl and A Fig in Sonoma. It was delicious and tender, but a wee bit heavy on the Dijon for my taste.

Their other dishes looked delicious. My friend got a cheese sampler that was excellent.

We went to the Mayo Family Winery in Glen Ellen. The wine tasting was wonderful. I especially liked the Meritage and the Cab, which were really drinkable. The Pinot Noir was smoky and interesting, too.

The next morning I got a fresh mojito while overlooking the Bay to Breakers run. That may be one of the coolest events I have ever been able to witness, and I have been to Mardi Gras and Fantasy Fest.

We waited for more than an hour to eat at Mama's for brunch on Sunday. It was worth it. I had a shrimp benedict. My friends had a crab omelet and the cranberry french toast. They were all delicious, generous, and well made.

We went to Trader Joe's and to the Rainbow Co-op, where my old friend works in the produce department. My buddies and I had fun in the bulk department at the co-op. I secured my crystallized ginger for the flight back. One of my roommates got 2 buck chuck - a two dollar bottle of wine from Trader Joe's. It was surprisingly not toxic.

I had good Tom Kha Guy from the Thai restaurant in the hotel. The cafe across the street had delicious breakfast burritos that they made fresh with avocado. Even the welcome reception at the convention had good food, with some delicious pasta with black truffle oil. Anchor Steam, one of my favorite beers, was plentiful every where I went.

I didn't manage to get the best meal on camera. I got invited to a sponsored meal with Academic Ob/Gyn (thanks Sage!) at the XYZ restaurant at the W Hotel. It was fabulous. I had a picked beet salad, and an English pea and marscapone ravioli, with this scruptious light fresh green sauce. So delicious. Tiny, tiny servings, and everything was so good you felt compelled to share. I think they tried to mention that it was supposed to be tapas style, but the menu was grouped into courses, which made that difficult.

We went to Fisherman's Wharf. I got sourdough with havarti cheese melted on it. Umm, yummm. The place we got the bread (I forget what it was called) had a great little gourmet shop where I munched my cheesy toast and drank my Anchor Steam. If my bags weren't already overstuffed I would have bought out the place, with its cute utensils, books on cooking with artichokes and fig spreads.

Substitution nightmare

2010-05-05T17:23:00.001-07:00

I decided to make Moo Shu pork for some reason tonight. I had a weird assortment of pantry and fridge items, and figured I could pull it off. I sort of followed this recipe for Moo Shu Pork, and was going to follow this recipe for a gluten free hoisin sauce, which was already pushing it.

Well, we just started rolling out the pancakes when I figured out I didn't have any soy sauce.

None. Not a packet, even. I am almost ashamed to admit this: I used Worcestershire sauce. I swear. I am hanging my head in shame. I went through the trouble of making Moo Shu from scratch with pancakes from scratch, fresh scallions from my yard, and I didn't have any soy sauce.

Actually, it wasn't half bad. Z had a whole one, S had a whole one (he had already eaten pizza), Picky ate FOUR, I had three. Picky has never had Moo Shu, and he loved it. I hate to think what he'll say when he eats some made with real hoisin sauce and real soy suace.

Some fun new meals

2010-04-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have been continuing to do low glycemic / South Beach / Mediterranean style cooking and eating. I am not specifically looking to fit some sort of weight ideal or BMI, but I have blood sugar fluctuations and can tend toward disordered eating. I think eating a diet heavier in vegetables, beans, proteins, natural oils and nuts is better.

I don't agree with sweeping bans on categories of foods, including fruit, like in the induction part of the South Beach diet. I just happily munched down on a Fuji apple with peanut butter on it.

I am really happy Z and S, for the most part, have been very cooperative about eating my dinners, and have not peeped ONCE about a lack of a white starch at the dinner. As predictable, Picky has been the biggest obstacle.

Elevensies today: "Fresh" mozzarella, presliced (my new favorite grocery item), with home roasted sweet orange pepper, and chimichurri. Mmm mmm mmm.

Elevensies yesterday: soft boiled eggs and asparagus (made the day before, simmered in chicken broth)

Some South Beach diet, some cheezburger

2010-04-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

So, I have been mostly sticking to the South Beach diet. I have followed a low glycemic diet before, and I wanted to increase my vegetables. So, this is a good plan with recipes that fits with my ideas of what's healthy. And, hey, I went to high school on South Beach, so, I suppose it was meant to be.

This salad was divine. I made roasted orange peppers the night before, and they were so sweet, I am beginning to wonder if they are still low glycemic. Simply scrumptious. That, plus home grown tomatoes, spinach, fresh mozzarella, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Of course, more eggs. I made a version of the creamed spinach from the South Beach diet book with garlic, onion and sour cream, then made bacon, then poached some eggs, then made a bastardized version of the Joe's Stone Crabs mustard sauce (I have been there many times. I never have the mustard sauce. Why, when there's drawn butter? *drool*) and the mock Hollandaise. Picky tried to dump my sauce, but I intercepted it. It would have been a real shame, since it was delicious and made the dish. The whole dish was also divine. Unlike the salad, no one wanted to share this one. They ate leftover frozen pancakes. Their loss.

C'mon, have a bite!

So, all the deviations from the diet happened around S's 11th birthday. For his birthday dinner, he chose pizza meatloaf. But, I didn't want it to be just any pizza meatloaf, so I made a special sauce with bacon, and used fresh mozzarella on the top.

This smelled divine. It is a base for a "bold" spaghetti sauce recipe from Eating Well. It is similar to this version, also by Lidia.

Then, the next day he had some friends over. He had an "I Can Has Cheezburger" themed party. I made cheeseburgers, of course. They were darned good, I must say. I doctor them up quite a bit. I am not one of those "Don't overwork the meat" people. I am one of those "throw some garlic and stuff in there" people.

South Beach diet Day 1: breakfast

2010-03-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have started the South Beach diet today. I made scrambled eggs with chopped fresh spinach, mushrooms and shallots. I put salsa verde on mine. Picky and Z put shredded cheese and ketchup on theirs.

It was super delicious.

Now for some complaining about Picky, which is part of the reason why I keep this blog.

You may recall that Picky earns his name by having many food rules. One of the strictest that has led to fights between us involves eggs. In fact, I think our first food argument was over putting onions in eggs. His attitude: nothing but cheese, no way but scrambled. I tried to reason with him about other ingredients I know he eats in other contexts (i.e. the spinach, mushrooms and shallots mentioned above) and I get back a no, no way, no how response. I tried to tell him there is a difference between having a favorite way to eat something and being repulsed by all other ways to prepare it. Nope.

So, Picky did recently tell me he would go on the South Beach Diet with me. He flipped through the book, saw a few recipes for steak, and thought it would work. Well, first meal, first day, we lock horns. Every breakfast is some combination of eggs and vegetables. After another argument about it, I went ahead and made scrambled eggs with the above ingredients. He cleaned his plate, and when we were done, I asked him how they were. He said "Good."

*bang head*

Dark Chocolate ice cream recipe

2010-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

This is for Picky, since he wants to eat this more often than I want to make it. He is buying the half and half and asking me for the recipe.

2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Hershey's Dark Cocoa powder (not hot cocoa mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. finely chopped high quality high cacao content chocolate (I used Ghiradelli Bittersweet)

1. Heat the half and half and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 170 degrees, mixing occasionally. The mixture will form small bubbles along the edges, and will coat the back of a wooden spoon even if you try to scrape it off. (You can steep a vanilla bean at this point instead of using vanilla extract later).

2. Add powdered cocoa and whisk until combined. Let sit for 10 minutes to cool. (Remove vanilla bean if used, scrape seeds out and return seeds to mixture, saving or discarding bean).

3. Add chopped chocolate and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.

4. Cool, then put in ice cream maker, and follow instructions.

Optional addition:
1/2 teaspoon orange zest or instant espresso powder in step one.

Edited to add:

OK, Picky couldn't wait for me to post this, so he added 2 cups of sugar by mistake. So, we added another pint of half and half and a pint of whole milk, and we are tripling all the other ingredients. Sheesh.

Behold, this is how much chocolate goes into a tripled version of this recipe:

Superbowl / Beatles Rock Band party menu planning!

2010-02-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

I am menu planning for my Beatles Rock Band (Super Bowl) party. On the online invite, I called it "Football in the Front, Rock Band in the Rear". I am going to be playing rock band, but the cuisine is going to be New Orleans themed.

Here is what is on the menu:

Beignets and French Press coffee with chicory. I just got a new French press. Picky broke the four cup one, so I replaced it with a twelve cup one. Love. I am drinking more coffee lately.

Shrimp and chorizo tapas, but I am going to use Andouille sausage instead of chorizo.

Crab cake appetizers. These are from a box (gasp! no, really) My mom left them in my freezer when she came to another dinner party at my house, and I was nervous I wouldn't have enough to serve. I didn't use them then, and my mom swears they're delicious.

Dirty rice, based on a recipe from Cook's Country. I add extra pork, and am going to use pepperdew peppers in it instead of bell peppers. I am also going to use pepperdews (my new obsession) in vegetarian red beans and rice.

White salad and a broccoli cole slaw with homemade dressing

Pulled pork sammiches. I think I am going to add the liquid smoke I am buying for the vegetarian red beans and rice. I have never used it before, but I have heard good things about it.

And, last but not least, I wanted to make some chicken wings. I was racking my brain for a chicken recipe to fit the New Orleans theme, but I couldn't. Then, duh, it hit me! I will be altering this Bourbon style chicken recipe for wings.

I can't wait!!

Fearless comfort food

2010-01-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

It was unseasonably chilly in South Florida this week. We actually had frost on our windshields a few mornings!

I decided to make some warm, stick-to-yer-ribs comfort food this week. I made two of my favorite dishes that I have never made myself: chicken and dumplings, and shepherd's pie. I also made another new recipe: shrimp chowder.

The chicken and dumplings were absolutely delicious. We ate it too quickly to take a picture. I (mostly) used the recipe from my American Home Cooking cookbook. I already had homemade chicken broth, so I didn't use the chicken for the recipe to also make broth. I seared it and then braised it in the chicken broth, without boiling it in between to make a quickie, vegetable-less batch of broth as the recipe called for.

I made shepherd's pie with a lot of adjustments and combining of recipes. I also cheated and used ground chicken, since that was all that I had at home, and I didn't want to go brave the near freezing temperatures to get beef and lamb. I added a little bit of A1 and red wine to "beef" it up. I also cooked the potatoes for the topping in buttermilk, and then mashed them in the cooking liquid, as Cook's Country recommended just this month. Mmmm, tasty. I topped the taters with cheese and scallions. It makes for an ugly picture, but it was tas-tee.

This shrimp chowder with bacon and fennel was delicious. Our local grocery store had some lovely shrimp on sale. I was thinking of making a scampi, but I wanted to try something new. Picky made the mistake of saying he was "a little sick" of one of my dishes in the rotation, spaghetti carbonara, so I am going to be throwing some curveballs this week.

I entered in "shrimp" into my epicurious-on-the-go app on my phone, and this shrimp chowder recipe was the first one to come up. It called for shrimp, fennel and bacon, three of S's all time favorite ingredients. Since he will be gone for the long weekend, and this will be his last dinner with us for several days, I sent him off with a bang.

The recipe calls for adding the raw shrimp one minute before the end of cooking the chowder, then taking it off the heat, mixing in the cream, and letting it sit for ten minutes. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. Just past the underdone threshold. Barely not translucent. Bite, but no chewiness.

S and I both had three servings.

Maintaining the white / yolk balance

2010-01-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

I made macaroons for a favorite aunt:

(They're more attractive than what the bad photo shows)

I recently got a shipment of food from a local-ish farm. Their egg yolks are gorgeous, firm, and richly golden. I couldn't waste them, and didn't want to freeze them. As much as I love Hollandaise sauce, I am going to be alone over the next few days (yes. for real. amazing!) and would have to make a double batch to use all the yolks. I don't even think I could manage to eat that much Hollandaise sauce, and it's best fresh.

So, I used the handy interwebs search engines, and found this recipe for egg yolk cookies.

I didn't have orange or lemon extract. My mother in law makes spice cookies with cardamom and orange juice, and it's a tasty combination. I substituted a few things, added some turbinado sugar to the top, and came up with a sinfully rich, scrumptious cookie.

Cardamom egg yolk cookies:

Ingredients
• 1 cup butter (or shortening for cookies that won't spread quite as much)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Separately, beat egg yolks and add extracts.
3. Add beaten egg yolk mixture to creamed butter and sugar.
4. Blend well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and cream of tartar).
6. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended.
7. Form into balls about the size of a walnut.
8. Roll balls in sugar, place on greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet, and slightly flatten.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on desired softness/crispness.

My adaptation: omit lemon and orange extract. Add 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon dried orange peel to egg yolks in step 2, and 1 teaspoon of cardamom to the dry ingredients in step 5. In step 8, sprinkle each cookie with turbinado sugar, and then gently press the sugar into the flattened cookie.

*****

Next time, I will be making Avgolemono.

First two courses done!

2009-12-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

First, the chimichurri sauce:

Then, the dippers for the cheese course:

Then, the broth fondue:

Update with pics

2009-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the filtered broth:

I prepped the mushroom caps, and am going to prep some more of the veggie and fruit dippers.

More prep

2009-12-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

I diced the farm raised chorizo style beef sausage. I did it while it was still a little frozen, which made it easier. I stuck it in the fridge. I am going to saute it with sliced poblanos, chopped onions and diced garlic, and am going to add it (with a Corona beer) to Monterrey Jack cheese. Picky's mom has agreed to make fresh tortilla chips. I will also cut up fresh celery and apples.

New Year's Eve!

2009-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am party planning, again! New Year's Eve!

We will be having a three course fondue meal with the kids and Picky's folks.

First course: Monterrey Jack cheese with chorizo and poblano peppers, with corona mixed in. Dippers: homemade tortilla chips, celery, apples

Second course: a Court Bouillon broth, mojo style. I am making the broth custom now:

For both of these courses, I am going to be rubbing down the fondue pot with a sliced garlic clove or two. To simmer in the broth, we will have filet mignon, chicken breast, shrimp and mushroom caps. I will be making some sauces: teriyaki (store bought), a curry sauce, and chimichurri. Maybe some drawn butter for the shrimp, since I love drawn butter.

And, the of course course, the dessert: chocolate. I am using Ghiradhelli bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, and maybe a dash of Godiva liqueur. Dippers: pound cake, strawberries, bananas, and fingers!

Thanksgiving!!!!!!

2009-11-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! The best day of the year is here!

OK, forcing myself to post. I was so disappointed when I saw I didn't post at all last year.

The location for the event: my mom's newly (finally!) redecorated house.

The attendees: Everyone! My mom, both brothers, both their wives, one of their sons, one of their sets of in laws, my husband and two kids, and my in laws. Oh, and me! By last count, that's 14.

The meal: I am making the brunt of it, with help from my lovely sister in law, and presumably my mom, but she prefers to wander off and play with the grandkids most days. Which is fine, since I have serious cooking to do and can't be expected to do any serious kid wrangling!

The prep:

We have two 13 pound turkeys in my mom's fridge. I went yesterday and dry salted one of them. The other wasn't fully defrosted, so I did a wet brine with salt and sugar. My mom was supposed to drain, rinse, and pat dry that one this morning, and put it back in the fridge to try to dry out the skin a little.

The turkeys will be made in my mom's fancy new Viking stove. Even though she has the fresh new set up, I like my tools and my kitchen. Her kitchen is sparkly new and remarkably free of basic pantry items and useful hardware. So, I tried to do a lot of the prep yesterday. And, it'll save me stress over certain items that tend to be a pain the day of: namely, desserts.

So, last night I made this lovely looking English toffee pecan pie. If it got a blue ribbon from Martha, it's got to be good, amirite? It wasn't the Martha vote that got me, actually. My mom loves toffee and pecan pie, so I kind of had to make it once I stumbled across the recipe.

I prepped and chilled the pumpkin creme brulee to be. I hate it when I am rushed to chill it adequately, and end up juggling things in the freezer on a special occasion, desperately trying to chill it so the brulee-ing process doesn't heat it up again.

I made kale and pancetta. We will also be having green beans with persimmons and pancetta, and one of the turkeys will have salt pork draped over it for some of the cooking. So, definitely not a kosher or vegetarian friendly meal!

Oh, and speaking of more pork, I browned the sage sausage, and used the drippings to cook a B-52's Chrysler load of celery and onions for the stuffings. I also sliced the bread and let it get stale.

I want this book!

2009-10-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

My friends at Home-Ec 101 are giving away the book Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft. I loves food science!

Wish me luck.

Frenchees and bisque

2009-09-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

I made the most evil sandwiches the other night, based on a recipe from Cook's Country. They are called "Frenchees", and involve taking sandwiches made with white bread, mayonnaise and American cheese, coating them with cracker crumbs and frying them. Uhh, evil.

I tried to balance it out by serving them with shrimp bisque. That's classy enough, right?

Experimental salmon

2009-09-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I usually like salmon with a fruit based or sweet sauce. I love it with mango salsa or with a honey soy sauce. But, I bought a lot of gorgeous diary products from an organic farm, and decided to try something inspired by this recipe.

I have a beautiful Coho salmon fillet. I mixed herbed garlic goat cheese, chili stone ground mustard, mayonnaise, chopped green onions and parsley. Let's see how it turns out.

Review: I thought it was delicious. The topping was gently browned on top and very pretty. And I used to think baked salmon with cheese was a major no-no. Picky scraped off most of the topping and said he only liked a little coating of it. Z liked it. Both S and Picky say they like the honey soy mustard sauce better.

Already excited about Thansgiving

2009-08-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I am hosting Thanksgiving at my house!!

I am already getting excited about it. I may go buy this today.

I would love to buy this. I neither need it nor can afford it, but I love to go to the Le Creuset outlet store and lust at it. I may be only going to buy the gravy boat today so I can get a look at the braiser.

Chocolate zucchini muffins

2009-07-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

I am praying my zucchini, which has languished in my fridge for a week while I started my new fellowship, is still good. I am making chocolate zucchini muffins. This recipe is fantastic and I have used it before. I am so happy I found it again! I think it's almost healthy, since it has equal amounts of zucchini and sugar.

In fact, if I ever had a food business or a cooking show, I would call it "Almost Healthy." Somehow, I don't think that would work for a medical practice.

Food food food

2009-07-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

I have been cooking a lot lately, and it's been a lot of fun.

I am party planning (again). We are hosting a medium-sized pre-Independence Day dinner party tomorrow. I invited five couples over. (I originally called it a small dinner party, but I guess it's kind of relative what size it is.)

So, far, it will be a mostly Latin themed menu. I am planning on making grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, mojo style chicken drumettes, and lime garlic shrimp, also on the grill.

I am also going to make two salads on the side, a green salad with tomatoes and red onion, and a "white" salad with marinated mushrooms, chick peas, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, olives, and minimal green elements. I want to add roasted red peppers to it, but I have a friend who is sensitive to nightshades who may be attending, so I may leave those out.

I have a friend who will help tend bar by making mojitos.

I am trying to not buy too much extra stuff, since money is tight. I have one friend bringing dessert, a trifle with chocolate and kahlua that I am really looking forward to. I heavily hinted towards cheese-y appetizers. I hope we get some. I kind of want to go buy some anyway, because I am that kind of a hostess.

We will be attending 3 (3!!) 4th of July parties on Saturday. Two of them specifically ask for people to bring side dishes or beverages. Picky is pushing me to bring bottles of wine. I was thinking of making extra white salad. He doesn't really consume either.

Farmer's market deliciousness

2009-06-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

I am making tomato pie with beautiful fresh tomatoes. I stuck to the recipe pretty closely, except for putting in three times the bacon. Uh, yeah, I went there. I made it before and it was scrumptious, but there is a reason why our adopted family name is the baconderfers.

I am making garlic scapes on the side. They are so cool. I woke up dreaming about them this morning, and they were actually at the farmer's market! They are only there for a limited time each year. I must have felt their call.

I will be back with pictures.

F'ed up fish n chips

2009-06-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was making fish n chips with frozen bake em in the oven curly fries and tilapia I was chopping into chunks and battering myself. Well, I got the huge pot of oil going, and then realized I didn't have the cornstarch called for in the recipe.

I was annoyed from tearing apart the pantry for forever, so I quickly mixed together the dry ingredients, adding extra flour to replace the cornstarch, and poured the beer in.

Well, the recipe said I was supposed to reserve some of the flour and dust the pieces after I battered them. With thinner batter that had cornstarch. Somehow it turned out awesome.

Yum. Crunch. Evil.

click to embiggen the blurry photo. Sorry, I was eating when I took it.

Can I haz cheeseburger?

2009-05-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Heather from Home Ec 101 was asking about convenience foods. I think I found the scariest one.

Canned, entire cheeseburger. With bun, lettuce, tomato included. And a year shelf life.

(h/t Fark.com)

A little twist with a peel

2009-04-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ha, wow. My puns are as bad as my photography.

We had some orange marmalade that was a little tart for us to handle on toast. I have a dinner I call the 3 P's dinner (I can't believe I have never posted it here) that involves pork (usually country ribs), pineapples (usually fresh precut but canned will work in a pinch, and you may certainly choose to wrestle a whole one), and peppers (usually fresh sweet mini peppers but yellow and orange bell peppers work beautifully.)

Anyway, I am trying a twist on that recipe tonight.

I browned salt and peppered country ribs in a big pan with a few glugs of olive oil. I added chopped onions, and peppers. In a pot, a put I about a cup of pineapple juice (left over from the inauguration party) and most of a jar of orange marmalade with lovely slivers of orange peel. I added a scant half a cup of sugar. That reduced at a lively simmer into a syrup while the pork browned.

I poured the syrup on the pork after the pork browned on all sides. I added a bunch of minced garlic and chopped fresh basil.

Wish me luck. I may post reviews and pics.

ETA

It was a tasty, huge success. The schmutz of onions, peppers, garlic, basil and onion peel was scrumptious.

And as for the review, S suggested I take an "after" photo:

Easter supper

2009-04-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am making ham steaks with sage tangerine glaze and baby carrots, based on this recipe but quickie style. Hope it works!

I am also making macaroni and cheese and green beans. Yum!

Sundae and cupcakes planning

2009-04-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yellow and chocolate cake cupcakes (Homemade)
Cream cheese and chocolate frosting (Homemade)
Decorating icing
Various sprinkles
Mini gummi bears
Mini M n Ms
Shredded coconut
Chopped nuts
Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream
Hot fudge topping
Caramel topping
Marshmallow topping
Whipped cream (store bought)
Bananas
Cherries

Whew!

Now to make a shopping list.

Party planning

2009-04-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

I am planning a build your own party for Sebby's 10th birthday. Build your own pizza, build your own nachos, build your own cupcakes, and build your own ice cream. I am making decisions right now as to what I am going to cook from scratch and what I am going to make.

I am thinking I will get the premade pizza crusts, and not make my own. I struggled to come to this decision, but I think I can live with not making pizza dough from scratch. I know it would be tasty to do that and make it on the new charcoal grill that I have fallen in love with. But, I don't have to do that for twenty ten year olds. I will do that for the family some time. I will chop up all the toppings (OK, I may buy presliced olives and mushrooms). I will buy commercial sauce and preshredded mozzarella and Italian cheese mixes. I'm (gasp! shudder!) going semi homemade. I am buying the tortilla chips, not frying my own. Too messy. Too many kids. I love it when my mother in law fries her own, but I am not going to do it.

Sebby has specifically requested ham and pineapple so he can make so called "Hawaiian style" pizza. I will have toppings that can go on nachos or pizza on one table. Here is a list (I am using this for planning, so this may get edited):

Ham
Pepperoni
Bacon
Mozzarella
Italian Cheese Mix
Mexican Cheese Mix
Pineapple (Can go on ice cream too, I suppose)
Banana peppers
Chopped up tomatoes
Olives
Refried beans
Ground meat (w/ chili powder in it)
onions (in rings and chopped)
Basil
Shredded lettuce
Hot sauce
Mini sweet pepper rings
Sour cream
Guacamole

OK, I will be back with toppings for sundaes and cupcakes.

Venison stew and a new piece of hardware!

2009-03-10T15:32:00.001-07:00

Picky bought me a beautiful Le Creuset oval French oven in flame, to match my collection.

I am supposed to be studying, so I decided to stall by making venison stew. My wonderful, generous hunter neighbor shared some wild boar and some venison shoulder with us. I roasted the boar shoulder intact, but I boned the two venison shoulders, and decided to try to make a stew.

I pieced together some recipes and this is what I ended up with. Pictures and a review to come. Right now it is just stinking up the house with lovely smells.

I put a few T of oil in the French oven (any heavy lidded oven safe pot will do)
I made a roux with some flour (next time I may wait to add the flour)
I added the cubed venison and browned it
I added two onions, thinly julienned, let it cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally
Added about a cup of chopped carrots and three stalks of celery, chopped, and cooked a few more minutes
I added two cups of red wine, two cups of chicken stock (I would have used beef if I had it) and two cups of water. I scraped the lovely brown bits with a wooden spoon
I added a few T of concentrated tomato paste, a few springs of thyme, and four peeled, whole garlic cloves
I let the whole thing come to a boil, and put it in a 300 degree oven with the lid on for two hours
I am making egg noodles to spoon it over. Hope it's a hit!

Edited to add: It was a big hit. Dee-licious. It wasn't especially photogenic. I may add the photos at some point, but I haven't uploaded them yet, and I really really should study.

So, it was a fantastic party

2009-02-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

I had such a great time, and the food was so good and went so fast, I didn't have time to post bad photos of the food. I have been pretty swamped with school and family since then.

I will try to pop in and psot new recipes soon. We had a delicious lo mein today with julienned onions, baby corn, leftover steak and pork, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, soy sauce, mirin, sesame seeds, and noodles. Mmmmmm. I also have a huge pot of broth going. It's chock full of goodies: celery tops, onion with skin, a cheese rind, garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, carrots, and half a leftover chicken and a chicken base. Yum.

I lied

2009-01-20T12:45:00.001-08:00

I made the Ahi tartare. And skewered the shrimp. And pureed the tasty marmalade.

Now I may be ready to face the won ton assembly. Sheesh. Wish me luck!

Pineapple marmalade

2009-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Pineapple marmalade is simmering deliciously on the stove. I tripled the amount of pineapple and almost tripled the sugar. It has a little pinch of red pepper flakes in it. I am tempted to add some shredded basil at the end. The marmalade is a dip to go with the fried brie and macadamia nut won tons. I am going to start making the shrimp skewers (to go back in the fridge). Then I'll start prepping the won tons.

Pictures to come.

Inauguration party

2009-01-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

Countdown to the inauguration celebration and food orgy!

I happened to get a Hawaiian cookbook for Christmas. I figured since Obama was born and raised in Hawaii, and I want to try some of the recipes, why not have a Hawaiian themed event?

I am not calling it a luau, and I am not serving poi. But I am serving some potentially yummy stuff from Hawai'i Cuisine by Chef Sam Choy. I just finished making a batch of traditional Lomi Lomi salmon, a dish with diced smoked salted salmon, tomatoes, red and green onions and chili pepper flakes.

I am about to make one of my own salad combinations: chick peas, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, olives, some fancy onions, some greens from the garden, some fresh herbs from the garden, and some dressing.

I am roasting some sweet peppers and some garlic for an antipasto. I, uh, burned some asparagus that I forgot I put on the grill. I never should cook anything while I'm eating dinner.

We are really enjoying our new charcoal grill.

Seasonal eating

2009-01-03T13:52:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, even in South Florida suburban living, you can eat with the seasons. I received a lovely, loaded New Year's ham bone from my mother in law. Neither Picky nor S will eat any beans. So, I went off in search for a ham bone recipe sans beans.

I found this recipe for Somma Borscht aka Weed Soup.

Of course, summer for Russian Mennonites is winter for Floridians! So, for this seasonal recipe, I have a seasonal bone and what is growing in my garden.

I am changing the recipe a bit (but of course!) I have dill (in the recipe) growing in my garden, but the main bitter green I have is arugula. So, I am subbing arugula for the sorrel in the recipe, which I have in abundance. I usually grow French sorrel in my garden, but not this year. I am not sure if that is the same species of sorrel in the recipe. I also decided to add some chicken broth to boost the broth flavor.

I will post pics and reviews soon!

I have two words for this recipe. Yuh and ummmmm. It was a big hit.

We had it with crusty grainy bread chunks and sour cream. Except for Picky, who doesn't do sour cream. Unless it's in paprikash.

Planning a feast

2009-01-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

I am going to hold a bye bye Bush, hello Obama party at my house. It is going to be a Hawaiian themed party. I am very excited to use my new Hawaiian cookbook. I got it from a conservative brother in alw who is married to my liberal sister in law. So, I am sure one will be pleased, and the other, not so much.

Many fancy things planned. Stay tuned!

Yin and yang

2008-12-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

So, my garden is full of the liberally maligned arugula. It's getting more and more peppery as it gets older, and it's a little too strong to eat very much of it raw.

I love chimichurri on steak. I wanted to make a chimichurri inspired garnish for the porterhouse we were having for dinner tonight. But, with the arugula, which was too peppery to have raw. So, I sauteed onions, diced small (too bad I used the shallots last night!)in olive oil and butter and added finely chopped arugula. I added red wine vinegar and garlic and pepper. Yum yum!

So, does arugula get more conservative cred if it is paired with steak?

I ended the meal with a great combination: a yummy red Spanish wine and chocolate zucchini bread.

Chicken soup

2008-12-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Picky revived the camera, so I wanted to post a picture of this beautiful soup I made in the middle of last semester. A friend from school turned puppy dog eyes on me and told me "I'm sick. Take care of me." So, I made her (and the family) my basic chicken soup recipe, but this time with shells and spinach instead of egg noodles and cabbage.

It was delicious, and she gave me caramel apples in return when she felt better! That's a good trade.

On vacation and cooking again!

2008-12-27T17:17:00.001-08:00

And, my camera seems to be working again! Hooray, more crappy pictures!

Tonight was yummy. I made the cheesy broccoli and rice casserole from Cook's Country magazine. I substituted shallots for the onion. Sorry the full recipe isn't available. You make the long grained rice like risotto in half and half and chicken broth, and precook the onion (or shallot) and broccoli before baking it with a crumbly breaded topping.

I served it with shrimp skewers (S's favorite) and chicken wings (Z's favorite).

Picky even had two shrimp!

Experiment that paid off

2008-10-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

I bought some acorn squash, planning to roast them with sugar and butter. But, tonight I got a wild hair (is that how that saying goes?) and decided to cube it up and add it to pasta. It was delicious. Peeling and cubing even half an acorn squash is a royal pain in the arse, however, so if you can get it already prepared, go for it.

So, I will try to remember everything that went into the dish. It was really tasty, even though Picky did his best to hide his worried face when I said I was putting acorn squash in the pasta.

I sauteed the cubed, peeled acorn squash (1/2 of a large one was all I could handle, but a whole one would have been better, in retrospect) in 2 T of saved bacon grease (if that grosses you out, just use butter) and 2 T of butter
I added half of a diced onion
Just over a pound of mild Italian chicken sausage, whole
and few handfuls of mild rainbow colored mini peppers, cut into thin rings

After the sausage was browned on both sides, I added a few T of concentrated tomato paste, a few T of diced garlic, 1/2 cup of chicken broth covered it and let it simmer

I made a pound of angel hair pasta

I added cup of water when the sauce reduced, and cut the chicken sausage into bite sized discs and put them back in the sauce and made sure they were cooked all the way through. I sprinkled a T of flour over the sauce and sausage and added a cup of sour cream and salt. I tossed in the pasta and put lots of fresh grated parmesan over it. Yum yum, and everybody ate it. S picked around the squash (you can't win 'em all), and Picky had three helpings!

It's a sign!!!

2008-10-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's a sign from above.

Sarah Silverman, The Great Schlep worked!

My husband bought a loaf of challah bread, a traditional Jewish egg bread, at our local grocery store. This store is west of Fort Lauderdale, and it has total Jewish grandparent cred. I have run into more than one Holocaust survivor there.

Well, when I opened the loaf yesterday for breakfast, lo and behold, one of the pieces bore a striking resemblance to a certain presidential candidate. I decided to go ahead and toast the bread, and my ~~piece of crap~~ eccentrically cooking toaster oven came up with this browning pattern completely on its own.

Hosannah!

I probably should have saved it, maybe should have tried to make a run of the talk show circuit or I could have sold it on eBay. But, I ate it with butter and blueberry preserves. Obama toast is just too tasty to resist!

I love this recipe!

2008-10-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe for butterflied chicken over potatoes that I love. Roasted chicken with crispy skin is total comfort food for me. And, it's something I totally do not have time to make. I made it with TWO chickens last night and it still only took 50 minutes to cook. I throw carrots in the bottom with the potatoes.

Ironically, I was looking the recipe up online last night to use again, and read the intro a little more carefully. It's from my favorite cookbook, the New Best Recipe, which I have. On my shelf.

I highly recommend it. With the carrots added, you have your main dish, starch and veggies all done with little to no hands on work.

Z's birthday meal

2008-10-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

So, on the morning of his birthday, Z asked for macaroni and cheese and bacon. I had to add peas, because I am like that. Picky asked three times if Z asked for the peas. I almost threw peas at him.

It turned out really yummy, and it was actually quite popular. So was the ice cream cake!

Z's birthday

2008-09-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

Z's birthday is tomorrow. I am bringing cupcakes with green icing (his request) to his school. I am also getting an ice cream cake for dinner. I am not baking either. I have a quiz, two written exams and a practical exam this week. I think I can deal with store bought.

I asked him what he wanted for dinner tomorrow night. Here are his suggestions:

String cheese
Eggs and bacon
Nachos (the he said "S likes those!!")
Muffins
AND cake!!

Uh, I have no idea what to make him for dinner tomorrow night.

Progress at 11 a.m.

2008-08-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

I think the worst of the storm is over. We lost electricity for about 5 seconds.

The oven is heating for the almost no knead bread. I am going to put the quest muffins in right after, while the oven is still hot. The chocolate zucchini bread is fantastic. But, we are out of sugar! The horror! How am I going to make the chocolate chip banana muffins?

I may have to hunt down an open grocery store.

Hurricane bake o rama

2008-08-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

We have the day off tomorrow because of Tropical Storm Fay. I will do what I always do on a storm day. I will bake my ass off.

Tonight's plans: Make some no knead bread dough to rise overnight.

Plans on the agenda:

Chocolate zucchini bread
Banana chocolate chip muffins
Quest veggie muffinsand of course, the no knead bread.

Total Le Crueset Action

2008-07-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with a retro flame colored Le Crueset pan almost a year ago. My mother in law was with me when I bought it.

Well, she just gave me her collection of Le Crueset from the 70's that she doesn't use anymore. There are three more pieces not shown, and corresponding lids to almost all the pieces. I am in enameled cast iron heaven!

Thanks Mama J!

Yet I do it again!

2008-07-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

OK, I am caught up with the Next Food Network Star. (Thank you Tivo!) Aaron rocked this show! His food has always been consistently great. As has Shane's, and it breaks my heart. I can see why he was eliminated. This isn't Top Chef. It's a show about being a TV personality, and he is not an extrovert. Too bad, because he seems like a phenomenal chef. He should go to France for a few years, then comeback and be their French Iron Chef. You don't have to talk too much on that show.

I am rooting for Aaron now. Out of the final contenders, I think it will be Aaron or Lisa. Adam has the best personality for it, easily, but he just isn't a good enough cook. Kelsey has an OK personality and is an OK cook, but I don't see any of the judges really rooting for her. She is too little and cute, and always seems younger than the 19 year old that was on the show.

Aaron and Lisa are both good chefs. Aaron is so likable when he is just interacting, I hope he can pull it together when he is doing a demo. Lisa is not nearly as likable or adaptive. I guess there is a snobby fusion element to the Food Network audience the she would fill. She would definitely balance out the Nearly Home Made fiasco they have on now.

OK, I swear I am done.

I can't believe I'm doing this

2008-07-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging about a reality TV show. *shudder*

I love The Next Food Network Star. I am rooting for Shane. I can't believe he is only 19! He is an incredibly good cook. And, he's a cutie pie. I can't believe he used to be grossly obese. I like some of Lisa's food, and I thought I would hate her designer diva attitude, but she has softened up a lot. I like Aaron's food a lot, but he sucks in front of the camera. Too bad, because candidly, he is funny and unique.

I am really disappointed that I never got to see The Gourmet Next Door. I really liked Amy last season.

OK, I'm done, I swear. I should be sleeping, really. And to top it all off, while I was watching the show and dreaming of taking a year off of school to go on the show, I was eating buttered pasta. Yeah, fancy fancy chef. They should give me a show or something.

Edited to add: Ack! I just went to the food network site to read more about the last season, and there is a link to Shane's exit interview! No!!!!

Islamorada Fish Restaurant

2008-06-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite restaurant. Picky and I ate here on a rare private date while we were in the Keys. Thanks, family, for baby sitting!

Picky got a mahi fish n' chips basket. I am not picky (note the name of the blog), but I generally do not enjoy mahi. I am always happy when he can order some fresh mahi when we are out, and this is as fresh as it gets. You watch the boats come in as you eat.

I got blackened Florida lobster tail with roasted garlic, over a Caesar salad. It was divine.

Notice both pictures have bites missing. Whoops! We were hungry and I didn't think of taking pictures until we both had some to eat.

Since we've been back

2008-06-16T12:24:00.001-07:00

I made a great spread on the spot when my sister in law and her friend came over with their kids to swim in our pool. I love cooking informal food for a group like this. So much less pressure than dinner, to me.

I made some delicious mojo chicken wing drummettes and sliced mild Italian chicken sausage on my new panini grill pan. (Thanks MIL! It worked great. Works well for bacon, too! Now I just have to make paninis...) We also had shrimp skewers, mostly for S, who has been asking for them.

Dessert was also for S. Mango shortcakes, with homemade vanilla whipped cream. I followed the Cook's Ill Best Recipe recipe for strawberry shortcake. But, Z is allergic to strawberries (which he feels the need to tell me every time we eat) and S loves mangoes. I picked up four beautiful mangoes from Robert is Here farmer's market on the way back from the Keys, and they were taunting me. They turned out so good, even Picky, who normally doesn't like fruity desserts, scarfed his down.

I actually think this is a good photo. Am I crazy? Am I improving? Look back at the photos of the frittata and the boar...not bad, right? (Ignore the biscuits and gravy and the cheesecake...)

Father's Day dinner was good, but suspiciously similar to last year's. Ribs, peppers, shells and white sauce (instead of mac and cheese), chocolate brownies.

Where to begin?

2008-06-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Just because I haven't put up any posts on here in a little while, it doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. Like a fiend. I went to Sugarloaf Key to stay with my in laws and cooked the entire time.

Most of the stuff came from Paula Deen's new all chocolate special edition cooking magazine. Why did I buy it?

Here are some of the highlights.

This is the flourless dark chocolate cake. I thought it looked so pretty puffed up out of the oven. It is supposed to fall, however.

I served it with a white chocolate sauce (recommended in by Paula) and with a dark chocolate sauce, in homage to the Two Chefs restaurant in Miami. That is how they serve their chocolate souffle. I thought it was much better without the sauce, it was so sweet. Next time I make it it will be sauceless, maybe with whipped cream or berries, and I may reduce the sugar a bit.

This is an awful photo of the malted chocolate cheesecake. It was excellent. The crust (which contained a box of whoppers, chocolate graham crackers, and butter, was way too hard. But, I used a 9" springform pan instead of a 10", and probably didn't reduce the amount of crust material enough. Or, whoppers could make hard candy like crusts no matter what, who knows. I will have to get a 10" springform pan and find out! Bummer! *adding to Christmas list*

I also made creme brulee, but that is so old hat I don't even take pictures anymore. I have perfected the art of not scorching the tops as much. Yum! The other stuff was normal breakfast and dinner stuff. I made tilapia with a recipe that Picky's mom supplied. It was very similar to my tilapia and greens recipe, but instead of the greens on top, it called for a crust with breadcrumbs, parmesan and potato chips. It was tasty. Picky's mom made johnnycakes, like her mom used to, in that kitchen, every time she made fish.

Picky took camera phone pictures of our fancy lunch out. I will post those later.

A new twist on an old muffin

2008-06-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

You can teach an old muffin new tricks. My latest makeover for my chocolate chip banana muffins" happened at about 9 p.m. before the last day of school, when I realized that I didn't have any chocolate chips. Huh? I always have a plethora of chocolate chips. I had already started making the muffins, so it was too late to switch. I split the batch in two, and added cocoa powder to one half. I put it in two ziploc bags and cut the tips off to make bobo pastry bags, and squeezed them into the cups together.

Sorry for another horrible picture. I need to read an article on food photography.

Obscene food porn

2008-05-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I made biscuits and sausage gravy from scratch for breakfast today. I am going overboard with this vacation cooking thing. This is my first time cooking with shortening *shudder*, I think. I bought the "0 grams of trans fat" per serving variety by Crisco (I wanted to organic shortening by Spectrum, but forgot to buy it at the health food store, and they didn't have it at the local grocery store). I think it may be zero grams as a technicality, since there are partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients. Anyway, the biscuits were obscenely good, and the trace trans fats may be worth it.

Must...stop...cooking...

2008-05-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking like crazy since I got out of school for the summer. Even during the weekend right after, when Picky's folks were here and we went out for every meal, I managed to drag everyone back here afterwards for crème brûlée.

I made chicken soup yesterday with broth from scratch, and chocolate chip pumpkin loaves. I baked a loaf of almost no knead bread today and can't stop munching on it. I need to save the rest for sandwiches for tomorrow's lunches.

I made a scrumptious wheatberry salad today, with sauteed red onions and wild mushrooms. I have had three servings already, and it was supposed to last the rest of the week. I am taking a break for dinner since I am so full from munching all day, and Picky had a luncheon after work.

Berry nice dinner

2008-05-01T16:42:00.001-07:00

I cannot resist rhubarb.

I am supposed to be studying. Finals are coming up. I am two weeks from being done with my first year of med school!

But, when I was at the grocery store yesterday, they had rhubarb. I couldn't make it with strawberries, because Z is allergic. I love the raspberry rhubarb preserves from Robert is Here, Florida's quirkiest fruit stand. So, inspired by those, I decided to buy raspberries to go with the rhubarb. I had already grabbed some blackberries because they were a good price and looked delicious.

Tonight we had a wilted spinach salad with red onions, pomegranate balsamic dressing, toasted slivered almonds, goat cheese and the blackberries. After a fish with brown butter course, we are going to have these tarts. I threw in some blackberries, too. The constant chilling steps were annoying. Let's hope it is worth it. Pictures to come.

ETA: Picture up! Hey, my photo isn't half bad this time. Random!

Crossing my fingers

2008-04-24T16:34:00.001-07:00

I have an experiment in the oven.

I browned a pound of crumbled Italian pork sausage. I microwaved a bag of baby spinach for a few minutes, in batches, and squeezed out the liquid. (Awesome trick, might I add.) I chopped up the spinach and some white onion.

I drained the pork and wiped out my Le Crueset pan. I sauteed the onions in butter, added the spinach and some diced garlic, sauteed it lightly, then turned off the heat. I had preheated the oven to 400.

I added cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese (a yummy aged American one I found - so tasty!) and four beaten eggs. Into the oven it went.

What should I name it? Spinach pork frittata pie thing?

Not a boring return

2008-04-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I made wild boar tonight.

No, for real!

My neighbor is a native Floridian (like Picky and me). He has hunted in central Florida for years. Today he gave me some wild boar that he shot with a bow and arrow.

I just had a recent conversation with someone about "eating meat that you know", so I figured I'd put my money where my mouth is. I just took a parasitology and mycology test in med school today, so it seemed fitting to eat some exotic wild meat with a questionable refrigeration history. (My neighbor swore he kept it on ice the whole time).

I butterflied the tenderloin (pictured) with a mojo marinade and fresh homemade mojo on the side (a Cuban orange juice and garlic sauce) on my cast iron grill pan. It was worth smoking up the house - it is a beautiful night tonight anyway, and now we have the windows open. Everyone loved it. After the kids had a bath and a shower, they saw me eating the cold leftovers of the boar, dipping it the sauce. They clamored for more - and ate it cold, too. It was a big hit. I think it helped that our neighbor shot it with a bow and arrow.

The hindquarter (picnic butt?) piece that I got is cooking on the stove right now, pulled pork style.

Mmmmmm taco night

2008-03-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am on spring break! I finally have some time to cook.

I wanted to use my latest batch of roasted hot sauce, so I made some key lime chili marinated chicken, sauteed some sweet peppers and onions, and served warm tortillas, fresh shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and we made our own soft tacos. Yum!

Since I can't drink a beer...

2008-02-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

I am cooking with beer. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew were in town this week, and I bought some fancy white beer for them. They are gone, and i like the dark stuff. Besides, I am studying. Always.

So, I am making Sweet Italian pork sausage from Whole Foods, with shredded Napa cabbage, onions, garlic, salt and pepper and a Hoegaarden. It smells divine. I am resisting adding peppers or any herbs. I usually make sausage with tons of fresh fennel tops and bottoms from the garden, but I feel like dressing it down tonight.

Foodie plus Picky equals...

2008-01-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

Foodie plus Picky equals organic milk (I bought) on the Cinnamon Toast Crunch (he bought) for the kids' breakfast this morning. Our kids are going to be warped.

Using my present

2007-12-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

I looooove my new Le Creuset Buffet Casserole (in flame). I got it to replace a stainless steel pan that I use constantly that is separating at the seams on the bottom. I wanted something that was oven proof, and mainly because of the dish I am making tonight.

This is an adapted recipe from Eating Well magazine. I blogged about the original recipe and gave the link here. But, even though I am only one hour from Kumquat Avenue in Coconut Grove, it is hard for me to find fresh kumquats in my regular haunts, even my farmers market that has a pretty extensive variety. So, I make mandarin orange tagine. Seemed like a decent replacement. Picky loves mandarin oranges, and it is much easier to keep two cans of them and a can of chick peas (Picky and S eat around them) than it is to source the fresh kumquats all year.

Mandarin Orange Tagine (adapted from Eating Well magazine)

1 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, slivered
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
3/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/8 t ground cloves
1 14 0z can vegetable broth
2 cans Mandarin oranges (22 oz), drained of juices
1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed
1 1/2 T honey

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Heat oil in an ovenproof casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add chicken; cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes. Stir in coriander, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper and cloves; cook until aromatic, about 20 seconds. Stir in broth, oranges, chickpeas and honey. Bring to a simmer.
4. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the broth is bubbling and somewhat reduced, about 1 hour.

I can't make up my mind...

2007-12-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

...if I would try one of these if I was offered one.

Cookies with Bacon

Anyone care to weigh in?

Happy holidays!

2007-12-18T06:08:00.001-08:00

The ones in particular that happen today are:

My brother's birthday (Happy birthday bro!)

and National Maple Syrup Day.

I am planning on celebrating both. I made French toast for breakfast (totally by coincidence) and I will be dining with my brother tonight.

Satan chicken

2007-12-17T14:37:00.001-08:00

I had to buy it. Not only is it the perfect size, but it is the chicken from Hell.

I will be using a high roast method, which seemed appropriate.

Done!

2007-11-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

My mom showed up and I got way too busy to post anymore. I finished everything, we all pigged out, and I am SOOOO full. We didn't eat the pie, which is ironic, considering how much time I spent on it, But, it looks beautiful, and I am having a leftovers potluck tomorrow that I am sure it would be perfect for.

Checkpoint

2007-11-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

Cranberry sauce, done

Hey, all youse who like it from the can. You have obviously not tried this recipe. It has fresh orange zest, not peel. It is imperceptible, texture wise. I also added a few tablespoons of Grand Marnier. Mmm mmm.

Now I am going to make oyster stuffing. Mostly for me. Stuffing (or dressing, as my father called it) is the most important part of Thanksgiving. Oh, and I am simmering giblets for the gravy.

Checkpoint

2007-11-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

As of 2:20 p.m.:

Pie, done

Camera, acting up (damn!)

Turkey, in the oven with cornbread apple and sausage stuffing (dang, forgot to put in almonds. I think they will go in the oyster stuffing to make up for the mushrooms. Don't question my logic, because I am NOT going back to the store.)

House, cleaned by husband Picky, who even ironed the table cloth and napkins. Love ya, honey *smack*

Kids, playing up the street

Mom, told to hold back and wait since the kids aren't here and she isn't that into cooking

Beer, open

Feet, up

Note to self

2007-11-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

PE coaches do not make good assistants when trying to delicately peel rolled out dough off of parchment paper.

Dough is torn and then rerolled, AGAIN. I will NOT be trying the transfer to the rolling pin method again. This time I will try to peel off one side of the parchment, flip the whole thing over into the pie plate, and then peel off the back. Right after my head explodes.

Rrrrrg stinkin pie

2007-11-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

I had noooooo pie plans. None. I am not a dessert maker in general, and tend to shy away from baking or anything that takes too much precision. But, my mom handed over about 6 pounds of apples and some refrigerated pie dough made by a chef for an event at her school that fell through.

I have been wrestling with the pie. Rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper was a dream. I mastered this clockwise 1/4 movement that my cookbook recommends. Then, just as I tried to wrap it around the rolling pin, Z, the 3 year old, senses the horrible timing and comes in to "help mommy" by grabbing the pin. Well, the dough fell apart, and as annoyed as I would like to be at Zach, I think some of it had to do with it being at least 10 degrees warmer in my kitchen in South Florida with the windows open than it is in most kitchens. So, I am chilling my rolled out dough before trying the transfer. Wish me luck!

Now to go tell Coach Stu to corral Z...

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

2007-11-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Good evening, and welcome to my Thanksgiving play-by-play.

First the menu:

Breakfast:
Croissant breakfast sandwiches

Snackies throughout the day and hors d'œuvres:

Grapes
Pear and apple slices
Crackers
Hard salami
Port Salut cheese
Camembert cheese
Manchego cheese

The big dinner:

Roasted turkey and gravy
Honeybaked Ham (Coach Stu gets this every year - he insists on having it)
Oyster stuffing (shit! I forgot to buy mushrooms!)
Apple sausage and slivered almond cornbread stuffing
Green beans with almonds and persimmons
Mashed potatoes
Macaroni and cheese
Baked sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon

For dessert:

Pumpkin crème brûlée
Apple pie

I was very unmotivated earlier, and didn't get home from shopping for Thanksgiving until 9 p.m. tonight. I have to start the pumpkin crème brûlée tonight so it can chill. I also am making at least one pie if not two tomorrow morning, and then the turkey goes in the oven. So the crème brûlée is in right now.

I have a confession. Food has been falling in my lap this week. Not only did I not cook my own pumpkin because my mom gave me two huge cans of pumpkin today, but I also have pie dough in my fridge she gave me, and a tray of mashed potatoes and a tray of macaroni and cheese in my freezer that were untouched leftovers from a school function. I usually insist on making everything from scratch, but it was hard to turn any of that good fortune down.

I will make and effort to update this post and link to recipes if I got them from online.

Parmesan ties it together

2007-11-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the time to blog ~~at all~~ that much since starting med school. I still cook as much as I can. I rush home before evening review to try to squeeze out a hurried homemade meal. Sometimes (OK, all of last week) I forget to defrost meat for dinner. So, we had carbonara pasta, tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and roasted brussel sprouts (thanks Stefania!). All with freshly grated real Parmigianno-Reggiano on it. Yum yum.

Happy breast cancer awareness month

2007-10-06T19:05:00.001-07:00

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So, get aware, y'all!

I haven't posted in a while, since I am now in medical school. Not as much cooking, not as fancy cooking, not as much picture taking, and not as much blogging.

But, I had to share my breast themed banana chocolate chip muffins that I made for the bake sale. Yummy!

Splatter

2007-08-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is what happens to my kitchen when I make pulled pork. Ahhh, but it is sooooo worth it.

Mini molten chocolate cakes with mocha sauce

2007-08-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Served with French vanilla ice cream. Mmmm mmmmm.

Picky's "only like THIS" list

2007-06-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine just stumbled on my post about what Picky WON'T eat. That reminded me that I still have to post his conditional eating list. I am sure I am going to miss some on here, but let's give it a whirl.

Tomatoes only plain or with salt, when served on the side. I make a yummy balsamic vinaigrette, but he won't eat it. Even though he will eat tomatoes in salad with dressing, or on a sandwich with mustard, and will eat balsamic vinegar and oil in other capacities.

Nothing in his eggs except cheddar cheese. No onions, juevos rancheros (of course, my favorite way to eat eggs) no tomatoes, no spinach, nothing. Oh, and only hard scrambled. No boiled, poached, fried, etc.

Pancakes, French toast or waffles only with fake corn syrup based syrup. No maple syrup. I can use maple syrup as an ingredient, but not on his breakfast cakes.

While we're on pancakes, no fruit in them. And no jelly. On anything. No fruit baked in anything. No fruit pie. No mango cheesecake. No apple stuffing. Fresh fruit only.

No mayo except on BLTs or in tuna salad.

Cereal only dry, no milk. I think this is common.

Only certain nuts. Almonds, peanuts, and that's about it. No nuts in cookies or brownies. He'll eat 'em, but he'll b*tch and moan. No peanut butter, especially not peanut butter and jelly (see above on jelly) and he is even sickened by the plate or smell. He will eat peanut butter cups, Nutter Butters, Reese's Pieces, and the like. I have found most "picky" people have a lot of their pickiness evened out by a level of processing and crap ingredients to balance out whatever the offending natural food is. (I am sorry, is that too sarcastic? I really do think it is true. I had a friend who wouldn't eat shellfish unless it was breaded, fried buffalo shrimp from frozen. WTF is that?)

There is a whole category of Picky's "ehhhhhh" foods. He will eat a couple of bites of them, but only for my benefit. If he was still single, all of these foods would be replaced by Krsipy Kreme donuts. I will post that list another day, when someone reminds me.

Comedy of errors dinner

2007-06-20T12:45:00.001-07:00

I decided I wanted to make a variation on the dirty rice recipe I had been using from a copy of Cook's Country. I already fudge the recipe a little bit by leaving out the chicken livers. Even though I roast whole chickens almost every week, they don't all come with giblets anymore, and I would be the only person in the house that would appreciate the addition.

So, I had some mild Italian sausage I was planning on using. I noticed that it was chicken, not pork sausage. The original recipe uses ground pork. No big deal, I thought. I will stick to the recipe, otherwise, and I am sure it will turn out great. I had already decided to omit the seasonings in the recipe, some dried thyme and stuff, because the sausage was already delicately seasoned and we were all big fans of it.

I was browning the meat, and I started chopping up the onion. I used red onion instead of the usual yellow onion because that is what I had, and I wanted to use some of it for the salad. I went to the fridge to get the celery, and there was no celery. I also didn't have a close substitute for the bell pepper. I have used roasted red peppers and sweet mini peppers as substitutes, but I had neither. I desperately scrambled around in my fridge. Zucchini and spinach. What??

I ruled out the zucchini. I didn't know how it would affect the liquid ratio for the rice. I took the spinach and figured I could add it in and let it cook down, and it would barely make a difference. I threw it in after the onions were cooked through.

Next ingredient: chicken broth. One whiff of the carton in the fridge told me I needed a back up plan. Nope, of course there wasn't another one in the pantry. But, there was a carton of vegetable broth. Well, since I used chicken sausage in the recipe instead of pork, it would add chicken flavor to the broth. OK, vegetable broth it was.

Then time to add the rice. What?? I only had 3/4 of a cup of rice, and the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups. No. No no no no. I can't just throw in polenta and call it an even trade. I dug around and found another bag of rice. Whew! But, I was so flustered that I forgot the recipe called for removing the meat and vegetables from the pan and draining them while you cook the rice and broth in the pan with the browned bits. I dumped the rice and broth in with the meat and vegetables and then realized what I did. Oh well, too late. I covered the pan and hoped for the best.

Fifteen minutes later, I had beautiful, buttery , flavorful rice with yummy meat and soft veggies. It was delicious, and Picky and my roommate said it was better than the original recipe. Whaddya know.

Picky's Father's Day Menu

2007-06-17T12:42:00.001-07:00

Salad with fresh tomatoes and red onions and cheddar cheese and my salad dressing (Even my no veggie eatin' brother asked for seconds on salad. Seriously)

~~Buffalo wings~~ made with my roasted hot sauce (Oops, forgot to buy the wings when I went to the store. We had tons of food, anyway).

Sweet mini pepper "poppers" with roasted hot sauce and cheese

Corn (Red and white sweet corn. It was delish)

Smoked BBQ baby ribs with a dry rub, homemade BBQ sauce on the side (Killer)

Mac n cheese (I used Paula Dean's recipe. Ehhhhh, too eggy)

Brownies a la mode with hot fudge ~~and mini M n Ms~~ (No one wanted the M n M's. I made the brownies with new Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. They were the best I have EVER had, I am serious).

Oh, yeah.

Pictures now posted!

Fluffy mackerel pudding!

2007-06-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me this hilarious collection of 1970's recipe cards, complete with snotty commentary and disgusting pictures. The Melon Mousse looks like something you would serve at a Return of the Living Dead picnic. "I can smell your brains...oh, yeah, they're right here on this cake stand."

If that was what I was serving myself to eat, I think I would actually lose weight. Hmmm, they may be onto something.

Pizza meatloaf

2007-06-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

S is back home after being gone for a week. I asked him to pick any dinner for me to make for him, and he picked pizza meatloaf. Appropriate, since I came up with the recipe when he was three and his own version of picky.

(Sorry about the awful picture. I can't decide whether to leave it up or take it down. As my dad would say "Well, it tastes good, but I sure wouldn't want to step in it!")

I have made this with all kinds of ground meat. Beef, pork, turkey, buffalo, and mixes of them all. Tonight I have equal parts ground chuck and pork. I have also used all sorts of vegetables. I put onions in everything, so I always have onions in my pizza meatloaf. I have used broccoli, cabbage, shredded broccoli slaw, mushrooms, various squashes, celery, whatever I have lying around.

Chopped produce, of the pizza compatible variety, about 2 cups (this time I used zucchini, yellow squash, onions, celery, and mushrooms)
3 lbs of ground meat
2 eggs
2 tablespoons diced garlic
Oregano (I use 6 drops of oregano oil, but that is an obscure ingredient. Use at least 2 T of fresh or 2 t of dried oregano)
2 tablespoons double strength tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (C'mon, you KNOW you have stale bread. Don't be lazy!)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 bag of shredded mozzarella or 1 good sized ball of the fresh
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large casserole dish (I use an oval shaped pyrex dish) arrange produce.

In a large bowl, add meat, eggs, oregano, tomato paste, salt and pepper and bread crumbs. Mix just until combined. (I use my hands. If you're not into that, use a utensil of your choice, but I can't think of one that would work as well. You can be like Alton Brown and wear latex gloves....kinky!)

Heap the meat in an oval shaped loaf above produce in casserole dish, not tapering too much at the ends. Pour the jar of tomato sauce over it. Put in oven.

After 1 hour, take out and dump cheese on top. Cook until cheese is melted and instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees F in the center, about another 45 minutes. Enjoy!

It's great over spaghetti the next day.

Back with a vengeance!

2007-06-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I got a new camera for Picky for an early Father's Day present. Picky has taken to cooking up batches of my cookie recipe every other day or so recently. There is NO way I am getting into shape for med school this summer.

I went all out for dinner tonight. I was happy S was home from his dad's house. I made French onion soup, green beans with persimmons, and a T-bone with wild mushrooms. It was S's first experience with French onion soup (one of Picky's favorites) and he loved it.

Fast food ads versus reality photos

2007-06-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

This post comparing advertisement photos of fast food and real items ordered at the same restaurants is a hysterical post. We used it for a hearty laugh and one of those unscripted educational experiences in which I don't even need to lecture one word.

This bowl of "dog food from the planet Krypton" (thanks, Slashfood) can be found at your local KFC.

Quest veggie muffins

2007-06-01T06:38:00.001-07:00

A friend just reminded me about these muffins. Funny, because I was thinking about making them. I can't believe I haven't posted the recipe here!

I had a fantastic savory muffin in a health food co-op, Sevanandah,(sp?) in Atlanta's Little Five Points area. This was a good 12 years ago at least. It was so good, I remember it. It was moist, salty, and full of tons of shredded veggies. I finally came up with something that fills my savory muffin void. It is not the same - the original had squash and zucchini, and may have had cornmeal in it. But, I call these my quest muffins, since I finally made a good shredded veggie filled muffin after ten years of not being able to find one for sale anywhere near where I live.

Ingredient explanation: broccoli slaw is commonly available in the produce section of my regular grocery store. It is bagged, raw, and shredded broccoli, carrot and cabbage.

Quest veggie muffins
Makes 24 muffins

3 cups all purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 T baking powder
2 t salt
½ t cayenne pepper
¼ t black pepper
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 bag (12 oz) broccoli slaw (or 1 ½ cups shredded veggies of your choice)
2 ½ cups milk
6 T unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 ½ cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat 12-cup muffin tins with nonstick spray

2. Blanch broccoli slaw. One method: Boil water in a medium saucepan. Submerge veggies into boiling water for one minute. Strain and submerge in an ice bath or run under cold running water. Set aside in a colander to dry out.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne and pepper together in a large bowl. Mix in cheese and veggies, breaking up any chunks, until cheese and veggies are coated with flour. Whisk milk, butter, egg, and sour cream together in medium bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (batter will be heavy and thick). Divide batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle Parmesan over batter in each cup.

4. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool before eating.

Salad dressing

2007-05-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

While I don't have my camera, and due to another request for it, I am FINALLY posting my salad dressing recipe. Which is one of the reasons I started this dang food blog. And, the other reason was a loaf of bread I never tried making, so there.

Hilary's Honey Miso dressing:

3-4 tablespoons miso paste. (It is the only obscure ingredient but I can get it at my local grocery store, refrigerated in the hippie section. If you have a choice, get mellow yellow or white, not the red. It has been carried at every health food store I have ever worked at, and it should be available at Asian markets. It lasts FOREVER and it is actually a great condiment/ingredient for other purposes, too, including the obvious bowl of soup. I use it to cook chicken sometimes, and it is delicious.)

Grated ginger, at least a T
diced garlic, at least a T
honey, at least 2 T to taste
flax oil, about a cup (this can be substituted with olive oil or any other oil, but since I make a big batch and keep it in the fridge, I prefer flax oil because it stays liquid when refrigerated, unlike olive oil)
Apple cider vinegar, about 1/2 a cup
Trocomare, which is a herbed salt blend. Can be replaced by salt and pepper
You can add fresh herbs if you are fancy.
Blend and enjoy. I almost always tweak it based on taste testing, add a little more oil if it is too tangy from the vinegar and not creamy enough, add some honey if it is not sweet enough, adding garlic if it is not garlicky enough, etc.

The kids love it. Picky loves it. Everyone who visits loves it. My ex husband used to carry it with him to work for his salads - heh, I hope he misses it.

Kumquat tagine

2007-05-22T13:41:00.001-07:00

I wish I had my camera. This was such a yummy and pretty dish. The recipe is from Eating Well magazine. A tagine is a Moroccan stew. I have never had kumquats before, and they are yummy. And, kumquat is fun to say! Kept us giggling and making bad jokes all through dinner.

Tagine is also fun to say, except that it reminds me of someone I don't like's nickname for the female genitalia, and we can just leave it at that.

I also like this meal because Picky loved it and said I could make it again, and it had CHICKPEAS in it! Don't tell him.

I would eat this...

2007-05-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

I love blood pudding, and curry goat, and all sorts of other strange entrail and weird body part based foods. I would eat this.

Would you?

Picky does Mother's Day breakfast

2007-05-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

I love big weekend breakfasts with Picky. He makes really good breakfast potatoes. Today, I got to sleep in. When I couldn't stand the yummy smells any more, I ventured from my room and found this breakfast with these smiling faces waiting for me! Yummmmm!

Happy Mother's Day!!