a Little aside

Here's a fun Little itunes trick. Make a new smart playlist. Make it follow the rules
year is 2008
AND
playcount is more than 4.

Boom, you have your favorites for 2008.

For a slightly more flexible version make the rules
date added is after 1/1/08
AND
date added is before 1/1/09
AND
playcount is more than 4.

This will give you your favorite songs that you added to your collection this year.

Dinner with Friends

I had my friends C & E over for dinner the other night. We had a great time enjoying my favorite things, listening to good music and drinking wine.

We also made some good food. This Beef Burgundy is a Rachel Ray recipe but it is a good, easy one. It's one of her 30 minute meals. It usually seems to take me 40 minutes and it's easy to stretch to an hour, in a social situation.

Rachel's Recipe

If you use the pearl onions, as she suggests, it is better. I always have a couple of regular onions around and find this tastes almost as good, with no additional cost or labor. I also just put this over whatever pasta or rice I have lying around. There may be better meat choices than sirloin. I'd recommend a juicier cut, more like a ribeye. Not enough cooking time is involved for proper "slow and low" cooking to tenderize the cheaper cuts. You could get away with the sirloin or stew beef. Just start with a little more liquid and cook it for longer. Near the end of the cooking I like to stir in a little milk or cream. It helps with the overall consistency of the sauce and adds a smoothness to the flavor.

Breakfast for the office

Every Friday, someone at our office makes breakfast for everyone. One signs up, gets a forty dollar budget, and presents a breakfast. I'm pretty sure I went over budget (imagine) but I just added the ingredients I needed and the $40 to the weekly grocery budget and made the numbers work.

First off, this is work. This is my first time cooking for 50. I believe I put in around 5 hours.

The Menu. Swine free Denver omelet.
Biscuits and gravy omelet. French toast cobbler.

Recipes are reduced down from 50 to 6-10 servings or so.

Swine free Denver omelet
Vegetarian option

I 16 oz carton egg beaters
2 8 ct. tube biscuits
1 red pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
10 mushrooms, sliced
1 package of shredded mexi cheese.
sprig of rosemary

Spray a 9x9 pan with non stick spray. Line the bottom with the biscuit dough, pressing it flat to fill the gaps and piercing repeatedly with a fork. Place in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes or until the bottoms just start to brown.

Saute the veggies in some olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers, and the rosemary. Stir in half the cheese and the egg beaters. stir until eggs JUST begin to set up, then pour over the biscuits. Top with remaining cheese. Place back into the oven for 45 minutes or until internal temp gets to 140. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. garnish with diced green stuff, salt and pepper.

Biscuits and gravy omelet

1 package smoked ham diced into half inch chunks
1 onion diced
2 potatoes, sliced
2 8 ct. tube biscuits
1 16 oz carton egg substitute
half stick of butter
3-5 tablespoons of flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup buttermilk

Spray a 9x9 pan with non stick spray. Line the bottom with the biscuit dough, pressing it flat to fill the gaps and piercing repeatedly with a fork. Place in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes or until the bottoms just start to brown.

Saute the potatoes until brown in olive oil. Layer them into the baking dish. Saute the onions and the ham until onions are translucent . Add to the baking dish on top of the potatoes. Now pour the eggs and cheese over the top and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Reduce stove heat to medium. Add the butter to the ham and onion pan then, stirring with a whisk, add flour. Once the flour browns just a little, add the stock, continuing to stir. Next add the milk and the buttermilk, still stirring. Raise the heat a Little until mixture comes to a soft boil. Stir until gravy is just a little thinner than your target as it will set up as it cools.

Remove baking dish from the oven and pour the gravy over the top. Top with remaining cheese. Return to the oven for a further 25 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. garnish with diced green stuff, salt and pepper.


French toast Cobbler.
6 granny smith apples, sliced
half stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 loaf french brioche Cut to 1/2 thick
3 packages frozen berries

french toast batter
1 cup milk
some nutmeg and cinnamon
4 eggs
a Little vanilla
Topping:

• 2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch fine salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

Syrup topping
2 cups of sugar
4 tablespoons corn syrup
some cinnamon
water

Cut the bread and lay it out to dry. This will help the bread absorb the french toast batter. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.

Melt 1/2 sick of butter in medium low heat. Add the brown sugar. stir until incorporated. toss the apples in this mixture until warmed.

Dip the half of the bread slices in the batter, lining the bottom of the pan. Pour the apples over the top. Now dip and place the rest of the bread for a second layer of french toast. Top with both bags of frozen fruit. I used blackberries and blueberries.

In another large bowl, mix together the nuts, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the topping. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, gently work in the cold butter until pea-sized lumps are formed.

Top it evenly with mixture and bake until berries are bubbly and topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes, rotating once halfway through cooking.

While baking, make the syrup. In a pan add the sugar, frozen berries, and corn syrup into a sauce pan. Fill with water until it just covers the fruit. Boil until berries split, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then liquefy the mixture in a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of real maple syrup (this is the key secret ingredient.)

Remove pan from the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spoon out portions, covering as liberally as you please with the berry syrup.

This is not a low calorie breakfast, but it is delicious comfort food.

Bacon. one of three

My Friend, CJ came over the other day to hang out and cook some holiday appetizers. As we discussed our favorite holiday dishes over a pot of coffee, a trend emerged. Bacon.

Now, of course bacon is always tasty and delicious, but especially so, in this season of comfort food, of hot food on chilly Winter evenings. One of CJ's strong seasonal food memories is a classic appetizer from the middle sixties, bacon wrapped water chestnuts. We headed to the kitchen.

These are very simple to create. I like thin sliced bacon for this one or you end up with something like bacon wrapped bacon. (more on bacon choice in further posts.)

One can of whole water chestnuts
1 package bacon
skewers

We wrapped the chestnuts in bacon until there was about a half inch of overlap, then skewered through the seam and the chestnut. You could manage this without skewers by just laying them on a cookie sheet, seam side down. Delicious bacon can also be glue.

They went into a 450 degree oven until done, about 15 minutes.

While we waited we reduced a mixture of equal parts water, sugar and vinegar, with a couple of tablespoons of fresh pepper to create a pan sauce. The water chestnuts, warmly ensconced in their delicious bacon coats, went for a turn around the pan, then off to the plate.

Liberally garnished with Italian parsley, crushed red peppers, salt, (I salt my bacon) and more pepper.

Let the leftovers continue

This should be the last of the leftover ingredients posts. I've just about made it through the remainder of the Thanksgiving stores. I am pretty pleased. While I did go vastly over budget on the feast grocery shopping I have made those ingredients extend for a week with some really good meals.

So, I had leftover....
Whipping cream
Turkey
Brussels sprouts
Pine nuts
Parmesan and Provolone cheese.

So I put that together with some bow tie pasta for some Alfredo. Aside from clearing out some leftovers, this was ridiculously simple to make and looks a Little fancy. It's also remarkably quick to make. Once the pasta was cooked, the whole thing took less than five minutes to make.

I tossed the turkey and the Brussels sprouts in the microwave for a few seconds.

Next I melted a quarter stick of butter over lowish heat, then whisked in a half cup of the cream, until it just came to a simmer.
Next I drizzled in about a cup of shredded cheese, again stirring to combine. Then, I removed it from the heat and tossed in the pasta.
The turkey and sprouts went into the pan and the whole thing went onto the plate. I managed to hold off my Om Nom Nom Nom instincts just long enough to garnish it all with some freshly cracked pepper and another grating of Parmesan Reggiano.



A couple of notes:

Blogger doesn't exactly make it look easy to follow a blog, but it is. If you have a gmail login, this works, here. Otherwise, an account is free, comes with a gmail address and doesn't require your own blog....

Also, I ran across an interesting article on healthy takeout. Take out is a regular part of of our lives, whether we like it or not. none of us can, or want to, cook every meal.

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/make-take-out-as-healthy-as-home-cooking/article15996.html

When you just can't take the leftovers any more.

So for the past few days, I have been content with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Now I'm over it. I cannot face another turkey sandwich.


When I did my grocery shopping, I may have gone a Little overboard. Aside from over spending, I also find myself with several ingredients that weren't needed for our feast and that I don't want to waste.

In my pantry I had left over fennel, onions, garlic and some homemade stock.

I also happened to have some pasta and some sweet italian sausage.

Mom #2 makes this great Italian soup. This seemed a perfect way to make use of these ingredients without revisiting the flavors of Thanksgiving.


I received some feedback from the first post that you would like to see recipes. When possible I will provide these.



WHITE BEAN, FENNEL AND SAUSAGE SOUP

8 Servings

2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, skinned and crumbled
2 medium or 1 large fennel bulbs (about 1 pound) coarsely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil, firmly packed
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 28-oz. can Italian peeled tomatoes and juice
2 cups cooked white beans such as cannellini or Great Northern, rinse if canned
1 cup cooked macaroni or small shells
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated
Fennel leaves for garnish

1. In large heavy non-reactive skillet, heat the oil. Stir in the sausage and cook over high heat until well browned, about 5 minutes. Drain off all the fat. Lower the heat to moderate and add the fennel, onions, garlic and parsley. Cook until the vegetables are just crisp-tender, 10-15 minutes.
2. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes with their juice. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. When ready to serve, stir in the beans and cooked shells and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow soup bowls with grated parmesan and fennel leaves on top.


Enjoy your leftovers.

Thanksgiving Feast. Or An auspicious time to begin writing on food.

As we race headlong into the holiday season and the dawning of a new year, we focus on family, giving, sharing thanks, and quite importantly, good food. This seems to be an excellent time to begin a blog discussing the merits of eating well, and my desire to do so, consistently.

As I enter this time of year and my own new chapter of life, in Atlanta, Georgia, I decided to celebrate these moments by inviting family to my home and hosting my first Thanksgiving feast.

Brunch: Those of you who know me well will not be surprised to learn that we started with Brunch. In a slight nod to the cuisine of the southern United States we began our day with Fried Green Tomatoes Eggs Benedict.




Once the time came to prepare dinner, we kept our bellies occupied with wine and some roasted fennel topped with Parmesan cheese.

The main course began with a warm frieze salad dressed with bacon and blue cheese.


Then it was on to our entree.


Wild mushroom and aged provolone turkey roulade.






This was topped with a cranberry pomegranate sauce and served along side some sauteed Brussels sprouts



and some butternut squash gnocchi.

It was, probably, the best meal I've ever been a part of preparing.

After resting up, drinking some more wine, and a fierce interlude to attack some dishes, we tucked into a sweet potato pecan pie (courtesy of Mom) with freshly whipped cream.

(if you can, note the Terra Trace, O-1 crew in the picture)

I would like to extend unending thanks to the two best sous chefs you could ask for. I had no idea how ambitious it all was and could never have pulled it off without the help of Mom and Cheryl. Major points to you two for hand whipping the cream!

It was an amazing holiday and a wonderful meal.

Now, what to cook?