If you like Scallops, you will love this

We love scallops. And this dish takes scallops to a new height. This is very elegant looking dish from the Pampered Chef dinner in 29 minutes cookbook, volume 2.


1 medium head of cauliflower about 1 ½#
½ C water
2 C lightly packed fresh Italian Parsley sprigs
1C fresh baby spinach leaves
¼ C sliced toasted almonds
½ C half and half, divided
1 oz parmesan cheese, grated, about ¼ C.
1 garlic clove
1/1/4 t salt, divided
3T EVOO
1T butter
16 large scallops, or 1 ½#
1/4t ground black pepper

Cook the cauliflower and prepare the pesto.
Cut the cauliflower into florets. Place cauliflower and water in a microwave proof bowl with cover and cook on high to the weight your microwave tells you to for the weight of your cauliflower. Meanwhile put the parsley, spinach, almonds, 5T half and half, cheese, garlic and ¼ t salt in the food processor. Process until smooth. With the processor running slowly add 2T EVOO. Pour pesto into a small bowl and rinse the processor bowl.

Drain the cauliflower and place in the food processor with the butter, 3T half and half and 1/2t salt. Process until smooth and keep warm.

Cook the Scallops
Add the remaining 1T EVOO to a 10” skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Season scallops with remaining 1/2t salt and the black pepper. Cook 4-6 minutes. Do not overcook.

Place ¼ of the cauliflower in the middle of the plate and spread out. Surround with a thin strand of the pesto, again using ¼. Place ¼ of the scallops on the cauliflower. Repeat with the other 3 plates.

It is so interesting to eat with Jim.  "What's the green stuff/"  "Are these mashed potatoes?  Your kidding, cauliflower?" 

Jim served Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc with the meal. It went perfectly.

Good weekday meal

This is an Everyday Food recipe that I thought was good, but Jim said it was too messy to serve to company. Some of the soft bones were not extracted by me before serving. Jim has a problem with bones. If he perceives a bone, electric volts shoot from his head like an alarm that hoots danger, danger. He must have liked it as I ate for 1 and the other 3 servings are gone. It is called Apple Braised Turkey Thighs. I encountered a big problem, no thighs in any of our stores. I used turkey legs. They have lots of soft bones, to remove after cooking. With this meal I served mashed potatoes and steamed spinach. The “gravy” is really delicious and good for you, no fat, and no cream.


1T EVOO
2 turkey thighs, about 2#
Salt and pepper
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 Cortland or Granny Smith apples, peeled, quarter, and cored
2C apple cider
14.5 oz low sodium chicken broth
2 t cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium Dutch oven heat EVOO over medium heat. Season turkey on all sides with salt and pepper and add to pot, skin side down. Or in my case I turned the legs every 2 minutes as they said to brown for 8 minutes. Remove to a plate. They then say to brown the shallots for 5 minutes. Mine would have been burnt to a crisp in 5 min. After 2 minutes I added the apples and sautéed all for 5 more minutes.

I returned the turkey to the pot and added the cider and broth. Bring to a boil and then cover and put in the oven for 1 ½ hours covered. Remove the cover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Take out the turkey and cut the meat off the bone. Add the cider vinegar to the pan. Serve this as gravy to cover the meat and potatoes. I liked the meal, but I have always preferred turkey dark meat. I’d really like to make this with turkey thighs. Jim served a 2007 Concannon Merlot that he aerated into a decanter. It was very good.

Meatless Meal

Rainey and damp today; I can sure understand why people move to AZ. Jim and I ran a million errands today and for dinner I kept it simple. We have Linguine with Roasted Asparagus and Almond Pesto. This was after an afternoon struggling with my printer. Jim said, turn it off and reboot. It seemed to work. So much hassle.


Serves 4-6

¾# asparagus
2C grape tomatoes
1/4C EVOO
1/2C almonds
1/4C fresh basil leaves
2T Parmigianino- Reggiano
1# dried linguine
Ground pepper

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.

Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on one half of a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange the tomatoes on the other half of the sheet. Drizzle both with 1T of the oil, season with 1/4t salt and toss to coat. Roast on the top rack for 20 minutes. Put the almonds on another rimmed sheet and roast on the bottom rack for 8 to 10 minutes. Mine finished in 7. Be careful they burn fast. Put the almonds, asparagus, but not the tips, basil, cheese, ½ t salt, and 3T oil in the food processer. Pulse until a course paste is formed. Mix the pesto and the pasta in a bowl. I needed about ¾ C of pasta water to make a sauce. Add the tomatoes and asparagus tips and toss again.  This is very good and very filling.

We had Concannon Chardonnay with the meal.

Sunday Supper

Tonight’s dinner consisted of the salad leftover from last night and catfish. I grew up on catfish and I love it. Yes, it was mostly fried and mostly consumed at Grandma’s house where the fishing took place. The salad from last night stores beautifully. Following is how I usually fix catfish. I have no idea how I came upon this recipe. I remember first making it in Gulph Mills, PA.


Soak the catfish filets in milk or buttermilk if you have it. Put cornmeal in a pan with salt and pepper. Tonight, instead of the pepper, I used Singapore Seasoning from Penzeys. Heat a fry pan with  a couple T of EVOO. When it is hot, add the catfish that you have coated with the cornmeal mixture. Cook 3 minutes per side and serve.

The wine Jim served was a 2007 white Tuscan wine, Terre di tufi by Teruzzi & Puthod; it was a dry, crisp white with a fruity, zesty finish.

Saturday night

I started the day by visiting my friend Sally who has brain cancer and had suffered a debilitating seizure. She is doing amazingly well, and that is in part due to the devoted care given by her husband John and her upbeat attitude. Jim played in a golf tournament . As dinner time rolled around I realized that it had gotten colder and the Sweet Potato Barley Salad as dinner would make Jim very unhappy. So I called him and he picked up some NY strip steaks on the way home. He will suffer through anything good for him if I also serve him beef. He cooked the steaks, medium rare, on the grille. I sprinkled the steaks with Penzeys Chicago Steak Seasoning. Here is the recipe for the salad which by the way was delicious. I got this recipe out of BHG recipe contest. This recipe won Kim Van Dunk of NJ $400. She says makes 8 side-dish serving; as a whole meal 2 is about right. We have leftover as we were having it as the only accompaniment to the steak.


1C regular barley
1C frozen edamame, shelled
1 large sweet potato
1/3 C EVOO
¼ C balsamic vinegar
1t garlic salt
1C fresh baby spinach
1C golden raisins
2 medium carrots, shredded
½ C thin red onion wedges

Rinse barley in sieve under running water until the water runs clear. In a medium saucepan bring the barley and 3 cups of water to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes, drain. Rinse under cold running water until cooled; drain well.

Meanwhile, prepare edamame according to package directions. Scrub sweet potato and pierce several times with a fork. Microwave 5 minutes or until soft. Cool enough to handle, remove skin and dice the potato.

For the dressing, whisk to combine, EVOO, vinegar, garlic salt and black pepper. Arrange the barley, sweet potato, edamame, spinach, raisins, carrots, and onion on a serving plate and pour on the dressing.

This dish is excellent and I certainly could have enjoyed it as a meal. Jim actually pronounced it good. It was a stroke of genius on my part to add the steak or I would have spent the meal with Jim puffing his cheeks out like he is about to gag. As it was he was smiling and chatty, served good wine and fell asleep on the sofa. The wine was a 2000 Chateau Haut-Bages Averous (Pauillac). This wine is not at peak yet, but with big tannins it was a very good accompaniment to the steak.

Friday Salmon for Lent or any other time

What a busy day. My goal was to frame two pastels, but the glass guy didn’t deliver the size glass he was supposed to. I spent most of the day doing simple elevations for the builder as he had a million questions about cabinetry that the official drawings do not answer yet as we are only in the schematic phase for the house. At 8:00 PM Jim came out of his cave and said, “Are we going to eat?” I had dinner ready in 30 minutes.
Today’s recipe also came from my trainer. She was here today and we discussed yesterday’s recipe that I was not real happy with. She told me the following. The recipe is better with the pork than the chicken, but better for you with the chicken. I told her my objections and we came up with some other solutions. Use chicken thighs, rather than the breast, or leave the breast whole and then at the end, shred the chicken. I said I would use 2 cans of black beans next time and only one can of water. She said that she also likes black beans and often adds more. Finally we both agreed that we might try it with turkey kielbasa.

Spiced Rubbed Salmon from Everyday Food

This was to be a grilled recipe, but today turned rainy and nasty cold again. So instead of grilling the salmon and cabbage, I cooked the salmon in my speed cooker and the steamed the cabbage.

2t chili powder
1t ground cumin
1 t brown sugar
4 5 oz. salmon fillets
1 small cabbage cut in 6 wedges
2- 3 T EVOO
1 large carrot
Orange wedges

In a small bowl mix the chili powder, cumin and brown sugar with ¼ t salt and 1/8 t pepper. Rub the spice mixture on the salmon. If you are actually grilling, brush the cabbage wedges with 1 T EVOO. I just put mine in a steamer with salt and pepper.

If grilling, they say for the salmon 4-6 min and the cabbage 6-8min. If using the speed cooker, set the time based on the instructions for the number of salmon pieces. I started the cabbage before starting the salmon. All was great at the same time.

While all the above is cooking, peel the carrot and using the peeler, cut in long wide strips. When the cabbage was done, I chopped it and mixed it with the 2T EVOO and the carrots. It needed a little more salt and pepper.

I served up the salmon and the cabbage mixture and instructed Jim to squeeze his orange wedge on the cabbage. Jim pronounced this meal excellent. For him to pronounce cabbage excellent is a miracle. He loved the addition of the orange juice on the cabbage. Supposedly this meal is $3.30 per serving. I don’t really know as I buy the fresh salmon at Costco and cut it up and repackage it to serve us. Also it serves 4 and we have none left. So technically I served Jim for $9.90 and me for $3.30. That’s cheaper than eating out. Also this is a great Lent Friday meal.  Jim served a 2003 Serra Fiorese Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Classico Riserva. Simply said, this was a dry, rich white wine from the Verdicchio grape and went very well with the meal. 

This recipe comes from my personal trainer through cdKitchen.com. It is a Crockpot recipe and as today was pastel class I decided to use it. In addition to the recipe you need to make rice to accompany it.


1# black beans, cooked, I used canned
1# boneless pork or chicken, I used chicken, cut in 1” cubes
1t chili powder
1t ground coriander
1t salt
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 16 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
2C water
Ground pepper
Cilantro leaves

Put beans in the crock pot. Toss the chicken with the chili powder, coriander and salt. (Might have been better to marinate it overnight) Mix the tomatoes with the beans. Add the onions, garlic, chicken and 2 cups water. Cover and cook 9 hours on low.

Ladle over rice and garnish with cilantro.

When I came home from class, the house smelled divine. It tasted good, but the chicken did not absorb any of the flavors and tasted wooden. Maybe the pork would be better. Friday Donna and I discussed the recipe.  She says that yess, it tastes better with the pork, but the chicken is better for you.  We came up with the following.  Use chicken theigh meat instead of breasts.  If using breast meat, cook in the mixture whole, then shred the brests.  Finally we thought turkey kielbasa would taste wonderful in thins dish.  Jim served beer, Warsteiner Oktoberfest. It went very well with the meal.

Stuffed red peppers

This recipe comes from Paula Deen’s Kitchen Classics. I bought this cookbook at her restaurant when we visited. I have made this recipe before, but wanted to make it again to be on my blog. The first meal I ever made for Jim was stuffed cabbage. He sat down at the table and said, “I used to throw up over this.” I told him better luck next wife. If I was cooking, I was making what I liked. I hadn’t cooked a day in my life before getting married and moving to Michigan State University married housing. I spent the entire day on that dish. I think it was a Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. Recently I discovered in Paula’s cookbook this recipe for stuffed peppers, another favorite of Jim’s. Ha ! Ha! I don’t exactly follow the recipe so I will tell you what Paula says and what I do.


4 large red bell peppers, I buy them in the packages with yellow, red and orange

¾ # ground chuck

½ # ground pork, I substitute ground turkey for both

1 med. onion, fine chop

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 t beef bouillon granules

2t The Lady’s House Seasoning, I use Penzeys Chicago Seasoning

1C cooked rice

½ C jarred Old El Paso Cheese and Salsa

½ C sour cream, I use Greek yoghurt

1 C diced tomato, I use canned drained

½ C green onion tops

1T soy sauce

1C hot water, I used left over chicken stock and eliminated the 2nd t of bouillon granules

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the pepper in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and ribs. Sauté the turkey, onion, garlic and 1t of the bouillon, and seasoning until the onion is transparent. If you are using turkey there will be no fat. She says drain the fat. Add the rice, cheese, yogurt, tomatoes, green onion and soy sauce. Mix well and stuff the peppers. Place in a shallow Pyrex pan to just hold. Pour the chicken broth or water and bouillon into the pan around the peppers. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and baste the peppers with the broth and return to the oven for 15 more minutes. Jim ate this with no complaints as opposed to the other standard stuffed peppers. He says no tomato yuck and no green peppers; this is absolutely delicious. We had a 2007 Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi.

Leftovers

This was a true creative leftover night. It has been rough. First I was really ill, then we had the potluck dinner that I blogged about with a multitude of leftovers. Then Max got very sick. He was really ill Saturday night and we (Jim) were taking him out all night every hour. Sunday he seemed to rally and I thought that my home remedies were working. Last night said no. We went next door to Elaine’s and she made us her version of enchiladas with green sauce. (Remember Elaine has endured 2 of my disasters.) It was very very good, but not the chicken enchiladas I was looking for. We get together for Dancing with the Stars and last night was the new season. So while you were at the Opera, watching the BBC or at a play, we were watching Dancing with the Stars. The beginning was much better than all of last year, so we are hanging in as fans.


I am calling tonight’s meal Lamb Stoop. Stoop is a Rachael Ray term that is between stew and soup. I cut up the leftover lamb in small pieces. In the pot I put the bean recipe that I made with the lamb. I added leftover rice that the Vet did not want us to continue feeding Max, and 3 cups of chicken broth. I simmered it together and served with the leftover cheese sticks. It was much better than eating the leftovers separately again.

I actually had a great day for a gloomy rainy day and worrying about a sick dog. My friend Joyce called yesterday and asked me to come for lunch and bridge today. I called my trainer and she graciously agreed to come at 8 AM so I could attend. I met new people and played with old ones and no one asked for my head. I came in last and Joyce had prizes. I came home, booby prize; with a great wire Easter bunny holding African violets. It was a gracious and beautiful day. Tomorrow I start really cooking again, so hang in there with me.

Risotto pancakes by Mike from the Potluck Dinner

Risotto Pancakes
Olive oil (or Butter, olive oil is my preference)
1 medium onion chopped
2½ cups Arborio rice (use Spanish or Italian, not Texas or California)
¾ cup white vermouth or white wine
6 cup chicken or veal broth
Pinch saffron
Pepper to taste
1 ½ cups grated cheese parmesan or similar cheese


· Heat chicken broth to almost boiling and keep warm
· Heat olive oil in heavy sauce pan and sauté onion until translucent, do not brown ( about 8 minutes)
· Add rice and heat for about a minute or two until the center of the grains become clear
· Add vermouth and cook at low heat until all wine has evaporated (keep heat low to medium low and stir)
· Add 1 or 2 ladles of chicken broth and stir until all is absorbed (there will be a lot of stirring in this receipt)
· Add saffron (stir)
· Continue to add chicken broth a ladle at a time and stir until the rice is cooked (about 25 minutes)
o The idea is to have the rice absorb the broth, not to boil the rice in the broth
o After the rice has been cooking for at least 20 minutes check frequently for doneness
§ It will become creamy, at this point you know you are getting close
· The rice goes from hard to al dente quickly
· When the rice is done pepper to taste

o Do not add salt as the cheese will impart quite a bit of salt flavor
· Add cheese and heat until well melted

· This makes enough risotto for 6-8 people
At this point it is Classic Risotto Milanese can be served as a first course or side dish to the entrée, if not

· Allow to cool

To make the pancakes:
You need,
One egg
Olive oil
Grated cheese

· Add one egg and mix thoroughly

· Portion out in 1/3 cup dollops (allow 2 per person)
· Heat electric skillet to 350° or medium heat on the stove (nonstick pan works best)

· Add dollops to hot pan and flatten to desired thickness or place dollops on wax paper and cover with a second sheet and flatten to a suitable size
· Cook for about 5 minutes per side or until it reaches the desired level of brownness
· Just prior to when the pancake is done add a good size pinch of cheese and allow to melt
· At this point the pancakes can be served or placed in a warming oven until needed

Enjoy, Mike

Cheese StrawAppetizer from Suzanne at the Pot Luck Dinner

Parmesan and Cracked Pepper Straws




one 17 1/2 oz. package frozen puff pastry, thawed in the fridge

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 Tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or use silicone mats)



On a lightly floured surface, roll out one sheet puff pastry into a 18 by 10 inch rectangle. Lightly beat egg and water together in a small bowl. Lightly brush the rectangle with the egg wash. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese and the black pepper over it. Roll out the other sheet of dough into an 18 by 10 rectangle, and place over the first sheet. Gently roll over it with a rolling pin to fuse them together. Trim any uneven edges. Lightly brush the top with the egg wash, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch wide strips.

Arrange the strips about a half inch apart on the baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the fridge for about 15 minutes or until the pastry has chilled down again.

Bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and switch halfway through baking until the strips are crisp and the edges are golden. 10 to 12 minutes total. Cool on racks.

Can be made up to 2 days ahead, and rewarmed for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.



This recipe needs a salty parmesan to really be at it's best, or a light sprinkling of kosher salt would be good also

Appetizer from the Pot Luck Dinner

Ok, this is the lovely appetizer made by Bonnie.  We have 4 of the 6 who have shared.  Suzanne is sick, we don't have an excuse for Mike not sharing his risotto pancake recipe. 

Asparagus Soup from the Pot Luck Dinner

I discovered after posting the dessert that you can click on the scan and it will enlarge for printing.  This recipe is from Laura and as i said originally it was very good.  I would call it the best aspargus soup I have ever had

Dessert from Pot Luck Dinner

This is definately a test.  This is the dessert from Cynthia.  I am trying to post from a scan rather than retyping the entire recipe.  Like I said, it is too bad we forgot to take a photo of it as it was lovely.  Cynthia said that this recipe is not for the faint of heart and non-experienced cook. 

Saturday Pot Luck Dinner

Friday Jim took me out to dinner at our favorite casual dining spot in Warrenton called the Iron Bridge Wine Company. It is a bar, restaurant and wine store. He likes to walk around and pick a wine after we’ve chosen our meal. We had worked hard all day setting up for our pot luck dinner on Saturday night. It was a wonderful Saturday night. I’ve asked my co-cooks to send me their recipes and I will pass them on to you. Everything was delicious. We had a rainbow of delicious flavors.


We started downstairs with our appetizers and a wine tasting put on by Jim. Suzanne made a fabulous pate with duck and pork. She also made cheese sticks. Bonnie made a composed appetizer on a tooth pick of goat cheese rolled in pistachios and topped with a sundried tomato and mint leaf. Very tasty. The wine tasting was two Bordeaux and two Cabernet Sauvignons. We had a 1999 Chateau Lynch Bages (Pauillac) and a 1998 Chateau Labory de Tayac (Margaux). Comparable California Cabernets were the 1998 Chateau Montelena (northern Napa) and a 1999 Viansa (southern Sonoma).

Our meal started with Laura’s wonderful asparagus and chickpea soup. This is a recipe we all need. Our main course was boneless Australian Leg of Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses, Herbed Bean Ragout, and Mike’s Risotto pancakes. I also made some Cheesy Biscuits and Rosemary Focaccia Bread. Cynthia made two desserts. We should have taken a photo of the fruit tarts they were a rainbow of perfectly aligned fruits and flavor. They were beautiful and the cream filling was light and delicious. She also made chocolate and peanut truffles. With dinner we had two Australian Cabernet Sauvignons, a 2006 Peter Lehmann (Barossa) and a 2007 Thorn Clarke (Barossa).

Twelve people and 12 bottles of wine later, here are the recipes for the items I made. More recipes to follow as they are sent to me.

Leg of Lamb, serves 6-8, by Alton Brown, Food TV, 2006

4-5# boneless leg of lamb

½ C pomegranate molasses (I went over making this on Wednesday)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Our lamb came rolled in a mesh, I unrolled it and spread the molasses, salt and pepper on the inside. I then rerolled and tied it with string in 3 places. I spread the remaining molasses on the outside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. The recipe said 1 hour to 130 degrees. We cooked it to 140 degrees for medium rare. The pomegranate Molasses really added a great flavor to the lamb. When it finished, I covered it with foil and let it set for 20 minutes. We had two roasts for 12 people and probably could have gotten away with one.

Herbed Bean Ragout from Gourmet Magazine, April 2002

6 oz. haricots verts, (thin green beans trimmed and halved crosswise)

1# bag of frozen edamame shelled

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 bay leaf

2 3” fresh rosemary sprigs

½ t salt

¼ t pepper

1T olive oil

1 medium carrot cut into 1/8” dice

1 med celery rib cut into 1/8” dice

1 15 oz. can of small white beans

1 ½ C chicken stock

2T unsalted butter

2T chopped flat leaf parsley

1T chervil finely chopped

First par boil the green beans and edamame. Stop the cooking in ice water and drain. Drain the canned beans. In a 4qt. pot cook onion, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, salt and pepper in the olive oil until softened, about 3 minutes. Add carrots and celery and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add the white beans and stock. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Finally add the green beans and the edamame and cook until heated through. Add the butter and the parsley and chervil. My rosemary dissolved and I could not find it to discard. I did get the bay leaf out.

This dish was colorful and so good; I could have made it my entire meal.

I found the cheesy biscuits on line at AOL Food

2C all purpose flour

5t baking powder

1t baking soda

1t salt

½ C grated sharp cheddar cheese

4oz. goat cheese, coarsely broken into chunks

5T cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1C plus 2T cold buttermilk

4T melted unsalted butter

¼ C finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a 10” cast iron pan in the oven to preheat.

Wisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut the cheddar cheese and half the goat cheese and 4T butter into the flour mixture until the mixture looks like small peas. Pour in the buttermilk and stir just until the mixture is moistened. Fold in the remaining goat cheese. Remove the cast iron pan and melt 1T of butter in the pan. Drop 6 mounds of dough int the hot pan. Brush the tops of the biscuits generously with some of the melted butter. Bake 10 minutes and brush again with butter and bake 10 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and brush on the remaining butter and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

I made these ahead of time but you could easily make this while dinner is cooking. Finally I decided I wanted to make Rosemary Focaccia bread. My recipe comes partially from Lidia’s Italy by Lidia Bastianich. I was going to use a recipe from Viansa winery but it started by saying to start with their bread mix.

2 Packets active dry yeast

2 ¼ C warm water

2t salt

1T extra EVOO

Heat the oven to 425degrees and place a pizza stone in the oven.

Proof your yeast in ¼ cup water. Put the flour and salt in your food processor. Add the remaining water to the proofed yeast and with the processor running pour the liquid through the food tube. This takes about 30 seconds to get perfect dough. Oil a bowl and your hands to remove the dough and place the dough in the bowl. Turn the dough to coat with the oil and cover with plastic wrap for 1 hour. Gently press and stretch the dough evenly into a 16 “diameter pizza pan. Scatter the rosemary and more EVOO over the surface. I then sprinkled with Himalayan pink salt. Let rise uncovered for 20 minutes. Just before baking, gently dimple the dough again with your fingertips. Bake for 20 minutes turn the pan and bake 15 minutes longer. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Penne Rigate

Once a year, Barilla pasta publishes a Celebrity Cookbook on line in February. I print it and Jim used to bind them for me at work. Barilla donates $1 for every person who downloads to Second Harvest. This recipe comes from the 2007 cookbook. The celebrity was Tyson Beckford (?) and Giada De Laurentis turned his memory of a family favorite pasta dish into a recipe. We kept saying this is good, but we were not sure if it was really good or if a week of Chinese takeout, frozen dinners, and frozen leftovers were coloring our taste buds. Serves 4, but none is left.


1# large shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1t salt

1t freshly ground black pepper

1t dried crushed red pepper flakes (I used ¼ t of mine)

3T olive oil

1 med. onion, finely chopped

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

1 C dry white wine

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ t dried oregano leaves

1# penne pasta

¼ C chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

¼ C chopped fresh basil

This goes very fast. I put the pasta water on to boil and put a medium size wok on the other burner. Add the oil to the wok. I seasoned the shrimp with the salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes. When the wok is sizzling stir fry the shrimp for 2-3 minutes. Don’t do more or you will end up with tough shrimp. Put the shrimp on a plate. Put the penne pasta in the water. Set the timer for 13 minutes. Add the onion, garlic to the wok. Stir fry to render the onion translucent. Add the whole can of tomatoes, wine, and oregano. Simmer about 10 minutes. Add the pasta to the sauce. Add the shrimp back in along with and juice and mix. Add the parsley and basil and serve. You could garnish this with garlic toast and have a starter and dessert and it would be a great company meal.

We had a 2006 Sophenia Chardonnay from Mendoza, Argentina. Crisp and acidic enough to stand up to the red pepper flakes; recommend serving colder than usual.

Pomegranate Molassses

I’ve been feeding Jim out of the freezer with leftovers and will continue tonight. I still sleep enough to compete with a hibernating bear, cough a lot and down drugs to stay upright.  I told the doctor I had to be well by Saturday, I have 12 coming for dinner!  He said I sounded like his office manager also named Linda.  I told him we had discussed our symptoms when I called for the appointment and we were both counting on him.  It's going around he said.  So far except my instructor the only people I know personally who have it are my brother in IN and a friend in Washington State.  I guess that is the qualification for "around." 
I did start today on our Saturday night “Cook me a Rainbow” pot luck group dinner. Our main course will be Grilled Leg of lamb with Pomegranate Molasses. Today I made the Pomegranate Molasses. I have made Pomegranate Molasses before so I can give lots of hints that are not in the recipe.


4C. pomegranate juice

½ C sugar

1T freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place all in a 4Qt. saucepan and set over medium heat stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved reduce heat to medium or a very slow simmer until it is reduced to 1C. The recipe says 70 minutes. Mine takes 2 hours. If you reduce it too fast and it goes over the hard ball setting on a candy thermometer and it will be too hard to use. The thermometer will be close to 285 or hard ball temp when it is done. Transfer to a glass container until ready to use. Remember we want this to be the consistency of molasses.  If you reduce to fast you will have hard candy.  Believe me I've been there.   
I have a lot to do to get ready. Jim is at a conference today, but starting tomorrow night we will be very busy.  I hope I can find flowers for the table that I like since I was not able to order any.  I ordered before getting sick new napkins that have a very spring look to them.  I wanted to get my outdoor wreath redone, but we will see.    

Oatmeal

We had dinner at friends last night.  I probably should not have gone as I believe that the Plague from the Middle Ages has reserected itself and infected my body.  When I finally craweled out of bed about 12:30 PM all I could think of was oatmeal.  Cat Cora, one of the iron chefs, had this recipe on Oprah.  She called it a way to get your children to eat oatmeal.  Use Apple Cider instead of water when making the oatmeal. This adds all the sweetness you need.  When it is finished I add a little peanut butter to mine.  Then I went back to sleep.  We were supposed to go to a wine tasting and out to dinner tonight, but not to be.  Tomorrow I will call the doctor and beg for drugs. 

I’m still coughing my lungs out, so we again had a simple meal. I had salmon that I was going to do a complicated meal with. Instead, I went on line to Everyday Food and found the following which was excellent.


Hoisin Salmon, serves 4

1. Preheat broiler. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together 1T orange juice, 2T hoisin sauce and 2t. honey

2. Season Salmon with salt and pepper. Place in broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Spray top of the broiler pan with cooking spray. Brush half the hoisin sauce mixture over to coat. I again used my speed cooker. I just had to set it on the weight and it took over. It always asks you to turn half way through so I saved half the sauce for the other side.

3. It says broil for 10 to 13 minutes. I think the speed cooker did it in 9 minutes. Time was not the issue, but we just don’t use the broiler pan. 

This was very good. A lot of you have emailed and called asking for Lenten meals. This was very good.

I served this with cauliflower that I cooked in the flavored oil from NC and water. It tasted very good. Last week with coupons, Wegman’s had one for a bag of Rappi. Luckily there was a recipe on the bag because that name does not exist on the internet. We ate it, but will give it to a food pantry if offered for free again.

We had a 2006 Alamos Torrontes from Argentina, a light, crisp, white varietal.

Pizza

Today I found out who gave me the cold. My instructor who had just returned from Puerto Rico came down with the same symptoms, last Thursday night. The way I felt yesterday, I was surprised that I actually went to class today, but I went to bed immediately after feeding Jim and stayed under triple covers all night. At 8:00 AM Comcast arrived to convert our phone to digital service. Jim locked Max in the bedroom with me and he lay across my head. This felt wonderful as my hair was wet from sweating all night.


On my way home, I stopped at Trader Joe’s looking for the black bean sauce that my reader uses in her Enchiladas. I learned from the management that different Trader Joe’s carry different things, however, they said if you really like something that is in any Trader Joe’s, they will try to stock it. Aside from that Jim gave me a list of wine to pick up and I also bought the ingredients to make a pizza. Here is what I did.

1 pkg. Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough. (No problem to make yourself, but I am sick and tired)

Trader Joe’s chicken spicy Italian sausage

8 oz. organic shredded Mozzarella cheese

8 oz. goat’s milk mozzarella

I had:

Left over Wegman’s pizza sauce (we don’t like a lot of tomato sauce)

5 oz. fresh spinach

I learned something tonight. I was in a hurry to get dinner over and go to bed again. The dough says to roll out to 12”, but I rolled it to 20”. I put it in a 20” perforated pan as Jim and I like thin crust. I then topped it with the tomato sauce, chicken sausage, spinach and both cheeses. If you use a Boboli pre-baked crust, it is OK to use the perforated pizza pan. I should have used the pizza peel to make the pizza crust and top it, and then put it directly on the pizza stone that I heated to 425 degrees in the oven. A pizza peel is a super large size spatula to put a pizza without a pan in and out of the oven on a pizza stone. The crust was good, but could have been crisper if I had put it directly on the pizza stone. Jim said that he believes that the goodness of the pizza is based on the sausage and this was really good.

My blog tonight is going to be very different. I have a cold. My nose is not running, it is just going down my throat and is gagging me to death. Yesterday I sneezed all day and his AM I refused to believe it was a cold. I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D with my neighbor, Elaine. What a fun movie, but during the movie, I had to give in, I have a cold. So dinner tonight is those meatballs I made at the beginning of my blog. Some have been hanging out in the freezer, Vodka Sauce made by Wegman’s and whole wheat spaghetti. Doesn’t matter, good or not, as all I want to do is go to bed. I have class tomorrow and I will not miss.


On a high note, my call for an eatable Enchilada recipe has produced one from a friend in PA. She sent it email. She lived in CA for years and cooks a lot of Mexican food. Elaine, who has endured both failures, lived in Texas for years and is looking for hers. I will compare and make it again. We will see if Elaine once more wants to try. But, I am beginning to understand what I did wrong.

Another event that I am working on is pot luck with friends. This is our second one. There is some control, in that you set the theme and request a sign up for courses, but after that everyone does their own thing. As I like to be in total control this is a real learning experience for me. The first one blew me away; it is going to be a hard act to follow. My theme is spring as it takes place on the first day of spring. I am calling it "Cook me a Rainbow" and hope that every one brings color intense or multicolored items. There are 12 of us in this group. I found new dinner napkins on the internet that will be in keeping with the theme but did not cost an arm and a leg.

Jim is finally in from trying to fix the garage door mechanism and wants dinner. Depending on how I feel, tomorrows write up could be less than stellar. By the way, last night’s Turkey Burgers gave me heartburn all night.

Turkey Burgers

Tonight was burger night again; this time with turkey. The buns I made were really good; again from the cookbook called Electric Bread. I used my bread machine through the kneading process.


Makes 4 buns, Honey Mustard Bread

½ C. water

1 ½ C. white bread flour

½ C. wheat bread Flour

2t. dry milk

½ t. salt

¼ C. Chicken broth

1 2/3 T. gourmet mustard (I used a grainy mustard)

1 t. dried Chives

1 t. fast rise yeast.

Put everything in the container in your bread machine. When complete on the rise cycle, divide into 4 parts and place on a sheet pan. I again am not sure how long I let it rise. I divided and placed them on the pan somewhere around 1:30 PM. I baked it at 375 for 30 minutes around 6:00 PM.

These buns were really delicious.

For the Turkey Burgers I sort of followed Rachael Ray recipe #260 in No Repeats Cookbook.
Makes 4 Burgers.

For the burgers mix:

1 1/3 # ground turkey

1 1/2 t. poultry seasoning

1T grill seasoning (I used Chicago steak seasoning by Penzeys so I used less as it is really strong)

2 garlic cloves chopped

4 scallions finely chopped

1 celery rib (I did not have one, so I did not use)

Place this in a non stick pan with cooking spray and on medium heat cook 6 min. per side.

Remove the burgers and add to the skillet

2T unsalted butter (I used the rest of my blue cheese butter from Vianza)

And ¼ C. hot sauce (Is she kidding, I used 4 squirts of Sriracha Hot sauce, more than that Jim would have complained).

Melt this together and return the patties to the skillet and turn to coat in the mixture. Place the burgers on the bun bottoms.

Prior to this I mixed 1T of blue cheese, salt, pepper and ¼ C. of Greek yoghurt in a bowl. This is about ¼ of Rachael’s sauce quantity, but we are not big sauce people. I spread ¼ on each burger and topped with lettuce.

The burgers were tasty.

We had this with salad and the remains of last night’s cauliflower soup.

Soup and leftovers

Our new recipe tonight was Cream of Cauliflower Soup. This recipe is also from the Dungeness Crab and Blackberry Cobblers cookbook. The big problem with this cookbook is that when you pull it out you want to make every page, the recipes are so good.


4C homemade chicken stock (I used the stock from cooking last night’s Chicken for the Enchiladas)

1# Cauliflower, broken into florets

1 carrot cut in 2” pieces

1 stalk celery (I did not have any celery so I used ¼ of a fennel bulb)

¼ C chopped onion (I used a good size shallot)

1C half and half

½ t salt

¼ t. pepper

Put the first 5 ingredients in a pot and cook until the vegetables are tender. I also added the salt and pepper at this time, as I tend to forget salt and pepper. I put the contents in the blender after it had cooled some. I added the half and half and warmed up the soup.

Jim and I thought this as an excellent soup.

Last try for Chicken Enchiladas

Does anyone out there have a good Chicken Enchiladas recipe? Elaine has endured another one that we both felt was so so. But at least it was not oozy gooey. This was from The Best of Gourmet, 10th Anniversary Edition featuring the flavors of Mexico. It really needed twice the green sauce. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. I don’t feel like typing it in as it was not that good. Our salad tonight was very good. I used oranges, Napa cabbage, yellow pepper, and fennel. I dressed it with Wegman’s Caesar dressing. For an appetizer we had Guacamole and Salsa with chips, all store bought.

Appetizers

Tonight we are going to a party and everyone is bringing something. I decided to do two something’s as this party was originally scheduled for February 6th. I was going to make chicken wings and still have pounds of them in the freezer, even though I did use some for Jim on Super bowl Sunday. But in the mean time I was watching the Barefoot Contessa on FoodTV and wanted to try her Savory Palmiers.


Makes 60 hors d’oeuvres (I only got 30, but her folding instructions were impossible)

1 pkg. puff pastry defrosted

¼ C pesto, mine was purchased

½ C crumbled goat cheese

¼ C finely chopped sundried tomatoes in oil, drained

¼ C toasted pine nuts

½ t. salt, which I forgot, could be why they are tasteless

I find the most successful way to toast nuts is just put them in a small pan on the stove and watch them carefully, which I did.

Next roll out the pastry to be 9 ½” by 11 ½”. Spread with half the pesto, goat cheese, tomatoes, nuts and salt. Press slightly into the pastry. Take the shorter (9 ½”) sides and fold to the middle. Then take these same sides and fold in again to the middle. Then fold one side over the other. I did this wrong which probably leads to the whole downfall of the recipe. These instructions I believe are clearer than the ones she wrote. After doing it wrong, I now understand. Repeat the whole process with the second sheet of pastry and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover the pastry with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

Cut the pastry in 1/4 “thick slices and place them face up 2” apart on the parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 14 minutes until golden brown. Could be my awful oven, but mine took20 minutes to get the pastry done and by that time the contents were brown.

These were completely tasteless, could be due to forgetting the salt. There was a lot of pastry in the middle surrounded with the filling and then a little more pastry, my fault. I had trouble getting the center done. Needless to say I am not taking them to the party. Good thing I decided to make two appetizers. I may try them again, with my hind sight in place. If I do, I will let you know. If I had time, I would do it now, but I don’t.

My other appetizer is Hoisin Chicken Wings from a successful blogger Stephanie O’Dea. I have been following her for a couple of years now and have her book called Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. She says to use a 4 qt. slow cooker. I only have one size.

2-3# frozen chicken wings, I had 4 so I added a little more of everything.

½ C prepared hoisin sauce

¼ C honey

4-5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

One, 1”Piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1T sesame oil.

I partially defrosted the chicken wings and put them in the slow cooker with all the other ingredients. I cooked on high for 5 hours as I did not have enough time to do low for 8 hours. For those of you that like hot wings, these are not for you. You could actually use these as a meal with a salad.

Breakfast

I know I did not write yesterday; I did not cook either. After my trainer left, Jim announced that it was MGA sign up at our Golf Club. We decided to go and have dinner. It was also my brother’s birthday and I also spent time on the phone talking to my friend Sally who will soon begin radiation and chemo treatment for cancer. Whoever you pray to, ask him to help Sally through this ordeal. That was my day. But today I will be writing twice. The first is about breakfast. I was getting real tired of Jim’s idea of his once a week relief from cereal, bacon and eggs, so I found Grandma Skinner’s Scottish Scones in my Northwest Heritage Cookbook called Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers by Janie Hibler. I made scrambled fake eggs with mushrooms and cheese to go with the Scones.


Makes 16 scones

3C all-purpose flour

1 ½ t salt

1 ½ t baking soda

1 ½ t cream of tartar

1t sugar

1T butter

1 ½ C buttermilk

½# smoked skinless salmon fillet, diced.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the butter and with your hand rub, the butter into the flour making small cornmeal-like granules. Then add the buttermilk and the salmon. Mix together quickly and turn out on a floured surface. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a 1/4 inch thick circle. Cut each circle in quarters. (I had flour everywhere)

Heat a lightly greased griddle to medium and fry the scones in batches until they turn a light golden color. If the heat is too high they will burn on the outside and not get done on the inside. Turn them over and cook the other side. Brown the edges by standing the triangles up and leaning against each other for about 30 seconds. This involves a lot of burned finger tips. I had two spatulas out, but it was quite a balancing act. As they finished I cooled them slightly on a tea towel and then wrapped them in a cloth napkin in a basket to serve with the eggs.

Beef and Potato Burrito

Tonight I made beef burritos for the first time. They were very good. The recipe came from Everyday Food. It was messy to eat. It was hard to get all the ingredients in the 4 tortillas.


Serves 4

1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into ½” dice

2T canola oil

¾ # ground beef, I chopped a small beef steak in the Cuisinart

1 onion, chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 14oz. can of chopped tomatoes with juice

1 ½ t. ground cumin

2t. paprika

1t. salt

4(10”) flour tortillas

¼ C Greek yoghurt (recipe said sour cream)

½ head iceberg lettuce, shredded

¼ C grated Monterey Jack

¼ C cilantro (I used Italian parsley)

1 lime cut in 4 wedges

In a pan, I used a small wok, put the oil and cook the potatoes for 6 minutes over medium high heat stirring for about 6 minutes. Add the beef, onion, and jalapeno and cook stirring for 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and spices and cook for about 6 minutes until the juice has evaporated.

Meanwhile heat a skillet and toast the tortillas one at a time. I laid out wax paper and placed the 4 tortillas after toasting on top. I divided the filling, yoghurt, lettuce, cheese and parsley onto them equally. Squeeze ¼ of the lime on each, fold the bottom up and the sides in.

We had Chinese lager beer, Tsing Tao, with them. I never like beer until I tasted this Chinese beer.  The Burritos were very good and easy to make. This is less than a 30 minute meal.

Rockfish rocks!

Tonight was an unusual meal. We went grocery shopping today and as usual I had my list and menus for the week. But they had Rockfish, yum! Rockfish may be something you can only get in the Maryland/VA area. I think it comes out of the Chesapeake. It was on the endangered list for a while, but it has come back and is now sold. However, to keep it from being endangered again, 2 pieces for Jim and me was $20.00. I bought it anyway. In the AM, I had been to my chiropractor and was reading Family Circle in the waiting room. Inside was a great looking salad. So dinner tonight was Rockfish, Watercress and Orange Salad and store bought Long Grain and Wild Rice with herb seasoning.


Again I used my speed cook oven, which is a combo of microwave and oven. I coated the Rockfish with the herbed olive oil that our friends in NC gave us. Prior to cooking the fish I put the rice on the stove following the directions on the side of the box. How easy was that? It was very good. The salad was as follows:

2 bunches of Watercress (packed with cancer-fighting compounds)

2 oranges, peeled and segmented

For the dressing:

½ C orange juice

¼ C rice-wine vinegar

½ C olive oil

¼ t. salt and pepper

I am not sure how large the bunches of watercress were that the writer of the recipe had, but I made half the dressing and it was more than enough. This salad was so good Jim asked for seconds. He never asks for seconds of salad.

We had a 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, NZ) which was a good match for the Rockfish.

Japanese Style noodle dish revised.

As prominsed, I got out my cookbook called Japanese Hot Pots and found a mushroom type broth.  Missing was mirin, dashi, and more soy sauce.  I added bout 2 T of soy sauce and misin to my left over sauce.  I ws out of dashi, but cut up 2 sheets of Yaki Nori and added that to the broth.  This made a big difference to the broth.  Much more tasty.  So lesson learned, when something looks good in Bon Appetite and they call it (country) style, go to the source and make the real thing. 

Wild Mushroom Beef Meat Loaf with Horseradish Gravy and Roasted Broccoli

I mentioned once before that each winter I need Mac n Cheese and meatloaf. Tonight we had Rachael Ray’s meatloaf from the Big Orange Book. It was very good, but not as good as Sheila Luken's from Silver Palate fame. Jim liked this one, he rated it number 2, but felt I should give up on trying different ones and just fix the one we like best. We will see.


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Serves 6

4C beef stock

2oz. dried mixed mushrooms

1 loaf of Italian bread. (3” required for meatloaf and the rest is served with dinner)

2# ground sirloin beef. (I bought a 2# sirloin steak and ground it myself as I do not trust ground beef in the stores)

5 sprigs fresh thyme. (I used 1t. dried)

8 fresh sage leaves (I had fresh I had just dried)

1 large onion

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 egg

Salt and pepper

3T EVOO

1 large head of Broccoli

1T tomato sauce

2T flour

1T horseradish

1T mustard

1 handful of chopped Italian parsley

Place a 3” piece of bread in a bowl with 2C beef broth. Warm, in the microwave, to near boiling 1 C of beef broth and pour over the mushrooms in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap for 5 minutes.

In a bowl with the ground beef add ¾ of the onion, thyme, sage, garlic, egg, chopped drained mushrooms, salt and pepper. Save the mushroom liquid. I use disposable latex gloves and mix it with my hands. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and form in a long log. Mine was about 18” long. Drizzle with EVOO and roast for 45 minutes. Next separate the Broccoli and place on another baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. I used a special EVOO mixed with herbs that a friend gave us. Place in with the meatloaf for the last 25 minutes.

Finally the gravy. Place 3T of EVOO in a pan and add the final ¼ of the onion and the tomato paste; season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring for about 4 minutes to soften the onions. Sprinkle with flour and cook for a minute. Add the last 1C of beef broth and the mushroom broth, pouring slowly to retain the grit. Add in the mustard and horseradish. Wisk and slowly cook for about 7 minutes.

Take out the meatloaf and rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with the gravy. This meal was very good. It serves 6 if you eat like me. If you eat like Jim is serves 2. We have about 4 slices left over to have as sandwiches for lunch. Yum O!

We had a 1993 Concannon Vineyards Petite Sirah Reserve from the James Concannon Vineyard; Livermore Valley. This was the last bottle of a case we bought in CA in 1996. It was a really big red with good tannins and a great aroma of dark berries. We felt it was a wonderful accompaniment to this meal.