Happy New Year

We are having a small party tonight.  We girls may play bridge.  Jim is having a wine tasting.  Everything is to be easy.  I bought a Honey Baked Spiral Cut Ham.  We have rolls and mustard.  Jim is picking up KFC coleslaw.  I made a cheese ball.  We have nuts that I made and guacamole.  Two couples will add to the hors de orves and one is bringing dessert.  It is only 2:00 in the afternoon and I am ready to party.   

Mustard Green and Fontina Filo Pie

Let’s start with last night. We had vanilla ice cream and chocolate sorbet with the Pinot Noir Raspberry Sauce my brother sent me for Christmas. Heaven!
Tonight we are having leftover frozen pumpkin soup from earlier. My guess is that you can find the recipe under November or October. I will look for it as I have another fresh pumpkin and it was really good, even frozen and warmed up.
Tonight’s dinner came from December Sunset Magazine. It says serves 9, but maybe as an appetizer. We just had it with the pumpkin soup and have only 2 pieces left.
Ingredients:
2# mustard greens, thick ribs removed and chopped
1T EVOO
½ t salt
½ t pepper
¼ C melted unsalted butter
6 sheets filo dough, cut into 7 ½ “ squares to make 12
½# fontina cheese, shredded
Directions:
1. Cook greens in a large pot of boiling water until tender, 2 minutes and cool. (I used my pasta pot, and had the heat on low added the salt and pepper and stirred until soft. Drained in a colander in the sink until cool.)
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. After the greens were cool I squeezed with my hands until all the water was gone. Add the oil.
3. Spray an 8” square baking pan. Layer 6 squares of the pastry buttering in between each layer. Top with the greens and then the cheese. Repeat filo layering and buttering with the remaining sheets. Cut through all the layers into 9 squares.
4. Bake for 55 minutes until golden and crisp on the top.
Very colorful and delicious meal; do to the strong taste of the mustard greens, Jim served a Chianti Classico from La Lellera. It went very good with the meal.

Chicken Cutlets with Pomesco and Serrano Cracklins

Jim actually liked dinner tonight. The preparation says for 4, but there is nothing left except a little Romesco sauce. This recipe is in December, Bon Appétit, actually just beyond the beet recipe that I really liked. I am going to divide the recipe differently as I thought the way it was presented took too much thinking and dividing. I am listing in order of the way to make to get it all done for serving.
Romesco Sauce
Ingredients:
½ C breadcrumbs(I used Panko)
1C drained roasted red bell pepper from a jar
¼ C sliced almonds, toasted
2 T EVOO
1 T Sherry wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled
¾ t paprika
Directions:
Place all in your Cuisinart and blend. Put in a small serving bowl.
Cracklin
Ingredients:
2 oz thinly sliced Serrano hake or prosciutto, Chopped
Directions:
Heat a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Add ham sauté until crisp, 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Salad
Ingredients:
6 C torn butter lettuce (not available so I used Boston lettuce)
1 T EVOO
1 T Sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper
1/3 C parsley, chopped
Directions:
Wash and spin dry the lettuce. Break up in the salad bowl and add the chopped parsley. Whisk the EVOO, Vinegar and salt and pepper. Toss the salad.
Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken cutlets (no free range chicken in cutlets available at the market. Cut a chicken breast in half)
1 C breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
1/3 C chopped parsley
2T EVOO
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Mix the breadcrumbs and parsley in a shallow dish. Salt and pepper the cutlets. Add EVOO to a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; sauté until cooked through 4 minutes per side.
To plate:
Place a chicken cutlet on each plate. Cover with Romesco sauce. Put salad on the side and sprinkle with the Cracklings. Jim served a Trader Joe’s Rutherford, Napa Valley, 2009. It was neither steely nor buttery. I would have to call it sweet. They hyped it this month. I would not buy it again.
I hope later to have ice cream. My brother came through with more of the Pinot Noir Chocolate Sauce that I blogged about earlier this year for my Christmas present. He bought the original at Tabor Hill in Michigan. They no longer carry it, but they told him where to get it on line. If you’d like to enjoy it go to Cuisine Perel, Richmond, CA. I have a lifetime supply that also includes chocolate mint and chocolate orange. Yum-0!

Spinach Calzones with Blue Cheese

Today was grocery shopping day. Not too many people out. As our dinner was vegetarian, I started out Jim with rabbit pate that I bought in France along with some saga blue and special cheddar that I no longer remember why it is so special. If you go to Wegmans in Gainesville, ask Joanne about the special cheddar. Meanwhile I made the Calzones. I found this recipe on line from My Recipes. This recipe comes from Cooking Light, May 1999.
I have some ideas to make it better and I doubt it would add to the calories.
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) can of refrigerated pizza crust
Cooking spray
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups of spinach leaves
8 (1/8” thick) slices of sweet onion
1 1/3 C sliced mushrooms
¾ C (3 oz.) crumbled blue cheese. (I used gorgonzola.)
Directions:
1. Preheat overt to 425 degrees
2. Unroll the dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut into 4 quarters and pat each quarter into 6x5 inch pieces. (I rolled it evenly to 10 by 12 and cut with a pizza roller.)
3. Top each rectangle with 1C spinach, 2 onion slices, 1/3 C mushrooms and 3T cheese. (I would think the results would be better if I had taken the 5oz. package of spinach and lightly microwaved it and dived the entire amount onto the squares. Not enough veg. in the final.)
4. Bring 2 opposite corners to the center, pinching points to seal. Bring remaining 2 corners to center, pinching all points together to seal.
5. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Mine took 14 minutes.
Calories 297 each.
These were very good but could have used more spinach. Raw, it would be impossible to enclose any more spinach in the dough.
Jim served pizza wine.

Pan-seared Chicken Thighs with Beer and Grainy Mustard Sauce

Tonight’s dinner probably would not have been made except for the misleading title, pan-seared. This came from Dec/Jan Fine Cooking and Jim who is currently cleaning up all the counters and the oven will tell you this is fried chicken and gravy. Serves 4
Ingredients:
8 small bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (I used 4 as the ones Jim bought were huge)
Salt and pepper
2t vegetable oil
2 medium shallots, minced
1 ½ t all-purpose flour (I use Wonder Flour)
1 C amber lager
½ C chicken broth
1 ½ T pure maple syrup
½ t fresh thyme
1 T whole-grain mustard
2T unsalted butter
Directions:
1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 475 degrees.
2. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and trim excess skin.
3. Heat the oil in a 12” skillet over med-high heat until shimmering hot. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Arrange the chicken in the pan skin side down in a single layer. ( I used a larger pan for just 4, Julia says crowd the pan and they will not brown) Have a spatter screen on hand the minute you are putting the first piece of chicken in. Cook 7 minutes and turn over.
4. Place the chicken and screen in the oven and cook for an additional 8 minutes, until it is 170 degrees. As ours were larger it took 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a platter. I covered with aluminum foil and put in the warming drawer.
5. Pour off all but 1T fat from the skillet. Add the shallots and sauté over medium heat until softened about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and stir until browned also. Add the beer, broth, maple syrup and thyme. Increase the heat and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Simmer vigorously until reduced to about 1 C. Add the mustard and butter. It says season to taste. I didn’t and it was fine.

I served the chicken with mashed potatoes and peas; kind of an old fashion dinner with a twist. The gravy was slightly sweet and good with the potatoes and the chicken. Jim is still cleaning up so I have to keep typing. The wine he served, Marietta, Old Vine Red, Lot Number 53 from Trader Joe’s, I did not like with the meal. The wine was good, but with the gravy, we could have used a German Riesling or Mosel.  

Beans and Beets

You win some and you lose some. I knew this would be wrong and just couldn’t turn it around. I hope you all had a great Christmas. We had great fun yesterday with our friends. We got home late and today my brother and I were on Skype with the whole family. It was fun to talk and see each other. Mom was eating lunch, Mary feeding her. Jeremy, Ann and Tammy were all there too; a big merry after Christmas day. I knew that tonight’s dinner would not be popular with Jim. The first course was Beet and Tangerine Salad with Cranberry Dressing. This was a great salad if you like beets like me. Jim even liked it, except the tangerines had a million seeds in it. There was almost no orange left and we still found seeds while eating it. Also, watercress these days seems to be rather weedy. I will use arugula for any future recipes that call for watercress. Serves 6, from December, Bon Appétit.
Ingredients:
3 -2 1/2 “dia. red beets, tops trimmed
3 large tangerines (use Navel oranges)
3T EVOO
3 T frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate, thawed
1 T red wine vinegar
½ C paper-thin slices red onion
1 large bunch watercress, thick stems trimmed (use arugula)
Directions:
1. Place beets in deep large microwave-safe bowl. Add enough water to reach depth of 1”. Cover and microwave on high about 15 minutes. (I had a red microwave and Jim and multiple paper towels kept the kitchen from turning red. I know everyone is in a hurry there days, but my tried and true method of wrapping the beets in aluminum foil, baking at 350 for 1 hour works and is less messy.)
2. Cool the beets under cold running water and peel. Slice into ¼-1/3” thick rounds. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Finely grate all three tangerines to get 2t of zest. Add this to a small bowl with the EVOO, cranberry juice concentrate, red wine vinegar and combine. Add the 1/2C red onion slices.
4. Trim all the peel off the tangerines and slice in ½” slices; removing all the seeds. Good luck!
5. Arrange the watercress on a platter. If using the watercress, lose all the stems. Jim just hates them. Arrange beets and tangerines on top. Spread the onions from the dressing on top of them and pour the dressing over.
This was called a holiday starter. I am not sure what it would be a starter for, but it was very good. The dressing was delicious.
When in a hurry I often don’t read all the details. I saw beans and bacon and thought it would be good after Christmas as I knew we would be having beef. Later I read that this would be a good side dish for lamb chops. It indeed would be. Cannellini Beans with Lemon, Roasted Red Pepper, and Bacon, serves 6, from Fine Cooking December.
Ingredients:
1 med. lemon, scrubbed
2 oz. thick bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
2T EVOO (I only used 1)
1t chopped fresh rosemary
1 large clove garlic, chopped
¼ t crushed red pepper flakes
2 15 ½ oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¾ C chicken broth
2 jarred roasted red peppers, cut into small dice
Pepper and salt
Directions:
1. Using a vegetable peeler, shave 6-1” strips of zest from the lemon. Cut the strips crosswise ¼” wide. Juice half to the lemon and reserve the juice and zest separately.
2. In a 3 qt. saucepan over med. heat, cook the bacon with 1T EVOO, stirring until it renders most of the fat and is brown. Drain on a plate with a paper towel.
3. Return the pan to medium heat and add the rosemary, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir 30 seconds. Add the beans, broth, peppers, lemon zest, and heat to simmer. Cook about 15 minutes. Add the 1T lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with bacon and serve.
This was to be a side dish, but I often like a bean dish. It was good and would be a great side dish to lamb chops as noted in the recipe.
Jim served with a Schilcher Blauer Wildbacher Grape sparkling wine from Austria. I had my doubts, but it was perfect with the meal.
We were supposed to get a lot of snow, but it by passed us. I read that weather forecasting is the only job where you can be 90% wrong and when you are right they forget all the wrongs. Jim is really into finding out the weather forecast. I prefer the look out the window method.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve to all. We spent the day delivering gifts to friends both human and canine. Tonight we had our version of the feast of the seven fishes, with one fish. But we started with a special drink and pate we bought at Fauchon’s in France, a cheddar and Saga Blue from Wegmans. I found this drink in the Washington Post. I told Jim I would love to have a special drink if I didn’t have to make it. Jim agreed to make it. It took him longer to make this drink than it took to get the hors de horves ready and cook the main course. It is the equivalent of hanging pictures. The man is going to hang the pictures and he gets on the ladder. “Bring me the hammer.” Bring me the nail”, etc.
Bitter French, 1 serving
Ingredients:
Ice
1 oz gin
½ oz. Simple syrup (have ready)
½ oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (have ready)
¼ oz Campari
Chilled sparkling wine, preferably champagne
Twist of grapefruit peel, for garnish
Steps:
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add the gin, simple syrup, grapefruit juice and Campari. Shake will, and then strain into a champagne flute. Flute must hold 6 oz.
2. Top with about 3 oz of sparkling wine. Garnish with the twist.
Perfect color for Christmas; also it went very well with pate and cheese.

I love the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve, but with only two of us, I substituted Seared Scallops with Cauliflower, Brown Butter and Basil from Fine Cooking, December. This was a dream dish; easy to prepare and delicious
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 T EVOO
1 small head of cauliflower (1#) trimmed and cut into bite-sized florets
1# sea scallop
2 T unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
½ C vermouth
Salt and pepper
8 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Heat 1 T EVOO in a 12” non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Add the cauliflower and cook. Stirring often, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add the remaining 2 T oil to the skillet. When shimmering hot, add the scallops in a single layer. (Have a wire mesh cover between you and the pan and use long pinchers to put the scallops in the pan and later turn. ) Cook until golden brown about 2 minutes. Turn and cook an additional 2 minutes. Don’t worry they are done. Cook too much and you will have rubber bands.
3. Swirl butter into the skillet, add the shallot and cook, stirring often until the shallot softens and butter begins to brown. Only about a minute.
4. Add the vermouth and bring to a boil. (This is instant) Return the cauliflower to the pan and scrape the brown off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook, stirring often for 6 minutes. (Recipe says to add salt and pepper now. I added when I first browned the cauliflower. I believe in early seasoning, or do it on your plate)
5. Return scallops to the pan and toss to heat through, about 1 minute. Remove to a platter or plates and sprinkle with the basil.
I want to like cauliflower, but mostly I am disappointed. This scallops and cauliflower combination was fabulous. The cauliflower tasted sweet against the scallops. Recipe rating is 4 stars.
It is Christmas Eve; we had a Domaine Dublere, Chablis Les Preuses, Grand Cru, 2007 from Bourgongne. French Chablis is a favorite and they don’t come any better than this. Locally it is carried by Schneider’s of Capitol Hill.
Dessert is cookies from yesterday and ice cream. 

Christmas Goodies and Thursday Dinner

The first thing I worked on today was Spicy Orange Pecans. This is a different recipe than I’ve used for the last few years for gifts. However, as I was packaging them up, Jim was eating them as fast as he could and thinks they are very good. The recipe came from a Penzeys flyer.
Ingredients:
4 C plain pecan halves
2 T orange juice, fresh is best
1 large egg white
2 T fresh orange zest (requires 2 oranges)
½ C sugar
1 ½ t kosher salt
1 ½ t cayenne pepper
Pinch of black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the pecans, orange juice and eggwhite and toss to coat.
3. In a small bowl combine the orange zest, sugar, salt and spices.
4. Add to the nuts and toss to coat evenly. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Next I made Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies from the December Bon Appétit.
Ingredients:
2 Cups to melt plus ½ C to add later of bittersweet chocolate chips.
1 ½ C all purpose flour
¼ C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1 t instant espresso powder
½ t salt
½ C unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 t peppermint extract
2 large eggs
4 candy canes coarsely crushed
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir 2 cups chocolate chips in a metal bowl set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Measure 2/3 C melted chocolate for drizzling later. (I put mine in a glass measuring cup and set it in the water in the pan and warmed up the water later.
2. Whish flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until cram. Add sugar and both extracts; beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat in the melted chocolate from medium bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients; beat to blend and add the remaining chocolate chips. (This took Jim to get it blended. It is very stiff dough.
5. Measure 1 level T of dough; roll dough between palms to form ball. (I used my medium ice cream scoop to form the balls.) Place on a baking sheet 1 ½ “apart.
6. Bake cookies until cracked all over and tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 8-9 minutes. (I only had 33 cookies instead of 50. Should have used the smaller scoop, so my cookies took longer.)
7. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely. Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over. I drizzled again. Let cool.
These can be made 3 weeks ahead and frozen. They are as good as they look.

On to dinner, I made Steak Diane from my old New York Times Cookbook. In 1901 when I got the nerve to make comments in my cookbooks, I commented that I had made this several times and it never fails.
The recipe says for one. One includes a 10 oz. steak. Who besides Jim eats 10 oz. of steak? We had 2 small steaks near a pound. I cut each in half as they were too thick and proceeded as follows.
Ingredients:
1 10 oz. steak
1 ½ T butter
1 T cognac
2 T sherry
1 T sweet butter
1 t chopped chives
Directions:
1. Trim the meat well and pound very thin with a mallet.
2. Heat the 1 ½ T butter in a flat skillet. Add the steak and cook quickly, turning once.
3. Add the cognac and flame. Add the sherry and the butter creamed with chives.
4. Place on plates and pour the pan juices over it.
With this I served Artichokes Flan from a recipe supplied in a Wegmans flyer.
Ingredients:
1 T EVOO
1 12 oz. pkg., frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1 C seasoned croutons
2 C heavy cream
5 large eggs
1 t sea salt
Black pepper to taste
2 t chopped Italian parsley
Directions:
1. You will need 6-8 ramekins, depending on the size. (I used a special pan that I found at Williams Sonoma for making breakfast dishes where you fold bread to make a holder for eggs, etc.) A large size cup cake pan would work also. Depends on how many you want to serve.
2. Preheat overt to 350 degrees.
3. Spray ramekins with cooking spray. Spoon the artichokes and croutons in the bottom of the ramekins distributing evenly.
4. Make Custard: Whish together heavy cream and eggs in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley. Top ramekin mixtures evenly with custard. (This is the tricky part. The pan I used, each cup was 3 ½”. I got 8. Smaller, make more.)
5. Bake 35 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean. The tops should be lightly brown. Serve in ramekins or cool about 10 minutes to unmold.
Jim loved these. Luckily we did not have company as we only have 2 left.  I know what you are thinking, heavy cream and eggs?!  Well we were having steak.  Get your heart attack meal over in one night.
Jim served a fabolous Saint-Emilion Grand Cruse call Gracia, 1997. 

Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms

I was leery about last night’s meal. I chose it as it had fennel in it. I love fennel. As I mentioned Jim did the shopping. The recipe called for spicy Italian sausage and he came home with hot. You all know by now how he reacts to anything on the spicy hot side. But it really was not hot at all. In fact he said, “I am really full, that was very good.” I started to clear the table and he said to wait he might have more, and he did. He kind of ruined the feeds 8. It fed 2 here with a little left over for lunch. I got this from the Fast and Easy section of the December, Bon Appétit.

Ingredients:
1T EVOO
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, quartered, heart removed and sliced thin. Save some fronds for garnish
1# spicy Italian Sausages, casings removed, coarsely crumbled
1 8oz package sliced fresh cremini mushrooms, mine were small, I quartered them.
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or chopped
1 T fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
½ C heavy whipping cream
1C low-salt chicken broth
1 16 oz dried tortellini with pesto or fresh with cheese filling. (We could only find the cheese)
1 5 oz package fresh baby spinach leaves
½ C finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving.
Directions:

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel bulb, sausage, and mushrooms; sauté until sausage is brown and cooked through and fennel is almost tender, 12-15 minutes. I gave the sausage a head start; and then added the fennel and finally the mushrooms.
2. Add garlic and fennel seeds; stir one minute.
3. Stir in cream, then one cup of broth; boil until liquid is reduced and very slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook in large pot of boiling salted water the pasta until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. (Use package directions.)Drain and toss with the sausage mixture.
5. Add the spinach; toss gently until spinach wilts. Stir in the cheese and add more broth if needed. Sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds.
It said to season with salt and pepper at the end. That, to me was useless. I let Jim season his own meal with salt. I thought it was fine. He also added the extra cheese. If it had been the basil pesto, I would have added more cheese, but I thought it was cheesy enough.
Jim served a 2003 Viansa Cabernet. It was exceptional and probably all gone by now. Viansa makes great wines. Google them and join their wine club.
We finally got our Christmas letter out. Today I am wrapping and making goodies

Trader Joe's Seafood Sausage

Today I told Jim we have to go to the grocery store, my blog is becoming boring.  He said you make the list and I will go while you work on the Christmas letter.  We are so behind.  So I made the list and he took off.  I only got 4 calls from the store.  When he got home he was crabby as a bear.  I said, “Look, I said I would go and you wanted me to stay home and work on the letter and fix dinner."  He answered that shopping for our groceries is like being on a scavenger hunt.  Anyway after tonight, the meals should get interesting again.  While we were at Trader Joes last night I picked up their Seafood Sausage.  I fixed it tonight with asparagus and sweet potatoes.  Jim bit into the sausage and said, “This tastes like seafood.”  Yes, I answered, because it is.  Trader Joe's seafood sausage is very good.  I served it with baked sweet potatoes and again the last of the asparagus.  Only this time I used basil EVOO. 

Easy Lamb Chops

Today I should have gone to the grocery store, but Jim brought to my attention that Burlesque with Cher was leaving the theaters and was only available in a theater in Fairfax. We went. There were four people in the theater, Jim, me and two other ladies. I thought the movie was very good. The music was great and Cher was wonderful. When it comes out on DVD, we will buy it.
Dinner, we did not get home until around 7:00 PM. Max, who demands to be fed at 5:30 PM, was waiting at the door. We had stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home. Don’t know if Jim’s cousin Jo reads this blog, but the clerk was highly impressed with the wine bag you gave him. We bought the Mac and Cheese Bites that were toted in the last flyer. The checkout clerk said have you tried these? No, I answered, they are great he said. Our opinion, dull, wouldn’t buy again. It is not good Mac and Cheese and in a tasteless crust. We actually stopped to buy Max the Chicken and Sweet potato treats. He thinks these are to die for. The rest of dinner was lamb chops. We did them on our inside grill top for the stove. Jim told me that when it is this cold outside, he has trouble bringing the grill to temperature. Is this true? Or does he not want to stand in the freezing cold for 20 minutes. It took longer, but Jim watched the internal temperature and they were perfectly done at 140 degrees. I still have asparagus as Jim bought it at Costco and tonight I served it with orange EVOO which I like better than lemon. Jim served a Robert Mondavi, 2001, Cabernet Sauvignon. It smelled Devine and tasted even better.

Trader Joe's pork roast

For those of you that love Trader Joe’s, I have a great instant meal.  Trader Joe’s Port Roast Florentine.  This was in the latest flyer and I said to Jim as he was going for a wine run last week, pick this up.  It sounds good and I want to try it.  Today was a hard day for me.  It was the memorial for my friend Sally and John, her husband, asked me to speak.   I have spent weeks preparing the speech and also looking through photos to send for the memorial.   I was the first to speak after John, her daughters Heather and Courtney.   John said he wanted to speak first get all the tears over first.  I set my champagne glass on the podium and said I may need a whole bottle to get through this.   All laughed.  I then said that John asked me to speak first to get the crying over.    I never once in practice made it through my speech with our breaking into what Oprah calls the ugly cry.  Somehow today I did it.  Maybe Sally was with me.  At one point I started to choke up.  I took a sip of Champagne and it did not help.  I said Jim, “You are supposed to say keep going.”  Jim said, “Keep going, and they all laughed, it helped and I made it through.  I was so surprised at all that came up to me after that said I really captured Sally, Jim said I did the best job, and it was he who c coached me for days.   Anyway back to the food.  The Pork Roast Florentine is great.  It says serves 3.  Ok, you know by now it is gone.  I did my usual asparagus in the microwave and made Jim garlic mashed potatoes.  I put small potatoes in a pan with two garlic cloves and after boiling for 20 minutes mash with 1 T butter and light cream.  Jim loves mashed potatoes and does not object to skins in the potatoes.  We are now into Christmas and trying to get all the presents to all who have been so supportive through this ordeal.                  

Chicken and shrimp Dumplings in Green Oion-Shitake Broth

Serves 4 really excellent meal and easy to prepare from Sunset magazine, December.
Ingredients:
3 ½ qts. reduced-sodium chicken broth. (I empted my freezer of home made stock.)
1 ½ t soy sauce
½ # shelled, deveined shrimp, chopped
½ # ground chicken
2 green onions, thinly sliced, tops and bottoms divided
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 t toasted sesame oil, divided
1 t each minced fresh ginger and Sricacha chili sauce
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
4 square egg roll wrappers, (6” wide)
4 fresh shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Combine broth and soy sauce in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to barely a simmer.
2. Mix shrimp, chicken, onion bottoms, garlic, 1 t. sesame oil, ginger, sriracha, salt and pepper in a bowl. Arrange egg roll wrappers on a work surface. (I always wear surgical gloves when dealing with mixing ground meat and shipping into these large meatballs.) Shape chicken-shrimp filling into 4 balls and put 1 ball on the center of each wrapper. Moisten wrapper edges with water and pull up all 4 corners of each wrapper to the center. Working from center down, pinch edges together to seal tightly, forming 4-sided pyramids.
3. Lower dumplings gently into broth, cover, and simmer until cooked through, about 8 minutes. In last 2 minutes of cooking, add shitakes. Spoon each dumpling into a bowl and ladle broth on top. Sprinkle with onion tops and remaining 1 t sesame oil. (I put the sesame oil and onion tops in the broth before adding the dumplings. Worked fine)
Jim pronounced this the best won ton soup he had ever had. He ate the 3 of 4 helpings. The wine he served was excellent from Vina Robles of Paso Robles; a 2009 Verdelho, a Portuguese varietal, it was a dry, refreshing white with aromas of melon and citrus.

Soup, Salad and Snow

Wednesday we went next door for dinner. We had a lovely evening and enjoyed our time with our neighbor, her children and their fluffy white dog. Max gave us the once over upon returning home and was not happy. Thursday I woke up to snow falling. Not a bad snow, just enough to be annoying to drive in but give the illusion of a white Christmas. For dinner I made soup and salad. The soup, Carrot and Leek Soup with Herbed Croutons came from the December Fine Cooking magazine, serves 6
Ingredients:

6T unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 small leeks sliced (light-green and white parts only)
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
3C chicken broth
2# carrots, sliced ¼ “thick (how idiotic, your Cuisinart has a slicing blade, use it)
2 dried bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2C crusty bread cut into ½” cubes
1 ½ T chopped fresh chervil (I have never found fresh even in Wegmans)
1C plain yoghurt
Directions:
1. I did not make the croutons as I had some that were very good from Wegmans. If you do make them heat the oven to 350. Melt 3T of butter in a sauce pan and add the bread cubes and chopped chervil. Toss to coat evenly. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and bake until golden, 8-10 minutes.
2. For the soup, melt 3T of butter in a 5 qt. saucepan. Add the onion, leeks, garlic, ½ t salt and ¼ t pepper, cook until softened and light golden brown, about 10 minutes
3. Add broth, carrots, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and ½ C water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the carrots are tender about 15 minutes.
4. When the vegetables are tender, discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. I used my immersion blender to puree the soup. (With the leftover soup, I am going to use my regular blender as I thought it was too chunky. I should have used a deeper pot as I was decorating the kitchen with soup while using the immersion blender.)
5. Stir in the yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with croutons.
The soup was pretty good, not outstanding, but according to Jim, carrots are never good.

Mushroom and Soft-Cooked Egg Salad with Hollandaise, Serves 4, 30 minutes, Sunset magazine, October
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
3T melted butter, divided
1T EVOO
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and quartered
4 oz each chanterelle and oyster mushrooms, cut into 1” pieces
½ t salt
½ C crème fraiche
1 ½ t Dijon mustard
1 t. each lemon juice and zest
6 cups of watercress
Pepper
Directions:
1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, gently submerge eggs into water. Simmer 5 minutes, then carefully immerse in cool water.
2. Heat 1T of butter with the oil in a 12” frying pan over medium -high heist. Add mushrooms and sauté until browned about 8 minutes, then season with salt.
3. Whisk together crème fraiche, mustard, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in remaining 2T butter to make hollandaise sauce. (This hollandaise not only worked, I could have licked the bowl.)
4. Divide watercress among plates. Top with warm mushrooms, then drizzle with hollandaise. Crack an end of each egg and peel a quarter of shell. Using a spoon carefully loosen eggs from their shell. Using a spoon, carefully loosen eggs from their shells and scoop out onto salads. Add a few turns of pepper on top.
This salad was perfect with the soup. The watercress was peppery against the mushrooms and egg. Knowing Jim I had divided this in thirds and have none left. I rate this one a must try. If you can’t find watercress in your market I would recommend arugula as an alternate.

Cavatappi with Artichokes and three Cheeses

I have finally caught up and tonight’s dinner was a winner. We were a little disappointed that we could not find Cavatappi pasta. When in TN we went to a really good restaurant and I had it there. I remember because Pam said it looks like macaroni. I said, yes, but it is a double turn. Anyway, Jim really liked this recipe and said shame on Wegmans. If they can have Cavatappi in TN we should have it in VA. Serves 4 (unless Jim is eating.) This recipe is in the Dec/Jan Fine cooking.
Ingredients:
Kosher Salt
1 lemon
1 T unsalted butter
1 T EVOO
½ C chopped shallot
1 9 oz package frozen artichoke hearts, cut into ¼ “slices while frozen
¼ t crushed red pepper flakes
Coarsely ground black pepper
½ C thinly sliced chives
2 T thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
12 oz cavatappi.
½ C mascarpone
½ C mild goat cheese
½ C finely grated Pecorino Romano.
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. From the lemon grate 1 ½ t zest and squeeze 1T of juice. Heat the butter and oil in a 123” skillet over med heat until the butter has melted. Add the shallot and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Increase the heat to high and add the frozen artichokes, red pepper flakes, ½ t salt and ¼ t pepper. Cook until the artichokes are golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chives, mint and lemon zest.
2. Add the three cheeses to the artichokes with the heat off. Add the pasta to the skillet when done and ½ C pasta water; stir to combine.
We did add more pepper at the table, but no more salt.  Very good pasta

Chicken, Kiwi, and Mango Salad

This recipe was not successful for Jim. He would have liked twice the chicken or half the fruit. I liked it, but then I don’t consider fruits and vegetables poison. This easily serves 4 and even though it was in the December Bon Appetite, best for warm climates.
Ingredients:
2T finely grated ginger
½ C mayonnaise or yogurt
1T fresh lime juice
1 t finely grated lime peel
2C cooked diced chicken from store bought rotisserie chicken
1 ½ pounds large mangos peeled, pitted, cut into ½” cubes (I used frozen, thawed and drained)
1 ¼# kiwis, peeled, cut into ½” cubes
1T sliced fresh mint
6 C chopped romaine lettuce
¼ C roasted salted cashews, halved
Directions:
Place grated ginger in small strainer set over bowl. Press on solids to extract 4t of ginger juice; discard solids in strainer. Stir mayo, ginger juice, lime juice, and lime peel in the bowl. Add chicken, mango, and kiwi. Divide lettuce among four plates or bowls and divide mound the mixture on top. Garnish with cashews and mint.

Sunday Supper

I am many dinners behind. Saturday we went to a belly dancing recital that Sally’s daughter was in at Georgetown University. It was great fun and I think Jim enjoyed it too much. Sunday we finally got to the grocery store and I finally cooked. From the La Mere Poulard Cookbook that I bought in France we had the best Cream of Mushroom and Chestnut Soup I have ever made. Serves 4, but Jim ate it all.
3.5 oz Chestnuts, peeled. ( I had already peeled left over from T-day)
3.5 oz button mushrooms
1 ¾ pt chicken stock
7oz light cream
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pinch of Nutmeg
2 shallots, finely chopped
I T butter
Salt and pepper
Thoroughly wash the mushrooms and then pat dry. Sweat the shallots in a pan with the butter and then add the whole mushrooms and chestnuts. Add the lemon juice and grated nutmeg and then cover with the stock and cream.
Cook for thirty minutes.
Season the soup with salt and pepper and transfer to a blender. Let cool and then blend. I put it back in the pot and kept on warm until the rest of dinner was ready.
I think this is one of the best cookbooks I have ever bought.
I served this with Rosemary Pork with White Beans. It serves 6-8, but is easy to cut in half. With half recipe I had a little left over for lunch the next day. The recipe came from the Washington Post.
Ingredients:
3-4 T EVOO
2# boneless pork chops
1 large onion, cut into ¼” dice (2 Cups)
Salt
1 ½ C tomato puree
2 C chicken broth
1 T sugar
Ground black pepper
¾ C dry white wine
2 cups cooked cannellini beans (I used canned, drained)
10 sprigs rosemary wrapped and tied in cheesecloth to form a packet
Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with 1 T of EVOO, then place over medium-high heat. Add enough of the pork cubes to fill the pan without crowding. Brown the pieces of meat in batches, not crowding so they brown. Transfer each batch to a bowl. Add more oil as needed.
3. Meanwhile, heat 2T of EVOO over medium high heat in a large (5QT) Dutch oven. Add the onion, celery and salt to taste; reduce to medium and cook for 5 minutes stirring until the vegetables soften. Add the puree, broth, salt and pepper to taste. They also said add the sugar now. I did not add sugar. I did not get the point. Increase the heat and stir to combine. Heat until bubbling at the edges. Add the browned pork cubes. 4. Return the skillet to med-high heat. Add the white wine, then use a wooden spoon to dislodge any browned bits from the bottom. Transfer to the Dutch oven and add the beans. Submerge the rosemary packet in the liquid. Once it starts to bubble cover and transfer to the oven for 1-1/2 hours.
Very good. 

Best American Restaurant

Some of you are probably wondering where I’ve been. I’ve been traveling again, this time enjoying the foods of the US. We made quick trips to NC and TN to visit friends and also to work with our architect on our new house. We enjoyed many good places in both states.

On the way home as a Christmas present to each other, we stopped in Chilhowie, VA and had the meal of a lifetime in the Town House. John and Karen Shields are the chef owners and the food is not only tasted wonderful, it was gorgeous to look at. We also stayed in the Riverstead which is their 2 bedroom bed and breakfast. We were the only ones there and had this beautifully restored farm house to ourselves.



When you book a room it comes with a 5 course meal. Jim wanted 6 courses. We also chose the wine pairings. Their sommelier did an outstanding job. I highly recommend that you not only go here, but add the wine pairings.

Our first course was Chilled Vegetable “Minestrone.” This dish is nothing like you have ever seen. It was tiny cylinders of partially cooked beet, zucchini, radish, carrot and something red and white, sliced paper thin and standing up at all the same height. At the table they added the best tasting vegetable broth I have experienced. The wine pairing was an Austrian Gruner Weltliner Hirsch.

The second course I would never have ordered and it was my favorite. Main Loster and Cream from the Shells, young coconut, pumpkin seed oil, horchata , tonka beans. It looked like snow covering the lobster medallions with a very pumpkin taste to the cream. This was served with a German Spatlese. Again, it was perfect.



The next course, you have to see to believe. Peekytoe Crab in
Brown Butter & Lime, with onions, dried scallop, banana,
milk skin, vegetable crab meat. Yes milk skin cut in a perfect square
with onions that looked like shells. It was served with a

Spanish Albarino.

The piece d’ resistance was the Squab Breast cooked in Smoked Butter, beets, cured green strawberries, rose petals, wild allspice.
The squab was like butter in your mouth. At this point we had had
beets in two dishes. Jim commented on that fact. I told him not to
worry his skin would be beautiful in the AM.

The pairing was a 2006 Gigondas. This was a stellar wine.









Jim needed another course so we added Scrambled Egg Mousse, smoked char roe, sorghum, sweet spices, preserved ramp. This was paired with 10 year old Madeira. I thought the sommelier had lost his mind. The dish was very salty tasting and the sweetness of the Madeira with it just has to be experienced.

Finally dessert, it was so gorgeous to look at. Here is what we ate. A Curd of Sour Quince Juice & Olive Oil, black pepper, dill, Douglas fir ice cream, toasted meringue. Yes, Douglas fir ice cream! This was served with a sauterne.
We were chauffeured to and from the restaurant.
The B&B was supplied with wine, hors de hovers and cookies. Breakfast was a special tart of figs and gorgonzola cheese, poached eggs, granola, and fresh squeezed OJ.
John and Karen both worked at Charlie Trotters in Chicago. In fact Karen was the pastry chef when Jim and I went there for our 40th anniversary. John also worked at Alenia Restaurant in Chicago.
The restaurant and lodging is a steal at the price. I hope to go back again and again. The chef told us it is so hard to create a good menu in the winter. If this was his idea of not great, I want to be there in the summer and early harvest.