Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork

Tonights menu was:

Crusty French Bread

Greek Salad

Butternut Ravioli with burnt butter and sage sauce

Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork  

Canolis for dessert

The part of this menu that I am going to focus on in this post is the pork.  Pork makes everything better, or so I am told.  If you do not eat pork this could most definitely be done with beef or lamb.  I think it may be too heavy for chicken.

Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork

Ingredients

4-6 10-12 oz pork loin chops 

1 t salt

1 t chipotle

6 dehydrated smyrna figs(light colored)

1/2 c balsamic vinegar (I used a black walnut balsamic)

1/2 c port wine

2 T grape seed oil

Directions

1)  mix salt and chipotle and lightly rub onto all sides of pork chops

2)  put oil in a large oven safe fry pan on high

3)  preheat oven to 325

4)  when pan is hot sear pork on each side for about 1 minute

5)  when you are done searing pork put pan in oven until done

6) quarter figs and put in sauce pan with port and balsamic and simmer to about 1/2 c, stirring occasionally

7)  when pork is done pull from oven and rest

8)  finish sauce with drippings from pan

9)  after pork has rested pour sauce over to serve

This dish is sweet and rich with a slight tang and a touch of heat that balances out well.  The texture from the figs is the icing on the cake.  

Anthoinette

CHEESE take II

I was recently reminded that I did not do an update on my cheese adventures.

The next day I had to find out what I did wrong with my first batch of mozzerella.  I searched the web and found another recipe that was similar to the one I had used.  Unfortunately it called for 2 gallons of milk, where as I only had 1 gallon of raw milk left.  I ended up using half raw and half low temperature pasteurized milk.

The first difference I saw in the recipe were the directions on how to use the Mesophillic direct set.  The first recipe assumed I knew what I was doing.  Which I clearly did not.  The new recipe advised to gently sprinkle the Mesophillic on top of the milk and let sit for 2 minutes until you stir it in.  Following this new set of instructions I got the firm, solid block of curd I was looking for.  Everything else was the same.  This time I made it much further in the process.  I did not get the pulling quite right, in that I used too much water.  Next time I will know better.

I noticed a few major differences in the batches.  The raw milk batch was very sweet and produced a large amount of ricotta from the whey.  Whereas the batch with the pasteurized milk had an almost sour flavor to it and produced only half as much ricotta as the raw milk.

I have recently found what I believe to be cream-line milk at Trader Joe's and will try that for my next batch.  The reality is that were I live I can only get raw milk at a farmers market on Sunday and at $15 a  gallon it is cheaper to buy the cheese.  I can get cream-line milk at Trader Joe's any day of the week for half the cost.  If it makes a good cheese I will be a happy cheese making girl.

I will try to keep you better posted on the "cheese files".

Anthoinette

Balsamic Vinegar

Tonight I was made all to aware of my greatest fear...

I had this image of a perfect dessert.   Vanilla ice cream, strawberries, pirouettes, gingersnaps, a block of chocolate topped with balsamic.  It was wonderful, until I got to the sharp taste of the inferior balsamic.  I could have screamed!

Very high quality balsamic is renowned for being expensive, but not at  the La Crosse Olive Oil Company.  The bottles average $18 for a 350ml bottle.  They come in 24 different flavors and are rich and sweet with a slight twang.  They also carry a number of sea salts, spices, olive oils and infused oils.  I love everything I purchased there.  The quality is excellent and the prices are very good.  If you live in  the area I suggest stopping in and trying their products.  If you do not live in the area check out their website as I am quite certain they will not disappoint.

Anthoinette

a delightful finish for steaks

Have you ever had a steak hot off the grill and thought to yourself that it was missing something?

I recently learned what that something was....

Recently Auroras husband, Prince Charming, for perpetuity known as Charming, was let loose with the grill.  When he was done a beautiful spoonful of savory butter suddenly appeared on top of the steaks.  I was so wowed by this that I forced him into my kitchen in servitude to recreate this masterpiece and teach me how to recreate it myself.

Steak Butter

Ingredients
1/4 c butter
2 T garlic
2 T fresh basil
1/2 t salt

Directions
1) roughly chop garlic and basil

2) put garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle and pulverize until a lumpy paste forms

3) add basil and bruise it

4) add butter and mix thoroughly

5) serve at room temperature, a large teaspoon per steak is plenty

NOTES:
This can be used anywhere you use butter

You can use any fresh herb for this

Adjust the garlic to your liking

I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as I did.

Anthoinette

Farro Porky Goodness a.k.a. Tesses Farro Casserole

A dear friend of mine is diabetic and so some of us girls are getting together to cook healthy meals for him that he will enjoy.  Today Tess shared one of her recipes with us. It is awesome.  I will start by saying that I think Farro is a super grain.  It is low in carbs and sugar and high in fiber and protein.  Comparing Farro with long grain brown rice, black rice, whole wheat pasta and barley, which are all acceptable grains for diabetics, Farro wins first prize.  Cooked it is light and fluffy.

Tesses Farro Casserole

Ingredients 

1 1/2 c farro

2 c brussel sprouts

2 c cauliflower

2 c broccoli

1/2 c oil cured black olives

1/4 lb bacon ends or lardons

1 lb hot italian sausage

2 T balsalmic vinegar

1/3 c olive oil

1/4 c ricota salata

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1)  cook farrow according to directions on package 

2) quarter brussel sprouts and cut broccoli and cauliflower into bit size pieces

3) lightly coat brussel sprouts and and cauliflower in 2 T olive oil and spread on baking sheet

4) cut bacon ends into 1/4"x1/4"x1" pieces(lardons), add to cauliflower and brussel sprouts and bake at 425, stirring occasionally until vegetables start to get very brown

5) brown sausage, make certain it crumbles into small, bite size pieces

6) put broccoli on a sheet pan and bake until it starts to get very brown

7) remove seeds from and quarter olives

8) drain farro and combine with brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, olives, lardons, sausage, balsalmic, and olive oil 

9) season with salt and pepper to taste and mix

10) crumble ricota salata on top and serve

NOTES:
Pearled Farro will cook faster than regular Farro

This dish is great served hot or at room temperature and will keep for a few days

Cheese take I

Yesterday my new friend, Aurora, and I tried making mozzerella and ricotta.  Here is how it went...

For starters I wanted to make the ricotta out of the whey from the mozzerella, which calls for a different recipe than I previously used.  I am going to call it a tie Cheese 1: Cheese Makers 1.

The mozzerella has a lot of steps to it.  Take 1 gal of raw whole milk, heat to 90, add thermophilic culture, let sit 45 min, add rennet, stir 5 min and let sit 1 hour, cut curds, reheat to 90 for 30 min, take 30 minutes to heat to 105, drain the whey, keep in a double boiler at 105 for 2-3 hours until the pH reaches 5.0-5.3, cut the mass into 1/2" cubes, drain off excess whey, put into 4 c water at 170......

You get the picture.  When I checked the whey before cutting it, it was the texture of a natural sea sponge, not the smooth gelatinous mass I am used to.      The next issue was that the pH remained neutral at 7.0. I did not go any further.  The cheese tastes great. It just will not have the characteristic stringy texture of mozzerella.  I have another gallon of milk that I will retry this experiment later this week.  Cheese 1:

The ricotta, though troublesome was much more successful.  The ricotta directions were to heat the whey from the mozzerella to 200, stir in 5 t vinegar and start scooping out the curds as they form.  We followed these directions and got little arrhythmic curds that looked more like flour floating in the whey.  We waited about 15 minutes and it did not get better.  We added the vinegar again.  It got a little better, but was still weak.  Aurora noticed the temperature had slipped a few degrees and gave it a little heat.  We found if we kept it between 200 & 205 that we got big beautiful creamy curds of ricotta.  I think we were getting curds for at least half an hour.  The Ricotta is *creamy* and B-E-A-utiful.  Cheese Makers 1.

When I make the mozzerella again there are three areas that I think may have been the problem.  The first is that there were some temperature control issues in the beginning.  The second is when I made cheeses in the past when you stir in the rennet you want to be as quick as possible.  I will do some research and see if taking 5 minutes to stir in the rennet is unusual or normal for mozzerella.  The third thing I may try is covering the mozzerella when I am holding it at 105 for 2-3 hours.  In the meantime I have research to do.

I look forward to updating the cheese diary later this week, hopefully with a successful mozzerella.


Until then have fun

Anthoinette





Reference:  Making artisan cheeses by Tim Smith

Happy New Year 2013

We have survived another year.  The Mayan calendar must need reinterpretation, again.  and off into 2013.  In celebration of the 3rd year in a decade I have my lists and look forward to yours.


The three foods I use the most:   butter,  raw sugar,  kosher salt

The three kitchen appliances I use the most:  my Kitchen-aid, micro planes, citrus juicer

The three foods I want to try this year:  truffles, offall, cheese making


I doubt my first two lists surprise anyone.  My third list probably gets a second look by many.  Truffles have this reputation in the high end cooking communities.  I have never tried them.  I have shunned trying the oils or vinegars before trying the actual truffle.  This year I want to try a truffle and see what all the hype is about.

Off-Fall...  Some people know that I have wanted to try cooking with off-fall for a while.  I have some specific pieces beef tongue, tripe, and maybe heart or lungs.  Doing medieval feast I developed a curiosity.  The I heard about Chris Constantino who has a successful offal restaurant in San Francisco.  I plan on using his blog "offal good" as a guide.

Cheese Making should surprise no one.  I have played with rennet but none of the cultures.  I recently found a source of raw milk which is really essential for cheese making, cream line at a minimum, pasteurized is not even worth trying from my experience.  I want to make blue cheeses, aged cheeses, mozzerella.  I want to play and have fun!

I would love to get a few things from my faithful readers:
1)  your own lists
2)  your greatest kitchen challenges or a recipe that you are having issues with
3)  what would you like to see on my blog in this coming year

email this to raging.mrs@gmail.com

Until next time, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2013.

Anthoinette

Mocha Creme Brule

Everyone who knows me knows that I love to cook and entertain.  For New Years Eve we finished off the celebration with a mocha creme brule


Ingredients:
2 12 oz cans evaporated milk
8 egg yolks, from medium eggs
1 c sugar
5.2 oz chocolate
1/8 c espresso or strong coffee

Directions

mix milk and espresso in a pan and heat until steaming, then mix in chocolate and let cool

In a bowl mix egg yolks and 3/4 c sugar until thick and pale

start slowly stirring in a slight stream of the milk mixture into the eggs until it is all incorporated

pour mixture into ramekins or cake pan and place in a water bath at 350 for 1 hour

when  done baking cool at room temperature for abut 15 minutes before moving to refrigerator to chill overnight

before serving put remaining sugar on top and use your broiler  or a torch to melt the sugar, let the sugar harden then serve

NOTES:

I used a salt and pepper chocolate from Trader Joes.  If you want to try the flavor add a pinch of each sea salt and black pepper.

If you like a darker,  more bitter/sweet flavor, use an 8 oz box of bakers or bitter sweet dark chocolate.

Creme Brule sounds intimidating.  All it really is, is a pudding that you bake in a water bath.  It really could not be easier.  If you burn the sugar all you have to do is wait for it to harden, remove it and start with adding more sugar.

I hope this inspires you to try something decadent that sounds harder than it is

Anthoinette

Salads

I know that salads are more of  a spring and summer than winter thing, but...

I have recently had the fortune to have other people cooking for me and working in the kitchen with me.  With these opportunities, which I love, I have gotten to rethink salads.  I think I have a formula that may just work

I propose a pick an ingredient salad, just pick one ingredient from each category and make your salad

BASE:  For the base you should have a flavorful green
broccoli, spinach, mixed greens, romaine, maybe snow peas or asparagus

CITRUS:  Add some citrus for brightness and acidity to brighten the greens
 such as a segmented orange, grapefruit, pineapple, tangelo, tangerine, lemon or lime the segmented fruit, just zest or both.

SWEET:  just a touch like
strawberries, beets, craisins, raisins, apples, mangos, peaches, bell peppers

MEAT:  adds a touch of salty-earthyness and chew
bacon, ham, shredded chicken or pork

NUTS:  adds crunch
almonds, walnuts, peanut, cashew, pecan, pine nuts, hazel nuts, pistachio

EXTRAS:  this is completely optional.  I would only suggest adding extras if it will truly add to the salad.   If you use cheese use blue, feta, or goat cheese, for olives kalamata, manzanilla, greek.  What ever you add, make it count.  If it does not add greatly to the overall salad in flavor or texture, just say no!

DRESSING:  this one is going to sound more complicated than it is.  I encourage creativity.  I would start by choosing 3 ingredients that compliment or contrast items in your salad.  Let me give you some examples.  In my Springtime salad with strawberries and spinach I use a Balsalmic Honey Mustard Vinegrette.  Here is how the pairing works grapefruit is contrasted by honey, strawberries enhanced by balsalmic vinegar and the bacon complimented by the stone ground mustard.  If you have beets in your salad try orange juice, even if you already have oranges in the salad.  Maybe try some mayonaisse with lime zest and honey.  You really are only limited by your creativity and pantry.

When adding crunchy components, save them until the last minute.

Wether you dress your salad or serve dressing on the side is completely up to you.  Some salads are better when they are completely coated, with others and uneven dressing is more fun.

With old man winter bearing down upon us embrace the feeling of seasons yet to come and have fun making salad.

Anthoinette

Sangria

Sangria is a drink of legend.  It helps fight off scurvy or provides romance in Spain.  One of my readers shared her awesome Sangria recipe that is a variation of the Sangria recipe in Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook.

Ingredients
2 750 ml bottles semi-dry red wine
1/4 c brandy
1 1/3 c lemon juice
1 c orange juice
2/3 c sugar
1 lemon sliced

Directions
mix ingredients and refrigerate overnight

serve chilled with lemon slices on the glasses

Please enjoy and share with friends and great times.

Anthoinette

not your re-gifted fruitcake.... Pannetone, my way.

I just had the most wonderful Christmas dinner with my family.  We had a Brandied Pumpkin soup, asperagus with holandaise, green bean casserole, fresh baked bread, a crown rack of pork roast with stuffing and for dessert Pannetone.  The Pannetone is my focus for tonight.  We made a lot of changes to it and I feel secure calling it a family recipe.

Recipe Pannetone:

Ingredients:
1/4 c milk
12 threads saffron
1/4 c heavy cream
1/3 c  rum
1/4 t vanilla extract
1/3 c butter, melted
2 eggs
1/4 c raw sugar
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 lemon zest
3 c flour
1 T yeast
1 c dried cherries, craisins, dates, figs
3/4 c almonds or pecans

Glaze
2 T honey
2 T lemon juice
2 T rum
2 T butter


Directions:
1)   Scald milk, mix in saffron and let cool to room temperature.
2)   Add yeast to milk and saffron mix to bloom
3)   Combine bloomed yeast with 1/2 c heavy cream, 1/4 c rum, vanilla, eggs and butter
4)   In a second bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest
5)   Mix together the two bowls and knead until smooth
6)   raise for 1 hour
7)   punch down and knead in dried fruits and nuts
8)   butter and flour bundt pan
9)   shape dough into ring and place in bundt then let rise for 1 hour in a warm place
10) bake at 350 for 30 minutes
11) mix together all items for glaze and brush onto panneton as soon as you pull it from the oven
12) wait a few minutes for glaze to soak in then remove from pan and serve

I hope this rekindles your love of the fruitcake.

Anthoinette

Sugar Plums

We all know about the image of sugar plums dancing in our heads.  I saw an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton had the sugar plum fairy visit and thus he gave a recipe.  I made several changes and feel I can call the new recipe my own.

The process to make the recipe.
When I was looking at recipes for sugar plums, Altons, was probably the closest to what the original was.  From research what I got was that there were actually two different types of "sugar plums".  The first was actually a candied plum.  The second, you guessed it is as follows.  I saw a number of interesting variations, including one that included orange juice, instead of honey and claimed to be a traditional recipe.  That recipe was from a 1940's cookbook.  Sugar Plums date back to the mid 17th century, which would make the orange juice inappropriate.  The powdered sugar in Alton's recipe would also be inappropriate and make them overly sweet.  The original recipe called for almonds, which I unfortunately can not have, so I substituted hazel nuts because they are closest in flavor and texture.  The way these are is rich, flavorful and the raw sugar finish adds the required amount of decadence.

Ingredients
6 oz Hazel Nuts, crushed/chopped
4 oz Plums-dehydrated and cut up (a.k.a. prunes)
4 oz Apricots-dehydrated and cut up
4 oz Figs-dehydrated and cut up
1/4 t anise seed
1/4 t fennel seed
1/4 t caraway seed
1/4 t cardamom
pinch kosher salt
1/4 c honey
1 1/2 c raw sugar

Directions
put all ingredients, except for the raw sugar, in a stand mixer and mix until thoroughly combined
put parchment paper on a sheet pan
dampen hands and roll small balls, a little larger than a small marble, and place on parchment
let sit for 12 hours
put in a large baggie with raw sugar and shake until all of the balls are coated
store in the sugar

Notes
You can use a food processor and pulse until everything is in small chunks, but hand cutting did not take that long and once I was done with my kitchen-aid they were the perfect texture.

I hope this gives you an idea for the holidays.

Anthoinette

Cooking to impress

With us being waist deep in the silly season it is easy to feel the stresses of entertaining.  For me, as much as I love the challenge of a lush multi-course meal, when I am cooking for the same people again and again I feel the pressure to keep upping the ante.  I have a reputation to uphold.  It is inevitable that there are people in our lives that we have concerns about cooking for, wether it be someone we revere, fear disappointing, or just someone who we perceive as having very high standards.

I have had a lot of people in the kitchen with me over the years.  Many of them told me they did not know how to cook.  To that I say "Bah!".  We each have our comfort zone and our style in the kitchen that take years to hone to where we want.  Anyone can cook.  Most just lack confidence. We  have all known the person who could burn water.  I had that friend and she made the best fried chicken.  I could never duplicate it no matter how many times she showed me.

When I cook multi-course medieval feast I start with an idea, search and modify the recipes, do multiple test runs on most items, with my hungry and honest team of guinea pigs.  By the time a feast, or any event that I handle this way, comes around, I do not want to see or eat the food because I have made it so many times to guarantee perfection.  A few months down the road I am usually recovered, but that is the pressure I put on myself due to my reputation.  My guinea pigs are my safe zone.  In my world they know that sometimes what I cook is not perfect.  The only people that have seen my complete failures in my kitchen is my son and husband.  There has been a time or two when I called for pizza because dinner was not edible.

My point is that you should focus on what you do and do it well.  If you try to go too far out of your comfort zone when you are trying to impress, you are most likely setting yourself up for failure.  Do not do that to yourself.  Save the experiments for your close family and friends that will give you constructive criticism not the person you feel you must impress.  If you practice the way you want to cook in a safe zone you will find that you start to cook the way you want.  For more helpful hint on getting where you want I would recommend reading my post Recipe V Creative Recipes.

I hope this helps make holiday entertaining a less stressful for you.

Anthoinette

Pink Soup

I was thinking biscuits and gravy and my husband wanted pasta in a red sauce with hot italian sausage. So we compromised and came up with a winner.

Pink Soup

Ingredients:
1         red onion, diced
1/4 lb  mushrooms, sliced
1 lb     hot italian sausage
1/2 c   flour
4 c      milk
3 c      water
1 c      tomato paste
1 t      salt
1/2 t   garlic
1/2 t   pepper
1/2 t   fennel
1/2 t   basil
1/2 t   rosemary


Directions
1)  crumble and cook hot italian sausage

2)  when sausage is almost cooked add onions and cook until translucent

3)  add in mushrooms, then add in flour, mixing until it coats everything

4)  stir in the milk until well mixed, keep stirring until mixture comes to a boil

5)  mix the tomato paste with water and mix into pot

6)  add all remaining ingredients, bring back to boil then down to a simmer for at least 15 minutes before serving

I suggest serving this with grilled cheese sandwiches

Spice... What to do when they are not available

Today I had a legendarily frustrating day over something that should have been simple.  I need to make a large batch of our spice rub before Christmas so I needed to get the supplies.  I was not looking for anything exotic like the Kipi Luwak or the long pepper.  I was looking for simple spices like Rosemary, Thyme and Chipotle.  Even in Puerto Rico I was able to get the basics.  But, I degress.  The question I pose today is what do you do when you can not find the spices you want and, or need?

There are 3 most likely answers:

1)  do without- this is alright if it is a one time thing or you just do not like the spice, or it is not integral to the dish

2)  make a substituion-go online find out what spices you have that would give a similar flavor, or just play and have fun

3)  find another way to get you spices-beg, borrow, steal, order, grow.  These are all viable options in you live in the United States of America.  When I lived in Puerto Rico I had to order any peppers and fennel.  Most of the other herbs and spices were available but I chose to order them as well in the name of quality.

Living in "the Valley" I never imagined I would have any issues getting any of these mundane spices.  So once again I look at my old friend, ordering online.

There are a number of purveyors that are more than happy to oblige.  The secret is finding one that is not too spendy and of good quality and freshness.  I will go through a list of several that are available and try to give a brief overview.

WORLD SPICE:  World Spice was my friend back when I lived in Puerto Rico.  Their prices were always reasonable, including shipping.  The quality was excellent.  They have a full section of peppers and salts, teas and even some exotics.  I may well go back to using them.

PENZEYS SPICE:  I know I have readers that have Penzeys at the top of their list.  In the Mid-West it is *the* spice company to order from.  Looking at the prices they are a bit less expensive than World Spice.  From every account I have heard their quality is excellent.

SAVORY SPICE SHOP:  The Savory Spice Shop is on par with Penzeys and World Spice.  They have a good variety.  I can even get Hot Spanish Paprika, which after much research is what I believe is the common American translation for Spanish Pimento.

NW SPICE COMPANY:  I seem to remember visiting their store at some point and was a happy girl. Their variety is a bit more esoteric than World Spice and I think the cost a bit less.  It is hard to say for sure as they are currently working on their online store.  They were honored by Bon Appetite Magazine.

SAN FRANCISCO HERB CO.:  This looks like a wonderful online resource.  It does look like you have to buy the herbs and spices by the half pound or the pound, but the prices that I sampled are *CHEAP*!!!  I think I will have to try them out just to see what their quality is.

MY SPICE SAGE:  I am just going to say the prices I sampled are more than double World Spice and the web site is not easy to use.

VAN DE VRIES SPICE CORP:  It looks like you have to call them to order spices.  I personally have my own reasons for keeping their number in my rolodex.

MONTEREY BAY SPICE CO.:  If you do salves, tonics, are a witch and needs herbs for your ceremonies this is the place to go.  There are a lot of medicinal herbs and they are ***CHEAP***.  I would be interested in trying them just to see if the quality is good with the prices being so low.

SPICE ISLAND:  Their site has a redirect to Amazon.com.  You could pay more and get it in its individual glass jars like you do at the supermarket, but why?  I personally like getting seasonings in bulk and reusing my jars.

PENZEYS SPICE:  I know I have readers that have been wondering when I was going to get to Penzeys.  In the Mid-West it is *the* spice company to order from.  Looking at the prices they are a bit less expensive than World Spice.  From every account I have heard their quality is excellent.

SAVORY SPICE SHOP:  The Savory Spice Shop is on par with Penzeys and World Spice.  They have a good variety.

With resources like these you should never have to do without unless it is a "rush" order.  Please leave comments about your sources, quality and prices.

Anthoinette

Hollandaise Sauce

Very rarely would I *ever* consider posting a recipe from another site.  For Hollandaise I will make an exception if for no other reason than I do not think I can improve upon it, much if at all, and it has a terrible reputation.  So this recipe is easy to make, catches the spirit of the original sauce and I think it may bring eggs benedict back into your home.


The only notes I will make is that when Tyler says to remove it from the heat, please set your bowl on a folded towel on the counter so you do not break the sauce.  If you want to try a slightly different flavor you can always add a touch of mustard powder.

Hollandaise Sauce

2000 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Show: Food 911Episode: Botched Breakfast in Roselle Illinois

• Recipe categories: Fruit, Lemon, Dairy, Eggs, 
  more

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

--

Serves:

1 cup

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
• Pinch cayenne
• Pinch salt

Directions

Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl and until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler,) the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in cayenne and salt. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use for the eggs benedict. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water before serving.

• EGGS BENEDICT
• 8 slices Canadian bacon
• 4 English muffins, split
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 8 eggs
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Hollandaise sauce, recipe above
• Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Brown the bacon in a medium skillet and toast the English muffins, cut sides up, on a baking sheet under the broiler.

Fill a 10-inch nonstick skillet half full of water. Add white vinegar to the cooking water. This will make the egg white cook faster so it does not spread. Bring to a slow boil. Gently break 1 of the eggs into the water taking care not to break it. Repeat with remaining eggs. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook 3 1/2 minutes until the egg white is set and yolk remains soft. Remove with a slotted spoon, allowing the egg to drain. To assemble: Lay a slice of Canadian bacon on top of each muffin half, followed by a poached egg. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon hollandaise sauce over the eggs. Garnish with chopped parsley. Yield: 4 servings

Copyright 2012 Television Food Network G.P.
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Cioppino a.k.a. Italian Seafood Stew

Cioppino has been a favorite for my husband and myself for well over a decade.  With the weather turning cold and once again being where we can get good seafood our hunger has been renewed.

Chioppino

Ingredients
1    16 oz can diced tomatoes
1      8 oz can tomato paste
1 c            water
2 T           oil
1               red onion, diced
5 t             garlic, minced
1/2 lb        mushrooms, sliced
1 T           basil
1/2 T        oregano
1/2 T        fennel seed
1 t            thyme
1 t            marjoram
1 t            salt
1 t            pepper
1 lb          clams
1 lb          shrimp
1/2 lb       mussels
1/2 lb       fish(salmon is preferred)

Directions
1)  heat stock pot and add oil

2)  saute onions and mushrooms until onions are transparent, then add garlic and saute for a few minutes more

3)  add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and water along with basil, oregano, fennel, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper, bring to a boil then drop to a simmer

4)  cut fish into 1" cubes, peel and devein shrimp, pull the beards from your mussels

5)  once the broth has simmered for at least 15 minutes add the mussels

6)  wait 5 minutes and add the clams

7)  once the mussels are mostly opened add the fish and shrimp, cover the pan and let cook for 3 mintues

8)  when the shrimp are pink and all of the clams and mussels are open your stew is ready to serve

I encourage serving this with sourdough bread.  Feeds 6.

NOTES:
Any kind of shellfish can be used, crab, clams, mussels, oysters, etc...  With the fish you need to be more selective.  The fish needs to be firm.  Salmon is our first choice.  Shark, tuna, halibut are all good options.

Double Pork One Pot Wonder

When my husband starts comparing the addictive nature of something I have cooked to crack cocaine and tells me I just need to liquify it and put it in an I.V. I know I have a winner that I must share. I will say this dish is not the prettiest, but, it is oh so tasty and nutritious. Ingredients: 1/4 lb bacon 1 lg carrot 2 stalk celery 4 green onions 1 c brown rice 4 c water(hot) 1/2 lb pork 1 t porchini seasalt I have to start by saying if you don't have porchini seasalt, *do not panic*. 1 Chop up the bacon and cook it until it renders, or lets go of the fat 2 Add rice and cook until it starts to brown 3 Chop the carrot, onion, and celery and add them to the pot with 1 c water 4 Chop the pork and season it with the porchini salt. If you do not have the salt us 1/2 kosher or sea salt and you can add 1/4 lb mushrooms with the other vegetables 5 Continue cooking on medium to medium high heat, stirring occasionally. When the water starts to form gravy, add another cup of water and stir. 5b add the pork after the 2nd addition of water 6 When the rice is at the proper consistency turn off the heat and serve. NOTES: If you want to make this into a true risotto use arborio rice or barley and use smaller additions of water, maybe 1/2 c each You can use any kind of rice for this, though you may need to adjust the amount of water. I hope you enjoy this as much as my husband did. Anthoinette

Sweet Hot Proofed Steaks

Tonight I decided to splurge and cook up a nice NY Strip steak for my honey and myself. Knowing me, you know it can't be plain. I started wanting to just do a whiskey, pepper steak, but at the last minute I added some honey and a special salt. Here is how it plays out... 1 NY Strip steak, lightly sprinkle on both sides with 1/4 t cracked black pepper 1/4 t your favorite sea salt. I used a Porchini Mushroom Sea Salt, let it sit for at least 10 minutes Preheat pan on med-hi and put a little oil or fat of choice in.  Reduce Heat to Medium and cook steaks on each side for 5 minutes, give or take, depending on desired doneness. When you turn the steak over drizzle 1 t honey on the top. About 3 minutes into cooking the second side pour 1 shot (2 Tbsp) of whisky over the steak and let reduce to syrup while steak finishes cooking. When you serve this make certain to pour the syrup over the top and let it rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting to retain moisture. A few point here are: if you don't have a fancy sea salt just use kosher salt. You could also add a little paprika, chili powder or coriander to give it the earthy quality. The larger the grind on the pepper the bigger bang you get. I chose to use cracked black pepper instead of ground just because I wanted the big contrast.

Brined Chicken

The hardest part with poultry is getting the legs done and not drying out the breast. Last night I thawed out a large chicken by brining it in 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 c kosher salt, 1/4 c raw sugar, 1/8 c chipotle, 1/4 c pickling spice, 1/8 c garlic, 1/8 c onion. I left the chicken in this overnight, in the fridge, in a sealed container. Today I was able to cook it on a very hot grill in about 2 hours, charring the skin. The beauty of it is that the chicken was so moist and flavorful that the breast could be mistaken for the legs and thighs. That is an "Enhanced" meat that I can get behind:)

Beef Stuffed with Cabozola

I have been cooking here in "the Valley". There is a cheese here called "cambozola". It is a cross between camembert and gorgonzola. It is wonderful. I have also continued playing with balsamic vinegar. The other night I had some Beef that I stuffed with a thin slice of cambozola, lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper then topped with a light coating of balsamic. I cooked it over medium heat on the stove top, covered, until the steak was done to medium. It was a very nice balance.

Sweet Corny Batter Bread

Anyone who knows me knows that I know the originations and love playing with technique and ingredients. I have had an idea of making a cheesy batter bread for a while and with doing BBQ today I thought I could one-up my original idea and make a cornbread the same way. The way a batter bread works is eggs and steam create the leavening. A traditional batter bread, known as Yorkshire Pudding or Pop-Overs is equal parts, by volume, milk, egg and flour, that are cooked at a very hot temperature. The technique works for this recipe though it does not create the pocket you would normally expect from a batter bread it is light and fluffy as if chemical leavening, baking powder or baking soda, had been used. CATEGORY: Starches Recipe Name: Sweet Corny Yorshire Pudding Ingredients: 1/2 c honey 2 med eggs 1/2 c milk 1/2 c cornmeal 1/2 c flour 1/4 lb cheddar-grated 2 c corn Steps: * Preheat oven to 500 or 550 if you oven gets that hot * Mix Honey, Eggs, Milk, and Cornmeal * Grate Cheddar and mix in * Lightly grease a muffin tin and put in oven to preheat for 3 minutes * Mix in Flour * When Muffin Tin is hot immediately fill cups 3/4 full of batter and return to oven * After 10 minutes turn off oven and leave in oven for 10 more minutes * Remove from pan immediately and serve NOTES: This recipe is fairly sweet. If you choose to make it less sweet you would need to cut the honey and substitute yogurt, sour cream or butter for the amount you cut.

Tropical Bar-B-Que Sauce

Lately the Raging Mr. and I have been in production mode. We have been canning tomato sauce, carrots, green beans, salsa, cranberry BBQ sauce, etc... We still have a lot of tomatoes left so we started talking about what to do with them and the Raging Mr. said he would like to make at least two other types of BBQ sauce. We want to make a Honey Mustard BBQ and we were trying to come up with an unexpected one. There had been a grapefruit sitting on the kitchen table for a while, tropical lead us to Jamacan Jerk seasoning. It was still not fully formulated so I went to work looking at BBQ sauce recipies, quanties, ingredients and formulas. This morning I rememberred that we had some Tamarind pulp in the freezer and this recipie was born. CATEGORY: Meat Recipe Name: Tropical BBQ Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 c Orange Juice 1 1/2 c Tamarind Pulp 1/2 c Apple Cider Vinegar 1 Grapefruit, zest and juice 1 Red Onion 1 1/2 T Fresh Ginger 1 1/2 T Garlic 1/2 c Raw Sugar 1 T Dry Chipotle 1/2 T Thyme 1/2 T Pepper 1 t Salt 1/2 t Cinnamon 1/4 t Allspice 1/4 t Cloves 1/4 t Nutmeg Steps: * Chop Onion, Grate Ginger and Garlic, Zest and Juice Grapefruit * Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally until desired consistency is reached * Use, can or refrigerate as desired NOTES: This sauce is a bit of a sneak attack. You first taste the citrus then you get the heat. It is moderately spicy.

Salsa

Back in the mid 90's I had some of my brother-in-law's fresh salsa. After that I could not abide by the store bought stuff. The vinegar in it just made me gag. It took me 2 years to perfect this recipe. CATEGORY: Appetizers/finger food Recipe Name: Salsa Ingredients: 12 Roma Tomatoes 12 Tomatillos 6 Jalepenos 6 Serano peppers 1 T garlic 1 Lime 1 bunch Cilantro 1/2 t Salt Steps: *Dice Romas and Tomatillos *Chop Cilantro off of stems *Zest and Juice Lime *Mince Garlic * Remove seeds and pith from peppers to control heat, then dice peppers * Combine all ingredients and refrigerate to store * Can be served immediately NOTES: For mild remove seeds from Jalepeno and Serano Peppers Medium remove seeds from Serano Hot remove seeds from Jalepeno X-tra hot do not remove any seeds

Oven Fried Chicken

Everyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT fry. But, every once in a while I have that deep carnivorous craving for fried chicken. Unfortunately it has eluded me for over 2 decades. I finally conquered fried chicken. CATEGORY: Meat Recipe Name: Oven Fried Chicken Ingredients: 1 Qt plain full fat yogurt 1 T Chipotle 1 T Mustard Powder 2 c Flour 1 T Kosher Salt 1 T Pepper 5 lbs Chicken pieces, skin on 1/2 c Butter 1/2 c Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil Steps: *Mix Yogurt, Chiptle and Mustard Powder. *Coat Chicken with mixture and refridgerate over night. *Pull Chicken from Yogurt mixture and put on on baking racks to dry for 1-4 hours in the refridgerator. *Mix Flour, Salt and Pepper * Pretheat your oven to 425 *Put Butter and Oil in an 11x17 cookie sheet and place in oven until butter melts and can be easily combined with oil *Gently coat Chicken in Flour mixture and place skin side down in cookie sheet * Bake 20-30 minutes on each side Flip the chicken to its second side when the top has achieved a nice golden brown *Once you remove the Chicken from the oven it should be allowed to rest on a bed of paper towels for 5 minutes on each side before serving NOTES: *When you remove the chicken from the yogurt do not wipe it off. This will leave a good portion but all excess will drip off *Baking time varies. If you have wings, 20 minutes per side is good, small legs and thighs with get 25 minutes and large legs and thighs or breasts will get 30. *This chicken can be fried using any method you desire or even oven baked on a rack.

Potato Salad for the Masses

When we started looking for a good potato salad we found Bobby Flays German Potato Salad. Unfortunately we did not have all of the ingredients. So we did what we do and improvised and changed. This is what we came up with. CATEGORY: Starches Recipe Name: Almost German Potato Salad Ingredients: 3 Lbs New Potatoes 2 Red Onions 3/4 Lb Bacon 3/4 c apple cider vinegar 1 t mustard powder 1 t coriander 1 t cumin 2 T Stone Ground Mustard ( or 1 T mustard seed  & 1 T mustard) 1/4 C Olive Oil 1 t Salt 1 T Pepper 8 Green Onions 1/2 C Mayonnaise 1 C Grated Cheddar Steps: * Quarter 1 onion and put in a large pot with whole potatoes, cover with water and bring to a boil. * Boil for 15 minutes then drain, discarding onion * Cube potatoes into bite size pieces while still warm * Dice bacon then cook until crisp. When done drain off drippings, reserving half * Dice and saute 2nd onion in bacon drippings 4-5 minutes * To onion add Vinegar and seasonings then cook for 2 minutes more before adding Mayonnaisse and Mustard * coat potatoes with onion mixture then cool * slice up green onions * Mix Green Onions, Bacon, Cheddar and salt and pepper to taste at least 10 minutes before serving. NOTES: This recipe was inspired by Bobby Flays Potato Salad Link (URL): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/german-potato-salad-recipe/index.h\ tml

a Spring Time Salad-Strawberry and Spinach

Last night I had a dinner party and really needed a salad that would sing. This salad touches all of the taste buds with notes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory at different levels that create harmony in your mouth. With the Spinach and Strawberries it is perfect for spring. I knew one of my attendees does *NOT* eat raw spinach, yet he was wolfing this salad down like it was going out of style. CATEGORY: Vegetables Recipe Name: Strawberry Spinach Salad Ingredients: SALAD 10 oz fresh spinach 1 lb strawberries 1 grapefruit 1/2 lb bacon DRESSING 1/3 c balsalmic vinegar 1/3 c honey 1/3 c stone ground mustard Steps: * To make dressing mix mustard, vinegar and honey then set to the side * Cut bacon into small pieces and cook until crisp, draining grease when done then set to side * Wash Spinach * Stem and Slice Strawberries * Peel and Segment Grapefruit * Toss Spinach, Strawberries, Grapefruit and Bacon together and serve with Dressing on the Side NOTES: Segmenting is not nearly as intimidating as it sounds and can be done with any citrus fruit. You cut the peel off of the grapefruit then with a paring knife you cut the fruit from the skin that separates the segments of fruit.

Turnip Scallop

As I continue down the road of making food safe for diabetics I am again confronted by my old advisary, the turnip. I think with this recipe I have finally conquered it. CATEGORY: Vegetables Recipe Name: Turnip Scallop (low glycemic index) Ingredients: 1 T salt 6 medium turnips 6 oz bacon 1 large red onion 2 granny smith apples 1/4 c flour 4 c milk 1/4 t nutmeg 1/2 t mustard powder 1/2 t salt 1 t pepper Steps: * Peel turnips * slice turnips 1/4" thick then place in large sauce pan with water to cover +1" and 1 T salt * put on high heat to bring to boil, then boil for 15 minutes and drain * while waiting for turnips to boil chop bacon and cook on medium heat to render * dice onion and apples * when bacon has rendered, saute onion in bacon drippings until translucent * add apples to bacon and onion * mix in flour * stir in half the milk and bring to boil * add remainder of milk, bring back to boil, mix in salt, pepper, mustard powder, nutmeg and remove from heat ***turnips should be done at this point*** * put 1/4 of the mixture in a baking dish, then layer with turnips and remainder of mixture, making certain that sauce is on top * bake at 350 for 1 hour * serve NOTES: The salt in the water completely gets rid of the bitterness often associated with turnips

Barley Mushroom Risoto "the Feast Hall" Everything Seasoning

It is not uncommon knowledge that I cook lunch for my husbands office every Wednesday. What would be less commonly known is that one of the people in his office is diabetic. I have been wanting to explore the glycemic index for a while and this gave me the perfect opportunity. I found a few great tidbits of knowledge, as they pertain to grains and diabetes: Whole Wheat is always better than White, and enriched is better than plain When looking at whole wheat pasta you want the Durum Wheat not Semolina Long grain rice, like Basmati and Doongara, especially if it is the brown varieties are in the mid 50's on the glycemic index Rye, Pearled Barley and Quinoa are low on the glycemic index This last one is the most important for the sake of this dish, because it was before I discovered that not all rice was taboo. I served this dish to a few diverse audiences and it was declared a winner by all. CATEGORY: Starches Recipe Name: Barley Mushroom Risotto (low glycemic index) Ingredients: 16 oz pearl barley 1/2 lb bacon 4 lb mushrooms, sliced 1 qt water 3 qt chicken stock 4 T Everything Seasoninghttp://www.thefeasthall.com/our-spice-rubs.html 4 T butter 8 oz parmesean, grated 1 red onion, diced Steps: Keep pan over medium heat for the entire process!!! * chop bacon up then cook until rendered and crispy * add pearl barley and cook, stirring regularly, until it starts to brown * pour in 1 qt water and stir regularly * in a separate pan slowly cook mushrooms with butter, onion, and Everything Seasoning * when the pearl barley is almost dry (think of a cooked oatmeal consistency) stir in 2 c chicken stock and stir occasionally, repeat this step until risotto has soaked up all the chicken stock * by the time all the chicken stock is absorbed the mushroom mixture should be cooked down and somewhat dry * mix the mushroom mixture, and parmesean into risotto * serve NOTES: This dish reheats great in the oven. I have yet to do a smaller batch, but I would make this size batch and freeze portions of it for later use.