Monday, September 21, 2009
This Meal is Keeper
This was a very simple easy meal, and it was so good. Escarole, Sausage and White Bean Stew, Page 270. I don't have much more to say about this other than yum. Spud screamed he wouldn't eat it and then he loved it. Coco complained that i didn't make dessert. The only thing that was missing that I didn't drink a glass of white wine with it. Now to decide what to make tomorrow.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Comfort Meal under Control
After a stressful and scary week, I was thrilled to bring my immediate family back together at the dinner table tonight. The three of us had a nice quiet dinner together. I felt a good old fashioned comfort food meal was the way to go, and I made Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, page 448 and served it over spaghetti. the meatballs were excellent, and I loved that that they did not contain eggs. Coco has always made the family's best meatballs ( after my step-father of course, lest he read this). As Coco says, why wouldn't he make good meatballs? Matzo Ball, Meatball - it's all the same! ( Too bad he didn't make the Matzo balls yeaterday!) My family had to admit these meatballs were good. The Spud commented he loved the kick that the red pepper flakes added, and implored Coco to add them to his in the future.
The routine to cook allows me to control something in a world of things I cannot control, and the family dinner brings those I love most close to me and makes us all feel safe.
All I can say is make sure you hug those you love and keep them close. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through these next few days.
The routine to cook allows me to control something in a world of things I cannot control, and the family dinner brings those I love most close to me and makes us all feel safe.
All I can say is make sure you hug those you love and keep them close. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through these next few days.
Life in Crisis/ Rosh Hashanah
Sorry for the time-delay on the blog! As much as I would like to hide in my kitchen and only cook when life is in crisis, unfortunately that just isn't possible, time and emotions just didn't allow this week as our family went though some tough stuff. I was supposed to cook a whole extended Rosh Hashanah dinner, and it didn't happen. I managed to get out 3 Gourmet recipes for the holiday. I had 2 of 3 successes.
As I mentioned last Sunday made the Chicken and Rice Soup, page 122 ahead of time and just made it without rice becasue I wanted the home made soup, to use with Chicken Soup with Almond Matzo Balls, page 123. The home made soup turned out great. I made it in my crock pot and it was so easy. Fresh Carrots, and the white meat from the chicken chopped and put back in. The chicken soup with the matzo balls in the recipe calls for canned chicken broth, which is why I combined the two recipes! I think Ruth let me down for the first time though. The Almond Matzo Balls were awful!!! It was a unique flavor to begin with, matzo, almonds, dill and cinnamon made for an intersting but not bad flavor. These balls ended up more appropriate to be used on the PGA tour and have Titleist stamped on them ( to quote my father-in law). The Spud hated them and Coco is too sweet to say anything. Ruth Reichl thanked Muriel Resisman of Fair Lawn, NJ for this recipe and said this recipe made refined cousins, of the delicatessan matzo ball. Well I am sorry they included it! I did rush the recipe a little, and didn't let the batter sit for as long as it said, but still.... Thank goodness for cell phones and my mother-in-law keeps the good old box of Manischewitz Matzo Ball mix in the house and bailed me out of the Matzo ball disaster.
The upside of this quest to cook tradtional Jewish this week was that I finally found a new fish market, and not just any fish market - an amazing one. I have been in the one in Chelsea Market in NYC, and they have nice fish, but it is pretty pricy and the selection is limited. Gone are the days of the old fashioned Italian fish market, Apicella's in Hoboken as well. ( they wouldn't have had what I needed anyway.) I found the Sea Breeze Seafood Market at 541 9th Ave @ 40th Street, New York City. I cannot say enough about this market, they had almost every fish or shellfish you could ever ask for, they are reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. I bought about 10 pounds of Carp, Pike and Whitefish for $27 and they filleted and ground all the fish for me and gave me all the bones, heads and tails.
As you might guess from those ingredients, I made Gefilte Fish, page 73. I must say it was a fairly easy recipe when you get the fish market to do the hard work. It was an excellent recipe, that actually called for Whitefish only, but I made it with the traditional mix of fish. If you don't know what gefilte fish is, the best decription I can provide, is if you took Fish Tartare, and then poached it. Like a fish dumpling. I happen to like my Gefilte fish salty and not sweet, so I left out the carrots and added some salt. It was very good, and different from it's jarred version, and well worth it.
It was a lovely Rosh Hashanah dinner with our loved ones which was the important part. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
As I mentioned last Sunday made the Chicken and Rice Soup, page 122 ahead of time and just made it without rice becasue I wanted the home made soup, to use with Chicken Soup with Almond Matzo Balls, page 123. The home made soup turned out great. I made it in my crock pot and it was so easy. Fresh Carrots, and the white meat from the chicken chopped and put back in. The chicken soup with the matzo balls in the recipe calls for canned chicken broth, which is why I combined the two recipes! I think Ruth let me down for the first time though. The Almond Matzo Balls were awful!!! It was a unique flavor to begin with, matzo, almonds, dill and cinnamon made for an intersting but not bad flavor. These balls ended up more appropriate to be used on the PGA tour and have Titleist stamped on them ( to quote my father-in law). The Spud hated them and Coco is too sweet to say anything. Ruth Reichl thanked Muriel Resisman of Fair Lawn, NJ for this recipe and said this recipe made refined cousins, of the delicatessan matzo ball. Well I am sorry they included it! I did rush the recipe a little, and didn't let the batter sit for as long as it said, but still.... Thank goodness for cell phones and my mother-in-law keeps the good old box of Manischewitz Matzo Ball mix in the house and bailed me out of the Matzo ball disaster.
The upside of this quest to cook tradtional Jewish this week was that I finally found a new fish market, and not just any fish market - an amazing one. I have been in the one in Chelsea Market in NYC, and they have nice fish, but it is pretty pricy and the selection is limited. Gone are the days of the old fashioned Italian fish market, Apicella's in Hoboken as well. ( they wouldn't have had what I needed anyway.) I found the Sea Breeze Seafood Market at 541 9th Ave @ 40th Street, New York City. I cannot say enough about this market, they had almost every fish or shellfish you could ever ask for, they are reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. I bought about 10 pounds of Carp, Pike and Whitefish for $27 and they filleted and ground all the fish for me and gave me all the bones, heads and tails.
As you might guess from those ingredients, I made Gefilte Fish, page 73. I must say it was a fairly easy recipe when you get the fish market to do the hard work. It was an excellent recipe, that actually called for Whitefish only, but I made it with the traditional mix of fish. If you don't know what gefilte fish is, the best decription I can provide, is if you took Fish Tartare, and then poached it. Like a fish dumpling. I happen to like my Gefilte fish salty and not sweet, so I left out the carrots and added some salt. It was very good, and different from it's jarred version, and well worth it.
It was a lovely Rosh Hashanah dinner with our loved ones which was the important part. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Rushing Monday
In the quest to crank out as many recipes as possible, I forced one upon the Spud for lunch today. I made him the Chicken Club Sandwich, pg 188 for his lunchbox today. He is the perfect person to experiment this on since he is the only member of this household that would eat the lemon- mayo spread on this. We are not Mayo eaters, so I am going to have trouble with these recipes that call for Mayo or Aioli. I think it was a hit, but he complained that the bacon was too fatty... Is there anything such as un-fatty bacon?
For dinner I ran really late today. I marinated the pork this morning for the Char Siu, pg 478 but I got home so late we had to rush this along and buy our sides. Char Siu is Chinese Roast Pork, and this proved to be as good as you can get in any chinese restaurant. The Pork Shoulder Joe sold me was perfect for this dish. I sped it along by cooking it the whole time at 400 degrees instead of 375 and then raising it to 400, but I really think it worked out just as well. The trick to this recipe is basting often. Either way it was quite good, and we had leftovers for lunches for tomorrow. We cheated with the sides and stopped at the local chinese restaurant for Fried Rice and asian pancakes.. I would have liked to have made it with some bok choy and home made fried rice. I think this recipe could have worked really well on a grill too!
For dinner I ran really late today. I marinated the pork this morning for the Char Siu, pg 478 but I got home so late we had to rush this along and buy our sides. Char Siu is Chinese Roast Pork, and this proved to be as good as you can get in any chinese restaurant. The Pork Shoulder Joe sold me was perfect for this dish. I sped it along by cooking it the whole time at 400 degrees instead of 375 and then raising it to 400, but I really think it worked out just as well. The trick to this recipe is basting often. Either way it was quite good, and we had leftovers for lunches for tomorrow. We cheated with the sides and stopped at the local chinese restaurant for Fried Rice and asian pancakes.. I would have liked to have made it with some bok choy and home made fried rice. I think this recipe could have worked really well on a grill too!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Steakhouse Night
Yesterday I made my trip to the butcher to stock up on some meat for the next few weeks. All I can say is that if you don't live near a small local butcher, then move where there is one or figure out how to speacial order through a good grocery store, becuase meat from the butcher is the best! I go to Joe's Prime Meats in Hoboken, and I wish he had a website to post for him, because Joe is the best. I love the butcher so much that Coco and Spud think I have a crush on Joe. He's a realy nice guy, and I love his chocolate lab, Hershey, but I really do go for the meat, (and sometimes he even gets me fish).
Among the many other things I bought which I will cook and write about in coming weeks, I bought 3 pieces of Filet Mignon. Now I know many say what they want about if this is the best cut of meat or not, for flavor etc, but these were about the 3 most perfect pieces of meat I have ever cooked. I made Pan-Seared Filet Mignon with Merlot Sauce, page 428. It was just wonderful. The Merlot sauce is supposed to be made with Veal stock which I am sure would have been amazing, but I admit I didn't have the time, or the veal bones to make the stock ( although I am sure Joe would have hooked me up). I just used beef stock instead, and I think it still turned out pretty yummy. I followed Ruth's instructions for cooking the meat, and after years of trying, I have finally accomplished the perfect piece of meat. I have always had so much trouble with beef that it keeps me fromm even cooking it so much.
I accompanied my steaks with classic steak house dishes, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots, page 559 and Creamed Spinach, page 578. Both of these are very simple recipes, but the perfect sides for this meal. The cleaned plates of my family were certainly all that needed to demonstrate they loved it.
Lastly I finished it off with a classic cheesecake, which this recipe I almost overlooked because of the name. It is the Three Cities of Spain Classic Cheesecake, page 751. It is named so for a now defunct coffehouse in Santa Fe ( I can only assume New Mexico). To quote Ruth: " Although the filling only contains 5 ingredients, and is very simple to make, it delivers all the decandently, rich, creamy smoothness that has made cheesecake so popular." It has that rich layer of sour cream on top, and I make the crust with Nabisco Ginger Snaps instead of graham crakers. It is inside in my refrigerator right now and it is taking every last ounce of will power I have to not go have a slice.
Also to get a jump on my cooking for Rosh Hashanah on Friday, I made Chicken and Rice Soup, page 122, but sans rice. I plan to use this homemade soup as the base instead of store bought broth in Chicken Soup with Almond Matzo Balls. More to follow on the Matzo Balls, and Gefilte fish too!
Among the many other things I bought which I will cook and write about in coming weeks, I bought 3 pieces of Filet Mignon. Now I know many say what they want about if this is the best cut of meat or not, for flavor etc, but these were about the 3 most perfect pieces of meat I have ever cooked. I made Pan-Seared Filet Mignon with Merlot Sauce, page 428. It was just wonderful. The Merlot sauce is supposed to be made with Veal stock which I am sure would have been amazing, but I admit I didn't have the time, or the veal bones to make the stock ( although I am sure Joe would have hooked me up). I just used beef stock instead, and I think it still turned out pretty yummy. I followed Ruth's instructions for cooking the meat, and after years of trying, I have finally accomplished the perfect piece of meat. I have always had so much trouble with beef that it keeps me fromm even cooking it so much.
I accompanied my steaks with classic steak house dishes, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots, page 559 and Creamed Spinach, page 578. Both of these are very simple recipes, but the perfect sides for this meal. The cleaned plates of my family were certainly all that needed to demonstrate they loved it.
Lastly I finished it off with a classic cheesecake, which this recipe I almost overlooked because of the name. It is the Three Cities of Spain Classic Cheesecake, page 751. It is named so for a now defunct coffehouse in Santa Fe ( I can only assume New Mexico). To quote Ruth: " Although the filling only contains 5 ingredients, and is very simple to make, it delivers all the decandently, rich, creamy smoothness that has made cheesecake so popular." It has that rich layer of sour cream on top, and I make the crust with Nabisco Ginger Snaps instead of graham crakers. It is inside in my refrigerator right now and it is taking every last ounce of will power I have to not go have a slice.
Also to get a jump on my cooking for Rosh Hashanah on Friday, I made Chicken and Rice Soup, page 122, but sans rice. I plan to use this homemade soup as the base instead of store bought broth in Chicken Soup with Almond Matzo Balls. More to follow on the Matzo Balls, and Gefilte fish too!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Back to the Routine
Well today it was back to school for the Spud and a full normal busy work day for me after a long weekend. As a treat, I reprised for breakfast the Cheese Omelet again but made it as a 2 egg omelet this time, and I managed to get it out of the pan perfectly this time. Spud was thrilled and declared I had finally master better eggs than dad! I took that as high praises, since I have never mastered eggs.
Keeping in the easy comfort food theme as we settle back to routine, I tried Ruth's version of Macaroni and Cheese, page 223. This also was handy as I haven't made it to the butcher yet so we needed to be meatless! Personally I am usually a fan of the recipe on the Mueller's Macaroni box, with Velveeta substituted for cheddar. Luckily I pretty much have that memorized from years of practice, because I am having a very hard time finding my favorite elbow macaroni standby. Since the old Jersey City Mueller's manufacturer sold the company to the American Italian Pasta Company, the pasta is just getting harder to find. The recipe is still available at http://www.makesameal.com/home.asp?p=recipes.asp&r=172 and of course works just fine with any elbow brand, but it just isn't the same for me. The Gourmet version is pretty similar actually, but it uses heavy cream and cheddar to make it very rich. The cheddar makes the mac and cheese a little oily as it bakes, I still prefer Velveeta. The twist I did like form this recipe though was the added Red Pepper Flakes. It gave a little kick. What ever recipe you choose, it's mac and cheese, and its good no matter what.
We we needed to add something green to this dinner, so I made the salad, Bibb Lettuce with Butter Dressing, page 130. This salad isn't exactly quite what I would call healthy, because of the butter dressing, but it was easy and quite tasty. Its very simple and just the slight lemony garlic flavor was wonderful. And still we got in our greens.
Well I am going to plan out some food and hopefully call in an order to Joe's tomorrow, so I can make some new and exciting things next week.
Keeping in the easy comfort food theme as we settle back to routine, I tried Ruth's version of Macaroni and Cheese, page 223. This also was handy as I haven't made it to the butcher yet so we needed to be meatless! Personally I am usually a fan of the recipe on the Mueller's Macaroni box, with Velveeta substituted for cheddar. Luckily I pretty much have that memorized from years of practice, because I am having a very hard time finding my favorite elbow macaroni standby. Since the old Jersey City Mueller's manufacturer sold the company to the American Italian Pasta Company, the pasta is just getting harder to find. The recipe is still available at http://www.makesameal.com/home.asp?p=recipes.asp&r=172 and of course works just fine with any elbow brand, but it just isn't the same for me. The Gourmet version is pretty similar actually, but it uses heavy cream and cheddar to make it very rich. The cheddar makes the mac and cheese a little oily as it bakes, I still prefer Velveeta. The twist I did like form this recipe though was the added Red Pepper Flakes. It gave a little kick. What ever recipe you choose, it's mac and cheese, and its good no matter what.
We we needed to add something green to this dinner, so I made the salad, Bibb Lettuce with Butter Dressing, page 130. This salad isn't exactly quite what I would call healthy, because of the butter dressing, but it was easy and quite tasty. Its very simple and just the slight lemony garlic flavor was wonderful. And still we got in our greens.
Well I am going to plan out some food and hopefully call in an order to Joe's tomorrow, so I can make some new and exciting things next week.
Catching Up
Well I am back to my life as a mom, so I was off playing this week and not really cooking or blogging. The Spud hated the Spinach Cheese Strata as his first breakfast home. His feeling is that spinach has no business being with eggs, even though he likes both separately. I personally am finiding I can't eat eggs anymore. Coco and I really liked it though, and it served as breakfast for a few days as it reheated nicely.
Last weekend I also made Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies, page 689 which were delicious and fudgy, a perfect brownie consistency. I don't like chips in my brownies so much though, and even though I used mini chips, they were still evident and it changes the texture. Without them though, they would just be Double Chocolate Fudge brownies!
We didn't really eat out anywhere too interesting to blog about, so we'll just fast forward to today.....
Last weekend I also made Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies, page 689 which were delicious and fudgy, a perfect brownie consistency. I don't like chips in my brownies so much though, and even though I used mini chips, they were still evident and it changes the texture. Without them though, they would just be Double Chocolate Fudge brownies!
We didn't really eat out anywhere too interesting to blog about, so we'll just fast forward to today.....
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