Oh Betty, do not forsake us in our time of need

Since I'm the original owner of the book my daughter Little Bird referred to in her Retro Recipes Challenge post I thought it necessary to show the book as she described.

I didn't receive this as a wedding present but as a bonus for sending in box tops from cake mixes and bisquick and the like. Married in 1970 I was eager to become a woman in her own right when I redeemed the coupons for this book and a book on entertaining. The latter has gone missing and a good thing, it would have pushed our feathery little feminist over the edge. We have come a long way and thanks to some of the women in our lives for breaking ground. Maybe not loud but definitely proud quietly making inroads in stereotypes.

Cookbooks in our house become a repository for all things. As I paged through this one I found recipes, now yellowed, torn from magazines or newspapers. One doesn't have a date but the reverse has broccoli for 49 cents a pound. Some recipes I remember but some I can't think why I saved. A few from the pages of Bon Appetit in the late seventies complete very dated photos. Did we really dress that way? A recite for a long gone appliance, a photo of a friend, and my favorite, a recipe written on the back cover in my mother's hand for some "hot" cookies made with pepper cheese and dry mustard.


What is necessary, ever so often, is to look back to that mother, aunt, or cookbook that might have influenced your life and celebrate just how far we've come, then roll up your sleeves and push the envelope just a little farther. Someone in the future is depending on you.

Lorna Eley's Hot Cookies
2 cups hot pepper cheese shredded, room temperature
1/2 Oleo (butter)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix with hands, thoroughly
Make into a log and refridgerate until firm
Cut as thin as possible and bake until very lightly brown 350 oven. 10-12 min.

a new adventure

so, i, little bird, am apparently becoming quite the bo-bo (that's bohemian bourgeoisie for those of you not keeping track). we got a civic gx (natural gas car) last year, i started taking the bus to work at least once a week, and i just joined a csa. what's a csa? well, i'm glad you asked!

csa stands for community supported agriculture. basically, you buy a share (or, in my case, a half share) in a local farm and, in return, you get a regular delivery of food from the farm. it's all good. you're supporting farmers, eating local, getting fresh fruit and vegetables and eating seasonally and usually the farms are organic and sustainable. you can find a csa near you by checking out the local harvest site.

i joined the tierra miguel csa and i just got my first delivery today:



yum. as you can see, i got lemons, oranges, avacados, lettuce, baby spinach, leeks, a giant onion, some garlic, red potatoes, carrots, radishes, zuchinni and rhubarb!

so, as doodles would say, stay tuna'd, and join me on this csa adventure. first up, what to do with rhubarb!

retro recipes challenge

laura rebecca's kitchen is hosting the retro recipe challenge and i just couldn't resist, because i knew exactly what cookbook i was going to draw my recipe from.

growing up, my mom (you know, mooncrazy) had this cookbook called "betty crocker's cooky book." i think she got it as a wedding present in 1970 and i know she still has it. this cookbook was so cool. it had a red hard-bound cover with a picture of all different kinds of colorful cookies laid out on it. it really stood out on the cookbook shelf, especially to a kid. the leaves of the book were bound by wire rings (kind of like a spiral notebook) which gives it the advantage of laying flat while you are trying to cook from the recipe. genius, i tell you. i loved the hell out of that cookbook and i definitely credit it as one of the primary influences for my love of cooking. this book was much loved and well worn. i think the cover's come off and many of the pages have grease stains and flecks of dried on cookie dough as indicators that they were our favorite recipes, used time and time again. the mark of a good cookbook, indeed. i so totally wanted to spirit this thing out of the house when i left the nest, but i just couldn't. don't get me wrong, i liberated all sorts of other things (dad, still missing the white album?), but this was somehow sacred plus mom would know it was missing immediately, so it stayed on the shelf.

well, anyway, one day last year i was browsing the cookbook section at barnes & noble (like ya do), and i saw "the cookbook" on the shelf! i couldn't believe it, was there one leftover from 1963? not exactly. as it turns out, they issued a "facsimile edition" in 2002. it is exactly the same. i had to own it. it was like 25 bucks, which i'm sure is 10 times what it cost in 1963, but it had to go home with me. i took it home and read it like a novel.

this cookbook is so intiguing to me, not only because of my fond memories of my nascent culinary sensibilities, but also on a sociological level. re-reading it in my 30's, i take a much different view of this cookbook than i did when i was a kid. today, i see it as a snapshot of the past...as our country viewed itself in 1963. the styling is straight early 60's white middle america, totally camelot, totally leave it to beaver. the narrative and subtext scream out, "stay-at-home, white donna reed-june cleaver-laura petrie mom, making snacks for the kids when they get home from school and elegant dessert bites for swank in-home entertaining of the husband's boss." it also has a nostalgic americana section, dedicated to the best cookies, sorted by decade from 1880 to 1930 and by half-decade from 1930 to 1963. there is a "heritage cookies" section that features "[r]ecipes we know and use today [that] came from 'round the world to the thirteen isolated colonies of america." apparently "around the world" in 1963 meant "northern europe." reading the cookbook today, i see it as an advertisment for a certain cultural norm or aspiration that was trying to be sold to the people of this country in the 50's and 60's. it smacks of an instrument of social control through the communication and challenge to conform to preferred social values: white, upper-class, exclusionary values. when people reminisce about how great the 50's were, i often add, "yeah, if you were a white man." this time capsule cookbook has become a measuring stick of sorts for me and when i drag it out, it reminds me of how far our society has come in terms of inclusion and equality and how much farther we have to go. that being said, it has some damn fine cookie recipes.

so, i enter this retro cooking challenge with eyes wide open. there are some things that were just plain cool in the 50's and 60's, with good reason to celebrate them. but there were a lot more things that were definitely not cool so let's not get totally caught up in the nostalgia without giving a thought for the changes that sorely needed (and still need) to be made in our country. i therefore intend this cookie recipe as a political act: an independent, educated, professional woman in the new millenium appropriating a recipe from a book that was used as a tool of opression against the women who came before her.

[sorry for the diatribe, i was a communications study major in college and now i'm a lawyer. i can't help it.]

so, anyway, i thought i'd try the french lace cookie. it was listed in the best recipe for the 1960 - 1963 period and i thought it looked totally jackie kennedy. our country was so in love with her and her "sophisticated french ways" at that time, and i think this recipe reflects that. the french lace cookies is kind of like a tuile, it uses a really thin batter and spreads out really thin on the baking sheet, but this one bubbles up and the leftover holes make it look lacy and crenellated. it's actually quite a pretty little cookie. here's the recipe:

1 c. flour
1 c. finely chpped nuts
1/2 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. shortening
2/3 c. brown sugar (packed)

preheat oven to 375. blend flour and nuts. bring corn syrup, shortening, and sugar to boil in saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. remove from heat; gradually stir in flour and nuts. drop batter by level teaspoonfuls about 3" apart on lightly greased baking sheet. bake 5 - 6 minutes; remove from oven and allow to stand 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet. makes about 4 dozen cookies. for the "lace roll ups" variety, roll into a cylindrical shape while they are still warm. for "peek-a-bows," tie with a "gaily colored ribbon." [their words, not mine.]

Something different........and yummy!!!

Giada DeLaurentis, who happens to be one of my very favorite chefs on the Food newtwork……..anyway, the theme was a wine tasting I believe and one of the items she made was
Tortilla strips with and Italian twist.. I thought well that’s kinda different.


Parmesan Tortilla Crisps
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Whisk the oil, oregano, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat just until warm. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow ingredients to infuse the oil.. Brush the oil mixture over both sides of the tortillas. Stack the tortillas and cut them into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide strips. Arrange the strips in a single layer over the baking sheets. Sprinkle the cheese and salt over the strips. Bake until the strips are golden brown and crisp, about 12~14 minutes.

Good idea – very tasty!! But you know me I must put a Mexican spin on it – they are corn tortillas for heavens sake.
So I followed the recipe as above BUT instead of oregano I used Chipotle pepper flakes, left out the ground pepper and in the oil I added some fresh crushed garlic. Warm that as stated above and let it set to infuse the flavors. Brushed the tortillas as instructed but I bumped the temp up to 400 degrees for 12 minutes. And just a couple a minutes before removing them from the oven sprinkle a bit of shredded jack cheese and pop em back in the oven for a couple a minutes. I salted these when I removed them from the oven and cooled them on some paper towels. I would imagine you could used flour tortillas as well but I have yet to try that.
If you try it let me know what y’all think.

Grill of My Dreams--Challenge #1 final posts

Here are our post for the PBE's Grill of My Dreams Challenge (first set of participants). This was fun and though we had only four participants I feel we had the cream of the BBQ crop this Memorial Day. We might even make this an annual affair. So as Doodles would say, stay tuna'd!

Grill of My Dreams from Mooncrazy

For Little Bird's birthday we had about 12 so easiest for me to bbq was baby backs. I tried Alton Brown's recipe a few years ago and it has become the only way I do ribs for a crowd. So tender. First you rub two whole slabs of baby back with your favorite dry rub. I'd certainly try one of La Vida Dulce's.

Wrap each in heavy foil leaving one end open. Refrigerate for one hour. Microwave the braising liquid and pour half the liquid in each foil packet close tightly and braise in 250 oven on baking sheets for 2 1/2 hours. At this point I removed the ribs, cooled and refrigerated them. I also reduced the braising liquid to use as a sauce to glaze the ribs the next day.

About an 30 minutes or so before serving I heated the ribs on the grill to get them heated and a bit smoky then lathered on the reduction of the braising liquid or any bbq sauce you like and served. I also served addition sauce with the ribs. They were quite well received.

Dry Rub:
8 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Braising liquid:
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons steak sauce, I like HP Sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Note: I found the reduction sauce way too salty but the ribs were fine so I mixed the reduced braising liquid with a bottle of salt-free ketchup and it was great. When you are reducing the liquid make sure it's in a large skillet, it give more surface area and reduces quicker. This tip I got from the little parakeet.

Grill of My Dreams from Maltese Parakeet

Well, i didn't have to bbq on memorial day weekend because it was my birthday party and mooncrazy did the cooking for me. It was quite a meal, everything was really tasty ... the bbq ribs were outstanding. Nice birthday present, huh?

The most bbq'ing i did all weekend, was to heat up those leftover ribs on memorial day! But, i felt bad about not having something for our inaugural post so, i tried something on my grill pan in the oven on monday (the chicken crematoriam, as we call our bbq, not being ready for the season yet).

I stole an idea from sweetnicks and roasted some asparagus on the grill pan in my oven. First, because there was not enough pork on my plate, i wrapped the spears in prosciutto. You could easily do this on a bbq and the smoky taste would be really good with the prosciutto. Basically, wrap the trimmed asparagus in prosciutto, drizzle in olive oil & sprinkle with kosher salt and then pop in a 400 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes. I preheated the cast iron grill pan in the oven first, of course. While that was cooking, i boiled down a little balsamic vinegar for a drizzle after the roasted spears came out of the oven. Husband wolfed them down and pronounced them good.

Grill of My Dreams from Doodles

Since I already posted about my sizzling start to summer which included my broken fridge, my sinus infection, and canceled our company, I'm gonna fill you in on what I did cook on Memorial Day.

Certainly was not the gourmet meal of the century but I did want to tell y'all about the brisket.
And no I do not have beauty shots of the food, I was lucky enough to get the meal put together.

As mentioned in a previous post, I heard somewhere about grinding up a brisket and making that in to patties for your burgers. Ask the meat monger to grind it twice, and this was done at a local market not a meat market. I must remember to ask my friend Lyn about this because I think it was in Dallas I remember reading about this. Funny how things stick in your brain.

Anyhoooo it was yummy..............with a good beefy taste . But may I say your good tasty burger is only as good as the bun you put it on. None of those yeasty buns would do for this beefy burger. I did notice that my market had some interesting looking rolls that would serve nicely for a burger bun. They were of the stone ground wheat seeded variety. So mission accomplished in the bun department.

My menu consisted of brisket burgers mexican style, with guacamole, carmelized onions, roasted pablano peppers, lettuce, tomato, etc. I made an old family favorite from childhood which was a macaroni green pea salad. It's just like a potato salad but with macaroni and canned green peas. And since we were going to have company I had made a sherbert dessert that was a bit different. But I stored it in the broken freezer and the melted dessert was what greeted me that morning..........waaaaaaaaaa!!!

Hope y'all had a great Memorial Day cookout............

weekend dog blogging

it's that time of the week again over at sweetnicks'. lately, it seems like i've been posting more about dogs recently than food. anyway, here are my hounds, multy and max, on a recent road trip. they were being unbearably cute.

Moon shows all ... that's in the fridge

Whew, hope I got this posted in time for Sweetnicks show what's in your fridge. I've had three rounds of visitors for the last three weeks and the last left this morning. Loved each one of them but now back to work.

So what's in my fridge today? This is after all the guest have gone home so not a "filled" as it was last week. I had to put a big green arrow on the bottle of Veuve Clicquot. I don't usually have that in the fridge but one of our thankful guests gave that to us. Can't wait to open it. We just got too busy at little bird's birthday party. I know, shame on me. You'll see there is only one bottle of the brown dog, Newcastle left so must make a grocery run for my ever-lovin'.

show me yours...

ever since seeing "door knock dinners" on food tv once about 10 years ago, i have always been completely paranoid about what's in my fridge. it was the episode where they brought the iron chefs in to some poor sod's house and the iron chefs were totally snide about the lack of fresh food that americans have in their refrigerators. i'm not paranoid enough to actually keep my fridge nicely stocked, mind you. but, sometimes, when i get back from shopping, i usually think to myself, "oh, i wouldn't be embarassed if the iron chefs showed up today." so, when i read that sweetnicks is hosting her innaugural "i'll show you mine, if you show me yours" event, i couldn't resist. so, here it is, the snap of my fridge:



The three things always in there are dog food, leftovers and beer. one thing that would never be in there: beets.

Grill of My Dreams--Challenge #1 posts

Thanks to all the participants in PBE's first ever food challenge, Grill of My Dreams. Here are a few of the posts we received so far. More to come in second installment.

Gabriella at My Life As A Reluctant Housewife grilled up some Steak Kebabs
with a great photo and we love her note: Remember it is BBQ Season and it is a perfect time to have a party!

Copperpots gave us a Tandoori Grilled Chicken along with a recipe for an onion chutney. Sounds like a complete Indian BBQ. Lea, is that a Newcastle you're drinking with the chicken? Nice touch! Also, thanks for the link to PBE.

Soul Fusion Kitchen asked, "Can there be too much BBQ?" We say no but she did have a huge feast. Check out Sylvie's posts, she is one busy bbq-er. Pork Shoulder, update to the pork shoulder , and the entire menu complete with pictures to drool over. Did Ziggy get any scraps?

Two post from La Vida Dulce one for the dry rubs, both with and without sugar and one for mops and sauces. Thanks for the Cola BBQ sauce, have not seen it in years.

Ok, you're plate should be full for the time being but we'll have more for you soon.

A memorable start to summer!!!

So here it is the big Memorial Day week-end, PBE is having there first ever food challenge which appropriately is dubbed ‘grill of my dreams’. We have company coming Saturday nite to spend a couple a days. I have a menu all prepared.

I wake up SaturdayMorning feeling like poop……….think I am having a relapse of my strep throat, I go for some fresh OJ that I had made the nite before for Sunday brunch mimosa’s, when I notice that there is ice cream dripping out of the freezer side of my 6 month old side by side.
It’s a holiday weekend here folks no one is gonna come out to look at this or repair this on a holiday weekend. But I call Sears 800# and explain my problem, frig side is semi-warm, freezer side is semi-cool. I get thru to someone who was quite nice by the way, and said, “I hope you don’t feel as bad as your voice sounds”. Well yeah I did but why should I get in to it with the customer service dude. Sorry mam the first appointment I can give you is Tuesday between 8 – 5. Hey what the heck of course I’ll take it I have no choice right.

I am lucky to have a old frig that I kept in the garage for occasion of not enough room in your in kitchen frig due to holidays, company and such. So husband and I moved what we could out of the broken down in to the old one in the garage. And about this time I’m feeling really crappy. Consult with husband and ask if we can cancel the get together with friend’s cause I am just not up to it.So Sunday husband and I had fresh squeezed OJ and he enjoyed a mimosa while I enjoyed time in bed with my over the counter meds. Seems that allergies have been just wicked in our area and I was the lucky recipient of what I thought was a fuzzy golf ball stuck in the back of my throat.
I did feel well enough later in the day to BBQ some burgers. I had seen somewhere that twice ground brisket makes a good BBQ’d burger and where ever I saw that they were correct if you haven’t tried it do some time. I had made some macaroni and green pea salad on Saturday. Oh and I had made a special sherbert dish that was in the dead freezer…….oh well!!!

Guess I should explain the reason for the pic of my fridge is that sweetnicks is having one of her very clever challenge’s “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”!!! I don’t think this is what she had in mind, but here ya go, my fridge………..looks a lot cleaner than my purse that’s fer sure.

ETA ~ three things always in my fridge butter, la croix water, half & half never, ever okra!!!

BTW frig got fixed this a.m. and the repair guy said they just don’t make em the way they used to………………..stay tuna’d……………………..

It was thrillin' to be grillin' but get back to work

With the three-day weekend only a tasty memory it's back to work for most of us. We did recieve some links for our first-ever food challenge, Grill of My Dreams, so watch this blog on June 1 for some smokey posts. If you haven't e-mailed your post get it to us so we can share your grill experiences.

Happy Birthday Little Bird

Sunday we threw a birthday party for Lorna and this was the aftermath of the appetizers, fried onions, grilled sausages, and peel and eat shrimp with a remolade sauce. The onions were an attempt at the Texas Toothpicks we had in Indiana. Quite easy, I took a recipe from Napa Style and did a few modifications.

3 onions sliced into slivers
6 jalapeño peppers seeded and sliced into slivers
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup aborio rice flour
2 cups flour
ground pepper
salt
Just soak the onions and peppers in the buttermilk then dredge with flour. Drop in small batches into hot oil and cook until lightly brown. Salt while hot and serve with a chipotle mayo for a dipping sauce.

Now sister Weed added some chilpotle flakes to the spice grinder while grinding the rice into flour. This sounded good, too. I believe this will be a bbq staple for me this summer.

weekend dog blogging

well, i put it off long enough, but the dogs finally got their summer haircuts. here's max. he looks like a q-tip and he is not happy about it:



check out other cute dogs that belong to food bloggers at sweetnicks' weekend dog blogging!

Food Challenge # 1--reminder

Don't forget Peanut Butter Étouffee's first ever food challenge, The Grill of my dreams is this weekend. It's time to haul out those bbqs, dust off those grills, and cook up a storm this Memorial Day holiday then send us your "no-fail crowd pleasing bbq'd anything recipe"submissions.

What to submit?

Any recipe or blow-by-blow description of what happened on your grill over the three-day holiday.

How to submit?

Just click this e-mail link and send us your "permalink" or if you don't have a blog, send the text and we'll post it for you-- don't forget the photos. Our deadline will be June 1 for submissions then give us a few days to post links to all the appropriate sites.

Where to send?

E-mail your permalink to pbetouffee@sbcglobal.net or use this link.

You must try this......

fellow food blogger sweetnicks posted just the other day a recipe for Pear Gorgonzola Butter, those three words alone makes it worth the click.

Husband and I are both still under the weather he more than I, as I had a head start on the germ detail. So it just seemed that soup sounded good. Muir Woods roasted tomatoes, a jar of smokey roasted red pepper, put that in your whirly thing, food processor, along with some chicken broth for thinning down, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic, whirl and transfer to a pan for heating. I add some half and half cause I like the creaminess. At the end add some fresh cilantro.

Now here comes the butter recipe. I had made some in the afternoon in case of a snack attack and forgot about it....shame. Good thing cause this butter spread on toasted ciabatta bread went well with the soup and is a killer.......ya gotta try this.

Here's some smoking I like

Speaking of farmer's markets, yesterday I found something I've never seen, smoked garlic. There was a big pile of garlic heads looking like they rescued it from a burning kitchen and they might well have. I bought a head and now I wish I'd bought more. It is yummy with a subtle smoky flavor. I added it to pasta and asparagus in olive oil. Wow, was that great. I hope to find it again next week and this time I'll ask about it. The texture was the same as roasted garlic and the outside charred.

I am so sad............

Saturday is the last day for my farmer's market...........bummer.

In Florida it is just too hot to have anything growing now or thru the hurricane season.
So I will try to get to Whole Foods as much as I can.

Maybe we will be gone from here soon, and I won't have to worry bout not having a Farmers Market.

Serial from the heartland of Indiana

Mooncrazy: Doodles and I recently returned home from a trip to Indiana. Because we are such foodies we thought someone might enjoy hearing of our travels and eating adventures.

Because both contracted the "garfalitus" in Indiana we've not felt well enough to post but the miracle of modern chemistry has released me, at least, from the dreaded disease.

Doodles: So I must refer to my journal because I am, as I type, in a drug induced coma due to strep throat and a silly little sinus infection. And I am ashamed to admit we did not take one beauty shot of the food we did enjoy.........drats.

Anyway can I just say I have had my fill of Hall's Restaurants. Please don't think I am complaining about them we just ate there a lot while we were in Ft. Wayne. And they are allowed to smoke in their establishments, which nearly killed me, and I think Moon as well.

Mooncrazy: Don Hall's is a Ft Wayne, Indiana local dynasty with twelve restaurants. If you are in Ft Wayne you can't escape Hall's. The food is typical and because we had some family obligations, it served the purpose because every family member, save Doodles and myself, smoke and they allow smoking in every Halls. I'm from California and there are places here where you can't even smoke outside so smoking between courses, for the love of god, why? Second hand smoke

Doodles: awww Moon I agree!!! There are some restaurants here in Florida you can't even smoke outside in the patio dinning area. Thank you very much. And to allow employees to smoke at the entrance of their employers just boggles my mind. So sorry for the interruption, this is a food blog after all, continue sister moon.

Mooncrazy: The food in Indiana was somewhat disappointing but we did find an occasional stellar moment. One of our favorites was a place called Tumbleweeds, Seymour IN and although a chain, had a decent lunch menu. We shared a grilled chicken sandwich which was surprisingly spicy but the highlight was "Texas Toothpicks."

Doodles: I am on a mission to find the recipe for Texas Toothpicks..........I can taste them now, they are yummy. Once I get to feeling human again I am going to duplicate that food item. Stay tuna'd I'll post the results.

Mooncrazy: The recipe should be easy, just slivers of onions and jalapeños deep fried in a light tempura batter with a chipotle mayo for dipping. I'm thinking rice flour might be involved.

Doodles: Ya know moon, mentioning the fact that Indiana food tasting was somewhat disappointing is an understatement, should I hire an attorney now?

When we arrived in Indianapolis, we found a hotel suite type place on the northwest side of the city. We collected several of the obligatory tourist handouts from the lobby and took them back to our room to peruse. We decided a trip the next day to the White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis would be the perfect place to start because there is a plethora of things to do and see. One was the Eiteljorg Museum. Native American and Western Art on display for your viewing pleasure, and what a pleasure it was.

Mooncrazy: Great museum that included new art with old artifacts. Wonderful way to display the collection.

Doodles: But this is a food blog and of course we had to try the museum cafe for lunch. When Moon and I discovered they were serving posole, we beat feet. Moon, of all things for them to serve; it seemed like it was made just for us.

Mooncrazy: Yes, we are known far and wide for our love of posole. I was impressed that it was on the menu and when served it was actually pretty good. It did have a little too much meat and too little spice for me but it did give you the idea of New Mexico. What did you think of the dish, Doodles?

Doodles: I am in complete agreement moon, but remember who was making it and eating it as well. Most folks in that area keep spices low on the totem pole. It concerned me somewhat that we had to ask what the green stuff (cilantro) was in the cornbread. Not the flavor that would pass as cilantro.

Mooncrazy: I find that cilantro is a very fragile flavor. I used it like parsley on pasta tonight and it didn't have the effect I thought it would.

Ok, this post has gotten too long. We'll have to serialize it so, as Doodles says, Stay tuna'd!

a little home-cooked korean food

as a resident of los angeles, i am lucky to have access to the cuisine of many cultures...and the most authentic instances of the same outside of their native countries, at that. i consider myself a fairly adventurous eater and am constantly bugging my friends to introduce me to new "ethnic" restaurants, especially ones where me and the hubby will be the only honkies in the place! one of my favorites is korean food and one of my favorite appetizers when we go to korean bbq is the pa jan, a scallion pancake.

here's my stab at a homemade version. basically, you put some green onions and oysters or shrimp in a pan, pour over the batter and fry on both sides. preparation is simple. cut up the green onions into 2 inch lengths and chop up some cooked shrimp or oysters. i used tofu because i like it and it's what i had in my fridge.



in the authentic recipe, the batter calls for rice flour, but i use regular flour, an egg, milk, salt and a bit of sesame oil. mix up the batter so it is thin. thinner than pancake batter, maybe crepe batter consistency.



put a little oil in your pan (i use canola with a dash of sesame for flavor and my non-stick omelette pan), then lay down your green onions in the pan (try to get them all going the same direction) and sprinkle the oysters or chopped shrimp. let the oil get hot again after you add the green onions & seafood, because you want a nice crispy pancake. pour in enough batter to almost cover the green onions.



cook until pancake is set and brown on one side, then flip and brown the other side. slide out of the pan and sprinkle with a little salt while still hot. cut into wedges and serve with dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions and chili flakes. here's the final product. these got a little burned (i was on the phone when i was cooking). the ideal color is nice and golden with a nice fried texture.



i'm sure koreans everywhere are cringing at this photo and recipe, but this version is good enough to tide you over til the next time you're in l.a.'s k-town! as i said before, this is supposed to be an appetizer, but i have been known to sit down to dinner when the hubby is out of town with just a pa jan or two, some rice and some kimchi and a cold o.b. beer. [personal to mooncrazy, most cabbage kimchi has shrimp paste in it, so skip the kimchi.]

Remember the comfort food thread we had?????

Well since my sister and I have returned from our wonderful visit in Indiana, I thought I should bring my dear sweet husband a present since I had a present, a rotten cold and what the heck after 35 years, sharing is caring. Dang I brought him a cold, I'm sorry bunky, really I am.
But I marched that bad boy to the Dr. this a.m. and got him started on some antibiotics and his favorite beverage Gatorade (eeeewwww) other than beer of course. But when my sweetie gets back home I had made Who cares if it's good for you, it taste great This is an otameal dish sister moon made and posted awhile back.
Now here is the very odd part, any other time I made this dish my sweetie said "no thanks I'm not fond of that." He comes home and feeling kinda wonky smells the oatmeal dish and sheepishly says "could you scoop me up some of that?"
So what I'm saying folks is that my bunky has discovered a comfort food that now he is calling his own......isn't life amazing.
Try this recipe my friends it could be your new favorite comfort food even when you're not under the weather.

PBE's challenge #1 - Grill of my dreams

Sound the trumpets, unfurl the dish towels, Peanut Butter Étouffee is announcing their first ever food challenge.

We had so much fun with the Stale Bread Challenge we're tossing out a challenge of our own. Our sitemeter counter says we're gathering more readers so the challenge is open it to anyone wanting to add a post. That includes food bloggers or visitors without a blog. We'll take all comers who have an interest in food.

The May 29 Memorial Day holiday is the official opening of barbecue season. For our first memorable challenge give us your "no-fail crowd pleasing bbq'd anything recipe." Only rule: part of the cooking must be on a grill and prepare it sometime over that three-day holiday. Make a side dish, condiment, or a roast pig, just make sure you take a photo and e-mail your permalink or text of the recipe by June 1. We'll post a link to all appropriate sites.

Now this is smoke I don't mind smelling.

Update: Here are the participants from the first-ever challenge.

Buddy with a discriminating palate

This is our Buddy, not to be confused with Weed's Buddy cat, and he is a fine wire-haired terrorist. He has just received his spring grooming and looking quite handsome so I thought it warranted a photo. He pretty much controls darling husband and myself, tells us when to walk him, when to feed him, and when we've been up too late and it's time for his beauty sleep. Why the discriminating palate? We don't know but he smells everything he's offered. Odd habit for a dog, more cat-like.

As the “little bird” mentioned we were recently introduced to sweetnicks through a wonderful food blog called farmgirlfare.

farmgirl was also very generous to tell us about another food blog site if you are a cat owner – or should I say owned by a cat.

Clare is in Australia but don’t let that throw ya…..she has some wonderful items on her food blog as well as her weekendcatblogging every week. Check it out if you are owned by a cat.

Here is a pic of my Buddy lounging on his cat condo...........

cute doggies abound

pbe was recently introduced to a very cool food blog call sweetnicks. i like it a lot. sweetnicks has a ton of great info and the author does a lot of "round-ups," where she posts a theme and other food bloggers cook up something based on that theme and post it on their site, send a link and then she does a re-cap (basically like the imbb event that we participated in a few weeks ago). anyway, i think the reason that i really love the sweetnicks site is that it is obvious the author is a dog lover and she has something called the weekly dog blogging round-up. so, here's a picture of my two doggies, max (l) and multy (r) for the round-up.



do check out sweetnicks.

p.s. i know this should probably be done on a weekend, but this weekend is going to be a bit busy, so it's 2 days early!

in honor of sue

my best friends' grandmother passed last night. she was the sweetest, kindest little old lady you'd ever care to meet. she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. everyone called her grandma and you just couldn't help but hug that wee woman every time you saw her. we'll miss her terribly, but she left a wonderful legacy of love with her children and grandchildren, so she will live on in all of our hearts forever.

grandma sue will always be remembered in my heart for her ginger snaps, which were a staple at the family's annual 4th of july party. and while there's nothing quite like the flavor and texture of a grandma sue ginger snap eaten with wet pool hands in the hot california sun, here's my favorite ginger snap recipe in honor of grandma sue:

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 c. a.p. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 c. sugar

cream sugar, butter, molasses and egg. stir in remaining ingredients except 1/4 c. sugar. refrigerate dough for about an hour. form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the remaining sugar. bake in a 350 degree oven for about 8 - 12 minutes (snaps will puff up and then flatten and set). cool about a minute on the cookie sheets, then remove to a rack.

that one's for you, grandma sue. we sure will miss you.

Yes, we have no meatballs

Since I like to be fair I sent the link to my Fantastically Mediocre post to Johnny Carinos. I was not expecting anything but I did get an e-mail reply with words like, apologize, discuss this with the general manager, and gift certificate. Gift certificate? Yes, I'd be happy to try your restaurant again. I'm not only fair but forgiving especially when the director of operations sends me 30 bucks to try this again.

I'd love to sing their praises but all I could manage after our dinner last week would be a sour one note. First, we went at 5:30 p.m. No we aren't that old, we had other things to do that evening. The service was just as lackluster, our salad plates stayed on the table until our entree came, which was wrong so I sat looking at my Chicken Scaloppini while they replaced the potatoes with pasta as Dan ordered. He was specific about that when he ordered. That guy sure does love his pasta.

The Scaloppini was good and it was served hot but I ordered the Garlic Potato Cheese soup and it was so thick it was more like a dip. When I asked the server if it's always this thick he said he thought it was a little thicker tonight. I wonder if he would have served the chicken if he "thought it smelled a bit off tonight." He asked if I wanted something else but since he had my entree in his hand I'd rather eat that while it was warm. Little did I know. Dan's Grilled Italian Sirloin was ok but had cooled while they got the potato issue solved.

While we were waiting for our check--where do these waiters go--I heard a waiter tell the table behind us they were out of meatballs. An Italian restaurant out of meatballs before 6:00 p.m., amazing, I give them a few more months before they are out of customers, too.

stale bread from doodles

I could never get into the low-carb craze for one simple reason: I'm a sucker for a really good loaf of bread. Of course, even stale bread has an inevitable expiration date; wait too long to put your not-so-fresh bread to use, and mold and other tiny nasties will stake their claim, leaving you with no choice but to chuck the bread in the trash. This is where the freezer comes in handy. If you find yourself with a chunk of stale bread and no immediate use for it, just freeze it for later. Those butt ends of sandwich-style loaves, the ones that have a tendency to get pushed around and ignored until there's not another slice of bread left in the house? Those get added to the frozen stash as well. Just make sure to slice up any bread before you freeze it, as it's a lot easier to do so when the bread's at room temperature than when it's a big frozen block. Keep a ziplock bag in the freezer, freezing extra bread as you accumulate it, and you'll find you may never have to waste a slice of bread again.

Now living in Florida you must beat the mold. Eeeeewwwww gross I know. What I mean is let it get stale but use it before the humidity gets it or do what I have done in the past and let it dry out in the oven.

To participate in Is My blog Burning's food blogging event hosted by An Obsession With Food
the first thing that came to my mind was Tuscan Bread Salad -- Panzanella, although it is not one of my favorites so I decided to pass. I love brunch on Sundays so I thought I would work on a strata…………there are so many whew!!! hard to be original in that area. But this one is an adjusted version that I have made several times…and in several variations……….. if you try it ~ do enjoy!!!

after coming out of the fridge from it’s overnite stay

ASPARAGUS ~ CRAB and CHEESE STRATA

1 lb. fresh asparagus or 1 pkg. frozen asparagus

1 c. shredded crab meat

6 slices ciabatta bread crust on

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar and jack cheese

Butter

EGG MIXTURE:
5 eggs

1 tbls. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

2 c. half & half

2 tsp. Onion powder

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

pinch or 2 of red pepper flakes

3/4 c. jack & cheddar cheese, additional

Cut asparagus into 1" pieces, drop into boiling, salted water and cook rapidly for 4 minutes. Drain well. If using frozen asparagus, thaw and drain well. I use blackfin crabmeat from the seafood counter.If using canned crab meat rinse and drain. Fit bread into buttered 7'x11" baking dish. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese over the bread slices and distribute the asparagus and crab meat. Whisk the egg mixture ingredients together until blended. Pour over the layered ingredients, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Bake, uncovered in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Top with additional 3/4 cup cheese and continue baking to allow cheese to melt for 10 minutes or until center is firm. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting. Serves 6 to 8....well maybe 4 or 5 if you are really hungry

Serves this with a tossed salad like baby spinach, toasted pine nuts a good dose of salt and pepper leghtly dressed with a very simple vinegarette. And of course a glass of crisp white wine would be perfect.

A good variation would be with ham or bacon, asparagus and use swiss cheese or fontina.

stale bread from maltese parakeet

in searching for some food blogs to read regularly, i ran across an obsession with food. i quite like it; it's a pretty good read. but i was really intrigued when aowf introduced me to is my blog burning and its themed blog posts. aowf is hosting imbb 25: stale bread this weekend. since this is pretty much like the themes that we do here on peanut butter etouffee, i asked my blogmates if they would like to try and they enthusiastically agreed. so, here's my post and doodles' and mooncrazy's follow. i think i speak for the group when i say that we really enjoyed doing this and our husbands (or co-workers, in my case) , as the main consumers of the end product of our efforts, really enjoyed it too!

i initally thought i would make some bread pudding with the stale bread, but i recently made that, so i wanted to try something new. i came upon my stale bread idea from one of the podcasts that i listen to regularly, the podchef's gastrocast. back in march, he made a sicilian blood orange cake using bread crumbs and almond meal instead of flour. i'd never used this method before and i'd been dying to try it, so this was the perfect opportunity.

the recipe calls for four ounces of bread crumbs but seven ounces of almond meal. i found myself wondering if this would be judged like iron chef and worried that i would hear a japanese lower house minister say, "it's good, but i can't taste the theme ingredient." anyway, back to the bread crumbs... i used a few french sandwich rolls to make the crumbs, cutting them into cubes and letting them set out for a day or two to get stale. then i threw them in the food processor to get the crumb stage. since these bread crumbs were going to be used for a cake, i removed the crusts before i buzzed up the crumbs in the processor so that i would have a more delicate texture.

i didn't take any prep pictures, but here's the final product:



a few comments on the recipe and the outcome. this recipe uses a lot of sugar and oil and eggs. it is not low fat or low carb in any way shape or form. that being said, who cares? it was really tasty. the blood orange syrup soaking stage made the cake really moist and flavorful. but i had some extra batter and made some cupcakes on the side, so i can confirm that the cake was moist and tasty even without the syrup. the bread crumbs gave the cake a nice texture and i believe made the cake sturdy enough to stand up to the syrup. the sugar in the recipe made for nice carmelization on top of the cake which looked good, tasted better and added a nice texture to the outside of the cake. however, that carmelization action also got the cake good and stuck to the sides of the pan; without the greased pan and the parchment in the bottom, i don't believe i would have been able to get this cake out of the pan. so, don't skip that step in the recipe and be sure to run a knife along the edge of the pan before you attempt to dislodge the cake. i only know this because the cupcakes all got stuck, but i've been eating them out of the cupcake tin with a spoon all week, so it's all good! i am definitely going to make this cake again. i am looking forward to playing with some of the ingredients, i think lemon might be a good citrus to use to counteract some of the sweetness.



anyway, thanks to the podchef for this great recipe. i highly recommend this cake.

Stale bread from Mooncrazy

To participate in Is My blog Burning's food blogging event hosted by An Obsession With Food I needed to leave a loaf of French bread to get stale. Not an easy task in our house as darling husband loves bread and let's be honest, I do as well. I did manage to hide the loaf long enough to make Stale Bread Baked French Toast.

Egg mixture
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon or more nutmeg (none of that canned stuff)
1 small loaf stale french bread cut into 1" pieces or enough to fill a 9x13 glass baking dish

Topping
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Butter baking dish. In a bowl whisk the egg mixture ingredients. Place bread in dish in single a layer with sides touching, really squeeze the bread in. Pour egg mixture over bread, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning, preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl combine topping ingredients and spread evenly over bread. Bake 40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cut into squares or pull out the separate pieces of bread and serve dusted with powdered sugar.

The egg mixture turns the bread into a light and fluffy custard not unlike a savory strata. This is a great brunch dish because you don't need to deal with butter and syrup for each serving. We had leftovers and they are tricky to reheat. Try the oven rather than the microwave as the eggs get a bit chewy and that's not a tasty texture.

spring is here

i never got around to doing a post on the farmer's market topic way back when, so here it is.

i did a little spring shopping in the farmer's market this weekend so i could make one of my favorite spring meals. here's the menu: fava beans with green garlic; fingerling potatoes with bacon and rosemary; and roast pork loin (or lamb is good, too, but i'm not made of money).

green garlic is available only in spring and is, basically, baby garlic. it looks like a green onion, but bigger with flat leaves and a more bulbous end. i like to slice it up and use it in recipes instead of green onions or leeks. it adds a mild garlic flavor, but is not overpowering and won't give you the dreaded garlic breath.

and fava beans are just yum. another spring favorite. they come in these giant pods that look like green beans on steroids. to prepare them, remove them from the pods and then blanch them in salty, boiling water for about a minute or two. then throw them in an ice bath to cool them down and loosen the husk. finally, pop the beans out of the fibrous husk and they're ready to use. it's a lot of work for a small amount of food; but it's definitely worth it.

after all that, i saute some sliced green garlic and salt in the pan with a generous amount of olive oil and add the fava beans when the garlic starts to get soft. keep everything on the heat until the fava beans are just heated through and serve.

the fingerling potatoes are simple, though. i make up a foil pouch with the potatoes, a few slices of bacon (chopped up into bits), some fresh rosemary sprigs and some kosher salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. i throw the pouch in the oven with the pork loin and they potatoes are done at the same time.

the pork loin is dead simple, too. i brine it for at least a few hours in some salt water in a covered dish in the fridge and try to bring to room temperature before it goes in the oven. if you want to get fancy, cut back on the salt and replace it with some soy sauce and add a few slices of fresh ginger, some peppercorns, some star anis and a little sugar (a ming tsai recipe). to cook, i dry off the roast, rub with a little oil, add some cracked pepper and bake in the convection oven until about 150 degrees internal temperature. brining produces the moistest pork loin ever. but be sure to give the meat a good 10 minute rest before cutting, because, as alton brown taught me, letting the meat rest helps keep all the juice in the meat where it belongs, not on your cutting board!

At long last, a cake

Ok, this is the last post about my cake fiasco. I scrapped the chocolate (see previous post) for the yellow cake with strawberry cream filling and white chocolate ganache on the left. I did not use the same ganache recipe as it had Karo syrup and I thought it would be too sweet with the white chocolate. Only problem it wasn't shiny like the dark chocolate but it was yummy. It is easy to spread and easier to make. Bring heavy cream and a few tablespoons of butter to a boil and pour over the white chocolate. Cool and then beat it to the consistency you need.

Worried the berries in the filling would "weep" I sliced and patted them dry between paper towels and they were perfect. The berries on the top were washed, chopped and tossed with a little sugar. They gave a nice "fresh" taste to the cake and to be honest, I can't write happy-anything with frosting.

The dinner party was very nice and the cake most appreciated as the last photo shows, not much left. This was a ten inch cake and in retrospect I'd have cut it different. Even though there was nothing left on the plates I thought the pieces were way too big. I did have help from our darling Teri, a culinary expert turned Starbuck's manager. I was ready to heat the knife with hot water and she just heated it over the gas burner, neat trick.

Like I said cakes aren't my forte but after this experience I might start making more.

tea-themed chocolate truffles experiment

first, i apologize for not having a photo for this post. if i were a smart girl, i would have hidden a few samples for a photo session, but, alas, they were all dispatched quite quickly in a manner that suggested they were somewhat yummy. i gobbled quite a few myself.

so, i initially got this idea into my head after i got back from japan. i brought back a bag of that matcha tea, which, if you are too lazy to follow the link, is a powdered green tea that you mix straight into the water, no straining or tea bag required. you may recognize it as the flavoring responsible for green tea ice cream. anyway, i love the flavor of matcha. it pairs really well with sweet, creamy flavors, as i discovered when i soon found myself addicted to a uniquely japanese starbucks concoction, the matcha latte. this would taste really good with some white chocolate, i thought. hence the experiment.

so here was my first stab at matcha white chocolate truffles. the recipe for truffles is quite simple, just cream and chocolate, and flavoring if you wish (usually liqueur), blended together and then allowed to chill. i used 1/2 cup of heavy cream, about 3 tablespoons of matcha and 8 ounces of white chocolate, chopped. the process requires you to slowly bring the cream just up to boiling, then turn it off and add the chocolate. when flavoring with a liqueur or espresso, you can just throw that in at that step. however, if i used the matcha already "brewed," i thought i would not get the intense matcha flavor that i wanted and that i might throw off the recipe with too much water. so, i added the powdered tea straight to the cream and heated them together. that way, i got the heat i wanted to bring out the flavors in the tea but did not change the intensity or water down the recipe. (i got this idea from the other truffle i made, which i'll get to in a moment.) one tip i would add here about blending the matcha, is next time i would put the matcha powder in the saucepan first, then mix in a small amount of the cream to make a paste, then slowly and continuously incorporate the rest of the cream and then heat the mixture. the matcha has the consistency of powdered sugar and, as i learned, has the same annoying affinity for making lumps. so, after heating the cream, i took it off the heat and poured it over the chopped chocolate that i had waiting in a bowl. a few stirs and the chocolate was all melted and incorporated and now comes the hard part for me, being patient and letting it cool. after cooling for a few hours, i transferred the truffle mixture into a pastry bag and piped it into white chocolate lined candy molds.

the other experiment was earl grey tea and dark chocolate truffle. i had an earl grey tea infused chocolate bar once from a belgian chocolatier somewhere here in l.a. and i was instantly hooked. one of my favorite food experiences is the amazing process of tasting the different flavors as they develop in your mouth over the course of one bite. [i have re-written that sentence 17 times and it still sounds lame, but i can't keep doing this all day.] it's kind of the holy grail of food for me, i love it when it happens and i'm trying to get my cooking skills up to a level where i can create this effect. any foodies or professionals out there who know the technical term for this, please help me out. anyway, the earl grey tea infused truffle achieved this. yum. i tried a little bit of a different recipe for this truffle. instead of cream, i used 3/4 cup of creme fraiche, a tablespoon of earl grey tea leaves (i splashed out on a tin of really nice earl grey called kousmichoff), and 6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate (54%). i heated the creme fraiche and the tea together really slowly until it just boiled, stirring constantly. by that time, the tea had infused into the creme fraiche quite nicely, giving it a beige tinge and an amazing aroma. then i strained the hot creme fraiche through my trusty tea strainer over the chopped chocolate. again, a few stirs, some waiting around, and then straight into the pastry bag and some dark chocolate lined candymolds.

all in all, i really liked both of these, but the earl grey one was definitely my favorite. the matcha white chocolate truffle with white chocolate coating was very sweet, almost a little cloying and didn't have anything to balance it. i think it was too much white chocolate with the shell around it. i think i might try a matcha white chocolate mousse, that would tone it down a little, and the addition of something like a pie crust or cake element would cut the overall sweetness. anyway, the earl grey was just right and, as i mentioned, achieved that flavor change thing, which had me dancing around the kitchen. not to brag, but my friend mina tried the earl grey and said, "oh, why are you a lawyer?" i don't know, mina, i don't know.

Can you ever have too much cake?

In my previous post I was kvetching about producing not-so-even layer for my cake. That was the least of my problems. I checked with the hostess to make sure all this chocolate is ok--chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and vanilla filling--which it wasn't. Oops. I should have asked but who doesn't like chocolate? I guess the happy couple doesn't and after all, it is their anniversary.

I finished the cake because I wanted to try this new recipe for ganache and parceled all but two pieces out to the neighbors. Husband has already finished the two pieces which might be a compliment but this is from the man who when I met him was eating cold Franco-American spaghetti out of a can. I won't go into that now. I also decided not to put on a third layer.

I've just taken the new yellow cake out of the oven. I'll put a strawberry and cream filling with white chocolate ganache. Here is the ganache recipe. I little different but oh so easy to use. It stays shiny and it can be reheated in the microwave.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup light corn syrup
18 ounces chocolate, chopped

Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool. Can be made one day ahead.

My feeble attempt................

Cilantro Pesto
I have, over the years, attempted to grow cilantro several times. The hot, very humid weather of South Florida does fairly well for growing herbs. However each time the cilantro plants bolted before I got much use out of them. As the cilantro gets more mature, the stems thicken; the leaves get much bigger and brown. I hated tossing it because it seemed such a waste. So one year I promised myself to kept a close eye on the growing, after all I had a recipe for homemade cilantro pesto that I wanted to try. After a couple months or so I felt it was a good time to make cilantro pesto. Unlike basil pesto, this pesto doesn’t require parmesan cheese, I have seen some cilantro pesto recipes with parmesan cheese added, but for some reason in my mind it just didn’t click. The complimentary flavors are white onion, and serrano chile. Also, roasted pecans are used instead of pine nuts. Pecans seem to enhance the flavor of the cilantro, rather than compete with it.
Use this pesto with migas (tortilla and eggs), or with chicken or beef in tacos. Some of this batch got mixed in with a little sour cream for a tasty tortilla chip dip. Use your imagination in using this cilantro pesto, I know I have. This is a recipe I had found on line and once again I adapted it to my taste, just as you should. But most of all enjoy!


2 cups, packed, of cilantro, large stems removed
1/2 cup roasted pecans
1/4 cup chopped white sweet onion
2 peeled garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon chopped and seeded serrano chiles……….optional (high in the heat factor)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
a splash of lime juice adds a bit a sweet/tart flavor judge for yourself

In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, pecans, onion, garlic chile, and salt until well blended. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream. Adjust seasonings to your taste. Add more oil as needed for your use. Makes about 1 cup.

BTW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~I buy my cilantro now because it is in such abundance in almost any market.

ETA.............check this out http://podchef.motime.com/post/566367/Be+Born+Again+with+Cilantro
he has a wonderful yet quirky site that is quite informative.

Please, let them eat the cake

I'm not a cake baker, nope, never have been. Can't even make decent cupcakes which is odd because I can cook most anything else. I'm doing a favor for my dear friend Ingrid. With her mom in the hospital she won't have time to fix a cake for a dinner party she's having on Saturday. It's to celebrate the anniversary of some out of town friends of ours, the Shranks. I offered because Ingrid is the kind of friend that would do this for you and I know she wants the party to be nice for Tom and Diane. Even though I don't bake cakes I thought I'd give it a try.

My problem is the cake layer comes out all humpity in the middle. I've tried everything and I know, I can trim it but there must be some trick I'm missing. I'm doing three layers and each needed a fair amount of time. I've even bought three new, straight-sided pans just for the occasion.

I'm freezing the layers and making ganache on Saturday. If anyone has a magic trick, even though it's too late for this cake, let me know. I might even get the hang of this cake thing.

French Fry woes..................

excuse me………………….Dubya……please I’m begging ya stay outta my fries.

Now I’m not saying that there isn’t an obesity problem in this country…….there is!!!! And I applaud many schools for stepping in and changing the menus to make them somewhat more nutritious. And warning us about trans fat is fine………..yep I think education is the key. But for the government to get involved, well let me just say I am a tad hesitant. Next we will see people suing for bazillion gazillion dollars because the fries they ate everyday for 20 years or so caused them to have health problems DUH!!!!!!!!!!!

Could we start our education in schools where we probably could use it the most…….in a nutrition 101 class? That doesn’t sound unreasonable does it? http://www.slate.com/id/2139941/nav/tap1/?GT1=8019

I’m telling ya the government has just gotta stay out a my french fry bidness…..OK!!!

Now I’m sure there are both sides to every story, so let’s hear it……………

Stay tuna’d……………………………

Addiction

My dear husband is addicted to this sauce...... it is the tomatillo sauce I made couple weeks ago. Fixed him a juicy burger today with some fresh farmers market tomatoes. Might add that this is about the end of local grown cause it is getting way too hot. Anyway while eating his juicy burger husband wanted to know if I had any of that "funny green sauce"? He is referring to tomatillos
He seems to think the word tomatillos is a funny word - that's my Norman.
I did have a bit left in the frig so I heated it up a bit for our burgers....can I tell you it was yummy on a really good sirloin meaty burger.

After lunch I had to clean up and I thought I should just replenish my supply of tomatillo sauce so I went at it.
Here is how I make mine and everyone does it differently.

about 10 small to medium tomatillos remove husk and wash well and dry cut in half
1 sweet white onion Vidalia preffered cut into chunks
4 cloves of garlic peeled left whole is OK
4 roasted pablano peppers or 2 small cans diced green chiles

put the above ingredients in a large skillet suitable for putting in an oven, sprinkle with some kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and a couple splashes of extra virgin olive oil. Roast uncovered in a 400 degree oven till some of the tomatillos and the onions look carmelized or charred, about 45 minutes. ETA...........the above mixture is not really spicey with peppers in any way but you may add your own such as a serrano chile for some extra added heat.

Remove from oven and let cool, the contents will look real soupy, not to worry. When the ingredients are put in a food precessor it thickens up. Don't forget the fresh cilantro put it in when ingredient are being blended in the food processor. Enjoy!!!

food blogs & podcasts

well, after sufficient castigation from this blog's esteemed elders (double-teamed on the phone on a sunday morning, no less), the little bird has come to post. i've been a little busy, so i've fallen victim to this annoying little habit i have which entails me thinking about what i have to do and then thinking that i don't have the full amount of time that i think i would need to invest to do as good of a job as i want, so i think i'll just not do it at all and just lay here on the couch or look at a few websites. i am the world's best procrastinator. anyway, i do have a few things to write about, so i should have a few good posts coming up.

so, i've been into this podcasting thing for about the last year or so. (if you aren't on the podcast bandwagon yet, see here for my own rather feeble attempt at describing podcasting to the layperson.) anyway, as the universe of podcasting continues to expand, the number of subject matter topics seems to expand correspondingly and has expanded to include one of my favorite topics, fooooood. i'm always on the lookout for a new podcast to subscribe to and i have enjoyed kcrw's "good food" for some time (on the radio for a while and as a podcast more recently), so i decided to look for some food podcasts to add to my list a few months ago. here are a few that i found and really enjoy:

the food geek podcast: the food geek is the podcast that alton brown would make if he had a podcast. well, not exactly, but close. he is definitely "in the ab camp" when it comes to food. this is not just a recipe show, the food geek talks about a range of subjects related to food. the episodes are also not based on a certain theme, instead they have several segments per episode. he usually has one good rant per episode, which is funny. he seems to watch a lot of food network, as he does a bit of kvetching about their programming. note that he calls himself the food geek, not the food snob. he enjoys food in all its forms and seems to equally enjoy investigating the process of making it and educating people about making it. the food geek has a funny, self-deprecating sense of humor and the production values are very good, so the podcast is quite enjoyable. my only complaint is the episodes aren't released very regularly.

the podchef's gastrocast: i have to admit to having a love-hate relationship with this podcast. the podchef is doing something that i would love to do, which is go live in the sticks somewhere and raise/grow/cook really good food. he is very into organic food, local food procucts, sustainable and humane food production, and all sorts of other tree-hugger sorts of ideas, and his podcasts offer a lot of good information on these topics that you're not going to hear on the food network. however, don't be fooled: he is not one of those whiny vegans and he has really good taste in food. each show is based on a theme and always has a recipe section. he usually cooks the recipe on the podcast and then posts pictures on his flickr page. admittedly, i haven't had the chance to test any of them yet, but this one particularly is on my list. the downside with this podcast is that it is a little hard to listen to. also, the production values are fairly horrible, full of abrupt transitions between badly edited musical pieces and ear-shatteringly suprising volume changes. and sometimes the podchef gets a little whiny. all of that nothwithstanding, i really do like this podcast. episodes are faithfully released every week. the information about sustainability is very thought provoking. the recipes are interesting. and, annoying as they are, the production foibles are indicia of an indie podcast that is a true labor of love.

food podcasts i'd like to see: alton brown (which may be coming soon, according to his website.)

Snacks anyone?

While plunking around on my computer my darling husband brought in a plate of wine, cheese, and bread. Who could turn this down especially when someone else makes it.

Little review, the wine is Cline Zin, '03. Not bad, a bit oakey, the cheese, just plain old supermarket cheddar but when served by my darling husband, it's gourmet. It's not so much what you eat sometimes but whom you eat it with.

Dan's a sweetie and he washes my car, too. I'm such a princess.

Green Chile Souffle amended.........

My sister moon put together a small collection of recipes many years ago. The date is not known cause she didn't date the book but I can tell youfor sure it has been a long time cause mine is dirty with food stuff and dog eared and very well used.

In this collection is a wonderful recipe for Green Chile Souffle which I have made many, many times as directed. While at the Fresh Market the other day I got some pablano peppers and fresh tomatillos. I roasted the tomatillos with chopped vidalia onions and several cloves of garlic for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After the mixture is cooled I put it in my food processor adding salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. I put the pablanos under the broiler for charring,let them get charred and keep turning them over till they are all fairly charred. Now I do this under the broiler because I have an electric stove. Once the peppers are charred put them in a clean plastic bag, tie the bag off and let them set for a half hour. You will be able to peel them easily and the charring/roasting gives them a tasty flavor.

Now the souffle..........

8 pablano peppers roasted, seeded and peeled OR 4 4 oz cans of whole green chiles
2 cups grated jack cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
4 cups milk
salt and pepper

butter the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass dish. If using canned chiles rinse well of seeds and pat dry.
layer the chiles on the bottom of the dish then layer the cheese, reserve a handful for sprinkling on top when completed. Beat together the eggs, mix in the flour and milk. Then pour that mixture over the cheese and chiles. Pan should be about half full. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done in center. About 15 minutes before taking them out sprinkle that reserved cheese on the top. Serve with salsa or guacamole or both and maybe some heated corn tortillas. Now because this was just for two of us I cut this recipe exactly in half and used a square glass dish and it was perfect.

Pictured above is tomatillo guacamole and fresh salsa...........yummy!!!!

There are several wonderful recipes in this collection so stay tuna'd......................

Quick and simple can be tasty

Most of the time our food blog is about simple food. That's not to say we don't throw in a restaurant review or two from time to time but the bread and butter of this blog seems to be quite mainstream when it comes to cookin'. It's what we cook and eat everyday not unlike most of my friends and relatives.

We like to list other sites or products we've found that work great or don't work at all. Hopefully it will save some other busy woman a little extra time. I stumbled on Muir Glen canned tomatoes quite by accident at our Trader Joe's and now they are the only ones I buy. The tomatoes are always quite tasty, they're organic, and come in an enameled can. Don't know if the can has anything to do with it but they sold me but because TJ's doesn't always carry them I have to drive to Whole Foods.

What did I use tonight? A small can of whole peeled tomatoes; run through the blender, some ground meat, and the usual Italian herbs and garlic. Brown the meat with some olive oil; add the herbs, garlic and most of the tomato; simmer. I always reserve about 1/4 of the tomato to add at the end, it gives it a fresher taste. A little chopped Italian parsley and pour that over hot pasta, any shape. Top with a grate or three of pecorino romano; a salad and some bread and I'm happy.

grilled cheese.....has come a long way

I have no idea where or how I come upon certain web sites................but this one is pretty interesting and leads to other great ideas............which is what this cheese sandwich site did.

Wish I would have taken a picture but husband was starving so he was not going to see the amusement of me taking a snap of his sandwich.

But let me draw you a picure for your mind..............I used Ciabatta Bread fresh from the Italian market. I buttered the bread on the inside and out, used jack cheese I sliced, a slice of fontina cheese which is creamy, roasted red pepper and roasted pablano pepper I had roasted yesterday, vidalia onion I had carmelized, and on husbands I put sliced prosciutto. Put those babies on my trusty grille and voila.

I love grilled sandwiches, I love cheese............so stay tuna'd...........................

put down that sleeping pill.........

and grab one or two of sister moon's delicious oatmeal and raisin cookies, and a glass of milk .

And I'll tell you why I say this.............first let me mention I do believe that sister moon and I are twins, we just happen to be born 7 years apart. OK go to that link just above at the beginning, yeah that one and you will read that tryptophan is contained in oatmeal.............there is a god!!!
You know what tryptophan is don't ya, it's that stuff that is in turkeys that make us fall asleep after Thanksgiving dinner. You thought it was cause you ate too much. Nope it's the TRYPTOPHAN!!!! WOO HOOO!!!

OK now follow sister moon's advice and make your self a batch of these babies and you'll see you'll sleep better for it.........it says so.

Oh moon is not a raisin person so I believe she leaves them out, I on the other hand am a raisin person and slept like a baby last nite.............................stay tuna'd...............................

Gladly not a vanishing breed

I try to keep some homemade cookies on hand because they are so much better than the packaged varieties. Not that I'd turn down a Fig Newton or an Oreo if I had a big ol' glass of milk but I do love the good old oatmeal cookie recipe on the box of Quaker Oats. That recipe is one of those I could make in a coma because I've made it so often but I thought I'd look on the Quaker website for a link. Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

Cook's Illustrated.com tried to improve on this recipe and after months of testing they had something quite close to the recipe on the box. They replaced the baking soda with baking powder and eliminated the cinnamon. Philistines! Cinnamon and nutmeg are two of my "personal" spices but other than that the recipe is ok.

This may sound odd but I eat less of the homemade. I'm thinking it might be because the box variety are filled with empty flavors where you put fresh ingredients that are full of flavor in your own. Who knows, I do feel more satisfied with one big homemade oatmeal cookie than a whole box of the store bought, and I've eaten a whole box. Come on, you have too.

The fire in the belly is not from the chili

My Sister Weed found a link to the Cielito Lindo restaurant I mentioned is a past post, Sherman, set the Wayback machine for 1957. It was and still is one of the highlights whenever we all get together. The little bird grew up with this eatery and I'm sure she could throw a fond memory on this pile, as well.

Their site is interesting because it answers some questions we'd had about the early days, seems they started in the '30s. The story of how Aurora came to this country, as an immigrant with five small children, and made a life for herself is very inspiring and it got me thinking about this big ole immigration issue everyone is talking about. They should be talking about a war in Iraq but I digress.

So this is what immigrants do. Was Aurora Guerrero's story different from thousands of other families? I don't think so. They come to this country, work hard, establish their family and create jobs for others not to mention the best damn taquitos in the world and they stay in business for 70 years. What a drab ugly country this would be without them.

Parchment; and to think they wasted it on the Magna Carta

Haven't felt like cooking because I've been a bit "punky" lately but since I still feel like eating I'll share a small tip for making frozen pizza taste a bit better. I subscribe to America's Test Kitchen and get Cook's magazine because I do love their methods for recipes, so here's one for pizza from the box.

Frozen pizza doesn't need to taste like the box it comes in, just cook it on a sheet of parchment placed on the oven rack. The parchment absorbs some of the moisture making the crust nice and crisp. Also, I always "fluff" the pizza up a bit. Fluffing includes adding more of whatever you have on hand but mainly cheese. They are all quite stingy with the cheese though they make up with the sauce. The pizza last night had four lonely black olives; four. Ever wonder how they figure that ratio out?

As a matter of fact, I'm quite the fan of parchment. If you don't have it in your cupboard you should, and now that Reynolds sells it in most every market, you've got no reason not to. This isn't a commercial for Reynolds, they just happen to market a convenient roll of the stuff and a decent price.