My poor husband has been planning all of these menus and doing the bulk of the shopping for them. I show up and he has already started slicing and dicing. That was the way it was after I went back to work and he was still on Christmas break. Now that he is back in full swing, things are more complicated. I thought I would let everyone know...just in case you were wondering how we were actually doing this whole cooking thing. Yeah, we were doing it because at first both of us were hanging out around the house and then we were doing it because Jerry was only working and not going to class. Now that both of us are back at full schedule, we are making some adjustments. One way to adjust it to suck more people into the madness and this is what I did on Friday.
I took the cookbooks to work on Friday. Before school started, I figured out who my target should be. Easy enough. Carol had already brought me a calendar of cooking classes and said we should cook together. She is commenting on this blog and really into new food. Target acquired.
I waltzed into Carol's classroom and made small talk for about a second and then plopped the books down onto a table and said that we needed to decide what was for dinner. We were off. The only requirement was that it needed to be pork, because Jacob had requested pork that morning. Yeah, the 8 year old has a preference...go figure. Carol and I nailed the menu down in record time and we parted eager to teach and then to cook.
The selections for Friday night were: Honey-Mustard tenderloin, Braised Asparagus with Peppers and Onions, Carol's Spoon Bread, and Fig Habanero Barbeque sauce. The tenderloin was very, very good. The cracked mustard seed and peppercorn crust was simple, but oh so flavorful. The cookbook recommended that we serve it with the fig habanero sauce. Carol was certain that the pork was wonderful without the sauce (she is the queen of snitching little pieces...maybe even better than me!), but I assured her that if the Commander's Palace recommended it, we needed to serve it that way. We were all so very glad that we did!!! The sauce complimented the pork and took it to new heights. So many flavors!!! Lucille and Carol think that the fig habanero sauce would be great on toast. It was that good.
Jerry and I like our pork cooked more than the medium/medium rare that the recipe called for. Carol agreed with the experts at Commander's Palace. I thought that the pork was wonderful (pink or not), but I really like pork more tender than the pan seared version we had this night. We are thinking about pan searing it to make the herb crust and then finishing it in the roaster. I will let you guys know what happens when we get around to circling back to this recipe.
The braised asparagus was good. It was really easy, but next time, we will take the lid off the pot so that the vegetables keep some texture. I bet I overcooked them, but still, they were almost boiled with the lid on the roaster. Better luck next time!
The spoon bread was really good. We let it sit too long, Carol said. This is again what happens when you have no idea when the meal will be ready and have to time things. I thought it was good and was really good with, you guessed it, the fig habanero sauce!
Eat something yummy!!!
PS
Carol reminded me that we also had garlic mashed potatoes. They were really great and very garlicky. I haven't figured out if I love or hate the food mill. It really is a pain to use, but every time I have used it, the results have been wonderful. I must confess that the potatoes had so much butter (2 sticks not counting the stick we fried the garlic in), sour cream (1 cup), and buttermilk (one and a half cups) that I don't think the potatoes were even necessary!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
I Do Love Chinese
Jerry is back in his PhD program and when a schedule is new, I have a hard time organizing myself around it. Dinner sometimes just can't be on the table and sometimes I don't want to get it onto the table. Most often, it is Jerry who rallies and does something amazing. When he isn't around, the amazing trick ends up being me calling for a delivery pizza or Chinese food. Luckily, everyone except for Jerry loves Chinese...except now that Jerry's mom and dad are around, I have to sort of add PaPa. I don't think he dislikes it as much as Jerry because he doesn't protest nearly as much and so he has to eat it whenever the rest of us get a hankering for General Tso's chicken and an egg roll. We ordered Chinese on Tuesday night and then had leftovers on Wednesday.
There wasn't enough Chinese to totally feed everyone because Jordan had wiped us out of General Tso's Chicken at lunch. General Tso's, of course, was the ONLY thing Jacob wanted to eat on Wednesday night. Jillian wanted fried pickles and I wanted a soup. Dinner was a bit of a hodgepodge, but everyone was fed.
I must tell about the soup. If you have read the book "Julia/Julie", you may remember the scene where Julie has had a bad day, stops at the store and just happens to purchase the ingredients for Julia's Leek and Potato Soup. Interestingly enough, I just happened to have the ingredients at home and so this is what I made. Simplicity itself is what Julia called it. I must agree. Lucille had never had leeks before and so when I described the soup as potato and onion soup, she was all about it. Jacob was still pouting about there being no General Tso's Chicken, but ended up drinking three little mugs of this soup. Lucille sheepishly had to admit to Jerry when he arrived that she might have eaten his portion of the soup. I am still pretty amazed that the soup was a hit and I am excited about the fact that I will be making it again and again. It was a perfect winter soup, but not in the traditional sense. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't dark, it didn't have savory chunks of anything in it, but it was smooth and warm and tasted like onions and potatoes and that is a very comforting combination.
Adding my new cookbook to the list today!!! Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1.
Eat something yummy!
There wasn't enough Chinese to totally feed everyone because Jordan had wiped us out of General Tso's Chicken at lunch. General Tso's, of course, was the ONLY thing Jacob wanted to eat on Wednesday night. Jillian wanted fried pickles and I wanted a soup. Dinner was a bit of a hodgepodge, but everyone was fed.
I must tell about the soup. If you have read the book "Julia/Julie", you may remember the scene where Julie has had a bad day, stops at the store and just happens to purchase the ingredients for Julia's Leek and Potato Soup. Interestingly enough, I just happened to have the ingredients at home and so this is what I made. Simplicity itself is what Julia called it. I must agree. Lucille had never had leeks before and so when I described the soup as potato and onion soup, she was all about it. Jacob was still pouting about there being no General Tso's Chicken, but ended up drinking three little mugs of this soup. Lucille sheepishly had to admit to Jerry when he arrived that she might have eaten his portion of the soup. I am still pretty amazed that the soup was a hit and I am excited about the fact that I will be making it again and again. It was a perfect winter soup, but not in the traditional sense. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't dark, it didn't have savory chunks of anything in it, but it was smooth and warm and tasted like onions and potatoes and that is a very comforting combination.
Adding my new cookbook to the list today!!! Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1.
Eat something yummy!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
January 18th
Jerry is starting to wonder if I am losing interest in the blogging. NO...I am not losing interest in the blog, but I am so full and sleepy after eating all the food! I can't see straight let alone sit down and write a blog entry. Hope everyone understands. I am one content gal!!!
January 15th was our last cooking episode. That was a Friday night. Saturday was spent in class, at BWW, and then at Capitol Ale House with a friend from Salem. (Hi, Kevin.) Sunday was a football day and so we just munched. Monday was a holiday and so we decided to do something BIG.
The menu was Shoestring Potato-Crusted Lyonnaise Fish, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Sesame Pepper-Crusted Tuna salad with an anchovy-garlic dressing. Maybe I haven't posted until now because this meal absolutely wore me out.
Jerry took care of the tuna salads. He was grilling outside, making the dressing inside, slicing the vegetables in preparation for the lasagna. He was everywhere and had a ton of dishes out.
I was completely stationary. I stood in place and grated raw potatoes for an eternity. The grated potatoes had to go into bowls (I had to use two bowls because none of mine were large enough to hold the potatoes and the water.) I washed and drained, washed and drained, until the water was clear. Then it was time to start getting the water OUT of the potatoes. Could have used some cheesecloth. Maybe next time. After the potatoes were happily awaiting their fate, I started making the lemon sauce for the fish. I was able to use fresh lemons from the tree in our foyer. Tell me that isn't a strange story. Garlic and lemons, white wine and peppercorns all in a saucepan being boiled into who knows what. Actually, the sauce was delightful. After boiling and stirring, everything except for the peppercorns disappear into the liquid. The fun part was whisking two sticks of butter into the mixture 4 TBSPs at a time. Strained and then kept warm for the little fishes. Yeah, you would have thought that I was finished...not exactly. I seasoned the flour for dredging and made an egg bath. Dipped the fish into each and then - get this - placed the potatoes on a work surface and put the fish on top. You then have to put more potatoes on top and then somehow get it all into a skillet. I found that Jerry's enormous grill spatula did the trick. It was sort of funny to be cooking what was essentially hashbrown covered fish.
While I was struggling with the fish, Jerry had moved on to the vegetable lasagna. The issue with this dish was the oven roasting that had to be done. He had three cookie sheets going and I had to slide out of the way every time he put something into the oven, checked the oven, or took something out of the oven. I didn't mind, but it did make for a very strange dance.
The outcome was well worth it. I can't tell you how fresh the lemon sauce was! We need to use smaller fillets next time. The roasted vegetable lasagna was amazing. The tuna was wonderful too, but we will try to keep it more rare next time.
Linda wanted to know how long these meals take to prepare. I couldn't even begin to let her know about this one. I will tell you that these dishes were wonderful and we will make them again and again, but never on the same night!
Eat something yummy!!
January 15th was our last cooking episode. That was a Friday night. Saturday was spent in class, at BWW, and then at Capitol Ale House with a friend from Salem. (Hi, Kevin.) Sunday was a football day and so we just munched. Monday was a holiday and so we decided to do something BIG.
The menu was Shoestring Potato-Crusted Lyonnaise Fish, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Sesame Pepper-Crusted Tuna salad with an anchovy-garlic dressing. Maybe I haven't posted until now because this meal absolutely wore me out.
Jerry took care of the tuna salads. He was grilling outside, making the dressing inside, slicing the vegetables in preparation for the lasagna. He was everywhere and had a ton of dishes out.
I was completely stationary. I stood in place and grated raw potatoes for an eternity. The grated potatoes had to go into bowls (I had to use two bowls because none of mine were large enough to hold the potatoes and the water.) I washed and drained, washed and drained, until the water was clear. Then it was time to start getting the water OUT of the potatoes. Could have used some cheesecloth. Maybe next time. After the potatoes were happily awaiting their fate, I started making the lemon sauce for the fish. I was able to use fresh lemons from the tree in our foyer. Tell me that isn't a strange story. Garlic and lemons, white wine and peppercorns all in a saucepan being boiled into who knows what. Actually, the sauce was delightful. After boiling and stirring, everything except for the peppercorns disappear into the liquid. The fun part was whisking two sticks of butter into the mixture 4 TBSPs at a time. Strained and then kept warm for the little fishes. Yeah, you would have thought that I was finished...not exactly. I seasoned the flour for dredging and made an egg bath. Dipped the fish into each and then - get this - placed the potatoes on a work surface and put the fish on top. You then have to put more potatoes on top and then somehow get it all into a skillet. I found that Jerry's enormous grill spatula did the trick. It was sort of funny to be cooking what was essentially hashbrown covered fish.
While I was struggling with the fish, Jerry had moved on to the vegetable lasagna. The issue with this dish was the oven roasting that had to be done. He had three cookie sheets going and I had to slide out of the way every time he put something into the oven, checked the oven, or took something out of the oven. I didn't mind, but it did make for a very strange dance.
The outcome was well worth it. I can't tell you how fresh the lemon sauce was! We need to use smaller fillets next time. The roasted vegetable lasagna was amazing. The tuna was wonderful too, but we will try to keep it more rare next time.
Linda wanted to know how long these meals take to prepare. I couldn't even begin to let her know about this one. I will tell you that these dishes were wonderful and we will make them again and again, but never on the same night!
Eat something yummy!!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
January 15th
Friday. You know it has been a week when a friend calls out of the blue and asks if they can come and drink beer at your house. Of course, you say yes and put an extra steak in the grocery cart just in case the remedy for the week should include additional nibbles of red meat, too.
Jerry and I were at Food Lion when that call came in. God bless our dear friend, Molly. She walked through the door as Jerry was trying to time his Steak Diane to be finished at the same time my corn fritters were going to be done. I love the Commander's Palace cookbooks, but they don't tell you how long a recipe is going to take. They say, "cook for 10 minutes," or "reduce by half, approximately ... minutes." They just don't say "A worn out teacher can complete this recipe in exactly 30 minutes provided that there are no small disasters, like their 8 year old coming in with broken glasses and a black eye due to being hit in the face at point blank range with a football." It was one of those kind of nights.
So when Molly came in, she started washing up dishes and asking what she could do to help. Jerry was quizzing me on how long I was going to be with the fritters. How was I supposed to know? Really? Molly got to/had to play sous chef and I told her to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. She looked at me...and then she blinked. She started stirring sort of slowly and asked if she was getting them to stiff peak stage. "Not at that speed," I replied. She dissolved into giggles and kept repeating "Not at that speed" all night.
Molly is a funny girl. She is on Facebook and will talk about the blog on Facebook, but do you see her on here as one of the people following the blog? Nope. She was here one night when the order was given to "beat the hell out of it." I don't remember who said it, or what it was about, but it resonated with Molly and she repeated it on Facebook. She even said that she was a little disappointed that it didn't make the blog. Luckily, the phrase came to mind and when I told her that the egg whites were not going to change in consistency at that speed, I remembered, "Beat the hell out of it," and she laid into those egg whites. Stiff peaks in record time.
Jerry Burch makes the best steaks...hands down. We rarely ever go out for steak dinners because we know the best ones are had at home. My personal favorite is his blackened steak (rare in the center) with bleu cheese on top. Goes great with a glass of red wine. The Steak Diane may have replaced the blackened/bleu cheese steaks as my favorite. Lucille stepped out and said that Steak Diane was her new favorite. They were cooked inside had a great sauce topping them. I don't think that it was all that difficult to make them (he finished before I finished with those darned fritters). I hope he will make them again.
Now to the fritters. I sifted the dry ingredients. I made a well in the center and added the egg yolks and then milk. I was supposed to "stir" until thoroughly incorporated. Stir? I had to use my hands to mix it together. It looked like playdough or modeling clay. To this, I added the fresh corn kernels, chopped green onions, salt and pepper. Again, back to mushing it together with my hands. Sour cream...fold in egg whites. This just wasn't like any fritter batter I have ever seen or made. Oh, I forgot, "stir in diced butter"...REALLY???? now we are stirring in diced butter before frying in butter. We hit an all time low (or high if you are measuring cholesterol).
The steak was better than the fritters. The fritters were good, but I didn't just jump up and down over them. I think I will stick with my grandmother's recipe. As for the steak, Jerry can make them any time he wants!!!
Jerry and I were at Food Lion when that call came in. God bless our dear friend, Molly. She walked through the door as Jerry was trying to time his Steak Diane to be finished at the same time my corn fritters were going to be done. I love the Commander's Palace cookbooks, but they don't tell you how long a recipe is going to take. They say, "cook for 10 minutes," or "reduce by half, approximately ... minutes." They just don't say "A worn out teacher can complete this recipe in exactly 30 minutes provided that there are no small disasters, like their 8 year old coming in with broken glasses and a black eye due to being hit in the face at point blank range with a football." It was one of those kind of nights.
So when Molly came in, she started washing up dishes and asking what she could do to help. Jerry was quizzing me on how long I was going to be with the fritters. How was I supposed to know? Really? Molly got to/had to play sous chef and I told her to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. She looked at me...and then she blinked. She started stirring sort of slowly and asked if she was getting them to stiff peak stage. "Not at that speed," I replied. She dissolved into giggles and kept repeating "Not at that speed" all night.
Molly is a funny girl. She is on Facebook and will talk about the blog on Facebook, but do you see her on here as one of the people following the blog? Nope. She was here one night when the order was given to "beat the hell out of it." I don't remember who said it, or what it was about, but it resonated with Molly and she repeated it on Facebook. She even said that she was a little disappointed that it didn't make the blog. Luckily, the phrase came to mind and when I told her that the egg whites were not going to change in consistency at that speed, I remembered, "Beat the hell out of it," and she laid into those egg whites. Stiff peaks in record time.
Jerry Burch makes the best steaks...hands down. We rarely ever go out for steak dinners because we know the best ones are had at home. My personal favorite is his blackened steak (rare in the center) with bleu cheese on top. Goes great with a glass of red wine. The Steak Diane may have replaced the blackened/bleu cheese steaks as my favorite. Lucille stepped out and said that Steak Diane was her new favorite. They were cooked inside had a great sauce topping them. I don't think that it was all that difficult to make them (he finished before I finished with those darned fritters). I hope he will make them again.
Now to the fritters. I sifted the dry ingredients. I made a well in the center and added the egg yolks and then milk. I was supposed to "stir" until thoroughly incorporated. Stir? I had to use my hands to mix it together. It looked like playdough or modeling clay. To this, I added the fresh corn kernels, chopped green onions, salt and pepper. Again, back to mushing it together with my hands. Sour cream...fold in egg whites. This just wasn't like any fritter batter I have ever seen or made. Oh, I forgot, "stir in diced butter"...REALLY???? now we are stirring in diced butter before frying in butter. We hit an all time low (or high if you are measuring cholesterol).
The steak was better than the fritters. The fritters were good, but I didn't just jump up and down over them. I think I will stick with my grandmother's recipe. As for the steak, Jerry can make them any time he wants!!!
Isn't it funny??
Wednesday, Jerry had to go to the Short Pump area for a meeting and he swung by Trader Joe's (one of the best stores on the planet) and grabbed dinner. We dined on pesto pizza and ate black bean soup with wild rice. He also purchased some Stilton with mango, goat cheese (which we love with white truffle oil spritzed on it), some pesto hummus and an eggplant tempanade spread. We weren't exactly slumming, you know?
I like to cook, but sometimes it is nice to just sit down and eat. Jerry commented that we hadn't eaten out since we returned from our Christmas trip to Disney. We enjoy food and we enjoy eating out and trying new things. This abstinence from the restaurant scene was probably some sort of record for us. Anyway, it got us to thinking and so I was not surprised when Jerry suggested that we go out on Thursday night.
This should certainly prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are not food snobs. Were did we go after a month of eating in and cooking like crazy people? Some fancy bistro? Some high dollar snooty overpriced joint? Of course not...Thursday is boneless wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings and that is where we headed.
There is news to the dining experience at BWW. I ALWAYS get Parmesan garlic and Caribbean jerk. Always. On this night I went wild and order Caribbean jerk and Asian zing. I now have a problem. I like all three sauces and I can't order all of them at once. I will have to develop a rotation schedule.
Isn't it funny that something so simple as a prepared soup or chicken wings can make you sigh and go all warm and fuzzy? Must be the company and just being able to enjoy those around the table.
Go eat something yummy!
I like to cook, but sometimes it is nice to just sit down and eat. Jerry commented that we hadn't eaten out since we returned from our Christmas trip to Disney. We enjoy food and we enjoy eating out and trying new things. This abstinence from the restaurant scene was probably some sort of record for us. Anyway, it got us to thinking and so I was not surprised when Jerry suggested that we go out on Thursday night.
This should certainly prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are not food snobs. Were did we go after a month of eating in and cooking like crazy people? Some fancy bistro? Some high dollar snooty overpriced joint? Of course not...Thursday is boneless wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings and that is where we headed.
There is news to the dining experience at BWW. I ALWAYS get Parmesan garlic and Caribbean jerk. Always. On this night I went wild and order Caribbean jerk and Asian zing. I now have a problem. I like all three sauces and I can't order all of them at once. I will have to develop a rotation schedule.
Isn't it funny that something so simple as a prepared soup or chicken wings can make you sigh and go all warm and fuzzy? Must be the company and just being able to enjoy those around the table.
Go eat something yummy!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
John Took the GRE and We Cooked Chicken Pontalba
John took the GRE today and earned a qualifying score for the PhD program at VCU. Here we go!!!! Another educational adventure at the Burch house. I am so proud of him!
Chicken Pontalba. Jerry and I cooked it while Mama Mia was on tv. I don't think anyone was watching it, but the music will forever be associated with this dish. I was humming, dancing and couldn't help it. Maybe we should call this Chicken PontABBA.
Anyway, this dish was really, really good. It was very different from the other dishes we have cooked so far. The chicken breasts were dipped in melted butter and baked for 15 minutes. That was worrisome. I thought they would still be raw. They were perfect. While they cooked, we sauted mushrooms, ham chunks, garlic, and green onions. When they were done, we added the white wine and the fried diced potatoes. The fried potatoes added an interesting texture to the vegetable/ham saute. I forgot, actually I never realized I was supposed to, add the meat seasoning. I can tell you that I never missed it because the recipe called for a Bearnaise Sauce, which is a modified Hollandaise Sauce. This sauce has a lovely creamy texture and a tangy lemon flavor. It was perfect!!!
Chicken Pontalba. Jerry and I cooked it while Mama Mia was on tv. I don't think anyone was watching it, but the music will forever be associated with this dish. I was humming, dancing and couldn't help it. Maybe we should call this Chicken PontABBA.
Anyway, this dish was really, really good. It was very different from the other dishes we have cooked so far. The chicken breasts were dipped in melted butter and baked for 15 minutes. That was worrisome. I thought they would still be raw. They were perfect. While they cooked, we sauted mushrooms, ham chunks, garlic, and green onions. When they were done, we added the white wine and the fried diced potatoes. The fried potatoes added an interesting texture to the vegetable/ham saute. I forgot, actually I never realized I was supposed to, add the meat seasoning. I can tell you that I never missed it because the recipe called for a Bearnaise Sauce, which is a modified Hollandaise Sauce. This sauce has a lovely creamy texture and a tangy lemon flavor. It was perfect!!!
January 11th
We went sort of light today. Jerry made Shrimp Croustade and I made Creole Onion Soup.
The soup was NOT a French onion soup. I sauted the onions in butter, added a bit of flour and then then stock, wine, and sharp cheddar cheese. The soup tasted great, but I didn't like the long pieces of onions, so we will have to work on that. The color of the soup was weird too. I know it isn't French onion soup, but I would really like to cook the onions longer so that the soup has a darker color.
The Shrimp Croustade was amazing. Jerry bought mini puff pastry shells. Jumbo shrimp were on sale, so the shrimp didn't fit into the shells and he fixed this by cutting them in half. Worked well. The shrimp had an amazing flavor and I couldn't have been more pleased.
Oh, by the way, this meal was so quick and easy. Less than 30 minutes from door to table.
The soup was NOT a French onion soup. I sauted the onions in butter, added a bit of flour and then then stock, wine, and sharp cheddar cheese. The soup tasted great, but I didn't like the long pieces of onions, so we will have to work on that. The color of the soup was weird too. I know it isn't French onion soup, but I would really like to cook the onions longer so that the soup has a darker color.
The Shrimp Croustade was amazing. Jerry bought mini puff pastry shells. Jumbo shrimp were on sale, so the shrimp didn't fit into the shells and he fixed this by cutting them in half. Worked well. The shrimp had an amazing flavor and I couldn't have been more pleased.
Oh, by the way, this meal was so quick and easy. Less than 30 minutes from door to table.
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