Picatta

My first date with my husband was at a local italian restaurant. it was a lovely date, and many things about it were stellar, unfortunately i ordered the chicken picatta, and it was nasty. i'm sure you've seen this stuff, the glassy, gelatinous 'picatta sauce' three or four ashamed looking capers hiding in the slime, and a monster piece of chicken. gross. simply uncalled for, that's what it is. good picatta is so easy to make, takes almost no time, and DOES NOT need corn starch. last night i tried something new: pork chops. they were quite thick so i cut them in half cross wise then pounded them out to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch in thickness. if you're using chicken you'll still want to pound it, and possibly cut it into smaller pieces, huge chunks of meat are not in keeping with a delicate dish like this. dip the meat quickly into salt and pepper seasoned flour and pat all of the excess flour off, you don't want it to be 'breaded' per se, but a bit of flour on the meat will help keep it from sticking and thicken the sauce a bit. start a good amount of olive oil heating in a large skillet, medium heat. when it's hot add the meat and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, twice. you don't really want the meat brown, you want to cook it gently. when it's done, put it on a plate for a minute. into the skillet goes a few table spoons of butter, when it's done foaming cook about a half a small onion and one or two cloves of garlic (depending on how much you're making)until soft. last night i had some baby bella mushrooms that needed cooking so i threw them in too, they went really well with everything else. the lemon is the star of the sauce though, so don't over do it with either the onion or the garlic. when everything is soft, but not brown add one table spoon of fresh chopped thyme, the zest and the juice of half a lemon, a spoon of capers, and a splash of white wine let everything simmer for a few minutes to cook the alcohol out of the wine, then put the meat back into the pan and squeeze the rest of the lemon over it, if you want it really lemony (like i do) sprinkle the rest of the lemon zest in at this point too. serve over pasta of your choice sprinkled lightly with parmesan cheese.

creamy pork chops

having already gone on at some length about the wonder that is pork sirloin chops i'll just dive into the prep on this one. i cut the chops in half, and ended up with 6 reasonably sized chunks. they got dredged in flour seasoned with garlic salt, rubbed sage, tarragon, and black pepper. then browned on both sides. one yellow onion got chopped and put in the pan in a pile, then spread around the meat, then the whole lot got sprinkled with madiera wine. this went into the oven at 250 for about 4 hours. could you put this in your crock pot instead at this point? probably. after 4 hours i returned it to the stove top, removed the chops, brought the heat up a bit, and added one package of baby bellas that i had quartered and some fresh chopped sage. after that had sizzled for a few minutes i added a sprinkle of the dredging flour mixture, with a little extra tarragon and pepper. once that thickened i added about a cup of half and half and stirred until it was smooth, then put the chops back in, spooning the sauce over the top. it all went back into the oven while some fettuccini got boiled, then i actually plated it all up nice and pretty. pasta covered in creamy sauce with tender pork and mushrooms that even i ate. so good, so easy, so cheap. win win win!

good ol' curry

i love curry, pretty much any curry. with all due respect to will rogers, i've never met a curry that i didn't like. although, i have met curry that was much too spicy for me. for cooking at home i have two go-to curry standbys. the first is bulk yellow curry powder from winco, the second is kikoman red curry in a bottle. yesterday i made a vegetarian curry by melting butter in a large pan with my curry powder, paprika, cardamom, coriander, and red chili flakes, then adding onions, bell peppers, and diced turnips. once everything had fried together for a while and the turnips were just getting soft i poured in a can of coconut milk and a can of garbanzo beans, then seeded and sliced a cucumber and put that in too. i count it as a success, and oddly enough thing three really liked it. pretty brave for a kid who can't even walk yet. the red curry is a basic idea that i got from a tv show, i may have mentioned it already, but the key with the kikoman is that you can stretch it by adding a can of coconut milk, a big scoop of peanut butter and some extra tamari. i usually get three pots out of one bottle that way. last time i did shrimp and bell peppers in the crock pot with the other stuff, then put rice noodles in at the end to soak up some of the spare juice, and it worked really well. the noodles make a nice break from rice too. as if you could need a break from rice. somewhere along the line curry got a bad rap. i've heard countless times "i don't really like curry, it all tastes the same, it's all so mushy, it's bland" blah blah blah. nothing could be further from the truth! it's versatile, easy, fast, and fresh! and really good for you, do some research on the many health benefits of turmeric and chili flakes, not to mention all the other wonderful spices in there. the added bonus of trying it at home is that you can tweek it to suit you. don't like turnip? use potato. like more heat? throw in some jalapenos. before you know it you'll be a curry master, in your own home.

ortega burgers

let's cut to the chase and just say: voted best burgers ever. not a new idea, i know, but i believe i do one or two things not done by other people. so, start with 1.5 pounds ground beef, set it out to get to room temperature. the meat mixes with everything else more easily if it's not just from the frige cold. in a mixing bowl combine 1/2 small red onion, 1 small pasilla pepper, two cloves of garlic, and one slice of wheat bread, all finely diced. pour in the juice from one 7 ounce can of ortega whole green chiles. set the chiles aside to top the finished burgers with. stir the juice in so that the bread soaks it up, then add the meat. season to taste with black pepper, garlic salt, and a sprinkle of cumin and mix thoroughly. at this point i like to let the meat mixture sit for just a bit, to let the flavors blend. it may or may not actually help, but i do it anyway. form into patties about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and 5 inches round. many years ago a neighbor gave me sound advice regarding the grilling of burgers. don't fuss them. i find this advice applies to many aspects of life, but in this case it means that you shouldn't have to flip a good burger more than once. wait until juices are collecting on the top of the patty, and probably running off a bit, and the meat is starting to turn brownish on top, then flip. once. don't muck around moving them from one part of the grill to another and tell yourself that doesn't count either, because it does. be brave, pick a spot and leave them there! when they are done, put them on a foil lined baking sheet and top with slices of pepper jack cheese. slide them into a warm oven to melt. while the cheese is getting happy, mix chipotle flavor cholula sauce with mayonnaise, about 1 1/2 table spoons of sauce to four table spoons of mayo. to assemble, smear the chipotle mayo on the top and bottom of the bun, pop a patty on, then one or two chiles, and close it up with the top bun then chow down. you can add tomatoes and lettuce if you want, or sliced avocado, but really i find that the chiles add enough all on their own.

little lasagna

okay, so i know that everyone has 'their' lasagna. i also know that most people settle for frozen rather than making 'their' lasagna, most of the time. i admit that usually when i make lasagna i over-fill a 9x13 pan with two or three kinds of meat and oh, usually, five kinds of cheese. HOWEVER there are those times when that is just plain uncalled for. times like tonight when all of my brothers in law are otherwise engaged, for instance. in an effort to restrain myself i only bought one little 15 ounce carton of ricotta cheese, usually i get the quart. i just managed to make a lasagna in, oh about 20 minutes. a record for me, to say the least. and just to get this out of the way, yes i used a jar of tomato sauce. i fried one pound of beef with half of a bell pepper and half of an onion, chopped. i seasoned the beef with dried oregano, garlic salt, and black pepper, then added one jar of my favorite sauce, francesco rinaldi, reserving just a little bit in the jar. then in a bowl i mixed two beaten eggs, the ricotta, 1/4 cup grated three cheese blend (parmesan, asiago, romano), three minced garlic cloves, one table spoon dried italian seasoning, and 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. then to assemble i diluted the sauce left in the jar with just a bit of water and poured about half into my 8x8 glass pan, and drizzled a little olive oil on top of that. so, now for noodles. i personally use barilla no-boil noodles, i know they're not the 'best' and if you want to dink around with the other kind, feel free. i always get a good result with these, they never have hard spots, they don't pull appart during baking, and they're pretty thin, which my husband likes. i lay two down then spread one third of the cheese mix evenly on them, then top with two more, running the opposite direction, and scoop some meat sauce on those, and continue till i'm out of cheese in that fashion. i top the last layer of meat sauce with the last of the noodles (actually i had two left over somehow this time) and then pour the last of the sauce from the jar on them, making sure they're completely covered. top with more shredded mozzarella and more grated parm-blend and cover loosely with foil, making sure the foil isn't touching the top of the lasagna. bake at 350 for about an hour, and if you want to brown the cheese take the foil off and bake at 400 for an extra 10 minutes or so. we're having ours with salad and wine. probably zin if we can dig any out of the pantry.

pirate party chicken

okay, i admit.... gha. this font is getting to me. okay, back on track... pirates have nothing to do with the chicken recipe, but i did make this for my son's (thing one) birthday party this weekend, which had a pirate theme. it is so simple, and kids (i've taken a survey) love it. so, to start, i used two big family packs of chicken drum sticks, cheap, tasty and what boy doesn't love eating with his hands? in a big mixing bowl i combined about 1 cup of warm crunchy peanut butter, 1/4 cup tamari, one teaspoon each powdered ginger and white pepper. if it doesn't combine really well, that's okay. dump the chicken in and mix, mix, mix, the marinade will smooth together on the chicken. cover and let marinate in the refrigerator over night. line a baking sheet with foil, lay the chicken out in one layer on it, pouring the last of the marinade over the chicken. sprinkle with sesame seeds (if you want a little more crunch) and bake at 350 for one hour. the other good news is that if you have a wheat allergic guest (i had more than one) they can join in the chicken eating fun with no worries. and yes, i know this is a lot like satay, i never claimed i invented it, i just want to encourage people to try it. also, pony up for the big drum sticks, wings are not as fun as you'd think when you're a hungry, growing boy.

salt crust roast method

so, it's been a while, and i can't find the font button for some reason. hmmm. a somewhat less popular, as compared to an action movie, but equally trying mission impossible: maintain a weekly blog with three children, when one is less that 6 months old. cue the music, cut to the part where i fail. i'd rather see tom cruise too, i admit it. now that i am back in the saddle again i'll tell you a tale of a sirloin tip roast. this is one of those ugly buggars that comes all tied in a net as though it lacks the moral constitution to keep it together in the oven, which may be the case. i wouldn't know, i've never un-netted an uncooked roast to find out. it is, however, tasty and tender, and i advise you to try one out. ours was just under 4 pounds and was just right for 4 adults, two children, and a sandwich the next day. assuming you take my advice (i encourage you again to do so) i further advise you to try salt crusting it. okay, don't panic, it doesn't have to be super salty as an end result. i admit that the one i did last week was a bit on the oceanic side, but that was due to my somewhat free for all method of measuring (meaning i don't measure...) the ingredients for the crust. so, assuming you don't want super salty roast, one heaping table spoon of kosher salt, one teaspoon paprika, one teaspoon dried rosemary, one teaspoon black pepper, two table spoons olive oil (i really don't care what kind), and four cloves of garlic go into a wee food processor. or bullet thingy. or just mince the garlic and combine it and the spices in a bowl, what ever tickles your fancy. mix it up and let it sit out at room temperature for oh, maybe an hour. speaking of room temperature, get your roast that way. or, at least on the road to room temp. bacteria-phobe note: leaving a roast out for about and hour or two so that it doesn't go into the oven at refrigerator temperature will NOT kill you of food poisoning. it helps the meat cook evenly and within a reasonable time frame. so, assuming your roast has been out for one hour, pat it dry and cover with the rub on all sides. this includes the bottom. line a baking dish that leaves generous room on all sides with foil, 9 by 13 should do it, and plunk the roast in the center. make sure all of the rub is on the roast and, if you like pepper, grind a little extra on the top. pre heat the oven to 425 degrees, and put the roast in. leave at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce temp to 350 and bake for about an hour, or a little more depending on how done you want it. really, medium rare is great or straight up medium. personally i use a meat thermometer for beef, it's the only way i don't come out with purple meat jello, or sawdust with gravy. provided you don't throw it right from the fridge to the oven, and you have the high temp to start with, it should be right around an hour, maybe an extra 15 minutes to medium rare. for the last 20 minutes of baking put one package of sliced baby bellas all around the roast. when you hit your goal for doneness set the meat aside to rest, and mix one table spoon butter with one table spoon flour in a pan to make a roux, when it's cooked on a medium high heat for a minute or two pour the juices from the roast, along with the mushrooms into the skillet and stir thouroghly let simmer to thicken while you slice the roast and viola! dinner is served.

i can throw no stones

in answer to the question, 'do bad cooking days happen at roundtree cottage?' i give a most emphatic yes. today was just such a day, the rest of it happened to be pretty well a pooper too, so this was just icing on the cake. the meal i planned: grilled lamb ribs, grilled butternut squash, and grilled ears of sweet white corn on the cob. the meal i got: flaming lamb ribs, squash hockey pucks, greasy smoked corn. it was going to be a beautiful treat for my husband (the lamb lover) for whom every menu item is a favorite. plus no pots or pans for me! the simple prep: mix marinade as follows in a food processor juice of one lime, 1/4 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 table spoon dried crushed mint, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, olive oil. put ribs and marinade in plastic bag, go to church. here's the first hiccough, we couldn't find the church we were aiming at going to for the first time with high hopes today. by the time we walked in on a funeral and circled Folsom for an hour we missed services at every other church we could think of. so, strike one. we go to visit the newest little roundtree, my nephew, and in all the fluster i don't ask to hold him, again. bringing me to the stunning total of NEVER. strike two. we come home via the grocery store where i'm to aim for under 100, i spend 120, strike three. we get home with the intention of a nap, the babies successfully resist arrest and no naps are had. strike four. i take a bath and drink a beer, forgetting my book out in the living room. strike five. i dry off and go to walmart to make two measly purchases and get accosted by a weirdo demanding to know why there are no address books that will fit in her purse. strike six. we make a stab at helping my brother in law with his move, only to discover that we have no key to the new house. strike seven i come home and ask my husband to light the grill, he agrees to do such and disappears into the garage, the grill remains cold. strike eight. i light the grill, let it heat put on the squash (slightly precooked in the microwave and slathered with olive oil) and ribs. tantalizing aromas fill the air. i argue with husband about how long to cook the ribs, due to the fact that they have bones in them and i think (correctly) that this means they should cook for just a titch longer. i flip the ribs and squash, put the corn on the top rack (we like it lightly cooked, just warmed really) and go back to the husband eating garage. the neighbors start blasting pink and other club music. strike nine. i get distracted by husband and bad music and suddenly look up and see a column of smoke from the back yard. skip cursing, blowing out ribs, and washing greasy black stuff of corn. serve my husband the rack that wasn't too bad and take my fussy (all day strike ten) baby to my room to nurse and blog. urgh. if the ribs had gone maybe ten minutes bones down and five meat down, with out lighting up, this would have been a whole different story.

pulled chicken sandwiches

pulled bbq chicken, does it get better than this? well, let's be brutal, yes. pulled pork for instance. however, i am recovering from having thing three (disaster) and both the lower fat and less work qualities of chicken appeal to me right now. so, dice one onion, dice one bell pepper, put them in your crock pot with 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, top with 1/4 cup of dry bbq rub (there's a blog out there for it) and cook until they fall into strings when you stir them. add one fresh sliced nectarine and one fresh sliced peach, choose firm ones if you can, and about 1/4 cup bbq sauce and one or two table spoons of cornstarch, stir thoroughly and cook about 30 mins more with the lid off. scoop on to a bun, top with coleslaw and if you want to go wild and crazy another little squirt of bbq sauce. simple, delicious and easy.

my best fried chicken on record

so, fried chicken. always good, less often spectacular. sometimes really gross. if there's one thing i can't stand (and there are many such things) it's soggy, greasy, or flavorless fried chicken. this has been the foremost reason that i don't make fried chicken that often, although the result tends to be 'okay' it has not been much to write home about. well, no more. i have come across a method which produces crispy, flavorful chicken that is neither greasy, soggy, nor dry. we start with 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. combine one egg, 1/4 cup evaporated milk, and one teaspoon dijon mustard. pat the chicken dry and put in a bowl or plastic bag with the egg mixture. mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour season with garlic salt, black pepper, rubbed sage, paprika, and parsley flakes. don't be afraid of the seasonings either, remember this is the seasoning for the whole batch. put the flour mixture into a shallow dish, and dredge each piece carefully patting flour into all the nooks and crannies, then place them on a tray to rest for a minute. heat about 1/2 cup canola oil in a non stick pan (get your nose out of the air and go with me on this one, please) to a medium high heat. pre heat oven to 350, and prep a baking pan with some slightly crumpled heavy duty foil. the purpose of the foil is to create ridges and pockets, to allow the chicken to drain as it finishes in the oven. if you want to mess around cleaning grease and bits of breading off of a cooling rack you could rig something up with a cooling rack in a roasting pan, i leave it to you. now check your chicken, there are probably spots where the egg has soaked through the flour layer leaving sort of soggy places, gently pat a bit more flour on any such soggy spots you come across, with out knocking the flour off the rest of the piece, it's not necessary to re dredge the whole lot. now fry in small batches until brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side) removing to the foil lined pan. be sure you don't crowd the pan, the pieces of chicken should not touch, and should be surrounded completely by oil. bake at 350 uncovered for about 30 mins to finish the cooking and drain the oil from the breading. even if you have a method of making fried chicken that you love, i encourage you to try this, there's something different and very tasty about the result, maybe from the evap. or maybe from the mustard, either way it's delicious.

English style beef ribs

i have mentioned that every year my husband and i buy a half a beef from some friends of ours who raise them locally, this year in discussing the cutting method with my butcher he asked me if i wanted the short rib strips or the english style short ribs. i was intrigued. he warned that they were slow cookers, not bbqers and that they might be tough. thus faced with a challenge i really had to order them and see what could be done. can such a cut be purchased from your local butcher or meat counter? you'll have to ask. what they look like is thin broad blades of bone, about 4 inches long with a good amount of meat on them, but also quite a bit of membrane and also fat. here's what i did to make them tender and also delicious: heat crock pot to high, salt and pepper the ribs liberally. throw them in with the fattiest side down. peel a head of garlic. no joke. if it's a particularly large bulb, perhaps 2/3 would do, but you need about 12 cloves or so, crush them with the flat of your knife and add them to the pot. add 1 cup strong coffee, and 1 or 2 cups of water. bring to simmer and turn crock down to low, cook for 6 to 8 hours or until falling apart. the juice will be quite fatty, but really delicious from the significant amount of bone, strain it, skim it and make deletable gravy with it. serve with buttered egg noodles and enjoy!

not tuna noodle casserole, tuna pasta

dinner tonight needed to happen fast. my husband left his lunch at home (again) and called on the road to say he was starving. mr. hyde has nothing on my sweet, scholarly, husband when he's hungry. so, pasta it was. and oh, what pasta. when i waitressed at an italian restaurant during my misguided youth this particular pasta was one of my favorites. it also happens to be one of the first things i made for my husband, and consequently, one of the reasons he didn't head for the hills when he got to know me better. it's simple and tasty, just heat olive oil in a pan, before the oil is hot put some red pepper flakes in so they will flavor the oil, which by the way, is the sauce so don't be stingy with it. when the oil is nice and hot add plain ol' canned tuna. if you want to spring for it you can get the stuff packed in olive oil and add it with the oil it came in, if you're like me (cheap) press as much water out as you can before plunking it in the pan, mince a clove or two (for us three) of garlic and put it in at the same time as the tuna. you still want the garlic to be sharp when you serve it, not sweet and browned. salt to taste. give the pan a couple of good shakes and heat the tuna through. squeeze some lemon juice in once it's hot and sprinkle with some dried parsley. could you get cute and use fresh parsley? sure. don't get carried away with the lemon or the parsley though, the star here is the pepper flakes and tuna. pour over the pasta of your choice and serve with grated cheese and fresh lemon slices. if it looks a little dry when you toss it together just add some olive oil on top.

chili verde, the second generation

so the recipe for the chili verde is already out there, it's one of our favorites. usually when i make this, as i believe i stated in the recipe, i use a rather large pork roast, usually butt, cushion, or picnic shoulder. this being the case when i made a batch a few weeks ago i had about a quart of leftovers, which i put in a plastic bag and threw in the freezer. last night i wanted mexican food badly, as only a pregnant lady can, and decided to try something new for the leftovers. i'm going to level with you, mostly i wanted to cut down on the dishes i had to wash. so here's what i did: i warmed about 9 small corn tortillas, i mixed the chili with a hand full of shredded 'taco' cheese and rolled enchiladas in my 8x8 glass casserole dish, nothing fancy. it wasn't greased, there wasn't any extra sauce to layer under it, it just all went into little rolls crammed into the pan, i put a little warm water in the bag the chili had been in and swished it around to get all the sauce out and poured that over the enchiladas. i spooned refried beans right out of the can all over the top, used my scissors to chop some fresh cilantro over the beans, and topped with cheese. cover with foil and bake for about an hour, maybe only forty-five minutes, until heated through. i just served it with chips, a tub of salsa from the store, and a chopped up avocado. yumm!

aye, there's the rub.

if you've been to my house at all in the summer, chances are you've experienced The Rub. i'm talking dry bbq rub here, and i humbly posit that it's the best i've ever had. also, quite versatile. of course anything that starts with a big pile of brown sugar can't go too far wrong, can it? a few years ago my dad and i really got into bbq, we were watching shows and reading books and i wont lie to you, some bad things happened on our family grill. after much research (see also: beer drinking) i've settled on a good method for mixing up rub and i usually mix a whole bag of brown sugar at a time, as you experiment with your own i suggest starting with about 1 cup of packed brown sugar and adding spices from there. the key, i've found, with rub for pork or chicken is to soak the meat in cider vinegar for a while before cooking. for my pork ribs i usually let them soak in straight cider vinegar for a few hours, with the chicken i mix a bit of the rub in with the vinegar. the rub itself? i'm glad you asked! brown sugar, garlic salt, white pepper (or finely ground black pepper), paprika, a bit of poultry seasoning, a touch of cumin, ground cloves, and onion powder. this is a basic mix, and i don't list amounts because you'll just have to follow your nose. i've been threatened by my husband with work as a drug sniffing dog, and i know that not everyone has the same olfactory prowess as me, but you know what your family likes. if you mix a basic batch and try it, well maybe next time you'll add some cayenne, or mustard powder is a good treat but i don't put it in every time. tarragon is also a tasty addition but if i'm going to sauce my ribs at some point i don't add it because it gets buried and detracts rather than adds. the point is this: dry rub is a great way to go. as always i like it when i know exactly what's in the food i'm serving my family and friends and as a method it's simple and effective. back to said method. if your meat is still soaking, drain the excess vinegar and rub thoroughly with your mix. if you're cooking on the grill set yourself up for low, indirect heat. i like to start in the oven on racks, it's just easier for me to make sure little hands don't get burned that way. low and slow is the way to go here, 275 for about 4 hours is best. it sounds like a long time, and it is. flip your ribs or chicken some time in the middle. a note on chicken: if you're cooking breasts, mix the rub with the vinegar to marinate, reserve some marinade for basting, soak the meat in the rest and throw them right on a low grill, baste with the sauce a few times while cooking. leg quarters make excellent bbq meat and can cook for a long time to absorb the flavor without drying out, they come out tender and delicious. marinate them with rub and vinegar, then add extra dry rub when you put them in the oven. i usually start them at 300 for an hour then turn it down to 275. i think the meat is wonderful just with the rub, but you can brush it with your favorite bbq sauce at the very end if you like, or just serve it with sauce on the side so if people want that extra kick they can add it themselves.

salmon pie

okay, stop making that face. think wonderful chicken pot pie, or maybe shepard's pie. good stuff right? okay, so is salmon pie. i was lead to this discovery after reading one of my favorite novels and wondering for the millionth time "what the heck is salmon pie?" turns out it's a fairly traditional brittish dish, and something of a comfort food in canada. while poking around for recipes i found a range from ones as simple as mashed russet potatoes with canned salmon stirred in to delicately flavored layered dishes with long lists of herbs and spices. what i settled on was my favorite oil crust recipe from better homes and gardens, plus a little extra salt and a teaspoon of dried dill. for the filling i've used both canned or fresh salmon, really i could go either way. i prefer the fresh for texture but for price the canned wins out some weeks. i sliced one leek and sauteed it in about two table spoons of butter, and boiled 5 smallish red potatoes, diced in medium sized chunks. this goes in a mixing bowl with the salmon, for fresh about a pound poached in water with salt and a couple of lemon slices then flaked in large chunks, or one 14 oz can. salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with dried dill. add about 1 cup thawed frozen peas, if desired. beside the fact that i think canned peas are gross, and have almost no nutritional value, they don't have the constitution for this, they'll go to mush when you stir everything together. fold all the ingredients together until you have an even distribution. in a small sauce pan either reduce 1 cup of half and half or make a small amount of white sauce (roux and milk) you'll need about 3/4 of a cup of sauce, not too thick, to keep everything moist. stir the sauce into the filling, assemble your pie and bake at 400 for about an hour. we serve ours with ketchup, because we're not too proud, and it's tasty.

Goosecapades

sooooo, about those geese. they weighed in Christmas morning at about 7 pounds a piece. and, because this is how my life tends to work out, not very full of the golden elixir known as goose fat. apparently it's a big stinking deal. i may never know. due to a small eating disorder episode they didn't get very big. who knows if they could have worked through it if they had time and therapy. or if i had figured out how to force feed the obstinate jerks.... any who i looked into crispy goose skin recipes and found somethings about steaming the geese for 45 minutes the day before roasting them. one got stuffed with ginger root and orange segments and the other one with apples, prunes, port and thyme. they were steamed, patted dry, refrigerated over night and roasted for about 2 hours each at 350. if i sound unenthused, frankly, i am a bit. this turned out to be hard work. if you ever feel moved to carve a goose, just give up now. unless you have help. okay, okay, maybe with practice it wouldn't be so bad. my husband was in love with the meat, and the rest of the guests seemed to enjoy it too. the slice i cornered for myself was pretty good but when weighed against the loss of my garden to feathered terrorists, not worth it. maybe i'm just bitter. they were pretty when all roasty toasty, and the apple stuffing was good. personally i'm going back to duck. alot cheaper by the pound and easier to wrangle. with the added to bonus that i've never had to spend hours pulling nasty ends of pin feathers out of the blow torch scorched flesh. i will do you the favor of not telling you about the smell that filled my house when my husband brought them in to wash them out in the sink, i will do you the further courtesy of not discussing the slaughter itself. not pretty. the roasting smell was better, but by that point i could hardly enjoy it. for a more moving post about roasting foul, i direct you to my blog about duck.

not just another scampi

tired of scampi? me neither. however, there is more than one way to skin a shrimp, so to speak. just because you want shrimp and pasta, in an easy dish, doesn't mean you have to load up the butter. one of my favorite things to make is a dish i originally learned while working at an italian restaurant, from the owner. simply put, saute shrimp in olive oil with some minced onion and garlic, when the shrimp are almost done add a bit of pesto and a splash of dark marsala. jim, the owner, also put in slices of pre-cooked italian sausage and porcinni mushrooms. just cook it all down until the shrimp are done and toss with pasta. wonderful!!

wine braised beef short ribs

every year we buy a side of beef, if not a whole beef. either from the fair or from some friends of ours that still have a small cattle operation. we're down to the very last of last year's meat and i found at the back of the freezer a package labeled "strips for bbq" that turned out to be short ribs. there are few things in life that can compare to correctly cooked osso bocco but, bold though it may be, i think short ribs, braised slowly, can do it. so, we've discussed dutch ovens and this is a job for the old dutch, placed over low heat. pre heat the oven to 300 degrees while you're at it. into said dutch goes 1/2 an apple (core and all) roughly chopped, 4 cloves of garlic smashed and cut in half (don't worry about taking the papers off), 1/2 an onion chopped, 1 table spoon dried rosemary, one teaspoon whole pepper corns, 1 and 1/2 cups pinot noir, one table spoon of Bragg liquid aminos or soy sauce, and the beef. add enough water to cover the beef completely, but not by much. make sure you nestle the beef down into the liquid so that the bits of veggies etc. are mostly over and around the meat. now, pop it into the oven for about 3 hours, turn the meat over and cook for another 2 or 3 hours until the fluid is reduced by about half. pull the ribs out of the pot and cover them with foil. strain the broth, pressing all the juice from the strained bits. personally i ran mine through a stock separator to remove most of the fat from the top, then put it in a sauce pan with another pinch of dried rosemary and simmer until it's again reduced by about half. stir in one table spoon of brown sugar, when it is completely dissolved add your chopped mushrooms. i used a crimini, but since i don't eat mushrooms you may be correct in thinking that some other sort would be best. i leave it to you. cook them until soft. remove from the heat and stir in a little pat of butter at the last minute, pour over the ribs and serve. if you try this out, please let me know what you think!

as an addendum: if you want sweeter meat add the brown sugar to the braising liquid at the beginning of the process, watch that it doesn't burn or scorch though. you may have to give it the occasional stir while it's in the oven.

easy alfredo with clams

alright, i admit the clams are optional. if you leave out the clams, cut down on the flour and you'll be set. there are probably a dozen ways to make alfredo sauce, and not being formally trained or even a little bit italian, i'm no authority. i know what goes over well here at the cottage, and i know some of the traditional elements though so i think i can safely call this 'alfredo' and get away with it. this recipe is like any of my others, largely it's appeal is that with minimal forethought you can slap it on the table at the end of a busy day in short order. providing you have a can of chopped clams handy. if you'd prefer you can use the minced clams, or the whole baby clams, personally i go for what's cheapest. hey, it's canned clams, alright? so, about 1 table spoon of butter goes into a tiny sauce pan over medium heat, one package of fettuccine goes into boiling water. once the butter is melted add two diced cloves of garlic. i'll say the magic word: please. please do not use a garlic press (aka garlic obliterater) just smash the cloves with the flat of your knife and dice them up. agreed? good. when the garlic is light brown add a sprinkle of flour and stir it in. we're not making an honest to goodness roux here, we're just making up for the fact that we're going to use whole milk instead of cream. not that we're on a diet, but the idea is that you can make this if you add one can of clams to your pantry list and we don't all keep cream lying around all the time. so, once the flour is incorporated add your clams, juice included, stirring until you see the juice thicken up. add a couple of grinds of black pepper. now add your milk. probably around 2/3s of a cup, but just look at it and add a bit at a time. don't worry it'll thicken up too. let this come to a simmer, then add oh, 3 table spoons of grated parmesan cheese. stir it in thoroughly so that there are no lumps. if you have dried parsley now is the time to throw it in, if you don't oh well. the pasta is probably done by now, drain it well and put it in a big serving bowl. having a pasta bowl is worth it, it should be wide and fairly shallow. you want to be able to toss pasta in it so make sure it's sizable. when your sauce looks about as thick as gravy pour it over the noodles. if it's a little thin, it's really okay. now if you have fresh parsley sprinkle it on, if you don't, again, oh well. sprinkle on a liberal amount of the grated cheese, some cracked black pepper, and a touch of nutmeg. you may also squeeze some fresh lemon juice on if you wish. it's a nice touch but not worth trying to fake it with concentrate, handy as concentrate may be. toss it all together, if the sauce is still on the thin side do the impossible: wait. just wait. maybe for 3 minutes. perhaps add some more cheese. toss again. the starch from the pasta will thicken it up. if you'll glance up you'll note i said nothing about rinsing your pasta. i'm not sure where this fad came from, but if it's a habit you have, kick it. the residual starch on your pasta helps the sauce stick. and in the case of alfredo or just clam sauce it actually finishes the sauce in the serving bowl. so, after the final toss you can get fancy with yourself and crack a little more pepper on it, or garnish however you wish, and enjoy!

chicken cordon... cottage

alrighty, this one is so easy it's almost silly to blog it. so it turns out i'm brewing thing three right now, and being 6 weeks pregnant is not fun for me. my precious food tends to turn on me in a serious way for the first 4 months or so. my solution? a dinner i hardly have to touch in it's raw elements so that i will still want to eat it by the time it hits the table. the basic staple here: IQF chicken breasts. literally Individually Quickly Frozen. i can grab as many as i need, throw them in a pan and cook from frozen if i need to. these were partially thawed, for the record. preheat the oven to 375, place the chicken in a baking pan (glass is favorite) in a single layer, brush a little dijon mustard on each breast, top with sliced ham, then finish with a slice of swiss cheese. cover with foil and bake for about 35-40 minutes, depending on if they're still on the frozen side or not. et vio la, chicken that any decent french chef would be ashamed of: and yet, quite tasty.