Gather at the Table

Beef stew: the secret ingredient

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:49:00 +0000

True conversation:

W: Good stew, mom.
Me: Thanks. Want to know the secret ingredient?
W: Umm...was it made with love?
Me: No, beer. Well, love too, but mostly beer.

And not just any beer. Jubelale, from Deschutes Brewery right here in Bend, works magic in stews. And it's not bad for drinking either! The brewery tasting gurus describe this winter ale as "deep garnet in color, medium bodied, with notes of chicory, earth, spice and fruit" -- and without a doubt it lends an umami quality that satisfies the soul on cold winter nights.*

Now that you've got the secret ingredient, here's the rest of the dish, as made in a six-quart slow cooker:

First, generously oil the crock, and set the temperature on high heat. Allow it to warm up while you begin preparing the beef, to minimize the time that the meat stays at a low temperature.

Cube the beef into bite-size pieces, and place in a large baggie (save an old bread bag for this purpose.) Add flour, dry mustard, sea salt, ground pepper, and paprika. Shake the bag thoroughly until all the beef pieces are coated with the flour mixture, then dump the beef and flour mixture into the crock. Cover, and let the meat start cooking.

Vegetables make the next layer in the crock, over the meat, and I start with those that take more cooking time. Slice up two large carrots. cube two medium potatoes (I like to use Yukon golds). Fresh, chopped green beans can be layered on top of the potatoes, along with a small diced onion.

Now for the sauce: Whisk together the Jubelale, the beef broth, the tomato juice, and the garlic. Pour the mixture over the contents of the crock WITHOUT STIRRING THE MEAT AND VEGETABLES. It's important for the meat to stay in the hottest part of the crock. Cover and let it bubble and brew for at least an hour.

After an hour or more, give the stew a good stir to mix in all the gooey flour that has been cooking; this will thicken the sauce. Now you can add any vegetables that require less cooking time: mushrooms, cauliflower, celery, peas, green pepper--all cut into bite-sized chunks. If the stew seems to need more sauce, or you just want an excuse to open another Jubel, add a little more at this time. Adjust seasoning as needed, then cover tightly and lower the heat to medium or low. Allow to simmer two to three more hours, then serve it up with a good baguette.

INGREDIENTS:
1-2 lbs. stew meat, from a chuck or round roast
1/2 cup flour
1t each mustard, paprika, sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 t black pepper

Vegetables (adjust quantities to taste): 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, one small onion, 1/2 green pepper, 1 cup cauliflower florets, 1/2 cup frozen peas and/or corn, 1 sliced celery.

For the sauce:
1 bottle Jubelale (other quality dark beers can substitute, as long as you lower your expectations for the final result!)
1 cup beef broth
12 ounces tomato juice or V8
1 T diced garlic, adjusted to taste.

*This stew also freezes quite nicely, and makes the perfect gift for grandpas.

Check that PLU?

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:06:00 +0000

Thank you to EatPlayLove.blogspot.com for the interesting bit of info on how we can (possibly) identify conventional, organic, or GMO produce while checking out at the grocery.

Here's the link.

A Gallon of Stew in Your Stocking? How to Ship Frozen Food!

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:24:00 +0000

This is my dad. He's a pretty easy-going guy eleven months out of the year, but when the holidays roll around, he gives me a headache. What do you give a guy who has a closet full of clothes and a strong dislike of gadgets, who prefers using the library over owning books and watching the history channel over DVDs?

My dad lives alone, and while he eats at a friend's several times each week, the inevitable occasions on which he needs to cook usually involve frozen Lean Cuisine or canned green beans. Both will keep a guy from starving, but leave warehouses of room for improvement. So I'm trying something different this year: frozen homemade beef stew. Along the way, I've learned a few things about how to ship frozen food across the country (West Coast to Midwest) and I'll share them here.

How to Ship Beef Stew to Your Dad for Christmas:

1. The first step, obviously, is to make a gallon of stew. I'll post my recipe next week!

2. Divide it into four quart-sized freezer containers--I like to use Ziploc bags, and lay them flat on a cookie sheet to freeze.

3. Find a sturdy cardboard box. The best dimensions are 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches. If necessary, purchase a box at the UPS store.

4. My first thought for insulation was to look for a cheap cooler, but that is a seasonal item here in Oregon. Instead, go to a building supply store and purchase a sheet of styrofoam insulation (a sheet that is 3 feet by 4 feet by 1.5 inches goes for under four dollars at Home Depot.)

5. A serrated steak knife goes through styrofoam like butter. Cut your sheet into squares to line the box snugly. Leave enough room for about two pounds of dry ice, which takes up space equivalent to another quart of stew.

6. Dry ice is available at many grocery stores, and especially at restaurant supply stores. Mine came from Cash-n-Carry. 89 cents a pound! Talk about value! Do not buy the dry ice until your stew is frozen hard, your box is lined with styrofoam, and you are on your way to ship it off. Bring strapping tape to close it all up after adding the dry ice, and an extra gallon-sized bag to hold the dry ice.

7. Although I'm a big fan of USPS's "If it fits, it ships" shipping method, do NOT go the post office with your stew. They do not ship anything with dry ice. UPS seemed to have cheaper rates for this size box. I used ground shipping, for about $20, and takes four days. Between winter weather, dry ice, rock-hard frozen stew, and the styrofoam insulation, my dad will be enjoying homemade beef stew for several weeks. I think Santa would be proud!

Jalapeno cornbread: a little goes a long way.

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I have a hard time following the instructions on boxed mixes--brownies, muffins, cornbread--I always want to doctor them up with a little something extra. This time, I got a little carried away with the boxed cornbread mix.

Not satisfied with the usual additions of frozen corn kernels and shredded cheddar cheese (1 cup of each for a 9x13 cake pan of cornbread) I diced up a fresh jalapeno and about 3T of fresh cilantro. Sounds like a good idea, right? I made a great big pan of it, because usually cornbread goes like hotcakes around here.

The cornbread ended up with a tasty subtle kick, but here was the problem: no one (except me) was expecting it. Rather than a warm buttery sweetness slathered with jam or honey, they found a sharper, spicier version--each bite packed a lot of flavor, and a small piece was enough. So what to do with all this leftover cornbread?

Since a little seemed to go a long way, and soup is on the menu for later in the week, I cubed the leftover cornbread and toasted for 15 minutes at 400', turning the cubes every 5 minutes. They came out crusty and savory and ready for dunking. Soup recipe to come soon!

Not Your Mother's Fruit Salad

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 03:34:00 +0000

Berries, melon, bananas, ho hum, another (yawn) fruit salad... until you add a few slices of my new favorite bit of produce: the starfruit.

I didn't pay a lot of attention at the grocery store as a kid, but I am quite sure there were no starfruit to be found. The starfruit, AKA carambola, has been a standard option in the markets of India for centuries, but only over the past decade has it been finding its way onto American tables. Now they are grown in Florida and Hawaii, and can be found in just about any produce section.

A fresh, unsliced starfruit resembles a miniature lemon-lime deflated football. The flavor is somewhere between a kiwi and an apple, kind of crunchy and sweet-tart. I'm told some people eat them like apples, but I think the rubbery skin would be a turn-off to biting in. Mostly, they add a great look to fruit salads when sliced star-wise.

A few bits of starfruit trivia: seventeen different cultivars of starfruit can be found, ranging from mostly-sweet to mostly tart on the taste spectrum, and all are high in vitamin C. According to Wikipedia, anyone taking Lipitor should avoid starfruit, as the pharmacology mix may have negative side effects. Like a heart attack! Who'd expect that from such a happy looking fruit?

Saucy Fish Tacos

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:33:00 +0000

Here is the thing I've found about fish tacos: it's not about the fish. Don't get me wrong - it's the perfect taco foundation... but all the other pile-ons provide the contrasting flavors and textures that make fish tacos a really great dish.

We usually make fish tacos to use up leftover halibut, just steaming the chunks and adding a little lime. Flour or corn tortillas are a personal preference ( I lean towards flour) but be sure to get the biggest ones you can find to hold all the accoutrements!

Here is our list of pile-ons:

1. Mango salsa: chopped mango with diced red onion and red and green peppers.

2. Chopped avacado, salted lightly, squeeze of lime. If you leave the pit in the bowl, the avocado stays green. Looks weird, but brown avocado looks worse.

3. A mix of chopped cabbage and fresh cilantro.

4. Grated cheddar cheese.

5. And finally... the sauce. Stir 1 cup plain yogurt with 1t sugar, 1T lime juice, 1t chili pepper.

The saucier the better!

Blackberry Bonanza

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:12:00 +0000

Come to the Mirror Pond parking lot near Drake Park in Bend on any Wednesday afternoon in the summer, and you will find the happiest group of people in the world. Honestly, it is happyville.

Why? It's the Farmer's Market. Booths overflowing with mounds of green beans, sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, samples of artisan cheeses and breads, and best of all...flat after flat of BERRIES!

W and I walked away with a whole flat of the biggest, darkest, shiniest blackberries you can imagine. More than a few were gone by the time we got home - as W said, "if picking blackberries was my job, I'd have an empty bucket and a full belly."

It's too hot to bake, so half of the flat went into the freezer. I think the best way to freeze berries is spread out on a cookie sheet, unwashed - otherwise they stick to the sheet and each other. Once frozen ( the next day), pour them into a freezer bag, and they are good for several months. Since they freeze individually, you won't need to thaw the whole bag - but you will need to wash them at that point.

In the depths of winter, break out the frozen berries for muffins, scones or pie... it's a little reminder of Happyville.

Stuffed Burgers, Stuffed Bellies

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:14:00 +0000

Okay, this is boy food. This is a dinner that makes boys happy. It's very easy, really: Make double the number of burgers, and press each very thin between pieces of wax paper. To make the stuffed burgers, pile a heaping tablespoon or so of cheese, along with any other tidbits (bacon bits, diced onion, herbs) onto one burger, and sandwich another on top. Press the edges together and flatten it a bit, then grill as usual.

Blue cheese is a popular burger stuffing cheese, but my family tends to lean away from stinky cheeses. And I mean that literally - lean away while holding their noses and gagging dramatically. We went with smoked fontina cheese, stuffed inside and melted on top. Look out arteries, here it comes! You really should not eat these often, but once in a while, they are just the best. To freeze, layer the stuffed burgers on wax paper on a cookie tray, cover with more wax paper and freeze. When frozen solid, pop them off the wax paper and store in a gallon zip-lock bag. Squeeze as much air out as possible. They can go right from freezer to grill - no need to thaw.

In our pre-kid life in Minneapolis, we'd go to Matt's Bar on Cedar avenue, where they served up Juicy Lucy's, a stuffed burger with molten cheddar. I did a quick google search to see if Matt's is still in business, and can you believe it (I can't!) Matt's and the infamous Jucy Lucy can be found on Wikipedia. Matt's is still open, Jucy Lucy's are still on the menu, so all is right in the world of bars and burgers.

Those vegetables in the photo? They were pretty much left untouched.

Nothing like a Nice Meatball Sandwich.

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:25:00 +0000

It's clean out the freezer week, an annual purging of the mysterious freezer burned meats and leftovers that have been collecting, hopefully over only the past twelve months. Half a bag of Cost-co meatballs emerged from the freezer depths, a relic of holiday parties gone-by... Well, the time for festive buffets is past, but it's never too late for a meatball sandwich!

Break out the crockpot and coat the pot with olive oil before adding the frozen meatballs. Cost-co's are fully cooked and just need to heat through (thus their popularity on the buffet table.) Slice a green pepper and a small onion, and saute in 2T olive oil, with 2-3 chopped garlic cloves. I slice the onion in wedges, top to bottom, so they stay a little firmer in the crockpot. Add to the meatballs in the pot, along with a cup of your favorite barbeque sauce, 1t worchester sauce, and 1T balsamic vinegar (adjust this to taste... a little dry mustard? a little chili powder? a little chalula?) Let the crockpot work it's magic for two hours or so, stirring occasionally.

The keys to a great meatball sandwich, in my humble opinion: 1) Choose a french baguette with a shiny crust and fresh, chewy interior. Use about six inch lengths, and when you add the meatballs, don't over-do it. Keep the sauce to a minimum too - unless you're a fan of soggy bread. 2) Top the sandwich with a good white cheese like havardi or munster - now it's time to be generous and skimp not on the fromage! Set the sandwich under a broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Maybe have some hot extra sauce available on the side for the saucy dippers in the family.

I think these are an excellent reward for cleaning out the freezer.

Snack Review: Brother's Fruit Crisps

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:06:00 +0000

In my never ending quest for easy yet healthy kid snacks, I stumbled upon a new-to-me product at Costco last month. Literally stumbled - those aisles were crowded! After almost knocking over the stack of Brother's-All-Natural Crisps, I added a box to my heaping cart and had the boys give them a try.

The box contained 20 pouches of freeze dried fruit - ten fuji apple and ten strawberry-banana. Overall, it got a mixed review, but I think they'll be finding in the pantry on a regular basis. Here are our thumbs up/thumbs down remarks:

Texture: The freeze drying technique gives a strange styrofoam feel to the fruit; where dehydrated fruit is often tough and chewy, these almost dissolve in your mouth. Strange at first for those used to dehydrated fruit, but at least it doesn't stick to your teeth.

Taste: Thumbs up on the apple, and two thumbs up on the strawberry, but the bananas were left sad and alone after one sample. Really, that's a fruit that belongs in a peel or in muffins, fully hydrated either way. Other flavors available include pear and peach, and they have a new potato crisp product as well.

Ingrediants: This point is purely my own perspective, as my kids would surely like to see the fruit marinated in a little high fructose corn syrup. Most "fruit" snacks contain sweeteners, at least in the form of concentrated apple or grape juice. This is a WYSIWYG snack - what you see is what you get - thumbs up for that!

Packaging: The pouches are a good size - 1/2 cup serving - and are easy to stick in a lunchbox - but they don't seem to be recyclable. Are pouches like this ever recyclable?

Quality: The crisps are made and packaged in China, which raises some red flags for anyone who's paid a bit of attention over this past year. The Brother's website insists they enforce strict quality controls and test for pesticides and heavy metals, and I've only found glowing reports in the media about their products.

Next trip to the mega-bulk mecca I will be on the look-out for the potato and other fruit crisps - I'll let you know what I find!

Holly Crispies

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Yikes - can there really only be ten days before Christmas? Somehow I was counting on an extra week in there somewhere. Only when W. started rattling on about winter break starting this Friday (we like long winter school breaks here in Bend. Long division and phonetics can wait - we've got some skiing to do!) did I clue into the fact that this month is flying by faster than Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.

So here is a quick and easy holiday cookie - a Christmas spin on an old standby. In a nutshell, it's a rice crispie treat made with cornflakes instead of puffed rice (looks more like holly) with green food coloring in the marshmallow mix, and some cinnamon hots tossed in for holly berries.

Melt 1/3 cup butter in a large stockpot over low heat, and stir in one bag marshmallows. Marshmallows are one of the few grocery items that I won't buy the generic brand - trust me, they taste like flour. Go for a name brand. When the mixture is smooth and shiny, stir in about 1/2 t food coloring, and a full box (18oz) cornflakes. Generic is perfect. Stir to coat the flakes.

My mom made these when I was a kid, and somehow she worked the coated flakes into cute little wreaths, adding three cinnamon hots to each. In my world, the mixture starts to set up quickly, and turns into a big sticky mess if I get too creative - so I turn the whole panful out onto a baking sheet, flatten it down a bit, and sprinkle the hots over the top, pressing them in a little until they stick. After it firms up, cut into bite size chunks and store in an airtight container.

My boys had them for breakfast - they are mostly cornflakes, after all!

Puppy Chow - Not Just for Puppies

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:12:00 +0000

I only make this in winter - maybe because it looks more like little muddy snowballs than puppy chow. But my boys are sometimes more like puppies than people so the name fits this snack. Puppy cow is a popular snack in this house because it is easy and cheap to make large quantities! We make it in big gallon ziplock bags, and mostly the boys eat it out of the bag, but if you needed a little gift you could pretty it up in a jar with a ribbon. Then hide so no one eats it before you have a chance to give it away.

Here's the how-to:

On the stovetop or in a microwavable (not plastic, though) bowl mix together 1/2 cup butter, one cup peanut butter, and a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips. Heat and stir until it's thoroughly melted and blended together. Meanwhile, empty a box of rice chex style cereal - the brand is not important, just the pillowy shape - into the biggest bowl you have. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir until the cereal is evenly coated.

The next and final step is dusting the chocolatey cereal in powdered sugar: add about a cup and toss til evenly coated. This can be down in the bowl, or in a large ziploc baggie - then just store it in the baggie, ready to take it along on the next sledding expedition or snowshoe adventure.

Cookie-palooza 2008: Best Butter Cookies Ever

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:27:00 +0000

One of my oldest and favorite cookbooks is Susan Branch's Christmas from the Heart of the Home. It's all handwritten and handdrawn - and almost unbearably adorable. I think if Susan were my neighbor I'd be torn between spending every minute at her house and completely avoiding her - who can keep up with that level of delectable charm? Not me. But every December I pull out this book especially for the Butter Cookie recipe. The basic recipe is easy and the book supplies a number of variations, but I only make one of them: the candy canes.

The basic recipe is as follows: Preheat oven to 350. Cream 2 cups softened butter with 1 1/2 cups suger, then add in 4 egg yolks and and 2 t vanilla, mix well. Sift 4 1/2 cups flour with 1/2 t salt, and beat that into the butter mixture.

To make the candy can cookies, divide dough in half. Add red food coloring to half the dough, until desired level of pink is achieved (I use about 1/2 t) Roll a small lump of each colored dough into a rope about three inches long and the diameter of a pencil. Twist the two dough ropes together and curve into a candy cane shape. Bake 10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

OOPS - Just realized that I must have been really distracted last night when baking - I added the egg whites and tossed out the yolks! Hooray - low fat cookies! They actually turned out delicious - no one even noticed a difference from last year's batch... hmm, might make that a permanent change.

And the heat goes on...

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Three days ago I began my first attempt at baked beans, boston-style, from scratch. They are still cooking.

While I am not especially known for following recipes to the letter, or instructions of any sort for that matter, I really did follow all the steps lined out for me in the bean chapter of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker. I soaked two cups overnight in 4 inches of water, I rinsed and picked out the bad beans (they float!) and precooked them for two hours in the slow cooker on high. I then innocently went on the the next step: cooking them in the sauce.

After mixing and adding all the fabulous saucy ingredients (see below*) I set the cooker a-bubblin' and went on my merry way, thinking there'd be beans with the roasted chicken that night. And there were beans...crunchy hard ones! So I dumped the whole pot into my pressure cooker and cranked it up for twenty minutes, then another twenty minutes, and another twenty minutes. Honestly, you could armor a tank with these beans. We had chicken, carrots, and french bread for dinner.

Day two: beans are back in the crockpot, more water is added, beans simmer all day. The sauce is savory sweet with just the right kick, beans are the like malted milk balls: soft on the outside, a little raspy on the inside. Family is seriously let down at tonight's dinner. Maybe altitude is playing a part.

So here I am, day three, feeling like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day, wondering if I'll ever get it right and be allowed to move on from the never-ending bean drama. They are still cooking. If it's no good tonight, we are going out, and tomorrow I'll post a lovely restaurant review!

*For the bean sauce, I used the Maple Pork and Beans recipe on page 196, but adapted it slightly. I first cooked 1/2 pound peppered maple bacon, and chopped it, then poured off the grease and sauteed one large chopped onion in the same pan. Then whisked together 3/4 cup ketsup, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 T stoneground mustard, 1/2t cayenne pepper plus 1/2t chili pepper, and 6 whole cloves. Stir in the bacon and onions, along with 2 c boiling water, pour over and mix into the beans, and continue cooking. Add more boiling water as it thickens, as needed.

Next time I'll pressure cook the beans first, until they are close to done, before adding the sauce and slowcooking, because it seems you just can't overcook beans.

Back in the Kitchen!

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:25:00 +0000

One of the many fun things about starting up a new business, especially a business that involves food and wine, is frying out new products to choose what to include. Taste testing for quality control! I'm limiting Cascadia Gift Baskets to items produced in the Pacific Northwest - the area from Alaska down to Northern California - and some really delicious treats have emerged.

One company I'd never noticed before is Sahale Snacks out of Seattle. Their nut and dried fruit mixes and glazed nuts will set your tastebuds a-dancin'! The Soledad blend is my personal favorite, with almonds, dates, and cayenne pepper - it's being included in the High Desert Happy Hour basket (shown in photo.)

Their motto: "snack better - work better - live better" is one I'd like to take on as my own. Can I accomplish that all through glazed nuts?

Mexi-sota Comfort Food

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:53:00 +0000

Those of you lucky enough to have supped at the table of a true midwestern family will understand this post. You'll know what I mean when I say that any Minnesotan home cooking enthusiast worth her worschester can turn any ethnic dish into a creamy comfort food hotdish. And that is just what we have here: Enchiladas, Mexi-sota style.

The photo has not been retouched; it really does look like that. The bizarre pinkish color is a result of a good dose of sour cream stirred into salsa, with clashing orange cheddar sprinkled on top. Not an attractive dish, but comfort food appeals to the soul, not the eyes. And trust me, this one is a pleaser.

To make a large cassarole pan (known as 9x13's in my husband's family) start by simmering 4 smallish chicken breasts in a cup of chicken broth plus 1/2 cup of salsa. Meanwhile, mix together in a medium bowl: one package of cream cheese, one cup of sour cream, one cup of salsa, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1 T cumin (adjust to taste) and 1T fresh diced garlic. Reserve half of this mixture into a small bowl.

In the medium bowl, add the following to the remaining sauce: 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1/4 cup chopped green onions, and the cooked chicken, which you have shredded or diced. In your cassarole pan, spray the bottom with olive oil, then spread with 1/2 cup salsa. Roll about 1/4 cup of the chicken/sauce mixture in a six or eight inch tortilla, and line these up in the pan. I usually use about 10 tortillas per pan. Once the pan is full of stuffed tortillas, spread the reserved sauce over them all. Cover with shredded chedder cheese, and a few more diced green onions if you want to get fancy.

Bake at the usual hotdish parameters: cover with tinfoil, bake at 350 for an hour, uncover for the last twenty minutes. We just cut it into squares to serve, instead of trying to dish it out one rolled tortilla at a time. Like most hotdishes, the leftovers taste even better reheated the next day for lunch.

New Favorite Eats in Bend

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:02:00 +0000

While Bend has no shortage of restaurants, there are not many that make both kids and parents eager for a visit. Either they are too stuffy from my kids point of view, or too manic for J and me. Last week, however, we stopped at the new Flatbread Community Oven (the original is in Boise, Idaho) and everybody left happy and full.

The secret to the happy kid part was the make-it-yourself pizzas. Kids order the toppings they want, and they arrive in little bowls alongside the round of pizza dough. They layer on the toppings however they choose, and carry their wooden board back to the wood fired oven. A few minutes later it reappears, all hot and bubbly.

The pizza is woodfired and the makers are trained in old world neopolitan flatbread pizza making - who knew there was such a certification? I had the Capricciosa, with portabella, artichoke, prosciutto, olives and basil, with a glass of old vine zin. I'd go back and order the same thing again, without hesitation!

Thanks, George

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:41:00 +0000

Today C's friend Cameron came in to ask where he could find a panini maker like ours. It's not really a panini maker, but it is definitely the most treasured kitchen gadget of all three boys. It's actually a lean, mean, grilling machine. That's right, the humble George Foreman grill, not available at any fine kitchenware stores, but found stocking the aisles of any discount department store.

This thing is amazing, really. It does make great paninis: the bread can go in dry or lightly brushed with butter or olive oil, the lid weighs it down for that dense panini feel, and the layers of meat, cheese, tomatoes, and pesto heat through before the bread gets too toasty. But folks, that's not all!

We have taken this grilling gadget on vacation (to Maui, actually) and cooked breakfast and lunch for a week in the hotel room (it's true confession time here.) One-eyed Jacks work well: tear a hole in a piece of bread and place it on the grill, crack an egg into the hole, and close the lid. The only tricky part is propping up the front of the grill. These were designed to grill greasy burgers, and angle down slightly to let the grease drip out (thus the "lean" part of the slogan.) When cooking eggs on this machine, avoid the drippage by setting the front legs on a book about an inch high. We found the local restaurant guide to be perfect - especially since we were eating in!

I guess my point is that the best kitchenware is by no means the most expensive, just like favorite foods are not necessarily gourmet. So here is to George, who confused things mightily by naming his five sons all George as well, but who brought us the most affordable lean, mean, panini machine on the planet. Thanks, George.

Coffee Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Morning coffee is a blessing and a curse in this house. A blessing, of course, because without it both J and I would be slogging through the day at quarter speed. The curse part has only come into play since we first tasted pressed coffee.

Pressed coffee required boiling the water separately in a kettle, then pouring it over freshly ground beans in a french press, waiting a minute, stirring, waiting a few more, then pressing the screen through the grounds to filter them out. All of this is done in a pre-coffee fog. In comparison, my top-o-the-line Krups brewer can be set up the night before, while I am still alert. It wakes itself up to start brewing the next morning, before waking me up with that "hey, get out of bed, it's a brand new day!" aroma.

So why do we keep going with the whole pressing ritual? Because the coffee is just SO MUCH BETTER TASTING. I did a side-by-side today, and even in the photo, you can see a difference: the brewed, while nice and dark, is a cleaner looking cup, while the pressed has a little film of coffee flotsam. Is that what holds the extra richness and flavor? I'll have to ask my coffee expert friend Kim.

In any case, the answer to today's coffee comparison was clear. Pack the coffee maker away again and press on!

Guacamole Purists

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:25:00 +0000

At La Rosa, in Bend, they make great table-side guacamole. I am always amazed when every single avocado cut open is perfectly ripe. No mushy brown spots, no hard under-ripe ones. Then, as if I weren't already impressed, they smash them just right with salt, fresh cilantro, chili pepper, and diced onion.

My brother in law Dirk adds cumin and some salsa to guac, and that is good too, but at home we keep it really simple: just avocado (hopefully nice and ripe) lime (half a lime squeezed for each avocado) and salt to taste.

Here is a magical little avocado tidbit: if you add the pit to the guacamole, it won't turn brown. Likewise, if you have an unused avocado half, keep the pit in in and wrap tightly in plastic, and it will stay green for at least a day.

Pucker Up! Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Way back in the corner cupboard the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker has been sitting idle for months. Gathering dust since last summer, in fact. Not that we've been missing out - we go through more than our fair share of ice cream year-round, but it's usually the big plastic bucket version, bought for quantity instead of quality.

But with the dog days of summer finally kicking in, and berries from last week's farmers' market getting a few days past their prime, we dug out the ice cream maker for a little frozen yogurt. I modified a recipe from FoodGeeks.com. It was creamy sweet and very tart from the berries. The original version called for a mashed banana, which would have cut the puckery tartness of the raspberries. But we had no bananas, so here is the version we ended up with:

In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, 2 cups plain yogurt, 1/2 cup honey, and 1 t vanilla. Pour into the ice cream maker and start it spinning. When the liquid begins to freeze, add 1 cup fresh whole raspberries. They'll get smashed up in the mixing process, but that's okay. It takes about half an hour to get to a soft-serve consistency, then half an hour in the freezer for harder scoops.

Apricot-Ginger Glazed Halibut

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:29:00 +0000

The Royal Foodie Joust this month involved three much beloved flavors: apricot, ginger, and butter. It's much too hot to bake or do any cooking inside, so this effort required some grilling. I made a sauce that was something between a chutney and a glaze, and used it on some halibut steaks on the grill.

For the saucy glaze, I sauteed chopped shallots with a bunch of chopped green garlic. I hadn't used this before but had a bag in the fridge from a friend. These are the spring shoots cut off immature garlic bulbs - they are curly and stiff, and have a milder garlic flavor. They seemed too stiff to use raw, but darkened really quickly in the saute pan.

I added about 1/2 cup apricot jam, two fresh smashed apricots, one heaping T of fresh grated ginger, 2T lemon juice, 2T soy sauce, 1t pepper, and 1/4 cup white wine, and let it all simmer for a while. After taking it off the heat, I stirred in 2T butter, which gave the sauce a nice gloss.

The halibut was on the grill in foil with a little lemon and butter; I have trouble grilling fish directly on the metal slats (either it falls apart, sticks, or the drips gunk everything up...) After a few minutes at medium heat, I brushed on the sauce and turned up the heat. It didn't glaze as much as under a broiler, but was still delicious!

Triple Dog Dare: Mystery Melons

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:33:00 +0000

Thanks to Okara Mountain we are broadening our fruit horizons this month- it's a Triple Dog Dare to find a brand new fruit. I really thought I'd have a hard time at the local grocery finding a fruit I'd never tried before, and I walked right by these at first, thinking they were some kind of squash (I guess squash would fit into the fruit category, technically - isn't a fruit just the part of the plant that contains the seeds?) But to my surprise, it was a whole display of unusual melons!

The green is a Santa Klaus melon...apparently they peak at Christmas, but they must have a long shelf life since it's almost July. The yellow one is called a Juan Canary melon. Both are about the size of a cantaloupe, and very juicy, but not as sweet as a cantaloupe or honeydew. The boys all thought they were weird and too mushy, and I think that just on their own, these melons don't have a lot of appeal. But added into a fruit salad with other sweeter items they're pretty good.

Dad's Summer Pie for the Royal Foodie Joust

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:29:00 +0000

May's Royal Foodie Joust challenge involved lime, raspberries, and almonds, a flavor trio dreamed up by Elle of Elle' New England Kitchen. My Dad's recipe calls for a bigger variety of fruit in a lemon glaze on a shortbread crust, but we adapted it to a lime glaze over peaches, strawberries, and raspberries. First peaches of the season!

G. helped the effort by making the crust and manning the music selections. In G's world, choosing the right song for the occasion is mandatory for a successful effort, in the kitchen or out. Today it ranged from George Micheal to Peter Bjorn and John. Gabe adapted the crust to the joust requirements by pulverizing 1/4 cup of whole roasted almonds in the food processor, and adding it to the shortbread recipe:

CRUST
Whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup ground almonds. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until pea sized pieces are evenly coated with flour mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup oil (I used walnut oil) and 3T cold water. Mix until just dough is barely sticky throughout, and press into pie pan. Bake at 400' 20 minutes or until golden brown.

GLAZE
Squeeze juice from 3 limes, add one cup water and one cup sugar. Stir in 3T cornstarch; be sure all the lumps get worked out. Bring to a full boil for one minute, then allow to cool while you cut and arrange the fruit on the crust, which has of course cooled nicely by now! Once the glaze is near room temperature, drizzle it over the fruit, filling in the nooks and crannies but not drowning it all in glaze. Chill the whole pie for at least an hour before serving.

An Army of Frozen Meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (SMJ) — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Meatballs are one of the foods I never truly appreciated until I made them from scratch for the first time. The chopping! Mixing it all into that squishy meat! The broiling! The simmering! It's enough to make me sure of one thing: anyone who makes you meatballs, real homemade meatballs, loves you truly and deeply. For anything less than love, check the freezer aisle at the grocery store for a bag of pre-made meatballs. But for a special occasion, like your son's 16th birthday, it's worth all the squishing and broiling and simmering.

And there is nothing wrong with frozen meatballs - in fact if you are going to all the trouble of making them, might as well double or triple the quantity and set up your own frozen meatball factory. Just freeze the extra meatballs, raw, on a cookie sheet so they don't freeze all stuck together. Once frozen, divide into freezer bags, enough in one bag for a family dinner down the road. To avoid having them turn into a mystery meat in the back of the freezer, label the bags with the date and something like "RAW MEATBALLS - thaw, broil and simmer in spaghetti sauce!"

The proportions for the meatball mix, to make plenty of meatballs for 5-6 people, are as follows:

First, dice an onion into pretty fine chunks, and mince a few cloves of garlic (adjust amount to your love of garlic.) Chop about 1/4 cup fresh parsley, and set these all aside.

In a medium sized bowl mix one cup breadcrumbs with half a cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 t salt, 1 t pepper, and 2 t paprika.

In a large bowl, mix one pound of ground beef (some people like to mix it with a quarter of ground pork; I am not a big fan of pork.) with 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, dash of worcestershire sauce. This can be done, slowly and laboriously, with a big wooden spoon, or mechanically in a big stand mixer... I think it works best to just use your hands and squish it all in. Add in the breadcrumb mix and the diced fresh stuff, and work them in.

Use an ice cream scooper or melon baller to start forming the balls, and shape by hand to the size you prefer. I think about an inch and a half in diameter is a good bite-size meatball. Broil on a cookie sheet, turning every few minutes, til nice and brown all around. The meatballs that don't get put under the broiler head to the freezer - on the cookie sheet, covered with foil or plastic wrap.

Did I mention the spaghetti sauce that should be simmering on the stove or in the slow-cooker? If you make that from scratch, you have my undying respect. I usually just spruce up a store-bought variety with extra spices, some red wine, and sundried tomatoes. After broiling, add the meatballs into the sauce, and let those flavors blend and simmer for a good long while, or at least 30 minutes, so the meatballs are thoroughly cooked. (There is nothing about undercooked meat that says "I love you.")

In those thirty minutes, you could cook the noodles, or take care of the messy meatball bowls, or in the spirit of Julia Child, have a glass of the red wine you added to the sauce. Cheers!