Cooking with Weetabix

Chili of Much Quantity

2008-06-04T04:12:00.001-07:00

So, the big secret here is all technique. Most chili recipes involve browning the meat ahead of time. Bah! You don't have to do that. I learned this technique from a Kroll (who swore that this was how they made it in the landmark Green Bay restaurant) and it seemed sketchy at times, and looks disgusting if you make this with ground beef (as the original Kroll's chili recipe requires) but trust me, it creates this thick kind of gravy chili that is amazing.

My friend Mark is asking for chili recipes and rather than typing it all up and send it only to him, I'm typing it up here and then sending him the link. Tricksy!

2-3 lbs beef stew meat or tenderloin tips ($$$)
3 cans black beans, red beans, pinto beans, navy beans, kidney beans, whatever you want (drained)
12 ounces tomato juice
2 quarts water or beef stock
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 T onion powder
2 T cumin
2 dried chipotle peppers* OR a canned chipotle in adobo sauce
2 T chili con carne powder*
2 T dried cilantro
2 T dried parsley
1 T dutch cocoa powder
The juice of half a lemon (to taste, might be less)
Salt and pepper to taste (probably at least 2 T of salt, but it depends on how salty your beans, stock and tomato juice are)

Dump the meat, garlic, onion powder, chipotle peppers and cumin into a pot with the water or stock. Cook on medium heat, covered, until you come back and the water is now looking more like soup than water (like, the meat is totally cooked, bits of meat are floating around in the water, it's starting to smell good, etc). At this point, you're going to get worried and start thinking that I tricked you into making beef stew. In fact, if people walk by and ask what you're making, they'll do the little skeptical eyebrow-raise when you tell them that it's chili. Persevere! Dump in the drained beans. I like two cans of black beans and one can of red beans, because I'm not a fan of kidney beans, but you do what you want. Dump in the tomato juice and chili con carne powder. See, I told you it would start looking like chili!

Now, let this simmer until the meat starts falling apart, probably at least an hour, but it depends on which cut of beef was used for the stew meat. When the meat is as tender as you want it and you're just about to eat, you can add the cilantro, cocoa, parsley and lemon juice. I usually stand there with a spoon and add the lemon juice bit by bit, tasting each time, because this can get away from you if you're not careful. If this scares you, it's certainly not required, but then skip the cocoa powder too, the lemon juice is there to bring the acid back up after basing it out with the cocoa powder. The cocoa powder brings a kind of earthly full-bodied mouthfeel to the chili, and without it, you'll still have good chili. Just not AMAZING chili.

Also, I hope you like chili because you're going to be eating it for about a week with this recipe. Of course, you could cut everything in half if you wanted too.

*You can get these at the Spice House or Penszey's.

Rummy Applesauce

2007-10-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

The inclusion of rum makes you wonder why you don't just dunk whole apples into booze more often, because it's absolute perfection and makes total sense in your mouth.

8-10 baking apples (I used Golden Delicious, but Cortlands or Rome or really, any bakers would work well)
2/3 cup unfiltered apple juice (or filtered, I just had the unfiltered on hand)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup vanilla-scented sugar
4 whole cloves
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla or almond extract (I used vanilla but if I would have had any almond, I would have used that instead)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1 T corn starch
1/2 c white rum

Peel, core and slice/chop the apples then dump them into a heavy saucepan with 1/3 cup of the apple juice (you're reserving a 1/3 cup for thickening later), the sugars, spices, extracts and rum. Cover and let it cook down until the apples get soft-ish. Don't let it boil over like I did because the resulting syrup is a bitch to get off of your stovetop. When the apples almost look like components to applesauce, whisk together the corn starch and reserved apple juice in a coffee mug or whatever is handy, then pour into the miasma that is the saucepan. It will start to thicken immediately, but do not let this fool you: you have to bring it back up to almost a boil so that the corn starch doesn't taste acky. If it's way too thick, add a little more applejuice. Then eat that bad boy, but watch out for the four cloves, as they are lurking where you least expect them.

Vegan Caesar Dressing

2007-02-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

I love the idea of Caesar dressing, but the real kind, with the anchovies and raw egg, freaks me right the hell out. As an undergrad, all of my friends (including myself) were vegetarian and some were vegan, so we'd often do a potluck kind of thing when we'd get together for informal workshops. One guy friend was a wreck in all aspects of his personal life, but he was trying very hard to woo a little vegan punker grrl, so he came up with all kinds of vegan dishes. This is his recipe. Even though I'm no longer vegetarian, I still think it tastes better than real Caesar.

1/2 cup medium-firm tofu
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoons Garlic, crushed
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (although I sometimes use Kosher)
Juice of One Lemon

Zip it up in a blender. Or omit tofu and double the amount of mustard, which is what I usually do, because I'm not a fan of creamy caesar. Plus, then you can just shake it in one of those Glad plastic container things instead of messing with a blender. Toss with romaine and parm shavings, or, you know, some kind of vegan alternative. Screw croutons! They suck!

Chicken Tortellini Serendipity

2007-01-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

I concocted this out of nowhere and it was so damned tasty that Esteban had a hard time believing that I made it. I am completely baffled, because my soups never ever turn out that good. This recipe will fill your 8 quart Le Creuset French Oven pot and will seem like way too much soup, but we lived on it for four days and were fighting over the last of it. I'm writing it down while I still remember how I did it.

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 stalks celery, grated and then minced fine
4 carrots, grated and then minced fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced white onion
a handful of Italian parsley, chopped
Fresh tarragon, thyme, rosemary, and sage, tied with string
3 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
6 quarts chicken stock (I used Trader Joe's in the carton)
1 lb dried cheese tortellini
A handful of leftover frozen corn and green beans
A little bit of olive oil
1 tbsp pure tomato powder
Sea Salt to taste

I started the pot with a swirl of olive oil and sweated the celery, onion, garlic and carrots until the onion had pretty much done its thing. Then I threw in the whole chicken breasts, four quarts of stock, the poultry seasoning, bay leaf, peppercorns, white pepper, parsley and the herb bouquet. Simmer for at least an hour, but if you forget about it because you're playing Zuma, that's what happened to me. Then I fished out the herbal bouquet* and tossed it, then fished out the chicken, let it cool enough so that I could dice it, then returned it to the soup. I wasn't sure how big the tortellini would get, so I threw in half the package and let it simmer for another half hour. When I went back, I decided that there weren't enough tortellini, so I tossed in the rest of the package, along with the corn and green beans and tomato powder, and then threw in another two quarts of stock because the tortellini were really soaking up the broth (because I was sort of making it all up as I went along... you could just start with six quarts). I then let it simmer, covered, for another half an hour and then served with buttermilk cheese biscuits (a bastardization of the recipe on the side of the Bisquick box).

*If you're smart, you'll also find those peppercorns, because all three attacked us unexpectedly.

Because half of the tortellini had been in the soup for over an hour, they sort of exploded and became generic noodles, with their parmesan filling dissolved into and flavoring the broth. It was totally a happy accident and I think that was the secret because it was the best of both worlds... some of the tortellinis still had filling and others had sacrificed their cheese for the good of the stock. You could probably just use any old noodle and dump in some parmesan on its own rather than rely upon the tortellini deployment method.

The HashHouse's buttermilk flapjacks

2007-01-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

Two years ago, while in San Diego for a Journalcon, Mo's friend Tim suggested that we have dinner at the Hash House A Go Go, which claims to be Farm Food on Acid. It is to this day one of the truly exceptional meals of my life and I wish I had been feeling better to enjoy it. Mo and I shared a plate of butternut squash risotto, while Tim and Jake each got a plate of sage-fried chicken and waffles with bacon inside of them, topped with fried leeks. Luckily, there was so much food that we were eating off of their plates as well and it was absolutely delicious. Searching for that recipe, I found this one and made it one morning. You'll never look at a box of Aunt Jemima mix again because seriously, this right here is the shit.

4 ¾ cups flour
3 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups milk
½ cup melted unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ t baking powder
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
2 t vanilla

Separate egg yolks from egg whites, set whites aside and beat yolks, then mix in remaining wet ingredients (except the egg whites). In a separate bowl, blend together dry ingredients. Pour liquidy mix into dry ingredients stirring together until only slightly lumpy. Beat egg whites until soft peak stage, then fold into the batter. Laddle onto hot sizzling griddle, cook for 25 - 40 seconds. When bubbles form on top, give them a flip and finish cooking.

If you put anything but real maple syrup on these, you should be shot.

Menu for Mopie's Farewell Dinner (June 29)

2006-06-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wine: (Something) Cat Chardonnay 2004, Bonny Doone Strawberry Wine 2001, Elderton Semillion Botrytis 2004

Starters: aged white cheddar cheese (stolen from the mushroom prep station), fresh morello cherries.

Dinner: chopped Romaine lettuce tossed with Archer Farms Caesar dressing and diced anchovies, Bacon-Wrapped Dates, Alteration of Roasted Asparagus thing, Baby Portabello Mushrooms with Much Better Crab Stuffing and Lazy Chicken.

Dessert: Blueberry Un-Unpie

Much Better Stuffing for Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

2006-06-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Crab-stuffed mushrooms are one of Mopie’s favorite of the quasi-South Beach meals we've concocted, which is surprising, since I’ve been playing with the recipe each time I make it. This time, the stuffing went something like this, although Mo actually MADE the mushrooms, due to the Zombie Thumb situation. I just gave direction:

1 lb lump white crab meat
1 large egg
3 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
½ cup Panko bread crumbs
2/3 c goat cheese
Kosher salt
½ cup chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Mo combined all of these in a bowl by squishing it with her gloved hands. Then she lumped it all into the cleaned mushroom caps. We followed the standard cooking procedure but this time, I decided to try poaching the bottoms of the mushrooms in a little wine. That was an awesome idea and next time, I’m going to throw some more garlic in the liquid too.

Lazy Bones(less) Chicken

2006-06-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

3 lbs chicken breast, sliced extra thin (1/4 inch)
Olive Oil
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Poultry Seasoning
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Kosher Salt

Heat garlic, red pepper flakes and olive oil in a pan, then season chicken with poultry seasoning, pepper and salt. Sauté until chicken is cooked and congratulate yourself for making the easiest chicken dish ever.

Menu for Tuesday, June 6

2006-06-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Wines: Rock Rabbit Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Simon Creek Gewurtziminer.

Starters: Stravecchio cut into nibbling slices along with some Dubliner style goat cheese Esteban picked out at the farmer’s market.

Main Course: Tomato Thing, Broiled Salmon, Bacon-wrapped Dates, jasmine rice.

Dessert: More Bacon-wrapped Dates.

Broiled Salmon

2006-06-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I had this one noted already because it seems like I make it all the time, but apparently not since I started keeping track of Dinner With Pie nights.

Fresh Salmon Fillets
Some Kind Of Seasoning*
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher Salt
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a decent-sized baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with olive oil. Place salmon fillets into dish, season as desired, then spritz with more olive oil. Pop into oven and cook until the fish starts to look opaque (you know, like cooked salmon should look). I crank the broiler up to finish it off because I like the edges to be a little crisp.

*My favorite thing to use is a shallot/thyme/lemony something spice blend from Penzey’s called Fox Point seasoning (or Lake Shore Drive Seasoning if you’re buying it from The Spice House). However, I’ve made it with Herbs de Provence, thyme, dill, or orange pepper and it tastes really good. It’s practically fool-proof. **

**Ok, there was that situation when MoPie tried to make it herself and somehow ended up with a scrambled salmon concoction, but that was before she moved to Wisconsin and had watched me make this forty times. You can do it, little Pie! Be brave!

Menu for Wednesday, May 24

2006-05-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Beverages: Mojitos, 7-up (for Abby), Umberto Fiore Moscato d'Asti 2005.

Starters: Spring green mesculine mix tossed with Bouchon house dressing and topped with goat cheese crumbles and grape tomatoes; that Italian Tomato Thingy.

Main: steamed baby red potatoes mixed with butter and garlic; Basil and Garlic stuffed Chicken cooked on the grill; Alteration of Orange Pepper Roasted Asparagus, freshly baked white bread (I'll add the recipe for this later... I have to transcribe that one since I didn't make it up).

Dessert: Cherry Pie with Vanilla Bean ice cream.

Alteration of Orange Pepper Roasted Asparagus

2006-05-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

1 lb fresh asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
Orange Pepper Seasoning
Olive Oil
Hickory smoked bacon
goat cheese crumbles
the juice of half a lemon

Snip bacon into bite-sized pieces and brown in a pan, drain and set aside on a paper towel. Follow the instructions for regular Orange Pepper Roasted Asparagus and after putting the asparagus on a platter, top with bacon crumbles, goat cheese and the juice of half a lemon. SO DAMNED GOOD and so freaking easy.

Easy Impressive Tomato Thing

2006-05-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest and most beautiful salad combo in the world and when you've got some exquisitely ripe tomatoes or, god help us, heirlooms, it's absofuckinglutely divine. I normally don't make it this early in the year, because I get spoiled during late summer but I found heirlooms in the store and they smelled like summer and therefore, I had to listen to fate and make this for dinner.

2 red tomatoes
2 orange heirloom tomatoes
2 green zebra heirloom tomatoes
Fresh Basil
1 lb fresh buffalo mozzarella
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Freshly ground pepper
Kosher salt

Throw the cheese into the freezer for about five minutes while you slice the tomatoes . Take cheese out of freezer and cut it into slices, mimicking the thickness in which you sliced the tomatoes. Tear basil off stems and rough it up a little in your hands. Layer on a platter: red tomato slice, cheese, basil, green tomato slice, cheese, basil, yellow tomato slice, cheese, basil. Repeat until everything's layered nicely (your inner OCD will be happy) then grind black pepper over it and sprinkle with kosher salt, then drizzle with olive oil. Best served room temperature.

Menu for Tuesday, May 23

2006-05-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Wines: Recanati Chardonnay 2003 (the typo wine) and Domaine Massamier La Mignarde Rose 2005

Starters: Bacon-wrapped dates, spring green mesculine mix tossed with Bouchon house dressing

Main: Tomato Pesto Turkey burgers on wheat buns with fresh tomato slices and Lemony Snap Peas.

Dessert: Banana Cream Unpie in Nut Pie Shell

Lemony snap peas

2006-05-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

1 lb cleaned snap peas
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp butter
1 pinch kosher salt

Fill a heavy skillet halfway with water and add snap peas, lemon zest and garlic. Bring to a quick simmer so that the snap peas are just starting to turn green. Drain water and saute with butter until liquid is mostly gone, then squeeze the lemon half over it so that a lemony butter sauce starts to happen. Season to taste with kosher salt and serve.

The easiest side dish in the world. The only big warning is that these can get overdone if you aren't careful, so I finish with a saute rather than by boiling in water to reduce the liklihood of this happening.

Tomato-Pesto Turkey Burgers

2006-05-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

1 lb lean ground turkey
2 spoonfuls Trader Joe's Tomato Basil prepared pesto
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp ground pepper
1/4 c freshly grated romano
1/4 c fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well (I used my hands and plastic gloves, because raw meat freaks me out, but your mileage may vary) then divide into four sections, then pat into patties. Brush with canola oil and grill on a medium grill.

I underseasoned these, since I didn't know how much salt the pesto and romano would add. I would definitely add a pinch of kosher salt and maybe a clove of garlic to the mix, because it seemed a little underwhelming to me. Pie seemed to like it, though, since she was willing to take home the leftovers.

Bacon-wrapped dates

2006-05-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

12 pitted dates
6 slices bacon (I used thick-cut hickory smoked from the local butcher)
6 tooth picks

Cut bacon slices in half and wrap one half around each date, securing with a toothpick. I didn't want the toothpicks to burn, so I stuck a bacon-wrapped date on either end, resulting in a bacon-wrapped date dumbell of sorts. Place into pan and cook at 450 until bacon is crispy. Eat and declare it the best thing you've ever had in your entire life.

Menu for Wednesday, May 17

2006-05-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Dinner: Rainbow roll, Cucumber roll, California roll, and white tuna sashimi ( take out)

Beverages: White Rabbit Chardonnay 2004, Mondavi Moscato d'Oro 2004, and Limoncello thingies.

Dessert: Banana Cream Unpie in Nut Pie Shell

Menu for Tuesday, May 16

2006-05-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

Beverages: Failed Melon Juice Experiment, Mojitos and Limoncello thingies.

Dinner: Cuban Black Beans with cumin-scented rice, Shrimp tacos served with low carb whole wheat tortillas, jicama, lettuce, fat free sour cream, monterey jack cheese, tomatoes and guacamole.

Dessert: South Beach Banana Cream Unpie in Nut Pie Shell.

Cuban Black Beans with Cumin-Scented Brown Rice

2006-05-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Cuban Black Beans

2 cans black beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 swirl olive oil
1/2 white onion
1 c chicken broth
1 T adobo seasoning
black pepper
1 t tomato paste
2 t red wine vinegar
1 T chipotle powder
3 drops of Tabasco sauce
1/3 c freshly chopped cilantro
Kosher salt

Sautee onion in olive oil until translucent, then add garlic, black beans, broth and tomato paste. Mash up the beans a little bit and then cook until it starts to look a little like a thin soup. Add vinegar, adobo, chipotle, a few grinds of black pepper and the Tabasco and simmer until it starts to thicken (but not as thick as refried beans). Add salt to taste, garnish with cilantro and serve over rice.

Cumin-scented Brown Rice

2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 t. cumin

Cook in rice steamer until brown rice is al dente.

This is one of my favorite things to make when I'm cooking for just myself (and not resorting to toast, cereal or Quorn chicken nuggets). No one ever likes it because it looks a little evil, but I love it because it reminds me of a great lunch I had in the French Quarter a few years ago. I've never been able to replicate it because I suspect those black beans were simmered for hours with a pork hock and maybe some lard, but this comes pretty close and is a fast vegetarian meal.

Shrimp tacos

2006-05-20T16:33:00.001-07:00

1 lb shelled and veined shrimp
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes
½ cup freshly chopped cilantro
1 T Old Bay seasoning
2 T chopped garlic
1 T canola oil
3 grinds of black pepper

Remove tails from shrimp and toss with lime juice, cilantro, garlic and spices. In a very hot pan spritzed with canola oil, sautee shrimp until opaque (if using fresh raw shrimp) or until heated (if using pre-cooked shrimp).

Serve with tortilla shells, chopped lettuce, jicama (cut into matchsticks), shredded Monterey jack cheese, pineapple salsa and diced tomatoes.

Guacamole

2006-05-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

2 very ripe avocados
¼ cup finely minced white onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 seeded and diced jalapeño (optional)
¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro (optional)

Peel and slice up the avocados, then smash them into a chunky paste. Stir in remaining ingredients.

On recommendation from a friend, I added a spoonful of sour cream and the juice of half a lime. Better than the original recipe by far!

Limoncello thingies

2006-05-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Limoncello thingies

1 oz Limoncello
Club Soda
Splash of simple syrup

Mix them up and serve over ice! Tastes like the inside of a lemonhead.

Chauffi introduced me to Limoncello a few months ago and I have to say that I really love it as a summer cocktail. Rachel Ray has quite a few recipes that use it, so I am looking forward to trying them.

Mojitos

2006-05-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

½ fresh lime
8 mint leaves
1 oz white rum
1 oz simple syrup
Club Soda
Ice

Squeeze lime into glass, then cut into chunks and throw them into glass as well. Bruise the mint leaves by rubbing them a little then add mint leaves, simple syrup and rum, then stir or shake with ice in cocktail shaker. Pour into glass and add club soda for the fizzy. You might has well make enough for a pitcher because one is not enough.

Simple Syrup is just one part sugar to one part water, but you can also buy this at the grocery store, where it's usually called something like Bar Syrup or Sugar Water or something like that.

Failed melon juice experiment

2006-05-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

According to Michael Chirrarillo, he makes this for his friends’ kids all the time, and since I had a really ripe cantaloupe all cut up and the weather was very springy, I thought we would try that instead of the standard wine. I think Michael Chirrarillo is sort of a tool, but I enjoy looking at the Napa valley shots during his show and also heckling the screen. This is the first time I’ve ever made any of his recipes and it will probably be the last.

1 super ripe cantaloupe, cut into chunks
Pinch Kosher Salt
Fresh mint (my addition)

In small batches, whir up the cantaloupe chunks in the blender. Add a pinch of salt. Try it and get freaked out by the texture. Think it might be better after it’s chilled. Chill. Remove and be disturbed by the way that it has now separated. Foist it upon your friend, who suggests that maybe it should be blended more. Blend it more. Decide that is not the problem, but rather that it is just fucking disgusting. Throw down garbage disposal and use the mint to make mojitos instead.

South Beach Banana Cream Unpie

2006-05-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

2 packages Sugar Free Banana Cream Jell-O pudding
3 ripe bananas
Sugar-Free Cool Whip
Nut Pie Shell

Slice bananas into Nut Pie Shell, making an even layer on the bottom. Make the pudding according to the directions on the box for pie filling and then pour directly over bananas into pie shell. Chill for at least an hour and cover with Cool Whip.

So easy that you really don’t need this recipe, but I’m writing it down so that Mopie can recreate it when she gets back to California.

Nut Pie Shell

2006-05-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

8 ounces ground pecans
1 stick butter
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp Splenda
1 pinch Kosher salt

Melt butter in a largish sauce pan over medium heat, then add cinnamon and Splenda and salt. Stir and then add ground pecans and stir. While stirring, cook until the pecans start smelling nutty and the butter is completely incorporated. Press into 9 inch pie plate and then chill. Fill with whatever you want, although I don’t know if this would work with a bake-in-the-oven kind of pie, like pumpkin or something. Maybe it would!

Menu for Wednesday, May 10

2006-05-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Esteban cooked the sauce, so I have no idea what he did but it was super yummy and it had a million mushrooms in it. He finished it before I had time to make a salad, because damn, that man is efficient in the kitchen. Which is totally hot.

Dinner: Esteban's mushroomy marinara sauce over angel hair pasta and sauteed sun-dried tomato and basil Italian chicken sausage.

Dessert: Cherry pie!

Wine: the biggest bottle of Reisling Spatlese that ever was, plus Mondavi Botritys Sauvignon Blanc.

Cherry Un-unPie

2006-05-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

2 pastry crusts
1 lb Door County Tart Cherries (pitted and thawed, if they were frozen)
2 c baking superfine sugar (if cherries are unsweetened, but sometimes they already have sugar added to them)
4 T flour or corn starch
1 t almond extract
pinch of kosher salt

Place cherries in a bowl, reserving extra cherry juice in a separate container. Mix flour with the cherry juice there are no lumps, then add salt and almond extract (and sugar if using unsweetened cherries) then fold back into cherries. If you're using fresh, you can just toss the pitted cherries with flour and sugar and it will do its magic in the oven. Pour into unbaked pie shell then cover with second crust, crimp and vent, then cook at 350 until top is brown and filling is bubbly (probably about 45 minutes). Let it cool at least fifteen minutes before chomping into it. I know that it's hard but go read a book or something.

Menu for Tuesday, May 9

2006-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Salad: chopped romaine lettuce with Bouchon's house dressing

Appetizer: Steamed Edamame

Dinner: Sauteed Tilapia and Garlic broccoli with asiago.

Dessert: Fresh fruit salad (navel orange sections, kiwi, clementine sections and bananas) with a simple syrup made from reduced orange juice, Splenda and lavendar, served with Stonybrook Farms organic yogurt (Banilla flavor).

Wines: Evolution 2004 and Mondavi Cabernet Saugignon (I think) 2005

Sauteed Tilapia

2006-05-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

1 lb fresh Tilapia fillets
Flour
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Old Bay Seasoning
Dried Parsley (optional)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter

In a deep heavy skillet, heat a few swirls of EVOO and a pat of butter. The oil has a low smoking point, so the butter helps raise that and also adds some awesome flavor. Don't let the oil get too hot, though, or it will start to smoke and you might as well start over if that happens, because it will overwhelm the delicate flavor of the Tilapia.

Pat the fish fillets dry and season with Old Bay Seasoning, a pinch of Kosher Salt and a few grinds of pepper. In a wide shallow bowl, dump a half cup of flour (and a few shakes of the optional parsley) and another pinch of kosher salt. Dredge fillet in flour, coating all sides and shake it off to remove the extra. Contrary to what you might think, extra flour is worse, not better, because it creates steam pockets and then falls off in the pan. Place fish carefully into hot pan. It should start to sizzle along the sides. If it doesn't, turn up the heat, but if it starts to jump and spatter, turn down the burner and remove the pan for a minute or so to let it cool down. Repeat with remaining fillets. Cook fish in small batches and don't crowd the frying pan, which will lower the temperature and result in the fish soaking up the oil.

Garlic Broccoli with Asiago

2006-05-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

1 lb broccoli florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T butter
2 c. chicken broth
4 T chopped garlic
Pinch kosher salt
Asiago cheese

Give the broccoli a quick steam in the chicken broth (it will turn bright green) and then drain. I like my broccoli very al dente, but cook it until you're happy. Turn up the burner to high, add garlic, butter and a swirl of EVOO (one turn around the pan). Sautee until the garlic turns brown (usually about three minutes) and starts to stick to the broccoli. Toss with a dash of salt and then throw in a serving bowl. Run a vegetable peeler over the wedge of Asiago to make curls on top of the broccoli. Some of these will melt, some won't, but it will all be yummy.

This is a combination of recipes from Sara Moulton and Rachel Ray and is one of those dishes that is so easy to make but it tastes so yummy that you can't believe you don't make it every night. You can substitute water for the broth and you don't even need the butter, but I like the depth of flavor that they add. It's actually pretty inexpensive too, especially if you buy the broccoli whole and cut it yourself (I don't). The only actual expensive ingredient here is the Asiago, but a little bit goes a very long way, so the total cost of this dish can't be more than $4.

Menu for Saturday, May 6

2006-05-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Salad: chopped romaine lettuce, goat cheese, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and Bouchon's House Dressing.

Dinner: Shrimp scampi and Jim and Pam's unrequited love.

Dessert: Vanilla cupcakes (from a box mix) frosted with Butter Cream and decorated with girly frosting daisies and pink sprinkles.

Cheese: Humboldt Fog aged goat cheese, Renard's 5-year cheddar.

Wines: Houghton Semillion Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Cheapskate Pinot Blanc 2003, Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel 2001, Mondavi Moscato d'Oro 2003, Umberto Fiore Moscato d'Asti 2004.

(This seems like a lot of wine, but we had visitors who brought the Ravenswood and shared several bottles with us, and well, yeah, I guess it is a lot of wine.)

Butter Cream frosting

2006-05-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

1 cup extra-fine Baker's sugar (regular granulated is fine too)
1/2 cup water
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon double vanilla (from Penzey's but I'm sure anything will do)
2 cups butter, cut up into smallish pieces

Combine sugar with water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Use a candy thermometer and bring to 235 degrees, which is the soft ball stage.

Using a mixer, whip the egg whites until they get foamy and fluffy. Slowly pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl (you don't want to add this directly into the egg foam because it will cook it) while you continue to mix. If you don't have a stand mixer, you'll probably need an extra set of hands during this stage. Add vanilla and check temperature to make sure that it's not too hot. I usually cut up the butter at this point, so that the mixture can have time to cool down a little, otherwise the butter will just melt instead of doing it's thing, and it's sort of horrible if that happens (but not irreversible). Then, while mixing, add the butter one piece at a time to the mix. Don't add another piece until you can't see any evidence of the previous piece. Again, this is where a stand mixer comes in handy because it's usually about five minutes of solid mixing at this point. Then use or refrigerate immediately, because otherwise, I defy you to keep from eating this directly from the bowl with a spoon.

I almost never make cakes from scratch, because box mixes are usually better than homemade (sorry Martha, but they are) however, homemade frosting is de rigeur and entirely worth the effort. Butter cream is the version that all other frostings bow before.

Shrimp Scampi

2006-05-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

2 lbs medium-sized deveined shrimp, thawed or fresh
6 T minced garlic
1/4 c olive oil
3 T melted butter
1/2 c dry white wine
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t kosher salt
a couple of grinds of black pepper
1/2 c diced red bell pepper
1/2 c roughly chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 450. Combine garlic, oil, butter, white wine and red pepper flakes and whisk. (This part can be done ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you need it, which is what I usually do). Spread out the shrimp in an even layer in a roasting pan or casserole dish. It's ok to crowd them a little, because they'll shrink but don't go more than two deep. Add red bell pepper and parsley, then spoon garlic/oil mixture on top of it, plus salt and a few grinds of pepper. Give it a toss. If you're using fresh shrimp, throw into the oven until shrimp become opaque, about fifteen minutes-ish, then turn it up to broil for about 5 minutes until the liquid is sizzling and the tails are starting to get dark. If you're using the precooked kind (not optimal, but sometimes we in the Midwest must use what we have), then just pop it up to broil for five minutes or so. You'll know that it's done when your house starts to smell delicious.

You can do this on the top of the stove too, but I like everything to be sizzling and I don't want to stand there cooking if I don't have to. The big word of caution with the broiler, though: if you overcook shrimp, they turn into rubber bands. Garlicky delicious rubber bands.

Bouchon's House Dressing

2006-05-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

1/4 c Dijon Mustard
1/2 c Red Wine Vinegar
1 1/4 c Canola Oil (I use EVOO, though)

Combine in a shaker and shake your money maker. It seems like a lot of oil, but I tried reducing it and it's just not quite right. I also threw in a few grinds of black pepper and a pinch of kosher salt, which I think Mr. Keller must be doing somewhere in the process because without it, it didn't taste quite right.

Menu for Tuesday, May 2

2006-05-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

I spent all of yesterday in transit back home from San Francisco, and Esteban left on Monday for an extended business trip, so the house is a mess and the cupboards are bare. Pie suggested that she pick up take out on the way over, which was an awesome idea, so that's what we did. I'm only updating Eatabix to note the wines, which were awesome!

Dinner: Applebee's to Go! Pie had a salmon salad and I had a chicken stir fry.

Dessert: More sugar free Jell-O pudding. Very one note, but it's very tasty too.

Wines: Simon Creek Viognier, Simon Creek Golden Muscat, and Mondavi Reserve Moscato d'Oro, purchased in Napa on Friday and smuggled into Wisconsin by way of my suitcase. Luckily, all four bottles survived baggage check, so life is good.

Menu for Tuesday, April 24

2006-04-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Since we were adding a kid to the mix, I decided to make a summer-centric meal that would appeal to everyone. Esteban cooked the hamburgers, so I don't know how he prepared them, but they were yummy. I know that he doused them with Chicago Steak Seasoning from The Spice House, but knowing him, there was probably more going on there.

Salads: Asian Coleslaw, creamed cucumbers, fresh cantaloupe and strawberries.

Dinner: oven fries, Turkey burgers and sirloin burgers on either wheat buns or regular buns, garnished with a variety of condiments, meunster cheese, sliced vine tomatoes and Boston Bib lettuce.

Dessert: We love our Sugar-Free Jell-o Pudding Cups on American Idol night! We sampled an assortment of Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl, Caramel and Double Chocolate.

Beverages: Simon Creek Untouchable Red Ruby Cabernet, Simon Creek Rose' for Mopie and Weet, Hecher (?) Trappist Ale for Esteban, and milk and sparkling cherry juice for Abby.

Creamed Cucumber Salad

2006-04-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

My great grandmother made this all the time, and it is awesome. However, I made this and it turned out wiggety wack. I don't know what I did wrong, because I am making it exactly the way she did, but I think she forgot to tell me a vital ingredient or something. Anyway, here's the recipe and also a better one that I'm going to try next, because it looks like it would taste closer to my grandmother's version. She grew up in the Depression and probably started substituting Miracle Whip for the sour cream, since that would have been much cheaper and readily available to her in the city. I used Fat Free Miracle Whip, so that might have been the problem too.

My grandmother's version (maybe)

Three cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin
Splash of vinegar
Dash of salt
Sugar
Miracle Whip
Dill weed
Thinly sliced white onion rings

Pour vinegar and salt over cucumbers and chill in the refrigerator. In another bowl, mix together a little sugar and a few spoonfuls of Miracle Whip and thin with the liquid that comes out of the cucumbers. Toss with cucumbers, onion and dill. Chill before serving.

The Next One I'm Trying

3 cucumbers
1 sm. onion
1 oz. cider vinegar (I'll probably use Rice, because I like it better)
10 oz. sour cream (I'll use creme fraiche or fat free sour cream)
1/2 tsp. sugar
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper

Peel and slice cucumbers into wheels. Cream and slice onions into small strips. Add vinegar, sour cream, sugar, salt and pepper together; mix well. Stir in cucumbers and onions. Let set for 2 hours prior to serving.

South Beach-modified Asian Cole Slaw

2006-04-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

The popular version of this uses ramen noodles (yuck) and sugar, but I changed it up a little. I wanted to put some edamame and maybe some vegetables in it too, but I hadn't planned it out enough and didn't have time to steam the edamame, let them cool and then shuck them, and without them, it seemed pointless to jazz this up any further.

Dressing:
6 T rice wine vinegar
2 T Splenda
5 T Olive Oil
1 t Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 t Five Spice Powder
1/4 cup Ginger salad dressing

Slaw
1 package of broccoli cole slaw mix

Any or all of the following are optional:
1 cup shelled edamame
1 diced Asian pear
Handful steamed snow peas
1/3 cup diced water chestnuts

Whisk together the dressing ingredients until the oil emulsifies and it looks like dressing. Pour over broccoli slaw mix and toss. Chill for at least four hours, but it's better to make it the night before you need it.

Menu for Wednesday, April 19

2006-04-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Mopie's parents are in town, so tonight, we went out to dinner and then had wine and snacks during Idol when we got home. We both ended up ordering the same thing at the restaurant.

Dinner: Grilled chicken Ceasar salad

Dessert: Sugar Free Jell-O pudding cups with Sugar Free Cool Whip (classy!)

Snack: Wisconsin cheese

Wines: Simon Creek Untouchable Red 2002 (really yum) and Lakewood Red 2003 (very drinkable, with a big punch of berry).

Menu for Tuesday, April 18

2006-04-19T04:03:00.000-07:00

A low key American Idol night for us. Weet wasn't feeling well and Pie has had a bad week. Esteban, the quintessential problem solver that he is, suggested take out. All were in favor and the motion was carried.

Appetizers: Wisconsin cheese

Main Course: chicken and shrimp pad thai, chicken satay salad. Esteban forgot to order the spring rolls, or we would have had those too.

Dessert: assorted frozen novelties (Blue Bunny Carb Freedom ice cream bars, Klondike Reese's Peanut Butter and Oreo ice cream sandwiches)

Wines: Simon Creek Rose 2003 (lovely), Fetzer Merlot 2002 and Door County Winery's Port.

Menu for Wednesday, April 12

2006-04-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Appetizers: Nothing really, but we were nibbling on cheese and cucumbers as we prepped. I forgot to put out the tomatoes and edamame from last night.

Main Course: Crab-stuffed baby Portabello mushrooms and pesto eggplant slices

Planned but totally didn’t fit with the American Idol deadline looming: lemony sugar snap peas.

Dessert: Blueberry Unpie with low carb ice cream and sugar free Cool Whip

Wines: Some freaky white Bordeaux 2003, Evolution 2002, Umberto Fiore Moscato d’Asti 2003

Crab-stuffed mushrooms

2006-04-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

12 Zesta Saltine Crackers OR 1 cup bread crumbs
½ cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
¼ cup celery, finely chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 lb baby portabello mushrooms
1 egg
White cheddar cheese, sliced
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 ounces crab meat
1 tablespoon butter

Rinse mushrooms to remove any dirt, then twist and pop the stems out of the caps. There should be a little indent/divot in the cap, but if there isn’t, you can whittle it out with the tip of a knife. Finely dice removed stems and any stubborn caps that wouldn’t let go of their stems. Sautee diced mushroom stems along with butter, chopped red onion, celery until veggies are translucent. Add garlic until that starts to toast, then add cream cheese. Allow this mixture to cool.

In a largish bowl, combine crackers/bread crumbs, pepper flakes, pepper, romano cheese, eggs, crab meat and cream cheese/onion mixture. Mix this all together (it works best with your hands) until it’s very well combined and holds together. Butter a large baking dish (or, if you want, you can do individual small pans, like they do at Red Lobster). With a spatula, push the crab mixture into the indent of the mushroom cap and then heap a mound on top of it as well. Place mixture-side up in the buttered baking dish. Bake at 425 until mushrooms are starting to look done and release some of their liquid (about 20 minutes) then top with white cheddar. Bake until the cheese gets all goopy and then serve immediately.

You can do this with giant portabello caps too, but you might need to saute the mushrooms before stuffing them, since they won't really cook all the way. Personally I think this works best with many little caps versus impressive giant caps. Also, I started making this to replicate Red Lobster's Lobster and Crab stuffed mushrooms, and so far the cheese hasn't been quite right. I think the difference there is that I use actual cheese and they use some kind of plastic pretend processed cheese. I suspect it would taste more authentic if you used Kraft Swiss (R) singles, but then you might as well just give up and go to Red Lobster, you heathen.

Pesto Eggplant Slices

2006-04-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

Two medium eggplants
Olive Oil
Kosher salt
Prepared pesto sauce
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Pecorino Romano

Peel eggplants and cut into long, ½ inch thick slices. Sprinkle with salt and place in a colander to drain for at least half an hour, preferably longer. Preheat oven to 425. Line a large baking dish with parchment paper that has been spritzed with olive oil. Roll drained eggplant slices in paper towels to remove excess water and then place eggplant in a single layer in the baking dish. Spread pesto over each slice of eggplant and then top with slices of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with romano and bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until eggplant slices are tender and cheese is bubbly.

Menu for Tuesday, April 11

2006-04-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Menu for Tuesday, April 11

Appetizers: Shelled pistachios, Edamame

Salad: Baby spinach/spring greens with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and random vinaigrette

Main Course: Basil and Garlic stuffed chicken breasts with Orange Pepper Roasted Asparagus

Dessert: Jell-o Sugar Free Pudding Cups

Wines: Cosentina Meritage 1999 and Elderton Botrytis Semillon

Basil and Garlic stuffed Chicken Breasts

2006-04-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

5 Tablespoons Butter, softened
2 Tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons fresh basil, chiffonade fine
2 cloves of garlic
3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Flour or breadcrumbs (optional)
Olive Oil plus 1 tablespoon of butter

There’s a lot of butter in this recipe! Sheesh.

Crush garlic with the back of a chef’s knife and then smush together with the salt, making a paste. Combine with 5 Tablespoons butter, cheese, basil, parsley and black pepper, making a greenish spread. You could also use prepared pesto instead of the cheese and basil, if you wanted a short cut.

Lay the chicken on a cutting board, topside down. If it still has the tenderloin attached to it, cut it off and save for another use. Look for any gross tendony things and nip them off too. Then, find the thickest part of the breast and cut into it from the side, making essentially a pocket or pouch in the chicken. Try not to slice all the way through: It’s easier to make little slicing motions with the tip of your knife than to try to do this with one or two slices, which almost always ends up cutting too much away.

Spread a fourth of the greenish spread into the pocket, staying away from the opening if possible so that the slit stays more or less closed. Dredge chicken breasts in flour or breadcrumbs, if desired.

Heat a swirl of olive oil with a pat of butter in a large heavy skillet on Medium High. When the oil is looking ready, place chicken breasts in pan and cook until one side is done, then flip. Try to poke or squeeze the chicken as little as possible because that butter mixture will have melted and you’ll lose it into to the pan. Cook until chicken feels firm and a peek inside shows that it’s done.

Cutting the pockets and touching all the raw chicken is sort of a pain in the ass, but this so smells awesome when it's cooking and I always kick myself for not making a double batch, because there are never any leftovers to enjoy the next day.

Edamame

2006-04-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest thing in the world to make, and super yummy.

1 lb frozen Edamame
Kosher Salt
Soy Sauce for dipping

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Dump in frozen edamame pods and boil for 5-6 minutes. The pods will start to split. Pull them out, drain in a strainer, and then serve, sprinkled with additional kosher salt. Stand around the kitchen eating edamame while you talk about your day and finish cooking the rest of dinner.

Orange Pepper Roasted Asparagus

2006-04-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

1 lb fresh asparagus
Orange Pepper Seasoning (from The Spice House)
Olive Oil

Wash asparagus and chop off the woody bottom ends (usually about an inch or two off the bottom). Arrange the asparagus in a single layer in a baking dish, with the ends facing out and the tips in the center. Spritz with Olive Oil (I use a Misto sprayer but if you don’t have one, you could toss the spears in olive oil before arranging them in the pan) and then sprinkle with seasoning. Roast in oven at 450 until the spears are tender (about 8 minutes).

Random Vinaigrette

2006-04-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

3 parts vinegar (I usually use Rice Wine or Red Wine but sometimes White or Champagne or Balsamic) OR 2 parts vinegar plus 1 parts freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
2 parts extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of kosher salt
1 part some assortment of herbs (I like to use herb blends from The Spice House, such as their Fox Point Seasoning and their random Marinara blend, followed by a good pinch of parsley. If the herb blend has salt in it, then omit the pinch of kosher salt above)
A few grinds of fresh black pepper

Combine these ingredients together in a sealable container (I like the cup-sized Glad fake Tupperware things) and shake it up. Adjust proportions as needed. We like more vinegar than oil, but traditionally it's the other way around.

Unpie

2006-04-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

When Mopie started the South Beach diet, I stopped making pies for our weekly Amazing Race nights. The absence of pie was very sad, and when she began Phase 2 of South Beach, she informed me that some fruits, such as blueberries were ok. I started thinking about pie and realized that with some modification, a crustless pie would be very good and also South Beach friendly. I don't really measure this stuff, so the amounts are approximations.

Recipe for Unpie

3 cups frozen blueberries
3 Tablespoons Splenda
1 tsp kosher salt (a pinch?)
2 tsp lemon juice (I throw in a splash)
1/4 cup of flour (maybe less) or corn starch
1 tsp cinnamon
A splash of almond extract
1/4 water (if needed)

Dump blueberries into a largish heavy sauce pan. Stir in the dry ingredients, fully coat the blueberries, then add lemon juice and extract. Cook over low heat until blueberries are thawed. I usually throw it into the pan right before I serve dinner and then let it slowly warm up while we're eating. The blueberries will start to release juice as they thaw. If you're using store-bought frozen blueberries, you'll probably need the water, since they seem to be smaller and less juicy than farmer's market berries.

Shortly before serving, turn up the heat and stir, which will thicken the juice into a sauce. If the sauce isn't thick enough, whisk together a few tablespoons of flour with an equal amount of water, then add a little at a time until the sauce is the consistency of pie filling (it solidly coats the back of a spoon).

Serve warm with low carb ice cream.