joyeux noël!

Have you tried Lindt Excellence Chili Dark Chocolate? Oh my goodness gracious, me oh my. My dearly beloved husband, who knows me well, put it in my stocking Christmas morn. I am trying to savor it right now, but I think inhaling is a much more accurate word choice. It is perfectly yummy dark chocolate that at first makes you wonder, "Where's this Chili it speaks of on the label?" Then when you've almost finished chewing, you find it. The warmth spreads throughout your mouth and your thoughts are more along the lines of Homer Simpson's drool for beer. Chocolate was made for this.



On to dinner...
Last year we had German food for Christmas. This year we decided to let Julia teach us some French cooking since I had received Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my birthday.

We begin with...

 Of course we knew that all good French dinners end with a cheese plate, but we needed something to tide us over until we could eat that which was causing our house to smell like heaven, so our cheese plate came first. Brie, some layered deliciousness and an Irish cheddar were the perfect start.

And then came dinner...

 Starting from the bottom we had Carottes a la Creme. These were carrots braised in butter then boiled in cream until the "cream has been almost entirely absorbed by the carrots." And what do you do when you are ready to serve these carrots? Why you toss them in a little butter and parsley, because they apparently don't have enough butter in them! I had no idea that you could stuff a little carrot medallion with as much fat as Julia insisted we should. We did and it was worth it, but those babies should not be eaten more than once a year. And that's pushing it.

Above the carrots in the pink bowl were Legumes a la Grecque. Basically it was vegetables blanched in an aromatic broth then removed. The broth was then boiled down to make the sauce that is poured back over the veggies and the whole thing is chilled. I chose celery, red and yellow bell peppers and mushrooms. It was really good and probably one of my favorite dishes.

The topmost dish is a Costco Pecan Pie and southwest of that is a piece of DubbleBubble gum. I have no idea how that got there.

Moving on to the next picture...

 The white CorningWare dish in the center-ish part of the picture was a delicious rice and onion dish called Soubise. I took sliced onions, rice and butter (of course) and cooked it all slowly until it almost became risotto-esque. Creamy and mmmmm...definitely my favorite of all the food...I think...maybe.

The Pyrex measuring cup in the middle holds the nectar of life: the Cream and Mushroom Sauce. Hubsters made this and it was heavenly. Really, though, whipping cream, sauteed mushrooms, butter and port? How could one go wrong?

My brother was there and asked only that Mom make her classic sage stuffing. She obliged. (It is in the 9x13 baking dish.) And behind it is the Costco apple pie.

Next...

That long strange over-sized breadstick you see directly in front of the stuffing was my attempt at Pain Francais, or French bread. It was very good: the crust chewy and the inside soft. A slice with brie spread on it was indescribable. I had some issues fitting the batards (that's the loaf shape I chose to make) onto my baking stone. They were too long, hence the somewhat snakey look. But taste is the key, right? (I made three and by dinner time, this was the sole survivor, only because I threatened to beat anyone who ate it before I got a picture.)

Those little cream-colored poop-looking piles in the top left are Pommes Duchesse. Duchess potatoes. I wish I had a large star tip for piping them but I didn't and so they looked like that. Oh well. You take mashed potatoes that have butter, heavy cream and egg yolks whipped into them, pipe them out and then of course, drizzle them with more butter and some Parmesan cheese and broil the little suckers. Because to the French, there is obviously no ceiling to the amount of butter you can insert into a dish.

The pièce de résistance, or so we thought, was the Jambon Farci en Croute, or stuffed ham baked in a pastry crust. (It's that big loaf-y thing you've been wondering about this whole time.) The first problem was my inability to locate foie gras and truffles. Okay, so it won't be stuffed anymore. We'll just make Jambon Braise en Croute, or braised ham in a pastry crust. The braising went well. Very well. The ham-sandwich-everyday-type-of-ham flavor was gone and replaced with a complex madeira-ham flavor. Excellent. Unfortunately we made the pastry crust too thick and it just ended up being an easy carrying device/incognito ham disguise. No one really ate much of it, but it was fun and we learned and if we try it again, we know what to do. Good news was that the ham was really, really good. Whew!

And then came dessert...

This lovely little delicate thing was my contribution to dessert. We had two huge Costco pies which you've already seen, but I wanted something special. Something with...oh...you know...that je ne sais quoi. (Just kidding. How pretentious, right? It is really fun to say, though.) I settled on Bavarois a l'Orange, or Orange Bavarian Cream. I'm so glad I did. Julia told me to take a custard flavored with orange (and Grand Marnier!) and fold whipped egg whites into it, then folded whipped cream into that. The perfect descriptor would be "delicately rich", if that is possible/makes sense. So good. So very, very good.

And that was what we had for Christmas dinner.

highlights

This is a compilation of the most notable dinners occuring in the gap of time between this post and the last. It seems like the more I get one thing together, the more another falls apart. Can't I just get everything together all the time? Recently blogging hasn't been the priority. But the winds are a-changing, methinks. Poor laundry, it might not make the next season...(it's my main weakness as far as housekeeping goes)

My Birthday Dinner. I made paella with shrimp, mussels and chorizo. I screwed up and bought ground chorizo (hey! it was wrapped to look like a regular sausage) so instead of bites of spicy sausage, the spiciness invaded the whole dish. Great for me, not so great for the kids and select guests. It was good but since I've never had paella before (one reason I wanted to try it) I can't say how good.

I was also going to make a coconut cream pie but my friend offered to make me a cake so I took her up on it. I asked her to make her famous Peanut Butter Truffle Cake. Oh so good and rich!

New Regular Meal Addition. You know that book I made the awesomely rich macaroni and cheese from? Well it had this other recipe called Thai Wraps in it. We tried it and it was soooo good and so incredibly simple. A pound of ground beef plus whatever veggies you want to saute up with it (bell pepper, carrot, celery, etc) then season with a couple tablespoons of fish sauce and soy sauce. Wrap it up in a romaine leaf and chomp away. The kids eat lettuce like crazy with these babies. I love it so much we eat it probably twice a month. (which, if you know me, is quite often) Edit: Add a cup or so of cooked rice, as well.

Really lovely beef, spinach and sweet potato stuff over rice.

Hubby outdid himself. Every Saturday my man makes us all waffles. This weekend set himself apart as a supreme waffle master. He made these delicious oatmeal waffles and then created an orange honey butter to go with it. He took a cup and a half of fresh-squeezed orange juice and then reduced it to TWO TABLESPOONS!  He added a teaspoon or so of this concentrated orange essence to a half cup of softened butter and then threw in enough honey until it "tasted right". It paired perfectly with the maple syrup. When I took a bite, all at once I completely understood what all those people on the Food Network mean by the "acid cutting through the fat and sending a burst of flavor right to my tongue." Bravo, hubby!

Pretty meals make you feel special. Although this recipe is super simple, look at the results. I made a double batch of my pizza dough, rolled it into a rectangle and put this sausage-cream cheese filling inside. After cutting little fringes and gently folding them over each other, dabbing on a good egg wash and sprinkling with poppy seeds, I baked it for a bit and voila! Look at that gorgeous thing! (It tasted really good too!) ps-I got the recipe from that Family Feasts book.

mac & cheese, the good stuff

Macaroni and cheese. Really good, homemade with 2 c sharp cheddar, 1/2 c romano and 4 oz cream cheese macaroni and cheese from this book. No picture. Sorry. But just imagine a pale yellow, very creamy dish made with cavatappi (my favorite pasta shape) that is sinfully delicious.

Oh, and carrot sticks.

german apple pancake

We were supposed to have this bean-y, rice-y, cheesy casserole but my son turned off the beans mid-afternoon and didn't tell me. Come dinner time, I had a pot of hard little pintos. My alternative: German apple pancake! It was the recipe from ATK's Family Cookbook and it was perfect. You saute the apples with brown sugar and butter then throw it in the oven with the batter poured on top. Oh my gosh, it was so good. Our one complaint was that it was entirely too small. Considering the butter and sugar content, though, that may not have been all bad. When it was all said and done, I thanked my son. Dinner was so much better than what I had planned.

pants-less french food

In Midtown (Manhattan) we tried this cute little french restaurant, Les Sans Culottes, which means "without pants," referring to the common people of the French Revolution, according to their menu. (That sentence was rather run-on wasn't it? Well, I'm too tired to edit. Sorry.)

The meal started out with what I'd like to call the TOWER OF SAUSAGES! You think I'm exaggerating, but just look at the picture. There was a hard salami and a garlic one and one that was mild. I'm not a huge fan of sausage, but they were tasty. These were joined by the BASKET OF VEGETABLES! (Their words.) Once more, as you can see, this is not an exaggeration. I'm not sure how they expected me to eat whole red peppers and half cucumbers and entire stalks of celery, but there it was. I tried to do them proud. The pate was delicious, despite the fact that I had no idea what was in it. And the little tiny pickles (cornichons, right?) and the mustard sauce...I had to remind myself that I still had an entree coming.

I went classic, with thoughts of Julia Child, and ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon. It was very good and considering the non lady-like amount I ate, I was rather relieved we had a bit of a walk back to the hotel. 

Bon Appetit! (I know, I couldn't help myself.)

sandwich in the park

Now technically this was my lunch. But since I forgot to take pictures of many of my dinners during my Manhattan trip I figure I should take advantage of any meal photos.

Unfortunately I have no idea where I bought this absolutely lovely sandwich. It was in within a two block radius of the NY Public Library. I know that doesn't narrow it down much, but I walked around trying to find a place that didn't sell pre-made sandwiches or some place (like Qdoba) that I could get any ol' place.

By the time I setttled on this little hole in the wall (which accurately describes almost every eating place in Manhattan) I was so hungry that upon leaving I instantly forgot what and where it was.  The sandwich was a California something or other on a bagel. Chicken, avocado and some pickled red peppers with ranch dressing, which I normally would omit but in this case it was fantastic. Paired with a Nantucket Nectars Half & Half I was quite perfectly satisfied.

On top of that I got to eat watching all the passers-by in the lovely Bryant Park. Quietly eating alone is not a common occurrence with me and I enjoyed it immensely.

reuben + knish + pickles

Do you remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally? You know...that scene. Well, I got to eat where that unforgettable scene was filmed: Katz's Delicatessen. I had the Reuben. Or maybe they should call it The Delicious. We also had a potato knish and I think an entire jar of pickles and washed it down with Dr. Brown's Black Cherry and Cream Sodas.

If you can't tell, this was entirely too much food. We would have been stuffed with just one sandwich and the knish. All in all, loved the crazy NY atmosphere and the food was seriously tasty.

we'll see

So I'm heading to Manhattan in the morning. You have no idea how excited I am. I'm expecting some delicious dining. I'll try to keep you updated, but you'll forgive me if it doesn't happen every day, right?

easy shmeasy

Today has been a day...let's just say it hasn't been the ideal day. But God loves me because he sent my wonderful friend, Amy, to my house to protect my sanity. When dinner rolled around I had two loaves of freshly baked bread and wanted nothing more than a tuna sandwich.

I've lately tried my hand at homemade mayonnaise and I have to say I'm hooked. It is like a mini-miracle how essentially egg yolks and oil magically emulsify into the thick goop. And the taste is far superior to anything else. So tuna salad made with homemade mayo, storebought mustard (that's my next thing to try homemade, I don't even know if you can but I'm going to check it out) and fresh baked bread. I was satisfied. (But my complete satisfaction might also be due to the fact that I had leftover chocolate cake from last night!)

No pics tonight. I'm sure you can imagine what a tuna sandwich looks like.

beans and stuff

That sloppy looking stuff is pinto beans and barbacoa. It was deliciously paired with cornbread and topped off with chocolate cake.

I made too much. These pictures were taken after dinner. Crazily enough, the kids loved the cornbread more than the cake. They are great fans of cornbread crumbled in a glass of milk, thanks to my maternal grandfather, God rest him.

Click for an explanation.

birthday dinner

Pizza. It's my husband's favorite food. And since it's his birthday...well, you know. He gets pizza. We had the usual kid choices of cheese and pineapple, but I made a special sausage, carmelized onion and pineapple pie for the birthday boy. On my slice I added fresh basil leaves. It, as usual, made a world of difference. So good.

For dessert it was peanut butter and chocolate night. First we had peanut butter swirl brownies. The pièce de résistance was the delicious peanut butter/chocolate cheesecake. The crust is crushed peanuts. The entire cheesecake is peanut butter flavored with chocolate added to half. Absolutely mmmmm.

tacos

tacos and iced tea. simple. tasty.

potahtoes

Baked potatoes.

1. steamed broccoli
2. hot dog medallions (makes it sound fancier, right?)
3. cheese sauce (horrible, embarrassing to admit, American cheese sauce)

In the end: delicious.

really good soup and yummy bread

JULY
In July
I'll take a peep
into the cool
and fishy deep
where chicken soup
is selling cheap.
Selling once
selling twice
selling chicken soup
with rice.

Tonight's dinner was courtesy of Maurice Sendak's glorious book Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months. My five-year old loves that book and he often asks, "What are we having for dinner? Chicken Soup with Rice?" Tonight I had the extreme joy to answer, "Why yes we are!" He was so excited.

My oldest, after tasting, said, "It's not that good."
I replied, "You don't like it?"
He says, "No, I think it's very good, I just don't think it's good enough that the wind would want to blow down the door to get some." (In March the wind "...laps it up and roars for more.")

It was really good though. I bought chicken thighs (with skin and bones, which is so out of style these days) and made my own broth first. I used the recipe in ATK's Family Cookbook and it only took about an hour and a half. Then I turned the page, made the chicken noodle soup sans noodles and threw in 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice.

Man, they are so right when they say homemade broth is better. There really is no comparison. None.

Oh yeah, we had bread and butter, too.

Enjoy this song.

PERSONAL PIZZA NIGHT!

Personally I don't do this too often because it takes FOREVER to cook five pizzas. Especially so when yours is last and you've been working on it for the last two hours. (Baby doesn't eat her own yet and Daddy's gone or else it would be seven! I soooo need a double oven).

Sweet Red Head Doll and her pineapple-only pie.

Big Sister likes things spicy. She emptied the last of the pepperoncini jar and then sprinkled red pepper flakes on top. (That's ranch in the middle.)

Little Brother made a portrait of his friend from pineapple (mouth) and olives (hair, eyes and nose) which is not particularly visible on account of the angle and the fact that I cut it into slices before the picture, of which my son was most emphatically unhappy. Luckily he recovered enough to smile for the camera.

Big Brother and his pineapple, olive masterpiece. His was the last pie of the kids' to be cooked. That smile is purely his exuberance that he can now fill his tummy.

They talked me into getting my face in the picture. I can assure that my pizza was much more photogenic at this moment. I outdid myself on my pie tonight, though: artichoke hearts, red peppers, olives and between the sauce and cheese I added a layer of minced basil. Basil's aroma is magic. Ethereal basil, how I love you.

I know she's not food nor holding any, but everyone else got their pic in tonight...

compilation pt 3 (and hopefully the last, i think i'm caught up now)

This is my husband's favorite spaghetti sauce. (Thank you, Berta.) It makes a lot. I mean you use one of those HUGE #10 cans that hold like a gallon or so. It's good and we had breadsticks and salad.

This meal was just a jar of spaghetti and a pound of cooked elbows baked with mozzarella sprinkled on top. (Ironically I took some of the leftover sauce from the night before and filled an old spaghetti sauce jar so I would have the right amount for this dish.) And salad. Don't forget the salad.

Stromboli! Flavor tonight: Cheeseburger. After making a batch of my pizza dough I rolled it out as square-ish as possible and sprinkled browned ground beef and cheddar cheese about. I rolled it up jelly-roll style and after a half hour stint in the oven...voila! Everyone is usually pretty happy with this one. Steamed broccoli gave us our green. (And brown. Apparently sherry vinegar causes broccoli to turn brown. One of those "learn something new..." items.)

The dessert bowl isn't so pretty because I forgot about taking a picture entirely and had already begun the consumption process. I paired a Grandma Virginia's Applesauce Cake with the BlueBell Triple Caramel Ice Cream my hubby brought home. It was mmmmmm. (The cake recipe came from this cool book I checked out from the library: The Food Journal of Lewis and Clark. The author read the diaries of the intrepid explorers and did a ton of research on the cooking of the period. I've tried a few things from it already and they've been very good.)

Lastly, we've got super-uper frugal night. I took some tostada shells and slapped on some refried beans and rice. My parents left a huge Sam's Club package of American Cheese when they visited last and I cooked up some cheese sauce with the vile stuff. I will admit that the stuff sorta hitch hikes onto the tasty train when stirred into a basic white sauce. Topped off with taco sauce and sour cream? That was some tasty dinner. (Dinner is such a stretch here. I mean this is more along the line of Super Bowl snacks, doncha think?)