A Christmas Dinner Party.....

Alternate titles for this post were "Why I need a dedicated photographer" and "Bon Appetit makes it look so easy!"

Last week I found out one of my best friends was coming in to town for the holiday weekend and we were making plans to go out on the town to celebrate, when one thing turned in to another and all of a sudden I was having a dinner party at my house for 8 people. No big deal right?

Except as I mentioned in my last post I've been living off of leftovers, takeout and food from moms house for a while. In the fridge was 4 carrots, a bunch of celery and about 8 mushrooms that were about to be no bueno. With nothing as a foundation for a meal I was all over the board as to what the heck I should make. With 8 people I knew I could get away with something a little fancy, but not overextend my wallet and spend 8 hours in the kitchen. Fate was on my side when I found bone in short ribs at the market and after a few searches on google and epicurious I came up with a recipe that sounded like it fit the bill.

I cleaned the house, set the table with a very Martha Stewart like setting, set the ribs to marinate and chopped and diced like mad to get things going so that I could sit back and relax when my guests arrived instead of staying chained to the stove. And wonder of wonders I managed to sit down and have a glass of wine a half hour before Clover got to the house.

But I took one picture of the food. Hence the need for a photographer.

This is the short ribs after a quick sear to get the outsides caramelized.

But even though I didn't get a whole lot of food pics, I managed to get a few good ones of my friends who thoroughly enjoyed the dinner I made along with copious amounts of wine and loads of conversation and laughs.

Bon Appetit magazine will do a dinner party article every once and a while and the photos always show a relaxed host (with perfect makeup and hair of course) with a glass of wine in hand casually chatting with their guests in a perfectly manicured backyard or gorgeously appointed kitchen with seating for 12 not including the bar with which to watch over the cook. Then there is a multiple course meal with appetizers that they seemingly "threw" together.

It's a little different in my house.

I have a lovely kitchen that will accommodate exactly 3 people as long as no one moves, a dining room table with 6 chairs so we use patio chairs when more than 6 are here. The backyard is great when weather  agrees with us, but in the winter it confines us to the living space which gets a little crowded and a little loud.  Dishes abound and the whole place looks like a tornado hit it after I have people over.

But damn we have fun!

These two recipes were perfect for a crowd because of the make ahead factor, and the fact that I had very little leftover speaks to the sheer awesomeness of the meal. After begging and pleading from my friend Mandy I got myself on the computer and am going to share with you a new favorite.

Please enjoy, I hope your holidays were as happy as my own!

Stout Braised Short Ribs

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1 teaspoon Curry Powder

2 teaspoons Ground Cumin

2 teaspoons Ground Pepper

2 teaspoons Salt

1 teaspoon Dry Mustard

4 to 4 1/4 lb Bone in Beef Short Ribs

2 Medium Leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped (2 cups)

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

4 medium Carrots, chopped (2 cups)

3 Celery Ribs, chopped (1 1/2 cups

1 Fennel Bulb, Chopped

2 Bay Leaves

3 Roma Tomatoes, Chopped

1/4 cup chopped Garlic (5 to 6 large cloves)

1 3/4 cups Beef Broth (14 oz)

2 (12-oz) bottles Stout such as Murphy's or Guinness

1/4 Cup Molasses

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Stir together brown sugar, paprika, curry powder, cumin, pepper, salt, and mustard in a small bowl until combined.

Pat ribs dry and arrange in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan or a shallow dish, then generously coat all sides of ribs with spice mixture. Marinate, uncovered and chilled, at least 1 hour....I would do more if you have the time.

Wash leeks in a bowl of cold water, agitating water, then lift out leeks and drain in a colander.

Heat oil in pot over high heat until hot but not smoking and quickly brown ribs on all 3 meaty sides (but not bone side) without crowding, in batches if necessary, about 1 minute per side. Transfer meat to a large plate, then add leeks, carrots, celery, fennel and bay leaves to pot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add broth, beer, molasses and tomatoes with their juice, then add ribs with any juices and remaining spices accumulated on plate and bring liquid to a boil, uncovered. Cover pot and transfer to oven, then braise until meat is very tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Skim off excess fat from surface of sauce and reduce sauce, thicken with slurry or roux if needed or desired, correct seasoning with salt and pepper.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto

Makes enough for 8-10 side dish sized servings

1 medium Onion, diced

2 T Butter

2 packages Dried Porcini Mushrooms, Reconstituted  in 3 cups hot water, chopped

Reserve 1 Cup of the porcini mushroom liquid

16 oz Arborio Rice

1 Cup Dry White Wine

5-6 cups Chicken Stock

3/4 C Shredded Parmesan Cheese

2 oz Goat Cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot and saute onion until its soft. Add rice and stir for a few minutes over medium heat. Add wine and stir until all wine is absorbed. Add in 1/2 cup of porcini liquid and 1/2 cup stock and stir until absorbed. Add in mushrooms, remaining mushroom liquid and a little broth. Repeat and repeat and repeat with stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir the whole time and cook until rice is tender and creamy. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

At this time you can take it off the heat and hold until you are almost ready to serve. Add in the cheese and heat through before serving.

Damn I'm good.

Sometimes I come along a recipe or an article on food and read it and think to myself..."That is bloody brilliant! Why didn't I think of that????". Then I take the recipe, most often tweak it to my liking and write about it here. Which is why I write a food blog and not for Bon Appetit. But when I do nail it, I nail it. And making up a recipe is so much sweeter when the result is better than you even expected.

A few weeks back I left on a lovely vacation with my parents and other friends There are a few unusual things about this trip that are different from my normal vay-cay's.

Number One: It was a long one...10 whole days away from home, with 4 of them being driving well over 2000 miles on the way there and back. Wheeeeeee!!!!

Number Two: I left my work phone in my desk at work. The place we were going has extremely limited cell service and I felt that the need for a completely disconnected vacation was well deserved and quite frankly very needed. After the heartburn went away I really did enjoy myself.

Number Three: Even though we stayed in a house with all the comforts of home, I did very little cooking. This is because I had two wonderful ladies (Mama & Jill) cooking for me. Here is one of the wonderful dinners they made for us. Argentine Pork Loin & Mashed Potatoes, YUM!

Number Four: The reason for number three is that I was out hunting every morning and every evening for elk with my father and our friend Bruce. This is my new favorite picture.

Unfortunately for all of us, none of the three hunters were able to bring home an elk. Multiple factors contributed to our unsuccessful hunt including the heat, the amount of water and just dumb luck. It's not that we didn't try, the stars just weren't with us this time.

We stay on a ranch that our friends own in the upper part of Colorado, it is a working cattle and hay ranch for the most part, but the land is so vast and diverse I am sure there are riches to be found on the land if you just have the patience to look. We found wild raspberries and wild mountain strawberries on a trip up to a mining camp, mushrooms grow like crazy and there are any number of different game animals to take home.

Unfortunately for me, the only four legged creature that I came in contact with daily I was not allowed to shoot. If I could, I would be a well fed woman with a stocked freezer. Bummer that there is no cow season in Colorado...those things just stand there and chew the hay or grasses and look at you.

Our hosts were so kind at the end of the trip to gift us with a fair amount of beef from the ranch (ground, steaks and roasts) to take home as a consolation prize for not bringing in an elk. Now, I know what we all say about California Cows being happy and all that....but man they have NOTHING on the cows from Deline's ranch. These are some of the fattest, grass fed, relaxed cows I have ever seen.

I brought home a little bit, leaving the bulk at my parents house since I cook so rarely these days. But tonight as the weather changes and there is a little nip in the air, I felt the need for comfort food. With very little in the house I finally came up with meatloaf for dinner but wanted something a little different than my standard.

I googled and found several fun recipes, none of which I followed, and finally found the one that was the catalyst for this post.

The thing with meatloaf is that it really does need gravy in my opinion. I can do without if I have to, but it's just kind of missing something if you don't have it. Unless of course you are talking about a meatloaf sandwich in which case ketchup is perfectly acceptable. But meatloaf in a bread pan generally leaves a fair amount of fat and no drippings to speak of to make a homemade gravy. Unless you do this.....

Hello meatloaf bed. Thank you for joining us and letting us rest upon you. Please feel free to mingle with the juices of the meat and mirepoix to create a perfect base for homemade gravy.

I think this might be my new standard regardless of what flavor meatloaf I make as it is the ultimate gravy making method.

Porcini Mushroom Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy

1 oz Dried Porcini Mushrooms, reconstituted in 1 C hot water

1 Medium Onion-1/2 diced fine, 1/2 rough chopped

1 Carrot, Peeled and Chopped

2 Stalks Celery, Chopped

1# Lean Ground Beef

1 Egg

1/3 C Panko Bread Crumbs

1/4 C Chopped Parsley

1 T Salt

1.2 tsp Pepper

2 Slices of Bacon, cut in half

1/2 C White Wine

1 C Chicken Stock

3 T Flour with 1/4 C Water for Slurry

After mushrooms are reconstituted in water, pull out with a slotted spoon and pat dry, chop finely. Add 1/4 of the mushrooms to the carrots, onions and celery and place the mixture at the bottom of a metal pan that is suited to stove top use as well as oven.

Mix beef, egg, panko, remaining mushrooms, parsley, salt & pepper together until mixture holds together. If needed, add more bread crumbs if it is too moist. Don't overwork the mixture or it will be tough. Pat in to a loaf and place on top of vegetables in the pan. Top with the bacon slices. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

When done, remove meatloaf from the pan and place on a cutting board, tent with foil. Place roasting pan on he stove top and turn on low. Add the mushroom liquid and wine (not all the mushroom liquid, leave a little in the bottom to keep any grit in the container) to the vegetables and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom boiling for a minute. Pour the liquid in to a saucepan, straining out all the solids and add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and thicken to your preferred thickness with the slurry. Season with S&P of course.

I served it with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes because what else do you serve with meatloaf, right???

Wanted: Someone to help me eat all this food

I'm pretty sure I should win a prize for this last weekend. In terms of culinary skill and stamina I definitely put my best food forward and with one exception (the garlic bread was just a litle "crispy") I made a whole lot of really awesome food. And I am not exaggerating about the "whole lot" thing!

Friday night I made more jam....this time it was plum and it is once again damn good. Plus I got all "Martha Stewart" on myself and decorated the jars oh so cutely. But jam making isn't a short process so after hours of cooking, canning, sterilizing and cooling (all while sipping my vino), my writing at the very end was a little "off". That jar went to mom since she will love me no matter what. 21 jars later....and a loaf of zucchini bread.....and chili to freeze for lunch leftovers.

Saturday morning I woke and immediately hit the ground running....marinate the chicken, slow roast the ribs, clean the house for a day with my wonderful friends. Entertained a bunch of awesome adults and a bucket of the cutest darn kids in the afternoon....my friend Catrina made this dessert.....

Which is seriously my new crack. No joke. It is basically ice cream sandwiches, Cool Whip, chocolate sauce and heath bar crunchies. So simple but it really has to be one of the best summer desserts possible. And SO easy!

Leftovers from Sunday include about a whole chicken, a few ribs, a couple cobs of corn and two pieces of ice cream crack. Guess which one I am not willing to share.

And then I found a NEW brand of food crack on Sunday morning while preparing for the last shindig at Clover's house.

I am calling it OMG Macaroni and cheese. Because seriously? Oh my God.

My friend Tiffany tells me this is her favorite recipe...but she only uses the base and then pretty much does whatever she wants to to make it awesome. Including quadrupling the cheese. No typo there friends, that would be 4X the cheese. Hence the OMG factor.

As in the recipe calls for 8oz and she adds 2 POUNDS!!!!

This is what a pound and a half looks like....remember this is all going in one 13x9 pan.

I'm not sure where the noodles fit in to this whole situation, but I made it work,

That would be Goat Cheese, really good melty Gouda and Irish White Cheddar. And the whole pan gets crowned with a heaping portion of Asiago cheese and buttery bread crumbs.

Four servings were had by one attendee (we won't mention his name of course)....and Uncle Pip who rarely praises anything actually grunted and went back for seconds. Grudgingly of course.

I have a small container left here because I over estimated my pan and let me just tell you...I am hoarding this stuff!

And if this over the top crazy gut bomb wasn't enough to send my ass back to the gym I had to go and make dessert too.

Beauteous strawberries from the Channel Islands farmers market were sweetened with a little sugar to be thrown on top of indulgent shortcakes to round out my All American weekend. And as always I had to throw in a frigging monkey wrench and do things different because I can't just be normal like everyone else in the world.

So I created a buttermilk lemon curd with which to offset the uber sweet and rich flavors of the strawberry shortcake. It really worked, tart and tangy-it was a perfect foil to the berries and cream. I was proud to say the least.

Last but not least I am only making mention of the entree that Clover blessed us with on Monday. I am going to wait to share the recipe until I actually make it as I have to give you the whole experience. But I will share with you the title....

Chicken Skewers with.....

Bacon Paste.

I'm telling you, this needs it's own blog post because it is bloody brilliant. More to come. Promise.

I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did celebrating our Independence with your friends and family!

OMG Macaroni & Cheese

Adapted from Food Networks "Super Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese"

8 T Butter, divided

4 T Flour

2 C Whole Milk

8 oz Irish White Cheddar, shredded

8 oz Holland Gouda , shredded

8 oz Goats Cheese

1 C Heavy Cream

Salt & Cayenne Pepper to taste

3/4 Pound Macaroni, cooked and drained

8 oz Asiago Cheese, shredded

1 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a non-reactive saucepan. When bubbly whisk in flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring every now and then. Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking on occasion for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in first three grated cheeses. Stir vigorously just until cheese has melted. Then whisk in heavy cream to adjust the texture and season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. In a mixing bowl combine sauce with drained macaroni and adjust seasoning. Transfer mixture to a 13 x 9-inch baking pan and spread it out evenly. Top with the Asiago Cheese. Melt remaining butter in a small saute pan and add bread crumbs and cook until tasty, sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

*Note-If you want the additional flavor, substitute 4 T truffle oil for the butter when sauteing the bread crumbs. I did this with the leftovers and it was DIVINE!

Strawberry Shortcakes with Buttermilk Meyer Lemon Curd

Adapted from Paula Deen's Strawberry Shortcakes

Shortcakes

1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/4 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 8 teaspoons

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed

2/3 cup half-and-half, plus 1/4 cup

Sweetened whipped cream

Buttermilk Meyer Lemon Curd

6 Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup Sugar

Zest from 2 lemons

3 T Lemon Juice

1 C Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss the strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar together. Set aside until time to serve.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, baking powder, salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Then pulse in the cold butter cubes until a coarse meal is formed. Turn the flour mixture out into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in 2/3 cup half-and-half and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula or fork, be careful not to over mix the dough or the biscuits will be tough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a couple of times until it just holds together. Pat the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut out 8 round 3-inch biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of each biscuit with the remaining half-and-half and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Beat together eggs, lemon juice, sugar, zest and buttermilk in a stainless steel or copper bowl until blended. Cook over a water bath until frothy and thick, whisking the whole time. Cool over an ice bath and chill until it's time to serve.

Split each biscuit, spoon some strawberries on the bottom piece, then add the buttermilk lemon curd, then whipped cream and top with the other biscuit half.

I seriously thing I should get a medal for this weekend. At least silver. But really....I do need to feed someone with all these dang leftovers!

Too hungry & distracted to take pictures....

I had a craving that revolved around tomatoes.....1 1/2 gorgeous tomatoes getting ready to tip over in my kitchen just begging to be used. Too much time at work = not enough time to hit up Trader Joe's for some fresh Mozz or Feta cheese....so I had to stick them in my fridge so they weren't wasted (god forbid).

After yesterdays insane food extravaganza I was craving something protein & veg filled...no bacon or cheese. Go ahead, make your surprised face, I can handle it. But seeing as the marine layer has settled in and isn't moving much, even in Ojai, I was craving something a little more comforting than ribs and grilled veggies (favorite summer meal!).

So while at work I tossed around the idea of chicken with tomatoes and olives...maybe some feta cheese over a tiny bit of pasta. Maybe add some peppers, spinach, mushrooms....it was a veritable whirlwind of produce floating over my head kind of like the cartoons when they get bopped over the head and stars float around...only mine were vegetables. Good visual?

Yeah, I know I am weird.

Things were settled when I hit up Trader Joe's for blueberries & milk for my cereal and I wandered past the eggplant. Big fat eggplant that would get all creamy on the inside after being roasted in a hot oven...that would then soak up the juices of a tomato-y broth seasoned with all kinds of fun spices.

It's a recipe that is a little daunting if only because the ingredient list is so damn long...but believe me, it is absolutely worth it to get all of those layers of flavor in one dish.

I posted on Facebook while cooking and almost had one of my girls from LA ready to drive up and eat with me...alas, she flaked and is missing out on truly kick ass leftovers. And this dish, like may, only gets better after thinking about itself overnight.

Without further adieu.....may I present....

Moroccan Chicken With Eggplant & Almonds

This makes enough for 8 + a little leftover...I cut it in to 1/3 and still have 3 meals :)

6 T Olive Oil, divided

3 C White Onions, Sliced

6 Large Garlic Cloves

1 T Sweet Paprika

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tsp Fennel Seeds, ground

1 ts Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

2 C Diced Tomatoes

1 C Water

3 T Lemon Juice

8 Chicken Thighs, skinned & Deboned

8 Chicken Drumsticks, skinned

1 Large Eggplant-see below for prep

1 T Chopped Fresh marjoram (or 2 T dried)

1/2 C Slivered Almonds

Chopped Cilantro for Garnish

Cut eggplant in 1" wide slices, salt both sides and let them sit until they weep...this helps to leach out any bitterness in the eggplant. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut in 1" chunks and toss with 4 T olive oil. Lay on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for about 25-30 minutes, turning the pieces every 10 minutes until they are crispy. Set aside.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet and add onions & garlic, cover and cook until onions are soft. Add in all the spices and stir thoroughly. Add the liquid and tomatoes and bring to a boil. cook covered for about 10 minutes.

Arrange chicken in a single layer, spooning sauce over the pieces, reduce heat to Medium/Low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken over once and simmer another 10 minutes, covered.

Stir eggplant & marjoram in to the chicken and simmer for another 10 minutes, uncovered. If there is too much juice, take some out and reduce it to concentrate the flavors.

Season with salt & pepper and more lemon juice if needed.

Serve over cous cous or by itself if you are going low carb. Sprinkle with the almonds and cilantro as a garnish.

Seriously, this does get better after sitting over night, I plan to have it for lunch both tomorrow & Wednesday. ;)

Made with love.

There are certain things that just can’t be beat when it comes to homemade.

When my BFF posted on Facebook that she was suffering from strep throat and hadn’t eaten in a day, I immediately strapped on my apron and grabbed my knives in preparation to make the “cure all” that I knew would bring her not only nutrition, but also comfort. There would be no opening a can of Campbell's for this girl...oh no no.

Fortunately for me, I am a little bit insane and just “happened” to have all of the ingredients necessary to make her a nice steamy container of chicken noodle soup.

Pulled a frozen chicken leg & wing out of the freezer, plopped it in water with carrots, onion & celery and simmered, skimming the broth every once and a while so the broth was clear and fat free.

Chopped some more carrots, onion & celery along with some mushrooms, threw those in another pot and then waited…..I might have watered my yard at this point to make good use of my time…..Removed the chicken pieces when they were cooked through and let them cool a minute.

Strained the broth in to the pot with the new veggies and simmered a bit more…..skimmed some more stuff from the top. Added a few sprigs of thyme from my backyard and let the soup think about itself for 20 minutes or so. I skinned the chicken and removed all the meat, then chopped it in bite sized pieces.

Boiled a little water, added salt and pasta to it until the noodles were almost al dente, not quite done yet. Rinsed the noodles and set aside

Added in the chicken meat and past and then seasoned the broth with a little salt to taste….fortunately it didn’t need much, the chicken broth was super flavorful and just a little sweet from the carrots.

Voila! So much better than the canned stuff and infinitely better for you!

I dropped it at her house where she was watching movies in her jammies and cuddling with her pug with a voice that sounded like she had been yelling at a concert all night before. Two days later she is almost better....could it be the antibiotics? Or the chicken soup made with love??? You decide.

Inspiration

Sometimes inspiration comes in the simplest of forms. It can come from something you look at, hear, taste or do....today inspiration came to me just from leaving work. Good timing on my part. :)

It's not so much when I left work, although that plays in a little...but more how I left work. Every day when I leave my office, trot down the back stairs to the ballroom and group dining space I pass through the banquet kitchen where on a daily basis I get to interact with chefs and cooks of all manner. I am very lucky to work at a hotel where good food is part of the package and as we all know.....good food comes from good cooks/chefs.

Some nights I come downstairs and raid the hot boxes for hors d' oeuvres before heading home...stuffing myself with lobster BLT's (oh yeah!), prosciutto wrapped melon, fig tarts and ahi tuna on won tons. My job definitely does not suck when it comes to tasty vittles. Some of these items along with others have made their way in to my repertoire in the kitchen for various dinners and parties. I generally will wing it, just taking the general idea and faking it on my own or expanding on it to suit my tastes and moods.

On the way home this evening I was in a quandary as to what to make for dinner....not feeling the sausage vibe after Monday's extravaganza, same with ground beef....it was chilly out which always makes me want something comfort food-like......What did I have in the fridge again?

Arg. My thought process kills me sometimes. I really am a pain in the ass.

While passing through the kitchen on the way to my car I stopped to chat with one of our banquet chefs to see if he had any fun ideas about what (like that is his job, right?). We tossed around a few ideas with a few of the other cooks chiming in occasionally and then I happened to wander over to the stove to peek at what was cooking. And I found my inspiration. Yay!

On the stove was a 5 gallon stockpot with poblano chili's, onions, celery and corn in a creamy broth. Click! Sounded good to me, knew Brock would love it (he looooves the roasted chili's), it would be easy and fairly quick to make and best of all, I had almost everything I needed at home to make it. So my trip to Trader Joe's was all about the wine, with a chunk of bread as an afterthought. :)

The most time consuming part of the meal? Roasting and peeling the damn chili's. I know you can buy the canned ones and they are good in a pinch or in certain recipes, but really they are best when they are fresh, fire roasted, peeled and chopped. The best way to do this is on the BBQ, just throw them on over medium heat and turn continuously until they are blistered and blackened all over (not SUPER burnt though). Being as it was raining tonight, I was forced to do them on the stove...no biggie, but not as even heat-wise. Throw them in a paper or plastic bag and close it up and leave them there for 5-10 minutes. This will steam them a bit and help to loosen the skin. Then just take them out and scrape the skin off with a teaspoon and rinse quickly under cold water. Then you are free to chop, dice, slice or stuff them as you please. This works for all peppers, red, green, Anaheim etc....

Then of course I had to go and make the meal my own. How, you ask? Well it just so happens that I had a jar of smoked chicken stock in my freezer (doesn't everyone??) and chicken thighs as well....so why not add a little smokey flavor to the soup and call it good?

So I did. :)

To make the smoked chicken stock (if you are so inclined), you smoke the chicken bones in your cooktop smoker or little smokey and then add them in to the water with your veggies and cook. If you don't have the time (or if you don't have a friend like I do who makes it for you), you can just use plain chicken stock and smoke the chicken a little longer.

This is something I was able to throw together in a little over an hour, making it a great meal for a night when you are running late and just don't have time to putter in the kitchen. It also freezes beautifully, making it perfect for leftovers and care packages.

Smokey Chicken Corn & Poblano Chowder

1 T Butter
2 Small Onions, medium dice
3 Celery Stalks, medium dice
3 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Large Yukon Gold Potato, medium dice
2 Poblano Chili's, peeled & seeded, medium dice

4 Cups Smoked Chicken Stock

1 Can Green Giant Niblets

2 Boneless Chicken Thighs or Breasts (whatever you prefer, I'm a thigh girl myself)
1 T Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt

3 T Flour
Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Sweat the onions and celery in the butter until soft and add in potatoes and garlic, stir for 5 minutes or so over medium heat. Add in chili's and stir another 5 minutes. Add broth and let simmer for 15 minutes.

For chicken.....pat dry and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. At this point you can do one of two things..... if you are in possession of a a cooktop smoker (Great gadget!), smoke with mesquite chips for 15 minutes, then cool. Or if you don't have the smoker just throw them on the BBQ for about 6 minutes to a side over medium heat and remove. They don't have to be cooked all the way through, you still want them juicy. Chop the chicken in to 1/4 - 1/2 inch chunks and add to the soup pot.

Pull about 1/3 cup of the broth aside and let it cool, add 3 T flour and blend well, no lumps allowed. Pour this in to the simmering pot and stir until combined. This will thicken the soup to a chowder like consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste and if you want to add the cream, do so just before serving.

Here's to inspiration!

It's all about the pork

By now you may know I have this little tiny fondness for just about anything made from a pig. From bacon to ham, chops, ribs and loins, cheeks, roasts, sausages and shanks, there is not much I won't go "gaga" over. Oh! and lets not forget the ever lovely and sinful chicharrone with a spritz of lime, sprinkle of salt and a dash of Tapatio sauce...Mmmmmmm.

Maybe it has to do with 5 years of raising pigs for market in 4H and selling them at the fair. Forgive the mullet, it was the 80's and I thought it was cool.

The only reason we got this picture is because someone was chasing the stupid thing past me....Note the pissed off face, Chunky ran by me several times before they got the picture. After chasing him through the midway at the fair you can begin to see why when the buyer gave my pig back to me after purchasing him, I told him we would have a BBQ.

Truly, if I ever in my lifetime had some sort of disposable ridiculous income, I might open a restaurant called PFR. Pork Fat Rules. And everything would have some sort of pork in it. Somehow. And vegetarians beware, I am not kidding when I say everything.

I love pork so much that after seeing a show on the Food Network that featured a shop in San Francisco that processes all of its own salami, prosciutto, bacon and other "Tasty Salted Pig Parts" that I made a pilgrimage to see, taste and buy. When I got there, the angels...they did sing a little for me over the din of the thousand other people in the Ferry Building. And the pork was good, yes....better than good! Mortadella with truffles and pistachios, thin sliced coppa salami and brown sugar and wild fennel sausage. This place was heaven for me, it would only get better if I was able to go behind the glass walls and help them make thier next batch of salami or prosciutto. Next time you are in San Francisco, check out Boccalone Salumeria and bring some lovin' home...don't forget to try the Nduja...it is a soft ripened salami with excellent spice. Think chorizo in a spreadable form....mmmmmmmmmm.

So really my friends, it comes as no surprise that I picked out a pork based recipe for a get together at my house featuring some of my favorite people. I was super torn between the cover recipe on the new Bon Appetit and this one and the deciding factor was simple. The short rib sandwiches sounded delish and I will probably make them very soon. But really? How can I resist a recipe that has not just one kind of pork......

not even two kinds of pork...

but THREE!!!!

Oh yes, you read right. Three kinds of pork. And porcini mushrooms, which come at a very dear price but are irreplaceable in a recipe because of the insane flavor they impart. And some other stuff that I will get to eventually. That you serve over.....Homemade potato gnocchi. OK really? Did I even have to think about that one? Nope! Done deal!

As I had never made gnocchi before, but enjoyed them in many a dinner, I was pretty excited about the prospect of trying something new. Generally I see gnocchi in restaurants in a cream or cheese based sauce which is altogether delicious, but it is also the reason my friends and I refer to the little boogers as "gut bombs". They are not the lightest of starches, and tend to plop right on my ass and make themselves at home. When paired with a lighter sauce, they somehow don't feel as heavy though. :)

I stuck pretty true to the recipe, the only change I made was to make a quick roasted pork stock out of the bones from my country ribs + carrots + onion + celery. I figured if I was having such a pork laden dish, why wreck it with chicken broth???

This is a little bit of a labor of love, you can make some stuff ahead of time and hold it, but it took me about 3 hours total to make the ragu and the raw gnocchi. This way I was ready to hang with my friends, eat appetizers and then just boil the gnocchi and grate some Parmesan when it was time to eat! And in just reading the recipe right now I realized I forgot to garnish it with the basil last night....it would probably be a very nice addition, but it wasn't missed.

I actually doubled the gnocchi recipe on accident and was able to freeze the leftovers for future use. The Ragu recipe fed 6 of us, with leftovers for a couple of meals waiting for me in the fridge. :)

And to top off the night my darling friend Sarah who loves food as much as I do (we met in culinary school) was charged with bringing a salad to dinner...my only request was to keep with the Italian theme. So she brought a gorgeous salad....layers of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado. With boconccini (mozzarella balls), 2 kinds of salami, crispy Parmesan toasts and a sheet of melted crispy Parmesan cheese. I am not sure what we all liked better, the salad with cheesy pork goodness or the pork goodness wrapped around fluffy gut bombs topped with cheese.

Pork & Wild Mushroom Ragu
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse kosher salt
2 1/2 cups dry white wine, divided
1 pound boneless country-style pork ribs, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 ounces 1/4-inch-thick slices coppa or prosciutto, chopped
6 ounces fresh mild Italian sausages, casings removed (about 2 links)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 cups crushed tomatoes or crushed tomatoes with added puree
1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth (Or Pork broth if you are so inclined!!!)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Potato Gnocchi
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place dried porcini mushrooms in medium bowl; pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over. Let stand until mushrooms are soft, about 45 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer mushrooms to cutting board and chop coarsely. Reserve soaking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add crimini mushrooms and garlic; sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper and sauté until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup wine and simmer until crimini mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Set aside (there may still be liquid in skillet).

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with coarse salt and pepper. Add pork to pot and sauté until browned in spots, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to medium bowl. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Reduce heat to medium. Add coppa/proscuitto and stir 1 minute. Add sausages and cook until brown, breaking up into small pieces with back of spoon, about 3 minutes. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Cover pot and cook vegetables until soft, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add remaining 2 cups wine; bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed. Add tomatoes, 1 cup broth, bay leaves, reserved pork, and porcini mushrooms. Pour in reserved porcini soaking liquid, leaving any sediment behind in bowl. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until pork is tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if dry, about 1 hour.

If it is super liquid-y, you can pull out some of the liquid and reduce in a saucepan until it is a bit thicker, I did this and it turned out perfect.

Stir crimini mushroom mixture in skillet into ragù. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon off fat from surface of ragù stir in basil. Add Potato Gnocchi; toss gently to coat. Simmer over medium heat until gnocchi are heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.

Potato Gnocchi
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup (or more) all purpose flour
1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon olive oil

Special equipment: Potato ricer or food mill

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes in several places and bake until soft, about 1 hour. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half. Working in batches, scoop hot flesh into potato ricer or food mill. Rice potatoes onto rimmed baking sheet; spread out and cool to room temperature.


Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer potatoes to large bowl. Add 1 cup flour; toss to coat. Form well in center of potato mixture. Add egg yolk, coarse salt, and nutmeg; stir with fork until mixture is evenly moistened (mixture will look shaggy).

Turn mixture out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until dough comes together, sprinkling dough with flour very lightly only if dough is very sticky. Form dough into ball; divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece between hands and work surface into 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut each rope into 3/4-inch pieces. Place gnocchi on prepared baking sheet.


Working in batches, cook gnocchi in large pot of boiling salted water until gnocchi rise to surface of water. Continue to simmer gnocchi until cooked through and tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully transfer gnocchi to bowl. Drizzle gnocchi with olive oil and toss to coat.

The only thing I did different here was in the shaping of the gnocchi....the recipe says just to cut them, which is fine. But I wanted mine to look like the gnocchi I see in restaurants and stores. So I individually pressed each little "pillow" with the tines of a fork to give it the characteristic ridges that gnocchi are known for. It is not necessary by any means and is pretty time consuming, but it made me happy. :) If you make too many and want to freeze them, toss them with a little flour and place in a ziploc bag to freeze. You may never buy gnocchi again, this was too easy!

Diet schmiet...

So exactly how is one supposed to go on a frigging diet when the weather is cold and all you crave are warm comforting foods? Mostly warm comforting foods that are made with things not on your frigging diet and need to be sopped up with delicious vessels made from carbohydrates that are definitely NOT on your frigging diet.

Definitely having one of those evenings....maybe I have been depriving myself so much that my body actually CRAVES it.

Oh yeah, that must be it.

I do pretty good until nights like this when I walk in to the store and go just a little insane....Brock requested chili and cornbread for dinner, and although he would have been fine with the Von's brand from the deli, you know me by now and know that I went and got all the makings to make it from scratch because it would be better for us, right?

Wrong-o!

Brock makes his favorite "quick" chili from a mixture of random beans and canned chilis only known to him along with green chilies and the "secret ingredient"....chorizo. Fattening as hell, but it has SUCH good flav-a!!

So here I am in the store looking at the chorizo debating between pork and beef, looking at the calories and fat grams (Seriously? How DO you pack 22 grams of fat in to 1 serving the size of a tablespoon??? What else is in there besides fat???) and opting to go for the beef since I was doing beef chili. As it turns out, there is the equivalent of about 1/2 cup of solid matter in one 1# link once you have cooked it, drained it and squeezed all the fat out through a paper towel or cheesecloth. I like to think that I removed all the fat this way...please correct me if I am wrong!

Whatever, it's not like I eat like this every day. And the addition of flavor is worth it, I just won't be telling my doctor about this.

And THEN...because I was having chili, you know I had to make cornbread right? Because it is like a PB&J, BLT, cheese and wine....some things are just meant to go together. So of course the cornbread calls for butter and milk, but then I go and add green onions for flavor & color....and cheese because Brock likes it that way.

Again, I say whatever! Double workout tomorrow and better lighter cooking the rest of the week.

But for now I share with you a delicious chili recipe that is damn easy to prepare....

Ground Beef Chili

1 Large Onion, medium dice
1 Red Bell Pepper, medium dice
3 Cloves Garlic, fine dice

Sweat the above in 1 T olive oil until soft.

Season with 1 tsp Chili Powder.

Add
1 -15oz Can Diced Tomatoes with juice
1-1/2 cup Beef Broth or Stock

Simmer gently and add

1# Lean Ground Beef, browned & drained
1# Link of Chorizo, browned and drained REALLY GOOD

1-15oz Can Kidney Beans, drained and split in 1/2

Take 1/2 of the Kidney Beans and add to the chili, keep the other half aside and add a little water. Puree in food processor or with immersion blender and add to chili.

Simmer for a while and season to taste. Serve with Cornbread and whatever garnish you want....if you don't care about an extra calorie or two, use cheese, sour cream or other delicious dairy based condiments. Cilantro & green onion are also delicious additions.

You know, this blog is almost as good as going to a priest for confession, I feel better already!

A bit of Summer in the heart of Winter

Sometime in the latter part of summer when the last of the heirloom tomatoes were giving themselves to us one at a time so stubbornly (did anyone else have a bad tomato year?) I came across a few plants on the first tier of my Dad's ranch that were overflowing with golf ball sized cherry tomatoes. They didn't have the sweet tart "pop" of the sweet 100's that we prefer for salads and eating raw, but were more mild and filled to bursting with seeds and juice.

Never one to waste something like this, I set out to fill two 5 gallon buckets and a large bowl with these little gems and tried to figure out how I could somehow easily preserve them so that somehow I could have fresh tomatoes somewhere down the line when the farmers market doesn't yield them and the supermarket tomatoes are tasteless fleshy blobs.

So I stemmed them and soaked them. Triple washed them and went through them to get rid of any blemished, squishy or not quite ripe ones. Sorted out the bugs and picked off the last of the tops and proceeded to cook them down, batch by batch.

And there were a LOT of batches.

Then I strained out the seeds from a couple of batches.

But there were a LOT of seeds!

So I got a little lazy and cooked them down a bit and mom helped me pack them up in 1 quart Ziploc bags that we froze and split between us. In reality, she actually packed them up because by the time they were cool, I was in my bed a few miles down the road.

Since then I have used a bag or two for spaghetti sauce, but tonight decided that I wanted something so comforting that I think every American child has it imprinted on their brain as one of the top 10 comfort foods of all time.

Tomato Soup served with......

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! (you knew that was coming!)

Currently suffering from a head cold, allergies and an earache I decided about mid day that this was exactly what my inner child was crying for.

So here I am in my kitchen enjoying a few of my Christmas presents and making a nice batch of Tomato Bisque to go with grilled cheese sammiches. :)

New bamboo cutting board made by my sweetie....that gets stored so nicely in it's custom made rack. How awesome is he? If you are in the market, I can put in a good word to Santa or St. Valentine or the birthday fairy.


Shiny red Dutch oven with which to make all kinds of delicious meals. Isn't it nice that we are so color coordinated for our maiden voyage in the Dutch oven???



Fuzzy red Mary Jane slippers with sparkles to slog around on my cold tile floors (they had to match the Dutch oven, ya know?) . You know you think they are sexy....

And a new laptop with which to type my blog from right in my kitchen instead of schlepping my lazy ass upstairs to type on the old desktop. :)

Christmas was unexpectedly great, this year in general was pretty awesome. Hope yours was just as blessed.

Tomato Bisque

1 quart tomatoes in juice-you can use canned if you have to!
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled & diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
1 bay leaf
1 T sugar

Bring all ingredients above to a simmer in a soup pot for about an hour or until carrots are tender. Strain through a sieve remove bay leaf and smash as much of the vegetable through as you can. Return to soup pot.

2 T butter
2 T flour

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, stir and cook for just a few minutes. Add to soup pot and whisk over low heat until incorporated and the soup starts to thicken a bit.

1 C Milk (whole milk or cream, no low fat stuff as it will curdle)

Scald milk and add to the soup. Season with S&P as needed.

If you are looking to step outside the box, you can flavor this with any number of herbs or spices including the traditional Italian basil, oregano and rosemary. You can garnish with croutons or lump crab meat, swirl in a little creme freche for ultra decadent soup.

Or you can serve it as is with a buttery toasted grilled sourdough Swiss and cheddar filled sandwich that is cut in to triangles and call it a day.

Guess what I did?