What it takes to get me back......Guilt!

It's been a while....two and a half months to be precise, but who's counting? Apparently  you as I have gotten comments from all 5 of my faithful readers in regard to my lack of posts in the past couple months and for that I am sorry.

My only "excuse" is that I truly have not cooked much over the last month and before that very little....along with that have had little time to post anything due to crazy work schedule and social schedule.

A quick photo montage with bits and pieces to fill you in since you've last heard from me. Please know that I took these photos thinking that I was going to share with you way sooner than this. :)

First bite of summer.

My Addy chomping on her watermelon at Joey & Charlies Birthday Party.

 

Cooking lesson with Nate.

Teaching my cousins buddy how to bone and cook a chicken. Comedy.

My Moms 2nd Surprise 60th Birthday Party

Complete with a whole roasted pig in Baja. We dressed the pig up, not the caterers.

Camp meat baby!

Dorado courtesy of yours truly. Ceviche only an hour later.

Yes, that is guacamole served with chicharrones. At a restaurant know affectionately as the "Pork Palace"

Holy crap. My own personal heaven. Could have made a meal or twelve out of this but powered up and realized that a new wardrobe would be in order.

Wine tasting Vay Cay with the bestie in Paso Robles

Wine, Cheese, Meat and other goodies for lunch, our favorite!

A week and dinner with my ladies, we always eat sooooooo well together!

"Blue" Salad

Blueberries from Clovers Family (biggest & best!), Blue Cheese, Almonds, Greens, Balsamic & EVOO

Clams and Bacon (you knew it was coming)

A little onion, tomato and white wine....perfect dippin' sauce!

Pacific Oysters on the half shell

Cocktail Sauce & Meyer Lemons

It feels good to be back...more to come, I am going to go make something else for you now.

Much love and happy cooking!

Success story

Forty years ago today my parents were married. It was a Tuesday and they did it in the Catholic church with my Grandma and Grandpa Kenton as their only witnesses. Mom's dress was a brown and white mini dress (very mini) and Dad wore a blue shirt, and tie with a brown coat. There was a small family party at my Grandparents house, no one remembers what they ate and my Aunt Joanie made a wedding cake.

Forty years later they have one (fabulous) kid, awesome friends and family and an amazing life together. Not bad for a couple who met on a blind date in the 70's.

They aren't much for celebrating this date, preferring to celebrate the date of their first date which surprisingly enough they both remember with better clarity than their wedding day. But I am not one to let an event like this pass without at least a little bit of celebration,

I only went overboard a little bit. Like the custom printed menus that I thought of today. Or the toast in the glass their best friends gave them as a wedding gift.

I told them they had a date tonight and that was it. Then as the week progressed, I finalized my menu and details and had way too much fun planning tonight's dinner.

Oysters on the Halfshell
Tomato, Meyer Lemon, Horseradish Sorbet

Nicholas Feuillate Brut Champagne

Seared Bay Scallops
Pea Puree, Pea Tendrils, Caviar

Baby Greens
Duck Confit, Gala Apples, Goat Cheese
Balsamic Vinegar & EVOO

Foley Winery Bar S Ranch Chardonnay

Rack of Lamb
Wild Mushroom Demi
Roasted Garlic Risotto Cake

Foxen "Toasted Rope" Syrah

For dessert I enlisted the help of a dear friend, lovely lady and talented pastry chef who, in her spare time, whipped up a gorgeous cake that my Dad couldn't get enough of.  

 

Wedding/Anniversary Cake

Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Crunch Cake

Made with love by La Starr Heiliger from La Starr & Co

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Pretty food

So sorry for the prolonged absence and lack of sharing.....between work and life I have been a bit too busy to sit down and share my latest and greatest feasts and food adventures. Not to mention the recipes that go along with them.

Tonight is a short, but I couldn't resist sharing with you what mama is making for dinner.

As I sit at the counter recovering from a crazy week at work (translation: drinking wine and NOT standing up all the while singing in my head the song by Dolly Parton "Workin' 9-5" except in my case it was more like 5-9. As in 5am-9pm. Urgh), I was summoned by Mommy Dearest over to the window with a "Jen you gotta get a picture of this!"

So I got up and tiptoes over to the window to find this....

Which in turn got wrapped up so nicely to become this....

"This" is a 3 1/2 pound trout from Lake Casitas that my Dad brought home. I think it might have been as big as my bass.....but I'm pretty sure not. They are a great team, Dad brings home the food, mom makes it pretty and delicious.

Anyhoo....brain is not working so well so I am just going to share with you, eat my dinner and pass out for at least 12 hours.

Whole Fish Wrapped in Grape Leaves

Adapted from recipewizard.com

One 8-ounce jar grape leaves, drained and rinsed

1 small lemon, sliced into paper-thin rings, preferably with a mandoline

One 2 1 ⁄ 2- to 3-pound snapper of any variety: black, striped, or spotted bass; whole large-mouth bass or freshwater bass; any variety of whole drum; or whole parrotfish, orange roughy, ocean perch, tilapia, or trout, scaled and cleaned

1 tablespoon olive oil

Suzi Q Santa Maria Style Seasoning (or Garlic Salt & Pepper)

8 parsley sprigs

8 thyme sprigs

Lay three quarters of the grape leaves on your work surface, overlapping them to form a compact bed that you will later fold up onto the fish; reserve the other leaves to lay over the fish. Lay 4 lemon slices down the center of the leaves.

Score the fish skin three times in parallel, diagonal cuts on each side of the body, cutting down only about 1⁄2 inch, not through to the bones. Oil the fish on both sides with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season each side and the cavity with the Suzi Q. Place the parsley sprigs and another 3 or 4 lemon slices inside the fish's body cavity. Set the stuffed fish over the lemon slices on the grape leaves.

Arrange the remaining lemon slices over the top of the fish, then lay the reserved grape leaves over the body. Fold the bottom leaves up to cover the sides of the fish, tucking them under the top leaves to seal the fish in a grape-leaf packet. Pat to adhere, then tie in several places with butcher's twine to close the fish and the leaves in one packet.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F. Place a metal rack in a large baking sheet or roasting pan. Set the wrapped fish on the rack. Roast until the leaves are crispy and a metal skewer inserted through the leaves and into the flesh comes out hot, about 25 minutes. Untie the fish; discard the grape leaves and lemon slices before serving.

Waiting With Bated Breath

Valentine’s Dinner Off the Hook

Okay, I figured I’d better wait a few days so no one feels guilty or under the gun to try and compete with this on short notice… (BTW this is Jen's Mom writing this one) :)

For the last several years our husbands make up for any shenanigans they may have foisted upon us by planning some sort of Valentine surprise for us. We look forward to it with eager anticipation as it’s the one time of the year we’re totally pampered and waited on hand and foot by our men. The content of the event is a total mystery until the last minute.

It started with one of the guys making dinner for his sweetie and expanded to three couples. We’ve been wined and dined in the finest style, whisked away to the Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, spa’ed at Ojai Valley Inn. One year they “stole” our cars while working out and had a limo waiting to drive us back home (a 10 minute limo ride) to a gourmet meal they’d prepared. And let’s not forget the Cajun Extravaganza that had enough delectable’s to feed a small zip code. We actually had to have a “day after” party to eat it all.

I should note that while we do love to travel and do the out of town thing, what really gets us giddy is for them to cook us a nice dinner. Did I mention that they won’t let us in the kitchen, they wait on us AND clean up the kitchen? I know I’m a lucky lady and I’ll re-up his contract based on this one special day a year.

This year we were told the day before to be out of our respective homes by 1:30 PM. Hmmm, 3 houses? Perhaps a progressive dinner? I’m the nosiest of the girls so I drive everyone nuts trying to figure it our each year. One day I’ll grow up. Maybe.

They instructed us to go have a drink someplace. As we didn’t want to be “on our lips” by dinner time we chose to do what any red blooded American woman would do. We shopped. At 4 PM we were summoned while resting our feet in the Macy’s shoe department. We were to proceed to Mary Jane’s home where the guys had been slaving away all day.

Oh yes… A five course feast with matched wines awaited. They made it all themselves (nary a Bristol Farm or TJ product on the table) outsourcing only the Crème Brule from Jen (Yes, the one who usually posts in this blog.) We’re still collectively sighing.

Valentine’s Dinner February 13, 2011
1st Course

Assorted Cheese and Fruit Platter
Kiwis, apples, pears, blackberries, yellow and red raspberries
Brie, smoked gouda, gorgonzola and crackers
Wente Chardonnay

2nd Course

Seared Sea Scallops w/ lemon mustard crust
Beringer Chardonnay


3rd Course
Marinated Shrimp and Avocado Salad
Recipe Can be found at: Marinated Shrimp and Avocado Salad
It’s a keeper!
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

4th Course Grilled Salmon with Lobster Hollandaise, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Asparagus
Paraiso Pinot Noir 2008
Napa Cellars Zinfandel 2008

5th Course

The Best Crème Brule in the World (You’ll have to ask Jen for the recipe)

Tobin James Zinfandel 2008

Wow, huh?!!??! And there’s only 361 days until the next one.

Lake Yes

For those of you that are local to the Ventura County are, you should be aware of a large body of water that lies within the Ventura/Ojai area and is famous for a few things.

Lake Casitas was the site for the rowing competitions in the 1984 Olympics, the rings are still visible on the docks.

Johnny Cash used to fish and drink there....and is known for the drinking more than the fishing as he was known to pass out on the boat and get "lost". Law enforcement may have been involved once or twice.

Big mouth bass fishing, some of the largest bass in the state, are recorded at this lake.

By people who know how to fish for the darn things, of course.

For people like me and most of my friends, the lake is better known as Lake "No" or Lake "No Fish" because seriously??? For 30 something years I have fished at that lake and only recently have I been successful at catching anything other than a buzz.

Yay for besties & buzzes!

But in the last couple of years there are fewer and fewer boats on the lake due to the quarantine of boats based upon the possibility of importing the rather destructive Quagga Mussel from another body of water. Quarantining your boat is quite frankly a pain in the butt to say the least but it has one very nice advantage.

Whereas on a beautiful day four years ago there would be dozens of boats on the lake all trying to hook the big one, nowadays you are likely to find 10 or less boats on the lake on any given day. Less boats = less people on them to fish = more fish willing to jump on to the end of my worm laden hook.

So far this year I've been out twice and have cruised around the lake with my bestie and fishing buddy, picnicked in sheltered coves and caught 3 large mouth bass and one bluegill. My friends did pretty darn good too, catching 2 fish each, all of very respectable size.

Large Mouth Bass!



So Proud!

 

But fishing is very hard work....so you have to come outfitted with provisions with which to keep your energy up and your morale high (in case the fish happen not to be biting). So our standard is to hit the lake with a cooler full of beverages of an alcoholic nature (morale boosters), bottles of water (to keep hydrated) and various forms of what I consider to be picnic food (ballast).

(Because one beverage might not be enought we always bring a variety)

One day it is cheese, crackers, prosciutto and fruit, the next day it might be pita chips with assorted dips, olives and spreads. Whatever the selections it needs to fit a few criteria to be considered for a boat picnic as the space is limited, cooler space is reserved primarily for beverages and damn it, I am not eating crap food just because I am on a boat doing something outdoorsy.

This last trip I went with the pita chips and dip, but also wanted some protein in the mix. A quick inventory of the fridge and a consult online and I had a perfect "entree" for us on the boat. Light and tasty, it was perfect as a munchie on my pita chips, but would also be pretty awesome as a sandwich in between some good chewy bread.

Chicken Salad with Red Grapes and a Bleu Cheese Sherry Vinaigrette

2 Chicken Breasts, skinned & deboned

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup Red Grapes, Quartered

3 Stalks Celery, diced 1/4"

3 Green Onions, chopped

1 Egg Yolk

1 T Dijon Mustard

1/2 cup Crumbled Bleu Cheese

1 T Sherry Vinegar

2 T Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Poach the chicken breasts gently in the broth (not boiling), remove and cool before chopping in to 1/4-1/2 inch chunks. Mix in with the grapes, celery & onions.

In a food processor, blend the yolks, mustard, bleu cheese & vinegar. Drizzle in the olive oil bit by bit until it is blended completely. Season with Salt & Pepper to taste.

Mix in with chicken and chill. This gets even better as it sits and thinks about itself.

Salt & Pepper to Taste.

At least my friends liked it.....

Unbeknown to me, there are more than one species of pine nut....who knew? From continent to continent they vary slightly in taste, texture and chemical makeup. And only very recently (since about 2001) has a syndrome known as "pine mouth" come to light.

I personally think it should be called "crap mouth" as damn near everything you eat tastes like crap. But that's just me.

It doesn't matter if it is sweet, salty, fatty or bland. Once in your mouth the food takes on a flavor that I can only describe as a handful of pine needles combined with the pith (white bitter part) of an orange. It's seriously enough to make you not want to eat anything.

Which for me, sucks.

Seriously.

I researched the web and found that it can last from just a few days after eating them, to up to 2 weeks. It eventually goes away, but there is little you can do about it. Some acidic foods can minimize the effects so I thought I would try some citrus juice at work. I grabbed some OJ out of the fridge and it was pretty good, although I am not much of a juice person.

When I got home I figured it couldn't hurt to add vodka to my OJ and see what happened (since wine tasted like ca ca, boo hoo!). And you know what?

It tasted pretty damn good!

I was cooking dinner for my friends that evening and had the whole menu planned out....my citrus and salt baby back ribs, German potato salad and orange bread pudding for dessert. (Friend was bringing salad....no worries, we got our veggies!) Naturally while making the potato salad I had to test the bacon to see if my taste buds were really THAT effed up (please God, no!). And fortunately I found the second thing that didn't taste like poop....bacon.

Go figure.

So I am thinking.....how can I survive on bacon and screwdrivers for up to 2 weeks????

As it turns out, probably pretty well if I didn't have to work or drive.

I made dinner half sloshed on vodka (as I rarely drink it and had no lunch to speak of) and my friends assured me that it was delicious. They even went back for seconds, so I know I did OK. I think it tasted OK, but am pretty sure my taste buds were worn out from the vodka, so I'll have to take their word for it!

The German Potato Salad recipe is from my Nana, labeled on a recipe card, "My" German Potato Salad. It is everything I remember of her...warm, a little sweet, a little tart and very sassy.

Nana's German Potato Salad

6 Cups Red Potatoes, Cooked and sliced in to 1/4" slices

3 Scallions, sliced thin

6 Slices of Bacon (or more if you are feeling the need)

3 Hard Boiled Eggs, 2 chopped, 1 sliced for garnish

1/3 cup Water

2/3 cup White Vinegar

1/4 cup Sugar

2 T Flour

Salt & Pepper

*Optional

1/4 tsp Dry Mustard

1/4 tsp Celery Seed

Fry the bacon until crisp and reserve 3 T of the fat, chop the rest of the bacon and set aside.

Mix sliced potatoes, scallions, chopped egg and bacon together in a bowl.

In a small pan, mix together the rest of the ingredients and cook slowly until the dressing is thickened, season to taste with salt & pepper. Pour over potatoes and mix thoroughly. Put in whatever serving bowl you plan on using and garnish with the sliced egg.

This should be served relatively warm, I left it in the stove while I was cooking everything else and it was the perfect temperature. You can also microwave it briefly if it isn't warm enough.

A fairy tale recipe

Once upon a time (1997 ish) in a land far far away (Los Angeles) a young and beautiful but very unmotivated girl (me) decided that instead of working as a waitress and dancing away her life in the trendy LA clubs she would go back to college (for the 3rd time) and expand on the skills as a cook that her evil mother (not really, it just makes the story sound better) had forced on her since she was a poor underprivileged child (again, fabrication to make the story more interesting). And finally one day she would become famous and cook like Julia Child on TV. And she would live happily ever after with a fat paycheck and lots of friends and admirers who not only loved her cooking but her sparkling personality.

So off to Santa Barbara did she go with dreams of being a chef fluttering about in her brain. Chop, dice, slice and plate....stir and saute and everyone would be so amazed by her skills that the years of schooling (bad word...hate school) would fly by.

Yeah frigging right.

She did chop dice and slice....and she scrubbed pots, pans, floors and grills, took apart ovens and hoods to clean and fix them and most of all learned that she wasn't as special as she thought she was. There were in the first 6 months, 60 students with the same dream. And some of them were as good as the girl (but not very many), some were worse and some were just there to waste time and space.

For the most part, the ones that stuck bonded and became friends although there were a few in the crowd that were just no fun at all and were not invited to any of the reindeer games held at East Beach, the Ranch or the Flintstone house. (Those are the ones that do not read this blog). The ones that bonded not only learned to work together, but to cook together and became a bit of a yin/yang. (you know....you pick up where I leave off....I'll fill in where you aren't able blah blah blah).

After 12 years and a separation of many many miles (Seattle to Ventura) the girl found that the bond forged all those many many years ago had not been broken and that it was just as perfect cooking with of of her lovely friends this weekend as it was so long ago at the kitchen in the ranch house on Highway 150.

After a yummy lunch in Montecito (where lovely friends Daddy paid, bonus!) and several glasses of delicious wine, they put on their thinking caps when presented with a gift of fresh Alaska halibut from the friends brother who also happened to bring organic carrots and greens from the family ranch.

Brother requested Halibut chowder, but the recipe called for too much cream, milk and butter for the girls (they were constantly watching their girlish figures of course) so they opted to do what they do best and NOT follow the recipe.

In to the pot went 1 chopped onion and some olive oil which they stirred until it was soft and browned. They added 3 cloves of garlic (which was not nearly enough for the friends VERY Italian Daddy but oh well....), 2 large shredded carrots and 3 small russet potatoes which were peeled and diced in to 1/4 inch chunks.

In to the pot went about 10oz of chopped tomatoes (canned...but fresh would work too!) and 16oz of chicken broth (you could use fish stock if you had it). Meanwhile the girls were enjoying glasses of Daddy's wine, for he has a nice cellar and a good palate and someone has to drink it, right?

Stir, stir, stir....boil bubble toil and trouble....chop up the fresh Kale (about 1 bunch if you were to get from the grocery store) that Aunt Sandy & Uncle Roland brought in to little shreds and toss it in to the pot. They then poured another glass of wine and let the stew simmer until the potatoes were nice and tender.

More liquid was needed after while (not wine silly...they had plenty of that!) so they added about another cup or so of chicken broth to the pot and then took some liquid out and mixed it with the roux (butter + flour, cooked just a bit) on the side and blended that back in to the soup to thicken it.

About  2# of fresh halibut was trimmed and chopped with care (even though the girl was questioned by Dad to see if she knew what she was doing, Ha!!) in to 1# chunks and set aside for introduction at the last minute so as not to overcook and get rubbery.

A touch of heavy cream, salt and pepper and then the halibut which was cooked ever so gently in the chowder until it was just done.

Crusty bread and a bottle of Carhartt Vineyard Pinot Noir and they all lived happily ever after! (Especially after a second helping of chowder for all!)

And maybe they were happier after a bottle of Byron Pinot Noir for the girls after a very long and trying day...but who's counting????

The End