Breaded Pork Cutlet, um... Marinara

I hesitate because the decision to do it up like a veal cutlet was sort of a last minute one. I had originally thought to do more of a mushroom gravy sort of thing. However, I wanted to make some marinara sauce and you know how it goes.

Preheat the oven to 425F

1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can chopped tomatoes
3 T Epicure Marinara Sauce Mix

Bring these to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high and simmer for 20. Meanwhile, set up two separate bowls for the following:

2 large eggs, beaten
1 c bread crumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan
1 tsp Epicure Pizza Seasoning (could have used a little more garlic, but then, I always say that)

Dredge 3-4 pork cutlets that have been pounded (excuse me, tenderized) to within an inch of their lives. Actually, about 3/4" would be okay. Brown both sides in a hot pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, spread a few spoonfuls of the sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Place the cutlets in a single layer and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

1 c mozzarella, grated

Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce and put it in the hot oven until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

I put a pot of water on to boil as soon as I pulled the cutlets off of the heat. By the time the spaghetti was finished, the dish was ready to come out of the oven.

Verdict? Would totally do this one again, it was a wicked cheap meal because unbreaded cutlets are less than $2.00 for a giant one. I bought three and Colin had to eat his in stages, it was so big. If you're wondering why there's no picture, well, this dish is a little like me. Gorgeous, warm and wonderful to know in person but not exactly what you would call photogenic. So I've decided to treat it like an old cookbook and leave the presentation of the dish up to your imagination. Bbut i can tell you that it was delicious.

Crack Dip Good

Somehow, the crack dip mix made it past the drug sniffing dogs at the U.S. border and into my kitchen. (Thanks, Jody!) Therefore, I too can attest to the addictive quality of the extraordinary crack dip. I made a half serving and had mine with Vienna Crusty rolls, although I find it also works well when eaten off one's fingers or off the back of the knife. You know, for those times when you're not willing to wait until it's spread on the bread.

This was the appetizer in my Two-Course-Meal! The main dish was Swordfish with the Tyee fish rub and some peas. This was excellent. I'm really enjoying the Tyee fish rub. It's such a distinctive flavor.

Oven EpiCrisped Drumsticks

As you have seen, I've spent most of the day doing all things Epicure and this was the ultimate ending to it. The original recipe was in the Epicure Dining Alfresco cookbook (which unfortunately isn't around anymore).

12-16 chicken drumsticks
1 recipe prepared VE Caesar Dressing
3 cups crushed up Rice Krispies (the original recipe called for cornflakes and... you know)

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Coat drumsticks in dressing by shaking in a large plastic bag. Discard the leftover dressing. Dip chicken in crumbs to coat and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes or until thermometer reads 170F.
Chill thoroughly (I ate mine hot though and it was still absolutely scrumptious. Meag ate hers cold later in the evening and said that it was really good then).

I also made the Potato Salad that I made before. The cut veggies went into Dion Tarragon dip (is it obvious that the Epicure order came in today and I finally had spices again?)

Epicure Caesar Dressing

This is just the workhorse dressing from the side of the bottle. Very rarely do I actually add the extra garlic to this recipe, although sometimes I do.

2 Tbsp VE Caesar Dressing Mix
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c milk
1/4 c parmesan cheese

Whisk it all together and serve. If you're doing it in advance, just don't add the parmesan until the last minute because it soaks up a lot of the liquid and you won't be able to pour it without adding more milk.

Apple Tuna Sandwich

No picture of this one but you'll have to take my word that it was really pretty. I've just started flipping through the Epicure A Healthier You kit and I've really wanted to try some of the recipes out of the cookbook included. This makes 4 sandwiches, I took two to Meag, I had one and there's enough for another sandwich in the fridge.

2 x 120g cans of tuna
1 apple, cored and diced
1/3 c low-fat plain yoghurt
1 Tbsp VE Guacamole Dip Mix
8 slices of whole-grain bread (I used rye)
lettuce

Fluff tuna with a fork in a medium mixing bowl. Add the apple, yoghurt and Guacamole Mix and stir it together. Divide it among the bread, add some lettuce and you're done.

I thought it could have used a little more yoghurt but the flavour was really good.

Peanut Butter Shake

I always get really excited about the possibilities of this recipe (I've tried different versions of it over the years) and, unfortunately, I'm always disappointed (sorry, Epicure). What I want is a creamy chocolate shake consistency with that banana base and the hint of peanut butter behind it all; what I get is banana milk with a strong peanut butter aftertaste and a faint chocolate smell. I still think it's got possibilities though so I'll keep you posted on the progress.

1 banana
2 c low-fat milk
1 c low-fat plain or vanilla yoghurt
2/3 c orange juice
2/3 c natural peanut butter
1 Tbsp VE Cocoa

lend it all until "smooth and frothy". Pour into glasses and serve immediately. This recipe is supposed to be for 6 servings but I think that splitting one banana between 6 people is ridiculous so I just called it 2 servings and took my lumps.

Ginger Salmon

I've had a couple of false starts with this recipe. I started to make it the first time and realized that I had thrown out my marmalade (I had vague memories of it crystalizing). The next time that I purchased salmon, I put the Tyee Fish Rub on it and then found the marmalade. This time I managed to get everything in alignment and I went ahead. I'll put the original recipe down and then tell you what Epicure-y substitutions that I made.

2 lb salmon fillet, skin removed
3/4 c orange marmalade
1/4 c sliced green onion (I substituted a few T of 3 Onion)
2 t dry white wine
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 t dijon mustard
1/2 t minced garlic (I substituted 1 t of Malay Seasoning for the garlic & cayenne)
1/4 t cayenne
1/8 t Epicure 5 Spice
3 T sliced, toasted almonds

Thaw the fish if frozen and rinse. Pat dry with paper towel and measure the thickest part. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and place in a shallow pan. Mix all of the other ingredients (except for the almonds) and spoon it over the fish. Bake at 450F for 4-6 minutes per 1/2" thickness or till it flakes easily with a fork. Transfer the fish and sauce to a serving dish with a rim. Sprinkle the fish with the almonds.

It was really tasty and the marmalade softened out with a little bit of heat from the spices. I will definitely make this again but I think I'll spoon a little less sauce on each piece, I only had about a pound of fish this time around and I used the full recipe's worth of sauce. Still pretty good with rice and steamed veg.

Iced Moka

Okay, Meag asked for this for her birthday breakfast and it required a couple of days preparation. Her birthday was on Thursday so on Tuesday I started with phase 1: Chocolate sauce.

1 1/4 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
3/4 c VE cocoa
Mix it all together in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Let it cool and keep it in the refrigerator until you want to use it. It's a little on the bittersweet side as the VE cocoa is pulling pretty strong in that direction.

Phase 2 went quickly on Wednesday night when I made some espresso and filled my ice cube tray. Coffee ice cubes were recommended and, when you think about it, it makes sense for a chilled coffee drink because meltwater makes iced coffee taste like suck. Coffee ice cubes help to maintain the flavour for the remainder of the drink. Having said that, coffee ice cubes are a complete pain in the butt. I also brewed another batch of coffee and put it the fridge overnight to chill.

The final phase had to wait until Meag woke up on Thursday.

2 c chilled coffee (I used espresso)
2 c milk
6 T chocolate sauce
12 coffee ice cubes
2 T sugar (this was my addition)
Throw it all in a blender and let'er rip.

Problem #1 (I am all about the numbered lists here): 12 ice cubes do not make nearly enough chopped ice for 4 cups of liquid so I ended up having to add a bunch of plain ice cubes to get the texture that I was looking for anyway (think Ice Capp)

Problem #2: My volume estimation abilities continue to falter when I learned that 4 cups of liquid and (even) 12 ice cubes will test the capacity of my food processor (my blender having bravely given its life during the Smoothie Frenzy of '07). It took about 10 seconds to start having major leakage issues all over the tops of my slippers.

Really tasty though and there's no reason that I couldn't cut the recipe in half and knock it out in the morning. I've still got a lot of that chocolate sauce left over too, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Who Knew That Cute Animals Were So Tasty?

It just sounds so rustic (and I sound so snotty when I say it that way). I mean it in the best possible sense though.

I've had lamb chops and lamb sausage and ground lamb but I've never actually eaten a shank. It looks exactly like it sounds, like the wee leg of an animal and that was a little weird. I'm not normally squeamish about this sort of thing, I know where my food comes from and this wouldn't be the first time that I've eaten something vaguely recognizable (wouldn't be the first time this week for that matter. Ribs, anyone?) but this was almost too much.

I bought two packages of three spring lamb shanks and decided to just divide the recipe since I'd never tried it before. I was a little spoiled for choice for recipes but I decided to start at the source and I went to the New Zealand Lamb website as they're the ones that packaged it up in the first place. These are the changes that I made though (unless otherwise noted, the amounts were just halved from the original recipe).

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

3 New Zealand Spring Lamb shanks
1/3 c cooking oil (that was the original amount)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c chopped celery
1 carrot, sliced
1 T VE Focaccia Seasoning (this was originally 1/4 t garlic powder and 1/2 t rosemary)
1 t rosemary (okay, this wasn't in the original at all)
1 bay leaf (that was the original amount, I picked a small one this time)
1 beef bouillon cube (that was the original amount because what fool is going to split a bouillon cube)
1/2 c boiling water
100 ml tomato sauce
2 T flour
2 T flour (originally 1/3 c)

I kept the oil the same because lamb shanks are incredibly lean on most of their surface and they stuck to the pan like nothing. Saute the shanks in oil till browned. Set aside. Saute vegetables in the oil in the pan for about 5 minutes or until they get all aromatic and lovely. Add the seasoning. (The original recipe called for dissolving the bouillon cube in the boiling water but mine were still fairly fresh and crumbly so I just crumbled it straight into the pot and added the water with the tomato sauce.) I deglazed with about a quarter cup of red wine and that wasn't called for but I like the flavor that wine adds to a slow cook like this. Stir in the tomato sauce and nestle the shanks into the boiling mixture. Cover tightly and simmer for 2 hours or until tender - stir occasionally (I went and turned the shanks over at about the halfway point). Stir together the flour and water until smooth. Remove the bay leaf and add the flour to the sauce. Cook until thickened.

I served it over couscous because it was the fastest thing to make. It was gobsmackingly delicious. Meag ate an entire bowlful of couscous to catch all of the amazing sauce. If lambs are this tasty, next I'm hunting wabbits.

Luscious Lemon Loaf

Joe noted last night that I was waxing rhapsodic about summer foods (I think it was the wish for a big bowl of potato salad that clinched the deal).

Lemon sort of goes hand in hand with summer for me and I was wanting to give this a try so...

1/2 c softened butter
3/4 c white sugar
2 T VE Lemon Chiffon Fruit Dip Mix
2 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c milk

Preheat to 349F (or round up if you insist). Prepare your loaf pan with your removal facilitator of choice and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy and then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk and then spoon into the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden. Cool before icing with Lemon Chiffon Icing (1/2 c of "spreadable light cream cheese" with 1 T of VE Lemon Chiffon).

Okay, warning: this is not a recipe for a wee loaf pan, this is a big loaf. The yield said 5 oz which sounds positively scant (oh, barely over a half cup!) but when it's given in metric, the truth is revealed... 1.5 L. Think about that for a second, think about how big a 2L milk carton is! If I seem especially fervent about it this time, it's because I'm cleaning burnt cake batter off of the bottom of my oven this afternoon. In my defense, this gets a lot of loft for something that, in batter form, closely resembles a pound cake. It made for the edges of the pan like a champ and was spilling over in no time.

The other thing to note is that the icing is probably only meant to cover the top of the loaf. I really like the looks of loaves that have been turned over on the plate though, I think they look like big chocolates so I tried. One half cup is a ridiculous amount of icing to try to spread over a cake and I really shouldn't have tried (I'm a professional, I should know better) but... anyway. The icing is scary it's so good (especially after I whipped it) and you really wouldn't want much more than that on the cake.

I left the Lemon Chiffon Blueberry Squares recipe for Erin to try. Over to you!

If at first you don't succeed...

..make the Herb & Garlic Cheddar Biscuits again. I set the timer for 20 minutes because 30 minutes at 450F seemed like a hellaciously long time. Well, 20 minutes was still too long but they were definitely edible this time. Next time I'll check at 15 minutes and go from there.

Anyway, to go along side with that I cooked up some packaged gnocchi that I had in the fridge (did I ever mention that making gnocchi from scratch is on my 100 list?). I also melted 2 T butter into a little saucepan and then whisked in about a T of flour, maybe a little more. After it cooked a little bit I added about 3/4 c of milk and 2 T (thereabouts) of Epicure Caesar Dressing Mix and simmered it for a couple of minutes until it started to thicken.

I piled the gnocchi into a couple of whiteware baking dishes, truth be told, it would have worked better to make three of them. The sauce had thickened a little too much so I whisked in about another half cup of milk and then about 1/4 c of parmesan cheese and poured it over the gnocchi. I sprinkled it with bacon bits because I didn't have any real live bacon (that would have completely rocked it) and then threw it into the oven that was still hot from the biscuits for a couple of minutes.

After I pulled the pasta out, I grated a little bit of pecorino cheese over the top of it and served it with buttered biscuits. A little salad with vinaigrette would have finished it off perfectly but it wasn't to be tonight.

Herb & Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

I tried this one for lunch today and I had to post it immediately because if you haven't made your dinner plans yet and you have the Herb & Garlic Dip Mix (and if you don't, you really should talk to us about getting it), you should start your plans around these biscuits.

2 c flour
4 t baking powder
2 T VE Herb & Garlic Dip Mix
1/2 t salt
1/4 c cold butter
1 c grated cheddar
2/3 c milk

Preheat to 450F. Mix all of the dry and then cut in the butter until pea sized crumbs. Stir in the cheese. Stir in the milk, the dough will be fairly wet until you turn it out onto a floured board (hey, when did Donald Sutherland start doing voiceovers for orange juice commercials? Is he paying off a mortgage or something?) and knead it 6-8 times. Pat it out to about 1 cm thick and then cut it into your shapes and put them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

The book said 30 minutes but I was on the phone with Joe when I put them in the oven and didn't look at the time. I took them out when I could smell them but didn't take into account that I was in my bedroom at the other end of the house. To make a long story short (Too late!), I burned mine and I don't know how long they were in the oven.

So the tasting part is based completely on the top half of the biscuit but even that was substantial, they had a lot of loft to them.

**Editor's Note: I tried them again for 18 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet and they were still much browner than they should have been. The next time that I try them, I'm going to drop the temperature because the insides are cooked almost perfectly so the time is good. I will keep you posted, natch.**

Chicken Fajitas

I don't have a picture of these but I wish that I had taken one because they looked so good and they tasted really good (even though we forgot to bring the peppers and onions, Nancy had a handful of yellow onions in the fridge and we made that work). Simple, simple.

Generous amount of vegetable oil in a bowl or baggie.
T or so of Epicure Fajita Seasoning
5 ginormous chicken breasts

Mix the oil and seasoning. Cut the chicken into strips and dump it into the marinade as you cut it. We only let it sit and marinate for about 10 minutes or so (long enough to cut the onions) but it would be really good if you let it sit longer. Chicken breast doesn't need all that much marination but I would imagine that a cut of beef would. Erin tried and I'm hoping that she gets to post it once she gets her computer back from the Best Buy Geek-Bastard Squad.

After the chicken is cooked, set it aside and fry up the onions and peppers (if you remember to pack them) in the seasoned oil that's left in the pan until they're tender.

Wrap it all in a tortilla and you're good to go.

Sesame ginger ribs

Combine 1/2 cup Epicure Sesame Ginger Grilling Sauce with 1/2 cup water. Add 1 tsp Lousiana Hot'nSpicy dip mix and just a shake of salt.
Brown a pound or so of ribs with about 4 cloves of garlic.
Place in a glass baking dish and pour the sauce over it. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at 325F for an hour, turn the heat down to 275 for another hour and a half. Baste a couple of times. Remove the foil for the last half hour.

Served with rice cooked with 1/2 tsp of Louisiana Hot'n'spicy, and stir fried veggies. MMM!

Tzatziki Salmon

Okay, here it is - my first post!

Tzatziki Salmon

Mix 1 Tbsp margarine with 1 Tbsp white flour in a glass measuring cup.
Heat in microwave until melted, stir and heat again to cook a little.
Add 1 cup milk, and 1 tsp Epicure Tzaziki dip mix, and salt to taste (not a lot). Stir well and nuke again for about 2 minutes, whisking from time to time.
When it has thickened, almost boiling, remove and pour over salmon fillets in a glass baking dish.
Microwave for ten minutes if thawed, 20 if frozen, or bake in a 400F oven a similar amount of time.
Serve with rice (parboiled, with 1/2 tsp of Louisiana Hot'n'Spicy dip mix) and steamed broccoli.

A family favourite.

Lessons Learned From Sumplings Round Two

1. If you've posted the recipe before, have a look at the post because you probably made notes about what you would change. I was making the Satay sauce out of the Epicure Asian Kitchen cookbook and thought to myself, "You know, this makes a lot of sauce, I should only do a half recipe next time." So, guess what I said the first time I posted about it. Yep. *Sigh*.

2. Steam one tray at a time. The eating and the refilling of the tray are about the time it takes for the one in the wok to finish cooking. Don't put in two trays at once because it leaves you to just sit and fiddle with your chopsticks.

3. When you have to take a tray out of the wok, watch out for the steam. I have tender fingertips now because of that damn steam. If you refill the wok with water the steam goes down for a minute and that's the best time, it's certainly long enough to exchange trays. This as sort of the anti-FGF moment for me because, of course, I figured it out on the last tray.

We made three kinds of fillings: Pork/Beef and Vegetable, Spicy Crab, and Spinach with Shrimp. We also had three different sauces: Satay, Asian Sweet & Spicy (from the cruet), and Sesame Orange Dipping Sauce (see below).

1/2 c mayo
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T frozen OJ concentrate
2 t VE Oriental Stir-fry Seasoning
1 t sesame oil
1 t soy sauce
1/2 t sesame seeds

Whisk first six and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Or, if you're me: whisk everything together, throw it in an empty Epicure jar and put it in the fridge until you need it.

Battling Risottos

Joe's becoming the Master of All Things Risotto so I'm taking a stab at retaining my risotto "cred" with this PLUS... I finally got to cook with saffron which has been on my Hundred List for ages. This was loosely taken from the Epicure Bella Cucina cookbook.

5 1/2 c vegetable stock (or a lighter chicken stock as I used)
3-4 threads saffron (YIPPEE)
2 T butter
1 1/2 c arborio rice
2 t VE Toasted Onion (or the 3-Onion crack)
1/3 c dry white wine (okay, the cookbook lists this as optional but in my world, wine is not optional when it comes to risotto, it is a hard fast rule. The other hard fast risotto/wine rule is that you are not limited to "dry white wine", you can of course use the last half cup of the wine left over from dinner the night before)
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
Bunch of cooked shrimp
Good sized handful of pecorino cheese (the shrimp and cheese are just me, the cookbook stops at peas but along with the risotto/wine rule, there is also a risotto/cheese rule that I won't go into here today)

Heat the stock and saffron up to a gentle simmer and reduce temperature to keep hot.

Melt butter into a pan, add the rice and onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until the rice begins to turn translucent. Add the "optional" wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then comes the fun part...

Step One: Add a ladle full of the stock to the rice in the pan. Stir until the stock is absorbed.
Step Two: Repeat step one.

Continue until you've run out of stock and/or the rice is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese then stir in the peas and shrimp. Cover for about 5 minutes, give it a stir and serve it.

I think the only thing that I would really change would be to take the tails off of the shrimp, I didn't mind so much but I don't think that Meag really got into it like that.

Oh yeah, and the saffron? I must sheepishly admit that I'm not sure I could taste it. I would have to make the whole thing again without the saffron and see if I could taste a difference. What I do know is that it was mighty tasty. K,J

Words (Almost) Fail Me

Again, not what I had planned to make today but when I was talking to my most excellent butcher at Pal's, I noticed these little crown rack pork roasts. Basically, it was a crown roast, quartered. It even came with little paper hats for the ends of the ribs! (For lack of tape, I was not able to take a picture of the roast with the little paper hats *sad music*).

Okay, I let it rest until it lost the chill from the fridge then I seared it really well with a mix of butter and olive oil. I threw it into my little baking dish because it was just the right size and covered it with... Dijon Tarragon Dip! Yep, I made it a couple of days ago just for dip but figured that it would probably work as a pseudo rub. I slathered the stuff all over the top and sides of the roast, inserted the thermometer and stuck it in a 325 F oven.

As good as that church Pageant dinner was last year, I did overcook that roast a bit. I was on the thermometer this time like a bloody hawk and as soon as it hit 160 F I pulled it out and tented it with aluminum foil until it reached 170 F.

I made mashed potatoes with cream and butter (left over from baking) and cooked some carrots in the steamer above the potatoes. Meag made a Honey/Lemon Dilly Sauce for the carrots (I think we all know that one) and the meal was on.

It was a really generous cut of meat after I sliced it into four chops. The potatoes were pretty close to lump free and the carrots were a nice bit of tangy in the middle of all of the savoury goodness.

There's one chop left (we had a guest for dinner) and I think I might have to wrestle Meag for it.

I'm going to be writing another post about the potatoes. It really deserves a post of its own.

**Note: A small roast takes about 2 hours to finish at this temperature. When I made it again and looked over the recipe (see, I learned to check the post before I start) I noticed that I hadn't put in the time. Good to know whether you should start approximately 6 hours ahead or approximately 2 hours ahead, doncha think?**

Tartare Sauce

This was Meag's contribution to the meal and IMHO the high point. It's also from her cheapo cookbook. The funny part was when she was reading the ingredient list to me to check if we had everything. We did. It was just funny for some reason and we were both kind of giggling about it. I love my kitchen, even when I hate it.

1 1/2 c mayo
1 T finely chopped onion (we substituted an equal amount of Epicure 3 Onion)
1 t lemon juice
1 T chopped gherkins
1 t chopped capers
1/4 t Dijon mustard
1 T finely chopped parsley

Mix it all together and season with salt and white pepper.

I think it was the gherkins. Gherkins are inherently funny.

I Can't Get It Into My Mouth Fast Enough

I was on my way home from the grocery store with nothing to eat. Well, just ingredients. I had stopped for a little browse near the deli prepared meals but didn't really see anything that interesting plus I've been making a concerted effort to reacquaint myself with my kitchen. So, what I ended up doing was making a really simple bechemel sauce:

2 oz butter
3 T flour
2 c milk

Mix the butter and flour over low until the butter has melted and then for about 2 minutes until bubbly and golden. remove from heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to heat and bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the sauce boils and thickens. Simmer 2 minutes.

At that point I added:

1 generous T of Epicure Caesar dressing
A few generous T of grated parmesan

I served it over leftover pasta (from the Quicky Chicken Florentine) with pieces of chicken (from the Creamy Gravy Odyssey).

Because it actually looked pretty bland in the first photo that I took, I cut up a little bit of the fresh parsley that I bought (for tomorrow's cooking adventure) and sprinkled that on. Parsley garnish, how passe I know but at least it was Italian parsley.

Cream Gravy Odyssey

I roasted a chicken last night (because isn't that where good gravies start, some sort of roast?). Mixed a whack of Epicure Herbes des Provence with butter and greased that little 4 pound bird up. I don't remember why but I decided to roast it breast side down and resting on a bed of carrots, celery and onion. Little salt, a little pepper and into the oven for a couple of hours. I even basted the little guy. No pictures because it was really just a roast chicken and we all know what that looks like. I tasted the pan drippings thought and thought that I might take a stab at gravy since it was so tasty.

I've never once had luck with gravy but I have a tendency to wing it with my proportions when I try this stuff because when I saw my mom and grandmother doing it, they didn't measure at all (having, of course, the experience of a thousand collective gravies between them). So I pulled out one of the go-to cookbooks and tried this (sort of, some people never learn).

2 T meat drippings (fat and juices)
2 T flour
1 c liquid (meat juices, broth, water)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Make a roux from the drippings and the flour over medium still smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir in liquid and return to heat until boiling. Boil one minute, season and Bob's your uncle.

Okay, confession time. I used butter and flour for my roux because... just because. I was going to use somewhere between a quarter and a half cup of milk topped up with the tasty liquid in the roaster for my liquid. This would have worked really well if I had one of those measuring cups that has the spout feeding from the bottom of the glass. As it was, the liquid was mostly the fat floating on the top and I was tired of playing with it all so I steamed ahead and ended up with something that looked like a nice cream sauce as long as you were stirring it but didn't look so hot if you just left it alone.

So the fault was mine and not the recipe. I will master gravy, I will. But the chicken was amazing.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Simple stuff really. One package of cream cheese with about a cup of mayo. A generous tablespoon of the Roasted Red Pepper Dip Mix, some black pepper and a generous 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Into the oven at 350F for about 20 minutes in Katie's little bowls that she brought back in her suitcase from Sweden (sigh of relief that they were actually ovenproof, I wouldn't have tried if I had known what they were in advance).

Yummy, yummy. Excellent on the French bread from Erin's machine.

These ribs were better

I don't have a barbecue. This is one of the great sadnesses in my life right now. I believe that summer heat is made tolerable only by the ability to cook outdoors and not pollute the inside of your house with all of that excess thermal energy from the oven. I've been tolerating the heat smog in my apartment and actually running the oven because I can make things like these ribs. And that potato salad. I can take or leave the cucumber slices.

Put the ribs in a foil lined roaster (I don't think that the foil actually contributes to the cooking but, boy, does it make the cleanup a lot easier). Cover with more foil and roast at 350F for about an hour. Take the foil off, smear with some form of barbecue sauce or glaze and throw them back in the oven uncovered. Baste a couple of times over the next hour and then they're done. Yummy. Nice caramelization, not too tough or dry. I was thinking that they would be really good glazed with the Epicure sauce that we tried at Erin's party, the one with the ginger in it. Maybe a little onion and orange marmalade to thicken and sweeten it. Yummy again.

Served with potato salad. 6 cooked potatoes and 2 hard boiled eggs cut into chunks or slices or whatever floats your boat. Add enough mayonnaise to make it as mayo-y as you like. I added a tablespoon each of Bacon, Cheese & Chive Dip mix, 3-Onion Dip mix, and Lemon Dilly Dip mix (if the combo sounds familiar, it's the magic three from the Extraordinary Cheese Dip). It was a great meal and I have to say that the Ice Capp was the perfect way to end the meal. Thanks Erin! Okay, now I'm not posting anything else until someone else does, it's starting to feel a little too much like The Me Show (starring Me! It's Me! (you'll have to mentally supply the catchy theme music yourself)).

BLT Bites

You won't believe how hard it was to get a good picture of these little buggers. I made these for the Alpha Celebration Dinner tonight. They were really easy but I wish that I had started them earlier in the day because they could have done to sit in the fridge chilling for a bit longer. I wasn't sure how many people were going to be there so I cut them a little smaller so that this recipe cranks out about 54 little bundles. You could make them bigger if you wanted though. As you will see, I even went so far as to stick little 70s-bridge-party frilly toothpicks into them. What a hoot.

1/2 c mayo
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 T thick and chunky salsa
1/2 T Epicure Sundried Tomato & Herb Dip Mix
1 t dijon mustard
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
9 tortillas (you could totally do fewer tortillas though, I was trying to stretch them a bit)
1 c finely chopped and seeded roma tomato
1/2 c shredded romaine

I went fancy on these, I trimmed the tortillas until they were square. I also used spinach, tomato, and cheese tortillas so there were some nice colours going on. Mix the mayo, cream cheese and flavouring stuff until well blended, then stir in the bacon. Spread the bacon mixture evenly over the tortillas. Evenly top with lettuce and tomato (you should have seen how finely I shredded the lettuce, I did a chiffonade. Very cool.) tightly roll them up and wrap them securely with cello wrap then put them in the fridge for at least an hour but definitely not overnight (I'm pretty sure that the lettuce would wilt a lot if they were in there for a really long time but I'm thinking 8 hours would be the max).

Cut them into 1" rolls and secure them with a toothpick. Cool beans.

A Foccaccia... (Bread, It's Bread)

So I call Erin around 5 to tell her how amazing this stuff smells. I'm referring to the combination of yeast, olive oil and Foccaccia Spices from Epicure.

I start this post around 5:40 because it's finished rising and my mouth is still watering from the smell and I would feel silly calling Erin to say "It still smells amazing, just thought you'd want an update".

I've got a little bit of olive oil in a dish, a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar in it. I've got a caesar salad using the Epicure recipe. I'm going to be breathing fire all night! I was told once that if everyone eats the same garlic-y meal, it doesn't smell strong to them.

Dissolve 2 packets of yeast with 1 T sugar and 1 c warm water for about 5 minutes. Soak 1/4 cup Foccacia Herbs in 1/3 c olive oil and 3/4 c hottish water, let it cool to lukewarm, add 2 t salt and mix it with the yeast. Add 4 cups of flour, a cup at a time, and knead for about 4 minutes (I used my dough hook). Put it on a baking sheet that has been liberally spread with olive oil and sprinkled with cornmeal (I skipped that ingredient obviously). Let it rise for 40 minutes and then bake it at 425 for 20-25.

Things that I would change: I'd use a little less flour and a little more oil in the preparation of it. I would also use my stone, I had no idea that it was going to be that big although 4 cups of flour and the huge amount of yeast might have given it away. If I was using my stone, I would put it in with the bread cold, because I baked mine on a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes and the bottom was a little too close to burnt for my tastes.

So, dipped in olive oil didn't work for me this time but Oh Lordy, dipped in Caesar salad dressing is something else entirely.

Who put the crack in my Extraordinary Cheese Dip?

Is it just me or is everyone else having a hard time resisting this one? I swear, I've made it probably around 6 times since that last Epicure party and that's a bit excessive I'm thinking. I made it last night in some of my medium sized ramekins (because my casserole dish has beef stew in it). I left it in for the usual amount of time which was technically a mistake because you have to adjust for shorter cooking times when you change the size of the cookware but O... M... G... The sides and bottom caramelized a bit and had this lovely smoky cheese flavour beyond what it usually does. Yay mistakes!

We're going to have to pin Dayna down and make her tell us which ingredient has the crack hidden in it. I'm thinking that it's the Bacon, Cheese and Chive Dip mix but then again, the Lemon Dilly jar is almost empty...

Extraordinary Cheese Dip

I know that we've made this, most of us have tasted it, some of us have tasted it at 3:30 in the morning because we couldn't resist its siren call. I keep losing the pieces of paper that I have it written on and I can only ask Erin for another copy so many times before I start to feel like a complete knob.

250 g spreadable cream cheese
1/2 c grated cheddar
1/2 c grated mozzarella
1 c mayo
1 t VE Cheese, Chives & Bacon dip mix
1 t VE Lemon Dilly dip mix
1 t VE 3 Onion dip mix
1 or 2 rounds of sourdough bread (or see the Wheat Snackers recommendation from March)

Combine all of the dip stuff until well blended. You can bake it at 350F for about 20 minutes or so in the sourdough loaf but I just use an ungreased casserole dish. I'm thinking of trying a mold to see if it will hold its shape next time because that would be really cool to see.

Crab & Artichoke Dip

This is sort of the recipe off of the side of the Pesto Artichoke Dip Mix and sort of what I vaguely remembered from Erin's Dips & Spreads Cookbook (pretty close actually).

1 14 oz can artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
3 T Pesto Artichoke Dip Mix
1/2 c mayo
2 small cans of chopped crabmeat (This is the vague part)

I mixed all of the stuff into the food processor until the artichokes were chopped the way that I liked. After that I stirred in the crabmeat and threw it in the over for about 20 minutes at 350 until it was lovely and hot. The kicker is that it tastes the absolute best when you've cooked it and then let it cool down. Yummers. I actually had to warn Meag to not eat it all on me because she bunked down with the casserole dish and a piece of naan and looked prepared to finish it off. I took the last of it over to Erin's for lunch on Tuesday and Liam finished off all of my crackers but had no interest in the dip. Daft boy :D

Greek Almond Cookies

This one is from the VE cook book Greek with Gusto,

1/2 LB butter, at room temp
3/4 cup sifted icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c ground almonds
icing sugar, sifted

1)preheat oven to 350

2)Beat the butter and icing sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanila and almond extract

3) combine flour, salt and ground almonds in bowl. add to butter mixture and combine until well blended.

4) if the dough is soft, chill until slightly firm

5) roll walnut sized piece of dough into a ball, space balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I used a small icecream scoop, so they were all the same size.

6) bake 1 sheet at a time for 12 - 15 minutes - I think I only cooked mine for ~ 10 minutes.

7) Remove from oven and let cookies cool on sheet until slightly firm - ~ 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Sprinkle heavily with icing sugar. Cool cookes completely before storing in a sealed container. - Yea, if they make it that far, I didn't sprinkle with icing sugar, didn't think they needed it.

These were REALLY GOOD COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!

Louisiana Hot and spicy Chicken Marinade

Ok, so I have no idea what this tastes like - I'll let you know when we actually cook the chicken.

I bought a bag of 3 chickens and just put 2 of them on the spit and they are cooking right now on the rotisserie of the BBQ! I am looking forward to eating those, but what to do with the third chicken?

I made a marinade of:

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp rounded of VE 3 onion dip mix
2-3 Tbsp VE Louisiana Hot and Spicy Dip mix

Shook it all up and through it into the bag with the chicken and made sure the chicken was coated in the marinade and I tossed it into the freezer. The thinking being that as the chicken thaws it will marinade itself!

I plan on putting this one on the BBQ rotissierie also - I'll let you know how it works out.

Beef & Orange Stir Fry

Out of the Epicure catalog. Next time I would add some red pepper strips as well. I'd also cut the beef myself because this was pre-cut "stir fry beef" and the pieces were enormous! Also, not all of them were cut properly with respect to the grain of the meat.

3 oranges (zest and juice removed from one)
2 T soya sauce
1 T VE Oriental Stir Fry Seasoning
1 lb bonelss sirloin steak, cut into 1/2" strips
1 T cornstarch
2 T vegetable oil
4 green onions, sliced

Stir together orange zest, juice of 1 orange with soya sauce and VE seasoning. Peel remaining oranges, cut in half and then slice into half-moon shapes. (I got to do that really cool thing that I've seen on all of the cooking shows where I slice off the skin and cut out each little section so I had these perfectly peeled little pieces of orange. It was wicked easy and it was on my 100 list.)

Toss beef with cornstarch and brown in vegetable oil over medium-high heat (I used my electric wok). Transfer cooked meat out onto a plate.

Pour stir-fry sauce into hot pan and reduce by about 1/3 until it's slightly thickened. Return beef and orange slices to pan (I added the green onion now too). Stir until coated. Serve over rice or noodles (RICE!)

It was a little too orange-y for me but I think that the peppers would probably help with that. It was still really orange to orange-yellow in taste. I would probably make it again, it was wickedly filling too.

Chicken Fusili with Snow Peas

But I didn't use fusili, I used whole wheat spaghetti. I did use snow peas and the rest of that bland chicken from the other night.

1 lb pasta
1 1/2 c whipping cream (I actually used evaporated skim milk because that was a tip on the bottom for a lighter version, I didn't think that my liver would do whipping cream today)
2 T Epicure Caesar Salad Dressing Mix (I added a little extra)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup cooked snow peas
fresh grated parmesan for garnish and accent.

Cook the pasta and in a separate pan, heat the milk/cream. Add the chicken and peas and continue to heat for 3-4 minutes. I added a couple of tablespoons of parmesan right to the sauce.

I guess it's supposed to be kind of like an alfredo sauce but it I think I let it thicken just a little too much. Still really tasty though, I would not put as much stuff in and maybe simmer the sauce a little longer to let it thicken naturally next time. That dressing mix was really nice in there though.

Oh yeah, this came out of the VE Bella Cucina cookbook (sort of)

I Think I've Killed My Tastebuds

Everything tastes really bland to me lately. I bought this ground lamb a while back with some vague idea about Shepherds Pie but it sat in the back of my freezer until the Epicure Greek With Gusto cookbook came along.

Gyro Burgers with Tzaziki

Made the tzaziki the night before with a grated and drained cucumber, about 2 cups of Balkan yogurt and a couple or three tablespoons of Epicure Tzaziki Dip Mix. Even this seemed a little bland to me, I added a little more tonight and I'll see how it tastes in the morning. Anyway, on to the burgers.

1 cup soft white breadcrumbs (I ran a crusty roll through the food processor)
2 T lemon juice
2 T water
2 tsp VE Hummus Dip Mix
1 tsp VE Lamb Seasoning
1 T VE Toasted Onion (I used a quarter of a red onion chopped up).
1/2 t VE Cinnamon (I used Non-VE Cinnamon)
1 lb lean ground lamb

These are supposed to be served in pita pockets with tomato and red onion. I served them on crusty buns topped with Tzaziki and chopped tomato. I totally forgot about the onion.

Oh yeah, my FGF moment was when I thought to chop up a bunch of feta and stuff it into the middle of the burger before putting them in the George Foreman Grill (yeah, really. Hey, I live in an apartment, I can't have a barbecue!).

Final vote? I would make them again. I think with a little tweaking, this might be a damned fine little meal.

Dijon Terragon Roast Chicken

So, I had this chicken, ...
and I also had some VE Dijon Terragon Dip Mix and some butter and I rubbed it all over Mr. chicken and WOW was he good!

The Bisquick Chronicles

I've given this one verbally to Erin over the phone at least once so I thought that this would be a good day to add it to the file. Plus, that's what we had for supper.

Pizza Casserole (6-ish)

3 1/3 c Bisquick
1 c milk
2 small cans or one large-ish jar of pizza sauce
2 c grated mozzarella
whatever pizza toppings you be cravin'

Mix the milk and Bisquick in a bowl. Spray a 9" x 13" casserole dish with baking spray (I'm using my Epicure oil atomizer for this). Drop 1/2 of the Bisquick dough by the spoonful across the bottom of the dish (it won't cover it). Spoon half of the pizza sauce haphazardly over that. Sprinkle half of your toppings and then half of your cheese. Repeat the layers and bake at 425F for 20-25 minutes. Yummy.

This is even better for breakfast the next day. What?!! Everyone eats pizza for breakfast at some point in their life! According to the Great Wiki, Bisquick has transfats but not cholesterol. I'm not a big fan of the transfats so maybe someone's tried their own pre-mixed baking stuff and can post the recipe? I had a great one back in Ottawa oh so many years ago but not any more.

Roast Beef

OK, so I did a roast beef (inside round I think) and did the S&P pan fried in olive oil and a bit of butter then rubbed it down with some VE 3 onion dip mix - put it in at @300 until it was 163 on the meat thermometer.

EXTREMLY GOOD!!

then cut up potatoes and carrots roasty style and tossed them with olive oil, 3 onion dip, paprika, celery salt, oregano, basil, s&p, marjoram and thyme. into the oven with you fellows and nummy it was (Katie made me say the last bit! ;P )

Think the herbs provincial (or whatever) that I bought tonight will be good on veg too.

VE odds and ends

No 'recipe' this time out - just a few things I have used my epicure spices in and worked!

egg salad - lousianna hot and spicy dip with 3 onion dip mix - tasty!

roasted chicken - butter mixed with Tyee fish rub and tapinade spices about 3 to 1 tyee to tapinade. rub the mixture over the chicken and throw some inside the cavity too. Way good!!

Potato wedges done in the oven with - the Tyee rub - also very good
another time I used tziki sauce dip mix with the 3 onion - rockin!

Cedar Plank Salmon and Hot Fudge Monday

Our fish was a little further along in the process than the one in the picture but all of the pictures of cedar plank salmon were boring. So I've never tried this method of cooking fish before and I bought the Tyee Fish Rub without tasting it first. I mixed some into about a 1/4 cup of olive oil until it was sort of somewhere in between sauce and paste. I soaked the planks in a big bowl in my bathtub for about 6 hours then I rubbed a little oil over them, put the salmon down and covered them with paste (and doesn't that sound appetizing?) Threw them into the oven at 325 F (found that number on the net, I didn't know if it was supposed to be a really hot over or not) for about 25 minutes.

After about 10 minutes, Meag came out and predicted that we would soon be hearing from the smoke detector. I didn't know that cedar planks, as they dry in the over, warp upwards into an arch (as opposed to warping downward into a bowl). This meant that, as the fish cooked and released some of the juices with the olive oil mixed in (it's not always attractive but it's really tasty), they were sliding down the arch and dropping to the superhot oven floor. So, note to self: next time you're cooking cedar plank salmon, put a cookie sheet on the rack below.

We never did hear from the smoke detector and if someone can explain to me why I can fill the entire room with acrid woodsmoke it doesn't do a damn thing yet when Meag is boiling water for pasta, we're having to fan it with towels every five minutes, I will bake them their own Triple Ginger Pound Cake.

To console myself over all of the smoke (and because I was having a chocolate jones) I made Hot Fudge Monday. You know those Dr. Oetker Cake & Sauce packages, they come in chocolate, apple, lemon, caramel, etc? It's just like that only you know what's going into it (not that I don't trust Dr. Oetker, he invented baking powder, you know)

Hot Fudge Monday (6 servings)

Cake: 1 cup flour
3/4 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 1/2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t baking powder (thank you Dr. Oetker!)
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup skim milk
2 T vegetable oil

Sauce: 1 cup unpacked brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups boiling water

Prepare the cake batter, the original recipe does the separate dry and wet mixing but I just threw them all in a bowl and it worked out just fine. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 8"x8" baking pan (I've only tried it in pyrex).

Mix the brown sugar and cocoa for the sauce together and sprinkle them evenly over the top of the cake batter. Pour the boiling water gently over the top but don't stir it in (very important!). Bake @ 350 F for 40-45 minutes and then let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving warm. Spoon the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the individual servings of cake. (Only 17% fat)

Oh, yeah. The salmon was f---ing amazing. I ate my first piece of it while standing and dishing the food out onto the plates. It was that good.

Hot Greek Dip

I know, I know, it just sounds dirty. It was Hors d'oeuvres Night in the apartment (a somewhat impromptu feast that occurs when all the stars are in the right alignment.) This was one of the Epicure recipes from Erin's party. I'm going to have to get a hold of some of the spices because I liked it and Meag ate about a cup and a half of it with pita bread wedges and Wheat Snacks (see above, the best cracker that I've ever tasted. It's so tasty that I'm afraid to look at the nutritional information.)

Hot Greek Dip

1 package cream cheese
1 cup mayo
1 cup feta
2 tsp VE Tapanade
1/4 cup olives
1/2 T each of VE Red Bell Peppers, VE Green Bell Peppers, VE Minced Garlic, VE Toasted Onion.

Put it all in the food processor. Microwave or put in the over at 350 F for 20 to 30 or bubbly.

Okay, I used the Tapanade seasoning and the dried onion because Erin had some but instead of the dehydrated peppers and garlic I used about a tablespoon of minced garlic and I threw in some roasted red pepper. I also kept the cover on the casserole dish while it was in the oven.

The McNarland Contribution to the Easter Feast

Fantastic feast! Yesterday I roasted 5 chicken breasts with olive oil, white and black pepper, and Alder Smoked Sea Salt (just to try it out). I cut a little piece off of one as I was puttering and then made Meag taste it, we then stood there and ate one of the breasts a chunk at a time. It was amazing and much harder than it should have been to put the other 4 away for the next day.

This afternoon, I made Meaghan's Chicken Curry recipe using the new Madras curry powder from Epicure. Food has no business being that shade of yellow. Dredge the chicken pieces in flour, curry powder and cumin then saute them till they're done. Pull them out of the pan and deglaze using equal parts chicken stock and orange juice. Add a couple of tablespoons of mango chutney and boil it till it's thickened. Whisk in some sour cream, add the chicken back and heat it all up. I'd like to add a little fresh cilantro next time.

After I wrapped it up, Meag went in and used the roasted chicken breasts to make her Chicken Kormadoori again (a good recipe has to be repeatable and she totally pulled it off). I'll get her to post the recipe.

Now I'm going to harass Erin until she posts her side of things although I may return to wax rhapsodic about the chicken and spinach.

Steamed Sumplings

I meant to type dumplings but I liked this better. I started the day planning a stir fry using tofu that I had marinated in homemade Teriyaki sauce. I was going to steam some dumplings as an appetizer. I got bored in the afternoon and put together some Yakitori Sauce for the stir fry, figuring that I could save a little bit of it to dip the dumplings in. After that I made some Indonesian Satay Sauce because I still felt like cooking.

A quick run to the store and I had put together a pork/vegetable filling and a crabmeat filling for the little guys. Meag and I stood at the kitchen counter and stuffed wonton wrappers in between dumpling breaks. Maybe not the most traditional meal in the world, standing at the kitchen counter with a wokful of boiling water between us, getting cornstarch all over the place (both of us wearing black, to boot), and eating a bamboo tray at a time so that we could refill them but it was good.

I would definitely make the Satay sauce again but I would probably just make a 1/2 recipe as this made WAY too much for just the two of us. The Yakatori sauce was the big hit and went really well with the crab. Steamed dumplings were on my 100 list so this was cool.