Taking a Break

I will be taking a hiatus for a bit. I have some issues that need my undivided attention. So Bye for Now but I will be back.....

Treasures from the Gulf

This week has been odd in that the power was out for almost 48 hours this weekend. Needless to say, that did put a damper on my food plans. I usually spread out the food and cooking over two days, Saturday and Sunday. However, since only Sunday was available, I split up the menu and will prepare the rest next week. My plans were to use some of the wonderful seafood from the Gulf. Most of it is still readily available and safe to eat. This week I prepared:

Ginger-Soy-Lime Marinated Gulf Shrimp
Crayfish Stuffed Tomatoes
Strawberry Beignets

Whole Foods had Gulf shrimp that were very fresh and very large. A marinade of shallots, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, green onions, black pepper and EVOO is blended and the shrimp marinated for 25 minutes. Then they are grilled for about 3 minutes per side until pink and cooked through. The marinade was great on the shrimp and I expect would pair well with other seafood. Shrimp could be eaten hot or cold. Messy but good!

I really enjoyed the stuffed tomatoes. A mixture of cooked crayfish, basil, a bit of mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and Creole seasonings is placed in a hollowed out tomato, chilled and eaten on a lettuce leaf. I could have eaten the filling alone in a bowl with a spoon. Yum!

The Beignets were an interesting challenge. If you've been to New Orleans and had them at Cafe DuMonde with coffee/chicory au lait, you know how light and lovely they are. I can't imagine how they make them all so uniform, like small pillows with powder sugar sprinkled over them. Mine looked like mutant amoebas I remember from sophomore biology class. They were tasty however and I found a strawberry dipping sauce that went well.

Although abbreviated, this week was successful and hopefully the entree and salad will be the same next week. Enjoy the week and happy eating.

The Born Family Reunion

My family has had a reunion every (well almost every) June for many years. The original Born's were three sisters and one brother and their spouses. This year 2010 we only have two sisters left. One sister (my Mom) and her brother and their spouses are gone as are the spouses of the surviving sisters. Both remaining sisters are in their 90's and very spry. This year we met at Towering Pines in a forest preserve. It has been several years since I have been able to attend and the changes in the family are dramatic. Cousins and their families have grown beyond my wildest thoughts. I felt almost like a stranger, but it didn't take long to identify who went with whom. Everyone brings a dish to share and whatever entree they want for themselves. I should have remembered that an entree was not necessary given the spread on the serving table.

My dish to share was one I found in a Weight Watchers hand out. My entree was special for me.

Strawberry-Quinoa Salad
Greek Isle Chicken

The salad is very pretty and quite simple. The Quinoa is cooked and cooled. Sliced strawberries and thinly sliced English cucumber are tossed with it. A sesame-ginger dressing is mixed in. The mixture is served over baby greens which have been lightly dressed with the same dressing. It was very well received. I was surprised now many knew the grain. Not much left, but will have some for lunch this week.

The chicken is also very simple. A boneless skinless breast is sprinkled with Greek seasoning, browned in EVOO and removed while the sauce is cooked. A mixture of garlic, sliced grape tomatoes, oregano and pitted green olives makes up the sauce. After it is gently cooked the chicken is placed on top and finished off in the oven.


I will enjoy this too the rest of the week. All in all a nice week end. It was good to see family I have not seen in a long time and catch up with family news.


After hearing and reading about the oil spill in the Gulf, I have decided to do a menu featuring Gulf seafood for next week. One of my favorite chefs, John Besh has done a lovely cookbook "My New Orleans" I expect some of what I do will come from this book.

More from Vermont

I have a couple more dishes to try from last week using the cheddar cheese. This menu is a bit of a mish mash and contained my first real disaster.

Twice-Baked Cheddar Cheese Souffles
Grilled Romaine with Lemon Oil, Oranges and Shallots

Also,

Seared Duck Breast with Ginger-Rhubarb Sauce
Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole

I have not made a souffle in years. This recipe was a bit unusual in that they are in individual ramekins and twice baked. The ramekins are buttered and dusted with a mixture of Panko bread crumbs and ground hazelnuts. The souffle was pretty standard using eggs, separated and folded with the cheddar cheese. After the initial baking, they are turned out of the dishes on to a baking sheet. More cheese is placed on top and baked an additional 8 minutes. These were wonderful. The double baking gave them a nice crust on the outside and a soft cheesy center. Served with the grilled romaine salad with oranges, shallots and an orange-lemon oil dressing made for a nice light meal. The romaine softens when grilled but retains crunch.

Duck is a favorite of mine, but a whole duck is a lot to deal with. I found 2 very nice duck breasts. The breasts are seared in a hot pan skin side down. Much of the fat renders off and is removed. The breasts are seasoned, turned and finished meat side down. The cooked duck is sliced on the diagonal for serving. The sauce was a reduction of red wine, ginger, rhubarb, shallots and star anise. The reduction is served over the duck and is a very nice paring. The sauce is a bit tart and cuts the sometimes greasiness of the duck.

The casserole was awful. I can't explain what was wrong, but the beans were undercooked and the sauce was soupy. A terrible waste of lovely green beans and the cheese. Most of it went in the garbage.

My family reunion is next week so my food to go is still a work in progress. Hope the weather holds as I have not seen most of the family in a while.

Return to the Green Mountains

As promised I have put together a menu from the ingredients I brought back from Vermont. Cheddar cheese, maple vinegar, maple syrup and Vermont Common Crackers. My last visit I brought home a cookbook "Dishing Up Vermont". Two of the recipes I made came from that book.

Cheddar-Dill Scones
Grafton Cheddar Ale Soup
Fresh Spinach Salad with Basil Maple Vinaigrette

The scone recipe didn't come from the book but is from The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. They are made with butter, eggs, whipping cream, dill and cheese. Knowing they would be very rich, I made them small, about two bites each. I have lots of them and froze what was left for another time. They are excellent and go well with the soup and salad.

The soup was a surprise. I have made cheese soup before it is very heavy; hardly a good idea when the temperature is 90+ degrees. This was not heavy at all. I think the bottle of ale helped to smooth out the milk, cream, Worcestershire, dry mustard, garlic and chicken stock. The cheese melted nicely off the heat. Vermont Common Crackers are placed in the bottom of the bowl and soup poured over, as is done with chowders along the Maine coast. We are more accustomed to topping soups with oyster crackers which are very small in comparison. I reheated a bowl of the soup on Sunday and added a cup of blanched chopped broccoli (one of my favorite vegetables). It too was very good.

The salad is a mixture of chopped basil leaves, torn baby spinach, and minced shallots. I added grape tomatoes, cut in half, and fresh mozzarella. I made the mozzarella in a cheese class at Viking Cooking School a couple of days before. The dressing is maple vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt/pepper and EVOO. A perfect dressing for the salad. Crumbled maple bacon on the top and the salad is complete. Maple bacon is baked on a rack in the oven and brushed with maple syrup and fresh cracked black pepper. My favorite way to cook bacon. I was able to bake them with the scones so my kitchen did not get too hot.

Given that this is Memorial Day, I had to do some barbecue so I have two more recipes to do next week. Twice baked cheese souffles and a green bean cheddar dish.

I grilled a chicken breast and the last five minutes basted it with BBQ sauce mixed with mashed strawberries. I had it with leftover salad and iced tea. All in all a great foodie weekend and the recipes were simple and fairly quick so I could ready my balcony for the summer. Hanging baskets and a railing basket of herbs. A perfect sanctuary to relax with a book and a glass of something. Enjoy the week and well see you next time.

Springtime in Vermont

I'm back from visiting good friends in Vermont. Vermont is an amazing place. The population of the state is smaller than half of Cook County in Illinois. The scenery is gorgeous. The Green Mountains are so interesting. I called them the 'broccoli forrest' since the visual looks much like a bunch of broccoli. My friends are avid birders. I can't tell you how many species there are. A few are hummingbirds, orioles, cardinals, wood peckers, catbirds, grossbeaks, and finches of many varieties. The best was the last day... Indigo buntings!!! How blue they are!!! I know I left out many, but can't think of them. I was a bit disappointed...or not...that I did not see the bear.. But since I had to walk from the main house to the cottage (where I stayed) in the dark..maybe not.

Most villages are small. All have a 'country store' They have EVERYTHING. Beer, wine, vegetables, dairy, clothes, hardware, Movies, cosmetics...name it, they have it. Also galleries of local artists. My favorite village is Manchester. The home of Orvis, great clothes and fly fishing equipment and Vermont foods. Also an amazing book store. Northshire Bookstore!!! It has a cafe and we have lunch there and peruse books we are interested in while eating. We watched "Mash" Great way to spend an evening (they have all 14 seasons) and the "1900 House" film.

I purchased Vermont food to use next week in my meal. Maple syrup, Cabot Cheddar cheese, Vermont Common Cracher (oyster cracker on steroids) and a surprise , maple vinegar. Stay tuned for a menu to enjoy for spring.

Visiting Vermont

Since I will be away this week, I didn't prepare anything exciting except to empty my refrigerator of anything that would not keep. I oven roasted the leftover vegetables and mixed them with quinoa, used up the fresh fruit and salad greens. Nothing very creative or interesting.

What do you think of when you think of Vermont? Covered bridges, country roads and green hills? Well, I think of Vermont cheddar cheese, maple syrup,Vermont Common Crackers and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I hope to bring some crackers, cheese and syrup home with me and some new ideas on how to use them. The Ben and Jerry's probably would not do well in my suitcase? So I will get it at Dominick's. Hopefully next week I will have some interesting tasty things to tell you about.

Have a good week