Everything's Better Cooked With Wine

You know it's true. Other than balsamic vinegar, cooking wine is the mvp in the kitchen. This sauce is basically made up of white cooking wine and cream. It's even ok if you lick it off the plate; everyone would understand.  

I arranged sliced portabella mushrooms in the bottom of the pan, poured white wine over top, almost covering the mushrooms. Then I salted and peppered chicken breasts and laid them on top of the mushrooms. After baking, I poured the wine and chicken juices into a saute pan, let it boil down a bit, and added some chicken broth and cream. The result - yumtastic!

Dessert Disaster

I've been wanting to make Madeleines since August, but I just finally found a recipe and purchased a Madeleine pan. I went to William Sonoma and bought a nice quality non-stick pan. In retrospect, I was a little too excited (see picture below).

 The instructions were very specific. I had to fold the batter in a certain way, I had to let the batter rest for a period of time before baking. I also had to take a drop of the wet mixture (eggs, vanilla, etc.) and drop it into the dry mixture. Then right after, I had to put the whole dry mixture right back into the wet mixture, an odd step, which I did, but did not fully understand. I also had to knead the butter with a wooden spoon until it was the texture of mayonaise.

  Here I am putting them into the oven. (Way too optimistically)

Uh Oh...they're not supposed to be that big...

 Holy Crap! They're like the French Madeline Alps!!

Horrible.

After three batches, I finally got 3 single cookies to come out looking the way they are supposed to. I had to turn the oven down about 15 degrees, butter the cookie tray (even though it's non-stick) and put about a quarter of the batter in each cookie mold. They tasted like "really good corn muffins," which is the worst compliment you can get after trying to make a famously delicate tea cookie. However, I'm not discouraged. As soon as I can build up  my depleted butter and egg reserves, I will be at it again until I can make a Madeleine that Proust himself would be proud of.

Nostalgia in a Sub

Last night, I made meatball subs, which would be uneventful to most, but I became unexpectedly nostalgic. I didn't make them with the intention of re-creating childhood memories, but as I was tasting the sauce and toasting the rolls, I found that I was gearing myself up for the disappointment that they wouldn't taste like the meatball subs that my grandfather made one night several years ago.

I can't remember how old I was, maybe 9? But my aunt and her family had just flown in from wherever they were living at the time. Japan? Washington State? I don't really remember the specifics, it's just that whenever they came to Maryland, our very simple and quiet life all of the sudden got crazy. I was an only child at that time and the only grandchild for thousands of miles, but when my aunt came to town she had "the kids" with her.  My grandparent's quiet house would all of the sudden become Grand Central Station. And if I got to go the the airport to pick them up, that was even more of a treat. I got to push the baby stroller with my little cousins in it (both of whom are now in college) and the adults would excitedly chat the whole way home. I remember that this particular night, we got home from the airport pretty late, it was already dark out. Everyone in the house was excited and my grandfather made meatball subs for dinner. I remember standing in the kitchen watching as he methodically put tin foil over the cookie trays so they wouldn't get cheesy, and pop them under the broiler. It was a happy moment, full of life and energy. When they were ready, everybody grabbed their subs and ate them standing up. It was amazing, we didn't have to use a fork and knife, we didn't even have to sit at the table! We all just stood around the kitchen talking. (I felt very grown-up to be included in the adult conversation). It was at that moment that I decided when I grow up, I'm going to have a big family, full of commotion, laughter, and energy. I also remember the subs. Honestly, my grandfather probably just made them because they were easy. It probably wasn't even a big deal to anyone but me. The meatballs were juicy, the sauce was tangy, and not too runny, the cheese was thick and the rolls were toasted perfectly, with a big crunch. 

It's funny how food is so strongly associated with memories, but that is what makes food so emotional for people. Standing around the kitchen, with the people you love eating meatball subs is so much more meaningful than sitting in a stuffy fancy restaurant. In our house, and probably in most, food is what brings us all out of our seperate lives and brings us together. We eat together, talk together and become  closer family.

The meatball subs that I made were done from scratch, which probably isn't the way that Pop whipped them up for a quick late-night family meal, but I have the time. (No big family to attend to yet).

 I simmered the tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian spices, onion, sugar, and salt for 20 minutes. Then I pureed it in my blender to get a thicker sauce-like texture. 

 

The meatballs, I made with ground beef, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, finely chopped onion, bread crumbs, 1 large egg, dry red wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and dried oregano. I mixed all of the ingredients together with my hands and then formed balls, which I dredged in flour and browned in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

 

Then, I cooked them in the oven on 375 for 10 minutes. 

 Then I put them all together and broiled them (without tinfoil) for 2 minutes. 

 The finished product didn't taste exactly the same (it's interesting that I can remember after almost 20 years) but they tasted pretty damn good. The sauce and meatballs had more of an herb-y taste, but the cheese was still gooey and the rolls were toasted perfectly. They did bring me back to that night. I even said to Greg, I can see myself making these for our kids one day.  I probably won't make them from scratch. I won't have the time. But that will be just fine because my house will be full of commotion and laughter and no one will care that I used sauce out of a jar because we will be creating family memories. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts about food.

Come on Over!

The next time we have people over for dinner, I'm making this dish. This was a really solid recipe from The Joy of Cooking. What made it even better was that Greg helped me in the kitchen! The chicken had a great flavor, so we didn't even need to make a taco sauce. Next time, I would serve it with Spanish rice, but even without, they were yummy!
 

 
We bought chicken legs and removed the skin first. Then we made the Chili-Garlic Spice Paste that coats the chicken.We combined all of the ingredients, and since we don't have a food processor, we put them in the blender, which works the same. It comes out as an ugly, but not bad tasting, pasty liquid.

3/4 of a cup minced jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsps grated lemon zest (or lime)
2 tbsps cracked black peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsps chili powder

After we coated the chicken with the paste,we baked it for an hour. When it was ready, the chicken easily pulled away from the bone. We pulled and shredded the chicken and then used some of the pan drippings to add some more flavor to the chicken. Then we spooned the chicken into some flour tortillas. We added lettuce and a homemade tomato salsa.

 The recipe called for sour cream as well but after our gorge on butter last week, I omitted that. I think it tasted better without it anyways, fresh, clean flavors. We did add a tiny sprinkle of shredded cheddar on the meat though. I was happy to find a recipe Greg likes that does not include gobs of butter, cream, or cheese. I felt good making something that we didn't have to feel guilty eating. Maybe you can try this recipe at your house; the full recipe is in the Joy of Cooking (75th anniversary edition). Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!

Butter is Better

I made two dinners last week that had painful amounts of butter. First, I made Swedish Meatballs, which is unhealthy to begin with, and then the meatballs are cooked in a 1/2 inch of butter. Then after removing the cooked meatballs, I added chicken broth to the butter and crusty cooked bits to make the sauce. The next day, I made a creamy chicken and mushroom dish out of Julia Child's cookbook. She is the butter queen and this recipe was no different. This time I used butter and cream, as well as chicken stock to make the sauce. 

  Cooking the meatballs in straight up butter.

 Before I formed the meatballs I had to beat the meat mixture for ten minutes so it formed more of a smooth pasty ball and less of a lumpy hamburger ball.

The finished Swedish Meatball dinner

This is the sauce that I made for the creamy chicken dish. I added the green beans rght before I served the dish for some color and a bit of nutrients. The sauce tasted so wonderful. It was creamy and sweet and most of all, buttery!


I went to the gym a day or two later and I weighed about two pounds more! Maybe it's just from the slump of the winter time or the fact that I haven't been running since it's gotten so cold out, but I attribute it to the butter. So, from now on, I am determined to cook in a more healthy manner. Goodbye saturated fat. I will not see your ugly face again! (Until I made chocolate cake in a few weeks). I hope you're coping through these cold winter months. Who knows, maybe in the end, butter is the best way to make it through.

Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!

Great Food, Great People

We had a great New Year with our terrific friends, Mel and Dan. We went to our favorite sushi restaurant in Annapolis (Nano) for New Years Eve. We sat in the same booth that Melanie and Dan shared with us the night of our engagement Dec. 7, 2007.

New Years Eve 2011.

  

This was the picture taken on the night Greg and I got engaged, about three years ago .

 

Butternut Squash Soup

When I was a kid my mom had a tiny garden but still managed to grow several kinds of fruits and vegetables. That's where I learned to hate zucchini. They grew like weeds. We had them with every meal in the summertime and I hated it. She also had squash, my second most-hated vegetable. Ever since, I have been avoiding them, even though they might give a nice respite from  the monotony of green beans and broccoli. I recently had some butternut squash soup for the first time at a pot luck. I was reluctant at first, but with everyone else raving, I couldn't resist. It was delicious. (Thanks Brigid!) So I was inspired to try it for myself. I was surprised again, especially after seeing the ingredients (basically pureed squash and onion with vegetable or chicken broth/stock). I was sure it would taste horrible, but no! How did I ever become so traumatized as a child?

It smelled like sweetened pumpkin when I cut it. I almost wanted to lick it. Okay...I did lick it.

I cut the squash into 1" chunks and simmered them with a teaspoon of minced garlic and a chopped onion that had already been sauteed with a tablespoon of butter (or Canola oil for a healthier option). I used about 6 cups of chicken broth (again, vegetable broth would be a healthier and vegetarian option). Then I used a slatted spoon to take out all of the onion and squash chunks and puree them in my blender. Then I added the puree back to the stock and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. I used parsley just for dimension in the picture. I wanted to use a swirl of yogurt, like my cookbook shows, but mine was about a month expired. Hmmm...no thanks.

I ate it for 3 meals this week (although not consecutively) and didn't feel guilty at all. Low calories, and now I know I could eat for a whole day on just one butternut squash. Talk about a small carbon footprint! 

I'm looking forward to trying many more new things in 2011. I hope you enjoyed your holidays. Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!