Dinner out with my honey at Nosh 

. . . yes, we had dessert:  a Bananas Foster Frozen Creme Brûlée (look at that yummy spun sugar!) and Croissant Bread Pudding

It's November

The garden is done.  We did cover one of the raised beds with plastic, making an impromptu greenhouse.  Lettuces and swiss chard are coming up.  One of the harvested celery plants was moved to the greenhouse bed.  We'll see if it takes!  Dahlias and a few tomato plants are hanging on though the temps at night have dipped into the 30s.  Herbs have been dug up and transferred to teacups for the kitchen window.  From the kitchen counter we're still enjoying a few lovely heirloom and big girl tomatoes.

A Recent Foodie Adventure with Friends at Craftwood Inn

Roasted Beet Mosaic

Spiced Apples and Fresh Figs - appetizer salad

Rocky Mountain Elk with Roasted Apple Risotto, Crushed Hazelnuts,
Fontina,Nutella Powder, Wild Mushrooms, Arugula

Craftwood Inn Tapas: Pheasant Confit Arancini,
Smoked Duck Sausage and Wild Game Meatballs

Cheesecake with Mango Gelato and Berry Garnish

Jalapeno White Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Rosemary Torte

Raspberry Créme Brulee

February Eats

In the mood to munch, made a light bean, spinach and artichoke dip.  This modified recipe to includes 3/4 C light cottage cheese as a filler, grated frozen lemon for the fresh lemon juice and just a bit of grated parmesan on top; for the white beans, I used white kidney beans.

Here is a link to the original recipe: Artichoke, Spinach and White Bean Dip link

For dessert, I made date bars.  However, since the dates were chopped, and very dry chunks, I combined them with the required oil and an applesauce pak - heated for a minute in the microwave and then allowed to sit until the dates plumped, about an hour.  The bars turned out moist and delicious - required a companion glass of milk.  Possible variation - addition of 1/2 C of mini chocolate chips - next time!  Here is the recipe:  Date Walnut Bars

Langoustine Sauce over Rainbow Pasta JAN 2013

White wine sauce with lobster added at the last to warm through

Christmas Cookies for December 2012

Sugar Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle and Glitter Sprinkles

Pecan Bars for Thanksgiving at Baisley's

Birthday Cake from tea at Wisdom Tea House

Specially made for us - Apple Cake

Garden Delights July 2012

Many tomatoes led to yummy soup

Breakfast Casserole with tomatoes and swiss chard

The garden netted lots of arugula and basil -
mixed with toasted walnuts for a tasty pesto.  Freezes well.

Tomato with character

More from Sea Blue May 2012

Charred Caesar Salad

Macadamia Encrusted Gulf Black Grouper

Creme Bruleé of the Moment

MAY 2012  Yummy food from Sea Blue Restaurant, North Myrtle - Happy Hour!  Featuring Three Bite Kobe Burgers, Shrimp & Grits and Seasonal Strawberry Shortcake - we got the last one!

Italian Cod  

Butter, bread crumbs, chopped walnuts, lemon peel and juice, rosemary sprigs, parsley, cod, crushed garlic cloves, red chile, olive oil served over brown rice

April 2012: Micro Creme Brulee desserts

Two fall classes at Picnic Basket: 1) Sauces, 2) Heart Healthy

Finished meal: Swai, couscous, grilled asparagus

Chef Noah made whipped cream

Cooking a roux

Fully browned roux

Concasse tomatoes, before chopping 

Tomato sauce

Smoked Salmon Vodka to add to the sauce

In class we made Swai (fish), couscous, grilled asparagus - all with a light hand.  For dessert we made pistachio pudding with whipped cream folded in, displayed on a pear half and garnished with chopped nuts.

For sauces we cooked roux (white) then cooked it further, until browned. With our knife skills we to concasse tomatoes, separating the skin from the flesh, seeding the chopping for sauce.  After cooking the sauce down quite a bit, we added the smoked salmon vodka and some cream for Vodka sauce over pasta.  

December Delights

At least once a year I make baked donuts for our dentist.  I have learned to make them small and to plate them on at least two trays since I 'know' one person will down a whole plate himself.  Making them the night before a holiday delivery, a star cookie cutter was handy for shaping the dough.  The source is a fun cooking murder mystery:  Galaxy Doughnuts from Diane Mott Davidson's, Cereal Murders  Note: I use all whole wheat flour instead of the mix in the recipe.  After baking, we always dip ours in melted butter and then dredge in a cinnamon sugar mix.  This time we added read and green sprinkles.  They never last long!

I found myself wanting some home-made apple pie.  But I didn't want to be bothered with a top and bottom crust.  So, I made a single crust and topped the sliced apple mix (combined with lemon juice, cinnamon sugar and dabs of butter) with a single crust.  After cutting slits in it and brushing with milk, I baked the pie, filling the house with that familiar cinna-scent.

Speaking of baking, on a trip to Denver we stopped at Lucille's in Littleton for brunch.  Oh my - here is a picture illustrating why they are famous for their beignets.

More November cooking

For a gathering we attended, I found a recipe in the book, Small Bites by Jennifer Joyce.  It combined pears (I used canned), arugula and prosciutto.  Topping each, a shard of parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a twist of freshly ground black pepper.  Rolling up all inside the prosciutto, placing seam side down for a beautiful presentation and delightful bites.  

Finding whole chickens on sale, I cooked one with piles of chopped carrots, celery and onion making lots of lovely broth.  After deboning it for a recipe of Chicken and Dumplings, I pureed the cooked veggies and about half of the broth (six cups or so) Adding a cup of white wine formed the base.  After adding the chicken in and correcting the seasonings, I mixed up a batch of dumplings, adding them to steam.  It made a lovely comfort food dinner with a side salad.

Since we generally schedule our holidays on alternate dates, I pre-made all of our Thanksgiving dishes so that they would be ready to reaheat.  A great way to use fresh out of season (not the most tender) green beans - a recipe for Crock Pot Green Beans from the Test Kitchen magazine.  Slow cooked with a mushroom white sauce, they were tender and tasty and freed me to work on other items.  For mashed potatoes, I cooked a potful of quartered Idaho potatoes (not peeled).  After cooking and draining most of the liquid, I coarsly mashed them.  By adding heated half & half, a bit of melted butter, a half cup of grated white cheddar and a half bottle of ale found depth of flavor.  Oh yum!  While the Turkey was grilling (in a foil pan, coated with melted butter and white wine), I made some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and the dinner.  

Tonight's adventure

Making some cold weather treats.  The house smells yummy.  I'll update later.  Find Ina's recipe here:  Gingerbread Cupcakes

Using a Stick Blender

So this tool had lain largly under-used in my kitchen until my darling husby figured out that it needed a new batter to zoom through sauces.  Once turbo-charged it has become a favorite go-to tool.  By keeping the blender at the bottom of the pot there really is no splashing.  Do wear an apron though.

Here is a recipe that I enjoyed:  Spaghetti-Bolognese.  It shows a great comparison between store-bought sauce and homemade.  Of course the homemade sauce is excellent and much more cost-effective.  For my variation, I used Sara's Italian Sausage (found at King Soopers).  The pureeing is done on the sauce before the sausage is added in.  Tomato soup is a surprising ingredient that makes for a smooth sauce.  On a long day it cooks very well in a slow cooker.  This freezes very well.

Shiny, purple eggplants . . . lots of them!

So I also went way overboard with eggplants.  I had six plants - some the garden variety purple ones and some the lovely slender oriental ones.  Here is what I did with the ones littering my kitchen counter.  I sliced without peeling, any and all laying about, drizzled them with olive oil, placed them on a cookie sheet and baked the whole mess at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until soft.  Once cooled, I combined them in the food processor with a can of drained cannellini beans, parsley and jarred roasted red peppers and a splash of lemon juice.  Once seasoned with a bit of smoked sea salt and a few grinds of pepper, we devoured this summer treat.  Next time may add some roasted garlic.

Ina Garten's Heirloom Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Once back from Memphis, it was time to start using the now ripening heirloom tomatoes.  Wow - what a great way to showcase summer's heirloom tomatoes. See Ina Garten's Tomato and Goat Cheese tarts for a simple and tasty tart.