Moore's Marinades

Moore’s Marinades
I've been visiting an online forum based in South Carolina.  I've never really spent any time in South Carolina - and am fairly ignorant about the state.  I know about Hilton Head Island and I've spent about 20 minutes in Charleston, (and know that they rank #1 in the country in dirty politics) but that's been about it.  And then I started talking to the locals...

Food is the great equilizer and I started asking a few questions and reading a few entries.  I spied one post that was talking about Moore's Marinade vs Dale's Seasoning.  Having never heard of either, I went online to check them out.

They both sounded good, but Dale's would only ship full cases - $48.00 plus shipping.  That's a lot of marinade - especially since I don't know what it tastes like!

Moore's, on the other hand, offers a 6-pack - 2 bottles each of Original, Teriyaki, and Buffalo Sauce for only $25.27 including shipping.  I figured what the hell - I'd be bound to like at least one of them...  I ordered online and they arrived within a few days.  On the credit card receipt was hand-written: "Timothy warmest thank you."  When was the last time you were thanked in person for a purchase, let alone for a purchase made online?  They've made me a lifetime customer!

So far... I really like two - and that's because I've only tried two!  Victor's mom was over today so I asked her if she wanted to stay for lunch.  I was doing burgers with the Moore's Original following the recipe on the bottle:  1 lb beef, 1/4 chopped red onion, 1/4 cup Moore's.  Easy enough.

DAYUM!  Those burgers were good!  Nonna ate the whole thing!  (And that's unusual for Nonna!)

So tonight for dinner, I decided I wanted to try the Buffalo Sauce.  I cut up some chicken breasts, breaded them with panko breadcrumbs, and fried away.  Then added the Buffalo Sauce as directed.  REALLY reminiscent of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo - with just the right amount of heat to allow for LOTS of them to be consumed.  It's another winner.

I think tomorrow night I'll have to try the Teriyaki.  I'm thinkin' it's going to be three out of three for winners!

I really do need to take a trek south!


Chipotle Chicken Sandwiches

I was in the mood for a sandwich tonight.

Last week I picked up about a dozen chicken breasts at the farmers market.  I brought 'em home and - in packs of two - marinated, sealed, and froze them.  I did several different marinades... Apple Cinnamon BBQ,  White Wine, Lemon and French Herbs,  Marsala and Italian Herbs, a Spicy Chili paste Asian, and a spicy Tequila Chipotle.

Tonight was Spicy Chipotle!

I brought home some rolls from work and toasted them slightly.  I made a spicy mayo with mayonnaise, chipotle powder and lime zest and juice.  A sliced up a ripe tomato and separated some lettuce leaves...  Grilled the chicken breasts and added a couple of slices of havarti cheese.  (It may be 10 degrees outside but that doesn't stop me from firing up the grill!)

In the meantime, I sliced up one big potato, slathered it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and placed them on the grill.

In 20 minutes I had dinner on the table.  The flavors worked great together.  It was spicy hot, but the lime really helped to cool it down.  They were also nice and sloppy.  The last few bites, especially, were finger-lickers with everything sliding around just as it should.

I'm looking forward to trying the others.....


Self-Rising Flour

Beer Bread

I've gone all my life without using self-rising flour.  Until today, that is...

A while back a great couple I know gave me a recipe for a quick beer bread.  Really easy.  Very basic.  As is typical with me, I get a recipe, and then file it away for weeks or months, and then finally decide to make it.

I'm making a pot of Mulligatawny Soup today and thought that the beer bread would be good with it.  That, and there's actually beer in the house from the party last Saturday.  (The Asinine Socialist Pennsylvania Liquor Laws force one to go to a 'beer distributor' to purchase beer - by the case only.  No single bottle or 6-pack sales allowed.  That, somehow, promotes responsible drinking.  Needless to say, we don't often have beer in the house.)  But I digress...

I have beer in the house.  I don't drink it, often, so I might as well cook with it, right?!?

First thing I did was pull out the recipe and notice that it calls for self-rising flour.  Now... I can make my own self-rising flour (2 tbsp baking powder and 2 tsp salt per pound of four) but I also just got my first issue of Gourmet magazine (a freebie from Amazon.com) and it's all about Southern cooking - and lots of the recipes call for self-rising flour.  So, during my weekly shopping trek today, I bought some.

I must admit I am intrigued!  I've gone from never, ever having it in the house to seeing how many recipes I can now use it with.  Thank goodness it's wintertime!  the oven is going to be going full-tilt-boogie!


Family Fun

A few of the girls…

It started with an innocent phone conversation... Who wants to get together after Christmas? Every year - except last - we've had a family Christmas with some of Victor's cousins a week or so after Christmas.   What used to be just the Martorano's and the Rinaldi's grew this year to include the Peditto's, as well as the eldest surviving Monaco.  40 people, give or take.  What a blast we had!

The emails started flying - who could make it, who couldn't.  Emails saying we're coming even if you don't invite us... (Actually, we didn't officially invite anyone except Uncle Victor and Aunt Lonnie.)   Usually for these things we do all the cooking.  Both of us really enjoy doing it.  Cooking for 40 is infinitely easier than cooking for 4.  Really.  However, this time it was suggested that we pot-luck it a bit to try and give us a bit of a break.  One said they'd bring this, another that... Ideas and recipes were burning up the internet.  Now... it's not that I'm a total control-freak or anything (okay, I am, but that's another story for another time) but the thought of having people to my home and having said people bring the food frightens me.  What if there's not enough?

I mean, I can see it happening... Everyone getting into their cars and heading off to the closest fast-fooderie saying "Can you believe it?!?  They didn't have enough food..."

Okay... so I'm neurotic.  But no one ever leaves our house hungry!  Ever.  It's a rule.

Naturaly, I had no reason to fear... We had food.  Did we ever have food... We made meatballs and sauce (excuse me... gravy) as well as sausage with onions and peppers, baked ziti, and a big ol' salad.  And then the food started arriving... Hot crab dip with homemade Italian bread toast.  Bags and boxes of chips, crackers, dips and tapenades.  An antipasto tray of every conceivable Italian meat, marinated mozzarella, roasted peppers, stuffed hot peppers...  Platters of vegetables and tapenades... A half-dozen different breads and rolls...  And sangria, and wines, and beer, and sodas of every flavor...

And desserts...

It was Steve's birthday a few days back, so - because he specifiically said no birthday cake - we got him a birthday cake.  Well - his sister did.  From an Italian bakery in North Jersey.  It was a Napoleon cake.  Layer after layer of flaky dough filled with a rich cream filling and topped with a silky fondant-type icing... OMG!  Leah made a Cranberry Pear pie with a crumb topping that was fantastic.  Aunt Lonnie brought pumpkin and apple pies from her favorite Philly bakery, and Joanna brought her famous wedding rings - that 8 year old Elizabeth made!  Plus brownies and, and... I'm drawing a blank.  I know there was more...

Pies

My fear of not enough food were unfounded, of course.  We had more food than many small emerging nations.  We started pulling out the tupperware to make doggie bags for everyone to take home.  and still saving lots and lots for us!

It was just so much fun sitting around and talking with everyone, laughing and joking, talking politics, andjust enjoying being with one another...  It's what family is all about.

And just think - in less than 3 weeks we get to fly to San Francisco and do it all with my family to celebrate Pop's 84th birthday!  Definitely what family is all about!


Cook Books Galore

Celtic Folklore CookingWe donated several hundred cookbooks to our local library book sale last year.   The books were literally just collecting dust downstairs.  We kept about a dozen of them - Lidia, Julia Child... more classic than trendy. figuring we might actually use a few books if they were upstairs, rather than a lot of books stored downstairs.  It was a wise choice.

I've been really good.  I haven't bought a cookbook in several years.  Once upon a time I bought then constantly - hence the several hundred we donated - but I just didn't use them enough to justify buying more just to have them collect more dust before giving them away, again.

Santa, (and Leah and Ross) this year, decided I had been too good for too long and brought two new books into the house.  The first, from Santa, is a fun book titled Celtic Folklore Cooking.  Just my kind of book!  Not only is it full of fun recipes, it has great stories to go along with them!  It lists what foods to eat with which holiday and delves into the history behind them.

My first recipe of the new year is Chicken with Almond Rice - a dish that is associated with several holidays, including Yule and New Year's Eve.  (I'm less than 24 hours late...)

Chicken With Almond Rice

  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 1 chicken, cut in pieces (I'm using breasts - it's what I had in the freezer.)
  • 1/2 cup ground blanched almonds
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom
  • 3 tbsp slivered almonds lightly browned in butter

Rinse rice in water; drain.  Cover with cold water and leave to soak.  In another pan, cover the chicken pieces with salted water and let simmer over low heat for one hour.  Skim off the fat and measure 3 cups of the water into a separate saucepan.  Add the ground almonds to the liquid and let steep about 10 to 15 minutes.  drain the rice and cook it in the broth until tender.  Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Add chicken to the rice mixture along with the butter, sugar, ginger, salt, and cardamom. Cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes, or until meat is thoroughly heated.  To serve, garnish with the slivered almonds.

The second book is already a favorite of mine!
The Philadelphia Italian Market Cookbook

The Philadelphia Italian Market Cookbook - a Christmas present from Leah and Ross who just bought a house within walking distance of the market - is not only a great cookbook, but it's a fantastic history of South Philadelphia!  It's loaded with fun food and stories about the Italians from the first immigrants to the neighborhood today!  It's especially fun for me since I'm not from here.  This is all new.  I see many great meals coming soon!

Oh... and I was on the Barnes and Noble website looking for post-holiday cheapies and ended up with two more cookbooks - 100 Great Risottos and 100 Great Tapas.

Winter... Risotto...  Yum...