Mad Men Monday

So...  Are ya watching Mad Men on TV?!?

It is pretty much the only show I am watching.  I don't care about Real Housewives of anywhere, I haven't seen Dancing With The Stars since Victor's cousin Kelly won the first season, and the rest of it really is a vast wasteland...

But Mad Men?!?  Brilliant.  I get to relive my childhood every week.  It's a lot of fun.

So...  I thought another bit of fun would be to dust off my Mom's Cook Books from the '60s and see about recreating some of those fun and fabulous meals from yesteryear.  Oh my goodness gracious some of the recipes she collected!

It's really been a hoot going through them.  I have quite a few I want to make, but tonight I thought I'd start off with something really simple.  It was a chicken pie with a rice crust.  With turmeric. How exotic!  I really resisted adding things to this  and switching things around.  The only real change I did do was to saute the onions, celery, and bell pepper before stirring it into the sauce.  I just had to.  Otherwise, it was made as written!

I tried to make it look just like Mom would have...

And it really did look great just before going into the oven...

Alas... It did not slice into neat and lovely slices.  It completely fell apart.

But it really did taste good.  The predominant flavor was the turmeric from the rice.  I really would have jazzed up the filling and definitely would have added cheese to the filling.  But...  It was fun the way it was.

And then we had dessert!

 

My mom was Queen of Desserts.

We had dessert every single night.  Sometimes it was just cookies, often cake, but she also did lots of bars and other things she could make a lot of and cut up for six kids.

These were the Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars.  I think at some point I have had all of the various bars pictured.  These just called my name, today.

Very simple to pull together.  And what's really nice is they're not overly-sweet.  A nice balance.

The recipe called for chocolate chips and - OMG - I was out!  I had white chocolate chips, but that just wouldn't do.  I chopped up a bit of semi-sweet chocolate bar.  Mom would understand.

We also ate them from glass plates - unheard of in the '60s in our house.  Melmac reigned supreme back in those days.

We did have glass in the house, though...  Like Mama's salad bowl with matching cruets...

We used it for our fruit salad...

On Sunday - Mother's Day - I'm making her famous Chinese Casserole.  Besides Mother's Day, it is also her Birthday.  She would have been 86...

I think it's a fitting tribute...

 


Farro Fawcett

Okay.  I admit it.  It's a cheap play on words.  But as gay as I am, even I remember that poster!  The girl was definitely hot!  I had already reached the quarter-century mark when the poster came out and was living up at Lake Tahoe.  I knew of Farrah - but had never heard of Farro.  And probably wouldn't have been interested in either.

Well... not entirely true.  I've always liked grains and I definitely could have used some hair tips...

Tahoe was a time of whole-grains-and-back-to-nature-in-a-'70s-pot-smoking way.  Wheat berries were plentiful.  Whole-grain brown rice was everywhere.  Lots of sprouts.  On everything.  No boxes or mixes.  It was back to nature at its finest.  Granted, we moved from the little house in Tahoe Vista to the big house up above Kings Beach with the 20 foot ceiling and wall of glass overlooking the lake after leaving the little coffee shop and going to work for the glitzy hotel casino, but it was still The Mountains.  We started off with a parachute for floor-to-ceiling drapes and ended up with a huge section of Christo's Fence, compliments of our new roommate, Susan.

Christo's Fence was a 24 1/2 mile long 18' tall fabric fence that ran through Sonoma and Marin before ending at the Pacific Ocean.  It was pretty awesome to behold - and pretty cool to have in our living room.

But back to Farrah.  Er...  Farro...

I probably started reading about farro in Bon Appetit magazine in the '90s sometime.  I honestly don't remember, but after getting out of the hotel business in 1989 and getting into health care, I started eating better, again, and I really started paying attention to what was in things.  Aren't you glad?!?

One thing I did learn right away is farro is not spelt.  There is still a lot of controversy over this but... farro is Triticum dicoccum and spelt is Triticum spelta.  (Common bread wheat is Triticum aestivum.)  They're all related - they're not all the same.

Botany lesson is over.

I picked up some farro a while back and decided last night it was time to cook it up - in a risotto!  My first thought when I picked it up was for a wheat-berry-type salad.  I'm glad I held out.

Unlike spelt, farro really needs to be soaked prior to cooking - 30 minutes to an hour usually suffices - so start thinking about this early in the day - not 30 minutes before you want to sit down to dinner.  And it can soak longer - even overnight.

It probably took about 40 minutes to cook - and that meant a lot of stirring and attention - but the final result was worth it!

I served it with a lemon chicken breast.  Really easy!  I mixed 2 eggs with the juice and zest of 1 lemon, and a bit of salt and pepper.  I then floured two chicken breasts and dipped them into the lemony-egg mixture and then quickly browned them in a skillet.  The skillet then went into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes.  I could have cooked the whole thing on the stove, but it was easier to pop them into the oven than to have to watch it while stirring the risotto.

Farro Risotto

  • 1 cup farro
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
  • several florettes cauliflower, sliced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup mustard seed and ale cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

Soak farro in cold water at least 30 minutes.  Drain.

Heat the broth in a small saucepan and keep warm.

In a large skillet or wide pan, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook until onions are wilted.  Add the drained farro and cook, stirring constantly until toasted.

Add the wine and stir constantly until mostly absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of the hot broth and stir constantly until completely absorbed. Continue adding the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until the farro is creamy and cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the raisins, pine nuts, parsley, and cheese.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

I used cauliflower and a mustard ale cheddar because that's what I had in the house.  A cup or so of just about any vegetable would work, as would just about any cheese.  You don't need a lot - just enough to add a bit of creaminess.  And obviously you can switch the chicken broth for vegetable broth to make it vegetarian, and omit the butter and cheese to make it vegan.

It promises to be good no matter how you do it!

 

 

 


Tamale Pie

Besides the obvious things like family, friends, and liberal politics, two things I really miss about San Francisco are Chinese food and Mexican food.  There just aren't a lot of decent ethnic restaurants out here in the Wonder Bread Suburbs.

Andy's Excellent Chow Mein or Gordo's Burritos are things I dream about.  Especially since both of them were within walking distance from our front door.  ::sigh::

Nowadays, if I want Mexican, it's easier just to make it, myself.

So last night it was Mexican.  A tamale pie. Not the most authentic of recipes, perhaps, but the flavors were there.

The filling was a combination of chiles, onions, green peppers, ground beef, garlic, cumin, roasted corn, a can of pinto beans (rinsed and drained) and enchilada sauce.  The topping was a tamale masa.  As I said - not exactly authentic, but it worked, well.

I do make tamales every now and again and have a (now nearly empty) bag of Maseca Masa Flour in the cabinet.  Corn flour is very different than cornmeal and is quite reasonably priced - even out here in 'burbia.  The recipe for making tamales is very simple - equal parts of masa and water, a third as much lard (yes, lard!) a pinch of salt and a bit of baking powder.

I cooked off the onions, garlic, and peppers, added the cumin, chipotle powder, and then the ground beef.  When it was cooked through, I added the corn, beans, and the enchilada sauce.  I tasted and added a pinch of S&P and then spooned the masa topping over everything.

I covered it and placed it in a preheated 350° oven for about an hour.

I topped it with some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

It wasn't Gordo but it worked.  And it was really good for lunch, today!

 


Three Bean Salad

Lovely.  Bright.  Colorful...

No, I'm not talking about myself.  I'm describing a really good Bean Salad I made Monday.  Really simple and really easy. (No, I'm still not talking about myself!)

Yes, I know all about the controversy surrounding canned beans and have at least a half-dozen different dried bean varieties in the cupboard that I use regularly.  But I also have a half-dozen canned varieties.  They're one of my guilty convenience-foods.  Everyone needs a couple, and I always rinse them well.

Bean salads, rice or grain salads, pasta salads, can all come together the same way.  The parts are all interchangeable.

Bean Salad

  • 4-5 cups cooked beans, rinsed and drained  (3 cans of different beans rinsed well and drained or your choice of dried beans that have been soaked, cooked, cooled, etc.)
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • Fresh herbs, as available, chopped
  • handful of raisins
  • white balsamic vinegar
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix beans with celery, bell pepper, parsley, and fresh herbs, if using.  Drizzle with while balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Mix well.  Taste, and add S&P, if required.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

The beauty of salads like this is they are great for getting rid of those little leftover containers in the 'fridge.  Any and all vegetables can be added.  Diced cooked meats, cheeses, a handful of chopped nuts... Really...  anything can go in.  And the beans can easily become rice, wheat berries, lentils, pasta... Whatever you have or feel like having.

Parsley and/or other fresh herbs are really good because they add a fresh pop and really do freshen up older leftovers.  And different vinegars can really change the complexion, as well.  The white balsamic is great for Spring and Summer - as are fruit vinegars or white wine vinegar.  Fall is perfect apple cider vinegar time, and Winter can handle a heavier balsamic.

It really is that simple!

 


Mad Men Monday

The guy who disdains television - who actually has problems figuring out the remote control - is hooked on Mad Men.

It's true.  I absolutely love the show.

I think the first reason is that it is so true to life.  It's my youth being broadcast on TV every week.  I remember everyone smoking everywhere.  In elevators, in the movie theaters...  Hell...  my pediatrician would have a cigarette going while examining me.  It was a normal part of life.  Cigarette advertising actually touted certain brands as being healthy.  Doctor recommended. And the booze.  It really was everywhere.

It was definitely a fun time to be growing up in the Big City.

So fast-forward 50 years and I get to relive my youth every week.  On Mondays because we tape the Sunday show.  Tape.  Did I just show my age?  We electronically record it on our Digital Video Recorder.  We used to tape things. Last century.  I used to smoke, also.  I started when it was still good for me.  Before Surgeon General warnings were even thought of.  I was pretty cool.

But back to Mad Men...

We've been watching it on Monday, right after dinner.  So today I had the brilliant idea of doing Mad Men Monday and recreating some of those recipes from the golden years of canned Cream of Whatever Soup and frozen Veal Cutlets.

And what better place to find recipes than my mom's cook books from the '60s and '70s?!?  Two huge binders of recipes she created, cut out from magazines and newspapers, as well as recipes written out by my grandmother, great-aunts, family friends...  They've been my own personal Mad Men for years.

I have referenced these books forever, but I have to admit that I have rarely really read a lot of the recipes or ever really followed any of them exactly.  I would more often glance over pages, see something that caught my eye, and then used it as a starting off point to get the creative juices flowing.  And after really reading a few of them tonight, it was a little scary.

I can't imagine cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts for three hours even if the oven temperature is 275°.  On a bed of chipped beef, no less...

But there are a lot of them I really do want to have a go at.  And I think it would be fun to eat them in the living room while watching Mad Men.  We never eat dinner in front of the TV.

Time for a change!

So... I'm going to go through the books and start planning a few meals.  I don't promise to make them exactly as printed, because as low as they may be, I do have standards.  But I am going to try to be as authentic as I can be.

No cigarettes and no Scotch - those days are behind me - but a Bacardi Rum Cake for dessert is a definite possibility...

And maybe even some Heinz Beans...

 

 


The Weekend

I've come to the conclusion that I hate writing out recipes.

I still love cooking and creating and all that, but the actual process of sitting down and trying to write out what I think I may have done for dinner is actually difficult.  My measuring skills are imprecise at best.  Well...  not exactly true.  If something calls for a half-cup of milk, raisins - whatever - I can eyeball a pretty precise half-cup.  But if I'm making a sauce for scallops of pork tenderloin... Was it a half-cup?  Three-quarters?  I dunno.  The finished result was a smooth, creamy sauce.  I can tell you the ingredients, but amounts vary.

I used to love creating recipes commercially - the real science behind cooking.  And taking a base recipe and expanding it to 20 - or 200 portions. I first learned the concept from the AFRCS - The Armed Forces Recipe Card Service.  It was relatively new when I was in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club.  Standardized recipes printed on cards set up in 100-portion quantities.  One of the first things we learned in "A" School was to multiply them out to 5000 people - or to divide them down to 30.  It was only through working with the recipes that one learned how to manually adjust things like baking powder or yeast - and salt and other spices.  Even though ingredients are the same proportionally, they do not multiply out.  A quarter-cup of salt in a recipe for 100 would not call for 12 1/2 cups of salt for 5000.  Trust me on this.

And speaking of varying...  You've surely noticed the trend in many cooking magazines to give you the weight of some ingredients in place of measurements.  The theory - according to the magazine publishers - is because of the variables in measuring. They wish to be precise.

However...  the recipes generally will state something like "15 1/2 oz flour (3 1/2 cups)" yadayadayada ingredients, and then state something like "1 cup water, or more."  with instructions to add the 1 cup and then add more, 1 tbsp at a time, to get the desired consistency.

HELLO?!?  Where is your "precision" now?!?  I certainly understand the science of baking vs the art of cooking.  The variables in baking are legion.  They include the type of flour, the moisture content of the flour, the weather and relative humidity along with in cake baking - the proper ratio of flour,  sugar, eggs, and fat...

But if the recipe calls for weighing your flour - approx 4 1/2 oz per cup - and NOT weighing your sugar - about 7 oz per cup - it's nothing more than something written by an elitist snob.  Be precise - or within acceptable guidelines - but please don't pretend a precision that isn't true.  Whether it be 3 1/2 cups of flour or 15 1/2 ounces, you still have as much as a 20% variable to play with within the traditional parameters. Generally speaking, a teaspoon of flour either way is probably not going to ruin your cake.

Rant over.  For the moment.

So for those lovely pork scallops up there?

Really easy.

I sliced a pork tenderloin and then pounded the slices between sheets of plastic wrap with my wooden mallet.  I sauteed them in a bit of butter and olive oil and then removed them from the pan.  I added sliced mushrooms and browned them well, and then added a splash of sherry.  I then added a splash of chicken broth and a splash of heavy cream.  I cooked it all down, added the pork scallops back, and heated it all through.  If it seems too thin, you could add a bit of cornstarch.

As a side dish, I did cauliflower in a cheese sauce, baked in the oven.  No crumbs on top, but it was yummy.

And then Sunday...

Beef Stroganoff.

I bought a whole tenderloin a while back and after cutting up steaks and a roast, set the tail, chain, and other smaller pieces aside for a stew or something.  The something was stroganoff.  A really simple recipe that literally just takes minutes to prepare.

The beef doesn't get a lot of cooking or braising time, so you want to use something reasonably tender.  I sauteed beef and mushrooms, added a splash of marsala, a pinch of sage, about a cup of sour cream, and a teaspoon of grainy dijon mustard. I heated it all through and served it over wide egg noodles.

The whole dish was cooked in the time it took to boil the water for the noodles.

Simplicity.


The Birthday Dinner

 

It's Victor's birthday.

His favorite meal?!?  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.  Birthday dinners at our house are so easy.

Ya gotta love a guy who wants basic comfort food for his annual main meal.  Over the years I've played with it...  A couple of years ago I made a Rustic French Meatloaf that was really good, but as good as it was, basic still reigns supreme.  Mushroom gravy.  Simple.

I did make a nice chocolate cake last night.  It was the day before his birthday, but we were dessertless and I figured we could start celebrating early...

Basic chocolate with chocolate filling.

It came out really good, too.  I have 8" cake pans that really do make for a great layer cake. But we're passing on the cake right now, because we're off to see the 70th Anniversary showing of Casablanca!

It is playing in 500 theaters across the USofA tonight only.  This is one film I really can't wait to see on the big screen.  It's amazing that you can't drag us to the theater on any other occasion.  Newest blockbuster movie?!?  Eh.  Yawn.  Whatever.  But a 70 year old flick we've both seen a bazillion times and can recite the dialog to?!?  We're there.

It has nothing to do with getting old.  Really.

Off we go for $40.00 popcorn.

Happy Birthday!

 

 

 


Pasta with Fennel

Fennel is one of those things I really like - and rarely cook.  I don't think I ever had it as a kid, and I can't think of any restaurants I ever worked where it was on a menu.  And since so much of my cooking repertoire comes from those places...

So I was at the grocery store today, spied some fennel, and thought of a pasta dish I had seen some time back in Bon Appetit magazine.  Out came the phone, I hit the Epicurious App, and within seconds, there was the recipe.  Sometimes I just love technology!

I can't believe that it was only a few years ago that I didn't even want a camera on my phone.  It's not that I was a Luddite... I just wanted a phone to make calls - not have people call me.  I still don't want people calling me on my cell phone - but I have embraced carrying the world around in my pocket.  It is seriously way-cool.

The recipe called for tortellini, but we had lots of different pastas already in the house.  No need to buy something else.

I played around with the original recipe - as is my wont - and must say it came out pretty good.

Which brings me to another gripe I have - people giving a poor rating to a recipe based on what they did to it, not the recipe, itself.  Time and time again I read things like "I didn't have any Italian sausage so I used a chicken sausage I got from Walmart and I didn't have any spinach so I used kale and whipping cream is bad for you so I substituted nonfat milk.  It was just horrible.  I only give it one fork."--A Chef from Peoria.

Dear Clueless in Peoria...  You're a lousy cook - there's nothing wrong with the recipe!

Dischi Pasta with Italian Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 1 lb Italian sausages, crumbled
  • lg pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 lb pasta
  • 1 bag fresh baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Sauté sliced fennel bulb, sausage, and mushrooms until sausage is brown and cooked through and fennel is almost tender. Add garlic, red pepper, and fennel seeds. Stir in cream, then 1 cup broth.  Bring to boil and then simmer a few minutes until it slightly thickens.

Cook pasta. Drain.

Add pasta to sausage mixture. Add spinach; toss gently until spinach wilts. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

Add S&P as desired.

It just worked.  Fun and flavorful.

 

 


David Lebovitz's Lemon Bars

Oh.My.Goodness.Gracious.

I'm being polite, here, because what I really want to do is shout expletives - in the nicest way possible, of course.   I have just had the best lemon bar I have ever had.  And they were sooooo easy to make!

Thank You David Lebovitz!

I've been a fan for years, but it was not until our friend Ann sent me a copy of his book The Sweet Life in Paris - that I really began to understand the person behind the recipes.  He's a hoot!  An extremely talented hoot.

I've always loved to bake and, while I will never be a Chef de pâtisserie, I've knocked a couple out of the ballpark in my day...

So off to his website I went...  My original thought was a lemon cake with a lemon curd filling.  Making the lemon cake isn't difficult, but I decided I needed to see what else was out there.

I really enjoy David's writing style so I read a few posts, looked at a few pictures, and then typed in the word "lemon" in the search box.  The very first result was Whole Lemon Bars. I immediately knew it was what I was going to make.

I looked through several other recipes - I really do want to make some Moroccan Preserved Lemons to have on hand - but it was back to Recipe Number One.  The cake idea was gone.

I cannot say enough about these.

I am actually fighting myself to keep from heading back into the kitchen for more.  They are seriously that good.

Here's the recipe - adapted from David Lebovitz...

David Leboviz's Lemon Bars

Crust

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Topping

  • 1 organic lemon
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 4 tsp corn starch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.

2. Line an 8" square pan with foil.

3. Mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup melted butter, and vanilla, in a medium bowl, stirring just until smooth.

4. Smooth the batter into the bottom of the pan getting it as level as possible.

5. Bake the crust for 25 minutes, or until it’s deep-golden brown.

6. While the crust is cooking, slice the lemon, remove the seeds, and cut the lemon into chunks.

7. Put the chunks of lemon in a food processor or blender along with the sugar and lemon juice, and let it run until the lemon is completely broken up. Add the eggs, corn starch, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 3 tbsp melted butter and blend until almost smooth.

8. When the crust comes out of the oven, reduce the heat of the oven to 300º. Pour the lemon filling over the hot crust and bake for 25 minutes or just until the filling is barely set.

9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Once cool, carefully lift out the bars grasping the foil. Cut the bars into squares or rectangles. Sift powdered sugar over the top just before serving, if desired.

This is one of those situations where you just don't improve perfection.  There is nothing I could add, no trick or tweak, to improve upon these.

Unless it was a dollop of whipped lemon cream on top.

Not a lot... Just a tad...


Hunter's Recipe BBQ Chicken

My box of Hunter's Recipe Spice Rubs arrived just in time for dinner Friday night!

After trying the Steak Rub the other night, I knew I wanted to delve a little deeper into these and the timing could not have been more perfect.  I had two bone-in chicken breasts that were looking to be grilled.

Smoky paprika, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar... classic flavors expertly blended to create a really unique barbecue taste sensation!  Just enough heat to satisfy with just enough sweet to balance.

It actually was so good I ate my chicken skin.  That alone explains how good it was.  I never - ever - eat chicken skin.  Ever.  While I'm one of the least-fussy eaters I know, I got sick on it once as a wee tyke - eating way too much of it.  Generally, I just peel it back and dive right into the succulent meat.

Not this time.  I ate the skin!

Baked potato with sour cream and corn... The Perfect Meal.  Come to think of it, it would have been even more perfect with some Adluh biscuits or cornbread.

Next time.  I shall be doing more of this.

Speaking of more of this...

Last night I decided to grill some big ol' burgers.  Since I had some of the steak rub, I added about a tablespoon to a pound of ground beef before forming the patties.  It had made a filet mignon outstanding.  I knew it would help some lowly ground beef.

I lightly-formed my patties - not wanting to compact the beef all that much - preheated the grill and set them on to sizzle.

A few minutes later I went back to check on them and - I ran out of gas.  A stone-cold grill.

Into the kitchen I came, heated up a skillet and fried those little babies.  Camera was in the other room so I didn't get pictures, but suffice to say - the Steak Rub works wonders in a hamburger.

I loved every bite of it.

 


18 Hours of Fun and Food

We just dropped off our friends Ann and Julie at the airport for their trek to Brittany and Paris.  A mere 18 hours ago we picked them up at the airport.  An overnight stay at Chez TimAndVictor is the perfect way to break up a long airline trip.  And they are just the perfect guests!

Julie lived in Paris Once Upon A Time and writes a really wonderful fun-filled blog, Julie's Paris.  I love visiting the city with them - even if it is vicariously through the internet.  They share meals with us the same way - which is how last night's dinner came into being.

A while back Victor made a really wonderful Stuffed Cabbage.  Ann asked him to make it for them when they came down.  And I had recently made  a Lemon Meringue Pie.  "I received one of those OMG I LOVE LEMON MERINGUE PIE" notes...

The menu was set.

But, Victor couldn't just serve Stuffed Cabbage...

Gnocchi was also needed...

Yummy, yummy gnocchi, in a sauce of butter, olive oil, and parmesan cheese.

Nothing fancy...

And, the dessert...  Lemon Meringue Pie.

The pie came out great, although it did separate just a bit.  Oh well.  It certainly didn't stop us from licking our plates...  I also made my regular meringue instead of the syrup meringue from the recipe.  Mine was better.

We stayed up late and woke up early.  Naturally, if one is flying off to France, one must get in the mood... Freshly-baked croissants for breakfast.

Traditional...

And Chocolate...

It's only fitting, right?!?  We ate our croissants, drank copious amounts of coffee, and compared travel notes on Paris and Italy.

Soon, it was noon - and time for even more food.  A simple build-your-own steak sandwich buffet was the perfect answer!

Thinly-sliced grilled filet mignon, homemade tomato jam, roasted red pepper spread, lettuce and tomatoes, salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette... and San Pelegrino Limon to add that continental flair...

18 hours.  Not nearly enough time, but we shall be visiting them for a few days this summer...  We'll be able to share France and Italy stories...  And we can drive and bring Cybil.

More fun and food awaits...

 


Chicken Tacos

I said yesterday that I wasn't going to throw away a $14.00 chicken even if I did burn the hell out of it.  So...  if you have something that is charred and smoky...  add something charred and smoky and make it look as if it was supposed to be that way all along.  Like Chipotles!

Yes...  chipotles.  In adobo.  I love 'em.

While I was first thinking a nice Mexican chicken salad, tacos sounded even better.

I had tossed the burnt skin and charred bones, but there was still the majority of a chicken left.  And it wasn't exactly cooked all the way, either.  I finished cooking it all in a skillet and put it away...

Tonight, it went back into a skillet with bell pepper, onion, chopped green chilis, sofrito sauce, canned diced tomatoes, and the aforementioned chipotles in adobo.  I simmered it all up and served it in corn tortillas with lettuce, shredded cheeses, black olives, salsa, sour cream...

There were big chunks of chicken that just made a perfect mess when eating.  Everything was sliding all over the place and we went through numerous napkins.

It was a successful meal!

Victor's in the kitchen working on tomorrow night's dinner...  Life is good.