There's A New Wegmans in Collegeville!
Armed with my shoppers card and coupon book full of free things if I spend at least $10.00, I'm off to the brand-new Wegmans 11 miles away from us.
I realize that 11 miles is nothing to the vast majority of the world, but considering I'm 2 miles from work, 2.5 miles from my normal shopping place and only 3 miles to Victor's mom's house, my travel-triangle is pretty small. (It's even past the Lowes and Target I never go to because they're so far away!)
But for groceries, I will make the sacrifice! (I traveled 8 miles yesterday to the Mexican/Italian produce place!)
I've pretty much lost faith with my old friend PathMark (nee SuperFresh). Their prices continue to rise and the employees continue to ignore me as I walk down the aisles. I'm the invisible shopper. I'm not looking for conversation, I'm not looking for a boisterous greeting - I'm looking for simple eye-contact and a half-smile. The tiniest bit of recognition that I'm a customer in the store.
You can't accomplish that, you don't deserve my hard-earned money.
To be fair, there are a couple of women there who go out of their way to say hi, but the majority of employees don't look up and don't say a word.
So... I'm off to the netherlands of formerly-farm Pennsylvania. I've made a list of things I know we need (and things we DON'T need!!!) and have debit card in hand. The goal is to keep this trip under $200.00.
++++++++++++++++++++
I went, I saw, I shopped! And had a good time doing it!
My main goal this trip really was to see if it was quick enough to make this my weekly grocery store. The Downingtown store is just a tad too far for a weekly trek, and as I mentioned, I'm no longer enthralled with PathMark. (I gave them my best shot - they just didn't reciprocate!) The only other store I've ever liked around here was Geunardi's in St Davids - but they went to hell after being bought by Safeway.
I'm thinkin' they did it!
I think the biggest thing one hears about Wegmans is that they're expensive. Well... one can spend a lot of money there, but in and of itself that doesn't make them expensive - it means they have lots of things you want to buy! It also means you need to have a bit of shopping savvy. If you shop any store regularly, you learn what to buy and when.
I had nothing pressing. I could take my time. I crossed to the far end of the store and started my shopping trek in the grocery section. We needed staples in the house after not doing any major shopping for a couple of weeks. Canned beans were 59¢. 10 pound sugar, $4.79. Good prices.
I wandered and meandered and started filling up the cart. Cybil needed dog food, so I thought I would see how she likes the Wegman kibble - 17.6 pounds for $8.25. I did a good read of the label and the ingredients look good. Can't say the same for Wegmans ketchup. High fructose corn syrup in a few too many products. Sorry, I don't care what the commercials say, the stuff is poison. I won't allow it in my home.
I also purposely didn't go into the center of the store where they have the most fantastic plates, platters, cookware and gadgets. I ran into one employee over at the cheese section who told me about some absolutely wonderful Italian ware that had me drooling. But I resisted. That trip is for another day.
Let's talk cheese.
It doesn't get much better than this. If it can be imported into the states, it can probably be found here. The selection is remarkable.
This is an area where one can get in trouble if one is like me. I like my cheese. I like all types of cheese, I like stinky cheeses, hard cheeses, soft cheeses, spreadable cheeses, Italian cheeses, French cheeses, Swiss cheeses - and everything in between. It's really easy to go overboard. Moderation is not always in my vocabulary, either. On the plus side, there are plenty of folks available to answer questions and cut cheeses to your specifications.
Besides having everything under the sun, Wegmans is a master at merchandising and display.
The food is presented in such a way that one just has to buy it. I really practiced restraint. It was a restraint born out of experience. There are only so many meals in a week and we're both still working towards losing weight. I just can't justify buying everything - regardless of how much I want to. Besides, I have to save something for next weeks trip!
Having said that, I had to get *real* deli skin-on hot dogs. I can't abide those mushy vacuum-packed national brands. I want my dogs to pop when I bite into them. (I had one for lunch. It rocked!)
Were I not a cook, I'd be going crazy here. The whole entire "food court" is one fabulous display after another. The food is just beautiful, and presented beautifully. I got more ideas just walking up and down the aisle. People eat with their eyes, and it's a good thing I can't gain weight looking! It's just remarkable to see.
And being a cook, half the fun of eating is the creation of the meal. Not so for most of the population. This place is for them. Seriously.
And the seafood...
Fish scares so many people. It doesn't have to. And here's proof.
It can be overwhelming.
I've shopped with Wegmans semi-regularly since they opened in Downingtown, and friends took us to dinner at Tastings, the fantastic restaurant attached to the mother-ship store in Rochester. I've worked in 5-star hotels and have been in the food business in one form or another for close to 50 years. It can still be overwhelming. So many choices, so little refrigeration space at home!
One way to save money and to have a bit of fun in the kitchen is to buy things like a whole pork loin. That 8.5 pounds of pork - in mere minutes - became a roast for tonight's dinner (that I will cook with onions and apples) and 10 thick-cut pork chops for later. I cut them thick enough to stuff or maybe do something fancy like those gorgeous pictures up there.
It cost $14.06 and there was no waste.
I also spent less than $18.00 for all of this chicken. Portioned, into FoodSaver bags and into the freezer.
Smart shopping and a sharp knife help balance out the impulse buys and keeps the total bill in check.
I took what should have been some beautiful pictures of the breads and bakery area, but... they didn't come out. Needless to say, it's pretty impressive. From basic breads to fabulous desserts, they have it all.
And the same with the produce. Not a lot of pictures, but lots of really fresh stuff.
The produce prices were high, compared to Gentile's in Newtown Square where I normally buy my produce, but the quality looked excellent, and the displays - like everything else - were great. One thing I really like at Wegmans is the bag-and-price kiosks (or whatever they're called). Put the produce on the scale, punch in the PLU and it gives you the price and prints out the price label. No sticker-shock surprises at the register!
I wandered the store for about 90 minutes but this trip stayed out of the Market Grill and the Pub, didn't buy sushi, and didn't get any Chinese food from the buffet. I need to save that for another trip when I can spend a bit of time there.
Actually, I need to make it a trip with Victor and we can eat and then spend time looking at the Italian cookware and pottery!
All in all, it was an excellent trip. I bought 10 bags of groceries (using my reusable shopping bags) and spent :::drum roll, please::: $163.17! Well below my self-imposed limit of $200.00!
Actually, it would have been a few dollars cheaper, but I forgot to give the cashier the coupons for the free apple juice ($1.89) the frozen mixed vegetables (89¢) and the free shopping bag (99¢).
Oh well.
Sopitos
I recently heard of a store in Norristown called Plymouth Produce. It's all of about 8 miles from us in a pretty empty shopping center. (Parts of Norristown are pretty blighted...) While I wasn't in the market for another produce store, the intriguing part of what I had heard was that they had 2 long aisles devoted to Mexican and Italian products - things one doesn't usually find at the local grocery store Mexican or Italian Food Aisles.
I decided to give it a shot.
The store itself was exactly what I expected to find in a rundown, empty shopping mall - it was a bit rundown. But the stuff IN the store wasn't. Produce looked fresh, cans weren't dirty, dusty, or rusty. It appeared that, at minimum, they had a good turnover of product - and fairly reasonable prices.
The downside to the produce was it was all prebagged and priced. With only two of us, I don't need 8 zucchini, even if the price is only $2.50. Or 8 bell peppers, 6 ears of corn... I'm just not going to use it. But I did pick up a bag of tomatillos. I don't see them often at the local grocery, and a bag of about a dozen tomatillos of various sizes was only $2.50.
It was fun walking up and down the aisles - I found some fun products like strawberry balsamic vinegar for a mere $2.99. Okay, I'm not expecting "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena" for $2.99, but it looked as if it would be something fun. They also had lemon and orange. I figured if nothing else, they'd make a good reduction. I bought all three. It won't go to waste. A bit of papardelle pasta, Cento cherry pepper shooters, canellini beans, tuna in olive oil... time to head over to Mexico.
I was surprised at how many of the Mexican products I already had. I still have lots of chipotles in adobo, sofrito, recaito, red and green moles... I passed on a lot of things I can pick up closer to home, but I did get some piloncillo! It's unrefined sugar in a cone shape. I have NO idea what I'm going to use it for, but I had to have some! It was too good (and cheap!) to pass up.
In the front of the store is a deli counter as well as a display unit that had fresh Mexican chorizo with jalapenos, several types of queso fresco, and something I hadn't seen in years (and never pre-made!) - Sopes!
Sopes are thick corn tortillas with a rim, for lack of a better description. Little flat-bottom bowls. Perfect for filling with shredded pork and beans and cheese and the like. When fried, they're crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I bought a pack. And some chorizo, and two types of queso fresco.
Dinner was starting to come together!
I thought a layered approach was the way to go and started with the tomatillos. This is a bit of a spin on a Rick Bayless recipe...
Tomatillo Sauce
- 10-12 tomatillos
- 3 tbsp salsa ranchera
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- juice of one lime
- 2 cups broth (I used beef, tonight)
- cilantro, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Remove the husk from the tomatillos and rinse them to remove the sticky residue. Place the tomatillos on a baking sheet and broil until they are slighly blackened.
Place the tomatillos and the chiles in a food processor and pulse until they are broken up, but not pureed.
Cook the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil until soft.
Add to the food processor. Pulse until everything is almost smooth.
Fry the puree over medium heat until it starts to thicken, darken, and smell very fragrant.
Slowly add the broth, stirring occasionally, and cook sauce until it thickens.
Add the chopped cilantro and stir well.
Chorizo
- 4 links fresh chorizo
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
Begin browning diced onion in a bit of olive oil. Remove chorizo from casing and add to pan. Cook through.
Add tomato sauce and simmeruntil nice and thick.
Check for seasonings and add salt, pepper, and additional hot sauce, if desired.
The beans were unadulterated canned black beans, and the rice was white rice cooked in broth with a cup of frozen corn.
To assemble:
Fry the sopes according to package instructions.
Fill with a spoonful of chorizo filling,.
Top with a spoonful of black beans.
Top that with tomatillo sauce.
Sprinkle queso fresco on top and serve rice on the side.
Enjoy!
These really were awesome! All through the meal we were both saying "Gee, these are good" and "Wow, I really like these".
I dirtied four pots, but it was worth it!
Tomorrow morning, I'm heading up to the new Wegmans in Collegeville. I already have my shoppers card, my list, my coupon book, and my card for a free reusable shopping bag (I only have about 15 of them right now... why not get a few more, eh?!?) I'm hoping that a Monday morning trip will get me in and out within a reasonable amount of time. But it's a brand-new store, only open a week.
We shall see...
Hot Soup Cold Day
It was cold today. And wet. One of my favorite weather combinations. I like cold, wet, and windy, too. That icy wind that penetrates right to the marrow, no matter how many layers one is wearing. Ah, yes. My kind of weather.
Actually, I think weather like that really is just fine - provided I don't have to go out in it, there's a roaring fire in the fireplace, plenty of oil in the tank, and a nice soup or stew on the stove.
The weather wasn't really that bad, today, but it was the first really cold day we've had - a perfect excuse for a pot of simmering something on the stove.
I had taken some stew beef out of the freezer this morning, but I really wasn't sure until I got home whether it was to be stew or soup.
Soup won.
Ingredient-wise, I could do either, but a thin-broth beef and bean soup was really calling my name. I had made a sausage and bean soup at work for the crew today which whetted my appetite, so to speak.
As one of six kids, I was raised on soups, and like my mother, I find cooking them to be a natural. Unless I'm making a very specific soup recipe - like a Mulligatawny or something - I don't go to the store to buy ingredients to make a soup; I open the cupboards and refrigerator to see what I can throw into the pot. 9 times out of 10 they're clean-out-the-refrigerator concoctions, using up stray bits of this and that.
The local grocery store had canned beans on sale several months ago and over the course of a couple of shopping trips, I probably bought a dozen assorted cans or more. There were 6 left in the cupboard this afternoon and I've been on a kick to use up what's in the house before going out and bringing in more. Now there are only 2 - I can almost justify that trip to the new Wegmans this coming Monday!
Beef and Bean Soup
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound stew beef
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
- 6 cups beef broth
- 4 cans assorted beans, drained and rinsed (I used canellini, garbanzo, black, and pinto)
- 1 tsp French herbs
- salt and pepper
Wilt onion, celery, and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add beef and brown.
Add red wine and cook to reduce by about half.
Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, then simmer, covered, about an hour or so.
Taste for seasoning and serve with a crusty bread.
Speaking of Wegmans, the cupboards are getting a bit bare around here since we were in DC and I didn't do my normal weekly shopping ... We've received LOTS of circulars, coupon books - all sorts of freebie-goodie-come-ons to get us into the new Collegeville store that opened last Sunday.
The goal is to spend a couple of hours walking the aisles, resisting all of the things I flat-out don't need, and make it out of the store under $200.00.
I can do it.
I am a professional.
(Famous last words?!? I'll let ya know Monday afternoon!)
Jamba-Paella
Winter hit this morning. Cold. Rain. Wind. All of my favorite things. It actually caught me a bit by surprise! I had been watching the weather closely this past weekend for our trip to DC - I really didn't pay any attention to it once we got back. Surprise!!! Cold. Rain. Wind. Yuck.
So coldrainwind calls for something hot, spicy, slightly soupy and/or casseroley. I didn't want a stew, I didn't want soup. A jambalaya of sorts fit the bill.
Jambalaya can have the rice cooked inside as part of the dish or it can be served over rice. I chose the former for this dish. A Jamba-Paella!
This was a throw-together, but the concept is there... You can add or subtract ingredients, play with quantities, whatever. You can also make it without the rice and just serve it over the rice of your choice. This made a goodly amount. Victor has lunch for the next few days!
Jamba-Paella
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb andouille sausage, diced
- 1 lb chicken (breast or thighs) cubed
- 12 oz langostino tails, thawed
- 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 cup rice (I used black japonica - takes 45 minutes to cook)
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp herbs d'Provence
- 1/4 tsp boonie pepper (substitute cayenne, to taste)
- salt and pepper, to taste
If you have a paella pan (a Le Cruset pan really rocks!) all the better. A pan with a tight-fitting lid is rather important.
Wilt the onion and pepper in a bit of olive oil. Add the garlic, andouille, and chicken, and brown a bit.
Stir in the rice, then add the tomatoes with juice, the broth, and the seasonings.
Bring to boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer until rice is tender - which will totally depend on the type of rice you used. If mixture is too liquidy, uncover and increase heat to reduce a bit.
Right before serving, stir in the thawed, cooked langostino. Heat through, check seasonings, and serve with crusty bread.
This particular rice has a habit of turning everything purple, but I really really like its whole-grain chewy texture. You can use basic white rice - which will turn a lovely shade of orange - or any rice of your choice.
You can even go crazy and use something like barley - or quinoa - or whatever you happen to have in the cabinet. Just adjust the cooking time to the grain used.
And on the diet-front...
Victor is down 20 pounds as of this morning and I'm down 29! I saw 211 on the scale this morning and did the happy dance all the way to work!
21 to go - and still eating well!
Perfect Polenta
I had a yearning for polenta tonight.
I was looking through an old copy of La Cucina Italiana and saw a polenta with a fairly complex ragu on top. It was really more than I wanted to do, but I liked the concept and thought a streamlined version with a petit filet would fill the bill quite nicely!
Polenta - or one of its many cornmeal forms - is one of those things that is always in the cabinet. My favorite brand is Golden Pheasant, but I haven't seen it locally... I had a bag of white corn grits from Mike and Barbara down in South Carolina that I used sparingly until I used it all up, and a really good really coarse organic version that I picked up at Wegmans a while back. Tonight was your basic Indian Head Stoneground Cornmeal. It's finer than I usually like, but it works.
Tonight I made a soft polenta - a 4:1 ratio of nonfat milk to the cornmeal. I almost always make my polenta with milk and have been known to stir in any and all types of cheese into the cooked mixture. Tonight was just a bit of Locatelli.
The polenta topping is the star of tonight's dinner, though. The original recipe called for a quarter-pound each of beef, veal. pork, pancetta, plus a ton of other ingredients - just for a tablespoon or two on top of a side dish. Maybe for a weekend dinner or a special occasion, but this is Wednesday. Simplify!
Perfect Polenta
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1/2 cup polenta
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup cheese of your choice
- salt and pepper, to taste
Bring milk to a boil. Add polenta slowly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and continue cooking as per package instructions. Stir in garlic and cheese.
The Topping
- 4 oz pancetta, diced
- 2 portobello mushroom caps, finely diced
- 2 celery ribs, finely diced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves Garik, minced
- 1/2 cup red wine
- salt and pepper, to taste
Brown pancetta in a drizzle of olive oil. Add celery and onion and cook until wilted. Add garlic and mushroons and cook until mixture is dry. Add wine and continue cooking until dry. Check for seasoning.
Plate polenta and serve The Topping on top.
The steak was a petit filet (from the whole tenderloins I bought a while back!) that I simply pan-seared and finished in the oven.
The carrots were steamed and then drizzled with butter, garlic, salt and pepper.
Dinner took less than 45 minutes from start to finish and I got my polenta fix!
What I'm really in the mood for, now, is pumpkin, though. In any way, shape, or form!
So far, we've had pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup - both made with fresh pumpkin (although the soup did get a can of organic pumpkin puree added to it). I picked up the Fairytale Pumpkin today and could probably get 8 pies out of it - and - a gallon or two of soup. Or a chunky pumpkin stew, or... or... or...
Last year I thought I was overdoing it just a bit - it seemed like every other day I was making a pumpkin-something. Pumpkin Polenta, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Gnocci... (What can I say?!? I like pumpkin!) but I'm trying to be a bit more balanced this year.
Well... at least I was until I espied that guy up there!
The nice thing about a Fairytale Pumpkin, if you can find one around you, is that they have a really nice sweet, buttery, taste - without adding anything to them, at all. The first one I did today, all I did was slice it, put some huge wedges in a roasting pan with a bit of water, cover with foil and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes. It came out perfect!
So now, I'm back where I started - fixating on pumpkin!
I think I can hold off until Sunday.
Another Pumpkin Soup
Chipotle Pumpkin Soup, to be exact!
We're back home after a wonderful weekend! The beautiful fall weather today was just calling for pumpkin soup. Alas, I haven't done any grocery shopping since getting back yesterday and the cupboard was a bit bare.
But that's never stopped me, before! I have made a dozen or more variations on pumpkin soup just in the last couple of years. Pumpkin is great. it's flexible, versatile, and very forgiving. You can do anything with it!
I had some fresh pumpkin puree I had frozen, and I did pick up a couple of cans of pumpkin before heading home, so I was set, there. I thought I had some chicken in the freezer, but it was bone-in and I wanted boneless. There was some cooked beef, though, so I went from a chicken base to a beef base. I'm flexible.
I knew I wanted chipotle and I was also in the mood for some corn and thought that if it was too thin, I would thicken it with corn flour (masa harina). It was just thick enough without it.
Chipotle Pumpkin Soup
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced (more or less, to taste)
- 2 cans pumpkin puree (I used 1 can plus what I had)
- 1 qt broth (your choice, here. I used beef this time around)
- 1- cups diced cooked meat
- 1 can canellini beans
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
Saute onion, pepper, and garlic in a bit of oil until tender. Add minced pepper and remaining ingredients.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer.
I do have to admit that a dollop of sour cream would have been great on top. Alas, we had none.
I really need to do some shopping!
Off To Washington
We're off to Washington, DC for The National Equality March.
There probably won't be the time to write about trendy restaurants in Georgetown, or other such food tid-bits, but rest assured, we plan on eating well while we're away!
I'll take photos when I remember to and we'll be back to normal here on Tuesday!
Have fun! We will!
The First Pumpkin Pie of the Season
The standard by which all furure Pumpkin Pies will be judged! Can we say fabulous, boys and girls?!? Can we say the first pumpkin pie I have ever eaten warm that I truly loved and wanted to go back for more?!? Oh. Yum.
I had bought a couple of sugar pumpkins with the thought of making Pumpkin Soup and serving it in whole baked pumpkins.
Victor had other ideas.
I'm glad!
He used the store-bought crust, and while it tasted good, I'm pissed. They made 'em smaller this year and they no longer fit a standard Pyrex pie plate. Bummer. It looks as if I won't be buying many of them - back to making my own.
But I digress...
To make this with fresh pumpkin puree, start with a sugar or "pie" pumpkin. Jack O'Lantern pumpkins are not grown for eating - they're grown for carving - and will not make a decent pie.
Heat oven to about 400°. Slice pumpkin in half and remove seeds and strings. Place in pan with a bit of water and bake until tender - about an hour.
Scoop out pumpkin and puree in a food processor until very smooth.
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 1 can pumpkin puree)
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 unbaked 10" pie shell
Preheat oven to 425°. Beat eggs, sugar, maple syrup, and spices in large bowl. Add pumpkin and mix well. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425° F. for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
I topped it with some Double Devon Cream that was sitting in the 'fridge just waiting for a chance to shine!
I've made this same recipe with canned pumpkin for years - and this was the very best pie, yet!
I can't wait until tomorrow when it's cold!
Ordinary
Let's see...
Last night we were out looking at paint colors for the house and ended up at The Diner across the street from the paint store. The night before that, I was at work. So... Did I make a fabulous dinner tonight to make up for the two that I missed?!?
Nah.
I grilled a couple of chicken breasts. Salt, pepper, and white wine. Frozen peas and corn.
Victor mashed the potatoes and grated a few shreds of Locatelli into them.
Just dinner.
The NOT ordinary is going to be dessert!
Victor made fresh Pumpkin Pie!
It's cooling right now.
More on that, later!
French Onion Soup
I made a big pot of French Onion Soup, today. I actually made it for Victor's mom, who really really likes it - but we did get a couple of large bowls of it, ourselves, before bringing her over a big container. I am in such a soup mood, lately. From now until April 1st, I could eat nothing but soups.
I make a nice, beefy soup - chunks of beef swimming in a beefy onion broth. Maybe not the most traditional recipe out there, but I do like it - and so does Nonna.
Beefy Onion Soup
- 8 pounds onions, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 pounds cubed beef
- 2 cups red wine
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 2 qts beef broth
- 1 tsp herbs d'Provence
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp honey
- salt and pepper, to taste
Place onion and garlic in a large soup pot with the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are deep amber in color. This can definitely take a while.
When onions start getting close, brown beef in another pan. Add wine and reduce by half. Add bransy, reduce a bit more, then add to onions.
Add broth, herbs d'Provence, bay leaves, honey, and S&P, to taste.
Bring to a boil and then simmer at least an hour.
French Onion Soup is traditionally served with a crouton and a huge mass of gooey, melted Gruyere cheese. We usually eschew the crouton and cheese, and go for some crusty bread. Tonight we had a bit more of last nights beer bread.
Again, not exactly traditional, but... who cares?!? We liked it, and that's really what counts!
And speaking of...
We heard today that Gourmet Magazine was closing down after 60+ years. I had subscribed on and off for years, and then, finally, just let the subscription lapse about 8 years ago. I had really liked it once upon a time, but it really had changed over the years. It seemed a lot less about food and a lot more about, I dunno... attitude, or something. Recipes were dictatorial in their instructions and the pictures all started looking the same. Everything was perched upon rusty shovels or pealing-paint boards.
Last year, I got a free subscription for buying something at Amazon. It diodn't take long for me to realize that Gourmet wasn't the magazine it once was. The paper felt cheap and the magazine looked almost dingy.
The photographs didn't help the overall look or feel, either. Too many pictures where the predominate color was the wrong color blue. I've dealt with food photographers in the past and know that I may want a picture of the food while they're creating a photographic composition, but a food magazine should still be focusing on the food. There were times when the food was actually lost on the page.
I didn't renew my subscription.
It's still too bad that they're going away, though. They really were the go-to magazine for slightly over-the-top entertaining.
Here's a salute to them in a 2006 version of French Onion Soup:
French Onion Soup
Serves6 (light main course)
Active Time:45 min
Start to finish: 1 1/2 hrThis version of the classic is gorgeously cheesy, not gunky. Slow cooking gives the broth depth of flavor and a silky texture. For more recipes inspired by the City of Light, visit our Paris City Guide.
December 2006
- 2 lb medium onions, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth (32 fl oz)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices of baguette
- 1 (1/2 lb) piece of Gruyère, Comte, or Emmental
- 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Special equipment:
- 6 (8- to 10-oz) flameproof soup crocks or ramekins; a cheese plane
Cook onions, thyme, bay leaves, and salt in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until onions are very soft and deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in broth, water, and pepper and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.
While soup simmers, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Arrange bread in 1 layer on a large baking sheet and toast, turning over once, until completely dry, about 15 minutes.
Remove croûtes from oven and preheat broiler. Put crocks in a shallow baking pan.
Discard bay leaves and thyme from soup and divide soup among crocks, then float a croûte in each. Slice enough Gruyère (about 6 ounces total) with cheese plane to cover tops of crocks, allowing ends of cheese to hang over rims of crocks, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.
Cooks' Note: Soups and croûtes can be made 3 days ahead (but do not add croûtes and cheese to soup); cool completely, uncovered, then chill soup, covered, and keep croûtes in an airtight container at room temperature. Reheat soup before proceeding with recipe.
Mine was better - and I didn't have to scrub the bowls.
A Vat of Beef Stew
There's a tasting at work on Tuesday evening.
We cook up tons of food, everyone eats and eats, and a good time is had by all. The only problem is we have a single hot plate, a microwave, and an easy-bake oven to prepare all of this. Now, we're geniuses at creating on these primative pieces of equipment, but when one needs to have a score of things done simultaneously, it can get a bit hectic... Think Thanksgiving Dinner. With more people and with more dishes. Did I say hectic?!? It can get hectic.
We have our list of items that are being showcased and then have pretty much a free reign to create what we want from them. Years ago, we solved the problem by creating a few bigger and/or time-consuming items at home and then bringing them in. It really helps.
A few of the items highlighted are beef stew meat, mirepoix, and organic celery hearts. Sounds like stew to me. I had done a bourguignon last year and wanted to do something a bit different. A beef paprikash came to mind, as did something smokey like a chipotle beef. What I finally decided upon was a variation on my Beef Braised in Guinness.
I had some Dark English Ale that would substitute for the Guinness. I have a huge pot. Time to get to work.
Beef 'n' Ale
- 2 pounds bacon, diced
- 2 containers Mirepoix (diced celery, carrots, and onion)
- 1 head garlic, chopped.
- 10 pounds beef stew meat
- 1 ltr Dark English Ale
- 1 qt Beef Stock
- 2 cans tomato paste
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes in juice
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp basil
- 2 organic celery hearts, chopped
- 2 bags cut and peeled carrots
- salt and pepper, to taste
Brown bacon in a bit of olive oil until crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add mirepoix and garlic and cook until vegetables are soft. Remove and set aside.
Brown beef in batches.
When beef is done, add bacon and mirepoix back to the pan.
Add the ale, beef stock, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, honey, and basil. Bring to a boil and simmer until liquid is reduced and thickens - a couple of hours is best.
Add celery and carrots and continue cooking until vegetables are done.
Two portions went to us tonight to sample and make sure it was fitting for the staff. It is!
I served it on a local handmade pasta.
It really came out good. And since we all know that soups and stews taste better after they've had a chance to sit overnight, this is just going to rock on Tuesday!
North To Alaska
Alaskan Cod, that is...
Victor took over the kitchen, today. He has now officially lost 20 pounds - and is equally determined to keep them off. We're eating well, but I tell ya - the temptation to just go for it is always just under the surface.
For both of us, the biggest challenge is dessert at night. We like dessert. But it's easier to just forgo the calories than to try and pretend that whatever low-calorie whatever we would otherwise be eating is actually 1) good, and 2) worth the lame and/or un-fulfilling calories. We've gotten a lot more selective...
So the cod?!? Baked in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil, a pat of butter, a sprinkling of bread crumbs, and capers. Really simple - and really good!
No dessert, tonight.
Maybe tomorrow. It depends on the weigh-in.....