Peanut Butter Cookies
Okay... I admit it. I had two cookies while I was making dinner. The old saying is "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." There was certainly nothing uncertain about me NOT having a cookie while making dinner.
They're really good. And if there are any left on Wednesday Morning, they can come with us to San Francisco. Not that there's likely to be any left, but if there were.....
Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
Preheat oven to 350°. Mix butter, peanut butter and the sugars until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix until well blended. Add the cranberries and and peanuts and mix thoroughly.
Place dough balls on cookie sheet and flatten the balls with a fork. I use ice cream scoops and have them in several different sizes. Baking time depends upon how big a cookie you make, but a standard rounded-tablespoon0sized cookie should bake about 10 minutes. The cookies should be firm to the touch and just beginning to brown. Larger cookies will take a bit longer to bake..
Such a big taste for such a simple cookie. Play with the additions. Add chocolate chips. Peanut butter chips. Mini peanut butter cups. Have fun with them! And eat one before dinner.
Sausage and Tortollini
Since we're taking off very early Wednesday morning (a rousing chorus of Simon and Garfunkel's Wednesday Morning, 3AM may be appropriate here...) I'm not doing any grocery shopping. It's clean out of the freezer and clean out the 'fridge.
With that in mind, I cooked up a couple Italian sausages and added them to some sauce I had in the freezer. Out, also, came the cheese tortellini.
Dinner in 10 minutes.
Some nice parmigiana shredded on top and dinner was served.
Victor made Peanut Butter cookies for dessert.
Dunky Eggs
When Victor was a little kid, his mom called fried eggs "Dunky Eggs" because they could dunk their toast into the yolks. When his nieces and nephews were born, the tradition continued. Of course, for the grand kids, she would actually cut the toast in strips for them to dunk. Grand kids always rank higher. You can spoil them and then give them back. And smart kids don't pull temper-tantrums with grandparents.
My father's version of fried eggs were cooked in a cast iron skillet in a gallon of bacon grease. They were almost deep-fried. And damn, were they good! His breakfasts were legendary. Piles of fried potatoes, bacon and toast. Not to mention the endless cups of Lady Lee coffee... But I digress...
This morning I started out with my favorite Niman Ranch bacon. I love Niman Ranch. Bill Niman started his business some 35 years ago in Marin County. It is proof that we don not need factory farms. It has grown to a network of family farms supplying quality meats. If you buy Niman Ranch meat, you can be sure the animal was humanely treated and slaughtered, that it was pasture-raised and lived outdoors in a traditional farm setting, and that it was not fed growth hormones or antibiotics. Real food, raised naturally. It's what it's supposed to be all about.
The potatoes were baby yukon gold's, sliced and fried in a bit of grapeseed oil. garlic, salt, and pepper. The eggs were fried in butter - Plugra, of course - and the whole wheat bread used for the toast was free of partially-hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup. I don't care what those commercials - put out by the corn industry - say; high-fructose corn syrup is evil and I will not consume it in any way, shape, or form.
Real food, real ingredients, minimally processed... Breakfast was great!
Steak Sandwich, Italian Style
I had pulled a london broil out of the freezer before heading to work this morning without any plans for it. I just knew that tonight's dinner was going to be beef.
Somewhere along the line, the idea of a sandwich started formulating... I like sandwiches. Lots of good stuff between slices of good bread. And sandwiches can be fun. You literally can put anything between slices of bread. Trust me. I know this.
Tonight's sandwich started off with a cheese and tomato focaccia. The focaccia is light and airy and has good flavor, but it's more subtle and compliments rather than competes with a filling.
I sliced it in half and slathered on the Duke's mayonnaise, then just a bit of horseradish. Next went a layer of leeks I had sauteed in butter. The sweet/savory of the leeks was a perfect compliment to the thinly-sliced steak that went next, along with some salt and freshly-ground pepper.
Thin slices of asiago cheese went atop the beef, and then a layer of roasted yellow peppers and thinly-sliced tomatoes.
And then LOTS of arugula. Arugula is just so good. Its crunchy pepper flavor is perfect on sandwiches. I like it as a salad, cooked as a side dish... but as a green on a sandwich, it really shines.
On went the top, and another sandwich was born.
It was good.
And so was the Pumpkin Pie!
Chicken Pot Pie
I knew this morning that I was going to make Chicken Pot Pie for dinner tonight. I just didn't know if I was going to make individual pies or one big one. Well... One big one won out. And purely because I was feeling gluttonous; if I made individual pies, it would be more difficult to have seconds - or thirds. And I must admit I did stick the spoon back into the dish a third time. Granted, it wasn't a huge third spoon, but it does help explain why I don't have a 28" waist.
This is the type of food I grew up with. Six kids meant making things stretch - and soups, stews, pot pies, etc., were definitely the way to do it.
And like my mother before me, I don't have a recipe. These are the kinds of things one just makes.
What I did do, though was cut up a chicken breast. I diced a small onion and sauteed it in a bit of butter. I added the chicken and a handful of chopped celery. I put in a bit of poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Nothing fancy. I cut up a couple of carrots and added them to the pot. And then a couple of cups of chicken broth and a few potatoes, cubed. I didn't peel anything. Oh - and a cup or so of frozen peas.
I let it all simmer until the potatoes were nearly done, added a splash of heavy cream, and thickened it with my favorite Beurre Manié.
Into the crust-lined dish and then added the top crust. I didn't trim anything, just folded it under, because the crust is the best part. I use all of it!
And then into a 425º oven for about 20 minutes.
Yum.
Going Cellular For The Train Ride
I just got my cellular service set up for our train ride back from San Francisco.
We fly out to San Francisco on the 19th and will return via the train Novemnber 25th, arriving in Paoli on the 28th... It's still a ways away, but I wanted to make sure everything is set before we leave. Mr Detail-Neurotic. that's me...
We're bringing the laptops and the iPods so we can watch movies and listen to books and the like, but I want to be able to get online and post about the train and the trip. Hopefully, I'll have a lot of fun pictures of great food in the dining car to write about. Or, I'll have a bunch of pictures of really sucky food in the dining car to write about. In any event, I now will be able to do it whilst travelling in the train! My last cross country train ride was well over 20 years ago when I went from Boston to San Francisco. There were no laptop computers then. No cellular service. I was actually incomunicado for several days. I didn't have a sleeper. I think on that trip I just drank a lot.
This time, though, we're going first class - literally. Private compartment with bed, bath, and shower. All meals included. Sheets and towels and turn-down service. How sweet it shall be!
It was supposed to be our Honeymoon trip until Proposition 8 got in the way of things.
Oh well... we're going to have a fun time, regardless! And I can't wait to get home and see everyone!
They Re-Branded My Local Grocery
It started as a rumor about 6 months ago. The Super Fresh store where we've been shopping for the 7 years we've lived here was changing names. Well... that rumor is finally a reality as Super Fresh in Berwyn has completed its transformation to a Path Mark.
Not being a local boy, I didn't know that Super Fresh and Pathmark were all part of A&P. I've never shopped at an A&P, but the name is certainly famous. Where are A&P's anyway?!? Do they even exist anymore?!? But I digress...
The corporate office spent some big bucks on a complete transfomation of the store, from new lighting to new freezer and refrigerated cases, a completely new layout, new paint, new signs, new, new, new. And, in theory, lower prices.
I have to admit I like the new look. The store is brighter and it has a more visually appealing layout. There's a couple of things I probably would have done differently - like the shelves in the corner of the produce section where the flowers used to be. I doubt they will ever have anything in that corner that will entice me over there... But... overall, the place looks pretty good. I do have to question the decision to spend so much money rebranding the store, though. Do they really think they're going to be able to recoup it all?!?
I found the store almost by accident when we moved back here in early 2001. Driving around and getting lost everywhere I went, I tended to stay close to Lancaster Avenue. My first shopping was at the Acme in Strafford. What a dump. The store was dank and dirty, the staff rude. It sucked. Down the road was Fresh Fields. The store with attitude. I don't know who was worse - the employees or the customers. I made a bee-line for the door and didn't go back until they changed their name to Whole Foods. The first store in the area I found that I liked was Geunardi's in St David's. And in no time, Safeway bought them and they went to hell.
I hadn't really spent any time up around the shopping centers north of us. I didn't know the roads up that way, there was a lot of construction going on... But one day I was out exploring and I saw Super Fresh. I went in and immediately liked the place. It seemed new, the employees were reasonably friendly, the prices seemed reasonable... I started shopping there regularly.
Over the years the Acme in Strafford has been remodelled (it still sucks) Geunardi's has tried to woo back its lost customers from the botched Safeway takeover (it hasn't worked for me...) and a new Wegman's has opened not that far away (too far for weekly shopping, though.)
And Super Fresh has kept pace, as well. It's had it's new floors and paint, new uniforms for the staff... But evidently, it hasn't been enough to bring in the shoppers. I think it has more to do with location than anything else... The whole shopping area is in trouble. Linen's & Things at one end is closing down, Oskar Huber - a huge furniture anchor store is closing down. Circuit City - another anchor - has just filed for bancruptcy and will surely be closing soon... It's just a lousy location.
Which really is too bad. I like the store, and I really like the employees there. I like walking in and having people say HI to me. I like being able to chat with the folks. And I like their products.
The writing is probably on the wall for them, too. I imagine they will have to see a significant increase in their numbers or they will be closing down, too.
Here's hoping they stick around.
Beef Stew
Back in July, I bought a whole bottom round for a mere $1.49/lb. I cut it all up, broke out the Food Saver, and into the freezer it went. I cut up the odds and ends for stew meat - and tonight was the stew.
I've never followed a recipe for stew. You put stuff in a pot and then you eat it. And, somehow, it always tastes good. I can never make a small batch of stew - or soup, for that matter. The pot just seems to keep getting fuller and fuller. Tonight was no exception.
My mom wrote out a recipe in her cookbook years ago. She really didn't follow a recipe, either, but that was a close approximation to what she usually did. Definitely the coffee. Anything stewed or braised had coffee in it. It's one of natures little miracles. It really enhances the flavor.
So tonight's stew started out with browing the beef cubes in bacon grease. Yes - I save my bacon grease just like my mother and her mother before her - and most likely her mother, too... It added a really nice, rich flavor. Then went in some onions and garlic. When they were fairly well cooked, I added a couple of cups of red wine and let it cook down.
I added beef broth and a cup of coffee and then let it simmer a couple of hours.
Next was carrots, celery, potatoes, and peas. I cut the potatoes large, figuring they would break down, but they fooled me - they almost disappeared. So, I cooked up some egg noodles and tossed them in.
Oh... and I thickened it with a Beurre Manié - equal parts of butter and flour, kneaded into a paste and stirred into the liquid. It's one of my favorite thickening tricks.
Into bowls it went along with thick slabs of bread and lots of butter.
Dayum, it was good! And there's enough left for another dinner and a big container for Victor's mom.
Life is good.
Stuffed Pork Roast
A while back I picked up a pork roast with the thought of cutting it into chops. It's really a lot less expensive to buy larger pieces of meat and cut them yourself. Besides, I then get to decide exactly how thick I want my chops... Thin for cutlets, thick for stuffing... But I never did cut it up. After three days of sitting in the 'fridge, it went - whole - into the freezer.
And it was fortuitous that it did, because there it was, ready for me to come up with a simple stuffing.
I browned 2 links of hot Italian sausage, a couple of ribs of celery, half an onion, a splash of broth, bread crumbs and an egg...
Next, I sliced oped the roast, laid it out flat, spead on the stuffing, rolled it up, and tied it together with kitchen twine.
Into a 350° oven about an hour, and it was ready. I whipped up some polenta - added some corn to it for texture - and cooked up some peas.
It was yummy. And easy. I thought of making a quick pan gravy and then decided heck with it. It would have been good, but I was ready to sit down and eat.
Sunday Morning Breakfast
Victor and I have breakfast together every Sunday. It's one of those fun traditions. Of course, anything that involves food is a fun tradition, as far as I'm concerned... But that leisurely Sunday Morning Breakfast is definitely something special.
Either of us cooks. It pretty much depends on who gets into the kitchen first, which of us has a plan, an idea, or a yearning for something in particular. And trust me... if someone else is cooking, I'm eating. I'm not fussy -and neither is Victor.
So... it was Victor's turn today to say he was making breakfast. I'm working on my Relay For Life website (I'm the Online Chair for the Relay!) and I have a few updates to do on a couple of others, so it was nice to sit back and have breakfast cooked for me today!
Victor came up with a clean-out-the-refrigerator-fritatta. It had bacon, sausage, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and mozzarella balls, along with some garlic, S&P... The basics.
Whilst it was baking away in the oven, he decided a hollandaise sauce would go good with it. Out came the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
I came into the kitchen and Victor was just about ready to throw away a bowl of strangely coagulated egg yolk and butter-stuff. I quizically looked and he pointed to the recipe. What was strange about this recipe, "Classic Hollandaise" was it called for mixing egg yolks and unmelted butter over simmering water until the butter melted, and adding more unmelted butter, stirring it in... As I said... I've made lots of hollandaise. Melted butter is how it's done! This just wasn't right - and the end result proved it. I shudder to think of how many disappointed people tried to follow this recipe.
I've made many a hollandaise in my time - and broken more than two. They are almost always fixable. So... Tim to the rescue.
A couple tablespoons of BOILING water and a lot of whisking action brought the sauce back to where it should have been in the first place.
And breakfast was served.
Raspberry Cheesecake
Coming home to a fresh-baked cheesecake is always a treat. Coming home to a raspberry cheesecake with a chocolate walnut crust is nothing short of spectacular!
And boy, does it taste good!
Victor followed our totally tried-and-true cheesecake recipe and it didn't fail. The filling recipe is great in that it can be tweaked in any number of ways to make totally different variations - as he did by swirling in some raspberry sauce he made... The chocolate and the walnut of the crust just made everything fit together perfectly.
We had mini-burgers for dinner tonight. Tiny cheeseburgers on little petite rolls. I had bleu cheese on mine. Victor opted for monterey jack. And we both liberally slathered Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish on the buns!
Some french fries and dinner was done. Yumlicious!