Sunday Breakfast
I finally got my Sunday Breakfast!
Our Sunday Wake-Up Schedules can be anywhere form 30 to 60 minutes off. Victor gets up and I roll over and catch another episode of the dream de la nuit. I'm up at 5am five days a week. On Sunday I'm just not in a hurry to crawl out of bed. Unfortunately, Victor's usually ready to eat just as I'm getting my first shot of coffee.
I'm finding that if I plan in advance - and let him know that I'm planning in advance - the odds of us having breakfast together improve greatly.
So I planned.
I put the baking mix on the counter last night as a not-too-subtle reminder and got started in the kitchen a little earlier than is my wont.
I used a baking mix for the pancakes but didn't follow the recipe on the box. I added two eggs instead of the one directed, added vanilla - because I always add vanilla to pancakes - and just added water until the consistency was where I wanted it. Victor came walking into the kitchen as I was adding the water from a water glass and said "Ahh... carefully measuring, I see." But, of course.
Pancakes are possibly the easiest thing in the world to make - even from scratch. I used to make pancakes from whatever grains and flours were in the house at the time. Just add this-n-that with some eggs, butter, baking powder - and vanilla - and breakfast was served! I don't make pancakes as often as I used to. Maye next time I'll do something a bit more non-traditional.
The biggest secret to making pancakes, though, is NOT smooshing them with the spatula after you flip them.
I cannot count the number of times I have seen the cook take the spatula and turn a light, fluffy, delicate pancake into a flattened version of its former self. The whole concept of adding baking powder is to make them rise. Really.
Another breakfast secret is to cook the bacon in the oven on a sheet pan.
It comes out flat and perfect every time. If you use parchment paper on the pans - and everyone should use parchment paper on their pans - clean-up is a snap.
Quesadillas
I had a hankerin' for quesadillas. There's just something about them that endears them to me.
They were a staple for years - just cheese - but the fillings and toppings have grown a lot over the years. (So have I. Coincidence?!?) They can range from a simple appetizer to a full-blown meal; upscale and elegant or clean-out-the-refrigerator.
They work no matter what.
Tonight's filling was clean-out-the-refrigerator.
Ground beef, onion, garlic, green pepper and hot cayenne peppers from the garden, and a shot of tomato paste, cumin, salt, and pepper. I had havarti and provolone cheeses in the fridge, so I used them. Not exactly traditional, but - it's what I had. They worked well. I also added sliced cherry tomatoes - also from the garden - and green onions. Sour cream and salsa were added at the table.
I actually made two each of these guys for our dinner - and made two too many! These were filling! Leftovers went into the 'fridge.
The best part was the peppers. The cayennes are h-o-t! One adds heat. Two add fire. I added two.
It was a really quick dinner - on the table in about 15 minutes.
Olé!
BBQ Parmesan and Corn Salad
Okay, it's not really parmesan, but you get the idea... Grilled chicken with BBQ sauce and cheese. It tastes every bit as good as it sounds!
Ever since making the BBQ sauce last night I've been thinking of how good melted cheese would taste on top of it - and a few thick slices of havarti proved me right!
I just salted and peppered the chicken and placed it on the grill. When it was about 3/4 cooked, I liberally (great word, liberal!) doused the breasts with BBQ sauce and when they were done, added the cheese and let it melt a bit. The cheese slid all over the grill and made a nice mess. But it really did taste good!
The rice is a throw-together rice and orzo rice-a-roni-type-dish. Rice and orzo browned in butter and cooked in chicken stock. Simple.
The other star of the show was a Fresh Corn Salad.
Cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, rosemary, and parsley from the garden. Lovin' the goodies from the garden!
Fresh Corn Salad
- Corn kernels cut from 2 ears of corn
- 1 small bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow zucchini (or other squash) diced
- Cherry tomatoes, sliced
- Fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, parsley, whatever)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp while balsamic vinegar
- garlic
- salt and pepper, to taste
Blanch corn kernels and plunge into ice water to quickly cool. Drain.
Add all vegetables and herbs to bowl and lightly todd to combine.
Add mayonnaise and vinegar. Mix well.
Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Really simple. The vegetables can be switched out to whatever you have on hand. It's a great clean-out-the-refrigerator salad.
The BBQ sauce was really good, but as I said yesterday, just doesn't have the pronounced root beer flavor I'm looking for.
What I finally realized is I have to construct the recipe backwards. I have to start with the reduced root beer, treat it as my base and add my ingredients to it instead of the other way around. It's hard to believe I used to get paid do this stuff. I need a refresher course in Recipe Development 101.
Oh well. I'm not in a huge hurry to get it done. I have two BBQ sauces in the 'fridge right now that will keep us going for a while...
I'm just glad I finally realized where I was making my mistake. Things are a lot different when you're in a commercial kitchen with (more or less) unlimited supplies and all day - or longer - to do something. It's really a lot easier to stop midway and toss and start over.
And over.
And over.
Root Beer BBQ Sauce Revisited
What I thought was recent but just realized was 2 years ago - I made a root beer BBQ sauce. It was pretty good, but it didn't have a really strong root beer flavor. I've talked about making it again for a while. (Two years, it seems... Time does fly...)
I was talking root beer to one of the guys at work a while back and he mentioned a hand-crafted root beer from Appalachian Brewing Company at a pub he has frequented. Today, he brought me in a couple of bottles. No time like the present to start it off, again.
I brought it home and took a sip. It really does have a rich root beer flavor - just like old-fashioned root beer barrel candies! It seems the blurb from the website is true:
Appalachian Root Beer
Our original Root Beer is brewed with pure cane sugar, a touch of vanilla and a delightful blend of honey. Truly tastes like old fashioned, home made root beer thanks to wholesome ingredients - like grandpa made! Appalachian Root Beer is a caffeine-free soft drink. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoy brewing it!
I started to work.
Root Beer BBQ Sauce Duex
- 2 bottles good quality root beer
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 small hot red peppers (from our garden. They're hot!)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1 16 oz can tomatoes in juice
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- salt and pepper, to taste
Reduce the root beer (24 oz) to 1 cup (8 oz) and set aside.
Saute onion, peppers, and garlic in sauce pan until translucent. Add spices and lightly cook. Add tomato paste and cook. Add tomatoes and juice, molasses, and vinegar. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes.
Add reduced root beer and check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper and simmer.
Use an immersion blender and puree until smooth. (Or carefully use a blender.)
Refrigerate until ready to use.
I like this version much better than the first - but it still doesn't have as much of a root beer flavor as I'm looking for. But it is spicy! Those little peppers from the garden are g-o-o-d! I actually want to make a hot sauce from them later in the season.
But the BBQ sauce is really really good and I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow night on some chicken.
Tragically, I'll just have to try it again, one of these days, to see if I can get that stronger root beer flavor I'm looking for.
The things I have to do...
::sigh::
One of those days.....
Today started off bad and then proceeded to go downhill.
Every Monday morning since last August - almost a year - I have gone grocery shopping for Victor's mom. It's an easy list of things and while a couple of items come and go there are a few things that I get every week without fail. 2 packages of apple strudel bites and 4 corn muffins from the in-store bakery at The Acme.
Same store every week. Same time every week. Same employees every week. Same two items every week. Half the time they're not there. "Oh, I haven't gotten to them, yet." "I can put them in now. They'll be ready in about a half an hour." Every week.
I keep pushing my shopping time later and later - and I keep having the same conversation.
Every week.
So this week there was one package of strudel bites and one package of corn muffins. I wasn't going to wait 30 minutes for more. Went over to the dairy case. No half-gallons of whole milk. None. Nothing. A big, empty space. A couple of gallons and a lone quart. I looked around for an employee but none were to be found. Finally I spot a guy pushing a dairy rack and start to ask him if there were any half gallons and before I can get the question out he blurts "It will be in tomorrow" while shoving by me - not looking and not stopping.
Not amused.
And then no crossword books. Victor's mom likes her crosswords...
I go to check out and there's one cashier and a long line. I headed over to the self-check.
I head over to the Customer Service desk where I vent in a nice way. The women behind the counter know me and one states "Heck. Even I know you get those every week. That's not right." She says to wait a minute. I don't want to wait a minute, but I do.
Out comes the "Store Director" who immediately says "We must not have gotten our delivery from our supplier - it's not our fault." I told her I understood that deliveries can be missed, but my frustration was with the bakery. She let me know how busy they are and how they have to get the donuts and the bagels made first, and then the rolls, and then they do the other things." I asked what time would be good for "the other things" and she said "After they get the other things finished."
I thanked her for her help. And left. What I didn't say was "you're the manager of the store and have no idea why you don't have milk or what your staff is doing. Maybe you should leave your office now and again and actually manage your store." Unfortunately, had I started saying anything, it would have been a string of expletives. It was better to smile and leave.
I went to the CVS on the way and picked up the milk. Sign on the counter said "ring bell for cashier." Really.
I dropped everything off with Nonna, and went to PathMark to do a bit of shopping for us.
Another fun experience. Not as bad as Acme - at least the employees are nice - but I wasn't seeing what I wanted or needed. I don't get into moods like this often, but I knew I had to get home. One of the smallest weekly shopping trips I've made in a long time.
I get home, put the few things away, and start a peach BBQ sauce. I chop up three nice, ripe, juicy peaches and put them into a small pot with about a half-cup of Irish whisky. I turn on the heat, leave the room, come back a couple of minutes later and they have carbonized to the pan.
Burnt doesn't begin to describe it. Those lovely sugars from the peaches and the whisky have formed an impenetrable layer on the pan. It's probably my most-used Calphalon pan. 1 1/2 quarts. Perfect for rice, vegetables, sauces - cooking for two. Burnt to a crisp.
Not amused.
I start the soaking process.
It's now after noon and We're both hungry. I already have a royal case of the crankies. I figure some food can't hurt.
I grab the hot dogs, put them on the grill, go to get the buns - and they're frozen. I had bought them on Saturday and Victor didn't know I was going to use them, so...
I grab frozen buns and thaw them on the grill.
I bring them back in, get them dressed, go back out for the hot dogs - and they're burnt to a crisp. I like charred hot dogs. These were beyond charred.
We ate them, anyway.
Not amused.
At this point I should have just gone to bed and pulled the covers over my head. But, no. I trudge on.
I remade the BBQ sauce and it came out pretty good. I start the ribs in the oven on low and let them go for several hours.
I get the pot cleaned. A bit of cursing was involved and even the dog left the room - but I got the pot cleaned.
I'm brave. I bake some peach blondies. I need to break the spell. From all appearances they're doing okay. I'm watching them closely.
Time to start dinner.
I cut a potato, brush it with butter, garlic, and smoked paprika, wrapped them in foil, and placed on the grill. 15 minutes later, I added corn on the cob that I also brushed in butter, but sprinkled with cumin. I wrapped it in foil and onto the grill it went.
10 minutes later, I went out the check everything - and I was out of propane.
Empty.
Nada.
Zip.
I actually started laughing. Not hysterical shrieking laughter (although it would have been fitting.) More of a chuckle that spread into a big grin.
The spell was broken at that point.
I brought the corn and potatoes into the house and put them into the oven.
I placed the ribs under the broiler and got them sizzling.
Dinner was served.
In just a while we'll be enjoying the Peach Blondies.
Life is good.
Quick Peach BBQ Sauce
- 3 ripe, juicy peaches, chopped
- 1/2 cup bourbon or whisky
- 1 bottle good-quality BBQ sauce
Chop peaches and place in pot. Add whisky and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced a bit. Add BBQ sauce.
Mix well with immersion blender until smooth.
Read the label on the BBQ sauce. Look for good ingredients.
I think a hot and spicy BBQ sauce will work better than a sweet sauce, but... use your judgement.
Tomorrow, a friend from work will be giving me a couple of bottles of hand-crafted root beer. I'm going to attempt the Root Beer BBQ sauce again.
I'm brave.
Eggs Benedict - Sorta
I always have these plans to create a lavish Sunday Breakfast. And then never do.
Victor almost always gets up before me on Sunday and while I'm stumbling about the house looking fort a second cup of coffee - and since I never say that I'm thinking of cooking breakfast - he's in hitting the cereal cabinet.
Poor planning on my part.
So when it happened yet again, today, I thought I'd see how I could incorporate my love of breakfast with my love of dinner. (Both of which are different than my love of lunch, brunch, appetizers, desserts, and snacks - among others.)
A couple of years ago we had brunch with our friend Renee at Maverick in San Francisco and I had an outrageous andouille and crayfish benedict. I've made several variations since coming home, and thought another variation would be perfect tonight.
I had a chicken breast, andouille sausage - and English muffins. I was set!
I diced the chicken and andouille and cooked it off in a small skillet. I added a splash of chili sauce for a bit of moisture, but it didn't require anything else.
Toasted muffins, poached eggs, fried potatoes, and a homemade blender hollandaise sauce was it.
Blender Hollandaise
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup butter, melted and hot
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- pinch salt
- pinch cayenne pepper
Place yolks, vinegar, salt, and cayenne in blender and mix on high. With blender running, pour hot butter though feed hole in top in a slow, steady steam. It should take about 30 seconds to make.
The hollandaise at Maverick was a jalapeno hollandaise. I've made it several times but was looking for something a bit more traditional tonight. If you want to do a jalapeno, add some Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish to the blender before adding the butter. It rocks!
So our Sunday breakfast ended up being Sunday dinner. Not a bad thing, but I think I may mention to Victor to hold off on the cereal next Sunday. I'm craving pancakes.....
Chicken Sandwiches
This was going to be a salad.
I had the chicken in the 'fridge, lettuce, a few cherry tomatoes from the garden. Salads.
I picked up some bacon and focaccia - bacon to crumble and focaccia to nibble - and before I knew what happened, my salads turned into sandwiches.
I think there was an underlying bacon-and-chicken-and-melted-cheese-thing going on that had me subconsciously before the conscious brain kicked in. It's as good a theory as anything else.
I had a bit of onion in the 'fridge and a single bell pepper from the garden, so they got sliced and went into the skillet, first.
I cut the chicken breasts into scallops and they went into the pan with the onion and pepper - and some garlic, salt, and pepper. Bacon was cooked in the oven.
I split the focaccia, covered both halves with cheese and stuck them under the broiler just to melt.
And then the sandwich was assembled.
And consumed.
Sandwiches are fun food. Absolutely anything can go between two slices of bread and they really are limited by your imagination - and ingredients on hand.
Go make a sandwich - and have fun with it!
Broccoli
So we found out that we really should have planted the broccoli earlier or later. This is not prime broccoli-growing weather right now. But prime time or no, we just had ourselves some really good broccoli!
I've done a lot of things in my food career, but actually growing the food has not been a part of it. We did have a garden in Boston on Parker Street and I've grown zucchini (solely for the flowers to stuff!) but I've just never taken it seriously.
I've waxed poetically about fresh peas from the farmer's market or the perfect peaches from the orchard my sister lived on for years, but other than tomatoes and herbs, the stuff really hasn't been coming from my own yard.
I have been seriously missing the boat.
But I think that's about to change.
We're looking at the yard in a new way and with some work - and everyone knows I hate work - I think we can get rid of some way-too-big dogwood shrubs and build some raised beds. I'd even be willing to put in a drip irrigation system.
It's all in the dream-stage right now, but I think we could pull it off.
In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this little bit of home-grown goodness.
Steaks rubbed with smoked paprika and garlic, Phoebe's Baked Beans, and steamed broccoli with lemon zest and lemon juice.
Really simple, fun, and flavorful.
I'm actually amazed at two things - that it's taken me this long to get excited about home-grown food and that I am as excited as I am about home-grown food. I know so many people who have had gardens for years - and years. It's not like I haven't been exposed to it - or partaken of the bounty. It just wasn't in my yard.
But that's going to change.
Suburban Gardeners
Farmer in the Dell I am not. I have always had an affinity for fresh produce - I was a produce-buyer for a gourmet food distributor once upon a time and my years in hotel receiving and purchasing was an education unto itself - but my growing of produce has been pretty much limited to tomatoes and fresh herbs. We've just never seemed to have the right space and sunlight to do much else.
Until this year.
After the winter storms did a bit of tree-damage, we (I am using the royal we here. Victor has actually done all of the work) moved some plants around and gained a bit more direct sunlight. Tomatoes, four types of peppers, broccoli, and corn went into the ground.
The neighborhood critters ate the corn before it ever had a chance but the rest has flourished. Even the broccoli, that we just found is more of a cool-climate plant. (Lots of water and partial shade helped it thrive!)
And what a difference it is over the crap you buy in the grocery store.
I've been on a tirade for years about seasonal produce and locally-grown foods. I do not want to eat peaches and strawberries in January and I don't buy peaches and strawberries in January. I love 'em both - but at the right time of the year. I still remember the summer fruits that came out of my grandfather's backyard. The strawberries and the grape arbor with the huge black grapes. The peach tree next door at Mrs. McNamee's. Fresh peaches with juice running down your arm. And the best peach pies and peach ice cream a kid could ever have. And string beans that actually had strings that needed to come off. And fresh peas.
I'm sure those childhood experiences - plus a mother who cooked from scratch every night - were the major influences that kept me in the food business all these years. I watched my grandfather kill chickens and my grandmother pluck feathers. And I remember just how wonderful that fried chicken was.
Real food - back before the agri-industrial complex took over the food supply and ruined it for everyone. Eisenhower warned of the military-industrial complex, but I think the agri-industrial complex has done much more harm. I'm reading Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook right now. It's shocking. But what is even more shocking is that people really don't care. They just want it cheap. No matter what it is and no matter what the human or environmental cost.
I know that it is impossible to buy everything fresh, local, and organic and sometimes we do need to make decisions based upon expediency or cost. But the majority of the foods we eat should not have barcodes on them. And they should be made with recognizable ingredients.
So as I remember the days of watermelons with seeds (they tasted so much better) and grocery stores with fewer but infinitely better products, I head back outside to see how we (Victor) might expand the garden plot for next year.
And then head back in to cook lunch. Sausage and peppers and onions.
The peppers really were fantastic. There is just so much more flavor than anything you can find at a store. We have a couple of hot peppers out there as well. I want to try my hand at some hot sauce this year.
And I harvested the broccoli. That will be with dinner tonight with grilled steaks.
Simply prepared.
Pork Chops and Nectarines
Underneath that pile of nectarines and portobello mushrooms is a grilled pork chop.
It's my homage to the peaches ans portobellos I had at Eataly on Sunday. I still can't get them out of my mind. It was just so simple - and so good.
I marinated the pork chops in red wine, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and fresh rosemary. I cooked the mushrooms and the nectarines separately and then mixed them right before serving. All I did with them was put them into a hot skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and butter.
After plating, I drizzled balsamic over them.
And the lovely pile of fruit and mushrooms hides the fact that the chops flared up when I was in the kitchen and got a bit charred. They tasted great but didn't look too good.
The portobello/peach combo is going to be a favorite of mine for a while.
There are a lot of possibilities.
Summer Salads
I've been going a little overboard on the summer fruits... Melon, raspberries, blackberries, peaches,, nectarines, blueberries... There's only the two of us and even we can only eat so much!
I knew I had to get a bit more creative, so dinner tonight was salads with melon and berries and grapes, hard cooked eggs, artichoke hearts, grilled flank steak, and a quick homemade 1000 Island dressing.
The dressing was just mayonnaise, sour cream, ketchup, and dill pickle relish. Nothing else.
And everything was on a bed of crunchy iceberg lettuce. And for all of you out there who would never - ever - sully your plate with lowly, non-nutritious iceberg lettuce... it has the exact same nutritional values as romaine. Think about it next time you pick up those over-priced packages of romaine hearts.
We definitely needed to do salads tonight because I made a chocolate raspberry torte for dessert.
I still have to put it all together but it should be ready in time for Final Jeaopardy!
Ribs
Last summer I received a 60-day Costco membership. I had cancelled our membership close to 10 years ago because I just couldn't see paying a store an annual fee for the privilege of giving them even more money. Not to mention the fact that they just don't have a lot of things I want to buy. We just don't need industrial-sized drums of the national-brand stuff they sell. Besides... I read ingredient lists.
Once upon a time we would buy paper towels, toilet paper, laundry and dish soap there, but I found we could get just as good - if not better - prices at local grocery stores. Without having to pay an annual fee. The last time I was there, I literally walked every aisle and couldn't find anything I wanted to buy.
Except some ribs.
It was actually my second trip to Costco for the ribs. I really liked the first batch.
I bought three packages - which translated to six full racks. Twelve dinners for two. I cut them and repacked them with my handy-dandy FoodSaver.
Tonight I cooked up the last package. And were they ever good!
I cut them all into ribs and liberally doused them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ancho chili powder. I placed them in a 250° oven for a little more than 2 hours. Victor noted that with our oven, it's like putting them in a smoker. I think I need to clean it, again.
I then liberally doused them with Peach BBQ Sauce and onto the grill they went. (I love the word "liberal.")
I also made a batch of little sister's baked beans. They totally rock.
The disappointment?!? The artichokes. Tough and woody. I was especially bummed because I was going to make grilled corn with cumin butter and at the last minute changed my mind. I didn't even eat mine. Victor dove into the heart and pronounced it edible but I just wasn't interested at that point.
But it's okay because I'm saving room (and calories) for Nectarine Upside-Down Cake a little later on.