Taquitos

When I was a kid, I used to love getting flautas from the Mexican restaurant down the street.  Corn tortillas, stuffed with meat, wrapped into little cigarette-type rolls, deep fried, usually served with guacamole.  So good.   

After we got married, the husband and I got hooked on the ease of taquitos.  Basically the same thing, but not fried up to order.  Straight from the freezer to the oven.  Taquitos and potstickers became the basis of the infamous “Crap Dinner” we would indulge in about once a month.  Just like it sounds, this meal is rooted in junk food and usually resulted in two days of drinking water to account for the amount of sodium we had ingested.

Taquitos are still one of our favorite easy dinners.  I’ve gotten more and more disappointed in the taquitos that you can buy in the store, especially as I constantly consider the ingredients vs. homemade and the cost of prepared foods vs. making it at home.  I still do a ton of crock pot and make ahead meals due to Little E’s crazy riding schedule.  I was reading Jessica Fisher’s Not Your Mother’s Make-ahead and Freeze cookbook from the library the other day and was inspired by her frozen taquitos recipe.  I hadn’t considered making them at home. 

I hesitate to even claim that I have a recipe for taquitos because I tend to use it as a Use-Up-The-Leftovers food now.  Leftover roasts, chicken, and such all go into the freezer until I have enough to make taquitos although occasionally, I’ll make something specifically for taquitos – like a venison roast.  Drier veggies make good additions – corn, peppers, potatoes, rehydrated or oil cured dried tomatoes.   Cilantro holds up well too.  The only thing we have not really cared for has been cheese – the cheese doesn’t hold up well and melts away long before the frozen taquitos are done.  I just tried some with feta, and it held up a little better, but generally not worth the calories, as far as I was concerned.   In terms of seasonings, again, you don’t want your filling to be too moist – the tortilla will get too wet on reheating and fall apart.  That said, a little barbeque sauce or adobo sauce adds a lot of flavor.

Because frying all the tortillas takes some time and makes the house a little smelly, this is not something I make unless I’m willing to commit the time and energy to make a big batch.  I rarely make just one filling.    I’d say altogether it probably takes me an hour to an hour and a half to make 60+ taquitos (that's two small bags of tortillas), depending on how organized I am.   And just in case you were thinking about skipping the whole frying step – don’t even consider it.  Corn tortillas are difficult to work with, and the pre-frying step will make sure they cook up properly once frozen. 

Make-Ahead Taquitos with Filling Ideas  Yields: 8+ Servings Ingredients 1 cup Oil May need more depending on pan. Not olive oil - you want something with a high heat point 2 bags Corn Tortillas -- FILLINGS -- -- BBQ Pork -- 1 1/2 cup Leftover carnita/roast pork 1/4 cup Finely chopped onions 1 tblspoons Cilantro 1/4 cup Bbq sauce Enough to moisten -- POTATO CHORIZO -- 2 Potatoes 1 Sweet potato 2/3 cup Fresh chorizo (can use Spanish chorizo, use about 1/2 cup, finely diced) 1/2 cup Feta Cheese (if desired) -- CHICKEN AND BLACK BEAN-- 2 cups Cooked, shredded/chopped chicken 1 can (12 oz) Black Beans 1/4 cup Salsa Use just enough to moisten filling - don't want filling to be wet 2/3 cup Frozen corn -- BEEF or VENISON AND GREEN CHILI -- 2 cups Roast Beef or Roast Venison 1 can (small) Green chili 1/2 cup Finely chopped onions 1/2 cup Frozen corn (optional)

Instructions Prepare desired fillings by mixing ingredients together. If using a sauce (like bbq or salsa), use just enough to make the filling moist, but not wet. Season with salt/pepper/garlic as desired. Prepare tortillas - using a large skillet, heat about an inch of oil to shimmering. Fry tortillas, 1-2 at a time for about 10-15 seconds on each side. Tortillas should not brown at all. Do not skip this step. Drain on paper towels. Once tortillas are cool, spread about 2 tablespoons of filling on one edge of a tortilla. Roll up tightly, like a cigarette. Secure with a toothpick. Repeat. (I usually can get 2-3 on a toothpick). Lay out on a cookie sheet to freeze (if you are good, you'll remember to take the toothpicks out when the taquitos are slightly frozen but still flexible enough to remove the toothpick. Otherwise, you can just leave them in and even cook them with them in). Once frozen, package off into smaller bags or vacuum seal.

 

Krispy Pops

Miss Thing has a July birthday.  While there are many benefits to having a summer birthday, there are a few fallbacks as well.  For those with a summer birthday, there is not the same excitement of having the whole class sing happy birthday, of the special birthday treat, of having that "special day" with the entire school. 

Fortuntely for those with a summer birthday, it means that you have a winter half birthday.  Now, I admit that I have not always been the most diligent mom when it comes to half birthdays.  I'm pretty sure I remembered last year to bring something in.  But I think that was my first time.

This year, Miss Thing requested that she can bring in a treat, so how could I refuse?  Her classroom is a restricted one - no nuts, no eggs.  I've been using my "crazy cake" recipe (no eggs, no dairy) cake for so long for her school events that I'm getting tired of making it.  Let alone I have dug myself into a bit of a hole with the complex constructions of some of my previous cakes.

So this year, it was something simple.  Rice crispy treats.  Sticks.  Chocolate.  Sprinkles. 

Start with your basic rice crispy treat.  I try and pack them down a bit as well.  You want some strength to your treat.  Then, spread a thin coat of chocolate on the back for structure and strength.  Homemade rice crispy treats can get a little flaccid or bendable at times.  You do not want that in a pop.

 Now, about that stick....  Rice crispy treats are not exactly the most stable, and while a stick should stay in, it is best to apply reinforcements.  Before placing that stick in the rice crispy treat, go ahead and dip it in chocolate first.  That way, the stick will be cemented inside the treat.

Drizzle the other side with more chocolate and top with sprinkles.   A sugar filled treat fit for a princess.  On a stick.  

Peanut Butter

I have been making peanut butter at home for about three years now. After Whole Foods came into our neighborhood, we fell in love with the fresh ground honey roasted peanut butter that you pay an arm and a leg for but grind it right there in the store.

It didn't take long for us to try it at home. The result was just beautiful. Slightly bumpy (a food processor can't get grind it completely smooth), fresh smelling, never separating into that oily goop like the natural stuff you buy in the store, and slightly sweetened because we still use the honey roasted peanuts.

When I mention that I make my own peanut butter, people get that glazed look on their face. You know that look: The "Oh. You're one of THOSE weirdos who sew their own clothes and raise their own chickens and don't use deodorant and sing songs around a guitar instead of watching Make Me a Supermodel like the rest of us" look. Well, I would raise my own chickens if I could, but I'm really liking Salome and the hot guy from England and I hope one of them takes it all.

The thing is, it is so.damn.easy and cheap for that matter, it doesn't make sense not to make it anymore. It lasts forever and it tastes so much better! And it takes approximately 8 minutes to make. I timed it.

So, I'm sharing my peanut butter strategy with all of you. I encourage you to run out right now and try it.

First, get yourself a big ole can of honey roasted peanuts. You can use plain roasted peanuts, but DO NOT use dry roasted. I'm not sure why, but they are not as oily and do not develop the butter texture. No matter how long I ground them, I ended up with just crumbly peanuts. I now go to one of those wholesale stores and just buy a case of the huge tubs of peanuts so we don't have to worry about running out.

Add those peanuts to your food processor, about 1/2 to 3/4 the way up the bowl.

Next, start the processing/chopping of those peanuts. At first, your peanuts will look like, well, chopped peanuts.

Keep the processor running. At the next stage, your peanuts will start to clump together. They are starting to extrude oil, and you'll notice that there are little clumps at the bottom of the processor, and it may even clump around the top. This is a good time to get a spoon and start breaking it up a bit. Keep processing.

The next stage is when the peanut butter is really starting to come together. There will be some areas that look like peanut butter, but it's still really chunky. Stir it up a bit again, and keep processing.

About another minute or so into the processing, and it's really going to start looking like peanut butter. You're going to look at it, taste it, and cry out with pure joy and consider all the things you could do with this sticky elixer from the gods. But don't stop now. The picture below really looks like peanut butter, but I strongly encourage you to keep processing for about 2 more minutes. If you stop now, the peanut butter may firm up substantially in the fridge (which is where I keep it, just to be safe) making it nearly impossible to spread on that squishy white bread your child so desires. Trust me. Let it go. Stir it up again. Process for about another 2 minutes.

Finally, your peanut butter should look like this:

See how it's no longer holding a line? You may think it looks a little runny, but once it is away from the heat of the food processor, it will firm up. It's done now.

Finally, give a taste to your child who has been begging for some peanut butter since you started making it.

And there you have it. I was told as a child that eating peanut butter alone was one of the most dangerous things you could do since the Heimlich doesn't work on peanut butter. So please don't turn me in to Child Services.

The cost-benefit of making your own household staples

I read an article on this topic the other day on Slate. Personally, the things the author mentioned in her article I would not consider staples in my house. I mean, we like bagels and all, but it's not the same as not having bread in the house. The same with granola. We like it, but it's not what I would consider a staple.

There are a lot of things that I make at home because I think they are cheaper and/or taste better. Other things, I continue to buy generally because although I think my homemade stuff is better, the time it takes to make them makes it it too prohibative to make them at home. I do think I'm going to try to keep track of the cost of making things at home. Including the time it takes to make them, although my time isn't incredibly expensive right now, other people's might be.


Things currently made at home as a "staple":

• peanut butter. This is a big one. It is incredibly easy to do, and I'm hooked on it now. Couldn't imagine it any other way.
• corn chips. Less fat, not fried, damn crunchy, and can control the amount of salt.
• jam.
• pickles
• cookies. Bags of dough ready to go at all times in the freezer.
• croutons. We eat a lot of salads and soups. In fact, i need to make a batch today.
• salsa. Made with canned tomatoes, but better than the processed stuff.
• tomato soup. Again, always kept in the freezer.
• coffee beans. We are using our roaster heavily, and I think we will be weaned completely off purchased coffee beans except in case of emergency.
• stock. I am addicted to making chicken stock now. It tastes much better, and not as salty.

Things that I have made, but decided it was not worth the trouble:

• bread. Just can't keep up with the demand. Fresh bread does not make as good of sandwiches. It goes bad quickly.
• english muffins. Tasty, but I don't have the process down pat enough to make it worth the effort.
• Indian food. I know this is kind of broad, and I do make Indian on occasion, but usually it's just a whole lot of prep, and doesn't taste all that much better than our frozen dinners. We stick by our favorite takeout place and our frozen dinners.

I got my arm caught in the freezer, and that's why I haven't written.

Unfortunately, I wish this wasn't true. But I did get my arm caught in the freezer when I was alone in the house. I had about 10 minutes to contemplate whether the spaghetti sauce or the caponata would go best with my arm (as clearly gnawing it off was the only alternative) before I managed to rip it out. Quite painfully, I might add.

Otherwise, things have been busy these last few weeks. The Marvelous Miss Thing is in her third week of first grade. She's exhausted, all the time. She has also started ballet, much to my relief, as I am hoping it will alleviate some of the random pirouettes we've had in the house and school over the past year.

I am in the process of preparing for candy season. As I am officially an LLC now, I am in business. Summer is too hot for candy without a climate controlled area (which mine is not), and who wanted to eat melted chocolate, so I am just starting to ramp up now.

Today, I made chocolate chip cookie dough truffles and some buckeyes to start taking with me to various places. Free candy always intrigues people.

Candied Salmon II: You should have seen the papers I used to smoke these guys...

I thought I would follow up on my earlier candied salmon experiment.

Today I smoked my second batch of candied salmon with some slight variations to my first batch.

I used approximately 1/2 as much salt as the original recipe suggested. It made a huge difference in flavor, but did not seem to affect the quality of the fish. It may mean that it doesn't keep as long, but realistically, it doesn't keep long in my house anyway.

This time, I also basted the fish periodically with the honey-water mixture, as recommended by the recipe. I didn't do that with the first batch, and this addition gave the fish a little boost of sweetness and a beautiful lacquered look.

Miss Thing ate about a half a pound today.

And I used the left over brine (with a splash of added soy sauce) for some beef jerky. Have you ever had beef that tasted like candy? It tastes kind of like candied bacon. Again, Miss Thing ate as much as I would let her.

Home alone..... fermenting...

I went to New York City for a few days with my mom and sister on a celebratory girls trip. It was a first time there for my mom and sister, and my second visit. New York feels like a potential second home to me. However, much like some of my other favorite cities, the cost of living seems so outrageous compared to the midwest, that it just seems more sensible to live here and then go on visits as often as possible.


While I was gone, my urn of sauerkraut was happily bubbling away. What? You made sauerkraut, you say? Well, not yet. Sauerkraut is cabbage that has fermented in a brine. Much like a pickle. I guess it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the cabbage to fully ferment to its fully gasous self. Being a good irish girl like I am, I came rather late to the sauerkraut game, but my german husband (and this highly german town that I live in) loves the stuff. And I like it too. It seemed natural to try to preserve it myself.


I secured 3 cabbages (15 pounds) at the farmers market the previous weekend. (on a side note, my new market bag worked fabuously - it was like having 3 ginormous... well, for lack of a better analogy, testicles popping out of this bag). Sliced them thin, and sprinked them with salt. 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 pounds of cabbage. Let it wilt from the salt. Pack the cabbage into the urn tightly. Hopefully, the liquid from the cabbage will cover the cabbage, but if it does not (and I have yet to have the water extruded actually cover it), you can make a simple brine to supplement it.

At first my sauerkraut bubbled like crazy and almost immediately started eminating that "Dear god, what has died in our kitchen" (to quote my husband). I shuffled the enormous crock of kraut down to the basement for fear that the hot weather was encouraging too fast of fermentation.

Then, after a week down in the basement, I think it was too cold. The fermentation seemed to cease.

Thank you to the Harvest forum at Gardenweb - a group of experts on such preservation who advised me to bring it back up into warmer environment.

It's been going for 2 weeks now. The kraut is not bubbling as much as I think it should, but it is definitely starting to smell and taste sour.

I'll update later...

Strawberry Harvest...

You know it's bad when your spouse, who reads your blog about once a month, comments on your lack of posting.

I do have about 4 drafted posts, just waiting for me to complete them. I get started, ramble a lot, and then something pulls me away. The post is banished to neverland. I promise to get them out there. Go toward the white light little posts! Anyway....

We are coming up on the end of strawberry season for this part of the woods. So far, I have made about 20 jars of jam, a huge vat of strawberry vodka which needs to soak for the next 3 weeks, and today I am making strawberry leather (aka fruit rollups). I'm hoping that Saturday's farmers market does not leave me hanging, as I would like to get about one more round of strawberry stuff. We'll see...

Salmon Candy

Mr. H is running in his first triathalon this weekend. He is one of those people who doesn't have to work out regularly to still be able to run a 7 minute mile. For 10 miles. Hell, probably for 20 miles. I, on the other hand, while I can run for a long time (if I so chose), at a dispairingly slow pace. My occasional trainer swears to me that I could become faster, but I remember even in high school, when I played field hockey, I was a solid 9 minute mile girl. So it's not surprising to me that in the *cough*15 or so *cough* years since then that I can't keep that pace. I still run, probably around 15 miles a week, but not that fast. (I do have something going for me, I am not wracked with leg cramps or back spasms like he is.)

Anyway, the whole family is piling into the car at an ungodly hour of the morning this weekend to be in that overrated city (although I still like it) by 6 am. Seriously. I'm going to bring my lounge chair and try to catch a nap.

As Mr. H is away on business tonight, I decided to work on a small protein present for him. Two batches of beef jerky, one of which I'm going to try to smoke on my smoker tomorrow, rather than just using the dehydrator. In addition, I'm experimenting with a batch of salmon candy.

Candied salmon is salmon that has been marinated/brined in a sweet brine, then hot smoked. Or at least, I believe that is what it is. We have been buying it from Whole Foods for as long as it was open. Miss Thing loves it. The only problem is the price, at $18 to $20 per pound, it is an expensive treat. Especially when the 5 year old would eat a pound of it herself. On our recent trip home, we bought a little stash of the stuff, but it just left me longing for more.

I decided to try my own version of candied salmon. Turns out, there are many recipes for the brine. Duh, I guess I just had to look for it.

I decided to use a recipe that included a lot of sugar and maple syrup. The recipe contained (what I thought to be) an awful lot of salt, but since this was my first time, I figured I should stick to the recipe. The brine makes a lot - much more than my 3 pounds of salmon needed.

I brined the chunks of salmon for about 24 hours, and then smoked them over hickory chips for about 3 hours. I still don't think I have the timing for the salmon right - I'm still not quite accustomed to deciding when a chunk is done. But for the most part, I think it turned out well. The fish was sweet, with a nice texture, and a good smokey flavor. Personally, I thought it was too salty, and next time I will not use so much salt. I apologize for not having a picture of the fish but I will get one as soon as I can.

On the upside of this adventure though, I made 3 pounds of candied salmon for about 18 dollars, rather than 19.99 a pound at that store! In addition, I threw the leftover brine with some of the beef that I was using for jerky in an attempt to persuade Miss Thing to like the stuff. I then smoked it. It tasted just like bacon!!!! She loved it.

I am officially in business.

On the same day that I won Best Dissertation for my section in the college (seriously! How crazy is that! My first question to my advisor was "didn't anyone else graduate this year besides me?"), my small business license for my very non-academic company arrived. Somehow I think the cash prize I was awarded was supposed to go toward funding additional research, not funding liability insurance for my candy company.

Oh yeah.

It's totally fermenting now.

In a pickle...

Since I started canning last summer, I have become very interested in pickles. We are big pickle eaters around here. I'm a dill pickle girl myself, with no real taste for sweet or sweet and sour pickles.

I decided that the smell of fermenting cucumbers or cabbage might not be the most appealing when one is trying to sell one's house, so I've been toying around with the idea of brining some pickles and/or cabbage since we moved into this new house. Last autumn, I bought some cabbage from the farmers market with the full intention of making saurcraut, but didn't get to it fast enough.

I saw some pickling cucumbers at the market these past two weeks. Last week I pickled some cucumbers in a vinegar solution. "TOO SOUR" exclaimed Miss Thing making that scrunched up face that animated characters do when they eat lye or a lemon. I knew a brining was in order.

Last Sunday I followed Alton's recipe for cured pickles. I can tell you that those cucumbers just looked beautiful.



I checked on those pickles this morning, with the full intention of seeing those little bubbles that indicate successful fermentation is taking place. Nothing.
The water that was once clear is now a little murky, but not cloudy as I expected it to be. Now, it's only been three days. And maybe I'm not sure what I'm looking for. It's also been rather cold in my house (damn this never ending winter), so we'll give a few more days before I decide this is a failed experiment.

Anise 1, World 0

I thought I would reflect a bit on my most recent holiday Feast.

Black licorice. I don't know anyone who likes it (except I think my mom likes it). I remember eating pizzelles that were heavy on the anise flavor and just gagging with disappointment that the crisp delicacy had been poisoned with that flavor. At one of my favorite college coffee shops, I used to pick the anise seeds out of the rock-hard biscotti that I would eat (one piece would last a whole week. I hope to write about that later). I still don't care for italian sausages that rely heavily on fennel seeds for flavor.

Then about three years ago, I bought a little french taragon plant, and I fell in love. For some reason, tarragon's mild anise flavor seemed so much more delicate, so gentle. Nothing at all like the harsh explosions from anise seeds. I started using it in everything. I made a tomato-tarragon spread that I use on bagels and crackers. People can't place the taste. (I even took the plant with me when we moved up here. It overwintered successfully, and I almost wept with joy - I hope it makes it to planting).

My secret mission for the past two years has been to try to make anise more accessible. My biscotti, although edible without a jackhammer, uses a mixture of anise, vanilla and almond. I couldn't think of it without the slight anise tinge. I experimented with springerle this past christmas season with a heavier anise flavor. Again, even those who profess not to like anise ate the cookies.

However, I have not been able to move past to fennel. Inevitably, someone sees it, and turns their nose up. Two years ago at Thanksgiving, I made a mixed greens salad with fennel, orange and onion. No one touched it (now, this could also be in part because I made WAY to much food. Two 15 pound turkeys for 12 people? WTF was I thinking?). I would buy it, and Mr. H would just shake his head.

"Trying again?"

"Hell yes."

I am happy to say, that this Easter, fennel won. I made a potato-leek-FENNEL gratin. And one of the cousins asked for the recipe. Now, you have to keep in mind that most of my family considers things that don't come with a powdered cheese sauce gourmet. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way, but more as a description of their context. I usually joke about the ingredients I'm sneaking into the meals. I love sharing things that my family hasn't seen or tasted before. I gave my step-mother-in-law her first taste of blood orange this weekend, and I just loved seeing her face at the different taste. Anyway, I digress....

The gratin was really tasty. Sure, you couldn't really taste the fennel that much. And it was covered in heavy cream and cheese. But the fennel DID add something to the dish, and I wouldn't leave it out...

Potato-Fennel Gratin (based on the recipe from epicurious)

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)

2 medium-size fresh fennel bulbs, sliced very thin
About 3-4 large red-skinned potatoes or other waxy potato, peeled, thinly sliced (2 lbs?)

3 cups grated Jarlsburg cheese

1 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup whipping cream

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a large glass baking dish (mine was a little larger than a 13x9). Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leeks cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Layer potatoes so they cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle layer with about 1/2 of fennel and 1/2 of leek mixture, follow with 1/2 of cheese (you're going to end up with about three layers - top layer being potato). Layer potatoes on top of the cheese, repeating the previous fennel, leek and cheese layers. Top with a layer of potatoes. I was dangerously close to the top of the gratin at this point, so I pressed everything down.

Heat cream and chicken broth and pour over potato mixture. The liquid will come close to submerging the top, but probably won't submerge the top layer. I pressed down the potatoes so they got some moisture on them, but wasn't terribly concerned. Several people had reported that there was too much moisture in the original recipe, so I cut it back and just kept an eye on it.

Bake for about an hour or so or until the top layer is golden brown. As it cooks, the potatoes should shrink a little, and the liquid covers them. If not, add a little more cream-chicken broth liquid to them. You don't want too liquidy of potatoes.

Happy Easter from the Fam-i-ly

My favorite christmas song describes a car crash of a holiday party. I wish I could re-write it for easter. There is definitely some car crash potential. Hopefully all will go well.

After hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is now time to host the next major holiday. I'm trying to keep the menu fairly simple, without sneaking too much weird new stuff into the food. We are going to deep fry another turkey, at the request of my father in law, but since I had already bought the ham at that point, we're going to do both meat groups.

I'm trying a couple new recipes that I'm eager to share, but I'll wait to see how they go over first. Below is the menu for Easter at our house..

In the beginning...
Deviled Eggs
Veggie Tray
Spanokopita
Scotch Eggs

Sinking our teeth into it...
Deep fried turkey
Ham
Potato Leek Gratin
Stuffing
Tossed salad with Blood Oranges and Onion
Asparagus

Sugar High
Baklava
Egg Cake
Easter Cheese

Bunny Cake

While I would probably fall into that generic pick-up line "spiritual but not religious," I do love a good holiday feast. More on the rest of the feast later, but one request this year was for an easter cake. The Marvelous Miss Thing had been prowling around Andersons admiring the half spheres of shortening-laden sugar all week. Egg cakes and bunny cakes called her name. I promised her a cake for easter (as if we need any more sugar in this house right now).

So above is a quick hustling together of an easter cake. I didn't have much time as I have other things on the menu, but he'll do. I made the frosting with a heavy whipped cream base, which although makes for a creamy and soft frosting, also means it's a bitch to frost with, especially with a chocolate cake. It's hard to tell, but I used my ball mold, so inside is a mountain of almond-flavored whipped cream. Some leftover fondant from another party makes the mouth, nose and teeth. Mr. H really emphatically believed that the bunny needed more anatomically correct eyes, but I told him to shove off, I had a turkey to deep fry and fennel to ponder.

Just for kicks, I'm going to submit the cake for the easter cake IMBB (is my blog burning?) at A Slice of Cherry Pie. Not one of my best cakes, but after nibbling on it for several days, it was super tasty.

My first pate

There are a lot of people who don't like liver. I suspect it is because there are a lot of people who have never tried liver. As a child, I remember my irish-immigrant grandmother used to order liver and onions if available (that is, when we weren't eating at McDonalds which along with it's never ending supply of fish sandwiches seemed to represent to her all that was good with this country America). I remember my aunt making pate for special occasions - big bowls of the brown squishy stuff slabbed on crusty bread. All the adults ate it. I don't recall liking it back then, but I used to like the smell of it. Earthy and meaty.

Mr. H's grandfather used to make liver and onions as well, and regale with great horror stories of the smell of liver and onions in the house. I never thought it smelled that bad, but I always liked onions.

In Las Vegas one year, I ordered an appetizer of duck ravioli served on seared foi gras at Sensi (don't hate me for the foi gras). Mr. H recoiled at the idea, but I asked him to try one bite. His eyes lit up, and marveled at the texture and taste. He practically ate the whole thing. Over the next few years, I have gotten him to try pate as well. He likes it, kind of (grumpily mumbling "not as good as foi gras") and not enough to cook it at home, so when we had an improptu get together this weekend for a few friends, I ventured to make my first pate. I had it on good authority that at least one other person liked pate, so I was hopeful that it might get consumed.

It was fairly easy to make, and the liver did not smell up the house when cooking (one of my biggest fears. I was concerned that I might throw Mr. H into a full-fledged psychotic breakdown re-living childhood memories of beef liver). It was also well-recieved. I thought it had a bit more of a "liver" aftertaste than I usually like. Plus, it's so damn rich, you can't really eat much of it. The eight of us ate about a quarter of it. I split it into two crocks, so I hope to freeze the other one.

My final rating: Good, but I'm not sure it's worth the calories. So few people actually like liver, and many won't try it because it IS liver, or like my mom, can no longer eat liver due to health reasons. I have a reciped for a lentil pate that tastes remarkably like the real thing, so I'll probably stick to that from now on.

The original recipe came from Epicurious. The below contains my modifications.

Liquored up Pate

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1 tbls minced fresh parsley (plus some for garnish)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 lb chicken livers, trimmed (I wish I knew what you were supposed to do to trim the liver. That will be my next step)
2 tablespoons whiskey (because I didn't have bourbon)
1 tbls Port wine (because I have a whole bunch of Port)

Melt 1 stick butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add herbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and livers and cook, stirring, until livers are cooked outside but still pink when cut open, about 8 minutes. Stir in bourbon and port and remove from heat. Purée mixture in a food processor until smooth, then transfer pâté to crock and smooth top.

Melt remaining 1/2 stick butter in a very small heavy saucepan over low heat, then remove pan from heat and let butter stand 3 minutes. Skim froth from butter, then spoon enough clarified butter over pâté to cover its surface, leaving milky solids in bottom of pan.

Chill pâté until butter is firm, about 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours more. Garnish with additional parsley. Serve with mustard, and those little french pickles.

Salad days part 1

During the summer, I gorge on fresh veggies. I could eat them roasted, grilled, raw whatever. Winter months bring sadness and gloom to me because there are so few fresh veggies available. (Yes, I know they bring them in, but once you get used to eating tomatoes from the summer months you can not touch one of those hard nasty tasteless things they stock on the shelves). I try to compensate with a lot of salads.

These salads become especially important when I look at the calendar and realize that we only have a few months until the days of baggy sweaters and jeans will vanish with the snow. I lost about 40 pounds a few years ago and I am still fearful of putting it back on again. Winter is particularly tough since it's harder to justify walking around the neighborhood when you are knee-deep in snow.

Anyway, back to the salads. We eat two core salads in this house - a caesar salad and a mixed greens salad. And it's really more that we have two core salad dressings, and the salad revolves around that.

Make salad dressing is such an easy thing. It does take a little longer than pulling a bottle out of the fridge, but the results are so much tastier, and I control what I'm putting into it. I have tried making a larger portion of salad dressing a couple days in advance, but have found that it loses too much of its flavor, so we're back to making it immediately before dinner.


Tonight's dressing is a honey-citrus-mustard dressing. It's very, very simple. It works best with mixed greens or something slightly on the bitter or tart side to compliment the sweetness from the honey. I probably wouldn't serve it on romaine or head lettuce.

Citrus-Honey dressing

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tbls dijon mustard

1 tbls honey

about 3 tbls to a 1/4 cup citrus juice- we frequently use lime because it is what we always have in the house. I really like it with lemon, or even a lemon-orange mixture.

Mix the above together well.

Take a good bottle of olive oil and slowly drizzle it into the juice-mustard mixture, stirring constantly. An emulsion should form. I'm not quite sure how much olive oil I put in. It's not a whole lot.

This dressing is a re-creation of one I had down on a mixed green salad at Enormous U served with roasted veggies and cumin spiced black bean hummus (super, super good - I highly recommend the combination) . We also eat it with the above salad - mixed greens, onions, sundried tomatoes, sea salt and pepper. And homemade croutons.

Dinner Club - Appetizer Edition...

In an attempt to meet some people in our new neighborhood, I signed the poor, unsuspecting Mr. H and myself up for a dinner club. Although I am a bit of an introvert, Mr. H. loves a random social engagement, and could quite possible entertain anyone on his own for several hours.

Our job was an appetizer. When I spoke to our most gracious host to inquire what she was making so I could coordinate the appetizer, she replied "a meat." So, assuming that she had not settled on the main dish yet, I was left to my own devices. Which, for the first time, I could not come up with a damn thing. It's not like me not to know what appetizer to bring. I totally love appetizers. But we had some considerations - because we were going to someone else's house, it needed to be portable, able to travel easily, not needing to be cooked and immediately served.

So I tried something new that I found on the Epicurious web site - dates stuffed with parmesan cheese and then wrapped in bacon. I'm rather unfamiliar with the whole date thing. I'm not a big fruit person in general. But I love parmesan cheese, and I liked the concept of the salty cheesey and the sweet date (even though I almost gagged when I tried a date by itself). And who doesn't like bacon? I could eat just about anything wrapped in bacon.

So here we go.

My first surprise was the need to pit the dates. I had never seen a pit from a date before, and was very surprised at how much they look like beetle larvae (unfortunately my picture of it did not turn out well).

After pitting them however, I had a gaggle of hungry little mouths like wrinkly pac-men.

Next, came the cheese. Little wedges of my good parmesan (you know, the stuff that has the crunchy crystalized salt or something in it - I love it. I really love it melted) shoved into these bad boys' mouths. I kind of felt like I was in Little Shop of Horrors and danced around the kitchen singing "Feed me Seymour".

Then, after squeezing the little mouths closed, wrap them in bacon (I partially cooked mine because it was thick-cut) and bake at 400 degrees until the bacon is crispy and golden.

This picture was taken before the final baking, but you get the drift. They were all that they were promised - gooey, sweet, salty and smokey. They were best right out of the oven, but they held up well on the ride over, and they were surprisingly almost completely consumed. I wasn't sure how they would go over. Even if you are a little concerned, give them a try!

Cakes cakes cakes...

I love to create cakes. I'm no Chef Duff or anything, but I love to play around with different textures and possibilities.

I try to take pictures of my cakes as well.

Now that I'm at home, I have less opportunity (or excuse) to make a crazy cake, so I'm just going to reflect on some previous ones.

If you click on the picture, I have added notes to the Flickr image, if you are so inclined.

Pot-sticker soup

There are times when only soup will do. Maybe it is the weather, maybe it is because one imbibed one too many hurricanes at a certain Mardi Gras party the night before, but today both myself and Mr. H needed soup. Needed. Soup. Now

For us, today was a potsticker soup day. Clear broth seasoned with soy sauce and green onions, poured over potstickers and made as spicy as one could take. We fell in love with potstickers and buy them in bulk. They are an essential part of crap dinner. I have made my own potstickers, but they do not hold up well in the freezer, and they really fall apart when in soup, so I generally just stick with the pre-made ones.

Potstickers are little dumplings wrapped in a won-ton like dough that is then steamed and/or fried. When we are eating them as a meal (which we have done on several occasions), we boil them, then pan fry them. Which you can also do for this soup, because it gives them a nice crispy edge, but neither of us was feeling up to that much work.

Potsticker soup

8 cups chicken broth (I would have used my homemade stock, but I had used the rest on french onion soup *sigh*)
4-6 tbls soy sauce (to taste)
1-2 tbls rice wine vinegar (again, to taste - I like mine sour)
1 clove garlic, crushed (A small spoonful of garlic-ginger paste is also lovely)
splash sesame oil
(additional possible soup additions, based on what you have, and your tastes - 1-3 thinly sliced green onions, a couple thinly sliced button mushrooms, a little tofu, a handful of frozen green peas)

Mix together, and let simmer.

Meanwhile, prepare potstickers according to directions and your wishes.

Finally, plate the soup. Place 1 to 2 potstickers in a bowl. Pour broth over potstickers (this is important - you do not want to put the potstickers into your pot of broth - the wrapper will fall apart and lose all its dumpling-ness).

Top with whatever you have in the house - more green onions, bean sprouts, as much hot chili paste as you can handle