Easter Weekend

* ~ * Special Guests: Patrick & Abbey * ~ *

For Easter weekend, Josh and I went to my cottage with Patrick and Abbey. It was such a nice weekend, with beautiful weather, good company and yummy food.

When we arrived Friday, Abbey and I made a few snacks and we all enjoyed some spirits. I made my chicken wonton cups & Hormel chili dip and Abbey made her Mexican layer dip with chips and celery sticks. :)

Saturday morning, I put out some fresh fruit (Strawberries & Grapes) and started on making brunch. I made Julia's diced potatoes sauteed in butter and chives. I added my own touch, by adding crumbled bacon. Yummy! With that, I made a fried egg placed on a bed of spinach sauteed in butter. We enjoyed a couple momosas and ate our brunch on the deck over-looking beautiful Lake Huron. Not a bad way to start the day, huh?

We spent the afternoon walking on the beach, tossing rocks in the lake, drinking, eating & talking on the porch. Abbey & I whipped up some snacks that we enjoyed on the porch while playing a drinking game. Abbey brought out her delicious Mexican layer dip & I made stuffed Mushrooms.

I have to say, that I probably will never make this recipe again. I love stuffed mushrooms, but I have always found it very difficult to find a recipe that I love. And I think I now know that I do not like mushrooms stuffed with cheese. In my opinion, mushrooms and cheese are not a combination that I enjoy.

Champignons Farcis (Stuffed Mushrooms)

Saturday night, Patrick and Abbey made a delicious feast! Steaks, Onions & Peppers, Salmon, Salad, Rice, Bread & Dip, Oh My! We definitely ate very well that night!

Rapee Morv Andelle 
(Gratin of Shredded Potatoes with Ham, Eggs & Cheese)

Sunday morning we weren't staying very long, because we all were going to Josh & Patrick's parents' house for Easter dinner. I made a little breakfast to tie us all over for a little bit. I wanted something that I could quickly put together and wouldn't have to worry about timing - When would everyone be up after drinking all day yesterday?  I mixed together shredded potatoes, eggs, finely sliced ham, herbs & cheese - threw it in a pyrex dish and into the oven! [A gratin is simply a quiche mixture that is put in a pyrex dish without a pastry shell.] I put the dish on the table and we all grabbed our forks and dove in. No other dishes to clean. Simple. I really liked the flavor and would definitely make this & any variation of it again!

I had such a nice time this weekend. It was the perfect way to have some time alone with the two of them before they moved away. 

Abbey has officially moved, and I miss her already. Looking forward to the next time the four of us are together again. :) Love you, Abs!

My Kind of Tacos!

Last night, I made chicken tacos. But, not just any kind of chicken tacos! This is a recipe of my own! It is quick, simple and ... not to toot my own horn... Delicious!

Josh's Review: "Really Good. Remember this recipe." 

First, I made pickled onions. I sliced a red onion in thin strips, boiled them, and plunged them in ice water. After draining the onions, I combined the onions with a mixture of fresh orange juice, lime juice, sugar & ground cumin. And then I popped them in the fridge.

*~* Tip *~* You'll get more juice from room-temperature citrus

Next, I cut chicken breasts into thin strips and tossed them in a dry rub of Italian Seasoning, Ground Cumin and S&P.

The prep work is done. All that is left to do is cook the chicken, heat the 6 in tortilla shells and assemble! Inside the tortilla shell, I placed the seasoned chicken strips, pickled onions, avocados and goat cheese. The chicken had strong, but not overpowering, flavor, the onions brought a fresh crunch and the avocados and goat cheese brought a rich creaminess. Fresh, flavorful mouthfuls! [Josh loved the pickled onions and he thought they were the best part.] As a side dish, I made corn with butter and s&p.

Complete Meal! :)

Josh has been telling me for years, and mentioned it again last night, that I should write my own cookbook. And my response always seems to be, Who would buy that?

Cooking in Heels

Yesterday, I took back half of the bottles from our party (wow there are a lot!) and stopped at Joe's Produce & Costco ...in heels, of course. When I got home and started washing fruits and veggies and prepping dinner, I noticed I didn't even bother to take off my heels.  & I find myself often cooking with my heels on...I thought, Should my blog be re-named "Cooking In Heels"?

Starting Up The Grill

With the weather warming up and swimsuit season... here!... I can't cook exclusively Julia. I feel her meals are very hearty and comforting (butter, butter, butter) and summer doesn't allow for too many sweatshirts, if you get my drift. I will continue to use her cookbook, but I am definitely going to blog about 'non-Julia' recipes.

Josh's Review: Burger & Fries: "Good" Mayo-Dijon Dip: "Really Good"

Last night, I decided to make Grilled Buttery Burgers and Grilled Steak Fries with a Mayo-Dijon Dip. I found the recipe in one of my cooking magazines and tweaked it a bit to make it a little healthier.

"Almost addictive, buttery burgers are something of a Midwestern phenomenon. They got their start in Milwaukee, where these thin beef patties are served with a hefty pat of real butter. Instead of schlepping a lot of toppings to your favorite cookout spot, just toss this butter log into the cooler."

Condiment Butter ~ What a great idea! I love, love, love this concept. I mixed together unsalted butter, ketchup, yellow mustard, red onion, pickle and a little kosher salt and formed it into a log in parchment paper and placed it in the freezer. Make sure you take it out of the freezer while the burgers are cooking, so it softens before being placed on the burger. I think it makes the burgers look so pretty! Look at that color!

Mayo-Dijon Dip ~ For the Dip for the Steak fries, I mixed together Light Mayo, Dijon Mustard and Turkey Bacon Bits. Light Mayo tastes the same as regular and Turkey Bacon is very good and Half the price of regular bacon. I put the dip in a cute serving cup and put it in the fridge.

The Steak Fries were very simple. I sliced potatoes into wedges and tossed them with olive oil and s&p. They are prepped and ready to be grilled.

When Josh got home from work, I said, "I'm going to start up the grill. We are having burgers tonight." What was his response? "I'll do it." So, I said, "No it's okay, you don't have to do it." Well. Apparently, women can't grill. Did you know this? "Grilling is a man's job." So, I must give credit, where credit is do. Josh did the grilling... with my supervision. :)

The Steak Fries were grilled to perfection and placed in a pyrex dish. After I put the grilled steak fries in the dish, I sprinkled them with cheese and placed the dish on the grill to melt the cheese.

Turkey Burger ~ Instead of beef, I used ground turkey mixed with a little relish, red onion, yellow mustard and worcestershire (whats this here) sauce. I decided to dress the burger with shredded lettuce mixed with cilantro and slices of Roma tomatoes on a ciabatta bun. Cilantro brought such an amazing freshness to the burger. And ciabatta buns are the only way to go when it comes to burgers! With the addition of the slice of condiment butter to top it off, the burger was so colorful. How often can you say that about a burger?

It was so nice to sit outside at our picnic table. What a beautiful night. I didn't tell Josh what was in the dip... and he was definitely using a lot on his fries! Halfway through the meal, he was in love with the mayo-dijon dip and asked what it was... After I told him, he stopped using as much for each fry, because he wants to watch his figure. :)

Complete Meal! :)

Girls' Night * Happy Birthday, Beth *

* Special Guests: Beth, Kelly, Christine & Libby *

Josh's Review: ~ For the Cake ~ "It's good"


Tomates A La Provencale
(Tomatoes Stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Herbs & Garlic)

This is a great appetizer! It could also be served as a first course for a dinner party in place of a salad. When hosting a party, it always makes it easier to have dishes that can be prepped ahead of time. And these stuffed tomatoes are a perfect example. The tomatoes can be cut and stuffed well before your guests arrive and only cook for about 15 minutes. The stuffing for the tomatoes include basil, parsley, shallots, garlic, olive oil and FRESH bread crumbs (I pulsed the insides of a french baguette in my food processor).  My beautiful guests loved the tomatoes. Fresh Flavors - Guilt Free. 

&
Galettes Au Fromage
(Cheese Wafers)

These cheese wafers can also be prepped ahead of time.

"They may be baked, then frozen, and reheated for 5 minutes or so in a hot oven."

Butter, cheese, and a splash of flour is all you really need. Knead the ingredients together, roll a tablespoon at a time into balls, flatten them and place them on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Great as an appetizer and would also be fabulous as a soup or salad topper. 

&
Reine De Saba
(Chocolate & Almond Cake)

Yummy! ... And, of course, made ahead of time! 

"Before you begin the cake Preheat the oven, prepare the cake pan as in the following directions and measure out all your ingredients. Then your batter may be prepared and baked in one, continuous operation."

Having everything ready before combining all the ingredients is so helpful and lessens the chances for mistakes and/or confusion when baking. 

"Preparing the cake pan To prepare the pan for the cake batter, rub the entire inner surface with a thin film of softened butter. Then roll flour around in the pan to cover the sides and bottom; knock out excess flour by banging the pan, upside down, on a hard surface. A light dusting of flour should adhere all over the inner surface of the pan; this will make the cake easy to unmold (remove) after baking."

What a difference this makes! I have never prepped a baking pan like this before. After the cake was done baking it popped right out of the pan without leaving behind any residue of cake! I will always prep my pans this way for baking from now on. It takes away any worries.

When I looked over the recipe for the frosting, I was a little hesitate, because it did not call for any additional sugar. Frosting without sugar? Two ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, two tablespoons of coffee and unsalted butter were all the ingredients I needed. And I have to say, that I love this frosting! With the sweetness of the cake and the dark chocolate bitter-like flavor of the frosting, it was a perfect combination.

Add a few bottles of wine and some baileys and you have a lovely girls' night! I'm so glad we could all get together - something we should definitely do more often!

Bifteck Saute Au Beurre

(Pan-Broiled Steak)
&
Gratin Dauphinois
(Scalloped Potatoes With Milk, Cheese, & a Pinch of Garlic)


Josh's Review: "It's Good."

* Every night, I ask Josh, "How is everything?" and his standard answer is, "Good." Good, is not what I like to hear, which is why I have noticed that this is typically all he says about the food! So I have decided in each post I will have a section called "Josh's Review" and I will state what Josh had to say about the meal. I haven't told him about this, because I know if I do, he will start to exaggerate his responses.


Last night's dinner ~ Beef & Potatoes! Yummy - very simple and super flavorful.

"Pan-broiled steak is very French... None of the juice essences are lost, and it is easy to tell when the steak is done."

For the steak, I dried the meat completely with paper towels: "It will not brown if it is moist." I was surprised that in the instructions, the steak is not seasoned with salt and pepper until after it is taken off the heat. The steak browned beautifully, but I think I will definitely season the meat before cooking next time.

"Trim off excess fat. Cut small incisions around the circumference of the steak wherever there is a layer of gristle, usually between the fat and the meat. This will prevent the steak from curling as it cooks."

"The steak is done to a medium rare the moment you observe a little pearling of red juice beginning to ooze at the surface of the streak"

For the sauce, I made a red wine reduction. I boiled down the wine and added butter off the heat.

Bifteck Saute Au Beurre (Pan-Broiled Steak)

I've made scalloped potatoes before, and I am a huge fan! The preparation was a little different, but nothing difficult. I rubbed half a garlic clove on the bottom of my baking dish, followed by butter. I then stacked half of the potato slices, then s&p, cheese and butter. Added the other half of the potatoes, s&p, cheese and butter and topped it off with boiling milk. It cooked in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

* A peak at the potatoes cooking in the oven *

Gratin Dauphinois

(Scalloped Potatoes With Milk, Cheese, & a Pinch of Garlic)

We both wanted more potatoes! This is the master recipe. The cookbook includes other scalloped potatoes that I will most definitely try!

* The Complete Meal *

Supremes De Volaille A Blanc

(Breast Of Chicken With Cream)
&
Asperges Au Naturel
(Boiled Asparagus)
&
Risotto-Pilaf-Pilau
(Risotto - Braised Rice)

Last night I found another chicken breast recipe!

For the vegetable, I decided on asparagus. The recipe called for me to peel the asparagus with a paring knife to remove the outer skin and scales. This was more difficult than I thought it would be.

"You will find that a vegetable peeler is not useful for this operation because it does not go deep enough. Asparagus is peeled not just to remove the skin, but to shave off enough of the tough outer flesh (particularly around the lower part of the spear) to make just about the whole cooked spear edible. Peeling is therefore economical."

 * Asparagus Before Peeling *

 * Asparagus After Peeling *

You have to gradually peel less off the closer you get to the tip. With the drawings of the process in front of me and Josh in my ear talking about our trip, I felt a little overwhelmed. I kept cutting too deep near the tip causing the tips to pop off. It was a frustrating process to say the least. (No worries! A bottle of wine was being opened and a glass was poured) I went with the simplest way of cooking asparagus - blanched. I decided to go with a healthy, less buttered, meal.

For the other side, I wanted to try to make risotto. I imagined risotto to be a very creamy dish. However, Julia's version is much different ....Or maybe I just screwed it up? It took me two tries to get the rice cooked without browning. The first round I definitely had the heat up too high.

* Fail *

I did not make that mistake the second time. From what other people have told me, the liquid should be added slowly, and stirred constantly. This recipe called for the boiling liquid (chicken stock/ white wine) to be added all at once, an herb bouquet added, stirred once, covered, and put in the oven for about 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, I let it sit out of the oven for 5 minutes. It turned out to be flavored rice - not creamy and not what I was expecting.

The chicken breasts were simply seasoned with s&p and lemon juice. I melted butter in a glass pyrex dish in the oven. When the butter was melted, I rolled both chicken breasts in the melted butter, covered them with wax paper (one side buttered) butter-side down, covered the pyrex dish with aluminum foil and cooked them in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes. Apparently, I subconsciously didn't feel that this meal was difficult or frustrating enough, so this is when the bloody nose started. Awesome! After the chicken was done (tissue inserted and hanging out of my nose ~ appetizing, right?) I poured the juices into a pot, added stock, wine & cream and cooked the sauce down. Adding a little s&p and lemon juice, the sauce was perfection - oh so good! The sauce was most definitely the best part of the meal.

Asperges Au Naturel (Boiled Asparagus)

Risotto-Pilaf-Pilau (Risotto - Braised Rice)

Supremes De Volaille A Blanc
(Breast of Chicken with Cream)

 *The Complete Meal *