Brunch In Bridgetown

The very technical ingredient list.

All I ever heard growing up was, "Michael clean your room, Michael vacuum the steps, Michael guest post on my healthy food and travel blog...."  It got a little tiresome.  Luckily I happen to be dating a rather remarkable chef so - never being one to miss an opportunity - I saw an opening to kill two birds with one stone.  By partaking in the cooking of brunch and documenting the affair I could make the ol' ball and chain happy AND knock off a to do list with the old lady.  See what I'm sayin'?

  Just kidding of course.  Mary and I regularly make brunches out here in lovely Portland, Oregon and thought it would be fun to share with everyone what we did this weekend.  Mary wanted to make potato pancakes (something she had never done before) and I'm a fan of chorizo so we threw that on the plate along with baked eggs + chives.  We had some pineapple for a healthy desert.  

Potato pancakes.

  Right around here I should get into how these tasty potato pancakes were made but to be honest I was on chorizo and music duty so I'll give you what I remember:

   Grate the potatoes and onion.  Separate from the water using a fine mesh strainer or dry with a paper towel.  Place the shredded onions and potatoes in a big bowl and add the (beated) egg, 1 tbsp of flour a tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper.  We added some chives.  Stir the mixture and form into several pancakes. Heat some veggie oil in a skillet and add the the pancakes.  Heat until golden brown or about 4 minutes per side.  With two russet potates and half an onion we made about 10-11 pancakes.

chorizo.

 Our chorizo came in a tube that honestly could have been mistaken for astronaut food, but after heating a thick iron skillet over medium heat and stirring the meat - it actually starts looking pretty good (see above).  The last part of the meal was a few baked eggs and if you don't know how to make an egg perhaps you should be spending less time reading cooking blogs and more time ordering the Grand Slam from your local Denny's.  Just open an egg over the pan, cook until light brown on the bottom, then with intense focus flip the egg so as not to break the yolk.  Add some chives if you like to live dangerously.

  Thats about it, folks.  This week was a bit of a hodgepodge of food but we both thought it was fun to have so many different flavors on the plate.  Not much room was left for the pineapple, but then again maybe thats the mark of a job well done.

Mary and the guy who made your chicken parm at Blitz's Deli in New Jersey.

Be My Valentine

I love Valentine's Day and not because I have a husband and two boys who have spoiled me throughout my life - au contraire.  I just think it's a fun time to send some pretty cards and give little fun presents and make a special meal and EAT SOME DARK CHOCOLATE and put a cool heart wreath on the door!

My mother was big on Valentine's Day.  We always had little gifts waiting for us and I mean LITTLE.  One of my memories was a pink and red heart pillowcase - 1 for my sister and 1 for me........I don't remember what the boys got that year.  When we went away to college, you could always count on a card in the school mail box from mom with a 5 dollar bill in it.  The year I started dating Harry in college - even HE got a 5 dollar bill!  This was mystifying to him but he loved it because he could buy a pitcher that night!  The point is - it's just the thought.....just the thought.

Here is a cookie recipe I found in the December issue of bon appetit.  In December I rolled them in green sugar and just flattened them before baking but in February I rolled them in hot pink sugar, flattened them and cut them out with a heart cookie cutter.  These are a little different than your basic butter cookie because of the lemon.  I really like them!  Too Much!!!


Lemon Sugar Cookies


Makes about 24


3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 large egg
2 T finely grated lemon peel
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
colored sugar crystals


Using electric mixer, beat first 6 ingredients in large bowl really well.   Beat in flour.  Cover; chill dough until firm but not hard, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350'.  Coat 2 large cookie sheets with nonstick spray.  Pour sugars into separate bowls.  Working with moistened hands and 1 level tablespoon at a time, shape dough into balls.  Roll balls into colored sugars to coat; arrange on sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  Using bottom of glass, flatten each cookie (and this is where I cut out heart with the cookie cutter or forget making hearts and just have pink round shapes - all good!)

Bake cookies until golden on bottom, about 14 minutes.  Cool on rack.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

GREETINGS FROM ST. LOUIS

Hello everybody I am Nancy's brother Jack Garvey living in St. Louis.  Nancy asked me to guest blog as to "How we do it" here in the 'Lou, so here goes.  This past weekend was the Grand Opening of our oldest son Tim's Philly soft pretzel store called "Pretzels Boys" .  For the whole story on that check out Yelp St. Louis, or stlpretzelboys.com or his Face Book page.  As with all Garveys, any event calls for a party, so we had one on January 30th celebrating Tim's opening and his 23rd birthday.  Present were myself, my wife Kathy, son Matt (up from Loyola in New Orleans to help out with the pretzels dough),and  twin daughters Sheila and Colleen.  Also there were our friends Jim and Cathy Martin and Tim's girlfriend Jamie Vilmer and two of Tims's friend up from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama Julian and Matt.
      Now to the good part.  For dinner we had two main dishes with two great sides.  First up was Jim's special Standing Rib Roast.  This is a simple recipe with a about a 7 pound piece of meat, patted down with a mix garlic powder, cumin and pepper.  Put in in your grill for 3 hours with non direct heat, changing the coals every hour.  The finished product is a paled pink and juicy center with a lightly charred outside and a nice deep smoky taste. Jim has this down and will cater your next party just don't ask him to make any remarks (he is a lawyer and once you get them started it is over). Next up was my old by reliable smoked brisket from Steve Raichlen's " How to Grill" Book (Workman Publishing, 2001, it is the book with the guy who wears the goofy glasses on the front).  Here you get the biggest brisket you can buy at Sam's or Costco, keep the fat on top for moisture during smoking, and marinate in beer and vinegar with pepper and brown sugar from one to 24 hours.  Pat it down with any rub you like and place in foil pan and on grill with indirect heat for six hours changing the coals (12 each side) each hour.  Also add wood chips you have been soaking in beer or water, a cup each hour.  Each hour when you change coals, mop the brisket with a mixture of one cup beer and one cup white vinegar with cayenne pepper sprinkled in there to taste.  In the last 45 minutes put barbecue sauce on.  The sides we had were cheddar cheese risotto and Kathy's special roasted vegetable dish.  We finished the night off with homemade chocolate chip cookies and Apple Cake for the birthday boy using a recipe he bought home from preschool.  After this, we all drove to the emergency room and waited for our respective heart attacks.

     In the picture shown, you will see another table with people eating and drinking, in other words, family and friends enjoying each other.  Thanks for having me Nancy, I still can't believe you know what you are doing in the kitchen.  Love, Jack

Meatless Monday

This is what we are dining on this Meatless Monday in the arctic wonderland of South Jersey.....

                                     MEATBALLS!!!!!!!




This recipe is from my sister's mother-in-law, Addie and is your basic go-to meatball but I will add the recipe here, anyway for some of the 20-somethings who have never made a meatball - just remember this is coming from me, of 100% Irish descent and one who didn't learn from an Italian mom.  I just think these are easy and tasty and if it wasn't Meatless Monday - you could be making them right now!

1 1/2 pound meatloaf mix or ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs (I use fresh crumbs from leftover bread that I grind in cuisinart and keep in freezer in freezer bags - always have that way!)
2 beaten eggs
1 t parsley
1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper
1/2 cup of Parmesan (I used Asiago because that's all I had)
1/2 t garlic powder
a little milk if you need it to keep meat together

Combine all with hands and make into meatballs - Bake 450' 25 minutes.

But because it IS Meatless Monday and I know my son, Mike will be looking for a meatless night (he adheres to these things because he is living in Portland and they are serious about their bodies AND the environment)..........Anyone seen PORTLANDIA yet? IFX channel on Fridays - it is a riot!

What you can do is broil a nice piece of fish with a little olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper for 8 minutes or until it is flaky.  You can lay this on a bed of Herbed White Puree - I was emailed this recipe today and I plan to make it this week - looks so easy - you should have all the ingredients - healthy and tasty - don't worry if you don't have a cuisinart - just mash  with fork!  Here is the link......

http://www.realage.com/recipefinder/herbed-white-bean-puree-recipe-2158?kw=ist

If you like this recipe and try to make Meatless Monday part of your life  (which, in my opinion, sounds a lot like Fridays in Lent, but not as cool??) - maybe you'll have enough energy to go on a hike in the great Pacific Norhtwest like Mike!!!!!!!

We Won't Be Getting Any Mail Today

Everybody is kind of sick and tired of the snow by now and it's only January, for crying out loud!  I know it's beautiful and peaceful and clean and quiet but if you want to get out of your driveway, it's not so peaceful anymore.......

So the husband did some snow blowing.....

A nice cozy healthy meal we had last week was called Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans.  We won't be having it tonight because I don't have all the ingredients.......but you might!  I found this in the October 2010 Cooking Light.

Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans


4 chicken breasts with bone
1/4 tspn ppr
1/4 tspn kosher salt
3 slices of bacon
1 cup chopped onion
1/8 tspn kosher salt
2 cups packed torn spinach
1/2 tspn chopped fresh rosemary
2 16oz cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

Preheat oven to 350'
Season chicken with 1/4 t salt/ppr.  Cook bacon in a 12 inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.  Remove from pan; chop and set aside, reserve drippings in pan.  Add chicken breasts to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side until browned.  Remove from pan, set aside.
Add onion and 1/8 tspn salt to pan; reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes until onion begins to brown.  Stir in bacon, spinach, rosemary, beans and tomatoes; remove from heat.  Arrange chicken on top; bake uncovered, at 350' for 40 minutes.

This recipe turned out to be a really hardy meal - fit for a winter night.  I also served some brown rice with it because son, Johnny is a rice man and it makes it that much more heartier for the newly minted 26 year old and his Dad.

Soup Au Pistou

Well it's a bit frigid out there and we all need something to warm us up!  In addition - soup is a great thing to have for leftovers.  Put some in your tupperware to heat the next day for lunch AND the next day.  You have to purchase lots of ingredients up front but it pays off all week and it's delish.  I tore this recipe out of some magazine that I have forgotten by now but I've also seen a similar one in one of the Barefoot Contessa's books.  It's a staple of the French and the Italians.  The first time I made it the recipe called for Parmesan to be sprinkled on top but this recipe claims aged Gouda is preferred - both work well plus the pesto/pistou to be swirled in - A MUST!  I purchased the pesto at our local Wegmans but the recipe here is a French version of pesto and more garlicky and well worth it to make IF YOU ARE SO INCLINED!

Soup Au Pistou


Heat 3 T of olive oil in a large pot.  Add 1 chopped onion, 1 small fennel bulb chopped and 2 chopped zucchini and cook over medium heat for about 10 min till browned.  Add 8 oz. chopped new potatoes, 2 chopped tomatoes (because there are no decent tomatoes to be found on the East Coast in January - I used a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes), 2 quarts of chicken stock and 1 sprig of thyme.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.


Add 2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and 2 cups canned kidney beans, drained - simmer, covered for another 15 minutes.  Add 6 oz. green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces and 1 oz. spaghetti, broken into pieces and cook for 10 more minutes.  Cover and let stand.


To make the pistou, put 6 garlic cloves, small bunch of basil leaves and 6 T olive oil in food processor and blend until well chopped.


To serve, heat the soup and pass round the pistou or pesto and shredded Gouda or Parmesan to be stirred in to taste - mmmmm


I served this to Harry and our latest house guest, niece, Mary.  They SAID they liked it - they ate it all week, I'll tell ya that...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Where have I been?  Where have YOU been?  What's going on?  I am hoping everyone had a fantastic Christmas season with their families and friends and were too busy to check in on me and what I was doing.  But now life has settled down a bit and we can get back to the business of life in 2011!!

I did want to tell you about one dish I made tho over the holidays.  This is a stew that I have made in the past for a special occasion - you might say - Beef Stew?? Blech - what's so special about that - but this stew is called BEEF BOURGUIGNON and even tho I can't pronounce it correctly I think you might like it - it is very rich and comes in one pot and nice to have when people are coming over for dinner in the WINTER!  The recipe is in Ina Garten's Barefoot In Paris cookbook.

This is what happened here - Number 2 son, Michael was home from Oregon and invited his lovely girlfriend, Mary from CT down for dinner.  I suggested to Number 1 son, Johnny that he bring his lovely girlfriend, Missy over for dinner as well and don't forget everybody's good friend, Hank, who was in from CA.......before you knew it we had a party.  We served the delicious Beef Bourguignon over whole wheat egg noodles along with a green salad and a french baguette.  I didn't have much in the way of deserts except for the ubiquitous oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.  This is when things got a little crazy because of course it's the Christmas season and everybody has off and we are celebrating - so what comes next?  WHITE RUSSIANS  - what else?  I think a good time was had by all.......HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Beef Bourguignon

1 Tbspn olive oil

8oz. good bacon

2 1/2 pounds beef chuck cubes

salt/pepper

1 pound carrots sliced in 1 inch chunks

2 sliced onions

2 chopped garlic cloves

1/2 cup Cognac 

1 bottle of good dry red wine

1 can beef broth

1 Tbspn tomato paste

1 tspn thyme leaves or 1/2 tspn dried

4 Tbspns unsalted butter room temp., divided

3 Tbspns flour

1 pound frozen whole onions

1 pound fresh mushrooms thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250'

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven.  Add the bacon and cook over low heat till brown - remove with slotted spoon to large plate.

Dry the beef cubes and sprinkle with salt/ppr.  In batches in single layers, sear the beef in hot oil.  Remove seared cubes to the plate with bacon and continue searing until all beef is browned.  Set aside.

Toss the carrots and onions, 1 T of salt and 2 t of ppr in the fat in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.  Add the Cognac, STAND BACK, and ignite with a match to burn off alcohol (THE 1ST TIME I DID THIS - IT WASN'T PRETTY - THE FLAME BLEW UP BURNING THE UNDERSIDE OF OUR MICROWAVE!) Anyway....put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices.  Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat (I only add about 1/2 of the wine) Add the tomato paste and thyme.  Bring to simmer, cover the pot and place in oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and veggies are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 T of butter with the flour and stir into the stew.  Add the frozen onions (I skip these sometimes if I can't find them) Saute the mushrooms in 2 T of butter until lightly browned and add to stew.  Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower and simmer for 15 minutes.

It was fun to have the kids back in town!