Filet Mignon with Sweet Potato Fries

I forgot to take a picture of the filet, but trust me, it was pretty! I wrapped the filets in bacon, dusted them with garlic, onion powder, s&p, and seared each side in my grill pan, stove top. I baked the filets until they were medium rare. Okay, okay, I cooked them until they were rare and needed to put them back in to get them to medium rare, LOL. I am learning my way around beef and other meats besides chicken. As for the sweet potato fries. The outside of them was almost like candy, yummy.

INGREDIENTS

2 sweet potatoes

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

fresh grated nutmeg, I'm not sure on a measurement

a bit of oil

METHOD

Slice sweets into fries slices. Mix the rest of the ingredients listed and toss sweet potaotes to coat. Bake at 400 degrees until they are brown, enjoy.

Kettle Fries

I almost lost the tip of my thumb making these. The husband awoke ready for breakfast. He likes eggs, sunnyside up are a new fav of his. I wanted homefries to go with the eggs. I began by chopping a shallot. I was using a dull knife and I thought to myself the last time I used it I should get rid of it. I didn't and the mangling of my thumb taught me a lesson, no dull knives!

INGREDIENTS
1 shallot, diced
1 clove of garlic
4 potatoes, mine were small

I diced the shallot and garlic and sauteed in the pan until soft. I "baked" the potatoes in the microwave then peeled and chopped them. I tossed them in with the shallots and garlic after adding a bit more oil to the pan. I added salt and pepper and tossed to coat the potatoes. I got a piece of tin foil and sprayed one side with vegetable oil spray. I put the foil on top of the potatoes and then put my teakettle on top of the foil. I first filled my teakettle with water, and heated it before I put it on top of the potatoes. The kettle pushed the potatoes against the pan and they got nicely browned and crispy.

San Marzano Tomato Soup

Having a craving for tomato soup and no can of Campbells in sight I figured I would make my own. I googled a few recipes and checked my Joy of Cooking for some ideas. I didn't have all the ingredients for the recipes, but I would have to, as Tim Gunn says, "make it work". My father once told me some things aren't worth making from scratch, he said tomato soup was one of them. I have to disagree!

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup onion
1 rib celery
1 bay leaf
28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
15 oz can of tomato sauce
2 cups chicken bouillon (stock, broth, whatever)
1 cup instant rice
1/2-1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of baking soda
salt & pepper to taste

METHOD
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 rib chopped celery
a bay leaf
Sautee the above in vegetable oil until everything is soft, remove the bay leaf.

Add one 28 oz can of San Marzano (DOP) tomatoes, I used peeled plum tomatoes.
Use your spatula to chop up the tomatoes in the pot. Cook the tomatoes down until you can draw your spatula across the pot and the tomatoes leave a "path".

Add the tomato sauce, bouillon and rice. You don't have to add the rice, but I thought it would be a nice touch. Once the rice is cooked then add the milk. You can leave this out too if you want. Lastly I added some baking soda to cut the acidity.

I don't have a picture, but it is yummy!

Broccoli & Potato Fritatta

On Saturday mornings I like to treat myself to something yummy for breakfast. I have a habit of making fritattas for myself. I make it on Saturday then I have some left over for Sunday morning and for a quick week night meal for one if needed.



6 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped broccoli, I use frozen from the freezer
1 medium baked potato, I "bake" it in the microwave
I clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of chopped onion
Salt & pepper to taste

In a oven proof skillet, sautee the onion and garlic in oil until it is soft, about 5 minutes. I sprinkle the oninons and garlic with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt while they cook. Add the baked potato in cubes and the chopped broccoli. Once the mix is heated add your beaten eggs. Let the eggs set for a minute or two then pull the side of the egg mix in letting the raw egg flow out to the sides. Push the fillinf around so it is evenly distributed. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the egg is set in the center. I keep my left overs in a ziploc bag.

Free (for $15) Senseo Coffee Maker

I am not what you would call a coffee snob. I drink Dunkin Donuts, or make my own at home. I'm not a fan of Star Bucks coffee, or any of the other big name, smell me coffees. I came across a website to get a Senseo coffee maker for free, umm, no for $15 shipping and handling. I filled out the questioneer and was approved. I paid with paypal and wrote down all the infor incase it turned out to be a scam. Fifteen bucks is still fifteen bucks.

They tell you it will take 4-6 weeks for your Senseo to arrive, I got mine in a week. You are not given the option to pick the color you would like, I wanted black and "yeah" that is what I got! I opened the box and placed the Senso on my counter, it looked fancy. I read the manual and ran the cleaning cycle twice, just to be sure.

It was after 5pm when I got the Senso set up. I can't sleep if I have caffine too late so I waited for the next day to give my Senseo a try. The next morning I woke and reread the direction. I figured I would make 2 cups, which is 8 ounces of coffee. Wanting to take my coffee to work I ran hot tap water and filled my travel mug to warm it up. I used my glass measuring cup to catch the coffee since my travel mug does not fit in the Senseo, a minor irratent in my opinion.

You have to heat the water which take a minute or two then load the coffee pods and brew your coffee. I heated the water and loaded the pods. I was a bit too exicted for just making coffee. Once it was done I added some sugar and cream. I tasted it and it was a bit strong for my taste. I figured even though it says in the directions to not use the pods again, what could it hurt to try? After I made 2 cups (8oz) of coffee I heated 1 cup(4oz) of water and brewed one more cup using the same pods I used for the first 2 cups. This made 12 ounces of coffee, for me it was perfect! My coffee was at just the right temperature for drinking once I got to work.

Some reviews mentioned the Senseo coffee not being hot enough for them. I didn't have that issue. When I use my travel mug I warm it first with hot water, then add my Senseo brewed coffee. If I will be at home I do the same thing, I warm my mug with hot tap water and then brew into the warmed mug. Perfect!

Senseo has quite a few different coffee types to chose from. With the free for $15 you get a bag of medium roast pods. For me they are perfect. I don't know that I would like any of the stronger blends. I did try the cappacino pods. I really liked those as well. I made one cup (4oz) and used one teaspoon of suger, that is it, again, perfect as you can see below.

Buttermilk Slaw

WOW! This was so yummy. I began by salting the cabbage. While that was wilting I mixed the rest of the ingredients. I added more lime juice and cilantro, but other than than, this is perfect! This is where I got the orginal recipe.

If you are planning to serve the coleslaw immediately, rinse the salted cabbage in a large bowl of ice water, drain it in a colander, pick out any ice cubes, then pat the cabbage dry before dressing.
INGREDIENTS

1 pound cabbage (about 1/2 medium head), red or green, shredded fine (6 cups)
1 teaspoon table salt
1 medium carrot , shredded on box grater
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 small shallot , minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 scallions , sliced thin
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper


1. Toss shredded cabbage and 1 teaspoon salt in colander or large mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Rinse cabbage under cold running water. Press, but do not squeeze, to drain; pat dry with paper towels. Place wilted cabbage and carrot in large bowl.
2. Stir buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream, shallot, cilantro, lime juice, sugar, scallions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper together in small bowl. Pour dressing over cabbage and toss to combine; refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. (Coleslaw can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Corn Chowder by eye

When I bake I measure, when I cook I throw things together until it looks/tastes good. While I was preparing this chowder I knew I was going to put it in my blog, that forced me to measure, a little. Since I cook by eye I also end up with lots of whatever it is I'm making, that is what happened here.

1/4 pound salt pork fat back

1 1/2 cups onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

5 small/medium potatoes, I scrub them and leave the skin on, cubed

1 14.5 oz can of white corn, save liquid

1 14.5 oz can of yellow corn, save liquid

1 14.5 oz can of creamed corn

2 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of cream

1 teaspoon of chives

1/8 teaspoon of dill

I began by rendering the salt pork. Cook it in a stock pot over medium heat until it is golden brown, drain it on paper towel. Add a bit of vegetable oil and saute the onions. This will help to get the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan. If you have some white wine you might want to add a bit of this too.

Once the onions are soft add your garlic and your cubed potatoes, stir. Add the broth and the liquid from the corn, the potatoes should be covered, if they aren't add just enough water to cover them. Turn the heat to high and boil the potatoes, cook until they are just tender. Add milk, cream and the spices, along with salt and pepper to taste. I let this simmer for another 15ish minutes. Serve with corn bread and butter.

The Oyster Bar, GCT-NYC

Bobby Flay did a show on The Oyster Bar at Grand Central Terminal, in NYC. Since that show I have wanted to eat at The Oyster Bar. We got the chance a few days before the New Year. We arrived at GCT and it was packed! People were everywhere. There was a light show going on and people were crowed around taking pictures. My dad made a reservation for lunch and we headed out to check out a few sights. We went down to the Time Square, which was amazing to see so close to the ball being dropped. If you are a foodie it is also a lot of fun to walk through Grand Central Market. The food in this place is beyond inspiring! So much to see, taste, and buy!

Once back at GCT we headed to The Oyster bar for lunch. The ambiance is very cool. the subways tiles throughout do not give the chatter of the patrons anywhere to go but bounce around the area, so be prepared for the noise. The menu is stuffed onto an over sized piece of paper. We started with some soup and the bivalve platter. It was great!!! We shared a tuna salad and a pasta dish. Everything was very good. Next time I will not get anything cooked, ALL RAW! I did take a picture of the bivalve platter, but it was after we finished it off. Totally forgot to document before eating! If you like raw oysters and clams, or seafood in general it is a must eat at place!

Dom's Mom's Meatballs

These are my favorite meatballs. I didn't realize how much I loved them until my mother stopped making them in favor of store bought frozen meatballs. Not that the store bought meatballs were bad, but I had the taste of these meatballs and they are wonderful.

Dom's Mom's Meatballs
Eat This by Dom De Luise

2 pounds ground chuck
1/2 pound of ground pork
2 cups Italian-flavored bread crumbs
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup fresh parsley chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped very fine
1 onion, minced
1/2 cup pignoli (pine nuts) (optional)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Let stand 1/2 hour. Shape into medium-size meatballs. Fry gently in olive oil until lightly browned, or place on foil on a cookie sheet and bake for 1/2 hour at 35o degrees.

Gently place in your own hot spaghetti sauce and cook on medium-low heat for 1 hour.

(Dom's note) P.S. What I like to do is quadruple the recipe (you'll have about 100 meatballs) and then place the meatballs on large Teflon baking pans. After they're baked and cooled, I put twenty at a time in large Ziploc bags and pop them in the freezer. Then they're ready, willing and able anytime.

*My note: I make a large batch of sauce and meatballs and freeze it for easy dinners. A great way to freeze it to freeze it in containers until hard. then pop the "sauce cube" out of the container and put into a Ziploc bag or if you have a vacuum sealer system seal them in baggies to store in the freezer.

Applesauce Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

A few months back I made a pumpkin bar recipe on the back of my Penzeys catalog. I wasn't thrilled with the bar, but the frosting was amazing! I have been on the hunt for a spice cake that would stand up to the flavor of the browned butter frosting, I think I have found it. I began with this recipe from allrecipes and made a few changes. Being a Penzeys nut I have some spices I haven't even tried yet. Instead of the pumpkin pie spice called for I used my Penzey's Baking Spice. This is what made the cake in my opinon. I actually ended up making this cake twice. The first time I forgot the baking soda, it is amazing how much lift the baking soda brings to this cake. Here is the recipe I made with my changes.

Applesauce Cake
1/2 cup butter softened (1 stick)
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon baking spice

Browned Butter Frosting
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup, 1 stick butter
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in applesauce. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices; stir into the applesauce mixture until well blended. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack.

In a small pan, brown the stick of butter watching it carefully so it doesn't burn. While the butter is melting mix the milk with the vanilla in a small bowl. Measure the confectioners sugar into a bowl for mixing. Once the butter is browned add it to the sugar. Using a hand mixer slowly combine the butter and sugar drizzling in the milk and vanilla. Frost the cake once it is cooled. Enjoy!

I got the chance to use one of my Christmas gifts making this recipe. My Cuisianart PowerSelect Hand Mixer. I was quite impressed with the power of this little guy. I was worried it wouldn't be able to handle mixing the softened butter with the brown sugar for the batter of the cake, but I used the 1 speed and it was perfect. The 2 speed was almost too much power. I was impressed with the ease of use and how well it mixed.

Garlic Lime Fajitas

I am new to this beef thing. I am not any good at picking out the proper cut for the meal I am making. I bought some top round, thinking "top" would be good. Not so much, it was chewy and tough. I was pleased with the method I used to flavor the meat, which was really, really flavorful.




1 pound beef, something not chewy
1 lime
2 cloves of garlic
1 green pepper
1 medium/large onion
sour cream
cheese of your choice
lime salsa, see recipe in blog

Tenderize the meat by beating with a pan, it didn't seem to help, but is was fun. Cut the meat into strips that will both cook quickly and fit on the wrap. Use a cheese grater to grate the garlic and zest the lime onto the meat. Squeeze the juice of the lime onto the meat also. Toss the meat, garlic, lime mix right on your cutting board giving it time to soak up the flavors.

Slice green peppers and onions. Saute in vegetable oil until they are soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Move to a plate to hold until service.

Turn heat up in pan to medium high. Add more veggie oil. Cook the garlic lime beef in batches, adding salt and pepper to each as you go. The garlic and lime zest does get very dark but the flavors are great. Once the meat is done add to veggie plate. Serve with the rest of the ingredients listed.

Breakfast Frittata

I had some leftover green peppers and onions from my garlic lime fajitas so I made it into a frittata. I shredded a medium potato first and squeezed the liquid out before I sauteed the potato. Then I added some chopped garlic, the peppers and onions and heated that through. Once it was heated I added the eggs and let the egg set for a minute or two. I pulled the edges of the frittata in to let the uncooked egg out to the sides. I pushed the filling around some it was evenly distributed and popped it into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Simple and tasty. I saved the leftovers to throw in the microwave for quick breakfasts.





6 eggs, beaten

3/4- 1 cup of veggies of your choice, I used green peppers and onions

1 medium potato

1 clove of garlic

Follow directions above.

Good Chili

My husband's new favorite thing is chili, really spicy chili. Being the weekend I figured it would be a great day to make chili. My Penzeys catalog had arrived in the mail and there on the cover was a recipe for chili! Here is the recipe, my changes are in parenthesis.

Good Basic Chili
From Penzeys

2 lbs ground beef
3 TB vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper (I used green for more color)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper (I used 1 tsp)
1 tsp cumin (I used 1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (I used about a TB)
1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I used about a TB)
3 TB chili powder
3 cups water
1- 26 oz. can tomato puree (I used an 8 oz can of tomato paste & an 8 oz can of tomato sauce)
2- 16 oz cans 'no salt added' chopped tomatoes (I didn't get the no salt tomatoes)
2- 16 oz cans kidney beans, drained
salt to taste

Brown beef in two batches in a thick-bottomed soup kettle. Drain off fat and set browned beef aside. Heat 3 TB. oil in kettle over medium high heat, adding onions when hot. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring often. Add red bell pepper and GARLIC, continuing to cook 2-3 more minutes. Add BLACK PEPPER, GROUND CUMIN, CHIPOTLE and HOT RED PEPPERS to taste plus CHILI POWDER, while continually stirring until spices begin to stick to bottom of kettle and brown (about 30-45 seconds). Quickly add 3 Cups of water. Add tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and the juice they were packed in. Add kidney beans and salt. Add the beef but try not to include any fat that may have accumulated. Stir. When chili begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Ideally chili should be simmered 3 hours to let all the flavors blend together. Stir about every 15 minutes, while checking to make sure heat is not too high, causing chili to stick to the bottom of the kettle. If you don't have 3 hours, use less CHIPOTLE and CRUSHED RED PEPPERS or else they will overpower the other flavors.

(I also added a little wasabi powder, and 3 whole serrano peppers. Next time I think I will add a habenero pepper and really spice up his day! Also if I didn't have the tomato paste instead of adding water I would add chicken or beef stock for more flavor.)

The husband said it was really good chili. It gave him a throat burn which I was hoping for seeing all of the out spices I put in there. I forgot to take a picture, I will at some point. Enjoy

Beach 1, Dogs 0

Today the husband and I decided we would take the dogs for a walk. We put their sweaters on them and headed towards the beach. It is about a 10 minute walk from our house to the beach. Instead of going on the private beach we walked down a bit to the public beach area.

We were surprised to find families and children down on the beach. It is chilly here this time of the year in New England. There were people walking out on the sand bar and seagulls searching for nibbles. If you look in the picture to the right you can see a tiny island with trees. Sadly we didn't make it out to the island. We were out on the beach sniffing away enjoying ourselves when the husband says to me "we're getting kicked out". Sure enough there was a beach patrolman working his way to us to explain dogs are not allowed on the beach, it is a state law. They can be in the "park area" only if they are on a leash that does not exceed seven feet. Oh well. We headed back home, and weren't able to let Roxy & Dozer explore the little island. We did have fun while our paws were in the sand.

Lime Salsa

I love homemade salsa. I also happen to love it with lots of lime juice. This time when I made it I even added some lime zest right in the mix. Make this salsa to your liking, and taste as you go!

28 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained if you can get peeled & seeded even better
14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
(If you have fresh tomatoes you can peel, seed, and chop them instead of canned)
1+ cup finely chopped onion
1/4 finely chopped cilantro
2 minced jalapenos
juice of 3 limes and the zest of one lime (I love lime, try the juice of 1 lime if you want)
1 tablespoon salt

Mix everything together and enjoy. Resist the urge to put everything in your food processor. This results in an evenly textured salsa, not really what you want. As this sits overnight the flavors will meld and change. Don't over salt when you first make this. Sorry no picture, I will try to get one later.

Crepes 2008

I woke this morning feeling very hungry, but nothing I had in the house amused me for breakfast. I checked my emails while listening to Food Network, Rachel Ray was making oatmeal pancakes. I wasn't in the mood for oatmeal or pancakes. Robin Miller was on next, she was making savory crepes. That was it! While growing up I would sleep over a friends house. She introduced me to crepes, I loved them instantly!

Be sure to read your recipe thoroughly before you begin. I quickly skimmed the recipe and missed a note about cutting the salt from 1/2 a teaspoon to 1/8 of a teaspoon if you are making sweet crepes, which I was. They tasted fine, but still, I should have read more carefully.

I used a recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

Sweet Crepes
1 cup milk
1/2 cup luke warm water
1/4 cup melted butter
4 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 cup flour

I mixed everything except the flour together. Then I whisked in the flour. They want you to let the batter rest. I was too hungry by this point to do so. I didn't not taste a difference in flavor or mouth feel by not letting the batter rest. I cooked my crepes in a regular pan, not a fancy crepe pan. As I completed each crepe I put them on a plate and then into the oven set at 200 degrees to stay warm. I am ashamed to say I ate everything on the plate in the picture. I will attempt to freeze the rest for quick breakfast meals. I filled my crepes with grape jam, not jelly, a bit of melted butter and some confectioners sugar. Yum, yum, yum!!!