Voulez vous coucher avec Mac?
New review of Patti LaBelle’s much-lauded mac and cheese recipe is now posted at my other blog. It’s good, but not that good, Oprah!! Get a grip on yourself, woman!
Posts Tagged ‘yummy’
Things That Make Me Happy (#8)
Saturday, July 10th, 2010
- Baaaaaaaconnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!
This is a gynormous box of bacon, photographed at Camellia Grill in New Orleans. The box is about the same size and shape as a box of paper reams. That’s a lotta bacon!
The bacon is layered onto some kind of paper, and when the griddle clears, another few pages of salty meaty goodness are slapped on.
Incognito bacon, I would recognize you anywhere.
The expert grill men leave the paper shroud on top of the bacon for a while. I don’t know if affects how the meat cooks or if it just keeps the grease spatter to a minimum. Perhaps it is simply a gesture of respect. I’m also not sure what kind of paper is involved. It looked like damp paper towels but I’m really not sure so do not try this at home, kids. Who am I kidding — I’m trying it pronto.
- Our Lady of Bacon, we beseech thee: Please keep our houses from burning down while we experiment with alternative methods of worshipping your abundance. Amen!
Soupy Sunday: Mediterranean Meatball Soup
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010Every July, I have a big cooking weekend to stock the freezer with lots of yummy scrummy. The goal is to not need to actually cook again until autumn. Well, not entirely, but any supper I can fake by plopping a frozen brick of something into a saucepan and getting out of the kitchen while the stove is hot is a good supper.
Mmm... A rainbow of good-for-you vegetables and just enough meat to satisy your inner carnivore.
This recipe is my reworking of the Mediterranean Meatball Soup that appears in a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest publication called Our Best Diabetic Recipes. Carbs are not my friend, and these magazines often inspire me to up my vegetable consumption in a fancy and interesting way. (These magazines also include an alarming number of recipes that call for fat-free Cool Whip and other forms of Better Eating Through Chemistry, so be warned.)
Although this soup is chock-full of goodness I was surprised to find that the original version wasn’t all that delish, and the barley sucked up so much liquid it resembled porridge. Ew. My version below gooses the flavors and provides enough liquid to keep it brothy. I also substituted frozen bell pepper strips and frozen spinach for the fresh called for in the magazine recipe. Lazy? No, just realistic. I choose my conveniences carefully.
Off to a colorful start!
Frozen veggies usually work fine in soup — but I will never, ever stoop to using that pre-chopped garlic from a jar, because it doesn’t taste like anything at all. It smells but it doesn’t taste.
My other main tweak is I altered the meatball ingredients in the direction of more moistness and fewer carbs. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs and the meatballs were tough. Reducing the crumbs and adding a grated onion improved the situation dramatically.
Don't forget to rinse canned beans. I don't know what that slime is, but let's not ingest it, okay?
Better Homes and Gardens specified a can of Great Northern beans, but any variety of white bean will work fine. Because they taste so much earthier and beanier I usually prefer to cook big batches of dried beans and store portions in the freezer until needed, but the cupboard was bare so I picked up a can of Trader Joe’s white kidney beans. (The frozen peppers are also from TJ’s. Love that store!)
When reheating this soup throughout the summer, I plan to throw in other Mediterranean flavors such as diced artichoke hearts, black olives or the season’s amazing fresh tomatoes. I think a fresh sprig of rosemary won’t hurt, either.
Mediterranean Meatball Soup
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Serves 6 ½ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (or RyKrisp crackers of All Bran cereal that’s been run through the Cuisinart) 1 egg 4 cloves garlic, minced (divided) 1 small onion, grated 3 teaspoons fresh rosemary or 1-1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (divided) ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey 1 Tablespoon olive oil 3 carrots, chopped 2 red, green and/or yellow bell peppers, cut into bite-size strips 1 small onion, chopped 3 cans beef broth (14oz each) 2-4 cups water, as needed 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained (15oz) ¼ cup pearl barley 4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves or 5-6oz frozen spinach Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, egg, 2 cloves garlic, grated onion, half of the rosemary and black pepper. Add ground beef and mix well. Shape mixture into 1” meatballs and place on lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside. In a biiiig soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute carrots, bell peppers, chopped onion and the remaining garlic until onions are translucent. Add broth, beans, barley and the remaining rosemary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until barley is tender. Add water if you require more soupiness. Add cooked meatballs and spinach and heat through.Ice ice baby
Thursday, July 1st, 2010I recently gushed about enjoying a cocktail featuring a fancy hipster ice cube and someone scoffed that this could not possibly be a “thing.”
Suddenly I'm transported to Superman's Fortress of Solitude...
Oh yes. It’s a thing. It’s a big thing in certain circles. Bartenders are building reputations on their ice cube expertise. Check it out:
This article explains the principles behind the craze.
Here’s a vendor of specialty ice cubes. Peep their gallery! Order their products! Faint upon learning the FedEx charge!
No, please don’t pass out. Look, here’s some advice for DIY-ing your very own fancy big ice.
Because you know you want to.
Soupy Sunday: Celebrating asparagus
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
Sunny Anderson's cream of asparagus soup
I like soup.
I like making soup. I like eating soup. I like pretty much everything about nearly all kinds of soup.
And since there’s nothing a blogger appreciates more than a regular feature that provides a modicum of structure to her otherwise unfocused blatherings, I will be blogging about soup. Let’s say, every Sunday. And see how it goes.
First up is cream of asparagus soup. Fresh asparagus is so good and so inexpensive right now, I’ve been roasting it, grilling it, stir-frying it, prosciutto-ing it and even eating the most slender stalks raw in a delicious marinated salad. I did not even know you could eat raw asparagus. Thank you, Anne Burrell!
For my soup, I used Sunny Anderson’s recipe with one minor alteration: I added plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. The recipe was dead simple and turned out to be quite rich and tasty.
When it was time to take the photo, I wished I’d reserved some of the asparagus tips and blanched them to use as a garnish, maybe perched atop a dollop of yogurt. If you are a fancypants cook you might give that a whirl. Instead, I tossed a few garlicky croutons into the bowl for visual interest and called it lunch.
I use a stick blender to puree my soups but if all you have is a regular blender, be sure to vent the lid when you zap your potion. Otherwise, you may end up with hot soup all over your kitchen.
Sunny Anderson’s Cream of Asparagus Soup
Source: Food Network
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 onion, chopped, (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 pint sour cream, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Hungarian hot paprika, for garnish
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add asparagus and saute another 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until asparagus is very tender. Carefully puree until smooth. Stir in sour cream and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to serving bowls. Dust with paprika and serve.
Our bouncing baby olive oil
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Tastier than the Heifer International sheep I gave him (probably)
My dad is one of those people who is nearly impossible to shop for, because when he wants something, he simply goes out and buys it. And also because his interests are a bit obscure. So I’m often forced to resort to giving him gifts with a novelty factor higher than I’d like. Sometimes these are good for a few laughs, like the sheep I “gave” him one year; his sheep “sent” him a birthday card, father’s day card, etc and I thought it was hysterical (even if he didn’t).
(By “he” I mean Dad. No idea what the sheep thought of my hijinks.)
Last Christmas I was not only devoid of ideas, I was short on time, so I gave Dad an olive tree. Well, the tree is still in Italy where it has always been, but Dad and Dorothy are its adoptive parents for 2010.
Blame Martha. I discovered this in her holiday gift guide (sorry, 404 page not found).
The way it works: You send the company, Nudo, some money and tell them the olive grove where you’d like your tree to be located. I selected a grove called Il Professore because my old man has a PhD, and because the old guy who nurtures that grove has planted all the trees himself, and he treats each one like an individual. That is some serious olive reverence right there. Then Nudo sends your gift recipient a really rather spiffy looking adoption certificate and brochure full of romantic photos of idyllic Italian scenery, and the ID info for “your” tree.
Sigh!
Then in May and again in the fall, they send you the olive oil made from your tree’s olives. Actually it would be cost prohibitive for them to process the olive oil one tree at a time, so they do it several dozen trees at a time. But the olive oil they send you is, in part, produced by your tree. Kinda neat? I thought so, considering that my folks are foodies, cook with olive oil all the time, and (did I already mention) are extremely difficult to shop for…
Their first shipment arrived a couple weeks ago, so I paid them a visit for an official tasting of this much heralded oil. And to my surprise, it really does taste awesome! Bright and peppery. Puts the junk in my pantry to shame. We sampled it with good crusty bread and almost could have made a meal of it, it was so delicious. I’m tickled that D&D gave me my very own tin of their harvest (the spring shipment, plain first-cold-press extra virgin, consisted of three 500ml tins and one 250ml tin; we are told to expect roughly the same volume in the fall but those tins will contain oils flavored with citrus, peppers and other delights).
The whole scheme is managed by a British couple who moved to this charming place in the Apennine foothills and dedicated themselves to reviving an old olive grove. They write of this place and its traditional ways with such respect and fondness, it really resonated with me — a chick who likes to make her own jam, who thrills to weave fabric and bind books and do certain things the old fashioned way. I was also pleased to support their local economy because these groves are located not far from the site of last year’s significant earthquake, and we gotta look out for each other.
Nudo says that some adopters even visit their trees. I’m not sure we’ll take things to that extreme, but I’m glad this has turned out to be a delicious adventure right here at home.
Another No Cookie Left Behind success story
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Yum!
Yesterday, Scoops on Heliotrope was the site of another excellent bake sale put together by No Cookie Left Behind.
Adorable logo!
This one wasn’t as mad a crush as the February sale, which I believe netted almost $5K for Haiti earthquake relief, but there seemed to be a steady stream of happy customers, so I hope the sale was a rousing success. Benefiting Share Our Strength, this month’s sale featured four tables of treats donated by home bakers as well as local pros.
The magic words this time were “brown butter” and ”fleur de sel.” I’d say a third of the offerings involved one or the other (if not both). Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Charming details
This time I brought my friend Laura because I remembered seeing quite a bit of vegan patisserie last time. Of course, this time there were only two vegan offerings, neither of which was stuff Laura enjoys. D’oh!! Even Scoops let us down on the vegan front! So the trip was not productive for Laura, but I did pick up a few treats:
Clearly, I was feeling the cupcake vibe
So far I’ve sampled a bite of the lemon cupcake in the lower left corner (delish, especially the frosting), a bite of the peach cupcake with brown butter frosting in the upper right corner (burned on the bottom, very dry but the frosting was good), one of the macarons in the adorable little box (macarons are sort of like tender amaretto cookies sandwiched with something yummy, in this case dulce de leche) and a fragment of the big cookie.
The cookie is pretty interesting. It contains white chocolate chips, whole almonds, diced dried apricots and a touch of curry powder — not so much that it hits you over the head, but just enough to introduce some mystery. Sort of like the subtlety of the black pepper in pfeffernusse. I just googled for a recipe but no dice. May have to experiment because I really like it!
In case that wasn’t enough decadence for one week, I also picked up a small serving of Scoops’ fantabulous black sesame gelato, which has been my favorite for years but may have been surpassed by the other flavor nestled in my tiny bowl: salted white chocolate. Yeah, I succumbed to the salt theme after all. I cannot express how delicious these Scoops flavors are. Just: go. They probably won’t have salted white chocolate or black sesame, but whatever they do have will be just as delish.
Things That Make Me Happy (#6)
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
a work of cocktail art
Note the custom-hewn ice block. It’s what the hipster kids are chilling their drinks with, these days.
Recently I enjoyed this gorgeous and extremely bracing Old Fashioned at Cole’s in downtown Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, I can’t say I enjoyed their macaroni and cheese. Read all about it here, if you dare.
Warning: Lutefisk Ahead!
Monday, May 24th, 2010
Otherwise known as the Norwegian Geezer Clubhouse
I am not Norwegian but somehow I’ve become the keeper of the Scandinavian flame for my friend Vivian, who may be slightly distracted by her incredibly cute toddler Tempest. As a good Auntie, I’ll pick up the slack for the sake of the kidlet’s cultural edumacation. So it was with some urgency that I texted Viv: “Lutefisk social this Saturday, right?”
Sorry, napkin. I reject you totally.
For the blissfully uninitiated, lutefisk is a Norwegian “delicacy.” It’s dried cod that’s been rehydrated with lye. Yes, that lye. I found this explanation at whatscooking.net:
The history of lutefisk dates back to the Vikings. On one occasion, according to legend, plundering Vikings burned down a fishing village, including the wooden racks with drying cod. The returning villagers poured water on the racks to put out the fire. Ashes covered the dried fish, and then it rained. The fish buried in the ashes thus became soaked in a lye slush. Later the villagers were surprised to see that the dried fish had changed to what looked like fresh fish. They rinsed the fish in water and boiled it. The story is that one particularly brave villager tasted the fish and declared it “not bad.”
“Not bad!” High praise indeed. Honestly, by the time the lye has been cooked out of the fish, what’s left looks like a pile of lumpy semi-opaque pale yellow gelatine (the secret ingredient is love bones!). Yum.
I can't believe they ate the whole thing...
Nevertheless, some people love the stuff, including Vivian, so we make a night of it whenever the Sons of Norway put on a lutefisk supper. I don’t eat the lutefisk but I like everything else:
At least there is *something* edible at this place!
This was our first Sons of Norway – Norrona Lodge monthly social, but definitely not our last because what differentiates the monthly socials from the annual All You Can Eat Lutefisk Supper in November is that the annual shindig is a fundraiser and the goal is to turn over the tables quickly and cram as many paying customers into the room as possible, whereas the monthly socials are more leisurely affairs. Sealing the deal for me: The old farts pass around a microphone and tell excruciatingly long, extremely bad jokes. This makes me unbelievably happy.
But the big question on this night was: Will Tempest like lutefisk?
Baby's first fisk! Children are so trusting.
...processing...
You gotta be kidding me with this stuff! :)
I know Vivian will disagree, but I think Tempest is clearly on Team Suz when it comes to the question of lutefisk. We’ll see in November.
In the meantime, next month’s Sons of Norway social has a Polynesian luau theme, and the combined forces of the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines could not keep me away. Got any really long, reeeeeally bad jokes I could tell?
We heart AdrienneK’s mac and cheese!
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Nom nom nom!
Over at my other blog we’ve become a bit demoralized by a series of Bad Macs from restaurants, so I fired up the oven for the first time in months to prepare an actual recipe. It was easy, it was cheesy, and I recommend it to all.
PS Suzy Gruyere and Hilary Havarti are approaching our one-year bloggaversary — and to think, people said we’d run out of stuff to write about such a “limited” topic (heretics!). To celebrate, we’re going to be giving away a supercool prize — hint: just because it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck does not necessarily mean it is a duck! – so if you are a mac and cheese lover, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.
