by Buck on January 28, 2010
My friend Linda sends me a recipe from time to time and they always are special and have an surprise ingredient. This chunky apple offering is a fresh compote that is a sure winner at the meal in which it is served. Hot or cold works as a dessert or as a tart accompaniment to a pork dish.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups water
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
7 medium size Granny Smith or other firm tart apples
½ cup good Sauternes
6 tablespoons red current jelly
2 cinnamon sticks
grated zest of 2 lemons
½ cup shelled chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins
Preparation:
Step 1. Mix half of the water and half of lemon juice in a bowl
Step 2. Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1 ½-inch chunks and place in water
Step 3. In a medium size saucepan combine the remaining water and the Sauternes
Step 4. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add apple chunks
Step 5. Partially cover and cook gently until apples are tender and remain whole
Step 6. With slotted spoon transfer apples to a bowl, add current jelly and cinnamon sticks to the remaining syrup.
Step 7. Set on medium heat bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by one third
Step 8. Pour the syrup over the apples. Stir in walnuts and raisins
Service: Warm or cool The recipe makes 6 portions
Sweet tooth folks add 1/3 cup of sugar but Linda feels that it is perfect without the additional sugar and so do I
by Buck on January 22, 2010
Every day for the last week the news has been centered in Massachusetts.. This has me thinking about recipes and restaurants that I have experienced in that area. I would pay more attention if the news included a great recipe from the area. I don’t know how to make that happen but I think that there would be broader appeal if there was an excellent recipe for Boston Baked Beans attached. Here is a recipe that will please, however you feel about the news..
Boston Baked Beans
Ingredients:
3 cups dried navy beans
½ lb sliced bacon
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic finely minced.
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 cup dark molasses
Several cups of boiling water
Preparation:
Step 1. Cover beans with cold water, cover & refrigerate overnight
Step 2. Next day drain, then put beans into a 6 quart kettle-cover with 2 quarts water
Step 3. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer covered for 30 minutes
Step 4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Step 5. Cut bacon into chunks & place into 3 quart bean pot or casserole Add beans –stir
Step 6. Mix other ingredients without the water and pour over beans
Step 7. Add enough boiling water to cover the beans( about 1 cup)& stir briefly
Step 8. Bake covered for 6 hours stirring once every hour(add a little water if they start to dry)
Step 9. Remove cover for final 30 minutes to brown top of beans
Service: I think this recipe can(should) be served in it’s own small side dish. Relegating it to a paper plate next to a hamburger or hot dog at a picnic always leaves me thinking that it deserves a better final resting place.
by Buck on January 21, 2010
From time to time like most Americans we have dinner in one of the popular chain restaurants described as having “casual dining”. Few surprises happen in any of these restaurants but there are there are a few we have found that rise above the normal mediocrity of this restaurant class. The typical chain’s food mostly fits the comment by Rocky Balboa in the final Rocky movie when he describes the food in his restaurant to a couple of fight promoters; ‘It’s all edible”.
P.F Chang’s China Bistro is a chain that rises above the usual chain restaurant’s presentation.
We received a gift card to a nearby P.F. Chang restaurant and recently had a meal there.
I didn’t approach the meal with great enthusiasm since as a fan of Asian food in general and Chinese in particular, I couldn’t envision a Chinese “chain” being very good.
I was wrong. P.F. Chang China Bistro in one meal sprang to the top of my Chinese list
We started with a shared Spicy Calamari dish that was simply great.
Moo Shu Pork and a Shrimp and broccoli dish were the main courses. They were beautifully prepared and served with professional excellence. The restaurant was attractive and the prices were reasonable. The wine list was satisfactory and the table setting was a step above what is ordinarily expected in a chain restaurant.
The Calamari must be tried if you go to Chang’s. It is crisply fried after being coated with potato starch (Gluten free). It is accompanied with small rice sticks, a spicy red chili bean sauce and a course sea salt and ground pepper mix. The squid come from New Zealand and the tentacles are not used, just the body, sliced into small bite sized pieces. Our gift card was for $50 and with two glasses of wine the tab was $37. We look forward to using the remaining gift card amount soon.
The Cheese Cake Factory is the other chain that is in a category deserving a description other that of a “chain”- but it is a chain. We have never had a meal that we didn’t enjoy in The Cheesecake Factory. I have only gotten to their excellent cheesecake once since the portions of everything are so generous. The service is always excellent and every one of their restaurants that we have visited is very attractively designed.
Our visits are often for lunch. More times than not we order the same dish for lunch and that is a Cobb Salad. Everyone knows what is in a Cobb Salad but the Cheesecake factory takes the presentation to a higher level with the greens finely shredded. We order the diner size salad and split it which is more than enough for each of us
I was never to The Brown Derby in Hollywood where the Cobb Salad originated but the Cheesecake Factory has a version that is so good I don’t feel the need to search for the Brown Derby original. The Brown Derby is long gone but it’s Cobb Salad lives on the daily Cheesecake Factory menus.
Maybe the China Bistro for dinner and the Factory for cheesecake afterward would be am interesting evening
by Buck on January 14, 2010
When time is rushed a fast meal can be prepared that has nothing to do with “Fast Food”.
That happened last night with an excellent crust less quiche being prepared and served in less than an hour. A cup of tomato soup preceded the quiche and was prepared in about 10 minutes while the quiche was in the oven.
A Quick Quiche
Ingredients:
5 large eggs
3 slices crisply fried bacon (broken up)
¼ cup diced onions
1 cup blanched spinach
Several sliced mushrooms
One cup finely shredded cheeses (Jarlsburg-Asiago-Feta)
1 cup half & half
½ tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
1Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
Several dashes of Cholula
Preparation:
’
Step 1. In olive oil, sauté onions & mushroom for several minutes add spinach for last minute
Step 2. Whip eggs in bowl –add half & half-salt & pepper –dash of Cholula hot sauce
Step 3. Butter pie dish and then cover bottom with ½ cup cheese
Step 4.add veggies & bacon to dish
Step 5. Pour in egg mixture with remaining cheese
Step 6. Bake 40 minutes in 375’oven till inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean
Service: Invert onto serving plate and cut into 6 slices
Quick Tomato soup to serve while the Quiche is finishing in the oven
In a sauce pan sauté several diced Roma tomatoes and ½ cup of diced onions
After a few minutes add a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup and a can of milk along with some fresh basil.
Heat thoroughly and serve in a small bowl with a sprinkle of crumbled Feta cheese centered on the soup—Hide the Campbell’s can and no one will guess and I’ll never tell
Note: The cheeses were what we had on hand. Use what you prefer and have at hand, but use several types if possible.
Break up the bacon but do not crumble
