Barefoot Contessa Scores

Oh. Mah. Gawd.  I saw this dish on television over the weekend and I knew I had to try it.

Just Google Barefoot Contessa  Chicken and Mushrooms if you're interested.

This dish earned four out of four stars with the family.  It is soooo delicious and rich.  I used shallots instead of garlic since we have a garlic intolerant person in the group.

This was rich and creamy and mushroomy and deglazed with sherry and white wine.  Lots of fresh homegrown thyme.  Salt and pepper.  A delicious roux at the end.

It works best to have a heavy pot that goes from stove top to oven.

You will thank me.  I guarantee you.

Food Blogging

I love to read food blogs.  I love to read novels.  Now, my blogger buddy Elizabeth has turned me onto a blog where I can get the best of both worlds.  It's called Yummy Books and I've already found recipes I want to make, like chocolate digestive biscuits and Gin Rickeys.  Check it out for some fun.  And the author, Cara, is giving away a gorgeous traveling bar set. What a great concept: making food and drinks from food served in novels.

Remember the movie Like Water for Chocolate?  Now there was a red-hot food movie.  Of course it was originally a novel, and one that I haven't read (note to self: read).

Is there a great scene from a novel or movie -- involving food -- that you remember especially well?  I remember the film Chocolat.  Funny and very sexy.

Vegan Eating

My great Vegan experiment is going, uh, rather badly.  After my initial excitement, I am finding it difficult to avoid meat and dairy.  Nothing tastes as good as half and half in coffee.  Not soy milk, not almond milk.  When I get lattes, I order soy milk, and it's delicious.  But in regular coffee it just falls flat.

I don't mean that I'm going to give up on my plan to eat a more plant based diet.  I'm just struggling.  As with all dietary changes, this one isn't coming easy.  I'm working against a lifetime of prescribed eating habits.  I'm also eating dinner with family who aren't vegan.

There are plenty of good vegan options in Indian, Middle-Eastern and Asian dishes.  Problem is:  the rest of the family doesn't like these.  I may be headed for cooking my own dinners and sitting down at the table while they have their dinner.  That's a doable thing.

Okay, I'm going to make a vegan recipe right now that I can eat tonight.

Later:  Here it is: braised temphe with figs and port wine.  Maybe I'll serve it over fried quinoa.  It smells delicious!

P.S.  It was good.  I served it over mashed potatoes which worked perfectly both texturally and taste-wise.

Lentil Loaf

This recipe comes from The Simple Veganista.  My first time making it, it seemed a little daunting, but I reminded myself it's really not that complicated, just cooking with ingredients I don't often use (like flaxseed, oat flour -- no biggie).  Being that this is all new to me, I measured out everything ahead of time.  I think I'm going to serve it with mashed potatoes with nutritional yeast gravy.  Sliced tomatoes with herb and balsamic and there's your meal. 

So, baked potatoes instead (I ran out of energy). It turned out pretty well (mom was the least enthused) but next time I will try a side of roasted veg, such as asparagus or squash.  The potato was a bit much, as the loaf is very dense.  Or, even a green salad.  Btw, the glaze on top is great!

The loaf held together well, thanks to the oats and oat flour. It didn't go all crumbly upon cutting.  I would make it again - maybe halve the recipe because half would have served 3 people nicely.

Chickpeas and Cashews

My first experiments with plant based recipes have turned out to be delicious.  The first one, this "Chickpea of the Sea" Sandwich was super yummy.  I think next time I'll toast my bread and have it open-faced because it gets kind of messy.  You can find the recipe here.   The second dish is called "Cashew Ricotta" and turned out to be fairly bland, so I added about a tablespoon of chopped sun dried tomatoes and poured in a little oil from the jar.  That jazzed it up sufficiently.  It's a nice dip or spread for crackers.  I think it would go well with rice crackers.  It would also work well in a vegan lasagne.  You can find the recipe here.  So far, I love the Simple Veganista website, and there is a comprehensive recipe list divided into categories for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dressings, etc.

Not that I'm completely new to plant-based meal prep -- there's a lot of things I already make (bean chili) that I love and can be adapted by substituting the sausage I put in there with some soy 'ground beef crumbles.'  But what I've been missing is all the little things that really jazz up food -- the sauces, the spices, the nutritional yeast, the nut-based milks and spreads.  My taste buds are pretty excited about what's to come.  I'm still eating meat dishes that dad makes, but I hope that as my vegan meal prep skills grow, I can get the folks as excited about this food as I am.

Forks Over Knives

You want a powerfully persuasive argument against eating meat and dairy?  See this movie. 

I eat meat and dairy, and I love it.  As I age, however, I'm looking at health strategies that will keep me fit and even reverse the ill affects of my diet thus far.  I want to stay vital as long as I possibly can.

I don't eat much fast food.  I don't eat a lot of processed foods, but sometimes I get the urge for a bag of chips or cheetos, or even a McDonald's hamburger (the plain one, the itty bitty one).  And I love Gelato.  Really. Love. It.

I've known the ill health effects of our American way of diet for 35 years after reading Diet for a Small Planet.  I began a vegetarian diet that lasted maybe a year.  Peer pressure brought me back to eating meat.  It was just so much easier to eat what everyone else was eating.

But once again I am faced with my concerns about health, both my own and that of the planet.  In addition, I do look at the amount of suffering of innocent animals in the production of our food.  I've turned a blind eye for a long time, knowing the horrors of meat production, but not wanting to see the truth of it because, gosh, it may change my carefully ordered set-up. 

I ordered the cookbook, with 300 recipes for all seasons.  Gonna give it shot.  Gonna cook it for family meals and see how it goes over.  The documentary is on instant streaming on Netflix.  I highly recommend it, especially if you are skeptical about a plant-based diet.

I'll keep you updated how how it goes for me and my family.  Will we become converts?  Stay tuned.

Truffles

My hazelnut coconut truffles got a little out of hand today.  My scoop needs to be smaller, and the chilled mixture was melting quickly in my hand.  So these are some big mamas.  Big, delicious mamas!

This Post Has Nothing To Do with Valentine's Day

Uh-oh.  I've done it again.

When I was 19 I read Diet for a Small Planet and it influenced me to stop eating meat.  Very hard to do in this culture.  I did continue to eat dairy products and eggs, however.  Being a vegetarian in a carnivore's world proved too much for me, and eventually I returned to eating meat.  Now I'm a full-fledged meat lover.  LOVER, I tell you.

Now I've watched the documentary Vegucated (on Netflix streaming) and I'm seriously considering my food choices.  I encourage you to watch it, I'd love to hear what you think of it, and the eating of animal products in general.  Seriously, as a meat, cheese and egg lover, I can give you every argument in the book on why eating animals and their products is okay.

But this movie has got me thinking.  A lot.  Eating my chicken last night was a weird experience...I kept thinking about how that chicken lived in terrible conditions, suffered greatly, and was summarily executed in order for me to eat it.

As the movie points out, there are several cultures where eating animal products in a necessity.  But here, in the US?  Given the realities of meat production (deplorable conditions we would never submit our beloved pets to) and the rate of human disease caused by over consumption of animal products, why do we continue to do it?  Because, it's easy, it's what we're used to, it's what we've been told is good for us, it's the way life is - get used to it.  I dunno.  I'm all in a muddle.  Watch the movie and muddle through this with me, will you?

***
Okay, one thing about V-Day: I'm taking writer Anne Lamott's idea and drawing a little heart on the inside of my wrist, from me to me, on this day.  And I'm going to celebrate life and the creative energy that is inside me.

Let Them Eat Quiche

Your basic Quiche Lorraine.  A hearty delicious breakfast to calm our nerves from last night.

We had our carbon monoxide alarm go off, twice, and called the fire department which sent out a full-on fire truck to come and investigate.  The crew wandered around, scratched their heads, asked questions.

They had no device with which to read the levels of this ordorless gas which kills.  They suggested we change out all of our 9 volt back up batteries on the 7 hard-wired alarms we have.  Not even a year old for crying out loud.  So, after 9 pm, Dad and I are climbing ladders and unscrewing alarms and removing batteries -- just when we were settling down and getting ready to sleep.  Grand.

My nephew brought over a carbon monoxide monitor that my sis had purchased at Costco.  It didn't go off during the night, and we are still alive and are suffering no headaches, dizziness or vomiting so I guess we'll live.

I hate our alarm system - it has been a pain in the ass from day 1, March 2012.  Goes off when toast is being made.  When grilling on the stove top, all windows must be open, ceiling fans going full bore, and stove hood fans cranked up high.  It happens to the other new houses on our block, too.  I feel like taking a sledgehammer to the damned things.  We will put in another call to the alarm company, and no doubt they will tell us the same thing as before: there are no adjustments to be done.

Let them eat quiche.  And so we will.

Christmas Candy

My sis and her family have been making candy for Christmas gifts for 26 years.  One year they said to heck with it, and they got an earful from many disappointed friends.  People have come to rely on their candy, as sure as day follows night.

With our nice new big kitchen, we expanded candy making to both of our households.  We finished all the peanut clusters in 6.5 hours, compared to spread over 3 days.  We have a big refrigerator, and I have my little one downstairs.  All decks were cleared to harden up the peanuts mixed with melted butterscotch.  I can't even remember how many jumbo sized peanut cans we went through (10?) and how many bags of butterscotch chips (20?).  Sis cleaned out the store where she bought them.

Today is chocolate covered coconut balls.  Let the season begin!

First Night Out

2011, Hot Italian, taradharma

My first night out in nearly 4 weeks.  It was heaven.  The GF and I ate at my neighborhood bistro.  I had the
Gnocchi Autunno

House-made Herb Dumplings with Broccoli Rabe Pesto, Picholine Olives,

Goat Cheese Cream Sauce and Spiced Pecans. 
 

She had the
Wood-Roasted Scallops

Seared Dayboat Scallops over Savoy Cabbage,

Kabocha Squash, Oyster Mushrooms and Pancetta with a

Calabrian Chile Viniagrette

Too bad I didn't get a photo of it all.  It was delicious.  Food.  Good.

After dinner we went to see a friend in a production of Rehearsal to Murder at the Chautauqua Playhouse.  A whodunnit which had us stumped until the reveal.

My knee didn't get to fully extend in the theater seats, and so was screaming softly at me and I welcomed the 15 minute intermission when I could 'walk it off.'

I was so tired this morning that I slept right through the usual Sunday morning breakfast group.  Bummer.  It would have been my first in many weeks.

I feel as if I'm getting back into the world, a month after surgery.  Still have work to do with physical therapy, but I'm coming along nicely.  Just to be able to be out and about with merely the aid of a cane.  And someday soon, not even that.

Hallelujah.

Lamb Shanks

At Chez Crowley we like our lamb.  How's this for a tasty dish?  Lamb shanks cooked in foil with tomatoes, carrots and onions.

Though you can't see the shanks, they were huge and probably American lamb.  From Corti Brothers.

They took an hour and a half in a 350 degree oven and turned out looking rich and succulent when we unwrapped them.

Served with roasted potatoes and my famous recipe for brussels sprouts and shallots, carmelized.  It's called "Hash" because the sprouts and the shallots are sliced very thinly.  I have converted several brussels sprouts haters into tiny cabbage lovers with this recipe.  The secret is to caramelize the shallots with cider vinegar and sugar before you add it to the sprouts.  Delicious.

Bon Appetite!

Happy Friday, all.

Bello Alimento

Eggplant Cannelloni With Cheesy Pesto Filling

6 servings

2 large eggplants

Olive oil

1-cup ricotta cheese

1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/3 cup prepared basil pesto sauce

¼ cup toasted pine nuts

1 cup freshly grated mozzarella

½ c freshly grated Parmesan

2 eggs

1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups prepared marinara sauce

Peel eggplant and slice thinly lengthwise. You should have about 6 slices per eggplant.  Brush slices lightly with olive oil and lay in a single layer on two baking sheets.  Broil 4 inches from heat source for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and tender.  Repeat with second pan.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:  Combine the ricotta, spinach, pesto, pine nuts, mozzarella, and ¼ cup Parmesan, eggs, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl.  Mix well.  Divide the filling evenly among eggplants slices, spreading to cover the entire slice; roll up.

Spread ½ cup marinara in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Arrange rolls, seam side down, in the sauce. Pour remaining sauce over and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and top is lightly browned.

il mio padre il cuoco unico

placing the filling

ready for the oven

When All Else Fails

Make bread.  It's a soothing comfort to do something so prescribed and simple, that brings such joy.  Robin sent me a great recipe for no-knead bread and it is simply some of the most delicious bread my family has ever eaten.  This time I'm trying it with a third of the flour being whole wheat, and a tablespoon of flax seed meal.  When I roll it in a towel in 24 hours, I'll have that towel coated with poppy and sesame seeds.  Film at eleven.

I'm also making chicken stock from the carcass of our last dinner.  I'll use this as a base for a cream of broccoli soup, which I am craving.  Guess I need some vitamin A, B9, C and K.

In last couple of days I have listened to friends who are going through really tough, awful, crappy situations in their lives.  Everything seems to be going downhill fast.  Circumstances are out of control, and beyond our ability to do anything about it except react.   So I head to the kitchen and create goodness.  It's all I can do right now.  It will have to be enough.

Impurity, Sin, and Damnation

I have been to hell, and it is called Joe's Crab Shack, in Old Town Sacramento.  Having agreed to meet some friends for a late lunch, I tooled on over to the river-front eatery only to encounter Old Town Gridlock.  Cars, horses, buggies, pedestrians -- all taking their sweet time getting anywhere.  Parking garage: full.  Street parking: non-existent.  I'll spare you the details because I can't bear to relive them in my mind, but I finally found parking and got to the restaurant.

This restaurant had an uncanny resemblance to Dante's Inferno.  Jam packed with human-kind (and that's being generous) and ear-splitting loud music, I should have listened to my instincts and high-tailed it out of there.  But NO.... I was sucked into its vortex by my wish to honor my friends' invitation to lunch.

The food was bad, the wait staff was obnoxious.  I couldn't imagine why my friends picked this place, but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.  I munched as much as I could bear, as my friends tore through their crab and lobster pots.  I should've just ordered clam chowder.  Perhaps then I would have been content -- maybe.  I couldn't hear 75% of what my friends were saying because the whole damn place was like being inside a jet engine on full blast.  (Sounds delightful, yes?)

Lunch was followed by a stroll through tourist-land and the most jaw-dropping curio shops imaginable.  The deep-fried calamari and crab-cheese-jalapeno poppers were making their merry way through my guts and I found myself chanting the mantra "why, oh why?"again and again.  As soon as I could politely extricate myself, I did.  Home for a lie-down and much needed recovery after 3 hours in crazy town.

Needless to say, not my idea of a delightful Sunday lunch with friends.  My friend Lori says I should've asked her - she could've told me.  I should've.  Urban Spoon rates the top 100 restaurants in Sacramento.  Try as I might, I cannot find the list of Worst 100 Restaurants in Sacramento.  And I'm not about to start the research to begin that list, either.  No, the memory of this day will haunt me long enough.

All Things Domestic

We bought a 6.1 cubic feet upright freezer on Sunday.  For storage of beef and pork bought on the hoof.  There is a nifty website that helps you calculate how much freezer space you will need for your meat, here.  We are on a mission to buy local, organically fed meat.  We just need to find someone to split a quarter cow with us, but not many of our family and friends 1.) owns a separate freezer 2.) eat a lot of beef and pork.  Personally, I am conflicted about eating meat at all.  But I do.

One food product I am not conflicted about is homemade bread.  Robin posted a recipe for no-knead bread, here, and I made a batch which turned out perfectly golden brown and delicious!  I followed the recipe exactly, but Robin and Roger have made it switching out some of the ingredients.  I dusted it with cornmeal before the second rise.  I think it would be great rolled in mixed seeds at that stage.

My daughter and grandson visited last week.  So much fun to have them here in the new place -- enough room for everyone to spread out, and she and the little man slept in my rooms downstairs so he could fuss and cry and not wake up anyone (except mom of course).  He has changed so much in the month since I've seen him (7 months old now): many teeth, body skills, attention span, hair (still pretty non-existent but definitely coming in).  He's such a little love - a good disposition and healthy as all get out.  He can really put away the food!

It was especially sweet to watch him on the bed next to my mother, his great grandmother.  She doesn't have the strength to hold him, but he sat leaned up against her hip and played with the laundry I was folding.  Then he went over sideways and rolled up into her armpit.  He stayed there awhile, kicking his feet and playing with the plastic measuring cups we gave him.  Best toys in the world.  Very chewy and delicious apparently.

These past few days have been happy ones.  I was telling my 'girlfriend' what an adjustment retirement has been.  I can't believe it's almost 3 years!  Can I possibly have that right?  Yep.  Sometimes I become pretty anxious about being untethered from the workaday world.  It felt good to share this with her.  She was sympathetic and loving, and reminded me that I am doing good work here at home with my parents.  Robin and Roger also help talk me down when I get in a dither around this subject.  They have got the retirement thing down, let me tell you.  They have productive and interesting lives, and are my retirement role-models.  We should all be so lucky.

It's times like these that I am exceedingly grateful that I left the university when I did.  On my recent visit there to have coffee with former colleagues, they told me that the last 2 or 3 years have been the most brutal they've experienced in 20 + years.  I take in a deep breath and thank my good fortune.  For now, domesticity suits me just fine.

Comfort Food

Dad is at a baseball game tonight -- a pre-season game between the Sacramento River Cats and their 'parent' organization, the Oakland As.  It's amazing that the game proceeded, as we've had 50 mile an hour winds and freezing rain for most of the day.  2 hours before game time, the almighty LORD GOD sent in the sun much to the delight of game fans.

So, I figured I'd cook some real comfort food for mom and myself, and this Alton Brown mac and cheese recipe delivered.  OMG -- so good.  The secret is in the sauce -- a lovely white sauce made of butter, flour, dried mustard powder, paprika, minced onion and milk.  Panko bread crumbs on the top turn out lightly browned and crunchy after just 30 minutes in the oven.

I don't know why people even bother with boxed mixes for mac and cheese.  The real thing is so out of this world good, and it's not difficult (nor time consuming) to make.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think -- I gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4 on our family rating scale.  Mom loved it, too.  Alton recommends frying the leftovers, and you know I'll give that a go.

My Weekend in Napa

These two little cuties are just 4 days old.  They live at the winery Tres Sabores just outside St. Helena, CA.  The winery owners raise sheep both for their wool and for weed/grass control.  The little black one allow herself to be held for quite awhile -- I was in heaven.  Lots of sheep hanging out, and I was surprised at the individuality of their voices.  They had quite distinctive bleats which said (to me) much about their personalities.

The wine produced here is from their own small vineyards -- notably Chardonnays and Zinfandels. Both were uncharacteristically light, fruity (without being sweet) and clean tasting.  I think they call that a "clean finish."

Dinner was fantastic on Saturday night, at Alex.  I had a delicious dish, Fettucine al Sugo Bianco di Coniglio, egg fettucine with white wine braised rabbit sug.  One of my friends had Guance di Maiale Rosolate,  glazed pork cheeks over soft polenta -- it was fantastic!  Very much like short ribs.  For starters we all had a creamed broccoli soup, which, with a little help of fresh ground salt, was lip-smacking good.

Dinner ended with quite an entertaining sight:  a group of about 8 older folks - well into their 80s, sauntered in.  They were well dressed, as in the women wore furs and dripped with jewlery, and the men had double breasted navy blue blazers with gold buttons.  They bore tote bags, and emptied them onto their table:  battery operated candles (dozens), small vases of flowers and one large floral arrangement which they placed at the end of their table, between us and them.  A nice shield.  The women looked as if they had all had plastic surgery.  They really took over the joint, and many patrons were staring openly.  The kicker was, the women all had jumped into vats of perfume.  It was quite overwhelming, and one of my dinner companions had to excuse himself because the chemicals were giving him an honest-to-god asthma attack.  I looked around the room wondering if we were on Candid Camera or something.  Outside, we spoke with an employee who said this was a regular group, very nice people, and great customers.  Indeed.  I'll bet they dropped a lot of green.  Very old school, old money.

A surreal ending to the evening, for sure.

Fabulous Winter Food!

We have a rating system at Cocina de Crowley. I made a bean chili with the Gourmet Bean Blend from Costco and we voted it 3 & 3/8 stars out of 4. Dad couldn't give a bean dish 4 stars, so we got as close as he could tolerate.

We all loved it, really. No meat, just these beans, chopped onion and red pepper, stock, tomatoes and tom sauce, chili powder and cumin, salt and pepper, and a dash of red chili flakes. (There is a recipe on the jar.) I topped it with grated cheddar and sliced green onions. So good. I'll make again, which is a good thing, because a big pot of this only used up 2 cups of these beans! Roughly 1/5 of the container. Yikes. Gotta love Costco.

Who says you can't eat well on the cheap?  We paired this with a robust red wine and some Thyme Biscuits that dad made.

Awkward Moments in Dining

I've signed up for a 30 day web based coaching class that begins in January, and I'm perusing web sites connected to that one.  My discovery this morning was a blog on money and frugality (which I'm all about - frugality, that is), here.  The article tackles that oh-so-awkward situation in restaurant dining where the overwhelming sentiment at the table is to split the check equally.

Now that I am on a greatly reduced and fixed income, I have to parse my expenditures carefully.  I rarely eat out, and when I do, I am back to the stage first adopted in my twenties to choose from the lower-priced menu items.  It's a must if I want the pleasure of dining out.  And I've discovered that I am usually pleased with my menu selection, and no, I don't need the $10 glass of wine.  Unless you're paying, of course - heh.

My first very awkward moment in dining was 30 years ago, out with friends to celebrate someones birthday.  My then-husband and I were among a group of just six.  A nice restaurant featuring Creole cooking.  Our hosts, a couple familiar with the restaurant, took charge of ordering for the table.  The table.  Yes, you read that right.  Champagne, abundant appetizers, a selection of dishes that were varied so we could all 'taste.'  Then the after dinner drinks and dessert.  I forget what the bill was, but it was to be split so the birthday boy's dinner was his present.  My husband handled the transaction and I notice he was becoming pale and ill-tempered.  As we strolled to our car I found out why.  The bill was astronomical.  For us, anyway.  We were eating with high-rollers, people who dropped hundreds of dollars at a meal without a care.  That was the last time we ate with those folks.  It ruined the whole affair; for chrissakes I remember it thirty years later.

In the intervening 30 years, as my income rose, I treated myself and friends to high-priced meals out.  I became insensitive to the cost -- it was a gastronomical adventure to be indulged in and enjoyed.  So I understand that side of the story as well.  I do think I kept in mind that some of my dinner companions were making far less money than I, and I hope (and like to think) I adjusted dining choices appropriately.

Here I am decades later: retired and separated from my wife, with a new self-induced income restricted life.  Recently, once again, I experienced extreme sticker shock when I treated a couple of friends to a meal out.  These are good friends, and generous in many ways, and I wanted to reciprocate. 

We were at a nice restaurant.  I was there to enjoy and to treat my friends, but my pesky nervous anxiety began as one cocktail turned into two which needed to be accompanied by nibbles.  A lovely meal followed, really, but it was lavish and beyond my means.  Urp.  Pass the antacids, please.  I have got to come up with a strategy for this kind of thing.  My guests were enjoying themselves, and I did not want to screw that up with the realities of my economic limitations.  But.  Won't do that again without some parameters.  I think just being straightforward is the key here.  Something like, "I'd love to take you to dinner.  My treat for a change.  Let's choose a restaurant in my price range -- if you can handle it!  Or we could have cocktails and d'oeuvres out, and dinner at home.  Whaddya say?"

So, uh, awkward, when all you want to do is sup on a fine meal with friends.  Sheesh.