February 2012
24 posts
Mise en Place: Classic Brownies
Mark and Jean came over for dinner last night. Seeing as we are rather house-bound these days, they were a welcome diversion. I grilled pork chops with bourbon smoked pepper, and served them with shitake ginger noodles, a salad and a Susanna Balbo Malbec. For dessert, we had these brownies with the Burnt Orange Ice Cream I made last weekend. I love chocolate and orange together!
The recipe...
Rep. Bob Morris: Girl Scouts have ‘radical... →
I am HORRIFIED that this man has a platform from which to spew his misogynous bullshit.
Mise en Place: Burnt Orange Ice Cream
Lou is usually the ice cream maker in our house, but this recipe I found at lottieanddoof.com intrigued me. I don’t think I let the orange caramel develop quite a dark enough color, because the caramel flavor was somewhat muted, but this has great orange flavor with interesting bitter notes.
Ingredients:
1½ cups Heavy Cream
1½ cups Whole Milk
2 Tbsp Finely Grated Orange Zest (From...
Mise en Place: Sausage Mushroom Onion Pizza
It’s been a while since I made one of my Friday night pizzas!
CRUST
2+ C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp (1/2 envelope) quick-rise dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
3/4 C very warm water (115-120°)
2 T olive oil
TOPPINGS
8 oz Italian sausage, casings removed, browned until no longer pink, fat drained
1 med onion, sliced thin, sautéed in 1 tsp olive oil
1/2 lb mushrooms,...
Not everything is a good idea....
Look What Arrived Today!!
We’re going to foam SOMETHING tonight!
Valentine's Dinner at Home
What is that? A little white truffle, gifted to us at Christmas, shaved over the mushroom risotto…
Valentine’s dinner, served with a wedge salad (with bleu cheese) and a 2008 Loxton Zinfandel.
It’s nice to have a glass of wine again.
Mise en Place: London Broil
We are not dining out (for a variety of reasons), so tonight I am making one of Lou’s favorites. He had offered to order take-out so I wouldn’t have to cook, but I’d rather have a really nice Valentine’s Day dinner. We will have this with a mushroom risotto and a wedge salad with bleu cheese.
1 1/2 lb Top round steak, cut about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick
1/2 bottle...
The Cream Whipper is on the Way!
My typo was annoying me :-p
profashional:
How else are we going to make half of the desserts in The Family Meal?
mamaresa:
We’re going to foam SOMETHING next weekend!
The Cream Whipper is on the Way!
We’re going to foam SOMETHING next weekend!
Mise en Place: Noodles with Shiitake and Ginger
This was part of out first “Family Meal” a couple of weeks ago. The flavor was good, but it was way too salty. In reading the recipe tonight, I realized that the measurements for 6 that we had used were NOT 3 times the measurements for 2, but 6 times! Still, I am using low sodium soy sauce so that I can bend my fingers when I get up in the morning. I’m also improvising, using...
Thanks to our Darling Daughter...
We have season tickets to Next, and I didn’t have to blow off a scheduled lunch with my 87-year-old mother to do it. Probably the best part of having adult children is enjoying their company over a fabulous meal and a glass (or many) of wine.
…and, no, we’re not paying.
California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is... →
nprfreshair:
California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled.
From last year on Fresh Air: Courting Attention: Covering Calif.’s Marriage Trial
At last, some sanity.
Mise en Place: Pasta Cacio e Pepe
We first had this dish at Taverna Cestia in Rome. It is simple, and very quick when made with fresh pasta.
Salt
1 pound dried spaghetti
8 to 10 peppercorns, ground coarsely
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for sprinkling on top
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it aggressively until it tastes like sea water.
Drop in the pasta and...
Mise en Place: Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip...
Someone was whining for cookies, so I made a batch of these.
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 C shortening
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C molasses
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 C rolled oats
1 C raisins or dried cherries
1 C chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375°. Cream first three ingredients together, add eggs and beat until...
Is it Bad...
…that I’ve lost my tolerance for intolerance?
Dinner Last Night: Osso Bucco at Angelo's in...
The Osso Bucco was delicious; the conversation was dominated by someone I would never choose to have dinner with again.
Recommended Reading
You will understand your mother so much better if you read this.
Dinner Last Night: Pasta with Veal Ragù Bolognese
Lou made dinner last night. We had some leftover veal ragù bolognese, so we had a simple dinner of linguini with veal ragu and a caprese salad. The pasta was not homemade, but it was quick and within his repertoire.
Veal Ragù Bolognese
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/4 cup pancetta or bacon, chopped
1 lb ground...