Fake Trophies

June 3, 2013June 3, 201343 Comments

Whew! What a week. We made it through the end of the school year insanity. Miss A has successfully finished preschool and next year will be a full-time kindergartener (I get teary just thinking about it.). And Mr. N is off to 4th grade; although rather reluctantly as he will very much miss his teacher from this year. I have a feeling she will be one of those that he will remember his whole life.

Then this weekend we had yet another performance. This time it was Miss A’s turn.

She completed another year of gymnastics (she’s been in for a few years now) and this year she got to perform in the program’s version of the “Olympics.”

She was so excited for her big day. Nana and Papa came, as did Grammie and Boom Boom (my dad as he’s referred to by the kids) and my aunt and cousin (who Miss A adores) came to see her big day. She was a regular ham for the audience as she waited her turn (apparently a flare for the dramatic runs in the family)…

And then it was utter focus and determination.

She even made it up to the ceiling on her rope climb which ceases to amaze me.

It was such a fun afternoon and Miss A was so happy. Although she was quite concerned that her trophy was “fake.” I think she was expecting a real gold medal. The plastic variety was rather a disappointment. Ha!

And there’s no rest for the weary. This week we have summer activities starting and then we’re preparing for a bit of fun. Why is it that fun always requires so much preparation? Ah well, that’s why we have tasty desserts to get us through and make up for “fake” trophies. So this week we bring you a few French dessert treats – Sables (butter cookies) and Mousse au Citron (lemon mousse). We’ll leave the French chocolate delicacies to the masters – and those that like chocolate. 😉

We borrowed our recipes from Joy of Baking and Saveur and didn’t really deviate. The only real difference was in the shape of our sables. From what we read, and if you are an authority on the matter feel free to tell us otherwise, traditional sables have a fluted edge and are circular. Ours, however, are not fluted, nor are they circular.

Both recipes are very easy to follow. The biggest thing to remember is to have enough time set aside to chill your lemon curd. We made our cookies while the curd was in the fridge.

Ah yes, and the cookie dough must have time to chill as well. Really that is the only time consuming aspect of these two desserts.

How do you like our shapes? You may recall the dragon fly from our adventure with Mongolian cookies.

We served ours together and the butter cookies went nicely with the tangy lemon mousse. They can also easily be served separately. The kids enjoyed eating the cookies throughout the week. And look who tried to sneak into the photo shoot! Another ham for the camera? Or just after some of that creamy decadence!

As for how they ranked? Well, the sables were right on the mark. They are exactly as you imagine butter cookies. The kids enjoyed them more than Mike and I though. We prefer a chewier and softer cookie. Mr. N and Miss A ranked them 3 spoons and 9 spoons, respectively. Mike gave them a 3 spoon vote because he thought they were perfectly executed. I gave them 2-1/2 because while good, they just aren’t my kind of cookie.

The mousse, which shouldn’t be a surprise given our obsession with lemon bars, went over much better across the board. The mousse is wonderfully tart and full of fresh lemon flavor. It is, however, a heart attack in a cup, so we didn’t eat very much. Just enough to know we loved it! Mike ranked it at 3-1/2 spoons, Mr. N and I gave it the full 4 spoon vote and Miss A, returning to our normal scale gave it 3 spoons. She liked the cookies better – and at least these weren’t fake!

Now don’t worry, these desserts don’t end our French cuisine adventure. We have a few more recipes in store, but we may bounce around a bit first. Until then, should you want the recipes here you are: Mousse au Citron and Sables. We’ll be back next week with a simple, but delicious treat. Have a great week everyone!

Thyme for Leeks

May 27, 201357 Comments

Happy Memorial Day to our U.S. friends. Isn’t it glorious not to have to work today! Mike, the kids and I are certainly enjoying it – even despite our dismal weather. In fact, Mike has had the smoker going since the wee hours. If that smokey aroma can’t lift your spirits I don’t know what will!

So while Mike tends to the smoker, it’s back to French recipes. Today we’re going to share with you the recipe for roasted leeks which we prepared to go with our coq au vin. Prior to making this recipe we had only used leeks in preparing soups and risottos. We had never made a dish that featured the veggie front and center, and we were eager to taste the results (Well, at least Mike and I were eager – they are veggies after all.).

First we sliced the leeks lengthwise, rinsed them down and gave them a bath. They are dirty little buggers, so don’t skip this step.

After they were good and clean, we placed them cut-side down in two small baking dishes, then tucked some fresh thyme sprigs throughout the dish.

Next we whisked together some olive oil, Sauvignon Blanc and water with a touch of Fleur de Sel (sea salt). We were fortunate to have some authentic French sea salt from Anneli who lives in France and cooks some amazing French dishes over at Delicieux. The salt was our surprise gift in last year’s Secret Santa hosted by Charles at Five Euro Food (who also lives in France and has some great French recipes on his blog).

After whisking the wine and oil we poured it over the leeks and tossed on some minced garlic for good measure.

We then covered the leeks with foil and roasted them in the oven for 45 minutes at 375F. In the meantime, Mike and Miss A sliced some French baguette for us which we brushed with olive oil and toasted in the oven for about 10 minutes (with the leeks).

After the leeks finished roasting (and were tender to pierce with a fork), we tossed them in the broiler to brown for 2 to 3 minutes, watching them closely. Once done, we removed them from the oven and dusted them with Parmesan.

To serve the roasted leeks we placed them on the slices of toasted baguette and drizzled a delightful dressing over the top. The dressing was a simple mixture of olive oil, Champagne vinegar, garlic, mustard, honey, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

As many of you know, I’m rather picky when it comes to vegetables. So when I say that I really enjoyed these, that’s saying something for a veggie dish. I gave them a solid 3 spoons. Mike liked them too, but being a less picky veggie eater than myself, he said he would have preferred asparagus and only gave them two spoons.

The leeks were sweet and tender, and they were absolutely delightful on the toast with the dressing. The toast brought some texture and the dressing, combined with the seasonings from the leeks made for that salty sweet combo. My feelings aside, they still tasted like vegetables, so they were not a hit with the kids. Miss A ranked them at 1 spoon and Mr. N at 0 spoons. They did eat the toasts up though.

As we mentioned, we served our leeks with our coq au vin for a deliciously French dinner.

Since we often feature these dishes and meals in an appetizing little set-up, today I thought you might enjoy a more authentic view this time. Our actual table is a bit less fancy than the photos (but no less delicious – most of the time).

And speaking of views, we’re going to join in Miss C’s backyard photo challenge. It has been so much fun to see the different backyard views from around the world. So here’s our little suburban backyard:

As much as I detest the suburbs, I do love our backyard space (and our neighbors!). This little area under our magnolia tree becomes our living room in the summer. On weekdays I often bring my work outside; and on the weekends, we play outside, read outside, get together with the neighbors for impromptu BBQ’s, and definitely eat outside. It’s by far the best part of our house.

Incidentally, Miss A and I also had the opportunity to visit Miss C’s backyard, and what a backyard it is! We had such a wonderful day and Miss A (and I) made some memories that will last a lifetime. We’ll share more on our visit to Farmy in a few weeks. Until then, we’re going to spend a few more weeks in France (well at least cooking from France) since we learned it’s such an integral part of our history. Besides, who wouldn’t want to stay in France! Yum! Cheers and enjoy the week. (Miss A certainly enjoyed playing with Ton Ton!)

Print this recipe: Roasted Leeks

Vive Le France!

May 20, 2013May 20, 201339 Comments

Hi again! We’re back with our new international cooking destination courtesy of Miss A. Usually when it’s her turn we pull the big Atlas book out and she flips around to find a page she likes – more often than not it involves the color pink. This time the big book was not consulted. She was sure of her pick – France. I asked her if that was really what she wanted, and didn’t she want to look at the big book…nope, France.

Talk about an intimidating choice. I mean French food. It’s among the most revered cuisines around the world, there are many, many phenomenal French cooks, but perhaps most intimidating of all, my family roots can be traced back to the Rhine River area of France and I have not once made a French dish.

I didn’t really know about my French history until Mr. N was required to research our heritage for school. We started by consulting the extensive family tree that was fortunate to be in my Grandpa’s possession. If you trace the roots on our branch through many generations we end up at Daniel and Mary Fierre in 1685. After doing a little digging we discovered the following:

Maria Warenbauer [Marie de la Warenbau, Marie de la Warrembere, Mary Warrenbur] was born about 1650 possibly in France. She died 1716 in Pequea Valley, Lancaster (then Chester) County, Penn. Maria married Daniel Feree, a Descendent of Robert Ferree who in 1265 founded noble family at Forchamps known variously as LeFerre, Ferree, Ferrie, Fuchre, Fierre, Firre and Ferie. Daniel was a wealthy silk manufacturer who located at Landau, France, along Rhine River, where some and perhaps all of his six children were born. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by French King Louis XIV, the family fled to Strasbourg, Alsace. Later, they moved to Steinwiel, Bittingheim. Daniel was born c.1650 in France and died early 1708 in Bittingheim. After the death of her husband, Maria and Matthias Schliermacher led a group of 54 Huguenot and German Calvinists from the Palatinate, where they were in danger from the soldiers of French King Louis XIV, to Holland and then London. Reaching London in the summer of 1708, she went to see William Penn about buying land in Pennsylvania. Penn arranged for her to have a private audience with Queen Anne, who then recommended the members of the group be given naturalization status. Mme. Ferree’s group bought 4,000 acres from Penn in the Pequea Valley in Lancaster County. Ferree family joined party of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and set sail 10-15-1708 on “The Globe,” arriving in New York 12-31-1708. They then went up Hudson River valley to Esopus (Kingston) and nearby New Paltz, site of a Huguenot settlement where some of the group had relatives, including Maria’s son-in-law, Isaac Lefevre, two of whose uncles, Simon and Andries Lefevre, had been among the founders of New Paltz, N.Y. They stayed there until the spring of 1712 while their Pennsylvania land was being surveyed. That done, they moved to what became Lancaster County.

We even discovered a reunion website and a cemetery. At this point I’m wondering why I’ve never cooked any French food! Better late than never I guess, so we bring you Coq au Vin (Chicken in Wine).

For this particular recipe, we adapted several versions of the dish we found online, all of which were based on Julia Child’s version. We started by crisping a bit of bacon which was then removed and set aside. Next we tossed in the chicken and pearl onions to brown on both sides. We also poured in a touch of Cognac.

Once the chicken was browned, it was time to add the Burgundy, chicken stock, garlic and herbs.

Now if we had read Charles’ post before cooking our coq au vin, we would have tied our thyme, rosemary and bay leaves into a little bouquet (or even made a sachet) to make it easier to discard them after cooking. C’est la vie.

After the chicken cooks in the wine for a bit it is removed, along with the pearl onions and set aside. (This is also the point the herbs are discarded.) Then the mushrooms and bacon are added to the pot and brought to a high heat. After stirring in a bit of flour, the sauce is left to reduce by 3/4’s.

Lastly a bit of butter is melted in the sauce and the chicken and onions are once again incorporated.

The final dish was then served to our hungry crowd (the aromas were killing us!).

Well, I have one word for you – délicieux. The chicken was tender, full of flavor and a total crowd pleaser. Even Mike, who has often said, “It’s good, but it’s just chicken,” gave this recipe the coveted 4 spoons! (So did I.)

Mr. N and Miss A were both happy with the taste of the chicken and each ate two pieces. The mushrooms were a bit too much for them to get around though. While they have been eating mushrooms hidden in ravioli or other creative dishes, it’s hard to hide the mushrooms in coq au vin. Remarkably they both still came in with a 3 spoon vote. I’d say that’s some good chicken!

I wonder if our French ancestors would be proud. We were for our first attempt at la cuisine. In fact I’m certain it won’t be our last French meal in this house! However, before we move on we’ll share the recipe for the side dish we enjoyed with our chicken (and of course the dessert!).

Until then, if you’d like to try your hand at a delicious French meal print the recipe: Coq au Vin

Red, White and BBQ

May 13, 201344 Comments

Don’t you just love a good rivalry? Growing up we had some intense baseball rivalries in the family. Dad is a Cubs fan. Period. My sister and I, well naturally we grew up as Cub fans. Grandma, on the other hand, is a Cardinals fan. It was understood in our house that the Cards were the arch-enemy. I still remember my dad’s t-shirt, “I root for two teams. The Cubs and whoever plays the Cardinals.” To this day, family visits are still full of all kinds of Cubs/Cards gifts and lots of competitive banter.

Then there was my mom’s side of the family. Die hard White Sox fans. Grandpa got a few Sox fans out of his kids and grandkids, but not in our house (mom often remained silent on the subject). And my Dad doesn’t even regard the Sox as legit. This of course led to several lively discussions throughout the years. Then I married Mike…another die hard Cubs fan. (Lucky for him!) Mike jests with Mr. N and Miss A that you can’t like the Sox because they’re crooks (referring to the 1919 “Black Sox Scandal”). Yes, Cubs fans’ memories go back that far (insert Cubs’ World Series reference here).

And despite one little scare when Mr. N was 3 or 4 and insisting he was a Cardinals fan, we have so far successfully raised two Cub fans. In fact, Miss A’s nightly bedtime song – “Take me out to the ballgame,” complete with Harry Caray’s “Let’s get some runs!”

As serious as we take our baseball team affiliations, let’s face it, the rivalry is just downright fun! That’s why it worked out perfectly that Miss A’s pick for our state-side cooking adventure this week is Alabama. You see Bama has a rivalry of its own as well…and as you probably guessed, this one has to do with food – White BBQ sauce vs. Red BBQ sauce. We had never heard of a white BBQ sauce before, but apparently it’s all the rage in northern Alabama. So for today’s post we’re pitting White vs. Red in this BBQ battle.

Starting with Bama’s take on the red sauce, we selected a recipe that hails from the Chicken and Egg festival in Moulton, Alabama. This sauce uses ketchup, cider, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard and some seasonings. The ingredients are combined and cooked over medium heat. The chicken is then tossed in the sauce to coat.

Finally, the chicken is placed in a baking dish and wrapped completely in foil to bake for 15 minutes at 500F and an hour and 15 minutes at 350F.

The end result is a fall-off-the-bone kind of chicken.

Seriously – this stuff was amazingly tender and juicy. We know we’ll be baking chicken this way again. However, the flavors were a bit disappointing. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I think we were hoping for something with a bit more tang. Mike would prefer tang with a kick, while I would prefer a tang with a sweet and spicy finish.

Overall the ratings weren’t bad: Mike – 2 spoons, Kristy – 2-1/2 spoons, Mr. N – 3-1/2 spoons and Miss A – “2 or 90 spoons.” Mr. N was the biggest fan.

As for the Alabama White BBQ Chicken, we used a recipe from The Neelys on The Food Network. We started by mixing together the sauce – a combination of mayo, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and seasonings. We reserved some in the fridge for dipping and used the rest to baste our chicken.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler. Mix, baste, grill, eat. The finished product was a beautifully grilled and delicious BBQ chicken. I realize this is high praise which can perhaps be attributed to the fact that it was our first outdoor grilled meal since last summer. Still, it was very tasty chicken.

I was a bit nervous about the sauce for two reasons. One, I’m not being a big mayo fan. And two, it was incredibly watery. It had the consistency of a light salad dressing vs. a thick barbecue sauce, but unlike last time, my expectations were surpassed. It was tangy, sour and tasted fabulous on the grilled chicken.

Ultimately the white BBQ won out over the red with our final votes of: Mike – 3 spoons (“Not 4 spoons because it’s still just chicken.”), Kristy – 4 spoons, Mr. N – 4 spoons and Miss A – 3 spoons. I do have to put a disclaimer on Mr. N’s 4 spoons though. You see we made these dishes on two different weekends and the voting was tallied at the time of the meal. However, even though Mr. N gave the white chicken 4 spoons, he did not like the dipping sauce and insists that he’d prefer the red version to the white even though his ratings don’t reflect as much.

Now while Mike, Miss A and I will take the white over the red any day of the week, I am anxious to try that baking method out on my own BBQ sauce sometime because the chicken itself was truly memorable…unlike the White Sox. 😉

Alabama Red Sauce recipe: Alabama Red BBQ Chicken

Side dish courtesy of: Rufus’s Sweet Potato Fries and Oven Baked Fries

Alabama White Sauce recipe: White BBQ Chicken

Side dish courtesy of: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (I shamelessly admit that it’s a guilty pleasure!)

Slow It Down

April 29, 201338 Comments

That’s exactly what we need to do – in a week or so – slow down. Right now we are in the midst of an all out crazy few weeks. Last week was a major event at work – that came off with much success, then we rolled into a great weekend – a girls’ trip for me (more on that another time) and a busy, tiring weekend of chasing the kids for Mike. I have mentioned how much I love this man, right?! And this week, well it’s tech week for Mr. N. In theater-speak that’s when they begin practicing on stage, with lights, sound effects, costumes, etc. They are perfecting all the technical aspects of the show before the big performance this weekend (five performances that is).

So what’s in order when things get crazy? Easy cooking – low and slow. And we just so happened to find a fabulous Thai recipe that fit the bill. Not only that, it happens to be #1 on CNN’s “World’s 50 most delicious foods.”

There are many recipes for massaman curry, the most common including beef, potatoes and onions. It also features coconut milk, massaman curry paste, tamarind concentrate, and for our version we opted to add a little bitter orange.

Another common ingredient – peanuts and Mr. N was in charge of toasting those for us. In fact, this was Mr. N’s first lesson in how to use the oven. He’s very interested in learning to be self-sufficient in the kitchen.

Mike managed the cilantro.

And as for our other sous chef. Well, she despite our schedule (actually likely due to our schedule) still managed to find a way to slow down. Chipper doesn’t often get to see Miss A when she’s motionless – because she’s never motionless – so he decided to see what she’s all about.

In the meantime we prepared the remaining ingredients for the massman – cinnamon, bay leaves, palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind concentrate, massaman curry paste and our bitter orange juice.

As I mentioned there are many, many recipes for Massaman Curry so we blended together a few to make this dish. First we toasted the peanuts. Then we heated a bit of the coconut cream (The creamy stuff that rises to the top of the can of coconut milk – so don’t shake the can!) and tossed in the massaman paste. Next we browned the meat and added the remaining coconut milk and water. Then, everything else went into the pot.

Once the pot reached a simmer, and this is not common to all massaman recipes, we covered it and transferred it to the oven where it baked at 375F for 2 hours. (Enough time to get some things done around the house!) And lastly, once finished, the massaman was garnished with toasted peanuts and served over rice.

Now I will say this – our house smelled amazingly good! How Miss A slept through that I don’t know. Mike and I were pacing through the kitchen salivating. Even Mr. N was hooked by the smell.

So how did it rank among the troops? Well, many of you know, I’m not a big meat and potatoes gal. So take my vote for what you will. I came in at 2-1/2 spoons. While it wasn’t something I’d choose to eat often, it’s not a bad way to eat meat and potatoes. The flavors are incredibly complex – sweet, savory, spicy – and the textures are widely varied too. This dish really has it all.

In fact, Mike was over the moon about our massaman. He gave it the full 4 spoons – and you know he doesn’t hand those out lightly. He said he could eat this all day long, every day. It was right up his alley.

The kids, well, they were a little less enthusiastic. Mr. N felt about how I did – he liked it, but wouldn’t put it on his list of must-haves. And Miss A…simply put, she was not a fan. So 2-1/2 and 1 spoons respectively. This one was really a mixed big for our house, but one we’re glad we made. The process was easy and fun, and it really did smell amazing!

Print this recipe: Massaman Beef Curry

Have a great week everyone! We’ll have our final Thai recipe for you next, and I can tell you this one was a fan favorite. In the meantime, here’s hoping you all have the opportunity to slow down a little – however you can.

Fifteens

April 22, 201359 Comments

Remember this classic scene from Seinfeld?

Well, thanks to Mr. N we now know that this would be illegal in Thailand. Yep. That’s right – there’s no going commando in this part of the world. You see, as promised, Mr. N is going to share little facts about each of the countries we visit through our culinary adventures. First we learned that three common ingredients in Thai food are green onions, cilantro and lime.

And thanks to his new book from Friend Sue, we also learned that leaving the house without underwear is in fact illegal in the Land of Smiles. As you can imagine this made for a nice little chuckle around the dinner table. Not only did it raise the question, how do they know if you aren’t wearing underwear, it also reminded us of little Mr. N.

You see back when he was just three years old and learning to count he would often forget the number 15. He would go from 14 to 16 without fail, no matter how many times we tried again. It also just so happened, that around this time, Mr. N was learning to dress himself each morning. Well, without fail he would forget his underwear. He’d have shorts, t-shirt (usually backwards), and socks. So it became a little inside joke that Mr. N’s underwear were “fifteens.” So every morning we’d remind him, “Mr. N, don’t forget your fifteens!” Not only did this make him chuckle, but he started to remember every article of clothing! It was fortunate for him that this wasn’t illegal in Minnesota.

Needless to say, we had some fun conversations around the dinner table with our first recipe from Thailand. And what did we opt to go with first? The decision was easy – at least as far as Mike was concerned. He’s been waiting for this dish since we began our adventures – a Shrimp Pad Thai. Now with every new cuisine we add all kinds of different ingredients to our kitchen, and while cilantro, lime and green onions aren’t really newcomers, these next few ingredients certainly were. The first up…palm sugar.

We found palm sugar sold in a cone and sliced off what we needed. Next up, fish sauce,

and tamarind concentrate, which is a little bit sticky (think molasses).

We dissolved and mixed everything together with a some garlic and red pepper flakes to create our pad Thai sauce.

In the meantime, we soaked our rice stick noodles according to the package directions in some water.

Next, Miss A took care of cooking our shrimp. Or should I say our rock star (note the outfit change – the third of the day).

We removed the cooked shrimp and set it aside. Then Mr. N swooped in and cooked the onions, garlic and noodles.

Next we tossed in some of the pad Thai sauce along with the shrimp which we then moved to one side of the wok, then cracked and scrambled an egg on the other side.

Finally we tossed in some cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, green onions and mung beans. We tested the noodles and were good to go.

We were really excited with how our first Thai dish turned out. It smelled great and was even pretty to look at. We didn’t even get any groans from the kids – I’m guessing thanks to the shrimp on the plate.

So how did the new cuisine fair? Well, Mike and I both enjoyed the dish. The tamarind flavor comes through with intensity and there are all kinds of texture and flavor sensations happening. It’s definitely a complex dish which rang in at 3 spoons for both Mike and I.

Surprisingly Mr. N, our resident Asian food lover, wasn’t as thrilled with this dish. It was 2-1/2 spoons for him. And Miss A, well, she gave the shrimp 10 spoons and the rest 1 spoon. These ratings kind of baffled us. It wasn’t the flavor because they both enjoyed the shrimp. So perhaps it was a texture issue? Or maybe the sprouts that soured them on the dish as a whole. Still they ate up their dinners and didn’t complain and that’s always a win in my book!

Print this recipe: Shrimp Pad Thai

All-in-all, not bad for our first Thai cooking adventure. Next up, another well-known and renowned Thai dish. Until then, we’ll leave you with this philosophical thought of the day: As to why a three-year old Mr. N always put his shirts on backwards… “It’s so people will know it’s me when I’m walking away.” Out of the mouths of babes…