Food for Comfort and Comfort for Food; Part I

As the Laughing Matriarch, I laugh through about 98% of my life, but recently cancer made an uninvited and unexpected visited to my immediate family. Even a smile is hard to come by these days.

After a few weeks of tears and anger and confusion, I felt the need to try and wash away some of the sadness by going back into the kitchen full-force.

 

This isn't to say that the next few weeks/months won't be filled with tears, but I will do my damnedest to at least smile in the face of pain and confusion- and fucking cancer. 

 Once an optimist...

Of course, I still don’t have my own kitchen (next week I will!) but this lovely temporary one provided by my favorite female cousin will do just fine.

With the air conditioner cranked and an iced espresso with Bailey’s at my side, I will start this important/positive week off by cooking up the best potato salad recipe I’ve ever tasted- courtesy of the Pioneer Woman. (I will mention my slight adjustments.)

This is the real deal.

Screw the Costco Bucket O' Crap and don’t you dare bring potato salad from Vons to a gathering.

Mon dueu! (I still love France.)

Ask your hostess if you can bring something else if you can’t boil potatoes and eggs. I mean, really? You can't boil potatoes and eggs?

Anyway, here we go.

" Perfect Potato Salad for 20 or So." For the full-on recipe go to: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/fourth-of-july-week-perfect-potato-salad/

(I tripled this recipe for our Labor Day family gathering.)

 

Simple ingredients.

There is a reason it's called 'potato salad.'

Smash & mash. (But don't use the ricer- yuck!)

 

 

Sweet baby dills & green onions. Your greens.

 

If you don't have one of these things go buy one now. RUN! (Thank you, Cissy.)

Perfect potato salad for 20. (I fought the urge to add bacon- but you might not be as strong.)

 

Next up: Strawberry cheesecake.

Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.- Hippocrates



Without Kitchen

It's been so long since I posted. But I never stopped cooking.

Since we left the snowy shores of Chelan, WA, (and my favorite kitchen of all time) last February, we have been house-hopping.

Which means cooking in kitchens that are not mine. Where is the spatula? Where is an egg pan? Mixing bowl? Espresso maker? Really?

It's been a challenge and an adventure.

I've concocted oysters Rockefeller with a group of best friends on cozy Orcas Island...

 and  pork chops at  BFF Valerie's cabin-by-the-sea nestled among the inviting bluffs in  Del Mar, CA., with the sound of the ocean and laughter drowning out the sizzle of the meat.

I have whipped up my homemade mac and cheese with onions and goat cheese in cousin Cissy's magnificent kitchen in  East San Diego to her delight and  cooked BBQ ribs at pal Ronna's beautiful home overlooking Seattle for the hardworking Husband.

What a terrible life I lead.

I am a woman without a kitchen...but I am a woman with friends. Which do you think is more important?

"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Blanche DuBois:

Oysters Rockefeller:

1. Rock salt
2. 2 1/2 dozen oysters in their shells, freshly shucked and drained, the deeper bottom shell rinsed and reserved for baking. ( I used fresh Judd Cover oysters...)
3. 1 recipe Rockefeller Sauce Base

1.   Preheat the oven to 400°. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of rock salt on a large baking sheet and across the bottoms of 6 large plates.
2. Arrange the reserved oyster shells on the baking sheet. Put 1 oyster in each shell and top with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sauce, spreading the sauce evenly out to the edge of the shell to completely cover the oyster. (Alternatively, transfer the sauce to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe the sauce over the oysters.)
3. Bake until the sauce is lightly browned and the oysters begin to curl around the edges, about 20 minutes.
4. Using tongs or a spatula, carefully transfer the hot shells to the salt-covered plates and serve immediately.

1. Rock salt
2. 2 1/2 dozen oysters in their shells, freshly shucked and drained, the deeper bottom shell rinsed and reserved for baking. Buy an oyster shucking knife and wear gloves! (Don't doubt me on this!)

 6 ounces spinach, stems removed and rinsed

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

2 3/4 cups finely chopped yellow onions

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons Herbsaint or other anise-flavored liqueur, such as Pernod or Pastis

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup cracker meal or cracker crumbs

BACON- chopped 

1. 1 recipe Rockefeller Sauce Base:
   1. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the spinach and cook until very tender and the water is green, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the spinach in a colander set over a large bowl and reserve 2 3/4 cups of the cooking liquid. Let the spinach sit until cool enough to handle, then finely chop, and set aside.
   2. Melt the butter in a medium pot over moderately high heat. When the butter is foamy, add the onions, celery and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved spinach water, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped spinach, liqueur, salt and pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces slightly, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cracker meal and stir well to combine. Cool completely before using. Top with bacon. (Carolee's idea- YUM!)
   Make Ahead The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of rock salt on a large baking sheet and across the bottoms of 6 large plates.
2. Arrange the reserved oyster shells on the baking sheet. Put 1 oyster in each shell and top with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sauce, spreading the sauce evenly out to the edge of the shell to completely cover the oyster. (Alternatively, transfer the sauce to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe the sauce over the oysters.)
3. Bake until the sauce is lightly browned and the oysters begin to curl around the edges, about 20 minutes.
4. Using tongs or a spatula, carefully transfer the hot shells to the salt-covered plates and serve immediately.

I Should be a Jewish Mother...

I make a brisket you would be lucky to taste. I smother my children with love and brag about them to strangers on the street. And I love, love, love latkes. I seem to have some sort of natural talent for concocting crispy, subtly-sweet potato pancakes. Could be the non-Jewish bacon fat I use instead of schmaltz. I mean, who has schmalzt when you need it?

Since it's the first night of Hanukkah and I hate being left out of celebrations, I cooked up some of my infamous latkes with home- made applesauce, and sour cream and chives to serve alongside a pork roast. I said I should be a Jewish mother...

                                      Lovely Little Latkes

Eggs, potatoes, bread crumbs, onions and some other stuff.

 




 

Bacon fat..yes please.

Fry it up in the pan.

                                      Latkes and pork...after the bacon fat all bets are off.



Anytime a person goes into a delicatessen and orders a pastrami on white bread, somewhere a Jew dies. Milton Berle

Apple Crisp

Three years ago I moved to the 'Apple Capitol  of the World."

Who knew?

Unfortunately the place is on fire.

Fortunately many of the apples have been picked and the folks out there picking the apples are tough and have a fantastic work ethic..being from Mexico and all.

ANYWAY, I recently found this recipe because I have about 100 pounds of apples on my own tree and in the past I have make applesauce, apple butter, apple crisp, apple Brown Betty, apple pancakes, apple juice, apple pop tarts (recipe a few posts back) apple bread...well, you get the drift.

So I needed a new recipe and lucky for me I found this fantastic cupcake site where I found this yummy, yummy apple cupcake recipe: http://bakeitinacake.com/recipes/applebuttercupcakes


I make my own Apple Butter from this recipe: http://www.pickyourown.org/applebutter.htm

Another way to make these cupcakes is to say the hell with it and buy a box of white cake mix or I am thinking a spice cake box recipe, make the frosting and toss in homemade or...if you must, store bought apple butter and toss it in the mix.

As for me, I had to leave Apple Country for a week because the smoke was driving me crazy and I couldn't go outside and pick my apples. I'm here on an island with my mom, so I won't be cooking for a bit.

Which is nice.

"I tell you, all politics is apple sauce." -- Will Rogers

 

Drunken French Toast

The night before Bastille Day I has an epiphany. (That's a French word.)

 I shall make a breakfast pudding!

I've made this French Toast/Bread Pudding/Breakfast Casserole before, but last night I had polished off a few ( 3?) Cosmo's on a booze cruise on the lake in our boat. When I arrived home, I immediately set to work and started tossing the breakfast  together for the next morning's party.

I followed my recipe which I found in Diane Mott Davidson’s book,  “Crunch Time.” And then...I decided to add some cherries that I had  picked myself and soaked in brandy last week.

Then I saw the cooked bacon, sliced it up and added it as well. I think I might have poured one last little bitty Cosmo and then toddled off to bed.

This morning I wondered what the heck I had created, shrugged, (it's Bastille Day- I can shrug like the French.) and popped everything in the oven.

BREAKFAST BREAD PUDDING WITH RUM SAUCE

 1 tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ pounds bread, torn up into bite-sized pieces

4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

4 large eggs at room temp

4 cups of half and half

2 tbs of vanilla (preferably Mexican, or you can use

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste)

Mix the cinnamon into the sugar until well combined; set aside.  Butter a 9 x 13” glass baking pan and place the torn-up bread into it.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is creamy.  Mix in the cinnamon sugar and beat until very creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined.  Mix in the half and half and the vanilla, and beat well.  (The mixture will be thin and will not be completely combined; this is normal.)  Stop the beater and use a spatula to mix as well as possible.

 Pour the butter mixture over the torn-up bread.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

 In the morning, remove the pan from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap.

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the pudding for 30 minutes, then remove from the over and stir with a wooden spoon.  Place the pudding back in the over and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until it is puffed and golden.  While the pudding is baking, prepare the rum sauce.

 The above makes 8 servings

  RUM SAUCE

 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup dark rum  ( I've also used Amaretto- yum!)

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 large egg

 In a medium sized sauté pan, melt the butter.  Add the sugar, rum and nutmeg, and stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the sugar dissolved and the mixture is well blended.

 Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, still in the pan.

In a small bowl, beat the egg until it is very frothy.  Beat the egg into the butter mixture until well combined.  Place the sauté pan back on the stove and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat, until the mixture thickens.

 Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the pudding. You will have extra, so drink it, I mean, serve it on the side.

The pudding was a hit. I however, could not eat it due to a slight hangover. C'est la vie!

“Here's to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned    

Billy Burgers for the Dad

Old Photo of the Kids- but it's a good one!

The kids live far away- but they called- so it's up to me to give 'The Husband' the royal Father's Day treatment. Steak and eggs for breakfast AND I cleaned the kitchen and did the laundry. (His regular jobs- what can I say?)

He took a hike  over the mountains and through the brush and then went for a Flexi (Flyer) ride (he's crazy,)

 and then he settled in- like millions of other dads- to watch the U.S. Open.

But he had one more request.

"Hey, they have this thing at the Olympic C.C. called Billy Dogs, can we have those tonight?"

"Yeah, sure, " I said as  I rubbed his feet and poured him a boubon while wearing a bikini.

My kids so owe me.

But actually, all I had to do was make the burger look like a hot dog, toss it on the grill and I was done. (Don't tell him how easy it was.)

 'The Husband' was semi-happy. He bit into his burger-dog and watched his man Furyk implode and hottie Web Simpson win. 

Oh well.

Thank Gawd tomorrow is Monday and we go back to normal.

Honey, I like my eggs poached.

Nanny Couldn't Make Jello!

Seriously- she was my favorite person in the world, but Lois could not cook. Her Jello was lumpy and her mash potatoes were runny.

But she knew a good contest when she saw one. She entered recipe contests and cooking contests and all kinds of sweepstakes. I think she won a TV (black and white) and maybe a few trips, but other than that, she spent a lot on postage.

Here is a contest that she entered in 1949. I found this in her scrapbook.

She couldn't cook, but she could dish up the love!

Here is the "Just Name That Dish" Recipe:

"Heat 3 tbsp shortening and add 1/2 cup celery, 2 tbs green pepper and onion, all finely chopped and 1 pound ground beef.

Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine 2 tbsp flour, dash of salt and pepper and stir into mix.

Gradually stir in 1/3 cup of water and cook until thickened.

Mix a recipe for baking powder biscuits using 2 cups flour. Roll out onto floured surface- 10 x 12' and spread w/meat mixture.

Roll as for jelly roll. Seal edges and bake on a baking sheet  at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve immediately with Brussels Sprouts, spices crab apples and a medium white sauce to which chopped parsley has been added."

Yield 6-8 servings.

Hmm..'Biscuit 'n Meat Roll?