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Eggs-actly Right and Devilishly Good

2007-04-05T18:53:00.000+02:00

I realize that it's been months since I've posted. I also realize that the last post involved an egg recipe. But, here it is, the season of the egg - how can I not post with ideas for deviled eggs?

Eggs are an important part of both Easter and Passover celebrations. We dye them, we boil them, we roast them, we speak of their symbolism and we eat them. Occasionally, probably not enough for my children's liking, we devil them. A few years ago I followed a Martha Stewart recipe that involved soaking boiled eggs with cracked shells in strong tea. I used an Earl Grey for flavor and color. The result were beautiful "marbled" hard-boiled eggs. A couple of years ago I put a bowl of blood red dyed eggs on our Easter table as a nod to Orthodox traditions. Our household is always up for a new egg treatment.

I am not embarrassed to say that I make a mean deviled egg (by definition wouldn't all deviled eggs be mean? Maybe just evil). I have a deviled egg platter that holds 12 halves and I often make 3-4 different variations. I typically shy away from relish these days because it's too sweet for me (and often has that devil offender high fructose corn syrup in it) but I do love chopped up cornichons. Other yolk mix in options: fresh herbs (thyme and parsely are really nice this time of year; my son loves tarragon and so I'll use some fresh from the garden); capers; green onion or shallot; green olives; sour cream; chives; smoked salmon topped with a little sour cream and caviar; fresh and crunchy celery; cayenne or even a Mexican hot sauce (I am in the west) and some mild diced green chiles make a nice Huevos Diablo; Oeufs Nicoise include sun dried tomato bits, mild black olives, thyme. Always, plenty of salt and pepper. The possibilities are endless!

Try some of these variations the next time you make the tried and true egg salad...

Happy Spring Holidays to you all and happy egging.

Red Roses, er, make that Eggs, and Wine

2006-07-12T21:47:00.000+02:00

If it's Wednesday, it must be egg night! Admittedly, this is a fancier dish than I like to prepare on a hot summer evening, but it is the week of Bastille Day so we must do everything French!

You have to trust me on this one...it sounds odd, but it's quite good.

Any favorite egg dishes you'd like to share?

p.s. I took this picture last year on Bastille Day eve. All of Paris was decked out in bleu, blanc, rouge!

Eggs Poached in Red Wine

Note: I adapted this recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume I. This is very easy (Julia's is a bit more challenging) and even a little elegant. It makes a great weeknight light supper and my children adore it.

1 1/2 cups red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock
4 eggs
4 slices good quality multi-grain bread
Butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, diced
1 tsp. flour
Olive oil
1/2 tsp thyme
Optional: cooked bacon slices and/or sauteed spinach

Melt some butter (around 2 T) in a non-stick skillet and lightly saute bread slices on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Add wine and beef stock and heat until simmering. Gently add eggs, one at a time, and poach until done, about 4 minutes. Carefully remove eggs from skillet with a slotted spoon and place into individual ramekins. Spoon a little bit of the wine/beef stock over each egg. Pour the rest of the wine/beef stock out of the skillet and reserve. Heat some olive oil in the skillet and lightly saute the garlic, shallot, and thyme. Add the flour and stir until light brown. Slowly add the reserved wine/beef stock, stir and simmer until reduced by half.
To serve: place a bread slice on a plate (optional: top next with either a slice of bacon or some sauteed spinach), carefully place an egg on top and cover with some sauce.

Good with a very plain salad of mustard vinaigrette and mixed salad leaves of your choice.

Serves 4

Down to the Business of Summer!

2006-07-10T21:24:00.000+02:00

OK, friends, I cannot believe that it's been MONTHS since I've posted! I had all sorts of grand plans to take you through St. Patrick's Day, Passover, Easter, Memorial Day, etc, celebrations. Alas, we'll have to pick up where we left off and look forward to next spring. Because now, it's summer!

Summer for us means as many evenings and weekends at our pool as possible. We joined a small pool a few years ago and it's become part of our summer routine. One of the most enjoyable aspects of membership is Friday Movie Night! Children swim until the pool closes and then gather in a great sea of sleeping bags in front of a large screen to watch some children's classic movie once it's dark. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents and friends to visit and chat.

One of the fun challenges of movie night for us is the meal...what shall we eat before the movie? Often, the children prefer to order a pizza and call it a night, which is fine. However, our daughter joined us for a sushi dinner last week. I'd bought this darling low, wooden table from Crate and Barrel a few weeks ago and it just seemed very Asian to me. Actually, no matter the cuisine, it's perfect with the beach chairs at the pool. I also got a set of melamine sushi plates, soy dishes and saki boxes. We dined on sushi and sipped on saki. Lovely.

Our last movie night was rained out, but not before I'd put everything together for a cook out! The challenge for Friday evenings and the pool is that we don't eat meat on Fridays. Fish or veggies, but no meat. I've made fish tacos (grilled on a pool BBQ) before and those are good. What I really wanted, however, was some good old Maryland-style steamed shrimp. As the name of the dish implies, I'd never made the shrimp any other way but to steam it...could I convert an old favorite to a new cooking method? Anything is possible!

I thawed 2lbs of frozen shell-on shrimp and put it in a "pocket" of foil...three sides of two sheets of foil crimped together. Next, I put in a bunch of Old Bay seasoning and sealed it up. In a plastic storage container (no glass allowed on pool grounds) I put 1 cup white vinegar and 1 cup water. My plan was to add some of this, probably not all, to the packet, reseal and then place on a hot grill. I prepared some red potatoes in a similar fashion...cut them up, tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper and assorted dried herbs. Sealed the potatoes in foil. Product tip: Reynolds has a new stick resistant foil that I found works really well for such things! Oh, and I had some ears of corn, still in their husks, soaking in water so that they could be placed directly on the grill. So, a little pre-planning meant relatively easy preparation once we were poolside.

However, the skies had different plans for us. Just as we were about to put foil packets and corn on the grill, the rain came down. So, we packed up and headed home...and lit the charcoal grill! I'd gone to this much trouble to test the new cooking method, I wasn't going to let the rain stop me!

It worked! The steamed-in-foil shrimp were delicious! A little extra Old Bay for good measure at the end, and I was very happy. The potoatoes were a hit as well, and the corn was hot and steamy!

So, a little determination and ingenuity gave my family something that it craved...a taste of Old Maryland.

Now, on to Le Tour and Jour de Bastille festivity preparation!

Savory and Sweet -- The versatile, wonderful crepe

2006-03-07T23:56:00.000+01:00

Mardi Gras is typically an evening at home for us with jazz, beads, gumbo and a king cake. But dh was traveling this year and I was feeling like I needed to do something a little more low key. What would still give us the fun and festive without the hassle on a school night?

Our French au pair hosted a crepe party for us the last night she was here and I loved the idea, but had never done anything about it. I figured Mardi Gras was just as good as anytime to celebrate with a crepe (or two, or three).

I hadn't made crepes in a long, long time and so I admit I was a little nervous at the thought of it, but then how hard can it be? Soon enough I had my answer...not hard at all!

I used my Calphalon non-stick omelet pan (a must have for the continental kitchen!!) and creped away. There were only three of us at the party, so the offering was simple but satisfying. We started with an egg crepe (after flipping the crepe over, add the egg immediately and cook only until set, salt and pepper to taste). It was a hit! The children devoured them and each had a second helping. I had a small spinach crepe (mostly spinach and not much crepe) and a salad with vinaigrette and savingnon blanc. For dessert we each picked our own ingredients and we ended up with one nutella crepe, one with molasses and whipped cream, and the last with homemade cherry jam.

What are some other fun fillings or ideas? There are some fabulous recipes out there, but I kind of like the idea of using what you have to create your masterpiece - not unlike the egg dishes I talked about last time. Cheese, meat, vegetables, fruits, condiments...the possibilities are amazing!

The evening was such a hit that I'll definitely have more crepe parties and will consider expanding the guest list to good friends (might have to get another pan!). This is definitely a casual kitchen party...guests hanging out in the kitchen while the crepes are prepared specially for each person one at a time.

My daughter liked the crepes so much that for her sleepover birthday party we served crepes (with fruit and sprinkled with powdered sugar) to her guests. The little girls were thrilled and felt so grown up.

I used a basic recipe that I found in a non-French cookbook, omitting the sugar. The problem that I had was that the batter was too thick and the first crepes were puffy. I wanted thin and light so I simply added more milk. So, adjust recipe to create the crepe consistency you like best.

Basic Crepe

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

3 tbsp. butter, melted

2 1/4 c. milk

Whisk together above ingredients. Let mixture come to room temperature. Heat a crepe or non-stick skillet over fairly high heat. Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in the center of the pan and then ladle in just enough crepe batter so that when you tilt the pan to spread the batter, it covers the whole bottom of the pan. Turn crepe over when edges turn light brown and finish cooking on the other side. Fill and serve!

Alternatively, have guests prepare their own with a selection of pre-cooked and prepared items buffet style.

Tried and True -- Lemony Chicken

2006-02-23T23:16:00.001+01:00

Similar to having a little black dress that looks great on you, is always in your closet and ready to wear (thank you, Coco!), we must also have our ready-to-prepare recipes. They can be familiar recipes from well-loved books or magazines, old family traditions, or simply meals that you've perfected that your family enjoys.

Lemony Chicken is that dish for me. I honestly don't remember why I started cooking this but I do know that my son was a toddler and this was one meal he happily shared at the dinner table with his family. And, not surprisingly, he still adores it and requests it (OK, maybe not as often as corned beef, but that's another post for another day!).

What are your old stand-bys?

Lemony Chicken

Note: Serve with fresh spinach, sauteed in a touch of olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper. A wild and brown rice combination would be a nice side as well. Or if you want to try a fun, easy side starch, try quinoa!

4 boneless chicken breasts, preferably organic
Flour, salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, depending on taste
Fresh Italian parsley
Capers
Lemon wedges

Flatten chicken breasts with a mallet. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and dredge lightly with flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and brown chicken on both sides until almost done. Place chicken in an oven-proof pan and finish in a 350 degree oven, about 15 minutes. Don't over cook.

Heat the skillet, add a teaspoon or so of flour and stir until flour is brown. Add chicken stock, a little at a time, scraping up all the bits in the pan, until all the stock is in the skillet. Simmer on medium high heat until stock is reduced by half and the sauce is a nice consistency. Add lemon juice and stir to mix. Place chicken on a serving platter and immediately cover with the lemon sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and capers (if desired). Serve with lemon slices.
Serves 4

Hearty + Healthy = Happy

2006-02-23T23:16:00.000+01:00

This eggplant was painted beautifully by California artist Laurel Sherrie http://www.laurelsherrie.com. It captures a warmth and earthiness of this amazing vegetable that I'm very fond of right now. When there are good looking eggplants in the store, I find myself picking up one or two just to see what I can do.

My love affair with the eggplant is new. I don't think I'd ever actually had one that was cooked properly growing up and as a result they broke my mouth out in an unpleasant rash! I think I've got it right with several different dishes, so I seemed to have cracked the code.

First, whether it's sliced or diced, I always toss the eggplant with salt and then let drain in a colander for 30-60 minutes. The exception to this routine is when I'm using the smaller, thin Asian eggplants. I just cut them and cook as intended.

One of our house favorite eggplant dishes is eggplant parmesan. I can't say that my recipe is even a recipe and it's certainly not unique! I simply coat sliced eggplant with an egg wash, cover with breadcrumbs and saute lightly in olive oil. I ladle good tomato pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and then layer in the cooked eggplant. Place one thin slice of mozerella on each eggplant slice, cover with sauce (layer this dish depending on how much eggplant you've got) and sprinkle top with grated parmesan. Cook for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with a side pasta tossed with olive oil and maybe some garlic, salad or oven roasted veggies and a chianti.

Just last night I made a ridiculously simple stir fry with eggplant (stir fried first and then set aside), chicken and napa cabbage in a black bean garlic sauce. Served on top of steamed jasmine rice and with (organic and frozen) potstickers as appetizers, this was a tasty but quick weeknight meal.

Then there are times when I surprise myself. I can't tell you why I put these particular items together, but the effect was wonderful. It was an unseasonably cold winter night and this Kelli original had everyone happy and warm.

Even though winter is almost behind us, please share your favorite hearty dishes. We can always look forward to next year's first snow!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragu

1 -2 eggplant(s) depending on size
1 lb. spicy or mild sausage of your choice (just stick with fresh, no additives sausage)
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
1 jar good quality tomato pasta sauce
1/4 - 1/2 bottle red wine (a medium bodied red, like pinot noir or cote du rhone)
Dried thyme

Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Place in a colander, cover generously with salt, and leave to drain, mixing it up a bit every so often, for an hour. Rinse and dry on paper towels.
Place sausage into skillet and cook over medium heat until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces.

Heat olive oil in a large pan, add garlic, shallot and eggplant and saute until eggplant is lightly browned. Add sausage pieces and heat through. Add pasta sauce and red wine (you can add more as you go to get to the consistency you prefer), and thyme and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thick and rich.

Serve over grilled or sauteed (in olive oil) sliced polenta or your favorite pasta (penne would be great).

Serves 4-6

Serve along side steamed artichoke.

Le Regime is More Than Just Food

2006-02-23T22:33:00.000+01:00

Le Regime A phrase my friend at http://www.marketerblog.net/ and I started using to refer to this new way of eating and being. There were rules to be followed (we'll get into those) and great meals to ponder. Yes, but le regime is not about cooking alone. To lose weight, revive that energy store and generally keep it all together, getting your body moving is essential. This is not an exercise blog (if you know me, you know better!), so I won't spend too much time on technique and abundance because I'm no expert, but I think it's important to acknowledge that the typical American family does not get the activity that it needs to stay healthy and fit. When I was at my heaviest, I wasn't doing much of anything! Something had to change and doing a little something here and there was certainly better than doing nothing at all.

Two summers ago I started taking yoga classes. I've since read that yoga is not ideal for those wanting to lose weight because the calorie burn isn't as great as other activities. Whatever. I don't mean that too flippantly, but as someone who grew up dancing (ballet, tap, modern, jazz). I thought that the workout I got during a yoga session was terrific. I think it's so important to find something you enjoy, something that won't hurt your body, and something that you can commit to do and work at to improve. I was very diligent with my 45 minute lunchtime yoga classes - 3-5 times a week. Plus, I looked for more opportunities to build in activity...a bike ride or a walk to the farmer's market on the weekend, for example. Just adding in more everyday activity made a huge difference. I haven't been able to keep up the schedule to do yoga as often, but I still try to get a couple sessions a week in and I walk every weekday morning for an hour. A Saturday morning Irish step-dancing class was a nice addition to le regime last spring. Try something new! It'll do your heard and head a world of good.

What are some of the other aspects of Le Regime? Most of them are fairly obvious...water (spring and bubbling) and plenty of it, but not over board - I start everyday with a tall glass of Perrier; real foods - do not eat anything with any ingredient that you couldn't identify on its own (if you don't read labels yet, it's time to start!); whole foods - no "altered" food (skim milk, low-fat cheese, etc.). Now, all that said, your experience and needs may be different, so adjust accordingly. The Fat Fallacy by Dr. Will Clower, was a great read for me that first summer. It helped reprogram my thinking...my thinking about what we eat and drink. The chapter on Aspartame alone is alarming.

How do you do it? What activities do you enjoy that help keep you healthy and happy? Are you active alone or with others? What's in your regime?

OK, enough of the lecture. Now that you're ready to walk (!) to the market to pick up some ingredients for a weekend treat, here's my gumbo recipe for you. Laissez les bonne temps (and your body) roulez!

Kelli’s Gumbo (adapted from various sources and experience)

Note: This is a wonderful Christmas Eve dish or even better, Mardi Gras!

1/2 cup bacon drippings
1/2 cup flour
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 large yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 pound okra, sliced (frozen is OK when fresh is not available)
1 qt (plus more if needed) chicken stock
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
15 oz canned chopped tomatoes undrained
1 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
Lemon juice to taste
1 lb andouille sausage, cooked/sliced (grilled is great!)
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped (again, grilled chicked tastes great!)
1lb crab

Heat bacon drippings over medium heat, add flour slowly and stir constantly until roux is a chocolate-like brown. This takes a long time. Add celery, onions, garlic, parsley and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Fry okra in a little oil until slightly browned (note: this is only for fresh okra. If using frozen, put it in, thawed, at the very end otherwise is disappears!). Add to first mixture and stir well for a few minutes. Add chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, salt, andouille sausage, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary. Simmer 2 1/2 hours. Add chicken, and simmer 30 minutes more. Add lemon juice, crab and thawed okra and stir until heated through.
Serve in bowls over hot rice. Pass the Tabasco and file gumbo!
Freezes well.
Serves 10 very hungry people

In France, one egg is un oeuf

2006-02-23T21:58:00.000+01:00

When I started following le regime a year or so ago, I read somewhere that the French do not typically eat eggs for breakfast...no eggs before noon became a rule that I follow to this day. I haven't found a lunch place that offers a good omelet or quiche near my work so I have started a tradition at home that is now firmly planted in our week: Egg Night.

Egg night is great. It's easy for me to cook and clean up and whatever the offering is and it's always good and satisfying. The children love egg night and even if they prefer one thing over another (one likes an omelet, one prefers plain scrambled this week), they never balk at trying something new. I guess they figure at this point I'd have to really mess things up to ruin an egg!

I try and change up the dish just a bit each week, but happily rotate in between favorites. Sometimes I make omelets to order, sometimes it's one family egg dish in the form of a quiche, fritatta, or souffle. No news to anyone, but I have found that it's very easy to be imaginative when cooking eggs for the main course! Whatever you have handy can easily be transformed into an eggseptional treat. We have egg night every Wednesday so my egg dish inventions have grown quite a bit! I'll continue to post new egg sensations as we go.

Any favorites you'd like to share?

This is similar to a Quiche Lorraine, but I enjoy using the Fontina cheese and prefer leeks to onion, and thyme to nutmeg. To make this a vegetarian dish, omit the bacon.

Wednesday Night Quiche

1 Puff pastry (frozen is fine or use your own recipe)
5 large eggs
1/4 cup cream
4 slices bacon
1 large leek, cleaned and chopped
3/4 cup Fontina cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme

Place pastry in quiche dish and cook in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, cut bacon slices with scissors into small bits and saute in a skillet. Add leek when bacon is about half way done. When bacon is cooked and the leek is wilted, drain off excess grease. Note: if you're not cooking with the bacon, saute the leek in a little butter.

Beat eggs slightly and whisk in the cream, salt and white pepper, and thyme.

Spread the bacon/leeks in the bottom of the partially cooked pastry shell. Pour the egg mixture in and then top evenly with the cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set. Let cool slightly before serving.

Great with a spinach salad, thin green beans (haricots vert) steamed and then sauteed quickly with butter and lemon juice, steamed asparagus, artichoke or other seasonal green vegetable.

A break from the bleak mid-winter...with a summer treat

2006-01-25T21:12:00.000+01:00

Every once in awhile, I just want something light to eat. I've made a serious effort in the last year to reduce the amount of red meat I eat and serve my family. My lunches are often vegetarian and I've definitely incorporated more fish and vegetarian dishes into our family dining. So, overall we've "lightened up," but sometimes I just need a break.

Yes, I just posted yesterday about the amazingly wonderful cheese course and you'll hear from me later on the importance of multi-course dining, but I'm also a big proponent of listening to one's inner-girl. Last night my inner-girl wanted a salad for dinner.

I made my own version of salade nicoise for us and it was so easy and refreshing. It took no time at all to prepare and was loaded with good stuff. There was even enough left over for me to take to work for lunch and it was still good. My recipe is below and all amounts are estimated as I cook by look and feel much more than by measurement.

I had one piece of foccacia with this salad and some sliced pear for dessert. Perrier and white wine to drink.

What are some of your favorite light meals??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelli's Nicoise

Baby spinach leaves
Tuna (in oil, drained, tossed with dried thyme, salt, pepper and a squeeze or two of lemon)
Asparagus (broken into pieces, steamed in the microwave, tossed with a tiny bit of butter, salt, pepper)
2 red-skinned potatoes (cut into pieces, steamed in the microwave, tossed with a tiny bit of butter, salt, pepper)
Calamatta olives (pitted is great if you can find them) or oil cured olives from Provence
Cherry tomatoes, sliced
Hard-boild egg, chopped
Chives, chopped finely
Mustard vinaigrette
Fresh ground pepper to taste

In a salad bowl, create your mustard vinaigrette. Place spinach leaves in bowl. Arrange all other ingredients, except for the chives, on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with chopped chives and ground pepper. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

At the table, toss the salad and serve.

Bon appetit!

Time to make this French tradition your own

2006-01-24T21:30:00.000+01:00

Like blue shutters and lace curtains on houses in the French countryside, the cheese course is about as quintessential francais as it gets. As you know, in France, cheese is served after the main course and salad. When we were in France last summer, I often opted for a cheese selection instead of dessert at restaurants. It's interesting, a wonderful way to top off a delicious meal, satisfying and very chic.

So why then do Americans eat their cheese before the meal? I'm sure there is a reason, but at our house, cheese is after salad. Here's how we do it:

We typically have a cheese course after our Saturday evening meal. I select three different cheeses. I've been pleasantly surprised that our local Whole Foods http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ has a very nice selection and knowledgable helpers. The cheeses are well marked so that you know the country of origin and the type of milk (cow, goat, sheep). They have tranches already cut for you or you can ask for a specific size to be cut for you. I'm especially pleased that they have what I'll call a mini-tranche available. For a couple of dollars one can purchase a nice slice of Mimolette, the perfect cheese course size. Also, smaller ethnic markets (we have a darling Italian market in our neighborhood) often have nice cheese selections. The larger chain grocery stores have gotten much better (beyond cheddar!!) and are fine if your choices are limited. You might also want to check out online purveyors like www.igourmet.com.

I typically choose a soft (Boursault , Camembert, etc), a blue (Roquefort, Bleu d'Auvergne and others), and a hard (Beaufort d'Alpage, Abondance, and of course Mimolette with its distinctive cantaloupe appearance). I slice the firmer cheeses into individual slices and arrange them all on one of a few pretty cheese boards I have so the children don't have to fiddle with slicing all but the softest cheeses. This board is placed on the table with thin slices of baguette in a basket. The bread is passed and the cheese is passed and everyone takes portions of the cheeses they'd like to try. We get fairly adventurous and the children like to tease about the extra stinky ones. But, you know what? They eat them and comment on their taste and texture. Last fall they had the idea to add a bit of sliced pear to the offering because it would be "so good" with the gorgonzola. It makes this mother weep with joy.

Experiement with cheeses from different countries. Mix and match cow and goat and sheep milk offerings. Play around until you know what your family likes...and then mix it up again.

I think one of the keys is to remember that this is a nice way to finish a meal and shouldn't really be thought of as a course, which just sounds big. Like anything, too much of a good thing can be bad. I think as Americans we have to constantly remind ourselves and relearn proper portion size. Until you know what that size is, eat slowly and STOP when you're full.

One note on bread and cheese. When dh was in France a year ago he visited our au pair's family. When the cheese course was served, he served himself a slice and then, ahem, popped it in his mouth. "Madame" tsked him and commented that one always eats the cheese with bread. She teasingly followed up with, "I'll make a Frenchman out of you yet." Since he's diligently continued with his French lessons, she might just be right!

I opened the February issue of Martha Stewart Living this month to find a whole "Mathar" article on...drumroll...FRENCH CHEESE and the lovely custom of the cheese course. www.marthastewart.com I admit I was a bit surprised, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because it feels uptown, upscale, and frankly, a little fancy for Martha! But, nevermind, I applaud her efforts to bring this lovely French custom to light, er, table.

Until next time,

Au revoir

Celebrate, Everyday!

2006-01-23T22:00:00.000+01:00

Despite the sad defeat of my Denver Broncos by the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, today is a good day! Yesterday’s game was disappointing, but hey, now I don’t have to worry my way through the Super Bowl hype. Well, you might be thinking, isn’t this a lifestyle and cooking blog? Why is she going on about football?? Well, I’ll tell you: because every occasion is a reason to celebrate! Read on.

I like to make events out of everything. I guess I like an excuse to have a party…real or for just our family of four. Football playoff games are no exception. The fun started last week during the Saturday night airing of the New England Patriots at Denver game. Instead of creating a “regular” Saturday night meal (which we’ll talk about in a later post…our Saturday night dinners are often spectacular), I decided to have fun. In the spirit of “devouring the enemy” I planned my New England/Denver menu carefully: wanting to grill the competition, we dined on grilled lobster tails, twice baked potatoes, salad (always) and blueberry pie. That was a winner dinner and so were the Broncos.

Yesterday’s game called for a lunchtime creation. At first I was not really enthused by the Pittsburgh cuisine I was finding on my searches, that was until I found the recipe for Devonshire Sandwiches, a Pittsburgh original from the 1930s http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20020704devonp9.asp . How great is that?? These would make a terrific brunch addition, by the way. The recipe from the Post-Gazette is VERY rich and I tailored it to suit my family’s taste. Here are my suggested revisions to the original:

~ I could tell from the recipe that the sauce was going to be way too thick and glue-like for us, so I cut the flour down to a ¼ of a cup and simply simmered and reduced the liquid in the sauce until it was a nice consistency. It was a nice, creamy cheese sauce that held its own with the sandwich and through the baking step.

~ I added more cheese than the recipe calls for. Granted, it may have been necessary because my cheddar was too mild and not sharp enough. If you start with a sharper cheddar, you should be fine with the amount in the recipe.

~ Instead of any old “toast with the crust removed,” I toasted 6 slices of very good artisan Italian bread. I did not remove the crust. It was yummy!!

~ Use high quality, thick-sliced bacon…one that will stand up to the cheese sauce.

This is not an everyday sort of dish. I’d look like those Pittsburgh linebackers if I ate this very often! But, it was very tasty and even my 7 year old daughter declared that it was delicious! I served it with a salad and garlicky vinaigrette and crisp potato chips for the little ones.

Now, if only the Broncos really had smothered (cheese sauce or no) the Steelers, it would have been much more appetizing.

These are a few of my favorite things

2006-01-20T17:56:00.000+01:00

Raindrops on roses? Perhaps. But this beautiful morning in the Rocky Mountain west made me think of my favorite things...

~ A crisp winter morning after a snowfall. The city has a clean, white, crystalline blanket of snow; the sky is bright, bright blue; the sun is bright. Just another day in paradise.

~ My daily mid-morning cup of bancha green tea http://www.enjoyingtea.com/bancha.html brewed in my pretty iron tea pot http://www.enjoyingtea.com/rednahecairt.html.

~ Friday "clam night." The years when dh (darling husband) I were dating and first married, living in the Washington, DC area, we had a Friday night tradition of going to one of our local neighborhood Italian restaurants (Pines of Florence in Arlington, Pines of Rome in Bethesda, and Vicinzo in Silver Spring), sharing a bottle of white wine and feasting on white pizza and linguini with white sauce. When the first baby came along, going out every Friday night became difficult to manage and dh took matters into his own hands, creating his own version of linguini with clams. To this day, the default Friday night plan includes clams. The children get to enjoy a movie night complete with cheese pizza while dh and I share a bottle of Prosecco http://www.wineloverspage.com/italwineguide/prosecco.phtml, and catch up from our busy week while the clam sauce simmers, the noodle water comes to the boil, and I prepare a fresh salad with balsamic vinaigrette and slice some fresh bread. Ah, life IS good!

What are your traditions? The things that help define you as a couple, as a family, with your friends? Traditions help ground us and provide a framework for sharing and reconnecting...and my favorite traditions usually center around good eating. What about you?

dh's Linguini with White Clam Sauce

2-3 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, diced
3-6 (depending on how spicy you like) dried Italian hot peppers, ground with a mortar and pestle
3 6.5 oz cans chopped clams (we use Snow brand), clams and juice separated
1 bottle clam juice (again, we use Snow brand)
Dry white Italian wine (typically we use Pinot Grigio)
1 T. dried oregano
Fresh Italian parsley, minced
1 lb. De Cecco brand linguini

In a large skillet, gently saute garlic in olive oil until light brown and then remove garlic from pan and discard. Saute peppers in olive oil until they release their scent. Add reserved clam juice and the bottle of clam juice to the pan and simmer gently until sauce thickens slightly. Add white wine (about 1 1/2 cups) and and oregano and continue to simmer, reducing the sauce by about a third. Boil pasta according to package directions. When pasta is nearly ready, add chopped clams to the skillet and heat through. Drain pasta and put into a large serving bowl. Pour clam sauce over linguini and garnish with the fresh parsley. Serve in pasta bowls, making sure to ladle out plenty of nice sauce so that you have something to dip your bread in. Have a nice salad with balsamic vinaigrette to enjoy after your clams.

Bon Appe'tit!!

First things first...

2006-01-20T01:02:00.000+01:00

Ah, Paris. Baguettes, cafe au lait and confiture. I've always been a francophile. Always. What's not to like? The food, the clothes, the language, the style, and yes, the attitude. I love it all. I've been an avid cook all my adult life and have enjoyed taking French cooking classes and experimenting with new recipes. My husband and I loved to entertain when we were first married and it seemed that life was a constant dinner party, a perpetual feast. I was always thin so I didn't think twice about enjoying the best food...just thought that was me. Easy peasy.

Fast forward 15 years: married with two children, executive at a large corporation, always on the go. And, alas, heavier than I cared to be. It didn't hit me until I saw a picture of myself with my son. I was 30 lbs. heavier than I was when I became pregnant with my son. My face looked bloated and the dress I was wearing had no shape. Wait a minute! How did this happen?

Friends, what happened to me had everything to do with what I wasn't cooking...I wasn't dabbling in continental cuisine anymore, I was opening boxes and adding water. I was making casseroles with ingredients that included, among other things, cream of mushroom soup (not chic!). I was focused on feeding a family of four quickly and conveniently, not deliciously. My natural, easy to maintain size 4 had bloated up to a 12. Pour moi, Quel horreurs!!!

So then what? I knew I was not my former svelt self, but I didn't really know why. Then, the summer of 2004 happened and a lovely French girl from Reims came to live with us and care for our children as our au pair. Within two weeks of her living in our home, I quickly realized...something very different is going on here. Her approach to everything was so different and I loved it. I set out on a mission to find out everything I could about the French diet and lifestyle. Wasn't it just the early 90s when the 60 Minutes piece on "The French Paradox" had everyone dumping their white zinfandel (mercifully) and buying cases of red wine?? 18 months, 30 lbs, and one trip to France and a whole lot of champagne later, I can't say that I've cracked the whole code, but I can tell you that it's all good. More soon. A bientot!