corn souffle and flatbread w/roasted tomato

Pasta Primavera

We had the most beautiful Pasta Primavera last night...arugula, broccoli, carrots, purple and green basil, tomato medley...fresh, delightful delicious...made some french loave to go with it....!

chef head tea towels

series one - escoffier

thai and silkscreening

Will post recipe soon, but made the most authentic pad thai recipe that i've ever attempted (it has never tasted like the restaurants does when i've made it before). After initially feeling a bit intimidated I finally asked the nice lady in the thai grocery to help me find such ingredients as tamarind paste, preserved pressed tofu, palm sugar, salted dried radish, tiny dried shrimp - aisles and aisles of similar looking stuff and it was hard to know which one things were needed. She was amused and sort of giggling at me but helped...our version ended up with beef and shrimp and was delicious...

and, both of us having so many loads of fun in our silkscreening classes. My first prints of the chef tea towel series underway. Escoffier has been burned onto the screen with photo emulsion and hosed off and he's looking pretty good.
It is fun to be among artists in studios again.


Update - as i'm typing, tommy walks in (he's working on his art in the kitchen) and asks where the gold glitter is.
I now wonder what is going on in there....

Ah....even fresher update! he came in again and kissed my neck followed by exquisite back rubbing that is making typing difficult...am no longer concerned about glitter mess

soup and bread - HIDEOUT April 7

Hideout soup party with donations for the HELP shelter was fantastic. And though it was nasty outside, it really was perfect soup eating weather...
Can't wait til next soup season to do it again

Soup n gratin

Had a lot of fun making big batches of sweet and sour cabbage soup for the Hideout's soup and bread nite tonight...with the leftover cabbage and potato, made T and I a lovely gratin...i recommend the cabbage potato combo...stewed the cabbage in some white wine, salt and pepper, onion and chix stock (for about 20 mins - fist saute it for about 5 mins in some olive oil, then add wine and stock and stew)...layered with thinly sliced potato placed in circles...topped each layer with grated parmy and poured over about a cup of 1/2 and 1/2. Topped w/more cheese baked about 40 min til crispy and bubbly. Deelishy. More on how tonight goes later...

Flourless

chalkboard wall and first day o spring

It was 70 and sunny and delightful here on friday! (And then on Saturday, in typical Chicago fashion, it snowed 3 inches and was blustery and frigid) but, on Firday spring was in the air!! We had the most delicious dinner of Arugula pesto and spinach linguine. We also painted a chalkboard wall in the kitchen, so we could have an ongoing site for action paintings, recipes, a place to remember a phone # or shopping list, ect ect ect.

We broke it in last night and had more fun then a barrel of monkeys....we're like 2 kids in a candy store. Fun fun fun.

Arugula pesto

in cuisinart:

3 heaping handfuls arugula

1/4 c olive oil

3 cloves fresh garlic

3 T walnuts

Whir it up

stir in

salt and fresh pepper to taste

another 1/4 c olive oil

1/4 - 1/2 c grated parmy

toss with warm pasta. We made some garlic rubbed tomato brushcetta too, it was a near perfect meal.

why did the soup picture come out 40 times on the post below and why am i powerless to change it? must be the histamines....

The soup that is saving me

nk goodness for the leftover chicken and carcass of previous post, used it for stock and chix bits for Emeril's tortilla soup. I don't know if it was the chest congestion or cold or what, but this soup tasted pretty much better than heavenly.

Emeril's Quick Tortilla Soup

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Prep Time:

ve Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

45 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons olive oil

* 1 cup chopped onions

* 2 teaspoons chopped garlic

* 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped, or 1 pasilla or green bell pepper

* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

* 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

* 1 tablespoon tomato paste

* 6 cups chicken stock or canned, low-sodium chicken broth

* 1 pound cooked chicken, shredded

* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

* 6 stale corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips

* 2 cups vegetable oil, for frying

* 1 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows

* 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped, optional garnish

* Chipotle Crema, optional garnish, recipe below

Directions

In a Dutch oven or large heavy pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, and coriander for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice, and stir well. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot or electric fryer to 350 degrees F. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Ladle the soup into 4 or 6 serving bowls. Garnish each serving with the fried tortilla strips, avocado and Chipotle Crema, as desired.

Chipotle Crema:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/8 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients. Process on high speed until smooth. Serve with the soup.

Yield: 1/2 cup

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Wed Feb 24 2010

Brokeback chicken take 2 - an even more perfect bird!!

Tommy "Once again we found ourselves under the boughs of the banyon tree"

Or, in a state of bliss, as he just translated to me, when i said "what does that mean?"

Tonight we had butterfly roasted chix with greek potatoes and mushroom rice. And a nice Chardonnay. Delicious. Eve though I have the plague and am bombarded with histamines, it was still delicious. I think it was so good it even cured me a little.

Greek potatoes....peel 2 large russet potatoes. Preheat oven to 350-

slice potatoes into large chunks. in bowl combine about 1/4 c olive oil, 2 T tomato paste, 1 T oergano, 1 T fresh garlic, and the juice of 1 large lemon. toss with potatoes in a roasting pan, then salt and pepper to taste. Roast @ 350 til knife easily goes through a spud. (about 45 min) Oh they are deelishy.

Rinse the chicken

Backside up, take a pair of serrated scissors, and cut down the middle of the back - cut off al l the spine - reserve to make a chicken stock later with the giblets that sometimes come with the chicken

open up chix like a book

flip over

then,with both palms, push down, like shaitsu, and snap and flatten chicken and perfect you'll have it

Preheat oven to 400

Marinade: let chix sit at room temp for 1 hour w marinade-

4 springs fresh rosemary (from window herb garden)

5 cloves garlic, chopped fine

kosher salt

fresh grnd pepper

baste in olive oil

2-3 T chix stock

1 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 (heaping we like oregano) T oregano (dried)

Tommy likes to mix all in a cup, then spread all over the chicken

Bake in preheated oven - we find exactly one hour @ 400 is great....but you want thermometer to read 165-170 in thigh, or juices running clear....

today's chef

Paul Bocuse

Making beef stew

Above, 2 typos...it is 2 1/2 cups (approx) beef broth. not 21!

and, on method, it's "enough beef stock to COVER (not bovver) the meat"

scuse my impatient typings. It's one fab stew. Tastes better if you make it the day before which makes is perfect for dinner parties. Serve over homemade noodles, or smashed potato, or sweet potato.....
ahh the stew...it was delicious!!! on top of smashed potatoes....


Yesterday started stew recipe. i like to let it sit for a day....while it was simmering i got inspired...supposedly Escoffier made the first version of boueff bourguinon in France. I most likely spelled that wrong but i don't care. So i sketched him. Then today, while warming stew sketched Julia. Her stew became famous, too. Now thinnking of printing tea towel series of the great chefs...

Later stew recipe + photos...

pasty party w/Kapa girls and boys

New dining table top we made came out stunning!

Al's recipe, minus the shrooms

Hi Dean, Thanks so much for having us over yesterday. What a great time. You and Tommy are great hosts and your home is so warm & welcoming. Time to shower, then off to Tom & Donna's for the Super Bowl. Take care, Alice Here's the recipe for the sauce I made. Directions: Heat milk, butter, garlic and spices over medium heat. Before boiling occurs, reduce heat, add cream cheese, feta and red onion, stirring constantly. When cheese is smooth, add Parmesan,drained mushrooms and artichokes. Serve over fresh pasta Artichoke Cream Cheese Pasta Sauce CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com Serves/Makes: 4 | Difficulty Level: 3 | Ready In: <> Ingredients: 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup butter 3/4 cup cream cheese, softened, cut in small pieces 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 3 cloves garlic 1 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon oregano 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 1 can (8 oz. size) artichoke hearts, quartered, drained 16 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked, drained

Tarte Flambee,Split pea soup, and trying to build new dining table

Alsation tart with carmalized onions and bacon (both pre prepared), spread with a bit of half and half thinned farmers cheese... bake @ 450 for about 10 minutes....pre bake and after. Using 5 min ny times bread dough (best all purpose recipe, this batch came out of the freezer).

Layout of tabletop, preconstruction, in dining room

Sea Bass and smashed potatoes

Thursday jan 28 - Watchin "inglorious basterds" with a gift from our neighbor (a very nice Vouvray), and potato crusted sea bass, with sweet and potato mash, asparagus. the last pic is the sea bass the alternating sweet and potato slices (wafer thin) seared on the potato side, but before it went in the oven to cook the fish (400 for about 16 minutes). the first pic is the done fish with a white sauce made from a tunch of the Vouvray, butter, shallots and some 1/2 and 1/2, s and p and fresh dill

free form lasagne with acorn squash puree and parmesean bechamel

recipe coming soon - a great way to eat some squashs

Phyllo pie, cont'd

The hommade Filo was brilliant! i found it much easier to work with actually than store bought, and it tasted so nice, not all crazy flakey off every direction like the store bought. here's the recipe - also, i assembled pie and froze, and baked when i had a party. it worked wonderfully...

Phyllo dough

2 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 t salt

2 T olive oil

1 T red wine vinegar

mix as you would pasta dough - make a well, inc the wet into the dry. when you have a dough, knead until smooth about 10 minutes. cover with plastic and let rest for 1 hour. here, you can also freeze for future use..

divide dough, and roll into approx 2 oz balls. roll each dough til translucent thin, and layer in pie pan, or rectangular pan. you only need 2 layers on bottom and 2 on top, as this dough is much thicker than commercial. Then fill pie with whatever filling you like (or see below, its deelishy) then fold overhanging dough from bottom to enclose pie over the top, and add one sheet over that. at this point, can wrap and freeze, or bake @ 350 for about 45 minutes or until top is nicely browned. (for more detail, saveur magazine issue #24, page 67)...

we had a greek dinner party and served the spinch artichoke pie with lentil soup (below scroll way back) and white bean dip with fresh bread, and a big greek salad.

white bean dip is the greatest if you have guests a coming and nothing prepared. always keep a can of white beans in the pantry.

Method:

toss into food processor

1 can white beans

1 clove garlic

salt and fresh ground pepper

1 -2 T olive oil

2 T fresh lemon juice

(toss in some fresh herbs if you have any (optional though)

bits of thyme parsley or and rosemary all good, about 1 t of each)

Bleeeeend that up. thins with T of water, if needed.

taste, adjust seasoning and scoop into bowl. garnish with chopped up red pepper bits and lemon slices et viola, your guests wil lrave and healthy too!

Greek PIE

Making homemade filo dough, it's pretty easy and pretty fun. Freezing assebled pie to bake off on saturday...so will report how it tastes then...

Filling was spinach and Artichoke:

1 med sweet onion, diced

3 t dried dill (or five fresh)

2 T olive oil

squish of lemon juice if handy

fresh ground pepper

saute onions and spice in olive oil til translucent

add

1 10oz bag fresh spinach, chopped

1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped

saute til spinach is just wilted

remove from heat and stir in 10 oz feta and 3-4 oz grated cheddar

mix in 2 beaten eggs (and some fresh parsley if handy - optional)

at this point i assembled and froze...crust recipe and directions to follow

A really good za!

Today we made a damn good pizza.

fresh crust, fresh sauce...fresh arugula garlic and tomatoes.....

and XXXXXXXXXXtra cheeeeeeeeeeese.