The Daily Waffle

Daily Waffle -- Now at http://www.dailywaffle.com

2011-05-23T12:28:00.001-07:00

The Daily Waffle has been rebooted and moved to its new home at http://www.dailywaffle.com

See ya there!

Saturday Night Special: Braised Chicken w/ Dates

2010-03-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Cumulus' Cracked Wheat and Freekeh Salad

One of our best meals on our trip to AUS/NZ last fall was at Cumulus in Melbourne. Sort of a shared plates concept, one of the dishes we had a was tabbouleh-like salad, with freekeh, bulghur, mint, parsley, almonds and barberries, garnished with dollops of creme fraiche. And it's actually quite easy to make (despite the ridiculous procedure described in this recipe). Israeli couscous and dried cranberries stand in for the freekeh and barberries in my version.

I've been looking for an excuse to make the freekeh salad all winter, and when I stumbled on this braised chicken with dates from an episode of Everyday Food this week, I knew I had my match. The chicken does takes a little over an hour to make -- so it's not necessarily a weekday recipe, but it's worth it.

Messy plating, but I was too hungry to bother!

Tip: The addition of 1/4 t. of cayenne adds a wonderfully warm counterpoint to the sweetness of the dates without making the sauce fiery hot.

Sunday Morning Char Siu Royale

2010-01-10T08:42:00.001-08:00

Char Siu Royale w/ Brown Rice

Mmm, Pizza

2009-07-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Making pizza dough at home just requires a little planning. And this is the payoff.

Arancini - Baked Not Fried

2009-07-12T15:30:00.001-07:00

Tyler Florence's Mac 'N Cheese with Peas and Bacon

2009-07-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Mac 'n cheese has long been one of those staples that everyone is always trying to improve despite how fabulous it already is in its most basic incarnation. Does it really need lobster? Or 4 or 5 different cheeses? Or truffle oil? There are lots of creative variations, but I think Tyler Florence has hit the jackpot with his Mac 'n Cheese with Bacon and Peas.

The recipe was included in his 2006 book "Tyler's Ultimate," but it's come back up again on TF's site since he's doing a Friday morning #Twitlish cooking class via Twibes and Twitter. Interesting concept that puts him in touch with his fans live, but it puts about a gazillion tweets in your window. Anyway, back to the mac 'n cheese. I can't vouch for the exact recipe since I just used the idea and made the Mac 'n Cheese I always make, mixing in the rendered bacon and thawed peas. So you could go about it two ways and use the bacon and peas as a topping as TF's recipe suggests, or do what I did and just mix them in.

I think I was a little excited when this came out of the oven as all the photos are slightly out of focus...

Recipe: Magic 8 Ball Zucchini

2009-06-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Magic 8 Ball Zucchini
(makes about 3 medium zucchini)

3 medium 8-ball zucchini, rinsed and hollowed out
1/2 lb. ground lamb
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 t. (or so) dried oregano
2 t. tomato paste
1 sm. tomato, chopped
1-2 T. Italian parsley, chopped
1-2 T. feta
1/2 c. cooked brown rice
1/4 c. (or so) water

This is one of those guideline recipes. If you like more rice, use more rice. If you'd rather have beef instead of lamb, go for it. If you want no meat at all, use more rice and tomato. Why brown rice? Well, whole grains are good for you. Use white rice if you want.

The one thing is though -- the feta is critical from a flavor standpoint -- it adds a nice salty brinyness. But, if you forget the feta or it's gone off in your fridge, just add a little more salt.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top off of each zucchini and hollow it out with a melon baller (or a 1 t. measuring spoon), being careful not to make the walls of the zucchini too thin.

Brown the ground lamb in a medium skillet and drain the fat. Season with S&P. Add the onion and saute until translucent/softened. Add oregano, tomato paste, tomato and water. Cook for 3-5 minutes. If you want to use some of the flesh from the zucchini, add it with onion, otherwise just put it in your composter.

You want the tomato paste and water to make just a little bit of sauce. Can't really see it in this photo. Mix in the rice and parsley. Cook for a minute or two more. Add the feta and take off the heat. Taste the filling to make sure it's got enough S&P. Fill each zucchini with the ground lamb mixture, put in an ovenproof baking dish (this is just a 8x8 square dish) and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

The baking time varies every time I make this -- you may want to cover the zucchini with foil and add just a bit of water to the baking dish so they steam. I didn't - and even after 40 mins the zucchini were still a little firm. You also don't want it caving in and falling apart. It'll just depend on your zucchini.

The obvious accompaniment in summer is a little Greek salad. Enjoy!

A 3 Hour Tour: Lasagne Bolognese

2009-06-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Almost every Lasagne Bolognese I've ever had includes ricotta and about a pound of grated mozzarella -- you know, the Italian-American version. It weighs about 15 lbs. when you put it in the oven and you'll be eating the leftovers for days (and paying the price later on the treadmill).
After our recent trip to Italy, it's abundantly clear that Lasagne Bolognese doesn't have to be a gut bomb. We had a fabulous lasagna at a farmhouse in Tuscany and there was not a shred of mozzarella in sight.

I tackled a Lasagne Bolognese yesterday using this Mario Batali recipe in NY Mag. What it has in common with the Italian-American version is that it does take 2-3 hours to make from start to finish...so read the recipe, know what you're getting yourself into and plan ahead.

Here's what you need to know -- there's a fair amount of prep/chopping, since the sauce includes onion, garlic, carrot, celery and pancetta. The carrots and garlic bring sweetness, the pancetta a porky goodness that jarred sauced can't match. (Yes, I usually make the other version with a jar of organic marinara from Trader Joe's).

The recipe calls for veal and pork. We don't do veal, so it's ground beef. Don't make it too lean, you want the fat in there. Also note, the recipe doesn't say to actually drain the meat once you've browned it. I drained it and then added back about half. Fat is flavor. Too much fat is a clogged artery.

What was so extraordinary (to me) about this sauce is that it only includes 8 oz. of tomato paste and also a cup of milk. Ok, ok, if you've been making it this way your entire life, there's nothing so extraordinary about it, but like I said, I grew up on the ricotta/mozz bomb version.
And btw - this cooks for 1-1.5 hrs.

Then, boil the noodles in salted water and make the bechamel -- sorry, no photos. Wished I had fresh pasta - that would have kicked it up a notch in terms of authenticity and in flavor, I'm sure. I also laid the noodles out on a baking sheet after boiling them. No more fighting with sticky noodles and losing half the batch.

Then layer the ragu, the noodles, bechamel and parm in a prepared 9x13 dish. Bake it at 375 for 45 minutes until golden brown on top.

Here's the finished product just out of the oven. Let it sit at least 20 minutes before diving in.

Madeleines for Easter

2009-04-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

My mom and I must have once gone to a cooking demo when I was little that was about Easter brunch...I even want to say it may have been at a cooking school that used to be at South Coast Plaza. Ever since, and maybe even more than eggs, I've associated madeleines with Easter.

When we did our wedding registry, among all the usual pots and pan, spatulas, wine glasses, I'm sure a few people wondered, what does she want this funny little scalloped pan for? Madeleines.

So yes, it takes some specialized equipment and it's pretty much a uni-tasker (a big no-no in Alton Brown's book), but these buttery little babies are worth it.

This year, I used a Martha Stewart recipe from her Entertaining book as a base. When she says to beat the egg, sugar, salt mixture for about 8 minutes, she means it. It makes for a light, airy madeleine, unlike those packaged ones you pick up at Starbucks. Other recipes call for ground almonds in addition to the flour - some folks around my house aren't such big fans of almonds or almond paste in their baked goods, so I went with the simple recipe.

The other key to a fabulous madeleine is good vanilla extract. We have a bottle from the Hawaiian Vanilla Company that I've had for -- geez, maybe a year (really need to get on using it before it evaporates) -- that adds a vanilla flavor that's leaps and bounds above the Schilling stuff, or even the big bottle I have in my fridge from Costco. One teaspoon of lemon zest (added at the same time as the vanilla) brings an extra zing of Spring.

2009-03-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Since we moved to the Northwest, I've had major farmers market withdrawls. There are only a few year-round markets here and none of them are that close to where we live. But without the usual variety we had in California, I've been trying new recipes to keep things fresh...including this sweet potato soup...well, they're actually yams, but...

The sweet potatoes have a terrific richness and you get a silky soup without using cream. One chipotle pepper is probably enough - I did two and didn't seed them and the smokiness of the pepper somewhat overpowered the flavor of the yam. To add texture, next time I'll garnish with a little rendered bacon on top.

Sweet Potato Soup

4-5 small yams, roasted until soft and peeled
1/2 a large onion, chopped
1-2 t. olive oil (eyeball it)
1 32. oz box chicken (or veg) broth
1 T. maple syrup
a pinch of nutmeg
1 chipotles in adobo, seeded & chopped (depending on heat)
1/2 to 1 t. adobo sauce (depending on heat)

Roast the yams ahead of time in a 350 oven until really soft. Could be up to an hour.

In a small dutch oven, heat olive oil and saute onions until translucent. Add yams and break up into small pieces. Stir in chicken broth. Add nutmeg and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and stir periodically. Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Stir in chipotles and adobo sauce. Cook for a few minutes more to let the chipotles meld.

Pour the soup by thirds into a blender and blend until smooth. Pass the soup through a strainer to get rid of stringy bits and seeds from the chipotles.

I Know What I Did Last Summer...

2008-10-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

And it wasn't blogging. Here's a quick catch up on the good eats from this past summer...how did it get to be October? We spent more time in Seattle this summer than in years past. And there's nothing like a cold beer on a hot summer's day in Seattle. Behold!

Mac and Jack's African Amber at Zeek's Pizza, Kirkland
(locally brewed in Redmond, WA)
Also available in the international terminal at Sea-Tac.

Also on tap at the Heathman Hotel, Kirkland
(I think the beer was actually cheaper at the hotel than Zeek's.)

Navajo Fry Bread Taco at Cactus, Kirkland

Original Pancake House, Kirkland
Flash back to the mid-80s when we lived in Anaheim and the
Pancake House was just down the street and a regular family spot for
weekend breakfast.

The Dutch Baby. Just like I remember it. Sprinkle it with lemon and
you're off to the races.
I wasn't crazy enough to order the Apple Pancake which is like eating
an enormous piece of monkey bread with apples. Guaranteed to make
your fillings hurt.

I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Hamburger (Bun) Today

2008-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Just to finish off the hamburger bun experiment from July 4, here's the finished product. The trick to these buns was not rolling them out too thinly -- which I did (roll them too thinly) for most of them. The ones that came out correctly I initially thought were too thick. So I ended up with 2 good buns, about half a dozen mini buns and a whole lotta hockey pucks.

They have a nice yeasty flavor -- much tastier than the grocery store variety, that's for sure. You'll get a couple of days out of them, but after that they're on the dry side. The pulled pork recipe I wasn't that wild about the flavor (but maybe I just have to do a little more exploration - North Carolina-style just may not be my thing). I halved the marinade recipe because my pork butt was only 4.5 lbs, and it wasn't really enough. Also noticed other recipes include a dry rub -- that may be the secret to more/better flavor.

Truth is, I think the best thing to make out of a pork butt is kalua pig. So anytime it looks like it should be like kalua pig, but doesn't have that unctuous saltiness too it, it's just a disappointment.

Black-eyed pea salad is Neely's recipe. It's prettier than it tastes -- maybe I just don't like canned black-eyed peas all that much.

Other recipes used here:
Hamburger buns (Gourmet, June 2008)
North Carolina pulled pork recipe (Gourmet, June 2008)
BBQ Sauce (Emeril Lagasse, Food Network)

Bill's Corn Fritters

2008-07-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Bill's corn fritters with bacon & roasted tomato
as made by Michelle
From Bill's Sydney Food

The bacon and tomato are key - providing salty and acidic counterpoints
to the sweetness of the corn. Would it be fine without? Sure, but what fun is anything
without bacon?

The beauty of it is the filling is 90% of the content. There's only enough batter to just bind it all together.

Corn fritters as eaten at Bill's in Darlinghurst.

He's got me beat on the browning, but the homemade ones came out pretty well. And the arugula we added gave it nice color (plus a little extra veg).

Seattle: Marjorie

2008-06-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, OJ and I were in Seattle. We've been trying to get one meal in the city on our last few trips -- this time it was Marjorie in Belltown. It's a funky little place (in a good way) with what you might call a "New American" menu. We lucked out because it was warm (for Seattle in June) on Saturday and since the sun doesn't go down until 9:30 pm -- it was a great night for sitting out on the side patio sipping a mojito. Well, except for me -- I was sipping a Bordeaux blend from Whitman Cellars.

I love that they play a random mix of music (on elementary school record players!!) - so we're talking vinyl here. I think we heard Billie Holiday and an artist singing in Hindi and they definitely had a Donna Summer album in the bathroom. Service is friendly and there's no rushing you out to turn over tables. We had a 6:30 pm and didn't leave until 9pm-ish.

Food-wise, Marjorie is doing the local, organic thing and everything was quite good, but let's start with dessert, shall we? The photos tell the story and it starts and ends like this, "Mmmmmm....."

Meyer Lemon Cake

Bourbon Bread Pudding w/ Butterscotch Sauce

But getting back to the main courses...you can go for a couple of small plates or a larger plate. I went for the shrimp and grits and the blue cheese souffle. Shrimp and grits was solid -- good portion of shrimp -- 4, I think. Grits had bits of smoky bacon in them. If I had one complaint about the small plates, it was that the blue cheese souffle was a tad small (even for a small plate). And even so, how about a little more greens to balance the richness of the souffle?

Shrimp and Grits (background)
Fallen Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffle (foreground)

Here's the highlight of the mains -- the hangar steak. This is "medium" btw. A nice portion of protein alongside roasted asparagus and fingerlings. Doesn't get much simpler and that's what made it so good. No crazy sauces, just a bit of au jus. All well prepared.

Hangar Steak with asparagus and fingerling potatoes

Marjorie
2331 Second Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
206.441.9842

South Food & Wine Bar

2008-04-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

You know you've had a really terrific vacation when more than a month later, you're desperately holding on to the vestiges of the trip. Sure, I've stopped reading the Sydney Morning Herald and even more recently given up using the milk frother everytime I make coffee, but we did find ourselves at South Food and Wine Bar this weekend.

And even though Saturday was super windy and we found ourselves in a restaurant without power within about 15 minutes of sitting down, I kept my sunny Sydney disposition (and the wine probably helped, too).

South is even smaller than I thought -- probably no more than 50-60 seats in all, even with the communal table just across from the bar.

The menu features the sorts of things you'd expect -- barramundi, lamb, venison -- but sadly no meat pies (perhaps too stereotypical). But the preparations and ingredients are lovely enough that you get over the eco-guilt of knowing they were probably flown nearly 8,000 miles to get to San Francisco.

Spring Pea Soup with Creme Fraiche

The wine list was quite broad and we had several lovely selections by the glass (unforeseen consequence of the power outage) and though I'd read about the Layer Cake Shiraz, the way the timing worked out with ordering wine and our food arriving once the power came back on, didn't allow me to try it. Just as well, I read somewhere it retails for about $15 a bottle - and they were charging about $10 a glass. The Jug Shop carries a good number of Southern Hemisphere wines, so I just may get a shot at it.

Service is just fine, although still trying to relive my vacation, I wished our server had engaged us about why we were there (clearly not ex-pats) and whether or not we'd been to Australia. But no such luck.

Bonus points to South for serving Antipodes sparkling water. That, in and of itself, was almost enough of a reminder of our time at qualia to make for a lovely evening.

South Food and Wine Bar
330 Townsend St. (at 4th St).
San Francisco

Shower Favors

2008-03-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Favor box - actual size

As much as people want to hate Martha Stewart, you have to admit some of her product lines deliver some cute stuff -- like these tissue paper flower boxes in her Martha Stewart Crafts line. When we first started planning for Erin's shower, I stumbled on these while surfing online. So look at the photo below from the website. Doesn't that look like the flower on top is about 1 in. x 1 in.? Whose little fingers would be able to fold a flower that size without making a complete mash of the tissue paper?! So I went to Michaels to see how difficult it would actually be to put these together. And there was a box that looked like it had been opened and then returned...not a good sign. But, I decided to press and on just order them online (just to make sure nothing was missing).

Favor box online: Objects online are larger than they appear
(Now there's a phrase you never thought you'd hear!)
photo from www.marthastewartcrafts.com

So we filled the boxes with custom M&Ms. My one beef was that this particular bag got a bit more jostled around than the others, so some of the lettering was flaking off. Other bags faired much better. You can also just get bags of colored M&Ms at party stores or the M&Ms store in Vegas, but the custom printing was just too cute for the shower. Be on the lookout for coupons in the Sunday paper and you can get an extra bag for free.

March Showers Bring Mid-April Babies (We Hope)

2008-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

The weekend after I got back from Australia I was a co-hostess of a baby shower for my dear friend Erin who is now on bed rest -- yikes! Miss Sophia isn't due until early May so we're all keeping our fingers crossed that that little bun stays in the oven for a few more weeks! All the photos have a weird pink tinge because I did something weird w/ the white balance on my camera...dang it! The cake pictured above was a from a lovely bakery in Walnut Creek -- three layers of chocolate goodness with raspberry filling - just divine!! I forgot to ask Jodi where it was from!!

This was the invitation (photo courtesy of tinyprints.com)

Here's a sampling of the menu...

Cheese Board including dried figs and cranberries

Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus -- yay, they came in!!

Roast beef tenderloin sandwiches on Acme regular and herb ciabatta with arugula, carmelized onion and blue cheese (or swiss)

Tri-colore orzo salad

Strawberries from Rodriguez Farms, Watsonville

Other items not pictured:
ham, spinach and gruyere quiche
spinach, red pepper and gruyere quiche
Roasted red pepper crostini (my new favorite with goat cheese)

More Scenes from Australia

2008-03-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here comes the Sun...

Here comes the rain - doo n doo oo

That's for real

And so is this - bats in the Sydney Botanical Garden

Sydney from Circular Quay (that's key, not kway)
Anzac War Memorial

Welcome to qualia

2008-03-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Lobby entrance at qualia

After a few days of getting used to city life in Sydney, we headed up to Hamilton Island (part of the Whitsundays). It's a 2 hr. flight (direct - yay! - on Jetstar) to Hamilton Island. Jetstar is a low-cost airline -- low cost to the point where you don't even get a complementary drink. You pay for that as well. Somehow it's still 100x more pleasant than Southwest or United.

The qualia experience truly starts the minute you get off the plane. Maybe I'm too used to walking off a plane at JFK at 11:30 at night, trying to identify which of the 400 town cars whizzing by the terminal is actually picking me up. Nothing could be more different at qualia. As you walk into the terminal at Hamilton Island, two staffers await you. One will be picking up your luggage and the other will be taking care of your transfer to qualia (aka escorting you to the Mercedes mini-van and offering you a chilled hand towel and choice of still or sparkling water).

After a mini tour of Hamilton Island, you arrive at qualia...you're offered a welcome glass of champagne or wine and you sign your life away...but it hardly seems to matter. After all, it's just credit...did you see the view?!

Meals are included -- and you'll spend evenings in the Long Pavilion, either inside or on the deck, taking in the sunset and on some nights a fair bit of tropical rain...

Who's Your Wagamama?

2008-03-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

We were being dropped off at the Sydney Opera House to see Wil Anderson -- the Rock Star of Australian Comedy, according to The Age-- when we passed by Wagamama. Not only was it a noodle bar, but with a name like that, I knew we'd be coming back no matter what they had. C'mon say it, "Wagamama! Wa-ga-ma-ma! Who's your Wagamama?" I filed it away in my head and when we got back from Hamilton Island on Saturday night, it seemed like a good dinner option. We weren't up for some fancy-schmancy dinner and noodles sounded perfect.

They don't take reservations, but the Bridge Street location is large and we didn't have to wait either time we had dinner. You sit at large community tables and they take your order on handheld PDAs, warning you that your food may not come out at the same time.

Chilli Beef Ramen

Even as warm as Sydney was, ramen was a perfect dinner. OJ had the Chilli Beef Ramen and I had the miso ramen -- both were terrific -- full of flavor with fresh ingredients. I'm no ramen aficionado, but it had me wishing we had Wagamama in the States...come to find out, it's actually a UK-based chain that has 2 locations in the US -- in Boston!

Miso Ramen: not as pretty, but it tasted good!

The menu is huge -- by no means limited to just ramen -- they've got Japanese curry (not my fave), various rice dishes like cha han (kind of a fried rice kind of thing), a couple of salads, gyoza on the side...the list goes on and on.

Wagamama
38 bridge street, sydney
tel: +61 (0) 2 9252 8696

Why Don't They Sell These in the US?!

2008-03-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

Image from the Smith's Snackfood Company

A new favorite from Australia. The flavor in all the bus stop adverts was Moroccan Chicken with Lemon. Chicken-flavored chips?! But Sweet Chili and Sour Cream we saved for the flight home with our turkey, cranberry and brie sandwiches from the David Jones Foodhall. The full lineup of Red Rock Deli flavors is here.

What They Don't Tell You in the Guidebooks: Flat White

2008-03-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Flat white at Qualia

Ordering coffee seems like it'd be a simple thing, right? "I'll have a coffee, please." The only place in Australia that order seems to work is at Starbucks. And with so many great little cafes in Sydney, why go to Starbucks? (Well, we did, but it was because of the WiFi - not for coffee.)

Yes, they look the same everywhere.
Starbucks - Oxford Street

The first time I ordered coffee I asked for a latte and received a small glass tumbler with what seemed like a double shot of espresso and whole milk. All was well. But when I'd finished that, we were lingering and reading the paper and I thought, well, I'll just have a coffee. But I don't think there is just drip coffee. There's a short and a long black (basically an Americano, but espresso and water go in a different order), a flat white and also lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, etc. Though there's some debate online about whether a flat white is closer to a latte or a cappuccino (down to the how many mm of foam each has), all are made with espresso.

Flat white at Central Baking Depot

Once we were at Qualia, I bit the bullet and just asked our server how I should actually be ordering coffee and what the options are/were. It ends up that a flat white -- which is essentially a latte, but made with one shot of espresso -- became my coffee of choice. And when I was treating myself, I'd have whole milk, but otherwise skim.

The good news about the lack of drip coffee is that it's virtually impossible to get a bad cup anywhere...even McDonalds has a McCafe concept with a full coffee menu.

French Fries in Paradise

2008-03-22T14:51:00.001-07:00

Oz: The Most Important Meal of the Day

2008-03-17T18:21:00.001-07:00

bills corn fritters w/ bacon

Our first morning in Sydney we had breakfast at bills in Darlinghurst. Bill is Bill Granger and he's apparently a well-known chef in Australia (which I didn't know, but I might have seen him on Sara's Secrets once, but maybe I'm making that up). They're open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but breakfast seems to be the draw. We were there on a Monday, but apparently there's a long wait on weekends. I can see why -- after the corn fritters with bacon up there and the ricotta pancakes down below, we came back the following Monday for breakfast again. And I had to buy his book -- bills sydney food.

Dee-lish!

bills ricotta hotcakes with banana

Another morning in Sydney we had breakfast at Two Good Eggs in Surry Hills. It's more of a cafe that also serves breakfast, but it's at Two Good Eggs where I discovered how much I like roasted tomatoes and mushrooms with my eggs and bacon. I guess its sort of like a classic British fry up, which usually has sausages instead of bacon, but anyway - it's veg and I like it!

Two Good Eggs: poached eggs, bacon & sourdough toast

Two Good Eggs: French Toast with Clotted Cream & Blackberry Syrup

bills
433 Liverpool St.
Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Australia

Two Good Eggs
2/148 Goulburn St, Surry Hills

Adventures in Oz

2008-03-14T17:52:00.001-07:00

I just spent the last ~10 days in Sydney and thereabouts. More to come...

Recipe: Butternut and Kale Lasagna

2008-01-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

Nothing says long holiday weekend like a pan of lasagna (at least in your 30s). There's no other time you really have a couple of hours to dedicate to putting it together, knowing that you'll have the payoff of leftovers for a couple of days.

Lasagna is tough, though. It can be a complete gut bomb. And if you go vegetarian, most of the time you're just talking about layers of spinach, maybe adding some eggplant (not me) and some mushrooms. It's fine, but not inspiring or particularly satisfying...but then I got the February issue of Sunset...

Whole Wheat Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Kale

But first, there are 3 things you need to know.

1. It really takes 2 hours to put together and another 30-45 mins. to bake.
2. It's worth it -- it's full of flavor with 1/4 the guilt from the 1 lb. of mozzarella cheese we all usually put in our lasagna.
3. It's the little things in this recipe that make all the difference -- the garlic w/ the butternut, the nutmeg in the ricotta - so follow directions (at least those).

So here we go:

Step 1: Peel and cube a ~2 lb. butternut squash. Roast in the oven (according to recipe) with a few cloves of garlic. Let cool. Puree in a food processor.

Step 2: Make sauce (according to recipe). Think about adding sliced mushroooms next time for even more veg. Note: Del Monte crushed tomatoes made a nice sauce.

Step 3: Boil noodles (I just used regular. I said this was about getting more veg, not whole grains, didn't I?)

Step 4: Mix the ricotta with some of the mozzarella. Add nutmeg, S&P.

Step 5: Give up on taking pictures because this is already taking too long. Assemble according to directions.

Step 6: Bake it. Voila.

Sunday Cooking Marathon: Daube of Beef

2008-01-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

Daube of Beef w/ White Wine & Mustard

Recipe: Chipotle Sweet Potato Quesadilla

2008-01-21T12:47:00.001-08:00

AKA "What we had for lunch"

In an on-going experiment about what to do with chipotle peppers and sweet potato, I used a bunch of leftovers from an enchilada casserole to put together this tasty goodness.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Quesadilla
2 Whole wheat tortillas (these are the whole wheat-corn ones from TJ's)
finely chopped red onion
sweet potato mash
pepper jack cheese
chipotle enchilada sauce

Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Layer sweet potato, onion, cheese and drizzle on enchilada sauce to taste. Cook over medium heat until browned and crispy. Voila.

NOTE: Day 2 we used mozzarella cheese with red pepper flakes. Doesn't come out quite as salty/tasty.

The Myth of Brown Butter Sauce

2008-01-19T15:24:00.002-08:00

Butternut squash is Mother Nature's gift to us as we slog through the dead of winter. Without even a drop of cream, it makes a velvety soup and its flavors are fully realized with just a hint of ginger or nutmeg.

It seems natural then, that butternut squash would make a terrific ravioli. Encase a dollop of butternut squash mash in a pillow of pasta -- what could be better? But somewhere along the line, brown butter sauce got hitched to butternut squash's star. Try Googling "sauce butternut squash ravioli" and you'll be hard pressed to find a non-brown butter suggestion. There's a lemon cream suggestion, but that just seemed off.

It's like a bad date. It looks beautiful -- glistening with butter, spreckled with the brown flecks of the toasted butter solids -- but there's just nothing there -- even with sage fried in the butter and with dried cranberries and walnuts rounding out the sauce.

So what do you do? Default to red sauce? Nah, it'd overpower the squash. Cream sauce? Eh. A savory cranberry/wine reduction? Still seems too strong. Any suggestions?

Kahiki Foods: General Tso's Chicken

2008-01-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

I don't do much frozen food anymore, though I try to keep a couple of things in the freezer for those nights where you get home at 8 pm and cooking even the simplest thing just isn't going to happen. (Usually it's a couple of boxes of Trader Joe's frozen mac and cheese.)

So periodically, I'll try something new - hence the Kahiki Foods General Tso's Chicken. I picked this up at Grocery Outlet, but they carry it at Whole Foods and when you're talking about an unknown quantity, I'd rather pay the Grocery Outlet price. Side note: apparently Kahiki started as a kitchy Polynesian restaurant in Ohio, but after the passing of their founder, they went exclusively frozen food.

Side-by-side, it's pretty surprising - at least visually. It looks amazingly like the picture on the box, doesn't it? Seems like a good sign. The box says all the right things that should make it tasty -- minimally processed, no artificial additives...ok, good sign #2.

But then there's a flag on the play -- the sauce isn't spicy at all, so if you're expecting sweet and spicy firecrackers in your mouth, like you'd get from take-out General Tso's chicken, you'll be disappointed. It's really sort of a teriyaki sauce with the tiniest tiniest hint of heat. The brown rice isn't nutty and rather bland, but the chicken does actually taste grilled. Usually frozen veg is just fine by me -- can anyone live without frozen peas? But these tasted like they were once frozen. Bottom line -- is it good? Eh.... it's not the worst thing I ever ate. I've also got a box of the Mandarin Orange chicken in the freezer, but I'm not too excited about the prospect of breaking it open.

Back to the drawing board...

Mmm-mmm Good: Matzo Ball Soup

2008-01-04T08:56:00.001-08:00

When it's this stormy, nothing sounds as good as soup. Chicken Matzo Ball was Thursday's soup du jour. I'm no expert when it comes to matzo balls -- I've tried doing it by grinding up my own matzo, but the box mix just works better. The secret is to shape them gingerly (that's how you get a floater instead of a sinker) and boil them in chicken stock -- separate from the soup. Salted water just doesn't taste as good.

Chicken Matzo Ball Soup
1 pkg. of Matzo Ball mix (either Streit's or Manischewitz is fine)

2 bone-in, skin on chicken breast halves
2-3 carrots, cut in 1/2 in. coins
2 stalks celery, cut in 1/2 in. pieces
2 1/2 (32 oz.) boxes of chicken broth
1/2 t. thyme
1-2 bay leaves
S&P

Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle chicken breasts with S&P and roast for 30-45 minutes until done. (Or just get a rotissierie chicken at the store & make it easy on yourself). Let cool. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces.

Prepare matzo balls according to pkg directions (you'll need a couple of eggs and oil).
Boil them in 1 box of chicken broth (instead of water). Remove them from the pan when done, otherwise they'll keep soaking up the broth and get waterlogged.

In a soup pot, bring the remaining 1 1/2 boxes of broth, thyme, bay leaves and S&P to a simmer. Add carrots, celery and chicken. Simmer until vegetables are softened, about 20 mins or so. Taste broth again and add S&P to taste.

Serves 4 (or 2 w/ leftovers for lunch the next day)

From Food Network to Freezer

2008-01-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

Mario Batali Regional Recipes at Grocery Outlet

Put it however you like, but the Food Network essentially put Mario Batali on ice last year. Molto Mario, when it is on, is on early in the morning. He may still be an Iron Chef, but he's now working on a show (which will air on PBS) traveling in Spain with Gwyneth Paltrow.

He isn't the first chef to team up with a food industry giant (in this case General Mills) to put his image on packaged food products. Emeril's got a line of spices (and had a short-lived sitcom); Ming Tsai has Asian specialities in the freezer aisle at Target; Tyler Florence is stumping for Applebee's; Ina Garten has a Barefoot Contessa line -- the list goes on and on.

No matter how good the gemelli with meatballs is (and Ed Levine says it's not half bad), there's something sad and little disheartening (call me naive) about a chef of Mario's caliber, whose restaurants are renowned for their food, being in cahoots with General Mills/Progresso Foods. It's more than just an endorsement of a product -- no one holds Tiger Woods responsible if something happens to their Buick, but what if the food doesn't have that je nais sais quoi that makes it Mario (or Emeril or Tyler or whoever) quality? How can Progresso possibly ensure this product reflects the philosophy on his website -- "Perfectly pristine ingredients, combined sensibly and cooked properly, are the hallmarks of the best Italian food."

Yes, yes, it's capitalism and shouldn't celeb chefs capitalize on their exposure so they can build their own empires? Sure. Sell as many things as you can before Food Network tosses you aside. Food Network is even trying to get a piece of the action now, "insisting on a stake in book deals and licensing ventures, and control over outside activities" according to the New York Times (12/17/07).

What I respect about Mario is that he is building his empire and from what an outsider can see, keeping his self-respect. He partnered with Nancy Silverton to open Mozza in LA and he's got his PBS show -- a network that respects what it is to be a chef -- not a TV personality who cooks. And he calls it like he sees it -- in that same NYT article from December, he's quoted as saying, "They [Food Network] don’t need me. They have decided they are mass market and they are going after the Wal-Mart crowd,” which he said was “a smart business decision. So they don’t need someone who uses polysyllabic words from other languages.”

Ringing in the New Year

2008-01-01T11:50:00.001-08:00

We considered but never executed on having a holiday party this year. The weeks running up to Christmas flew by between birthdays and bathroom overhaul and work. So we said hey, let's just do NYE again. What the heck -- it's my one shot to go all out since there's finally a crowd around that's big enough to justify all the things I've been wanting to have or make.

Then again, I said, make it easy on yourself. Just do things that don't require much prep. And for the most part we did up a menu that was fairly simple. So why did it take me two days to get ready between the shop and the actual assembly?!! When you see the spread, you'll wonder what the heck took so long...I'm wondering myself. We ended up with a somewhat Italian theme rounded out by good ol' American sliders.

This year's appetizer selection:

Antipasti platter (Fra'Mani salame rosa, soppresata, prosciutto, Columbus dry salame, provolone and turkey)
Cheese board (Wensleydale with cranberries, Fontina, Castello blue, Boursin)
Red Pepper and Ancho Chile Jam w/ cream cheese
Mini frittata
Caprese-on-a-stick (thanks, Mark!)
Potato chips, crudite and good ol' Lipton soup mix onion dip (it isn't a party without onion dip)
Spicy hummus & pita
Caramelized Onion Apple Bites

Photo by Leo Gong/Sunset
Caramelized Onion Apple Bites -- the hit of the party.

Caprese-on-a-stick

Cheese Board

Red Pepper and Ancho Chile Jam with Cream Cheese

(Most of) the spread

Appetizer Madness: Mini Frittatae? Frittatas?

2007-12-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

If there's a Grand Challenge in the kitchen for me, it's frying zucchini blossoms. Second only to that is coming up with appetizers. I like appetizers -- arancini, satays, crab cakes, you name it. The usual suspects -- crudite, chips & salsa, chip and dip -- are just fine. It's just tough to come up with something new that doesn't require an oven or deep frying minutes before being served.

These are the mini frittata(s?) I made tonight for a little work party tomorrow. They'll be refrigerated until party time and will be fine at room temp. We'll see how they go over. At least they're low carb (ha!). And then I've got another week or so until New Year's Eve when the stakes will be high. I'm thinking of something with polenta rounds. Still trying to figure out a good form factor for the chipotle sweet potato combo inspired by a colleague who made kick ass tamales using said ingredients.

Mini Frittata
9 eggs (that's how many I had)
A couple of glugs of milk
1/2 a large red pepper, 1/8 in. dice
1/2 a large yellow pepper, 1/8 in. dice
1/4 of a medium red onion, 1/8 in. dice
1 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/8 in. rounds
1/4 c. chopped ham steak, 1/8 in. dice
S&P
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 c. or so of finely grated gruyere

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk the eggs, milk & S&P in a bowl. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Drop a zucchini round into each muffin cup and add a sprinkle of peppers, red onion and ham. Fill the muffin cups with egg mixture until not quite full. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes -- the frittata should puff up and be set in the middle.

Remove with a rubber spatula -- it makes a huge difference!

Holiday Baking: Gingerbread Pinwheels

2007-12-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

Four days into the month and I'm already feeling the effects of holiday eating. 'Course, I'm not helping matters much baking cookies and bringing them to the office in prep for the cookie exchange party on 12/9. These gingerbread pinwheels were time consuming -- obviously I've got to work on my rolling technique -- but with as much butter as is in these little babies, my arteries just won't support making another batch until...well, maybe next year.

Sunday Birthday

2007-12-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

Your birthday is kind of your own personal holiday. I just happen to share my holiday with Britney Spears. Not by choice mind you. But holiday or no, after a certain age (mmm, 21) birthdays aren't that big of a deal. Your capacity for doing shots diminishes by 2 for every year that passes and then, inevitably, as it will do once every 7 years, your birthday falls on a Sunday. But I have to say, this Sunday birthday was the best in recent memory....

Breakfast in bed - waffles, bacon, coffee, Sunday paper

then shopping for 4 hours (as a shopping trip, it was a wash!)

I came home to:

Birthday lunch/dinner - chicken pot pie

Birthday cake - and the best part was I didn't make any of it!

The Best of Leftovers: The Grand Finale - Turkey Soup

2007-11-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

Come Sunday after Thanksgiving most people have about had it with turkey. You're craving a juicy burger with blue cheese or a fat slice of pepperoni pizza...just about anything other than poultry.

But then, you have to stop yourself.

Turkey soup comes but once a year. You might have ham or a crown rib roast or takeout Chinese at Christmas. But turkey? Maybe, maybe not. And so to celebrate the end of a long weekend we finish Thanksgiving with a big pot of turkey soup.

There's hardly even a recipe here...you just need a lazy Saturday to make the stock and half an hour or so on Sunday. Pick over your turkey carcass (Very glam, I know. It helps if you have two big black labbies standing by to help pick up the stray pieces.) Stick the bones in the biggest pot you've got and cover with cold water.

Add an onion (roughly chopped), a couple of carrots snapped in half and a couple of stalks of celery. Add a bay leaf, a teaspoon of thyme, some S&P. Bring it to a low boil -- and I mean low -- just so a few bubbles break the surface at a time. And let it go for at least 2 hours. Three is good, too. Just make sure you have enough time to let it cool down before you put it in the fridge.

The Best of Leftovers: Turkey Tetrazzini

2007-11-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

It was so tasty, I was lucky to get a picture before it was gone!

When it came to leftovers, I skipped right to the good stuff this year (well, except for that part with the [mashed] potato and leek soup we had Saturday night). Forget sandwiches with leftover side dishes! Let's get to the tetrazzini already. Saute some mushrooms, make a bechamel thinned with chicken broth. Add frozen peas (thawed) shredded turkey and a half cup of heavy cream. Top with a mix of bread crumbs and parmesan and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes and voila! Use this recipe as a starting point, but double it.

And that's turkey tetrazzini.

Thanksgiving 2007 - the Day Before

2007-11-24T07:27:00.001-08:00

The day before is crucial to Thanksgiving prep. Some people are doing stuff up to a week before, but that's gotta be for a big crowd. For our peeps, it's the day before that's critical. As usual I started the stuffing, baked the pie and made the cranberry. Probably should have made the corn pudding then as well and reheated it.

Bread Stuffing
1 1/2 loaves cheap white bread
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
4 T. butter
1 1/2 to 2 c. chicken broth
1-2 t. Bell's seasoning
salt & pepper

Toast and tear up bread the night before. Store in a large bowl and cover with Saran.

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute onion and celery until softened. Add to bread. Moisten with chicken broth a little at a time and add Bell's seasoning, S&P. Stir and keep adding broth until it reaches the right moistness. Stuff into the bird or bake in a loaf pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The beginnings of Cranberry Conserve
(it's a limited time recipe on Food Network.com)

Rather than the 1 3/4 c. sugar (OMG!) called for in the recipe, I cut it to 1 c. of sugar. With the reduced sugar, along with the orange/lemon rind and juice, the cranberry ends up with a really nice tang rather than just being overly sweet.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

The usual spread, minus the mashed potatoes, which ended up on the table.

Proof that Thanksgiving isn't really about the turkey.

Thanksgiving - What's New?

2007-11-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

I'm channeling Andy Rooney today...

Once Halloween comes and goes, it's Christmas. Somewhere in between there, Thanksgiving has just gotten lost in the shuffle. You hardly get to enjoy fall before retailers are jamming Santa and Rudolph and wreaths and holly down your throat. What happened to Thanksgiving and turkey and pilgrims and Indian corn (whoops that's not PC) and harvest feasts?

It's the one time of year you crave your grandma's stuffing (whether that's oyster, cornbread, sausage or just plain bread) and it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without [insert your favorite here]. Yet, if you've read all the November issues of the food mags or watched Food Network in the last couple of weeks -- it's really about creating new traditions (and new additions) to your Thanksgiving menu.

So what joins our menu this year? These are the two things I'm considering:

Parmesan-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon
This recipe was originally posted two years ago because A.O.C. in LA had been serving something similar on their menu.

Spinach and Cheese Puff
There's that Everyday Food again. It's apparently a side dish, but I'm thinking it'll be an appetizer, maybe more like a spinach dip? Course w/ 3 eggs it may end up pretty firm. We'll play with it.

The Road to Thanksgiving

2007-11-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Spreadsheet image from Lifehacker

After you've done it a few times, hosting Thanksgiving in a relatively small family is no big deal. As long as you have a big enough kitchen. It's a good thing we've got a second fridge out in the garage though because I've gone overboard -- AGAIN.

It's very nearly the same menu every year and with a small family you'd think, who needs a spreadsheet? But, this is what my job does to me. I had a binder for my wedding and we've got a spreadsheet for Thanksgiving with 7 people. Mine is nothing as advanced as the one above from the folks at Instructables - for one thing I'm no ace when it comes to spreadsheets. But the shopping list compiled from the ingredient list for each recipe makes the shopping easy. And for a small family, we do a lot of dishes - turkey, bread stuffing, yams, corn pudding, green beans amandine, cranberry conserve, jellied cranberry and mashed potatoes, and a big batch of Chex Mix. So you need a spreadsheet to tell you how big a bag of almonds to buy and so you don't forget the details like garlic powder and onion powder for the Chex Mix because inevitably it has turned into a rock inside the jar since the last time you made Chex Mix.

Pumpkin Cookies to Cure Your Grinchy-ness

2007-10-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

So we aren't carving pumpkins or giving out candy this year on Halloween. I know - what is this, Hoo-ville? I don't know - I'm just not in the spirit this year and we always end up with a lot of leftover candy and it's a Wednesday and... (ok, no more excuses, just shut up and live with your Grinchy-ness, you say). So to atone for my Halloween sins, I made Chocolate-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies. I should have made one look like a jack o'lantern.

Mix the dough following Martha's directions. Taste the batter and add more cinnamon if you think you want these to taste more like pumpkin pie.

If you have a mini ice cream scoop with the little metal thing that helps make a nice round scoop, use it. These should be more uniform than they are here. At least wet a finger and try to shape them so they're more rounded. That second one over in the first row is more like what you want.

Once out of the oven, immediate move them to a cooling rack. These come out on the cakey side, the bottoms will be lightly browned.

To do the chocolate, it's dead easy. Ignore that bit about the double boiler. Put your semi-sweet chocolate (in this case Valrhona - we don't mess around) in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir to help it get melting. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir - it should really be done now. Err on the side of less time. If you overdo it the chocolate will seize and get all gritty and you'll be bummin'.

Now here's the fun part. Take a small Ziploc back and pour the chocolate into one corner. You're basically making yourself a little piping bag here. Zip the bag and cut the corner of the bag to create a tip. Make it itty bitty or the melted chocolate will come pouring out. And voila! Chocolate-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

Vegetarian Chili ... Needs Meat

2007-10-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Some Sundays when I feel really motivated (definitely not today) I cook up something that requires more time than I've got during the week. Last Sunday, it was vegetarian chili. The fridge was chock full of veg waiting to be used up and I must have been feeling vegetable deficient since I decided to forego the usual ground beef based chili I grew up on and went with using Everyday Food's Vegetarian Black-Bean Chili (October 2007 issue) as a starting point (no link as they're not giving up the recipe online).

It ended up quite tasty, but I still found myself missing that rich meaty flavor that beef (and its fat) imparts to chili. Note all the cheese on my serving. It still doesn't make up for the lack of meat.

Chop and saute until softened in 1-2 t. olive oil:
1/2 a medium zucchini (half-circles)
1 medium onion
2-3 carrots
1-2 stalks celery
1/2 a red bell pepper

Add:
a 28 oz. can of ready-cut tomatoes
1 c. of water
1 14.5 oz. can black beans
1 14.5 oz can pinto beans (or whatever you've got is fine)
2-3 T. chili powder
1 -2 t. cumin
salt & pepper
1/4-1/2 t. cayenne (depending on how spicy you like it)
a couple of handfuls of frozen corn, thawed

I also had a roasted poblano chili that I peeled and chopped. Can't say I really think it added
anything in the end.

Bring to a boil. And then turn down to a simmer for 1-2 hours. Check periodically for consistency and the spices. Add more salt, chili powder and cumin to taste.

Until it looks like this and is the consistency you like.
Top w/ grated cheddar cheese, plain yogurt, onions (or whatever you like).

Gourmet Next Door: the Review

2007-10-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

So -the Gourmet Next Door. How was it? Was it Julia Child meets Rachael Ray? I'm sorry to say, it's lowest common denomenator. How many times have you seen someone on FN make a flank steak or a London broil and advise cutting it across the grain? For that matter, how many times did it take you to figure out you *should* have cut that steak the other way?

Did I learn anything? Yes. I haven't been brave enough to make pate a choux and now I know you need to stir it like a crazy person to ensure it comes together the right way.

Will I watch it again? Sure, I'll give it an epi or two more and then it'll probably lose its place on the Season Pass list.

What show did I actually find worse? Nigella Express. The whole Nigella thing is about food as sex... it's a sensuous, langorous, "I-am-a-goddess-and-a-domestic-one-at-that" exercise. Nigella Express is just a case of coitus interrruptus. Corner cutting without the satisfaction. It's off the Season Pass.

Gourmet Next Door Debuts Sunday at 1p.m. ET

2007-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

(image from http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/tv/)

The winners of the Next Food Network Star don't have much of a track record when it comes to having successful shows on Food Network. I lost interest in Partyline with Hearty Boys (who thought of that and how quick were they fired?) after just a couple of episodes. And Guy's Big Bite? It's ok, and he's been able to parlay himself into hosting Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives...but have I made anything from any of these shows or been compelled to visit restaurants? You gotta be kidding.

This Sunday, Next Food Network Star Season 3 winner Amy Finley's new show debuts at 1 p.m. ET. For those of us lucky enough to get the East Coast feed on Directv, that'll be 10 a.m. PT. The "Gourmet Next Door" is the "perspective" (read: marketing angle) dreamed up during Finley's run on the Next Food Network Star. It looks like the first epi will capitalize on Amy's training in France -- bistro favorites, pate a choux, etc. So is that Rachael Ray meets Julia Child? Remains to be seen. Review to come on Sunday.

Presidio Social Club

2007-09-30T18:07:00.001-07:00

I didn't have my camera with me the other night, so this will have to suffice.
Header from Presidio Social Club

What you need to know about Presidio Social Club:

1. Their white cheddar mac and cheese is that good.
2. Their wine list is short, but they do have a Seghesio Zin as a split.
3. The front of the house staff gets mega kudos for putting up with me starting w/ a res for 4, upping it to 6 and then adding 2 more people when we showed up. Note to self: don't forget they have a table across from the bar that seats up to 12.
4. Brioche beignets are light, not at all greasy, and oddly - served w/ maple syrup for dipping. That said - they may have even been better than the ones we had at Spruce.

Presidio Social Club
563 Ruger Street
San Francisco
415-885-1888

Chicken Pot Pie/Stew/Something

2007-08-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

So for months and months (maybe even a year) I've been trying to replicate the Chicken Pot Pie Soup at San Francisco Soup Company. It's perfect any time of year - esp. in SF where summer may as well be winter. You know the quote sometimes attributed to Mark Twain. But the SF Soup Company closest to my SF office never never never never has it.

This weekend I accidentally came up with the solution (please kill me if you ever hear me using the Rachael Ray-ism "stoup") using a Turkey Tetrazzini recipe for a base - it's the basic bechamel method, using more chicken stock and just 1/2 c. of half and half. But since it was just me, I did cheat and use refrigerator biscuits. In retrospect, I like them steamed a la chicken and dumplings rather than baked, but c'est la vie. At least I got the soup part right. Here it is:

Chicken Pot Pie Soup/Stew with Biscuits
1 1/2 T. butter
3-4 button mushrooms, quartered
1-2 medium carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
5-6 green beans, cut into 1/2 in. pieces (I had them around)
1/2 of a zucchini, chopped (again, I had them around)

4 T. flour
2 c. boxed/canned chicken broth
1 large chicken breast, roasted & shredded
1/2 c. half and half
S&P
1/4- 1/2 c. peas (optional - I forgot to add them)

Preheat oven to 350.

Roast chicken breast, bone-in, skin-on for 30 mins or until it reaches 165 degrees. Or just buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery and save yourself the time.

Turn oven up to 400.

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat. Add veggies (except peas) and turn heat up to medium to saute until softened. Add flour and cook 1-2 minutes to get rid of floury taste. If it starts to look really dry, add a tablespoon or two of chicken broth. Add the 2 c. chicken broth and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Cook until thickened. Add peas if you're using them.

Pour soup mixture into an 8x8 baking dish and top with biscuits. Bake 10-15 minutes until biscuits have risen and browned.

Note - if you're going to make your own biscuits, you probably need to crank the heat up a bit - maybe to 425.

Dinner for One - Whole Wheat Sghetti, Green Beans, Roasted Tomatoes

2007-08-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Even when I cook just for myself, I make too much. I went to the Farmers Market Saturday knowing fruit and veg intake would be down this week and still came home with a full bag of produce. Take this one for instance -- Giada de Laurentiis' recipe for Whole Wheat Linguini with Green Beans, Ricotta and Lemon. I'm really trying to make just two meals worth (I hesitate to say servings) -- one for tonight and maybe leftovers for lunch.

Of course, I discovered the lovely hand-dipped ricotta I bought at Whole Foods had gone off before I had a chance to make this. Did I mention Giada's recipe was part of a show on "Bikini Dinners?" Um, ok. Anyway, ricotta-less, I subbed in cubes of fresh mozzarella (bought at my new favorite store - Grocery Outlet - it's a long story and a whole other post). I roasted the cherry tomatoes yesterday and topped the thing with a chiffonade of basil and a good sprinkle of romano cheese. Molto bene! (Or something).

Pao Doce and a Pow in the Eye

2007-08-12T15:42:00.001-07:00

I'm not known to be bread baker, probably because I am known to be impatient. Bread is Wolf's department. But I had an urge and a big bag of all purpose flour and nothing better to do on a Sunday. So here's my Pao Doce using Pao Doce recipe #2 in the Buddhist Church cookbook. With 1 c. of sugar in recipe w/ about 4 1/2 c. of flour, it's nowhere near as sweet (or tender) as King's Hawaiian bread. Closer to the bread we had from Punalu'u Bake Shop on the Big Island.

Pao Doce interior - dig that dense crumb!

I couldn't document the whole process because this happened in the midst of mixing the dough. Needless to say, mixing the dough is the easy part. It's the two rises that make it time consuming. So what happened to Winston? I think he had a yellow jacket join him for breakfast. Luckily our vet is open on Sundays and advised getting him some Benadryl, which worked like a charm. We didn't even have to go in for a shot.

Spruce Report - San Francisco

2007-08-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

As you enter Spruce, you walk through a lovely brick archway half enclosed by a black wrought iron gate. On the right, there's a small bar area and on the left a coffee bar. Inside, you're greeted by an imposing black wall against which the host area stands. The bar runs along the right wall, booths line the left. At the very rear of the space, there's a semi-private recessed room. About half way back opens a large skylight (which allowed for the great light in the photo above at about 7:30 p.m.) The menus are leather. The silverware Christofle hotel. The stemware Spiegelau. I'll call it casually opulent.

First courses.

But before we did that, we enjoyed the amuse bouche -- a crostini with greens, roasted beets and horseradish creme fraiche. In fact we had two of these, due to the wait staff just getting their bearings.

I also tried the American blue cheese selection. A smoky blue from Rogue River, OR, served with raisin toasts and accompanied by candied pecans and champagne grapes. Coupled w/ the Lancaster Estate cab, the night was off to a fantastic start. Such a fantastic start that right about here is where I lost all interest in photographs and just chowed down in a most dignified fashion appropos to the setting. Who am I kidding?? I just chowed down.

Pork tenderloin with a nice bit of pork belly there on the right. This was Wolf's entree, so I can only claim one bite. Very tasty. Though there was a mix up and they first brought him sea bass. To accomodate for the mix-up they offered Wolf a glass of wine, which we were later charged for (so how is that a make good?) Anyway, it was the second night the place was open and I figure you have to roll with the punches. And for the most part, the excellence of the food superceded any kinks being worked out in the service.

Right about here is where I gave up on the photos. I had the braised beef short rib with greens. It was tender as can be, braise anything long enough and it's sure to be tasty. But I was reminded how much I really love the short rib at Lucques in LA. And how that hint of horseradish cream in the Lucques version really kicks it up. And how whenever I have the short rib at Lucques I make yummy noises. Spruce's was quite good, but no yummy noises.

Anyway - on the rest of the details - Mark Sullivan has brought a bar menu with him, including the Pub Burger and fries w/ remoulade. The Spruce additions to the bar menu include mussels and an herb omelette.

Desserts are a bit of a blur (no, not because of the wine!) - we had the brioche beignets with raspberry jam. Fine, but nothing knock your socks off. They were a bit small for my liking, though I think we got about 6 of them in the serving.

Spruce
3640 Sacramento St.
San Francisco
415.931.5100

Salsa Verde

2007-07-22T20:10:00.001-07:00

It's understandable that around the time you're slathering ciabatta with pesto and topping it with fresh mozzarella and beefsteak tomato slices, you're also throwing together batch after batch of pico de gallo. It's understandable that in your frenzy over the piles of Early Girls and Goliaths and Brandywines and Yellow Zebras, you might just pass over the tomato's cousin - the tomatillo. Roughly 2 in. in diameter and encased in a papery green husk, you might pass them over entirely without saying, hey wait a minute, is that what the green salsa at Baja Fresh is made from?

And it's so easy to make, you might just ditch chopping everything for the pico de gallo. Here's what an old Sunset says to do:

Peel off the papery husk and put 8 tomatillos and a jalapeno into a 8 in. square pan. Roast 'em under the broiler for 12-15 minutes, turning 'em to get 'em roasted on all sides. Take out the jalapeno if it's done faster.

Meanwhile, chop two green onions (green and white parts), a medium clove of garlic and enough cilantro to get you about 1 T. chopped. Squeeze half a lime. Toss it all into a blender.

Add the roasted tomatillos and the jalapeno to the blender. Don't forget - it'll have a decent kick to it if you add the whole jalapeno, seeds and all. I knew this, but still managed to remember the hard way (after I tasted it). Hit it with a little S&P and give it a whirl (a w-hirl, if you watch Family Guy) and you're done. Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.

Jam On It

2007-07-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

So what do you with about a half a dozen yellow nectarines that weren't prepared for a 2-day heatwave? Whoops, meant to eat those out of hand. Forget about trying to peel them - they're soft enough now that you'll be lucky to be able to halve them and get the pits out.
Step 1: Admit defeat.
Step 2: Just make some refrigerator jam.
Step 3: Dig through old July/August issues of Everyday Food. Ah yes, 2004. Peach jam. Close enough. I'd link here, but Martha's search feature isn't showing 2004 recipes. Halve and pit nectarines and cut them into 1/2 in. pieces.

Add 1/4 c. water, cook a few minutes until the nectarines start to break down. Mash 'em with a potato masher to desired consistency. Add 1 c. of sugar (the recipe says 3 c. -- oh-my-god) and cook 15 minutes until the thing breaks down.

This is the finished product. The skins have broken down -- see, why peel them?! -- and the jam has taken on a lovely sunset hue. Add 1 T. lemon juice and let cool. Voila! No jam jars around here, so this is stored in a Gladware container in my fridge. Eat in a month and no worrying about boiling jars and actual real canning.

Treating Yourself to Brunch on a Day Off

2007-07-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Ellie Krieger's Southwestern Hash with homemade pico de gallo (and bacon).

Red, White & Blues-berry

2007-06-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally blueberries are coming in at the Farmers Market. The ones we picked up last weekend were so plump and sweet that by the time I saw this recipe for a blueberry cheesecake tart in the July issue of Everyday Food, the pint was half gone. And then as luck would have it -- no blueberry guy at the market on Saturday! I ended up w/ Floridian blueberries from Trader Joe's.

I'm generally cheesecake adverse -- they take forever to bake, they crack and inevitably the texture isn't quite right -- too dry and dense, too creamy -- just too much work. But this one, though it has 3 separate parts, is pretty easy. I don't know that I'd call it an Everyday Food, but a weekend-day, sure.

First, cook up the plum mixture -- Santa Rosa plums, a few raspberries (not in the recipe, I just had 'em around), sugar, lemon juice.

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, sugar (I went a little light on the sugar here) and vanilla in the processor. Pour it into the graham cracker crust and bake it for 30 mins.

Reserve 1 T. of the plum mixture and mix the blueberries into it. Pour the rest of the plum mixture onto the cheesecake. Add the blueberries and you're off to the races. The good news is any and all berries would be great w/ this plum sauce.

The recipe calls for regular block cream cheese -- next time I'll try Neufchatel instead of a light "spreadable" (but not whipped) cream cheese in a tub. It comes out on the creamier side because of the sour cream, but the Neufchatel may change it as well. Strawberries will also join blueberries on top.

Big Island Beef

2007-06-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

More From the Big Island

2007-06-08T14:54:00.001-07:00

Summer Rolls from the Hilo Farmers Market

2007-06-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

When its 75 degrees F by 7:30 a.m., that's a warm day, no matter how you slice it. At the Hilo Farmer's Market, it really is "from dawn 'til it's gone" and the vendors carry mostly the same varieties of produce -- apple bananas, papayas, Japanese cucumbers, tomatoes. A few tables have prepared food, including vegetarian summer rolls -- filled with lettuce, carrot, red cabbage, rice noodles, basil, a touch of mint -- delicious at 7:30 in the morning with sweet chili sauce.

That Ain't No Donut

2007-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

The best malasadas on the Big Island ...

Tex Drive In -- Honoka'a, HI (only when they're hot)

Punalu'u Bakery -- Na'alehu, HI (made w/ their Hawaiian sweet bread dough)
L-R: traditional, liliko'i glazed, Bavarian cream filled

Sombat's Fresh Thai

2007-06-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our meals out on this trip to Hawaii were usually lunches. At Sombat's we ordered our usual Thai food staples -- spring rolls, green curry w/ chicken, pad thai w/ chicken. Spring rolls were hot out of the fryer and not greasy in the least. That's a pineapple mac nut dipping sauce (c'mon, it's Hawai'i!)

(What no lime with the pad thai?)

The green curry had a lovely thick coconut sauce (no reduced fat coconut milk here, I tell ya), with zucchini and a lot of eggplant (I'm not a fan of the eggplant). The pad thai had more sauce than I was used to, but it made it extra tasty the next day for breakfast. Service was super quick. Bonus points for giving us extra rice with our to-go box.

Sombat's Fresh Thai Cuisine
88 Kanoelehue Ave. (Waiakea Kai Plaza)
Hilo, HI
808-969-9336
http://www.sombats.com/

Spring Veg - Sugar Snap Peas

2007-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Right about now, we're all waiting for the English peas to come in. What's pasta primavera without fresh English peas? For the last couple of weeks tho, sugar snaps have been holding down the fort. I wasn't even sure if I really liked sugar snap peas when I picked up a batch last weekend at farmers market. You remember last weekend -- the torrential downpour that hit right about 9:30 a.m? Yeah, that's when I discovered I *didn't* have my umbrella in the car.

Anyway, sugar snaps. Ina Garten's recipe doesn't even blanch them. But I say you gotta. We had "Japanese dinner" last Sunday -- tofu w/ shoyu and green onions, rice, sugar snap peas and sauteed Shanghai Bok Choy.

Boil 'em for 2-3 minutes, drop them into an ice bath and then dress them w/ a mixture of rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Go heavier on the vinegar. And then sprinkle w/ roasted sesame seeds. They were better at room temperature the next day with an extra dousing of vinegar.

Do I really like sugar snaps? They're ok -- made me feel like I was having a healthy snack before lunch. I'm still waiting for the English peas to come in.

Recipe: Spring Spinach Arugula Pesto

2007-04-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'll just say it - I'm so over the cafeteria at work. Everyday I walk from station to station - Chinese? Eh, no Panda Express knock off today. Specialty salad? Nah. International station (could be Indian, could be burrito day, or just a couple of slices of pork loin with potatoes and veggies). Nah. Sandwich? If I wanted a sandwich, I coulda brought it from home.

So I'm going to try and turn over a new leaf. Lunch from home is a thousand times better anyway -- cheaper and tastier. So tomorrow we're having spinach arugula pesto.

Spinach Arugula Pesto
2-3 big handfuls of baby spinach
2 handfuls of arugula
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil
1/2 c or so toasted walnuts
1/4 to a 1/3 c. parmesan cheese
juice of half a lemon
salt (to taste, depending on your parm)

1/2 box of penne, cooked al dente

Cook pasta. Break out the Cuisinart and add spinach and arugula. Pulse until just broken down. Add walnuts, garlic, parm, lemon juice and salt. Pulse just until combined. Turn on machine and add olive oil until the mixture just loosens up. It should be thick-ish.

Mix pesto w/ penne. Voila!

Haiku for a Sunday Dessert

2007-04-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

As everyone knows, pudding comes in a box with a 5-letter logo starting w/ the letter 'J'. Except when you go to your cupboard and there's no box. Wha- what? No box? Oh man, I'm *not* going to the store, just for pudding. And not just cause gas is $3.50 a gallon.

Wait, wasn't there a recipe in Everyday Food? Oh wait, I think that was a year ago. Better go dig it out. How hard could it be?

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add milk by a few tablespoons at a time. Stir in egg yolks. Cook over medium heat until one big bubble comes up and the mixture is thickened.

Strain through a mesh strainer. Add butter and vanilla - voila!

Pudding from a box
Ain't Got Nothing on Homemade
Hurry make it now!

Fried Rice for Breakfast

2007-03-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Fried rice falls into the "Grandma food" category -- aka dishes that came from my Grandma that you have no hope of ever getting an actual, exact written recipe. It's not a new phenomenon - every family seems to have a dish that you can't pinpoint why it comes out so wonderfully when your [INSERT RELATIVE HERE] makes it, yet when you try it's just off.

On this fried rice, the best we ever got was a list of ingredients -- a little onion, bacon or ham, rice, green pepper, water chestnut, egg. My grandma should have been a CIA agent because most of that is a misdirect. Never in my life do I remember having green pepper in it...and certainly never ham - always bacon. Onion - usually green, not yellow.

Over the last few years I've come up with a version that very nearly matches my Gram's. But I'm just as guilty on the recipe. I haven't written it down, I don't measure the shoyu and you just have to go with what looks right based on the amount of rice (preferably day old) you have. So here's the ingredient list:

Grandma's Fried Rice
3-5 strips of bacon, sliced in 1/4 in. pieces and rendered
rice
2-3 eggs lightly beaten
2-3 green onions sliced on the bias w/ some of the dark green part
frozen peas, rinsed
shoyu

Good Corned Beef and the Luck of the Irish

2007-03-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alton Brown, I just learned that corned beef and cabbage actually has nothing to do with the Irish from Ireland and is more likely an Irish-American invented dish borrowed from Jewish Americans...hence how NY delis turn out tasty corned beef on rye that few others can match.

Anyway, the big question about corned beef is the cut. I was raised on the run-of-the-mill supermarket variety that comes pre-packed in a solution with a little plastic packet of spices for the actual braising. That's probably a point cut -- the fattier, more tasty (and cheap) end of the whole brisket. I never can tell, the package doesn't seem to say. The other end is the leaner flat cut and somewhere in the middle is the center cut (according to the butcher section at Lunardi's). Everybody swears by something different. I went middle of the road this year and picked up a center cut. In the end, the point cut from Lunardi's rather than just a pre-packed supermarket variety would have been just fine.

The cooking is pretty simple -- you just need the time -- about 3 hrs. braising time. You can't rush it. I found that out last year -- the hard way. Stick the corned beef in a large dutch oven and cover with water by about 1 inch. Add 1-2 teaspoons of pickling seasoning (usually a mix of black peppercorns, mustard seed, juniper berries, cinnamon, bay leaf, etc.), 3-4 large cloves of garlic and 1 bay leaf for good measure.

Bring the pot to a boil and skim off the foam. Turn the heat down so that it just simmers -- you don't want a rolling boil. Turn it over every half hour or so and add the carrots and cabbage when you get to about 2 hours. When a pairing knife goes through without much resistance, you're there. With my center cut, I found that one end was a little more giving than the other (my bet is that was a bit of the point section) and the other was still a little firm. For sliced corn beef that was just fine.

What's even better is the corned beef hash the next day -- it doesn't last long! And its easier than you can imagine. Chop half an onion, throw it in a pan with a tablespoon or two of butter, cook until translucent. Quarter the potatoes, chop the carrots and chunk up the corned beef. Toss it in the pan and cook until the potatoes get a nice crust on them. Done!

San Diego State or CSUSD -- Get Real

2007-03-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

logo courtesy of SDSU -- www.sdsu.edu

Some San Jose State students are advocating a name change to CSU San Jose...one non-argument is that the CSU moniker carries some kind of weight when alumni are applying for jobs out of state. C'mon people. If a non-Californian asks you where you went to school and you say "Berkeley" do they ask you, "Oh is that a UC or a CSU?" No, they don't. Now when I say, "Oh I went to school in San Diego, people *always* ask, UC? No matter what Adam Corolla has said about SDSU, as an Aztec alum, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that SDSU doesn't catch on to this ridiculousness and entertain the idea of switching to CSUSD. With any luck, the potential confusion w/ USD will keep that from ever happening.

Belly up to the Barrel

2007-03-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

Every March the Russian River Wine Road puts on its annual barrel tasting event where you can throw down $10 and get in two days of barrel tasting at a huge number of Sonoma wineries. We've found some great wines through barrel tasting -- like Armida's Keefer Ranch Chardonnay and Dutcher Crossing's Nevins Cab. But you can find yourself in a rut, so this year we diversified and hit Dutcher Crossing, Bella, Passalacqua and Seghesio.

While Bella netted out the best pix -- those are barrels in their cave up above, it was Seghesio with the best tasting (non barrel) of the day. It was the only place wine decided it better go home with us. I've had some mixed experiences with Seghesio in the past - most likely because of bad wine handling/storage by retailers -- because we've also had some really excellent ones from Seghesio as well.

Seghesio Highlights --

2005 Pinot Grigio -- less mineraly than I would have expected. The tasting notes say floral and apple -- I think I got both of those. It was a gorgeous day in Sonoma - this wine our group dubbed the "sitting on the porch on a sunny day" wine.

Home Ranch Zinfandel -- this was one I had previously that I found a little acidic (and potentially baked off due to bad handling) but straight from the source this one was all black fruit without being too jammy. Mmm...someone break out the BBQ.

I'll Be Your Huckleberry

2007-03-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

In the last few weeks huckleberries have been popping up on menus everywhere I look...we had the wild huckleberry bread pudding at Coco500 (with caramel sauce - to die for!), the pear baba at Village Pub also had huckleberries and the tart tatin at Piacere in San Carlos was garnished with 2-3 huckleberries. I'm not sure where they're coming from, but sometimes a taste of summer is just what you need in the middle of February.

Saturday morning baguette

2007-03-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

CSM Farmers Market - March 3

2007-03-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should just start calling this the Saturday Waffle...

At long last, signs of life are final starting to emerge after a winter that seems to go on forever and ever. I shouldn't complain - Denver has had a hell of a winter and so have folks back East -- just ask Jet Blue. The cold spell we had in January wrecked citrus and gave strawberries a late start -- still no sign of Rodriguez Farms from Watsonville. You know it's a bad year when it's the first week in March and you haven't had any real strawberries. Yeah, I bought that ridiculously expensive basket back around Valentine's Day, but they were marginal. But hope springs eternal...the asparagus guys are finally back at the College of San Mateo Saturday Farmers Market.

The asparagus aren't as green as you'd expect just yet -- it's early. But I still couldn't stop myself from buying two bunches. We'll throw them on the grill tonight after drizzling them with olive oil and S&P.

Technical Difficulties

2007-02-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

Daily Waffle was hit with a seemingly unrecoverable error on its former host server. So after 6 months I finally said screw this and we went back to Blogger. Are you ready for a montage?!

Who Needs Valentine's Day When You've Got the Day After?

2007-02-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

It seems to have become chic to just be over Valentine's Day. Whether you protest it as a consumerist holiday perpetuated by the greeting card/candy/flower companies or you just think it's ridiculous to hand over your first born for a 4-course prix fixe meal that you have to choke down in 40 minutes so the next seating can get in -- there's something to be said for the day after Valentine's Day.

All of a sudden, the pressure's off - it's just any other night of the week. OJ and I have the benefit of February 15 being our "dating anniversary" - so we usually stay home on Valentine's, grill up some good steaks, drink a nice bottle of red wine and save the going out for the next night. Getting a res is a heck of a lot easier, too. Coco500 is this year's destination.

Saturday Eat-a-Thon: Half Moon Bay Inn & Kitchen, The Ritz Wine Room, Luella

2007-02-17T14:55:00.001-08:00

Last weekend some friends were in town from Denver, which gave us a good excuse to spend the day eating and drinking. We kicked off the day with brunch/lunch at the Half Moon Bay Inn and Kitchen. The place was empty when we walked in at 11:15, but by 11:45 it was full up.

The burger's always a safe choice for me -- you can tell a lot about a place by it's burger. This quarter-pounder (no cheese) had a nice buttery-top bun and came with big fat onion rings as an option on the side. 2 out of the 3 onion rings were good - the last one was kinda doughy.

OJ went the breakfast route and had the three cheese omelette. It was what it said it was -- an omelette with three cheeses, but was nothing out of the ordinary, according to OJ.

We then headed for the Wine Room at the Ritz Carlton -- it being the weekend before Valentine's Day they were doing a flight of sparkling rose's. OJ not being much for the champagne went with the pinot flight. Great atmosphere, good wine. On a sunny day we could have been there for hours and hours and spent hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.

The day was finished off with dinner at Luella in the City. The Coca-Cola braised pork shoulder was calling my name from the moment I saw it on the menu online. It was beyond tender and the sauce was almost teriyaki-ish (delish!). I was so full by the time we got to dessert that I couldn't bring myself to have the fritters...next time for sure. Parking is an absolute nightmare, so if/when we go again, we'll be cabbing it or hopping on the cable car.

Thai Chicken Pizza - Almost

2007-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

I don't know what those guys at California Pizza Kitchen know about Thai Chicken Pizza that I don't, but I'm convinced it's all in the sauce. I took a shot at basically recreating their Thai Chicken Pizza -- whole wheat crust from Trader Joe's using this sauce recipe as a guide, and then topping it w/ mozzarella cheese, sauteed chicken, carrots, green onions (I'd forgotten to pick up cilantro at the store).

So what happened? The flavor was good, but after baking the sauce was too dry -- kind of like when you don't dilute peanut dressing enough for peanut noodles. The sauce was also a bit strong on the soy side. So what's their secret?! I've read that the frozen CPK thai chicken pizza is almost as good as in the restaurant -- but with 10g of fat per serving (1/3 of pizza )-- I just can't bring myself to buy one.

2007 - Ringing in the New Year

2007-02-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve is always hit and miss for us - and it's not even because Ryan Seacrest seems to be Dick Clark's heir apparent on New Year's Rockin' Eve. OJ and I - we're well past the "Let's spend $150 a person for a prix fixe dinner w/ cheap champagne we don't want anyway" stage, but it's still fun to do *something.* I mean, you have to do *something*, right?

So in the spirit of it being the last hurrah for 2006 - Erin and Frank, Jack and Debbie, and OJ and me partied it up at Chez Jenkins. I overdid it on the food, but it was fun.

The Menu:
Flank Steak skewers
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Flatbread with Carmelized Onions and Blue Cheese
Various cheeses and crackers
Veg crudite with roasted red pepper/sun dried tomato dip
Chips and salsa

Blog Backlog - Cookie Monster - December 2006

2007-02-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

The newest cookie in my holiday cookie repertoire, Kris Kringle's peanut butter cup cookies, courtesy of one the gals at Debbie's Cookie Exchange.

Blog Backlog - Queen for a Day - December 2, 2006

2007-02-17T13:55:00.001-08:00

We got a silver coffee service for our wedding 3 years ago and haven't really had occasion to use it. We brought it out for Thanksgiving, but then everyone was so full, we never actually had pumpkin pie and coffee on actual Thanksgiving. So OJ decided that for my birthday, he would serve me coffee and donuts (from that awesome donut shop next to the Burlingame Caltrain station) in bed -- on our silver coffee service.

That was a hell of a birthday weekend -- dinner Friday night at Foreign Cinema in the City -- they were showing Liza Minelli in Cabaret - I'm all about musicals, but couldn't quite warm up to that one. Food was good, but even now I can't actually remember what I had. Service was fairly casual -- maybe too casual.

Dinner Saturday night at Rogue Chefs at the Chef's Table. And then Sunday night OJ made the chicken pot pie he claims is from a magazine.

Blog Backlog- Erin & Frank's Wedding - October 2006

2007-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Our dear friends Frank and Erin got hitched in October up in Wine Country (Sonoma side, but of course). It seems like so long ago now -- see what happens when you don't post for 6 months? The wedding was absolutely beautiful - the weather more than cooperated since the couple of weekends before their wedding it actually rained...but it was in the 80's up in Windsor. And the reception was a total blast. What does this have to do with food? What do you mean? See that wedding cake there? Ok, then.

Blog Backlog - Lola, Seattle - 12/26/06

2007-02-17T12:54:00.001-08:00

After a week of overindulging over the holidays, Lola really hit the spot. I didn't realize Dahlia Lounge was open for lunch, otherwise we would've gone there -- duh on me, since they're across the street from each other!!!

That's the lamb kebab there. I wouldn't call it authentic Mediterreanean by any stretch of the imagination (and Tom Douglas isn't selling it that way) -- but the sauce on the lamb kebab was almost teriyaki-ish (and the fact that it had a sauce should tell you something). I'm not complaining - we'd definitely go back... especially for the honeyed donuts we had for dessert. The tzatziki with warm pita also made for a tasty starter. Good thing we walked from the ferry -at least we walked off some calories on the way back.

Lola
2000 4th Ave
Seattle, WA
(206) 441-1430

Bachelorette Party Aftermath

2006-08-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

This is what Sunday morning looks like after a bachelorette party. And that's all you need to know.

The Harvest

2006-08-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Urban Gardener

2006-08-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

I'm known for my blackthumb. My mom once helped me plant a tub of flowers to put on my balcony and I watered it every few days like I was supposed to, I swear. It still died. Then, she brought me a big bunch of mint -- it's practically a weed. No one can kill mint. But mine got some weird black things on it -- I couldn't tell you if they were bugs or just ick-ified. Mind you this was all in Southern California. Since moving to the Bay Area, I've managed to keep our yard alive. What do you mean, "What about the lawn?" I don't know anything about it - ask Wolf. With that success on my record, I decided to take a shot at actually growing a flower box. As a wise man named Harry Callaghan once said, "A [wo]man's gotta know [her] limitations."

Yes, these are Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes grown by my own hand. Earlier this week, I harvested my first 3 little tomatoes. Their skins were just the slightest bit toothsome and as advertised, they were indeed, very sweet. Encouraged, I'm gonna take a pass at growing chard for this fall -- from seeds, no less! I'll be chronicling that closely -- if I can get those to grow, my blackthumb may be history for good.

Like Ruh-buh

2006-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

I've never had clafouti in my life, but when Dave Lieberman whipped one up on his show a couple of weekends ago, I thought, "Well that looks easy enough. I've got blueberries, I've got nectarines, let's have at it." Needless to say, the fruit rose to the top (good), but the "pudding" on the bottom was like rubber the next day. Fooey.

The Temp-ocalyse

2006-07-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is how hot it was at our house last weekend, 20 minutes from San Francisco. There was no actual cooking being done in the kitchen beyond assembling turkey sandwiches. We laid on the floor watching movies because it was so hot the satellite was tweaking out.

Fourth of July

2006-07-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th in Mendocino again this year -- ironic since our own neighborhood has a parade and fireworks at the school, but it's just fun to get out of town and go on what we're now calling the "dog vacation." Hana and Winston get to run around off leash at Big River and we sit out on the deck at the Stanford Inn drinking wine and reading books. Does it get any better than that?

This year we also walked into town to see the Fourth of July parade...after a harrowing crossing on a two lane bridge with cars whizzing by at 60 mph...it's kind of like that scene in the Goonies where they're walking on the railroad tracks and have to high-tail it when the train comes barrelling down the tracks...just without the train.

We watched the parade out on the patio at the Mendocino Cafe, where we'd had dinner the night before -- the Thai firepot (w/ chicken) is a killer green curry with coconut milk, glass noodles and assorted veg. Surprising spicy for a place not dedicated to Thai food. Paired it with a Navarro Sauvignon Blanc (Anderson Valley).

Tyler on WOR: What a Bore

2006-06-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Photo from www.foodnetwork.com

It's no secret that I like Tyler Florence -- he'd be in my hot tub. But I recently discovered that Mr. Food 911 has a radio show out out of NY on WOR 710AM, which I've started downloading to my iPod. After listening to a week's worth of shows -- I just have to wonder -- how can a guy who's great on TV have such a freakin' terrible radio show?

I blame it in part on the call screeners and in part to the fact that they let calls go on waaaaaaay too long. Between the caller who was asking about eating salmon bones (um, EWWW) to the woman who was looking for a restaurant for a graduation dinner for her daughter, who it seems is an accomplished gourmand at age 16 -- I would have turned the flippin' thing off, if it wasn't for the fact that I sometimes listen to podcasts to fall back asleep. I'll give it one more week before I ditch it from my podcast subscriptions.

Memorial Day Weekend Smorgasboard

2006-06-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here's what Memorial Day weekend looked like food-wise.

Sesame-Peanut Noodle Salad w/ Chicken

Open Faced Caprese Sandwich (before I put on the fresh mozz)

We finished off the weekend with some killer chicken brats from Crystal Springs Meat and Poultry, but it's hard to make a sausage look pretty - even after being poached and grilled to crispy perfection. These guys got their poach on in a bottle of Full Sail Amber. Beer and brats -- a marriage made in heaven. Unfortunately after spending half an hour at Safeway I couldn't find the damn sauerkraut -- not in the refrigerated section w/ pickles, not on the condiment aisle, so I gave up. A week later I discovered it on the canned vegetable aisle. Since when is sauerkraut a vegetable? Must have happened about the same time the gov't declared ketchup one -- hmh!

The First Signs of Life

2006-05-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

After a very long, very rainy, very black turtleneck sweater winter, Spring has finally sprung. My yard, such as it is, is finally in bloom. Strawberries are finally starting to get on track and English peas and early zucchini and yellow squash are hitting the farmers market. And there is reason to rejoice!! In celebration last week, I made pasta primavera -- everytime I make it, it starts to get more and more like fettuccini alfredo w/ some nice spring vegetables. Hey, we all need our calcium to ward off osteoporosis.

Then Spring got confused and went into overdrive. Yesterday was pleasantly warm and had people saying, "Wow, what a great day. It's so nice after such a long winter." We grilled some chicken marinated in coconut milk with a spicy/sweet soy sauce, rice vinegar glaze. And then there was today -- we had a lovely late morning breakfast outside, read the paper for a couple hours and then...by 2 p.m. it was actively hot. I'm talkin' 95 degrees hot. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - it's just got me longing for greek salads with juicy, mid-summer tomatoes...and all we've got to make do are early cherry tomatoes...sigh.

A Shadow of His Former Self -- Literally

2006-05-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ok - this has nothing to do w/ food except that Kenny Rogers has a string of "Kenny Rogers Roasters" quick serve restaurants....I saw him on American Idol a few weeks ago and thought, what the hell happened to Kenny Rogers? Today he's on Martha (gotta love the TiVo) and I'm asking myself -- plastic surgery or gastric bypass? I was in San Diego a few weeks ago and Kenny stumps for one of the Indian casinos out there -- Barona, I think (they used to have a killer buffet - mmm, butterscotch pudding) Take a look at the Barona ad and this picture -- you decide.

The DC Wrap-Up

2006-05-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

As a first timer to DC, I wasn't sure what to expect from the food scene. The only places I had heard of were Kinkead's and Signatures. Over the course of a 3 day business trip, we managed to squeeze in a good range of places including Old Ebbitt Grill, Rosa Mexicano, IndeBleu for drinks and apps, Zola for drinks, Perry's and Zaytinya.

Best Atmosphere : Perry's.
With a rooftop bar on a warm spring evening and a decent by the glass winelist (I had the Smith and Shaw Sauvignon Blanc), it narrowly beats out out the rooftop bar at the Old Washington Hotel which has an awesome view of the Washington Monument, but whose red wine by the glass was forgettable and served in a stemmed water glass. Sushi at Perry's is also solid. I wasn't wowed by my ground lamb kebab appetizer - was slightly undercooked and under seasoned.

Best Food: Zaytinya.
Zaytinya is olive oil in Turkish. A small dish of olive oil with a "Z" running through it awaits you at the table and almost immediately, the waiter brings hot, puffy pita straight from the oven. Need I say more? The hummus is made with a potent olive oil and is maybe the tastiest I've ever had.

Between three of us we ordered the hummus, a feta and watermelon salad, zucchini and cheese patties, goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves, spanakopita, lamb kebab, chicken kebab, a grilled slice of beef tenderloin, and a pizza like number with cheese. All of it was lovely and the watermelon was even flavorful and sweet -- in May, no less!

Pomegranate Goes to the Margarita

2006-05-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a very tasty pomegranate margarita I had earlier this week at Rosa Mexicano in Washington, DC, I decided I had to recreate it at home in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I'd like to think the antioxidants in the pomegranate compensated for the alcohol. Honestly, this recipe is weak sauce, so by all means kick it up a notch. It was just me and Wolf at home on Friday night, so needless to say, we didn't put down enough of these to test out multiple batches.

Pomegranate Margarita
Blend the following in a blender:

1/4 c. tequila
1/4 c. Cointreau
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
2/3 c. pomegranate juice
1 1/2 T. sugar
ice (enough to achieve frozen slushy consistency).

Region - San Diego: Simple and Tasty

2006-04-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Sometimes using OpenTable to ID restaurants in a city I haven't dined in extensively feels like a bit of a cheat. How much technology gets used in a restaurant is hardly a gauge of the quality of the ingredients or the expertise or creativity of the chef. But sometimes we find ourselves in these situations – like I did on a recent trip to San Diego. Sure, I went to college in San Diego, but then I was more likely to be at Olive Garden gorging on bottomless salad, breadsticks and pasta bowls, rather than authentic Italian fare.

So thanks to OpenTable and enough love it/hate it reviews on Chowhound, we took our chances on Region in Hillcrest, which features a "Big Night" prix fixe menu on Tuesday nights. 3 courses for $31.

On our visit--
***********************************************
Oro blanco and avocado salad
or
Weisswurst with mustard

Beef involtini with pancetta, peccorino and borlotti beans
or
Hawaiian Sunfish
or
Lamb Medallions with greens and garlic

Mocha fudge cake
or
Strawberry Shortcake
************************************************

It seemed an odd combination in any progression, but was actually quite lovely. I started w/ the grapefruit and avocado salad, followed by the beef involtini and finishing w/ the strawberry shortcake -- all accompanied by a medium bodied cab -- I think it was the Martin Ray. Was it standout preparation of fresh, organic ingredients? Would it measure up to the likes of Chez Panisse? Mmm, I can't say. I would certainly recommend it to friends and would be up for a return visit.

It was simple, it was tasty and service at the bar and in the dining room was attentive and chatty. What was standout, at least to me, was the dipping oil provided with the bread -- a mix of olive oil, green onion, and white wine or white wine vinegar.

My Taco Heaven

2006-04-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

If there's anything quintessentially San Diego, it's Mexican chow that's a happy medium between the likes of Chevy's-El Torito- [insert chain here] and the truly authentic taqueria. It's fast food that's heads and shoulders above Taco Bell and so far as I can tell, it doesn't exist anywhere north of Orange County (er, well, Ontario). And the place to get it is Roberto's.

Oh sure, there's Alberto's and Albertito's and any number of attempted facsimilies, but don't be fooled. It's Roberto's you want when you want three rolled tacos with cheese and a carne asada burrito. Crunchy, slightly greasy (but not grossly so) and filled with shredded beef, covered with cheese and a generous dab of guacamole. Mmmmm, three rolled tacos - so good, I probably should have ordered six. But - I had to have the carne asada burrito. Beef in a slightly different form factor with sauteed/grilled/cooked onions and guacamole.

Sit out side at the Solana Beach location on a sunny day and it doesn't get much better.

You Gave Corned Beef Hash A Bad Name (Bad Name)...

2006-03-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

All my experiences with corned beef hash (mostly from the likes of Denny's and on select occasions at my grandma's house) had me pretty sure it was a missed opportunity for Weird Al not to pay homage to awful, wet dog food-ish canned corned beef hash. Yeah, yeah, you're supposed to clunk it out of the can and fry it up in a pan so that it gets a crispy crust, not that it helps much.

So when St. Patty's day came on a Friday this year, I rushed home on Friday with a sixer of Fat Tire (yes, I know, an affront to Irish everywhere to be drinking a domestic microbrew on the holiday) and a cheap corned beef from Safeway. Well, by the time I got home it was past 6:30pm and that corned beef was going to take an eon to cook. Needless to say, after two hours of cooking, it reflected its roots -- crap in, crap out. It was a mediocre, tough corned beef and a mediocre hash the next day (the real reason for buying it in the first place). Wolf still said it was awesome, but I think that's because I fried up the hash in butter.

So to redeem myself, I found myself at Lunardi's and bought myself a 5lb. center cut corned beef that cost me in the neighborhood of $20. I tossed it into the slow cooker (CrockPot is soooooo '70s) with some peppercorns, garlic, a pinch of dry mustard, a few cloves and we were off to the races.

And 9 hours later....damn if that didn't make a fine corned beef! The kind you'd expect at a deli -- tender, well flavored -- and that was *before* I put it between two slices of light rye with a good slathering of whole grain mustard!

The real test came this morning -- the corned beef hash. This one shredded up into nice tender pieces and got tossed into the pan with half a medium onion (diced), about 6 small diced red potatoes and a couple of left over carrots, which I'd also tossed into the slow cooker. And with this one, my opinion of corned beef hash has been changed. No more will I sing, "Shot through the heart and you're to blame....you give corned beef hash a bad name (bad name)."

Corn Fritters - No Big Whoop

2006-02-18T09:17:00.000-08:00

Inspired by this week's Home Plates column in the Merc, I decided to try my hand at corn fritters. Theoretically they sound great -- aren't they just bigger versions of hush puppies? Three kinds of corn (creamed, niblets and cornmeal) in a batter destined for fried goodness! But based on this recipe, the one referenced in the column and alleged to be from the Green Giant test kitchens -- I'd rather have a piece of good cornbread.

The recipe itself produces puffy, toothsome fritters thanks to a full tablespoon of baking powder- but the first batch was pretty blah - so I added another 2 t. of sugar and a good sprinkle of salt. Even when you eat them straight away, they're not quite crunchy enough to be really satisfying. Maybe that was my fault w/ the frying -- though I did try some fried longer than others as you see here. I was sort of expecting that nice brown crunchy crust that develops on hash browns, but didn't really get it.

At least I got a chance to whip out the cast iron skillet. And the fried ham steak and collard greens that filled out the meal would have made any Southern cook proud (if I do say so myself).

Food and Drink

Quiche me, you fool!

2006-02-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

The '80s wasn't just about neon, jelly shoes, John Waters films and Reaganomics. It turns out the 80s also have the dubious distinction of being the decade of the Macho Man -- when “Real Men Don't Eat Quiche” debuted (1982). Luckily Wolf was only 12 when that book came out – so it seemed perfectly reasonable last night when he said to me, “Quiche is one of my favorites.”

Last night's quiche was composed thusly:

Bacon, Leek and Swiss Chard Quiche

3 slices of bacon, sliced in ¼ in. pieces, rendered
2 leeks, sliced
1 sm. bunch of chard, washed and sliced in 1 in. pieces
2 T. butter
½ c. (approx). Jarlsberg cheese, grated
4 extra large eggs at room temperature
2/3 c. 2% milk
1 frozen pie shell (not deep dish)

Preheat oven to 375. Dock the pie shell and pre-bake according to package directions (usually 7-10 minutes). Let cool.

Melt butter over medium low heat. Saute leeks until softened. Add chard – saute 2-3 minutes and then add ¼ c. of water to steam. S&P to taste.

Beat eggs, milk and cheese together. Set aside.

Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the chard-leek mixture and add to the pie shell.

Pour in the egg mixture and bake 30-35 minutes.

Food and Drink

Oh, the Horror!

2006-02-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Semi-homemade with Sandra Lee. I used to cover my ears and chant, "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.." and run from the room when Sandra Lee would come on the television on Saturday mornings smack dab in the middle of perfectly good "In the Kitchen" programming on Food Network. But now, it's like a train wreck or car crash -- I just can't look away. And with the folks on the Television Without Pity forums, I can watch each episode and the review the comments about Sandra's latest performances.

I'm all for simplifying home cooking and I'm known to use a seasoning packet or two from Lawry's, but I have my limits - and more times than not, Sandra is crossing them. Take today's debacle -- a Chinese theme...

...where Sandra made Char Siu Bao (BBQ pork buns) using refrigerated breadstick dough! Sure - ethnic ingredients aren't widely available everywhere across the country, but for the love of Chinese dumplings, they sell char siu bao frozen at Safeway - you're better off getting those and steaming them than attempting to make them out of Pillsbury Breadsticks. It's enough to put anyone off trying new things.

Having seen a couple of episodes like this - where you're not just cutting some corners, you're butchering another cuisine - I suddenly realized why no one succeeded Martha as the Queen of Domesticity while she was at Alderson (and in spite of a terrible re-tread version of the Apprentice). While we're all busy and managing careers and relationships and kids and all that -- few people want a 70% store bought, 30% fresh ingredients life. Somewhere in the equation for building the perfect Martha successor, the powers that be in publishing/television/merchandising failed to account for the fact that there's an x-factor in the Martha equation. Martha is someone to look up to (whether you do or not) and people can fantasize about a great house in Connecticut and an apartment in Manhattan and crafts and making great food and being cultured in a way that Sandy's being "just like you" (BS anyway) doesn't compute.

Rogue Chefs - Half Moon Bay

2006-01-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I was catching up on my Daily Candy reading and discovered a write up on Rogue Chefs in Half Moon Bay. Started as a catering company and now offering cooking classes, it recently expanded into offering lunch and dinner. The premise - dedication to local ingredients.

Sometimes when you start building something up in your mind, the reality of it just can't match your expectations. But all I can say is (a la Janice on Friends) -- OH -- MY -- GAWD.

We started off with the spicy pork meatballs and the warm cherries and chard and I have to say, it put all my previous efforts with chard to absolute shame. But that's why Kevin Koebel is a chef and I cook at home. It was presented in a cylinder of very light, rosemary scented pastry and topped with a parmesan tuile. Appetizers and first plates ranged from $6-12.

Entrees - I went for the gnocchi with maytag blue cheese, pine nuts, red peppers and more chard. The gnocchi were unbelieveably tender, not overworked clumps of potatoey dough as they sometimes can be. And Wolf went for the filet mignon with a rosemary-tomato coulis. Just lovely and tender -- no steak knife necessary. Prices ranged from $15-30.

In line w/ the commitment to local ingredients, the wine list leans toward the local and we chose a 2002 Clos La Chance Cabernet, which had the usual mark-up you'd expect.

Rogue Chefs is open for dinner Wednesday-Sunday and it was pretty quiet for a Thursday night - the chef's table (which seats 9 or 10) was filled when we got there around 7:30 p.m., but only 2-3 other tables were occupied. The good news (depending on how you look at it) is the sign on the door said they were already booked through the weekend.

Rogue Chefs
730 Main St.
Half Moon Bay, CA
650-712-2000

Food and Drink

Winter Wine-derland: Robert Young Estate Winery

2006-01-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about the second weekend in January is the Russian River Wine Road Association's annual Winter Wineland event. More than 100 wineries (this year) throw open their doors for wine tasting with special food pairings. In years past, we've made some amazing discoveries on the Wine Road - it's how we first found Hop Kiln (when it was still under the guidance of Dr. Marty Griffin) and his thoroughly drinkable $10 meritage wine - Marty's Big Red. Big Red is still around, but it's a different mix and Hop Kiln is now under different ownership.

This year, we were just up for the day and sampled wines from established favorites like Hanna and Armida, but we also mixed it up with some new ones -- Robert Young Estate Winery, Amphora and Papapietro Perry. The standout of the "new to us" ones was Robert Young. It had come on a recommendation from a couple we chatted with at an Armida event in the summer. We'd bought a bottle of Robert Young Chardonnay, but hadn't broken it open. The two wines they were serving -- the 2003 Alexander Valley Chardonnay and the 2001 Robert Young Scion (a Bordeaux blend) -- were both excellent, with price points that reflected the estate pedigree of the wines. Fair disclosure, we were told both wines were available in stores, but I couldn't stop myself from buying a couple of bottles at the winery and I did pay a premium for them.

They were also tasting the 1999 and 2000 Scions in their cave, which were remarkably different and showed how the Scion was apt to age. The 2000 was less fruity and the 1999 definitely had an earthiness to it. In the end, I preferred the current vintage, but it was interesting to see how it would develop as we were told the Scion could hold for 10 or more years.

The Winter Wineland event is just the first of the year on the "Wine Road." Next stop is Barrel Tasting the first week of March.

Chicken Tetrazzini - A Work in Progress

2006-01-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

Tetrazzini of any kind is usually associated with turkey leftovers -- and that's how I had it for the first time this past Thanksgiving. So what possessed me, just two months after turkey overload to attempt tetrazzini? Well, when you get down to it - what's not to love? It basically starts with a roux and some sauteed mushrooms and noodles and turkey. It's practically mac and cheese without the gobs of cheddar (parmesan provides the cheesy goodness). And depending on who you ask, it could be thickened with anything from a standard roux to low-fat sour cream to even a can of cream of chicken soup (never gonna happen in my kitchen). I really was looking for a low fat recipe after seeing Giada de Laurentiis' version included 9 T. of butter and whole milk and heavy cream. But I compromised somewhere in the middle...

Using Sara Moulton's Gourmet Mag recipe as a guide. Since I didn't have what was left of a 15 lb. turkey on hand, I opted to saute a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned with S&P and a sprinkle of time.

Started off sauteing the mushrooms in about 3T. of butter.

Then added the flour and cooked away the flouryness for 2-3 minutes and then added the milk, chicken broth and white wine in a stream (see - just like mac & cheese!). And just like when I make mac and cheese, I ended up with more noodles and chicken than sauce -- so sue me - I don't always measure pasta when I cook it! And this time, I didn't measure the chicken either.

I'll post the recipe after I give this another shot and get the amount of sauce I really wanted. The upside of that was a nice brown crunchy crust on top since the sauce didn't soak up the bread crumb and parm mixture.