Tarragon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Tarragon Vinegar

I have been really enjoying this lately on all of my salads but especially on breakfast or brunch salads. 

This first step is to make tarragon vinegar.  And the first step for that is to grow some tarragon.  Make sure it is French tarragon, not Russian, according to my best sources.  Cut a sprig of tarragon and put it in a jar or bottle of vinegar.  I tried both red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar this year.  So far, I think I like the red wine vinegar best.  For interest, add a clove of garlic and/or a red pepper to the mix.  Let stand until the flavor of the herb is extracted by the  vinegar (maybe 2 weeks, or so), then use like vinegar to make vinaigrette.

For the dressing, I mix tarragon vinegar and olive oil about 50:50 (just by eye), add salt, ground pepper, about 1/4 tsp ground mustard, and about 1/4 tsp garlic salt.  Sometimes I do this in a small serving pitcher and stir up with a fork but it works very well in a jelly jar or other seal-able jar which can be shaken.  That's it; it's great.

If you have a crop of tarragon and some small fancy bottles, a bottle of tarragon vinegar makes a nice present and probably has more visual appeal than my canning jars.

Christmas eating

Who-boy, have we been eating well and plenty lately!  We decided to have a big Christmas Eve dinner this year and then take things easy for Christmas dinner itself.  We invited our friends Irena and Dusan and their two kids, plus Irena's sister over for Christmas Eve dinner.  I wanted to "go all out" and so we planned a menu of

-Arugula and roasted red pepper salad with red onion and a red wine vinegar dressing.  Aleks roasted the peppers on the grill. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chopped-Arugula-Salad-230965)

- Lamb loin chops with a shallot, garlic, bread crumbs and balsamic vinegar crust held on with mustard and then grilled to perfection! (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rack-of-Lamb-with-Caramelized-Shallot-and-Thyme-Crust-13454 - adapted for our lamb chops)

-Lasagna bolognese - (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lasagne-Bolognese-with-Spinach-351166)  the best lasagna I've ever had.  A bolognese sauce of sauted carrots, onions, and celery with ground beef, cooked down with white wine and milk, a spinach ricotta filling, and homemade pasta.  I subbed in blended cottage cheese for about 1/4-1/3 of the ricotta.

Mila and Will worked together to make the pasta

The extra dough was made into fettuccine.









-Roasted carrots and fennel - one of my favorite side dishes.  A lovely blending of flavors and it takes only about 5 minutes of pret. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Fennel-and-Baby-Carrots-231805)

- Cranberry eggnog cheesecake with gingersnap crust for dessert.

Oh my goodness - it was good.

Christmas Day breakfast was sausage gravy and biscuits plus coffee and mimosas.

Christmas Day dinner was leftovers from the night before.  Another delicious meal, but we got to take it easy all afternoon.  Perfect!

Tonight we made beef wellingtons, which we had originally planned for Christmas dinner.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-Wellingtons-with-Gorgonzola-14632

We didn't spring for the filet mignon, but got some NY strip instead.  Sauted a shallot with some garlic, added some sherry and mushrooms and cooked until it was time for Suzie's bath.  I seared the beef, then wrapped it in puff pastry with the mushrooms and some gorgonzola.  Seriously 10 min of work, but oh my god, was it good!  I chopped my mushrooms up into tiny pieces, since I don't like mushrooms, and it worked out great - I still got to enjoy the flavor without having that feeling of eating mushrooms.  We served it with a salad and fresh bread - gratuitous perhaps, but it was fresh homemade bread... Leftover pecan pie for dessert.

Molly heads back to Tucson tomorrow and from there on to PA and it's time for us to get back to normal eating.  I'm looking forward to 10 bean soup made with turkey broth from Thanksgiving at some point in the next few days, and sausage and sauerkraut for New Year's.  We're heading up to LA with Irena and Dusan + kids and meeting up with Brandon Kelly (who married us) and his new wife Alyssa for what I'm sure will be another delicious, but likely simpler and lighter, meal.  I'm planning on taking fresh bread, since as far as I can tell any meal that involves fresh homemade bread is a good one.

We feel incredibly lucky to have such beautiful food and wonderful people with whom we get to share it.

-Maggie

Christmas Breakfast

December 24, 2012

Sunflower Sprouts

I know we're a day early but we're planning to be on the road tomorrow morning and breakfast this morning just kind of morphed into a pretty fancy meal.  I was picking our first batch of (sort of) successful sunflower sprouts and Jo decided to make sweet potato fries.  We were thinking of poached eggs and at the same time were trying to empty perishables out of the 'fridge.  A recent convert to poached eggs, Jo has been experimenting with poached eggs on X, also usually termed "X eggs Benedict" (tho' we generally don't use Hollandaise sauce).  She decided to try poached egg on spinach and feta, which Mom chose also.  She also offered another recent invention, "College Student Eggs Bene", essentially an inverted tuna melt (cheese on the bottom) covered in Sriracha hot sauce and topped with a poached egg, which I went for.

Radish Sprouts Coming Along

Meanwhile, the morning was cold , 24 degrees, with a hard frost.  I went out to the garden and picked a double handful of frost covered baby beet greens then assembled a salad of a little bit of left over leaf lettuce, the remainder of the spinach, baby beet greens, sunflower sprouts, sliced white mushrooms, and half a can of black olives left in the 'fridge, topped with some new radish sprouts which are just coming along.  Served it with the new fave, tarragon vinaigrette.   So, Christmas Eve Day with a breakfast salad including three fresh picked home grown ingredients.

Slava dinner

Happy Winter Solstice!  Our Slava (Serbian patron saint day.) was officially Wednesday (the Stanics lucked out and got St. Nicolas, Dec 19th on the Serbian calendar), but we're not having our party until tomorrow (Sat).  We go a bit all-out for Slava, aka, Aleks refuses to say "no" to anything, in the Serbian spirit of overfeeding anyone who comes to the house all day long.  It's really the one party that we actually host, instead of having as a potluck, each year.

The current menu includes:

Beef round tip roast - approximately 1 lb/person - and there will be 20 people here, 6 of them children
Caramelized onion, butternut squash, and goat cheese tarts
Three cheese scalloped potatoes
Bulgur with apricots and other dried fruit, and probably nuts
Cranberry apple sauce
Coley Ward's kale salad - the one with all the ginger that he brought to Thanksgiving last year
Pecan pies

Mmm, mmm.  Wish us luck getting it all cooked tomorrow!

-Maggie

Sticky Buns

I'll be honest, these aren't the sticky buns that Mom always made. This is a recipe that Maggie sent me a few years ago, and I've been making them ever since. They always turn out pretty incredibly in my humble opinion. I love the lemon zest in the buns! You can't skip that. Enjoy!

Sticky Buns

6 1/2 Tbsp (3.25 oz) granulated sugar
1 tsp (.25 oz) salt
5 1/2 Tbsp (2.75 oz) shortening or unsalted butter or margarine (I use butter)
1 large (1.65 oz) egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp (.1 oz) grated zest of 1 lemon 
3 1/2 c (16 oz) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 tsp (.22 oz) instant yeast
1 1/8 c to 1 1/4 c (9 to 10 oz) whole milk or buttermilk OR 3 Tbsp (1oz) powdered milk and 1 cup (8 oz) water
1/2 c (4 oz) cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon)
 
Caramel Glaze for Sticky Buns
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lb unsalted butter
1/2 c corn syrup
1 tsp lemon, orange, or vanilla extract (I always use vanilla)

For Sticky Buns

Cream the butter, salt, and sugar.   Mix in egg and lemon zest.  Beat in flour, yeast, and milk and beat or knead until dough is tacky, but not sticky, has an internal temp of 77-81 degrees, and passes the windowpane test (hold a small piece of dough up, and gently stretch it.  It should become very thin and translucent without breaking.)  Let dough rise in an oiled bowl, covered with an oiled piece of plastic wrap until it doubles in size - approximately 2 hours.  Punch dough down, role into a rectangle 12 X 14 inches sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, roll up and slice.  

For glaze

Beat together all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread in the bottom of a 9X13 inch pan.  

Assembly 
Place cinnamon roles on top of glaze, and cover with oiled plastic wrap.  Let rise at room temp for 75-90 minutes (or let rise, then place in refrigerator overnight.  Let sit out for an hour before baking.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Happy baking,

Molly

Ham and Split Pea Soup

Dad this one is primarily directed at you, but I am always open to everyone else' ideas too.
I'm sure this isn't too hard, but how about that split pea soup recipe that you had leftovers of last time we had lunch together.  I saw all the Christmas hams in the store today and thought of how good that soup was and started getting excited.
Thanks
Andy

Sticky-icky-icky

Alright.  The lazy kitchen manager at the coffee shop don't get sticky buns.  She's giving it an honest try, but she just isn't there.  I need some help here.  Molly, Maggie...An hints for altitude would be appreciated too.
Andy

Roasted Garbonzos and Chard. Seriously, try this at home...

This one comes to us from Bon Appetit, once again.  Man those guys really nail it sometimes.   I serve this over rice.  I also throw in any extra veggies I have, tonight I used carrots in the roast and extra mushrooms in the sauté.  Also used old wilty kale instead of chard, either way, a hit.  Lastly, to make it vegetarian, substitute veggie broth for chicken stock.  Don't skimp on the garlic, and an extra fennel seed or two won't hurt.  Enjoy.  Andy.  Lastly (really this time) don't grab your roasting pan, a cast iron skillet in my case, after it comes out of the oven unless you have a pot holder, figured that one out the hard way.   Guess I'm not check steamed milk temps with my left hand tomorrow.
Andy

Garbanzo Beans:

• 2 15.5-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained (about 3 cups)
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 large shallots
• 3 small bay leaves, preferably fresh
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Chard:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
• 3 small bay leaves, preferably fresh
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 bunches Swiss chard, center stems cut out, leaves coarsely torn
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth

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preparation

Garbanzo beans:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 5 ingredients in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour oil over; cover dish with foil. Roast until garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.

Chard:
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, bay leaves, and shallots. Cover; cook until shallots are tender, about 2 minutes. Uncover; add half of chard. Toss until chard wilts and volume is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add remaining chard. Toss until chard wilts, about 2 minutes. Add broth. Cover and cook until chard is tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season chard with salt and pepper. Transfer chard mixture to large sieve set over bowl and drain. DO AHEAD: Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Drain garbanzos and reserve oil; discard bay leaves. Combine garbanzos and chard in large skillet. Add 2 tablespoons oil reserved from garbanzos. Toss over medium heat until warmed through, moistening with more oil by tablespoonfuls if needed, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Garbanzo-Beans-and-Garlic-with-Swiss-Chard-241110#ixzz2FB6pqQHT

Dinner for Teenagers

I'm having my officers and section leaders over for dinner on Wednesday night to thank them for all their hard work this semester.  They are ridiculously excited to see my house and to eat "free food."  This gives me a good kick in the butt to get my house cleaned, which is good.

However, I need to come up with something to make.  I'll have three teenage boys and five girls over.  We have a gig earlier in the afternoon, so I won't have all day to cook, but I should have enough time.  The kids say they aren't picky (I've noticed recently that they really do just inhale almost anything).

This is where you come in...what should I make these kiddos?  One thought I had was chicken parm with salad and garlic bread.  A downside to that is that most won't be sitting at a table to eat and that could be tricky.  I also saw that ham is on sale for a good price this week, so I had considered making ham and potatoes or something.  Oh or maybe I should just make my ridiculously bad for you mac n cheese.  Anywho, any ideas??

Also, it will be the birthday of one of the kids, so if you had a dynamite cake recipe I need to try, let me know.

Molly

Swiss Chard

OK, I am the first to admit that in the middle of summer with the garden whizzing along producing more vegetables than we can eat every night, I don't think much about the Swiss chard at the end of the row.  But come December with the rest of the row turned under by the tiller that chard starts to look pretty good.  Today, I went to the store to buy salad makings for dinner.  When I got home and was taking the bag in from the truck, I just took a walk out to the garden and was able to cut enough young chard leaves from the center of the plants for tonight's veg.  Chopped, lightly steamed, and dressed with tarragon garlic vinegar (tarragon and garlic from the garden), it was a wonderful, fresh, green addition to a near-solstice dinner.  Can't beat that: fresh greens from the garden on 12-12-12.

Beets with goat cheese

I'm not a big beet person.  But, we keep getting them in our CSA box, so I keep looking for new ways to eat them.  We went to a birthday party for one of the kids in Will's preschool today.  Definitely not my idea of how I wanted to spend a weekend afternoon, especially a weekend in December, but Aleks is a big believer in being sociable and friendly and all that stuff.  We were pleasantly surprised when we showed up to a low key party that included beer, and it turned out that the kid's mom made a bunch of food herself and she's a really good cook.

One of the dishes on the table was a beet salad.  It included watercress, I think, and cheve, and I really enjoyed it.  Later, while putting away groceries and making dinner, I discovered some roasted beets sitting in our fridge (I roasted them last week maybe, in an - apparently now successful - attempt to get us to eat them.)  Aleks sliced an orange to see if it was any good, and it was nice and juicy.  And we had some cheve sitting in our cheese drawer.  So, I decided to test this idea that goat cheese is good with beets.  Sliced up the beets, squeezed an orange over top, and added some little lumps of cheve.  It was really good!  I could take or leave the orange juice, but the cheese and the roasted beets go really well together.  I would recommend it and would be interested to hear of any variations and additions you come up with.

-Maggie

Lets talk turkey

Alright, so who did what?  I brined mine, and it was awesome.  It was good enough to win over my most skeptic, biggest critic, Ben.  He thought I was foolish to cook a bird at 500 degrees for half and hour, and then put on the "turkey triangle," and triangular piece of tin foil which protects the breast meat.  So 48 hours after starting the brine making process, it was time to test the theory, it worked.  I cooked for 6 people, one of which was a professional chef and former fine-dining restaurant owner, and all agreed it was the best bird they'd had...ever...After all that, it still seems pretty white and northern, so I'm excited to hear about what the rest of you did, since your other halves are of somewhat southern descent.