Happy New Year's Eve!

The last couple of weeks have been full of partying and entertaining. Tonight we decided to stay home and have a nice quiet dinner for two.

A few years ago, Joe & Jeri gave us a bottle of Dom Perignon that we have been saving for a special occasion. We decided that tonight was special enough - why not? It was incredible!

When Sarah, Jeff & Marco were here we went to lunch at the Cave. One of the small plates we all enjoyed was a three cheese macaroni. I searched online for a recipe and the first one that popped up was from David Walzog. David is the chef at SW Steakhouse at the Wynn in Las Vegas. I worked for him last year at Wolfgang Puck's Food & Wine Festival at Universal Studios. My short search was over - I would try his recipe: Cook finely chopped onions in olive oil until softened, add milk and continue to simmer. In another pan combine melted butter with flour until lightly brown. Gradually whisk the simmering milk into the flour mixture until smooth. Bring the sauce to a simmer, whisk until thick and bubbling. Stir in Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Add white Cheddar cheese, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheese. Fold in cooked macaroni (I used penne) until coated with the sauce. Spread the macaroni in an ovenproof dish. Melt butter, toss in breadcrumbs and more Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the crumbs over the macaroni and bake for about 25 minutes.

I served the mac and cheese with Lobster Poached in Butter and sauteed spinach.

And for dessert - creme brulee: In a saucepan, bring heavy cream, vanilla and orange zest to a simmer. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl for several minutes until the yolks are thick and a pale yellow. In a very slow stream stir the hot cream into the egg mixture. Strain the custard through a sieve to remove orange zest and any lumps that may have formed. Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and pour the custard into the ramekins. Place the baking pan in the oven and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the tops are set, but the custard in the center is still soft to the touch. Refrigerate the ramekins for at least 4 hours. Top the custards with sugar and melt with a blowtorch until caramelized. If you don't have a blowtorch you can place the ramekins under the broiler.

John with an industrial blowtorch, no sissy creme brulee torch for him!
Happy New Year!!

My blogging resolution is to be more diligent in my picture taking and to cook new and exciting recipes that will still fit into our "Exercise More, Eat Less Plan".

We wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2009 filled with delectable food and drink.

Making Sausage

Our Christmas gift to Jeff was a meat grinder, sausage stuffer and sausage cookbook. So, of course, Jeff and I had to make ...sausage! Our first step was to buy the casings (hog intestines). While John, Sarah and Marco went to visit Grandma Ila, Jeff & I went shopping at the Mexican market. I warned Jeff that this would be an adventure. Not many of the employees speak English so we went armed with a written translation for sausage casings. Didn't work, it's one of those terms that does not translate literally - like horseradish! After being shuttled from one department to another we finally got our casings "tripa por el chorizo". While we were waiting we had time to view their incredible meat case. Every piece of the animal is used. In the meat case we saw beef cheeks, lips, tongues, feet (with or without skin) and because it was Christmas, whole cow heads!

We decided to make two kinds of sausage - Spicy Hot Italian Sausage and Kielbasa. Jeff began by cutting the pork shoulder and pork fat into long strips. The meat for the Italian sausage was seasoned with Sambuca, anise seeds, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. For the Kielbasa, chopped garlic, kosher salt, dry marjoram, black pepper, dry mustard and ground coriander. Next the seasoned meat is fed through the grinder - fine grind for the Italian and coarse for the Kielbasa:

We made a small sausage patty and cooked in a skillet to taste for seasoning.

The hog casings are packed in salt and need to be rinsed:Next a long piece of the casing is slid onto to the sausage attachment:Now the fun begins! Stuffing the sausage is a two person job - one to push the meat mixture through the hopper and the other to feed into the casing. It is hysterical!No hands left for drinking wine, so John steps into the galley to keep the cooks hydrated:We're just having too much fun:
The peanut gallery: Our finished product:

We put some sausage on the bbq, sauteed peppers and onions and dinner is served - along with some homemade rustic bread, of course:

Christmas Continues with Sarah, Jeff & Marco

Sarah, Jeff & Marco arrived Christmas night at 11:00. Marco, as always, was all smiles.The next day Sarah & Jeff's college friends Jayme & Beck came to the boat for Christmas dinner. John cooked a delicious meal - Caesar Salad and Shrimp Scampi Linguine - and wouldn't you know it I forgot to take pictures. I made a Tiramisu for dessert.Trying on Bobby's hat for size:After Marco made a few phone calls he was ready to open presents:


Jayme reads Marco a bedtime story:Beck decides it's much too early to go to bed (looks like Marco agrees):Sarah cuddled up in the blanket I made for her - it only took four years, okay maybe five:
The next morning - "Wake up Nuhna, Ahda is making breakfast."


Marco loved the sourdough waffles:

Christmas Day

Ma, Laura and Dad came over early Christmas morning for breakfast (Sausage, eggs, hash browns and cheesy biscuits) and to open our stockings. Laura made this beautiful tablecloth for me - a second place winner at the Ventura County Fair!
Laura with one of her gifts:Sarah, Jeff & Marco weren't arriving until late tonight, so we postponed our Christmas dinner until tomorrow. Ma building her Christmas taco:
Dad whooped us severely in Monopoly:

John & Laura got revenge when they challenged him to a game of Rummikub:

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Curtis & Bonnie, Mike & Linda, Dave & Kim, Ma, Laura and Dad. On the menu - French Dip Sandwiches, French Fries and lots of Christmas sweets.

My pals Bonnie & Kim showering me with kisses for helping beat the guys in Catch Phrase. Final score - Girls 2, Guys 1!!

Parade of Lights-Saturday Night

Joining us for the second night of the parade - Curt & Carolyn and Jack & Carol:My lame attempt at taking a picture of the parade:Curt, Jack and Carol:We were having way too much and I forgot to take food pictures again. Here are a few I took the next day. We had a tomato, cucumber, red onion, black olive and basil salad; Red Lasange; Mushroom Lasange; Veal Meatballs in Caramelized Onion Sauce; rustic bread (I think it was my best effort to date!):


Lasagne with Meat Sauce:

I made homemade pasta sheets for the lasagne. When I was layering the lasagne I swore I would use the no-bake noodles the next time, it was just such a pain dealing with the boiling hot pasta. But when we tasted the lasagne it was so worth the hassle - delicious! The sauce was made by sauteing chopped celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Then adding ground beef and Italian sausage and cooking until brown. Next add red wine and cook until evaporated. Add canned chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh oregano and dried Italian seasoning. Simmer for about an hour and don't forget Mama's secret ingredient - a dash of cinnamon. The lasagne was layered with sauce, pasta sheets, fresh ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella, pasta, sauce, cheese, repeat, repeat, repeat and bake until bubbly and edges are crusty.

Mushroom Lasagne:

The sauce is made with finely chopped (in a food processor) mushrooms, I used white and baby bellas, sauteed in butter. I also added soaked and chopped dried porcini and some of the soaking liquid. Cook for about 10 minutes then add heavy cream and cook for another 15 minutes. The lasagne is layered with the sauce, pasta and Parmesan cheese.

And if that wasn't fattening enough - for dessert we had bread pudding:

This recipe is from one of my former cooking school classmates. Coat the bottom of a casserole with melted butter and brown sugar. Soak a loaf of cubed french bread (I used some of my panettone and raisin bread) in sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, egg yolks, cinnamon and Frangelico (I used Galliano - Kahlua would be good). Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour.

Parade of Lights-Friday Night

On hand to watch the parade with us - Ryan, Bobby, Linda, Ma, John, Kathy, Laura and Dennis:

And Tara, Taj (what a sweetheart & such a good baby) and Tim:

I forgot to take pictures of the food, except for these Snickerdoodles I made for my sister:

We also served Sliders, Mini-Mac & Cheese, Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings and Mini Cheesecakes.

For the sliders we made small (1 1/2 ounce) beef patties, seasoned with onion powder and season salt. For the buns we used small dinner rolls with the centers cut out so the burgers wouldn't be too bready. Topped with cheddar cheese and served with Thousand Island dressing and pickle chips.

Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings:

Chicken wings tossed with garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, sesame oil and chile paste. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes. Transfer wings to serving platter and top with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Snickerdoodles:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Form dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 18 minutes.

Biscotti

Biscotti is an Italian hard cookie designed for dunking into wine or coffee. The two types I baked this year were Anise with Sambuca and Dried Cranberry with Almonds and Galliano.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, beat in eggs, vanilla and liqueur. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in seeds, nuts and/or dried fruit. Roll the dough into a log, about 12 inches long. Bake at 350 until golden brown and firm. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Cut the log into 3/4 inch slices. Bake, turning halfway through cooking, until firm and crisp, about 30 minutes.

Panettone

I have been on a mission to make Panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas bread, to give as gifts for my dock neighbors. My online search for recipes turned up these comments, "Panettone is not a bread for the faint of heart", "Panettone is tricky and requires an investment of time and money", and "Don't lose heart after the first, inevitable failures, because it's a difficult bread to make". What was I getting myself in to?

My first attempt was a recipe I found online. I knew from the beginning it wasn't going to be successful, the consistency of the dough just didn't seem right. But since this was my first try I decided to follow the recipe exactly. Well it was a disaster and went straight into the trash! The next recipe I tried was from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It came out okay but wasn't as light as I had hoped. This loaf went into the freezer and I used it later to make a bread pudding. On my third attempt I wrote my own recipe combining parts of the last recipe with Nancy Silverton's raisin bread recipe and it came out pretty darn good. A couple of more tweaks and it would be perfect. Then I realized my plan might be a bit ambitious - how could I possibly make 12 loaves of bread, in my galley, all in one day??? Looks like my neighbors will be getting biscotti again this year!

It was fun to make and I will definitely try again next Christmas.

Panettone wants to cave in on itself when it comes out of the oven. Hanging it upside down for several hours prevents this. I inserted skewers through the paper molds along the bottom, before filling with the dough:

Combine starter, milk, all-purpose flour and yeast. Cover with plastic, ferment at room temperature for four hours then refrigerate overnight. Soak overnight - raisins, candied fruit (I would replace this next time with dried fruit), Grand Marnier, orange extract and vanilla. Mix together starter mixture, flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs and butter. Let rise for about 2 hours. Put the dough into the Panettone molds and let rise another 2 hours. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Grilled Tangerine Chicken Salad

Tonight I used two new ingredients that I bought last week when we were visiting Sarah & Jeff. They took us to some fun stores in Berkeley. One was Stonehouse Olive Oil where we tasted different olive oils, I bought a tangerine flavored oil. Another great store was NapaStyle where I bought a sea salt sampler that included lemon thyme, apricot, heirloom tomato, lime flake and tangerine salts. So with the two new tangerine ingredients I made this salad:


I marinated the boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the tangerine olive oil then cooked them quickly on a grill pan. I tossed arugula, spinach and tangerine segments in a vinaigrette (fresh tangerine juice, fresh lime juice, tangerine olive oil and salt & pepper), topped with the sliced chicken and a sprinkling of the tangerine finishing salt.

I'm trying to cook light this week to balance out last Sunday's steak & ravioli dinner!