How to Cut a Head of Cauliflower into Florets

We are all creatures of habit, don't you think?

Tom and I lived on a ten acre farm from 1996 to 2006. During that time, we raised ducks, chickens, sheep and cats. Each had their own little habits.

The ducks would start wandering away from the pond about 10:00am each morning, traveling up the right side of the lane to our circular driveway and make their way around the circle from right to left, never left to right. By late afternoon, they'd continue to meander down the right side of the lane back to the pond for the night.

We'd open the door to the chicken coop every morning and out they'd come, one by one, heading for the berry bushes, pecking at the insects in the grass. They'd scratch and peck at the ground around the berries from one end of each row to another all day long, occasionally making their way through the grass along side the driveway. But as soon as one of us made a move to head for the coop, they were off and running behind us, knowing it was time for the scratch we'd throw on the ground. Even on those days when we weren't home in time for the nightly ritual, we'd arrive to find them in coop waiting for their nightly scratch.

The sheep were equally rooted in their habitual behaviors. They were enclosed in a four acre pasture by a wood and wire fence. Every day they would graze all over the pasture, making their way randomly from one end to the other, always staying close to each other. Rarely did one stray from the flock to the opposite side of the pasture. By days end, they'd always be grazing at the end of the pasture furthest from their shelter and as the sun began to set, they would make their way back to the shelter one at a time, led by one of the rams, on a path they'd worn through the middle of the pasture. They always marched, single file, on that path.

We humans do things over and over almost exactly the same way, never thinking there might be an easier, more convenient or less time consuming method. Or at least I do.

Take cauliflower, for example. I would always cut off the leaves and stem, then, one by one, cut off each floret. A time consuming job at best. Then, a while back, I saw a chef break down a whole head of cauliflower into florets in about 2 minutes. Huh?? Why didn't I know this before?

So, here, just for you, I have a tutorial on the fastest and easiest way cut a head of cauliflower into florets.

You're welcome...

There you have it. In less than five minutes, you can break down a whole head of cauliflower into beautiful florets. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to buy frozen cauliflower florets ever again.

I cut mine into smaller pieces to make this Cauliflower Salad and steamed them for 7 minutes, no longer. For the larger florets, you would steam them about 9 minutes. That's even faster than your microwave!

Break a habit. Give this method a whirl.

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew with Homemade Spaetzle

I know that I have been AWOL since before Thanksgiving, but I have a really good excuse. I've been sick since the day after Thanksgiving. Nothing life threatening. Just a very bad cold. But when you're old like me, a cold can really take its toll on your body.

I'm finally on the road to recovery and cooking.

We've had lots of rain since October and November, so I've been craving comfort foods like soups, chowders and stews, all of which have been on the menu at least twice a week.

Rather than serve the stews with just crusty bread on the side, I decided to use this spaetzle maker that had not seen the outside of my kitchen cabinet since it arrived in the mail a year ago and try the simple spaetzle recipe posted on Elly Says Opa! It is so easy, fast and delicious. It's actually faster than boiling dried noodles....and a whole lot tastier.

After removing the spaetzle from the boiling water, I strained it and put it in a frying pan with a little butter and chopped parsley. This batch browned a little, but it was still delicious and perfect with the stew.



The marsala wine adds just the right touch of sweetness to accent the flavor of the sweet potatoes.



Beef and Sweet Potato Stew

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, finely minced
1 cup Marsala wine
4 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

To season and coat the meat:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked hot paprika

Put all the beef seasoning/coating ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a whisk, then transfer to a large zip-lock type bag. Add the beef chunks to the bag, close the bag securely and shake until all the beef chunks are evenly coated. Remove the beef chunks from the bag to a plate or bowl, shaking off excess flour. Set aside. Discard flour mixture.

In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, rosemary and thyme and gently saute until the onions are tender and translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one more minute, being careful not to brown or burn the garlic.

Turn up the heat to medium high and add the coated beef chunks to the pot. Cook until the beef is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the Marsala wine and beef broth to the pot, making sure to stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring the stew to a full boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and simmer the stew for one hour.

After an hour, add the sweet potato chunks to the pot, cover and simmer on low heat for another hour.

Keep stew warm while making the spaetzle.

Spaetzle
Adapted from Elly Says Opa!

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (I always use freshly grated whole nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter butter
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 teaspoons of the salt. Reduce to a gentle boil/simmer.

Using a whisk, mix the flour, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Add the eggs/milk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Secure the spaetzle maker over the simmering water and position the basket portion in the middle of the spaetzle maker. Add the dough to the basket and gently move the basket back and forth over the grater base. The dough will be thin enough to be forced through the grater base with the back and forth action and drop into the simmering water. Continue until all the dough is used. Cook just a few minutes until the spaetzle are done and rise to the surface. Lift the spaetzle out with a mesh strainer or slotted spoon.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the spaetzle. Stir to coat the spaetzle and cook about 2 minutes or until they start to get a little color. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.

It's Final

There's no going back. The menu is committed to MS Word and printed, with lovely graphics of course.

For appetizers, bite-sized Asian Turkey Meatballs. I found this recipe at Gina's Skinny Recipes and loved them. I made them for the first time and posted the results in March 2010. I've made them many times since then, both for appetizer and entree.

To keep things simple, we will steam some shrimp and serve it with a quick and Remoulade Sauce.

I was going to keep the appetizers down to only two, but I've been wanting to try Suzanne's Cranberry Salsa, so I put that on the appetizer menu as well.

The turkey is in a cooler in the garage submerged in apple cider. Tom will make the stuffing in the morning, but tonight he's going to prepare the mashed potatoes, refrigerate them overnight in a casserole dish and we'll warm them in the oven tomorrow just before dinner.

The turkey giblets will be thrown in a pot of water with some onion, carrot and celery to be simmered all day on the stove. That wonderful turkey stock will be used for my gravy.

Instead of the traditional overly sweet candied sweet potatoes or sweet potato pudding, I'm going to roast chunks of fresh sweet potato with a little butter and a touch of pure maple syrup.

Fresh green beans will not be in the form of a casserole. They will be cooked until just done with bacon and butter. Simple, easy, delicious. I don't know why I never thought of cooking them that way, but I guess you have to have the vast experience of the chef who introduced me to them ~ my niece's husband, who is a chef and culinary instructor in southern California.

We may not have green bean in casserole form, but we will have casseroles of sorts. First, my son Mike's recipe for Cauliflower Gratin, which combines cauliflower with cream and copious amounts of Parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheeses for one of the best gratins I've ever eaten.

The second casserole is Marie's Parmesan Roasted Onions. To. Die. For. Honestly.

I don't like canned cranberry sauce. But I saw David Hahn, a filmmaker, on some cooking show a few years back promoting Cranberry Fool, a cranberry topping that he and his wife use to make and gave as gifts. Since he was trying sell his new product, he didn't give the recipe, but the ingredients are listed on the jar: cranberries, cherries, currants, raisins, vanilla and NO SUGAR, although I do add about 1/2 cup. How hard is that? I think his product contains fresh cherries, but we obviously can't get them year round, so I use dried cherries. I've made it ever since in place of cranberry sauce and I've even added candied jalapenos and served it over cream cheese as an appetizer. Pretty darn yummy...and I don't care for cream cheese.

We cannot have Thanksgiving dinner without rolls. I found the recipe for Sweet Potato Buttermilk Dinner Rolls at Pinch My Salt in 2008 and made them for Thanksgiving that year, too. They are absolutely delicious.

Finally, for dessert I am making Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake that I saw at The Pastry Affair. The recipe calls for 3 teaspoons of espresso powder, but I already know I'm probably going to use a little bit more.

Here's the menu in a more formal state:

I have a lot of prep work to do, so I better get started. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday weekend filled with fun, love and good food! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Candied Jalapenos and My Thanksgiving Menu

In my last post I said I would post the recipe for the candied jalapenos that I used in the Vietnamese Slaw and on the Pork Banh Mi Sandwich. We love these at our house. We use them for everything, from salsa to topping sandwiches. I took a jar to my son's house and they were a hit there as well. I've known folks who just chop up a few, mix them with cream cheese and serve it on crackers.

The recipe is the lazy person's method and has only three ingredients: a jar of pickled jalapenos, sugar and a touch of alum (which is optional). No picking jalapenos from the garden. No slicing. That's all done for you.

I buy the pickled jalapenos in the 64-oz. jar, so that's the amount I will use for the recipe. If you decided to use a smaller jar, just reduce the amount of sugar and alum by the same ratio.

You should keep the Candied Jalapenos in the refrigerator. Fair warning: they won't last long!

Candied Jalapenos

• 1 - 64-oz. jar pickled jalapenos
• 2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon alum

Drain the liquid from the jar of peppers into a non-reactive pan. Add the sugar to the pan with the liquid and bring the mixture to a full boil. The sugar she be completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in alum. Allow the liquid to cool for 30 minutes.

Pour the cooled liquid back into the jar with the peppers. Do not allow to overflow. If there is any liquid remaining in the pan, discard it. Screw the lid back on the jar and refrigerate for a few days. Keep refrigerated.

That's it. I told you it was the lazy person's method.

Now, I'm already planning for Thanksgiving dinner. I think Tom's sister and brother-in-law will be coming, depending on their travel schedule, but whether we have company or not, we will have the traditional roast turkey, stuffing and gravy.

It's the rest of the meal I'd like to change up some.

Let's start with appetizers. First of all, I will make mini-sized Asian Turkey Meatballs. And a few days I saw a recipe for Baked Brie Bites @ Plain Chicken and I think I'd like to give those a whirl sometime before Thanksgiving, but they sound yummy without all of fuss of an En Croute.

The main course will, of course, be roast turkey, but I will put it in an apple cider brine the day before. The bird will be stuffed with a traditional bread stuffing, but Tom likes to add some fruit as well, like chopped apples and dates, along with the onions and celery. When we put the bird in the oven, I put the giblets and neck in a pot of water with some onion, carrot and celery and, when we are ready to serve, I make a gravy with the rich turkey broth.

I feel like switching up the side dishes this year. We usually make the traditional mashed potatoes, but I made Parisian Potatoes last month and I think I'll make them instead of mashed potatoes this year.


Not wanting to stray too far away from the traditional, green beans will still be on the menu, but not in the form of a casserole. A few years ago at a family reunion, my niece's husband made the tastiest green beans I've ever eaten. The dish consisted of simply fresh green beans, crisped bacon and butter, all of which were cooked together until the green beans were tender. Amazing.

A couple of years ago, I visited Marie @ Proud Italian Cook and copied her recipe for Parmesan Roasted Onions. They are rich, savory, creamy and delicious. And even if I'm the only one who eats them, they will be served Thanksgiving Day.

It's hard to decide what to do with a sweet potato. I'm not fond of the overly sweet candied sweet potato, nor do I care for the grated sweet potato casserole I've made the last 3 or 4 years. I'm thinking of roasting sweet potato rounds or wedges this year.

Of course, I will have my version of Cranberry Fool, a cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, a little sugar, dried cherries, raisins with a touch of vanilla.

For dessert, I am making a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake posted at The Pastry Affair

I don't think anyone will leave hungry.

What are you serving for Thanksgiving dinner?



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Broccoli Cheese Soup

It's cooling off. Even though it is supposed to hit 90 tomorrow, the rest of the week should be in the 70's and evenings are cooler yet.

When it starts cooling off, I crave soup. Served with French bread, cornbread, foccacia, rolls, it makes no difference. I'm there for the soup.

Earlier this week the publisher of our local newspaper wrote a blog post about the "5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke." Canned soup was on the list.

Luckily, I don't eat canned soup. I happily ingest the other four items - crackers and chips, smoked and processed meats, diet soda and red meat - but not the canned soup.

Okay, I have to take that back. I actually do eat canned soup, but do so rarely. I still use a couple of casserole recipes that call for canned soup, but I don't make them very often - maybe a couple of times a year. But, I'm not so sure that particular qualification would render me immune to the risks.

Anyway, I don't eat canned soup as soup, as in a bowl with a soup spoon and with a sandwich or piece of bread on the side. I always make my own soup. I just think it tastes better and it's better for you.

Now, when you were in college, if you made broccoli soup with canned cheddar cheese soup and frozen broccoli on a single burner hot plate and you thought it tasted good....I'm sorry. You probably won't like this recipe because it doesn't taste anything like that.

My recipe is fresh, flavorful and creamy with not a hint of pastiness or chemicals. And, though it takes just a few more minutes to prepare than canned cheddar cheese soup with frozen broccoli, my recipe still comes together pretty quickly.

A couple of tips before you start. First, do not discard the stalks of the broccoli. Peel them, chop them up and add them to the pot with the other vegetables. The stalks add more flavor and texture.

Second, yes, I said peel, unless you like your broccoli stringy. You don't have to peel every single surface, but peel off the as much of the skin as you can. Simply slide the edge of your knife under the skin, hold it in place against the blade with your thumb and pull up like so....


Easy peasy.



Broccoli Cheese Soup
PRINT RECIPE

• 2 tablespoons blended oil (which is 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon olive oil)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced (I always scrub my carrots, but rarely peel them)
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 2 large stalks broccoli cut into bite-sized flowerettes and the stalks peeled and diced
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1-1/2 cups half & half
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, finely grated (sharp or mild, whatever your preference)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat the blended oil over medium high heat and add the onion, carrot, celery and broccoli stalks. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the vegetables until they start to brown slightly and caramelize, about 10 to 12 minutes. Be careful not to burn. The caramelized vegetables are going to add a rich flavor dimension.

Add the broccoli flowerettes to the pot, then add the chicken broth. Return the heat to medium high and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes until the broccoli flowerettes are very soft.

In a small fying pan over medium heat, melt the tablespoon of butter, then whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux until it is just barely golden in color. Add about a cup of the soup broth to the roux and whisk until smooth. Add about another cup of the broth and whisk again until smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot, stirring gently until well blended. Add the half & half, stirring constantly. Add the cheese a cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

When the soup begins to come back to a simmer, correct the seasoning by adding kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Broccoli Slaw - Specifically for My Grandson, Jacob

This is a recipe I'll bet everyone has made at least once. There is a similar recipe on the back of the bag of what is now called Broccoli Slaw.

Back in the day, there was Broccoli Salad: raw broccoli flowerettes, onions, raisins, chopped bacon and sometimes sunflowers seeds with a tangy sweet mayonnaise dressing.

Then a few years ago the companies that package and market raw and/or frozen broccoli decided they were throwing away a marketable product - broccoli stems. I can hardly blame them. The stems taste good, too. I use as much of the stem as possible when I prepare broccoli from the raw state. And if I'm making broccoli soup, the peeled and chopped stems go right in with the flowerettes. So I applaud the food companies that decided to grate the broccoli stems along with carrots and red cabbage into one convenient package.

Now when I make Broccoli Salad, I use the packaged broccoli slaw instead. But I started using the packaged broccoli slaw before the package included a recipe, so I used my own.

My grandson, Jacob, loves my Broccoli Slaw. I make sure I prepare it whenever he visits. I like that he loves it. His mother?....no so much. Oh, she likes Broccoli Slaw, too, but she doesn't like the ration she gets from Jacob when she prepares it.

Has your husband ever said to you, "You don't make that like my mother! It doesn't taste like hers." Which generally receives the response, "Well, that's because I'm not your mother!

That's sort of what my daughter-in-law Kelly has to put up with....That doesn't taste like Grandma's Broccoli Slaw!"

Well, now it's time for Jacob to man up! He's a good cook. He's a creative cook. He knows how to handle himself in the kitchen pretty darn well. So for Jacob, who is fast approaching his 18th birthday and almost ready to venture out into the world on his own, here is the recipe for Grandma's Broccoli Slaw. The recipe makes a large bowl full, but is easily cut in half.

No more excuses Jacob and no more complaining.



Grandma's Broccoli Slaw Salad
PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

• 2 packages raw Broccoli Slaw
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sunflower seeds - I've also used pecan chips and they are tasty as well
• 8 slices bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
• 1 small red or yellow onion, cut in a small dice

Dressing:

• 1-1/2 cups Helman's lite mayonnaise (it's Best Foods in the west)
• 3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup Splenda or plain white sugar
• 1 teaspoon whole celery seed

Combine packaged broccoli slaw, raisins, sunflower seeds, chopped bacon and diced onion in a large serving bowl. Toss to mix well.

In a separate bowl or large cup, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar (or Splenda) and celery seed. Add dressing to the salad and toss to mix well; chill thoroughly before serving.

Cauliflower Salad, A Lighter Alternative to Potato Salad

Six or seven years ago, Tom and I went on a low carb diet. It was during the spring and summer and I was having a difficult time finding side salads to have with our burgers wrapped with lettuce leaves instead of buns. We weren't allowed to eat potatoes, I was tired of broccoli salad and steamed or grilled vegetables and I wanted something that tasted substantial and familiar but fit into our low carb mode. Cauliflower Salad was just the thing.

The recipes I found called for regular mayonnaise because, while it is high in fat and calories, it is low in carbohydrates, and dill relish because the sugar in sweet relish is forbidden.

We both loved the salad, but when we abandoned the low carb diet, I needed to exchange some ingredients to make the salad lower in fat and calories, so I swapped out the full fat mayonnaise with a lite version.

Today I made the salad to serve with our burgers...on regular hamburger buns.

PRINT THE RECIPE: Cauliflower Salad

Cauliflower Salad
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

• 1 head of fresh cauliflower
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/2 of a medium onion, diced
• 2 large dill pickle spears, diced
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup Lite mayonnaise (you can use full fat)
• 1/4 cup dill pickle relish
• 1 heaping tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon each salt & pepper

Cut the cauliflower into small florets.


Prepare a steamer to cook the cauliflower. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Insert the steamer portion into the pot and pour in the cauliflower pieces. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam for 7-minutes. Do not steam any longer. You want the cauliflower to retain it’s shape but not be crunchy. You should be able to pierce the cauliflower gently with a fork. Remove the steamer from the pot and allow the cauliflower to cool in the steamer for about 15 minutes.

While the cauliflower is cooking, dice the celery, onion, dill pickles and gently chop the eggs and put in a small bowl and set aside.


To make the dressing, mix the mayonnaise, relish and mustard in a small bowl and set aside.

Remove the cooled cauliflower to a large bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Mix a couple of times, then season again with remaining salt and pepper. Add the reserved chopped ingredients on top of the cauliflower. Pour the dressing over all and mix gently. I like using a rubber or silicone spatula.

Cover and refrigerate until cold (about 2 hours). Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Day One of the July 4th Holiday Weekend and My Garden

I do hope that all of you are having a fun and SAFE July 4th holiday.

Since our boat isn't back from the shop yet, we've decided to just hang out at home, do some yard work and work on the house to get it ready to sell in the near future (we hope). This morning was yard work. Tomorrow is painting, painting and more painting. But we started our weekend with dinner last night.

Grilled steaks with mushroom sauce, grilled yukon gold potatoes drizzled with truffle oil and a simple salad with white balsamic salad dressing.

I loved the potatoes cooked this way...


Tom sliced them about 1/2 inch thick and parboiled the slices until he was just barely able to pierce the flesh with a fork and the potato still had resistance. He removed the potatoes from the boiling water to a paper towel to dry. When the grill was ready, he brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled the slices on both sides with salt and pepper and cooked them on the grill until they were done all the way through. He removed them from the grill to a plate and drizzled each slice with a few drops of black truffle oil.

I had a sizable portion of the Mushroom Sauce in the freezer, which I thawed earlier in the day, but you can get the recipe HERE.

Tonight we are making Vinny's Chicken, a recipe we duplicated from a small, family owned Italian restaurant in Oceanside, California where we could be found nearly every Friday night. Vinny marinated chicken halves (we will use chicken breasts) for several hours in white wine, lots of chopped garlic and fresh rosemary. Simply delicious. Vinny (Vincent DeGallo), the chef/owner of the restaurant, learned to cook from his mother when he was a boy. I've never tasted better Italian food anywhere.

As our side dish, I'm thrilled to be making one of my favorites, Pan-Crisped Deviled Eggs on French Lettuces, a recipe that I copied from Debbie's blog, The Friday Friends. Of course, we can't get French lettuces here, but a spring salad mix works fine.

For dessert we'll have sweetened blackberries (from our garden) spooned over no-sugar, low-fat ice cream (hey, you gotta cut down somewhere. It might as well be the ice cream).

I will have photos of tonight's dinner tomorrow.

I haven't shared much about my garden so far this season. It started out quite stunted because of all the rain in May. Then our weather turned from cool to unbearably hot, nearly 100 degrees every single day in June. My plants have been very confused. But they are perking up and starting to produce.

My French Tarragon is doing nicely...


I've already used four large poblano's for a meal of Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Black Beans and Rice with a Suiza Sauce

And the plants are still going strong...

My orange bell peppers are just now starting to turn orange...

But my red bell peppers are still green with no sign of changing color yet...

The fruit has set on my tomatillo plants...

And we will have Snow Globe cherry tomatoes soon...

After last year's dismal failure, it looks like I will have heirloom tomatoes...


From the looks of things, we will be overflowing with produce very soon.

My Top 5 Most Googled Recipes for 2009

I have been blogging about food and sharing recipes for over 2-1/2 years now. Like many of you, I have a site tracker that gathers statistical information about each visitor to my blog: their location, time spent on my blog, pages viewed and how each visitor ultimately landed on my blog. Most first time readers used a link to my blog that was part of a list of links that was a result of a Google search of recipes. Of those, most Googled a specific recipe or list of ingredients.

My readership increased quite a bit in 2009, but new readers generally visited because they were looking for something very specific or a specific recipe. The following 5 recipes are the posts that were visited most often during this past year.

I hope you find them interesting and appetizing, too.

#5. Salmon with Herb Sauce, an oven roasted salmon fillet, nestled on a flaky square of puff pastry and topped with a delicious herbed cream sauce.

First posted in 2008, my son, Chris, developed this recipe for the grill a couple of years ago. I prepare it in the oven, too, which is what this particular recipe calls for, but it is delicious both ways.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE.

#4. Ava's Stuffed Buns is a recipe that I posted back in February. Most people simply Googled "stuffed buns" and, in doing so, my post for these invariably came up in the list of links.

The buns are simple, cheesy and flavorful, and freeze really well.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE.

3. Beerocks. Originally posted in March 2008 under the title of "What Is a Beerock, And How Did It Get To Fresno? or How Did Fresno Cooks Corrupt the Bierock??", this recipe is Googled by folks all over the U.S. It amazes me because I didn't think anyone outside of Fresno, California ever heard of them.

These meat pies originated in Germany, but certainly not in the form my mother prepared when I was a kid. Just the same, if you like a peppery, savory filling, you will love these.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE.

2. Mexican Marinated Carrots was my first ever post back in July 2007.

I was surprised to find that this simple recipe was the second most visited on my blog. It is one that I copied from a restaurant we frequented in Oceanside, California when we lived there. I make these all summer long.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE.

#1. Timpano. I posted this entry back in March of 2008 and it is by far the most visited entry of my entire blog, with several links back to my post from other food blogs and forums. Timpano is a traditional Italian dish which consists of a pastry crust filled with pasta, meatballs, ragu, cheese, hard boiled eggs and salami, served with pasta sauce.

I am particularly proud of this post. Besides giving the recipe, I give step-by-step instructions, with photos, on how to prepare and assemble all of the ingredients. It is a big job. It takes Tom and me a couple of hours to assemble, but it's worth the trouble. It is a delicious meal for a crowd and a real show stopper.
I first saw this dish in a movie called "Big Night," with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub, a real foodie's flick.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE.

So, I wonder what recipes people will be Googling this year.

Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce

I haven't posted in quite awhile. I'm just overwhelmed by the holidays, the remodel, four blogs, blah, blah, blah.

We are back from our Thanksgiving trip and my Christmas shopping is in full swing. My Christmas baking, however, has yet to begin. I have to get busy if I am going to ship some goodies off to my son, Mike, and his family.

We spent our Thanksgiving at Mike's and I hate to admit it, but I voluntarily stuffed myself over the Thanksgiving holiday and the days beyond and I started my feeding frenzy in the San Francisco bay area where our son lives.

Our first night, we enjoyed authentic (oh, thank you, God!) Mexican food at a little out of the way place tucked in the corner of a strip mall. I relished every single bite of my Carne Asada tacos. They were just like the "street tacos" we used to get in Tijuana, Mexico. Our obligatory chips were served with two kinds of salsa: a traditional salsa made with fresh ingredients (tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, garlic, lime juice and cilantro) and another salsa, made with roasted tomatoes, onions and peppers, that was to die for and one I will definitely attempt to duplicate in the future.

Thanksgiving Day my son, Mike, roasted the holiday turkey on his grill after he coated the skin with a chive and herb butter. Turkey is sometimes tricky to cook correctly because it tends to dry out very quickly if over cooked even a little. This turkey was perfectly moist and juicy, and it was served with all the traditional trimmings.

The following night Mike and Kathy treated us to a wonderful meal at a local Vietnamese restaurant, where I had Pho Bo, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Light, but filling.

Our final day in the bay area, we all spent the entire afternoon at the beach at Half Moon Bay, then enjoyed a late lunch at a small beachside cafe while sitting on an outside deck enjoying the beautiful sunny weather.

Then we were off to Fresno, in central California, where I was born and called home for most of my childhood, and more food. Steaks, truffled mashed potatoes, fresh steamed asparagus, sauteed spinach with roasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan for one meal; ham, sweet potatoes and a delicious pomegranate coleslaw for another.

When we finally arrived home last week, I was ready for some lighter food and found this really nice recipe for boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the Cooking Light website. No cream. No butter. Very little bacon, just enough for flavor. Cooked according to their recipe, only 269 calories per serving.

I read a few of the recipe reviews and made some changes to the original recipe accordingly, more specifically I used apple juice instead of apple cider only because that is all I had in the pantry; added a little wine to provide some richness to the sauce and also added some cornstarch to thicken it. We really liked this dish.

I served it with steamed broccoli and plain long grain rice.

Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce
adapted from CookingLight.com using my changes and additions

• 4 (6 oz. each) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bacon slices, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup onion, finely minced
• 1 cup unsweetened apple cider (I used apple juice)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Place each chicken breast half in a large zip-lock bag and pound to about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick using a meat mallet. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a large non-stick skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp and remove it from the pan, leaving the bacon drippings. Add the chicken to the bacon drippings and cook on each side until done (about 3 or 4 minutes each side). Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the olive oil to the skillet, then add the onion and cook until tender and translucent. Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine, stirring well and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to loosen all of the browned bits. Add the cider to the wine in the skillet and bring to a boil. Cook until the mixture is reduced to about 3/4 of a cup (about 5 minutes).

Add the cornstarch to the chicken broth and stir well with a small whisk or fork until cornstarch is completely incorporated. Add the mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened.

Stir the bacon into the sauce. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and cook until heated all the way through.

Serve the sauce over the chicken with rice or potatoes and enjoy!

Our Foodie Weekend

Our food plans for the weekend were pretty ambitious.

Last week, I found two small packages of Maytag Blue Cheese at Kroger, so Friday night Tom made a delicious Grilled Fillet of Beef with Blue Cheese Glacage that he saw Chef Emeril Lagasse prepare several years ago on his program, Emeril Live!

I don't know why Chef Emeril would call it a "glacage" since it really isn't a glaze in the traditional sense of the word. It's more of a loose, savory custard. But, by any name, coming hot out of the oven, it smells absolutely wonderful.



Tom has prepared this dish many, many times and if you love blue cheese, you will love this. He almost always serves it over the Bacon and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes and garnishes it with crumbled bacon and sliced green onions instead of the worcestershire sauce called for in the recipe.



It was the perfect meal to start a weekend.

Saturday we were up early and out the door by 7:15 am, heading for the North Little Rock Farmers Market for some nice eggplant and tomatoes. We scored more than that. We purchased two baskets of the season's first figs.



Those beautiful tomatoes would become an ingredient for an Insalata Caprese and the figs would be transformed into a Fig Galette for Sunday's dinner.

When we got home from the Farmers Market, we made a large batch of ricotta cheese to use for stuffing portobello mushrooms for dinner that night.

We mixed some of the fresh ricotta cheese with cooked sweet Italian turkey sausage, one beaten egg, some grated mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, some chopped fresh basil and a little Italian seasoned bread crumbs, then filled the large portobellos with the stuffing and cooked them on the grill outside. So creamy and luscious.



We also made large batch of mozzarella cheese for the Insalata Caprese to serve with our Sunday dinner, Brick Barbecued Chicken.



And, finally, I made the Fig Galette, also for Sunday's dinner.

A couple of weeks ago, I made my very first attempt at preparing a galette, sharing the painful experience here, but I vowed to try it again.

For the Fig Galette, I decided to avoid another crust fiasco and just use a prepared pie crust. It was one of the smartest decisions I've ever made.

First, I covered the bottom of a large baking pan (I used a round pizza pan) with parchment paper and laid one pre-made pie crust in the middle of the pan. I gently stretched the crust out a little with my fingers to make a little bigger circle. Then I sprinkled the crust with a couple of tablespoons of plain sugar. So far, so good.



I trimmed the stems from the figs and cut them in quarters lengthwise. I laid the fig quarters in circles, overlapping each other slightly, until I had filled the crust but left a 1-1/2 to 2 inch border on the outer edge. For the center, Tom took one fig, cut off the stem and cut 6 slits lengthwise, making sure not to cut all the way through. He sat the fig upright in the center and gently opened it like a flower. He's so clever...



I sprinkled the figs with another 2 - 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, then gently lifted the border edge of the crust over the figs (the parchment paper really helped control this), slightly pinching the crust together every so often so the border was even.

I brushed the edge of the crust with some beaten egg white and sprinkled the edge with turbinato sugar (just because I like the way turbinato sugar keeps it's shape during baking).



I then baked the galette in a 375° oven for about 45 minutes, or until the figs were bubbly and the crust was a golden brown.



It turned out perfect!

Now that this galette was a success, I suppose I'll have to make another, but next time I'll have to make my own pastry crust.