Coquille St. Jacque, Steamed Asparagus and Green Salad - Adapted from Julia Child

Coquille St. Jacque is a classic creamed scallop dish, topped with grated swiss cheese. Mix 1C dry white wine, a bay leaf and 3T chopped scallions in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add 4 large scallops (serving for 2) and 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms, cover and cool at a low simmer for 5 min. Remove the scallops and mushrooms and set aside while you reduce the liquid back to 1C. While it is reducing, prepare a roux by melting 3T butter in a pan and adding 4T flour and stirring until it is smooth and bubbley. In addition, beat 2 egg yolks in 1/2C cream and set aside. When the liquid is reduced, add it slowly to the roux, stirring until it returns to the boil and thickens. When it is thick, very slowly stir it into the egg cream mix being careful to do it slowly so the eggs don't scramble. Slice the scallops in thirds horizonally and place them along with the mushrooms in an oven proof dish. Pour the sauce over them and top with 1/2C grated swiss cheese. Heat in a 350 degree oven until bubbley, about 20 min. Finish the dish under the broiler to brown the cheese. A very rich dish that goes well with a plain steamed vegetable and salad.

Roasted Cauliflower with Aleppo Pepper, London Broil, Tomatoes and Blue Cheese

This post is mainly for the new vegetable recipe. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine 2-3T olive oil 2t Aleppo pepper flakes. Toss with a head of cauliflower which has been seperated into flowerettes. Make sure they are covered evenly with the oil and pepper flakes. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 min until the cauliflower has a nice color and is tender.

The beef is really a top sirloin which has been marinated in 2 parts soy and 1 part Worchestershire sauce with 2 minced garlic cloves and then grilled on the Weber.

The tomatoes are simply arranged with blue cheese and dressed with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.

Savory Oatmeal (Grab-n-Go)Breakfast Cookies

For sometime we have been trying to in-corporate oatmeal into a savory rather than sweet breakfast. Here's what we have. In a bowl, mix 1 3/4C dry uncooked rolled oats, 1/2C flour, 1t cayenne pepper, 1t dry yeast, salt and pepper to taste.  Mix these dry ingredients well and then add 1/2C water, 2 eggs, 1/2C bulk sausage, raw(we like hot)(we have also tried bacon, 3 strips, diced, raw). We also add herbs such as oregano or thyme, 1t each. Mix well, by hand or in a food processor. Allow the dough to rest for 20 min. Form into cookies and bake at 350 F for 20-25 min.

We have also made a "heart healthy" version substituting egg beaters and turkey bacon. We don't believe you can tell the difference. Easy for a "pickup and run" breakfast and definately not sweet.

Stuffed Pablano Peppers Mashed Potatoes and Re-fried Beans

These peppers are readily available at our grocery and we have wanted to try stuffing them. Since they are cooked in a slow-cooker, all the stuffing ingredients are uncooked, unlike some other recipes you see. Mix together well 1lb ground beef, 1/2 lb chirizo sausage, 1/2C white rice and 1 egg. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds unless you want an extra spicey dish. Stuff the peppers, place them in the cooker, pour over 14oz. tomato sauce and cook on low for 6-8 hrs. This recipe will stuff 6 pablano peppers with perhaps some left over to make meatballs which are cooked in the same manner. We serve them with mashed potatoes dressed with the sauce created in cooking.

The same stuffing works well in bell peppers as well.

Cream of Tomato-Artichoke Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwitches - Adapted from Gormet

This is a bit of a work in progress but close enough for inclusion here. The soup added artichokes to the cream of tomato soup a few posts back. We think it would have been better if the artichokes would have been roughly chopped and added at the end, just before serving. We'll try that next time.

The sandwitches however, were wonderful. You will need an onion relish so either buy a prepared brand or try this. Dice an onion and gently caramelize it with 2T butter. When the onions are golden, add 2 cloves minced garlic and continue cooking being careful not to burn the garlic. Stir in 1t brown sugar. Add 4T balsamic vinegar and reduce the liquid until the onion mixture has a pastey texture.

For the sandwitches: slice some sourdough bread and spread one side with butter. On the inside, place some sliced Fontina cheese, some roughly chopped escarole lettuce or endive, and the onion relish. Add some more cheese, top with the other slice of buttered bread and brown.

Veal Stew with Green Olives and Potatoes - Adapted from Bon Appetit

Coat 1-1 1/2 lb veal stew with flour seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Brown the veal in 4T olive oil in an oven proof pot and remove to a plate. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 med. diced onion, and 1 large diced carrot. Cook until the onion softens. Deglaze the pan with 1/2C red wine. Return the meat to the pan along with 1-14 oz. can of tomatoes with their juice, and 1/2 of an orange peel cut into thin strips . Add enough stock or water to just cover the meat. Cover the pan and bake in a 275 degree F oven for 2 hrs. After 2 hrs., add 2 chunked potatoes, 1/2C green olives, 4oz. sliced muchrooms and continue cooking for another hour. We like to saute the muchrooms before adding them to the stew. Add more liquid or stock as necessary to keep the meat covered as it cooks. When the potatoes are cooked through, serve the stew with some good bread. Excellent with a big red wine.

Sausages with Caramelized Red Onions and Radicchio - Adapted from Bon Appetit

Slice one red onion thinly and cook slowly in 1T butter and 1t olive oil. They should be golden brown and soft. Add one radicchio which has had the core removed and sliced thinly as well. Continue cooking until the radicchio is wilted. Just before removing from the pan, add 3T balsamic vinegar and toss. At the same time, brown your favorite link sausages in a skillet. The recipe calls for apple chicken sausage but we couldn't find any so we used cherry maple pork sausage. We think any sausage would work. Along with the main dish we had smashed redskin potatoes (appeared here many times) and a tomato salad with blue cheese dressing. The radicchio has a nice bitter edge which goes well with the sweetness of the sausage and the balsamic vinegar.

Post No. 200 - Szechuan Peppery Hot Chicken with Stirfried Green Beans

It is hard for us to believe that this is the 200th post on the blog. We never would have guessed we prepared so many different dishes.
This is a nice spicey dish that uses Szechuan peppercorns that we got for Christmas. Cut 1lb. of boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips and set aside. Mix 2T chopped scallions, 1T sesame oil, 1T sesame seeds (we left the seeds out), 2T red wine vinegar, 3T soy sauce, 3T chicken stock, 1t ground Szechuan peppercorns, 2T hot chili oil in a bowl and set aside. Stir fry the chicken along with 1 lb. bean sprouts and pour the sauce over just before serving. Delicious but very spicey.
For the beans: In a bowl mix 3/4C water, 2T sake, 1T soy sauce, 1T cornstarch, 3T sugar, 1 1/2T Miso, 1T rice wine vinegar, 1 1/2T garlic chili sauce. Chop 3 scallions roughly and stirfry along with 1 1/2 lb. green beans. As the beans cook, pour the sauce over them and cook until thickened.
We served these alone with steamed white rice.

Steaks with Black Bean Sauce - Adapted from Indigo Restaurant

We didn't use rib-steaks but otherwise the recipe goes like this. Boil 1/2C white wine and one minced shallot in a sauce pan until reduced by 1/2. Prepare a roux but heating 1T butter with 1T flour gently. To the shallot mix, add 1C whipping cream and 1/4C black beans. Bring to a boil and add the roux, stirring as the sauce thickens. Stir in 1/2C cold butter cut in four pieces, one piece at a time. Add 1T fresh lemon juice and serve over the steaks.

We served the steaks with steamed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. For the potatoes you will need one head of roasted garlic which you prepare by cutting off the top of the head, drizzing on some olive oil and baking it for about one hour at 350 degrees. Squeeze the garlic from the cloves into your mother's recipe for mashed potatoes. Serve this dinner with a big red wine.