Pig Fest

Pig Fest 2011.  That’s right.  Sorry my vegetarian friends, this is not for you.  We had pig cocktails, pig appetizers, pig wrapped in pig and pig for dessert.  Laura even made bacon vodka.  It was quite a glorious feast.  We kind of felt like, well, pigs at the end of the night.

This is our Candied Bacon martini.  The candied bacon made a great stir stick.  We forgot the apple slice called for in the recipe, but it was still good.     We found this recipe in the Los Angeles Times.

Candied Bacon Martini

Candied Bacon:

• 8 slices smoked bacon
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Candied Bacon Martinis:

• 6 ounces premium vodka
• 4 ounces Applejack brandy
• 2 ounces amaretto liqueur
• 2 ounces maple syrup
• 4 thin slices tart apple
• 2 slices candied bacon, halved crosswise

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.  Dredge the bacon on both sides in the brown sugar and arrange slices so they do not touch on the baking sheet.  Bake until bacon is richly caramelized, 15 to 25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool and allow excess fat to drain.  In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, brandy, amaretto and maple syrup with ice.  Shake until combined and chilled.  Strain into 4 martini glasses and garnish with apple slice and candied bacon.

Laura made her bacon jam.  It was awesome with a little crumbled blue cheese as a bruschetta.

Donna made the most amazing prosciutto wrapped salmon and scallops.   Oh man were they good.  We couldn’t take a picture fast enough to get the whole platter.  Sunshine said they were the best scallops ever.  The salmon was really good too!  Here is her recipe:

Salmon Kebabs with Parsley Vinaigrette

• 5 tablespoons good-quality extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar, such as Kimberley
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds skinned King or Coho salmon fillet (1″ thick), cut into 1 1/2″ chunks (or sea scallops!)
• 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Donna used prosciutto)
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl.  Set aside.

Heat grill to high (450° to 550°).

In a large bowl, combine remaining oil with 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Toss with salmon or scallops to coat.

Set out 3 rows of salmon chunks on a work surface.  Unroll pancetta slices into strips and wrap strips once or twice around salmon, weaving long pieces between chunks.  Skewer each row of salmon with chunks slightly separated.

Oil grate using tongs and a wad of oiled paper towels.  Set kebabs on grate and grill, covered, turning once until fish is barely cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Remove salmon and scallops from skewers and arrange on a platter.  Stir parsley into the dressing, spoon on top of the salmon and scallops.  Serve warm with crusty bread for dunking.

Pig wrapped pig.  We served it with a refreshing arugula salad.  This recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentis.  I’ve adjusted the cooking time according to the new chart on the National Pork Board website.

Honey-Mustard Pork Roast with Bacon

Roast

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 1/2 pound center cut boneless pork loin roast
• 12 slices (1 pound) bacon

Salad

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 cups (5 ounces)  baby arugula

Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°.

In a small bowl, mix the mustards, honey, garlic and rosemary until smooth.  Spread the mustard mixture evenly over the pork.

Starting at one end, wrap a piece of bacon around the pork roast.  Wrap slice of bacon around the roast, making sure to slightly overlap the first piece.  Continue with the remaining bacon until the roast is fully wrapped.  Using 6 to 8 pieces of kitchen twine, tied at regular intervals around the roast, secure the bacon in place.

Place the pork in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan and roast for 1 hour.  Cover the pan loosely with foil and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 145°.  Remove from the oven.  Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes.  Remove twine and slice into 1/4″ thick slices.

For the salad:  While the pork is resting, in a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the arugula on a large platter and drizzle with dressing.  Lay pork slices on top and serve.

Chocolate covered bacon.  Okay, this was not for me.  But Laura liked it.  She’s kind of like Mikey.  Remember him?  The Life cereal kid?  Give it to Laura, she’ll eat anything.

Now this was good.  Really good.  INSANELY good.  It’s the maple-pecan sundaes with candied bacon.  I made the vanilla ice cream with the last of the Tahitian vanilla.

What’s so funny, Stephanie?

Donna!  You look like you’re up to something.

Manly men tending the fire and talking about manly things, like fire.

Classic Laura.

Paige barks a lot.  The only way to get her to shut up is to pick her up.  So we bought this contraption.  God bless Steven for wearing it.  Of course it didn’t work, so we gave her some Benadryl.  Of course that didn’t work, so we’ve resorted to on-line training with the Dog Whisperer.  And I have some shocking news.  Mom, you might want to sit down for this one.  Paige is an ANIMAL.  And then she’s a DOG.  She is not our child in a furry coat.

What’s next?  I think maybe a retirement party.  Not what you think though.  I’ve got a Mexican dress that I’ve had for way too long.  It’s been my go to dress for every party.  So, one last hurrah for my mexi-party dress, and then I’ll retire it.  Anyone who has something they’ve worn to death and need to retire is welcome.  Send Sunshine your pictures dressed in your oldies but not so goodies and he’ll make us a slide show for the party:)

dinner for less than a trillion calories

FINALLY!  Dinner for less than a trillion calories.  This after Chik made us ride 7.5 miles on our bikes.  That’s a lot for people who don’t ride bikes.  My legs felt like they were going to fall off.  I felt very righteous after our ride…and Sunshine kept going on about how Monday is the beginning of his week to be good and healthy…so, I guess I was inspired, or he shamed me into making this dinner.  Either way, it is delicious.

Red cabbage slaw with smokey blue cheese

• 1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• good splash of cider vinegar
• drizzle of good olive oil
• 2 ounces of smokey blue cheese

Grilled chicken thighs with ancho chili rub

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Yukon gold mashed potatoes

• 1 pound baby yukon gold potatoes
• olive oil
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

For the slaw: shred cabbage and carrots and combine in a bowl.  Add cider vinegar, olive oil and smokey blue cheese.  Refrigerate.

For the grilled chicken: combine chili powder, cumin and salt.  Season chicken.  Grill for 4 minutes over medium heat.  Turn chicken and grill for 3 minutes longer.

For the mashed potatoes:  Cut potatoes into 1″ pieces and steam until fork tender.  Mash with olive oil, add steaming water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.

Turley has moved on from eating my shoes to spying on the neighbors.

Greg Schroeder, owner of Amazing Grapes Wine Store

Greg says:  Hi Slop!
I’ve been waiting for you to cook something that would pair well with my favorite white wine find this year – a 2008 Chilean Chardonnay from Errazuriz.
The Chardonnay , called Wild Ferment, features a complex, multi-layered nose that combines mineral notes with expressive tropical fruit aromas. This fresh and elegant white has just the right amount of toasted notes from oak ageing to cut through the ancho chili on the chicken and compliment the smokey blue cheese in the cabbage side dish at the same time. No need to open two different wines for this meal! I love the bright acidity that balances the lush and creamy texture that leads to a long, lingering, and pleasing finish.
How about an invite for this one?!?

Okay Greg…you’ve got it.  Come over anytime….but don’t forget the wine!!!  Love ya…Slop

Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin

Another French lesson from Anne Willan’s book,  The Country Cooking of France .  This time it’s an upside down caramelized apple tart.  I made this for Veronica, Joey and Sunshine, and I’m definitely going to make this one again.  It was fun making the pâte brisée old school, like Sunshine does with his pasta.  I love watching the video of him kneading the pasta dough, he has a LOT more patience than I do.  It is pasta and he is Italian, so it’s kind of in his DNA.  So….back to apples and France we go.

• 3 pounds firm apples
• 4 ounces butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Pâte Brisée

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons water
• 6 tablespoons butter

To make the pâte brisée:  Sift flour onto a work surface and make a well in the center.  Put egg yolk and salt in the middle of the well.

Pound butter with a rolling pin to soften and add to the well.

Work with your fingers to incorporate all of the ingredients in the well.  Using a pastry scraper, gradually draw in the flour from the sides  of the well and continue working with both hands until coarse crumbs form.

Gently press into a disc.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

Peel, halve and core the apples.  Melt butter in a large oven proof sauté pan.  Sprinkle with sugar, and cook over medium heat without stirring until it starts to brown.  Stir gently and continue to cook for 6-8 minutes, until deep golden brown.  Turn off heat.

Arrange apples in concentric circles with cut side standing vertically.  Pack them as tightly as possible into the sauté pan.  Return the pan to medium heat and cook apples for 8 minutes, or until the juices start to run from the apples.  Turn the heat up a little bit and continue to cook for 15-25 minutes, until caramelized to a deep golden brown.

Turn each apple halve upside down and continue to cook over medium heat for 10-20 minutes, or until more of the juice has evaporated.  Remove and cool until tepid.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out dough to a round just larger than sauté pan.  Top apples with dough.  Slice the center of the dough to create an air vent for the steam to escape.  Tuck the edges down around the apples.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until dough is firm and lightly golden.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  The tarte tatin can be made up to 12 hours ahead of time, kept in the pan and refrigerated.  To serve, heat pan on stove top to soften the caramel and loosen apples.  But who can wait?  To finish, invert tarte onto serving plate and serve with whipped cream.

Greg Schroeder, owner of Amazing Grapes Wine Store

Greg says:

Caramelized apple tarte tatin wine pairing: You’re keeping me busy with my favorite wine type – dessert wines! This dessert screams for a Sauternes and I happen to have a great one for you. The Chateau Guiraud 2003 Sauternes was #14 on the top 100 wines for 2006 as picked by the Wine Spectator and they bestowed it with 95 points as well! Very sweet and rich on the nose, with toffee, honey and spices. Full-bodied, with thick honey, spice, dried apricot and syrup flavors that last for minutes on the palate. Big botrytis bomb. Love it.

A quick bolognese

Finally!!  We haven’t seen Stephanie and Peter in such a long time!  They were off to Italy, and  then we were off to Cabo..and now we’re home.  They came to dinner last night, bearing gifts from their travels.  They brought us an amazing bottle of wine from Sienna, chosen especially to celebrate our anniversary… and some beautiful pasta from Harry’s Bar in Venice.

We enjoyed a little tomato bruschetta while preparing our quick bolognese.  I used the last of our San Marzano tomatoes off the vine in our garden.  I will so miss our summer tomato bounty.  It’s time to rework the vegetable garden.  Maybe I’ll grow carrots for the winter, and maybe some romanesco broccoli, fennel and lettuce.  Yeah, that sounds good.

I’ve been using this recipe from Food & Wine for years.  The original recipe calls for sweet Italian sausage, but Sunshine likes it spicy.  The bolognese is great with polenta too.  Here’s my version with a few adjustments.

Quick Bolognese

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds spicy italian pork sausage
• 2 carrots, small dice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 bunch italian parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons whole milk or cream
• freshly grated parmegiano-reggiano

In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over moderately high heat.  Remove sausage from casing, and add to the pan, cooking until no longer pink.  Spoon off most of the fat.  Add carrots, onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.  Add wine and let simmer for 3 minutes.  Add chicken stock, tomatoes and thyme.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Uncover, add parsley and milk, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Serve over pasta or polenta, sprinkle with parmegiano-reggiano.

The Cipriani pappardelle is made with kamut, an ancient relative of modern durum wheat.  The pasta is very thin and delicate.  Delicious!!!!!!!

Greg Schroeder, owner of Amazing Grapes Wine Store

Greg says…

I’d go with a juicy Malbec like the 2009 Budini from Argentina.   Very perfumed with aromas of ripe black cherries and some sweet oak. Full, fleshy, and jammy in the mouth with loads of ripe and spicy red and black fruits. Great structure with loads of ripe, fleshy tannins, and a long, long finish. Wow!

cannellini bean soup

Sometimes I like spending all day in the kitchen.  Sometimes a plan doesn’t work out the way you think it will.

I got my CSA box full of greens, and assumed most of them would work well in a cannellini bean soup.  I was wrong.  I didn’t know what most of the greens were, and as it turned out, most were too bitter and over powered the flavors in the soup.  So I just fished out most of the greens and ended up with delicious soup anyway, a little less green than originally planned.

You can make this with canned beans and chicken or vegetable broth from a box, or water.  This soup would probably take a whopping 20 minutes to cook.  But I really wanted freshly cooked beans, and happened to have bones from a roasted chicken in the freezer, so mine took a bit more time.

• 1 pound dried cannellini beans
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• Red pepper flakes
• Fresh oregano, minced
• 2 leeks, halved, 1/2″ thick slice (use white part only)
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 28 ounce can whole san marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
• Rind of parmigianno-reggiano
• Chicken stock, or vegetable stock, or water
• Fresh greens of your choice (I’ll stick with spinach next time)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Soak beans overnight, covered.  The next day, rinse and drain beans.  Add enough water to cover beans by 1″ in a crockpot, and cook on the low setting until just tender.  This took about 4 hours for me, but it will depend on how fresh your beans are.

Heat olive oil in a deep pan.  Saute garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes until fragant.  Add leeks, oregano, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes longer.  Add hand crushed tomatoes, broth, beans and parmigianno-reggiano rind, and continue to cook for 15 minutes.  Add chopped spinach until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove rind from soup.  Serve with a snow flurry of parmesan.

I made my chicken stock by covering the chicken carcass with water.  Add a quartered onion (skin on), a couple of carrots, halved, pepper corns, bay leaf, and carrot tops or Italian parsley.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer.  I usually use my crock pot.

Paige is ready for Halloween, thanks to Grandma Sherry.  Are you?

Mom needs a snack for the car

My Mom cracks me up. She can find her way blind folded to any shopping mall, but when it comes to driving 10 minutes up the street to her friends house, well, that’s another story. That 1o minute drive turns into 4o minutes and then requires an escort after 10 calls. Then there’s the GPS. The damn GPS always tells you to turn in a half mile. NOW HOW ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH IS SHE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW FAR A HALF MILE IS??? And the GPS lady is so mean! Just because my Mom isn’t really listening to her, doesn’t mean she has to yell at her! Anyway, it’s times like this when you need a snack.   So this one’s for you Mom, just in the off chance you get lost again.

Here’s Mom!  She loves NYC.  This is a photo from her visit to see her grandson, Jason.  Luckily she didn’t have to drive in NYC, there’s taxis for that.

Zucchini, Red Onion and Herbed Goat Cheese Flatbread

• 1 prepared pizza dough
• 1/2 red onion, thin slice
• 1 zucchini, thin slice
• 8 ounce log of goat cheese
• 1/4 buttermilk
• handful of basil leaves, chiffonade
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll out the pizza dough to fit the sheet pan.  Combine goat cheese with buttermilk to create a spreadable consistency.  Add basil, salt and pepper to the goat cheese mixture.  Spread half of the goat cheese mixture on half of the pizza dough.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of parmesan cheese.  Using the parchment paper as a guide, fold the pizza dough in half lengthwise.  Spread the top with then remaining goat cheese mixture.  Place zucchini in a row along the right and left sides, and the onion in a row down the center.  Sprinkle with more parmesan.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Notice all the wine.  Greg and Silvia picked up a few bottles for us at Amazing Grapes, their wine store in Rancho Santa Margarita.  Go check it out.  They have a really cool wine bar.

Tequila Martini at Edith’s

I love margaritas, but the tequila martini at Edith’s in Cabo San Lucas is genius.  I ordered the tequila and lime martini,  and Sunshine got the grapefruit and tequila martini.  Mine was better, sorry Sunshine.  You still look pretty happy.

Tequila and Lime Martini

• 1 jigger of your favorite tequila (every last one of mine at Edith’s was made with Clase Azul Reposado)
• 1/4 jigger lime juice
• 1/4 jigger agave nectar

Fill a martini shaker with ice, add the tequila, lime and agave nectar, and shake it!  I’m telling you, it’s really good!

Edith is one cool chick.  She started out at the restaurant previously known as Esthela’s by the Sea at the age of 15 as a waitress.  She now owns the restaurant and named it Edith’s in 1994.  We had a nice chat with her.

We’ve arrived to Edith’s!

Tequila case at Edith’s.  Sunshine was pretty excited about the endless supply and variety.

We love the table side service at Edith’s.  That’s my Mexican coffee with ice cream!  I love fire.  Fire, tequila, kahlua and ice cream.  Come on.

Breakfast in Cabo

We had a grand time in Cabo celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary!

Sorry for the delay in posts, we were too busy doing nothing.  Almost nothing.  We did go to breakfast every morning, and then lounge poolside, a little water aerobics, lunch poolside, a cadillac margarita or two (or three), and then to dinner, with a few spa treatments sprinkled in.

Sunshine ordered the banana french toast the first morning of our vacation at Siempre, the restaurant at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Retreat and Spa.  It was actually two slices of banana bread with a layer of bananas in between.  This is how we will try to recreate it at home:

Banana French Toast

• Banana bread, sliced 1/2″ thick
• Cream cheese
• Bananas, sliced into thin rounds
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon dark rum, I like Meyers
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, it’s gotta be mexican for me
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Maple syrup

Spread 2 slices of banana bread with a thin layer of cream cheese.  Sandwich banana slices between the cream cheese side of two slices of banana bread.  Mix eggs, milk, rum, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together.  Add banana bread sandwiches to the egg mixture, turning to coat.  Remove excess egg mixture.

Preheat a large skillet over low heat, and add 1 tablespoon of butter at a time.  Once butter has melted, add the banana french toast to the skillet and cook 2 minutes per side.

Remove from pan and garnish with additional banana slices, drizzle with maple syrup.

I ordered the chilaquiles almost every morning, when in Rome, right?

We shared this fruit platter, the papaya was my favorite, with a squeeze of lime.

Lounging poolside.

Water aerobics class!  Working up an appetite…

Cadillac margarita please!  Charge it to once treinta cinco por favor.

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica es muy bonito.

Muy bonito!

A view from our room.

The fantasy suite.

a new house, a homecoming, and stuffed shells

Toy and Sondi got the keys to their new house while Toy was out of town for work last week .  We had to wait for her to come home before we could celebrate.

And then there is the tradition of the going away dinner and the welcome home dinner for whoever happens to be  traveling, in this case it was Toy.  Sondi made blue cheese stuffed burgers for Toy’s going away dinner.  I volunteered to make the stuffed shells for her welcome home dinner.

You could make your own marinara sauce, and mozarella, and ricotta if you really wanted to for this dish.  I’ll do that next time.  Maybe.

Stuffed Shells with Marinara Sauce

• 1-28 ounce jar of marinara (Rao’s is my favorite)
• 1 box jumbo shells
• 2 pounds whole milk ricotta
• 1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 1 bunch fresh basil, cut into thin strips (chiffonade)
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 egg yolks
• salt and pepper
• crushed red pepper
• 1 cup grated whole milk mozzarella

Add the pasta to a stock pot of salted boiling water and cook for 6 minutes.

Combine the ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, nutmeg, and egg yolks.  Fold in the basil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add 1/3 of the jar of marinara to a 12X9″ baking dish.  Fill the shells with the ricotta mixture.  Top with remaining marinara, mozzarella and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Toy and Sondi’s new house.

Woohooo!!!  The champagne was mighty fine…

Vegetable Bolognese

I love porcini mushrooms, and they are the star of this vegetable bolognese.  I bought my dried porcinis in San Francisco at the Ferry Building.  I used the last of them for this dish.  Now I’ll have to go back for more.  The recipe from  Giada De Laurentiis is awesome.  I added a lot more porcini than was called for.  I didn’t have tomato paste, so I replaced it with pureed sundried tomatoes.  I also added more wine.  Here is the recipe with the original quantities.

• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Rehydrate mushrooms in hot water until softened.

Place vegetables in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Add mushrooms and pulse to combine.

Heat olive oil in a large pan.  Saute vegetables along with thyme and oregano for 6 minutes.

Add tomato paste and wine, and continue to cook for 1o minutes.  Add mascarpone cheese and serve over pasta.