Archive for the ‘Cocktails and Wine’ category

Pizza Again!

October 24th, 2009

Salami, mozzarella & fresh peppers & onion...

Well, why not pizza again? It is one of the easiest, quickest and most creative dishes I can think of. Christina and Jasmine came over after work and I have to tell you I was really excited to cook with them. We spend a lot of time at work talking about food and both gals have great food blogs (Fattened Calf & Glitter Shrimp) and food pedigree. Yaz went to culinary school and Christina’s fiance is a chef at Uchi, and they cook together all the time, so it’s food, food, food! They brought cheeses (goat and mozzerella), olives, arugula, salami, pesto, proscuitto and we doused one of the pizzas with truffle oil. I sauteed some onion with a fresh jalapeno and green pepper from Jaz’s mom’s garden until soft and fragrant and then threw in some fennel seed, salt & pepper and that is a pretty darn good pizza topping. We then assembled two store bought pizza doughs and had a feast. Don’t forgot the wine!

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Boeuf Bourguignon & Beef Stew

October 4th, 2009

beef stew
boeuf bBoeuf Bourguignon and Beef Stew and  are both homey, hearty, comforting and delicious dishes. They are similar, but Beef stew is more simple and American. Boeuf Bourguignon has a French name and it is a little more elegant with the addition of cognac, red wine and bacon and is famous because of Julia Child and the movie Julie & Julia. Boeuf Bourguignon has pearl onions and beef stew has an yellow onion.  Of course you could add those fabulous ingredients to beef stew if you want to but I don’t or else it would be Boeuf Bourguignon. My mom likes simple food so I made her the beef stew this Sunday. However, last Sunday I made the Boeuf Bourguignon for Sara & Dan proud parents of Charlie. Sara is part of the book club that I mentioned a few posts ago. As a way to help the new parents out each of us brought a dish for them and my contribution was Boeuf Bourguignon.

I am including the beef stew recipe but you can easily find your favorite Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, hint Julia Child.  Make both and decide which one your prefer. Beef Stew is fast and simple. Boeuf Bourguignon is a little more involved and it will have a deeper flavor but I’d eat either anytime.

Beef  Stew

  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 lb of beef stew meat, dredged in flour
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stalk of celery, chopped
  • 2 quarts of chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
  • 2 teaspoons of thyme

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a Dutch Oven, I use Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery, when they are tender add the garlic. Take the vegetables out and set aside add another tablespoon of olive oil and dd the beef and saute until brown. Add the chicken broth and tomatoe paste and the vegetables and cover tightly and place in the oven for 2 hours.

    Boeuf Bourguignon

    This recipe is everywhere so choose the one that you like. I like Ina Garten’s, the Barefoot Contessa, www.barefootcontessa.com, from her book “Barefood In Paris” or you could use Julia Child’s. Regardless it is basically beef stew with the addition of bacon, pearl onions, cognac and red wine. Ahhh….


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    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Holidays and Special Occasions, Recipes

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    Memorial Day

    May 25th, 2009

    spareribsToday is Memorial Day and the Grovers are coming over for a late lunch. My mom’s coming too. She is a fantastic Italian cook that doesn’t cook anymore due to her age. She asked me to make German Potato Salad and I did. More on that in a minute. Memorial Day means barbecuing, at least the food part of the day signifies that. The day itself should make us remember all of the soldiers that fought for our freedom. My wonderful dad fought in World War 2 and I’m thankful to him for risking his life and to all of the others that did so as well. Otherwise we may not be blogging, Facebooking, emailing, etc. This is a food blog so on with our menu for today.

    • Watermelon Daiquiris
    • Chips with Green Salsa
    • BBQ Pork Ribs
    • German Potato Salad
    • Baked Beans
    • Cole Slaw
    The Grovers are bringing the dessert and I think it will be a cobbler but I’ll let you know for sure later.
    coleslaw

    I prepared all of the recipes in advance which is awesome when you are having guests over and you want to start with a daiquiri when they arrive. I mean one or two of those and no telling how the food would turn out.

    That morning prepare the babyback ribs.

    Season well, I use coarse black pepper, kosher salt & garlic powder. Sprinkle all of the seasonings all over the ribs. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour & 15 minutes. Cover with foil and when you are ready to eat heat a grill, sauce one side and grill for 3 minutes, turn over do the same. Oh, I love Hoover’s BBQ sauce, buy some. At this point the only place to buy it is his restaurant.

    German Potato Salad

    • potatoes
    • bacon
    • onions
    • celery seed
    Boil the potatoes, cool, slice. To make the sauce, saute onions in olive oil, the recipe calls for bacon dripping but I don’t go there. It’s olive oil for me. Add the celery seed, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the onions. Then add 1/4 cup of vinegar. I think Japanese rice vinegar is best, and 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook until thick and add the potatoes and bacon. You now have German Potato salad! Serve at room temperture.

    potatosalad

    Baked Beans

    Open a can and saute 1/4 cup of onion, add some dijon mustard to cut the sweetness and add 2 slices of bacon; cooked and chopped. Heat & Serve.
    This is not really the kind of food that I usually cook and this is my first post so I’m a little nervous so keep checking me out because it’s going to get better. I will cook a lot of Italian recipes from my Mom and food with a French twist.

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    Posted in Appetizers and Sides, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Holidays, Recipes, Soups and Salads