Going-Away Dinner

I made a Pork Loin for our dinner the night before I went to California for Erin's Easter Break... I'm to help her pack things to take overseas. Not much help so far, but she's doing fine - I'm really just here for support, I think.

Anyway, I made a nice roast... sauted Shallots, Garlic and Tarragon in OO. Added some water and Semi-Braised the meat in the oven until it almost reached temperature, then made a gravy by reducing the liquid (and a bit of added Vermouth). I had cooked some red potatos while the meat was cooking, and crisped them up in a pan for coor and texture. Steamed Asparagus and Salad finished out the meal. Unfortunately, H didn't like the gravy or the red potatos, but that's OK... I did.

Whazzat???

It was a rainy day (Don't say" you live in Oregon, what did you expect?"... yesterday was beautiful: warm and sunny) As I was saying... it was a rainy day and I hadn't baked anything for a while.

SSOOooo, can you guess what I made?

Yep! I made Chocolate Chip Cookies. I HATE those things! I almost always eat about a dozen and make myself sugar-sick. Definitely a love-hate relationship... they are so good I can't stay away from them. I'm almost glad when Henry starts gobbling them up too!

They don't take very long and they make the whole house smell sooo good!

Here they are... well, part of them anyway. And yes, they are as good as they look! If you make them 2" size, and don't eat all the dough before they are baked, there are about seven dozen in a batch. I ate six or seven from the first sheet out of the oven-"my bad"?

Valentines Day

This is actually Monday, but I've been working on "Wonky Stars" quilt blocks for Tia Curtis' "Bushfire Project" (quilts for people in Australia who have been wiped out by a devastating bushfire - over 80 are dead and thousands now homeless) so I haven't been cooking at all. I'll send them off to Australia this morning.

Henry took me out for "Pizza and a Beer" Saturday night for Valentines. We threw some Darts and played Shuffleboard; our Pizza was heart-shaped in honor of Valentine's Day. Fun... it was a good date.

Sunday Supper

Since it was a rainy Sunday, and I was busy quilting, I decided a simple supper was in order. I put a nice Steelhead fillet on the BBQ (I had to split it with H, but half was enough) and re-heated some Basmati Rice (to which I added a couple of tablespoons of Tikka Paste for some snap) adding some sauted Cremini mushrooms at the last.

Sherm's had some really nice baby asparagus, and I do love asparagus, so I jumped on those! They were quite nice steamed. I have enough for another meal as well, or maybe I'll grill them to put in a salad.

February Comfort Food

Last night I was in the mood for "Down Home" food. Ham Steak with pan gravy, Garlic Mashed Potato and Green Salad seemed to fill the bill. I pulled some frozen "Fisher Family Hornschen" dough out of the freezer and we had those with Umpqua's Vanilla Bean ice cream for dessert. Quick and easy Winter food.

To keep the Ham from being 'boring', I mixed a tablespoon of Honey with two tablespoons of BBQ sauce and spooned it on while the ham was in the pan sauteing. Be careful not to burn the sauce, though, the honey (sugar) is quick to blacken!

After the Ham was nicely browned, I removed it from the pan and added a little butter and flour to make the gravy and releae the browned bits. This step is why you don't want the honey/BBQ sauce mix to burn - the flavor of burned sauce is not pleasant and will taint your gravy. (Yeech!) Add about 1 1/2 to 2 Cups of milk (it is OK to use non-fat, even though there is butter in the gravy - whatever you have got is fine) and slowly reduce the gravy to the desired consistency. When the gravy is 'almost there', put the Ham back in the pan to warm up again. Enjoy.

Shrimp Tikka... is that a dish?

Last night, when Henry asked what was for dinner I gave him the choice of Shrimp with Fetuccini or Ham Steak. Much to my surprise, the man who doesn't like pasta chose the Fetuccini!

I put the water on to boil and made a quick Roux. When the water boiled, I put in the Fetuccini (remembering that the commercial noodles take a bit longer than my hom-madeones). I added some Parmagiano and Vermouth after the roux had cooked for about three or four minutes, then I tossed in the cooked Bay Shrimp and some Tikka Massala for a bit of snap. After everything was heated through I dropped in some julienned red and green Bell peppers for color.

I plated the Pasta and Shrimp alongside a small green salad and a crusty sourdough roll, then topped the pinky colored Shrimp dish with a sprinkle of chopped Cillantro and a scratch or two of Asiago. Yummy.

Here is the receipe for the SHRIMP TIKKA WITH FETUCCINI

Put the water on to boil.
Make a Roux with Butter, Flour and Non-Fat Milk.
Cook the roux for about 3-5 minutes to lose the grainy "raw" flavor.
add Salt and Pepper to taste.
Next add:
1/4 Cup commercial Tikka Massala (or your own if you have it)
1/4 Cup Lite Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Parmagian Cheese
2-3 Tablespoons Vermouth (or dry White Wine if you have no Vermouth)
Check your seasonings.
Add 1 Lb. cooked Bay Shrimp, or small Prawns, or other shellfish.
warm through, and cook the pasta.
Add 1/2 julienned Green and 1/2 Red Bell Pepper.
Plate end sprinkle with cilantro and a few grates of Asiago if you'd like.

A year ago today I posted on this blog. I was beginning a new venture; becoming a chef. I though that if I wrote what was going on, I'd be able to follow my own trail - not so. My habit of leaving things unfinished continues. Not only did I not make note of the journey to becoming a chef, the process was aborted as well.

I have retired from my "day job" in the Library at school and moved to Oregon. There is a remote possibility that I will return to Santa Rosa and take the two remaining courses I need to get my "Baking and Pastry Certificate", but I doubt that it will happen. The classes are eight weeks long (well, one is eight weeks and the other is two) and five hundred miles away. Not gonna happen in all reality.

This will become my Food Blog... I'll just write about food: making, eating, thinking about, buying, growing, and whatever. Just food.

Cheers, me - another endeavor.