foodalicious

Beard on Burgers

2011-01-25T15:27:00.001-08:00

The recipe was almost too simple, I thought, when I first read the ingredients.
But I guess James Beard is James Beard for a reason.

So I made them. But I didn't use chopped round or chuck, mainly because I didn't really read the recipe first and instead pulled out some ground meat from the freezer. And in lieu of cream, I used a little whole milk I had on hand from another recipe.
The burgers were simple, but surprisingly flavorful and delicious.
We ate them on buttered buns that I broiled, mayo, mustard and tomatoes.

I realize that the above photo looks ... gross ... but the burgers were great, and that stuff on the side is coleslaw the fantastic Alabama-made John's coleslaw sauce.

Grillades and Grits

2009-01-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Made it for the first time on New Year's Day - and really enjoyed it! Might be the beginning of a new annual tradition.

Started with a Cooking Light 2004 recipe and went from there.

Ingredients (roughly):

- 2 pounds thin beef (I went with flank because it was the thinnest I could find, but a thin-cut round steak would be the way to go. Pound the HELL out of it so it's tender enough)
- 1 cup of diced onion (white)
- Around 1/2 cup of celery
- Around 1/2 cup of green bell pepper
- Around 1/4 cup of garlic
- Some flour (a few tablespoons)
- 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 small can sliced ripe olives (I went with black, can was around 3 or 4 oz)
- 1 14 oz can low-sodium beef broth
- A few tablespoons of basil
- Some thyme, parsley
- Hot pepper sauce (per preference)
- Salt and pepper for the steak

Directions (roughly)

Cut steak into 3 or 4 long strips. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a dusting of flour. Sear in oil over medium-high heat for less than a minute per side. Remove from pan, keep warm. Repeat with remaining steak.

Add a bit more oil and sauté the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Sprinkle some more flour over vegetables, and stir well to combine. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, olives - stir well. Add broth, a touch more pepper, basil, thyme, hot sauce, and parsley. Stir well to combine.

Return steak to pot. Bring to boil and simmer for AT LEAST AN HOUR. I'd recommend 1.5 to 2 if you have the time. You want the steak to be unbelievably tender.

Serve over buttery grits. I used Zingerman's grits because they were the only grits I could find in town. Amazing, but way expensive.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille

2008-10-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe at smittenkitten.com, which is an awesome foodie website. I stuff this in a pita with a little shredded swiss cheese and it's ohhhhh sooooo goood. I think it would be easy to make variations of it to fit various purposes. Enjoy!

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

Mary's Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

2008-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long time that I've posted to this blog that I can't remember any of my sign-in information. Richard was kind enough to let me use his...

I used a regular scalloped potato recipe as my guide for creating this sweet potato version (it was useful for figuring out cooking times as well as how much liquid to use). It isn't a fast dish to put together - it has to bake for about an hour and a half - but it is very good. I think we might make this instead of traditional sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving this year.

2 lbs sweet potatoes, sliced and peeled
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk (skim is fine)
1/3 apple butter (you can usually find this on the jam aisle, pumpkin butter would also work)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 oz (approximately) grated Gruyere cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Saute the onion in the olive oil. Add the lemon juice and cook until the onion turns translucent.

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Layer half of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Top with the cooked onion. Put the rest of the potatoes on top of the onion. Sprinkle more salt and pepper on the potatoes.

Over medium heat, whisk together flour and butter until smooth and bubbly. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and apple butter. Slowly add to the butter and flour being careful not to let lumps form. Cook until it starts to boil and thicken. Add parmesan cheese and curry powder, and if you like, more salt and pepper (depending on how much you already put on the potatoes). Pour this sauce over the potatoes.

Cover the casserole dish loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Take off the foil and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Finally, top the potatoes with the gruyere and bake an additional 10 minutes

Mom Cooking: Pasta 'Jambalaya'

2007-08-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

So now that I have even less time and ambition to get really creative in the kitchen, I'm doing a lot more 'pantry' dishes and/or one pot meals. Perfect for nights when you realize you only have half the ingredients for what you really wanted to cook and everyone's too tired to go out. This is one of those recipes that the magazine wanted to sound exotic so they threw in Cajun seasoning and viola!

Oil for pan
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 tin beans, rinsed and drained (black and pinto both work well)
1/2 package sliced smoked sausage
1 fresh vegetable of some sort (squash, pepper, cup of okra, whatever you've got in the crisper).
1/2 package of rotini.

Boil your water and toss in your pasta.
Meanwhile:
Warm the oil, fry up the garlic, stir the veggies around with the seasoning.
Toss in the sausage.
Dump in canned ingredients and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer for about ten minutes.

Toss with pasta to coat. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Leftovers make great lunch. Toddlers love it.

Embrace the Lentil

2007-01-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

So Rachael Ray sort of irritates me sometimes, but despite a bad experience with her gazpacho recipe, we decided to make her Sausage and Lentil Stoup. It was friggin yummy. Chad described it as, "the strangest non-ethnic food I've ever eaten...but it was good."

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds bulk hot Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, gills scraped out, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup lentils
1 large starchy potato, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, on stems
1 (14-ounce) can fire roasted chopped tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups kale or chard, a small bunch, veins removed and chopped

Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, then add sausage and brown it, then add garlic, onions and mushrooms. Cook a few minutes, then add carrots, lentils, potato, salt and pepper, bay leaf, paprika or substitute mixture and rosemary (leaves will fall from stems as stoup cooks). Add tomatoes and broth and cover pot then raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Uncover pot and place heat back a bit but keep stoup at a good rolling boil. Cook 15 minutes until lentils and potatoes are tender. Wilt in greens in small bunches, remove rosemary stems and turn off heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Sweet & Sour Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs

2006-10-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last week when Taylor and I went to the Asian market with Lynn, I spotted a bottle of chili sauce, so I picked it up. They had both hot and sweet, so I got the sweet version. I had seen this recipe on the Food Network a few weeks ago, but wasn't sure where one would buy chili sauce, so I was happy to find it. I assume it would be in the asian section of a normal grocery.

I put everything in the crockpot this morning, and we had meatball sandwiches on some whole wheat rolls with grilled onions & peppers and a little bit of shredded mozaralla cheese for dinner. It was pretty tasty and very easy.

This recipe makes a decent number of meatballs. We liked them they have just a touch of heat and a little bit of tanginess. I put my alterations in brackets below.

2 pounds ground turkey breast
2 teaspoons salt-free garlic and herb seasoning or poultry seasoning [I used veggie pepper]
1 egg white
Salt and ground black pepper
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar [I used rice wine vinegar, b/c that's what I had]
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Mashed Red Potatoes, recipe follows
Steamed Broccoli, recipe follows

In a large bowl, combine turkey, garlic and herb seasoning, egg white and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper [I used a whole teaspoon of Tony's instead]. Mix well and shape mixture into about 32 meatballs. Place meatballs in bottom of slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, whisk together tomato sauce, broth, chili sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and thyme. Pour mixture over meatballs.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. [I gave the meatballs a stir about an hour and a half or two hours into the cooking on the low setting to break up some of the meatballs that stuck together. I was envisioning one enormous mega-meatball, but they actually broke apart pretty easily. I am curious how they would come out if you just left them all day without stirring.]

Whoa...New Post

2006-07-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a while.

Pasta al Fontenot

This was originally a Rachael Ray 30 Minute recipe (Pasta al Forno), but I changed it a little, so I renamed it. I tried this earlier in the week and it turned out pretty good (Mo seconds that opinion).

Ingredients:
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 pound ziti rigate or penne rigate (with lines)
Softened butter, for greasing baking dish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes (I could only find chopped in the 15 oz)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 pinches cinnamon
2 links Hot Italian Sausage
1/4 to 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Take sausage out of the casing and cook in a skillet over medium heat until cooked.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and cook pasta to al dente, 7 minutes. Once pasta water comes to a boil, preheat oven to 500.

Butter a medium-sized baking dish or casserole. To a medium skillet, over medium heat, add evoo. Cook onions and garlic in evoo, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Add cream and season with cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add sausage and pasta to sauce, stirring to combine. Adjust seasonings and transfer to baking dish. Cover with cheese and bake 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cold Comfort

2006-02-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty chilly here in Michigan (surprise surprise), and that always makes me crave soup. Here are a couple of recipes that tried a few weeks ago.

Leek Potato Mushroom Cheddar Soup

2 leaks, white parts - finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 medium red or gold potatoes
2 tbsp butter (divided)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp ground mustard
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup water
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup milk (I used skim, and the soup still turned out nice and thick)
3 oz chopped Portobello mushrooms
salt, pepper and celery salt to taste

1. In a skillet, cook leek, garlic and potato in 1 tbsp of butter and the olive oil over medium low heat, stirring often. Don't let potato brown.
2. In a bowl, whisk together mustard, salt, pepper, celery salt and flour. Gradually whisk in water and chicken broth until well blended. Stir into potato mixture and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook 1 hour.
3. Mash softened potatoes by hand so they remain lumpy. Stir in cheeses until melted, then add milk but don't boil. Cook mushrooms in 1 tbsp of butter until soft. Add to soup and stir.

White Chili (made in slow cooker)

1 cup dried white beans (soaked overnight)
1 lb chicken, cut up
1 small onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped and seeded
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 can chicken stock
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup beer

1. Soak beans overnight. Drain and then return to a pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, then add to slow cooker.
2. Brown chicken pieces in olive oil. Then add to slow cooker.
3. Add all the rest of the ingredients to slow cooker, cook on high for 4 - 5 hours or low 8 - 10 hours.
This chili is great with sour cream and cheese on top.

Fantasy Fudge

2005-12-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

My mother Carol's recipe. This is so completely fantastic that I cannot even tell you. Easy to make, very little measuring involved. You can make two batches for about $10. The only special equipment you need is a candy thermometer.

3/4 cup butter (I usually use 1 stick of margarine and 1/2 stick of unsalted butter)
3 cups white granulated sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk ( one 12 oz can will make two batches)
1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips (cheap is okay as long as its real chocolate)
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (Mom prefers pecans, I prefer walnuts)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease one 9-inch square pan very well with butter or margarine.

In heavy 3 qt. saucepan, combine butter, sugar and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly (stirring constantly means constantly) to prevent scorching. Continue until candy reaches 234 degrees. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips and stir until melted. (The chips will melt better if you stir will gradually pouring in chips; if you dump the chips in they will clump up). Add remaining ingredients and stir until marshmallow creme is completely incorporated. Pour into prepared pan. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Store covered. (Fudge will harden slightly as it cools, but stays soft.)

It is best to buy the cheapest metal pan with fairly squared off angles that you can find. Cutting the fudge will scar the pan. If you use a glass pan, the outer pieces will have a rounded edge.

Do not try to make a double recipe.

You can change the extract to peppermint or add crushed peppermint hard candy for half the pecans. You can add some instant coffee before cooking to make mocha fudge. You can substitute white chips (but this is a little trickier because some brands are better than others) You can use half chocolate and half peanut butter chips and use chopped roasted peanuts.

Zucchini Bread Has Magic Properties

2005-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've always loved my mom's zucchini bread recipe. So of course I've mislaid my copy of it. I've tried a few other recipes, but they all seemed to dry in the bowl and turned out to be that way baked too. And that should not be. The bread should be dense and moist. Paula Deen is Southern and not afraid of spices so I decided to take a chance on her version. It's not Mom's but it's close and it's damn good.

Also, every morning since I made it, and breakfasted on a nice thick hunk? No morning sickness. Could this be a miracle food?

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

I'd go with walnuts, personally. Also, up the nutmeg and cinnamon to 1.5 tsp. If you can still get good zucchini in the stores, go for it. The bread freezes great. You can also grate the zucchini and freeze just that in 2 cup portions for the next time you want to make miracle bread. And yes, I believe I'll be doing that this weekend.

More Soup! Sun-Dried Tomato and Tortellini

2005-10-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

As I always say, one good soup deserves another (or something like that). So here's what I made last night for dinner. It made for a good weeknight dinner--fast, healthy, decently tasty, and only dirtying a minimal number of kitchen items (this is key for me). Looking at this recipe, I just realized I forgot the garlic. Darn. That probably would have been tastier. I was thinking I might kick up the spices a tad for the next time I did it.

Notes: Cutting sun-dried tomatoes can be a pain. Make sure you have a good, sharp knife or that your tomatoes are less leathery than the Alessi ones.

It is also nearly impossible to find just a 12 oz. pack of tortellini. Don't beat yourself up trying.

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 1/4 cups sun-dried tomato halves, packed without oil, chopped (about 3 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups fresh cheese tortellini (about 12 ounces)
1 cup chopped bok choy [official food of Carrie and the Dream of Cowboys]

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; sauteÃ© 5 minutes. Add broth and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaf); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 2 minutes. Add pasta and bok choy; simmer 7 minutes or until pasta is done. Discard bay leaf.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 256(28% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 2.6g,mono 3.9g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 12.1g; CHOLESTEROL 25mg; CALCIUM 47mg; SODIUM 681mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.9g

Curried Lentil and Spinach Soup

2005-10-18T01:31:00.000-07:00

I made this soup (based on a recipe I found at epicurious) last Friday evening; a good decision as I came down with a cold the next day. Nice, hearty soup that clears the sinuses whether you need it to or not.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder (preferably Madras-style)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
8 cups of low-sodium chicken (or vegetable) stock
~2 cups (or more) water
1 16-ounce bag dried lentils (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt or sour cream

Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add next 4 ingredients; saute until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in curry powder, ginger, cumin, bay leaf, and dried crushed red pepper. Add 8 cups of chicken stock and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water and dried lentils; bring to a nice boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until lentils are tender, adding more water by 1/2 cupfuls to thin soup, if desired, about 45-50 minutes. Add spinach and cilantro; simmer until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top each serving with spoonful of yogurt (or sour cream).

Per serving: calories, 479; total fat, 9 g; saturated fat, 1 g; cholesterol, 1 mg
Makes 4 main-course servings.

***
The only things I changed were using chicken stock instead of water (good move, I think) and the cooking times - which were WAY off. Mary dubbed the dish "Indian Chili" which I think is pretty accurate.

Tomato Basil Soup (Healthy version)

2005-10-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

So since Taylor was sick on Friday, I decided to make him soup. I had this recipe written down at some point, but I had to go searching for this recipe to make it, so I figured I'd post it here so that I can find it and some of you might like it as well. I had a slight mishap while using the food processor while making it (that liquid level line is key to notice), but other than the tomato juice bath my counter had, it came out well. I bought some ricotta herb bread at the bakery down the street to dunk in the soup...yummy.

Note: A handheld submersion blender would be handy instead of trying to transfer the soup to and from the saucepan.

4 cups chopped, seeded peeled tomato (about 4 larger, or one big ole can)
4 cups tomato juice
1/3 cups fresh basil leaves
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup (4 oz.) 1/3-less fat cream cheese, softened

Bring tomato and juice to boil in large saucepan (and I do mean large). Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Place tomato mixture ina blender or food processor; process until smooth. Return pureed mixutre to pan; stir in milk, salt, and pepper. Add cream cheese, stirring well, and cook over medium heat until thick (about 5 minutes).

Yield: 8 servings (serving size 1 cup); 133 calories, 4.4 g fat, 5.4 g protein, 1.9 g fiber; 18.7 g carb.

Homemade Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

2005-10-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

Inspired by (and missing) Mary's tried and true chicken enchilada recipe and a recent episode of Here in America's Test Kitchen, last night Taylor and I tried out the ATK recipe for chicken enchiladas and mexican rice (you may have to register to see the recipes). I had done some of the prep for both dishes Monday night, and Taylor got started yeterday before I got home and had pretty much finished the rice before I got home and did the vast majority of the cooking. I always forget how long it takes when you do something like this totally from scratch.

Enchiladas: I really liked the enchiladas, even though they are quite different from how you'd get them in a restaurant (not saucy enough) or Mary's (not creamy enough). I think we may have used extra cheese on top, since the whole container "accidentally" got dumped out on top of the pan. But you can't go wrong with extra cheese. Our corn tortillas were not so yummy either...I wouldn't buy that brand again.

Rice: It was good...not sure if it was worth the extra work over a mix rice (though it definitely had that "fresh" taste). It was an interesting idea though, you puree two tomatoes and an onion, fry the raw rice just a tad, add garlic and jalapeno, and then combine the puree, the rice, chicken broth, tomato paste and salt, and cook it through. The pureeing and frying were kind of unusual.

Smirnoff Pork

2005-08-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this for awhile. This is the roast I make for parents and parents-in-law and other fancy guests. Sorry for the inexact measurements.

3-4 lbs pork tenderloin
1 -2 tablespoons olive oil
1 -2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
Cajun Injector, Creole Butter flavor
Tony's (or salt and pepper)
Honey
1 smirnoff ice (regular or lime flavor)

Preheat your oven or roaster (I have a small electric roaster that I always use) to 350 degrees.
Inject your tenderloin with the cajun injector. There are instructions on the jar, however, don't use quite as much as the instructions tell you. Once you are finished with that, coat the outside of the tenderloins with a few shakes of Tony's (or just salt and pepper). Then , rub the olive oil, worcestershire sauce and a small amount of honey over the outside of the tenderloin. Set the tenderloin in the roaster or in a roasting pan in the oven and pour a little smirnoff ice on top.
Roast the tenderloin for 30 to 35 mintues for every 3-4 pound of meat. So, for 4 lbs of tenderloin, roast for about 2 hours.
Every 30 minutes, coat the top of the roast with a little more honey and smirnoff ice (you want to eventually use up the whole bottle of smirnoff. )

A few Thai recipes

2005-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post these for a long time. The first came from an american cookbook but it's a wonderful recipe; the second came straight from a friend of a friend in Thailand. Enjoy!

1. pad thai:

1/2 lb rice noodles (1/4 in wide)
1/3 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
3 tbsp thai fish sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp hot chili paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup bean sprouts
3 tbsp chopped peanuts
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro

Soak noodles in a large bowl in very hot water for approximately 8-10 minutes until softened but still firm (boil water, then take it off heat - tap water is not hot enough). Drain well. If not using immediately, rinse with cold water and drain. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, brown sugar and chili paste. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok on medium heat. Add garlic and onion. Stir-fry until lightly browned and tender. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Add eggs. When they start to set, stir mixture together. Add noodles and heat thoroughly. Add bean sprouts. Sprinkle with peanuts, green onions and cilantro.

2. Panaeng Curry with Pork (serves 4)

1/2 cup or 10 oz. pork fillet or tenderloin - cut into small strips
1 can coconut milk
4 tbsp panaeng or red curry paste (4 tbsp will make this dish VERY hot; consider using just 2 or 3)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp thai fish sauce
7 kaffir lime leaves (or 1/2 tsp lime rind)
1/2 cup sweet basil leaves
1 big, red chillies, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced

Fry half the coconut milk for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add paste and fry for 1-2 min. Add pork and cook until outside of pork is cooked. Add rest of milk and bring to a boil. Simmer and add sugar, fish sauce, sliced red peppers and lime leaves/rind. Stir to combine, then add basil leaves. Turn of the heat and serve, garnish with red chillies and any other basil, red peppers, lime leaves or coconut milk.

Shrimp Claire

2005-04-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

This dish was created by my grandfather on the night I was born. While everyone else was at the hospital, he made up this dish and waited for the call that I had come into the world.
It's a very easy recipe.

16 oz. peeled shrimp
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, grated
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 c. cooking sherry
can of tomato sauce

Saute' veggies in a large skillet sprayed with pam (for a fuller-fat recipe, use butter). Add shrimp, sherry, tomato sauce and seasonings. Simmer 10 minutes until shrimp is done. Do not overcook. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over noodles and garnish with parsley. Serves 4.

Quick Cooking

2005-03-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

I rediscovered shrimp when I moved to New Orleans. I re-rediscovered it as it is one of the few items that freezes and thaws well (it's not like I'm going to get really fresh shrimp here anyway). I stock the freezer with 1/2 lb packages. By the time I get them peeled, they are thawed.

So, a recipe like this one for garlic-lime shrimp makes a great week-night solution.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I just squeeze a lime over the pan, no measuring)
2 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon grated lime peel
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 lb clean shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Mix in next 6 ingredients. Sauté 30 seconds. Add shrimp; sauté until opaque in center, turning occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper; serve.

Fabulous with collards miniera (I use olive oil, not bacon, and crushed red pepper) and biscuits.

In Honor of Lenten Fridays....Crawfish Fettuccine. (Nothing says penance like this many fat grams.)

2005-02-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

3 onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 sticks butter
1/4 cup flour
1 lb Velveeta
1/2 pint whipping cream
2 or 3 lbs. crawfish
1 lb. fettuccine noodles
2 tbsp. jalepeno relish
parmesan cheese (to sprinkle)

Saute onions, celery and bell pepper in butter. Add flour, stir and cover. Cook on low for 15 minutes. Add cream, cheese and garlic and stir until cheese melts. Add crawfish and cook for 30 minutes.

In a seperate pot, boil noodles. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE NOODLES.

Drain the noodles when done. Combine everything and pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Note: this makes a lot, so you could probably cut the recipe in half. This will also freeze well for later. :)

Cakes and pies, cakes and pies

2005-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Incredibly moist chocolate cake

1 pkg Devil's Food cake
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
1 c. sour cream
1 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
4 eggs
2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
6 tbsp butter
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips (separate from first two)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour pan.
Combine cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, milk, oil, water and eggs.
Beat four minutes and mix in 2 c. chocolate chips.
pour batter into pan
40-50 mins baked
let cool 10 mins.

The cake is incredibly rich and moist but for a glaze over the top melt the butter and 1 c. chocolate chips in the microwave. Stir and drizzle over the cake.
It would be good with rasberries too.

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My aunt's apple thing

2 cans crescent rolls
6 apples
1 c. sour cream
1 c. cream cheese
cinnamon
1/2 stick of butter
brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
cut apples into pieces, melt all butter in a pan and pour the apples in. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar to taste and cook until apples are soft.
Take off the burner.

Mix sour cream and cream cheese together. Add a little cinnamon and sugar if desired.
Roll out the crescent rolls flat. Spread cream cheese/sour cream mixture, and spoon some of the apple into it, and carefully roll up to create a pinwheel.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
A good breakfast food.

Speaking of Casseroles (man, I'm getting good at "speaking of" posts!)

2005-01-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

I had some requests to post the two casserole recipes that Taylor and I served on New Year's Day. They are both pretty easy to make, and relatively healthy, thanks to my mom. They both bake at the same temp, so you can do both at once, if you are serving a lot of people (each casserole makes a good bit).

Black Eyed Pea Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean gr. meat (beef, turkey, or even veggie crumbles could work)
1/2 c. diced onions
1/2 c. diced bell pepper
1/2 c. diced celery
3 cloves garlic
1 pack success rice cooked (or cook 1 to 1/2 cup of rice)
1 can black eyed peas
1 can tomatoes with green chiles
6-8 oz. grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Two options for the first step, again courtesy of my mom. She browns her meat first, then rinses it in a collander, then returns it to the skillet to add her seasongs and cooks to combine them. However, you can just add the seasonings and brown the meat all at once.

Combine cooked rice with meat and seasongs. Add canned beans and tomatoes. Put mixture into 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, add cheese on top, and bake 15 minutes more, or until cheeze is bubbly.

Shrimp "Jambalaya"

Ingredients:

1 onion
1 bunch green onion
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
2 cups raw rice
worcestershire sauce (to taste)
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 can reduced-sodium French onion soup
1 lb. shrimp or crawfish (frozen is fine)
butter or margarine for sauteeing the onions
salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste<

Sauté seasonings in butter or margarine. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Transfer to baking dish. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, stirring halfway through.

Because everyone eventually has to go to a potluck...

2005-01-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Broccoli Rice Casserole

This is a modified version of a recipe I saw on allrecipes.com. (The original recipe called for a 16 ounce jar of cheese sauce. I substituted a combo of shredded cheese and cheese soup instead). I brought this to a potluck lunch at work this week, and it was a big hit. I was happy because, not only did everyone really like, it's also really cheap to make, and isn't that what's important when feeding coworkers?

2 cups of rice (cooked)
2 10 ounce packages frozen chopped broccoli
2 10.5 ounce cans cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1 can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
1 8 ounce package of shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper (or Tony's) to taste
I also sprinkled in a little onion powder because I used frozen chopped onions. If you use fresh onions, you probably wouldn't need the onion powder.

Cook the broccoli, following the instructions on its package, and drain.
Saute the onions in the butter.
Mix broccoli, rice, cheese, onions with butter, and soups together. Then season with salt and pepper.
Put the mixture in a 9 by 13 inch oven safe casserole dish. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Speaking of Gifts... Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread

2004-12-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

I did a trial run of this recipe this year, inspired in part by all the talk of P.Q. back in the fall. Next year, I'll probably do a batch or two of this and bake it in small loaf pans for gift purposes.

Recipe is from December issue of Cooking Light.

2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup fat-free vanilla pudding
4 large egg whites
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (heaping per Carrie) cup semisweet chocolate chunks
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 32 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 152(30% from fat); FAT 5g(sat 1.2g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 10mg; SODIUM 137mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.5g

Great Gifting

2004-12-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

I've started a holiday tradition of making truffles for the ladies in the office. The best thing about doing this is that the recipe could hardly be more simple. However, no one believes this.

The basic recipe is listed on epicurious, and is infinitely modifiable.

2/3 cup whipping cream
1 12-ounce package (about 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped unsalted pistachios

Bring cream to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Pour into medium bowl. Cover; chill until firm, about 3 hours.
Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
Place cocoa, coconut and nuts in separate bowls. Roll truffles between hands into rounds. Roll 1/3 of truffles in cocoa, 1/3 in coconut and 1/3 in nuts. Cover with plastic; chill until ready to serve. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Keep chilled.)

This year, I substituted peppermint extract for the vanilla and rolled all the truffles in crushed peppermint candies. Good stuff.

Hot Chocolate

2004-11-26T06:16:00.000-08:00

This is good for the cold (or cool) mornings we are all starting to experience.

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
3 c. regular milk

Pour evaporated milk into a 3 qt saucepan. Fill empty can 1/2 full with water and add to pan. Heat over medium high heat. While milk is heating, mix sugar and cocoa together. Add 5 or 6 tablespoons of the warmed evaporated milk into sugar/cocoa mixture and mix until the sugar mixture starts to melt. Add sugar/cocoa mixture to warmed evaporated milk and stir until combined. Add regular milk. Hot chocolate is ready when mixture is hot.

This drink can be petty sweet. If you find it to be a little rich, just add more milk. :)

Monkey Bread: The Official Bread of Monkeys

2004-11-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

4 cans biscuits (I use the blue 4-pack found in most grocer's refridgerators, any will work)
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix cinnamon and sugar together. Quarter biscuits and roll in sugar mixture. Pile into a greased bundt pan. Melt the following topping together and pour over biscuits:

Topping:
1 stick margarine/butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Bake at 350 degrees until done (approx. 30-35 minutes). Invert bundt pan onto a plate and serve.

My only advice on this dish is to make sure the plate you invert the bread onto is bigger than the bundt pan. Otherwise, all the buttery goodness will pour out of the pan and fall on the counter/floor/you and make a sticky mess. This is also good as a left over, either cold or warmed in the oven.

Enjoy!

¡Cuba Libre!

2004-11-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a virtual conversation with Taylor and Carrie, I decided to celebrate my Cuban culinary heritage for the first time by making a spicy shrimp stew this evening. Epicurious seems to do right by Claudia, and has done me right in the past, so I considered it trustworthy. Glad I did; this recipe was great! (served with homemade italian herb bread and my grandmother's spinach)

A few caveats:
(1) buying shrimp in late fall in Michigan is going to be expensive; you've gotta want it.
(2) if you make this dish, be sure to give the stew time to reduce and thicken (i.e., ignore their minute recommendations... patience, young padawan).

Enjoy!

More Seasonal Goodness

2004-11-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Once again, I can take no credit for this recipe for cinnamon crumble apple pie, but I can recommend it. It's a little messy to cut up (and if you're a klutz like me, what ends up on the plate looks more like crisp than pie) but it's quite tasty. The best part of the recipe though is the construction. You pile the apples in the crust and then 'pack' the topping on. So, it's like constructing a mud pie. You can handfuls of the topping and smoosh it around over the apples until you have it all neat and even, with a big peak in the center. It can be very therapeutic getting your hands dirty in the kitchen.

Texas, Texas, Yee-haw!

2004-10-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

On the subject of baked delights, here are the Best of Show in the Cookie Competition from the 2003 Texas State Fair. My Dad forwarded this over to me, they were a hit at his work.

Turtle Bars

Ingredients

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups dark brown sugar, packed (divided use)
1 ½ cups unsalted butter at room temperature (divided use)
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, 1 cup brown sugar and ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks) in food processor until well blended and crumbly. Press into ungreased 9x13 inch metal baking dish. Bake until crust is light golden, about 15 minutes.

To make caramel, bring remaining brown sugar (¾ cup) and butter (1 ½ sticks) and cream to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Sprinkle pecans over crust; pour caramel over pecans. Bake about 20 minutes, until bubbles form and color darkens. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes. Spread chocolate evenly over top. Chill 30 minutes, or until chocolate sets. Cut into squares.

Upping your PQ; It's a Good Thing

2004-10-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, I can't claim any involvement with the invention of this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Squares. I made it exactly as written, and they are transcendent. The hardest part of making them is waiting for them to cool down enough to slice. Or you can do what I did and scoop a corner out to taste while they're still warm. Mmmmm.

There Oughta Be a Law Against'em Bars

2004-10-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

My mom got this recipe from some family member who got it from some cookbook. (so, it's possible that some of you have seen this recipe before) I used to make these as Christmas presents at the Academy.

1 box german chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
1 14oz package of caramels
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1 6oz package chocolate chips (I personally love the ghirardelli double chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix cake mix, butter, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and nuts. Mix well, then put half of this batter in a greased 9" x 13" cake pan. Bake for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt caramels with 1/3 evaporated milk. (unwrapping the caramels is the hardest part of this recipe) Pour caramel over the baked portion of the batter. Then, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel layer. Last, pour the second half of the batter on top of the chocolate chips. (Actually, I take that back, smoothing the uncooked dough over gooey caramel is the hardest part of the recipe). Bake for 15-18 minutes. Cool in fridge 1 hour before cutting.

The Great Pumpkin and other foods

2004-10-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

In honor of fall (or the 90 degree fall Louisiana is experiencing), I made a pumpkin creme brulee' last night. I'm a huge creme brulee' fan and when and if I get dessert at a restaurant, if it's available, I usually order it. This recipe is good. Burning your finger on crystallizing sugar -- not so much. After that recipe, I've posted a BLT dip that I also made last night, which was a hit.

Pumpkin Crème Brulee

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pinches nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup coarse sugar or raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse at least 15 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in the hot cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree. Pour the mixture into 4 ovenproof ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven until almost set but still a bit soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. The custard should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools. Remove from the water bath and let cool 15 minutes. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not touch the surface of the custard. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, preheat a broiler to very hot (or fire up your kitchen torch). Uncover the chilled custards. Pour as much coarse sugar as will fit onto the top of 1 of the custards. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard. Repeat until all the custards are coated. Discard any remaining sugar. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and broil until the sugar is melted and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool 1 minute before serving.

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BLT Dip
1 c. Sour Cream
1 c. mayonaise
1 lb bacon
1 med. tomato cut up.

Mix all ingredients together and serve with toast or crackers. To cut the fat, I used lite sour cream and light mayo. Instead of real greasy bacon, I bought a bottle of real bacon bits and poured the whole bottle in,

Holy Mole

2004-10-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, first of all, I promise never to pull a title like that again.

Chicken Mole (original courtesy of epicurious)

6 skinless boneless chicken thighs, each cut into 3 pieces
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced (preferably sweet because, come on, is that ever wrong?)
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chilies plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
(or if you're not a wimp, 3-4 minced chipotles)
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
pinch of sugar

Coat chicken on all sides with cumin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in heavy large pot (cast iron is best) over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add onion and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, broth, chipotle chilies, adobo sauce, and chocolate and bring to simmer.

Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in sugar, and simmer uncovered until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens slightly, about 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; serve. (Makes 4-6 servings).

Perfect over yellow rice. Dress your favorite raw veggies in a chili lime vinaigrette (1/4 cp red wine vinager, 3/4 cp olive oil, 1-2 tbsp chili powder, juice of one lime, salt and pepper) for a nice side.

Champagne punch

2004-10-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is a punch we made for our oh-so-elegant 21st birthday party. Even the guys drank it...it was delicious. I'll post more hardcore recipes later. Tonight I'm making pork chops diane, a BLT dip and pumpkin creme brulee'. If those work out, the recipes will be posted here.

Strawberry Champagne Punch
5 c Water
1 can diluted lemonade
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 bottle of ginger ale
2 bottles dry champagne, chilled

Combine the first three ingredients together, and then right before serving, add the champagne and ginger ale.
We also froze ice cubes with strawberries in them. It would have been better to freeze ginger ale cubes with strawberries, though.

Let's get this party started

2004-10-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

So I figured I would start off with a little south louisiana goodness that always goes well with cold weather:

Turkey and Andouille Gumbo

Ingredients

2 Green bell peppers.

2 Medium sized onions.

4 Stalks celery

1 bunch of scallions (green onions)

2 lbs andouille

Turkey meat (1 whole breast will do)

1 cup flour

1 cup vegetable oil

2 quarts turkey stock

1 batch of smothered okra

Garlic Powder

Tobasco sauce

Tony's

Worcestershire sauce

Kitchen Bouquet (for color)

Instructions

Chop all vegetables and set aside.

Blend the flour and oil in the bottom of large stock pot. Make sure they are both completely blended before applying heat. Apply medium high heat, stirring continuously. The stirring is very important. I personally like to let my roux get to a milk chocolate color.

When the roux is the right shade of brown, throw in the vegetables. Stir it all together. Add a little bit of water just to loosen things up a little. Let sautee for about 10-15 minutes, stirring the whole time, adding a very small amount of water if things start to stick.

Once the vegetables are sauteed, add the cold stock slowly while stiring the whole time. This allows for the gumbo to maintain a smooth consistency.

After stock is mixed in, add okra, sausage, and turkey. Also add seasonings. Add Kitchen Bouquet to achieve desired color.

Cook on high until you achieve a boil, then let cook covered on low heat for 2 hours stirring every 10-15 minutes. Let cook uncovered for about 10-15 minutes at the end.

and so it begins...

2004-10-21T14:58:00.001-07:00

Now all we need are recipes. And stories. Of successes, and horrible horrible failures.