Zachary is Three!

Yesterday was my nephew Zachary's 3rd birthday.  He is such a happy, funny little guy.  I have been working on his gift for months, and as usual was going 24 hours a day as the time was running out.  I made a book with felt pages titled "Z is for Zachary".

And of course I spelled zinnia without the second i and had to sew it in at the last minute.  Thats what happens when you work on something from 10 a.m. till midnight.  It is finally done!

 

He loves trains and his mom made him this great candy train cake.  

It was a good day!

Grill Pan

I love my grill pan.  I know, I'm materialistic we have covered that, but this bad boy is a wonderful thing.  It's a    Le Creuset (I know, I know) and I promise if you love asparagus like I do and cook it just once on a grill or grill pan, tossed with olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper.  You will be in love as well.

Get the pan nice and hot and toss in the asparagus.  Its already coated in the oil, garlic and salt & pepper.  Just let it sizzle and few minutes get some nice grill marks and toss it around.  Make sure to get them out while they are still crisp.  

Gumbo!

I love good gumbo, not too spicy but really flavorful.  The following is my own take on this classic dish. First I melt 1and a half sticks of butter (must be butter no fake stuff).  Then add about 3/4 of a cup of flour and cook over med to low heat.  Stir, stir, stir and very slowly the flour and butter will get brown....this may take 1/2 and hour.  The photo below not brown enough yet.

While waiting for the prefect brown... heat another pot and add a drizzle of olive oil.  Add 5 ribs of celery, 2 green peppers and 1 large onion all chopped into small pieces and cook  Once the vegetables cook down add 1 chirizo link cut into slices and than each slice into four pieces and a kilbasa sliced and cut each slice in half.  Also add ham (I get a couple of good thick slices from the deli, ask the butcher to slice it about 1/4 of and inch thick.) cut it into cubes.  I find that cutting the different meats into different shapes is good  for people to be able to identify each meat.  I personally don't like the chirizo, I find it too spicy. 

When the color is a nice rich brown I add 5 cups of chicken broth slowly, and 3/4 of a bottle of guinness stirring constantly (with the remaining guinness make a "black and tan" and drink.)  What you end up with is a nice thick gravy.  To this add the cooked vegetables and meat.  Next I add seasonings.  I know this is cheating but I used a good amount of Emeril's original essence a couple of heavy shakes, and Konriko brand Chipotle all purpose seasoning, and McCormick brand Cajun seasoning.  These three seasoning add the perfect flavor.  Shake and taste to get the correct amount to seasoning for yourself.  Then add 4 or 5 chicken breasts cut into bit size pieces.  Cook on medium low until the chicken is cooked and then turn the heat to low and simmer.  About 15 minutes before your ready to eat add 1 to 2 pounds of raw shelled and cleaned large or jumbo shrimp.  (The shrimp cooks very quickly and will get tougher the longer you cook it so don't do it till the end.)  

I like to serve this in a shallow bowl with a ice cream scoop of white rice in the center and pour the gumbo all around the rice.  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of this but once plated the last thing on my mind was taking a picture.....so good!  

  

For Erika!

Erika has asked for my Corn Chowder with Maple Bacon recipe and here it is.  It's very simple really and as I have said before I'm not one to measure so I'll do my best to give accurate amounts.

First I cook 1/2 pound of maple bacon to crisp.  While the bacon is cooking I cut up a medium onion very fine and a few stalks of celery the same size.  Peel 3 potatoes (4 if they are small) and cut into small cubes.  After the bacon is cooked set it aside to cool.  There shouldn't be too much bacon fat left in the pan if there is remove all but about 4 tablespoons and add the vegetables to the pan.  Let them keep cooking over medium heat until the potatoes are soft and have browned a little.  Then add 4 cups of chicken stock and the corn.  I use Trader Joe's frozen white corn, it's sweet and works well with the sweet bacon. (For this batch I used 2 and 1/2 bags, which was what I had left in the freezer.)  Bring it to a low boil and reduce the heat and add 2 cups of half and half.  (I use fat free half and half and I find it works just fine.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.  If more liquid is needed add more chicken stock and cream.  Crumble the cooled bacon and add it to the chowder.

Here is another recipe that is so simple yet so amazing.....Joe went nuts for these potatoes!  I used about 15 potatoes that were all about the same size.  Wash them good and leave the skins on the slice them evenly in several slices but not all the way through.  Leave them attached at the bottom with about 1/2 an inch.  Melt a stick of butter and add a cup of sherry.  Pour it evenly over the potatoes and bake at 400.  After about 45 minutes take them out and baste them with the liquids from the bottom of the pan and return to the oven.  Wait another 30 minutes and take them out again and the liquids will probably be gone.  Take a wooden spoon and press on each potato and it should fan out.  Melt another 1/2 stick of butter and add 1/2 cup more sherry and pour it over.  Return them to the oven a final time and cook until nice and brown.  So Good!

Soup, Soup and More Soup!

My sister is sick....has been since Friday.  So I made soup for her.  She's a big fan of my soups.

This is Sausage, Tomato and Rice,

    

and this is Greek Lemon Egg and Rice,

and finally, Corn Chowder with Maple Bacon.

The Sausage was her favorite.  She probably couldn't taste the others she so stuffy.  And for Joe I made calzone, because soup alone is not a meal.

  

I'm on a mission to make as many soups as I can think of this fall and winter, maybe try to do a soup  cookbook.... if anyone is interested in the "how to" on any of my soups let me know! 

I have been avoiding the jam/jelly making since the major failure of the watermelon jelly, but last night changed that.  I had great success with the plum jam, and the color is so beautiful.

Okay, one more little thing.... I discovered this last night and was thrilled.  This proves that it doesn't take much to make me happy.  Friday afternoon I cut all my herbs to dry.  While I was at it I cut back the tomato plants, summer squash and peas.  The pea plant had some flowers that I knew would die that night because of the frost.  So I cut them and put them in a glass of water on the kitchen window sill.  

One of the flowers dropped off and there was a tiny little pea pod.