Rainy Weather ~ Easy Dinner

Another rainy weekend in Southern California. Didn't we just spend last weekend digging out the weeds? Our poor garden  ~ a new crop of weeds has been birthed just during this last week of rainy days. After attacking the new upstarts today...who wants to cook or go out ??? We're pooped out! It is the perfect weather for Cheesy Fondue. We have been making this recipe for scores of years now in one form or another. The original, which we have veered from was given to us by a friend. You can make this in 2 whole sourdough boules or individual sourdough rolls such as the Pioneer brand. 

Yes, weeds were trying to hide amongst the herbs!

Determination was called for...we are taking back our plot...weed free!

Here are the ingredients for family style fondue.

This recipe makes enough to serve 8-10. Cut the amounts in 1/2 or freeze half for later use, if your family is smaller.

2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), cut into cubes

1-8 ounce (1 cup) can tomato sauce (not paste)

3 heaping tablespoons finely minced sweet onion

3 heaping tablespoons finely minced red bell pepper

dash cayenne pepper

(2-3 pieces of crispy bacon, crumbled would be a nice addition-we did not do this in today's recipe)

2 14-ounce Sourdough boule (we bought ours at Trader Joe's), slice off the top, and hollow out the bottom by running a knife around the bottom edge being careful not to cut through the bread. (You can see by our pictures how it works) Carefully remove the insides and cut into cubes to use to dip into the fondue when ready to serve. (You should have a bread bowl with a top when you are done)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a lower heat if your oven tends to burn easily. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion and bell pepper. Cook until the bell pepper and onion are soft, but not brown. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine with onion and bell peppers. Remove from heat and add the cheeses. Stir/mixture will still be chunky...it will not  become creamy until it is baked. Fill the boules with the cheesy mixture and replace their lids. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake approximately 15-20 minutes. Lift the lids a little to peek under and make sure the cheeses are melted. At that point, we like to remove the lids and turn the broiler on--broil until the cheese begins to bubble and brown a bit. Remove from oven, replace the lids and serve. 

**Suggestions~ This is how we completed our presentation today....we took a baking sheet...drizzled olive oil over the surface. Cracked sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder over the oil. Then we halved some red, yellow, and blue baby potatoes (enough for 2-3 per person)...popped them in the microwave for 5 minutes...removed them...rolled them in the oil/seasoning mixture on the baking sheet then placed them cut sides down into the hot oven. We also roasted the remainder of our sweet onion cut into chunks right along with the potatoes. Right next to the potatoes, we place our foil covered boules of fondue. The potatoes roasted for about 15 minutes and then we added some thin asparagus tips...we rolled them in the same olive oil mixture and continued the cooking process for another 8 minutes. Meanwhile we julienned some red bell pepper, grabbed a handful of baby heirloom tomatoes, and diced some chunks of leftover tri-tip beef, and began composing our serving platter. We removed the roasted vegetables and then popped the boules back under the broiler as mentioned above. You can see by the picture below that we served everything on one big platter. It is a lot of fun to eat this type of communal meal...it elicits conversation-everyone participates. It's a good thing!

Cleanup after a meal like this is pretty easy!

Casa Vega

One of us had a birthday recently and the big bash was celebrated at Casa Vega on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, CA. We had been curious to see just what Jeff Lewis did to give this well established restaurant a "Jeff Lewis" face lift. The entry and waiting areas are so much smaller than they appear on Flipping Out. It seems that is as far as the redo went-the entry and waiting areas. What could Jeff do if they turned the whole restaurant over to him?? It was dark and FULL to the brim with guests, car after car arrived and the newly arrived entered and occasionally someone would depart. For a Thursday night, the place was rockin. Casa Vega attracts a wide-range of customers, but mostly young professionals flock there in the evening. The cuisine is standard-faire Mexican food elevated with a few unique twists such as, Lobster Quesadillas and Crab Enchiladas-which are worthy of recognition. The only glitch we had was the size of our party-friends just coming in from New York, and all parts of the Los Angeles basin. By the time we were all collected and ready to be seated, we still had a 45 minute wait. Would we go back again? Not unless Jeff gets to finish the project. I'm sure he could make more sense of the space in the interior. After all, food is just one part of the experience and if it is over-the-top-great, we can forgive all the other lacking components.

Hot Soup on a Cold Day!

It's been a cool, drizzly day today! A great day for soup! We are pulling out our staple creamy vegetable soup. It's nutrient rich---so good for you soup, and the plus is it tastes great too! We made a trip to the market for all the essential ingredients. Here they are pictured below.


This is what you need to make it:

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock (you will find this in the soup section of your market)
1 yellow onion, peeled and rough chopped
2 leeks, remove the dark green stems-split them in half and rinse out all the grit, then rough shop
2 carrots, peeled and rough shopped
1 bunch kale, wash and remove spine
3 stems celery, smaller inner stalks with leaves, rough chopped
2 tomatoes, rough chopped
2 broccoli heads, break into florets
2 handfuls baby spinach
2-3 medium potatoes, peeled and rough chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 dashes cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cream (optional)


Now take a large pot-like you would use to make spaghetti in--bigger than a saucepan. Turn the heat on to medium. When pan is hot add the olive oil, onions and leeks. When they are softened, but not browned, add the rest of the vegetables except the spinach- (that gets added at the end) now pour the stock over the vegetables. Put a lid on the soup as it cooks. It will take about an hour for the vegetables to become fork tender. Remove from heat, add the spinach, and use an emulsion tool blender, regular blender or cuisinart to blend the soup ingredients to a lovely creamy consistency. Add cream (if desired) and blend. Adjust seasoning. You may need a little more salt-careful not to overdo it.


You are ready to serve! You can add a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream to garnish.

As a garnish we used crisp kale, creme fraiche, a toasted garlic sliver and a sprig of fresh thyme. This soup will warm you to the bone!

End of Summer Pasta

A quick and easy dish to serve on the side or as a main dish.

Cardiologists are telling us the best diet for maintaining a healthy heart is the Mediterranean Diet. Studies have been done on the benefits of portion controlled foods found most prevalent in the geographic areas known as the Mediterranean. Fish, olives and olive oil, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, and wine are laden with things that are good for our hearts. Here is a simple recipe:

Whole grain pasta, follow the package instructions to prepare (we used fettuccine)

1 handful baby heirloom tomatoes per person

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced or crushed

1/3 cup fresh basil, julienned

sea salt (we used French fleur de sel)

Olive oil

Grated Parmesan cheese

To Prepare:

Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat and to the hot pan add 3-4 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and stir into the oil (don't take too long-you don't want the garlic to burn). Add the tomatoes and saute at a high heat for about 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes just begin to crack and soften. Add salt to taste and basil.

Serve over cooked pasta. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. It's just that easy! This is a very clean, healthy way to eat.

Look at all the plump goodness, ready to serve over pasta.

Now grab a glass of wine and just know you are taking good care of the ole ticker.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

Easy, casual dining fits our family best! Years ago, while at culinary school we began to make our own pizzas. Even back then we didn't make our own dough though - we headed to our local Italian deli/restaurant, Baducco's in Westlake Village for that. We might pop in and see Kirk Cameron dining with his wife or Billy Banks grabbing a sub-our kids thought it was pretty cool!

Today Trader Joe's is just down the street, so we go there to get our pizza dough. They carry whole wheat, herb, and plain varieties. Each package makes one large pizza or four individual ones. Recently we made individual pizzas. We bought one package of each type dough, cut each package into 4 portions. We rolled them into balls using olive oil lightly all over the round surface to keep them from sticking to one another and prevent them from drying out. We put them into an lightly oiled pan, covered them with plastic wrap and popped them back into the fridge until ready to roll them out.

Toppings: Trader Joe's has a pretty decent pizza sauce in the refrigerated section right by the pizza doughs. Some of us like ours without sauce, using just a light drizzle of olive oil and roasted garlic and then adding other toppings. Our all time favorite is roasted and shredded chicken breast placed on dough that has been lightly spread with barbecue sauce, finely diced red onion, cilantro leaves, grated mozzarella and grated smoked Gouda. Sound familiar? Yep we copied it from California Pizza Kitchen. Cautious eaters still go for pepperoni and cheese or just plain cheese. Kids will like eating their veggies on top of pizza.

~So here we are, doughs ready to roll out~

~I know this pizza stone looks like it's been in a war! It's well used and with the proper care a pizza stone will last indefinitely. Always put the stone in the oven before you turn it on. Some cooks just leave their stone in the oven all the time, we find it in the way for some baking usage. We leave it in the oven to cool down when all the pizzas are finished baking. Then remove it and wipe down with a damp cloth, scraping off the cheese bits. The temperature for baking pizza in a home oven is 550 degrees. Pizza shops have ovens that can reach into 1,000 degrees and higher. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes to bake a pizza and we usually give our pizzas an additional 2 minutes under the broiler too.

~The pizzas are rolled out and everyone has selected their own toppings.~

**If you click on the pictures, you can view them in a larger format**

Rolling out the dough is more like pressing it down with the heel of your hand and continuing to use your heel to achieve a round circle. The key is to use either corn meal or semolina flour as ball bearings to keep the pizza from sticking to the board. You can see the semolina in the picture above. Be generous. It also helps the pizza slide right onto the hot stone in the oven. If the dough gets sticky, drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the dough and continue.

~Hot from the oven~

Individual pizzas can be removed from the oven with a large spatula. For larger pizzas you will need a pizza peel or a cookie sheet without a rim to slide under the pizza and lift it out. To cut the pizza, press a large knife straight down as opposed to using a sawing motion or use a pizza wheel. We hope you try making your own pizza. You might just get hooked.

Quesadillas on the patio

What do you do when it's hot and you don't feel like cooking? We ran around the garden, gathered up some onions, baby zucchini, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and corn. We pulled some asparagus, red onion and baby portobello mushrooms from the fridge, and prepped it all well before dinner. We propped up our legs, whipped out a book and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon.

~Sampling of our fillings~

The most popular was Monterrey Jack cheese, caramelized onions, sweet corn kernels, and peach salsa (homemade). We took 2 perfectly ripe peaches, diced them into 1/4 " dice, added finely minced Serrano chili, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons minced cilantro. That's it! See the picture below; the peach salsa is in the forefront of the picture. We shaved the baby zucchini and asparagus and then lightly sauteed them in a small dab of butter, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Same cooking technique with the baby portobello mushrooms. You get the idea...use the ingredients your family likes. We did add some shredded and seasoned beef for the carnivors.

When it was time to eat, we set up our electric griddle outside and let everyone make their own quesadillas. Everyone had fun making their own creations.

We served a simple salad on the side,

shredded green lettuce
1 green onion, minced
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
1/3 cup jicama, peeled and shredded or julienned


for the dressing.


Cilantro Dressing


Into a blender place:


juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
pinch sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil


Blend and toss with salad. Serves 6

Toast

~One of the best toasts~Brioche~

We've had a craving at Beckwith Road for a slice of "real toast". We pulled out our "Bouchon" cookbook, Thomas Keller was consulted and we spent the day making brioche bread. Can you believe there are videos that tell you how to make toast? What is a good piece of toast without a great slice of bread?? Thomas Keller's recipe for brioche is on page 324, if you want to give it a try; otherwise head to the best bakery you have in your area and have them slice the bread just the way you like it. I love all the curly corners, the crumb, the flavor, of brioche, it's got it all going on. When we were in Napa last, our hotel breakfast was supplied by Bouchon Bakery. We could not get enough of the cranberry, pistachio mini brioche. They were divine! One or two might have made their way into our purses for a midnight nibble.

We paired our perfectly toasted bread with individual frittata. There are many recipes for frittata, including Martha Stewart. Essentially a frittata utilizes leftovers, or not, is egg based, may or may not have cheese in it and contains things like herbs, potatoes or pasta, sun dried tomatoes, garlic or onions, garden vegetables, meats, etc. Since they can be served at room temperature fritatta take the stress out of trying to get everything to the table "hot".

Building a better burger

With Labor Day right around the corner, we set out to perfect a burger worthy of serving at our bash. In-n-Out Burgers are great for every day and don't disappoint, but we want that 50's style burger, simple and straight forward. There are 2 main players, the beef and the bun, and a cast of supporting items that could stretch to the moon. So here's what we came up with....

~The finished product~

Here's what we did...

We made our own buns, you don't have to, we just did to guarantee the best bun. If you don't make the buns, go to your favorite bakery and buy theirs. Have them slice the buns in half for you, otherwise you'll have to pull out your electric knife that probably hasn't seen the light of day except at Thanksgiving, to do the job well-nice clean cut.

The Bun Recipe

~2 cups whole milk

~1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees, otherwise you will kill the yeast)

~2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast

~1/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar, keep divided

~1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened

~2 large eggs, lightly beaten

~1 Tablespoon salt

~6 cups AP flour (all purpose), divided 4 cups and 2 cups

~1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water for brushing over the buns before baking

To Begin:

~Bring milk to a bare simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool to 105 to 115 degrees.

~Meanwhile, stir together warm water(105-115 degrees), yeast, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in a mixer bowl until yeast is dissolved. (If mixture doesn't foam, your yeast may have expired, check the date and start over with fresh ones)

~Add butter, warm milk, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to yeast mixture and mix with paddle attachment at low speed until butter has melted, then mix in eggs until combined well. Add salt and 4 cups flour and mix scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary, until the flour is incorporated. Beat at medium speed 1 minute.

Note: a stand mixer is not necessary, this recipe can be made by hand also.

~Switch to dough hook and beat in remaining 2 cups flour at medium speed until dough pulls away from side of bowl, about 2 minutes; if necessary, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat 5 minutes more (dough will be smooth and sticky). Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat in oil. (we use olive oil) Cover tightly with plastic and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in size. About 2-1/2 hours. See examples above and below.

~Double in volume~

Butter 2 large baking sheets. Line with parchment or Silpats. Punch down dough, then roll out on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round (about 1/2 inch thick). Cut out as many rounds as possible with floured cutter and arrange 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Gather and re-roll scrapes, then cut out more rounds. This recipe will make 1 dozen rolls or more.

~Loosely cover buns with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until they hold a finger mark when gently poked, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

~When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

Note: I carefully re-cut the buns again with my cutter. I found they had too much volume otherwise. I re-rolled the scrapes into little balls and make a cluster of small rolls to use on another occasion.

~Brush buns with egg wash and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are golden and undersides are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 14 to 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Recipe was adapted from an old recipe found in Gourmet Magazine.

~Fresh from the oven~

What would a good burger be without french fries. These are made in the oven and are packed with flavor. Here is the recipe:

~Rosemary and Garlic Roasted "Steak Cut" Potatoes~

~6 large potatoes, washed, dried, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch wedges. Try to cut as uniform as possible so they will cook evenly.

~1/4 cup olive oil or Canola oil

~1 teaspoon Rosemary, finely chopped (add more if you want a stronger flavor, we went for subtle)

~1 teaspoon Paprika

~1 1/4 teaspoon salt

~1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

~Light sprinkling of garlic powder (not salt)

~2 tablespoons butter, melted

~6 cloves garlic, peeled, cut into halves

Ready for the oven

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, add the potatoes, oil,melted butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. Toss potatoes to coat completely. Lay in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment, foil or Silpat. See above example. Lightly sprinkle with garlic powder, a titch more Paprika and sprinkling of Rosemary. Place in hot oven. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, carefully turning the potatoes over part way through the baking process.

~Right out of the oven, ready to serve. We especially liked eating the roasted garlic with our potatoes. Yum!

Of course we garnished with Bubbies pickles. These are worth every penny! You can find them in the refrigerated section of your market.

We loved every morsel on this plate! Now, we are now ready for Labor Day and it can't get here soon enough. About the meat, we bought pre-made steak burgers from our butcher. It's always a good thing to check with your butcher. He knows a thing or two about meat and usually will guide you in the right direction. Remember, great meat and a great bun~a heavenly combo.

Tartine

A Trio of Tartine~

Tartine are french open faced sandwiches. Growing up in the Midwest, an evening supper would often be comprised of sandwiches and light fare. We are just crazy for these petite sandwiches. We made 3 flavors, 1-garden tomato, Kalamata olive, Boursin, basil leaves on rustic french grilled mini-baguette. 2-garlic aioli, Boursin, apricot-onion jam, smoked turkey breast, arugula, baby lettuce on rustic, grilled french mini-baguette. 3- Mediterranean garlic aioli, Boursin, baby lettuce, garden tomatoes, garden baby bell pepper, olives, and a sprinkling of dried oregano and splash of olive oil on a mini French grilled baguette.

All sandwiches were made with imported French bread from France. I found these mini baguettes in the wine section of my local Trader Joe's. They were displayed in their own little freezer. The label states "Trader Jacques" 6 mini baguettes, imported from France. They are frozen and par-baked. I sliced them in half. Lightly spread the cut side with extra virgin olive oil and place them cut side down on a hot barbecue grill. This will go quickly! Have some tongs handy to turn them over and lightly grill the other side to crisp it slightly. Set the grilled bread aside and prep your toppings.

1. Garden Tomato Tartine

Ingredients

4 half slices grilled French baguettes

6 basil leaves, cut in half

Boursin Cheese (I buy mine at Trader Joe's) It is a French Herb and Spice Creamy Cheese Spread

8 Kalamata Olives, cut into slivers

Generous handful of baby arugula or baby lettuce.

extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic glaze, optional

2 tablespoons garlic aioli (take 1 whole head of garlic, slice off the veriest top of the garlic, sit it on top of a piece of foil large enough to wrap around the garlic completely to seal it~drizzle the top of the garlic with olive oil and season with salt and pepper~seal and bake for about 1 hour~ remove from the oven and when cool, pinch 4 cloves of roasted garlic into 1/3 cup mayo. Blend well. Use the remainder garlic in other recipes. Roasted garlic may be frozen.)

To assemble:

Spread a teaspoon of garlic aioli on 4 halved, grilled baguettes. Top with Boursin cheese. Add the basil leaves, add sliced tomatoes, cut in 1/2 as pictured. Sprinkle with lettuces, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, dash of balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with slivers of Kalamata Olives.

2. Turkey with apricot-onion jam Tartine

Ingredients

4 Half slices French grilled baguettes

2 teaspoons roasted garlic aioli

Boursin Cheese

sliced smoked turkey

1 generous handful baby lettuces

splash extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons apricot-onion jam (you will need apricot, fig or peach jam and 1 medium onion)

To assemble:

To make the apricot~onion jam, peel, cut in half through the root end, and thinly slice 1 medium onion. Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to a hot (on medium high) saute pan and add the sliced onions. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon granulated sugar over the onions and cook until the onions caramelize. If oil is absorbed, add 1-2 teaspoons of water or in my case I used aged Port. The onions are done when they have a jammy look. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup apricot, fig or peach jam. Warm the jam and add a teaspoon of water if it looks too thick. Now you are ready to put this wonderful sandwich together.

Spread 4 slices of grilled French baguette with garlic aioli. Spread with Boursin cheese. Spread the onion apricot jam over the cheese being careful not to press it into the cheese or it will be messy. Layer the thinly sliced smoked turkey over the jam and add greens, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve.

3. Mediterranean Tartine

4 grilled halves French Baguette

Garlic Aioli

Boursin cheese

Thin shavings of Smoked Gouda

Baby greens

fine julienne of bell pepper

fine julienne of Roma tomato

Sliced olives

light crumble of dried Oregano

splash extra virgin olive oil

splash balsamic glaze

To Assemble:

Spread the grilled baguette halves with garlic aioli, then Boursin cheese. Add a few slivers of Smoked Gouda, top with baby greens, julienne of bell pepper, Roma Tomatoes, and olives. Drizzle with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic glaze and a light crumble of Oregano.

The combinations are endless. These are mini meals that satisfy the eye as well as the palate. It's no wonder Parisian's enjoy tartines so much!