Pie In The Sky

It seems like I have been focused on many other things other than cooking with Ike - and recently with all the activity I haven't really been doing much cooking with anyone..   But here is photos of the end product and the recipe  (all credit to Alton Brown and Food Network).  I want to reinforce the fact this pie with it's limited amount of sugar (1/2 cup for 4 cups of blueberries) and the 5 Tbsps of Tapioca were sufficient to keep this pie set up and not runny.. JUST make SURE you give it the proper time to rest before cutting into it.. 

Blueberry Pie

 

 

 
 

Last of the season

Well as of 3/31 our hunting season is over until the Fall, so we took the opportunity to do one last continental shoot out at Hickory Grove with our sportsman club.  While I enjoy the continental shoot - an "Americanized" version of the old driven hunts from Europe I really go for the clean up afterwards to let Ike work finding the birds that get away. 
We had really good weather - muddy, as the recent warmth had driven the frost from the ground and some of the slogging through the cornfields got pretty tough but we had a good time.  I had asked my neighbor to go and he brought his GSP from the same breeder we got Ike from and they really worked well together...  Check out this picture of 3 GSPs all honoring each other on point for a single bird (Ike's the top one and Shayna is the one on the bottom).  Ike really worked well - it seemed like I was always saying, "Ike's on point." 

Good time was had by all and as of now Ike is in semi-retirement at least until this fall!! 
Happy Easter everyone.

OK, So I shouldn't quit my day job...

But we got hit with a big snowstorm - heavy wet packable snow so after I made a life size snowman,

I thought I would take the inspiration from our neighbor who last year build a family of snow people (and included Ike in their family "portrait") and try one for myself..  Granted I won't quit my day job (or even my night job !!) to start snow sculpturing, but I thought it was pretty cool...

 

At least this bird dog will lock up and not move when I say. "Whoa"!  Just kiddin' Ikey.

 



Few Cooking items

Hi everyone..
Getting ready to be hit with a foot of snow  - if  the forecasters are a little more accurate than they were in New York last week :).  So I cooked up some pheasant parmesan tonight and found a few other pics on the camera too.. Some go back a few months but I'll share them anyway..
 First the Pheasant Parm...
As you know we went hunting last week and wanted to use a little differently than I had before and I had some left over frozen Bolognese Sauce and home made pasta from Christmas so I thought why not try that..

Just replaced the traditional veal or chicken with both boned out sides of a pheasant breast... breaded them in panko fried to a nice golden brown and melted some provolone over them.. Pretty tasty.

As you know from a previous post I bought a Himalayan Salt Stone and I did some scallops on it with a some "bowtie" pasta with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil with Olive Oil..  It really worked nicely and added a definite salty subtleness to the scallops..

I made an interesting side dish for Christmas too - roasted Sweet potatoes, Brussel Sprouts and Shallots with a little sea salt, pepper and Olive Oil.  Then made a dressing of  Pomegranate juice and Balsamic Vinegar and roasted for a few more minutes.. They were very good - if you haven't tried brussel sprouts roasted you really should give them another chance..

More Hunting with Ike

Hello everyone
We went out for a continental shoot at a preserve with our sportsman club and I have some video of the clean up afterwards.  Sorry about the quality - the size required me to keep at lower resolution...
Enjoy!

Cooked up a storm over the Holidays

Hello again - I already shared my go to apple pie recipe I made for my family's Christmas but over the holidays, it has become a tradition for us to host some of my wife's family (those of us without children or for those where the children have grown and have their own traditions).  We used to go to an early meal at a little family Italian restaurant-but about 3 years ago, the owners decided after about 3 decades to retire and closed the shop.  So I volunteered to take it on at our house..  Each year the menu changes a little bit but we stay in the Italian theme.
I included links to the recipes - and their sources - in the spirit of full disclosure.  Everyone of them were GREAT!
I hope to have some pics of that but here was the menu for Christmas Eve at Ike's house:

Home Made Bolognese sauce lasagna and bolognese
Home made Marina sauce,
Lasagna (with the Bolognese),
Home made Pasta, (all kinds of noodles) pasta recipe
Home Made Lobster Ravioli - using the pasta recipe above (with Cognac Cream sauce) Lobster ravioli
Home made Trifle - with raspberries, blueberries and home grown strawberries from my Aunt.
It was pretty good if I do say so myself.  My brother and sister in laws brought salad and wine and some bread...  Sounds like we were carbo loading (we were-and we weren't running a marathon the next day either). 
My wife purchase for me a commercial pasta cooker, one that holds about 5 gallons of water and has 4 separate "buckets" to cook individual pasta to order...  Just dropped in the fresh pasta, cook for a few minutes and finish in a skillet with the sauce to order... Man I love that thing :)

Pasta cooker

But here is what I have some pics of...  a New Years day Italian sausage and tomato quiche and a home made pizza I made with some of the left over sausage.....   While I didn't make the quiche crust from scratch I did make the pizza dough..... I wish I could afford one of those brick ovens to cook pizza in.. :)


Tomato quiche

Home made pizza with sausage, mushroom and goat cheese
 

Took Ike hunting again and he did pretty well... Better than I did - Man it was cold that day and so was my shooting (again)...  One little story is worth telling though..  We were calling it a day and were on our way back to the truck when he got birdy - so I let him work and sure enough a rooster flushed - from behind some trees and heading right into the sun 180 degrees away from me..  so I got off a shot and hit him hard, as I saw both legs drop but he was still flying.  He made it over the trees and out of sight but I had an idea of his direction but couldn't see how far or where for sure.  I just knew he wasn't going to make it and nothing bothers me more than to hit a bird and not find him.  So, I loaded Ike up, and we went to the general direction of where I saw the bird go.  When we got there I unloaded Ike, and told him to find that bird.  We checked the ditches, and some treelines and sure enough after about 10 -15 minutes he went over a hill and down a tree line and as I crested the hill there he was standing over the bird.  I swear he was waiting for me to come into sight so he could show me he found it.  He picked it up as I walked up and if dogs could talk I bet he was telling me, "See I told you we would find it!  Now if you could shoot better we wouldn't have this problem."  Once again, Ike pulls my bacon out of the fryer...  So again I close, "Ike, find that bird!"

As promised - here is Ike video from last week

Ike did a really good job working the grass.. I wish I would have shot better - but I didn't. 
Tried to get it down to as short as possible -but hope you enjoy watching him work as much as I do.. It really means more to me to watch him work rather than shoot the birds, but I think he would get a little miffed if he didn't get to catch them or bring them back.. 

Apple pie of my eye and then some

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone;
Just wanted to get on and share a few items about both of my favorite things - Cooking and Ike..   First cooking..  As per the title, for my family Christmas dinner I offered to make a fruit pie for desert- can't make a pecan pie due to some nut allergies in the house and decided it would be an apple.  The problem I always seem to have with apple pies is when I make the filling from scratch, they never seem to be firm - always runny and a soggy bottom crust.  I was NOT about to let that happen..  So to Google I went.   Looked for some apple pie recipes, and do you know there are about 500 pie recipes entitled "THE BEST APPLE PIE RECIPE"????  Now, we all know the internet is 100% truthful and no one ever exaggerates on the internet so I was confused.  (OK tongue is so firmly in my cheek it is good I am typing and not talking here, LOL:) ) But I did find one that sounded good and said it would not be runny.... So here is the link...

Classic Apple Pie

Couple of key points:

1. Cooking and cooling the apples first, before you put them in the pie shell.
2. Using an egg white wash on the bottom crust before you put the apples in
3. Use of a cornstarch, and tapioca slurry while cooking the apples.

Those 3 steps made this pie come out perfect.  No runs, No drips, No errors.  (sorry Johnny Bench and Krylon paint I repurposed your line from a commercial about 25 years ago)
Take a look at the pie - trust me while no pics after cutting it was picture perfect inside.  Oh and while good, it was time consuming.. you aren't going to make this pie an hour before the dinner....

Now for the other "apple" of my eye, Ike.  We went hunting again over at Hickory Grove last Sunday and Ike did very well.  No issues with his leg and there was definitely nothing wrong with his nose..  My shooting on the other hand left a little to be desired.  I guess I was a little over confident, and trying to let the birds get further out as to not damage them so much but I wasn't really hitting them hard.  We did fine as we placed 3 and got three but missed a scratch bird that he really worked hard for and I felt bad....  I have some good video of him working I will edit and post later but he pointed well, found the runner and delivered them to hand (well not quite to hand but pretty close :) ).  Anyway he did well take a look...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good hunt... "Ike, find that bird!"

Ike is back in town - Some hunting photos

Ike is back at it.
After some prescribed R&R by the Vet, Ike and I gave it a trial run at Hickory Grove.  We went out on Halloween and with the help of friend Wayne as photographer, we got some really nice shots of Ike in action.    Thanks Wayne!!

On Point #1

On Point #2

He did great and while a little sore no problems with the Achilles!!!!

 

We then went back a couple weeks later to try again as part of the Blackhawk Sportsman Club Walk up Hunts and Mike and crew put out 3 birds for us.  Well we saw 7 and got 5 and the 4 scratch birds we saw were all in the trees.. Kind of like hunting grouse - now I know why a short barreled shotgun is so desirable when going for grouse.. by myself and not in good position when those birds flushed - didn't even get a shot off at 2 of them - through the trees..  But the last one was worth a little story...

 

We had gotten 4 and saw the other two I mentioned above and it was about time for lunch so we were headed back to the house when we heard a rooster cackle in the trees..  I looked at Ike and said, "OK, we have 15 minutes lets go make that rooster pay for his teasing us."  Ike took off and headed into the trees and I learned from the others in there that I was not going to stay too close and let him kind of work on his own and stay back and in better position.  Well sure enough he got birdy down by a little pond and I fought the urge to go in there and kick up the bird.  I thought just let the bird get nervous- with Ike on point and give it a couple of minutes - I figured that since he was not recently placed, the rooster would get a little antsy and flush on his own.  Sure enough after about a minute (and enough time to get in a clear shooting position) we were rewarded with a cackling busting rooster.  He flew right over me and I dropped him right over my head.   I walked over and saw a rooster with the longest tail... So take a look - I measured the tail and it was a full 24" long..  Perhaps I should have saved the bird but I didn't but I did bring the tail feathers home... 

Nice Bird

 

So Ike is back and pheasants don't sleep well at night LOL..  And we are officially back to "Ike find that bird"

 



Update on Ike & Other Things

Hi everyone;
As promised I wanted to give an update on Ike after his visit to the Vet today.  The Dr., while very pleased with his recovery, says at least 2-3 more weeks in a soft wrap and then as long as another month with nothing but controlled (read on a leash) exercise.  Soooo, that pretty much means the annual Pheasant Hunt in SD is off for us this fall.  Perhaps we can go later in the season but after talking to the Vet, he says that given his youth, and desire to hunt for many more years, he would recommend short term discretion for more long term opportunities.  That is what my friend Wayne says too, better to take off a while and give him the proper chance to recover rather than rush it and regret any reoccurrence.  So I thought I would share a couple pictures of the little guy with his new soft wrap.  The Vet Tech thought he would enjoy a little decoration on his wrap..  Check it out, a squirrel, Oak leaf and acorn.. Little did she know how much he hates squirrels (or then again maybe she did ?????)  I'll let everyone know what the next visit brings.

Cute, huh?



Spoiled??? Who me???

Since Ike may not be hunting this fall in his honor I took some pheasant out of the freezer and made a few pot pies...  2 large ones and 3 small ones (those are for me).  I had some extra so I made a little one in my small cast iron skillet with a Bisquick topping..  See link for the recipe - made a few alterations - added mushrooms, and celery and used cream of celery soup for the base..  For the topping I mixed up the typical recipe but added some shredded cheese, some canned French fried onion rings, and Old Bay seasoning to the batter... It was pretty tasty
http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-bisquick-chicken-pot-pie-100215

Pheasant Pot Pie

Also did a quick little chicken finger recipe...  Flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and a little paprika, egg wash, and cornflakes with some canned fired onion rings crushed for the crust....  Fried them in Veg oil for about 3 minutes a side then finished them in the oven.. Made a little home made Honey mustard for dipping..  Really tasty and crunchy..


Chicken Fingers



So again no "Ike, Find that bird" - at least for a while.

Pork Chops in Peach Preserves

Well, now that Ike is out of commission, I decided to get back out there and do some cooking and post out this Pork Chop in Peach preserves recipe.  As you know peaches are in season now and to me there is nothing better than biting into a ripe peach with the juice running down your chin.... 
Well there might be a couple things better - like combining my love of peaches with my love of pork.   Here is a recipe for pork chops in a peach preserve glaze.   Couple of interesting ingredients - cinnamon and ginger as the rub for the pork... 
Here is what you need:

• 1 cup peach preserves
• 1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chile Paste
• 4 Boneless Pork Chops
• 1 tsp ground Ginger
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt and pepper to taste

Now this is where I diverged from the recipe.  It said to Fry the chops in oil and deglaze the pan with the white wine.  I grilled them and added the white wine to the sauce and reduced... I will put the link in to the real recipe but this is what I did:

Looks pretty good, huh?

Allrecipes Spicy Peach Glazed Pork Chops  (I think mine look better)

oven roasted potatoes as a side

In a bowl I mixed together the peach preserves Worcestershire sauce and Chile Paste.  I added the white wine at this point.   Rinse and pat dry the pork chops and season with ginger, cinnamon, and salt and pepper.  I then put the sauce in a sauce pan and started cooking and reducing it.  I dropped the chops on a very hot grill and seared them to about rare.  After the sauce reduced about 1/3 I dropped the chops in the sauce and let them finish cooking in the sauce. It took on a beautiful amber color and thickened to a wonderful consistency.  Sweet yet tangy with the chile paste with interesting undertones from the cinnamon and ginger.  It was VERY good....

Well it happened again

Well for those readers that have been following this blog for a couple of years you are familiar with the fact Ike partially tore his Achilles tendon a couple of years ago and he was in a cast/splint from April until the end of July.  Well as of last Friday, he did it again.  No idea how he did it, we were in the back yard playing fetch like we have 1000 time before and he took off after the stick and about 15 feet away he yelped and started holding the same leg up... 

So I took in to the emergency vet hospital (the same one that worked on him before) and lucky for me the surgeon that worked on him before was just getting out of a different surgery and consulted with the ER Vet and said, "Looks like he aggravated it again...  Soooooo   here we are again with the same splint as before.. And Hunting season is just about 8 weeks away. 

I will keep everyone up to speed, as we don't go back for another week or so for a status check..   A funny aside to this, is This happened a week ago Friday, and we had our neighborhood block party the next day and Ike was the hit of the party.. All the kids were giving him so much affection... Everybody sure loves Ike... 

So Sunday we were all relaxing after the party and Ike go up from the chair and walked right out of the splint....   Sandy and I looked at each other and said, "What the heck??"  So Monday on my lunch hour back to the vet we went...   and they reapplied the splint.. The Tech said he was getting around quite well without it but he seems a little too active to go without it..  Ya think???   LOL... He has been a good boy with it though, not chewing on it so no "cone of shame" necessary.....
More to come but no "Ike, find that bird" at least for a while.

Polenta, Grits, Mush - what's in a name?

Hi everyone,
You know I never liked mush growing up, and grits never really appealed to me either, but as I have gotten a little more "adventurous" in what I will eat I have really started to like polenta.. I know, I know it's made of the same ingredients but somehow it seems to be better, when a braised short rib is resting on it and it is swimming in the juices...  YUM...  OK so I had this big Sirloin I wanted to cook and I didn't want risotto, or potatoes so I thought, let's try some polenta - but grill it..

So I got some coarse corn meal and followed the instructions  water, salt, cornmeal  but of course I wasn't satisfied with that so I added some Pecorino and Parm cheeses as well as some fresh thyme and rosemary and a little freshly cracked black pepper to the mix.   I then put in mini loaf pans and chilled it for 24 hours. 

I took it out and sliced it in about quarter inch thick slices and grilled it next to the Sirloin steak..

I took the Sirloin, and salted it and let it draw out some of the proteins uncovered in the fridge and then seared it very rare on the grill..   Sliced it like London broil and served it with the Grilled Polenta and some steamed broccoli....  Very tasty...   
Take a look :) 

Colorful, huh?

New things

Now that we have cleaned up our mess from the storm I wanted to get back to cooking...  So here are a couple of pics of some of my first tomatoes of the season and my new Himalayan Salt Cooking Stone.  Can't wait to try it so look out for some interesting posts and a review of how it works..   Hear great things about it but also some not so great things - but I will have an open mind.... and a fair review...

Happy 4th of July - Hey don't forget to thank a Veteran for the freedoms we enjoy - Freedom isn't FREE.

Not too big but I bet they taste good

First of July - not too bad, huh?

Himalayan Pink Salt Block - Man is that heavy

Stormy Weather...

Well, for once the weathermen (and ladies) were correct.  They had been telling us to, as one weatherman said, "Go home and batten down the hatches" and they were right...  First storm hit about 6:45, and wouldn't you know it I was right in the middle of making myself a flatbread pizza...   Well, the tornado siren was blaring, Sandy and Ike were headin' to the basement and I was still cutting my flatbread... A man has to have his priorities, right???  

So the first storm came and went - Lots of wind and rain but no damage,  as we did what the weatherman said, and took things down or took them in and wedged them in where no harm could come to them.  So we had a respite between storms and while it was quite a lightning storm, we thought the worst was over.... Boy were we wrong,  About 9:30 I was watching Longmire on A&E (great show by the way - if you haven't seen it you need to check it out - but I digress) and all of a sudden, the NOAA weather alarm started blaring a tornado warning, and rotation was spotted on radar just south of us... So I told Sandy she and Ike should head down to the basement while I checked things out...  The next thing I heard was a big CRACK and thought to myself, "That ain't good".. So I headed down with them for the next 45 minutes until the Tornado Warning expired...  Came back up about 10:15 and the last two of our original Bradford Pear trees were no longer vertical - or at least one of them wasn't the other one had half of it down in the bean field behind us beside the entire the far east one both resting on our fence.  That's gonna leave a mark....

So after going out and checking the rest of the house (no damage so I consider ourselves lucky) I emailed work and said. "Taking a personal day tomorrow!"  So in the day light it wasn't too bad but man, 12 year old trees that are  40' tall and 30+" in circumference have lots of branches!!!  It took us all day but we got it cut up and stacked - saved bigger pieces for firewood, and now I know what I will be doing over the holiday- firing up the wood chipper - anybody want some Mulch???  LOL.  So all in all we are much better off than many, all three of us live to cook another day, and no real permanent damage.. so I consider us pretty lucky as the town we go pheasant hunting in suffered a direct hit by a tornado about 10 days ago...

Check out the pics below...   Note again who was supervising... 

Tree Before

Tree After

Both trees

Different Angle One on the right may need to come down completely

Here is the boss - Supervising is tough work

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

No I haven't been watching marathons reruns of Rawhide, but I am wanting to share my cabbage roll recipe.  Well, not mine really but one from All Recipes web site.  We recently had a belated Father's day celebration for my Father in Law and we planned (and had) a cookout - in the middle of a TORRENTIAL downpour - you know hamburgers, hot dogs baked beans etc.  But my sister in law requested these cabbage rolls.  We had them over once before and they liked them so well that she asked for them for the party.. Well, they are so easy and a make and forget type meal that I had no problem accommodating her request.    30 minutes prep time, put 'em in the crock pot and don't take the lid off for 8 hours or so...  You check 'em in 8 hours and they are ready to eat...  I doubled the recipe for this group as they like take home packages :) .

Boiling the leaves makes them pliable

 

The stuffing Lots of black pepper but really good.

 

Roll 'em up

 

Nice little packages

Layer them in the Crock pot - some people layer extra cabbage leaves on bottom

 

Pour the sauce over the top put the lid on and leave 'em for 8 hours

Recipe makes 6 servings
        

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

For the Rolls                 

 

12 leaves cabbage

                     

1 cup cooked white rice

                                    

1 egg, beaten

                       

1/4 cup milk

                       

1/4 cup minced onion

                       

1 pound extra-lean ground beef

                       

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

                       

1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper

 

For the Sauce                                                   

                       

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

               

1 tablespoon brown sugar

                                    

1 tablespoon lemon juice

                        

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil cabbage leaves 2 minutes; drain.

 

In large bowl, combine 1 cup cooked rice, egg, milk, onion, ground beef, salt, and pepper. Place about 1/4 cup of meat mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, and roll up, tucking in ends. Place rolls in slow cooker.

In a small bowl, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over cabbage rolls.
(If you like a lot of sauce, double the sauce recipe for the number of cabbage rolls. For me, I doubled the cabbage rolls but tripled the sauce recipe and it was perfect)
Cover, and cook on Low 8 to 9 hours.
Gotta tell you easy and very good....
Now I have to go check on Ikey... He is sleeping in the chair....

Lasagna Pinwheels

Hi everyone...

Looks pretty tasty to me

Had a rainy day here and thought that pasta with meat sauce would be a nice thing to cook since grilling was a "washout".  I had made a variant of these before but thought I would try something a little different - but I can't take all the credit... Sandy said instead of stuffing shells try making lasagna pinwheels.    So I thought what the heck, why not.

It really is simple - any red sauce (or gravy as my Italian friends call it) would work - but we had made and frozen in pint containers some of our home made sauce.. So I thawed one of those in the fridge and then started the process.
I decided to use a 9 X 9 inch pan and sprayed it with a non stick spray.  
Boiled 8 lasagna noodles in salted water for about 10 minutes.  Removed and rinsed and cooled so I could handle them.  Now for the cheese stuffing. 

2 eggs
1 small (15 oz.) container of Ricotta cheese
1/2 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 tsp of thyme, basil, oregano, and dried parsley
1/8 tsp of fresh ground pepper
1/4 C Chopped onion
(recipe called for 1/2 cup thawed Spinach chopped drained very well - I didn't have any so I didn't use it but
1tsp of Chicken Bullion (trust me no salt needed in this recipe)
1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella  (I uses a blended mix of cheeses and it worked beautifully)
Add'l  Shredded cheese and grated Parm for the top as well.
2 - 2 1/2 Cups of your favorite red sauce - we used 2 cups but think a little more would have been bettter

Mix all stuffing ingredients up in a mixer - I have been informed that while mixing it by hand will work, using an electric mixer will make the stuffing much smoother and silkier - mine always used to be grainy so even though it dirties a few more dishes  - it's worth it.

Pre heat oven to 350*
Ladle small amount of sauce on the bottom of the pan
Lay Lasagna Noodles on flat surface (like your cutting board)
Using an off-set spatula smooth about 1/4' thick layer of stuffing on the Noodle - stopping about 1" from the end of the noodle.
Start at the other end and carefully roll up the noodle so that it resembles a pinwheel.  You will see why you don't "butter the noodle" all the way to the end when you roll up your first one - trust me.
Take pinwheel and carefully place seam side down in the pan.  Repeat... If you are like me you will have two rows of 3 with room for 2 rolls perpendicular to the other 6 between the rows of 3 for a total of 8.
Take the remaining sauce and ladle over the top of the noodles, sprinkle with remaining Shredded Moz and Parm cheese and place in oven for approx. 40 minutes until bubbly.  The last 5 minutes you may want to broil to get a crusty top on the cheese...    Notice the lasagna type layers.... Now I would think some sautéed mushrooms, large diced green peppers might be a variation since each one is "self contained it might be a perfect way to customize your lasagna for a family of picky eaters.

everything stayed together nicely

Notice the layers

Still smokin'

As you know it is BBQ season and I put my money where my mouth (blog) is as it pertains to brining,  so we had a 8 - 9 lb. Turkey Breast  in the freezer.   So we thawed it in the fridge for about 5 days and then Brined it and smoked it this weekend...  I used a variant of a Bourbon brine below  and have to say that the brown sugar made a nice mahogany skin. 
Bourbon Turkey Brine

Tender and Juicy..  We called the family  - Like how are two of us (sorry Ike doesn't get any of this) going to eat this much :)???  and the caravan ensued...   It had a nice smoke ring will make some tasty sandwiches

Catching up with more cooking things

As you know I haven't been posting regularly but I didn't stop cooking -  but I am going to post some various pictures and events we had over the past few months..

October 2013 - Our old neighbors Jeff and Tammie left the neighborhood to move back to downtown Chicago and we went down to visit and participate in a Pizza tour of Chicago.  We walked all over downtown and sampled all of the well known pizza places and learned a little about the history of Deep Dish (Chicago Style) pizza...  Pizzeria Uno, Geno's, Giordano's  and a little place called Pizza Ora.   Really that was our favorite...  Lot of fun and good times

Here we are on the walking Pizza Tour

 

You all know what it is like to use up leftovers from Thanksgiving so I made a "Shepard's Pie" of sorts with the leftover turkey, gravy, corn, and mashed potatoes.  I used a small little cast iron single serve vessel, layered the leftovers and baked it in the oven until the potatoes were brown and crusty.  With a little cranberry sauce on the side it was like your Thanksgiving plate all in one dish... It was Tasty

Sheppard's Pie Steve Style

 



 For Christmas Sandy got me a Calzone maker  so I made some cooked some Italian Sausage, sautéed some mushrooms and green and red peppers and made a stuffed calzone...  Be creative - you can Stuff it with whatever you like but a little marinara for dipping and you have a quick and filling midweek dinner.  I used readymade pizza crust and it turned out pretty nice for the first time use...

Calzone

 

 Sandy and one of the neighbors got together an "ornament exchange" brunch  prior to Christmas for all of the Ladies in the neighborhood and I volunteered to cook... The menu consisted of Eggs Benedict, French Toast casserole, Mimosa's and Bloody Maries. I made a home made Hollandaise Sauce for the Eggs Benedict in a blender recipe and it was very good.  It stayed very stable as I took a page out of Alton Brown's book and charged a thermos with boiling water, drained it and then put in the sauce... It stayed very hot and I was able to add it right before serving...  here is the link to the recipe;
Blender Hollandaise

Roast Beef bites

We also had some non breakfast items - and deserts but if you remember my little roast beef appetizers on mini pancakes were a hit and provided some very needed savory "yang" to all the sweet "ying" of the pastries and other treats... 








One other thing I made was little caviar topped fingerling potatoes.  Very easy and very delicious.  Recipe goes like this:
Clean fingerling potatoes, and boil in HEAVILY salted water.  (I used about double the salt I normally boil potatoes in... when soft (about 15 -20 minutes remove from heat and drain)   Let cool so you can handle them.  (this can all be done the day before).  I sliced them into about 1inch lengths and used a corer to dig out a little indentation about a third of the depth of the potato.  I purchased some crème fraiche (I like it better that traditional sour crème in this recipe) and piped in a small amount of that into the indentation and then using chopsticks placed the caviar on top of the crème fresh.  It does have the WOW factor. :) 

Fingerling potatoes with crème fraiche and caviar