I prefer to eat homemade foods.  If I am asked to bring cookies for a school party, I bake them.  If I am serving chili for dinner, I make it from scratch, not by opening a can.  With that being said, I am not opposed to simple dishes, where one combines two ingredients without any cooking.

This past Monday I found a new simple dish through error.  I attempted making a honey sauce to drizzle over Manchego (a sheep’s milk cheese).  However, when it should have been ready, it was grainy.  Although I tried to fix the sauce, it was beyond repair.  I thought about just serving slices of Manchego, but then inspiration struck.   Why not drizzle plain honey on the cheese?

With that thought, a new snack was created. Being both tasty and simple, this will be a handy “recipe” to have in my repertoire.

Manchego with Honey

4 ounces Manchego

honey

Cut 1/4″ slice of cheese.  Drizzle lightly with honey.  Eat immediately.

Serves 2.

After taking a hike with two of our children yesterday, we decided to cook as a family last night. Having seen a show recently that featured chicken-friend steak, we were craving that as our main course. With the Southern theme beginning, we chose to accompany the steak with homemade onion rings, wilted spinach, and biscuits.

While the guys were busy making the onion rings, my 10 year old daughter and I worked on making biscuits. Although biscuits can be delicious when made plain, I prefer to add some flavors to mine. I have made cheddar biscuits and sweet potato biscuits. For this meal, I wanted something with a bit of sweetness. Cinnamon was deemed to be the best addition.

Working together, we measured, mixed, rolled, and cut our biscuit dough. While not as simple as purchasing biscuits, these baked goods were ready in 30 minutes, from start to finished product. These biscuits were excellent served warm from the oven, split in half, and topped with butter and/or honey. Also, as the kids noted, the leftovers made an excellent breakfast the next morning.

Cinnamon Biscuits

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tb. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

6 Tb. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 Tb. skim milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tb. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 Tb. sugar, and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add butter pieces and mix with a pastry blender until the butter pieces are the size of grains of rice. Add the buttermilk, and stir to combine.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface, and finish combining by kneading. Pat or roll dough into a square that is approximately 11″ x 11″ and is 3/4″ thick. Using a floured 3-inch round cutter or glass to make biscuits. Place biscuits on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Gather scraps into a ball, pat dough into another square, and cut more biscuits. Repeat process until all dough has been used.

Brush skim milk on tops of biscuits. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tb. cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of biscuits. (Remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture can be saved in a sealed container.) Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove biscuits from cookie sheet, and place on cooling rack.

Makes 14 biscuits.

We decided to end our summer with a weeklong trip to Cape Cod with our family of 6 and my brother’s family of 4. Although we stayed in a 4 bedroom house with a regular-sized kitchen, I found it difficult to cook without my own tools. So, while on vacation, I indulged in baked goods not made by me. (Gasp! Michele served non-homemade desserts!)

Heading out for daily ventures, we drove by Marion’s Pie Shop. This little shop on the side of the road always had parking lots filled with customers, which piqued my curiosity. So, one morning my sister-in-law and I went right at opening time to purchase breakfast for our tribes.

Stepping inside the bake shop the smell of freshly baked pies, rolls, and muffins filled the air. All of their treats were generously sized, including cookies almost the size of cds. While awaiting our turn to order, I heard a clerk caution a shopper that the brownie she was about to be handed was very warm. What a great warning to receive!

Checking the display case, we decided to order cinnamon rolls and Chatham muffins for our breakfast. Tempted by the large assortment of pies available, we couldn’t resist and chose a Dutch apple for our dessert later in the day. With 2 bags full of treats, we headed home to surprise our families.

The Chatham muffins were the big winner for our breakfast. Described by our clerk as coffee cake batter baked as a muffin and then dipped in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar, this muffin was amazing. Heated for a few seconds in the microwave, it was delicious.

The cinnamon rolls were very large with a generous amount of frosting. The dough was tender, though a little undercooked. The cinnamon swirl was in good balance to the dough, enough to give flavor but not overwhelming. Although, enjoyed by our crew, there were mumbling of preferring a certain someone’s homemade version.

In the evening, we served the Dutch apple pie for dessert. This was the overall winner for baked goods, surpassing the muffins. The crust was perfect with a hint of sweetness and flaky consistency. The apple filling had a pleasing cinnamon flavor, which was complimented by the crumb topping. The one detractor from this treat was the presence of apple seeds in some pie slices. However, even with seeds, everyone in our crowd found this to be the best tasting baked good.

If you are on Cape Cod, a trip to Marion’s Pie Shop is well worth the drive.

If you read this blog frequently, you will know that Monday evenings are crazy in our house. This past Monday was even busier than usual, as our younger daughter had a doctor’s appointment at 5:30 about an hour from home. Therefore, not only were the adults going to have a late dinner, but so were the kids.

Although the kids suggested doing take-out, I thought I would make a quick dinner at home. With vacations and special events, there had been enough fast food already. As a trade, I offered to make homemade waffles, which was accepted as an excellent alternative by all four. So, after the whirlwind of making and serving waffles, coordinating showers, and reading bedtime books, we were ready for dinner for the adults.

Obviously, I didn’t want to make a late dinner that would require a lot of work, but I wanted something with a quiet, romantic twist. I have made fondue many times, but I wanted to try something different, as we had a block of aged provolone cheese in our refrigerator. Adding some fresh mozzarella for gooey-ness and basil for Italian flavoring, it seeemed that this recipe should be a hit.

My next decision was what to serve as dippers for the fondue. My favorite item to dip in any fondue is good sourdough bread. I decided also to use green apple pieces, broccoli florets, and pear chunks. All of these items were delicious, except for the pear. Although I enjoy pear, it’s flavor was too delicate to compliment the fondue.

Served with a glass of Riesling, this made a delicious, late night dinner.

Fondue with an Italian Twist

1 garlic clove

3/4 cup Riesling (or Sauvignon Blanc)

1-1/2 Tb. flour

3/4 fresh mozzarella, diced

1-1/2 cup provolone, shredded

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 loaf sourdough bread, cubed

2 green apples, diced

1/2 lb. broccoli florets, blanched

Cut garlic clove in half, and rub cut sides on inside of fondue pot. Add Riesling to pot, and place on burner. While wine is heating, toss mozzarella and provolone with the flour. When wine begins to boil, add cheese mixture in small amounts, stirring constantly. When cheeses have melted, add basil, and stir well. Reduce heat, and begin dipping bread, apples, and broccoli!

On a recent Saturday night, my wife and I were invited to hear a friend perform at a place called Tom’s Gourmet Marketplace in Northborough, Massacusetts. Our friend, Steve Centorino, is an acoustic guitarist and singer and has performed at a variety of places, but few of the places could be as eclectic as this establishment.

Tom’s Gourmet Marketplace has a little bit of everything. It is part coffee house, part bar, part gourmet food store, and part diner. It has the decor of an old country store, but serves martinis and double espressos. And every Saturday night they have a a live music performer.

The food choices are presented in deli display cabinets, but they have an air of gourmet inspiration to them. For my choice, I chose their “famous” baked fish & chips while my darling wife chose broccoli stuffed chicken. Each meal came with two sides.  We each chose herb encrusted potato fries, while I had coleslaw and “Gorgeous” chose honey glazed carrots.

The baked fish & chips that I chose was very deserving of its self-proclaimed title of “famous”. It was moist and unbelievably favorable. The haddock was light and tasty, and I savored every bite. My wife’s broccoli stuffed chicken can best be described as huge. It was a massive portion of chicken breast that wrapped around broccoli and bread stuffing. Although a little dry, a Bearnaise sauce that came with it helped to add flavor and moisture. We found our sides to be solid, but not overwhelming with the herb-encrusted potato fries to be the most original of our accompanying dishes.

To go with our meal, we had a couple cocktails that were satisfying and economical ($6/each).

For dessert, my darling spouse had a coconut bar that she found to be wonderful and we each had a coffee drink to close out the meal. For a $60 evening, it was fine and well worth the visit. Steve performed a wonderful extended set, and we enjoyed our time at the eclectic establishment known as Tom’s Gourmet Marketplace.

My wife and I are Food Network junkies. It is by far the most watched channel on our television and on nights where we deem the food TV offering to be inadequate (i.e. any night that Ace of Cakes is on), we don’t watch TV. So, on our recent “mini honeymoon” in New Orleans I wanted to make sure that we went to the flagship restaurant of one of the original Food TV personalities, Emeril Legasse.

On our first night in the Crescent City, we were able to secure an 8:30 reservation at Emeril’s. Emeril’s is located just outside the French Quarter, and since my beautiful bride and I were dressed to the nines, we took a cab from our French Quarter hotel to the restaurant.

We were about a half hour early for our reservation, so we took a spot at the bar. We were surprised at how empty the bar was, but being that it was a Sunday night I suppose we should not have been that surprised. Our drinks were solid creations, and the bar staff was friendly and interactive.

At around 8:30, the hostess came and found us and escorted us to the first table in the dining room. Although not the best of seats, we had no complaints as the decor was warm and welcoming.

I perused the wine list and decided upon a bottle of Australian bubbly, 2005 Wolf Blass. It was a delightful bottle, reviewed in our sister publication, Parched No More.

Our appetizer was a little in the avant-garde direction, as we chose a Warm Mississippi Rabbit Remoulade. This was a layered dish that included fried green tomatoes, Benton’s Bacon, local grapefruit, and horseradish gastrique. While my wife struggled with the fact that it was a rabbit (as we have one as a pet), it was heavenly. The combination of grapefruit and horseradish made a perfect balance.

Our salad choices were a Baby Spinach Salad for my wife and a Root Beer Braised Bacon Salad for me. Comprised of a bed of baby spinach with fresh strawberries, goat cheese, spiced almonds, crisp potato and warm Chourice-Pimenton vinaigrette, my wife’s salad got rave reviews. And my salad was the most unique salad I have ever consumed. Made up of Abita Root Beer braised Niman Ranch Pork Belly with citrus slaw, marinated yucca, heirloom radish, shaved jalapeno, goat cheese and pork cracklings, the salad literally melted in my mouth.

After a few sips of the bubbly and a bite or two of the delectable cornbread muffins, we were ready for our main course. My wife’s choice was a Saffron-Chili Dusted Jumbo Gulf Shrimp with brown butter-sweet potato grits, skillet beans, Benton’s bacon, smoked corn and mango chow chow. My wife is not a huge seafood fan, but this choice worked for her discerning palate. My choice was a Duck Schnitzel that was accompanied by roasted shallots, confit – frisée salad, haricots verts and lemon butter sauce. It was perfectly prepared and expertly presented.

Our meal closed with two desserts, which is an oddity for us. We chose Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie. We found the creme brule to be lackluster (we didn’t even finish it), but the banana creme pie was magnificint. It had a very unique checkered filling that offered the perfect balance of banana and sweetness.

Our bill with tax and tip was $200, but our dining pleasure far outweighed any monetary expenditure. It was an amazing meal and wonderful evening. Just what you are looking for on a mini-honeymoon.

In my last post, I described the Hawaiian-inspired dinner for two that I created.  As I was visualizing the two dishes (a pineapple and soy sauce marinated pork tenderloin and cinnamon-sugar grilled pineapple) and the accompanying drink (a coconut and pineapple combination), it seemed that the meal might be a little too sweet.  To balance the sweetness, I decided to make a side dish that had no fruit or sweetness.  Also, as it was a late meal I wanted to make something that was light and quick to prepare.

Both of us love cheese, which makes an excellent contrast to fruit, so it seemed like a perfect ingredient in the side dish.  With a refrigerator that always has an assortment of cheeses, I checked out my options.  I found a block of Parmesan and wondered what I could create.

I am an eater who enjoys crunch in her meals, so I decided that I would combine the Parmesan with a few other ingredients, pop them in the oven for a few minutes, and make a fast and tasty side dish.  The result of my experiment was a batch of Parmesan Crisps that both of us enjoyed.  I plan to make them for the kids one day soon, as they, too, enjoy cheese and should find this to be a tasty snack.

Parmesan Crisps

1 cup Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated

4 tsp. flour

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease cookie sheet.  In a small bowl, combine the cheese and flour.  Add pepper to season.  Place rounded tablespoons of mixture half inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve immediately, or place on a cooling rack.

Makes 1 dozen.

With a live animal show at our local library, the kids needed to have an early dinner last night.  However, with a work meeting scheduled for 6:30, the adults needed a late dinner.  So, in the interest of making dinners that pleased everyone, the kids had hot dogs while I planned a surprise meal for the adults.

Thinking about our upcoming, though delayed, honeymoon to Hawaii, I decided to make foods with that flair.  When I was at the grocery store, I found a special on pork tenderloin, which became the basis for our meal.  I also purchased a pineapple to accompany the pork.

Rummaging through our cupboards, I created what I thought would make a sweet and flavorful Hawaiian marinade.  As I would be grilling the pork, I decided that the pineapple should be grilled also.  Instead of just serving the pineapple plain, I decided to add a little extra flavor to that also.

Served with my own version of a Hawaiian cocktail and parmesan crisps, this was a wonderful dinner for us.

Hawaiian Pork

1 4-ounce can pineapple juice

1/4 soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 lb. pork tenderloin

Cut pork into 1 inch slices.  Combine first four ingredients in a resealable gallon bag and add pork.  Seal and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.  Preheat grill to medium heat.  Place pork slices on grill and cook for 4 minutes per side.  (Times may vary for each grill.)  Discard marinade.  Serve pork immediately when done.

Grilled Pineapple

1/2 pineapple, cored and peeled

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tb. cinnamon

Cut pineapple into 1-1/2 inch cubes. Pour coconut milk into a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl.  Preheat grill to medium heat.

Make an assembly line starting with cubed pineapple, then a bowl of coconut milk, next a bowl of sugar and cinnamon, and finally an empty plate on which to place the completed cubes. Dip one pineapple cube in the coconut milk and allow the excess to drip off.  Then place the pineapple in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Finally set cubes on the last plate.  Put completed cubes on metal skewers.

Put skewers of pineapple on grill and cook for approximately 3 minutes per side.  Serve immediately.

Everything has a history in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Every building has been around since the 1800’s, and the narrow streets that now teem with tourists allow you to be transported back to the antebellum port city. Today most of the buildings are home to restaurants, hotels, bars, and art galleries. One of these on St. Louis Street is an exceptional place to grab breakfast, Petunia’s Restaurant.

Petunias is in the former home of Barthelemy Bacas, who was a cabinet maker in New Orleans in the mid 1800’s. Mr. Bacas’s handiwork still can be found in the innate woodwork that you find in the dining room. The restaurant is cozy and has the old world charm of much of the rest of the French Quarter.

The breakfast menu at Petunia’s also has some of that southern charm. There are daily omelet specials that include red beans or andouille sausage. And they have staples like grits and café au lait. My new bride and I decided to start our meal with a Mimosa for her and Bloody Mary for me. Our main meal choices were Pain Perdu (i.e. French Toast made with French Bread) for her, and I got a very unique choice of Eggs Melenzana, which is fried eggplant rounds as a base with layers of shaved ham, tomatoes, and poached eggs with all of it smothered in Hollandaise sauce. I also ordered a side of grits.

We had a little bit of a wait for our meal, but when it arrived we saw what really sets the restaurant apart: the portions! My beautiful bride’s French toast was immense and could have fed us both easily. On top of it she had eight (8!!) links of sausages. My eggplant and eggs dish was also colossal and completely filled the platter. My grits filled a large soup bowl and could have been a breakfast in and of itself. Besides being immense, the breakfasts had great flavor. The Pain Perdu had a light and aromatic batter with tons of flavor. The only negative on the meal was that the poached egg on my dish was way over done with the yolks already hard.

We couldn’t finish the meal, and we know that next time we will order only one breakfast for us to split. The $50 bill (including tax and tip) was an excellent buy and a wonderful meal in the historic French Quarter.