Category Archives: THIS & THAT RECIPES

GARLIC TOAST

OK, I know, almost everyone knows how to make garlic toast. But if you happen to be in the .04% of the population who doesn’t know how to make a truly wonderful garlic toast, I am going to help you out right now!

There are actually few things better than a crunchy, chewy, and totally butter infused with garlic piece of bread to accompany an entrée. Granted, garlic toast wouldn’t go well with Mexican or Chinese dishes, but Italian or French food – c’est magnifique! And even for breakfast with a side of eggs and bacon, garlic toast is a winner.

So next time you prepare an Italian or French feast, or just want to make your family and friends totally happy at dinner time, bake up a batch of this toast. It’s ever so easy and ever so much better than the prepared garlic bread loaves that you can buy at your local grocery store. There simply is no substitute for the real thing. And this is the real thing! Vampires beware!

4 T. unsalted butter (½ stick), room temperature
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ of a crusty Italian or French baguette, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into serving size pieces

Place the butter, garlic, parsley, and salt in a small bowl and mix with a table fork until well blended. Place the bread on a baking sheet, crust side down. Spread the butter mixture evenly over all of the pieces. Bake the bread in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown. And of course, doubling or tripling, etc. is easy peasy.

TAPENADE

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Tapenade is a spread consisting of very finely chopped olives, anchovies, and capers in olive oil. The name “tapenade” comes from the Provençal word for capers, tapenas. It is a very popular dish in the south of France and is most often eaten as an hors d’œuvre, spread on toasted crusty bread or baguette slices.

I first started making tapenade when I was in my early forties because it was easy to prepare and totally different from anything else I served. (And no, I have no idea where I learned about tapenade. The recipe wasn’t in my Betty Crocker cookbook, that’s for darn sure!) I just knew that it was delicious and everyone who tried it loved it! I also had no idea until I began researching for this post that some form of this amazing spread had been around since before the time of Christ.

According to Clifford A. Wright, award winning writer on all foods Italian and Mediterranean, “although capers are native to the Mediterranean, it is likely they were brought to Provence from Crete by the Phocaeans, Greeks from Asia Minor, who settled near Marseilles in the sixth century B.C. The caper plant was known as tapeneï in Provençal, and the flower bud, the part of the caper used for culinary purposes, was the tapeno, which were preserved in amphora (ancient vessels used for storage) filled with olive oil since vinegar was not used at that time. The capers became mushed together in the amphoras to form a kind of pâté of crushed tapeno, the ancestor of the modern tapenade. This is why it is today known by the word for caper rather than olives, which is actually, in volume, the greater constituent ingredient.”

So next time you want an absolutely delicious and different topping to serve with toast as an appetizer, get out your food processor and whip, or should I say pulse up a batch. And you are right! There are lovely little jars of this concoction in the fancy food deli section of almost every grocery store. But just for grins, look at the price before you just plop a jar in your cart. (You might want to have someone with you to help break the fall if you begin to faint.) Then consider how much it would cost to make your own. (And again, I know. Not everyone has capers, kalamata olives, and anchovies just lying around.) But they should! All three of these ingredients are wonderful in all kinds of dishes. Just do a Google search on any of these items and see what amazing new culinary delights are out there for you to try.

Now, for your final French history lesson today: According to Smithsonian Magazine, historians are now convinced that Marie Antoinette never said “let them eat cake”. That darling little statement was attributed to Maria Theresa, the Spanish princess who married Louis XIV more than a century before Marie Antoinette ever set foot in France. (And you thought you were only going to learn about food on my blog. Surprise!)

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
6-8 anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ tsp. dried rosemary
½ tsp. dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
1½ c. pitted kalamata olives
3 T. capers, washed and drained

Combine olive oil, anchovy fillets, garlic, rosemary, oregano, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Process until thoroughly pulverized. Add olives and capers and pulse until they are coarsely ground. (Do not over process. You do not want a paste.) Serve with toasted baguette slices.

NOT QUITE PERFECT CRISPY KALE “CHIPS”

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OK, I know every good cook wants to be able to prepare the perfect kale chips because not only are they delicious, they are such a healthy alternative to potato chips. But I’m not going to lie to you. This recipe is not perfect, but it is pretty darn close. So why did you post it if it’s not perfect I hear you asking? Well, because it’s as good as I can get it.

I have actually been trying to perfect this recipe for about 3 years now. And frankly, during this testing time I must have gone through 12-14 batches in an effort to make the kale chips of my dreams. So give me as much grief as you’d like, but I’m tired of trying to make this recipe any better. There are just too many variables when you make kale chips. The leaf thickness is never the same in any 2 bunches of kale. Then of course, there are different kinds of kale. But the main problem I kept experiencing was getting the saltiness of the chips just right. It was just darn near impossible!

But I was very happy with the last batch I made. So much so, that my experiments with baked kale are over. This last try had just the right amount of olive oil and seasoned salt, with a little extra flavor boost from the tamari and granulated garlic.

And I know there was absolutely no need for me to pursue kale chips with such a vengeance since there were already so many recipes out there. But it had become a personal exasperation for me. I just could not get it right! And when that happens, it’s like someone waving a red cape in front of a bull! And you know what bulls do when they see red? Well actually, bulls don’t see red. They are dichromates, which means, they only see blue and yellow. And bulls only chase the matador’s cape because of the movement, not the color. But regardless, the analogy still works. Like any self respecting bull, I simply couldn’t stand a moving target that I couldn’t conquer. In this case, my target was a “not quite perfect” kale chip recipe! My job here is done.

10-12 c. loosely packed kale (1-2 bunches) – ribs removed, washed, torn into about 2-inch pieces, and spun dry
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. low sodium tamari or soy sauce
½ tsp. granulated garlic
½ tsp. seasoned salt

Place the kale in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, tamari, granulated garlic, and seasoned salt. Pour on top of the kale and gently massage the kale leaves (yes with your fingers) until every leaf is coated with a very thin layer of the mixture. Lay leaves in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets.

Bake for about 9-10 minutes in a pre-heated 275 degree oven. (Use convection heat if possible.) Keep a close eye on the kale. The kale leaves should be completely dry to the touch when they are ready. (They will however still look a bit shiny from the olive oil.) Take them out of the oven and gently lift them with a thin metal spatula. Allow them to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

THE 5 MOTHER SAUCES OF CLASSICAL CUISINE (MADE EASY)

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“Sensible shortcuts” is the way Mr. C refers to my recipes for the magnificent 5 classical French mother sauces. This statement came the day after we had watched the charming movie “The 100 Foot Journey” starring Helen Mirren. On the way home from the movie Mr. C had asked me all about these sauces. I knew for sure about Béchamel, Velouté, and Hollandaise, but I was unsure of the other two, although, as it turns out, I have been making all 5 of these sauces most of my adult life. Of course the way I prepare each sauce is not exactly the way they are prepared by a Michelin 3 star chef! You think! (And yes, I did read up on how to prepare these sauces in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.) As it turns out, my recipes are certainly close to how the masters prepare their sauces, but mine are easier. And since I have never really tasted the “real thing”, I find mine an acceptable substitute. (Well of course I do!)

But I do know how to use each of these mothers (sauces that is), and really, isn’t that the important thing! And I’m sure after you read the recipes for these 5 classics you will realize you have been making your own version of these recipes for years too. Every time you make a white sauce, you are making the French classic Béchamel Sauce. Each time you start a spaghetti sauce, you are making a version of the French classic Sauce Tomate. And good old fashioned chicken or beef gravy; your take on Velouté Sauce (chicken sauce/gravy) and Espagnole Sauce (beef sauce/gravy). And Hollandaise Sauce; merely an extremely rich and decadent butter and lemon emulsion.

So below, please find my way of preparing each of these classic sauces. Each one is lovely by itself, but fabulous as a base for an endless variety of flavors you can achieve through the inclusion of just a few additional key ingredients. With each recipe I have included a few of my favorite dishes starting with the basic sauce.

And for all you foodies out there, if you really want to treat your culinary senses to a non-edible gastronome experience, go see the movie. In truth the movie is more of a fable or fairy tale than a believable story, but the cooking scenes alone are worth the price of admission. Bon Appétit!

Béchamel Sauce (basic white sauce)

2 T. (¼ stick) unsalted butter
3 T. all-purpose flour
2 c. milk, heated to almost boiling (or more to reach desired thickness)
¼ tsp. kosher salt
pinch white pepper

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Do not let the butter turn even the least bit brown. Whisk in the flour and cook slowly for about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the hot milk, salt and pepper; let simmer gently for about 2 minutes or until thick and creamy.

Common Uses: To prepare creamed vegetable dishes (always with a tiny bit of freshly grated nutmeg), base for cream soups, lasagna (my Lasagna Bolognese calls for Béchamel Sauce), cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese or fresh veggies, and mustard sauce to accompany roast meats (just add a little Dijon)

Lasagna Bolognese

Velouté Sauce (chicken flavored sauce)

2 T. unsalted butter
3 T. all-purpose flour
2 c. boiling chicken stock
kosher salt to taste
white pepper to taste

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Do not let the butter turn even the least bit brown. Whisk in the flour and cook slowly for about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the hot chicken stock and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute or until sauce is smooth and velvety. Remove from heat, taste, and add salt if necessary and a very small amount of white pepper. Remember: white pepper actually has a stronger flavor than black pepper, so use sparingly.

Common Uses: Mushroom sauce for pasta, shrimp sauce, base for chicken stew, chicken pot pie, chicken and biscuits, and gravy for roast chicken

Chicken Gravy

Espagnole Sauce (beef flavored sauce sometimes called Brown Sauce or Sauce Brune)

2 T. unsalted butter
½ c. diced onions
¼ c. diced carrot
¼ c. diced celery
2 T. all-purpose flour
3 c. commercially prepared or homemade beef stock (see recipe for homemade beef stock below)
2 T. red wine
1 T. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 T. chopped fresh parsley

In a heavy sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mirepoix (term for the combination of onion, carrot, and celery) to the butter and sauté for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are lightly browned. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 5 minutes or until the paste (roux) turns a lovely light brown. (Watch carefully so that it does not burn. It will smell kind of nutty when it is done.) Whisk in the beef stock, red wine, and the tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and add the bay leaf, thyme, and parsley. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes or until mixture has reduced by about one-third. Stir frequently. Discard bay leaf. If a smooth consistency is required, purée the sauce in a blender or food processor.

Common Uses: Base for beef stew, beef pot pie, beef gravy, Swiss steak, beef stroganoff, and as a delicious drizzle over grilled steak

Beef Stew

Homemade Beef Stock

3 lbs. beef and veal meat, bones and scraps
1 onion, chunked
1 carrot, chunked
2 sprigs parsley
6 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 qt. cold water

Spread meat and bones out on a large rimmed baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the meat, bones and scraps are well browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Transfer bones and all drippings to a large covered stock pot. With a small amount of water, lift all the browned bits off the bottom of the baking pan and add to stock pot. Add onion, carrot, parsley, pepper corns, bay leaf, and water. Bring liquid to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for about 4 hours. Remove from heat. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Slowly strain into another container. Discard bones and vegetables. Chill broth. (I usually refrigerate overnight.) Lift off as much of the fat as possible from the top of the now thin jelly like broth.

Hollandaise Sauce

4 egg yolks
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. dry mustard
1 T. fresh lemon juice (must be from a real, picked from a tree, lemon)
dash hot sauce
½ c. (¼ lb.) butter

Put all ingredients in blender except butter. Cover and whirl for 30 seconds. Melt butter until very hot. Add to blender in a steady stream through the little lid in the big lid until mixture is completely emulsified. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Common Uses: Eggs Benedict, slathered over cooked veggies (asparagus is our favorite), served over scrambled eggs that have been scooped onto cut croissants, and my personal favorite – dolloped onto any kind of baked, poached, or BBQ’d seafood. (Well actually, that’s not quite accurate. My all time favorite way to eat hollandaise is with a spoon, right out of the container in the refrigerator.)

Asparagus topped with Hollandaise

Sauce Tomate (basic tomato sauce – recipe number 1)

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 lg. carrot, diced
1 c. chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (28-oz. cans) Italian tomatoes (chopped, diced, or whole – your choice)
2 c. chicken or beef stock
½ c. dry white wine
2 T. tomato paste
freshly ground black pepper
pinch sugar
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. dried thyme
2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Pour olive oil and place butter into a large covered sauce pan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté until onion is tender. Stir in the canned tomatoes, stock, wine, tomato paste, pepper, sugar, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley. Cover pan and bring contents to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 2 hours. Stir frequently. Add water if mixture becomes too thick. After 2 hours, adjust seasoning. Discard bay leaf. Purée the sauce in a blender or food processor if a smooth consistency is required.

Note: If the sauce is not as thick as desired, mash 1 tablespoon flour into 1 tablespoon room temperature butter and whisk into sauce. Stir for about 2 minutes or until thick. Not thick enough; repeat process.

Common Uses: basic vegetarian base for any pasta dish calling for red sauce, eggplant Parmesan, chicken cacciatore, etc.

Sauce Tomate

Sauce Tomate – Classic Marinara Sauce (recipe number 2)

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
½ c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (28-oz.) can chopped or diced tomatoes (Italian tomatoes preferably)
1 bay leaf
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 T. chopped fresh basil leaves
1-2 T. butter, optional

In a large covered sauce pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes. (Take the lid off part way if the sauce is too thin.) Remove from heat, remove bay leaf, add basil and adjust seasoning. If the sauce tastes acidic, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavor.

SALSA VERDE (GREEN TOMATILLO SALSA)

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What happens when you put 7 little ingredients in the hands of my dear friend Jim? Well, if they happen to be this combination of ingredients, you get the best darn tomatillo salsa you ever tasted.

For my birthday this year Jim made this salsa to go with the taco/burritos we were serving. And I am here to tell you, the salsa was an unqualified hit. And then the best part, he left the leftover salsa with us! “Greater love hath no friend than to leave homemade salsa in your refrigerator!” (I know I am quoting some sage historian, but I can’t remember for the life of me who it was!)

Now, although Jim and I have been cooking together for decades, we still think differently when we prepare food. Jim is more analytical in his approach to food preparation. He considers things like the fact that adding an avocado to the salsa would not only add flavor but cause the mixture to emulsify. (In culinary terms, an emulsion happens when two liquids that wouldn’t ordinarily mix (like oil and vinegar) are whisked or blended into a mixture in which one of the ingredients is evenly distributed throughout the other substance. This is part one of the emulsion process. Step two involves keeping the mixture in an emulsified state. That requires an emulsifier. The most common emulsifiers are natural and modified starches such as cornstarch, mustard, egg yolks, garlic, and you guessed it – avocado.)

So Professor Jim, in using an avocado in the salsa, created a perfect blend of not only flavor but consistency. (And no, I would never have thought about adding the avocado because of the emulsion factor. If I had considered an avocado at all, it would have been merely a chance flash of brilliance. And flashes of brilliance just ain’t happening as often as they used to!)

The other difference in our cooking styles; Jim usually prefers bolder flavors. (Now you do realize there is no wrong or right here; just personal preference.)

So, in reading the ingredients list below, I presented the amounts that best worked for me first, with Jim’s amounts listed second. (My blog!) But I’m sure Jim will forgive me. Although we each have our own style, the ultimate outcome of our adventures in the kitchen is always the same – we aim to prepare darned tasty food.

Thank you my dear friend for sharing your recipe and educated culinary perspective with me and my readers.

5-6 tomatillos, husks removed
1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper
3 T. olive oil (Jim uses about twice as much)
2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, peeled (again, Jim uses about twice as much)
1 c. rough chopped cilantro (partial bunch)
1 small, ripe avocado, peeled and cut into chunks
kosher salt – start with about ¾ tsp.

Jim’s method of roasting tomatillos over an open flame: Sacrifice one small square cooling rack and place it over a gas burner. Lay the tomatillos and peppers on the cooling rack, turn the heat on as hot as you can stand, and char the veggies until they are good and black or start to get oozy, whichever comes first. Remove to a bowl or plate to cool.

(If you do not have a gas stove top, use the alternate charring methods provided below.)

Meanwhile, pour olive oil into a small pan. Turn heat to very low and add the garlic cloves. Gently heat the oil until you see bubbles start to form around the pan. (Jim cooks his garlic longer for a more mature roasted garlic flavor.)

Remove from heat and allow to cool. (You are basically creating garlic infused oil.) When the tomatillos are cool, place them in the bowl of a food processor, along with the cooled oil, garlic, cilantro, avocado, and salt. (And no, do not carefully remove all the charred skin on the tomatillos. That charred skin is part of the flavor in the final product. Now doesn’t that make life easier for everyone?) Whirl to blend. Carefully remove the seeds and stems from the jalapeno pepper. Add the pepper to the salsa mixture and whirl just until finally chopped. Adjust seasoning. (This recipe actually takes more salt than you would expect.) Store salsa covered in your refrigerator. Best if made at least a day ahead. Serve with tortilla chips or as a condiment to any of your favorite Mexican dishes.

Alternate directions for charring tomatillos and pepper in the oven:

1) Hold a tomatillo with a pair of long handled tongs over gas burner until well charred. (If the tomatillo starts to get oozy, call it good!) Place the charred tomatillos in a bowl or on a plate to cool while you char the rest of the veggies.

2) Move an oven rack to the top position in your oven. Preheat broiler to high. Place tomatillos and pepper in an oven-safe baking dish. Place in oven, 4 inches from the preheated broiler, until the tomatillos are roasted and the peppers are charred, about 10-15 minutes. Turn veggies as necessary to char on all sides. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Proceed with recipe as described above.

3) Place tomatillos and pepper on outdoor grill over high heat. Turn as needed to char the skins. Will take upwards of 30 minutes. Allow to cool and proceed with recipe as described above.

MEXICAN SALSA

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This is my daughter Paula’s favorite salsa, and not coincidentally, my favorite red salsa. It is perfect served with tortilla chips or any type of Mexican dish that is usually served with a red (tomato based) salsa.

So, as promised, this is the second salsa in a series of three that I felt duty bound to share with you. And I know, there are thousands, probably millions of salsa recipes out there, but I have not sampled them all, or prepared them all, so you are stuck with these three (at least on this site), plus another one already on my blog simply entitled “Salsa”. But (there’s always a “but” right?) these are tried and true and enough above the ordinary to warrant a post on my blog. Each exhibits its own unique flavor. Where they share commonality is in their ease of preparation and use of readily accessible ingredients. (Hey, it’s hot out there, but it’s chips and salsa weather. Who wants to spend their valuable time searching for unusual ingredients or spending the afternoon making a salsa? Not me, that’s for sure!)

So in deference to the lovely weather, I am going to make this recipe introduction short and sweet. Look for Jim’s Salsa Verde (Green Tomatillo Salsa) recipe in the near future. Happy Summer!

2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 jalapeno, whole, seeds and all (but yes, remove the stem)
1 T. dried oregano, Mexican oregano if possible
1 T. sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
½ c. tomato juice, plus more to bring sauce to desired consistency
1 onion, minced
1 bunch cilantro, rough chopped
1 (32-oz.) can crushed tomato*
1 (32-oz.) can diced tomato*
kosher salt

Combine the garlic, jalapeno(s), oregano, sugar, lemon juice, and ½ cup tomato juice in a blender. Whirl until garlic and jalapeno are in very small chunks. Pour into a medium large bowl and add the onion, cilantro, crushed and diced tomatoes, and enough additional tomato juice to bring to desired consistency. Adjust amount of lemon juice and add salt to taste.

*Paula’s Comment: “I have made this with real tomatoes and while it is very good, it causes the salsa to become very watery and then it does not sit well on a chip, and I really hate that. So I stopped making it with fresh tomatoes. You end up with a perfect consistency when you use canned tomatoes.”

Note: The recipe entitled Salsa on this site is also Paula’s recipe. The difference in the two recipes is easy to explain. Salsa number 1 is best served immediately, while this recipe has lasting power. The tomatoes in this recipe will not break down and become watery even after 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALSA

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There are very few edibles I like better than a really good salsa and tortilla chips. And for my 70^th birthday party, I served taco/burritos with three types of meat and three types of salsa. And one of the salsas I served was this corn and black bean creation. It was very well received, as were the other two salsas that were served. So along with this salsa, I will be posting my daughter Paula’s recipe for Mexican Salsa and my dear friend Jim’s recipe for Salsa Verde (Green Tomatillo Salsa).

All three of the salsas are very easy to prepare and include ingredients readily available in just about any grocery store. (If I can find them on Camano Island, you should be able to find them in your favorite grocery store.)

And although this is technically a salsa, it can be eaten as a salad. Or, if you are like my husband, it can be eaten straight out of the refrigerator container, while standing up, big old forkfuls at a time. After all, why dirty a dish when all you need is a few bites of corn and black bean salsa? Why even bother getting the tortilla chips out of the pantry? So, does Mr. C like this salsa? You might say so!! I hope you enjoy it too.

2-3 c. frozen corn, thawed and patted dry
¼ red pepper, chopped
¼ orange pepper, chopped
2 T. chopped red onion
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. very finely minced jalapeno pepper or more to taste
1 T. fresh lime juice, or more to taste
½ c. tomato salsa, medium hot
½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. kosher
freshly ground black pepper
2-4 T. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (depends on how much you like cilantro)

Combine the corn, red pepper, orange pepper, red onion, black beans, and jalapeno in a bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, salsa, chili powder, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper in another bowl. Pour the sauce over the veggies and stir gently. Make a day or two ahead if possible. Before serving adjust the seasonings and stir in the fresh cilantro and additional fresh lime juice to taste. Serve with tortilla chips. (We love Juanita’s Tortilla Chips.)

CARAMELIZED ONION AND PORT WINE JAM

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Not being on what you might call “speaking terms” with my kitchen after hosting a JazzVox dinner/concert the weekend before last, and then a large birthday party for my dear friends Evelyn and Linda, and myself (all of us turning 70 within a few months of each other) last weekend, I really wasn’t mentally prepared to spend much time in the kitchen on the 4^th of July. (I usually feel this way after spending several days in the kitchen getting ready for an event, so my kitchen has learned not to take my rejection personally!) But I wanted to bring an appetizer to the 4th of July get-together at our dear friends Ken and Christine’s home.

So I decided to bake baguettes and prepare a couple of interesting taste treats to slather on top. Having recently discovered the joys of Homemade Ricotta Cheese (find the recipe under “Appetizers”), I decided to make some of it to bring along. I also had been dreaming about an onion jam that would taste great with the ricotta and would also be sensational warmed on top of French Brie. So not knowing exactly what I was doing, I proceeded to try my hand at onion jam. I read several recipes on line for caramelized onions with balsamic vinegar, but I was fixated on using port wine. And some of the recipes did use a touch of port wine, but I wanted a full blown port wine tasting finish. So not quite sure what I was doing, I came up with the following recipe. I hope you enjoy it. And since I’m sure you were wondering, my kitchen and I are back together again and as happy as ever.

1-2 T. butter
3 medium onions, cut in half then sliced ¼-inch thick
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper (not too much)
1 c. ruby port

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium sized non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, sugar, salt, and pepper. (If the onions seem dry in the pan, add just a little bit more butter.) Stirring occasionally, sauté the onions until they are a deep brown color, but not to the point where they become mushy; about 35-45 minutes. Stir in port a quarter cup at a time and cook until port reduces to a thick jam like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes. Adjust salt. (The jam actually takes more salt than you would expect.)

HOMEMADE RICOTTA CHEESE

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OK, as you well know, I am not a lover of buying products from the grocery store that I know I can make better, usually cheaper, and not coincidentally, free of most of the unhealthy additives found in most pre-packages foods. (Now granted, I can’t make some types of bread as well as artisan bakers, but mine are pretty darn good, and the cost savings is phenomenal! But more about bread later.)

One of the food items that appear in almost every large grocery store in America is ricotta. Comes in a tub, has very little taste, and about the same consistency as wet sand. (No pulling punches on my part.) So most of the time, I avoid dishes that call for ricotta. (In the next couple of weeks I will be posting 2 recipes for lasagna, neither of which contain ricotta.) But when I was thinking about the antipasto appetizer I was planning to serve at yesterdays JazzVox* pre-concert dinner, I thought about serving the antipasto with Classic Italian Baguette slices (recipe for bread to come later) slathered with something yummy.

I remembered that someone recently (can’t remember who) was absolutely waxing poetic about the virtues of homemade ricotta; about how delicious it was and how simple it was to prepare. Well never one to listen lightly to someone talking about good food, I decided to give homemade ricotta a try. (Never mind that in haste I had purchased twice as much whole milk as I needed for the lasagnas I had prepared for the dinner.) So, necessity being a mother, I had little to lose by giving this recipe a go. And my-oh-my, I will never disparage ricotta again. Don’t get me wrong, I will still tell anyone who will listen, that the ricotta that comes in a tub at the store bears no resemblance (and yes I spelled “bears” correctly, I looked it up) to the fresh ricotta cheese you can make at home!

Now, because I know you are just as interested in the origins of food as I am, I paid the internet a visit and came up with this bit of ricotta history from the www.food.com/ web site. “Ricotta is a rich fresh cheese made from skim or whole cow’s milk that is slightly grainy but smoother than cottage cheese. It’s white, moist and has a slightly sweet flavor. Most Italian ricottas are made from the whey that is drained off while making cheeses such as mozzarella and provolone. Technically not a cheese because it is made from a cheese by-product, Ricotta cheese is most frequently used in Italian cooking. The origins of Ricotta cheese reach back into Latin and Mediterranean history. It is believed to have been created in the Roman countryside as travelers cooked their food in big kettles over open fires. The product was cooked twice to extract the cheese from the buttermilk. The name Ricotta is derived from the Latin word recocta, meaning re-cooked or cooked twice. It became a popular food for serving to important guests.”

So if you too want to serve an absolutely wonderful ricotta to your family and friends, give this recipe a try. It is so stinkin’ easy as to be almost embarrassing to take credit. But take credit anyway. What the heck, you had to heat the milk and cream to exactly 190 degrees. Right? That’s precision work my friends, precision work!

*visit www.jazzvox.com for information about in-home vocal jazz concerts in the Seattle area

7 c. whole milk
1 c. heavy cream
1 softly rounded tsp. coarse sea salt
6 T. fresh lemon juice (don’t even think about using that “stuff” in a bottle)

Line a colander with 4-5 layers of cheese cloth and place over a medium sized bowl. (I use bag clips, the kind used for keeping potato chips fresh, around the top of the colander to keep the sides of the cheesecloth in place.) Set colander and bowl aside.

Pour the milk, cream, and salt into a large nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pan. Heat the mixture to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Gently stir twice around the pan. Let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Then carefully pour the curds and whey into the prepared colander and let the curds strain. For a creamy spreadable ricotta, let the curds strain for an hour. If you plan to use the ricotta in a recipe, allow the curds to sit for 2 hours. Unless you are planning to consume the ricotta immediately, gently scoop the ricotta into a covered container and store in your refrigerator. Otherwise, just scoop it into a serving dish and prepare for a rare culinary treat. (There simply is no comparison between fresh ricotta and the cheese you get in the grocery store.) By-the-way, discard the whey. (Loved writing that sentence!) And since you were wondering, you really can’t discern a lemon flavor in the ricotta.

Serve on baguette slices, plain or with a tiny drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil and a light sprinkle of black pepper or dried oregano. Or for a more exotic taste adventure, dab on a spot of fig jam or seasoned caramelized onions.

Yield: about 2 cups of pure heaven. Many thanks to the “Smitten Kitchen” blog for the bones of this recipe.

PIQUANT TARTAR SAUCE

I love seafood. And I know I should love it best when it is baked, grilled or poached, but there are just those times when my entire body yearns for fried fish with a yummy tartar sauce on the side. And really, who am I to deny my body anything it really begs for, especially since it has been ever so good to me over the years?

And since I pretty much gave up desserts at the first of the year, I feel almost obliged to reward my body with at least one of the foods it periodically craves. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!) So the other evening I gave in to my bodies demands and fixed fried cod and this tartar sauce.

Now I almost always make my own tartar sauce and this evening was no exception. But I was in the mood for something different. So I went in search of tartar sauce recipes on the internet. Do you know how many recipes there are for tartar sauce out there in cyberspace? Thousands, maybe even millions! So doing what I usually do I looked at several sites and came up with this version which is a conglomeration of several of the recipes I thought looked mighty tasty.

Well the upshot is that Mr. C. and I thought this was really, really good. And it took no time at all to whip up. Better and better! And yes I could have taken a picture of the sauce, but truly, who does not know what tartar sauce looks like? I figured taking a picture of the sauce would almost be an insult to you all. But if there happens to be any one out there for whom tartar sauce is an unknown (as they say in the vernacular) “commodity”, please go on line and search for “tartar sauce recipes”. You will soon be provided with more pictures of small bowls filled with white stuff than you ever dreamed imaginable.

½ c. mayonnaise
½ c. sour cream
1 T. drained capers
2 T. rough chopped dill pickle
1 small shallot, peeled and rough chopped
2 tsp. chopped flat leaf parsley
1T. fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/8 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
½ tsp. course grained mustard
¼ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a small food processor, combine all the ingredients and pulse several times until the pickle is finely chopped and all of the ingredients are well mixed but not pureed. Adjust seasonings and refrigerate several hours before serving.

CHEZ CARR CUISINE

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PIQUANT TARTAR SAUCE