Mothers Day BBQ

This Mothers Day I'll be having a party of 10.
Not the size crowd my mother used to cook for but a good number just the same.

Even though we lost mom to Alzheimers 3 years ago, there is something about being in the kitchen that makes me feel closer to her than anywhere else.

I guess it's because our family spent so much time in the kitchen and at the dining table. And it was Mom that was the center of the energy.

She was a great cook and an even better baker.
I remember as a young girl I fought the concept of being like my mother...now I revel in the fact that "I am my mothers daughter"...

So on this day I will
~Cook
~Drink
~Dance
and above all
~Laugh
Because it is her day and that's what she would have done!

Todays Menu:
Crabcake Appetizers with Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc Sauce
BBQ Pork Spareribs
Roasted Vegetables and Red Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
Mexican Jicama and Fruit Salad

Desert:
Aunt Marthas Lemon Cake (My husbands Aunt and he makes the cake!!)

Thanks Mom...Always in my heart and my kitchen ~cheers~

Panzeroti (Potato Croquettes)

It's been about 10+ years since my family has had Panzeroti's.

My mother used to make them for Sunday dinner before she got Alzheimers. So I decided to try my hand at them.

The first thing I had to do was purchase a potato ricer. The potato's need to be riced or put through a food mill since mashing makes them too pasty.

Next, check out Mom's recipe...fortunately, I wrote down the recipe when she was still alive, but unfortunately, it didn't have any measurements, just how to put it all together? hmmmm...

But, I was looking through one of my many cookbooks and found one that my sister had given me, sort of as a joke....The Sopranos Family Cookbook!
Believe it or not, it had the recipe since our Italian family are Neopalitan, coming from Naples and so were the Sopranos, in theory...it worked!

The only difference was the addition of the Mozzarella cheese...I'll get to that shortly.

I'm cooking dinner today for 12 so this recipe will make enough Panzeroti so that everyone gets 2...Plenty!

10 White Rose Potatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped Hard Salami
1/2 cup finely chopped Parsley
3 or 4 cloves chopped garlic
5 Egg Yolks
1+ cup Pecorino Romano Cheese
Salt and Pepper

Boil the potatoes with the skins on. When knife tender remove from water and peel skins off.
In large bowl, rice potatoes, add all the ingredients above and mix together with your hands...it's the easiest.

Cut Mozzarella cheese into 24 strips, not too thick!

Take approximately 1/4 cup of the potatoe mixture in your hand and put an indentation in the center and lay a strip of the cheese in the middle and mold the potatoe around the cheese into 1" thick by 2" long logs, set aside.

Next, beat the egg whites into a froth. Put Breadcrumbs into another dish.
Dip the Panzeroti into the egg whites and then into the breadcrumbs and set on a rack for 30 minutes.




When you're ready, heat up frying pan with oil and fry Panzeroti's until brown, serve while hot.



My 87 yr old father was "thrilled" he hadn't had Panzeroti's in so long...He said I did a great job! That was worth all the work!




The rest of the menu:

Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
French Bistro Vegetables
Salad

Sunday Dinner....a tradition we must keep alive!

Jamie Oliver Talks about "Killing our Children!"

This is a MUST WATCH!
My oppinion is that we would not need the Government to give us Socialized medicine if the Adults of this Country would take responsibilty to teach our children what a tomato or a cauliflower looks like and that it is good!

Processed food, whether it's from the grocery store or the fast food restaurant is still processed food....meaning NOT REAL!

I also believe we would see less cases of ADD,ADHD,Diabetes,Obesity and many other childhood diseases that we take into our adulthood if we all took responsibility for what we and our children eat.

WATCH NOW!

What do you do when there's no Gas in the BBQ?

Punt!
Tonights Meal: Grilled (or not) Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Onions

Salad with Parmesan

The meal was easy and perfectly planned. I had a great day cleaning up around the house and getting long overdue errands run and since my husband was at a Bike Race with a friend at Camp Pendleton I knew exactly what I wanted.

Came home, got the Squash in the oven, marinated the Lamb and poured myself a glass of Red.
Time to BBQ.....

But to my surprise....NO GAS! ....And unlike my friend on Twitter @mortgageporter, I don't have a "Green Egg" nor the ability to know how to light it.

So I did what every Chef I watch on Food TV does....Got out my Grill pan, put the flame up high, turned my oven to 500 and hoped for the best.

Seared one side of the chops and turned over then immediately popped those puppies in the oven...for about the amount of time it took me to write this blog!

VOILA! Perfect!
And Tonights Wine.....2006 Columbia Vally Cabernet Sauvignon by Novelty Hill

My Experience with Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon

I don't get many days off to do as I please. Today I did!






So what do I do?...I decide to make Julia Childs Beef Stew! It seemed like a great idea. The day was slightly cool and looked like rain and my husband went biking with his friend for a few hours, perfect...I had it all planned out.




I started by getting a little motivation by watching Julie & Julia while I was on the Elyptical trainer! I know....call me a geek!


So I proceeded to embark on my days culinary journey at 1:30pm.

I prepped all my ingredients and then read the first line of the recipe again...oh, oh I was already stumped.


"Remove the rind and cut bacon" hmmm... our bacon nowadays has no "rind"! o.k. no biggy just cut the bacon...DONE


Then "Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water, drain and dry"


What??? Yes, simmer the bacon in water! Just do it! I have no idea why and the book doesn't tell you why....Who am I to ask Why??

DONE.

Next, Brown the beef. Be careful for "spitting" oil. I think I'll have a few burns from that one!






Brown vegetables, add all back into casserole, add flour and put in oven. Remove from oven and add liquids, Oh oh...theres that bacon rind again "add back the bacon rind that had been blanched" well I already added the BACON, so moving right along....simmer, cover, put back in oven, lower temp and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.


DONE.


OOPS! Have you ever heard that you should read the recipe ALL the way through? Well, I made a rookie mistake, but I pulled it out at the end.



Mushrooms and Pearl Onions must be dealt with! Sauteed the mushrooms, Braised the onions (by the way I never knew how good braised pearl onions could taste. I think I'll serve these as a side dish with steaks next week)

DONE.

Remove casserole from oven and strain off au jus(my lingo not hers), cook down until slightly thicker. Meanwhile cook up some egg noodles, sautee some asparagus (calls for peas, but not a big fan. Still felt I needed a vegetable)

Pour au jus over meat and simmer for a few minutes, butter noodles (because what would French cooking and Julia's recipe be without butter?)

Serve family style!

WooHoo!! Only 5 hours after starting this recipe I am DONE!

AAHHH! Fullfillment at the highest level!

The movie leads you to believe that you can do this recipe after you get off work! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

This is a Sunday kinda-thang! It's rich with depth of flavors you won't get from your Crock-pot beef stew.

Wine Pairing: Prager Winery & Portworks 2004 Napa Valley Petite Sirah

Bon Appetit!

Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

This recipe came out of revising Bobby Flays New Mexican Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Ancho Sauce.

I made Bobby's version one time, and it was delicious, but the Bourbon Ancho Sauce took way too long to do this on a regular basis. So I started looking around and came up with my own Semi-Homemade version. It's EASY and never disappoints! Enjoy!

1 Pork Tenderloin
1 Jar of McCormicks Grill Mates Pork Rub
1 Bottle of Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (I like Bronco Bob's from Cost Plus World Market)

Tie the tenderloin so it doesn't come apart. Cover in Rub (careful if you don't like it too spicy go light on this).

Sear Tenderloin on all sides in Oven proof pan. Then finish cooking in the oven 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees.

When done let rest for a few minutes and cut into medallions.

Heat sauce in pan and serve over or on the side.

I serve this with Grilled Asparagus and Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes.

The wine tonight is a Cabernet Sauvignon named Tiarella from local Temecula California maker Doffo.