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A few days ago, right after Mother’s Day, Mia and I were really tired and headed off to the Olive Garden for lunch. We normally skip restaurant meals as they are usually high in sodium but lack of energy prevailed and the Olive Garden won!
I was surprised when Mia ordered Chicken Parmesan; she said “what’s not to like? fried chicken and pasta!” — typical Mia.
Chicken Parmigiana is an American revamp of a classic dish from southern Italy based on eggplant usually made by breading and frying chicken breast, covering with sauce and cheese and baking in the oven. While I have made Chicken Parmesan through the years, I never really liked it left-over, and needed a new approach! I needed to find a way to make this a part of a healthy, week-night dinner and give it legs. [...]
There is a wonderful Mexican Bread called Bolillo and they are great for tortas, and the subject of this post the wonderful Molletes. Simply delicious a Mollete is a Bolillo, relative of a French Baquette, piled with salsa, frijoles and queso and cooked for a bit until all is bubbly and heated through. As the ingredients are few it is very important that you use only the best, most flavorful ingredients.
Make your own refried beans with freshly cooked beans (a can works too) and salsa, venture into a panaderia and buy fresh bolillos. Skip the Rosarita pasty refried stuff and the overpriced picante sauce and go for the goo stuff! Fresh, vine ripened tomatoe, onions and chilies, frijoles and queso. Don’t get uptight about the bacon fat, it will make the dish excellent.
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The ideal meal, in my opinion, is one that you can pick up with your hands, is full of flavor, satisfies compliment wine and make my guest say “Yum Yum”. Piquillo Rellano Crostoni meet all of my criteria!
Piquillo Peppers “Little Beaks” are grown in Northern Spain and provide a mildly piquant unique taste. These little peppers are roasted over open coals and are both deliciously sweet and savory. Piquillo Peppers have a thin flesh which is perfect for stuffing. I love to make Piquillo Rellano with a variety of different fillings but the little peppers are especially good with Chevre.
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 I love this food blog I found a couple of years ago which is written by Jaden Hair called Steamy Kitchen. Jaden is a funny read, takes lots of photos of her work and I just love to visit her site (link is to the right). It would appear she is doing very well in the blogosphere and has now published her first cookbook and hit the TV circuit. Of course, I couldn’t wait to add her cookbook to my collection of 5,000 other cookbooks I thumb through every once in a while. Jaden Hair’s cookbook is wonderfully perfect because it has lots of pictures to excite the appetite and inspire the cook!
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The French us a different type of bacon than what Americans refer to as bacon; this is fine but some dishes need to use a lard de poitrine frais which is fresh, unsalted and un-smoked bacon. Lard de Poitrine Frais is needed to avoid a smoky taste which is un-desirable in many dishes.
An example would be Quiche Lorraine which is a classic preparation of eggs, cream and bacon which is baked in a pate frais. Americans have come to expect bacon to have the smoky taste but un-smoked bacon imparts a delicious flavor to a dish on its own. [...]
 I love an easy to prepare, quick to the table dish that has a high satiety value. Mushu Beef Wraps fit the bill!
Mushu is a favorite of mine when dining in a Chinese restaurant and this dish captures the lovely flavors of Mushu and the ease of preparation that anyone who works for a living needs. Great dish for a week night meal! [...]
 Long before there was Thousand Island Dressing there was Russian Dressing. They really are very similar dressings and I like to combine the best of both worlds.
There are many, many ways to make a Russian or Thousand Island Dressing. Some are tomato heavy and some rely on lots of vinegar and classic thousand island uses lots of pickle relish My approach is to stay clear of the pickle relish (can’t be more than Hundred Islands) in favor of herbs and spices. Fresh herbs and full-bodied spices make a delicious dressing. [...]
Mia and I visited a restaurant today and I ordered the roasted vegetable salad. It was delicious and the vegetables were perfectly roasted and deliciously sweet. It brought to mind a vegetable sandwich, which I love and admit, is a selfish indulgence. Most people like some meat in their sandwich but a perfectly crafted sandwich of vegetables it just fine in my book.
Ratatouille Niçoise Sandwich is inspired by the classic Ratatouille Niçoise. Ratatouille is a blend of tomatoes, garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, carrots, marjoram and basil, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence. Classically the eggplant and zucchiniare prepared by cutting into slices, something like, 1/2700 of an inch thick, and layering them, with a sauce made from the remaining vegetables, in a casserole dish and baking until tender. This is the French, and Julia Child’s, method which is way too fussy for me! [...]
Onion Soup is a wonderfully comforting food for me. Deeply flavored with tons of sweet, mild onions; simmered in a beef broth and served piping hot with croûtons and cheese. Yum Yum!
It is sad when I have a bowl of “bad” onion soup because it is so easy to make good French Onion Soup. The soup should have depth of flavor and tons of onions without being oniony. I ordered a bowl in a restaurant recently and was inspired to go home and make some soup that I could enjoy. My restaurant bowl was beef base with cooked onions. I could actually taste the individual flavors of beef and onion in the watery mass of yuk the restaurant had the gall to charge me 8 bucks for. Shame, I don’t mind paying 8 bucks for fifty-five cents worth of food but I want my other $7.50 in ingenuity and presentation.
Today, I cut up six onions. Though tears cornered my eyes a couple of times, the soup is delightfully mild and deliciously “sweet”, full-bodied and velvety. I used a commercial base but added a bit of time, some care and a little know-how to make a soup worth 8 bucks a bowl. [...]
In our home, a Chili Rellano is deeply satisfying, non-fried and exceptionally piquant, dried chili, stuffed with cheese and simmered in a sauce. The yummy fragrance filling our home draws us to the table in anticipation of a treat. Mulato Chilis Rellano – Bon Apetito! [...]
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