Porter House

Cowboy Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

Frequently, I am left with little energy and the need to make dinner. I usually always have a pound of home-ground chuck in the freezer. Last night was one of those nights... I began looking on the internet for something different to do with my ground beef this time.

On Chowhound I found several references to something one poster called 'cowboy gravy' on this thread. It sounded good to me. Simple home cooking that would fill up my hungry family. I took the rough guidelines and added a couple flavor enhancers. I made up some mashed potatoes using a recipe in How to Cook Everything. Mashed potatoes are so simple with a potato ricer! I just boiled them whole in their skins until a knife slipped in easily, and then riced them. The skins stayed in the press, and the flesh was silky smooth.

I must admit that cowboy gravy is not the most beautiful meal I have ever put together, but I will tell you that my kids were begging for more. Justin and I loved it, too. Plus, between the gravy, riced potatoes, and a bagged salad I was done in about 30 minutes!

Now a quick word about one ingredient I used; Marmite. I bought my little pot of Marmite at Central Market. I was hoping I would develop a taste for it on buttered toast like the Brits do. Truthfully I have been too scared to try. It is a dark brown, salty, yeast-based spread that contains  a good dose of B vitamins and a strong umami flavor. It smells meaty, though it is a vegetarian option.

I have been using it recently in gravies and stews. It lends a delicious meaty flavor. I usually only need less than a teaspoon. My sister recently told me about spaghetti with Marmite from Nigella Lawson. It tried it and I loved it! It is also very quick, delicious, and gives you a boost of B12 vitamins as well! 

 

Cowboy Gravy

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck

1 onion, diced

Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, to taste

a heaping 1/4 teaspoon Marmite, optional

about 1/4 cup flour

milk

s & p, to taste

Brown Ground beef in a  large saute pan. Add the onion and saute until softened. Season to taste with a healthy sprinkling of Tony's and salt & pepper. Stir in the Marmite. Add enough flour to equal the fat left in the pan. Stir and cook for a minute or two. Whisk in enough milk to create the consistency that you'd like. I used about 2 cups. Bring to a boil while whisking. Check for seasoning.

Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or toasted bread.

Quiche Maraîchère

I have been cooking out of Around My French Table since I got it. All the recipes have turned out delicious. I was fully expecting the same when I set out to make her quiche maraîchère the other day. I had read a great review of the recipe on this egullet thread about the book. I did not expect such a simple thing to be so incredibly delicious.

This quiche has a much higher percentage of vegetables than custard. In fact the sauteed vegetables fill the tart shell to the brim, leaving little room for anything else. The combination of sauteed leeks, carrots, celery, and red bell pepper are so aromatic and savory. The quiche is topped with Gruyère cheese at the end of the baking. It is the perfect topping to all the lovely vegetables.

Her tart dough recipe for this quiche was great as well. The instructions led to a very even beautiful tart shell, and the flavor was right on. It was crisp and buttery, and just thick enough.

As I was enjoying my first few bites, I was literally calculating how many of the vegetables I had left in my fridge, to make sure I could make it one more time. It is the main reason I decided to use gouda and cheddar in my gougères. I was saving my remaining Gruyère for this second quiche!

I loved it so much that I messaged Dorie Greenspan on Facebook asking her if I could post the recipe. So you can thank her for its inclusion here.

Savory Tart Dough

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1 large egg

1 teaspoon ice water

In a food processor: Put the flour, sugar, and salt in the processor and whir a few times to blend. Scatter the bits of butter over the flour and pulse several times, until the butter is coarsely mixed into the flour. Beat the egg with the ice water and pour it into the bowl in 3 small additions, whirring after each one. (Don't overdo it- the dough shouldn't form a ball or ride on the blade.) You'll have a moist, malleable dough that will hold together when pinched. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into a ball (if the dough doesn't come together easily, push it, a few spoonfuls at a time, under the heel of your hand or knead it lightly), and flatten it into a disk.

To roll out the dough: I like to roll out the dough between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap, but you can roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If you're working between sheets of paper or plastic, lift the paper or plastic often so that it doesn't roll into the dough, and turn the dough over frequently. The rolled out dough should be about 1/4 inch thick and at least 12 inches in diameter.

Transfer the dough to a 9 inch tart pan, easing it into the pan without stretching it. (What you stretch now will shrink in the oven later.) I roll it out on a sheet of parchment, lifting it often. When it is 12 inches, I turn the parchment over the tart pan dough side down. I center it on the pan, and then carefully peel off the parchment paper. Press the dough against the bottom and sides of the pan. If you'd like to reinforce the sides of the crust, you can fold some of the excess dough over, so that you have a double thickness around the sides. I did! Using the back of a table knife, trim the dough even with the top of the pan. Prick the base of the crust in several places with a fork.

Freeze the dough for at least an hour before baking. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Press a piece of buttered foil against the crust's surface. Line the baking sheet wit parchment paper and put the tart pan on the sheet.

To partially bake the crust: Bake for 20 minutes, then very carefully remove the foil. Return the crust to the oven, and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and allow the crust to cool before you fill it.

To fully bake the crust: Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until it is an even golden brown. Transfer sheet to a cooling rack and allow the crust to cool before you fill it.

                   

                                                                         Quiche Maraîchère

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into a small dice

2 slender leeks, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise, washed, and thinly sliced

2 slender carrots, trimmed, peeled, and finely diced

1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced

salt and pepper

1 9-inch tart shell made from tart dough, partially baked and cooled

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2/3 cup grated cheese, preferably Gruyère (cheddar is good too)

Melt the butter in a large skillet  over medium-low heat. Toss in the vegetables and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes, or until they are tender. Season with salt and pepper, then scrape the vegetables into a bowl and let cool.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the crust on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon the vegetables into the tart shell and spread them out- they will just about fill the crust. Whisk the the cream, egg, egg yolk together, season with salt and pepper, and carefully pour over the vegetables. Depending on how your crust baked you may have too much custard- don't push it. Pour in as much custard as you can without it overflowing and wait a few minutes until it has settled, then add more if you can. Very carefully slide the baking sheet into the oven.

Bake the quiche for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for another 5 or 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and, most important the filling is uniformly puffed (wait for the center to puff), browned, and set. Transfer the quiche to a rack, remove the sides of the pan, and cool until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature before serving.

Jello Mold Redux- Fresh Fruit Gelatins

Last night, I was reading around on some food websites, when I came across a thread about Jello 1-2-3. Does anyone else remember this box? I know I tried it somewhere, but I can't imagine where exactly. I do still remember eating it though. Apparently quite a lot of other people remember it, because there is an online petition to bring it back.

I am fairly certain it would not taste that great to me now. I do know that jello is a surprisingly popular subject, because my original jello mold demo still draws about 15 people per day.

Anyway, I found myself craving jello but not the kind in a box. Originally, I planned on doing something with homemade strawberry jello, layered with a lighter creamy strawberry jello. Until I noticed that I was out of frozen strawberries. I did have frozen raspberries and peaches however. So I decided on a Peach Melba inspired gelatin dessert.

I found a recipe for a homemade gelatin and adjusted it for my use. The Vita-Mix did wonders to my purees.

I layered them in my glasses using the same technique I showed in my demo linked above. They turned out pretty, I can imagine they will taste even better tonight.

The best part is that they are made with real fruit! Now I haven't tested the sugar level of this yet, I prefer my fruit desserts on the tarter side. I figure adding the same amount of sugar required for the strawberries will leave the raspberries a bit tarter. The peach should balance it out nicely.

Layered Fresh Fruit Gelatins

3/4 pounds (12 ounces) fresh or frozen raspberries

3/4 pounds (12 ounces)  fresh or frozen peaches

3/4 cup sugar, separated

2 tablespoons lemon juice, separated

2 packages (1/4 ounce each)  unflavored gelatin, separated

about 1/4 cup heavy cream, separated

In a blender or food processor mix together raspberries, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Press through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

Rinse blender or food processor, and then puree the peaches, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining tablespoon lemon juice. I did not need to strain the peaches because my Vita-Mix left them so smooth, but you might need to if you used a food processor.

Pour 1/2 cup cold  tap water into a bowl. Dissolve 1 packet of gelatin. Repeat with another bowl and the other packet of gelatin. Let soak for five minutes. Place bowls in the microwave for about a minute or until the gelatin is dissolved. Pour the dissolved gelatin into each fruit puree. Stir to combine.

Pour half of the raspberry puree into one large or several small glasses. Refrigerate until solid enough to pour the next layer, about twenty minutes. Mix  about 2 tablespoons heavy cream into the remaining raspberry puree to lighten it. When it is time to pour the next layers add on the lightened raspberry puree. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 20 more minutes.

Pour on half of the peach puree. Refrigerate about 20 more minutes. Lighten the peach puree with the other 2 tablespoons of cream. Pour on the light peach layer.

Refrigerate 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Quick pasta without the boiling water...

I do not know how many of you have tried cooking pasta directly in sauce instead of separately, but I have fallen in love with this technique. It makes the perfect warm filling lunch in no time at all. I have read about this all over the place recently, and I do not bother using a recipe.

I do not even bother making a sauce really. It is too much trouble when I find myself starving suddenly, and craving pasta. I especially love cooking pasta in chicken broth with a lot of black pepper. It gives the pasta such a savory umami rich flavor. Yesterday, I did this:

Quick pasta with Greek flavors

8 ounces dry pasta

olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can chickpeas, rinsed

2 cups chicken broth

Cavender's Greek seasoning

black pepper/salt

 about 2 tablespoons feta cheese

about 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, rinsed

1/2 lemon, juiced

Italian parsley, chopped

Heat a tablespoon of evoo in a saute pan. Add onion and garlic, saute for a few minutes until softened. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and chickpeas. Shake on Cavender's to taste, as well as a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Turn the heat to medium, and cook the pasta, stirring frequently until the pasta is done, adding water as needed if the liquid boils down too low.

You want the water to come about halfway up the pasta in the pan. By the time the pasta is cooked, you want the liquid to have cooked down to a glaze. It will be thickened by the starch that cooks out of the pasta. The pasta might need a few more minutes than what is listed on the box, just keep checking and do not overcook.

When the pasta is done stir in feta, capers, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste for salt, you may not need it.

So basically I add whatever I have in the fridge that looks good. Sometimes, I will start with a can of diced tomatoes/water as the liquid instead of broth. Then I go with Italian inspired ingredients instead of Greek. Depends of what I am craving.

By the way, the October/November issue of Cooks Country is amazing! There is basically not one recipe that I do not want to cook. I have already made several including a blackberry jam cake. It is frosted in what they have named miracle frosting.

Cuisine at Home introduced me to this style of frosting years ago. CC has made it more reliable and have added flavor variations. This frosting starts with a cooked paste made from milk and flour, which is cooled and then beat with softened butter. It is fantastic! Fluffy, creamy, and not too sweet. This blackberry jam cake used a caramel variation. It is a spice cake with blackberry jam in the cake and sandwiched between the layers, then frosted with caramel frosting. The toasted pecans and walnuts on the outside were my favorite part.

Carrot Salad

I grew up not loving carrots. The only time I really had them was when they were cooked along side a pot roast. I didn't like cooked carrots. I have grown to appreciate them now. However, my very favorite recipe for carrots is David Lebovitz's Salade de carottes râpées. In fact, I crave it with about as much intensity as I do chocolate. It is just so well balanced and fun to eat. I am always amazed at how happy it makes me to eat it.

His recipe (or actually Romain's) is pretty vague in the way of measurements. However, it always comes out perfect. Here is the way I interpret his directions.

By the way, I greatly prefer flat leaf parsley, but my store is often out of it. I use the food processor to grate the carrots.

Carrot Salad

1 pound of carrots, peeled and shredded finely

1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped

two lemons, juiced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste

salt and pepper

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Taste. It should be well balanced between tart, sweet, and salty. Add more sugar/salt as necessary.

Toss the dressing over the carrots and parsley in a medium bowl. Serve- Enjoy!

Classic Red Mole

I received my long awaited Vita-Mix last week. It was a generous present from my husband, who has been working more overtime than he should. You see: Vita-Mix for me = nearly guilt-free hunting for him.

This machine has a 7-year warranty but will likely last a lifetime. I will not extol all of its virtues here. I am sure most of the people reading my food blog already know about this machine. I will say that I have put it to great use in the last week, and that I have definitely upped my consumption of raw fruit and vegetables 10-fold already.

Every morning, I have a full glass of Dr. Oz's Green Drink. I would be scared to try this recipe, with all the fiber/peels without a heavy duty blender like the Vita-Mix.

Dr. Oz's Green Drink

juice of one lemon

juice of one lime

2 cups of fresh spinach

1 bunch parsley

1/2 inch or 1 teaspoon of fresh peeled ginger

2 cups unpeeled cucumber

1 stick celery

2 cored apples, unpeeled

Add the juices and about 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the Vita-Mix. Layer the other ingredients in the order listed. I hold back the apples until the mixture is smooth using low-medium speed, then add them through the top with the machine running. Once the apples are all in, I crank up the Vita-Mix to 10, for about 30 more seconds. This makes about 28-30 ounces, or about 3 servings. Refrigerate leftovers for the next couple of mornings.

I wanted to branch out and try something new today. I made Rick Bayless' Classic Red Mole. I didn't have time to order chiles, so I had to do it without mulatos. This was sad, but I think it still turned out great with just anchos and pasillas.

There are about 17 ingredients in this mole: tomatillos, sesame seeds, lard/oil, mulato chiles, ancho chiles, pasilla chiles, garlic, almonds, raisins, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, toasted bread, Mexican chocolate, and sugar. It is important to have everything ready before you begin.

 

Here are the broiled tomatillos, toasted sesame seeds, and fried almonds/garlic/raisins. The kitchen smelled so good around this time.

 

The chiles were toasted, rehydrated, and then pureed with the water used to rehydrate them. The mixture turned out so smooth. Very impressive.

 

Then all the other ingredients were pureed separately.

I fried the chile puree for about ten minutes. Then I added in the other puree and fried it for another 10 minutes. I added water and simmered it all for 45 minutes. Then I added the salt and sugar. Mole should be a delicate balance of salty, sweet, and spicy.

 

Unfortunately, I have to wait until tomorrow to have this with a braised turkey breast. It gets better with a day or two in the fridge. I did scrape a few corn tortillas in the bit left in the pan though. I want more.

Perfect Southern Cornbread

 

This is just a recipe for cornbread. Boring right? However, every time I need to make cornbread I have to track down THIS recipe. This usually involves calling my sister and getting her to give it to me again. I promised her the last time, that I would make a more permanent note of it. So here it is.

The ingredients are all very normal and standard. Somehow though, these exact proportions create a way better cornbread then all the other recipes. The small amount of sugar in the recipe is more for seasoning like salt, not for sweetness.

Cornbread

1 cup corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/8 cup buttermilk

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and egg in a large measuring cup. Pour the oil in a cast iron baking pan, place it in the hot oven.

Add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Combine gently. Pour half of the hot oil from the pan into the batter. Stir in well. Pour the batter into the baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake about 15 minutes or until the top and edges are browning in spots. Loosen from the pan, and turn out onto a rack to cool.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Karen deserves all the credit for this one. She started making her own laundry detergent quite a while back. Then she got my dad hooked, and her brother-in-law, and now so am I. It only took me this long because it can be somewhat difficult to track down a few of the ingredients. A few weeks ago my Dad sent me 3 bars of Fels-Naptha, a box of Borax, a box of washing soda, and Oxyclean.

I made up a triple batch right away. It is incredible! It is so concentrated that you only need a heaping two tablespoons per full load. It also removes stains better than the expensive Tide I usually use. It is 100% cleaners, with no filler. It smells great when you are washing clothes, it just smells clean- no perfumes.

I am not known for my math skills, but I do know that this is MUCH cheaper than purchased product...for a superior product. Once I fell in love with this, I immediately started tracking down sources. Through a tip with my sister's brother-in-law, I found that my local Ace Hardware (on Desiard, for you locals.) would order a case of 24 bars of Fels-Naptha for me for $1.29 a bar. The washing soda required me to go online. I ended up placing an order for a full case of Arm and Hammer Washing soda from buythecase.com. For $60 including shipping, I got 12 boxes of washing soda. That will make 66 batches of laundry detergent. So you are looking at less than $1 a batch for the washing soda.

Borax and Oxyclean are easy to find in most laundry aisles.

Now the original recipe calls for Oxyclean, which works wonderfully. However, Karen received a container of Eco Store's Pure Oxygen Whitener from a Nonnie Bear giveaway. It contains natural citrus oils in addition to the natural whiteners. This gives the laundry detergent a really nice clean smell. Now at $12 a container for 35.3 ounces plus shipping, it might up the total price a bit, or perhaps not. I really did not feel like figuring it out. :) However, you can easily just substitute the Oxyclean if you do not want to bother with finding the other. (The Pure Oxygen Whitener may be available at Whole Foods, unfortunately I do not have one nearby.)

* A food processor is extremely useful in the making of this recipe. I shred the Fels-Naptha with the shredder disk, than I dump out the shredded soap and put in the metal blade. I add half the soap (I do 3-bar batches) along with a cup or so of the other dry ingredients. The dry ingredients help it to process much finer. I process it until it is the texture of sand. It helps the mixture blend more smoothly, allowing for the ratios to stay correct. However, if you do not have a food processor you can hand grate the soap on a box grater, and then just mix together the detergent. I believe my dad hand grates the soap and then processes it in his mini-pro. They are only about $30-40.

 

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
(Karen and I usually make up 3 batches at a time. They fit perfectly in our cracker jar)


1 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap
1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Oxyclean or 1/3 cup Pure Oxygen Whitener


* (Please see the above paragraph if you do not have a food processor.)

1. In a large bowl mix together the washing soda, Borax, and the Oxyclean/Pure Oxygen Whitener.

2. Place your shredder disk in your food processor. Shred the bar of Fels-Naptha in the food processor. Remove the shredding disk. Place the metal blade in the fp bowl.

3. Add about 1/2 cup of the dry mixture into the fp bowl with the shredded soap. Process until it is the texture of sand.

4. Dump the soap mixture into the remaining dry mixture and combine thoroughly.

5. Use about 1 heaping 2-tablespoon scoop per full laundry load. ( I use a scoop that comes in the small Oxyclean container. Coffee scoops are also 2-tablespoons.) I make sure to put in the detergent first when the water is first filling. That way it can begin to dissolve.

Red Cabbage Salad with Pecans

I have been trying to increase my fruit and vegetable intake lately. I already eat pretty good, but I wasn't sure I was really getting my 5 vegetables and 2-4 fruits every day. So instead of finding recipes before hand, I have instead been buying the vegetables first, and then finding recipes later.

So this afternoon, I was flipping through James Peterson's book Vegetables looking for something to do with my head of red cabbage. I knew when I came across this recipe that I had to try it.

The cabbage is thinly sliced and salted. After 30 minutes, you squeeze out all the excess water.  Then you toss it with vinegar, roasted walnut oil, and toasted pecans. I actually used redvinegar. I was scared it would be too harsh, but It was great. It is one of those things that gets better and better the more you eat. I found my roasted walnut oil a few months ago at a local gourmet store called Vieux Carre. I was so glad to have a reason to use it. It is toasty tasting and delicious.

Red Cabbage Salad with Pecans
(Adapted from Vegetables by James Peterson)

1 small red cabbage
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/3 cup sherry vinegar (or red vinegar)
1/2 cup roasted walnut oil (or evoo)
1 cup whole pecans, toasted
freshly ground pepper

Peel off and discard the cabbage's outer leaves. Cut the bottom of the stem off. Cut the cabbage in quarters. Slice off the core of each quarter. Thinly slice cabbage. Toss the shredded cabbage with the salt and rub the salt into the cabbage for a minute or two. Drain the cabbage in the colander for 30 minutes. Squeeze the cabbage in small balls in your hand to get rid of the excess liquid.

Toss the cabbage with the vinegar, oil, and the toasted pecans. Season to taste with pepper.

My 10-Minute Omelet

My sister happens to be newly pregnant. All of us ex-pregnant women know that you crave foods when you are pregnant that you may not normally want. Karen is not a big fan of eggs usually, but she has suddenly been positively craving them. I was telling her about the absurdly simple omelet I have been making for myself recently, and it got me craving it for lunch today. So I decided to post the picture/recipe.

This is the omelet to make if you are starving, craving protein, and you do not want to think about it. It requires no skill to pull it off, and it is very satisfying. All you need is a good 10-inch (medium) nonstick skillet.

10-Minute Omelet

1/2-1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 big dash hot sauce
s&p
 a few slices cheddar cheese

Place a medium nonstick skillet on medium heat with the butter. Turn on the broiler. Whisk together eggs, spices, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. When the butter stops foaming, pour in the egg mixture. Push in the sides of the eggs with a rubber spatula, letting the uncooked eggs fill in the gaps. When most of the eggs have set on the bottom of pan, but the top is still wet, slide it under the broiler. (Just leave the door of the oven open, with the handle sticking out. That way you do not even need a pot holder)

When the top is slightly puffed and set (1 or 2 minutes) remove the pan from the oven. Arrange the cheddar on half the omelet. Use a fork to flip half of the omelet over the side with cheese. Slide it from the pan onto your plate. Serve with extra hot sauce if you are anything like me. Enjoy!