Cooking + Baking

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Sorry, I’ve got no Bowie picture, but how about Mr. Reynolds on a natural gas outlet?  Cheeky monkey…

Anyway, happy Monday, readers!  I hope you are well and that your week is off to a good start.  Mine was a little questionable yesterday after a hacker wreaked some havoc Under a Red Roof.  Thank goodness for my superstar hubster, or I would probably still be weepy and cursing the mean people of the universe, and you’d be seeing a giant HACKED message across the screen instead of my spin on the world.

As a result of all this business, I’ve decided to no longer have comments on the blog.  It’s been a long time coming, really.  Though you don’t see them, I get a lot more spam than actual messages from sweet readers, and it was becoming a hassle.  Then Mr. Evil came along, and I decided that I’d rather not deal with it, especially if it meant the black screen of death.  That being said, I do love knowing that you’re out there, so feel free to hit the Contact Me tab, and we can chat in a more personal fashion. There’s also the Facebook, Google +, and Stumbleupon buttons at the end of the post, for those of you who want the simplicity of a click.  Here’s hoping this is a happy medium and that we can streamline the buttons in the near future, too.  Like life, it’s a work in progress!

I wish I could stay and chat a while, but I’ve got a date with a box of tomatoes – chutney anyone?

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Will ya looky there?  I can finally see my reflection in the bathroom.  Huzzah! No more dashing for the best light.  Many thanks the hubster, my worker extraordinaire, who did a fine job hanging said mirror and painting this weekend.  We edge closer and closer to a finished bathroom, my friends.  One fine day!

While he painted (the black window – his work!), I canned.  Eight pints garlic dills, six pints spicy dills, seven pints bread-and-butter, two pints pickle relish, four half-pints Hatch chiles, and two quarter-pints jalapeños.  Seeing the jars lined up in the cupboard is highly satisfying.  Being burned by hot vinegar solution is highly painful.  My thumb will recover, however, and I will be ever more careful.

We also spent a lovely day with the Twists, enjoying excellent company, the serenity of country living, grilled steaks, fine whiskey, home grown blueberries, a sky full of stars, and a visit from an owl!  Its profile was reminiscent of a cat atop a tree, and a big one, too.  Very cool.

Here’s hoping you had a lovely weekend and are keeping safe amid all the fires and storms.  Be well!

Happy Friday and happy first official weekend of SUMMER 2011.  With that, I offer a recipe that is just right for this weather.  I made this last week, on one of those nights when I was determined to use the half empty containers of food, rinds of cheese, and produce drawer remnants in my refrigerator to make something super yum.  It worked!

Spicy Tomato Tart

1 9″ tart shell, prebaked – I made mine, but do whatever suits your fancy

16 ounces diced tomatoes (my last half of a quart jar that I canned last summer!  Grow tomatoes, grow!)

1 tablespoon chipotles in adobo (I whirl the contents of a can in the food processor and keep in a jar in the fridge)

1 clove garlic, diced or pressed fine

salt, to taste

1/2 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and diced

1 cooked chicken breast, diced

1/4 cup fresh cheese (I used Black Sheep Creamery, but ricotta or cream cheese would be great, too)

1/4 cup white cheese, grated or in small pieces (I used Ancient Heritage Hannah, but jack, cheddar, or a low-moisture mozzarella would be good)

smoked paprika (optional)

Cook the diced tomatoes, chipotle, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Let it get a good boil going and reduce until thick and just a tad watery (5-10 minutes) before adding salt, to your taste.  I should note that this is kind of spicy, so use less chipotle if you don’t want a warm mouth.  Spread the tomato mixture over the tart bottom.  It will look a little chintzy, but I assure you that it is just right.  Spread the bell pepper, chicken, and cheeses evenly over the surface.  Sprinkle with smoked paprika, if desired.  It looks pretty and adds a little flavor.  Bake at 400 until cheese starts to melt (5 minutes?).  Put under the broiler for a minute or two for nice color.

This is delicious served straight from the oven, at room temperature (picnic anyone?), or cold for breakfast the next morning.  It tastes really good with red wine, too.  I’m not normally a fan of reds (oh the headaches!) but we had this bottle of Sokol Blosser Meditrina (I’m a sucker for pretty packaging), and it was just right. Luscious, just like the label said.  Goldilocks was happy.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Alan and Chaz…

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Sometimes, as you’ve likely read, I believe that I don’t have enough, that I am not enough.  Time, love, money, friends, clothes, flowers, patience: insert a noun here and wonder how to multiply it.  Thankfully, most times, I realize that I have plenty, more than enough even.  An abundance to share, put out at the curb with a “free” sign, and send out to the rest of the world.  I am rich, if only in my own mind.  That’ all that matters.  This weekend is a perfect example of that.  Three perfect days, almost endless, with fun, food, friendship, laughter, and hard work.

To start, we rose early on Saturday for a splendid outing, caravaning to Hood River for glorious vistas, one cool car (a Ford Cobra), books (I bought two: Dashiell Hammett and Aravind Adiga – hoping they are good), sunshine (I wore sunglasses and actually felt hot for a moment!), the best company (Lori, Bert, and Beanie), and, of course, super yummy food (thanks to Lori’s family – Apple Valley BBQ – plus honey and jam for home).  As if this weren’t enough, we made a stop to wash our dirty car before heading across town to Old Town Pizza.  We sat in chairs worthy of napping, sipped beer, an Arnold Palmer, and ate a rather fine pizza pie (most of it, anyway).

Sunday we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.  Huzzah!  (The photo is actually from a couple weekends ago.)  A blur of not much, we ate leftover pizza for breakfast.  We went for a walk.  I baked bread (as a delivery vehicle for the honey and jam purchased Saturday) and hot dog buns and must admit they look rather, ahem, phallic before putting in the oven.  They were yummy, despite the imagery, though not as soft as Franz.  We watched a movie (Jack Goes Boating – very good) and ate a bowl of popcorn.

Yesterday called for a fancy looking breakfast, which I made (recipe below).  It was also dry enough to mow the very long lawn, so the hubster was in charge of that.  I dead-headed the iris, pruned the glory bower, weeded (we have some very healthy clover), moved a few plants in the garden, and planted two agastache (hyssop) for the pollinators.  This was followed by a long bath to clean my farmer feet and hands, another hot dog, the finishing of a book (That Old Cape Magic – just okay), the baking of a batch of cherry walnut brownies, and an early bed time.  Plenty, all of it good.

Saucy Breakfast Sandwich

equal amounts butter and white flour (rice or wheat)

milk (I used rice)

grated cheese (I used a jalapeno gouda.  Any soft cheese that you like will do.)

salt

pepper

cayenne pepper

Sliced bread (I made a variation of this bread {1/2 whole wheat flour, rice milk, no herbs or raisins}, use an English muffin if you like), lightly toasted

egg, prepared any style to go on top (I made ours my favorite way)

bacon, sausage,  sautéed mushrooms (or see ideas below)

This can be adapted  to serve as many people as you like and the reason I’m not specific with the ingredients.  Since there were only two of us, I used 1 tablespoon each butter and flour.  Melt the butter over medium heat, whisk in the flour.  Allow this mixture to cook for a minute before slowly whisking in the milk.  I used about 2/3 – 1 cup.  It thickened, but was still a little runny.  Sprinkle in the grated cheese (I used about 1/3 cup), and stir until it is smooth.  Taste it, and add as much salt, pepper, and cayenne as it needs.  Cover and keep warm (very low heat, if any) while you cook your eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, whatever you like.  Place a slice of toasted bread on a plate, pile on the goodness, and pour the sauce over the top.  The sauce was enough for three sandwiches, with very generous portions.  Look at that pool!

Some ideas:

Mexican:  jalapeno jack, sliced avocado, roasted peppers (jalapeño, bell, poblano),  pinto or black beans.

Italian: fontina, tomato, fresh oregano, red pepper flakes

Spanish: Petit Basque, roasted tomato and red pepper, smoked paprika instead of cayenne, a splash of sherry in the sauce

French: gruyere, finely chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, tarragon, a splash of white wine in the sauce

Enjoy!

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It’s been awfully rainy in Portland, even by our standards.  We’ve gotten more than five inches in the first three weeks, when, on average, we get about 3.75 for the whole month.  Wet!  So when the sun busted out during dinner last week and made my plate look so pretty, I had to take a picture.  It’s the small things in life…

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