I have a few cookbooks, well, actually I have a lot of cookbooks and always looking to get more. Add to that all the recipes I find in cooking magazines I read, as well as newspapers, and… well… it can be overload. Usually when I find an interesting recipe, I mark it with a sticky note, or I tear out the page and add it to my ever expanding recipe file. Sometimes I write ideas on them that I think will work when I tear them out, and sometimes I figure I’ll do that later. Continue reading
Kendall-Jackson Winery is a name most people who enjoy wine would instantly recognize. They make fine accessible wines that appeal to many palates; so you might not think, if you are into fine dining and fine wines, that this pairing would wow you. Well, you might not, and if you didn’t you would be oh so wrong. They have two major bonuses: a 2 1/2 acre culinary garden that supplies the fresh seasonal produce, and a passionate Executive Chef, Justin Wangler, who works with his staff to come up with interesting and delicious ways to prepare dishes that show off the wines.
Judy: St. Francis Winery’s food and wine pairing experience was truly stellar! Besides the thoughtful pairings that were presented, I was very impressed with the staff and their service, from Sharon’s greeting to saying farewell to Brooke and Chef David Bush!
Lindy: I agree with you Judy. It was stellar. The staff was wonderful, but just driving onto the grounds and walking towards that beautiful entrance was spectacular. That huge bell tower fitted with a bell that was forged in the Molise area of Italy at the centuries old Marinelli Foundry, the same foundry that makes the bells for the Vatican, well, that’s impressive. And when it rang, it sent chills down my spine the tone is so beautiful. Continue reading
Situated right off Highway 12 in Sonoma County is Mayo Family’s Reserve room where they showcase their wines with a food and wine pairing. The Highway 12 / Sonoma Valley corridor is an often overlooked part of wine country – it shouldn’t be. Beautiful vineyards, farmlands and trees flank the highway which winds its way to some fine wineries including St. Francis, Kunde, Arrowood and more. Mayo’s reserve room is a tasting room; the winemaking facility and hospitality center is located nearby in Glen Ellen on Arnold Drive. The grounds are pleasant, but not a place to picnic or stroll. Continue reading
See how I blend right in?
Seattle, WA – So the story goes, the management at the Market theatre at Pikes Place got tired of cleaning gum off the bottoms of the seats, so they put a trash receptacle out by the box office and placed a sign on the wall asking patrons to “please deposit your gum here”. They did not plan for the human factor… Continue reading
Many many name badges
Have you ever seen the TV show “Hoarders”? It’s all about people who can’t seem to throw anything away. Ever. My husband is kind of a hoarder, not to the extreme that the people on the show are, but if you were to look in our garage, there is a lot of junk there that has no value and yet, somehow, there it sits. He also has every name badge that he has received for speaking anywhere he has spoken at, or for attending any conference he has attended. Add to that the room key to the hotel room where he stayed on these and other travels. Now that he travels more in his job, this means more plastic keys (yay!). Luckily these things are small and fairly easy to manage. Continue reading
“Chicken again?”…I can hear the lament. Another boneless skinless chicken breast cooked to flavorless death. But wait, what’s that? A boneless breast with the skin on? Cooked to crispy fine perfection? With a flavorful surprise tucked between the meat and the skin? Yes, yes it is! And it will satisfy the whole family and still not hurt your waistline.
I came up with this idea as I was doing my periodic routine of buying large amounts of whole chicken and breaking them down into their various components and then making some rich homemade chicken stock. Usually I remove the skin from the chicken breast, but this time I thought…what if I left the skin on some of it and then stuffed something tasty under it? A quick look into my refrigerator reveled some prosciutto that seemed like it wanted to jump under that skin, and the garden had fresh sage, a natural pair IMHO. From there, dinner wrote itself…well, with a little help from me. Crispy Chicken Breast with Sage and Prosciutto, Pasta with quick fresh Marinara,and a simple saute of some summer squash. All done, in less than 30 minutes.
You could make this with bone in breast, but they will take longer to cook. It’s easy to remove the bone from the breast, or ask your butcher to do it for you. OR cut a whole chicken up yourself, it’s not hard to do at all and then you can have the exact sized pieces you want and can make some rich chicken stock with the bones. Here’s how to cut up a whole chicken…
And how to make some rich chicken stock…
Ingredients:
Burrata, with its creamy center, takes your Caprese salad into a whole new direction. Once only found in Italy, Burrata is now available in many supermarkets and specialty stores. Mozzarella cheese on the outside, oozy mozzarella and cream on the inside, it just screams scrumptious.
Caprese salad, with layers of fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese is a summertime standard. What more perfect use of those summertime heirloom tomatoes? Using Burrata just takes it to a completely new level. Add a drizzle of good aged balsamic vinegar? Magnifico!
A little aged balsamic goes a long way and that’s a good thing as it’s not cheap. But what a difference it makes, sweet and syrupy not tart or vinegary at all. If you can’t find, or don’t have a good aged balsamic sitting around your house, don’t worry; you can make a substitute. While not perfect, it is passable. Take about 1/2 cup of that balsamic you do have, add to it 1 – 2 teaspoons of sugar, and simmer it down until you have about 3 tablespoons of syrupy glaze. Or you could buy some Balsamic Glace from Colavita; like I said, it’s not a perfect fix, but it will do in a pinch.
Burrata, oozy, gooey goodness
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Slice the tomatoes and place over-lapping on 4 salad plates. Place the Burrata half along side. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle the basil over, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, then add just a small drizzle of aged balsamic. Makes 4 servings.
For a printer friendly version of this recipe click here: Burrata Caprese Salad Recipe
Just a pile of scallops waiting to be eaten
My husband LOVES scallops. I’m sure if he ate them everyday he would eventually get tired of them, but it would take a long time. For years, every Sunday when I would ask him what he wanted for Sunday night dinner, he would respond “Oh, I don’t know, but let’s start off with a seared scallop on top of a frisee salad” It became such a joke I would say, “what do you want to eat with your frisee salad?”…
When we ordered some Maine lobsters, they threw in some fresh Maine scallops as a bonus. I think Brian was more excited about the scallops then he was about the lobster! I suppose I could have made him a frisee salad to go before our lobster feast, but I decided to wait a day and make this instead.
Now the secret to cooking scallops is to make sure they are dry dry dry…so pat them well with paper towels. Then you want to make sure both your pan and oil are hot, you want them to sear, not boil. Cook them quickly; you don’t want to over-cook or they get rubbery, better to err on the side of less done then over done.
Lemon Fettuccine with Sauteed Scallops
Dinner
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving: 432 Calories; 12g Fat (3g Sat, 6g Mono, 1g Poly); 27g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 51mg Cholesterol; 461mg Sodium
LindySez: If you decide to use shrimp instead, which would also be an excellent choice, just follow the recipe, but don’t cut the shrimps up. Just remove the shells, clean and devein them. They follow the same principal of cooking as the scallop, dry, fast, don’t overcrowd and don’t overcook!
For a printer friendly version of this recipe: click here
I wonder if my friend Marni’s husband pulled these from the sea…it’s what he does…could have happened…just saying…
Thanks Scott
My friend Regina Silvers, who along with chef husband Josh, own a couple of the better restaurants here in town was telling me the tale of a young woman who came into their restaurant Jackson’s Bar and Oven. This woman walked into the restaurant, sat down at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. As her wine was brought to her, she pulled from her purse, a sandwich, purchased elsewhere, namely Subway. As she proceeded to set up her “dining” area, the bartender told her that as this was a restaurant, they really didn’t allow outside food. This is where their chefs prepare excellent tasting food, fresh daily. This, obviously clueless person was indignant…”what do you mean” she yelled back “I ordered a GLASS OF WINE didn’t I?”. I mean seriously…WTF?
LindySez ~ Cheers (to natural selection)
