An Ode to the Beatles-7/7/10

If you ever want to have a thematic dinner for the Beatles The White Album, I think I've found your menu.  My grandmother used to talk about the importance of color on each plate and I failed to heed her message on this one.  Tonight's meal was good, just a bit too monochromatic.  For dinner, I made the Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Thai Coconut Sauce and the Creamy Cilantro-Lime Slaw.  As you can see from the picture, the Thai coconut sauce was bit runny but it was very good and a great addition to not only the fish but the rice as well.   Mahi-mahi is a pretty mild fish and this sauce had some wonderful flavors that complimented without overpowering the fish.  The slaw had an Asian flare (or Mexican, depending on how you looked at it) so it paired well with the fish.  The crunch of the slaw and the mild heat of the chile worked well also.  I guess it's not a very British menu for the Beatles but they traveled the world.  I'm sure they loved Asian food too.

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Thai Coconut Sauce-A-

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Slaw-B+

Lost June: Call if Found-7/6/10

I love the month of June, don't get me wrong.  Graduations, weddings, and Father's Day are all great events.  I just don't cook much in June.  For the last two years, we've done the bulk of our summer traveling in June and it throws off any attempt on my part to cook anything of real consequence.  We headed up to my parents' house in New Hampshire on the 10th for my brother's burial service and some much needed family time.  The bulk of the first week there was dealing with the graveside service and another memorial service at his work.  This was really draining on all of us and much like when we were up there immediately after my brother's death, we had lots of food given to us and didn't do much cooking at all.  The second week was much more relaxing but Richard had headed back to Atlanta so I spent a lot of time visiting old friends and hanging out with my parents.  I made a killer strawberry-rhubarb pie one night.   I was really proud of how it turned out.  Mom drove back with me to Georgia since Richard and I had driven the car up and she didn't want me to drive home alone with Eyrleigh.  We got home just in time for my birthday, July 1st.  So yes, I did not make a single cooking magazine recipe in June.  But, you know what, that is okay.  Tonight, I got July off to a thematic start.  I had written in my menu plan from this month's Bon Appetit magazine Grilled Chicken and Peaches with Chipotle Peach Dressing but when I was picking up the ingredients, I decided to stay with peaches and add the Deep dish Peach Pie with Pecan Streusel Topping for dessert.  I mixed it up with some Quick-Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Dill.  At the last minute I invited my friend Christina and her young son, Tyler, one of Eyrleigh's best buds to come for dinner so I was glad to have a nice dinner planned.   I made the Quick-Pickled Tomatoes and peach pie while Eyrleigh took a nap and was able to have fun swimming with the kids right before we threw the chicken and corn on the grill.  The chicken was good, though I found the glaze did not adhere well to the chicken.  The grilled peaches were great though and mixed with the cooked chicken served well as a glaze.  The pickled tomatoes were also good but again, how many pickled tomatoes can one eat?  I thought they would make a great addition to a more complex salad. 

Another summer favorite, Grilled Corn with Honey-Ancho Chile Butter, was devoured by the kids.  I actually didn't give them any of the rather spicy butter but they sure loved the corn.  The adults loved the butter than had a delightful mix of spice and sweet and worked well with the meaty mid-summer corn.

The peach pie gets my vote for best dish of the meal, maybe even the month and it's only the first day.  This pie was excellent.  The soft sweet peaches melted in your mouth and layered perfectly under the crunchy pecan strudel.  I'd let Eyrleigh help me spread the crust and there had been more than a few patch jobs in it and it was still outstanding.  Wow, I'm getting hungry just writing about it.  Off to have more pie.

Grilled Chicken and Peaches with Chipotle-Peach Dressing-A-

Quick-Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Dill-B

Deep Dish Peach Pie with Pecan Streusel Topping-A

Fire Up the Grill-5/27/10

Ah, the smoke of the grill means summer is just around the corner.  Let's call tonight a warm-up since all I had to do was finish off some ribs I'd slow cooked this afternoon.   I invited some friend's over so it was best I didn't need to spend lots of time tending the flames.  I'm never very vigilant and stuff gets black.  Tonight, I actually let Richard man the grill and he did well.  The recipes I cooked tonight came from a party menu in this month's Food and Wine that was hosted by a television star I've never heard of.  Honestly, I find it a bit irritating that Food and Wine loves to name drop in their articles.  I'm not really into food superstars and even less into movie stars...but I digress. 

The Pincho Ribs weith Sherry Glaze were a bit hit with every one but Rebecca.  As our group's only vegetarian, she is very tolerant of the presence of meaty ribs at dinner.  These pork ribs were incredibly tender and the glaze was very flavorful.  I venture to say, maybe a bit too flavorful.  The kids weren't sure about the heat but the adults gobbled them up..at least the ones that eat meat.

The pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Fennel was another entrant into the somewhat perplexing fascination with including something pickled with large party menus.  I get that incorporating each flavor is important but I'm rarely that impressed by the recipes.  Maybe I'm not gourmet enough but a little side dish of Vlasic's baby dills would be just as good.  The cherry tomatoes and fennel were pretty good but I never thought, "Wow, I want to eat this again!".  It was pickled tomatoes and fennel, just what you would imagine.

I added one recipe that wasn't a part of the prescribed menu.  Ribs call for a summer side dish like potato salad so I made the Potato Salad with Hummus-Yogurt Dressing.  The use of yogurt was a great fat-cutting measure and didn't affect the flavor much.  The hummus added a rather odd sesame flavor but I think it was more about something new.  I made the mistake of overcooking the potatoes and that affected the flavor but that wasn't the fault of the recipe.

The Tamari Almonds that were included with the menu as a cocktail snack were good but I didn't taste the tamari.  They didn't taste a whole lot different than salted roasted almonds.  I like salted roasted almonds but the extra work didn't deliver extra flavor.

The dessert, Chocolate Stout Tiramisu, was interesting.  The chocolate-stout cake was not very sweet, almost bitter, and I was worried when I tasted it by itself.  The marcarpone filling was very sweet and it balanced out the bitter cake.  There was not enough reduction to really soak all the layers of cake.  So in short, I liked the cake but wouldn't make it again.  The flavor was distinctive but not memorable. 

As an extra touch, I made a special dish for Rebecca, who doesn't eat meat.  The Grilled Tofu Steaks with Piquillo Salsa Verde were really pretty good.  Grilled tofu is just smoky-tasting tofu but the piquillo salsa verde was really yummy.  The peppers, capers, and vinegar gave it some good tang and flavor.  The tofu held together pretty well on the grill too which sure helped with visual presentation.   I think Joel and Rebecca will come back.

Grilled Tofu Steaks with Piquillo Salsa Verde-B

Pincho Ribs with Sherry Glaze-A-

Tamari Roasted Almonds-C

Pickled Cherry Tomatoes and Fennel-B-

Potato Salad with Hummus-Yogurt Dressing-B

Chocolate-Stout Tiramisu-B

A Special Gift-5/26/10

The other night I made the bulk of the Moroccan meal in this month's Food and Wine but I still had the Moroccan Lamb Stew with Noodles to make.  In keeping with the theme, I made this recipe tonight.  It was pretty labor-intensive, something that cooking expert, Paula Wolfert, is not afraid of if the recipe tastes right.  The use of powdered sugar was a bit strange at first but the bit of sweet was surprising.  I really liked this dish for its mix of rich lamb, crunchy almonds, flavorful noodles, and the aforementioned powdered sugar.  I even got to pull out a wonderful old fondue pot of my grandmother's that made this dish look great.  Sorry for the rather cloudy picture.  It really did look good. 

The title for this blog came from the second recipe I'm writing about.  Last night I took some friends who just had a baby dinner.  I get a bit nervous about experimenting on friends, especially when the dish has to travel well so I just made lasagna and bought salad and bread.  I looked in this month's Bon Appetit for a good cookies recipe and found Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing on page 70.  These cookies were very yummy and tasted just like carrot cake in cookie form.  My only concern was that my cookies were quite flat, unlike the rounded cake-like cookies in the picture.  I think my problem was using all-purpose flour, instead of the called-for cake flour.  Seems like a little switch but it may have made a big difference in how these cookies looked and stayed together.  Oh well, the new mommy loved them and that's what gifts are all about.

Moroccan Lamb Stew with Noodles-A-

Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing-A-

8 Hours in Morocco-5/24/10

Every time I give blood for the American Red Cross, one of the questions I must answer is "Have you been to Africa?".  Yes, I have.  I spent a total of 8 hours one day the summer of 1988 in Morocco.  This visit did not put me at risk for AIDS, an epidemic through much of the continent but it did show me a much more wonderful side of this diverse and beautiful part of the world, its food and landscape.  I've got to be honest.  I don't remember much from that whirlwind day.  We were staying on the Rock of Gibraltar for the summer as part of a youth mission project and could see the coast of Morocco every day.  One morning we caught a boat and headed to Tangier. 

I remember touring a cave.  A little research shows me that it was probably the Grottoes D'Hercules as I know we looked out from the cave onto the ocean.  We then headed into the city and walked through the most colorful, fantastic market I have ever seen.  Everything seemed to be for sale in the small alleys between the earthen colored buildings.  We then headed to a restaurant where we sat on cushions and ate with our hands. I was in awe and have loved the food of Morocco ever since.  This month's issue of Food and Wine grabbed my attention with a wonderful article about Paula Wolfert, the foremost authority on Mediterranean cooking stateside.    Tonight's meal was delightful and reminded me of that blink of a day in Africa.  

Without exception, all the adults (Devi, Dan, Richard, and I)  chose the Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin as our favorite dish.  This appetizer is wonderful.  The flavor is deep, rich, and blends beautifully.  The texture was perfect.   Eggplant can often be too mushy but this dish was not.  This dish would work great with pitas or sliced French bread, like I used.   I added two recipes that were not in the article about Morocco to this menu for two good reasons.  One reason is Devi doesn't do lamb, the meat called for in the recipe given.  I replaced the lamb with the Middle Eastern-Inspired Chicken with Tahini Sauce on page 116.  This recipe was pretty simple and basically involved marinating chicken and putting tahini on the side.  We all agreed that the marinade did not make a big difference on the chicken.  The yogurt may have helped the chicken stay moist but there was negligible difference in flavor from plain grilled chicken.  The tahini sauce was a bit strong for all of us.  The sesame flavor was overwhelming and made your mouth feel inexplicably dry. 

1. I also added the Carrot and Chickpea Salad on page 106 of this month's Food and Wine.  This dish was an appropriate compliment to the main dish and had cumin and chickpeas, both common flavors of the region.  This salad was good and a creative use of chickpeas.  I often find chickpeas a bit dry by themselves and the carrots and dressing were flavorful and added texture.   For dessert, I poached the pears on page 162 but I left out the prunes.  Four kids under 6 and prunes can lead to unintended consequences.  You can see I used some Pepperidge Farm Butter cookies to round out the look.  These pears were delightful.  The balance of sweet and flavor was perfect and one doesn't feel guilty after a dessert as refreshing as this one.  Eyrleigh was sad I hadn't made more.  I may have to return to Morocco with her before too long.

Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin-A

Middle Eastern Inspired Chicken with Tahini Sauce-B

Carrot and Chickpea Salad-A-

Poached Pears with Prunes-A