Shrimp Scampi

My niece and nephew visited the other day with their father and as his birthday is coming up (along with Father's Day), I decided to teach them one of his favorite dishes.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 oz white wine

3 tbsp. minced garlic

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 package of shrimp (12-16 oz)

8 oz of pasta

1 bunch of parsley

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Optional:

1 bunch of green or 1/2 of a medium yellow or white onion

Instructions

Gather ingredients.  You want everything at hand when you start because it goes fast.

Heat water for pasta.

Finely chop parsley removing stems.

Chop onion if used.

Prepare shrimp.  If precooked and frozen, then thaw in a pot of cold running water.  Otherwise shell and remove tails, devein and place shrimp in a pot of cold water.

Once the pasta water is boiling, add pasta.  Now everything goes quickly!

Heat olive oil in pan.  Once a drop of water sizzles when dropped in the oil it is ready.

Add onion to pan.  When cooked (translucent for yellow or white onion):

Add garlic and parsley.  Stir.  Cook for 4 minutes.

Add lemon juice and white wine.  Stir.  Cook for 2 minutes.

Add shrimp.  Stir a lot.  Cook 3 minutes if using precooked, else until pink/white (no longer translucent).

Add parmesan cheese.  Stir.  Let cook for 1 minute.

Remove immediately from heat and place in bowl.  Cover.

Pasta should be done by now.  Drain and place in bowl.

Sever pasta and then dish out the scampi on top.

Enjoy!

Suggestions for sides:

Steamed spinach

Sauteed mushrooms

My favorite Cocoa Cookie

For the last year I have been working on a personal baking project a cooking that tastes like a cup of cocoa, not too sweet, a little salty and intense chocolate flavor.  After a lot of research and a numerous experiments, here are the results:

• Set the oven for 350 degrees
• In a mixing bowl put:

1 egg
1/4 cup of a stout beer (I use Guinness)
3/4 cup of olive oil
4 tbsp. cocoa
3/4 cup of sugar (I prefer unrefined sugar, demerara has a slight molasses flavor)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

• Blend thoroughly.
• Mix in:

1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp crème of tartar
2 cups of flour (use any combination of the following to 2 cups)
regular flour
almond flour
oat flour
coconut flour

• I find the best flavor and healthiest is with the following:

1 cup almond
1 cup oat

• Coconut is sweeter, and a high in triglycerides.
• Oat flour takes more time to set.

• Mix thoroughly, depending on the humidity, temperature and mix of flour, you make need to add up to an additional 1/4 cup of flour.
• Let set for 10 minutes.
• On your cookie sheet:
• Roll out to about a 2" diameter cylinder. 
• Cut the roll in half with a sharp knife, repeating until you 
• have discs 1/2" to 3/4" thick.  
• Place the discs about 1 inch apart on your cookie sheet (you may have as many as 48 disks).

You can add a filling if you want:

• Make a depression in the center of each cookie.  Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the filling into the center of the cookie.
• Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.

Fillings:

• Take a 1 qt pot
• Add dried or fresh fruit
• Add tincture (see below)
• Add 3 tbsp. of lemon juice
• Add 1/4 tsp of salt

Fruit and tincture mixtures:

• Cherry and Cinnamon (add cinnamon with the cherries)
• Apricot and Rosemary (tincture required)
• Plum and Anise (tincture required)

To make tincture:

• Take a small pot (1 pt)
• Heat about 1 cup of water
• Add spice
• Leave on the heat, steeping for 10 to 20 minutes (usually 1 tsp. of the spice will suffice).
• Using filter paper or a wire strainer, pour the tincture into the pot with fruit.
• Add additional water to float the fruit.
• Heat until the fruit is thoroughly rehydrated or, in the case of plums, they fall completely apart when you stir them.  Reduce (let the water evaporate under low heat) until the fluid is a bit thicker.

Enjoy!

Variations on Shortbreads

I admit it.  I am a cookie monster...  and a bit of a connoisseur at that.  I got so fed up with the artificial and tasteless junk being pushed out by the big bakeries and manufacturers this winter, that I decided to just start making my own.  Having been away from the cooking/baking world for a while I decided to start simple:


I love good shortbread cookies because they are buttery, not too sweet, a little salty and easy to make.  One basic recipe:

2 Cups of flour
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of salt

• Chop each stick of butter into small pieces (about 8 1 tbsps. pieces per stick)
• Add everything but the flour
• Cream ingredients (blend at high speed)
• Add and mix flour(set blender to low speed before adding flour)
• Drop dough onto a long sheet of  plastic wrap.
• Trim into a log shape cutting and shifting pieces as necessary
• Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and roll on a flat surface until you have a log about  3
  " inches in diameter.
• Use a knife to cut 1/2 inch sections
• Place on a baking sheet and shape into rough disks
• Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes

Starting with this basis, I began researching how to adapt it to include some of my favorite things:  Cocoa (not too sweet and a bit salty), cherries and walnuts.  Skipping several weeks of experimentation, here is the final version:

Cocoa, Cherry Walnut Shortbreads
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tsp of salt
6 tablespoons of Hershey's Cocoa (if using some other cocoa use enough to make 3 servings)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/3 to 1/2 cup of water (depends on a few things discussed below)

2 cups of flour

8 oz of dried tart cherries
1/2 cup of walnuts (opt)
1/2 cup of golden raisins (opt)

The cherries can be prepared several ways:

1. Use them as is (dry).  This will make them tougher in the cookie.
2. Rehydrate them:  Heat to a simmer in a small pot for about 30 minutes using just enough water to float the cherries and keep them from burning.  If you do this, save the resulting juice and use this in place of the water required for the recipe.
3. As per option 2 except add 1 tsp of butter and your cinnamon for the recipe here instead.

Using rehydrated cherries will reduce the amount of water/juice required by 1/8th to 1/4 cup.

Likewise the walnuts can be used several ways:

1. 1. Use large pieces that you drop onto the cookies.
2. Grind into smaller pieces that can be sprinkled or just mixed into the cookie dough.
3. Fine grind into an almost flour that you mix into the dough (but this will require adding a bit more water - think about 1-2 tbsps.

Next:

• Mix all ingredients except for the water, flour, cherries, nuts and raisins in a bowl (exclude cinnamon if you are using option 3 for the cherries).
• Cream the mixture (mix at high speed).
• Slow mixer to low speed and add flour.
• Slowly add water (or juice from cooking the cherries, and if using rehydrated cherries, use no more than 1/4 cup of the juice) until the flour is absorbed and you get a nice evenly textured dough.
• If using option 2 or 3 for the walnuts, mix them in now.
• Lastly add cherries (if they have been rehydrated, cool them down first) and let them blend for only a few seconds.  If you rehydrated them you may need to add a bit of flour to the mix and the retained juices will spread into the batter as you mix them in.
• Use plastic wrap, and bake per regular shortbreads (14-15 minutes).
• If the dough is a bit runny (typically from adding warm cherries to the dough).  Place the dough in the refrigerator until it firms up (about 30 minutes).  If that doesn't work, add a bit of flour.

Notes

• We need to add the water/juice because of the cocoa.  It steals the absorptive ability of the butter.  Also fine ground nuts have the same affect.
• You can replace apricots for the cherries (think a sacher torte cookie) and continuing that thought...
• Consider a cream cheese style topping:

Cream Cheese Topping

8 oz of cream cheese

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of raw sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

Place ingredients in mixing bowl.  Cream until smooth and thoroughly blended.

Fried Rice

I decided recently to branch out a bit into oriental style cooking.  Starting out with that well known American dish, chow main, and then into the real thing.   I did a Thai style beef broccoli and then decided to get a little adventurous with Fried Rice.  After perusing the web for some good recipes, I assembled the following as a general purpose recipe.  It has become a family favorite and is a great way to get kids  to eat vegetables and picky eaters to try 'new' things.  I hope you like it.

Fried Rice with whatever protein you want.

Cooked Rice

1 cup of rice

2 1/2-4 cups of water (less if using a covered pot - more if open (escaping steam) to avoid boil over)

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp olive or sesame oil

Fried Rice

Cooked Rice (as above)

1 tbsp. of oil (should be a high temp oil – virgin olive oil is safest/best)

1 lb of  uncooked protein (shrimp, fish, beef, pork, chicken) or 12 oz precooked.

Optional (1/2 cup of broth – chicken (for chicken or pork), beef(for beef), miso(for fish) or barbecue sauce(for pork))

1 medium white onion

1 bunch of green onions

1 tablespoon Sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup of vinegar –

Rice vinegar

White wine vinegar

White vinegar

                (I like 1 tablespoon rice, 1 tablespoon white wine, 2 tablespoons White vinegar)

¼ teaspoon Sugar (white, brown or raw)

Ginger (chopped raw4  tablespoons shredded, 2 tablespoons minced, or ½ teaspoon powered)

Garlic (fresh (1 crushed clove), minced in oil ½ tablespoon, or 1/2 teaspoon powered)

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Peas, Carrots and possibly Corn or broccoli (frozen is cheapest and easiest for this)

Pepper

 

Other Vegetables you can add:

1 Baby Bok Choy - chopped

4-8 oz  chopped Shitake mushrooms (optional, don’t forget to toss the stems)

Chopped Broccoli (optional)

4 Eggs

 

 

Preparation

 

 

Make Rice:

1. Put Rice, water, salt and oil in a medium sized pot.
2. Put on low to medium heat.  This will depend on your stove.
3. Cook just until done.  Rice should not be starchy.

Or
      Use a rice cooker.

Chop Veggies
Chop all the unfrozen veggies, break into 4 groups: white onions, frozen, unfrozen and green onions.

 

 

Prepare Protein
Chop the meat into small pieces (about ½-3/4 inch cubes is ideal).

 

Prepare Sauce 

Take a bowl and mix vinegars, sesame oil, sugar, pepper and soy sauce and stir.  Let sit.

 

Start Cooking

1. Take a large skillet and coat with a thin layer of oil.  (I generally drop in a tbsp. and then spread with a paper towel.
2. Place skillet on range on med/med high heat.  Let heat for 1 minute.
3. Add meat, and broth if desired.  Cook on High, tossing regularly to avoid burning and for a uniform cooking.  If meat is precooked, about 2 minutes, if uncooked, 5-7 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with salt to taste (generally ¼ tsp) and add black pepper if desired.
5. Remove to a separate bowl.
6. Put white onion in skillet.  Cook for 2 minutes.
7. If using frozen veggies, add them now else wait 2 more minutes.
8. Add all other veggies except green onions and shitakes.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Toss frequently.
9. Add rice.
10. Add 4 eggs.  Stir them into the rice (1 minute).
11. Add green onions and shitakes.  Cook 1 ½ minute.
12. Add sauce.  Mix well.
13. Cook until sauce is evenly distributed amongst everything and there is just a bit of liquid left.   Stir frequently (no more than 5 minutes).

Serve hot:

Recommend serving with a white wine or apple cider.


Notes
I found the vinegar to be a nice add.  It brings out the flavor in the veggies and helps break down the starch in the rice - particularly if you have overcooked it a bit.  Precooked shrimp works well here and cheap meat cuts (stew meat - either pork or beef) are better than leaner cuts - Aldi's is a great place to acquire chicken or shrimp.  In Chicagoland , Mariano's is a great place to source most of the less common items required for this dish. 

 

A Beef Brisket variation

Here is a recipe I came up with when I decided to try my hand at a beef brisket.  Flavorful.  While this takes considerable time, the effort is small and the rewards immense.

Ingredients
Red wine - (I used a marsala - cooking grade)
Beef brisket (about 4 lbs)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon bay
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup Worchester sauce
garlic powder or crushed/minced garlic - the more the merrier
1/4 teaspoon parsley
one package of onion soup
1/4 cup of your favorite mustard (I used oriental dry mustard, but Dijon or plain yellow works as well)

Optional (for a more barbecue like flavor)
1 can of tomato sauce
2 ounces of melted dark chocolate (70% or better)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Clean and dry brisket.  Remove the layer of integument if necessary (easier to do it now).
2. Cut off any excess fat (on the top).  Leave no more than a 1/4 inch layer.
3. Place brisket in roasting pan.
4. Add all other ingredients.  Add water to cover the brisket.  Mix thoroughly.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours to marinade.
6. Set oven between 250 and 300 degrees.
7. Take  pan from the refrigerator, uncover and temporarily remove the foil.  Remove any excess fluid above the brisket.  Reseal the foil.
8. Cook until you can break the brisket apart with a fork in the middle.  Typically between 6 to8 hours.
9. Remove from heat, let sit for 1 hour.  Using large turkey forks, remove from pan and place on plate.
10. Collect the juices from the pan and decant and dispose of the fat.  Cook the juices until you have a sauce at a desired thickness.  Set in a gravy boat to serve with the brisket. 
11. Carve or just pull the brisket apart and serve.  You can shred and freeze the leftovers.

White Chocolate Cardamom Apricot Rosemary Chocolates

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make a new confection for her upcoming birthday party.  She had previously sampled my white chocolate cardamom orange truffles, and requested something of a more seasonal nature - apricots.  So I got to work.  I contacted my muse, and bounced my ideas off of her, and came up with something I thought people would like.  I was going to try to do an apricot rosemary gel filling, but through experimentation, determined that I didn't have the right equipment, additives or the time to do these properly so I decided to simply swirl the two together which worked out quite nicely.


White chocolate mixture
6 bars of good quality white chocolate
15 cardamom pods
1 cup of water

Apricot/Rosemary/Lemon Gel
8 large apricots (not too ripe)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of rosemary (lesser amount if fresh)
1-2 tablespoon of lemon juice (lesser amount if fresh)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
water as needed (minimum 1 cup).

Optional
ground pecans - lightly salted
ground cashews - lightly salted

Implements
fine strainer
1 double boiler
1 medium saucepan
1 small pot
teaspoons
wax paper
chilled plate
storage containers
small sharp knife
1 small bowl

1. Place white chocolate in a double boiler at lowest heat and melt.
2. Using a small sharp knife and a plate, split the cardamom pods and collect the seeds in a small pot.
3. Add the water to the pot and simmer for at 15 minutes.  Then strain out the seeds and continue heating until volume is down to 1/2 cup or a bit less.
4. Mix this into the melted white chocolate.
5. Wash and split apricots, removing the pits.  Place is a blender and reduce to significant bits.
6. Put blended apricots in a medium saucepan, cover with water.
7. Add rosemary, salt, sugar and lemon juice.
8. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent any burning.
9. Continue until the apricot bits fall apart and the mixture begins to take on a somewhat uniform consistency and texture (30-45 minutes).  Add water as necessary to prevent burning.
10.  Sift in 3 tablespoons of gelatin.  (One at a time and then stir slowly).
11. Let cook another 15 minutes.
12. Continue until mixture is quite thick.
13. Cool in refrigerator until mix starts to gel.
14. Remove chocolate mix from heat.
15. Slowly stir in the apricot mixture.  (While we want a uniform distribution, we don't want them fully blended - think small apricot swirls in the chocolate).
16. If you are going to do a nut covering, ground the selected nut and mix with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Raw nuts are recommended.  Place in small bowl.
17. Put a plastic glove on your off hand (I use the latex free medical gloves you can pick up at any drug store).
18. Take a teaspoon and spoon up a half teaspoon full of the mixture.  Form into 1/2-3/4 inch balls.
19. If you want to add a nut covering, drop in the ground nut bowl and roll until the confection is completely covered.
20. Place the confection on wax paper which is placed on top of a chilled plate.
21. Put plate in refrigerator to set.
22. Once set, place in storage container lined with wax paper, you can do multiple layers as long as you put wax paper between them.
23. Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.  Serve slightly chilled.

My favorite variation so far is the one wrapped in pecans, but am looking forward to trying the cashew variant which should be a bit more subtle.

Enjoy!

A great little boombox - the Eton Rukus

For a while now I have been wanting to start teaching ballroom at my condo building's health club and also start a ballroom evening on the Summerdance floor at Michigan and Harrison.  One of the major impediments has been finding a good boom box.

I wanted something that was light, had rechargeable batteries, would run at least 4 hours, and which I could drive from my phone or my windows compatible mp3 player device via a mini phone plug connection (device dates from around 2003).  It would also be nice if I could charge the mp3 player from the boom box via USB.  Lastly, it had to be reliable, lightweight, and inexpensive.

The Rukus, manufactured by Eton, was the perfect fit for me.  It is lightweight, has a Bluetooth, USB (for charging devices) and AUX input, a solar panel to keep the battery charged and fairly good sound quality.  Easy to use - the Bluetooth setup to my phone took less than a minute.  While a little pricy with the solar panel option (list for $149, but you can get it for $129 by shopping around), the ability to recharge my phone or mp3 player while out and about made the $50 dollar solar panel premium a good value.  It lacks a radio or CD option, but since I don't need those things, it didn't matter.

During my first test, I put Viva la Vida on my cell phone and then walked all over my condo and it never dropped the signal nor quality even through the walls at 40'.

From my experience so far, I have found only one shortcoming.  You have to be careful with and play with the AUX cable connection to get a good signal.  The problem appears to be with the quality of the jack used for this.

As to the sound quality - pretty good for a small lightweight boombox.  It has a bass boost button which is useful for outdoor areas, and the highs are not badly distorted even at max volume.  Not high fidelity, but good enough for some backyard or beach music.

Coq au Vin with Dilled Rice

Have been thinking about this dish for a while and when Mariano's had a sale on ready to cook skinned chicken breast, I thought that it was the perfect omen.

 Ingredients:

Carrots
Peas (optional - not many needed)
1 to 3 chicken breasts
White Onion
shallots (optional)
minced garlic
Olive oil
flour
minced parsley
marjoram
bay leaf
thyme
salt
pepper
Amontillado sherry
Pears (Dried or fresh)
mushrooms (many varieties will work)
Rice
Minced Dill

Coq au Vin

1. Take a large saucepan with a cover.
2. Place on burner and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Turn heat on medium.
4. Add 2 cups of water
5. Chop up the onion and add- about 1/4 cup per chicken breast
6. Add 1/4 cup of carrots per breast (I used chopped frozen carrots)
7. Add 1/4 cup of peas per breast (I used frozen peas - you can also use a peas and carrots mixture)
8. Add the minced garlic.
9. Add the shallots.
10. If using dried parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme, add this now.
11. If using dried pears, add these now.
12. If using portabella mushrooms add these now.
13. Add the chicken breasts - frozen is OK.
14. Cover.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Flip chicken breasts, repeat for 15 minutes.
15. If using fresh herbs, add these now. (parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme). 
16. Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt and pepper per breast.
17. Add 2 teaspoons of flour per breast to the mix.
18. Add 1/2 cup of sherry per breast.
19. If using mushrooms other than portabella, add these now.
20. If using dried mushrooms, add 1/2 cup of water.
21. If using fresh pears, add 3 slices per breast now.
22. Add enough water to cover the breast half way.
23. Cover, cook (simmer), flip the breasts and fresh pears every 5-10 minutes.
24. Add water periodically so you maintain a nice gravy consistency.
25. When they are white all the way through the center you are done.
26. If using canned mushrooms add these now.
27. About 1 hour for up to 2, a bit more for 3.
28. Once the breast are white all the way through, uncover and simmer a bit more until the density of the gravy is where you want it.
29. Serve.

Dilled Rice

1. Make rice as you normally would.
2. Add a touch of butter or olive oil and minced dill.
3. Stir thoroughly.
4. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Serve.

I had a hankering for guacamole the other day, and given that I am not a fan of peppers, it meant that I would have to construct my own.  Did some research, and found several several that fit the bill (thanks to Rick Bayless for the core recipe - available on his website www.rickbayless.com).

While peppers and I do not get along, the same cannot be said for garlic.  Generally there are two ways to play with garlic in an uncooked dish.  Use the garlic raw for a sharp biting taste, or roast it for 5 to 10 minutes for a sweeter softer flavor.  Given that the avocado would contrast the bite, I opted for the raw garlic.

Guacamole (4 servers per avocado)

1-4 ripe avocados

(All other measurements are approximations and per avocado used)
1/2 whole garlic glove cluster
1/2 cleaned, cored and diced tomato
1/4 cup of diced white onion
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 cup of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon of lime juice
1/2 teaspoon of fresh chopped parsley (optional - addresses the scent issues with the garlic)

Optional toppers - shredded cheese (mozzarella, jack or any one of several Mexican cheeses), sliced radishes

Assembly is pretty straight forward:
1. Peel and mince the garlic, a food processor can be helpful here.
2. Remove stems from cilantro.  Wrap leaves into a roll and then cut with sharp knife.
3. Dice onion.
4. Clean and core (remove centers)  tomatoes.  Then dice.
5. Chop parsley (stem removal recommended).
6. Combine prepped and chopped components from steps 1-5 in a large bowl.
7.  Wash and cut avocados in half.  Twist apart and then remove seed with spoon or knife.
8.  Scoop out avocado from skin and then place in bowl, toss any brown areas in the pulp.
9,  Mix ingredients while mashing avocado with fork or spoon.  Don't over do it, should be chunky.
10.  Add salt and lime juice, adjust to taste (exact measurements depend on the specifics of the other ingredients.
11. Cover with plastic wrap to the surface of the guacamole to prevent air from making contact with it.
12. Place in fridge until ready to serve.  Will generally keep for about a day or two, but best fresh.

Very Different Truffles

My niece recently graduated from college and got a job with a high end chocolatier in Chicago.  This has led us to recent talks about her work, the product and their selections.  In the process, I got interested in chocolate again, and with a bit of guidance from a friend (Thanks Winita!), came up with this truffle.

Ginger-Chai Chocolate Truffles

8 oz 100% Dark Chocolate (2 bars)
1 cup of Raw Sugar
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Cardamon (about 8 shelled pods)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground clove (about 8 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (about 4 heads)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz butter (organic non-salted best choice here)
1 cup of almond milk
1 black tea bag (decaf recommended)

Optional: 

• Raw finely chopped ginger. 
• Cayenne pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon) 

1. Shell Cardamon pods
2. Place seeds in mortar and grind with pestle. Place in small bowl.
3. Take heads from pepper and cloves and grind in mortar.  Add to bowl.
4. Add ginger, nutmeg, and Cinnamon to the bowl.
5. Stir thoroughly.
6. Pour the almond milk into a small pot.  Add butter.
7. Simmer the milk, stirring until the butter melts.  Add spices.
8. Raise heat until mixture boils.  Add tea.  Let it do so for about 10 minutes, stirring periodically.
9. Fill bottom pot of double boiler with several inches of water.  Place chocolate into the top pot of the double boiler.  Heat (do not overheat!) until melted.
10. Strain the spice mixture into another small pot.
11. Add sugar, stirring until it dissolves.  Add salt and vanilla.  Boil mixture for another 10 minutes.
12. Pour spice mixture into the chocolate.
13. Remove chocolate from heat.  Pour into a cool metal mixing bowl. 
14. Let stand for about 15 minutes.
15. If you have a mixer with a whip, consider whipping the mixture for about 5 minutes once it gets close to room temperature.
16. While you are waiting (Optional):
1.  Add raw ginger now if you like.  Or
2. Place raw ginger in a small microwaveable bowl, cover with water and microwave for 4-5 minutes (depends on microwave power).  Drain and add to the mix.
17. Whip the mixture until the peeks stand. Mixture should be around room temperature.
18. Pour mixture onto a good sized piece of plastic wrap.  Fold it over (it will still flow a bit) and seal.  Place in refrigerator for a few hours.
19. Remove from the frig.  If you can get a box of surgical gloves from the drugstore.  Put a pair of them on.
20. Set a large plate and a small bowl on the counter.  They should be cool.
21. Place the cocoa, and optionally, cayenne into the bowl.  Mix thoroughly.
22. Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of the cool mix.  Using your hands.  Roll into about a 1 inch ball.
23. Drop the ball in the bowl and cover with the cocoa.
24. Take the ball and place on the plate.
25. Repeat with all the mixture.
26. Rinse every utensil and bowl thoroughly in hot water as soon as possible.
27. Place the truffles from the plate into a plastic container.  Refrigerate or freeze until you feel a need to consume them.  If you need to do multiple layers, use wax paper or plastic wrap to separate the truffles.

This is a very interesting confection.  It is not sweet.  You initially taste the salt and the cocoa (unless you put in the cayenne), and then the spices hit you in waves, finally leaving you with a very clean palette and a slightly minty taste on your tongue from the cardamon.  If you would like to add fruit to your snack, consider, limes, oranges, pears or tart apples.  A poached pear tart would also compliment this nicely.  In my opinion, berries would be too sweet.

Christmas Confectons

A good friend of mine is celebrating a birthday this week and I decided to prepare something special as a present.

Unlike most people I know he has a fondness for apricots that I share.  So after a bit of thought, I decided to put together a sacher-torte style confection as his birthday present.  As a by-product, I also assembled a small box of expresso-hazelnut-dark chocolate truffles for the rest of the group.

Sacher-Torte Confections

Chocolate cups

Foil Cupcake Liners
BitterSweet Chocolate (about 16 oz)

• Melt  Chocolate in a double boiler
• Place several liners in a stack, make sure the innermost is foil. 
• Place in the freezer to cool.
• Pour 2 tablespoons of  chocolate into the liner set.  Rotate for even coverage.  Place in freezer.
• Repeat every several minutes until you have at least 1/4 inch coverage covering the inside of the cup.
• Place finished cups in the freezer to keep chilled until filling.
• Leave chocolate on the heat.

Apricot Mouse Filling

8 oz of California Blenheim Apricots (I get mine from Trader Joes)
8 oz of whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup of natural sugar
2 teaspoons of gelatin
ice cubes
water as needed

• Place apricots in a pot or saucepan.
• cover with water
• Add salt and lemon juice
• Heat till mixture is simmering
• Let simmer until apricots fall apart while stirring, add water as necessary to float the apricots
• Add sugar and gelatin
• Let simmer until a thick mixture forms.
• Turn off heat
• Place whipping cream in the freezer for about 8 minutes.
• Place ice cubes in a metal mixing bowl to cool it.
• Take cream out of the freezer
• Empty cubes from the bowl and dry with a clean towel (paper works best here)
• Place cream in bowl
• Using a whip, whip the cream to stiff peaks.
• Fold in the apricot mixture
• Place mixture in the fridge to begin setting.

Expresso-Hazelnut-Chocolate Truffle Topping

2 oz of butter
1/4 cup of natural sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Leftover chocolate from the chocolate cups
4 oz of chopped hazelnuts
12 oz of freshly made hazelnut coffee

• In a small pot on low heat, mix butter, salt and vanilla and sugar.
• Place coffee in a  microwaveable bowl.
• Heat the coffee (3 minutes at a time at full power) in the microwave until it is reduce in volume by half.
• Add butter mixture to the coffee.  Continue the heating process until the mixture thickens significantly (about that of the melted chocolate).  The aroma of hazelnuts should fill the air.
• Fold the hazelnut coffee mixture into the leftover chocolate.
• Place the mixture into a mixing bowl and whip at high speed until the mixture forms feathers.

Assembly

• Take cups from the freezer and fill with apricot mousse mixture.
• Replace in the freezer to cool for 10 minutes.
• Take a spoon, top off the cup with the Hazelnut truffle mixture.
• Top with chopped hazelnuts

Leftovers

• Add frozen fruit to the apricot mixture and serve with a fruit sauce (raspberry works well).
• Roll the truffle mix into balls and cover with the leftover chopped nuts.  Cover and store immediately (Freeze if not to be consumed within 24 hours).

Happy Holidays!

A different stuffing for the bird

Have been away for a while, focusing on other things and looking for a few interesting ideas to pursue.  However, now that I am back, I have a good one.  This is something I put together last night while preparing for the family Thanksgiving get together.  It takes a bit of work, but I think it is worth the effort.  This is best when prepared a day or 2 in advance.  Reheat (microwave) in a covered container before serving.

Holiday stuffing (for chicken, duck turkey or pork)

1 package of Sage or Herb stuffing (I used Brownberry Sage)
2 cups of fresh golden raisins
2 cups of chopped granny smith apples
1 bosc pear
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of chopped white onion
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped chestnuts
1 tablespoon of raw/brown sugar
1 cup of amontillado sherry
1 cup of water

1. Chestnuts
1. Place chestnuts in a pot of water.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Let Simmer for 30 minutes
4. Shell
1. Cut a cross in the flat side with a sharp knife
2. Peel shells and skins
3. Don't worry if they crumble
4. Place pieces in a bowl
5. If you have trouble removing the skins, place in boiling water for another 15 minutes.
2. Chop onion
3. Chop celery
4. In a good sized pot (1-2 qt) add:
1. Butter
2. 1 1/2 cup of water
3. Celery
4. Onion
5. Chestnuts
6. Sugar
7. Sherry
5. Cover and bring to a boil
6. Let simmer 30 minutes
7. Remove from heat and and 1 cup of water
8. In a large casserole add:
1. Stuffing
2. Apples
3. Pear
4. Raisins
9. Mix with a large spoon
10. Add the mixture from the pot, distributing it as uniformly as possible.
11. Toss the stuffing with a large spoon to mix it up a bit.
12. Cover.
13. Preheat oven to 350.
14. Bake covered for 2 hours.  You will know it is done when you catch the amazing scent of the sherry and chestnuts filling the house.

Enjoy!

A simply delicious (and easy) do-it-yourself pizza recipe

I felt the need to try this recipe out this evening and was pleasantly suprised by how well it turned out.
I didn't finish until about midnight (how to hit the grocery store about 9:00PM when I discovered that I had run out of oregano).  The end result was a savory delight, neither salty nor peppery, not sweet and not sour, but you can taste every herb and the olive oil in the crust.  The crust is like a focaccia, with a very wet and stick dough.  It rises quickly in the bowl so I recommend making it after you have the topping and sauce ready so it can rise in the pan.  Original post follows:


When I was in high school (way back in 1972), the Tribune ran an easy to make pizza recipe that I just had to try.  It included a quick, bready crust, easy to make sauce and even a quick 'sausage topping' from ground beef.

What follows is my personal reconstruction of that recipe, along with some embellishments.
I typically used a good sized cookie sheet with raised sides (1/2 inch) (or a large broiling pan)
Heat oven to 425.


Sauce
1 can of tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic or garlic powder
2 tablespoons of honey or sugar
3/4 teaspoons of onion powder (even if you put sliced onions on the pizza)
1 1/2 teaspoons of oregano (base recipe says use only 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt (more or less depending on taste)
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Mix and set aside.

Topping
1 lb of ground turkey or beef
1/2 cup chopped onion or 1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of minced garlic or garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of oregano
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried bay
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of water
1 cube of beef bullion
1/4 cup of water

Dissolve 1 cube of bullion in 1/2 cup of water (microwave for about 90 seconds).
Place oil in hot skillet, add spices/veggies and mix, add bullion mix and cover.  Let simmer for 5 minutes under low flame.  This melds the flavors.  Add thawed meat, 1/4 cup of water, mix and stir, raise heat to medium, stir until thoroughly cooked and crumbly.

Cheese toppings
Healthiest is skim mozzarella.  I generally use:
1 lb shredded mozzarella
1/2 lb of shredded american
6 tablespoons romano
6 tablespoons parmesan
(and sometimes)
1/2 cup shredded asiago
(Jewel also has a nice italian cheese mix that works well.)
Crust
1 package of dry active yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar (or honey)
2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour

My adds:
1 egg
1 to 3 tablespoons of oregano
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of dried bay or one package of chopped organic bay

Place water in microwaveable container. Add sugar or honey. Stir. Heat for 1 minute then test (should feel hot, but not burn your finger about 110-115 degrees). Stir in olive oil, salt and sugar. Sprinkle in yeast and stir with a non-metallic spoon (iron/steel reacts with the activated yeast, so plastic works best here - it is OK to us a metal measuring spoon as the yeast is not active at that point) and let sit about 5 minutes.

Oil a bowl.
Combine remaining dry ingredients (hold back 1/2 cup of flour) in a mixing bowl and stir well. Add yeast mixture, and egg (recommended) if you decide to use it.   Mix well.   Mixture should have the consistency of hot taffy.  Dump into the pizza pan and spread to fill (add flour if you have to to keep it from sticking to everything - I like using a plastic knife).  Make sure you build up the edges a bit.  It is alright if the dough is very thin (1/8 inch), it bubbles up nicely while baking.

Assembly
When you have the rest ready:
Spread dough in a oiled and floured pan (corn meal works best for taste), adding that last 1/2 cup of flour as necessary.  Add your meat topping and long cooking raw veggies (mushrooms, onion, garlic).  Bake until crust starts to turn golden (generally about 15 minutes). Then remove to add sauce and cheese and bake until cheese melts and  turns golden, with brown spots just appearing (10-12 minutes).  The result is a pizza with a light but filling bready crust, a spicy sauce and savory meat topping.  Enjoy!

Some variations
A favorite:
Spinach, pineapple and pesto and black olives  (really good)

Others toppings and sauces:
Turkey (as mentioned), pepperoni, italian sausage, ham, bacon, hamburger, anchovies (I'll pass thanks), black olives.

A fishy-tasty treat

I have never been a fan of tuna salad, but this afternoon I found myself looking in my pantry, and wanting something other than the standard beef or chicken.  While rummaging around, I found some vacuum packed tuna that needed to be eaten.

I put this concoction together in about 1 hour (mostly for the rice)  but was very pleased with the results (either it is good or my tastes have significantly changed).

Tuna Salad

1 package of vacuum packed tuna ( or 1 can packed in water).
1 cup of chopped celery
1/8 teaspoon of paprika
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of miracle whip

Start by mixing up everything but the miracle whip (you can substitute mayo with 1/4 teaspoon of wasabi, but this works better).   Once everything is well mixed, stir in the miracle whip.
Set aside.

Brown Rice

1/2 cup  brown rice
1 teaspoon  olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups of water

Place in a small covered pot, bring to a roving boil, reduce heat and continue at a medium heat until rice is cooked to your liking (30-60 minutes).

Place rice in a bowl.  Cover with tuna salad.  Servers 2.  A nice meal that stays with you.

A perfect fall dessert - Ginger Peach Pie with a Pecan topping

Per the request of many, here is the recipe for the peach pie. 

Because:

• I had little time to plan (the peaches were quite ripe)
• It was too late to go to the store for the things I needed to make a pastry crust
• I hadn't worked with peaches before
• I couldn't check the flavor of the fruit (needed everything for the pie).

I decided to prepare the filling before I made the pie crust.  So I pulled out my new 12" saucepan and got started:

Filling
Method 1 (if you don't have a good feel for what the results will be)
In a saucepan:

• 2-3 lbs of ripe fresh peaches (depends on ripeness - riper peaches will have a higher water content which will evaporate while cooking)
• 1/4-1/2 cup of brown or natural sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of dried ginger (easier, what I used and gives a milder taste), or (1/4 cup of fine shredded fresh ginger (preferred)
• Add water to float the fruit in your saucepan.

Bring to a mild boil and simmer covered for the first 45 minutes to meld the flavors then remove the lid and continue until the fruit is thoroughly cooked and a thick syrup forms (about an hour or possibly more).   Stir frequently throughout the process to avoid burning the fruit or the sugar.    Once you remove the lid, start taste testing the syrup adding salt, ginger and lemon juice in small increments (1/4 teaspoon for the salt, 1 teaspoon for the lemon juice and 1/8 cup (1oz for raw ginger or 1/4 teaspoon for the powdered ginger) until it taste the way you want it.  This will vary depending on the ripeness of the peaches, freshness of the lemon juice and the quality of the ginger you are using.   For a tarter pie, you may want to add as much as 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.  When done, set aside to cool while you work on the crust.

Method 2 (If you are very confident - this will actually produce a better product)
Make the crust first then add all the ingredients (but use no water!!!).   Sprinkle the the spices and sugar over the peaches before applying the topping.


Crust
I used a pre-made graham cracker crust for mine, but it would actually be better with a nice pastry crust - I recommend this one from the Martha Stewart website if you have a food processor (my sister Celene who makes great pastries recommended this to me): 

http://www.marthastewart.com/254603/pate-brisee-pie-dough

She says that it never fails and you can prep and freeze it for later use.


Topping
I used an old favorite here pecan/praline

1 package of chopped pecans
1 stick of unsalted butter (broken into small pieces)
1/2 cup of brown or natural sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
 - optional -
1 teaspoon of vanilla


In your food processor:
Put the pecan chips in first and pulse the power (about 5-10 seconds at a shot) until you have fine chips.
Throw everything else in and pulse the power  until everything is well mixed, but stop before it gets creamy.

For a graham cracker crust:
Set the oven for 375.

For a pastry crust
Set the oven to 400.

Assembly
Place filling in the crust and then, starting from the edges, working towards the center,  ladle on the nut mixture.  Spread to cover as uniformly as possible and make sure that it seals the outer edges.

Put the pie in the oven.  If you have a pastry crust, reduce the heat to 350 after 15 minutes.  Let it bake until the topping turns a nice medium to dark brown (but not till it's burnt).

Serving suggestions:
This goes very well hot,  with vanilla ice cream a la mode.  Or a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese.  A nice chilled German dessert wine (Auslese, Berentroppenauslese, Eiswein), or a chilled pear brandy will also go well.

Enjoy!  Let me know how your attempts worked out.

A great little restaurant

If you happen to be traveling in the area of Valparaiso, IN or going to the Chesterton Dunes, consider stopping for a bite of lunch at dish (http://www.dishrestaurant.net/). 

This pleasant little eatery, located at 3907 N. Calumet in Valparaiso, does a great, inexpensive lunch for under $9.00.  Service is friendly, and given the size of the crowd (barely an empty table at 1:30PM, so not a regular lunchtime crowd), quite fast.  The makeup of the crowd tells you that this place is a local favorite.

They have a box lunch of the day, with soup, sandwich, salad and a dessert.  All ingredients are fresh, and wonderfully flavorful.  Special dietary needs are handled with no difficulty.  The bread is delightful too.

In addition to the sandwichs, are a number of nice dishes which you can see on their website (link above).

As for my first visit, I had the Ham and Jarlsburg Swiss Sandwich with a few adjustments (Dijon mustard and a ciabata).  Lettuce was crisp, the swiss was flavorful and the ham, was not greasy in the least.  The house chips were excellent.  Quite a step up from the local sandwich shop chains.  Looking forward to my next visit, and hopefully a dinner stop at dish.

A great easy meal

My Austrian grandmother used to make this dish a couple of times a year, particularly when we had a family get-together (she had nine kids).  It was inexpensive, didn't take a lot of the cook's time, was very healthy, and quite filling.  It is based on that old pickeled standard, sauerkraut, which is just about the healtiest thing you can eat for your gut.

Sauerkraut, split peas, polish sausage and potatoes
(never did find the proper name for this)

1 16 oz package of split peas
1 jar of sauerkraut
1 16oz can of new potatoes
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 lb of polish sausage (Slotkowski's or my favorite Maruszczak's)or ham
1/4 cup of onion or 2 tablespoons of dried minced onions.
1/4 tsp of salt
dash of pepper

This can be done in a crockpot overnight, or in short stages, depending on your whim.

Crockpot (1 1/2 -2 qt)
1. Take the peas, put 8 oz in your crockpot.  Add salt.  Cover.  Let sit for at least 10 hours.
2. The next morning, chop up the onion (you can substitute 1/4 cup of water and dried onions).
3. Drain potatoes and sauerkraut.
3. Slice the cooked sausage (cook it if not already cooked per package directions) into 1/2 inch slices.
4. Add all ingrediants.  Add sufficient water to insure that everything is covered (the leftover sauerkraut juice can be used for this and adds some more vitamins).
5. Set heat to high.  let cook for 1.5-2 hours.

Stove top
1. Take the peas, put 8 oz in a pot.  Add salt.  Cover.  Let sit for at least 10 hours.
2. The next morning, chop up the onion (you can substitute 1/4 cup of water and dried onions).
3. Add onion and oil to peas.  Let simmer 20 minutes.
3. Drain potatoes and sauerkraut.
3. Slice the cooked sausage (cook it if not already cooked per package directions) into 1/2 inch slices.
4. Add all ingrediants To a sufficiently large pot.  Add sufficient water to insure that everything is covered (the leftover sauerkraut juice can be used for this and adds some more vitamins).
5. Cover.  Set heat to medium until it starts to simmer.  Reduce heat, let simmer for 1.5-2 hours.  Stir about every 15 minutes, forcing a bottom to top transistion.


The potatoes and peas add flavor and starch to the meal and also mitigate the smell and acidic taste of the sauerkraut, without damaging the healthful benefits.

Options:  Add 1 crushed garlic clove.

Almondine - a nice addition to a dish

Been away a while dealing with the Taxman and other things.  Among other things, I took a week and visited my brother and his family recently and did a little cooking for them.  Dinner was a London broil with a nice au jus, new potatoes and green beans almondine.

My sister in-law has a nicely stocked kitchen, but it is stocked differently than mine.  Scrounging through her spice rack, came up with the following:

Marinade for London Broil

1/4 cup of red wine (local sweet)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1    tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 package of onion soup mix
1 teaspoon of basil
1/4 tablespoon of vinegar

Popped the steak in a 1 qt Ziploc bag and poured in the marinade.  Placed in a large bowl in case of leaks and then left it in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, took it out around noon and left it on the counter until 3:30 to get the steak nearer to room temperature (important).


Au jus
Drained the marinade into a pot.  Added:

1/4 cup of red wine (same as before)
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 bouillon cubes (as we didn't have drippings)
3 bay leaves
1/8 cup of minced dried onions
2 tablespoons of butter (again, because of no drippings)
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Heated to a boil and let simmer, reducing for about 45 minutes until thorough cooked. 

Went over very well, even with the kids.

Almondine
Not quite the standard, but again, came out quite well.

1 6oz package of almond chips/slices
1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 cup of wine (red or white, depending on which you are using for the main course)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of butter

Place all components into a saucepan, brought to a boil and then simmered for about 30 minutes (until a syrup forms).

Note that these measurements are for what I had at hand.  You can plan with the minor adjustments in the last 10 minutes of cooking until things taste the way you want.

We had some almondine left over, so we used it for dessert (pound cake with berries and whip cream).  It also goes well in a green salad with berries and mandarin oranges.

And back to the grindstone...

Been away from the blog for a while now.  Apologies for that, but Uncle Sam and taxes come first.  For those of you interested on both the IT comments and the other stuff, be aware that I am moving all the IT related postings to a new site which will focus strictly on IT.  That site can be found at http://jlovonit.blogspot.com/.  Over the next few days, I will move all of the existing IT posts to that site.  The rest will remain here.

John

White Chocolate Mousse

This is a sinful favorite.  If done properly, it can last for a number of days in the refrigerator (though expect to see some separation).  It also makes an excellent alternative to plain whipped cream, being more flavorful and filling - so less is needed per serving (for those large parties or dinners). 

A note on white chocolate:
Real White Chocolate has as one of its main ingredients cocoa butter - in fact, that is what it is, typically with vanilla, emulsifiers, sugar and a touch of salt thrown in.  If you don't see cocoa butter in the first 3 ingredients on the label, find another brand.   White chocolate chips usually do not contain an appropriate amount of cocoa butter.  The cocoa butter is what gives this dessert component it's richness and staying power (plus whatever health benefits it has to offer).

A few notes on whipping cream:
To successfully whip cream every time, do the following:
1. 10-15 minutes before starting, place the whipping cream in the freezer.
2. If there is room, put the metal (usually aluminum) in the freezer too.  If you don't have the room, half fill the bowl with ice cubes and let it sit on the counter.  Dump the ice, drain and wipe dry before adding cream.
3. Cream of Tartar will help you keep those hard earned stiff peaks keep more than an hour, and at higher temperatures.   It doesn't take much, though how much depends on other ingredients.



White Chocolate Mousse

1. Acquire:
a. 2 Pints of whipping cream
b. 4 bars of white chocolate (do not use chips!!! - see above).
c. Sea salt
d. Vanilla
e. Cream of tartar
2. Place cream in freezer for 15 minutes and place ice in mixing bowl to prep
3. Melt white chocolate in small pot (see option 2 below)
4. Whip cream until the peaks are very stiff cream of tartar, ¼ teaspoon of salt and  1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Option: add 2 oz of Kahlua or Baileys Irish Cream.
5. Slowly blend chocolate mix into the cream.  When the mixture stands on its own (starts to break into fragments),  you are done.
6. Place in a container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Options:
1. Raspberry melba sauce:
a. Take 1 package of Birdseye frozen raspberries in a sweetened sauce and put it blender with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 4 oz of a berry brandy (your choice, blackberry works well). 
b. Pour sparingly over your dessert.
c. (For extra points, press the pureed mix through cheese cloth to remove the seeds.)
2. Bittersweet chocolate:
a. Take a small non-stick pot (or double boiler if you have one, break up bittersweet chocolate bars (as needed, 4 should be sufficient) and place in pot.  Turn burner (preferably gas) on to lowest flame.  Hold pot over the flame (off the burner), or insert in double boiler  so it heats slowly and uniformly to melt the chocolate, stirring at least once a minute (push unmelted chocolate down into the melted chocolate to speed melt).  Keep warm and melted until serving where you can drizzle it over the mousse and Raspberry sauce.  If you have a food warmer, that can be used, or turn the oven on to 350, the heat on the stove top should be sufficient to keep the chocolate melted.
A surefire winning presentation is the following:

• Place your favorite frozen fruit around the bottom and sides (about 2/3s way up) a sherry snifter.
• Add the white chocolate mousse to cover the fruit
• Drizzle melted bittersweet chocolate over the mixture
• Cover with the Raspberry melba sauce.
• Place in frig until ready to consume.

This makes a sweet finish to a spicy meal.  Serve with a good chilled German Auslaise wine.


Next recipe:  Roast Beef ala John (apologies)