food – Page 2 – Annie DeMoranville

It Was A Cold And Blustery Day

Photo by jeffreyW

My mom left us this week. I’m not sure quite yet how to process it all. There were a lot of hugs, tears and laughs as we shared stories and remembered her. We said goodbye on the coldest, windiest day imaginable, which seemed fitting somehow.

What is most important for you to know is that she is why I cook, why I share recipes with you. Why the kitchen is a place of joy and warmth and creation. She never met a dish she couldn’t improve on, a recipe that she wouldn’t tackle, or a lesson she couldn’t teach in the kitchen. Success or failure, it didn’t matter, what mattered was you tried. And if was a complete disaster, then you laughed it off and salvaged what you could, but you never let that discourage you from trying again.

And just like Julia Child, you never let them know if the chicken falls onto the floor, you just pick it up and dust it off and serve it as if nothing happened.

Never let the ingredients intimidate you. Cook what you love. Sometimes what looks like a failure turns out to be a completely new creation. And a pie tastes just as good with an ugly crust as it does with beautiful lattice.

Rest in peace, Mom. My best spaghetti sauces will always be the ones you taught me and the sweetest cookies will be the ones I made by myself the first time under your watchful eye.

How To Brown Ground Beef And Bonus Blueberry Crisp

Let’s talk about browning ground beef. I had someone tell me they hated ground beef because of the texture and flavor. But they like hamburgers…a lot.

I then assumed it was because of the way they were browning their ground beef. Often folks just put it in a pan, break it up, and heat it through until it is completely cooked. Then add it to whatever they are making: tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.

This can leave you with gummy, flavorless pebbles in your meal. Instead, let’s use the Maillard Reaction to create better ground beef. (See a good explanation here)

To make a flavorful ground beef with good texture, start with the raw meat.

Season it with salt, pepper and whatever spices you’ll be using in the meal – Italian spices, Chili spices, taco seasonings, etc. and generous amounts of salt and pepper. Mix it into the beef well.

Next, spread the mixture into the skillet – flatten it like you’re making a very large hamburger and turn on the heat. Medium-high.

Important – leave it alone! Let it cook on one side until it has a deep crust on it – reduced to medium heat if it looks like it might burn. You want it browned, not burned.

Once it’s completely browned with a nice crust, turn it over. I usually break it into three to four pieces to flip easily. Now repeat the browning process. Once it is fully browned on both sides, use a spatula or a metal pastry cutter to create larger crumbles of meat. These will be full of flavor and a good texture to complement any sauce or seasoning.

I wanted to make Crisp to celebrate Autumn. I went with Blueberry Crisp (recipe here) because I was enjoying slicing and eating my apples. I’ll pick up some Macintosh if I can find them for crisp next week.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Put The Lime In The Coconut…Bars

So I had another birthday not too long ago and there was much celebrating. I prefer a Key Lime Pie (recipe here) to cake on my birthday. But this year, I decided to go with Key Lime Bars instead. Easier to transport and package up as ‘thank-yous’ to various folks.

This time, I had just a few extra coconut shreds, so instead of storing them, I decided to toast them and add them to the top after I removed the bars from the oven.

Key Lime Coconut Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx 28 squares)
3 heaping tablespoons shredded coconut
4 tbsp butter, melted
8 oz pk cream cheese, softened
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free)
1/4 cup Key Lime juice or regular limejuice
1 tbsp lime zest
1/2 tsp lemon extract (opt)
1 lime, sliced into thin slices, then quarter

9×9 glass baking dish, mixing bowl and 36 cupcake papers

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, coconut and butter thoroughly with fork. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing cream cheese mixture. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Beat in lime juice, lemon extract and lime peel. Pour into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Bake about 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes on rack, then cover loosely and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled. Cut into 24 to 36 pieces, place in cupcake papers and top with lime quarters.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Garden Fresh: A Few Grapes For Smoothies

I processed the few grapes I got this year into juice that I then add to my morning shakes. My neighbor gave me a handful of passion fruit, as an exchange for all my plums her toddler loves to eat. So I also added those to my shake this morning.

Not exchange was not necessary, he can have all the plums he wants! He’s a pandemic baby, born just as we went into lockdown, so I have probably seen more of him than I normally would, as mom and dad walked around the neighborhood several times a day and my office faces the street. Socially distant chats were a welcome diversion.

It’s been my pleasure to watch him grow and start walking and now starting to talk, enough to make his desire to pick plums from my tree clear. Still a nice distraction from work, as far as I’m concerned.

This morning’s smoothie:

Mixed Berry Smoothies

1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup ea: blueberries and raspberries, frozen
4-6 whole strawberries, frozen
1/4 cup fresh grape juice
2 passion fruit (scooped from shell)
opt: 1 tbsp ground flax and 1 scoop whey powder

blender

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend well. This makes 2 thick smoothies. For more of a milkshake consistency, add 6 ice cubes and blend well. I use frozen fruit, so I don’t add the ice cubes, but sometimes a bit of water to make a smooth consistency.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Fresh Summer Salsas

The tomato harvest has been lackluster this year. Weird weather has caused the fruit to be small and slow to ripen. Some I’m afraid are not going to ripen at all. The San Marzano, which should be about the size of a Roma, look more like cherry tomatoes. Early Girls are anything but early and no bigger than golf balls. And I have to wonder what the Park Wonders would look like in a good year – beefsteak size for sure. Flavor has been great on all of them, but I take comfort in that.

Since the jalapenos are not only abundant this year, but incredibly hot, I decided to try and roast them to bring out a bit of the sweetness. It wasn’t all that successful, but I did manage to make a couple of jars of pickled jalapeno and freeze them to use sparingly in cooking over the winter.

I set a few aside to make salsas this week. I went with Fresh Salsa (recipe below) and Cucumber Salsa to cut some of the heat (recipe here).

For most of the summer, whenever I grill, I toss an onion on to the grill and let it roast until the grill cools down, so usually about 20-30 minutes on the back of the grate. The flavor can’t be beat and it slips right out of the skin. I refrigerate and add to various recipes. This week, it’s the salsas.

As the weather cools, I may roast a dozen or so and freeze them – they lose their shape but are great in soups and stews and with roasts.

Fresh and Easy Salsa

4 tomatoes, quartered
6 green onions
2 tsp crushed garlic
½ to 1 bunch cilantro, remove stems
2 to 4 jalapenos*, remove stems
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
dash of limejuice if desired

blender or food processor

In blender or food processor, add all ingredients and coarsely chop until blended well**. If you can make a day ahead, it gets even better. Seal in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.

**If you prefer a chunkier style salsa, you’d be better off chopping vegetables by hand.

How is your garden looking this summer?

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions