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I sliced a loaf of French bread, spread a bit of olive oil on each piece and sprinkled garlic powder on each. I baked them at 375F for about 12 minutes (or until golden brown as shown.) The bowl in the lower right is a quickie bruschetta (1 large tomato, diced, with about 1/4 cup finely minced onion, and a tablespoon each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.) The platter holds stuff that was in the fridge. Some cheeses, pickles, two types of olives, some salami cut into wedges, some pepperoni slices. The red and orange cherry peppers are from my garden.

We all made a plate of that and retired to the TV room to watch Marlon Brando mumble through his role as Don Vito Corleone. It was a great movie and fun to see actors as they looked 40 years ago. The boys and Tammy enjoyed it as much as I did.

At the halfway point, we enjoyed pasta. I filled the pasta pot with salted water before we started the movie. About 45 minutes into the movie, I turned the heat on the water. When it came to a boil, I threw in the fettuccini. At the same time, in a large (12 inch) non-stick skillet I combined 1/2 cup olive oil and 12 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced. I didn’t turn that heat on yet. In a small sauce pan, I put the Alfredo sauce. Again, I didn’t turn the heat on yet. (To be honest, I cut one corner in this meal. I bought a jar of Ragu, low calorie Alfredo sauce. While I am able to make my own, I also wanted to be able to enjoy the evening and movie. That means I needed to minimize my kitchen time. It still tasted very good.)

When the pasta was cooked al dente, I turned the heat on for the olive oil and the Alfredo sauce. I drained the fettuccini and added it to the olive oil-garlic pan, and tossed to coat. I also chopped some chicken breast from Monday’s meal (Beer Can Chicken) and warmed it in a small skillet.

When everything was hot, we paused the movie and everyone made a plate for themselves and went back to the TV room. Normally, when we eat as a family, we sit at the dinner table, but last night was special. (It drive Ozzy nuts that we were eating in the TV room!)

When the movie was done, we enjoyed the Tiramisu that Tammy made.

Note for any people of Italian descent that may be reading this. This is not your mother’s Tiramisu! It is simple, easy and relatively healthy. I will give the recipe in a separate blog post.

Thursday evening was Godfather II, and in my opinion, the better of the two movies. Bennett and I disagree–he feels Brando was better then DeNiro. That’s okay. Everyone can have their opinion!

The evening started with a simple–but large–Ceasar-ish Salad, with basil and Parmesan crusted chicken. (That sounds fancier than it really is. I used the chicken from the Beer Can Chicken, and rolled it in some basil pesto mixed with fresh-grated Parmesan. Then I quickly warmed it in some olive oil in a non-stick skillet.) A pile of romaine lettuce, some Kalamata olives, left leftover crostini from last night cut into croutons, and shaved Parmesan (with a commercially prepared Ceasar salad dressing.) I know, I know. It is not a traditional Ceasar salad. But that is the way it is on our home. We make things the way we like them, and only loosely follow the rules. Hey, the Pasta Police know where we live if there is a problem! 

After dinner, we turned on the movie, and as I said, I enjoyed this one a little more than the first. I made some popcorn (2 tablespoons coconut oil and 1/3 cup yellow popcorn) topped with some unsalted butter for the boys. We did nothing else special in terms of food. The “specialness” was just from sharing time with my entire family.

I hope everyone is able to find special time with family and friends, and if it revolves around food, I hope you are able to make food that everyone enjoys. And if you want to use any of my recipes, I hope you have as much success as I.

Quinoa Salad and Grilled Stuffed Cabbage
Salad Serves 8
Cabbage Serves 4-8 (depending on the size of the cabbage)

Quinoa Salad

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (white or red)

2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 cup bell pepper, seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup pea pods, sliced into thin pieces
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (diced if not already diced)

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of your preferred herb blend (I used Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset blend.)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Prepare quinoa according to instructions on the label.
2. While quinoa is cooking, prepare all veggies. Place veggies in a large bowl.
3. Mix vinegar, oil, mustard seasonings and pepper in a small bowl.  Whisk until mixed.
4. Add quinoa to veggies. Pour dressing, toss to mix and coat.

Nutritional Data (each serving is 3/4 cup):
Calories:          99
Fat:                  4.4g
Sat fat:            0.5g
Chol:                  0mg
Sodium:        75.9mg
Carbs:           12.6g
Fiber:              2.4g
Protein:          2.7g

Grilled Stuffed Cabbage

1 head of cabbage (red or green)
1-3 strips of bacon
1/2 medium onion, diced
2-4 teaspoons brown sugar

The amount of bacon you will use depends on the size of the cabbage.  Mine was small, about 4 inches (10 cm) across. I used 1.5 slices.

1. Preheat grill on high while prepping the ingredients.
2. In a non-stick skillet, fry the bacon until it is partially cooked. It will still be limp, but some of the fat will have melted off.
3. Remove bacon from the skillet and dice. Set aside.
4. Pour off most of the bacon fat (unless you want to use it all.) I used about 1 teaspoon.  Saute the onions over med-high heat until just translucent (3-4 minutes.) Remove from heat.
5. Core the cabbage and remove the largest (and inedible) outer leaves, leaving a tight head. With a sharp knife, create a well 2-3 inches deep and 1-2 inches across. Do not cut through the cabbage.
6. Fill the well with water (I used beer). You can also use wine or fruit juice.) Tightly wrap entire head with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the microwave. It will be hot. CAREFULLY remove plastic wrap (it will be steamy) and pour off the liquid.
7. Fill the well with half of the bacon, some onion, the remaining bacon and onion to fill. Top with the 2 teaspoons brown sugar in a mound. (You might not use all the onion.)
8. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil (12″ inches long.) Shape it into a long roll and fashion the roll into a ring just big enough to hold the cabbage off the surface of the counter. (The idea is to hold the well upright, keeping the cabbage off the grill grates, preventing it from burning.)
9. Place ring on grill. Over direct medium (300-400F) heat, grill cabbage. My 4″ head cooked in 30 minutes. A larger head will take longer.
10. Cut into portions. Again, my cabbage made four servings. A large head will make more serving.

Nutritional Data:
Calories:          58
Fat:                  1.4g
Sat fat:             0.4g
Chol:               3.3mg
Sodium:        93.7mg
Carbs:              9.5g
Fiber:                  2g
Protein:           2.4g

My wife is redecorating our home and one placque now hanging on the dining room wall says:

And I have to agree with that sentiment. Oh, I don’t actually suggest that you eat that blueberry tort before everything else at dinner. But really, why not? Why must we always clean our plate before we can have our sweet treat? Your body doesn’t care if the salad arrives in your stomach before the mushroom-topped chicken breast, or if the nice mocha mousse is the first food eaten.

And maybe, if you time it correctly, eating your dessert first may allow you to not eat as much in total. Maybe you could have a piece of angel food cake, topped with a few fresh strawberries and whipped topping. But the key here is that you eat the dessert 20-30 minutes before the rest of the meal. Then, after finishing the dessert, you finish cooking the main course. That will force you to slow down, fully enjoy the food, and give your stomach a chance to send the “I’m full” signal to your brain.

But the motto on the placque really is just telling you to make sure you do the things that you really enjoy. Take time for yourself. Go on vacation–even if you do nothing more than stay home, turn off your phone and ignore your pile of school work. Drive the slow route to work and enjoy the different scenery. Read a book for pleasure.

And make room in your budget for dessert. The easiest way–and what I do every day–is to decide what you want for dessert, and log it as soon as you make that decision. That way, you have already deducted those calories from your budget, which gives you your remaining daily budget. In essence, you are eating your dessert first. And when you do this, you will be able to have that dessert and stay within your budget.

I like desserts. I generally eat them after dinner, as my evening snack. We generally eat dinner at 5:30ish. My dessert is usually about four hours later. That spreads out the food, preventing me from feeling over-full, and gives me a nice snack a few hours before going to bed for the night. My preferred evening dessert/snack is either an ounce of almonds and an ounce of dark chocolate, or a carton of yogurt mixed with some whipped cream and topped with some nuts, chopped dark chocolate, and coconuts. Both are about 300-350 calories and have more fat and protein than carbs which takes me through the night very well.

So, eat your desserts! Enjoy the sweet side of life. (Just make sure you log it.)

We enjoyed a fantastic evening yesterday with several friends. Tammy and I decided to throw a “wine and dine party”, with four courses and a different wine paired with each, hopefully paired to enhance the flavors of both the food and wine. (I say hopefully, because I will admit to only amateur-status with food-wine pairings.)

The first course was a modification of an appetizer that we first tasted while on the Bites of Boston Food Tours. At Orinoco, we were served an almond-stuffed, bacon-wrapped date. It was delicious and when we came home, I attempted to copy–and then modify–the recipe.

The bottom bite is the same recipe as we ate in  Boston, but the top is the same creation but using a prune instead of a date. Both were good, and are served here on a small wedge (0.5 ounce each) of creamy and mild Gouda cheese. We decided to pair this sweet and savory bite with a sweet, almond-flavored sparkling wine. The wine helped bring out the almond from the bite and the bubbles help mellow the sweetness. The idea to serve the bites on cheese came to me while on the Bites of Boston Tour, when Alyssa took us to a cheese shop a few stops after Orinoco.

The second course was the salad course and I made a variation of the salad pictured below (I omitted the olives.) This salad is simple to make. I just layer thin slices (less than 1/4 inch thick) of tomato, top with 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) crumbled feta cheese, and a chiffonade of fresh basil. For dressing I use nothing more than a touch of fresh cracked pepper, some kosher salt, and a teaspoon extra virgin olive oil.

 

Because the tomatoes were fresh, sweet and aromatic, the cheese a touch salty, and the basil brightly flavored, I wanted a semi-sweet fruity white wine. When we were on vacation, we stayed at Buccia Vineyard B&B, and spent an evening learning about the wines from owner Fred Bucci. We fell in love with his Agawam white table wine. It is light and fruity with a sweetness to offset the acid in the tomatoes.

The main course is something that I first ate when Tammy surprised me with reservations for the chef’s  table at Chives, in Suamico, Wisconsin. It was duck confit with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and potato gnocchi. I attempted to replicate it for this dinner, subbing oyster mushrooms for the hen-of-the-woods (just because of personal preference.) This turned out really nice, and Tammy told me that it tasted like what she tasted at Chives. (I am not trying to compare my skills to chef/owner JR Schoenfeld–that guy is awesome!)

If you have never eaten duck, it has a taste similar to turkey dark meat, but meatier and richer. It is also much fattier. That makes the food taste incredible but not something that I could eat every day. I served this with another Buccia offering, their Cabernet Franc. This grape is usually blended with other varieties, but Buccia makes this wine with just this one grape. It is lighter than a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a hint sweeter. Tammy generally does not like dry wines, but she liked how the dryness of the wine help attenuate the fattiness of the dish. Also, the wine had spicy (black pepper) characteristics that just fit perfect. (We are going to need to drive back to Ohio and go to Buccia again. I wish they could ship out of state, but they are forbidden by law.)

Of course, no meal is complete without a dessert. Tammy and I had an idea (I’ll be honest, we stole the idea when we learned of it at a wine-and-food class at Peller Estates, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Another place that cannot ship to us, which means another trip to Canada!) At the class we sampled a delicious eiswine, and the facilitator of the class told us that a nice dessert can be made by freezing a scoop of ice cream and making a hole (a well) in the middle and then filling the well with eiswein.

Simplicity itself! Except it isn’t. If you don’t get the ice cream frozen enough it slides all over. Then making the well is not as easy as it sounds. Eventually, we just decided that we were not going to serve that for dessert. So, the night before the meal, we started digging through cookbooks. In Rocco DiSpirito’s Now Eat This! we found this homemade mocha mousse.

I made souffles for the family Friday night. Two different souffles. One was a savory souffle (Spinach-Asiago) for the entree and the other was sweet (Kahlua-Chocolate) for dessert. I have made souffles before and I know that while they are not actually as difficult as they might appear, they are rather finicky kitchen creations.

They also take time. Time to make, and time to bake. And with only one oven, that presents some challenges. It would be easiest to bake both at the same time but that won’t work for a couple reasons. One is the simple fact that I want the savory souffle to be served as the meal and the sweet souffle for dessert, and a finished souffle will not wait even five minutes after removing it from the oven. The second is that I can only make one souffle at a time. It takes about 10-12 minutes production time to get a souffle in the oven. I can’t let the first souffle wait 12 minutes before I begin baking it, nor can I open the oven to quickly start baking the second souffle (the cold air rushing in could collapse the souffle and once collapsed, it is done.)

So I decided the best method will be to bake one, serve and eat it, and then make and bake the second. That will leave about 45 minutes between courses, but it can’t be helped.

Camping.  It brings to mind food like hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken. Baked beans, cole slaw and potato chips. Soda and beer. Sounds nice. But average. And I don’t do average very well, as you can see by the other meals on this blog.

Never believe that you cannot eat like a king while camping. It only takes planning and preparation. Here is what we ate while camping.

We arrived at the campgrounds Tuesday afternoon. We set up camp and relaxed a bit. When it was time for dinner, I made pan-fried tilapia, a fresh tomato and feta salad, and a piece of home made whole wheat bread. And a beer (of course!)

I always keep an electric skillet in the camper and it was perfect for the fish. I brought along some tomatoes from the farmer’s market and had baked a loaf of bread Tuesday morning before we left home. I just pan-fried four tilapia fillets in a teaspoon of garlic-infused olive oil. The beer was a new one for me. Velvet Chicken is a Belgian Trippel-style ale. Crisp and hoppy, slightly sweet and highly carbonated, it balanced the fish and tomatoes very well.

Saturday was a great day! An noon, I watched my son’s band perform their last gig together. It was an outdoor show at a local music store. They play heavy metal and most of the music is original pieces that they wrote.

After the performance I went to downtown Green Bay to a foodie-fest, Savour Green Bay. It features local restaurants, breweries and wineries, with an emphasis on the local food cuisine. I went there, not for the food–of which there was plenty–but because a local homebrewer is living his dream because he opened his own brewery. Stillmank Brewing Company makes one beer, Wisco Disco, a hoppy and smooth Americal Amber Ale. A great beer! Currently only available in the Green Bay area on tap, soon he will be canning in 16 ounce cans and distributing to local grocery stores.

After enjoying his wonderful amber ale, I felt incomplete. One beer is always a lonely beer, so I stopped at another vender, Titletown Brewing Company. One of their brewers (another homebrewer from the area’s homebrew club) Dave Malcom was present and pouring several selections, including a German Schwartzbier (black beer), Dark Helmet. It is a black lager, smooth with flavors and aromas of coffee, chocolate, caramel and toast–and yet NONE of those ingredients are used. The brewers make those flavors and aroma from the different malts. This beer took a bronze award at the World Beer Cup. A seriously good beer, and one that I could have drank all day. But since I needed to drive, I stopped at one. But that’s okay. I know where I can get more.

All that before 2pm! It was a great day!

That’s all. Nothing profound to talk about, nor any new recipes. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.

Taco Salad
Serves 1

This isn’t a recipe post, because I’m not going to tell you how to make a salad. I am posting this as a reminder that meals can be very easy and delicious.

Whenever I buy ground beef, I always buy an extra pound and brown it off. Then I freeze it for use at a later time. Today was a later time. So all I needed to do was thaw and heat the meat.

The pinto beans are made from scratch in my pressure cooker. They went from dried beans to ready-to-eat beans in 40 minutes. (I cooked them in beer instead of water for added flavor. Even Tammy, who does not like beer, said that the beans tasted of beer, and that they were good.) You can certainly use beans from a can, but I prefer mine fresh because I can control the sodium content. While they were cooking, I prepped all the toppings and warmed the meat.

The red tomatoes are from the farmer’s market, but the yellow are from my upside down tomato baskets. The red jalapeno is also from my container garden.

I used only 2 tablespoons each of cheese and plain Greek yogurt, and 1/4 of a mashed avocado, and I built the salad on an ounce of tortilla chips and three cups of mixed greens.

And of course, I served this with a cold beer. This was Totally Naked, a seasonal offering from New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus, Wisconsin. It is a simple pilsner-style beer, clean and crisp. Perfect to cut through the spices of a taco salad. I’m sorry if you line somewhere beyond the Wisconsin borders. New Glarus does not distribute out of state. (Yup. We keep it all for us! And for any tourists that visit.)

I hope you decide to make a similar meal.