Croque Bolognese

When a dinner is truly so delicious that we are sorry it is over, David and I have a little saying "I could cry over this".  This croque bolognese is one of those meals.  When we traveled in Belgium a few years ago, I would have a croque bolognese every day for lunch.  I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy, but there is nothing better than spaghetti sauce smothered on grilled cheese.  If you try this and don't like it, we can't be friends anymore.  If you make this with a homemade spaghetti sauce you will not be disappointed.  I would like to note that we ate this so quickly we forgot to put parmesan cheese sprinkles on top, don't forget yours!

Ingredients for 4 croque bolognese

2 cups spaghetti sauce

8 pieces of sourdough bread

4 slides Tillamook aged white cheddar cheese

olive oil

parmesan

1. Heat spaghetti sauce in a small sauce pan on the stove.

2. Meanwhile, put cheese slices in between the bread (a la grilled cheese people).

3. Heat a few swirls of olive oil in a pan, turn the pan to make sure the oil covers the bottom of the pan.

4. Place sandwiches in the hot pan, cook 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown

5. Place sandwiches on plates and drown them in delicious bolognese (aka cover in spaghetti sauce).

6. Top with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Pesto Potato Salad

This salad is basically an Americanized version of Salad Nicoise but I can't think of a way to say Salad Nicoise and still make you interested in this post because of this recipe 2 years ago .  However, I really can't express how delicious American potato salad can be when you remove the mayonnaise.  Swapping in pesto is really a great option this time of year when you want to be more figure friendly.  You can make this without the ham if you want this to be vegetarian friendly too.  What are you waiting for?  Go make this now.

Ingredients for 4 as a light dinner

6 medium yukon gold potatoes cut into sixths (or whatever you prefer)
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed, then cut into 2 inch pieces
1 small squash, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small onion, diced
1 cup of pesto
2-3 pieces of black forest ham, torn into pieces
1 hardboiled egg
olive oil
salt/pepper

1. Start by making your hardboiled egg (the Rachel Ray way).  Put an egg or two in a pot of cold water, put on the stove and heat until boiling.  When boiling, turn off the heat and wait 10 minutes.  Drain in and ice bath.  You have a boiled egg.
2. Meanwhile fill another pot of water with cold water.  Add cubed potatoes and cook until water is boiling and potatoes can be pierced with a knife (about 25 minutes).  You don't want these too mushy, so keep an eye on them.
3. At the last 2 minutes of the boiling, add the chopped green beans.
4. Drain beans and potatoes and set aside
5. In the same pot, heat some olive oil.  When hot add tomatoes, onion and squash and saute about 4-5 minutes until soft.
6. Add potatoes, beans, and sauteed mixture together in a bowl and dollop pesto evenly over the veggies.  Mix carefully, using a bit of olive oil if you need to make the pesto more pliable.
7. Add crumbled hardboiled egg and evenly distribute torn pieces of the ham.
8. Salt and pepper to taste and serve while warm.

Steak Au Poivre - Anderson Style

There is nothing better than a perfectly cooked steak.  One of our favorite dinners is from David's mom when she makes us steak au poivre (steak with pepper sauce).  It is always our request for birthday dinners.  "Anderson" style means this recipe can be made on a weeknight to provide a quick and delicious meal for you and your family.  Feel free to experiment with side dishes; in this recipe we used roasted butternut squash, parsnip and onion.  

Ingredients (for 2 people)

2 - 5oz filet mignons or other high quality steak
4 strips bacon
salt/pepper (generous amount of pepper!)
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon butter mixed with 1 tablespoon flour

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil and butter.
2. Wrap bacon around steaks and secure with a toothpick or two
3. When butter has melted add steaks to the pan, let cook on each side about 7 minutes for a medium steak.
4. When steaks are done, remove to a warm plate and cover with foil
5. Add beef broth to the pan and deglaze the pan for a minute.
6. Add butter/flour mixture and whisk quickly to incorporate and form a gravy.
7. Serve steaks with gravy drizzled over and a large glass of red wine.

Toast met Champignons (Toast with Mushrooms)

Here is another classic recipe from my mother in law.  This meal is really filling and delicious and definitely made for a busy weeknight.  You could also serve this as an appetizer or at a brunch with an egg on top.  The point is this dish has bacon, mushrooms (yes I put bacon first), shallot and parsley.  How simple and easy can that be?

Ingredients


3-4 strips thick cut bacon
2 small shallots finely chopped
1 lb mushrooms (we used shiitake) chopped into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Cook bacon until mostly crisp, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel
3. Add shallots to bacon grease and allow to cook about 2-3 minutes
4. Add chopped mushrooms and allow to cook another 3-4 minutes
5. If you dish looks dry you can add a tablespoon or so of olive oil
6. Add parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and cover.
7. Prepare toast from your favorite loaf of bread.  Brush with olive oil if you like.
8. Place toast on a plate and cover generously with mushrooms.  Serve with an egg on top or a salad on the side.

Whole Wheat Dutch Oven Bread

The inspiration for this bread came from my dear friend Hillary who is the best baker I know.  I combined two of her favorite recipes (one using a dutch oven and the other all white flour), but I doctored this one up with some whole wheat flour to see if it would still taste good.  Lucky for you, it does!  Cooking the bread in a dutch oven is absolutely required and will give the results a normal home oven can't normally replicate.  Try mixing in any of your favorite bread inclusions (rosemary, cheddar cheese, thyme, etc.)!

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups unbleached whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups warm water

1. Combine dry ingredients with a spatula in a plastic bowl and stir with a spoon to incorporate.
2. Add water until dough is looks like a shaggy ball (I don't really know what a shaggy ball would be defined as, but go with your gut here).  Mine looked like a mostly wet doughy substance.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 12-18 hours
4. Preheat dutch oven in a regular oven to 450 degrees.
5. Generously cover hands and counter with flour and turn dough onto the counter.
6. Shape into desired shape (remember if has to fit in your dutch oven) and let rest until regular oven is preheated.
7. CAREFULLY remove dutch oven and carefully put bread in the pan.  Place lid on top and put in oven for 30 minutes.
8. Remove lid after 30 minutes and return dutch oven to the regular oven for another 15 minutes to let the bread brown
9. CAREFULLY remove the entire apparatus from the oven and take the bread out with oven mitts and place on a cooling rack
10. Cut and serve after letting cool about 15 minutes

Lemon Pepper Chicken a la Anderson

My mother makes the most amazing lemon pepper chicken and my mother in law makes a delicious roast lemon chicken.  This recipe is a blend of the two and brings out the best cooking methods in both. The recipe starts with a brine and ends with a roasting time in the oven and it is worth the effort because the flavor is intense and the meat literally falls off the bone.  Serve with these blue cheese biscuits from Smitten Kitchen and an old fashioned carrot salad (see recipe below) for a complete Sunday night meal that would have anyone begging for one more weekend day.

Ingredients

Brine (4 cups water + 1/4 cup table salt)

Chicken
2 chicken legs + drumstick attached (or 2 pounds chicken pieces dark meat preferable)
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cloves garlic
4 lemon slices
Pepper/salt (generous sprinkles)

Carrot Salad
3 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound carrots
salt/pepper

1. Prepare brine at least 5 hours ahead of time.  Combine salt and water in pan and heat until it reaches a rolling boil.  Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Place chicken pieces in a deep dish, cover with cooled brine and let sit in fridge for at least two hours, no more than three
3. When ready to cook dinner, heat oven to 400 degrees
4. Carefully pull chicken skin back and place two lemon slices + garlic under the skin.   Cover and use a brush to baste with butter.  Repeat for other chicken leg.
5. Generously cover with pepper and salt
6. Set in oven for 25 minutes.  After 25 minutes, reduce heat to 375 and cook another 25 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 180 degrees
7. Meanwhile prepare carrot salad.  Grate carrots and place in a bowl.  Combine mayo, lemon juice, olive oil, and sugar and whisk until incorporated.  All dressing to bowl and mix carrots with the dressing.  Salt and pepper to taste.
8. When chicken is done, remove from oven and let rest a few minutes and then dish up with carrot salad and biscuits.

Clams in Cider and Cream Sauce

We found a stand at our farmer's market called HamaHama Oyster that sells delicious and fresh shellfish from a town about 30 miles away from our house.  We have tried clams three times from this place and every time we get 100% open rate on the clams, a feat in this day and age.  Here we made a cream sauce with some left over cider and the flavor really goes well with these fresh shellfish.  Serve with homemade bread to dip in the extra sauce.

2 lbs clams
2 tablespoons butter
1 celery stalk chopped finely
1 large shallot chopped finely
1 large carrot chopped finely
1 small yukon potato peeled and chopped finely
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 12 oz bottle hard cider (we used Hornsby's Amber)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
salt/pepper to taste

1. Heat deep pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add butter until melted
2. Cook celery, shallot, carrot, potato and garlic over medium high heat about 8-10 minutes until softened.
3. Meanwhile clean the clams making sure there are no muddy ones in the batch
4. When veggies are ready, add cider to the pot and then add the clams.  You might need to add a cup or so of water to cover the clams.
5. Let cook until clams open, as they open fully move them to another serving dish
6. If a clam doesn't open after 8 minutes, discard the loser.
7. Reduce heat to medium low and add cream, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary
8. Add cream sauce to the clams and serve!

Pizza Puff Gougeres!

I really should rename this blog "I love pizza" for the recent amount of pizza posts.  This recipe is a game changer people...if you bring this to a party you will be invited back for the rest of your life.  Here we combine pizza and my favorite appetizer ever, the gougere (read CHEESE PUFF).  Simply swap in some tomato sauce and oregano into Alain Ducasse's recipe for regular gougeres and you will change the world!

Ingredients


1/2 cup water
1/3 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons milk
1 stick unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 cup gruyere
2 tablespoons oregano
ground pepper


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. In medium saucepan add water, milk, tomato sauce butter and salt and bring to boil.
3. Add the flour slowly and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate into a dough type mixture.  Stir about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and put in a mixing bowl and let cool 5 minutes.
4. Beat the eggs into the dough one at a time until fully incorporated
5. Add cheese and oregano a bit at a time until incorporated
6. Use two spoons to make 1 1/2 inch size diameter puffs on the parchment paper.  Try and not crowd the puffs on the paper
7. Sprinkle with pepper and cook about 20 minutes until golden brown/red
8. Serve immediately!

Entertaining - Hosting a French Inspired Dinner Party

This is the first post in a new series of blog posts to suggest ideas that would make excellent and easy parties!  I love to host dinner parties with friends be it more formal (for birthdays/engagements) or more casual for brunch.  I also LOVE to tailgate so look for a tailgate post later this year.  The recipes are from this blog and they are tried and true.

This post is about hosting a classic Saturday night French dinner party.  My mother in law taught me to really enjoy the process of cooking French food and I would like to share that with you here.  On a scale of 1 to 10, this meal would be a 4.5.  There are some easy but impressive appetizer recipes which pair nicely with dinner and dessert.  As Julia Child used to say, "Bon Appetite!"

Tips for Success

- Preselect your serving dishes and lay them out so they are ready when the food is finished cooking

- Set the table early (even the day before if you have time)

- Use a seasonal adornment for the table, such as a squash in winter or bowl of lemons in the summer

- If serving more than one drink, set up a bar area where guests can help themselves to their favorite beverages (even sparking water)

- Cloth napkins are super impressive (and environmentally friendly!)

- Sit back and enjoy your hard work because it is mostly done before your guests arrive and you can enjoy your time!

The Menu

Appetizer option #1 - Beet and Goat Cheese Tartlets
Appetizer option #2 - Gougere Cheese Puff

Sparkling Wine - Jaume Serra Cristalino Rose  (which incidentally is not French, but keep it our secret!)

Entree - Fondue with Vegetable Melange

Salad - Classic French Salad with Dijon Lemon vinaigrette (see below)
Bread - Anderson Homemade Bread

Dessert option #1 - Strawberries and Creme Fraiche

Dessert option #2 - Any Berry Crumble

Classic French Salad with Dijon Lemon Vinaigrette


The salad is very simple.  Find the best and most fresh greens you can (I like a mix of arugula and spinach with some frisee).  Wash and dry thoroughly and put in a nice salad bowl.  One or two bunches of each green is generally enough for four people but use your judgment here.

The salad dressing is delicious and simple.  Ingredients are 1 lemon juiced, 2 tablespoons dijon mustard and 3 tablespoons olive oil.  Combine all in a tupperware with a tight lid and shake until mixed well.  Taste and add a bit more olive oil if the lemon or dijon flavor is too strong.  Transfer to your normal container for serving dressing.  You can even pre-dress the salad but make sure to do this just before serving.

One of my favorite dishes for serving salad is this Nambe Butterfly Bowl .  It is worth the investment because you can serve hot food in it as well.  Just make sure not to use metal utensils with the bowl as it will scratch it.

Peanut Butter Pot du Creme

A pot du creme is a quintessential French dessert that is surprisingly easy to make!  Don't be intimidated by the name of this dish, Taste Book has an easy recipe I modified to make with peanut butter.  It is so easy and delightful and your friends will think you spent hours making this but you don't have to give away your secret at how easy and simple this was to make.  Top with any of your favorite toppings, i.e. whipped cream or chocolate sauce for an extra sweet treat!

Ingredients


1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
3 egg yolks
4 ramekins (1/2 cup size)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place ramekins in an oven safe dish (like a lasagna pyrex dish) so that you can fill the pan with hot water later to cook the creme pots.
3. In a small sauce pan pour whipping cream and peanut butter, gently whisk until combined and let cook over medium heat about 10 minutes until peanut butter is mostly incorporated and smooth.
4. When cream is ready gently whisk in one egg yolk at a time until combined.  After all three, you will notice it is a bit thicker
5. Carefully pour equally into the ramekins and carefully pour water around the ramekins until they are covered half way up the side.
6. Place in the preheated oven and cook until top is set and golden brown, about 25 minutes
7. Remove and let cool until you are able to handle the dish, then cover and put in the fridge until you are ready to serve

Salad Nicoise

This salad can be made almost any season of the year and is most delicious when fresh in season vegetables are used.  I tried a new salad dressing here and it elevated this dish to a whole new level!

Ingredients


1 lb small new potatoes
1 lb romano beans
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1 small head of fennel
1 can of tuna in water (drained)
10 pitted nicoise olives chopped
2 tablespoons capers
8 oz sour cream
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
juice from one lemon

1. Start by boiling water for potatoes.  When water is boiling add potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes
2. In another pan, fill with water and when boiling add beans and cook for two minutes.  Immediately drain and blanch by running cold water over the beans.
3. Put the beans in the serving dish you will use and put in the fridge
4. Thinly slice the onion and fennel, add to the dish with the beans
5. Chop nicoise olives and set aside
6. Mix sour cream, mustard and lemon and set aside
7. Drain the potatoes and let cool for a few minutes
8. Add the potatoes to the serving dish with the other veggies then add the drained tuna.
9. Top with nicoise olives and capers
10. Serve on top of lettuce leaves and have dressing on the side so people can add as much as they like!

Creme Fraiche Quiche with Chard

Here is a new take on quiche with my latest favorite dairy product...creme fraiche!  This would be a perfect brunch or dinner item and is good for all seasons.

Ingredients


1 puff pastry (frozen)
1 lb chard roughly chopped
1/2 small onion thinly sliced
6 eggs
10 oz creme fraiche
6 oz grated gruyere cheese
salt/pepper

1. Remove puff pastry from freezer and let thaw (about 10-15 minutes).  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat a saute pan over medium high heat, when hot add a swirl of olive oil and let heat (a minute or two).
3. Add onion and saute a minute then add the chard
4. Chard will need a good 7-10 minutes to wilt down
5. Roll out puff pastry into a pie dish, this dough is very pliable so you can do pie surgery if it falls apart.
6. Mix eggs and creme fraiche in a seperate bowl, salt and pepper gently and then set aside
7. When chard is finished cooking, carefully pour half of it into the puff pastry dough
8. Add egg mixture and then the remaining chard and carefully stir together
9. Very carefully stir in grated gruyere cheese and a bit more salt and pepper
10. Cook in the oven about 50-60 minutes or until top is brown and knife comes out completely clean.
11. Serve with hot sauce, salt, pepper or whatever else you like with quiche!

Complete Beet Galette

Mollie Katzen has an amazing cookbook where she cooks with all of "The vegetables I can't live without".  One of her recipes is called "Complete Beets" where she uses the beet greens as well as the beet itself.  When I got some complete beets in my farmshare, I knew I had to make a complete beet galette because what goes better with vegetables then a ton of butter and cheese?

You may remember my slight obsession with ricotta earlier in the summer.  I used ricotta again in this recipe (about 3/4 cup) so hopefully you are still using the recipe just like I am!  I got the galette dough from my favorite place Smitten Kitchen (Galette dough).  She also has other varieties of this delicious dish if you are not a fan of beets.

Ingredients


1 galette pastry dough (prepared Smitten style)
1 lb complete beets
1/2 small onion finely chopped
1/2 small onion thinly sliced
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup ricotta
1 egg (beaten)
salt

1. Chop beets and their greens into bit size pieces.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Heat saute pan over medium heat with a swirl of olive oil
3. When hot, add beets, their greens and finely chopped onions and saute about 7 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and stir honey into the veggies
5. Add a dash of salt to taste
6. Roll out pastry dough into 12 inch circle
7. Spread ricotta in the center of the dough, leaving 2 inches on the diameter which you will fold over the veggies
8. Evenly layer veggies on top of the ricotta and then layer the thinly sliced onions
9. Fold over pastry dough (as per the picture) leaving most of the galette exposed
10. Brush beaten egg over the dough and tops of the onions
11. Bake in preheated oven about 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and onions are starting to brown as well.
12. Serve with a salad and a big glass of wine!

Bacon and Mizuna Risotto

Inspired by some seriously delicious fare at Toulouse Petit, I made this risotto with some fresh mizuna lettuce from our farm share and bacon from the local farmer's market.  It's true what they say, bacon does make everything better!  Don't be intimidated on this one, if you don't have mizuna you can always use arugula or spinach.

Ingredients


5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup arborio rice (special risotto rice)
1/2 cup white wine
5 slices of bacon
1 lb mizuna or other green

1. Start by heating both in a pot on the stove (heat over medium)
2. Heat another deep pot over medium high heat, when hot add two swirls of olive oil to the pan
3. When the oil is hot add the chopped onion and cook 2-3 minutes until soft
4. Add rice to the oil and stir to coat (about 2 minutes)
5. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stir to evenly coat
6. Here comes the tricky part, add a ladle of the broth to the rice mixture and stir every few minutes while broth is absorbed
7. When broth is absorbed add some more and repeat step 6 until all broth is gone.
8. While risotto is cooking, heat a large saute pan to medium high heat
9. Add bacon slices to the hot pan and cook to your preference (well done works best here)
10. When bacon is done, remove from the pan and lay on a cutting board with paper towels below to soak up the grease
11. Carefully drain most of the grease into a grease safe container and return the pan to the stove
12. Add the greens to the bacon greased pan and cook down for about 3-4 minutes and remove from heat
13. At this point you should be about 20 minutes into cooking your risotto and have very little broth left.  Sample the risotto to make sure it is chewy but not uncooked.  If it is ready, remove from heat.
14. Quickly chop bacon into bite size pieces
15. To plate this dinner, add a scoop of risotto onto the plate, followed by a nice portion of greens (about one "tong"ful) and then finally the bacon.
16. Serve with a salad and enjoy!

Fondue with Vegetable Melange and Fingerling Potatoes

1970 called and it wants it's dinner back but TOO BAD SO SAD!  My first time making fondue and needless to say this is an extremely easy yet surprisingly gourmet dinner that could also make a wonderful appetizer.  The great thing about this dish is that with the fondue base you can add any fruit, vegetable, protein or carbohydrate you like and could almost consider this healthy!

Fondue base 101 Cookbooks

Serves 2 for nice size dinner

Ingredients:

4 oz Gruyere cheese grated

1 1/2 tablespoon flour

pinch of salt

3/4 cup white wine (pinot gris or sauvignon blanc)

Dippers:

Any blanched vegetable, including broccoli, green beans, brussels sprout, etc.

Roasted zucchini or asparagus

Boiled potatoes

Day old toasted bread cubes

Apple or Pears

Grilled chicken pieces from a previous night's dinner

To make this prepare all of your dippers in advance then start on the cheese sauce.

1) Combine flour, salt and cheese in a bowl and mix until coated

2) Put wine in a sauce pan on the stove and heat on medium until simmering

3) Add cheese mixture a handful at a time stirring constantly

4) Reduce heat to low and allow mixture to cook until it bubbles, remove and serve immediately.

If the cheese starts to cool while you are eating, you can put it back on the stove for a minute or two and it will be just as good as it was at the beginning.

Enjoy this amazing new weeknight go to dinner!