Recipe: French Onion Risotto

We are big fans of risotto, as is evidenced by the number of risotto recipes we have shared on the blog, so it should come as no surprise that the first recipe we wrote our own recipe it was with risotto.

Together we created the following recipe based on the classic French Onion soup.  It is delicious on its own or with a simple salad or served as part of a meal along with a protein such as steak.  The melted cheese on top is a must as it adds a creamy finish to the meal!

French Onion Risotto

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of arborio rice
3 cups beef stock
1 cup water
Slices of Swiss cheese--Gruyere would also work here but Swiss was what we had on hand!


Kitchen Supplies:
Medium stockpot
Large 4 cup measuring bowl
Wooden spoon
Ramekins or another ovenproof bowl for melting the cheese under the broiler
Oven mitts

Melt butter in stockpot over medium heat and then add onion.  Allow to soften and caramelize until the onions become golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Add rice, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until the edges become semi-translucent.  Add wine, again stirring constantly until it reduces down by half, about 2 minutes.  Add 1 cup of the stock-water mixture, stirring--you guessed it--constantly.  Once it is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock-water mixture at a time over the course of 25 minutes, allowing it to reduce each time before adding the additional mixture.

 Ladle into soup bowls and top with three slices of Swiss.  Turn broiler on high and place bowls under the broiler allowing the cheese to melt and bubble.  Remove carefully and serve.

Serves: 4

This recipe was truly a team effort and I love that we came up with this recipe together!  Not only that, this meal means I can cross another item off my 130 Before I'm Thirty list:

27. Write my own recipe for one dish 

And the best part, at least for us, is that we have enough leftovers to eat it again for lunch today!  I will be pairing it with some fresh greens from our Farmer's Market trip and perhaps a small piece of blackberry pie for dessert.  Yum yum!

 P.S. Today marks two years since we adopted Woods.  Happy Gotcha Day Bubba!

Menu Tuesday, Homemade Gnocchi and Where I've Been

My sincere apologies that I've been MIA around here for another week.  I took an unexpected break to spend time with family in Peoria for Easter and boy did I need it!  As much as I love this blog and all of you, it felt great to spend a few days not constantly thinking about what I will blog about next or scrambling to get my camera so that I can document everything for the blog.  I guess I'm finding that balance I talked about with my New Years resolutions back in January.  I am now rested, refreshed and ready to jump back into blogging!

I normally share our weekly menu on Mondays but I ran out of time yesterday between work and errands that couldn't wait after the long weekend.  I am sharing it today because I am really excited about our menu this week, especially because it uses some of the turkey and hot ham leftovers from Easter dinner on Sunday and includes some recipes from our new cookbook which was our gift from the Easter Bunny.

Monday: Homemade Turkey Pot Pies, similar to this recipe but this time we used leftover creamed potatoes and a splash of fat free milk instead of cream!

Tuesday: Croque Monsiuer Mac and Cheese--photos and recipe to follow!

Wednesday: Ham and Bean soup--photos and recipe to follow!

Thursday: Tangerine Beef with Scallions and Veggie Stirfy--photos and recipe to follow!

Now as promised, a recipe for homemade gnocchi I made last week.  Inspired by this lovely lady, I decided to try my hand at it and in the process, crossed off another item on my 130 Before I'm Thirty list.


18.  Make homemade gnocci

Gnocchi with Butter Thyme Sauce, taken from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 (1 pound) russet potato
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup shaved Pecorino Romano--I used grated cheese


Kitchen Supplies:
Heavy medium skillet
Large bowl
Fork
Medium stockpot

Cook the butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add the thyme leaves and set aside.

Pierce the potato all over with a fork.  Microwave the potato until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes.  Using a hot pad, cut the potato in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; discard the skin. 

Using a fork, mash the potato well.  Mash in the salt and pepper.  Mix in 3 tablespoons of the egg, discarding the remaining egg.  Sift in the flour and knead until just blended.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.  Roll each piece between your plams and the work surface into 1/2 inch diameter rope (about 20 inches long).  Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces.  Roll each piece of dough over the tines of the fork to form grooves in the dough.  If you have a wooden paddle with ridges, you are welcome to use this instead.

Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until the gnocchi rise to the surface, about 1 minute.  Continue cooking until the gnocchi are tender, about 4 minutes longer.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the hot thyme-butter in the skillet.  Toss to coat.  Spoon the gnocchi and butter sauce into shallow bowls.  Top with Pecorino and serve.

Serves: 4 to 6

This was a tasty recipe but my gnocchi was quite dense and potatoey, not at all like the pillowy taste and texture I was expecting.  I wonder if a ricer from this wish list would have helped with the airiness.  Traditional gnocchi uses semolina flour as potatoes were not introduced to Italy until the 16th century, which would also be something to try.  Overall it was tasty and better yet, I get to cross another item off my list!

What's on your menu this week?  Any new recipes that didn't turn out quite as you expected?  Do tell!

Goal Tending and I'm Swamped

This is just a brief note to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but have become swamped at work and have not had a break all day long!  I will be back this evening with this week's Remember When post but until then, here are a few 130 updates I've been meaning to share!

Image via weheartit

58. Blog twice a day, five days a week for two months straight accomplished 3/1/2011!

I actually posted more than that over the course of January and February (42 posts in January and 46 posts in February) and while some of them were on the weekends, I am going to count this goal as accomplished since I went above and beyond the requirements I set out for myself!  This goal was a lot more challenging than I first realized, especially with a full time job and other responsibilities.  While I still will be posting twice a day when I can, it's nice to know I can miss a time or two without worrying about not reaching my goal.

105. Deposit one year's tax refund directly into savings account accomplished 3/5/2011!

Thanks to J's organizational skills (and knowledge from taking tax in law school) we filed our taxes fairly early this year and already got our refund back.  It went straight into our savings account, where it will not be touched for a long time (hopefully)!

123. Watch ten new-to-me films that won the Oscar for Best Picture:  I can add another to the list, bringing the grand total so far to five in the form of The Gladiator.  I thought the movie was pretty good, but in many ways reminded me of a Roman Braveheart with some recycled story lines and themes in a been-there, done-that sort of way.  The cinematography and acting made up for some of that, which is probably why it won best picture that year!


So there you go, a few more items to cross off my list.  It sure feels good! 15 down, 115 to go!

Have you crossed anything off your to-do list lately?  Do you have a similar life list?  I'd love to hear about it!

Movie Review: The Departed (and an update on our weekly menu)

After carrying around The Departed for more than a week thanks to our Netflix subscription, (seriously it came with us to Peoria and to South Haven but never left my bag), we finally sat down to watch it last night after dinner.  As fate would have it, we made corned beef and cabbage last night for dinner before we watched a movie about Boston and the Irish mob.  I couldn't have planned that dinner and a movie pairing better if I had tried! 

So this photo has very little to do with corned beef or the movie, but it reminded me of my beloved childhood dog Rojo, so I had to share it!

You may recall that corned beef was slated for Tuesday night dinner but when the TV meteorologists were calling for power outages, thunder snow and thunder sleet, I thought twice about making it (luckily the reports were over exaggerated for our area!).  I didn't want to start making the corned beef in our crock pot only to lose power half way through its cooking.  So we had frozen pizza for dinner instead. 

Turns out one of the main ingredients you need to make homemade miso soup, dashi, can only be found in Asian or specialty food stores around here and I didn't make it out in time before the storm hit.  Miso soup and spring rolls will be pushed back until this weekend.

Anyway, back to the movie.  The first thing that must be said is that it has an amazing cast.  Beforehand I knew that Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon were in it, but I was blown away by the supporting cast as well: Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and Vera Farmiga (from Up in the Air)!  All of the players were wonderful and it was great to see so many "familiar" faces pop up throughout the film.  And of course, it was directed by a very famous director, Martin Scorsese, which always helps when trying to get big players like Baldwin, Sheen, Wahlberg and Nicholson together for a film.

I am by no means a Scorsese film expert but it was obvious to me after watching the film why he finally won the Oscar for Best Director for this film versus all the other times he was nominated (7 times total thus far).  The film was better composed and carried out than Gangs of New York or The Aviator.  I felt that Scorsese delivered on his promise much better in The Departed than he did in his other films (Goodfellas notwithstanding).

Image taken from here

Both Gangs of New York and The Departed seemed to be odes not only to organized crime (Tamnaney Hall and Boss Tweed in Gangs of New York and the Irish mob in The Departed) but to the cities themselves.  The character of the cities and the varied backgrounds and cultures of their inhabitants really shone through on screen.

The movie is suspenseful and full of twists and turns, so I won't spend much time here going over the plot so as not to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet.  Just know that it was a great movie and that it was another Best Picture film to add to my 130 list!

Have you seen The Departed or any other Scorsese movies?  What do you think?!

130 Goals Update: Oscar Films

As I mentioned in this post, I am going to try this year to see all of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year; one because it is on my 130 list and two, because all of the films out right now look so good!

Now I realize they have not announced the nominees for Best Picture yet but the Golden Globes and critics' reviews are always good indications.  Based on this information, J and I went and saw two movies this week that I am sure will be nominated (and if they are not they were still great films worth seeing): The King's Speech and Black Swan.  Technically J saw three because he went with some friends for a boy's night on Sunday to see True Grit (for them it was like a Big Lebowski reunion)

Image taken from here

Once I have collected my thoughts on Black Swan (I just saw it last night and it made it hard for me to sleep) and The King's Speech I will be sure to share them with you all. 

Next up, True Grit (for me), The Fighter and Social Network.  I've heard some dark horses for the race include Toy Story 3, Inception and The Kids are Alright.  With ten possible nominations to be announced on January 25th, I better get crackin'!

Have you seen any good movies lately?  Any plans to see one this weekend?  


P.S.  I've added a page to the blog called Film Class with the hope of eventually filling it with film reviews and so forth.  If you are reading this with Google Reader, go on over and check it out!

Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

Over the weekend J and I watched The Hurt Locker thanks to our new Netflix subscription (this one we got by mail instead of instant view which we have made a lot of use over the past few weekends).  We did not see it when it was out in theaters last year and so it qualified toward number 123 on my 130 list since it beat out Avatar for Best Picture!

Image taken from here

I was somewhat familiar with its premise beforehand but basically the film follows a bomb unit at the end of their tour of duty in Iraq and shows the struggles and dangers armed service members face while over there.  The music in the film was very good and definitely added to the suspense and tension throughout the movie.  The acting was very good as was the cinematography.  However, I couldn't help but think during the movie that James Cameron was robbed when Avatar didn't win Best Picture.

I absolutely believe Kathryn Bigelow deserved to win for Best Director and that it took way too long for a woman director to win the Oscar for Best Director!  However, if you look at how Avatar and the way it was filmed and the technology it used and the way those things advanced film, I think it should have won Best Picture.  I am not a huge fan of James Cameron personally but I still think Avatar was a better motion picture in terms of moving the industry forward.  While the storyline of Avatar felt a bit more stale (since it was so similar to Dances With Wolves), it was nonetheless a groundbreaking film.

I guess what it comes down to is what you value in a Best Picture film: superb acting, directing and cinematography on a timely topic (The Hurt Locker) or a film with good directing, vision and groundbreaking technology (Avatar).

Which one do you think deserved to win Best Picture?

Gifts Galore Part 3: Homemade with Love

Considering it's mid-January, I think it's time we wrap up this holiday gift series, don't you?  I thought about leaving this post out all together but the gifts are so unique and heartfelt I just had to share them, even if it's just a record for years to come so I can look back and remember what I got for Christmas in 2010.

First, I received some very special homemade gifts from my Grandma D (whose famous Christmas cookies I shared with you here).  She knitted J and me beautiful scarves to keep us warm this winter along with some house goods that will add a great deal of cheer to our kitchen.  She cross-stitched pictures and the names of fruit on large white kitchen towels, perfect for decorating our oven door or using to help get fresh bread dough to rise.   Here is a little collection of the towels--aren't they bright, fun and just a little bit retro.  I love them and love them even more because I know my grandma made them especially for me!

She also sent us several crocheted wash clothes which we have been using almost daily.  These are great because the holes from crocheting allow the cloths to dry quickly which avoids any mold or musty smells from taking hold.  My favorite is the bright yellow one!

Next, J and I received a very unique and special gift that we will definitely use come football season next year!  It is no secret that J and I root for different football teams: he, being a good Nebraska boy, the Huskers and I, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish.  Therefore, his mom had a bowling ball made for display in our home to let everyone know where our loyalties lie.  

I envision us switching which side faces the front next year based on which game we are watching.  

With Nebraska joining the Big Ten, it might not be that many years before Notre Dame and the Huskers have a rematch game!  That will be a challenging day for our marriage.

The final homemade gift we received was from my brother Dan and was also football related.  This requires a bit of back story however.  My grandparents (the ones who sent us the homemade gifts featured above) are very avid Minnesota Vikings fans and have some of the best tailgate parties during the games.  A vital part of the games, however, was the foam brick, painted in its purple and gold, which was always perched on a TV tray, ready for action.  This was used during games to throw at the TV when the referee or coach made a bad call.  It was and is a great way to get out frustration during the game without doing actual harm to yourself, the TV or those around you!  Dan made a brick for each of us, again with our team colors on them.  I am hoping I won't have to use my brick too much during next year's season, but I will be ready just in case!

So there you have it, part three of our holiday gift series.  Did you get or give anything handmade for Christmas this year?  I'm always looking for homemade gifts (in fact giving all homemade gifts for Christmas one year is number 74 on my 130 list) so let's hear it!

Weekend Recap

This weekend, the last before J returns for his final semester of law school (woohoo!) was spent in a fairly low key manner, which was much needed after all the traveling and busyness of the last few weeks.  Because I like bullet points and I seem to do this every weekend, here is a little breakdown on what we did (and a preview of some posts to expect this week)!

We:

• Went to Applebee's for dinner on Friday night.  We had gotten gift cards there as a Christmas gift from a friend and because we got the 2 for $20 deal, we will be able to have another dinner out again with the remaining balance!
• Watched The Hurt Locker thanks to Netflix, another new-to-me Best Picture movie that will help me cross off number 123 on my 130 list (2 down, 8 to go for those keeping track at home)--my thoughts on the film to follow!
• Spent Saturday morning with J watching the Food Network
• Went ice skating with my Little from Big Brothers, Big Sisters in Forest Park.  It was cold but fun.  She has been asking to go ice skating since we were matched almost a year ago!
• Visited Square One Brewery and Distillery in Lafayette Square--J enjoys a good gin so when he heard they distill their own liquor, he jumped at the chance to try it out!--details and photos forthcoming
• Picked out our favorite houses in Lafayette Square and agreed that it would be a dream come true if we could buy an old house in that area and fix it up ourselves!
• Made some delicious pancetta, spring onion and lemon risotto for dinner Saturday night--basically a combination of this recipe and this recipe.  We ate it with fresh baguette and our good olive oil from here for dipping.
• Watched almost an entire season of Arrested Development thanks to Netflix Instant View!
• Went to church on Sunday morning
• Watched the Sunday NFL playoff games
• Made pumpkin muffins and hard boiled eggs for quick and easy breakfasts this week
• Watched the last season premiere of Big Love on HBO

How was your weekend, friends?

Resolutions

It's okay to still be sharing resolutions even though it's almost half way through January, right?!  I promised back in this post I would share some with you all (if for no other reason but for you to help keep me stay accountable!) but with the nasty cold I came down with after traveling and lots of work at work, I've been a bit behind!
Like others (including my girls Lauren, Ashlee and Ashly) I am trying not to get too ambitious with resolutions this year lest I not accomplish any of them.  Here a few things I'd like to focus on this year:

1.  Entertain more.  J and I love cooking for people and having them over for dinner.  Over the last year, J and I have cooked for our friends a few times (see our dinner with JY and Ashlee here, and our dinner with the lovely Mrs. Z(ed) here) but this is something I'd really like to kick into high gear this year!

Image taken from here and here originally

2.  Exercise more.  J and I both have been guilty of slacking off since our wedding in June.  I'd like to step this up this year--who knows, maybe by the end of it I'll be ready to run a Half Marathon and thereby cross off number 83 on my 130 list!

Image taken from here and here originally.

3. Eat smart.  This means taking care with what I chose to fill my body with by watching things like my salt and calorie intake as well as becoming educated on where my food comes from.

Image taken from here and here originally 

4.  Enjoy life more.  I'd like to find a better work-life-blog balance around here so I am not spending night after night typing away while J watches movies mostly by himself (I'm listening but not very present to him or our cat Woods) and I'm not trying to frantically type a post at 7:30 am before work at 8:00.



Image taken from here and here originally

5. Engage more.  I'd like to become more engaged in my friendships with people and with my community more generally.  This year I'd like to take time to really listen to people in conversations I have with them (no active listening or interrupting!), read the newspaper, write to politicians on issues I care about and volunteer. I've been blessed with so much over my twenty five years: J, family, friends, health, happiness.  This year, I'd like to give something back!

Image taken from here and here originally

What are your resolutions for the new year?

Homemade Pasta or Trial and Error

Last week after J and I picked up my car after getting the tires fixed and rotated (we came home from our trip to a flat tire because unbeknownst to us it had a nail in it) we stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond to look around.  We had a gift card from a friend from our wedding and were trying to decide what to do with it.  We thought about getting a new floor lamp (since our living room doesn't have overhead lights) like this one:

Or a grill pan like this one:

Or a food mill like this one:

 But then I found this beauty.  And remembered number 17 on my 130 list and we snatched it up.

Woods investigates our new purchase

While J was in Omaha this weekend, I decided to give the pasta maker a spin.  I had made homemade pasta twice before: once as a child with my parents and once with my Sicilian roommate in college.  I had done mostly watching during these two times, which might account for my early mixed results.

When J and I began dating, he bought me this cookbook from Williams-Sonoma.  We've made several recipes over the years and I turned to it again for directions to make the pasta.

You begin by making a nest with 3 3/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour and crack four eggs in the center of the nest.  The book recommends using a wooden or plastic surface because stainless steel or marble would chill the dough, reducing its elasticity.

You may want to use an open hand to make sure none of the egg flows out.  I didn't do this so well, as you can tell by the little egg puddle at the bottom right of the photo below.

I don't have pictures of these next few parts because my hands were busy and I wasn't sure it would even work out.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt.  Begin scrambling eggs in the center of the nest with a fork, again holding the sides to prevent seepage.  Begin incorporating flour into the mixture with the fork, until the mixture is too thick to continue with a fork.  At this point, you will want to kneading the dough with the palm of your hand, incorporating as much flour as you can.  Once the dough becomes thin, fold it over on itself and continue kneading.

I ended up with a larger size ball and several small sized pieces that wouldn't incorporate.  The cookbook assured me this was normal and instructed me to clear off the surface and discard the small pieces.  You may need a small dusting of flour to keep the ball from sticking when you place the dough back on the board.

I then began working with the dough, kneading it with my palms for the recommended fifteen minutes until the mixture became more smooth in appearance and less sticky.  I continued for another five to ten minutes because it didn't have the appearance I was told to expect.   Once I felt I was finally there, I then smoothed it out and covered with plastic wrap for thirty minutes to "relax the dough before rolling out."

Here is where I think I went a bit astray.  The directions in the cookbook and the manual that came with the pasta machine told me to cut the dough into fourths and begin feeding it through the machine.  It then told me to fold the dough in half once it had gone through one pass, continuing this pattern over and over as the dough got thinner and thinner.

My dough was much too thick to go through the machine, although I tried at first which all but destroyed the first quarter of the dough.  

The second quarter I rolled out first with a rolling pin which helped a lot in that department but the process of folding over still left huge holes and tears in the sheets, which would make it difficult to feed through the fettuccine/spaghetti cutter later on.

I was a bit frustrated at this point and decided to abandon the rules.  At that point, I got two decently long  quarters from quarters three and four respectively.  I slowly turned the handle and feed each piece through without folding, which left me with much longer sheets.

I then fed them through the fettuccine cutter, with good results.  Taking a page out of my earlier experiences, I practiced on some of the smaller sheets from quarters one and two in case it didn't turn out.  I didn't want to waste the two good looking sheets on early mistakes!  

This is what I was left with:

It wasn't a lot of pasta, but enough for me to eat--good thing that it was just me trying this for the first time!  By this time, it was 3:30 and I was due to have dinner at 5:15 before Spamalot, as discussed here.

I made a simple sauce and tried a few bites, storing the rest in the fridge for J and I to finish the next day. The pasta wasn't as light as I remembered it being when I made it with my roommate, which I think might have to do with the flour I used and the length of time I had to knead the dough to get it to come together (20-25 minutes vs. recommended 15 might have made it tough).  In the future, I'd like to try using some semolina flour or a combination of semolina and unfiltered flour to see if that works better!

Has anyone attempted homemade pasta before?  What type of flour do you use?  Any tips?  I'd love to hear from you!

Stay tuned for the recipe for the sauce after lunch today!

NYE Recipe: Beef Wellington

I almost couldn't believe my luck.  My dad, independent of my 130 list, decided to make Beef Wellington for dinner on New Years Eve.  I had already offered to help him in the kitchen this year, hoping some of his cooking prowess would rub off on me, and I jumped at the chance to make Beef Wellington for everyone and thereby cross another goal off of my list!

This recipe is a little different than a traditional Beef Wellington because instead of using a beef tenderloin, it calls for beef fillet steaks.  If you are cooking for a large crowd or serving this as part of a multiple course meal, these smaller fillets take less time and are easier to work with.

The beef is so hearty and filling, it only needs a very simple side dish such as Creamy Napa Cabbage Alfredo, pictured below, or a salad tossed simply with oil and vinegar.

Beef Wellington, adapted by my dad from a Mastercook recipe

Ingredients:

4 beef fillet steak, 6 ounces each

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 17 1/2 ounce puff pastry

4 ounces goose liver pate, sliced--we used canned pate, which tasted great and is a lot easier to find in grocery stores

1 large egg, beaten

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons shallots, minced

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

10 ounces button mushrooms, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 cups reduced beef stock

1 tablespoon butter

1 canned truffle, very thinly sliced

4 ounces duck liver, cut in 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 cup madeira


Kitchen Supplies:
Rolling pin, for rolling out puff pastry
Parchment paper
Medium skillet
Baking sheet
Heavy sided skillet
Can opener, if using canned pate
Pastry brush, for egg wash on top of pastry
Small saucepan

Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat.  Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.  Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until all liquid has evaporated, and the mushrooms begin to caramelize, about 12 minutes.  Add the wine and cook to deglaze the pan and let the liquid evaporate.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Season both sides of beef filets with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a heavy sided skillet over medium high heat and sear each side of the filets for 1 minute.  Transfer to a plate and cool completely.  This is very important because if the meat is warm, it will begin to cook the pastry before it goes into the oven, creating a mushy mess.

Roll out puff pastry and cut into 7 inch squares.  Spread mushroom duxelles on top of each filet and top with a slice of pate.  Press down to flatten.  Place the filet, pate side down, in the center of each puff pastry and brush edges with egg wash.  Fold into bundle.  Place folded side down on parchment paper.  Brush egg wash on top and sides.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes for medium rare.

Place beef stock in a small saucepan and heat gently, set aside.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the truffles and cook 1 minute.  Add the liver, salt and pepper and swirl the pan and cook for 45 seconds.  Add Madeira and increase heat to medium-high to deglaze the pan.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add the warm stock, stirring well to incorporate and cook until warmed through, about 30 seconds.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.  Spoon sauce in center of plate and arrange beef wellington on the top.  Serve with vegetable of choice.

Serves: 4

To make this recipe work for a crowd during a multiple course dinner, make the mushroom druxelles a day ahead and keep in refrigerator until you assemble the Wellingtons.  The sauce should also be made ahead of time and reheated at the right moment to serve.  Likewise, you can make the Wellingtons and store in the refrigerator until 45-50 minutes before the course.  Just be sure to let the Wellingtons lose some of their chill from the fridge before placing them in the hot oven!

To round out our NYE dinner recipe tour, we will finish up with Bananas Fosters, with a twist. Hint: it involves my favorite dessert, bread pudding!

New Years Eve Dinner 2011: The Menu

Starting in the year 2000, my dad began making several course dinners for New Years Eve instead of going out on one of the craziest (and most expensive) nights of the year.  That year it also meant they were close to home in case all the Y2K bug rumors turned out to be true and the world starting coming to an end...just kidding, the Y2K bug had nothing to do with their decision to stay home but it is sort of funny to think about all the stockpiling people did months before January 1, 2000.

The theme that year was Dinner Around the World and each course featured a dish from every continent (except Antarctica) with a corresponding (and complimentary) bottle of wine.  My parents enlisted my siblings and me to serve them dinner, which is one of the benefits of having four kids.  We got to eat the courses too, but in the kitchen because there was no room for us in the dining room and we were kitchen help after all.

Gradually I have moved up in the world and this year J and I got to eat at the "big kid" table with my parents and their friends.  

And boy was the food good.  I am going to share some of my favorite recipes from the dinner, with pictures, in the subsequent posts, but for now I thought I would share the table setting and menu with you all.  You know, to get your mouth salivating on this Friday morning.

First, the table setting.  Notice the three different wine glasses: one for whites, one for reds and one for champagne at midnight.  It is a good thing my mom put the champagne glasses because by the time we finished the last course, it was 11:15!  We even had to stop cleaning the kitchen to watch the ball drop at midnight.  We watched the Dick Clark one (of course!) although Ryan Seacrest did most of the hosting this year.

See all that silverware?  I sort of felt like Leo in Titanic when I sat down (we don't eat at really fancy restaurants very often, can you tell?) but then I remembered Molly Brown/Kathy Bates advice from the fancy dinner scene in First Class and started on the outside and worked my way in.

Alright enough blabbing.  Now onto the main event, the menu for this festive dinner.  The theme this year was A Night in New Orleans.  All the recipes were either Cajun recipes or recipes served by Paul Prudhomme or Emeril in their NOLA restaurants, with the exception of the mushroom crusted lamb.  We have this recipe every year for NYE (never fear I will share the recipe with you!) and it just wouldn't be NYE without it.  In fact, when my dad's friends (who we celebrate with every year) heard the theme, their first question was: will we still get the lamb?  It is that good.

New Years Eve 2010:

Scallops and Cauliflower with Caper-Raisin Sauce

Turtle Soup

Mushroom Crusted Lamb with Leek Puree

Leek Gratin

Shrimp Remoulade

Beef Wellington

Creamy Cabbage Alfredo

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Those of you who are somewhat familiar with my 130 Before I'm Thirty list may notice that we made Beef Wellington, which is on my list.  You better believe that when my dad gave us the menu a few days before New Years, I immediately enlisted myself to make the dish!

So there you go, our NYE menu.  Are you drooling yet?  Stay tuned for the recipe for the first course, Scallops and Cauliflower in a Caper-Raisin Sauce!

Gifts Galore, Part Two: For the Kitchen

Back in this post, I outlined some things we could really use in our kitchen.  Thanks to generous family and friends we have some new cookbooks, gadgets and gizmos, some of which appeared on the wish list, that we can't wait to try out.  Here they are in their glory:

China Village Wok

J and I have been cooking quite a bit of Asian food lately--we even helped make homemade sushi while we were in Pasadena last week, as I alluded to in this post (pictures and details to come)!  At home, we have been using our All-Clad large skillet, which has worked okay, except when you are trying to stir large quantities of food, like fried rice, and end up with half of it all over the stove.  Now we will be able to stir fry all sorts of things with ease and thanks to the next featured gift, we will have all sorts of new recipes to try!

Homestyle Asian Cookbook

J received this from my grandparents for Christmas.   The Asian dishes we have made so far have all been online, so it will be nice to have a source that we can use non-electronically!

Mandoline

I think this might be my favorite kitchen gadget to try out.  My dad got this for us for Christmas and gave us a demonstration on New Year's Eve with his mandoline on how to thinly slice cauliflower, among other vegetables--as promised, the menu, photographs and recipes will be coming soon!  I know that I will be using it to make French Onion Soup in the near future!

Immersion Blender

This was another wish list item I am so glad to have received!  I really could have used it last night when I made this winter soup (recipe and photos to be posted this afternoon) but because the mandoline and blender have blades that are not allowed as carry-on items on airplanes, they are getting shipped to us later this week. I can't wait to have consistently thick and creamy soups without having to pour batches of the mixture into my regular blender.  Want to know the best part, now that I got this as a gift I can cross off number 19 on my 130 list!

Mario Batali's Spain: A Culinary Road Trip Cookbook

This was a present I got for J that I forgot to mention in this post.  J traveled to Spain in high school and really enjoyed watching the PBS Series Spain...On the Road Again with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow as it reminded him a lot of his travels there.  When I saw they had a cookbook related to the series, I knew I had to get it for him.  If the pictures are any indication of how great the recipes are, we are in for a treat.  Not to mention, it would help me accomplish number 20 on my 130 Before I'm Thirty list!

So there's our kitchen-related Christmas gift round-up.  Did you get any kitchen gadgets recently?  Anyone have either the Asian cookbook or Mario Batali's cookbook?  If so, any recipe recommendations?  Let's hear it!

Back to Reality

J and I arrived in St. Louis late last night after spending the last week and a half traveling.  During that time we did the following:

• Visited 3 families in 3 states (Nebraska, Missouri and California)
• Received lots of great gifts--details coming so stay tuned!  For part one of this series, visit here
• Spent a day in San Diego walking through Old Town and eating great Mexican food
• Went to the Holiday Bowl (sadly Nebraska lost)
• Spent lots of time in my parents' newly repaired hot tub
• Had an open house with friends at my parents' home
• Went for a long hike with my mom, sister and our dogs
• Read two books: The Red Queen and The New York Regional Singles Halloween Dance--book reviews to follow!
• Made sushi with my parents and siblings--recap and photos to follow!
• Ate a fabulous New Years Eve dinner--menu, recipes and details on how I can cross another 130 Before I'm Thirty goal off my list!
• Went to the Rose Parade and viewed all the beautiful floats
• Spent lots of time laughing and sharing with family and friends
• Made some New Year resolutions--which I will share with you soon!
• Discovered our heat had stopped working sometime while we are gone--hopefully it gets fixed today
• Learned my car has a completely flat tire--looks like we will be buying new tires shortly!

Whew.  That's a lot of activities and that means there will be lot of blog posts on the horizon, so stay tuned! 

How were your holidays, friends?

Gifts Galore, Part One: Technology

J and I received an embarrassment of riches from our families for Christmas this year.  I thought I would recap some of the things we can't wait to get our hands on through a series of blog posts, grouped by theme.  As you can see from the blog post title, he first of these is technology.

J's mom Brenda was very generous and got me something I had wanted for a while.  In fact, I added it to this wish list.

What was it, you ask?  Adobe Photoshop Elements 9!

When not spending time with family and friends during this busy season, I have been playing with the software and love it!  

Want to know the best part?  I can cross off number 54 off of my 130 Before I'm Thirty list!  So be sure to stay tuned as there will be fun pictures and graphics heading your way once I figure out the software (also known as crossing off number 53 on my list).

Did anyone else get something they really wanted for Christmas, technology themed or otherwise?  What about tips for using Photoshop?  I'm all ears!

Coming Attractions: Movies I Can't Wait to See

On Thursday night Ashlee and I went to the movies and saw Love and Other Drugs.  It was a great movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway and one I would definitely recommend!  The film is rated R for a reason (fair amount of nudity) so be sure to leave the kiddos at home!  The best part of the night, other than watching Jake and Anne on screen together, was seeing all the coming attractions.  


A bit of background here:  I am the type of person that looks forward to the previews in the theaters.  J teases me about this but I hate being late to movies and missing the previews.  If a showing has weak previews (only a few or of movies that have been out for a while) I leave a little disappointed.  I know I could watch as many previews as I want online, but there is something about being in a dark theater with my soda and popcorn watching these previews unfold on screen that I just love.


But I digress.  We saw several very good previews while we were at the show, including Black Swan and The Fighter.  The lobby also had posters for several movies I had previously seen previews for: True Grit and The King's Speech.  

Source

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Looking at the posters after the film, I realized something.  This might be the year I watch all the films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture because for the first time in a long time, I want to see them all.  Usually there are one or two movies nominated that I have no interest in seeing, but so far all the films being discussed for Oscar nods look amazing!  Oh, and if I can pull this off, I will be able to cross off number127 off my list!

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What is on your must-see list this holiday season?

Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend was a busy but productive one.  As I outlined here, we had outings or activities every day this weekend.  I did manage to squeeze in a few extra things that didn't make my to-do list, some of which will make its appearance on the blog this week.  Let's just say I spent a lot of time in the kitchen and the mall this weekend.  I:

• Watched Braveheart, a new to me film that won best picture in 1995--my first of ten new to me Best Picture films I will be watching before I turn thirty.  See complete list here!
• Played Rock Band with J on Saturday night
• Made homemade chicken tenders and steak fries with J and washed them down with a cold brew
• Went to church on Sunday
• Baked two loafs of French bread for our dinner with JY and Ashlee--recipe to follow
• Baked Pumpkin Bars (my favorite dessert ever!) for aforementioned dinner--recipe to follow
• Shopped for and bought J's Christmas present
• Wrapped and gave J his Christmas present--pictures and details to follow
• Peeled and de-veined shrimp for our dinner with the Y's.  Every time I've cooked with already peeled frozen shrimp (and most shrimp you buy that is not frozen was frozen and then thawed at the market, unless you live on the Gulf coast!) the shrimp has come out rubbery and tough.  When I take the time to peel and de-vein them myself, they come out perfect every time.  More work, yes.  Worth the time and effort, absolutely!
• Made this delicious risotto--well actually J did that while I helped get everything else ready for the dinner.  This time, we added lemon zest this time instead of orange.  It was fantastic!
• Made these croutons with a simple olive oil and vinegar vinaigrette for our dinner
• Created our Christmas table setting for our dinner--pictures and details to follow

How was your weekend, friends?

Chopped

Last night on my way home I had an idea.  I called J and challenged him to a Chopped style food challenge.  Chopped is one of our favorite shows.  The premise, if you've never seen an episode, is that you have four chefs and three rounds: appetizer, entree and dessert.  Each chef receives a basket of four mystery ingredients that must be incorporated into the dish in some way.  After each round, the dishes are critiqued by a panel of three judges and a chef is eliminated, so that at the end there are two chefs going head to head in cooking their desserts.

Not only is cooking a Chopped style meal one of my 130 Before I'm Thirty goals (number 25), but we happened to have a small turkey breast and some cooked ham that my grandparents had sent home with me (it was for the luncheon that got canceled because of the weather) and a lot of random ingredients laying around.  I thought this would be a fun way to spend a Tuesday night (and it was!) and a great way to use up some of our leftovers.

After J accepted my challenge, I went to the store and picked up a few more ingredients for our "pantry" that all Chopped contestants have access to.  They have all sorts of ingredients--I picked up just a few staples: 2 limes, 2 oranges, 1 Poblano pepper, 1 Anaheim pepper, 2 green bell peppers, one bag of mixed greens, 2 apples, 1 yellow onion, french bread and a bottle of white wine.  I tried to select ingredients that we could use later this week if we didn't use them last night.  For example, I figured we could either cook with the wine or drink it with our meal.

When I got home, I pulled out the ham and a few other ingredients.  We each chose which course we would like to do.  I chose appetizer and J chose entree.  Then we picked the four mystery ingredients for the other person and wrote them down on a piece of paper.  We then exchanged lists and got to work.

My mystery basket contained:
Ham
Oranges
French Onion Laughing Cow Cheese
Celery

J's mystery basket contained:
Ham
Cannelloni beans
Black olives
Poblano pepper

Woods tried to convince us to let him be our judge but he is never allowed to have human food (as much as he would like to) so he just watched.

Sorry Woods I didn't take a very flattering picture of you.  He's not that huge, I swear!

I made a fresh green salad with warm crisp ham, caramelized red onions, sliced celery, sliced almonds and crumbled laughing cow cheese, tossed with a orange vinaigrette and served in a carved out orange with a side of toasted bread.

J made an Italian-Mexican fusion dish with a ham, Poblano, red onion, provolone cheese and cannelloni bean casserole topped with paprika.  This was served with an Italian side salad of olives, Anaheim peppers (they tasted a lot like peppercinis) and parmesan cheese which was tossed in a garlic olive vinaigrette.

 He created a garnish that married the two cultures: an olive stuffed with garlic on one end and an olive stuffed with a jalapeno on the other.

We didn't really time ourselves like they do on the show (we are not trained chefs after all) but we did try to have our dishes done at the same time so that we could sit down, eat and critique our dishes together.  We each got two burners and were better about sharing ingredients and equipment than they are on the show.  Normally I share recipes on this blog, but because we were making them up as we went along and trying to get the dishes done so we would both finish at the same time, we didn't really have a chance to write them down.

My work station

J's work station and our mutual work station

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that we both were able to take ingredients and create tasty dishes from scratch without the internet or a cookbook to help us and we both agreed that it was a great way to spend an evening. In fact, we may just have to have another Chopped challenge again soon!

Anyone else tried a Chopped style or another style of food challenge at home?  Inspired to try it yourself?
If you do, please send me pictures/details: ktrefinishingschool[at]gmail[dot]com!