Bored With Lobster...

This is a photo of me sometime in the 1980's at the ripe age of three or four looking thoroughly bored with lobster..

For those who grew up in any area of the country other than where I did (New England) this may be an unthinkable situation, but there were times where it was less expensive to buy lobster than steak...and I think that this must have been one of those times.

Additionally, I grew up spending many summers in Maine with my grandparents, and my grandmother felt it her duty to provide her guests with as much lobster as they wanted (which as you can imagine probably made her have a facial expression similar to mine at times).

So...let's get creative with the things that you can do with lobster...

Jamie Oliver has a recipe for lobster mac and cheese that will make your family and guests think that you got it from a fancy steak house.

You can make lobster pizza.  My grandmother did this once or twice and I have to admit that while interesting, it was not necessarily my favorite.  I do not remember my grandmother's having bacon on it, but this recipe from the New York Times includes that as a tasty additional treat.

This lobster risotto recipe from Williams-Sonoma will likely leave your mouth feeling like it has just experienced heaven.

...but I always fall back to the thing that has always left me with a smile...a simple, New England style Lobster Roll.  No extra filler.  A buttery bun.  Cains mayo.  Here is the recipe...


New England Lobster Roll

Ingredients:
1 lb. freshly picked lobster meat, chopped
Cains mayonnaise to taste
2 New England style hot dog rolls
2 Tbsp. Butter, softened

Directions:
Move your oven rack to the top position and turn the broiler on.

Place the picked lobster meat in a bowl and add a spoonful or two of Canes mayonnaise.  You want to lightly coat the meat, but you do not want the mayonnaise flavor to overpower the flavor of the lobster meat.

Butter both sides of two New England style hot dog rolls.  Place them under the broiler with one of the buttered sides up.  Watch the buns carefully and remove them when they start to brown.  Flip the buns and repeat the same thing with the other side of the bun.  Remove them from the oven when both sides have a nice buttery yellow center and crispy light-brown edge.

Place half of the meat in each of the two buns.

Stop here.  Do not do anything else to the food.  Except, of course, eat it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, so you probably have a million recipes for chocolate chip cookies, but I promise you that these will become your favorite if you are willing to give them a whirl.

I started making these shortly after my oldest child was born eight and a half years ago, and I have probably made several hundred of them since then, but it was not until a year or two ago that I realized my favorite thing about this dough...

You can freeze it!

That is right...hot, yummy chocolate chip cookies whenever you want them.

The recipe makes about five dozen small cookies, so it will last your family a while.  Or, if you are single, it could literally last you two months (which is as long as I would recommend freezing them for).

You start with a dough that is quick and easy, you make some cookies balls with a small scooper, you freeze or bake them, and you have cookies.  It is that simple.    

Here is the dough...this is the moment when you have decide if you are the type of person who takes the risk and eats the dough raw,* or the type of person that needs to wait until it is cooked...

Half of my cookies today are going straight to the freezer.  If using this awesome option line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place the cookies on the sheet in neat scooped shapes and freeze for about six hours.  When the dough is fully frozen you can place it into a large plastic freezer bag for up to two months.  When you are ready to cook them follow the same cooking instructions as the recipe below.  Check the cookies after eight or nine minutes and see if they need an additional minute or two, usually they do not.

I had a tray of these in the refrigerator tonight and my friend who was over asked if I had rules against eating one in this raw state.  As mentioned above, there is a risk associated with eating raw or undercooked eggs, but since these are pasteurized and organic I told her that if she was comfortable with it I was too.  (Plus I had already eaten a spoonful or two while I was making the dough...details...)

Whenever I make the dough I have to taste-test just a few to make sure that I did not make any mistakes, so I baked some up for the family as an afternoon snack.  Here are my nine little cookie soldiers about to come out of the oven...

The finished product...

Elizabeth’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened 
3/4 cup golden brown sugar 
3/4 cup sugar 
1 extra large egg 
2 teaspoons vanilla** 
2 1/4 cups unbleached flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 scant teaspoon table salt 
12-14 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Add the egg and mix until well incorporated.

Add vanilla and mix for one minute. 

With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients into the mixture about ½ cup at a time until fully incorporated. 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed until creamy.

Stir in chocolate chips on low for about 10 seconds.

Use a scoop to make uniform size cookies. Bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes.

*Because raw or undercooked eggs cause the majority of Salmonella illnesses, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not recommend eating eggs that are raw or undercooked. However, the USDA also says, “In-shell pasteurized eggs may be used safely without cooking.”--Copied directly from the USDA

**Using high quality vanilla really makes a difference in baked goods.  Please consider investing in the high-test.  You will thank yourself later.

Rookie Mistake...

Forgive me blogger, for I have sinned.  It has been many months since my last confession...

So, my husband went to bed before the kids tonight, and that left me with some time to myself in the kitchen.  I started by pulling out the ingredients to make the cinnamon rolls that need to be done before the end of the weekend only to realize that I was one ingredient short.  No worries, it is the holiday season and there is plenty of baking to be done...

Several weeks ago I met one of my new neighbors, and like I often do when I meet someone new, I immediately over-committed by telling her that I would bring her fudge for Christmas.

Secretly I hoped that she might forget, but on Monday she showed up to my house with the biggest plate of cookies that I have ever had someone bring me...seriously...it was huge.  Before departing, she reminded me (in a way that only women over the age of 70 can) that I had promised to bring her fudge.  I told her that I would bring it this weekend.

This leaves me with an outstanding promise to make fudge and a missing ingredient to make cinnamon rolls, so I decided to get to it.

"My" fudge recipe is great and super easy to make.  A little messy, but totally worth it.  Only, it is not really my recipe at all.  It is a dear friend's recipe who gave it to me with the understanding that I would not bring the fudge to people because it is her thing to do.  Well, now that she lives in a completely different part of the country than I do I figured that it was safe to share the joy.  Here's hoping she does not read this post ;)

Although perhaps what went down was my punishment...

I made the first layer of the fudge and everything was going according to plan.

I started on the second layer and we were good to go...right up until I poured the peppermint extract in, and discovered it was mint extract.  The minute it left the bottle and splashed into the bowl my nose knew I was toast.  The way this recipe works, there is no saving the middle layer.

I was really irritated with myself...mint verses peppermint...it is such a rookie mistake!  There were words coming out of my mouth that I am too much of a lady to share here, but trust me...it was not pretty.

So, fudge is ruined, neighbor is not going to forget about it, friend who gave me the recipe has probably cursed it in some way that made this happen...what now...

Well, at the risk of sounding corny, my sweet parents always taught me to make lemonade out of lemons (I have some friends that could share stories about the strawberry vodka lemonade that I made out of lemons once, but that is a recipe for another time)...

...it was time to think on my feet.

I quickly rummaged through my cupboard and found mini marshmallows and pretzels...I threw them in as the middle layer, spread another chocolate layer on top, and now only time will tell...

At least I never told the neighbor that I am a good cook...

Cook Once...Eat Twice?

We all know the old saying, "Measure twice, cut once," well I like to do a version of that with cooking.

I LOVE to cook, but I am a really busy Mom with three young kids who all become needy little vultures between 4 p.m. and dinner time so sometimes it has to be easy.  Here is the thing though...often easy means bad and bad for you and I am not a fan.

How do I deal with it?

I find great recipes that freeze really well.  In fact, when I started to think about what kind of cookbook I wanted to write I often thought that maybe a freezer friendly cookbook would be the answer.

I will try freezing almost anything once and you should too...

How do we eat twice?  Some people do this with leftovers, but they are not very popular in my house so instead I make something for dinner one night and I either split the recipe in two (or sometimes three...that really makes me happy) or double it depending on how much I think that my family will eat.  I take the portion that is not for that night, cover it in plastic wrap and foil, label it and put it in the freezer.

Here are a few tips having to do with freezing...

1. Always remember to remove the plastic wrap before you cook it.  My lasagna recipe cooks with the pan covered for the first hour and once I left the plastic wrap on by mistake...when I discovered it the words that came out of my mouth were neither lady-like or appropriate for this blog.  Needless to say, the lasagna was ruined.  Do not do this to yourself.

2. Keep an inventory somewhere of what you have in the freezer.  I am too lazy to do this, but it is a really great idea.  It really irritates me when I have to throw out a tasty dish because I forgot about it in my freezer for a year.

3. Sometimes it is good to leave off a topping like bread crumbs or cheese and add it the night that you cook it.

4. Unless something specifies that it can go right from the freezer to the oven (like a lasagna or baked ziti) make sure that you thaw it overnight.  Thawing on your counter IS NOT SAFE.  That said, I have done it and will do it again because I am really forgetful (see comment re: being a busy mom).  Every time that I do it though I wonder if this is the time that we will all get really sick...plan ahead...do not be me.

5. Decide when the best "phase" of the recipe would be for freezing.  This requires some thought in some cases like with a lasagna (freeze it uncooked) and very little thought in others like a quiche (freeze it cooked).  There is a little risk taking in this step, but with time you will learn what works and what does not and your judgments will become better every time.

Here are some of my favorite freezer meals...try one this weekend...

Williams Sonoma Three-Cheese Manicotti (freeze before cooking, thaw before cooking)

Baked Ziti IV (freeze before cooking, thaw before cooking)

Pioneer Woman BBQ Comfort Meatballs (freeze after browning, thaw before cooking)

French Women Don't Get Fat Chicken Marinade (do this with many chicken breasts at a time and freeze in portions in Ziploc bags...we eat this at least once a week in the summer...thaw before cooking)

The Quesadillas My Husband Did Not Appreciate...

Let me start with this: my husband loves and appreciates my cooking. He has many friends with wives who either do not cook, or who do not cook well, so he knows that he has a good thing. As you might imagine though, he is my guinea pig and my first line critic, which means that he does not always get the best of what comes off of my stove. Usually, if he does not like it I probably do not like it either (with some exceptions because he is a picky eater: no fish, no food on the bone, etc.). However, sometimes he is just wrong.

Yeah, I said it honey, sometimes you are wrong. (Sorry).

One such instance: the BEST quesadilla that I have ever made/had.

These quesadillas were so good and so perfectly full of fall flavor that they literally make my mouth water every time I think about them. Brie, caramelized onions, apples, chicken...they were amazing! So, I am sharing the recipe with you. Cook them and enjoy them! If you do not think that your spouse/partner/friend will enjoy it as much as you will, do yourself a favor and invite someone over who will...

Jim's (least favorite) Quesadillas (makes 2, double to make 4)

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. of butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 small wheel of brie cheese, sliced
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 apple (preferably something crispy like honeycrisp or granny smith), sliced
4 large flour tortillas

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the thinly sliced onions and toss to coat in the fat mixture. When fully coated, add the sugar. Stir the onions occasionally until they become very soft and deeper in color (20-30 minutes). Place the onions on a plate and wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.

Return the pan to the heat.

Melt 1 teaspoon of butter in the pan. Place one tortilla in the pan and swirl around in the butter. Remove the tortilla and set aside. Place a second tortilla in the pan and top with the cheese, chicken breast, apple, and caramelized onions. Place the first tortilla on the top and press down on it with a spatula. When the cheese has begun to melt and the bottom tortilla has become a light brown, carefully flip the quesadilla and cook on the other side until it is also light brown. Remove, and repeat with the remaining ingredients.

When both quesadillas have been removed, slice each into four pieces and serve.

I Am Still Here!

It has been a long time...too long...I apologize.

Here is the thing... When you become pregnant (again) things shift. My priorities changed overnight. I did not want to cook, I preferred to sleep. I did not want to eat meals, I preferred to snack. Soon I was repulsed by food. I was unable to sleep. Then the baby came and things changed even more.

The important thing...my food blog is back!

With three little ones, my priorities have shifted slightly (as mentioned above) so you will have to roll with it. I have abandoned my cookbook dream for now (not forever) so the voice of this blog will change a little...it will now just be about the joy and pain of cooking.

Leave your comments and let me know what you think! I am excited to be back!

(Next blog topic: The Quesadillas My Husband Did Not Appreciate)

Hello Again...and Candy...

So, I have been on an extended posting vacation. My two young children and I seemed to have been sick for most of the winter and it has really slowed down my cooking. However, I am back! (For now at least).

As I sit at my computer with a tasty strawberry ring pop attached to one of my fingers it reminds me of my love for candy. Ever since I was a young girl I have loved candy. There were times in college where that and nachos were all I ate...small budget. Here is the thing though...I do not have what I call the candy touch.

I have several dear girlfriends who make AMAZING candy during the holidays. My sweet friend, Laura, never fails to bring me delish caramels that are always perfectly chewy and gooey. My darling friend, Nicole, sends me her incredible toffee and caramels from California and my mouth literally starts watering when I see the box arrive. (Nicole likes to mention on occasion that one couple actually got divorced over her candy--it really is THAT good!)

I am a good cook and a great baker...why does making candy usually end in failure for me?

I have thought about this question at great length and still have no good answer. I burned one batch of caramel so badly this year that I spent (literally) a month scrubbing the bottom of an All Clad pot (eventually resorting to the ever taboo steel wool, which I might add worked like a charm and left no scrapes). Here is what I have decided to live with for now...Martha Stewart aside, no one can be good at everything in the kitchen, and candy making is best left for those who have the aforementioned candy touch. Plus, getting it as a gift means no clean up for me.

I will continue to practice my hand at candy occasionally, but in the meantime, perhaps some of my dear friends who are so good at this craft will consider being guest contributors to the cookbook and will share their secrets for making some of the best candy these lips have ever tasted...