Thyme For Cooking, the Blog

Season's Eatings - the pressies

As usual, with everyone's hectic schedules and the unwanted assistance of various postal systems, the first Season's Eatings recap will be a partial one.

I did NOT say it was like herding cats.

I would never say that....

There were no strikes this year and no blizzards (that I know of) so I'm hoping there won't be any packages that have gone missing for several months.  

Last season the last person to receive her gift had a Valentine's present, rather than Christmas.  Makes one wonder just where it was all that time, doesn't it?

Simona, of Bricole was the happy recipient of Peruvian Chocolate and Bacon Marmalade from Jerry, of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants.  The first thing Simona did was slather some chocolate over roasted pistachios.  Dark chocolate covered pistachios... M & M's for adults.  I'm waiting to see what she does with the Bacon Marmalade..... 

Simona sent a gift to Kate, of Kate in the Kitchen....

Update:  Kate received some buckwheat flour and fresh-milled local cornmeal from Simona. She tells me she's looking forward to pancakes this weekend.  We're looking forward to them too......

Kate sent a gift to Jayne, of Jaynerly.  Jayne, an American living in London, was delighted to find a bit of Minnesota in her package: Wild Rice and Cranberries. She made this gorgeous Wild Rice and Cranberry Salad as a treat and respite from heavy holiday foods.

Jayne sent a gift to Chris, of Mele Cotte. Despite having gremlins attacking her kitchen equipment, Chris managed to bake some beautiful Lavender Shortbread with the lavender buds Jayne sourced from a farm she discovered recently.

Chris sent a gift to Linda, of Ice Tea for Me.  Poor Linda had to run off to Italy for Christmas at the last minute (I know, such a shame) but she's looking forward to some warming soups and stews with the supply of Bay Leaves she received.

Linda sent a gift to Erin, of Daydreaming Japan. Erin, in France, received a postcard tour of Arizona, along with some green chilies and home-made pepper jam. She used some of the chilies in a Green Chile Egg Puff that even the youngest family member appears to love.

Erin sent a gift to Dan of Dan Dishes. Living in Texas what could be more appropriate than a gift of Basque peppered salt -  Fleur de Sel Guérande au piment d‘Espelette? Finding the fish to go in the dish was more of a challenge.... Something about 40 days and 40 nights???

Dan sent a gift to Kate, of Manningroad.

Update:  Kate got all the fixin's for some hot enchiladas from Dan....  She's planning on enjoying a Tex-Mex dinner soon. We look forward to hearing all about it.

Kate sent a gift to Nancy, of A Winelover's Wanderings.   Nancy found an array of Aussie Herbs and Spices (Wattleseed?).  Now if she could only find her camera cord so we can see what she's making with all that fun stuff!

Nancy sent a gift to Kerry, of The Dry Garden.  Kerry opened a package filled with apples, apple goodies and recipes for more.  I love apples..... and warm sunshine.....

Kerry sent a gift to Stacy, of Stacy and Brian's Adventures in Life.  Artisan olive oil and herbs and spices to mix into it.... Add 'a loaf of bread beneath the bough, a flask of wine, a book of verse  and thou beside me...' Another lovely holiday respite.

Stacy sent a gift to Judith..... Another mystery waiting to be solved....

Judith sent a gift to Jerry.... yet another mystery.

That closes the circle of presents for this year.

The missing bits will be added as I receive them....

And if I should have them, and don't.... remember my computer went toes-up and died 2 weeks ago ;-)

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

 

Smoked Salmon Bites

One more holiday weekend....

Eat, Drink and be Merry, for tomorrow we may diet!

You might find one or all of these small bites I made useful for a New Year's party.

Our neighbor hosted a small Christmas dinner party, for those of us, who, like themselves, were having a quiet Christmas.

She made the main course, another guest made the Christmas Pudding (brought to the table flaming with lots and lots of Brandy Butter) and I made the starter.

I debated what to make....

I wanted something festive for Christmas.

I wanted something that I could prepare completely so our hostess didn't need to do anything - no reheating or last minute baking.

I wanted something that would be easy for me to make and easy for us to transport.

I wanted it to be, at least a tiny bit, impressive.

Smoked salmon is very traditional for Christmas, normally served simply with a bit of bread and lemon, as a first course.

I decided to elaborate.

I didn't get a picture of the completed plates.... I put everything on a tray to carry down and didn't really want to handle it again for a photo.... Or disrupt dinner with my camera.

But this is what I did:

The Round Things:

I used a small pastry tin, with a scalloped edge to cut out rounds of puff pastry.  I spread one tbs of mascarpone to within a 1/4 inch of the edges, sprinkled it with capers and baked it for 12 minutes, 400F (200C). Serving: 1 per person

I cut strips of smoked salmon, rolled them and put on top.  

The Rectangle Things:

Take one sheet of phyllo dough and brush with olive oil.  Cut in half the short way. Place a double layer of smoked salmon in the middle, about 2 inches by 1 inch.  Spread two tsp of soft goat cheese on top.  Fold in the long sides of the dough, then fold the parcel over and over until done.  Brush with olive oil and bake 10 minutes, 400F (200C). Serving: 1 parcel per person.

Deviled Eggs:

Cut peeled, hard boiled eggs in half.  Remove the yolks and mash together with a bit of mayonnaise, some hot mustard and horseradish.  Spoon the filling into the white halves and sprinkle with paprika. Serving: 1 half egg per person.

The cut-outs:

I have a proper photo of these because I was 'practicing' before Christmas...

Polenta

1/4 cup quick-cooking polenta
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped pimento-stuffed green olives 

Heat the stock.  When boiling, add polenta and stir until thick, about 5 minutes. Should be very thick...
Stir in Parmesan and olives.  Lay cling film on a flat surface.  Pour the polenta on the cling film and smooth to a depth of about 1/4 inch.  Allow to cool. 
When cool cut into desired shape using small cookie cutters.

To finish:

Mix horseradish and mascarpone to taste and as much as you need (like those instructions?).  My horseradish is quite mild so I used equal parts: 6 tbs mascarpone and 6 tba horseradish. I cut out 6 Christmas trees and put 2 tbs of the mascarpone on each tree. I topped it with long strips of smoked salmon, rolled into a cylinder. Serving: 1 Christmas tree per person.

For our first course, we had one of each, on a plate to eat with knife and fork.

All but the Polenta Cut-Outs could be passed around as finger-food, and are about 2 - 3 bites each.

As to the rest of our Christmas dinner: Roast Turkey with Sage and Onion Stuffing, Gravy, Steamed Brussel Sprouts, Roast Carrots and Parsnips, Red Cabbage, Roast Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce and finished with that Flaming, Steamed Christmas Pudding and Brandy Butter.

Yeah, tomorrow we may diet......

Bonnie's a bad baby

Bonnie's been getting all the headlines lately.

That's because Guapa is a good girl and Bonnie is a bad baby.

We all know that bad gets lots more attention than good.

A wee digression.....

For any of you who remember George Carlin he once did a hilarious bit on 'shit'.... Not the substance, the word.  Keep that in mind....

Our normal day starts off with the puppies barking in answer to the farm dogs who usually start barking around 6am. 

I don't get up in the dark.  

In summer I'm happily up and about with the sun, which, in June, is around 6:30.

This time of year it's still full dark at 8:00.

I don't get up in the dark.

There's no reason to and every reason not to.

I can't take the puppies for a walk - it's dark.

I can't do the daily shit clean-up in the front garden - it's dark.

I can't have breakfast - the puppies bug the shit out of me because they haven't been walked yet.

I can't work on my computer - the puppies bug the shit out of me because they haven't spent anytime outside to, um, pee and shit.

I can't let them outside because they bark back at the farm dogs, who then bark more loudly and mine bark more loudly.... And it's dark; our neighbors are still sleeping.

So, the routine is this: If I hear them bark (they're getting smarter and don't always bark) I get up, let them out for a quick pee, then put them in their little room, give them a few toys, close the door and go back to bed.

They have had the run of the main floor at night for the past 3 months, with no problems (so far).  They like that freedom and don't really want to go back in their little room.

But they do, reluctantly.

Bonnie demonstrated her displeasure the other morning.

When I opened the door, just before 8:30 (the sun was just coming up and we could go for our walk) this is what I found:

This had been a rather large dog bed.... a foam pad covered by a soft, blue fabric.  It was big enough that they could curl up together on it.  I left it in their room as the floor is quite cold.

I know it was Bonnie because she had started working on the zipper a few days earlier.

I know it was Bonnie because I know Bonnie.

The pink circles show two of their favorite toys.  The pink arrows point to two more.

Note that all toys are tucked out of the way of their fun.

They were only in the room for 45 minutes.

I should have known something was up when they quieted down right away.....

Now they don't have a dog bed for those cold mornings - there's no heat in that room, either.

Tough Shit! 

Ham and Spinach Quiche; the update

Work continues, albeit at an ever-so-slightly slower pace this week.

One has to make some concessions to the holidays, after all.

And then, of course, there are the do-overs.

Mon mari started laying the frame for the sub-floor this week.

See those 2 holes?  

The one with the cable is the one mon mari made to attach the chandelier in the dining room.

The one without the cable was made by mon mari's foot going through the existing floor.

The do-over?

There was a slight miscalculation regarding the door.

He hung the door before the floor was started, as this room, in its unfinished state, was used as a bedroom last spring when the family was here.  

Today, as he finished the frame for the sub-floor, got it all level and that whole bit, he realized that the door, with it's frame, had to be raised about 2 inches.

It's always that 'making the floor level' part that screws things up, chez nous.

So he had to pause, take the door off, remove the frame, make the opening higher, attach the frame and hang the door.

I guess I won't make him walk the puppies tonight.....

Actually, I'm not walking the puppies, either.

Guapa has a lame leg.  I have no idea what happened, but this morning she wasn't able to put any weight on it and has been a 3-legged puppy all day.  She wants to go wherever Bonnie goes, so I've decided that no one is going anywhere.

It's very hard to get a puppy to understand she should rest and let her poor leg get better when she'd really rather be chasing bunnies, bad leg and all.

Poor baby.

It's probably Bonnie's fault.

Did you have ham for Christmas?

Do you have leftover ham?

Want to lighten things up a tiny bit? 

Ham and Spinach Quiche

The rice makes a lovely crust, much healthier than the traditional pastry... and easier too, especially if you cook the rice earlier. Use either brown or basmati rice.

Crust
1/2 cup quick-cooking brown rice 
1 cup chicken stock to yield 1 1/2 cups cooked rice 
1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) shredded cheese
1 egg
1 tsp olive oil

Filling 
8oz (250gr) ham
8oz (250gr) frozen spinach or fresh, cooked spinach 
5oz (150gr) mushrooms 
1 tsp olive oil 
3 eggs
1 cup (8oz, 240ml) cup milk
1/3 cup (3oz, 90gr) ricotta cheese 
1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) cup shredded cheese 

The rice: Cook the rice in stock. If doing in advance, refrigerate until needed. If doing now, spread the rice on a plate to cool for 5 minutes before making crust. 
The crust: Lightly whisk 1 egg. Mix cooked rice, cheese and egg. Pat into a lightly oiled quiche or 10" (25cm) pie plate, working it up the sides a bit for the edges. Bake in 400F (200C) oven for 10 minutes.
The filling: Cut ham into small strips or cubes. Thaw spinach, squeeze out all water. Trim and slice mushrooms. Heat oil in nonstick skillet and lightly sauté mushrooms. Whisk 3 eggs and milk together.
To assemble: When crust is done, remove from oven. Spread the spinach evenly over the crust. Top with ricotta, mushrooms, ham and shredded cheese. Pour egg mixture over all and bake, 40 - 50 minutes, 400F (200C). When done the center should be firm or with a very slight jiggle. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before cutting.

 Note: I usually put the quiche dish on a baking sheet to make it easier to handle – it gets kind of full.

I love leftovers....

Especially leftover chocolate ;-))

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Holidays 

                                       Healthy Solstice

 Bonne Fêtes 

 

Bon Nadal 

                                Joyeux Noël

Feliz Navidad

 

        Nollaig Shona Dhuit or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat

                           Froehliche Weihnachten

God Jul

Mele Kalikimaka

Mustard Sauce - for Baked Ham

Ham is nice.

Most of us like ham.

But in my family, it's not the ham that gets the attention, it's the mustard sauce.

There was a hotel in the area I grew up in called 'The Anderson House'.  It was a classic, small hotel that first opened its doors in 1856.  

Its most recent claim to fame was giving its guests the option of having a cat for the duration of their stay.

No comment; suffise it to say the gambit apparently didn't work as they have recently closed their doors.

But this is about their Mustard Sauce.

I don't know who amongst my extended family first made it or first got a copy of the Anderson House Cookbook with the recipe.

Over the years it has spread and my aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, siblings, cousins - 1st, 2nd and removed, all make 'The Mustard Sauce'.

No meal with ham would be complete without it.

People would leave; they would boycott; they would not eat.

You still have time to make it for your holiday dinner.  It's perfect with ham, gorgeous with smoked salmon or gravlax and works well with everything else.

It's easy to make, keeps well and you already have the ingredients in your pantry.

Trust me on this one..... You need this Mustard Sauce.

The Mustard Sauce

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain white or cider vinegar
2 tbs dry mustard
1 egg
pinch salt 
2 tbs butter

Instructions:
Crack the egg into the top of a double boiler and whisk until beaten. 
Add sugar, milk and mustard, whisk well.
Cook over simmering water for about 5 minutes, until sugar and mustard are dissolved and mixture is hot, stirring occasionally.
Add vinegar and continue to cook until thick.
Remove from heat, stir in butter and salt. 
Refrigerate. Good with almost everything and keeps a long time.

Note: if you don't have a double boiler, put a metal bowl on a saucepan partially filled with water. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. 

Happy Holidays!

 

The Babes do Christmas! It's Stollen

Stollen.

A Christmas tradition hailing from Dresden, Germany. 

According to Susan, of Wild Yeast, the Babes Host Kitchen of the Month, the bread is supposed to resemble the Christ Child in the Manger.

Use your imagination.....

And then imagine a very calm (I'm certain) Susan, pulling her beautiful Stollen out of the oven just before heading out the door.....

To her own wedding.....

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Susan and new hubs!

And doesn't her stollen look lovely?

Susan's Stollen

 Elle's Stollen

Tanna's Stollen

Elizabeth's Stollen

Astrid's Stollen

Karen's Stollen

 Natashya's Stollen

 

Lien's Stollen

 

As always, we have some very busy Babes at the moment.....

But just so you know: We're all still BABES! 

(You can tell by the panties....)

And the Babes are:

 The Bread Baking Babes

Bake My Day - Karen
blog from OUR kitchen - Elizabeth
Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle
Grain Doe - Gorel
I Like To Cook - Sara
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya
Lucullian Delights - Ilva
My Kitchen In Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie Van Lien - Lien
Paulchens FoodBlog - Astrid
The Sour Dough - Breadchick Mary
Wild Yeast - Susan

From the BBBBB (Bitchin' Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire). 

 Merry Christmas Babes!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Pan-Seared Foie Gras, Smoked Salmon and Traditions

The holidays are full of traditions; some new, some old, some we love and some we hate.

When I was growing up my family either had Sloppy Joes or Chili on Christmas Eve, followed by lots of Christmas cookies, homemade fudge, divinity, and popcorn balls.  My mother had a bit of a sweet tooth..... 

When mon mari and I married we started doing 'our' Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve as Christmas Day we would be traveling somewhere to be with the extended family for dinner.

Our tradition became a Standing Rib Roast with Yorkshire Pudding, fresh Asparagus, (which, at the time, was difficult to get, rather expensive and a real treat) and Smoked Salmon (which, at the time, was difficult to get, rather expensive and a real treat).

We ordered the smoked salmon through the Williams-Sonoma catalogue and it was shipped to us from (I think) the Spey Valley in Scotland.

Good smoked salmon (and this was wonderful) should be served simply:

Smoked Salmon with Traditional Garnish

5oz (150gr) smoked salmon, Irish or Scottish 
1 lemon
2 slices whole wheat bread, buttered, crusts trimmed and sliced into fourths
2 eggs, hard boiled
2 tbs minced onion
2 tbs small or minced capers
sprinkle of pepper 

Boil eggs - can be done earlier in the day. Peel and quarter eggs. 
OR Finely chop egg whites and yolks, keeping separate. 
Mince onion. 
To serve: lay salmon out on plates.  Arrange bread points, lemon, capers, egg, onion around salmon, pour the champagne and serve.

If the salmon is really good, I pass on the capers, onion and lemon.... Just a bit of buttered bread is all it wants. 

We were quite happy with our tradition.... Until we moved to France.

Our nice, well-established tradition ran smack into French foie gras.  When one goes into a supermarket or Christmas market this time of year the counters, piled high with foie gras, are everywhere (as well as containers of goose fat and duck fat - 'tis the season)

We both want lots and lots of Smoked Salmon....

We both want lots and lots of Foie Gras...

I have lobbied for a dinner of Smoked Salmon to start, followed by Foie Gras and Potatoes Sarlat-style (fried in duck fat) with Mont d'Or cheese (a triple cream cheese so decadent it's only available at Christmas and only in the area it's produced.... One eats it with a spoon) and dark chocolate truffles.

Then we could do it all again the next day.

Don't you think that's a great dinner menu?

Mon mari disagrees.  

He seems to think he should have real meat and some vegetables..... (Chocolate comes from beans - all the veg I need).

So, we'll have smoked salmon for one meal and the foie gras for another.

Somehow, I'll survive....

For those of you with moral issues regarding foie gras - you may stop reading now.

An entire foie gras will usually be enough for 4 people. Try for half, or 1 lobe, or plan on having it again (oh, how I suffer....).

Pan-Seared Foie Gras 

1 lobe of foie gras 
1 tbs Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp molasses
3 tbs red wine
sea salt
2 - 4 slices of whole grain bread, toasted and cut into quarters

 
The sauce:  In a small saucepan heat the vinegar, molasses and red wine and allow to reduce by half. 

The Foie Gras:  Look at the foie gras - if you see veins going through gently pull them out. Cut 6 nice slices about 1/2 inch (1.25cm) thick. 
Keep foie gras cold - take it out of the fridge to slice, then put it back in until ready to cook. 
Heat a large, heavy, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. A drop of water should sizzle and evaporate instantly. 
Put the foie gras slices in the pan and sear 40 - 50 seconds per side for rare. If you want it medium-rare cook another 5 - 10 seconds per side. 
If you have to have it more done choose something else to have as you will not like this.Remove to a paper towel for a second to absorb a bit of fat, sprinkle each side with sea salt, put on warm plates, drizzle with vinegar reduction and serve with toast points.

Now the notes:

It is easiest to clean the foie gras if it is at room temperature, but may not 
need cleaning. Mine didn't. 
It is best to slice it with a hot knife - run sharp knife under hot water.
It has to be cold before searing so refrigerate after slicing for at least 15 minutes.
Warm the plates the same way as the knife - run under hot water, then dry. They shouldn't be hot, just not cold. 

I'll be thinking of you (you know who you are) this Christmas when I make the Foie Gras......

Bonnie, the Bunny Slayer takes over as Speed Queen

'The Devil made me do it.'

Or so Bonnie likes to tell me.  

She has certainly had a bit of the devil in her lately.  

Since catching the bunny, almost 2 weeks ago, she has been taking her new role as Bunny Slayer very seriously.

What that involves, mostly, is running off as fast as she can whenever she can.

We had thought Guapa was the fast one.  

When they race around the front garden she's always in the lead.  If I throw sticks or balls she always gets them first.

Apparently, Bonnie just needs something interesting to chase.  

Mon mari took them for a walk the other day (leaving me wrapped up on the floor in computer cables).

No offence to mon mari.....

But I do have a difficult time getting him to pay attention to the little things.

Things like: latch the gate, then unhook the puppies from their leads.... NOT the other way around.

What can I say.... Bonnie saw a bunny running across the muddy field; the gate was not secure.

Mon mari learned 2 things for himself (I had told him both things but learning first hand is always best): Bonnie can outrun a fleeing, terrified rabbit and Bonnie totally ignores her humans whilst chasing said rabbit.

Thanks to a convenient bolt-hole, the rabbit escaped unscathed.

As did Bonnie.

She's no fool.  She waited until mon mari was ankle-deep in mud, trying to catch her, then she raced around him, into the garden and waited by the door.

As he has been told a gazillion times - you cannot beat chastise a dog for doing exactly what they are supposed to do - in this case, come home and sit by the door.

Still....

He was reluctant to give Bonnie her treats that night..... 

And I've noticed lately that he refers to them as 'your dogs' rather than 'our dogs'.

Braised Veal with Olives and Capers

I think I'm back.

But I've thought that before.  

The most recent was when I uploaded the photos for this update.

Photoshop very politely informed me that I had already activated the software twice, which is (apparently) my limit, so could I please deactivate one and then they would happily activate the one I was trying to use.

Or, I could buy another copy, whichever I preferred.

To be honest, I was tempted to just go to mon mari's computer and deactivate his copy....

But I didn't.

I was nice..... Not a common occurrence recently.

I went online, started a chat with someone at Adobe and got it resolved.

It's always 'just one more thing' isn't it?

So.....

This is what mon mari has been doing the past two weeks - in addition to staying far, far away from the person with the foul temper....

The second bedroom upstairs now has patched and plastered walls.

Well, 2 of them, anyway.  The other 2 will be papered.  The still need to be painted.

His big project was to hang the chandelier in what will be the dining room - which is directly below this bedroom.

It's brass and weighs more than both puppies combined so a bit of planning had to go into the hanging.

He fastened it to a beam in the floor above, which, naturally, he had to do before he laid the new floor.

It hasn't been used in 15 or 20 years, so it had to be taken apart, cleaned up and re-wired. He also had to put all new thingies (forgive the tech-speak) in for the lights as we can only get the energy-efficient kind now. 

To be fair (snicker) he was doing a bit of cursing himself trying to thread the new wire in and around the arms of this thing....

At least the puppies behaved....

Oh, who am I trying to fool. They were devils - but that story tomorrow.

We both deserved comfort food.

Braised Veal with Olives and Capers 

14oz (400gr) veal
1 cup white wine
2 carrots
1 onion
10 black olives I used dry-cured Greek olives 
10 green olives I used pimento-stuffed olives 
2 tbs capers
2 bay (laurel) leaves 
2 tsp olive oil 
1 tbs cornstarch (maizena) dissolved in 2 tbs water

Cut veal into large chunks if needed. Peel and slice carrots. Roughly chop onion. Slice olives in thirds. Heat olive oil in medium Dutch oven or other pot with tight-fitting lid. Add veal and brown on all side. Add white wine and stir up any brown bits on the bottom. Add carrots, onion, green olives and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 60 minutes. 
Dissolve cornstarch in water. Turn the heat up under the pot and uncover. Add capers and black olives; remove bay leaves. Give the cornstarch mixture a stir and add to the pan a little at a time, stirring, until thickened to your liking. Remove from heat and serve.

Now I can relax.... a little