Sunday Supper

Flavor is popping here at Tanners Run.The Sunday supper menu includes prosciutto wrapped chicken breast, butternut squash risotto and slow roasted heirloom tomatoes.

I am unveiling a dessert secret of epic proportions.

Slice a baguette and place little pieces of dark chocolate on each.

I use Trader Joe's dark chocolate.

Place in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes; just until the chocolate melts.

Smooth the chocolate.

Here is the magic. Drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with good quality salt.
Party in your mouth. I promise.
Love, Renee

In praise of tomatoes

I discovered little miniature San Marzano tomatoes at Trader Joe's recently and have been having a stare down with them for several days - "What shall I do with you?" Well, I was inspired by a lovely post from Smitten Kitchen in which the virtue of slow roasted tomatoes is extolled. This is how it went down...

Come here my little pretties.

Here you see the little tomato soldiers all lined up drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Some rosemary and thyme are thrown on for good measure and some garlic cloves cannot hurt, right? Lovely.

Into a 275 degree oven for 3 hours! Yes, you cannot rush such things.

Here they are in all their shriveled up sweet glory.

Final destination: mingled with slow sautéed leeks fresh from this morning's Cobblestone Market atop spinach pasta. Just a bit of shredded parmesan makes it euphoric. Wish you all were here!

Spring Cobblestone Market

I can travel to the Cobblestone Farmers Market at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts by car in less than 5 minutes. On May 18th, the market will be at Old Salem. Then my commute will be on foot and also less than 5 minutes from the house! This past Saturday I arrived back from the market with treasures! One would have thought I had robbed the bank. I felt like a lucky bandit unpacking the loot.

Feast your eyes...

 Tender baby butter lettuce, asparagus (just harvested), radishes and scallions

 Ready for roasting

 Little radish appetizer in French style...Fresh radish with a bit of soft butter and hint of salt. Yum!

 Preparing the salad - radish greens and all!

Simplest vinaigrette! Thanks Mary Alice! 

Her recipe lived on my Central Street fridge for years and now has taken up residence at Tanners Run! Never fails! Timeless; just like Mary Alice.

 Gentle toss...David bought this wooden bowl for me at a neighborhood yard sale in Waynesville...I use Mother's larger one when we have guests! Wooden salad hands - a gift from sweet Amy Greene; a former library assistant. My goodness, I have been blessed!

Last minute addition. Sunny side up! Keep on the sunny side of life.

How can one go wrong with such special ingredients? 

There you have it...wish you had all been here. 

The accidental gourmet

I bought the most beautiful garnet sweet potato last week and have enjoyed viewing it on the butcher block as art but unlike canvas, vegetables have a shelf life. So, I cubed it up today (the most amazing color), found a piece of  purple onion in the bottom drawer of the fridge to keep it company, sprinkled on olive oil, salt and pepper - last minute thought - some chopped fresh ginger. Roasted this in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Well, actually had to stop the cooking midway to take the dog for a walk. Once back home I am REALLY hungry. Further digging in the fridge landed me some fresh baby spinach so I am thinking of a salad with warm roasted sweet potatoes. This led me to remember a vinaigrette with maple syrup - so whipped that up. I tossed on a few Craisins for good measure and I must say that this salad is delicious. It was just the right ratio of savory, sweet, warm, cold.  I just hope I can recreate it for David. What a lovely lunch - just me, myself, and I.

Yum! I savored each and every bite of my accidental creation. Here's to your culinary adventures!

The view from my kitchen

I spend many happy hours in my Tanners Run kitchen. The Central Avenue kitchen was lovely but I always longed for space to have a little table and chairs. Today I want to share views from my kitchen!

View from the kitchen sink

View from the kitchen table...sign of spring

View of cookies fresh out of the oven (double dark chocolate -  a new recipe!)

View of cookies cooling

View of the cookie jar

These cookies were baked to be shared but I did snitch one and saved a few for David. I am very attached to the chocolate chip cookie recipe from "Taste of the Teagues" but I must say that these are rich, fudgy and perfectly delicious. Wish you were here to enjoy the view (and a cookie) with me! 

if I do say so myself

Monday found me still feeling the celebratory effect of my weekend with Carol Corn. I just didn't want it to end! That translated into a special Monday night meal: Niman Ranch Pork Roast marinated in a ginger and soy marinade, gravy, accordion potatoes, and fresh charred broccoli with lemon. Yum!

I was so excited when these came out of the oven. Notice my little Old Salem tile? Had that for 25 years and here I am!

The dinner platter...minus the gravy.

These little potatoes are so much fun to make with little effort!  I am including a link to the recipe I used. I tucked fresh rosemary in the potatoes. You really do need a fresh herb to make the potatoes sing.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/laura-calder/accordion-potatoes.html

Love you all!

Favorite Find and a Quiz

Today I am sharing a "favorite find" from Trader Joe's. These chips are the perfectly sublime blend of crunchy, sweet, salty and it's COCONUT! Also, vaguely healthy. Works for me.  My sympathies to you who do not have access to a Trader Joe's...Warning. These chips are highly addictive.

Now, can you guess where in our house this photo was taken??

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been baking this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for over 25 years and included it in my cookbook A Taste of the Teagues. Today, for the very first time, I had no light brown sugar in the house so substituted dark brown sugar.  I also did not have an entire bag of semisweet chocolate chips so used half bittersweet and half semisweet. The result was a cookie that is a bit chewier and richer. Actually - delicious! I do not have my baking mojo quite together here at Tanners Run yet...but am making progress! I wish you all could taste and give a review. David (aka The Cookie Monster) isn't complaining...

The recipe from my well worn copy of Taste of the Teagues   

A few may make a trip to San Francisco.

"Souperbowl"

We shared an evening of good food and fun with our neighbors for Superbowl Sunday - with no intention of actually watching the game. We were intent on wrapping things up so that David and I could watch Downton Abbey. The menu included skewers of marinated mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil as an appetizer. This was followed by a flavorful minestrone garnished with olive oil, red wine vinegar and fresh parmesan. Grilled bread rounded out the main course.

Ah, but dessert. So simple but magical flavor. Take really good vanilla ice cream and drizzle with the best olive oil and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. I am blessed to have a Tuscan olive oil given to me by my friend Martha Brown. She and her husband Robert vacationed in a little Tuscan village last year and the owner shipped this phenomenal olive oil to her. She was so very generous to share a bottle with me. Then, just to gild the lily, I have French fleur de sel that Mary Alice brought me from her travels in Provence several years ago. I use it with such discretion because it is that special. A few toasted almonds make it perfect. Umami!

Apologies if this all sounds hoity toity but it is just simple food with special ingredients - remembering treasured old friends and celebrating new ones. So, how was your game night?

I Love You All!

Mystery Ingredients

Try your hand at guessing my mystery dinner ingredients and use your imagination to create a delicious menu...or else, you just might be CHOPPED! From my pantry I used a carrot, onion, chicken broth - oh, and the little tub contains shallot dill butter. Can you say Yum!?

I must give kudos to www.seaproductsnc.com

Skippy's

We had lunch out on the town today at Skippy's Hot Dogs. Since moving here I have seen several  online references about their homemade pretzel buns and good quality hot dogs with all the best toppings. It has been voted "Best Hot Dogs" in various publications. We loved it. Not that we are hot dog aficionados. (Emily, they also serve veggie dogs.) It is a little building on 4th Street and was buzzing with the lunchtime crowd. David got 2 - count them 2! Reuben Dogs and I got one hot dog with catsup, mustard and cole slaw. The hot dogs are grilled as are the pretzel rolls. We shared a basket of scrummy, thin, hand cut fries. 

www.skippyshotdogs.com

Sometimes a person just craves a good hotdog and I really could not make one at home as tasty as the nice folks at Skippy's. Hotdog perfection! - and who ever uses all those hot dogs or buns in a package from the grocery store anyway? Had the frigid wind not been gusty today we would have had a walking exploration of downtown. Oh well, next time. Feeling more and more like a local.

a Big Happy Red Pot

So I seem to be on a kick of late to purchase packaged grocery store items and combine in such a way as to be called "gourmet." I guess I am creating my own "mystery ingredient basket" (ala Chopped). The key is to have a well stocked pantry. Here is what was on today's menu!

BOGO at my local Harris Teeter so I used 2 bags.

Saute onion in sesame oil in my favorite red pot.

Add fresh broccoli. I used a vegetable peeler to peel off outer layers of woody stalks then cut those on the bias. Delicious!

Season all this with soy sauce, red pepper flakes, Chinese five spice powder, Sriracha sauce and Bragg's liquid aminos (a nutritional powerhouse that tastes like soy) - even shredded last night's leftover chicken and threw it in the pot. Finally, add the bags of microwaved brown rice with carrot and broccoli and you have got one big happy pot of goodness.  Sorry I did not stop to take a photo of the finished product but you can just imagine it -
now can't you?  I truly enjoy cooking for my ever appreciative husband - we love our mealtimes together!

"Mangiare Bene"  

This delicious dish is a snap to assemble (I say "assemble" because no actual cooking is involved!) - Bake 2 packages of manicotti according to package directions using 1 jar of sauce. At end of baking time throw the creamed spinach bag into the microwave then top the manicotti with it. Since my local grocer had the manicotti on sale "BOGO",  this dish feeds the two of us (2 manicotti each; well, 3 for David) plus leftovers for about $8.50. 

Perfect fare for an evening when the world outside is a solid sheet of ice. 

Stay warm!

Seemed a good day to bake something!

Inspired by this beautiful book...

I started with these ingredients...

...and this is the result.  A buttery pound cake loaf made all the more delicious by a dollop of raspberry preserves...couldn't even wait to heat them up.  This is David's dessert after returning home from a fabulous meal at
The Diamondback Grill;  a great local farm to table restaurant LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES FROM OUR HOUSE! 
Wish you were all here to share it with us.

Our friends Robert and Martha are with us for the night. We enjoyed our soup dinner - a Tuscan Rosemary White Bean Soup, Simple Salad with Salmon, good bread for dunking - and dessert sampler from Camino Bakery - tangy lemon bars and and the most gorgeous little Chocolate Ganache Tart. The meal was made all the more delicious by sharing with good company. Sorry we ate the dessert before I could get a photo!

The accidental food discovery! What's for lunch? Well, I composed a beautiful salad of romaine, Persian cucumber, red onion, garbanzo beans, parmesan and sunflower seeds...delicious! The accidental discovery occurred when I realized I did not have enough creamy yogurt dressing for my salad - it sat there waiting to be dressed.  Sometimes I just crave a creamy dressing. No wimpy vinaigrette will do.  I had let the cucumber and onion bathe in a bowl of vinegar for a bit while I prepared the romaine so I decided to pour a little vinegar into the "empty" yogurt dressing bottle - gave it a hearty shake and "Voila!" I had a thinned but delicious dressing. Stretches the dollar and is absolutely delicious. I felt so noble for eating such a healthy salad for lunch but since then I have polished off an almost empty bag of Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips - YUM! I hope you enjoyed your lunch today and that you allowed yourself the experience of a little culinary splurge - even if it came from a bag! Yummy!