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!

What delight in discovering some "old friends" today! Don't be fooled by the beauty of the design - as they stand alone on that but these two beautiful books also contain excellent recipes and are beautifully handscripted. The Lemon Chicken is one of my favorites. I acquired them back in 1989 - Christmas gifts from husband David and daughter Emily (age 3 at the time- see photo of inscription below) - These books inspired me when writing "A Taste of the Teagues" in 1990. The art and writing are timeless in these gems and the recipes are as fresh as any you find on Food Network or the internet today. I look forward to getting reacquainted with these books by Susan Branch. "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." 

We had an easy breezy lunch since we were spending the afternoon at the symphony. The menu consisted of Rotisserie Chicken (Whole Foods) sliced and sprinkled with fresh thyme and lemon, baked sweet potato with parmesan and pepper, and steamed lemony broccoli. 

All this evening called for was a piece of toast with Gruyere and a sprinkle of cayenne - little glass of red. Time to get ready for Downton Abby! Here's to you...

January 9, 2013
     The inspiration today is from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. Her recipe for Go To Beef Daube screams celebration. We are celebrating our son's holiday visit - sadly about to come to a close as we put him on a plane Saturday. It's a long way to California! The first time we shared this meal was back in Waynesville on a lovely Sunday afternoon on our back deck. This will be our first time enjoying this at our new home in Old Salem.
     I have learned that it is important not to rush the step of caramelizing the meat. David and I are almost in a stupor from the aroma permeating the house. Of course, cognac and a full bottle of red wine are key ingredients. Here's to a year of many things to celebrate!

Into the oven it goes...for 2 1/2 hours!