I’m knee deep in cookie baking right now. As I’m typing this, I have all my cookie doughs done and in the fridge and my next project is candy truffle fillings. Then it’s just baking, dipping, sprinkling, and I’m done. My cookie list is a…
There are a myriad of ways to make a meatball. Right? But, the Italian meatball is the quintessential ball of meat. It can be eaten with pasta or on a fat loaf of Italian bread drowning in cheese and sauce. Or it can be sliced…
I was at Costco, I had the thirty-five dollar bottle of vanilla in my cart, when the doubt seeped in. Thirty-five dollars! For vanilla! There had to be another way. I consulted The Googles while stalled in the coffee aisle. A search revealed there were pastes and concentrates….and of course I could have gone with artificial. But I’ve read where artificial vanilla flavors come from. It’s potentially really gross.
I could have simply just bought the dang stuff for thirty-five bucks. But I’ve been cheap for so long that I’m pretty sure there’s no going back. And I’m not sad about it, frankly. I put the bottle back and continued my search online. And then I found it. The intrawebs said that bourbon or dark rum can be substituted for vanilla. My baking life was forever changed in an instant, standing there next to the coffee in Costco, trying to avoid the crowds of folks trying to get a free sample of this, that, or the other thing.
I was off to the liquor store. I don’t know a whole lot about hard liquor. It was kind of a problem while pursuing ever higher levels as a sommelier. I don’t like spirits. To me it all tastes like flavored lighter fluid. Not a fan. Hubs, on the other hand, knows his whiskey. It’s kind of sexy. He was all excited to be at the liquor store…we’re not there often….but we were there specifically for bourbon, which is right up his alley.
I was standing there with a blank look on my face, overwhelmed by the selction of bottles, when the sales clerk asked if I needed help. After explaining the situation….yanno, global warming is pushing vanilla orchids to the brink and causing prices to go through the roof….yes, vanilla beans do come from an orchid!…etc, etc. And we’re chatting and he pulls down a bottle of Jim Beam Vanilla Bourbon. What?! Then he turns around to the liqueur shelves and hands me Dr. McGillicuddy’s Raw Vanilla liqueur. My Christmas baking was saved! I got some dark rum, too, because rum balls. Duh.
The bottle was more than twice the size and it was half the price. Bingo! This is my Christmas present to all of you…an epic baking hack. Merry Christmas to all of you bakers!
It’s December, which is full of treats, so today I’m doing a treat recipe. This was…and still is… my kid’s favorite treat. It’s a cake my gramma used to make. This cake was one of those things she’d make just for the two of us…
I know I’ve been remiss about posting side dish recipes. I promise more are coming. I just feel like side dishes are generally so ordinary. I mean, how hard is it to just roast some veggies and call it good? And so often, I just…
One of the things I love about steaks….besides the fact that they’re steaks…is that they cook quickly. And steaks are very versatile. No grill? No problem. Oven on the fritz? No problem. Stove not working? No problem. I mean you can even eat the stuff raw. Although, I’d be choosy about that. Steak goes with pretty much everything across all the continents. You really can’t go wrong.
I prefer no fuss steak (big surprise considering my laziness) so I prefer better quality beef. I want to taste the actual beef, not everything it was slathered/marinated/dry rubbed in. So for steaks and steak roasts, I tend to stick to seasoning that enhances the beef flavor rather than disguise it or distract from it. Sure, there are some fancy French steak sauces and whatnot that are dandy when made from scratch, but this is a weeknight. Focus!
During the week, I stick to broiling steaks. Clutch your pearls ladies! Yes, I know searing in a cast iron is all the rage and sure it’s fun when you’re cooking just two steaks. But I had to make nine at once and I didn’t feel like standing out in the freezing cold for some grill marks. Yes, I know broiling doesn’t give you a crust like searing in cast iron, but maybe some of us don’t want crusty beef. Did you ever think of that? No.
Before broiling, I like to let my meat sit in some sauce. For a long time. Hours, even. While I have some tricks I’ll probably never share with anyone ever, last night I did a simple red wine soak with a little powdered onion and garlic and a some salt and pepper. You can swap the salt for some fish sauce or coconut aminos or soy sauce or whatever your heart desires. I just like eating the crispy fat broiling a marinated steak produces. Top it with a little blue cheese and I am in heaven.
Last night was Jessie’s birthday and steak was what she requested for dinner. See? Even farm girls like my broiled steaks! And since it was a Friday, technically it’s a week night. Ha! Yeah, yeah, we had a little partay, but it was just a little one! We all missed her husband, Joe, who was called away to the other side of the country and had to miss her 40th. We were all sad so we made sure to drink lots of wine. Cheers! And happy birthday to the most beautiful farm girl I know!
Broiled Steak
2-10 steaks of your choice
Any oil~less marinade of your choosing…I used red wine with a splash or so of fish sauce and black pepper…just mix up enough to bathe the steaks in
Cover the meat in the marinade and leave it open to the air for about 4 hours, flipping the meat every hour or so.
Put the oven on broil and cook the steaks on a baking sheet covered in foil until the fat edges start to brown, about 5-10 minutes, oven depending.
Flip the steaks over and return to the broiler until th fat edges get a nice crispy, but juicy look to them, about another 5-10 minutes. Thicker steaks will take longer, thinner steaks less.
Remove the steaks and let rest for about 5 minutes. If you prefer your steak cooked more than medium rare, leave them in a bit longer. I always err to an underdone steak because you can always just pop it back under the broiler. An over cooked steak can’t be fixed.
So I was talking to a girlfriend of mine, Colleen, the other day and she brought up a place we used to order chicken wings and pizza from way back in the day. Do you ever have one of those Aha! kind of memories that…
One of the bonuses in getting a whole animal from my butcher, is getting things that you wouldn’t normally get at the grocery store. Like bones. I request to keep all the marrow bones. I use them to make bone broth. The problem with making…
The first time I encountered this winery was about eight years ago when they were just starting out. The tasting room was a tiny unfinished room with a couple used barrels serving as supports for a board laying on top. Nestled in the Eola~Amity Hills, they were poised for greatness, despite the humble beginnings. But humble beginnings are where many of the great Pinot Noir producers in Oregon started.
Last weekend I went back. I was apprehensive, but Betty insisted. I’m thrilled she did. Now, Hubs is not a fan of Pinot Noir. To be fair, Pinot Noir is a wine you arrive at…usually…rather than a gateway wine. For most people, anyway. But I’ve been working on him and I’ve been making headway. Stopping at Bryn Mawr was a big step in making a pinotphile out of him yet.
Our host was David who was thrilled that we were there. I don’t think that had anything to do with us. David seems genuinely excited about presenting the Bryn Mawr lineup and it was very authentically sweet. They have a red flight and a white flight, but we were allowed to pick neurotically from both. Thanks David! 
Tiny bites of cheese, some crackers, and house bottled water are served table side for your tastings. Yeah, you won’t be tasting standing up. Guests are directed to sit to go through the flights. It’s a lot of running for the host, but it was lovely all the same. They’ve just built a brand new tasting room that is not quite finished yet, so tastings are happening in the brand spanking new winery. And it’s big.
But the wine! Ooohhhh, the wine. Bryn Mawr is focused on cool climate Chardonnays and superb Pinot Noirs, with a sprinkling of other fun things like Pinot Blanc, Tempranillo, and Dolcetto. The Chardonnays run the gamut of no oak to lots of oak with some variances in between. The 2016 Addie’s Block was my personal favorite of the Chardonnays…uncharacteristically (whew did I spell that right?!) tropical fruit flavored with lovely notes of hibiscus aromas.
The 2017 David’s Block Pinot Blanc was everything I love about that grape when it’s done well….juicy, sassy, and just the right touch of acids that compliment it’s longer finish. I got both of them.
The line up of Pinot Noirs are spectacular. Rachel Rose, the winemaker, is one of those gems you don’t find often. Her Pinots are everything I love about the Eola~Amity Hills AVA and you should, too. They are complex, fruity, and confident. Of the four Pinots we tried, the two that stuck out for me were the 2015 Jeffrey’s Block and the 2014 Reserve. It could be that I’m pretty partial to the 115 Pinot clone and it looks like Rachel Rose might be also.
The 2015 Jeffrey’s Block made my eyes bug out and my eyebrows shoot upwards. The best word to describe that Pinot is sexy. It’s just gorgeous. And at fifty bucks a bottle, it’s either a terrific value or badly under priced. The nose has all the typical aromas of fresh berries you find in Pinots in the Eola~Amity Hills. On the palate, it’s an endless tumble of cascading flavors. It’s like she managed to get all the best flavor profiles of great Pinot Noir piled into one wine. It was every berry and cherry flavor you can imagine….fresh, jam, pie…all of it. There was a tickle of chocolate and hint of a possible anise maybe. The mouthfeel was silky and soft and incredibly smooth. This is the Pinot you want when you’re curled up in front of the fire with someone special…and sexy….like Hubs. Except you’ll have to find your own special sexy person. The wine has a definite aphrodisiac like effect. So I got one.
The 2014 Reserve was much like the Jeffrey’s Block, but more austere. This is the Pinot you want to drink with a meal with said special sexy person. It’s screaming for some leg of lamb. This Pinot was a bit more restrained than the others while also being assertive, but not aggressive. I really enjoyed that barely there tannin and the grown up fruit flavors. And the chocolate again! The back palate is rewarded with a pleasant surprise of mild sasparilla that kept me coming back for more sips. It was hard to decide which Pinot to get, but in the end sexy won out. I mean, have you seen Hubs?! He makes me swoon.
Ahem. Go! Go see Bryn Mawr! And say Hi to David.
Last weekend we headed back to Betty’s…AKA The Shire. Her house sits in the middle of her own private forest and next to her sixty acre vineyard and her nearly two acre private garden. I don’t like to call it a garden. It’s more like…