Christmas Presents are the Best!

I thought the last thing that I needed was another baking implement (of course I love them, but our apartment has a small kitchen). Then John got me a silicon bouchon mold for Christmas! We had both just tasted delicious chocolate cakes that John's colleague made and thought they were scrumptious, so I was inspired.

My task for the family get-together was appetizers and I really wanted to use the bouchon mold, so I did... I created savory bouchons and they were very delcious (and cute!). Here is the recipe, adapted from a Giada de Laurentis Food Network recipe:










Ingredients

• 2 (8 1/2-ounce) packages corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
• 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (from an 8-ounce jar)
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine the muffin mix, cheese, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir to combine. In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs until well blended. Add the buttermilk mixture to the muffin mix. Stir to combine. Spoon the mix into the bouchon mold. add some asiago cheese on top. Bake until golden brown on top, about 12 minutes.

Alaskan Salmon Part 1

John and his Dad spent a week fishing in Sitka, Alaska. During the trip, John spotted bears, eagles, whales, and lots of fish. He brought home 100 pounds of freshly frozen salmon and halibut so for the next few months I will be updating you on the delicious dishes we will create with John's catch.

The first meal was salmon, my favorite. It must be my Norwegian heritage, but I cannot get tired of salmon (good thing since we have a freezer full of it). I prepared a recipe that my Dad sent me that is quick and easy and utilizes wine and dill to bring out the natural flavors of the salmon. Please see the comments for the recipe.

Summertime Rolls

I love summer. It is the best time for everything: going to the beach, reading outside, eating fresh food, and drinking fun cocktails. Luckily, I have a great partner in one of my favorite summer activities, drinking fruity cocktails. John created a special post-beach drink for me, a peach daquiri. As you can see it was really peach and so frosty and delicious. Here is the recipe:

Blend together:

2 peaches, lime juice, ice, white rum, and Grand Marnier pour into a cool martini glass.

Another favorite thing of mine is eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs from the garden. I have the most wonderful tomatoes right now and we get even better ones from my brother. The biggest thing that has come from my patio garden is my one and only cucumber. It was huge and honestly tasted pretty much like the ones from the store. But it was an exciting experiment.

The most wonderful thing about summer gardens is the plenty that they produce. Last week, I went to Davis and one of my coworkers brought in fresh basil from her garden. She had the basil organized into bunches so we could take them home for dinner, which I did. I was so inspired that I made pesto in order to savor the fresh flavors of summer.

Quiero Taquero

The inspiration for this post comes from three of my friends. First off, the Myers invited us over to their home for their daughter's fantastic birthday celebration. The main party fare was provided by a taquero, a person, or in this case and most cases, two people who prepare carne asada tacos. My other friend from Orange County had never heard of a taquero and that inspired me to create this posting--that and the delicious carne asada tacos we had at the Myers' home.

Taqueros are a southern, southern California phenomenon, in fact, I think many taqueros are actually from Mexico (their trucks are at least). The taqueros come to your home and set up a giant grill where they barbeque carne and pollo asada. The taqueros also prepare fresh pico de gallo salsa. Each guest can choose between beef or chicken tacos ( or choose to have both). The traditional preparation is in two corn tortillas with cilantro and onions, but they also usually add salsa and guacamole as well. These tacos are absolutely delicious and even more so when you know you can have as many as you want. Usually the guys at the party have a competition (big surprise) to see how many they can consume that day. John had a (shameful according to John) five, a low amount, he has topped out at seven at previous events. I have personally seen one of my friends consume eleven tacos. When John asked the taquero what the max he had seen someone consume, he said he once cooked someone 24 tacos! I am not sure if this was a Guinness world record, but this sounds like a pretty amazing achievement to me!

Mushrooms and mushrooms again

John and I are trying to eat a bit more vegetarian since we both know that meat consumption is not healthy or good for the environment. One of my favorite vegetarian dinners is grilled portobello mushrooms with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, but last week John decided to change it up a bit.

First, he experimented by making mushroom ravioli in a parmesan cheese sauce. He started off with shitake mushrooms cut into very small pieces and sauteed them in a little butter with thyme, garlic, and pepper. This amazing filling was stuffed into wonton wrappers, which he even trimmed with a special implement to make the edges zig-zag (always the aesthete). The wontons were then smothered in an amazing parmesan cream sauce, so worth the wait!

That was our Friday night, on Monday night things were a little less fancy, we had mushroom soup and a tomato salad. The mushroom soup included thinly sliced portobellos with garlic that were sauteed in a wine beef broth and then topped with shaved parmesan, chives, and shallot crisps. The soup was tangy and hearty and the shallot crisps were outrageous, everyone must try these delicious pieces of heaven.

Father's Day BBQ

My Dad's wish for Father's day was to have his kids and grandkids over to share in a meal of his favorites--BBQ and blueberry pie. It turned out to be a potluck dinner with everyone bringing a wonderful dish to share with my Dad. We started with some beautiful appetizers created by my Mom, caviar on homegrown cucumbers and the always delicious combination of blue cheese, grapes, and crackers. We toasted my Dad with my new favorite summer before dinner drink, a glass of Crios Rose of Malbec, cheers!

The main course centered on Marc's delicious barbequed ribs. The ribs were perfectly cooked and falling off the bone. My Mom served us two wonderful salads, the black bean and corn salad (I know there are some fans out there, the recipe is in the comments section) and authentic German potato salad. For dessert we had blueberry pie by special request. I found the recipe online, but needless to say with blueberries cooked in sugar, how can it be anything but easy and so tasty!

Saucy 30th Birthday Celebration

John and I think everyone needs a little sauce, and when it is a special celebration, sometimes you need a lot of sauce. Well, sauce was the theme of Nicole's 30th Birthday celebration. We had some celebratory sauce in the form of champagne and one of our super bomb wines, but mostly we had sauce accompanying John's delicious culinary creations.

We started out the evening with some munchies and champagne. The appetizer was a crostini topped with brie and truffled honey. I picked up the honey on a trip to San Francisco to the Ferry Building that included a mushroom store. It was fun to share this souvenir with my family.

We moved to the table to start the saucy adventure with the first course, chilled pea soup. I was inspired by the fact that we were celebrating on the weekend that kicked off summer and wanted to bring the flavors and textures of summer. The pea soup was accompanied by a cream sauce that John decorated into a flower and presented in chilled martini glasses. We served the soup with pea crisps (my favorite new TJ find) that Madeline enjoyed using to eat the soup (so much more fun than a spoon!).

Once we started on the second course, the menu was all John and all sauces. We were served a seared scallop on a red pepper coulis with an avocado sauce. The two sauces were beautiful looking and delicate enough so that the scallop was the star of the show. The Beckman Marsanne wine allowed us to remember our special trip to Santa Barbara that we took last year. We have been waiting to share a Beckman bottle with Marc and Nicole, and now that Abigail is here we can all share in the fun of drinking this special sauce!

The main course also had two inventive sauces that enhanced the wonderful offerings. The entree centered on the lamb tenderloin encrusted with pepper and juniper berries resting on a sauce of blackberry demi. Almost as delicious was the parmesan sauce drizzled on the broccolini. This was served with a cloud of garlic mashed potatoes. For the main course, we dipped into our wine cellar and pulled out my favorite bottle (thanks, Merv!), the Insignia to share for this important celebration. Finally, the dinner was capped off by croissant bread pudding with a raspberry schnapps sauce. The tangy and tart sauce worked perfectly with the sweet rich pudding. As you can see below, Nicole was pretty impressed!