Trying New Recipes

I've tried several new recipes this week and am happy with all of them.

First, there was a recipe in last month's Cooking Light for Peanut Butter Banana Bread. I had several bananas that needed to be used and this recipe sounded good. It was!


Next, I was looking through one of Patricia Wells' cookbooks and came across a recipe for white beans. It called for a whole bunch of sage, I happened to have fresh sage and a pack of dried navy beans, so I made it. I think this was my favorite from this week's cooking. I soaked the beans for a couple of hours, then simmered them for about 3 hours in chicken broth with 10 cloves of garlic, the sage and two bay leaves. The beans had a very homey taste. I had some pork in the freezer so I cooked that in the oven and we had the beans, pork and homemade cornbread. It was good!


Next, I was in the mood to try "poaching". I bought boneless/skinless chicken breasts and used aromatics I had on hand. I poached the chicken in water, white wine, sliced lemons, thyme, salt, pepper. When it was done, I sliced it and served over noodles with poached asparagus and a baguette. It was very good!



Yesterday, I made lemon tarts. I had a lot of lemons that needed to be used. I had bought ready-made tart shells (I know!) and used a recipe I found on epicurious. It has been really hot here the last couple of days and they were very refreshing.


Next, I'm going to go experiment with making an appetizer using puff pastry and a goat cheese/herb mixture. I'll take this to book club tonight.

Then, I'm done experimenting for the week. We're going to Lake Burton for the weekend and hopefully I'll be able to just "throw something on the grill" and be done with it!

Paris Markets

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Paris was the street markets. I could have just curled up and stayed there all the time. One day, I'll go there and shop every day and cook a great meal every day from food just purchased at the markets in Paris. I wish I was there right now, planning a meal, shopping for the food, and coming back to my apartment there and preparing an awesome meal. Ahhhhhh...

I have a lot of pictures of food at the markets, but here are highlights. I went to a market street called Rue Mouffetard and another called Marche Montorgueil. Both were awesome with separate vendors for fish, bread, cheese, wine, meat, and on and on. It was heaven.


I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I could just cry, it was such heaven. I was drooling. Did I say this made me very happy?

Le Cordon Bleu Paris

Last week, I had the great opportunity to cook for a day at
Le Cordon Bleu Paris! We prepared three chicken recipes, Poulet En Papillote A La Saugle Et Au Citron, Fricassee De Poulet A L'Estragon, and Poulet Facon Sate. All three were delicious.

When I arrived, I checked in and we had breakfast of croissants and coffee. We were then taken upstairs to our cooking room for the day....we cooked in the classroom dedicated to Julia Child!


Our chef, Marc Thivet, spoke in French the whole time but there was an interpretor. We started with the 1st dish, Chicken with sage and lemon en papillote. Then moved on to the Chicken fricassee with tarragon sauce. We started with a whole chicken, cut it into pieces and got busy. The chicken was labeled Loue, the region it came from. Fresh chicken, free-range, never sealed in plastic!

Once we had two dishes completed, we were treated to lunch.....what a spread! Terrines, pates, cheese galore, wine, bread....It was really good and a treat.


The third recipe we made was Satay style chicken. We were given all the food we had made to take home with us. We had also made a lovely potato dish and the chef had made a vinaigrette dressing to go with salad greens, also given to us to take with us. Since "home" was a hotel room, I had some of the food for dinner that night in the hotel cafe and shared with the young man working the desk. He said it tasted like his grandmother's cooking. I took that as a compliment. The rest I shared with the hotel staff working the next day.


If you want any of the recipes, just email me at dinnerathome@bellsouth.net

What a great day!

Back From Paris

I just spent ten awesome days in Paris. I had never been before, I went by myself, spent the whole time exploring Paris except for one day-trip to Claude Monet's home and gardens.

Soon I will share highlights and pictures, including cooking at
Le Cordon Bleu Paris, the many miles of walking, eating in bistros, awesome street markets. For now, I must prepare for a client cook day tomorrow, back to reality. Stay tuned!

Pound Cake on a Rainy Sunday

It's been a nice, quiet, rainy Sunday here. And we really need the rain. The rain has cooled things off too which is awesome! Although I like summer, I'm always glad for the next season to come for the change in temperature. It's great that we live in Atlanta and actually have all four seasons.

Today I've been cooking. I made a chicken stew with cornbread muffins. I also made pound cake called "Million Dollar Poundcake." Here's what's left:

No, we didn't eat it all! We have a neighbor just home from an extended hospital stay and another neighbor, a WWII vet that we like to share meals with. We packed up chicken stew, cornbread muffins and pound cake fresh from the oven and delivered to them.

The pound cake is really easy to put together and is very moist and delicious. Here's the recipe:


Million Dollar Poundcake

2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in extracts. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Enjoy!

End Of Summer

Summer is winding down and the days are not so awfully hot. We've been enjoying many dinners on the porch. It's nice to take time from our busy days to actually sit down to dinner together and enjoy a meal. We had a southern vegetable plate recently, nothing fancy, just good food. I made homemade cornbread and cooked some of the green beans I canned over the summer. I also found one last tomato that had ripened on the one tomato plant we grew this summer.

Blooms on my gardenia bushes have made a sudden re-appearance and I've been picking them for the table and inside the house....love the smell!

I'm getting excited about my upcoming trip to Paris. I had taken a French language course at Oglethorpe University last spring. I met with my French teacher yesterday and she gave me some good tips. I'm putting together a knitting project today that I'll take with me to work on on the plane. Maybe I'll do a little packing this weekend since I have a pretty hectic next couple of weeks just before I leave.

I've been teaching a session of cooking classes through Operation Frontline. Next Friday is our last class so I'll finish my menu planning this afternoon for that. What a great group of women and a fun class this has been. I really enjoy teaching these classes and hope to do another one soon.

I'll also be researching more vegan recipes this afternoon for an upcoming wedding shower I've been hired to do. So much fun learning new things!

Life is good!

Yellow Rice and Chicken

When I was little, we would often have Sunday dinner at my grandmother's house. One of the things she used to make was Yellow Rice and Chicken. My grandmother had lived in Tampa at one time and was friends with a Cuban woman named Sally. That's where the recipe came from.

I made this for a client yesterday. When I tasted the finished product, I was immediately back at the Sunday dinner table at Granny's house. The flavors were identical and tasted just like I remembered.

I started by browning the chicken on all sides. Then you add the vegetables and simmer till soft.


Then add chicken broth, the rice and chicken back into the pot.

Simmer for about 2o minutes and it's done! It's quite easy to make, makes a lot, and is a one-pot meal.

Enjoy the recipe!

one whole chicken cut up
1/4 cup olive oil for browning the chicken
2 medium onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cup frozen green peas
1 package, family size, Mahatma yellow rice
3 cups chicken broth
salt/pepper as needed


Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken completely on all sides. Remove chicken from pot.
Remove most of oil, leaving enough to saute vegetables. Cook all vegetables till soft.
Add chicken broth and rice and mix well. Add chicken back into pot. Simmer for about 20 minutes, till rice is cooked. Do not overcook or rice will become mushy.