Bacon in Brown Sugar

Quick  and easy!

Wonderful appetizer directly from the oven to the table

I cut the large pieces of bacon into thirds.

Use one pound of apple-wood or similar tasting bacon. Sprinkle one cup of dark brown sugar thoroughly over bacon. (Cover each piece really well.) Seal in a container and refrigerate overnight. Place each slice on a baking rack,which is placed on a cookie sheet or similar. Bake about 25-30 minutes, at 300 degrees, turning occasionally until brown. Serve immediately.

Vidalia Onion and Peach Relish

  Looking for something different to top off my goat cheese and turkeys burgers, I spotted this recipe in the May issue of Southern Living. It did take some time to chop the onions(not too many tears) and peaches. If you do have a chopper, you could save some time with the onions.
 The recipe makes 10 (8 ounce) jars and the total time involved was close to 1 hour and 30 minutes.

I added a pear at the last minutes as I was short of peaches. ( I kept eating them!)

Made and packaged with love to hand out to my friends!

I am going to try this on top of my pork roasts as well.

Recipe:
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of apple cider vinegar
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of Gin! Yep, you read that correctly!
1 1/2 T. of salt. The recipe called for 2 teaspoons
1 T. mustard seeds
1 t.celery salt
1/2 t.dried crushed red pepper
4 bay leaves, crushed. I also used extra leaves and placed them in the jars primarily for decoration.
3 pounds of Vidalia onions,finely chopped
3 pounds of fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves,thinly sliced.

Fill your canner half full with water and bring to a boil. ( Make sure you have washed all your jars.) Now, place 10 jars in a large stockpot and cover the jars with water. Bring to a boil and then to a simmer. Now place the bands and lids in a sauce pan and cover with water, boil and simmer. Remove hot jars, one at a time, using your jar lifter.

Bring the water, sugar,vinegar, gin, celery salt, mustard seeds, red pepper and the crushed bay leaves to a boil in a Dutch over over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peaches and garlic; boil, stirring occasionally,15 minutes.

Pour hot mixture into the hot jars, filling to 1/2 inch from the top. Remove all the air bubbles and remember to wipe the rims clean. Cover immediately with the metal lids and screw on the bands, not too tight. Place the jars in the canning rack and then drop into the simmering water-bath. Add additional boiling water as needed to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Bring the water to a rolling boil; boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Test seals of jars by pressing the center of each lid. If the lids do not pop, the jars are properly sealed. Store in a cool, dark place at room temperature up to a year.

For refrigerator relish: Omit steps 1 and 3. Prepare the recipe as directed in step 2. Let the mixture completely cool, about 2 hours. Store in airtight containers in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Veggie Toast~Ducasse Style

A very good friend of mine from Seattle mailed me this recipe last week. I was just waiting for the perfect occasion to prepare this and today was the day. The recipe is adapted from French Chef  Ducasse who recently shared his simple, but most refreshing combination of veggies and bread. I had to substitute a few of the ingredients, but I feel they worked perfectly fine. Easy to prepare and surprisingly delicious for lunch. The original recipe was adapted from Nature, courtesy of Rizzoli.

Recipe for Spring Tartines~(Makes four or six large servings, however, I cut them all in half which was perfect for each of us!)

20 thin asparagus spears, blanched and then immersed in ice cold water
1 carton of cherry tomatoes, sliced very thin
10 radishes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup of shelled Edamame soybeans
1/2 Cup of Parmesan cheese
1/2 Cup of torn baby arugula
salt and pepper to taste
4 to 6 pieces of multigrain bread, toasted and sprayed with olive oil on one side
6 Oz. of ricotta cheese

Cut the asparagus tips into 2 inch lengths and add with the peas in boiling water for one minute, then place in ice bath until cool. Remove and dry on paper towels. Spread the ricotta cheese on the toasted bread. Line tomatoes in the center. Layer the radish slices and peas on the top. Slice the asparagus tips lengthwise and scatter on top. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with arugula and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve as soon as they are prepared.

Back to the market

A trip to the antique markets in Paris is always on my agenda. This is a perfect place to stroll and maybe locate something special to pack up in your suitcase to bring home. Since I gravitate towards anything to do with food, I continually keep my eyes peeled for tabletop ideas as well. This trip I grabbed a few serving pieces. As you can see, spoons are easy to pack.

Just dig in and grab a few! Memories of your market experience will be with you for many meals  to come. When I take my guests to the market, I always suggest taking  a piece or two back home. Conversations of Paris continue to flow ~

Now, the horse ~ I could not get him in my suitcase, but what a treasure! Around every corner, another gem is found!

Then we see other wonderful treasures as we walk along the crowed stalls.
 Life is good ~

Roasted Beets with Fresh Greens

Try  roasting your fresh beets wrapped in foil for 45 minutes, cool then remove the skins.

Fresh beet salad with dressing.

Beets were purchased earlier in the day from the farmers market on Sanibel Island ~ big and delicious! Sorry to see the market close for the season.....

Wonderful huge heads of fresh lettuce also picked up from the farmers market.

Dressing for salad
1 T. red wine vinegar, 1/2 t. Dijon mustard, 3/4 t. balsamic vinegar, 1/4 c. olive oil, 4-6 ounces of fresh lettuce or baby greens, 3-4 beets, ( cooked) mine were rather large, salt and pepper to taste, fresh herbs to your liking; I added parsley and tarragon.

 Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Toss with the lettuce, beets and added herbs right before serving. A nice serving for two!
  After the pictures were taken, I threw in some crumbled goat cheese.That really topped it off!

Still working on the Macarons

Vanilla Macarons

Recipe for Macarons

makes 16

3/4 cup  ground almonds, (Bob's Red Mill Almond  Meal Flour) I found it at Walmart of all places! 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, 2 extra large egg whites, room temperature, 1/4cup sugar and 1/2 tsp.vanilla extract.

Sift ground almonds together with sugar and set aside. Place the egg whites in mixing bowl and whip until soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, making a firm, glossy meringue. Beat in vanilla. Using a spatula, fold the almond mixture into egg whites, 1/3 of a cup at a time. When all the ingredients are incorporated, continue to cut and fold the mixture until it forms a shiny batter with a thick ribbonlike consistency. I take a spoonful of the batter and place on a plate to see if the batter spreads without any peaks and is smooth on the top.

Pour the batter into a pastry bag. Pipe 32 small circles onto prepared baking sheets.Try to have them all the same size for matching purposes. (Parchment papers placed on baking sheets.) I use a rubber silicon pre-formed mat that can be purchased from Amazon, made by Mastrad. (Plaque a petits macarons) They also have the large mats for sale.       www.mastrad.fr
  Tap baking sheets firmly to remove any air bubbles and let sit for 40 minutes at room temperature.

Bake on preheated over for 10-15 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from paper or mats. Remove slowly and carefully~don't rush this step!
For the Filling
4 T. unsalted softened butter, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, sifted. I added some food coloring to my filling at this time. Beat the butter and sugar well until pale and fluffy then add sugar until smooth and creamy. Use filling to sandwich pairs of macarons together.

I will continue to practice until I get these perfected. I still had then too fat~practice makes perfect!

My Easy Homemade Pasta

My mixing bowl was my counter top. I used room temperature eggs and all purpose flour. To begin, I just formed a mound of flour, 2 cups and added 4 eggs. Make a well with the flour and add the eggs. Beat the flour and  eggs with a fork, little by little, starting with the inner rim of the well to incorporate the flour. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up, maintaining the rim, to keep the egg mixture inside. All the flour should be incorporated and now you begin to knead. I did add more flour to create the elastic consistency needed( and to keep my hands from becoming sticky) for the finished product. I kneaded the dough for 7 minutes. After I reached that bouncy (to touch) consistency), I shaped the dough into a ball then divided the dough into 4 equal parts and covered the dough with a dishcloth. This is important to keep the dough from drying out.

My noodles were cooked to an al dente consistency, 5 to 6 minutes, in a large pot of boiling and slightly salted water. Remove from pot and drain. Add to your desired sauce. This sauce was made from eggs, cream and cheese with Italian bacon, Pancetta.

My ball of dough, right before I divided it into sections to place in the pasta maker.

A flattened section of the dough( rectangular shape) ready to slide into pasta machine.

And here we go! The first three times I put the pasta through, I folded each end over, so it is now a small piece again and passed it through the widest setting again. I do this three times. Gradually, I changed the settings down, running the pasta through each setting twice, until I reached my desired thickness. Keep dusting strips with flour to prevent any sticking. I also cut the dough strip in half as the strips get really difficult to manage the thinner they become. If you have two extra hands with you, no need to do any cutting. Your pasta machine will have all the needed directions for passing the pasta through the machine as well as using the attachments. The entire process is easy~ and what a difference in the taste when you make it at home!
  Have fun and try it! I found my pasta machine at Home Goods which, incidentally, was made in Italy and cost $60.

Drying my pasta on a pasta rack or you can use a cookie sheet. Dry at least 30 minutes.

A few pictures from Paris Cookbook Fair- 2012

Dinner with French Sister

Starting the evening with a little sparkling wine!

Salad with Blood Sausage and Ham

Lamb-oh so perfectly prepared!

Such a delicious selection of cheese!

And more-dessert!

Butternut Squash with Barley

This is a new twist on pearled barley-instead of risotto-for a healthier dish.

Roasted butternut squash adds a great flavor along with the cheese. I use the squash all year long since it is always available,


This recipe has been tested by Country living~ and me!
Ingredients;

3 T. of olive oil
2 1/2 cups of chopped butternut squash
5 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 small head of garlic, finely chopped
1 t. of fresh thyme-plus a little more for the garnish
1t. of fresh lemon zest-I used dried
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of chopped onion
3/4 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 1/2 cups of pearled barley


Heat the oven to 400 degrees. You will need to toss the squash with 1 to 2 T. of the oil. I put everything into a large ziplock and shake it-with the salt and pepper, too. Spread the squash on a lined baking tray with parchment paper and roast until tender. About 20-25 minutes.Give it a stir once in a while...

In a large saucepan, add the remaining olive oil and saute the onion until softened. Add the garlic.  Add the broth, simmer and reduce heat. Add the barley and cook, stirring for two minutes. Add the thyme and lemon zest. Simmer until all the liquid is absorbed and the barley is tender and al dente, about  thirty minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Gently fold in the squash and garnish with the extra thyme. Add salt to your liking.

Feast for your eyes~fresh seafood!

Located in the Melrose Building very close to downtown Seattle, you will find the fifth generation of Taylor Shellfish Farms.This is the place to taste and buy fresh seafood along with a  a dynamic selection of shrimp, live crabs, clams, culinary cookbooks and even selected wines to enhance your shellfish experience. 

Taylor Shellfish Farms specializes in shipping live shellfish. Their phone number is:           206-501-4321

This is a bowl of Taylor Farms famous house-made geoduck chowder, supplied by Xinh Dwelley Oyster House of Sheldon, available daily along with clam chowder and fresh oysters. Makes a great lunch and takes no time at all to enjoy as you dine at your cozy little table and watch all that is cooking and being prepared from the open kitchen.

Oysters for two!

Taylor Shellfish at Melrose is located at 1521 Melrose Ave.,  Seattle ,WA