Fish in Grape Leaves

Last night, we had Ms. N and her two little girls, I. and Baby K. over. Ms. N is a very dear friend and we have cooked together for years and years...I told her I was in the mood for fish wrapped in grape leaves, and she said "Wow, we haven't had that in a while" and I responded that I thought she had done it last -- four years ago?

Anyway, follow the link for the recipe. The only modifications I made were to use Tilapia and to use goat butter for the sauce. The sauce is best if you don't cook it hardly at all, just slightly over low heat until the flavors are blended.

I am now looking into Hungarian dishes for Saturday night. We're having a couple of friends over who are interested in cooking with us. And of course, it will be more fun if I'm learning too!

Italian veggies

Yesterday we went for a play date/supper at Ms. J and Mr. B's house. Kiddo and M. had a grand time after learning how to negotiate with each other -- it's a little odd having two such verbal and manipulative small ones to deal with. I've learned from another parent at Kiddo's school that he is a "ringleader." I'm not quite sure what to make of that, if anything. Hub asked at school and they very diplomatically said he simply takes the lead on activities, because he is so excited to be doing them. They're so nice. :)

Ms. J toiled over a lovely dish that her father makes. She was nervous to mess it up on two fronts -- one, it's one of her Dad's signatures, and she had a mental taste/look picture that she was going for. Two, she was cooking for me. I reassured her that honestly, I was just happy to be there! And I was.

Funny thing is, I don't usually like peppers very much. Hub loves them, so I kind of put up with the occasional grilled or roasted pepper. The dish Ms. J was making was ALMOST ALL PEPPERS! And Mr. B even was amazed at how much they had cost...so I was steeling myself for disappointment.

It was lovely. I mean it. I had seconds and thirds. Whee! I've found a way to enjoy peppers! This had 2 red onions (two!), something like one green, one yellow and one red pepper (but it may have been two of each?), garlic, a quart of cherry tomatoes and bowtie pasta, with parmesan on top. I'll either ask Ms. J for the recipe, or try to figure it out on my own.

She also has a HUGE frying pan that I covet.

Tonight, Hub made dinner and it was edible. Enough said.

Thanksgiving at my brother's

Whoo hoo! For one of the first times in years, I didn't host Thanksgiving at my house. Instead, we went down to Bro and Sis-in-law's down in Wilmington. Bro had always wanted to try a deep-fried turkey, especially since he now resides in the South. Hub picked up a fryer at Home Depot a few days ago, and since then, the two of them have been studying up on the dangers and methods of using the thing.

1. Make sure the turkey is completely defrosted (or fresh, which is the option we went for) and dry. If not, kaboom!
2. Make sure the fryer is outside, not under a roof, and not on a combustible surface (we had it on the patio surrounded by sand). If not, kaboom!
3. Make sure the oil is not too hot and not overfilled. If not, kaboom!

The guys did a fantastic job, and the turkeys were amazing (they did two). I've cooked a lot of turkeys in my life, have done some pretty interesting things like injecting them with wine/butter solutions, roasting them in a bag, brining, etc. I've even roasted a goose. Never has the carcass been subject to every single adult picking at it. And a super-bonus is that the oven was free to make/heat big pans of macaroni & cheese, stuffing, dinner rolls, sweet potato casserole, turnips & greens, gravy...the only "missing" item was mashed potatoes, but since Sis wasn't with us, no-one cared.

My contribution to the meal was to make two pies and bring the leftover frozen turnips and turnip greens from my last big dinner party. I actually made a fresh pumpkin pie, which was 100 times better than any pumpkin pie I've ever had before. I don't usually like pumpkin pie, to tell the truth. This was great. I'll post the recipe when I get back home. The other pie was a chocolate scotch pecan pie, also delicious. Kiddo helped me in the preparation of both...if by "helping" we can also include the slurping of leftover pumpkin pie filling with a spoon.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Slow cooker beef stew

Also on Sunday night, Hub followed my directions to prep for a slow-cooker beef stew. This is part of our effort to figure out how to actually work out of the house and get dinner on the table and not resort to fast food too often. He did the prep Sunday night, then I threw everything into the pot on Monday morning. YiaYia and PaPou came over and brought bread...other than that, it was a complete meal and provided enough leftovers for the next night's supper and for my lunch today! I love leftovers...

2.5 lb cheap beef (beef chuck underblade is what we bought)
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 onion, coursely chopped
4 medium potatoes, cubed to about 2"
1 12 oz bag of baby carrots
2 branches rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 quart mushroom broth (Pacific brand is what I used) or I suppose beef broth would work

1. Cut beef into 2" cubes, removing fat and membranes as desired
2. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a freezer bag
3. Put beef into the bag and shake, refrigerate
   
4. Mix vegetables and herbs and broth in a bowl, refrigerate
5. In the morning, put the beef on the bottom of the crock-pot, then throw everything else on top. Set on low.
6. When I got home, the potatoes were still a bit hard (they were cut too big) and I put the heat on high for 30 minutes. But I think if the potatoes were cut smaller like I've said in the recipe, that wouldn't be necessary.
   

Herb-crusted rack of lamb

On Sunday, we picked up a rack of American-raised lamb at BJ's -- we're not crazy about the meat there usually, but it's never bad. This turned out to be lovely. I called Ms. J to see if they wanted to come over, but they had other plans. Turns out Hub and I ate the whole thing up, anyway. :)

1 frenched rack of lamb, 8 ribs, about 1 1/3 pound
1 teas. black peppercorns
1 teas. kosher salt
Leaves from 1 branch rosemary
1/3 cup packed mint leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
zest and juice of 1 small lemon
1 Tbsp. olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450
   
2. Put all the ingredients (except the lamb, lemon juice and olive oil) into a mini food processor, pulse them together.
3. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl
4. Place the rack in a small square glass baking dish, and pour the lemon juice and olive oil over.
5. Press on the breadcrumb/herb mix
6. Cook for about 35 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 130 degrees
7. Let rest for 5 minutes before carving. A normal portion would be 2 ribs per person, unless you're pigs like us.