Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Image Am I the only weirdo who wakes up and immediately starts thinking of granola? I mean there are so many drool worthy foods out there to wrap my brain around but I rise from slumber contemplating granola. Lame I know.

However, here's the thing, I do not like granola in a bowl with milk. After two or three spoonfuls I am so done with the all the chewing. My gosh, it's so much chewing. I don't have that kind of time in the morning. It's like twenty chews a bite right?

I need something I can eat while I'm waking up kids, making their breakfast and lunches for school, searching for lost shoes, homework papers and jackets. You know, all the things my kids should probably be doing for themselves, but hey I'm a masochist.

Read more ...

chocicecreamThis is a super easy, super delicious chocolate ice cream. It uses just a few basic ingredients and does not require any special equipment. Sweetened condensed milk eliminates the need for eggs and sugar and carefully supervised custards.

The texture is incredible – smooth, silky, almost mousse-like. As always, use the best possible bittersweet chocolate – like Callebaut or Valrhona.

Eagle Brand’s website features several flavor variations (click for their recipes), but this one from Cook’s Country seems to have the best balance.

I’m planning to test some fruit versions soon!

Read more ...

ImageThere must be as many ways to make chili as there are shades of Sherwin-Williams paints. There’s no right or wrong way to make chili. It’s all about what pleases your taste buds. And, I’m always willing to give a new twist to a pot of chili.

Dennis Weimann, News Director/Anchor of Lakeland News at Lakeland Public Television sent me an email the other day and shared a chili recipe he had developed. He was planning to make a pot that day. Maybe he’s getting ready for the next United Way Chili Cook-off in Bemidji. I examined the list of ingredients. First, I noticed it had beans and meat. That’s important to me. I can eat a chili with beans and meat or with beans only. I don’t mean to make any of my Texas friends shudder, but I just can’t call it chili if there is only meat with no beans in the pot.

As my eyes moved further down the list of ingredients, I began to see a side of Dennis Weimann that amazed me. I had no idea he was a spice guy. A chili head. A lover of heat.

Read more ...

bechamel-sauce-243x300.jpg I was a lucky little girl. My neighborhood friends were envious when my mom invited me to be in the kitchen with her. It was during our kitchen sessions together that she taught me the tricks of the home-cook's trade. By the time I was 12 years old, I knew how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. I realized later in life that not only was I creating one of my favorite meals, I was practicing the art of French cooking.

The base of the creamy cheese sauce loaded with cooked elbow macaroni was béchamel sauce. Béchamel (bay-shah-mell), one of the mother sauces of French cooking and probably the easiest to make, starts with melted butter and flour and ends with milk and cheese.

The other day I made croque monsieur, French-style ham and cheese sandwiches topped with thick, cheesy bechamel. I made more of the gruyere and parmesan-spiked sauce than I would need for the sandwiches just so I could make baked penne.

Read more ...

Steak-4-630x407It was a two-line email—the kind that makes you sit up and think—because it addressed an issue faced daily by millions of grill masters around Planet Barbecue:

“Sometimes we buy cheap beef because we are on a budget,” wrote Diane Q. “These steaks are often tough. We have tried salt, meat tenderizer, and marinades. Could you please tell me the best way to tenderize the steaks?”

I immediately thought of my last trip to Southeast Asia, and in particular, to steaks I ate hot off the grill in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both were explosively flavorful thanks to complex marinades and polymorphic condiment spreads. And both were tough as proverbial shoe leather.

We North Americans and Europeans are spoiled when it comes to steak. Our notion of a “fork-tender” filet mignon or a “silver butter knife” sirloin (the signature steak at Murray’s in Minneapolis—so named because it’s so tender, the steak knife glides through the meat as though it were butter) are the stuff of dreams on much of Planet Barbecue.

Read more ...