Steak Fingers and Gravy are one of those comfort foods I grew up with. One of the things I love about food is that it brings back memories or creates new ones. For me, steak fingers always remind me of my Dad. He was a meat and potatoes kind of man and loved his steak fingers. And as with most meals on the farm, we always had potatoes and gravy alongside. Rarely do I cook the way we did back then but once in awhile I crave the old comforts of home.
The wait is over! My homemade Vanilla Extract and Vanilla sugar that I started in August is finally ready. I waited 8 weeks and it’s finally time to try it out. I found just the recipe, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies. I love white chocolate, which isn’t really chocolate at all, but that’s beside the point. And I have several cans of Macadamia nuts that Joe and I brought back from Hawaii saving for a special occasion. I think unveiling the Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Sugar is pretty special. The cookies turned out pretty good too!
Do you remember the series of “Beautiful Cookbooks”? I find myself flipping through the pages just to drool over the beautiful pictures, but I also find many recipes that I would love to try. I ran across this recipe in the “Southwest Beautiful Cookbook” and I was intrigued. The picture looked like a margarita in a jar and I wondered if it would taste as good as I imagined. As it turned out it was a sinfully sweet version of a classic margarita that I could spread on a cracker, biscuit or muffin.
If you are not familiar with a Molcajete and Tejolote, it is a Mexican mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock used to grind ingredients such as garlic, tomatoes and spices. They remind me of the Native American grinding stones found in large rocks. My sister Kat gave me a molcajete on our recent visit to NM and I’ve been anxious to try it out. If you have a new molcajete it should be seasoned just as you would a new cast iron skillet. There are many online sites that give instructions on how to season a molcajete which would be easier and probably more helpful I could explain. I’m looking forward to all the spices I can now grind as well as making guacamole and endless salsa’s. This salsa includes roasted tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, onion, green chile, lime, and cilantro. It was very aromatic as I started grinding the garlic and tomatoes. Each added ingredient changed the texture and added another element of flavor. Continue reading
There’s nothing more comforting to a New Mexican than a bowl of Green Chile Stew. On our recent visit to Santa Fe, Joe and I sat down at a little sidewalk cafe to share a tamale and a bowl of green chile stew. It was a rainy day with a chill in the air so a bowl of stew sounded wonderful. The pork was tender, the chile was hot with big chunks of potato and a hint of cilantro. It really hit the spot. Joe mentioned again and again how good that stew was that I took it as a hint that I should make up a pot when we got home. I started making this recipe years ago when Joe and I lived in Albuquerque and it always reminds me of home.
My new favorite book “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day” has changed the way I think about pizza. The master recipe makes a big batch of dough that can be made ahead of time and placed in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Once the dough has been made you can take scissors and snip off just the amount of dough you need for any size pizza. The crust will taste fresh and crisp just like you taste in a pizzeria. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical about working with cold dough out of the fridge, but honestly it was very easy and the results were amazing. The major differences in this dough is that you don’t knead it ahead of time, just incorporate all the flour into the wet ingredients and let it sit at room temperature to rise. Also the dough takes on that crispy crust by cooking on a pizza stone or a cast iron griddle at very high heat. Already having a stone and cast iron griddle, I invested in a pizza peel in order to transfer the pizza on and off the hot stone. With the master recipe I was able to make 5 pizza crusts although I probably could have squeezed out another one or two if I had made thinner crusts. It’s all in your preference of how thin or thick you like your crust.
Nothing feels more like Autumn than the aroma of warm apples and spice filling the kitchen. My salted caramel sauce was sitting in the fridge waiting to be used for more than just a topping for ice cream or dipping apples. I had been contemplating a caramel apple pie but in the end I decided on these Salted Apple Caramel Bars. I pulled the pie recipe and used it as my guide for the filling and topped it with a drizzle of salted caramel. These are a treat any time of day but I especially loved them in the morning after drizzling a bit of caramel on my bar I would dip the caramel coated spoon into my coffee . . . Yum!
I don’t know about you all but it sure is feeling like Fall around here in the Midwest. The morning air is crisp and cool and it’s so refreshing to be able to open up the doors and windows for some fresh air after a long hot summer. I’ve been thinking of fall baking and patiently waiting on my homemade Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Sugar which still need a few weeks for the fullest flavor to come through. I found another tip on that same holiday episode of “Kelsey’s Essentials” on how to make Salted Caramel Sauce which can be used in so many recipes. It looked so easy that I had to give it a try. My first attempt, I had a hiccup when I read the recipe too quickly and ended up with rock candy instead of caramel syrup. The key is patience and no stirring. My first batch I stirred furiously and when the liquid evaporated it was like a vacuum sucking the water out and the sugar crystallized in seconds. I was devastated at first wondering what I did wrong, so I looked at the the recipe again and there it was plain as day, it said NOT to stir once it begins to boil. Well, I gave it another go and this time I had the tastiest caramel sauce ever.
Recently Joe and I were in a Whole Foods store where they had a sampling of figs. Green, brown and black figs cut up and ready to taste. We tasted all three and we decided the black figs had the most flavor. We picked up a few to take home and I started looking for ideas and recipes for a fig tart. I came across a recipe from a blog “Koko’s Kitchen” that looked and sounded delicious. I took her idea of making a tart with a brie and ricotta cheese filling topped with honey glazed walnuts and figs. But where she made a pear sauce to go over top, I chose to add pear slices alongside the figs and make a cream cheese drizzle to add some sweetness. It was so different than anything I expected and was such a treat. It’s a little savory with the creamy cheeses complimented with the fig and pear which tasted so good. The cream cheese drizzle was like the icing on the cake, you had layers of savory cheese, natural fruit slices and a hint of sweetness over the top.
I’ve been away for a week to visit my native New Mexico so I haven’t exactly been in the kitchen lately. I did however experience some of the best cuisine starting with Carl’s Ranch Chicken. Then there was the Indian Taco smothered in green chile at Serefino’s where Kat and my nieces ate. So many good meals, so many memories. There is so much to love about New Mexico. Too much in fact but I’ll try to share some of the beauty, culture and serenity you will find when you visit. September in New Mexico is special, the green chile is roasting on the streets, the chile ristras are hanging, the skies are the most beautiful blue and the adobe architecture and decor makes you feel at home. We made our way across the state to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos but first a trip to the farm.
An Inspired Cook 