Blue Cheese Slaw

Last night I had a roast in the oven, seasoned with Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning and smoked paprika. We had white beans, because I MEANT to make baked beans but I've been hauling mulch and was too tired to grill the ribs that the beans were supposed to go with.

So...beans and roast. That works. But the only fresh green thing in the refrigerator was a head of cabbage, so we had slaw. And it was SO good that we're having it again tonight. With roast beef sandwiches.

Blue Cheese Slaw
1/2 head cabbage
2 carrots (or a handful of small ones)
1 red onion
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarse ground mustard
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 to 3/4 cup blue cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the cabbage, onion and carrots the way you do it...I use the slicer blade on my food processor. My mother puts it in a blender with water and then drains it. My nephew hand chops everything. Whisk mayo, mustards, vinegar and celery seed. Toss the cabbage and carrots with the dressing and blue cheese. Chill for an hour or so, to let the flavors make friends.

(A little aside here. I had a piece of the Point Reyes blue cheese I got for Christmas, frozen. I used it and while the taste was OUTSTANDING, if you're not a blue cheese person it might be too strong. So do the blue cheese to taste, depending on the quality of cheese you have.)

This was SO good.

What's for supper? Toasted Ravioli & Mini-Burgers!

Oooh. Potluck worked out last night!

We had cheese ravioli a couple of nights ago, and had some un-sauced leftovers. And so, because it seems like every time the weather gets above 55 degrees someone around here starts squalling for grilled hamburgers, last night we had toasted ravioli and mini-burgers.

I don't get the mini-burger thing but then, maybe that's why I'm not a marketing genuis. And the problem last night was that while I had the mini-burgers, I didn't have the mini-buns. So recipe hunting we went and things worked out beautifully! We snacked on the ravioli as soon as The Big Boy got home, then he and The Not Nice Kid grilled the burgers.

Toasted Ravioli

16 large square cheese ravioli (mine were already cooked)

2 eggs, beaten with 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup pecan meal

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Vegetable oil for frying

Mix breadcrumbs with pecan meal and seasonings. Heat vegetable oil in skillet, to about 350 degrees. Dip the ravioli in the egg wash, then the crumb mixture and ease into the hot oil. Fry until lightly browned, turn and brown the other side and drain on paper towels. Serve with marinara sauce or, since we didn't have marinara sauce, pizza sauce works!

Mini-Burger Buns

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 package yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg

Mix cream, buttermilk, water and sliced butter in a mixing bowl. Microwave just until warm and butter has softened. Using dough hooks, mix in 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Mix until combined, then add remaining flour one cup at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let it rise for about 45 minutes. Then punch it down, divide into 24 balls and put them on lightly greased baking sheets. I flattened them to where they sort of looked like biscuits, but next time I think I'll leave them a little fatter. Let rise another 30 minutes, then bake for 12 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

These were so GOOD! I actually cut the salt to one teaspoon and added 1/4 cup finely grated Asiago cheese. And according to several recipes I looked at, if you use instant yeast you can skip the first rising.

It's Ash Wednesday and we're not Catholic!

It takes my Methodist kids a couple of Lenten seasons to grasp the Catholic/non-Catholic modus operandi. They can’t participate in the Epiphany mass. They can’t even take communion, and where they come from everyone takes communion, whether they’re sorry or not. (See that’s one of the big differences…Protestants put all the burden on the sinner. Catholics just pass it off to the priest.) So yesterday, they come in and announce they’re giving up candy for Lent. Because.

While I did explain that it would be thoughtful to give up something for Lent, just as sort of a snuggle with God, I pointed out that because we’re not Catholic we don’t have to give up anything. Especially when it comes to food. And that’s how we got to…

Duck for dinner. Around here, wild game is a part of the culture. (Not a part of MY culture, but a part of everyone else’s.) There are Wild Game Cook-Off’s around here that bring in people from all sorts of interesting places, and spawn rivalries and competitions that go on year after year. (My little brother nearly SHOT a competitor once when the opposing dish showed up…straight from a restaurant kitchen.) And somehow a couple of years ago, I got caught up in cooking duck on a grill and saucing it. And this is what we ended up with.

Duck with Blackberry Sauce

25 ounce can blackberries
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
2 cubes beef bouillon
1 cube chicken bouillon
1-3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sherry

Drain blackberries, reserving syrup. In a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add wine, 1/3 cup blackberry syrup and vinegar. Add bouillion cubes and water and simmer until cubes are dissolved. Add drained blackberries and simmer for 25 minutes, crushing berries with the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in sherry.

To roast the duck:

Quarter a small onion, halve five or six cloves of garlic and cut up some kind of fruit…an apple is good. A pear is good. An orange works well. Rinse the duck, salt and pepper it inside and out and rub it with olive oil. Carefully prick the duck all over, piercing just the skin. (This lets the fat drain out and helps crisp the skin.) Stuff it with a couple of pieces of onion, garlic and fruit. Place on a rack on a roasting pan and cook at 450 degrees for 45 minutes. Baste with juices and/or butter, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for approximately another 45 minutes. I never HAVE found the thigh muscle with a thermometer, so go for a moveable drumstick.

This is the oven method. If you have the patience and a really good temperature-controlled grill, use that. But keep the duck on the rack over the roasting pan. You need those juices.

To serve, let stand for five minutes. Cut into quarters and serve with sauce and pan juices.

Wednesday night we had this with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, with extra roasted garlic cloves to squeeze on French baquettes. And salads, with bacon, blue cheese and Newman's Own...MY FAVORITE. And hot gingerbread for dessert. This doing penance stuff is rough.

Condiment Recovery

Hi, everyone. My name is City Girl and I’m addicted to condiments.

*Hi, City Girl.*

God, grant me the ability to season the foods I cannot palate,
The courage to try savory jellies,
And the wisdom not to confuse Miracle Whip with mayonnaise.

I’ve been asked to share with you today my story of hitting rock bottom and realizing I need help…kicking the condiment habit.

*murmurs of approval*

The other day my husband was making a sandwich and asked me where he could find the mustard.

“On the refrigerator door, middle shelf, on the right” I replied.

“No, I’m not looking for weird mustard, I want sandwich mustard” he said firmly, staring into the box.

So I went to him, squinted into the 15 watt brightness, pointed to the mustard shelf and said, “It’s right here….” before recoiling in horror as I realized I actually have an entire refrigerator shelf dedicated to housing mustard.

The Hubster, unrelenting, said, “You have seven different kinds of mustard in here, and none of them is plain, yellow, American.”

I reviewed: coarse grain French mustard, whole grain French mustard, coarse grain hot Polish mustard, sweet and hot German mustard, wasabi mustard, brown American mustard and an old, forgotten Food & Wine magazine brand champagne mustard.”

“Oh, well, we can get rid of that Food & Wine mustard – I don’t know how long that’s been in there.”

“That doesn’t solve the problem of my naked sandwich.”

“Well, use the brown mustard – it’s American.”

“It isn’t yellow.”

“You just made fun of me for harboring seven different mustards in our home and now you want me to add another? You – YOU – are an enabler!”

And so here I am with you tonight. I want to get better. I do. I’ve been to Fresh Market twice recently without purchasing a single new condiment. Not even a new curry sauce…but that’s another testimony for another day.

Best. Steak. Marinade. Ever.
This is awesome on Rib Eye Steaks.

2 Rib Eye Steaks
4 Cloves of Garlic
½ Cup Coarse Ground Mustard
½ Bottle Moore’s Original or Dale’s Marinade
Pepper

1. Early in the day rinse and dry steaks, poke all over with the end of a knife.
2. Pepper both sides to taste.
3. Mince garlic and rub into both sides of both steaks, working it into the knife slits.
4. Smear 1/8 cup mustard on each side of each steak.
5. Gently slide steaks into a gallon-size Zip-Lock bag.
6. Add marinade to bag, zip bag 99% closed, and squeeze out all the air.

Refrigerate all day. Remove bag from fridge and turn upside-down on the counter two hours before grilling – meat should always be at room temp when you throw it onto the flames.

Cook to order. Open beer. Consume. Repeat as often as necessary to achieve a full and happy life.