Saturday's Dinner- Beef Fondue, Apple-Brie Mashed Potatoes, & Legumes
Sunday's Lunch- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
So it may look like I've gotten extra ambitious by trying 2 new meals this weekend. That's partly true. Really, though, I think I was trying to make up for the fact that I cooked absolutely nothing during the week. We went out or had take-out every night. On nights that I come home late from work, it would just take too much time to cook something. That's not to say that Jason (who gets home earlier) doesn't start dinner sometimes If I keep up my weekend practicing though, maybe I'll get faster and more efficient. I also need to get better at planning ahead for the week to make weekend grocery shopping easier. :) There's so much more to learning how to cook than just the cooking part.
Anyhow, as a new chef, I'm always looking for inspiration. My favorite sources include: my mom's recipe box (I treasure this), online recipes (because I love being able to read the reviews), the Food Network, and restaurants. (That helps me to justify all the eating out...I'll just call it "research.") My Saturday night meal came partly from a 30 Minute Meals episode. Rachel Ray prepared the Apple-Brie Mashed Potatoes with a chicken dish, but I decided that Beef Fondue would be more fun. I also added Lima beans prepared in a roux to round out the meal. Here are the recipes, followed by my commentary:
Apple Brie Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
- Salt
- 1/2 cup of cream
- 1 Golden Delicious Apple, peeled and cored
- 1/3 lb wedge Brie Cheese, cut into pieces
Directions:
1. Peel and quarter potatoes. Place in large pot and cover with water. Boil over medium heat until tender.
2. When potatoes are cooked, remove from heat and drain. Mash potatoes, season with salt and set aside.
3. In small pot, combine apple and cream and reduce over medium heat for 15 minutes.
4. To food processor, add the hot apple cream mixture, and brie, process until smooth, and
season with salt.
5. Beat cream mixture into potatoes.
DELICIOUS potatoes! The apple just really adds something interesting and sweet. Now I will admit that the Brie scared me a bit, and in my preparation, I did not use the amount of Brie that was called for. I had never worked with Brie before. I was unsure about the consistency of it and if I should use the white-ish part all along the edge. Smelling the apple-cream mixture was fantastic, and I really hesitated to add in the Brie (which to me smelled a bit like mushrooms...or feet...). I served this with beef, as I mentioned before, and Jason and I both agreed that these potatoes would really compliment a chicken dish much better.
Legumes (Lima Beans) in Roux Sauce
Ingredients:
-Half bag frozen Lima beans
-2 TB butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 TB flour
- 1 TB white vinegar
- Salt
Directions:
1. Boil the Lima beans in water, separately from roux. Cook until tender, set aside.
2. While beans are cooking, combine milk and butter in sauce pan and heat on low-medium. Do not allow the milk to boil.
3. After butter has melted, gradually add flour, stirring continuously.
4. Add white vinegar, continuing to stir. Add salt to taste.
5. Combine roux with Lima beans in serving bowl.
This is one of my mom's. I never actually had this recipe written down, I just played around with it until I got it just right. Sometimes, I still have to add a little more flour and vinegar to get it to the right thickness. It can be tricky to master, but it's really good. It's always important to put in the ingredients in the order listed above. Otherwise, the vinegar does weird things to the milk.
Beef Fondue - I served the two above dishes with your standard beef fondue. I loved fondue as a child simply for the novelty. I think I wanted to do it last night because it helps to slow down the pace of a meal. Sometimes we rush through our dinners, and I'm working on ways to help us remember what its like to savor the food and the company. Next time I do fondue, I'd like to making some dipping sauces for the meat. Does anyone have any recipes they like? Please share!
Overall, this was a fun (but messy!) meal to make. Being an organized chef needs to move up on my list of priorities. Check out these pictures. The first one is my kitchen on a typical day. The second one is the "after" shot. Yep...that took a while to clean up!
Sunday: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
So on to Sunday's meal. I decided to do a lunch attempt for today. One of my favorite restaurants is P.F. Changs. I have tried a few "copy cat" recipes that I found online with other recipes from the restaurant that have turned out really well. (Ask me for the Mongolian Beef recipe if you want it...it's easy to make, delicious and great as left-overs.) I decided that Chicken Lettuce Wraps would make a nice lunch. Here is a link to the recipe that I used: http://http//www.recipezaar.com/P-F-Changs-Chicken-Lettuce-Wraps-15865
Jason really liked the end result, but this took me FOREVER to make. I think mincing some of the ingredients took the longest...does any one have a hand chopper that works well for mincing? I might be investing in one after this.
My last thought for today will be the "Wine of the Weekend." We opened a new bottle on Saturday that was excellent. It would go perfectly with any kind of beef meal. Highly recommended!
NEWTON Napa Valley Claret, 2006:
Merlot: 43% Cabernet Sauvignon 41% Cabernet Franc 9% Petit Verdot 4% Syrah 3%
Until next week, be well, eat well, and love well!
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