Columbus Foodie

I figured I would post this one while it was still a recent memory (or would it have been better to post it in January to cheer me up and give me something to look forward to?) Either way, this was something I made a couple of months ago when I could still get strawberries and blueberries at the farmers markets. The “grow my own” ingredient in this is mulberries that I foraged right from the tree in my backyard. I’m so glad that mulberry tree survived the tree falling in the windstorm a couple of weeks ago - as a matter of fact, it may be a blessing in disguise since the tree was growing in the split of the older tree, and now that half of the tree is gone, it has much more room to grow.

I used Bird’s custard mix as the recipe suggested, maybe next time around I’ll just make my own - don’t get me wrong, it worked, it just didn’t have the exact mouth feel I was looking for. The blend of berries went nicely with the sherry, but I may mascerate them in Grand Marnier next time around. I’m submitting this recipe to the Grow Your Own event hosted by Denise at Chez Us.

Basic Trifle Recipe
recipe courtesy BirdyBaker @ RecipeZaar

1 pre-made cake (I used angel food)
2 instant pudding mix (I used Bird’s custard mix)
2 (1 lb) bags frozen fruit or fresh fruit (I used a combo of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and mulberries)
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. whipped cream
Additional fresh fruit, to garnish
1/3 c. sherry wine or juice or water (I used dry sherry)

Prepare the pudding or custard according to the directions and let cool. Mix the fruit with the sherry. Cut the cake into 1″ chunks and place half of the chunks in the bottom of a trifle bowl (I used individual trifle bowls, and put a few cubes in each bowl). Layer fruit on top of that, and then pudding on top of the fruit, and then repeat layering. Top with whipped cream and garnish with fresh fruit. Chill well before serving.

This was my first attempt ever at making risotto, and I think it came out quite well. I used a recipe I found on the Lambert Bridge Winery web site. The risotto was tasty. Creamy without being too fatty. Had a nice toothsome bite to it. Great flavor. And was much easier to make than I imagined. I can’t wait to make risotto again with other flavor combinations. I served it with a couple of beautful tenderloins from Bluescreek grilled outdoors.

I’m sending this to Pam of Sidewalk Shoes, who is hosting this week’s Bookmarked Recipes event.

Heirloom Tomato Risotto
recipe courtesy Lambert Bridge Winery

Ingredients:
2 T unsalted butter
2 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 C Arborio rice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 C white wine
3-4 C chicken or vegetable stock, kept hot on the stove
4 medium-large heirloom tomatoes, diced
salt & pepper to taste
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/3 C basil, chiffonade
½ C dry jack cheese, grated

In a large heavy bottom skillet, heat butter and olive oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in rice and garlic, cooking until kernels start to turn golden brown. Deglaze with wine and allow liquid to almost evaporate. Add about 1½ cups of hot stock, stirring until almost completely absorbed. Continue until stock is gone and rice is al dente. The whole process should take about 16 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add balsamic vinegar. At the last minute stir in tomatoes, most of the basil and half of the dry jack. Place risotto on a platter and top with the remaining cheese and basil. Serves 4

I’m very particular when it comes to oatmeal cookies - I don’t like raisins in them - don’t like cinnamon in them - don’t like cakey oatmeal cookies. I don’t think I’ve had a “perfect” oatmeal cookie since I was a kid, and to be honest, I don’t even remember who made the last perfect one I had. But “perfection” is very subjective, isn’t it? I do know that I like my oatmeal cookies thin and crispy and chewy rather than soft. So when I saw this recipe on the Taste Buds blog, going by the picture it looked just like the texture I was looking for. A quick scan of the ingredients - no cinnamon. Chocolate chips (which I don’t want in my oatmeal cookies), but no problem, I can work around that. So I modified her recipe very slightly to take out what I didn’t want, and add in what I do. So the final cookie? Oh, so very close. The texture is right, the flavor is mostly right, just need to work on making them taste a little more like oatmeal.

I’m submitting this to the Sunday Snacks event, hosted by SnackORama.

Crispy, Chewy Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
slightly modified from Taste Buds blog

1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 c. walnut pieces

Combine dry ingredients; set aside. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in oats and walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees on greased or lined cookie sheets 10-12 minutes.

One day, when searching for a beef stroganoff recipe, we came across this one. It wasn’t quite your classic Beef Stroganoff recipe, but then again, it wasn’t quite a Beef Burgundy. Either way, it was absolutely DELICIOUS. So we added it to our repertoire and started calling it “Beef Strogundy”. And since one of it’s primary ingredients is a hearty red wine, I’m submitting it to Joelen’s Fall Favorites & Red Wine blogging event.

Beef Strogundy
recipe modified from Brother Aaron Raverty’s Beef Stroganoff recipe

2 lbs. beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 c. chopped onions
4-5 minced garlic cloves
1 lb. sliced and stemmed shiitake mushrooms
16 oz. sour cream
1 (8 oz) can tomato soup
2 (8 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Burgundy or other full bodied red wine
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 lb. bag extra wide egg noodles

Dredge beef cubes through flour, and saute in vegetable oil until browned. Put browned meat into a large dutch oven, and add onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Combine all the remaining ingredients (except sour cream) and stir into dutch oven - bring up to a simmer under low heat, stirring constantly, and then increase heat until mixture just begins to boil. Return sauce to simmer, and cover dutch oven. Cook for at least two hours, stirring mixture occassionally, adjusting seasoning as you go along. At the two hour point, the meat should start getting tender. About 20 minutes before serving, start the water for the noodles, and add the sour cream to the beef mixture, stirring it in well. Increase heat slightly, and leave dutch oven uncovered. When pasta is done, mix it into the beef mixture, and serve.

My mom’s boyfriend Joe and I are totally sympatico when it comes to food - our love of it and of cooking it and discovering new things has created something that we bonded over, so we’re always cooking for each other. We go over their place, they come over here - a back and forth dance that seems to just get better and better. So when they called up and invited us over for homemade pierogies? You didn’t have to ask us twice.

This recipe? Is a keeper, folks. It’s been a month since pierogie night and my mother is still going on and on about the pierogie dough, how nice it was to work with, etc. I’m not kidding. We’ve already told her to go and marry the dough already if she loves it so much. I can vouch that the dough was what made these pierogies. So if you’ve had problems making pierogies before because of crappy dough, give it a try again - with this recipe.

He made a few different fillings - potato/cheese, potato/sauerkraut, and my personal favorite, the kielbasa/sauerkraut pierogie.

They fried them up in butter with onions - and OMFG. best pierogies I’ve had in years. They served them up with an Italian pork roast and a broccoli-cheddar casserole.

So to say that this is a family favorite would be the understatement of the year; which is exactly why I’m submitting it to Joelen’s Read Watch & Eat with Family Favorites event, which asks us to post about a family favorite recipe.

Homemade Pittsburgh Pierogies with Sour Cream
recipe courtesy About.com

Ingredients:
2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra to serve with the pierogi
1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
butter and onions for sauteing
ingredients for filling of your choice (potato & cheese filling recipe below)

Preparation:
Pierogi Dough
To prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the 1/2 cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness (about 5-7 minutes). You can use a food processor with a dough hook for this, but be careful not to overbeat. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or overnight; the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Prepare the Pierogies
Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or countertop until 1/8″ thick. Cut circles of dough (2″ for small pierogies and 3-3 1/2″ for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Boil the pierogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute chopped onions in butter in a large pan until onions are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. Serve with a side of sour cream for a true Pittsburgh pierogi meal.

Homemade Pierogi Tips:

If you are having a hard time getting the edges to stick together, you may have too much flour in the dough. Add a little water to help get a good seal.

If you don’t want to cook all of the pierogies right away, you can refrigerate them (uncooked) for several days or freeze them for up to several months.

You can fill pierogies with pretty much anything you want, though potato and cheese is the most common (recipe below). Sweet pierogies are often filled with a prune mixture.

Potato, Cheese & Onion Filling: Peel and boil 5 lbs of potatoes until soft. Red potatoes are especially good for this. While the potatoes are boiling, finely chop 1 large onion and saute in butter until soft and translucent. Mash the potatoes with the sauted onions and 8oz of grated cheddar cheese, adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some fresh parsley, bacon bits, or other enhancements if you desire. Let the potato mixture cool and then form into 1″ balls.

It’s a race against time in my pantry - me vs. Mr. Mousey to see who can get to my legumes and grains first. I found out the hard way that big blue plastic containers are no match for a clever little rodent (who knew that they could get under closed lids? we didn’t, which explains why Paul screamed like a girl when he was looking for something in there and a mouse jumped out at him). So needless to say, I have a ton of stuff to work through - all kind of obscure grains and heirloom beans that I’m having hard time to find recipes for, and then nice simple predictable ingredients like the bag of 15 Beans from Ham-Bone brand. I dug around until I found a basic soup recipe, and it turned out VERY well. It tasted as good on Day 4 as it did on the day I made it, and got raves from my entire family. Especially delicious served with crusty bread.

I’m submitting this entry to My Legume Love Affair - Third Helping, an event started by The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this month by Lucy at Nourish Me.

15 Bean Soup
recipe slightly modified from recipezaar

1 (1 lb.) bag of regular 15 bean soup mix
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, crushed
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2-3 ham hocks
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed with fingers
1 tsp. black pepper
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or equivalent in powder)

Wash the beans; put in large pot and cover with water. Let soak overnight. Drain beans and set aside.

Add oil to pot. Saute the ham hocks, onion and celery until tender. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more. Add the beans, and cover with water (about 2 inches over top of beans). Add tomatoes with the juice, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, bouillon cubes, and about 1 tsp. of salt to start with. Mix well. Bring to a boil; stir, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours (ours was more like 3) or until all beans are tender.

Keep watching it and stirring it every once in a while. You may need to add more water; you want it to keep a consistency a little thicker than a soup. Taste it after it cooks. You may need to add more salt or pepper. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the flavor package that comes with the beans. Serve with crusty bread.

I try to attend as many of the Slow Food Columbus events as I possibly can, as the combination of food (or drink) and company always guarantees an enjoyable experience. So when the Slow Food Columbus “Shake the Hand That Feeds You” Locavore Dinner at Flying J Farm was announced, I didn’t think twice before signing Paul and I up.

Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing, because from what I understand, all the seats sold out to Slow Food members before tickets were even available to non-members. A bad thing, because I didn’t realize that Paul had to go into work that night. Our mistake, though - and one that Colleen and Bear went out of their way to accommodate, thankfully.

As I said, this event is one that I’ve been looking forward to since it was pitched at a Slow Food brainstorming meeting a few months ago. Dick Jensen of Flying J Farm was generous enough to host the event at his farm and provide many of the ingredients used for the dinner. Dick is one of my favorite farmers at the Clintonville Farmers Market, I think I may have bought just about every short rib he had last year, and I think that’s why he remembered me this year. In addition to excellent grass-fed beef, he also sells a spelt flour that I absolutely love. Not to mention veggies as well.
His farm, about an hour outside of Columbus on the far end of Johnstown, is absolutely breathtaking - I wish I would have got there early enough for the farm tour. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked of the event - although other attendees, like Bethia and Colleen did. (I’m sure more accounts of the event will pop up on people’s blogs, and will update this entry as needed with links). It was nice to see many familiar faces (like CMHGourmand, Roland, Anne, Colleen & Bear, etc.) and to also meet new people as well (like the Rigsby’s who made great company at the communal table as my neighbors).

The evening, through my eyes, is extremely picture intensive, so click on through to continue.

Read more…

Since Paul has switched to working nights, I’ve been making him a lot more breakfasts. I figure since he’s making the sacrifice to work his tail off while I sleep soundly, the least I can do is welcome him home in the morning with a nice hot breakfast.

That being said, I’m not above using convenience products. One of my favorite ones to use is the “Simply Potatoes” (or Aldi equivalent) cubed potatoes with onions - they are already partially parboiled so only take 12-14 minutes to brown completely on the stovetop. What makes them truly decadent, though - is that I fry them in duck fat. The duck fat adds a boost of flavor that takes potatoes from meh to sublime. I’ve been serving this up to him with some center cut bacon (baked in the oven, natch - on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees until crispy) and cheesy scrambled eggs and he’s been in hog heaven.

What’s your favorite breakfast to start (or end) the day?

Leave it to me to go for the obvious. The Novel Food #5 event asks us to prepare a dish that has a connection to a published literary work, and given the time of year, the first thing that popped into my head was “Fried Green Tomatoes”, which is featured in the book “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe” by Fannie Flagg. I read the book long ago - I think I was still a teenager, but even then I had a one track mind (food!) - the impression it left with me is that I really wanted to try fried green tomatoes.

Fast forward about 20 years. I still hadn’t tried them. Finally, I took the plunge - and I’ve got to say, they’re quite delicious, especially drizzled with some jalapeno hot sauce. I even got a nicely seasoned cast iron pan out of the deal (thanks, Mom!) Would make these again in a heartbeat - next time around, I’m thinking of doing a Fried Green Tomato BLT or Fried Green Tomato Eggs Benedict. I know I should have been a purist and used the recipe in the book, but this Tyler Florence recipe is pretty righteous.

Fried Green Tomatoes
recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Pinch cayenne
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large unripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, ends removed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Hot pepper sauce, for serving
Lemon wedges, for serving

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, and cayenne together. Pour the buttermilk into a separate bowl and season with salt and pepper. Dip the tomatoes in the buttermilk and then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture, coating both sides well.
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the tomatoes (in batches if necessary) until golden brown and crispy on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Carefully remove the tomatoes and drain on paper towels. Serve with hot pepper sauce and lemon.

Tonight was one of the foodie events that I look foward to every year - Taste the Future, where up and coming chefs from several Columbus area restaurants come together and put out a feast for both the palate and the eyes, all to benefit the Culinary Arts program at Columbus State. It’s a worthy undertaking, and one that I am very proud to attend.

The weather was wonderful - nice and cool, and it was sunny out as well. You really couldn’t have asked for a better night. I tried a different game plan this year - went and got my pictures before they let the masses loose on the food, and that worked so much better for me. I was actually able to get pictures of the food while it was still pretty.

A big shout out to Sarah and RJ - thanks for coming up and saying hi to me. It’s really nice to meet my readers and I’m glad I got a chance to meet you both. Hopefully I’ll see you out and about at other foodie functions in the future.

Katering by Keni/Posh Nosh had this Sweet Corn Creme Brulee that was to die for. I wanted to go back for seconds, but it looks like everyone beat me to it because they were completely out. As usual, I was completely stuffed by the time I made my way around once.

Now, here are my favorite pictures from tonight - if you’d like to see more, please watch the Flickr Slideshow or just view the set (if you want descriptions of the dish as well).