"I always thought I was supposed to say my Grandma makes the best mac and cheese. Not true anymore, Jenn" -Billy

Cooking is no fun without amazing people to cook for!

playing ketchup....

or catch up.
I spend a ton of time reading recipes. It's kinda silly how many times I flip through the same Bon Appetit. Anyways, since several of these recipes have become regular repeaters I decided I should mention them.
1. Rao's Sauce
It's my favorite jarred sauce at the market. I found this recipe from my dear friend Martha Stewart.
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/raos-marinara-sauce
It was good and made three dinners worth of sauce. I used it to make this eggplant parm below which was very tasty- always use panko breadcrumbs and lots of basil.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
from "Baked: New Adventures in Baking"

Ingredients:

1 ball of Classic Pie Dough (1/2 of the recipe above), chilled
2 cups pecan halves, toasted (<--important to toast! don't skip) 3 large eggs 3/4 cup light corn syrup 3 tablespoons sugar 4 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3 tablespoons bourbon 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coarsely chop 3/4 cup of the pecans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, and bourbon. Whisk again until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans and set the filling aside.

Spread the chocolate chips evenly along the bottom of the frozen pie shell.

Pour in filling

Arrange the remaining 1 1/4 cups pecan halves on top of the filling.

Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

I found out I am not a fan of Florida lobsters. But, they were beautiful. Nicely done Nathan.


Parkers Beef Stew
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parkers-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

• 2 1/2 pounds good quality chuck beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 (750-ml bottle) good red wine
• 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Good olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/2 pound white mushrooms, stems discarded and cut in 1/2
• 1 pound small potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 cups or 1 (14 1/2-ounce can) chicken stock or broth
• 1 large (or 2 small) branch fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

Directions

Place the beef in a bowl with red wine, garlic, and bay leaves. Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine the flour, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper. Lift the beef out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and discard the bay leaves and garlic, saving the marinade. In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mixture and then shake off the excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Place the beef in a large oven-proof Dutch oven and continue to brown the remaining beef, adding oil as necessary. (If the beef is very lean, you'll need more oil.) Place all the beef in the Dutch oven.

Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil to the large pot and add the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven over the beef. Add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved marinade to the empty pot and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove. Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake it for about 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking. If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 250 or 275 degrees F.

Before serving, stir in the frozen peas, season to taste, and serve hot.

And my NEW FAVORITE...

Paccheri Pasta with Braised Chicken and Saffron Cream

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/09/paccheri_pasta_with_braised_chicken_and_saffron_cream#ixzz1D8Do9rQU

Phond Snackage

I'm trying to start off the New Year right by getting back into the blog... I was in charge of whipping up the appetizers for Christmas and felt an odd urge to make dips. When I was in Charleston for a Phish show this Fall with my usual crew we stopped by Magnolia Restaurant and ordered Pimento cheese dip. Honestly, I wasn't crazy about it but loved the idea of shredded cheese dip. So I made up my own recipe and it kinda rocks...
Since my handwriting is not amazing...
by hand, mix together
2 cups shredded cheddar (big shreds and do it yourself, it tastes better)
8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup dukes mayonnaise
1/2 cup roasted red peppers chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup green olives chopped
Crystal hot sauce ( to taste- I added about a tablespoon)
Cayenne pepper- to taste
Smoked paprika
Squeeze of lemon juice- about a teaspoon
a pinch of salt
Lots of black pepper

let the cheese dip cool in the fridge
serve with chopped green onions and
sliced french bread grilled with butter

Crafty husband part 2

Nathan is making this boom-box out of a suitcase that was his grandfathers. He has been working on this and thinking about this pretty much non-stop on his days off. This is what he had to say about it...

My grandfather's old 1940-1950 Turquoise Samsonite. The goal is to install everything without cutting/drilling any part of the antique luggage.

Broken-down computer speakers and sub-woofer, with scrap-leather trim.

Add a caption

My grandfather's old 1940-1950 Turquoise Samsonite. The goal is to install everything without cutting/drilling any part of the antique luggage.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Although the speakers are mounted and finished, the rest is still a work in progress. Sounds great though! The amp was extracted from the same set of computer speakers.

I used NiMh, D-cell batteries mounted in 1 1/4" PVC pipe to create my own 18V battery. The solar panel will be installed on top of the batteries to provide continuous charge in full sun. It can also run off of 120V A/C.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Had to make a mouning box for the control knobs (volume, treble and bass). These are actually cabinet knobs that I will modify and connect to the control switch.

The box is styrofoam, coated in an antique map, then covered in clear resin.

Add a caption

My grandfather's old 1940-1950 Turquoise Samsonite. The goal is to install everything without cutting/drilling any part of the antique luggage.

* I will post the finished project when its done*

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Chalk-full o' windows

I am really loving how insanely crafty Nathan is with me. I think most of the time he's the only one who actually makes the projects while I just talk about it. I was randomly telling him that we should paint a chalkboard in the kitchen. He told me he hadn't heard about chalkboard paint. So we started coming up with ideas and the next day he sends me a picture of this window that he found at the antique store on his lunch break.
My response? Perfect.
A little bit of browsing at anthropologie and we found an awesome reindeer hook to hang the chalk off of.


Three layers of chalkboard paint and 4 days of drying time- our chalkboard is finished!

Summertime falls on the house in the woods

Not vegan friendly

I recently told a friend of mine to check out my blog because she was talking about what to make for dinner. I later remembered that she's a vegan and thought she probably did not enjoy the site very much. I will also assume that she does not enjoy BACON as much as I do. I really need to stop keeping it in our house because I always have a reason to just "throw some bacon in."

Some recent dinner (and brunch) fav's ... Ran Getsu closed a few months ago and I have no idea where to go for sukiyaki anymore. So this dish was sort of a combination of Nathan saying to me "I love braised meat" while watching Diners Drive-ins and Dives and the classic sukiyaki broth (soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar).

Braised short ribs with Udon noodles

Using a dutch oven I started by browning
short ribs (seasoned with s &p) in a little veg oil
until they got brown and crusty
remove short-ribs.
Next, deglaze with sherry- about a cup and a half.
I then added
Dried shitake mushrooms
A onion thinly sliced
half bulb or so garlic
chopped ginger
about a 1/2 cup each of
mirin
sake
soy sauce
and a spoonful of sugar

I added some water, the short-ribs and a lid and baked it in the oven for 2ish hours

Right before dinner I added
cooked udon noodles
Fresh shitake mushrooms (which were not really needed)
baby bok choy
Cooked for another 15 minutes on stove.
Serve the short-ribs and veggies on top of noodles with some of the broth :)
We liked sriracha with ours too

Nathan made the ribs (above) and were UH-mazing as usual. I make shrimp mac and cheese - making new kinds of mac and cheese never seems to get old..

I started by cooking
couple cloves of garlic in
a tablespoon of bacon fat for about a minute
Then added
flour mixed with a little bit of butter
cooked for about a minute then slowly added
warm chicken broth- about 3 cups
once thickened I took it off the heat
added a splash of milk,
2-cups cheese ( we had brie, gouda and swiss)
S&P
paprika
3 cups cooked pasta
and large handful of cooked shrimp-chopped

Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes
Top with truffle salt before eating

Nathan took the beautiful photo of the french toast (above). While there was nothing super special about it, (just the usual egg, vanilla, cinnamon, milk mixture) the bacon was awesome. Some might say "snack worthy."
I have no idea why I have never cooked bacon in the oven before....
combine
a few tablespoons of brown sugar with
a bit of cayenne pepper (about a teaspoon)
and black pepper
stir it together and rub it all over the bacon
Cook on a rack of a half sheet pan
f0r 20-30 minutes at 350