Peanut Butter & Jelly - Not What You're Thinking...

WoW!

We received The French Laundry Cookbook from Thomas Keller's most famed restaurant (in my opinion) for Christmas and decided to try a dessert recipe for New Year's eve. The main course recipes intimidate us a little at this point, so we thought we would start of easy. His recipe did not disappoint and will be one we use again in the future. We give this dessert two very enthusiastic thumbs up!!!

New Year's Eve Peanut Butter and Jellies

We selected a dessert of Peanut Butter and Jellies or in layman's terms - chocolate truffles and high end gummies/jello. I feel bad referring to the jellies as gummies/jello because they are SO MUCH better than gummies or jello since they are made from real, fresh ingredients instead of polybiphospatecarbonate... (you get the point).

The peanut butter truffles and grape jellies we made turned out fantastic. It is recommended to serve the truffles immediately after pulling from the refrigerator, but if you let the truffles warm up a little, the peanut butter inside becomes extra creamy and soft and just melts in your mouth - very good and very rich. I'm convinced that this creaminess in part is attributed to using natural peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

The concord grape jellies have a texture not unlike jello, but much stronger. The jellies are coated with granulated sugar at the end, which is the perfect finishing touch and does not make them overly sweet. Keller is right when he says to use unsweetened juice in this recipe, otherwise your jellies would probably give someone sugar shock.

Concord Grape Jellies

Jellies in the pan - setting

Simple presentation - not nearly as pretty as what we saw in The French Laundry cookbook.

More Feasting...

For dinner, Dave and I went simple - steak and eggs. Even Kaitlyn got to enjoy this feast. Dave made homemade fries from red skin potatoes and added a touch of season salt at the end. We used sliced filet mignon for the meat and he made me a fried egg while his egg was over easy. All in all, a delicious way to end 2008.

Steak and 'fried' egg

Steak and 'over easy' egg

And They'd Feast, Feast, Feast, Feast!

Wow! Our whirlwind holiday tour concluded this Sunday after two and a half weeks of visitors. Even though we did not travel this year, our families were kind enough to come to us to celebrate Christmas. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed cooking with each other in the kitchen. Below are some photos of all the fun meals we made and ate. Cheers!

Cookie Decorating for Kids
Kaitlyn and our neighbor decorated holiday cookies - so cute!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Check out this beautiful cutting board that Go Blue Dad received for Christmas...

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Homemade sauce by G'pa Clinton and homemade meatballs by Dad and G'pa Clinton

Stuffed Pork Loin with fresh Green Beans and Biscuits
The pork loin was stuff with dried cherries, raisins, dried apricots, sauteed onion, sauteed apples, bread and nuts. We used the pan drippings to make gravy.
This meal was so good, we made it twice.


Homemade Donuts
The recipe came from The Joy of Cooking under Sour Cream Donuts.

Christmas Eve Tradition: Corned Beef and Latkes
Our families changed for the better in 2003 and the tradition of corned beef on Christmas Eve was born. We have had it every year since then and it is good! Depending on the person, you eat the corned beef with latkes (potato pancakes) or rye bread. We simmer it all day using G'Pa Clinton's special seasoning. It falls apart at dinner time.

Hope you enjoy the photos. As you can see, cooking brings our families together. I apologize for formatting errors - I'm having trouble with blogspot.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Spirit

If you enjoy holiday music, check out his instrumental version of "O Holy Night" performed by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and other New Orleans musicians back in 2006 on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

It's a free download: http://www.tromboneshorty.com/studio60.html

Chili - Great meal on a cold day!

Having lived in several places throughout the U.S. - southwest, Midwest, mid-Atlantic, northeast, etc., I found out that chili means different things to people in each area. This wikipedia article is interesting (and yes, I know wikipedia isn't necessarily an accurate resource, but this is just for fun): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_con_carne.

In the southwest, some colleagues and I had a discussion about the types of chili we grew up eating. I didn't realize at that point that 'chili' could be green - from green chili peppers. Contrary to my belief, green chili peppers can be tasty and hot if you eat the real thing and not the canned version found in the grocery store.

While I have not tried the New Mexico green chili, I have sampled Texas Chili (no beans, just meat), Cincinnati chili (Cinnamon spice is the key ingredient), white bean chicken chili, and my family's chili with ground beef,beans, onions, green pepper, etc. Yes, we like a chunky chili that is served as a stew and maybe topped with cheese, sour cream, oyster crackers and/or green onions.

So, since the weather has cooled off, I made my family's version chili and we served it over spaghetti noodles to mix it up a little bit.

Go Blue Mom's Chili Recipe
1.25 lbs ground beef (90% lean)
1 big can Bush's chili beans with liquid (flavored pinto beans)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with liquid
1 15 oz. can Rotel tomatoes with green chili's with liquid
1 -2 sweet onion(s)
1 green pepper
1 T celery seed (I forgot to buy the celery, but you could use it)
3 cloves garlic
1 packet McCormick chili seasoning
6 laps Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes hot sauce
20 grinds ground black pepper
kosher salt
1 T olive oil
1 t honey (add as needed)
1 T lemon juice (optional: add a little lemon zest)
1 T ground cumin (add as needed after this)
1 T chili powder (add as needed after this)

Heat a skillet and brown the ground beef. Drain the beef and set aside.

Roughly chop the onion, green pepper, and celery (if using). Mince the garlic. In the chili pot, saute the green peppers and celery seed (or real celery if substituting) for five minutes in olive oil before adding the onion. Saute peppers and onion for 3 more minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute or minute and a half.

Add the ground beef, crushed tomatoes, Rotel, and beans and bring to a simmer. Stir chili and add the Worcestershire sauce, pepper, honey, lemon juice, McCormick's chili seasoning, hot sauce, cumin, chili powder, and salt (if needed). Turn the burner to low and let simmer for 30 minutes to six hours.

Serve in bowls as a stew, serve over noodles, or serve over rice. Potential toppings: red onion, green onion, cheddar cheese, sour cream, or oyster crackers.

Enjoy!!

CrockPot Cooking Continued...

Coq Au Vin

5 slices bacon - diced (we used 4)

2/3 c. green onion, sliced

6 chicken breasts (we used 3 chicken breasts)

1 onion, chopped

1/4 lb. whole mushrooms

8 small new potatoes

1 clove garlic, sliced (we used 3 cloves)

kosher salt

pepper

1/2 t. dried thyme (we used 1 t.)

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. burgundy (Pinot Noir) wine

The Coq Au Vin turned out better than the French Beef Burgundy and was an overall success. I added two carrots as well since we had them in the fridge. This is a great cold weather, comfort food type of meal. I didn't think the bacon added anything to the dish, so next time I will try without it just for comparison. It could be the brand of bacon that I bought didn't have much flavor.

Yes, I know, the presentation needs work, but it tasted good, nonetheless.

Hello CrockPot Cooking!

The challenge for Dave and I this week is for each of us to make a meal using the crockpot.

The last time we used a crockpot was in 2003 to make meatballs - pretty simple. Then our crockpot broke and we haven't used one since. We were given one as a gift and now that the weather is cold - it's time to break it out and give it a whirl!
Dave decided to make a French Beef Burgundy using a recipe from the Rival cookbook that came with the crockpot.

French Beef Burgundy

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt (kosher)

1/2 t. pepper (we used more b/c we like pepper)

2 lbs. boneless beef chuck cut into 1" cubes

2 T. olive oil

1 onion

8 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 c. fresh Italian parsley

3 cloves garlic (plus an extra for good measure)

2 bay leaves (we used 4 leaves)

1 c. burgundy wine (Pinot Noir)

1/2 c. beef broth (we used low sodium broth)

dried thyme (we added)

I can not list the instructions b/c of copyright issues, but some comments on this recipe...

I would substitute baby portabella mushrooms for the button mushrooms to give a meatier taste and a little more substance to the sauce. Adding potatoes to this dish would make a complete one pot meal or you could serve it over white or brown steamed rice.

Despite slow cooking for four hours, I might add some flour and butter at the end to thicken the sauce. We discussed using a Cabernet instead of a Pinot for a more robust sauce, but then it wouldn't be French Beef Burgundy. :-)

Coming soon... Coq Au Vin

Toddler Fun in Washington, D.C.

Kaitlyn and I joined her daddy on a trip to the Washington, D.C. area and tried to explore it from a toddler's perspective. This blog will share more photos than stories, but it was a fun adventure for us to take. D.C. is a great city for people of all ages!

A few quick notes on traveling in the DC metro area...

• The Smithsonian museums and monuments are amazing for people of all ages and they are FREE. Check it out: http://www.si.edu/.
• All the monuments in the national mall are amazing. They are beautiful at night too.
• Since 2001, rules have changed regarding access to the White House and the Capitol Building for security purposes, so check on these prior to your visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ or http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/index.cfm.
• The National Cathedral (gorgeous architecture) and National Zoo are great places to visit and located close to each other - http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ and http://www.nationalcathedral.org/visit/.
• The Kennedy Center -http://www.kennedy-center.org/, is on the river and offers a variety of theatre productions - probably better for families with older children.
• Old town Alexandria is fun to walk around. If you like art - check out the torpedo factory, otherwise you can shop and find plenty of fun places to eat. Georgetown is also a great place to walk around - very upscale though.
• The metro is safe, clean, easy to use and highly recommended for getting around town instead of dealing with traffic - http://www.wmata.com/. Cabs are also available.
• Enjoy the culinary adventures - you can find any and all types of food in the DC metro area. If you are downtown, the Longworth Building and the Ronald Regan Building have food courts for a quick affordable lunch. These are just two that come to mind right now, but there are plenty more.
• Despite my familiarity with DC, this was my first visit with a toddler, so I used this web site to assist in identifying kid friendly activities: http://family.go.com/travel/vacations/district-of-columbia/washington/best-washington-dc-vacation-for-preschoolers-282112/?non-default=true
• Here is the list of places that I started with for Kaitlyn and I to visit - we didn't have time to visit them all, but it may help someone else start planning - National Zoo, Air & Space Museum (downtown and Dulles airport area), Museum of Natural History, National Aquarium, U.S. Botanic Garden, International Spy Museum, Woodmont Park (Arlington, VA), Discovery Creek Children's Museum, National Children's Museum (under construction until 2012), D.C. Duck Tours.

Since daddy had only one day to tour DC with us, we headed out towards Dulles airport to the National Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center - http://www.nasm.si.edu/UdvarHazy/, which is well worth the trip. It houses an amazing number of planes, the shuttle Enterprise, etc. In the past, we've been told that you can take a shuttle from the downtown Air & Space museum location to this Dulles location.

This is an interactive computer that allows individuals to see inside the cockpit of the plane. Kaitlyn enjoyed this feature with daddy's help.
The shuttle Enterprise - amazing to view a shuttle in person.
The historic Enola Gay is here, but unfortunately, it is to high to see inside of it.
Kaitlyn having a good time at the Air & Space. After visiting the museum, we met friends for lunch in Leesburg, VA and went to a great little pizza place and ate outdoors. While we didn't get to walk around, Leesburg appears to have a charming downtown area.
Kaitlyn's first metro ride with mommy. This photo doesn't capture her enthusiasm - most of the ride, she was glued to the window looking outside or giving shy smiles to people on the train. It was a fascinating experience for her as we used the metro every day we were in DC.
A fountain in the park close to the National Archives building and part of the Sculpture garden, which Kaitlyn enjoyed because she could walk around and see the interesting sculptures.

Waiting for the metro to go on another adventure...
A visit to the National Aquarium - http://www.nationalaquarium.com/.
As we walked into the aquarium, Kaitlyn was welcomed by this little alligator. She didn't know what to think about it. The aquarium is small and will probably take less than an hour to visit, but it has some fun fish, sea horses and other sea animals for kids to see.

Do not expect the Shedd aquarium on this visit as it is in the basement of the Commerce Building.

The aquarium is across the street from the Ronald Regan building, so Kaitlyn and I stopped for ice cream afterwards.
After ice cream, we walked to the White House and could see some of the monuments in the distance.
"Let me in!"
Our trip to the National Zoo started a new day and was lots of fun. If you are traveling with kids, we highly recommend visiting the zoo. It is metro accessible too.
Kaitlyn looking at the animals.

It's time to meet the pandas...We got lucky when we visited the pandas as they were wrestling and playing with each other. It was great to hear all the chatter, screams and giggles from the kids watching the pandas.

Kaitlyn wanted to take this panda home. We found a little stuffed one instead.

The elephants in the distance.

A fun, red colored monkey. It was feeding time, so he turned his back to us to eat.
We saw gorillas hanging out.
Kaitlyn was exhausted after seeing all the animals and walking around the zoo.
Still tired from a long, fun day!

These photos are from our visit to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History- http://www.amnh.org/. They had a live display of soil insects, which Kaitlyn enjoyed because they squirmed, but mommy - not so much.

Kaitlyn is trying to decide which exhibits to visit at the Natural History Museum.
We had a great time in DC and were exhausted at the end of the trip. There are so many things for families, kids and adults to do that you won't have time to do it all.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and the few tips that I offered about our adventure.