May-toes & Caprese Salad

This spring we planted basil (regular, purple and spicy Thai), Italian parsley, oregano, dill, mint, thyme and six tomato plants. While we have over 20 green tomatoes, we haven't had any ripen yet. Regardless, Kaitlyn likes to call them "may-toes."

Roma TomatoesCherry Tomatoes

Just felt like posting photos of our first real herb garden...We have two tomato plants by our garage and they seem to like it there b/c they won't stop growing. Some beautiful lilies that G'am Linda transplanted last year and some pretty flowers on one of our trees. They bloom two to three times a year.

Below is a recipe for our version of Caprese salad using our own fresh basil. Yum!!!

Our Caprese Salad
30 basil leaves - 1/2 green and 1/2 purple
2 Roma tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese
8 ounces Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 cup port or up to 1/4 cup brown sugar
Olive oil
Optional: White truffle oil

Pour 8 ounces of balsamic vinegar and port (or brown sugar) in small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to allow vinegar to simmer - keep it with soft bubble action, otherwise the vinegar won't reduce. Allow to simmer for 1/2 hour until it reaches a syrup like consistency. While cooking, taste a little to ensure you've reached the desired sweetness. You can also add some herbs if you wish to add to the flavor.


Wash and dry basil.
Slice tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to desired thinness, size and shape.
Arrange basil, tomato and mozzarella on plate.
When the balsamic reduction is finished, allow to cool slightly and drizzle over the salad. Chef Angie recommended a slight touch of white truffle oil on top of the reduction to bring all the flavors together. We tried the salad with and without the truffle oil and liked it equally either way. So, if you don't have truffle oil, don't worry about it! Next time, we might consider drizzle a little olive oil over the salad with the balsamic reduction. However, given the hot humid weather lately, this salad was perfect for dinner!

Bon Apetite!!

Play Date & Wee Men

Kaitlyn's friend, Olivia, came over for dinner and dessert. The girls made dessert beforehand and performed several quality assurance checks before finishing. It was a lot of fun and they are both just so cute!!!

Here is mommy's version of how to make Wee Men. I had about five minutes to make the video before Olivia and her folks arrived, so the video is quick, shot by me, and far from perfect in any way. Making Wee Men is a great kids activities, but I guarantee the adults can't help but snack on these too!!




The recipe is courtesy of Recipezaar.com, so the link is below.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Wee-Men-271824. You can have fun by selecting different toppings for the chocolate like we did. We made the traditional Wee Men, plus dipped our chocolate in graham crackers, sprinkles and coconut. If you want to make them less messy, you can try a pretzel stick in one end for dipping, but doesn't that take away some of the fun!

Beef Tips

No, I'm not posting photos of actual beef tips, just sharing some information I learned in cooking class tonight. This post may be out of order as I may post more on the vegetable and starch section.

Testing for rare, medium or well done steaks. You can use a thermometer and go by temperature or as we learned tonight, touch/feel the steak. Beware, the steak will be hot!!

• If you want to know what a rare steak feels like, touch and push your cheeks from the side. For a medium steak, touch the tip of your nose and push. For a well done steak, touch and push your forehead.
• Another feel method is to touch your index finger to your thumb on one hand and touch the pad under your thumb with the opposite hand for the feeling of a rare steak. Touch your middle finger to your thumb and touch the pad again for the feeling of a medium steak. Touch your ring finger to you thumb, touch the pad and this is the feeling of a well done steak.
  

What to Serve with Beef?

• Garnish: watercress (expensive), fresh horseradish - julienne in long sticks, parsley (typical in restaurants and more affordable)
• Vegetable: a vegetable that stands on it's own, hearty, no gravy, no sauce, just the vegetable. String beans and broccoli are very common. Carrots are not recommended.
• Starch: Most common are baked potato or french fries.
  

Tonight we cooked and tasted - prime rib, NY Strip, Flank steak and brisket. My favorite was the NY Strip and least favorite the Flank stead (super tough, chewy, limited taste).

• Prime Rib: cook low (200 degrees F) and slow (2+ hours) like I've mentioned in previous posts. Also, once you pull it from the oven, let it sit for 20 - 30 minutes in order to allow the juices to settle and not spill out when you slice into it. Remember with prime rib that the center will be the most rare and the ends well done.
• NY Strip: nothing special about this. Only I learned that steaks at restaurants are cooked in butter (lots of it!) and sometimes even serving with melted butter on top of it or almost as a sauce surrounding it, sometimes with sauteed garlic too. So that's why some restaurant steaks taste so good and yet, so unhealthy!!!
  
• Flank steak: had it before class. Do not like it. It will always be a tough, chewy steak, but it's cheap. Often times, it is served covered in a brown sauce - like a mushroom sauce to mask the unappealing texture and look once it's cooked. If you do cook flank steak, slice it SUPER thin to minimize the toughness. My recommendation - use flat iron steak instead. It's close in price and much more tender and flavorful.
  
• Brisket: "Ya ain't had good brisket unless you been to Texas!" I believe brisket is tough and chewy unless cooked properly. Low and slow is the way to go here. Find a good Texan to teach you how to get the right texture and BBQ flavor. When we cook corned beef brisket, we add some specialty seasonings (courtesy of Pa Clinton), bring the water to a boil and ten reduce to a simmer for almost eight hours on our stove submerged in water. The corned beef just falls apart when you slice it up. Yum!!

That's all for now!

Cutie Pies - That's All I Can Say!

Our cousins were passing through town, so they dropped in for a visit. Everyone had a great time, especially Kaitlyn and her cousin Fiona. They're both two - only six months apart. Aren't they adorable!!!

"I love you Elmo!"
Kaitlyn just watching.
Cousin Kathe is making Kaitlyn laugh.
Go Blue Dad, Kaitlyn and cousin Kathe.
Cousin Richleigh (Fiona's daddy) and Fiona. What a cute photo!
Go Blue Mom, Kaitlyn and cousin Rich.
Story time - with books that make lots of noise. Always a hit with the kids!
Time for some dinner music.
We shared toys very well today!
"Let's eat!!"
"Tasty!"
Time to burn off some energy before getting back in the car. "Wheee!"
Look at that, you're supposed to crawl through those holes. Ahhh!
"Your turn Fiona."
Go Blue Daddy, Rich and the girls checking out the herb garden and some noisy birds (I think).
Playing with the pinwheels - turn, turn, turn. "Look mommy, it's windy!"
The girls left the pinwheels to go see our neighbors who have three doggies - Nina, Spicy and Poppy. Our neighbors, Pat and Karen, are Kaitlyn's buddies! All five of them were a hit!
Hi Spicy!
Kaitlyn has moments where she wants to pet the dogs and then she'll change her mind and act scared of them. It's rather cute.

An unrelated cute photo of daddy and Kaitlyn.