Gourmet Food on a Budget — Ever Forward, Ever Flavorful
This Thanksgiving Guide is not only for that big holiday, it can be used for any celebration you are considering hosting. You are, after all, the best host. You can absolutely do this. Be sure and get my book, Talking Turkey, which will help you with planning and timing.
You can’t walk down the street without seeing or hearing someone say this. Good for Game of Thrones, their catchphrase really caught on. But, there is more to it than a catchphrase.
Winter really is coming, and with it comes colder weather, shorter days and longer nights. If you are like me, winter brings something really wonderful. It brings baking season. The winter is cold, but my oven is nice and warm churning out cakes, cookies, and bread. My favorite is Pain de Mie, and I’m going to show you how I make it.
When I posted this on Instagram, a lot of people said it looked delicious. I told them it was, and I wasn’t lying. The recipe is based on Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken, which my good friend, Maria de la Rocha had posted quite a long time ago. I had been meaning to make it, but when I actually looked at the recipe, I realized there were some changes I could make to make a better dish.
Spane’s favorite appetizer is what I call Spicy Ham Rolls. It’s basically ham slices rolled up with cream cheese and chopped jalapeño. I got the recipe from a girl I worked with that had given her leftovers from a party she had had. When I make them, they are gone immediately!
If you make this, you can use whatever barbecue sauce you like, or you can use the one in the recipe. If you really don’t like jalapeño, you can omit it and use bell pepper instead.
Grilled shrimp salad is easy to make, even in the winter, or in an apartment without a grill. You can add spices to make it just for you.
When I started making bread many years ago, it was plain French bread. It was good, I made it every week. My boss’s wife even insisted that I have a professional stand mixer that I got for Christmas. Wow, that machine worked, and worked and worked! Then, I had more stuff to do, volunteering, a new job, a new boyfriend, etc. Bread making kind of went out the window. I still had the mixer though, and it was doing duty mixing up meatloaf and the occasional cake.
A long time later, my mixer was about 15 or 20 years old, in the middle of mixing a batch of frosting, it made a horrible grinding noise and I saw that the bolt on the top of the machine was gone! It did a lot of damage to the motor, and my trusty mixer was kaput.
Oddly enough, my food processor, that had once proudly stood at the ready at a local restaurant, also breathed its last breath. It took me some time to thoroughly check food processors, especially when the “S” blade of the Cuisinart was recalled. Finally, I found a great food processor, a Braun, available on Amazon (I’m not being compensated, just like the product). But, as great as this machine is, I still let my KitchenAid do the heavy lifting for stiff doughs like bread dough, pizza dough, and cookie dough. So, yes, I’m back to making bread, and I’ve got a few recipes here you can try. Enjoy!
Blue Cheese Stuffed CeleryA few years ago, Saveur magazine featured a recipe for Blue Cheese Stuffed Celery from one of my favorite restaurants, Musso and Frank, in Hollywood, California. Musso and Frank originally opened in 1919 and has been in the same place on Hollywood Boulevard ever since. It has been a popular hang out for the entertainment industry since it opened. The history of the restaurant is fascinating. My mother would take me there for my birthday, and I loved it.
I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, but the problem with it is if you are not very careful, the cheese comes out while it is cooking and you wind up with a dried up piece of chicken with a remnant of cheese and some ham. If you’re lucky, they included sauce.
This casserole is so simple, and all the good things about the dish stay right where you want them, inside! Every bite has a little ham and a little cheese.
There is a little bit of backstory with this recipe, but, what recipes do I give without a backstory? When I was making this month’s menu, I wanted chicken and I wanted something that we would have leftovers. I made a note to make some kind of chicken casserole. Then, I was in one of my Facebook groups, and someone mentioned Anthony Bourdain’s book, Appetites. My friend, Chef John Farion CWC, introduced me to his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. John really loved Bourdain, and they kind of reminded me of each other. John passed the day after Thanksgiving, 2017. Bourdain passed in June of 2018. I’m sure they are together in the big kitchen in the sky.
When John and I were roommates many moons ago at the Villa Carlotta in Hollywood, California, there was a lovely French café called La Poubelle, and the owner, Jacqueline, made the best chicken crepes I have ever had. Jacqueline was good friends with my neighbor, Wally Coover, and we often had crepes at her restaurant. Jacqueline and John did not get along at all. Her daughter, Francois, has now taken over the restaurant, and the crepes are no longer on the menu. When I was thinking about John, and living at the Villa, I thought of those crepes and how delicious they were. I thought I could incorporate some of those memories into my casserole.
Asian Cucumber Salad is spicy and refreshing, perfect for your Asian feast, or just by itself. Experience a burst of freshness with a delightful fusion of flavors that showcases the vibrant essence of Asian cuisine.
Apartment dwellers, rejoice! Yes, you, too, can savor the magical taste of smoked food, right from your apartment, no need to go outside. Yup, that’s right, smoking food on top of your stove and not having the smoke alarm blaring. All you need is a stockpot with a pasta insert, some foil, some wood chips, some protein, and a little bit of patience.
The recipe I am referring to here is one I did a while ago on the Weber grill, indirect method and I was curious if this method would give me similar results. I am happy to say it did. Feel free to use the Weber version of Highway Chicken if you want to go this outdoors.
That’s no misspelling when I made this dish the first time, I wanted to give it a catchy name, hence Seefood and Bows. It’s actually Seafood and Farfalle, an Italian bow-shaped pasta.
I use a light lemony dressing over this. What makes the dressing stand out is the
Sunny Paris seasoning blend from Penzey’s spices. You will find yourself using this wonderful spice in all kinds of foods. It stars shallots and chives, plus pepper and herbs.
You can use almost any shellfish, but I prefer shrimp and crab. No need to bust the bank, Krab works just fine in this, and you don’t need much. If you want to go fancy, you can add lobster or King crab.