Sunday March 7th

This Sunday I made homemade mac and cheese with buttermilk biscuits, southern green-beans and sweet tea! Yum. My first official southern meal since coming to Houston!



Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe calls for Parmigiano-Reggiano (which is a more expensive cheese.) To save on this recipe I just used a parmesan. It tasted fabulous, but if you have the extra dough, I would buy the better cheese for sure!!

For the TOP
1/4 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

For macaroni and sauce
1 stick unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
1 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt/pepper/garlic powder
1 pound elbow macaroni

Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. I really like to add some garlic powder for extra flavor...you can add and taste, add and taste etc. Cook macaroni in a pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) until al dente (not to mushy.) Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl. Transfer to shallow baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

Holly's Southern Green Beans

Here is a perfect example of me fixing a recipe until I LOVE it....I wasn't very impressed with the green beans I served on Sunday, but later that week we ate the leftover mac and I made more green beans! My way!

8-10 oz cooked up bacon
frozen package of Italian Green Beans (flat ones)
2-3 chicken bouillon
1 T. dehydrated onions

Dissolve bouillon in 8 oz boiling water. From there, you basically just put everything into a pot and simmer until everything is nice and soft and hot! The onions should soften and the chicken broth should be almost boiled out! Yum!

They look like a combination of these two photos!





Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe only makes 6 biscuits

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 tablespoon milk or cream for brushing biscuits (try not to let it spill over onto the pan or they will be hard to scrape off!)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda onto a sheet of wax paper, then sift again into a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until a dough just forms (dough will be moist). Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 6 times. Pat out dough on a floured surface with floured hands, reflouring surface if necessary, into an 8- by 5 1/2-inch rectangle. Trim all 4 sides with a knife, dusting knife edge with flour before each cut. Cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then into thirds crosswise to form 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares, flouring knife between cuts. Transfer biscuits with a metal spatula to an ungreased baking sheet, arranging them 2 inches apart, and brush tops with milk or cream. Bake until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.


Smooth Sweet Tea

1 pinch baking soda
2 cups boiling water
6 tea bags
3/4 cup white sugar
6 cups cool water

Sprinkle a pinch of baking soda into a 64-ounce, heat-proof, glass pitcher. Pour in boiling water, and add tea bags. Cover, and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, and discard; stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour in cool water, then refrigerate until cold.

Sunday Lunch February 21st

Baja Chipotle Fish Tacos, Spicy Pineapple, Apricot & Jicama Salsa & Cornmeal Guava Thumbprint Cookies.

This week was full of beautiful things....trips home (twice) home to the NW and then back home to Houston! Then, the day I returned to Texas, Karen and Beck came to visit!! Wow. I am so blessed. When thinking about Sunday lunch, I knew I needed something simple. These fish Tacos are just that. So easy, because you use a store bought (inexpensive) marinade...which you also use to make the sauce! Here is the recipe....


Baja Chipotle Fish Tacos

1 1/4 cups Lawry's® Baja Chipotle Marinade With Lime Juice
1 1/2 pounds cod or other firm white fish fillets
1/2 cup sour cream (plus some milk to make it a little less thick...you want it to be a slightly saucier texture. The recipe originally calls for mayo, but I don't like using it unless I really have to.....I think thinning with milk is a better tasting option.)
12 soft taco size corn tortillas, warmed
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 limes

In large baking dish or resealable plastic bag, pour 3/4 cup marinade over fish; turn to coat. Cover, or close bag, and marinate in refrigerator about 30 minutes. Remove fish from Marinade; discarding Marinade. Grill or broil fish, turning once and brushing with 1/4 cup Marinade, until fish flakes with a fork. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine sour cream and remaining 2 to 4 tablespoons Marinade. To serve, arrange fish in tortillas, using two tortillas for each taco, top with shredded cabbage and cilantro. Drizzle with sauce and lime!


Spicy Pineapple, Apricot & Jicama Salsa



I am sorry to say that I haven't perfected this recipe....therefor I am only going to show you a photo. I got lovely reviews, but I know there is something missing. I will let you know as soon as I figure it out!!

Cornmeal Guava (or any type of jam you would like) Thumbprint Cookies

I LOVED THESE!! One of my new favorite cookies.

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Guava jelly or apricot-pineapple preserves OR any type of jelly you would like!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all purpose flour, cornmeal, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat unsalted butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients.
Form dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Make depression in center of each using thumb or handle of wooden spoon. Fill depressions with jelly. Continue baking until bottoms of cookies are brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on rack. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Refrigerate in airtight container.)

Lovely!

Scott's LOST art opening

I was reminded this week that I have been slacking....Scott's art show was a month ago and I never added those recipes to the site!! Since everyone always needs a good app recipe I am going to post them now..you never know when you will be asked to show up with a little bite to eat at a party!!

Brown Sugar Baked Brie

1 package frozen puff pastry
scoop (or 2 or 3) of brown sugar
wedge or round of Brie Cheese

This is probably my favorite appetizer in the whole world...to eat at, serve at or bring to a party! All you do is take one sheet of puff pastry, let it thaw. Cut it in to strips and weave it into a square. I like to skim the crust off the top (only) of the brie....the only reason why is because I think the brown sugar melts better. This is the next step, coat the top of the brie in brown sugar. Flip it onto the woven pastry and tuck the edges tightly. Flip once again and bake at 400 until the pastry is nice and brown! Yum!



Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts (that sign should also say WATER chestnuts)



As gross as these sound, I can never keep them on the plate long enough to even snap a good photo of them. They are so good. The thing you have to keep in mind is that you DO NOT taste any mayo.....it is just there as an oil/egg-white base to hold the chili sauce and brown sugar on the bacon!! Delish!

BACON WRAPPED WATER CHESTNUTS

4 cans water chestnuts
1 lb. bacon cut into 3rds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato-based chili sauce

oven 350* soak toothpicks in water. Bake rolls for 30 minutes. Take them out, dip, bake 30 more minutes

Baby Martin Weber

I forgot to take photos of the meal I made for the Martin Webers a few weeks back....but seeing how it was a Julia Child's recipe, I knew I could find a lovely photo somewhere on line! Here it is the lovely photo that is not mine!!



I served (delivered) mine with steamed carrots, a french baguette with camembert cheese and a lovely salad with homemade french dressing. Here are the recipes for the chicken and the dressing!

cheers!

Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence
by Julia Child (altered to be easier by Holly)

Chicken:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chicken strip size pieces
1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill or with mortar and pestle
3 peeled garlic cloves
2/3 cup dry white wine

Sauce:
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (optional)

For chicken:
Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken pieces with thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Add chicken and garlic to pot. Baste chicken with butter in pot. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes. Transfer to hot platter; cover.

Mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot. Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.

For sauce:
Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken. Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine. Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time. Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, if desired. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

French Vinaigrette

1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Whisk together vinegar, shallot, salt, mustard, and pepper until salt is dissolved. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Sunday January 24th A classic Deli Lunch

Short and simple....Scott and I were in Nashville at a wonderful little deli with some good friends of ours, the second week of January. It had been a while since I had eaten a deli sandwich and their selection of amazing sandwiches made it hard for me to pick which one I wanted. In the end, it didn't matter.....THEY WERE ALL AMAZING! Each one wrapped perfectly in deli paper. And when you peeled away the folds of paper, there was a cute little pickle wedge tucked into each sandwich.

I wanted to recreate a little deli meal of my own for this Sunday's meal. So, I looked to the the man who knows how to craft an amazing sandwich... Tom Colicchio

I made his Turkey, Avocado, Bacon, Sweet Onion Relish, & Aïoli on Ciabatta! I must say, it was an amazing sandwich. So amazing that we recreated the entire meal two nights later!



Sweet onion relish
2 small sweet onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup red-wine vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

For aïoli
1 egg yolk
1/2 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 ounce white-wine vinegar
4 ounces grape seed oil
1 ounce olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon pepperoncini or cayenne pepper

For sandwiches
1 pound turkey breast, sliced (I used peppered turkey)
4 ciabatta rolls
8 slices of bacon
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced

Make onion relish:
In heavy pot, combine onions and enough water to cover and bring to boil, then strain. Return onions to pot and add sugar, red wine vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. Place over moderate heat and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until onions are completely tender and have no bite left, about one and a half hours. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Make aïoli:
In food processor purée yolk, garlic, mustard, and vinegar until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Combine oils, then, with motor running, slowly drizzle into processor until completely emulsified, about 2 minutes. (If aïoli gets too thick, add a small amount of warm water, 1 teaspoon at a time.) Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and pepperoncini, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cook bacon:
In large, heavy skillet over moderate heat, cook bacon, turning occasionally, until crisp, then transfer with tongs to paper towel–lined plate to drain. Set aside.

Assemble sandwiches:
Slice each ciabatta in half. Spread aïoli on each of the ciabatta. Divide turkey on each of four ciabatta bottoms, then spread onion relish over meat. Lay 2 slices bacon on each of 4 ciabatta tops. Divide avocado slices between sandwiches, placing on top of bacon. Close sandwiches, slice each in half, and serve.

To accompany this amazing sandwich, I of course had to have my pickle!



Here they are in the first stage....beautiful! They were the best pickles I have ever had...probably because they were the first homemade pickles I have ever had. Yum! I will be bringing these to EVERY picnic or BBQ I go to in the future!

Slightly Sweet Dill Refrigerator Pickles

1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
(next time I am going to try cutting them into wedges)
1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons whole white peppercorns
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons dill seeds

Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars. Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.

Using mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and mallet, crush mustard seeds and peppercorns together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, 1 cup water, sugar, coarse salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated.

I also served a homemade classic macaroni salad

Classic Macaroni Salad 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (sold in little jars)

chef's note: I like to (each one on its own) pulse the green pepper, onion and celery in the food processor....this is beyond faster than chopping them. If you decide to do this also, you need to pulse them separately then place each one in a paper towel and squeeze some of the liquid out. This will ensure you still have a creamy and not runny sauce. I recommend you try this...it makes it so fast!!

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain. In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate overnight.

Baby Wells

I just thought of something.... I am busy planning a menu for Thursday night's meal. I am bringing this meal to a family at Ecclesia that just had a little one. I was thinking to myself.....6 people eating!!! 2 adults and 4 kids (not including the newest member of the family of course!!) If that doesn't count as "feeding the masses," I don't know what does!! I am bringing 2 families in the church dinner this week! I can't wait to meet the new arrivals to the Ecclesia family!

So then I was remembering that I still had to send Jamie Well's the recipe for the soup that I made for them when Canyon was born....then it dawned on me that I was going to have to start adding these "new baby" dinners to the Ecclesia "Feeding The Masses" blog site!! So here it is the first of the bunch! Canyon Jeremiah Wells 7lb-9oz 20 1/2" Born at home at 11:03pm on December 5th 2009.

Welcome little one! The Wells family received this meal under special the special consideration that THEY WERE DEATHLY ILL with the flu the day that I signed up to bring them dinner!! The first thing that came to my mind was that they needed some homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade egg noodles.

HOME MADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

4 carrots
1 small onion
4 celery stalks
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoons Marjoram flakes
1/2 teaspoon Basil flakes
1/4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1/4 pepper
2 bay leaves
2 quarts chicken broth
kosher salt

1 rotisserie chicken



Noodles
1 egg
1/2 salt
2/3 cup flour

Mix all the noodle ingredients into a ball....set aside for 15 minutes. Put first 11 ingredients into a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then simmer until carrots are not quite perfectly tender. Add ALL the meat from the chicken, you can manage (not eating right off the bone) into the pot. Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll as thin as you can manage, becasue they will thicken up once cooked. Using a pizza cutter slice into strips about 1/2 inch thick. Bring soup back to a boil and add the noodles. The flour on the noodles will thicken up the broth a little....mmmmm I love a rich, thick broth! If you like it a little more "soupy" feel free to add more broth! Let the noodles cook until they are nice and soft! The carrots should be perfect by now too! Enjoy, enjoy!

Sunday, January 3rd 2010

First Sunday of 2010! After much deliberation on menu choices and thinking about people's possible new years resolutions, I decided what the staff needed today was a healthy hearty winter soup! Scott wanted Italian wedding soup, but after looking at many, many recipes I knew I wasn't in the mood to make enough "hamburger" meatballs for 40 people! Plus they just sounded bland. Sweet Italian sausage was the ingredient I had in mind to work with. I started on a quest to find the sausage soup of my dreams, that was both healthy (moderately) with a rich flavor.....I came up with nothing. The recipes I found didn't seem to have enough flavor profiles. So for the first time since catering the Sunday meals, I officially created my own recipe! I'm not even sure what to call it! I think I will just call it Sweet Italian Sausage Soup with Fresh Basil & Great Northern Beans! I also made garlic & rosemary dinner rolls and my favorite chocolate chip cookies.



Sweet Italian Sausage Soup with Fresh Basil & Great Northern Beans

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 (32 oz) boxes chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans italian stewed tomatoes, crushed
1 (14.5 oz) can great northern white beans
1 bunch fresh basil
5 oz. fresh spinach
2 small zucchinis, quartered
Any Italian spices you would like to add oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, kosher salt, pepper etc. Do it up, just don't over do it!
Your favorite white cheese!

Brown sausage in large dutch oven, adding garlic half way through. Strain sausage lightly....you don't want to loose your garlic, and you want to keep some of the juices to give the broth extra flavor! To be honest, I just threw the rest of the ingredients (not the cheese) into the pot and simmered until everything was tender! If you are a more advanced chef than I am you may know at what point it is best to add the spinach etc.....but it turned out wonderful! At church, we added shredded mozzarella to the soup....this tasted great, but mostly it was cost effective! If I were you, and I was making this soup again, I would try some pecorino romano sprinkled on each bowl! Yum. Enjoy!



I can't believe I am doing this. I have made these rolls so many times over the years, for weddings, dinner parties and many holiday meals. They are by far the easiest thing I have up my sleeve. I love, love, love to bake bread, but as you may know it takes forever! So when I want to serve an amazing yeast roll, but don't have the time to make it....I go buy a bag or Rhode's Rolls from the freezer section. I get out my 9 x 13 baking dish and set it aside. I melt a stick of butter in a bowl and add fresh minced garlic, a ton of rosemary, a good amount of oregano and basil. I take each frozen roll, drench it in the melted butter (make sure it has a lot of garlic and herbs on it when you pull it out) place it in the pan, next to all its friends....then let them rise! When they are covered in a shell of butter,like they will be, they do take a bit longer than the package says....I would give them 6-7 hours just to be safe! Bake at 400 for 15 minutes and vuala!!