Oui, Chef

Blueberry Streusel Cake

 

I know this cake is a touch out of season but fact is we've been drowning in blueberries lately, so much so that I felt compelled to create this little beauty as a means to help work through our overstock.  

You see, Muppet's been on a bit of a blueberry bender as of late, begging for them at every turn.  Shocked by the fact that one of our kids was (no-kidding) ASKING for fresh fruit, and not wanting to blow a food-hero opportunity while actually buying something healthy for them, my wife and I each purchased mondo boxes of the lovelies last week.  As fate would have it, the day after we presented our young berry fiend with her fruit-booty she had upper braces slapped on her teeth and promptly lost her taste for just about everything....well, except maybe for chocolate.  Poor child.

Meatless Monday: Butternut, Carrots and Fennel.....Oh My!

 

Here's another great meatless recipe that includes some of our favorite veggies and fruits.  We love making soups and stews of all sorts this time of year as they are great to have in the freezer for a quick weeknight meal when you just don't have time for anything else.  Heat a pot full of soup, toss together a quick salad, warm a loaf of crusty bread, and all is good with the world.

Breakfast Cookies That Will Make Your Kids Think You've Gone Crazy!

 

 

Hey Dad, what's in the container on the counter?

Oh, those are some breakfast cookies I made today.

Say what?  Did you just say breakfast cookies?

Yeah, I thought they'd be great for a breakfast on the fly, they're sort of like a portable bowl of oatmeal.

Shut Up!

No really, they're loaded with grains and nuts and dried fruit, just like a bowl of oatmeal.

So you're telling me that tomorrow morning I can eat cookies for breakfast?

Uh...yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying.

SHUT UP!

Hey relax, will you.  

How come I never hear you get this excited when I offer you a bowl of oatmeal?

Oh....and stop saying shut up or I'm giving your cookies to Muppet!

And the Winner of the OXO Egg-Beater is...........

Congratulations to Lynda, the terrific cook behind one of my favorite food blogs, TasteFood!  She was the lucky winner who's name was drawn from our fabulous "give-away" hat, and will soon be grinning ear to ear as she whips cream with her cool new Oxo Egg Beater.  

Lynda, please send me a note through the "Contact Me" link at the top of this page and give me your mailing address so that I can pop your new toy in the mail to you.  Can't wait to read about what you make with the fun little gadget.

That's all for now.....carry on.

- Steve

Meatless Monday - Baked Eggs with Spinach, Artichokes and Leeks

 

I'm a huge Paul McCartney fan, in fact I'm a Beatles freak.  While I'm a touch too young to have seen the Beatles perform live, I've been fortunate enough to see Paul a few times over the years and I am so grateful to have had the chance.  As I sat the other day thinking of performers I REALLY want my kids to see before they retire (don't ask me why I was thinking this, but I was), Paul McCartney topped the list.  I mean, can you think of anyone (still alive) that has influenced the music we all listen to today in such a profound way?  Yeah....me neither.  I could go on for days about what it is about his songwriting and singing that moves me, but much of it you've probably heard before, or even feel yourself.  

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

 

Do you remember the post a few weeks ago about the favorite holiday cookie we baked this year, the incomparable Chewy Ginger Cookies ?  Well these little lovelies ran a close second in the race for Christmas cookie dominance, so I thought I'd share them with you today.  The good news is that they're not like a bûche de noel, or a gingerbread treat that seem totally out of place once the holidays have passed.  These sugar bombs are a welcome treat regardless of season.

An Impromptu Chili

 

The pork shoulder roast used to make this chili was originally scheduled for a little "low and slow" oven love before being served up to the gang as a Sunday roast.  However, mid-way through prepping it for this purpose I had a change of heart, prompted by my need to get our fridge and pantry inventory below the level that would feed a small country (you think I'm kidding?).  Turns out this lovely chili allowed me to use up not only the shoulder roast, but also a box of baby spinach, all the carrots, onions, shallots, celery and cilantro left in the fridge, a can of crushed tomatoes and a bag of flageolet beans from the pantry, and a cooked bag of bacon shards in the freezer.  

How's that for a kitchen sink recipe!

Almost Teddies Apple Cake and an OXO Egg Beater Giveaway!

A few weeks back I had the good fortune to attend the Boston book launching party for the The Food52 Cookbook .  My friend Emily (fiveandspice for all you Food52ers) and her husband hosted a pot-luck gathering where each guest made a dish from the book to bring, it was great fun and a delicious afternoon.  As you might imagine from a gathering of such food fanatics, we brought way more food than we needed for the gang assembled.  In fact, as the afternoon wore on I started to get a little concerned that we had not properly paced ourselves and would be unable to have a go at the beautiful desserts decorating the sideboard in their dining room.

A lesser group would have called it a day I’m sure, what with the sheer volume of savory tarts, salads, dips, breads, and charcuterie that we all consumed.  Many would have slipped into a food coma and curled up in the corner for a little snooze, but not this stalwart group.  No, the siren’s song of cakes and cookies took care of that, and as we emptied the last bottle of wine, our hostess took her leave and retired to the kitchen to gather things for dessert.

Parchment Baked Fish with Fennel

Baking fish in parchment is a fabulous technique that I'd read about for years but didn't try myself until just the other day, inspired by having seen my chef-friend Jody Adams cook some this way in a recent cooking class I attended.  Jody, who along with her husband Ken write and shoot the fabulous home-cooking blog, The Garum Factory, prepared a similar dish in her class, and from the first bite I was hooked.

3 Layer Guinness - Chocolate Cake

A page is turned, a chapter ended.

Ever since I was a student at LCB and learned to make a Bûche Pistache, a delicious chocolate-pistachio log shaped cake, it has been Arthas’ choice of birthday cake.  I still clearly remember my initial shock when a few months after he had tasted the one I made and brought home from class, he asked that I make another for his birthday.