Birthday Celebration! 12/8/18

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Beebamom

Every year I celebrate my birthday with my friend who has a birthday the day after mine. We have been doing this for many years, probably more years than most of my readers have been alive! It is a fun tradition and this special birthday year we are celebrating at the Chef’s Table at Lucia, the restaurant at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley, CA.

For this dinner we sit in an alcove right in the kitchen and get to watch the chefs prepare our meal. Many famous people have dined here. Their names are inscribed in the graffiti on the walls behind our heads.

Jacques Pepin, “Happy Cooking!”

Julia Child, “Bon Appétit!”

My view of the kitchen

So we are in good company to enjoy a multi-course meal! There are so many courses that we literally cannot eat them all. Towards the end we pull the plug on the venison and the cheese courses. Although the individual portions are small, it is just too much! Here are some of the things we were served.

Bread course – Most delicious? The little dollop of butternut squash butter!

Potato latke with crime fraiche and caviar (this latke was not nearly as good as John’s)

Crab with citrus, avocado, and pomegranate

Pumpkin mezzaluna in a duck/Parmesan broth with black truffle, Amazing!

Ricotta gnudi, Parmesan Cretan and white truffle Intense!

At this point I am starting to flag and pass one of my gnudi to John. We are not even half way through!

Creepy Squab

Waygu beef

Pumpkin cake, marscapone mousse, butternut squash, caramelized feuille de brick, maple caramel

There was also a fish course, duck course, chocolate course, and the venison and cheese courses which I mentioned we skipped. Everything was paired with the appropriate wine. This tsunami of food was wonderful and the service was impeccable! What an evening! Happy a birthday to me!!

Posted in American, Beef, Desserts, Dining out, Fish, Lamb, Pasta, Poultry, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Shrimp stir-fry. 12/7/18

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Beebamom

On latke night we had some cut up vegetables and dip as hors d’ouevres.  So tonight I am taking the leftover carrots, celery, and broccoli and using them in a stir-fry with shrimp. I make some rice in the Instant Pot and we are set for dinner.

Photo from the internet – shrimp stir-fry

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Latkes!!!!!! 12/6/18

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Beebamom

Tonight we have our traditional Hanukkah celebration. Our daughter has invited a friend and we are all feeling festive. John takes his deep-frying rig out to the patio so our kitchen is not a grease bomb and we are ready for the fried potato feast!  The latkes are everything you want in a latke, they are crisp yet soft on the inside. I make a big salad with bacon as the crispy element and we have a loaf of French bread because bread, duh. We have spiced cookies for dessert and it is all good.

Table with menorah plus bread and salad

These latkes are the best!! Served with applesauce and sour cream

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Crispy chicken sandwich at home. 12/5/18

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Beebamom

This is turning out to be a week of secondary use of ingredients – you know, leftovers. The other day we made chicken Marsala. John could not fit all the tiny chicken thighs in the pan so we had two left over. So, what to do with two small pounded out chicken thighs. We decide on crispy chicken sandwiches.

John puts a light breading on the chicken and pan fries them in a little olive oil. I toast the buns, spread on some mayo and sriracha, and add some lettuce. We have a little broccoli and a lone carrot left so I make a broccoli/carrot salad with a sweet and tart celery seed dressing.

Crispy chicken sandwich with broccoli and carrot salad

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Stretch your food budget. 12/4/18

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Beebamom

On Tuesday we made a beef stew. There was less than a pound of meat in it and some potatoes, onions, and a few limp carrots and celery. We had some leftovers but not enough for a whole meal. So I went out and bought three potatoes, cut up a leftover half of an onion, and added the rest of my still limp but serviceable carrots and celery.

Although the incarnation of this beef stew is definitely more vegetable stew than beef, we had a perfectly easy and delicious meal for the cost of three potatoes. I never mind using leftovers, they are the best way to stretch your food dollars.

Beef stew extended by additional vegetables
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Chicken Marsala. 12/3/18

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Beebamom

I was thinking about something a little different for our Chicken Monday and came up with Chicken Marsala. John and I made a quick trip to the grocery store and bought some boneless chicken thighs and mushrooms.

First John takes the thighs and removes extraneous fat, pounds then to a cutlet thickness, seasons and dusts them with some flour. While he does that I am preparing some broccoli and reheating the polenta we had last week. After sautéing the chicken to doneness, he removes it from the pan, and adds mushrooms which are already sauteed, some chicken broth, and butter along with the Marsala to the pan drippings to create the sauce. He makes sure that the alcohol is cooked off. He puts the chicken back in the pan to re-warm and pick up the flavor of the sauce. This turns out to be a pretty elegant meal for a Monday.

Chicken Marsala with polenta and broccoli

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Instant Pot beef stew. 12/2/18

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Beebamom

I have been craving some beef stew. This is the exact same beef stew my mother used to make when I was a kid. Back then I hated everything but I grew up and realized that the comforting flavors of stew are the bomb! My mom made hers in her stove top pressure cooker and her recipe translates easily to the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot beef stew

Brown a piece of chuck on both sides in some olive oil. It is much easier to brown a whole piece and cut it up afterwards. Continue on the sauté setting with your onions and garlic. Then add a 14 oz. can of cut up tomatoes and some beef stock and a little Worcestershire sauce. Dump in some potatoes, carrots, and onions. Add some thyme or a bay leaf. Some red wine would be good too. Lock the lid in place and pressure cook for 13-15 minutes. Let the pressure go down on its own for 10 minutes, then release the rest of it. Thicken your stew with corn or potato starch.

You might want to buy a crusty loaf of bread to sop up some of the gravy. Yum!

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Simply spaghetti. 12/1/18

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Beebamom

Last night we opened a jar of Bertolli tomato sauce and cooked up some thick spaghetti. I usually make my own sauces but we got a late start on supper so it was the jar for us. I am not ashamed because I do not leave the sauce the way it comes out of the jar. I add onions and garlic, oregano, and maybe a hint of red wine and red wine vinegar to tone the sweetness down. I am liking this thick spaghetti. It has a good chew to it.

As sometimes happens I get so excited when we are having pasta that I forget to take a picture. So here is an old pasta picture.

Spaghetti with tomato sauce

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Sonoma Wine Country. 11/30/18

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Beebamom

Since my birthday is a week from tomorrow, we figure that it is a good time to start celebrating early. December will be a month of celebrating and travel so there will not be a whole lot of cooking. But I will be happy to send along some great restaurant dishes and the occasional home cooked meal.

Our day started with a stop at Jacuzzi Winery, home of The Olive Press, where we always stop to sample the olive oils and get our bottles refilled. Today we get a new pressing of Arbequina olive oil. We use these better oils as finishing oils while we use a more generic EVOO for everyday cooking.

Here’s a picture of John next to Santa at the Jacuzzi Winery and The Olive Press.

Santa and John

Next we stop at Imagery Winery to pick up our Wine Club allotment. For agreeing to a certain number of bottles per year you get a 20% discount. Also you get a free tasting of their recent offerings. So John and I try a few sips. It is fun as long as you do not enroll in too many wine clubs or have too many sips!

For a late lunch we try the recently opened Salt and Stone restaurant in Kenwood, CA. I think we make very reasonable choices.

John orders roasted octopus with chickpeas

I order a grilled octopus, mango, tomatoes, and greens salad

After lunch we head for home trying not to get caught in rush hour traffic. Sonoma County wine country is beautiful even in late November and a nice break from the urban/suburban bustle.

Looking out over the fields of autumnal grape vines

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Last of the tomatoes. 11/29/18

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Beebamom

We are down to the last of our tomatoes from this year’s crop. To mark the occasion and as a preview to our upcoming trip to Italy I made a dress-your-own salad with oil and vinegar accompanied by a slice of pizza. This is often a go-to lunch when we are in Italy.

Red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and blue cheese dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar
Cheese and tomato pizza with Italian sausage


Sadly November tomatoes are not nearly as good as August ones. But our Italy preview dinner makes us happily anticipate the real thing next month!

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