Soup for a Cold

I woke up a week ago with a sore throat. It has since moved up into my head. Last night, I came home from work and went right to work making myself a pot of soup, since I have no one else to make it for me these days. Pout. A bowl of this with a couple of beer biscuits with honey has been my dinner the last two nights. You'll want to eat it two nights in a row, too. Delicious! The soup is adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook and serves 12.

Hearty Goulash Soup

5 slices bacon, chopped

3 pounds boneless chuck, cut into chunks (or just buy the stew beef your store probably sells already cut up if you're sick and want to make less work for yourself)

2 tbsp. oil

4 finely-chopped onions

3 minced cloves garlic

3 tbsp. paprika

1 & 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds

1/3 c. flour

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 small can tomato paste

4 cans beef consomme (about 42 oz.)

5 c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

2 chopped green peppers

2 & 1/2 lb. potatoes, chopped in half-inch cubes

Cook the bacon crisp in a large stock pot. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. On high heat, brown the beef, in small batches, in the bacon fat, removing each batch to the bowl when browned. Reduce heat to medium and add oil. Cook the onions & garlic golden. Add paprika, caraway, flour. Cook & stir about a minute. Add vinegar & tomato paste. Mix well. Add consomme, water, salt, peppers, beef and bacon. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on medium heat 45 minutes. Add potatoes & simmer another 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Beer Biscuits

4 c. Bisquick

1/4 c. sugar

12 oz. beer (I used Labatt's)

2 tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together. Put in well-greased muffin tins. Bake 15-20 minutes. Makes about 12 large muffins. Scrumptious with honey, really yummy even without anything.

Y.S. Eats

J has been signing us up for wild women weekends in my hometown, which often involves staying the night in houses in the village & eating at The Winds. The last time, we sampled several different restaurants. We stayed over Saturday & Sunday nights of Labor Day weekend, taking a sketching class and a jewelry-making class after worship on Sunday.

We started the "weekend" with a snack at Peach's Grill. Howard was our waiter so of course, the service was great. We had the pita chips & dip sampler. The pita chips there are perfection and they come with a yummy trio of dips, hummus, tzatziki and a roasted red pepper feta dip I usually don't like but which was good this time. www.peachsgrill.com

Dinner Saturday night was at The Winds, which was utterly slammed. While it's frustrating to have to wait a long time even with a reservation, it's wonderful to see them so busy. We were seated at last next to Steve Current & Karyn Stillwell-Current, whose Current Cuisine has yummy foods to go (we can't get enough of their amazing sundried tomato spread. www.currentcuisine.com), so I was eyeballing what was on their plates the whole time. Hee hee. Our waiter was nice, a new guy. It seems like they've recently had a big turnover in staff. Luckily, the new folks seem to be picking it up nicely. We shared two appetizers, a delicious tomato bruschetta and the cheese service. I think J has a new favorite cheese, Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper, and I got to revisit a couple of my favorites, d'Affinois (a lush triple creme) and Romao, a rosemary-encrusted hard cheese. We both chose the Pat la Frieda ribeye with Bulliet bourbon worcestershire butter for our entree (veggies & mashed potatoes on the side, if I recall correctly) and split the raspberry tiramisu for dessert. J loved the creaminess of the mascarpone filling while I snagged as many berries as I could. I'd forgotten how much better I like fruit without anything creamy touching it. If you love fruit & cream, it would be a splendid dessert. www.windscafe.com

Sunday after church, there wasn't much time for lunch, much less time to have brunch at The Winds, before our sketching class began. Luckily for us, the Corner Cone (which was Tastee Freeze when I was a kid) was right on the way from our lodging to the class site. We sat outside and noshed on delicious sandwiches while enjoying the newly lovely environment. The newest owners have gone to a lot of trouble to make it welcoming, with trellises, adirondack chairs, firepits, pergolas, flowers, art. J had a veggie melt, which looked heavenly, and I had a pulled pork sandwich. The fries were crinkle-cut, my favorite, and the Pepsi mix was the perfect (and hard to obtain) balance of syrup & soda. We returned this past weekend for ice cream. They offer soft serve in a wide variety of flavors...the butter pecan & peanut butter both hit the tastebuds nicely...and they even have vegan ice cream for the kids! Their waffle cones must be made on the premises because the sweet scent wafting out of the building just about persuaded us to skip our art class & order dessert right then & there. www.cornercone.com

I took J for her first dinner at Williams Eatery on Sunday night. It's in the old brick building on the corner of Corry & Dayton streets that has housed many great restaurants over the years. Williams Eatery is the newest incarnation. They serve American and Peruvian food. We started with a couple of dips, a crab dip J loved (I am not a fan of crab and it was definitely crabby) and a chorizo cheese dip we both dug. These were both served with grilled flatbread and fresh tortilla chips. Jeannene is a pasta nut, so she ordered the Southwest Chicken Pasta, while I went for the lomo saltado. It's kind of weird to have tomato-y, spicy beef tips on french fries, but it works. The bed of fries soaks up the superb sauce nicely. The greenhouse, added to the building when it was Carol's Kitchen, was a delightful place to spend a September evening. Jonas, another of our favorite former Winds waiters, was working that night and it was nice to see him again. If you go to the website, you can learn more about the menu, but you can also listen to some great Latin music, check out the local gracing the walls and read reviews. http://williamseatery.com

I'd been hearing about C.J.'s Southern Cooking, which opened not too long ago in the old KFC building, so we tried to go there for breakfast Monday. They didn't open until noon, however, and we were too hungry to wait. I wish we'd either waited or gone to Young's or Corner Cone. Sadly, we went to Sunrise Cafe. I admit that I am prejudiced against it because I want it to still be Dick & Tom's, the great little greasy spoon that used to be there. No pretensions at all, kind of gross, even, with flypaper strips hanging from the ceiling and tears in the booth seating. But terrific diner food, old-fashioned milkshakes served with the extra in the steel mixing cup and a selection of pie slices in spin displays on the counter (which also had spinny stools). However, J has really liked the pancakes at Sunrise in the past, so we put our name in.

An hour later (seriously? An hour wait?), we were finally seated in a dark, gloomy booth whose olive oil can lamp hung low enough that it practically obstructed our view of one another. The booths are not only unpleasant-looking, but uncomfortable, as well. The wildflowers at our table were lovely. That's perhaps the only really good thing I could say about our visit. Our server was unfriendly, even somewhat surly, as were all of the staff. Terminally hip, but not terribly nice. Perhaps they were just harried and understaffed? I'll extend the possibility. I ordered organic (and most likely fair trade) hot chocolate, which came in a darling little pot and was neither hot nor very chocolate-y at all, more akin to cocoa-tinted water. When I asked to have coffee instead, the server looked at me as if to say, "Are you freaking kidding me???" I quickly amended my request to, "Or maybe more powder?" as she stalked away. She did soften a bit when she came back to check on us after the results of adding chocolate powder to lukewarm water turned out to be disastrous, asking if I needed more hot water. By that time, I had given up. I really did try, but I just couldn't bring myself to drink it. She did, however, save her tip by asking. I almost always tip 20% if the service is decent. I was headed for 10% but bumped it to 15%, utterly shocking J, who thought I'd leave no tip at all.

The food, when it came after another interminable wait, was not that great. The chorizo in my Mexican omelet did, at least, have some flavor and the jam for the English muffin was pretty good., but I was not thrilled with my food. J liked her scrambled eggs just fine but the bacon was thoroughly overcooked. The chocolate bread French toast was misnamed, turning out to be chocolate chip bread "French toast." I don't use quotation marks lightly, but in this case, I feel justified. The dish was more akin to grilled hunks of chocolate chip bread than like any French toast I've ever had. It also had an unpleasant undertone of rotted fruit. I wasn't terribly surprised when I got sick a few hours later. I should have heeded my friend Aaron's warning to stay away. Sunrise Cafe, I shall never darken your doors again.

The Chicken or the Egg

In the flurry of activity that was the last couple of weeks, I actually managed to cook a couple of times. One night, I made a lovely spinach & parmesan frittata and some pasta salad with green beans & feta that could have been a meal on its own. Another night was my adaptation of Jane McDaniel's almond chicken from our church cookbook, served over rice with a salad on the side.

Almond Chicken

1/4 c. oil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise in thin strips

1/2 tsp. salt

1 sliced onion

1 & 1/2 c. bias-cut celery slices

1 & 1/4 c. chicken broth

1 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. sherry

1 can bamboo shoots, drained

1 can sliced water chestnuts, sliced

1/2 c. slivered almonds

Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken & sprinkle with salt. Cook through and remove from pan. In same pan, cook onion, celery & 1/2 c. chicken broth 5 minutes. Mix sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry. Add remaining chicken broth. Pour over veggies in skillet and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. Add chicken, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and almonds. Heat through.

Spinach & Parmesan Frittata

7 eggs

1/2 c. parmesan

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 minced cloves garlic

10 oz. pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

Beat first 4 together. Heat oil in 10" oven-safe skillet. Saute garlic until golden. Add spinach and cook a few minutes. Preheat broiler. Add egg to spinach and cook five minutes. Broil a few minutes, until just set. Serve in wedges.

Pasta Salad with Green Beans & Feta

1 lb. green beans, trimmed

1 lb. rotelle

2/3 c. olive oil

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

3 minced cloves garlic

1 tbsp. Dijon

Salt & pepper

8 oz. cherry tomatoes

1/3 c. halved black olives

Finely-chopped basil, oregano & chives

6 oz. crumbled feta

Cook beans in large pot of salted, boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove to colander & add pasta to water. Cook al dente. Drain. Whisk oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt & pepper into dressing. Add everything to the pasta, toss well & serve.

Corn Pie & Mac & Cheese Count as Veggies at a Meat & Three, Why Not in my House?

Tonight, my auntie and I ventured out to Graeter's for ice cream sundaes before dinner. She admits she is a bad influence on me, but the dinner I made was pretty decadent, too. When I lived in Nashville, I was always amazed at the things they counted as veggies. Tonight, I just needed some fried okra or white beans and my meal would've fit in at Swett's or Monell's. I made bbq pork chops (slathered with Sweet Baby Ray's and baked), corn pie and macaroni & cheese (my slap-dash version, chronicled in an earlier post). A green salad would probably have been a good idea, but it didn't happen.

Corn Pie

8 ears corn

3 eggs

1 & 1/2 c. milk (I used skim)

1 tbsp. sugar

Salt & pepper

1 tbsp. grated onion

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 & 1/2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

Paprika

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice corn off cob into well-buttered, deep-dish pie plate. Beat eggs well. Add milk, sugar, salt & pepper. Beat. Add onion. Stir into corn. Pour cream over the top & dot with butter. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake 40-45 minutes, until set. Allow to cool 5 minutes before cutting into wedges & serving.

Grandie Dinner

My grandmama's been gone 2 years now, my granddad almost a year longer. They were two of my best friends in the entire world. I miss them like crazy and plan to honor their memory every year in August with the dinner they ate most of August for dinner. They'd go to the farmstand down by the old stone house right by the river and get big, gorgeous, ripest red tomatoes and ears of sweet corn. My grandmom would then make Russian sandwiches (I'm not sure where the name came from or why they are particularly Russian) and corn on the cob. To make the sandwiches, you first toast some nice bread. Tonight, I used Brownberry's Oatnut bread. Then, you slice tomatoes and put a couple on each slice. Top that with crisp, fried bacon and slices of Vermont extra sharp cheddar. Broil until the cheese is melted & bubbly. Tonight, I picked up a strawberry pie from Frisch's Big Boy, one of the things I remember eating with my grandies when I was a little kid.

Grilling Galore!

Tuesday night, just as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I'd intended to marinate some pork chops for broiling Wednesday night. So, I stayed up an extra 20 minutes to throw dinner together. I was feeling very pleased with myself when I got home, thinking I already had dinner partially made. When I walked in the door, my auntie told me she'd gotten all the fixings for shish kebabs! We decided just to go ahead and basically make (and eat) two dinners all at once. She seldom cooks, so it was quite a surprise, but it gave us a lot of variety. We ended up having chicken teriyaki shish kebabs (marinated in Trader Joe's teriyaki sauce and treated in my aunt's special vacuum marinater...she adores gadgets...my marinating was done in a gallon ziploc 'cause I'm all high-tech like that), various kebabed veggies (mushrooms, onions, peppers, summer squash), boiled potatoes with butter & dill, sweet corn, the pork chops and a plum & nectarine croustade. It was quite the spread! My cousin grilled everything for us while dessert baked.

Grilled Lemon Parsley Pork Chops

Mix together 1/2 c. olive oil, 7 tbsp. key lime juice, a bunch of chopped parsley (maybe 1/2 c.), 5 peeled & crushed cloves of garlic, a smattering of thyme (or rosemary, if you have it on hand...my aunt didn't, which surprised me...so I improvised), salt and pepper. Put 6 pork chops in a gallon ziploc and squish all around. Let marinate at least 6 hours but preferably overnight. Or, if you're one of those relentlessly perky morning people, do this in the morning before you go to work. Then, when you get home, all you have to do is broil or grill the pork chops until they're cooked through. Serves 3-6.

Plum & Nectarine Croustade

1 pie crust

4 nectarines, sliced

4 plums, sliced

1/4 c. plus 1 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. key lime juice

1 1/2 tsp. flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put the crust in a pie plate (deep dish is not recommended for this one). Mix the fruit with 1/4 c. sugar, juice, flour. Toss gently and put in crust. Fold edges over to partially cover the fruit all around the edges. Brush crust edges with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 20 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake another 20 minutes. Let cool before cutting.

What I'm Cooking in August

I have been eating out entirely too much lately, and not usually anything worth documenting. I didn't cook the entire first week of August! I finally made dinner Sunday night, but due to scheduling, have ended up eating out again the last two nights. Last night, my women's spirituality group met and I grabbed McDonald's on the run. Just the perfect food to prepare for a spiritual experience. Oy. Tonight was rather better. I spoke to J on the phone and she had made herself chicken tikka masala with naan. I'd had board meetings back to back and didn't leave work until 9. Luckily, Ajanta India is open until 10. They are not as good as they were before our sojourn in Cleveland. The rice has lost the cumin and has a small pile of peas on top, rather than scattered throughout (which probably makes my friend, Andi, very happy), and the special tea just isn't quite as special. Nonetheless, it's still quite good. If my chicken tikka masala was a little bland, I can only blame my own gutlessness in ordering it at a level 1 spiciness. The bhatura was more fabulous than usual, so that more than made up for it. Anyway, I finally have August menus made up and am sharing them here:

-Cool Chick Salad, French bread, cantaloupe
-Lemon-parsley pork chops, boiled potatoes, parmesan corn on the cob, plum & nectarine croustade
-Russian sandwiches, corn on the cob, strawberry pie (this dinner in memory of my grandies)
-Rigatoni al pomodoro, garlic parmesan foccacia, romaine salad, oven-roasted fruit
-Chevre, avocado & turkey sandwiches on nut bread, lime thyme potato salad, green salad
-Artichoke quiche, ensalada olimpica, fruit salad
-Roasted pork tenderloin with fennel and garlic, Israeli couscous, sauteed radishes & sugar snap peas, grasshopper bars
-Roast chicken with potatoes, onions & carrots, zucchini ribbon salad, strawberry & poppyseed salad
-Steak Mirabeau, baked potatoes, wilted spinach, raspberries & cream
-Spinach parmesan frittata, feta & green bean pasta salad, fruit
-Almond chicken, rice, salad, fruit
-BBQ pork chops, macaroni & cheese, corn pie, salad
-Corn chowder, rolls, fruit
-Chicken & avocado sandwiches, arroz rojo, macque choux
-Lomo de orza, baked potatoes, salad
-Cajun chicken pasta, salad, fruit
-Cuban bowties, salad, fruit
-Banana nut bread
-Chocolate almond toffee bark
-Orange shortbread
-Lemon berry bread