So much to cook... So little time...

Yes, I owe you an apology. I am so very sorry it has been so long since I have blogged to you!!! Truly ridiculous, especially since my aunts and uncles all came to Richmond for Daddy's birthday and wanted to help me push this blog. they all agreed to help and visit and tell their friends cause THEY REALLY LOVED THE FOOD!!!!!

So, I am back and I am going to try very hard to be consistent in keeping you informed on all the great food I have been producing.


Today I made the best pasta sauce of my life! And it is only noon. And I already created , cooked and ate it!
I went to the Apple Store for my one to one lesson this morning, early... Not being a morning person I didn't eat before I left the house. while driving out to short pump, about a 40 minute drive, I started thinking about what I wanted to eat after class. it is cold and drizzly and so I wanted something warm... That is about as far as I got..,then on the way home all energized from learning all the millions of things my new iphone 4s could do, I started thinking food again.

First off, what do I have in the house that I can use? Fresh bratwurst, tomatoes, hummmm. Already sounds like a pasta sauce.. then I remembered this great sauce Daddy and I had in Mauritea, Italy. as I recall it was not thick and it was on angel hair and I remembered a hint of cinnamon. So... As soon as got home I went to work.
Pot of water with a splash of olive oil on the stove to boil. Skillet with half cup of water on med high... 2 bratwurst that I removed the skin casing and then put on skillet and smashed till it separated really well.
To that I added 1/4teas cinnamon 1/2 teas oregano, 1/2teas basil (or  chop up a small bunch of fresh) 1/2teas beef bullion 1/2teas powdered garlic 1/2teas coarse ground sea salt 1/4teas red pepper flakes a drizzle of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter, stirring often, I THEN CUT UP 3 Roma tomatoes very fine, and added 2T of sundried tomatoes after I put them in the cuisinart with a little olive oil and puréed them.
I didn't have angel hair pasta so I used thin spaghetti.. Half a box. Cook for 6 minutes! Meanwhile I turned up the heat on the sauce to low high and kept stirring. When the pasta was done I drained it and tossed it a bit at a time into the sauce making sure to cover each strand till all was done. Served and grated fresh Parmesan Romano on it. YUMMMMMMMM.... This recipe serves 2 people easy.

I have loads of recipes for you, especially from Daddy's party. I will, I promise get to those later today or tomorrow at the latest. Oh I should take a photo of the pasta when I serve it to Daddy for his lunch!

Thanks for reading and I promise to do better. Tracey

Panko encrusted Chesapeake Bay Oysters

The Tidweater area is know for its fabulous oysters so i came up with this recipe of Panko encrusted Oysters on a bed of corn puree and of course i gave it a little zing....

Panko encrusted Oysters with Corn and Onion Puree

Ingredients:

3 oysters fresh and shucked 2 large sweet onions

2 eggs beaten 2 tbls olive oil

1 cup panko crumbs 6 ears corn

salt and pepper 1 t crushed red pepper

2 to 3 tbls vegetable oil 1/4 cup naturally fresh ranch

Dip drained oysters in beaten eggs, and then in panko crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper (coating each oyster thoroughly). Set aside to dry at least 1/2 hour.

Heat oil in frying pan (I like to use my cast-iron frying pan) to 370 degrees F. (or until quite hot). Fry oysters until golden brown on one side, then gently turn over each oysters carefully to brown the other side, approximately 3 to 4 minutes on each side (fry oyster until golden brown and edges are curled). Do not overcook or overcrowd in frying pan. Remove from frying pan place on a paper towel.

The corn and onion puree is very simple .... 6 ears of corn shucked and then placed in ziplock bag and put in microwave for 4 minutes. When cool enough to handle cut off cob and place in cuisinart.

2 large sweet onions chopped and placed in skillet with 2 tbls olive oil and sauteed until golden brown. Place onions in cuisinart, pulse to puree corn and onions add half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, salt and 2 teaspoons of butter, 1/4 cup of naturally fresh lite ranch dressing. Yep.... trust me it is great. Continue puree process.. approx. 1 minute.

in a pretty bowl, the pasta type or a plate with a rim.. place a mound of corn puree and then artfully arrange the oysters on top.. it is YUMMY

Tomato Eggplant Towers

Ok, so next on the Cromwell Farms, Distinctive Magazine shoot was Tomato Eggplant Towers.. ohhhhhh so good and the vinaigrette is amazing..

TOMATO & EGGPLANT TOWERS

This recipe is 3 parts... easy but, has steps you need to follow.... start in the order below..

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour or cornstarch

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional for sprinkling eggplant

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 small eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices

Vegetable oil, for deep frying

4 ripe medium to large tomatoes

large bunch of fresh basil

one round of fresh mozzarella

Directions

Place the flour, egg, and bread crumbs each in 3 small bowls. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the egg and whisk to combine. Season the bread crumbs with some garlic powder and stir with a fork or your hands to thoroughly combine.

Dredge each piece of eggplant in the flour, coating thoroughly and then shaking to remove any excess flour. Coat each piece with the egg, then dredge in the bread crumb mixture, pressing to make the bread crumbs adhere. Transfer the eggplant pieces to a rack or to paper towels to let them dry slightly before frying.

In a deep, heavy skillet heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil to 375 degrees F. Fry the eggplant pieces, in batches if necessary, for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt before building tower.

cut tomatoes into 1/2 “ round slices. set aside to drain

cut the mozzarella round into 1/4” slices

Tomato Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 cup olive oil

1/cup balsamic vinegar

1package good seasons italian dressing

1 small can of V8 juice

place all into blender or mini cuisinart and blend together 45seconds should do it.

Building the tower

ok..... here we go..

on a small attractive plate place the first tomato, then mozzarella then 3 basil leaves then eggplant slice then tomato , mozzarella, eggplant and finally basil.

lastly you will drizzle by spoon the tomato vinaigrette making it artistic.

3 Baked Hens....

So Chicken is always a good thing and so for the shoot I decided to do 3, count them.... 3 baked chickens.. it is just to dard to decide on one recipes. I love to grill and bake and roast and well just about everything..

3 Baked Hens

INGREDIENTS

3 ..... 4 lb chickens (of course you can do just one)

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lemon

1 apple

1 onion

1 bunch fresh thyme

1 bunch fresh basil

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse chicken in water and pat dry with paper towels. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. Rub some olive oil

over all of the chicken in the roasting pan. Cut up lemon (for next hen apple and last hen onion) then stuff the bird with the lemon wedges. Next you will take the fresh thyme and put several pieces inside the bird with the lemon... take several more and gently place under the skin on breast side of bird. carefully separating skin from meat as you go. don’t tear the skin, as the breast will dry out. (repeat this process with basil and apple for hen # 2 and cilantro and onion for hen # 3) close the bird up tight with dampened wooden skewers or tying the legs together.. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2 Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 10-30 minutes more (approximately 14 to 15 minutes per pound total cooking time) until juices run clear (not pink) when poked with a sharp knife or the internal temperature of the chicken breasts is 170°F and the thighs 185°. If your chickens aren't browning to your satisfaction, you can put them under the broiler for the last 5 minutes of cooking, until browned sufficiently.

3 Remove roasting pan from oven. Remove chicken from roasting pan to a serving plate. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Photo worthy... Tomato Shooters

Well, this summer I was asked to be a contributing editor for Distinction Magazine, out of Tidewater, Va...

We went to this fabulous farm in Pungo, and did an amazing spread.. I created recipes to go with food grown there as well as from the Tidewater area..

Tomato Basil Shooters

Ingredients:

2 tbls olive oil 2 sprigs basil

1 red onion sliced salt and pepper

1 shallot sliced finely chopped chives

2 cloves garlic, halved basil to garnish

2lbs ripe tomatoes stemmed, cut into chunks

1 bouquet garni 1tbls vegetable bullion

2 tbls honey

Heat the olive oil in heavy bottomed pot. Sautee the onion and shallot gently for about 4 minutes or until lightly golden in color. Add the garlic and chives , saute for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bouquet garni, honey and basil. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and boullion partway through the cooking. Remove the bouquet garni.

Blend the soup in a blender or cuisinart. Repeat the process of blending several times.

This soup is great served hot, for lunch or even breakfast....

But, for summer I like it chilled overnight and served as a great appetizer in a aperitif or cordial glass or even a shooter!!!!!

Don’t forget to garnish with the fresh basil..

ROASTED CARROT PASTA... with... TIGER PRAWNS

SUNDAY NIGHT DINNER....

Well you know how I love to entertain.. And I love impromptu events even more. Well, I called my friends Tommy and Kendall on Sunday afternoon and said, "I know it is really short notice, but.... wanna come for dinner?" Tommy said let me ask Kendall and a minute later he said they would love to come.. Is 6pm ok??? Well it was 3:30pm and that gave me plenty of time.. So we were on!

I have had this idea in my head for a week or so to do something with roasted carrots cut on an angle and feta.. and I have been reading this wonderful book about French recipes "Pot au Feu"

everything in one pot.. well.. it got me thinking, I had the carrots and the feta and sweet onion and shallots and I was going to do these BIG SHRIMP... and the idea just came to me as I was cutting the carrots, to do it all together.. with penne pasta..

So.....

I roasted the carrots at 350° for 30 minutes

I sauteed the onions, shallots, chives with butter and garlic

I cut up 3 Roma tomatoes and placed in bowl to get to room temperature with a little salt

I put the pot of water on to boil for pasta

I pulled the carrots out and turned up the oven to broil/ high

I broiled the BIG SHRIMP for 6 minutes on a cookie sheet evenly spread out with shells on

when the pasta was finished I drained it and put it in big bowl

then I tossed it with a tablespoon of butter and and big drizzle of olive oil

added the carrots and onions mix (be sure to get all the oil from pan)

then added the fresh roma tomatoes and feta

and finally the shrimp (after I took off the shells)

Voila!

ROASTED CARROT PASTA with TIGER PRAWNS

Ingredients:

5 nice big carrots

1 sweet onion

2 shallots

2 tablespoons of chopped chives or dried (if using dried use only 1 tbls)

lots of garlic chopped

3 Roma tomatoes

2/3 cup feta crumbled ( I like the block of feta that you crumble yourself so the pieces aren't too small...)

2 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 box penne pasta

16 shrimp (preferably Tiger Prawns)

There you go.. a great really tasty pasta that is unusual and hearty and surprisingly light....

We drank a nice merlot with it and it was perfect....

Let me know if you try this and how it goes..

Buddah's Hand Citron...

Happy Tuesday!

Guess what this is???? Look close. It is called Buddah's Hand. it is in the lemon family. There is no doubt in my mind when you want a lot of zest that this is the very best way to go.. You know how I told you that I did a lemon zest for Thanksgiving Turkey? Well, this is the best most incredible was to get "zest". Hard to find, but try the more upscale stores.. and if they don't have it ask them to get it.. really great stuff..

Thanks all for now! I am going to go dream up a recipe to use this Buddah's Hand....

Tracey