Oh the Magic of Beef Bourguignonne~

So, the story is that I wanted to make something grande for my son's 21st birthday, last year. So, I tackled the famous Julia Child's recipe for Beef Bourguignonne  (Julia's spelling). It was a lot of work...for a novice. But, it was magnificent! 

This year, I wished to make something special for our guests on Christmas Eve...and so there was no question, and it was much easier, this time. I made a double batch-using two large roasts, thinking there would be leftovers for the next day, and served it with French bread. But, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that there was arguing over the last spoonful! 

I will not reiterate the recipe here, for it is very lengthy with many steps, 

and also it is not my own. 

But, I would encourage you to buy Julia's book 

(can be found on my website...sidebar for purchase via Amazon :)

I would not recommend using another version of this recipe, although many simplified can be found online; as there are steps required that provide a sometimes subtle, and sometimes great, difference in the depth and complexity of flavor.  

Therefore, not only would I recommend reading her recipe, but also to read the chapters previous to the recipes so that you may understand things such as why the beef must be seared at a very high temperature, and have room for air to circulate around

 each piece so that it "sears" not steams, which is crucial to the tenderness of the meat.

Needless to say, this is our new Christmas Eve Dinner tradition. If you are looking for one of your own, I highly recommend this one.  

It will make you feel good to prepare a meal with a little investment, with also knowing it is made by many others around the world...

especially, the French! :) 

Here is to good food and to tradition! 

Happy Holidays to you and yours~ 

XOXO

  

Our New Christmas Breakfast Tradition...Strata!

The Most Amazing Breakfast Dish-Ever!!

Seriously, I had to hear about "Strata" from the movie "The Family Stone"? One of my favorite movies, but I expect with something this fabulous...everyone would be making it!  Apparently, this is quite a long-standing tradition in many parts of the world and continues to be a Christmas-favorite. In addition to our favorite Beef Bourguignonne, for Christmas Eve Dinner, this will now be our Christmas Breakfast every year, going forward. I cannot wait to experiment with new varieties...in years to come! 

(Picture above compliments of MyRecipe.com)

This Year's Recipe-Spinach, Cheddar, Sausage

10 eggs

1 loaf white French bread

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 cups fresh spinach

1 package fresh ground sausage

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 chopped onion

Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Hot Sauce, to serve

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. 

Slice French bread into thin slices about 1/2" thick.

Saute ground sausage in cast iron or steel frying pan until well done. 

Add onions to last 3 minutes of cooking.  

Cover bottom of baking dish with bread slices.

Pour sausage and onion mix onto bread in baking dish. 

Saute fresh spinach in remaining grease in pan until wilted. 

Lay over top of sausage and onion mix. 

Whisk together eggs and cream by hand, or in a stand mixer for 3 minutes.

Pour eggs over top of pan ingredients to cover all. 

Lay shredded cheese out across entire pan and let sink a bit into the egg mixture. 

Cover baking dish and refrigerate for one hour-up to 2 days. 

Remove pan and bring to room temperature. 

Bake at 350 Degrees F  Approximately 50 minutes-1hour, until

eggs in center are cooked. Do not overcook. 

Remove and cool slightly, serve very warm with hot sauce or other condiments of choice. 

Your guests will go absolutely mad with enjoyment and envy of your amazing talent! 

Bon Appetit!  

Happy Holidays! 

xoxo

Sophie's Old-World, Irish Creme Delights! Ready for the Contest!

All of my cooking and baking has been done for family and friends, 

and at times, in honor of this blog.  

But, I have NEVER entered a professional contest..until now. 

If anyone knows me, they will not be surprised that my first contest

 would be for a very big prize :) 

I seem to wait on things for quite a while, and then pull out all the stops. 

Par for the course. 

(Yes, I love golf, too. Haven't played in a few years, but I have a really nice set of clubs waiting for me in the basement :) 

Don't Make This Fabulous Chocolate Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting! But, Do What I Tell You :)

I was so tired yesterday, I took a short nap after watching the Nutcracker Ballet with Sophie. After dozing for about 30 minutes, I shot up with a sudden urge to bake a cake!  Without a recipe in hand, I just threw together some ingredients and ended up with this! 

It was almost perfect :) 

Waste Not, Want, Not! Roast Those Turkey Bones for Stock!

Don't throw out the turkey bones...

This yummy bird can give you enough stock for half a winter! 
The trick is to brown it enough to make a super-rich glaze, that will intensify the flavors. 

Throw the lovely bird into the oven at 425-450, and roast 30-45 minutes, until the bones are brown and juices dripping all over bottom of the pan. You can roast longer, depending on the size of the bird.

  The longer it roasts and the browner the juice, the better it is! 

Let cool and throw all of the bones and the juices-scraping the bottom, into a (very) large pot.  

Cover with water and then boil the dickens out of it, and simmer for hours. 

Strain out bones and skin and meat. Freeze in plastic containers, for soup stock.

Later, add veggies, herbs, and spices to taste when you reheat for soups and more :) 

My favorites to add include: onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, lemon, celery,
 curry, sea salt, and black peppercorns.  

Allow stock and ingredients to simmer on low for 2-3 hours and strain. 

Waste not, Want not! 
xoxo

Chewy, Cherry, Chocolate Chunk and Coconut-Christmas Cookies

It's not too soon! 

The flavor is outstanding...won a cookie contest, last year! 
This is one of my own :) Tried and true...

Yield: Approximately 40 cookies

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

Easy Pie Crust..Quick&Easy From Scratch! With Pics & Pie Making Tips!

Time to get cozy and curl up with your favorite Pie! 

But, oh the Crust! That's the hard part, right? Not, anymore! 
EASY PIE CRUST RECIPE TO FOLLOW...
Perfect~ Every time! 

This recipe is simple, easy, and consistent. It will give you a weighted dough that will roll easy, have a fabulous sweet taste (not doughy), and give you a strong enough pie base that you can hold the piece in your hand!

Just like Grandma used to make, and no chemicals and nasty preservatives!

Read More for Recipe~!

Dreamy Oatmeal, Chocolate, Cranberry Bars! Warm & Gooey!

So these were a last-minute throw-together recipe at 10pm, the night before my daughter Sophie's pre-school Halloween party.  The great thing about working with food on a regular basis, is that you can usually discern how things will taste, before you even make them.  That makes it easy to come up with new and wonderful flavor combinations!

Her teachers loved them...and also, I packed up a few bars and sent to my son's lovely 3rd grade teacher, and she stopped me after school to say how much she loved them :) and could she have the recipe?  Of course! Good women- ALWAYS SHARE!! :) 

BAR COOKIES are SO EASY!  It saves you the time of placing each cookie and the pan AND eliminates edge burning, leaving a soft and semi-moist cookie-without dry edges! It's a winner all the way around! 
Recipe to follow: 

Dreamy Oatmeal, Chocolate, Cranberry Bars

Ingredients: 

• 2 cup all purpose flour (can use whole grain) 
• 3 cups uncooked whole oats (not instant)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter-softened
• 2 eggs-room temp
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract-not imitation
• 1/2 cup organic vegetable shortening
• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate
• 2 cups dried cranberries

Directions:  

Using hand or stand mixer, beat butter, shortening, and both sugars until creamy; add eggs one at a time; add vanilla extract; and beat until mixed-approximately 1 minute. 

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, and sift together with hand whisk. Slowly, add flour mixture in small batches to wet ingredients and beat on low, until combined. Add in chocolate and cranberries and mix just enough to get evenly distributed throughout batter. 

Spread out mixture in parchment (or wax) lined 9 x 13 baking pan. Keep batter away from edges of pan just a bit, as it will spread out and puff up over sides while baking.  

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and sides look firm.  Okay to have center appear wet.  Remove from the pan and allow to sit at room temperature on counter. Batter will continue to cook for a few, and then cool down.  Wait until almost completely cool to cut into desired size.  Recommended: 1x2" bars. These are nice and rich in flavor, and heavy with oatmeal. Great for breakfast and with coffee, too! 

Enjoy!!

White Bean Chicken Chili & Honey Corn Bread-My Recipe for the Perfect Saturday in Fall, Meal!

Chicken Chili Recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw chicken (deboned), chopped.  
• 1 12-16oz bag of beans-prefer white/navy (may use canned-skip soaking process)
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cups kale or other greens, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, smash, peel, chop
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 3 Tbsp Cumin
• 2 tsp paprika (cayenne or other pepper, optional) 
• Salt (preferable Sea Salt-for better quality and flavor) to taste. I use approximately 1 1/2 tbsp per large pot. Yum! 

Directions: 

 Follow soaking instructions on bean package. When beans are ready, strain out and pour into large stock pan.  Fill pan with water, to cover beans over 1".  Cover pan. Bring to a boil and turn down to Medium heat for 15 minutes. Add chicken and all vegetables. Stir in spices. Turn heat down to Low and simmer until beans and chicken are tender (approximately 2 hours). Stir, occasionally.**Salt! If you use Sea Salt you do not have to worry so much about salt intake, as it is much healthier for you and we need salt! 

Tips:

I do not recommend using canned chicken! It will lack the depth of flavor that fresh chicken brings. To add even MORE flavor, you could also boil the chicken ahead of time, remove chicken, strain, and return chicken to the pan (removing any bones, first).  Then, use that stock to start your chili. **Do not hyper-boil your beans. Be sure to follow the heat and timing directions. If you cook beans to hot/quickly, they may disintegrate.     

Honey Corn Bread:

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups corn meal
• 1 cup white flour (can substitute rice flour + 1/2 tsp addtl baking powder) 
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs-unbeaten
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt (Sea Salt, preferably)
• 4 tsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (real, not imitation!)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 stick butter-for serving
• Additional honey-for serving

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of 9 x 12" glass pan. In large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.  Then, add all wet ingredients to the bowl. Stir, GENTLY, just until mixed. Pour batter into pan and bake at 425 degrees for 25-28 minutes.  Remove from oven when sides are slightly brown and a toothpick inserted in center, comes out clean.  While hot, place pats of butter on top and swipe around until melted in the cracks.  Top with honey to serve.  After cooled, covered and store in refrigerator 3 days. 

Tips: 

Using a glass pan will help to prevent burning on the sides. Do not beat eggs, just fold into the batter with a spoon when adding to the wet ingredients. Don't overcook...dry corn bread will fall right apart. Serve warm.

**Enjoy** 

Easy Pie Crust..Quick&Easy From Scratch! With Pics & Pie Making Tips!

It's that time, again! Time to get cozy and curl up with your favorite Pie! That's what makes life so good! Instead of buying your crust loaded with chemicals and preservatives, 
MAKE YOUR OWN at home!  

Just like Grandma used to make, and no chemicals and nasty preservatives!

Read More for Recipe~!