With life getting so busy I forgot to tell you all about this great contest over at Marx Foods.There are still 5 days to enter and its really easy. Check it out! And if you enter please tell them I sent you in your comment entry!
Win Four Dozen Fresh Oysters
What would you do with 4 dozen free oysters?
The best answer wins 48 fresh Puget Sound oysters!
Contest Dates: October 2 – 19
If we were to send you 4 Dozen fresh Puget Sound Oysters, what would you do with them?
TWO WAYS TO WIN:1. Leave your answer in the comment section below. Be delicious (see comment #19), funny (#13), sensual (#43), poetic (#46), or tug on our heart strings (#39).2. Refer the most contestants to this contest. Pass this on to family and friends or via your blog. Make sure to tell them to leave your name in the “referred by” field. The person who makes the most referrals will also win a fresh oyster sampler.
THE PRIZE:Four Dozen Fresh Puget Sound Oysters and a set of Biodegradable Plates. The oyster sampler will include one dozen each of Pacific Oysters, Kumamoto Oysters, Virginica Oysters, and Olympia Oysters.
HOW WILL THE WINNER BE CHOSEN?Our readers will vote on the finalists! The polls will be open October 21 – 24 @ noon PST, and a winner will be announced on Monday, October 27.
Read the contest rules
Category: Misc.
I’m So Perfect I Even Make My Own Chevre Cheese…I’m Joking About The Perfect Part.
My interest in making my own cheese was not motivated by anything more than pure curiosity. I love DIY stuff. In England I had purchased some rennet in the baking aisle that was supposed to be used for a dessert called Junket. In exploring that I found this brand wasn’t suitable to take it further and make cheese because it was diluted. So I searched the net and found this company that had all sorts of cheese making supplies and kits.
I was just going to order some strains, butter muslin, and rennent , and figure it out. The salesperson at the other end though I was one of many Martha Stewart watchers( seemed she just made some cheese) and advised me there was to more to cheese making than adding milk and rennet. So I purchased his easiest kit for soft cheese. This kit provided the strains to make Fromage Blanc, Chevre, Mascarpone, Creme Fraiche, and Neufchatel along with other necessary ingredients.
Baked Chevre with tomato sauce, olive oil, and basil. Delicious!
I was just going to order some strains, butter muslin, and rennent , and figure it out. The salesperson at the other end though I was one of many Martha Stewart watchers( seemed she just made some cheese) and advised me there was to more to cheese making than adding milk and rennet. So I purchased his easiest kit for soft cheese. This kit provided the strains to make Fromage Blanc, Chevre, Mascarpone, Creme Fraiche, and Neufchatel along with other necessary ingredients.
I just needed to supply either goats or cows milk and a few kitchen supplies.
It was really simple from this point. Heat the goats milk to 86 degrees,add Chevre culture, mix 1 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride with 2 tabelspoons Distilled water and put in the milk, cover overnight in a cast iron pot. Next morning separate the whey from the curds gently.
Tie up in the butter muslin and let drian for 6-8 hours( all done while I was at work).
Look at these beautiful curds!
Next add some flaked salt .
Put in the cheese molds that came with the kit.Let those set for 1-2 days and drain some more.
I was left with a cup of ready to eat cheese that I used up like this for Certain Someone and myself.
Baked Chevre with tomato sauce, olive oil, and basil. Delicious! The next day I untapped my molds. I rolled one in herbs( provided in the kit) and the other set aside plain.
I cant tell you how excited I am. The finished product was excellent. Check it out for yourself.
The Surreal Life and a Boiled Cider Pie
About around 9:00 Saturday night I was thinking about how surreal my life was. I was standing under a Big Top style tent working as the hired help for a billionaires birthday bash down by the river next to a power plant. And a week before I was at a posh wedding in England. Talk about the tables turning.I swear about a quarter of the nations wealth was under that tent Saturday night. Not to heavy league politicians and the CEO of my company. She saw me and I was busted. But she smiled and said she doesn’t blame me moonlighting for such a event. The bash is the private party of the year. I was working for the caterer on the ‘front of house side’. But the kitchen was the exciting part me me. In addition to the caterer there were about five of Chicago’s top restaurants teams sharing pace with each other to crank out various buffets. Back there I met Gale Gand! And how nice and approachable she was.!I was buzzing with excitement , but some of my co workers though I was talking about Oprah’s best buddy Gail. Not!If you don’t know who Gale is check out this and this. Most of the staff were excited about the Eagles performing that night. Not me, I was with the cream de la creme of the Chicago culinary scene. I still can’t get Hotel California (kind of ironic if you read this and think about the lyrics)out of my head this Monday. In addition to Gale Gand , I met the owner of the hottest cupcake shop in Chi town. More Cupcakes on the Gold Coast. Little bite size miniatures of perfection. They encouraged us to try some towards the parties end. I was hesitant to try her BLT one, but it was awesome. I said it was like a muffin with a savoury cream cheese butter cream. She corrected me and said it wasn’t a muffin but a cupcake. Anyway the cupcake was good, and I think most of this cupcake business is overrated. I need to visit that store.
I worked and walked my ass that evening and collapsed into bed.Why do I do this! For the experience and the extra income. I have learned so much and maybe one day I will have may own catering company. Certain Someone was at the Notre Dame /Michigan game all day with his boys and doing what comes with that( tailgating, drinking, etc.). I came in about an hour after him. We slept so late from the sheer exhaustion of of our respective days, previous travels, etc. Then Sunday afternoon he flew to Brussels for work and I was left alone. I have been working on a Etsy shop which I will announce in a few weeks. But I was to tired to produce. So I made a comforting dinner. One item I have been meaning to bake was something I never heard off. A boiled cider pie. I had purchased some boiled cider for an upcoming pie competition. Imagine a custard style pie with the tartness of cider. My pie didn’t look like the photos I saw. What I saw had the custard separating from the cider stuff. Mine remained a cider colored custard. I wonder if this was due to me using maple syrup ? Anyway it was delicious. I made my crust using the Atora I brought back from the UK. Atora isn’t the healthiest, but it makes the flakiest crusts. I mean its not as if I’m baking pies all the time!For the boiled cider recipe check out this recipe. To see what I thought mine would look like, check out this post ( they used a different recipe, but the principle is the same). This pie was the texture and color of a creamy pumpkin pie. I definitely see me making this again. The only thing I changed was adding grated nutmeg. After today’s news I need a comforting slice. My 401 K is vanishing into thin air and my real day job is in the retail sector dependant on consumer spending. I wonder how a those guests on Saturday made out today as the markets plunged? Its all so surreal.
A quick note based on comments:
Boiled cider is a reduced no sugar added cider product. You can make it your self by reducing cider for a very long time, or buy it. See the recipe link for a leading manufacturer. I got mine through King Arthur’s. I have read you can substitute frozen apple juice concentrate as well. It is not alcoholic. Just pure non fermented cider.
Black Pudding, Pig Roasts, and Keeping My Hat On All Day.
I left off the last the post with my visit to Borough Market. If only I could have stayed longer but I had to meet my aunt and take the train to a old market village called Thame. The couple who were getting married generously put us up in the Spread Eagle Inn.
No snickers at the name,it cracked me up too. But this Inn is very historic and has seen many a prominent visitor from Charles II to Evelyn Waugh. The groom to be’s handsome son and friend Toby picked us up from the train station. They offered to show us some neighboring sites. Blenheim Palace (birthplace of Winston Churchill), Oxford, and Waddesdon Manor (home of the Rothschild’s) were close by. Tempting as all that was , we wanted to freshen up after being up all day and exploring London. The boys warned us that unfortunately the yearly town fair was going on at that very moment on the High Street in front of the hotel. The roads were blocked off, and we entered from the back. The boys were called off to pick up some more people and take care of wedding stuff,so we were left to explore the village and maybe meet up later. I was thinking a quaint crafty fair like Chicago. What greeted us was a full blown carnival with warnings of the teenage hooligans who get rowdy. It was hard to see the shops and beauty of the town with all the carny nonsense. The Inn locked off the front doors to prevent entry from the crowds. It was too late to shop, so we went back to the Inn for dinner. No one was in the restaurant but we had a decent dinner from the new menu. I had a rustic pate with red onion marmalade, crispy prawns with crispy noodles . Auntie Mame had salmon and sorrel. You don’t come across sorrel often. We retired early to faint sounds of the fair and never made it for drinks.
The morning of the wedding we went down to the restaurant again. I ordered the full English breakfast of eggs, black pudding, grilled tomato, sausage, and beans!
I liked blood sausage, so I felt I could do the black pudding. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t taste as tasty as blood sausage. It was a lot of food and I was praying the beans wouldn’t kick in at the wedding. We shared a taxi over to Nether Winchendon House, a medieval Tudor mansion the wedding was held at.
The family it belongs to is related to the Spencer- Churchill family and still live there. However they rent it out for filming, corporate events, and weddings. The wedding was lovely and unstuffy. All the ladies wore hats, but we were asked to be creative with them and use existing hats and embellish. The couple took their vows under a mulberry tree with their ‘Vicar’ friend. This ceremony was symbolic as their real / legal wedding would be in Chicago. The couple had an enormous sense of humour and deep love for each other, their family, and friends. Endless champagne, wine, beer, etc as we walked the estate and took pictures. The wedding lunch was held in a hall on the grounds.
Besides the catered lunch, they had a pig roast outside! In fact there had 2 pig roasts. One for the lunch, and one for the evening buffet. So much good food. At this point I didn’t care about being fancy and gobbled up the roast pig and cracklings. The best! We broke up the eating with outdoor activities . The couple hired acrobats who brought all sorts of equipment for the guests, I hula hooped, walked a tight rope with the guidance from the ground,walked on stilts, etc all in my big hat! My aunt has these hysterical photos so I haven’t got them yet. By 11:30 we were exhausted.I even got picked up by two 25 year olds. One actually proposed marriage and kept calling me Dorthy. They found it hard to believe I was almost 15 years older than them.Flattery! Back to the Inn, and we flew home the next day. I have to say that was the most joyous , humorous, real wedding I had ever been to. If my day ever comes I plan take a page from them.
I liked blood sausage, so I felt I could do the black pudding. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t taste as tasty as blood sausage. It was a lot of food and I was praying the beans wouldn’t kick in at the wedding. We shared a taxi over to Nether Winchendon House, a medieval Tudor mansion the wedding was held at.
The family it belongs to is related to the Spencer- Churchill family and still live there. However they rent it out for filming, corporate events, and weddings. The wedding was lovely and unstuffy. All the ladies wore hats, but we were asked to be creative with them and use existing hats and embellish. The couple took their vows under a mulberry tree with their ‘Vicar’ friend. This ceremony was symbolic as their real / legal wedding would be in Chicago. The couple had an enormous sense of humour and deep love for each other, their family, and friends. Endless champagne, wine, beer, etc as we walked the estate and took pictures. The wedding lunch was held in a hall on the grounds.
Besides the catered lunch, they had a pig roast outside! In fact there had 2 pig roasts. One for the lunch, and one for the evening buffet. So much good food. At this point I didn’t care about being fancy and gobbled up the roast pig and cracklings. The best! We broke up the eating with outdoor activities . The couple hired acrobats who brought all sorts of equipment for the guests, I hula hooped, walked a tight rope with the guidance from the ground,walked on stilts, etc all in my big hat! My aunt has these hysterical photos so I haven’t got them yet. By 11:30 we were exhausted.I even got picked up by two 25 year olds. One actually proposed marriage and kept calling me Dorthy. They found it hard to believe I was almost 15 years older than them.Flattery! Back to the Inn, and we flew home the next day. I have to say that was the most joyous , humorous, real wedding I had ever been to. If my day ever comes I plan take a page from them. 
I leave you with this recipe I adapted from BBC’s Olive Magazine. Over the next few weeks you see me use ideas or items I got from over there: The original recipe from Chef Valentine Warner was a baked Mushroom and Celeriac Tarte. I wanted to incorporate some slow cooked beef shank I had with leeks and mushrooms. The inspiration was using a thinly sliced celery root as my crust. It didn’t come out as caramelized and perfect as the magazine( to much liquids which I drained), but it was very good. Even Certain Someone who doesn’t like celery or the root liked this.
Glamah’s Celeriac Tarte with Beef , Leeks, and Mushrooms
2 beef shanks
1 large leek cleaned and sliced
1 small celery root
1 cup of mushrooms coarsley chopped
1 cup of mushrooms coarsley chopped
salt/ pepper to taste( I used a seasoned sea salt spiced with cumin and mint)
1/2 cup of Cooking Wine
3 cloves of Garlic
butter
Slow cook the beef shanks with with wine, garlic, and salt. Cover and cook in oven for 2 hours. Clean mushrooms and leeks. Add to beef. At this point you can remove the meat from the bone and chop up to cook with the vegetables.Cover and let roast on oven another 20-30 minutes.
Wash and peel celery root. Cut into manageable quarters. Take a mandolin and slice thinly.
Take a cast iron pan and melt butter to coat it on the stove. Arrange the celery root slices to cover. Add the meat and vegetables.Be sure to drain excess liquids . Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Take out and invert pan onto a plate( like making a tarte tatin).
Slice and serve.
Slice and serve.I am submitting this to Go Ahead Honey Its Gluten Free.The wonderful and English Naomi is hosting and shes picked Slow Food as this months theme.
Britannia Rules! and An Anniversary Come and Gone.
I have so much to tell about our short trip to London, so I will divide it into two posts over the week. To reacquaint you with the purpose of the visit, my aunt treated me to accompany her to her friends wedding. They are English and Dutch executives who lease her condo in Chicago. To justify this generous gift, we decided to call it an early 4oth birthday. My birthday is not actually until November.And I’m just realizing my One year Blog anniversary has come and gone. I think I have come a long way blogging. Anyway we flew out Wed to arrive on Thursday. Certain Someone got great rate at the the fabulous and posh Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair. Talk about 5 star luxury. We couldn’t check into until later so we walked around the neighboring Bond Street and visited the shops. My aunt is a social type and tried on some gowns in shops the assistants say was frequented by the late Princess of Wales. They had photos of her up around the shop. Who knows. We then had a quick lunch at a pub. My first meal was a traditional Shepard’s Pie.My aunt and I waited a while for someone to take out order. We soon learned we had to to the bar and place the order. Classic good fare . Finally I had access to our room and took a shower to visit my old friend Ellen. I was to take the tube to Westminster and meet her at another pub called St. Stephens. The after work crowd crowded the place, but my old wine club/ Alliance Francaise pal was waiting in a cozy corner. We cooled down with cider before we drank a glass or two of wine. Another classic English thing I love. Crisp cold , slightly alcoholic cider. Ellen’s partner joined us, and we decided to go onto dinner. I really wanted Indian. A friend of mine recommend the area of Brick Lane. That was far off, and they suggested we stick to Mayfair. The restaurants were pricier but there were some good ones. We rang my aunt who had crashed on the 1,000 count sheets, and she got ready to meet us. The concierge Mohammad recommended a excellent hotel in walking distance by Marble Arch called La Porte des Indes. This was an unusual and elegant restaurant owned by the Blue Elephant Group with locations in London and Brussels. They feature Indian /French cuisine inspired by the creole cooking of Pondicery.
The menu made it hard to decide to get the best of everything we decided on the tasting menu option.
Great pickles, steamed fishes, lamb,poulet rouge,etc. Then an elegant dessert trio with Asian and french fused classics.Think star anise chocolate mousse. I got the cook book they sell and plan to make some of these dishes. It was outstanding!
The next day I woke bright and early to hit Jane Asher’s Cake shop. Shes an actress and ex girlfriend of Paul McCartney before Linda, and is known for her cakes, etc. I wanted some hard to find back home sugar craft supplies. She had lots of Wilton, but lots lot unique items I haven’t seen yet. If only the dollar weren’t so low against the pound!I settled on sugar diamonds, some lustre’s I haven’t seen at home, some cutters etc. Compared to a cake shop I saw later on the trip, she was bit more pricey but the ambiance and neighborhood of Chelsea were what you were paying for. Her staff was very polite. I then headed for the highlight of my trip Borough Markets. This is the oldest food market in London and Kittie recommended I didn’t miss it. Was I blown away! I’ll let the pictures describe my experience I purchased some Indian spices and curries, sea salts , and a fantastic fresh grilled sausage and bacon sandwich with the strongest English Mustard. Who ever perpetuates the myth that English food is bad and boring needs to get over there ASAP! I love whats going on there.
Next on Coco Cooks…. An English Breakfast, wedding, and some pig roasts thrown in!