Start with a salad of tangy pink grapefruit sections, smooth avocado slices and crisp butter lettuce dressed with walnut oil. Peel the grapefruit over a bowl and use the juice instead of vinegar with the walnut oil. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and walnut halves for crunch.

Scrambled eggs may seem mundane but not when served with a petite filet mignon steak and garnished with shaved white truffles. The creaminess of the eggs plays off the richness of the beef and lets the flavor of the truffles come through. Beat two eggs per person ahead of time. Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream — it is a holiday so now’s not the time to worry about that diet. Keep in the fridge until the steaks are done. Sear the steaks in a heavy skillet for a minute each side. Finish in the oven until medium rare — between five to seven minutes depending on how thick the steaks are. Scramble the eggs while the steaks rest. Shave the white truffles over the hot scrambled eggs right before you take them out of the pan. Stir through. The ambient heat will cook the truffles just enough. Heaven on a plate. If you’re feeling really decadent drizzle of few drops of truffle oil over the steak.

Finish the meal with chocolate truffles, the candy made from heavy cream and dark chocolate. Of course champagne is your drink. If you feel you must obey custom and drink a red with the beef try a lighter merlot rather than a heavy burgundy.

Truffles are a fungi, just like other mushrooms such as button, As hard as people have tried it’s not possible to grow truffles on a commercial basis. Truffles grow where and when they want. They’re found by dogs trained to uncover them by their scent. Pigs have a very sensitive sense of smell and used to be used to hunt truffles. Unfortunately pigs love to eat truffles as much as sophisticated chefs and gourmands. Ever try to take food away from a 300 pound sow? Not easy.

December 28, 2011

December 26, 2011

Keep guests warm after a holiday open house providing packages of drink mixes you’ve made yourself as favors. If it’s in the budget add a small, one-serving size bottle of wine to the spiced wine package. These gifts take up space so it looks like you’re generous but they don’t cost much at all to put together. Consider borrowing a dehydrator for a few days to dry the fruits and save even more money.

Gourmet Hot Chocolate
Fill a cellophane bag with mini marshmallows, five or six foil wrapped chocolate candies, peppermints or hard candy raspberry drops. Add directions to add to a cup of hot milk. Tie with ribbons. You could add a purchased package of cocoa to add to the package for less than fifty cents.

Spiced Cider
Add four dried orange slices. Don’t use orange peel because it doesn’t take up much space and people won’t know what it is at first glance. Add several cinnamon sticks and a 1/2 teaspoon of whole cloves with one or two whole star anise. Add a card that says to add the spice mixture with the orange slices to 3 cups of hot apple cider.

Mulled Wine
Place a couple of slices each of dried orange slices, apple slices and lemon slices to the cellophane bag. Dip the apple slices into a solution of half lemon juice and half water to keep them from browning while they’re drying. Add your choice of spices including allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, even a few black peppercorns to add a bit of heat to the wine. Finish with 1/2 cup of raisins.

Tropical Tea
Dry 1/4 inch thick half slices of fresh pineapple, mangos and dried raspberries or strawberry halves. Place two tea bags either black, green or fruit flavored into each cellophane bag and tie with ribbons that match.

If you feel that the drink mixes alone aren’t quite enough for a favor. Put the bags into a wine glass for the mulled wine, clear glass coffee cup for the cider and cocoa and a smaller clear glass tea cup for the tropical tea. You could put colored excelsior in the bottom of the glass or cup for added color and bulk. These favors cost less than a dollar apiece but look fabulous.

December 23, 2011

Combine 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of flour until smooth. Heat in the saucepan until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Add 1/2 cup of your favorite shredded cheese. You’ll need one cup of this sauce for every two servings. Since the ingredients below make dishes that serve four, make 2 cups.

Cheesy Broccoli
Cook 2 cups of broccoli in the microwave until it’s softened but still crisp. The broccoli will finish cooking in the oven. Combine with 2 cups of cooked rice. Or use instant rice with water as the directions specify. Add 2 cups of the cheese sauce. Stir well.

Top with an additional 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Either freeze this in an air tight container for a dinner you only have to bake later or bake in a 350 F oven for 30 minutes until the dish is bubbly and the cheese melted.

Enchilada Casserole
If you can layer you can make this dish. You won’t be using the cheese sauce for this dish. Add 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to two 15 ounce cans of tomato sauce. Add more cayenne pepper for a hotter kick or add several chopped jalapeno peppers.

Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer in five or six corn tortillas. Add another 1/2 cup of sauce and spread over the tortillas.

Slice one medium onion and layer over the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded cheese over the onions. Finish with 1/2 cup of sauce and another layer of tortillas. Spread the remaining sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Bake 45 minutes in a 350 F oven.

Gourmet Mac and Cheese
Butter the bottom of a casserole dish. Combine 4 cups of cooked macaroni with 2 cups of cheese sauce and 2 cups of frozen defrosted peas. You don’t have to cook the peas. Place in the casserole dish. Cover with a layer of breadcrumbs — about 1 to 1/2 cups and an additional 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Heat at 350 F until the breadcrumbs are brown and the cheese topping melted. This is oh so much better than the boxed stuff.

If going vegetarian isn’t your thing. Add 1 cup of chopped chicken to the rice and broccoli, 1 cup of chopped turkey, cooked ground beef or cooked diced pork to the enchilada casserole and 1 cup of cubed ham to the mac and cheese.

November 30, 2011

The brawts and hots will be served with a fresh tomato, cucumber, basil salad with lemon zest and a touch of olive oil; black bean salad made with cilantro, lime juice, cumin and jalapenos; and Asian coleslaw — julienned carrots, snow peas, cashews, cabbage and orange slices tossed with a ginger garlic soy sauce dressing. . For dessert?  What else but ice cold watermelon. In case you didn’t notice it’s a melting pot theme for Independence Day — German sausages, Italian tomato salad, Mexican bean salad and the Asian coleslaw.

Poke the brawts with a fork in several places.  Put in a sauce pan and cover with beer.  Bring the beer to a boil then lower to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Chop 3 cups of onions.  That sounds like a lot but it cooks down considerably. Put 1 tbsp. butter in a frying pan on low heat.  Add the onions and slowly cook until the onions are a light golden brown.  This will probably take 15 minutes.  Add 1 tbsp. each apple cider vinegar and brown sugar.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat.

Cut three tomatoes into eight quarters each.  Slice one cucumber and add to the tomatoes. Grate 1 tsp. of lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon over the vegetables.  Sprinkle with five chopped scallions.  You don’t have to add any oil to this dish if you don’t want to. Right before serving add 1/4 cup or a good handful of basil leaves.  If you add them before that they have a tendency to turn a dark green unpleasant color.

Drain one can of black beans.  Add 1 tbsp. of cumin and 1 tsp. of red pepper flakes.  Squeeze in the juice of two limes.  Stir in 1/2 cup of chopped sweet red peppers — you can also use orange or yellow peppers.  Add from 1 tbsp to 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro.

Combine the ingredients for the Asian slaw.  Dress with 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp each minced ginger and garlic, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1/2 cup of cooking oil.

Grill the brawts and hot dogs until the brawts are golden and the hot dogs expand a bit.  While you’re grilling the sausages, toast the buns on the grill.

Put the sausages in the buns with a squiggle of mustard and top with the sweet onion relish.  Set up a hot dog bar for the kids. Offer chopped toppings such as tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers and cheese.  Add Fritos — seriously they go great with hot dogs — sauerkraut, dill pickles and sweet pickle relish.  Finish the bar with ketchup and mustard of course, but also include sweet and sour sauce, barbecue sauce and mayonnaise.  Arrange the hot dog bar ingredients in a bed of ice, each in its own container.

Get more grilling recipes.

Take the time to use the good dishes, silverware and glasses. Seltzer water straight from the bottle is fine for slaking your thirst after a workout, but it is so much more elegant when served in a crystal glass and garnished with a mint sprig. And that’s another trick. Use herbs to flavor the water without adding calories. Don’t stick with just mint. Lavender adds a floral note, basil and tarragon add a taste of licorice. A cucumber slice with a bit of dill is a refreshing change from sweet beverages.

We live on a hill and the only place I could even conceivably think of putting the electric hot oil fryer would be on the driveway in the front yard.

All would be well until someone accidentally nudges the fryer slightly while checking to see if the turkey is cooking. The weight of the bird shifts slightly inside the fryer, but just enough to start the fryer on a downward track.

The bird and fryer gain momentum, accelerating until it crashes into the mailbox at the end of the driveway, drenching everything is hot oil and half cooked turkey.

No, you won’t see me frying a turkey this year, or any year.

Studies have shown that women who drink a glass of beer a day have sharper and clearer minds in their senior years than women who don’t drink at all.

Drinking a glass of beer with dinner can help you lose weight.

Men who drink up to two glasses of beer a day and women who drink one beer daily can cut their risk of strokes by 20% and heart and vascular disease by 30% to 40%.
Beer contains a similar amount of antioxidants or polyphenols as red wine. And more than four times as much than white wine.

Beer is fat free and cholesterol free. It has some nutritional value depending on the beer you drink, including vitamins B, B2, and B6.

Some doctors recommend that nursing mothers drink a glass of beer in the evening to increase milk production, replace body fluids and relax.

Alcohol has also been attributed to increasing the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) in the bloodstream, as well as helping to decrease blood clots. Beer has 5% to 7% alcohol content.

Lager is brewed from bottom yeast and at a colder temperature than ale about 50- 65 degrees Farenheit or 12 – 18 degrees Celsius. This allows the fermentation process to derive more flavor from the hops and malt. Lagers are usually paler, drier and less alcoholic than ales. This cooler brewing process either requires cool caves or refrigeration which means it’s more difficult to make lager at home. Pils beer or Pilsener originated in Bohemia when brewers found that beer over wintered in caves or kept on ice improved. Lagers can be aged for several months resulting in a cleaner crisper taste.
Lager is invariably served cold to enhance the taste. Lager goes with a large variety of foods and, as you probably already know is served by itself as a beverage.

Lagers include Bock, Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Maerzen, Pilsner

Ale is brewed from top yeast and requires warmer temperatures, 65 to 70 degrees and a shorter brewing time. Ale includes a much wider range of beers than lagers from porters and stouts to pale ales and wheat beer. Generally ale is more complex and robust than lagers and have a higher alcohol content. Ales can range from the typical golden color to dark and black beers. Ales are usually aged no more than a few weeks. Most ales are served closer to room temperature. Because ales are more complex in flavor than lagers pairing with food is more of a challenge.

Ales include Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Al, Pale Ale, Porte, Stout, Wheat Beer.