Food Stories – Page 2 – Rosemary and the Goat

Corn and Crab Bisque

Creamy awesome bisque!

For our feast night meals usually everyone is responsible for a course (or two) My husband was suppose to be doing this bisque but he was out in the rain with the pig most of the day with our son; so, Paul with my help (he did most of it) made this deliciously creamy bisque.

Paul, never follows a recipe exactly, if he follows one at all. So we started with a basic recipe which is below and he added the poblano pepper and tweaked it somewhat. So, when you start this recipe, just know that you can make whatever changes you want. Originally we had pureed all the soup with all the corn in it already. Luckily I had some frozen (fresh) corn that I had bought back in the summer and we added that at the end for some texture. It turned out wonderful. I think we all would have liked to have more than the little espresso cup portion that we were given; but we knew we had much more food to come.

Paul was also responsible for putting together the menu, buying the pig, rigging the cooking equipment with his dad, doing the pork belly, brining and cooking the pig (with dad’s help) and making the sauces to go with the pig. So we depend on him a lot for our feast meals. He whipped the bisque together (with my gophering help) in no time.

December 10, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Food Stories/ Salads

Michie Feast Day — Hawaiian Style

Aloha, Komo Mai, E komo mai, Mahalo!

Hello (friends and family), Come in, Welcome, Thank you (for coming and participating in our feast).

Menu:

Sushi Musubi (Spam Sushi)

Corn Crab Bisque

Poke

Hawaiian Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Orange Horseradish Lime Sauce

Bitter Greens with Yuzu Dressing

Pork Belly on Steam buns with Hoisin, scallions and cucumber

Porcini Dusted Sea Scallops with Tomato relish and pea sprouts/micro greens

Kona Pale Ale Basted Suckling Pig served with

Hawaiian Coconut Rice Salad (recipe below) and Papaya Chipotle Salsa

Drunkened Pineapple Upside Down Cake Macadamia Coconut Ice Cream

MaiTai Cocktail

Hawaiian Beer

Wine (lots of it)

This was a night of cocktails, food (lots of it), wine, (no hula) lots of fun with family and friends.

We have been doing our Michie Feast Day for about 9 years now. We have done everything from frog legs, sushi, tapas, French Country, Italian, Mexican, oysters 7 ways, New Orleans and this year Hawaiian. This all started when my husband fried our turkey for the first time. After using 3 gallons of oil to fry the turkey, we decided we needed to use the oil again before throwing it away so we bought some frog legs and the rest is history. After that first year we moved on to other themes.

My daughter and her newly wed husband just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii in November. So, a Hawaiian theme was quite fitting for this year’s feast. We got to hear all about their 27 mile bike ride down a volcano and all about the beautiful waterfalls and the food they sampled while there. My daughter-in-law, Brooke and her friend, Heather, made all our beautiful tissue paper flowers and decorated the tables. We even had a kid’s table with decorations (see pictures below). Our table always looks great when Brooke is put in charge.

December 3, 2011 By Sherry

Food Stories

Favorite Food Memories

Memories, what would we do without them?

Some of my favorite moments are served around a table. What on earth is more enjoyable than sitting around a table with friends or family sharing a fabulous meal. Nothing, in my opinion. It doesn’t even have to be a fabulous gourmet meal but could be something as simple as a bowl of ice cream and some homemade cookies. Hey, they don’t even have to be homemade.

This picture was from a little cafe in Tuscany where we went several mornings for breakfast. No one spoke English, and this one kind little lady took it upon herself to get us a table and proceeded to show us some of the pastries. They were wonderful, the people and the pastries. — Unforgettable experience.

Some of my unforgettable moments of food are: my birthday dinner at Brennans’ Chef’s table which is in the kitchen, sitting outside a cafe in Bruges having a bucket of mussels, and sitting at my parents table with a big platter of fried catfish piled so high it looked like it would topple at any moment. I’ll never forget dinner in the cellar at Botin (the oldest restaurant in the world in Madrid) or a simple plate of cheese and meats sitting on our son’s deck in Chicago.

Also, top of the list would have to be any meal my son, Paul (chef Paul now) has ever prepared for us. He puts so much heart and soul into everything he cooks.

August 9, 2011 By Sherry

Cake/ Food Stories

Cupcakessssssss!

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Now don’t take me wrong, I’m not saying I’m an old dog or anything like that. I think I may still have a few new tricks in me.

Lately, it seems like I tend to get obsessed with things. For instance, cooking for the blog, trying to make my camera take better food pictures, and taking computer classes at the Apple store. Now I’ve started a miniature fairy garden and ordered my first house for it and now I’m trying to figure out how to make a miniature pond and table and patio for the fairy garden.

Now if that isn’t enough, three weeks ago, I started cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby and then turned around and signed up for fondant and gum paste classes the following day. I must have been nuts at the time.

I’ve been catering for 20 years and one thing I have always wanted to know how to do was to decorate a pretty cake and hey, why not learn to make fondant covered cakes and flowers at the same time.

March 27, 2011 By Sherry

Cake/ Food Stories

De-railed Thomas the Train Cake

How sagging frosting became the hit of the party.

Most people would have been in tears when they opened their refrigerator and saw all the frosting drooping off the sides of their cake. BUT, not me.

My son Paul was making a Thomas the Train birthday cake for my grandson’s 2nd birthday. It was a beautiful 3 layer perfectly level chiffon cake and I have to say it was totally my fault the French buttercream did not turn out. I miscalculated the butter; 24 oz. is NOT 3 sticks of butter, but 6.

So, here’s what happened. When we saw the cake sagging. I laughed and said “this looks like a train wreck”. Since little Milo loves the part of Thomas The Train when the train wrecks, my son took his black frosting and besides the Happy Birthday, he made a train track and had it continue off the side of the cake. And then we used some of the Thomas the Train car pieces and stuck them in the side and bottom of the cake like they had just driven off the side of the cake. I have to say it was ingenious and saved the day.

Milo looks happy with his cake even though the train de-railed.

Looks like mom might be explaining that Thomas fell off the cake. Oh, whatever, it still tasted wonderful.

I definitely owned up to my mistake and the kids and adults all loved the cake and cupcakes.

Moral of the story — don’t let minor derailments spoil the party. After all, kids just want something sweet, they don’t care what it looks like.

January 17, 2011 By Sherry

Food Stories

Gastronomic Tour de New Orleans

This appetizer was from Lilette and it was a White Truffle Parmigiano Toast with Wild Mushrooms, marrow and veal glaze. We ordered two orders and shared. Very rich and amazingly delicious.

Have you ever been just SICK of eating?

Have you ever been just sick of eating and you could not possibly take another bite of food and then you wake up the next day, still in New Orleans, and you know that you just can’t pass up that next wonderful meal in a city that your have been told has the most wonderful food in the world?

Recently, I went on a mother/daughter trip to New Orleans with my daughter, my twin sister and her son. We had a fantastic time together as we always do and all this food and drink was such a temptation for 4 days.

Roasted Muscovy duck breast with Tuscan kale, butternut squash, sage and satsuma coriander jus. Now how could that not delight your taste buds.

We planned this trip for months and had a huge list of “must eat at” restaurants from friends. We double booked some nights knowing that we were going to have to cancel one of those reservations because we could not possibly eat 6 meals a day.

November 17, 2010 By Sherry

Food Stories

My Kind of Hardware Store

I was whining all week until we found our way back to this store.

(More from our trip to Spain.)

I think it was when we were taking our cab ride from he$$ that I saw this little store. First, the cab ride was something like out of the movies. We had taken a plane from Barcelona to Sevilla and upon arriving there we had to catch the last bus out for the day and believe me it was the last bus because by the time we reach the end of the line the driver yelled “get off”. From there we had to get 4 cabs for the twelve of us. None of the cab drivers knew where they were going because this little hotel “Amadeus” was in this very narrow alley tucked in the middle of the city. Amadeus was a wonderful little hotel that was within walking distance of everything.

The little streets were so narrow around the hotel that if a car came you had to jump on this little curb (not sidewalk), pull your stomach in, not breathe, and just say a little prayer that the side mirrors did not knock you off on your butt. We had some close calls but really got use to the sound of a scooter or car coming so we knew to jump out of the way.

Back to the hardware store. On taking the cab ride into Seville I remember seeing a store with paella pans in the window. Now, I have a paella pan but I wanted some miniature ones to use to serve tapas in. So, for the four days we were in Seville, we searched and searched for this little place until the last day we happened up on it, BUT it was 2:00 and they were closed for siesta. Seems like all the stores close between 2-5 or 6:00 for siesta. Guess it is just too hot for people to shop so everyone goes home. We took that as an opportunity to walk back to the hotel, shower, nap a little and then head back out to make my purchases.

October 25, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Food Stories

Tapas, Tapas, Everywhere!

We had wonderful, delicious, unusual, yummy tapas everywhere in Spain.

Tapas are small plates of food served along with drinks. I have read that originally in Spain, tapas were served as a cover for a glass of wine so flies and other objects did not get into the glass. That may be a myth, but it makes perfect sense. In the beginning the tapas plate probably contained olives and cheese and peppers but tapas have evolved into something you could enjoy for breakfast, lunch or a whole dinner. In a tapas bar you just keep ordering small plates until you are full which is so much better than to order some huge dinner and then try to consume the whole thing since you paid for it and all of us, of a certain age, remember the “clean your plate” comments from our mothers because of all the starving kids in the world.

This was one of my first tapas to try after getting back. We tried so many different kinds of olives stuffed with all kinds of different things. These are just extra large pitted green olives that I stuffed with strips of Serrano ham. And, I absolutely love my mini paella pans I found. I have 5″ and 3″ pans.

October 3, 2010 By Sherry

Food Stories

A day at the farmer’s market.

Buying local and fresh is always the best!

Ya know, there is just something about going to a farmer’s market that feels so good. I think I get that feeling because I know I am getting fresh and locally grown food by people who really care about what you are eating.

Years ago, we use to get excited just seeing a farm stand along the highway. We always knew their produce would be the freshest available in the area.

I just finished a book, Summer House, and loved reading about this girl’s farm stand, how all the locals at Nantucket would stop to buy her flower bunches for $70+ and about all her organically grown produce. Reminded me of how excited I get when I go to a Farmer’s Market. I’m looking forward to going to the Boqueria market in Barcelona in September while we are there. The first mention of this market dates back to 1217. I understand from a friend that I will see fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before. Believe me, I will have camera in hand.

This past spring we were in Chicago visiting our son and daughter-in-law (baby boy arrived YESTERDAY!) and one day we went to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. It was too early for a lot of the summer vegetables like tomatoes, squash etc. but talk about a variety of vendors! There were people selling homemade crackers, cheese (and even cheese curds), micro greens, veal, tongue, BRAINS, fried donuts, potatoes, PURPLE asparagus, onions, flowers. I love seeing people take their dogs on these outings and there’s always a dish of water out for the dogs so they have something to drink.

Every Time we go to Austin to visit our other son, his wife and their baby and our daughter we always make a trip to the Barton Creek Farmer’s Market knowing that our dinner that night will be fresh off the farm. We were there over July 4th weekend. Things for sale that day included, squash blossoms, meats (we bought pork cube steak), butter, breads, corn, flowers, honey, all kinds of peppers, cupcakes (of course we had to have some of those). There were several music groups that entertained during the day.

August 10, 2010 By Sherry

Entree/ Food Stories/ Game

The Tortoise and The Hare

Slow but steady did not win their race this day!

We all have heard the story about the tortoise and the hare and how the turtle was slow but steady and won the race. Neither one was very lucky the day my dad caught this turtle and rabbit.

While visiting my sister a couple of weeks ago, she found a couple of bags of turtle in the freezer that she had gotten from our dad’s last year. So, we decided to have fried turtle. If you didn’t know it already, turtle has 7 kinds of meat. These are the seven types that I came up with from researching turtle meat — turkey, fish, poultry, veal, pork, duck, mutton. After thawing the turtle she found that my dad had frozen a rabbit in with the turtle. Maybe that was my dad’s way of giving us one last laugh when we thought about him catching turtles on his fishing lines he put out everyday.

July 1, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Food Stories/ HotApp

Roasted Serrano and Jalapenos on our Grill Partner

I Saw this grill at the Austin Food and Wine Festival and knew I had to have it.

We were at the Austin Food and Wine festival back in April this year and one of the vendors was doing sausages on this grill. My husband drug me over to see it and I knew that we just had to have this for our backyard cookouts.

Over Memorial Day weekend we used this several times. First we did these sausages and peppers. Then we cooked (my son and husband did all the cooking on this) some serranos and jalapenos that we did in a little chicken broth and soy sauce and then roasted them on this grill. Believe it or not I found out how to take the heat out of the jalapenos. The first night we did them we could hardly eat them because they were so hot. Then I tried something I had read online and it worked. (more about that later.)

June 6, 2010 By Sherry

Food Stories

Ode to my favorite tool of 2009.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year little Veggie Chopper

‘Twas the night before New Years, when all through the house

Not a utensil was stirring, not even a knife;

The knives were hung by the stove with care,

In hopes that my lady soon would be there;

Everyone was nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of mama’s cooking danced in their heads;

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out of the dishwasher there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash,
Tore open the cabinets in a dash,
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature veggie chopper in all it‘s glory,
With a little old blade and a pull cord, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be MY FAVORITE KITCHEN TOOL of ‘09
More rapid than her cousin the knife, her courses they came
And she whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, chef‘s knife! now, Santoko! now, ulu and paring!
On, chopper! on mandoline! on, salad chopper and slap chopper!
To the top of the dishwasher to the top of the counter
Now chop away! chop away! chop away all!”

I am her favorite kitchen tool for 2009!

A few pics of her at work.