Roasting a Perfect Chicken: Check!

I have had some interesting meals in my life.  But when I think about my best food experiences, a really good roast chicken comes to the top.  A traditional birthday treat is La Medusa, a small Sicilian restaurant in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle, with Judy and Steve.  This small eatery is consistently outstanding.  We go to their market meal sometime in the summer where they create masterpieces with what is fresh in the neighboring farmer’s market.  It was there I had the most wonderful restaurant dinner I ever enjoyed: a roasted chicken.  Only topped by my friend Melinda’s roasted chicken.  She is a chef officially and naturally.  In the wonderful, wet Seattle winter (I can say wet is wonderful after my hard time in the Middle East) I was thinking that a roasted chicken is what I really wanted to learn how to make.  So, after a call to Melinda, I set out to learn how to roast one that I would be proud to serve.  Or to enjoy by myself.  Melinda shared with me her approach.  I did a little extra research on the internet and took it on.  After four (all delicious) birds I feel ready to (over)share what I learned.  Here is all the advice (maybe too much?) you need to roast a delicious chicken. 

What you need:

• A 5 to 7 pound chicken (my advice: spend the extra money to buy an organic free range bird.  Too small and it doesn’t have the juice and fat you need and cooks too fast to really roast in the flavor.  Mass produced hormone fed two for the price of one F-ing Farm birds too fatty and injected with juice…well, it just doesn’t feel right to put this much love into).  Accounting for the bones and other unplatable parts you get about one serving per pound of raw, whole chicken.

• Two yellow onions

• Two big fat carrots

• Four stalks of celery

• ¼ cup ( ½  cube) butter

• ¼ cup olive oil

• ¼ - ½ cup chopped fresh herbs (I use Italian parsley and fresh thyme and rosemary from the garden)

• Salt (be generous) and fresh ground pepper

• 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced (optional)

What you do:

Preheat oven to 450-degrees.  Put the rack low in the oven (the bird will be pretty high).

Peel the two onions and cut each in half.  Lay the four halves in the middle of a deep sided baking pan.  Cut the carrots in half lengthwise and layout across the top of the onions.  Criss cross the celery stalks on top of the carrots making a vegetable “raft” on which you will eventually lay the chicken.

(note, this photo illustrates the raft.  It is the first chicken I tried.  This is where I learned don't bother with a scrawny bird.  This was only 2.5 lbs and, though yummy, way too small to make a good roast chicken)

Wash and pat dry the chicken. 

Melt the butter. 

Mix with chopped herbs, olive oil, a big pinch of salt and some ground pepper.  Add the lemon juice and zest if desired.

With your hand, chicken breast side up, separate the skin from the breast meat.  Generously rub about half the herbed butter/oil mixture under the skin.  This should be a very tactile experience.  No weenies allowed.  Clip off the tips of the wings and insert into the vegetable raft.  If the chicken came with a neck stick that in the raft too.  Ditch any giblets.  Who eats those anyway?  With cooking twine, truss the legs and the “pope’s nose” together tightly then tie the wings tightly to the body.  Rub the rest of the butter/oil/herbs over the rest of the outside of the chicken.  Lay the bird on top of the vegetable raft.

Put the bird in the hot oven and turn the heat down to 350 degrees.  Set the timer for 20 minutes per pound for the bird (set the timer for two hours for a six pound chicken).  Soon you will realize you are salivating…the house starts to smell amazing!  Resist the temptation to peek.  When the timer goes off take the bird’s temperature in two places: the middle of the breast, and, more importantly, at the fattest part of the thigh.  You are aiming for an internal temperature of 160-170 degrees.  It continues to heat before it cools down so don’t worry about the thermometer saying it needs to be 175.  Even if the top is a nice brown do not be tempted to take out sooner.  You may need to go for up to another thirty minutes.  Take the chicken out BUT (this is the most important part) do not cut into the chicken for at least 15 minutes).  If you are going to want to make gravy, while the chicken is cooling remove it from the roaster and put it on a high sided platter.  I’ll explain the gravy part later.  You can leave the chicken at this point for a good deal of time.  It will stay juicy.

Gravy and Chicken Stock:

While you now have a wonderful roasted chicken, you have the opportunity to make a wonderful chicken stock and some incredibly delicious gravy.  Here’s what I do:  Put a big pot filled half way with cold water on the back burner.  When you’ve put the chicken on the platter to cool remove the vegetables from the raft and throw them in the pot with the water (if you’ve got a steamer/straining basket have it in the pot with the water.  It makes draining the broth later easier).  There will be lots of juices in the roasting pan.  Pour them into a small bowl and stick this in the refrigerator to separate. 

There will be some wonderful brown bits in the bottom of the roasting pan.  Scrape these into a small saucepan.  After the chicken has cooled for at least 15 minutes move it to a cutting board.  There will be lots of good juices on the platter.  Pour these juices into another small bowl and stick it into the refrigerator.  In another fifteen minutes to a half hour take your two small bowls of juices from the fridge.  The first bowl will have a thick layer of rendered fat on the top.  With a spoon scrape these fats into the sink.  What’s left is a gelatinous layer of thick brown gravy makings.  Put that into the small saucepan with the brown bits.  The second bowl will mostly be thick gelatinous gravy makings and a thin layer of fat.  If you want, separate that out but if it’s a small amount don’t worry.  Toss it into the gravy sauce pan.  Turn the burner onto medium.  While it’s heating up, in a small bottle shake together about ¼ cup COLD milk and a generous tablespoon of white flower.  When the gelatinous juices have melted and are near boil add the milk/flour mix and a good pinch of salt.  Whisk briskly as it comes to a boil and thickens up.  Taste it.  Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.  There’s your gravy! 

When you carve the bird, throw the unusable back part into the big pot for the chicken broth.  After people have enjoyed the chicken take any bones from their plates and throw them in the broth pot too.  Simmer that broth until it is reduced to about a third.  Pour it through a colander and discard the vegetables and bones.  Some of the herbs will stay behind.  That’s all good.  Return to the pot and simmer until about an hour before you have to give up and go to bed.  Just before you retire move the reduced broth to a sealable container and throw it in the fridge or into the freezer.  You have gold there.  You can be sated just by the aromas from reheating that broth.  It’s all good!

Sides: (Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Green Beans with Garlic)

You don’t have to do anything but the chicken to be perfectly at peace.  But as long as you are messing up the kitchen, and maybe serving a few friends, and have that wonderful brown gravy, simple sides of mashed potatoes and roasted green beans are perfect sides.  For the potatoes I use some large red ones.  Cut them into fourths.  Cover with cold water plus a generous pinch of Kosher salt.  Boil until soft when pierced with a fork.  Drain.  Put through a potato ricer (I don’t like to use the mixer as they turn too starchy).  Some of the red skins will get through.  That’s all good too.  Heat a little butter and milk and mix in.  Then dip into that hot broth on the back burner and add some to the potatoes through a strainer until they are the texture you like.  Taste and add more salt if needed.

For the beans, pinch off the stem ends and wash.  Shake off the water.  Toss with a little olive oil and a little Kosher salt.  Chop finely several cloves of garlic and toss in too.  Lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Throw them into the 375 oven while the chicken is cooling.  Cook for about eight minutes.  That’s it.  Easy peasy.

What you drink:

If you are at a loss for what wine to serve with this chicken I will recommend a nice chilled rose' or a Pinot Noir at room temp.  Trader Joe’s has lots of good, well priced options.  This is a rustic meal.  No expensive labels needed.  I like one with a good write up posted on the shelf and a fun label.  I’m just that way.

Blue Cheese, Pancetta and Pear Gallette

The inspiration for this yummy experience is a recipe in Mary Karlin’s Artisan Cheese Making at Home.  Mary taught the artisan cheese class I recently took at Pantry at Delancey.  I bought her book but truthfully I will probably make very few of the cheeses.  I have to stick to the simple cheese: ricotta, paneer, crème freche, marscapone.  Maybe a cream cheese.  The more complicated cheeses require special cheese making supplies, and more critically, a climate controlled environment (temp and humidity) that I just don’t currently have.  But, also in her beautiful book is a final chapter with some delicious looking recipes.  This is basically her recipe with a few changes based on what I had on hand and what seemed more up my alley.

In making this I had to figure out the best application: is it a dessert?  An appetizer perhaps.  It is sweet and savory and a pastry.  Fortunately there was just enough left over that I could test it cast as all these characters.  As a course in a big meal it loses its identity, though as a side with a simple soup and salad it does OK.  Can hold its own.  As an appetizer with a lovely glass of red wine (i.e. my kind of dinner) it was perfect.  But if you are serving a big dinner or have other things you want to equally showcase maybe not so much.  It is pretty filling and will be a hard act to follow.  Now warmed for brunch, with a nicely steamed latte: perfect.  Go for it.  Or, like me, you can start with it for something else and enjoy it for breakfast afterward until you run out.  It keeps well for many days once wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.  

I will do this again but will try it with apples next time.  A tart variety I think.  It was lovely with the pears but I want to see how it does with apples.  Note: if using apples probably peel them.  I left the skin on the Bosc pears and it just melted in with the rest but for other pear varieties with chewier skins you might want to take them off. 

The simple syrup glaze laced with cardamom, rosemary and a little maple syrup was so good and I had left over which I used in my lattes along with the pastry for breakfast.  It was the perfect marriage.  Who says they don’t exist?  In fact, I’ve been rather intrigued by the possibilities of flavored simple syrups as a result.  Yesterday evening, at Stopsky’s Deli, Mercer Island, happy hour, Andy order a gin and tonic with celery simple syrup.  It was amazing.  We got to talking about trying to create our own.  I’m even thinking I may have finally figured out a use for all these strange spices I brought back from the Middle East and haven’t figured out what to do with.  So stay tuned.  There may be a coming blog entry on simple syrups.  But for now I give you: Blue Cheese, Pancetta and Pear Gallette!

What you need: 

Dough:

- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces then chilled
- About ¾ cup ice water

Filling:
-          2 Tablespoons olive oil
-          3 to 4 ounces pancetta, cut crosswise into narrow strips
-          1 yellow onion, halved, then thinly sliced lengthwise into strips
-          3 large shallots, thinly sliced lengthwise into strips
-          ¼ cup maple syrup
-          ½ teaspoon vanilla
-          ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
-          2 large pears, cored, and cut into 12 wedges each
-          3 ounces blue cheese cut into thin wedges

Glaze: 

-          ¼ cup maple syrup
-          ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
-          ¼ teaspoon vanilla
-          ¼ cup sugar
-          ¼ cup water
-          1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves

Early in the day put together the dough so it can rest in the refrigerator.  Combine the flour, almond flour, sugar and salt.  Using a fork and knife or pastry cutter, cut the small pieces of butter into the flour until the pieces of butter are pea sized and consistently distributed throughout.  First add about six tablespoons of the ice water, gently tossing with a fork.  Then, gradually add the rest of the ice water, gently tossing with a spoon just until the dough hold together and there are no dry ingredients left.  Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put into the fridge.

(I also prep the filling part early because it makes the house smell so good, you can get the kitchen mostly cleaned up and focus on other parts of your meal before final assembly which you should start about an hour before you want to serve it.)

In a large skillet heat the olive oil and add the pancetta pieces.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the pancetta is crispy and the fat rendered.  Remove the pancetta onto a paper towel to drain.  Discard about 1/3 of the drippings, then add the onions and shallots to the skillet with the drippings.  Cook over medium heat until lightly caramelized.  Set aside.

In another bowl combine the fresh ground cardamom with the maple syrup and vanilla.  Add the pear slices and let marinate in this syrup mixture in the fridge until ready to eat.  I used Bosc pears.  (Hint: since bosc pears are firmer than other pears when ripe, the way I tell if it is ripe is to look at the stem end.  Just at the base of the stem the skin should be dark and puckered.  Not mushy at that end but not smooth.  If it is smooth and not wrinkly the pear will still be bitter.  Just wrinkly is just right.) 

Make the glaze:  In a small saucepan, combine the glaze ingredients.  Bring to a low boil and cook until the sugar is melted and the glaze is slightly thick.  About ten minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temp.

Assembly and baking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Working on parchment paper, roll out the dough circle into roughly a 14 inch circle.  Lift the parchment with the circle onto a baking sheet.  Mix the fried pancetta pieces and caramelized onion and spread them onto the center of the dough, leaving clear a two-inch border around the outside of the circle.  Drain the liquid off the pear wedges and arrange decoratively in a circle around the top of the bacon/onion layer, overlapping as needed.  Fill in the center with small pieces of pear.

Moving around the tart, fold the edges of the dough toward the center and over the filling, pleating it as you go.  Place on the lower rack of the oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden.  Top with the wedges of blue cheese in the middle section that is exposed.  Bake another approximately 10 minutes until the crust is crispy and very golden and the pears are caramelized. 

As the last baking phase is taking place rewarm the glaze.  When the tart comes out of the oven brush the glaze over the top of the galette with a pastry brush.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Then cut and serve. 

Morrocan Olives

This is one of those recipes that is made to be shared.  I first had it as a table snack during a class as Pantry at Delancey.  When I got home I had to e-mail to ask "how did you do that?"  Today I hosted a very special party for a very special occasion: to celebrate the first grandchild in our group.  To welcome the beautiful Kesler, my dear friend Nancy's grandson.  I put a bowl of these out.  Didn't say anyting just curiously watched the reaction.  And it was good.

These look like just regular olives.  But they have such a wonderful, unique taste.  "Apple pie"  "Pear pie" they said.  The olives are flavored with lemon, cinnamon and fennel seed.  Try them.  You will like them.  And you will be asked for the recipe, I guarantee it.

When I asked Delancey's they said "we have no recipe, but this is how it's done."  There were no amounts, just ingredients and process.  So this is how I will pass it along to you as well.

First, pick the right kind of olives.  Get good Sicilian olives.  Big, plump, spring colored green ones.  Ask for a tasting.  You want the mildest, butteriest ones.  I buy mine at PFI in Seattle, near the Kingdome.  If you don't know of this place find it.  All the great chefs shop for bulk goods at this small, unassuming, warehouse.  Bring your own containers so you can get the brine with the olives.  They have at least 20 kinds to choose from.  I forget which kind these were but ask to taste the Sicilian greens.  This is the mild, buttery one.  You'll know it when you taste it.  At PFI you can only buy by the pound.  But since you bring with the brine they will last for a long time.  And who doesn't want a good container of olives in the fridge.  (By the way, PFI has the most beautiful cheese selection, but you also have to buy by the pound as well.  I also buy all my spices, bulk, and flours, pulses, rice, etc. at PFI.  Best deal in town.  Oh, they have an amazing selection of sea salts as well.  And olive oil and vinegars.  Just go there.  Mapquest it.  It's hidden at the bottom of that brick building Mapquest takes you to. )

• Good quality Sicilian olives
• 1 Meyer lemon
• 3-5 cinnamon sticks
• 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
• Good quality olive oil (Trader Joe's works fine for this)

Pour olive oil in a sauce pan  You will want just enough to cover the olives.  Crack the cinnamon sticks (leaving them more or less whole but broken to release the flavor) and put in oil along with the fennel seeds.  Slice the lemon and throw in (skin, seeds and all). 

Heat the oil to hot but not boiling.  Let it heat and infuse for about five minutes.  Then add the olives.  Leave on the heat for another ten or fifteen minutes, hot, but not boiling.  The lemon will decompose from the inside out, leaving large pieces of skin.  Remove from heat and let cool down.  Put in air tight container.  When serving use slotted spoon to dish out of the oil (but reserve in the airtight container so you can return any unused ones for enjoying later.  Put some of the lemon and cinnamon in the dish as well (it's so pretty).  Store in refrigerator with the infused oil and lemons and cinnamon. 

Collect everyone's email addresses, or friend them on FB.  They will want the recipe.  Really.  Trust me. 

My Favorite Cookie Recipe: Chewey Molasses Cookies

The impending snowfall brings out the cooking fever in me.  I only hope my son is able to make it home so I have help eating these!  I plan on sending him to work tomorrow with treats for the staff.  That's not over the top for an intern is it?  They keep nicely for several days in an airtight container.  But I need to get them out of the house.  I love them too much.

These cookies are based on a recipe from  The Silver Palate Cookbook, (Julie Rosso & Sheila Lukins). Judy brought them to Chelan one spring many, many years ago and I've been making them ever since.  Always when it snows.  I've adapted the recipe the way I do: mostly with shortcuts that reduce the amount of dishes used (and therefore need to be cleaned up afterwards).  They come out perfectly round and chewey/crispy: just right.  Like a chewey ginger snap. 

A few tips: the dough is quite moist.  Probably because it's made with melted butter.  It's important not to make the spoonfulls too full and to leave lots of room between them as they spread.  You cook them directly on foil.  This is important.  Don't take a shortcut.  Let them cool on the foil (I think they finish cooking up and firming on that and they are easy to pull off when they are done).

Chewey Molasses Cookies

Preheat oven to 350-degrees, with oven rack in the middle of the box.

Melt:

• 12 Tablespoons (1.5 sticks) butter

In a mixing bowl, put the butter and add:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses

Beat together until butter is cooled.  Add:

• 1 large egg

Leave the mixer running while you get out the dry ingrediants.  While the mixer is running add the following in this order, blending thoroughly between each addition:

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 taspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup more flour

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Not your finger.  But taste it if you want.  It's gooooood!  The dough will be very moist. This is the way it should be.  Don't worry.  It all works.

Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Drop by a tablespoon onto foil leaving about three inches in between.  You should only be able to get about ten on each sheet.

 I use a small food scoop wich helps make the sizes consistent.

Cook for eight to ten minutes in center of heated oven.  When the first batch is cooking, step outside and breath in the fresh cold air.  Watch the birds and note the storm moving closer. 

In the meantime, the cookies will flatten out.  You are looking for the edges to just start darkening at which point you take them out.  The rest of the cookie will still look lighter colored and fluffy.

 In my oven each batch takes exactly nine minutes.  They will finish cooking on the foil when you take them out.  Pull the cookies on the foil off the sheet and put a new sheet of foil on.  Fill another sheet.  When the second batch is cooking make yourself a latte.  You deserve it.  Take one of the freshly baked cookies and dunk it in your latte.  There will be a party in your mouth.  You will declare this a favorite recipe.  I am sure of it.

When the third batch is cooking check Facebook and your email.  Something important may have happened.  When the fourth and final batch is cooking wash up all the dishes.  You will have just enough time.  And the cookie sheet won't need to be washed because the cookies were cooked on the foil.  It's a great deal.  You will be so glad the dishes are washed when you are done.  You can leave the kitchen or start on dinner.  Depends how domestic you are feeling and how deserving your family is.  When the foil has cooled you can peel the cooked cookies off.  This recipe made 42 cookies, each about 2.5 inches accross.  Store in airtight container.  Buon Appetito!

FYI, the yellow dessert plates were a gift from my father.  He picked them up in Provence, France for me several years ago.  I had seen an article in Gourmet Magazine about colorful dessert plates from Provence and sent him with the request to find something I'd like.  I think he did really well.  I love using them.

Crock Pot Lasagna: My Way

After spending the last two winters in the Middle East I am very happy to be back into winter crockpot cooking mode.  Having all the necessary staples in my cupboard and freezer I decided to tackle crockpot lasagna.  I figured out the general technique by internet research and then assembled according to my previous lasagna experience.  This is American style lasagna with a tomato base sauce (not Italian style made with bechamel sauce). It turned out fabulous.  It made enough to feed two of us for dinner and then a work crew of two for lunch the following two days.  As usual, the leftovers were every bit as good as, maybe even better than, the original.  Buon appetito!

Crock Pot Lasagna

• 1 lb sausage (or lean ground beef seasoned librerally with garlic)
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• assorted dried Italian herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, whatever you like)
• 2 cups fresh ricotta (you can also use cottage cheese if you don't have ricotta)
• 2 cups shredded mozarella (reserving 1/2 cup for top)
• Fresh parsley, if you have it
• uncooked lasagna noodles or dry pasta sheets
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
• Olive oil for coating inside of crock
• A tastey red wine.  I'm partial to a Chianti or Cabernet for this meal.

If it's after noon, pour yourself a glass of red wine.  Take a sip.  This helps with your seasoning tasting and generally puts you in an Italian mood.  If you are throwing this together before leaving for work I recommend skipping the wine at this stage.  You can make up for that later.  After work.  After work you might need it more!

Brown sausage (or ground beef) with chopped onion until meat is cooked through and onions are soft.  Drain the grease off.  Add crushed tomatoes and Italian herbs, seasoning to taste.  Take another sip of the wine and taste again.  You'll know when you have it right.  Remove from heat. 

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta (or cottage cheese) with one-and-a-half cups grated mozarella (you've set 1/2 cup aside for later).  If you have fresh parsley, throw in a few tablespoons chopped.

Spray bottom and half way up side of crock pot with olive oil (if you don't have a Misto Olive Oil sprayer get yourself one.  You deserve it.)

Spread 1/3 of meat mixture in bottom of crock.  Layer with 1/3 cheese mixture on top (the cheese mixture isn't easy to spread.  I suggest, with clean heands, pinch out some and flatten with hands and lay on top of the meat.  Break lasagna noodles to fit over the top.  Try to get a single layer though it's fine to overlap the edges a bit.  I have pasta sheets that I use that lay flatter than the strip noodles but either would work fine.  Repeat these three layers two more times, ending with a pasta layer.  Scatter the 1/2 cup mozzarella and paremsan (or Romano) over the top. 

Now you can turn the crock pot onto low setting.  Cook a minimum of four hours.  Longer is fine.  The house will smell delicious which is one of the best things about crock pot cooking, in my humble opinion.  Serve with hearty bread, a green salad and that red wine.

Let me know how it turned out.

OK, so I wasn't thinking about posting this or I would have taken a better picture.  And more pictures during assembly.  If you make this send me some pictures.  Thanks.

Tiramisu (Best I've Ever Had or Made!)

This recipe came from the class we took at Montestigliano. I've made it a few times since and it was every bit as good as there. The main difference is the color since the fresh Italian eggs are about the color of my car: much brighter yellow than here. It's easy. Just make sure the eggs are really fresh or pasteurized as they are raw in the recipe

-500 grams Marscapone cheese
-5 eggs, separated
-5 heaping teaspoons of sugar (the recipe says 5 "dessert spoons")
-a couple of shots of very strong coffee (espresso)
-Packet of sponge biscuits, lady fingers They are hard to find. I actually use Le Petite Beure cookies by Lu (usually by the Pepridge farm cookies)
-Grated bittersweet chocolate for dusting

Place the marsapone cheese in a large mixing bowl.
Fold in the sugar and beat until light and creamy
Mix the egg yolks into the mixture and mix until very smooth
In another bowl beat the egg whites until fluffy with soft peaks
Take a steep sided serving dish and spread a thin layer of the mixture on the bottom
Brush both sides of the cookie with espresso and place over the layer of mixture.
Smooth some more mixture over the cookie layer.
Cover with another layer of espresso brushed cookies
Continue layering, finishing with the marscapone mix.
Dust top with the chocolate dust. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving

Let me know how it turns out!

Recipe for Italian Style Bruschetta

Somebody has already asked me for the crostini and Bruschetta recipe. The timing is right with all the fresh tomatoes and basil coming in. I ate six slices (SIX SLICES!) for dinner last night. I loved every bite. That much fresh tomato in one sitting is hard on the tummy but oh so worth it.

This is how I learned to make it in Italy. The reason I had to have it last night was because yesterday I went with Melinda to see "Julie and Julia" which was a fantastic flick. Maybe I'll add a review later. Anyway, in one scene Julie converses with her husband while she is putting together a batch of these. Then we get to watch them dine together, talking through a mouth full of fresh tomatoes. From that scene on I was planning my own crostini dinner since I knew I was going to get fresh heirloom tomatoes and basil from Andrea.

Crostinies/ Bruschetta Italian Style

Sliced rustic country bread (anything with a chewy crust and dense interior)
Clove of garlic
Butter
Olive Oil

Fresh garden tomatoes, chopped
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt, pepper, lemon pepper to taste

Take bread slices out of the bag.
Take a peeled, smashed clove of garlic and rub it on both sides of the bread.
Place bread on a wire rack to air dry slightly

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix chopped tomatoes, basil. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper or lemon pepper.

Change the sprinkler location in the yard and return a phone call. This will give the bread about the right time to air dry. Even better if it’s a long catching up phone call that gives the bread at least a half hour, but no more than an hour, to dry out a bit.

In a frying pan, put equal parts of butter and olive oil. Enough to give the pan a generous coating on the bottom when the butter melts. Bring oil mixture to a medium high heat, just before the smoking stage. Place bread slices in the pan. Flip before all the oil is absorbed, so that both sides have a nice oil coating. Then leave on the first side until it turns a light toasty brown. Flip over and finish browning the second side.

Place the bread slices on a platter. Top generously with the chopped tomato mixture. Gobble up immediately. Allow yourself to sigh and roll your eyes back into your head with the first bight. The browned surface of the bread keeps the tomato juices from soggying up the bread too fast.

Tried a New Recipe: Angel Kiss Cookies

When I was sprung from the house the first time by Leah and Marlin I got what I needed to try a recipe given on one of my favorite blogs, Piece of Cake. I also got back energy, and hope, and a reason to get out of bed. And so I baked. The recipe starts with cream cheese and butter. That was enough for me. I forgot to get the white chocolate chips the recipe called for so used some semi-sweet ones I had instead. Anyway, they turned out quite delicious, though maybe not as pretty as if I had used white. Andy is helping with the consuming as are some of my neighbors that I shared with. Me...well I try one (or two) every so often just to make sure it's a recipe worth sharing. The consensus is yes. I wish I could share some of them with you but since I can't I'll point you in the direction of the recipe here for Angel Kiss Cookies.

Gotta love this ending to the directions:

"Eat any broken pieces and crumbs immediately. Eat hot off of the baking sheet. Just go and eat them all.
Finish the bottle of wine.
Take off your apron. Take off your shirt. Take off your pants. Run around naked.
And don't forget to turn off the oven."

I did finish the wine and turned off the oven. However, I will wait to do the stripping and running around naked until Andy is back at school. Satchmo can handle it.