Shrimp Bisque

Once in a while Elizabeth and I like to try a new recipe so we do what I call a "Buddy Cook" at her house and make it. Sometimes we come to my house but it's usually a holiday weekend and there are a lot of other people around and it can get hectic.  It's much more civilized at her house.   And, certainly if knives are involved you want the atmosphere as civilized as possible.

I have been watching a lot of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, on TV. She makes everything look so easy.  And, actually, this one is pretty easy.  Except for finding the Brandy and Dry Sherry. 

Since Texas has started allowing beer and wine to be sold at the supermarket the liquor stores are going out of business right and left.  I drove past three liquor stores that had been closed until I found one still open.  Even it was in the process of going through bankruptcy and the walls were almost bare.  The best I could find in Brandy was four of the little airplane sized bottles. Folks, you know I've quit drinking.  You're going to have to get in there and do your part to keep the liquor stores alive. There is nothing sadder than a half-stocked shelf in a liquor store.

The seafood stock was on the shelf at Whole Foods in the yuppie part of Dallas.  Later I found it in the soup aisle at my Walmart out here in the boondocks. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
• 4 cups seafood stock
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (3 leeks)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (3 cloves)
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the shrimp shells and seafood stock in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and reserve the stock. Add enough water to make 3 3/4 cups.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the leeks and cook them for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, or until the leeks are tender but not browned. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add the cayenne pepper and shrimp and cook over medium to low heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Cognac and cook for 1 minute, then the sherry and cook for 3 minutes longer. Transfer the shrimp and leeks to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until coarsely pureed.

In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium-low heat for 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the half-and-half and cook, stirring with a whisk, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the pureed shrimp, the stock, tomato paste, salt, and pepper and heat gently until hot but not boiling. Season, to taste, and serve hot..

Serve it with baguettes of French Bread and some butter.  This should serve a whole lot of people. But if there's only the two of you then you don't have to share.  I especially liked sitting in Elizabeth's living room and watching an episode of Ina on TV and dipping chunks of buttered bread into the soup.   This recipe is a keeper. And I found the flavor got even better the next day after it sat a while.

Coffee Cake

I've been channeling Ina Garten the last two weeks in search of the perfect coffee cake. We used to always have a store-bought one on Christmas morning.  But, to my horror, I couldn't find one in the freezer case this year.  When I went to the recipe sources it was slim pickings.  I wanted one with no exotic ingredients like sour cream.

The first one I tried was nasty.  I suspected the Crisco I used was too old.  So I tried it with fresh Crisco and still didn't like it.  The next one--sans Crisco-- was too dry.  This morning, I added apples and half a banana for extra moisture and a second egg to give it more body.  And I love it!

Three coffee cakes later I think I have a recipe that I'm happy with.

ingredients:

2 cups of Bisquick
2/3 milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest
vanilla (you know how I am about vanilla)
1/2 apple chopped fine
1/2 bananna chopped fine
1/2 cup blueberries (OK, so maybe this is an exotic ingregient but I swear I had some in the freezer.  It's not imperative you put blueberries in. And if you don't have a banana or an apple in the house, then shame on you for not eating healthy like I do.)

mix everything well except for the blueberries. Pour it all into a greased pan (I use a round spring-form)
Once everything is in--and only then--carefully sprinkle the blueberries on top

Then add the strusel topping:

1/3 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
cinnamon
mix this in the Cuisinart until the butter is pea-size
then add in 1/3 cup granola cereal (or not if you don't have it)
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Bake at 350-375 for about 25 minutes. 

Pecan Ice Cream Topping

Bulletin!  I just discovered the most wonderful (actually, I can't think of an adjective good enough so 'wonderful' will have to do) and amazing topping for ice cream.  Better yet, it makes use of the pecan pie filling you have left over after making my famous pecan pie. 

Repeat our mantra once again:  "It's a Pecan pie, not a Filling pie."

Take this cup or so of filling, add some finely chopped pecans and heat it on the stove until it begins to thicken and boil.  As soon as it starts to boil, remove from heat and add a teaspoon or so of vanilla or brandy or bourbon.

Seal it in a jar and let it cool in the fridge.  Great on top of ice cream.

Holiday Cooking

Of course I know better than to say I know more about cooking Thanksgiving than you do.  But I AM just sayin’ that I’ve cooked probably 80 holiday meals in the last forty or so years, if you add up all the Thanksgivings, Christmases and Easters then subtract the times we ate at Beaven’s parents' house.  For some reason I’ve always been the holiday meal sponsor but I’m not complaining because I absolutely love it.  It must appeal to both my love of control and food.  By cooking the meal I get both wishes.

Here is how I go about the big meal:

• Start at the finish:  get out all the serving and warming dishes first.  Put post-it notes to say what will go inside them.  Then work backwards: 
• This is where  everyone will sit
• This is where the food will sit while we eat  
• This is what I will keep it warm in,
• This is what I will cook it in…do I have enough burners or room in the oven?   
•  what do I need to buy?.. make a grocery list

The turkey is the bossiest food you can invite to the dinner.  It takes up the entire oven.  Plan on this and cook around it.  But:  you can also cover the turkey in foil and hold it an hour.  This gives you just enough time to cook the dressing and roasted vegetables.

Plan to put the rolls into the oven about the time you start calling everyone to the table.  It will take 10 minutes to get everyone seated.  Say the blessing and by the time you say “amen” the rolls will be ready. 

Other tips:

• Those big turkey roasting pans can be used to keep the dressing warm. 
• Mashed potatoes will stay perfect in a slow cooker set on low. 
• Put the gravy in a coffee carafe. It keeps it warm and you can even pour from it.
• Buy a new can of baking powder and sage every November.  You probably haven’t  used any since last year at this time and it’s out of date.

It’s too hot in November but by Christmastime you will be able to use the outside BBQ grill as an alternative refrigerator.  Remember to keep the lid on it or critters will eat your stuff.

I’ve got to go.  I let my day get away from me and the grands are about to descend and I realize I have no food in the house for any of the other days besides Thursday. 

I have an index on the blog for Thanksgiving food, including the turkey.  You’re on your own.

PS- be very careful what you put down the disposer.  It’s not used to potato peels or celery strings-- that sucker will stop up in a heartbeat and all the plumbers are out at their deer lease.

Italian Tabouli Salad

Tabouli (or Tabouleh) is a traditional Middle-Eastern salad.  It has all the regional flavors of cucumber, onion, tomatoes, garlic and lemon.  It's made with bulgar wheat.

Recently I've been reading about Quinoa (keen-wa) and how it's the miracle grain.  Supposedly it has  great stuff in it:  complete protein, fiber and vitamins. I realized you could substitute quinoa for the bulgar wheat and use traditional pesto in place of the cucumber and lemon flavors. 

Cook up a batch of quinoa:  twice as much water as grain with a little salt.  (I used 1/4 cup of grain with 1/2 cup water for my first batch.)  Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer until all the water has been absorbed by the grain.  Add some freshly made pesto with finely chopped tomato and onions until you get it how you like it. 

You're done.  It will keep in the fridge or you could just eat it all now.

Pesto

We are approaching the height of garden season in Texas.  Everything you planted a couple of months ago should be bearing fruit.  You did plant a garden, didn't you?  Shame on you if you didn't. There is no better reason to plant a garden than tomatoes and basil.  I've been making pesto and doleing it out to selected friends at the risk of denuding my own basil plants..  I'll need to plant more than two pots next year.  Basil is very easy to grow.  You can put it in an old plastic bucket and just water it when it looks like it needs it.  Pick off the tips when it starts to flower.  You want the leaves not flowerrs and a little selective pruning will make it bush out even fuller.  It will continue to grow and bear leaves until the first frost in November.  Once it gets cold the plant is toast and there's no more basil until next spring. The experts say you can freeze pesto but I haven't had any luck doing that.

Here's my recipe for pesto so the neighbors won't have to depend on me.

Pesto

2 cups of basil leaves
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (or any other kind-I use pecans or almonds)
2 cloves garlic
salt
olive oil

I put everything in the blender and slowly add the olive oil until it's the right consistency.  Scrape down the sides of the blender to make sure everything gets blended.

This makes about a cup and you'll want to eat it the same day you make it.  As it sits the pesto will darken and absorb the oil and won't be as pretty as the bright green when it's fresh.

One Chicken, Three Meals, No Waste

Meal One:  Chicken and Dressing.

This is a fairly easy meal if you’ve ever done Thanksgiving.  Think of it as Thanksgiving Light.  This recipe will feed for two people, maybe four, depending on how many sides are served and how much they eat.

Buy a Rotisserie Chicken at the grocery store.  Pull off the breast meat without the skin and set it aside.  Eat the wings and/or drumstick (Meal One) while you’re cooking the rest.

(Here’s the part where you need to pay attention.  You will be either a chicken ahead or a chicken  behind.)

If you are a chicken ahead, you will already have broth in the freezer and you won’t need to use today’s chicken to make some.  If you're a chicken behind see my recipe for Chicken Broth.

If you are a chicken behind you will need to start the broth early and use that broth for today’s casserole.  Either way, I will continue with the recipe for Meal Two:

Mix up a package of cornbread.  When it’s done and cooled, crumble it into a big bowl.  Add a chopped onion and the same amount of chopped celery.  Mix this together with sage or poultry seasoning.  Then add the chicken broth you already had (you’ll have to thaw it) or the broth you just made. Add enough to make the dressing moist but not soupy. You probably won’t use all the broth.  You could re-freeze it or add it to Meal Three.

You just made the dressing part.  How easy is that?

To finish the casserole, cut up the two breast halves and combine them with the dressing. This will fit perfectly in an 8X8 inch pan.  Heat it up in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  Meal Two is now complete, you’re belching Meal One and someone is at your feet waiting for Meal Three.

If you have to make a fresh batch of broth you'll have the bones leftover for Meal Three for the dog or cat.  You have no waste and will have fed about five people and a pet.

If you’re taking  the casserole to someone’s house put it in a disposable aluminum pan. You don’t want to burden the recipient with a pan that they will have to keep track of.  As pretty as your dishes are, the whole reason you're cooking this casserole is because the recepient doesn't have the time or energy to mess with stuff like cleaning your pan and returning it to the right person 

The only time I take someone one of my nice pans is when they are new neighbors who just moved in.  Returning the pan gives them a reason to come to your house and thus begin a new friendship.  Of course, if they don’t return the pan you will know you’ve got lousy neighbors and won’t ever  have to take any more meals over to them.