Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Marty's Home-made IPA!

For Marty's birthday I got him what he has been wanting for a long time- a home beer brewing kit!  So we went to the city and found the perfect one ;)  (I guess it's kind of like picking out the perfect handbag haha) He started brewing it about a month and a half ago (I think...) and it is done!  Our guest bathroom, (where he stored the brewing beer) smelled like someone had just been smoking weed in it for about a week, but other than that, he and his friends say it tastes pretty good!  Here are some pics of the process...

Some of the ingredients...

The "instructions" that were not very good!

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The poor man's bottle capper :)

Beginning to look like beer...kind of... :)



Sanitizing old bottles.

A lot of clean bottles!




Sophie LOVED the smell of the beer!

Bottling the beer.


Coq Au Vin!!

Last night I decided to make a french chicken dish- Coq Au Vin!  It was my first attempt and it turned out DELICIOUS!  For those of you who don't know what this dish is, it means chicken cooked in wine.  To go along with the chicken, I made some dill roasted fingerling potatoes (courtesy of Ina Garten). Yummy!

Ina's Coq Au Vin recipe called for sliced carrots and mushrooms.


Diced pancetta MMMMMmmmmmm!!

A little bit of cognac.

Brown the pancetta.

Brown the chicken.  I used 2 thighs and 2 breasts.

Carrots and sliced onions sautéing.

Rinsed off fingerling potatoes.

Fresh thyme for the chicken.

Add the chicken and pancetta to the carrots and onions.

Pour in the cognac and half a bottle of dry red wine and chicken stock.

Chopped fresh dill for the potatoes.

Salt and pepper the potatoes and place in a dutch oven in a little bit of butter.  Cover and let them cook in their own juices!

Mash together flour and butter to add to the chicken.

Along with frozen pearl onions.

Saute the mushrooms in butter and oil til browned.

Add to the chicken.

Don't these potatoes look amazing?!

Coq Au Vin! Bon Appetite! 

Ina's Coq Au Vin Recipe:

4 oz pancetta, diced
1 (3 to 4 lb) chicken, I used 2 thighs and 2 breasts
S+P
1/2 lb carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 C Cognac or good brandy
1/2 bottle good dry red wine such as Burgundy
1 C chicken stock
10 fresh thyme sprigs
2 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temp, divided
1 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 lb frozen small whole onions
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Add the pancetta and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove the pancetta to a plate and set aside.

Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry.  Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with S+P.  When the pancetta is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.  Remove the chicken to the plate with the pancetta and continue to brown until all the chicken is done.  Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minutes.  Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken and any juices from the plate into the pot.  Add the wine, chicken stock and thyme and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30-40 mintes, until the chicken is just not pink.  Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 1 TBSP of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew.  Add the frozen onions.  In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 TBSP of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until browned.  Add to the stew.  Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.  Season to taste.  Serve hot.

Dill Fingerling Potatoes

2 TBSP unsalted butter
1 1/4 lb fingerling potatoes, rinsed but not peeled
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 4sp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 TBSP chopped fresh dill

Melt the butter in a dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot.  Add the whole potatoes, S+P and toss well.  Cover the pot tightly and cook over low heat (if you dont' have a gas flame, cook on medium heat) for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are just tneder when tested with a fork.  From time to time, shake the pot without removing the lid to prevent the bottom potatoes from burning.  Turn off the heat and allow the potatoes to steam for another 5 minutes.  Don't overcook.  Toss with the dill and serve hot.

Stuffed Artichokes

I am a really big fan of artichokes, but I never think to buy them in the store.  I love eating steamed artichokes with a simple butter dipping sauce for the leaves.  But the other day, as I was sick on the couch and watched WAY too many cooking shows, I saw Giada make some amazing bacon, cheese and mushroom stuffed artichokes!  I found the recipe and cooked them the other night!  Mine needed a little more cook time than the recipe called for, but they turned out really yummy!


Cut the stems and tops off and trim the leaves.

Saute the bacon.

Add the mushrooms, shallot and garlic.


When cooked, set aside in a bowl and add the parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsely.

Stuff the mixture in between the leaves!

Place in the same dutch oven, add water and white wine and let the steaming begin!

Ready to eat!


The sad left overs :)

Giada's Genovese-style Artichokes
(makes 4)

3 TBSP olive oil, plus 1/2 C
1 lb button mushrooms, trimmed and chopped (abotu 4 cups)
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 slices prosciutto, chopped (I had bacon on hand and used that)
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 C grated Parmesan
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 fresh artichokes, trimmed and cleaned
2 C white wine

In a large dutch oven heat 3 TBSP olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are tender and the onions are golden.  Transfer the mushroom mixture to a medium bowl and let the mixture cool slightly.  Add the prosciutto, parsley, Parmesan and S+P and stir to combine. **Since I used bacon, I cooked it first, removed and then cooked the vegges.**

Gently pull apart the leaves of the trimmed artichokes to slightly widen the spaces between the leaves.  Stuff the mushroom mixture in the spaces between the artichoke leaves.  Place the artichokes in the dutch oven so they fit snugly enough to stay upright.  Pour the wine and 1 C of water into the bottom of the pan.  Pour the 1/4 C of olive oil over the top of the artichokes.  Place the pan over medium-high heat.  Cover the pan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, until the artichokes are tender.  Remove from othe pot and serve immediately.


Tequila Twist!

So usually Marty is the one to think of creative new drinks, but this time it was my turn!  I am not a tequila shot taker, but I am just going to go out on a limb and say that most of my friends are :)  We were cooking Mexican food the other night and Marty had halved and de-seeded a couple of fresh avocados.  As I was looking at them, I thought hmmmmmm...those would make really cute shot glasses for tequila!  So Marty sprinkled some salt around the flesh of the avocado, poured some tequila where the seed was and drank the shot, while scraping off some avocado!  He said it was delicious!  I also think these would make awesome dinner party treats!

Good idea, huh?!

Taco Night!

A couple of weeks ago we had some friends over for a little taco fiesta!  We made beef street tacos, black beans, guac and salsa.  Sorry for not having that many pictures, but here are a few...

Oh, and I will post Marty's recipes of his awesome homemade guac and salsa at a later date!  Trust me, you will want to make these at home!



Boil the tomatoes and peppers until they look like... 

...this!

Black beans rinsed, waiting to be cooked!

Salsa in the making.

Mmmmmmm

Grilled flank steak.