The Odd Couple

 

For reasons that I just don't understand the weather has been more like October than March around here.  Which is to say that it's cold, rainy and dreary.  So I think I can be forgiven for making Guinness stew yesterday instead of something bright and spring-ish.  What I might possibly NOT be forgiven for is pairing it with potato salad.  Yes, you read that correctly, potato salad.  

I really can't tell you why I did it the first time as I rarely have exact reasons for strange pairings outside of "that might taste good".  However, I'm glad that I did.  It's an amazingly good combination, both of them strong and distinctive in taste, and very hearty.  Brendan doesn't eat it this way, but Karina and I do.  She was with me the day that I first put them together and surprised me by trying it (on any other day she really hates it when her foods touch).  The bowl you see above didn't last long after the photo was taken.  Karina carried it off like a prize kill and devoured it.  I should say that she did ask if I was done taking pictures first.

Guinness Stew

2 pounds beef, at room temperature and cubed

1 pound carrots, diced

2 medium onions, diced

1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes, diced

1 12 ounce bottle Guinness Extra Stout

1 1/2 cups meat stock, homemade if possible

3 small bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

4 tablespoons oil

salt

pepper

Salt and pepper the cubed beef to taste.  Heat a medium stock pot over medium-high heat and add the oil (I used a combination of canola and olive oils).  Brown the beef in small batches, removing them to a warm plate after each batch.  When all the beef has been browned and removed, add the diced carrots and onions to the pot and sweat them for about 5 minutes.  Add the beef back to the pot.  Stir in the Guinness, tomatoes (with the juices from the can), stock, bay leaves and thyme.  Bring the stew to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.  Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary.  Serve with whatever strikes your fancy (boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or even potato salad).

Potato Salad I (just for the record, I make four different potato salads)

10 pounds potatoes

6 hard-boiled eggs

4 dill pickles, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 1/2 to 2 cups mayonnaise

1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 to 1/2 cup half & half

salt, to taste

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their jackets in a large stock pot until a fork inserted in them comes out easily.  The time will depend on the size of your potatoes.  In the meantime, in a large bowl break up the eggs into small pieces with a fork.  Add the other ingredients and stir everything together until well combined.  Make sure that the dressing is a bit saltier than you would usually make something as the potatoes have not been seasoned.  When the potatoes have finished cooking, drain them and let them cool until they can be handled (or even until they are room temperature, though they will be harder to peel).  Peel the potatoes with a knife as you would a peach that has been poached.  Slice the potatoes into the bowl with the dressing and fold them in carefully.  Let the salad sit for about 30 minutes and then taste for seasoning, add salt if necessary.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  It is best eaten at room temperature, whether by itself or as a base for the Guinness stew.

Everybody love parfait!

 

Most people have some sort of sweet offering that they enjoy above all others.  My daughter's happens to be tiramisu....but I don't make it as often as she would like.  Mostly because mascarpone is a bit difficult to find and when I do find it, it costs an arm and a leg or it's in a container the size of a water cracker.  I have made it a few times with substitutions for the mascarpone, however the dishes have always lacked the richness that only mascarpone provides.  Lucky for Karina (and myself and Bren) Kroger had mascarpone on sale the other week and I was able to pick up 2 pounds for ten bucks.  I was thrilled.  

Now, I admit, my tiramisu is NOT pretty.  I don't make it in one layer in a rectangle dish. I use the English trifle method, many layers in a tall round dish.  Ugly when dished up, but the cream to cookie ratio is perfect.  

Tiramisu (THIS RECIPE CONTAINS RAW EGGS)

base recipe:

2 pounds mascarpone

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup sugar, plus 4 extra tablespoons

1 cup strong espresso

1/4 cup kaluha, madeira, Irish cream or other tasty liquor/fortified wine

1 packet Italian ladyfingers (savoiardi)

unsweetened cocoa

pinch of salt

optional (added to the tiramisu in the picture):

1/2 pound cream cheese, softened

1 pound whole milk ricotta

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 to 1 cup Amaretto

1 cup strong espresso

1/2 cup kaluha, madeira, Irish cream or other tasty liquor/fortified wine

3 tablespoons rosso sweet vermouth

1 packet Italian ladyfingers (savoiardi)

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; add the 4 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and set aside.  Beat the egg yolks, 1 1/4 cups sugar and pinch of salt until thick and pale yellow.  Beat in the mascarpone until well combined.  Repeat with the cream cheese and ricotta.  Add 3/4 cup Amaretto and mix thoroughly.  Taste.  If needed, add another 1/4 cup Amaretto.  Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture and set aside.  Mix together espresso, Irish cream and vermouth, pour some into a shallow dish large enough to accommodate one of the savoiardi without it breaking.  

Assembly:  soak savoiardi one at a time in the espresso mixture and use them to line the bottom of a large, high-sided bowl.  Add a layer of the mascarpone cream and smooth evenly.  Dust the top of the cream with unsweetened cocoa powder.  Repeat this until bowl is full and/or the last layer of cream has been added.  Dust top with unsweetened cocoa powder and set dish in refrigerator for several hours.  This allows the flavours to meld and the savoiardi to soften.  Serve at room temperature for best taste.

I've given directions for the embellished version that I made and is pictured, adjusting for a base recipe should be easy from there.  And just a couple of notes:  1) don't use fresh ladyfingers, use the ones called savoiardi, they don't disintegrate when soaking in the espresso mixture and maintain their shape when softened; 2) what liquor(s) you use is entirely up to you, I don't care what any other recipes say, if you don't like the liquor on its own you won't like it in the dessert; 3) using raw eggs is also up to you, should you not want to you can beat the egg whites in a double boiler until stiff peaks form and the temperature reaches 160 degrees, ditto with the egg yolks.

March Madness

 

After a very, VERY long run, my shaman has finally managed to jump on the crazy train.  And I am so glad it's over.  I will no longer have to scour the AH on a daily basis for cards to complete decks that can only be turned in for rep seven days out of the month to a side faction that NO ONE gets exalted with...unless they're, you know, insane.  I will sell the leftover cards in my possession for large sums of gold (the only people who will buy them will be others trying to get on the train...and they'll pay handsomely for the opportunity to get these cards whilst knowing they are being gouged).  With my ill gotten gains I will purchase crazy-expensive things like Vial of the Sands and maybe take up belly-dancing.

There are a few people who really helped me along the way and they need to have a big round of applause and thanks.  Without their generosity I'd probably still be in Bedlam, whimpering in the corner of a padded cell.

Gaz

Zitho

Bluey

Xr

Elonia

Emily

Steal

Shadow

Dorlish

Post Christmas Lazing Around aka Being Fat

We spent Christmas up at my mom's in Michigan with my sister and her beloved, my oldest and his beloved, and my mom and my dad.  Instead of presents we came together as a family and spent time together doing nothing particularly special, but having the best Christmas any of us have had in years.  There was a LOT of good food, seriously intense games of Scrabble, cribbage and Rummikub, several viewings of How to Train Your Dragon, The A-Team and Avatar, one fabulously hilarious Night of the Laptops, and many cookies and goodies made by myself, my sister and my mother.

From my end of the baking came the following:
Swedish Ginger Cookies
Cinnamon Giraffes
Aniseed Cookies
Chocolate Almond Macaroons
Coconut Macaroons
Mexican Hot Chocolate Balls
Amaretti
Mint Chocolate Elephants
Espresso Biscuits
Drommar
Buttery Pistachio Cookies
Meringues
Banana Whoopie Pies
Schiklosch


And because I had the time, I made a bunch of candy type things as well.

Rum Balls
Chocolate Dipped Fruits
Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows
Hazelnut Butter Balls
Eggnog Balls
Two-Tone Fudge
Raffaello
Peanut Brittle

All in all, better than any present that could come from under a tree.

Osiris

About 10 years ago, on one of the days my best friend and her kids came over for dinner, her and I were chattering away, laughing and drinking good wine while I cooked.  Just as we had started on the second bottle April said, "Shhhh, I hear a cat."  So I listened intently with her for a few minutes and heard nothing.  Looking at her with skeptical eyebrows, I pronounced that she was cut off from the vino and promptly took away her glass.

We went on with the talking and laughing, and then got around to the eating.  When dinner was finishing up and we were all sitting around the table being fat, I heard her phantom cat outside the window by the kitchen table.  After a few seconds of her saying, "I told you so!" (and yes she really said that, quite loudly and with great emphasis) I opened the front door and there sat this beautiful charcoal grey and white cat with luminous yellow-green eyes.  He was malnourished to the point of starvation and while giving him water and some tuna, I noticed that he had been fixed.  Then I noticed that he'd also been front declawed (which I just don't understand), and that could only mean one thing: he had either been someone's pet and gotten lost, or he had been someone's pet and been abandoned.  And that is when my heart broke and I knew without a doubt that he was going to be moving in.


I named him Osiris, but after about a week I had begun calling him Beebee, a bastardized from of Baby.  And about a week after that it was the only name he would respond to.  I became his Human and he became my Cat. 

Over the past few months Beebee had doing poorly, with what ailment I do not know.  I did not have enough money outright to bring him to a vet for tests and I wasn't able to find a vet who would make payment arrangements.  This morning when I woke up and tended to him I saw that his health had deteriorated rapidly in the past 48 hours.  I made one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.

At approximately 8pm this November 3rd, 2010, Beebee died.  Though I sit here and remember all of the joy and love that he brought to my life, and think of how happy and content he was, I cannot stop the pain in my chest...as though someone is squeezing my heart in a vice.   

Oh Oui Maria Bagette Bon Soir, FRENCH TOAST!

Having breakfast for dinner is always looked upon with great favor in our house.  For the most part they are planned out, even if they are simple.  But every once in a while it's a matter of "this sounds good" and "that sounds good" and "hey what's in the fridge?".  Which is how my daughter and I came up with an amazing combination of really simple things.  These French toast rocked our damn socks off. Bren was adamant that I post this recipe, but I suspect for selfish reasons rather than a desire to let everyone share in it...he wants to make sure I don't forget what Karina and I did so we can make it again.

Blueberry Cheesecake French Toast
for the French toast:
4 eggs
1 cup French vanilla flavored coffee cream
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
bread of choice

for the blueberry sauce:
16 ounces frozen blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tbs cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water


for the cheesecake sauce:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup half and half



For the blueberry sauce, mix berries, sugar and water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook until berries are heated through and some have popped open.  Bring to a slow boil and stir in cornstarch mixture.  Cook for about one minute, or until thickened.


For the cheesecake sauce, mix the softened cream cheese thoroughly with the powdered sugar.  Stir in half and half in small increments until thoroughly combined.  Amount will depend on how thick or thin you want to make it.


For the French toast, mix the cinnamon with a few drops of water to make a thin paste.  Beat eggs thoroughly in a medium bowl with a wide flat bottom.  Stir in cinnamon paste and salt until combined.  Add coffee cream to egg mixture, stirring constantly.  Heat a griddle over medium-high heat and brush with a little canola oil.  When the griddle is hot, remix the custard to re-disperse the cinnamon, dip a slice of bread in it on both sides, let the excess drip off and place the bread on the griddle.  Repeat with however many slices will fit on your griddle.  Watch carefully and flip when browned on one side.  Repeat with as much bread as the custard will allow.


Serve French toast with both sauces spooned over them. 

你瘋了嗎

 

Thanks Blizz, for making our toons do badass poses on the character list screen, but do you think you could fix the bug that makes it look like they're wearing their guild tabbard when no tabbard is equipped?  It's hard to give off that "I will kill you dead with my pointy axe!" vibe when your guild happens to think it's funny to have a pink tabbard with a bunny on it.  kthnx.

So my push for insanity is nearing a close, and I can tell you that it's none to soon.  I feel like a lifeless drone.  The only two reps I have to complete are for Ravenholdt and Darkmoon Faire.  

Ravenholdt:  Revered 13124/21000

Darkmoon Faire:  Honored 800/12000

I'll have Ravenholdt done by the end of this week.  My baby rogue can pick-pocket mobs in Tyr's Hand without being spotted (unless I'm a noob and right-click on the mob) so I didn't have to level her further in order for her to benefit my main.  That's not to say that she'll stay at 60, but for the time being I'm going to abuse her for her pick-pocketing abilities.

Darkmoon Faire and I should be ok....once I stop crying in the corner thinking about all the decks I'll need to make and turn in to finish rep with them.  Hey, I don't have a lot of gold so buying higher decks is out of the question and I don't plan on having a lot of gold in the near future so my only alternative is to make the cards and decks myself.  It's going to hurt.

*Thanks to Emily for the Chinese translation of "Are you crazy?"....and for the cocoa roasted almonds, omg, I drool