Sometimes things don't work...

And it sure is frustrating. You follow the recipe faithfully and yet it tastes - well blah. The other night I caught an episode of Jamie Oliver's Happy days Live where he made sea bass with leeks and white beans in a bag. He of course used baby leeks whereas I used regular and I used cod rather then sea bass - but still the cooking times were quite off and the general sauce was blah. I wonder whether this is because his books are translated from British measurements to North American measurements - maybe then they are not tested that well? I must say that in general I love his reicpes - I have his first three books and there are a couple of really classic recipes that I have made many times. (I recommend the lamb shanks recipe and the spicy sausage with wild mushroom farfalle.)

So what did I learn from the blah results? Not to get frustrated - I threw the fish under the broiler and had it plain with a salad. Next time I will try something else. :)

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Apologies for the lack of posting, I have been super busy and eating mostly quick salads and sandwiches. Silly work interfering with my hobbies!

However in the vein of trying to be a little healthier, inspired a bit by Kalyns Kitchen and needing things to be quick I have been trying to branch out my salads and dressing. This is how I came to try and make raspberry vinaigrette. I picked up some cheap (read the nicest stuff safeway carries, stupid safeway) raspberry vinegar and proceeded to do some googling. I quickly discovered that there are about a zillion different ways to make it, so I somewhat improvised. So here is my basic take on it. BTW, I like heavy on the tang easy on the oil - so do adjust the oil to your own taste. It makes enough for two very generous portions of salad.

Raspberry Vinaigrette:
-1t Dijon mustard
-2T raspberry vinegar
-3-4T nice olive oil to your own taste.
-generous pinches of salt and pepper.

1. Mix together mustard, vinegar and seasoning with a whisk.
2. Whisk continuously while slowly adding oil to emulsify.
3. Adjust seasoning.

I served this last night on a salad with endive, red leaf lettuce, avocado, green onions and grapefruits. Super yummy.

The Fabulous Food Saver

This came up the other day on the Kitchen Aid Conversations so I thought it would make a great post. This is one of the greatest appliances we own (and we DO own several) and the most well used. Our vacum sealer.

We received it as a gift for christmas and it is great for leftovers as well as meats. Now when we go to costco we don't feel bad about buying lots - knowing we can safely store it in the freezer without seeing any freezerburn. You can do ziploc type - plastic packaging or tupperware style containers and it seals as well as vacums.

Chocolate Drops

These are the perfect treats to keep on hand since, in my opinion, they actually taste best right out of the freezer. Plus, they have some ruffage in them so you can feel good feeding them to the kids.

This was another of my Nonna's recipes - my favorite growing up in fact, and many years later they still don't disappoint. Also, I did actually use the canned milk because apparently if you use regular milk they don't keep their shape well.

Chocolate Drops
-2C white sugar
-1/2C margarine
-3T cocoa (or 2 squares unsweetened chocolate)
-1/2C canned milk
-3C rolled oats
-1 1/2C coconut
-1t vanilla
-pinch of salt

1. Bring sugar, margarine, cocoa and canned milk to a boil.
2. Remove from stove and add remaining ingredients.
3. Drop by teaspoon on waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

My Aunt's Asparagus

Its been more then a week since I posted, mostly because I spent last weekend visiting my Nonna. We had a fabulous time visiting. She was a home ec teacher and cooked for 7 kids so she's a pro. This is what really makes this recipe something amazing, since it came out of one of those perfect moments. Three generations of women in my family discussing and sharing recipes over wine.

Another thing to add is that this keeps really well. I find it hard to feel inspired about salad so having some already dressed and ready in the fridge works for me :)

Cold Asparagus delight:
Lemon vinaigrette dressing:
-1/2C vegetable oil
-1/3C lemon juice(bottled is fine)
-1/4C slice green onions
-1T Dijon style mustard
-1t sugar
-1/2t salt

1. Put asparagus in boiling water for 1 minute then immerse in ice water to stop the cooking.
2. In a container with a tight lid combine all vinaigrette ingredients and shake to combine. Chill to room temperature.

Note: you can reverse the amounts of the oil and lemon juice.