Holm Family Cookbook

Enchilada Pie made in a Dutch oven and cooked over coals

We had our annual Calhoun family reunion on Saturday at the family party barn and my sister Nancy and I had the Dutch ovens going. One of our cousins brought some great butternut squash enchiladas that she made in a Dutch oven at home. We normally have a lot of Portuguese dishes at this family reunion, but since it was Cinco de Mayo I guess we all decided to go with Mexican themed cuisine--plus we needed something to complement all of the tequila we had.

Tequila!

We had a great time at the reunion. Our great aunt Ruth celebrated her 100th birthday. And, in addition to last Saturday being Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby was also held that day. As is the tradition at the reunion, we had a Kentucky Derby contest with a little bit of wagering involved. This year when I announced the name of the winning horse, "I'll Have Another," everyone said, "OK, but what's the name of the winning horse?"  "I'll Have Another."  Badaboom. It was one of those who's on first situations.

Enchilada pie was one of the dishes that I made that day in the Dutch ovens. It was a recipe that I made at a CattleWomen's Dutch oven cook-off last November and won a first place.

Enchilada Pie – Serves 6

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 16-ounce can cream corn

1 tablespoon chili power

1 16-ounce can refried beans

2 tablespoons taco sauce

1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce

1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies

1 package Jiffy style cornbread mix

1 egg (or amount required for cornbread mix)

1/3 cup milk (or amount required for cornbread mix)

1/2 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese and ½ cup more for serving

Directions

Brown beef, onion, and garlic in a large skillet or other Dutch oven; drain well. Stir in enchilada sauce, corn and chili powder, set aside. Prepare cornbread mix according to instructions on the package, then stir in half the can green chilies and set aside.

Use a 12” Dutch oven and line with foil. Lightly coat foil with oil. Spread refried beans evenly on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Spread the taco sauce over the refried beans. Sprinkle the rest of the green chilies over the beans. Spoon the beef mixture evenly over the refried beans and chilies. Sprinkle a ½ cup of cheese over the beef mixture. Pour the cornbread mixture evenly over the cheese and beef mixture.

Bake with 8 coals on the bottom and 12 on top for about 30-35 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown. Serve with shredded cheese. This dish can be made in a conventional oven with a preheated cooking temperature of 375 degrees F.

Dutch oven lined with foil and refried beans spread on the bottom

Corn bread mixture with chilies added and then poured over top of layered beans and beef

~merry~

Our friends Ernie and Diane were heading to Costa Rica for 4 months to help out a congregation in the small town of Sarchi; so of course, any excuse for a party! We decided to try out some Costa Rican recipes to prepare their bellies for the adventure ahead. There aren’t many cookbooks featuring Costa Rican cuisine available, so I found a few recipes online and sent them to the guests for a potluck. After our ravioli-making day, we planned to have a tamale-making day, so on this occasion we made the standard pork tamales and Costa Rican tamales. What sets the Costa Rican tamale apart is the addition of potatoes and rice to the filling, they are wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks, and are boiled instead of steamed.

Arroz con leche, Costa Rican tamales and pork tamales fill the stovetop!

We searched high and low for banana leaves, an ingredient not often used by us Californian’s, and Diane finally found them in the freezer section at Ranch 99 Market.

A staple on the Costa Rican’s menu is Gallo Pinto (beans and rice). A couple who spent a number of years in Central America and the Caribbean brought a pot of these herbed black beans and rice, something they had eaten plenty of during their stay in the tropics. Another friend brought a delicious Ensalada Palmito, a light fresh salad of hearts of palm with a homemade mayonnaise dressing.

Ensalada Palmito with homemade mayonnaise

Also on the menu was Ensalada Rusa, a hearty salad of potato, beet and carrot (turned bright pink from the freshly roasted beets!), along with Tico Rice and for dessert Arroz con Leche, a sweet rice pudding. I made a batch of Picadillo, a vegetable chorizo mélange.

Picadillo with chorizo and chayote

This was the first time I had ever purchased a chayote, and couldn’t figure out why each chayote came in a little plastic bag. Good thing I looked it up on google, as you can have an allergic reaction to the skin, it’s best to wear gloves to peel.

We all shared in making the tamales, an all-afternoon affair, plus some preparation in advance. A number of us cooked huge pork butts (actually shoulders) the day before, low and slow, along with the Tico Rice and potatoes for Costa Rican tamales. Chef Bruce (you met Bruce previously in Nonni’s Ravioli blog!) taught us all how to make the masa using lard, homemade broth and cumin.

Spreading the masa in traditional tamales

We used the same masa for both varieties of tamales, making batch after batch after batch throughout the afternoon, as dozens of tamales were assembled and rolled!

Tanner and Bruce on the tamale line

Costa Rican Tamale Recipe

3 lbs pork shoulder roast

2 tbsp olive oil

coriander leaves (cilantro), salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano, achiote (I didn’t have this ingredient on the hill!)

8 cloves of garlic, peeled

½ lb sweet or hot peppers to taste

1 large onion

32 ounces chicken broth

2 ¼ lbs potatoes

2 lbs instant corn masa mix

2/3 lb lard

5 cups cooked Tico style rice

2 ¼ lbs banana leaves (corn husks can be substituted, or if desperate aluminum foil)

Rub the pork roast with olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon black pepper. In a deep roasting pan add the peppers, onion, garlic and chicken broth. Roast at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the skin browns, then lower the temperature to 300 degrees and roast until very tender, 3-4 hours. Reserve the broth. When the meat is cool shred or chop finely.

Chopping the roasted pork

While the meat is simmering prepare the potatoes and rice.

Peel the potatoes chop into ½ inch cubes. Boil with salt, cilantro, and oregano to taste until soft, about 10 – 15 minutes.

Rice Tico style

3-5 sprigs cilantro

1 small or half a medium onion

½ small red or yellow sweet pepper

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups white rice

3 cups chicken broth or water

½ teaspoon salt

Chop cilantro, onion, and sweet pepper very fine. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a large pan and sauté the dry rice for 2 minutes over medium high flame then add the chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro and sauté another 2 minutes. Add water or chicken broth and salt, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer until rice is tender, 20-25 minutes.

Tamale fillings ready to roll: roasted pork, potatoes and tico rice

To prepare the masa, allow the meat broth to cool until it is just warm. To the dry masa add 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and and mix dry. Then add the lard, mixing with hands or machine, while adding the warm broth. It should take about 2 1/2 cups to make a paste the consistency of mashed potatoes. Mix and add slowly, and if you over shoot on the broth and get it too thin, add a little more masa.

Wash the banana leaves then cut them into 15 inch squares. Spread 2 tablespoons of masa paste in the center, add 1 tablespoon each of potatoes, rice and meat.

Costa Rican tamale ingredients ready to wrap

Fold as shown and tie with cotton string, or strips of corn husks.

Little wrapped packages ready for the pot!

Cook the tamales in gently boiling water for about one hour. If you substitute corn husks, you will need to make slightly smaller tamales, pack the pot full and steam them rather than boiling them, because the husks won't hold together.

A plate packed with our Costa Rican cuisine!

They made it! Diane & Ernie in Grecia's central park, Diane and Linda shopping at the market in Sarchi Costa Rica!

Pura Vida!   Nancita the hungry gringita

Our friend Bruce Burton loves to cook for and with people, foods from scratch, that take hours and hours, such as ravioli, tamales (that's the next blog!), and the like.

Our Executive Chef

We had tasted his ravioli before, including butternut squash ravioli that just melted in your mouth, but we never had the opportunity to cook with Bruce. We finally found the time to “whip up” his Nonni’s (from Italy) ravioli. We passed out the ingredient list to friends, set aside a Saturday afternoon in the party barn, and got to work. We were making the dough, the filling, and the sauce. In hindsight, next time we may make the sauce, or filling, or both, the day before, as this was an all day process with multiple hands at work!

We really started from scratch by grinding our own meat. We had a couple of pork butts and a chuck roast that we sliced into strips and ran through the grinder.

The Meat Grinder

We didn’t follow the recipes to the tee (as usual!). We didn’t have chicken, so we doubled the pork, and for the sauce, we didn’t have canned tomatoes, we only used tomato sauce. Then the chopping began--lotsa chopping--and it had to be diced fine to fit into those delicate little pillows! Bruce’s Sous Chef, Joan (his wife!), was the chop master, with oysters, half a dozen fresh herbs, spinach, Swiss chard, onions, and, of course, lotsa garlic!

Our Sous Chef hard at work

We put our Italian friend Kristin (maiden name: Amicucci!) to work on the garlic.

The Italian Garlic Princess - Ms. Amicucci

Some of the same ingredients were used in the filling and the gravy (which we American’s would call sauce), we were working on those simultaneously. We needed to get the gravy on early so it could stew for about 3 to 4 hours. It was really amazing how much was happening on the party barn ping-pong table, multiple stations along the progress of our ravioli adventure.

Nonni's Gravy

Once we had the filling all chopped and mixed, and the gravy back in my kitchen on a slow simmer (the hot plates in the barn couldn’t cut the mustard), we got to work on the ravioli dough. Just like Mario Battali, Bruce started the dough with a pile of flour, made a well, dropped in the eggs, oil and salt and got to kneading.

Nonni's Dough

Three batches later, we were ready to starting rolling out the dough in the machine.

Once it was just about see-through, very thin, but not so thin it would tear, we placed it over the floured ravioli pan, made little divots, spooned a small amount of filling into the hole, watered the edges, and placed another layer of dough on top.

Then we used a small rolling pin to roll all the edges,

flipped the pan over onto a corn floured baking sheet, and got on to the next batch.

The final step was boiling the ravioli in a large pot of salted water. You dump the ravioli in and when they float, mission accomplished, about 5 to 6 minutes. We poured a bit of sauce on the plate, placed the ravioli on top, and poured more sauce over the top, and dug in.

My first bite was worth all the effort, these little pillows of loveliness melted in your mouth! I don’t remember ever tasting pasta that soft and velvety, I was so overwhelmed with eating that I never did get the “money shot” of the finished product! This picture doesn’t do those ravioli justice.

Nonni's Ravioli

So the next occasion you have multiple hands available, a lot of time, and the ingredients on hand, “whip up” some ravioli, it’s well worth the time and effort, and for those of you without an Italian Nonni like me, now you have a recipe!

Mangia! Nancy

NONNI’S GRAVY (SAUCE)

1 – 28 ounce can Italian plum tomatoes

1 – 15 ounce can tomato sauce

½ small can tomato paste

1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tsp. red pepper

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. dried thyme

pepper to taste

Blend plum tomatoes in cuisinart. Put in a 6-quart pot with remaining ingredients.

In cuisinart chop:

½ bunch parsley

10 large fresh mushrooms

½ cup dried mushrooms (soaked in water, squeezed and chopped, use strained liquid)

Add ingredients to the pot.

Fry:

1 pound ground beef

Chop in cuisinart to a fine texture and add to pot.

1 leg and 1 thigh of chicken

2½ cups water

1 pound boneless chuck roast

Cut big slices through the chuck but leave in one piece. Brown the chuck and chicken pieces. Cook with 2 ½ cups of water to make broth. Strain out the meat and chicken bones, add broth to the sauce and cook for 3 or more hours.

NONNI’S RAVIOLI FILLING (1/4 batch, 5 ounces = 1 dozen ravioli)

¼ pound sirloin

½ pound pork butt

¾ pound chicken (we didn’t use chicken, but more pork)

½ jar fresh oysters, chopped

¼ cube butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 bunch green onions, finely chopped

¼ cup celery, finely chopped

1 tbsp. Thyme and rosemary, finely chopped

½ bunch parsley, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ cup spinach, finely chopped and cooked

1 cup Swiss chard, finely chopped and cooked

6 eggs

3 tbsp. olive oil

8 ounces ricotta cheese

¾ cup Parmesan cheese

¼ cup breadcrumbs

Grind the beef, pork and chicken. Fry celery and onions in butter and olive oil. Fry the pork, then beef and chicken. Mix with the remaining ingredients to stuff the ravioli.

NONNI’S RAVIOLI DOUGH

1¼ pounds of flour

3 eggs

2 tbsp. Oil

¼ tsp. Salt

Hot water if needed, use oil in hot weather

Make a well in the mound of flour. Place the eggs, oil and salt in the middle of the flour. Mix together, kneed, put in bowl, cover and let rest for 1 hour or so. Roll out, add filling, top with dough, cut into raviolis.

Beef barley soup, corned beef hash, and Rueben sandwiches were made with our leftover corned beef

Our mom is currently in the hospital receiving care for the side effects from the chemo-like drug she is taking to hopefully prolong her life in her fight against metastasizing melanoma. So, even when she is not in the hospital, my sisters and I usually try to bring meals to our parent's house or cook something there. On Friday my sister Nancy bought a huge corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots to make a traditional corned beef and cabbage meal for our father and anyone else that happened to be at our parent's house at dinnertime.  And, I bought the same things to make my family the traditional dinner on St. Patrick's Day.  It should come as no surprise, between the two houses, we had a lot of left over corned beef.

When I prepared the corned beef at my house I cooked mine in my slow cooker. I removed the visible fat from the outside of the meat. I put the spices in a cheesecloth pouch so the little round balls (I think they are peppercorns) wouldn't surprise us later when eating the cabbage or the soup that I planned to make. Instead of using plain water to cover the corned beef, I used the beef version of Better Than Bullion, which would be like a beef stock or broth. I also added a couple of carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. These were added to add flavor to the meat while the meat cooked--the veggies tend to get too mushy if they are cooked the duration of the time the meat is cooked. Just about an hour before the meat was done I added the carrots, potatoes, and cabbage that we would eat with the meat. If you do this and the meat is done cooking and you need to add the veggies, just remove the meat and put it in an oven safe covered dish with some of the broth in a 200 degree F oven to keep it warm while the veggies cook.

Beef barley soup was made with the leftover broth, beef, and veggies

After we ate dinner I began to make soup to freeze for meals on other days.  I strained the mushy veggies that cooked with the meat from the broth and coarsley chopped the mushy veggies. I added the chopped veggies back to the broth and added about a 3/4 cup of pearl barley. I brought the broth to a boil and simmered about 45 minutes until the barley was soft. I cut up some of the corned beef and added it to the soup. I also cut up some of the cooked carrots, cabbage, and potatoes and added them. Had I remembered, I would have added a bit of red wine.

Corned beef hash was made with the leftover corned beef

Yesterday morning I made corned beef hash and eggs with some of the leftover meat. To do this I cut up four red potatoes with skins on into cubes. I boiled the potatoes until they just started to soften, which was about 7 minutes. I finely chopped 1/2 red onion and sautéed the onion in olive oil in an oven proof skillet until they just started to brown. I chopped up five slices of corned beef. I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F. I drained the potatoes and then added them and the chopped meat to the skillet with the onions and cooked until the potatoes began to brown. During the cooking I seasoned with pepper, garlic salt, and a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper.  I cracked eggs onto the top of hash and seasoned them with salt and pepper, covered with a lid and put the skillet in the preheated oven. I baked the hash and eggs until the eggs were cooked the way I like them (yokes hard). Instead of cooking the eggs in the oven, some people will place poached eggs on top of the hash. The poached eggs placed on the hash are aesthetically more appealing, however, I was pressed for time and found this method much faster.

Rueben sandwiches were made with the leftover corned beef

Yesterday for lunch there was a gang of people to feed at our parent's house, so Nancy and I made Rueben sandwiches with the corned beef Nancy made for our father on Friday. To make the sandwiches we used rye bread, sauerkraut, Havarti cheese (Swiss works well too), Thousand Island dressing, and slices of the corned beef.  To make the sandwiches we buttered the bread and in this order we added the cheese, corned beef, Thousand Island dressing, and sauerkraut--and of course the second piece of bread. We then grilled the sandwiches. We usually use a sandwich press to make them, but did not have one handy, so we placed a piece of foil on top of the grilling sandwich and placed a cast iron skillet on top to press it.  We normally use marbled rye to make the sandwiches, but all of the stores Nancy went to in search of bread were out. One store was even completely out of dark rye. It appears a lot of other people were making sandwiches with their corned beef as well.

Thousand Island dressing, sauerkraut, dark rye bread, Havarti cheese, and corned beef were used to make the Reuben sandwiches

All of this and we still have leftovers!

Happy Monday to you all.

~merry~

French dip sandwich made from leftover beef tri-tip

In my teens and twenties the only food I would order when I ate out in restaurants was French dip sandwiches. Not only was my diet very limited, but so was the distance I had traveled. However, at that time I could have told you where you could get the best French dip sandwiches from Livermore (in the San Francisco Bay Area) to Lake Tahoe and south to San Diego.  I very rarely order French dip sandwiches these days--I find that a lot of restaurants use beef that looks and tastes like lunch meat in their French dips, and I prefer hand carved roast beef.

Recently my friend Kim Bonde provided a French dip sandwich lunch at a fundraiser that we hosted. Her sandwiches were just delicious and reminded me of how much I used to like them, so when I had some tri-tip roast left over last week, I made French dip sandwiches with the leftover meat.

As long as you have the beef on hand, they are quick and easy to make. It's so easy, you don't need a recipe, just follow the directions under the photos below.

Split open and spray olive or spread some butter on sourdough or ciabatta rolls, place the rolls cut-side down in a skillet on medium heat until toasty brown

Thinly slice left over roast beef

Following the manufacturer's directions, mix up some au jus

Heat up the beef with a tablespoon or two of the au jus

Place the beef on the bread and serve with the au jus.

To dress the sandwiches up a bit, you can add cheese or grilled onions.

That was easy.

~merry~

Beef tri-trip roast and garlicky oven roasted potatoes are easy to make

Last Sunday night I was sort of watching the Academy Awards and I needed to make dinner. I had seen a few of the movies nominated for awards and wanted to see if George Clooney would win Best Actor for the Descendants, which was my favorite movie. Since I can't see the TV from the kitchen, I wanted to prepare a dinner that would not take a lot of preparation and did not need to be stirred, turned, or watched frequently while cooking. I had a tri-tip roast that had passed the "buy by" date the day before, so tri-tip roast and oven roasted potatoes was an easy choice to make.

My family loves meat and potatoes, which can be one of the easiest dinners to prepare. Baked potatoes are probably the easiest way to prepare potatoes. The second easiest has to be oven roasted potatoes, which do not require peeling--only washing, cutting, and seasoning. At my house we all love garlic, so I decided to make my oven roasted potatoes garlicky.

To prepare my meats for roasting or grilling, I use a house seasoning mix that I found on Paula Deen's website. We had prime rib for Christmas that I seasoned with the house seasoning and my husband roasted on our gas grill. It was one of the best prime ribs ever.  I keep the house seasoning in a stainless steel canister in the kitchen counter and use it often. The recipe was a great find and I've provided it below.

The house seasoning I keep in a stainless steel container on my counter

House Seasoning

 Ingredients

1 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

Directions

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Beef Tri-Tip Roast and Garlicky Oven Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

Tri-tip roast (if tri-tips are not available in your area, just about any beef roast will work)

House seasoning (recipe above)

5 large russet potatoes or several small potatoes

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 or 2 cloves of garlic*

Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Rub the roast with plenty of the house seasoning.  Place the roast in the middle of baking pan. Wash and scrub the potatoes. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into quarters. Put the potatoes into a bowl and drizzle olive oil over the top of potatoes. Use a garlic press to squeeze garlic over the top of potatoes. Mix potatoes with your hands to coat with the olive oil and garlic. Sprinkle the potatoes with kosher salt. Place the potatoes in the baking pan around the roast.

Bake the roast for 15 minutes at 500 degrees F. Cooking at this temperature will give the roast a nice brown crust.  After 15 minutes, REDUCE the temperature to 350 degrees F.  Turn the potatoes over and place the roast and potatoes back into the oven. Bake for 30 or more minutes until a meat thermometer reads medium or 160 degrees F (I have a convection oven, so my meat takes less time to cook).  Remove the roast from the oven and let the roast sit for about 5 minutes before carving.

*If you don't like garlic, season the potatoes with salt and pepper or lemon pepper.

Use a garlic press to squeeze garlic on potatoes

Seasoned roast and potatoes ready for the oven

 Let the roast rest for 5 minutes before carving

Merry's been there, done that cooking tip:  When cooking the roast, be sure to set the timer for 15 minutes, especially if you are using a glass baking dish. The baking dish will crack if cooked much longer at 500 degrees.

~merry~

Our friends the Blume’s hale from NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana), and boy do they know how to cook! We recently put our heads together during crab season, and decided it was time for a good ol’ fashioned crab boil. In the Blume's old neighborhood, blue crabs are king, in our ‘hood, it’s Dungeness all the way. So we met somewhere in the middle (that somewhere would be 99 Ranch Market in Pleasanton, this place is amazing!), and went a little overboard on the seafood.

Live Dungeness at 99 Ranch Market

We wanted everyone to feel at home, so we got a bit of everything…Dungeness AND Blue crab (we found them both live!), jumbo gulf shrimp, a pair o’ still kickin' lobster, crawdads (not so live), and of course, some okra. It was a shopping event to remember and we hadn’t even started cooking yet.

Crustacean Alert! Blue & Dungeness Crab, Crawdads, Lobster & Shrimp

For the crab boil, we threw everything in a huge pot o’ boilin’ water: corn on the cob, red potatoes, onion, lemon, garlic, artichoke, salt and pepper, and of course, a bag or two of Zatarain’s Crab Boil.

It's a crab boil with all the fixin's!

Oops, don’t forget the crab.

Fresh off the California Coast - Dungeness Crab

We made an awful mess of their kitchen, but well worth it. We decided for next season, it would be necessary to get a big gas burner for out of doors and really do things right. It was a bit too cold to rollout the newspaper on tables outdoors for the gang to crack and eat at the same time, so a few of the fellas did the crustacean crackin’ outside, and brought it ready to eat inside..

You may have read about my foray into okra last summer, the only kind of okra we didn’t cook was fried. Well, we took care of that! The fried okra was absolutely delicious, and really easy, again, thanks to Zatarain’s seasoned Fish-Fri, Crispy Southern. We had every burner going on the stove, so we brough in the electric frying pan to get the job done.

Crispy fried okra

Just toss the sliced okra rings in the Fish-Fri and into the hot oil, voilà! Delicious crunchy little morsels that melt in your mouth, and to dispel the myth to those in California that don’t eat okra, it wasn't slimy at all!

The only thing we didn’t need Zatarain’s for was the dirty rice, our Southern friends whipped up a batch from scratch, with a dash of Tony Chachere’s! (I cheat at home and do use Zatarain’s Dirty Rice in a box, I'm from California after all.)

We really didn’t use any recipes for this meal, just threw it all together. I couldn't write fast enough as Deana was making her dirty rice, there were too many pots and pans boilin', I'll get that recipe next time! We served the crustaceans with pounds of melted garlic butter, spicy cocktail sauce and my family's thousand island crab dressing. This was definitely a meal to remember, and to repeat!

Laissez le Bon temp rouler…in California!

Nancy

Over Labor Day weekend we headed out for the annual Mueller family camping trip on the Tuolumne River and Turlock Lake in Stanislaus County. This was a banner year with over 30 campers and boaters, ages 2 to 79.

The Tuolumne River in Stanislaus County

A fleet of boats are towed along, one of which is a bass boat, so there’s usually some fishin' going on. In the past, we haven’t cooked fish that often, the river is catch and release for trout, and nobody has ever been too excited about cleaning and cooking those critters at the end of the day. This year we took things a little more seriously, and I came prepared with my “tool box” for camp cooking.

I visited Green Leaf BBQ, our local specialty BBQ shop ahead of time to look into buying a 16-18” cast iron frying pan, after seeing the behemoth in use on our last camping trip. I left the store without the frying pan (it’s a specialty order) but came out with “The Brothers” Tangy Original BBQ Sauce and “John Henry’s” Wild Cherry Chipotle dry rub, upon recommendation from the owner. I was also packing a salt, pepper and garlic house spice mix that I had picked up at the Lockeford Sausage Company.

The river was flowing fast and furious into the lake and along the campsite, and fishing was good. The Mueller and Miller boys brought in a full stringer of rainbow trout, the assembly line of fish cleaning got rollin’ and the BBQ was sparked. I brought along an arsenal of ideas…

Nephew Matt and the Sangervasi cousins with the "catch of the day"!

I started by sprinkling every fish, inside and out, with the salt and pepper mix, and we tried the trout four ways:

1) I soaked two of the fish in buttermilk that I had brought up for pancakes, then dipped the fish in some flour and spice mix and fried it up on the camp stove the good old fashioned way. It came out crispy and delicious - heads began to turn.

2) We threw one trout directly on the grill, about 5 minutes on one side, flipped it, poured on “The Brothers” sauce inside and out, flipped it again after 5 minutes, brushed the other side with the sauce, cooked a few more minutes and served. At this point we won over another 3 nay-saying fish haters!

3) I laid a pair of fish individually on heavy duty tin foil, rubbed olive oil inside and out and sprinkled with a little more spice mix, stuffed the fish with sliced red bell pepper, garlic and shallots, laid a bit of the veg mix alongside the fish, wrapped them loosely and threw them on the grill, about 10 - 12 minutes each side. Now we were cooking! Another success, and another couple of skeptics were brought to the other side.

4) We rubbed the last fish with olive oil and heavily sprinkled it with John Henry’s Wild Cherry Chipotle dry rub inside and out, threw it on the grill, 5 minutes each side, and boy oh boy, this was the winner in my eyes, it was absolutely delicious! One of the 11 year-olds came over from the darkside at this point, we had the whole team eatin’ fish, and actually enjoying it.

At this point we were wondering if “fish” had another name, maybe kids would be more tolerant, and move beyond the average fish stick! Mission accomplished, my fly-fishin’ dad would be proud!

~ Nancy Calhoun Mueller

I have a recipe for Marsala chicken that I have made for years--I even included it in our cookbook--and I must say it is very bland compared to the recipe in this post and I am now a bit embarrassed that I included my almost bland recipe in our cookbook! This recipe makes the best Marsala chicken I have ever eaten.

This is a recipe of Emeril Lagasse's that I have modified a bit to reduce the saturated fat and I reduced the cayenne pepper to lessen the heat (never fear, it still has a bit of a kick). Since I'm a mom working outside of the home and have a lot less time to cook than Emeril, I've also made a tweak or two to reduce the prep and cook time. And, last but not least, I have added fresh basil. I don't know about you, but the smell of fresh basil makes me giddy. Ok, maybe it was the glass of red wine I drank while I was cooking that made me giddy, but I really do love the smell of fresh basil.

Besides creating a wonderful entree, the extra Essence that you make with this recipe can be used for the spice in oven-fried chicken or added to a variety of recipes. Bonus!

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows

2 - 3 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3 cups sliced mushrooms (I use one 8-ounce carton of prewashed/sliced mushrooms)

3/4 cup Marsala wine

1 cup prepared chicken bouillon (I use the Better Than Bouillon brand) or chicken broth

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced and chopped 

Directions

Make the Essence. The recipe is below.

Pound the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. To do this, place a sheet of plastic wrap on a plastic cutting board. Put the chicken breast on the place wrap leaving some space between the breasts. Place a second sheet of plastic wrap on top of the chicken breasts. Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken breasts to thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut the chicken breasts into halves.

Pounding the chicken breasts with a meat mallet

My favorite meat mallet

In a shallow bowl or pie tin combine the flour and Essence and stir to combine thoroughly. Dredge the chicken breasts in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour. Reserve 1 or 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture.

The flour and Essence mixture. The plastic bag contains extra Essence that can be used in other recipes, such as oven-fried chicken.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add one tablespoon of the butter to the pan and let it melt. Add the mushrooms and cook. Stir frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid. Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken bouillon or broth and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

If the sauce is not thickening or to thicken the sauce more quickly, add 1 tablespoon of the reserved flour mixture to two tablespoons of water. Mix well and then mix into the sauce. Stir well to prevent the flour mixture from becoming lumpy.

The fresh basil has been added to the chicken and sauce

Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 3 or 4 minutes. Do not overcook the chicken as it will become dry and tough. Add the fresh basil, swirl in the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter, and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper (Emeril uses 1 whole tablespoon)

1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Have a great Mother Mother's Day! In the words of Emeril, "Kick it up a notch. BAM!!"

~merry~

One pot sausage and steamed veggies, couscous, and healthy garlic bread

Our mother had surgery last Thursday. She was supposed to be in the hospital for five to eight days and she came home the very next day. By the time we got her home and settled, and figured out a schedule for who would be doing what and when (they sent her home with tubes and things that needed to be tended to), we realized it was dinner time. We didn't have anything planned and there were several of us at the house to be fed. Never fear, my sister Nancy came to the rescue with something that was quick and easy, and could feed all of us. For lack of a better description, I'm going to call it "all in one pot Italian sausage and steamed veggies."

To make this dish she filled the bottom of a large pot with a mixture of Italian sausage. Some were pork and some were chicken with garlic. She cut up broccoli and cauliflower and placed that on top of the sausage. Then she filled the pot with about one inch of water, put the lid on and let the sausages simmer for about 10 minutes.

Put a layer of sausages in the pot

Cover the sausages with a layer of broccoli and cauliflower

While the sausages were cooking I made couscous and she made some garlic bread. The garlic bread was a much heathier version than the butter soaked bread that we all love. To make the bread she used already sliced whole wheat sourdough. She sprinkled the bread with olive oil and put the bread under the broiler until brown. Then she rubbed a clove of garlic on the bread to season it. That was it.

The steam from the sausages boosted the flavor of the steamed broccoli and cauliflower, so it did not require seasoning.

The next time you are looking for something quick and easy, this might be the ticket. 

Panko Oven Fried Chicken

Last week my youngest daughter asked me to make some oven-fried chicken. Many years ago she'd eaten Shake and Bake at the home of a friend and thought it might be something she would like to try again. My memories of Shake and Bake are not so fond, so I decided to find a better solution than Shake and Bake.

I remembered that I had a box of Panko breadcrumbs in my pantry that I bought a few weeks ago and decided to try using them tonight for oven-fried chicken. Panko breadcrumbs have increased in popularity over the last few years. Years ago you could only find Panko breadcrumbs in an Asian market, but now a days you can find them in regular grocery stores and in the breadcrumb section in Target. Panko breadcrumbs are lighter, crispier, and larger than regular breadcrumbs.

I googled recipes for Panko oven-fried chicken and found a Paula Deen recipe (what cook would know more about anything with the word "fried" in it than Paula?) and the recipe of a random health conscious cook named Will. I made up my recipe using the best ingredients and cooking methods from their recipes.

The chicken turned out great and my daughter that was hoping for Shake and Bake loved it. The chicken breasts that I used were huge and after pounding them I cut them into several pieces. I actually only used three chicken breasts and they made enough to feed my family and my parents.

The ingredients for the Panko oven fried chicken

The seasoned and oiled Panko breadcrumbs

The mustard mixture

The Panko oven-fried chicken just out of the oven

Panko Oven Fried Chicken - Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 shakes of cayenne pepper

3 shakes of paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Salt and black pepper

1/8 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons water

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 -inch thickness

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place a cooling rack in the pan and spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray.

In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste. Mix the crumbs well so that the olive oil is mixed in and the crumbs have become light and fluffy again.

In another shallow dish combine the mustard, water, salt and pepper, to taste, and remaining olive oil. Coat each chicken breast with mustard mixture; dredge each in bread crumb mixture. Place on prepared rack in pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown. To make sure the chicken does is not become overcooked and tough, check the chicken for doneness after 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

NOTE: If the chicken is done before it becomes golden brown, put the chicken under the broiler for a minute or two (about 5" from the heating element). You also might want to do this to this to the bottom of the chicken that was sitting on the rack in the event the bottom became soggy during cooking.

~merry~

Pork tenderloin with garlic balsamic sauce

Pork is not frequently served in my house and the only pork that I will usually cook is bacon, pork chops, or pork tenderloin. I just don't like the taste of pork, which is a result of spending many, many hours of clerking hog shows at our county fair. Same reason I can't.eat.goat.cheese.at.all. Ask me about it sometime. My husband grew up in the Midwest on a farm where they raised hogs. It probably makes him sad that I don't cook his favorite pork meals from his youth, however, there have been a few times that our pork chops tasted a bit porky and he turned up his nose, leaving me to believe that he may have the same aversion to it as I.

I do have a recipe for pork tenderloin with garlic balsamic sauce that I just love and my girls do too. In fact, my youngest daughter mentioned earlier this week that I had not made it in a while, so I bought a pork loin and made it last night.

While we usually eat it hot, I have served this pork tenderloin recipe cold as an appetizer. I marinated the cooked meat in the sauce overnight and my guests loved it.

Ingredients for the pork tenderloin with garlic sauce sans the pork

Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Balsamic Sauce

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of visible fat

1 to 2 tablespoons sweet hot mustard (I use Beaver Brand)

1 tablespoon olive oil

5 cloves of garlic thinly sliced

1 cup beef broth or chicken broth

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

Coat the pork tenderloin with the mustard. Place the tenderloin on a broiler pan or a wire rack on in a pan. Turn on the broiler and broil the tenderloin about 5 inches from the heat element until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF--about 5 minutes on each of the four sides. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and put on a platter and cover with foil. Leave covered for about 10 minutes--pork will continue to cook. Remove the foil and thinly slice the pork.

While the pork is cooking, start making the sauce. Over medium heat, heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Brown the garlic in the hot oil. Add the broth, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and boil until the liquid is reduced by half and it has thickened, about 15 minutes.

There are two ways that you can complete this recipe--or three if you go for the marinating the cooked pork overnight in the sauce method.

1. Pour the sauce over the sliced pork on the platter and serve.

2. Place the sliced pork in the sauce in the saucepan and cook for about a minute, making sure all of the slices of pork are coated with the sauce. Don't overcook or the tender pork will become tough. My family and I like this method the best.

If you have any pork and sauce left, try marinating it overnight. I think you will be glad you did.

~merry~

Since my visit last fall to the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, I had been trying to find the time to head back down to try the Avô's Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew. On my last visit, I didn’t notice the stew on the menu until after we had eaten our way into a seafood coma, and being Portuguese, I really wanted to give it a try. They sent me the recipe, and I made a batch at home prior to the visit, sautéing onion, garlic, fennel and adding in a can of diced tomatoes as I didn’t have any fresh, and it was absolutely delicious. You can easily substitute any seafood you have access to, I didn’t have mussels, but had picked up some frozen clams at Trader Joe’s, with shrimp and some cod. The recipe below doesn’t include linguica, but they do include it at the restaurant, small half moon slices, which I believe they fry off in advance, as there wasn’t the usual amount of grease you would find in the broth, I would estimate 1/3 of a linguica link per person.

Beer Sampler Tray with happy tasters!

It was another beautiful day on the patio (despite there still being snow on the hills and a colder breeze blowing than usual), the sun peeked out during lunch, and they have heaters on the patio along with a fire pit, and we enjoyed every minute of the view. We had to test out the Beer Sampler Tray again, and warm up with some appetizers, ½ orders of steamed garlic shrimp, fried artichokes and THE BEST calamari we had ever eaten, so tender, lightly breaded and crispy with mouth watering tartar and cocktail sauces. The Fisherman’s Stew was a perfect choice on a cold blustery day, a hot flavorful broth and plenty of mussels, clams and shrimp to share, flaky salmon and halibut, and that old Portuguese favorite, lincuica (the recipe below calls for pasta, but they don’t serve it with the pasta at the restaurant).

The other entrees were stout portions and equally delicious, the special of the day was a Crab Roll, heaped with fresh Dungeness Crab on a crusty browned French roll, a very savory remoulade and served with great French fries;

a classic Crab Louis, and a Celebration Steamer that comes in a big pot they deliver to the table filled with steamed Dungeness Crab, corn, potatoes, artichoke and garlic bread.

Chef Gaston Alfaro told us that we needed to come back when we hadn’t eaten so much and try their Beer-amisu (you got it, Tiramisu with their brew in it!!). I will definitely be back, there are still a dozen items on the menu I want to try!

Two hours of service with a smile, Chef Gaston with our server!

Avô's Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew

Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Half Moon Bay

A seasonal mix of fresh fish, shellfish, and linguica in a garlic broth with cilantro. Brewmaster's Beer Suggestion: Princeton-by-the-Sea IPA; two varieties of English hops give our malty India Pale Ale a citrus-like aroma and flavor.  

The recipe for this signature dish came from the grandfather (Avô is Portuguese for grandfather) of one of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's owners. Avô, who traveled the world as a merchant marine, regularly fished and visited Half Moon Bay during Prohibition. This recipe was created utilizing his worldly culinary expertise as well as the fish he caught in Half Moon Bay.

24 clams (manila or covels)

12 black mussels

2 pound assortment of sea fish (swordfish, salmon, sea bass or rock cod)

Pasta for 2 (penne, fettuccini, linguine)

8 oz. clam or chicken broth

1 good sized diced tomato

1 tbs. Canola oil

1 tbs. Diced garlic

½ cup white wine

¼ tsp. Kosher salt and ground black peppercorns

1 tbs. parlsey, dill & basil

½ cup sliced fennel

Start pasta per instructions. In a 5 quart stewing pot, sauté oil, white wine, salt, pepper, garlic and shellfish. Add in clam or chicken broth and steam for approximately 15 minutes until clams open. Add fish and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add chili flakes. Divide pasta into two bowls and cover with stew. Sprinkle with tomatoes, parsley, dill, basil and fennel. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 2.

We headed home with a Growler full of Sandy Beach Blonde Hefeweizen for Bob,

our favorite brew of the day with a squeeze of lemon.

Até logo, bom apetite!

   Nancy

With snow on the hills, it was time for some good old-fashioned, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. When it’s cold and rainy outside, there’s plenty of time for a fire and cooking inside.

The snow at my house this weekend

I hadn’t made this recipe for quite some time, crust and all, so I dug in my heels and got down to it. Our great-grandmother, Ida Jessen Holm, used to feed her large family along with the farm and ranch hands, neighbors, and the occasional hobo who hopped off the Southern Pacific Railroad running along Stanley Boulevard, just north of their farm in Livermore. One of her supper menus included a chicken pie she baked in a huge milk pan, using whole chicken pieces. I’m just cooking for two, and leftovers for my dad who loves chicken pie, so this is the more diminutive, urban version (even though I live in the country)!

 Leslie, Gladys, Dick (our grandfather), and Ida Jessen Holm on a buckboard

with Dora Jessen Rasmussen in the background, Circa 1905

Urban Chicken Pie - Serves 8

Flaky pastry

1 1/4 cups unsifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons shortening

1 egg, separated, white reserved

2 tablespoons cold water

Filling

1 (5 to 6 pound) whole chicken, boiled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

3 tablespoons flour

Dash of white pepper

Dash of grated nutmeg

11/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup Sauvignon Blanc

3 medium cooked carrots, sliced (cooked in the pot with the chicken)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Salt

Directions

To make the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolk and cold water; add to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until the pastry begins to hold together. You may need to add a bit more water. Shape the dough into a smooth ball, wrap well in plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the chicken meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Tear the meat into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, celery, and mushrooms and cook until soft. Stir in the flour, pepper, and nutmeg. Continue to cook until the sauce is bubbly. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the chicken broth and wine. Return to the heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the sauce thickens. Add the chicken, carrots, and peas, and stir. Season with salt to taste. Spread evenly in a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured board into a 12-inch circle. Place the pastry over the chicken mixture, and trim and flute the edge. Cut slits in the top for steam to escape. (At this point, the pie can be refrigerated and baked several hours later or the next day.)

In a small bowl, beat together the reserved egg white and1 teaspoon water. Brush the crust with the egg mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 8

The Urban Chicken Pie baked and ready to eat

"Them that works hard EATS HEARTY!" 

   - Nancy

For weeks my friends and family in Texas, the midwest, and the east coast have been posting on Facebook their fears and concerns about the big storms coming, the record low temperatures, and pictures of their homes and neighborhoods covered in snow.  Although we have been experiencing record high temperatures here in the Bay Area for the last few weeks, it was sympathy cooking that drove me to make beef stew on Saturday. For me there is nothing more comforting on a cold blustery day than a good beef stew.

I have a favorite stew recipe that I make in a large cast iron dutch oven. It’s a very simple recipe and can be made for a fairly large gathering. I can also put it in the oven in the morning and forget about it until it's time to eat. I received this recipe from a former coworker, Sue Wolfe, who grew up in Coalinga, California (home of the Harris Ranch feedlot--for you non-ranching folks, that's the stinky place on I-5 with the cows). This recipe is one of Sue's favorite comfort foods and a family recipe that has been handed down through the generations. She loves potatoes and carrots and always ends up overstuffing her Dutch oven with them.

Comforting beef stew

All of the ingredients you will need to make the stew

Coalinga Beef Stew - Serves 8

The amounts of vegetables listed are just suggested amounts and can be adjusted to your preference.

Ingredients

6 russet potatoes

8 carrots, cut in thirds and then sliced lengthwise

1/2 - 1 sliced onion (amount depends on your taste)

3 chopped celery stalks

1 cubed slice of bread

4 tablespoons uncooked tapioca

1 tablespoon sugar

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2 14.5-ounce cans stewed tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 250° F. Combine the cubed potatoes, sliced carrots, sliced onion, and chopped celery into a large Dutch oven. Top with tapioca, sugar, and bread cubes. Add the stew meat by distributing it evenly over the top of the vegetables and then cover with the stewed tomatoes. Put in the 250º F oven for 6 hours.  Stir after three hours and then occasionally until done.

If you add the ingredients in the order listed above, then stirring during cooking is less necessary (you can put it in the oven with the start timer and don't have to worry about going home to stir it if you are working). However, if you forget to add the tapioca and put it in on top, you will need to stir it while cooking, otherwise you end up with the stew the wrong consistency and all the tapioca stuck to the lid.

All of the ingredients in the dutch oven and ready to go into the oven.

The term "comfort food" (first used, according to Webster's Dictionary, in 1977) refers to foods consumed to achieve some level of improved emotional status, whether to relieve negative psychological affect or to increase positive. ~Wikipedia

Hoping this stew can be of comfort to others,

~merry~

For several years Fenestra Winery in Livermore has kicked off the new year with their soup and wine "Souperbowl" where they pair soups with wine. Last weekend the Calhoun Sisters were at the Souperbowl serving Country Pea Soup from our Holm Family Cookbook. Gloria Retzlaff Taylor of the Retzlaff Winery had given my sister, Nancy Calhoun Mueller, the recipe several years ago and both of my sisters have been making the soup for years without incident. I guess preparing soup for hundreds of people can push you to the limit and I can tell you we had plenty of problems making it this time. The morning of the first day of the event was one of those times that I felt like we'd had a train wreck (click here to read about another train wreck). Fortunately, lots of Chardonnay wine, cayenne pepper, and bacon added to the soup helped get it back on the right track.

The Souperbowl was a really fun event. People came in groups and they spent the afternoon tasting the wine, eating soup, and chatting. It was like a really big party and we had a great time seeing old friends and meeting new people. I am a red wine drinker and Fenestra was pouring some really great red wines that day. Even the moderately priced True Red table wine that they were pouring was great and seemed to be very popular. 

There were some really good soups that day too. Besides our soup, Gimanelli's Deli from Pleasanton and Blue Sage Catering in Livermore provided the other soups. Blue Sage Catering also supplied an outstanding Chili Con Carne.

Fran Replogle, co-owner of Fenestra Winery, and Nancy Calhoun Mueller

Susie Calhoun and Merry Calhoun Carter at Fenestra Winery's Souperbowl

Gimanelli Deli's Italian Sausage Minestrone

The recipes for all of the soups were there for the taking and Fenestra has the recipes from several of their Souperbowl and other events posted on their website (click here). The recipes also include some of the recipes from their wine and chocolate event. In October my sister Nancy posted Gimanelli's vegetable minestrone recipe from a previous Souperbowl that calls for a cup of Fenestra's True Red wine. One of my favorite soups at this year's Souperbowl was Gimanelli's italian Sausage Minestrone. Below is the recipe for the soup, which should be paired with Fenestra's Syrah. I highly recommend drinking some of the Syrah while you are making the soup.

Gimanelli's Italian Sausage Minestrone

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 pounds Italian Sausage

1 16-ounce can of garbanzo beans

1 16-ounce can of cannolini beans (white kidney beans)

1/2 cup peeled fresh garlic, chopped

1 large onion

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

5 celergy stalks, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 bunch green Swiss chard, washed and chopped

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice

3 pints chicken stock

1 cup Fenestra Syrah

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dry basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat. Remove sausage from casings, and add sausage to pot, cooking 12-15 minutes. Add garlic, onion, bell pepper, celery, and carrots. Cook 8-10 minutes. Add Swiss chard and cook 4-5 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes and juice, chicken stock, beans and all of the herbs and spices. Lower heat, partially cover with lid and simmer 25-30 minutes.

Serve with Fenestra's Syrah.

Oh yeah, we heard our share of soup Nazi jokes at the Souperbowl.

"You're through, Soup Nazi. Pack it up. No more soup for you. Next!"

~Elaine Benes, Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode

It must be the Portuguese blood in me that loves this soup. The traditional Portuguese soup, Caldo Verde, is a bit different than the recipe shared by Ann Perry Mueller. She had made the soup for my parents and they raved about it! When I asked her how she prepared it--the recipe was in her head, not on a recipe card. I wrote it down as she recalled the ingredients with her personal notes, came home and made it.

Caldo Verde or Kale Soup

This super vegetable thrives in the garden with the cold temps. As I read up on kale, I found out that even the ornamental kale you buy to brighten up your pathways can be eaten. Just don’t treat them with chemicals!

Two Bunches of Kale

On a rainy Sunday, open a bottle of port to put in the soup–save some for yourself to drink while eating the soup! Or should I say, save some for the soup?! It goes great with football too.

Kale Soup

Makes about 4 quarts

Ingredients

2 bunches of kale

1.5 pounds of red creamer potatoes

1 red onion, diced

1 pound linguisa (Portuguese sausage)

2 - 14 ounce cans chicken broth

Equal part (to broth) of Tawny port (consider using the broth can to measure port)

¼ teaspoon cumin (or more to taste)

Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

Boil the linguisa and then peel off the skin. Cut the linguisa into ¼ inch coin size pieces and set aside. In a 6 or 8 quart pot, sautee the onion in the olive oil.  Add the linguisa to the sauteed onion. Add the broth and port.

Roll the kale like a cigar from the top of the leaf to the base of the stem. This allows you to keep the tough stem from the soup. You could also chop it finely and add to soup. Cut the kale into thin strips. Add to soup.

Rolling the Kale

Bring to a boil, simmer for 1 hour.  Cut the potatoes into quarters, add to the soup, cook until potatoes are tender, approximately a half hour.

Vegetarians can use vegetable stock and eliminate the linguisa.

-Susie-

“Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.” ~Benjamin Franklin

In Northern California, when the chill hits the air, not only is it crab season, it’s pheasant hunting season. When we were young, all the males in the Calhoun family would head out to hunt pheasant in rice fields outside of Yuba City on Thanksgiving weekend, and would usually bring home a boat-load of pheasant. Below is our Uncle Ken and Aunt Vivian Calhoun’s recipe for pheasant.

Calhoun kids with Grandpa Reg

Wild Pheasant

Here is a recipe for preparing wild pheasant. I think three pheasant serve eight people nicely. I have used five pheasant, doubled the recipe, and served sixteen. The recipe also works well with chicken. Be sure to use the broth left in the bottom of the roasting pan to make gravy. A little California wild rice alongside is great, too.

3 pheasant, cleaned and cut into pieces

Olive oil for frying

Flour for dredging

2 cups chopped green onion

2 cups chopped celery

2 cups chopped fresh parsley

1 cup low-salt chicken stock

11/2 cups sauterne or sherry (or any dry, white wine)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Flour the pheasant pieces. In a frying pan over medium heat, brown the pieces on both sides. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the green onions, celery, and parsley. When the pheasant pieces are browned, transfer them to a 2- to 3-quart ovenproof casserole with a lid, and evenly cover them with the vegetable mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, sauterne, salt, pepper, and paprika. Pour the mixture over the pheasant. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Check occasionally to make sure the broth does not boil away. If it does, add a little water or wine, or both. Bake until meat is tender and cooked through.

Ken and Wayne Calhoun with a boat-load of ducks

Somewhere along the line while self-publishing our cookbook, maybe year 9, our designer/editor recommended that we test all of the recipes since we now would be publishing the book for the public. So now we had to divvy up the 240+ recipes. We knew we couldn’t do it ourselves, so we emailed out to our family and friends all across the U.S. asking for their help, and what cooking skills they possessed. There were some difficult items: pickles, pies, chow-chow, recipes from the 1800’s, cakes, adult beverages (why didn’t I get that section?!), even rattlesnake. It just so happened that our cousin killed one in his yard, so even that was tested! I had a frozen turkey in my freezer, so I offered to test my Uncle Ken’s BBQ Turkey Marinade, his "special way" of marinating and BBQ'ing turkey. That was one of the best decisions I ever made, it took a few days but was soooooo worth it. That turkey was the absolute best I had ever eaten, the meat was so tender, hard to describe, it was like velvet, unbelievable.

We were having some friends a couple of weeks ago, and two of us had frozen turkeys, so we decided to try out one on the gas grill, one over charcoal. I have to admit, needing two gallons of wine for the recipe, I didn’t choose any of our fine Livermore Valley wines for the marinating, I went with “the box”. This time I used a large canning pot and a large roasting pan for the marinating vessels, cleared out the refrigerator in the garage and got started the process started.

Don't be fooled by the size of the Heineken, it was a mini kegger!

We tried something a little different on the charcoal grill this round, a friend sent me up some hickory chips to smoke with the turkey, recommended using beer in the pan while we bbq'd it, and we laid strips of hickory bacon across the top during the first portion of cooking. We did baste both turkeys during the process, the charcoal bird with beer, the gas grill turkey we basted with the wine marinade. Once again, it was worth the wait, both turkeys were so moist, full of flavor and absolutely delicious! Two carcasses for soup were all that remained, and just enough white meat for two sandwiches!

BBQ turkey with hickory chips & bacon

Uncle Ken’s BBQ Turkey Marinade

I use this marinade when I cook turkey “my own special way.” Ken Calhoun

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

Cloves from 1 large head garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

½ cup salt

2 tablespoons pepper

1 gallon white wine

Juice from 3 lemons

1 cup olive oil

In a large bowl, combine the sage, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix in the wine and lemon juice, then whisk in the oil.

Ken’s Special Way

An extra refrigerator makes this easier. The turkey soaks in the great flavors as it marinates. I use a sixteen-pound turkey or smaller. A bigger bird is ok, but cooking times will be different. Depending on weight and heat, figure about twenty minutes per pound. Please don’t overcook the bird—use a thermometer to be safe. If you use a gas grill, a three-burner grill with the middle burner turned off is great. Cook at 325˚F to 350˚F.

BBQ turkey on the gas grill with wine marinade

Put a large plastic bag inside a tall plastic bucket or container. Pour the marinade into the bag. Place the turkey in the bag, pull up the sides, and tie the top, trying to submerge as much of the bird as possible. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, turning once a day.

When ready to cook, prepare an indirect fire on a charcoal grill. Place the bird on the grill, cover, and cook for about 3 to 4 hours. There is no need to baste the turkey while cooking. Add more charcoal as needed (about 18 to 20 briquettes every hour) to maintain an even heat. The turkey is done when your thermometer reaches 165˚F.

- Niece Nancy

Growing up in the Livermore Valley, we were surrounded by vineyards and wineries. Many a Livermore native worked at one winery or another in the bottling room, cellar, or tasting room, including myself and many of my family members. On the drive to our grandparents house every weekend, we would pass by the old Concannon winery, Wente’s vineyards and Raboli’s gnarled old head pruned vines with no irrigation. As the years passed, more and more wineries popped up along the drive, Retzlaff, Stony Ridge, and then Murrieta’s Well. Throughout the valley, it seemed that every other month another vineyard was planted, or tasting room opened. Recently, the urban wine scene has come to town with Occasio and Longevity wineries, and we even have a hip new wine bar on the Concannon property, the Underdog Wine Bar. The Livermore Valley appellation is now home to 40+ wineries, plenty to choose from on a weekend wine tour.

One of our favorite local wineries is fun and funky Fenestra Winery. Fran and Lanny Replogle started Fenestra 34 years ago, the first boutique winery in town. We have worked with Lanny at the wine competitions at the Alameda County Fair for many years (handing him A LOT of awards!), and I worked closely with Fran as we helped to publish the Livermore Winegrowers cookbook, “Cooking a Honker.” Fenestra hosts a number of “Fanatic” events for their wine club members, where food is always included. Every winter they hold their own “Souper Bowl” serving a variety of soups paired with their wines. The pairing below is one of my absolute favorites - a vegetable minestrone from Gimanelli’s Deli (with directions that are only one sentence long!) paired with True Red, a Fenestra specialty blend. A perfect combo to warm your belly in this blustery weather.

Gimanelli's Vegetable Minestrone

Ingredients:

3 large onions diced

3 celery stalks diced

4 large carrots diced

16 oz cans of each: Cannellini, Garbanzo & Pinto beans

2 lbs fresh tomato diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 cup Fenestra True Red wine

6 cups vegetable broth

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of dry oregano

salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients in large pot; bring to boil until carrots are tender.

Serve with Fenestra's True Red!

Cheers! Nancy