Thanksgiving Prep/My Onblog List

Progress photos as the day continues!

My progress photos (well besides the first two) were shot down by me because I got distracted. Seitan Said Dance was live streaming from her kitchen! I was having so much fun watching her slave in the kitchen, I just gave up my photographing and enjoyed her. Hope you all had a great day!

"Chief Get Shit Done" To Do List


• Assembling recipes complete: 11/22
  

1. Cheddar/Cayenne Coins To Go with the Bloody Mary's =D
   
2. Herb Roast Turkey
3. Honey Baked Ham picked up
   
4. Artisan Bread Stuffing with Herbs/Apples & Pecans
5. Oyster Casserole
6. Roast Garlic Potatoes & Gravy
7. Sherried Peas With Mushrooms
8. Roquefort/Walnut Green Beans
9. Tomato Aspic
10. Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad
11. Fresh Cranberry Relish
12. Parker House rolls/Potato Dough
    
13. Award Winning Spice Cake/Caramel Icing
14. Buttermilk Pie
    

• Make grocery list
  
• Order Bread for stuffing. (Potato/Rosemary and French Wood fired oven baked. Nom.)
• Order Honey Baked Ham. (A southern must have)
• Plan table setting (Trying to decide between my French hand painted wild bird plates as a pre-serve...or just elegant cream and gold...decisions, decisions. I suppose I could just say, "screw it..." and do paper. :D )
  
• Order flowers for centerpiece Complete 11/22
  
• Polish silver
• Iron Linens
  
• Cleaning House (Can someone please tell me why this has to be part of meal planning? Gah.)
• Clean out refrigerator. (Omg...This is not going to be a small chore, unless I get lawn bags and just pitch everything in there and then set off a clorox bomb inside of the frig.)
  
• Put up Christmas tree and decorate it. (I know, it's early, but I have a 15 foot behemoth and my sis is free to help me on Monday.)
  

I'll be adding to my list and checking things off (turning them blue to indicate completed) as the time nears.

Thanksgiving Day Progress Photos:

I stuffed the cavity of the bird with apples, lemons, shallots, celery, sage, thyme and kosher salted and peppered the inside and out.



Put it on a rack and into the roasting pan with about 2 cups of chicken stock. It's tented with foil and in a 325 degree oven. The foil will come off in the last hour of cooking and the bird will be basted with clarified butter.

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Red Wine Marinated Lamb Chops

Lamb. Lovely, luscious lamb. I haz lamb. Red wine marinated lamb chops (not with the traditional mint flavors) are paired with steamed brussel sprouts tossed with garlic butter. Thanks to The Market at Washington and High, my new home, we'll be enjoying lamb much more frequently. I hope you'll try it too.

I'm one of those very strange people who love, love, love lamb, but I really don't like mint, a traditional flavor profile for lamb. The combination of garlic and rosemary really hits the taste spot for me. I'll sometimes use the following marinade with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in it too, but I didn't have any Dijon this night.

Red Wine Marinade:
2 cups dry red wine
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sprig of rosemary, whole
1 bay leaf, whole
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour all ingredients in a zip-lock bag along with the lamb chops and marinade for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Turn and shake several times. Remove the zip-lock bag from the refrigerator and bring the chops to room temperature before cooking.

Remove the chops from the marinade and discard (the marinade...not the chops! =D ). Chop fresh rosemary and sprinkle both sides of the lamb chops with the rosemary and salt and pepper. Place in a screaming hot skillet.



Cook on the first side until it's nicely caramelized. Turn and continue cooking on second side until rare to medium rare (Please don't overcook lamb), about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side.



While the lamb was cooking, I steamed some brussel sprouts in a double boiler. In a separate pan, I melted butter and added a crushed clove of garlic, salt and pepper. Remove the crushed garlic before serving and toss the brussel sprouts in the butter.



That's all there is to some lip smackin' goodness. Can haz lamb!

Paula

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Pan Seared Sea Bass

This week I had a couple of OMG moments. The first one occurred when I finally found the time to check out a new local market. This store made me feel like I had died and gone to heaven! The market is set in this lovely old brick building that was renovated for its new use. This post is a result of this amazing new place, The Market at Washington and High.

I live (not literally, but it has seemed like it food wise) in the middle of nowhere. The availability of fresh sea food, fabulous meats, organic produce and other incredible products to cook with was limited. This new place is relatively close, about a 20 minute drive from my house. I can't believe that I finally have access to the wonders that are offered there without a 40 minute drive!

I wandered around like a kid in a candy store. They had cobia, so fresh that it had not a single odor. They had Chilean sea bass and wonderful Italian sausages and venison, lamb, elk, duck, fresh baked breads, organic produce (Chinese eggplant! I'm going to have to cook some of that), spices and dried mushrooms and peppers and incredible condiments. I'm in love.

The second OMG moment happened when I ate this meal. Pan seared sea bass with mushroom garlic parmesan grits and fresh spinach. Wow, was it ever tasty.

Mushroom Garlic Parmesan Grits:
4 Tbs butter
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1/8 tsp dry thyme leaves
1 Pint mushrooms (I used portobello)
1 cup quick grits
2 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup heavy cream
salt and black pepper to taste
4Tbs parmigiano reggiano cheese, finely grated

Directions:
In a sauce pan, melt 2 Tbs of the butter, add the garlic and thyme. Saute for about 3 minutes, add the mushrooms. Saute until golden. Stir in grits, add chicken stock, reduce heat and simmer until the grits thicken. Add the heavy cream, 2 Tbs butter, salt and pepper.

Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown and bubbly (About 20 minutes). This is enough time to prepare the fish and spinach.

Pan Seared Sea Bass and Spinach:
Center Cut Fillets of Sea Bass
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbs canola oil
6 ounces of fresh spinach, washed
2 Tbs butter

Directions:
Season the sea bass on both sides with salt and pepper. Place a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the canola oil and bring it to a very slight smoke. Add the sea bass and cook for 7 minutes (Don't move it). Carefully turn the fish and cook the other side for the same time. The beautiful golden color and crispy skin is your reward. Remove the sea bass and hold in a warm location.

In the same skillet, add the spinach. To the wilted spinach add the butter and season with salt and pepper.

Layer the plate with a square of the grits, a small amount of the spinach on the grits and place the sea bass on an angle.

Heck. Just toss it on the plate. You won't be looking at how pretty it is, you'll be chowing down. This is some seriously good stuff.

Enjoy!

Paula

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Jack's Potato Salad...Not Jacked Up

Summer isn't the only time to enjoy potato salad. In my world, it's a year round favorite side dish. I'm on a side dish kick lately! ;)

I learned the secret of really excellent southern style mustard potato salad from our friend, Jack Gregory. I'll share it with you. It's not jacked up.

The secret to really excellent southern style mustard potato salad you ask? Eggs. Lots and lots of hard cooked eggs. Really, you can just consider this an egg salad recipe with a few potatoes added in.

Mustard Potato Salad:

5 pounds potatoes, cooked whole/skin on until fork tender, peel, cube
12 eggs, hard cooked, chopped
1 3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 tsp celery seed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs yellow mustard

Jack uses pickle relish in his, but I'm not a fan so I left it out. I also added celery seed to mine. I hope he won't mind.

Being a southern girl, I can't think of a better comfort food side dish than potato salad. Except maybe macaroni and cheese.

This recipe makes a lot. This is good; it only gets better and if it's my house, it doesn't last long.

Enjoy!

Paula

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Simply Spicy Side - Spicy Coleslaw

Simple side dishes are a great thing to have on hand and this super simple spicy slaw is so unexpectedly good that I made it 938843847 times since I first sampled the recipe.

It was a lovely summer evening at the home of some friends where I first got to taste this recipe. The occasion was a fish fry and guests had volunteered to bring a dish. The spicy coleslaw was added to the menu by our dear friend, Steve Head. I instantly fell in love with the cool/hot nature of the slaw. It's now my absolute favorite slaw recipe.

As a matter of fact, I have made double batches and eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm a bit of a freak.

Oh, did I say how simple it is to prepare?

Spicy Cole Slaw:
Ingredients:
1 16 ounce package coleslaw cabbage mixture
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs pickled jalapeno, minced fine
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 Tbs green onions, diced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
3 shakes hot sauce (I use Marie Sharp's)
2/3 cup Marzetti Slaw Dressing (I've made my own, but use the shortcut for ease)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, toss with Slaw Dressing. Chill for 1 hour and serve.



Simple right? Can haz slaw.

Enjoy!

Paula

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In Search of Cottage Pie

My husband, Byron, is a meat and potatoes guy. He doesn't much get his wish for such food, but occasionally I try to make his day. I've been in search of a really great Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie) recipe. I've fiddled around with many. I haven't settled on one yet. I'm open to suggestions if you have them.

So, here's what I did this time.

Cottage Pie Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chuck beef
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• splash dry sherry
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups frozen peas
  
• 4 cups mashed potatoes, cooked with garlic and mashed with butter and sour cream
  
• 1/8 cup chopped chives (or finely sliced green onions with tops)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place ground beef, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large heavy skillet. Saute, breaking up ground beef. When browned, drain fat off in colander.

Put beef mixture back in skillet and stir in Worchestershire, then flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring often. Add beef broth, stirring to combine, then add sherry and heavy cream. Simmer until gravy thickens.


Pour into glass baking dish. Let cool slightly, then sprinkle green peas evenly on top of beef.


Mash potatoes, cooked with pressed garlic, with butter and sour cream. Add chives or green onions. Pipe or layer and rough up the potato top to have texture to brown nicely.



Here's a side view of the layers:


Bake about 45 minutes until heated through. Turn oven on broil and brown the potato top. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

I think this would have benefited from some thyme in the meat mixture. Oh well, does anyone out there have recipes?

Paula

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Guacamole Amore

I love Guacamole.



It's so changeable. And so delicious. And...so easy.

I promised in my last post I would give you my guacamole recipe, so here it is! I make a real hodgepodge salady guacamole.

Guacamole
2 Avocados
1 Lime, juiced
3 Tablespoons Red Onion, diced
2 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 Tablespoon Pickled Jalapeno, chopped fine
1 Shake Garlic Powder*
Salt and Pepper, to taste


*Normally I use a clove of fresh garlic, pressed, but I was out. ;)

Cut the avocado length wise, scoring it around the seed. Twist the fruit and pull apart. Take your knife and whack the seed, twist the knife and pull the seed out. If you are afraid of this knife method, you can scoop the seed out with a spoon.


Pull the peel off, starting with the small end.



Mash the peeled avocado with a potato masher.


I like kind of chunky guacamole, if you want it smoother, you can process the avocado in a food processor.



Dump in the other prepared ingredients.



Voila!


Don't dine, devour!

Paula


TIPS: To ripen avocados, place them in a plain brown paper bag and store at room temperature. It will take about two to five days until they're ready to eat. To hasten ripening, place an apple in the paper bag with them.

To store guacamole in the refrigerator, put plastic wrap down directly on the surface of the guacamole.

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Pretty Darned Good Black Bean Soup

You see, unlike Cook's Illustrated, I would never claim to have "the perfect" anything with a recipe. And in all honesty, I don't think they should either (but they do...if you are interested in more on this topic, read this post). So, I have taken their recipe for Black Bean Soup, from January 2005, and improved it.

Doesn't that look wonderful?

I started with some really amazing beans from Rancho Gordo. I found out about the wonders of Rancho Gordo beans from Alosha's Kitchen when Melissa did this post about her Rancho Gordo love. I read the comments and it was unanimous that the beans are fabulous. Well, if you know me, that was too much to resist. So, I got online and ordered a variety of beans and some chili powder. Great company, Rancho Gordo! I say this being in the mail order business myself, as part of our retail store. They were just super to deal with and I hope you will give them a shout and order some beans too! I can't wait to cook more.


On to the soups. Here are the recipe ingredients from Cook's Illustrated:

Beans
1	pound dried black beans (2 cups), rinsed and picked over
4	ounces ham steak , trimmed of rind
2	bay leaves
5	cups water
1/8	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon table salt
Soup
3	tablespoons olive oil
2	large onions , chopped fine (about 3 cups)
1	large carrot , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
3	ribs celery , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1/2	teaspoon table salt
5 - 6	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/2	teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2	tablespoons ground cumin
6	cups low-sodium chicken broth
2	tablespoons cornstarch
2	tablespoon water
2	tablespoons lime juice , from 1 to 2 limes
Garnishes
	lime wedges
	minced fresh cilantro leaves
	red onion , finely diced
	avocado , diced medium
	sour cream

Oh, yeah...don't try to get on to get the recipe from that site. You have to be a paying member. Or you can get a 14 day free trial, but you have to give them a credit card. Cook's Illustrated is like my mother, she doesn't share well either.

Okay, so here's my theory about bean soups and what I see as a major flaw in the Cook's Illustrated recipe. If you have to use a thickener, you started with too much liquid to begin with. The key is to give the beans the amount of liquid they need. As they absorb the liquid, they will tell you when they need more. You only give them as much as they need to get tender, and after that, as much as you want to achieve the thickness you desire.

It's perfectly great to remove a portion of the soup and puree it. That just makes it creamier. I didn't do that for this recipe. I wanted to see those beautiful beans in their full glory.

Another flaw in their recipe, as I see it, is their choice of liquid. Water? Low Sodium Chicken Broth? How boring.

Here's my adaptation:


Beans

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups), rinsed and picked over
Water enough to cover beans with 2" over the top of the beans

Soup

1 huge or 2 large onions, generous chop (about 3 cups)
2 carrots, generous dice (about a cup)
3 ribs celery, generous dice (about a cup)
1 tsp salt
5-6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 12 ounce bottles of lager (I used Yuengling lager)
1 32 ounce box vegetable stock
1 hunk of tasso*
2 shakes of hot sauce (I used Marie Sharp's)***

Garnishes:

Sour cream
Red onion, chopped
Fresh cilantro leaves
Guacamole**

Beans: Cover with water and soak for 4-6 hours, until tender. Discard soaking water. You can do a quicker method by putting the beans and water in a pot with a tight lid and simmering them briskly for about 1.5 hours until the beans are tender. Still, ditch the soaking water.

Soup: Dump everything into your stock pot, with the exception of one bottle of lager which you will use as your reserve liquid to be added as needed. It looks like this starting out:


Cook, covered, at a low heat for about an hour. Remove the lid (now is a good time to taste it and adjust your salt, if needed) and continue cooking on low heat and adding lager, as needed, for about 1.5 hours. I was off work, so I let it slowly simmer most of the afternoon.

Remove the ham (it will be falling apart), pull it apart with a fork, add it back to the soup.

Ladle the soup out and garnish!


Hey, I'm sure it's not perfect (can't everything be improved upon?), but it was pretty darned good!

Feel free to change it up to suit your tastes!

And join me as I dine on some Pretty Darned Good Black Bean Soup! ;)

Paula

• *Tasso is cajun ham, read the link, and I got a chunk of it from a friend who brought it to me from Louisiana. The cajun seasoning and the smokiness of the meat is perfect for this soup. Here's a site where you can buy it. Absent that, I would throw in any ham piece or a spicy sausage.
• **Guacamole is a favorite of mine. I'll post my recipe soon. There are some good ready made ones out there, such as Wholly Guacamole. Diced avocado works well too.
• ***Marie Sharp's is a hot sauce made from habanero peppers. Fear it not! I promise it's not too hot! I just recently got a bottle as a gift from a friend...I'm hooked.
  

Oh! I almost forgot! Shout out to The Wooden Spoon. Maura is the one who inspired me to use lager in the soup. She's got a killer red sauce recipe that she uses it in.

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I'm Back!

Upcoming Post:

How Alosha's Kitchen introduced me to Rancho Gordo beans and how I am changing Cook's Illustrated's Black Bean Soup recipe from January 2005.

The beans are a soakin'. See you soon!

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This Is Alarming! O hai, Cooks Illustrated!

I haven't posted in a while. And I promise to do so soon. I just wanted to call your attention to the following posts by another food blogger. If you blog too, you need to read all three of these links. The second and the third are the important ones.

Aloshaskitchen's July 4th Picnic Post.

Aloshaskitchen's Follow-up Post. Is what we do legal or not?

Aloshakitchen's Second Follow-up Post.

I am seriously outraged by this situation. I fully intend to publish one of their recipes, modified. You'll be seeing it soon.



From the U.S. Copyright Office:

Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, when a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.

This poster on lj put it very nicely:

Check out the Wooden Spoon:

"Melissa thought she was doing the right thing by giving Cook's Country credit for inspiring her to create her own potato salad recipe. Instead, she received what was essentially a "cease and desist" e-mail from CI's PR firm. CI/CC's arrogance about their recipes is appalling, as is their hypocrisy."

Indeed.


Also, non drama related, I hope to be able to publish the posts that I haven't gotten around to putting up. My computer got fried, and I am hoping that it didn't kill the hard drive, since all the pictures I have taken are loaded there and erased from my camera. :/

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I have gotten busy...

Okay...I know...I need to post. I have many back logged posts that just need to be typed up. Thanks to you guys who have asked. They will be up, sometime. I hope soon.

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Spinach and Portabella Pasta

Love Spinach? Love Portabella Mushrooms? Love Pasta?
'Nuff Said!

This recipe is so easy and so tasty and without meat, but you wouldn't know it! Spinach and Mushroom Pasta behind the cut...

This recipe can be found here. I happened to have fresh spinach, portabella mushrooms, fresh basil and thyme...and of course, a block of parmigiano reggiano. Score! The ingredients are pictured:


When cooking with portabella mushrooms, especially with a cream sauce, it is important to remove the gills because they will discolor the sauce. You do this by just taking a spoon and scooping them out. Here is one that is cleaned of the gills:


The mushrooms cleaned, the spinach and basil chopped, the onion chopped, the thyme and the garlic ready:


Put the olive oil, onion, garlic and thyme in a skillet over medium heat and saute for a few minutes:


Add the mushrooms and stir often until they brown and they begin to release their juices. At this point, I added a splash of vermouth:


Sprinkle in the flour and stir for a minute or so. This step is important since cooked flour loses that "floury" taste. Think of it as a roux in the middle of your vegetables.


Drizzle in the milk. All I had was Silk, Soy Organic...it was great! See how thick and lovely it got?


Add the spinach, basil, salt and pepper and stir just until the spinach and basil begin to wilt:


Toss with the pasta and top with cheese. I used parmigiano reggiano. Crusty loaf. Done.


This was SO good! Join me as I dine...

Paula

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The No Cream of Asparagus Soup

What is "No Cream of Asparagus Soup?" It is a creamy delight of asparagus soup that is minus cream!

Yes, another soup! Honestly...the soup season is almost over. So, one last (maybe) soup behind the cut. I found a recipe on VegCooking, but I altered it so much I am going to just give you my version.

The ingredients:


No Cream of Asparagus Soup:

• 2 lbs fresh asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 Tbs olive oil
  
• 1 large potato, peeled, thinly sliced
• 3 tsp fresh thyme
• 32 ounce box vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup soy milk
  

In a stock pot, heat the olive oil and add the asparagus, onion and celery and saute until slightly soft:

Peel and thinly slice the potato. Also, you can see some asparagus peelings there, I peeled the thicker parts of the stems because it was huge asparagus. The big woody stems are stringy and tough unless you peel them:


Add the potato slices and the thyme and vegetable stock to the pot and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes. The addition of the potato adds starch that will help make this soup creamy.


It will end up looking like this:



Use your immersion blender to puree the soup, or do so in batches in a regular blender. Add the soy milk and salt and pepper. It has this consistency:


Crusty bread and a bowl for the soup (I garnished mine with several asparagus heads that I steamed in a tad of water in the microwave for 15 seconds) and you are ready.


Can you tell I adore soups? Yes? Good...I hope you do too! Join me as I dine...

Paula

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Left Overs...The Eternal Question, What to do with them?

Quick post here...it's left overs! It doesn't have to look like it, or taste like it.


Lamb salad...behind the cut.

I made a whole semi-boneless leg of lamb for Easter. We had it on sandwiches, we had it with other side dishes...tonight, we had it in a salad.
Lamb salad:

• lamb, cubed
• fresh spinach leaves
• romaine hearts, chopped
• cucumber, halved, sliced
• tomato, cubed
• red onion, sliced thin
• feta cheese, crumbled
• balsamic vinaigrette

Done. Join me as I dine...on left overs!

Paula

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The Easter Feast Post, 2008

Happy Easter everyone! For those of you who don't celebrate Easter, I hope you will enjoy it this post also. It was posted in real time, originally, as I was preparing each dish.

I should have time stamped this post. The reason it shows Saturday is that is when I started with the flower arrangement. I began cooking at about 8:30 am on Sunday and finished food preparations around 6:50 pm. (I noticed the clock on the beam next to the side board.) Everything, from eating to clean up was done by 8:30 pm...so, about 12 hours.

The Easter table emerged. I folded napkin swans, but Byron dubbed them the Easter turkeys! He's a crazy man.:





The first order of business, the holiday cocktail. This makes the cooking fun, don'tcha know!

The Holiday Cocktails:
Byron prefers mimosa's (champagne and orange juice) but I am having a poinsettia (champagne and cranberry juice). Each of them is made special by the addition of a "flavor enhancer," for the mimosa add a splash of Cointreau (orange liqueur) and for the poinsettia add a splash of Chambord (raspberry liqueur):


A toast to Easter!

Now on to the cooking.

The first dish is a family favorite, tomato aspic. I will say, it's an acquired taste. It's a savory jelled dish; I love it. Think of it as a congealed bloody mary!

Tomato Aspic

• 4 cups tomato juice
• 6 packages of Unflavored Gelatin
• 2/3 water
• 1 Tbs Worchestershire
  
• 2 tsp salt
• 5 Tbs vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups green pepper, diced
  
• 2 1/2 cups celery, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
  

Dissolve gelatin in water.

Heat all of the ingredients, with the exception of the gelatin and water, in a large sauce pan until almost to a boil. Remove from heat and add the gelatin. Stir until all the gelatin is dissolved.



Pour into a mold that has been sprayed with oil (or just a bowl if you prefer) and refrigerate until set.


Next, what is a Southern feast without deviled eggs, you ask? It isn't a Southern feast, that's what.

Deviled Eggs

• 6 Hard-cooked eggs (I always make spares...details later*)
• 1/4 cup mayonaise
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 tsp vinegar
• Paprika or parsley sprigs (optional)

There are tricks to easily peeled hard-cooked eggs. The first is to buy the eggs a week or so ahead of time. If you forget to do so, as I did, just add about 1/4 cup of white vinegar to the water in which you boil the eggs. I only had one that gave me fits this time.


Deviled Egg Ingredients:


Cut the eggs in half, length wise and remove the yolks. With a fork, mash the yolks and then add the other ingredients and stir:


You can just spoon this mixture into the egg halves, but I always pipe mine:



Garnish with either a sprinkle of paprika or a sprig of parsley. *The extra ones I have on the deviled egg tray are for the person who likes to steal a few before it's time to serve them. (Looking at you, Byron!)


Garlic, Onion, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

• 3 large baking potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 box vegetable stock
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 4 Tbs salt
  
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 ounces butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
  

Peel and dice the potatoes, onions and garlic and place in a large sauce pan with the vegetable stock, rosemary sprig and salt. Boil until the potatoes are soft, approximately 40 minutes. I use vegetable stock to cook the potatoes in because they add to the rich taste of the final product. Additionally, I am making a rotisserie leg of lamb, so I will use that stock for a gravy later.


Drain the potatoes in a colander into another pan. Remember, the stock is being used later for a gravy. Notice that rich, golden color they took on from cooking in the vegetable stock.


Add butter, cream cheese and pepper to the pan the potatoes cooked in. Put the drained potatoes back in the same pan and roughly mash. Cover and hold for later.


This next dish I have been making for over 20 years. It may well be one of the reasons Byron married me, since it is just like his mom used to make. It is a must have on any of our holiday menus. While the original recipe came from Southern Elegance, the Junior League Cookbook from Gaston County, North Carolina, in 1987, I am giving you my portions.

Oyster Casserole:

• 6-8 oz containers of fresh oysters
• 3 sleeves of saltine crackers, crumbled coarsely
  
• 12 ounces butter, melted
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg
  
• parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup oyster liquor
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  

In a plastic bag, crumble the crackers and add the melted butter. This starts the first layer of the casserole:

Pour the oysters into a bowl, chop the parsley and get your salt, pepper and nutmeg ready.


Layer the oysters onto the layer of crackers, sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg and parsley:


You will have two layers of oysters ending with cracker crumbs. Pour the oyster liquor (the reserve oyster juice) and milk over the layers. At this point, this casserole will hold. Bake it in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes when you are ready to serve it.



Have I mentioned that Byron is nuts? He was snacking on smoked mussels and crackers. This is his way of telling me he's getting hungry and ready for me to start the lamb:


Rotisserie Lamb with Garlic, Rosemary, Mustard Glaze:

Make the glaze with:

• Dijon Mustard
• Rosemary, fresh, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  
• pepper
• salt
• dry white wine
  

Salt and Pepper the lamb; put some slits in the roast, stick some extra garlic cloves into the slits. I line the rotisserie with foil for easy clean up, cause rotisseries are a pain in the tush to clean.


Turn on the rotisserie and baste the lamb with the mustard glaze. Notice I have inserted a meat thermometer, this will ensure a nice rare lamb roast.


After just a few minutes, you can see the browning and caramelizing of the fat and the glaze. Brush on more mustard glaze every 15 minutes or so.


A mid-way through glazing:


Almost done:


Sherried Peas with Mushrooms:

• 1 package frozen peas, thawed
• 3 Tbs butter
• 1 cup dry sherry
• 1 tsp dry marjoram
• 1/2 package of sliced mushrooms
  

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the sherry, marjoram and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are softened:


Add the peas at the last minute to heat through.


For the gravy...it just winged it...so let me tell you what I did. First I took the vegetable stock that the potatoes cooked in. To that, I added about a cup of port wine and heated it. Then, I took about 4 Tbs of flour and added about a cup of the hot stock/port and whisked it.


I added that to the pan with the rest of the liquid and whisked. When it came to a boil it was thickened and lovely.

Added the water and the wine to the table:

Set it all out on the side board. [Note: I love that portrait of the pups and me. That was an anniversary gift to Byron from me many years ago; it was painted by our friend, Bob Cloyd]:


A close up:


Nom, nom! It was so wonderful! Thank you for sharing Easter with me and joining me as I cooked and dined...

Paula

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