Lenny was traveling last week. I was a bit bad (head hanging low). I over indulged. I bought gelato. I made chocolate sauce. I watched bad movies and ate sugary goodness.
I remember my Grandma Olson would always have a little something sweet after dinner, and before going to bed. It usually consisted of a bowl of vanilla ice cream with this dreamy chocolate sauce. I was only a kid; but, I knew this was the ultimate. It was not from a squeeze bottle. She would take squares of chocolate, melt them with sugar and butter, and create what I was pretty sure what they served in heaven.
There is an emergency stash of bittersweet chocolate in the pantry. You know, for those last minute desserts, when company comes over. Or for emergencies such as this. The evening pretty much played out like this … I poured a glass of red wine, put a some Les Nubians on (doesn’t chocolate warrant sultry music), carefully (okay, I TORE) opened the chocolate, unwrapped some butter, and started mixing heaven with a little sugar and heavy cream. Fifteen minutes later, I was on the couch, filling that “missing you” void.
Lesson learned; don’t buy a squeeze bottle of chocolate sauce. Make a batch, eat a little, put the rest in the fridge, it will stay fresh for about 2 weeks; maybe. It is easy to make. You know what will be in it. You can put it on ice cream, pound cake with strawberries, mix a little with your milk for feed that childhood memory. Let your imagination run as wild as a jar of chocolate sauce is.
And you can get as creative as you want when making this recipe. Sometimes I add a little orange peel or lemon. Maybe a sprinkle of smoked cherry wood salt. Or a shot of bourbon. Or just as Grandma use to make it … pure.
Recipe type: Dessert
Author: Chez Us
- 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate – unsweetened
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- In a saucepan or a double boiler, over low heat, melt the chocolate with the butter.
- Stir very often to prevent sticking or burning.
- Add the sugar, stir, and stir, over low heat for 3 minutes.
- Add the cream, a little at a time, stirring until it is well-combined, and you have added all of it.
- Over low heat continue stirring until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Remove from the heat.
- Serve.
- Eat.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups. A lot of chocolate fun. Pour over ice cream, fruit, or even pound cake.
2.2.6
Geez it looks like we kind of forgot to share with you the past couple weeks. What kind of friends are we?! A whirlwind basically spiraled through my life recently. Not in a bad way. I just haven’t been able to get it together. I have mountains of recipes sitting on my desk, a hard-drive full of unedited photos, and then there was tax time. It is too bad as I remember some pretty darn good meals being cooked over at Chez Us.
Remember when we mentioned a few weeks ago that there were going to be some big changes happening within the next month? Huge news! No …. not that! Lenny decided to get a physical as it had been forever and he was having some “guy issues”. No; NOT THAT! Instead, he has high cholesterol. And we are talking about the big bad, not so good, high cholesterol. A whopping 275! He We have decided that we are going to try to control it with diet and exercise. We are both firm believers that the two go hand-in-hand, and can help a lot of issues that are going on within our bodies. Heck, I went through premature menopause using no drugs at all. Hopefully, this will work for him as well.
We feel that we eat pretty well. We watch what we cook with, not a lot of fat or creamy sauces. We always have fresh fruits and veggies around the house. We aren’t snackers. Okay, we do occasionally indulge in gooey sweetness; but, not that often. This will definitely be a challenge for both of us. I am going to reinvent the way I cook, and Lenny is going to learn to not “devour”. The doctor sent him home with a great list of foods that he should eat, and ones that he should limit. Using this list, we are going to reinvent some deliciousness, and create a whole new line-up of heart healthy recipes to share with you, our friends.
Lenny is the love of my life, and my focus as the main “cook” in the house is to to use low-saturated fats and low cholesterol foods. I want him to live a very long time. I figure the easiest way to do this is to bump up our fresh produce intact and to introduce some new but exciting grains into our diet. Lenny has decided that he will give up dairy, which is challenging as he does love his coffee with a little milk. Now we are exploring new alternatives for coffee. As well, I am going to start exploring some lean meats and some good-for-you fatty fish recipes. There will be lots of fresh herbs and the exploration of unsaturated oils and tangy vinegars as a means for making our recipes a little more exciting. Sound fun?
Since we work from home, I am always on the out-look for recipes that are great as a lunch or that can be taken into dinner. This farro and roasted broccolini does just that. Farro is a debated food product; is it a grain or a wheat? In Italy spelt is also called faro. Barley and faro are often interchanged here in the states. I would probably say it is a cousin to barley. It is healthy! I love cooking with it as it puffs up but still holds a little crunch. It will be perfect in summery salads; don’t you think?
For this dish, I cooked the farro just until it was cooked, then I cooled it off (immediately) with cold water. While the farro was cooking I roasted some veggies; roasting adds great depth and added flavor. Have you tried roasted green garlic? After patting the farro dry, I tossed it with the roasted mixture of broccolini, tomatoes, green garlic, spring-time red onions, fresh mint, and drizzled it with a creamy lemony dressing. To add a little more crunch, I sprinkled crushed pistachios over the top. I enjoyed this salad for lunch and took it to dinner by adding a lean roasted piece of fish along side it. Saying it was delicious would be an understatement. It was more like WOW!
** while we are changing our eating habits with new heart-healthy meals, never fear, there are a few gooey things that will be showing up within the next couple weeks. All planned before this announcement. Remember, you can enjoy in moderation. *smiles*
Recipe: Farro and Roasted Broccolini Salad
- 1 cup dry farro
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- olive oil
- 1 pound broccolini, tough stems removed
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 green garlic stalk
- 1 spring red onion or a small red onion
- 1/2 cup mint, minced
- 1 small lemon, juice
- 1/4 cup good-quality olive oil
- kosher salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup crushed pistachios
Preheat the oven to 425. In a saucepan add the water and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Add the farro, give a whirl, cover with a lid, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes. The farro will be cooked but not overly smooth, it should still have a nice little “crunch”. Immediately pour into a colander, rinse with very cold water, shake, and then pour onto some paper towels. Pat, and let dry for 20 minutes.
Cut the broccolini into stems. Lay on a cookie sheet. Slice the green garlic into thin slices, and scatter over the broccolini. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top. Slide into the oven, set your time for 10 minutes. Slice the red onion into thin slices. Cut the tomatoes in half. After 10 minutes, sprinkle the tomatoes and spring onions over the broccolini. Roast for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool.
Put the farro into a serving bowl. Slide into the fridge. In a small jar combine the good olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Screw the lid onto the top of your jar. Shake it like crazy, until creamy, about 3 minutes or until your arm falls off.
Remove the serving bowl from the fridge. Scatter the mint leaves over the farro, add the roasted veggies, and toss (gently). If, you will be finishing the entire salad, at one sitting, then drizzle the dressing over the top. Otherwise, serve up a portion and then drizzle a little dressing over the top. Sprinkle with pistachios.
Serve. Eat. Thank us later!
It has been a crazy week, and we ready to enjoy a cocktail or two with you. First, it is time to get back to talking about Bar Basics. Two weeks ago we shared our homemade Sour Mix, and this week we are going to talk about simple syrup. This is a bar basic that is a must, as most cocktail recipes include a little sweetener, which is normally some simple syrup. We like to take it a step further by using a ”rich simple syrup”.
Rich simple syrup adds a subtle sweetness and texture to your cocktail. It is made by using a 2:1 ratio (sugar:water). We prefer to use an unrefined sugar, which also adds a nice amber color to the finished syrup. As well we have found that using the ratio of 2:1, made the syrup last longer. We do add a teaspoon of vodka to aid in some “natural preserving”. Vodka is perfect to use as it has a clean taste, and will not interfere with the taste of your cocktails. Just don’t add to your breakfast tea or you really will be tea tottling. If, you opt not to use the vodka as a preservative, your syrup will last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Using the vodka made the syrup last about 2 months; well, that is how long it lasted in our fridge.
About a month ago, a bottle of Hendricks Gin, along with a cocktail book dedicated to gin only cocktails, showed up on our doorstep. Breaking it open seemed appropriate as most cocktails involving gin also involve a little simple syrup. Keep in mind, a cocktail has three basic components: sweet, acidic, and alcohol. Sweet being the simple syrup. This lovely spring cocktail is made with Hendricks, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and lemon bitters. We loved how the juniper overtones from the gin played with the tangy lemon. Very refreshing. Very addictive. Hello Spring!
Recipe: Rich Simple Syrup
- 2 cups unrefined sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vodka
In a saucepan add the sugar and water. Stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves; about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool. Add vodka, and stir. Bottle and put into the refrigerator until ready to use.
Recipe: St. Clements Cocktail
- 1 3/4 ounces Hendrick’s Gin
- 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 ounces rich simple syrup
- Fever Tree Bitter Lemon
- ice
- lemon slices
In a shaker add a handful of ice, the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup. Shake. Strain into a glass. Top with the bitter lemon. Garnish with a lemon slice. Serve. Drink.
House things seem to become your life once you are a homeowner. There are always little projects in the middle of the big projects (painting) that need to be tended too. I cannot imagine the projects we would be dealing with if we had moved into a “fixer-up”. We did manage to squeeze in some fun time, and played with coloring some eggs in honor of the upcoming Easter holiday over the weekend.
Dying Easter eggs was a highlight as a kid, and a dozen was never enough. The older we got, the better we got at it, and the more eggs would end up being hard-boiled in order to full-fill our artist desires. When I started coloring eggs with MEM, I started thinking about the process more and more, especially when I would see dye seeping into slightly cracked eggs. They say it is harmless; but is it really. Then we started talking about the process. If, we had kids would we do it differently? Or would we be too busy, and just pick up a little pack of egg dye at the store? It is hard to say, and we don’t have the answers. But, I like to try to make a difference, at least a small one.
The topic of dye turned into a discussion about how we both love deviled eggs. Creamy. Tart. A little savory. So … the playing began. While some eggs were hard-boiling away on the stove, we worked on our “healthy” dye. We took some beats, scrubbed them, chopped them, and put them into a pan of water that had been splashed with some white vinegar, then let is simmer on the stove for an hour, to extract all that gorgeous pink. After our dye was cooled, we added our peeled hard boiled eggs to the colorful bath and let them soak. The result was gorgeous hot pink eggs. It was such a fun process that we are thinking of trying other veggies as well, maybe different beet colors, spinach, carrots … endless possibilities. The deviled part was simple …. yolks, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, a touch of cayenne pepper and a sprinkle of maldon salt.
It was the perfect afternoon lunch with my Let’s Lunch friends, all I had to do was add a sparkling glass of rose to go along with it. Be sure to check out other eggy items that the Let’s Lunch friends are bringing to the table on Friday: (will update on Friday as they roll in)
A Tiger in In the Kitchen – Chai Poh Scramble: Easter, Singapore Style
Hapa Mama – Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes
A Cook and Her Books - Old-Fashioned Boiled Dressing (& Chicken Salad)
Zest Bakery - Gluten-Free Leek, Ham & Pecorino Souffles
Dreaming of Pots & Pans – Eggs In A Hole
Burnt-Out Baker – Perfect Sandwich
Joe Yonan – Kim-Chi Deviled Eggs
Free Range Cookies – Home-made Cadbury Eggs (Maple Chocolate Eggs)
Spicebox Travels – Taiwanese Tomato Eggs
Monday Morning Cooking Club – Legendary Egg & Onion
Hot Curries and Cold – Beer Bombay Toasts (Spicy French Toasts)
Recipe: Beet Dye (for eggs)
- 6 beets, washed and scrubbed
- watertgr
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
Chop the beets into pieces. In a large saucepan add the beets, enough water to cover and 1 tablespoon of the white vinegar. Simmer over very low heat (a 2 on our stove) for 45 – 60 minutes; enough time to really extract the color. Remove from the heat. Let cool. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Use to dye your Easter Eggs.
Recipe: Pink Deviled Eggs
- 1 recipe of Beet Dye
- 8 perfectly hard-boiled eggs (we used 8 because our dish held 16 halves)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- maldon salt
- chives
Peel your perfectly hard-boiled eggs. Using a paper towel, gently pat dry each egg. Submerge into the beet dye. Let sit for up to an hour; depending on how dark you want the eggs to be. Remove from the beet dye. Pat dry with paper towels. Cut the egg in half. Scoop out the yolk into a mixing bowl. Add all of the ingredients, except for the maldon salt. Mix well using a fork. Fill each half of the egg with the creamy mixture. Garnish with a little chive. Serve. Eat.
We have been re-evaluating Chez Us the past couple weeks. Sometimes we I feel like we I let the blog-world grab it and run away into a direction it shouldn’t be going. It is time to bring in the reins a little, and not be so loosey-goosey. When we started Chez it was a place for us to come, share a meal with you, and to share a little bit about us. The pun is that, “she cooks” and “he devours”. So, over the course of the next few months, I am going to cook and he will continue to devour. We will be making little changes. You may notice. You may not. We will see. *smiling*
One thing that we always chitter and chatter about is sharing more of our heritages with you. You know the type of food, good, wholesome cooking, that we only enjoy with our families, and we clearly do not take advantage of it at our home. And we should. Some of these recipes are old family favorites that cannot be found anywhere online. Who are we keeping them from? What’s the big “secret”? Why aren’t we sharing them. Rejoicing in them.
Last week, I dusted off one of my favorite Basque cookbooks, From the Basque Kitchen. It is not in print any longer. It was my Tia Anne’s, and when she passed, it was passed down to me. It was published in 1973, by the Zazpiak-Bat Basque Club, and I had not even begun to appreciate cooking (yet). The cover is made of thick red paper, and the words were typed out with a type-writer. The pages are a faded old yellow, and it smells of cooking oil. The recipes are rustic and easy. Some of them don’t even have measurements, just words, recipes that were recited by grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and theirs.
I was toying with how to cook some lamb sirloin that Lava Lake’s Ranch sent our way. I wasn’t sure if it would be a bit tough and require some braising or if I could simply grill it. I decided to have some fun. I dug through the still packed boxes that are coveting our cookbooks, and finally found what I needed (yes, it was in the very last box; wouldn’t you know it). I turned to page 25 and found the recipe, Meat Marinade. It is simple. A 1/2 gal of burgundy wine, bay leaves, oil, garlic, onion and vinegar. That’s it.
I pulled my ingredients, grabbed a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons and got to work. The recipe clearly had to be changed a bit as 1/2 gallon of burgundy would marinate a small animal. I crumbled the bay leaves into some red burgundy wine, minced lots of garlic along with shallots and let the red-wine vinegar mingle with the mixture. Then I submerged the sirloin, and let it bathe for 24 hours. The next day I roasted the meat at a low temperature until it was 135 in the middle. Just before, serving, we thinly sliced it and served it along side a big bowl of Basque Beans. I felt like I was 10 years old, enjoying a meal at the wooden table in my Tia Anne’s kitchen. The meat was moist, and very flavorful. Subtle hints of garlic with a smooth jammy finish; like a fine glass of burgundy.
Recipe: Basque Style Meat Marinade
* feel free to use this marinade with lamb, beef, rabbit, or venison
- 4 cups red burgundy wine
- 3 bay leafs, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1/2 cup shallot, minced
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl. Pierce the meat with a fork, and then submerge in the wine mixture. Cover and put into the refrigerator. Turn the meat every few hours. The next day, remove the mixture, 2 hours before cooking. Cook the meat as usual. Feel free to baste with the leftover mixture.
Recipe: Basque Style Roasted Lamb Sirloin
2 pound lamb sirloin
Basque Style Meat Marinade
Preheat the oven to 350. Lay the lamb on a roasting rack over a pan. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes per pound. The middle of the sirloin should register 135 degrees. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest of 10 minutes before thinly slicing. Serve. Eat.
* read more about cooking lamb here
Disclaimer: Lava Lake Ranch supplied us with their amazing lamb to use in the development of recipes for their website. The views on this blog are our own and in no way were we monetarily compensated for writing this entry.
The first time I stumbled upon watermelon radishes was on a cold winter morning at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, over two years ago. I was searching for parsnips and thought this was it! The cheery crew at Happy Boy Farms warned me that it was a spicy radish. I had never seen a radish so …. large. She took a knife out from her back pocket and cut it open.
I was in awe. The vibrate color completely had me. I fell in love with the somewhat tie-dyed design made of the brightest pink I had ever seen. Yes, I was buying purely on beauty. I took a paper bag and filled it with different sizes and shapes. I had no idea what to expect when I got home.
Tenderly I took one of the radishes out of the crumpled bag, scrubbed the just picked dirt off, and took a big bite. The spicy juices started to run down the corner of my mouth, and I was hooked. It was like my first kiss; wet, unknown and a little bit spicy. I continued to slice a couple more, then I laid them on a plate and buttered a piece of still warm baguette. I put a couple vibrate slices onto the creamy butter and sprinkled Maldon salt over the top. It was perfect.
Since that first “kiss” some two years ago, watermelon radishes grace our winter table very often. As an afternoon snack or mixed with tender greens for a dinner salad. Now that, we are working from home, full-time, I am on the look-out for simple but delicious lunches. This salad is one of our favorites. It is full of sweet fennel and spicy watermelon radishes with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh squeezed Meyer lemons. It screams spring time; doesn’t it?
Recipe: Watermelon Radish and Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
* serves two
- 1 medium sized fennel, green fronds removed
- 3 small – medium sized watermelon radishes
- drizzle good quality olive oil
- 1 Meyer Lemon
- maldon salt
- black pepper
Using a mandoline, slice the fennel and radishes into thin slices. Scatter onto a plate. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top. Using a lemon reamer, juice the lemon over the top. Sprinkle maldon salt and black pepper over the salad. Serve. Eat.
Did you know that the Irish Coffee was actually perfected right in San Francisco at one of our favorite drinking spots the Buena Vista? And did you know it is not just hot coffee, any old whiskey and a dollop of “whipped cream”.
Originally the Irish coffee experiment began at the Shannon Airport in Ireland on a chilly November evening in 1952. Two friends, Jack Koeppler (then-owner of the Buena Vista) and international travel writer Stanton Delaplane spent the evening pouring, mixing and drinking coffee concoctions. Unfortunately, the drink was not perfected at that time, even though, I am sure they had fun trying.
The two men went their separate ways, and Jack returned home to San Francisco where he continued working on the hot toddy. After the jaunt at the Shannon airport, it was confirmed that the drink was not right, as the whiskey was not perfect and the cream did not float. Jack continued mixing and pouring until he found the perfect Irish whiskey to use in the toddy; then he moved onto making cream “float”. He reached out to the mayor of San Francisco for his expertise as he was also a prominent dairy owner. Jack learned that the cream had to be lightly frothed, in order to reach the consistency that would “float” on top of the drink. Hence, the Irish Coffee was complete.
To make a traditional (and proper) Irish Coffee you must follow the following steps:
- Irish Coffee Glasses must used and preheated before mixing the drink
- Black coffee
- Brown sugar cubes; not white. Sugar is a must as it helps the liquid cream float
- Irish Whiskey must be used, no other will do
- Heavy cream that has been frothed is carefully poured over the back of a spoon that is held just above the surface of the coffee and raised a little. The cream will float and you will enjoy the spiked warm coffee through the cream.
Recipe: Traditional Irish Coffee
*inspired by one of our brother-inlaw Shawn, and the Buena Vista
*makes 4 Irish coffees
- 5 cups fresh brewed black coffee
- 4 ounces Irish whiskey, we use Jameson
- brown sugar cubes
- 1 cup heavy cream
Brew black coffee according to the directions of your coffee maker. Bring a pot of water to almost boiling point. Carefully pour into Irish coffee glasses. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl and gently mix at a speed of 4, until bubbly; about 1.5 minutes. The cream will still be pourable and full of tiny bubbles. Set aside. Pour the water out of the glasses. Place two sugar cubes into each glass. Pour the hot coffee into the glass until three quarters of the way full. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add 1 ounce of whiskey to each glass. Then pour the cream over the top, following the step above. Serve. Drink.
Now that, we are working from home, full-time, I am constantly thinking about quick and easy nibbles for during the day. I don’t want to spend more than an hour, preparing and eating lunch, when I am busy at my desk. This recipe is perfect as we can even nibble at our desks while working.
We have been in Brussels Sprouts heaven the past couple weeks as OceanMist recently surprised us with a package box full of fresh Brussels Sprouts to work on some new recipes. Lucky for you this is only one of the new recipes that I will be sharing over the course of the next couple weeks. I love how quick and easy this recipe comes together to make a light lunch/snack or even a great side dish; we also enjoyed it with a roasted chicken.
When we were both kids, on separate coasts, we were not fans of the Brussels Sprouts. We are pretty sure it was because they were boiled or steamed until pasty green. As adults, we love them! Not only are sprouts little bites of fun, they are also very good for us. Brussels Sprouts are a member of the cruciferous family, and they contain large amounts of antioxidants, vitamin C and beta-carotene; they have even been found to help reduce the risk of certain cancers. The nice thing, they can be found year-round, so eat up!!
Recipe: Crispy Brussels Sprouts
- 1 pound of Brussels Sprouts, cut into wedges
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Heat oven to 425. In a mixing bowl add the Brussels Sprouts, oil, salt and pepper. Gently mix to coat the sprouts. Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet. Slide into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir gently. Bake for another 10 – 15 minutes until the sprouts start to caramelize and turn crispy. Serve. Eat.
Recipe: Black Garlic Aioli
* you can use regular garlic as well, just reduce to 2 cloves. You can read more about black garlic here.
- 3 aged black garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
Mash together the garlic and a pinch of salt to create a paste. I use a large knife to do this. Whisk together the yolk and lemon juice. Put into a food processor and with it running, slowing drizzle in the olive oil, until all of the oil is incorporated and the mixture is emulsified. If the mixture starts to breakdown, stop adding the oil and continue processing until it comes together, then continue adding the oil. Add the garlic paste and pulse to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add a couple drops of water to loosen it up.
** normally I make aioli in a mortar or whisking by hand – when I need it quickly I use the food processor.
A few other recipes that we have been enjoying the last couple weeks are some old favorites:
Brussels Sprouts Gratin
Duck Fat Brussels Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts Salad
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