Anniversary at home: (BEARNAISE SAUCE)

Kevin had Younglife this past Monday night so it was a "Score!" for an evening alone for an Anniversary dinner (our 18th). I had thought I would grill lobster tail but ended up substituting with grilled shelled shrimp that I had marinated in olive oil, Old bay, and Lemon Pepper for thirty minutes in the fridge. I was going to make homemade Bearnaise sauce from my antique store find cookbook, The Cordon Bleu Cookbook, for the Filet Mignon but had limited resources, namely, tarragon vinegar. I've saved a neat glass bottle, washed it in hot soapy water, and am making my own tarragon vinegar tomorrow from my own herb supply. The baked potatoes were twice baked and the filling was comprised of wasabi, chedder cheese, real bacon, and sour cream. The veggies were roasted in the oven at 375 degress until most of the juices sloshing around at the bottom of the pan were cooked off. An enjoyable and relatively easy dinner for two. There were ample leftovers and I was able to fix a plate for Kevin later. A few days later I diced up the remaining filet mignon (minus the bacon), 6 or so shrimp, the roasted veggies and tossed them together in a medium bowl. I found a recipe for spinach pancakes and thought that the mixture would be good served over them and covered in a parmesan-chedder sauce. It worked out great. Two meals out of one.

I'm anxious to make homemade bearnaise sauce so when the tarragon vinegar is ready I'm making it. Here's a version from The Cordon Bleu Cookbook (page 137):

Bearnaise Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar

2 tablespoons cream

salt, to taste

cayenne pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons fat (butter)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs

1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic (I'm subbing shallot instead which is more traditional)

Directions:

1. Put in a bowl egg yolks, vinegar, cream, salt, and cayenne pepper.

2. Put the bowl in a pan of hot water over a slow fire; beat until the sauce begins to thicken.

3. Add, bit by bit, the butter, herbs, and garlic. Whisk well to incorporate. Season to taste and serve warm.

I've researched different bearnaise recipes for the "chopped herbs" portion of the recipe. I'm assuming it would be some chopped fresh tarragon. It's going to be what I'll use. On the other hand I found some more different ways to prepare the sauce as well. I'll probably try this one too.

Leftover bonanza: (RICH CHEESE CRUST)

I can't take it anymore. I am officially finished with the meat from our party. I am sick. Do you hear me. Sick of ham. The beef wasn't so bad and actually we finished the last of it in a beef pie. I wish I knew how to make decent "gravy" out of stock. I mean, I really wish I knew how. Nothing ruins a pot pie worse than a yucky gravy for the top. And we slather our pie's in gravy. I usually never have roast drippings when I have leftover meat. The gravy I made for the beef pie came from an experiment using au jus mix and beef stock. It was mediocre. I think I'm going to just reduce the stock next time and leave out the au jus. I added 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and about an 1/2 cup of red wine to the mix. I'm nixing the wine next time too. I thickened the broth with a slurry of corn starch and water. I think that's where it went really wrong. Now that I've researched gravy I see where it really went wrong. Corn starch is great in other areas but not as a gravy thickener. It's sorta a "blah" or "raw" taste to me. But it's what I've always known and I'm breaking that habit now. Here's a way I think I'm going to try next time (from cooks.com):

Melt butter in a saucepan then add flour. Blend together until no lumps are visible. Add salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until mixture starts to brown. Turn heat to low and slowly add warmed broth, stirring constantly. (note: use equal parts butter and flour).

The crust recipe was for a single crust. I borrowed the recipe from a new/old cookbook I found while going through an antique shop in Flint Hill Virginia. A great place by the way. Okay. So, I found a recipe for Chicken Pie in my The Cordon Blue Cookbook and loved the idea of a cheese crust for my beef pie. It's a rich crust with 3 egg yolks.

Rich Cheese Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tablespoons fat (Crisco)

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons grated sharp cheese ( I love Cracker Barrel extra sharp)

1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika

Directions:

1. Put flour on a large board, make a well in the center and put in the fat, egg yolks, water, grated cheese, paprika, and a pinch of salt.

2. Work the center ingredients into a smooth paste, and gradually move the side walls of the flour well in towards the center into a crumbly dough.

3. Gather the dough into a ball as well as you can without manipulating the dough excessively. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You'll be pleasantly surprised how the flour in the dough will be hydrated and pull together most of the loose bits.

4. After 30 minutes pull the dough from the refrigerator and remove from the wrap. On a floured board roll out "not too thin" and enough to cover the top of the pie nicely.

5. Trim the pie, brush with beaten egg, and bake as called for in the recipe.

Liquid love: (SUMMER ROMANCE ON A PLATE)

So far this has been what's keeping me going this morning. I really didn't wake up well and it sorta pisses me off but, I made a deal with myself that I quit being angry. I forget sometimes but I keep trying. A lot. The neighbor dog (pick from one of the various selections) was barking before 6am this morning. And, as stated previously, I have been waging a war against high electric bill's and have the house opened up. It really is quite tolerable and pleasant but the side effect is that you can hear everything that goes on outside. I wake up if a flea farts so it wasn't a very pleasant "wake up" for me today. But, I quit being pissed right?

I had a great egg concoction this morning with green peppers from the garden, fresh spinach (not mine), 2% cheese, and crumbled sausage. I know it will wreck havoc later on but DAMN it was good. It made me think of one of my favorite recent dinners with Bob earlier this Summer. Actually, what really is the lowdown is that I saw a couple walking earlier on the Kent Island Cross Island Trail and got a little teary for the better half. Then THAT lead to missing him real bad and then, THAT made me think of the great two weeks we had together in July and then, THAT made me think of the great dinner date we had at home one beautiful evening. Shesh I'm bummed out right now. Okay. Back to my orignal point which was talking about a great dinner Bob and I had one evening with sliced beef and fresh farm stand tomatoes. That evening, I had stopped by Perkins produce outside of town and picked up some yummy tomatoes. Earlier I had procured a London Broil, arugula, and Maytag blue cheese at the grocery store. Bob and I are great fans of the one plate meal that we can just dig our forks into and drink a great glass of wine with. Here's how we pigged out that night (it's real simple):

Summer Romance on a plate

Ingredients:

1 London Broil, grilled med-rare

2 or 3 Fresh farm stand tomatoes, sliced

Arugula

Maytag Blue Cheese

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Fresh cracked pepper

Sea salt (I used my Oak-smoked Chardonnay Sea Salt...YUM)

Bogle cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Directions:

1. Open Bogle to breathe

2. Slice London Broil thin, after resting 20

minutes. Slice tomatoes into thick slices.

3. Sprinkle arugula onto a large platter. Spread the tomato slices on top of arugula and season with cracked pepper and sea salt to taste. Arrange the London Broil on top of the seasoned tomatoes and sprinkle bleu cheese over the beef.

4. Season with balsamic vinegar and olive oil over entire platter to taste. Add more cracked pepper if you prefer.

5. Pour a glass of Bogle for you and your sweetie.

6. Eat and drink like a hedonist. Retire from the porch to the bedroom.