Blueberry Scones

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/scones-recipe/

Lately my lovely bride has had a hankering for scones. Who am I to deny her pleasure? She found the above recipe and I have been making a batch every few weeks. One gets consumed and the rest frozen for future breakfast treats. They are heavenly with butter and cream and plump frozen berries. Topped with a lemon glaze, out this world.

Butter Chicken...this recipe was a keeper.

Not at all for the faint of heart, Butter Chicken has a lot of local competition for me, my kids all have their favorites. I must master this skill. I think i did tonight but it took 2 days. I started on Friday, grinding spices and prepping the chicken for the double marinade. Was it worth it? Totally.

 It took a lot of time mostly waiting for marinades to work their magic and doughs to stop snapping back on me allowing adequate rest time. I made naan and paratha too. Delicious fresh breads to compliment the gravy and sop up whats left. It was good, really good.  Here’s the link to the recipe I used:  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/murgh-makhani-recipe-butter-chicken/

Paratha in a dry skillet after the first turn.

Naan in front some with garlic and cilantro. Paratha in the rear, coils of buttery layers.

To be fair, I have an incredibly well stocked Indian pantry. I had cilantro on hand as well as Greek yogurt. A few years ago, one of our third year fellows went home for a few weeks to India and knew my interest in the culture and food (I have a Indian playlist) so he brought me  bags of spices. The Garam Masala I ground from the raw spices into a redolent mix of Indian nirvana. The bag looked like potpourri and some of the spices I had never seen in their whole form.
With the chicken marinating over night I started the breads this morning while Brenda was at work. I took the chicken out, placed it on non stick foil and oven grilled it till dark spots appeared on the surface. I set that aside and began working in earnest on the gravy. Lots of microplaning fresh garlic and ginger (from my freezer) the a quick saute of the spices,  adding tomatoes that had been pureed with raw cashews. After cooking down the gravy, I added back the chicken and juices then into the oven for an hour.  Once out of the oven I added the last of the spice mix of Kashmiri Menthi (fenugreek) and garam masala. Then the magic of heavy cream. Not a lot, about 1/2 cup or so and a quick spin of the immersion blender to smooth out the gravy. Adjust the seasoning for salt and heat. A bit of tomato paste to redden the gravy a bit and a big squirt of Siracha to bring up the heat. I had Kashmiri Chilis but opted out for a gentler burn. Silken divinity in a pot. Tender chunks of chicken and to die for gravy.
The bread had to start about 3,  so first the parathas were made and cooked in a dry skillet. I used Serious Eats web site which showed me how to laminate the dough and I found my tortilla press makes very thin paratha and naan and saved me rolling it all out by hand. A little wax paper and cooking spray made the job easy and non stick.  Brenda helped cook the breads while I squashed the next one. The paratha was so flaky and buttery. The naan soft and pillowy. My favorite jalapeno beer was not on hand so I added jalepenos and their liquid to a Corona on hand which worked just fine. Jalapeno beer is the best with Indian food.  Cheers everyone to a great Saturday night meal.

Chickpea stew

It's Lent and I took a chance. This vegan stew was actually quite tasty. Loaded with anti inflamatory tumeric, and crispy chickpeas, it was thick and creamy from coconut milk.

1/4 cup olive oil
4 chopped garlic cloves
1 large chopped yellow onion
2 inch hunk of peeled ginger chopped
1 1/2 teasp tumeric
1 teasp crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cans drained chickpeas (use the liquid, aquafaba, in the soup if you like)
2 cans coconut milk (I used Lite)
2 cups veggie stock (less if you used the aquafaba from the peas)
1bunch Swiss Chard, shredded with stems

Cook the onion in the oil till it softens then add garlic, ginger and tumeric.
The recipe called for adding the chickpeas and cooking 8-10 minutes till crisp. That never happened. Remove a cup, dry them and crisp them in a separate pan, reserve till the end. Add the rest of the peas and cook 8-10 minutes then mash them before adding the milk and stock. The peas should thicken the soup but I used a bit of Wondra to help it along. Simmer 30-40 minutes then add the shredded chard and cook till just tender. Check your seasoning. Add the crisped peas and serve.

Mashed Potato Salad...Who knew?

Was watching early a.m. TV and Martina McBride has or had a cooking show. Ok but potato salad with mashed potatoes?  It’s pretty tasty it turns out with a tweak or two. I did not use much sugar and forgot the celery. I had Famous Dave’s Hot pickle relish that is sweet as well. Since I had ribs on the menu today, I did a little experimenting with some recipes. Added jalapeños to my corn casserole and used mashed spuds for the potato Salad. Rather than rewrite the recipe, here’s the link:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dads-mashed-potato-salad-5515507

Great stuff.  Corn Casserole? You know this one with spaghetti and velveeta? Just add a handful of pickled jalapeños for a little bite and interest. Yum.

A Recipe Worth Repeating....

https://icxcpainter.blogspot.com/2017/01/champagne-shrimp-bisque-when-you-dont.html

Two years ago I posted this recipe that we had at the Fangman’s on New Years. This year we entertained our buddies, Mike and Cindy Baumer and I made this bisque to start the meal. What a pleasure it was and I followed the original recipe with a few minor exceptions.

Firstly, I again made my own stock using shrimp shells, onion, carrot and celery with a half head of garlic. I seasoned it and set it aside, tasting to make sure I liked it. I added a teaspoon of Fish sauce and a tablespoon of Better Than Bullion's Lobster base before being satisfied.

The day of serving I made the rest of the soup, making the portion larger as we had some additional guests. It was smooth and velvety with small bits of shallot and large chunks of shrimp. I added a tablespoon of tomato paste, mostly for color but it made a subtle variation in taste that was very pleasing.

Lastly, after heating the bisque,  I added the cream, then the champagne. Exquisite flavors, just enough salt, creamy and smooth and simply unctuous. The Champagne made all the difference, topped with fresh chives, it was a triumph. Delicious!

Eating Omaha...Block 16

We were in the neighborhood a few weeks ago and decided to get some lunch somewhere new, for us.  Block 16 is a hard to describe burger joint? That somehow does not fit but the food was amazing. We split a burger and I ordered the Duck Duck Goose Fries.

The were fries topped with duck confit and a gooseberry gastric with mozzarella cheese. Brenda is not a duck fan so more for me. Yay, it was yummy. There are lots of things to explore on the menu and they have daily specials outline on Facebook. Love it.

Looking Back and Forward...

My second year as Mr. Claus brought a lot of new experiences for me. I was privileged to visit the NICU at Children’s Hospital here in Omaha and held a lot of very sick and recovering babies. Such an honor that these parents allowed me to intrude in their lives for a moment. Mackenzie took some great pics for Mom and Dad.

We extended the studio time this year to two days and had a lot of fun getting all those pics taken and then some showing up in our mail as Christmas cards. So fun and a little surreal. Made lots of new connections this year and got called out a lot in stores by young shoppers whose parents were a little embarrassed but what’s a kid to think when they see me out and about, usually wearing red?

I did a daycare one day. What a line up and great fun. 150 littles in 2 hours, it was a well oiled machine. A few Christmas parties hired me to appear and I was so thrilled with all the kiddies and their imagination and gift ideas.

Brenda and I are now considering the Santa Convention in August at Branson for grins. I joined the Santa network

Candied Bacon

1 pound of thick sliced bacon (we like peppered)
6 T brown sugar
2 t Dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Preheat oven 350
Line baking sheet with foil and arrange bacon slices.  Use the last few length wise across the top
Combine the ingredients and sprinkle the slices with the mixture. Just a dab here and there
Bake for 25. Minutes till dark golden brown but not burnt. Lay out bacon and cool till crisp.

Eating Omaha....Modern Love

We were honored to be guests at a celebration dinner for Caroline and Skye Page as they celebrated their nuptials at the courthouse Monday evening. while we were unfortunately unable to make the courthouse ceremony, we parked ourselves at happy hour at the reception venue and had a few cocktails.

Modern Love is a local vegan establishment, one of a few in Omaha but definitely on the higher end of the scale with offerings for the vegan community. My last visit there I was not so impressed but this time it was of our own choosing and I went with an open mind and sampled all the fare that was before me. The owner/chef is widely known for her creative menu.

The cocktails were great and I had a Bloody Mary before the guests arrive while Brenda enjoyed a Cosmopolitan. We perused the menu while drinking and found a few things interesting to try. My sister had just been there with her dinner club and was not happy at all but I was determined to find somethings that I would enjoy. They may have just hit an off night. As a carnivore, the menu is a little sparse of typical going out to eat fare so choose wisely. Brenda's advice was stick to a vegetable with little intervention. Sage advice.

For starters we had Mozzarella balls, deep fried which I loved. Brenda was a little so so but loved the nachos with cashew cheese which also filled the Mozzarella balls. The Spinach Artichoke dip was notable as well. I had a Portabella salad with avocado. It was delicious and the ranch dressing was tangy and a nice addition. It was a large salad and I brought half home.

Brenda opted for a Chik'n Fried Steak option and my taste of that was quite good. But if I'm going vegan then perhaps not going to try to imitate meat so much and stick with vegetable entrees.  The most impressive thing about the place is that the owner came to speak to our friend Emily, who has multiple food intolerances and made a specific dish for her based on her needs. It looked delicious with oyster mushrooms and a  pesto risotto with collards.  That's the kind of vegan I was looking for.

Desserts were well received by all for those who ordered but Caroliine's mother, Lori, had ordered a vegan vanilla and chocolate cake that hit the spot post dinner. Brenda had a cherry trifle that was delicious and Caroline's dad, David, sampled a bread pudding that looked great.

Honestly, its not the place I would choose if a choice was to be made. I am happy to go there for the needs of others but not a huge fan of a strict vegetable diet personally. If Caroline and Skye would like to go out with us then I would, of course come here again knowing there are quite a few things I can enjoy. On the upside my sugar was behaving well. Not a post prandial spike in sight and really a little low by evenings end. Could I go totally meat free? Maybe if I can have seafood and dairy?  I really miss my cheese and in our house its a condiment in all it's forms and flavors.

For a Monday night, the place was packed. I mean every table. Many thanks to the Barr's for such a nice evening and to the Page's for a lovely invite to their special day. Much love and happiness to the beautiful couple.

Our annual pilgrimage....

We have returned home from our annual Mexico tour, enjoying the weather and getting us ready for the long Nebraska winter.  Many things at the resort have improved, especially the meals, and a few things have sadly declined. There is almost a cult following at EPM now and several repeaters have established a bit of a hierarchy, reserving, but not using sitting spots and the petty stuff that happens when varying classes of people gather.
This year, I unintentionally made a sensation of sorts. The Huskers played on Saturday and I dressed in Husker fashion. With my beard it obviously looked like Santa had come to Mexico.

The upside was we met a few Nebraskans and became local celebs. This trip we met lots of people at the pool either my Husker hat or my white beard creating an ice breaker. We met a Canadian couple that were great to speak to and exchanged information with them to meet up again. John and Jennie Churcher are originally from South Africa and I think we could just sit for hours a listen to their accents. So much fun and so much in common. 

The foods have improved at EPM. My favorite was the duck at the Asian restaurant as well as the octopus at the Barcelona place. It’s funny but I was craving big taste tonight so I made our Dirty Shrimp recipe with pasta after all that great eating, I missed spiced food. It’s just nice to have some intense flavors again. The recipe is on the blog.