Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow I start my first day of work, the first day of work in about a year. You can read about my job here. But let's talk about two dinners. First was the celebratory dinner at Bandera in Brentwood. It is a tough world out there right now, and after 3 interviews and a half-day in-office tryout, I was fortunate enough to get an offer for a job that I think I'm going to really enjoy. My dad graciously offered to pick up the tab for a nice meal for Mike and me so that we could properly celebrate the occasion. I had a filet with Bearnaise sauce, sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes and a delicious bottle of Zin, our fave. The filet was thick and red in the middle, crunchy and caramelized on the outside - just the way beef was destined to be consumed. I've never made Bearnaise sauce before and I've never really had a good one before. It seems time consuming to make from scratch, packets of those flavors taste dreadful, and no one really needs to consume that much butter and egg yolk in one sitting. That's how I justify not making it and thus, not eating it. Um.... I was wrong. It was worth every sinful bite. If I didn't have to fit in a wedding dress and bathing suit in less than 6 months, I might have come home and made myself a vat of good ole' Bearnie to enjoy on every veggie and protein I ever make again.

Tonight was a different kind of meal. Mike took it on himself to do the cooking for dinner. I'm a small bundle of nerves right now since I'm starting my new position in the morning. I've already filled out my paperwork and signed my life away, and I've tried on at least three different outfits that I may or may not wear on my first day. Anyways, Mike made one of his specialties and one of my favorites: Salsa Chicken with Spanish rice. He marinated chicken breasts in salsa for the afternoon and prepared Spanish rice with diced tomatoes. I had made some coleslaw (which is worthy of a whole other post) yesterday so that rounded out our plate. In a twist of our typical roles, I did the dishes afterward.

I am very grateful for both dinners, each in their own way celebrating my return to the workforce.

Question of the day: To celebrate significant events, where do you go? Or do you stay in and make something special?

Not a Baker, but I Do Love Ice Cream

I'm not a baker. Not at all. I can follow a recipe, sure, because you have to when you bake. It is more chemistry than anything else. If you mess with the ratios of flour to eggs to oil to sugar you can come out with something completely inedible. When I cook, I tend to look to recipes for inspiration, technique, or a general outline of what I want, and the outcome is almost always dependent on the time I want to spend on it and what I happen to have in the pantry at the given time. Plus, I like the freedom of being creative and adding foods and flavors to the things I cook. When I bake on the other hand, I'm a real stickler to the recipe. In fact, I'd really like to get a kitchen scale so that I can make a science out of it.

So, I sort of surprised myself when I volunteered to bring dessert of all things to my aunt-to-be's Father's Day's BBQ. What should I bring? A few years ago around Christmas I made a delicious peppermint ice cream and smashed Oreo cookie layer thing which was quite good (and easy, because I didn't have to bake anything). I thought maybe I could make a summer version with brownie on the bottom, mint chocolate ice cream above, and smashed Oreos to sprinkle atop, sort of like a cookie cake. In my typical style, I didn't want to just make brownies from a box, I wanted to make real brownies from scratch. So I pulled out Joy of Cooking because it is my go-to cook book for all the basic recipes and techniques (thank you, Linda, for such a great gift!) So, Brownies Cockaigne sounded delicious and like something I should learn to do. It requires melting chocolate with butter, beating the yellow out of some eggs and sugar, then folding in the chocolate and some flour into the eggs until just mixed, no more. I've seen Food Networkers use this technique before (mainly Paula Dean) and it always looks so yummy. Other than that the top completely caved in, they weren't too bad for a first attempt. A little dense, but not bad at all.

Probably, though, the batter was better than the brownies. Mike took care of the bowl with great pleasure.

 The final product, minus the Oreos, is below, and was reportedly voted #1 at the BBQ. I think the judges were a little biased, but it sure raised my confidence on my baking. Perhaps I will try a little more of it in the future.

Question of the Day: Ice cream may be my favorite food. Ever. What is your favorite flavor?

A Little Warmth During the June Gloom

There is a meteorological anomaly that apparently takes place in June each year in Southern California. It is called June Gloom, and it is exactly as it sounds. Thick fog and low clouds roll in off the water every night this month and they settle on the city like cataracts, blocking out all sunlight, all the blue skies, all the hope and all the joy from what should be one of the most beautiful months of the year. In a word: gloomy.

Of course, nothing could be that bad here in the City of Angels. By mid afternoon the low-lying clouds burn off, the sun warms the ground below, and all is right with the world until the next morning.

So it's chilly, overcast, and depressing. I decided to add a little warmth to my meal earlier this week. Take that back, this was just plain HOT.

I had a slab of beef, but it wasn't a super cut of meat. It needed to be marinated so that it had some additional flavor. So I chopped up some onion and a huge jalapeno. I added some salt, pepper, and oregano. I then mixed in a healthy dose of Worcestershire sauce and olive oil and let the beef marinate at room temp for an hour. (Let me pause and talk about another Unforgivable. Meats should not go straight from the fridge to the heat. You should always let meat rest before and after cooking, as it allows the proteins to relax a bit and not be shocked into the next state. Have you ever gone from a hot tub and jumped straight into a chilly swimming pool (I have, it was a favorite activity during vacations at the beach when I was a child)? It is SHOCKING to the system and makes you a little numb. I don't know many people that like their meat numb. All it takes is 20 minutes out of the fridge to let it warm up a bit, and it does wonders.Try it next time.) Mike then slapped it on the grill until it was medium-rare and perfect.

In the meantime I steamed some broccoli, simple enough. Brussels sprouts were rinsed and quartered, then sauteed until soft and caramelized in some oil and a bit of butter (next time, I won't add the butter - it's not needed), and some salt and pepper. But here is the kicker - I took the leftover marinade and heated it up to kill the germs from the previously-marinating beef, and then dribbled it on top of the cooked steak once finished.

So, now that you've waited this long, you are probably wondering "what was hot again?" The marinade was en fuego! It was so spicy. And then when it was concentrated on the stovetop, it got even hotter, but in a deliciously complex and tasty way; it wasn't not just for the sake of being hot. It was the perfect thing to heat me up after a cool day.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite cut of steak?