The Christmas Roast Post

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Three French hens, two turtle doves, and a blog post full of love from me.

Merry Christmas from The Cheesecake Addiction! I hope it was very merry!

Far too much in the way of food happened to fully detail it all, so I’ll hit the highlights.

First, on the 23rd, I filled my first huge truffle order! I sold twenty two bags, large and small, and spent much time over the weekend slaving in the kitchen with CDR hand rolling the truffles to chocolatey perfection.

Then on Christmas Eve, CDR and I woke up crazy early so that I could make cheesecake. And I’m telling you guys, this time, it was PERFECT. No cracks at all! Just delicious. I  was mighty proud.

Me, admiring the lack of cracks in my beautiful cake!

Don’t forget the sour cream topping!

While the cheesecake set up in the fridge, CDR and I joined the rest of my cousins for our annual Christmas Eve trip to confession and then to lunch at Navy Pier. Never a dull moment with my Uncle John, let me tell you. Naturally, St. Peter’s was closed until 4pm, so we had to pile back into our cars and go over to St. Mary of the Angels. But not before we discovered Uncle John had the direct line to one of the priest’s, Father Santiago–an envoy from the Vatican. He called ahead to make sure they would be able to accommodate our large group (15 in total, though only 8 confessors). Upon arriving, we were surprised that we were directed to the rectory, and shown into the priests’ private chapel. Father Hillary took confessions, while Father Santiago told us the story of Christmas.

Then burritos at Navy Pier. Then home to help my mom with dinner. Check out the 17 pound rib roast.

This baby was rubbed with dijon, salt, pepper, and mustard seeds and cooked to a luxurious 130 degrees. Yummy.

And then we dug into the cheesecake.

Delicious!

On Christmas afternoon, before driving to Uncle Chris and Aunt Donna’s, we took the left over ribs, and made ourselves a luscious stock.

Left over rib roast

Ribs with parsley, carrots, yellow and red onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.

Add water (10 cups into the crockpot).

 

Simmer on low for up to 24 hours!

And a French 75.

Check out the Weekly Cocktail page tomorrow for the recipe!

Merry Christmas, kids. Just 363 more days to go. What adventures can we cook up this year?

 

So this is Christmas…Again.

One year and one day ago I posted this. A post with the same title and lessons similar to the ones I learned this year. I wrote:
” 1.If you lose yourself, don’t hate yourself. You’ll put the pieces back together.
2. If you feel caged, just jump. Do it. Feeling a weight on your heart isn’t worth it.
3. When you are sad, don’t listen to Melissa Etheridge.
4. If you are bursting at the seams, don’t hold it in. Scream, laugh, cry or do whatever you have to do. As Marilyn said, “If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.”
5. Sometimes, it’s okay to sleep in. The world can wait.
So this year, I’ve decided is my year of pushing my boundaries. I will take more risks and allow myself to be more vulnerable. I will heal and cleanse my mind and body and nourish them with joy. I will let loose. I do not need to be so tightly wound. I will go to bed late and dammit! I will dance on a table this year.”

So, I have two days to dance on a table. I’ll come back to that in a second…erm, a paragraph. If you read often, you know what a rough ride the past six months have been. And I know. You’re tired of hearing it. But isn’t the new year the time to be pensive and reflective? Of everything mentioned above, I did it all…except the table thing. I took risks, allowed myself to be vulnerable, I healed and cleansed, felt extreme joy, and you know…I did let loose. A year ago, my anxieties would have kept me home rather than going on an awesome (yes, I said awesome) trip to Canada or to Beach State Park when I was aching for clarity. The past month has been easier on the heart and body–stepping away from theater helped a lot. I am less tired and much more capable of handling the ridiculous ” you’re happy now” photos that Facebook throws at me. Bring it on!

Before I tell you about my delicious Christmas roast, please humor me a few more sentences. While I will remember this year for the lessons I learned, I think I’ll remember this year more for the…well…the snapshot memories. If I could choose a lesson that accurately depicts the whole year, I’d say it is: Cherish it. Cherish the pain, the joy, the breaths, the friends, the theater, the laughter, the love. Cherish Chris, Miriam, Wendy, Geoff, Gabby, Emily, Paul, and the countless others that got me through. Cherish the sun tan from that one terrible pier-side day that STILL won’t fade. I’ll remember always Canada, graduation, Rent (oh, I’ll never forget Rent). Some Nights reminds me of excruciating summer nights and Katy Perry reminds me of Paul car dancing.

When all is said and done, have you said everything there is to say? Do the people in your life know exactly how you feel about them? Has everything been made right on your part? I am not sure I can say much in the way of accomplishments this year–but I can answer “yes” to those questions. And that’s good enough for now.

So thanks guys. Now, forChristmas Eve this year, I made another standing rib roast. I coated it with the help of a smokey, peppery brown sugar rub (made by the awesome CDR). Cooked it fat side up, searing at 500 for twenty minutes, and then continued cooking for two hours at 350 until medium rare. The flavor was unbelievable. Incredible BBQ taste. Delicious bark and tender, juicy meat. Soo good.

COAT it with the rub! Mm, mmm, good!

Out of this world!

As an appetizer, I also made Brie en Croute. My standard recipe. Just bake Brie and a honey, rosemary, cranberry mixture in puff pastry until golden brown.

put honey mixture in the center.

wrap pastry around it.

Serve!

And of course I made a cheesecake. And honestly, it was the best one I ever made. Extra creamy, crumbly crust. Outstanding and hats off to myself. Yay.

‘And a Merry Christmas to your family.’

Appetizers, More Truffles, Parties, CHRISTMAS OH MY!!!

Greetings and a very Merry and Happy Holidays to you–

have you all also been hard at work shopping, baking, and cleaning? I have been absolutely swamped. BUT– I am done shopping and having made The Christmas Eve cheesecake just a few hours ago, I am done baking for a while too. I am so exhausted from the last few days, I don’t even have the energy to muse about the glory of the solstice and end of the Mayan calendar and all of the stuff I’d typically go wild about.

Two nights ago, the group FINALLY reunited for a holiday party a la casa de Anna. I made three appetizers and let the other kids handle the booze.

Advance apologies for a lack of photos.

I made some Asian BBQ chicken nuggets: marinate sliced boneless, skinless breasts in whatever you like (we stuck to Asian flavors: soy sauce, garlic, ginger, mustard, etc) for several hours. Mix up some flour and bread crumbs and some additional seasoning and coat the chicken pieces. Drizzle with cooking oil and Bake at 375 for 20 min or so, turning once half way. While it bakes, add some chicken stock to the marinade and bring to a boil. Pour it over the chicken when it comes out of the oven. De-fucking-licious!

I also made vegetarian pinwheels. Roll outa sheet of puff pastry just slightly. Smear with cream cheese, and top with a mushroom-shallot sauté, chopped asparagus, and red pepper (or any veggies you like). Roll it up, brush it with an egg wash, slice it into pinwheels, and bake at 375 for 8-10 min until golden brown. Also received rave reviews. I made something very similar here.

I also made a pizza. Easiest thing in the world. I bought a pizza dough (the cooked ones you find in a bakery) and covered it with sauce, garlic, mozzarella cheese, and lots of veggies. It baked 10 min at 400 degrees and came out crispy and perfect.

Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about truffles? Well, since then I have made over 200 truffles in various flavors (mint, peanut butter, merlot, and Mexican spiced). What is so great about them is just how versatile they really are. You just make a basic chocolate ganache and stir in whatever combination of flavors you want. They’ve been given as gifts and have gotten great reviews. So many, in fact, that people have told me that I should be selling them. So, ladies and gentleman, I think I’ll give it a shot. More details coming, but basically, I now sell pint jars full of truffles and if you’re interested, you can hit me up. They make great gifts for friends and self!

What? You want a musing about the solstice? Really quick, though, ok? Because my hands kinda hurt from typing. Obviously, we all survived the apocalypse. But let us not forget these things: the end of the Mayan calendar coincided with the winter solstice (a time of rebirth and renewal) and that we are in an age of Aquarius. THAT’S magical. That’s something to consider. I believe that we are in a new age of humanity. A time of love. As previously stated: Peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars! This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius…

Peace out, kids. Have a wonderful, happy, and blessed few days.

Fancy Fish and Cookies

Hey guys!

I’m kind of in a hurry to clean my room for the cleaning lady tomorrow (oh come on, we all know that chestnut) SO, I’ll try to make this as brief as possible–with little heart-felt yammerings.

Yammerings: This week I started my new job as a nanny, and it was a little rough, but mostly pretty great. The paycheck was nice too. Still looking to fill five more hours of childcare and/or personal assistant work on Thursdays…so please feel free to hit me up (I know, not so heartfelt). I had a wonderful girl’s lunch with Gabs and Em on Thursday and it was exactlt what all of us needed. Two whole hours of laughter. And yesterday, I saw A Christmas Carol and Paul was my date for the evening. He even accompanied me for late night tacos. Thanks, bud. A little bit each day, I feel like I’m a little less on the crazy train. A little bit. Please note that as I say this, I have six GIANT sheets of blank paper strewn about my room that I have to turn into backdrops for the Christmas pageant. There’s a million canvases and articles of clothing thrown around and between me and the computer screen I have: a toiletry bag, a Victoria’s Secret perfume box, a journal, Nine Kinds of Naked, two pill bottles (left over from the pneumonia), an inhaler, sheet music, a notebook, an old mp3 player, insurance papers, a necklace, a hair clip, Pier 1 reed diffuser fragrance, and about $8.50 in change (dimes and pennies). So. A while still on the crazy train.

BUT. On Friday night, I decided that I would make CDR a fancy date-night dinner. I decided that the menu would be grilled salmon, orzo-stuffed tomatoes, and a kale, spinach, and red pepper saute. All in all, pretty fantabulous. We paired it with a delightful pinot grigio (but keep in mind that with salmon, you could really go either way–white or red) and enjoyed ourselves on a makeshift indoor picnic blanket.

Oooh la la, que bueno!

To make these dreamy little balls of heaven (pretend I came up with something better to say), you simply hollow out tomatoes and sprinkle them with a little S&P. Reserve the liquid from the tomatoes, because you can use it to cook the orzo (or rice, or cous cous, or whatever). In a small saucepan, toast two tabelspoons of butter, 1 sliced shallot, and 1 clove of garlic. When the butter has melted, add 1 1/2 cups of orzo and lightly toast. Pour in the tomato liquid and chicken stock and cook orzo until done (about 8 min). Make a breadcrumb topping by combining breadcrumbs and a variety of herbs (I used parsley, basil, and rosemary) with salt, pepper, and olive oil (HINT: also add some parm. I was out of cheese, so I couldn’t do that part). When the orzo is done, stir in half of the breadcrumb mixture and fill the tomatoes (you’ll have orzo left over for later). Sprinkle the tops of the ‘maters with the rest of the bread crumb mixture, drizzle with a little bit more olive oil, and throw them under a low broiler for a few minutes. Delish, is really all that I can say.

It didn’t even taste healthy!

For the kale and spinach mixture, first chop a shallot and a clove of garlic and bring it to temperature with a bit of olive oil and butter (1 1/2 TBL total). Also, if you’d like (and I liked) add 1/2 tsp of red chili flake. Then add 1 sliced red bell pepper at saute 2 min. Add one bunch of kale and one bunch of spinach (this stuff wilts down to almost nothing, so if you’re cooking for more than 2, be sure account for that), and saute until it wilts, but still has a bit of a bite to it. Sprinkle in a dash of nutmeg, too. It brings out the flavor of greens.Now, for this salmon–I went a little outside my fish comfort zone. Usually, I just like to drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper it and be done with it, because I like to keep the fish as pure and as simple as possible. BUT, I thought, what the hell? Make it herbacious, right? So, about ten minutes before I threw it on the grill, I slathered it with some honey mustard, basil, parsley, rosemary, salt, pepper, and a little bit of lemon juice. Slathered may not be the right word…because I definitely just lightly coated it. Threw it on the grill 4 min a side (I took it a little far. 3 min a side would have been better) The flavor was unbelievable and the skin was crispy.

Look how yumy!!

This has CDR’s stamp of approval!

Now, with Friday night’s successful dinner, I thought I’d make fancy Christmas cookies on Saturday morning. They really aren’t that fancy. They’re sugar cookies with some chopped rosemary. Couldn’t be easier. Everyone has their own favorite sugar cookie recipe, so just use that and add about 1 tablespoon of chopped FRESH rosemary, and it gives your cookies a wonderful pine, Christmas flavor.

I wish YOU a Merry Christmas!

So maybe this year we give Santa a little sophistication and leave him some nice rosemary-sugar cookies. They’re delectable, and quite perfect for those of us that want to feel a little grown-up this Christmas.

Make enough for reindeer!

Ciao, guys. I have a room to clean.

Honest Energy and Honestly Good Truffles

Hi guys! I missed you!

Hey Blogstalkers!

Long has it been since I’ve posted to the blogosphere! And as always, much has happened. and I have no idea where to begin. Cliffnotes? Ok, cliffnote version. I started rehearsals for two shows, started working at a gym, made pasta, struggled through my shows, made chocolate cake (of the flourless variety), got pneumonia, closed a show, was offered a new job as a nanny, went to California for Thanksgiving, gave notice at the gym, closed another show, and made truffles (more on that a few paragraphs down). All within this time, of course, were several meltdowns, laugh riots, significant revelations and decisions made, belted a few rounds of “Just You Wait” from My Fair Lady, and most recently there were several successful shopping sprees.

In this time, I came to two big realizations. One, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Two, I’m not really enjoying theater. SO. What’s an anxiety-ridden thrill seeker to do? Well, I made a lot of changes. First, I realized how exhausted, stressed, and unhappy I’ve become and realized it was partly because of my go-go schedule (aside, be sure to wake me up before you go-go), but mostly–it was because of theater and the negative associations with it that I acquired over the summer. I am exhausted and I think it is wisest to take a break from theater now so that I have energy to return to it later. This way, if I realize theater isn’t for me–it will have been a decisions, rather than a bitter reaction. However, in the spirit of bitterness, I will say that I’m confident that had the events of the summer not transpired, I’d be able to get through a little bit longer.

I have backed out of all theater commitment until May. This was a big decision, a leap of faith, and I am scared shitless. This is a brave new world (in which life without theater is the stand-in for test tube babies) and I’m trying to figure it all out. So, to recap: I’m quitting my job at FFC to take another job that will give me more time to focus on my writing (with two projects that have long been in the works) and my painting (stay tunes for a possible website in which I try to sell shit). I’ll be taking six months off from theater and I’m terrified. So there you have it. Another day in the life.

AND, I made truffles, which were called “divine” by Columbia College Chicago faculty and they make great holiday gifts.

In a double boiler, melt 12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/4 c of mint chips, and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Set in freezer to harden two hours and then scoop out chocolate by thea teaspoon and form little balls.

Coat truffles in cocoa powder.

Store in an airtight container. I kept mine in the fridge. Yummy!

So, stay tuned as I smear my heart all over cyberspace. This is a scary new adventure for me and frankly, I don’t have the energy to be anything but honest. I invite you to join me in this slow “putting the pieces back together” process. It won’t be all tears and fears (second aside, totally want to be listening to Tears for Fears right now)–it’ll just be honest. And there’ll be some honestly good recipes along the way.

We’ll see where this road goes. Today at church, someone asked what I do and I said, “I’m a stage manager.” Hm.

New Year, New Resolutions

A Happy New Year to all of you! I hope it was fun and healthy and filled with good eatings. What did you all cook? And what have I made since the 23rd? Christmas Eve: Brie en Croute, Standing Rib Roast, and Cheesecake. Later that week I roasted all of the vegetables in the house that were starting to look questionable low and slow with salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar and later stirred it with brown rice. On the 30th, Chef Vishneski and I celebrated our own Christmas with a Mexican fiesta. New Year’s Eve, the Chef and I made dinner for my family (spaghetti and meatballs) and an apple pie.

Yup. Only reason I ate that slice was for a picture!

A Brie en Croute is simply a round of Brie cheese wrapped in puff pastry. Usually, it also comes with some sort of fruit preserve or honey dressing. For mine, I make a honey-cranberry dressing and put it directly on the puff pastry and top it with the Brie and then wrap it up in puff pastry.  I rolled out the puff pastry so that the Brie round would fit on it and there would be enough pastry to wrap up the entire round. I warmed up a quarter cup of honey and mixed in about two tablespoons of fresh chopped cranberries (though I usually use dried, I just wanted to try something new), a teaspoon or so of fresh chopped rosemary and salt and pepper. Pour the honey mixture on top of the puff pastry and then put the round of Brie on top of that. Cover it with the rest of the pastry, and then brush it with an egg wash. Into a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Before cutting into it, let it rest about ten minutes.

The other noteworthy dish was the standing rib roast. I used this recipe from Emeril and yes, it was BAM. Very flavorful. One of my best, but I’m not into bragging. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/standing-rib-roast-recipe/index.html. I’d really recommend this cut of meat for your next special gathering of 7-8 people. It’s delicious even without the amazing rub Emeril has us do, but with the rub (which includes two whole heads of roasted garlic) it is superb!

This blog began with the 2010 New Year and with the thought of New Year, New Me. The New Me has certainly begun to take form and I’m happy with it. But it wouldn’t be a new year without new resolutions. I resolve to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Moby Dick, My Life in France, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. These books MUST be read this year. I resolve to add even more spontaneous adventure to my life. And I resolve to do something that will benefit others. But you don’t care about those resolutions. What do I resolve in the way of food? I resolve to master Roasted Chicken. I will. I will finally conquer my poultry woes. It will totally happen.  I’m thinking this means I’ll have to make a Roasted Chicken once every two months. Thoughts? Recipes?

Until next time, live long and prosper food nerds!

Running on Empty…Calories

Okay, Okay. The fact of the matter is that I cannot be trusted to blog when I say I will. I even wrote this post on the 23rd, but got distracted and never posted it. And I apologize that photos didn’t happen this week either. It’s so difficult to hold your laptop up to food! So, let’s rewind a few days to the 23rd. Are you there? Ok. Go.

Hello everyone! I know tis the season to stock up on sweets and rich and delicious food, but wow. I’ve seemed to have really taken that seriously. On the menu tonight for my holiday gathering, we have sausage balls, spiced nuts, left over cookies from my last post (yeah, they keep for about a week), and Hershey’s Especially Dark Cake (it’s my usual chocolate cake recipe, but with Special Dark cocoa powder, rather than the regular. Everything is sort of doing its thing in the oven right now (balls and nuts, haha!) or cooling on my counter (cake). Since I’ve already talked so much about this cake (in previous posts), I’ll just go into detail about these two newer recipes. For the record, all three of these recipes are terrible for you, but very special for the holidays.

Sausage Balls:

Hilarious name aside, these little bundles of amazingness are super easy to make. The recipe comes from my Aunt Suzy, who adapted it from Paula Dean’s recipe. The recipe itself is: 2 pounds of pork sausage, 3 cups shredded cheese, 1 cup of Bisquick, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and a little milk to moisten. You mix all of this together in a bowl, and on an ungreased cookie sheet, you form them into little balls and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, turning once. Easy, right? My variations (same measurements): Italian sausage instead of pork, 3 cups of sharp cheddar, Bisquick, basil and parsley, salt and pepper, and a little milk. So delicious. If you don’t eat all of them, freeze them and just pop them into the microwave when you’ve got a craving. These are also great to serve at breakfast.

Spiced Nuts:

Another from Aunt Suzy, these are packed with flavor and so easy. I’m using pecans and almonds, but you can use whatever raw nut you like. First you oven roast the nuts (I’m using a cup of each) on a cookie sheet at 350 for ten minutes or so. Just don’t burn them! Meanwhile, melt half a stick of butter and put it in a bowl with your spices. These are all to taste, so the measurements kind of change. And use as much of any flavor as you like. I’m using salt, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and a couple tablespoons of fresh rosemary. Toss with the warm nuts and serve warm or room temperature. They keep in a sealed plastic bag for about a day.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, again. Merry Christmas.

No Bake Cookies (or Candy)

 

Season's Eatings!

Hello all and a happy Winter Solstice! Tis the magical season of giving and love. How are you celebrating? I’ve been baking my tail off, trying to live my Unitarian Universalist principles, and tonight I’ll celebrate the solstice. But I’m sure you readers (because I know you’re out there) care not to hear about my solstice plans. You care about what I’ve made recently, as this is a food blog.

 

So last night, Chef Vishneski and I baked on an industrial level. Though, that was not intentional. See, I accidentally quadrupled this recipe by adding two cups of milk instead of 1/2 cup. Don’t ask. I’m still trying to figure out how that one happened. But anyway, because of that, we had to quadruple all other ingredients. These cookies we made are quite delicious. They are no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies. My mom pointed out last night that I probably should advertise these as candy rather than cookies, and after careful consideration, I’m going to have to agree with her. However, the index card in the Vishneski kitchen said these were No Bake Cookies, and a V family tradition, so while I’ll caution you that these are really more like candy, I’ll call them cookies. Here’s the recipe (in not quadrupled form.)

2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa (Hershey’s), 1/2 cup of milk, and 1/4 pound of butter (that’s one stick). Put these ingredients into a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let it sit for a minute. Then mix in 1 tsp of vanilla, a pinch of salt, 1/2 chunky peanut butter, and 3 cups of quick-cooking oats. Drop by teaspoonfuls on wax paper. Let them harden (we put them in the fridge), but be aware that these won’t REALLY harden, they will just solidify a bit more than what you just dropped onto the wax paper. The result is kind of magical.

 

Yum Yum Yum

 

So, while I wait for the financial stability to repair my camera, images from my web cam will have to do (though donations are being accepted and much appreciated). At least I can add fun borders to them. You should expect a post on the 23rd, and maybe if I have time you’ll get something on Christmas Eve. You see, I’m throwing a little Christmas/Solstice/Birthday party on the 23rd, and am in charge of a large portion of Christmas Eve dinner. In the meantime, go and be merry! Finish your last-minute shopping, and don’t forget to cook something.