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.’

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!

An Off Night with Ground Chicken

Tonight my skills were a bit lacking, but I’m not discouraged. The whole point of the blog is to broaden my culinary horizons using ingredients I never have before.

Strangely, the night started off with my Brie en Croute. I’ve made it several times before and always have been successful. The problem, I know, was that I did not let it sit long enough  before cutting into it. This appetizer is a round of brie cheese wrapped in puff pastry. Between the pastry and cheese is a bed of honey, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, walnuts, and dried cranberries (that have been re-hydrated). It bakes in a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes or so (until puff pastry is golden and flaky) and then it ideally should sit for ten-fifteen minutes before you cut into its buttery goodness.

The rest of the family was not enthused by my ground chicken burger idea, so I made them my usual rosemary, garlic, cabernet hamburgers topped with carmelized onions and swiss cheese. They’re pretty damn good, for the record.

But ground chicken was my ingredient this week, so I had to use it. Now, being from Orange County, CA (and more specifically Huntington Beach), I’m bound to get homesick for the tastes of southern California once in a while. Those foods that take me back home are avocados, tomatoes, vinegars, and basically anything super fresh or super Mexican. The flavors I love. To emulate these flavors, in a bowl with ground chicken I combined fresh thyme, chopped scallions, half a beaten egg (to bind), salt and pepper, red-wine vinegar, and Italian bread crumbs (binding). The first thing I noticed, was that the chicken was very gloppy. Not that great to work with. But I pushed onward and made the patties and broiled them for about 7 min each side. On a toasted bun I put sliced tomatoes, the patty, carmelized onions, and avocado. I would have liked to add a herb mayo, but our mayo had expired twenty days earlier. But instead I just drizzled olive oil and red wine vinegar. This would have been delicious if the chicken was not ground, but from the breast and grilled. Ground chicken has a consistency best suited for dishes like chile, not burgers. But it made a pretty burger, that tasted ok, but the texture just wasn’t right.