I just floured the chicken, sauteed it, took it out, added about 1/4 cup marsala, about 1/2 cup chicken broth, then about 1/2 cup cream and reduced it. It was good.

Now that there’s no income, my first thought is to turn to the pantry and frig for what we already have. Our dog doesn’t drink enough water so I bolster her high quality dry food with chicken broth. We were out. Cream, no.

So after I took the chicken out I added 1/4 cup of marsala and looked at what I had in the frig. Milk? Nope, can’t boil milk. Fresh-squeezed OJ that we get delivered every week? Let’s try it.

I added about a cup of OJ, reduced it and added salt and pepper to taste and it was delish! Kind of reminds me of orange chicken my mother used to make in the 80′s, but better.

One of the butchers at our local grocery has taken up cooking and has asked for one of my recipes, which I typed up and delivered today while shopping.

Tonight it’s mom’s pot roast, I smell it cooking in the oven, over egg noodles probably with peas on the side. But first I have to feed the dog, not the fish as yesterday was his last day on this earth. RIP, Fish. Cheers from Dee on a snowy day! Imagine that! And four more days of it should make our economy even brighter (and the spring water supply not drought-worthy).

He got his birthday off, first time since we’ve been out here, nearly three years, so we have four days together. He doesn’t seem to get that I still have to do laundry and make the bed and make breakfast and dinner. On weekends he likes to go out for lunch.

Last night, Christmas Eve, I made a pork tenderloin that I’d marinated overnight. I rubbed it with grainy mustard, placed it in a plastic bag (in a bowl, always) and added a beer, Heineken was the best I could find at the time. It was drained, dried, and brushed with olive oil, seasoned with s&p and grilled to perfection.

I served it with mashed potatoes and braised carrots.

Christmas dinner, I still can’t find capon  and have received 37 hits on this blog for how to cook capon in the past two days. We didn ‘t know we’d be here otherwise would have ordered from www.roastgoose.com

So I made filet mignon (grilled perfectly by my husband), scalloped potatoes and brussels sprouts with bacon.

Some dishes worked, others didn’t work as well. The filet was rare and wonderful. Let me think about it and the rest, it’s late and I wish you a merry Christmas. Dee

I miss them and sometimes have to get a bottle of Welch’s white grape juice to have a faint memory of the taste of that pristine flesh.  Welch’s was native to Concord country ’til they left.  Western NY, Chautauqua County, is Concord grape country and they welcome visitors, especially after the summer season as you’ll get lower rates and get to see the trees change color, my second favorite season (spring is the first with farmers markets and fresh fruits and veg).

There are many wineries now, B and B’s, lovely antiques stores and a lot of Victorian and later architecture to admire.  You might also find my grade school music teacher’s recipe for Concord Grape Pie on this site….

Next it’ll be Capon.  I can’t find a capon to save my life.  But one farm in the USA has them.  That was a long-term project that I may be able to continue for you nearer the holidays.

Then your interests turn to mincemeat.  What is really in it and does it have to include meat?  No.  Where to buy it and when my brother looked for it all over NYC he checked it out online and the first hit he got was… yes, my blog.

I guess I’ll have to come up with something eggy or lamb-y for spring.  You can always suggest recipes here, or write about a family favorite.  Vegetarians welcome, even vegans though this may not be the best venue.

Storming again so I have to go upstairs and close windows.  Good eating, Dee

Now, how many people are out of work in the US while the Kardashians, who have nothing to go on but their looks and a reality TV show, spend millions on a wedding?

Did I watch the wedding?  Heck, no.  Did I tune in to CNN for Libya info, yes. All while I was making the last dinner for my husband’s mother, Marjory.

We had grilled turkey burgers, heirloom tomatoes, and spiced sweet potato fries.

I got our butcher to grind 1# of white meat turkey and 1/2 # of dark meat turkey.  I mixed it with 1 beaten egg with 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper.  Then I added a bit of bread crumbs to bind.

Normally, I’d have grated garlic and onion in, using a micro plane, but Marjory hates onion so I did it this way.

Oh, I also did cucumber salad, which is already on this blog and a wonderful summer dish.  As for the sweet potato fries, they were frozen from Alexia, I just added some Aleppo pepper at the end.

My husband got one sliced tomato on his burger, a larger heirloom from the farmers’ market was cut into wedges for all to share.

This morning on the “news” on the Today show that I watch for local weather, the Kardashian wedding was billed as “simple.”  Three wedding dresses, two groom outfits, 400 guests, full TV coverage.

That doesn’t sound simple to me.  Now task the Kardashians with what I did.  A wedding and honeymoon in under $2,500, including two 18K wedding bands from Blue Nile.

I live for the day when being famous for being famous for being on a reality show does not equal money for life and “branding.”  Where my husband comes from, branding is done to cattle.

It’s been nearly a week that Jim’s mom has been here and we’ve done some terrific activities, amused ourselves at home, rested a bit, and had some good conversations.  She has another stop, at her dad’s, before going home to a hot and dry home in TX.  We’re all getting older, and family is important, especially if they’re not in town.

Real people don’t have Kardashian lives.  Let’s face it, even the Kardashians don’t have Kardashian lives.  I think they spend 1/2 of their time in hair and makeup, 1/4 being on camera, 1/8 being taken out of makeup and hair, and the final 1/8 with their publicist or maybe yelling at the husband and sleeping.

I’m glad to be here in the mountains in a quiet and calm landscape.  Enjoy yours.  Dee

Orange chicken included an entire chicken, specific amounts of flour, salt and pepper in which to dredge the chicken, then shortening for sauteeing.

The sauce called for orange juice concentrate and a minimal amount of water, brown sugar, oregano and nutmeg.

The New Outlook

I was only cooking for two so had 1# of chicken cutlets.  I didn’t measure the flour and added s&p to it and had it ready to dredge chicken at the last minute.

The chicken was sauteed in butter and olive oil in a non-stick pan until nearly done.

In this test for the sauce there was 1/2 shallot, minced, 1 c fresh-squeezed orange juice, 1/2 c chicken broth.  I sauteed the shallot in butter, added the juice and broth and reduced by 1/2.  I did add about 1/2 tsp of raw sugar as an homage to the original recipe but don’t think it’s needed.  At the end 1 tsp of butter was added and the chicken cutlets were returned to warm.

It was served over rice with sauteed zucchini.  We enjoyed the dish, but I would add some orange zest to bring home the flavors.  Anything more would alter the original dish, which I may do in a future episode of Cooking with Dee.  Cheers!

On a warm day, I didn’t want to heat up the oven so didn’t make salmon en papillote. I microwaved it in an old recipe of my mother’s, and served it with couscous and sauteed asparagus and cherry tomatoes. It was light and tasty and a treat for me to cook at home as my husband is allergic to anything that swims.

Then dinner, our guest is staying over so I had two small chicken breast “cutlets” that I breaded and served with cherry tomatoes, a German cucumber salad and sliced avocado. Tired now, so will get you recipes tomorrow. Sorry! Dee

One of my favorites is spiced nuts. Of course I’ve asked for permission to share this 20 year-old recipe and been summarily denied by a magazine that is now defunct but has a presence (and this recipe) online. Choose the nut(s) of choice, I like raw cashews, and coat them with a toasted spice mixture of your liking, melt some butter into it, toss the nuts in the mixture and bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they like to burn. Make sure they are completely cooled before placing in a decorative container (I love mason jars) and wrapping for giving.

I also like to buy olives, preferably at an olive bar so you can control the liquid content. I love meaty Kalamatas for this preparation. Drain the brine from the olives. Place the olives in a bowl and add whatever you like and have on hand. I place a few cloves of garlic in there, a sprig of rosemary (bruise it to allow the flavors out), some chili flakes. Don’t add salt, as the olives are salty enough. Place in a decorative container, leaving some room at the top. Cover with extra virgin olive oil and sit out on the counter for a few days to a week, making sure the olives are submerged. Make sure to notify the recipient that once the olives have been consumed the oil can be used for cooking or salads.

These are two great appetizers I like to keep on hand for when guests visit. If placed in the refrigerator the olive oil will solidify a bit but at room temperature will look normal again. For the nuts, keep them in sealed bags in the freezer until ready to serve or package as a hostess gift.

I know, I don’t make sweets. My sisters and many others are great bakers and I am not. Perhaps my palate is more suited to hot and salty flavors. In the college cafeteria my favorite breakfast was cocoa puffs with chocolate milk, now it’s smoked salmon on a sesame bagel but I’ve been known to eat cold pizza for breakfast! Cheers, the birds are up and so are we so at 6 a.m. it’s time to take out the dog. Dee

My assignment was burgers and I was going to make them from scratch. I had to make 24 burgers so had the butcher, only a few hours before I was to put them together, to put three 2# packages up for me, 85/15 beef. I looked that beef in the eye and made up my recipe right there. The key is to keep the meat cold and not compact it too much. For this recipe I had to do everything to scale, which is how I can give you the recipe.

For two pounds of freshly-ground 85/15 beef:

Two cloves garlic
One Shallot

Microplane them into a bowl with

One egg, 1t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1 t Worcestershire

Mix ‘em up

1/4 c bread crumbs, have on hand cowpoke

When you finish settin’ up, take the 2# of meat out of the frig and put it in a chilled bowl, if y’all can. If not just get moving. Break it apart quickly with a large fork, do not compress. Add the eggs/seasonings and fluff up again with the fork. Add bread crumb until it comes together. That’ll depend on the day and the humidity. Don’t make them into hockey pucks like the Scots do.

Form and cook on a good hot grill. I measured mine out and actually made them into rectangles (I had so many to do and wanted to make them uniform in size) but do whatever you like. Just handle them as little as possible and if the grill isn’t ready, put them on a plate and refrigerate them until it’s time to cook. They were a hit, not like the Royals in the US, but pretty durn close. Cheers, Dee

ps Homage to Alton Brown? My husband loves you because you’ve reduced cooking to a science. Now he thinks a robot can do what I do in the kitchen…

I’ve learned a few ways to make these eggs, all easy at 3′ above sea level. I made them yesterday at 6,400 feet above sea level and they turned out perfect. Cover cold eggs with cold water and place on stove. Before the water boils add salt (not to season the eggs, to bring up the temperature of the water). When boiling, time for 12 minutes of rapid boiling then place eggs in an ice water bath to cool.

Thirteen minutes would have firmly set the yolk but I like the yellowy color in the middle as long as it’s cooked and nothing is runny. And I must say to our farmers that our eggs are VERY fresh and this is to be admired. But for hard-cooked eggs, a week-old egg is OK to peel, a 2 week-old egg would be better for that purpose only.

It is wonderful to have the farmers’ markets open once again. What is Summer for many readers is really Spring here, but it was 80 degrees in the mountains today and our A/C kicked in a bit, which is OK because the pollen counts for grasses are off the radar. The markets are slow to bring what we usually get now because of the long, cold and snowy winter. Corn is here, salad greens. We’re waiting for tomatoes and berries and more tasty treats. Cheers, Dee

To say that my relationship with my mother was rocky would be an understatement. She always treated us kids well and I appreciated and learned much when she took an interest, in the 1980′s in food, when a family friend gave her a subscription to Gourmet. Gone were the cream of mushroom canned soups. It was a new world, for me, anyway.

The package from my youngest sister has sat there, along with a small check from my mother’s estate that I will not cash and hope my sister has used wisely, for well over a year. Tonight I tore it open, and it contains 3×5 card recipes from a plastic box my mother had for eons. When I got to the B’s her BBQ Beef (a recipe I’ve wanted in order to transform it) was in my handwriting. I teared up and put the lot back in the envelope to tackle tomorrow. Apparently my sister is still missing a lot of recipes mom wrote on thin paper in green typewriter ink, probably on her classic IBM Selectric they bought used. I might actually have her infamous birthday cake recipe in storage, Viennese Chocolate Pecan Torte. It’s something I should have because we get at least 2# of fresh pecans shelled and picked by my mother- and father-in-law each year.

The torte is a decadent pecan cake, with milk chocolate ganache and a dark chocolate frosting on top. It was a birthday treat for all and I thought my sisters, the bakers, knew how to do it. I may have that recipe in the vault in air-conditioned storage but that will remain to be seen.

My thought was to do a book of favorite family recipes. We all depend on those taste and scent memories to bring us home. I’ll let you know when I get beyond the B’s. Cheers, Dee