Pam's Sublime Turkey Burgers

Sometimes you just have a good idea and have to implement it. The inspiration for this recipe came from the fresh mint growing in our garden. I have used mint before in turkey burgers, and remembered that I also have drizzled said burgers with lemon juice. I took this idea to the next level by making my own mayonnaise using lemon-infused olive oil.

For two burgers I used:

1/2 lb. ground turkey
a few dashes each of salt and pepper
about a dozen fresh mint leaves, minced
a few shakes of crumbled feta cheese

Patties were hand formed and cooked on the stovetop.

For the mayonnaise I used

1 uber-fresh local egg gifted by a friend
1 dollop of lemon-infused olive oil
1 dollop of basil-infused olive oil
a few shakes each of salt and pepper

The ingredients were put in the blender and mixed until emulsified. The result was a bit heavy on the olive oil taste, so I added some more salt until there was a better balance. 

Burgers were placed on sesame buns and topped with the mayonnaise.

We enjoyed this on the back deck with some white wine and potato chips. Bats and birds helped to create an ideal atmosphere. The evening was complete when we got to watch the best back-yard lightning-bug show so far this season.

Chicken Salad

A few weeks ago while James was in Brazil (and I was on my own) I thawed, poached, and shredded two chicken breasts. Although I only needed one breast to prepare Chilaquiles, I cooked both simply because they came in a package of two. Once the superfluous breast was shredded I put it in the freezer to use later.

Often in the summer I like to have cool salads for meals, so last week I took the prepared chicken out of the freezer, thawed it and made a chicken salad. I decided not to follow any recipe and let the ingredients I had on had be my guide. 

The chicken was mixed with two dollops of  sour cream, about 1/4 c. chopped red onion, and some salt, pepper, and dried basil. At this point I gave it a taste test and determined that it was a bit "onion forward"  so I found some prepared cranberry sauce in the refrigerator and added about two tablespoons. The sweet/tart flavor softened the harsh onion for a lovely flavor combination. We made sandwiches with the salad and had some roasted potatoes on the side.

Our new "house" drink

National Mead Day is the first Saturday in August, and I do like my Mead. I determined that since we were celebrating Mead, that we should make a Mead cocktail rather then simply drinking a glass. After an online search we and decided on A Cure for What Ails You. Off we went to our local liquor store, only to discover that they had no Mead! As we were about to give up we noticed a bottle of something called "Brandymel" and decided that we could be flexible.

The original recipe we found calls for 2 1/2 parts Mead; 1 part lemon juice; and 1 1/2 parts ginger beer, but since we were using liquor instead of "wine" we cut back a bit on the alcoholic portion. I adapted by using one six-ounce bottle of ginger beer, two ounces of lemon juice, and two shot glasses full of the Brandymel (for two servings). I mixed everything together in a measuring cup then poured over ice into two glasses. So refreshing for a hot summer day! We have dubbed it our new "house drink".

Especialidad de la Casa

Meaning "Specialty of the House" -- this was the title Pamela suggested when she said I should include this dinner on the blog. It implies something a bit beyond the usual post, as no recipe was involved.

Rather, the concept for this dinner evolved in real time as I considered what to do with a few different leftovers. I set the chicken breasts (about one and a half of them) that were thawed but not used earlier in the week onto a plate and poked them with a sharp knife. I doused them with soy sauce and then smothered them in sriracha and returned the plate to the fridge for a couple of hours. 

When it was time to cook, I heated oil in our indispensable cast-iron skillet over a high flame while I sliced the chicken into thin strips. I then sprinkled liberally with dried thyme and when the chicken was seared and nearly cooked through, I thinly sliced a crisp, granny smith apple and stirred it in. As I usually do when cooking with apples, I sliced the top and the bottom off, discarding them, and then used a corer to make 8 sections. I sliced each lengthwise into two or three thin slices, leaving the skin on. By discarding the tops, I get about half the skin and most of the flesh, making for a nice compromise on texture.

Apple-chicken-thyme, in progress

I then added a bit more oil and a cup of cooked rice that was already in the fridge. Once heated through, I plated this and opened -- as one might guess -- some Malbec. This was so simple and delicious that we will savor today's leftovers (with a shared quesadilla) and will put this in the Casa Hayes-Boh dinner rotation!

Mint Mocha Milkshake

James bought these funky flavored coffee beans a few weeks ago for fun. As coffee snobs it is anathema to us to do much with coffee flavors, but he knows I like mint chocolate ice cream, and I also like the visual appeal of the color combination of mint green and chocolate brown so he made an exception. We drank the coffee for our morning beverage the weekend before last, but didn't finish all the beans so I got the idea to use them in a milkshake (aka a "coffee cabinet") since we had some coffee milk (for those who don't live in Massachusetts or Rhode Island this is a specialty in these parts) and some vanilla ice cream. I ground the beans then added them to a blender with the ice cream and milk. I had hoped the grinding along with the blending would reduce them to something that wouldn't be noticeable in the final product, but in fact they left a rather grainy texture to the shake. It was good in any case and a fun way to use the beans.

Salmon a la Pamela almondine

We recently discovered that our favorite fishmonger (Kyler's Catch) was indeed open. We should have known since the place has always been impeccably clean. They have done everything right in order to keep the retail side of their business going: masks for employees, sneeze guards, and chairs spaced six feet apart for waiting. It is also still impeccably clean. James donned his own mask and went over on Friday evening and brought back salmon and scallops. I was in charge of preparing the salmon on Friday, and he made dinner with the scallops on Saturday.

I poached the salmon in some leftover Malbec we had in the beach house refrigerator from the previous weekend. I also added some orange slices to pan. Meanwhile, I toasted some sliced almonds in some butter and honey. Once the salmon was cooked I divided it onto our plates and topped them with the almonds. Mashed potatoes made for a dandy side dish and a garnish of orange wedges completed the meal.

I had no recipe for this. I put it together with ingredients we already had. We both enjoyed the meal and will likely make it again, that is if we ever have leftover wine again. Once a bottle gets uncorked at our house it is unlikely to get re-corked. The only reason we had some in this case was because last Sunday we opened a second bottle. Fortunately, we also had a full bottle of the same wine to drink with the meal.

James wore this special nautical-themed face mask for his trip to the fish monger

What have I got in my cupboard? New recipes for Stay-At-Home Coronoavirus advisory

This Spanish Tortilla isn't really a new recipe for us. It is essentially the same as this frittata recipe from a few years ago. Typically I'm pretty traditional when it comes to Spanish Tortillas and will only use eggs, onions, potatoes and olive oil (lots of it!) but I didn't want the pepper we bought from the farmer's market to go to waste. We'd already had to toss a nice acorn squash we'd bought but waited too long to use. This is no time to waste food. Limiting trips to the grocery store is what life is all about now.

One way we've been limiting the grocery store visits is by having some additional items added to our weekly milk and egg delivery. This week we ordered turkey tips and I used them as a substitute in for beef chuck in a beef and barley soup recipe I found on the New York Times Cooking page. I ended up making quite a few substitutions in fact. Here's how my recipe played out:
I drained the juice from two 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes.
I added water to the tomato juice to make one quart of liquid which I put into a big soup pot.
I added the turkey tips along with some salt and pepper some celery stalks and some fresh parsley.
All of this cooked for one hour.
Then 1/4 cup of barley was added and cooked another hour
I removed the celery and parsley and added the reserved canned tomatoes, some frozen peas, and some chopped onion and carrots. 
I brought the soup to a boil and then simmered for 45 minutes.
As I'm writing this I realized that I didn't add the leftover cabbage that was in our refrigerator. It was part of the reason I chose the recipe!

Anyway, I made biscuits to go with this. It was quite good and filling. Now I need to find another cabbage recipe.

Pie in the time of Corona

Last Saturday was Pie (Pi) Day - 3.14. We had a bit of ground turkey left from when we made turkey burgers earlier in the week, so I told James I would start with that to make shepherd's pie. He didn't think it would really be enough, but I told him I could stretch it. He also seemed concerned because the turkey had apples and onions in it, but I couldn't see how the extra flavor would be a problem. He was prepared to make a grocery trip so I asked him to get some carrots and potatoes. He came back with carrots but said the produce section was completely wiped out of potatoes. We had six rather small ones on hand so again I decided I could stretch them. We also had 5 pieces of bacon so I started by cooking them and using them as a bottom "crust" for the pie. The filling was made with sauteéd onions and garlic, the cooked ground turkey, sliced carrots and peas. The potatoes were cooked and mashed for the topping. I baked everything at 375 for some amount of time. I don't remember. Anyway, it turned out good.

We are trying to be especially creative and thoughtful with our ingredients during this time of crisis. We did find an open farmer's market on Sunday. Not many people there (neither customers nor vendors) but we did buy some fresh vegetables to use in the coming week. We are both working from home this week. So far frustration levels are low to medium - having good food helps.

I recognize that the ability to put together meals when I have to make do with what is available is actually a privilege, and I am pleased to realize that over the nine plus years that we've been blogging about our cooking we have learned what flavors taste good together, what we like and don't like, and what we can tolerate.  It has made meal preparation one less thing to worry about.

Clovey Chicken

The name refers to the flavor of cloves, not our former dog Clover, the misunderstood Puerto Rican street hound. Yesterday I prepared ham sandwiches that Pam has made a couple of times. I was in charge of our picnic with friends at Westport Rivers Sunset Music, so the Exceptional Picnic Fare seemed appropriate. (They were a success: my friend Rob suggested I could open a sandwich shop when I retire! It would have this one sandwich and some very good coffees.)

Looking for something light and simple this afternoon that would use some of what was left over from the picnic, I noticed a small package of boneless, skinless (or nearly so) chicken thighs in the freezer. I thawed them carefully and then tossed them with a small amount of olive oil and coated them on both sides with freshly ground cloves.

I then heated a bit more olive oil in a small, indispensable cast-iron skillet and added the thighs once the pan was hot. I allowed them to brown until cooked almost through, and turned them, once browning on the other side.

I then added the super-simple sauce that had worked on the sandwiches: equal parts grainy mustard and peach preserves. I thought of using the cloves because they had worked well in combination with this sauce on the sandwiches yesterday.

I failed to test for doneness while on the stove, so I microwaved them for one minute further. They paired nicely with deli redskin potato salad and In the Buff Chardonnay from Newport, another local vineyard.

And now ...

... the moment you've all been waiting for: a photo of that other Clovey, who we adopted -- through a local shelter -- from the streets of San Juan, where she had spent her first year. She was fiercely loyal to all three of us, but rather unpleasant with most visitors, so few of our friends knew her.

Chipotle Chicken Improv

Many thanks to our friend Fernanda for inventing this dish and posting it online. Pam's response as soon as she saw a photo of Fernanda's invention was "James, we're making this!" Fortunately, we had all of the ingredients on hand, except a butternut squash. Here is how I proceeded, modifying our friend's recipe only slightly.

I began by hacking apart a large butternut squash -- I think we're a bit out of season, so it was harder than I remember in the past -- and cubing it. I then sauteed onion and garlic in some olive oil until translucent and added the squash. I continued on medium-high heat until all was fairly soft.

Meanwhile, I cut a package of Free Bird chicken breasts into big chunks, 3 or 4 per piece. I browned these in a large pan, adding a little salt and a half a package of chipotle rub from the inimitable Salem Spice.

At this point, the whole house was already smelling delicious! I poured the vegetables into the pan with the chicken and added about 2 cups of low-sodium, free-range chicken broth. I covered and simmered for about 15 minutes, and then continued simmering uncovered until the broth had reduced. The result was not as photogenic as what Fernanda had posted, but it was delicious, more like a stew, perhaps because I had gone farther in softening the squash.

We garnished with cilantro and enjoyed this, paired with tap water (we had Malbecked for lunch) and found it to be delicious! The sauce was more like a gravy, though it had no flour in it. We will definitely be repeating Pollo la Fernanda!

Lagniappe

Fernanda's more visually appealing original version, ready for a cookbook cover.

Bourbon Turkey Bourbon

After a weekend of somewhat adventurous cooking, I decided to try something simple for Monday evening. A green bell pepper in the fridge got me started on a plan, along with Bourbon Street Style marinated turkey tips that I had added to our weekly dairy delivery.

The first step in this non-recipe recipe was to start thawing the turkey tips as soon as they arrived. About an hour before dinner, I put the tips -- with their brine -- into a small bowl. The print was too fine on the ingredients label for me to be certain, but the brine has little if anything to do with actual bourbon. Fortunately, this is Casa Hayes-Boh, so I reached into the Gilligan (our kitchen island cum liquor cabinet) and grabbed the bourbon I had picked up at Stroudwater Distillery last summer. I poured this over the turkey and brine, and topped it off with a few tablespoons of (Saint) Newman's Own honey barbeque sauce.

Not a green bell pepper.
Photo credit: this very blog!

Once the enhanced marinade had been underway for about a half hour, I started to heat a pan of water for pasta and then started to fire-roast that pepper. (See my Busy Kitchen post for details.)

While the pepper was sweating, I heated olive oil in our indispensable cast-iron skillet and chopped an onion. I sliced up the pepper and added it to the onion, simmering (med-high) until the onions were translucent.

Meanwhile, I put penne in the boiling water and shredded some parmesan.

I then used tongs to remove the turkey tips from the marinade and added them to the hot pan. Some of the "tips" were about double the size of others, so I cut them in half right in the pan. I continued cooking until browned, adding a bit more of that honey barbecue near the end.

The pasta was al dente just as the turkey was cooked through and the sauce slightly reduced. The result was a very nice sweet-and-sour entree that paired well (as we often notice) with Malbec.

It tasted far better than it photographed.

A tasty combination

Knowing how much we enjoyed cooking seafood, for Christmas our thoughtful child went to an olive oil and vinegar shop and asked the proprietor what to recommend for cooking fish. They walked out having purchased some Baklouti Green Chili Pepper Olive Oil and Alfoos Mango White Balsamic Vinegar. But that's not all they did. They then went to a Spirit shop and showed the condiments to the shopkeeper and asked what wine to pair with them. A 2016 Poully Fuisse from the Maison Louis Latour was the answer.

Last night we stopped at our favorite fishmonger and picked up some haddock. While James went rowing Pam stayed at the beach house to prepare the fish. It was simply cooked in plenty of the olive oil then drizzled with the vinegar before eating. The spicy-sweet combination of flavors did indeed blend exceptionally well with the wine. 

So glad we raised our child to be a food and wine snob. And happy that we did not use all of the oil and vinegar so we can enjoy this dish again!

Hot Jam Chicken

A bold flavor from Stonewall Kitchen.

If three or more things are needed at the grocery, we make a list. And jam was on the list -- as in jam for our usual breakfast of local eggs, English muffins, juice, yogurt, and free-range coffee. This fuels our mornings without overfilling us, and most importantly does not require us to make decisions early on a weekday. Aside from deciding whether to add jam or not. In any case, jam was on the list, and I got a nice one from Stonewall Kitchens (we get much more local when we can, but this is our go-to). When reaching for the jar of strawberry-peach, I noticed its shelf neighbor: pineapple sriracha.

That looks terrific, I thought, but it might be a bit much for breakfast, where Tabasco on the eggs is sufficient heat for me. Plus, my bride is not a huge fan of pineapple. I picked it up though, knowing that I could do something with this and poultry.

And indeed I did! I selected a day when I knew I would be home a couple hours ahead of Pam, and made a plan to get started that morning -- which was today. I whisked a generous dollop of sriracha sauce and a generous shake of salt into a large bowl of milk. Yes, milk. I then rinsed a small, organic chicken and placed it in the bowl, adding a bit more milk to submerge the chicken. I placed the bowl in the fridge and then headed out for a full day of teaching. All day I was brining as well, without even thinking about it!

When I got home, I noticed that the tiny bit of chicken above the milk line was not soaking, so I turned the bird over and put it back in the fridge for another hour.

Then I got to work, first turning the oven on to convection at 375F.  In a small saucepan over low heat, I stirred together about 1/4 cup each of honey and the pineapple sriracha jam, until a thick sauce formed.

I then filled the well of our upright ceramic chicken roaster with port and sherry. We happened to have a smidge of the latter, so I emptied it into the well first. The well only holds about a half cup of liquid, which of course will moisten the chicken from its interior cavity. I placed the chicken onto the support (which contained the wines) and then spooned the sauce over it, covering the chicken as well as I could. I tucked the ends of the wings into small notches I made in the chicken "armpit" so that they would not get singed.

I placed it in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes. I then chopped a few small potatoes into 1/2-inch dice and placed them in a casserole, where I coated them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Looking at an earlier use of the upright roaster, I am now reminded that I could have placed the potatoes in the same pan as the chicken. The casserole, of course, resulted in a slightly crisp potato side, which I have made a staple of my cooking.

I continued on convection, lowered to 350, for about another hour. I would recommend checking for doneness by the usual means (clear-running juices or an internal temperature of 165), but I did not do so because the battery was dead in our kitchen thermometer. That does not excuse my failure to pierce the skin to inspect juices, but I just knew that we had lucked into perfect timing.

I transferred the chicken and potatoes to a platter and found that the chicken was so tender that it nearly carved itself. Crispity as could be on the outside and succulent on the inside, this was a very fine roast, and its sweet-hot flavor paired deliciously with the Provence rose that I had chilled.

Total time: 10 hours; Active time: total of 30 minutes (10 minutes each of three times)

The Sequel Was Better

A very Good Read

Having had a romantic holiday last week, we turned to the romance portion of our cookbook cabinet, where I found a new recipe idea. Or so I thought: we had tried the avocado and sun-dried tomato fettuccine recipe from Intercourses just after said holiday four years ago, but I had forgotten.

Pam noticed the repeat this morning, as she continues to review all of our entries for our new especialidad de la casa tag.  She is adding that tag to every recipe we post that is either completely original to us or such a major modification that we consider it our own. I am glad we had forgotten this one, because the 2014 review suggests a dish we would not have made for a special occasion (which our 33rd Valentine's Day together most certainly was).

I did the same recipe that Pam had done earlier, with just a couple of changes. First, I think I used some basil, and a bit more of the scallions. The sun-dried tomatoes I used were not packed in oil. I think I did add a bit of oil. A much more important difference is that I blended the ingredients in the bowl with a spoon, not a blender. So it was a medley, not a sauce.

Finally I did not include any cheese, but I did top this with plenty well-cooked, crumbly bacon. I think we substituted parm the first time because our vegetarian kid was dining with us. As I made this, I realized that this might succeed as a vegan dish with the use of a good bacon substitute.

Monte Hayes-Boh

As we learned from The Great Monte Cristo Sandwich Incident of 1997, a certain decadent sandwich looms large in family lore. Discovered at a favorite watering hole when we met as college students, it has been an infrequent but important part of our history with food.

(NOTE: Many entries on this blog are gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, simple, and/or healthy. This is not one of those entries, though some ingredients were locally sourced, and we would love to hear from any readers who make substitutions.)

This story begins on a rainy Saturday morning in our weekend home, trying to figure out how to have a good breakfast without leaving the house. (We failed on that count: after we committed to this plan I realized we had none of our usual Crescent Ridge milk, so it was off to the market for some Stonyfield. No regrets.)

Milk aside, Pam noticed a combination of ingredients on hand that led her straight to the Monte Cristo concept, but with waffles instead of bread. This breakfast is pretty straightforward, once the waffles are complete. To facilitate bringing all of the components together, Pam prepared a fruit/yogurt smoothie before I began the rest. Coffee, of course, had been prepared much earlier.

I had all of the other ingredients ready for assembly by the time the waffles were complete. I placed them on plates in a warm oven so that they everything would come together at optimal temperatures. Waffles are an area of continuous experimentation at Whaling House; these were very close to the gingerberry waffles I prepared in October, except that I left out the ginger and forgot the vanilla. 

Just before the second waffle was complete, I lightly fried some deli turkey in an indispensable cast-iron skillet and topped it with a couple of slices of cheese until it was melty and bubbly.

As soon as the second waffle was complete, I spread some local berry jelly on one of them.

The hot deli slices went right on top of that.

This tableau (which includes the smoothies Pam had just made and some fairly-traded, organically-grown, fresh roasted and brewed Nicaraguan coffee) was nice for a photo, but was also an extension of our prep area. With the second waffle in place, we sprinkled some powdered sugar on top, and then divided this enormous sandwich.

A close-up of my half of our invention:
The Monte Hayes-Boh

Gingerberry Waffles!

When our friends (and fellow foodies) Rob & Lisa were visiting Whaling House a couple weeks back, I mentioned that we would be having waffles in the morning. Without hesitation, Rob started channeling this donkey. We've been doing the same ever since. 

The waffles just keep getting better around here, after years of waffle failures. Although I posted the backstory and recent improvements in Whaling House Waffle Surprise (May 2016), I have done further tweaking of the recipe that warrants and update. Please read that post for the full context of this recipe, and then I invite you to proceed as I did this morning.

Preheat oven anywhere in 250-275 F range and put plates or platter on oven rack just before starting.

Dry ingredients -- in a medium bowl whisk or sift:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur if you can get it)
1/2 cup Johnny Cake corn meal from Gray's Grist Mill (I used the generic term "corn meal" last year, though I don't know what happens when lesser corn meals are used. Treat yourself to Gray's if you can get it. I am lucky enough to get mine directly from the mill -- I recommend a visit!)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger (later amended: 1 t ginger plus other autumn spices, especially cardamom) 

Note on sifting: In my 2016 post, I extolled the virtues of sifting, and still aver that it will yield fluffier waffles. Using the Johnnycake meal, whisking leaves just a trace of crunchitty bits that I think gives these waffles character. But for real indulgence, sifting is probably best.)

Berries
1/2 to 1 cup frozen mixed berries -- Rinse to thaw in a small bowl, sieved and return to the bowl. Mash with a fork and then transfer to a measuring cup of at least 2 cups capacity.

Wet ingredients
2 eggs (we use organic Country Hen)
approx. 1-1/4 cup milk (we use delicious 1% Crescent Ridge)
1/4 C butter (Amish or regular), melted
1 T vanilla

Splash of Triple Sec (optional)

Beat two eggs in a small bowl.
Pour milk into measuring cup over the mashed berries until the combined liquids (and fruit bits) reach 2 cups. Add to eggs.
Add butter and vanilla; blend well.

Mix wet ingredients (with berries) into dry ingredients, scraping sides of bowl until all is wet. Do not over mix.

Optional
1 C fresh berries or strawberries, sliced if appropriate, mixed gently into batter

Following waffle-iron manufacturer's directions, heat waffle iron, spray with Pam cooking spray or brush with oil. Spoon spoon batter onto hot griddle, perhaps enough to cover 2/3 of the center of the iron. Technique improves over time.

Top with pure maple syrup -- we get ours from Hanson Farm -- and enjoy with good coffee!
This pairs beautifully with a good cup (or two) of fairly traded, organic coffee.

Birthday leftovers

Some thirty years ago James and I spent our wedding night at a hotel in Columbia, Maryland. The following morning we had breakfast at a restaurant on Main Street in Historic Ellicott City called Side Streets. The restaurant is long gone, but we have a lasting memory of the delicious first meal of our first full day of married life - an Eggs Benedict-esque repast made with crab meat in lieu of ham.

I was inspired by the leftovers of my birthday meal (Oysters à la Gino) to make something similar to our matrimonial breakfast for brunch on Memorial day. All of the oysters got eaten at dinner on Saturday, but there was a fair amount of crab and bacon filling leftover, which James baked in a tiny casserole dish. I spread some of this filling on each of two pieces on Naan bread and broiled for about a minute. Meanwhile I fried two eggs, and then placed one on top of each of the crab/bacon/Naan piles. I added some shredded Parmesan cheese and then broiled again for another minute or so until the cheese melted. Nothing wrong with this meal, except that I wish there were more!

And Now a Pie

Tonight's dinner was a two-step, leftover invention. A fortnight ago, I had made Chipotle Orange Roast Chicken, which was a sweet-hot, wonderful thing. And despite three decades of Latin and Southwest cooking, it was the first time I had purchased a can of peppers in adobo sauce.

One can; three meals

Even that small can had been more than I needed, so I put the rest in a glass jar in the fridge (this is a much better way to store things than are plastic containers). A week later, I made simple burritos with the rest of the sauce. I boiled some boneless chicken thighs and shredded them with two forks as I cooked them in oil with garlic and onion. I then added a adobo sauce and a small can of tomato paste (to moderate the intense flavor of the chilis) and a bit of water. This made a lovely filling for burritos. I could have included some rice for balance, but it was quite good as it was.

What does this have to do with pie? We -- and especially Pam -- have been intrigued by the Indian flatbread naan of late, and decided that our weekend meals would be small pies made with these breads, a package of which we had purchased at Costco. Pam heated the oven, put two naan breads on a cookie sheet, and divided the leftover burrito filling between them. She topped each with shredded pepper-jack cheese from Cabot (our regional farmer-owned dairy cooperative). This made two delicious and filling pies, which we topped with Cabot sour cream.

The pies paired perfectly with a Merlot made from Long Island grapes and vinted across the Acushnet River from us at Travessia in downtown New Bedford.

Dos Nuevas Recetas that we invented ourselves

It has been over six years since we started this blog. We usually find our recipes within our collection of cookbooks, although lately we have be finding more on the interwebs. Last week, however, we collaborated on a meal in which each of us created a new recipe, with one shared ingredient. Pam made a pasta-berry salad; James' innovation came in the way of a new steak rub.

I had found a thick, grass-fed sirloin that I wanted to use as a main course. I set it on a plate, and pierced it several times on each side with a fork. Regular readers will know that I frequently prepare a rub based on something I learned from our friends at Equal Exchange -- a mix of black pepper and ground coffee (fairly traded and organic, of course). In this case, I used home-roasted, hand-ground coffee from East Timor by way of our other friends at Deans Beans. Something I learned the first time I used this combination is that the amount of pepper and the amount of time resting with the rub should both be limited, so that the pepper does not begin to pre-cook the meat. In other words, it is possible to over-do this. But using about 1:4::pepper:coffee and resting for 20 minutes or so seems to work well.

Just before grilling -- on the Big Green Egg -- I added a couple of ingredients to the steaks. First, I sprinkled each side lightly with Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Then I pressed fresh blackberries into each side, using a fork to get them stuck a bit better. This was a bit messy. I then grilled at about 450. One problem with the coffee rub is that it masks the steak, so there are no visual clues to doneness. I should have used the Thermapen, but instead ended up putting it back on the grill once I had divided it. No harm done.

We had decided to use bow-tie pasta in some sort of side dish with the steak, and Pam remembered that we had previously made some mighty fine fruit-and-pasta dishes (see Pasta with Grapes and Strawberry Pasta). We had just made a trek to Trader Joe's and bought blueberries and blackberries, so we decided try inventing a new recipe. The cooked pasta (about 2 cups) was mixed with a handful of each of the berries, along with a sliced banana. Pam made a dressing by mixing about 6 of each berry, a tablespoon of honey, and a tablespoon of blueberry balsamic vinegar (from L.O.V.E. Oil and Vinegar Emporium), and 2 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves in a blender. The dressing was tossed with the berries and pasta. An eye-pleasing, as well as palate-pleasing dish, and it turned out to be a perfect complement to the steak rub...

Love will keep us together.
But blackberries tied this meal together.

Final verdict: this meal was just a bit different, delicious, and fun to make. And of course it paired well with Malbec.

Orange-Cinnamon Pancakes

Image:from a Shortbread Recipe on Saturday Evening Post.

Two things readers of this blog might know about me: I am passionate about pancakes, and even more passionate about Nicaragua. And for the past few years my annual visit to coffee lands has included CEN, a cloud-forest research station that is fascinating for its ecology projects, its beauty, and its breakfast! When we are lucky, the research in charge, thespian, physicist, ethnopharmacologist, and all-around genius Dr. Alan Bolt makes us pancakes.

I cannot possibly replicate his pancakes at home. First of all, I am not Alan. Second, I have no cinnamon trees nearby. But this morning I had success with a CEN-inspired adaptation of my usual pancake recipe. In place of a small amount of nutmeg, I used a lot of ground cinnamon -- probably two tablespoons. Instead of a mix of milk and yogurt totalling 1-1/2 cups, I used 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of orange juice. I increase the leaving agents (baking powder and baking soda) just a tad. I completely forgot sugar, and I used olive oil instead of melted butter.

The results: light, delicious pancakes. CEN's reputation for pancake mastery is still intact, but this was a fine way to start our snow day!