Tormented Kitchen

My dear readers, you may have noticed a gap in posts lately.  Yes, it's true. I have been away from the kitchen, or hurriedly making super-easy repeats of things already posted here, or just plain old going out to eat. We also managed to sneak in a week-long vacation to Los Angeles.  It was crazy! I have only been there once before, back in 1997. Things were very different this time.  We ate at the evil Golden Arches restaurant too many times out of convenience's sake, and tried a few local diners.  One night Justin's sister provided sandwich-makings for a picnic in the park down from the hotel. Another night, we had a good-sized family dinner where Justin fixed Garlic Filet on the grill and his sister and friends made various side dishes.  Theresa made deviled eggs with minced olives mixed  inside.  Andrea made a very tasty tomato-mozzarella caprese. Christina made guacamole. It was nice for me to able to just relax and not be the cook fo...

A long time ago I found a recipe for Steak Au Poivre.  This was way back when I was first learning to cook for myself as an adult, in college, in a cramped apartment kitchen. Anyhow, I followed the recipe and it was kind of weird.  The idea was good, though.  Peppered steaks, cooked in a pan, with a simple reduced cream sauce to fancy it up.  Awesome idea, actually.  That one recipe just didn't do it for me. I tried some other things, different cuts of meat (found out that some just aren't tender enough for pan-searing), and tried some different things in the sauce (capers, beef stock, onion, herbs).  I have come to the conclusion that I like it better on the simple side. I normally like pan gravy loaded with onions, but not for this. If I add beef stock to thin out the sauce, it's too thin. Sometimes I like the tang of Dijon mustard, sometimes I don't. Last week I made it with mustard. Last night, I made this with no mustard. (Yum yum for Jenn...

Baked potatoes are so simple, so tasty, so perfect to accompany other foods.  However, they are also super when they're loaded with other things.  I'm sure there are enough confusing varieties of potatoes out there, but let me confuse you some more.  I grew up in a little town in northern Nevada that is well-known for their potatoes. Winnemucca potatoes. They are Russet potatoes, but someting about the terroir , the dirt, the environmental conditions makes these extra tasty. I think they are slightly fluffier than Idaho Russet potatoes. And of course, since I grew up in the oh-so-glamorous WMCA, I have to prefer my local spuds. I have even taken some green sprouting spuds and planted them at home and grown my own. Damn, I had some good potatoes. I know they weren't really Winnemucca potatoes then since I grew them in Sparks. They were miles better than most grocery store spuds. Baked potatoes are perfect with Garlic Beef Tenderloin Roast or Prime Rib R...

Potstickers, sometimes called gyoza, are a staple food in my house.  It's nice to come home from a busy day and toss some frozen potstickers in the pan, start some rice, and make a real easy small meal. My son sometimes says words incorrectly, which is normal for kids.  He wouldn't eat these if I called them potstickers. By calling them dumplings, they are suddenly delicious and he will ask for Chinese Ducklings. Yes, he means dumplings but it comes out as ducklings. I think that's pretty cute. This is enough for 50-60 potstickers, depending on the size of your wrappers.  Mine were on the small side compared to those I get in restaurants. I froze about half the batch for later.  Just a note on the potsticker versus gyoza name, it has to do with the seasonings.  This recipe is slightly more Chinese since I used Shaoxing rice wine. Japanese gyoza may contain miso paste, green onions, and sake. I think that is the difference. At least f...

Last week, my son turned 5. I have been a wee bit slow to get this post going. Just the craziness and excitement from Eric's birthday party and family visiting has been one thing.  Then I got him registered for Kindergarden. While at the doctor for his regular well-child check up, she discovered he had something stuck in his ear. She couldn't get it out. Two days later, we got in to see the ENT specialist, who quickly flushed out two small chunks of rubber playground mulch. I'm happy to say, Eric is totally back to normal. So with that weight off of my mind, I was able to get back to the birthday cake recap. Now, since this is where I do recipes and sometimes toss in a little family stuff for good measure, let me just say, this cake was the best tasting one I have ever made.  I've made this recipe quite a few times, but the strawberry mousse filling really set it apart. I love that this cake is technically a yellow cake, but it's not a deep yellow like store-bo...