Smooth operator

A recipe for you, courtesy of Quinn Lilly, for a fast breakfast treat for the whole family.  Here’s the “list*” of ingredients:

Lacking punctuation – it’s ice, milk not ice milk

Place together in blender and push the button.  Simple!

The chocolate mustache tells the tale.

Seeing as how we’re (finally) done with foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs, I imagine we’ll be modifying this recipe.  What will remain consistent is the absolute joy this boy gives to me.

*Some may call it a recipe, but Q prefers list.

Superpowers!

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?  Nope.  More powerful than a locomotive?  Sometimes.  Proficient at getting a healthy, fast dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time?  Now you’re talking!  How about you?  What’s your superpower?

Taco Tuesday

Here’s my latest Moms@Work post.

Creamy fettucine with leeks and bacon

My middle son and I have continued our monthly new recipe explorations, despite my not being more consistent about sharing our exploits with you all.  Last month we stepped away from Bon Appetit because everything was so damn holiday-centric and attempted Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragu, a recipe we found in Cucina Italiana.  Of course, in my typical half-assed fashion, there were some modifications…apparently pappardelle is not available in Price Chopper, so I substituted fettucine.  There was also a snafu with the wild boar, or cianghiale, as I like to call it, and we had to go with ground pork in its place – whatever.  I’m cooking for teenagers and a grade-schooler.  Picky and well-traveled they may be, incredibly discerning?  Not so much.  I didn’t take any photos of that meal, although it was tasty, because it wasn’t very visually appealing, in my opinion.  I would make it again, but would be tempted to add some color with maybe a bit of tomato or carrot or something.

Last night’s dinner was this keeper from Bon Appetit.  Again, I’d be inclined to add more vegetables, although the leeks were splendid.  Maybe asparagus or sweet baby peas?  Generally, though, this was an easy recipe, rich and creamy with the lovely sweetness of essentially carmelized leeks.  And bacon – don’t forget the bacon!  Skip the calorie count and console yourself with the knowledge that it’s damn cold out and winter is the time for a bit of pasta indulgence.  Winner!

Butter, olive oil and bacon…a close second holy trinity.

Leeks releasing flavor and fragrance.

The finished item – yum!

 

12 days of Christmas ~ Dining DelSo

On the second day of Christmas my second born was thrilled to receive two freshly filled cannoli from Cardona’s Market.  This child, who doesn’t even like cheese, could not consume the lovely Italian pastries fast enough.  I mean, the powdered sugar was flying as he gobbled them down, no joke.  In addition to their delicious baked goods, Cardona’s offers everything necessary to make a slamming meal. Antipasti, high quality meats (Murray’s chickens!) and cheeses, soups, canned and packaged goods and a full spread of prepared items are all available.  And the smell of the place!  My goodness, you could practically satisfy a minor hunger with a lungful of Cardona’s succulent aroma!  Whether it’s the ingredients for a fantastic lasagna recipe, some speciality items for a favorite hostess, (hint, hint) or a thoughtfully prepared lunch or dinner, Cardona’s is the perfect place any day of the year.

(As American as) Apple Pie!

There’s something about a frosty morning that inspires me to turn my oven on and get busy roasting and baking.  An apple pie seems the perfect quick project to accomplish three tasks – warm up a cool kitchen, fragrance a cozy home and use up the last of those damn apples now that my box of citrus is filling my fruit crisper.

I really am not much of a baker because I have a tendency to wing it, something that can result in disaster when it comes to baking.  Pie, though?  Please! Pie is a crust or two and some filling – easy, peasy as the phrase goes.  I peeled 7 apples and  sliced them and then tossed them in a bowl with maybe 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, a couple of tablespoons of flour (this helps the juices tighten up) and a bit of cinnamon and ground ginger.  (Confession: I use pre-made pie crusts.  Sorry, but I’m just not into making pie crust and my family isn’t discerning enough to complain.)  I unrolled a crust into my favorite deep pie dish, loaded it with my apple mixture and topped it with a second crust.  My crimping skills leave much to be desired, but here’s how it looked before hitting the oven for 50 minutes at 375 degrees:

I intended to take a picture of the finished product, but when you live with teenagers it is a challenge to photograph baked goods before they’ve been compromised by ravenous boys.  The photo below is the best I could do.

It’s fruit and milk, right?

I’d like to publicly thank Griffin for indulging me by making that serving of pie a la mode the second course of his Sunday morning breakfast all for the sake of my Delso readers.  What a guy!

Shanked!

Although we didn’t get to it until the very last possible weekend of the month, October’s Bon Appetit recipe of the month did finally get prepared, with modification.  Griffin selected this recipe and naturally, I shopped and prepared the dish, omitting the gremolata and skipping the polenta in favor of the more mundane, but crowd pleasing, mashed potatoes.  I’ve done a gremolata before (with a beef roast) and I really like the way the brightness of the citrus and herbs contrasts with the earthiness of meat, but, honestly, it would have been lost on the boys.

We went with 4 lamb shanks which gave us plenty of lamb-y goodness, as well as leftovers for a bit of lamb stew.  I ordered the shanks from Falvo’s ($6.50 lb) and they were great – meaty, nicely trimmed and tasty.  The recipe calls for a rub of crushed fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary and salt and pepper and G’s contribution to the meal was harvesting the rosemary from the still kicking herb garden.  Wow – couldn’t have done it without him!

The lamb shanks were rather large and I had to divide them up into 2 pans.  I always knew that buying that second Le Creuset was a sound investment!  I roasted these bad boys until the lamb was literally falling from the bones, which was pretty close to two hours.  I think I would have preferred the tomato based sauce to be thicker and would definitely consider adding additional vegetables beyond the onions and garlic called for in the recipe – maybe some carrots or other root vegetables.  This is a wonderful dish for entertaining and guarantees a home filled with fragrant deliciousness.  Winner.