Dining In, Dining Out

Dining In...

Every year it seems the end of the cruise arrives too soon. We still have unexplored territory to investigate, wildlife to photograph, seafood to catch... Nevertheless, I appreciate having some final days/weeks in town at the dock. Tied up in our usual winter moorage slip we have time to clean and reorganize the boat, time to work on several of the smaller boat projects that remain on the never-ending To-Do List, and time to grab a few hours here and there to relax and visit with local friends. It's an enjoyable way to transition between life afloat and life ashore.

Dockside socializing is more about connecting with people and less about fussing over food, so this week I relied on some favorite old recipes choosing familiar dishes that are easy to prepare and tasty enough to garner a few compliments for the cook, but don't require spending long hours in a hot galley during hot summer weather. Win! The meals were good, and reconnecting with friends was a welcome treat. 

Warm Summer Night Menu for an early dinner aboard

Guacamole and Lime Tortilla Chips (no photo)

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

BBQ Grilled Salmon

Wilted Cabbage Coleslaw

Greens with Potato Salad

and Fresh Corn Kernels with Butter, Lime, Parmesan and Basil Shreds (no photo yet)

Broiled Nutty Nectarines with Greek Yogurt

Friends are always welcome aboard, not just at dinnertime. Friend G occasionally joins us for breakfast, arriving by boat for coffee and sourdough pancakes before heading uphill to the office. Last week I changed up the menu and served a couple of my non-traditional favorites. Dessert for breakfast? why not when it's fruit? Cheese grits and sausage? Mmmmm, I love cheese grits for any meal!

Weekday Early-Morning Breakfast

Broiled Nectarines

Cheese Grits with Andouille Sausage Coins and a splash of Maple Syrup

Dining Out...

We often meet J and D at a local restaurant to celebrate summer birthdays and anniversaries. For years a local sushi spot drew us for every occasion, but now we head to Imagine Thai Food for special events... or any time we crave amazingly good Thai food. We have relished every dish we have tasted so far, and enjoy visiting with the husband-and-wife team that operate this small gem of a restaurant. Impeccably fresh ingredients, sauces made in-house, layers of flavor accented with a zing of heat, each dish beautifully plated - what's not to love?! Most recently we ordered...

Choo Chee Goong

Stir fried prawns, in a red curry coconut milk sauce, carrots, green beans, peas, bell peppers & served with rice. 

Pad Thai Goong

Stir fry rice noodles in a tamarind sauce, with chicken, prawns, tofu, egg, bean sprouts, chives, herbs, lemon & crushed peanuts. 

Thai Ice Tea and Singha beer

...and the dessert that was so tempting that we ate it all before I thought to take any photos. Yes, it was that good!

 Guay Tord Ice Cream (no photo)

Deep fried bananas & coconut, topped with vanilla ice cream and covered with home-made caramel & toasted coconut. 

Now it's time to get creative with family meals and use up more of the fresh ingredients I can't take back across the border into the U.S. Meals are often... interesting... at the end of a cruise.

Mardi Gras Cooking Class

Fun! Flavor! Flames!

Billed as The Best of New Orleans, this Sur la Table cooking class featured a knowledgeable and humorous instructor (Chef Thanh Tang), a three-course and flavor-packed menu straight from NOLA, and an amiable group of sixteen students. Well, I can only speak for our congenial team of four, but no fights broke out anywhere in the kitchen. Flames and occasional shouts, yes, but no harsh words or fights.

Photo: Chef Thanh Tang

Photo: Our focused, smiling team at work in the Sur la Table kitchen.

Peel and Eat Shrimp with Remoulade Sauce 

We built a new-to-me version of the versatile Louisiana remoulade sauce, a mayonnaise-based blend incorporating some sweet pickle relish, capers, anchovy paste plus a hit of Tabasco. Akin to a zippy tartar sauce it added a nice flavor punch to the perfectly poached cold shrimp. Everyone had a part in the prep and cooking, sharing roles as cooks and as diners throughout the evening. 

Photo: Team Hilary, Marilyn, Ron and Dee (not shown) cooking & consulting

Smoky Red Beans and Rice and Chicken and Sausage Gumbo came next, giving us some opportunities to... 

• analyze sausage quality (big, visible chunks of meat, please), 
• practice knife skills (pinch blade with fingertips and grip handle lightly; grasp food but tuck fingertips, bend knuckles, and slide the knife down past the second joint...without any unnecessary clunking please),
• guesstimate the measure of a pinch of salt, 
• negotiate spiciness/heat levels within the team (how much salt, pepper and cayenne is enough? and watch the Tabasco!)
• use 1-count, 3-count measures for oil; preheat to shimmering before adding food.  

We sliced, seared, sauteed, stirred, seasoned and finally savored two delicious dishes served with a scoop of perfectly cooked white rice... and now know the secret of cooking one-knuckle rice. Oh... My... Goodness... these were good eats!

Photo: l. Okra joins the "holy trinity" of bell peppers, celery and onion; c. a simmering pot of red beans; r. bowls of gumbo and red beans and rice. 

Bananas Foster

Photo: Five simple ingredients plus a little flame add drama to dessert.

Heat some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon; add lemon-coated bananas and warm; stir in a little rum and continue cooking and stirring until warm. Then flambe! Easy peasy, right? (Our sauce seemed faintly harsh in flavor - was it over-browned butter or was it the rum?) Generously spooned over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this dessert disappeared quickly! Hmmm, know anyone who loves sweets?

The class wrapped up with a review of recipes, techniques and cooking tips, plus hugs or handshakes all around. It's easy to bond over good food and a cooking adventure. 

Mardi Gras Menu

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

It's Fat Tuesday* (Mardi Gras) and we're cooking... oh my yes, we're cooking and celebrating at Sur la Table tonight.(link) 

*Fat Tuesday is the traditional name for the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. It is more commonly known as Mardi Gras, which is simply Fat Tuesday in French. It gets its name from the custom, in many Catholic countries, of marking the day with feasting before the fasting season of Lent begins.

The Official Course Description: Best of New Orleans
Take a culinary tour through the sensational Southern flavors that combine rich Creole and spicy Cajun influences into unforgettable and exciting New Orleans cuisine. Experience a kicking' Southern-style remoulade, the famous trinity of bell pepper, celery and onions in a savory gumbo, and more delicious traditions. You'll love the vibrant, bold flavors of a menu that embodies pure Southern joie de vivre.

Menu:
Peel-and-Eat Shrimp with Remoulade Dipping Sauce
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Smoky Red Beans and Rice
Bananas Foster

What To Expect:
Great cooking isn't about recipes--it's about techniques. In our classes you'll work together with other students in a fun, hands-on environment led by our professional chef instructors.

Now doesn't that sound like fun?! I love the published menu for tonight's class; these traditional dishes are already family favorites, but I look forward to the opportunity to explore new techniques and seasoning twists. Maybe I should pack a thermos of something alcoholic to get the party rolling... or maybe not, since sharp knives are involved. 

I will report back with photos and updates from the class later this week. Meanwhile, here are the links to some Mardi Gras dishes, versions I have shared in previous OTM-InTheGalley posts. Once again, all together now: 

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

Remoulade Sauce

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Red Beans and Rice

Shrimp and Grits

Olive Salad and Muffuletta Sandwich

Vieux Carre

A Summer Brunch Menu

 Almond-filled Sticky Buns

Mini Frittatas

Canadian Bacon Slices

Fresh Fruit

It seems life is busy for everyone we know, packed full of important must-do and want-to-do things that fill up the calendar and keep us all going in different directions. Today we enjoyed a pause in the activity and lingered over brunch with some neighbors. The menu was simple, much of it prepped ahead of time, and offered variations of a few old favorites. My goal was to enjoy interesting company and good conversation, not to spend ages in the kitchen fussing over complicated items. 

Photo: Almond-Filled Sticky Buns look quite tidy in the pan

Awesome Sticky Buns are RL's favorite breakfast treat, but I rarely bake them unless we can share a large batch with company. This familiar recipe was reworked last night on an emergency basis - I ran out of brown sugar to sprinkle inside the dough before rolling it up. Drat! I did not want to drive to the store again. Hmmmm, white sugar with cinnamon could substitute, but it wouldn't bring enough flavor to the party. A can of Solo Almond Filling would substitute for the brown sugar as an experiment. 

Photo: Solo Almond Filling is a favorite for coffee cakes, and now sticky buns

Result: the flavor addition was terrific, but the warm sticky buns were too moist to eat neatly out of hand. We were polite and used forks, at least at first, and no one complained about the flavor or the messy fingers. 

Photo: Soft, gooey, messy and definitely GOOD

This almond filling substitution still needs some tweaking, but it's definitely worth working on... after we deal with the nine-bun pan that still remains uneaten. 

Two varieties of Frittata Muffins provided some tasty protein choices. Note: These mini frittatas were prepared earlier and went directly from fridge to a 375 F oven, requiring an extra 8 minutes of cooking time to set the centers, roughly 23 minutes in total. 

One frittata filling, my favorite, combined slivers of lox, green onion tops, chopped red onion, capers, mushrooms, ricotta cheese, lemon zest, dill weed and shreds of swiss cheese distributed in 6 large prepared muffin tins. The 6 large eggs whipped with 1/2 cup milk, freshly ground black pepper, Italian parsley and more dill seasoning filled the muffin tins 2/3 full, leaving some room at the top for the egg mixture to puff during baking without running over. Mmmmmm, good eating.

The second batch of mini frittatas combined cooked Basque chorizo chunks, diced sweet peppers, fresh cilantro, pepper jack cheese and chopped red onion. This egg mixture was flavored with a generous teaspoon of hot sauce, dried cilantro, salt and pepper and a dash of smokey Spanish paprika. Served with salsa, sour cream and avocado chunks this SW favorite made its way onto several plates.

The fresh strawberries were colorful but too lacking in sweetness and berry taste to serve them as is. Cut green grapes, a handful of shredded fresh mint and a quarter cup of our favorite Minty Honey Lime Sauce took care of that concern. Presto! a fresh fruit salad with flavor. Add a bowl of fresh, local cherries, a plater of warm Canadian bacon and brunch was complete. 

We all enjoyed the menu, but the best part of today's brunch was the company we shared it with. 

Thanksgiving Dinner Menus 2012

Due to work and flight schedule complications we’re scheduling two days of Thanksgiving dinners to celebrate with our small family this year. I love the idea, but there’s no way I’m roasting a bird for each occasion. Nope, no way, uh uh. Not that anyone else cares, but I felt I had to get that small declaration out early. It helped relieve some of the decision-making, menu-planning stress that’s often part of The Day, at least for this cook.  Last year we were the traveling relatives and joined the other side of the family for a large gathering in Boise, Idaho. My small contribution to the 2011 Thanksgiving dinner was a double batch of cranberry relish - how easy was that? 

This year I chose some of my favorite things for Thursday's dinner, and I'll cook a more traditional Turkey Day big bird meal on Friday when Grandma arrives. Here’s the plan… and I’ll get back to you later with a reality check.

Thursday:

Prosecco cocktail

Deviled eggs in a nest, spiced nuts and puff pastry cheese straws

Roasted Brussels sprouts with potatoes, onions and bacon

Grilled steaks with compound butter

Mixed greens with grapes and walnuts 

Parmesan Puffs

Ice cream (Root beer floats?) and assorted cookies (link, link or maybe link or link)

Friday:

Prosecco cocktail

Pickled vegetables, fruit and nut crisps, assorted cheeses & spreads

Green beans with caramelized onions, pine nuts and a balsamic reduction

Smashed gorgonzola potatoes

Stuffing muffins with turkey gravy

Roasted turkey parts

Zesty cranberry relish a la Martha Stewart

Trader Joe’s Mini Bites or homemade sweet potato tartlets and ice cream  

Happy Thanksgiving!