"Best meal you've ever made"

Paper completion update: revised and edited in its entirety and turned into my advisor.  One step closer to my new title: Master Hailey. My friend Dana graduated last spring, and she coined this title.  Master Dana, I am almost your friend Master Hailey.

Now that I have a little extra free time on my hands, I am doing a little multitasking tonight: knitting, writing a grant, watching the Academy Awards and blogging.  Not sure I will do any all that well, but at least I am not working on my paper.

I just have to say, Billy Crystal is the man. 

Since the Great Samoan Hunter and I started hanging out, I've heard his professed love for one particular meal again and again.  No, not spam. However, he does love corned beef nearly as much as he loves the following dish, osso bucco.

I've attempted to make this rustic, hearty meal before but to no avail, as it requires the shank.  In one particular attempt to wow him with my memory and culinary prowess, I tried to track down said cut of meat.  I visited every single store, meat market and butcher in my little town.  Each butcher looked at me like I had asked for pig's head.  You would think this cut of meat would be more available.  Well, it's not.

If and when you find the holy grail of meat, make this dish.  People, it's lovely.  The Great Samoan Hunter actually told me this was the best meal I have ever made him, and I have been attempting to make his toes curl with my food for almost two years now. 

Now that I am salivating thinking about osso bucco, I am going to return to my boxed mac and cheese.  I throw one heck of an Oscar party!

 

I set off to purchase steak for Valentine's dinner and found lamb shanks.

No comparison.

Seasoned with salt and pepper and browned on all sides.

One red onion, three carrots, three celery ribs and three cloves garlic chopped.

Remove the shanks and set aside. Season the veggies with about 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and saute the veggies for at least ten minutes.

Return the shanks to the pan along with one 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and half of a bottle of a BIG red wine.  Be sure to scrape up all of the goodness off the bottom of the pan.

Bring pan up to boil and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.  Add a handful of fresh thyme.

Pop the lid on and place the whole thing in a low and slow oven.

280 degrees for at least 3.5 hours.

When your timer goes off, remove the shanks and simmer the sauce until it is reduced by half. Season the sauce to taste with salt papper.

Return the shanks to the pan and cover with all that goodness.

I served my osso bucco over creamy, cheesy polenta with a gremolata of garlic, lemon and parsley, as well as roasted asparagus.

Not too shabby.

Need to impress someone?  Make this dinner.

Don't forget the gremolata.

The Basil Hayden helps, too.

Happy Valentine's Day my Samoan Hunter. xoH

Naughty little party planning elf

Happy Friday!  I just threw a mini temper tantrum because I am posted up inside, table spread with books and other thesis materials.  I promptly gave myself a good scolding for being such a pouty baby.  I have had ample opportunities to play in the sunshine.  I pulled on my big girl panties and buckled in.  I can't move from this chair until I finish two more chapters today.  Two are lovely and polished and ready for my advisor's eagle eye. 

My brain needed a brief hiatus from the cult of domesticity, and because of my self imposed chair-arrest, here I am. Blogging. 

I have been keeping a secret from you all for months.  This secret plagued me on a daily basis.  I so desperately wanted to share it here, as I have been scheming like a naughty little party planning elf.

Behold the secret that I have blamed as the reason I have not been working on my paper:

This plan was hatched while visiting Heather in Saipan.   I volunteered to take on the brunt of the planning since Heather lives in the middle of the ocean and Julia has a full time, grownup job.  While most of the planning was a breeze, the hard part came the weekend of the party: appetizers for 100 people. 

I made lists, an excel spreadsheet, notes on napkins, last minute grocery trips on the backs of envelopes.  I coordinated with the precision of a surgeon.  I must have stressed myself out (translation looked old and worn out), because while my twenty-four year old sister Julia and our lovely grandmother rehydrated and refueled at the Costco food court, a man older than my parents asked ME how old my daughter was.  Julia.  My sister. I have since been on the quest for anti-aging products.  Please email me with any suggestions.

Regardless of the most flattering comment I have ever received, we rocked the food out.  I tortured those I love by forcing them to be my sous chefs.  Thankfully we were allowed to take over this fabulous, industrial kitchen.  Someday I want one just like it.

See that hotty.  That's my daughter.

As for the menu, I chose all things my mom loves: caprese sticks, smoked salmon, dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped with bacon, stuffed mushrooms, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, among other delectable nibbles.  Everything we made, less the Costco meatballs, was made from scratch.

Smoked salmon pate: 8 oz smoked salmon, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 chopped shallot,

2 tbs chopped fresh dill and chives, juice and zest of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.

Mash up the salmon, cream cheese and shallots with a fork, season with the herbs and lemon. Place in a cute little bowl and refrigerate overnight. 

Serve with crackers or toast points.

Yum.

These are the Great Samoan Hunter's mushrooms:

combine cooked sausage and cream cheese.

Spread mixture into mushroom caps.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Super yum.

These are the stuffed dates.  Remove the seed, stuff with blue cheese and wrap with bacon. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until golden and bubbly. These were devoured before I had a chance to try them.

However, I heard they were SUPER DUPER YUM.

Caprese sticks with basil, mozzerella and tomatoes.

I made these extra special by making a balsamic drizzle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 balsamic oil reduced down to a syrup.  I burned the heck out my finger on this stuff so be careful when tasting!

I unfortunately was so wrapped up in the details that I failed to take enough photos of the actual party.  All told, it was a raving success.  My mom was surprised, she cried happy tears through most of the party.  We received great feedback on all the food, which was devoured.  Thanks to loads of helpers, we pulled it off!  Love you mom! xoxo

Potato and blue cheese tart before it landed on the buffet table.

Stuffed dates before they evaporated into thin air.

While this photo is a bit blurry, it captures her surprise and the Judge's elation beautifully.

Checking out the wall of photos.

Okay, so who wants throw a party with me? I am ready to do it again!  Next time, I will be sure to dose my self with anti-wrinkle agents to ensure I don't look stressed and aged. 

Here I go . . . back to my paper.  Here's a little ditty to tantalize you until next time: 

Lamb osso bucco from our Valentine's dinner.

Where did we eat, you ask?

This place you might of heard of, Hail's Kitchen. It's pretty good.

What's a girl to do?

This morning I completed a chore that I've been putting off for a few weeks.  I shovelled the deck.  More accurately stated, I chipped ice off of the deck.  It was kind of like washing dirty dishes days after they should have been washed.  Procrastination has a nasty sense of humor.

That said, I am still procrastinating the editing of my paper.  I keep telling myself, tomorrow you will finish it.  Then I get a phone call to go fishing.  What's a girl to do? 

That's me on the left.

 

The Great Samoan Hunter needed photos for the Lodge's fishing blog.

 Who knew flying fish lived on the South Fork?

Growing up in Idaho, my dad instilled a healthy fear of wild animals in the hearts and minds of me and my two little sisters.  However, the wild animals we were most afraid of were not the typical lions and tigers and bears one might associate with the wilds of Idaho.  No, we were afraid of beavers and turkeys.  Beavers carried beaver fever, a deadly disease no eight year old with buck teeth wished upon herself, and turkeys grew spikes -- enormous, thorny, angry spikes on the back of their legs that scratch little girls' eyes out.  Not sure those were my dad's exact words, but to this day I am still leery of beavers and turkeys. 

Yesterday I was just about to jump in the shower, and I noticed some movement outside of my bedroom window.   

   

15 man-eating, eyeball-scratching turkeys in my driveway.

Casting fear aside, I snuck outside to catch their photo.

They ran away from me!  That's right, bitches.

My eyes lived to see another day.

So did the turkeys, as Tuli slept through the entire encounter.

Last night with the full moon, we decided to drive over the hill to Victor for a nighttime skate ski. Fortunately for me, we didn't see any turkeys or beavers. 

Before we left, we threw together the fastest, easiest, yummiest meal. This is a great one for anyone who is busy and/or lazy.  These days I fall into the latter category.  You can piece this meal together with any veggies you have on hand.  After our moonlit ski, it was a wonderful treat to come home to a warm meal.

Chicken thighs, potoatoes, asparagus, and tomatoes drizzed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper and thyme.  Baked at 300 for 2 hours (less time would have been fine, but that was our roundtrip).

Tender, flavorful chicken and veggies.

I have one more super easy, translation lazy, meal for you today.  Somehow all this talk of procrasting has enduced some bizarre blogging efficiency.  Here's a fast, simple, delicious pasta that I made for lunch today. The sauce comes together in the time it takes to cook the noodles. In order to use the Great Samoan Hunter's internet, I bribed him with lunch.

Any shape pasta you like cooked according to the directions, one diced onion, one can green chiles, one small can whole tomatoes, and not pictured oregano, cumin, a handful of cilantro and some feta cheese.

While you bring your salted pasta water to boil, saute the diced onion in a tbs of olive oil. Saute until translucent -- about 3-4 minutes.  Add the chiles and tomatoes.  As the tomatoes simmer, smoosh them with the back of a spoon.  Season with 1/2 tsp each of oregano and cumin.  Simmer the sauce while the noodles cook.

Chop a handful of cilantro.

Throw in the cilantro with a good amount of feta.  Add the cooked pasta (and a little of the cooking water if your sauce is too thick).

Toss it all together and enjoy! 

Even the meat-eating Samoan Hunter enjoyed this lunch.

Getting my wiggles out

You know the saying, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Well, the decision to postpone my defense, and thus the culmination of my MA, felt, at the time, like an enormous mouth full of lemons.  I puckered, I shed some tears, my jaw clenched.  It was sour.  However, now that I've had time to process my choice, I am so glad I made the level-headed, adult decision (this was inspired largely from the encouragement of my wonderful advisor) to give myself some wiggle room.

So . . . I am wiggling. 

You've noticed I have been cooking and writing again.  I have been exercising.  I have been reading books -- books for fun!  I have been spending lots of time in the out of doors.  I have not, however, been exerting enough effort or time towards my paper.  Whenever I walk Tuli, I always tell him "get your wiggles out!"  I figure that's what I am doing right now, getting my wiggles out. 

As my advisor reminded me, I want to present a paper that I am proud of.  This time and space has allowed me to get excited about my project again, as well as lots of other areas of my life that I neglected as a grouchy, stressed, do it all but not all that well graduate student.  How do you like that lemonade?

The following recipe is the fruits of my labor.  Literally.  The Great Samoan Hunter and I hiked up and down and up and down four or five ridges in search of chukar.  On our way back to the truck, we flushed an enormous covey of birds.  The Great Samoan Hunter shot left, I shot right.  I didn't see anything drop from my side.  After missing several birds throughout the day, I was quite disappointed in myself.  I didn't walk all that way to come home empty handed!  Much to my delight, Tuli recovered my downed bird that had landed around the ledge upon which I was standing.  Not only is he an upland game dog, but he is also a retriever! 

I acted like someone who had just won the publisher's clearinghouse -- squealing, waving my arms, jumping up and down.  I may have peed in my pants a little. 

If I tell you where we are, I might have to kill you.

My face hurt from smiling so much.

My retriever.

I can only take credit for one of these birds --

that's why I call him the GREAT Samoan Hunter.

I did find that deer shed in the background, though.

Chukar is very similar to pheasant, which tastes and looks much like chicken.  I am nuts about both of these birds.  Duck and geese, I am still working on.  I decided to make chukar piccata -- lots of lemon, wine and capers.  Had I served this dish to you blindly, you would have thought it was chicken. This dish blew me away.  I had never made it before because I am not such a fan of capers, but I will be recirculating the dish for certain.  Since chukar isn't an ingredient you can easily pick up at the grocery store, try the classic chicken piccata.  Delicious!

Chukar breasts before I pounded them thin.

Familiar breading of flour, egg and panko with the addition of parmesan cheese.

Since I am trying to "eliminate muffin top," I baked instead of fried.

Sauce fixins.

Capers.

Who would have thought wild game classed up so nicely?

Couldn't ask for a more perfect meal.

Chukar (or chicken) piccata

4 breasts, pounded thin

2 tbs flour

1 egg, scrambled

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (more for garnish)

1 or 2 lemons

1 handful Italian parsley, chopped

1/4 cup capers

1 shallot, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper

olive oil

2 tbs butter

pasta to serve

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, and set aside. Place breasts in a ziplock bag and pound thin.  Dredge first in the seasoned flour (about 1 tsp each of salt and pepper) shaking off any excess, then the egg wash, and then panko cheese mixture.  Once all of the breasts are breaded, allow them to rest for about ten minutes on the baking sheet to ensure an extra crispy crust.  Bake the breasts for about 15 - 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.  Cook according to the directions.

In a saucepan, heat about 1 tbs olive oil over medium-high heat.  Saute the shallots and garlic until translucent.  Add the wine, juice of one whole lemon (if it's not super juice add the second for good measure), as well as the squeezed lemons and capers.  Reduce by half.  Add the chopped parsley.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 2 tbs butter.  Remove the lemon halves and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the breasts. Serve with pasta and extra parmesan.  Enjoy!