Cooking With Sue - California Central Coast Style
Welcome to my cooking blog! I like to cook and I hope it shows. I was lucky to grow up in a restaurant family that thought nothing at all about putting together an easy to make but delicious meal on a regular basis. I remember my mother and grandmother each making five to six pies a day! Then on top of that, they would work at our restaurant making meals with my dad and grandfather for our customers until late evening. Thinking back, I really appreciate and marvel at their endurance and dedication!
What I learned from my parents is cooking is NOT something that you should dread. It’s very straight forward and logical. It can be really fun and relaxing and I hope to make you see that side of it too. Learn a few recipes and a bit about wine and you will enjoy quality dining every night at home for a mere fraction of the cost of dining out!
California Central Coast Style Recipes are my passion. These recipes are easy and elegant, and based upon three principles:
- Whenever possible use fresh ingredients. preferable locally grown.
- Use minimal cooking preparation to enhance the featured ingredient. Keep spices and additional ingredients to a minimum -use just enough to bring out flavors of the main ingredient not change it into something else.
- The presentation of the dish should be simple but elegant.
Enjoy!
Finally on the Home-Stretch, Our Seventh Week of Kitchen Exile Keeps Up the Challenges
2010-09-01 19:25:28 ID=621:0
© 2010 The Romantic Table
We had a short respite last week (our sixth week of exile) with no contractors while we tried to organize ourselves and started to acclimate to the new kitchen cabinet arrangement and assigned organization. We waited patiently for all the remaining special orders that we needed to finish this project. By the end of the sixth week of kitchen exile, all the back orders came in. We felt so relieved that the worse was finally over and we celebrated that we were well on our way to the "home stretch," but little did we know what unexpected curve ball we would be thrown again!
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Our Kitchen Exile Endures its Fifth Week
2010-08-22 21:54:06 ID=620:0
© 2010 The Romantic Table
Our fifth week of kitchen exile, due to our kitchen remodel, has been a hard one. Aside from the expertly installed counters, our kitchen remodel has endured-and mostly overcome- the curve balls and errors of the kitchen installers ending with a flood.
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The Kitchen Remodel Begins its Fourth Week Since D-Day (Demolition Day)
2010-08-11 19:24:29 ID=619:0
© 2010 The Romantic Table
Starting our fourth week of Kitchen Exile, we were anxious to get the last of the cabinets installed, but had a big surprise!
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August - No Kitchen-Cooking Survival School
2010-08-11 19:41:57 ID=618:1
© 2010 The Romantic Table
Because of our kitchen remodel, and not having a kitchen to cook in, we'll have no new home-made recipe offerings this month. But, out of desperation, I HAVE learned a few tidbits about how to make do without a kitchen and still have healthy,home-cooked food, that I'll share with you.
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Living Through a Kitchen Remodel Installation Week-End
2010-08-08 22:47:45 ID=617:0
© 2010 The Romantic Table
The installation of the cabinets had so far gone pretty well except for some missing components. After five days of cabinet installation, there was still one more free-standing cabinet to be put in place. -But that would have to wait until the following Monday. (See previous Blog.)
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Living Through a Kitchen Remodel Installation Week
2010-08-06 17:26:38 ID=616:0
© 2010 The Romantic Table
When last I wrote, my spirits were soaring and my heart was light! My perfect kitchen cabinets were taking shape as they found their proper kitchen assignment. But just a few minutes after ending my last blog, I discovered that my "picture-perfect" kitchen had a lot of mistakes of omission, and my heart sank enough to give me a remodel "melt-down!"
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Chicken Piccata
Posted: 2010-07-07Chicken Piccata is a twist on the classic Italian Veal Piccata. Besides using chicken which is easier to find in the market, our Chicken Piccata recipe is a sure-fire performer that you can make all year round. Aside from having to pound the chicken breast fillets flat -which can be done in advance, the recipe is very quick to make.
The pounded chicken is quickly sauteed and the pan juices are reduced down in white wine in just a few minutes. With the addition of capers and lemon juice it is so succulent to the taste buds that you'll want to have it often.
Chicken Piccata
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
MAKES 2 SERVINGS.
Ingredients.
2 Chicken breast fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
3 Tablespoons Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 cup dry White wine
1/2 cup Chicken broth (reduced sodium)
3 to 4 Tablespoons Fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoons Capers , rinsed in water and drained
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley , chopped
Preparation Directions.
1 Pound the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap or in a plastic bag with a rubber mallet until they are about one-quarter inch thick. If the breasts are large cut into two or more pieces.
2 Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then lightly dust with flour.
3 In a large nonreactive frying pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat until the oil is fragrant.
4 Add the chicken pieces to the pan and cook about 2 minutes on each side. (Or until lightly golden.) Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm. Set aside.
5 Add wine to pan and bring to a full boil while scraping up the fond from the bottom of the pan.
6 Add the chicken broth to the pan and boil and reduce down the wine-broth to half a cup or so. (This will take up to four or five minutes.)
7 Add lemon juice and capers and continue to cook on medium-low for a minute or so. Add the butter and parsley and rock pan forward and back to evenly disperse throughout the broth-wine reduction sauce.
8 Place each chicken breast fillet on a dinner plate, drizzle some of the lemon-caper sauce on top of each and garnish with a sprinkling of Italian parsley on top,
9 Serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions.
Serve this elegant entree with a dry white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc or for a red try a young Sangiovese wine.
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Country Cousin Circus Sundae
Posted: 2010-07-04Our Circus Sundae is a cold ice cream dessert that we served at my family's restaurant,The Country Cousin. It incorporates ice cream, strawberry topping (sliced freshly sliced strawberries, thawed frozen strawberries, or strawberry topping sauce), animal crackers, whipping cream, tiny candied sprinkles and topped with an open paper parasol. It's so cute! "Kids" aged four to eighty-four will chuckle when you serve it to them. And it's a snap to make! We'll show you how.
Country Cousin Circus Sundae
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time:
MAKES 4 SERVINGS.
Ingredients.
4 shallow bowls
4 extra large scoops Vanilla or Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry topping (Freshly cut strawberries, thawed frozen sliced strawberries or strawberry topping sauce)
Canned pressurized Whipped cream
24 to 28 Animal crackers
Multi-colored tiny candied sprinkles
4 Paper Parasols
Preparation Directions.
1 Into each shallow bowl, place an extra-large scoop of vanilla or strawberry ice cream.
2 Cover each ice cream scoop with a portion of strawberry toppings.
3 Apply some whipped cream around the base of each scoop of ice cream.
4 Set 5 - 7 animal crackers around each ice cream scoop as shown.
5 Sprinkle the whipping cream lightly with the multi-colored candied sprinkles.
6 Open each paper Parasol like an umbrella and push up the stay to hold it open.
7 Set the parasol on the top of the ice cream scoop and serve.
Serving Suggestions.
Serve these fun desserts with spoons and napkins and then set back and enjoy the fun!
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Country Cousin Clown Sundae
Posted: 2010-06-28Here is our restaurant's (The Country Cousin) version of a clown sundae--perfect for the hot summer days ahead! Young or old, this sundae brings smiles to all and it's a snap to make. We made it a little differently from the typical clown sundae, incorporating a chocolate wafer at its base which was an additional taste treat.
Years ago in our restaurant we had a full-fountain service offering everything from sundaes, shakes, malts, (REAL sodas made the old-fashioned way), freezes and all sorts of desserts and ice cream combinations. All my friends were envious of me growing up in a restaurant-family with so many neat things to eat! Little did they know that I had OD'd on all our menu's best sellers! (Thank God! My clothes wouldn't have fit otherwise!)
Have fun with this! It's best to use a good-quality ice cream when making this-especially for a group. We've found that better-quality ice cream holds it form longer and doesn't melt as quickly, so you have enough time to get everything assembled and served.
Country Cousin Clown Sundae
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time:
MAKES 4 SERVINGS.
Ingredients.
4 small plates or shallow bowls
4 Chocolate wafers
4 large scoops Ice cream
4 Ice cream Cones
8 Candy M&M's
4 Red maraschino cherries
Canned whipping cream topping
Bottle of tiny multi-colored candy sprinkles
Preparation Directions.
1 Place a chocolate wafer into each bowl or plate.
2 Place a generous scoop of ice cream onto the chocolate wafer.
3 Top each scoop of ice cream with an ice cream cone set at an angle to represent a clown's cap.
4 Press two same-colored "eyes" of M & M's candies onto each scoop.
5 Insert a red cherry as shown onto the ice cream scoop to represent the nose.
6 Shake the can of cold whipping cream to help pressurize its contents and carefully spray around the ice cream scoop and on top of the chocolate wafer, a "clown's collar." Then dot the "clown's cap" with whipped cream "tassels."
7 Finally sprinkle all the whipping cream collars and cap's tassels with the multi-colored sprinkles.
8 Serve and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions.
Be sure to offer these delightful clown ice cream treats with napkins and enjoy!
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Linguine with Garlic and Red Pepper
Posted: 2010-06-21 Linguine with Garlic and Olive Oil is our version of the classic Italian Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive oil. This recipe has only five ingredients: thinly sliced garlic, Italian parsley, red pepper flakes, linguine and good extra virgin olive oil. It's such an easy to make but satisfying dish! You probably always have these ingredients on hand anyway, so it's perfect to make when you get home late and want something quick to make and easy to digest.
It also is a very light recipe that's ideal when you're starting to get sick of heavy meals and want something light and very quick to throw together, It always seems to hit the spot!
Linguine with Garlic and Red Pepper
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
MAKES 2 SERVINGS.
Ingredients.
1/2 pound Linguine
4 cloves Sliced Garlic
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper
1 cup Italian Parsley coarsely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation Directions.
1 Start your pasta pan with water and bring to boil. Add a tablespoon or so of salt and add pasta. Cook until al dente (about 9 min.)
2 While the linguine is cooking, add the olive oil to a heavy bottom pan or pot and place over medium heat. When the olive oil begins to smell fragrant, add the sliced garlic and red pepper. Continue to saute until the garlic is golden. Be careful not to over cook the garlic or it will turn bitter.
3 When the linguine is done, drain, add it to the pot with the olive oil and garlic. Add the chopped parsley and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serving Suggestions.
Serve this with a young red Italian wine like a Sangiovese.
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Roasted Pork Loin with Fruit
Posted: 2010-06-07For several years now I've been craving a roasted pork loin that's stuffed with fruit. I've enjoyed one recipe in particular that was served me a few years ago and really impressed me with its distinct fruity-moist filling. I've been trying to duplicate that mouth- satisfying experience at home. I've finally come up a very delicious recipe that more than satisfies! I call it Roasted Pork Loin with Fruit.
All you do is buy a pork loin, flatten it and pound it with a mallet and then spread a filling of sauteed chopped onions that's mixed with figs, prunes, applesauce, cinnamon, clove, salt and pepper. Then roll it back up like a jelly roll and slowly roast it for about an hour. Oh! My God! It's an incredible taste medley of tender meat and fruits and it only takes about an hour to make!
Pork, as you may know, is now considered the "other white meat" (next to chicken breast) that's very easy to digest. Pork producers have been hard at work the last few decades developing a better quality of pork that's very low in fat and much easier to digest than the pork that we grew up with. The drawback however is you need to be careful not to overcook the meat. We find that a finish temperature of 160F is just right. What ever temperature you cook to, just remember that when you remove the meat to rest it will continue to cook to another 5 to 10 degrees more.
Roasted Pork Loin with Fruit
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
MAKES 4 SERVINGS.
Ingredients.
2-1/2 pound Boneless Pork Loin
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 cups Onion chopped
1 cup diced figs
1/4 cup diced prunes
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup Applesauce
1/4 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoons Ground cloves
Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
Dry Bread Crumbs
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup Port Wine
Preparation Directions.
1 Preheat the oven to 475F
2 To flatten the pork loin, you will need to butterfly it if it is not already done. Unwrap the pork loin and place it on a cutting board. With a sharp knife cut length-wise straight down the center into the loin ALMOST completely through --stop 1/2 inch from cutting completely through.
3 Now rotate the knife 90 degrees and cut to the left slicing parallel to the cutting board at a thickness of 1/2", unrolling the loin as you cut. Do the same cut to the right side. When you are done you will have a piece of meat 1/2' thick.
4 Next pound the sliced loin with a mallet or meat tenderizer to a thickness of 1/4" inch. Look at the meat and depending upon how it is cut, decide the best way to roll it up to get a uniform pork roll. Choose the most uniform edge for the closing edge.
5 To prepare the filling, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a non-stick saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and saute until the onion is softened and lightly golden.
6 Reduce heat to medium low and add the figs, prunes, raisins, apple sauce, cinnamon and clove and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until the mixture is the consistency of a light chunky jam. If the mixture gets a bit dry add a little apple juice. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
7 On the cut side, spread an even layer of the fruit mixture about 1/2 inch thick, starting opposite of the closing edge, stopping just short of the closing edge.
8 Roll up the loin and tie it at several places (a butchers knot works well) so it stays closed. Rub the loin with remaining extra virgin olive oil, lightly salt and pepper and dust with the bread crumbs. Place the roll in a stove top safe shallow baking pan.
9 Place the pan on the upper center oven rack and reduce the oven heat immediately to 375F. Roast the loin until the center of the roast reaches 150F, about 50 minutes (or about 10 degrees below your desired finish done-ness). Remove from the oven, place the roast on a warm platter and lightly cover with foil and allow the the roast to rest. It will continue to cook as it rests.
10 While the roast is resting, deglaze the roasting pan with one cup of white wine, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan well. Add the 1/2 cup of port wine and reduce the wine mixture to a thin syrup consistency.
11 Untie the loin roast, slice the loin into serving size slices (about 1/2 inch thick) and spoon the reduced pan juices and reduced wine over the loin. Serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions.
This is a very aromatic-fruity pork dish. An off dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer would be a good choice to serve with the roast.
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