Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy....

Colorado Lake Trout

My friend was kind enough to give me two trout that he had caught.

Now the dilemma  was how to cook them.

Sometimes, pretty much always, simple is the best way to do anything. With this trout , simple is definitely  the way to go.  Salt, pepper, lemon, and tarragon from the garden.  Throw in one of my favorites for cooking outside, my smoker, and dinner is ready.

There's just something about cooking outside that I love. I'm am not the outdoorsy type, I don't camp out.  But turn me loose in the garden or with the grill, I'm  in my element! I like fire and food! Cooking out of doors is the best thing in the world, come winter or summer.

So, back to the trout. Smoked trout on a bed of tarragon, set the grill to 350 degrees and away we go. I have a Traeger grill and it's fantastic.  Set the temperature, and you are ready to go in no time.

Smoked Trout on a bed of tarragon.  Everything was from Colorado, same the lemon, and I have tried to grow everything here.  The trout was caught in one of our northern lakes, and the tarragon was from my backyard.

Hope you get the chance to get outside and cook!

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

Savannah Buttermint Ice Cream

After a recent visit to Savannah, a few weeks ago, I couldn't pass up this recipe.  It comes from the book,"jenis", by
Jeni Britton Bauer. It combines a unique trio of ingredient, white chocolate, cream cheese and turmeric. And while the ingredients may sound a little different the favors are all comfort.  One bite and it reminds of the buttermints that you aways got at the church wedding showers. 
In less than a hour, I uses an ice cream machine with a compressor. I had a dessert that you definately will not find in the freezer section of your local grocer.

You are My Sunshine

 

The sun is finally shining, it's not raining and it's not snowing, yes!!!! Now is the time for something that glows. When I think of warm weather I think of lemons and all that bright wonderful flavor.
There are dozens upon dozens of lemon curd recipes out there.  But with 5 ingredients this one is simple and beats the heck out of the store bought. 

Homemade Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 sticks butter (12Tbs) unsalted butter, cubed

Directions:

In a double boiler, combine sugar and egg yolks, whisking for about 1 minute.  Incorporate the lemon juice and zest and whisk for an additional minute.  Place over simmering water, don't let the simmering water touch the bottom of the pan, you will scramble your eggs! Stir constantly, until thickened.  This should only take 10 to 15 minutes. Add your butter a little at a time, and whisk to melt. 

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve pressing out any lumps or zest with a rubber spatula.  Pour into a clean container, cover and refrigerate. 

Here's to putting a little sunshine back into your day.  This can be on top of toast, or scones. Layered with fresh fruit and whipped cream or just eaten out of the the jar with a spoon. There isn't a gray sky around.

Not Here or There or Anywhere

Green Lentils and Ham

Ingredients:

2 cups lentils
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 cup celery
1 cup carrots
4 T olive oil
4 cups leftover Easter ham, cubed
4 cups chicken stock
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 cups red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large soup pot sauté onions, garlic, celery, and carrots in oil.  Add parsley, and salt and pepper.  Sauté until translucent about  8 minutes.  Add ham and allow to render down a little then pour in chicken stock, tomato sauce, red wine and lentils.  Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour until lentils are done.

Serve with a really good corn bread.  We'll save the recipe for the corn bread for another time but it's worth waiting for.

This is a great recipe for after Easter when one has a lot of ham lying about and only so much tolerance for ham and mustard sandwiches. Due to the surprise cold snap we had plummeting us into sub-freezing temperatures here in Colorado I needed something warm, and something satisfying in order to prevent a grocery store run. Lentils and ham are so wholesome one might shed a tear at the sheer satisfaction they brings. The flavors are subtle but their combination leads to a salty fresh tasting bite that is truly a workers stew, lots of protein and fiber with a bit of crass character to finish it out.

Not on in a house or with a Mouse

Baked Eggs with Tomato Sauce 

Ingredients:

4 T melted butter
3/4 cup diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano
4 eggs
4 slices of Garlic Ciabatta Bread (or baguette)
2 T cream
4 -6 T Grated Parmesan  Cheese
1/4 t salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter,  and pour one tablespoon into the bottom of each gratin dish.  Place two slices of the Ciabatta in each dish.  Spoon the diced tomato mixture onto  the the slices of Ciabatta.
Crack one egg at a time and gently nest on top of the diced tomatoes , two per dish.   Drizzle one tablespoon cream and the remaining butter over the eggs .  Sprinkle salt and pepper over everything.
Place gratin dishes on baking sheet and bake for 22 minutes, sprinkle with parmesan and and switch to 350 convection and bake an additional 3-4 minutes.

On a cold, snowy day this dish was a rich, hearty, fully flavored and utterly perfect.The eggs are creamy and the bread absorbs the liquid's flavors.  I would also recommend this dish to anyone with a picky eater in the house, Dr. Seuss would be proud of these eggs(granted they are not green). It is also a great way to use up bread that has gone a little stale

The Emperor's New Cake

King's Cake

Inspired by Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
4 to 5 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon oil
1/2 cup warm milk (105 to 115 degrees)
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
5 egg yolks
1 orange, zested
Sugar cinnamon mixture:
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter
1 pecan half, or King Cake Baby
Glaze:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Purple, green and gold sugar crystals

Directions:

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Combine the warm water, yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside to a warm place for about 10 minutes. Combine the 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, nutmeg, lemon oil, orange zest and add warm milk, melted butter, egg yolks and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place the dough in a well-greased bowl. Turn once so greased surface is on top.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch the dough down and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a 6 x  12 inches rectangle.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Now cut the dough into three ribbons. These ribbons are then braided.  Once the braid is completed shape the braid into a ring, tucking the ends into the braid.  Place the ring onto a greased baking sheet.  Press the King Cake Baby,or  pecan half (if you have crowns like I do) into the dough so that it is hidden. Cover the ring with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the cake to cool. 

For the glaze: 

Combine the ingredients and beat until smooth. To assemble, drizzle cake with the glaze. Sprinkle the  cake with sugar crystals, alternating colors.

This serves around four with healthy appetites, and will not survive an afternoon if you do not guard it with a small to medium sized pitchfork. I prefer the lump free version of King's Cake, and by substituting zest and lemon oil in the place of citron, the resulting dough is light, fluffy and buttery. Of course if you have die hard proclivities for citron, enjoy your lumpy cake.