Homemade Mayonnaise

This is a fairly random post, because we have the before shots--but no shots of the finished product, lol. What happened is this--on Saturday morning, we had some friends over for lunch and then we all went to a class about raising chickens in your backyard. Both of the gals that went with us plan on getting chickens. Tavo wants chickens very, very badly--but I admit that I'm still on the fence.

So, lunch was to be a simple affair--sandwiches and a salad. I got sandwich meat, cheese and tomatoes at the store. Tavo got some shots of the lettuce..

Then, 15 minutes before anyone showed, I realized I had no mayo. Before reading Marjie's blog, I'd never even considered making homemade mayonnaise. Now, I ran to the computer to pull up her recipe.

Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet Mayonnaise:
(from Pierre Franey's More 60 Minute Gourmet)

1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup vegetable oil
pinch salt
dash of pepper
1 tbsp water

We used a whisk--Don't do this--it takes forever!! So, if you are smart, use a food processor to beat the egg yolk. Add the Dijon and lemon juice, salt and pepper, and beat until combined. Slowly drizzle the oil in. Whisk until very well combined, then add the water and beat until smooth.





And now you'll just have to use your imaginations for the rest!! It involved homemade honey wheat bread, baby swiss, tomatoes, lettuce and for the non vegetarians--smoked turkey.

Have a great Wednesday!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I don't think much instruction is needed, here. Our friend stopped by and brought a box of the most beautiful strawberries I've seen since last summer. I broke out my stash of dark chocolate and melted a bar.

There was one odd one with a growth on the side...can I plant this?

We ate all of them...except for six.
Those we sent home in a care package for our friend's wife :)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Brunch--Crustless Quiche

I am once again planning on running the ING Atlanta Half Marathon, and as it is in two weeks (!!!) I hosted brunch for our long run on Saturday. We went for eleven miles, through downtown, midtown, and the East side of Atlanta. You get to see quite a bit of the city if you run for eleven miles :) I decided to make a couple quiches and some challah for breakfast. You have seen my challah before, so I'll just talk about the quiche.

I went crustless because after using 5 eggs and 2 cups of half and half for each quiche, I decided they were rich enough to skip the pie crust. Here is a layer of panko bread crumbs and some grated parmesan.
While I am not often one for mis en place, it is useful when you are quick frying a pile of veggies, a pan of bacon, and whipping together the eggs all at the same time.
Baby portabellas and onions to go with before said bacon...
Broccoli, onion and more portabellas for the vegetarian quiche.
Add cheese and custard, bake at 425 for about 30 minutes. Start checking at 25...
Vegetarian Quiche -- Broccoli, mushrooms, onions and cheddar cheese
Meat eaters Quiche -- Bacon, mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese
I cooked both the night before and warmed them in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes the next day. Verdict? Delicious!

I based my recipe on the Crustless Quiche Recipe from Gourmet (via Epicurious).

This about sums it up...

Bocadillo and enchiladas

View from Lini's work on March 2nd.

All classes were canceled but staff is here until 5 pm...they should really send home the librarian, too, I think ;)

Even though it is snowing here today, last weekend was gorgeous. We met some friends at La Fonda Latina. Both Gustavo and I feel their salsa is some of the best in Atlanta.

Tavo's bocadillo latino (roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, mojo sauce and pickles on Cuban bread)
Lini's fish enchiladas


They also have EXCELLENT paella--here's old Lini with her long hair, eating waaay too much paella for one person.

Yum! The leftovers are good, too :)

My first success with...Buttermilk Biscuits!

I have attempted biscuits probably forty or so times throughout my life--and they never, ever come out. They tend to be either too dry and crumbly or hard like a hockey puck. I've burned them, I've pulled them out raw, I've pulled out good looking biscuits that would pulverize before my eyes. I think I've even chipped a tooth on my biscuits before. All in all, I'd just resigned myself to bread. I am not a true Southerner, so the closest I thought I'd get to my biscuit dream was a run to Hardees.

Not today. I can't believe it. Today, I made biscuits.
With local wildflower honey from Douglas County and butter.

We had some leftover buttermilk from the red velvet cupcakes my Dad made for our wedding cake. So, I pulled out a cookbook and decided to try buttermilk biscuits one more time, just to see. I did it early in the morning, so if they were bad, I could throw them away before Tavo woke up. Here's the raw circles (more than less circles..) after I'd fretted about getting the fat worked into the dough.

The mess on my counter. It's on the floor and on my shirt, too--but I decided not to photo all that.
baked for 13 minutes @ 425 degrees

Buttermilk Biscuits
Gourmet Cookbook
2 cups all purpose flour (White Lily or Southern Biscuit)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 stick cold, unsalted butter
3/4 c. buttermilk, plus more for brushing

Sift flour, salt, powder and soda together. Blend in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir lightly until dough forms.

Gather dough into ball, knead 6 times on lightly floured surface. Pat dough into 10" round and cut rounds with floured glass. Put onto greased baking sheet, brush with buttermilk, and bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Here's another fake Southerner :)

All right, now that the wedding is over let's get to those leftovers!

Vegetable Biryani Tacos

So, I have absolutely refused to go grocery shopping until we eat up all the leftovers from the wedding. Here is a veggie tray that has been driving me batty. Originally, I wanted to break it up and do a few different dishes with different vegetables--but as a few days went by I decided to be lazy (or efficient?) and use it all up in one fell swoop.

Enter curry paste. I love you curry paste. I buy the jarred kind from the shop by my work--this particular one is a VERY spicy Pakistani Biryani. I sauteed the onions with the curry paste for a few minutes--then threw in a few tired potatoes, the celery, the carrots, the cauliflower and the peppers.

I decided to add a can of chickpeas and some water to cook everything down. Oh, and a few jalapenos for good measure. Our whole house smells ridiculously of curry.

Look at the tray! Pretty good, eh? I threw in the broccoli and the tomatoes right when the potatoes were almost done.

We debated on using rice, but opted for curry tacos instead. Our parsley has somehow come back to life (I didn't realize it was a perennial!) So we put some cream cheese and parsley on top. I would have preferred sour cream--but I am NOT going grocery shopping until everything we have is used up! Honestly, for a mish mash dish, this really was quite good. Of course, I like spicy vegetable dishes in general, so it really was a win win for me.
Here's my photo assistant.

Tavo opted for "breakfast dinner" notice the smiley sausage and egg face :)

In other exciting news, I chopped off and donated 16 inches of my hair to Locks of Love last week. This is my third time--I just love cutting off all that hair at the end of a cold winter. Spring--I'm ready for you!

Also, inspired by Marjie at Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet, we are planning quite a bit of gardening this year. Here is the very scientific rough draft ;)