Les Deux Gourmands

the road to the wedding: part 1

Ethel — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:44:07 +0000

i feel like i can speak for lucy when i say, things have been crazy in the HQ of le deux gourmandes. my day job office has been all packed up in the last three weeks or so, in preparation to move to a new locatio. lucy has been dealing with students with spring fever, attempting to relax while suffering through a cold over spring break, and mourning the loss of her teacher’s aide britney’s mother (to whom we send many hugs and happy thoughts and sympathy and comfort foods).

additionally, your girl ethel is putting wedding plans into action.

that’s right! i’m getting married in (deep breath) two and a half months! and because i am crazy, i’m catering it myself, with the help of many generous friends and family. fianz and i don’t have a lot of money and are attempting to take care of everything ourselves. we’re inviting everybody we love and are currently working on compiling a list of hors d’oeuvres to serve to them.

here’s what we have so far:

meatballs
pigs in blankets
dumplings
cucumber sandwiches
tomato sandwiches
watercress sandwiches
peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (for the little ones!)
spinach balls (maybe. thoughts?)
pesto palmiers

the plan is, all of those things can be made in advance; all but the sandwiches can be made even now and be fine to heat up and serve at the reception. here’s the stuff that can’t be done AS in advance, but still ahead of time:

lettuce wraps (fianz’s sister kelly makes AMAZING ones)
josefinas
red onions on rye
water chestnuts and bacon
shrimp & cocktail sauce
mozzerella, tomato and basil skewers

and then there are things like a veggie platter, cheese and crackers, a fruit platter, and homemade hummus and pita chips.

have any of you ever done this? any suggestions for food we should try? or foods we definitely should NOT try?

old friends and potatoes anna

Ethel — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:34:06 +0000

today, for the first time in something like two years, i got a chance to catch up with an old friend from college. as long as i’ve known dave he’s been interested in cooking–he once famously served our mutual friend stephanie shark for dinner–and is as big an appreciator of food as i am; possibly moreso. during our conversation, among (lots of) other things, we discussed food. dave asked if i’d tried any new recipes lately, and i told him about what i’m about to enlighten you with (also, i told him i’d post it so he could have the recipe): potatoes anna.

shockingly enough, i got this recipe from susan branch. i was in the mood for something comforting during last week’s never ending snowstorm, and this sounded like just the thing. and only four ingredients! heaven.

what you’ll need follows…

ingredients:

6 russet potatoes
1 stick butter
salt
pepper

peel the potatoes and slice them as thin as you can–susan recommends 1/16″ thick. i recommend purchasing a mandolin specifically for this–it’s delicious, you’ll want to make it again, and it’ll keep you from (a) slicing your fingers off, (b) quitting part way through and ordering a pizza, or (c) killing youself, and/or anybody else around you. it’s recommended that you dry out the sliced potatoes–i tried laying them out on paper towels and as far as i’m concerned, it worked famously:

next, you want to melt your butter and get rid of any of the white stuff that floats to the top. this will leave you with clarified butter; clarifying removes the milk solids from the butter and keeps it from burning.

using a brush (if you have one handy), butter your cast iron skillet with some of the clarified butter, then lay out the first layer of potato slices, like so:

with each completed layer, sprinkle some of the butter with the brush you’ve been using over the top, then add a sprinkling of salt and pepper. keep layering, buttering, salting and peppering until you’re out of potatoes. generously butter the top of the potato layers, add some more salt and pepper, and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. it should come out looking like this:

flip upside-down onto a plate. serve with chives mixed in sour cream <3

cold remedies

Ethel — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:09:45 +0000

i have had what i can only assume is a severe sinus headache for the last three days. it feels like my brain is about to explode out of my left eye socket. this morning, i woke up with the beginnings of a sore throat and a stuffy nose. great: time for my annual headcold of death. some people are lucky enough to not have to go to work through times like this, but knowing that how i feel now is only going to get worse over the coming days, i’m saving my sick days like a good little girl and trying to muscle through it.

it’s interesting to me to know the kinds of things people want to eat and drink when they’re feeling sick. i whole-heartedly subscribe to the theory that food has healing qualities. here’s what i’m working with at work right now:

a pumpernickel bagel toasted with butter will always be a welcome treat, but this morning it’s more so i can take that sinus headache medicine without getting a terrible stomach ache out of it. in the bottle is water. and in the blue teapot is a mix of lemon-ginger and camomile tea. at home, last night i had the good sense to make some chicken noodle soup from scratch before going to bed, and there’s a big container of it waiting for me in the fridge when i go home for lunch.

friday, you are cordially invited to bring it on. i’m ready.

cook books

Ethel — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:32:37 +0000

this morning i got the chance to have coffee with a good friend from college. frank is from maine and has always been a bit of a mystery–part frat boy, part shy guy, part completely insane. he can tell you a story about his very important job working for the government and, in the same breath, tell you a story about how his friends once bought a car off of a drunk outside of a bar in maine just to see how it felt to run a car into a tree. he’s had his writing published in magazines and looks like he fell out of a jcrew catalogue.

this morning, while drinking piping hot coffee on the coldest day of the year so far, frank told me stories of traveling to DC for work and how high his heating bill is this month, before telling me with quiet excitement about his newest purchase: Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. “i have that!” i exclaimed, and then shut up while he told me about how much he liked reading the first chapter (i’ve only gone straight to the index and searched for the recipes i want to try) and how it’s made him want to buy all new knives and pots and pans. next, he told me about the food processor he purchased recently, and how amazed he is by the things it can do.

it made me think about the way i look at kitchen tools and the books i get my recipes from. truth be told, i get a lot of my recipes online, and save for my favorites by susan branch, i don’t really read cookbooks, so much as flip through them until i find something i want to try. and i buy tools for cooking without a ton of rhyme or reason–generally, it’s either something i need for a recipe i want to try, or (once in a while) something i’ve coveted for a long time. sometimes, it’s completely compulsive. i haven’t really ever taken the time to plan things out. i just like to do.

anyway, i got home to find a belated birthday present from my step-mother lise: volumes I and II of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. and after i post this, i’m going to crack open volume I and start reading.

you learn something new every day.

olive oil

Ethel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:48:35 +0000

how do you keep your olive oil? i never thought about it until i saw a post on thekitchn which had the following quote:

“There are three enemies of olive oil,” says Nadim Beyrouti, proprietor and hospitable host of Oliviera in Nice, France. “Light, heat,” he pauses. “And hungry friends.”

how did i never know this? anyway, this new knowledge set me forward in searching for the perfect container for olive oil, which i cook with just about every day. it also gave me an excuse to start buying it in bulk! here’s the solution i found:

the red bottle pictured comes from pier 1; i bought a wine pourer from target to put in the top so as to give me a bit more control and keep me from overloading any dishes with too much oil. the tank of oil isn’t exactly a brand i’m recommending–it was just what was cheapest at stop n’ shop the week i was shopping (though i’m thinking in the future i might start investing in higher quality olive oil–we’ll see). this is not to say it’s bad, but is not to say it’s good or whatever. it’s just the oil i’m currently using.

anyway, here are a few options; two from Etsy, and the one i have from pier 1:

this one is beautiful, though a bit expensive; it’ll definitely keep the sunlight out! click on the link to get to the seller’s page.

this seller has many options. again, click to view!

Finally, here are the ones I got from Pier 1:

at $6/bottle, you can’t go wrong! they have other color options, too.

how do you store your olive oil?

pot roast

Ethel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:31:53 +0000

so, this past weekend i finally took pictures of the pot roast i’ve been making in my slow cooker since fall got into full swing a few months ago. super easy and super delicious and not nearly as unhealthy as the recipe i’ve posted before (although, let’s be honest–pot roast is just never going to be “healthy”). it’s an adaptation of my mother’s famous recipe, Kim’s Pretty Good Pot Roast. I changed a few things around and have renamed it [Ethel's] Superb Pot Roast.

here’s how you do it:

mix together:

2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar

Pat flour mix onto surface of meat, then brown (preferably in a cast iron skillet, i’ve found) on all sides, using a little oil to coat the pan. Then load that sucker into your slow cooker, add in two or three carrots chopped into sticks, a sliced onion or two, and some quartered peeled potatoes, and pour tomato juice over it–i usually use an entire can because i like the gravy it produces; i’m also considering trying out V8 juice instead of tomato juice next time i try this (i’ll let you know how it goes). cook in slow cooker on high for 6 hours or low for 8 (though, truth be told, i usually put it on high for close to 8 hours; honestly, the longer you cook it, the more tender it gets!).

there it is! super easy to do and super yummy to eat. just shred the meat when you’re ready to serve it, and fish out the veggies to eat as a side. pour on plenty of the tomato-y gravy and enjoy!

throwing a dinner together

Ethel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:46:20 +0000

a few weekends ago, fianz and i found ourselves at my aunt polly’s house for dinner. we’d been planning to show up much later, but i had a conference halfway between our houses the day we’d planned on driving down, so we got there sooner than expected. when i called to tell her we’d be there earlier than planned, i told her i’d handle dinner, but she insisted on getting swordfish. knowing this would still mean i’d be in charge of cooking it, i brought with me some cards on which i’d written recipes for swordfish (over the summer when i was more likely to be cooking it!), and the cookbook fianz had given me. i didn’t even end up using it! it was one of those truly great cooking experiences; polly and fianz sat at the counter, looked over the crossword puzzle and tried things as i threw them together. once in a while, polly would say “oh! i have peas, would you like to have peas with dinner?” or something like that. it was collaborative and not at the same time, in the best ways. here’s what we had:

those are swordfish steaks with lemon butter sauce, fingerling potatoes sliced into little fans and roasted in olive oil, butter, rosemary, salt and pepper, and peas mixed with caramelized onions. easy, easy, easy and delicious, delicious, delicious!

in celebration…

Ethel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:46:43 +0000

since you all know, now, that it’s my mother’s birthday, i thought i’d share what i made for her for dinner last night (purposefully withheld, in case she saw it on the blog–it was a surprise!). first thing’s first…dessert:

my mother and i have both had the same favorite cake/frosting combos as long as i can remember. mine, for my january 13th birthday has always been yellow cake with chocolate frosting–this is just about the only time i’d way rather have boxed cake mix and store-bought frosting. it brings me back to my childhood every time and i absolutely love it. my mother’s is chocolate cake with white frosting.

the tradition that i may or may not have started has been, for a few years now, to see if she can remember to make my favorite kind of cake for my birthday. if she does, i make hers the way she likes it. if she doesn’t, i do some variation on her favorite for her birthday…once or twice, she’s made her favorite for my birthday and i’ve retaliated by making my favorite for hers.

this year, she and her wife on a diet, they bought a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from wholefoods. it was delicious, but set me in motion looking for some kind of spin on the same old chocolate with white frosting. here’s what i came up with: chocolate raspberry cupcakes with white lemon frosting.

i don’t presently have a picture of how they looked with frosting on them, but here’s how they looked before they went into the oven:

i made my favorite chocolate cake recipe (which happens to be martha stewart’s one-bowl chocolate cupcakes, with a few changes):

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar (i like to only use one cup, and have been known to substitute splenda–they’re plenty sweet and somehow even better with less sugar, i think)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk (here, i’ve only ever used one cup of fage total 0% greek yogurt)
3 tablespoons safflower oil (i use olive oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

so simple: sift the dry ingredients, then add the wet ones. stir together until blended and mix until smooth, then ration out into cupcake liners–or, into two 8- or 9-inch round pans!–and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

before baking, i smushed three frozen raspberries into each cupcake. here’s how they came out:

a tiny bit funny looking, but trust–they were delicious. for the frosting, i made standard white buttercream frosting, except instead of adding cream or milk or vanilla extract, i added lemon juice and about 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. i tried to be sparing with the frosting, so as to fit more into the diet, but in the end, a cupcake is a cupcake, your birthday only happens once a year, and frosting is essential.

anyway, that’s it for the dessert! i’ll be sure to edit in a picture of the final, frosted product when i get a chance. stay tuned for the dinner portion!

happy birthday to a gourmand’s mom!

Ethel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:00:45 +0000

hello, dear readers,

i just wanted to take the opportunity to say a big, loud, and joyous

Happy BiRthdAy!

to my adorable little mom <3

love,

your first born

parsley pizza

Ethel — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:04:40 +0000

this is a quick, easy side dish that i absolutely love, and have never gotten a bad review on. it’s another thing that hails from my childhood in southern rhode island; when we were kids, my brother and i looked forward to the nights our mother would make homemade pizza. with a simple recipe for white bread she’d make the dough, and would let us help her choose the toppings; we’d do garlic and olive oil, cheese, pepperoni with red sauce, sometimes onion or green pepper or other crazy things would find their way in, and every time–and i have no idea where this idea came from–parsley pizza.

it’s so easy it’s ridiculous–especially when you buy some ready- locally-made dough at the grocery store! here’s how:

pizza dough
3 or more cloves of garlic, diced (depends on how garlic-y you want it!)
olive oil
a good handful or two freshly chopped parsley (italian or curly; doesn’t matter)
salt

work the dough gradually and carefully into a wide, flat rectangle. using a paper towel (or, i suppose, your fingers), spread some olive oil onto a cookie sheet and, when your dough is a desired thickness, spread it onto the pan over the oil. using a garlic press (if you have one), sprinkle diced garlic over pizza–be as generous as you’d like! drizzle olive oil across pizza, and then sprinkle on parsley. finish by sprinkling a pinch or two of salt–not too much!! it’s super easy to go overboard with the salt if you’re OCD like i am and interested in evenly distributing it. take it from me: don’t worry about it and move on.

bake, either according to the suggestion on the container your dough came in, or at 450 for about 20 minutes. after the first 10 have passed, be SUPER careful about checking on it; you don’t want it to burn! take out of the oven when it looks done–if the crust is just starting to brown, it’s done.

enjoy!