Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

My husband has been obsessed with a new toy recently.  It has been fine with me because I never have to do any work to get the main dish on the table.  For a full week we have had such dishes as smoked butterflied chicken,  thick cut grilled steaks, pork ribs and this excellent smoked brisket.  Here is a picture of his new obsession.

It is a ceramic Kamado grill.  It is not a Green Egg, more like a Brown Egg.  We got such a deal on it that all thoughts of holding out for a Green Egg went out the window.  Plus it is made exactly the same.  David is very happy with it.  I took this picture after he took the brisket off of the grill.  All of the temperature probes were left dangling.  But notice that the gas grill has been shoved aside and the Kamado has pride of place under the umbrella.

David cooked the 4 pound brisket for 8 hours.  What you see is not burned.  That is the bark that develops after a long slow smoking on the grill.  If you are not smoking a whole brisket which can weigh from 10 to 12 pounds, the cut you should use is the second cut, sometimes called the point or the deckle.  Most supermarkets sell the first cut, or flat.  It is leaner, but is also tougher.  That is why most people braise a brisket in liquid.  You can find the second cut at specialty stores such as The Chop Shop in Asheville.  Or you can ask your local butcher for this cut.  All you will ever need to know about cooking a brisket on the grill and the recipe that David followed can be found on this website.

With the brisket I wanted to make a special potato dish.  I adapted a recipe from David Rocco for a potato cake.  Mashed potatoes are cooked in a casserole with bacon, sauteed onions and Parmesan cheese.  They are topped with cracker crumbs.  The potatoes were perfect with the brisket.  Here is the recipe.

POTATO CAKE

8 medium potatoes, peeled
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
6 slices bacon, chopped and cooked crisp
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cook potatoes in water to cover until tender.  Drain.  Place butter, cubed into a large bowl.  Using a potato ricer, rice potatoes into bowl over butter.  Add milk and mash together.  When partially cool, add beaten egg.

After bacon is cooked, place on paper towels.  Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.  Add onion and cook until onion is slightly browned.  Add bacon, onion and Parmesan cheese to the potatoes and mix together.

Place potato mixture into a greased casserole dish.  Mix crushed crackers with melted butter and sprinkle over the top.  Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until cracker crumbs are golden brown.

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Impossible pies were invented in the 1970’s by Home Economists at General Mills.  I’m sure it was to promote their baking mix, Bisquick.  The baking mix is combined with other ingredients in a pie plate that, when baked, turns into a crustless pie that tastes like a traditional pie.  Usually the ingredients are those that you would use for an apple or other fruit pie.  But if you check the internet you will find everything from cheeseburger impossible pies to chicken and broccoli impossible pies.  If for some reason you don’t want to use Bisquick, you can make your own baking mix.  You can find the recipe here.

We are staying with my Brother and SIL while in Michigan for my class reunion.  It was fabulous by the way.  Here are a few pictures.

For a class of 180, we had a great turnout.  The music was great and it was fun catching up with people, some of whom I had not seen since graduation.

My SIL  Barb made this impossible breakfast pie for brunch Sunday morning.  It was delicious and we demolished the whole thing.  Dancing, partying and staying out past midnight ( we are not as young as we used to be after all) builds up an appetite.  She used a recipe for impossible cheeseburger pie, but substituted  sausage for the ground beef.   We will be heading back to Lake Lure tomorrow.

IMPOSSIBLE BREAKFAST PIE

1 lb. bulk sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz.)
1/2 cup Bisquick or homemade baking mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Tomato slices for top (Optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

In a skillet, cook the sausage and onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sausage is brown; drain.  Stir in salt.  Spread in pie plate.  Sprinkle with cheese.

In a small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended.  Pour into pie plate.  Place tomato slices on top if using.

Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

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I am back with another zucchini recipe. Even though we do not have a garden this year, I can’t help but being obsessed with this prolific summer vegetable. There are so many things you can do with zucchini. For those who are waiting for this flavorful meal to be cooked, they can spend some time on games such as 얀카지노. Patricia Wells featured this recipe in her Provence Cookbook. The unique aspect of the recipe is the curry powder that is added to the ingredients. Not everyone loves curry. I served this to my friend Jackie, who is not a curry lover, and she loved the dish. The curry is subtle but distinct. Jackie is babysitting for our dog Daisy at the lake while we are in Michigan.

I am traveling right now so do not know when I will have a chance to blog in the near future.  I will be back soon.  Enjoy the cooler weather.  We are going to a hometown football game in Michigan this Friday.  It is supposed to be in the 40’s.  Orange and Black, Fight Fight!  I bought a beautiful apricot silk top to wear to the reunion with my black slacks but realized belatedly that I would be wearing our school colors.  I thought that might be a bit too much.  I exchanged it for a different color.

ZUCCHINI GALETTE (Patricia Wells)

1 pound zucchini ( 4 medium), trimmed
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon curry powder

Fresh tomato sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Using the coarse grating blade of a food processor, coarsely grate the zucchini.  Transfer to a colander, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and let sit to drain for 30 minutes.  Rinse the zucchini under cold running water, spread it out in an absorbent dish towel (or layers of paper towels), and press to remove as much liquid as possible.

Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat lightly with a fork.  Add the bread crumbs, cheese, curry powder and final teaspoon of salt.  Add the zucchini and stir to thoroughly coat the zucchini with the batter.  Place in a 10 1/2-inch round baking dish and even out the top with the back of a spatula.

Place in the center of the oven and bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve with a fresh tomato sauce, if desired.

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I am alone this week.  What a change from the full house that we had last week.  Let me explain the circumstances.  The family had to leave on Tuesday.  But David also left on Tuesday.  He is riding his motorcycle to Michigan and beyond.  Yes see, I have a 50th class reunion on September 14th in my hometown of Dowagiac, Michigan.  David decided that this would be a good opportunity for him to ride his bike around Lake Superior.  So David, one friend from here, and one of my classmates from Michigan are on a Lake Superior odyssey which will take them into Canada and the UP of Michigan as they round that majestic body or water.  He will get back to our hometown in time for the reunion.

The quiet time has been both good and disconcerting.  It is hard to bid farewell to a house full of loved ones with active kiddos.  When your spouse leaves too the silence can be deafening. But it hasn’t been hard to fill the time.  The good part has been the time spent reading on the sleeping porch while listening to the lapping water, bird calls and scurrying squirrels gathering nuts for winter.  That has been very relaxing and a reminder of why I love the lake so much.  The rest of the time has been devoted to putting the house back in order, cleaning the refrigerator and actually doing some cooking.  Not only do I have to eat, but I also have to post recipes if I want to stay active on my blog.  Blogging has always been a relaxing creative outlet for me.  And it seems to be easier as a solitary pursuit.

I normally would have made this easy chicken recipe in the late afternoon so that we could have it for dinner.  But with David away, I made it at 1:00 o’clock so that I could take advantage of the natural light for photography purposes.  I just reheated  one of the breast pieces for my dinner later.  The rest will be lunches and dinners to come.

Who said cooking for one has to be a chore?  This recipe came from Gourmet Magazine.  It is hard to believe that something so quick and easy could be so good.  The combination of grainy mustard, apricot preserves, soy sauce and almonds makes simple chicken breasts dazzle.  Served with a simple wild rice blend and green beans, I ate well indeed.  With one week to go before the reunion do you think I have time to diet?  Probably not.

APRICOT CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS (Adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

4 (6-oz) skinless boneless chicken breast halves (I used 6 small breasts)
5/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly oil a baking dish large enough to hold the breasts without crowding.

Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Arrange in baking dish and Bake for 10 minutes.

While chicken bakes, toast almonds in a small baking pan in oven stirring twice, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook apricot preserves, soy sauce, mustard, butter, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a small saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until preserves are melted.  Pour sauce over chicken and continue to bake until chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes more.

Turn on broiler and broil chicken 4 to 5 inches from heat, basting once, until chicken is glazed and browned in spots, about 3 minutes.  Serve sprinkled with almonds.

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When in doubt about what to have for supper, I tend to favor making a quiche.  After all, the ingredients are always in my fridge.  As luck would have it, I also had a perfectly formed pie crust in its pan in my freezer from a previous cook-a-thon.  The inspiration for using zucchini came from a post by David Lebovitz.  Here is the picture from his blog that inspired me.  The tart was made by a friend that he was visiting in the French countryside.

Quiches and tarts seem very French to me.  I guess that is one of the reasons I am drawn to them.  It may also have something to do with the buttery richness of the pastry.  There is something to be said for the creative ways that the French use seasonal vegetables.

The other ingredients in this particular quiche were bacon, Gruyere cheese and a pinch of nutmeg.  Because my pie pan, which I picked up at an antique store,  was very shallow I needed only 2 eggs and 1 cup of cream.  The quiche was one of the best I’ve ever made.  The pastry is a “no fail” recipe from Ina Garten.  I strongly suggest that you get out your food processor and make a batch of pastry dough.  Either freeze it in individual discs or do like I did and have it ready to go in your pie plates.  You won’t be sorry.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend.  We spent four wonderful days with the extended family and enjoyed swimming, tubing, skiing, hiking and eating.  Everyone slowed down long enough for this group picture (minus David and me.)

ZUCCHINI QUICHE (Adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

1  9- inch partially baked pastry dough (recipe follows)

1/4 lb sliced bacon, coarsely chopped
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/8-inch thick slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
Coasley ground black pepper to taste
3 large eggs
1 cup Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook bacon in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until just crisp.  Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate, reserving the fat in the skillet.  Add the zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon salt and saute over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until zucchini is tender and starting to brown, about 5 minutes, then transfer with slotted spoon to a plate.

In a large bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs, cream, milk, pepper and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Stir in the bacon, zucchini, and cheese and pour into prepared piecrust.  Bake until filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes.  Transfer quiche in pan to rack to cool slightly and serve.

PERFECT PIE CRUST (Ina Garten)

Makes 2 10-inch crusts

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening (Crisco)
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.  Place the flour, salt,and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.  Add the butter and shortening.  Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.  With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.  Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.  Divide the dough in half and flatten each ball into a disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  At this point you could freeze one or both of the discs.

If using immediately, generously flour a board and roll one of the discs into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board.  Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan.  Crimp edges. Repeat with second dough round. Can be frozen, well wrapped, at this point.

If using for quiche immediately, return dough in its pan to refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Remove from fridge and line with parchment paper.  Dump enough dried beans into parchment paper lining to fill the pan 3/4 full.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Carefully remove parchment paper and beans from pie plate and continue to bake for 5 more minutes until pastry is just starting to brown.  Remove from oven.  Proceed with quiche recipe.

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