Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Sorry about this picture.  It looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Maybe a tad too much of the Hendry wine?  But seriously, when you photograph your food, you sometimes have to do it in a hurry because there are people waiting to eat.  There was little time for me to make adjustments.

There has been little time to do any serious cooking either.  That is why this quick stew of beef, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms is so reliable.   It cooks quickly because the beef is sirloin and doesn’t require the slow braise that chuck usually needs.  It is just a matter of cubing your beef and vegetables, sauteeing them in batches and simmering the mixture in beef broth for about an hour, with a last minute infusion of flour and wine.  So easy.

It is nice to be home with my collection of copper pans again.  I have a history with them.  It is just a shame that I do not have the wall space to hang them like Julia.

Hendry Wines out of Napa Valley are some of our favorites.  When we visited there years ago we stayed at a bed and breakfast outside of St. Helena and the Innkeeper was a distributor for the small winery.  What fascinated us was that the winemaker at Hendry was both a farmer and a nuclear physicist.   We are fortunate that we have a generous family member who brings us Hendry Wines regularly.  In a blind wine tasting that we conducted last year, Hendry Wines won hands down in all catagories.

Enjoy.  We are off for a few days visiting the kids for Easter.

SKILLET BEEF IN WINE

1 1/2 pounds boneless sirloin steak
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion chopped
1 pound red potatoes cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 can low sodium beef broth
2 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup red wine

Cut steak into 1-inch cubes.  Coat a large nonsick skillet with 1 tablespoon oil and place over medium-high heat until hot.  Add steak cubes; cook 4 minutes or until steak loses its pink color and is browned on all sides.  Remove steak cubes from skillet, and drain well.

Recoat skillet with 1 tablespoon oil; place over medium-high heat until hot.  Add carrot, mushrooms, onion and potatoes; saute 5 mintues.  Return steak to skillet.  Add thyme, salt, pepper and beef broth; stir well.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Place flour in a small bowl; gradually add wine, blending with a whisk.  Add to steak mixture, and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally.

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Fresh scallop season is now officially over.  It runs from November through March.  But that did not stop me from buying some (previously frozen) scallops from The market last week.  Our Friday night dinner was a simple one of flour dusted scallops with angel hair pasta coated with a pesto made from parsley instead of basil and pistachios instead of pine nuts.

After a week of putting the cottage back together, it was a relief to cook something simple.  It’s a shame that things will not just stay put together though.  The pollen is so heavy this year that I am heading back out to the porch today to clean and vacuum again.  Sigh.

At least we had a few leftovers for lunch over the weekend.  I think you will love this dish.  The scallops are sweet and the pasta is one that I could eat all by itself.  The lemon and parley accented freshness makes it feel light and decadent at the same time.  This is perfect for an easy meal for two.

SCALLOPS WITH PARLEY, PISTACHIO PASTA ( adapted from Cooking Light )

1 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios
The zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 pound of sea scallops
1/4 cup flour
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta (about 4 ounces uncooked pasta)
Pasta water as needed

Place first 8 ingredients in a food processor, and process until mixture is smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Combine scallops, flour and salt in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to coat.

Heat butter and oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add scallops and cook 3 minutes on each side or until done.

Combine parsley mixture and pasta in a large bowl. tossing gently.  Add a little pasta water if it is dry.  Arrange pasta on a platter and top with scallops.  2 servings with enough for leftovers.

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It has been a week of hard work.  Returning to the lake after a 5 month absence requires lots of physical labor.  The winter winds howling through the Gorge tossed leaves, branches and twigs everywhere on the grounds.  The furniture on the porch was pushed eastward halfway across the room.  Broken hurricane globes littered the floor.  The lower porch door was not latched and piles of leaves had to be raked out.  Pollen covered everything.   Both porches are now back to normal.

David is still working on bleaching and cleaning the decks.

We require hearty sustenance in the morning to get us going on all of the chores.  Scones make a “not too sweet” accompaniment to a hearty breakfast.  They come together quickly and bake in just 15 minutes.  I don’t know why I never thought to rely on them more often.

I love dried apricots.  They are perfect for these flaky scones.

The recipe comes from Cooking Light.  So why not have a slice with afternoon tea as well.

APRICOT SCONES

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup apricot nectar (I used pear nectar because it was what I had)
Cooking spray
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon sugar (I used Turbinado sugar)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.  

Add apricots; toss well.  Combine egg, buttermilk, and nectar; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 4 to 5 times with floured hands.  Pat dough into a 9-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Cut dough into 12 wedges, cutting into but not through bottom of dough.  Brush egg white over surface of dough, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden.  Serve warm.  Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 scone).  Calories 148.

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If you want a KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF dinner entree for your next party this is definitely it.   And believe it our not, this dish came about because I was cleaning the kitchen out in preparation for our return to Lake Lure.  I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, dried figlets and apples, pecans, pear nectar and pure maple syrup that I did not want to take back with us.  I remembered a similar recipe from a blogger who is no longer blogging but who had great recipes.  Do any of you remember A Nod is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse?    George is missed by many of us.

I butterflied the pork tenderloin, mixed the stuffing ingredients together, rolled it up and wrapped bacon slices around it.  I drizzled more maple syrup on top of it, added pear nectar to the roasting dish and baked it for an hour, basting occasionally.  It came out looking like glazed perfection.

This is one of those dishes that I will make again and again.  The stuffing was sweet and moist and the pork was tender and tasty with it’s cloak of bacon.

This is a real winner.  I can hardly wait to make it again.  That will happen in my Lake Lure Kitchen.  We are leaving the first of the week.  I will be posting again at the end of next week.  I have a lot of organizing and paring down to do before we leave.

Space will be tight.

BACON MAPLE STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

For the stuffing:
2 apples, chopped
2 cups chopped dried fruit ( I used a combination of figs and dried apples)
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 apple cider or pear nectar

For the pork:
2 pork tenderloins
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (Optional)
8 slices of bacon
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 to 1 cup apple cider or pear nectar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix stuffing ingredients together and set aside.

Butterfly pork tenderloins by cutting down the middle of each one 2/3rds of the way through.  Place each between sheets of wax paper and pound out to a 1/4-inch rectangle.  Place as much stuffing as will fit easily on each one.  You will have extra to put in small casserole to cook separately.  Roll up pork starting at a long end and place seam sound down in baking pan or casserole.  Wrap each tenderloin with 4 slices of bacon.

Drizzle tops of each one with maple syrup and pour 1/2 cup apple cider or pear nectar into pan.  Place in oven and cook for 1 hour basting occasionally and adding more liquid if pan starts to caramalize too quickly.

Remove from oven and let rest covered for 5 minutes.  Slice and serve.

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I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about these hamburgers before.  There is nothing special about them.  They are easy.  They are based on a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  I first had them years ago at a friend’s house.  She was working full time as a teacher and had two kids under three.  Preparing company meals was not a high priority.  But that did not stop Janice from inviting us to dinner and serving a meal that was tres chic.  With the French hamburgers she served rice pilaf, petite peas (from a frozen box), and bakery croissants.  We drank a very good jug wine.  We felt festive and pampered.

I made the French hamburgers for us last week for dinner.  I was getting ready for company for bike week and wanted an easy meal.  But this time I used a good red wine, choppped shallots instead of onions and a good quality ground round.  I could have simply made Uncle Ben’s rice (the wine sauce is good on the rice), but I had just seen a recipe on Pinterest for Muffin Tin Onion Gruyere Potato Stacks and wanted to try them.  Thinly sliced potatoes, onions and Gruyere are stacked in muffin tin cups and baked.  They are so delicious.

With the meal I served a simple succotash from a freezer bag.  Sometimes simplicity is the key to a great meal.

The only thing missing was the croissant.

Here are some pictures taken during bike week.  The first has nothing to do with bike week.

Our friends brought us berets to take with us on our trip to France in June.

We enjoyed some great riding and people watching during bike week.  But frankly I think I will have more fun in Paris.  Enjoy this (loosely) inspired meal from France.

FRENCH HAMBURGERS

1 pound ground beef round
1 onion chopped, or three chopped shallots
Salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
1 cup red wine

Form ground round into three patties.  Heat an iron skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot add hamburger patties, season, and cook until browned on both sides.  Remove from pan and let rest on a plate.  Reduce heat in skillet and add onion or shallots to pan.  Cook until onions are softened.  Add wine and cook for about 5 minutes to reduce slightly.  Return hamburgers to pan and cook to desired doneness.  Serve topped with wine and onion sauce.

Serves 2.

MUFFIN TIN ONION GRUYERE POTATO STACKS (From Stonegable’s Kitchen)

5 Baking Potatoes
2 onions, chopped
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheese, Gruyere or cheddar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heavy cream or half and half
Cooking spray
Thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Thinly slice raw potatoes.  You can use a mandolin or slice them by hand 1/8th inch thick.  Set aside.  Melt about 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet and saute onion over a low heat until traslucent and slightly golden.  Add 2 more tablespoons butter to pan and let melt.  Set aside.

Spray all twelve muffin cups of a regular size muffin pan.

Add 1 slice of potato to the bottom of each muffin cup. Salt and pepper.  Add 1 more slice of potato to each.  Top each potato evenly with 1/2 of onion butter mixture.  Add 2 more potato slices to each muffin cup.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the grated cheese evenly over potatoes.  Add 1 more potato slice to each and salt and pepper.  Add another potato slice and evenly add the remaining onion and butter mixture.  Add an additional 1 to 2 potato slices and top evely with remaining cheese.

Pour 1 tablespoon cream over each potato stack.

Bake for 35 minutes until potaotes are tender.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Run a sharp knife around the edges of each muffin cup and pop each stack out with a fork.

Garnish with thyme.

Printable recipe French Hamburgers

Printable recipe Muffin Tin Potatoes