Julzie Style

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021

Compound butter boy

I love that both my boys Noah and Sam like to cook. When Noah still lived at home and Sam was away at college, Noah, Marty, and I would have cooking challenges. Our favorite was who can get a perfect medium-rare cook on their steak, whose steak was seasoned properly and was all the fat on the sides of the steak rendered out? We were using the sear and finish in the oven cooking method. It was fun and delicious. We would all taste each other’s and rate them. All three of our steaks were different in subtle ways.

Sam has his own apartment at college this year and has become quite the cook. He uses recipes I taught him and experiments with recipes on his own. He mentioned he was using a whisk to try to make compound butter because he didn’t have a food processor. He wanted to make whipped compound butters.

We purchase our butter in bulk 1 pound blocks instead of sticks

Just before Sam left to go back to nursing school, I got him an inexpensive mini food processor, he was very excited. Of course, I loved seeing his reaction.

He surprised us by coming home the other night. He wanted to spend a couple of days in VT. Once school starts on Tuesday they will be going for 16 weeks straight and he probably won’t be coming home.

He came with a little cooler, he brought things for us to sample. He brought a container of “sauce” that he made on Sunday. Sunday sauce was tomato sauce with sausage or meatballs that cooked all day to develop flavor.

Marty and I tasted his sauce and let me tell you what….it was pretty damn close to mine. I was proud as a peacock. Next, he had us try some compound butters he made with his mini food processor.

He made a garlic herb one for garlic bread on Sunday but ate that one already. Lol, He brought two different ones for us to try, brown sugar and cinnamon and peanut butter and butter. “These are delicious on my waffles!” He told us. They were delicious. A chip off the old block!

A 20 year old is making compound butters? He tried a bunch of them when I was experimenting with them for my cooking class. When I introduced compound butters to everyone at class I was hoping they all didn’t think I was nuts pushing butter on them.

Compound butters can be sweet or savory. I prepped ahead a slew of ingredients so each person could make their own to take home. It was fun to see what kinds each of them chose to make. Some definitely had a sweet tooth, some went with safe ones and others were a bit more daring.

We didn’t use food processors in class. We used very soft butter that was easy to mix just with a fork. The butter is rolled into a log when it is still soft using plastic wrap, waxed paper or parchment paper. It can be kept in the refrigerator to use whenever you want to or you can freeze it and defrost it when you need it. You just slice off a little bit and get a huge bang of flavor.

Garlic Herb Butter on a Strip Steak with our Spatzle

So what do you use it for? This is the fun part and helps you decide what kind you want to make. A garlic herb or cowboy butter is delish melted on steaks. A pesto butter is fantastic on pasta or a baked potato. A lemon herb butter is delicious melted on chicken or fish. A honey butter or brown sugar and cinnamon, pumpkin pie, or gingerbread butter is delicious on pancakes, waffles, quick breads, popovers, cornbread, bagels, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Anyone can make compound butters, even children since they are so quick and super easy! You just need some softened butter, a few ingredients and a little creativity.

I am so excited to share some of my compound butter recipes with you. It’s almost embarrassing how easy they are. If you want to impress people at your next dinner party or bbq, just whip out a log of compound butter and cut up slices for everyone to use. I promise you will get rave reviews!

Last thing… compound butters make wonderful hostess gifts. Just be creative how you want to package it. My favorite way is to make it look like candy like I did in the photo below. You may even want to include the recipe on a small card attached to the butter, or you may just want to keep the recipe to yourself. LOL

Ingredients for Honey & Orange Butter, Thai Red Curry Butter, Curry Masala Butter

Compound Butter Recipes

I use salted butter in all of my compound butter recipes. You don’t need expensive butter, a store brand will do for these recipes. I urge you to use salted butter even in the sweet butter recipes. Salt brings out the flavor of anything you make including sweet items.

*Thai Red Curry Butter, Curry Masala Butter, Honey Orange Butter*

If you have issues with sodium, then by all means use sweet butter for your compound butter recipes, you can add just a pinch or leave it out altogether.

For all of the butter combinations: Put the softened salted butter into a medium bowl, add the ingredients of your choice, mix well with a fork, shape into a log on a sheet of waxed paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap. Roll up or wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm or freeze. Slice and put butter on whatever you desire.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Thai Red Curry Butter, Baked Sweet Potato with Thai Red Curry Butter, Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Curry Masala Butter & Toasted Coconut

Savory

Lemon Herb Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme

Garlic Herb Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
2 cloves of garlic minced
3 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp each fresh chopped herbs of your choice: basil, oregano, rosemary, chives
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Chili Lime Butter

1 stick of butter -1/2 cup
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to you taste
Zest of 1 lime
1 tsp lime juice
1-2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro optional

Cowboy Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Bleu Cheese Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
4 ounces bleu cheese at room temp
*Optional add chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, chives, or garlic

Curry Masala Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp marjoram optional

Thai Basil and Lime Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/2 lime zested
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
pinch red pepper flakes optional

Thai Red Curry Butter

1 stick butter -1/2 cup
2 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Sweet

Orange Honey Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp finely grated orange zest

***Optional add 2 Tbsp of dried chopped cranberries

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Gingerbread Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Maple Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/4 cup real maple syrup preferably darker grade

Pumpkin Spice Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2
1/8 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or more if desired

January 27, 2021

Support can be beautiful

Before I even actually started this blog I already knew a few things that I wanted and things I didn’t. I didn’t know how to do any of them, or even where to begin.

I look at a lot of food blogs daily and their recipes. Enough of them to notice things that I like and things that I absolutely hate.

I like when someone tells a story then provides a recipe they have experimented with, tweaked and felt it was ready to share with the world. The blog post is easy to read with nice photos to break up the writing. Their recipe is provided at the bottom. The recipe is correct. The recipe is their own.

What don’t I like? Well, let’s start with ads! I hate having ads pop up while I am trying to read. I hate when the blogger’s own videos start popping up. It interrupts my reading and I have to stop to and X out of the ads and videos so I can continue reading. The third one that pops up and I am out of there. I don’t give a damn who’s blog it is or how good their recipe may have been. So annoying!

Here’s the thing that I think is unethical, copy and pasting a recipe from someone else and calling it your own. These are professional bloggers! That my friends is stealing and a bunch of bullshit. If you are going to steal the recipe at least change the wording for Pete’s sake. So not only are you a scumbag, but a lazy scumbag.

How do I know they are stealing? Like I said I read a lot of recipes. I will always go to a reputable source like Bon Appetite, Williams Sonoma, Tasty, New York Times recipes or King Arthur Flour, etc. to see what their recipes are like. My short rib recipe I’ve been using for years I found at the Food & Wine magazine’s website.

Then I start looking at the big food bloggers, all of their recipes are similar but still are written in the bloggers own cooking style, using their favorite ingredients and culinary language. The smaller food bloggers or the wanna-be’s you know the lazy scumbags, just blatantly copy and paste. This makes me so angry I shout at my phone when I see it. 🤬

The first thing we did when we set up my blog is to pay for my domain name, along with a hosting site and no ads for a year. A year? Gulp! This was a big commitment. I was afraid to spend this much money for a whole year and I didn’t even know if my blog would be good or if anyone would read it. As I wrote more posts I decided I wanted to use Grammarly, another 1 year expensive, but totally worth every penny.

All of my recipes that I will ever post will be my own recipes. If I ever share a recipe that isn’t mine, I will just give the link and let the owner of the recipe get credit. I feel very passionate about this. Ha, it gets my “Jersey” up. I grew up in NJ, “You can take the girl out of Jersey, but not the Jersey out of the girl.”

My recipes are a true labor of love. I really want people to be able to try what took me sometimes years to perfect. Even just typing it up correctly takes a great deal of time. I’m not talking about the actual typing, but the proper and correct ingredients, measurements, and instructions.

Support can be beautiful, yes that was a bra commercial from my childhood but also brings me to the next part. My ad-free blog and my recipes are all free to everyone. You can share my recipes or blog posts. The more people who read it the merrier! You can subscribe and receive it by email or you can read it on my Julzie Style Facebook page. I really appreciate how many people have subscribed or liked my Julzie page. It’s so exciting!

We have added a support my blog option on my page. I am not doing this blog to make money, I am doing it because I have a lot to say, teach and share. I don’t expect people to support my blog, it is my blog and I assume the financial responsibility. It is not my style to ask for things, I am a giver, not a taker. The support pays me for my time spent creating food, research, writing recipes, and my stories.

People tell me all the time I would buy a cookbook if you had one. I’d sign up for cooking lessons, I would pay you to cook for me. If you are enjoying my blog, learning something new, or using my recipes, if you want to or able to make a small donation there is a safe PayPal place where you can. You will see a support my blog section on the sidebar. I understand that everyone can’t, especially during this pandemic. Most importantly please don’t feel like it’s necessary just to read my blog.

I hated the thought of asking people to support my blog, but then I remembered when we danced at free gigs we always put out a tip basket. We really appreciated it when people who watched or videotaped our performance put a buck or two into the tip basket. Musicians put out a guitar case or tip jar. Support can be beautiful especially when you know your subscribers are enjoying what you are doing.

January 26, 2021January 21, 2022

Hello mother sauce

Braised red wine short ribs in a sexy, velvety gravy

So I know I mentioned before that I have taught cooking classes. I have taught kids and adults, but I also taught myself. I am not a classically trained chef, I am a cook. Is there a difference? Yes and no.

To be a called a chef, some would say you must have graduated from culinary school. Others have worked their way up the honest way as they call it. By honest way, I mean they started as a dish washer, then did prep work, worked as a line cook, moved up to a sous chef, then chef de cuisine and finally as an executive chef. That could take years of training more than a couple quick years at culinary school.

Both of the ways I mentioned of becoming a chef take a lot of time and effort. One has a certificate the other has burn marks on their forearms. One paid for their education, the other was paid to learn.

What in the hell does this have to do with the title of this post? Both of these chefs have been trained or learned what the “Mother Sauces” are, how to make them and make them well. So can I and millions of other “cooks”.

Beef stew with potatoes, onions, carrots and gravy

Why am I telling you this? Because yesterday when I posted my Chicken Croquettes with Gravy recipe….I am whispering this…it wasn’t really a gravy it was a veloute.

WTF is a veloute? A veloute is one of the Mother Sauces. WTF is a mother sauce anyway? I’ll tell you.

Shepherd’s pie with veloute brown gravy and a popover

The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Developed in the 19th century by French chef Auguste Escoffier, mother sauces serve as a starting point for a variety of delicious sauces used to complement countless dishes, including veggies, fish, meat, casseroles, and pastas.

Sauces were originally intended as a way for chefs to cover up the taste of food that was beginning to spoil. Yuck, thanks buddy for the solid! I’ll bet people blamed the richness of the sauces when they were shitting their brains out because they didn’t know they were eating spoiled food. 🤮

Beef stroganoff with a veloute brown gravy

A velouté sauce is a savory sauce that is made from a roux and a light stock. It is one of the “mother sauces” of French cuisine listed by Chef Auguste Escoffier in the early twentieth century. The term velouté is the French word for velvety. Wikipedia

Any time I read or say the word veloute I can hear Julia Child’s voice saying Vuh-loo-tee. Speaking of Julia she’s one of my cooking teachers. I’ve been working on my French cooking skills using her book “The Art of French Cooking” for years. I have been rewatching the French Chef. Julia is my hero!

So what the heck is gravy then?

Gravy is like a sauce, often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. Wikipedia

Pork roast with pork gravy with our spatzle in a veloute mushroom cream sauce

So you see a veloute is made with a roux and broth. Gravy is made with pan drippings & juices. Wait what??? Another damn French word roux???

Roux is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness. A roux can be white, blond or brown. Wikipedia

A roux made with potato starch and fat from the beef

Gravy or veloute? No one is ever going to say mashed potatoes with veloute sauce. No one really knows there is a difference. Gravy is the word that covers both for the most part, unless you are in culinary school or a high end restaurant kitchen.

So now we have covered one of the mother sauces!!! Guess what? In my chicken croquette recipe there is also a thick white sauce, which is made from the béchamel family….another mother sauce, but that’s a lesson for another day!

January 26, 2021January 26, 2021

Dancing with Kathleen

I mentioned that I belly danced. I know people imagine a sheer outfit with sequins and lots of veils dancing the way people think belly dancers dance. They also think we should look like belly dancers should look like. Wrong!

I started belly dancing in April 2003. The style that we dance is called American Tribal Bellydance or ATS®️. Our style is group improvisation meaning we don’t choreograph. It’s a very strong and empowering dance form. Anyone, no matter what your age, size, gender or ability can learn and dance our style.

We learn dance steps and cues then basically follow the leader. We can dance the same song over and over and it will never be the same. It’s organic and fun. Full of surprises since you literally don’t know what’s going to happen next. I’ve been teaching classes for 17 years and love it.

A lot of women have come and gone over the last 17 years. Some of our students have been with us for as long as 14 years, others for 3 + years. These are the dedicated ones, the ones that were hooked after their first class like I was.

Our troupe Bennington Beledi Tribal Bellydance is special because our troupe is a sisterhood of dancers. Dance sisters who have to trust each other since we are dancing improv. Dance sisters to lift each other up. Sisters that chose dance moves when they are in the lead spot that make everyone look good. We Support each other outside of dance as well. We are very lucky to have this sisterhood.

We are a multi level troupe which means everyone is at a different stage and ability and it’s your job to remember who you are dancing with. Everyone progresses at a different rate, so there’s a lot to keep in mind when you you are dancing. How much do they know, what are they good at and what moves should you not do. It’s a responsibility and no one leads until they are ready. Our dance form is difficult to learn and even harder to learn to lead with the right cues. No egos are allowed in our dance studio. People who have had them didn’t last long.

Sounds like something fun to be a part of right?? What’s really special is that I have been dancing with my dance partner Kathleen for almost 18 years in August. Our dance style is practiced world wide, so the amazing thing is we can dance with anyone in the world without rehearsing.

Dancing for residents at Equinox Terrace

Kathleen moved to Vermont from California and was pretty surprised to see that a little town like Bennington, VT had ATS®️ Dance. She had been dancing and performing ATS ®️ for 8 years. She studied with Fat Chance Belly Dance, where our style of dance originated and was created by a woman named Carolena Nericcio. Kathleen attended a performance of ours and was able to start dancing with us the following week.

Kathleen and I are part of the professional dance troupe called The Sahidi Sisters. At one time there were 7 of us. We had tons of gigs and loads of fun. We are the last two Sahidi Sisters standing. We’ve been dancing and performing together as a duet for the last 3 years.

I get to dance with Kathleen on Monday mornings. During covid we are keeping up our advanced skills and timing, but mostly we just want to dance our asses off.

We teach classes on a weekly basis, but covid has changed that. Our students still do get a chance to dance together via zoom. I am not a zoom girl, but enjoy having FaceTime dance sessions with some of my students.

Below is a video of the Sahidi Sisters from 2011. I wanted to share this performance so you can see the magic of 6 women dancing completely improvisational. This is one of my favorite performances.

I can’t even count the amount of gigs we have done over the years, places we have been, hours we’ve danced together, laughed and cried. We have memories galore, stories to tell and have been through a lot together.

As dance sisters we can read each other’s minds not only when we dance but when we teach as well. We teach classes together, each of us using our unique strengths to cover different dance moves.

As people we are complete opposites. Our personalities are extreme opposites. We both have very big personalities and are big hams when we are performing. Our past performances are all on our YouTube channel, it’s great that we have them to look back on. I like to see how much we have improved technique wise.

I can’t wait until Kathleen and I can hold our regular classes again. Without masks or standing 6 feet apart. We want to dance with our students and start rehearsing for things. I miss all of my dance sisters and never imagined we ever go this long without dancing together. Belly dance has been such a huge part of my life, I just want this stupid virus to go away already.

January 25, 2021January 26, 2021

The saga continues…the banana chronicles

I wrote about banana etiquette a week or so ago. I haven’t thought about it since I wrote it and I am still peeling my bananas from the top.

Today at the bank out of the blue, the girls at the bank told me that two out of three of them peel their bananas from the bottom and they like that it has a handle. The third girl peels hers from the top like me.

I asked Kelly if she was a left handed thinker and if Amanda was too. She said “I don’t really know”. I quickly asked her if she was more analytical, was good at math and science and not artistic. She laughed and said yes, then added Amanda was too. So my theory about left handed thinkers being bottom peelers was proving to be correct.

Here is what sealed the deal…when I asked if Katie the top peeler was artistic Kelly laughed again and said she was. I let out a big squeal of laughter and said I knew it! I asked if it was ok if I wrote about them and they said yes.

So there you have it folks…left handed thinkers and right handed thinkers peel their bananas differently. One likes a handle and the other didn’t give a rats ass about having a handle or not.

I did some reading up on bottom peelers and apparently this is how moneys eat their bananas. 🙈🙉🙊 LOL

January 25, 2021January 21, 2022

Chicken Croquettes Recipe

A croquette is a savory, breaded patty that can be made of meat or vegetables and is usually fried. The word itself, croquette, is French – it comes from croquer, “to crunch” plus the suffix ette, which usually signifies something cute or little. Definition from Vocabulary.com

Last week I made chicken croquettes, something I’ve never made from scratch before. Chicken croquettes are definitely an old school dish. I am a big fan of old school dishes and bringing them back or introducing them to the younger generations.

When I say old school I am usually talking about dishes from the 1950’s, 60’s & 70’s, but chicken croquettes go way back. The croquette originated in France in 1898 by Auguste Escoffier, the founder of classical French Cuisine. With the help of Philias Gilbert they began to write the recipe down. After the formulation and procedures were in place, they began to teach chefs that were under the direction of Chef Escoffier. The chefs started to travel the world and brought with them croquettes.

The original recipe has taken itself into many different directions, by many different cultures. The original beef croquette expanded into salmon, fish, chicken, potato & vegetables. Almost every culture has their own versions of croquettes.

That leads me back to my croquettes. I laughed when I typed “they began to write the recipe down”. Before I try a new recipe I research it, read cooking blogs and compare recipes. I can never find one recipe that I agree with. Some recipes I don’t like their seasonings, the ingredients or the method that the cook used. I compile in my mind all of these ideas, then do my own thing. Big surprise! LOL

Even though I follow a very strict gluten free lifestyle, my recipes can be made without having to use any specialty gluten free ingredients. The exception to the rule for a gluten free version is when I need to substitute an all purpose gluten free flour or breadcrumbs for baking or recipes.

The recipe calls for cooked chicken. You can roast your own, use leftovers like I did, or use rotisserie chicken taken off the bones. My recipe uses ingredients called the holy trinity. This is what people down south, particularly in Louisiana call the combination of onions, celery & bell pepper. In French cooking they call onions, celery & carrots mirepoix.

I’ve written and typed tons of recipes over the years, but this is my first time doing it for a blog. I’ve come a long way in a week, and I am getting better working with WordPress every day. Today I learned how to insert gallery photos!!!! Exciting shit I tell you! Writing the recipe was the easiest part. Actually, on second thought, making the croquettes was the easiest.

I am sure I will look at this first recipe in a couple weeks and cringe. You can probably expect that it will look better one day when I re-do it. LOL. I am accepting right now that this is where I am at with my WordPress skills, and it can only get better from here! Bon appetit!

Chicken Croquettes with Chicken Gravy

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups of minced cooked chicken
2 Tbsp minced onion
2 Tbsp minced celery
2 Tbsp minced bell pepper (I prefer red or yellow)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1/2 cup flour or (GF version use corn FLOUR not starch or GF flour)
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
1 – 1/2 cups plain dry breadcrumbs (GF version I use Progresso GF Panko)
Canola or vegetable oil for frying

Thick white sauce:

2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour or (GF version the same amount of potato starch)
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Pinch of pepper

Chicken Gravy:

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour or (GF version potato starch or GF flour)
1 cup chicken broth or stock (GF version use GF broth or stock)
Pinch of poultry seasoning
1-2 Tbsp heavy cream (optional)
Kosher salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Thick white sauce:

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the flour or potato starch, the celery salt, poultry seasoning, dry mustard and pepper. Whisk the ingredients together and let cook for 2 minutes whisking constantly.

Add the milk slowly and whisk until well blended and making sure there are no lumps. Cook whisking constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. The sauce is going to be very thick.

Chicken mixture:

In a large bowl mix chicken, onions, celery, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.

Add the cooled thick white sauce, mix well to combine.

Using a scoop, form the chicken mixture into equal size balls rolling with your hands to form. Slightly wet your hands or the scoop if the mixture begins to stick to either.

Beat the egg with the 2 Tbsp water and set up a dredging station with flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

Dredge the balls of chicken one at a time into the flour or corn flour, then dip into the egg shaking off any excess, then roll in the breadcrumbs making sure the whole croquette is evenly covered. Place each croquette on a plate and put into the refrigerator for about 25 minutes.

Pour approximately 2 inches of oil into a cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Heat the oil until it reaches 350 degrees or until a bit of breadcrumbs sizzle when added to the oil. Carefully add the croquettes to the hot oil being careful to not crowd the pan. Fry for about 2 minutes turning or rolling the croquettes in the oil until all sides are evenly golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Place croquettes on a baking sheet. Repeat until all croquettes are fried. Set aside on the sheet pan while making the chicken gravy.

Chicken Gravy:

In a small saucepan melt the over medium heat. Whisk in the flour or potato starch and the poultry seasoning. Cook whisking constantly for 1 minute.

Slowly add the broth or stock to the pan, whisking constantly removing any lumps that may form. Cook for 3-5 minutes whisking constantly until the gravy begins to thicken.

Simmer on very low for 5-7 minutes whisking occasionally. Whisk in the heavy cream if using. If the gravy becomes too thick, add 1 tablespoon at a time of chicken broth until the gravy loosens a bit, but doesn’t become too watery. Season with kosher salt and pepper.

Reheat the chicken croquettes at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes or until hot. Top with chicken gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes or side of your choice.

*** For extra gravy simply double the recipe.

*** Double the croquette recipe then freeze half. Bake the frozen croquettes at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until pipping hot.

January 24, 2021

A Sunday kind of love

When we started our business The Vermont Spatzle Company, we worked 7 days a week. We worked a lot, but wanted to grow and establish our business. It was hard work, but we had fun and met hundreds of people. We called it sharing the Spatzle love.

We made product on weekdays and did farmer’s markets on Saturdays and Sundays. Most of markets were at least an hour away so that was 2 hours of traveling per market every weekend. Marty did a 500 mile wholesale delivery route for the first 2 years, every other week. We were crazy at one point and were doing 5 markets a week, along with growing our wholesale business.

I love making our product and I like doing markets. The problem was that on Sundays I was tired. We did the Schenectady market which required getting up at before 5 am. Pack up all of our coolers and supplies for the Spatzle booth. Schenectady is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from our place. The market ran from 10-2. By the time we packed up, drove home and unloaded it was almost 4:30 pm. We were exhausted every Sunday night.

The Sunday market was a lot of fun and we had fantastic customers. After 2 years I started getting burned out. I started feeling resentful that everyone I waited on either came from church or breakfast out. They were heading to brunch or a show at Proctors Theatre where the market was held. Some people were going home to watch football or to just watch “Netflix & chill”.😜

I realized how much I missed my Sundays. I started hating the market. I wanted to stay home and sip coffee on my front porch, make a big breakfast, make an elaborate Sunday dinner or just sit on the couch in my pj’s. These were’t things that a new business owner got to do. I needed to work and not complain about it.

We decided to take a Sunday off in the late fall. We sipped coffee, ate breakfast, ate dinner, sat on the couch and really enjoyed ourselves. Later in the week, Marty made a suggestion that we discussed at length. “We aren’t getting any younger” he started off saying. I saw how much you enjoyed your Sunday doing all your favorite things. I agreed to both and admitted that I hated working on Sundays, 7 days a week. He felt the same way and did a cost and profit analysis. What was it worth working 7 days a week? How much did it cost and how much did we make?

At the end of our conversation we decided that unless we wanted to burn ourselves out and miss spending time with our family, we needed to take our Sundays back. I was overjoyed at first, then I started to worry about disappointing our customers and what the people at the market thought of us. Were we just being lazy? I had butterflies in my stomach when Marty drafted the letter to the board of the farmers market, telling them we wouldn’t be returning. They understood completely, but were sad and would miss us. I was relieved and would miss everyone for sure.

Today’s Sunday breakfast…Local Breakfast Sausage from the Troy Farmers Market served with Fluffy GF pancakes with local Vermont Maple Syrup

Sundays are my favorite day again! We aren’t burned out, we are ready to get back into production and start a new week. I love my Sundays and I don’t feel bad or guilty about it anymore. A Sunday kind of love.🥰

January 24, 2021January 21, 2022

Day boat scallops

Scallops served over creamy pasta with bacon & peas

Day boat scallops are a thing, a thing I never heard of until a few months ago. Our good friend is a chef and he was having us over for dinner. When we got to his place he was so excited we could join him because he had these gorgeous day boat scallops.

The thing that I love when we go to Martin’s for dinner, we sit at his island and watch him cook. I can tell he is creating the meal as he goes along. He has been a chef for decades and has worked and owned restaurants in NYC, The Hamptons and many other places. His food is delicious; I have tried more new food in the year that I have known him, than I ever had in my life. Fancy scary stuff that I now like. He loves to cook for people and he is very passionate about it.

As we watched him prepare the scallop dinner, I noticed that the scallops required very little effort. When I used to make scallops they didn’t sear as nicely. Until now that is, but I will get to that. The meal was incredibly delicious. The scallops were sweet and tender with the perfect sear. I love that I have a cooking lesson every time we eat over. I share with him all the time how much I am learning by watching, I think he really likes that.

I started looking up the types of scallops. There are basically 3 different kinds at 3 different price points. Wet scallops are often sold in the fresh fish section usually sold as previously frozen or frozen in your supermarket. They range in price from $9.99-$15 a pound give or take. The second kind are called dry scallops. They have these in the fresh fish section at your supermarket and have never been frozen. These are the kind that recipes tell you to use for searing scallops since they aren’t waterlogged. These run between $15-$30 a pound. Actual day boat scallops you won’t find in a supermarket, they are found at only the finest fish markets. They are the creme de la creme of scallops and will cost you between $29-36 a pound. I looked up scallop prices this morning since they can really fluctuate.

Wet scallops are shucked on the boat and are put directly into a container filled with cold water to preserve them. The water preserves them for a longer time, but makes them wet. These tend to be older by the time they get to the seller. A preservative is added to the water to prevent the scallops from spoiling. They can be sold as fresh, frozen or previously frozen.

Dry scallops are also shucked on the boat, but they go into a dry container with no water or preservatives. This gives the scallops a more pure and concentrated flavor. They have a shorter shelf life, but are fresher when you buy them.

Day boat scallops are also called diver scallops. It actually refers to the method of harvesting. Instead of being dredged, these scallops are harvested by hand by actual divers. This is incredibly labor intensive and very pricey. It is rare to find them outside of a restaurant or a high end fish market.

I used to be intimidated by scallops and always ordered them when went out to eat. Now I felt confident enough to start experimenting and figured out how to turn frozen, wet scallops into dry ones that sear beautifully. Being frugal, unless it was a special occasion, I would only buy the frozen ones.

I started by defrosting my scallops the safe and proper way in the refrigerator. Next, I ran them under cool water hoping to rinse off those preservatives. They’re wet already, so who cares if they get wetter. Right?

Muscle on scallop where it was attached to the shell

Next, it was time to clean and remove the muscles from the scallops. this is the muscle that is attached to the shell. Don’t leave them on, they are tough and you don’t want to eat them. Lift the little rectangular piece of tissue and just pinch with your fingers and pull it gently off.

The next step was to remove all the water from my wet scallops. I used clean, dry paper towels stacked in a couple of layers under and on top of the scallops, This is where you only get what you pay for. I am frugal with some stuff, but I buy name brands of some pretty important items. Bounty paper towels are one of those items and we use them in both my home and production kitchens. No plug for Bounty, just my preference. I put some weight on the plate to press them down. I stuck the plate in the refrigerator for an hour. I took the plate out and repeated 2 more times with fresh, dry paper towels. you will be shocked vat the amount of water that comes out of the. Let me warn you to take your trash out that night or you garbage will be very stinky the next day!

When I was ready to cook them I removed them from the fridge and plumped them up with my fingers again after being flatten. They bounced back nicely. I only season my scallops right before I am ready to sear them. Right before, not 10 minutes before. I sprinkle them with kosher salt and pepper, that’s it. Before I season my scallops I get a cast iron pan screaming hot. I use a higher smoke point oil and squirt just a small amount and swirl it around in the pan. I have to stress just a small amount, using a lot of oil is the last thing you want.

Adding a knob of butter after both sides are nicely seared

Place the seasoned scallops in the hot pan. Do not move them around or even touch them for 2 minutes. Peek under one to see if they are nice and brown. You don’t want to go too far and dry them out and over cook them. Flip them over and add a knob of butter. Let them go for another 2 minutes. While they are cooking spoon some of the butter over the scallops. Peek at them again. If they are nice and brown and go from translucent to opaque turn off the heat.

Now here is what they don’t tell you. Remove them from the pan immediately and get them on a clean plate. Cover them loosely with foil to keep them warm. Now you can take a big deep breath and not have to worry about over cooking them by leaving them in the hot pan. If you are going to serve them like this, do it. Just a squeeze of fresh lemon on the scallops before plating is so simple and delicious. If you are going to make a pan sauce, this is when you would reuse the pan without washing it. You don’t want to get rid of all that delicious flavor the scallops and butter left behind. There are dozens of sauces to make to serve with your scallops.

So that is the story of day boat scallops. Now you know more about scallops than you ever imagined! I never thought I would ever spend so much time on scallops, but I learned a lot myself. Don’t be intimidated. It is ok to practice. Everyone who is a good cook has ruined a shit ton of meals while learning. If your scallops aren’t perfect, you can still eat them, and please don’t beat yourself up like I do. I am learning on my journey that I can’t expect to get everything perfect the first time.

January 23, 2021January 21, 2022

The little chicken that could

Remember that 5 pound package of chicken that I picked up for just $5? Guess what? I got 4 meals plus leftovers from it. When I purchased it I had no idea what to do with it. Food is on my mind 24/7 so I started thinking about what I felt like making right away. You don’t have food on your mind??? That is fine because there are plenty of ideas on the internet. Just type in leftover roasted chicken and see the 1,000,000 things that come up.

Chicken croquettes with chicken gravy served with mashed cauliflower & peas

The first thing that I wanted to make was something nostalgic. Nothing says nostalgia like chicken croquettes. I am a huge fan of cooking old school dishes that have been tossed aside. I remember having chicken croquettes with gravy and mashed potatoes when I was a kid. I loved it! I got so excited when I saw that blue box of Weaver Chicken Croquettes in the freezer. I liked how it came with 2 little white cups of gravy.

This was the first time I ever made chicken croquettes and it was so much easier than I thought. I am writing the recipe and will be posting it on here very soon.

When we sat down to dinner, Marty and I were both surprised how moist, soft and flavorful they were. He apparently had those Weaver ones when he was growing up too. “These aren’t hard like the other ones” he said. I realized that he was right and we both said how dry the Weaver ones were too. Like sawdust inside. I never noticed that about the Weaver ones before since I never had anything to compare them to. Now I know why they gave you two cups of gravy. We both agreed that mine were delicious and I would be making them again. Next time, I will double the batch and freeze the other half for a quick dinner one night.

The next thing I made for lunch the next day was a big bowl of curried chicken salad. When I cooked at school everyone who tried it loved it and ordered it every time it was one the menu. Mine is more flavorful than most I’ve tried. Not more curry, more flavor. It’s sweet, salty and a hint of spice. I put raisins & dried cranberries in mine. They add a sweetness & additional texture I am looking for. “I don’t like raisins” that’s too bad, pick them out, they are going in. LOL

Cauliflower Crust Thai Chili Chicken Pizza

Yesterday all during production I was starving. Through most of the cleaning, washing dishes and packaging I kept trying to think of what to make for lunch…with chicken of course. I knew I was making something with chicken for dinner, so it had to be completely different than the other dishes.

We don’t have a lot of frozen food in the house, but the ones we do have are for quick meals on our heavy production days. We get these cauliflower pizza crusts at Restaurant Depot and they are pretty good.

I grabbed a crust and cut up some chicken and tossed it with Thai chili sauce. I topped the pizza first with Thai chili sauce instead of pizza sauce. Then I shredded and topped with some mozzarella cheese. Next, I quickly grated a carrot, sliced up some mini bell peppers and green onions. Finally I added the chicken. When it came out of the oven I topped it with some cilantro. It was delicious and hit the spot. Best part was it only took about 20 minutes start to finish.

Last night I made Chicken & Hominy Tortilla Soup. I wanted something hearty and warming on such a snowy night. This was the first time I put hominy in my tortilla soup and it was delicious making the soup even more filling. The few fried corn tortilla strips that I made gives the soup the crunch and finishes the dish off.

We made this soup minus the hominy at our cooking class last year. It was a hit and I am tweaking the original recipe I wrote and adding in the hominy as an option. I will post this recipe on here as well.

So that’s it guys. 4 meals with one 5 pound package of chicken. Having a well stocked pantry and some staple items in the refrigerator are the key to be able to pull meals right out of your ass! 😏

January 23, 2021

A journey of cooking and living my way

A funny thing happened during this whole covid pandemic; I learned to be on the journey and not the destination. Back in March, when everything was shut down, I was in shock like the rest of the world. I’m sure almost everyone can relate to some of the intense emotions I went through. Fear, anxiety, sadness, disbelief, anger, you know what I mean.

One afternoon my younger son Sam, who was sent home from college, watched me freaking out. Then he pointed out the most profound thing. “Your problem is you are always looking towards the destination, and never enjoy the journey.”

I started thinking about what he said and he was right! Whenever we drove somewhere on a trip, I would be looking at the clock and doing the math trying to figure out what time we would arrive. Then when GPS came along, I wanted to prove it wrong and get there faster. I never looked at the scenery, or enjoyed a pit stop lunch.

Whenever I started something new, I would be so impatient. I wanted to be good at whatever it was it right away. I observed my dance students on their journey of learning to belly dance. It was such a beautiful thing to watch. How they learned and improved, slowly over time. I didn’t do anything slowly. I didn’t savor anything. This needed to change.

I decided that if I am going to be quarantined and be home all the time, I was going to learn to make it a journey. It was tough the first couple of months trying to not keep thinking about the destination we all wanted. This covid nightmare to just disappear.

After a lot of work I realized “Hey look at me! I am on a journey!” We painted all the dark rooms in our home because “someday” I wanted a house that was light, bright and airy. A few gallons of paint took care of that. We built an outdoor kitchen because if I was going to be cooking so much, it would be nicer to cook outside. We enjoyed our summer for the first time in years.

Once it started getting colder out, I was restless indoors. At that point I became extremely angry and frustrated. I was really missing my dance classes. I needed to blow off some steam. I went up to our gym and started working out again. I haven’t been in the gym for almost 7 years. I guess it was the right time to get back into shape. Another step along the journey.

Then a couple weeks ago my friend Heather suggested starting a blog. I’ve thought about it for years, but never wanted to do it. My Facebook page was good enough. Then I thought “wake up stupid” this is the right time since I am still home all the time and bored to death. By the end of the day, I was fully committed. I didn’t expect to have it come together so quickly. It happened naturally with a lot of help from Marty. Now instead of watching one dumb tv show after another, I write.

I chose my new tag line “A journey of cooking and living my way” because that’s what this blog means to me. This is where I am right here and right now. Thanks so much for coming along for the ride!