Category: Food and Recipes

Sweet and sour “pork.”

Let’s clarify: I am not a vegetarian or vegan. Life is too short not to indulge in foods that you love. Everything in moderation is my motto.

We were vegetarians for a couple of years back in our twenties, but at the end of the day, we are carnivores. 

I have been making meatless meals at least twice a week for some time now. I still use beef or chicken stock and dairy in those dishes.

Marty has high cholesterol, and we should watch our diets for heart-healthy reasons. Yes, I usually post foods that are indulgences, but why can’t healthier recipes taste like them, too? 

I support vegetarian diets as a healthier lifestyle while eating whole-natural foods. I can also understand why people do it for ethics.

I can’t think about ethics, or I won’t want to eat meat either. It’s a circle of life thing; we don’t have teeth to eat only vegetables.

A vegan lifestyle is a choice, and many times, food is laden with many scientific and chemical byproducts and is something I do not support.

I support people as vegans if they are eating whole-nature foods. However, many vegans I know have horrible diets and eat shitty fattening foods and NO vegetables. Weird.

If vegans are craving a bloody hamburger and are eating all that chemical-filled impossible stuff, well, dammit, it may be time to reevaluate what in the fuck you are doing. Why are you craving bloody meat? 

Some people’s bodies need the amino acids and iron you cannot get without eating meat. It happened to a friend of mine whose hair started falling out, plus my ulcerative colitis left my body needing more iron than vegetables and vitamins could provide.

This is 100% true for me. My body wanted and needed meat. My opinion on veganism may not be popular, and I am ok with that.

Once, I said something on my personal Facebook page about impossible burgers after we attempted to try one. The fake bloody hamburger smelled like nothing I’d ever smelled before.

I read the ingredients on the package since I always read labels due to my gluten intolerance. Here is what I found. 🤢

After my post, my Facebook “friends” lost their shit and got all up in my ass by telling me I didn’t know anything and began making comments defending the impossible line of food.

They insisted their meat-eating partners love it more than meat. I wonder what their honest opinion would be. They weren’t convincing me; they were justifying themselves for eating it.

Hey, you do you, and I’ll do me. I feel that way about most things.

Ok, enough about all that bullshit; this is a post about soy curls. What in fucks name they are? Where do they come from, what are they made of, and are they healthy for you?

Soy curls were created in 2000 by a family-run, Oregon-based company, Butler Foods. They wanted to create a meat alternative for vegetarians and vegans.

Soy curls are healthy and are a whole-natural food, meaning they do not have a bunch of chemicals in them. There is only one ingredient on their package: soy.

Marty stumbled upon soy curls while picking up a snack for us while we were in Albany making a delivery to the store Honest Weight. He chose a soy curl teriyaki salad made without gluten.

It was delicious, and we needed to know more. I researched what they were while heading to our next delivery in Saratoga. After the Four Seasons health food store delivery, I grabbed a bag of soy curls.

I looked up some recipes. I couldn’t wait to make one of our favorite dishes, Mongolian “Beef.” I used my Mongolian sauce recipe, which was the best part. I already knew what it would taste like.

Mongolian “Beef.”

The bottom line is they were easy to prepare, and the dish was better than the one I made with beef. They didn’t get tough in the refrigerator; we ate them cold the next day. You can’t do this with beef./

I have an excellent sense of smell and palate. The soy curls don’t have any smell or taste. They absorb whatever flavors you are cooking them with.

We ordered a big box of soy curls, which we will keep in the freezer and use what we need a little at a time. 

The amount of quick and easy meals we will get out of one box would be hundreds of dollars in meat.

What I like about cooking with them is there is no contamination to worry about or having to wash your hands dozens of times, like when preparing chicken, pork, or beef. 

Here are some other dishes I will be making with soy curls. 

I found the above photos of soy curls on Pinterest. Buffalo Chicken Salad, Steak Tacos, Hot Honey Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwich, and Beef stroganoff.

I’ll use my regular recipes for these dishes and replace the protein with soy curls. You can be as creative as you want to be. The texture of the soy curls is just like other proteins. It’s amazing.

There are endless possibilities, and you won’t have to worry about defrosting or purchasing meat for quick dinners. 

Will I still make steak, chicken, and pork? Well, hell, yes. We will continue to indulge in foods we love by keeping everything in moderation.

The only negative things about soy curls are for people allergic to soy and for my old pal cauliflower, which soy curls have now replaced. 

You can find soy curls in most healthier stores like Trader Joe’s, health food stores, Whole Foods, and many other places.

They are more expensive on Amazon, so don’t do that. We ordered ours from Butler Foods directly, and they were half the price of Amazon.

I like to write about things people may not know about. I want to educate myself and my readers the best I can and teach them how to use or make whatever I am writing about.

I hope you found this post interesting. I am unsure if anyone will try soy curls, but if you do, I promise you will love them.

I hope you all had an enjoyable and delicious Thanksgiving. This was a wonderful Thanksgiving for us. Holiday dinners for the first 30 years of our marriage were stressful and not fun.

I’ve cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 33 years. We ate dinner with Martin and his wife. Eileen, four years ago. It was scrumptious. Only making pies that year felt odd, but the break was wonderful.

Marty’s brother, Peter, came down from up north and spent a couple of days with us relaxing and catching up. We had a great time with lots of laughs, watching Hamilton, and a competitive game of Five Crowns.

My favorite Thanksgiving meme is this one. It makes me laugh every year. It’s true, isn’t it?

I didn’t post my holiday food photos because I do not go on social media on holidays or when we have guests. However, now I’m going to share our Thanksgiving with you.

I made my centerpiece the weekend before the big day. I love dressing our dining room table almost as much as cooking. 

I didn’t cook the whole bird again this year; I took the turkey parts off the carcass on Wednesday morning.

I immediately started a big pot of turkey stock. The stock simmered for 18 hours and made the house smell delicious. 

After being skimmed, the final broth was strained and went back on the stove to cook for another hour until it was reduced by half.

Check out that gorgeous and rich stock! I put half of it in the freezer for ramen soup or gravy.

Another benefit of not cooking the whole bird is that the turkey roasts for 45 minutes. My brother-in-law, Peter, was an enormous help with the turkey.

I had to use two pans because I didn’t have the kind I needed. Peter helped flip the turkey pieces since the pans were super heavy.

I had one grease fire; the heat was high when I placed the turkey breasts skin side down. I didn’t panic; I took the pan off the heat and put it on the cold granite countertop to cool down.

Our meal couldn’t have been more traditional since that was what we prefer on Thanksgiving. My two desserts were also traditional: pumpkin pie and mini pecan pie tarts.

Noah and Aja joined us for dessert after spending the day going to family members’ homes and eating two Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, they were both stuffed but had a little room left for dessert.

The five of us had a ton of laughs and stories to tell. I am so grateful they could spend time with us and Uncle Peter. Unfortunately, Sam was working and wasn’t able to join us.

So, that was it, another Thanksgiving in the books. Next up: Christmas meals.

I am a natural-born teacher. I’ve taught dance for almost 20 years and taught high school students how to cook in our high school’s culinary arts program.

I’ve taught all sorts of cooking classes so in November of 2020 when I started to see people panicking and begging for help; I wrote a post that got over 10,000 likes on social media.

Here is my 11/22/20 post.

“Hey!!! If this is your first Thanksgiving that you have to cook because of travel & gathering restrictions I must tell you this….today is the day you may want to take your frozen turkey out of the freezer and defrost in the refrigerator in a container in case it leaks while it defrosts.

I made the mistake of taking my turkey out too late too many times and sweated it out if it would be ready to roast on Thanksgiving. Here are a couple other pieces of advise I have found helpful over the last 31 years of cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

▪️Read the recipes you plan to make AHEAD and re-read them. For real you don’t want to find out on the big day you forgot to get something that would change the dish drastically.
▪️Make a list and shop early. No one wants to torture themselves and be in a last minute panic situation at the grocery store.
▪️Simple recipes with fewer good ingredients always come out better and are way less stressful.
▪️Mise en place or prep ahead!!!!! I cannot stress this enough!!! Being well organized and ready to go on the big day is fucking priceless! You will thank me and this goes for other big meals not just on thanksgiving. Seriously just taking the time to prep a few things here and there instead of just sitting on your phone is time well spent and is good for you mentally as well. Lol!
▪️Never apologize for your food!!!! To quote Julia Child “I don’t believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanations over the food you make. Usually one’s cooking is better than one thinks it is!”
▪️Let yourself off the hook and don’t try to make everything from scratch. If you like to bake then by all means make your pies on Wednesday, but if you don’t enjoy baking then buy them!!!! Keep your menu small and don’t try to tackle too many things. This one is huge. People start thinking about every dish they have ever had on past Thanksgivings and think they need to make them all.
▪️Plan on something super simple or order a pizza on Wednesday night so you can take the time to get organized for tomorrow. Same thing goes with a simple breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. This is not the day to make pumpkin pancakes or some other dumb shit you think is necessary. It’s not.
▪️This may be the biggest one of all. The big daddy of advice….clean as you go!!!!! Honestly people get so overwhelmed when they look around their kitchen and it looks like a bomb went off or worse when the pot or bowl or whisk that you need is dirty under a mountain of dishes!!!!

I hope this helps anyone who is dreading to cook…because they don’t enjoy cooking or perhaps they have always been that person that is lucky enough to just show with a pie or flowers for the table. I have some time today so I am prepping ahead things that can be made far in advance and make turkey day a snap!!

Take a deep breath. Count your blessings. Give thanks for all the good things that did happen in this shitass year and Bon Appetit!” ❤️❤️❤️~julz

This was the post that made me think I could be a writer and pass on knowledge I’ve had learned myself.

I have an interesting tidbit regarding the photo I used at the top of this post, Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving painting which was part of his Four Freedoms series.

As I am sure you know how much I love living in Arlington and all its history.

I wrote an entire blog post when I visited my friends Kevin and Sue who own and operate Rockwell Retreat which was Norman Rockwell’s second home he owned in Arlington.

One of our good friends owns the first home of Norman Rockwell. This was a complete surprise to me.

When my friend gave us a quick tour of the house he told us about a very special window in the house.

It was the window in Rockwell’s Thanksgiving painting! We were thrilled to see it and look out of it!

How amazing! We were standing in the spot that was the head of the table. How cool.

Our friend went on to tell us the models he used in that famous painting were townspeople as he always used.

The Grandmother holding the platter was a cleaning lady and I think the Grandfather was a plumber or some other kind of skilled laborer.

I love getting the back stories like that on Rockwell’s famous pieces of art.

It’s all so interesting and it all took place right here in Arlington. ☺️

We watch all kinds of food and cooking shows on YouTube. We like Sam the Cooking Guy. One dish Sam made caught my attention so much that I watched it again with Marty. I was intrigued.

Once I learn about something I never heard of, I must investigate. I began watching more videos about this dish, the Irish Spice Bag.

It took a while before I could make my spice bag following Sam the Cooking Guy’s recipe. So what exactly is an Irish Spice Bag besides fucking delicious? 

It is a paper bag filled with crispy chicken pieces, bell peppers and onions, hot chilies, french fries, and curry sauce. 

The dish originated in Dublin, Ireland, at a popular takeaway restaurant, Sunflower Chinese, in 2012. 

The staff grew tired of eating the same thing every day. They created the Irish spice bag after the takeaway closed for the night. 

Little did they know that the Irish Spice Bag would become a phenomenon. The spice bag was a collaboration of ideas, just as it is a collaboration of flavors. 

The story goes one of the employee’s friends came in the next day and asked for a spice bag. The rest is history. 

The Irish Spice Bag is now famous all over Ireland and is made in Chinese takeaway places all over the country.

It’s filling and tasty, perfect to eat after pounding down pints all night. Others call it a hangover remedy.

People from all over are obsessed with this unofficial dish of Dublin, just like Chicken Tikka Masala is the unofficial dish of London.

Some people get off an airplane, and the first thing they do is grab a spice bag as their first thing to eat; that’s how good this dish is.

Irish Spice bags have made it slowly to the US. The first locations also popped up in NYC and Washington, DC. More places are opening across the country.

There is even a place in Albany called the Savoy Tap House that has an Irish Spice Bag on their pub menu! We’ve been there since they have a very gluten-free friendly menu. 

But what about making one yourself?

Sam, the Cooking Guy, has 3.5 million followers; when he made his Irish Spice Bag, people went nuts and had to make one. Count me in.

People in Ireland watched his version and tried his recipe just like I did. They flipped out; it was so good and right on the money.

Some Irish people told him it was served with two sauces. Fair enough.

I have to admit it is a labor of love. You have to have time to make the recipe and, more importantly, time to sit and enjoy it.

I followed Sam the Cooking Guy’s recipe exactly, except I didn’t make thrice cooked french fries, and I used only a tiny amount of hot chilies for the first time. I could go a little spicier the next time. 

Instead of boring you to death with how I made it, click on the YouTube video and watch Sam’s Irish Spice Bag. The man is a pisser and is himself on camera. His son Max is the cameraman.

If you aren’t interested in watching his program, click the link and look at the recipe. I encourage you to watch the video so he can tantalize your taste buds and make you laugh. 

 https://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/2023/5/1/salt-amp-chili-chicken-spice-bag

Like in Ireland, we ate our Irish Spice Bags from the ripped-open bag. We used our fingers and dipped the bag’s contents into the flavorful side of curry sauce.

This is no joke. I kid you not; after only once having a spice bag, we are addicted. Of course, this falls under the category of food that is a treat since we don’t eat many fried foods. 

Everything in moderation, people. Eat a salad the next day if you are feeling guilty. Like my hero, idol, and male alter ego, the late, great Anthony Bourdain said:

Eat a damn Irish spice bag, for fucks sake, and enjoy the hell out of it. Thanks, Tony, for the reminder.♥️

All images from the show Nailed it.

I’ve seen plenty of memes from the show called Nailed It. Ordinary people try to duplicate intricate desserts, but instead of nailing them, they are funny disasters.

This happened to me when I was about 20 years old. I tried to make the French dessert Petit fours. It was a disaster right from the get-go.

I was making these in my parent’s house, so I couldn’t lose my temper nearly as much as if I were in my place. First, you make a cake, then when it is cool, slice it into seven even layers. Impossible!

Next, you make the filling, usually a fruit variety; I made an apricot. Then, you carefully spread the filling on the layers of cake. My cake crumbled when I was applying the filling.

I kept working at my petit fours, thinking they still had a chance until I tried to pour the white icing on them. Then I tried dipping them. What a fucking mess!

I absent-mindedly began licking my fingers because things were sticking to them. Then I realized our dog Strudel’s black hair was in the icing.

I had a belly ache from too much sweet icing and threw 7 hours of work away. I haven’t tried making them again. I was enraged that the Petit Fours got the best of me.

I’ve gotten better at baking even though it’s not my favorite thing; I can do it. Unlike cooking, I don’t like the idea that the whole thing could turn into a flop.

My favorite cake I made was for my father-in-law Han’s birthday. He was a very sweet man with a good sense of humor; check out how he is holding the knife! 😂

I’ve made a lot of Black Forest cakes over the years, but I wanted to make Black Forest cupcakes for our Oktoberfest dinner party. 

I wrote about how good they came out in my dinner party post and how delicious they were. I didn’t write about the behind-the-scenes drama but left a teaser at the end of the piece.

When planning the menu, I sought inspiration and found an image and recipe for Black Forest cupcakes that looked gorgeous! Oh, how I wanted mine to look like those! See where this is going?

I always make two tester cupcakes, so I don’t ruin the ones I want to serve. I followed the recipe exactly; it was rare, but this was baking. 

I made the dark chocolate cupcakes, which were moist. Cherry filling I’ve made many times before, and it was no biggie.

The big biggie was the stabilized whipped cream. I was home alone and started letting my swear flow, weaving a tapestry of curses that impressed me. 

Bakers use gelatin in the whipped cream. First off, the smell of gelatin made me sick to my stomach. I’ve been forced to eat a lot of jello when I had terrible ulcerative colitis flare-ups. Just the thought makes my stomach turn.

Even though I followed the recipe, the gelatin never did what it was supposed to. Instead, there were globs of gelatin in the whipped cream. I was pissed off here.

I tried putting it through a sieve, thinking I could save it, but that was a big waste of time and more dishes.

I scraped that damn whipped cream off the two cupcakes and threw it all away; I started fresh and made the whipped cream I’ve been making for decades. 

I piped the new whipped cream on the cupcakes using a pastry bag. I was pleased with how they came out. They were far from perfect, but chocolate shavings would camouflage the imperfections.

I returned to the recipe I was trying to duplicate on the two practice cupcakes. Mistake number two. Big mistake!

Yup, I nailed it. They turned out as funny as the other baking and decorating debacles on the show. At least I didn’t spend more than 20 minutes on the disaster, unlike the poor bastards who spent hours on their creations.

Of course, I didn’t serve those; they were for us the next day and tasted as good as the nice-looking ones we served our guests.

These days, we’ve had to learn to pivot during and after the pandemic, so shrugging off my failed cupcake attempt was fine with me.

The day after I put out the teaser about my Nailed It experience, my friend who lives next door, David, sent me a text telling me he tried to make gluten-free apple muffins for us along with two photos, his and the recipe he followed photo. He definitely Nailed it. 😂

I told him it was the thought that counted and was very sweet of him to make us muffins.

I may never be an artistic baker, but that’s okay since I can cook my ass off like nobody’s business.

Have any of you had a Nailed It experience? I’d love to hear about it.

Last night was our Oktoberfest dinner party I began planning for a month ago. Bottom line…it was a success and a lovely evening.

Our dinner party included our friends and neighbors Buzz & Tabetha, owners of the Arlington Inn—the guys from next door, David & Arthur, and of course, our good buddy, Martin.

I am glad I took photos of the food as I made it and some before our friends arrived. The table setting was a modern take on harvest time. 

Like other dinner parties, I didn’t take photos of my food. I realize now I probably never will since I like to be present when we have guests, not on my phone.

My menu included a relish plate with quick pickled beets that came out great for a first try and not using a recipe.

I made up a drink called a Kirsh Cocktail, which was cherry brandy and a maraschino cherry in the bottom of a wine glass, then topped with Prosecco. It was a hit.

After everyone had a cocktail, I served silver dollar potato pancakes with freshly made applesauce and sour cream. I purposely made just enough; I didn’t want everyone to fill up on an appetizer. Everyone loved them; if I made double, they would have been gone in a flash.

I set up a buffet for dinner in the kitchen. The menu consisted of pork schnitzel topped with lemon, spätzle with mushroom cream sauce, red cabbage, and weisswurst with sauerkraut, apples and onions.

My friend Arthur doesn’t eat pork or beef. I made him chicken schnitzel with lemon, sausage with apples, and brown sugar. The sausage was delicious, something I will buy for us again.

I was pleased with how the food came out. When Chef Martin was making his plate, I said to him, “German food is really brown, isn’t it?” We both laughed in agreement, not that Irish food is any better.

For dessert, I made black forest cupcakes, which were too big since they were rich and filling. I was delighted with the result. Note to self: next time, make smaller cupcakes, Julz.

I’m writing a post next titled Nailed It, describing the trials and tribulations of my dessert if you are familiar with Nailed It, you will know what to expect.

Klaus and little Nelly were well-behaved after the Initial excitement from guests arriving. I was smart and put away all their toys except for things they could chew on.

This was the most brilliant decision I made for our dinner party. Usually, Klaus is a pain in the ass, shoving toys into people’s legs because he wants to play fetch. 

On the other hand, Nelly loves to play with Klaus, stealing the toys from him and making them run circles through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. 

Instead, Nelly and Klaus laid on the floor while people were talking, each chewing on a chewy toy. This was a revelation and something that I will do whenever we have people over.

That’s two dinner parties in the books for 2023. I love planning and cooking for my friends and family. I told Martin I know you know how great it feels to host and cook delicious food for people you love. He smiled, nodding, saying he did. There’s nothing quite like it. ☺️

A few weeks ago, I invited our small circle of friends to an Oktoberfest dinner party. The theme makes sense since do have a German food business.

As soon as the replies came saying our friends could come, I made my menu. Marty asked if I was going to start cooking already. 😂

I dislike rushing around and began picking up ingredients last week. I was so excited on Thursday because I could start making a couple of things in advance.

Yesterday, I baked and cooked many of my menu items, the ones that only get better when made a couple of days ahead, like red cabbage and sauerkraut with apples and onions.

Today is all about cooking, tidying up, and setting the table, my favorite thing to do.

I’m taking photos of my dinner party food this time; the last one we had was in January, I forgot to.

The last detail is what I’m the hell I’m going to wear. Always important to me since I was a little girl.

Back then, I wanted to wear my Mary Jane’s every time we went out. I still have a pair, just not patent leather.

Have a great day! 🍂

This post has three topics: culinary, history, and literary. All that for oatmeal? You, betcha.

I love food anthropology. It’s the one thing I would have gone back to school for if I didn’t hate going to school so much.

Marty and I watched a program on YouTube that talked about what people ate at different points in time. 

The guy whose show it is also covers what the rich, the poor, and the working class people ate.

We watched an episode on 18th-century breakfasts the other night. They have records of what people ate since they kept journals and wrote these things down.

Ben Franklin’s writings are most famous for his love of bread and cheese, which he lived off of when he wasn’t in other people’s company.

In the episode, the guy talked about oatmeal. It is also known as groul, water, milk groul, and porridge made with water or milk. All three classes of people ate plain oatmeal or groul.

Ah, so that’s what nasty old Scrooge was eating. I always wondered about that. Did anyone know what groul was? It sounded awful.

The literary piece is how you name a menu item. There is a way to add romance, such as calling pumpkin oatmeal pumpkin milk porridge with maple syrup.

We named our business The Vermont Spätzle Company because it was the first thing that came to mind and because the word Vermon adds romance to the name. 

For example, how would the Ohio Spätzle or NY Spätzle Company sound? However, if it was The Saratoga Spätzle Company, you have the romance in the name. 

As a food service director at school, I wrote the menu with the same feeling for the menu items. Such as a three-cheese focaccia melt with tomato and pesto. 

Another example is calling a ham and cheese bagel melt a cowboy bagel with ham, cheddar, and BBQ sauce. See?

The culinary part is simple. It is pumpkin, oatmeal, toasted nuts, warm spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, milk, and water. 

The rest is up to you and your taste or a recipe you found. I read a few recipes to know the quantities, then did my own thing. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

This would be on the menu throughout the fall season, along with Apple Cider porridge topped with diced apple, toasted nuts, and cinnamon sugar in my pretend restaurant or cafe. 

Those menu items scream autumn, especially here in VT. They would be a home run, unlike just writing just oatmeal.

Here are some recipes to try: Pumpkin Oatmeal by Well Plated and another recipe from Del’s cooking twist.

I’m in a hurry to publish this piece; please excuse the grammar. Have a great day!

Last year, I wrote a blog post titled Lazy Man’s Lobster. Our friend Martin, who is a professional chef turned private chef, gave me lobsters that were leftovers from a dinner party he cooked for his employer.

He said the lobsters were on their last legs, and I needed to cook them that day, which I did, and boy, were they good!

This morning, Martin called me and told me he was giving me leftover parts of a whole beef filet; he wouldn’t use it, and it would rot in his fridge. I quickly said, OK!

Martin walked over from across the street and told me it needed to be cleaned. I never cleaned a beef filet before, but I had no doubt I could do it. I’ve been practicing butchering all sorts of proteins for a couple of years.

Later in the day, I began cleaning the filet. I knew Martin used the center portion of the filet, which makes for uniform steaks. He didn’t use the “head or tail,” which was what I was left with.

This is what a whole beef filet looks like. I got both the end pieces.

I removed all the fat and connective tissue, then I put what I ended up with into four piles; garbage, dog food for Klaus, three small bright red filet mignon, and the small bits of bright red trimmings.

I tied the three filet mignon steaks with butcher twine so they formed a perfect circle. The pieces were about and inch and a half thick. I patted them dry, seasoned them with salt, and put them on a cooling rack uncovered in the fridge.

This is not my photo; it’s a Pinterest image, but this is exactly what my steaks looked like.

This technique dries the beef so you can get a great sear on your meat. It really works! The steaks sat in the fridge for around five hours.

Next, I started a pot of stew for Klaus because it was a shame to get rid of the meat that turned slightly gray since last night. I seared the beef pieces and added baby carrots and celery to the pot. I added dried rosemary, thyme, and water. I let it braise for 3 hours.

I minced the small bits of beef, threw it in a bowl, and got into the fridge immediately. I knew I wanted to make French classic beef tartar; I’ve had beef tartar at a German Fest at the Garden State Art Center when I was a kid, but never made it before or had a classic French tartar.

Since I only had a small amount of minced beef, I had to improvise the ingredients I found in one of my French cookbooks. After I made the egg mixture, I put it into the refrigerator with the minced beef.

I would be mixing the tartar à Ia menuet, which means at the last minute in French. I got out a cookie round that I would use to form the tartar on our plates.

I decided to make a small French bistro salad with a simple classic vinaigrette. I made the vinaigrette in a small jar and put it aside. I tore bits of romaine lettuce and put them into a bowl, popped it into the fridge, and quick-pickled a little red onion. I would assemble at serving.

I thought about what I wanted to top the filet mignon with, which isn’t as flavorful as other steaks but tender as hell. Chefs usually top with one of the French mother sauces or compound butter.

I was craving bearnaise sauce, but I had the brilliant idea of making a bearnaise compound butter. When I tasted the bearnaise butter, I said out loud, well, holy shit, it does taste like bearnaise sauce!

I was tickled pink since bearnaise is a pain in the ass to make, and now I didn’t have to make one but will get the same flavor.

The other day, I picked up a package of parsnips. Martin made parsnip puree as a side for his dinner one night; it was my best bite of 2019. I’ve duplicated his recipe many times, which he finds flattering but always says, “fuck you, Julz,” whenever I tell him I made it. 😂

For the parsnip puree, I cut the parsnips into small pieces. I add them to a saucepan with two crushed cloves of garlic, a knob of butter, and milk to almost cover the parsnips and finish with a touch of cream.

I brought them to a slow simmer and covered them. I let them simmer for twenty minutes or so. After my timer went off, I poked them with a fork to check for tenderness. I moved them off the heat and put the lid back on, setting it aside.

I put the parsnips and liquid into a food processor. I let it process for five minutes. I tested the puree for a velvety smooth texture. I tasted and adjusted the seasoning. I put the puree back into the pot and kept it warm.

Just looking at what I wrote, I know some of you are thinking what a whack job I am, spending my only day off in the kitchen. Experimenting and making dishes for the first time is a learning experience.

Prepping and cooking are my zen. I love to cook elegant and delicious meals, even if it is only for Marty and myself. The more I cook, the better I get at it.

I mixed the beef tartar and plated it. I quickly dressed the lettuce and thinly sliced pickled red onion and vinaigrette. I tossed it with my hand and tasted it for seasoning; I added salt and pepper and placed it next to the tartar on the plate.

I served this as a first course. My plate looked stunning. I realized this was the first photo I took. I was annoyed with myself for not taking photos of prepping the beef. I know why I didn’t; I would have to wash my hands over and over to pick up my iPhone.

This course was something right out of a Paris or French bistro. I wouldn’t change a thing. The tartar was tender and very flavorful; the vinaigrette and the pickled red onion did their job by cutting through the richness of the tartar, making it a well-balanced dish.

Now comes the moment of truth, cooking the filet mignons a perfect rare. I knew if I went past the internal temperature of 120 degrees, they would be overcooked. Meat continues to cook while it rests, raising the temperature as high as 5-7 more degrees.

I did not want to fuck these babies up. I reminded myself I’ve cooked steaks perfectly for years; why would today be any different because it’s an expensive cut of beef?

I got my blue steel pan as hot as possible with the flame on high. I salted and peppered the steaks; then, I added a swirl of canola oil. I added the steaks, pressing them down to make good contact with the pan. This creates a maillard reaction or a beautiful crust.

A Pinterest image that looked like my steaks.

I waited 2-3 minutes and checked the sear on the meat; it was perfect. I flipped them over and seared the other side for another 2 minutes. I seared the sides of the steaks and checked the temperature.

Yikes, they were at 120 degrees. I got them out of the pan quickly and let them rest. Shit, it’s a good thing I checked the temp when I did. I hate overcooked beef, especially ones that should be rare/medium rare, according to French chefs.

I set the steaks on a plate and added the compound butter to the still-hot pan. I twirled the pan, melting the butter. I began to smell the vinegar, shallots, and finally, tarragon. I was drooling; it smelled so wonderful.

We usually eat our steaks medium rare, but for filet mignon, we like them done rare. They were not RAW like Gordon Ramsey screams at chefs.

I plated the filet mignon, then I drizzled some of the melted bearnaise butter on top. I added a dollop of parsnip puree, and viola! Dinner was served.

Our dinner was incredibly delicious; the steak melted in your mouth, it was so tender, and the parsnips? They were sexy af; so smooth and velvety.

I was very pleased with what I created. I love cooking familiar comfort food, but teaching myself to cook fine dining dishes without a recipe is a big accomplishment for me. I added another two notches to my cooking apron yesterday. 🤗

My chicken is waving, “Hi, guys!”

I picked up a chicken the other day for a reasonable price. Whenever I go to a grocery store, I have to put things back that are too expensive and pivot. 

I never made a spatchcock chicken on the bbq grill before, so this was my chance. I looked up several recipes and found one to try.

I watched a quick YouTube video on how to spatchcock a chicken. It was much easier than I thought it would be. 

I laid the chicken on a cooking rack on a sheet pan. I salted it and put it into the refrigerator, uncovered for 24 hours. This ensures a crispy skin on the chicken.

The next day, I made the dry rub suggested in the recipe and rubbed it all over the chicken. Next, I inserted a bbq meat thermometer probe.

Marty built the fire since I can’t breathe in any smoke anymore. When it was ready, he put the spatchcocked chicken on the grill.

The recipe said to pull the chicken off the grill at precisely 165 degrees, then let it rest. It specifically said not to grill longer than the correct temperature.

I carved the chicken and was pretty pleased with its appearance on the pan. It was very juicy and moist.

Marty made smashed potatoes on the flattop grill, which were so good! I made a broccoli salad, which is our favorite.

The chicken was moist af, but that stupid ass rub ruined the skin. It turned bitter as hell. So bitter we had to peel the skin off.

When this happens when I follow someone’s recipe exactly (which doesn’t happen often for this very reason), and it turns out bad, I want to hunt this person down. 

The chicken had a slightly smoky taste and was delicious, minus the gross skin situation. 

Marty’s magical potatoes.

The meal was well-balanced and super tasty. The potatoes? They were my favorite! 

They were crispy on the outside and like fluffy mashed potatoes inside. I used to make these in the oven, but now they are Marty’s job since he does them so well.

Potatoes have always been my favorite ever since I can remember. It made a lot of sense When I learned I am 74% Irish. Since I was a kid, I have loved baked, roasted, boiled, scalloped, au gratin, and french fries.

A couple of days later, on another rainy and gloomy day. I took the leftover chicken off the bone and made the best chicken and biscuits; ever!  I make the same chicken, gravy, and veggies when I make pot pies too.

When I was teaching myself how to cook, I used the original Betty Crocker recipe in my mother’s cookbook that she got as a shower gift. I think she made a valiant effort to learn to cook as a newlywed, but that didn’t last long because she hated cooking and the clean-up.

Now, when I make chicken with gravy and veggies, I use fresh vegetables and sauté them first to build flavor, plus lots of fresh herbs and seasonings to make it my own. Having delicious chicken is also a must.

I served the chicken with biscuits on the side and buttered Trader Joe’s gluten-free fresh fettuccine.

My chicken and biscuits were good before, but this? Holy shit, it was over-the-top delicious. What made the difference was the slight smoke on the chicken.

It was a game-changer! I’ve always used leftover roasted chicken, but not anymore. Plus, the chicken cooked in half the time spatchcocked on the grill. 

What will I change the next time I make spatchcocked chicken? No rub! I’ll do everything the same, except seasoning the chicken with kosher salt & pepper. 

You can spatchcock a chicken and roast it in the oven, which I will do in the wintertime to save time and get crispy skin, not just on top of the chicken.

I can end by telling you this: I will never roast a whole chicken the traditional way again. Period.