As in, forgot to take the pictures. Sigh. So my friends suggested taking a picture of the table and proclaiming a good time was had by all.

I am part of a foodie group that enjoys dining and socializing. There are five couples and myself in the group. Each month one household prepares a formal dinner for the rest of the group. I was the last in the line to host this past weekend. I had planned to take pictures of everything, but as usual, forgot.

My menu was:
- shrimp wonton appetizers
- fresh green salad with grapefruit dressing
- kumquat chicken over wilted spinach
- wild rice and quinoa pilaf
- semolina pudding with strawberry balsamic pepper sauce and black currant sauce

My intentions were good because I took a picture of the kumquat preparation. LOL



Anyway.....

The shrimp wontons are actually a Pampered Chef recipe that I really like. Of course, you need a mini-muffin pan to make them.

Shrimp Wontons

24 square wonton wrappers
1 T. butter or margarine melted
8 oz. shelled deveined and cooked medium shrimp
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/3 C. grated carrot
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 C. (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. With pastry brush, brush one side of each wonton wrapper with melted butter. Press wonton buttered side up into muffin cup. Bake 8 minutes or until edges turn light golden brown. Remove pan from oven. Finely chop shrimp. Combine cream cheese, garlic and Worcestershire sauce in bowl, blend well. Stir in chopped shrimp, green onions, carrot and mozzarella cheese. Using small scoop fill each wonton cup with rounded scoop of cream cheese mixture. Top with reserved shrimp. Bake 5 minutes or until wontons are golden brown and filling is bubbly around edges.

Yield 24 appetizers.

My goal for the meal had been to make things using seasonal items that people might not have had before. For the salad, I used the grapefruits from my tree to make the grapefruit dressing.

Grapefruit Dressing

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (about 3 grapefruits)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:
1. Pour oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté shallots 5 minutes. Pour in grapefruit juice and let boil over medium-high heat; cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 6 minutes. Take mixture off of heat and let cool.
2. Using a food processor or blender, puree juice mixture with cilantro, sugar, and pepper until smooth. With motor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil and blend until fully combined.

Kumquats are not too common in the grocery store and can be pretty expensive. Luckily, my best friend has a large kumquat tree in her backyard. So I was able to go over and pick a bunch. The recipe is from the Food Network. It calls for sauteing the chicken breasts. But I was serving nine people. I decided to make the sauce on its own and take the chicken breasts and cook them on my stoneware bar pan in the oven. One great thing about stoneware - it keeps meats nice and moist. The recipe also calls for wilting the spinach in the sauce. I had a lot of spinach (could have had more) and so I used a trick I read somewhere. I put the washed, wet spinach in a bowl, sealed it with wrap, and microwaved it for 2-3 minutes first. This reduces the size down by about half, making it easier to fit into the pan for the final wilting in the sauce. Lastly, since I was greatly increasing the recipe for nine people, I ended up guesstimating the amounts of the sauce ingredients. Luckily there was plenty of sauce. This sauce is also nice because it has a nice hint of heat with the red pepper flakes.

Kumquat chicken over wilted spinach

3 kumquats
1 large shallot
2 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/8-teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 cups packed spinach leaves (about 1 bunch)

Separately cut kumquats and shallot crosswise into thin slices, discarding any kumquat seeds. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a skillet heat butter over moderately high heat until foam subsides and saute chicken, skin sides down, until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook over moderate heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm, covered.

Add shallot to fat remaining in skillet and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Sprinkle sugar over shallot and cook, undisturbed, until sugar is melted and golden. Immediately stir in kumquats, water, vinegar, and red pepper flakes and simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stir in parsley and salt to taste and, if sauce is too liquid, simmer until thickened to desired consistency, about 1 minute.

Transfer two thirds sauce to a small bowl and to remainder add spinach and salt to taste, turning with tongs until just wilted.

Divide spinach between 2 plates and top with chicken. Spoon sauce over chicken.

For the pilaf, I just made a big batch of quinoa and threw in a package of pre-cooked wild rice, green onions, and craisins. I kept it warm and ready in the crockpot.



Lastly was dessert. I had tried semolina pudding in an earlier post. This time I wanted to use strawberries since they are now in season. Then I had a huge bag of frozen black currants from my dad's bushes in Oregon. So I made a sauce from those as well. It was quite a difference between the sweet strawberry sauce and the tart currant sauce.

Balsamic Strawberry Pepper Sauce

2 cups strawberries (about 1 pint), trimmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Preparation
In a small heavy saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring, and skim surface. Simmer mixture, stirring and skimming foam occasionally, 15 minutes, or until thickened and translucent. Remove pan from heat and cool preserves completely. Preserves keep, covered and chilled, 1 month. (I pureed the sauce.)

Finally I decorated the table with these beautiful flowers.



All in all, the meal was a success. Considering my usual track record of not having enough food, I did pretty well except for a little low on the spinach. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.

La Provence prides itself on so many awards for this and that - Reader's Choice, Best French, 5 star, 4 star, on and on. Our experience was just 3 star.

I had gotten one of the Y92 Half Price Thing discounts. You pay $25 for a $50 gift card. I had read such good things about the restaurant and had been meaning to go for some time. La Provence is not exactly in a convenient location though. It is out in suburban Roseville in a residential area. We finally took the time to drive out that way for an 8:00 dinner.

The restaurant is large and very spacious and open. It has gas fireplaces, high ceilings, and a rustic look. We were seated promptly and handed the menus. The menus had many interesting dishes. We knew it was pricey, but that also added to our high expectations.

We started with the escargot. Not everybody can take eating snails, but I can get it done if I turn off the "it's a snail!" voice in my head. They were served piping hot with plenty of garlic and herbs. They were tender and delicious. A good start.

The first entree selection was Navarin d'agneau Printaniere - spring leg of Placer County lamb, baby vegetables and steamed Yukon gold potatoes. This was a very flavorful dish that was really a stew. The description implies a lamb leg or a cut of the lamb leg. Instead it was just small chunks of lamb, and not much at that. Good, but chintzy on the meat.

I had the Lapin a la Moutarde - fresh rabbit quarters roasted with thyme and Dijon mustard, bacon-wrapped stuffed loin, Yukon gold smashed potatoes, haricots verts and Dijon mustard sauce. The picture is above. Although tasty, the rabbit meat was very dry and there was hardly any sauce to offset the dryness. It was also a real chore to eat the rabbit. I struggled considerably with it. Not tender or easy to enjoy at all.

As for the service, it was mediocre. As it would be in France, the time between courses is lengthy. French take their time and enjoy their meals over a few hours versus 45 minutes like Americans do. That wasn't an issue since it was to be expected. But we were annoyed that such a nice restaurant would not have taught the waiters better serving etiquette. Our server was constantly reaching right across us to get a water glass or light a candle. It was like an invasion of your personal space and not done gracefully or politely.

I'd like to give La Provence another chance sometime. I'll probably wait for another coupon though. Certainly not inclined to go out of my way to full price based on this experience.

This month's Daring Bakers challenge was the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Everyone was so happy to have a cake for this month's challenge, and an uncomplicated one at that.



I loved this challenge for the fact that you could do this one in stages. So I made my first part - the cake - early in the month. The cakes came out nicely, but not as thick as I thought they were supposed to be, since you were supposed to cut the two layers in half to make four layers. Anyway, I froze the cakes. I've learned in my cake decorating class that freezing the cakes makes them easier to handle when you have to level and slice them and reduces the crumb factor. So in the freezer they went.



During the month other people were posting how they were doing. In fact, Dorie herself heard about our challenge and chimed in with some tips. In the end I decided I needed another cake batch to get my layers. So I made the second set and then threw those in the frig to cool and then took the other frozen layers out to thaw.



Now it was time for the buttercream frosting. This required cooking the egg white/sugar mixture, adding the butter, etc. Yummy! I'm not a frosting person. I tend to scrape frosting off of cakes. But this was dee-lish!



The cake and the icing were lemon flavored, so I decided to keep with the theme and fill between the layers with my lemon curd. (See microwave lemon curd) I also found that three layers was tall enough, so I just refroze the fourth I had. Because my layers didn't quite match, I had to trim, as you see here...







So I figured I better do a crumb layer of icing first.







I finished off the cake with a final layer of icing and decorating.







And how did it taste? It's fantastic! The cake itself has a subtle lemon flavor and the cake is dense, but in a good way. So different than cake mixes or supermarket cakes which are so soft and airy. This tasted real. Also, it keeps well. Don't you hate how a cake goes stale and the exposed cake gets all dry and crusty? I put a loose piece of saran wrap against the exposed cut and it kept great for two days. Then I couldn't eat it all (and I even sent a third of it to the neighbors) and so I took the last quarter and wrapped and froze that. Later in the month I took the frozen quarter out, thawed it and ate it. Still awesome even after a freeze.



I didn't overdue the lemon curd either. So it was not lemon overkill. The buttercream was just right as well. I was good on eating the cake without having to scrape off the frosting.



This picture is the same cake, I just ended up changing the decoration on the top. I didn't want to eat the royal icing daffodils I made, so I took them off and just added more buttercream. So here you see it sliced before I enjoyed it.







This recipe is a keeper! I plan on making it again and again!



BTW, I recommend checking out everyone's cakes by launching from the DB site. Especially this one where the person used peanut butter and bacon in hers!?!?

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

There are a lot of clam chowder recipes out there. This one is from Rachel Ray. I like it because it is packed full of clams and veggies and the soup is thin. Those thick chowders are ok, but that's a lot of carbs from the thickening agents like flour. In fact, I'm thinking of putting even less of the potatoes in next time. There is a good enough chunk factor from the onions, celery, and clams.

Rachel Ray's Clam Chowder

2 tablespoons butter
2 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery with greens, chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pint half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock, from soup aisle
1 cup hash brown style raw shredded potatoes, from dairy aisle of the market
2 cans whole baby clams and their juice

In a medium pot over medium high heat melt butter. Add bacon and onions, celery and thyme sprigs. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook 5 minutes. Add flour and cook a minute more.

Add half-and-half and stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in potatoes and clams. Bring soup back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, until potatoes are cooked and soup has thickened to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove the thyme sprigs from the soup. The thyme leaves will have fallen off into the soup. Stir and adjust seasonings in your soup. Pour soup into mugs.

When it is a beautiful, sunny, spring day the road will beckon to you. "Let's go out of town", it says. So you pile into the car and happily continue for a nice Sunday drive to a picturesque town called Nevada City.

Well, actually, the purpose of the trip was to return a defective wine opener that was bought in one of those quaint gift shops in December. But the reason is just the excuse you need to visit NC. Even though I've been to the same shops over and over again, I still go into them.


One time last year we were there and stumbled across the Top Floor Tea Room after we had already eaten. We knew we would have to go back some day to try the scones. Today was the lucky day. We arrived at around 11:00 and found that the after-church crowd had not arrived yet. The tea room is situated on the top floor (obviously) of an old merchant building with an antique store occupying the first floor. As you can see in the picture, it is all very 'quaint'. The menu consists of light salads and sandwiches, soup and quiches. Or you can opt for a 'tea' tray. We chose the top-of-the-line 'Top Floor Platter'.



There were four quiches that day and I selected the 'Alsace', thin sliced potatoes, bacon, and caramelized onions. We shared one slice and then split all the tray goodies. There were two scones, a lemon and an apricot. They were served with a little pot of jam, another of lemon curd, and the third with the clotted cream. The next plate had an assortment of finger/tea sandwiches. One had an egg salad with tarragon, another with a chicken curry salad, one with a tuna salad, a cucumber sandwich and, finally, a smoked salmon. The last plate had the sweets. There was a small bowl of panna cotta with berries, a puff filled with chocolate mousse, a biscotti, a cookie, a lemon square, and a slice of flourless chocolate cake.

The tea room has plenty of tea, of course. They have over 50 varieties of loose teas and then coffee as well. I have never been a coffee or tea drinker, but I know there are so many kinds out there that I probably just need more exposure to them. We agreed to try a fruity blend of strawberries and other things (can't remember) in a mix called 'Alice's something or other' (memories really getting bad). It was a lovely dark rosey-colored tea that was just right for tea novice Catherine.

The servers were attentive and explained everything to you. Your bill arrives with an invitation to shop the store downstairs with a coupon. We stumbled out into the glorious sunshine with happy grins and satisfied bellies. The perfect brunch was light, tasty, evenly balanced savory and sweet and all within a beautiful, relaxed setting.

Top Floor Tea is at 210 Main St. in Nevada City and serves tea until 4.

I almost wimped out on my first official DB challenge. When they posted that it was going to be French bread I was OK with it. Until I read the 7 pages of instructions! Talk about time consuming. But this last weekend was a big storm and pretty much all of town was hunkering down at their homes expecting huge winds, lots of rain, cold, and power outages. I decided it was a cooking weekend. I made the chili, the chess pie, the cheese bread, and for the cheese bread I used.... the DB French bread.

Putting together the recipe was not that big of a deal. The big deal was the waiting for the triple rises of the bread dough and the fact that my house is cold. The first rise takes at least three hours. Half way through I realized my cold house wasn't cutting it. I did one of the alternatives and plopped the bowl on top of a heating pad and that made all the difference.

The second rise was just the same, except it was during this time that I had read about the online PBS videos showing how to make the bread. Wish I had seen it earlier. It showed how much I should have kneaded the bread and manipulated it to get the best gluten and yeast action. Oh well - at least my bread was rising.

Finally I cut my dough to make two batards and then they had to rise. But I faced a cold kitchen and they didn't budge. So I grabbed a space heater and pointed it at the loaves and that helped.

So you can see my final product above - the better of my two batards. (I wish I could take nicer pictures like other blogs, but I have crappy lighting in my house and end up with flash pictures.) It was a good challenge because I had never made bread from scratch before. But the likelihood of me doing it again when it is so easy to buy a loaf from Il Fornaio? Highly unlikely.

The DB challenges are done by the order you sign up. At that rate it will be 2015 before I get to choose the challenge. But I already know what I want to do, a Filipino dessert. Not telling what it is - but it would be a great challenge for everyone.

The recipe for the challenge is at The Sour Dough.

Most people eat cornbread with their chili. My family was not into cornbread. When I grew up, mom made broiled cheesey onion bread. Now, of course, it's the only way I can really enjoy my chili.

1/2 c mayonnaise
1 onion, chopped
2 t Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 c parmesan cheese, grated
1 loaf of french bread

Mix all ingredients together. Turn on oven broiler. Slice bread in half lengthwise. Spread mixture onto both sides of bread. Place bread, spread side up, onto baking sheet and place a couple of inches under broiler. Broil until bread is bubbly, dark golden brown. Remove. Let cool slightly. Slice carefully with serrated bread knife. Enjoy!

I've always taken the easy route of using chili mixes. This recipe has intrigued me for some time because of the variety of ingredients - coffee, beer, wasabi, etc. The longest part of this recipe was running around getting the ingredients. I don't drink coffee, so I bought a cup at the corner store. I don't drink alcohol and the stores were not letting me buy a single bottle of dark beer. I ended up using Celebration Ale that someone had left at my house. I had to go to two stores to get the three kinds of peppers. I was also leery of the amount of chilis in it. I put in 1.5 Anaheim, the Habanero, and half of the Serrano and tasted it. It seemed pretty spicy, so I left out the other halves. At the end though, I probably could have/should have left them in. After simmering all day in the crockpot, the flavors had really blended together and mellowed out. I don't have palate able to really pull apart flavors, so I cannot say that I tasted one thing or another, like some people have in the allrecipes.com reviews. I did use 2 cans of pintos and 1 of kidney because I prefer the pintos. I also drained the beans because I wanted a thicker consistency and didn't want to add more liquid. All in all it was a nice chili - well flavored, nice consistency, great ratio of beans/meat. Is it great enough for me to make this much effort vs. the chili mixes? Don't think so.

from allrecipes.com
Washabinaros Chili
Submitted by: Aaron Christophersen
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 95 members Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 3 Hours Ready In: 3 Hours 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil,
divided
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark beer
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wasabi paste
3 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
2 Anaheim chile peppers, chopped
1 serrano pepper, chopped
1 habanero pepper, sliced

1. Place 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot and place the pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onions, garlic, beef and sausage until meats are browned. Pour in the tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste and broth. Season with chili powder, cumin, sugar, oregano, cayenne, coriander, salt and wasabi. Stir in one can of beans, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat remaining oil. Cook Anaheim, serrano and habanero peppers in oil until just tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir into the pot and simmer 2 hours.
3. Stir in remaining 2 cans of beans and cook 45 minutes more.