Saint Patrick's Day 2011

This is Vivi's plate, complete with green milk...she thinks I'm a rockstar!

I love corned beef.  Yep, it's true. As a kid, my mom never cooked an actual corned beef brisket.  But, I think that was probably because in the 70's brisket wasn't very mainstream in the South, certainly not the Irish "corned" preparation.  Being from a Florida fishing village, it's doubtful that my mom grew up eating corned beef brisket, or that she'd ever even heard of it until adulthood.  As I was growing up however, it was Dottie who introduced me to corned beef and pastrami deli meat.  I loved them both.  So, even before I ever encountered a "real" corned beef myself, I'd already consumed many a'package of deli meat of the Irish persuasion. I believe I was in high school when my Uncle John brought this new, heavenly, off-the-wall creation to Thanksgiving:  a corned beef that he actually corned himself and finished off in the smoker.  Divine!

So, of course this time of year is when you can find a plethera of corned beef in the grocery stores and when it's on sale.  I dare you to find one on sale any other time of the year.  Being a corned beef lover, I've checked.  Pretty much weekly.  Believe me on this point.  Anyway, it is that time of year, and I couldn't be happier!  

Even though my family is primarily German (way back in the old days of course), and I've never been to Ireland, and my hair only turns red in the summer, I am a fanatic for this meat. You see where I'm going...yes, it was Irish dinner night Chez Akre.  I'm pleased to report that even the sweetest 5 year old leprechaun in the world not only gave the meal a thumbs up, but she ate with Irish gusto!  Our menu?  Corned beef, Syracuse salt potatoes and sauteed green beans.  And for the Vivver, green milk...it's magically delicious, you know.

Green and t-ádh

Lastly, I was told in the car on the way home that Viv's teachers said "it's ok" to bring treats for the class tomorrow.  Hmmmm....wonder why they didn't actually say this to me or any other parent?  So, feeling particularly "Super Mom-y" I opened up the cabinets and cranked out some green sugar cookies with green & white sprinkles.  Oh yeah,  I'm that girl! I can't be stopped. I'm cook-a-rama-licious.  Don't hate.


So, on this eve of St. Patrick's Day, I bid you (thanks to the fine folks at Google)  Lá Fhéile Pádraig Happy le mo chairde go léir Cócaireachta.  

Return of the Garlic Soup

I started cooking when I was in high school.  That's when I remember starting to buy my own cookbooks and experimenting.  Once I got into my early 20's I was hooked on reading recipes and trying anything that sounded good. My sister, my cousin and a couple friends formed a supper club.  We met once a week and the rules were simple:  the cook decided on the dish and bought whatever food it involved and the others brought all the booze.  At some point during that time of my life, I came across a recipe for "Garlic Soup."  It was crazy simple and I've always remembered how much I loved it.  But, I lost the recipe.  I could remember the ingredients, but not the amounts.  Garlic soup had escaped me.


Fast forward to my 30s.  Neil and I went to Portugal with friends back in 2001 ( I think!).  We fell in love with that country and made a pact that when we got married, we'd come back for our honeymoon.  So, in 2004, we did.  One of the most awesome foods in Portugal is 'frango' which is a simple grilled, or rotisserie, chicken that is served with frites.  I know, the thought of grilled chicken doesn't exactly get my pulse racing either, but believe me when I tell you, this chicken will knock your socks off.  I'm not sure if they marinate it or if it has something to do with the white wood smoke that you see rising from all the restaurants' 'frango' chimneys, but it's the most incredible chicken on the planet.  After our first couple of days of frango and frites, it was time for some vegetables.  I ordered a bowl of vegetable soup in this little cafe along the Atlantic coast highway we were following.  Once again, this does not sound very exciting, but their vegetable soup is nothing like ours.  It's pureed...and every restaurant's is different.  Some are more green, some are heavier on the potato, others are a garden variety but they are all pureed so they are silky, creamy and smooth.  It became a quest.  We ordered it in every restaurant we visited to see whose was best.


I've always wanted to figure out how to duplicate this soup.  So many time when I've brainstormed about it, my mind would go back to that garlic soup memory.  That would be the perfect base and then I could add whatever leftover vegetables I had.  But, then I'd get distracted and it never got made.  A few days ago I made a roast pork loin with carrots and onions.  I started thinking about the garlic soup again because I had so many carrots leftover.  Even though I'd tried to find this recipe before using the Internet, I thought I'd give it another try.  I thought back...in the early 90's,  what was I reading?  A-Ha!  Bon Appetit!  So, I got on Epicurious and tried again.  Guess what?  I found it!  Garlic Soup Lives!

Insanely simple ingredients bubbling away

After a few turns in the blender

Today, I have made 2 batches using my leftover carrots.  I still love this soup so much. It's just perfect when you top it off with a nice little swoosh of heavy cream.   And, it is the perfect base for adding any other vegetable in order to mimic the Portuguese veggie soups.  Disregard the lame reviews that people gave the recipe.  I don't  know what's wrong with them. 


One side note before I conclude.  I asked Neil to pick up potatoes and 2 heads of garlic for me.  You know how "they" say that men always think bigger is better?  Well, take a look at the garlic he brought home.  Enough said...

Yep folks, that's 3 heads of ELEPHANT garlic

The Flop

Looked pretty online, but real life was another story

I am the first to admit it when a dish goes South.  I told you a few days ago that I was making Balsamic Root Vegetables for Thanksgiving.  My reasons were:  I liked the picture, I've NEVER cooked or eaten a parsnip before, and since it was a crockpot dish, that would be one less project going on in the kitchen, one less body.  Well, unfortunately, it sucked.  

My mother-in-law liked it and I think maybe one other person was positive about it, but I was not.  The vegetables weren't overly mushy, but I probably could've stopped the cooking a little earlier.  The flavors were good.  But, for me, the failure was in the look of the dish and the smell.  The vegetables didn't retain their color and all kind of looked alike.  However, it was the smell that really did me in.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Balsamic sauces usually smell very good, so I'm thinking perhaps it was the balsamic aroma mixed with the red onion?  It wasn't the kind of smell where someone would walk in and exclaim something like "What the hell is that smell?" but it was just "off-putting."  

• I can't even believe I just used that phrase.  Donatella Arpaia uses it ad nauseum on the Next Iron Chef and it drives me up the wall.  I get her meaning, but I'm pretty sure "off-putting" isn't really a word.  But, in this case, it's the best I've got.

Chalk this one up as a "tried and failed."  No big deal; can't win 'em all!

Thanksgiving Prep Work

I'm not sure why, but I'm super excited about this Thanksgiving.  My little sister is expecting a baby, so that's a new, exciting thing.  My aunt Jennie is getting married, so that's a new exciting thing.  And, Vivian is really into cooking now, so that's a new and exciting thing.  I'm suspecting these factors are influencing my excitement level.  I'm a cracker-jack detective, you see.

Neil and I both have today off and have had a great day together.  It's been a long time since we've had just a regular day together.  We have pretty much gotten all of our prep done and will have a low stress time tomorrow!

Neil is the turkey man of our family.  One Thanksgiving, we were in St. Augustine with Neil's mom, Mimi and his dad, Don.  I had heard of brining, but hadn't tried it yet.  Well, Mimi brined the turkey that year and for the first time I really, actually enjoyed turkey.  We lost Mimi shortly after we got engaged and Don a couple years later.  Since then though, Neil tackled brining and instantly mastered turkey roasting.  My mom is a turkey fanatic.  In fact, it has been established that if she ever ends up on Death Row, turkey & dressing will be her last meal.  So, if Dottie says Neil's turkey is good, well... AND, for Dottie to let Neil cook it instead of her, HUGE!

So, today we got the bird in the brine and it's soaking away in the fridge.  My pumpkin ice cream turned out to be nothing short of fantastic!  (btw, if you don't have your own nutmeg grinder, ask for one for Christmas).  I hope that will be a surprise for everyone.  I have toasted pita bread for the hummus, sliced celery, made curry dip, sliced all my veggies for the Balsamic Root Vegetables.  Then, I made the "white" mashed potato dish.  Potatoes with sour cream, cream cheese and evaporated milk.  They will go in the oven tomorrow; I'm pretty excited about this, believe it or not!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

After all that, I'm typing all of this fascinating information to you  as I have a glass of Chardonnay (I'm on vacation, dammit!) and try to think of what, if anything, I've forgotten.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  


I'm thankful that you read this blog!