Slow Cooked Chicken with Tomatillos and Potatoes

The picture above is from Monday night's girls night out at Bottles & Brushes at The Poison Cup wine shop on Armitage. Bottles & Brushes is a local business here in Chicago that "is all about friends, a bottle of wine and a canvas". Their motto is, you do have an inner artist inside you just waiting to be realized. I mean, I didn't have a question about my inner craftiness by any means, as I am a die hard Martha Stewart "Good Things" fan, and I have memorized the aisles at the local Michael's Craft store; but inner artist is a whole other beast.

I am not artistic by any means. I spent many days in the hospital at Rush being crafty. Yarn dolls - I've made them. Hemp necklaces - made those too. Stitching - I have no patience for it, yet I've accomplished a few framed pieces. Decoupaging picture frames - absolutely love it. Decoupaging old soup cans - even better. Made by hand Christmas, Birthday, and Valentine's Day cards - I'm all for it. Acrostics for Andy's birthday - been there done that. Latch hook rugs - tried that too. Homemade braided rugs with old bath towels - tried it and epically failed. Button projects - absolutely love a big jar of random buttons. Like I said, I'm crafty. I have a set of drawers at home strictly designated for crafts. However.....and I highly emphasize however.......I paint like a 5th grader. The artwork is well-thought-out, but the final product is never awe-inspiring. It borders on the line of embarrassing actually.

Bottles & Brushes hosts group events at local wine shops throughout the city and they will even host a private party at a location of your choosing, with a group of 5 or more. For $35, you get a 3 hour package that includes a wine tasting, snacks and all the materials that you need to create your masterpiece. We had a group of about 10, which made it really fun, and we decided to go on a Monday night to paint the flower you see in the picture. Everyone paints the same picture, but the details and specifics of the painting can be completely up to you. I was nervous about what I could actually create. I mean, did they know what they were getting themselves into when I sat down on that stool as an artist in their class?

There is an artist present at the event that instructs you how to do each step, and what to paint when. They help mix colors for you, and step in the middle of a crisis situation when you swear you have just officially ruined your painting. It was a blast and I definitely want to go again in the near future. I laughed and told Andy I was going to hang the picture in his apartment, but after putting it up on the wall at my place, I think it is meant to stay there. It needs a partner, so I do have hopes of painting a similar picture in the next month or so, to make it a pair on the wall.

I guess it is time to talk about the food. And I am never one to shy away from talking about my love for Rick Bayless. If I am being honest about this meal, and since it is a food blog, I should probably be honest when it comes to things like this - I didn't have very high hopes initially for this meal. There are very few ingredients in the recipe list, and none of them are specifically out of the ordinary. Onions, tomatillos, potatoes, pickled jalapenos out of a can, and chicken. I mean, anyone could easily have these ingredients on hand in their pantry. And throw in a crock pot, which sometimes mushes all flavors together and just screams, a throw together sort of unhealthy meal, and I can't say it creates the best outlook on things.

Until now that is. Ok, so I should have trusted Rick Bayless. I mean, he is the God of Mexican cooking, and I should just automatically know that it will be out of this world delicious. The dish had so much flavor and the chicken was fall off the bone tender. I am not one to love chicken, and I'm not afraid to let anyone know it, yet I couldn't get enough of it. Not only did I eat this meal for dinner, but I actually took leftover chicken for my lunch 3 days in a row. I never, I repeat, NEVER, take leftover chicken in my lunch.

As the meal cooks in the crockpot over 6 hours, it creates the most wonderful smell in your apartment. That alone, is worth the 6 hours of cooking time. This is an easy, 1 pot, delicious weeknight meal, that you should absolutely put on your "to make" list.

Slow Cooked Chicken with Tomatillos and Potatoes

adapted from Rick Bayless "Mexican Everyday"

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1 medium white onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds

Salt

4 medium (about 1 pound total) red skin potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 pounds bone in, skinless, chicken thighs

1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1 1/4 pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup sliced canned pickled jalapenos

2 tablespoons jalapeno pickling juice

Spread the onion over the bottom of a slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt. Continue with layers of the potato slices, chicken thighs, cilantro, and then tomatillos, sprinkling salt evenly over each layer before moving on to the next. Scatter the jalapeno slices over everything, then drizzle on the pickling juice. Cover and slow cook on high for 6 hours.

Chana Masala

For as many times as I have been to The Spice House in Old Town, blogged about it, made recipes from the countless number of spices that are available there, and insisted that people just have to make a stop there when in the area, I can hardly believe that I haven't been just a few doors down to spend my paycheck at and taste my way through Old Town Oil. Jenn - over at The Whole Kitchen - has an entire counter in her kitchen devoted to storage for bottles of vinegar and oil from this store - and mind you, she doesn't have a large kitchen. I like to think of it as a home cook's way to go about decorating an apartment, with ingredients that don't fit in cabinets. But the bottles taking up space is totally worth it.

As of December though, that statement of me having never stepped foot in there can no longer be true. On one of the most miserable days in the city during the month of December, while it was pouring down buckets of rain, as were accomplishing a list a mile long of errands, while I was on crutches, Andy and I ventured into Old Town Oil to do some browsing. He was hoping to get Mom and Dad some wine and olive oil for Christmas, and I suggested we try to hit Old Town for some gift ideas. I honestly didn't head in there envisioning myself coming out with items for myself. I was purely going in there to help Andy out with some shopping - and I would just take in the whole experience. What was I thinking? That would be like sending me into a Whole Foods, and actually coming out empty handed - which I don't believe could ever happen. EVER. Old Town Oil apparently has the same affect on me.

Wow. I can hardly wait to go back. It is a small store, light hardwood floors, and very friendly local Chicago staff helping you out with just about anything you might need. They provide you with tiny samples of various flavored olive oils and unique vinegars that you have never seen before in your average local grocery store. I think we were both a little hesitant to just start downing olive oils by the small plastic cup, but after the first one, it quickly became routine. The staff also makes suggestions as to what oils pair best with what vinegars. I was like a kid in a candy store - except with how I roll - I was a kid in an olive oil and vinegar store. I immediately mapped out at least 8 bottles that I just had to have. After contemplating how much that would cost though, I showed some restraint and settled on just 3 for myself. I walked out of there with Basil olive oil, Harissa Olive Oil, and Fig Balsamic Vinegar.

The Basil Olive Oil is practically gone - that didn't take long. And granted, the bottles aren't huge, so it goes quicker than you would think. I've been converted to actually having salads at lunch, making a fig balsamic vinaigrette dressing to go along with it. Friday night pasta dinners feel so gourmet when you add just a splash of specialty oil. Andy's convinced we will be spending too much money there in the new future, so I'm learning to save the oil for special occasions. No need bringing out the good China for just an everyday meal. Save it for when it counts.

Onto the Chana Masala....

I've been meaning to make Chana Masala for quite some time now. I've read countless recipes, where this simple, chickpea based dish, creates an amazing and flavorful one pot meal. I'm a huge fan of chickpeas, and can definitely eat a meat-free meal and be completely satisfied at the end of it. I did some browsing around online, and decided on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The list of spices is long - I probably only had 3/4 of them in my spice cabinet - but figured it was worth the trip to the store to get the spices that I didn't have on hand. I contemplated making a trip to The Spice House to get what I needed, but decided in the end, that the grocery store would be good enough in this case. Smitten Kitchen reinforced to her readers that this would be a dish that you would want to make again, so it was ok to splurge on a few extra ingredients.

I ate the chickpeas for 4 days straight, eating them by night over just a bit of polenta, and by day on their own atop a small lettuce salad. The dish is extremely flavorful - getting more tasty as it sits. You could serve this as a side to and grilled fish, or any other type of meat for that matter, or you can simply eat it on its own. I did have dried chickpeas on hand, but in interest of time, decided to go with just the canned variety. I think either would definitely work here. Next time, I will go a little easier on the cayenne pepper, as I found my lips to be burning just a bit too easy, with each bite I took. Next time I make this dish, I also hope to try homemade Naan, to go along with it. A perfect Indian-inspired meal, with very little work to be done in the kitchen.

Chana Masala

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 fresh chili pepper, minced

1 tablespoon coriander

2 tablespoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

2/3 cup water

2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 lemon juiced

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and saute over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes with their juice. Scrape up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Chocolate Mousse Cake and Olive Oil Ice Cream

Andy and I celebrated 365 ridiculously awesome days together this past Sunday. I don't know how time goes by so quickly. To celebrate the occasion, we planned out a weekend that incorporated relaxing/do nothing types of activities, a few productive errands, a little exercise, and some good food.

The 3 day weekend...well 3-day holiday weekend for some of us...kicked off with staying in and making dinner on Friday night. I've quickly grown accustomed to the idea that new Friday night meal from now until September 11th will officially be pasta, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, and some sort of healthy protein. I like to call it "the dinner for people who are working out on Saturday mornings" type of meal. The meal must have some energizing power though as I made it through a spin class and a yoga class on Saturday morning. I really can't do everything that the entire class is doing, as walking without a limp is still my top priority, but gosh, I do feel good just being back at the gym, in my workout clothes, and in attendance at the group exercise classes.

Highlights of the weekend also included a trip to the movies, dinner at Webster Wine Bar, a couple trips to Starbucks, church at DePaul, brunch at John's Place, a Bears win over the Seahawks, a dinner out at Devon Seafood Grill, and a coffee/lunch date with Mom on Monday in Schaumburg. At Devon, I dined on seared ahi tuna - the same dish that Andy first made when I went to his apartment for dinner on our first date. A great tradition, that I think we will continue.

The non-highlight portion of the weekend occurred when I decided to make a small batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies - without a mixer. I wasn't sure if it could be done or not, but after looking up recipes on Google, and realizing that our Grandmother's did not bake with Kitchen Aid stand mixers - I figured I could handle it. Turn on the oven. Fine. Make the cookies. Fine. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper fine. Put the cookies onto the sheet. Fine. Put the cookies into the oven. Fine. 6 minutes later. Not fine.

Me: Do you think it is smoky in here?
Andy: Well, kind of.
Me: The cookies have only been in for 6 minutes, I don't think they could be burnt yet. I'm going to go check on them
(I open the oven. Smoke starts streaming out. I shut the oven)
Andy: Uhhh...yea...it is kind of smoky in here. Let me open a window. This is why you don't put plastic on all the windows.
Me: I'll open the door to the hallway.
(Not such a good idea - smoke alarm in the hallway starts going off. I shut the door)
Andy: Is that the smoke alarm in the hallway?
Me: Ummm....yes. Is it going to go off on it's own?
Andy: Yes. But not until the smoke clears out. I'll take the batteries out. (Tick, tock, tick, tock) The ceiling is too high, it won't shut off. We'll just have to wait.
Emily: What do we do?
Andy: We are probably waking up all the neighbors.
Emily: Well, it is 2pm, I doubt anyone is sleeping right now. And none of the neighbors have come out to see what is going on.
(Me standing at the oven - Andy standing by the couch near the open window. We are just blankly staring at each other. I'm mad because cookies don't burn in 6 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I'm blaming the oven. Andy is falsely accusing my baking skills since my track record of baking when he is around is sub-par. I throw in the towel. Literally. Whose idea was it to make cookies at halftime anyways? Oh wait....it was mine.)

I should have stuck with the cookies seen here from Cafe Selmarie, which is located in Lincoln Square. I was up in LS for a meeting with the great folks at Fleet Feet up there, and the cafe was recommended to me for their outstanding coffee and homemade cookies. I bought a few chocolate chip shortbread, rosemary lemon shortbread, and cinnamon sugar cookies. They didn't disappoint.



We are finally on to part 3 of the New Year's Day meal - Chocolate Mousse Cake with Olive Oil Ice Cream. This picture doesn't do the dessert a lot of justice, but I couldn't seem to do anything about it. There are a couple different variations on the cake, depending on how you want to serve it. One option is cold, out of the refrigerator. The other is at room temperature, and the final option is piping hot right out of the oven. My goal was to make the dish ahead of time, so I went with option 1, serving the mousse cake cold.

I told Andy I was making homemade ice cream to go with the cake and he was more than ok with that idea. When I told him it was olive oil ice cream, I think he immediately wished I was making a chocolate ice cream or any flavor other than olive oil. The only ice cream option in the book though was Olive Oil Ice Cream, so I was going to go with it. I believe I have had olive oil gelato before, and it honestly was no different than your average vanilla flavor.

I did everything the day before: making the cake bottom, making the mousse, chilling everything, freezing the ice cream. I didn't want to be fooling with dessert in and amongst the other portions of the meal. The result is various layers of chocolate flavor goodness, intermixed with the cool refreshing flavor of the ice cream. Next time, I would choose a fruitier olive oil in order to give the ice cream a little more flavor. It wasn't as potent as I was hoping for, and if you didn't know olive oil was the star ingredient, you wouldn't have been able to taste it. Either way, a perfect ending to a really fantastic meal.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table"

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1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup hot espresso

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 pinches of salt

4 eggs, separated

Center rack in the oven and preheat to 400. Butter the sides of an 8 inch springform pan (you won't be using the base). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the springform ring on it.

Melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The bowl should not be touching the water. When it's smooth, whisk in the espresso. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the butter tablespoon by tablespoon. Gently whisk in the sugar and a pinch of salt, then add the yolks one at a time.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites with another pinch of salt until they are firm but still glossy. Very gingerly whisk about one quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, just to lighten it. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold the remainder of the whites into the chocolate.

Scrape a generous 1/3 of the mixture into the buttered ring of the pan. Cover and refrigerate remaining mousse.

Bake the cake for 15 minutes, at which point it will be puffed (mine was not). Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cake cool to room temperature. Chill the base, still on the baking sheet for at least an hour. Wait for the bottom layer to cool completely, then scrape the remaining mousse into the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Transfer the springfrom to a serving plate and remove the ring. Slice and serve.

Olive Oil Ice Cream

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table"

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2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

Set a heatproof bowl with a strainer set over it ready for the cooked custard.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a large heavy saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Whisking without stop, drizzle in about 1/3 of the hot liquid - adding it slowly will temper the eggs and prevent them from cooking. Once the eggs are acclimated to the heat, you can whisk in the remaining liquid a little more quickly. Add the salt and pour the custard back into the pan. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring constantly. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees, but no more than 180 degrees.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl. Discard whatever remains in the strainer. Add the olive oil and whisk. Stir in the vanilla. The custard needs to chill before you churn it. Chill it and scrape the custard into your ice cream maker and make according to the appliance instructions.

Beef Daube

My goal this year was to eat at one of the 3 Rick Bayless restaurants here in the city of Chicago: Xoco, Frontera Grill, or Topolobampo. I can't say that I have gone out of my way to make it happen. I've looked online for reservations for the occasional Friday or Saturday night dinner, only to realize I am about 2 months behind schedule to get a reservation on the calendar. Why would I think that I could look 2 weeks ahead of time and actually get a time that I would be looking for? I mean, I could easily take the random Tuesday night dinner reservation, but that almost seems too easy. My other option would be to hit Xoco right after work, when it isn't crazy busy, and slightly earlier than the normal dinner rush. However, I don't want to go there on just a random day. I'd rather be eating there for a special occasion. In my mind, a Bayless restaurant visit just screams special occasion.

Mom and Dad were in the city during the week in between Christmas and New Years. Ben had the day off as well and the 4 of us were doing some Christmas returns and had decided to do lunch together. We felt slightly bad that Anne and Andy couldn't join us, as they were at work, but relished in the fact that we were not the ones in the office that day. My first thought for lunch was Xoco. It was an easy sell for Dad because he would eat just about anything on the menu, as would I, and Mom would love it because it is talked about all the time in the Chicago restaurant scene. In my mind, it was during the week, we weren't on an immediate time schedule, and it would be the perfect way to round out the Christmas weekend.

Not so fast. We arrived to find the line out the door - which really wasn't what we were hoping for. I can be a good sport about things, but standing in a line, outside when it is sub-freezing temperatures, just makes me plain antsy. Ok, plan B. Let's see if Frontera could take us for lunch. Nope. Completely booked. Well, ok. Let's go big or go home and do Topolobampo for lunch. Nothing there either. How could something be completely booked like that? I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I wonder if Rick Bayless feels that his restaurant empire has become more of a touristy, we have to go there, sort of destination spot for foodies? I wonder how many local Chicago folks are actually eating there on a weekly basis? It seems that the out-of-towners just seem to flock to that block to eat. I mean, I'm surely one of them that would be flocking there, but I wonder if this is where he envisioned himself going?

We decided on eating at Naha, which is kitty corner from the Rick Bayless trio of mecca dining restaurants. At first, I was a little disappointed with the turn of events, but it ended up being the perfect afternoon lunch. It was quiet. We splurged on wine at lunch, with the Phillips' don't usually do. I had an awesome lunch omelet, with thick-cut bacon, sauteed arugula, fresh cheddar cheese, and chunks of roasted potatoes. The boys got burgers that came with hand cut frittes. Hand cut frittes? Yes please. Lunch this day, was a real treat.

Round 2 of the New Year's Day dinner a la Dorie Greenspan, brings us to this recipe for Beef Daube. If you aren't familiar with daube - don't worry, I wasn't either - it is a classic French stew made with cubed beef braised in wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbs. I feel fancy just saying the word beef daube. Andy texted me a day or two after we had this meal and said "I just had some leftover beef daube for lunch" - well look at us - using the word beef daube in text messages now.

This was the perfect main course, because once all of the vegetables and the beef were cut up, the oven did the rest of the work for you. In and amongst preparing dessert and a special salad, this is exactly what I was looking for. It required a stir halfway through cooking, but other than that, it really made itself. At the end stages of cooking, I thought the pot looked a little liquidy, so I added just a bit of cornstarch and cold water mixed together to the pot to thicken it up a bit. I'm not sure if most daube's are supposed to be a little loose in liquid or not, but I was picturing more of a stew, and the cornstarch fixed that problem immediately.

I'm not usually a fan of things cooked in wine, so I was a little hesitant about the final product. I didn't even splurge on a really good bottle of wine either. I believe I went with a Chianti that was $9.99 from Whole Foods. In my mind, the dish didn't even taste of wine. It tasted like a warm, rich, comforting beef stew. The parsnips give the dish that touch of sweetness that just makes you feel like you are eating something that you would be served at a nice French restaurant.

This will be a definite recipe in my rotation of winter dishes. It tastes better than your average beef stew, and is quite simple to make. Stay tuned for the third and final round of the special New Year's Day meal.

Beef Daube

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table"

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4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1 inch wide pieces

3 1/2 pound beef chuck roast, fat removed and cut into 2 inch cubes

2 tablespoons oil

Salt and pepper

2 yellow onions, quartered and thinly sliced

6 shallots, thinly sliced

1 garlic head, halved horizontally, only loose papery peel removed

1 1/2 pounds carrots, trimmed, peeled, halved crosswise, and sliced into half moons

1/2 pound parsnips, trimmed, peeled, halved crosswise and cut into half moons

1 bottle fruity red wine

Leaves from 3 thyme sprigs

To thicken if you like at the end:

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/3 cup cold water

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350.

Put a Dutch oven over medium heat and toss in the bacon. Cook, stirring just until the bacon browns, then transfer to a bowl.

Dry the beef between sheets of paper towels. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the bacon fat in the pot and warm it over medium high heat. Brown the beef in batches, on all sides. Don't crowd the pot. Make sure that each piece gets good color. Transfer the browned meat to the bowl with the bacon and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Pour off the oil in the pot, add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and warm it over medium heat. Add the onions and shallots. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 10 minutes. Toss in the garlic, carrots, and parsnips, and give everything a few good turns to cover all the ingredients with a little oil. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn up heat to high. Add the beef and bacon to the pot. Give everything a good stir.

When the wine comes to a boil, cover the pot tightly with a piece of aluminum foil and the lid. Slide the daube into the oven and allow it to braise for 1 hour.

Pull the pot out of the oven, remove the lid and foil, and stir everything up once. If it looks as if the liquid is reducing by a great deal, add just enough water to cover the ingredients. Re cover the pot with the foil and lid, slip it back into the oven, and cook for another 1 1/2 hours. At this point, the meat should be fork tender. If not, continue to cook it for another half hour.

If you wish to thicken the daube (I did) add the water/cornstarch mixture and let the daube cook for another 15 minutes in the oven.

Serve the beef and vegetables moistened with the sauce.

Bacon and Egg and Asparagus Salad

I'm announcing a new habit of mine - and I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing. I didn't used to be a Coke drinker at all. I tended to side with the idea that my one coffee per day was just the right amount of caffeine that I needed to get by. Starting in October, which makes me think I should blame the rod in my leg for this one, I all of a sudden started having a little Diet Coke in the afternoon. I don't even know how the trend started. And it's not like I'm drinking 9 Diet Cokes a day or anything, it is just the one. I don't even think I drink it for the caffeine that it contains. I find myself watching the clock, waiting for that 3 o'clock hour to come around so that I can crack open a Diet Coke while I have my afternoon snack. I went 4 years at the ACS office, and never once used the pop machine in the break room. I probably couldn't have even told you whether or not we had a pop machine in our office in general. Mom says that 1 Diet Coke per day is not going to kill me, but I don't know where I went wrong in all of a sudden having a liking for a little Coke in the afternoon. I guess there are worse things to take a liking to.

I love that my cookbook collection is one that is ever growing and changing. No matter where technology takes us, and no matter how many apps are created to assist us in the kitchen, and no matter how many food bloggers post recipes that I just must try, nothing will replace the routine of grabbing a cookbook off the shelf, paging through it, flagging recipes, and putting together a grocery list to get the meal started off just right. The number of cookbooks on the one bookshelf in my one bedroom apartment, far outnumber the actual literary books that are placed on that shelf. That is just the way I like it.

I got 3 new cookbooks for Christmas this year: Ina Garten's "Back to Basics", the 3rd set of the "Canal House Cooking" Cookbooks, and Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table".

I spent a good portion of Christmas day paging through the recipes in my new books, contemplating what recipes would be getting made first. This might be a bit sentimental of me, but I think it is important to do something memorable around the special days of the year. A birthday doesn't mean as much in the long run, when a year later, you can't even remember what you did to celebrate the day. Take the time to plan something special for the important days of the year, so you can look back and know exactly what you did for xx holiday. In sticking with that motto, I thought what better way to ring in 2011 than to make a slightly over the top, not your average Saturday night, sort of dinner.

A full course French meal for 2 - made entirely from Dorie Greenspan's book. In my mind, that would make it memorable. Will Andy consider it memorable? I don't know. I'll get back to you a year from now. I also seem to have a knack for remembering everything I ordered at a certain restaurant and probably what everyone else had at the table as well. I can't remember who sings certain songs for the life of me, yet I can quote meals for people left and right.

For the starter portion of the dinner, I decided to go with a Bacon, Egg, and Asparagus Salad. I absolutely adore all of those ingredients, so what is not to love about a salad that combines them all together? The process is slightly more time consuming that your average dinner salad, yet it is so worth the extra work.

The salad consists of sauteed, crumbled bacon, boiled asparagus, toasted walnuts, a shaving of fresh cheese, and a barely soft boiled egg. I was able to use the basil olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar that I got from the Old Town Oil store just down the street from me. I think the explosion of these ingredients together, just make for an amazing salad. Dorie is firm in her belief that to achieve this barely soft boiled egg, you must only simmer it for 6 minutes in boiling water. Before starting this process, I confirmed with Andy that he would be ok eating an egg with a runny yolk. In my mind, the runnier the yolk, the better, but I'm not sure everyone feels that way. He gave me the thumbs up to barely poach to my hearts content.

I chickened out slightly and couldn't bring myself to pull the egg out of water at 6 minutes. I didn't have any spare eggs on hand as a back-up, so I couldn't go big or go home with this task. I played it safe and did 7 minutes and 30 seconds - which in my mind was perfect. A tad runny, yet still holding its shape atop the salad. This recipe has an awesome finale. Once you are ready to assemble the salad, you reheat the bacon grease on the stove and you lightly toss the soft boiled eggs in the bacon grease to give them just a touch of flavor.

Bacon and Eggs and Asparagus Salad

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table"

For the Vinaigrette

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fig vinegar (or other vinegar)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon walnut oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

4 large eggs

20 asparagus spears, trimmed and peeled

6 strips bacon

3 handfuls mesclun or other mixed salad greens

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts

To make the vinaigrette: put all the ingredients in a small jar, cover, and shake to blend - or use a whisk.

TO make the salad: bring a medium saucepan of heavily salted water to a boil. One by one, put the eggs on a spoon and slowly lower them into the water. Allow the eggs to boil for exactly 7 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Lift the eggs into a strainer, and run them under cold water to cool them down. Fill the pan with cold water and leave the eggs in there until needed.

Bring a large skilled of salted water to a boil. Slip the asparagus into the pan and cook for 4 minutes, or until you can pierce the spears with the tip of a paring knife. The asparagus should be cooked through but not mushy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and pat them dry.

Pour out the salted water, rinse the skilled, and dry it. Add the strips of bacon into the pan. Cook over medium low heat, turning as needed until the bacon is crisp on both sides. Remove the strips from the pan and lay them on paper towels. Once slightly cooked, chop them into bits. Leave 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the skilled. You'll use it for the eggs.

When you are ready to serve, carefully shell the eggs. They are soft, so be careful. Warm the bacon fat over low heat. Assemble the salad. Season the lettuce with salt and pepper and toss it with the dressing. Add the asparagus and lay them over the greens. Top with the crumbled bacon and the toasted walnuts.

Return to the skillet and slip the eggs into the bacon fat and roll them around for a minute or two just to coat them with fat. Lift the eggs out of the skillet and place them on top of the asparagus. Serve immediately.

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I recently cancelled my cable subscription with RCN. At one point in my life, this would have been a travesty, a "you can't be serious" sort of decision. I sometimes even stop myself when I tell people out loud that I cancelled my cable. Who me? Did I just say that? Didn't I at one time live and die by the Food Network? I guess 90210 Saturdays in bed on Oxygen would no longer be an option either. And you can definitely say goodbye to Lifetime movies. I thought I would miss those things. How would I get by without knowing who wins the next season of Top Chef? How will I know what house a couple picks on House Hunters without getting HGTV?

Well, I am 3 months in to this new cable-free journey, and I must say, I don't even miss it. I have an antenna that lets me get the normal channels - 2,5,7,9,11,12 - and in all honesty, it is enough. I'm saving over $100 per month and I have decided that if I do choose to watch tv, I can find something on one of the 6 channels that I get. I do have a Netflix subscription (and when I say "I", I guess I mean "I" as in Andy has one that I get to use) and it does help to always have a few movies on hand. But all in all, I'm surprised with how easy the transition was.

My tradition of making homemade birthday cakes continues. I seem to be accumulating all of the supplies in my kitchen that I would need to be an annual birthday cake maker. I have multiple 9 inch cake pans, the infamous mini cakes pans that turned on me when I needed them, 2 cake plates - one big and one small, a cake carrier, a cake cutting spatula, and various frostings on hand in my pantry. It's a tradition that I better stick with since I have invested in all of the fixings to go along with it.

How long is too long to go before posting a recipe once you have made it? 1 month? 2 months? 7 weeks? Andy's birthday was in November and despite my poor track record in making cakes for him that actually turn out in edible form, he agreed to let me make him a birthday cake - good choice. Smitten Kitchen seems to have oodles and oodles of cake recipes in her blog index, so I thought it might be best to go with one of hers. She titles this cakes as "the best birthday cake ever". How could I not be sold on that?

We celebrated the evening by having dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - his choice, not mine - as it should be. We had martinis stuffed with blue cheese olives, steaks bigger than we could eat, roasted tomatoes, and mashed potatoes. We skipped dessert there knowing this cake was waiting at home.

I made the cake the day before the actual birthday to save on some time, so it wasn't a right out of the oven sort of cake. Ok, it even spent some time in the refrigerator because I wasn't sure if cake could sit out overnight and still be ok to eat the next day. So all in all, after baking, sitting, refrigerating, and then coming back up to room temperature, it turned out great. We ate on in for quite a few days and I just breathed a sigh of relief that a cake recipe of mine actually came out looking and tasting like a real cake. Let the tradition continue.

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

print this recipe

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment. (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Instant Fudge Frosting

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.

Chicken Stew with Okra

January 2011. Time sure does fly. In continuing with tradition, I once again made a black eyed pea salad to welcome in the New Year. Black eyed peas are said to bring good luck, so to not mess with the tradition, I cooked up a big pot of peas. I've been eating the salad for 3 days now; 3 days of black eyed peas will surely do me some good, right? A pound of peas, chopped red pepper, chopped onion, fresh parsley, olive oil, and vinegar. Simple. And hopefully, lucky.

When thinking about what I should write about in this blog, so many things come to mind. I mean, I could easily talk about the holidays, the parties I attended, the movies I saw, the meals that I ate, the gifts that I got, and the resolutions that have been made for 2011. Instead of taking up an hour of your time, recapping the happenings in the last month, I thought maybe a top 5 list would be a great way to look back on the past year.

It actually started as a top 10 list, but after realizing that might be a bit time consuming, I made the executive decision to cut 6 through 10. Let's stick with the highlights. Ok, now that I think of it, let's just keep it to the Top 3.

Emily's Top 3 for 2010:

1. Big Shoulders. In September, I completed my first endurance event race. Emily was going swimming. Before 2010, I had done some pool swimming, but just simply as a way to workout on my own, nothing serious. I had never owned a wetsuit, never done an open water swim, never continuously went swimming for longer than an hour, or competed in a swim race. I'm assuming that the local 5k endurance event runs that I did when I was younger don't actually count. Big Shoulders was a 3 mile swim race out at Ohio Street beach, which is just steps from my apartment. For the first time ever, I actually trained for something. I completed something I never thought possible. I crossed the finish line. I had friends and family out cheering me on. I helped raise money for our 2010 DetermiNation team - raising over $10,000 as a team. Pretty amazing experience.

2. Andrew Crabtree. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have someone like Andy around. We met at Fleet Feet back in May of 2009. Andy was attending an info session to learn more about joining the DetermiNation team. Over the next 7 months, I made small, sly moves, to find ways to talk to him.....what was I thinking? I made non-chalant conversation about making ice cream from scratch and encouraged him to join the committee because I thought he was out-going and would be a good fit for our group. After our first committee meeting in January, Andy asked me to come have dinner with him. He made me grilled tuna, grilled asparagus, grilled potatoes, and homemade lemon ice cream with strawberries. He had me at grilled tuna. Despite making him go 3 months without really telling anyone we were dating, for sake of ruining his ACS experience, I think it is safe to say that I've moved past that now. Here is to a great 2011, razzle dazzle.

3. Benny and Anne get married. Weddings are always a good time. You are always happy for the bride and groom, and you are always honored to be a part of someone's special day. However, I must say, there is nothing like going to a wedding when your brother is the one getting married. I only have one sibling, so I guess it is a one shot deal when it comes to having him get married. Ben married Anne on July 24th and I must say, it was one of the best times I've ever had. I'm not usually a crier, but cried when seeing Ben's face as Anne walked down the aisle. We love Anne and love having her as a part of our family. I think it is a night we will all always remember. The best part? The dancing with friends and family. Watching my Aunt enjoy the evening despite not feeling well. Watching Mom and Dad getting down to the Black Eyed Peas. Watching the crowd spin circles around Ben and Anne during the last dance. It was awesome.

2010 was a great year. Now onto the food.....

I've actually had this Chicken Stew with Okra recipe in my back pocket for quite awhile now. I made it back in November. It was one of the first dishes I cooked after being off my feet for awhile from the surgery. It is a great one-pot meal and I'm pretty sure that is why it made it to the top of my "to-make" list. I got the iPad at the beginning of November and have quickly warmed up to the Epicurious App. You can star recipes as favorites and it compiles them into a list for you. The list of my favorites continues to grow at a rapid pace, and I often must go back and pair down some of the choices that have been made. There's nothing worse than being overwhelmed by the favorites in your recipe index.

I grew up in New Orleans, but I can't say that we used okra a lot in our cooking. I know the okra comes in most gumbos, but outside of that, I'm really foreign to the vegetable. I think the okra really adds to the stew. The original recipe calls for a whole cut up chicken, but since I prefer the white meat, I decided to go with all bone in breasts. Cut up a few sweet potatoes, thaw the okra, open up a can of tomatoes, and you really have yourself a meal. The recipe also calls for peanut butter. It may sound odd to put peanut butter in a dish like this, but I really think it adds to the flavor and it really helps to thicken up the sauce in the dish.

Andy doesn't care for peanut butter, so I failed to tell him that the recipe had a 1/2 cup peanut butter in it. And to top it off, all I had on hand was crunchy peanut butter, not creamy, but I just went with it. Andy dislikes chunky peanut butter. How are we even a good match? Lo and behold, he ate it without even mentioning the thought of tasting peanut butter. Withholding the truth? I like to think of it as, you really do like peanut butter, just give it a chance, and what you don't know won't hurt you.

This is a great winter one pot meal, and the leftovers are even better. Give it a try!

Chicken Stew with Okra

adapted from Epicurious.com

print this recipe

4 bone in, skin on, chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

1 15oz can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter at room temperature

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 pound sweet potatoes

1 bag frozen okra, thawed

Arrange chicken in 1 layer on a tray, then sprinkle with salt and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Stir water into tomato paste in a small bowl until smooth. Pat chicken dry. Heat oil in a 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, without crowding, in 3 or 4 batches, turning over occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer with tongs as browned to a 6- to 7-quart heavy pot. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then add onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until edges are golden, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add onion, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste mixture, garlic paste, and cayenne to chicken in pot.

Whisk together peanut butter and 1 cup broth in a bowl until smooth, then add to chicken along with remaining 3/4 cup broth, stirring to combine well (chicken will not be completely covered with liquid). Bring to a boil, uncovered, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally (to prevent sticking), until chicken is very tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Peel sweet potato and cut into 1-inch chunks. Stir into stew along with okra, then simmer, covered, until potato is tender but not falling apart, 10 to 12 minutes.