Saturday, August 30, 2008

What's cooking?

Well tonight, it's going to be ribeyes on the grill, along with asparagus and corn. Paul has become the corn grilling man. He wraps it in tin foil and it is JUST perfect.

Our friends at Art of the Table recommended a unique bottle of zinfandel for our ribeyes.
Since they have never steered us wrong, we immediately obliged. We will post a review of the wine post Saturday meal.

It is so wonderful to be cooking again. We have work space in the kitchen, the weather is nothing short of perfect and those bag o'salads are coming in quite handy. With the convection oven installed, we have some flexibility for meals. Whew. And when the rest of the appliances are installed, the possibilities will be endless.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A long, lonely summer

We have no kitchen. Ummm, I guess technically we do have a kitchen, only it's several walls, a subfloor and a nicely painted ceiling thanks to Paul and Deb. So what have we been doing all summer? Jimmy Johns, 10 minute and a host of local restaurants with coupons from friends. This has not been an inexpensive proposition - not from the renovation perspective or the eating out perspective. All the way around it's been expensive!

So I dream of baking in my new kitchen. We will have a convection oven and by friends' accounts, it is pretty slick. Here is my first order once the new kitchen is up and humming.

Blueberry Cobbler (courtesy of Lakeside Living and Entertaining)

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided (I might try Splenda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water (not to be confused with the boiling water part)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups fresh blueberries rinsed and drained.

Oven 400 degrees. Baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in boiling water just until mixture is moist.

In a separate bowl, dissolve corn starch in water. Mix in remaining sugar, lemon juice and blueberries. Transfer to cast iron skillet and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Drop dough into skillet by spoonfuls. Place skillet on baking sheet and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.