They say it's amazing

I don't like onions.  Nope.  Not at all.  Not raw, not cooked, not baked, not boiled.  Never have.  The rule at our house, when I was growing up, was that you had to eat three bites of everything - whether you liked it or not.  The ONLY exception was onions.  Mom decided that onions were not nutritionally necessary and it was okay if I didn't eat any, ever.

Mom, on the other hand, loved onions.  In fact, she used to brag that when she was little, she would hide under the farmhouse table (with its long flowing tablecloth) and sneak Walla Walla sweet onions from the 50 lb bag that was stored there and eat them like apples.  (I just can't imagine anything worse!)  Of course, everything came to screeching halt when Grandma figured out where mom was hiding and what she was doing under the tablecloth.  That also solved the question of what was happening to her Walla Walla Sweets.

Mom's love affair with onions never faded.  So, when Mom & Dad's 50th anniversary came around it just seemed appropriate that we should have an onion dish.  I did my usual search through recipe books and food magazines.  But, I just couldn't find "the" recipe.

About that same time, we were given a gift certificate to eat at a restaurant "Caprial's" owned by a local chef/cooking show host.  They had a wonderful, delicious menu.  We loved it immediately.  And that gave me an idea.

A quick search on the internet got me to their restaurant's website.  Miraculously, they had posted loads of their recipes (from both the restaurant and the cooking show) on the website.  I went to town, picking out the menu for the anniversary party.

This caramelized onion gratin immediately grabbed my attention.  Of course, I had no intention of eating any of it.  And, I didn't.  But everyone else raved about it.  So, if you like onions, give this one a try.  They say it's amazing!

Caramelized Onion Gratin

INGREDIENTS

2	T olive oil
4	lg onions, julienne (Walla Walla Sweets)
2	cups heavy cream
4	eggs
3	cloves garlic
1	cup bread crumbs
¼	cup grated parmesan cheese
1	t cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oil in a very large sauté pan over high heat until smoking hot.  Add onions and let brown well before moving – about 2-3 minutes.  Onions should be caramelized, but not burned.  When caramelized on all sides, place onions in a greased casserole dish.

2. In a small bowl whisk together cream, eggs, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour over onions.

3. Sprinkle onion and cream mixture with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in a 350° oven for 30-40 minutes.

Just like the real thing

Homemade pizza is tricky.  The dough’s texture is never really right, the sauce is never zing-y enough, and the cheese doesn’t melt right.  At least that has been my experience.

 

I’ve solved the dough problem by going to Trader Joe’s and picking up TJ's Fresh Pizza Dough and using a pizza stone in my oven.  And, I’ve found a pre-grated package of three-cheese “pizza” blend that solves the stringy cheese problem.  It was the sauce that I could never get right.  My pizza sauce always tasted like spaghetti sauce.  And that’s just wrong!  Pizza sauce has a unique flavor and all the experimenting in the world wasn’t solving that problem.  I tried about fifteen different tomato sauces.  I added tomato paste.  I added Italian Seasoning.  I switched that out and used just Oregano.  Nothing worked.

 

Then one day, my husband’s best buddy shared a recipe he got from a co-worker for pizza sauce.  The recipe is called “Gary’s Pizza Sauce”.  I had tried everything else I could think of, to no avail.  And, I’ll admit, I was intrigued by the directions on the recipe.  (It caught me off guard and made me laugh.)  So, I figured “why not?”

 

It is too profound to say that pizza sauce changed my life.  So, can we just agree that this pizza sauce recipe changed my pizza life?  It tastes like the real thing!!!  And the secret ingredient that makes it taste just right?  It's vinegar - who knew?!  One little tablespoonful of magic.  What a difference it makes.  My sauce went from ho-hum to woo-hoo! with that spoonful of tangy goodness.  Besides, who doesn't want the green palms of a gourmet pizza sauce maker?

 

Gary’s Homemade Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS

2	8 oz cans tomato sauce
2	6 oz cans tomato paste
4	T oregano
4	T sweet basil
1-2	T minced garlic
	freshly ground black pepper
¼	cup minced onion  – OR
1	T onion powder
1	T (or more) vinegar – it adds tang!

Directions
1. Heat tomato sauce and tomato paste in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Grind the dry herbs between your palms while adding to the sauce.  It makes a finer grind and brings out the flavor – it also gets your palms green and gives you the feel of a gourmet sauce maker!  J

3. Add remaining ingredients.  Cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat.

 

So good it made me giggle

I’ve watched a lot of episodes of America’s Test Kitchen.  The host, Christopher Kimball, is a bit of an odd duck.  He wears bow ties and little round wire-rimmed glasses.  He is recognizably a northeasterner to the bone.  Most episodes he introduces the topic (recipe) of the day and proceeds to “host” with the chef of the day.  When it comes time to do the taste test, he does the obligatory “Mm, this is really good” sounds and tosses out a few descriptive phrases to let us know how it tastes.

Every once in a while, though, you can tell by his reaction that they got it right on.  He’ll start to taste in the usual way.  But suddenly he starts to giggle.  That’s when you know they have come up with something extra special.  He’ll even admit (on screen) that when it’s REALLY great he just can’t help himself.  He starts to giggle because it just tastes so good.

 

That’s kind of the same reaction I got the first time I made these Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey-Pecan Butter.  To be honest, I made the pancakes a couple of times and they were good.  But I had never taken the time to make the honey-pecan butter until our church’s Christmas Brunch.  We brought the pancake batter already made and the honey-pecan butter still very hot from the stove.  We made pancakes on a griddle – to order.  My husband was the griddle master and I trotted a plate piled high with pancakes and saucepan full of warm honey-pecan butter from table to table.

 

People would politely take a small pancake and often opted to skip the honey-pecan butter.  I urged them to try some, if even just a little bit.  As I turned to the next table, that’s when the giggling started – behind me.   I’d get about two tables away and someone would call me back to get “just a smidge more” of the honey-pecan butter.  Oh, and "maybe another pancake or two".  It happened over and over again as I wandered about the room peddling pancakes.  By the time I got back to the griddle to restock, there was lineup of folks waiting for more pancakes to come off the heat.  They never even got onto my serving plate.  We couldn’t keep up and eventually we ran out of batter and butter.  Had to turn people away.

 

Thankfully, I had stashed two tiny pancakes and tablespoonful of honey-pecan butter for us.  We sat down exhausted from the rush and did our very own little taste test.  Yup…you got it!  They were so good we started giggling.

 

Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey-Pecan Butter

 

INGREDIENTS

 

Pancakes:

1	cup flour
1	T sugar
2	t baking soda
	dash salt
¾	t cinnamon
2	T vegetable oil
1	egg
1	cup milk
½	cup canned pumpkin puree
½	cup sour cream

 

Honey-Pecan Butter:

½	cup pecans
½	cup butter. softened
¼	cup honey

 

Directions

1. For the pancakes, combine all ingredients.  Batter will be lumpy.  Fry pancakes on griddle.

2. For the honey-pecan butter, spread pecans on baking sheet and toast in 350° oven for 8 minutes.  Chop nuts in food processor or blender.  Beat butter and honey together until smooth.  Heat to warm butter mixture.  Add pecans.

3. Serve pancakes with honey-pecan butter drizzled on top.

What was I thinking?!

You know that moment, right after you've said "yes" to a giant project that you had no intention of agreeing to do?  That moment when you are just beginning to realize the enormity of the task and the full weight of its daunting responsibility?  Uh-huh, that's the moment.

Yup, I had that moment.  It was right after I said "Sure, I'd be happy to!"  It was then that I realized my compulsion to make people happy was a stupid character flaw.

My husband and his best buddy have been friends since well before I ever met him.  They've been through it - thick and thin.  They leaned on each other through failed marriages, career derailments, and a host of other things.  Each has been the other's confidante and supporter.

So, when the best buddy and his gal asked me to cater their wedding, at first I was thrilled that they liked my cooking well enough to ask me.  Next, I was flattered that they thought I could do this.  The voice of reason was banging around in my head trying to get control of the situation and I was sure that when I opened my mouth the words "Thanking you for asking me, but I couldn't possibly do it" would come out.  Instead, I heard myself say, "Oh!  I'd be so happy to - anything you want!"

What was I thinking?

When I had recovered, I quickly went to one of my favorite recipe resources - America's Test Kitchen.  I've watched most episodes of their show on PBS and have tried many of the their recipes.  Knowing that they test and taste until a recipe is perfect, I knew I would find just what I needed to pull this off.

I already had a couple of things in mind, like my Rice-Artichoke Salad and my Chinese Chicken Salad.  But I needed something extra that would round out the menu.  As I expected, they had exactly what I needed.


They had an episode where they used a gastrique* to dress the freshest of summer fruits, which creates complex layers of flavor along with dazzling color and sheen.

I've added the recipes for two of them - the two I used. However, there are four recipes altogether. (The other two recipes are:  Strawberries & Grapes with Balsamic & Red Wine Reduction and Red Plums & Figs with Brandy-Cardamom Reduction.)

When I made these two, I used just Honeydew & Blueberries (there weren't any great mangoes available at the time) and just Nectarines & Raspberries (I didn't think we needed to repeat the blueberries in a second fruit salad).

*A sauce made of a quick acid-sugar reduction.

 

HONEYDEW, MANGO, AND BLUEBERRIES WITH LIME-GINGER REDUCTION

INGREDIENTS

1	T grated lime zest from 4 limes (zest limes before juicing)
1	cup lime juice (from grated limes and additional 3-4 limes as needed)
¼	cup granulated sugar
	pinch salt
1	inch piece fresh ginger , peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1	T lemon juice
½	small honeydew melon , seeds and rinds removed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1	mango (about 10 ounces), peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
1	pint fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Simmer lime juice, sugar, and salt in small, heavy-bottomed nonreactive saucepan over high heat until syrupy, honey-colored, and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes.

2. Off heat, add lime zest, ginger, and lemon juice; steep 1 minute, and strain.

3. Combine fruit in medium bowl; pour warm dressing over and toss.

4. Serve immediately at room temperature or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate up to 4 hours, and serve chilled.

 

 

NECTARINES, BLUEBERRIES, AND RASPBERRIES WITH CHAMPAGNE-CARDAMOM REDUCTION

INGREDIENTS

1	cup Champagne (or dry white wine)
¼	cup granulated sugar
	pinch salt
1	T grated lemon zest
1	T lemon juice
5	cardamom pods, crushed
3	medium nectarines (about 18 ounces), pitted and cut in 1/2-inch wedges (about 3 cups)
1	pint fresh blueberries
1	pint fresh raspberries

Directions

1. Simmer champagne, sugar, and salt in small, heavy-bottomed nonreactive saucepan over high heat until syrupy, honey-colored, and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes.

2. Off heat, add lemon zest and juice and cardamom; steep 1 minute to blend flavors, and strain.

3. Combine nectarines, blueberries, and raspberries; pour warm dressing over fruit and toss to combine.

4. Serve immediately at room temperature or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate up to 4 hours, and serve chilled.