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I have some suggestions that may help  make things a bit easier for you. Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast with Blueberry Syrup is a recipe that I have made for years. It's from Gourmet Magazine's June 1999 issue. It's a great do ahead recipe that you can make this evening and bake tomorrow morning. I recently made it during wedding weekend at our house. You can omit the nuts and berries, if that is what your family prefers. However, do invest in real maple syrup to bring your game up a notch.
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Today is the final day of my special diet. Since I can only have clear liquids, I decided to head down to Joe Leone's Italian Specialities in Point Pleasant Beach to pick up something for my husband's for supper. 
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As  mentioned in yesterday's post, Whole Foods had Bell & Evans whole chickens on sale. I was trying to decided how to flavor this bird when my husband and I stopped in at Williams-Sonoma and perused their shelves of rubs and seasonings. My husband and I came across a few that sounded interesting, but decided on Hickory Molasses Rub. It's $10.95, however, it is currently 20% off. Although it says to rub on the food an hour before cooking, I'm going to try putting it on before I leave for work so that I can just put it on the grill when I get home.

Still on a special diet, so some mashed potatoes and a salad for my husband tonight to round out this meal.
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It's been a busy week so far and it's only Tuesday. I have driven to north Jersey the past two days and I'm tired. However, today I met my siblings to finalize some matters and then we grabbed some lunch at Red Kettle Deli in Totowa. My sister and brother had an eggplant Parmesan sandwich, my brother-in-law had a meatball sub and I had a turkey on white bread. Good food. However, what made the day special was a trip to Gelotti on Union Avenue in Paterson
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​I am working until closing tonight, so I won't get home possibly until seven. I was trying to think of a meal that I could prepare fairly easily and quickly. I remembered that I had in my pantry a jar of Williams-Sonoma Oven Baked Risotto, pumpkin flavored.
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Remember from my previous post that I said this was a work in progress, well this is my third attempt to write this post. I had it done and asked my daughter to review it, however, I must not have used the elements properly because she accidentally deleted my text.

Anyway, the other day I had to work until 5 p.m. I wanted to come home and have dinner on the table within an hour. I pulled out a recipe that I have been making for thirty years; it's called Grilled Chicken Dijonnaise. I can't quite remember where I found it, but as a former Gourmet magazine subscriber, perhaps it came from there. 
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I've had my tutorial from my blog designer, aka my daughter, and now I'm left to figure out how to create and edit my blog. It may take me a few tries to get it right, so I'll appreciate your patience.

After a busy weekend, it's back to work. Whole Foods had on special last week, sales run Wednesday to Tuesday, center-cut boneless pork chops for $4.99/lb. (a savings of $3).  In their sale flyer it says, "Our pork is raised on family farms and never given antibiotics."  I had previously tried Wegmans bone-in pork, those labeled "from local farms" and priced at approximately $8/lb.  However, I was curious to see how Whole Foods measured it up. ​
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I'm trying to catch up on the great recipes I've been make the past several weeks. As I usually work two nights a week, I'm always looking for one pan meals for their ease in preparation.  One of the recipes I prepared was sweet and sour pork which appeared in an old issue of Southern Living Magazine. I used pork tenderloin for the dish and it worked out perfectly. In addition to the pork you'll need a clove of fresh garlic, small onion, two green peppers, sherry and pineapple slices. 

Another pork dish I recently made was pork chops with sweet and sour cider glaze, which is from the December 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine. Items that you'll need in addition to the pork chops are apple cider, which is available year round at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck NJ and mustard seeds. All other ingredients should be pantry basics.  The recipe took about 30 minutes to prepare. Although I didn't try it, I prepared it for my husband and he thoroughly enjoyed it. 
​This past weekend my daughter and her family spent a few days with us. It was my daughter’s birthday, so I decided to make her favorite birthday cake, Gateau de Crepes. This is a cake made of multi layers of crepes with a rich, vanilla pastry cream filling.  The recipe appeared in the New York Times in May 2005 where Amanda Hesser adapted the crepe batter from Joy of Cooking and the pastry cream came from Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan’s book Desserts.
 
The cake takes two days to prepare. The crepe batter and the pastry cream need to be prepared ahead of time. The crepe batter is a luscious combination of butter (which is browned and makes it tasty nutty), milk, eggs, flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. The pastry cream requires a vanilla bean, milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, heavy cream, butter and Kirsch (clear cherry brandy). Don’t skip the vanilla bean, it makes a world a difference in the cream. Although I purchased mine at Wegmans awhile ago, you can purchase whole vanilla beans from the websites of King Arthur Flour or Beanilla. 
The recipe said to cook the meat for 2-3 hours or until tender. I cooked my for for 2-1/2 hours. When I went to turn the roast after an hour,  the meat was starting to look almost done. I wished that I used my meat thermometer to get a reading as braising for as long as I did was too long. When I finally pulled the roast out, most of the liquid had cooked off. I wish now that I used the full amount of wine or add the difference in beef stock. The roast was a bit overcooked, but it was tender and flavorful. The vegetables were delicious and maintained a bit of chew. I have some bordelaise sauce in my freezer that I will defrost and serve over the leftover roast . Overall, a good meal despite the meat being overcooked.

I still have some backstrap in the freezer. Backstrap is the length of loin on the back of a deer. I’ll use my meat thermometer the next time so as to not over cook the venison.
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Tonight's supper was fresh caught stripe bass and cod from my neighbor who fishes with his brother-in-law off the coast. I consulted my son on the best way to prepare it. Based on his suggestion, I placed the fish in foil packets and topped the fish with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, fresh thyme, cilantro (my husband thought he picked up parsley), thinly sliced lemon and some EVOO.
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I closed them up and popped them on a preheated outdoor gas grill, as I wanted to keep the kitchen cool. I turned off the center burner and placed the packets on the grill for a total of 8 minutes and turning them midway through. I had some leftover pasta salad from the weekend and I made a green salad. Perfection!


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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