My Vintage Kitchen

We're Moving...and Beef Bourguignon

Greetings and sorry we've been away for so long...Just as an FYI Robin and I will be doing our blogging over at www.myvintagekitchen.blogspot.com. We will be posting here for awhile, but eventually it will be just at blogspot. It's basically because I hate Typepad and I can't believe we have been paying for this when blogspot is free. I've been blogging for about 4 years now and my first blog was on blogspot. I have no idea why I ever left other than I liked the layout options for typepad...but it turns out it's not all that great. If you use typepad and you like it that's great, good for you. I just miss blogspot and we will be returning. Also, if there are any recipes you want off this site I would grab them now! I started transferring them, but HOLY CRAP BATMAN! It was taking way to long and I do have a job....other than this. So it will be fresh posting at www.myvintagekitchen.blogspot.com. The shopping page will still be there as well!

Thank you for hanging in there with us! 

Now on to the recipe. This came out of Real Simple magazine and I have to say the sauce is INCREDIBLE! The only thing is, the way they want to you cook the meat just does not give it time to get nice and tender. It's just too fast. So I would suggest altering the recipe as follows. Use a 2 lb roast...put it in a crock pot with a box of beef stock ( or homemade for you stock snobs)and let it cook all day. Then make your bourguignon ( man that's hard to spell) sauce. The secret weapon is a little can of condensed Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup. I'm guessing if your a stock snob this will probably not work for you either...but trust me it rocks!

2 lb rump roast or another lean roast...I know everyone wants "marbling" but I like it lean and just cook it all day....it will be super tender and fall apart.

10 oz mushrooms ( I added a little extra cause I love the mushroom...baby portobello and button)

1 sm bag frozen pearl onions

1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup

2 Cups of good red wine ...DO NOT USE THAT "Cooking wine"  Please!!! If you wont drink it don't cook it. ( I know I can use condensed soup and box stock...but this I'm picky about)

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

OK....here we go...After you have cooked your roast let it rest for about an hour...it should be cool enough to slice 1/2 of it up into 1" cubes ( I like to use the rest for sandwiches.) Over medium heat put your tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add your meat. Toss it around till you get some nice caramelizing going on...this will give a little something special to the sauce. Remove the meat and set aside. Add your mushrooms and onions and cook until all the liquid evaporates off your vegetables and you get a nice color. Add 2 cups of wine and cook down till about half of that liquid is gone. Add your can of mushroom soup plus 1/4 cup water...bring to a boil, add your meat. Let it all get incorporated and simmer for about 10 minutes.

This is a beautiful dish and it tastes complex (it's the wine)...but relatively easy to make. I served it with some grilled asparagus and a baguette.

Now on to the sandwich. You can use the rest of your baguette for these yummy sandwiches the next day! I slice a few mushrooms and start to cook them in a pan with a little butter...I like them to get a little crunch on the edges and carmelization ( carmelization makes the world go round). Once the liquid is gone deglazed the pan with some red wine...just enough to make a rich sauce. Butter your baguettes and pop them face down on a cookie sheet at 400...watch them so you just get a nice warm crusty texture.

Pile your meat on the baguette sprinkle with a little season salt, layer on your mushrooms, then pour some of that thick sauce over the top...grate a little fresh Parmesan cheese over the top. Put the lid on your sandwich and slice it up! This is SOOOO GOOD! 

Cheese Doodle is invited to a party.

I just wanted to share this fantastic blog with you all...this is a friend of mine, Terry Border. He is a local artist living here in Indiana. Terry has a book coming out next year featuring his "Bent Objects"! This is just one of his wonderful creations. Terry uses wire and often times will incorporate food in his extremely creative scenes.

So, if your up for some very cheeky humor -check out http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/ and tell Terry Shelly sent you...I promise you will love it and if you don't you should probably just end it now. ;)

Tootles.

Great Moments in American Cinema

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Here we are with another installment of Great Moments in American Cinema (we finally put it in our "Category" section if you would like to view the previous installments.)

This week we are featuring a scene from the Movie Moonstruck.

Now, I'm not sure if this is suppose to be funny, but I certainly thought it was one of the funniest moments in American Cinema and hopefully you will agree. Part of the fun in coming up with these little snippets is figuring out what recipe to post. Considering this movie is about an Italian family "the Castorini's" what would be more perfect than making your own pasta? But then I thought, maybe it should be something baked since the Nicolas Cage character "Ronny Cammareri" works in a bakery. But then I come upon the fact that one of my New Year’s resolutions was to stop baking so much and start cooking more "main dish's". So in a weak effort to to try and follow my resolution I opted for the "main dish".

BTW the resolution to stop baking so much may as well been a resolution to not get up and pee first thing in the morning....it's just part of my nature.

-Shelly

HUH HUH??? Is that great or what?

Here is the pasta recipe I used....it was pretty simple, except I did get the first batch way too thick, I was also astounded at HOW MUCH pasta this made! Thank goodness it freezes! Oh and one other tip...I started out cutting 2 rounds of pasta ( as you can see above) and what I should have done is spooned the filling on one large sheet of pasta, then placed another sheet of pasta over the top, pressed the pasta together around the filling THEN cut it. It worked both ways, but this would have provided a perfect edge.

For the filling, I used one bag of fresh baby spinach - washed, dried and chopped. I then mixed it with 1 8oz container of ricotta cheese, added salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.

You cook it the same way you do dried pasta...until al dente.

I served it up a few days later with some tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, but I think I prefer it with just a little olive oil, black pepper, and parmesan.     

 

 

Smoke Up Your Kitchen

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Blackened Fish is so easy it's insane. I always hear people say they are afraid of cooking fish, then they are afraid of trying to cook blackened fish/poultry just because of the smoke factor. Well, I'm not going to lie...you are going to get some smoke. But is so worth beating the smoke alarm with the broom handle!

You can buy plenty of really great Blackened Seasonings and I have tried lots of them, but there is some satisfaction in making your own concoction. Not to mention I like a little Old Bay mixed in mine. I've talked about my love of Old Bay before...but in all seriousness if you have not tried it or your grocery does not carry it...do yourself a favor and order it on line or something. It is truly the perfect seasoning. I put it on everything, potatoes, veggies, fish, shellfish, poultry...everything but my oatmeal.    

1 tablespoons smoked ground paprika

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon light salt

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Give your fish a heavy coating and place in a HOT pan with a little olive oil...When it really starts smoking ( and you see the color of the fish cooked about half way up on the side) it's time to flip.

Serve it up, maybe with a little lemon or just on it's own.

-Shelly

A Summer Craving Fix

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Between my need for fresh herbs and one of our readers "The Divine Ms. MMM's" craving for green grapes that are now a whopping $9...for grapes...that's right...$9 FOR GRAPES! (It's not like they are already pressed, fermented, and bottled! Or like they are figs or something...now I would pay $9 just to get a fig...I NEVER SEE THEM! GRRRR. ) Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. What were we talking about? Oh yes, summer cravings. Well, thank heavens that the Florida Strawberries made an appearance at my local grocery last night. I mean lets face it...it's winter, we are down to a very small variety of apples ( can I get a Fuji?), and my favorite citrus (the Clementine) has for the most part come and gone with Christmas. But I always look forward to the winter strawberries from Florida. They taste almost as good as the Indiana summer berries. They are small and packed with strawberry punch. I enjoyed them on my cereal this morning and on my strawberry short cake last night. I adore shortcake. The hint of salty flavor in the bread with the sugary juice of the strawberries is perfect.

-Shelly

Shortcake/bread Recipe

You can make these in a biscuit or in a loaf...I used a loaf pan for this particular one. Also, this is really good if you drop it in biscuit form on top of peach pie filling in a small casserole for a quick cobbler.

1C flour

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3 T shortening

1/2 cup milk

Mix it up and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins....you may need to go longer if you do it in a loaf pan...check the center with a toothpick till it's done.

Just add water?

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I know we are barely into winter but I really miss fresh herbs from the garden. I miss them so much that I was thinking of going and buying one of those Chia Pet Herb Gardens. Cha Cha Cha Chia...now you will have that in your head all day BBBWWHHAAAHHAAHHAAA...HA. Sorry, that was not vary nice of me. I was just wondering if any of you lovely readers have had any success with growing your own herbs indoors? I've tried it a few times, but for whatever reason they just don't take like my other house plants.

-Shelly

Food or Dirt?

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It's been a short while since out last post...we've been busy with that uhhh Christmas thing. Anyway I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! I was able to get to New Jersey to see my sister/co-vintage kitchen blogger Robin and she whipped up some fantastic food! Some excellent standards a la turkey, green beans, warm spinach salad, potato's, stuffing....oh and yes a black forest cake to die for. Don't worry we will be posting this wonderful cake! But, today I wanted to talk to you a bit about something I have tried to do the last few years. That is trying new foods. If you can believe it I had never in my life eaten a beet! Well, except for some beet root chips but those hardly count as none of the beet flavor is retained. Awhile back I read this great book that a friend of mine recommended called Jitterbug Perfume. In the book there is a whole thing with beets, so this got me thinking I need to give those a whirl. After asking a few beet lovers I know what to do with them I cooked them up, popped a bite in my mouth, and then resisted the urge to spit them out. I read somewhere that you have to try something 12 times before you acquire a taste. So again I thought I would try beets. This time I thought I would use an actual recipe and add some spice or something. This is where the "spiced beets" came from. So, I cooked them up, popped a bite in my mouth and again resisted the urge to spit them out.

2 tries down 10 to go.

I will probably try again. I can honestly say my list of foods I really don't like is pretty short. I'm still working on olives, as I just can't get past the taste of all that salt. I also have a freak thing where I can't stand fresh peaches.... I know I should have my foodie license revoked.

-Shelly

Just in case you are a fan of the "earthy" beet. Here is the spiced beet recipe.

      

We have our Winners!

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Thanks to everyone who participated in our "little" contest! Out of all the entries only 3 people got it right. The food is in fact fake....and Parker was the only one to guess that it was also miniature!

Congratulations to Heather, Parker, and Jessica! Check your email ladies! And thanks again for playing!

-Shelly & Robin

It's Contest Time Again!

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Don't you just love the Holiday Season. Parties and gatherings full of amazing food! Look at these tasty treats above, could you not just devour everything in site! Errr. could you??? Well maybe this one looks better..it has wine!

But wait...something is not quite right here. What seems to be the problem? If you can figure it out shoot us an email at [email protected]. Remember don't give it away in the comments! The first 5 people to guess correctly will win a gift from the My Vintage Kitchen Shop!

Good Luck! You have 24 hours before this post self destructs.

My Personal Journey

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It has been 21 minutes since the vicious ice storm paralyzed our digital cable, internet, and phone. I don't know what to do. Think dammit, think! I have to do something. I'm going to the kitchen.

Hour 2
I found some frozen okra that I forgot to put in a gumbo.

Hour 3
I'm frying okra. I have never done this before. It makes me want to pack my house up and follow a caravan of carnival folk.

Hour 4
I'm packing

Hour 5
Cable has returned. Can't talk. Dr. Phil is on.

Now, I didn't really think much of my fried skills, so I am going to just pretend it didn't happen. If you want a good recipe I would use a little something that we like to call "google". Thank you.

-Robin