www.roanoke.com

www.foodnetwork.com

I tend to get stuck in a rut when it comes to cocktail party food. I know what's easy to make, so those hors d'oevres make an appearance at any gathering I throw. Meatballs, fruit and veggie trays, cheese and crackers and other standards are tasty and well-loved, but change is good.

I know it's a little risky to try a new recipe on guests, but hey, I'm a risk taker. So when I had a jewelry party at my house on Friday evening, I decided to make a few new things. This chicken satay with peanut sauce emerged as a favorite. It required a little bit of prep work, but boy, was it worth it. The holidays are coming up, and along with them comes a flurry of parties. Perhaps one of you will be able to use this recipe. The marinade would also be delicious for a simple dinner of grilled chicken breasts. Enjoy!

Read more »

Chuck roast becomes ground chuck.

Ever since reading the hamburger story in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago, I've been wondering just how hard it could be to grind my own burger at home. I mean, we don't generally buy frozen, pre-formed hamburger patties, but we do occasionally buy packaged ground beef at the grocery store. And one theory is that when the beef scraps used to make ground beef come from all different parts of the cow (and possibly different parts of the country, or the world) there's just a better chance of some illness-causing bacteria getting in the mix.

I am not losing sleep over this, but what could it hurt to make homemade burger? It could be a good way to control the fat content since I'm trying to diet, and perhaps it would even taste better.

First, the tools: My Kitchen Aid mixer came with a rebate offer for a free attachment, and I, thinking maybe I'd make sausage someday, chose the grinder. Which comes in quite handy now. But not everyone owns a grinder attachment, much less a Kitchen Aid mixer (mine was the result of years of whining). I did some checking, and meat grinders can be had for as little as $30 for a hand-cranked model that clamps to the edge of a counter or table. They range all the way up into the hundreds of dollars.

Read more »

Recently, a chef told me what she believes is the most underutilized "condiment" in the home kitchen. And you have probably guessed based on the citrus face here, so I'll just tell you: acid.

As in citrus juice or vinegar, not the psychedelic stuff. And now you can see why I sat here for a good 10 minutes trying to figure out what to title this post. Drop a little acid on that asparagus? No. Squeeze my lemon until the juice runs down my eggs? Double no.

But all jokes aside, there is true value in this hint. Often, when we taste our food and sense that something is missing, it might be our immediate inclination to reach for salt or pepper or some other seasoning. But it could be that a little squeeze of lime or a splash of vinegar is all we need to brighten the flavors of the dish.

The best way to figure out uses for acids as a finishing touch at the table is to experiment. Already, many Southerners like vinegar on their greens, and lots of people love lemon on seafood. But check out some lime juice on Thai food, a squeeze of lemon on your chicken tacos or fajitas, a splash of apple cider vinegar on your broccoli or asparagus.

When I made those pulled pork tacos I wrote about not long ago, we squeezed a little lemon over the pork before piling on the rest of our toppings. I believe it made a big difference, and it probably cut back on the amount of sodium we would have consumed had we added more salt or seasoning blends.

Do you ever use acids to liven up the flavor of your foods? If so, what is your favorite application?

My sister's mother-in-law, Alice, is the Christmas cookie queen. For as long as Kim has been with her husband, I can remember hearing about the many varieties of cookies Alice bakes every year. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I even get a few leftovers when Sis gets home for Christmas.

There are little fruit fold overs, miniature pecan pies, molasses cookies and more. Her secret: she starts baking early and freezes the goodies so all she has to do is pull them out when company comes.

Because I currently have two giant tubs of Christmas cookies in my kitchen, I'm seriously considering freezing a couple dozen so they'll still be fresh next week. But they are all different kinds -- some frosted, some not; some with raisins, some with chips, some with coconut. I wondered if some cookies freeze better than others.

Thanks to a Web site called Cookie Club Recipes, I now know. See below the jump for their cookie freezing tips. And if you have any advice, feel free to contribute it!

Read more »

Maybe you thought I was talking about myself when you saw that subject line. No, I'm talking about my chicken saltimbocca.

I made the dish for the first time last night using an assortment of recipes that I cobbled together to suit what I had in my refrigerator and was willing to buy. I started with three large chicken breasts, which I cut in half and pounded out to get six small cutlets. I floured and sauteed each of those cutlets, then made little "sandwiches" out of them with prosciutto and mozzerella cheese in between. If you're following me, you know that I ended up with three servings.

I followed the sauce recipe straight from Cooks.com, however, and was told it would make six servings. So why did I not end up with enough sauce for my three servings even though I fudged it and tried to double it as soon as I realized the output would be scrawny? This isn't the first time it's happened to me, and it leads me to believe that either Howard and I are complete sauce hogs or lots of recipes don't turn out enough sauce for the average diner.

Read more »

How many journalists does it take to build a gingerbread house? If the pictures over on the So Salem blog are any indication, it takes a whole roomful.

Unfortunately, even with that many hands ready to help, the So Salem gingerbread house (which was created as an entry for Salem's Gingerbread Festival) suffered a natural disaster: the roof caved in. They're blaming it on Santa; saying he landed on the roof in a sled so heavy with gifts (and his own fat butt) that he caused the roof to cave.

It's a shame, too, because what a fine gingerbread house it is otherwise. Note the marshmallow snowman, the candy trees, the peppermint window panes. Somebody (an elf tells me it was mostly So Salem reporter Miranda Adkins) went to a lot of trouble on that place before Santa rolled in and ruined it all. You can still see his little hat poking up out of the destruction.

Now, instead of having "Salem" emblazoned on the side of the house in green frosting, I'm afraid we're going to have to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (the North Pole branch, of course), to come in with the blaze orange spray paint and mark this sucker for demolition. I'll help out -- I'll take the cookie tree off their hands.

Well, anyone who tries to make a gingerbread house gets an "A" for effort in my book. I've never done it myself, so I don't have any idea what might have gone wrong. If anyone has tips for the team, post them here or over on the So Salem blog.

Yesterday turned into experimentation day in my kitchen. After a long, hot day Saturday helping my mom with a yard sale in Alleghany County, I was ready for a relaxing Sunday puttering around the stove -- and, as it turned out, the grill.

While rummaging around the refrigerator for random produce to throw into my scrambled eggs (artichokes, tomato, banana pepper), I saw the bag of green peanuts I bought at Global Foods in Blacksburg last week. They still looked okay, so I set them to boil in a big pot of water and dumped in an unhealthy amount of salt.

Those of you who read the blog regularly know this made the second time I attempted to make boiled peanuts as tasty as the ones at roadside stands. Well, by golly, I did it this time! They took on the trademark dark, chocolate color and the wonderful, briny flavor. Now all I need to do to perfect them is cut back a little on the salt next time and boil them or let them set about one more hour.

The key truly was to just boil the living crap out of them for hours on end. We finally ate them at 4 p.m.

Success number two came in the form of a cannellini bean paste for bruschetta. I'd had something similar at a restaurant at the Biltmore in Asheville and have been meaning to try and duplicate it ever since.

Read more »