The Legacy lives on...

My mother called me yesterday and asked if I had seen the Facebook post of my second cousin who lives in Hungary. My response, "I saw the picture, but she writes in Hungarian, kinda tough to know what she is saying". Turns out she was posting that she had made her favorite, chicken paprikash, which here in the states is Hungarian chicken and dumplings. My mother asked her if she was cooking it the way her grandmother and aunt made it, and she said "it was the first thing my grandmother ever taught me to cook" I can relate.

A little over two years ago we lost my grandmother Ilona. She was 92 years old lived a long full life and left a legacy to us in the way we cook and eat in many ways, among so many other things. This week it was supremely cold by Florida standards, and I could not decide what to make for dinner. I had a Chuck steak in the freezer, and a bunch of fresh and frozen veggies. So, I decided to make a veggie beef soup. It's quite easy and so hearty. Most of the time I just add barley to give it a little more body, but instead I asked my girls if they wanted it like bubbie made it, with little dumplings. Consensus YES!!! Now my kids love love love chicken paprikash and the dumplings are made the same way but, Samantha only likes the dumplings in the soup not by way of the chicken and dumplings. I defrosted the meat and away we went. It was a big warm up on such a cold evening and made a perfect lunch the following day.

I promise one day to provide the family recipe for chicken paprikash but for now here is the veggie soup. Serve it with some great bread and a salad on the side if you like.

Vegetable Beef Soup

1 Onion                                    2 Zucchini Chopped
3 Carrots Chopped                 7 Mushrooms
3 Stalks of Celery Chopped   1/4 pack frozen Spinach
3/4 lb Chuck Steak                  3 TBL  Tomato Paste
Fresh Basil                               6 cups Water
2 Garlic Cloves Chopped        3 TBL Beef Stock Bouillon
Salt and Pepper                       1/4 cup barley (optional)

Chop onion, carrots, and celery and saute in olive oil. Salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add meat cut into dice sized pieces and saute until brown. Add zucchini, mushrooms, basil, and garlic and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add water, bouillon and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Add barley. Turn heat down, and add spinach. Season again to taste. Simmer for an hour. Enjoy.

I am sure that everyone has a legacy like our in our family, and I can say for certain that my grandmother was the matriarch of "GOOD FOOD IN GOOD TIME"

                                           Alex and my grandmother Ilona 2006
                                         

Happy New Year!!!

I am officially stating here that while I have been absent from my Blog for a few months now, I am recommitting in 2012 to continue cooking and sharing my experiences and recipes. When I say experiences I mean the nitty gritty. If something did not work as planned I will share that with you as well. None of us are perfect, we all know that about Julia Child, and can be sure that the Anthony Bourdain's, Scott Conant's and Giada's of this world have burned or undercooked their food once in a while. This brings me to my first meal of the New Year.

January 1, 2012 New Years Day and My husband Mike's birthday.

A couple of weeks ago Mike came to me and said I would love to have a rack of lamb for my birthday.

Flashback about a year... For one of the holidays I came into two racks of lamb without a clue how to cook them. I pulled out a pile of Bon Apetit magazines and began to search for a recipe. Bingo, I found the perfect recipe, could it really be that simple??? I tried it and not only was it simple but it was one of the best meals I have ever made.

Fast forward to this year... I had to order the lamb from the butcher, and for beauty and a natural handle I asked him to "French" the lamb. No he was not making out with it, he was cleaning off the bone and trimming the fat so they would be perfectly ready to cook.
They should not charge you anything extra to do this for you. Also, ask them to give you the trimming, it makes a fantastic soup base.

The menu: Rack of Lamb with Baby Potatoes and Haricot Verts

I cannot take full credit for this birthday dinner, every one of my kids had a hand in dinner.
First, I coat the lamb with salt, pepper, olive oil,and rosemary. You can use any herbs you like including mint if you like the flavor. Sear the meat on both sides in a hot pan and set into a roasting pan. Lamb does not need a lot of time to cook. It was one of the things that most amazed me when I first cooked it. Also, if you do not like rare meat lamb may not be your bag. It should be cooked Rare to medium rare for best texture and bite.

Here is where things went wrong. I placed the lamb in the oven for roasting as we sat down to our salad (spring mix with avocado, pepper, and red onion, dressing is a store bought Vidalia onion dressing). Shout out to Samantha who put the salad together. Fifteen minutes later I removed the rack to rest for a few minutes prior to cutting. I cut into the rack and it was not cooked. OH NOOOOOOO! Back into the oven it went and I filled up the wine glasses. I went back to check after round two in the oven and while it is better, the meat is still not completely cooked on the inside, ugh!!!! While we are struggling to figure this all out, we are plating the side dishes. We decide to slice the lamb chops and sear them off on the stove until just cooked. Phew! They turned out great, but not without a few moments of absolute panic. Disaster averted!

Alex was making the potatoes and we did something new. We bought these tri-colored baby potatoes, and boiled them off until just fork tender. Then we drained them and set it aside. You will want to heat oil in a skillet and toss potatoes in with salt, pepper and some herbs. Whatever herbs you used for the meat would be good. Leave the potatoes alone at this point, you want the skin to crisp up. The results were incredible, creamy on the inside,crispy on the outside. Our second side was Haricot Verts (fancy french green beans you can get at any market and don't have to stand and snap off the bottoms), simply pan fried in a bit of oil, salt and pepper until just tender.

Lastly, because what is a birthday without cake? We made a chocolate ganache cake. I know what you're thinking, its so much easier to buy a cake and it is....and I tried. The bakery did not have the cakes Mike likes. Next we went to the local grocery store that has a kosher bakery, again they had no cakes that peaked anyones interest. Next, we considered a Dunkin Hines Red Velvet. At that point, I thought, I am making a fabulous, mucho fancy dinner from scratch, and I am planning a Dunkin Hines box cake. No way!! So Chocolate Ganache cake it was, and boy did it come out yummy!! Thanks to Jessica who frosted the cake (and the plate I might add).

Pictures Below.... Happy Birthday Mike and Happy New Year to you all, may you commit to making Good Food in Good Time in 2012!