Basic Food for Dinner

I found some ground lamb at the grocery......although, I'm having a hard time finding cuts of lamb other than chops (the search for a good butcher is on). The blizzard has passed and we shoveled the snow off the WeberQ. I wanted to cook up an old favorite, Goat Cheese Stuffed Lamb burgers. I had the Goat Cheese already in the fridge. I just needed a 'side' to go with the burgers and green salad.




Enter: Culinary in the Desert and Joe!

Sometimes you just need to take a look at the other blogs and see what 'those guys' are eating! Joe always has something wonderful to chose from, he updates daily! His Four Cheese Mac-n-Cauliflower Cheese looked great, and gave me another excuse to feed the 'Bearded Baby' some veggies!

Bubbling hot from the oven, I knew this was a winner. Check out the link to the recipe at Joe's Blog!

(there is another lamb patty that goes on top of the goat cheese!)

The lamb burgers were great, even with the Goat Cheese (I'm not complaining about American products, I swear!!). The Red Pepper Mayo is another great recipe from a BBQ class I used to teach. This will stay fresh in the fridge for about a week.

The lesson for today......check out the blogs for some great dinner ideas!

The Urge to Bake

Since I'm just about unpacked and feeling as settled as can be right now......I have had the urge to get back into the kitchen and see if I still 'have it'!
I really haven't done any baking since leaving France, and if you remember I took a couple of classes at Le Notre right before we started packing.
I always think I'll remember each and every thing that the chef tells us (during the class), and I don't always write things down. Well, I got my notes out for the Macaron class and 'damn'.....I didn't remember each and every thing after all. I continued on with each step and 'it' came back. From the triple baking trays, to the twist and turn, and the 2 hour wait before you garnish with ganche!
Note to self: Write everything down, keep your camera next to your station during each class!
I was pleased and relieved that I can still bake in KY.

(click on the photo for a better view)

I found some fresh yeast at my local Kroger that produced a lovely pizza and a 'garlic flat bread'.
I still love Roberto Donna's recipe! My cannele's turned out delish! And my trusty Simac Ice Cream Maker churned out some great coconut ice cream for a 20 year old on spring break. If I can still fit into my yoga clothes, I've got to get started again.
Best wishes from Kentucky!

ps

for those of you who aren't luck enough to have 'an old man' in tow......he is the one who makes everything happen for me! the mounting of the painting........all the electrical work.....
lucky me!

Have Oven, Will Travel!

I'm starting to get settled, here in Kentucky. We survived a Tornado Warning and high winds while they were unloading our 'precious' stuff. Snow and ice hit our little 'burb, then the sun comes out and you want to start planting! Welcome back to the 'states'! I did order and receive our 'weather alert radio'. Although I'm not looking forward to any middle of the night sirens again, the basement floor is COLD!

(All my favorite French products, painting by Melissa Werpy. painting attached to my pantry door!)



When we heard that we were going to move in a very quick fashion, I did try to get rid of my convection oven. I just assumed that all houses in the states came with 2 ovens. WRONG, a regular oven & a microwave oven were found in the houses we looked at. Suddenly it looked like my Metro brand oven was going to take a voyage across the ocean! Of course, my dough machine, juicer, big-fat-fryer, and professional crepe maker got included in the shipment.


I decided to do a little relaxing = baking yesterday. I mixed up a batch of Cannele batter. I wanted to see how Pierre Herme would do in Kentucky! Having rested the batter till this morning, I baked off a batch.....bah oui!!! The ladies look luscious. Somewhere, someone described a Cannele as a portable Creme Brulee. Look at that creamy center with a crisp outer-shell.
The French oven worked and I think Pierre is giving me 'thumbs-up' right now!

I've unpacked my Kougloff molds and have yeast in hand.......look out!! Where did I pack my scale.....oh well!!

Hey Ya'll!

I'm channeling Paula Deen since moving to Kentucky.

Well, I've been in the U.S. for a good 3 weeks.....there are surprises, good and bad. I won't dwell on the bad, ok! We are still waiting for our 'stuff'.......living in limbo, even with a nice view just isn't cutting it anymore!

Having lived in an 'expat' community for a long time, you learn that as 'the new gal', you've got to get out and get your feet wet. Sign up for groups, seek out exercise classes.....find the next cooking class! Well, the mecca of all things culinary is as far as 'the mall'. Williams-Sonoma! I've been super curious about their offerings of cooking demonstrations, so I signed 'the old man' and myself up for the Super Bowl Snack demo.


A full house surrounded our chef/instructor. A place setting, cold drinks and pans were heating on 'the hob'. She did a great job, we grazed while she set out to create the next snack. It was a fun evening. Let's not forget about the 10% reduction you get while attending a class. I had to buy some Alziari Olive Oil.......oh the memories.

Since then, we took a drive to Midway, I met a very interesting young woman and promise to blog about her soon!