Kathleen Rear

Snowball

Kathleen Rear

January 4, 2014

I know this recipe comes a bit late, but surely there’s enough winter left to indulge in a snowball!

When I saw Nigella Lawson’s Christmas special I vowed I’d try a snowball. They looked so yummy and festive! I looked everywhere in town and online for Advocaat, which is a Dutch version of egg nog, the essential ingredient. I could not lay my hands on a single bottle! It was time I learned the recipe then.

For the Advocaat:
10 Egg Yolks
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/3 cups Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 cup Cognac
2/3 cup Vodka
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Place about and inch or two of water into a medium saucepan, and bring the water to a simmer. You will use this in combination with a heat proof bowl to make a double boiler.

In a heat-resistant bowl, add the eggs, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Using an electric or hand whisk, whisk until combined.

Place the bowl over the simmering water and continue to whisk until the egg mixture is thick, light and creamy and the sugar is dissolved, about 8 minutes.

Add in the vanilla, and the Cognac and vodka. Whisk for another 5 minutes.

Pour the advocaat into a resealable container or bottle and refrigerate for 6 hours before use.
If the mixture has separated during it’s time in the fridge, simply give it a really good shake before using.

For the Snowball:
Into a tall glass add:
Fill 1/3 with Advocaat
1/2 cup ice
Top off glass with 7-UP, or Sprite or another fizzy lemon lime soda.
Mix carefully as it wants to fizz a lot.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb

Kathleen Rear

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January 2, 2014

We discovered our gas grill was broken just before we went to grill our lamb. Thankfully, we had our standby charcoal kettle grill. You know, it turned out so nice, I’m going to recommend you try the recipe over charcoal if you can.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb

1 2-4 lb. Boneless Leg of Lamb
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Spiced Rub Mixture
2 tablespoons Pomegranate Seeds & Fresh Cilantro Leaves (For garnish)

Check out how to butterfly your leg of lamb here:
https://vimeo.com/26274201
Or if you’d like, ask your butcher to do it for you.

After you’ve butterflied your meat, turn it over so the fat/skin side is up. Score the fat deeply (about 1/2 an inch) using a crisscross pattern.
Rub the meat all over (fat & meat sides) with the olive oil and sprinkle on the spiced rub mixture. Allow the meat to sit covered in plastic on a sheet tray at room temp for up to and hour.

For the Rub Mixture:
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
Mix all the spices and herbs together in a small bowl and set aside until time to use.

Heat your grill (charcoal or gas) until it is very hot. About 500-600 degrees F. I usually hold my hand about 12 inches above the coals, and if I can’t keep it there for more than a moment, I figure that’s “very hot”. If you’d like a more precise measurement try a surface grill thermometer.

Place your lamb fat side down onto the grill and cover with the lid. Cook the meat for 5-7 minutes, then flip it over and cover with the lid again. Cook on the second side for 5-7 minutes.

With a probe thermometer test the temperature in the thickest part of the meat. The temp should read about 130 F for medium rare. If you’d like your meat better cooked or if the reading doesn’t reach 130, place the meat back on the grill for about 2-4 more minutes on each side.

Allow the meat to rest covered in foil for at least 10 minutes before carving into thin strips and serving.

December Bookworm

Kathleen Rear

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December 27, 2013

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

“Grown-ups don’t look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”

One Summer

“…at first, but slowly it gathered speed. After some time it lifted briefly, but came down again and bouncily proceeded another three hundred yards before finally, agonizingly, and barely getting airborne. The chief engineer, who had run along beside the plane much of the way, fell to his knees and wept. Just taking off was a unique triumph. No plane in the Atlantic race had done even that”

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to…

This fascinating, lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules, regulations, and customs that governed everyday life in Victorian England. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the “plums” in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life — both “upstairs” and “downstairs.”

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.”

“I don’t mean to be rude’ I said, ‘but what are you people?’
‘We’re peculiar,’ he replied, sounding a bit puzzled. ‘Aren’t you?;
‘I don’t know. I don’t think so’
‘That’s a shame.”

Glazed Nuts

Kathleen Rear

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December 23, 2013

You’re only 30 minutes away from this great party appetizer! Makes a lovely hostess gift too!

Glazed Nuts

3 cups Mixed Raw Nuts
1/4 cup Honey
2 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt or Fleur de Sel
1 tablespoon finely minced Rosemary or dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place nuts into a large bowl.
In a microwave friendly cup or bowl mix the honey, oil, salt, herbs and pepper. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and mix well.
Pour the honey mixture over the nuts and stir very well to coat all the nuts.

Spread the nuts out into a single layer on a parchment covered sheet pan and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes then take them out and give them a stir. Spread the nuts into a single layer again and place back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
When you take them out of the oven, give them another stir and then allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Tip: If you can’t find raw nuts, go ahead and buy the salted kind but only put 1 teaspoon of salt into the glaze mixture.

Maple Mustard Glazed Ham

Kathleen Rear

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December 19, 2013

A necessity during the Christmas season is a lovely, burnished, glazed ham lying around in the fridge. It’s just the thing for when folks come around for an evening by the bonfire, or when my children descend with their friends en mass.

Maple Mustard Glazed Ham

1 5-7 lb. Spiral Cut Smoked Ham
For the Glaze:
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tablespoons Dry Mustard Powder
3 tablespoons Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lay the ham face down in a shallow baking dish or roasting pan. Place in the oven for 1 hour.
Mix the glaze and set aside.
After the ham has had its hour in the oven, take it out and drain off any grease that may have collected in the pan.
Smooth on the glaze and place it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
Spoon the caramelized glaze that has collected in the baking dish over the ham. Let the ham rest and cool before refrigerating.

Make sure to have plenty of soft rolls and honey mustard to make sandwiches!

Beef Shortribs with Polenta

Kathleen Rear

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December 16, 2013

It’s hard to take a good picture of a stew or braised dish. Everything looks just like a bowl of brown! Having said that, there is nothing so tasty, comforting and beautiful on a dark Winter night than classic braised shortribs served on a heaping mound of polenta.

Beef Shortribs With Polenta

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
6 Beef Shortribs
Salt & Pepper
1 Large Onion
2 stalks of Celery
2 large Carrots
3 cloves of Garlic
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 bottle=750 ml. of Red Wine (Chianti or Pinot Noir)
1 1/2 cup Water
2 tablespoons of Fresh Rosemary Leaves
1/2 cup Fresh Parsley (roughly chopped)
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
Cornstarch Slurry (1 tablespoon Cornstarch + 2 tablespoons cold water or wine)

Generously salt and pepper the meat.
Heat a large stew pot or Dutch oven with a lid over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and the shortribs (meat side down). Brown the meat for 5-7 minutes.
Chop the onion, celery, carrot into large chunks and peel the garlic (I like the smash and peel method).
When the meat is browned remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Turn the heat to medium and add the vegetables and garlic. Saute the vegetables for about 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir to combine with vegetables.
Add the wine and water. Add the herbs. Stir well to combine.
Add back in the shortribs, sinking them in the liquid until mostly covered.
Bring the pot back to a simmer and cover. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
Add the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
Serve over polenta or mashed potatoes.

Cheesy Polenta
1 1/2 cups Polenta/Corn Grits (I like Bob’s Red Mill).
2 cups Milk
1 1/2 cups Water
Salt & Pepper
4 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

In a large sauce pan with a lid heat the milk and water over low heat. Once the liquid is hot and almost boiling add the polenta, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Stir in the butter. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the polenta is cooked through and smooth stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese.

Sunday Surfing with Santa!

Kathleen Rear

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December 15, 2013

Lets leave the crowds at the mall and hang out in our jim jams with a cup of something hot and surf the internet.

Cassandra Jean’s Santa’s reindeer collection is all kinds of awesome!

These sculptures by Bruno Catalano are amazing!

6 embarrassing things everyone does-and why.

Ice Climbers + Art = WOW!

Nick Veasey sees the world a little differently than the rest of us!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Fried Cinnamon Apple Rings!

Easy Holiday Style

Kathleen Rear

1 comment

December 12, 2013

Deep cranberry and sophisticated sparkle make dressing for the holidays easy!

J Crew cashmere sweater
jcrew.com

Steven slip on shoes
zappos.com

H m handbag
$24 – hm.com

Collar necklace
anthropologie.com

Donna Karan skirt
pinterest.com

Chicken with Forty Cloves

Kathleen Rear

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December 9, 2013

The recipe I learned when I first started cooking this dish years ago was one of those that, at the end, you had a sink full of dishes. Over the years I’ve simplified it down to its essence without losing any of its charm.

Chicken with Forty Cloves
3 heads of Garlic
8 Chicken Thighs (bone-in skin on)
Salt & Pepper
1 tablespoon Butter
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 cup Cognac
1 1/2 cup White Wine
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
Beurre manié: 2 tablespoons soft butter + 2 tablespoons flour, mix into a paste.
3 tablespoons Heavy Cream

You have a few options on how to peel all those cloves. You can use this method but, I’ve found that it works only half the time for me. I think It depends on how fresh your garlic is.
If that method fails try the old-fashioned way: Take your cloves and place them into boiling water for about 1 minute. Drain and allow to cool until you can handle them with out burning your fingers. The skins should be much easier to deal with now. Cut the very tip of the garlic clove off and peel the skin off.
Or, if you can find the pre-peeled garlic at the grocery; go for it!
Once you have your garlic peeled you can store tightly sealed in the fridge. Also, to get rid of your stinky garlic smelling fingers rub them along the sides of a piece of stainless steel (I use my sink).

Whew! Okay on with the recipe!

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a high sided pot or Dutch oven with a lid over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil.
Place the chicken skin side down and sauté until golden brown. You might need to cook the chicken in batches if they all don’t fit.
Remove the chicken and set it aside. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point, it will finish cooking later.
Add the garlic cloves to the fat in the pot and sauté until nicely toasted.

Add the Cognac and scrape the bottom of the pan to help free those lovely browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the white wine. Cook for about 5 minutes or until reduced slightly.
Prepare the beurre manié and whisk it into the garlic and wine in the pot to thicken the sauce. Whisk in the heavy cream.
Add back in the chicken thighs. Bring the pot back to a simmer and cover. Cook for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 165 degrees.