De Ma Cuisine

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Friday

7

September 2012

2

COMMENTS

A Year in Review

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

It’s been a year since I launched my site. My goal has been to empower you to eat well. This is one of the places where I share my passion for food. Thanks for joining me!

Some of the highlights (and a few low points from the last year)…

September 2, 2011 Heart in my throat, I launch my site with my first real post. My first posted recipe that appears on the blog is Tomato-Corn Salsa. Even though I’ve grown and learned a lot over this year, I’ll still leave older recipes as they are, and just keep adding new ones. It’s a learn as I go job, and it’s so much fun!

October Celebrated 5 years of marriage to my fabulous Husband. I told you what I made for our anniversary dinner with photos and a post. Mmmm, I still remember that meal. It was delicious.

November A Cooking Show with Rachel O began. I do the show in association with Abundant Harvest Organics. I have a blast making up recipes and cooking on camera (and it’s still a little weird that I’m filming myself, I’ll admit it). I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy making these episodes. I do them for you, ya know! I hope they’re a good reference for you and show you that you too can make any of these dishes in your home! Or, if you’re just watching them because you’re family, friends, or you just want to see my weirdness, I’m OK with that too. 😉

Here’s my first episode

and my most recent episode

Notice any differences?! It’s been almost a year… I’m having fun!

December My brother, Josh visited and we had so much fun together. We cooked and ate in, we ordered food, and ate out. What a great time! I wrote about the BACON Pizza we made together. We cook well together.

January 2012 My Oma passed away. I learned I would be an Auntie. All in the same week. I’m so excited about being an auntie (any day now), and I still miss Oma so much that it brings me to tears re-reading the post today.

February I met Joy the Baker! I was so nervous and excited. I wrote about it the next day, while still kinda giddy. That was fun. I also launched the Legacy section on my blog. A tribute to my family. My first legacy recipe was Oma’s Lemon Buns.

May I turned 31. KitchenAid gave me a beautiful Hand Blender. I had some giveaways on the blog. It was so fun to give away some of my favorite things!

August We needed a break, so we went to the mountains and then to Cherry Valley for two mini vacations. We came back feeling refreshed. Earlier in the month I made the best meal ever… Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. Amazing!

And now it’s September. So far, in my first week of my second year of blogging, I’ve learned how to make homemade pasta. I’ll write about that next week. It’s a must share. It was divine. Simply divine.

It’s been a lot of fun going through the last year and thinking of all that’s happened, the good and the bad. Lessons learned, fun times cherished, memories made. I feel blessed.

Some of what I’m looking forward to in this next year…

Each day that I get to share with my wonderful Husband. He’s so supportive and encouraging and we really enjoy doing life together. A lot of what I do wouldn’t be possible without his support. Thanks, Babe, for being cool with a wife who works from home rather than earning the “big bucks” somewhere else, who forces you to be the taste tester, watches you take your first bite to see if you like it, lets the food get cold because photos have to be taken, gets up in the middle of a show because the food needed some Parmesan cheese… I like you.

The baby that I learned about in January is due two weeks from today. I’m so excited to meet him or her. I don’t know when that will be, as we live 2,505 miles away. So for now, I will just wait for the call that my little brother is a daddy!

Growing with A Cooking Show with Rachel O. Working to make it even better. Hopefully challenging and encouraging more people to be inspired to eat well!

Celebrating my 6th anniversary next month.

Fall and soup season. Always good.

Family reunions and get-togethers.

Pizza Fridays.

My 40th episode of A Cooking Show with Rachel O and hopefully my 50th and 60th and on and on…

Building business relationships and friendships, making connections, learning from the brilliant and inspiring people that I know (and those that I have yet to meet).

Learning more about food and nutrition and how to be a better cook. I love this stuff!!

Being surprised by the adventure of life. Who knows what the next year will bring?!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Wednesday

5

September 2012

2

COMMENTS

A Toast, to Crostini – Episode 38

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, This Week's Feast, Thoughts

Crostini are one of my favorite appetizers, or a great side to a soup, salad, roast… they go with a lot. They’re a fun way to use veggies too, and fruit. During the wintery months, I like to put broccoli and Cheddar or Gruyère on them, or apples, jam, and Parmesan. They’re pretty versatile. Veggies or fruit, olive oil, salt and pepper, cheese, and you’re ready… oh, and don’t forget the bread.

I like to use a French or Italian loaf – baguette is my preference, but this week I had a regular loaf of French bread, so rather than buy something else, I used what I had. You could also use crackers, like Triscuits, if you don’t have any non-sandwich type bread.

I usually slice the bread, top it, then bake. You can also slice, bake, top, bake, which will make for a crispier crostini. Either way is good to me. Depends on your toppings. Some of the ones I made could have been good toasted a bit first, as they can get soggy if they sit around for a while… buuuuut, are they really going to sit around? In my experience, these things go pretty quickly. 😉 I intended to only have a bite of each… I had at least two three.

I’ve been calling these delicious treats “crostinis” for so long… I didn’t realize until I asked our Italian friend, Andrea, about the proper pronunciation, that it was “crostini”, since it’s already plural. I learned something new! (Thanks, Andrea!)

I hope you enjoy these as much as (or even more than) I did!

Happy Eating!

Crostini

Last modified on 2012-09-08 00:09:40 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Crostini
Recipe Type: Appetizer, Side
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Cute little toasts.
Ingredients
  • 1 baguette or loaf of bread (Italian or French), thinly sliced
  • Topping Options: grapes + grape jam + Parmesan
  • tomato + Cheddar + olive oil + salt + pepper + roast beef
  • bell pepper + tomato + Parmesan + S + P + olive oil
  • figs + Gruyère + honey + olive oil + salt + pepper + ham
  • eggplant + honey + Gruyère + olive oil + salt + pepper
  • basil + tomato + Parmesan + olive oil + salt + pepper
  • sorrel + grapes + Parmesan + olive oil + salt + pepper
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
  2. Thinly slice ingredients.
  3. Drizzle savory crostini with olive oil (it could also be good with the sweet ones).
  4. Top with desired toppings.
  5. Sprinkle savory crostini with salt and pepper.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes.
  7. Serve immediately.

 

This dish can be found on Tuesday of this week’s menu.

This episode is sponsored by

Abundant Harvest Organics

Bari Olive Oil Company

Molly Jenson

Wednesday

5

September 2012

1

COMMENTS

Crostini

Written by , Posted in Appetizers, Baking, Beef, Bread, Cheese, Fruit, Lunch, Meat, Pork, Sandwiches, Sides, Vegetables

Crostini
Recipe Type: Appetizer, Side
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Cute little toasts.
Ingredients
  • 1 baguette or loaf of bread (Italian or French), thinly sliced
  • Topping Options: grapes + grape jam + Parmesan
  • tomato + Cheddar + olive oil + salt + pepper + roast beef
  • bell pepper + tomato + Parmesan + S + P + olive oil
  • figs + Gruyère + honey + olive oil + salt + pepper + ham
  • eggplant + honey + Gruyère + olive oil + salt + pepper
  • basil + tomato + Parmesan + olive oil + salt + pepper
  • sorrel + grapes + Parmesan + olive oil + salt + pepper
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
  2. Thinly slice ingredients.
  3. Drizzle savory crostini with olive oil (it could also be good with the sweet ones).
  4. Top with desired toppings.
  5. Sprinkle savory crostini with salt and pepper.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes.
  7. Serve immediately.

 

Monday

3

September 2012

0

COMMENTS

Happy the Long Weekend

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

Hi Friends!

I’m taking the day off today. Actually, I took the whole weekend off. I got my essential work done on Thursday and went off to plaaaaay!

I hope this Labor Day (or Labour Day, for my Canadian family and friends) is wonderful. I needed a break, and I’m hoping this weekend has been restful (as I write this on Thursday at 6:30pm, I’m exhausted, I still have the smell of rotten potatoes in my nose, I have no idea what to make for dinner, and I’m hungry… I know, I know, woe to me)… I’ll let you know how it was when it’s not still the weekend.

If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to watch last week’s episode 37, where I made Roasted Tomato Soup. You guys, it was really good. I froze some of it and I can’t wait to eat it again. If you’re working on your menu for next week right now, here’s the menu I’ve planned.

Well, I’m off (this is Thursday me) to pack… or (Monday me) to enjoy the rest of our mini vacation.

So long!

Happy Eating!

Friday

31

August 2012

0

COMMENTS

What Can You Do With a Roasted Chicken?

Written by , Posted in Inspired By, Thoughts

One of my favorite ways to cook a chicken is to roast it. In the Crock Pot, or in the oven, doesn’t really matter to me. It will taste great regardless. In our household, there are just two of us… OK, three, if you count the dog. He counts, right… Two of us eating meals, one of us cleaning the plates if he’s lucky. So when I make a whole chicken, I do it with the intention of having leftovers. I love cold, leftover chicken that’s eaten while standing in front of the fridge… warmed up is OK too. 🙂

You could basically make one chicken, say for your Sunday dinner, and reap the rewards of this delicious meal for the whole week! (Um… if you really do want to use it for every dinner meal in a week, even if there are just two of you, maybe cook up two chickens, just to be safe.)

Here are a few roasted chicken recipes:

Za’atar Citrus Chicken

Crock Pot Chicken

You Have to Try This Chicken!

Roasted Chicken and Veggies

Roasted Chicken

Some of the ways I like to enjoy the leftover chicken:

Chicken Pot Pie (Mmm I’ve been craving this… I need to make it soon!)

Chicken Caesar Salad with Fava Beans

Summer Veggie Quinoa Salad

Sandwiches (Chicken, lettuce, tomato – if you feel like it, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, bread on each side… done!)

Chicken Club Pizza

Cold, alongside this or that Potato Salad

On a salad, like Arlene makes

If you’re like me, you probably don’t let much go to waste when it comes to the chicken. I make stock with the giblets, and after I’ve taken the meat off the bones, I make stock from the carcass (what a weird and grody word). With this chicken stock you can make:

Soups, all kinds of soups! Minestrone, Bean and Green Soup, Magic Soup, Roasted Tomato Soup (use in place of veggie stock), Summer Chili, Borscht, Double Butter Soup, Mashed Potato Soup, Corn Chowder… Can you tell I’m excited about fall and soup season!?

Basil and Summer Squash Risotto (or any kind of risotto that you fancy)

Chard Wraps with Beef and Tarragon (oh boy these are yummy!!)

Extra Creamy Mac and Cheese (use it for the bechamel sauce in place of some of the milk)

And then there’s the pan drippings. You know, all that delicious goodness at the bottom of the roasting pan?! Yes, that. Don’t throw it away! Refrigerate it, skim off the fat, then use it to make gravy (like this Mushroom Gravy)! Or use it like a concentrated chicken stock.

Carla, asked about my chicken stock recipe. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have it on here, at least as it’s own separate post. Thanks Carla! Here it is!!

Chicken Stock

Last modified on 2012-08-30 00:58:47 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Simple Chicken Stock
Recipe Type: Soup
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins
Ingredients
  • 1 chicken carcass
  • 6-8 C water
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 t whole peppercorns
  • 1 bunch herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil…)
Instructions
  1. Place chicken carcass in a soup pot with water, veggies, herbs, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 hours.
  2. Strain and discard bones and meat.
  3. Cool slightly before refrigerating.
  4. Place cooled stock in fridge. When completely cooled, skim fat off the top.