De Ma Cuisine

Thoughts Archive

Tuesday

20

March 2012

4

COMMENTS

Let There Be Beef

Written by , Posted in Contests, Thoughts

I’m happy to tell you that I have a new sponsor for my show!!

TX Bar Organics provides me with organic, grass-fed beef. This beef is really yummy. It’s so good that a friend, who eats (mostly) vegetarian tried the Hawaiian Sliders and Beef Crostini, and liked them both! Part of the reason she was OK with eating this beef is that I’d asked TX Bar Organics how their cattle is treated. I found out that not only is this beef for sale online, and delivered right to your door, but the cattle are treated humanely, and they eat only grass!! I think I like it.

So far I’ve tried the ground beef and the top sirloin. I can’t wait to try a few more things! I’ll be using their ground beef on this week’s episode of A Cooking Show with Rachel O!

A little bit about them, in their words:

“TX BAR Ranch is located in Northern California 120 miles north of Sacramento. The beef we sell you have spent much, if not all of their lives on a local ranch in Northern California. Our passion is to raise the best beef you’ve ever had, and do it in a way that benefits all of the parts of an agricultural system. That agricultural system includes you, the land, the animal and the community. All of our cattle are part of the global animal protection program in which these animals are raised in a calm low stress environment and treated in with the utmost humane care. This care funnels down to you in the form of taste, quality and peace of mind that your meat came from a naturally healthy peaceful environment.

Our cattle live a completely natural existence as foragers and grazers. Grazing enhances a complex and balanced mosaic of native grasslands, which in turn maintains the vigor and distribution of these habitats, ensuring a sustainable food system.

And… they want YOU to try some of their beef!

You could win a $25 gift card from

TX Bar Organics!!

To Enter (Please leave a comment on this blog post letting me know that you have done both, in order for your entry to be valid! :)) 

Subscribe to TX Bar Organics newsletter and Like De Ma Cuisine on Facebook (if you already like DMC, great, it counts!).

Giveaway closes Tuesday, March 27th at 6pm (PST)

This contest is now closed. 

The winner is Suzanna Olson! 

Thanks to all who entered!

(Suzanna, your gift code will be sent to your email!)

Giveaway is open to residents of the lower 48 states. Winner will be chosen using random.org.

(Sorry to anyone that excludes!!!)

Bonne Chance!

(Giveaway sponsored by TX Bar Organics!)

Friday

16

March 2012

1

COMMENTS

Oma’s Moon Cookies, by Jill

Written by , Posted in Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Guest Posts, Legacy, Thoughts

I’m blessed to have two brothers. But, until I got a sister-in-law last year, I had zero sisters. However, my cousin, Jill and I are as close as sisters. She’s one of my best friends. She lives in Colorado with her family, so we make up for the distance with visits, Skype chats, phone calls, emails, and texts. She and I were devastated at the loss of our Oma a couple of months ago. We both inherited a love for cooking from her. Jill, however, must have inherited the baking side of it much more than I. She’s a great baker. I asked if she would share Oma’s recipe for Moon Cookies.

Here’s Jill.

I know what you are thinking, it’s why are these called moon cookies yet they are shaped like stars?  Well honestly it is just because I don’t have a moon shaped cookie cutter.  Every time I make these cookies I am already far too deep in the process to stop, go to the store and get the proper shape, and every year I seem to forget that I don’t have a moon shape so I choose the next best celestial object, a star.  But Oma, whose recipe this is, always made them in moon shapes, hence the name.  Everyone in the Pries family knows what a moon cookie is.

This recipe is special for many reasons, most importantly because it was Oma’s.  And everything from Oma is special.  Secondly, they are insanely delicious.  One of the ways Oma loved her family was through food. She always had lovely treats and amazing meals waiting for us whenever we would visit.  Some of my fondest childhood memories take place in her kitchen, whether it was baking Zwieback and honey cookies, or sitting under the kitchen table first thing in the morning to warm up by the vent, or having Opa help me crush my crunchy buns into my bowl of “Opa” soup.  Of all the many traditions Oma passed down, a love of the kitchen was definitely one of them.  She was always eager to teach us and to pass down these special family recipes.  She had a servant’s heart and loved her family so much through everything she did.  I can only hope that I can make my family feel as loved and as precious as she made us feel.  Oma – I love you and I will keep trying to learn to crochet dish clothes, even though they always end up looking like cat toys!!

And now a special word of caution…..do not eat these cookies while wearing black.  The evidence will be all over you. And that is especially bad if you happened to indulge yourself when you really shouldn’t have or were flat out told not to, like a certain three year old boy who disappeared behind the sofa for a few minutes and then reappeared with lovely white fluff all down his front.

Oma’s Moon Cookies, by Jill

Oma’s Moon Cookies, by Jill

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups flour
  • 1/2 lb unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups ground hazelnuts
  • Icing sugar, about 3 cups

Instructions

  1. Mix together flour, butter and sugar. Add the nuts (use your food processor to grind the nuts if you had to buy whole ones). Mix well. Refrigerate for about 3 hours. Roll out the dough about 1/4 " thick (thicker is better because they can be quite fragile).
  2. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until golden.
  3. After the cookies bake you can cool them until warm, them give them a bath in the icing sugar. Not just a light dusting. Carefully place the cookie in the bowl of sugar and gently pack it on so there is a nice coating. Store between layers of wax paper in the freezer.
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/omas-moon-cookies-by-jill/

Tuesday

13

March 2012

0

COMMENTS

Saucy Sauce Sauce

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

I will not pretend to be an expert where I am not. Grilling is not my forté. However, I made a BBQ sauce this week for the show that I thought was pretty good. In case you want to try it, I’ll share the recipe with you. For the show, I didn’t reduce it, so it was pretty liquidy. Normally, I would. I use BBQ sauce in things like burgers, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Apple Bacon Pizza, Philly Cheesesteak Pizza… and of course on things that are being grilled. I posted a BBQ sauce recipe a while ago. I’ll post this one too, since it’s a little bit different. I think I like this one better. 🙂

BBQ Sauce

Last modified on 2012-07-19 17:18:59 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

BBQ Sauce
Recipe Type: Sauce
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins
Perfect for grilled meats, on pizzas, or in burgers!
Ingredients
  • 1/4 C white vinegar
  • 1/2 C apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 C molasses
  • 2 T honey
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • 1/4 C tomato paste
  • pepper
  • 1/2 to 1 t chili & garlic sea salt
  • 1/2 to 1 t tropical pepper sea salt
  • pinch ginger
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1 T smoked paprika
  • 1 t sweet paprika
  • 1 T chili powder
Instructions
  1. Whisk all ingredients together.
  2. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer until thickened and reduced, 15 minutes to 1 hour or so.
Notes

Makes about 2 C sauce before reducing.

It’s almost spring, so it’s time to get out the BBQs and start grilling!!

Monday

12

March 2012

1

COMMENTS

Create Nourish Share… and Pasta

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

My friend, Genevieve and I used to be secretaries together. Last week she was in town for a food convention and she (and our friend Mindy) came over for dinner. She had a small gift for me, with a card. On the card she wrote, “Goodbye secretaries!”.

I’ve had many great jobs. I’ve worked with good friends, I taught aerobics, I learned Photoshop and InDesign, I organized a camp… They’ve all been good great amazing jobs that have been so difficult to leave. But, what I do now rivals them all. I finally found something that I really really love: FOOD. I love to talk about it, make it, write about it, learn about it, plan it, shop for it… I just don’t like to do the dishes. What Gen said made me realize (once again) how awesome this job is. And, she’s doing something with food too!

She just completed a program to become a Natural Chef at Bauman College. She has a blog and is starting to Personal Chef. From secretaries in Texas, to fooding in Colorado and California. We’ve come a long way (literally and figuratively), haven’t we Gen?!

This is Genevieve’s business (haha, that makes it sound like it’s her business, not yours… like “mind your own beeswax”). She’s a natural chef, consultant and educator. This girl knows her stuff! She’s a wealth of information on healthy eating, and doing it in a yummy way. She is often one of my resources. In her “about” page on her new blog, she says,

“I love cooking with organic, seasonal, unrefined ingredients and learning why these foods are beneficial to our bodies. This project was born out of a desire to equip others in learning how to cook healthy food. I invite you to join me in the joy of creating delicious cuisine, understanding the necessity of nourishing the body and the satisfaction of sharing incredible food.”

Right now there’s just one blog post… But, trust me, it’s enough to whet your appetite. We ate the kale I had in the fridge when she was over last week. If we hadn’t, I would have made the Kale Chips she wrote about. I can’t wait to read her next post. I think she’s going to write about granola soon. I’ve tried this granola. It’s wonderful!

When she and Mindy came over, we decided to make dinner together. I’d just finished editing last week’s show, so I was exhausted. But, I remembered a pasta that I’d made a few months ago, that I called Pasta in a Pinch. Literally, I was in a pinch – we’d invited friends over for lunch after church. The chicken that was to be our main course had been cooking in the Crock Pot. But, when we got home, I realized it needed about another hour to cook. We were hungry. I had bacon, parmesan cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and peas. It became lunch… We omitted the peas at Mindy’s request, added mushrooms, grated carrots, and kale. I sent Husband to the store to get a loaf of French bread, we had a simple salad of lettuce, grated carrots, oranges, and lemon salad dressing, and paired it with a bottle of Ma Chérie red wine. Voilà, dinner. It was yummy. While we cooked, Gen would add a tidbit of information here and there. Like about the olive oil and why it’s best not to heat it until it smokes (and why the Bari Olive Oil that I use is really good olive oil), the word for how I was cutting the orange, why organic bacon is better for you… It was so fun! Here’s what we made. I hope you enjoy it!

Pasta in a Pinch

Last modified on 2012-04-26 00:09:29 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Pasta in a Pinch
Recipe Type: Pasta, Dinner, Main
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 4-6
In a pinch, pasta is a quick easy meal. Here’s a yummy and simple dinner.
Ingredients
  • 4 T oil (I used olive, but you could try coconut)
  • 1 package penne rice pasta (or whatever pasta you like)
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1 bunch kale, stems removed
  • 3 T tomato paste
  • 1 C leeks, chopped in rounds and washed
  • 1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 pkg bacon
  • 1/4 to 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1 1/2 C parmesan cheese (1/2 C reserved for topping)
  • 1 C pasta water
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 t red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon. Drain on paper towel. Crumble when cool. Drain fat from pan, but don’t clean pan.
  2. Cook balsamic vinegar and reduce (bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer until thickened and syrupy – keep an eye on it, it can burn quickly!).
  3. Cook pasta. While it cooks: Heat oil in bacon pan. Add leeks and mushrooms. Once mushrooms are partway cooked, add tomato paste, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, carrots. Cook a couple more minutes, then add the kale.
  4. Before draining the pasta, take 1 C pasta water and add to the mushroom mixture. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary.
  5. Combine pasta with sauce. Mix in parmesan cheese.
  6. Top each serving with bacon, parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar.

Here’s to good, healthy food that tastes great!! Here’s to doing what we love! Here’s to inspiring and equipping people to eat well, something that is important to both Gen and I.

Friday

9

March 2012

4

COMMENTS

Pea Tendrils, Please – Guest Post

Written by , Posted in Guest Posts, Thoughts

We got pea tendrils in our Abundant Harvest Box this week. Since I didn’t know what to do with them, I thought others might be in need of some inspiration as well. (Plus, maybe we’ll have them again next week, who knows!?) I had lunch on Thursday with Christy, Joanna, and Christy’s mom, Linda. Christy made Sautéed Pea Tendrils and Eggs. I asked if she would share it with you. She kindly obliged.

Here’s Christy:

When I discovered that we had pea tendrils coming in our Abundant Harvest Organics box this week, I admit I had to go on a quest. Growing up, I remember seeing peas grow in the garden, but I have never known that the leaves on the plants were edible! I suppose I could have settled for just incorporating the graceful, twining stems and leaves in a salad, but I wanted to see if there were some fun ways to highlight this unique ingredient. I found this recipe and it hit the spot. The sautéed pea tendrils are similar to spinach, but with a distinct fresh pea taste and crunchier bite. We thought the fried egg was the perfect accompaniment for a delicious lunch (or breakfast, or dinner :)). Who knew pea tendrils could be so tasty?!?

Sautéed Pea Tendrils and Eggs

Last modified on 2012-12-01 02:24:33 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Sautéed Pea Tendrils and Eggs
Recipe Type: Main, Lunch, Dinner
Author: The Cilantropist via Christy Durrance
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 large bunch fresh pea tendrils
  • 2-3 T olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Salt
  • 4 eggs
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Wash pea tendrils, discarding tough, large stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. Pat or spin dry.
  2. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sizzle for 30 seconds, coating well with the oil.
  3. Add pea tendrils and salt to taste. Sauté until pea tendrils are wilted, but still bright green, about 2-4 minutes. Remove from pan to serving dishes.
  4. Fry one egg per person in the same pan to desired doneness. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Lay egg on top of sautéed pea tendrils. Serve and enjoy!
Notes

We ate this with an Irish Soda Bread, smothered with butter and homemade jam.