Cheddar and Avocado Muffins

Michele over at Life, Lightly Salted recently posted her Cheddar and Avocado Muffins. Bake avocado? Why not?

I had just received about 20 baby avocados from a friend, and needed to find ways to use them up. These muffins sounded perfect.





















What is it about me and baby produce, seriously?





















(And what's up with Blogger rotating my pictures 90 degrees without my asking? How rude.)

Update, 7/30/09 regarding 90degree rotation: I've found that if you open your picture in your picture viewer, rotate it, save it, rotate it back, save it, THEN upload it to Blogger, it doesn't get rotated.

I used onion instead of shallot, since that's what I had. I (astonishingly) didn't add any garlic :)


















They turned out great!

Thanks, Michele, for a keeper recipe.

Tuscan Bean Stew with Sausage and Cabbage

After making the Creamy Cabbage and Potato Stew, I had about 2/3 of my monster cabbage left. Lucky me, I also had "zesty" Italian sausages in the freezer. A quick stop at the market for a pound of dried Great Northern beans, and I was ready to make The Bitten Word's Tuscan Bean Stew with Sausage and Cabbage.

See this beautiful fond?
















It went down the drain. I'm so ashamed. I was prepping the night before making the soup, and decided I could save some time the next day by sauteing the sausage then refrigerating overnight. Stupid stupid me.

Anyway. Moving on. Here's a picture of sauteing veggies. Just 'cause.
















When it came time to add the cabbage, I got a little worried. My trusty Descoware was too small! But I forgot that cabbage wilts quickly. So I was soon able to add more. Then wait a little. Then add more. Until I had what I thought was an appropriate ratio of cabbage to other stuff.
















Verdict? Very good soup. Sausage, greenery, beanery. How could you go wrong?

I've Been Tagged, with a Brief Mention of Food

Betts over at Damn Yankee tagged me in a meme, so here goes:

Here’s what you/I have to do:

1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late, and you can't go digging through the bowels of your closet for the cutest bag you have. So what if it's ugly; we'll love you anyway. It should be the bag you carried today or the last time you left the house.

2) Tell us how much it cost. Go ahead, and slay us with your frugality and your ability to grab a good deal. Or if you decided to pony up a lot of money, good for you, girl... you deserve it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

(3) Tag some of your people. And link back to me, so everyone knows why we're having this little show and tell.

Here's my bag. It's Liz Claiborne, I've had it for a couple-three years, and have no recollection of what it cost, maybe $20, probably at TJ Maxx. I tied a knot in the strap because it was just a little bit too long. (And now I can't find a replacement bag with a long enough strap!)

















Here are the contents:

















Wallet, scrunchy, powder, mirror, eyeshadow, nail file, chapstick, lipstick, eye drops, keys, checkbook, random bits of paper for shopping lists. Also my phone and a little case for my flash drive and SD memory card reader. And no, I didn't clean it out prior to the pic, I have to keep it minimal because the (new) wallet's so damn big there's no room for anything else.

And, since this is a food blog, here's some spaghetti.

















And here are some jalapenos poached in olive oil.

Creamy Cabbage and Potato Stew

Somehow I ended up with way too much chicken broth in my freezer, so I've been looking for recipes that'll help use it up. I found this recipe for Creamy Cabbage and Potato Stew over at Food for Laughter, and it sounded just right for this gloomy weather.
















I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I removed the bacon after crisping it, and added it back in right at the end. And I added a clove of minced garlic, because I do that with everything.
















At first glance, the recipe doesn't look like much - just cabbage, potato, bacon, onion, milk and broth. But it's sooooo good! Hubby couldn't stop eating it, and kept asking me what "the secret" was. No secret, just good eastern Euro comfort food. This was perfect for the cloudy day - creamy from the potatoes, which were just starting to break apart, slightly sweet from the cabbage, with the gentle porkiness of bacon.

And of course, it's better the 2nd day. Provided your Hubby doesn't eat it all on the 1st day.

Corn and Black Pepper Crackers

If you saw my last post on bacon candy, you'll understand why I had to make these crackers. Sweet bacon reminds me of baked beans, and baked beans remind me of cornbread. I didn't want to make cornbread, but I had this recipe from the NY Times bookmarked for Corn and Black Pepper Crackers. And the rest is history.
















I mixed up the batter as per the directions, and the resulting "batter" was very thin. I didn't think there was any way I could bake spoonfuls (sorry, spoonsful) of this without them all running together. So I added two more tablespoons each of flour and cornmeal to thicken it up a bit.



















They were nicely corny, nicely peppery, but I think slightly too spongy, which was probably from my meddling with the recipe. Whatever, they still tasted good. And if you have some left over, they'll get soft, but all you have to do is re-crisp them in the oven. Try them, you won't be disappointed. Especially if you have them with bacon candy.

Bacon Candy

Yeah, I said bacon candy. And you know what? It's frickin' delicious.
















I found the recipe on Hey, that tastes good!, and bookmarked it immediately. I have no idea why it took me so long to make this. I feel the need to make up for lost time and make it every day for a week.

3 ingredients - bacon, brown sugar and chili powder. Bake.

Absolutely amazing. I want to put it on top of fried rice. I want to crumble it on top of clam chowder, or a salad. I want to put it in ice cream.




















But instead I settled for having it on top of a cornmeal & black pepper cracker (see next post for the crackers, they're delicious too!). Once you let the bacon cool, the sugar makes it pleasantly chewy (and possibly bad for teeth with fillings), and you also get the slight after-burn from the chili powder. This is my new favorite addiction.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

My MIL picked up some super-huge scallops from Costco the other day, and I just knew I had to wrap them in bacon. I decided I wanted to plate them on top of crispy potatoes, with some sauteed greens on the side. I also knew I needed some kind of sauce.

The wheels inside my head were turning - russet or red potatoes? Lemon cream sauce? Should I use wine? How should I cook the potatoes? Should I grill or boil the scallops? With the help of some friends, I settled on red potatoes, parboiled then broiled, and a tart mustardy sauce using Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce. And some blanched and sauteed broccoli rabe on the side.
















I am so completely happy with this dinner - I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and it turned out to be one of the better things I've ever made.

So without further adieu, here's what I did. And please note that all measurements are approximate, because I can't measure to save my life (which is why I'm no longer a chemist).

Bacon Wrapped Scallops on Crispy Potatoes with Sauteed Broccoli Rabe

10 large scallops
10 thin slices bacon
2 red potatoes
1 bunch broccoli rabe
minced garlic
olive oil
salt & pepper & hot pepper flakes
white wine vinegar
chicken broth
aioli garlic mustard sauce (you could probably use equal parts mustard and cream to substitute)

Pat the scallops dry, and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Cut the potatoes into slices a little more than 1/4" thick, parboil them for about 5 minutes, then drain on paper towels. Blanch the bacon for 30 seconds, and drain. Separate the leaves from the broccoli rabe, blanch for 5 minutes in salted water, stop the cooking under cold water, then drain.

Stretch out the bacon and season with pepper. Starting at the narrow end, wrap a slice of bacon around a scallop, pulling the bacon tight. Secure with a toothpick if necessary. Toss the potato slices (gently!) with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place the bacon-wrapped scallops and the potato slices onto a heavy baking sheet, and broil 6 inches from the flame, about 6-7 minutes per side. The bacon should get crispy, and the potatoes should start browning.

While the broiler is broiling, heat some olive oil in a skillet, add some garlic, and saute for a minute. Add in the broccoli rabe, some salt and red pepper flakes, and some white wine vinegar if you wish. Saute until cooked to your liking.

For the sauce, heat about 2 teaspoons olive oil with 2 teaspoons butter, add in some minced garlic, and let cook for a minute. Pour in some chicken broth, about 1/3 cup, a splash of white wine vinegar, salt & pepper, and about 2 teaspoons aioli garlic mustard sauce. Bring to a low boil, reduce the heat and let simmer a bit, until it thickens. Right before serving, swirl in some more butter, because butter is good.

To plate, place a scallop on top of a potato, top with sauce, and serve the broccoli rabe on the side (the sauce goes good on the greens too).