Monday October 04, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Moroccan Brisket Recipe

Kudos to Whippoorwill Farm in Lakeville, CT for raising, then selling the most beautiful and delicious cut of brisket from their herd and for sharing "Laura's Moroccan Beef Brisket" recipe. Thank you Laura, whoever you are!!

Here's the recipe with my comments, of course:
This should be made a day ahead for maximum flavor.
1 whole beef brisket, about 5 lbs
2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 large onions (I sliced them)
2 cloves of garlic (I used 4 and minced them)
1 can tomato paste
1 cup beef broth (I used more like 2)
1-1/2 cups red wine (I used 2 1/2 -3)
1 cup dried apricots (I used organic, unsulfured and left them whole)
1 cup of green olives, halved
1 cups prunes, slices
Pepper and salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a large dutch oven on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the olive oil, then add the beef. Sear the beef for about 5 minutes on both sides until browned. Remove and season with salt and pepper. Add sliced onions and saute over medium heat for 10 minutes until golden. Add salt, pepper, garlic and tomato paste. Put meat back in, add cinnamon and then wine and broth to cover the meat. Add apricots, olives and prunes. Cover and place in oven. Turn the brisket once or twice while it's cooking for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Cool in refrigerator overnight. While the recipe says to defat the gravy, the brisket was so lean there was no fat and the gravy was a perfect consistency and did not need cornstarch to thicken. Slice the brisket while its cold, put back in gravy and reheat in a 350 degree oven.

I served it with roasted potatoes, broccoli and green salad; and with polenta and sliced tomatoes the next day for dinner. YUMMY. It was sweet and savory with a nice robust flavor and very tender. It's a keeper for sure!!

Monday September 27, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Return from Country Living Fair

It was quite a trip - 22 hours of driving, 2 cooking demos, lots of great vendors at the fair and an overall great time!! Thank you Country Living!!
Here's my view from the stage:

And here's what a couple of people had to say:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgZJoFmkZuc?fs=1]

Basking in the glow!!

Monday September 20, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Apple Torte Demo on Newschannel13

Basking in the afterglow of a great time with the news team from Albany's NBC affiliate - WNYT - Newschannel 13 - Dan Bazille and Tim Drawbridge!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfudby5gaRs?fs=1]

Here's the recipe:

Jo’s (my Mom’s) Apple Torte

Our family loves cheesecake and we love apple pie. So way back when, my Mom who tends to be pie crust challenged, decided to do away with the frustration of a rolled pie dough and combined her cheesecake acumen with apples to create the simplest and most delicious winner. Try it - it will impress your friends and your taste buds!!

Crust

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Cream Cheese Filling

2 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs at room temperature

Apples

2 large tart apples such as Granny Smith - peeled, cored and sliced

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and then cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press into bottom and up about 1” of the sides of a 10 inch springform pan. Bake for 5 minutes, cool to room temperature.

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Spoon mixture into crust.

Mix apples sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Spoon over cream cheese mixture and then sprinkle with walnuts.

Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 45 minutes until your tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack and then carefully remove sides of springform pan. When completely cool, turn upside-down, remove bottom of pan, place plate on top and flip over. And ENJOY!!!

Monday September 13, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Treasure Hunting at Brimfield

Brimfield makes me happy!!
I had the best day on Saturday. I went to Brimfield and I arrived home with the back of my pick-up full of unexpected treasures!! The best was - 6 dining room chairs for $200. Mind you they need work BUT I have been coveting this style chair for my dining room for years and never pulled the trigger because I was looking at forking over at least $1200/chair with my designer discounts! Not in my budget, now or ever. So when you come across the deal - you have to scoop it even when you had no intention. That's the beauty of Brimfield - you just never know what you are going to come across.

I will post the "after" photos when they are reupholstered.

Great finds aside, I also come across all sorts of heirloom kitchen tools, gadgets etc. So FUN - even if you don't buy - it's a veritable museum of other people's discards from estates, attics, garages, or basements.

Here are a few of my scores:

Nesting Hens for my ever-growing collection, a sewing basket and
Fire King custard cups with rack for water bath - so cool!!

Oh, and I forgot - my 1930 cast cement flamingos - my whimsy purchase - my garden will never be the same!

Monday September 06, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Thank You, Erin Russo

Labor Day = End of Summer, Reflecting & Beginning Afresh

Many of my friends are melancholy. And yes, so am I. While the 90 degree temps last week seemed to keep summer present for a bit longer, the recent cool off, earlier sun sets and autumnal colors are augurs of the next season. I am not quite ready.
So today, I want to reflect and write about a person who made my summer exceptional. Her name is Erin Russo.

I advertised for a Smith College intern (remember Smith is my alma mater) and received several applications but Erin was a stand out in so many ways!! She was smart enough to read my blog and tailor her letter as a result, she was an anthropology major and understood why I called heirloom meals "salvage anthropology for treasured family recipes," and she had a great attitude and personality.
Erin catapulted Heirloom Meals' progress in three months. We started a facebook fan page, developed an editorial calendar for the blog, booked radio show guests, successfully ran a kickstarter fundraising campaign for a new website, wrote all the content for the soon-to-be-launched website, planned and threw a fundraiser for Berkshire Grown with Sarah Gray Miller from Country Living Magazine etc.
The best part is we had fun while working hard, she was the angel I needed and became a dear friend, sister and daughter in the process.
Here are a few photos of our journey:

Erin at the Taggart House pitching in at the Close Encounters
with Music event that we catered on June 5th.

Allison Hemming and Erin in NYC at the New World Home/
Country Living Green Modular House of the Year Cocktail party on June 7th.

And now Erin's new journey:

Erin in Italy - we are awaiting her Slow Food Saturday Blog posts
when she'll share her food experience!

THANK YOU, Erin for a GREAT SUMMER.

And to all of you out there I want to hire Erin when she returns from Italy so let's help me continue to get fans, and raise money for the show!!

Love you ERIN!!

Monday August 30, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Whirlwind Life

It's already Monday night and I feel like I need a vacation. I have been working hard and miraculously manage to get everything checked off my "to-do" list. Of the many things I do, real estate sales is one of them and as of late, my little farmlette listing has been getting lots of actions with a deal in the works. YIPPEE!!

My interior decorating projects are coming along as well. It's always gratifying to see the results of months of work. Here's a peak at a partially finished room - a few more orders and deliveries and it will be complete!!

And today I had a fun excursion to White Flower Farm with Dottie Weber, a great interior decorating client and we did some damage purchasing some perennials for Dottie's "exterior" design. I manage to be a full service operation!! Here's our loot:

But have no fear, I have not lost my heirloom meals way....while typing this blog post I have eggplant and tomatoes roasting in the oven to compose into eggplant parmesan as a side to leftover grilled hangar steak!! YUM. Until tomorrow......