Author Archives: galfoodie

For the Love of Cheesecake

The way to Ben's heart.From the outside looking in, my Valentine’s day was nothing special. I spent it cleaning the bathrooms, doing laundry, and making a marketing plan for my client Rossi Pasta. Not exactly a whirlwind trip through the streets of Paris.

But from the inside, it was warm and fuzzy, and I found as I was pulling together some of the tasks of the day, I was touching items and doing things that had pretty significant meaning to me. I enjoyed 3 cups of my favorite coffee while Ben made me Belgian Waffles covered in fresh strawberries. After breakfast, I did dishes side by side with Ben, just as my grandparents used to do, sharing laughs and to-do lists for the remainder of the day. I took my dog, Asher, for a brisk, sun-drenched walk around Seawall, my favorite part of Mount Desert Island. I returned home to organize, clean and straighten because I love a tidy house. And I made Ben heart-shaped raspberry cheesecakes as a special surprise dessert because I loved the idea of making him something that would make his heart sing.

My KeepsakeAs I pulled together the items I would need, the memories flooded in when my hand grabbed the old aluminum cake pan – my grandmother’s pan – with her name scrawled on the side lest it be left behind at a birthday party or a church supper. The pan with the 6 ring marks on the bottom and the perfect water line made by 40 plus years of making my grandfather the custard cups he loved. The pan that made coffee cake every Sunday, and her traditional New Zealand birthday cake for the family she loved. It was now to be the vessel for my love – a water bath for the cheesecakes.

Steal My Heart Cheesecake
Makes 3 cheesecakes for 4″ x 1 3/4″ heart-shaped spring form pans by Wilton

Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

1. preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients and press firmly into bottom of prepared pans. bake for 6 minutes then set aside to cool.

Cheesecake
16 ounces (2 8oz pkgs) cream cheese at *room temp (*VERY important!)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup Raspberry Sauce (I used Hannaford’s Inspirations brand)

1. In a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well blended.

2. Wrap outside of pans in 2-3 layers of foil to prevent water from leaking in.

3. Fill the pans 1/2 full with cheesecake batter. Drizzle raspberry sauce in to make a thin layer. Pour in remaining batter filling to just below top of pan, being careful not to mix it into the sauce.

4. Place smaller pans into a larger pan, and fill until water is 1/4 – 1/2 up the sides of the spring form pans. This is called a ban marîe (water bath). Bake for 45 minutes, or until the centers are not jiggly. Remove from the oven and place directly, uncovered into the fridge. Best to leave them overnight, but OK to eat in a couple of hours.

Topping
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp raspberry sauce

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, mixing with a fork to break up the raspberries. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the sugar to work its magic on the raspberries (making a nice syrup!)

Share the love.

2. To serve, cover the top of the cakes with the raspberry mixture. I also put a touch of chocolate sauce on the plate for dipping. Best part… Share it with someone you love.

Love.
It’s a great thing to have. Especially when you know it’s true. Be it the love of a pet, a keepsake, a boy, one thing I’m sure of… When there is love in your world, it’s a wholly different place.

~ Gal Foodie

My Heart Captured

My Heart Captured

Ahhhh, but what did Ben do for you for Valentine’s Day you ask? He spent the day doing something he loves – welding a sculpture for me. And I loved it.


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Gal Foodie Recipe Contest! Enter Today!

THIS MONTH’S CONTEST: Comfort Food!

I’m giving away a copy of the newest (most favorite!) edition to my cooking library – The Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition, in exchange for your submission of the winning recipe!

Here are the Rules:
1. Send me your favorite recipe for comfort food. The term “comfort food” can mean anything, so send me something that makes you feel good when you make it. You also must tell me WHY this is comfort food to you. I prefer original recipes, however if you have one from a book or other resource YOU MUST disclose the source. Entries that appear to be plagiarized with no cited source will be tossed like a salad.

2. If I select your recipe it will be published on the Gal Foodie website along with your photo and you will also receive the cookbook Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition.

3. Recipes will be judged based on taste, originality/artistic flair, ease of preparation/practicality, and appearance.

4. Deadline for submission is March 1, 2009.

Submit Your Recipe [easy-contact].


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Meatloaf. Feel The Love.

This is one of my more favorite childhood memories of my Dad, and funny enough, it involves meatloaf. I think I was around 7 or 8, and my brother was probably 4. Dad was left to his own devices when it came time to cook the 3 of us dinner one night. He decided on meatloaf, which seemed an easy crowd pleaser.

My Dad, with his beloved grandson, Drew.

My Dad, with his beloved grandson, Drew.

How hard could it be to throw some ground beef in a bread pan and bake it? But with 2 distracting, rambunctious kids in feety pajamas bouncing off the walls of our tiny kitchen, the meatloaf became more of a “work in progress” than he had bargained for.

Into the pan went the lump of meat and other ingredients he had combined and shaped into a loaf. Satisfied that he had accomplished the feat of dinner, the meatloaf went into the oven. I don’t exactly know what kick-started his memory of the meatloaf recipe after the fact, but I DO remember him suddenly exclaiming “The eggs!” as he leaped off the couch, and out came the meatloaf. It went on like this for several more attempts. “The ketchup!” “The cheese!” And each time the exclamation was followed by the meatloaf coming out of the oven, being remixed and put BACK into the oven. It was fun. And funny. And the meatloaf was pretty good, Dad. The memory, that much better.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve made meatloaf in my adult life. Ben made a request for it this weekend, and with winter well underway here on Mount Desert Island, it sounded like the perfect comfort food for a snowy evening. When I say this is the best meatloaf I have ever had…Heck, when BEN says it, we know we’re on to something. Juicy, savory, bacony, speechless.

Meatloaf Love.

Meatloaf Love.

Little did we know how amazing and versatile my meatloaf recipe was going to be. We squeezed a meat and potatoes dinner, 2 sandwiches, and a pasta dinner out of one loaf.

The Meatloaf of Love
Serves 8
1lb of Ground Turkey
1 lb of Ground Beef (90% lean)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2/3 cup Ketchup
1 tbsp Italian herb mix*
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 strips of bacon, cut in half
* I got this herb mix from Rossi Pasta, in one of their gift baskets. it’s basically a smidgen of all of the following – enough to make a tablespoon: Basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme. Dried or fresh – it’s up to you.

Directions
1. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry until combined.
2. Knead in the meats until blended. Over kneading, however will produce a chewy result.
3. Shape into a prepared loaf pan and put strips of bacon over the top
4. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer reads 170 (remember you are cooking turkey which needs a higher temp to be safe.)
5. Remove from the oven and drain off excess fat. Serve with mashed potatoes and smothered in gravy.
6. Fall in love. Eat too much.

Other Fab meals from this recipe:
1. Grill a slab of meatloaf in a dab of olive oil, on both sides. Place between two slices of bread slathered with ketchup and mayo, and grill on both sides. Fall in love.

2. Grill a slab of meatloaf in a dab of olive oil, on both sides. Place atop a pile of linguine and cover with red sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Fall in love.

Feel the Love,
Gal Foodie


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Chicken Divan for Cheaters. Or, if you’re just not feeling well.

I’m Sick.
And food doesn’t sound that great to me right now. But I just got a call from my Mom who was praising the folks who have been kind enough to bring she and my Dad dinners on a regular basis since she had surgery last week. She hasn’t felt like eating much, but someone brought her Chicken Divan casserole. And that was starting to sound pretty good.

Something to note: My Mom makes the best Chicken Divan on the planet. Everybody’s Mom probably does, but just hearing her say the words made my infirm palette get a little drooly with the memory of her comforting , warm and creamy dish. Without much energy to spare, I decided to try and fudge her recipe a little and cut a few corners. I really want that comfort food, but I don’t really want to spend more than 20 minutes in the kitchen. I rummaged around, found a few things I knew would be OK substitutes (OK, OK, canned soup IS one of the subs and I know I’ve said in the past I’m not a big fan but…) and dinner was in the oven in 10 minutes flat.

Chicken DivanFast Chicken Divan with Rice Pilaf
Serves 6
3 chicken breasts diced and cooked with a little olive oil
1 package (10 ounces) broccoli spears, cooked and drained
1 26oz can (Family Size) Cream of Chicken Soup
1 10oz can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cooking sherry
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 slices of uncooked bacon, chopped
salt/pepper to taste (Remember, the soup already has a ton of salt!)

1. Stir the broccoli and cooked chicken into a 8×11″ Casserole dish
2. Whisk soup, lemon juice, sherry, nutmeg and salt and pepper together in a bowl
3. Pour mixture over chicken and broccoli and stir in
4. Top with cheese and bacon
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling and brown
6. Start the Rice Pilaf and it should be done by the time the dish is out of the oven.

Mom’s Chicken Divan Recipe
Serves 6

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 package (10 ounces) broccoli spears, cooked and drained

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1. Layer the chicken and broccoli in a casserole dish.
2. Make a roux by melting the butter in a saucepan over low heat and stirring in flour until smooth and well blended.
3. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the chicken broth. Place back on heat and slowly bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
4. Simmer for 1 minute then stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove sauce from heat add Parmesan cheese and sherry then stir in the slightly beaten egg yolks and bring to the boiling point again.
5. Pour over chicken and vegetables in the casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

Feel better,
Gal Foodie

Staying Creative. Grilled Teriyaki Steak with Steamed Baby Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabi and Rice

I got excited when I saw the vivid green of fresh baby bok choy at the market last week. It is such a cool little veggie. And it’s just fun to say “bok choy.” Unfortunately my imagination ran wild, only to find that the fish department had closed for the evening and my sesame crusted seared tuna steaks would have to be replaced by something a little less exotic.

Living on an island in Downeast Maine has it’s perks in summer, but winter brings a far less desirable set of circumstances, including but not limited to, a lack of fresh, edible produce, fish, and meat.

It might seem odd to think that in an age of shiny Whole Foods markets, and a push for sustainable harvests, a grocery store could even get away with showcasing half rotting peppers, “pucky” cucumbers ($1.00 each!!!), fish that looks dead, or pricey meat that has clearly been “prettied up” with a little help from red #47. But here, it is the norm, and what it forces those of us who know the difference to do is be a little more creative.

Baby Bok Choy

Baby Bok Choy

So you can see why I got very excited when I saw the baby bok choy. I just KNEW I needed to treat it with the respect it was commanding, there, amongst the rusty lettuce and sprouting carrots. Instead of tuna steaks, I shall use London Broil. Say what? Yup. Take a less expensive meat, marinate it in homemade teriyaki, throw it on the grill, steam up the bok choy and the rabi, drizzle it with a little sesame oil, whip up a wasabi cream for dipping, pile it all on top of some nice rice and TAH DAH. A delicious, inexpensive dinner for 4, with lots of flavor and not a lot of fat or calories – all in about 20 minutes.

Grilled Teriyaki Steak with Steamed Baby Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabi and Rice
Makes 4 Servings

Marinating Steak Teriyaki

Marinating Steak Teriyaki

The Teriyaki Steak
1.5 lb London Broil steak – 1″ thick if you can get it

Marinade
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 garlic
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground ginger

Combine marinade ingredients. Place steak in a glass baking dish and pour marinade over steak. I like to make sure that the steak have been coated on both sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in fridge for at least 2 hours. Better overnight. I also like to flip my steak a few times so it’s absorbing the marinade evenly.

At dinner time, grill to taste. I prefer mine medium rare. Make sure to let your steak rest, covered with foil for at least 10 minutes before slicing into thin slices.

The Veggies & Rice
2 heads of Baby Bok Choy
1 bunch of Broccoli Rabi
2 cups of rice
1 tsp Butter
S&P to taste
Sesame Oil

I have a really cool pot for steaming veggies. It’s an All-Clad Stainless-Steel 2.5-Quart Sauce Pan and Steamer Set. I know. A little extravagant, but I love it and I use it all the time. And if you look at the price of a compound miter saw, you’ll see that my “tool” costs less. Justified.

1. Steam the bok choy and the rabi together until bright green and slightly tender.
2. Cook rice to package specifications. For this dinner I’m using a basic white rice.

Wasabi Cream
I love this…
1/4 cup non-fat sour cream
Wasabi powder* or paste
1 tsp cold water
* if using wasabi powder, you will find that adding it to sour cream alone does not activate it’s HOT properties. Adding water to the mixture, produces a very, very different situation all together. Start with a little and add more to taste.

Mix sour cream and wasabi together to taste (I like it a little hot, but not too hot.)

Steak Teriyaki with Baby Bok Choy and Broccoli Rabi

Steak Teriyaki with Baby Bok Choy and Broccoli Rabi

TO SERVE
1. Portion rice in the center of the plate
2. Top with Rabi
3. Side with steak slices
3. Slice bok choy in half, position on the opposite side of steak and drizzle with a touch of sesame oil
4. Add wasabi cream right in the middle, or drizzle around the plate edge for a fancy restaurant look. The wasabi cream and the sesame oil add a great burst of flavor, and help to tone down the bitterness of the bok choy.

Get yourself some hot Saki and you gotta date! (Ben had Coal Porter from Atlantic Brewing Company in Bar Harbor and he said it went “swimmingly”.)

Enjoy!
Gal Foodie

It’s Freezing in Here… Warm & Fast Creamy Tomato Soup to the rescue!

Cold days take me back to my Grammie’s kitchen. It was warm there, and always came equipped with plenty of hot chocolate, sugar cookies, and cans of Campbell’s soup. Grammie’s kitchen doesn’t exist anymore, and now that I’m an adult and can read labels, I’ll admit my aversion to canned soup (do you know how much SALT is in there?). But it’s OK, because even though today it’s sub-zero outside, my kitchen can feel like Gram’s, too.

I started perusing my cabinets in search of good ingredients for a hearty and super fast soup. Things in the graphic design business are picking up and I don’t have a whole lot of time lately to cook (or clean – sorry, Ben), let alone blog about it. I made my favorite Lentil Stew on Tuesday and it was all gone by Wednesday lunch. I came across a few candidates for a creamy tomato soup. In less than 10 minutes this soup went from blender to pan to bowl. Perfect for lunch or dinner for the whole family.

Creamy Tomato Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup
Makes 4-6 Servings
1 12 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes (I used Progresso)
1 14.5 ounce can Chicken Stock
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup of heavy cream or milk
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic (more if you love garlic!)
6 leaves fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender on “puree” setting just enough to combine. I like chunky soup, but if you prefer smooth and creamy, puree until all the crushed tomatoes and onions are pureed.

2. Pour contents of blender into a sauce pan over medium and heat through, stirring occasionally.

3. Eat 2 bowls while you are blogging about it. Eh hem, Serve.

Variations of a Theme:
I considered adding roasted red peppers or cilantro. Maybe artichoke hearts? Roasted garlic? If you try it, let me know.

I suggest also making yourself a few grilled cheese sandwiches for dipping.

Stay Warm!

Food Critic or Restaurant Reviewer?

“So which are you?” asks Ben this past Tuesday night, when we were celebrating Josie’s 30th (eh hem, 29th!) birthday at Cleonice, our favorite restaurant this side of Portland, ME. I had to respond “Both!” because I don’t think you can review a restaurant without being critical of the food. That’s the whole point really. Stay tuned for our restaurant review coming soon!

Simple. Good Soup…Onion Style

Can I safely say that I’m over the holiday food? I can’t remember a time when I craved just a plain old bowl of yogurt so much as I did on Saturday, after days of eating. And eating. And eating. What is it about the holidays that makes everyone feel the need to over indulge? Perhaps it’s the fresh start we will give ourselves at the beginning of a new year. Or the comfort in knowing there are resolutions to be made, and we give ourselves a free pass until we say those words out loud.

My 2008 was so food frenetic that I am not going to even begin to resign myself to being any less of a “foodie” in 2009. In fact, the only resolution to be made is that I need to simplify for sanity’s sake – and that includes in the kitchen. Where’s the challenge in that, you say? The challenge is always there when you run a restaurant, a graphic design firm based out of Seattle, and live on a somewhat remote island off the Coast of Maine. Fresh ingredients. Fresh ideas. Hell – electricity. All of these things and more come with the territory. And so the challenge will continue to be to find the freshest ingredients, new inspirations for food AND design, and most importantly…time. Time to cook, sail, hike, love, and create beautiful works of art for my clients, my food customers, and my friends and family.

To start you a day or two early with a little slice of simplicity, I’m sharing a recipe for French Onion Soup from my friend J.P., a.k.a Sake Boy. This soup is so ridiculously fast, easy and delish, you need not feel guilty for spending precious time to make it. And better yet, if you make it TODAY, not only will you have an even more divine soup come January 1 (always tastes better after an overnight in the fridge), it will save you time cooking for a boat-load of New Year’s revelers that are sure to arrive still hungry and still on sabbatical from any resolutions they will have to make soon.

J.P’s Post for French Onion Soup Made Simple
I confess that I love a good French Onion soup. It is the perfect touch on a cold day and when garnished with cheese and croutons, absolutely wonderful. The great thing about this soup is that you can vary the flavor by using different types of onions. You can also put this together quickly to impress your friends and family. It’s a great side starter at a dinner party.

Ok–let’s cook. Select your onions. I usually cook my soup with common yellow onions, though I have been known to mix and match and branch out for variety on occasion. Since we’re cooking to scale here you can figure your proportions needed based on your stockpot selection.

I section the onions by halving them vertically (N to S) and then cut the halves E to W. This gives you a good portion on the onion. Again, we’re going for lots of onion so you always have a spoonful.

Now, gourmet restaurant secret time. The base for the soup is going to be “off the shelf” beef broth from the local mart. Get the low salt version–there are a couple of brands. Fill your stock pot half way and start adding onions. Add lots of onions. It’s ok. They are good for you.

As an aside, some people saute the onions in butter before adding. You can if you want but I don’t. I prefer to simmer the onions in the broth for a couple of hours instead. The onions really absorb the broth flavor, making a more robust soup.

Now for the double secret ingredient. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and some dashes of pepper.

You’ll be able to tell when it is done by the wonderful rich smell of the onion broth. Serve hot, topped with a slice of Gruyere cheese (or Swiss or good sliced Parmesan) and croutons of your liking. Serve and enjoy.

Gal Foodie’s Variations on a Theme
Want to turn up the heat on this dish? Fill an oven safe bowl about 3/4 full of soup. Grab a big hunk of your favorite crusty bread, throw it in the soup, lay a slice of Swiss or Gruyere on top, and, on a stable cookie sheet, pop the whole thing in the oven under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes. The cheese will brown and bubble and the bread will sop up all the yummy broth. And you will end your meal horizontal on the couch – happy and full.

Eat Well in 2009!

Gal Foodie

Ben’s Banana Pancakes. For Dinner.

Banana Pancakes for Dinner

Banana Pancakes for Dinner

Yay! Ben’s night to cook! And what did I want? Pancakes. It was that kind of a day. Winter officially arrived on Mount Desert Island. Blowing, snowy, cold, and oh-so-cozy on the couch by the fire. Should I tell you I spent the day in my PJ’s, too? Well, I did. And I wanted pancakes for dinner. Several times, Ben muttered that he couldn’t believe he was making pancakes for dinner. Several times I responded clearly that he had talked them up and now he needed to deliver.

And deliver he did. These weren’t just any pancakes. He didn’t measure anything, went by pseudo memory from a recipe he had seen in The Joy of Cooking, and he added a few things he found in the pantry to give them a little kick. The surprise of the night was not that they actually tasted good (that was a given!), but that he accidentally grabbed the new pepper grinder he had given me for my birthday. Which incidentally looks just like the new salt grinder he gave me for my birthday. He caught the mistake quickly, but not before the pancakes acquired a bit of a “spicy” aftertaste (which wasn’t bad at all!) I was presented with a neat little stack, dripping in real maple syrup and butter. His comment? “Presentation is everything, babe.” Well, not only did they look great – they were exactly what I wanted. How does he always know?

Ben’s Banana Pancakes (as deciphered by Gal Foodie with a little help from the JOC)
1 1/2 cup flour
4 tsp sugar
1 3/4 tbsp baking powder
2 cranks on the salt grinder (not pepper!) OR 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
In another bowl combine:
2 Eggs
1/1/2 cups Milk
1 very very ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Combine dry ingredients with wet. Mix until smooth.
Pour 4 inch medallions into a hot skillet seasoned with butter (or a little bacon or sausage grease for extra calories and extra delicious crispy edges.) Brown on each side. Smoother with butter and real maple syrup. Eat and smile.

Variations on a Theme:
We suggest adding chopped walnuts or pecans. Um, yum.