A Sophie moment

In all the years we've had Sophie, we've never seen her dig a hole. That is, until today. While Jim was sitting outside with her while our kitchen floor was being redone, she started to dig. He grabbed my camera and got this video. She seemed very determined

Enjoy.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken

While shopping at Trader Joe's Sunday afternoon, we spied some whole chickens and thought about how good a roast chicken would be for dinner. We already had some Brussels sprouts in the fridge and some potatoes to help round out the meal. However, Jim saw buttermilk and I knew what he had on his mind...cornbread. Scratch the potatoes, add in cornbread.

But how would we season the chicken? I scrolled through a few recipes and found one that called for smoked hot paprika and salt mixed together and rubbed all over the chicken with a few sprigs of rosemary tucked here and there. Only problem was you then had cover it and let it sit overnight in the fridge. We wanted chicken tonight, not tomorrow night so we modified the recipe a tad. In small bowl we mixed together about 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, about 1 tablespoon each of crushed dried thyme and kosher salt then just enough olive oil to make a thick paste. We rubbed it underneath the skin, saving a little to rub on the outside. With the convection oven preheated to 450, we popped it into the oven for about an hour (for a regular oven, cook about 2 hours - depending on the size of the chicken).

Look at the beautiful paprika colored juice

Not even five minutes after we put it in the oven, we could already smell something good. Even outside on our patio, you could smell it cooking. I wonder if the neighbors were jealous?

Finally it was time to tuck in. It was very tasty and moist. I would have thought I'd taste more of the paprika than I did as the smell was intoxicating. But it was still very good and perhaps I will try letting it sit over night in the fridge over night to see if it makes any difference. Although I will say the crispy pieces of skin were wickedly delicious.

10th Anniversary - Part 3

On Thursday, the day before our anniversary, we learned that our condo complex STILL hadn't gotten our A/C fixed and we were looking at temperatures in the 80's for the weekend. We joked Thursday night about getting a hotel for the weekend then we looked at each other and thought why not? After some searching online, we snagged a great deal for the Westin Hotel in Annapolis and as a bonus, it was pet friendly so Sophie could go too!

Amazingly, after living just outside Washington, DC for nearly 11 years now, we've never been to Annapolis. It's only a 45 minute drive which makes it a great place to run off to when you want to get out of town as the last minute.

The hotel was very nice and located just at the outer edge of the old part of town. A free shuttle bus from the hotel was available to take you down to the harbor or just about anywhere else nearby. We have a room at the end of the hall which included the Westin pet bed, food and water bowls and doggie placemat for Sophie. She wasn't keen on the bed at first but after walking her little butt off the first day, that changed. She liked our bed too.

The old part of town was easy to walk around and very pet friendly. Sophie was allowed in just about every shop. There was a harbor tour that let us bring her aboard and if we wanted to, we could have taken a horse-drawn carriage tour with her as well.

Jim and I on the hrabor tour.

Sophie on the harbor tour

Any restaurant with outdoor seating welcomed pets, including one place we went to in one of the many marinas that gave pets a little plate of bacon when you came in for breakfast.

Annapolis harbor

The best part of the entire weekend was just being able to relax and enjoy spending time together (all 3 of us).

10th Anniversary - part 2

So the surprise Jim had for me on Thursday was a very cute card. On the cover were two Hawaiian shirts with hats and sunglasses and two tropical drinks with umbrellas. All of it was made with real cloth or other scrapbook like materials.

On Friday we had dinner planned at Corduroy. We had an absolutely wonderful evening which included a bottle of champagne from my family, great service from Ferhat, Kat and Pinchon and of course, amazing food.

The happy couple

Crab and Squid Ink Pasta - Jim's appetizer.

Chilled English Pea Soup

Seared Sea Scallops atop mashed potatoes
with Morel Mushrooms and Chardonnay Sauce - My entree.

Roast and Confit Guinea Hen with Local Baby Leeks
and Shiitake Mushrooms - Jim's entree

Fresh Strawberries with Strawberry Sorbet and Creme Anglaise - Jim's dessert

Baked Chocolate Sabayon - my dessert

It was decadent and indulgent and the perfect way to celebrate 10 wonderful years with a wonderful husband. And on Saturday morning, we loaded up the hound in the car and drove up to Annapolis for the weekend. More on that in the next post.

Our 10th Anniversary - Part 1

Tomorrow will be our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Woot! Hard to believe we've been together that long.

Last weekend I surprised Jim with a bottle of Middleton's Rare Irish Whiskey. He was somewhat speechless for a few minutes. He'd look at the box, open his mouth to say something, look up at me, then back at the box again. He cracked it open last night and let me have a sip. Let me tell you, I am not a whiskey drinker, the stuff's usually too harsh for me but this stuff was as smooth as a baby's butt. I could drink this.
My gift from Jim has been a little surprises every night this week. Tuesday he brought home a dozen red roses. They smell so nice!
Last night he brought home some Belgian chocolates from Neuhaus. He hand picked all 16 chocolates in the box. How sweet is that? I had a mandarin orange one last night and it was fabulous. I'm going to savor these and only have one a day which is no small feat for a choco-holic.
I have no idea what my surprise will be tonight but I can't wait.

He tried to surprise me with breakfast in bed yesterday. It would have been a nice surprise except for one thing. About the same time he was coming through the bedroom door, plate in hand, someone started to jack-hammer outside our front door! I bolted upright and hollered, "Oh Shit! Scared Jim too. Needless to say, it wasn't the romantic response he was looking for. After my heart stopped pounding, I came downstairs and enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Jim (and Sophie).

Braised Short Ribs

Happy Easter! Sorry again for the long absence. Both my brother and sister chastised me this weekend for not posting in so long. So, here I am.

Last weekend while shopping, we found a package of short ribs and added them to the cart. With food already in mind for the week, these were set aside until this weekend and they were worth the wait.

Jim looked through a few cookbooks and found a few recipes online to get an idea how he would make braised short ribs. His recipe turned out wonderful and although it too several hours to make it was a fairly easy recipe.

As the main course was bubbling away, he tossed some potatoes and Brussels Sprouts in the oven for side dishes. Add in a nice bottle of red wine and we had dinner.

Jim's Braised Short Ribs
4 lbs. beef short ribs
1 (750 ml) bottle of red wine, preferably a dry red
1 15 oz can of beef stock
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced
2 stalks of celery cut into 4-inch pieces
2 carrots cut into 3-inch pieces
flour
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp thyme
1 bay leaf

Pour the wine into a medium sauce pan over medium high heat and reduce by half. Set aside.

Coat the meat in flour and brown on all sides in a dutch oven. Rest on a plate when done.Sautee the onions, celery, and carrots until the onions are soft. Add the wine, beef, beef stock, mustard seeds, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce to low, cover and let braise for 3 hours. Strain the liquid and return to the dutch oven, reduce by half. Serve with the beef.

Go Bananas!

It never fails, I buy a nice bunch of green bananas with the best of intentions and before I know it, they're over ripe. But the bunch I had on the counter this weekend were REALLY over ripe. Black ripe. Banana bread ripe.

I used a recipe from a place that rhymes with America's Test Bitchin' and modified it just slightly. Modification #1: I added shredded coconut. Modification #2: I used sour cream instead of plain yogurt. And modifications #3 & 4: I used a muffin pan with removable bottoms instead of a loaf pan and adjusted the cooking time. The pan looks like this one only with square instead of heart shaped sections. Every once in a while you can find them on Bakers Catalogue.

And I must say, this was one of easiest and best recipes I've used yet. They were very moist and tender and bursting full of banana flavor.

Banana-Coconut Muffins
2 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large (or 4 med sized) very ripe bananas, mashed
(about 1-1/2 cups)
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, eggs, butter, sour cream and vanilla. Gently fold the banana mixture into the flour with a rubber spatula just until combined. Do not overmix. It's ok if the batter looks thick and lumpy.

Scoop the batter into each muffin cup. Fill about 1/2 full. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until they are golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to completely cool. (they're also great still warm from the oven)