A New Pair for Mushroom Risotto

When I think mushroom risotto, I think heavy, luxurious, decadent food.  I think hanger steak and red wine.  Or maybe I think about sausage and red peppers, and good old fashioned comfort food.  I definitely don’t think about our January non-resolution to eat healthier and try to be more reserved.

But really, when you think about, why not?  First – one of my favorite food/wine pairings is white wine and mushrooms.  A good white burgundy, say from Beaune, or even an oaky chardonnay from California- it all goes really well with mushrooms. So, if white wine goes with mushrooms, shouldn’t some of those flavor profiles carry over to the rest of the dish?

Which brings me to my second point: although fish is certainly healthier than steak, it’s still a decadent and delicious meal.  It’s taking things one step healthier, but it’s not like we’re pairing this rich mushroom risotto with a raw carrot salad.  There’s a ton of flavor and umpf in this white, flaky escolar fillet.

So, in the end, it all comes together: mushrooms and white wine, mushroom risotto and rich, delicious proteins.  Well into February, our January non-resolution still seems like a pretty good idea…

Recipe: Pan Roasted Escolar with Mushroom Risotto

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Bacon-Infused Bourbon

Our introduction to great cocktails started with the best of the best.  Last fall, we were in New York, where Mary Katherine was for a work conference, and where I spent the week exploring (and eating!).  One night, we met up with Mary Katherine’s cousin Patrick and his husband Jason, who had some great ideas for eating and drinking.  Before going to an authentic Maine lobster roll place, they told us we should go and get some of the best drinks in the city.

We had the address, and knew that it was supposed to be a ‘Speakeasy’ type place, but nothing could prepare us for what we encountered.  At the address, we found a hot dog restaurant.  It was brightly lit, and while it looked like there were some great dogs there, it wasn’t the kind of place where you want to settle down with a nice cocktail.  Patrick and Jason got there, Patrick walked into a phone booth in the corner, picked up the receiver, said something, and the back door of the phone booth opened.  On the other side was the COOLEST bar I’ve ever seen.

Looking over the drink menu, it didn’t take me long to decide what to order: an old-fashioned with bacon-infused bourbon.  Insanely good – just a perfect note of salty, sweet pork accompanying the perfect balance of a well made classic old-fashioned. We were all incredibly happy with what we ordered, but each had to try at least one more before heading along to dinner.

Words can’t quite transport you to that bar, (named PDT, by the way), but maybe a few recipes can.  We definitely recommend buying the cocktail book from the chief bartender at PDT:  Jim Meehan’s The PDT Cocktail Book.  Even if you don’t go out and buy the book right now, we’re providing a teaser recipe that we found online before the book came out.  It’s the building block of mixology genius – bacon bourbon!

Bacon Infused Bourbon and Ginger!

Recipe: Bacon-Infused Bourbon

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Amazing Mashed Potatoes

From October to December we ate a LOT of mashed potatoes…which, come to think of it, is probably why are pants are a little tight. But, seriously, we couldn’t stop eating them. I found every single excuse I possibly could to make this recipe… Thanksgiving? yes. Dinner party? yes. Another dinner party? yes. lunch? sure. snack? most definitely.

The only problem is, I didn’t take a picture of the potatoes by themselves… so here they are at Thanksgiving – just a happy white fluff of awesomeness.

The thing that makes these potatoes amazing is that they are infused with herbs and flavor, but they are perfectly white. They pack an unexpected punch that is surprising to people with a fork full of something they think they’ve had a million times in life. People say “PotATo, PoTAto,” but we say “holy mess these are good.”

We’re pretty sure that after you try this recipe, you will throw out your tried and true mashed potato recipe…we did. This is the new, and maybe the only, mashed potato recipe we’ll ever make again.

Recipe: Amazing Mashed Potatoes

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Milk Punch

Milk Punch is the lighter, eggless version of eggnog…or, eggnog’s skinny but fun cousin. Kate’s family always has milk punch around the holidays, so she made a batch for our family this Christmas…and we’re hooked. We sat around and sipped them while we opened presents on Christmas day, and I had one of those “life is good” moments watching everyone open presents, sipping my milk punch, and listening to bluegrass Christmas music…it couldn’t have been any better.

Milk punch is bourbon based, and you know we love bourbon. As with any cocktail, you can vary the ratios of each ingredient to suit your tastes – add cream or half and half to the milk, add less or more bourbon, less or more sugar, etc. Our recipe uses a blender, which is the fastest route from mixing to sipping, but other recipes I’ve seen instruct you to put the mixture in the freezer until it gets frosty-like… sounds nice, but who wants to wait that long?

Whichever way you go about it, bourbon, milk, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg is a delicious combination…and it’s definitely not a Christmas-only treat in our house. Enjoy!

Recipe: Milk Punch

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Bacon Meatballs

Just a few weeks ago, we were proposing a toast to eating healthier.  Now that it’s February, we’re posting things like Teres Major and now, Bacon meatballs.  What gives with just a few weeks?

The good news is that we do have a little more self restraint than the blog actually portrays.  This is actually a dish that we cooked back in the fall, that we have yet to get around to posting.  We’ve done fairly well with our New Years’ goals (NOT resolutions), but that doesn’t mean that we can’t pass along some awesome recipes to our readers.

This is a recipe that highlights the incredible possibilities of owning one’s own meat grinder.  The steps of this recipe are very simple: (1) take delicious meat, (2) grind it together (3) package it in a consumable form (4) eat and enjoy.  We love hanger steak.  We love high-quality bacon.  With a few additions and minimal seasoning, this is a recipe for success.  You probably have one in your mind right now.  (Ie – pork shoulder and country sausage; or, sirloin and pancetta, or bottom round roast, short ribs, and guenciale, or………)

We could continue discussing these meatballs, but we’d rather go out and buy meat.  And grind it.  And forget about any sort of non-resolutions we may, or may not, have published…

Recipe: Hanger Steak and Bacon Meatballs

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Teres Major… Revisited

In the spirit of our Fondue post from the other day, we decided to take a look at some of our other favorite foods from 2frugalfoodies’ past.  Some of you may have seen the 2011 stats we published in January – and that a few of our recipes and posts get more attention than others.  We don’t quite understand the way Google works, but we do know that if you search for ‘Teres Major Beef’ or ‘Mashed White Sweet Potatoes,’ you’re likely to find us.  Kind of cool, huh?

The ironic thing about the popularity of our first Teres Major post is that it’s one of the few times that we shared a cooking failure on the blog.  Don’t get me wrong – all sorts of disasters occur in our kitchen.  Just ask Dan about the fish we served him in 2009 that was burned and raw all at the same time.  Very special.  On our blog, we like to be positive, and share our good cooking experiences.  Besides, learning from one’s own mistakes is often much more helpful that laughing at someone else’s.  (Feel free to laugh at us after hearing more about that fish, though.)

When we first tasted Teres Major, however, we were so excited about this new cut of beef we had found that we didn’t care that (a) the sauce came out WAY too heavy, (b) our original recipe didn’t work out and (c) the sides and presentation were fairly boring.  We had just learned all this cool stuff from the butcher, and had a meal that tasted great despite its appearance.  So, we shared it with you… and the rest of the world.

In the meantime, we’ve continued to cook teres major on special occasions and when we can find it. We still recommend it to you, along with hanger steak, as alternate cuts of meat that are less expensive, but incredibly flavorful and tender.  To inspire you to go out and buy some, here’s a new recipe:

Recipe: Teres Major with a Cabernet Reduction

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East Side Press

It’s Monday… and we think you deserve an after-work drink. This drink recipe comes straight from the Domaine de Canton website to your belly. It is phenomenal. Domaine de Canton is a ginger liquor, and it makes almost everything taste better. It comes in a super fancy bottle (see it in the background below?)…I’m probably as in love with the packaging as I am the beverage… but we feel sure that, like St. Germaine, there are probably less expensive, snazzy versions of ginger liquor that taste just as good.

This cocktail isn’t for sissies. You need to A) like cognac, B) not think egg white in a cocktail is weird, and C) be in the mood to mix something special. This isn’t a complicated recipe, but you have to be willing to take 5 minutes to mix your drink…and depending on your Monday, you might just want a beer. Even if you don’t make this tonight, vow to make it sometime soon – it’ll be a new favorite.

Recipe: East Side Press

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Updated Fondue

We were craving something fun and out of the ordinary for dinner recently, so we whipped out the ol’ Fondue pot, looked up our Fondue recipe on the blog, and then GASPED. We’ve come a looong way. Look at this awful and boring first Fondue post from 2009 for broth based fondue. Clearly, it needs updating. The recipe was solid, but the pictures embarrass me to no end. We put that on a blog – a PUBLIC webpage for anyone and everyone to see. Whew. No wonder we never made it big.

Don’t get me wrong – every now and then it’s fun to look back at our old posts, where we mention parts of our life that now seem to have happened ages ago, remembering what life was like in each month of our marriage. Time certainly adds perspective… but in this case, thankfully, time added a few camera skills… so, here’s to better photos and a new recipe for a good, fun meal: Fondue.

Recipe: Asian-Inspired Fondue

Oh, PS: Happy Super Bowl watching! Feel free to share any go-to Super Bowl recipes in the comments!

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Not Quite Blackened Black Grouper

As we’ve mentioned in other posts, New Orleans plays a heavy influence in some of our cooking. Particularly given creole and cajun food’s immediate influences from French cuisine, our culinary “education” borrows a lot from some basic techniques and ideas.

I can remember Dad’s blackened fish from childhood, and remember it being a revelation because I thought I didn’t like fish. We really love Thomas Keller’s pan-roasted fish technique, and I thought that I could meld that with some spices to get a somewhat blackened/somewhat pan-roasted result.  It worked out pretty well!

You could definitely vary the spices for a more “blackened” fish, and you can, of course, change the accompaniments. Hopefully this recipe can spark some ideas for your own creations; and if you follow it step-by-step, let us know ideas for making this even better!

Recipe: “Bronzed” Black Grouper

 

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Chance’s Big Birthday

Chance turned 5 on January 25. Which means, in dog years, that he has surpassed us in age. We think Chance is cuter and more awesome than any food could ever be, so we wanted to do a short rather long post in honor of our sweet pup.

Chance’s Birthday Post and Life Story

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