Assorted Yummies

Cream Pie Goof
I've gotta tell you of my recent cooking SNAFU.  That refrigerator cream pie I gave you the recipe for?  I made a chocolate-crusted Orange Cream Pie for the dinner for six  I did last week.  

And the pie never set up!   Why??? I kept asking myself.   Then I looked at the package of cream cheese I had bought and saw  1/3 Less Fat   What the heck is this????    I always buy The Real Thing!!!  How did that end up in my shopping cart.  Could that be the culprit????  So for Thanksgiving I had to test the hypothesis, an made a second Orange Cream Pie with Original Phila. Cream Cheese.  This one set up properly.  Lesson learned!!

Never use 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese 

for a Refrigerator Cream Pie!!!!

Panko Fish
This is one of Lady Sally's favorite ways for me to cook fish.  In this case the fish is organic, hand-fed Florida Mangofish from Florida Urban Organics, a local aquaculture/hydroponic operation. Some friends from the marina went on a tour of the operation a week or so back.  Very impressive.  On the veggies side they are growing certified organic  lettuces, radishes, carrots and microgreens of several kinds.  They sell their produce and fish locally through Ada's, Fresh Market and other upscale markets.

We also do this with catfish and cod.  Simply dredge the fish in flour, then egg, then Panko bread crumbs.    The flour helps the egg stick to the fish, and the panko sticks to the egg.  Pan fry in a little EVOO until GB&D!!   Here I served them with roasted baby potatoes.



Pan Perdu
That's  a fancy French phrase which basically means "stale bread".  In America we call it French Toast.  I like to let the slices of bread set out uncovered overnight, when possible, to get that stiff, 'stale' texture that readily absorbs the egg cream.

Beat an egg or two, depending on the number of breakfasters.  One egg will do for two people.  Add 1/2 cup or more of half & half, whole milk, or light cream.  For 9 slices (3 people) I used two eggs and about 3/4 cup of half & half.  I cook them GB&D in a nearly dry hot skillet, dusting each slice with ground cinnamon before I flip it.  Since Lady Sally's daughter Holly was "home for the holiday", I made these extra special with fresh raspberries and locally made honey from our beekeeping friend Patrick.

Gingerbread Cake

Here's another dessert for you, using the rest of the raspberries I got for French Toast.  

The gingerbread in this case was a Trader Joe's box mix.  The raspberries were placed in a bowl after rinsing, along with a short palmful of sugar, and then partially crushed to help start the juice.  Served with a dollop of whipped cream.

New York Strip Roast

Look at this gorgeous hunka beef!

Now we don't eat much beef these days.  The prices have gotten outrageous.  But since Sally's daughter was visiting, her grandma got this beautiful 3-1/2 lb roast  from one of the mail order beef houses for me to prepare for Holly.  

I cooked it in the electric skillet.  Dry-rubbed the meat with the company's special spice blend.  If there hadn't been a spice blend, I'd have used the ubiquitous Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Cranked the temperature to the max, and then seared the meat  for 5 minutes on each of the big sides.  Then, leaving the meat fat-cap down, I dropped the temp to 325F , added a 1/4 cup pf water, and put the lid on.   Since the kitchen gremlin hid my meat thermometer somewhere, I had to cook by time. so I cooked the roast an additional 35 minutes.  

While the meat rested I made a gravy from that glorious fond in the skillet, cooked some baby potatoes and green peas.  For dessert we had leftover Thanksgiving pie, including a raisin cream pie made by marina-friend Dick Harding.