Day 101

Battuto means "chop up" in Italian. From my Vassar graduate friend, Catherine.

ORANGE ROUGHIE BATTUTO

3 lovely fillets of Orange Roughie, rinse and pat dry

Make the Battuto:

5 sprigs of fresh chopped Rosemary

2 tablespoons fresh chopped Parsley

1 Garlic clove finely minced

1 teaspoon Salt

Ground Pepper

1/3 cup Olive Oil

2 Lemons juiced

Dip the fish into the oil and lemon

Coat both sides with the Battuto

Grill or broil till fish flakes easily

Sprinkle with any left over Battuto and serve with lemon wedges.

It will melt in your mouth.

Day 100

SIDDHARTHA by HERMANN HESSE

Part 1

Never be afraid of failure, never upset by a loss.

Be full of joyous love for everything you see.

Water is stronger than the rocks.

Possess the ability and method of thinking

the thought of unity every moment of life.

Wisdom cannot be passed on.

Wisdom that a wise man attempts to pass on

to someone always sounds like foolishness.

Knowledge can be transferred, but wisdom not.

Miracles can be performed with it,

but it can’t be expressed and taught with words.

Everything that can be thought and said

is just the half of it, lacking completeness.

Time is not real.

And therefore the divide

which seems to separate the world from eternity,

suffering from bliss, and evil from good,

is also a deception.

Day 99

These are delicious little "presents" of turkey stuffed with turkey.

The concept was introduced thru

Laura Calder, my wonderful French Cooking connection.

TURKEY PAUPIETTES

6 Turkey fillets

1 tablespoon Butter

1/2 finely chopped Onion

5 ounces finely ground Turkey (or use half ground Pork)

3 huge tablespoons fresh Bread Crumbs

Handful fresh chopped Parsley

6 large fresh Sage leaves, shredded

4 Bacon slices, cut into matchsticks (use scissors)

1/4 cup Cognac (or Sherry)

1 cup Chicken stock

Pound the turkey fillets between plastic wrap until very thin.

Season with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in pan and gentle saute onion.

In a bowl, mix the ground meat, breadcrumbs, parsley, sage and onion.

Divide the mixture among the turkey fillets.

Wrap them into bundles,

using three pieces of kitchen twine to form round little pillows.

Fry the bacon, removing when crispy and leaving fat behind in pan.

Brown the little bundles on all sides in the bacon grease.

Deglaze the pan with the Cognac and reduce to about 1 tablespoon.

Add the stock and bacon.

Cover and simmer about 15 minutes.

Turn the bundles over, cook 5 - 7 minutes more.

To test for doneness: insert a metal skewer

and then touch it to your lip: the skewer should be very hot.

Laura added  1 pound blanched Brussels Sprouts when adding the stock.

She also added 8 ounces of cooked chestnuts during the last 5 minutes.

Either way, these are beautiful festive little gifts everyone will enjoy.

Day 98

Meditate alone - watch breath and let thoughts go.

I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

Don’t judge people by their relatives.

Indecision is the key to flexibility.

There is no substitute for genuine lack of preparation.

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

Sometimes too much drink is not enough.

Day 97

Very rich and can be enhanced in dozens of ways.

Perfect for the cocktail crowd.

Adapted from Claire Robinson

BAKED FRESH RICOTTA

1 1/2 cups fresh whole milk Ricotta

2 Eggs

Salt and Pepper

1 Orange, zested

Place the ricotta is a fine mesh sieve

and let the excess moisture drip out for 10 minutes.

Transfer the cheese into a bowl
and add the eggs, salt and pepper, and zest.

Mix well.

Put into a 8 ounce shallow baking dish.

Bake on baking sheet 375 for 35 minutes

until just turning brown and puffy.

Remove from oven.

Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with olives, crackers or sliced baguette.

Any herb can be added. Maybe some garlic or ginger. Go crazy!

Day 96

Well-behaved women rarely make history.

Good business is the best art.

Andy Warhol

Life is a balance between organization and chaos.

If your dog doesn’t like someone, you probably shouldn’t either.

God is in the details.

Mies van der Rohe

Soft is stronger than hard.

Love is stronger than compulsion.

The opposite of any truth is just as true!

Creative minds are rarely tidy.

Day 95

 

• My new BBF Mark Bittman finally taught me
• how to barbeque correctly without the food turning into charcoal.
• I substituted little legs for the wings.
• GRILLED CHICKEN LEGS WITH PROVENCIAL FLAVORS
• Salt and Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh Thyme, Oregano and/or Marjoram
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Rosemary
•  Olive Oil
• 8 small Chicken legs
• Lemon wedges

Start a gas or charcoal grill;

fire should be moderately hot and rack about 6 inches from heat source.

Keep part of grill cooler for indirect cooking.

In a small bowl, combine a sprinkle of salt and pepper with the herbs.

Add enough olive oil to make a paste.

Loosen skin of chicken and  then insert a portion of herb mixture.

Push skin back onto flesh and sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.

Start chicken on cool side of grill.

After some fat has been rendered, turn chicken;

if it flares up, move it to an even cooler part of fire.

When skin has lost its raw look and most fat has been rendered,

 15 to 20 minutes, move chicken directly over fire.

Cook until both sides are nicely browned and

flesh is firm and cooked through, another 10 to15 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.