January 25th, 2012 / comments
Saturday was a busy day for me. It began with a five hour meeting, then I ran a couple of errands and had to go to two grocery stores to get everything on my list. When I got home, Charles unpacked the car and after he had finished putting the groceries away he said, “Well, it’s time for my nap.” I was weary, but not sleepy so I went up to my studio, sat at my desk and felt sorry for myself.
I wanted to rest and read the last two chapters of my mystery, but Charles was sleeping in our warm bedroom. The living room and the other bedrooms were too cold and although the kitchen and my studio were warm, there wasn’t a comfy place to curl up in either room. Moving furniture was the only solution.
My Studio Nest
After I moved a daybed into my studio, rearranged my painting table and files and created a cozy ‘reader’s nest’, it was nearly dinner time. Charles was rested and said he would make dinner if I told him what to do. … read more
January 11th, 2012 / Comments
It’s not to late to make a New Year’s resolution. Rather than resolving to go to the gym three times a week, or to sort out the extra clothes at the back of my closet, or to re-read at least one classic before the daffodils appear; I have resolved to have an empty fridge when it’s time to travel to Italy in March.
Rainbow Carrots
(I wanted to share my most recent painting, Rainbow Carrots, even though carrots have nothing to do with this post. )
The first step is to dispose of all of the half-filled jars of mystery sauces that have accumulated since we returned from Italy last spring. The second, and perhaps more difficult part is resisting the jars of exotic sauces at the market. I will make do with only three jars of sauce, mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise. The mustard is grainy Dijon mustard, the ketchup is what remains of the homemade ketchup I made as a Christmas gift for Charles, and I will make mayo as we need it.
Usually, mayo is made with either an egg yolk or a whole egg but recently I made Maionese de leite, a mayonnaise that comes from Portugal. This creamy, egg free sauce, made with milk and flavored with a hint of garlic is less sticky and bit more watery than traditional mayo but it can be substituted for traditional mayo. An immersion blender is necessary to make it. Here’s how I did it:
| Portugese Milk Mayo from a Vermont Kitchen |
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Recipe type: Condiment
Author: Carol Egbert
Prep time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins
Serves: 1 1/2 cups
Creamy egg-free mayo with a hint of garlic and five colorful variations. An immersion blender is necessary for this recipe.
- 1/3 cup cold milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 small garlic clove
- pinch of cayenne
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- pinch kosher salt
- Combine milk, lemon juice, garlic and cayenne pepper in a tall, 2 cup container.
- Whip with an immersion blender for 45 seconds, until frothy.
- Combine oils and, with blender on high speed, slowly add oil to milk mixture, gradually increase quantity of oil. Move blender up and down to incorporate the oil.
- Continue whipping until mixture is thick.
- Season with salt to taste.
- Milk mayo will last up to a week in the fridge.
Mayo Sauces
Pink Ginger Mayo – Combine 1 teaspoon ketchup, 1 heaping teaspoon minced pickled ginger and a pinch of cayenne with 1/4 cup mayo. Lovely with steamed shrimp.
Golden Curry Mayo – Saute 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds and 1 small onion, diced, in 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for 4 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon curry powder and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, cook 1 minute more. when mixture is cool, combine with 1/2 cup mayo. Combine with cooked chicken and grapes for chicken salad.
Rosy Tomato Mayo – Combine equal parts mayo and ketchup for a zesty sandwich spread.
Dilly Green Mayo – Combine 1 teaspoon of minced fresh dill, minced flat leaf parsley, and chopped capers with a rounded tablespoon mayo. Thin with lemon juice. Top steamed new potatoes for a quick potato salad.
Sunny Lemon Mayo – Add i teaspoon grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup mayo. Perfect for poached fish, steamed broccoli or in Waldorf salad.
2.1.7
Homemade mayonnaise is delicious whether it’s traditional egg based mayo or creamy milk mayo but, if your New Year’ resolution is to spend less time in the kitchen, mayo from the grocery store is the right choice for you. Happy New Year!
Here’s a link to my recipe for Mayo made with eggs.
Download and print a label for your homemade mayo here.
December 28th, 2011 / Comments
Today marks the middle of a week framed by holiday feasting. For our family it began with tea, mince pies topped with whipped cream, shortbread and citrus cookies before a Christmas Eve service that was followed by Christmas Eve dinner. The next day began with a rich Christmas breakfast, followed by a mid-afternoon visit with friends over more tea and sweets, and then there was Christmas dinner complete with an extravagant dessert of banoffee pie.
Next weekend will be a variation on last weekend with what may seem like an unending parade of buttery sweets, rich cheeses, roasted turkeys, sublime wines, New Year’s Eve buffets and football feasts. The abundance of rich, artery clogging food that inspired my daughter-in-law, Alison, to suggest that we start each day with a bowl of oatmeal. … read more
December 14th, 2011 / comments
When I was a child, one of my jobs was to refill the large, red plastic tomato with ketchup. My sister and I squeezed that tomato to squirt ketchup on French fried potatoes, grilled American cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs and scrambled eggs. When I moved to Washington, DC, I wanted to be sophisticated and cosmopolitan. I listened to classical music, read the articles as well as the cartoons in the New Yorker and banished ketchup from my kitchen.
… read more
November 16th, 2011 / comments
A recent trip to England reminded me that America and England may have a common language but there are times when we don’t understand each other. I know that a lift is an elevator, a flat is an apartment, and although lorry may be a momentarily confusing term for a truck, those differences are inconsequential, compared to what I found on British dessert menus and in cookery books.
There are many desserts, called puddings in Britain, with names that are charming and inscrutable enough to require translation.
Here’s my guide to British Puddings: … read more
October 23rd, 2011 / Comments
My friend Char sent a letter along with a couple of photos from her home in Baltimore. I wanted to share it with you.
The unusually wet and humid September brought extraordinary fungal inhabitants to my garden — none of them edible. Most prolific were the freakish, foul-smelling, dog stinkhorns, good only as subjects for a photo or two before they withered. Not that I would trust myself to eat any mushroom that might poke up amongst the yellowing hostas and rambling morning glories. I’m no mycologist, nor have I been schooled in the ways of forest foraging like my friends in Eastern Europe. … read more
