I'm Back!... Carbonade A La Flamande, A Ma Façon

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If it is accompanied by French fries it's Belgian.  If it says Flamande it is Flemish and involves beer ; and if it says a ma façon, it means I can do to it anything I want.

Hi, I'm back! 

Yes, that is truly me with a new neck.  It's all bolted up but only I know that.  I was hopeful of getting a new swan neck like Babe Paley and Marella but when I asked my doctor,  he said he could only get me one millimeter.  Nothing is for free, ever.

Now, it's been there, done that.  While I was convalescing, I connected with friends on Facebook.  It is worse than sugar or nicotine.  It's so addictive I was afraid of  overexposure.  I'm still weaning off. 

So today I did some serious cooking.  As in it has a name.  It was for Madame Mere to remind her of her days in Belgium.  I think it worked.  I added the sweet potatoes,  The Belgians will probably set the gendarmes after me but that's what life is all about.  Vive la difference!

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. beef chuck, cut into 2″ x ¹⁄₂″-thick slices
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ¹⁄₄ cup flour
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 cup Pomi chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups Belgian-style ale, like Ommegang Abbey Ale or dark beer
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• Thyme, tarragon, 
• 1 bay leaf\
• 1 cup sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed. (optional)
• 1 cup frozen boiled onions
• kitchen bouquet, (2 TB.)
• French fries

Directions:

Season beef with salt and pepper in a bowl; add flour and toss to coat. Heat 2 tbsp. butter in a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add beef; cook, turning, until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; set aside. Add bacon; cook until its fat renders, about 8 minutes. Add remaining butter, garlic, and onions; cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chopped Pomi tomatoes,  half the beer; cook, scraping bottom of pot, until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes. Return beef to pot with remaining beer, stock, sugar, vinegar, thyme, parsley, tarragon, bay leaf, and salt and pepper; boil. After 30 minuted add sweet potatoes (if using). After 1 hr. add frozen boiled onion. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, until beef is tender, about 1 ½ hours. Add kitchen bouquet.  cook a few minutes. Serve with french fries or bread.

When you cook your french fries, make sure the heat of the oil is very hot before you add them.  I know about the splash.  It's a tough shot but it's what works best!

Don't tell her but my neck is longer...all I can say is, it hasn't been easy.

All photos Lindaraxa

Where There's A Will, There's A Fall Front Door

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You didn't think that back surgery was going to keep Lindaraxa from having her Fall decorations up this year, did you? If you did, you don't know her very well....

I have gotten to really enjoy those little electric carts that they have at some stores for shoppers with disability, although I have to say that what I see mostly riding them are really overweight people. Sometimes you see two, one on each cart of course, following the other.  People like my mother, who really need them, for some reason refuse to use them.  I think it's their way of fighting back although once she came to live with us she tossed in the towel.  As for me, if that is the only thing standing between me and my mums, I don't care.   They are really a good device for getting people like me to do what they have to do.

These are really more of an orange than yellow

I'm telling you this because I'm sure you are wondering how I got the mums.  Between us chickens, I sneaked out of the house one afternoon when I heard Costco had them and made up some cockamamie excuse as to how they got to the front door. And part of it is true, for I am lucky to live in an area of the country where gentlemen still open doors for you and bend over backwards when you ask for a little help,  I usually pick a really cute one, particularly when I'm shopping for electronic gadgets or a Christmas sweater for my son and it drives my daughter insane.  Anyway, the mums got here and the new wreath was brought in by the Three Kings.  Now, I have to figure out the pumpkins...

Once I can get a good samaritan to move the fern and the ivy to MM's apt. I will rearrange with a pumpkin or two

Once the mums are done, I have orange pansies in the urn which, with the pumpkins, should carry us through Thanksgiving.  That's as far ahead as I can think right now.

My Aunt's Caramelized Baked Apples

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It's apple season and I'm in the middle of it! Autumn is in the air, the days are sunny and bright, the nights cool and crisp and if you have apples baking in the oven, we'll you might as well be in heaven!

The apple festivals are about to start. I remember years ago the one in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where I lived, and I can't wait to finish unpacking so I can start enjoying the area. It's been so cool here at night, at least for us Floridians, that we've started lighting the fireplace the past couple of nights. That's what reminded me of baked apples and my aunt's recipe.

Now, baked apples are as simple a dessert as you can make. I usually bake them with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, butter and a little sherry . Put everything on top and that's it. This recipe has some different ingredients than what you are used to and its delicious. Make sure, though, that the apples are thoroughly cooked. The cooking time depends on the apples and the oven so sometimes it may take up to an hour for the apples to be soft. This may be an easy recipe but there is nothing worse than under cooked baked apples.

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 Rome apples, cored
1 orange, grated zest of
6 TB raisins
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup unsalted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 Cup honey
1 cup orange juice or apple cider
2-3 cinnamon sticks


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Make a round cavity on top of the apples about 1/2 inch deep. Place the apples in a 2 inch deep baking pan. In a bowl mix the orange zest, the raisins, the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Add mixture to inside of the apple cavities. Whatever doesn't fit sprinkle in bottom of pan. Cut the butter in 6 slices and place on top of the apples. In a small pan mix the honey and orange juice or apple cider until hot and the honey dissolved. Cook for about a minute, until it just comes to a boil, and drizzle on top of the apples. Add a couple of cinnamon sticks to the pan. Bake uncovered for 45 mins. to 1 hour. Baste the apples at least twice during baking. Test to make sure they are soft with a fork. Serve hot or room temperature. Vanilla ice cream is great, but not necessary.

Note

For more apple recipes, check out http://mykitchenbythelake.blogspot.com/