Lake Country Journal - Chicken Beurre Blanc

This is chicken beurre blanc in the pan after adding wine and butter and herbs - parsley and tarragon. Does anything look more delicious? Little cutlets of chicken perfectly bronzed and sauced.

Thank God for French cooking. It has kept me alive, interested and well fed.

This is one of more than a few recipes/pieces that I have done for one of Mn best lifestyle magazines - one that covers central and north country Mn - professionally produced and published by a talented staff, notably Jodi Schwen as editor. A pleasure to work with/for them and her and to be paid accordingly. Thanks Jodi and staff.

A great magazine. A very successful niche publication. Huzza!

Bittersweet Beignets

My15 yr old daughter Nati got back from visiting her Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark in New Orleans and she bought gifts for friends and family to the tune of two hundred bucks courtesy of Dad and she said Dad it wasn't nearly enough money.

I got a box of Cafe' Du Monde Beignet Mix ( french doughnuts) and cooked them up tonight as a late night snack for me and 11 yr old grandson Jackson. I usually make them from scratch. Not tonight. I used the mix.

I had no powered sugar or granulated sugar  - which I usually pulse till powder in the coffe bean grinder, so I made a chocolate sauce involving melted butter and semi sweet chocolate chips and milk to the right consistency. I poured some over the beignets and used the rest for dipping. Exquisite, and not too sweet, maybe better than the traditional powdered sugar as a late night snack.

Jackson accompanied his with a tall glass of milk, me and mine with a glass of cabernet. Sweet dreams.

Birthday Bash

Just at dark the skies lit up and we got pounded with thunder and hard rain. It was brief , not like the lingering after taste of this birthday soup comprised of equal amounts of onions, carrots, celery, sweet bell peppers and mushrooms, plus the addition of our local meat market's pepperjack brats. Bayleaf ,garlic, parsley, sage, crushed red pepper to taste as seasonings made a memorable soup. All in a chicken broth with black beans and herbal and aromatic brown basmati rice.

Saute all the vegetables together in olive oil till hot, add rice, toss, add broth to triple cover the vegetables, simmer till rice and vegetables are tender - 20- 30 minutes - add canned beans and already cooked and browned cut up brats and get hot. Serve with buttered rustic bread.

Nothing like a diverse, earthy, hearty, healthy soup on your birthday, especially when you share it with your 15 yr old daughter,who said dad you should make this more often it is awesome.

A great day.All my kids called, all 5. From San Diego to Naples Italy to St Cloud and Delano, Mn . I feel blessed.  And you know what  - they all eat well and understand and appreciate it. They grew up in the family restaurant business and they all know you have to work your ass off no matter what your business is. And they are all successful.

What a day, what a life.

This is a ring of Swedish Potato Sausage - finely ground pork, onions, and potatoes. A distinctly bland sausage w/o herbs or spice except maybe nutmeg or sage. I parboiled it on the stove top in a cast iron pan, poured off the water and finished it off in a 425 degree oven to brown it.

Sauteed onions and mushrooms with parsley and sage are the centerpiece. I usually eat it with yellow mustard.

Last night's epiphany suggested that I accompany the potato sausage with a raspberry jalapeno jam that I got at a local farmer's market. It was the perfect counterpoint to the subtle , harmonious flavors of the pork, potato and onion. Like adding fireworks to a Mn 4th of July. Illegal and delicious.

Put a dollup of sour cream on the mushrooms. Spiced up lingonberries would work, too.

A Tex/Mex Hotdog

If you don't have a hotdog bun, but you do have a flour tortilla, adapt your hotdog recipe to include sautee'd onions, sweet red peppers and black beans. Season with garlic and cilantro and some heat if you wish. Lay it all on a warm flour tortilla and add yellow mustard. It is a good dog. Accompany with your favorite beer.