Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

There is no better condiment than reduced balsamic vinegar. I've seen this sold in the store for a ridiculous amount of money.  It is so easy to make yourself.  All you need is a big bottle of inexpensive balsamic vinegar and good ventilation! PLUS Pardon the messy handwriting Serious ventilation        EQUALS          Reduced Balsamic Vinegar 1 quart balsamic vinegar Place vinegar in saucepan and let cook down until reduced to about a 1/3 of the original amount.  Let cool.  Pour into squeeze bottle. Ready for Action If you don't ventilate the kitchen well, believe me the vinegar will make your eyes water. Once it cools, it will thicken up a bit. It keeps for a crazy amount of time. No need to refrigerate either. See now you can do fancy plate decorations like in the fancy-smancey restaurants. Or just add it to a nice sandwich or sliced strawberries or on a burger or tom...

No I didn't forget about you. It's just poor planning got me.  I don't know what I was thinking when I booked a trip to Aruba with two days home before leaving for a conference in Chicago! So let's talk mozzarella. When we got back from Aruba there was a few ripe tomatoes. They seemed a little early but I wasn't going to complain.  Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella. It doesn't get any better than that.  All I needed was the fresh mozzarella.  And I mean FRESH.  Once you realize how easy it is to make fresh mozzarella you WILL NOT buy that stuff in the stores any more at exorbitant prices like $8.99 a pound!  The curd is fairly cheap - I bought it for $4.99 a pound (Do the math - it's half the price!).  I bought 3lbs and that will give me a little less than 3lbs of cheese. You can make your own curd but the store bought stuff is pretty good. I have to ask for it at my local Italian store. They do not have it out on display anywhere....

Since we were talking about liquors over the past few days, I thought we could move on to liquids of another sort.  Everyone always likes my vinaigrette and will often ask for my recipe.  I really don't have a recipe.  It's another one of those - you have to taste it. Here's the basics: If I'm using fresh herbs: 1T fresh thyme 2t oregano 6-8 basil leaves salt pepper 1/4 c balsamic vinegar 1T honey 1/2 c oil Place the herbs in a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add vinegar and honey. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking.  Tear basil leaves and stir in to vinaigrette. Taste, Taste, Taste. Herbs, Balsamic & Honey - whisk together Slowly add olive oil while whisking Add torn basil leaves You want to tear the basil leaves so they don't get brown.  You have to add them last - otherwise they get stuck in the whisk. I will use various combinations of fresh herbs usually tarragon, oregano, basil, thyme. Easy Peasy If you are using ...

First I had to get the Sous Chef to part with some port wine (no easy feat). There's no need to use really great port or really great balsamic here. So it actually was easy to get the Sous Chef to part with some of the cheap port. With this recipe you cook the marinade down to make a sauce for the meat afterward - I like that you do that.  I used beef shoulder London Broil and it was quite tasty.  After pulling the meat out of the marinade, I used the Jacard to help prevent shrinkage and it help to keep the meat tender. (I won't go on espousing again about the Jacard - just go out and get one already!).  Port & Balsamic London Broil (Adapted from Cooking Pleasures) 1/3 c port wine 1/4 c balsamic vinegar 1t Worcestershire sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 T fresh thyme salt/pepper 1 1/2 lb London Broil 2 T chopped shallot 1 T butter Whisk together port, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, thyme, and salt/pepper. Marinate steak for at least 2 hours up to...

I've been making this recipe for a long time. It is so simple and it is so tasty.  I'm such a sucker for balsamic vinegar. There's no need to use expensive stuff here - the cheap stuff will do.  Just be sure that it is a good tasting cheap balsamic.  If it doesn't taste good to start, it won't taste good once it's reduced. Balsamic Braised Chicken Thighs ( Health Magazine ) 1 lb chicken thighs salt/pepper 2 T olive oil 1/4 c shallots, minced 3 sprigs fresh thyme 1/4 c red wine 3/4 c balsamic vinegar 1/4 c chicken stock 1/4 c honey 1 bay leaf Preheat oven 350.  Salt and pepper the chicken thighs.  In a skilled add olive oil and brown the thighs on both sides (3-5 minutes). Remove from pan.  Add the shallots and thyme to skillet and cook until shallots are tender but not browned. Add wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the chicken bits. Cook until the wine evaporates and you can hear the shallots begin to sizzle again. Add chicken, balsamic ...