Delicious Days: Smoked Goada Mac and Cheese

 

Creamy, delicious, gooey and delightful. Missing some texture. There was an option to add bacon, and boy I wish I'd taken it. Maybe some toasted breadcrumbs on top would have done the trick. 

The burgers here were not a good choice. Skip them.

Delicious Days: High Tea

 

High Tea of a sandwich selection, the two favorites being Branston Pickle and Green Apple, and then Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese; Scones with jam and whipped cream, which were lovely but I was sad that the cream wasn't clotted; and then some profiteroles and macarons, both of which were way too sweet. I wish they had real petit fours. But it was lovely, and unlimited tea of which I went through two pots of Earl Grey.

Delicious Days: Duck Flatbread and Gnocchi with Fava Bean Puree

 

Duck Flatbread with Apricot Jam and Kumquats - Definitely a bit on the weird side. The Kumquats were really tart and sweet at the same time, which really overwhelmed the dish. 

Gnocchi with Parmesan, Ricotta and Fava Bean Puree - Light and fluffy tiny tiny gnocchi. Delicious puree, but lacking a touch of salt.

Nailed It! The Bacon and Cheese Scone Quest

I promised you this recipe would come eventually! And lo, here it is!!


So, when I was a wee lass (which I typed first as ass... hilarious), my Nana used to make these bacon cakes. They were triangular shaped like scones often are, moist, delicate and delicious slathered in butter and we would have them for tea. Nana always made "tea" at 6pm. It was her version of supper, the last meal of the day, and it would be malt loaf or eggy bread or ham sandwiches or bacon cakes or something else delightfully carby. It was usually my favorite meal. I would spend my six week long summer holidays with her and I loved tea-time almost as much as I loved blackberrying and rollerskating and her bedtime stories.

I have a few of her recipes and one of them is for bacon cakes. I've diligently made it a few times, and while the result is pretty good, it isn't what my ten year old self remembers. I've tried to tweak it a lot, and finally I decided that instead of just creating a replica, I need to create something that I really like.... something of my own.

I started over, tweaking, making, kneading, shaping, re-doing. I tried adding ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cream cheese. I played with the amount of baking powder, the type of milk, the quality of the butter. Until finally one day a few weeks ago I got the result I wanted. I think I've gone through at least nine incarnations of this recipe, but it's finally the one I like best. Ironically, it's probably the one with the fewest ingredients... the simplest version. These are perfect just out of the oven, cut in half and spread with some good quality salted butter.


Bacon and Cheese Scones

4oz Butter (1 Stick), cold
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
4oz Sharp Cheddar, grated
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Slices of Bacon, cooked and diced
1 Scallion, sliced thin
1 Egg
2/3 Cup Milk (any kind)

Preheat your oven to 400F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter with the flour, salt and baking powder until it becomes like breadcrumbs. Stir in your cheese, scallion and bacon. Beat the egg into the milk, then slowly add to the dry mixture until combine. Try to mix it as gently and as little as possible.

Roll out the dough until it is an inch thick and cut into circles with a four inch or so cookie cutter. I, owning cookie cutters only in the shape of candy canes and ninjas, used a jam jar lid.

You should get about 8-10 circles out of it. If you like, you can do a quick egg wash glaze over these by beating an egg with a couple of tablespoons of milk and brushing with a pastry brush. It's not completely necessary, but I would take the time if you have it.

Bake for 20 minutes until well risen and turning slightly golden. If you need to reheat these for later, do use the oven and not the microwave... it's much better.

Slather with butter and enjoy hot, with fond memories of your childhood drifting through your head.

Well That Snuck Up on Me

Okay, I swear I have recipes. I actually have like, a really good one for you. But the post it note that I wrote it down on fell behind the fridge and I haven't managed to get to it yet.

And I've been working.

And doing lots of voice overs.

Oh yeah, and I turned 30.

Seriously. 30. I know I know it's "not that bad"and being 30 is the new 20 and all that stuff and look at all the great things I've accomplished and blah blah blah.

But it's hard when you look at your life and you think of all the things you meant to do before now. You make a list in your head of what you can pull off before you're 35, or 40. How late is too late?

I wish I could tell you that at the age of 30 I'm going to rededicate myself to food and be awesome and amazing... but I just don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm day by day here in the Valley. I get up, I go record voice overs, I go to the Circus, I spend time with my boyfriend. I live off poached eggs on toast and lots of coffee. I go to the park with the dog. I watch Deadliest Catch before bed to help me fall asleep. I do it all over again. 

It's a weird cycle. And I'm going to be in it for a while I think. But I'm hoping that soon, soon things will shift in some way. Soon I'll get to the next stage of my life, whatever that may be. Soon I'll embrace 30 and not be in this weird limbo thing where I'm not sure what to do with it. 

Soon, I'll dig out that recipe. Because it has bacon in it... and it's really good.

Food Riot Launches Today!

Today is the day! Food Riot is finally here!

If you haven't heard about it yet, Food Riot is this absolutely amazing project brought to you by the makers of the hugely popular blog Book Riot. It's a food community like no other, and I'm extremely proud to be one of their contributors! Check them out. Subscribe. Share. Enjoy!

Liquid Diet

I would regale you with all the tales of the awesome food coming out of my kitchen, but I really have none to tell. I've been on a pretty liquid diet for the last little bit because my show is dark for a week. To the average person living in Las Vegas, having a week off work when you can't go anywhere pretty much turns into one thing.... day drinking!

I have, though, eaten a couple of really good things which I managed to be smart enough to take a few pics of, so please consider this an interim post, sharing with you a couple of highlights of food sandwiched between a lot of cheap Tempranillo, Redd's Apple Ale (love the name!), Buddha Beer and Gimlets.

The beach house breakfast I made for Larry, Justin and Amee when I spent a whirlwind 25 hours in Newport beach a few weeks ago.

The KJ Steamer at Joe's Crab Shack. I subbed shrimp in because I wasn't in the mood for mussels. Snow crab is just one of the most delicious things ever. This was the day I got permission to go play hooky from work and see a concert with my hot boyfriend.

This burger looks weird, and to a degree it was a let down because it was ordered medium rare and arrived well done, but on it was truffled cheese and bacon onion jam. That really made up for it. This was also the night that we were planning to go to the gym after work but decided a crappy day meant we would go to the Yardhouse instead.

Oh Brio. Home of Cucumber Basil Gimlets, and this Three Tomato Insalata with Chicken. Divine and yummy and just the fortification I needed to spend an afternoon shopping with the lovely Dani. She and I really are the worst together. We egg each other on when it comes to buying clothes almost as much as when it comes to ordering cocktails.

I realize that posts like this make it sound like I have this really epic fabulous life. To a degree, I do. but I'm only showing you the highlights, not the other 97% of the time.

It's a really nice 3% though.