Commander's Palace Jambalaya

I have this cookbook from Commander's Palace and I love it not only for the recipes but for the entertaining stories that it tells.  If you've been to New Orleans or have dreaming of going, you either already know about Commander's or you definitely should!  I dream of going and one day having Sunday brunch on the patio.  If you are one of the deprived souls who have not heard about it, here are some key words that are directly related to this famous restaurant:  bananas foster, Chef Paul Prudhomme, and Emeril Legasse.

Bananas Foster was invented at this restaurant and Chef Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Legasse got their starts here.  Commander's, which is owned by the Brennan family, has a unique philosophy about their chef's.  They bring them in raw, teach them everything they know and tell them to get the hell out and start their own restaurant!  I'm thinking most business people would think this is bad business, but it works for them.  Now on to the recipe:

This recipe is actually called Seafood Jambalaya, but I'm not a real seafood nut and it gives you alternatives if you're not.  I will put in the recipe as it is originally along with the changes.  This can be a kind of spicy dish so you'll want to serve it with some French bread (of course!) and some green salad.  You know, the cool and calming yin to the spicy yang.

2 tbsp. butter
1 lb. andouille sausage (or another smoked sausage), in 1/4" slices
1 large bell pepper (I used green, a bit spicier), in large dice
1 large onion, in large dice
3 ribs celery, in large dice
1 small head garlic, cloves peeled and minced
Creole Seasoning, to taste
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 large tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled
1/2 lb. fish fillets, diced (trout, catfish, redfish, bass, and bluefish would work well)*
2 bay leaves
3 cups long grain rice, rinsed 3 times
6 cups chicken stock
1 pint shucked oysters, with their liquor**
2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced, for serving
hot sauce, for serving

*replace with 1/2 lb chicken breast or boneless chicken thigh
**if you prefer, you can omit the oysters

Combine the butter and sausage in a Dutch oven or large pot over high heat, and saute for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic and season with creole seasoning, salt and pepper.  Saute, still over high heat, for about 8 minutes, or until the natural sugars in the vegetables have browned and caramelized.

Add the tomatoes, shrimp, fish (or chicken), and bay leaves, and stir.  Add the rice, stir gently, and add the chicken stock.  Gently move the spoon over the bottom of the pan to make sure the rice isn't sticking.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, cover , and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the rice has mostly absorbed the liquid.  Turn off the heat, then fold in the oysters (if adding), cover and let sit another 8 minutes, during which time the jambalaya will continue cooking from residual heat.

To serve, transfer to a serving bowl, and mix in with green onions and sprinkle with hot sauce if desired.

This recipe goes pretty fast, so I recommend you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.  I also pay attention to what goes in the pot at the same time and combine them in bowls so you just dump them in when it's time.  It originally called for 6 cups water, but when I tasted it, it just screamed for chicken stock so I have replaced it in the recipe.  I think it really made a difference.

This recipe calls for you to add creole seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.  The creole seasoning is really going to give it some zing, so taste it before you add the initial sprinkling.  Also, depending on the chicken stock you use, this will make a difference in how much salt you'll be adding.  I would say to taste the juice just before you bring it to a boil and if it tastes just right, add a bit more salt because the rice is really going to absorb it.

After adding the rice, the less stirring you do the better.  You don't want to pull out excessive starch from the grain.  This is not risotto.  While simmering, be sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom.  I keep it low enough to where you only get a slight simmer, and this seems to prevent that.  Remember, this is authentic Jambalaya, not the soupy, tomato saucy stuff you get in most restaurants.  I really think you'll enjoy it and be amazed at the flavor and how easy it is to make!

Soil Makes You Happy

I'm trying to clean up my desk this evening due to the yucky weather we are having and ran across this article again from one of my old Organic Gardening articles.  I thought you all might like to know about this and maybe feel a little better when the critters (human and animal) come in covered in mud this Spring season!

Proof that dirty fingers lead to clean minds:

A common soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, is an effective vaccine for leprosy.  Researchers began to evaluate its value in treating asthma, tuberculosis, and cancer.  When cancer patients treated with M. vaccae reported feeling inexplicably happier, neuroscientist Christoper Lowry, Ph.D., of the U.K.'s University of Bristol injected mice with the bacterium, then examined their brains.  The mice's immune systems were stimulated, causing brain cells to release serotonin, a mood-altering, pleasure-inducing hormone.

So, dig in and be happy!

Convection Cooking

I was reminded of a conversation I had with my neighbor, Rhonda.  She had told me that she liked that I mentioned a little bit about convection cooking/baking and that she wasn't sure exactly how it worked.  I told her that I would do some research and maybe find out a little bit more, which I have.  Mind you this conversation was a week or two ago, but you know I'm lucky it only took me this long to remember it again. 

I found this info on about.com in the housewares section.  Very simple explanation:

"Convection cooking simply brings airflow into conventional cooking, and what a difference that makes. To illustrate, imagine a standard oven with three racks of dinner rolls, all the same size. You know the rolls on the bottom (closest to the heating element) will brown first - and quickly. Then you have to keep an eye on the top rack, because heat rises and those will burn if you aren't on your toes. The middle rack will take its sweet time.

But with convection cooking, an integrated fan circulates the hot air around and across the rolls, cooking them all evenly and all at the same time - and in less time than in a standard oven. Generally, convection cooking takes three-fourths the time of standard cooking, and, as a rule of thumb, at 25 degrees lower.

How does it work? A good convection oven will have three heating elements: top, bottom and rear, with a fan connected to the latter. As the oven pulls in outside air, it's heated immediately and circulated. With meats and poultry, that gives you amazingly even cooking and perfect browning while retaining the meat's moisture. The results are even better with baked goods, like our imaginary rolls. The airflow draws the moisture out of the breads, cakes and cookies, giving you even baking and delightful texture: flaky crusts, crisp pastries and light, fluffy croissants.

When buying a convection oven, look for that third heating element. If there are only two, you won't get the optimum results."

I agree with most of this article, but I would like to mention that convection is not right for all types of cooking.  When it comes to cakes, I have to defer to my mom who is an expert.  She has been doing cakes for as long as I can remember and had a bakery for 10 years.  When she was opening her bakery, she went and tested several types of ovens and found that convection really wasn't that beneficial to cake baking.  She found that the air circulation made the delicate crumb of the cakes too dry and affected how evenly they would rise.  For a cake baker/decorator, this is paramount.  So I would suggest for more delicate baking, not use the convection mode.

For cookies, though, it is a great way to bake.  During Christmas I am making cookies like crazy and this mode is gonna be a lifesaver!  I had this on my previous oven, but it never really worked right.  I believe that the convection technology has really improved in the last few years.  Imagine cooking three racks at a time and if you have a double oven, that's 6 racks!

You may have to rotate the racks midway during baking because the fan is usually placed in the back of the oven so that side may bake faster.  I found with cookies, it wasn't needed, but with the sandwich rolls I needed to.  Mind you the cookies were lower profile so they allowed more circulation. 

Just as with any baking, really pay attention to what's happening in your oven.  Make mental notes how things cook up and then you'll know what changes you need to make next time you bake something.  Another thing, try different modes on various food items.  Everyone is different so something I may not like, you may love.  Enjoy!

Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Romaine and Lettuce, Oh My!

This year I have resolved to plant more vegetables from plants bought at the nursery since our vegetable season here in Las Vegas can be a bit crazy and any head start is a good one.  But, there are still some seeds that really only should be direct seeded.  Some of those I got planted this weekend.

March can be a bit unpredictable going from really cold to somewhat warm.  The nights are colder, so seed starting can be a bit iffy.  But not with the veggies I planted, i.e. sugar snap peas, snow peas, lettuce and romaine (yes I know it's a lettuce, but it's specialness deserves it to stand on it's own!).  These seeds don't need it to be real warm, but they do need the moisture to germinate as is with all seeds so I do a little hand watering just in the areas where they are planted.  Also, one seed I didn't start but should be now is spinach.  I just didn't get it in because the planter it is set to go in was overrun with mint and I was just too lazy to clean it out.  Those will be done next weekend.

Above is one of my six planters designated for veggies and fruits.  Every Fall and early Spring, I add a 2 cubic feet bag of compost and 1 small bag of composted manure.  I lightly dig it in and then it's ready to go.  I have a large drip line that goes the whole diamater of the planter and then I run drip lines from side to side every 6" that have a drip outlet every 6".  I then put my square foot gardening grid on top of that.  Normally you would slightly bury your drip line, but I like to keep it on top because seedlings and seeds have their roots at the very top and can dry out quick if your drip line is below those roots.  Now Mel Bartholomew who invented Square Foot Gardening usually has his squares 4' x 4' that consists of 16 squares to plant in, but I have some difficulty reaching in 4'.  He says for kids you can make a 3' x 3' square to easily reach in, but that only has 9 squares.  I want the maximum so I have adapted his design to a rectangle which is 7' x 3' giving me 21 squares!  And I'm proud to say, they have done the same design at my kids elementary school, O'Roarke Empowerment School!

The first seeds I planted were the sugar snap peas and snow peas.  I have a special fondness for peas and beans because one of my earliest memories of a vegetable garden is of a relatives private garden (they were farmers) in Kansas.  Every evening we would walk out to her bean plants and pick them for dinner and she would give us some raw ones to snack on.  Now, green beans are pretty tasty to snack on raw, but sugar snap peas are heaven!  They really are just as good raw (and maybe better) than steamed.  One thing I use on my pea and bean seeds is an inoculant, which helps them fix the nitrogen into the soil.  It isn't required, but it will increase your yields so I always use it.  I can't seem to find it anywhere here in Las Vegas, but I have found it in a nursery in S. Cal.  You can order it from any of the seed catalogs.  I would recommend Vermont Bean & Seed Co. because they do have the best selection of bean and pea seeds and supplies. 



Just seeds



Seeds with inoculant



For each square you can plant 8 pea or bean seeds per square.  Since these will grow up a trellis, I make a small trench along the back of the square to place the seeds.  Not every seed is guaranteed to germinate (or sprout) so I plant 2 seeds per spot, totalling 16 seeds per trench.  Once they start breaking through the surface, I take some small scissors and snip off the smaller plant at the surface so I don't disturb the delicate roots by pulling, leaving 8 seedlings.  In the left picture above is the trench with the seeds, the picture on the right is the seeds with inoculant scattered over them.  Pea and bean seeds take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil.  Nitrogen is very important in the development of leaves.  You have too much, you'll get a plant with lots of leaves but few veggies, fruits or flowers.  Since they fix the nitrogen themselves, I usually only use half the manure (a strong source of nitrogen) in that planter.  And because these plants are a good source of nitrogen, I tend to include leafy greens and herbs in the same planter since they will benefit best from this feature.  The back side of the planter now has 4 squares of sugar snap peas and 3 squares of snow peas planted.  Once they start growing, I'll add a trellis for them to climb up.

The next seeds I planted were Parris Island Cos (another name for Romaine).  For lettuce and romaine, you can plant 4 plants per square.  Leafy greens are best direct seeds because any disturbance of their roots can cause them to bolt (go to seed) and will become bitter.  In the left picture above I have placed 4 holes to plant my lettuce seeds.  In the right picture you can see how small the lettuce seeds are so instead of trying to pick out two seeds to plant, I just take a small pinch and drop them into the whole.  An important thing is when you cover the seeds, only lightly cover them with the soil and don't tamp them down.  You want to keep your soil as loose as possible.  As soon as you plant any seeds, you want to water them so the soil is damp, not flooded.  Use a light setting, like shower, on your nozzle so you don't disturbe and move the seeds.  Keep the soil damp until they have germinated and have their first set of true leaves.  If you allow it to dry out before then, you can easily kill the seedling. 

I also planted another leafy lettuce variety, Black Seeded Simpson.  Most lettuce seeds are a light grey color, but this variety has black seeds.  It does pretty well in this area.  I'll probably pick up a couple more lettuce varieties, one of those being a red color.  If you can, get a variety of colors in yours veggies.  Some are actually more nutritious (purple carrots), but they are a lot of fun!

I like to walk my garden every day.  Not necessarily work in it, but you should walk it.  Not only is it therapeutic, but you learn a lot about it and will notice the slightest changes.  Today I went out and saw 3 different lizards running through the planters.  And because I'm out there so often, they are pretty use to me and don't run off as easily.  These little guys freak my husband Rick out, but I love them.  Not only are they entertaining, but they keep my garden healthy by maintaining a healthy level of insects.

I hope you all learn something from this post and it inspires you to get out and work your soil and get some seeds planted.  As I said before, this month is a great month to get your peas and leafy greens direct seeded.  Next month, you can direct seed your beans and start getting transplants of tomatoes and some herbs planted.  Who needs aspirin when you have a garden!

Albondigas (Mexican Meatball Soup)

I've been making this recipe for years and I think I got it off of the back of a pan that I bought at a Smith's grocery store.  Normally I wouldn't take much stock in a recipe on the packaging, but something made me try it.  And I have never regretted it.  There are two things that I think make this recipe better than most:  1) it uses half ground beef and half ground pork.  This gives it a unique flavor
2) the use of mint flakes in the meatballs.  You don't taste it, but it's enough to give them a fresh flavor
The recipe calls for 1/2 lb. each ground beef and pork and most packages come in 1 lb. increments.  So now you have a 1/2 lb. each left over so what to you do with it?  I put it in a freezer ziploc and store it until the next time I make this.  Or you can try using the combination for spaghetti and meatballs.  I've seen meatballs recipes that call for this combo or even with veal.  Very tasty!

Here is the recipe:

Albondigas

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup short-grain white rice                     
• 1 1/2 cups water    
• 2 tbsp. olive oil      
• 1 white onion, diced                                   
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1 egg                     
• 1 tsp. ground cumin                                   
• 1 tsp. dried oregano                                   
• 1 tsp. dried mint     
• 3/4 tsp. salt            
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper                    
• 2 tbsp. olive oil      
• 1 white onion, diced                                   
• 1 clove garlic, minced                                
• 1 zucchini, diced    
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced                        
• 4 roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced     
• 8 cups chicken broth                                  
• 1-1 1/2 tsp. salt            
• 1/2-3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Directions:

      Place the rice in a heatproof bowl. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the rice. Let soak for 40 minutes, then drain; set aside. 

      Meanwhile, in a sauté pan over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. 

      In a bowl, combine the pork, beef, cooled onion, soaked rice, egg, cumin, oregano, mint, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix well and form into 1″ balls. 

      In a soup pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

      Add the chicken stock, stir well and bring to a boil. Carefully slip the meatballs into the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered until the meatballs are fully cooked, about 45 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper.  Serve at once.

Servings:  8

This isn't a hard recipe to make, but it takes a little time and planning.  The reason is because you start out boiling some water and soaking the rice in it for 40 minutes.  You also saute the onions and let them cool.  From there on it, it's straightforward.  The recipe calls for short-grain rice, but for the life of me, I can never find it in the grocery store.  So, I use long-grain rice.  I haven't changed it in the recipe because I am bound and determined to find some short-grain rice to see the difference.

The next step is to combine the ingredients for the meatballs.  I use ground oregano because it distributes more evenly.  If I was adding it directly to the soup, I would use leaves.  Reason, I feel they release their flavor better in that environment.  Am I right?  Who knows but that's my reasoning and I'm sticking too it (or until I learn different).  This may seem yucky, but the best way to combine everything for meatballs, use your hands.  It really is the best way, so take your rings off and dig in. 

The next steps you will be sauteeing the vegetables to build the flavor for the soup.  I use homemade chicken stock if I have it.  It's easy to make and freezes well.  To make it, take a whole chicken, a whole onion cut in half (don't have to peel it because you're just going to throw it out afterwards) and two carrots chopped into chunks.  Enough water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer for about 50 minutes.  Remove chicken and shred when cooled and strain the stock and freeze.  I store it in different size containers because different recipes use different amounts.

Next you bring the soup to a boil and then slip in the meatballs.  I use a small scoop to form them.  This mixture is pretty soft so it doesn't take much to form them.  I start from the outside and work in adding the meatballs.  You'll want to stir once in a while, but not too often and do it gently.  Don't want to break up the meatballs. 

I like to serve this soup with some lemon wedges.  Some people like lime, but for this one I like lemon.  This is one reason I love Mexican soups so much, you add lemon!  It gives them such a fresh taste.  I like a lot of lemon juice.  Just don't use that pre-packaged lemon juice crap.  It has a stale flavor and I would rather eat the soup without lemon juice than use that stuff.  Enjoy!

Beef Bourguignon Soup

Another recipe from Lucinda Scala Quinn of Mad Hungry Fame (you'll be seeing a LOT of her's) which I have made twice now.  Not only was this soup good the night I made it, but real good the next day.  And that was considering I put both the soup and the Herbed Egg Noodles in the same container.  Usually noodles will absorb some of the liquid and get bloated and soggy.  But not these!  I'm also figuring I'd better blog about this one as soup season will be coming to an end (or major slow-down).

Not real pretty, but oh so tasty!

Here is the recipe for the soup:

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Beef Bourguignon Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in short ribs (2" thick, 2 lb. total)
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 oz. whole white button mushrooms, quartered
• 3 carrots, 2 finely chopped and 1 cut into 3/4" cubes
• 3 shallots, minced
• 2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 strips bacon, diced
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 cup dry red wine, such as Burgundy
• 8 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium beef stock
• 2 cups water
• Herbed Egg Noodles (see recipe), for serving

Directions:

      Season ribs with salt and some pepper. Coat with cornstarch. Heat oil in a large heavy pot (preferably enameled cast iron) over medium-high heat. Lightly brown ribs on all sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

      Add mushrooms to pot. Cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add cubed carrot to that bowl to be added later.

      Add shallots, celery, bacon, and chopped carrots to pot. Cook until caramelized, about 6 minutes. Stir in tomato paste.

      Return ribs with plate juices to pot. Add thyme and bay leaf. Raise heat to high. Add wine. Cook, scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon, until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add stock and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until beef is tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

      Remove ribs. Separate meat from bones; discard. Cut meat into bite-size pieces; return to pot. Add reserved mushroom-carrot mixture. Bring to a simmer; cook until cubed carrots are tender. Season with salt. Ladle soup over bowls of herbed egg noodles.
Servings:  6

The first step has you seasoning then coating the ribs with cornstarch and browning.  This is to build up the flavor of the rib meat.  You'll want them to get a nice brown crust.  Don't worry about them getting tough because they are going to simmer in the sauce for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. 

I nice little tip I learned from Lucinda, is to use tomato paste in a tube.  Ever had a recipe that called for 2 tbsp. of tomato paste?  No matter how small a can you buy, you always have some left over!  Now, I just buy the tube and keep it in the refrigerator.  You'll find it on the same aisle as the paste. 

The recipe prefers Burgundy, but I've just used whatever red wine is in the pantry and it has tasted great!  When the main cooking time is finished, I take out the ribs and let them cool for a couple minutes.  The meat should fall off the bone.  The final step has you returning the meat, mushrooms and carrots to the pot and cooking till the carrot cubes are tender, probably about 10 minutes depending you soft you like them. 

So here's the recipe for the noodles:

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Herbed Egg Noodles

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. pkg. egg noodles, cooked to package directions and drained
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2-4 tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

            Toss cooked egg noodles, while still hot, with butter and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Servings:  6

This recipe is obviously simple.  Once they are done, spoon some into your bowl and ladle the soup over them and enjoy.  A nice, crusty loaf of French bread would go great with this soup.  Enjoy!

Rosemary-Garlic Tri-Tip Roast with Spiced Yam Wedges and Parmesan Creamed Spinach

Rosemary-Garlic Tri-Tip Roast with Spiced Yam Wedges and Parmesan Creamed Spinach

The combination of wanting to try the convection roast feature on my oven and Albertson’s having a sale on their untrimmed tri-tip roasts inspired this meal.  Now, the key word in this sentence is “untrimmed” which means their tri-tip has a nice layer of fat on the top portion of the roast which makes it oh-so-yummy!  I know, not the most healthiest, but sometimes (or most times in my case) yummy overrules healthy.

Tri-tip with the probe inserted and plugged into the inside of the oven

  

I was cruising the “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” website looking for the proper inner temperature for tri-tip and found this recipe.  It also includes roasted potatoes, but I was doing the spiced yam wedges so I modified the recipe to have the spices without the potatoes.  The recipe follows:

Rosemary-Garlic Tri-Tip Roast

Ingredients:

·        1 untrimmed 2 lb. tri-tip roast

·        1 tbsp. olive oil

·        3 cloves garlic, minced fine

·        1 tsp. dried 1 tsp. fresh rosemary  leaves

·        1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

·        1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

     Preheat oven to 425º.  Combine garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Rub roast with olive oil then press with seasoning mix.

     Place roast on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  Roast for 30-40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reaches 135º for medium rare. 

     Remove from oven and transfer to board.  Tent with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes.  (Temperature will continue to rise about 10º to reach 145º for medium rare).

     Carve roast across the grain.  Serve immediately.

Servings:  8

I was doing this recipe on convection roast so I lowered the temperature to 400º because when you are converting a recipe to convection you lower it 25º and adjust the cooking time usually around 5-10 minutes.  I also was trying out a nifty feature that comes with this oven, a temperature probe that plugs inside the oven.  You then set the inner temperature you are wanting and it then emits a tone which it reaches the set temp. 

One thing that is always important with meat is that you want to reach a lower temperature than the final one desired because the meat will continue to “cook” as it rests and it’s always important to let it rest because during cooking the meat’s juices rush to the surface and if you slice it right away they will all come out leaving the meat dry.  Depending on the size of the meat, as you let it rest the juices reintegrate into the meat so only a minimal amount escapes.  Typically you wait about 5 minutes with steaks and about 15 minutes for roasts.  This recipe calls for medium-rare, but if you prefer medium, cook till the inner temperature reaches 140º. 

Next recipe is for the yams.  This is Lucinda Scala Quinn’s (Mad Hungry show on Hallmark channel) recipe and is actually for sweet potatoes, but I like yams more (and sweet potatoes aren’t always available in my store). 

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

·        2 tbsp. brown sugar

·        1 tsp. coarse salt

·        1/2 tsp. ground cumin

·        1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

·        2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise, and cut into wedges about 4" long

·        1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

     Preheat the oven to 350º.  Cover a rimmed baking sheet with baking parchment or foil.

     In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, cumin, and cayenne.

     Spread the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet. Drizzle the oil over the wedges and toss to coat.

     Transfer the wedges to the bowl and toss completely with the spice mixture to coat each piece. Return the potatoes to the baking sheet and spread out in a single layer.

     Bake for 10 minutes. Turn over the wedges. Raise the heat to 400º. Bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and tender.

Servings:  4-6



Wedges tossed with spiced and brown sugar



Fresh out of the oven!



Her original recipe calls for 4 sweet potatoes, but this makes a lot so I changed it to 2-3, but left the other ingredients the same because I like a lot of flavor.  Not only is this recipe great, but it’s great the next day!  I highly recommend it.



The final recipe (also Lucinda’s) is a favorite of steak houses so I thought it would go great with the tri-tip:

Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

·        2 1/2 lb. fresh spinach, washed, water still clinging to the leaves

·        3 tbsp. unsalted butter

·        1/4 cup flour

·        1 cup milk

·        1 tsp. coarse salt

·        pinch of freshly ground black pepper

·        pinch of ground nutmeg

·        1 cup grated parmesan, optional

Directions:

     Steam the spinach in a large pot for 2 to 3 minutes, until the leaves have all collapsed. The water clinging to the leaves will be enough to cook it. Drain, cool, and squeeze out the liquid in a strainer. Coarsely chop the spinach.

     To make the béchamel, heat a sauté pan over medium heat, and then melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk until fully incorporated and simmer for 30 seconds.

     Stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. If using parmesan cheese, add now.  Fold in the spinach and serve immediately.

Servings:  6

Don’t be daunted by the amount of spinach.  It will seem like a lot, but once it steams, it really goes down.  Don’t over cook it in the steaming process because it will briefly cook again with the béchamel.  Also, watch the béchamel carefully once you add the cream, because it will thicken pretty quickly.  I highly recommend the parmesan, but then I really, really love parmesan!  Enjoy!