Korean BBQ with the Kims

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While in Durango we ate out twice; once at a private restaurant on Electra Lake and then at a bar called Olde Schoolhouse Cafe.  I ate a tuna steak with a watermelon, blueberry and mint relish at Electra Lake and yummy vegetarian pizza at the Schoolhouse.

The other nights at the house we cooked.  My sister Lisa and her husband Randy offered to make Bulgogi one night.  We were all pretty excited about the menu and that excitement only increased as they started cooking.  The combination of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, soy, ginger and garlic were so incredible.  Along with the beef and chicken Bulgogi, we had white rice, kimchee, pot stickers and a salad of thinly sliced cucumbers, bean sprouts, and scallions with crispy fried scallions and rice wine sesame dressing.

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kbbq8Bulgogi means “fire meat” in Korean because it is traditionally grilled over an open flame, but can be cooked in a pan.  Randy did the grilling.  Grilled meat always smells good, but the marinade on the chicken and beef made for an especially wonderful aroma wafting from the grill downstairs to the kitchen window.  I always find it funny how men seem to flock to a heated grill.  Once the first tray of meat went to the grill every man in the house grabbed a beer and headed outside to help supervise.  This attraction of men to a fire will always amaze me.

The meat is sliced thin and wrapped in large lettuce leaves usually spread with ssamjang, the jar of spicy red sauce you find in the Asian food aisle.  When we ate this meal, we also put rice in the lettuce leaf.  It was delicious.

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Cowboy Gelato

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Following a high scoring game of bowling this afternoon, Ben and I needed something for lunch before we passed out.  Amarillo is not known for local restaurants that are open on Sundays and Mondays.  I was not thrilled about the idea of getting something at McDonalds or Taco Bell, so we tried to eat at a local burger place on 6th street (historic Route 66), but as expected, they were closed.  So we kept driving and saw a place I hadn’t seen on 6th before boasting fresh made gelato and tasty sandwiches.  We decided to take our chances and try it out.

164_cowboy-gelato-logo-09The restaurant is called Cowboy Gelato and has been open since the 1st of August.  The owner was there, her daughter took our order and I think her son was making the gelato.  The owner was such a sweet woman.  She came and talked to us a few times, complimenting me on my lunch decision, the Leone, which I will describe shortly.  Everyone there checked on us more than once to make sure we were enjoying our food, and offering to refill our drinks.  I love Texas hospitality.

The name of this place seems like quite an odd combination.  Cowboy food and Italian gelato are not a match made in culinary heaven, but it works people…it really works.  The inspiration for the place is film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. Most menu items are named for Spaghetti Western movies, directors and actors.  The walls are hung with Spaghetti Western movie posters.

The sandwiches are called The Eastwood, Van Cleef, Wallach, Bronson, Leone, and Hill.  Salads choices include The Ferzetti, and Volonte.  Kids meals are the Django, Red Sun, Sabata and Campaneros.

Are you lost?  I was.  I knew Eastwood meant Clint Eastwood and that Van Cleef referred to Lee Van Cleef who starred alongside Eastwood in “For a Few Dollars More”.  I also knew that Sergio Leone was a direcor.  I did not know that he directed “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”.  Other than that I was pretty clueless about who the other food items on the menu were named for.  I found the answer to all my questions here!  I never thought a restaurant would lead me to a wiki article devoted to the Spaghetti Western.

Ok, to the food!

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Portabella Burgers and The Magic Dog

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When the lodge was built here in 1983 they cleared quite a bit of the land and dug their own lovely lakes fed by a stream that flows through the property and creates a tranquil atmosphere.  If you walk toward the stream from the house you can walk over a bridge and find yourself in a little meadow with a gazebo lit with twinkle lights, a grill, and a couple picnic tables.  We had dinner out at this adorable gazebo this week.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, portabella burgers, potato salad, skewered grilled mushrooms and roasted zucchini.  There are few things better than grilled food cooked over a real fire, not a gas grill.  There is a completely different flavor and smell to the food that is just not there when you cook with gas.

The burgers were delicious.  You just cannot go wrong with a juicy meat patty, melting cheese, ketchup, crisp lettuce, tomato and pickles on a toasted sesame seed bun.  This is close to perfection.

We also decided to grill some portabella mushrooms.  I made my portabella “burger” just as I would a regular burger, all the same toppings as my meaty burger.  I think I would trade the cheddar cheese in for swiss cheese next time.  I liked the veggies on it, but it would be tasty with just cheese.

FYI, try to buy portabellas that are ready to grill.  Scraping out the gills was quite possibly one of the nastiest tasks I have had to complete in the kitchen.  Sometimes it is OK to buy a food product that makes life easier…and less nasty.

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Colorado Oatmeal, Coconut, Chocolate Chip Bars

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I am part of a family who thoroughly enjoys snacking.  That is why we needed some cookie bars up here in Durango for after finishing off all the cookies we had from Bread Bakery in Durango.  They have some incredible cookies, a delicious ham and brie sandwich and an incredible goat cheese and thyme scone that I plan to try to duplicate at some point.  So, after all the crazy delicious goodies were gone I made these cookie bars.  I found a recipe for oatmeal, coconut cookies from Allrecipes.com, and changed a few things in the dough and also made bars instead of cookies.  I was reminded by my sister after I had pressed the dough into the pan that I should have done something to compensate for the high altitude, but it was a little late for that.  So, I took my chances.  It turned out not to be an issue.  The bars did take a bit longer to bake than I would have thought.  Other than that, the flavor and texture were good.

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Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, My Cute Nephew and My Crazy Husband

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The flavor of this cake was absolutely delicious, and slightly sweet.  The tartness of the raspberries is lovely.  The texture was wonderfully moist with a nice tender crumb.  I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  I was disappointed that mine did not end up looking as beautiful as hers, but I am sure I will make this cake again, so we’ll see if I can improve on the appearance.  I followed her recipe and instructions completely except that I added a cap-full, about 1/4 teaspoon, of almond extract just because I love the flavor of almond.  I served this cake when my parents came through Amarillo after dinner.

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It was a light cake, perfect all by itself, no whipped cream needed.  I used turbinado sugar instead of white granulated sugar and loved the crunch it provided.  This cake is so easy to prepare and has simple ingredients most people have on hand.  The buttermilk is also non-essential since you can make your own buttermilk in 10 minutes with regular milk and some lemon juice or vinegar.

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Cinnamon Rolls in Durango

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cinnrolls1These cinnamon rolls began their life in Amarillo, Texas and will see the end of their days in Durango, Colorado.  My family,all 13 of us, are spending the week in Durango.  My brother-in-law’s family has about 80 acres of land just outside of the city that backs up to National Forest which means that we are completely isolated in peaceful, beautiful, glorious nature…well, I still have internet access and cell phone service.  It is incredible out here and I am going to really enjoy the next 7 days of vacation.

My parents, my sister, her husband and my nephew all drove up to Amarillo on Friday evening to stay the night.  I decided to make cinnamon rolls for Saturday morning before we left for Durango.  I found this recipe for “Overnight Cinnamon Rolls” on the Food Network website, from Alton Brown.

I started the rolls on Friday night.  The dough was nice and soft after mixing it up, and so I set it aside to double in size which, according to the recipe, should have taken between 2 and 2 1/2 hours.  Not so, Alton!  I let the dough sit, covered, in my kitchen for almost 3 hours and it increased a little, but not near double.  I was ready to admit defeat and I was prepared to make a trip to Donut Stop on Saturday morning.  I decided to keep going with the rolls and see what would happen.  Maybe there was still some hope.  I rolled out the dough, brushed on some melted butter, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar filling, rolled the dough into a cylinder and cut the rolls into 11 pieces (it should have been 12, but 11 would have to do).  I placed the rolls into a 9×13 pan, covered the pan in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the night.

In the morning, there was no change in the size of the rolls.  Ok, so now I was REALLY thinking we’d have store bought donuts for breakfast.  But I continued with the recipe, letting the rolls sit in the oven with a tray of boiling water for 30 minutes.  No rising occurred in this time either.  But I was determined to finish this recipe to the bitter end, so I baked the rolls for 30 minutes…a miracle!  They finally spread out, rose nicely, turned a golden brown, filled my house with a warm cinnamon aroma and were practically begging for some cream cheese icing.  I spread the icing on the warm rolls, and they were ready to be eaten.  We did not finish the pan, so we brought them in the car up to Durango and just finished them off.

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Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This recipe makes a lot of cookies, so its great when you need cookies for a crowd.  This is also a good cookie dough to make when you want to freeze some dough balls and bake them later.  It holds up well in the freezer for a few weeks.  Here are some tips for freezing cookie dough.  If you want to freeze individual balls of dough, scoop the dough into the size desired, then place them on a cookie sheet.  They can be close together since you won’t be baking them right now.  Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to harden the dough.  Then, you can remove the dough balls from the sheet and place them into a freezer bag.  This will allow you to bake just a few cookies at a time instead of defrosting all the dough, which after one defrost should not be frozen again or the texture of the cookie will change.

I like these cookies because of all the goodies in them.  I like a simple sugar cookie from time to time, but I much prefer something with lots of different flavors and textures.  I used milk chocolate chips and salted peanuts this time, but I think peanut butter chips, semi-sweet or even white chocolate could be good.  Maybe a combination of a few kinds even!  I’m getting carried away now.  I have not tried them with honey roasted peanuts, but will probably leave out the chocolate chips when I do.  So many different variations…so little time.  This is an easy cookie recipe.  The only “trick” I use it to chill the dough for a few hours before scooping it.  They taste just as good if you don’t chill the dough, but the cookies seem to bake more evenly, spread a little less and I think letting the ingredients have more time to sit together before baking creates a better flavor and texture.  So, do as you please…chill or don’t chill.  But make these.  They are yummy.

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Greek Spiced Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

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These meatballs were the main dish for our little Greek night last week.  We ate them with warm pita and feta cheese, and they were delicious.  I made a few changes to the original recipe from Fine Cooking magazine, July 2009.  I used ground beef instead of lamb, I used bread crumbs from a loaf of french bread, and took a shortcut with the tomato sauce.  Instead of making my own sauce and doctoring it, as the magazine instructs, I just used a good quality 28 ounce can of chunky tomato sauce.  The meatballs were very tasty, and the sauce was delicious.  It was a little thick when I reheated it the next day, so I added a little water and it was perfect.

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Galaktoboureko: Greek Phyllo Custard Pie

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Sweet, creamy, rich and wonderful.  I made Greek food for dinner on Friday night, and I wanted to make a Greek dessert that wasn’t baklava.  I love baklava and have a good recipe for it that hasn’t failed me yet, but I wanted to try something new.

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There were so many different recipes and methods for this dessert.  Some were made in a 9×13 pan.  Others were made into individual little pies.  I baked mine in a 9 inch pie plate, and it turned out well.  There is something appealing to me about doing this dessert in little individual packages so that more of the phyllo stays nice and crisp.  However, the pie plate was nice and self contained with no serious risk of leaking.

This dessert is made of a custard of milk, eggs, semolina flour, sugar and butter wrapped in phyllo and soaked in some type of syrup after baking.  The kind of milk, number of eggs, and flavor of syrup varied quite a bit in the recipes I browsed, but the methods were all similar.  I chose this recipe from Epicurious .

Phyllo-Custard Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cups water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
  • 1/2 cup semolina flour*
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 11 tablespoons (about) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 10 fresh phyllo pastry sheets or frozen, thawed

Directions

Stir 1 1/4 cups sugar and 2/3 cup water in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add cinnamon sticks and 1/2 teaspoon orange peel and simmer 2 minutes. Set syrup aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix semolina and 1/2 cup sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and 4 tablespoons melted butter; bring to boil, whisking occasionally. Boil until mixture is thick and creamy, whisking constantly, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and 1/2 teaspoon orange peel in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in semolina mixture. Mix in vanilla. Cool filling completely.

Lightly butter 10-inch glass pie dish. Place 1 phyllo sheet in bottom of dish. Brush with melted butter. Top with second sheet. Continue layering with 3 more sheets, brushing each with butter. Spoon filling into dish. Top with 5 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter. Using scissors, trim excess phyllo from sides of dish. With very sharp knife, score tip of phyllo sheets, forming diamond pattern.

Bake pie until phyllo is golden brown and filling is set, about 45 minutes. Transfer pie to rack. Immediately strain 1 cup cooled syrup over pastry. Cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve.

I LOVED this pie.  Crisp phyllo encasing a creamy custard.  Just delightful.  It was too rich for Ben, but most desserts are.  It was good at room temperature, but so lovely after it had chilled in the fridge for a few hours…and delicious the next day as well!  The cinnamon syrup is essential and gives the pie a nice flavor.  Try this next time you want a fairly easy and very  impressive dessert.

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Pita Chips and Hummus

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It makes me so very happy that I will never be forced to buy pre-packaged hummus or pita chips again!  Freedom from store bought foods!  Ok, so there may be a time when buying a bag of pita chips will be necessary.  BUT, if I have the time to make my own, then I will make my own because the hummus is delicious and easy, as are the pita chips.

Both recipes come from Finecooking.com.  There are quite a few hummus recipes on the site, but this one seemed just different enough to be fun without being weird or overly complicated with ingredients.  I like the versatility of hummus.  A dip for pita chips or fresh veggies, and equally good spread on a flat bread with veggies or some turkey and wrapped up for a quick lunch.

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The garlic in this hummus is cooked in olive oil along with some ground cumin to mellow the flavor of the garlic, and the results are really nice.  The soy sauce in the hummus isn’t obvious, but does add something to the flavor.

For the pita chips, make sure to halve them to create 2 circles, then cut the pita halves into triangles or strips.  If you cut the entire pita into pieces, your chips will not crisp quite as well.  The recipe calls for 10 pitas, but I only used 4.  Just cut what you need, brush them on both sides with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Easy peasy.

Hummus

  • 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 2 15-1/2-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 3 Tbs. tahini
  • 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice; more to taste
  • 1 Tbs. soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt; more as needed

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