My Bliss.

I guess you could say that I am easily entertained.  Who would think that someone would get so excited over their kitchen.  Well if you knew me you would understand completely.  My favorite place in the house is the kitchen.  My favorite thing to do at home is cook and entertain.  My favorite place to shop is Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma.  My favorite kitchen tool is my kitchenaid....thank you Mom-in-law you are the best!  I bake my own bread, make my own pasta and experiment endlessly.  Sometimes success, sometimes not so much and the pizza joint in town sings a happy tune. 

I enjoy a good cocktail like a fresh raspberry mojito or a pomegranate pear martini.  I like to experiment behind the bar too.  Give me a shaker, some ice and a booze cabinet and you never know what you will get but guaranteed a buzz maybe more.

Last Saturday night was homemade pizza night and UFC Fights with the family and some friends (watching UFC not pretending to be in the UFC - seriously I'm not crazy).  What a blast.  Spent the entire day cleaning and prepping for the pizza.  Had my nieces and a friends little girl helping me in the kitchen.  Made the pizza dough from scratch and then prepped all the "condiments" since it is really all about the crust.  We made everything from basic pepperoni & cheese, "the works", margarita, to prosciutto with caramelized onion & goat cheese.  What a range of tastes and flavors and oh so yummy!  The best part is they were all cooked on the BBQ.  Yup, really.  The BBQ is not just for ribs and burgers anymore people.  Pizza on the BBQ is one of the best things ever!  Next to my kitchenaid, I think the BBQ is the next best kitchen invention. 

When we decided to remodel our house I designed the kitchen to have a bar (one to sit at, sheesh) and open to the dining and living room and also open to a large back deck...besides a 1969 build house really just needs to be remodeled or leveled and rebuild if you have the funds.

I cook to nourish, I cook for fun, I cook for stress relief, I cook for family, I cook for friends, I cook for entertaining a crowd, I cook because I can.  So I guess it goes without saying that I love my kitchen and love to cook.

In short, since this is a short story for me, you now know...... my bliss.

Ummmm Clams & Cookies....

(Photo from Palace Kitchen)
I have to share a recipe (if you can call it that) that we made the other night.  A little history.  My husband & I had our first weekend away in a year.  It was definitely much needed since he had worked every day except one since January 31st...count them...47 days on with one day off.  No I'm not kidding.  Anyways, we decided on just heading to Seattle for the weekend.  We went to a wonderful restaurant called Palace Kitchen.  We ordered clams (of course) and they were amazing.  They were by far the best clams I have ever had and I have eaten a LOT of clams!  So the best part was the smoke flavor they had.  So here is our take on those amazing clams.

Smoked Clams

Steamer Clams
Butter
Chopped Garlic
Chopped Onion or Shallot
Stock
White Wine
Fresh Thyme
Chopped Tomato
Lemon
Pancetta or Bacon (cooked & chopped)
Salt & Pepper

Soak hardwood chips in water (we used hickory for this recipe).  Start your BBQ.  Temp around 400.  Add wood chips. 

Use a shallow pan that is safe for the oven as well (cast iron would work well).  On the stove top over medium heat melt butter, add garlic & onion or shallot.  Saute until soft.  Add stock, white wine, 1/2 lemon squeeze (you can add the entire 1/2 lemon), fresh thyme, salt & pepper.  Continue to cook to reduce slightly.  Add Pancetta or bacon & clams.  Stir until well mixed.  Move entire pan to BBQ.  Be sure that you are getting a good smoke first!  Do not cover you want the smoke flavor.  Cook on the BBQ for 6-10 minutes until clams open up.  Remove from BBQ, add tomato, more butter & stir.

Serve with crusty bread to soak up all the yummy juices!  Enjoy.

NOTE: Be sure to soak clams in cold water for at least an hour to purge the sand.  I usually change the water a couple of times and sometimes add cornmeal to the water.


 (I don't have exact measurements because I don't use them except for baking.  Here is what I think we used.  I have found that too much wine gives the clams a bitter aftertaste so we incorporate stock as well.  We used about 5 lbs of steamers, 1/4 onion, 5 cloves garlic, 4 Tablespoons butter divided, 1 cup stock, 1/2 - 3/4 cup wine, small bunch of thyme, 1/2 large tomato, 4-5 slices bacon,  S & P to taste.  Also get the BBQ really smoking, we soaked our chips for approximately 1/2 hour first.)



OK so the title is Ummmm Clams & Cookies right?  My 5 year old niece came to spend the night and brought "her" recipe and insisted we make "her" special dessert.   So off to the kitchen we went.  Thank you to her for this sinfully good recipe!  Kids in the kitchen, you gotta love it!


Simple Deep Fried Oreos
or as I so fondly call them "heart attack in a bite"

1 cup dry pancake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
6-8 oreo cookies
Powered sugar
Small paper bag
Oil for frying

In a bowl combine pancake mix, egg and milk.  Stir until lumps gone.  Let rest a few minutes.  In a medium sauce pan heat about 2 inches oil to 350༠.  Dip cookies in batter covering completely and  slowly drop into oil.  Fry until golden on each side (just a couple of minutes.)  Remove from oil and drop into a bag of powered sugar.  Shake bag, remove cookies and eat-em-up!


(I thought I might try different cookies and maybe experiment with flavorings in the batter.)



Hope you all enjoy.  Please let me know how your clams and cookies turn out and what changes you made.