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Madeira Sauce Recipe – for roasts

December 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Sometimes the best things are the simplest things, and this super quick and easy Madeira sauce just proves it.  I made it to serve with a ribeye roast, but it could go just as well with roasted lamb, pork or venison.  It has a wonderful nutty buttery flavor that really complemented the beef.  It’s great to soak with bread too.  Make the sauce in advance, and add the pan juices and heat right before serving.

  • 1/2 cup Madeira wine
  • 1/2 cup beef broth
  • 1/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves (or a sprinkle of dry)
  • up to 1/4 cup pan juices
Combine the Madeira with the beef broth and the rosemary in a very small pot and bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and reserve.  After your roast is done, add up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices.  Mix well while reheating and serve.
Based on B. Smith’s recipe at the Food Network.

Perfect Ribeye Roast

December 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I’ve used this method for cooking ribeye roast (aka boneless Prime Rib) before, but as part of a bigger recipe. I figured I’d include it all by itself for easier reference. It can be served by itself or with a sauce.

These instructions are for a 6lb roast.  If yours is larger, add some additional cooking time.  This recipe takes a total of about 6 hours, but only about 5 minutes of actual active time.

  • Ribeye Roast
  • 4-6 garlic cloves, pressed
  • Kosher salt
  • ground black pepper
  • dried thyme

About six hours before your serving time, remove the roast from the fridge, uncover, dry surfaces with a smooth towel, and allow to sit uncovered at room temperature for about 3 hours.  This will dry the surface, giving it a good crust.

About 3 1/2 hours before serving time, preheat oven to 450F

Rub the roast with the pressed garlic.  Rub with kosher salt all over the surfaces. Sprinkle with black pepper and dried thyme. Put on a roasting pan and place in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes.  Turn down the temperature to 300F and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of about 130 F for a bright red medium-rare roast, about 90 minutes. Alternatively, once it reaches 125F, turn oven to 425F and cook for a few more minutes until it gets to 130F.

Remove from the oven. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.  Carve and serve.

Marga’s 2013 Xmas Eve Menu

Marga’s Best Recipes

Xmas Eve Menu 2013: Back to the Past with an International Flavor

December 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Another year, another complex Xmas Eve menu.  This year, my 11-yo daughter Mika said she wanted a 13-course dinner.  She didn’t know why, that number just came to her head, but she wanted it.  I could have argued against it, but I figured with a little bit of creativity I could get there.  And Mika didn’t particularly care what the courses were, as long as she had 13.  And she did – even though I overcooked one of the courses so it ended up almost inedible.

The key to cooking and serving a 13-course menu all by yourself is advanced planning AND advanced cooking, as well as flexibility. To make it easier I decided to revisit some of my favorite recipes, which come from all over the world.  I did decide on a new one as my main dish,  Orecchiette al Ragu di Braciole, basically beef rolls stuffed with cheese and cooked in a tomato ragout, but it didn’t work out.  I made it the day before the meal, and discovered that the sauce was pretty bland and one-dimensional and the meat rolls were not what I would call attractive.  So decided we would just have that for dinner that night, and sent my husband to get a roast.

Roasts are great main dishes because not only because they are simple to put together, but because they look impressive on the table.  Sure, they are expensive, but it’s Xmas.  On the minus side, a roast requires the use of the oven, which means displacing other dishes.  My second and third courses needed to be broiled,  but my oven can’t bake at 300 and broil at the same time.  I baked them at 300, which wasn’t ideal for either – but I overbaked the shrimp, making them barely edible.

In any case, this is what I came up with.  At the end of the night I asked each guest what their favorite part was. There wasn’t a consensus (the soup, the bastilla and the roast were all mentioned), but at least not one said “the cheese”.

  1. Beignets au Fromage èt a la Menthe
    These Corsican goat cheese & mint fritters are delicious, but I did discover that they’re best if fried right before they are served.
  2. Camarao Grelhado com Molho Cru
    Unable to either grill or broil these Angolan marinated shrimp, I baked them and almost dessicated them. However, my guests did like the cumin sauce.
  3. Bacon Wrapped Bananas
    This recipe from Antigua doesn’t actually need a recipe. Take a thick slice of banana, wrap it with half a slice of bacon, secure it with a toothpick and broil it for 3-5′. Baking it at 300F wasn’t a good alternative, as it dried out the outside of the banana without making the bacon crispy enough. But it still tasted good
  4. Blood Orange Sorbet
    Sorbets are great as palate cleansers, and this store-bought one from Ciao Bella is just delicious.
  5. Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette
    This salad is an old favorite, it never disappoints.
  6. Mushroom Soup
    Another old favorite that tastes better if cooked the day before. But make or add the dried mushrooms in advanced. Doing it made them so tough and chewy as to be inedible.
  7. Bastilla
    This Moroccan Chicken Pie was a favorite of several guests, including my daughter. I will admit it came out perfectly. Because it only requires 15 minutes cooking, I was able to put it in the oven after I took out the roast to let it rest.
  8. Lemon Sorbet
    A 13-course dinner deserves two palate cleanser. My second one was also store-bought, Häagen-Dazs
  9. Ribeye Roast with Madeira Sauce and Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes
    Perfection! The roast was perfectly cooked, the Madeira sauce was delicious and gave it an unexpected nutty taste and the potatoes were easy and loved by everyone.
  10. Cheese Course
    Featuring Spanish and Italian cheeses.
  11. Chocolate Peppermint Cake
    My Grandmother’s recipe. It was great! I made it earlier that day, which allowed the mint cream to settle. It looked beautiful and was very tasty.
  12. White Hot Chocolate
    I thought it was delicious, but nobody else was as fond of it as I 🙁
  13. A Lemon Square
    Bought frozen at Trader Joe’s and defrosted. Delicious.

I served dinner with a Chateau Souverain Estate Bottled 2003 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Marga’s Holiday Menus

Marga’s Best Recipes

Rougette Grill Meister Grilling Cheese – Product Review

December 19, 2013 / / 0 Comments

GRILLMEISTER-PACKAGE I found this packaged cheese at Grocery Outlet yesterday, and I went back today to pick up four more packages. My haste was due to the fact that at 50-cents a package (regular retails is $5!), they will disappear soon, plus they expired on Dec. 16th – two days ago.  I don’t know for how much longer it’ll stay good, but surely a few more days.

This soft cheese is made in Germany, and is specifically made to be heated before serving.  It doesn’t have a crust, per se, though the outer layer becomes harder, while protecting a semi-melted middle.  It’s very good.  While officially a camembert, it reminded me more of a brie, though it’s milder and less bitter than most of those. It had a slightly nutty flavor, which I liked.

It was also very easy to prepare. You can either put it on the grill or on a lightly oiled pan on the stove. Cook for six minutes, flipping from time to time.  That’s it.  The 3.2 oz portion is definitely dainty, and I wouldn’t buy it at its regular $25-lb price, but for $5-lb, it’s well worth it, even if I have to hurry and eat it all this week 🙂

Rolled Butter Cookies – Best Recipe so Far

December 17, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Camila wanted to make Christmas cookie, and while I have a pretty good recipe, it called for some ingredients that I didn’t have at home. That was fortunate, because while searching for another recipe I came upon this one, from butter company Land 0’Lakes.  I like it more than my regular recipe, specially with the frosting.

Without the frosting the cookies are too dry.  That’s because of all the extra flour you use on them while you roll them.  Making them thicker helps – mine were too thin.  The icing, however, helps tremendously.  The best part was that the kids didn’t like them that much – Mika found them too dry and while Camila likes to make baked goods, she doesn’t really like to eat them.  The flavor was very good and, yes, you need all that vanilla extract.  All the recipes for rolled cookies I’ve found call for orange juice or lemon juice, so I suspect the citric acid element is needed for chemical reasons.

The key to making rolled cookies is getting the dough at the right temperature to make them rollable. It takes 2-3 hours in the fridge, but I’ve noticed that 45 minutes in the freezer also do the trick.  Work with dough in small batches.  As soon as one gets too soft, put it back in the fridge and get another one.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp. orange juice
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups flour + more for dusting
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 4 1″ squares of plastic wrap

Icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-2 Tbsp. milk
  • Food coloring, as desired

Instructions

For the cookies

With an electric mixer at medium speed, cream the butter with the sugar and the egg.  Add the orange juice and vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined.  Add the flour and baking soda and mix at low speed until combined.

Wrap 1/4th of the dough. with each plastic wrap square. Flatten slightly.  Refrigerate until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 400°F.

Lightly flour a working surface and a rolling pin.  Roll out one package of batter to a 1/4″ thickness.  Cut with cookie cutters.  Place 1″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.  It’s ready when the edges of the cookie start to turn brown.  Remove from oven and let stand for one minute before transferring to cooling racks.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

For the Icing

Using an electric mixer at low speed, beat together the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla.  Scrape the sides of the bowl often.  Add enough milk for your desired consistency.
Divide into small bowl and color each one with food coloring.  Spread over cookies and allow to dry.
Marga’s Best Recipes

Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet

November 22, 2013 / / 0 Comments

CB_bloodorg_lgI have a pretty nasty cold, so I only want to eat things which are smooth going down my throat and so flavorful that I can taste them despite my stuffed nose.  Ciao Bella blood orange sorbet fit the bill perfectly.

Of course, I can’t tell you how someone that has their 5 senses would experience it, but to me it was delicious.  The sorbet had a strong orange flavor, with some welcome bitter undertones.  It was very creamy and smooth.

They have these at Grocery Outlet here in San Leandro for $2 now, and I think I’ll stock up.

Li Do Vietnamese Sandwiches – San Leandro – Review

November 20, 2013 / / 1 Comment

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

You get what you pay for.  At Li Do, that’s a lot of bread and very little meat in your Vietnamese sandwiches.

It’s been a while since we got there, so I don’t quite recall what we got.  I think one of us had the grilled pork and the other the BBQ pork sandwiches ($3.50). Whatever filling was there was good, but I rather pay twice as much and have a sandwich with a filling I can taste.

They also have noodle or rice plates for about $5

We haven’t return and won’t bother to.

Li Do Vietnamese Sandwiches
1338 Fairmont Dr
San Leandro, CA
M-Sa 8 am – 6:30 pm

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Looney’s Southern BBQ – San Leandro – Restaurant Review

November 20, 2013 / / 0 Comments

UPDATE May 2014: Looney’s has been sold.  The new owner will open a Mexican/American restaurant.

We had returned to Looney’s back in February and had a pretty good dinner. I liked my tri-tip quite a bit, Mike was enthused about his ribs, but they were good enough, and Camila was happy with her French bread pizza. We all loved being able to try all the sauces.

—

 

We love BBQ.  More to the point, we love Everett & Jones BBQ.  We want our ribs slowly smoked for hours and presented with a complex and exciting BBQ sauce.  We don’t want uniformity and we want a good value.

Looney’s can’t offer any of it.  To be fair, I think new environmental regulations do not allow for the type of commercial smokers that make E&J’s BBQ as amazing as it is.  But, well, that just means we have to drive a bit further.  We got the spare ribs at Looney’s and were pretty disappointed.  They were tough, uniform in texture – which suggests they had been boiled – and pretty tasteless.  The BBQ sauce was pretty generic, somewhat vinegary but also just blah.  For $20 for a half-rack we expected more.

In addition to BBQ and BBQ sandwiches, Looney’s offers burgers (~$10), stuffed potatoes ($6 + $2-$3.50 for toppings), steaks ($18-24), jambalaya ($15), catfish ($20)  soups and salads and pizzas.

Looney’s Southern BBQ
14680 Washington Ave
San Leandro CA
510-969-8889
http://www.looneysbbq.com/
M-Th 11am-10pm
F-Sa 11am-1am
Su 8am-10pm

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Closed restaurants

A’s Cafe – San Leandro – Breakfast Review

November 20, 2013 / / 0 Comments

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

A’s Cafe opened where Blossom and several other Chinese restaurants used to be.  It’s still a Chinese restaurant for lunch (I think it’s closed for dinner), but they now serve American breakfast.  That’s what we went for a few weeks ago.  My family left satisfied, I was less than impressed.

Let’s be honest here, if what you want is plain breakfast food – plain pancakes, omelets or eggs, and hashbrowns, A’s Cafe won’t disappoint.  They do the basics well but that’s all they do, the basics.

If you want something more in your pancakes – some blueberries? chocolate chips? bananas? -, a crepe or some other fancy breakfast concoction, then A’s Cafe is not for you.

So it’s not the place for me.

We all had some combination of pancakes, eggs and breakfast meats. They were fine, not exciting. I had a hot chocolate, same thing.  I wouldn’t go back because if I go out for breakfast, I want something special, but I’m sure the rest of my family would.

A’s Cafe
14807 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 816-1187
https://www.facebook.com/ascafeinsanleandro
M-Su 6:30 AM – 3 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Padi Restaurant Review – San Leandro

November 18, 2013 / / 2 Comments

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

Jan 2014 Update

We returned to Padi tonight with a group of San Leandro friends, including a couple who’d spent months traveling around Indonesia after college (and who actually remembered how to speak some Indonesian!).  While the menu is still limited, this gave us an opportunity to try some dishes we’d missed the time before.  I’m glad we did, for a couple of them ere real winners.

My favorite has to be the Mie Tek Tek Ayam (Fried Noodle w/ Chicken – $9).  The thick soft noodles resembled those in chow mein, but were coated with a sauce that had a lovely, slightly sweet flavor.  The dish was very well balanced and it was a generous portion.  I’d definitely order it again.

I only had a bite of what I believe was the Ayam Balado (Spicy Chili Chicken – $10), bone-in chicken in a heavy dark sauce, but it was delicious. It was, again, slightly sweet but with a deep flavor. I’d like to have more.  The chicken satay was once again a winner, though once again I disliked the peanut sauce, though my daughter liked it.

While it’s not on the menu, the Nasi Goreng (Chicken & shrimp fried rice – $9) was also tasty, though not more than the Chinese version.  My friends all seemed to like the eggplant dish, but I didn’t try it.  The one dish nobody thought much of was the Gado Gado (Indonesian Warm Salad w/ Peanut Sauce – $8).  I’m not surprised, as it was the same sauce that came with the satay.

Service was amazing, with two very attentive waiters who catered our every need.  The owner chef came to our table a few times, and he gave us a complimentary dessert.  My daughter loved the Ketan Hitam (Black glutinous rice pudding with coconut milk – $5) but I wasn’t as fond of it.  It wasn’t too sweet and it just didn’t do it for me. She was happy she could eat my portion.

Padi also sells some Indonesian goodies you can take with you (as well as Indonesian food items to do your own cooking), and Mike bought a container of something that looked like donut holes.  They weren’t quite that, but they were very tasty as well.

In all, it was a great dinner and I’d love to go back soon for more of those noodles!

Original Review – September 2013

I love Indonesian food so I was glad to find that Padi opened a restaurant in unincorporated San Leandro.  This restaurant is by no means perfect, and anywhere but in San Leandro it might not merit much enthusiasm, but there is such a dearth of food variety here that it is more than welcomed.

The restaurant’s main problem is its lack of ambiance.  Now,  I traveled throughout many developing countries on a $15 a day budget and I can find some nostalgia on undecorated dining rooms with formica tables and metal chairs, but only if they come together with dirt cheap food.  Padi’s prices are too high, and they should make more of an effort to spruce the place up.

Having to order at the front, rather than on the table, is also annoying.  You are crowded by the entrance, trying to quickly decide between the limited selections, which makes it less than a relaxing experience.  Given how small the place is, I don’t quite understand why they can’t take orders at the table.

The menu includes a small selection of meat and vegetarian items.  If you want to try them all, you can go for a “mini” rijstaffel for two which includes 12 items for $44.  Unfortunately, they do not serve any breads/pancakes, my favorite Indonesian items.

On the plus side, the food is pretty tasty.  The chicken satay ($10 for 6 skewers) was delicious, with a strong, sweet flavor and a nice peanut sauce.  The ayam madu, or honey grilled chicken ($12), was similar, though it didn’t come in skewers. It was somewhat sweeter and perhaps less balanced.  Both were grilled and had some blackened parts which added to the flavor.

The beef rendang ($11) was also good, though too spicy for the kids (just spicy enough for me). I felt it needed a bit more intensity, however, and this is a dish that would prove boring if it’s all you ordered.

Service was very good and pleasant.  I definitely want to return.

Padi Restaurant & Catering
16695 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 244-7667
padibayarea.com
M, W-F 11:30 AM – 3 PM, 4 PM – 8 PM
Sa – Su 10 AM – 8 PM
Closed Tuesdays

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

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