Date Night! (Rancher's Club)

While Kaspian was away with his grandparents last week, we asked "Kuncle" to watch Astrid so we could go to a date night. We found a groupon for Rancher's Club. We have never been there and were excited to try someplace new. We got to try two drinks, an appetizer, two soups or salads, two entrees, and a dessert.
Here is the restaurant website: http://www.theranchersclubofnm.com/
The meal took about two hours. The restaurant was not very busy on a Thursday night and the restaurant was fairly quiet. The ambiance was pleasant with a dimmer room and ranch style decorations such as antler chandeliers. There were also deer heads around and a bison head mounted over the fireplace.
For our drinks, we ordered a lemon raspberry martini and a chardonnay.
The chardonnay was good. The lemon raspberry martini was...mostly gin. Although the description said it came with fresh raspberries, it in fact appeared to be mostly just a glass of gin.
For our appetizer, we chose tuna and beef tartare. It was...melt in your mouth delicious. The appetizer was the best thing we had there.

tuna and beef tartare

 For the next course, Alona had the Rancher's salad and Nick tried the soup of the day. The rancher's salad was good, although on the sweet side. The beet pieces were very sweet. The bacon bits were delicious, and salty; the perfect bite was one that had lettuce, beets and bacon in it. The soup of the day was chicken orzo soup with vegetables. It was a very good chicken noodle soup, with the noodles being substituted with orzo.

Rancher's salad

Chicken Orzo soup

 The groupon included all items on the menu except Wagyu beef. So, Alona had the Lobster tail (16oz!) with Mashed potatoes and broccoli. Nick had the Hunter's Mixed grill which included boar sausage, elk and venison.
The lobster was very very good, although not the best we've had. The sheer size of the lobster tail was amazing and it tasted good, but we prefer ours to be cooked a little bit more, so that it is easy to cut and is not as "tough" or chewy as some of the lesser cooked lobsters. The potatoes and broccoli were great accompaniments.
Nick ordered his plate medium well. However, the venison and elk were bloody all the way through. They were seared, but the insides were completely raw. It was actually to the point where we took it home and fried it to cook it all the way through. Doing that, really helped and the meat tasted very good. Nick's dish came with asparagus and potatoes. They were nothing spectacular but complemented the dish well. The asparagus seemed like it was steamed then grilled, and tasted close to what we do at home.

16 oz lobster with mashed potatoes and broccoli

Hunter's Mixed Grill

 Lastly, for dessert, we ordered creme brulee. This was also very good with sugar perfectly caramelized on top. We were pleased to notice that the creme brulee we make is as smooth, and perhaps even smoother than this one. We think our creme brulee can match this one. We still need to work on the sugar caramelaziation though.

Creme Brulee

Overall, this was a really great meal, but we are glad we had a groupon for it as we don't think it would have been worth it for us otherwise. We are very happy to have tried this and it was a wonderful date night experience. For those looking for ambiance and unique dishes that most places don't have this is a great place, but if you prefer exceptional food we would recommend looking elsewhere. 

Pirogi (Vareniki) with Potatoes and Onion Butter Sauce

These are a traditional Russian food, close to pirojki. The dough is different however, and, they are boiled - then can be fried (optional). This was a first time making them for us, so we were not sure what dough recipe to use. We made two different ones. One with egg, the other without. We really think the egg dough was a better fit for these. We liked the taste of it better. We did not set out to make two different doughs. We only made one, but then had more filling and so made more dough...which resulted in leftover dough. We decided to stop at that point and not make additional filling :). The interesting thing about these, is they can be very versatile and oftentimes can be filled with sweet filling as well such as cherries, apples, etc. They can also have a cheesy filling as well. Or, you can vary it up by adding different ingredients to your potato filling like chives, sour cream, cheese, chilis. The possibilities are really endless.
We chose to make these from a recipe book that was brought to us from a really good friend. Thank you! :) Picture of the book page is included below.
We did not have the kefir that the original recipe called for, so instead we used milk and egg. Water can also be substituted for milk. These are super flexible!

Yum!

View from the backside :) 

Frying with butter/onion sauce

Onions cooking with oil

boiling

Ready for boiling (or freezing.)

First attempt at folding/sealing 

New Recipe Book

Page with Recipe

Ingredients:

Dough:
200 ml milk
~3 cups flour (more for rolling)
1 egg (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
~ 1 lb potatoes (we used golden yukon), steamed or boiled
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Onion Butter Sauce:
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil

Serve with:
Sour Cream
Chives 

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a large stand mixer, combine flour and salt. Start the mixer with the dough hook at a low speed and add egg and slowly pour in the milk. Let the mixer go at low speed until a smooth, tight dough ball forms. You may need to add more flour or milk. Let knead for a few minutes. Then, cover with saran wrap and let stand for about 20 minutes (optional)
2. Fry the onions in olive oil until golden brown.
3. Mash the potatoes (we use our stand mixer with whip or paddle attachment), add in fried onions and all the oil and salt. The filling needs to taste good on its own, so make sure it is not under or over salted.
4. Roll out the dough into a large sheet. Cut out 3 inch circles with either a cookie cutter or bowl.
5. Place filling in each dough circle and fold in half. Pinch shut. Place on a floured sheet, careful not to overlap any consecutive vareniki. When filled, this sheet can be placed in the freezer. Once they are frozen they can be placed into a ziplock bag and kept in the freezer for a future meal. We usually freeze the first few sheets we make and cook the last batches to eat fresh.
6. Boil salted water in a large pan.
7. Add vareniki to the boiling water.
8. Once they float - cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of your dough).
9. Meanwhile, fry the chopped onion with butter and olive oil. When the vareniki are done cooking, add them to the frying pan with onions until they are golden brown on both sides.
10. Serve with sour cream and onion butter sauce

What we liked:

These taste soo good. 

What we didn't like:

These can be time consuming to make. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He wasn't here when we made these.

Next time:

no changes needed

Meat Calzone

We were going to make easy calzones last night. We got the canned pizza dough and were just about to assemble them.. but, upon opening the can of pizza dough we realized there was no way we could use it. It was sticky, gooey, gross looking and smelling...something was wrong with it. And so, we resorted to making the pizza dough from scratch. We are SO glad we did that. The dough turned out perfect and it took only about 40 minutes for the dough to rise. Rolling out the dough was easy and simple.
We should say we have had pretty bad luck making pizzas, something always happens, so we were very happy to find this dough recipe and make some delicious calzones! We were able to make a total of 4 calzones with the dough that we made. The options for the filling are really endless and you can adjust as you desire.

Here is the dough recipe we used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe.html

Cut Open

Ready to eat!

Going in to the oven!

Ingredients:

Dough:
3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Filling:
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese per calzone
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese per calzone
2 tbsp pizza sauce per calzone
pepperoni
sausage
red onion
ranch for dipping

Directions:

1. Make the dough by combining all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer. With dough hook attachment, start mixing. Slowly pour in water and oil. Continue mixing until a firm dough ball forms. If needed, add more flour. Cover bowl with saran wrap and let stand for an hour or until doubled in size.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F
3. Divide dough into 4 equal parts
4. Roll each one out into a circle. Add desired filling onto half of the circle. Bring the other half of dough over the filling and seal tightly shut.
5. Repeat with other 3 calzones
6. Bake at 400 F for about 30 minutes. 

What we liked:

Yummy, easy and delicious! We used our silicon baking mats and that made cleanup sooo easy!

What we didn't like:

Alona was not too thrilled with the ricotta cheese, so we actually made one just for her without it. Also, not all the calzones were pinched tightly shut, so some of the cheese and filling leaked a little. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He's still not here to try the foods :) 

Next time:

Try different filling? Maybe black olives!?!?! 

Peach Cobbler

It is the end of July and our fruit on our fruit trees are ripening. We have several young fruit trees that we have planted around our back yard. We have a peach tree, a plum, two different types of pear trees, an apple tree and some nut trees - two hazelnut bushes and a walnut tree. We also have two cherry trees, but they are currently in recovery - the place we have them in the yard is a little too hot, so until they reach critical mass and grow big enough, they will struggle. Our harvest this year is lots of GIANT peaches - from our peach tree which is only a couple of years old! Our plum tree is looking like it will also yield a lot of fruit this year. We will get one pear and no apples or cherries. But our blackberry bush (thornless) is doing great and we got a few berries from it.

Anyways, all the peaches kind of ripened all at once and we decided to make some peach cobbler with it. We also made peach jam (or perhaps preserves? what is the difference??). We will share the recipe for that in a future post, once we actually see how it tastes :)

This peach cobbler was super easy to make. We did end up adding a little bit more flour than the original recipe though, because the dough seemed a little too watery to us.
The peach cobbler was great! Just perfect with ice cream. We blanched our peaches to peel them first. And we could definitely taste the delicious flavor of peaches picked right from the tree that day; they were a lot sweeter than storebought!

Here's the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-peach-cobbler

Peach Cobbler with Ice Cream!!!

Peach Cobler

Just out of the oven 

Harvest 2

Harvest 1 - with blackberries!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/5 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup milk
4 cups fresh peach slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Put butter in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish and put in the oven to melt (while oven pre-heats).
3. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).
4. Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.
5. Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve cobbler warm or cool. Best served with vanilla ice cream.

What we liked:

Awesome use of our peaches! The cobbler was really good. 

What we didn't like:

The dough did not seem quite right - it seemed more like pie crust than cobbler crust. It just rose to the top and did not permeate the entire dish. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

Kaspian is currently having too much fun with his grandparents and thus was not here to sample this dish :) 

Next time:

Try a different recipe. 

Tuscan Chicken Marsala with Rice

We made a mushroom-less chicken marsala, following this recipe:
http://thewanderlustkitchen.com/30-minute-tuscan-chicken-marsala/.

It turned out pretty good...although we would probably not make this recipe again. It was a little on the bland and boring side, really.

Ingredients:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 red bell peppers, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/2 cup Marsala wine
3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Pound chicken breasts until thin. We like to place it between two pieces of saran wrap to flatten it out.
2. Dredge each chicken piece in corn starch, then flour, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is barely smoking, add the chicken breasts and cook, undisturbed, for 90 seconds. Turn the breasts and cook for another 90 seconds. Remove the chicken breasts and set aside.
4. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, followed by the onions and peppers. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
5. Pour the Marsala and water into the pan. Return the browned chicken pieces to the pan, cover, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
6. Serve with rice

What we liked:

It was really easy to make and it was mushroomless!

What we didn't like:

There wasn't much flavor to it really

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was more into his bean burrito

Next time:

Different recipe!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

We have posted a recipe with stuffed mini bell peppers before, but last night we made the full size version peppers of it. It was really good, although we didn't salt it enough, but adding it later was just as good.

cooked and ready to eat!

ready to cook!

Ingredients:

6 large bell peppers - with tops cut off, seeds taken out and insides rinsed
1.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup of rice cooked for about 10 minutes (half cooked rice)
4 carrots, shredded
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes if you have them!)
1 cup sour cream, plus additional for serving if desired

Directions:

1. Fry onions and carrots until softened in olive oil
2. Combine and mix the filling: ground beef, rice, carrots and onions, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Stuff the bell peppers with as much filling as you can.
4. Arrange bell peppers in a large pan - we used our dutch oven.
5. Pour can of chopped tomatoes on top and top with 1 cup sour cream spread out over the tops of the peppers.
6. Fill with water until tops of peppers.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, cover and cook for an hour.
8. Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

What we liked:

Easy and good!

What we didn't like:

Not enough salt :(, but it's easily fixed. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was more into his bean burrito

Next time:

Just add more salt - but we didn't really measure anything out this time around, so that's what we get! 

Kofta Kabobs with Yellow Cherry Rice and Quinoa Salad

We were feeling in a Mediterranean mood, so we thought we would try to make some kofta kabobs. We were surprised at how easy they were to make and how yummy they were. We decided to pair them with some yellow rice with cherries and a quinoa salad. We didn't have the ingredients for a good sauce, and the tahini sauce was okay, but not the best to go with it. the yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce would be a better pairing for the kofta kabobs. This is definitely a recipe we will make again soon. We only had ground beef this time, but a lamb and beef mixture would make this dish even better.

Here's the original kabob recipe: http://www.themediterraneandish.com/kofta-kebab-recipe/
Here's the original rice recipe: http://www.onceuponachef.com/2012/10/basmati-rice-pilaf-with-dried-fruits-and-almonds.html

Kofta kabobs with rice and quinoa

Ingredients:

Kofta Kabobs:
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves
1 whole bunch parsley, stems removed (about 2 packed cups parsley leaves)
1.5 lb ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
1½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp ground green cardamom
½ tsp ground sumac
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp paprika

Rice:
1-1/2 cups basmati rice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions, from one small onion
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-1/4 cups water
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup dried fruit - cherries

Directions:

Kabobs:
1. Soak 10 wooden skewers in water for an hour.
2. Preheat grill
3. Add onion, garlic and parsley to a food processor and chop.
4. Add the beef, bread crumbs, and the spices. Run food processor until a smooth mixture is formed
5. Remove the meat mixture from the food processor and place in a large bowl.
6. Divide meat mixture evenly amongst the wooden skewers, making a "sausage" on each one.
7. Place the kofta kebabs on the lightly oiled, heated gas grill. Grill on medium-high heat for 4 minutes on one side, turn over and grill for another 3-4 minutes.

Rice:
1. Rinse rice until water runs clear.
2. Melt butter in a medium pot.
3. Add onions and cook until softened.
4. Add cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and garlic. Stir.
5. Add rice and cook for a few minutes
6. Add water, salt, pepper and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until liquid is gone 15-18 minutes. After about 10 minutes in, add in the cherries.

What we liked:

Soo easy and delicious! Better than restaurant kofta kabobs. 

What we didn't like:

The tahini sauce was meh, we should make a tzatziki sauce for it that would go better with. Also, a couscous side dish would be good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He actually really liked the rice, minus the cherries. 

Next time:

Grilled Salmon with White Bean and Salad

We were looking to make something light, fast and easy last night. This salad was perfect. We tried out a new salmon spice and because we are not really fans of arugula and we had butter lettuce on hand, we used that instead.
It turned out great for the hot summer evening to eat on the patio!
Here's the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-salmon-white-bean-arugula-salad

Plated

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chopped capers, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 (15-ounce) can unsalted Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
4 cups salad
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons Magic Salmon Seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat Grill to medium high
2. Whisk together capers, rind, juice, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and garlic in a bowl.
3. Place beans in a bowl; drizzle with 2 tablespoons caper mixture.
4. Place salmon on a foil, cover with melted butter and sprinkle with magic salmon seasoning. Cook on the grill until desired done-ness.
5. Add salad and onion to bowl with beans. Drizzle with remaining caper mixture; toss.
6 Divide salad among plates; top each serving with 1 fillet. Serve immediately.

What we liked:

Easy, light and delicious!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great

What Kaspian thought about it:

He enjoyed his pepperoni cheese sandwich more. 

Next time:

No changes. 

Chocolate Creme Brulee

This is one of the easiest, most satisfyingly chocolate-y desserts we have made!
We were a little bit hesitant about the addition of chocolate to the creme brulee, but then decided to go for it. It turned out marvelous. So creamy, chocolaty and good! They also fridge well, and today we just had the last one topped with whipped cream - SOOOO good! because, you know... your creamy creme brulee just needs more whipped cream! :) But it's worth it, try it!

Perfectly Caramelized top!

caramelizing!

These are all just out of the oven! Now to cool!

Ingredients:

4 large egg yolks
2 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 heaping cup of chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 F
2. Combine heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture becomes to simmer. Add in chocolate chips and stir until melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Whisk the egg yolks with the 3 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl.
4. Pour hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture while constantly whisking.
5. Strain through a fine sieve.
6. Pour the creme brulee into ramekins. We were able to make 4 large and 3 small ones.
7. Transfer ramekins to a baking dish and fill with water about halfway up.
8. Bake for about 40-50 minutes until the custard sets. The time may vary based on the type of ramekins you use and how much you fill them.
8. Chill in fridge for at least an hour before serving.
9. Sprinkle sugar on top and use a torch to create the caramelized sugar top. 

What we liked:

Soo good, choclatey and easy!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He loved the chocolate. 

Next time: