Last week I spent all of Thanksgiving day prepping and then cooking with my father. You see, the big holiday meals have always been the men’s department in my family, with the exception of the Christmas Eve smörgåsbord which is my mothers venue.

This years Thanksgiving dinner consisted of the same dishes this year as it did all throughout my childhood. The only real change has been the quality of the food. Now, I’m not complaining about the meals of my youth, they hold a very special place in my memory. All I am saying is that the influence of the Food Network has definitely made it’s impact.

Gone are the days of canned cranberry jelly, the off putting army green peas and most recently eliminated, the powdered gravy mix. It seems that every year brings another new recipie to the table. This year I decided to try my hand, last minute no less, at making gravy from scratch. To everyones surprise it turned out better than any gravy I have ever tasted…. and no, I have not only eaten the powdered kind. Here’s a quick run down of the recipe I cobbled together…

Red Wine Gravy

Start by making a white roux. Over medium heat, melt
8 Tbsp. Butter (let it get sizzling) whisk in 10 Tbsp.
White Flour and don’t miss a beat. The roux recipie
called for 12 Tbsp. of Flour, but I preferred this
consistency.

It should loosen up in about 5 minutes or so. Let cool
almost to room temperature, while bringing your other
liquids up to a simmer.

Your other liquids are:
3 cups of skimmed turkey drippings
2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Red Wine

Add about 1/2 cup of your liquids to your cool roux to
loosen it back up and start the thickening process. Hike
to high heat and add all but a 1/4 cup of your liquids. As
soon as you see bubbles breaking the surface, you will be
fully thickened.

Reduce to low heat and let simmer for up
to a half hour. The longer you simmer, the smoother your
gravy will be.

Just before bringing it to the table add the
last 1/4 cup of your liquids to counteract the thickening
that will happen as your gravy begins to cool on the table.

There is a great video which I have embeded below on how to make a roux and gravy, by Alton Brown from the Food Network. It was with some fascination for the older generation, but a more an more common sight for those of us comfortable with technology. There I was standing over a hot stove working all my dishes with the iPhone propped on the counter, franticly searching recipies and videos until I found this one and started cooking along with Alton.

Alton Brown – Roux and Gravy

One last gravy related tip, especially for those of you who don’t mind something non-traditional. Try putting your gravy in a thermos instead of a gravy boat. A good thermos will keep your gravy warm for up to 5 hours. I hope this inspires you to break out of the mold a bit if you haven’t already. As for me, I have a few recipes I’ll be trying out in preparation for Christmas dinner over the next two weeks. I’ll pass along some more recipes if they turn out well.

Elly Jackson of La Roux

Don’t call her “Techno Lady Gaga”  or  ”young  Annie Lennox” unless you would like a sneer and a few explatives, but Elly Jackson feels the critics encircling…literally chanting… with ever increasing volume:  ”Elly Jackson is The new face of Electronic Music!”   Go see them in the clubs before Madonna, Jay-Z or some such music mogul accosts them and makes them choose whether or not to sell their soul to the devil.    Jackson, along with bandmate and co-writer, co-producer Ben Langmaid,  meld together wild pulses,  fluttery beats and popping thick synth drums.   Capturing sound like  bolts of sassy lightening stuffed into a tesla coil, Elly croons …’We can fight our desires
Ohhhh but when we start making fires… We get ever so hot… Ohhhhh whether we like it or not….
They say we can love who we trust… Ohhhh but what is love without lust?

The red-haired one”

In late 1995, Happening upon a baby naming book, Elly figured “La Roux” was as good a name as any as it fit the shocking scarlet hue of her hair.  Consequently  the masculine form of “Roux” was prescient as she realized “Rousee” could’ve been seen as conversationally opposite of her persona as it did not fit her obvious androgyny.  Later hybridizing her amazing coiffe  into a Bowie-esque/ Mike Score do, La Roux / Elly Jackson the stage persona was born.     Beginning her musical journey on seventies Nick Drake and Carole King amongst other gritty songsters, early in life Elly developed the  love of a well crafted song.

A shock of Stardust colored hair, on-stage intensity, and andro-lustful poses to match,  Jackson  conjures  the soulful thick electronic sound of Depeche Mode, The poppy playfulness of Yazoo, and the stylistic croon of Allison Moyet.    La Roux has managed a completely new sound from the ashes of the best in eighties electronica.  Ahem….’New Wave’ as some of us remember.

“Quicksand”

With their Freshman effort  released by Parisian label Kitsuné, in 2008, La Roux later tapped  producer “Lifelike” for the remix of  ”In For The Kill !” which  debuted at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart.  Finally signed to Polydor Records, La Roux released their debut album, uncerimoniously called “La Roux.”

The same effort yielded “Buletproof” which was released as a single in June of ‘09.  It debuted at # 1 in the UK Singles Chart.. In the U.S. it topped the Dance/Club Play chart the week of September 17. I’m Not Your Toy was released to the baded breath of house / techno devotees on September 29th of this year.

Joining Lily Allen’s UK tour in March of ‘o9, La Roux began a long touring commitment that included the NME Radar Tour, The Glastonbury, Oxegen, Reading and Leeds outings.  Finally placating almost rabid dance fans in the U.S., La Roux toured North America in July and August of 2009.   Canadian venues were supported as was The Jimmy Kimmel show in addition to the historic Troubadour in Hollywood / West L.A. Lucky San Franciscans attended “Popscene“  (The Club NME series),  and enjoyed an amazing show even if a playful yet  snarky Jackson taunted “Which one of you is gonna have this up on YouTube tomorrow?

Planning to pen their sophmore effort sometime after  their very busy tour is done, but with no specific date in mind, La Roux isn’t gonna push.  You can’t rush art.  Their  beats are born of collaboration,  they aren’t aimless, or repetitive,  and are not without rhyme or reason.  They’ve got originality, substance and direction.  That’s what makes them so palatable to a very musically-hungry-stateside-beast.

We’re still digesting La Roux, discovering it’s nuances, and incredibly buoyant at this very British “discovery”. In closing, whatever is rolled up into the collective conscience of La Roux does not really matter, for quite simplistically, all any music lover needs to know is that  La Roux bounces like the devil and how lucky we are to be in the room.

We can fight our desires
Ouuhh but when we start making fires
We get ever so hot
Ouuhh whether we like it or not.
They say we can love who we trust
Ouuhh but what is love without lust?
Two hearts with accurate devotions
Ouuhh and what are feelings without emotions?

~Chrissylong

Every turkey and dressing needs it. You must have gravy. It’s just the way it is, don’t ask why, don’t try to make sense of it. Just whip some up. Here’s my ode to gravy.

After you pulled the bird out of the oven, you’ll want to collect the drippings. I got about 6 cps of liquid, including fat; separate the fat from the liquid. Preheat a saucepan over medium high and add 5 tbsp of the fat collected. Once it is hot, add 5 tbsp flour and mix vigorously to make sure no lumps are formed. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes or until the roux is golden brown .

Quickly add 3 cps of reserved drippings and 1 cp beer. You  need to allow the gravy to come to a boil in order for it to thicken. Season as necessary and serve.

this is a baby lion

My roommate Corey and myself acquired kittens in a game of chance some months ago, and after absconding with them from yon woods back to our suburban Madison flat, we found them to be increasingly adorable.  To the left you can see Roux, (pronounced R00, but, I chose “Roux” as the spelling because nothing sounds snobbier than french).

Roux has a sister named JetPack, and the title of this post is a play on a HomestarRunner cartoon (it’s a funny site, check it out). Our two baby cats feature varieties of cuteness and daring-do, not to mention an array of wire-chewing, shoe-destroying rage that cannot seem to be purged from them no matter the amount of water-bottle sprayings they are presented with.

The trick with “The Girls”, as they are sometimes called, is to isolate them in places where they can do as little damage as possible, which has been namely our living room, kitchen and basement.  (They’ve trashed my robe and our shower curtains in the bathroom, and assaulted various ties and clothings in the bedroom, and are hence banned from both of those rooms of forbidden delights).  Sometimes I will be reading a book like a pro, sitting on the couch and sipping away at a delicious beverage, when a kitten, a-twitter with wild-eyed playfulness, will zip by and chew a part of my person/clothing or else blast into my book and distract my focusings.  To avoid this, the kittens are often offered a new zone to play in, frequently the basement, but when that loses it’s luster, I’m usually forced to retreat to a separate room and allow them to ransack whatever possessions I haven’t fully hidden/secured in the common areas. It’s like living with two furry, cross-eyed balls of incorrigible entropy.

I was recently driven to isolation and chose the form of a bath for my solitude, which is not my normal style, but I was a-stinky and greatly in need of a break from the constant rambunctions being foisted upon me.  I had filled the tub, donned my kitten-chawed robe, and procured my wooden desk-ish insert deal (you see, I have this former computer desk wood slab which fits perfectly across the width of the tub, and allows me to rest a book easily upon its surface and read with exceptional comfort and ease whilst bathing) – so, I was strolling back to the lieu with my Wood n’ Book (probably HP6), when I heard a struggling and a gurgle.

Our kittens have found ways to get into shocking varieties of trouble (like nearly hanging themselves on the draw-strings from the blinds), so I was sure that one of them had allowed curiosity to carry her too far, which was indeed the case.

This is a baby panther. Water Panther.

I rushed into the bathroom to see small little JetPack scraggling her way to the ledge of the tub, looking for all the world like a tiny skeleton wrapped in a greasy hairpiece.  I was, admittedly, a bit entertained, given that I had endured a morning of interrupted coffee drinking and book reading from these young feline rascals.  But just when I was about to gloat about JetPack’s inquisitive nature leading her to a fitting set of consequences, she slipped from the ledge of the tub, and down towards the dry, bathroom floor side.

Well, that’s not so bad, you say.  Indeed, it wouldn’t have been so bad, had that portion of the bathroom floor not also been occupied by the kitten’s litter box.  But, alas, the little shit box was located in the perfect position, and in went Dear, Sopping JetPack, who immediately found a large array of litter chunks, poop bits, and various rubbish stuck to her kitten.  My glee at JetPack’s comeuppance immediately downshifted to frustration as I now knew she would need to be cleaned and toweled.  But my gears barely had time to grind before JetPack, bewildered by all this New Reality, leapt from the litterbox, back the the ledge of the tub, where her still-slippery padded litte feet found no traction, and she took yet another dip into the tub.

My brain had shifted mighty quickly over the previous seconds, and this most recent shift happened before I could put in the clutch and it caused my mental transmission to blow to pieces.  I’ve never actually destroyed the manaul transmission of any of my vehicles with either vicious and/or poorly executed shiftings, but I imagine that upon destroying said transmission, my next thought would be something like, “well, that’s pretty effed.” Such was my line of thinking as it related to my once-pristine bath.

As I toweled off a squirming JetPack, picking out bits of debris and turd as I dried her, I kept thinking about how I could possibly solve this Bath Disaster.  You see, this apartment doesn’t have the biggest or the best of water heaters, so the option of emptying the tub and starting from scratch was out.  I did (briefly) consider boiling up some water on the stove to add to the next batch of lukewarm tub-water, but the part of me that strives to be somewhat resource conscious was already feeling mildly guilty about using this much water to begin with.

So, as I gave JetPack one last pat with the towel, I was faced with the option of No Bath, or else playing the hand currently dealt to me.  And, since I had already decided to sit in a pool of my own hot filth, I figured, what’s a little more piss-litter and feline feces… Into the swill I jumped, positioning my reading platform and book and doing my best to release the thoughts that “these cats shape my life more than I do theirs” as I tried to relax.  I had just stopped looking for floaters and started reading my book when the unmistakable sound of a computer key being pressed over and over again blipped repeatedly from the living room.

I closed my eyes and sighed a great, heavy sigh.  One of my little princesses was surely perched on a computer, beckoning me from my Turd Tub and hoping I will play.  I rise from the Mog, grab my towel and step out of the bathtub. At the last second, I see that I am also am going to find (part of) my wet self in the litterbox.  But I, unlike the dullards I both love and loathe, have a giant human brain and very quick, problem solving resources.  I avert the litterbox disaster, also managing not to slip and fall, and make my way to the living room full of vim and vigor.

Ready to dole out a half-a-bottle full of sprays, another part of my humanity kicks in – my compassion – as both the kittens turn to me, and I swear, nearly smile.  They hop down from their dalliance and trot toward me with purrings and prancings.  I left them off easy, a stern look and low moan (accompanied with some slight pettings) before returning to the tub. And even though I had avoided my own litter disaster and trumpeted the might of my human alacrity, I was left sitting in the tub and wondering just how those little buggers had leveraged their cuteness into amazing punishment avoidance.  I barely have time to think “I am not ready to have children” before hearing the same repetitive computer bleeping coming from the living room.

Unbelievable, I think.  I sink beneath the water where I can barely hear the bleeps.  I decide to close my eyes and ignore them.

Nous avons perdu notre chat Nestor début septembre 2008, avenue des Courses, 14 (quartier de l’ULB) 1050 – Ixelles – Bruxelles.
Nestor est un mâle castré de 2 ans.
Il est roux.
Il est tatoué dans l’oreille.
Je me suis occupée de Nestor, pendant l’hospitalisation de ma voisine, et nous nous sommes aperçues de sa disparition que lors de sa sortie de l’hôpital.
En effet, la nourriture que je disposais tous les jours était mangée,… mais certainement par un autre chat qui rentrait dans l’appartement par la chatière.
Je ne me suis donc pas inquiétée de ne pas le voir car Nestor part régulièrement en vadrouille dans le quartier.
Il a sans doute été effrayé lors d’un feu d’artifice très bruyant qui a eu lieu pendant que sa maîtresse était hospitalisée. 
Merci de jeter un coup d’œil dans votre cave, garage, soupirail… il s’y est peut-être réfugié.
Nous avons déjà collé des affiches ainsi que distribué des avis dans les boîtes aux lettres mais sans résultat jusqu’à présent.
Si vous croyez l’avoir aperçu, n’hésitez pas à téléphoner.
Un grand merci d’avance !
Contact
Madame Bernard
Tél. 02/649.66.05
Gsm: 0473/33.45.29
Gisèle Remerie
Gsm: 0485/57.57.78
Email

VENDREDI 27 NOVEMBRE 2009
Patsy,
Nous n’avons toujours pas de nouvelles de Nestor malheureusement.
Serait-il possible si l’annonce ne se trouve plus sur votre site d’en faire une rediffusion ?
On ne sait jamais…
Cela fait plus d’un an qu’il a disparu mais sa maîtresse garde toujours un mince espoir.
Je vous fais donc cette demande pour elle.
J’ai lu sur votre blog que vous avez dû récemment faire vos adieux à un compagnon.
Je suis de tout cœur avec vous, je sais ce que c’est d’accompagner nos amis dans leurs derniers instants.
Je vous souhaite beaucoup de courage pour en faire le deuil.
Bien amicalement,
Gisèle
P.S. : et encore un million de mercis pour ce que vous faites !

Un roux tatoué, un high-kick de gros bâtard et le Lacrimosa en fond sonore.

Le trailer de Lives of the artists avec Gallows.

This week’s session began after M got off her shitty hotel job all tired and pissed off. L had been merrily making curtains all day. The best cooking comes from a place of passion, y’all. And hunger. It was almost 11pm by the time we started, so passion was wavering, but hunger pushed us through. Anyways, after our initial dismissal of Espagnole sauce, we realized there would be no red wine reductions, poivrade demiglaces, and other tantalizing sauces that make your foods sound more expensive and sophistocated. Espagnole sauce is also known as “brown sauce,” and is delicious. It’s brown because it’s made from brown stock (in which the ingredients are caramelized pre-simmering), brown roux, and a caramelized mirepoix, thickened with tomato paste and reduced by about a half over the course of a few hours. It’s the base for demiglace (equal parts espagnole and brown stock, reduced by half) and jus lié (a brown sauce thickened with a starch slurry instead of roux); demiglace is the base for a number of goddamn delicious-sounding sauces, including chateaubriand (shallots, white wine, mushrooms!), Robert (white wine, onions, mustard!), porto (port, citrus, cayenne, thyme!), and périgueux (truffles!). The white sauces didn’t have nearly as many variations, and none of the variations were half as interesting. Brown sauce is also a lot easier to veganize than white sauce, because its flavor derives from vegetables as opposed to processed foods like Earth Balance or soy milk.

These are the veggies that went into our stock, including but not limited to: shallots, harukei turnips, greens, rainbow carrots, heirloom cauliflower.

Anyway, here’s what we came up with:

vegan mushroom semi-demi-glace
yield: about 1 cup of very, very rich sauce.

1½ qts. brown vegetable stock (okay, we cheated and used 1 qt brown stock and a few cups of white stock)
1 T tomato paste
½ C pastry flour
½ C + 1 T vegan butter
~⅓ C mirepoix (we cheated here too. we didn’t have any celery. I don’t feel bad about it.)
sachet d’épices: half a bay leaf, a few parsley sprigs, a few peppercorns, about a teaspoon of dried thyme
½ C mushroom caps
lemon juice
vegetable oil

We started it off by making a brown roux: melted the butter, stirred in the flour, and continued stirring in a smallish heavy-bottomed saucepan until the roux takes on a brown, toasty color. Ours smelled like pancakes. It totally ruled. We set this aside, because our roux needed to be cool when we added it to the stock later on.

Next, we got our mirepoix on. Since our recipe was (a) for a gallon of sauce and (b) given in weight, we had to kind of guess with our mirepoix. We need to buckle down and buy a god-damned kitchen scale. Mirepoix is traditionally 1/2 onions, 1/4 celery, and 1/4 carrots, but since we didn’t have celery, we made do with half carrots and half onions. We sautéed the onions until they began to brown, then added the rest of the mirepoix and browned thoroughly. When the mirepoix was brown (we gave it 7-10 minutes), we added the tomato paste and continued cooking until the whole affair took on an irresistible rust color.

mirepoix, pre-rust

and post-rust, with tomato paste.

Once our mirepoix was nice and rusty, we added a quart of stock that we had been warming up and brought it to a simmer. Then we whipped the (cooled) brown roux into the stock and add the sachet d’épices (if you don’t have fresh herbs, feel free to use dried ones, between a half-teaspoon and a teaspoon of each). We just eyeballed the herbs. Shhh! Don’t tell.  We brought it to a simmer again, and skimmed off impurities as they rose to the top of the liquid. We were hellsuva hungry so we put the impurities in a pan and supped it with bread… We totally recommend this as an important part of the process. This sauce takes so long that the chef deserves a little snack mid-way through.

mirepoix + roux + stock = shiny, rich and excellent.

And then, we waited. The sucker simmered for about an hour, until it reduced by roughly half, skimming all the way. At this point, we had espagnole sauce, and felt very proud.

Next step: small sauce. And demi-glace was her name. In an ideal world, we would have added 4 cups of stock and reduced by half. However, it was after midnight, and L had to get up at the ass crack of dawn to sell organic produce to little old Russian ladies. We only added half of that, but the stock was celery heavy, which kind of makes up for our celeryless mirepoix. Our newly  invented sauce we dubbed Semi-Demi-Glace.

After half an hour of reduction, we had our complete Semi-Demi-Glace. We strained the sauce through a strainer  lined with cheesecloth and started saucing! The cheesecloth may have been unnecessary for the small quantity we made, as it absorbed a large proportion of the sauce, which made us both quite unhappy. A strainer alone would have been just fine. It was glossy and gorgeous and thick enough to cling to foods, as it should have been.

almost ready to strain.

Ours was destined to be a mushroom Semi-Demi-Glace. While the espagnole was reducing to demiglace, we blanched half a cup of mushroom caps in half a cup of water seasoned with salt and lime juice (you’re supposed to use lemon juice, but we had to make do with what was in L’s fridge) for maybe five minutes, until the mushrooms were a little soft and the water was flavorful. We removed the mushroom caps put them in random receptacle near the stove; reduced the mushroom liquid by half in the tiniest saucepan ever! OMG so cute!

Tiny Sauce Pan!!!

blanched mushrooms, and the mushroom-liquid reducing.

Add the liquid to the strained demiglace, along with the mushroom caps and about a tablespoon of vegan butter. Simmer briefly, then serve! You will not regret it.

We sautéed some cauliflower, jerusalem artichoke, white tomato, and other deliciously unfamiliar vegetables to sauce. We slathered them with heaping ladlefuls of sauce, and promptly got sick when we realized exactly how much butter we were consuming with this sauce. This sauce is serious business. Your inclination will be to drench things in it, and it will be so rich that you sort of regret it, but not so much that you wouldn’t do it again.

our veggies, pre-saute.

And finally, dinner. What else would you possibly be doing on a Friday night besides making ridiculously complex sauces to put on vegetables? Also, who ever said you couldn’t eat the mirepoix? It got kind of mushy after all that cooking but was so saucy delicious!

This sauce was rich and complicated, bitter and savory and earthy at once. Certainly worth making in large quantities, though we’re uncertain as to how well it keeps (if you somehow manage not to avoid eatinig it all in one sitting).

Next week being Thanksgiving and all, we’ll probably be up to our old cooking tricks, but sadly not together, as L is leaving town to eat with family. So when BFCS reconvenes, y’all will be the first to know about it. Good luck with your sauces!

1) Squeeze out cheese cloth 2) Lick hands

It’s really fucking windy in New York right now. And gray. And terrible. So what better to do to stay in and huddle by warm stove for hours on end? We began our journey raiding a friend’s fridge while he was at work for his bountiful farmer’s market spoils. We lugged pounds and pounds of delicious local organic yuppie vegetables through the rain and howling wind, finally making it up the 4 sizeable flights of stairs to L’s lovely Brooklyn loft.

After a lot of general loafing and complaints of having to go downstairs to buy wine at 11am, we boarded the mothersauce. Um. Started making sauce.

The main constituents of traditional French sauces are generally stocks, roux, and seasonings. There are 5 leading sauces in the French culinary tradition: tomato, hollandaise, espagnole, béchamel and velouté. In classic French style, virtually all of these are mostly composed of butter and eggs. Unfriendly to both arteries and vegans. These sauces hardly run the gamut of all the sauces that are out there–even the French have weird non-leading/non-compound sauces that don’t fit into the leading categories–but we felt they were important to at least know how to make, and make vegan. (Compound sauces are variations on the five leading sauces, which are also called “grand” or “mother” sauces. Which is hilarious.)

So first of all: fuck hollandaise. Egg yolks are gross, and it doesn’t even taste that good. Second of all, we feel pretty solidly about our tomato sauce skills.  This leaves us with béchamel (mostly milk and white roux), velouté (mostly stock and blonde roux), and espagnole (brown stock, brown roux and tomato pureé, usually used as a base for glaces).  Espagnole was out from the beginning: too many ingredients, not enough giving a shit. (Someday, espagnole sauce! Someday.) We also decided to make red pepper coulis (coulis is a sauce made of pureed fruits and/or vegetables, and is neither a leading sauce nor a compound sauce–just a delicious sauce) because we had a whole bunch of red bell peppers.

The first step on our journey to sauce was a shorter journey to roux. Roux is a thickening agent made of equal parts fat and flour. Usually, it’s clarified butter and flour. However, vegan butter = not chemically the same as the cow excretion kind. If anyone knows how to clairfy Earth Balance, we are rather desperate, and demand that you share!

Back to roux. It is classified into three types–white, blonde, and brown–depending on how long each roux is cooked and their resulting colorations. Roux Our roux was subpar. We were unclear on whether it was equal parts butter and flour by weight or volume. Which are really F-ing different. (On the other hand, we found a wonderful resource that converts flour weight to volume here!)

But we made one white roux, one blonde (we think…). Proportions did not come out quite right, but it was passable. Roux is more delicious than the sum of its parts because when flour is heated, it takes on a nuttier, toastier flavor than raw flour. We’ll be working on our roux skills; this is what it’s supposed to look like, though. Basically, you heat the fat over low to medium heat, then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly to achieve a smooth, thick paste, which is cooked to taste.

Anyway, here’s how we ended up with what we ended up with, on the white sauce front:

vegan béchamel: essentially, clove/nutmeg gravy.
yield: 1 qt., depending on how long you simmer/reduce it.

¼ onion piquet — an onion quarter with a bay leaf pinned to it by a whole clove or two
1 pt soy milk
½ C all-purpose flour (…ish. or more.)
2 oz. melted vegan butter
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste

Simmer onion piquet in milk for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make a white roux with the butter and flour, adjusting amounts as necessary to form a fully incorporated, smooth paste, a little thicker than gravy. The roux should be ivory to beige in coloration; any darker and you’re in blonde roux territory.  This should only take a few minutes. Remove your roux from heat and let it cool and thicken.
After 20 minutes, remove the piquet from the milk. When adding roux to liquid of any kind, one should be hot and the other cool; in this case, the roux should be fairly cool. Add the milk to the roux, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and incorporate fully.
Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Ours was a little nutmeg-heavy, but no one was complaining. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes; it will continue to reduce, so watch it carefully and stir often.
You’re supposed to strain the finished product through a china cap lined with cheesecloth, but honestly, who possesses either of those things? No one. Is the sauce any less delicious? Of course not! Fuck a bunch of straining. We do what we want at BFCS.

végan pumpkin velouté. (pumpkins: up ‘em.)
yield: 1 qt.

2 oz. melted vegan butter
½ C all purpose flour (ish. follow your heart on this one.)
5 C white vegetable stock
~1 C pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
salt, pepper, cinnamon, cayenne to taste

Start with a blonde roux. See if you can do better than we did. Make it beautiful and slightly nutty, but not too nutty, because then you’ve got brown roux and everything’s ruined! (Just kidding. Nothing is ruined. Your sauce will just not be a velouté and you will have to deal with that.)
Meantime, get your vegetable stock ready. Remember, it needs to be fairly cool before you add it to the roux. Add the stock to the roux, whisking constantly.
Bring it to a boil, the reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper here.
Simmer and reduce the sauce for half an hour. Toward the last 10 minutes or so, add your pumpkin puree, whisking constantly to incorporate, and stirring often as it cooks. Your sauce should be a pale orange-brown and breathtakingly beautiful. Season with a little more cayenne than cinnamon, depending on how your pumpkin/stock/etc. are coming together. Keep warm until service, occasionally adding butter or oil to keep a skin from forming.

red pepper coulis: a sauce that was already vegan.
yield: about 1 qt.

3 lbs. red bell peppers, chopped finely (that’s five or so medium-sized ones)
3 oz. onion, diced finely (a little less than half of a medium-sized onion)
1 T olive oil (or so)
2 t minced garlic (there is no possible way that you can have too much garlic in this sauce)
8 oz. white wine (a dry one, probably. we used chardonnay, and it was a little gross.)
2 C white vegetable stock
salt, pepper to taste

This sauce is quite a bit easier. Start with the oil, onions and garlic; sauté them until tender, not brown; then add the peppers and continue to cook until those are soft, maybe 10 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with the wine (deglazing=adding liquid to a sautee in order to get the burnt/delicious matter off pan and incorporated into the dish. try it, it’ll make sense.).
Add the stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook and reduce for about 20 minutes.
Puree the sauce in a food processor, return to pan, and keep warm for service.

NOW WHAT? how to utilize your sauce skillz.

What to do with your sauces? Well, use ‘em on whatever. We started spreading our béchamel on bagels while getting antsy for the rest of the meal to finish. Leading sauces are traditionally “finished” according to the dishes they’re going to accent–that is, stocks/reductions/juices/seasonings from specific dishes are added to the sauces to form even more delicious compound sauces, which are paired specifically with those dishes.

We didn’t really do that, but we might someday. The coulis clearly wanted to be used on pasta and to be friends with the mixed greens we fried up after we finished our sauces. The pumpkin velouté (I think this sauce won the night) was added to the roasted root vegetables and fried cauliflower we fixed up. When we get better at mother sauces and their babies, we’ll let you know about our insights. But our meal ended up looking like this. (pictures are forthcoming, y’all)

…and then we made a pie. The Brooklyn Free Culinary School totally rules.

La Galerie Dix9 (19 rue des Filles-du-calvaire et ici) présentait jusqu’à samedi dernier le travail de Edith Roux à travers deux séries, Walled out et Minitopia. Cette galerie est au fond d’un cour et il faut sonner pour se faire ouvrir ce qui peut être intimidant mais l’accueil est sans façon et sympathique. Autre point fort de cette galerie, son site web, très clair et parfaitement à jour ce qui hélas est rarement le cas de nombre de galeries.

Quant à la sélection, elle est de qualité (cf. billet précédant ici) pour autant que je puisse en juger et les accrochages se succèdent sans temps mort (le prochain débute dès le 12 novembre).

Dans walled out, une jeune femme est vue de dos faisant face à un horizon  barré de constructions. Le principe de la vue de dos n’est pas neuf ou original, on peut citer, pour rester sur ce blog, Magdalena Hueckel , vue à Arles en 2008 (billet ici). Ceci dit,, la série est plus vaste que les extraits montrés à la galerie et les livres à disposition permettent de se rendre compte que l’auteur n’en est pas resté à cette seule mise en scène.

La série Minitopia est la plus abondamment représentée.  Il s’agit de petits formats en couleur montrent une plante en gros plan, en taille naturelle finalement, poussant dans les interstices d’un environnement urbain. A chaque fois, un petit personnage vaque à ses occupations, est en train de lire, de passer ou d’éteindre la plante qui a pris feu. C’est a la fois de l’humour (on n’est pas très loin des mises en scène de soldats de plomb et de l’humour de Garcin qui expose à côté chez les filles du calvaire) et une invitation à la rêverie sur la place de l’homme et de la nature dans notre société: c’est un peu tarte à la crème mais le mélange entre humour et propos de comptoir fonctionne plutôt bien et le 1er permet de faire passer le second.

Les illustrations ci-dessus proviennent du site de la galerie où vous trouverez toutes les images visibles lors de l’expo, en attendant la prochaine

Today was vexing for reasons that I couldn’t possibly disclose, save that they involved a great deal of bureaucracy and very little work. Something solid is required to restore the soul.

I wouldn’t dare call this boeuf bourguigon, but certainly in the ballpark. The important thing here is to use interesting tasting ingredients, and to cook them gently for a long time. (Food Science Tip: the acid in the wine helps break down tough meat.)

• 500g interesting beef (I’m using feather steak that the butcher has cut into one inch thick slices)
• 500g shallots (I’m using échallions)
• 250g portabello mushrooms (or anything but white button mushrooms)
• two cloves garlic, peeled and squished, more if you like garlic
• bunch thyme (I’m using half a teaspoon dried, as there seems to be nothing but dill and parsley in the shop today)
• 2 bay leaves
• 70g pancetta, cubed (more if you like)
• a pint of red wine
• a pint of stock (Marigold is fine for this)
• salt, pepper, flour

Gently fry the pancetta in a pot/casserole until the fat is rendered, scoop out the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add half a glass of wine to the cook.

Cut the beef into cubes, removing any excess fat and gristle, and fry in the pancetta fat, a few pieces at a time, until browned. Set aside.

Peel the shallots, and halve them if they’re large, and fry them till golden on the outside. A bit of brown won’t hurt.

Add a knob of butter and stir in enough flour (probably a tablespoon) to make a roux, and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the stock gradually (helps if it’s hot) and add the wine.

Return meat to pot, plus enough water to cover. It’s traditional to use Burgundy, but I’m using Cahors tonight. You may also want to add another half a glass of wine to the cook at this point, but make sure she does not become befuddled.

Add thyme, bay leaves, garlic, salt and pepper, and bring to boil. Reduce heat immediately to as low as it goes, cover, and leave for two hours. You could put the pot in the oven if you fancied. The idea is to keep it below boiling, so a gentle “gloop!” every so often is permissible.

Add the mushrooms, washed and chopped, fifteen minutes before the end.

The results, as you can see, were dark, gooey and meaty. Rather eighteenth century.

I would advise you to consume this dish with more red wine and some potatoes; preferably to candelight and a harpsichord.

Sorry it’s been so long, I’ve had a rough week, and work was not easy.  I hope you have hung in there and will continue to read and support my growth in the culinary world as well as the act of future authorship.  I am very open to suggestions about what to write about.  This is still new to me and I love a little inspiration here and there.

Well back on track I have two simple things to discuss.  The first deals with a wonderful but small party for Halloween.  We decided to have some friends and family over for Halloween and like always I had that urge to cook.  So I made a bunch of little things (too much, we hoped more people showed up).  I made little meatballs, and grilled flat-bread pizzas.  Sarah made devil eyeballs(eggs), and her awesome dip with sour cream spider webs.  It was a fun little spread.  The thing I wanted to talk about was something excellent,  i was planning on making wings, and Sarah said to marinate them for more flavor.  I thought, one step further, why not just brine them.  So I made a spicy, herb brine, with salt and sugar.  I put the wings in the brine as it cooled then left it in the fridge over night.  I strained them then cooked them for the party.  These were incredible.  So I can finally say something to my, Cavey’s friends in confidence.*  “No Sauce Necessary.”  I did it, simple yet sensational.

The second item for today is a little help for some home cooks.  Sometimes people have questions about making menus, how to prepare something, or even how to eat something.  I’m going to talk to you simply about roux.   Roux is very easily described as equal parts fat and flour blended together then cooked to a desired color.  They are used for soups, sauces and I have even recently used them to thicken a custard base for a baked dessert.  Butter is the most commonly used fat for making roux, this is because of its rich fat content, heavenly flavor and availability in the kitchen.  You may also used margarine, animal fats (bacon, chicken, beef fat), and sometimes oils.  The common mistake is that if you use one cup of fat you need one cup of flour, well it’s not that simple, it is weights that need to be measured.  But if your like me you dont have a scale in your home kitchen, so don’t be afraid.  Prepare your roux like so,  melt your fat or heat it slowly, then the fat is melted or warmed, pour in one rounded cup of flour, but be sure to have more on hand.  Mix it with a whisk until the flour is absorbed, if is still runny and moist add a small amount of flour till it begins to look thin.  Continue cooking until it is the correct color and consistency.  You cook the roux to remove the flavor of raw flour, it is just not an appealing flavor.  Sometimes when I make roux, I may saute shallots or garlic in the pan before adding the flour this adds an extra little zip in the finish.

The color of roux depends solely on what you are making.  The color of a roux can effect two things the flavor and the thickening power that it has. There are three basic shades for roux, white, blond and brown.  There is also lard based roux, in which you can toast flour in the oven then mix it in and cook it on very low heat for a long time to achieve a deep color and nutty, rich flavor, too long and not careful it can be turned bitter very easily.  This is most commonly used for gumbo.  White roux is cooked shortly and has great thickening power.  Blond roux takes on a richer flavor but has a slightly less thickening ability.  The brown roux is cooked to a golden brown or even darker color, this has much less thickening ability.  Color and thickness in soups and sauces is great but how do you add them in.

The best bet is to prepare your roux ahead of time and let it rest while you prepare your soup or stock.  When you are ready to thicken it, turn the roux onto medium heat and add some of the hot liquid(soup broth, or sauce) while vigorously whisking and bring it to a boil on higher heat stirring till it is smooth.  Then you can add it to you final product with no lumps and a smooth finish.  Bring your soup or sauce to a simmer and let it thicken.  This is the easiest I can describe that for you.

I hope you learned something, if not ask, don’t be afraid to ask me questions.  I’m here to help and talk about the thing I love to do, cook.  Thanks again for reading and hope to write again soon.

Keep cooking

Verleden zondag maakte Lynnie de Vol-au-vent die ze de week ervoor geproefd had in de kookles. En het moet gezegd dat liep redelijk vlot. Ik wou het ontbenen nog eventjes oefenen dus kochten we een hele kip. De twee drumstokken werden zorgvuldig uitgesneden maar op de één of andere manier zat er aan de kippenborst geen botje meer. De kipfilets oprollen zoals in de les zat er dus niet meer in. Nu ja

SOS LYNNIE
Stap 1) De pot in ermee samen met de prei, selder, ui en kippenbouillon.
Stap 2) Vakkundig gehaktballetjes rollen. Something i’m very good at. Ik heb altijd iets met klei en plasticine gehad. Gehaktballetjes rollen sluit daar wat mij betreft netjes bij aan.
Stap 3) De champignons à blanc bakken. Wat zoveel wil zeggen als met citroensap. Of er ook water bij moet is me niet duidelijk. Do as you like!
Stap 4) Roux maken. Iets met bloem en boter (evenveel) onder voortdurend roeren warm maken en dan melk erbij. Halverwege zei ik tegen het vriendje dat we vermoedelijk kip met champignons en gehaktballetjes in melk zouden eten. Maar zowaar ineens begon de melksaus dikker te worden. De roux was een succes! … wat ik erg Frenchie vind klinken en dus een beetje professioneel van mezelve *buig, buig*
Stap 4) Gooi alles wat je vindt in de saus.
Stap 5) Videetjes maken. Piece of cake want dat was één van de weinige dingen die ik zelf had gedaan in de les. Maar blijkbaar hadden ze er niet zoveel zin in. Het werden dus bladerdeeg-bodempjes. Tis eens iets anders, ook lekker! *prr*

De keuken zag er gedurende twee uur uit alsof er een veldslag had plaats gevonden. Maar al bij al een kleine overwinning. Aanschouw …

De vol-au-vent!

J’ai perdu mon vieux chat Niji depuis vendredi 23 octobre 2009, avenue Nouvelle, 43 (côté jardin et chemin de fer) – 1040 Etterbeek – Bruxelles.
Niji est un petit mâle castré, plutôt maigre, âgé de 16 ans.
Il est roux tigré avec du blanc sur le cou et sur les pattes.
Il a des yeux jaunes.
Pouvez-vous vérifier d’urgence si Niji ne se trouve pas dans vos caves, garages ou remise de jardin s’il vous plaît.
A son âge il ne peut rester trop longtemps sans manger et surtout sans boire.
Si vous avez des informations merci de me prévenir au plus vite.
D’avance merci beaucoup.
Contact
Aleydis Delforge
Gsm: 0478/64 22 51
Email

La Roux are finally embarking on a mini tour called the Gold Tour. The gigs will all be in the UK and they will go on sale on October 30th. Click below for the dates.

26/4 // Reading Hexagon
28/4 // Brighton Concert Hall
29/4 // Cambridge Corn Exchange
30/4 // Bournemouth 02 Academy
02/5 // Glasgow Academy
03/5 // Sheffield 02 Academy
04/5 // Manchester Academy
06/5 // Cardiff University
07/5 // Lond on Brixton Academy

I don’t remember exactly when, but sometime this month, I was endlessly channel surfing, mainly because I was not sleepy yet and the TV was there! No one was watching! Was it my fault that the couch potato in me sprouted out of nowhere and made me grab the remote?!

Any ways, so there I was, channel surfing, then without the slightest intention, I got stuck on MTV Philippines, which was airing this eccentric Brit singer.My interest was quickly captured because, first, the singer was a Brit, and you know how fascinated I am by those people. Second, her hair is different in a good way. It was almost mo-hawk, but the part of the hair that stands is longer. Three, she was performing live. Four, her band was not… normal. I did not see the usual bassist, guitarist, drummer, etc.

She was singing this song. It was almost pop-ish but with a hint of techno. It’s like Lady Gaga’s music, just more techno and not really composed for dancing. The title of the song was flashed, TigerLily. I managed to catch a line from the song, “I can see you burning with desire for a kiss.’ and wham! that line, and the artist’s physical appearance has found its place in my mind. The downside was that I was not able to get the singer’s name.

Move forward to yesterday, was channel surfing again, paused at the same channel and saw the same artist performing. Downside? I didnt catch her name again. Upside? What the hell the internet’s for? I grabbed my phone, went to Google and googled Tigerlily’s lyrics and boom! the lyrics’ there as well as the artist’s name.

She’s La Roux.

It’s hard to place a positive spin on moving home; it’s not ideal and I do not profess to be living the dream. Until I go into the kitchen that is. Unlike the meagre selection of kitchen implements – spaghetti portion-er anyone? –  I’ve gathered and lost over my years moving about nobody but my mother and I have cooked in our kitchen at home for over 20 years and the assembled gadgetry shows just that. (I’m sure the men in the family have placed pizzas in ovens and sausages on grills but ask them where the whisk is and they return with a blank face)

Last night I made a batch of fairy cakes that were less than successful but I did enjoy using the many, many things I had learned to live without in the apartments of my past. It’s rather nice to turn around in an icing crisis and find a rubber spatula to help mix, it’s even nicer to peer into the spice cupboard with no time to go to the shop and see that yes, we do have the fenugreek/celery salt/bay leaves that the recipe requires. I’m also in love with our Berghoff saucepan, it’s my new favourite thing. Dear God, I am in need of a life.

Today my grandparents came for lunch with my ailing Mum and me. As the weather was awful again Mum suggested chicken and broccoli bake and I was more than willing to oblige. I decided, in the supermarket, to make crumble for dessert; as they didn’t have my first choice of rhubard I opted for apple. Though my mother informs me now that I could have made the bake a much less arduous process by using a can of soup I opted for the rather long, somewhat complicated but ultimately made-from-scratch road.

Chicken and Broccoli Bake – serves 5/6 with sides

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken breasts, diced into small cubes
• 1 large onion
• 1 large head broccoli
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 bay leaf
• 2/3 whole black peppercorns (I didn’t have them whole as my grinder wouldn’t open so just ground some black pepper)
• sprig of fresh parsley (dried would work too)
• 300ml Fresh cream (I used single)
• 110g Roux (recipe at end of post)
• 15g butter
• 50g grated cheese (I used Reggiano)
• 110g breadcrumbs

Vegetables for the stock © Ciara Norton

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4
• Chop your onion, celery stalk and carrots and add to a deep saucepan with the chicken, peppercorns, one bay leaf and parsley and cover with water.
• Bring the chicken to the boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

Assembled ingredients ready for boiling © Ciara Norton

• In the meantime blanch the broccoli in hot water until tender and leave aside
• Make your roux now and leave aside to cool.
• When the chicken is cooked drain and keep the liquid in the saucepan to make the sauce
• Pick the chicken out of the veg and chicken mix and add to the broccoli. The rest can be thrown out or composted.
• Reduce the stock from the chicken to 500ml/1 pint. Add the cream and bring to the boil. When boiling whisk in the roux until the sauce thickens.

After the roux a sauce is created © Ciara Norton

the chicken and broccoli in the sauce © Ciara Norton

• Add the chicken and broccoli to the sauce now and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in an ovenproof dish
• To make the breadcrumb topping melt your butter in small pan. When melted add the grated cheese (any hard strong cheese will do) and the breadcrumbs and stir. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the chicken mix and place into the hot oven for 20 mins or until you see the liquid bubbling and the top browning.

mmmmm © Ciara Norton

• I served this with mashed potato in an entirely uninspired move.

chicken and broccoli bake with mashed potatoes © Ciara Norton

The Roux – makes enough for chicken bake above

Ingredients:

• 50g plain flour
• 50g butter

Method:

• Melt the butter in a pan and slowly add the flour and stir (I use an electric whisk on a low setting to help me here) for about 5 minutes to cook the flour. Avoid discolouration. Leave aside to cool. The roux will only work if you add to a hot sauce, otherwise you’ll get lumps and nobody enjoys lumps.

Apple Crumble – serves 4

Grandad having a sour moment with the apple crumble © Ciara Norton

Ingredients:

• 3 large cooking apples
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 200g Plain Flour
• 100g Butter
• 100g caster/demerara sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon if you like it

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4
• Peel and chop the apples into small pieces
• Add to a saucepan with the water and granulated sugar and heat until the apples are soft and pulpy. Stir every minute or so to prevent sticking. Add more sugar and cinnamon or cloves as desired. Place the apple mix into an ovenproof dish
• To make the crumble add the butter and flour to a bowl and rub together until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the caster/demerara sugar to the mix and cover the apple with this crumble mix.

crumble beginnings - the breadcrumb-esque moment © Ciara Norton

• Place in a hot oven for 25-30 minutes.
• I served with ice cream, it was delicious.

dessert is served! © Ciara Norton

Apologies for reduced quality photos – old camera.

by JaneEllen Sexton 

Every time I read another article about what’s happening financially in the world I am confounded by how much confusion there is about the value of money.  There is an enormous separation from the fluidity and expansion of abundance.  I so understand this process because I have experienced this feeling about money at times in my own life.  It helps to know that greater consciousness begets greater living.  Holding on to that reality can be a slippery slope if we’re not aware of our own issues of scarcity.  It amazes me how disconnected some people are to money as a valuable exchange of energy.  I have a friend who told me months ago that his feeling is that there will be an even bigger financial “crash” if financial systems don’t change in a huge way.  He was the chief counsel in a very large insurance company for many years and I value his opinion.  I’m not looking to give power to his words because of his past, professional work.  But, I have noticed, as a result of the conversation I had with him that I can feel how much manipulation there still is in the financial world.

It’s awful that so many people have lost their homes.  These individuals are living in shelters all over this country.  Maybe those people set themselves up but they can’t be dismissed because of that.  I don’t understand how this situation can end without a very scary result if something drastic doesn’t change soon.  The fact that credit scores still seem to matter is beyond me.  How do we create a new process of helping people, helping them no matter what their situation is?  It still doesn’t compute to me that people in trouble should be dismissed without as much as a kind word, let alone a helping hand.  This isn’t about me attempting to save the world.  I just don’t see how it’s possible for any of us, any longer, to pretend that these messes are going to just go away.

I remember when 911 happened how people stepped up and gave to others in a way that was incredibly unconditional.  It felt as if people were so humbled, through the shock, that they allowed themselves to be involved in their communities in ways they had not been before. Generosity is a natural state of being in humans.  Sometimes we forget that about ourselves because we get caught up in our own experiences of survival.  All it takes is the opportunity to regroup, within, to feel abundance immediately. We all know survival, sometimes, better than we know living.

Much of what has happened in the financial world is pretty concerning.  You can’t tell me that there aren’t some very real insecurities lurking in those people who think money is a manipulating tool meant to be squirreled away.  Money has to be considered a friend so that we can identify it for its true nature.  Money equals worthiness.  I have struggled with my own worthiness through my life but I do know that I have to be consistent about cleaning up my issues in order to feel a flow of abundance.  If you can remind yourself that you a generous spirit and then live that reality, aligning with prosperity becomes normal.  A surface level experience of abundance can’t build the security that’s possible.

We can all fill the money we touch with high regard & remind our friends & family to consider this as a possibility in their focus too.  Together, as a community we can absolutely re-identify money.  Every time you hold any form of money in your hands, fill it with value and send that money into the world as a tool for purification of all lack and scarcity.  Money must always be respected because money will always be a sacred exchange of energy.  It might be a treat for you to let in a thought or wish that helps you send value to anyone you know of who isn’t sure that they are cared for.  Give yourself the opportunity to be generous in your actions and energies towards everyone in this world who struggles with their own value.   Feel the value that we all are and will always be.  You know how to do that…it’s who you’ve always been…you’ve always been a generous soul! 

Food thoughts: Cheesy Cauliflower Noodles.  This is a good cold weather meal and a great way to get the kiddos in your clan to eat cauliflower.  Blanch a full, medium-sized head of cauliflower that you’ve cut into 1” pieces, making sure to remove the core and tougher pieces.  You’ll want the cauliflower to be al dente after you’ve blanched it.  Cook up a 1lb. package of the widest egg noodles you can find.  Wide noodles are absolutely kid friendly.  After the noodles are cooked toss them in a bowl with some butter and add a couple tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, put the noodles in a large baking dish & set them aside.  In a sauté pan add some vegetable oil and sauté  ¼ lb. of sliced mushrooms until the liquid runs out of them.  Then add a julienned sweet red pepper and one bunch of sliced scallions.  Cook till the scallions are translucent.  Pull all the vegetables out of the pan you’re working with and then melt (in the same pan) 4 Tbsp. butter and whisk 2 to 3 Tbsp. flour in the pan to make a roux.  Cook through so that the flour is slightly browned, whisking constantly.  Now, slowly pour in milk, probably about 3 to 4 cups and continue to whisk the liquid into the roux.  Keep moving the liquid around to avoid lumps in the sauce.  When the sauce is thickened to your liking stop adding milk but continue to whisk scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan.  The next step is to add as much cheddar cheese, preferably sharp or extra sharp, maybe 2 cups, to complete the sauce.  Add all the vegetables and blanched cauliflower back in the pan.  Adjust the seasonings according to your taste (a fat pinch of cayenne works) with salt & pepper.  Pour the sauce & vegetables over the noodles in your baking dish.  Mix them together and top the dish with a layer of breadcrumbs…Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) are the best for a good crunch.  Bake at 350˚ for about 25 minutes. Easy, cheesy, breezy!  Oh……I almost forgot…….have a GENEROUS portion, you won’t be able to help yourself!!!

JaneEllen Sexton is an Intuitive Life Coach and freelance chef specializing in Spiritual empowerment with a focus on personal accountability.

I saw this recipe in Rachael Ray’s magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and I immediately had to try it. Two of my favorites, lasagna and hamburgers wrapped up into one delight – how could I not try it out?  I came up with my own version which will put a smile on your face without putting an extra hole in your belt.

LASAGNA BURGERS – Anthony J. Caruso

1 pound 96% lean ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can (14.5 oz) Italian crushed tomatoes

1 handful basil leaves, shredded or torn

2 tablespoons butter spread

2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup skim milk

A few grates nutmeg

½ cup fat free ricotta cheese

¼ cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese

4 100% whole wheat hamburger or ciabatta rolls

In a large bowl, season the meat with plenty of salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties, thinner in the middle for more even cooking.

In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the basil.

In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until medium-rare, 7 to 8 minutes.

While the patties are cooking, in a small saucepan, melt the butter spread over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for one minute, then whisk in the milk. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ricotta and parmigiano-reggiano.

Spoon some of the red sauce on the roll bottoms, then top with the patties. Dollop the cheese sauce on the patties and set the roll tops in place.

Here’s the skinny:

First off, I skipped the drizzle of EVOO over the burgers. You’re already cooking them in EVOO, which is a heart healthy fat and adds a ton of flavor. But there is no need to overdo it, either.

I cut out the mixed ground meats, which tend to be high in fat. When you buy them in separate components, you can control the fat content. Ground pork is leaner than most ground beef, but it’s still not a lean cut. But it does add a lot of flavor, so I use just 1/2 a pound, or 2 oz per burger. By combining that with the ultra-lean ground beef, you get flavor and not a lot of fat, which makes for a delicious and healthy burger.

Whenever I make a roux for a cream sauce, I use butter spread and white whole wheat flour. Butter spread has 80% less saturated fat than butter and now they make them with heart healthy oils, meaning it’s good for your system, rather than clogging your arteries like butter does. I also use white whole wheat flour. It has the whole grain goodness of whole wheat flour, a complex carb, but it is softened to taste more like white all-purpose flour.

I used skim milk instead of whole milk. It’s thinner than whole milk, so I used less to help the thickening process. You can always use fat-free half and half if you like as well.

Fat-free ricotta is a great substitute here. You’re mixing it into a sauce – you’ll never know the difference. Why waste all that fat when you can’t tell? If I’m gonna have something fattening, I want to be able to taste it and make it worth it!

For the bun, I used 100% whole wheat hamburger buns. Be sure to get 100% whole wheat – many labels will say “wheat” (which is the same for your body as white bread) or “whole wheat”, which means it can be a combination of whole wheat and white flour. 100% whole wheat gives you all the healthy complex carbs your body needs without any of the unhealthy stuff.

So go ahead – enjoy your lasagna and your burger… all in one!