Welcome to Biddy Food, Biddy!!!

I'm so fired up about our new blog! I'll work on making it pretty later, but first I want to update you on what we've been cooking lately.


Successes:
(1) Broccoli Cheese Soup, courtesy of Cook's Illustrated - GOOD! I may never eat broccoli in other preparations again. Steam broccoli, blanch spinach, and blend with cheese and other things I can't remember. Easy except for the blending part, but that's only difficult because we have limited surface area in our house and our blender is not stored in a convenient place.


(2) Seafood Extravaganza! George bought 2 huge trout, and 18 oysters.
We stuffed the trout with sliced lemons, sliced onions, parsley, thyme, and salt and pepper; painted them with olive oil; wrapped them in foil, and gas-grilled them over medium-high heat. They were AWESOME! The meat was still moist, and had absorbed the flavors from the stuffing - mostly the herb flavors.


Oysters were good too (raw on the half shell), but we really need a shucking knife. We also did not successfully crush ice for serving the oysters over, but I think this may be because George does not know how to use our blender. 
Oysters were served with Beefeater martinis (mine: up, extra olives; George's: up, gibson).


(3) Baked Pork Chops with Cranberries - courtesy of Mr. Scott Peacock and Mrs. Edna Lewis.
This was incredibly easy and flavorful. Basically, you brown the chops in bacon fat, and then layer them with cranberries and sugar in a casserole. Bake 40 minutes at 425 degrees. Chops were tender and the tart berries lightened the overall taste by cutting through the fattiness. Served this to Paul and Amie. A success!


(4) Celery Root Remoulade - courtesy of Julia Child and More Company
We get a box of vegetables delivered to our doorstep every Monday. One week it arrived with a Celery Root. I like celery, but the root is ugly and intimidating. George found this recipe and took the lead. Our mandoline broke or somehow failed to julienne the root, so George hand chopped it. Otherwise, just mix sour cream, dijon, salt, pepper, and olive oil and toss the julienned root in the mixture. It's basically celery root slaw, and it's good. 


(5) French Onion Soup - courtesy of The New Best Recipe. 
Cook onions in butter. Add low-sodium chicken and beef broth (we use Better-than-Bouillon brand; one day, I will be as amazing as Mama and make my own broth), red wine, herbs and simmer. Top with baguette and cheese and broil in the oven. Even our foodie landlady loved it. 


There have been some failures too, but this post is already too long. Think of how much cooler this will be now that I'm going to start taking pictures!!!


I'm also going to add a page (not a post, but an editable page) that lists the Claire and George classics, things we eat all the time. 


Hopefully this is a good enough start for the bid! Do whatever you want with this. George and I are going to post often. When we get enough on here, we should share it with Mama! I think she might like to read about what we're cooking!


I love you, Biddy! More soon!


Claire