Happy Holiday Weekend from TvFoodAndDrink.com

Remember… not everyone’s limits are the same. It’s ok to say “NO!”

Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Crackle Cookies OR “If You’re Wimpy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands”

The Hot Brown (Louisville Hot Brown Sandwich): Recipe Swap

This month’s Burwell General Store Recipe Swap comes from the Maison La Fitte in Palm Beach.  Remember when we went to Maison La Fitte after that day of sun-dappled Palm Beach antiquing? You found that kicky flapper’s hat and I picked up that wagon wheel in the heart of the shopping district?  Then we sat down in the picturesque courtyard and ate a pound of chicken meat cooked in a pint of heavy cream?

Well, the very best thing about the Burwell General Store Recipe Swap is that the recipe selected by its moderator is merely a jumping off point for the rest of us.  So I scanned the rundown on Stuffed French Pancakes until I found something that greased my flag pole, in this case called “Mornay sauce.”

Mornay sauce is a Béchamel sauce (roux of butter and flour cooked in cream or milk) combined with shredded or grated cheese, in this case about a 1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano.  Once well-simmered, I seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper, poured it over two slices of Texas Toast (your local grocery story may call it simply “French Toast”) topped with turkey and ham, tossed in some sliced tomatoes and a little more Pecorino Romano, broiled it until it was bubbly brown, and baptized the results with some parsley and smoked paprika.  The finished product is what’s known as the “Hot Brown,” a signature sandwich invented by Chef Fred K. Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky in 1926.  The “official” recipe for the Hot Brown follows below.

Click here for the recipe for the classic “Hot Brown” Sandwich

Valentines’ Day Recipes: Cream Cheese Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

What do you make of this situation… perhaps you’ve experienced it?  You work up a cookie recipe.  You appraise the out-of-oven results as a bronze medal effort at best.  Yet all your co-workers go cuckoo for them like you’ve brought in a basket full of free iPads.

The eaters are satisfied, but the baker is not.  What do you do… continue to mess with the recipe, or let it stand as is?

I will admit that the flavor and richness of these particular cookies increased dramatically by the second day.  The addition of the cream cheese didn’t do as much to moisten them up the way I thought they might, but a glass of milk or a little bit of coffee was enough to overcome that.  And visually, they’re certainly on the high end of the enticement scale.  But to be honest, I have an even bigger issue I’d like to share with you.

Above is a picture of the desk just to the left of where I sit at my new job.  In the last two weeks, no less than three employees have been stationed there, and every single one of them has requested to be moved someplace else on the first day.   Don’t get me wrong… I’m the kind of guy who likes to stretch out when he’s hard at work.  Example: I always choose the handicapped stall whenever available.  But I have to tell you I’m starting to take this personally.  Additionally, I now have no one to throw crumpled up post-its at for late-afternoon jollies.  My aim isn’t nearly good enough to hit that girl way over there by the wall.  Maybe with a stapler, but a post-it note is just gonna veer to the side like a housefly with only one good wing. Besides, I’m sure she could beat me up.

I think I might be slowly turning into a social pariah.  I’d talk to my therapist about it, but he moved to a new office and forgot to tell me where.  I’d talk to my sister about it, but she charges more to listen than my therapist.  This puts me in mind of the time my mom drove to my elementary school to pick me up, and then inexplicably drove off again before I actually reached the car.  Some things… the hurt just never totally goes away.

As I see it I only have one recourse: flood the office with cookies until I win my co-workers over with refined sugar or until the next person who gets that desk becomes so fat so fast that the thought of re-locating their adding machine and “I Hate Mondays” mug just seems like more trouble than its worth.

Click here to get the recipe for Cream Cheese Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Antipasto Alla Genovese (Genoese Hors D’Oeuvre) – Elizabeth David’s Italian Food

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