Comfort Foods and Indulgences

My first Brie Quesadilla was devoured somewhere in Arizona, and it is truly an indulgence that is impossible to resist.  Since I love cheese, I use Brie with the rind intact, but if you like a smoother taste, I recommend Alouette Crème de Brie spreadable cheese- either the original or fine herbs style.

If you are making a grilled Brie sandwich, sour dough bread is perfect, if you making quesadillas use corn tortillas.

There must be as many ways to make chili as there are shades of Sherwin-Williams paints. There’s no right or wrong way to make chili. It’s all about what pleases your taste buds. And, I’m always willing to give a new twist to a pot of chili.

Dennis Weimann, News Director/Anchor of Lakeland News at Lakeland Public Television sent me an email the other day and shared a chili recipe he had developed. He was planning to make a pot that day. Maybe he’s getting ready for the next United Way Chili Cook-off in Bemidji. I examined the list of ingredients. First, I noticed it had beans and meat. That’s important to me. I can eat a chili with beans and meat or with beans only. I don’t mean to make any of my Texas friends shudder, but I just can’t call it chili if there is only meat with no beans in the pot.

As my eyes moved further down the list of ingredients, I began to see a side of Dennis Weimann that amazed me. I had no idea he was a spice guy. A chili head. A lover of heat.

"I love recipes that don’t require mixers, beaters and lots of bowls. These squares really should be called Date Nut Brownies because of their soft and chewy texture. The combination of dates, nuts and brown sugar make them reminiscent of Sticky Toffee Pudding. These moist bars will make anyone a fan of dates which are one of the best natural sources of potassium."

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour (4.5 ounces)
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F and adjust rack to middle position. Lightly butter a 9x13 pan and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, salt, soda, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs, scraping the bowl and mixing until well combined.

Beat in flour, dates, and nuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Using wet hands, press the dough and smooth batter into an even thin layer.

Bake the squares until golden brown, about 22 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Cut into 2” squares and dust squares with confectioners’ sugar.

– Recipe courtesy of Cook Like James

Lobster's back. First there was creamy lobster risotto for Father's Day. Now it's Lobster Fra Diavolo, a treasured Italian-American dish characterized by a spicy sauce for pasta or seafood.

Fra Diavolo, was the king of pasta in the 1990's. (I know this because it was Jeff's favorite entree to order at a "nice" restaurant when we were dating.)

The last time Jeff ate lobster fra diavolo, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was a number one hit. Though Jeff will always love lobster fra diavolo, he doesn't feel similarly toward Whitney, so I decided not to invite her to our lobster dinner.

I played Sinatra, our oldest and most favorite crooner, instead because Italian food always tastes better with ol' blue eyes.