What..my boring life???

       I don't want to blog about fruits and vegetables, I ain't no vegetarian, vegan or biased eater of any sort really. I don't really want to blog about healthy eating at all. I don't want to blog about un healthy eating either! I was raised on great home cooking. By my Mom and a lot of great women -Aunts Grandmothers etc; Fresh fruits and vegetables which I shopped for weekly with my Dad and desserts on birthdays and holidays mostly. No soda or chips in the house almost ever. There really wasn't such a thing as junk food when I grew up. Just because I'm a baker, I don't want to blog about eating dessert all the time (even though Jeff thinks he can't go one night without it) because I don't. People assume when you're a baker that you eat all your goods all the time. Actually, if you're baking for someone, of course you can't eat it. Tasting yes. Testing during the experimenting phase, yes. Yeah, sometimes I just have to make myself a coconut cream pie or a coconut cake or a strawberry rhubarb pie (I like milk and ice cream on my fruit pie -that's the way my Mother liked it) Sometimes Jeff mentions how much he loves eclairs and I just have to whip some up. I try to keep things in balance. I don't want to blog about diets and weight loss. I abhor diets. I abhor the fact that it about kills a girl to lose some pounds but putting it all right back on seems to simply take one container of ice cream. I don't really like ice cream (except mint chocolate chip with hot fudge and whipped cream) and I can do without chocolate most of the time. Yes- true!  I'm no authority on cooking, I just love doing it and sharing it and sharing how to do it if anyone ever wants to know. I am an authority on horses and maybe someday if I have enough life, I may like to blog about the beauty and overflowing joys and heart-wrenching pain and sorrow and death defying physical labor and financial sacrifices of my life spent with my beloved equine children...and all my precious daughter -students (that belonged to someone else) that I've been lucky enough to have an influence on over the last 35 years.         I don't want to blog about politics because I was raised that your politics are private and you don't talk about them. Ten years ago nobody really talked much about politics. People throw the word conservative around all the time these days with political context. I've always been more conservative than anyone I've ever known but I ain't no republican. Most people couldn't even imagine doing without and sacrificing the way I have in my life. It's trendy now. Ever since the economic downturn everybody thinks they're "vintage" and "old fashioned" ha!  If they only knew. I don't want to blog about all the things I wish I didn't know that the idiot box (that's what my Mom called the TV) has brainwashed into my head. Sanguination... that means when you cut someones arteries or jugular and let all their blood bleed out of them. Kandahar- and lots of others names of places and bad stuff in the Middle East that I don't want to know. Honey booboo and all the moronic reality TV show stuff... the bachelorslutte and misstreswhores, some bad maids and all kind of inappropriate immoral new shows what the world is going on????? Or as my Mom used to say (and my Grandmothers and I'm sure all your Mom's too) "what's the world coming to!!"   Of course I don't want to blog about religion, nuff said. Marriage maybe. Morals and moral standards maybe. Ethics maybe. Restaurants and food of course. Pies, cakes and every kind of baked good -definitely. Spelling (misspelling) and other pet peeves -absolutely!! My varied life and times living in a barn here in the mountains of Appalachia....hard as it is, lucky as I am (and these mountains do want me to keep some secrets!!)       ...But!  I DO want to blog about some of all these things!! a little bit of this and a little bit of that... just a little bit of everything! A "balanced" blog! When it's raining or something cancels and I get some time! ...blogging takes soooo much time and holy shit I gotta go clean stalls! -B

Asheville Food & Restaurant Blahhhhg

        Anybody who knows me or has ever eaten out with me knows my reputation as the ultimate hard-to-please food/restaurant/atmosphere/service etc; etc; critic... AND that  I am also extremely and outwardly complimentary, appreciative, and grateful for excellence!!             Yesterday I was meeting a friend for lunch and decided to have a long overdue try at a new (-ish they've been open for a little over a year) little place in Weaverville called "The Glass Onion -Global Italian" (from the Beatles song)  The location formerly the Sunnyside Cafe and others over the years.   The treasured little town of Weaverville, slightly north of Asheville, is experiencing a sort of  "boom" right now.  It's bustling with shops and places to eat and cool businesses like Curtis Wright the fly fishing place, the Well Bred (wonderful) Bakery/Cafe, a new Creperie (more on that later) upscale outdoor outfitters, art galleries and pottery studios. I have always loved it up here so I'm really happy for the attention it's getting. I know the Glass Onion is sort of upscale so I for that I am prepared.  I have read that the owners are two chefs from "The Hamptons" that chose Weaverville out of all the places in the "whole country" for their personal venture, so my food expectations are high!  As I pull into town, I see the busy bustle I am used to seeing around here these days. We are meeting at noon with no reservation ...this is my first test as I HATE more than anything to walk into a restaurant and the FIRST thing they say is "do you have a reservation?"  My friend is late so I decide to go on in alone to get a table. There's hardly anybody in the place so I get the best table in the front window. (too bad they have put up big signs in the windows so you can hardly see out!) The specials on the sidewalk board sound amazing. The chef makes a fresh unique ravioli every week so I'm excited about the artichoke and sundried tomato ravioli which is my absolute favorite flavor combination and the Steak salad with bleu cheese also another fave. I order a glass of wine ($7-$8)  and check out the menu while I await my companion. The owner bio description is "Simple delicious meals made of top quality ingredients, expertly prepared, promptly served and courteously priced." (Also locally sourced when possible)                              I always check the burger price as a gauge... 12 dollars. (Amazing favorite burger in town -loaded Kobe beef burger at Biergarden 12.95 -Lobster salad burger at Wicked Weed, bursting at the seams with lobster at 13 dollars!) OK... I really want to like this place! ... several really good looking appetizers, truffle fries (Yum) for 5 dollars, an eggplant stack for 7.  Glass tabletops, linen napkins, nice, warm, friendly waitress. My friend arrives and our server comes to describe the specials. The ravioli I was excited about has a pesto sauce which turns me off with the artichoke and sundried tomatoes- she offers a different sauce but I don't want to be difficult. She describes the Steak salad as romaine with steak and bleu cheese. "what else is on it?" I ask. Maybe some tomatoes- maybe he puts some green beans in there...hmmm not sounding so great. I'll stick to the regular menu. There's a curry chicken salad with dried cherries and apples and chicken salad is my favorite food so I order that, the truffle fries are shoestring and I can't resist them and they have gazpacho -which I love to try every where I can- this one with grilled corn. My friend orders something called Grilled organic Chicken Diablo which was highly recommended by our server. The truffle fries are fantastic! It's a bowlfull and I would come back just to have these and a glass of wine. The rest, I'm sorry to say, was disappointing. The presentation of both our chicken dishes was pretty. But the large plates full of fruits and vegetables with a small amount of chicken were both extremely heavily overdressed. I think I found 2 or 3 cherries and walnuts and a few more pieces of chicken in my pool of heavy, tangy, green mayonnaise-y dressing surrounded by lots and lots of thinly sliced green apples over a big foundation of spinach. The server offered more spinach but I believe it would have taken a whole bag to use up the amount of dressing on this salad!  -Were I the chef what would I have done???  Marched right out there into that nearly empty restaurant, snatched that plate up lickety split, returned it to the kitchen and redressed it. Simple. (Instead he chose to take a glass of wine off the bill) The Diablo was similar. Had great flavor but was a little bit of chicken slices atop a bed of fruits and beets swimming in a sweet, spicy puddle of sauce. Did I say the gazpacho was nothing special? There are some pretty amazing gazpachos around here (White Duck Taco, LAB, Corner Kitchen etc etc) Not much more to say. I usually make the mistake of going right in as soon as a new place opens because I'm so excited to try it, then I get disappointed and never go back. As I mentioned, this place has been here over a year.  Lunch $10-$14 Dinner $16-$25  -I would definitely go back for the fries!

AMAZING CRISPY BAKED EGGPLANT STACK

                     Amazing Crispy Eggplant (yeah!!) Stack

                   It's snowing outside this morning so I have a perfect opportunity to share this. I have been working on this recipe and I am really anxious to get it out to ya'll. I think it's one of the most amazing things I have ever come up with! It's somewhere between eggplant parmesan and eggplant lasagna but really different. I really like eggplant ... WHEN it is done well. I DON"T like it when it is greasy or mooshy or seedy or tough. Those are all reasons why this is so great. This is sliced THIN and BAKED in the oven! One regular eggplant will make four large servings. I make my regular red sauce but add 2 cans of the new "fire roasted" style tomatoes. Be sure you don't use the "tex mex" style because there are jalapenos in them and the sauce will get REALLY hot! I used them in some chicken chili last month and whoa baby was it hot! I couldn't figure out what in the hell I had put in it to get it so hot til I pulled the can out of the trash and read the ingredients. I also used about a half a bottle of good red wine and we like our sauce on the sweet side so I always add some brown sugar to taste. The slightly sweet sauce goes really good with the eggplant. (You could use jarred sauce if you must, then just doctor it up with these additions) I'd be happy to share how I make my sauce if anybody wants me to -just ask. I let the sauce cook all day uncovered to really reduce it to a super thick, intensely flavorful deliciousness. Wash your eggplant really good then with your peeler, peel off alternating strips lengthwise so you leave some skin. Cut it in half lengthwise and using a mandoline, slice LENGTHWISE sideways in skinny, super thin (like 1/8th") strips. Then repeat with 2nd half. Lay all the strips out in a single layer on a sheet pan or cutting board. Sprinkle lightly with salt and cover with paper towels. This will sweat some of the moisture out. You can set up a dredging line while they sweat. 3 wide dishes; in one, plain flour; in one, 2 beaten eggs; in the last one mix together 2 cups panko breadcrumbs, zest of a lemon, a heaping tablespoon of fine yellow cornmeal and salt and pepper to taste. I am not a real big salt user and you have already salted the eggplant to sweat. Plus you'll have cheese which is salty and a good flavorful sauce too. Set some racks (your cookie-cooling racks are perfect) on some cookie sheets. Blot the eggplant with the paper towels and blot with some more dry paper towels if they're still wet. Dip the strips in the flour, then the egg, then the Panko, turning and pressing the Panko on to coat well. Gently place the coated strips onto the prepared racks and let them air dry for awhile...the longer the better. An hour is good, all day is great. Drizzle them with a tiny bit of olive oil just before you bake them in a 375 degree oven til they are light golden brown and really crispy -about 20 minutes or so and turn them once during that time. You can pull one out and dip it in your sauce to taste for doneness/crunchiness. (This also makes awesome appetizer/snacking food!) Each serving will be 6 pieces. Next I move them on the racks close together into 3's and cover them with mozzarella. Move them up to the broiler to melt the cheese. Now you're ready to plate! Pick a pretty plate that will set off the red sauce. Ladle a puddle of sauce across the plate and sprinkle it well with some good grated parmesan -I ALWAYS forget this step!  Then set a "threesome" of eggplant on the sauce, ladle more sauce -don't smother it! -you want to see the stack- sprinkle more parm then set another set of eggplant- crosswise from the first and top with a nice spoonful of sauce and a little more parm. EAT IT NOW!!!