Author: Wendi

Random

This Summer I…

by Wendi3 Comments on This Summer I…

Brugge Self Portrait

I don’t remember ever actually having to write an essay about what I did on my summer vacation.  Do teachers really give that as an assignment or have we collectively just made it up?  Regardless, it’s a good thing I never had to write about my summers.  Because for me, summer vacation from school did not equal going away.  Sure, there was one time that we took a day trip to Ocean City.  All I remember is leaving for the beach before the sun was even up and having to change out of  my sandy bathing suit in the back of the car at the end of the day.  There was also a stop at some restaurant along Rt. 50 for breakfast.  Silver Dollar pancakes, that I remember. Continue reading “This Summer I…” →

Breakfast/Brunch

Poached

by Wendi5 Comments on Poached
Uncooked
Before

After the underwhelming outcome of my egg experiment, I wanted to give it another try. So I tasked my friend Google to see what other recipes were out there. The short answer is a lot. Most of the ones that I found involved baking the eggs in the oven. But there was one from Williams Sonoma that was more like a poached egg. I liked that approach because poaching, as a gentler cooking method, gives me a little more wiggle room before I go from raw to rubber. Continue reading “Poached” →

Random

Shameless Self Promotion

by Wendi2 Comments on Shameless Self Promotion

BAH Tube Sign

Recently I’ve been inspired to treat BAH as a serious endeavor.  It finally dawned on me that by investing my time in the blog to cook and write and photograph, what I’ve basically done is develop my own personal brand.  Heck, people charge a lot of money to do that and here I’ve gone and done it purely by accident.  So I started doing things that I never imagined I’d do – like buying domain names, ordering business cards, trying to make sense out of html code and CSS, and finally saying to the world that I’m a blogger.

“Hello world, I’m Wendi and I’m a blogger.  Here’s my card.”

The latest entry on the list of things I never thought I’d do was set up a Page on Facebook.  Go ahead, log on to your Facebook account and search for Bon Appetit Hon.  We’re there, perhaps you’d like to be our Fan?  I promise that there will be no secret passwords or handshakes, no mandatory reading lists, and no pop quizzes.

My apologies if you saw me launch this over at Facebook and are already in the know.  But since it looks like this Social Networking thing is here to stay, I will shamelessly get the word out to try and bring some BAH flavor to the party.

Random

Shoot

by Wendi2 Comments on Shoot

IMG_0821 IMG_0821 Zoom IMG_0817 IMG_0832 IMG_0833 IMG_0832b IMG_0868 IMG_0905a IMG_1098 IMG_1090a IMG_1159a IMG_0973 IMG_1168a IMG_1179aIMG_1092

Remember that day I told you about when I got sucked into the hot mess of VH-1’s Charm School? These pictures are the reason why.

SFC and I won a photo shoot at a fundraiser for Baltimore Station. Their mission is to “provide rigorous self-help programs in a safe, caring residential setting to support men, most of whom are veterans, who are transitioning from the cycle of poverty, substance abuse and homelessness to self-sufficiency.”

So, with the exception of those 90 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back from Charm School, it was a win-win situation. Baltimore Station got a donation to support their mission and SFC and I got to run around Ft. McHenry like rock stars having our picture taken.

All that and Smitten Kitchen’s broccoli slaw too. That’s how you turn a hot mess into a good day.

Random

Amuse Bouche

by Wendi4 Comments on Amuse Bouche

It’s a treat when The Mistah and I go out to eat.  An even bigger treat is when we go someplace where the chef offers an amuse bouche.  It’s a tasty little morsel before the meal, a culinary greeting from the chef, a happy surprise.  Today I’m offering you an amuse bouche of sorts, blog style.  In the coming weeks, here’s what you’ll see at Bon Appetit Hon:

Main Course, Pasta

Undecided

by Wendi2 Comments on Undecided

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I can’t decide if I like this recipe or not. Maybe it needs a different cheese because the smoked Gouda seemed to overwhelm everthing else. Other than a cheese substitution, would you make any other changes?

Ziti Baked with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Smoked Gouda

Cooking Light Pasta

  • 8 ounces uncooked ziti
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, with juices
  • 10 ounces canned Italian seasoned diced tomatoes, with juices
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda, divided

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add spinach to pan and cook 30 seconds or until spinach wilts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add pasta and 3/4 cup cheese to tomato mixture.  Toss well to combine.

Spoon pasta mixture in 5 individual, or 1 large, casserole dish lightly coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.

{Printable Recipe}

Random

Cover Girl

by Wendi7 Comments on Cover Girl


0819 so cover.indd

Remember last year’s Maryland State Fair saga?  Lesson learned.  This year’s entries were matted and framed according to MSF regulations before The Mistah and I headed off on holiday.  All I had to do was get back to the States, deliver them to the fairgrounds, and let the Wheel of Fortune decide if it was going to land on my number.  But before any of that happened, The Baltimore Guide, a community newspaper, wanted to speak with me about my experience exhibiting and competing at the Fair. I figured it would end up being some little blurb as part of a larger piece.  And then I went online to see if the article had published and found myself on the cover.  Me, a cover girl?  Go figure. Continue reading “Cover Girl” →

Main Course

From The Files

by WendiLeave a Comment on From The Files

Orange Roughy

I’ve been making an effort to go through my old recipes, the ones that I’ve already tried out and decided are keepers, and post them. My goal is to turn my home files into a printed record of what you see here at BAH. Today’s tidbit is from the pages of Cooking Light.

Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon Peppercorn Pan Sauce

Cooking Light

BAH Note: I didn’t have Tilapia on hand that last time I made this so I used Orange Roughy. Any firm, white fish would probably work. Just make sure that it’s a thin fillet. I find that the pan sauce is a little piquant even with rinsing the capers, which I used instead of brined peppercorns. When you add the butter into the pan sauce, remember that even softened solids going into liquids will cause a splash. I didn’t, and ended up with sauce everywhere.

  • 3/4 cup chicken broth (I like the low sodium version)
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons drained, brine packed green peppercorns, lightly crushed (I used rinsed capers)
  • 3 teaspoons butter, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 2 Tilapia fillets (I used Orange Roughy)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Combine broth, lemon juice, and peppercorns (or capers) in a small bowl.

Melt 1 teaspoon butter with vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. While butter melts, sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour and shake off excess.

Increase heat to medium-high until butter begins to turn golden brown. Add fillets to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fish from the pan and cover to keep warm.

Add broth mixture to pan, scraping up any loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil cook about 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and stir in last 2 teaspoons butter with a whisk.

Spoon sauce over fillets and garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

{Printable Recipe}

Main Course, South Beach Diet

Muscle

by WendiLeave a Comment on Muscle

viking-48-oven-12-56-2006

***The following post is from the archive at Exit 51***

A good amount of the disk space on our Tivo gets taken up with cooking shows. Food Network, PBS, I like to mix it all up. When I watch them, I frequently experience kitchen envy. Seriously, have you seen Paula Deen’s or Ina Garten’s kitchen? Dreamy. Multiple cooktops, deep fryers, and refrigerator drawers. Best of all are those professional stoves. 48 to 60 inches of high btu muscle with double ovens. They are the kitchen equivalent of the Ford Mustang in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt. High revving, rubber burning, wild horses. I so wish I could have one of those. My kitchen, in comparison, is more like a Honda Accord. It’s reliable for getting you where you need to go but would never win in a drag race.

Not that having fancy, expensive equipment means anything when it comes to serving up good food. Deb, who I heart, from Smitten Kitchen turns out the best food from a teeny, tiny New York City apartment kitchen. Think your kitchen is small? Try working in a 24 square foot space. That’s smaller than my closet. And yet, without the aid of fancy equipment, she turns out all sorts of baked, fried, and roasted goodness.

Like anything else, your equipment is a tool that either you know how to use or you don’t. That 48 inch Viking isn’t going to magically transform a bad dish into a good one. So work with what you have, find its muscle, and make it work for you. Your kitchen may not burn rubber like Steve McQueen’s Mustang, but it won’t need new tires as quickly either.

Oven Roasted Salmon

Cook’s Illustrated

I added paprika and chili powder, not original to the CI recipe.

  • 1 skin on salmon fillet, 1 3/4 – 2 pounds (I used two individual skinless fillets)
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • Paprika
  • Chili powder
  • Salt

Place a sheet pan on an oven rack in the lowest position and heat oven to 500 degrees. If your salmon has skin, make 4 or 5 shallow slashes about an inch apart along the skin side of each piece.  Do not cut into the flesh.

Dry salmon with a paper towel, rub with oil and season with salt, paprika, and chili powder. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and remove the HOT baking sheet. Carefully place salmon (skin side down) on your sheet pan. Roast until salmon is still translucent in the thickest part of fillets when cut into with paring knife or when an instant read thermometer inserted in thickest part of the fillets registers 125 degrees, 9 to 13 minutes. Transfer fillets to individual plates or platter.

{Printable Recipe}

Pineapple Avocado Salsa

The Washington Post

  • 4 ounces fresh or canned pineapple, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch dice (1/2 cup)
  • Flesh of half a medium avocado, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch dice
  • 1 scallion, white and light green parts, cut crosswise into thin slices (2 to 3 teaspoons)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Juice of 1 to 2 limes (1 tablespoon)

Combine the pineapple, avocado, scallion, salt, and lime juice in a mixing bowl. Toss to combine.

{Printable Recipe}