New Year Wegmans Indulgence

My mother gave us a $100 Wegmans gift card for Christmas, so today we went and bought some groceries, some of which were indulgences. We had an early lunch before leaving so at 2:30 we were ready for a snack.

For the adults: rainforest crunch whole bean coffee from fasig's with half and half
For the wee one: silk pumpkin spice milk (oh my! Delicious)

A baguette
Medium Brie
& scallops wrapped in bacon

Turkey and Brie sandwiches

Today's lunch was a subtle variation on last night's dinner.

Today, we had simple turkey sandwiches with brie and lettuce, on multigrain sandwich bread from Giant, and seedless red raspberry jelly from Wegmans. Then for a side we had the leftover Dole Italian Salad with chianti vinaigrette and I added dried cherries for a new flavor.

Fabulous. Heavenly. So simple and so cheery.

Still surviving on leftovers

We used our new cheese board and utensils today for another cheese platter of brie, cheddar and commercial spinach artichoke heart dip with Wegmans vegetable and wheat characters, still leftover from my husband's holiday cheese platter at work. This was the portion he didn't take to the office, but still... getting very tired of cheese.

My first cheese flight

Yesterday we spent the day with good friends... Sometimes there are people that you don't see often or haven't seen much, but you know that the mix will work and it doesn't take long to get everyone laughing... I hope that's the way our hosts feel about yesterday. Two families, five kids. We were supposed to have dinner and watch a movie but we never quite made it out of the kitchen... And the kids played for seven hours I believe with only one minor injury forgotten quickly enough...

My job was to bring wine. I selected a Barton & Guestier Vouvray, my staple in the cheap but delectable French wine department, and a Beaujolais-Villages from Beaune (Joseph Durhin, I believe) because my normal Beaujolais was on sale and therefore sold out. I also added a sparkling raspberry wine, a cheap wine but one our family likes for something bubbly and fun. The tab at the liquor store was $32.

But then I went to Wegmans. And they had the slate cheese board I'm wanted on sale... And since we eat more cheese than meat in this house, I went for it. It was a slate cheese board so you can write the name of the cheese on it...

My goal was to purchase some fun cheeses that wouldn't be offensive to the children, but yet still be exotic and inexpensive. For budgeting purposes, I considered the expense similar to eating out, since our hosts would be providing dinner ( a delectable feast of salad, Russian baked chicken, rice and beans, bread, cookies, and the cake shown above is the hearty Russian equivalent of apple pie. )

And while I may be frugal, I love good food and I love sharing good food with friends.

Not pictured above is my last loaf of homemade multigrain bread and the little pre-made baguettes my hostess made. And note to self: her kids love crackers. If I every need a gift for them, I'm buying crackers at the warehouse club.

First, in the totally unnecessary splurge department, I bought imported French triple cream butter. It was on sale for $3.99 a half-pound. Consider I normally pay $1.50 for a whole pound for the American substance we call butter, but hey, it's the holidays and I wanted to see if it was good. And it was. Worth the price? I don't know but that's why I call it a splurge.

Next was a cute triangle of Brie de Nangis. It was $2.40 and tiny. But the folks at the cheese shop said the flavor would fall between the medium brie and the intense/earthy brie. I don't like intense brie, but I do like medium brie and I consider myself a cheese sissy for not liking the "intense" cheeses. So I thought this was worth a try. It was delicious.

I checked out the Roquefort for fun, but the smallest piece was a $70 half wheel. Not fun.

I checked out the goat cheeses and purchased an ubiquitous lump of French feta. I'm not sure if it was actually French, or simply made in the French-style, but I bought it. $3.36. My receipt says it was Valbreso. Some internet research suggests that it's a sheep's milk cheese made with the milk leftover from the production of Roquefort.

I then moved to the port salut and selected a Chaumes ($4.35). Because I like Chaumes. According to Cheese.com:

"One of the most popular cheeses in France, produced by the Fromageries des Chaumes, one of the most famous and the biggest cheesemaking company. The soft rind is bright tangerine-orange and the interior is smooth, supple and quite rubbery. The nutty, almost meaty taste and aroma are mild. Affinage takes four weeks. It is used as a table cheese and also for grilling."

According to Wikipedia: "a cow's milk cheese from Périgord (South West of France), made by traditional cheese-making processes. Translated literally, "chaumes" is French for stubble."

And finally the American addition: a big wedge of New York champagne cheddar, $5.66.

Weekend summary

So, right now I'm drinking a very sweet cup of dessert tea because my daughter convinced me to have a honey-rock candy thing in mine...

Yesterday we took it mellow on the food. My husband went to the warehouse club for pet supplies and came home with tuna, Cool Ranch Doritoes and Brie for us. He toasted some tortilla shells in the skillet and made tuna wraps with melted cheese for lunch.

For dinner, he also swept in and made pasta with an olive oil/butter sauce, grated romano cheese and the last of the fresh broccoli that was starting to look a tad flimsy. It was yummy.

Not much gourmet this weekend, but we have full bellies.

Brioche and American Brie

My brioche, that I used lavender honey in the sponge, came out as the fluffiest brioche ever. Incredible, delicious, but perhaps too fluffy. We served with American brie, JIF natural peanut butter, Nutelli, Smuckers grape jelly and Trappist seedless raspberry jam.

I mentioned to my friend Jessica, who bought me the French cookbook, that I take my food very seriously.

"I know," she replied. "It's one of the things I like about you."

I froze three batches of dough for more brioche. Each should make slightly more than half of what I have pictured here.

Making Brioche

About once a week or so, one of my friends visits for "French movie day." Tomorrow is such a day. Normally, I try to make some nice food, but tomorrow I have to return to work after a month off. Yesterday I had jury duty, so my in-laws served pizza for lunch and I whipped up vegetarian sausage (Morningstar) sandwiches on homemade bread (wheat biscuit for the daughter, and the failed rye rolls for her father and I) and the Greenbean Caesar I made the night before. We ate the entire pound of greenbeans!

Today we have a fairly open day. I'm thinking of making some sort of burritos for lunch with the leftover beans from Sunday. And dinner might be Wegmans boxed mac and cheese with a vegetable as there is a summer reading craft project at the library that begins at 4 p.m.

I brewed some decaffeinated unsweetened tea. And my daughter and I started brioche. It may be ready for dinner tonight. If not, I had planned it as lunch for my friend. I have brie in the fridge that I bought at the warehouse club. It's American double cream brie, instead of French triple, but budget is important these days.

I can get about a 1/3 pound of real imported triple cream brie at Wegmans for about $5. At the warehouse club, about a pound of imported brie is $9. Slightly more than a pound of the American brie is $6.50.

My brioche process comes from the Paris Cookbook by Patricia Wells. It's been listed in this blog before, click on 'French' or 'Paris Cookbook' or 'brioche' or 'Patricia Wells.'

My daughter took some photos of me starting the brioche. I have included some here.

Mme.'s French Dinner

I had a special opportunity for dinner tonight. I ate at the home of one of my former French professors. She has an annual tradition of cooking for some of her students. A French meal, or at least a simple one with as many French touches as Americans can put together.
She invited me this year, because I came back to Moravian last semester and we've kept in touch. I made her a CD of some of my favorite French songs, brought her some black cherry French jam, and she asked me to bring a first course... noting that she would have meat, vegetables, bread, cheese, salad and dessert.
That, of course, leaves fruit or pâté. The earlier entries detail my adventure making my $40 fruit salad. Which was a hit. Mme. even asked me for the recipe.
I came to dinner early so I could help, and Mme. also had the help of her stepdaughter and her friend. Of course, as a mom and a frequent host myself, I tried to anticipate Mme.'s needs. When she prepared the next course, I cleared the table. I did dishes as needed (it's amazing how quickly you can run out of forks).
But Mme. did a fabulous job. I love big multi-course dinners. With the modest portion sizes, you eat slower and since you usually have to sit and talk while the next course is prepared... it keeps you from overeating. And it's such an experience, especially when you have a great group around the table. We had nine tonight.

The courses:
1. Fruit- My honeyed Vouvray fruit salad
2. Main Course- Pan Seared Steaks and potato/green beans au gratin
3. Salad- Green salad with vinaigrette dressing
4. Cheese and Bread- Brie, goat cheese, and some other yummy cheese with baguette
5. Dessert- Chocolate mousse cone and fruit tart from wegmans
6. Coffee- expresso

Turkey and Brie sandwiches

The flood has turned our regular eating habits upside down. Subway, boxed mac and cheese, pie for breakfast. Nutrition has fallen to the wayside.

Today for lunch I packed potato chips from Aldi. Cheap-o lunchmeat my inlaws bought on white bread... Which I dressed up...

How does this sound?

White Italian Bread, with soy mayonnaise. Cheap turkey, some brie, some organic spring mix and a thin layer of organic raspberry jam from Wegmans.

Cheese Platter

I wanted to take some chicken with fruit out of the freezer for dinner, especially since a small crisis came up at work destroying my plans to swing by the grocery store. But my daughter wanted to go to the store anyway... I was hungry and tired, but my husband agreed to go... He said he's have no idea what to purchase. I suggested a cheese platter. He wanted to go out to Wegmans. I suggested if he planned on going that far that he go to the warehouse club as I've wanted to try their brie. It's French, only double cream, but worth a shot.

He got a massive container of blueberries, what appears to be 5 lbs of apples, a tray of the airy Americanized croissants (nice try on his behalf, but sure ain't the real thing), the brie, tuna, organic spring mix for the tortoise, the bog old block of cheddar... for $40. Then he stopped at the liquor store and bought TWO bottles of Vouvray. $25.

He prepared the cheese platter and set the table with peanut butter and various mustards as well...

On Vouvray

I am no fine wine con...conno...connosieur?... expert. As a matter of fact, I never really drank wine until my birthday party in May 2007.  

I had never had a "theme" party as a kid, so my husband threw me a big "pink poodles in Paris" party where we served brie, fruit and wine.

I had no idea what wine to purchase, but I knew it had to be French. I remembered my French professor remarking in college that for a cheap but drinkable table wine you can't go wrong with Beaujolais.

I went to the liquor store and bought five or six wines in the $10-$15 a bottle range, different brands and colors. Then my friends brought more. I drank wine for months. And tasted many I liked and many I didn't. All French.

My favorites in that price range are Beaujolais (red) and Vouvray (white). French people usually cringe when I say it, but in that poor American price range, I like Barton & Guestier. (Célia brought me an incredible bottle of 2001 Château Beau-Site and told me "Now you have a good bottle of French wine.") My girlfriend Rachel bought me a 2003 Château de Paillet-Quancard which was dryer than we usually liked but also delicious. And it knocked our socks off. That's as sophisticated as I get with the wines.

Considering my mother drinks Chateau Luzerne in the gallon jar that goes for $7 and tastes like someone brewed it in their hamper, I think I've progressed. But I recently had someone ask me what kind of wine Vouvray was. I answered as best I could, but today I noticed this on the back of the bottle:

• Grape: Chenin Blanc
• Region: Touraine, in the Loire Valley
• About the wine: "a lovely wine with floral notes, peach and pear flavors and a refreshing finish."
• Serve: As an aperitif, with cheese and light desserts

I don't have a bottle of Beaujolais in the house right now. They didn't have any last time I had the spare cash. Instead I opted for a Beaujolais-Villages (also red like Beaujolais). What's the difference? I don't know. But this is what the back of that bottle says:

• Grape: Gamay
• Region: Eastern France, on the right bank of the Saône river
• About the wine: "easy drinking wine with soft red fruits and a fresh, fruity finish."
• Serve: Deli meats, grilled poultry and cheese.

Brioche, part three

When I got up today and made it into the kitchen... (It was almost seven by then). I shaped and cooked the brioche.

I make my brioche small, so I get three loaves like the ones in the photo. The photo with Triple Fruit Jam is a loaf from the fall, and it's overcooked and not as fluffy as today's. Today's is the loaf with the Jammin' Organic Red Raspberry Jam. (Both from Wegmans.) Now, I would love some Brie with this warm brioche, but circumstances did not permit some Brie today. Sigh.

Shannon took a small, misshapen baguette with her to her grandmother's last night. It was her first attempt so it did not look French. But it tasted wonderful and from what I hear, her family devoured it. And they had chili, so it made a good compliment. 

Bread exhaustion (Brioche 1)

Shannon wanted to learn to how to make bread so we started baguettes AND brioche this morning. I am exhausted, and we're only half way through the process. The baguette recipe has already been posted, click on French or bread to find it.

My brioche recipe comes from The Paris Cookbook by Patricia Wells. When it gets done, we'll serve with jam and maybe get to the store for brie.

*Note: The recipe says to use a big old food processor with a wooden dough paddle. I don't have such equipment, so I have to do it all by hand. And it's hard work.

Brioche

Part One: The Sponge (in photo)

1/3 cup whole milk, warmed

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups flour

1 large egg beaten

1. In the mixer bowl, combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast. Let stand about five minutes until foamy. Stir in one cup flour and the egg. The sponge should be sticky and fairly dry. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup flour. Set aside to rest, uncovered, about 30 to 40 minutes. The sponge should erupt slightly, cracking the flour. 

Part Two: The Dough

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1.5 cups flour

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

2. Add the sugar, eggs and 1 cup of the flour. Mix, just until ingredients come together. Still mixing, mix in the remaining half cup flour. Increase mixer speed once flour is incorporated and beat for 15 minutes, scraping down the sides. 

3. To incorporate the butter, work it until it is the same consistency as the dough. Place the butter on a flat work surface and smear with a dough scraper, bit by bit across the surface. The butter is ready when it is smooth, soft and still cool.

4. With mixer on slow speed, add butter one tablespoon at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase speed to medium high for one minute. Then reduce speed to medium and beat for five minutes. The dough will be soft and sticky.

5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2.5 hours. 

To be continued...

The chocolate milk dilemma

The total grocery expense so far for December is $66.67, thanks to the trip to the warehouse club we just made. My daughter ate her way through the samples, as usual. We went primarily for dishwasher liquid ($8.86 for almost ten pounds of liquid Cascade, 155 oz.) We also needed cat food. We have two cats, so we get cat food and litter there. The Meow Mix (21.6 lbs) cost $10.74, which I'm including that in the grocery figures event though I would normally put that in the budget as "pets." We bought the "60 count" box of Nut Lovers Nature Valley granola bars for $8.10. I use the quotations because the granola bars have two bars in each wrapper, but it's still one serving size. This works to my benefit around the house, because my daughter and I often split a pack when we're hungry a little too close to meal time. We also bought a quart of half-n-half ($1.46) and Stonyfield Farms Organic 2% milk (half gallon, $3.12). Then we bought a pack of bananas (3 lbs/$1.32) and a whole pineapple ($2.88).

Remember my earlier brie-related tangent? Well, at the store they had several varieties of real French brie between $6 and $11. The $6 hunk was about twice the size of what I'd normally pay $6 for (when splurging on brie). The $11 package got you an entire wheel of brie. I did not buy any, but I made a mental note.

I was also shocked to see that tuna (StarKist solid white, packed in water) had increased in price to about 80 cents a can. I passed. I think I can get it cheaper elsewhere.

The final and biggest dilemma came with a red box of Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk juice boxes. No refrigeration required (which scares me, what do they do to it to make it nonperishable?). 18-8 oz. servings for $10.58. That's 59 cents each serving. Or seven cents an oz. Now, in the store, I couldn't do this math in my head. But I did know that the milk in my cart cost $3.12, and that the chocolate soy milk I normally buy costs between $2.75 and $3.70 depending where I buy it. Somehow in the store, in seemed like a close call about whether it was a good deal or not. Now, of course, with a calculator, I know that the chocolate soy milk, using $3.25 as an average cost for a half gallon, costs a nickel an ounce or 40 cents per serving. If I got the half gallons instead of the individual cartons, I would have saved about $3.50, or the cost of another half gallon. So, it wasn't a horrendous miscalculation. And considering my daughter probably wastes that many ounces on a regular basis when I misjudge how much I pour and give her too much... Maybe I will break even. It's hard to tell.

We paid for everything with the credit card. And for the record, 99.9 percent of the time, I pay the bill in full every month. This month is no exception.