gazpacho

A summer favorite. Add lump crab meat or left over lobster if there is such a thing. I list amounts for the ingredients, but it is easy to add or omit whatever you like and adjust to taste.

4-5 tomatoes
2 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 ribs celery
2 carrots
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3-4 pieces hearts of palm, sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1/2 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C good quality olive oil
2 2oz. cans V-8
1/3 C fresh chopped cilantro
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

With a paring knife, cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. In a sauce pan, bring water to a boil and blanch tomatoes for a few minutes until the skin begins to split.
Remove and place in an ice bath to stop cooking. Peel and seed, the tomatoes, discard both. Dice remaining "meat" of the tomato. Dice the cucumber, onion, celery and pepper into equal sizes. Crush the garlic. Mix all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Process 1/4 of the vegetable mixture in a food processor until smooth. Stir the processed vegetables with the remaining chopped vegetables.
Whisk the vinegar and olive oil in a bowl. Stir in the Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. Add to the vegetable mixture and mix well. Stir in the vegetable juice and cilantro. Chill, covered in the refrigerator.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with crab, lobster and or sour cream.

Scalloped Potatoes to Die For

This is a Martha Stewart recipe and picture (but it is easy to recreate if you use a mandoline to slice the potatoes). I have slightly altered the recipe, but it is the best scalloped potato recipe since my Dad's sunday dinner potatoes. You can find the original on MS dot com, I have included my changes below. Bake as pictured, or individual servings are fun baked in small ramekins, you will need to adjust baking time. Great thing is . . . you can make ahead and bake the following day.

2 T. butter
2 leeks sliced and rinsed
6 yukon gold potatoes, martha uses russet, I use yukons. slice thin on a mandoline
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1/8 tsp. fresh nutmeg
fresh ground pepper to taste
8 oz. grated Gruyere
4 oz. Parmesan cheese, my addition
1 Cup heavy cream
1 Cup Chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Melt butter saute leeks until they begin to turn golden, remove from heat and set aside. Mix spices in a small bowl. Begin by layering 1/3 of the potatoes,(slightly overlapping the potatoes) season with 1/2 of spices and 1/2 of the leeks and 1/3 of the cheese. Continue with the layers ending with potatoes and cheese. Mix cream and stock in a measuring cup and pour slowly over the potatoes. Cover with parchment and then foil. (mixture can be refrigerated overnight.)
Bake 30 minutes at 350 then increase oven temperature to 425, uncover and cook until top is golden brown and potatoes are fork tender. Let rest for 15 minutes and serve.

Best Cutout Sugar Cookies Ever

We make these every Christmas, Mike has the most relevant cookie designs. Double the recipe, I promise.

1 Cup butter, softened
3/4 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 T. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vamilla
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
FROSTING:
1 Cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (I use almond)
1/4 tsp. salt
1-2 T. milk
Food Coloring
Make extra frosting so you can have plenty of colors to play with.
Cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Add egg, milk & vanilla. Combine flour, bk. powder and salt, gradually mix into butter mixture. Form into disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill at least one hour. Can freeze at this point for later use. Preheat oven to 375. Allow to come to room temp., slightly and roll on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thin. Cut with shape of choice. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 5-8 minutes until lightly brown and remove to wire racks to cool. Meanwhile, mix frosting and tint to desired colors. The frosting can be easily drizzled with a toothpick for intricate designs. Colors can also be layered when frosting is allowed to dry and harden.

Kim's Crab Cakes

Thought it would be great to publish this recipe here. : ) I make them basically the same as your mom, except for the size and I don't fry them in much oil, only about a 1/4 - 1/2 inch in the pan.
For the famous Schuh family way to enjoy, serve them with Worcestershire.

1 lb. backfin lump crab meat, pick over to remove any shell
1 egg
2 T Mayo
1 1/2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 T Worcestershire
1 1/2 T dry mustard, I use dijon if I don't have dry
1 large pinch of dry sage
1 large pinch of dry thyme
salt, pepper and a bit of old bay
1/2 - 1 Cup cracker meal, I sometimes crush my own saltines or bremner wafers
Canola oil to fry



I make the crab cakes smaller than your mom, about the size of a small meatball and then flatten them. Place them on a tray, cover and refrigerate at least one hour so they hold together when frying. Because I make them smaller, I usually just buy regular crab instead of the jumbo lump, it is usually $10 cheaper by the pound.
Mix all the ingredients except the cracker meal. Mix in cracker meal a little at a time, just until they hold together. Refrigerate. Heat oil in a deep skillet or an electric skillet like your mom always used. : ) Fry cakes on both sides until golden, yummy & delicious!!

Short Rib Recipe

4 lbs Short Ribs
3 T olive oil
1/2 head of garlic
1/4 bunch of Thyme
2 C beef stock
1 onion
2 carrots
1 lg. tomato
3 ribs of celery
1 1/2 C red wine
4 T parsley

Season ribs and heat oil in dutch oven. Sear ribs in hot oil on all sides. Remove ribs to a platter. Add veggies to food processor and pulse. In dutch oven, add more oil if needed, add thyme and saute 1 minute, add processed veggies and cook 10 minutes. Pour in wine and stock, bring to a boil. Place seared ribs into sauce, they should be covered and cook 2 1/2 - 3 hours on simmer.
I placed a lid on my pot and put them in the oven to cook about 2 1/2 hours rather than simmer on the stove top. I also placed my quartered veggies on top of the ribs at this point. (pictured above)

short ribs

So . . . last weekend I made the most amazing, fall-off-the-bone, short ribs you have ever tasted. I happened to catch a portion of Tyler Florence's cooking show and in spite of my first instinct to grab the remote and switch to Fox News, I decided to give Tyler a chance.
Boy, after Friday night, Tyler may have redeemed himself in my book. Beep was flying in from Denver and it was the perfect dish to hold in case his flight was delayed.
There's nothing too mysterious about short ribs; some basic ingredients, then sear and roast. The cooking method is simple, decent wine, broth and a few aromatic veggies turn a not so desirable piece of meat into a succulent, , melt in your mouth protein with amazing depths of flavor.
As with all my cooking endeavors, I never follow ALL the rules, who does?, so I am including the original recipe along with my changes. Here is what I did: I added one leek, a little less onion,
nix the tomato, I added 2T tomato paste and about 1/4 cup or more of tomato puree. I think the valuable difference in this recipe is pureeing the veggies, they add a density to the sauce. I also added 1/4 C of water and some peeled and quartered carrots and potatoes on top of ribs to serve as a side veggie. I used one of Beep's favorite new every day wines . . .12 Gauge Cab.
I seasoned the ribs prior to searing with S & P along with Pensey's Italian Seasoning. I love the fennel in that seasoning the licorice flavor is yummy. I use it in so many dishes. Check out the recipe above, do with it what you will! Enjoy.

Bananas Foster Recipe

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 firm-ripe bananas, peeled and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch thick slices
• 1/4 cup banana liqueur
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 6 cups (1/2-inch cubes) day-old French bread
• Vanilla ice cream
• Caramel Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10 by 14-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.

Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup of the brown sugar and the cinnamon and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Add the bananas and cook on both sides, turning, until the bananas start to soften and brown, about 3 minutes. Add the banana liqueur and stir to blend. Carefully add the rum and shake the pan back and forth to warm the rum and flame the pan. (Or, off the heat, carefully ignite the rum with a match and return to the heat.) Shake the pan back and forth, basting the bananas, until the flame dies. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Whisk together the eggs, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the cream, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the cooled banana mixture and bread and stir to blend thoroughly. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake until firm, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

To serve, scoop the pudding onto dessert plates. Top each serving with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with caramel sauce, and serve immediately.

YUM! Banana Foster Bread Pudding

Thanks to my ever diligent sister-in-law cruising food sites, I was the lucky recipient of this fantastic recipe. Courtesy of Emeril's Dlemonico, restaurant this was a breeze to make and a delicious twist on one of my favorite desserts. Of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I never do, but being a dessert I only veered slightly from Emeril's perfection. Pictured above: What could be more heavenly than bananas bubbling away in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. The original recipe is listed above. Here are the changes I made: I cut the recipe in half, it still fillled a 10 inch deep pie plate and was too much for the 5 of us to finish over the course of a weekend. The only other moment I strayed, was to substitute banana rum for the dark rum, for no good reason other than the fact it was all I could find in the liquor cabinet at the time. I didn't bother with the caramel sauce, just substituted Dulce de Leche Hagen Daz.

Schuh Family Favorite New Movie Spot

Our favorite weekend movie spot is the screening room at the Inwood Theater. Beep and I can lounge together on the lovesac built for two while the kiddos find sublime pleasure in the over-sized bean bags. Watching a movie on the big screen in supine position is the way it was meant to be. They even supply you with pillows and a blankie! One negative note of record . . . they don't change the movie very often so we have a couple weeks in between visits. We saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past this weekend, the movie was cute enough and in this environment, Ishtar would be a hit! I give this movie watching experience TWO thumbs up.

2007 Was a Great Year

Our favorite things to do in the Fall, Highland Park Football and the Texas State Fair. Bo appreared in his first play, The Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe.