The Last Viceroy

**1/2 shot Brandy or Kentucky Bourbon
1/4 lemon juice (fresh)
Fill cup with hot brewed Oolong Tea (Revolution Dragon Eye Oolong)
1/2 Teaspoon of honey
optional - cinnamon stick.

**Here at LATC.com we practice safe drug and alcohol combination and usage. Otherwise I would fully endorse an entire shot of alcohol.

Broil until just browned.

Served with roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus and syrah

4 to 5 Large Russet Potatoes: sliced thin with or without skins
1/2 pound of Emmental cheese: grated
1/2 pound of Gruyere cheese: grated
1 cup of finely chopped onions
1 Smoked pork joint or ham hock: cut from the bone in small pieces
2 Tablespoons of rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste

Layer the potatoes in a 8 X 16 baking dish. Over each layer of the potatoes, salt and pepper, layer cheese, ham and pour about a 1/4 cup of cream and repeat until all the potatoes are in the dish. On the top layer sprinkle the rosemary. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 for 30 minutes; cover the potatoes and turn the oven down to 350 - bake until finished. Depending the the depth of your layers and thickness of your slices it could be up to another 30 minutes to an hour. 

Serve with a Riesling or buttery Chardonnay. A heavily oaked chardonnay may compete with the earthiness of the cheese.

Variations:
Dairy friendly vegetarians - leave out the ham, its just as delicious and rich without it.
Ham hock phobic? - use a high quality black forest style ham.
Cheese lovers - Use all gruyere if you can afford it. Gruyere is expensive especially the real thing, that’s why I mix it. Plus the cheese can be quite pungent and rich if you aren’t prepared for it.
Can be served as a main dish or side dish.

This type of green is simple and fast. You could almost sauté it with anything and it would taste lovely. I have a recipe that my daughter and I developed together.

Ingredients
2 bunches of baby bok choy or 1 bunch of regular bok choy
4 Tablespoons of Worcestershire
2-3 cups of organic beef broth
2-3 strips of bacon
1 cup of sliced mushrooms (preferably, dark mushrooms. Last night I used Shitake which were divine in the past I’ve used crimini and porcini)
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/4 cup of sliced onions
1 Tablespoon of garlic

Preparation
Cut bacon into small pieces and sauté until brown
Add onion, garlic, Worcestershire and pine nuts sauté for 2-3 minutes
Add broth and mushrooms and bring to fast boil
Add bok choy stems first and allow to cook over high heat for 3 minutes (baby bok choy) or 5 minutes (regular bok choy)

Present on a large plate with with the mushrooms, bacon and pine nuts heaped onto the top.
Ladle a bit of the sauce onto the plate.
This is a really healthy and filling dish - you can serve it as a side dish or eat it as a main dish.

Variations:
- Its not necessary to use the bacon however I find pork fat makes everything better.
- You can use Vegetable broth with Worcestershire if you are a vegetarian, use darker mushrooms for more flavor.
- Safe the sauce for roux or stew or as a soup base. Its easy to freeze and will last for a week or two.

Served with:
Grilled and marinated rib steak
Baked potatoes

Wine:
1 Bottle of southern French Red

2 large containers of organic beef broth
2 cups of red wine (generally a merlot, syrah or blended red works well)
1 pound beef, I use round steak or any good quality stew meat and cut it into large pieces
3 tablespoons of flour (adding additional flour at the end if you like it thick) or you can use corn starch 
1/4 cup tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of basil
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1/2 tablespoon of oregano
3 whole cloves of garlic
1/4 of red onion (cut into small to medium pieces)
4 large potatoes (cut into medium pieces, skins on or off)
6 carrots (peeled and cut into medium pieces)
Salt/Pepper to taste ( I recommend salting at the beginning and then in the middle if it isn’t salty enough)

 While I’m cutting the other ingredients I let the beef steep in the wine, spices, onions and Worcestershire. All the spices are fresh or dried fresh and really make your house smell lovely.

(At this point if you haven’t already start drinking the rest of the bottle of wine in a ration of two for the cook, one for the pot.)

Once you finish cutting the vegetables, turn the heat up on the beef and add flour. Stir vigorously until a roux of sorts is made with the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Begin to add beef broth and drink more wine. After all of the broth is added begin to add potatoes and carrots. Let the mixture come to a boil and then turn down on a low heat until the carrots and potatoes are cooked through. Drink more wine…. Add the corn starch mixture according to the directions on the package or add more flour until you get desired thickness.

Drink more wine Serve stew with red wine a baguette with butter and a creamy French cheese. And its always better the second day.

Drink Count: 1/2 Bottle of Organic Spanish red wine

Menu:

• Shrimp cocktail, brie and baguette, fresh fruit (should have been Bruschetta)
• Marinated and flame grilled flank steak
• Shitake Mushroom &  Pancetta salad tossed with vinaigrette and pine nuts served over wild greens
• Mashed and browned chive and garlic potatoes
• Dark chocolate cakes covered in creme and raspberries
• Crap loads of wine for those of us who aren't pregnant.

 Why did I make the bruschetta? I was shopping leisurely thinking that the lunch wasn't until 6 or really I wasn't sure when it was. I just knew it wasn't at 1:30. In fact I was considering a pedicure until my Palm Pilot started beeping at me. I set aside my gelato to try and discover what all the fucking beeping was about. Yeah, it was my 15 minute warning alarm, the shower was in 15 fucking minutes and I was standing in some swanky kitchen store molesting French presses.

I should be shot or I should start drinking earlier in the day; at least then I would have an excuse. 

Orginally Published, 2006 Easter 

I took a few days off from work, from school, from everything. The children loaded a minivan with their father, his fiance and fiances children. The Brady Bunch went to Disneyland; I chose the couch. I remember a time when the children would leave town and I would have a list of social occasions, clubs and men to entertain. However my phone sits silently, patiently awaiting me to get a life and the energy.

It's the end of the quarter at school and obviously the beginning of the consumer holiday season. I'm not a holiday fan - I'm not a fan of consumerism, unless it involves shoes and lipstick. My depression usually begins to set in when the kids start talking about their Halloween costumes. I realize this and head straight to the pharmacy and the liquor store.

My Christmas Wish: I wish that my pharmacy would relocate next to the liquor store

This season is all about the food for me. When I was young my family spent numerous holidays in the soup line, at a shelter or simply eating TV Turkey dinners. This is quite economical; $12.00 to feed a family is a good deal. We had to be creative when we cooked for six on a budget of less than a $100 a month but somehow we did it. This was especially difficult during the holidays. Creativity was required, since I (a 10-13 year old) was the main cook for our family.
Every year as an adult I spend time thinking up new recipes that squeeze by at a much higher cost,  my Mother would cringe with such frivolous spending that didn't involve a dime bag of pot. However with my schedule; my creative cooking spirit has slightly dwindled.

I had prepared to spend four days at home alone while the children were away visiting Mickey Mouse and his friends. My fridge was stocked for my short winter hibernation. Hibernation interrupted by a whim. I wanted French Onion Soup and a loaf of fresh French bread. Peel off fur coat to go to the grocery. While I was at the store I found: Italian mushrooms, heavy cream, white wine and bacon. I looked into my basket and realized I had the perfect beginnings to a mushroom soup. It was still early - I could decide later.

Three hours later I began by sauteing onions and garlic with the bacon. Over time I slowly added the wine and the stock. I cooked off the alcohol and drank some more; I let it simmer while I sliced mushrooms and crushed black pepper and thought dreamily of roasted potatoes. I started taking notes and calculating measurements, adjusting this spice only to take away another. Simple is better, another drink and another mushroom.

An hour and a half later my mind was made up and my soup was done. Cream of mushroom with roasted red potatoes. Ah the delight of sitting down with a loaf of French Bread, a bottle of wine and an entire pot of creamy soup to myself! I thought about it for a moment. A simple delight spent by ones-self. Alas, I invited a friend. I could never prove my creative genius if it were to go without witness.

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped red onions
2 strips of bacon
4 tablespoons of flour
2 cloves chopped garlic
2-3 cups of sliced crimini mushrooms
2-4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (it's ok to use both)
1 - 2 cups white or rose wine ( I used an Italian Nebbiolo Rose - drink the rest yourself)
2-4 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
4 chopped red roasted potatoes baked in the oven with skins left on
(these measurements are not exact because I just made it up as I went. These are from the notes I made while I was making the soup.)

Saute chopped onion, garlic and butter until bacon is crispy. Add wine and flour and cook until the alcohol is cooked off, add a little stock if it gets too thick. Add mushrooms, saute for a few minutes then add cream and bring to a slow boil, slowly add the rest of the stock, add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes checking to make sure consistency is creamy (you can use extra flour if it doesn't thicken up.) Add cooked potatoes and let cook on low heat for another five or ten minutes.

Serve with fresh green onion garnished on the top.

Variation: Use beef broth and red wine and more onions (instead of the chicken broth/white wine) for a French onion flavor. If you use the beef broth/red wine variation, put soup in oven safe dish and bake shredded gruyere over the top of the soup until its just begins to turn brown. Note use a blended red wine if you choose to use red wine, it help mellow out the flavor. The key to this soup is to make is warm and comforting -- it doesn't need to knock your socks off with in-your-face flavor.

Remember: Drink lots of wine while cooking and make it with love -- no xanax required to enjoy this soup. I had one of the new 2005 Beaujolais it was delicious and paired with it quite well.