More Images from Lake Las Vegas

Just received a CD from Ace and Sallie with more images from the mega-reunion at the MonteLago Resort. Ace reportedly stood in line at the Jackson Hole post office for an hour on Christmas Eve to send it. Thanks Ace!

We'll publish some more pictures soon. Meanwhile, if you have any good photos from the Lake Las Vegas shindig, send 'em to Mark DuMond at cafedumond@comcast.net.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Here's one from Mark and Sheri' DuMond in Seattle. (It can also be found on their blog at http://markandsheri.blogspot.com.)

Fried rice is something we've all enjoyed at Chinese restaurants, but not everyone has had success at preparing it at home. We've found that the key to getting a good batch of fried rice out of the wok is cooking and pre-chilling the rice well ahead of time.

Regarding the various ingredients you add to the rice, it's entirely up to your taste buds and what you have on hand. As with many of the recipes we post here, fried rice is something that can absorb a number of things you may have sitting around the kitchen.

This recipe is enough to serve about six. We had it recently along with Indonesian Salad Rolls with Coconut Peanut Sauce (click here for recipe), and some salad greens dressed with a light lime-ginger-soy-sesame dressing.

1.5 cups long grain white rice
3 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup frozen peas, cooked and drained

2 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 red onion, peeled and diced
12 green onions, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 stalks celery, trimmed and diced
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, cored and diced

3 eggs, scrambled

1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1/2 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

Pour the rice into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse with water. Repeat this several times until the water that drains off is relatively clear. Bring the water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, add the rice and lower the heat. Cover the pan and allow to simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes undisturbed. When it's cooked through and all water has been absorbed, remove from heat and allow to cool. After it's cooled down to near room temperature, transfer the pan to a refrigerator and chill for several hours.

Heat the peanut oil in a large wok and add the diced onion. Stir-fry for about a minute, then add the green onions, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for a couple of minute until fragrant.

Add the celery, broccoli and bell peppers and stir-fry for a few minutes, until softened slightly.

Shove the veggies to one side of the wok and move the empty side directly over the heat. Pour in the scrambled eggs and cook until set, stirring often. Chop up the eggs, then stir them into the veggies. (If you're uncomfortable doing the eggs this way, you can always cook them in a separate non-stick skillet, cut into small pieces, then add to the rice.)

Meanwhile, take the chilled cooked rice and break it up by hand into a large bowl, so that you have generally individualized grains. Pour the rice into the wok and stir-fry until cooked through.

Heat the remaining oil in a separate saute pan and add the shrimp. Saute just until cooked through and opaque. Stir the cooked shrimp into the fried rice. If you have anyone in your group who can't eat shellfish or doesn't like shrimp, you can serve the shrimp on the side and everyone can add shrimp to their fried rice at serving time.

Sprinkle the fried rice with the soy sauce, stir and serve immediately.

A final note: Fried rice is a lot of work. If you want your fried rice "easy" then Google the nearest Chinese restaurant and go for the "take-out" option.

Chocolate Mousse

From Sallie DuMond in Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

4 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur

Whisk eggs and sugar in a large metal bowl. Set bowl over sauce pan of simmering water (do not let allow bottom of bowl to touch water) and whisk constantly until candy thermometer registers 160 F, about five minutes.

Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture for 10 minutes.

Place chocolate in another metal bowl over simmering water, stir until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm.

Combine cream and Irish Cream liqueur in a medium bowl; beat to stiff peaks.

Pour lukewarm chocolate over egg mixture and fold together. Fold in cream mixture. Cover and chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Photos from Lake Las Vegas Starting to Arrive!

The first pictures from the gathering at MonteLago are starting to come in. Below is a group shot from the night of the party. (Well, yes, every night was a party pretty much, but the Saturday night one had a little more, um, Patron flowing.)

Bucys, DuMonds, Prestons & More : A Lake Las Vegas Supergroup

This past week saw a gathering of unprecedented scope and size. The core mission was Josh Bucy's official graduation from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV). Folks from all over the USA came to gather at the MonteLago Resort at Lake Las Vegas, including Josh's brothers Jake and Seth who came from Sunriver, Oregon. Josh's parents, John and Connie Bucy, flew in from Boise, Idaho along with some fabulous tailgating pals, Dennis and Carla Casper (they're big fans of the Boise State University Broncos, but then aren't we all?). Even more Bucy's were on hand: Josh’s cousin, Scott Bucy, wife Anne and daughter Hailey attended the party (they actually live in Las Vegas).

Connie's sisters also arrived from various points. Sallie DuMond drove down from Jackson, Wyoming along with husband Ace and son Keaton. Cynthea flew in from Lake Tahoe, and her sons Cole and Ryan arrived from California with their beautiful blonde children and Cole's lovely wife. Tina came down from Boise with longtime family friend Jamie (who also is an official follower of this site). Speaking of our followers, we were honored to have Saleen (who was the inspiration for this blog, as is noted here) along with son Weston and husband Dustin, all of whom came from southern California.

More DuMonds were present, including Mark and Sheri', who flew in from Seattle. A number of Josh's college pals came to join the party, including Steph from Boston, Nick from Washington, D.C., along with many others (anyone who we didn't mention by name, please accept our apologies; we're still waiting for the official email list that was gathered on site).

Lake Las Vegas is a very cool place located in Henderson, Nevada outside the city of Las Vegas. It's a short drive from the famous Vegas "strip" but also seems very far away, with a serene, quiet setting on a gorgeous man-made lake, next to a small village full of shops and restaurants, and a full-scale replica of the famed Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.

This gathering experienced all types of weather, including very high winds, rain, cold --- not the type of conditions one usually associates with the desert southwest!

Many photos from the get-together will be posted here as soon as we get our hands on them.

The Best French Onion Soup

The circuitous route this recipe took to get here was from Connie Bucy ... via Jamie Blenker ... and originally from "Cook's Illustrated."

For the best flavor, make the soup a day or two in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step one, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to three days before proceeding with the recipe.

Soup Ingredients

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

6 large yellow onions (about 4 lbs), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4 inch-thick slices

Table salt

2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (Swanson certified organic free range is recommended)

2 cups beef broth (Pacific beef broth is recommended)

6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine

1 bay leaf

Cheese Croutons Ingredients

1 small baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices

8 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Directions:

For the soup:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7 quart) dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for one hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot after 1 hour.

3. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15-20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6-8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape whatever collects on spoon back into the onions.)

4. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6-8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing two or three more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about five minutes.

5. Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.

6. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:

1. While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in singel layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve:

1. Adjust oven rack six inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl ith one or two baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyere cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, three to five minutes. Let cool five minutes before serving.

Baked Potatoes - Assembly Line Style

At the recent fabulous family get-together in Las Vegas we were faced with the task of feeding a large group of folks. One night it was a bunch of huge Costco pizzas (some of which we dressed up with extra toppings).

On another evening we decided to do baked potatoes. But everybody likes different toppings on their spuds, so how to please 'em all? Easy: A "Baked Potato Bar" with enough stuff to satisfy every palate.


This recipe assumes a dozen people (we had quite a few more than that); you can alter the ingredients based on how many you're feeding.

6 extra large russet baking potatoes (or 12 small)

1 large bunch broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 Tbsp. olive oil

6 strips bacon

2 cups cheese sauce (recipe below)

2 cups prepared chili

2 cups grated monterey jack cheese

2 cups "Saleen's Salsa" (Saleen promised to send us the recipe; maybe this will prompt her to send it along so we can publish it?)

1 cup sour cream

1 stick unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the potatoes for 45 minutes to one hour, depending on size, until cooked well. If using large spuds, cut each in half and put on a serving platter.

While the potatoes are baking, heat the butter in a skillet, add the broccoli florets and saute until cooked through. Chop up the bacon into small dice and cook in a saute pan until crisp.

Put all the condiments and toppings into bowls and invite your hungry guests to grab a spud and work their way through the topping line.

Serve this with a big bowl of green salad.

NOTE: This recipe can also be found on Sheri and Mark DuMond's weblog site here.

CHEESE SAUCE

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. unbleached white flour
1 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes to create a roux. Add the milk and continue to heat over low heat, whisking often. After the sauce begins to thicken, add the grated cheese. Continue heating and whisking until it's hot and bubbly. If it's too thick, add more milk, a bit at a time, until it's the consistency you want. Add cayenne pepper and salt, and serve hot.

An overlooked "food movie" - Chocolat

Back in late October, we published a post describing some cool films that have food as a centerpiece. Every now and then, we're going to find new movies to include, and we'll report on some that were simply overlooked.

Such is the case with Chocolat. The movie came out in 2000 with a certain "Oscar pedigree" -- director Lasse Hallstrom had been twice nominated, star Juliette Binoche had won for her work in The English Patient, Judi Dench had been nominated twice by then and has been several times since, Lena Olin was a former nominee, and of course Johnny Depp would go on to future Academy Award consideration.

In fact, Chocolat did earn five Oscar nominations (best picture, best actress, best supporting actress, best music and best adapted screenplay). Alas, it didn't win any. That was the year of Traffic and Gladiator, so a simple little confection (pun intended) like Chocolat didn't stand a chance.

Like all so-called "food movies," this one isn't really about food. But it certainly wouldn't be the same film without culinary delights, either. Chocolat is about love, faith, religion, family, tolerance, prejudice, feminism, redemption, life, death, and ... well, chocolate. The entire flick takes place in a small town in the French countryside and is quite lovely to look at.

This movie is rated PG-13 and is appropriate for everyone except very young children. The sensuality is there, but toned down. Almost no profanity, but there is a scene of violence by an abusive husband which might be shocking to some. Chocolat pops up on cable from time to time. If you like romantic movies, or the countryside of France, or chocolate, or Johnny Depp for that matter, check it out. You might find it to be delicious.

Lorraine's Coffee Cake

This recipe comes to us from Karan Bedell, who lives on the legendary Rogue River in southern Oregon with her husband Pete, who says this particular dish is "a meal unto itself, when properly prepared and baked." So do it up proper, folks.

The name of the dish is a bit more mysterious than you might think. When asked about who "Lorraine" is, Pete gave us a clue: A song about a "Not So Sweet Lorraine" by Country Joe and the Fish. You can listen to it here -- and draw your own conclusions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour either two- layer cake pans or one rectangular cake pan.

[Recipe calls for sour milk: Pour 1 Tbsp. vinegar into measuring cup and fill the rest up with milk to 1 cup mark. Set aside.]

2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup oil
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Combine in a large bowl (flour, sugars, oil, nutmeg, and salt). Mix well. Remove ¾ cup of mixture (packed) and reserve for topping.

Add 1 tsp. baking soda to the sour milk.

Sprinkle 1 tsp. baking powder over flour mixture. Mix in.


2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour milk (to which the soda has been added)
½ tsp. – 1 tsp. Almond flavoring
¼- ½ cup chopped walnuts or almonds (sliced)

Combine the remaining flour mixture (to which the baking powder has been added) with the eggs, milk, and flavoring. Mix thoroughly. Pour into pans and sprinkle with reserved mixture and nuts.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Straight from the Mark & Sheri DuMond Site: "Bruschetta ala DuMond"

Here's one we lifted directly from the Sheri & Mark DuMond blog (http://markandsheri.blogspot.com). It's one of those dishes you can make whatever way you want, depending on what you have on hand.

First of all, please realize that bruschetta comes in thousands of combinations and varieties. Every time we make it, it's different from any other time we make it. The recipe below is simply a guideline and represents how we did it the last time we made it. Try new and different combinations each time you have bruschetta!

Makes 4 servings.

12 slices (1/2 inch thick) bread cut from a large baguette
2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup herbed white beans (click here for recipe)
2 portobello mushrooms
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 ripe tomatoes, sliced into eight slices
12 spears asparagus, trimmed of thick woody ends
1/4 lb. medium cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cored, roasted and peeled
1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella, thickly sliced
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 lb. fresh spinach, stemmed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Brush each bread slice with olive oil. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and put in oven for about five minutes, until the slices begin to toast. Remove from oven and set aside.

Bump the oven temp up to 45o.

Brush the portobello mushrooms with oil and grill until cooked through and well grill-marked. Slice the mushrooms so you have about 16 slices. (You can saute sliced portobellos if you can't grill, but grilling is always better.)

Smear four bread slices with the herbed bean mixture, top with four slices of mushroom, and scatter goat cheese on top. Put the slices on the baking sheet while prepping the other bruschettas.

Grill the trimmed asparagus spears until cooked through and grill-marked. Place two slices of tomato each on four slices of toasted bread. Top each with three asparagus spears, and top each with sliced cheddar to cover. Set these four on the baking sheet while prepping the final bruschettas.

Roughly chop or slice the roasted bell pepper. Heat the olive oil in a no-stick skillet. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the lemon juice and the spinach. Cook a couple minutes more until the spinach is completely wilted and cooked down and the liquids have evaporated. Top each of the remaining four bread slices with garlicky spinach, followed by roasted red pepper, and top each with sliced fresh mozzarella.

Add these four bruschettas to the baking sheet and put it in the oven. Keep an eye on the bruschettas so nothing burns. After several minutes, check every minute, and remove when most of the cheeses look melted and bubbly.

Serve each person one each of the three different bruschettas. They go great with either a Caesar or Mediterranean salad.