InnNotes.........a bed and breakfast blog: And so the saga continues

Thursday, September 5, 2013

And so the saga continues

Well, the lvy is almost down. It's taken three days. There were two kinds, Grape and English, clinging to all four sides of the house, but mostly in front. The English Ivy was the worst, with very strong tentacles that pulled off the tuck pointing and paint and destroyed some of the wood around the windows, etc. Right now, it looks pretty bad.

They put up scaffolding yesterday in order to reach the ivy at the top of the building, scrape and burn of the tentacles, and start painting the facade. The facade had been painted before I bought the building almost 20 years ago. Although I don't like the idea of painting the brick, I've decided to do so because otherwise, we would have to tuck point at an expense of thousands. It's very common to see buildings here with painted facades. I am going to take pictures today and try to keep a photo log of the rest of the project.

Well, the lvy is almost down. It's taken three days. There were two kinds, Grape and English, clinging to all four sides of the house, but mostly in front. The English Ivy was the worst, with very strong tentacles that pulled off the tuck pointing and paint and destroyed some of the wood around the windows, etc. Right now, it looks pretty bad.

Right now, the guys (three of them) are way up on that scaffolding scraping, torching, and working their way down. What a job! This is the fourth day. It's be at least three more before they finish.

Now that the ivy is down, I see that it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. I'm so hooked on ivy covered cottages (altho my house is definitely not a cottage) that the thought of having the bare brick exposed struck me as not being aesthetically as pleasing...but I think it'll be okay. I think we do have to paint the facade though. The ivy ruined the bricks and the tuck pointing.

I didn't want to have to paint the facade, but I finally came to terms with it. The bricks were in such bad

shape that we had no other choice. I picked out a red brick color and decided to stay with white for the trim. Actually, the Victorians didn't use much white on their houses. Thy liked muted rust, cranberry, bluish-green, gold, and tan. I was going to go with tan, but my trim had been white before and it went well with my Azur blue tiled porch and my urns of colorful flowers. So, I decided to use white again.

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This beautiful, coffee-table cookbook, sponsered by the Bed and Breakfast Association of Kentucky, features a collection of recipes from the Premier Bed and Breakfasts located in the cities, towns, and villages of Kentucky.

The Aleksander House is featured in the cookbook with several wonderful breakfast recipes, which are served at the Inn on a regular basis.

The new cookbook is filled with delicious gourmet recipes and beautiful photographs of prepared dishes, featured Inns, and extraordinary landscapes of Kentucky. It may be purchased at the Aleksander House.

Sweet Potato Shoestrings

We bake our shoestring potatoes instead of deep-frying them because after a certain age your tummy starts to protest too much fat. But don't worry. These fries are still crispy and delicious (compliments of Karina's Kitchen).

Ingredients
1 sweet potato per person
Light olive oil or organic canola oil, as needed
ground cumin,
thyme,
black pepper,
red pepper,
cinnamon*
For serving:Sea saltChampagne or rice vinegar

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into long thin shoestrings. Toss them into a bowl and drizzle with light olive oil; stirring lightly to coat.Generously season them.

My seasoning mix is equal shakes of: cumin, thyme and black pepper; and a little bit of hot red pepper and cinnamon.

Throw them on a baking sheet. Spread evenly- in one layer, if possible.Bake in the upper portion of your oven for about 20 to 30 minutes- until they are tender and sizzling and crispy around the edges.

Season with sea salt immediately. (Adding salt after they roast keeps them crisper.) Serve with a sprinkle of champagne vinegar (at the table) or scarf them down plain.

Delicious Gluten-Free Muffins

1 C. Authentic Foods Pancake & Baking Mix*
1/2 C sugar
1 TBL sugar
1/8 tsp Xanthan gum (optional)
1/8 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 TBL corn or canola oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1/4 C cream
2 TBL water
1/2 C. raisins and/or nuts
paper muffin cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
place paper muffin cups into muffin
tin, spray with baking oil, & set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together first 7 ingredients. In a small bowl, beat together remaining wet ingredients. Add to dry ingredients, and stil until smooth. Add raisins and/or nuts. Divide batter into 6 muffin cups andBake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Muffins should be golden.Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in centercomes out clean.

* may substitute any reputable gluten-free baking mix

Spinach-Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 TBL olive oil
1TBL butter
1 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1/2 cup Mexican cheeses (shredded)
1 cup Swiss cheese (shredded
1 cup chiffonade of fresh spinach
1 tsp basil (dried or fresh, minced)
1/2 tsp dill (dried or fresh, minced)
1/4 tsp Cayene pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
1 pie crust
5 eggs
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup sour creme
grated parmesean (to taste)

Instructions (Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees)

Saute mushrooms in olive oil and butter until browned and slightly crisp. Set aside.

Line a quiche pan with pie crust. Crimp around edges. Combine cheeses, spinach, and seasonings and press into pie shell. Distribute sauteed mushrooms across top of cheese mixture.

Process eggs, half & half, and sour creme together in blender, until smooth. Pour over cheese mixture. Fill to top. Sprinkle with cracked pepper and grated parmesean. Bake 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees. Top should be lightly browned.

Timothy's White Chili

Yield: 6 servings

2-3 8 oz. cans Great Northern Beans
2 LB chicken breasts
1 ½ tsp. oregano
1TBL Olive oil
¼tsp grnd cloves
2 med Onions, chopped
¼ tsp Cayenne
4 Garlic cloves, minced
6 C. Chicken stock or broth
8 oz. Chopped mild green chilies
2tsp. Grnd cumin
3 C. Monterey Jack; grated
1/2 C. Sherry

Garnishes: Salsa, Chopped fresh cilantro, Sour Cream

Saute chicken in heavy large saucepan. until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool, remove skin, & cut into cubes. Heat oil in same pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, then chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves, and cayenne pepper and saute 2 minutes. Add beans and stock and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1/2 hour. Add chicken and 1 cup cheese to chili and stir until cheese melts. Continue to simmer for another 1/2 hour. Add sherry 5 minutes before finished cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with remaining cheese, sour cream, salsa and cilantro. (recipe edited by Aleksander House)

German Baked Apple Pancake (serves 2)

Glazed Apples
2 TBL butter
3 med-lg Grannie Smith apples, cored & sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
Confectioners' sugar
Maple syrup (optional)

Batter
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute apples in 2 tablespoons butter for 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Continue sauteing until just soft. Keep warm. Mix eggs, milk, flour, vanilla and salt is an electric blender.Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter is a large heavy frying pan (preferably iron). Heat for a minute or two on a burner on the stove top. Pour batter into hot pan and place in hot oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and slide pancake on to a plate. Pour sauteed apple over the pancake evenly and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with maple syrup.

Gateau of Crepes

Serves 6

Ingredients:
FOR THE BECHAMEL
1/2 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, plus more for sheet
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese (4 ounces)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

FOR THE ASSEMBLY
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced (1 tablespoon)
5 ounces baby spinach (about 6 cups)
Pinch of crushed red-pepper flakes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon, for squeezing
12 small Basic Crepes

Directions:
Make the Bechamel: Place onion and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and cook until onion is translucent and softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk in a slow, steady stream. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup Gruyere, and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat, add nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper.

Assemble: Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes, and season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Let cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess liquid, and coarsely chop.

Finish
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Reserve 2 tablespoons bechamel. Mix remaining bechamel and spinach in a medium bowl. Butter a rimmed baking sheet. Place 1 crepe on center of sheet, and top with 3 tablespoons spinach mixture. Repeat with remaining crepes and spinach mixture, ending with a crepe. Spread reserved bechamel on top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake until cheese melts and turns golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly, then transfer gateau de crepes to a platter. Cut into wedges, and serve warm.

(Martha Stewart, First published: January 2009)