Luci's Tasty Adventures

New Website Location!!

2010-07-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Thanks for stopping by, I've recently moved to my own domain, you can now find this blog at http://www.racerhino.com

Please update your bookmarks!

Thanks ;)

June 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

2010-07-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I'm a little late posting my challenge this month. I had my Meringue done on time and I was pleased with how easy making meringue can be. The second part of this challenge was to make Mascarpone cheese, I have made that before in past challenges so that was easy for me. And lastly to make the Mousse was really simple and really tasty.

The only beef I have with this challenge is the actual look of the desert. I made many different size and shape Meringues and tried to present them in different ways to make them look attractive. Don't get me wrong this dessert is really well put together and the flavor is great it's just not pretty. The chocolate Meringue topped with the chocolate mousse seemed to much of the same color. Next time I think I will switch this up and use different things to flavor the Meringue or the Mousse. Any way here is the recipe and some pictures.

Chocolate Meringue:

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
¼ cup confection sugar
½ cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and beat them until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form.

Sift the confection sugar into the eggs along with the cocoa powder. Fold it in slowly till the mixture comes together.

Put the Meringue in a pastry bag with a large tip. Pipe out the meringue into the size and shape you would like your dessert to be. This can be one great big meringue for a family style service or small individual serving sizes. I made individual size meringues.

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse:

1 ½ cups heavy cream
zest of one lemon
9 ounces of 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups homemade mascarpone cheese
pinch of nutmeg *** ps say no to NutMeg***

Method:

Place ½ cup of the heavy cream and lemon zest in a sauce pan over medium heat. As it heats up add the chocolate. Once the chocolate starts to melt and become smooth remove the mixture from the heat and set aside till it is room temperature.

Place the mascarpone and remaining cup of cream in a mixing bowl along with the nutmeg. Whip it till it is blended together, do not over do this part as the mascarpone can break.

Take about 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture and add it to the chocolate. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and add it to the top of your meringues.

Serve with some fresh fruit, enjoy!

Macaroni Salad

2010-06-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

This is a family recipe that I have altered a tiny tinny bit. Basically Mom adds more mustard to hers then I do. We have had this salad at countless family gatherings, and I know it is still a top choice for both of my Brothers. It is really easy to make and I whipped some up this morning for small dinner party.

Aaron and I are going over to my younger brother Kurtis's house to have dinner with his family. We are most looking forward to this dinner and hoping that little Cameron will love the salad and he will carry the tradition on for another generation.

I understand that most people already have a family salad whether it be potato, pasta, or macaroni. This is one of those recipes that is a crowd pleaser. You can make large quantity's of this for large crowds, and whenever I make it I always get requests for the recipe. Looking for a simple side that is a crowd pleaser? This is your dish. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1lb macaroni pasta
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
4-6 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 ounces black olives, sliced
3 hard boiled eggs
Best Foods Mayonnaise to taste (1/4-1/2 cup, spoon in slowly)
2-3 Tbs Yellow Mustard
Kosher salt
Freshly grated Black Pepper
Paprika

Method:

Boil water and cook macaroni per manufactures directions.

When macaroni is done drain in sink and rinse with cold water from the tap.

Put Macaroni in a large mixing bowl add a spoon of mayo and throughly coat the Macaroni to prevent it from sticking together.

Add celery, onions and olives.

Slowly add mayonnaise and a little mustard. Mix well. If it seems dry add more mayo (trick is not to add too much Mayo, so add it slow).

Chop two of the hard boiled eggs up and mix into Macaroni.

Generously add salt and pepper to taste.

Let Salad sit in the fridge for a few hours up to overnight, and then check it. If it seems to dry add a spoon of mayo, test for salt and pepper.

When you are ready to serve slice the last egg and arrange on top of salad. Add paprika, serve.

June 2010 - Daring Cooks Challenge : Pâté

2010-06-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

This was my first Pate and I was really impressed how easy it was to make. The hardest part for me was working with a mini prep instead of a proper food processor. I had to grind up my pate in several separate batches. It was messy and I was very glad that my Sous –Chef Aaron was there to help me mop up the madness that took over my small counter top.

This was very special challenge for me. My Grandmother and Aunt Karen were visiting from Chicago, and this was the first time they got to taste some of my food. I have cooked for them in the past but it was so long ago and I have learned so much since the last time they had anything I cooked or baked. My mother hosted a nice sized party at her house and I decided to bring the pate and the homemade sourdough bread along.

When I unveiled the foil from the small loaf tins everyone gasped at the beautiful strips of bacon that seemed to invite everyone to want to try a little. Leave it to bacon to get even the pickiest eaters to try something new. I peeled one piece of bacon away and asked my Grandmother to smell it; she said “that smells Bohemian”. We all laughed, and I smiled; it truly was a very special day.

You can find my sourdough bread recipe here; it comes in so handy to have a sourdough starter living on your kitchen counter. I served my Pate with Dijon Mustard, Watercress, Radishes, and Cornichons. I served my Grandmother and my Aunt some Pate first and they just loved it. I made one round with all the toppings and then told everyone they were on their own. My Dad loved the Cornichons, but he added that he would love to add some onions.

I plan on learning how to make other versions of Pate and upgrading my food processor so making an appetizer mid week for a weekend party should be a snap. Not only will it be easy but it will be a cheap way to entertain. I think I spent 6 dollars total on everything for this challenge. I love this challenge because it can be made in advance, and it is actually better if you make it days in advance. It is cheap, easy, and delectable!

Lastly I would like to clear a few things up about The Daring Kitchen. I had some questions from some family and friends regarding the challenges, and one person even said do you challenger yourself?? Any way I was put off because these people must not read my blog. If you would like to learn more about The Daring Kitchen please visit this link. Daring Bakers’ and Cooks are a very large group of cooks and bakers that blog and every month we receive a challenge that usually is out of most of our cooking comfort zones. It’s a great group and I was introduced to it by Sarah Belaire. Thank you Sarah, you and your hubby rock.

Ingredients:

1 lb pork liver (or beef or combination) – I used only beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb pork belly, or pork fat back
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander (ground or crushed)
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 Tbps coarse freshly cracked peppercorns
2 Tbps cabernet sauvignon
4 bay leaves
1 pound of bacon

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop up the pork fat, liver, shallots and garlic. If you are lucky enough to have a real food processor add the ground pork, pork fat, liver shallots, garlic, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper blend till it is smooth.

Transfer liver mixture to a bowl and combine with the eggs and wine. Line a loaf pan with bacon; I used two small loaf pans for a more petite presentation.

Place one bay leaf at the bottom of each loaf pan and then distribute the liver mixture evenly into pans.

Top each loaf with a bay leave and seal it with the over lapping bacon.

Place loaf pans in a large baking dish, fill the dish with water till the water covers two thirds of the pan. Bake for an hour and half. After they are done baking let them rest on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

After they have rested for 15 minutes cover them in foil. You are going to see a lot of grease and fat around the pate loafs, they will actually be floating in it. The goal is to get the loafs submerged in the fat so the pate can soak it back up. I stacked one loaf pan on top of the other and then placed a weight on top. This seemed to work well. I left them like that in my refrigerator for 2 days before serving.

To server remove the pate from the loaf pan. I removed the bacon; however, you can leave the bacon on if you prefer. Plate on a nice dish and serve with some nice sourdough bread and your favorite pate condiments. Enjoy!

Easy Mode Cheesy Scallion Drop Biscuits

2010-06-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah so I used self rising flour, mhm I did. Don’t you be judging me!

It was in my pantry going to waste. I really don’t have any recipes in my repertoire that call for self rising flour. In fact I think this is the second time I have ever used it. First time was for a daring bakers’ challenge of British style pudding.

Basically if you have self rising flour this recipe is pretty darn tasty and easy to make to boot. You could substitute milk for the cream or buttermilk or do a mixture like I did.

This recipe was inspired by Miss Andy Pants. I mocked her one day for trying to make biscuits out of self rising flour; I told her it was a bad idea. I am wrong, I was really wrong, and little Miss Andy was right.

These biscuits are a great way to start out a Sunday morning, or a fabulous way to rescue some leftovers. Give them a try you won’t be disappointed.

PS Grandma that is one of your plates, oh and also if you would like to make rolled biscuits follow the recipe and add about 1/4 less liquid.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup milk
¼ cup cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
1 ½ cups self rising flour
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
2 scallions chopped
1/3 cup cheddar cheese, cubed

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In mixing bowl combine the salt, pepper, and flour. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter till the butter is smaller than a pea size in shape. Slowly add the milk and cream and stir till it is just combined. Add in the cheese and scallions and give it one more stir.

Drop the biscuits on a parchment lined sheet pan; try to make them uniform in size. This is something I really don’t ever get right, but I always aim to get the same size cookie or biscuit. Bake the biscuits for about 15 minutes till they are golden brown. Slide them off the sheet pan onto a cooling rack. Cool for as long as you can resist them and enjoy! Makes about 12-16

Scallop and Shrimp Spaghetti

2010-06-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the photo. Gosh she is pretty. Some of my dishes photo really well; and then there is this pasta. This dish steals all the thunder of any of my other posts (well maybe bacon looks better, but you get the point). Rarely do I get a photo that demonstrates how truly wonderful my food taste, well that up in till now. This is one of those moments, let’s just stop and take in the beauty of this pasta. The colors and textures are so vivid; I bet you could almost smell it. . . Can’t you?

This recipe does not need to be made with both scallops and shrimp, it does not need to be made with jumbo sized shrimp and large scallops. The cooking time just needs to be adjusted depending on the size of the seafood you choose. So if all you have is shrimp, use shrimp. Use what you have.

A few key things to keep in mind, if you choose to use scallops, make sure they are dried completely before putting them in the pan. The same goes for the shrimp, but I am more diligent about it when it comes to scallops. Wet scallops will equal no crust. Every loves crust right? Something else to keep in mind is you really need to have everything prepped before you start cooking. You totally need to get your Mes en plas on. This dish cooks fast, so basically it takes 8 minutes for the pasta too cook. This dish takes about 10 minute’s grand total to make. So make sure the pasta water is boiling before you start the seafood.

Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded, and diced
4 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade at the last minute right before serving
¼ lemon, juiced
3/4 cup white wine
11 ounces spaghetti noodles
½ lb large shrimp, cleaned, tail on
2-3 scallops per person
kosher salt
freshly grated black pepper
olive oil

Please note photo was taken after I seared the scallops and shrimp.

Method:

Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the pasta. Wait for the water to boil, heat a large sauce pan over medium high heat. You need to make sure that sauce pan is hot before you start searing the scallops.

Add 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil in the sauce pan. Sprinkle the tops of the dried scallops with kosher salt and pepper. Place the scallops’ salt and pepper side down in the sauce pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the other side of the scallops. The trick to scallops is not to overcook them. I did mine just under 2 minutes per side.   So after about a minute and a half use a nice spatula and flip the scallops. Try not to lose the pretty crust that has built up on the scallop. That’s the tasty part! Right after you flip the scallops add the spaghetti to the boiling water and set your timer. After the scallops are done remove them from the sauce pan, loosely tent them.

Keep the sauce pan on, add more olive oil if it is needed and do the same process with the shrimp. They need to be dried, salt and peppered and cooked for about a minute a side. After they are done place them on a plate and tent.

Working quickly add a splash of olive oil to the pan and sauté the onions and garlic for a few minutes.   Sprinkle them with a little kosher salt to help them cook down faster. Once there is less than 4 minutes left on the spaghetti add the diced tomatoes to the pan. Add the wine and reduce down by half. At this point the spaghetti should be done, drain it and toss it in the tomato sauce. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the pasta, and add two basil leaves that have been cut chiffonade style.

Plate the pasta and then add the scallops and shrimp on top and garnish with the fresh basil. Sit back and enjoy with some wine. . . trust me you will love this recipe.

Serves 4

May 2010 - Daring Bakers' Challenge : Piece Montée (Croquembouche)

2010-05-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

After making Pâte à choux for the first time I feel pretty impressed with myself. Learning how to work with the dough and cook the flour prior to adding the eggs is truely the hard part of making Pâte à choux. If you don't cook the dough long enough in the sauce pan you will end up with round jelly dounut looking Pâte à choux rather then big puffy clouds that are begging to be filled with tasty delights.

For this challenge I made the Pâte à choux, the pastry filling, and the Chocolate dipping sauce from scratch. The hardest part I had with this challenge was making my mounted piece look pretty. The second hardest part was really have no one to share this yummy desert with. Aaron and I ate it, don't get me wrong.. I just would of liked to serve it to family and friends. Here are my photos, if you would like to see the recipe please go to this link. I did not have time to include my method of making the recipe, I started back to work this week and things have been busy.

on nom nom nom

Daring Cooks Challenge May 2010: Enchilada Stack

2010-05-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

As you can see my Enchilada Stack is not green. Last month I worked on making some Chile Verde and felt that I would give making a red sauce a try instead. I made homemade corn tortillas and stacked the enchiladas with olives as an ode to my Mother's enchilada influence.

Please note that I made a large amount of enchilada sauce to freeze and use again on another day.

Enchilada Sauce:

3 Guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 Ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 cups of hot water
1 large, or two small yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground oregano
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 ½ pounds fresh tomato
1-2 serrano chiles, halved and seeded

Corn Tortilla:

1 ½ cup masa flour
1 cup warm water
¼ tsp kosher salt
tortilla press

Enchilada Stack:

Roasted chicken meat, shredded (white, dark, or both)
white onion, chopped
jack cheese, grated
black olives, chopped for the inside, some whole for the garnish
Queso fresco cheese, garnish
cilantro leaves, garnish
radishes, thinly sliced, garnish
avocado, sliced, garnish

Enchilada Sauce Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place clean tomatoes in a large glass heat proof dish. Roast the tomatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, turning once. The skin should start to shrivel up and fall off.

After the tomatoes have cooled down remove the skin and discard.

Add the garlic and serrano chiles to the blender and then put the peeled tomatoes on top along with the cumin and oregano. Puree for about 20 seconds, you don't want to bust up the tomato seeds themselves because then the sauce will become bitter. Pour the sauce into a glass bowl and set aside. I try to always use nonreactive cook items when cooking with tomatoes.

Place the stemmed, and seeded Guajillo and Ancho chiles in a small sauce pan. Cover them with water and bring the water to a boil. Once the water boils turn the water off and let the chiles steep till them are plump and hydrated.

Remove the chiles from the water and place them in a blender. Taste the water the chiles stewed in if it tastes bitter discard. If it does not taste bitter add one cup chile water plus one cup tap water to the blender. Puree the chiles till the are completely blended. Run the chile sauce through a fine mesh strainer.

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat and saute the onions in vegetable oil till they are translucent. Add the pureed tomato and chili mixture. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste for flavor. You might need to add salt or even sugar to the sauce depending on the ripeness of your tomatoes.

Corn Tortilla Method:

Mix mesa with salt, and cover it with warm water. Stir it till it is loosely combined and then cover it for 20 minutes. Come back and form it into a large ball, you may need to add more water to help it come together; add 1 Tbsp at a time. Section the dough into 12 triangles.

As you can see mine are not all the same size. Whoopsie!

Roll them into little balls and press them out in the tortilla press.

Store them between sheets of parchment paper before and after you cook them. Heat a large skillet, preferably cast iron over medium high heat. Cook each tortilla for about 30-40 seconds a side. Serve them right away or store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Tortilla Stack Method:

Basically I heated a small amount of peanut oil in a skillet. Toasted each tortilla and then dipped it into the heated enchilada sauce. I stacked mine with layers of chicken, white onion, jack cheese, and sliced olives. I baked them for about 20 minutes at 350 just till the cheese started melted. I plated them and garnished with whole olives, fresh avocado slices, sliced radishes, cilantro, and Queso fresco cheese.

Great challenge, and a great way to spend Cinco de Mayo

Julia's Roast Chicken - Poulet Rôti

2010-05-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

This recipe cracks me up, mostly because Julia try to help you create a spit roasted chicken without the use of a spit. The basic technique for cooking whole poultry is common in most cookbooks, first cook the bird at a high temperature and then lower the temperature to complete the roast. I do the same thing when I cook turkeys.

In Julia's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking she states you can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roasted chicken. I believe that, I love that. Julia goes on to explain what makes a good roasted chicken, juicy meat, browned crispy skin, buttery flavor. She explains that to master cooking a bird you need to learn to listen to it crackle and pop in the oven, and most importantly make sure it continually gets basted.

Trader Joe's has some really nice roasting chickens and I would recommend them for this recipe.

Ingredients:

4-6 lb roasting chicken
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 carrot, cut into thirds
1 yellow onion, quartered
3 feet of kitchen twine

for basting: a small sauce pan containing 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, 1Tbsp olive oil, and a basting brush.

Method:

Estimated roasting time for a 5 pound bird is 1 ½ hours

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt and 1 Tbsp butter.

Truss the chicken, for this I used Thomas Kellers method instead of Julia's. I did this because I did not have access to a trussing needle. Place the chicken on a large plate or tray with the legs pointing toward you. Wrap the string under the birds neck, pulling the strings over the breast line. Make a knot under he breasts to plump them up (you can see in the later pictures that I did not knot it there and it popped up). Then cross the strings and wrap them around the opposite drumstick twice and then bring the drumsticks together and knot them to finish. Keller normally also tucks the wings under, I started my bird with the wings tucked under but then found with Julia's method of rotating the bird while it cooked would not allow the wings to stay in the tucked position.

Place the chicken breast side up on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Strew the carrot and onion around in the roasting pan. Rub the rest of the butter all over the top of the chicken.

Now this is the tricky part. Julia's instructions are to brown the chicken at 425 for 15 minutes turning it every 5 minutes. My oven is an apartment oven and it does not hold heat well. Her instructions say to open the oven after 5 minutes baste and turn the chicken over on left side, let it cook for 5 more minutes and turn it on the right side. Basically breast side up for 5, left drumstick up for 5, and then left drum up for 5. Basting it while you do the flips. I did this every 10 minutes instead of the instructed 5 minutes. Mostly because I don't think my oven was holding the temperature properly.

So after you finish flipping the bird around for 15 minutes or a half hour if you have a crappy oven; turn the oven down to 350 degrees- leave the chicken on it's side and baste every 8-10 minutes. Halfway through the roasting time turn the chicken on it's other side, and salt it with a ¼ tsp of kosher salt. 15 minutes before the estimated roasting time is up turn the chicken breast side up and salt it again with ¼ tsp kosher salt; continue basting.

The chicken is done when a it reaches 165 degrees, or as Julia says you might see a sudden rain of splutters in the oven, a swelling of the breast and slight puff of the skin, the drumstick is tender when pressed and can be moved in its sockets.

Place the done chicken on a carving board and remove the trussing string. Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes before carving.

If you care to make a pan sauce remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the roasting pan. Place roasting pan over a burner and heat over medium heat. Stir in 1 minced shallot and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup chicken stock and boil rapidly over high heat scraping all the bits from the roasting pan. Transfer the sauce to a sauce pan if you wish or keep it in the roasting pan. After the sauce has reduced by half and 1 Tbsp of butter and serve immediately.

Shrimp Risotto

2010-05-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Before I started making Risotto I assumed it was a fancy dish that required time and fancy ingredients to make. I find myself making Risotto often with left over items. Cheese that is almost past its prime, last weeks leftover veggies all are good things to experiment with when making Risotto. I always have homemade stock in my freezer so all I really need is a few items to whip up a tasty dinner.

Ingredients:

½ to 1 lb raw shrimp, size does not matter.. ./giggle
1 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt
freshly grated pepper
½ cup Chardonnay
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio (risotto) rice
4-5 cups shellfish stock, heated
¼ cup cream, heated
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ smoked Gouda
3 green onions, chopped

Method:

After you have cleaned the shrimp heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Dry the shrimp, if the shrimp you are using has shells leave them on and remove them after they are cooked. Add the olive oil to the hot skillet. Sprinkle one side of the dried shrimp with kosher salt and freshly grated pepper. Place the shrimp into the skillet seasoned side down. Season the other side of the shrimp with the salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp about a minute and a half for each size, if you are using smaller shrimp adjust the cooking time accordingly.

After the shrimp are done, remove them from the pan and set aside. Once the shrimp are cool enough to handle take the shells off all of them and leave the tails on 8 of the shrimp for garnish, chop the rest of the shrimp up into bite size pieces. If you prefer you can chop all the shrimp up, I just think leaving a few shrimp whole to garnish the top of each plate makes a nice presentation.

Keep the heat on the pan and cook the onions and garlic for 4 minutes, or till they are tender. Add the risotto rice to the pan, and saute it for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with the chardonnay, after the wine completely reduces start to add the shellfish stock. Add a half a cup at a time.

Let the rice absorb all the liquid before adding more, and stir the risotto constantly. This process should take about a half hour.

Test the rice after a half hour and if it is soft and feels done, stop adding stock.

Once the risotto is soft add the warm cream. Let the cream get absorbed into the rice and then add the cheese.

After you mix in the cheese add the green onions (save some for garnish), and the chopped shrimp.

Plate with a few whole shrimp and some green onions. Serve immediately. Serves 4 for a main course, and 6-8 for a small appetizer.

April 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Steak and Kidney Pudding

2010-04-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

For this challenge I drew inspiration from Esther, Audax and from this video. I went whole hog in and found suet from a butcher shop in Los Gatos, Ca. I had to render the fat down and turn it into a lard type substance, I did not post any of those photos because I don't think people really want to see that part. If I make this again I will just use vegetable shorting or butter. I am glad I had a chance to cook with suet; however, it is just not healthy, or a practical ingredient for me to use again. I also chose to do a savory pudding instead of a sweet pudding.

I made a gravy using Audax's instructions with the left over scraps of meat and kidney. I tell you the winner was the gravy.. I could of eaten that with toast. The pudding was good don't get me wrong, it's just not my cup of tea. I would like to give cheers to everyone who did this challenge. For me it was a learning experience, and I am really glad I participated in it, thank you Esther.

Pastry Ingredients:

12 ounces self rising flour- wtb Andy's biscuit recipe for my left over flour!
6 ounces shredded suit or substitute like Crisco, Lard, or Butter
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper
½ cup milk, 2% worked fine
½ cup water

Filling Ingredients:

1 lb of stewing beef, cubed
2-3 lamb kidney's, chopped-make sure to toss out the white portion
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
4 Tbsp chicken stock
2 Tbsp Oyster sauce

Oyster sauce and Chicken stock to shy to be photoed

Assembly:

1 1/2 quart bowl oven safe bowl, like Pyrex.
Large pot with a steamer and lid
rubber-band
kitchen twine
heavy duty foil

Gravy: (optional, sorry no photos)

left over steak and kidney scraps
2 shallots, chopped
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 cup of Cabernet Sauvignon
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp flour

Method:
First make the pastry by blending the flour and suet together with a pastry blender. Add the salt and pepper to the flour and suet mixture. Slowly add the water and milk, 1 Tbsp at a time. The dough should form a nice ball and none of it should be stuck to the bowl. Take the dough and place it on a floured work surface.

Cut ¼ of the dough out and reserve it for the pudding lid. Use a measuring tape and roll the dough out to fit your pudding bowl.

Coat the pudding bowl with some butter or fat before placing the dough inside. Roll out the lid, use a measuring tape to get the size right. Set the lid aside.

Place water in your steamer and bring water to a boil.

In a small bowl mix the ½ cup flour, ground mustard, salt and pepper together. Take one of the piece of beef and try to wrap it around a small piece of kidney, and then coat it the flour mixture.

Me breaking down the lamb kidney, first time for me!

Place the piece in the pudding bowl. Make one row of steak and kidney rolls and then cover them with a handful of sliced onions and chopped parsley.

Create another row of meat and cover it again with the onions and parsley. Continue this process till you run out of meat or your pudding bowl is filled up. I had under a pound of beef and that is why my pudding bowl is not filled all the way. If you use a full pound you will get one more layer in.

Add the chicken stock and oyster sauce over the top of the last layer and then seal the pudding with the pastry lid.

Make sure you get a good seal on it, you don't want any of it leaking out.

Then cover your pudding with heavy duty foil. Secure the foil with a rubber-band and some kitchen twin. Cut away any excess foil as it might get in the way later.

Remove the lid from the steamer and carefully place the pudding inside.

The water should not touch the metal part of the steamer, fill it so it is just below that part. Cover and turn heat to medium. Steam for 3-5 hours. I did mine for about 4.

If you want the make the gravy take a medium size sauce pot and turn it to medium heat. Add one of the chopped shallots, beef and kidney scraps, wine, oyster sauce, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, let it simmer for about a hour, or until it has reduced by half. Strain the gravy and remove all the shallot, beef and kidney pieces. In the same sauce pan saute the other chopped shallot and after it is soft add the 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix together and cook for a minute and then return the strained gravy to the sauce pan. Heat over medium heat till it thickens.

After the pudding has steamed for atleast 3 hours you can remove it.

Let it sit on your counter for about 15 minutes before attempting to flip it over. If you made the gravy you can poke a small whole in the top of the pudding and fill it up with gravy.

Place a plate over the bowl and use pot holders to shimmieslide flip the pudding over. The pudding should just plop out.

Cut the pudding like you would a pie and drizzle more gravy if you fancy. Enjoy!

Potato Leek Soup - Soupe de Poireaux et Pommes de Terre

2010-04-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

After our wonderful trip to Napa I came home and was inspired to make Thomas Keller's Potato Leek Soup. This soup recipe caught my eye because it required leeks, shallots, yellow onions, and chives. I love onions, Aaron says I tend to onionize my food. Yes I am the onionizer!! Watch out!

This soup has very simple ingredients, for me what makes this soup special is the stock. I'm sure it tastes fine with store purchased stock, but making your own stock will take this from soup to a symphony in your mouth. I keep my chicken stock in the freezer, I make large batches so that when I want to make soup or need to make a sauce I am good to go.

The funny part is I used the last of my chicken stock on this recipe. So I was out of stock Monday morning, and Monday night Aaron went in for emergency surgery. He had an appendectomy at 6:30 pm. He is doing much better now but we are both still out of sorts. The surgery went well and I was able to bring him home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon. I got him home and into bed, and of course I made more chicken stock to make him some chicken noodle soup. Nothing says I'm taking care of you more than homemade soup. Trust me.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Leeks, about three
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup shallots, sliced
1/3 cup onion, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly grated black pepper
½ pound russet potato (about one large), peeled
1 Tbsp minced garlic
8 thyme sprigs
2 Italian parsley sprigs
2 bay leaves
½ tsp pepper corns
cheese cloth
5 ½ cups chicken stock
¾ cup heavy cream, warmed
½ cup minced chives
Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Make a Sachet with the cheese cloth, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and pepper corn. Set aside.

Prepare the leeks by cutting away the dark green portion, and the bottom root part. Slice the leek in half and clean well under running water. Place the leeks cut side down on the cutting board and chop them into ¼ inch slices.

Melt butter in a stock pot over medium-low heat, add the leeks, shallots, onions, and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium and sweat the vegetables, stirring every 3-5 minutes. The vegetables will get soft, but should not brown.

In the mean time chop the potato into ¼ inch think slices. Add the garlic to the vegetables and cook for about a minute. Add the sachet and potatoes and cook for 4 minutes.

Add 5 ½ cups chicken stock and test for seasoning.

Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the soup from the heat and let cook for 15 minutes.

Transfer soup to blender and puree, start on a low speed to release the remaining heat in the soup. For a refined soup strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer.

Rinse out the stock pot and return the soup and heat up over medium heat. Bring the soup to a simmer and add the cream, simmer for 5 minutes. To serve the soup, remove it from the burner and stir in the chives, save some for garnish.

Ladle the soup into the serving bowls and garnish them with extra virgin olive oil and chives. Enjoy, serves 6-8

Chile Verde

2010-04-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

I was not going to post this recipe mostly because I plan to make it differently next time. This was a learning experience for me, and the end result was very tasty. So, I decided to post along with my notes and some of the corrections I plan to make next time I whip up some Chile Verde. I was inspired by Bobby Flay's Green Chile recipe and followed it loosely.

Learning how to make your own Chile Verde is a great recipe to have under your belt. Mostly because it is so cheap to make and it's not bad for you. You could make this with a lean pork tenderloin and yield beautiful results. This is another recipe where having homemade chicken stock in the freezer comes in really handy. It lowers the cost and ups the flavor.

Ingredients:

4 jalapenos
4 cloves of garlic, not peeled
2 lbs tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved
4 lbs pork shoulder, diced into 1-2 inch cubes
3 red onions, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
Flour, to dredge the pork
4 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups chicken stock (scratch is best, good store brand will do)
1 cup cilantro, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl add the chopped tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic cloves, and toss with 2 Tablespoons of the canola oil. Transfer the tomatillos, jalapenos, and garlic cloves to a foil lined baking sheet. Place the tomatillos flesh side down. Add the chopped onion to the same large mixing bowl, toss with the remaining canola oil, and spread them evenly over a foil lined baking sheet.

The reason I do not mix the onions with the tomatillos, jalapenos, and garlic is because after I roast them I only want to put the tomatillos, jalapenos, and the garlic in the blender.

I then roasted the vegetables for about 15 minutes. I noticed the tomatillos were releasing lots of liquid and not getting browned. I removed the onions and the tomatillos from the oven and then set the tomatillos under the broiler for a few minutes. This yielded the result I was looking for. Next time I make this dish I will only broil the tomatillos and blend them with the raw peppers in the blender. Also next time I will not roast the onions, I will saute them in my pot and remove them before browning the meat.

After you roast/broil the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic let them cool. Once they are cool remove the skin from the garlic, and then transfer them into a blender. Set sauce aside.

Heat a large stock pot or sauce pan over medium heat. Dredge the pork in the flour (next time I plan not to dredge the meat in flour). Add one layer of pork to the pot, work in batches and brown the meat. Please note that the meat will not be fully cooked, just browned. Remove all the meat from the pot and add 1 cup of chicken stock. Reduce the stock down by half and scrape all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the pork to the pan along with onions, cinnamon stick and Chile Verde sauce. If the meat is not covered in sauce add stock till the meat is fully covered. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender. After it has simmered for about an hour and a half remove the cinnamon stick. When you are ready to serve stir in cilantro, reserve some for garnish.

Serve with warm flour tortillas, enjoy!

So, next time I make this I plan on using 1 1/2 pounds of tomatillos and broil them. Blend the tomatillos with raw chilies for more heat. Saute the onions in the stock pot before browning the meat. Finally I will not dredge the meat in flour, just season it will kosher salt and pepper before browning it.

Surprise Birthday Trip to Napa, Ca

2010-04-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

My birthday was such a treat this year. It started Saturday morning, April 3rd. I knew my boyfriend Aaron had something planned but I had no idea where we were going. He told me to pack clothes for the night and mentioned that I would not be back home till Sunday evening. We hopped in the car and started to head out. We got on 680 going towards Sacramento. I was really thrown for a loop.. I figured we would head to Monterey or Carmel. So I sat and eagerly anticipated my arrival location.

We crossed the Benicia bridge and I was still confused and then I wondered if we were going to the Sonoma race track? I asked and he laughed and said no we are not going to the race track. Any way a few miles went by and then I saw the big sign for Napa. I was like hrmm could this be happening. Is he really taking me to Napa? Finally he spoke, something like, did you figure it out yet? I was like yes, I think it's, it's Napa. He was like well all these signs did not help me keep my secret.

The rest of a trip was still top secret. My mind was racing with thoughts of wine, food, cheese, olives.. oh my where would we eat? So many good places.

The first stop was at the Oakville Grocer. Aaron thought it was best to get a little food in the belly before running off to wine tasting. This is a wonderful little shop with lots of goodies. We split a Black Forest Ham and Brie sandwich. The sandwich came on wonderful hard crusted french bread with whole grain mustard. Oh and of course I had to snatch up some of the house made kalamata olives to go with my sandwich. With our belly's full we headed out to do some wine tasting.

We stopped at Robert Mondavi Winery. We tasted three wines for $20.00 per person. This is really not that good of a deal, but we decided to stay and try. We had 2007 PNX Pinot Noir, 2006 Cab, and 2006 T Block. We both ended up really liking the Pinot, and decided to purchase a bottle. The wine taster did not have enough bottles to sell at his counter and directed us to the main shop to purchase the wine. This is something I have never run into while wine tasting. No biggie I guess, especially since he never charged us for the tasting.

The next stop was Turnbull Wine Cellars. I have never visited this winery before, but it was across the street so we decided to hit it up. We tasted about 4 wines and walked out with a bottle of 2007 Old Bull Merlot.

Finally, we ended up at Peju Province Winery.

This is one of my favorite winery's to visit, firstly it is a beautiful place, and secondly they make really good wine. When we got there we waited in the main lobby shop for about five minutes then we were escorted up stairs to a tasting room above a wine barrel room.

We tasted about 5 different wines, and left with 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Cabernet Franc, and Provence. The first time I had Cab Franc was at Peju and I always make a point to pick some up when I am in Napa.

A big thing also about Peju, is that most all of their sales are direct to customer, you cannot pick their stuff up at any stores - so if you want the good stuff, you gotta make the trip, or hit up their website.

Well, after all the yummy tastings I needed a break, so we headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Marriott Napa Valley Hotel & Spa. After checking in and resting a bit in the room I sent Aaron to get some ice. He came back with ice, and booked me a facial in the spa for the following morning. The surprises just kept coming!

We got ready for dinner, and heading out. I had no idea where we were heading. We ended up in Yountville, home of Bottega, French Laundry, Adhoc, Bouchon, and many more. Well, we stood in front of the Bouchon Bakery and he said we are eating at Bouchon. I looked at the bakery, and was a little concerned. Then he said over there, I did not even see the Bouchon Bistro. I was so happy, I love my Bouchon cookbook and eating there for my birthday was a wonderful surprise.

Before sitting down to our table we wondered next door to the famous Bouchon Bakery. We picked up some Chocolate Bouchon's, and Caramel, and Chocolate Macaroon.

Aaron went back to the car and stored the bakery goods. I waited for him watching all the people come in and out of the bakery with goodies in hand. The smell of the fresh bread could of kept be busy for some time. Before I knew it Aaron was back and we heading into Bouchon.

The food at Bouchon was out of this world. We ordered a bottle of wine and started with French Bread, Toasted Croutons, White Bean Spread, and Butter. I am looking forward to making that bean spread, it was so tasty with the bread. I almost liked it more than the butter and I am a butter girl. I did not get a picture of the bread they bring to the table, it is in the shaped to resemble a wheat stock- so beautiful.

Then we had Pâté De Campagne, a country style pate that literally made my knees shake. So many wonderful flavors, absolutely delicious.

For the main course Aaron ordered Bouillabaisse. They bring this bowl filled of seafood and then they pour the stock over it, the smells for the proper made stock made me feel so proud. Knowing that I learned how to make stock from the same method they use made me so giddy.

I ordered Gigot d'Agneau: roasted leg of lame with English peas, green garlic, rhubarb confit, young turnips & lamb jus. Mouth watering lamb, very simple and cooked perfectly. I ordered it medium rare and loved every last bloody bite of it.

For dessert they made me Chocolate Bouchon with caramelized banana, and a banana ice cream with chocolate sauce.

We fished that off and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we had a little bite to eat before my facial. As you can see I look a little nervous.

After receiving my first facial I was so relaxed and ready to head back to Yountville. Another winery we always hit up is Jessup Cellar's.

I'm not sure if they have a tasting fee, most of the people are there because they have been there before and they are going to buy wine. I like tasting there because they let you taste so many of the wines they make, 6 total I believe. We ended up leaving with the 2006 Zinfandel, 2006 Cab, and 2008 Chardonnay. They finished off the tasting with some Cabernet Port. I really enjoyed this port and dreamed of all the things I could cook with it. Next time I will have to treat myself to a little bottle.

On our way out of town we hit up Bouchon Bakery one last time for a dozen brioche rolls, and a pistachio and raspberry macaroon. We went back to the Oakville Grocery and picked up some meats and cheese and headed home. Our Easter dinner was just perfect. Wonderful meats and cheeses on those tasty Bouchon Bakery brioche rolls. Perfect end to the perfect birthday.

Thanks you my Sweet for the wonderful weekend, and my new GLOBAL 10" Chef Knife!

Daring Cooks Challenge April 2010: Brunswick Stew

2010-04-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

This months Daring Cooks Challenge was super fun for me. Mostly because I got to break in my newly acquired WagnerWare Dutch Oven. We purchased this Dutch Oven off E-Bay and it works like a dream. It heats evenly and retains temperature like no other pot I have.

I created my stew using a Game Hen and Chicken Carcass Vegetable base stock. I pulled the game hen out of the stock pot after the stock had been simmering for about an hour. I let it cook off then I skinned it and removed all the meat and set it aside to add to my stew later. The other meat I chose for my stew was the economical choice of country style pork ribs.

Basically, I had one random game hen in my freezer along with a chicken carcass and 3-4lbs of country style pork ribs. They spoke to me and my Brunswick Stew was born. Also, please note I cut the recipe provided by half. The other adjustments I made were to brown the onions first in the pot and add flour to them. I then took them out and reserved them for later. I used Cannellini beans instead of butterbeans, mostly because I had Cannellini beans on hand. I try to cook with what I have to save money, and doing this usually prompts me to be more creative with my recipes.

I served my Brunswick Stew with some tasty homemade Sourdough Buns. I was particularly pleased as this was the first time I used my Sourdough Starter without adding any yeast to help the rising process. I was told that the added yeast would take away the Sourdough flavor of the bread, and this is pretty much true. My starter is now a few months old, and this was really the first time the end result tasted like Sourdough bread. When I bit into my first roll I was like OMG it tastes like Sourdough, I win!

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, chopped
2 Serrano chilies, seeded, and chopped
The meat of one Game Hen, shredded
3-4 pounds country style pork ribs
2 Tbsp flour
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
4-8 quarts of chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
¾ cup chopped carrots
1/ ¾ cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup corn
1 ½ cups Cannellini beans
2 cups canned peeled tomatoes, drained and mashed
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
hot sauce to taste

Method:

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat, and saute the onions till they are almost translucent. Add the flour to the onions mix it around and then dump the onions in a small bowl, reserve them for later.

Add the chopped bacon to the stock pot, saute it over medium heat till it starts to crispin. Transfer the bacon to a large bowl. Toast the chilies in the stock pot for about a minute, and then remove them and place them in the same bowl as the bacon.

Season both sides of the pork with kosher salt and pepper. Place them in the pot and sear them for about 4 minutes a side (work in batches, try not to over crowd the pot).

This is just a sear, this will not cook the pork all the way through. Remove the pork from the pot and place it in bowl with bacon in it.

Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the sauce pan. De-glaze the pan and get all the bits up off the bottom, simmer the stock till it reduces by half.

Add the remaining stock (start with adding 5 cups) the bay leaf, celery, potatoes, pork, bacon, and chilies. Bring the pot to a boil, and then lower the heat so it simmers. Cover it and let it cook for about 2-3 hours till the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the pork with a pair of tongs, and place in a colander to cool. Remove the bay leaf and discard. After the meat has cooled, shred it off the bones using a pair of forks. Discard the bones.

Return the the shredded pork and game hen to the stock pot. Add the carrots to the stock pot and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Add the cooked onion, Cannellini beans, corn, and tomatoes.

Simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar, hot sauce, and the lemon juice. Serve immediately with a bread.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

2010-04-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is a great recipe for company because it can be made in advance and it is not expensive to make. It is also great because it allows you to use up all the odds and end vegetables you accumulated over the week in the refrigerator.

I'm also posting this recipe for all my family and friends who have the ability to farm vegetables in backyards. In the next coming months people will have zucchini and other fresh veggies come out of their ears. This is a nice way to use them up, enjoy! Please note the roasted vegetables equal about one cup of veggies per items for a total of 5 cups. Mix and max with what you have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 cup carrot, chopped
2 onions, 1 chopped, 1 quartered
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 cup zucchini, chopped
1 cup Chinese eggplant, chopped
1 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 28oz can of unsalted plum tomatoes (note I double my batch of sauce in photos for other uses)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
kosher salt
freshly grated black pepper
olive oil
2 eggs
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 ½ cup ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1 pound lasagna sheets (store bought will work just fine, follow this link to make them homemade)
1 tsp dried oregano

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet-pan with foil and place chopped carrots, onion, broccoli, and mushrooms.

Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and dust them with Kosher salt and pepper. Roast them for 20 minutes, and then add the zucchini, eggplant, and roast for another 20 minutes.

When the vegetables are done set them aside till you are ready to assessable.

While the vegetables are roasting take the plum tomatoes, quartered onion, and butter and place them in a pot. Cook them over medium heat till they start to glug and pop.

Simmer them for an half hour or so, no longer than one hour. Let the sauce cool for 15 minutes. Take the onions out of the sauce and discard them. Transfer sauce and puree it in food process. Transfer sauce into a sauce pan and reserve till you are ready to assessable.

Taste the sauce and add Kosher salt if needed.

In a medium size bowl mix together 1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 2 ½ cups ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for assembly. Please note that if you are just using plain Parmesan cheese you will need to add a tsp or two of kosher salt to this filling.

Assemble:

Boil a large pot of water and cook the lasagna sheets. Set them in an olive oil lined cooked sheet while you put the lasagna together, this way they will not stick together. If you purchased no boil sheets, simply skip this step.

Coat the bottom of lasagna pan with olive oil. Line the bottom of the pan with 3-4 sheets of lasagna pasta.

Coat the sheets with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese filling.

Spoon marinara sauce over the ricotta filling. I like to make little dollops of the sauce and then use a metal spoon and swirl it over each dollop of sauce. This way it covers the ricotta filling with out mixing into it.

Sprinkle 1/2 the the roasted vegetables over the sauce layer.

Sprinkle some of the grated mozzarella cheese over the vegetables. Cover the roasted vegetable layer with 3-4 sheets of lasagna pasta. Yes those are hand made lasagna pasta sheets you see ;)

Cover the pasta with 1/3 of the ricotta filling, cover the ricotta filling with sauce, and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Cover with 3-4 sheets of lasagna pasta. Coat the pasta sheets with the remaining ricotta filling, cover the ricotta filling with the marinara sauce. Sprinkle the remaining roasted vegetables over the marinara sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Cover the roasted vegetable layer with the final sheets of lasagna pasta. Spreed about one cup of the marinara sauce all over the top layer of lasagna pasta sheets. Cover the sauce with the remaining mozzarella cheese and sprinkle the dried oregano over the cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover lasagna dish in foil and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another five minutes till the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let the lasagna sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 10

Amy's Mini Burgers

2010-04-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

For my Birthday Aaron took me on a surprise weekend trip to Napa, Ca. I will blog about the trip later. One of the stops was Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery. On Sunday morning before we left, we made one more stop back at this truly magical dreamland bakery. I picked up a 12 pack of Brioche Rolls and a few more Macaroons for the trip home. We also hit up a local market in Napa on our way out, and picked up some Salami, Black Forest Ham, Aged Smoked Gouda, and Cheddar. So, after are long drive home our Easter dinner was yummy. Brioche Roll Sandwiches with Meats and Cheese.

I had more than a few rolls left over so I decided to store them in the refrigerator and make Mini Burgers with them for Monday nights dinner. I really like using Brioche for Burgers and for French toast. Trader Joe's sells a larger Brioche Roll that can also work for larger size Burgers.

PS.. you can see my new fancy Global Knife in one of the photos... Love it! TY Aaron!

Ingredients:

1 small sweet white onion, sliced
2-3 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 gloves of garlic, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp brown sugar
Kosher Salt
freshly grated black pepper
1 pound of ground chuck, divided into six pieces (80-20 or 85-15 fat content is best for burgers)
6 slices of cheese ( I used Smoked Gouda for three, and Cheddar for the other three)
6 small Brioche Rolls
1-2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Mayonnaise, optional for the bread

Method:

In a small sauce pan over low heat add 1 tsp of the olive oil, onions, garlic and brown sugar. Sprinkle them with Kosher salt and let them caramelize. Keep them on low to maybe medium heat for about 25 minutes. When they are done remove them from the pan and add the remaining olive oil and the mushrooms. Sprinkle the mushrooms with kosher salt and pepper and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes. When they are done scoot them to one side of the pan and return the onions to the other side. Keep over very low heat till you are ready to serve the burgers.

While the onions and mushrooms are cooking prepare the patties. Take one piece of the beef and lightly form it into a patty shape. The less you work with this the better the burgers will be.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot sprinkle the burgers with Kosher salt and black pepper. Place them in the hot pan and sprinkle the other side of the burgers with Kosher salt and pepper. I did not put all my burgers in the pan at once because I did not want to over crowd the pan. After flipping the first 4 I added the last two because I was confidant that they would not get crowded.

I cooked mine for about 4 minutes a side for medium to medium rare. After you flip them add the cheese to the tops and wait out the last 4 minutes and serve.

To plate, cut the Brioche Rolls in half and spreed them with Dijon Mustard.

Add the patty to the bun and top the burger with the caramelized onions and mushrooms.

Serve with a nice green salad and some Cornichons (french pickles). Serves 3 for dinner, 6 for appetizer.

Ravioli Napoletana

2010-04-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from my Silver Spoon Pasta Cookbook. The filling for this ravioli is a perfect way to use up some of that left over Easter Ham. If you don't want to make your own ravioli pasta dough, you can always buy wanton or egg roll wrappers in your local grocery store. They stock these wrappers in the fresh and frozen sections.

This sauce I chose is a very delicate tomato sauce. It's beyond simple to make and can be used on a variety of pasta dishes. Trust me try it once you will be hooked. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Pasta:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
½ tsp kosher salt

Filling:

½ cup Ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ cup cooked ham, finely chopped
3 ½ ounce dried Mozzarella cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Tomato Sauce:

1 28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, peeled and quartered

Assembly:

1 egg, beaten

Method:

To make the pasta dough, put flour in a large mixing bowl along with the salt. Create a well in the middle of the flour and put the three eggs in the well. Slowly mix the flour with the eggs. Once the dough comes together divide it into three equal size balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

For the sauce, plop tomatoes, butter, and onion in a sauce pan and simmer for about an hour. Take out the onion and discard. For a chunky style sauce smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, for a less chunky sauce remove them or puree the sauce in a food processes. Set aside and keep warm.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Mix together the Ricotta cheese and egg in a medium size bowl. Add the parsley, ham, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.

Roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets, I used a pasta machine. Cut rectangles out of the dough approximately 2.5 inches by 4.5 inches. (Mine are a little bigger, I use the width of the pasta machine sheets and them cut them into strips)

Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling onto the rectangle.

Brush a the pasta with egg wash and the press together and seal ravioli.

After you seal the ravioli place it onto a floured cookie sheet.

Add a few Tbsp of kosher salt to the boiling water. Gently drop the raviolis into the boiling water, bring the water back up to a nice simmer and cook them for 3-5 minutes. Toss them into the tomato sauce and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

March 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Orange Tian

2010-03-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I made a Blood Orange and Pink Navel Tian. I included the recipe for the caramel; however my caramel did not come out. I made two batches and I was not satisfied with it's flavor or texture so I omitted it from this dessert. In the end the winner was the homemade blood orange pink navel marmalade. I am already planning other savory uses for this tasty treat. Overall this was a good challenge. However, I was disappointed in my caramel.

Pate Sablee:

2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
6 Tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup + 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, ice cold
1/3 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a flat bottom bowl and blend together with a pastry blender.

After it is well blended take bowl and stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Add to flour mixture and blend together with the pastry blender. If the dough does not come together add some water to it. Get the dough to form a loose ball and cover in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

Marmalade:

¼ freshly pressed blood orange
1 small blood orange, sliced thinly
1 small pink navel orange, sliced thinly
5 grams pectin
½ cup sugar

Method:

Place the sliced oranges in a sauce pot and cover them with water. Bring water to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain the oranges and fill the pot back up with water. Simmer for another 10 minutes, and repeat this process one more time.

Drain and cool the orange slices. Once they are cool chop them up and put them in a pot with the blood orange juice, pectin, and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes then transfer to a storage container. Cool and then refrigerate.

Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges. Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

Caramel:

1 Cup sugar
1 1/2 Cups + 2 Tbsp orange juice

Method:

Put sugar in a medium size sauce pan over a medium flame. Heat the sugar till it starts to bubble. Slowly add the orange juice and remove from the heat once the mixture boils. Poor half of the caramel mixture over the orange segments and reserve the other half for service. (please note I had trouble following this caramel recipe, and I did not use the caramel in my dessert)

Whipped Cream:

1 Cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 Tbsp

Method:

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

Assembling the Dessert:
Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel. Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately. (please note I did not use the caramel in my Orange Tian.

Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

2010-03-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Every time my dad goes to Chicago to visit his family he always comes home with Kielbasa Czosnkowa Sausage (Polish Sausage). This sausage has always been such a treat to me. I decided to barbeque one link and serve it with some tasty potato pancakes (Latkes). These Latkes are so nice because they can be made in advance and reheated in the oven. They make a great appetizer or a side dish to so many meals. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 large Russet potato, peeled
1 large, or two small onions, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

Grate potatoes and place them in a dish cloth or some cheese cloth. Squeeze all the moisture out of the potatoes over the sink.

Put grated potatoes in a bowl along with the egg, onion, garlic, flour, salt and pepper.

Heat a skillet with the vegetable oil over medium heat. While the skillet heats up make your Latkes. You can use a ice cream scoop to get uniform style pancakes or just eyeball it, should make 8-10 pancakes.

Fry Latkes for about 4 minutes aside till they are golden brown.

This can be done in batches and stored in a warm oven before serving.

Reuben Sandwiches

2010-03-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

After making a 3lb Corned Beef for St. Patty's Day I had plenty of leftovers. Making Reuben Sandwiches with the leftovers seemed like the logical next step. What makes a Reuben? To me it's a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. There are few key things you need, mostly some good rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and a Russian dressing. So I'm not here to show you all how to make grilled cheese, more so to show that making your own dressing can bring a bright flavor to an otherwise simple dish.

My recipe for Russian (thousand Island) dressing is fabulously delicious. This dressing is so easy to make at home with things commonly found in most pantry's. I highly recommend using this dressing the next time you barbecue shrimp, or even over a nice green salad. Save yourself some bucks, and make your own dressing, it literally takes minutes, and you can make as little or as much as you need. My next goal is to make my own mayonnaise to make rémoulade . Fun times!

Reuben Sandwiches Ingredients:

4 slices of rye bread
unsalted butter, softened
Swiss cheese, sliced- I used about 4 slices per sandwich
Corned Beef, sliced thinly- Enough to make two sandwiches, I eyeballed it.
3/4 cup sauerkraut, well drained
¼ cup onion, diced
2 tsp olive oil

Russian Dressing Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp sweet pickle relish
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1/2 tsp horseradish
kosher salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Method:

In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, pickle relish, ketchup, and horseradish. Salt pepper to taste. Store Russian dressing in the refrigerator till you are ready to assemble the sandwiches, can be stored for two days.

Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat, and olive and saute onions till they are soft and sweet. Sprinkle them with a little kosher salt to help the process along.

After they are soft, add the drained sauerkraut and heat up. Add freshly grated pepper to taste and set aside (keep over very low heat while you prepare the sandwiches).

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Butter the outside of each slice off bread. Place cheese on one of the non buttered sides, and then top with corned beef, and then put another slice of bread to finish the sandwich.

Grill the sandwiches till they are golden brown on both sides and the cheese has melted.

After the sandwiches are golden brown, take them out of the pan and open them up and add the sauerkraut and Russian dressing. Close the sandwich back up, cut in half and server. Enjoy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

2010-03-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Growing up, Corned Beef and Cabbage was something I never looked forward to eating. To this day I won't eat boiled cabbage, I mean if I am someones guest I will be polite and try to find the smallest piece to put on my plate. My mom often made sauteed cabbage, we would eat it with polish sausage. I could deal with cabbage cooked this way and in fact I actually enjoyed it. The flavor of the browned cabbage with the onions and garlic is just so yummy. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day. So it sure comes in handy if you need to make dinner ahead of time.

After doing some research I decided to bake my Corned Beef. I really liked this recipe here and I decided to simplify it. Boiling just did not sound good to me so I skipped that part, and I had some yummy apricot jam in my refrigerator so I decided to use that as well. This is one of those days, I looked in my pantry.. Went to the store and picked up a Corned Beef and a head of Cabbage. Everything else was on hand. My $10.00 Corned Beef and Cabbage was born, and it was delicious.

Corned Beef Ingredients:

3-4 pound Corned Beef
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp apricot jam
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Sauteed Cabbage Ingredients:

½ head of green cabbage, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 gloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly grated pepper
1 Tbsp flour

Corned Beef Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set one rack in the middle and the other under the broiler. Mix together the Dijon mustard and apricot jam. Set corned beef fat side up on a large piece of heavy duty foil. Spread all but 2 Tbsp of the mustard and jam mixture. Sprinkle the top of the roast with the brown sugar.

Take another piece of foil and place it over the top of roast creating a pouch over the top. Make sure the foil pouch is set up to catch the juices and not leak them while the corned beef bakes. I ran out of heavy duty foil so I had to use regular foil and double it up, my foil package is a little sloppy ;)

Place corned beef in a shallow roasting pan and bake for 2 hours.

After the two hours is up, take corned beef out of the foil, spread the remaining jam and mustard over the top and broil for three minutes. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serves 4-6 people.

Sauteed Cabbage Method:

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; dust them with some kosher salt to help them cook down. Cook them for about 5 minutes then add the cabbage, stir every couple of minutes. Don't over mix it though, you want the cabbage to get browned in the bottom of the saute pan. If you don't see brown bits at the bottom of the pan you are stirring it to much.

The cabbage will begin to soften and cook down after about 15-20 minutes. Add the flour, cook for another 3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serves 3 people. This recipe can be doubled to feed 6.

Daring Cooks Challeng March 2010: Risotto

2010-03-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

This months Daring Cooks' challenge was Risotto. We were given lots of creativity in making this recipe. The two mandatory items were making the stock from scratch, and risotto base.

I really enjoyed this challenge because I have been wanting to post a "how to make stock recipe" for some time. I decided to go with a shellfish stock. I am in the process of becoming a stock making master thanks to my Thomas Keller book. His method of ladling the stock out of the pot into the cheese cloth vs dumping it all out into your colander yields such a beautifully clear stock. No clouds for me! A couple of quick tips for making stock, always roast your vegetables and bones before you make stock. Never boil stock, or stir it. Bring it to a nice simmer, 180-200 degrees. On a side note, I freeze my bones and shells pretty much year round. When I have enough bones I whip up stock and freeze it. It comes in so handy, it's a really valuable and easy skill to have under your belt.

Trying to come up with an idea for risotto was harder than I thought. I decided to make my base with a Mirepoix, olive oil, and white wine. After cooking the rice I mixed in cream, Fontina, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I gave it a quick taste and added the salt and pepper, chives and lastly the crab. The end result was like grown up mac and cheese, it tasted great, but in no way shape or form is this recipe good on your waste line. Thanks for this challenge, fun times.

Shellfish Stock Ingredients:

6-8 cups shellfish shells (crab, lobster, shrimp)
2 carrots, chopped in thirds
1 large onion, quartered
1 celery heart, chopped in half
olive oil
1 cup fresh parsley with stems attached
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp tomato paste
½ dry white wine
kosher salt
15 pepper corns
cheese cloth

Risotto Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely chopped
¼ scant cup carrot, finely chopped
¼ scant cup celery, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup dry white wine
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
4-5 cups shellfish stock, heated
1/2 cup cream (next time I make this I will only use a ¼ cup)
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 cup grated Fontina cheese
1 Tbsp chopped chives, plus extra for garnish
1-1/2 cups fresh crab meat, shredded
Salt and Pepper to taste

Shellfish Stock Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place quartered onion and carrots in a baking dish and lightly coat with olive oil. Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes, then take them out and flip them and roast them for another 20 minutes. In the meantime break up shellfish shells and place them on a cookie sheet. After the vegetables are done roasting, roast the shells for 7-10 minutes at the same temperature.

Take a large heavy bottom stock pot and place the shells in it, fill stock pot with water. The water should go about an inch and a half over the top of the shells. Heat the stock pot over medium heat. The stock should always simmer between 180-200 degrees. Do not stir the shells, just wait for them to release small foam bubbles (impurities).

While you are waiting for the stock to come up to temperature take a large piece of cheese cloth and make an herb pouch. Put the parsley, thyme and bay-leaf inside the cheese cloth bouquet.

Remove the foam with a slotted spoon and slowly add the roasted vegetables to the stock pot. Try not to move the shells around. Add the roasted vegetables, celery, herb bouquet, pepper corns, tomato paste. DO NOT MIX STOCK.

Bring the stock back up to temperature add the white wine and simmer for 45 minutes to no longer than an hour. Taste stock, add salt if needed.

Line a colander with cheese cloth. Do not dump the stock onto the colander. Using a ladle slowly ladle the stock into the colander, try not to disturb the shells. This takes longer but it will yield a much clearer stock. After you are finished make and ice bath for the stock, once it is cooled refrigerate it for up to 3 days, freeze for 3 months.

Risotto Method:

Heat a sauce pan over medium to low heat, add the oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery to pan and cook for a few minutes till it is tender.

Add the rice and stir it around, to toast it evenly. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate.

Add about a cup of stock stir constantly till it is absorbed.

Add another cup and repeat till the Risotto is soft and creamy (the rice will no longer be hard to bite).

When the Risotto is soft, mix in the cream, cracked pepper and add the cheese.

Taste for salt. Add the chopped chives and right lastly mix in the crab.

Serve in a small bowl or dish and garnish with chives, and a nice glass of wine. Enjoy

If you have left over Risotto you can make fried Risotto patties the next day. For each cup of left over Risotto add one egg and a half of cup of dried bread crumbs. I formed mine in to little patties and put a little cube of mozzarella cheese in the middle of each one. Fry them in a 1/4 cup of oil about three minutes per side and enjoy!

Tuna Melts

2010-03-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have this sourdough starter living in my refrigerator, and I try to make fresh sourdough bread with it about twice a month. Trying to master sourdough bread is time consuming, but I hope eventually it pays off. So, this morning I really wanted to make some bread, and work on my sourdough recipe. The only problem I had was I needed something to do with the bread. Normally I bake little baguettes and make appetizers with smoked salmon, Mascarpone cheese, and lemon peel. I don't see any parties in the immediate future so I had to come up with something else. Tuna melts just popped into my head. So, here we are tuna melts with fresh sourdough bread for dinner. Sounds pretty good eh?

This tuna recipe is a combination of my Grandmother Kalivoda's recipe, and my Mother's. I really don't have their recipes I just remember how small my Grandmother chopped her celery and onions, and mostly I remember how my Mom's tuna was never chock full of mayo like so many tunas can be. I make my tuna melts as an open face sandwich. First I broil the bread, then pile it high with tuna salad and top it with cheese, then I plop it back under the broiler till it is golden brown. Sometimes I will move the tray in the lower part of the oven after the cheese has browned to ensure the entire sandwich is heated. When it comes to the cheese I usually try to use the cheese I currently have in my pantry. Today I will be using Fontina cheese, you can easily use many different types of cheese.

Ingredients:

¼ cup yellow onion, diced
¼ cup celery, diced
1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
3 5-ounce cans solid white tuna, drained and flaked
1/4-1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Grated Fontina cheese
8 slices of sourdough bread, 1/2-3/4 inch thick

Method:

Position one oven rack underneath broiler, and the other in the middle of oven. Turn broiler on. In a bowl mix together onion, celery, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, tuna and mayonnaise.

Toast bread slices underneath the broiler for about 2-3 minutes. Remove them and let them cool for a minute. Divide the tuna salad up into 8 portions and spread evenly over each slice of bread. Top each slice of bread with cheese, 1/8 cup per toast.

Put tuna melts under the broiler for 2 minutes, then move them to the middle of rack for 2 minutes, then put them back under the broiler till they are toasted and browned. Serves 4 people.

Amy's Chicken Marsala

2010-03-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys! Well, after this months Daring Bakers' challenge I had a few items in my pantry to put to use. Hrmm.. Marsala wine and homemade Mascarpone cheese.. The first thing that popped into mind was Chicken Marsala, but instead of finishing it with cream I decided to use my Mascarpone cheese. This was truly a very special dinner, that was not that hard to make. If you are having company, and you want to impress your guests, but not kill yourself making dinner this dish is for you.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly grated black pepper
¼ tsp dried oregano
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic glove, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
8 ounces crimini mushrooms
½ cup Marsala wine
¼ cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp Mascarpone cheese
1 Tbsp fresh lemon jucie
fresh flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method:

Take two large piece of plastic wrap and place the chicken breasts in the middle. Using a rolling pin or a meat mallet pound the chicken out to about 1/8 of an inch think. Be careful not to pound the chicken too hard or you will tear it.

Heat a stainless steal sauce pan over medium heat, add oil. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano on a large plate for dredging the chicken. Take each piece of chicken and cover it in the flour mixture. Only coat the pieces that you can fit on your skillet. Work in batches if you need to, don't over crowd your meat.

Cook chicken about 4-6 minutes aside and then transfer to a plate in the oven.

After you cook all the chicken add shallot, garlic, and mushrooms to skillet.

Cook them down over low to medium heat. Don't get your pan too hot. After they are nice and tender add the wine and chicken stock. Bring sauce to a simmer over medium heat and cook down by half.

After the sauce has cooked down turn the heat down to low and add the Mascarpone cheese, mix well and add the lemon. Taste sauce for season, add salt and pepper as you see fit. Now it's important that you do not simmer the sauce after you add the Mascarpone cheese, if you do your sauce will break. If you look closely at mine, you will see I made this mistake. Still tasted fabulous just not good technique.

Serve each breast with a nice portion of the Marsala mushroom sauce, enjoy!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge: Tiramisu

2010-02-27T00:08:00.000-08:00

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

So, for the February Darling Bakers' challenge was to make Tiramisu. Let me clear this up from the start, I just did not make Tiramisu, I made everything from scratch. The challenge was to make Mascarpone cheese, Salvoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers), and Zabagline. At first the part that scared me the most about this challenge was making the cheese. I had never made cheese before, and the unknown is scary I suppose. So this blog post is going to take you though my journey. My ups and downs of my first Tiramisu. First I will explain the Mascarpone, then biscuits, then Zabaglione and finally how to assemble the darn thing. Please keep in mind that this is a three to four day process. I would recommend making the cheese and the biscuits on the first day. The next day make the pastry cream and the Zabaglione. Assemble it the following day, and eat on the fourth day.

In the end my Tiramisu did not set up like I would of liked it too. I let it sit in the refrigerator for over 24 hours, but I was not able to get it to cut clean. I'm not sure if this is an error in my pastry cream or the Zabaglione. Either way I served this dish at my parents house and everyone loved it. My mom said it was the best she had, but she is my mom.. she has to say that. *wink

Ingredients:

Mascarpone:

474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Salvoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers)

3 eggs, separated
6 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cupcake flour, sifted
6 Tbsp confectioner's sugar

Zabaglione:

2 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup Sweet Marsala wine
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Vanilla pastry cream:

1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup whole milk

Whipped cream:

1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To assemble the Tiramisu:

2 cups brewed espresso, warmed
1 tsp rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Mascarpone cheese
36 Savoiardi/ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Recipe Sources:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

Mascarpone Method:

To make mascarpone cheese you must have a double broiler. If you normally use a glass bowl as part of your double broiler that will not work for this recipe. Many of the Daring Bakers' found out that the glass works as an insulator and it will not allow the cream to reach the all important 190 degrees. So basically you need to use a stainless steel bowl, or double broiler... right? Wrong.

I own a double broiler, it's a Calphalon stainless steel. I could not get my cream past 185 degrees. It sat at 185 for close to 45 minutes before I decided to bravely poor the cream into another sauce pan and put it directly over the heat. In less than two minutes my cream hit 190 degrees, and I was very pleased. Mixed in my lemon and I watched it thicken. It does not curdle like cottage cheese it just gets think.

Okay so this is what you do. Bring one inch of water to boil in your double broiler, reduce heat to medium and pour cream into the top of your double broiler. Heat the cream till it reaches the magical 190 degree mark, you will see small bubbles pushing to the surface. The bubbles are like little cheerleaders, cheering you on, letting you know that you did it right. After looking for these bubbles for close to 45 minutes I started hallucinating. It “should” take about 15 minutes to reach 190 degrees. Just be patient with it, keep stirring it and wait it out. If it comes to the point where you have to put it on the heat directly, do so with caution. Don't burn it <3.

After your cream is 190 degrees and you see your cheerleaders mix in the fresh lime juice and wait for it to thicken.

After it thickens remove from the heat and cool it. I put mine in an ice bath. Not sure why I did that, but I did.

After the the cheese has cooled to room temperature line a sieve with some fine damp cheesecloth or even a clean dish rag will do. Poor cheese into the cheesecloth, do not press on it. After it is completely cooled cover with some plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Don't fuss with it, it will turn into Mascarpone cheese over night if you got it up to 190. It was like Christmas morning the next day. I ran to the refrigerator and found my sieve packed full of the most beautiful Mascarpone cheese I had ever seen, or tasted for that matter. This recipe is such a keeper. Thank you!

Salvoiardi biscuits, ladyfingers (hobbit toes) Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer or a standing mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Zabaglione Method:

Heat water in a double broiler. In the top of the double broiler mix egg yolks, sugar, Marsala wine, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix together till the mixture looks smooth. Transfer mixture to the top of the double broiler, cook mixture over low heat for 8 minutes.

It will bubble a bit as it reaches the right consistency. It should look like a think custard when it is done. Run custard through a fine mesh strainer to catch any clumps that may have formed up. Let custard cool completely and then cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble Tiramisu.

Pastry Cream Method:

In a medium sauce pan mix together sugar, flour, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Add the egg yolk and half of the milk. Heat the sauce pan over low heat and mix constantly. Add the rest of the milk, a little bit at a time.

Cook for about 12 minutes, the mixture should be thick. Take the cream off the heat and push through a fine mesh strainer and transfer to a bowl. Let the pastry cream get to room temperature and then cover it with plastic wrap and store it in refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the Tiramisu.

Whipped Cream Method:

Using a hand held mixer or a standing mixer, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat it till it forms soft peaks. Don't make this whipping cream until you are ready to assemble the Tiramisu.

Assemble the Tiramisu:

Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat the Mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold.

Add the prepared and chilled Zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.
Now to start assembling the Tiramisu.

Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.

Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges. I spooned about half of the mixture, not one third. My Tiramisu only had two layers of hobbit toes, not three.

Repeat to create 1-2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer.

Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the Tiramisu overnight.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the Tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

Bow Ties With Mascarpone

2010-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

This recipe was inspired from The Silver Spoon: Pasta cookbook. You might read this recipe and think butter in red sauce?? Trust me its my new favorite trick. It adds a velvet quality to the sauce that just rolls across your tongue. Do yourself a favor, taste this tomato sauce before you blend it up, before you put in the mascarpone cheese.. you will be beyond shocked the flavor and the velvet quality this simple sauce has. If you don't have mascarpone cheese, just blend the sauce up and serve it with the pasta and maybe some freshly broiled shrimp or chicken. This is a great week night meal that is easy on your pantry and wallet.

Ingredients:

28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, no salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 lb bow tie pasta
kosher salt
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method:
Plop tomatoes (with the sauce in can), butter, oil, onion and a pinch of salt in a pan and cook over low to medium heat stirring occasionally for about a half hour. You want the sauce to start to glug and pop.

Boil a large pot of water for cooking the pasta.

Remove from heat and transfer sauce to a blender or a food processor. I used a blender because my food processor is so small and I did not want to deal with it. Puree the mixture; return it to the pan over very low heat, and add the marscarpone cheese.

Mix in the cheese till the sauce is well blended. Salt the pasta cooking water, and add pasta. Cook pasta till it is al dente, drain pasta and toss it into the sauce pot. Mix the pasta with the mascarpone pasta sauce and serve, garnish with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce

2010-02-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

This recipe was inspired from Gourmet Magazine. I often hear the following complaints: week nights are hard to find the time and energy to cook up a fabulous meal, and the most common complaint is recipe X has too many ingredients that I don't have in my pantry. I think this recipe is good for a causal cook because most of the items are things all cooks should have in the kitchen. The only thing I may not have on hand all the time is the cream, but more often then not I have a little jug of it in my frig. I have scaled this recipe down to serve two people; you could easily double this recipe to feed four. This recipe is also kid friendly in my opinion. You could easily cook five pork chops, make the sauce for two and serve the kids chops with apple sauce.

I'm not sure why or when simple whole food got replaced with processed food. Processed food usually still has to be heated or doctored in some way or another, and always costs more then whole food. I'm sure you could buy some processed pork chops for more than double the price of what you would pay to make this meal, and save like 15 minutes time. Just being a little more organized with your menu planning will save you money and the time won't be an issue. And don't forget the biggest bonus; you will be eating delicious healthy food vs what you get from the deli counter.

Ingredients:

2 pork chops
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
½ cup crimini or button mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and position rack in the middle.

Heat a stainless steel sauce pan over medium heat until it is hot. Pat dry pork chops with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Add oil to skillet; and the pork chops and brown them. They should cook for about 5 minutes each side.

Transfer pork chops to a baking dish, save the skillet and bake uncovered until thoroughly cooked about 7-10 minutes depending on chops thickness. After they are thoroughly cooked loosely cover them with foil and let them stand for 5 minutes.

In the interim, pour off the fat from the skillet. Cook the shallot and mushrooms over medium heat till they are soft; about 5 minutes.

Add broth to shallot and mushrooms and bring to a boil; make sure you scrape all the browned bits in the pan.

After sauce has boiled for 2 minutes add the mustard and cream, return sauce to a boil add the lemon juice and simmer the sauce till it thickens, about 3 minutes. Right before serving stir in butter.

Plate pork chops and smother each chop with the mustard sauce. Remember it does not take godly amounts of time to cook a homemade meal, it just takes some planning. Enjoy!

Daring Cooks Challenge February 2010: Mezze Table!

2010-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

This months challenge allowed for lots of creativity. The two mandatory items were the Pita Breads and the Hummus. Even though the hummus recipe was mandatory we were allowed to flavor our hummus; I choose to add fire roasted red bell peppers. The fresh hummus was just delicious with the hand made pita bread. I added a bowl of green olives and raw almonds to my Mezze table along with a balsamic vinegar couscous salad.

I used dried chick peas to make the hummus and I would recommend using them over canned. They bring so much more flavor and almost a different texture than canned. Using dried beans is always cheaper to boot.

Hummus Ingredients:

1 ½ cups dried chick peas, soaked in water overnight
2 lemons, juiced
2 garlic cloves, pealed and crushed
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp unsalted creamy peanut butter
1 ½ tsp sesame oil
¼ cup fire roasted red bell peppers, packed in water- drained

Method:

Drain the chick peas; put them in a pot, and cover them with water. Boil them for about an hour and a half; once then are tender drain them and reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid.

Puree the chick peas in a food processor fitted with a steal blade. Add the cooking liquid as needed till it develops into a smooth paste. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, peanut butter, sesame oil, and red peppers to the food processor. Blend till well combined. Taste and adjust seasons as you see fit.

I had to work in batches, due to the size of my itty bitty food processor.

Pita Bread Ingredients:

2 tsp of dry yeast
2 ½ cups lukewarm water
5-6 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Method:

Add warm water to a large bread bowl; sprinkle yeast over water and wait for it to become active. Stir in 3 cups of flour; add one at a time. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon for one minute. Let mixture sit for about ten minutes, or as long as two hours.

Add salt and olive oil to mixture, and start to add the flour mixing one cup in at a time.

I used about 5 ½ cups of flour to get the right dough texture. Turn dough out on a floured work surface and kneed for ten minutes, the dough should be smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bread bowl and dry it out. Add some oil and flop dough into the bowl, make sure you spin it around the entire surface is covered in oil. Cover bowl with a clean towel and place bowl in a warm draft free area to rise. Takes about an hour and half to double in size.

After the dough has doubled in size take a cooking sheet or a baking stone and place it on the bottom rack in oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Punch the dough down, and divide it in half. Put one half back in the bread bowl and cover it up. Section the other have into 8 equal size pieces.

Roll each piece out to about 8-9 inches; don't stack them and keep them covered.

Place 2 breads on cooking sheet and bake for about 3 minutes, wait for the pita to balloon up. Store pita in a bread basket covered with a towel to keep them warm. Continue to cook the rest of the pitas and serve.

Balsamic Vinegar Couscous Salad Ingredients:

4 ½ cups couscous
2 cups water
1 shallot, finally chopped
1/3 cup raisins
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
¼ tsp kosher salt
7 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup hot house cucumber, chopped
¼ cup tomato, chopped
Fresh mint for garnish

Method:

In a small bowl combine shallot, 6 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; mix well and set aside.

Bring water to boil in a medium sauce pan; add one Tbsp of olive oil, and ¼ tsp kosher salt. Add couscous and raisins to water; remove pot from heat and cover pan.

After about 5 minutes take the lid off the couscous and fluff it up with a spoon.

Add the balsamic vinaigrette, and olives. Mix well and store in the refrigerator till you are ready to serve. Garnish serving dish with tomato, cucumber and freshly torn mint leaves.

Sourdough Bread

2010-02-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

For sometime now I have been very disappointed with the sourdough bread that I can purchase locally. I live in the Bay Area and for crying out loud sourdough bread should be easy to get. There are a few places I know that are not very close to my apartment so I decided to make my own sourdough starter and give this a try.

My idea was to make sourdough baguettes to serve at Brenda and Tom's Superbowl party. The only problem I ran into was the size of my baking pans. The sheets were a little to small to fit a nice long baguette. In the end they came out like cute little chubby baguettes. The taste will make up for the larger size bruschetta I plan on serving.

This recipe has been adapted from Alaska Cookbook: Inside Passage. Years ago my Parents went on a trip to Alaska and brought back this cute little cookbook/pamphlet. I remember the trip fondly as I house sat for them. Ah that was a fun summer. Sorry about your car Mom, love you.

Ingredients:

1 cup sourdough starter
¼ ounce dry active yeast- after your sourdough starter has been around for a few weeks, you will not need to add the extra yeast to the recipe.
2 cups warm water
7 cups white bread flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
4 tsp cornmeal

Method:

Combine the warm water and yeast in mixer. Wait for yeast to become active; stir in salt, sourdough starter and mix in 1 cup of flour. Using a low speed on your mixer combine one cup of flour at a time; do not dump all the four in at once. If the dough seems to wet after you mix in all the flour, add some more flour. If the dough seems to dry, add some more water.

After dough comes together take it out of the mixer and kneed it on a floured board.

Grease a large glass or metal bowl and place dough into it. Make sure you flip the dough around so all of the dough is covered in the oil. Cover dough with a towel and let sit till it is doubled in size. This should take about an hour.

After the dough has risen take it out of the bowl and punch it down on a floured surface.

Section the dough into four pieces. Take one of the pieces and form it into a rectangle shape. Roll the rectangle up forming a loaf of bread. When you get to the end pinch it together with your fingers to seal, and place.

Work the shape of the loaf with your hands, seal should always be the bottom side of the loaf. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and sprinkle area with some cornmeal. Place complete loaf on the sprinkled corn meal.

Make four loafs, cover them with a large towel and let the rise for about 40 minutes till they are double in size.

I made two smaller loafs and two larger loafs, tried to get two them to come out more baguette shape. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

After the loafs have risen take a razor blade and score each loaf three times over.

This was a test for me so I decided two use egg wash with water on two of my loafs and just plain water on the other two. When I make this again, I will use the water only method. If you would like to use egg wash; mix one egg with 2 Tbsp water and brush it over the loafs. For the water method liberally brush water over the loafs.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes switch the backing sheets location from top to bottom, and bottom to top. Decrease the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees, and bake for another 25 minutes. If you are worried it is cooking to fast you can always take its temperature with a probe themometer. The bread is done when it reaches 200 degrees. Cool the bread on wire racks before serving. Enjoy!

The first and the third loaf I used the egg was on, the second and 4th loaf I used water only.

Sourdough Starter

2010-02-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

This starter is a combination of my Alaska Cookbook: Inside Passage, and my gaming buddy Thomas Bonetati. A good starter can last for years if you feed it properly. Yes you feed it!!

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups warm water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 clean wash cloth
1 glass dish, with glass lid

Method:

Stir together water and flour in a glass dish, or a crockery style bowl. Run wash cloth under water till it is damp, cover starter dish with damp cloth. The cloth is what helps the the natural yeast in the environment pass through into starter, and that is how the fermentation process starts. Leave the mixture on your counter for 1-2 days. Make sure the wash cloth stays moist, run it back under water if it starts to dry out. Mix the starter daily. Once you see small bubbles coming to the surface of the starter remove the wash cloth, and cover glass dish with a glass lid that does not seal perfectly. You want to allow the starter to breath. Place the starter in the refrigerator and feed it flour twice a week, about a ½ cup. You can leave the starter on your counter; however you will have to feed it more often.

I made my starter 5 days before I needed to use it. On day 3 it developed a clear liquid over the top. I read up on this, and found that it is Hooch! Most sites said that it wont hurt your starter just to stir it back into the mixture and feed it some more flour.

Bottom line sourdough starter is pretty easy to make and keep alive in your refrigerator by feeding it. Thanks so much for your help Thomas!

Chocolate Bouchons

2010-02-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Aaron got me a few cooking books. Thomas Keller's Bouchon finally showed up last week. So far I am just loving it. I made some beef broth last week from prime rib bones, his method worked wonders. I will have to post my Minestrone soup later.

Any way back to the Chocolate! This recipe has been adapted from Thomas Keller's book. The main changes I made were the baking time, and baking them in brioche molds instead of timbale molds. The average cook has a cupcake pan that will work fine with this recipe. The brioche molds I used are the same size as a medium cupcake pan.

Ingredients:

butter and flour for the cup cake pan, or molds
¾ cup flour
1 cup unsweetened coco powder
1 tsp kosher salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups plus 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 ounces of unsalted butter, soft and slightly warm
confectioners sugar for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 350; butter and flour 20 molds, or cupcake pans.

Sift the flour, salt, and unsweetened coco powder together; set aside. Please do not skip this step; it is the small simple things you do that make your dishes go from good to fabulous.

Fit mixer with paddle attachment and mix together eggs and sugar for 5 minutes on medium speed; when the color of the mixture turns pale yellow it is ready.

Mix in the vanilla. On low speed start to add the butter and flour mixture; add 1/3 of each to the mixer, and combine well, repeat 2 more times till all the flour and butter has been combined. Remove paddle and mix in chopped chocolate by hand. Put batter into a large zip lock back and cut the tip of it off; pipe batter into each mold about two-thirds full.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Place molds/cupcake pan on a cooling rack for two minutes. Take another cooling rack and set it on top of the molds/cupcake pan and flip the molds/cupcake pan over. The cakes will fall out of the molds on there own. Once they fall out remove the molds/pan and let them cool.

Serve with powder sugar and ice cream, enjoy!

Serves 20 small appetites, or 10 large.

Fettuccine with Bell Pepper Sauce

2010-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

This pasta was inspired from my new book, The Silver Spoon: Pasta. I'm still enjoying making pasta from scratch and this was my first attempted at making fettuccine. The hardest part of making your own noodles is trying to find places to hang them while you process all the dough. Lots of stores sell fancy pasta hanging gadgets. They look great, but my kitchen is just to small, and I have to be very careful with my limited storage space. So I have to improvise. Last night I hung clean towels over my kitchen cupboards. And hung the strands of fettuccine neatly across them. I have found that if I just flour the cut pasta and put it in a bunch it will take on that shape, and not look as pretty after you boil it. So I prefer to hang it till I am ready to boil it. I am very tempted to us a broom stick next time, prop from on corner of my kitchen to the other, and just hang the pasta that way. It might cause a small problem though if I need to get into the refrigerator.

Any way this pasta sauce is very easy to make and you don't need to make your own pasta; however, I would recommend you buy fresh fettuccine from your local market. Trader Joe's sells a very nice product. This sauce is very versatile in my opinion. You could cut the fat out by adding less cream and using chicken stock. You could very easily substitute different vegetables in your puree and serve it with chicken, or shrimp over pasta. I am very tempted to use this sauce in vegetable style lasagna, and as a topper to some home made raviolis. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
½ cup heavy cream
12 ounces fresh fettuccine pasta
1 tsp marjoram
2 tsp fresh basil, chiffonade, plus extra for garnish
kosher salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Method:

Boil a large pot of water for cooking the pasta.

Heat a large sauce pan over low heat; add olive oil, garlic, and shallot. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add chopped bell peppers, cook over low heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. After vegetables are tender stir in the marjoram; turn heat off, and let them cool for about 4 minutes. After they are cooled off transfer them into a food processor, and process to a puree. I had to work in batches, mini food processor!!

Return puree to sauce pan, over low heat add cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep covered and on low heat.

Add 1 tsp of kosher salt to the boiling water, cook fettuccine till it is al dente, 4-5 minutes. Drain pasta, pour it into the sauce pot.

Mix well, add fresh basil and serve. Garnish each plate with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and basil. Serves 4.

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Gluten-free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars

2010-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

This was a very interesting challenge. I had to try a few stores to get the gluten free flours, but it was worth it. In the end I made a beautiful treat that pays tribute to the start of the winter Olympics, Canada, and brings awareness to Celiac Disease.

I have never had Nanaimo Bars before. I followed the recipe provided pretty much all the way; however, I did add cherry extract to the top layer of the bar. If you can't find non gluten flour, regular all purpose flour can be used.

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

Ingredients

1 cup sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour (also known as brown rice flour)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup honey, mild-flavored such as clover.
5 Tbsp whole milk
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Method:

Combine flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in food processor; pulse on the till it is mixed up. Add the butter and pulse on low till it is the consistency of coarse meal.

In a medium size bowl whisk together honey, milk, and vanilla; add the flour mixture till the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (use the sweet rice flour). Kneed dough a few times, and then form the dough into a rectangle and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at-least two hours, over night is preferred.

After you chill the dough; cut the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. I have a small kitchen so I cut it into quarters. Work on a floured surface, again using the sweet rice flour. Roll the dough out to about 1/8th of an inch. Cut the dough into squares or use a cutter if you are feeling fancy. Place grams on a lined cookie sheet. Poke holes in each gram with a tooth pick, about 6 wholes per gram. Make sure you do not poke all the way through. Store grams in refrigerator for a half hour before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, put one rack at the most bottom position in your oven, and the other rack at the most top position. Put one cooking sheet on the top rack and one on the bottom, cook for 8 minutes and then rotate sheets racks from bottom to top, and cook for another 8 minutes (if you are using all purpose flour; please note they will cook faster).

Cool grams on a rack. After they are cooled put enough grams into food processor to make 1 ¼ cup crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups gluten free graham wafer crumbs
1/2 cup raw almonds, finely chopped
1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened

Middle Layer

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soften
2 Tbsp and 2 tsp Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp vanilla custard powder, instant vanilla pudding can be substituted
2 cups confectioners sugar

Top Layer

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp cherry extract

Method:

Bottom layer:
Heat up double broiler; add butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Melt mixture, after its melted mix in egg; combine till mixture is smooth. Add gram crumbs, almonds, and coconut; mix well and press mixture into a 6 by 8 inch baking dish.

Middle layer:
Beat together butter, cream, custard powder, and confectioners sugar. Once it is combines make a nice neat layer on top of the gram cracker layer.

Top layer:
Heat double broiler; melt butter with chocolate and cherry extract. Cool chocolate mixture before poring it on top of the custard layer. Chill for a few hours, cut and serve. Enjoy

Caldo Verde Soup

2010-01-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

This recipe was inspired from 1 Stock, 100 Soups, by Linda Doeser. Caldo Verde soup is traditionally made made with Kale and Linguica sausage. I decided to use Chicken Andouille Sausage and Napa Cabbage. I went with the cabbage because I had it left over from another recipe, and decided to use chicken andouille sausage over linguica because it is much healthier.

The end result gives you a very rustic hearty soup that will kick the chill out of any winter rainy day, and its easy on your pocket book. The cabbage is briefly cooked right before service so it is tender and still a little crispy, and the spiciness of the sausage adds the right about of zing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 large potatoes, diced
6 ½ cups vegetable stock
12 ounces chicken andouille sausage, thinly sliced
4 cups napa cabbage, finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped for garnish
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat large stockpot over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Place the sausage slices in the pot, do not overcrowd the pan; work in batches. Let sausages cook for a few minutes till the develop a small crust, then flip them over and cook for another minute or two. Removed sausage from stock pot. There should not be much oil left behind in the pan, only the drippings from the sausage, this is the nice part about working with the chicken sausage.

Turn heat down to low and add 2 tbsp olive oil, onions and garlic to stock pot, with a tsp of kosher salt. Cook them till they are softened; about five minutes. Add chopped potatoes and stir; cook for three minutes. Increase heat to medium and add vegetable stock. Bring soup to boil then turn heat down to low; cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or till potatoes are tender.

Remove stockpot from heat and mash potatoes using a potato masher. Taste soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Add cabbage and sausage to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately; garnish with green onions and drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 6

Daring Cooks Challenge: Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

2010-01-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

The rules for this challenge were pretty simple, the challenge left room for lots of creativity. I chose to make Pork Satay over Chicken or Beef because Pork Satay was something I have not made before. I also followed Cuppy's recipe pretty much all the through, except for adding jalapeno pepper to the marinade instead of dragon chili. I also followed the recipe provided for the peanut dipping sauce.

This is my first challenge and I am so excited to have joined the Daring Kitchen, and I am looking forward to the monthly Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges. Enjoy!

Marinade Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger root, chopped
½ jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and chopped
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts)

Method:

Combine onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, lemon, soy sauce, coriander, cumin, turmeric and olive oil in a food processor. Mix on low till it resembles a chunky sauce.

I used boneless baby back rib pieces, and with that came a lot of trimming, I tried to cut the pork into one inch strips; some are bigger and some are smaller. So I had to adjust the cooking time on some of them.

Place prepared pork in a bowl and combine with the marinade. Pork should marinade from 12-24 hours. The longer the better (:

Skewer pork, and broil for 8-10 minutes a side.

Flip when they start to turn brown on the edges. I think the preferred cooking method for satay is barbecuing them, and I would have barbecued them if the laws regarding apartments and barbecue did not exist. I had to broil mine in batches.

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped

Method:

In a small bowl combine lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, cumin, coriander and red chilies. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and combine peanut butter and coconut milk; add the lemon and soy mixture, and melt mixture together. Serve in a dipping bowl along side the Pork Satay, enjoy!

Lasagna

2010-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Yes I know, another pasta entry. I promise this will be the last one for a while. I really wanted to try making lasagna with fresh pasta, and it was so worth it. Actually it was not that much work and the more I use my pasta attachments the easier the whole process seems to get. None the less this lasagna is packed full of flavor and will feed us for the next month. After I made this dish I was sad that we had no one to share it with. This is a dish made of love and you can taste it in every bite.

This recipe can be made in stages and prepped in advance. Perfect for entertaining! Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 16 ounce cans tomato sauce
2 6 ounce cans tomato paste
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup water
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp basil
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmigiana cheese, grated
2 ½ cups of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley
1-1/4 pound lasagna sheets
kosher salt
freshly grated black pepper
olive oil
large lasagna baking dish 12 by 3 inches

Method:

Heat a large sauce pan over low to medium heat; season beef and sausage with salt and pepper, and slowly cook for about 15-20 minutes. Using a wooden spoon brake up large pieces of beef and sausage while it is cooking. Once the meat is no longer pink remove meat from skillet; drain, and discard all the fat sauce pan. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, onion and carrot to the same sauce pan and saute over low to medium heat till tender. Once tender add the garlic; saute for one minute and then return ground meat to sauce pan.

Mix in both cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste, water, oregano, marjoram, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a simmer over medium heat; after you reach a nice bubbly simmer turn the heat all the way down and cover sauce. Cook sauce for at least one hour; sauce can be made a day in advanced and in my opinion tastes better when I make it in advance.

In a medium size bowl mix together ¼ cup parmigiana cheese, 2 ½ cups ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, and salt and pepper to test. Set aside for assembly.

Assembly:

Coat the bottom of your lasagna pan with olive oil; a few tablespoons will do. Bring a large pot of water to boil; salt water and put four lasagna sheets into the boiling water. Boil fresh past sheets for 2 minutes (boil for 5 minutes if you are using dry store purchased sheets); remove sheets, place them in cold water to stop the cooking process. Dry them off and set them in your lasagna dish. I made my lasagna sheets from scratch and I had to build my lasagna layer at a time. If you are using dried lasagna sheets you can cook them all at once and place them on a cookie sheet, coat each sheet with olive oil to prevent sticking.

After setting up your first set up lasagna sheets, take 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and spreed it evenly over the sheets of lasagna. Take about 2 cups of the meat sauce and spread it evenly over the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle ¼ of the graded mozzarella cheese over the sauce, along with 1 tablespoon parmigiana.

Boil 4 more lasagna sheets for two minutes; remove them from the water, and place them on top to form your next layer.

Build this layer the same as the last, ricotta, sauce, mozzarella. Boil four more lasagna sheets for two minutes and build another layer using the last of the ricotta mixture, sauce and mozzarella. Boil the last 4 lasagna sheets for two minutes and place in your lasagna pan to form the final layer. Distribute the last of the sauce over the top of the lasagna sheets; and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese and parmigiana.

Cover lasagna with foil and bake for an hour in a 350 degree oven. Let lasagna sit for 15 minutes before slicing. This dish will feed a small army of hobbits, enjoy!

The next is for the brave pasta makers, just kidding its really not that hard. The machine does all the work.

Lasagna Sheets:

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1-2 tbsp water
3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt

Method:

Mix flour eggs, water, and salt in mixing bowl. Use kitchen aid mixer to need the dough, or do by hand. Make four disks out of dough and wrap them in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour. Work with one disk at a time. Make sure your lasagna pan is ready along with your sauce and cheese filling. Each disk will make 4 perfect size lasagna sheets; you will have odd and end pieces that I did not use, or even bother to boil.

Take your 4 inch disk and feed it threw the pasta sheet attachment on setting 1; mixer speed 2. Fold dough in half and feed through again, do this three times. Turn attachment to setting #2 and feed sheet threw. Turn attachment to setting # 3 and feed sheet threw. Does this for each setting till you reach setting number 5, I took one of my sheets to setting #6 but it seemed to thin for lasagna.

Take large rectangle and cut into lasagna style sheets. I measured my lasagna dish and figured that the bottom strips would need to be around 10 inches long and the top strips would need to be around 12.

If you are worried make them a little long and re size them after you boil them. My kitchen is very small and as I stated before I worked in very small batches, four sheets at a time. Good luck!

Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce, topped with Crispy Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

2010-01-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

I am pretty inspired right now to make fresh pasta dishes. You can buy the noodles from your local market if you do not have the time, or passion for making fresh pasta. The marinara sauce is perfect in my opinion; it has a nice balanced flavor from the shallots and carrots. The Prosciutto is crisp and light and goes so well with the melting goat cheese and pasta. If you have never tried goat cheese, I would recommend getting some soft goat cheese and spreading it on your morning bagel. The flavor is very unique and the cheese can be used in sweet or savory dishes.

Marinara Sauce

1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 4 ounce can of tomato paste
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ carrot, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup water
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat, add shallots. Saute shallots and carrot till they are tender; about 7 minutes. Add garlic to sauce pan, saute for another minute. Add tomato sauce, paste, salt, oregano and water. Bring pot till a boil; then turn your temperature down to low, cover and simmer for about an hour.

Crispy Prosciutto

5 slices of Prosciutto

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the prosciutto out evenly over baking sheet.

Bake prosciutto for 7 minutes; take the prosciutto out of the oven and flip it over, and bake for another 7 minutes. Watch this closely as it can burn. Take prosciutto off baking dish and set on paper towels to drain. (this can be done in advaced and set aside till you are ready to plate)

Pasta: (now you can skip this part and just purchase past from the store, 1 lb will do).

4 large eggs
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp salt

Method:

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl; mix with a heavy spoon till combined. Attach bowl to mixer; attach dough hook and kneed on setting #2 for 2 minutes. If mixture seems dry and another table spoon of water. Take dough out of mixing bowl, and kneed by hand for 2 minutes. Take dough and separate it into four disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. I have found that working this dough on a floured server with wet hands helps the dough kneed and combine nicely.

Work with one disk at a time. Roll disk out to a 4 by 4 in disk; about ¼ inch thick. Attach the pasta sheet attachment to mixer; put it on setting # 1. Turn your mixer on to speed #2, and feed disk threw. Take pasta sheet and fold it in half feed it through again, do this a total of 3 times. Change the setting on your pasta machine to 2; turn your mixer on to speed #2, feed pasta threw. Change the setting on your pasta machine to 3; turn your mixer on to speed #2, feed pasta threw. Continue this same process till you reach setting number 6 on your attachment.

Remove the pasta roller attachment from mixer, and attach the spaghetti making attachment. Cut your pasta sheets to the 5 inches by 12 inches; basically cut your large rectangle into 3 smaller rectangles. You do not want your spaghetti noodles to be 24 inches long.

Run each sheet through the spagaetti attachement, set noodles on a plate. Switch out attachement and repeat steps for the last 3 disks of pasta dough. Cook pasta right away or hang to dry.

Boil a large pot of water, salt and add about a tbsp of olive oil. Cook pasta for about 4-5 minutes till al dente. Drain pasta and combine in sauce pan with marinara sauce.

Assembly:

2 tbsp chopped green onion
1/3 cup soft goat cheese
5 slices of crispy prosciutto

Plate:

Garnish with chopped green onions, dots of goat cheese, and one piece of crumbled crispy prosciutto. Serves 4-5 people.

Homemade Crab Ravioli

2010-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

I am the happy and lucky(bell) owner of a Kitchen Aid Mixer. This Christmas I received the pasta making attachment kit. It came with three attachments, fettuccine roller, pasta roller, spaghetti roller. I don't think you need a fancy pasta roller to make fabulous pasta, but it can't hurt.

For new years we had king crab legs, and I decided the best place to use the left overs would be in a ravioli. I wanted to keep this simple because this was my first fresh pasta experience, and I wanted my pasta to sparkle like Edward. So it's a simple ravioli served with a very simple lemon olive sauce. Enjoy!

Pasta Dough Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten + 1 egg reserve for egg wash
1 ½ tsp kosher salt

Method:

Add flour, eggs, and salt to mixing bowl. Combine by hand with a spoon, then kneed dough using your dough hook on setting number two for two minutes. Dough should not stick to hands when you pinch it together; if dough seems too dry add a tbsp of water and kneed for another minute.

Remove dough from mixer and kneed by hand on floured board; kneed for about two minutes. Section dough into four pieces, and store in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes; dough can be stored over night. Caution do not over work your dough or it will dry out.

While the dough is in the refrigerator prepare your ravioli filling and sauce.

Crab Filling Ingredients:

1 Cup fresh crab
1 shallot, finally chopped
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbsp Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Method:

Mix crab, shallot, ricotta cheese, parsley, and basil- set aside in refigerator till you are ready to fill ravioli, this can be made in advance (:

Sauce

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
zest of one lemon

Method:

Grated lemon zest in a non reactive bowl, and olive oil. Let sit till you are ready to serve. I used a very special fruity extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. It came from Napa, Ca I believe.

Making Ravioli

Boil large pot of water.

Create pasta sheets by using your manufactures instructions or simply rolling them out by hand. Use one disk at a time.

Take one disk out of refrigerator and roll it into a 4 inch disk, about ¼ inch think.

Turn mixer to setting #2 and feed the disk through the roller (roller on setting #1). Take the dough and fold it in half and feed it through again; repeat three times. Turn mixer off and change your pasta attachment to setting #2; feed through roller. Turn mixer off and turn your attachment to setting #3; feed through roller. Continue doing this one setting up each time till you reach setting #6.

Take your large rectangle of dough and cut in into strips 2.5 in by 5 in .

Take one hefty tsp of filling in the middle of each square; brush with egg wash and crimp together with another square of pasta.

Transfer sealed ravioli to floured baking sheet.

Season pot of boiling water with salt and 1 tbsp olive oil. Drop ravioli in water and cook for about 5-7 minutes till al dente. Serve ravioli with a drizzle of the infused olive oil sauce and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.

Red Velvet Cake

2009-12-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I am not much of a cake girl, but knowing that I would be baking in my mothers fancy convection oven sealed the deal. Cake was for desert. The next step was what kind of cake should I make. I was thinking chocolate and then carrot, and in the end I wanted something that would go well with cream cheese frosting. I borrowed the cake recipe from Martha Stewart, and added a little less coco powder than she did. I wanted this cake to scream red, and it did. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the cake and its sinfully good frosting.

Method:

Unsalted butter, for cake pans
2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 cup cocoa powder- add 1/8 for a brighter red cake, ¼ for a deeper red cake.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 large eggs
1/4 cup red food coloring
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pans with unsalted butter and dust with flour. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl; cake flour, salt coco powder; set aside.
Fit your electric mixer with the paddle attachment and combine the eggs and sugar, beat for a few minutes; add eggs one at a time. Add food coloring and vanilla; please not that red food color can stain your kitchen, so be careful!

Add flour and buttermilk to mixture; alternating and scraping down sides as you go. In a small bowl mix baking soda and vinegar; add to batter. Beat for 10 seconds and then divide evenly into cake pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes till toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes on racks before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-12-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

I used this cream cheese frosting recipe on my red velvet cake. You can add fresh orange, lemon, or lime zest to this recipe to change it up.

Method:

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
16 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Place cream cheese and butter in mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment; whip on medium speed till combined and smooth. Gradually add sugar; beat till smooth. Add vanilla and lemon juice and blend.

Prime Rib

2009-12-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

This was my first prime rib, and I have to say it came out pretty good. When I got the prime rib home from the store I realized how big it was, and I got a little scared. Worried that I would over cook it, under cook it. In the end I put my faith into my probe thermometer, and like always it delivered. The flavor of the meat with horseradish was just mouth watering. It was a special treat to prepare this fine piece of meat for my family.

10-12 lb prime rib bone attached roast
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly grated black pepper
granulated garlic
4 cloves of garlic, slivered
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Method:

Ask your butcher to cut bones away from roast and to tie them back onto the roast with butchers twine. Remove your roast from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking, it must come to room temperature before you place it in the oven.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place prime rib in a roasting pan with 3 inch high sides. The roast should be placed bone side down. Pat the roast dry and liberally coat the roast with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Rub olive oil the the two sides of exposed meat, not on the fat portion on the top of roast. Cut small holes all over the top of the roast with a paring knife; insert pieces of the slivered garlic and rosemary.

Insert probe thermometer. Seer prime rib for 15 minutes at 450 degrees; then turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Your prime rib will be done when your meat thermometer tells you, it takes about 20 minutes per pound. 125-130 degrees for a medium rare roast. Once your roast reaches 125 pull it out of the oven and cover it with foil. Let it sit for a good 30 minutes before carving.

Artichoke Leek Soup

2009-12-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

This soup is just delicious, I made it as the starter to my fabulous Christmas dinner feast. You could easily freeze left overs of this soup for easy lunches.

Ingredients

4 Tbsp olive oil
4 leeks, white part only, washed well and chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
2 small potato, peeled and cubed
2 (8-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
4 cups chicken stock
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp chopped chives, for garnish

Heat oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add Leeks, garlic saute for two minutes. Add the potatoes and saute for 7 minutes. Add the artichokes, chicken stock, cream cheese, salt, and pepper; cook over medium low heat for about 40 minutes till every thing is nice and tender.

Blend soup using a hand held immersion blender, or work in small batches in a blender. Taste and season soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon juice to the soup right before server, garnish bowls of soup with freshly chopped chives. Enjoy
Serves 8

Potato Onion Gratin

2009-12-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

This dish is always a hit. I made it for both Christmas Eve (double batch), and Christmas Day (single batch). This goes well with Ham, Beef, and Turkey. Enjoy.

2 cups heavy cream
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
5 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/16 inch think slices
1 sweet white onion, cut in half and sliced into 1/16 inch think slices
5 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg in a large bowl. Toss in sliced potatoes together using your hands. Arrange onion slices at the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish; add potato mixture on top, make sure you distribute the potatoes and cream mixture evenly over the onions. Cover with Gruyere cheese and parsley. Cover backing dish with foil and bake for about an hour till tender, remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes to brown cheese.

Kolachkies

2009-12-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

These cookies are a favorite with my family at the holidays. The first time I had them was on a trip to Chicago. I remember how flaky they were and how I so wanted to master making them. They are a little labor intensive but very worth it, trust me. Enjoy!

1 lb Butter, softened
8 oz Cream cheese, softened
3 c Flour
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 Egg, beaten

Filling:

2 can Solo raspberry, apricot or poppy-seed

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together and set aside.

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp water
Beat together and set aside.

Method for pastry:
Cream the butter and cream cheese together; once blended add egg and vanilla. Mix in flour and chill in the refrigerator over night.

The trick to this dough is to work in small batches and always keep the dough you are not using refrigerated. I work with about ½ cup of dough at a time. Roll dough out to about 1/8 in on a heavily floured surface.
Cut dough into 2 by 2 in squares. Place a row of your favorite filling, about 1 teaspoon.

Fold on edge of dough over the filling, dot with egg wash. The egg wash is used as a glue, try not to get it on the outer portion of the pastry.

Seal pastry and place on a parchment lined backing sheet.

Back in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Let cool and dust them when powder sugar before serving.

Yields 80

Chicken Egg Noodle Soup

2009-12-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been so cold in the Bay Area. Time for some more soup! This recipe is pretty simple, and you can you chicken legs or thighs if you prefer them over breasts. I used breasts cause they are a staple item in my freezer. Enjoy!

3 boneless skinless cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
4 oz egg noodles
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and fresh grated pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat, add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Saute till tender about 7 minutes.

Add stock and bay leaf to pot and bring to a small boil. Add egg noodles and cook for about 8 minutes. Fold in chicken, remove bay leaf, add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve each bowl with fresh chopped parsley.

Serves 5

Challah

2009-12-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from my dear friend Noah Wright. All I can tell you is I feel like a leaf in the wind when I bake. If you have never made your own bread I suggest you give a try. Enjoy

1 Cup warm water
2 packages of Yeast
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 1/4 – 5 3/4 cups of flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon water
Poppy seeds (optional)

Method

Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved, and active. Add remaining water, sugar, butter, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well. Stir in 3 eggs, 1 egg white (reserve 1 yolk), and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.

Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 - 8 minutes. place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.

Cover, let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. It took me a good hour to get my dough to rise. My apartment is so cold, and I think that is what did me in. After a half hour I decided to heat two cups of water in the microwave. I then removed the water and put my dough in the microwave to sit in the nice warm air... do not heat your dough. I did this as a way to keep the air around it warm.

Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide remaining half into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3 of the dough. Divide larger piece into 3 equal pieces; roll to 12 inch ropes. Place ropes on greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal. Divide remaining piece into 3 equal pieces.

Roll to 10 inch ropes; braid. Place small braid on large braid. Pinch ends firmly to seal and secure to large braid. Repeat with remaining dough to make second loaf. Cover; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in size; about 30-45 minutes.

Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with poppy seed, if desired.

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until done, switching positions of sheets in oven halfway through baking time. Remove from sheets; let cool on wire rack.

Makes 2 loaves

Boneless Ribeye

2009-12-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

One of the not so nice things about living in an apartment is you can't use a barbeque on your balcony. About a year ago I invested in a cast iron grill, and I find that you can grill up just about anything on it. I cook so many dishes on this grill, from salmon to chicken, and steak. I highly recommend every pick one up.

2 Boneless Ribeye Steaks
Kosher Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
Granulated Garlic
Olive oil
Cast iron grill

Method

Heat your cast iron grill on high heat for 10 minutes, this step is most important. Once grill is heated take steaks and drizzle olive oil over them, sprinkle garlic both sides along with salt and pepper. Place steaks on grill and let cook 3-4 minutes a side. The time depends on how think your steaks are and how you want them done. Let steaks rest for 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy

Mulligatawny Soup

2009-12-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

I found myself with lots of turkey left over from thanksgiving and thought.. hmmm soup.. and then the soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld was on, so that sealed the deal! This is my take on Mulligatawny soup, Enjoy!

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 boneless, skinless turkey breast half cut into cubes
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup plain yogurt
½ cup cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Method

Take a large stockpot over medium heat and melt down butter. Add chopped turkey browning on all sides, after browned transfer to a bowl.

Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to stock pot saute for about 7 minutes. Stir in curry powder and cayenne pepper, saute for another 2 minutes.

Add broth and browned turkey to stock pot, bring to a simmer. Add the rice and cook for about 30 minutes. Stir in yogurt and cream, and lemon juice. Cook for another 10 minutes and serve with minced cilantro.

Servers 5

Turkey

2009-12-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving would not be the same without a nice juicy turkey. Please follow my brine instructions, and my baking instructions and you will not be let down.

Aromatics:

1 comice pear quartered
1 yellow onion quartered
1 cinnamon stick
A healthy bunch of FRESH sage, rosemary, thyme, and flat leaf parsley steams

Method:

Heat oven to 500 degrees.

Washed the brine off turkey and dried it completely. Set up turkey in roasting rack, and tuck wings under the sides of the bird to prevent burning. Insert all the aromatics into the turkeys cavity.

Prep turkey shield. This is Alton Brown's part, basically his method is to bake bird in a 500 degree oven on the lowest rack for 30 minutes, then pull turkey out and put turkey shield on the bird to prevent the breasts from drying out. This idea and method caught my eye because it was based on the temperature of breasts to indicate when you turkey is done vs the hours per pound method most use.

Turkey Shield:

1 sheet of heavy duty foil made into a triangle
olive oil
1 probe thermometer

Brush olive oil over the foil and press it onto the turkey creating a mold of the breasts. Remove turkey shield and set aside to use later.

Rub olive oil all over the turkey and place it in the lowest point of your oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes is up reduce your ovens temperature to 350. Pull your turkey out and insert your probe thermometer into the deepest portion of the breast meat. Set your probe thermometer to 161, and put the turkey back in the oven. My turkey was 15lbs, and took 2.5 hours to cook, including the 30 minutes at 500. Once your turkey hits 161, take it out and cover it will foil and let it rest for at least a half hour.

Gravy

drippings from the turkey
fat separating measuring cup
fresh rosemary
8 oz Cabernet Sauvignon
1/3 cup flour
1-2 cans of low sodium chicken broth
pepper and salt

Method:

Remove turkey from roasting pan and set aside. Add broth and wine to roasting pan over medium heat. The amount of wine and broth used depends on how many drippings you have. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the roasting pan getting all the bits up, continue to cook it to reduce it down. Poor liquid into your fat separator, let sit for about 5 minutes.

Take about 1/3 cup of liquid from fat separator and poor it back into your roasting pan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in flour, gradually add more the the liquid from the fat separator till you have the consistency you prefer. Whisk for about 5 minutes add your fresh rosemary, salt and pepper and serve.

The finished product!

Amy's Cranberry Sauce

2009-12-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of one orange
½ cup of honey
12 ounces of fresh cranberries
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:
Wash the cranberries, and toss out any dried or wrinkled berries. Heat orange juice and honey in a sauce pan over med heat. Bring this to a boil, reduce to med heat add cranberries, cloves, and orange zest. Continue to simmer over med heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place in severing dish and refrigerate till you are ready to use it.

Sausage Stuffing

2009-12-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yum... Stuffing has always been my favorite part of Thanksgiving. My recipe is a combination of my Mother's and my Aunt Brenda's recipe. Its actually a very simple common stuffing, but I just adore it and never seem to try any other recipes when it comes to turkey day.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp non salted butter
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups chopped yellow onion
2 cups chopped celery
2 cloves of garlic finally chopped
4 ounce can of chopped mushrooms drained
1 lb Jimmy Dean sausage
10 cups white bread cubed stuffing- not seasoned
2 tsp Bells Seasoning
2 14 ounce cans of chicken broth

Method:

Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, celery, and kosher salt. Sweat vegetables down till they are almost tender about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and mushrooms. Cook for another minute and remove from heat, and place vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Return skillet to stove and reduce temperature to medium low. Break sausage into small pieces and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat when finished and combine with vegetables. Add cubed bread crumbs, bells seasoning and mix well. Slowly mix in chicken broth and transfer stuffing into a butter greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about a half hour and then remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes till crispy on top.

This recipe makes enough to fill 9 by 13, 3 quart casserole dish.

Brussels Sprouts

2009-12-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

This recipe was made for two people, and we had left overs. Feel free to double or even triple for a larger crowd.

½ pound Brussels sprouts sliced in half
½ yellow onion sliced
1 garlic glove finally chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Method:

Heat large skillet on medium high with olive oil. Add onion slices to the pan with a sprinkle of salt, saute for about 5 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts to the pan flat side down. Cook them for about a minute, then add garlic to pan. Saute them for another minute add fresh lemon juice and serve.

Mashed Potatoes

2009-12-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

I have never been a huge fan of mashed potatoes around Thanksgiving time, I myself prefer to fill my belly with stuffing. This recipe can be made with or without the hard boil eggs, I find adding them gives them a different and welcome texture.

4 Yukon gold potatoes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Hard boiled eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Peel and chop up potatoes and put them into a large pot. Cover them with water, add salt, and bring them to a boil. 10-15 minutes later your potatoes should be soft when poked with a fork, at this point take them off the heat and drain them. Placed cooked potatoes back in the pot. Heat butter and heavy cream in a separate bowl in the microwave and add to potatoes. Mash them with your favorite masher, add salt and pepper to taste. Finely chop hard boil eggs and add to your mashed potatoes and serve!

Serves about 5

Turkey Brine

2009-12-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

The Brine!

So for the turkey I decided to brine it for about 16 hours, and then bake it filled with aromatics. The brine is so worth it, my turkey came out so juicy. I highly recommend everyone trying this at least once.

Brine:

½ gallon water
½ gallon low sodium chicken stock
1 cup kosher salt
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp whole pepper corns
1 bulb of garlic chopped in half
1 gallon of ice water

Method:

Combine ½ gallon water, chicken stock, kosher salt, brown sugar, honey, molasses, soy sauce, pepper corns, and garlic in a stock pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then refrigerate brine.

After brine is cooled, combine it with the 1 gallon of ice water in a 5 gallon stock pot, or bucket. Rinse turkey off and remove all the innards. Make sure turkey is full covered in the brine, you might have to place a weight on top of it to keep it submerged. Brine for 6-16 hours.

When you are ready to cook the turkey, remove it from the brine, discard brine, and rinse turkey inside and out in sink. Pat your turkey dry, and you are ready to prep turkey for the oven.

White Bean and Bacon Soup

2009-11-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

This soup is similar to my mothers recipe, I made some changes and added bacon... everyone loves bacon!

1.5 lb of white beans - Canellini or Great Northern
4 quarts of water
2-3 lbs of ham shanks
1 lb center cut bacon, chopped up
2 cup of diced onions
2 cup chopped celery
1 1/3 cup chopped carrots
4 cloves garlic, diced
Salt and pepper
Herbes de Provence
Fresh parsley

Method

Soak the beans in at least 3 quarts of cold water for about 2 hrs. Drain the water.

Put the ham shank pieces in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about an hour. Add the chopped vegetables and beans. Cook for another 2 hours, until the vegetables are soft and the ham meat easily pulls away from the bone.

Remove ham hocks from pot, and discard. Your beans should be soft at this point, if they are not you need to let them cook longer.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat and cook bacon till crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels until beans are soft. Once the beans are soft, break up the bacon into small pieces and mix into the soup. Cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of herbes de provence, and server with fresh chopped parsley.

Serves a lot.

Empanadas

2009-10-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Pastry Ingredients

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tsp kosher salt
3 cups white flour

1 beaten egg for pastry egg wash

Filling

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, minced
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
¼ pork chorizo sausage
½ pound ground pork
½ pound ground beef
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, I used fresh
¼ cup Spanish brine-cured green olives, pitted and chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped

Method

Pastry

Beat cream cheese, butter, and ½ tsp salt until well blended. Slowly add in the flour. Mix till incorporated and form dough into two balls. Place balls in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.

Filling

Warm olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. Add onions, bell peppers and garlic, cook till tender about 10 minutes. Add the chorizo, pork, and beef and cook till no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives and cumin. Cover and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook till all moisture is gone, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Put aside to cool.

Assemble

Heat oven to 375. On a floured work area roll one dough disk out to 1/8th thickness. Use a cup or a jar with a 3 inch diameter to cut pastry disks. Fill each disk with a nice teaspoon size ball of filling, top with a few pieces of hard boil egg. Roll dough over and crimp edges with fork to seal. Rinse and repeat till your cooking sheet is packed, brush with egg was and bake for about 15 minutes.