Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Fed

Beer Can Chicken

2012-02-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

I'm behind on my posting-- this was originally written in July, and then set aside until I got around to uploading photos, six months later. Pretend it's summer, and fire up the grill!

This has become a staple dinner for us; we've been eating it almost weekly all summer. It's very easy, and turns out a perfect chicken every time, with juicy meat and crispy skin. Except for once. It turns out that turning off the middle burner IS important.

Ingredients:
Whole chicken (4 lbs. or so)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Olive oil
Can of beer

Equipment:
Beer can chicken rack
Grill!

Directions:
1. Drink a third of the can of beer. Or pour it out, if you'd rather.
2. Generously sprinkle the cavity of the chicken with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Jam the chicken onto the beer can. This will take some wiggling.
4. Rub olive oil and sprinkle a little more salt and pepper over the outside of the chicken.
5. Grill over indirect medium-high indirect heat for an hour or so, or until an instant read thermometer in the thigh reads at least 165. While I like my beef rare, I prefer my poultry pretty well done; I usually go until 180. It'll still be juicy.

The indirect part is important, or you will end up with this:

Serve with grilled corn on the cob; eat with your fingers!

Bourbon Peaches and Cream Popsicles

2011-09-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

I know that summer is past, but you can just hold on a little longer with these...

Summer on a stick.
From Endless Simmer.

Ingredients:
1 c. ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. simple syrup*
1/4 c. bourbon
2 c. plain (preferably full-fat) yogurt

Directions:
Mash peaches; add bourbon. Add simple syrup to taste; you may not need all of it, depending on the sweetness of your peaches and your affinity for bourbon. Stir in yogurt.

Pour into popsicle molds; freeze until solid. With my popsicle mold, this made 10 3 oz. popsicles.

To un-mold, run hot water over the outside of the molds and gently pull on the stick. Immediately get those popsicles back in the freezer!

*To make simple syrup, I just microwaved 1/4 c. water until boiling and stirred in 1/4 c. sugar. No need to dirty a pot on your stovetop! However, if the water cools at all, you'll need to zap it again in order for the sugar to dissolve.

Grilled Pizza

2011-08-05T12:20:00.002-04:00

I think my husband put it it best when we were eating Donato's on Saturday. "Great. Now you've ruined pizza." This method of homemade pizza not only beats any frozen pizza (not that hard, admittedly) but also gets you better pizza than calling up anyone that delivers.

The problem with making pizza at home is usually that your oven only goes up to 500 degrees or so, while a 'real' pizza oven is at least 100-200 degrees hotter. Your grill doesn't have that limitation.

Adapted from Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking.

Ingredients:
Pizza dough (I use my go-to of no-knead dough)
1-2 c. tomato sauce
Shredded Mozzarella or other pizza-friendly cheese
Olive oil-- for greasing every available surface
Assorted other toppings-- very thinly sliced, and you'll need less than you think

Directions:
Pre-heat your grill; grill any toppings (such as sausage) that need cooking.

Divide your dough into four balls. Brush olive oil onto four squares of aluminum foil. Rub olive oil all over your hands and take a dough ball and stretch it into a 8-10" circle; put it onto a square of foil.

With the no-knead dough, I just plop the dough from the bowl straight to the foil and stretch it out on the foil. It may not look like this:

But that would just mess up your kitchen.

Repeat for the other three. (I have no pictures of this because it's a sticky process and my camera is not oil or dough-proof.) Brush the tops of the dough with olive oil. If everything is oiled enough, they stack quite nicely, although I use the plastic wrap from the dough's second rise between the dough and the next sheet of foil just in case. Stack the pizza rounds on a cookie sheet for transport.

Pre-heat your grill to high and let the dough rest while you set out all your toppings near the grill. Once you start cooking, it goes fast.

Put the dough straight on the grill (peel off the plastic first!)-- you will probably need to work in batches:

Then peel off the foil (use tongs), but don't discard it yet:

Close the lid. Wait until the dough looks a little dry on top (just a couple of minutes), and then flip:

Quickly (!) top your pizzas, then close the lid. If you value your arm hair, you can flip each pizza onto the oiled foil, top, and then slide back onto the grill.

Cook until cheese is melted. Enjoy the greatest pizza ever.

No Knead Pizza Dough

2011-08-05T12:14:00.001-04:00

This makes a very wet dough, but you weren't going to toss it in the air anyway.

Ingredients:
3 c. bread or AP flour
2 t salt
1/4-1/2 t 'instant' or 'rapid rise' dry yeast
1 1/2 c. water
Olive oil for second rise

Directions:
The first bit is exactly the same as no-knead bread:
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in water until it makes a nice shaggy ball; cover with plastic wrap and let rise until flat and bubbly (anywhere from 8-12 hours or more).

If you're in a hurry (less than 8 hours until dinner), use more yeast (up to 1/2 t) and set in a warm location. Lately, setting the bowl outside in the sun will get the dough to rise in just a couple of hours.

The second rise differs slightly:
Oil your hands and four small bowls; cereal bowls work nicely. Divide the dough evenly into quarters and roll into balls. Put them into the bowls, oil the tops, and re-cover with plastic wrap.

Let rise until doubled in size (1-4 hours, depending on yeast amount and temperature.)

Peanut Butter Granola

2011-08-03T10:33:00.005-04:00

This is what we eat every day for breakfast. I get complaints if we're out and there are only Cheerios.

The recipe is super flexible-- just about the only element that is non-negotiable is oats. Don't like honey? Use maple syrup! Omit the peanut butter altogether! Use any kind of nuts (just not salted). When I'm feeling virtuous, I sometimes add a half cup of flaxseed meal to the honey mixture so I get in some Omega-3's. When I'm not, I sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips over the baked granola.

This recipe is scaled up so I only have to make it once a week for two adults; adapted (ever so loosely) from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Also, thanks to The Well-Fed Newlyweds, who got me on the granola kick with her nutty pumpkin granola. It's excellent and you should try it.

Ingredients:
8 c. 'old-fashioned' (NOT instant) rolled oats
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. almonds (sliced, chopped, or whole)
1 c. shredded coconut
1/2-3/4 c. honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
1/2 c. peanut butter

Directions:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a very large bowl; mix honey and peanut butter in a separate bowl (I usually just use the measuring cup).

Stir gooey mixture into dry ingredients; spread onto two greased, rimmed baking sheets. If you use a plain cookie sheet, you will end up with half-baked granola everywhere when you try to stir it.

Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes, stirring and switching the baking sheets every 15 minutes. Use convection if you've got it; it will bake faster without burning!

Cool on cookie sheets-- I just turn the oven off and let it cool in there, or I eat too much delicious warm crunchy granola-- and transfer to an airtight container.

It's been awhile...

2011-02-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

... but I've been busy. My latest project:

Tasty, no?

Southwestern Pulled Brisket

2010-06-17T18:46:00.001-04:00

Pretty much what the slow cooker was invented for. This is AMAZING on either soft tacos (with spicy slaw and avocados) or as barbecue-style sandwiches on soft buns.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients
3 pounds beef brisket

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 T vegetable oil

5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 or 2 jalapeno peppers (with seeds), sliced

1 T chili powder

2 t ground celery seeds

2 t ground cumin

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

1 c. water

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole or diced peeled tomatoes, with their juices

2 bay leaves

1/4 c. molasses

Directions

Generously salt and pepper the brisket; heat oil in heavy, large pan over med-high heat. Sear each side of the meat for 5 minutes (10 total). Remove beef to slow cooker; put skillet back over heat. Add garlic, onion, and dried spices to the skillet; stir for a minute. Add the vinegar to deglaze the pan; have a fan on or prepare to have your sinuses and eyes assaulted (boiling vinegar is a bit pungent.) Scrape all the brown bits up and boil until almost gone; add contents of pan to the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker, cover, and set on low for 8-10 hours.

Once meat is cooked, remove from cooker and pull apart with forks. Remove bay leaves, and pour rest of sauce into a blender (cooked veggies included.) If needed, simmer to thicken; otherwise, just stir together sauce and shredded beef in the crock pot.

Serve as tacos or sandwiches.

This reheats incredibly well-- it may even be better the next day. I hope it freezes well, because I have a couple of dinners' worth waiting for me in the freezer.

Derby Pie

2010-05-04T09:14:00.002-04:00

Continuing the bourbon baked goods theme. I got this recipe from a friend of a friend; she's from Kentucky, so we'll go with the theory that it's an old Southern family recipe. For all I know, it could be off the side of a box or something.

Good at any time, but particularly appropriate for the running of the Kentucky Derby.

Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 c.), melted and cooled
1/2 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts
1/4 c. bourbon
2 t vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs on high speed; on lower speed, gradually beat in sugar. Alternating additions, fold in butter and flour.

Stir in bourbon and vanilla; then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

2. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (except for any melted chocolate). Best if served warm, but still pretty darn good at room temperature.

Bourbon Blondies

2010-05-03T12:37:00.001-04:00

I have this terrible backlog of things I've made but haven't posted. So, in honor of the Kentucky Derby last weekend (not that I actually managed to catch it on TV), baked goods with bourbon!

Completely spectacular with butter pecan ice cream. Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Ingredients:
2 c. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/4 c. bourbon
2 c. plus 1 T all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat brown sugar and butter over medium heat until butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Stir constantly; do NOT lick the spoon or you will burn your tongue.

2. Take off the heat and cool a bit (now is a good time to go do something else for a few minutes.) If your butterscotch mixture is too hot, you'll end up with scrambled egg in your blondies. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and bourbon. Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Spread batter into buttered 13x9 pan. Sprinkle heavily with chocolate and pecans. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until set in the center.

Enjoy!

Biscuits and Bacon Gravy

2010-03-26T12:46:00.000-04:00

This post was of course originally going to be about both the biscuits and the bacon gravy, but I botched my biscuits. Bacon gravy, on the other hand.... mmm... bacon...

This is from my sister's college roommate, a native South Carolinian... this breakfast makes up for the entire existence of grits.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon, thickly sliced
3 c. milk
3 T all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In medium saucepan, fry bacon. You will need to work in batches. Let drain on paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Crumble.

2. Pour off bacon grease into clean cup; put 3 T of it back into the pan. Whisk in 3 T flour, scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook over med-low heat until bubbly and golden.

3. Stir in milk; bring to just barely a simmer, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. When thick, stir in bacon.

Serve over biscuits immediately. (Seriously, this is AMAZING right away, but really icky if leftover.)

Someday, I'll do a post on biscuits, but not when they turn out like this:

They were mediocre at best... apparently the distinction between baking soda and powder remains very important. I realized what I'd done AFTER mixing the dough, and so just stirred in a bunch of cream of tartar. They were not supposed to be drop biscuits and were tasty only when covered in bacon gravy.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Cream of Tomato Soup

2010-03-15T10:57:00.002-04:00

Possibly the perfect meal when it's been raining all weekend.

A childhood favorite, but made with cheddar and asiago cheese on homemade bread instead of Kraft Singles on Wonder Bread. Also: my new favorite tomato soup. Of all time.
The soup recipe is adapted from How to Cook Everything; the sandwich recipe is below if you'd like instructions for grilled cheese.

For two servings of soup:

Ingredients:
1 T butter
2 T tomato paste
2 shallots, sliced
1 small carrot, diced
1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/4 t dried or 1/2 t fresh thyme
1/2 c. cream or half-and-half
up to 1 t sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add tomato paste; let it cook for a minute. Add carrot and shallots; cook for another 5 minutes or until shallots soften.

2. Add the can of tomatoes and thyme; cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes start to break up. Add cream and blend. (As ever, this would be easier with a stick blender. If, like me, you don't have one, a bar blender works!)

Add sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. If it's too thick, blend in a little milk. Bring temperature back to just simmering.

For two sandwiches:

Ingredients:
4 slices bread
2 T butter
1/3 lb. cheese, sliced

Directions:
1. Butter four slices of high-quality bread (I used this, but in loaf form. I apparently haven't posted a recipe for white bread yet.)

2. Assemble the sandwich: put buttered sides out, and three or four slices of any sort of sandwich cheese on the inside.

3. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted and bread is golden brown; flip and toast the second side.

New header

2010-03-15T10:14:00.003-04:00

Still tweaking it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cupcakes

2010-03-02T12:58:00.003-05:00

These are wonderfully decadent...

This recipe is from the Well-Fed Newlyweds, who adapted it from the Cooking Club of America.

Ingredients:
Truffles:
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped (I used half a bag of white chocolate chips.)
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Cupcakes:
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. strong coffee, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Ganache Frosting:
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
3 oz. semisweet chocolate
3 T creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Form the truffles:
Place white chocolate in medium microwave-safe bowl. Set power to 50% and nuke for 2 minutes; stir and microwave in 30 second increments until chocolate is melty. (Note: if you microwave until it looks melted on top, the bottom will be burned.)

Stir in 1/4 c. peanut butter until smooth. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Scoop out a tablespoon, roll into a 1-inch ball, and place on waxed paper-lined plate. Repeat until you have a dozen (plus one to eat immediately.)

Roll each ball in cocoa powder to coat completely.

Freeze on lined plate until frozen solid (a couple of hours), or up to overnight.

2. Make the cupcakes:
Heat oven to 350°F and put paper liners into your muffin tin. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In large bowl, beat together buttermilk, coffee, eggs, and vanilla.

In several additions, beat flour mixture into liquids. Add melted butter. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for two minutes. Divide batter equally among muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full.

Gently drop frozen truffle into center of each batter-filled cup. Do not push truffle into batter (it will sink during baking).

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.

3. Make the frosting:
Bring cream to a boil over medium heat. Remove pan from heat; drop in semisweet chocolate and let sit for a couple of mintues to melt. Stir.

Add 3 tablespoons peanut butter; stir until smooth. Pour into small bowl; cool 30 minutes or until room temperature. Spread a tablespoon on each cupcake; let stand until set.

Share; bask in adulation.

Simple Tomato Sauce

2010-02-18T14:07:00.001-05:00

I hadn't heard of this recipe before it appeared on Smitten Kitchen, but it's apparently kind of a big deal in the food blogosphere.

This is incredibly simple, and you probably have the ingredients sitting in your pantry already. They are: tomatoes, butter, and an onion. That's it. No chopping (although I ended up cheating and using a blender at the end.) It makes a wonderfully rich, mellow sauce that reminded me a bit of vodka sauce, but without the bite.

Originally from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan, but I saw it at Smitten Kitchen. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:
One can of whole tomatos (28 oz.)
One onion, peeled and cut in half
5 T butter (unsalted)

That's it. Maybe salt if there isn't already some in the canned tomatoes (there will be, though.) And some parmesan to grate on top, if you feel so inclined. Also, I giggled a this picture, because I have the sense of humor of a five-year-old boy. Unsalted butt.

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients into a saucepan.

Simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes, occasionally stirring to squish the tomatoes.

2. In theory, step 2 is just fishing out the onion. In practice, my tomatoes hadn't broken up enough and the sauce was still lumpy after an hour and a half. Not the consistency I wanted.

So I threw it in the blender. (Yes, a stick blender would be easier, if you have one.)

It was SO good... fresh and creamy and wonderful and delicious.

It did turn orange, though... I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable chemistry-based explanation, but I have no idea what. Something with the seeds getting blended, maybe?

I served this over rotini with sweet Italian sausage on top, but it might be even better without sausage and just bit of cheese grated on top.

Cupcakes!

2010-02-17T18:10:00.001-05:00

I decided to make some treats for Fat Tuesday... these fit the bill nicely.

I went back to my favorite cupcake recipe (adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cupcake recipe). This time, I made vanilla cupcakes with almond buttercream and a layer of jam between cake and icing.

(makes 12, plus a little extra)

Ingredients for cupcakes:
1/2 c. (a stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350; line muffin tins with papers.

2. Mix milk and vanilla in a measuring cup; mix flour and baking powder together in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
In a larger bowl, cream butter; beat in sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (~3 mins on medium speed). Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually add flour and milk, alternating and beating until incorporated.

3. Spoon batter into cups, about 2/3 full. (Do NOT overfill-- you will end up with mushroom shaped cupcakes that don't want to come out of the pan.)

4. Bake 20-22 minutes; cool on rack before icing.

Almond Buttercream frosting ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 c. confectioners sugar (or one 15 oz. box)
1/4 c. cream or milk
1/4 t almond extract

1/4 c. or so seedless raspberry jam

Directions:
Cream butter; beat in half the sugar and all the cream and almond extract. Gradually add remaining sugar until icing is thick enough to spread. Spread a teaspoon of jam onto each cupcake.

Spread or pipe icing onto cupcakes.

Roasted Broccoli

2010-02-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly delicious. Roasting gives broccoli a nutty flavor, and with the salt reminded me a little bit of the flavor of wasabi peas or some other bar snack.

Very simple; makes a great side dish for pretty much anything.

From the Well-Fed Newlyweds.

Ingredients:
5 c. broccoli florets (2 medium heads), rinsed and dried
2 T olive oil
1/4-1/2 tsp. kosher (or other coarse) salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Toss everything in a bowl to combine.

2. Spread broccoli out on a cookie sheet or pan in a single layer; roast for 5 minues, then flip and continue roasting for another 10.

That's it! Try not to finish off until you actually can get it onto plates.

Split Pea Soup

2010-02-02T12:18:00.001-05:00

Alas, there is no way to make split pea soup appetizing looking:

On the other hand, it has everything else in the world going for it: it's delicious, low-calorie, satisfying, easy, and cheap (unless, like me, you purchase a 10-lb. ham just to have a leftover ham bone.)

This HAS to be done a day ahead of time; it's just OK the first day. It gets progressively better the longer it gets left in the fridge. If you're making it for company, do it a couple of days ahead of time.

Makes 6-ish servings; the pictures are from when I made a double batch.

Ingredients:
1 lb. dried split peas, rinsed and picked
1 meaty ham bone (whatever's leftover after the easy slices come off)
1-2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
1-2 lb. celery, sliced
1-2 onions, cut into large dice
1 bay leaf
6 c. water
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Add ham bone, peas, bay leaf, and water to a pot large enough to accomodate the ham bone.

Cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until individual peas are no longer discernable and ham is falling off bone (roughly 2 hours).

2. Fish out ham bone and bay leaf, set aside to cool. Add chopped vegetables and continue to simmer. Once ham bone is cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the bones and chop into bite-size pieces.

Discard used bone and bay leaf and return chopped ham to soup; stir, taste, and adjust seasoning.

3. Simmer for at least 20 more minutes (you cannot overcook this soup); remove from heat to let it thicken. If you must eat it the same day, reheat to serve.

Far better is to wait a day or two; I can't explain why, but this soup gets SO MUCH BETTER after sitting for days; the longer you wait, the better it gets (presumably up to the point where it goes bad.) It also freezes beautifully.

Serve with croutons or crackers.

Raspberry Seven Minute Frosting

2010-01-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

First of all, this takes more than seven minutes. If you're in a hurry, make buttercream. However, this is an amazingly fluffy alternative, plus it's fat-free! Though it's loaded with sugar and goes on cake, so I wouldn't make any health claims.

This frosting is wonderfully fluffy, with a kind of marshmallow-y or meringue-y texture. Plus, it's pink! (It would be pinker if I'd used redder jam... next time I'm using Smuckers instead of Polaner.)

Straight out of How to Cook Everything. This makes enough to frost and fill a two layer cake, or frost two dozen cupcakes.

Ingredients:
1 c. plus 2 T sugar
2 egg whites (save the yolks if you're making a cake)
1/4. seedless raspberry jam
1/2 t vanilla extract
pinch salt

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in the top of a double boiler; bring a couple of inches of water to boil in the pot.

2. Beat together ingredients, then put bowl into pot. Continue beating on high speed until it's fluffy (about seven minutes). Remove from the heat and continue beating until frosting is cooled and holds stiff peaks. Use immediately.

Yellow Cake

2010-01-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

This tastes so much better than using a mix, and not that much more difficult. It was somewhat similar to the vanilla cupcake recipe I posted ages ago; I think I may like that one slightly better, but it may have been the buttercream.

This recipe is from How to Cook Everything. It makes 2 layers (at least 10 servings); in the picture above, I halved the recipe, made one layer, and made a half-layer cake.

Ingredients:
10 T (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 c. cake or all-purpose flour
1-1/4 c. sugar
4 eggs or 8 yolks (for my half-cake, I used 1 egg and 2 yolks, since I needed 2 whites for the frosting)
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
2-1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 c. milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch layer cake pans; put a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each, and grease that, too.

2. Cream the butter until smooth; gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy (3-4 mins.) Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; add to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Beat in each addition on low speed, just until combined.

3. Pour batter into the pans.

Bake 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you're only making one layer, this will take less time, as mine was a bit overdone. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes.

Invert onto a rack

and remove parchment to finish cooling.

4. Frost with almost any icing. Good choices would include raspberry or vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache, or straight up whipped cream (with or without strawberries).

Sardines sandwich

2010-01-26T11:13:00.003-05:00

Yes, sardines. I'm trying to get more seafood into my diet, and sardines are a low-mercury source of those Omega-3's so beloved of nutritionists. I figured it was worth at least trying.

This was my first experience eating sardines; although I found the smell off-putting when I opened the can, they were really tasty. However, if you don't like fishy-tasting fish, don't bother.

Adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats. Makes 2 servings, although I ate both in one sitting.

Ingredients:
1 can brisling sardines packed in olive oil
2 thick slices of crusty bread
Dash of red wine vinegar
A bit of freshly grated lemon or lime zest
freshly ground black pepper
Thinly sliced red onion (optional)
1/2 ripe avocado
coarse sea salt

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler. Drain oil from can into bowl; brush some of the oil onto one side of each slice of bread. Then whisk in vingear, zest, and pepper. Toss the fish in the resulting vinaigrette.

2. Broil the bread to toast, oil side up. Mash the avocado in its skin and spread on top of toast. Top with sardines and slice of onion. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Serve with lemon or lime wedges.

Chicken Parmesan

2010-01-21T09:30:00.026-05:00

This is probably not a weight-watchers approved recipe (chicken! breaded! and fried! with cheese!), but is a delicious week-night treat. If you pound out the chicken cutlets beforehand, this takes about a half hour start to finish but tastes like it required hours in the kitchen.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything. Full disclosure: I did not make my own bread crumbs or sauce. It was still awesome.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to roughly 1/2" thickness
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more as needed (I didn't measure-- just sprinkled some onto a plate)
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs (ditto on the measuring)
1 egg, beaten
4 slices mozzarella or provolone cheese
2 T olive oil (again, didn't measure, just glugged some into the pan)
1/2 lb. spaghetti
1 jar marinara sauce, plus one can tomatoes and whatever else you like to doctor up your sauce

Directions:
1. Start your sauce simmering over very low heat; you can't overcook it, and if you're using jarred sauce, you may want to add some ingredients (garlic, oregano, basil, tomatoes, diced onion, a pinch of sugar... the list could go on and on) to doctor it up to your liking. Preheat your oven to 400, and put a pot of water for pasta on to boil.

2. Pound out your chicken to an even thickness of roughly 1/2 in. It's easier (and less messy) if you do it between two sheets of plastic wrap; it helps prevent the chicken from tearing. Since I don't have a mallet, I used a heavy pint glass. An even easier way to do this (which I thought of as my forearm was cramping from pounding out the chicken with poor leverage) would be to ask your butcher to run the chicken breasts through a cuber.

3. Set up your dredging station: Have your plate of chicken cutlets all the way to the left, then a plate with flour, then a wide bowl with one beaten egg, then a plate with bread crumbs.

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil; let heat for 2-3 minutes.

Spread about 1/2 c. of sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.

Sprinkle each side of the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.

4. For each cutlet: Dredge in flour, knocking off excess, then egg, letting excess drip off, then bread crumbs, then straight into the hot oil. Repeat for next cutlet.

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side (until golden brown).

Remove to saucy 9 x 13 pan. You will have to work in batches; do not crowd the skillet-- pieces shouldn't touch. Don't worry about cooking the pieces all the way through; just worry about the delicious coating getting crispy and adhering to the chicken. Add more oil to the skillet between batches as needed. You're not deep frying, but it must not stick.

5. Once all cutlets are fried, ladle some sauce over each cutlet. Place a slice of cheese on each, and sprinkle some parmesan on top, if you'd like.

(I know-- this is not a 9 x 13-- I was making 2 servings when I took the photo.) Bake until cheese is all bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.

While chicken is in the oven, boil spaghetti according to package directions (usually about 9-10 minutes.)

6. Serve chicken immediately with pasta and sauce.

Bosco's Biscotti

2010-01-20T09:52:00.002-05:00

This year, I decided to make cookies for the four-legged members of my family. They inevitably prefer treats to, say, grooming tools.

I wanted to do something that looked like chocolate chip biscotti, but with dog-friendly ingredients. I was kind of making it up as I went along, but used a ideas from recipes here and here. Happily, my taste-tester approved.

Ingredients:
Dry
5 c. whole wheat flour
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger

Wet
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. honey
1 egg plus 1 egg white (You can probably go ahead and just use 2 whole eggs.)
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt

1-1/2 c. freeze dried liver (optional, but my dog goes nuts for it.)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. In large bowl, beat together wet ingredients; in separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add dry to wet, stirring or beating on low. Stir in liver pieces, if using.

2. Form dough into ball in bowl. If dough is still a little crumbly, knead in a couple of tablespoons of water, one at a time (I added 1/4 cup; it was a little too much.) Cut into 4 pieces; roll into logs roughly 3 in. in diameter.

3. Grease or cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper (did I ever mention how much I love baking with parchment paper?). Place two logs on each sheet; flatten with fingers until about 1 in. high in the middle.

4. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven (leave it on!); let cool on racks for 10-15 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Slice logs diagonally in to 1/2 in. pieces.

Place pieces back on cookie sheets; bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven; flip over all pieces. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

5. Cool on cooling racks until room temperature; store in airtight container. Use within 1 week or so; freeze if storing for longer.

I figured this out the hard way, when my sister unwrapped a lovely jar of fuzzy dog cookies for Christmas.

Molasses Spice Cookies

2010-01-14T14:53:00.003-05:00

Finally back to blogging! Sadly, I didn't write my 'I'm going on vacation' post because we left a day early to avoid this. The 'largest one-day snow in 70 years.' Washington doesn't handle a couple of inches of snow very well; we weren't about to stick around and try to leave when there was TWO FEET of it.

Anyway, I made these for Christmas and brought them to my in-laws. These are now my husband's favorite cookies of all time (I still prefer these). Not to oversell them or anything. They have a sort of festive feel, a la gingerbread, but without the cardboard texture.

Slightly modified from a long-lost (by me-- this recipe was on a card given to me LAST Christmas; it turned up in my suitcase when I went to pack for THIS Christmas) recipe from a friend who, it turns out, got it from here. Also, it's nearly identical to the one on the side of the Grandma's Molasses jar.

Ingredients:
3/4 c. butter, at room temperature
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 t ground cloves
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/3 c. coarse granulated sugar for decoration (regular would work but the coarse decorating sugar from the baking aisle is better. I also found that turbinado sugar works really well.)

Directions:
1. On high speed, cream the butter until fluffy.

Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in in the egg and molasses until combined.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and mix well. Cover and chill dough for at least 2 to 3 hours.

Note #1: this is where pre-reading the directions helps, in case you're assuming that you can whip up cookies in less than an hour, from mixing to baking to clean up. I found that 20-30 minutes in the freezer works well enough if you're in a hurry.

Note #2: Holy crap, ground cloves are expensive. This little bitty jar was somewhere in the neighborhood of $7:

Since I had to buy a few ingredients that weren't already in my pantry (ground cloves, molasses, and special sugar for coating the cookies) these probably count as the most expensive cookies I have ever made.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets or use parchment paper (my preference-- makes making multiple batches with the same cookie sheets really easy.)

4. Roll dough into 1-1/2" balls (about the size of large walnuts). Roll balls in sugar and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will be puffy when you pull them out; they will settle into that lovely crackly pattern. Let cool for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

And a final note, singing the praises of my new camera: These were all taken with ambient light, and not that much of it-- I think that there's one 60 watt bulb in the overhead fixture in my kitchen.

Beef Stroganoff

2009-12-16T12:17:00.002-05:00

One of my (very many) favorite meals for Winter. My only complaint: I ALWAYS overcook the beef. It really only needs to cook for 5 minutes, and I never get the timing quite right. Still, a problem with my timing, not the recipe.

It only takes a half hour to make, including time to slice the onions, mushrooms, and steak.

Makes 4 servings; from How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients:
3 T butter
2 large onions, sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 lbs. beef tenderloin or sirloin, cut into 1-in. chunks
1 T Dijon mustard
1 c. beef stock (I used canned)
1/2 c. or a little more sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large, deep skillet with a lid; add onions and mushrooms with some salt and pepper. Cook over med-low heat until the onions are soft but not brown. Add the beef and cook for 1 minute (I overdid this-- possibly stopping to take pictures isn't a good idea.)

2. Stir in the mustard and the stock; turn up the heat until mixture is bubbling. Cook until meat is tender (about 5 minutes)-- I think that I overcooked this step, too. Stir in the sour cream, taste, and add more salt, pepper, or mustard if desired.

3. Serve over rice or egg noodles. Stoically ignore any optimistic critters who would prefer stroganoff to dog food for dinner. Then put a little sauce on top of their kibble, because you're not made of stone.

Apple Pie

2009-12-15T09:13:00.057-05:00

The classic... best if it's not too sweet and, ideally, served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Short of that, good at room temperature, too. (On a technical note, I'm in love with my new camera. That photo was taken without a flash and in crappy lighting conditions-- just our dining room overhead light and one lamp.)
This is a mix of the apple pie recipes in my two favorite cookbooks, How to Cook Everything and the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book.

Ingredients
1 recipe double pie crust
6 cups peeled, cored cooking apples, cut into 1/2 in. slices (this works out to about 6 McIntosh apples, sliced into 12 slices each)
2 T lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg
2 T flour
dash salt
2 T butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375; prepare pie crust.

2. In a large bowl, combine apples and lemon juice. In small bowl, toss together sugar, salt, flour, and spices. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples; toss to combine.

3. Spoon apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate; dot surface with 2 T butter.

3. Drape top crust over filled bottom crust; seal edges by crimping together top and bottom crusts. Cut slits into top to allow steam to escape.

4. Shield edges of crust with foil (Cut a 7 inch circle out of a 12 inch square).

5. Place pie on a baking sheet (it WILL bubble over); bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until edges are brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for at least 2 hours to allow filling to set.

Double Pie Crust (again)

2009-12-14T13:02:00.004-05:00

I've written about how to make a pie crust before, but here's a slightly easier way to do it. With better pictures.

The crust is rolled out between a folded-over sheet of waxed paper idea (SO much easier, and it means that your rolling pin doesn't get all sticky.) The wax paper idea is from an episode of Good Eats.

Ingredients
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/3 c. shortening
1/3 c. butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 in. pieces
4-8 T ice water

Directions
1. Put flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor; pulse once or twice to combine. Add butter and shortening, then pulse until mixture looks like it's somewhere between cornmeal and gravel.

2. Put flour mixture in a bowl. Sprinkle water over flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork after each addition, until pastry dough is barely moistened. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (pressed around the dough, not just across top of the bowl), and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. This is usually a good time to prepare whatever filling will go into the pie.

3. Divide dough into slightly uneven halves. Make halves into round balls. The bigger half will be the bottom crust.

4. Tear off a roughly 3 ft. long strip of wax paper. Lay it on clean work surface and lightly flour. Place your bigger dough ball on the left side of the wax paper.

Flatten into a round disc, and fold over the waxed paper.

Roll out the dough, rotating the whole thing, until you have a flat, round disc that touches the edges of the paper. (conveniently, the right size for a pie crust.)

Slowly, carefully, peel off the top layer of wax paper.

Slowly, carefully ease the crust into a pie plate; you should have roughly a 1 in. overhang on all sides.

5. Fill with whatever pie filling you're using.

6. Roll out the smaller half into a slighlty smaller circle, re-using the same sheet of wax paper (you'll need to re-flour). Place on top of filling; fold bottom edge of crust over top edge and pinch together all around the sides. Cut slits in the top to let steam escape.

7. Bake according to pie recipe instructions.

Hot cocoa

2009-12-10T16:09:00.002-05:00

It snowed over the weekend! Yes, I'm only writing about it now. In the meantime, I finished my Christmas shopping AND addressed my Christmas cards. So I haven't been completely slacking off. Anyway, it was a good excuse to cook up some hot cocoa on the stove...

Adapted from my mom, who uses what turns out to be the exact recipe on the side of a box of Hershey's cocoa powder. A surprising number of our old family recipes come from packaging.

Ingredients:
Enough milk to fill 2 mugs (roughly 3 cups)
1/4 c. sugar (or more or less to taste)
1/4 c. cocoa powder (or more or less to taste)
1/4 c. water
dash salt
1/2 t. vanilla
dash cinnamon (if desired)

Directions:
In small saucepan, stir together water, cocoa, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in milk; heat until hot enough to qualify as 'hot cocoa' (do not boil), stirring every minute or two. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon; serve immediately. Top with marshmallows if you have any.

Bacon corn bread

2009-12-07T11:33:00.001-05:00

This was a very rich corn bread; plus, bacon makes everything better! This is crunchier and less dense than the last corn bread I made. The outside edges are cooked in bacon fat, and as such are delicious. Next time, I'll crumble the bacon into smaller pieces to get more bacon throughout instead of fewer, larger pieces.

Adapted, as ever, from How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1-1/2 t baking powder
4 strips of bacon (roughly 1/4 lb.)
1 t salt

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Cook bacon in an 8-inch skillet on stovetop until crispy; remove bacon to paper towel-lined plate to drain. Leave the fat in the skillet; keep warm over low heat.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients.

With a fork, beat the eggs into the milk. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, just until combined. Crumble the bacon into small pieces and stir into batter.

3. Pour batter into hot skillet.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This was served with chicken chili; it would be AMAZING with fried chicken, which I have yet to attempt.

New Camera!

2009-11-30T21:23:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to use it... but this just came today! Now I just need a memory card.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T07:00:00.009-05:00

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, filled with lots and lots of good food, family, and friends.

Although it may be a little late for this year, my Thanksgiving recipes can be found here.

Tuna melt

2009-11-24T09:13:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite lunches when it's cold out. Nearly too simple for a recipe.

Ingredients:
1 can tuna
a couple of tablespoons mayo, to taste
1 T pickle relish, to taste
2 slices cheese, any sort (pictured above is cheddar and swiss)
2 thick slices of bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix tuna, mayonnaise, and pickle relish, to taste. Spoon tuna salad onto bread; put cheese on top. Bake in 400 degree oven until cheese is bubbly and just starting to brown, about 10-15 minutes; bread will be toasted by this point.

Fast Sausage Ragu, now with less weird coloring!

2009-11-23T10:12:00.001-05:00

The fast sausage ragu from Bitten looks much prettier if you use white wine instead of red.

It gets rid of the green eggs and ham problem-- the food is now the appropriate color. You should, however, rinse out the measuring cup you use for your wine before you put milk in it, otherwise the milk curdles ever so slightly, which you will not notice until you stir it into the rest of the sauce. It's still delicious, though.

The wine used here was Woot Cellar's Triacipedis. They have consistently delicious, reasonably priced wines. Plus amusing descriptions.

Turkey sandwich

2009-11-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a firm believer that turkey only reaches its full potential after the main Thanksgiving meal is over. My very favorite turkey dish by far is not the glorious whole roast turkey, but the humble turkey sandwich.

No recipe, really; just cold turkey on thick slices of homemade bread, with a generous spread of mayo and cranberry sauce.

Roast Turkey

2009-11-19T10:57:00.002-05:00

Only a week to go until Thanksgiving! Do you have your turkey lined up? It is, after all, the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner:

This is a fairly simple, straightforward way to roast a turkey, taken from the always excellent How to Cook Everything. It uses very high heat to start, which means nice, crispy skin; plus, it only takes 3 hours to roast a 12-lb. turkey, which means you get to sleep in a little the morning of Thanksgiving. My only complaint is that it was a little bland; next time, I'll try brining. However, the skin was crisp and the meat was moist.

Ingredients
One 12-ish pound turkey
Stuffing, if desired
1/4 c. olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 onion, roughly chopped
1-2 carrots (peeling optional), roughly chopped
1 rib celery, roughly chopped (can use leaves, too)
1 bunch parsley (optional), tied together

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees. Yes, all the way up. Remove giblets and neck from turkey cavity; remove clip holding legs together, if necessary. Spoon stuffing (if using) into cavity; tie legs together. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Place vegetables into large roasting pan.

Put the turkey on top. Add 1/2 c. water, stock, or apple cider to pan.

Put meat thermometer into thigh. Put turkey into the oven, legs first.

3. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until the breast begins to brown; turn the heat down to 350. Baste every 30 minutes or so; if top looks too brown, cover with heavy duty foil. If the bottom dries out, add 1/2 c. water. Roast for an additional 2 hours or so, checking the temperature when you baste.

4. When the thigh reaches 160, remove from oven; turkey will continue to rise in temperature. Check thigh in several places to make sure that it has reached 160 with an instant-read thermometer. Also check the stuffing with an instant-read thermometer; if it has not reached 160 degrees, scoop it into an oven-proof dish and bake while turkey is resting.

5. Remove turkey to cutting board; tent with foil and let rest for at least 20 minutes While turkey is resting (at least 20 minutes), make gravy using pan juices, flour, salt and pepper, thyme, and milk or stock.

Vegetable Pot Pie

2009-11-17T13:07:00.002-05:00

This is an amazing side dish for Thanksgiving; there's no reason pie has to be restricted to dessert! Also works as a vegetarian centerpiece dish.

I was extremely pleased with myself for coming up with this; it's very, very loosely based on a chicken pot pie recipe. Also only goes to prove, once again, that while vegetables are delicious, add about a pound of butter and they're AMAZING.

Very, very loosely based off a chicken pot pie recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Ingredients
1 recipe for double pie crust
8 c. assorted sliced vegetables, sauteed in a LOT of butter (I used 8 oz. mushrooms, half a head of cauliflower, some broccoli, 4 carrots, 2 large leeks, and a couple of ribs of celery. Most anything will work, but be sure to include mushrooms and onions or leeks in the mix.)
Also: sauteeing everything in batches took FOREVER. Next time, I'm braising the veggies. As a bonus, it'll be healthier.
3 T butter
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2-3 T fresh sage, chopped
1 T fresh thyme leaves
1 c. half-and-half or whole milk
1-1/2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
1/2 t. salt

Directions
1. Prepare pie crust dough; tightly wrap and set aside in refrigerator.

2. Sautee or parcook all vegetables; set aside in large bowl.

3. In a smallish saucepan (or the skillet you used to sautee the veggies), melt butter. Stir in herbs; cook until fragrant-- this only takes maybe 10 seconds. Whisk in flour, a little at a time, so there aren't any lumps. Pour in vegetable broth and milk; cook until thick and bubbly. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour sauce over veggies in bowl; toss.

5. Roll out piecrust; ease the bottom into a 9 in. deep dish pie pan, leaving at least an inch hanging over the sides.

6. Heap cooked, sauced veggies into bottom crust; pour any sauce left in the bowl over the top.

7. Ease the top crust over the veggies; crimp top and bottom crusts together around edges. Slice a few slits in the top crust for steam to escape.

8. Bake (with the pie on a sheet pan-- whoever cleans your oven will thank you) at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until crust is golden. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Double Pie Crust

2009-11-17T11:08:00.007-05:00

This is a good, all-purpose double pie crust, adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I believe it's easier with a good food processor, but here's how to do it by hand.

Ingredients
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/3 c. shortening
1/3 c. butter, chilled
6-10 T ice water

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the shortening and butter until it looks gravelly; pieces should be pea-sized or smaller.

2. Sprinkle water over flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork after each addition, until pastry dough is barely moistened. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half hour.

3. Divide dough into slightly uneven halves. Make halves into round balls. The bigger half will be the bottom crust.

4. On floured work surface or non-stick mat, roll the big half of the dough into a 12 in. circle roughly 1/8 in. thick. I find this to be MUCH easier if I put a piece of plastic wrap on top first. Ease gently into a pie plate, leaving at least a 1 in. overhang on all sides.

5. Fill with whatever pie filling you're using.

6. Roll out the smaller half into an 11 in. circle. Place on top of filling; fold bottom edge of crust over top edge and pinch together all around the sides. Cut slits in the top to let steam escape.

7. Bake according to pie recipe instructions.

Sage Bread Stuffing

2009-11-12T12:33:00.004-05:00

I'm actually not a huge fan of stuffing that was actually, you know, stuffed inside a turkey, but I do like this baked in a casserole.

Apologies for the terrible picture (it looked even worse blown up to full size) -- in the rush of cooking all the Thanksgiving foods, I didn't take the time to get good pictures of everything. This is the only photo I have of the finished product, and was cropped down from a photo of the whole spread.

Which was amazing.

This stuffing is pretty basic-- very simple, just a few ingredients, but also very tasty.

Hint: The secret to really good stuffing, like so many other things is to use a lot of butter. In this case, an entire stick.

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Ingredients
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 large onions, chopped
1 stick butter
several sprigs of fresh sage (1/4 c.)
12 c. dry bread cubes (this seems to be about two of these loaves, or about 16 slices of bread)
1 c. chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Melt butter over low heat in a large skillet. Stir in celery and onion; cook until tender (don't let it brown!). Stir in sage. Add some salt and pepper.

2. Drizzle mixture over bread cubes in a large bowl. Probably the biggest one you have; you still may need to split this up into two batches to be able to mix it up. Drizzle in enough broth to just moisten; you'll need much less if you're planning to actually stuff the stuffing into a bird.

3. Bake the stuffing in a 325 oven for 30-45 minutes (or a hotter oven for less time, of course-- makes the top crunchy), until heated through. I usually opt for the lesser time, since I bake it while the turkey is resting and I'm making gravy.

Oh, and you want to see the whole spread? Here:

Full disclosure: I didn't make all of it; friends brought the mashed potatoes, challah, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. And there was WAY more food off to the right on a server.

Cranberry Sauce, part 2: Cranberry-Orange Relish

2009-11-11T11:01:00.002-05:00

Mmm... zingier than the regular sauce-- tart and tangy. I haven't yet decided which is better on turkey sandwiches, despite extensive lunchtime field research. They're both really good, so I've been combining them.

It's also very easy to assemble, and can be done ahead of time, but a food processor is a must.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients
1 large orange
1 12 oz. bag of cranberries (roughly 3 cups)
1/4 c. sugar (or more to taste)
1 t minced or grated fresh ginger root (about a 1 in. piece, peeled)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions
1. Rinse and pick over cranberries.

2. Grate orange zest into a medium-sized mixing bowl; I always love an excuse to bust out my Microplane. Peel orange and section; discard pith (the white part). Remove seeds.

2. In food processor, process cranberries and orange flesh until chunky. Doing this in batches is fine if you have a little bitty food processor like mine.

3. Combine everything in the orange zest bowl; stir in minced ginger and nuts. Stir in sugar to taste.

4. Let sit at least a half hour, refrigerated. This keeps well for several days and is simply amazing on leftover turkey sandwiches with a little mayo.

Cranberry Sauce, part 1: Whole Berry

2009-11-10T11:01:00.004-05:00

This was a bit of a revelation... I'd only had the kind straight out of a can before. Which is fine. This, however, is almost as easy as opening a can and is much brighter tasting-- fresher, more tart. Just tastier.

This recipe is straight off the side of a bag of Ocean Spray cranberries.

Ingredients
12 oz (3 c.) fresh cranberries
1 c. sugar
1 c. water

Directions
1. Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil.

2. Add cranberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Pour into bowl; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Beurre Blanc over Brussels Sprouts

2009-11-04T15:20:00.002-05:00

This post brought to you by the letter B. Obviously. Beurre Blanc is a butter-based sauce with some white wine, lemon, and shallots for flavor. It is good on absolutely anything, but particularly veggies and fish.

Actual pictures of the sauce after the jump... it's so fattening that even looking at it could go straight to your thighs. Above, however, are some very healthy brussels sprouts, about to be steamed.

The sauce is also so delicious that rather than just convincing my husband that brussels sprouts are OK, it made him tear up a little bit.

Adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats.

Ingredients
1 -2 shallots, minced (or a bit of onion and a clove of garlic, if you don't have any shallots lying around)
1 c. white wine
2-4 T lemon juice
1-2 T cream
6 T cold butter, cubed (Yes, I KNOW that that is more than half a stick for just 2 people.)
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Combine the shallots, white wine, and lemon juice in a stainless steel, small skillet or saucepan over high heat; bring to a boil and reduce to 2 T.

2. Whisk in the cream. When it just starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, first over the heat and then away from the heat. Keep going back and forth until the butter is fully emulsified and the sauce is rich and creamy. Season with salt and white pepper.

Spoon over brussels sprouts.

To prepare the brussels sprouts, I just steamed them; no recipe, really. This was a first attempt at making brussels sprouts, though, and they were really good. When I saw this in the grocery store, how could I not try it?

A two foot stalk. It caused some consternation when my husband found it taking up an entire shelf of the fridge.

To cook it, I just sliced off the little heads with a paring knife, cleaned, and steamed them for 10 minutes in a steamer basket. Hm, that sounds more gruesome than it was.

Served with a pan-fried New York strip steak and the oh-so-heavenly beurre blanc.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2009-11-02T11:09:00.001-05:00

A wonderful Sunday morning treat. Pretty quick, too, unless the only non-stick skillet you own is a 6" one. Then, not so much. If you have a griddle, use it, or or just use a lot of butter on a regular large frying pan.

Butter and maple syrup is always good, of course, but my favorite thing on these is peanut butter. It adds a little saltiness to the sweet, and is just amazing.
Adapted from How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1-2 t sugar (depending on how sweet you like your pancakes)
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1 T butter, melted
1/2 c. or more semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Heat your griddle or LARGE skillet over medium-low heat.

2. Mix together dry ingredients (except for chocolate chips); in separate bowl or measuring cup, mix together wet ingredients. Gently stir wet ingredient mixture into dry ingredients. If there's a few lumps, that's ok.

3. Add a little butter to the griddle; using a small ladle or dry measuring cup, spoon batter onto griddle in equal-sized pours. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

4. When pancakes are dry around the edges and bubbly in the middle, flip them and cook until other side is golden brown. They WILL NOT flip until they are ready; if you try to flip them too early, they'll fall apart. The first batch never quite comes out as well as all subsequent batches.

The ideal here is even, medium-low heat; something unattainable with a small skillet. Seriously, use a large one and make a bunch of pancakes at a time.

You can keep the pancakes warm in on a plate in a 200 degree oven, covered with a clean kitchen towl, until they're all done and ready to serve. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Brown Butter Apple Cake

2009-10-30T11:02:00.004-04:00

Continuing my baked apple dessert kick... this is somewhere between a cake and a cobbler. Either way, it's great hot with ice cream.

I like it even better the next day, after the flavors have blended a little bit.

From my friend Meredith, who I think got it from Dinner with Julie.

Ingredients:
3 (or so) medium apples, peeled and sliced
1 T lemon juice
3/4 c. + 3 T sugar, divided
1/2 t cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
2 large eggs
1 c. all-purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a 9 in. pie plate or cake pan. (I used a cake pan since my pie pans have little holes in the bottom for a crisper crust. Great for crusts, not so much for oozy fruit juices.)

Toss the apples in a bowl with 2 T sugar, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice (to prevent browning). Spread into the cake pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan or small frying pan and keep cooking it until it turns golden. This will take roughly 5 minutes from when it melts; keep the heat low and watch it closely and swirl constantly-- it can go from brown (fantastic) to black (throw it out and start over) very quickly.

Once the butter cools a little, stir in the 3/4 c. of sugar.

Once it cools even more (enough to keep the eggs from cooking before they can be incorporated into the batter), stir in the eggs and flour. Pour over the apples and sprinkle with the remaining 1 T of sugar.

Get rid of any lumps in the sugar-- it turns out that they won't dissolve and will mar the otherwise lovely, shiny surface of the cake.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden and the juices are coming up around the edges.

Slice and serve warm with ice cream, or let cool to room temperature and serve cold.

Makes 8 servings.

Bye Bye Borders

2009-10-30T09:30:00.010-04:00

Changed:
Post image borders from 1 to 0
Post image padding from 4 to 2

Header image border from 1 to 0
Header image padding from 5 to 0
Header image from 858 to 904

Outer wrapper from 910 to 904
Main wrapper from 660 to 654

Thanks to Garden Bloggers.

Chicken Salad

2009-10-29T10:45:00.001-04:00

This is not so much a recipe as a way to use up stuff you happen to have in the fridge or on the shelf. The only essential: leftover chicken.

Happily, I had a leftover leg and roughly half a breast from a roasted chicken languishing in the fridge, as well as celery and apples.
Ingredients (for two sandwiches)
a piece or two of leftover chicken
half an apple
a rib of celery
a handful of pecans, coarsely chopped
2 T mayonnaise
2 - 4 slices of bread, pita, or crossaints

Chop all ingredients, combine with mayo, spoon onto bread.

It dawned on me after I had already eaten the sandwich that I had pecans on the shelf. Definitely next time.

Pork Roast

2009-10-28T18:46:00.003-04:00

This is so simple, it barely qualifies as a recipe.

The steps are:
1. Throw a hunk of meat in the oven.

There is no step two.

I suppose a more elaborate version would be:

1. Sprinkle a pork loin with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried rosemary; put into a baking dish.

2. If desired, put cut up carrots, potatoes, or other root vegetables around the meat.

3. Bake in a 325 oven for approximately an hour and a half, or until a meat thermometer reads 160. (Check after an hour, depending on the size of the roast. This two-pounder took about an hour and fifteen minutes.)

4. Let rest before carving.

This is a really basic roast, but consistently good.

Plus, the leftovers make fantastic sandwiches.

Polenta Pecan Apple Crisp

2009-10-23T12:47:00.006-04:00

It isn't fall until I've eaten some apple crisp. This makes a nice, cobbler-y type topping and is, of course, amazing eaten hot with ice cream. Or cold for breakfast.

Not that this blog necessarily endorses ice cream for breakfast. At least not all the time.

Also, does anyone know the difference between a crisp and a cobbler? I use the terms interchangeably, but I could be missing some fundamental dichotomy.

Adapted from, as usual, from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook:

Ingredients:
For the crust, part 1:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. yellow cornmeal
2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
pinch of salt (1/8-1/4 t)
3 T butter
1/3 c. half-and-half or light cream

For the crust, part 2:
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
2 T brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon

For the filling:
8 cups peeled, sliced cooking apples (6-8 medium)
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 c. cold water
1 T cornstarch

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients of part 1 of the crust. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly-looking. In a separate small bowl, combine part 2 ingredients.

In a large saucepan, combine the filling ingredients except for water and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine cold water and cornstarch; stir into pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Add the half-and-half to topping mixture, stirring until just moistened. Transfer filling to a 2-quart baking dish set on a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan. (That bit is important, since the filling will bubble over while cooking. If you've put a pan underneath, great! If, like me, you haven't, you will wonder what could be burning only a few minutes after putting the crisp in the oven. And then you will need to clean your oven.)

Drop topping into small mounds onto filling; sprinkle with pecan mixture.

Bake in a 375 oven for 30-35 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Polenta with Zucchini and Ragu

2009-10-21T10:30:00.001-04:00

I love it when leftovers come together to make something different and delicious. I already had leftover polenta and sauce, so it wasn't a huge leap to put one on top of the other and add cheese.

Still, this was fairly different from and actually more filling than just sauce on pasta. Admittedly, my attempt at frying up polenta resulted in more of a blob than the neat wedges I was going for, but it was still quite tasty.

Ingredients
Sausage Ragu or other tomato-based sauce
Polenta
1 small zucchini, julienned
freshly grated Parmesan

Directions
1. Make all the other stuff that results in leftover sauce and polenta. Store polenta in a thin layer (I put mine in a cake pan) overnight, covered. It will be a bit more solid the next day.

2. Re-heat sauce (I used my microwave). In a small, non-stick pan, sautee the julienned zucchini in a little butter (this should be very quick); set aside.

3. Cut a couple squares or triangles of polenta; add to the hot non-stick pan. In theory, they should hold together; mine didn't at, all, though. They looked more like scrambled eggs. Brown one side; flip and brown the other.

4. Assemble on plate: Polenta topped with zucchini topped with sauce topped with cheese. Delicious! Simple!

Beef Stew with Polenta

2009-10-20T13:22:00.004-04:00

This beef stew is perfect for when there's a chill in the air. Unlike many stews, this one is good on the first evening, although it's just as good leftover.

As with most soups, once the chopping is done, this requires a minimal amount of time actually spent at the stove. The polenta takes 15-20 minutes total, concurrent with the last bit of stew simmering.

From the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook.

Stew Ingredients
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 t garlic powder
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried basil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 lb. boneless beef chuck steak, cut into 1-in. pieces
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 t dried or 1 t fresh rosemary, crushed or snipped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 14 oz. can of beef broth
1-1/2 c. dry red wine
8 oz. boiling onions
5-6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 in. chuncks
1/2 c. snipped fresh flat-leaf parsley (basil is also great, if you have it)
1/4 c. tomato paste
Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional, for garnish)

Polenta ingredients
3 c. milk
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. water
1 t salt
1 T butter

Directions
1. Place flour and dried herbs into a plastic bag (a gallon ziploc works well for this). Add a handful of beef chunks; shake to coat. Shake to remove excess coating. Repeat until all meat is coated.

2. Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Brown the meat in two or three batches; drain fat. In the same pot, sautee onion, garlic, and rosemary until onion starts to be translucent. Return meat to the pot; stir in broth and wine. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1-1/2 hours.

3. Stir in boiling onions and carrots. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for a half hour, until veggies are tender.

4. Meanwhile, prepare polenta. In medium saucepan, bring milk just to a simmer. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, water, and salt. Stir slowly into hot milk; cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat; cook for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens. When polenta reaches desired thickness, stir in butter.

5. Just before serving stew, stir in the fresh rosemary (if using), parsley, and tomato paste. Serve with polenta.

If you're not a polenta person, this is also really good over mashed potatoes or with crusty bread. If you can't find boiling onions at the store, just chop up another regular onion and put it in with the carrots. It will taste same, but won't look quite as pretty.

Fast Sausage Ragu

2009-10-19T18:23:00.001-04:00

This turned out really well; I was a little leery of putting milk and tomato paste into the same sauce (although it's amazing with cream, so why not?), but it was fantastic. And it only took about 20 minutes, start to finish.

For all that I keep wanting to color-correct this photo, the sauce did turn out purplish, since I used red wine instead of white... but I needed to open a bottle anyway, for the next day's stew. Hence, purple sauce. C'est la vie... it was delicious.

Adapted from Bitten; the only things I changed were to add garlic and to use red wine instead of white. The first change I endorse, since pasta sauce without garlic is like a day without sunshine. The second, not so much, since purple pasta sauce is a bit off-putting. At least until you taste it.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, removed from casing if necessary
1 c. milk
1/4 c. tomato paste
Salt and pepper
1 lb. pasta
Parmesan

Directions
1. Set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Put the oil in a 10-inch skillet, and turn the heat to medium; a minute later, add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage in bits, and turn the heat to medium high; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is nicely browned, 5 to 10 minutes. When sausage is browned, add a cup of dry wine and simmer until wine is reduced to almost nothing.

2. Add milk and tomato paste, along with some salt and pepper; stir to blend, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until thickened but not dry.

3. Meanwhile, salt the water and cook the pasta. When pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it. Toss with sauce and Parmesan; taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

I promise this tasted far better than it looks; this pic may scare you off this sauce, but it is absolutely entering my rotation of week-night favorites. Next time I make it, I won't turn it purple, though.

New Header!

2009-10-17T18:43:00.000-04:00

Because there can never be enough cassata cake photos on the blog.

Holy Wide Layout, Batman!

2009-10-16T12:10:00.001-04:00

Blogger added an "XL" photo size, so I've changed my layout to accommodate even BIGGER close-ups of cookies. I've gone back and changed the sizes of the October pictures; older pics are still the same size, but centered so the layout isn't too wonky in older posts.

Thanks to Independent Fashion Bloggers, who have step-by-step instructions on how to do this without losing your sidebar, as I did the first time I tried it.

And if you're interested in such things, the settings that work best for me with this new picture size are:
header wrapper = 910
outer wrapper = 910
main wrapper = 660
sidebar wrapper = 220 (unchanged)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-10-16T11:09:00.002-04:00

Mmm... just spectacular. The perfect plain chocolate chip cookie. Soft and chewy, not at all cakey.

I used Alton Brown's recipe exactly-- didn't change a thing. Although I'm pretty sure that my cookies are bigger-- I used a regular ice cream scooper, as I don't have a #20 disher. Also, I got 21 cookies instead of 36, and I didn't eat all that much dough.

Ingredients
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2-1/4 c. bread flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 c. sugar
1-1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 T milk
1-1/2 t vanilla extract
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Melt the butter in large bowl (I used the microwave to do this-- a couple minutes on medium power, checking frequently). In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add the sugar and brown sugar to the butter. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, milk, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Add the flour mixture in three or four batches; mix on low speed after each addition until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough until firm (about an hour in the fridge). Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between each cookie. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for a couple of minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

These make HUGE cookies-- that is a foot-long ruler in the picture above. Probably 9 cookies to a sheet would have worked slightly better. These are amazing, though, and the parchment paper makes clean up a breeze; I didn't have to wash either the cookie sheets or the cooling racks, since I just slid the parchment paper from one to the other.

Favorite Roasted Chicken

2009-10-08T15:25:00.008-04:00

What makes this recipe incredible isn't the chicken-- roasted chicken is ALWAYS good-- but the potatoes.

These are, without exaggeration, the greatest potatoes you will ever have. And they SO simple: potato slices, garlic, and fresh herbs roasted in chicken fat.

Best. Potatoes. Ever.

The only downside to this recipe is that you will need to wash your oven rack after, and if you're not very careful taking out the chicken, may need to clean your oven as well.
Adapted from the Washington Post.

Ingredients:
2 1/2- to 3-lb. chicken
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 T butter, at room temperature
5 to 6 medium potatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
3 T fresh sage, coarsely chopped
1 T cold butter, cut into very thin slices
1/2 head of garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

Directions:
Precook the sliced potatoes by placing them in a large saute pan; cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook for 10 to 15 minutes; they will not be cooked through. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish that is just a bit bigger than your chicken.

If necessary, slightly lower the middle oven rack so the chicken will be situated in the middle of the oven as it roasts; preheat to 425 degrees.

Rinse the chicken and dry with paper towels inside and outside. Rub it with a generous amount of salt and pepper on the inside and outside. Rub the skin with the butter.

Season the partially cooked potatoes lightly with salt and pepper; add the sage and garlic cloves. If desired, add any butter left over from rubbing the chicken. Stir gently, turning over potato slices, until seasoning is distributed throughout dish.

When ready to roast, place the roasting rack with the chicken directly on the middle oven rack, with the potatoes positioned directly below to catch the chicken's juices, making sure there is enough headspace so the heat is not blocked from circulating under the bird. If, like me, you do not own a roasting rack, just place the potatoes on the lowest rack and then the chicken directly above them.

Roast for 50 to 60 minutes, until thigh registers an internal temperature of 175.

Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Mmm.

Maybe I should start shopping at Costco

2009-10-07T17:36:00.002-04:00

Sunday's New York Times had an interesting article about food safety and hamburger... I think I'm swearing off pre-formed patties altogether and may start getting individual pieces of meat ground at the grocery store. I wonder if Giant would do that?

Apparently, in addition to having superb steak, Costco actually tests for E. Coli before grinding its meat. It's fairly unique among big producers in this policy.

Sample quote:
"Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria."

Yum!

Lemon Shortbread

2009-10-07T09:34:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make something along the lines of the lavender shortbread cookies at the Dairy Godmother, but, sadly, Giant didn't have any lavender. And I'm now restraining myself from typing the entire rest of this post about how amazing their custard is. And their lavender cookies. Mmmmm.

Next best thing: Lemon, which allowed me to finally break out my new microplane grater. And what a good idea! Sweet, lemony, buttery, goodness.

From How to Cook Everything, which is possibly the best twenty bucks I've ever spent on Amazon.

Ingredients:
1 c. minus 2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg yolk
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 T lemon zest (which worked out to be the outer yellow part of one whole lemon, microplaned off)
2 T lemon juice (half a lemon, squeezed)
pinch salt

Directions:
On low speed, combine butter and sugar. Still on low speed, beat in egg yolk, then the rest of the ingredients, just until the mixture starts to look like cookie dough.

Roll dough into log shape, using plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Slice into 1/4 in. slices; put slices on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 275 until just firm but not brown, about 30 minutes.

I should probably work on my log-forming skills-- I'm sure round or square would be lovely; as it is, my cookies look like squished Pac-Man ghosts. (The indentations are from a wire shelf in my freezer.) And, of course, cookie sizes are wildly uneven.

These would be fantastic with some sort of glaze, but that wouldn't freeze well, so I just dusted with powdered sugar. Since I don't have a sifter, I just scooped a couple tablespoons into a wire mesh strainer, and shook it over the cookies while still hot.

Pumpkin Pie #1

2009-10-05T15:53:00.000-04:00

Good, but not great... I think I like Betty Crocker's recipe better. And no pictures (see last week's memory snafu)... still, Pumpkin Pie is pretty easy. No slicing fruit, just open a can. Even if you use a premade pie crust, it's still SO much better than anything you'd buy in a store.

From the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

1 single crust pie pastry (use premade if you're in a hurry)
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1/2 c. sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 c. milk

1. Make pie crust

2. In large bowl, beat together everything except milk; pour in milk slowly and stir just until combined.

3. Pour pumpkin mixture into crust.

4. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream... mmm... cream...

Kebabs

2009-10-02T13:11:00.006-04:00

And... back at long last, delayed all week because I ran out of space on my hard drive and so my pictures were marooned on my camera. Happily, I now have purchased an entire TERRABYTE of space (1,000 gigs!) which is, like, a zillion close-ups of bread crumb and such.

Anyway.

I made these kebabs because there was a grill available, and steak night was already taken. They turned out really well; next time I will just make sure to cut the beef into more uniform chunks. Mine were too large and took FOREVER to cook to medium.
Adapted from Alton Brown.

Beef kebabs
2 lbs. chuck steak, trimmed of excess fat
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 t paprika
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil

Chicken kebabs
2 lbs. chicken breast
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
juice of one lemon
1/2 c. olive oil

The method is the same for both beef and chicken:

Cut the meat into 1-1/2 or so in. pieces; place in quart-sized ziploc baggie. In a blender, combine the rest of the ingredients. Pour the marinade into the baggie with the meat; shake and squish it around a bit so that all the meat is coated. Squish all the air out, seal, and store in the refrigerator for 2-6 hours.

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Thread the meat onto the skewers leaving about 1/2-inch in between the pieces of meat.

Place on the grill and cook, with lid lowered, 2 to 3 minutes per side, 8 to 12 minutes in all (8 minutes for rare and 12 for medium). Remove from the heat to aluminum foil, wrap and allow to rest for 2 to 3 minutes prior to serving.

Serve with grilled peppers, mushrooms, onions, and rice or couscous.

I was apparently too hungry to take any pictures of the final product, but everything was delicious.

Vacation!

2009-09-18T21:33:00.003-04:00

I'm off! Hopefully I will make lots of yummy food the whole week and be back with a new post on Monday, September 28.

In the meantime, how good does this sound?

Soft oatmeal bread

2009-09-15T17:10:00.005-04:00

This bread completely reaffirms my love of no-knead breads. This is super tasty, but so much more work, and produces a completely different kind of bread. It takes about 3 hours from start to finish, which is of course much faster than the no-knead kind, but also requires a solid 30-40 minutes of actual work time, plus WAY more cleanup.

It does make a really soft, fluffy bread, though. I'm pretty sure it will make fantastic sandwiches.
From the back of a King Arthur bread flour bag.

Ingredients
3 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats ('old fashioned')
2 T butter, melted
1-1/2 t salt
3 T brown sugar
2 t instant yeast
1-1/2 c. lukewarm milk (measure it out, then zap it in the microwave for a minute)

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, mixing to form a shaggy dough.

2. Knead dough for 10 minutes until it's smooth.

This is where I decided that no-knead bread IS the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread.

My dough started out looking like this:

And ended up like this:

These pictures fail to convey the stickiness of kneading. You start off with this sticky mess and then you start kneading. It gets even stickier, and sticks to everything. I had half of it stuck between my fingers. (I, of course, have no pictures of this stage since I don't want to destroy my camera.) Then, miraculously, it gets stickier still, but no longer wants to stick to everything, only itself.

At this stage, it had been 15 minutes instead of the 10 promised on the directions, and my back hurt from bending over the table. I'm guessing if you have actual kitchen counters, this won't be a problem.

3. Place dough in greased, covered bowl; let sit for 1 hour.

4. Shape into a log and place into an oiled 9 X 5 loaf pan. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap.

Let rise for an hour and a half, until dough is crested an inch or two over the rim of the pan.

5. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or so.

Oatmeal-cranberry-white-chocolate-chip cookies

2009-09-10T16:40:00.004-04:00

These were kind of disappointingly cakey, although I should've realized that ahead of time just by seeing that there is an entire teaspoon of baking soda. C'est la vie... I suppose every cookie can't be perfect.

From the back of a craisins bag.

2/3 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 6 oz. package (1-1/3 c.) Craisins or other dried fruit (I bet dried cherries would be good)
1 c. white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugar; mix in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into butter mixture in several additions. Stir in craisins and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets; bake for 10-12 minutes.

Makes ~32 cookies.

No-knead oatmeal bread

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

Another variation on no-knead bread; again, super easy and delicious. Kind of softer and chewier than whole wheat, and makes amazing sandwiches and toast.

1 c. rolled oats ('old-fashioned', NOT instant)
2 c. bread flour
1-1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. rapid rise yeast
1-1/3 c. water
1 T honey

Mix together dry ingredients; stir honey into water.

Stir sweetened water into flour mixture; dough should form into a shaggy ball.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap; let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours, until bubbly.

Stir dough to punch it down; glop it into a well-oiled loaf pan. Sprinkle top with more oats. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise 2-4 hours, until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Salad

2009-09-08T14:21:00.000-04:00

Some of my favorite things to put on salads: strawberries, blue cheese, and basalmic vinegar.

This was: Romaine lettuce, onion, cucumber, chicken, strawberries, blue cheese, and olive oil and vinegar.

Sandwich

2009-09-07T10:30:00.003-04:00

I love a really good sandwich.

Turkey, Swiss, avocado, tomato, and just a little mayo on homemade rye bread.

Buckeyes

2009-09-05T16:41:00.002-04:00

This is a very Ohio dessert... Midwesterners know and love these. In honor of OSU football kicking off this afternoon:

They're easy, but fairly time consuming.

Buckeyes (makes a fridge full-- 5 or 6 dozen.)
2 c. smooth peanut butter (NOT the natural kind-- you need the oil to not separate)
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 t vanilla extract
5-6 c. powdered sugar
2 12 oz. bags of semisweet chocolate chips
2 T shortening

1. Cream peanut butter, butter, and vanilla. On low speed, beat in powdered sugar until it forms a doughy consistency.

2. Scoop out teaspoonfuls of dough; roll into 1-inch balls and put onto cookie sheet covered in waxed paper.

3. Put peanut butter balls into freezer for 30 minutes; when they are chilled, they are less oily and the chocolate sticks better.

4. In double boiler, melt chocolate chips and shortening. Stir until smooth. If, like me, you don't have a double boiler, put a metal bowl over a barely simmering pot of water.

5. Using a toothpick, dip each peanut butter ball into chocolate.

Put back on waxed paper; refrigerate until chocolate is set. Transfer to covered containers; chill until serving.

Notes: You may have to transfer the peanut butter balls back into the freezer periodically as they warm up to room temperature; it's probably best to work in batches. Also, this will take over your fridge; make sure you have room BEFORE you are trying to rig up shelves using beer bottles and cookie sheets. It's less stable than I thought.

Also, you will end up with extra melted chocolate; have other things to dip on hand, like strawberries or pretzels.

Corn bread

2009-09-02T11:03:00.002-04:00

As fond as I am of Jiffy corn muffin mix, sometimes it's nice to have a heartier cornbread that doesn't double as dessert. Especially along with chili.

This made a super dense, savory corn bread.

From How to Cook Everything, using more or less the 'Corny Corn Bread' variation. I'm quite excited to try the 'Bacon Corn Bread' listed right under it, but thought it might be a bit rich with chicken chili.

Corny Corn Bread
1-1/4 c. buttermilk (or, as I used here, regular milk with 1 T white vinegar stirred in)
3 T butter
1-1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1 egg
kernels from 1 ear of sweet corn (or 1 c. frozen corn)

Preheat oven to 375; make sour milk if not using buttermilk.

Put butter in pan or skillet; heat on stove (if pan is stovetop safe) or in oven (if not). It will melt and turn all nutty smelling; take it off of the heat before it burns.

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl; mix the egg into the buttermilk. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture. Stir in the corn.

Pour the batter into the pan; bake for 30 minutes.

NOTE: Yes, the milk with vinegar looks icky and smells weird. It's sour milk; it's supposed to. (Sadly, the picture of the lumpy milk-- white lumps in a white liquid-- did not come out on my little point and shoot.)

Scallops for Heather

2009-08-27T17:21:00.007-04:00

Once again, scallops over spinach over orzo. But different... this time with a white wine and Parmesan cream sauce, which was even better than it sounds. Also better than it looks-- it's hard to take a decent picture of mostly beige food in a dark room.

I need a better name for this, possibly, but I made this for my sister's birthday. We had a ridiculously fantastic bottle of champagne (it was a present) and I wanted to eat something equally spectacular but complimentary.

I'm trying to write this down from memory (I would've taken better notes if I'd known it would be so delicious), but I put it together with a recipe from Cooking Light (ha!) and the general idea of some sort of white wine sauce, which turned into a cream sauce just because I had heavy cream in the fridge. This sounds a little complicated, but if you have everything prepped before you start messing around the stove, it should take about 10 minutes.

Heather's birthday scallops
(serves 3-4)
1 lb. sea scallops (12-16; there should be 3-5 per person, depending on how big they are)
1/2 box of orzo
bag of spinach
a whole lot of butter
a bunch of olive oil
3 shallots, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 c. fresh parsley, snipped
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. dry white wine

Boil water for pasta; start chopping everything into little bitty bits. Set scallops onto paper-towel lined plate; grind pepper and sprinkle a bit of coarse sea salt over the top. Flip them over; repeat.

Once your water is boiling and you have everything chopped and ready to go, start cooking pasta and heating heavy pan over medium heat, generously coated with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. When oil is shimmery, saute garlic, shallots, and half the parsley. Remove the mixture a small bowl. Add more olive oil and 1/2 T butter. Put half the scallops and remaining parsley in the pan; cook for 2 minutes and flip (tongs are extremely helpful.) Cook for another 2 minutes, then remove to plate and cover with foil to keep warm; repeat with the other half of the scallops. Do NOT overcook the scallops; it's easy to do and then they get all chewy.

Drain pasta; leave in colander for now. Deglaze the scallop pan with most of a glass of white wine; pour into empty pasta pot. Bring to a simmer; whisk in cheese and half of the shallot mixture. When cheese is melted, whisk in cream and another tablespoon of butter. Bring to a simmer; stir in pasta.

Meanwhile, put the rest of the shallot mixture, a splash of wine, and the spinach into the scallop pan. Stir until the spinach is all wilted. Add a little salt and pepper.

Plate with a layer of pasta, then a layer of spinach, then 3-5 scallops on top. Sprinkle with any parsley that's left and a couple of grinds of pepper. Serve immediately.

Bagels!

2009-08-26T10:25:00.003-04:00

Or very nearly. They tasted like bagels, even if they didn't look like them.

This was, of course, my fault. Instead of starting with bagel dough, I had no-knead bread dough that I decided to make bagels with. Predictably, instead of staying in the bagel shape, it kind of blobbed back into amorphous rolls. Which I then boiled and baked.

Boiling is what makes bagels all nice and chewy; baking makes them crispy. I boiled each bagel for about a minute on each side (using the method from How to Cook Everything), then set on a rack to drain.

I then baked for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. The bagels were SO good, except for the very minor finger burns that resulted from trying to spread cream cheese on something that had just come out of the oven.

Caprese salad

2009-08-25T10:26:00.003-04:00

One of the great things about summer...

Fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.

New header

2009-08-24T18:17:00.002-04:00

From these cupcakes... my first attempt at a basketweave icing pattern was pretty enough to look at for awhile.

Chocolate Stout Cake

2009-08-24T14:00:00.001-04:00

This was so good... very rich and chocolaty, and not too sweet.

Unfortunately, I need a taller cake dome, as half the top came off with it.

From Allison, who got it from Epicurious. The recipe is there, with detailed instructions; I don't have any notes to add, other than that the best smell in the world turns out to be a bottle and a half of beer with a pound of butter melting into it on the stove. Who knew?

Served with whipped cream and raspberry sauce, because I can't resist any excuse to eat raspberries.

Raspberry sauce

2009-08-24T13:40:00.003-04:00

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
1 10 oz. package of sweetened, frozen raspberries
1 t. cornstarch

Puree (thawed) berries and juice/ syrup from package in blender; press berries through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard seeds.

In a small saucepan, combine, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add berry puree. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; cook for an additional two minutes. Transfer to a bowl; cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Requiem for a French Press

2009-08-24T10:10:00.007-04:00

I knocked my French Press into the sink over the weekend; it did not survive, so we had to dig out our drip coffee maker out from the back of the cabinet. (It would stay out all the time, but there is roughly 3 square feet of counter space in my kitchen.) (I may actually have to go measure that.)

Happily, they sell replacement beakers. Or I might just take this opportunity to buy the size we would actually use, since it's cheaper AND if I need to make a full 12 cups of coffee, I can go spelunking in the cabinets. Plus, one of the listed "product features" is a "Protective plastic encasement so glass won't break." Which apparently I need.

On an only marginally related note, if these are truly shatterproof, why would they need to sell replacement beakers?

Friends, Romans, Bloggers!

2009-08-20T17:38:00.004-04:00

I added a 'Friends' link list to the blog... if I know you (and given that I have a readership of, like, 4 people, odds are good that I do) and you'd like to be added, please drop me an email or leave a comment! (Right now, the list consists of Cristin's very cool style and neuroscience blog, and, um, my sister's dog's blog. On which my dog will occasionally will post as well. We have surprisingly computer literate dogs in our family.)

Snickerdoodles

2009-08-20T11:36:00.007-04:00

Mmm... chewy cinnamon sugar cookie goodness.

The dough is my favorite part, but the finished cookies aren't too bad, either. I do have a tendency to make the cookies a bit too big-- the recipe says that this makes 36 cookies, but it only made maybe 24 for me. Granted, I probably ate several cookies' worth of dough.

Snickerdoodles
(from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
which has the greatest cookie recipes-- every one I've tried has been fantastic)

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

for coating dough balls:
2 T sugar
1 t ground cinnamon

Beat butter on high for 30 seconds; add 1 cup sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar. Beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour. Cover and chill dough in fridge for 1 hour.

Combine 2 T sugar, cinnamon on a plate. Scoop out teaspoons of dough, roll into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon mixture and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10-11 minutes.

The dangers of shopping without a list

2009-08-19T15:25:00.004-04:00

I just got home from the farmers' market. I earlier stopped by a grocery store. I still don't have any garlic.

Shrimp sort-of-carbonara

2009-08-19T10:05:00.008-04:00

This is a somewhat lighter take on a carbonara-type pasta; I subbed Canadian bacon for regular bacon, stock for cream, and used zucchini instead of some of the pasta. It turned out to be SO yummy... the dog was disappointed because the plates came into the kitchen pre-licked. (No company was present.) Also, as I'm writing this out, it sounds complicated but actually took only 15 minutes (25 including chopping/ prep time, with the caveat that I already had stock made and frozen)

Ingredients
1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled
1 zucchini, sliced or julienned
1/4 lb. pasta (I used fettuccine)
1/3 c. stock (I had chicken in the freezer, so that's what I used-- shrimp would be better...if you shell the shrimp ahead of time and simmer them in a really small pot with the the ends of the onion you're already using, you conveniently have all the ingredients, and you were just going to throw them away)
1 small onion or a couple of shallots, diced
kernels from 1 ear of corn
3 slices Canadian bacon (yes, real bacon would be good, too), julienned (cut into small sticks-- can you julienne meat? Somehow, you only hear about carrots)
splash of cream
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil for pan

1. Chop up everything; boil water for pasta; dump in pasta now

2. In large, heavy pan, saute Canadian bacon, 1/2 the diced onion, and the corn kernels until onion starts to go translucent and bacon browns a bit. Remove bacon-corn mixture to a bowl.

3. In the same pan, saute the zucchini and the rest of the onion until zucchini starts to turn brown. Remove to bowl.

4. Deglaze saute pan with your stock; drain pasta. Pour the stock (now with yummy brown bits from the pan) into a saucepan; put over low heat. (I used the same one I used to cook my pasta-- just left the pasta in the colander.) Stir in the parmesan cheese and the bacon-corn mixture; cheese will melt. Stir in cream; toss pasta and zucchini in sauce.

5. Saute the shrimp; this only takes a couple of minutes, so nothing will get cold.

No bake cookies

2009-08-17T14:07:00.003-04:00

So I brought these to a barbecue on Saturday, and no one there had eaten them before. Are no-bake cookies a Midwest thing? An Ohio thing? It was mind-boggling.

These weren't quite as good as my Mom's-- too sweet and not quite rich enough. I'm waiting on her recipe, and will post it when I field test it.

Still, though-- I thought this was a universal childhood thing, up there with rice krispy treats and chex mix.

Flatter than I meant it to be bread

2009-08-14T11:14:00.004-04:00

I probably should not have been surprised that very wet, unkneaded bread dough, when baked on a flat surface, likes to rise sideways, rather than up. Stupid gravity.

This blob-like dough resulted in a loaf of bread that looked like a beached jellyfish. Super tasty, though, and it looked pretty enough after it was sliced. Nice crust, and lots of it.

It was particularly delicious dipped in olive oil and herbs and with gazpacho.

No-knead flatbread
(once again, adapted from Mark Bittman's no knead bread.)

Ingredients:
3 c. bread flour
1/4 t. fast rise yeast
1-1/2 t. salt
1-1/2 c. water
Olive oil (for pan and top of loaf)
Cornmeal (for pan and top of loaf)

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl; stir in water until dough forms a ball. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit at room temperature overnight or until surface is dotted with bubbles.

Punch down (by stirring); let rest for 20 minutes. Oil a shallow baking sheet; I sprinkled mine with cornmeal so the crust would be crunchier and so it would stick even less.

Place dough on sheet; attempt to form a loaf; watch as it sinks into a puddle shaped blob. Drizzle oil and sprinkle cornmeal over top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for at least two hours, or until blob doubles in size and doesn't immediately spring back when poked.

Bake at 400 for 35-45 minutes.

Flour tortillas

2009-08-13T11:42:00.007-04:00

I think these are worth the effort... tortillas that are yummy in and of themselves, rather than just a vehicle for fillings. From The Homesick Texan.

Texas Flour Tortillas
(adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)

Ingredients:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t vegetable oil
3/4 c. warm milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. Repeat 7 times.

Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook. If you need put them aside for more than a few minutes, keep tortillas separated with plastic wrap between each one.

In a dry skillet heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.

Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.

Makes eight tortillas.

I served them with fajitas... 1 out of 1 husbands agree: Thumbs up!

Eggs and toast!

2009-08-08T18:00:00.004-04:00

Not a recipe... but this was weekend breakfast perfection. Eggs over easy and homemade toast.

Just look at the open crumb structure of the bread (Craig says that this was my best loaf of bread yet):

Cupcakes!

2009-08-05T16:34:00.007-04:00

Almond, this time, with raspberry butter cream frosting. I didn't overfill them quite as much as last time, but still ended up with mushroom shaped cupcakes. Still, they mostly came out of the pan intact!

And I got to bust out my decorating bag!

Not too bad for a first attempt at the basket weave pattern:

And I like these little swirlys:

I've decided that frosting is my favorite medium to doodle in.

I used the same recipe as last time, just adding an extra 1/2 t of almond extract to the batter, and substituting seedless raspberry preserves for the cream in the frosting.

Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cupcake recipe

Almond Cupcakes (makes 12, plus a little extra)
1/2 c. (a stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t vanilla extract
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350; line muffin tins with papers.
Mix milk, almond extract, and vanilla in measuring cup; mix flour and baking powder well with a fork or whisk.
Cream butter; beat in sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (~3 mins on medium speed)
Beat in eggs one at a time
Gradually add flour and milk, alternating and beating until incorporated
Spoon batter into cups, about 2/3 full.
Bake 20-22 minutes; cool on rack before icing.

Raspberry Buttercream frosting
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 c. confectioners sugar (or one 15 oz. box)
1/4 c. seedless raspberry preserves (4 T)
1/4 t vanilla extract

Cream butter; beat in half the sugar and all the jam and vanilla.
Gradually add remaining sugar until icing is thick enough to spread.

One thing I didn't think of until I was frosting the last, extra little cake (there's enough batter for 13 or 14 cupcakes-- I made the extra in a little ramekin) was adding a thin layer of jam on top of the cupcake before frosting. I now highly recommend this... particularly if you make the cupcakes a day ahead so that the jam soaks into the cake a little bit. Keep covered in the fridge; take the cupcakes out an hour or two before serving to bring to room temperature.

When you want more than steak sauce...

2009-08-04T10:55:00.005-04:00

Mmm... medium rare T-bone (cut in half) with gorgonzola and red wine sauce.

This was definitely not a weight watchers recipe... but keep the portions smallish, and it's not quite a heart attack on a plate.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

1 1-lb ribeye (probably better for cutting in half)
2-3 oz. gorgonzola cheese
4-6 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced
a lot of butter (3 T?)
1/2 c. (1 glass) red wine (not too dry)
salt
pepper

30-60 minutes before cooking, remove the steak from the fridge. Pat dry with a paper towel; sprinkle coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper generously on each side.

When ready to cook, heat up heavy duty skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 T of butter to the skillet; it should sizzle and melt immediately. Add the steak to the skillet; cook somewhere around 4 minutes on each side. Remove steak to a plate; spread 1/2 T butter on top, crumble the cheese over it, and tent with foil.

Add yet another tablespoon of butter to the skillet and sautee the mushrooms until they stop giving up liquid (3-4 minutes). Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits up with a spatula. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half and looks a little thicker. Add remaining butter; stir until melted.

Cut steak in half and plate; pour mushrooms and sauce over each portion.

Chilled cucumber melon soup

2009-08-03T10:50:00.004-04:00

I think I need a better name... there's something similar called Fire and Ice soup. But that sounds like a figure skating routine. This is basically a fruit gazpacho, but with cantaloupe instead of tomatoes, no bread, and with ginger as the major seasoning. Or, really, it's a smoothie in a bowl.

This was SO GOOD... it's kind of a weird color in the pictures, but it was delicious (and less odd-looking in person.) It could be a dessert (maybe?) or first course (definitely.) It was very easy... once again, just throw stuff in a blender and then chill for a couple of hours. To make two bowls of this soup, I blended:

1/2 peeled cucumber
1/2 cantaloupe, seeded and cut into chunks
1-2 inch piece of ginger, peeled (and I used ginger shavings for garnish)
1 T honey
1 T sour cream
dash of red pepper flakes (use sparingly-- it gives a nice little kick, but I went a little overboard)

The cantaloupe has enough water that you don't need additional liquid. The sour cream adds a little tanginess; plain yogurt would be good, too.

Pork chops

2009-07-29T13:34:00.007-04:00

Pork chops are one of my go-to weeknight dinners-- pretty easy, pretty quick, and very satisfying. This if from a month or two ago (hence the asparagus-- it was still spring).

This is more of a method than a recipe. Start with thick pork chops (an inch or so would be great); dry them with paper towels.

Sprinkle each side with seasonings (salt, pepper, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, oregano, sage, etc.) Let sit for a bit, then heat up a heavy duty frying pan to which you have a lid over high heat. Add some butter to the pan to grease it; it should sizzle immediately. Add the pork chops; sear the first side for 2 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for a couple of minutes.

When both sides are nice and brown looking, add a splash (maybe 1/4 cup) of whatever you'll be drinking with dinner (beer, wine, or water), cover the pan, and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for an additional few minutes (5-10, depending on the thickness of your pork chops and how hot the pan is), just until pork is no longer pink in the center.

Serve with a veggie and a starch; you can pour the pan sauce over everything.

Gazpacho

2009-07-23T13:21:00.017-04:00

Have I mentioned how much I love recipes where the entire directions consist of:

1. Throw stuff in the blender

2. Blend

There were tomatoes in the scratch-and-dent section at the farmers' market yesterday for $.99/lb. When they're going in a blender, it doesn't matter if they're pretty! This recipe courtesy of my friend Jason, who made us a delicious dinner on Saturday.

Gazpacho
In a blender or food processor, blend:
1 slice bread, crust removed
2 cloves garlic
2 t salt
2 T sherry vinegar
1 t sugar
1/2 t ground cumin
1 red onion, skin removed
1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed
1 jalapeno, stem and seeds removed
1 skinned cucumber
2.5 lbs tomatoes
1 c. water
1/4 c. olive oil

chill until cold (about 3 hours)

Pour into bowls; garnish with a drizzle of olive oil.

I modified it a little, using what I had in the fridge, substituting a pita for the slice of bread and some red pepper flakes for the jalapeno. It was still delicious.

Quick and easy chicken noodle soup

2009-07-22T15:59:00.005-04:00

With one fairly major caveat: It's only quick and easy if you already have chicken stock in the freezer and leftover chicken in the fridge. (Otherwise, it's easy, but not quick.)

4-5 c. chicken stock

2 (cooked) chicken breasts, skin and bones removed

1 large onion (1-2 c. chopped)

3 largish carrots (2 c. sliced)

3-4 stalks celery (1-2 c. chopped)

1/4 - 1/2 lb. dried pasta

1 bay leaf

Bring stock to a boil; meanwhile, peel and chop carrots, onion, and celery. Cube chicken breasts. Once stock is boiling, add chopped veggies and bay leaf. Simmer for 10-15 minutes (until carrots start to be tender); add cubed chicken and dried pasta. Return to boil; boil for however long it says to on the pasta box.

Enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

Shrimp risotto

2009-07-21T14:23:00.007-04:00

I made this awhile ago, but it was delicious... Shrimp stock is surprisingly quick to make, and when you buy shrimp with the shells on, you conveniently already have all the ingredients.

It's definitely tastier than it looks. Recipe from Bitten.

The bitten blog post has oh-so-detailed directions on how to do the risotto, but none on how to do shrimp stock. It's easy:

Peel the shrimp that will go into your risotto; toss the shrimp in a bowl, and the shells in a medium-sized pot. Cover the shells with cold water; toss in part of an onion and maybe the stems from the basil, and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until the water has turned pinkish and it starts tasting shrimp-y (a half hour or so). Add salt. That's it!

Incidentally, this is AMAZING the first night, and not very good as leftovers.

Strawberry shortcake

2009-07-18T19:31:00.005-04:00

Simple, always delicious, particularly when strawberries are on sale. I like strawberries over shortcake (revolutionary, I know) far more than pound cake or angel food cake. Sadly, forgot to take pictures, but it was yummy.

My illustrious source of this recipe? Adapted from the back of a bisquick box. I really dislike bisquick pancakes, and the biscuits it makes are just OK, but I LOVE the shortcakes. Possibly because of the large amounts of strawberries and whipped cream involved.

Makes 4 shortcakes (the recipe says 6, but who are we kidding?)

1-1/2 lbs. strawberries (or so)
1/4 c. sugar
2-1/3 Bisquick mix
1/2 c. milk
4 T sugar
3 T butter, melted

whipped cream, if desired

Slice strawberries, add 1/4 c. sugar, mix, set aside for a couple of hours.

Mix (with spoon) remaining ingredients; drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Split shortcakes in half horizontally; fill and top with strawberries and, if desired, whipped cream.

Porter braised pot roast

2009-07-17T13:20:00.002-04:00

Or stout braised pot roast, depending on what kind of dark beer you have languishing in the back of the fridge.

This pot roast turned out better than any roast I have done before; something approaching the platonic ideal of the pot roast. Make it for your in-laws. They will love you forever. It's that good.

2 lbs. chuck steak (often conveniently labeled 'pot roast'), trimmed of excess fat
1 bottle (12 oz.) porter, stout, or other dark and flavorful beer
1 large onion, sliced
a couple of large carrots, peeled and sliced
8 oz. mushrooms
1/2 t. dried rosemary
1 T. dark brown sugar
Salt, pepper, olive oil for searing roast

Slice veggies and put them in the bottom of a large crock pot.

Sprinkle both sides of roast liberally with salt and pepper; heat up a large skillet with some olive oil it until the oil shimmers. Sear both sides of the roast (2-3 minutes a side should do)-- this step is mostly cosmetic, but it caramelizes the outside of the meat and keeps you from eating greyish brown pot roast later.

Place roast on top of veggies; sprinkle top with brown sugar and rosemary. Deglaze the pan with some beer, scraping up the brown bits from the pan, and pour it into the crock pot over the roast. Pour the rest of the beer over the roast, cover, and cook on low (200 degrees) for 10-12 hours or high (300 degrees) for 5-6.

Slice meat and scoop out veggies. Serve with mashed potatoes and horseradish on the side, or better yet, horseradish mashed potatoes. Ladle the sauce left in the pot over everything.

Note on cooking with crock pots: this is ideal for meat that would otherwise be tough; done in a slow cooker, it's fork tender. However, you do not need to cover everything completely with liquid-- the idea is to braise it slowly in a moist heat, not boil it for 12 hours.

Horseradish mashed potatoes

2009-07-17T12:53:00.004-04:00

These are always served alongside something else, usually beef of some sort. They're great with steak, and sublime with pot roast. Of course, this isn't an exact recipe, and is quite flexible.

1 large potato per person
some butter (1/2 T per person; more will be tastier, less will be healthier)
1/4 c. milk per person (I don't measure anymore-- just splash some in and if it needs more, add more.)
a dollop of sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 T. horseradish per person

Note: Horseradish, not horseradish sauce. You want something that will clear out your sinuses, not something that's mostly mayonnaise.

Scrub and boil potatoes until they feel done when you put a fork into them; drain. Add all other ingredients (less at first), and mash or beat with an electric mixer. I like them with skins on; you can peel them if you prefer.

If you slice the potatoes into quarters, they should boil in about 20 minutes. Larger chunks will be done slower; smaller, faster.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-16T12:13:00.007-04:00

Cookie perfection. I only make other kinds because sometimes one gets ever so slightly tired of peanut butter.

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New! Cookbook, which has the greatest cookie recipes (sorry, Betty Crocker.)

1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1-1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 c. rolled oats (NOT the instant kind)
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and peanut butter. Add sugars, baking powder, baking soda; beat until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour; stir in rolled oats and chocolate chips.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet; bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Cassata cake (again)

2009-07-14T11:11:00.005-04:00

It was easier and more delicious the second time around. I've already posted the recipe; here are some pictures of cake assembly.

mmm.

Cilantro pesto

2009-07-02T09:29:00.005-04:00

I love it when I come across a recipe that uses what I already had in the fridge. In this case, a bunch of cilantro and some garlic, and lo and behold, this was on Bitten. I had all the ingredients (except ginger) for the salsa, and figured that chicken goes with just about anything.

Plus, pesto is easy to make (the hardest part is cleaning the blender.)

1. Throw a LOT of herbs, a clove or two garlic, a couple tablespoons olive oil, and maybe some nuts or whatever else you feel like in a blender:

2. Blend.

That's it. No simmering, no reducing. Simple.

Served over sauteed chicken breasts and zucchini (would be even better over grilled chicken breasts, but as I may previously mentioned, I lack a yard or a grill.)

Other suggestions: over pasta (hot or cold), veggies, anything grilled-- I think it would be great over grilled fish.

Blueberries and cream

2009-07-01T10:24:00.008-04:00

Even though it's too simple to really count as a recipe, this is one of my favorite summer desserts. Also something you can easily make with one hand. The ingredients, as you may have already guessed, are:

1. blueberries
2. cream (or half-and-half, or whole milk. If you're using anything with less than 4% fat, just eat the blueberries plain.)
3. sugar (optional)

Do I really need to write assembly instructions?

Scallops over orzo with spinach

2009-06-30T11:29:00.007-04:00

I didn't cook all weekend due to the unforeseen dangers of a slightly stale loaf of bread and a really sharp bread knife. On the plus side, Sunday was the first known instance of anyone actually cooking anything from the blog. If you've made anything, I'd love to read a comment about it!

This dinner was from a month or two ago-- it was the dinner when I first started taking pictures of appealing things I made.

It turns out that scallops are very easy-- this was a first attempt, and it turned out deliciously. I always love incorporating wine into sauces because then the rest of the bottle compliments dinner nicely.

A note of caution: Do all your prep work here first-- once you have everything on the stove, it goes VERY quickly, and scallops are easy to overcook. There's no time to snip herbs or smash garlic once things are cooking.

Sea scallops over spinach and orzo (serves 2)
6-10 sea scallops (defrosted), more or less depending on size
2-5 cloves garlic, smashed
Bunch of fresh parsley, washed and snipped
White wine (a nice buttery chardonnay would work well here)
Salt
Pepper
1/4 package or so orzo or other little bitty pasta
Olive oil
Spinach (a few cups-- it reduces a lot in the pan)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Heat heavy skillet over med-high heat with olive oil until oil is shimmery. Blot scallops dry with paper towel; sprinkle salt, pepper, and parsley on both sides. Add scallops to pan; they cook very quickly. Flip as soon as they no longer stick (2 minutes.) They should cook through in less than 5 minutes; it is very easy to overcook them. When both sides are seared, remove to a plate.

3. Add a little more olive oil, the smashed garlic, and the rest of the parsley. Saute briefly, then add 1/2 c. wine. Bring to boil; reduce slightly, then stir into the drained pasta.

4. Add just a little more olive oil to pan; saute spinach until wilted.

5. Plate the pasta, the spinach, and put the scallops on top.

Enjoy with the rest of the bottle and a pleasant dinner companion.

Simple Roasted Chicken

2009-06-25T11:06:00.004-04:00

Really easy, really delicious. My second-favorite way to roast a chicken (I promise to post my all-time favorite the next time I make it.)

No need for a roasting pan or rack-- all you need is a really big, heavy duty frying pan. The chicken is roasted at high heat in the oven in a hot frying pan, which makes a very crispy skin and helps the thighs to cook faster so they get done before the breast dries out. The garlic is optional, but you should definitely use it-- it makes a side of garlic roasted in chicken fat, which is sublime on its own or mashed into potatoes. (This method taken, as usual, from How to Cook Everything.)

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (3-5 lbs or so)
Coarse salt
Pepper
Olive oil or butter
Garlic cloves, peeled (optional, but highly recommended)
Whatever herbs you have hiding in the back of your refrigerator, especially sage, tarragon, parsley, rosemary, thyme etc. (optional), snipped or chopped

1. Put frying pan in oven. Pre-heat oven to 450.

2. Prepare chicken by rinsing inside and out under cold running water (don't forget to remove the giblets!). Pat dry with paper towels, and heavily salt and pepper the body cavity and outside of the chicken. Rub the skin with melted butter or olive oil; if you're using herbs, generously sprinkle the outside of the chicken with them.

3. By the time you're done preparing the chicken, the oven should be hot. Remove the frying pan (it will be very hot-- that's the whole point-- use oven mitts!) and place the chicken in it, breast side up. It will make a delicious sizzling sound. Put a meat thermometer into the meat of the thigh. If you're using garlic cloves, sprinkle them around the chicken.

4. Roast for 40-50 minutes, until the meat thermometer reads 160.

5. Remove chicken to cutting board or platter; let it rest for 10 minutes. Pour pan juices into a glass measuring cup (if your kitchen is really well stocked, a gravy separator) and pour or spoon off some of the fat. If using fresh herbs, mix some more into the sauce. Carve chicken; pour sauce over chicken and whatever sides you're serving.

Serve with any sort of potatoes or rice and some sort of vegetable.

Chicken fajitas

2009-06-24T12:03:00.005-04:00

One of my go-to dinners... I have no idea where I got the recipe. It's a great do-ahead dinner; stuff can be cut up and marinated a day ahead of time (not too much more than 24 hours, though, or you'll have chicken ceviche. Interesting, but ew.) Once everything is cut up, it takes less than 15 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:
1 package (1.25 lbs or so) chicken breasts
1 lime
a couple tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder (or crushed cloves), chili powder to taste
2-3 red and green peppers
1 large red onion
tortillas

Suggested toppings:
guacamole or avocado
salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese
cilantro

In quart-size ziploc bag, squeeze lime and add several dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

Cut onion and peppers lengthwise into thin strips; set aside.

Cut chicken into thin strips; sprinkle a generous amount of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and chili powder on top. Put seasoned chicken into ziploc bag; squish out all of the air, and it should be covered in marinade. Refrigerate until ready to use (anywhere from a few minutes to until the next day. Of course, the longer you marinate the chicken, the tastier it will get.)

Add a little oil to a large frying pan; heat up until oil just starts smoking. Add onions and peppers; cook until onions just start to turn translucent, maybe 5 minutes. It's OK if the peppers char; actually, it's delicious.

Remove veggies to a bowl; add more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the chicken strips to the pan, laying them out so they're flat and in one layer. Do two batches, if needed-- don't crowd the pan! After a couple minutes, flip; they won't take too long to cook.

Serve with tortillas and anything that you think is good on a burrito.

White chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies

2009-06-23T13:38:00.007-04:00

Mmm... chewy and perfect.

From BHG Cookbook

1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 12oz. package of white chocolate chips
3-6 oz. macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Cream butter and shortening; beat in sugars and baking soda, then eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour; stir in white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate panda cake

2009-06-23T10:19:00.013-04:00

Apologies, dear readers (both of you), for the long delay in posting. The observant will notice a different kitchen in the background (Hi, Katie!)...

This cake is for chocolate lovers only. So, pretty much everyone. It is a wonderfully rich chocolate cake with luscious chocolate ganache frosting... unlike the earlier cassata cake posting, this is not an all-day project. You can have it mixed and baked in an hour (plus cooling and assembly time).

Adapted from Taste of Home Best-Loved Chocolate Classics.

Cake
3 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. buttermilk
1-1/2 c. brewed coffee, cooled
3 eggs
3/4 c. vegetable oil
4 squares (1 oz. each) semisweet chocolate, melted (do in the microwave on half power, in 30 second increments.)
3/4 t. vanilla extract
2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c. baking cocoa
2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. baking powder
1-1/4 t. salt

Frosting
1-1/4 c. heavy whipping cream (save the rest of your 2 c. container to whip and serve with the cake)
2 T. sugar
2 T. corn syrup
20 squares (1 oz. each) semisweet chocolate
1/4 c. butter

Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare three 9" cake pans by oiling and cutting parchment rounds to fit. If you can make paper snowflakes, you can make easily make parchment rounds. (You can also just grease and flour, but parchment makes removing the cake in one piece so much easier.)

In large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the dry ingredients with whisk. Add liquid ingredients; mix until combined. Pour into prepared pans; bake at 350 for 30-35 mins. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pans by running a butter knife around the edges and inverting onto a wire rack. Peel off parchment paper.

For frosting, combine cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a smallish saucepan. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate and butter until melted (this is easier than it sounds-- dump in all the chocolate and butter, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and it will stir right in.) Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and refrigerate until spreadable, stirring occasionally. If it gets too hard, simply pop it in the microwave or onto a shallow pan of simmering water (double-boiler style) and stir for a couple of mintues until slightly melty.

Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of the cake (use sheets of wax paper to transfer cake layers).

I'm still working on my cake assembly and frosting skills; like many Christmas trees, this cake had a definite 'room side' and a 'wall side':

Still, delicious. Serve with whipped cream, which you conveniently have left over from making the frosting. Also, if you want to get really elaborate (again, looks harder than it is), put raspberries on top of the cake and serve with raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

Raspberry sauce
from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
3 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. cornstarch

Puree thawed berries in blender; press berries through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard seeds.

In a small saucepan, combine, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add berry puree. Cook and stir until thickened and bubble; cook for an additional two minutes. Transfer to a bowl; cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

A note of caution: do not serve this cake straight from the refrigerator; let it sit out for an hour or so before serving. The frosting gets hard and cracks when sliced cold; you can see the difference in cold (cake on wax paper) and room temp (raspberry cake) in the pictures (also, stick with baking bars-- if you must substitute chocolate chips, stick them in the cake, not the frosting. You can taste the difference.)

Nothing to do with food

2009-06-17T10:48:00.003-04:00

Drool worthy camera: Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD