Cuisine Quibbler

The Summer of Strawberries

2011-06-26T20:57:00.007-05:00

My new favorite thing about June: strawberries. I went strawberry picking last Monday, and again today. But the problem about picking today (besides the TERRIBLE selection at our first farm), was that I managed to pick near 12 pounds, maybe 14, of strawberries. And there are only so many things you can do with strawberries. So I got creative. So far, my strawberries have produced strawberry shortcake scones, strawberry bread pudding (Jay's wish), and sugar-free strawberry jam. Of course, I ate quite a few too, so many that my hands are stained red. Part of the joy, right?

I began today by making strawberry bread pudding. This one took some digging. I looked around to find the perfect strawberry bread pudding recipe, and found one from fellow blogger, Mary, at One Perfect Bite. Since I decided to make it today, I didn't have day old bread, I just bought the hardest bread I could find at the store, and used about 12 cups of it (the recipe says 12 ounces). Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. It took 33 minutes to bake and the tooth pick came out clean. And the flavor? Amazing. I'm dying to try it again, but adding chocolate chips in with the strawberries. Or making a chocolate sauce instead of a caramel sauce to drizzle over the top (because the caramel sauce recipe was terrible). Either way, strawberries and bread pudding are a match made in heaven.

Strawberry Bread Pudding

From One Perfect Bite

Ingredients

4 eggs

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 oz (or 12 cups worked for me) crusty stale bread, torn or cut into bite-size pieces

2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 x 2" pan.

2. Combine milk, eggs, sugars, vanilla, spices and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until blended.

3. Place bread pieces in a large bowl. Pour milk over bread and toss to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes, or until milk is all absorbed into bread.

4. Fold in strawberries and pour into baking dish.

5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until raised and puffy. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out fairly clean. Let cool before serving.

While the bread pudding was cooling, I used my basic BC scone recipe (this recipe minus the coffee, almonds, and chocolate chips) and made a few changes. I reduced the sugar by 1 tablespoon, added in a handful of brown sugar during the kneading process, and carefully folded in strawberries. Be careful here, because the strawberries break easily and the dough becomes VERY sticky and moist. They take about 30 minutes to cook at 400 degrees, but keep an eye on them. They are excellent! Not as sweet at Gramma's strawberry shortcake, but that could be remedied by adding more brown sugar, which really isn't necessary. Great with breakfast, or excellent with ice cream for dinner. I love versatile dishes like this.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 to 6 tablespoons whipping cream

Additional 1 tablespoon whipping cream

Strawberries

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until mixed. Cut in butter, using a pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like fine crumbs.

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork until yolk and white are mixed. Using a fork, stir the egg, vanilla and just enough of the 4 to 6 tablespoons whipping cream into the flour mixture until mixture forms a soft dough and leaves the side of bowl.

3. Lightly sprinkle flour over a cutting board or countertop. Place dough on floured surface, gently roll in the flour to coat. Knead dough, and CAREFULLY fold in strawberries

4. Place the dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Roll the dough with a rolling pin or pat dough with fingers into an 8-inch round. Using a sharp knife that has been dipped in flour, cut dough round into 8 wedges, but do not separate. Brush 1 tablespoon whipping cream over wedges, using a pastry brush.

5. Bake 14-16 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove the cookie sheet to a cooling rack; carefully separate wedges. Serve warm.

Lastly, I made a sugar-free strawberry jam from a recipe I got at the strawberry farm. It was alright, nothing amazing. Luckily it only made one jar, so I can use my strawberries and try to make another one. But this one was just a little bland, it didn't have a very potent strawberry flavor. And that was to be expected by the lack of sugar added. It was simply 1 1/2 cups strawberries, 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate and 1 1/2 tablespoons minute tapioca. Let the ingredients sit for five minutes, before turning on the heat and bringing it up a boil, stirring constantly. Let it cool and then jar it. That's that. So simple anyone could do it!

Capresse Sandwich

2011-04-05T13:00:00.004-05:00

I've become a "bruncher," a person who goes to brunch on Sunday mornings. I'm not a dedicated, full-out bruncher yet, but I've gone the past two weeks. Two weeks ago we went to Crisp (my lovely work establishment), and this past Sunday we made a disappointing visit to The Original Pancake House on Downer Avenue. I got the mushroom omelet and pancakes. It was the funniest looking omelet I ever saw. In fact, I think I would describe it more as an omelet flying saucer. And the mushroom sherry sauce (which tasted nothing like mushrooms or sherry) was dumped over the top. Not drizzled, not glazed. The omelet was swimming in this less-than-tasty sauce. The pancakes, however, were tasty, but late in their delivery. Jay got chicken and waffles, or rather a waffle with a grilled chicken breast on it. Not quite chicken and waffles. We were both a bit disappointed (though Carla and Chrissy seemed satisfied with their breakfasts. Minus the dog-toy bacon) and started looking for where we were going to have brunch next. The winner was Trocadero. While looking at the menu, Jay found a BTB: brie tomato and basil sandwich.

We thought it would be a quick and easy lunch, so while I was in my interview, Jay made us each one for lunch. Last night he roasted the tomatoes and sliced the croissants (we decided to use croissants instead of bread, which was a very wise decision). It was quite good. I cooked the tomatoes and brie in the oven, before layering it with basil on the croissant. Then drizzled balsamic reduction over the top. The tomatoes could have been sliced a bit thinner, and MORE CHEESE! Mark this in the books: I, Erin, just asked for more cheese on my sandwich. The one downfall about being a health conscious nut is I watch how much cheese I eat on sandwiches. Silly, I know, because cheese is so delicious.

But we are going to make these sandwiches again. Playing with the recipe more. Perhaps toasting the croissant? Or cutting the tomatoes thinner? Or adding more cheese? Either way, it will be amazing. I love looking at restaurants menus and being able to know how to make the food at home.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

2011-04-03T23:46:00.002-05:00

Martha Stewart had once again let me down. Well, she hasn't ever done anything to specifically let me down before, but she has let just about everyone else down in her ways. I have had a bad past few days, and today was actually a little motivated to do something. So I change out of my pajamas and went to the store to buy carrots and raisins to make Jay some carrot cake sandwich cookies that he saw in my baking book. After reviewing that recipe, I realized I didn't have the patience to make it exactly like that one, nor did I have a proper scale to weigh everything. So I did some searching and found Martha Steward's version of these cookies. The ingredients were the same and the procedure was virtually the same, so I assumed they would be excellent. After all, doesn't Martha know what she is talking about? Making the cookies proved that thought otherwise...

The cookies spread SO much I could barely get them off the pan. And they were mushy-soft. I had to bake nearly 10 minutes longer than recommended to get them at least crisp enough to get off the baking sheet. And the flavor was bland! I'm embarrassed to give these to Jay, so much that I think I'm going to throw away almost two dozen cookies. I made up cream cheese frosting, hoping that would fix everything, but that wasn't good either. I know I can bake, this isn't rocket science.

I'm going to try making the ones in my book. Or maybe I'll just create my own, that I know I can do.

Stress baking, again

2011-03-29T22:09:00.004-05:00

I came to a conclusion today about my future and my passions while making scones: baking really is more of a passion then cooking. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cooking and am still thrilled to become a chef, but when I have a bad day or get stressed out, I turn to my mixer, not my saute pans. I think there is something about knowing you are creating something almost everyone will enjoy, and that you can truly make beautifully breath-taking. And baked goods, to me, are the number one comfort food (maybe after grilled cheese and tomato soup).

Anyway, today was one of those days that was beyond exhausting. I competed in the Reinhart student food competition with some classmates, then had Knowledge Bowl practice immediately after. One competition to practice for another. I don't even remember driving to Waukesha for practice. I think I slept-drove. But when I got home, I took the time to make some coffee-chocolate-almond scones, a product I've wanted to try for a week now. I had some chocolate-covered espresso beans left from when I was a Dove Chocolate Discoveries consultant, and wanted to use those in a scone. But when I looked at how many I had, I didn't have enough, though I probably could have made it work. So instead added some coffee granules to the batter, tossed in some chocolate chips and almonds, and brushed with coffee-infused cream. Then I put one espresso bean on each scone. I baked the for about 16 minutes then let them cool. *NOTE: let them cool COMPLETELY before trying to pull them apart* I tried one, and thought the flavor was there, though I didn't like the espresso bean on top. I don't think they would have been good inside the scone either. Maybe it just needed the coffee flavor from the granules and the chocolate from the chips. And of course, almonds, coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven.

Scones

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 to 6 tablespoons whipping cream

Additional 1 tablespoon whipping cream

Coffee, to taste (I used about 3 tablespoons, plus some in the whipping cream)

Mini chocolate chips (I used 1 handful)

Almonds (again, about 1 handful)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and coffee until mixed. Cut in butter, using a pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like fine crumbs.

3. Lightly sprinkle flour over a cutting board or countertop. Place dough on floured surface, gently roll in the flour to coat. Knead dough, and knead in almonds.

5. Bake 14-16 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove the cookie sheet to a cooling rack; carefully separate wedges. Serve warm.

I think it's time for bed. It was such a busy day. I'll post pictures and a review of the competition another day. I just need to unwind and clear my mind of all that.

My First Event

2011-03-16T23:45:00.004-05:00

Last night was a test of me as a chef. I wrote, planned, directed and executed a five-course menu for 50 people. It was an event months in planning, and there was nothing easy about it. Especially this week. It was an endless list of bad-case scenarios.

Monday the food didn't come, then the sorbet didn't work, and the chocolate cups I spent hours on melted and on and on. I tried to get some sleep, and slept surprisingly well. Which was good, because I needed all that energy to handle the problems on Tuesday. The basil was bad and the stuff I ordered didn't arrive. My red peppers didn't arrive either. And the raspberries were molded. Then the sauce was made too thick, and the meat wasn't cooking right. And the gnocchi burned 10 minutes before service. By that point, when I found out half the gnocchi burned, I went outside and lost it. Which didn't make Chef Mic very happy. Her words? "Get back inside. You are stronger than this. I never want to see you do this again" (in reference to the crying, she did later tell me how awesome I did).

I went back inside and we solved the gnocchi problem, and the event ended beautifully. Every dish was just as I hoped and was plated just as I planned and wanted.

I'm sure you're wondering what the menu was. Here it was:

Appetizers

Savory Cannoli

Bite-size cannoli filled with a creamy ricotta-Parmesan cheese

Cucumber Almond Shooters

Cucumber Almond soup served in a shotglass

Parmesan Baskets with Vegetables

Parmesan baskets filled with assorted vegetables

Traditional Bruschetta

Toasted Italian bread with a traditional Bruschetta topping

Soup

Italian Pho

Tomato based broth with vegetables, noodles and Italian seasonings

Salad

Caesar Salad

Caesar salad, prepared using molecular gastronomy

Entree

Saltimbocca Alla Romana with Gnocchi

Beef with basil, prosciutto and Swiss cheese served with baked gnocchi and beet sorbet

Polenta Florentine

Goat Cheese Polenta served with beet sorbet

Dessert

Raspberry White Chocolate Cups with Chocolate Mousse

Raspberry white chocolate cups filled with chocolate mousse. Served with raspberries.

A few things to comment before I sign off to bed:

The molecular gastronomy! I made a fat-free Caesar dressing and turned it into what looks like the cheese on top of the salad. It's a solid dressing!
The soup was served table side. The veggies and pasta were par-cooked and finished cooking at the table.
There were no white chocolate cups, or raspberries in the dessert, as you can see. But thanks to my amazing team, we made it happen.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2011-03-08T21:23:00.004-06:00

If I've said it once, I've said it 100 times, and now I'm going to say it for time 101: I'm not going to eat like shit anymore. I had oatmeal for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and I thought some soup would be perfect for dinner (along with a few shortbread cookies...I can't resist Girl Scout Cookies!)

Last week, one of the students in International Cuisine made this chicken tortilla soup as the soup for Mexican day. I fell in love with the soup. The flavors blended together so well, it wasn't heavy, and was mild. The next day I went down to the food store and wrote down the recipe. I knew I had to have it and I had to make it. So tonight, I had chicken tortilla soup.

Of course, this involved a trip to the store, but since Knowledge Bowl practice was cancelled tonight, I had plenty of time to pick up the main ingredients, get home, and start cooking. While I settled home from a long day at school, I put one chicken breast in the oven to cook: 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Once it was cooked, I let it cool while I began chopping up the veggies and actually starting the soup.

The vegetable component was easy: 1/2 an onion, 1/2 a jalapeño, 1/2 a zucchini, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tomato. Some cumin and oregano. That's it. I sauteed the onion, garlic and jalapeño in olive oil with cumin and oregano. When the onion was soft, I added three cups of chicken stock (not broth, though that would work as well), the one chicken breast (shredded), the zucchini and tomato. I let that warm through and checked the seasoning. I unintentionally left out the cilantro, which I'm a bit disappointed about. But that wasn't the only thing I was disappointed about: my soup was lacking in flavor. If culinary school has taught me any one KEY thing so far it is: if the soup (or anything) is lacking, add more salt. So that's exactly what I did. A few pinches of sea salt, some more cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper, and the soup was much better. Still not as good as when Chris made it for class, but I also didn't have tortillas or cheese on it, though I did add the avocado (my favorite!)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Not my picture, mine didn't turn out.

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 half medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 very ripe tomato, diced

1/2 zucchini, diced

1/2 lb. cooked chicken breast, shredded

Cilantro

Avocado, tortillas, cheese

Directions

1. Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, jalapeño, cumin and oregano. Cook until onion is soft.

2. Add chicken, stock, zucchini, tomato and tomato paste. Cook until heated through.

3. Add in cilantro (if using) and cayenne. Season to taste with salt.

4. Top with avocado, tortillas and cheese!

It was so simple to make. I'm 6 months past making my first soup, and I'm still amazed every time how easy it is to make homemade soup. And at the same time, I'm still scared to make up my own soup recipes. Which really is silly, it's not hard at all. Do you have any soup ideas? I want to try to make more, and really experiment with food and soups. Send me your flavor ideas and I'll see what I can do!

Cherry Chocolate Almond Cookies

2011-02-22T20:35:00.005-06:00

Sorry Ruth Wakefield, I've doctored up and completely changed your chocolate chip cookie.

And typing that sentence made me realize what a culinary nerd I've become. Ruth Wakefield is the creator of the chocolate chip cookie as we know it. In 1930, Ruth bought the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts and decided to add some cut up chocolate to the cookies she was making, creating the chocolate chip cookie. Nine years later, in 1939, Nestle created the semi-sweet chocolate chip to ease in the at-home production of this now famous cookie. And today, I completely transformed her chocolate chip cookie creating a chocolate cookie (based off the chocolate chip base) and adding cherry chips and chocolate dusted almonds. Watch out Ruth, you've got some competition.

I don't know where the idea came from, but I think it's been brewing in my head for some time now. I had some leftover cherry chips from when I went to the Amish community with Brittany and wanted to use them up. And what goes better with cherries than chocolate? And almonds are usually just the icing on the cake (or the nut in the cookie in this case). It wasn't until this past weekend when I was making chocolate orange shortbread cookies that I learned the ratio for replacing flour with cocoa powder. Once I knew this ratio, it was easy to change the basic chocolate chip cookie batter to be chocolate. The ratio? Replace 2 tablespoons of flour with 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I followed the rest of the Toll House recipe, just adding different enhancers.

The end result was incredible. I was a bit nervous, thinking that the batter was going to be too thick, since I took out 6 tablespoons of flour and replaced it with 3/4 cup of cocoa powder. But it all worked out. They are perfectly chocolaty. These would also be excellent with peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, mint chips, or white chocolate chips. Heck, even chocolate chips--you can never have too much chocolate.

Cherry Chocolate Almond Cookies

Adapted from the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Cherry chips

Blue Diamond Chocolate Almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time.

3. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir to combine.

4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, waiting for all to be incorporated before adding more.

5. Using a wooden spoon, mix in chips and almonds.

6. Spoon cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheet, keeping at least 1" between cookies.

7. Bake for 10 minutes. After removing from oven, leave on cookie sheet, about 2 minutes, before removing a cooling rack.

8. Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Mushroom Orzo

2011-02-22T20:11:00.003-06:00

I have had the most intense and mentally draining past 24 hours, and when I was told that Knowledge Bowl was going to be cancelled tonight, I knew I had to spoil myself and make a real dinner and have a lovely glass of wine. So when during Developing a Kitchen Team today I began looking up recipes using mushrooms (shhh, don't tell anyone I wasn't paying attention during class), and found a mushroom orzo on Epicurious.com. I decided to make variation of that for dinner tonight.

I knew I didn't have everything it called for (such as porchini mushrooms), so I made it up as I went. I cooked the orzo according to the package directions. In a separate pan, I melted some butter, then sauted red onion and thyme. By this point, the orzo was cooked al dente, so I decided to let it cook the rest of the way with the mushrooms, onions and wine. It didn't take much longer before it was done. To top it off, I added some Parmesan cheese, which didn't seem to do a whole lot. But overall, it was alright. I served it as the side to a rosemary-thyme chicken breast I cooked up. The chicken was great, but the orzo was a bit flavorless. I didn't really mind, I wasn't in the mood to spice it up too much more. But the dish has a lot of potential. Fresh herbs would have been key, but since I didn't have them, I made do with what I did have. So if you make this at home, spice it up! Add some of your favorite herbs and spices, and let me know how it turns out!

Mushroom Orzo

Adapted from Luke's Wild Mushroom Orzo

Ingredients

6 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red onion, diced

Thyme, Salt & Pepper, to taste

1/4 box orzo

2 tablespoons white wine

Directions

1. Cook desired amount of orzo (I made about 1/4 box) according to 'al dente' directions on the box.

2. Meanwhile, saute red onion in butter. Add the sliced mushrooms.

3. When the mushrooms start to color, add the seasonings. Cook until mushrooms have shrank in size and darkened in color.
4. Deglaze pan with wine.

5. Add orzo in with mushrooms. Cook until all wine is absorbed.

Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies

2011-02-20T00:43:00.004-06:00

I was, once again, over-taken with the need to bake. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I knew if I didn't bake cookies I was going to be a very unhappy person. Luckily, I had some time to kill on Friday afternoon, and so I decided to make Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies.

I'm suffering a catch-22 on these cookies. They are delicious, but were a pain in the ass to make. Don't get me wrong, they were easy to mix together, but the dough was so gosh-darn soft and sticky that rolling them out then cookie cutting them was near impossible. I even put them in the freezer for a bit before cutting them. While this helped in theory (they did get hard enough to cut out), they thawed very quickly, causing a sticky mess the more I cut the cookies out. I whined as I finished cutting what I was cutting, then I gave up, and just threw the rest of the cookies on to the cookie sheet in a giant, chocolately-orange mass and baked that. It tasted just as good, but wasn't as pretty.

I also took a few liberties with this cookie. I added some actual orange pieces, as well as some orange juice. While mixing the dough, the dough remained very crumbly, so I added some orange juice to bind it together better. I also almost added eggs, because I though I forgot to add them. THESE COOKIES DO NOT HAVE EGGS! So please, don't add them. You'll probably just get a mess.

And now, if you've been following my blog, you'll know that almost once a recipe I mess something up, or don't have enough of something. So I usually end up omitting or substituting ingredients. Friday's issue wasn't as easy as leaving something out. I ran out of all-purpose flour. I found whole-wheat flour in my pantry, so I substituted some of that. I used the Cook's Thesaurus online (which is a savior!!) and used a bit less whole-wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour. Everything seemed, and tasted swell. So this little snafu is our secret...

Want to undertake the sticky dough? Here is the recipe, courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com

Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies

From SimplyRecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 5 minutes, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom as needed. Add the vanilla and orange zest and mix for 30 seconds. Add about half the flour mixture and mix on low speed. Scrape down the bottom and sides and add the rest of the flour mixture. Once incorporated, mix at medium speed for 3 minutes.

4. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper and place the dough on it. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness with a rolling pin. You many find the dough getting too soft,. If it does, place it in the freezer for ten minutes to firm it up before you continue rolling. Cut into desired shapes and place on the baking sheets about 1-inch apart.

5. Bake for 13-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. it can be difficult to tell when these cookies are done, so when they smell like freshly baked cookies and the edges are slightly firm but still give a bit then consider them done. Remove the pans and allow the cookies to cool for a minute or two before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chicken Saltimboca with Mushroom Sauce

2011-01-23T18:45:00.005-06:00

I've come to a conclusion recently: I love cooking, but not for myself. If it is just me eating what I will be cooking, I'd rather have an apple or bowl of cereal for dinner. But put even just one other person into the mix, and I'll cook a 5 course meal in a heartbeat. Hearing this, you should be able to join me in understanding why cooking chicken saltimboca with mushroom sauce took a lot of coaxing on my part. I was going to make it for dinner last night. That didn't happen. So I made it tonight, and I'm very glad I did.

While reading the procedure, I didn't want to to begin. A bit of prep, and a lot of waiting. Two of my least favorite things as my stomach is grumbling. I sucked it up, took out my chicken thighs and began. The chicken I had was bone-in, skin-on, the two things that the thighs were not suppose to be. I started by deboning and removing the skin. Then I coated in flour and pan-fried. While the thighs were pan-frying, I sliced the shallot, mushrooms and prosciutto and minced the garlic. This way, then the thighs were finished, I could use same pan to saute the mushroom mixture. When the mushrooms were soft, I added some white wine, and let that cook down. Once the wine was reduced, I added, and reduced, some chicken stock; then added some half-and-half and sage. At this point, it was time to return the chicken breasts to absorb the amazing flavors before serving.

While the mushroom mixture was cooking down, I cooked some white kidney beans and sage in a small saute pan. It was more of a heating through of the beans. When everything is warmed, serve the sauce and chicken over the beans.

My review? Don't make the beans. I thought they were dry and disgusting. Serve the dish over rice or pasta, it will be way better. Also, more sage. Perhaps add sage (and thyme?) in the flour mixture to coat the chicken. Add be careful how much stock you add, and how much you reduce it. I didn't reduce the sauce enough, and had to add some flour to thicken it up. Which worked fine. I like thick sauces, so it was better that way. The chicken was amazing: moist and flavorful, with a bit of a crunch from the flour coating.

I made a half batch, so it made four servings. I froze three of the servings, and am already looking forward to the next time I eat it! And another great thing about the dish? One serving is only 290 calories, with the beans. Don't make and eat the beans, and you'll save even more calories!

Chicken Saltimboca with Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 thin slices prosciutto or deli ham

1/2 cup chopped shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 can (15 oz.) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, divided

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup half-and-half cream

Directions

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and /4 teaspoon pepper. Add teh chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in 1 tablespoon oil for 8 - 10 minutes per side, or until juices run clean. Remove and keep warm.

2. In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, prosciutto, shallots and garlic in remaining oil until tender. Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced,to about 1/3 cup, about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, lightly mas 1/2 cup beans; add the water, 1 tablespoon sage and remaining pepper and beans; cook and stir until heated through. Set aside and keep warm.

4. Add chicken broth to the mushroom mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Stir in cream and remaining sage; heat through (do not boil). Return chicken to skillet; cook for 2 minutes. Serve with bean mixture.

Savory Cannoli

2011-01-19T22:53:00.004-06:00

Bobby Flay inspired me in a way. Not only is this surprising because I was inspired by Bobby Flay (who is not my favorite, at all), but was inspired during his cannoli throw down on Throw Down with Bobby Flay.

As I was watching Bobby and the challenger make cannoli, I began to think about the event I was writing a menu for. And began to think: passed appetizers. Is there a way I can change the traditional cannoli and make a savory hors d'oeuvres? I knew I had a bit of a challenge ahead of me, mostly in the fact that I would have to make a very small cannoli. So I did some research on the basics of making a cannoli shell and the basic components cannoli filling. It all seemed easy enough, so I pulled a sample of recipes, ingredients and tools together and stood over my stove, ready to cook and deep fry, at 10:30 on a Friday night.

I used another one of my least favorite Food Network star's recipe for the cannoli shell: Emeril Lagasse. The shell is basically flour, salt, sugar and Marsala wine. Then you need egg whites to assist in sealing the edges, and oil for frying. I used a 5/8 inch wooden dowel covered in foil as my mold. A pasta roller is the one other tool I wish I had had for the process of rolling out the cannoli. They were a bit too thick, because I couldn't roll them flat enough with a rolling pin. This caused them not to be as crispy and cannoli-like as I'd wished they were.

After the cannoli shells were mixed, chilled, and rolled, it was time to fry: about 2 minutes.

My number one advice on frying at home? MAKE SURE YOUR EXHAUST FAN WORKS!!! Mine doesn't. And I thought I was going to die. I inhaled quite a bit of smoke. So much that I took Oliver into the hallway and we sat out there for about 15 minutes while the fan and window were open in my apartment to try to get the smoke out. And also, your house will smell like oil forever. A week later mine still does.

Saturday it came time to make the filling. I used the traditional ricotta cheese filling, and added in some fried panchetta (so it was like bacon), fresh basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Then it was time to fill the shells, which was quite easy. After sprinkling some additional Parm on the ends of the cannoli, they were ready to serve. And were gone in half the time it took to make them.

Indonesian Pilaf with Pork

2011-01-12T22:01:00.004-06:00

I found this recipe months ago, and put it in a binder with the rest of the recipes I've clipped out of magazines. These recipes are usually forgotten about and never seen again, but a few days ago after work I went through all these recipes to see what was worth keeping and what I would never make. I re-stumbled upon this recipe, and got so excited to make it, I took the recipe to work so I could get all the ingredients on my way home. It was my first time making Indonesian food, and Kashi's Indonesian Pilaf, with the addition of pork, makes me want to try more Indonesian food.

While this dish it not traditional Indonesian, which is often curried meats over a bed of rice, and includes spices such as nutmeg and cloves, it included cumin and coriander. It also got some sweetness from raisins, and spice from the red pepper flakes, as well as a bite from the minced ginger. The peanuts and carrots added a nice crunch. The really nice thing about this is that it any vegetables could easily be added. The Indonesian title comes from the spices, soy sauce, and sesame oil, not from the vegetables. It would be a great dish to make to use up and clean out the vegetables in your fridge that need to get used. Asparagus would be excellent, as would more garlic!! Broccoli would also be an excellent addition.

But as for the actual recipe? Super easy, and I'll include this recipe today. I followed it to a T, but added in some very thinly sliced pork (sirloin to be exact). I also used plain rice vinegar instead of brown rice vinegar. So here it is!

Indonesian Pilaf

A Kashi Recipe

Ingredients

1 package pilaf

1/2 cup whole peanuts

2 cloves garlic,sliced

1/2 red onion, diced

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/2 cup raisins

1 carrot, cut julienne

1/2 cup red cabbage, diced

1 pinch salt

2 tablespoons water

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/4 bunch cilantro (I forgot, whoops)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon evaporated cane juice crystals (aka sugar)

Directions

1. Cook pilaf according to package directions.

2. Toast peanuts in a small skillet until golden brown. Set aside.

3. Saute garlic and onion in 1 teaspoon sesame oil until limp.

4. Add cumin and coriander and stir.

5. Add raisins, carrots, cabbage, salt, water and pork. Stir well.

6. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes, until pork (if using) is cooked.

7. In a large mixing bowl, combine saute mixture with cooked pilaf, red pepper, cilantro and peanuts.

8. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, red pepper flakes and cane juice crystals.
9. Toss dressing with pilaf mixture. Stir well and enjoy!

African Chicken Peanut Stew

2011-01-07T23:09:00.002-06:00

Before I start this blog, let me say: this is my 150th post!

Who loves peanut sauce? I do! And when I found this African Chicken Peanut Stew recipe, I got really excited. I don't know what the initial attraction to the recipe was. Perhaps the peanuts. Perhaps the fact that it is winter in Wisconsin and I'm constantly cold, and stew has a warm ring to it. But either way, I went to the store and bought the ingredients, and made it for dinner earlier this week.

I didn't start making dinner until after work, and since I don't get home from work until 7:30, it was quite late by the time I prepped everything. So around 8:00, I began the real cooking. I browned the chicken thighs (4 of them) in oil, then removed so I could saute the onions, ginger and garlic, followed by the sweet potatoes. Next I added everything else: crushed tomatoes, peanut butter (I used chunky), peanuts, chicken broth, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper. Once all that was combined, especially the peanut butter, I added the chicken back in, covered the pot and let it simmer. I thought it was going to take 90 minutes like the recipe said, so I was ready to be eating at 9:45. However, we got lucky. It only took 30 minutes to stew! So around 8:45, I pulled the chicken back out, removed the skin and bone and shredded the meat. I added the meat back into the stew and CAREFULLY stirred. You gotta be careful because the sweet potatoes are so soft from the stewing. I adjusted the cayenne, salt and pepper and served it over rice. Delicious! I thought it could have been a bit spicier (and so did Jay), so next time I'm not going to be shy with the cayenne.

The recipe came from Simply Recipes. I recommend trying it! And make sure to make it spicy!

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

2010-12-29T20:13:00.000-06:00

A few months back I had a cup of the butternut squash apple soup at work. I was amazed at how well the savory squash and the sweet-tart apple went together, and was dying for more soup as my love for butternut squash grew. I found a recipe for a butternut squash apple soup, and finally made it today. I'd been putting it off for a few weeks, and finally did it. I don't know why I put it off for so long, maybe because I didn't want to spend the time waiting around for it to cook? Who knows.

So I began making it this afternoon. I began by sweating (kind of like sauteeing-softening in a fat-but covered and without browning) half of an onion, then adding salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Once that was all combined, I added half of a butternut squash, cubed and 3 cups of chicken broth. When that began to simmer, I added two apples-peeled, cored, and cubed. I let that simmer for about 15 minutes until everything was quite soft. Then came time to puree it.

Let me give you a bit of a background on my soup making equipment:

I don't have a strainer, I only have a colander
I have a 2 cup food processor
My blender is older than I am

So, based on my extensive equipment list, I had a hell of a time trying to puree this soup. I strained it through the colander, reserving the liquid in a mixing bowl. I then tried to puree the soup chunks in my blender. That was a major failed attempt. So I busted out my tiny food processor and began to puree everything in there. It took a few rounds, but eventually everything was pureed as much as I could (there are still a few chunks in the soup). Then I added it back to the pot and added the reserved soup liquid (which as a bit much). I stirred that well and then let it reduce because it seemed so thin. Since I was having so much luck with this soup (sarcasm), the soup reduced just to the point I wanted it to---or not. I stirred it a bit more, and it seemed a bit thicker, so I removed it from heat and let it cool.

Looking back, I think I know why I put-off making the soup for so long: the lack of a substantial food processor makes it very difficult to make puree or cream soups. And those are some of the best soups. I guess I'll have to ask for an immersion blender from Mom and Dad for my birthday...

La Merenda

2010-12-28T22:26:00.003-06:00

I have the most awesome boyfriend ever. Not only did he get me a fantastic "material" Christmas gift, he took me out for dinner at a place we wouldn't normally go. Since we are both "chefs in training," we do like to go out to eat a lot and have a great appreciation for excellent food and ingredient combinations. So after looking at a variety of options for places to go for dinner, we settled on La Merenda, a tapas place just south of the Third Ward in Milwaukee.

"La Merenda" means "early snack," referring to the socializing and gathering of friends to share food and drink in the early evening. And this was the perfect place to do that. La Merenda features a variety (and I mean variety) of international tapas, or small plates. Some of the dishes were "classic Wisconsin cheese," but extended to Indonesian, Italian and Greek dishes.

Jay and I ordered five tapas plates, wine and, of course, two desserts. We got a scallop ceviche, schnitzel (I believe), roasted squash ravioli, sambal goreng udang, and spanakopita. You may be asking, "Erin, what does all that mean!?!" Here is a brief description of each:

Scallop Ceviche: diced scallops marinated in citrus juices, served with grapefruit and a citrus mousse
Schnitzel: pork cutlets pounded thin, coated and pan fried until crisp, served with an amazing potato (?) or some kind of starch side that was AMAZING
Roasted Squash Ravioli (my favorite): locally grown squash ravioli with nutmeg, mascarpone, amaretti cookies and topped with a sage, brown butter and walnut sauce
Sambal Goreng Udang: shrimp with tomatoes, coconut milk, sambal and ginger, served with coconut milk mashed potatoes
Spanakopita: spinach, fingerling potatoes, feta and ricotta cheese stuffed into phyllo dough triangles, served with beet yogurt tzatziki

Amazing. The food was absolutely divine. Everything was so fresh (minus the scallops) and flavorful. And the chef really knows how to blend flavors well. My only real complaint about the tapas is that the scallops weren't fresh. But that's what you should expect when ordering a fish special.

And, of course, we had to get dessert. Jay got the tres leches cake, that had coconut milk in it and was amazing (though didn't really taste like tres leches) and I had a chocolate peppermint creme brule. Oh. My. God. To die for. So sweet and rich and creamy. Could have used a bit more peppermint, but still. It was amazing.

Overall, I highly recommend La Merenda. Either get there right at 5:00 when it opens or make a reservation (when we were done eating at 6:00, there was an hour and a half wait). And be sure to get a variety of tapas. One tapa is meant to serve a taste for 4 people. We were stuffed with five plates and two desserts.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T07:30:00.002-06:00

So maybe I haven't earned the right to make the turkey at Thanksgiving, but today I earned the right to cook at all other family functions.

A month ago, the discussion was to go out to dinner again for Christmas, and I was both a bit offended and a bit against that. I'm a culinary student, and like hell will I go out to eat on a big holiday that would allow me to cook and show off what I have learned in school this past semester. Back in November, WCTC hosted the ACF of Milwaukee's monthly dinner, and Jay was in charge of the entree, and made pernil, a flavor-rich Puerto Rican pork roast. After my first bite of it that night, I knew that was what I had to make to show off for my family.

I was a bit afraid when it came time to marinade and make it, since I only observed Jay make it at school. So he came over last night and did the marinade, and I knew what I had to do today to make it phenomenal. But that did not make it any less intimidating, because pork is easy to over-cook. I had two, five-pound boneless pork butts, which I rubbed down with garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and sherry wine. The meat sat for about 14 hours before it was time to roast. I covered them and roasted them at 350 degrees for about 2.75 hours (MUCH less that I thought it was going to take) when the temperature was about 150 degrees. I pulled it out of the oven and kept it warm in the Nesco until it was time to slice for dinner.

For the ACF dinner, one of the other chefs made a wine sauce using the pan drippings. I couldn't remember exactly what he did, but I remembered what I could, and made the rest up on the spot. I sauteed some onions in butter, then added some Merlot. Meanwhile, I made a roux using the fat from the meat drippings. I added the roux into the onion-Merlot sauce, and then added some of the pork juices. I whisked it until it was the right thickness, adding more roux as needed. To season, I used salt, pepper and brown sugar. It was amazing.

To go along with the meat, I made a warm orzo and herb salad, roasted potatoes and asparagus. It was my first time making and eating orzo, and I really liked it. I wouldn't eat it on a regular basis, because it seems more fitting in a pasta salad than as regular dish, but I would eat it again. I don't understand why people say "I don't like orzo." It's pasta! Just shaped differently. If you ask me, it's like saying, "I don't like farfalle." They are all the same! But anyway, my salad was really simple: orzo, peas, tomatoes, onions, parsley, oregano and chives. It was suppose to have a bit of lemon juice, but I left it out.

I used the same herbs on the potatoes before I roasted them. And the asparagus was simply baked for a few minutes with oil, salt and pepper.

For dessert? Pumpkin cheesecake! I made it at Thanksgiving, and Gramma liked it so much she asked Mom if I would make it again for Christmas. I love cheesecake, and pumpkin pie, and this is the perfect blend of the two. The gingersnap crust gives a lovely bite to the sweet pumpkin, and really plays up the ginger in the filling. It is really is quite easy to make. Thank you Gina Neely!

Overall, dinner was a huge hit. To be honest, I was a bit afraid to be cooking for my family on Christmas. They know I'm a culinary student, and I think were expecting awesomeness. I must say, I did impress them. And that was the best Christmas gift I could get.

Merry Christmas!

Calamari, Tomato and Caper Salad

2010-12-22T22:35:00.002-06:00

I've begun working out again (yay!) and earlier this week while I was working out I was watching Giada at Home on the Food Network and she was making Calamari, Tomato and Caper Salad. I was intrigued by the first glimpse of the meal, when I thought the calamari were noodles. I was further intrigued when she said it was calamari. I've had calamari before, but only deep fried. And while I love it, fried calamari is a bit unhealthy. So I was very excited to try making it a different way: sauteed and in salad form.

The whole meal took about 10 minutes to make. Shopping for all the ingredients took longer. So did the prep. The actual cooking was simple as:

Saute garlic in olive oil: 3o seconds
Add diced tomatoes, cook: 2 minutes
Add calamari (without tentacles), saute: 3 minutes
Strain: 10 seconds
Add vinaigrette, toss: 20 seconds
Sprinkle with parsley: 5 seconds

The vinaigrette was composed of lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and capers. It was a lovely coating and combination. We served it with couscous, which was the perfect accompaniment, because couscous is an excellent base for sauces, because it absorbs sauces so beautifully.

This dish is absolutely amazing. Don't be afraid of the calamari and give it a shot. It has a lovely presentation, and is great for parties. Let me know what you think!

Food Network's picture, not mine. I was too anxious to try it to take a picture.

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!

2010-12-20T10:18:00.004-06:00

I love the holidays. And every year, Mom and I make a ton of cookies: butterhorns, sugar cookies, spritz cookies, chocolate cake cookies, and pumpkin dip for gingerbread men. But this year, I took over and made all the cookies myself, all 14 dozen of them. I did make a few of the classics, but mixed in a few new ones. I made a low-cal sugar cookie, a triple ginger cookie, cranberry pistachio biscotti, cranberry orange truffles and chocolate cake cookies (my favorite!).

It was a VERY long day of baking. I started around 3:30, and had a very tough time getting motivated to make all the cookies. Each recipe (except the biscotti and the chocolate cake cookies) required at least 1 hour of chill time. I started first with the truffles.

The cranberry orange truffles were surprisingly easy to make, even though I don't have a candy thermometer. I just melted the chocolate with the butter, then very quickly tempered in the eggs and whisked a few minutes until the chocolate coated the back of a spoon. It set up very quickly. Then I stirred in the orange juice and craisins. I then let it cool about 3 hours. After that, I formed balls with the chocolate (which was VERY messy) and put them back in the fridge for another hour or so before coating them with chocolate. When it came time to coat the truffles with white chocolate, I melted the white chocolate in the microwave then dipped the truffles in it. I sprinkled it with finely chopped almonds and topped with a craisin. The one thing to keep in mind when coating and topping is that it has to be quick! Do not wait to sprinkle with almonds or a craisin, or else the white chocolate will cool and the almonds and craisin won't stick.

The second cookie I tackled was the triple ginger cookie. This one was probably the biggest pain in the ass. Mostly because I didn't bring my knives, so I had to mince fresh ginger and chop crystallized ginger using a steak knife. It sucked, big time. However, once I was done being tortured, they mixed together like regular cookies. I let those chill for a few hours, then rolled them into 1" balls, rolled in sugar and baked. They took about 10 minutes longer than the recipe said, so they took about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. But once I finally got to try one, they were amazing!

The last batch of cookies that had to chill were the sugar cookies. I tried a new sugar cookie this year: a "healthy" sugar cookie, meaning it was low in calories. I think they were even better than any other sugar cookie I've had! I added a bit of almond extract in addition to the vanilla extract, and the flavor was just phenomenal. Rich, buttery, sweet. Yum. To top them off (since I didn't want to use icing), I created colored sugar by adding food coloring to large sugar granules. The sugar added the perfect touch.

While all those were chilling, I made the cranberry pistachio biscotti. They are so festive with the splashes of red and green through the cookie. The only problem with these is that they are super sticky when trying to form the logs for the first bake. They bake in the form of a log for 35 minutes, then at a lower temperature after they are sliced. BE SURE TO ONLY BAKE UNTIL THEY FEEL SLIGHTLY DRY. These cookies do harden as they cool.

After all the aforementioned cookies were baked, it was time to do the chocolate cake cookies (at about 9:30 pm). These are a cookie from Mom's old Settlement Cookbook. She's been making them every Christmas for years, and it is probably the one cookie I look the most forward to. After making them this year, I don't know why she only made them once a year, they aren't hard to make. It was simply butter, powdered sugar, cake flour (I used all purpose flour, but subtracted 2 tablespoons from each cup of flour), baking powder, vanilla, and, of course, chocolate. Then they are topped with a light confectioners glaze. These cookies are moist and dry, and taste just like chocolate cake. They are a must have!

Pear and Brie Crustini

2010-12-13T21:55:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, I entered a caramel contest within club at school. While I didn't win, I made an amazing dish: Pear & Brie Crustini. I had a feeling that everyone in the contest was going to do an actual entrée, so I mixed it up a bit and made an appetizer. And I'm beginning to realize that I'm the kind of person that really likes to play with and mix up sweet and salty. So that's what I did. The saltiness from the Brie (which I have fallen IN LOVE with!) and the sweetness from the caramel. There was a lot of experimenting with the recipe a week before the contest, and I tried making it at least a half-dozen ways before I found one that I really liked, both in terms of taste and visual appeal.

It's really a simple dish to make, and it was a big hit. You begin by slicing the bread and toasting it in the oven. At the same time, you warm the caramel until it is able to be drizzled and melt the Brie in an oven-safe dish. When the bread is toasted and cheese melted, remove from the oven. Mix in finely chopped dried cranberries and finely chopped walnuts in the cheese. Spread the cheese on the crustini and drizzle with caramel. Pop it back in the oven until the cheese is oozing on the bread.

Remove from the oven and top with small dice red pears. Drizzle again with caramel, and top with chiffonade of basil. While it is best served warm, it can be served warm or cold. Delicious!

Platter Week

2010-12-12T20:17:00.008-06:00

This past week at school we focused on and learned how to prepare platters for buffets, then served the platters in the Classic Room (the "restaurant" for the culinary program). It was a huge process, and we really got the feel for working on a deadline and ensuring that everything looked great for the diners.

Tuesday was a rough day for me. I really thought that Chef didn't like me, and was having a tough time with everything. But then I stayed after class for an hour to help him finish beet and scallop mousse terrines, and after that, everything was alright. Wednesday, Chef asked me to help with the platters, and let me design them. One platter was a spinach noodle with mozzarella, prosciutto, basil and sun-dried tomato. The second was Jason's mozzarella roll with prosciutto and basil; and the last tray was an assortment of canapés (appetizers). We also made sausages and crackers for the tables in the Classic Room.

Spinach pasta, mozzarella, prosciutto, basil & sun-dried tomato

Mozzarella, basil & prosciutto

Jason & his swan

Table with platters

Sausage & cracker trays

Thursday was a busier day. We created 4 platters instead of 3: scallop mousse that Chef and I made on Tuesday; duck and pheasant galentines and smoked beef tenderloin; cheese and sausage; and canapés. We also learned how to make flowers from carrots/parsnips/beets, and made an arrangement with that.

Cheese & sausage platter

Table, day 2

Canapés, my blue cheese ones have the basil on top

Scallop & beet mousse terrines with shrimp

Flowers from carrots & parsnips

It was a very productive and educational week. I got to make wonderful things (corned beef!) and be creative with a topping for the blue cheese tarts (caramel apple topping). And I was told by one of the chefs in the Restaurant Cuisine class that our food was better than theirs!

My Motivation Level Drops

2010-12-04T23:10:00.002-06:00

It appears that I loose motivation and interest in things very quickly. And I apologize for that, because as a result to my lack of motivation, I haven't been writing or blogging about any food adventures. It may be due to the fact that I really only cook at school now, because I'm working 30 hours a week in a kitchen and am in a kitchen at school for about 25 hours a week. Put that together, and when I get home at 8:00 at night, the last thing I want to do is cook. So I've been eating a lot of shit, like rice cakes and peanut butter, chocolate chips and banana bread. I've become more of a carb-a-holic then I already was. Which makes cooking protein even less exciting. I've even stopped eating as many eggs (though I did make some this morning for brunch). But I did entertain this morning. Amy, Stacie, Jay and I had brunch. I made cranberry orange (my FAVORITE combination) scones and frittatas featuring spinach, leeks, garlic, mushrooms and parsley. The meal was a success and very tasty. And hearing that from a fellow chef-in-training (Jay), means a lot.

As for school, the chef I had got fired. As you may recall, Chef Jack was not an informative instructor (to put it nicely). He didn't teach, or seem to know, anything. And it made it very difficult to learn anything. So after my last post (my baking final), I found out he was fired, and a new chef started the next day, ironically named Chef Jack. But Chef Jack 2.0 is much better than the original version. We are doing so much stuff in Garde Manger. Garde Manger is basically "cold kitchen." The first week we made salads, salad dressings and sandwiches. Following that we made cheesecake and experimented with molecular gastronomy, the science of cooking and doing funky, innovative stuff to food. For example, we made caviar for our cheesecake. But not fish eggs. I made orange and avocado caviar. Chef made Andouille sausage caviar. Then this week we started and finished sausages, smoking and brines. We also made terrines, pates and gallentines. The sausages were tasty, but that was about it. The idea of cooking and eating and wrapping pork (or any other kind of) fat around my food is far from appealing. But I did try it all.

That's all for now. On my way out tonight. Need to unwind after a week of school and work. I will be better about posting. Maybe I'll do a Thanksgiving post tomorrow about what I did for Thanksgiving (another double turkey day).

Baking and Garde Manger is Half Over

2010-11-11T22:33:00.003-06:00

I had my baking practical today, and Chef Jack let us make whatever we wanted out of the book, as long as it wasn't something as simple as chocolate chip cookies or white pan bread. I made something that is challenging, but something I've sort of made before. While I know I can take risks, and love to experiment and take risks, taking a major risk the day of my final, when my grade is depending on it, wasn't something I was too keen on. So I made chocolate surprise cakes, similar to a molten lava cake.

Chocolate surprise cakes are chocolate cakes with a ball of ganache in the middle. Ganache is basically thickened chocolate sauce that is often used as a glaze. I added some amaretto and cherries to my ganache before inserting it in the middle of the cakes. To form the cakes, you bake them in a muffin pan. Then immediately turn out when they are finished baking.

To make the beautiful chocolate design on top, I melted some dark chocolate then piped it onto a baking sheet and popped it in the freezer until hardened. Then it was time plate. Isn't it beautiful?

Cranberry Pear Ginger Relish

2010-11-09T20:02:00.003-06:00

As a member of the Hospitality and Culinary Club, I volunteered to do a demo at Brennen's Food Market in Brookfield. I demoed how to make Cranberry Pear Ginger Relish, and it was amazing. What do you use cranberry pear ginger relish for might you ask? Well, here is what I suggest:

as your cranberry side with your turkey for Thanksgiving
on a turkey sandwich
with pear or crackers
on top of ice cream
as the filling for a pie or tart

My mom came to the demo and tried it. The next day she was asking me to make it for dinner. And the people who tried it all left with the recipe and most of the ingredients. The sweetness of the pear and brown sugar blended nicely with the tartness of the cranberries. And the ginger added a whole other flavor.

The relish is really really easy to make, and I'm not just saying that because I go to culinary school. It really truly is. It's as simple as putting all the ingredients in a pot and letting it reduce. And because this one is so delicious, I'll post the recipe for you. Make it for Thanksgiving, your family will thank you for it.

Cranberry Pear Ginger Relish

On top of ice cream, yum! Served in a pear half.

Ingredients

3 cups fresh cranberries

3 pears, small dice

1 1/3 cup orange juice

1 1/4 dried cranberries

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons raisins

3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, minced

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan.

2. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

3. Simmer about 10 minutes, or until reduced.

4. Serve warm or cold.

Baking and Garde Manger

2010-10-30T23:09:00.003-05:00

Now that Basic Food Prep is over, I decided to jump ahead and take Baking & Garde Manger right away. I've been in it for a week and a half, and am really not happy. Chef Jack is NOT a very good teacher, and I feel like I'm not getting everything out of it that I could, and should, be getting. But I have made some fantastic things, including English muffins, danishes, doughnuts and a beautiful cherry pie. This blog is mostly just to post so you can see them, because I'm so excited about them.

English muffins are surprisingly easy to make, and they get their color from being fried on a flat top, instead of being baked. I'm gonna try making them at home. Hopefully they will be easier and turn out better at home.

More proud of the beautiful lattice topping. Look at that!

Doughnuts! Again, surprisingly easy to make. Just make up the batter than form. They don't take long to deep fry, and the finish them as desired: filled, glazed, dusted. It's up to you!

Now here are my pretty danishes! We made the puff pastry (which is a bit of a pain in the ass. Roll out, add butter, fold, repeat. Then shape, fill and bake!

Pan-Fried Eggplant with Chicken Marinara Sauce

2010-10-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with recipes a lot lately. On Tuesday I made spaghetti squash and yesterday I made a up a Mexican lasagna on the fly. Then today I applied some things I learned at school and made pan-fried eggplant with chicken marinara sauce. It was outstanding. And was both gluten and dairy free (you're welcome Amy!) At school we made pan-fried eggplant, and it was wonderful. The eggplant melts in your mouth, but is covered by a crisp breading. But the issue I was faced with today was Amy's gluten allergy. So I substituted, like I do so often. Instead of using breadcrumbs, I used finely ground gluten-free breadsticks. I peeled and sliced the eggplant, salted, then dipped in an eggwash and the breadcrumbs. Then I fried them in some vegetable oil. The breadcrumbs had a tendency to burn quicker than regular breadcrumbs, probably because the lack of gluten causes weaker bonds in the flour of the breadsticks. But anyway, those were delicious once done. Very moist, but crisp at the same time.

While I did the eggplant, I set Amy to work on cooking the chicken. I had cut up two chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces, seasoned withs salt and pepper, then sauteed them in vegetable oil. Once the poultry was cooked through, I added some pre-made red sauce (mushroom and black olive!). When it was heated through, I plated it and we enjoyed!

The meat was very tender and moist, as well as the eggplant. But the breading from the eggplant took away from tenderness by adding a crunch. Wow, it was just amazing.

Basic Food Prep. Is. Over!

2010-10-16T20:07:00.002-05:00

I made it. I survived. I finished Basic Food Prep (minus one cleaning day)!!!!!!!! And I feel awful for not posting in weeks. But in my defense, school took up so much of my life, I can't even begin to explain the complexities of all of it.

This past week was the worst of all of it: the final practical exam. It was quite possibly the scariest day of my life. Ever seen Iron Chef or Chopped? It was like that, except we didn't have to make the recipes up. We got to class on Thursday and blindly picked our dishes. I had to make Cream of Asparagus soup, Artic Char with Fettuccine Alfredo, broccoli, Hollandaise sauce, flounder and sauce, Delmonico potatoes and sauteed carrots. In 3.5 hours.I had to make all the dishes, without procedure steps, only a list of the ingredients. I did finish almost all of it (no Hollandaise). But then Chef came around to test it, and it all "has to flavor." I was heart broken. I put everything I had into these dishes and they were "bland." Whatever. I think he just doesn't know what he is talking about.

But it's now done, and I'm moving on. I start Garde Manger next week, and I'm really excited about that. I'm really going to be better about writing, so stay tuned!

Only One Week Left...

2010-09-30T19:43:00.004-05:00

...And Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup. I know, I know. I've been REALLY bad at updating, and I was going to be so much better about updating about all the fun stories. But I'll fill you in a bit now on what has been happening.

This week we finished the fish chapter and began vegetables. Over the past few weeks we did meat, poultry and game. The meat chapter was no fun, I'm not a fan of red meat. I mean, I did learn a lot, and made some amazing lamb. But it's not something I'm going to make regularly. Oh, and the Beef Bourguignon was also quite fabulous. That I would make again.

After the meat was chicken. I love chicken. Love love love it. And I learned some great new ways to cook it, poaching being my favorite. Especially the tarragon poached chicken. Yummy! Poaching is actually much easier than it sounds: put food item in the small sautior, add seasonings and enough liquid to come up the side of the food. Then bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover tightly with a piece of parchment paper (cut it in a circle so it fits in the pan easier). Pop it in a 350 degree oven and cook until the chicken is done. Easy! k

Then this week we did fish. I filleted a round fish and flat fish. Sauted a whole trout. Battered and deep fried shrimp, scallops and perch. Made oysters, mussels and clams. And lots of lobster. The fish was good. And I got to practice my new favorite way of cooking: en papiollote. That simply means cooking in a parchment paper pouch. The fish, vegetables or chicken cooks in its own moisture. Very healthy and very easy.

Vegetables began today. And the day started off rough. My dices were too small for the ratatouille, which was very frustrating. But after that, it was smooth sailing! Baked beans, maple creamed corn, Brussels sprout with pecan butter. Then some dishes, followed by onion rings and a panic attack. Over Hollandaise sauce. I panicked and couldn't function. I had no idea what I was doing. It was the scariest thing ever. But I was able to successfully make it, and survived.

After school I had to make a soup for the cup I volunteer for. I made Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup. It's one of my favorite soups, and everyone else loved it too. And I even got to bring some extra home. Yum! I'm not gonna write the whole recipe here, you can go to the link. But here is my lovely dinner. Perfect end to a crazy week. And now no class tomorrow, Chef is out of town. Fabulous!

-E

Asian Tilapia

2010-09-18T12:17:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week we made meatloaf at school. I made an Asian meatloaf, using teriyaki and sweet chili sauce instead of worcestershire sauce. It was delicious! The teriyaki and chili sauce added a sweetness, but also brought out the savory flavor of the meat. It instantly became one of my new favorite flavor combinations, and so I brought that home and applied it to tilapia. What a wonderful decision.

There is no exact measurement for any of it, just combined teriyaki and sweet chili sauce until it tastes right, then brush it on the thawed tilapia. Bake it at 425 for about 20 minutes, marinading again halfway through cooking them, then again at the end of the baking time. Viola! That's it.

Mango Bread Pudding

2010-09-18T11:49:00.003-05:00

I decided to enter another contest: the Tosa Fest Bake-Off. I thought and thought about what I could make: cakes, pies, breads; but all that seemed lame and common. So I decided to make a bread pudding. And a Mango Bread Pudding with Chai Spices seemed perfect. Unfortunately, it didn't win. But it was fun and easy to make, and smelled amazing (I didn't get to try it because I was entering it. Can't enter it with a piece missing!)

I got the recipe in an email from Fitness Magazine, in an article about healthified desserts. And it was much easier than other bread puddings I've made. I was also able to bake it in 45 minutes instead of an hour and 15. I was crunched for time, so just turned the oven up a bit (375 instead of 350). The consistency didn't change much, I just had to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't burn. But enough talk, here is the recipe!

Mango Bread Pudding with Chai Spices

From Fitness Magazine's website

Ingredients

4 cups stale (but not dry) white bread slices, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I used Italian Bread)

2 (3) large ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (3 cups)

2 cups fat-free milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons light or dark rum (optional)

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon cardamom (I used 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg instead)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground peppercorns

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Position rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 350. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Toss bread cubes and mangoes together in the baking dish.

3. Whisk milk, eggs, rum, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, pepper and salt in a medium bowl. Pour over the bread and mangoes; allow the mixture to soak for about 5 minutes.

4. Bake the pudding until it is set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Serve warm for best flavor.

Onto Meats...

2010-09-14T21:12:00.003-05:00

I've been so bad about updating the past few days, so I'm going to spend the next few entries writing about what I've made the past few days.

Let's begin by backtracking to last Thursday (September 9th). It was our first day making meats, and we began with veal. We made quite a few things: Veal Osso Buco, Veal Merango (SO good!), breaded veal cutlets, Veal Scallops with White Wine Lemon Sauce, and....calves liver. Yes, liver. We also prepped/began Veal Cordon Bleu. I found everything to be quite easy, but mostly because I saute or pan-fry a lot of food. We did make a bit of a mistake with the Merango (like a veal stew)--the cubed meat wasn't seared enough. Oh well, we didn't get too yelled at, and we made it work. It finished this morning and the meat was delicious. It melted in your mouth. Yum.

And I'm sure you're all wondering about the liver. It wasn't as terrible as the reputation makes it sound, though it isn't something I'd make again, but if I had to eat it, I would throw a huge stink about it. The after taste was the worst.

Then on Thursday night I had dinner with Amy. She had some chicken thawed out, so I used that and made Chicken Scallops with White Wine Lemon Sauce and zucchini ribbons with lemon, olive oil and pine nuts.

I followed the basic recipe for the Veal with White Wine Lemon sauce. Sautéed the chicken, then made a sauce in the pan of white wine and some lemon juice. Not much too it. As for the zucchini, it wasn't as thin as I had hoped, but I just drizzled that with olive oil, lemon juice and topped with toasted pine nuts. It was a very refreshing and light-weight dinner.

"Lobster Killer"

2010-09-08T18:36:00.005-05:00

I killed a lobster today at school. Three actually. And it was (as morbid as this sounds) fabulous. I knew it was coming from day one, and I was fearless about it. I was more willing to do it, and less afraid, then some of the guys in the class.

Yesterday we began making Smoked Lobster Bisque. It was quite a process, involving mirepoix (which we burned), lighting brandy on fire, and killing lobsters. From the moment we got into class, only one thing was playing through my mind: the sing-songy "Lobster Killer" from Julie & Julia (I really do love that movie).

We didn't actually kill the lobsters and smoke them until today, but that was the only cool part of the whole process. And we didn't do it nearly as "humane" or graceful as the video shows. Oh no. I stabbed the thing between the legs on its belly and cut straight down through the tail. Then split it open and removed the guts. Yes, I did all that.

I approached chef this morning asking if it was time. He said yes and told me to get a cutting board and knife, and my group members. So I did. Chef did the first lobster, and then handed it over to me. I didn't know how to stab it: how deep or what. So he did the stabbing, then I did the breaking. Jason did his, and then I gave Jeremy a look, and he let me do his. I stabbed it between the legs, and tried to end the whole process as quickly as possible for the poor guy. Jeremy kept naming it "Mr. Pinchers" which didn't help. But it wasn't hard at all. Our four lobsters were done and I went to clean up. Then I heard Chef shout from across the kitchen, "Erin, come here." We had two more to do. So I got to kill two more lobsters.

After taking care of them, we put them in a brine (water, lemons, bay leaves and peppercorns) that I had made yesterday. After 15 minutes in the brine, they went into stove top/oven smokers and smoked for about 20 minutes. Then I had to break them apart to get the meat. It was good, very good. And once we added the sherry wine and cream into the bisque, that was quite good. Yum.

Carrot Bread(s)

2010-09-04T17:48:00.005-05:00

So, you know in Julie & Julia, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) starts culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, and all the guys are way better than her at chopping onions. So she goes home and begins chopping onions, and produces a mound of onions so high that it is taller than she is (which is saying a lot). I felt like that today. Except not onions, and not a mound higher than me. But after learning how to julienne carrots, I realized I have a lot of practicing to do, because I don't cut straight or evenly, and I don't want to get yelled at or criticized a lot in class. So I bought two, two-pound bags of carrots, and today went to town julienning carrots. I had a lot of carrots, and only two good juliennes. Ugh. This is tough.

But then it hit me, what am I going to do with all these carrots? I can't eat them all, and neither can Oliver (my guinea pig). And they will eventually go bad. So I decided to bake with them. Carrot bread today, but I have a recipe for carrot scones as well. And since the carrots are now shredded, I can maybe make carrot soup? Or carrot cake. Or anything carrot related (though looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have shredded all the carrots).

After going to the grocery store again, I set out to make the first loaf of carrot bread: carrot pineapple bread. There really isn't much to making it, just like there really isn't much to making any quick bread. First I had to cut the recipe in half (I didn't want two loafs), so I had to use one whole egg and one egg white, because you can't really cut an egg in half. I mixed the dry ingredients together, and the wet ingredients (minus the carrots). Then I stirred the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and added the carrots. Viola! Pineapple carrot bread. I poured it into a greased bread pan, and sprinkled the top with large granules of sugar, to give the crust a bit of a sugary crunch. Then I baked it at a higher temperature (350 instead of 325) because that is what the other recipe had to be baked at.

Next I made a regular carrot bread. Again, nothing super special. This one used applesauce in place of oil or butter, as well as egg product. I don't use egg product, ever. I think it's gross. So instead, I measured 1/2 cup of eggs, using one whole egg and two egg whites. I combined the wet ingredients (minus the carrots) in one bowl and the dry ingredients (minus the walnuts) in another bowl. Then I added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. When everything was moist, it was time to add the carrot and walnut. This recipe did have more carrots then the previous one. We'll have to wait until the taste test to taste if there was any difference.

Finally, I wanted to try something: combining the two, and adding a few extra touches. So I used the base of the regular carrot bread, and added 1/2 cup of pineapple, 1/4 cup of raisins and some nutmeg. Other than that, the process was the same. I call it Erin's Carrot Bread.

Once I finished making one, I put it into a preheated 350 degree oven. So the first one in was the first one out, and I did a rough baking time (used the baking time on the recipe as a guide and just judged when they were done).

So I'm addicted. I had too many pieces tonight, and now feel a little sick. My favorite is the combo one: very moist, and very texture-filled. Also quite sweet. But I think it would have been better with sugar sprinkled on top (because that was REALLY good one the pineapple carrot bread). But I have to get rid of this stuff. Like tomorrow. Or I am gonna get sick. It's super good.

Carrot Pineapple Bread

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup finely shredded carrots

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple, undrained

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose four

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and oil. Add carrots, pineapple and vanilla.

2. Combine dry ingredients. Beat into carrot mixture.

3. Pour into two greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Carrot Bread

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Coat an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour; set aside. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, combine the applesauce, eggs substitute and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in carrots and walnuts.
2. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Erin's Carrot Bread
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins

Directions
1. Coat an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour; set aside. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another bowl, combine the applesauce, eggs substitute and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in carrots, raisins and walnuts.
2. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Back: Erin's Carrot Bread; Front: (left) Carrot Pineapple Bread, Carrot Bread

Soups, and an Increase in Intensity

2010-09-04T09:20:00.001-05:00

And the intensity level of school just cranked up the first notch...

Yesterday we were making soups. Two soups each, as well as Espangole sauce and a glaze. All in about four hours. Seems like plenty of time right? Wrong. Our group started the sauce and glaze right away, because once those got going, we didn't have to focus on them. And could focus on our individual Cream of Wild Mushroom and Callaloo with Crap soups.

I worked the the mushroom soup first. And that is where I fell behind. I had to chop THREE POUNDS of mushrooms. THREE POUNDS!! Can you even imagine how many mushrooms that is? So many, that I chopped off part of my finger(nail) and got my first injury. What did chef say when he saw it? "It'll grow back," to which I just laughed and put on a band-aid. Back to the mushrooms it was. And after about an hour of chopping mushrooms, celery and onions, it was time to begin assembling the soup. The first step to assembling a cream soup was to sweat the onions, celery and mushrooms (put them in a pot with a bit of oil, over medium heat and cover with tin foil until the veggies soften) without browning. I added some oregano in here too. Then it came to creating the roux to thicken the soup. Chef advised making the roux right in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, which involved adding more butter and flour into the pot with the mushrooms, and cook until it is a golden color. When it turned into a blond roux, it was time to add the stock and bring to a simmer and simmer about 15 minutes. Time to puree it! I had to carefully strain the soup and puree the "pulp," the mushrooms, onion and celery. Then it goes back with the liquid and back to a simmer. While it was coming back to a simmer, I warmed the heavy whipping cream. Then I tempered some of the soup into the heavy whipping cream, and then the cream back into the soup. Time for some salt and pepper, and it was done! I couldn't believe that I made Cream of Mushroom soup, and Chef said it was good! And the guys in my group said it was "damn good," which is really exciting. I made an awesome soup!

Then today we made the soup we didn't get to yesterday: Callaloo with Crab. Callaloo is a type of leafy green that isn't in season right now, so we used spinach instead. And as if chopping three pounds of mushrooms wasn't enough, I now had to destem and chop two pounds of spinach. I must say, that was a larger pain in the ass than chopping the mushrooms. Though my fingers did stay intact. And peeling a pumpkin isn't very fun either. But the onions and green onions were a breeze, I felt like like a real chef chopping them, because I was able to chop them so quickly! Then with about 45 minutes left, I had to make the soup that would take about an hour. Awesome. I was running (literally running) around the kitchen as I had the onions sweating. Once they were sweat, I added the green onions, spinach, pumpkin coconut milk (which has separated and chunked and was stuck in the can) and half-and-half. Except I used heavy whipping cream. I poured 1 quart of heavy whipping cream and had an '0h shit' moment as I realized I poured the wrong thing in. So I used the half-and-half for the second quart. I was paranoid that it was going to curdle, and did everything I could to hide the unfinished product from Chef. I was running out of time and in panic mode. My soup had to boil another 15 minutes, and then I had to puree it and add the crab and let it boil again. And I had to be done...now. So I pureed half the soup, and while I did that, Jason (one of my group members) added my liquid to his soup, which I told him not to to. So I yelled at him and he poured my liquid back. I added the puree and took it back to the stove. It was time for the crab and seasoning. I quick added everything and was over time (but half of my group hadn't even pureed their soups yet, so I was bit ahead). Everyone in the class was waiting for us to finish. But Chef was standing by us, tasting our soups and telling us what to add. "Add Worschester. Add hot sauce. More salt." So was adding Worschester, and he took the bottle from me and just poured some in. Same with the hot sauce. But he said mine was pretty good, and wasn't angry that we went over time. And the rest of our class loved it.

Mmmm, I love this soup! I know it looks gross, it is after all green. But it is delicious!

Now it's time to clean up my apartment so I have room to practice chopping carrots. So I'll be posting lots of carrot recipes in the next few days.

Hollandaise & Veloute Sauce

2010-09-01T21:08:00.004-05:00

I can't believe how much studying I have to do in order to do well in this class. It's extremely difficult, and I am too in love with my social life to give that up completely. So I'm going to continue taking a break (my brain feels like it is about to explode!) and write a bit about what we did in school today.

We have moved from stocks to real food. And by real food, I mean sauces. Today we were suppose to make four different kinds of sauces, but ended up only making Hollandaise sauce and Veloute sauce (a blond sauce). So after listening to Chef lecture for two hours (where I knew almost all the answers, yay me!) we went into the kitchen to make the Hollandaise first. Hollandaise is a tough sauce to make. Especially when you are rushed for time like I was. What it basically is (for those of you who just make it out of the package), is egg yolks and butter. Yum, my two favorite things...

You begin by reducing a little bit of water and vinegar with peppercorns. When that has reduced, strain it into a bowl, and add two egg yolks. Whip that together until it is well combined. Put the bowl with the yolks over a steam bath and whip, constantly, until it forms a paste similar to that of lemon cake batter. Now, you have to be VERY careful here as not to cook the eggs, turning out scrambled eggs. If the eggs get to hot, remove from the heat to cool, then continue cooking. When the eggs have reached the proper consistency, gradually pour in the butter and whisk constantly. You have to whisk and pour at the same speed, and very carefully. If you add too much butter, the Hollandaise will break and you'll have to spend extra time fixing it. Once all the butter is in, it is time to find the right consistency. You want it to be nappe (coat the back of a spoon) and be easy to pour. I added and added and added water, and it didn't seem to reach the proper consistency. But I guess it was OK, 'cause Chef told me to go ahead and add butter to break the emulsion, so I could learn how to fix it.

To fix a broken Hollandaise, go back to square one. Mix one egg yolk with a bit of water, and cook until you see that cake batter consistency again. Once you have achieved that, mix in the broken Hollandaise, slowly, until it is all incorporated. I must say, my fixed Hollandaise looked better than my original, but Chef said I did a good job, so that is impressive. But the poor guy had to make his five times before it worked.

After that, I had to really quick whip up my Veloute sauce. It is basically a blond (color) sauce of just blond roux and chicken stock. Really simple. To make the roux, cook equal parts butter and flour until it is blond in color and the consistency of wet sand. From here, gradually pour in the stock, constantly whisking so no chunks form. Then it is suppose to come to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. I didn't have time for it to simmer, so I strained it and it was ready to go (until Friday). The nice thing about "mother sauces" is how much you can do with them. I have some ideas for some of them that I can't wait to try!

Tomorrow is soup day! If you ever want any of the recipes, just comment and let me know. Because of how much I'm going to be making in school, I'm not always going to post the recipes. But for my own cooking adventures I'll post 'em. But now it's time to get studying before bed. Only two more days of class this week!

Chicken Manicotti with Marsala Wine

2010-08-30T17:50:00.003-05:00

Mom makes the best chicken manicotti, and it is often a dish that the family has when all four of us are home. I decided tonight to twist up Mom's recipe, and add some zucchini and Marsala wine to make Chicken Manicotti with Marsala Wine. Now, bear with me if you try this, as it is the first time I've done it this way, and I know it needs some work!

First, I preheated the oven to 350. Then I began by boiling the chicken until cooked. I boiled it rather than baking or sautéing it because it tends to shred better if it is boiled. Once that was cooked, I took it out of the water and let it cool while I cooked the manicotti noodles. Meanwhile, I heat up some olive oil in a sauté pan and, once it was hot, added some chopped onions and garlic. When that softened, I added chopped mushrooms and zucchini. Sauté all that until it was soft, then removed it from heat.

Once the chicken was cooled, I shredded it using two forks. I put it in a medium sized bowl, and added the vegetables. To that, I added 2/3 can of cream of mushroom soup (fat free), some of the remaining cooking water from the chicken and some Marsala wine. I stirred it all up, then stuffed it into the cooked manicotti noodles. Once all the noodles were stuffed, I poured the remaining vegetable and chicken mixture over the top and baked it for 15 minutes.

I was very pleased with how it turned out. But here are a few of the things I would change next time:

More wine! It added a lovely sweetness against the chicken, mushrooms and zucchini, and I want to bring that sweetness out more.
Less water mixed with the soup, it was a bit runny.
Reserve some of the soup mixture for just the veggies, no chicken. This would make a better topping instead of the mixture with chicken in it.

Chicken Manicotti with Marsala Wine

Sorry for the poor quality of the past few entries. My camera is acting up.

Ingredients

2 chicken breast halves, boneless & skinless

5 manicotti noodles

5-6 mushrooms, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

3/4 can cream of mushroom soup

2-3 tablespoons Marsala wine, or to taste

Water, to thin the soup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Boil chicken until no longer pink. Remove from water and let cool. When cool enough to handle, shred into small bite-sized bits. Cook manicotti according to package directions.

3. While manicotti noodles are cooking, sauté chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook until soft. Remove from pan to a medium sized bowl. Add chicken. Add soup, wine, and enough water so the mixture is easy to spread, but not runny. Stuff mixture into cooled manicotti.

4. Place stuffed manicotti in a 8-inch square baking dish. Pour remaining soup mixture over top of the noodles. Bake 15 minutes, or until all heated through.

Ratatouille

2010-08-28T21:37:00.004-05:00

Chef Holden gave a demo on knife use on Friday, and I was really excited to try it. But Friday night I was not in the mood to really cook anything (and my eating habits have been all messed up with school), so instead I looked through my book to find something that had a variety of chopped veggies in it. The best one I could find was Ratatouille. Love the movie, but never had the dish.

I probably should have followed the measurements a bit more closely, but since "real chefs" don't, I took the liberty to add as much of each ingredients as I saw fit. I started by chopping everything as demonstrated in class on Friday. I cut the zucchini in half, then in half the long way, then into pieces about 1/4 inch thick (batonnet). From there, I diced it into medium dice. I did the same with the peppers, and diced the onion. I left the eggplant out because they were all really soft when I was at the store.

Then it was time for the tomato concassee, which is the tomato, without skin and seeds. I was a bit scared to do this, because if you boil the tomato too much, you cook it. And to concassee the tomato, you don't want to cook it. So I took care in doing it and, am proud to say, did it correctly! So it was time to cook...

I sautéd the onion and garlic. Then added the peppers and zucchini until tender. It was starting to look really pretty. After the peppers and zucchini were soft, I added the tomato concassee, basil, salt and pepper. That sautéd for a few minutes. After, I scooped some on my plate and enjoyed!

While my diced veggies weren't quite all uniform, I was impressed with how well it all turned out my first time chopping things the correct way. It's going to take a lot of practice, especially with curving my fingers and holding my left hand the right way so I don't chop my fingers off. But I think with a bit more practice, and some help from Chef, I'm going to get it no problem! Only 7.5 weeks left of Basic Food. So look for more recipes, rants and raves. And look for me out at the bars having a celebratory drink on the last day of class.

Ratatouille

From On Cooking, 2011

Ingredients

(for 16 servings, I made up the proportions for mine)

12 oz. onion

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

4 oz. olive oil

6 oz. green pepper

6 oz. red pepper

12 oz. eggplant

8 oz. zucchini

24 oz. tomato concassee

1 oz. fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (or chopped)

Salt

Pepper

Directions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in oil.

2. Add the bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the tomato concassee, basil and seasonings. Sauté for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasonings.

Culinary School

2010-08-26T16:39:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, I just began my "professional" culinary career and culinary school on Wednesday. I was scared out of my mind, and in some ways, still am (do you have ANY idea how many herbs and spices are out there!?!) The first two days have gone very well, but when it comes to doing something on my own, and knowing that I can mess up and get yelled at, it is quite scary. I got "criticized" today for not cutting the carrot close enough to the carrot tops. And people all around me were making trips to the first aid box as they cut their fingers with knives. Oh, and we don't really use hot pads, just towels. I know, I know, this is how a real kitchen functions. I've seen enough of the shows on Food Network to know how fast paced it is, but, as Chef Holden says, "That's entertainment." But in some ways, it really is real. Everything moves quickly, and there is so much you need to know at the drop of a hat. Why else would I be cramming for my quiz on the first six chapters of the book? And freaking out that I'm going to forget what the French names for a round-sided sauté pan or straight-sided sauté pan is (sauteuse and sautior if you were curious), amongst other things.

But enough of that rant for today, because I'm sure you'll hear more. Like when I cut my finger off during class or something. Today we began to make stocks for the soups and sauces we'll be making next week. The goal was to make a white stock with chicken bones and a brown stock with beef and veal bones. I guess the chicken was sour, so we just made the brown stock. I got to join the fun of chopping veggies, while some people played with meat cleavers to chop up the bones before caramelizing them. After caramelizing everything, they get deglazed over heat and dumped into the steam kettle. We'll see how everything turns out tomorrow.

Soups next week. I get to make Cream of Mushroom soup! As well as my own pot of stock. Oh boy, it's all becoming so real!

Blackberry Wine Couscous

2010-08-25T17:48:00.005-05:00

I started culinary school today! And I don't know if I was inspired by being near the kitchens or what (because I didn't learn anything today), but I wanted to really try something new tonight. And that something new was Blackberry Wine Couscous.

Let's start with a little background...

I was first inspired to make couscous (in chicken broth) with mushrooms (ideally baby cremini) and green onions. So after class I went to Pick 'N Save and bought mushrooms and green onions. Then I decided I wanted some wine tonight as a bit of a celebration for finishing my first 6 hour class. I was looking at a series of wines, and was remembering what my textbook said: choose something similar. If you're cooking something light, choose a light wine. So I was looking at a cranberry or apple wine. But then I began thinking, I should mix some of the wine in at the end of cooking the couscous to add more flavor. Cranberry-mushroom and apple-mushroom would be two flavors that would go well together. So I began to think of darker wines, and a blackberry wine caught my eye. I fell in love with a Blackberry Chardonnay when I was in Colorado, and so I decided instantly that I wanted to get the blackberry wine. So much for a light wine. My book did say that opposites work well together too...

A few hours, and two chapters later, it was time to make dinner. I cooked up some chicken, and made the couscous (in chicken broth rather than water). I wasn't able to find any cremini mushrooms, so I quartered regular mushrooms, as well as sliced up five green onions (with my best attempt to use my knives the proper way. I didn't do too bad!) I sauted the mushrooms first, then added the onions. By this time, the couscous was done. So I dumped the couscous into the pan that had the mushrooms and onions. The couscous was quite thick today, so I added a bit more broth to moisten it up, as well as the wine. I added enough to turn the couscous purple, but not so much that it was pooling at the bottom of the pan. I cooked it for a few minutes more so everything could absorb, then served it with the chicken.

My first time experimenting with wine in cooking was an positive experience! I am in love with this couscous. It as a bit of a sweet flavor, but it wasn't overpowering. The savory mushrooms, paired well with the sweet blackberry, and, as crazy as this is going to sound, I think they complemented each other because they are both wild plants. I don't care how dumb that sounds, I'm sticking with it! The onion flavor wasn't at all overpowering. In fact, it probably could have used more. I wouldn't substitute regular or sweet onions for this, stick with the green onions, they have a milder flavor.

Now my task to stop myself from eating what's left....

Blackberry Wine Couscous

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken broth plus some for drizzling

1/2 cup couscous

6 mushrooms, quartered

5 green onions, sliced

Olive oil

Blackberry Wine (for drinking and drizzling)

Directions

1. Drizzle olive oil in a pan. Heat over medium-low heat while quartering mushrooms and slicing onions. When pan is hot, add mushrooms first. When they begin to brown, add the onions. Cook until tender.

2. Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add couscous, cover and remove from heat for about 5 minutes.

3. Add couscous to mushrooms and onions. Drizzle with chicken broth (about 1 tablespoons) and wine (about 1 tablespoon). Cook until broth and wine are absorbed. Serve hot.

Coffee Ice Cream

2010-08-21T14:26:00.005-05:00

Last week I had the most amazing flavor of ice cream: Espresso Oreo. It was like your traditional Cookies 'N Cream ice cream, but with a lovely kick of coffee. I was addicted after the first bite. So I was thrilled when, while house sitting, I came across a recipe for coffee ice cream. I went to the store today to buy the ingredients, and began to make it right away.

The recipe called for 3/4 cup of strong coffee, chilled. I don't drink black coffee, I drink iced vanilla cappuccinos. And am quite addicted to them. But since I don't have much experience making regular coffee, I bought instant (yes, instant) coffee. The coffee is suppose to be mixed in a ratio of 6 oz. water to 1 packet coffee. But to make it extra strong, I used 3 packets. Which was probably too much, but I really wanted the flavor there. I stuck that in the freezer to chill while I mixed everything else together: ricotta, yogurt and sugar in the food processor, and cinnamon, chocolate (I used a zester, so the bits of chocolate are quite small) and coffee in a bowl. Then I mixed them together and popped it in the freezer to chill.

About an hour later, the edges were getting stiff, so I stirred it and put it back in the freezer. An hour and a half after that, I stirred it again, and this time it was mostly frozen. At this point I added a bit more chocolate, as well as broken up chunks of Oreo! I did taste a bit at this point too. Too cinnamony! And I did use the 1/2 teaspoon like it called for. So next time, little, or no, cinnamon. And more vanilla!

I let it chill until I was ready to have some. And it was IMPOSSIBLE to scoop. I tried letting it sit out for a bit, I tried a hot ice cream scoop, I even tried using a knife to cut it. The knife was the only thing that sort of worked. It was disappointing. But when I finally did get some in a bowl to eat, it wasn't as good as I was expecting. I had tried a few little pieces before I decided to have a scoop, and those were always good, but when I scooped it out, it was gritty and overly cinnamony. The ricotta cheese was not a good choice for ice cream, I don't care how healthy it is. I like the idea of the ice cream, but next time I'm going to play with a regular vanilla ice cream recipe, using an ice cream maker. I suppose I'll have to get one of those...

Coffee Ice Cream

From Easy Healthy, 2007

Ingredients

3/4 cup strong black coffee, cooled and chilled

1 square semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup ricotta cheese

5 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt

3/8 cup superfine sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of vanilla extract

Generous 2 tablespoons chocolate flakes, plus extra to decorate

Directions

1. Make the coffee in advance and leave in the refrigerator to chill. Grate the chocolate and set aside. Put the ricotta cheese, yogurt, and sugar in a blender or food processor and process until a smooth puree forms. Transfer to a large bowl and beat in the coffee, cinnamon, vanilla and grated chocolate.

2. Spoon the mixture into a freezer-proof container and freeze for 1 1/2 hours, or until slushy. Remove from the freezer, turn into a bowl, and beat. Return to the container and freeze for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Repeat this beating and freezing process twice more before serving in scoops, decorated with chocolate flakes. Alternatively, leave in the freezer until 15 minutes before serving, then transfer to the refrigerator to soften slightly before scooping.

Fudge

2010-08-19T18:39:00.004-05:00

The kids I nanny love to cook with me, which if fabulous! Earlier this week we made banana bread. And after seeing the ominous clouds today, Emersen decided it would be fun to make the fudge recipe she found in one of her cookbooks. I was very excited; I've never made fudge before. The only problem was that it would require a trip to the grocery store, and Turner was all but thrilled about that. So after about 45 minutes of whining and a trip to the playground to please him, we made it to the grocery store to buy chocolate chips and evaporated milk.

Right when we got home, Emersen and I began to make the fudge while the boys lay around in the living room. It began by mixing the sugar, evaporated milk, butter and sugar until it boiled. Then removing the base from the heat and adding in the marshmallows, vanilla and chocolate chips. We didn't have any mini marshmallows like the recipe called for, so while I boiled the sugar mixture, Emersen broke the big marshmallows into small pieces so they would melt easier. It took a few minutes and some very continuous stirring, but all the chocolate chips and marshmallows melted. I quickly poured it into a pan, then let it cool for a few minutes before topping with sprinkles (because everything is better with sprinkles. Then it was off to the fridge to chill for about two hours.

Emersen and Turner breaking up the marshmallows.

But do you think three kids and one emerging chef can wait two hours for it to harden completely? Not really. So after about 45 minutes, we each sampled a little piece. It was so good. Really, really good. Not sticky for overly chocolaty like some fudges can be. It was the prefect chocolate-ness, and perfect softness. I kept the recipe (obviously) and am going to experiment. The recipe was originally for peppermint fudge, but I'm thinking making it with some of my cherry chips. Melting the cherry chips in place of some of the chocolate chips (about a quarter of the chocolate). I'll let you know! But in the meantime, give this one a shot. It's too easy not to. A 6-year-old could make it.

Fudge

Adapted from Cindy's Peppermint Fudge in A Nick Cookbook Stir, Squirt, Sizzle, 2004

Sorry for the quality. It's from my phone.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Mix sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a saucepan (use a 2-qt. or larger). Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallows and vanilla. Stir until marshmallows have melted.

3. Pour into a foiled lined 8-inch square pan. Cool several minutes.

4. Sprinkle with desired topping, if any. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Strawberry Lemonade Muffins

2010-08-18T21:25:00.003-05:00

I found this recipe a few weeks ago on one of my favorite blogs, Baking Bites. The idea of strawberry lemonade muffins intrigued me. I had nothing else to do, since I'm house sitting the sweetest dog, so I decided tonight was the best night to make them.

They your basic muffin recipe, with added lemon and strawberries. But the batter seemed very thin when poured into the muffin cups. Which wasn't a huge deal, but they spread, rather than puffed, when baked. Which isn't the best when you're trying to achieve lovely muffins. I also could have use more lemon juice; I used the juice of two lemons, which wasn't quite enough. And the strawberry flavor could have been more apparent. Don't get me wrong, they are quite tasty, but I think the recipe needs a bit of improving. I really like the idea of the muffin, though it may be better as a cupcake, but I'm going to try to make it using my basic muffin recipe, then adding in the lemon and strawberries. Or basic cake recipe, with lemon and strawberries, with a strawberry glaze. Yum yum yum!

Strawberry Lemonade Muffins

From Baking Bites blog

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups finely chopped strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon zest, then blend in the eggs one at a time.

3. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well, then add in vanilla extract and half of the lemon juice. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining juice and the remaining flour mix. Stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Mix in finely chopped strawberries quickly, just to distribute them evenly into the batter.

4. Bake 15-17 minutes (mine took closer to 20), until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs attached.

She said it makes 12 muffins. I made 8 mini muffins, 6 regular muffins, and 3 jumbo muffins. Lots to enjoy!

RECIPE 90! Molten Chocolate Cakes

2010-08-14T11:11:00.004-05:00

I did it! I finished the book! And in just under a year. I saved the trickiest one for last, and did an excellent job on it, if I do say so myself. I was very afraid to make BC's Molten Chocolate Cakes, because I know they can be tough if you over or under cook them. And I was trying to make an impression on someone.

I made them earlier in the day. And the hardest part of it was dividing the recipe into thirds. But I managed to make it work (1 egg yolk, 1 egg, 2 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, 3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 8 teaspoons flour). I combined everything and then poured into the ramekins until I was ready to bake. Then came the really tricky part: baking them after 3 glasses of wine. I preheated the oven to 450 and put them into bake for 12 minutes. When I went to set the timer, I accidentally changed the clock on my microwave instead of setting the timer. After I realized it, I set my other timer and they cooked about the right amount of time (maybe a few minutes longer than the needed to). But I did successfully flip them out of the ramekins and onto plates. And they looked pretty.

The only thing I didn't really like about them was how chocolaty they were; a bit too chocolaty for me. There has to be a way to fix that.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

A little heavy on the powdered sugar, but that's OK.

Ingredients

Shortening to grease cups

Unsweetened baking cocoa

6 large eggs

6 oz. semisweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup flour

Additional powdered sugar, if desired

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 450. Grease the bottoms and sides of six 6-oz. custard cups with shortening. Dust the cups with the cocoa by adding a small amount of cocoa to each cup, then rotating the cup to cover the inside with cocoa; tap our excess cocoa over the sink.

2. Place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack 1 egg over the egg separator to separate the yolk from the white (save the white for another recipe). Separate 2 more eggs; place yolks in a large bowl. Set egg yolks and 3 whole eggs aside.

3. Coarsely chop the chocolate. In a 2-qt. saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently; remove from heat. Cool slightly.

4. Add 3 whole eggs to yolks in the large bowl; beat with a wire whisk until well mixed. Beat in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed. Beat in melted chocolate mixture and the flour until mixed. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place cups on a cookie sheet with sides.

5. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until sides of cakes are set and centers are still soft (tops will be puffed and cracked). Let stand 3 minutes.

6. Run a small knife or metal spatula along sides of cakes to loosen. Immediately place a heatproof serving plate upside down on to each cup; holding plate and cup with pot holders, turn plate and cup over together, then remove cup. Sprinkle additional powdered sugar over cakes. Serve warm.

** Be sure to grease the custard cups with shortening, dust the cups with cocoa and bake the cakes at the correct oven temperature for the right time. These steps are critical to the success of the recipe. If the centers are too cake-like in texture, bake a few minutes less next time; if they are too soft, bake a minute or two longer.**

I can't believe the book is done. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now. I guess this gives me plenty of time to start creating my own recipes. I'm sure I'll write a huge, long, heart felt blog about what it feels like to be done with an undertaking like this. But at the moment, I'm just going to sit in shock that I made 90 recipes in just under a year.

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Cucumber-Peach Salsa

2010-08-13T17:37:00.004-05:00

I made dinner for some friends last night, Grilled Chicken Breasts with Cucumber-Peach Salsa. It was a recipe on my homepage one day, and what drew me in was the cucumber-peach salsa. And since it was suppose to be really hot, the salsa seemed like a cool, refreshing choice.

I made the salsa earlier in the day, so the flavors could blend together better. They did an excellent job blending. The sweet and spicy taste of the red onion, the fruity flavor of the each, and the refreshing cucumber and mint.

I grilled the chicken on my stove top grill. First I brushed the chicken with the peach preserves, then grilled over medium. I covered the grill with tin foil to aid in the cooking process, and it helped tremendously. The preserves caramelized nicely and gave a nice little crust to the chicken. Though next time I think I would marinate the chicken in the preserves a bit longer to enhance the flavor.

With the chicken and salsa, we had couscous with a roasted garlic and red pepper seasoning. The kick and spiciness of the red pepper and garlic was a great compliment to the sweet, refreshing salsa. I highly recommend it.

Grilled Chicken with Cucumber-Peach Salsa

From Betty Crocker online

No picture of the chicken, the salsa was the best part!

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1/3 cup peach preserves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves or 1 teaspoon dried mint flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

1 peach or nectarine, peeled, chopped (3/4 cup)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. In a small bowl, mix cucumber, 2 tablespoons of the preserves, the mint, salt, onion and peach; set aside.

2. Carefully spray grill rack with cooking spray. Place chicken on grill. Cover grill; cook over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, turning and brushing 2 or 3 times with remaining peach preserves, until juice of chicken is clean when center of thickest part is cut. Discard any remaining preserves. Serve chicken with salsa.

Recipe 89: Boston Cream Pie

2010-08-13T15:35:00.004-05:00

When I got back from Colorado three weeks ago, I stopped and visited my mom at her work site (she's a landscaper). On leaving, I mentioned to her,and consequently the guys she was working with, that I was going to go home and make a Boston Cream Pie. I didn't make it then (or you would have been seeing this blog earlier), and the guys have been questioning my mom on when they will see the Boston Cream Pie. I finally came around to making it. It was a two-day process. And not a good process.

I feel like as I round up The Book, I'm having more and more issues with the recipes. I don't know if it is because I want to finish, or if I really did just save the hard ones for the end. The Angel Food Cake didn't for peaks, the Apple Dumplings stuck/exploded/tore, and today, my cake pan mutilated the Boston Cream Pie cake. A broken cake is something that makes me frustrated, but is something I can deal with. But that wasn't the only issue with the Boston Cream Pie.

The cream came together much easier for this than it did for the Cream Puffs I made back in the fall (that seems so long ago!). And while that chilled, I made the cake. The cake itself was easy to make. But the post-baking part was the difficult part. I greased and floured the cake pan, just like BC said, but that didn't seem to matter. When I inverted it to pop the cake out, almost half the the cake came stuck to the bottom of the pan while the rest came out. It's not the first time this has happened either: it happened with the German Chocolate Cake. I think it's time I get new round cake pans. The ones I had were Gramma Donohoe's, and they are probably as old as I am, if not older. I managed to put it back together. Once it cooled, I used my nifty cake slicer I got for my cake decorating class to slice the cake in half. The cream filled the cake nicely, and I let it cool overnight.

This morning I made the chocolate icing. Here came issue two: the icing was too runny. I melted the butter and chocolate, added the powdered sugar and vanilla, then the 3 tablespoons of hot water, just like the directions said. The directions should have said "start with 2 tablespoons of water, and add more if needed." The icing was so runny, it ran right off the cake. Yeah, some was on there still, but it looked really sloppy and messy. So, with much frustration, I cleaned it up, wrapped it up, and took it home for Mom to give to the boys. A few hours later, I get the following text from Mom: "Tell ur daughter that the pie was amazing! It was hard to stop eating! Thanks!" I guess the guys enjoyed it. I have my little one sitting in the fridge waiting for me to eat it.

Boston Cream Pie

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Also online

See the mess? That is what happened with 3 tablespoons of water. I did clean it up before I delivered it.

Ingredients

Cream Filling

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

Cake

Baking spray with flour to grease pan

1 1/4 cup flour or 1 1/2 cup cake flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, room temperature

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Chocolate Icing

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate

3 to 4 tablespoons water

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. Place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack open 1 egg over th egg separator to separate the yolk from the white; then separate the other egg (save whites for another recipe). In a small bowl, place the yolks. Beat the egg y0lks with a fork or wire whisk until mixed. Stir in 1 1/2 cups milk; set aside.

2. In a 2-qt. saucepan, stir 1/3 cup sugar, the cornstarch and 1/8 teaspoon salt until mixed. Gradually stir egg mixture into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Press plastic wrap on surface of filing to prevent a tough layer from forming on top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until set but no longer than 24 hours. While filling is chilling, continue with recipe.

3. Heat the oven to 250. Spray just the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with the baking spray.

4. In a large bowl, beat all cake ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, stopping frequently to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape bowl. Pour batter into the pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl. Spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter.

5. Bake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on cooling rack 20 minutes, then remove onto cooling rack to finish cooling completely, about 1 hour.

6. In a 1-qt. saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter and the chocolate over low heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in 1-cup glass measuring cup, microwave the water uncovered on High 15 to 30 seconds or until hot. Remove chocolate mixture from heat. Stir in the powdered sugar and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in 3 tablespoons hot water. Stir in additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until icing is smooth and thin enough to spread.

7. To split cake horizontally in half, mark middle points around side of cake with toothpicks. Using toothpicks as a guide, cut through the cake with a long, sharp knife, using a back-and-forth motion. On a serving plate, place bottom layer with the cut side up. spread filling over bottom layer. Top with top of cake, cut side down.

8. Spread glaze over top of cake, using a metal spatula or back of a spoon, letting some glaze drizzle down side of cake. Refrigerate uncovered until serving. Store any remaining cake covered in the refrigerator.

Parmesan Rice and Peas (with Bacon)

2010-08-12T18:01:00.006-05:00

I wanted a quick, easy, and healthy dinner tonight (which I guess is nothing new). I had a "savory roast" turkey tenderloin in the freezer that I thawed and grilled to perfection! To accompany that, I made Parmesan Rice and Peas (with Bacon), except without the bacon. Instead I put my cut up tenderloin in the rice. It was so good.

I took a bit of liberty with the recipe, using brown rice, no bacon, and sugar snap peas instead of regular peas. I began by sautéing the chopped onion in a bit of oil, for about a minute. Then I added the rice and broth (no water). Since it was quick cooking rice, it only took about 5 minutes to cook. From there, I added my frozen sugar snap peas and cooked until warm. To finish it off, I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top and mixed it in. I only had shaved cheese, which took a bit longer to melt, and melted kind of funky, but worked fine. With the tenderloin, it was perfect. I loved it.

Parmesan Rice and Peas (with Bacon)

From Betty Crocker's Win at Weight Loss, 2006

Ingredients

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 cup uncooked rice

1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth

1/2 cup water

1 cup frozen baby sweet peas, thawed

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. In a 2-qt. saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Stir in onion. Cook about 1 minute, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender.

2. Stir in rice until well coated with bacon drippings. Stir in broth and water. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed.

3. Gently stir in peas. Cover and cook 1 to 2 minutes or until peas are hot; remove from heat. Stir in cheese and pepper.

Mmmmmm, with turkey tenderloin!

Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble

2010-08-10T20:29:00.005-05:00

As the previous post mentioned, Katie and I had dinner last night. To end the 'feast,' I made an adaption of Hungry Girl's Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble, using blueberries instead of strawberries.

There isn't much to say about this one. It needed more bananas. And I do like it better with strawberries (the blueberries got very soupy). I think it would be good with peaches and blueberries. The nice thing about this recipe is that the fruit can be swapped around.

Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble

From Hungry Girl's Hungry Girl, 2008

Ingredients

1 medium banana, sliced

3/4 cup chopped strawberries

2 sheets (8 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers, crushed

1 tablespoon Splenda No Calorie Sweetener

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon imitation rum extract (I used almond extract)

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Dash of salt

Fat-free whipped topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. In a small dish, combine Splenda, extract, cornstarch, salt and water. Stir well.

3. Place banana slices and strawberries in a separate dish. Cover with liquid mixture and stir.

4. Pour fruit mixture into a mini loaf pan (about 6x3-inches) (I used individual serving dishes), sprayed with nonstick spray. Evenly top with the crushed graham crackers.

5. Place pan in oven and bake for 12 minutes or until cracker topping begins to brown.

6. To serve, place a plate over the loaf pan and then swiftly flip upside down. Wiggle the dessert out of the dish and enjoy! If desired, top with whipped topping.

Lemon Herb Tilapia with Couscous Cakes

2010-08-09T18:47:00.002-05:00

Katie came over for dinner tonight, yay! I haven't seen her since...Easter? It's been WAY too long. So I made a delicious dinner of Lemon Herb Tilapia and Couscous Cakes. And it was very delicious!

It all started about a week ago when Mom sent me an email with a recipe for Couscous Cakes. I love couscous, and I think she knew it. I was originally going to make these on Friday for dinner, but then there was a change of plans, so I made them tonight. While the couscous cooked, I processed (in my food processor) the garlic and parsley. Then I added the chickpeas. By this time, the couscous was done, so I added the chickpea mixture to the couscous, as well as the egg and lemon. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out the proper amount as well as get the right shape. I heated up a bit of veggie oil to fry the cakes (like crab cakes). It only took a few minutes on each side: I pushed them down so they were flatter. Then I covered with tinfoil to keep them warm while I made the tilapia.

For the tilapia, I drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with McCormicks Lemon Herb seasoning, then added a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest. I baked it at 425 for about 20 minutes, until it flaked easily.

The cakes got a bit hard, I should have eaten them right away, but everything was very light and lemony. Delicious. I would make both again.

Couscous Cakes

From Fine Cooking

Ingredients

3/4 cup couscous

Kosher salt

1 large clove garlic, peeled

1/4 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon (about 1 1/2 tsp)

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Directions

1. Put the couscous and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add 1 cup boiling water to the couscous, cover the bowl with a pan lid or plate, and let sit 4-5 minutes.

2. Coarsely chop the garlic in a food processor. Add the parsley and pulse until finely chopped. Add the chickpeas and 1 tsp. salt and pulse until coarsely chopped.

3. Uncover the couscous and fluff with a fork. Stir in the chickpea mixture, eggs, and lemon zest until well combined. Press the couscous mixture into 1/4-cup measure, smooth top, and invert the measuring cup to release the cake on to a plate. Repeat with the remaining couscous mixture to make 9 cakes.

4. Heat 1 1/2 tbs. of the vegetable or canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot. Add 5 of the couscous cakes to the skillet and use a spatula to lightly flatten the cakes so they're about 3/4 inch thick. Cook, flipping once, until crisp and golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Add the remaining oil and cook the remaining cakes.

Lemon Herb Tilapia

Ingredients

Tilapia fillets, thawed if frozen

1 teaspoon Lemon Herb seasoning per fillet

Lemon zest, as desired

Sprinkling of lemon juice

Sprinkling of olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. On a baking sheet, sprinkle each fillet with 1 teaspoon Lemon Herb seasoning. Drizzle olive oil over top. Then sprinkle with lemon zest and lemon juice. Bake for 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.

Recipe 88: Angel Food Cake

2010-08-08T20:35:00.000-05:00

I have one week left. ONE. And, after today, only two recipes left. I can't believe the end of this is coming to a close.

Like every Sunday, I went to my parents house for dinner. Gramma and Papa were coming over, and so I decided to make Mom and my's favorite cake: angel food cake. We usually only have angel food cake on my birthday, and then it is boxed confetti angel food cake with chocolate frosting. But for today, I made it from scratch. And did have a few issues. Nothing major, but issues none-the-less...

1. The eggs never whipped to form stiff peaks. They became glossy, and had potential, until I added the vanilla and almond extracts. Then it never seemed to want to form stiff peaks. I whipped it for 10-15 minutes to no avail, so I gave up and continued on the process.

2. I baked the cake for 35 minutes (though it still didn't feel very springy), then inverted it on a bottle. Within 5 minutes, the cake fell out of the cake pan. Luckily it didn't break or anything. But the cake wasn't as puffy as angel food cakes normally are. That was sad. It was a bit more dense.

The cake was still very good. And since it was a plain cake, I made a peach compote to go on top of it. I was going to make a strawberry compote, but Mom had frozen peaches, and didn't have any strawberries, so it would have required a trip to the store (even though the grocery store is just about my favorite place ever). But the peach compote was very easy, and didn't take very long. I diced the peaches, then mixed all the ingredients and simmer until it thickens. Then serve. I made it while Dad cooked the chicken for dinner, so it was warm for dessert.

I can't wait to try making the while thing again. But I am going to have to do my research on why the eggs didn't for stiff peaks.

Angel Food Cake

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics

Also online

Ingredients

About 12 large eggs (I only used 10)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cake flour or all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. About 30 minutes before making the cake, place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack each egg over the egg separator to separate the whites from the yolk. Transfer egg whites to a 2-cup measuring cup until there are 1 1/2 cups egg whites.

2. Place the egg whites in a clean, large bowl, and let stand at room temperature up to 30 minutes.

3. Move the oven rack to the lowest position; remove other oven rack. Heat the oven to 365. In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar and flour; set aside.

4. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture looks foamy. On high speed, beat in the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time; add the vanilla, almond extract and salt with the last addition of sugar. Continue beating until meringue is stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat.

5. Sprinkled the powdered sugar-flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over the meringue; to fold in, use a rubber spatula to cut down vertically through the batter, then slide the spatula across the bottom of the bowl and up the side just until sugar-flour mixture disappears. When all sugar-flour mixture has been folded in, spoon the batter into an ungreased 10x4-inch angel food (tube) cake pan. Using a metal spatula or knife, gently cut through the batter, spreading batter gently against side of pan and tube, to break large air pockets.

6. Bake 3o to 35 minutes or until cracks in cake feel dry and top springs back when touched lightly. Immediately turn pan upside down onto a heatproof funnel or bottle. Let cake hang about 2 hours or until completely cool.

7. Remove pan from funnel. Loosen the cake by running a knife or long metal spatula between the cake and side of pan. Place a serving plate upside down on pan; turn plate and pan over together and remove pan. (If pan has a removable bottom, remove side of pan ,then carefully run a knife or long metal spatula between cake and pan bottom. Carefully remove bottom.) To cut cake, use a long serrated knife in a sawing motion, or use an electric knife.

Peach Compote

From Sendik's "Real Food," August 8, 2010

Ingredients

3 large ripe peaches or 4 cups unsweetened frozen sliced peaches

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. If using fresh peaches, bring a 4-qt. pot of water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water. With a paring knife, slice through each peach skin all the way around the fruit, but leave the peach intact. Gently place the peaches into teh boiling water and boil for 30 seconds. Transfer peaches into the ice-cold water for 30 seconds, then remove them using a slotted spoon. Gently remove the skins from the peaches, then split the peaches in half and remove the pits. Cut each peach into 8 slices.

2. Place the peach slices, maple syrup, lemon juice, water, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. The compote will keep for 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

It was oh, so good, and the peach complimented the chicken we had. Yummy! The density and texture was much more like a pound cake. Though it was moist and flavorful like an angel food cake. And the peach compote was very good! Fresh peaches would, of course, been better than frozen, but either way it was very good. I'll post the result of a successful angel food cake once I make that. The remaining two recipes will be done by Friday!!

Classic Summer Dishes

2010-08-04T20:19:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that summer is almost over! Only 3 weeks until I start school, and today I made a few classic summer dishes: chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches and corn on the cob.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

I wanted to take the kids to the beach today, but it was overcast and VERY humid. So instead of stopping to get ice cream after the beach, we made chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. To put it simply: we made Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies into ice cream sandwiches. After baking them and cooling them, I put the cookies in the freezer to really firm up, and took the ice cream out to soften. Once the ice cream softened, I scooped one scoop of vanilla ice cream onto one cookie (the flat side) and topped it with the other cookie. Then I rolled the exposed edges in chopped up chocolate chips. Then they went back into the freezer until serving.

The cookie gets very hard, making it a bit difficult to eat (especially if you have a loose tooth!), but they were a hit with the kids.

Corn on the Cob

I bought corn on the cob a few weeks ago at the farmer's market, and, since I can't eat three ears of corn within a few days, I froze it. The farmer said I could cook it in the microwave: 3 minutes on high. I did that. Took it out of the freezer and popped it in the microwave for 3 minutes. It was still cold. So I microwaved it another 3. One end was cold, and one end was very hot. But the corn was perfectly cooked. I enjoyed it, though I do enjoy corn cooked on the grill more.

Chicken and Corn Bread Stuffing Casserole

2010-08-03T17:59:00.001-05:00

I've been in a comfort food mood (which isn't good for a diet). When bad things happen, sometimes all you want is Mom's home cooking. And I remember my mom making a lot of casseroles as a kid, and, to me, that is the ultimate comfort food. I haven't made too many casseroles on my own, but this chicken and corn bread stuffing casserole seemed simple, fast and according to the book, only 250 calories! And is by my favorite 'chef,' Betty Crocker.

This meal was a meal made from chicken leftover from another recipe, a baked oregano chicken. Since I didn't have leftover 'baked oregano chicken,' I made a 'baked oregano chicken' breast, using garlic salt, oregano and pepper. While that was cooking, I began making the sauce for the casserole: 98% fat-free cream of chicken and skim milk. Then I added in frozen (thawed) veggies: broccoli, sugar snap peas and corn. Once that boiled, the chicken was done so I was able to cut that up and added that, as well as the corn bread stuff, to the sauce. Stirred in some of Penzey's Old World seasoning and pepper and baked it for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. I loved that it didn't take long to cook. Usually casseroles take an hour.

It was good. The funny thing was that it tasted just like stuff my mom made. That's the thing with casseroles: they all kind of taste the same. But it was savory, and had a good combination of veggies. The chicken was moist. The corn bread added a lovely, homey taste. It reminded me of chicken pot pie, but less soupy. It's a keeper. And Mom, make this for Dad. He'll love it!

Chicken and Corn Bread Stuffing Casserole

From Betty Crocker's Easy Weeknight Meals, 2002

Also online

Ingredients

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken or celery soup

3/4 cup milk

1 package (10 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained (I just used some of the frozen veggies I had in the freezer)

1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

1/2 teaspoon ground sage or poultry seasoning

2 cooked chicken breasts from Baked Oregano Chicken (or see above for what I did), cut up

1 1/2 cup corn bread stuffing mix

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Paprika, if desired

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400. Spray 3-qt. casserole with cooking spray.

2. Heat soup and milk to boiling in 3-qt. saucepan over high eat, stirring frequently. Stir in mixed vegetables, onion and sage. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently; remove from heat.

3. Stir in chicken and stuffing mix. Spoon into casserole. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes or until hot in center.

Recipe 87: Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

2010-08-02T18:27:00.004-05:00

Oh. My. God. I don't think I have ever tasted anything as delicious as this bread pudding with whiskey sauce. I was actually talking out loud as I ate it. Wow.

It was my first time making, or having, bread pudding. And holy cow. I'm in love. It is a good thing I'm giving this one away, otherwise I'd eat the whole thing. And it's big. I made myself a muffin sized one, so it was quite small. But I definitely got the flavor: like a sweet, creamy French toast. The cream made it rich, the sugar made it sweet and the cinnamon sugar on top resulted in a sweet crust. And I could hardly taste the whiskey in the sauce (which was good). I'm still recovering from my first taste. And to think, I wasn't even going to try this one.

I'll give you a brief overview on what I did, but I followed the recipe exactly. And I wouldn't change a thing. I mixed together one egg yolk, four eggs, whipping cream, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. I poured that over seven cups of cut up French bread. Then I let that soak for 20 minutes. When it was done soaking, I poured it into a 9X13-inch pan (could have used a bigger one, OR personal sized!) then topped it with the remaining three cups of bread. Finally, I brushed it with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It took 55 minutes to bake (only about 25-30 for my mini one).

While the bread pudding cooked, I began the whiskey sauce, which was melted butter, egg, water, sugar and whiskey. Then I drizzled the whiskey sauce over the bread pudding and enjoyed. I would recommend drizzling the sauce over individual pieces, not the whole dish. Otherwise, it might be sogg(ier). But then enjoy. And be sure to share or else you'll eat the whole thing.

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Also online

Bread Pudding Ingredients

Cooking spray

12 oz. French bread or other firm bread

5 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins (optional) (could have used more!)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Whiskey Sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2 tablespoons water

1 egg

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons whiskey or bourbon or 1 teaspoon brandy extract

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 325. Spray the bottom and sides of a 13X9-inch (3-qt.) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cut the bread into 1/2-inch slices. Stack 2 or 3 slices; cut in half lengthwise into 1 1/2-inch strips, then cut across to make 1 1/2-inch pieces. Continue with remaining bread slices to measure 10 cups; set aside.

2. Place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack open 1 egg, letting the yolk fall into the center of the separator and the egg white slip through the slots into the bowl (separate just 1 egg). Cover and refrigerate the egg white up to 4 days to use in another recipe.

3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolk, 4 whole eggs and 3/4 cup sugar with a wire whisk until well mixed. Beat in the milk, whipping cream, vanilla and 1 teaspoon cinnamon until well mixed. Stir in 7 cups of the bread pieces and the raisins. Let stand 20 minutes. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkled remaining 3 cups bread pieces evenly over bread mixture in baking dish. Lightly press down with rubber spatula or back of a spoon.

4. Place 2 tablespoons butter in a small microwavable bowl; cover with a microwavable paper towel. Microwave on High 30 to 50 seconds or until melted. In another small bowl, stir 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush top of bread mixture with melted butter, using a pastry brush; sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

5. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until the top is puffed and light golden brown (the center will jiggle slightly). Cool on a cooling rack 30 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, in a 1-qt. saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over low heat. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. in a small bowl, mix the water and 1 egg with a fork; stir into butter until mixed. Stir in 1 cup sugar. Cover over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to boil; remove from heat. Stir in the whiskey. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

7. Serve sauce over warm bread pudding. Store any remaining dessert and sauce covered in the refrigerator.

Recipe 86: Apple Dumplings

2010-08-01T09:36:00.001-05:00

I'm sure you all remember Father Dan, the priest I grew up with and made a blueberry pie for for Fathers Day. His birthday is on Monday, and so I made the last recipe with no baking powder or baking soda for him. And that recipe was apple dumplings. These are more putsy then petite fours. And worse for you. And I'm never going to make them again.

Since I was up so early, I made these early Saturday morning. I cut the recipe in half, so I would only make 3 apples instead of 6. I began by coring the apples. Now, I don't have an apple corer, so it was quite difficult. Stabbing a knife around the core of the apple, hoping it cuts all the way through to the bottom so you can push the core out. If you are going to make this, invest in an apple corer, they aren't that expensive.

Then I made the crust: flour, salt, butter and water. But I think I added too much water. In fact, I'm fairly certain I did. The crust was very soft and sticky, making it very difficult to roll out. And that wasn't the only problem rolling it out. That would be too easy if that was all that went wrong. The crust rolled out too thin that it would get holes in it every time I tried to cover the apples. Or it would be in more of a circular shape than a rectangle. Whatever. I managed to get three circle/rectangle shapes out of the dough and put the peeled and cored apples on them. Then I filled with a raisin-pecan mixture, and folded the dough up around the apple the best I could.

When those were done, I made the brown sugar syrup (or caramel). That was easy: boil brown sugar and water, in a ratio of 2-1. That only took a few minutes, then I poured it around the apple dumplings and baked it for about 35 minutes (they cooked really fast!). One of them exploded. I let it cool before handling them. But then when I tried to move them, the caramel had gotten solid, and the dumplings began to break (because the dough was so thin). So I warmed it in the oven for a few minutes. Well, more than a few minutes (I got distracted by the firefighter outside at my parents block party. Good news is that if the dumplings started on fire the firemen were already there). But after warming, they transfered easier; still broke, but it was easier.

They were good, but nothing super special. They reminded me of the caramel apples you eat at Halloween. I don't think I'd ever make them again. Hopefully Father Dan will like them!

Apple Dumplings

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Also online

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

4-5 tablespoons cold water

6 baking apples, about 3 inches in diameter (such as Braeburn, Granny Smith or Rome)

3 tablespoons raisins

3 tablespoons chopped nuts

2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 1/3 cups water

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 425. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut in the butter, using a pastry blender or fork, until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle with the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well with fork until all flour is moistened. Gather the dough together, and press it into a 6x4-inch rectangle.

2. Lightly sprinkle flour over a cutting board or countertop. Cut 1/3 fo the dough with a knife; set aside. On the floured surface, place 2/3 of the dough. Flatten dough evenly, using hands or a rolling pin, into a 14-inch square; cut into 4 squares. Flatten the remaining 1/3 of the dough into a 14x7-inch rectangle; cut into 2 squares. You will have 6 squares of dough.

3. Remove the stem ends from each apple. Place the apple on a cutting board. Using a paring knife, cut around the core by pushing the knife straight down to the bottom of the apple and pull up. Move the knife and make the next cut. Repeat until you have cut around the apple core. Push the core from the apple. (Or remove the cores with an apple corer.) Peel the apples with a pairing knife (or peeler).

4. Place 1 apple on the center of each square of dough. In a small bowl, mix the raisins and nuts. Fill the center of each apple with raisin mixture. Moisten the corners of each square with small amount of water; bring 2 opposite corners of dough up over the apple and press corners together. Fold in sides of remaining corners; bring corners up over apple and press together. Place dumplings in a 13x9-inch glass baking dish.

5. In a 2-qt. saucepan, heat the brown sugar and 1 1/3 cups water to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently. Carefully pour the sugar syrup around the dumplings.

6. Bake about 40 minutes, spooning syrup over apples 2 or 3 times, until crust is browned and the apples are tender when pierced with a fork.

7. Serve warm or cooled with syrup from the pan.

Recipe 85: Cherry-Berry Meringue Torte

2010-07-31T13:22:00.005-05:00

Beginning to make a torte at 10:30 pm, when it takes an initial 4.5 hours is not a good idea. I should know, I was up until 2:30 am making BC's Cherry-Berry Meringue Torte (I cut corners where I could) for tonight's block party.

Baking when it's late is like sewing when it's late: the later it is, the more mistakes you make. And my first mistake happened before I even began the baking process. The recipe calls for three egg whites, and guess how many I used? Four. It was awesome. I separated one egg white out the best I could (using a spoon to scoop evenly into dishes), and let them sit at room temperature for about 25 minutes. Then I whipped the hell out of it. I whipped for almost 10 minutes, and I still wasn't sure if the peaks were stiff enough, but it was getting late so I spread it onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and baked for 90 minutes at 275 degrees and 1 hour with the oven off. The meringue was nice and dry, but also looked slightly browned. I was afraid it was burned.

I took the meringue out of the oven and let it sit at room temperature while I whipped the whipping cream and added it to the softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Then I stirred in mini marshmallows. About 45 minutes after I pulled the meringue out of the oven, I spread the cream cheese mixture over the meringue. I stuck it in the fridge until it was time to serve.

This morning I made the cherry-berry topping: canned cherry filling and sliced strawberries, with a little bit of lemon juice. I spread this over the top and cut into small squares.

Cherry-Berry Meringue Torte

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Also online

Shell Ingredients

3 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

Cream Filling

1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Cherry-Berry Topping

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries

1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

1. About 30 minutes before making the meringue shell, place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack open each egg over the egg separator to separate the white from the yolk.

2. Place the egg whites in a clean medium bowl, and let stand at room temperature up to 30 minutes.

3. Heat the oven to 275. Line a cookie sheet with a piece of foil or cooking parchment paper.

4. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites; beat with an electric mixer on high speed until mixture looks foamy. beat in 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrap mixture from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula, until mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks when beaters are lifted. (Do not underbeat because the meringue shell won't hold its shape.) On the cookie sheet, shape the meringue into a 9-inch round with the back of a spoon, building up a 1-inch side.

5. Bake 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn off oven; leave meringue in oven with door closed 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack 2 hours longer.

6. Place a medium bowl and the beaters of an electric mixer in refrigerator to chill. These will be used to beat the whipping cream, which beats better in a cold bowl.

7. Place block of cream cheese on an plate, and let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes to soften slightly. Or to soften cream cheese in the microwave, remove foil wrapper and place in microwavable bowl; microwave on Medium (50%) for 45 to 60 seconds.

8. In a large bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla until mixed; set aside.

9. Pour the whipping cream into the chilled bowl. Insert the chilled beaters in the electric mixer. Beat on high speed until whipped cream forms soft peaks when beaters are lifted. Gently fold the whipped cream and marshmallows into the cream cheese mixture.

10. Place the meringue on a serving plate, and spool the filling onto the meringue. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours to blend the flavors, but no longer than 24 hours.

11. Rinse the strawberries with cool water, and dry on paper towels. Cut out the hull, or "cap", from each strawberry, with the point of a pairing knife. Cut the strawberries lengthwise into slices to measure 1 cup. In a medium bowl, stir together the pie filling, strawberries and lemon juice.

12. To serve, spoon the berry mixture onto the filling. Or cut the meringue shell into serving pieces, and top each serving with the berry mixture.

Recipe 84: Pull-Apart Bread

2010-07-29T19:17:00.003-05:00

Another chapter closed! I made the last yeast bread today: pull-apart bread. This one did take two tries though. Which was a bit disappointing. I feel I know how to make yeast breads well. After all, I remember making heart shaped loaves of bread with my mom when I was a kid.

I made the first loaf Tuesday night. I followed the directions exact: mixed flour (bread), sugar, salt and yeast. Added heated milk and butter, and the egg. Mixed. Stirred in more flour. Kneaded five minutes. Rolled into little balls, dipped in butter, and set to rise. I let it rise for an hour, and nothing happened. I baked it. Nothing happened. My yeast was old. Ugh. So that meant I had to try again.

The kids and I made it again today. Emersen helped me mix the ingredients (Turner added the egg). Then Emersen and Baylor rolled the loaf into small balls and put into an angel food cake pan to rise. This time it did rise. Then I let it bake 30 minutes (though 25 would have been sufficient). And it was very good. It didn't look as pretty as the one in the book, but it was tasty and the kids LOVED lunch today. They dipped the bread in pizza sauce then cheese. Bite sized pizzas!

Pull-Apart Bread

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Ingredients
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package regular or fast-acting yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine

Directions
1. Spray a 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch angel food (tube) cake pan with cooking spray. Ina large bowl, stir 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast until well mixed.
2. In a 1-qt. saucepan, heat the milk and 1/4 cup butter over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until very warm (120-130 degrees). Add the milk mixture and the egg to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, stopping frequently to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula, until flour mixture is moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, stopping frequently with a spatula. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is soft, leaves the side of bowl and is easy to handle.
3. Sprinkle flour lightly on a counter top or large cutting board. Place dough on floured surface. Knead by folding dough toward you, then with the heels of your hands, punching dough away from you with a short rocking motion. Move dough a quarter turn and repeat. Continue kneading about 5 minutes, sprinkling surface with more flour if dough starts to stick, until dough is smooth and springy.
4. Place 1/4 cup butter in a small microwavable bowl; cover with a microwavable paper towel. Microwave on high 30 to 50 seconds or until melted.
5. Shape the dough inot 24 balls. Dip each ball of dough into the melted butter. Layer evenly in the pan. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when you press your fingertips about 1/2 inch into the dough. Remove plastic wrap.
6. Move the oven rack to a low position so that tops of the pans will be in the center of oven. Heat the oven to 350.
7. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool bread in pan 2 minutes. Place a heatproof serving plate upside down on pan, holding plate and pans with pot holders, turn plate and pan over together, then remove pan. Serve bread while warm, pulling it apart with 2 forks or your fingers.

Sloppy Janes

2010-07-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

I have always been a fan of sloppy joes, but they tend to be loaded with calories and everything else bad for you. That's how good foods always are. Since I'm on a "lifestyle change" (aka a diet), and a huge fan of Hungry Girl, I decided to make sloppy janes to get my sloppy joe fix.

I've made these once before, and remembered how easy they were, and knew exactly what I'd have to buy at the store: tomato sauce and tomato paste. Like usual, I used the recipe as an approximation for how much I needed of each ingredient (and it's really hard to cut a recipe in quarters or fifths). So my recipe went something like this: cook 1/4 pound of ground turkey. Sprinkle with Splenda, Old World seasoning (instead of steak seasoning), salt, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Then I added in some chopped red onion and chopped purple bell pepper. Then I added in some tomato sauce and tomato paste (more sauce than paste) until it looked about the right constancy for sloppy joes. And instead of serving it on a bun, I served it on a toasted English muffin. (I'm on an English muffin kick, maybe I'll write a blog dedicated to English muffins.) The sloppy jane serving (for on a bun) is 271 calories.

But I'm sure you want the real recipe, with real measurements, right? Here it is. Make it tonight, you'll be glad you did. And have it with some corn on the cob. It's summer!

Sloppy Janes

From Hungry Girl's Hungry Girl, 2008

Also online

Ingredients (for 5 burgers)

1 lb. ground turkey

5 small hamburger buns (light, if available)

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers

1 cup canned tomato sauce

3/4 cup canned no-salt added tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 tablespoons Splenda

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon steak seasoning blend, dry

Dash of Salt

Directions

1. Spray a large pan with nonstick spray and bring to medium-high heat. Add turkey to the pan. Spread the meat around in the pan to break it up a bit.

2. In a small dish, combine Splenda, salt, and steak seasoning. Sprinkle this mixture over the meat and continue to stir meat in the pan. Once the meat has browned, reduce heat to medium.

3. Add onion, peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar to the pan. Stir and then continue to cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add tomato sauces and tomato paste to the pan and stir well. Reduce heat to low and cook the mixture for an additional 5 minutes.

5. Toast the buns, if desired. Put one-fifth of the mixture on each bottom bun and then finish off with tops of the buns.

Chicken with Mushroom-Broccoli-Marsala Wine Sauce

2010-07-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

A few months back I made Giada DeLaurentiis thimbles with mushrooms and artichokes, and LOVED it. I've never made the exact thing again, but have been trying to replicate it using less cream and mixing it all up. It's never been as good, I don't quite put enough of the marsala wine it, which gives it a lovely sweet flavor. And I don't let the cream boil down enough, so it doesn't get very thick. But either way, I love it. Love love love it.

Tonight I made my own version of it: mushrooms, red onion, garlic and broccoli in the marsala cream sauce. Like I previously mentioned, it wasn't quite as thick or sweet as I would like, but it was very good. I did make a chicken breast to go with it, and it went very well. I'm going to have to keep playing with this to make my own version of Giada's pasta, but I am getting close.

Chicken with Mushroom-Broccoli-Marsala Wine Sauce

Ingredients

Fusilli noodles (I used 1 handful)

Broccoli

5 mushrooms, sliced

1/4 onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Just under 1/4 cup cream

Just under 1/4 cup Marsala wine

1 chicken breast

Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil. Add noodles to cook. During last few minutes, add broccoli.

2. Spray a small skillet with cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken until no longer pink.

3. While noodles are cooking, heat a bit of oil in a medium skillet. Sauté mushrooms, onions and garlic until soft. And the cream and wine. Boil until thickened and reduced. Add chicken while sauce is boiling. Toss in noodles and broccoli.

Recipe 83: Banana Cream Pie

2010-07-26T21:45:00.003-05:00

I'm done with the pie chapter! The last one I had to complete was the banana cream pie, which I made for Yasmine to enjoy after her surgery. I was a bit rushed when I made it, and I'm not sure why. It's not like it was that time consuming. I think it was just because if all had to go so quick: boil the cornstarch, sugar, salt and milk. Quick add it to the eggs, but be careful that the eggs don't scramble. The pour it all into the milk mixture and continue boiling it. Remove it from heat and add the butter and vanilla. And do it all within about 5 minutes. Woah.

I think somewhere I went a bit wrong, because there seemed to be a few little chunks in the cream mixture. Maybe the butter didn't melt all the way, or maybe the cornstarch got chunky. I'm not sure. I do know it wasn't scrambled eggs, so that is good. I let the mixture cool and then poured it over the bananas that I had sliced into the pie crust. Before I took it to Yasmine's, I topped it with the whipped cream that I had made (I whipped to soft peaks). The whipped cream wasn't very sweet, but the bananas can be very sweet, so that's probably a good thing.

I made a little tartlet for myself. It was good (Yas though it was really really really good), but too much crust and not enough banana cream. I ate some of the banana cream straight from the pot after I made it, and that was very good. I think maybe I'll try to make it again. But I'd try to create a 'Nilla Wafer crust, so it would be like a banana pudding-banana cream pie combo. Yummy!

Banana Cream Pie

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009
Variation online

Pie Ingredients

Pie Crust (recipe below)

4 large eggs

2/3 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon slat

3 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 firm, ripe, large bananas

1 cup Sweetened Whipped Cream (recipe below)

Pie Crust Ingredients and Directions

Crust Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons water
Crust Directions
1. In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening using a fork or pastry blender, until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the flour is moistened and the pastry almost leaves the sides of the bowl.
2. Sprinkle flour over a cutting board or counter. Gather pastry into a ball. Shape pastry into a flattened round and refrigerate for 45 minutes or until firm and cold, yet pliable (I rolled the crust, put it in the pie plate, then chilled it).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry round with a floured rolling pin into a circle that is 2 inches larger than an upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate (I used an aluminum pie plate). Fold pastry into quarters and transfer to pie plate. Unfold into pie plate
4. Trim edges of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under edge to make even with plate; flute (I hate fluting, I didn't). Prick bottom and sides with a fork.
5. Bake at 475 for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely.

Pie Directions
1. Place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack open each egg over the egg separator to separate the yolks from the whites. Place yolks in a medium bowl. Beat yolks with a fork; set aside.
2. In a 2-qt. saucepan, mix 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
3. Immediately stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into the yolks, then stir the egg mixture back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in the butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Cool at room temperature 30 minutes.
4. Peel each banana, and slice into pie crust. Pour warm filling over bananas. Press plastic wrap on surface of filling to prevent a tough layer from forming on top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until set, but no longer than 24 hours. Make Sweetened Whipped Cream. Remove plastic wrap from top of pie. Spread whipped cream over top of pie. Store remaining pie covered in the refrigerator.

Sweetened Whipped Cream Ingredients and Directions
Sweetened Whipped Cream Ingredients
3/4 cup whipping cream
tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Pour the whipping cream into the chilled bowl, and add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Insert the chilled beaters in the electric mixer. Beat on high speed until whipped cream forms soft peaks when beaters are lifted. Spread over the pie.

Recipe 82: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2010-07-25T19:19:00.004-05:00

So I've made Pineapple Upside-Down cookies (I call them cherry button cookies), but I've never made, or had, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. So I decided to make it today for Jimmy. I knew the basis of making it, and it was really easy to make it. I melted the butter in my round cake pan (I would probably use less next time), then sprinkled with brown sugar and layered with pineapple rounds. Then I dropped a cherry into each round.

The batter was a quick mix: flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg, baking powder and salt. Jimmy always told me his family uses the pineapple juice in place of the milk, which I think I'd try next time. I poured the batter over the fruit, and ran into one little problem: I only have an 8-inch round, so it got REALLY full. The butter crept up the sides, and oozed as it baked. It only took 45 minutes to bake, and then I left it in the pan overnight until I removed it to take to Jimmy.

I had a small sample, with a bit of pineapple and cherry. I can't say I was very impressed. It was very rich and very moist, but the flavor wasn't everything I was expecting. The pineapple didn't do much but look pretty. Same with the cherries. In fact, I don't know if I'd eat it again. I'll make it again, yes, but eat it? Probably not.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Variation online

Ingredients

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine

1 can (20 oz.) sliced pineapple

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

Maraschino cherries without stems

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350. Place 1/4 cup of butter in a 9-inch round cake pan or square cake pan, then place pan in the oven to melt the butter. Meanwhile, drain the pineapple in a strainer in the sink, or save th juice.

2. Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter. Arrange the pineapple slices on the brown sugar, cutting one or more slices into pieces if necessary to fit. Place a cherry in the center of each pineapple slice.

3. In a large bowl, beat the flour, sugar, 1/3 cup butter, the milk, baking powder, salt and egg with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, stopping frequently to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape bowl. Pour batter over pineapple; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl. Spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter.

4. Bake round pan 45-5o minutes, square pan 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. To remove cake from pan, immediately place a heatproof plate upside down on pan; holding plate and pan with pot holders, turn plate and pan over together. Let the pan remain over the cake a few minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake. Remove pan. Cool 15 minutes.

Focaccia with Veggies and Parmesan

2010-07-25T08:20:00.004-05:00

I went to the Wauwatosa Farmer's Market with Mom and Dad Saturday morning, and decided to be adventurous and get some of the veggies I've never seen or had before. So I left with a purple bell pepper and kohlrabi.

I didn't even know how to tackle the kohlrabi, or what it tasted like. The farmers told me to cook it like a squash, and so I decided to sauté it with the purple pepper and a zucchini, and make Focaccia with Veggies and Parmesan.

The kohlrabi had a nice crunch to it, and a bit of a sweet flavor. It was really very good. The purple peppers tasted just like green peppers (in fact, they are green on the inside). I sauted it all in a pan sprayed with baking spray, and sprinkled them with Italian Herb seasoning. When they started to brown and the zucchini began to soften, I removed it from the heat and poured it over a quarter wedge of the (warmed) focaccia I made. I sprinkled it with a little more Parmesan cheese and ate it like a pizza!

It was delicious! The rosemary accented the sauted veggies, which had a sweet and "spicy" flavor. And the Parmesan added a nice salty flavor to all of it. It was a very quick and easy dinner that I would definitely make again!

Focaccia with Veggies and Parmesan

Ingredients

1/4 wedge Betty Crocker's Focaccia (recipe here)

1/4 kohlrabi, cubed

1/4 zucchini, cut into half moons

1/4 purple pepper, cut into strips

1 teaspoon Italian Herb seasoning

1/2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

*can increase any measurements as desired

Directions

1. Warm 1/4 wedge of Focaccia in oven. Meanwhile, sauted kohlrabi, zucchini and pepper in a small sauce pan sprayed with cooking spray, over medium heat. Sprinkle with Italian Herb seasoning. Continue to sauté until zucchini softens.

2. When Focaccia is warm, remove from oven and place on a plate. Top with veggies. Sprinkle with cheese.

Recipe 81: Focaccia

2010-07-24T19:05:00.003-05:00

My deadline is quickly approaching, and I've had too long of a break from baking. So I was back at it today. I quickly regretted it, since it was already hot in my tiny apartment, and the oven only made it worse. But I pushed through and made BC's Focaccia. And I'm glad I did.

I think I've made focaccia once before, or at least something similar. And the amazing thing about it is how fast it is to make. It only needs an hour of rise time (well, two 30-minute rise times). After mixing it (I really need a better way to crush rosemary. Any ideas?), it rose as a ball, then as two rounds. I pricked it with my fingers, spread it with olive oil, and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese (I only had shaved, so I used that instead of grated or shredded). One of the breads took 15 minutes to bake, the other took 20.

They are delicious! I used it as a mock sort of pizza crust for dinner tonight (look for upcoming post). The rosemary really stands out, though it could have been crushed smaller. And the cheese was golden and salty. Yummy!

Focaccia

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Also online

Ingredients

2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour (I used bread flour, and used 2 1/4-2 1/2)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package regular or fast-acting yeast

1 cup water

3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Cooking spray to grease bowl and cookie sheets

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1/4 cup grated or finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir 1 cup of the flour, the rosemary, sugar, salt and yeast with a wooden spoon until well mixed. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat the water over medium heat until very warm and an instant read thermometer reads 120 degrees to 130 degrees. Add the water and 3 tablespoons oil to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, stopping frequently to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough is soft, leaves side of bowl and is easy to handle (the dough may be slightly sticky).

2. Sprinkle flour lightly on a counter top or large cutting board. Place dough on floured surface. Knead by folding dough toward you, then with the heels of your hands, pushing dough away from you with a short rocking motion. Move dough a quarter turn and repeat. Continue kneading 5 to 8 minutes, sprinkling surface with more flour if dough starts to stick, until dough is smooth and springy. Spray a large bowl with the cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap, let rise in a warm place 30 minutes or until dough has almost doubled in size. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when you press your fingertips about 1/2 inch into the dough.

3. Spray 2 cookie sheets or 12-inch pizza pans with the cooking spray. Gently push your fist into the dough to deflate it. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a flattened 10-inch round on a cookie sheet. Lightly spray 2 sheets of plastic wrap with cooking spray; cover the dough loosely with the plastic wrap, greased side down. Let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Remove plastic wrap.

4. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using your fingers, gently make 1/2-inch-deep depressions about 2 inches apart in the dough. Carefully brush with 2 tablespoons oil, using a pastry brush; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cooled.

Black Bean Avocado Salsa and Cumin-Lime Pork

2010-07-22T23:15:00.003-05:00

I don't have much food in the house. I haven't gone grocery shopping in weeks, since I was on vacation. So I looked through my cabinets to see what I had, and found black beans, lime juice, garlic, cumin and pork (frozen of course). An idea came into my mind. I'd make a black bean avocado salsa and cumin-lime pork. And it was delicious.

To season the pork, I sprinkled cumin on one side and squirted lime juice on the other side. Then I grilled it until done. It cooked very quickly. But you couldn't really tasted the lime or the cumin, which was a shame. Next time I'll prick and marinate the pork in the lime juice, then sprinkle both sides with cumin.

While the pork was cooking, I drained and rinsed the black beans. I then cut up one avocado, one tomato and one-half of a red onion. I mixed all four of those together. Then I added in some pre-minced garlic, to taste. Stirred and it was ready to go. The flavors were amazing together. I would have added lime juice if I had more. You could also add some cilantro, if you like cilantro.

But eating the two together was fabulous. And the salsa was great the next day in a wrap: getting the protein from the beans and healthy fats from the avocado. Perfect meal in one bowl!

Black Bean Avocado Salsa and Cumin-Lime Pork

Black Bean Avocado Salsa Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 avocado, diced

1 tomato, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

garlic to taste

Cumin-Lime Pork Ingredients

Cumin to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons)

1 pork chop, boneless

Lime juice

Directions

1. Spray grill with cooking spray. Rub cumin onto one side of the pork chop. Squirt lime juice on other side. Grill until no longer pink, 4-5 minutes per side.

2. Meanwhile, combine all salsa ingredients.

3. Enjoy!