Fodder & Libations

A Night at The Kitchen

2010-10-09T19:22:00.001-07:00

Diesel took me to The Kitchen for my birthday and it was hands down one of the best meals of my life. Combine the food with the attitude that "there are no rules" and it becomes a night to remember. Want seconds or thirds of a dish? Just ask. Want to wander through the kitchen, walk in fridge and wine cellar? Go for it.

I only have one thing to say - This place is awesome.

Now I just need to start saving my pennies so I can go back.

First Course - ‘Thai Style’ Coconut Milk Soup with Wild Frog Legs, Mushrooms, Bamboo Rice and Cabbage Slaw

Second Course - A ‘Burrito’ of Wagyu Beef Ribeye, Eggplant and Goat Cheese with an Herbed Crayfish Salad and Tomato-Corn Butter

Freshly grated wasabi

Sushi Course

Third Course - Maine Lobster Bolognese and Tempura Egg Yolk with Butter Poached Black Truffle Pasta and Red Wine-Parmesan Broth

Fourth Course - The Kitchen’s Steak Diane with Puff Pastry, Potato, Small Carrots, Onions and Homemade Bacon

White glove tea service

Dessert Course - Brioche French Toast and Apple Consommé with Pink Lady Apple Fries, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream and Maple Sabayon

Batter Blaster

2010-09-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

I love my boyfriend.

Sometimes we watch weird commercials on late night tv and talk about how bizarre certain organic, canned, pancake batter products are.

Then one day he brings home this.

He's the best.

Monster Cookie

2010-09-13T20:42:00.001-07:00

Growing up, every time I walked past the cookie stand in Del Amo mall, I lusted after the enormous, pizza sized chocolate chip cookies they sold. “How cool would it be", I wondered, “to have one of those for my next birthday?”

But unfortunately the attention span of a child is akin to that of a goldfish, and my birthday would come and go with the giant cookies present only as a distant memory.

Flash forward almost twenty years and Diesel's mother had entrusted me with the awesome responsibility of contributing the cake for Diesel’s 33rd birthday party. Nervous to impress, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. “I don’t like cake,” was his only reply.

How was I to impress his family with the centerpiece of the birthday meal if he didn’t want cake?? Didn’t he know that I needed him to have a preference for the traditional dessert I was expected to provide??

And then I thought of cookies. Iced cookies, chocolate cookies, ice cream sandwich cookies – all of which would probably satisfy the peculiarly picky sweet tooth of my aging boyfriend, but none that packed the WOW factor I was hoping to deliver.

And then it came to me. What I really needed was one of the man-hole sized cookies from my childhood.

I ended up making two cast iron skillet sized cookies, instead of the monstrosity of my day dreams, but the end result was no less impressive. I served one cooled and frosted with the traditional birthday message, and one hot and melty - straight out of the oven, just the way he likes it. Accompanied by vanilla and homemade cheesecake ice cream, the dessert set a delicious tone for an exciting new year.

** My icing job did not do this cookie justice. Luckily, it didn't effect the taste.

Monster Cookie
(courtesy of the queen, Martha Stewart)
12 servings

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until mixture lightens and becomes fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until they they have become fully incorporated into the butter mixture. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, and press to flatten, evenly covering the bottom of the skillet. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 12 wedges. Serve warm for the yummiest effect.

Downtown Bakery and Creamery's Doughnut Muffins

2010-06-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yum.

Maybe double yum.

Not only are these amazing, but they might even be better than the originals.

I watch food network alot, and I always take notes when I see them feature restaurants or bakeries in my area. So when I went to Napa a few weeks ago, I knew I had to take a sidetrip to Healdsburg to check these babies out. And they were good.

So good in fact, that I decided to make them the next weekend for a road trip we were taking with friends. Not only were they gobbled up, but Diesel told me they are better than the first ones we tried.

And you know what? I agree.

Doughnut Muffins

For the muffins:
12 oz. (24 Tbs.) unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 lb. 11 oz. (6 cups) all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1-2/3 cups milk
1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping:
8 oz. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter; more as needed
2 cups sugar
2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

To make the muffins:
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.
In a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar for 5 mins, until lighter in color and sugar particles are not obvious.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk, buttermilk and vanilla extract.

With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don't overmix.
Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about 1/2 cup. (An ice-cream scoop gives you the perfect amount.)

Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, 30 to 35 min.

To Finish:
Melt the butter for the dipping mixture. Combine the sugar and cinnamon.
When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, dip them into or brush them all over with the melted butter, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.

Make Ahead Tips:
You don't have to bake all the muffins right away; the batter will keep, covered and chilled, for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Leite’s Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-06-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Leite’s Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from David Leite via The New York Times

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and try to incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. [Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.]

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

* I found Valrhona’s fèves or oval-shaped chocolate pieces, at Whole Foods in half pounds. Baking discs can be found from a number of brands, from Jacques Torres to E. Guittard (Fresh Direct used to sell these by the quarter pound, but now just in one pound boxes, but still at a very reasonable price) to Ghiradelli. Can’t find them? Use the largest chocolate chips you can find. Ghiradelli sells some slighly larger ones in the brown bag (as opposed to the standard-sized chips in the gold bag) though I may have mixed the two varieties up. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Tres Leches Cake = YUMMY

2010-05-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

I was a little skeptical about a wet cake, but this cake is fantastic. It makes an awesome addition to any potluck or Cinco de Mayo party.

Tres Leches Cake
Prep Time: 45 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Servings: 12

Ingredients
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ⅓ cups Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream

For the icing:
• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.

Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

Mini Raspberry Tarts

2010-04-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Raspberry Tarts
makes 24 muffin-size tarts (with some leftover filling) or 2 full-size pies

2 refrigerated pie crusts (the kind that come rolled up in a box, not already pressed into a pan)
1 packet gelatin
3 small lemons, juiced (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 (10-ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed but not drained
fresh raspberries to garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.
Working with one pie crust at a time, unroll it, and use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut 12 circles.
Take each circle of dough and roll it gently with a rolling pin until it's just a bit bigger and thinner, so that it will fill a muffin cup. When you press the dough into the muffin tin, the top of the dough should reach the top of the cup with rippled edges.
Bake the tart shells for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool.

In a large bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the lemon juice and stir. Whisk in the lemon zest and condensed milk.
Add the raspberries and their juices. Stir well to combine. (You can use a hand-held mixer to make the filling extra smooth, if you'd like.)
Fill the baked, cooled tart shells with a few spoonfuls of the raspberry mixture, or divide the filling between the two pie crusts.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm.
Garnish with fresh raspberries or whipped cream.

*Note: The filling also makes a good trifle, by the way, layered with whipped cream.

Blackberry Limeade Fizz

2009-07-06T23:44:00.001-07:00

Summers in Sacramento are hot. Ridiculously it’s-110-degrees-and-I-can-feel-my-face-melting-in-the-sun hot. Because of the sweltering heat, I am always on the look out for refreshing beverages that are tasty without being overly sweet and cloying. This blackberry limeade not only fits the bill perfectly, but is a wonderfully rich shade of purple to boot.

One of my absolute favorite things to buy at my local farmer’s market is luscious blackberries that are as big as my thumb, and I will definitely be turning many more of them into this delightful drink in the future. The most difficult part about this recipe is not eating all of the blackberries prior to making the drinks!

Ingredients
• Makes 8 servings
• 6 cups water, divided
• 3 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 5-6 limes)
• 8 thin lime slices
• Fresh blackberries (optional)

Preparation

1. Place 1 cup water and 3 cups blackberries in a blender; process until smooth. Press blackberry puree through a sieve into a large pitcher and discard seeds and skins.

2. Add remaining 5 cups water, sugar, and juice to pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves.

3. Place 1 lime slice and a few blackberries, if desired, into each of 8 glasses; pour about 1 cup limeade over each serving.

World Peace Cookies

2009-02-02T17:15:00.001-08:00

These cookies are good. Seriously good. Don't let their looks fool you. These cookies turned out so well that I decided to send them to my little brother as part of a care package. I gave them up for him. I hope he can appreciate that.

I made these cookie for Tuesday's with Dorie this week, and I am so glad I did. I skipped a couple of recipes last month, and I wasn't entirely sure about these cookies. I'm not normally a huge fan of chocolate cookies (except for these of course), but these sure hit the spot.

In fact, I've already decided that my soldier is getting these next month. Lucky boy!

Super Bowl Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

2009-02-01T20:49:00.001-08:00

I have been playing around with royal icing for the last few days because I have been determined to make cute cookies for the super bowl. When I was in Portland, I came across a cooking store that was selling their cookie cutters for 50 cents apiece. I was able to pick up a football shaped one and a helmet shaped one for a dollar. Which is what sparked this idea.

I had heard that using royal icing was difficult, so rather than screwing up my cookies for the party, I thought I would do a test run earlier in the week with cookies that I had picked up from the supermarket. I stuck with white frosting because hey, the simpler for my first time, the better.

The cookies turned out better than expected, but not as well as I had hoped. The centers had pooled fairly well and had dried relatively smooth and matte. However, the piped edges were lumpy and hardly up to my standards. On the up side however, I managed not to leave any gaps which might have allowed frosting to escape after in floods the center of the cookie. So really, things could have been worse.

I felt much better prepared to ice the football themed cookies on Saturday. The royal icing was still difficult to work with, though I had read up more on royal icing and thought about my approach for the second batch of iced cookies. Over all though, I felt much more comfortable by the time I was finished with the football cookies.

This was partially because of how much more difficult these were than the first batch. The had lots of edges, a multitude of colors and the footballs even had laces piped on top of them! I am happy with how smooth and perfect the centers turned out to be, but I am still working on piping the outlines more consistently. The cookies turned out so cute though, that I am sure I will be making these again soon with a different theme. My only problem with these cookies is that as adorable as they look, they only taste ok. I'm not sure if making the royal icing with egg whites instead of meringue powder was make the taste more to my liking, but I may try that next time.

For the sugar cookies
1 lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix on medium-high speed until combined. With mixer on low speed, add flour in two batches, mixing until just incorporated.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and pat into flattened rectangles; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

Preheat oven to 350°F., with rack in upper and lower thirds. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one rectangle of dough to a scant ¼-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Using a small offset spatula, transfer shapes to prepared sheets, placing about 2 inches apart. Chill in freezer or refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes. Set scraps aside. Repeat process with remaining rectangle of dough. Gather all the scraps, and roll out again. Chill 15 minutes; cut out more shapes, and place on sheets.

(source Martha Stewart)

For the royal icing
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp meringue powder
5 tbsp water

Once the cookies have cooled, pipe the outline of each cookie. Then add a few teaspoons of water to the remaining frosting until it is of a pourable consistency, but is not too thin. The trick is to add the water a teaspoon at a time and check it by pouring a spoonful of icing back into the bowl. If it melds into the rest of the icing in about 10 seconds, it's thin enough.

Next pipe the thinned icing inside the outlines using a plastic bag with one corner snipped off. Use a toothpick to smooth it out the edges and drag the frosting to the edge and into all crevices. Don't worry if the surface doesn't look smooth at first. It smoothes out as it dries.

If desired, once the icing has dried, additional designs can be piped on top with the thicker version of the icing.

(source Jackie's Cooking Adventures)

Shredded Chicken Tacos

2009-01-31T20:37:00.000-08:00

Last week before Diesel and I were leaving to go on our vacation to Portland (by the way, did you know that it snows in Portland ?!?) I wanted to make something simple that would not dirty up too many dishes, but would still use up some of the extra ingredients that I had on hand. I came across this recipe for shredded chicken tacos and I was really excited since I had never made chicken tacos before.

This recipe is so simple; the most time consuming part is shredding the chicken. I shouldn’t have been surprised though since Mark Bittman’s No-Knead Bread, was just as easy and scrumptious as these tacos were.

Shredded Chicken Tacos
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
5 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 dried ancho chili pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and add water to cover. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil. Partially cover and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until meat is very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from liquid and cool. Shred meat with fingers.

If desired, discard solids from pan, reserving the juices. Set heat to medium, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Let cook for several minutes until the sauce has reduced in volume. Mix corn starch with the water until well mixed and smooth. Add to juice to help thicken. Serve sauce drizzled over meat on the tacos.

**These tacos make a perfect pair with this Mexican rice.

(source Mark Bittman for the New York Times)

Clementine Poppy Seed Muffins

2009-01-20T20:18:00.001-08:00

Diesel and I spend a lot of time in our kitchen. Luckily, even though we share a one bedroom apartment, we have a decently sized kitchen that can accommodate two people at work at once. When cooking together, our roles are fairly well defined. Diesel takes care of all of the barbecuing, bread making and skillet potatoes. I am in charge of everything else.

One day while Diesel was sleeping, I decided to make his famous potatoes to accompany dinner. I'd seen him make this dish a dozen times, and figured that I would be able to whip them up without any problems. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Midway through the cooking process, I realized that the potatoes did not have the correct red tinge from the seasonings. Figuring I had failed to be appropriately generous with the seasoning, I added more paprika. Then a little bit more. And a generous sprinkle after that. Then a touch more. Yet, I still had not achieved the correct hue. But, not one to be deterred, I soldiered on.

I realized I had made a horrible mistake when I finally tasted the potatoes. Normally, I taste my dishes at every step of the process, but these raw potatoes were just not appealing. It turns out that Diesel uses seasoning salt and cayenne pepper. Not paprika. I wasn't even close to being on the right track. Diesel has been laughing at me for weeks.

My seasoning mistakes aside, Diesel and I have very different approaches to cooking. I will follow a recipe, but if it suits me and the items I have on hand, I will make substitutions, additions or deletions of ingredients. Diesel however, maintains a strict adherence to every word of any given recipe. So much so, that when he baked his first loaf of bread and the recipe instructed that the loaf be “sprinkled liberally with flour”, that is exactly what he did. Covering the dough in approximately half an inch of loose flour, which promptly burnt in the oven.

I am trying to teach him to take the instructions with a grain of salt (no pun intended), but contrary to the rest of his life, it is difficult for him to put common sense before all else in the kitchen. He just doesn't trust his instincts yet.

Take this recipe for instance. When I told him that I had been inspired by Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake recipe, but that I didn't want to make another sweet treat - he was baffled that I was going to create a muffin recipe out of it. It made no sense to him that I could just come up with a recipe without a strict script to follow. Far be it for me to claim that all of my recipes work, much less turn out fantastic, but this one sure did. The muffins turned out moist and had a wonderful citrus undertone. These are just the thing to go with my warm coffee on a chilly winter morning.

Clementine Poppy Seed Muffins
makes 12 muffins

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
½ teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1 cup granulated sugar , less 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups plain low-fat yogurt
Vegetable cooking spray or additional unsalted butter for muffin tins
4 to 5 clementines (about 375grams/slightly less than 1 pound total weight)

Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half across the width and remove the seeds. Then puree the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor.

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add lemon zest to butter-sugar mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in one-half of dry ingredients. Beat in one-third of yogurt. Beat in remaining dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with yogurt, until incorporated.

Spray twelve-cup muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray or coat lightly with butter. Use large ice cream scoop to divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and glaze.

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated)

Coq a la Biere (Chicken with Dark Beer)

2009-01-19T15:20:00.001-08:00

Every once in a while, I make a dish that knocks my socks off. It turns out so terrifically that I am blown away. I want to open the window of my apartment yell to the world that they NEED to eat this. Their lives may just depend on it.

Because it is just so good! And I made it! And I want everyone to know what a good cook I am!

But enough of my culinary insecurities. I just want to crawl into the warm, creamy sauce and take a nap. It is just that wonderfully comforting - even if you don't fantasize about sleeping in your food.

Dishes like this I immediately want to make again. In fact, I may just make this again tonight. I do have some Newcastle left over...

Coq a la Biere
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb chicken thighs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 tablespoons dry gin
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped peeled carrot
1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 3 medium)
1/2 lb mushrooms, washed and quartered
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 cup dark beer ( I like Newcastle)
1/4 cup whole-milk Greek-style yogurt
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a re-sealable plastic bag. Toss the chicken into the bag and shake until chicken is evenly coated. Heat butter and oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove pan from heat. Pour sherry into one side of pan; return pan to heat. Ignite sherry with a long match; let flames die down. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.

Add celery, carrot, shallots to pan. Sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms. Place thyme, parsley, and bay leaf on a double layer of cheesecloth or a tea strainer. Add to pan. Stir in beer; bring to a simmer. Return chicken to pan, nestling into vegetable mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until they are done.)

Remove cheesecloth bag or tea strainer. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm. Place pan over medium heat; stir in yogurt. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated (do not boil, as the yogurt may curdle). Remove from heat; stir in vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired. Serve chicken topped with vegetables and sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

(adapted from Cooking Light)

Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

2009-01-13T21:30:00.001-08:00

I have been on a quest for the ultimate cornbread recipe for a long time now. This has led me to try out plethora of recipes, and to have a sudden sinking feeling when I realized what this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was.

Not. Another. Cornbread. Recipe.

But, I reasoned, this was a different take on cornbread. I am normally not a fan of bread that is full of stuff, but I was willing to give this recipe a shot. For the sake of TWD, if nothing else.

And the results? These were ok. I decided to halve the recipe, but forgot to halve the jalapeno (oops), so they turned out a little hotter than I had anticipated.

But I didn't end up as hung up on the veggies inside as I thought that I would. They were actually, gasp, good. They might not become a staple in my repertoire anytime soon, but I can see myself making these to accompany a soup or barbeque dish. And the cheddar cheese I sprinkled on top, crisped up nicely and was a perfect addition to this crumbly muffin.

Mammy Barto's Faux-Fried Cauliflower

2009-01-12T21:49:00.001-08:00

Over the last few months, as I have been cooking, I have been thinking a lot about the role that food plays in the world. I cannot think of many other acts that transcend the borders and ethnicities of the world in the way that the ritualistic nature of daily meals do.

Across socioeconomic stratas and religious viewpoints we all eat (hopefully - though I am well aware of the fact that many people do not have the resources, access or ability to obtain food for some, if not all, of their meals). Food connects us to our neighbors, our enemies, our past and future, our family.

There are a handful of dishes that are universal on my mother's side of my family. All of them were made by my great-great-grandmother for her grandchildren, my grandmother has made them for me, and I have begun making them myself. Through the process of gathering the ingredients, cooking them and eating, I feel connected, a part of a tradition that is my own.

I love making this dish, and the handful of others that remind me of my childhood, my family. It makes me inordinately happy to continue making the same dishes as other generations of my family have been making for decades.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Mammy Barto's Cauliflower
1 small head cauliflower
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons cracker crumbs (I like graham crackers, but almost anything would work)
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash head of cauliflower and steam to al dente. Cut the head into florets.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add cracker crumbs and cook, while stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the crumbs have browned.

Add cauliflower, salt and pepper and mix on medium heat until well coated. Serve immediately.

French Pear Tart

2009-01-10T18:12:00.001-08:00

I was very excited to make this French Pear Tart for Tuesdays with Dorie. The reason for my excitement was that this week's recipe was chosen by Dorie herself! I figured that if anyone was going to choose an awesome recipe, it would be her. After all, she literally wrote the book.

This recipe also gave me an opportunity to break in my new tart pan that has been sitting, lonely, on the shelf for the past few months.

I was extremely pleased with how this recipe turned out. I was very skeptical about how the almonds would pair with the pears, but it was fantastic. The tart turned out a lot lighter than some of the other recipes I have made with TWD, and was sweet without being cloying. This is definitely something that I will be making again.

Into the Unknown: Cherry Sweet & Sour Cornish Game Hens

2009-01-07T20:35:00.001-08:00

I have actually been thinking a lot about my blog lately, but without really writing much. It's kind of funny, but when I started out I never really decided what direction I wanted it to go. I just wanted it to revolve around food. Finally, I decided that I would try to incorporate a new ingredient or a new technique into one recipe for my blog every month.

My decision to continue developing my culinary skills begins this year with a fabulously fun recipe, Cherry Sweet & Sour Cornish Game Hens. This recipe was a perfect choice to kick off the year as it involved a new ingredient (the game hens) and a new technique (brining).

This recipe even got me to cook on the barbeque, which is something that I never do because, well, Diesel always does it for me! The barbeque is his domain, and this was only the second time in the course of our relationship that I have attempted to use it. So, while he slept, I cooked. And I was so proud of myself. This dish turned out very well, the meat was juicy and the saucy tangy. I really could not have been happier with how this recipe turns out and I think it is a good sign for the upcoming year.

Game Hen Brine
6 cups cold water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Mix everything together in a large metal or glass bowl. Add game hens, completely submerging (A plate can be placed on top of the birds to hold them in the mixture). Let brine for 6 - 8 hours or overnight.

Cherry Sweet & Sour Cornish Game Hens
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 cup cherry preserves
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot Chinese mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup dried sour cherries
2 Cornish Game Hens

Heat the barbeque to medium-high heat.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until softened and fragrant. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add cherry preserves, soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic chili sauce and honey. Stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Divide the sauce in half leaving one half in the saucepan.

Oil the grate of the grill & place the hens over direct heat breast side up. Cook with the cover closed for ten minutes. Brush the hens with the 1/2 of the glaze not in the saucepan. Close cover & continue to cook for another 10 - 20 minutes until the hens are fully cooked.

Remove the hens from the grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. While the hens are resting, add the dried cherries to the remaining glaze in the saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for about 3 minutes.

Serve the hens over the wild rice, drizzling both with the remaining glaze.

(source A Good Appetite)

Buttery Jam Cookies

2009-01-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a very good day. Not only did I get to make these fun (purple!) cookies, but I finally caved and bought myself a stand mixer. It is so fantastic. Yay!

It made short work of the thick dough for these cookies, which the blackberry jam had turned a pale shade of purple. They were quite cute.

Peppermint Bark

2009-01-01T12:08:00.001-08:00

For the last month and a half, I have seen postings about peppermint bark everywhere. I love this stuff! It just doesn’t get better than peppermint and white chocolate in my book. But all of the recipes that I came across seemed kind of basic. The recipes didn’t seem to be adding value to the raw ingredients – the final product was the same as the recipe, white chocolate, dark chocolate, peppermints - until I visited my newest, favorite, drool-worthy blog, Orangette.

This recipe layers a bittersweet chocolate ganache in between layers of white chocolate and peppermint. YUM!

I had originally planned to make these treats with my other Christmas goodies, but I was so overwhelmed with everything else, I never quite got around to them. So even though I felt a little silly, I made a Christmas treat the week after Christmas. And I am so glad that I did!

These are GOOOOOOOD!

Did anyone ever see that Friends episode where Rachel makes the trifle for Thanksgiving but accidentally includes a layer of beef and onion? Joey eats it and says, “What's not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooooood!” This peppermint bark totally channels that moment.

Three-Layer Peppermint Bark
17 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped
6 candy canes, coarsely crushed
7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
¾ teaspoons peppermint extract

Line a 9- by 13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the white chocolate a double boiler over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate lumps have all melted, and the chocolate is smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat. Pour 2/3 cup of it onto the parchment paper. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate evenly over the parchment paper.

Sprinkle with ¼ cup of the crushed candy canes. Using a piece of parchment paper, gently press down on the candy to imbed it in the chocolate. Chill until set, about 15 minutes.

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the bittersweet chocolate, cream, and peppermint extract. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is just melted and smooth. Cool to barely lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the refrigerator, and pour the bittersweet chocolate mixture over the white chocolate. Using a spatula, spread the bittersweet chocolate in an even layer. Chill until very cold and firm, about 25 minutes.

Re-warm the remaining white chocolate over barely simmering water to 110°F. Working quickly, pour the white chocolate over the firm bittersweet layer, using your spatula to spread it to cover. Sprinkle with remaining crushed candy canes. Using a piece of parchment paper, gently press down on the candy to imbed it in the chocolate. Chill just until firm, about 20 minutes.

Carefully lift the parchment paper from the baking sheet out of the baking sheet. The bark can easily be broken into pieces by hand, into either bite sized or larger chunks.

Pack into an airtight container, with sheets of wax paper between layers of bark to prevent them from sticking to one another. Store in the refrigerator.

Note: This bark will keep for up to 2 weeks, if not more. Separate the peppermint bark from other treats in the package with parchment paper.

Yield: about 36 pieces

(source Orangette)

Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

2008-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy being a part of the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group. Over the last few months, I have had the opportunity to try out a lot of different kinds of treats. Additionally, I have been able to experiment with the recipes and try out different kinds of things, like this Black and White Cheesecake.

Sometimes, though, I get really excited and try to rush through some of the instructions. Unfortunately, it turns out that you really do need to let the cheesecake cool and set before you cut into it. Or else this is what happens...

But at least the picture turned out cute. I don't know why, but I really do love this picture.

The Best Cinnamon Bread. Ever.

2008-12-29T22:39:00.001-08:00

When I moved into my first apartment the fall of my sophomore year at college, I was suddenly faced with the fact that I didn't know how to cook.

Growing up, my mother hadn't spent much time in the kitchen, and I had mastered her handful of go-to dishes by the time I had graduated from high school. And yet, I wasn't entirely ready to supply myself with my every meal. I missed my old dining commons and the convenience of always having freshly prepared food waiting for me.

My friends and I began sharing our cookbooks and recipes. We would sit around and copy recipes by hand from each others books.

This cinnamon bread treat was one of our early favorites and the first one that I helped to collaborate to write. I remember fiddling with the cooking time (it needed to be longer) and playing with the amount of cinnamon (doubling, then tripling it), the same kinds of things I do with recipes these days.

I love that making this bread reminds me of those times - the real beginning of my cooking career.

The Best Cinnamon Bread. Ever.
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I prefer to use freshly grated cinnamon, but the jarred stuff works too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan to cook bread in.

Sift together dry ingredients. Cream together butter and sugar.

Once butter and sugar are light and fluffy, add a third of the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Add a third of the milk and stir just mixed. Continue while alternating dry ingredients and milk until just combined.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks in separate bowl. Fold beaten egg whites into batter. Stop as soon as eggs are incorporated so that bread does not become tough.

Pour batter into butter and floured loaf pan and bake for an hour, or until the top of the bread is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Once the bread comes out of the oven, cool on a rack. The bread can be topped with a pad of butter and/or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

**When I have apple butter on hand, I often substitute out half of the butter for an equivalent amount of apple butter for an extra layer of flavor.**

Cinnamon-Caramel Bread Pudding

2008-12-23T22:09:00.001-08:00

My high school boyfriend took every opportunity he had to eat bread pudding. He loved the stuff, but I wouldn’t touch it. Ever. In fact, I always cringed when he ordered it off of the menu. It was gross and tended to have a lot of rum (yuck!) and raisins (double yuck!!) in it. For years, my feelings about bread pudding were influenced by the sticky glop that was bathed in the neon glow of cheap diners.

Little did I know, years later I would be introduced a bread pudding that would be much more my style – filled with chocolate and sweet bread. But that was just an introduction to everything that bread pudding could – and should – embody.

I made this recipe to take to the same party as the Mexican rice, and I thought it was fabulous. It was a far cry from the rum raisin monstrosities of my past. And, it gave me an excuse to make my newest favorite caramel recipe, as well as whipped cream from scratch, which is so much better than the canned kind.

The only problem I had with this recipe was the sheer amount of bread pudding it made! I ended up with way more than expected, and the 20+ people at the party only finished off about two thirds of it. The rest of the dessert remains in my refrigerator where it daily tempts me into eating enough of it to make myself sick. Actually, now that I think of it, I am kinda hungry…

Cinnamon-Caramel Bread Pudding
20 slices of cinnamon bread (or 1 1/2 loaves of this cinnamon bread)
12 eggs
2 ½ cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons finely grated orange peel
Pinch of salt

Cut bread into ¾ inch cubes. Whisk remaining ingredients together in large bowl until the sugar dissolves. Fold bead into egg mixture and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill four at least 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake the bread pudding, preheat the oven to 375F, stir bread mixture and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Pour bread mixture into buttered, 13x9 baking dish. Spread bread mixture until it is evenly distributed throughout the pan. Bake until golden and puffed up. Test doneness with a toothpick which should come out clean. This should take 40-55 minutes.

Caramel Sauce
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, stir just to combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat.

Heat, without stirring , until the caramel turns deep amber, about 5-10 minutes. Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. When the spatters begin to subside, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps. Pour the caramel into a Pyrex measuring cup or heat proof bowl.

Allow the topping to set at room temperature-about 20 minutes before serving. The caramel can be put in an air tight container and stored in the fridge ahead of time. It will be the consistency of peanut butter but can be warmed up in the microwave to make it easier to work with.

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar (yo u can use more or less to adjust the sweetness of the final product)

Add cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with a hand mixer for several minutes until stiff peaks form. Keep refrigerated until use.

(sources: bread pudding - Gourmet magazine, caramel - Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Mexican Rice...Finally!

2008-12-22T18:13:00.001-08:00

I made a pot of Mexican rice last week. I attempted to make a pot of Mexican rice last week. Let’s just say it turned out very al dente.

This was supposed to be my test batch of rice, my trial run before I served the dish to my boyfriend’s family. I thought that worst case, I would determine that the recipe required more salt, or a little less stock. I never even considered that I might make a terrific mess out of the simple recipe.

But I did, and it was horrible. Definitely not something I would feed to anyone, especially people whom I was trying to impress.

So it was back to the drawing board with less than a week to come up with a simple Mexican rice recipe for the Mexican themed holiday party Diesel’s family was throwing.

I literally lost sleep over the past week as I stressed out about a simple dish of Mexican rice. Trying to be the ever helpful and perfect boyfriend, Diesel brought me home two packets of instant Mexican rice – just add water.

I was less then amused. I was on a mission to make a decent batch of Mexican rice from scratch, and something that came out of a processed package was not what I had in mind.

Thankfully, not only did I find a recipe, but it turned out perfectly. And it was so easy! Not even I could screw it up. The rice was so fluffy and delicious, I definitely think that this will turn into my go to side dish whenever I decide to crank out my favorite tacos or enchiladas.

Mexican Rice
Serves 4-6

1 cup of medium or long grain rice, uncooked
2 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
1/4 cup of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1/2 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin
Salt to taste

Add rice, chicken stock and butter into a pot. Bring to a boil on high, stir once and cover.

Simmer on low for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and keep covered for 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook onions in oil for 10 minutes or until just about to brown. Add garlic to pan and cook for one minute. Stir in tomato paste and cumin and cook for one minute.

Mix in cooked rice, lime juice and cilantro, and season to taste.

Note: I doubled this recipe and didn't have any problem. In fact, I wished I had made an even larger batch as I didn't end up having any leftovers!

Linzer Sables

2008-12-18T21:55:00.001-08:00

In the words of my boss, “These cookies are freaking good!” I may not get that kind of praise for my daily work, but at least he can appreciate my baking.

I have always adored the look of Linzer cookies. The perfect little cutout design, the colorful jam filling and you just can’t go wrong with powdered sugar. They always look so perfect. (I am beginning to notice an interesting trend in that I often seem to concern myself more with the looks of a cookie, rather than other aspects, such as the taste.)

I included these cute little cookies in the holiday treats that I gave out to all of my coworkers, and they were really well received. Not that I was surprised by that. Who doesn’t LOVE cookies. But I did get a few requests for the recipe which always gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Hell, I must have done something right if they want to make these cookies for themselves.

Yay. I love having excuses to make sweet things.

A Happy Holiday

2008-12-17T22:09:00.001-08:00

Today I sent out my third package as part of Operation Baking Gals. This time, I included about five dozen cookies (sugar cookies, chocolate crinkle cookies and chocolate chip), a local newspaper and a Christmas card. It warms my heart to be able to participate in this program and support our troops overseas. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to be away from your family for such an extended period of time, especially during the holidays. I just hope this package finds my soldier safe and well.

Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies

2008-12-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

I have never considered making sugar cookies from scratch. Mostly, I think that is due to the fact that I have always considered sugar cookies to be a little bit ~~beneath me~~ simple. To be blunt, they never seemed challenging enough to bother with.

But I really think that I was wrong on that point. With all of the cooking I have been doing lately, I have come to appreciate the some simpler flavors.

These cookies turned out to be really fun. The cookie was light and tasted richly of sugar and butter. And they definitely aren't as simple as they seem. There is an art to making a truly fabulous sugar cookie.

Chocolate Crinkles

2008-12-15T18:54:00.001-08:00

I saw a picture of these cookies in a magazine last year and immediately thought, "Why don't I ever make something that looks as cute as those do."

So I cut out the recipe and planned to bake this recipe the next time I made a large batch of cookies.

So, over the past few weeks as I have been planning out my holiday baking, this recipe was always at the forefront of my mind. On Saturday, I readied my ingredients and pre-heated the oven. I flipped through my recipe collection only to find...well, nothing actually.

I had been thinking about this recipe for months. I had been planning on making this recipe for weeks. And I had never even bothered to look for it!

ARGH!

Fortunately, when one finds oneself in these kinds of situations, the internet is a lovely tool. I quickly found a substitute recipe that turned out to be just as delightful as I had been hoping.

I finally feel like I managed to make cookies that look as wonderful as they taste!

Chocolate Crinkles

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar for rolling
1 cup granulated sugar for rolling

Put the chocolate in a glass bowl and put it in the microwave. Warm for 30 seconds at a time until chocolate has melted. Set bowl aside to cool (but not harden!) until needed.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Using a mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together until they are well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy, around 2 minutes. Add the cooled melted chocolate and mix to combine well. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined, about a third at a time.

The dough should be pretty thick and heavy now. Leave it in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and pop it into the refrigerator overnight preferably, but at least several hours until firm.

When ready to back, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the dough when it is properly chilled and using either a tablespoon cookie scoop or just a normal tablespoon shovel up heaping tablespoons of dough and then roll them in your hands to create a ball (about ¾ the size of a ping pong ball). Drop it into a bowl of granulated sugar and roll it around to cover it then transfer it to a bowl of powdered sugar and roll it around again. If the dough becomes too warm, recover and return to the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or until chilled.

Once the dough balls have been rolled in the sugars, place them on a parchment or a silpat lined baking sheet, spacing each cookie about 1.5 inches apart. Bake for about 11-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them rest for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

(source What Geeks Eat)

Quince Caramel Candies

2008-12-10T16:50:00.001-08:00

Every since I started actively reading food blogs a few months ago, I have heard several reverential references to a fruit called quinces. Prior to this, I had never heard of this mystical food, and I certainly didn’t know where to buy any. During my regular trips to stores and markets, I had kept my eyes peeled for any of these little fruits, but had eventually resigned myself to the fact that I had missed the quince season.

Until this past weekend when I spotted a lone box of them at a stand at my local farmers market. I was thrilled and quickly asked the person worker there how to pick out the best fruit. (FYI, telling someone to pick a yellow one is not helpful when the entire box is full of a yellow fruit that you have not seen before.) I selected a bag of the precious fruit and was happily on my way.

Except for one thing – I had no idea what I was going to do with them. I had always assumed that I wouldn’t be able to find them, so I didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with them. Until I came across Chez Pim's web site.

I love caramel desserts. While some people are chocoholics to the core, I will never turn down anything that has caramel in it.

That combined with the fact that I am still in the planning stages of the Great Holiday Bake of 2008, made this a perfect choice for my new quinces.

The best part is that they turned out to be just as wonderful as Chez Pim said they were. In fact, they are all wrapped up and sitting in my fridge right now, calling out to me, making it sooo hard to give them away to other people…

Quince Caramel Candies

(makes about 50 caramels)

2 lbs of quince

1 ½ cups water

3 cups sugar

½ cup salted butter, warmed to room temperature.

In a pot set over medium high heat, add the sugar and water and let cook until the sugar crystals are completely melted. Remove from heat. This can be done first to allow the quinces to be dropped into the pot, as soon as they are peeled and sliced.

Peel, core, and cut the quinces into quarters. Drop the fruits into the pot of syrup as you go along.

When you are done with the fruits, set the pot back on the stove. Bring the simple syrup to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and let cook until the quince slices are soft and cooked through. The slices will be a soft pink color.

Remove the pot from heat and let cool on the countertop. When you are ready to make your caramels, use a slotted spoon to fish out the poached quinces from the syrup. Strain the syrup into a deep pot.

Set the pot with the syrup back on the stove, on high heat. Stick your candy thermometer into the pot. Cook the caramel over high heat until it reaches 240-250F (115-120C). Turn the heat off, then stir in the butter, a small knob at a time, until all the butter is incorporated into the caramel. Turn the heat back on, continue to cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the thermometer register 260F or 125C. Remove from heat immediately and set the pot aside to cool for a few minutes.

When the content of the pot stops bubbling and seems a bit safer to approach, pour it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (not waxed paper, just regular parchment.) Let stand until cool enough to handle. If you want to cut the caramels into squares and wrap them that way, you can wait until the caramel is completely cooled. If you want to roll and wrap them, that needs to be done before the caramel is completely cool.

(source Chez Pim)

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

2008-12-06T20:44:00.001-08:00

There are two things that happen during the fall that truly let me know that the season has changed. Because I live in Northern California , the weather can often stay quite pleasant all the way through November (just like it did this year), so I look to non-weather related events to clue me in to the arrival of fall.

The first true indicator of fall to me, are seeing tomato trucks. When tomato season hits, I see dozens of trucks a day hauling their produce off to feed the world. Bouncing down the highways, they drop members of their precious cargo on the side of the road, adding a splash of vibrant color to the landscape. This sight always reminds me of the first time I saw them, when I was moving into the dorms my freshman year of college.

The second sight that screams fall to me are pumpkins. I love baking with pumpkin, the end result is always so rich and moist. And these brownies are no exception.

The chocolate and the pumpkin pair up wonderfully, in these sweet fall treats.

Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar (the original recipe calls for the larger amount; I think it could be dialed down a bit)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Cut a length of parchment that will cover the bottom and two sides (makes it much easier to remove), and line the pan with it. Butter the lining as well. (Just like Deb from Smitten Kitchen, I used an 8-inch square, because it was what I had. It works, too, but the brownies are crazy thick and take much longer to bake, just to give you a heads-up.)

2. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

4. Pour half of batter (about two cups) into a separate bowl and stir chocolate mixture into it. If you find that it is a little thick (as mine was) add a little more batter (a few tablespoons or so) until it is more pourable. This is important because mine was quite thick, and the pumpkin half was quite thin, so I had trouble swirling the two together.

5. In other bowl, stir in the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don’t set.

6. With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Be sure to get your knife all the way to the bottom of the pan–I didn’t, and ended up with a chocolate base, not that it is such a bad thing. Sprinkle with nuts, if using.

7. Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

(source Smitten Kitchen)

Pancetta and Parmesan Tacos

2008-12-03T18:06:00.001-08:00

Clearly, I love to cook. I really enjoy trying out new recipes and playing with new ingredients. Sometimes though, the choices can be overwhelming. There are so many good looking recipes out there. I have a book that I glue all of my recipe clippings into, which currently contains over a hundred items just waiting for me to try, the foodie blog world provides me with more inspiration than I can handle, and let’s not even discuss all of the cookbooks sitting on my shelves. Needless to say, it can be very hard to narrow the choices down to one for a weeknight dinner.

Often, I ask Diesel what he would like me to make, and his standard response is, “I don’t care, I love everything you cook.” As much as I appreciate his sentiment, that answer is endlessly frustrating. Also, the answer is not entirely true as we both vividly remember the dinner-that-shall-not-be-named.

So when Diesel emailed me a shopping list the other day and included the instructions to pick up whatever we didn’t have at home, I was thrilled. I didn’t know what he had in mind, but the fact that he made the decision for me was wonderful.

It is no secret that Diesel and I are big fans of Guy Fieri, so when I discovered that Diesel had chosen two dishes from Guy’s Big Bite I was really excited to try them out. (As a warning – the recipes for dishes made on Guy’s Big Bite are posted on the Food Network web site, but they are wrong. Very, very wrong. Take them with a grain of salt and pay attention to instructions that are not logical. Despite the instructions, placing a roast in the oven for 15 minutes will not cook it all the way through. Not even close. Diesel actually wrote down the ingredients and instructions as Guy gave them on his show, so we would have a more accurate guideline for making the dish.)

These Pancetta and Parmesan Tacos turned out beautifully. I had never cooked with pancetta like this before and it was just delightful. It tasted a lot like bacon, but was richer, spicier and had a deeper flavor. Can't go wrong with that. I will definitely be making these again in the future.

Pancetta and Parmesan Tacos

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons julienne fresh basil leaves
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine Parmesan, paprika, and freshly ground black pepper.

On a parchment lined cookie sheet, add the Parmesan mixture in 2 very thin tablespoon dots, 2 inches apart. Place in preheated oven and cook until cheese melts, about 4-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and when cheese is cool enough to handle but still moldable, remove and form into small taco type shells by laying the cheese over something round (a dowel or small rolling pin would work).

In a small sauté pan cook pancetta until crispy, remove and let cool. When cool, crumble with your hands.

In a small bowl add tomatoes, basil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, olive oil, and toss gently to combine.

Add tomato mixture to parmesan tacos and top with pancetta. Serve immediately.

Mark Bittman's No Knead Bread

2008-12-02T01:22:00.001-08:00

I just made Mark Bittman's No Knead bread. I realize that I am two years late in jumping on this bandwagon, but man, it is better late than never.

This bread is good.

The crust is crispy, but not overly hard. And the inside is light an fluffy. I can definitly understand the obsession that this recipe became when it was first published.

It may not be the prettiest thing I have ever seen, but it was so easy, I am really excited to try my hand at more bread recipes.

Mark Bittman's No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

(Source The New York Times)

Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

2008-11-29T23:58:00.001-08:00

The recipe for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was a Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, which is a pecan pumpkin pie. As I have previously stated, I am not a nut person. I was very skeptical about this recipe, but since I was going to a Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's house with all of my extended family, I figured I would bring something to share.

When it was time for pie, I was the first person to cut into mine and I took a tiny slice. I took my first bite, and my immediate thought was, "Dear god. This is horrible." Not willing to give in to my panicky instincts (I absolutely CANNOT let my family eat this - would anyone notice if I hid it in the trash?), I decided to try a second bite. Unfortunately, there was no improvement.

But by then, it was too late. The pie was already occupying space on a half dozen plates belonging to my family. And despite my hesitations, they loved it. I got rave reviews. In fact, one of my uncle's even asked if he could take the leftovers home. Except to my surprise, there weren't any.

I guess my personal tastes aren't necessarily an indicator of what everyone else will enjoy. If you are a lover of pecan pie, you should give it a try. Who knows, you might even like it (you can find the recipe on Vibi's web site here).

Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

2008-11-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

Last summer I took a French cooking class at a local French restaurant. We were taught to make a mustard vinaigrette with the same recipe that the owner's family used in their cafe in Lyon, France. The problem was that the handouts distributed in class were only a partial ingredient list, not a true recipe. The whole time we were cooking, I was furiously scribbling notes. I was frantic not to miss out on any of the ingredients or steps.

After the class, I thought about about this recipe often. But I didn't feel like giving it the ol' college try until this week. And to my delight it turned out just as wonderful as I remembered. I'm really digging having it on my salads and sandwiches, though it would also be a great dipping sauce or dressing for chicken. You really can't go wrong with this simple, flexible dressing.

Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon Herbs de Provence
2 tablespoons white wine
¼ to ¾ cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Whisk first 4 ingredients together in bowl until well mixed. Slowly add in oil (don’t add in all at once!), mixing well after each addition, until the vinaigrette reaches the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

An Amateur Gourmet's Ode to her Knife

2008-11-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Oh knife
Your glistening edge
Slicing
Carving
Dicing
Chopping
Glorious foods
Into perfect shapes

Creating
A wedge
A sliver
A flawless julienne
All in the name
Of TASTE

Oh knife
I thank thee
For working past the point
Where the wrist has been exhausted
And the hand hurts

The unsung hero
On the culinary battleground

Oh knife
Despite the bandaged fingers
And scarred cutting boards

You share in my tasty joys
Abject failures
And everything in between

You have been both friend
And sous chef

Oh knife
I thank thee
Noble companion
And humble assistant

*In case anyone was wondering – I LOVE my knife. It is a Victorinox Fibrox 8 inch Chef’s knife. Buy one. You too will be writing poetry about it in no time at all.

Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

2008-11-18T21:28:00.001-08:00

I think I’m in love.

No, not with my boyfriend, though he’s ok too. But I can already tell that this is going to be a little more serious than that relationship.

We’ve flirted for years, had the occasional one night stand and no matter what has happened over the years, in the end I have always gone back.

I am ready to take the plunge and announce that I LOVE this ice cream.

At the end of the summer, I finally gave in and bought myself an ice cream maker from the clearance isle. I neglected it for the past few months as I foolishly waited for the weather to turn chilly.

So, instead of continuing to bide my time until the weather changes, I decided to change my recipes to fit the weather. What a fabulously tasty decision!

This ice cream is creamy, rich and tastes just like a pumpkin pie. I don’t think I will ever eat anything but homemade ice cream again. Hell, I may never eat anything but this ice cream ever again.

Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2/3 cup puréed cooked pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat 1 1/3 cups of the cream in the top of a double boiler above gently boiling water over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, corn syrup, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a metal mixing bowl. Gradually pour 1/4 cup of the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then whisk egg mixture into remaining cream in top of double boiler. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 15 minutes.

Pour custard through a sieve set over a clean bowl. Add pumpkin, vanilla, and remaining 2/3 cup of cream, and whisk until blended. Refrigerate custard until cold, about 4 hours. Transfer custard to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions.

(source Saveur magazine)

Rugelach

2008-11-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

When I first saw the recipes that had been chosen for the month of November for Tuesdays with Dorie, I have to say I was disappointed. Not a single one of them was something that I ever would have chosen to make for myself. Well, there was one that I might have chosen, but I doubt it. Needless to say, because these recipes were for foods that were unfamiliar to me, they put me outside my comfort zone. And I really like being comfortable.

The prejudice I had toward these recipes is the main reason that I am two weeks behind on my Tuesdays with Dorie posts. But yesterday I decided to try out the first recipe, rugelach; a traditional German cookie. I used raspberry jam, chocolate, hazelnuts and currants for the filling.

And you know what? It’s pretty darn good. The dough turned out flakey, the filling was sweet, and the tiny two bite size was perfect. So thank you Grace of Piggy's Cooking Journal for forcing me out of my comfort zone and allowing me to discover something new and exciting.

Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms

2008-11-16T23:48:00.000-08:00

I have a small patio at my apartment that I continuously try to grow food on, ~~which I never forget to water~~ despite my bouts of plant specific amnesia. Some of my plants have survived the last few months better than others. One of the ones that has thrived through the under-watering and the 100 degree plus days is my luscious rosemary bush.

Unfortunately, due to rosemary's strong earthy flavor, I rarely find ways to use it during the warm months. Thus I have nurtured this plant for almost a year and used it for nary a dish seasoned. So today I decided to take advantage of the (not quite) winter weather, trim back the plant and rectify this injustice.

I ended up pairing the rosemary with mushrooms and red wine. The end result was a pleasant, hardy and healthy side dish for a chilly evening.

Red Wine Sautéed Mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs mushrooms, washed and quartered or halved depending on size
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and minced
1/3 cup red wine
salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until shallot begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook covered until the mushrooms have sweated out their liquid, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Uncover and raise the heat to high. Stir in the rosemary and cook the mushrooms until they are brown and the liquid has cooked off. Add the wine and cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Salt and pepper to taste.

A Book, a Guy and a Restaurant or The Three Stooges

2008-11-10T20:08:00.001-08:00

I have always been amazed at the way some people act. My life has been lived largely reserved, shy, and aloof. Call it what you will, the majority of the time, I manage not to make an ass out of myself. Mostly because, above all else, I strive to not look like an idiot. Maybe not the most noble of goals, but one that has generally served me well. And yet, throughout my adult life, I have been constantly surprised by the fact that not only do other people not mind acting like retarded monkeys, they seem to enjoy it. WTF?!?

Take my experience this weekend for instance. I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Guy Fieri, at a cookbook signing at his new restaurant in town, Johnny Garlic’s. The pleasurable part being the 30 seconds that I spent with Diesel and Guy (who is just as laid back and outgoing as he seems on TV). The other hour and a half that I spent standing in line was an awkward mixture of being fascinated/horrified by the three women in line in front of me.

If I could sum up the morning in one sentence it would be, “Smell my book.” That’s right. One of the ladies spent a good 10 minutes trying to convince her companions to smell the book she had brought to be autographed. But, on second thought, maybe that’s not the strangest thing. After all, who hasn’t begun smelling inanimate objects as a result of boredom?

But the truly shocking part was not the lady with, according to Diesel, some'er teeth (some are there and some are not). It wasn't the instant that the three reached the door of the restaurant, could see Guy less than 15 feet away and began screaming and waving (keep in mind that this was in the middle of a crowded restaurant at the height of Saturday lunch hour). No, it was when the three of them went to take their picture with Guy, and the lady with the some'er teeth began making kissing noises an inch from Guy's ear.

Yea, that was weird. I have no idea why people do the things that they do.

Chicken! Apples! Brie!

2008-11-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I see recipes that interest me, cut them out, put them in my recipe book and don’t think about them again for months, or even years. And sometimes, I see a recipe, run to the store, buy what I need and make it immediately.

This was one of those recipes.

4 (4 oz each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1/2 lb brie cheese, rind removed and sliced thin
1 cup corn flakes, crushed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper

Pound chicken breasts until they are evenly thin. Lightly season breasts with salt and pepper. Spread chicken on a flat surface and fill with sliced apples and Brie.

Wrap up the ends and then the sides of chicken to form bundles. Secure with toothpicks. Chicken can be prepared up to 1 hour ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake.

In a deep bowl, lightly beat egg with salt and pepper. Dip the bundles in egg wash and then roll in crushed corn flakes to fully coat. Arrange seam down in a baking dish.
Bake in a 375 F oven until cooked through, around 20 to 30 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before slicing.

Tangy Orange Chicken Goodness

2008-11-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

I love going to restaurants and I’m not afraid to say it. I know that people who pride themselves on their home cooking are supposed to have an aversion to restaurants, but I love to have other people cook for me. I enjoy the opportunity to see what other people have done with food, and gain inspiration about what new things I want to (and more importantly, don’t want to) try.

And as embarrassed as I am to admit it, one of my guilty pleasures is Panda Express. For years I have been a huge fan of their Orange Chicken and it has always been one of my favorite treats after a long, hard, cold winter day. Yet it had never occurred to me that I could actually make this dish for myself.

I was very skeptical about my ability to recreate this dish in a way that was reminiscent of the original dish – but the end result surpassed my every expectation! It may have even been – gasp – better than the original. The chicken was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. The sauce was tangy and spicy. And aesthetically, the dish looked perfect.

I guess I won’t be going out anytime soon when I want to splurge on Chinese.

Tangy Orange Chicken Goodness
(adapted from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
For the marinade and sauce:
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 ½” pieces
¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest
8 thin strips orange peel (optional)
6 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water

For coating and frying:
3 large egg whites
1 cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups peanut oil (or canola oil)

Directions:
For the marinade and sauce, place the chicken in a Ziploc bag; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken broth, orange juice, zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper; whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out ¾ cup of the mixture and pour it into the bag with the chicken; press out as much air as possible and seal the bag, making sure that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes, but no longer. Bring the remaining mixture in the saucepan to a boil over high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water; whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the orange peel (if using); set the sauce aside.

For the coating, place the egg whites in a pie plate and beat with a fork until frothy. In a second pie plate, whisk together the cornstarch, baking soda and cayenne until combined. Drain the chicken in a colander or large mesh strainer; thoroughly pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place half of the chicken pieces in the egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer the pieces to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the dredged chicken pieces on another plate or a baking sheet.

To fry the chicken, heat the oil in an 11- to 12-inch dutch oven or straight sided sauté pan with at least 3 qt. capacity over high heat until the oil reaches 350° on an instant read or deep fry thermometer. Carefully place half of the chicken in the oil; fry to golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Return the oil to 350° and repeat with the remaining chicken.

To serve, reheat the sauce over medium heat until simmering, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and gently toss until evenly coated and heated through. Serve immediately.

Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-10-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

I decided to incorporate this weeks TWD recipe with a commitment that I made to provide a dessert for an animal shelter fundraiser at work. Because this Friday is Halloween, I decided to decorate the cupcakes instead of just frosting them.

I think that they turned out super cute, and I am really proud of how they came out.

Thanks to Clara for choosing this recipe!

Potage Crecy (French Carrot Soup)

2008-10-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Across the street from my office building is a little hole in the wall french cafe named La Bonne Soupe. The owner, a transplanted frenchmen named Daniel, crafts every item from scratch all by himself. The cafe is located in a run down building and from the outside doesn't look like much at all. And entering the premises doesn't do much to convey the culinary delights that are created there.

There is no kitchen in the back, no hired help, no pre-made food and no walk in fridge. Just one man who cares very deeply about french food.

Daniel takes an incredible amount of care assembling each and every order, much to the frustration of the newcomers to his shop. His specialty sandwiches can make me drool at the very thought of them...Brie and apple...braised pork...fresh fig and feta...yum!

So when I saw that Daniel had been interviewed by the local paper this past week and his recipe for Potage Crecy had been published I was thrilled. This soup is perfect for the winter time. Warm, soothing and wanting for nothing when paired with a loaf of fresh baked bread.

Potage Crecy (French Carrot Soup)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

3 tablespoons of heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Chervil or parsley leaves for garnish

Directions

Heat butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add onion and cook until tender but not colored. Add carrots and stir to coat with butter.

Add water or stock, and add a pinch of salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook until very tender.

Purée in a food mill and return to the saucepan. Add cream and stir until mixed.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with chervil or parsley and serve hot.

The most terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad meal ever

2008-10-21T10:54:00.001-07:00

I spent an hour and a half making dinner last night, ate approximately three bites, threw the entire meal out and made myself a peanut butter sandwich. Meals like that suck.

Pumpkin Muffins

2008-10-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have never been so happy that I decided to join Tuesdays with Dorie. I just ate a little piece of pumpkin heaven. Every fall I am reminded of just how much I like pumpkin. And in case you were wondering, I like it an awful lot.

So many thanks to Kelly from Sounding my Barbaric Gulp for choosing this recipe!

I made the muffins mostly according to the recipe with only a few adjustments to better suit my tastes. Instead of the raisins and nuts, I made half of the batch with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I added dried cranberries into the other half of the batter and sprinkled raw sugar on top (just like when they come from the bakery!).

The only downside to these delicious muffins was that they were slightly overcooked, even though they were in the oven for less than the 25 minutes that Dorie recommends. Next time I’ll start checking on them earlier, because I already can’t wait to make them again!

Whisky Drenched Carrots

2008-10-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

I bought my very first cast iron skillet a year ago and I was so excited. During my recipe scanning I had often encountered delicious sounding dishes that began cooking on the stove and finished it in the oven. So when the opportunity arose last year, I delightedly decided to purchase a skillet.

And I just have one thing to say: Man do these things rust easily. But that is neither here nor there.

On several occasions I had relished in the experience of cooking with my new skillet (watch out, the handle gets hot!), I had not yet used the functionality for which I had purchased it; cooking in the oven. So when I stumbled across a recipe for skillet cornbread, I knew I had to make it. Immediately.

And thus I proceeded to plan that evening’s meal around the cornbread. I easily decided on a pot roast as the protein portion of the dinner, because its almost (but not quite) cool in Sacramento at this time of year and I felt that it was time to break out the winter recipes.

Because my BF is such a good sport and eats anything that I cook up (except for that horrible meal that immediately found its way into the trash), I try to incorporate dishes that appeal to his personal tastes. So when I stumbled upon this recipe for Whisky Glazed Carrots I was stoked. While not something that I ever would have picked out for myself, it included his favorite veggie and his favorite drink, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with the side dish.

To my surprise, the corn bread was ok, the roast was ok, and the carrots were spectacular. Their taste was explosive (Literally. I accidentally set them on fire.), and they easily outshined the rest of the meal, even the joy I got from baking in my skillet.

Whisky Drenched Carrots
2 - 3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into thick circles
1 stick (1/2 cup…1/4 lb) butter
1/2 cup Jack Daniels or other whiskey
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Melt 1 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over high heat.

When skillet is extremly hot, add carrots in two batches, cooking for 60 to 90 seconds each batch or until carrots have been lightly browned.

Remove from carrots from the skillet. Pour in whiskey and allow to cook off for 30 seconds.

Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter. When butter melts, sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Stir together, then add carrots to the skillet.

Cover, and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Remove lid and add salt and pepper. Continue cooking until carrots are done and glaze has thickened, about 5 more minutes. Pour onto a platter and serve immediately. Sprinkle with chopped chives if desired.

Souffled Macaroni and Cheese

2008-10-16T22:44:00.001-07:00

I found this recipe in a recent issues of Gourmet magazine and I instantly knew that I HAD to try it. I made some substitutions to the ingredients based on what I had on hand, and I could not have been happier with the result.

I was nervous about folding in the egg whites, as I have never made any kind of souffle before and I didn't want to over mix the egg whites. I folded them in gently until they were about three quarters incorporated, with only random clumps of the whites remaining.

I was worried that I had under mixed because of my nerves, but the finished product came out light, fluffy and scrumptious. It was delicious straight out of the oven and I was inordinately pleased with the result. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Souffled Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. scalded milk

2 T heavy cream

1 c. soft bread crumbs (about 3 slices of bread)

1 1/2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 c. diced pepper jack cheese

1 c. cooked macaroni

3 large eggs, separated

1 T chopped parsley

1 T grated onion

3/4 tsp salt

3 T melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Place bread slices in food processor and pulse until the slices become a fine crumb.

Pour milk and cream over bread crumbs in a medium bowl, add cheeses. Cover and let stand until cheese melts. Add in macaroni.

Combine and add beaten egg yolks, parsley, onion, salt and melted butter. Gently mix.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into mixture until just combined.

Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake until puffed and golden, about 35 minutes.

Lenox Almond Biscotti

2008-10-14T20:49:00.001-07:00

Making the Almond Biscotti for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was a lot of fun. It had never even occurred to me to make biscotti from scratch before, and there is nothing that I enjoy more than cooking something brand new. Thank you Gretchen for forcing me out of my comfort zone! (the recipe has been posted on Gretchen's blog here.)

I decided to make half of the batch as the recipe directed, and the other half I made with vanilla extract and macadamia nuts.

Forming the logs ended up being a lot harder than I thought it would be. The dough was extremely sticky, and I didn't manage to get them as skinny as the recipe called for. They ended up being about 3 inches wide, instead of an inch and a half.

One of the things that really surprised me was how much the dough spread out on the cookie sheet while baking. The logs ended up almost doubling in size during the initial baking.

After the second baking, I decided to melt some semi-sweet chocolate to go with the macadamia nut biscotti. I dipped one side of them in the chocolate once they had cooled down. These ended up looking really cute and tasting delicious.

I liked the macadamia nut ones, but I didn't really care for the almond biscotti. The almond extract was a little overwhelming in the final product. In the future I will definitely try these with other kinds of nuts and ingredients (dried cranberries maybe?).

Yum! My mouth is watering already!

Urban Farming at its Best

2008-10-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

It is amazing in this day and age how big of a problem food scarcity is.

No, I'm not suggesting that the local market has run out of cheetos or any of your other favorites. But the fact is that too many people who live in this country are unable to acquire the healthy foods that they need. Ironically, this contributes to a secondary, but not unrelated problem: obesity.

The problem lies in that it is often cheaper to buy fast, greasy food than it is to buy healthy food. As strange as it may initially sounds, food scarcity and obesity are interrelated problems.

This weekend I came upon a news story about a former NBA player, Will Allen (view it here). He has recieved a MacArthur Genius grant for his work with an urban garden in Milwaukee. Will's non-profit organization, Growing Power, not only grows food, but concetrates on developing food distribution networks to distribute the food to community members that truly need it.

On top of all of that, the work Growing Power is doing is eco-friendly as well. They are using compost piles to heat their greenhouses, and have developed multitiered planting systems that have plants on the top and aquaculture fish tanks on the bottom. The water from the tanks flows up to the plants which filter the impurities out of the water before it flows back into the tank.

I am a big supporter of community agriculture projects, and this is one of the most innovative that I have seen. Hopefully Will's examples will encourage others to start similar programs.

Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

2008-10-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

My first week of baking with Tuesdays with Dorie gave me the opportunity to make the scrumptious Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake. The recipe was chosen this week by Tammy and can be found on her site. Despite my earlier hesitations, I ended up making this recipe exactly to the letter and I have to say I was pleasently suprised.

I didn't have any of the problems that some of the other bakers had (needing to cook the cake longer, having sinking problems in the middle of the cake, it being dry instead of moist) and it turned out really well.

I used a 9 inch springform pan instead of an 8 inch pan because I thought that the batter might rise too much, but I was wrong. Due to the change, the cake ended up slightly larger, but thinner than it might have been otherwise. Though the cake and the caramel ended up being so rich that it almost worked out better that the cake was on the thin side.

The peanuts ended up being ok on the cake, and I almost enjoyed the crunch, though not the taste. I would definintly make this cake again, but I doubt I would redo the peanut topping.

I have to say that the thing that pleased me the most about this cake was the caramel that I made. Never before have I made caramel so perfectly.

I didn't burn it. I didn't undercook it. It wasn't too thin or too thick. It was caramally perfection.

Dorie states in the recipe that you will end up with more caramel than you need, which I was thrilled about. Once the caramal had cooled to be slightly under the temperature of lava (and yes, you can still burn a perfect little hole in your toe if it drips on you at this temperature), I proceeded to eat myself sick on my yummy creation.

I don't know if it was the addition of the corn syrup to the sugar and water, or maybe if it was just that I've finally gotten my caramel making technique down, but the caramal topping was creamy and perfect. Just the thing to pull the cake together.

The Peanut Dilemma

2008-10-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

After being completely overwhelmed by my recent addiction to food blogs, I have decided that for better or for worse, I would start my own. The straw that broke this camel’s back was the discovery of Tuesdays with Dorie.

I had seen references to this group on several different websites, but I have a short attention span, and I figured that Dorie was the blogger and she liked Tuesdays. Wrong and wrong.

Turns out Tuesdays with Dorie is an online baking group that chooses and makes one recipe a week out of Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours.

The first recipe that have the opportunity to bake along with is Carmel-Peanut Topped Brownie Cake. Right off the bat I had food a dilemma.

I don’t like peanuts.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE peanut butter (creamy, not crunchy), it’s just the raw peanuts that I can’t stand. I have never understood people who go to baseball games, get a bag a of peanuts, and munch away as the shells pileup around their feet. The majority of the time I am wearing flip flops and the sensation of slippery shells underfoot is just unpleasant. In fact, I recently went to a BBQ restaurant in my neighborhood where they hand out peanuts, as opposed to the traditional bread, as an appetizer. They even encourage you to throw the shells on the ground. I watched the patrons toss their peanut shells around willy-nilly while a lone waitress futilely swept up the joint. Huh?? But I digress.

Upon seeing the recipe I lost some of my enthusiasm. Really? A cake topped with peanuts? My mind raced with possibly peanut substitutions. Crushed oreos? Pecans? Leaving the topping as plain caramel?

But none of those options seemed to embody the reasons that I chose to participate in this group. I want to become a better baker and cook. I want to try recipes that are outside of my comfort zone.

So I decided to be a sport and follow the recipe as written.

Besides, I'm pretty sure I can pawn-off any dessert on my coworkers. With or without nuts.