03.12.10
Posted in Beef, Bread, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats, Mediterranean, Nuts, Grains & Legumes, Sides at 8:49 pm by julie
I still can’t believe I liked this recipe.
I chose it because it was the first recipe I came across that I could make from pantry staples in a short amount of time, but it is like nothing else I have ever made with ground beef. In our house, the norms for ground beef are hamburgers, chili, meat sauce for pasta, meatballs, and maybe the occasional taco. This was ground beef cooked with odd spices and sweet dates and nuts, and then just eaten as is. I hardly even knew how to describe it to my husband when I brought him a plate, but he scarfed it down and declared it delicious, and to my very great surprise, so did I. It was savory and aromatic, with little bursts of sweetness from the dates, saltiness from the capers, and the crunch of almonds, and I was frankly surprised at how well all those disparate elements balanced together.
Apparently this recipe is very similar to a Latin American dish called picadillo, which is made with ground or minced beef, raisins, and olives or capers, and has a sweet-sour-salty profile. I was also put in mind of b’stilla, which is a Moroccan dish of ground chicken wrapped in phyllo dough, and seasoned with cinnamon, almonds and sugar. I decided to play up the Moroccan aspects of this recipe by adding a touch of pomegranate molasses to the beef and pairing it with couscous and some onion flatbread.
Moroccan Picadillo
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 T tomato paste
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
Salt, as needed
3 T chicken, beef or veggie stock
4 medjool dates, chopped
2 T salt-packed capers, rinsed
1 T pomegranate molasses
Olive oil
1 C couscous
1 1/2 C water or stock
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
1-2 T olive oil
Heat 1 T olive oil in a wok over moderate heat; add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add ground beef and spices; cook until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
While the meat cooks, heat a small skillet over moderate heat and toast almonds. Heat water or stock in a small pot until boiling; add couscous, cover, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Once the meat is thoroughly cooked, add dates, capers, 3 T stock, pomegranate molasses, and a splash of olive oil to the meat; stir. Fluff couscous with a fork and stir in the almonds and another splash of olive oil. Serve beef over couscous (or with rice, pitas, etc.).
Source: Adapted from Epicurious.
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03.08.10
Posted in Chinese, Cuisines, Meats, Poultry, Veggies at 3:21 pm by julie
I’m always looking for new ways to cook chicken, especially recipes that are quick to make. Nolan loves chicken stir fry, so I make that pretty frequently with a basic recipe, adding or subtracting depending on what veggies and flavorings I’ve got on hand. But variety is the spice of life, so here are three stir fry variations we’ve tried out recently.
First up is a chicken satay stir fry with a peanut butter based sauce meant to emulate the dipping sauce used for satays. I don’t really care for peanut sauce, but Jeremy does, and we had most of the ingredients on hand, so I thought it was worth giving it a shot. This recipe was alright, although the peanut butter still gives the sauce a little strange texture for me; at least it wasn’t spicy. I did have to use orange juice from concentrate, and dried zest in the rice. I also substituted broccoli for the snow peas.
Next up is a recipe that looks remarkably similar, but tasted completely different. It was based on a Real Simple recipe that seemed to be a cross between a soup and a stir fry, based on all the liquid and the direction to simmer the chicken and veggies in it. For me, the Brussels sprouts were what really set the recipe apart, but a liquidy sauce didn’t appeal to me, so I made some adjustments.
Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced on the bias
8 oz Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 C unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 C soy sauce or tamari
3 T brown sugar
1 C homemade chicken broth
1 T cornstarch, plus 2-3 T water
Toss chicken with 5-spice and saute in a hot wok or skillet with a little oil, until opaque. Add the onion, carrot and Brussels sprouts, then add ginger and garlic, and saute just until fragrant. Then add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and chicken broth, and simmer until broth has reduced slightly and vegetables are tender-crisp. Add cornstarch slurry, and continue to simmer until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.
This recipe is in some ways similar to the last. I adapted this recipe because Jeremy just wanted something like teriyaki and broccoli, and I wanted to incorporate the sweetness of some fruit juice into it. Usually I’d reach for orange juice, but we were out, so instead I used some of the big bottle of pomegranate-blueberry juice we’ve been making into smoothies. It actually came out pretty well, and may be worth repeating, with the ginger toned down a bit (it was pretty strong!).
Pomegranate Chicken Stir Fry
2 T olive oil
1 T brown sugar
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 Tbsp minced shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T grated ginger
1 tsp dried orange zest
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 C pomegranate-blueberry juice
1 C broccoli florets, steamed
1 T cornstarch, plus 2-3 T water
Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and stir, using a wooden spoon, until sugar darkens just slightly. Toss the chicken pieces with the 5-spice, add to the skillet and stir well to coat. Cook chicken for a few minutes until the outside of the chicken pieces turn opaque. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and orange zest; cook, stirring, for a few minutes until shallots and garlic have softened a bit. Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and juice. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly reduced. Add cornstarch slurry, and continue to simmer until sauce has thickened. Toss with broccoli and serve over rice.
Source: Adapted heavily from eHow.
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02.27.10
Posted in Cookies & Candies, Cuisines, Dairy, Dessert, Dinner, Foodblog Events, Italian at 10:54 pm by julie
The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
When I heard that this month’s challenge was tiramisu, I was less than enthusiastic. My family doesn’t drink coffee or care for the flavor of it in desserts, and we also don’t do alcohol, so tiramisu doesn’t have much to offer us. But I’ve never made ladyfingers, zabaglione, or homemade mascarpone before, so I took on our personal flavor preferences as an additional challenge for this recipe, and made a tiramisu with no coffee, marsala or rum extract.
My family are big tea drinkers, and we have quite a collection of loose leaf tea, so I decided that I would substitute in tea for all the other liquids in my dessert. I chose black teas because they are the strongest, and I thought they would assert themselves the best. I went with a vanilla tea for the zabaglione, and a chai tea to soak the savoiardi.
First off, I had to make the mascarpone cheese, as it needed the longest time to set up in the refrigerator. Because the tiramisu only required a small amount of mascarpone, and because my strainer is not particularly large, I cut the recipe down to 1 1/2 cups of cream. I don’t have a double boiler, so I always have to scrounge for an appropriate bowl to use as a bain marie. Here I started out with a glass batter bowl, but because of the imperfect fit, the water just kept boiling away and my cream took a good half hour to heat up. Eventually I gave up the bain marie and just put it in a small saucepan. Shortly after, the cream hit 190F and I added the lemon juice. It thickened almost immediately, and I poured it off into a strainer lined with damp paper towels.
After several hours in the fridge, it had firmed up beautifully into a round of mascarpone cheese. Very easy to make, and much cheaper than the store-bought sort; I’ll be doing this again!
The next morning, I mixed up a batch of vanilla pastry cream, flavored with vanilla and orange zest. Once cooled, it was a bit thinner than I would have liked. I think I should have heated it slightly longer, but I always worry about curdling, and it did coat the back of the spoon.
Zabaglione came next, and mine was flavored with black vanilla tea rather than marsala or coffee. I always understood that zabaglione needed to be whisked vigorously over a double boiler in order to give it a light, foamy texture, but this recipe didn’t seem to require that, as it just gets whipped together with cream, mascarpone, and pastry cream later on. My zabaglione took close to half an hour of gentle heating, this time in a silicone-bottomed metal bowl, to thicken up according to the recipe’s description. It ended up reminding me very much of caramel, both in color and texture.
While the pastry cream and zabaglione chilled in the refrigerator, I made my savoiardi, which turned out to be really easy to make. Essentially a meringue with egg yolk and a bit of flour folded in, they came together quickly and I got them piped out onto two trays, each cookie about the size and length of my own fingers. They don’t call them ladyfingers for nothing.
One of the more unusual aspects of these little cookies is the fact that you dust the unbaked cookies with powdered sugar to help them bake up with a little bit of a crunch.
My cookies came out a little on the flat side, but I was pretty pleased with them overall. My son took one look at the trays cooling on the counter and started begging to taste the cookies, so we shared one. I thought they had a good texture but were pretty bland; I can see why they are traditionally dunked in coffee or wine.
At this point everything was ready to assemble. I brewed some chai tea, unsweetened, and let it cool while I whipped some cream and folded it together with my pastry cream, mascarpone and zabaglione. I used a small casserole dish as a mould, and lined it with plastic wrap on the off-chance that I would be able to unmould the tiramisu for serving. My cream mixture was pretty soupy, though, probably because of the pastry cream, so I wasn’t optimistic about my chances of that. I lined the mould with vertical ladyfingers and then started layering cookies and cream. The recipe provided exactly the right number of savoiardi for my dish (minus the two we snacked on) and filled the dish perfectly. I did have to whip a bit of extra cream to go on top of the last layer, as I didn’t quite divvy my cream filling evenly. Out of concern for the soupy texture, I decided to freeze my tiramisu overnight.
The next day, I took my tiramisu to a lunch party at my aunt’s house. Between the drive up to Portland and the lunch itself, my dessert thawed just enough to become creamy and still hold together; we didn’t attempt to unmould it. It may not have tasted quite like a traditional tiramisu, but it was still delicious and seemed well appreciated. The savoiardi soaked up the chai flavor beautifully, and the hint of spice played well with the subtly vanilla-orange cream. One of my cousins, who isn’t big on dessert, actually went back for a second piece, so that seems like a good review to me. I thought it was delicious too, but mostly I was just relieved that it didn’t disintegrate into a big sloppy mess. (That happened later, when it completely thawed on the car ride home.)
This was an interesting challenge, and I think I successfully made not only a tiramisu, but one that avoided both coffee and alcohol. I doubt that I would make it again unless specifically requested to do so, but it was fun to try, and I will use the mascarpone and possibly the savoiardi recipes again in the future. Ladyfingers can be hard to find, so it is good to have that recipe up my sleeve. I should note that I greatly preferred this tiramisu half-frozen, which kept the ladyfingers from being unappetizingly soggy and gave the cream filling a texture akin to ice cream. Thanks so much to Aparna and Deeba for the challenge selection, and be sure to check out all the amazing tiramisu creations at the Daring Bakers Blogroll.
I am a member of the Theta Class of Daring Bakers, inducted in July 2007. Below is a list of previous challenges:
Strawberry Mirror Cake – July 2007
Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart – August 2007
Cinnamon Rolls and Sticky Buns – September 2007
Bostini Cream Pies – October 2007
Tender Potato Bread – November 2007
Traditional Buche de Noel – December 2007
Lemon Meringue Pie – January 2008
French Bread – February 2008
Perfect Party Cake – March 2008
Opéra Cake – May 2008
Danish Braid – June 2008
Filbert Gateau – July 2008
Chocolate Éclairs – August 2008
Lavash Crackers and Dip – September 2008
French Yule Log – December 2008
Tuiles – January 2009
Chocolate Valentino and Ice Cream – February 2009
Lasagne of Emilia-Romana – March 2009
Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake – April 2009
Apple Strudel – May 2009
Bakewell Tart and Homemade Jam – June 2009
Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies – July 2009
Dobos Torte – August 2009
Vols-au-Vent – September 2009
Macarons – October 2009
Cannoli – November 2009
Nanaimo Bars and Homemade Graham Crackers – January 2010
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02.09.10
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Indian, Soups at 12:18 pm by julie
One of my goals this year is to use my pantry more creatively. Thanks to Penzey’s and my little grinder, I’m getting to be pretty well stocked up in the spice drawer, so I hope to work on my tolerance in that department by making more ethnic cuisine. Combine those with the big tub of plain yogurt that’s now always in the fridge for morning smoothies, and you get…my nemesis, Indian food.
I’m starting small. This is a simple red lentil soup scented with garam masala, which I made because Jeremy had just baked two beautiful loaves of Vienna bread that were crying out for soup. Still not sure how I got from Vienna to dal, but oh well. I used Penzey’s garam masala blend in place of the long list in the recipe, which simplified my prep. The soup is essentially just a spiced lentil puree, so I attempted to make it a bit more interesting and visually appealing with some garnishes: a mound of rice still warming in the cooker from lunch, and some dollops of yogurt seasoned with minced garlic and some smoked paprika.
The soup was surprisingly subtle and tasty with these adjustments; if I make it again, I’ll use brown rice to complete the protein and add yet more flavor. Our little guy mostly ate rice and bread; every time I gave him a piece of bread, I dragged it through the soup and yogurt first, so he ate a little of it, but he also tried his darnedest to pull the “contaminated” bits off first.
Red Lentil Soup with Garam Masala
This soup turned out less red than I was anticipating, given the vibrant color of the uncooked lentils—I’m guessing the turmeric and other spices modified the color. My lentils only got to soak for about half an hour, but they cooked up fine all the same. I added some diced carrot, and also used a higher percentage of chicken broth to use up what was left of a box. I used Penzey’s garam masala blend in place of most of the spices in the original recipe.
2 1/2 C dried red lentils (about 1 pound), picked over
2 medium onions, diced
1 C carrot, diced
2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
6 C water
2 C chicken broth
In a bowl, soak lentils in water to cover by 2 inches for 1 hour, then drain in a fine sieve.
In a 4-quart heavy saucepan, cook onions in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden. Stir in salt and spices and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in lentils, water and broth and simmer until lentils fall apart, about 25 minutes. (Old lentils may take longer to cook.) Let soup cool slightly.
Transfer soup to a blender in batches and purée (or use a stick blender; use caution when blending hot liquids). Return to pan, and heat soup over moderate heat, stirring, until hot; season with salt if necessary. Garnish if desired with white or brown rice, and dollops of plain yogurt (I stirred some garlic and smoked paprika into mine), or serve with bread or naan.
Source: Adapted from Epicurious.
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02.08.10
Posted in Chinese, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats, Poultry, Sides, Veggies at 10:17 pm by julie
This was a good use for boneless chicken and some basic pantry ingredients. It is a riff off of traditional Chinese red cooking, which takes its name—and its color—from gentle braising in soy sauce and brown sugar; afterwards, the braising liquid is reduced almost to a syrup that gets tossed back together with the meat. This recipe calls for red wine in place of the traditional shaoxing, which helps to underline the color. The recipe calls for thigh meat, but I used breasts because that was what I had, and it worked out fine; I also used shallot in place of the green onion. The sauce, once reduced, packs a big punch; it was a little salty for our taste due to the soy, so I think we might tone that down a touch next time. I served my chicken with rice and some mildly Asian roasted carrots.
Double Red-Cooked Chicken
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tsp five-spice powder
2 1/2 C dry red wine
6 large scallions—white and light green parts cut into 2-inch lengths, dark green tops finely chopped
1/2 C soy sauce
1/3 C light brown sugar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 T finely grated fresh ginger
1 dried red chile (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
1 T sesame seeds
In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the five-spice powder.
In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine the wine with the scallion pieces, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and chile and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to moderately low and add the chicken. Simmer until the chicken is just cooked, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and scallions to a plate.
Boil the cooking liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 1 cup and glossy, about 12 minutes. Return the chicken and scallions to the saucepan and stir to coat with the sauce. Transfer to a bowl. Garnish with the chopped scallion tops and sesame seeds and serve.
Source: Food and Wine.
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02.05.10
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Fish, French, Leftovers, Seafood at 9:48 am by julie
When we buy a salmon fillet from Costco, I can usually spread it out for about 4 meals. I cook two-thirds of it fairly simply like that above, roasted in foil packet at 500F with some caper-anchovy butter for about 15 minutes, or just until cooked through. The inevitable leftovers from these simple recipes then go into salmon salads, croquettes, and chowders, and et cetera.
But it can be pretty boring working primarily with leftover cooked salmon, so I always try to save at least a little of the fillet to try out a new technique. So here are two slightly more interesting salmon recipes, both incorporating herbes de provence as a flavoring agent. The first is seared salmon with a beurre rouge sauce. I’ve made beurre blanc before; this is essentially the same thing using red wine. I served mine with muffin cup gratins.
Salmon with Beurre Rouge
2 T minced shallots
1 tsp herbes de provence
2 C fruity, not-too-tannic red wine
2 T balsamic or red wine vinegar
1½ to 2 lb salmon fillet
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stick butter, cut into 6 or 8 pieces
Combine shallots, herbes de provence, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan and turn heat to high. Cook until it is reduced to about ¼ cup, 10 minutes or so. Strain if desired.
Meanwhile, put a nonstick skillet over medium heat; no fat is needed in pan. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper and place it, skin side up, in skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned, about 5 minutes, then turn.
When red wine mixture has reduced, turn heat to very low. Add butter a piece at a time, stirring after each addition until it is incorporated. When all butter has been added, taste and adjust seasoning.
Use a sharp knife to peek inside thickest part of fish to judge doneness. When done to your liking, about 3 to 5 minutes after you turn, remove it to a platter or serving plates. Spoon sauce over fish, garnish if you like, and serve.
Source: Slightly adapted from Mark Bittman, NY Times.
For the other recipe, I took inspiration from having randomly watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in which a gentleman cooked salmon encrusted with hash browns. I’ve used a similar technique on halibut, which relied on a mayonnaise mixture and the starch from the potatoes to stick them onto the fish. This guy used what he called “salmon glue” to attach the potatoes, essentially a simple salmon mousse made with trimmings, seasonings, and cream. As I was trimming away the thin parts of my fish, I flashed back to this episode and decided at the spur of the moment to give it a shot, and it worked beautifully. I served my crusted salmon with a grainy mustard vinaigrette and a quick salad garnished with disks of fried goat cheese. The recipe is more of a method than anything, as I don’t include amounts.
Potato-Crusted Salmon
I think this method would also work with halibut or other fish; possibly even chicken cutlets, though I’ve not yet confirmed this with testing. If you don’t have scraps from trimming because you used steaks or already uniform fillets, you might be able to use raw shrimp or bay scallops as the base of your glue. It would work with shredded russet potatoes, zucchini ribbons, or virtually any thin layer you want to stick onto the fish. If I try out any of these variations, I’ll make a note of it here.
Boneless skinless salmon fillet, trimmed into rectangles of even thickness and scraps reserved
Red potatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/8″—I used a mandoline)
Cream
Herbes de provence (or other herbs, such as dill, that compliment the fish)
Shallot, diced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Place the salmon scraps in a food processor with some shallot, herbs and cream. For our two portions (plus a baby piece for Nolan), I had enough scraps to use 2-3 T cream, 1-2 T shallot, about 1/2 tsp herbes de provence, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Run the processor; you want to end up with a light, fluffy, spreadable, but not runny consistency, so add a bit more cream if necessary. Season the salmon fillets with salt, pepper and another sprinkle of your herbs, then smear on one side with about a 1/4″ of your glue; layer with potato slices, making sure each one has some contact with the glue. Flip fillets over carefully and repeat on the other side.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Carefully lower in the salmon, ensuring that the potatoes stay in place, and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown. Flip gently and cook on the other side until the potatoes are again golden and the salmon is cooked through to your liking; if you, like us, don’t care for medium salmon, you may need to turn the heat down at the end and lid the pan for a few minutes to finish cooking through. Serve with the sides and/or sauces of your choice.
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02.04.10
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Pork and Ham, Sides at 7:42 pm by julie
You know, I’ve never been able to buy pork shoulder from my regular grocery store, which is such a shame because there is such a proliferation of braising recipes I want to try that call for it. Costco carries whole ones, but I’ve never been able to bring myself to purchase quite such a large chunk of meat for our little family, considering our limited freezer space, and the same goes for many of their enormous cuts of beef. However, we’ve had pretty good luck cooking their boneless country rib options in both the pork and beef. I seem to be accumulating quite a few recipes for dealing with these cuts, so look for quite a few posts discussing them in days to come.
My go-to recipe for dealing with these pork ribs in the past few years has been braising it Hawaiian style. But I think one of my new favorite applications is making carnitas. The recipe couldn’t be simpler. Essentially you braise the meat until it is meltingly tender and all the liquid has evaporated, then you sear it a little bit in the fat that is left behind, to give it even more flavor and texture. I served with homemade flour tortillas, jack cheese and a simple rice salad with corn and black beans, but you could take the toppings in any direction you like, or use the meat for quesadillas, burritos or what you will. Frankly, thinking back on this pork is making me hungry, so I won’t drag out the post any longer… dinner time!
Pork Carnitas
3 lb boneless pork shoulder or country ribs, lightly trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes (leave some fat on)
Olive oil
Water
1 T salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, diced
2 tsp ancho chile powder
Salt and pepper
Drizzle a heavy wide pan (I used my big red Le Creuset) with olive oil, season the pork with salt, pepper and ancho, and sear on all sides. Pour in just enough water to cover the meat, add the garlic and onion, and bring to a boil, uncovered. When the liquid reaches a boil, lower the heat, and continue to cook at a gentle simmer until all the liquid has evaporated, about two hours. At this point, the meat should be cooked through but not falling apart. Lower the heat a little more and continue cooking the meat until all the fat has rendered out of it. Keep turning the meat until it is lightly browned all over, about 15 more minutes. Makes a lot, but the leftovers are possibly even tastier than the first day.
Source: Slightly adapted from Food Network.
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02.03.10
Posted in American, Cuisines, Fish, Leftovers, Seafood at 11:33 am by julie
In case anyone wants to know, leftover fried fish can be acceptable, and even pretty tasty, fishcakes. When we were on our way to the airport with my folks after Christmas, we stopped at a McCormick and Schmick’s for lunch, where my mother and I both ended up ordering the cod fish and chips. Nolan threw a teething fit and refused to even sit in proximity to solid food, and we were concerned about getting to the airport on time, so I came home with most of the fish and chips in a doggie bag—probably about 3/4 lb of flaky cod. There was no way the batter was ever going to recrisp, so I just broke up the fish, batter and all, and made it into codcakes. For bulk, I steamed and riced 5 red potatoes, and added two crumbled up slices of white sandwich bread; I seasoned it with some grated onion, salt and pepper, and bound the whole lot together with two eggs.
This constitutes my basic fishcake recipe, and I use it frequently with all manner of leftover fish, particularly cod, halibut, and salmon. Sometimes I’ll dip the patties in a dusting of flour or panko crumbs, but I skipped that this time because of the extra starch from the batter. I served the codcakes with some arugula I sauteed with olive oil and garlic, and a quick dipping sauce that contained, I believe, mayo, Dijon, and some dill (the salmon variation above had a sauce of plain yogurt with mayo, lemon, and smoked paprika). Usually Nolan likes these a lot, because they are crunchy and starchy and contain fish, but the dreaded molars were still keeping him from eating; in fact, only one has fully erupted so far, so this is an ongoing problem that I will be very glad to see the end of.
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01.27.10
Posted in Baby Food, Chocolate, Cookies & Candies, Dessert, Foodblog Events, Snacks at 1:28 pm by julie
The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. I’d never actually eaten a nanaimo bar before, but I was familiar with them from the Willamette University Bistro’s offerings, so I was very curious to see what they were like. I make simple graham crackers all the time for my son, and have actually made the Nancy Silverton grahams before as well, so those weren’t new to me.
The graham cracker recipe used for this recipe is definitely sweeter than my basic one, but it also has more flavor (not that my son minds one way or the other). Since we don’t have dietary restrictions at our house, I just used some flour I already had on hand: 1 C AP flour, 1 C whole wheat flour, and as a nod to gluten-free baking flours, 1/2 C oat flour ground from rolled oats and 2 T buckwheat flour. I made the full batch of crackers so as to have extras for snacking.
My dough came out quite sticky, but I’m told that was pretty common, and some flour on the board and rolling pin made it perfectly workable. My crackers took a few minutes longer than the suggested time to bake, but maybe that was because of my choice of flours.
As you can see, my taste tester approves! They are especially good for teething 2-year molars.
The crust for these cookies is a bit unusual, cooked briefly on the stovetop, then patted into the pan. It stays soft and chewy, and the nuts and coconut give it some crunch. I used a 9″ pan instead of the 8″ called for, so my bars came out a little thinner than intended.
I didn’t have access to custard powder, so I flavored the middle layer, essentially an American buttercream, with vanilla paste. I had some trouble getting my chocolate melted and cooled to a good consistency for spreading over the buttercream, so it wasn’t as smooth or shiny as I might have liked, but it served its purpose well. The finished bars were incredibly sweet, but we ate them all in about two days, so apparently we didn’t mind a bit. 
There were enough graham crackers not only for snacking, but for several pies with graham cracker crusts, so I also made a coconut cream pie (it did not cut neatly enough for photos!).
All in all, this month’s challenge was interesting and very tasty, but not so much what I would term “daring.” That doesn’t mean I won’t be making nanaimo bars again; in fact, I’m fully planning on taking inspiration from all the amazing variations that our Daring Bakers came up with. Maybe one day I’ll even come across some custard powder and try the real thing.
Nanaimo Bars
Bottom Layer
1/2 C (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/4 C granulated sugar
5 T unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 C graham cracker crumbs (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 C almonds, finely chopped
1 C coconut, shredded (sweetened or unsweetened)
Middle Layer
1/2 C (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2 T plus 2 tsp heavy cream
2 T vanilla custard powder (such as Bird’s), or other flavoring (vanilla, coconut, mint, peanut butter, fruit—sky’s the limit)
2 C powdered sugar
Top Layer
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 T unsalted butter
For bottom layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
For middle layer: Cream butter, cream, flavoring, and powdered sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer, and chill.
For top layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and allow to set.
I am a member of the Theta Class of Daring Bakers, inducted in July 2007. Below is a list of previous challenges:
Strawberry Mirror Cake – July 2007
Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart – August 2007
Cinnamon Rolls and Sticky Buns – September 2007
Bostini Cream Pies – October 2007
Tender Potato Bread – November 2007
Traditional Buche de Noel – December 2007
Lemon Meringue Pie – January 2008
French Bread – February 2008
Perfect Party Cake – March 2008
Opéra Cake – May 2008
Danish Braid – June 2008
Filbert Gateau – July 2008
Chocolate Éclairs – August 2008
Lavash Crackers and Dip – September 2008
French Yule Log – December 2008
Tuiles – January 2009
Chocolate Valentino and Ice Cream – February 2009
Lasagne of Emilia-Romana – March 2009
Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake – April 2009
Apple Strudel – May 2009
Bakewell Tart and Homemade Jam – June 2009
Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies – July 2009
Dobos Torte – August 2009
Vols-au-Vent – September 2009
Macarons – October 2009
Cannoli – November 2009
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01.24.10
Posted in Beef, Breakfast, Cookies & Candies, Dessert, Dinner, Meats, Persnickety Bits, Pies & Tarts, Poultry, Quick Breads, Sides, Veggies at 7:34 pm by julie
It’s been a few months since I’ve managed to post anything on the blog. I wish I could use the busy holiday season as my excuse, but that really isn’t the case. In truth, I’ve been faithfully cataloging our meals by date, complete with edited photos and recipe notations. However, when it comes time to write up a finished post, I stall out trying to find some way around the admission that most of the food I cook these days is purely utilitarian. I cook largely from the pantry because getting to the grocery store is often problematic, and my pantry is stripped to the basics for financial reasons, so most of the time I feel like the little Dutch boy, constantly plugging the gaps in my recipes with substitutes. I’m also trying to cook for, and around, a 22-month old who is simultaneously going through a picky phase and cutting his 2-year molars. I like to say that cooking is the only hobby I can make time for these days, but it’s not true if I define the hobby aspect as pushing my boundaries with new ingredients and techniques. It’s all I can do to get a coherent meal on the table these days, and writing it in black and white on the blog just drives that point home.
I know I’m not the only one out there whose financial and family responsibilities sometimes overshadow the fun parts of cooking, so I’ll try to get past my writer’s block and get back to the posts. They may not always be exciting or challenging, but hopefully they may help some people who are in a similar predicament. I’ll start by filling in a few of the gaps since the holiday season.
We didn’t cook Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving this year. We were invited up to eat with my husband’s relatives, and shared a great day with them. Nolan ate heartily and had a fantastic time sharing toys and kisses with everyone there. I brought along a batch of whole wheat-walnut butterhorns, a loaf of pumpkin bread with a banana cream swirl (leftover cannoli filling, actually), and two pies, white chocolate pecan and cinnamon crumble apple. We came home with just some the desserts leftover, and the refrigerator almost seemed haunted by a lack of turkey and sides; the extra pie disappeared far too quickly for our health.
About a week later, I gave into my itch and made a mini-Thanksgiving dinner centered around a roasted chicken. I used some pre-mixed turkey brine to flavor the chicken, but miscalculated the percentages, because the chicken came out extremely salty, so much so that the gravy I made from the drippings was nearly inedible. At least it was just a 4-lb chicken, and the sides helped balance out some of the overseasoning: steamed broccoli, apple and onion cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, pureed sweet potatoes with sherry and fried onions, and yeasted pan rolls left over from a previous meal. We didn’t much care for the stuffing, which was a little dry and gritty for our tastes, but I may not have added enough liquid. I liked the sweet potatoes quite a bit because they walked that line of sweet and savory; Jeremy thought they were good, but left off the fried onions. For dessert, I made a caramelized walnut tart that was very tasty and roundly appreciated. I should note that all of these items were made from the freezer and pantry.
The week before Christmas, Jeremy came home from Costco with an 11-lb turkey. I admit that my heart fell when I saw it, because we had talked about doing some sort of beef roast for Christmas dinner, and I thought he was changing the menu without a consult. As it turns out, there was just such a good deal on turkeys that he couldn’t pass it up: something like $10 for a turkey that size. This time I avoided the brining, and rubbed my turkey with miso butter; I also baked a loaf of bread in advance so we would be able to have our standard slow cooker stuffing, and tried out a carrot souffle since we were out of yams. The turkey made for great leftovers and stock, but was generally forgettable. The carrot souffle was interesting and worth making again with a few tweaks. I didn’t have sharp cheddar so I just used medium, which costs less. Although I minced the onion as finely as possible, we found their texture to be unpalatable in the otherwise smooth souffle, since they are added raw after the carrots are pureed, and didn’t cook through in the oven; next time I would either grate the onion on a microplane, saute it minced, or possibly cook it along with the carrot. It would definitely be a good change of pace for us from time to time, though, since I always seem to be working my way through a big bag of organic carrots from Costco.
I wasn’t able to make my Daring gingerbread house in December because I ran out of most of my baking spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and vanilla), and needed to save what little I did have on hand for edible baked goods, like molasses spice cookies. The latter were addictive, made from my last little bit of freshly ground whole spices, plus organic molasses and demerara sugar. I also made my personal favorite, pecan snowballs, and tried out some cinnamon-kissed chocolate oatmeal cookies from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking.
With all those cookies in the house, we forsook a fancy dessert to go with our Christmas dinner, which was made all the more festive by my parents’ arrival at the airport at 4pm on the very day. I had anticipated making as much of the meal in advance as possible, and splurging on a beef tenderloin roast that would take less than an hour to cook, but the cost of a standing rib roast was so much more reasonable that I adjusted the plan. The roast was dry-brined overnight in the fridge, and removed to room temperature as we walked out the door for the airport. Upon returning, we opened presents and nibbled on stuffed mushrooms and fresh bread with white bean hummus until the roast and fixings were ready. I went with a porcini jus, sweet potato puree with goat cheese and truffle oil, mustard roasted potatoes, and the cream braised Brussels sprouts that I’ve made for my folks before. The roast beef came out delicious and perfectly cooked, the Brussels sprouts vanished in a flash, the roasted potatoes were adequate, and Jeremy thought the goat cheese masked the flavor of the sweet potatoes (which may have been why I thought they were pretty good).
The leftover prime rib made for excellent sandwiches in the days after Christmas, but the most interesting meal we had was not one I cooked. My father was kind enough to share his new speciality with us: ebelskivers. He’s made many varieties of these tiny round pancakes, both sweet and savory, usually with a dollop of filling hidden inside like a treasure. This time, he filled the ebelskivers with a cinnamon apple filling, and topped them off with powdered sugar. They made perfect, tender little bites, and we all loved them, so much so that I really wish I had an ebelskiver pan now.
That pretty much brings things up to speed. Since Nolan started cutting his 2-year molars just after New Years, he’s barely been eating at all. Suggestions on how to fatten up a scrawny toddler greatly appreciated!
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