05.31.08
Posted in Chocolate, Dessert, Ice Cream at 8:19 am by julie
I was left with a good quantity of Guittard white chocolate wafers after finishing my Opéra Cake for the Daring Bakers, not to mention 5 unaccounted-for egg yolks. That combination just screamed white chocolate ice cream to me, so I sent Jeremy to the grocery store for heavy cream with the promise of brownie sundaes for our Memorial Day dessert.
Nolan has started to fall into a kind of natural schedule, which includes 5-7 hours of sleep overnight (sweet!), lots of naps during the morning and early afternoon, and a very wide awake period from dinnertime straight through to about 1:00am. Making dinner these days generally means racing at top speed back and forth between the hot stove and the sobbing baby in the next room, culminating in a finished meal just as my timer goes off to pump milk. Sigh. So I had time during the afternoon to cook up the base for the ice cream, research potential brownie recipes, and blanch the ribs for dinner.
Then I was sidetracked by a phone call from my cousin. When we hung up, Nolan was wide awake, wanting to be held, and dinner was off to a late start. Jeremy appeased the little guy long enough for me to get the ribs fried off and simmering in their sauce, then I popped him into his little throne
on the kitchen table and stood next to him, making brownie batter at top speed and possibly breaking some sort of record in an effort to get them in the oven before he became inconsolable. With that sort of pressure, I turned to a brownie recipe I’ve made several times before, which doesn’t require unsweetened chocolate and produces perfectly ooey-gooey brownies every time. I further shortened the prep time by using bittersweet chocolate chips and the microwave, rather than chopped chocolate and a bain marie; I think the pan was in the oven baking within 5 minutes, and I just barely managed to squeeze in a past-due pumping session before they were done.
Classic Bittersweet Brownies
6 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli
7 T unsalted butter, cut in several chunks
1 C sugar (or less; these come out quite sweet)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cold eggs
1/2 C flour
Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9×9 pan with foil or parchment, extending up past the edges of the pan on two opposite sides for easy removal after cooking.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, butter and sugar. Microwave just until chips and butter are melted (for mine, I did 60 seconds at 80% power, stirred, then back in for 30 seconds at 60% power); stir with a wooden spoon to combine, then add the vanilla and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the flour, and stir just to combine; the batter should be thick and glossy. If desired, now is the time to add mix-ins like nuts or chocolate chunks. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top is crinkly and appears dry; a toothpick inserted should still come out quite gooey. Cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan using the parchment or foil edges and allow to cool to room temperature on a rack before cutting into squares.
Source: Slightly adapted from Bittersweet, by Alice Medrich
After dinner, I had another short reprieve to clean up the kitchen and get the ice cream churning. It came out a lovely ivory color and elusively flavored with cocoa butter. No other garnish necessary, we scarfed down melting dollops of the silky stuff over warm brownie squares (Jeremy even managed it while balancing a wide-eyed, windmilling Nolan), and it was a perfect way to end the evening… at about 11:45pm, as it so happened.
White Chocolate Ice Cream
8 oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 C whole milk
2/3 C sugar
pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
2 C heavy cream
Place the white chocolate in a large batter bowl and set a mesh strainer over it. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar dissolves. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and temper them with the warm milk mixture by drizzling about half of it into the yolks very slowly while continuing to whisk. Return the yolk-milk mixture to the saucepan and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat and pour through the mesh strainer into the bowl with the white chocolate. Stir until the white chocolate melts, then stir in the cream. Place the bowl in an ice bath and continue stirring until it comes down at least to room temperature, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator before freezing in an ice cream machine.
Source: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz
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05.30.08
Posted in Chinese, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats, Pork and Ham at 12:27 pm by julie
I don’t like ribs. They are way too much work and mess for hardly any payoff. They don’t fill you up, you have to gnaw on the bones (which gives me the willies), and you always end up with sauce smeared in the corners of your mouth. I only bought pork babyback ribs last week because they were on sale at the grocery store, and I wasn’t much looking forward to cooking them. However, I set to work on a recipe from the May 2008 issue of Gourmet in order to finally get some use out of my bottle of black vinegar, substituting the babyback ribs for spareribs.
Well, I loved this recipe. Unabashedly. I gnawed rib bones, people. It took me a while to finish, because I had to do it in stages as Nolan’s temperament allowed, but we ended up with a saute pan full of sticky, chewy, aromatic ribs that were quickly devoured with platefuls of rice. If I’d known how good they were going to be, I would have considered doubling the recipe. I meant to steam some veggies to go along with them, but there just wasn’t time; I weighed my priorities and made white chocolate ice cream and brownies instead (recipes forthcoming, maybe tomorrow).
Pork Ribs with Black Vinegar Sauce
I think this sauce, simmered down to glaze consistency, could be adapted to work with many cuts of pork or chicken, maybe even salmon… I certainly intend to give it a try in other applications myself.
2 lb pork spareribs or babyback ribs, cut into individual ribs
1/4 C cornstarch
About 12 cups peanut or vegetable oil for frying, divided
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
2 T very thin matchsticks of peeled ginger
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
2 T Chinese Shaoxing wine or medium-dry Sherry
1/3 C reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 C Chinese black vinegar
1/3 C reduced-sodium soy sauce
Blanch ribs in a 4-quart pot of boiling water 4 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Whisk 1/2 teaspoon salt into cornstarch in a large bowl. Add ribs, cover bowl with a plate, and toss.
Heat 3 inches oil to 400°F in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot, then fry ribs (in batches if necessary) 5 minutes per batch. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, shallot, and ginger, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring, until dissolved, about 1 minute. Add wine and boil 1 minute. Add ribs with broth, vinegar, and soy sauce and simmer, covered, stirring and turning ribs occasionally, until tender, about 1 hour.
Transfer ribs to a platter. Boil sauce, whisking, until thickened and emulsified, about 2 minutes; pour over ribs.
Source: Slightly adapted from Epicurious
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05.29.08
Posted in Cuisines, Dairy, Dinner, Foodblog Events, Italian, Meats, Pastas, Poultry at 9:34 am by julie
I was looking to make something a bit more interesting than plain old spaghetti for dinner the other night, working with limited time and ingredients. My usual quick fancied-up spaghetti sauce, which I’m not sure I’ve ever posted here, adds a bit of cream to jarred sauce. Since I didn’t have any cream on hand, I was looking for something else to provide a similar effect, and came across a tomato-mascarpone sauce that fit the bill. With a little sauteed chicken for protein, it was a very tasty meal that didn’t take all evening to put together. The leftover mascarpone gave me the perfect excuse to make banana-Nutella pancakes for breakfast the next day too, and you can’t beat that!
This post marks my return to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by the lovely Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. Hopefully it won’t be quite so long before my next entry!
Angel Hair with Chicken and Tomato-Mascarpone Sauce
2 T olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
1/3 C white wine
Salt and pepper
1/4 C onion, diced
1 14-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes, chopped, with juices
1 tsp dried basil
4 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat; add garlic and saute until just beginning to turn golden brown. Add chicken, season with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper, and saute until just cooked through. Add wine and stir to bring up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, then turn heat to medium high and reduce liquids.
Remove chicken from pan and add onion; saute until just translucent, then add tomatoes with juices, and basil. Simmer for several minutes to combine flavors, then cool slightly while you boil water for the pasta. Using a blender, puree the tomato-onion sauce with the mascarpone until homogenous, then return to skillet with chicken, adjust seasonings if necessary, and keep warm until the pasta has finished cooking.
Drain cooked pasta, and toss with the sauce. Top with shredded parmesan cheese and serve.
Source: Adapted from The Cookmobile
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05.28.08
Posted in Cake, Dessert, Foodblog Events, Fruits at 12:29 am by julie
Since I had to skip last month’s Daring Bakers challenge due to having a newborn, I was determined to participate this month—but I have to admit that when I found out the challenge was to make an Opéra Cake I very nearly changed my mind. Opéra Cakes are beautiful, classy layered confections, and I didn’t see how I would possibly have enough time around the little one’s feeding schedule to make one. Upon reviewing the recipe, however, I realized that the various components of the cake were not time-consuming individually, and that I might be able to squeeze them in—baking the joconde here, boiling simple syrup there—and make it work, as Tim Gunn would say.
The traditional Opéra Cake is very dark, flavored with chocolate and coffee, but a major part of our challenge was keeping the cake light in color in honor of Barbara’s Taste of Yellow LiveSTRONG event. The recipe provided called for almond joconde with vanilla buttercream and a white chocolate mousse and glaze, but we were given free reign with the flavors as long as they remained light and springy in color. My first thought, to go with the white chocolate, was cinnamon and almond praline, but I had some leftover coconut milk and pineapple spears in the refrigerator, so I ended up doing a Piña Colada Opéra Cake instead. Piña coladas may not inspire opera, but they are still song-worthy, after all.
I started on a warm Saturday morning by feeding Nolan and coaxing him to take a nap in his swing. Then I made a mad dash for the kitchen and whipped up some pineapple curd, the main flavor component of what would be a pineapple mousse. I based my curd on a Cooking Light recipe, and in just a few minutes it was covered with plastic wrap and chilling in the fridge. I had just enough time—and pineapple juice—to make a pineapple-flavored soaking syrup for the joconde, and then it was time to feed the little guy again and pump for his next meal.
At the next opportunity, I made a quick run to the little market down the street for a dozen eggs. The batter for the joconde was fairly straightforward, especially since I decided to save my sanity and purchase almond meal rather than making it myself (I wanted to avoid a grainy texture, and save myself some time). I used a true jelly roll pan (10×15), but I only have one, so I had to bake my layers one at a time. Fortunately, that only took about 9 minutes per layer and the batter was no worse the wear for waiting. Unfortunately, it was over 90F outside by that time and over 83F in our house, so the searing hot kitchen was not exactly a fun place to be. My cakes turned out of the pan perfectly and cooled to (above)room temperature while I ran back to take a breather and feed our patient little sticky bun yet again.
Jeremy took a turn entertaining Nolan while I made masaman curry for dinner. Since I had to wait for the rice to cook anyway, I decided to make my buttercream while prepping the few ingredients for the curry, a bit of a bold proposition since I’d never actually made Italian buttercream before and was nervous about the hot sugar syrup. It heated to 225F faster than I anticipated, and my finished buttercream was on the runny side due to the residual heat in the kitchen, but it didn’t separate or scramble or fill up with shards of hardened sugar—and it was delicious. I flavored the sugar syrup with vanilla paste, and the buttercream with a few tablespoons of coconut milk and a drizzle of coconut extract.
After dinner and another bottle of breastmilk for the sticky bun, I cut my cakes, brushed them with soaking syrup, and layered them with the buttercream. The cake went back in the fridge to congeal while I whipped cream and folded in the pineapple curd with some melted and cooled white chocolate. As I spread it on top of the cake, though, I realized the mousse was the same shade of ivory as the buttercream. I had been hoping it would be more yellow like the curd. Oh well—it tasted good!
Before bed, I also thinly sliced our last spear of pineapple and dried it in a 200F oven for about 2 hours with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar, to use as a garnish. The next morning, I had a moment to make and set the white chocolate glaze, then hastily trimmed the edges of the cake and decorated it with dried pineapple “flowers.” I was hoping to put on some final touches of piping, but that is when Nolan’s patience really ran out. I managed to photograph the cake and cut two pieces, but then ended up having to eat my slice over about 45 minutes while simultaneously trying to calm down a very unhappy baby. It’s hard to eat with someone sucking on your finger. 
The cake was delicious, though the flavor was predominantly of coconut. I love coconut, so that wasn’t a problem at all. The pineapple syrup helped keep the joconde layers nicely moist, the buttercream was silky smooth, and the mousse was softly set, squishing pleasantly out from under the white chocolate glaze. One of the big surprises was Jeremy’s comment, upon nibbling through some of the trimmings as I finished up the cake, that the white chocolate glaze was really delicious. We are in the dark chocolate camp through and through, and generally turn up our noses at white chocolate, excepting minor garnishes and white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies. I blame the high quality Guittard white chocolate wafers for this seeming non-sequitur.
If I had it to do differently, I would definitely cut down the amount of cream I whipped into the mousse, and maybe add a drop of food coloring to make sure it maintained that bright yellow coloring. I might try doubling the curd recipe and doing a curd layer in the center of the cake. I would also consider adding shredded coconut to the buttercream and toasted coconut sprinkled over the glaze before it set; shreds or thin slices of fresh or roasted pineapple between the layers or stirred into the mousse would also be an option. I purposely avoided adding elements like shredded coconut or pineapple to my own cake, however, because the texture would have irritated me. The glaze, delicious though it was, came out on the thick side (and I understand many others felt the same), so I would use a higher proportion of cream to white chocolate next time.
In the design department, I would have liked to do a bit of piping with colored white chocolate. I was very pleased with my dried pineapple flowers, but might have inserted them before the glaze was completely set, and I would definitely let the cake settle longer (and use a hot knife) before trimming the outside edges, as they were decidedly ragged.
This was a wonderful challenge. The cake was beautiful and delicious, and making it gave me a lesson in new-mama time management as well. I made joconde and Italian buttercream for the first time, and I realized that I actually only dislike white chocolate when it is of the waxy, tasteless low quality variety. It was great fun coming up with flavor profiles for a light-colored Opéra Cake, but I’d love to try making the traditional coffee-chocolate version someday as well. Thanks so much to Lis of La Mia Cucina, Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, Fran of Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie, and Shea of Whiskful for hosting this month’s Daring Bakers challenge; you can find the recipe, in all its glory, on their sites. There are some really spectacular Opéra Cakes out there today, so make sure to check out the Daring Bakers blogroll.
Pineapple Mousse
This version represents the adjusted ratio of cream to curd that I would use if making this mousse again. My original version used a cup of cream, which gave me a very light pineapple flavor and lots of extra mousse.
1/2 C sugar
1 T cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 C pineapple juice
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 T butter
1/2 C plus 2 T whipping cream
1/2 C white chocolate baking wafers
Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium, heavy saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Stir in juices and egg and yolks; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add butter, stirring gently until butter melts. Spoon mixture into a medium bowl; press plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate the curd for about 1 hour.
In a small bowl, whip the cream until stiff. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate with the 2 tablespoons of cream and cool. Gently fold the chilled pineapple curd, then the white chocolate, into the whipped cream. Refrigerate the pineapple mousse to set for 3 hours or overnight.
Source: Adapted from Cooking Light
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05.27.08
Posted in Beef, Chinese, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats at 1:18 pm by julie
I’ve been craving a lot of Asian food lately. We’ve been eating so much curry that we decided to invest in a quality rice cooker—our old one was a cast-off from friends. After doing a bit of research, we ended up purchasing a Zojirushi Micom Fuzzy Logic 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker, and we’ve already used it at least half a dozen times. It takes up a bit more storage space and requires slightly longer to cook rice, but it is lightweight and has a useful handle, rice paddle, and shockingly nonstick bowl…and did I mention it cooks and warms rice perfectly? Because it can keep rice warm for up to 12 hours if necessary, I can pretty much get the rice going anytime in the afternoon that I have a free moment, and it will be ready to eat whenever I get to dinner.
Anyway, I think part of my current interest in Asian cuisine may stem from the fact that, once the ingredients are prepped, it often cooks rapidly—even more rapidly if I just send my husband for take-out. Heh. My favorite Chinese restaurant dish is the one that goes by the name of orange chicken at Panda Express (but is sometimes called mandarin chicken or even sesame chicken at other restaurants I’ve visited): you know the one, with bits of chicken deep-fried and coated in a sticky-sweet, tangy, and often slightly spicy sauce. So I tend to gravitate toward trying recipes that promise crunch and tangy orange-flavored sauces. I’ve made two in the past few weeks, as it happens.
My first stab was at the Shun Lee Palace’s Crispy Orange Beef, and it was alright. I did use pre-cut stirfry beef instead of cutting my own, so the meat was probably not of the quality it might have been, but hey—time is a precious commodity around here these days. The beef was incredibly crispy after coming out of the oil, but not so much after having been tossed with the sauce, despite serving it as quickly as possible. I’d like to know how the Chinese restaurants keep their deep-fried meats crunchy. I also stir-fried a few snow peas with the beef right at the end for some green veggies.
Crispy Orange Beef
1 lb sirloin steak, cut for stirfry
1 T baking soda
6 T water
Zest of 2 oranges
4 C vegetable oil
1 egg white
1 C corn starch
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 T sherry
1 T soy sauce
2 tsp corn starch
½ cup scallions, sliced diagonally into ½ inch pieces, white part only
1/2 lb snow peas
2 tsp sesame oil
Juice of 1 orange
1 T Ginger People sweet ginger chili sauce
In a bowl, mix the steak, baking soda and water, and marinade in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. The baking soda will tenderize the meat.
In a wok, heat salad oil until smoking. To the steak, add the egg white and corn starch, and mix thoroughly. In a bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, sherry, soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of corn starch.
Fry the beef in the hot wok for 20 seconds, remove, and drain. Clean the oil with a slotted spoon. Return the beef to the wok, and fry again for another 30 seconds, remove, and drain.
Discard the oil, and to what remains in the wok, add scallions, beef, sesame oil, sherry-soy sauce, orange rind and juice, and chili paste. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and serve immediately over rice.
Source: Adapted from StarChefs
My other recent stab at these flavors took the form of the Sesame-Orange Chicken from Elise at Simply Recipes. I didn’t manage to snap a photo of this meal, but it came out alright. My chicken was a bit burned on top and a bit soggy underneath; I can’t remember now exactly what I was doing while it cooked, but I imagine it had something to do with a baby. Anyway, I served it with some fresh skillet-cooked broccoli, and boiled down the marinade to drizzle back over the finished chicken and rice for sauce. It tasted good, and was easier to make than the beef dish, but every time I make an orange chicken dish that involves marmalade, it comes out with a bitter edge that just doesn’t quite work for me, and this was no exception. I’d still probably make it again—especially since I have an open jar of marmalade in the fridge now—but I’m still on the lookout for a recipe that reaches closer to my ideal. Maybe this one should be next on the list?
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05.15.08
Posted in Dinner, Meats, Poultry at 10:24 pm by julie
I never used to think much of meatballs, except perhaps my mom’s porcupine meatballs, which are awfully tasty with mashed potatoes or broken up for warm sandwiches. But in the past year or so, I’ve developed a real affection for meatballs of all sorts, from Sardinian meatballs to oven-roasted pork and ricotta meatballs to lamb kefthedes to chicken meatballs with avgolemono. You might even say that for me, 2007 was the year of the meatball. I’ve still got quite a few meatball recipes to try out, and this was one of them: Swedish turkey meatballs. No lingonberry jam, thanks to some unfavorable memories of Ikea, but they were delicious nonetheless.
Swedish Turkey Meatballs
4 slices firm white sandwich bread (I used part of a stale loaf of pugliese)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large egg
Dash freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 T olive oil
1/2 pound egg noodles
2 T butter, softened
2 T AP flour
2 C beef broth
3 T medium-dry Sherry
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T sour cream
With a food processor, grind the bread into fine crumbs and transfer to a bowl. Finely chop enough onion to measure 1/2 C and add to bread crumbs. In a small bowl whisk together egg, nutmeg, allspice, salt, and pepper and add to bread crumb mixture. Add turkey and mix mixture with your hands until just combined (do not overmix). Form turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch balls; meatballs may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
Preheat oven to 375°F. In a 12-inch non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown meatballs in 2 batches, turning them occasionally, about 4 minutes for each batch. With a slotted spoon transfer meatballs as browned to a shallow baking pan and reserve any drippings in skillet. Bake meatballs, tightly covered with foil, in middle of oven until just cooked through, about 25 minutes.
While meatballs are baking, boil salted water in a large pot for the noodles. Finely chop enough onion to measure 1/2 cup. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the flour and butter to form a paste. To reserved drippings in skillet, add onion and saute until translucent; add sherry and simmer mixture, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until most of liquid is evaporated. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Whisk flour-butter mixture into broth mixture. Boil, whisking, for 1 minute and remove skillet from heat. Whisk in Worcestershire sauce and sour cream, and keep warm, covered, over low heat (do not let boil).
Meanwhile, cook noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain noodles well in a colander and transfer to a large serving dish. Gently toss noodles with sauce and meatballs. Serve with sour cream, lingonberry preserves, or cranberry sauce on top of each serving.
Source: Adapted from Epicurious
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Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Italian, Nuts, Grains & Legumes, Seafood, Shellfish at 12:13 am by julie
Nolan is going through a growth spurt right now, which means practically all he wanted to do on Friday was sleep and eat. I had some groceries delivered in the afternoon, and had been hoping for a good fish selection, but no dice. I ended up settling on some bay scallops, and was thrilled when the little guy ended up sleeping long enough for me to whip up a scallop and porcini risotto for dinner.
Our risotto was a slightly adapted version of a Food and Wine recipe: I included only dried porcinis and bay scallops (lacking shrimp and fresh mushrooms). I used Better Than Bouillion clam base in rather than bottled clam juice, and reduced the amount to a single cup. The result was a very filling, savory meal, and the bay scallops in this context were decidedly less stressful to cook than seared sea scallops—which I always worry about turning into rubber balls.
Bay Scallop Risotto
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
2/3 C boiling water
4 C low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 C water, plus 1 tsp Better Than Bouillion clam base (or 1-2 C bottled clam juice)
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 C arborio rice
1/4 C dry white wine
1 tsp kosher salt
1 lb bay scallops
In a small bowl, soak the porcinis in the boiling water until softened, about 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and strain their liquid into a medium saucepan through a sieve lined with a paper towel. Rinse the mushrooms well to remove any remaining grit and chop them. Add the broth, water and clam base to the mushroom-soaking liquid and bring to a simmer.
In a large pot, heat the oil and butter over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rice and stir until the rice begins to turn opaque, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and salt and cook, stirring, until the wine has been absorbed.
Stir in the dried mushrooms and 1/2 cup of the simmering stock; cook, stirring frequently, until the stock has been absorbed. The rice and the stock should bubble gently; adjust the heat as needed. Continue cooking the rice, adding the stock a ladleful at a time and allowing the rice to absorb the stock before adding the next ladleful. Cook the rice until almost tender, about 25 minutes, and then add the scallops. Cook, stirring, until the rice is tender and the scallops are done, about 5 minutes longer. The risotto should achieve a thick, creamy consistency, and you may not need to use all of the liquid.
Source: Slightly adapted from Food and Wine
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05.11.08
Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Dessert at 8:24 am by julie
(I took this picture one-handed, while trying to calm down the flailing, crying baby in my other arm at the same time. Happy Mother’s Day!)
As you may have noticed, I wasn’t able to participate in the Daring Bakers challenge for April. (I fully intend to bake May’s challenge, by the way, and have already purchased the ingredients. Now to formulate a plan of attack for breaking it down time-wise… I’m thinking it would be a good Mother’s Day project for me.) I can count on one hand the baked goods I had time to make in April: peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies, no-bake cookies, some rather blah cinnamon muffins from the King Arthur cookbook, a batch of buttermilk biscuits, and some chocolate chip cookies. Not exactly exciting, but we take what we can get these days. (I thought I had already written up my no-bake cookies, but maybe not. They aren’t anything special, but we like them… I’ll snap a shot and write them up next time I make some.)
I was dying to try out something new but still relatively easy, and I hit on the Light Chocolate Pound recipe in Alice Medrich’s book, Bittersweet. It was low fat, not overly complicated, and didn’t even require me to dirty a board chopping chocolate—right up my alley! I don’t have a tube pan of the appropriate size, so I substituted in the “bundt” ring in my 9″ springform, which turned out to hold just the right amount of batter. Releasing the finished cake from its clutches turned out to be an ordeal though, despite the pan’s non-stick coating and my preventative spray of oil. Good thing I wasn’t serving it to company, but a drizzle of ganache will cover a multitude of sins in any case. I cheated with a jar of Scharffenberger ganache we were given at Christmas, but this cake would be delicious with a little icing glaze or even just a puff of powdered sugar. I should also note that this is one of those cakes that improves overnight: I found it a little dry right out of the oven and thought I had overcooked it, but it was much more moist the next day (when we ate wedges of it with our fingers like snack cakes!).
A Light Chocolate Pound
1 C plus 2 T sugar
1 C AP flour
1/2 C unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
3/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 T unsalted butter, softened
1 cold large egg
2 cold large egg whites
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 C cold low-fat (1%) milk
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F. Spray a 6-cup tube pan with vegetable oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, soda, and salt. Add the butter, egg and whites. Set a timer for 2 minutes and begin beating with an electric mixer on medium speed. When the dry ingredients are moistened but not wet, increase the speed to high and beat until the 2 minutes are up.
Combine the vanilla and cold milk, and add to the batter. Start at low speed, then slowly increase to high speed and beat for exactly 2 minutes more total. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread it evenly. Bake just until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes; do not overbake. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold onto the rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with icing or ganache.
Note: The original recipe called for a teaspoon of espresso powder, but I left it out, because I don’t have any and I am not a coffee fan anyway (and yes, I know all about coffee’s affinity for chocolate.) Add it if you like! Also, I misread the instructions and added 3/4 tsp of baking soda instead of 3/8 tsp; then I attempted to scoop some of it back out when I realized my mistake, but I’m sure there was more soda in my cake than intended. It made absolutely no difference that I could tell, and we were happy with the texture of the cake.
Source: Bittersweet, by Alice Medrich
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05.10.08
Posted in Dinner, Lamb, Meats, Soups at 8:14 am by julie
Big surprise, right? I had a boneless leg of lamb to cook last week and didn’t feel like doing a big roast or braise, so I broke down the huge cut of meat and made two separate recipes from it: Moroccan-spiced lamb kebabs and Irish lamb stew. The kebabs were first, and I marinated them in a mixture of garlic, cumin, cinnamon, oregano and pomegranate molasses. Nolan was still napping, so I decided to be daring and make Elise’s version of scalloped potatoes, a dish I had never yet made successfully. The Cuisinart helped cut down my prep time significantly, however, as I used it to slice potatoes and onions, and grate Gruyere and Parmesan cheese. I parboiled the potatoes to cut down the baking time, but it still required longer than I had expected. A little extra marinating time didn’t hurt the lamb, though, and grilling the kebabs was the work of just a few minutes. When all was said and done, the lamb kebabs were tasty, but the scalloped potatoes were a hit: They didn’t look remotely pretty, but the flavor was outstanding, and they reheated well as a side for some quickly-seared chicken paillards the next night.
For the lamb stew several nights later, I again turned to Elise, but made some adaptations: using chunks rather than chops; leaving out the turnips and using baby carrots for speed; using tweaked chicken broth in place of water or lamb stock; and making a little white wine slurry at the end for thickening purposes. It was delicious and very filling, and since the weather here is finally starting to improve, I think I made it just in the nick of time too!
Irish Lamb Stew
2 lb leg of lamb, trimmed and cubed
Olive oil
1 T bacon grease
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C water
1 bag baby carrots
5 small russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 qt chicken broth
1 tsp beef Better Than Bouillion
2 T pearl barley
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1/4 C white wine
2 T AP flour
Heat the bacon grease and a glug of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the lamb cubes all over; remove to a plate. In the same pot, saute the onion and garlic until softened, then deglaze with the water. Return the meat to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients carrots through thyme. Simmer over low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours.
Whisk together the white wine and flour, and stir into the stew. Continue simmering until slightly thickened, then taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
Source: Adapted from Simply Recipes.
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05.09.08
Posted in Dinner, Fruits, Meats, Sausage at 4:55 pm by julie
Despite my strictly limited time for cooking these days, I’ve been trying to continue making decent meals, even if they end up being served at odd hours based on Nolan’s ever-changing naptimes. This particular recipe for brats with a creamy compote of apples and onions is one I first made the week before he was born, and again several weeks later because we both liked it so much.
I have to admit I only gave it a try because of Molly’s gorgeous description at Orangette. I’m not generally a fan of sweet-and-meat combinations, but that’s something I’ve been trying to get over, and this recipe is definitely a big step in the right direction: the brats are so deeply savory that they really stand up to the sweetness of the apple compote. Plus, they remind me of the wonderful food descriptions in Farmer Boy, and Almanzo’s favorite fried apples’n'onions. I served them with egg noodles to take care of any remaining creamy sauce, and would definitely add a vegetable side or a salad if I had time to squeeze it in.
Update 7/7/08: I’ve made this dish several times now, and it still doesn’t fail to disappoint. Tonight I used Fuji apples with great success, and accompanied the brats with homemade spaetzle.
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