04.27.09
Posted in Cake, Dairy, Dessert, Pies & Tarts at 11:18 am by julie
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. This month, my two biggest personal challenges were not adapting the recipe too much, and then trying to bake it with a baby who has clearly just taken a crash course in separation anxiety. I wasn’t able to bake my cheesecake until yesterday because I didn’t have cream cheese on hand, and Nolan wouldn’t let me out of his sight from 1:30 a.m. (yes, that’s a.m.) until 11:30 p.m.—he spent two hours sleeping on my chest mid-morning and then I managed to get him in the crib for a second nap in the afternoon that lasted maybe half an hour before he realized he was alone and flipped out. He hung out in his high chair and taste-tested graham crackers while I baked the cheesecake, but when it was ready to decorate and I handed Nolan off to his daddy while I piped some whipped cream and cut us slices, he threw a monumental fit the whole time, even though I was in sight of them. Nolan wouldn’t even let me sit next to them to eat my cheesecake; he wailed and flung himself at me the whole time I was trying to eat.
I had Jeremy look through the Junior’s Cheesecakes
cookbook for flavor inspiration and he chose pumpkin swirl. Not the easiest adaptation because of the extra moisture from the pumpkin, so I had to almost hybridize the challenge recipe to make it work. I went with a 9″ springform pan, double-wrapped with heavy-duty aluminum foil. My crust was graham cracker with just a few gingersnaps thrown in for interest. I’ve made pumpkin pies with all-gingersnap crusts, and we don’t much like them because it’s a pretty strong flavor. As you can see, I decided to push it up the edges somewhat.
I used 8 oz of full-fat cream cheese and the rest was reduced fat. (Junior’s says this is a big no-no, but I forgot to specify when I sent Jeremy to the store for them, and we couldn’t taste the difference, honestly.) I flavored my batter with vanilla paste, then removed half and added pumpkin puree and your typical pumpkin pie spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves. I stabilized the batter with 1/4 C cornstarch, a Junior’s trick, to offset the additional moisture from the pumpkin. I think I saved too much vanilla batter out, though, because it didn’t swirl very well.
It baked at 350F in a waterbath for about 1 hour 15 minutes, until it was set and just barely starting to color on top. Then it came out and rested on a cooling rack for a good two or three hours before covering with plastic and chilling in the fridge. This was also the Junior’s method, and it set up beautifully with no cracks. By the time it had cooled, the cheesecake had clearly pulled away from the sides of the springform, so I knew it would release nicely.
I decorated my cheesecake with maple almond brittle, which I whipped together during Nolan’s brief nap in the crib. I also made vanilla whipped cream in the food processor, which Rose Levy Berenbaum recommends for piping borders as it creates a dense rather than fluffy texture. I didn’t try anything fancy because Nolan was beside himself, but this was the first time I’ve piped something and felt satisfied with the outcome.
The cheesecake was cool but not completely chilled when I cut it, so the center was a little soft yet. We anticipate that it will be firmer today, but I have to draw the line at cheesecake for breakfast. You can see the two flavors of batter a little bit in the cross-section. The cheesecake came out beautifully, with a definite flavor of pumpkin pie that balanced the richness of the cream cheese. The brittle was pretty sweet, but added a good crunch, and I could taste the hint of gingersnap in the crust. Nolan was far too upset to taste it, but I suspect he will really like it too, and he could certainly use the calories more than his parents can. 
Thanks for choosing this month’s challenge, Jenny! It was a delicious one, and I don’t think I’ve made a cheesecake since that towering German chocolate cheesecake over two years ago. (And please be sure to check out the wild creativity going on in the Daring Bakers Blogroll.)
Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake at Midnight (i.e. Turned into a Pumpkin)
Crust:
2 C / 180 g graham cracker crumbs (I added 4 gingersnaps to my grahams)
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 T / 24 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 C / 210 g sugar
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 C heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla paste
1/4 C cornstarch
1 C pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spices (I used a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. If you are using a springform, wrap its outside thoroughly with foil. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and vanilla, and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside about a cup of batter for the swirl, then add the pumpkin and spices to the bowl and blend well.
4. Pour pumpkin batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Top with spoonfuls of vanilla batter, and use a knife to gently swirl the batter in a figure-8 pattern and create marbling. Place pan into a roasting pan, set in the oven, and carefully pour boiling water into the larger pan until about halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Don’t splash any water into the cheesecake!
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve. (I used the Junior’s method to bake—1 hour 15 minutes in the oven with the waterbath, and 2 hours resting on a rack at room temperature before chilling. Not sure if the cornstarch makes the difference here, but it’s never cracked on me.)
Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.
Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!
Maple Almond Brittle
1/3 C Grade B maple syrup
1 T light corn syrup
pinch salt
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C sliced unblanched almonds, toasted lightly
In a heavy saucepan combine the maple syrup, the corn syrup, the salt, and the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side with a brush dipped in cold water, and boil the mixture, undisturbed, until it registers 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Stir in the almonds quickly and pour the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with foil or a silpat. Spread the mixture as thin as possible with a metal spatula and let it cool. Break the almond brittle into serving pieces.
Source: Scaled down from Food Network.
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
Permalink
04.22.09
Posted in Chinese, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats, Poultry at 3:54 pm by julie
We’re running a bit low on interesting ingredients at the moment, and I keep diving into the back of the freezer and the bottom shelf of the pantry trying to find a little inspiration. Last night turned up a little jar of black bean-garlic paste and some frozen chicken breasts, so I combined them with half a package of fresh asparagus in a quick stirfry that was really delicious. Since I now have an open jar of bean paste haunting the fridge, I expect to be making variations of this meal for some time to come.
2 T cornstarch, divided
1 T soy sauce, divided
1 T shaoxing wine
1 tsp sesame oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 T black bean-garlic paste
1/2 C chicken broth
1 T oyster sauce
1 T brown sugar, plus a pinch
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 12 wedges
3 T vegetable oil, divided
1 lb fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and diagonally cut into 1-inch pieces
2 T water
For marinade, combine 1 tablespoon each cornstarch, soy sauce, and sherry, with a pinch of sugar, in large bowl; mix well. Add chicken; stir to coat well. Let stand 30 minutes.
Combine 1 T cornstarch, 1 T soy sauce, chicken broth, sesame oil, brown sugar, and oyster sauce in small bowl; mix well. Set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken; stir-fry until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove from wok; set aside.
Heat remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in wok. Add onion and asparagus; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add water and cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Return chicken to wok. Add black bean-garlic paste and chicken broth mixture to the wok; cook until sauce boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Serve over rice.
Source: Adapted from Howstuffworks.
Permalink
04.18.09
Posted in American, Baby Food, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats, Pastas, Poultry, Quick Breads, Sausage at 1:17 pm by julie
I obviously do way more cooking than I have time or inclination to write about here. Many posts get put on the back burner so many times that they are out of season before I have a chance to come back to them; others were pretty good meals that I just can’t muster up pithy comments for. So I’ve decided to institute a new periodic series: Leftover Night, my way of cleaning out the virtual fridge from time to time.
Our first Leftover Night dish was nothing really innovative, just a pretty tasty pasta dish that made way more food than we could eat. I raided the freezer for the Italian sausage I had leftover from making last month’s lasagna, and paired it up with some tomatoes, cream and bowties. My only adjustment to the original recipe was deglazing the sausage, onions and garlic with a little white wine to hit some of the alcohol-soluble flavors in the tomato. I cut this recipe down a little in size and we still had two days worth of leftovers, but it reheated pretty well with a splash of cream to freshen it up.
I was looking for something really quick to make with chicken that wasn’t dead boring, and ended up making a Rachael Ray recipe, for heaven’s sake. It’s spinach-ricotta stuffed chicken (sans mushrooms); I simplified the sauce and just did a quick white wine reduction. I can’t look at the picture without recalling that the mashed potatoes, which had a few carrots and some garlic thrown in for interest, were practically a salt lick because my hand slipped while I was seasoning them. It made me wish I’d cooked extra chicken, which turned out well: I wilted baby spinach with the onions for the stuffing, seared off the stuffed breasts, and popped the skillet in the oven at 400F to finish cooking for a few minutes while I was busy hypersalinating the potatoes.
These sweet potato biscuits were the biggest success of the bunch. I had most of a can of organic mashed sweet potatoes open from Nolan’s lunch, and hybridized a Good Enough to Eat recipe with my standard buttermilk biscuit recipe to accompany some roasted cauliflower soup.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
2 C AP flour, plus an additional cup for shaping
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 T Sucanat
1 stick butter, cold
1 can mashed sweet potatoes
1/4 C buttermilk
Combine all dry ingredients from 2 C flour to Sucanat in a food processor, and pulse to blend. Cut 7 T of the butter into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients; pulse until butter resembles small peas. Add sweet potatoes and buttermilk; pulse again just until dough forms.
Butter a 9″ round cake pan and preheat oven to 350F. Pour about a cup into a shallow baking dish and scoop dough by quarter-cupfuls into the flour (I use a dough/ice cream scoop to make this easier); roll to coat in flour and pat gently to brush off the excess. You should end up with 12 floured biscuits in the cake pan; melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush their tops liberally. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Turn out onto a cooling rack, separate gently, and allow to cool for several minutes before consuming, preferably with butter and honey.
Source: Heavily adapted from The Good Enough to Eat Breakfast Cookbook.
Permalink
04.15.09
Posted in Baby Food, Breakfast, Dinner at 10:05 am by julie
I’ve got a few good pancake recipes to work with now: praline ricotta, sweet potato, banana with hazelnut mascarpone cream, to name a few. They taste great, but those recipes all require special ingredients or extra steps, and sometimes I just want to get the food on the table without the fuss. Here are my two basic pancake recipes for those occasions.
First up is a recipe from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion; yes, the same book I was complaining about just the other day. But my gripe is with the inconsistency of the recipes: some need much more baking time, some need adjustments to their ingredients, and some are perfect just as they are. This pancake recipe is the very first one in the book, and it’s a keeper, especially if you have a stand mixer. It makes gorgeous, fluffy pancakes with the most basic pantry ingredients. One day I’ll remember to put some malted milk powder in the cart and try that version.
The Simple But Perfect Pancake
2 large eggs
1 1/4 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 T butter, melted
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 T sugar or 1/4 cup malted milk powder (for diner-style pancakes)
Beat the eggs, milk, and vanilla until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed of a stand or hand mixer. Stir in butter.
Whisk the dry ingredients together, and gently but quickly stir into the egg and milk mixture. Let the batter relax while the griddle is heating (or overnight in refrigerator). The batter will thicken slightly while resting.
Grease and preheat griddle. Drop ¼ cupfuls of batter on the lightly greased griddle, and cook on one side until bubbles begin to form and break (this is the time to add anything like berries, chocolate chips, etc), then turn the pancakes and cook the other side until brown (turning only once).
Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.
My other pancake recipe is a more recent addition to the hit parade, even though I first tried it out several years ago. It comes from the Good Enough to Eat Cookbook, so of course I made a batch almost as soon as we came back from New York—with limited success. They really just didn’t taste anything like the ones at the actual restaurant, which was a big disappointment for us. A few months ago, however, I got tired of making the perfect pancakes above, and decided to take another stab at the 4-grain pancakes. This time I subbed buckwheat flour in for the cornmeal, knowing Jeremy’s aversion to the latter. Well, I can’t say that they taste like the ones in New York City, but the buckwheat made a huge difference in taste for us, and the fact that they are multi-grain gives us one more excuse to eat breakfast for dinner. We usually have some extras to keep in the fridge, and Nolan likes them smeared with peanut butter and jelly.
Good Enough to Eat 4-Grain Pancakes
1 1/2 C AP flour
2 heaping T old-fashioned oats
2 heaping T toasted wheat germ
2 T buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 C buttermilk or soured milk (or 3/4 C each milk and plain yogurt)
1/4 C whole milk
4 T melted butter
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and buttermilk in a large measuring cup, add the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Quickly stir the liquids into the dry ingredients, then the melted butter, stirring just until combined. Allow the batter to rest while you heat up the griddle, slice fruit, chop nuts, start some bacon cooking, etc. I use a quarter-cup scoop for our pancakes and sometimes press thin slices of apple or banana into the batter on the griddle. This time I used bananas and added some walnuts too.
Source: The Good Enough to Eat Breakfast Cookbook.
Permalink
04.14.09
Posted in Baby Food, Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Pork and Ham, Sides, Veggies at 3:11 pm by julie
I owe Molly Stevens big-time. Not only did she write a great book about braising, which is one of my very favorite ways to deal with meat, but the woman knows how to make cooked carrots taste great. I myself am no friend of cooked carrots: they get mushy and overly sweet with that same flavor that I dislike in sweet potatoes and squash. The thought of carrots cooked with brown sugar or ginger gives me the shivers, just a little bit. But I trust Molly with carrots because the glazed ones that accompany her Zinfandel-braised pot roast were a revelation to me: very savory with only a trace of sweetness, cooked to the perfect degree of doneness between crunch and mush. So I decided to break into a fresh jar of ground ancho from Penzey’s, and give this recipe a try. It came together quickly, even though I used full-sized carrots split down to baby carrot size, and the honey and spices hit just the right balance with the natural sweetness of the carrots. I do admit that I left out the jalapeño, and my tongue thanks me.
To go along with this vaguely Tex-mex recipe, I decided a batch of scallion-sour cream corn muffins was in order. Turned out I didn’t have quite enough sour cream, so I snuck some of Nolan’s cream-top plain yogurt in to make up the difference. These were pretty good basic muffins, though I personally prefer to slather my warm cornbread with butter and honey, and couldn’t bring myself to do it thanks to the green onions. Nolan was a big fan of the entire meal, but he particularly liked the muffins. The next day I started breaking one up into bite-sized pieces for him at lunchtime and had to run out of the room for a moment to help Jeremy; when I came back not 30 seconds later, Nolan had ditched the little bites and was happily noshing on the entire muffin like a big boy, buried in crumbs. Now I just break them into halves or quarters for him instead.
We also got some pretty fantastic leftovers out of the pork, which was good because there was just over a whole tenderloin left. I made my homemade tortillas, upping the quantity slightly because we go through them pretty quickly; sauteed some peppers and onions; and added thin slices of pork just to heat it through. Add some cheese, sour cream, what have you, and you’ve got some darn good pork fajitas. I should also note that Penzey’s is really onto something with those little samples they send along with their online orders. It can be a little hard to imagine how a particular spice blend will smell and taste over the internet, and those samples really help. I find myself reaching for the sample jar of southwestern spices almost every time I make Mexican food now, and I strongly suspect that when I run out, I will be adding it to the next order.
Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Carrots
Please note that I adjusted the cooking method on the carrots here, due to timing and a few cautionary reviews about mushy carrots.
1 pound carrots, peeled, halved or quartered, cut into 5″ sections
2 T water
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T butter, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt
2 1-to 1 1/4-pound pork tenderloins
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
For carrots: Arrange carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet. Whisk water and all remaining ingredients in small bowl; pour over carrots and toss to coat. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Toss to coat before continuing.
For pork: Preheat oven to 400°F. Roast carrot mixture for about 10 minutes while cooking off the pork. Meanwhile, stir oregano, cumin, chile powder, smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt in small bowl; rub mixture all over tenderloins. Heat oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork to skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Remove tray from oven and place pork with the carrots in a single layer around it. Roast uncovered until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145°F, stirring carrots occasionally if beginning to caramelize, about 18 minutes. Remove pork from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes; meanwhile, check carrots for doneness and return to the oven while the meat rests if not yet tender.
Transfer pork to work surface. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange carrots on platter. Top with pork slices, drizzling any pan juices over.
Source: Slightly adapted from Epicurious.
Permalink
04.13.09
Posted in Baby Food, Breakfast, Dinner, Lamb, Meats, Quick Breads, Sides, Veggies at 7:46 pm by julie
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter yesterday. Ours was pretty low-key, since the little man is not yet of an age to appreciate Easter egg hunts and jelly beans. Instead, I kept busy cooking while Jeremy watched a baseball game with Nolan.
First things first: I wanted to make some sort of Easter bread this year, but I decided to go the easy route and make a quick muffin version of hot cross buns rather than the yeasted sort. I chose the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookbook, and afterwards noticed that their website shows a different recipe for hot cross muffins that actually does incorporate yeast. It would be interesting to try that out sometime to compare and contrast. In any case, I made a few adjustments to the recipe I used, substituting blood orange juice for rum and dried cranberries and cherries in place of the more traditional golden raisins and candied citron; I also added about a tablespoon of blood orange zest to the batter, and used the juice instead of milk in my glaze, which gave it a lovely pink color. The muffins came out alright: Jeremy and Nolan seemed to think they were pretty good, but I found them to be kind of dense and dull, never mind my distaste for dried fruit in baked goods. I noticed the same quality in the doughnut muffins I made from the same cookbook, and after a number of other mixed results, this is definitely not my go-to baking book, much as I would like it to be.
For dinner, you know we had to have lamb. I’ve been braising most of our legs these past few months, so I mixed it up this time and did a roast. We get the boneless ones from Costco, so I smeared the inside with rosemary and garlic mixed with a little olive oil, tied it up, and slathered the outside with a mixture of softened butter (3 T), Dijon mustard (1 T), and rosemary (1 T); then it went in the oven at 450F for almost an hour and a half. Seems like our poor little oven always takes longer cooking big cuts of meat than the resources suggest. While it rested, I made a quick jus by deglazing the de-fatted pan drippings with white wine and a bit more Dijon, and threw on some potato pancakes to go with the meat. The idea was that the shredded potatoes were reminiscent of nests (or Easter grass, or whatever), in an abstract sort of way, at least. To save myself some dishewashing from another side dish, I sliced up and blanched a fistful of asparagus spears, chilled them in an ice bath, and mixed them into my potatoes. It worked out well, and the asparagus got nicely caramelized where it touched the cast iron. Next time, my only adjustment will be to slice the asparagus on a steeper bias, because the little chunks I cut sometimes escaped while shaping and flipping the pancakes. Nolan liked the lamb and loved the potato pancakes, last night and maybe even more today, as leftovers.
Potato-Asparagus Pancakes
2 eggs, beaten
4 medium russet potatoes (about 8 ounces each), peeled and shredded using the largest holes of a hand grater (yikes—or in the food processor!)
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C grated onion (pop it in the food processor with the potatoes)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
about 8-10 spears of asparagus, woody ends snapped off and cut on the bias about 1/2″ wide
1/4 C olive oil
Boil a small pot of salted water and cook the asparagus just until they are tender when stabbed with a fork, 2-3 minutes. Remove to an ice bath, chill, and drain.
Combine the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper, stirring to blend. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the potatoes and onions. (You can just use your hands, or, as I do, load some shredded potato into your ricer with the smallest holes and squeeze. Once you’re done, you can poke at the potato starch that settles at the bottom of the liquid–entertaining!) Add the potatoes and cooled asparagus to the egg mixture, mixing well; hands work well here.
In a large cast-iron skillet, heat some of the oil over medium-high heat. Spoon the batter by quarter-cupfuls onto the hot skillet, flattening them with the back of the spoon. Fry until the bottom of the pancakes are nicely browned – between 3 and 5 minutes; flip the pancakes and cook for about 3 minutes longer. Repeat for the remaining pancakes, adding oil to the skillet as needed.
Drain on paper towels, salt while hot, and serve immediately.
Source: Adapted from Bette’s Oceanview Diner.
Permalink
04.08.09
Posted in Dinner, Leftovers, Pastas, Seafood, Shellfish at 11:51 pm by julie
While my mom was in town for Nolan’s birthday, my aunt and uncle invited us to stay the night at the beach house they have spent the past five years renovating in Rockaway Beach. Jeremy stayed behind and had some much-needed baby-free time, I got to go farther away from Salem than I have in well over a year, and Nolan got to spend the night away from home for the first time. My aunt and uncle have a crabbing license, so they hauled out their crab pot and we took a stab at catching some fresh Dungeness. The tides weren’t with us, and it was a little cool out for the baby, so we only spent 45 minutes or so at it. In the end, we purchased two freshly caught crabs from a fishmonger at the beach, and shared half a crab cracked and dipped in butter. Nolan, the boy who ate everything, liked it almost as much as his great-aunt Stacy’s home-canned pears. The rest of the crab came home with me, and I used it in a quick, creamy pasta dish made with leftover spinach lasagna noodles.
I highly recommend having a crab cracker to shell your Dungeness crab if you don’t buy it in lump form. (Mine is called Jeremy.) Once the crab was de-shelled, this meal came together in a flash since most of it was already cooked. I had tons of lasagna noodles left from my Daring Bakers challenge, even after eating some of them for lunches simply dressed with leftover ragu and Parmesan. For this dish, I just ran a knife through them to make ribbons that I would call maltagliatelle—they were pretty ugly looking. (Real maltagliatelle is sort of triangular in shape, but it means bady cut pasta.) The original recipe called for shallot and dill, which I didn’t have on hand, but it sounds lovely.
Creamy Crab Pasta
1 lb fresh spinach pasta, cut into tagliatelle
1/2 lb lump dungeness crabmeat
1/4 C shallot, minced (I substituted onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 T butter
2 C heavy whipping cream
1/4 C white wine
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly grated
1 pinch cayenne
Fresh dill weed, chopped
1/4 C parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Cook the pasta just until done in salted water (if fresh, it should only take a few minutes), then drain and set aside. (Mine was cooked previously for the lasagna, so I just removed it from the fridge and cut it in ribbons.)
Saute the shallots (or onion) and garlic in the butter over med-low heat until softened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Increase heat to high and add the heavy cream and boil to reduce for 1 minute. Add the white wine, sugar, salt and pepper, and pinch of cayenne and reduce heat to low heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes more.
Add the crabmeat, pasta, and Parmesan cheese and gently toss together until the noodles and crab warm up and marry with the sauce. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with fresh dill and extra Parmesan.
Source: Adapted from RecipeZaar.
(Nolan’s first visit to the beach. In true Oregon fashion, it was cool and misting, but he fell asleep in the stroller before we even got there.)
Permalink
04.07.09
Posted in Appetizers, Baby Food, Bread, Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Dips & Spreads, Nuts, Grains & Legumes at 6:41 pm by julie
Amazing as it may seem (well, to me at least), our little boy turned one year old near the end of March. My mom flew out for the celebration, which was a small family affair combining Nolan’s birthday party with his dedication. I was mostly busy straightening up the house for company, but I made several savory hors d’oeuvres for our guests to snack on.
This is my homemade grissini with whipped spinach and chickpea hummus. The grissini was a recipe from the King Arthur cookbook, and made enough breadsticks for a week’s worth of snacking. I seasoned them variously with za’atar, smoked paprika, sesame seeds, and Parmesan cheese, and Nolan loved them, with or without a dip in the hummus. I also stuffed some split baby bell peppers with a mixture of feta and ricotta, but those were all eaten up before I remembered to get a photo.
Of course, the highlight of Nolan’s birthday party had to be his cake. Knowing that Nolan is already a big chocolate fan but not wanting the mess of chocolate frosting, I went with the devil’s food white-out cake in Baking: From My Home to Yours. It made the perfect baby birthday cake: moist and chocolatey, but not too big or fussy, and with that crumb coat, it just begged to be eaten with chubby little fingers.
Nolan had never eaten sweets more than a pinch at a time, so we weren’t sure how he would react to a whole slice of cake. But he dove right in without the slightest hesitation and proceeded to eat the entire thing. He didn’t even make all that big a mess, considering. My husband also posted a little video of Nolan chowing down on our main website if anyone is interested.
Permalink