The Pudding Incident

Coq au Vin

2010-10-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and decided today was the day to make it. I read a bunch of different recipes, and sorta mixed them together for what fit me best. I was skyping with Alison while I was making it, and her request, here is the recipe:

ingredients:
1 package chicken thighs (4-6 thighs), salt & peppered
4 slices bacon, chopped into little bits.
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced celery stalk
6-8 shallots, peeled and cut in half, long ways
1 package of small mushrooms, cleaned and half or quartered
1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Thyme
Marjoram
Parsley
Bay Leaf
2 Tbsp flour
2 c. Dry Red Wine

Directions:
Melt 2-3 Tbsp butter in a dutch oven or cast iron skillet.
Fry up your bacon until its hella crispy. Use a slotted utensil to remove the bacon, set aside.
In two batches, to keep the chicken from getting claustrophobic, brown the thighs in the buttery bacon grease. Yummmm. 3ish minutes per side should be fine. Put chicken with bacon.
Dump the shallots, garlic, celery and carrot into the grease. Get them all nice and caramelly soft. Remove and put with chicken and bacon.
Dump flour, parsley, thyme, marjoram, salt, pepper, and bay leaf into grease. Stir vigorously for a minute or two.
Pour in the 2 c. wine. Stir to mix.
Dump the chicken, veggies and bacon back in. Cover and simmer for an hour. While simmering, cook egg noodles (if you want. Alternately, you can serve with crusty bread. Or rice).
5-10 minutes before you are ready to chomp this deliciousness, add in the mushrooms and let them soak up some of the goodness (I'm not real well versed in mushroom cooking. There is a chance they would have been better served being cooked with the veggies in the beginning and simmer for the entire hour. I'll leave this decision to you).
Serve over noodles, with bread, or rice. Whatever floats your boat. Effing bomb.

Doughnut French Toast- AKA Joy in my mouth

2010-03-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

From Nigella......

I made it with whole wheat bread and skipped the 5 minute soaking. Came out great- and I served it with bacon. MMMMM good!

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup full fat milk
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 slices from a small white loaf or 2 slices from a large white loaf, each large slice cut in half
1-ounce butter, plus a drop flavourless oil, for frying
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl.

Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, fry the egg-soaked bread until golden and scorched in parts on both sides.

Put the sugar onto a plate and then dredge the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut.

2009-07-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I filled them with chocolate ice cream or pudding...mmmmmmmm

Easy Schmeasy Cream Puffs

2009-07-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

So, I had a lovely evening with my dear friend Jessica. We made rice pilaf, lemony chicken, and these wonderful cream puffs. They're soooooooooooo easy.

Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
3 cups whipped cream, pudding, or ice cream
Powdered sugar (optional)
directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet. In a medium saucepan combine water, butter, and salt. Bring to boiling. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.

2. Drop 12 heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and firm. Transfer cream puffs to a wire rack and let cool.

3. Cut tops from puffs; remove soft dough from inside. Fill with whipped cream, pudding, or ice cream. Replace tops. If desired, sift powdered sugar over tops.http://images.meredith.com/bhg/images/recipe/l_R090607.jpg

4. Makes 12 cream puffs

5. ��clairs: Prepare as above, except spoon dough into a decorating bag fitted with a large plain round tip (about 1/2-inch opening). Pipe 12 strips of dough, 3 inches apart, onto a greased baking sheet, making each strip 4 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 3/4 inch high. Bake, cool, and split, as in steps 2 and 3. Fill éclairs with whipped cream or pudding. Frost with 1 recipe Chocolate Glaze (page 163). Makes 12 éclairs.
Per éclair: 361 cal., 27 g total fat (16 g sat. fat), 142 mg chol., 27 g carbo., 171 mg sodium, 1 g fiber, 5 g pro.
Daily Values: 19% vit. A, 3% calcium, 7% iron
Exchanges: 11/2 Other Carbo., 5 Fat

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-07-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Cooking Light Bulletin Boards
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed, golden brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 large, ripe bananas, mashed-enough for 1-1/4 cups banana
1 cup milk
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
In a large bowl, put together, flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and the cinnamon; combine.
In another mixing vessel combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, egg, oil, and vanilla; mix well. Add this to the dry mixture previously prepared; mix just enough to combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spray muffin tins with cooking spray and fill tins until almost full. This will make 12 nicely sized muffins. You can double the recipe if you need more. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I made one main change: I swapped the all-purpose flour for Whole Wheat. Online I found a page that remarked:
•If wanting the product to be 100% whole wheat, substitute 1-cup whole-wheat flour minus 1-tablespoon for every cup of all-purpose or bread flour.
•To create a lighter whole-wheat loaf, add 1-tablespoon gluten flour and 1-tablespoon liquor for each cup of whole-wheat flour.

Breakfast on a Lazy Saturday

2009-02-07T04:50:00.000-08:00

D worked last night, so I got up at 7 and picked him up from the fuels branch. I then came home and promptly went back to sleep. At some point, he came in and went to bed. He'll be out till 4 or 5 this afternoon. I got up around 10, took Diesel for a walk, and then came home and stared in my fridge for a while, trying to decide what to eat. I grabbed the dough with the spanish wrapper that I could only hope was puff pastry, a half empty tub of ricotta cheese, and some cherries. I unrolled the dough, cut it into squares, and let it start to come to room temp. I mixed the ricotta with some powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest and a dash of salt. I then sliced and pitted the cherries. Spooning the ricotta into the squares of pastry, and adding a couple of cherry halves, I pinched them up into little packets, and threw them in the oven at 400 for what eventually turned into something between 20 and 30 minutes. They were so much tastier than I could've hoped! I enjoyed them with a cup of coffee and some milk.

The Pie Pear Incident

2009-02-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

So, after some prompting and some trial-and-error situations with the neighbor, I decided to attempt again, on my own, the Baked Pear Parcel from Veggie Belly.

I had four pears. I don't know if they were bosch, or whatever it was she called for in the recipe. I just know they were pears. For two of them, I decided to use leftover store-bought pie crust. They actually turned out pretty well. I didn't have chamomile tea, so I made the tea sauce using a cinnamon-apple tea instead.

For the next two pears, I followed her pie-crust recipe to the letter. *sigh* The result is considerably less impressive...

I present to you: Pear-nobyl:

note, if you will, not only the sugar-cookie-esque failure that is the forefront of the photo, but also the total and complete dough melt-down in the back that in no small way resembles pie-dough up-chuck. Alas...homemade dough is apparently not my forte!

Mm, mm, good and hearty chicken stock

2009-01-17T03:30:00.001-08:00

Thank you to Marina for extending the invitation to me to share some yum with everyone. I hope I can come up with some good stuff that others will want to eat!

My first recipe is some good, hearty chicken stock. This is especially good to have on hand when you're feeling not-so-great and can be used in a multitude of recipes, from the predictable chicken noodle soup to less predictable fantastic mashed potatoes - and I'll try to post that recipe sometime soon.

That's my Lodge pot. It's just like a Le Creuset, except cheaper and just as good. I love my Lodge pot.

3 chicken legs/thighs, bone in
2 chicken feet (really!)
the butt of a bunch of celery
a few celery stalks with the leaves on them
3-4 large carrots, washed, unpeeled, cut into large chunks
1 large onion, quartered, unpeeled
4 cloves of garlic
1T black peppercorns
1T coriander seeds
1t ginger (powdered)
salt & white pepper to taste (I used quite a bit of salt, probably at least 3T).

Cover with water, bring to a shimmer - slightly less than a simmer and let cook for about 3 hours. Remove the vegetables and chicken; discard the vegetables and de-bone and shred the chicken for later use.

The stock is a lovely deep color and the flavor is just incredible. It's a great weekend project on a cold day when you don't feel like leaving the house.

You can pour the stock into ice cube trays and freeze for small servings to drop into a variety of things (it's great to boil frozen peas in), or freeze in several individual containers.

Speeding the No Knead Bread

2008-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

From my Mom, who got it from Press Democrat

Makes 1 big loaf

Time: About 1 hour, plus 4½ hours' resting

3 cups bread flour

1 packet (¼ ounce) instant yeast

1½ teaspoons salt

-- Oil as needed

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1½ cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.

3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Breadstick Fingers

2008-10-31T10:26:00.001-07:00

Breadstick Fingers
Originally uploaded by grayd80

OMG! Brilliant!

Pumpkin Souffle, Guerrilla Style

2008-08-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe in a magazine and thought it sounded like a great use for those mini pumpkins, but didn't have time to copy it, so I snap-and-ran. This is my approximate understanding of the picture.

You Will Need:
8 Mini Pumpkins
4 Large Eggs
4 Tsp All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
3 oz. Cabot Habanero Cheddar, diced
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preheat Over to 350
Place uncut pumpkins in a shallow dish and add a 1/4 inch of water. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until tender. Let cool.
Reheat oven to 375
With a paring knife, remove tops of pumpkins. Remove and discard seeds. Remove some flesh, leaving a 1/4 inch shell.
Place four cups of pumpkin flesh in a mixing bowl. Separate eggs and mix yolks into pumpkin flesh, reserving whites in a separate bowl.
Stir flour and baking powder into flesh and egg mixture. Add cheese. Season with Salt and Pepper.
Whip egg whites into stiff peaks and fold into pumpkin mixture. Spoon into pumpkin shells.
Place on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Food Not Bombs Pizza

2008-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, as the undercurrent of Food Not Bombs Petaluma, I have discovered some excellent recipes that have been well-received by the Latino men we serve. We get donations from Petaluma Soup Kitchen and have had to improvise many a meal. Here is a winner:

Food Not Bombs Pizzitas:

Ingredients:

1. A few cans of the Pillsbury Biscuits (I believe it says "Golden Layers" on the box.)
2. A Jar of spaghetti sauce of your choice ( I enjoy Amy's Organic Mushroom and Garlic sauce, but Amy's is pretty local and probably does not extend to many other states, if even out of the county.)
3. One red bell pepper and one green bell pepper.
4. One bag/box cherry tomatoes
5. Cheese of your choice. (We used Chevre goat cheese because that's what we had.)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 and butter some cookie sheets.

Unroll the individual biscuits and poke holes in them so that they don't rise too much.

Warm up the sauce (maybe with some chopped up garlic?) and spice it as you like.

Then, on each of the little biscuits put a spoonful of sauce, some bell peppers (we used both colors for aesthetic value) and top with cheese. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

They are delicious, easy, and feed many.

Yeah pizza!

Sushi Crispies!

2008-08-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

HOW CUTE ARE THESE?!

There's definitely something fishy about these Japanese-style rolls. The rice filling is crispy, the wraps are fruity and your kids will love them.
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups crisped rice cereal
20 to 25 gummy worms
1 to 2 boxes fruit leather

Directions
Grease a 12- by 17-inch baking sheet. Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth.
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the rice cereal until it's evenly coated. Turn the baking sheet so that the shorter ends are at the top and bottom. Then press the marshmallow mixture onto the sheet, distributing it evenly.Starting at one side an inch up from the lower edge, place gummy worms atop the mixture end to end in a hortizontal line. Gently roll the lower edge of the marshmallow mixture over the gummy worms.
Then stop and cut the log away from the rest of the mixture. Use the same method to form 4 more logs. Slice each log into 1-inch-thick "sushi" rolls and wrap them individually with a strip of fruit leather.
Makes 4 to 5 dozen

Clean Out the Fridge Pasta

2008-08-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, my friends mutantly ginormous Zucchini yielded 2 dozen muffins and 2 loaves of bread, and there was still more left over (I shredded it all, remember, because I actually DON'T like zucchini). Well, always looking for creative ways to clean out the fridge, I settled on pasta sauce.

So here is my Clean out the Fridge Pasta

I boiled Whole Wheat Penne.

In a pan, heat some EVOO, and saute some minced garlic. Add as much shredded zucchini as you want. Saute that, too. Dump in whatever you have got. I used a can of diced tomatoes, a scoop of trader Joe's sun dried tomato bruschetta, and some artichoke hearts. Then I just let it bubble away for a while. When the pasta was ready, I dumped it on top.

A side note: I heard that Michael Phelps eats 10,000 calories a day to maintain his body weight, including a pound of pasta for lunch and another pound for dinner. In an effort to understand the sheer quantity of food he eats, I decided to boil the entire pound of penne.

I will be eating it all week long. It is no less than SIX ENTIRE MEALS for me.

Kitchen notes

2008-08-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have made both of the following recipes in the last 24 hours, and both are excellent.

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

FIVE MINUTE ICE-CREAM

INGREDIENTS

1 (10 ounce) package frozen sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Combine the frozen strawberries and sugar in a food processor or blender. Process until the fruit is roughly chopped. With the processor running, slowly pour in the heavy cream until fully incorporated. Serve immediately, or freeze for up to one week.

Weeknight Paella

2008-08-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

I cut this recipe out of our local free paper, The Link. I haven't had a chance to make it yet, but in honor of my quickly approaching move to Spain, here it is:

Ingredients:
3 C Quick Cooking brown rice
1 C frozen Peas
1 tbsp EVOO
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. cooked smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 tsp each of saffron threads, paprika, turmeric (i don't even know what that IS), and hot sauce (optional)
8 oz (1/2 lb) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Instructions
1- Prepare rice according to directions. When removed from heat, stir in peas, and let stand for 5 minutes
2- Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until done. Remove and set aside. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Add sausage and heat through.
3- Stir in tomatoes, spices and seasonings. Bring to a simmer, add shrimp. Cover and cook until Shrimp is done. Stir in Chicken and brown rice, and serve with pita triangles, crusty bread, etc.

KombatKween's Chicken Pot Pie

2008-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe on a forum somewhere, and thought I'd post it here. It looks yummy and easy, and as I have recently aquired a ginormous turkey that needs to be cooked and eaten, I will have plenty of meat to put in this bad boy.

6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
2 c chicken broth
1 c heavy cream or half & half
2 c veggies (corn, peas, carrots), you can use canned with the liquid drained off
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
4 white potatoes, cubed small and cooked
2 pie crusts

Melt butter in a pot and stir in flour to form a thick paste. Add salt and peppers. Stir in cream and chicken broth. Cook on a simmer until thick.
Add veggies, potatoes and chicken. Pour into pie crust, top with the other. Poke holes in the top to vent.
Cook at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes.If you double the ingredients, you can make 3 pies or 2 really full ones.

Crunchy Fruit Salad

2008-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

1 banana

1 kiwi

4 or 5 strawberries (depending on size)

1/2 red delicious apple

1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained and rinsed

1/4 to 1/2 vanilla yogurt (you can increase or decrease amount based on personal preference)

Grape nuts

Cut the strawberries, kiwi, banana and apple to the desired size and mix in a bowl with the oranges and yogurt. Add some grape nuts and there you have it! A cool, healthy and delicious snack or dessert!

Mini Margarita Pies

2008-05-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

1 pkg Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough (Pillsbury or Nestle break and bake 20 count)
1 pkg cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 or 2 limes
8 oz container of cool whip
Pretzels (optional)
Strawberries (Optional for garnish)

Cut each of the dough cookies in half. Roll into a ball and place in Mini Muffin Pan. Press with floured Mini Tart Shaper (or something that will form them into little pie crusts). Bake cookies at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for about 1 minute, then REPRESS because they will start to collapse.
Remove from Pan to Cooling Rack. Meanwhile, combined softened cream cheese with powdered sugar. Zest lime. Cut lime in half and press with Citrus Press. (Add both limes if you prefer lots of lime flavor!) Mix it all together. Add in Cool Whip. Pipe filling into cups however you can get it in there. If desired, add chopped pretzels to cup before filling (to add a bit of salty flavor), OR stick a pretzel stick into each cup. Garnish with strawberry slice if desired

stalking led to this!

2008-05-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Oreo Cookie Balls - it looks so good!

http://sakurakokitsa.blogspot.com/2007/12/coveted-oreo-ball-recipe.html

Maple Salmon

2008-04-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

This recipe is awesome for people who would like to eat more fish but can't stand the fishy taste! Sugar snap peas go great with this recipe!

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes or longer depending on how strong you want the flavor to be, turning once.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Tapatio

2008-04-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Tapatio is very possibly the most wonderful condiment sauce in the world. Of course, all my Latino friends have known about it forever, it is just recently that I have discovered the beauty of such a great sauce.
1. It's spicy.
2. It's not TOO spicy.
3. It's Tangy.
4. It surpassed Tabasco as my father's favorite condiment=Big Deal.
5. It's perfect for fake blood.
6. It tastes good with pretty much everything.

Now, for breakfast:

1 Tortilla (Trader Joe's "homemade" tortillas)
2 Eggs (scrambled)
Enough grated cheese. (Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Jack or any sharp cheddar)
TAPATIO

Warm up the tortilla in a hot pan (no oil) and scramble the eggs. put the cheese on the tortilla until slightly melted. Add egg. Add liberal amounts of Tapatio. A perfect breakfast.

Optional: Add a couple of spoons of Corn and Black Bean Salsa that marina posted awhile ago. It's divine.

Chicken Adobo in Tangy Coconut Sauce

2008-03-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

1 lb boneless chicken, cut up
1 bay leaf
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 TBSP soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c rice vinegar
4 green jalapenos or 1/2 habanero finey chopped
1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
3 Tbsp Veggie Oil
1/2 C coconut milk

Put everything EXCEPT the veggie oil and coconut milk in the cast iron skillet and turn heat to high. Once bubbly, turn to low and let simmer till chicken is cooked, about 15 minute. Drain the liquid. SAVE IT.

In a wok, or in the skillet, heat the veggie oil over med/high heat. Cook the chicken till golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add the liquid from before. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer about 20-30 minutes, or until most liquid is gone. Now add coconut milk, and heat until warm, 3-4 minutes. Serve hot, maybe with rice?

Hello Spring! - Lemon-Basil Risotto

2008-03-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Welcoming spring always seems best done with food...

However, after an exhausting week and un-restful weekend, I woke from a 3 hour nap on Easter Sunday afternoon with no idea what to make for dinner, and very little energy with which to whip up something appropriate for the occasion.

Thank goodness for having trekked to farmer's market Sunday Morning! After digging through the pantry and assembling a pile of fresh goodies picked in the fields mere hours before, I found that I had more than enough for a simple and delicious dish that tasted entirely of springtime.

*Note the giant peep bunny supervising in the background - a plush toy that somehow found it's way into the household and has tricked many a sweet-toothed guest*

There can be many variations on this same theme, and the basic template for this risotto is as follows:

1-2 cups chopped greens (rainbow chard, spinach, kale...)
2 cups water
2-3 cloves crushed/minced garlic (a handful of chopped onions would fit well here too)
4 tbls extra virgin olive oil
2 cups (14 oz) arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 cups stock (your preference, I used chicken)
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper
a hearty handful chopped fresh basil (no basil? try a smaller handful of parsley, thyme, rosemary...maybe a few spoonfuls of pesto...)
optional top-secret nontraditional ingredient - 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed to pale green-white section, tough outer leaves removed, smashed slightly with the flat of a knife then cut into approx. 1 inch sections
more extras - 2 tbls butter, grated Parmesan cheese

Bring water to a boil (depending on the size of your steamer, you may need to start with half of the water and add more as it boils off) add optional lemongrass. Over this, steam the chopped greens - when greens are just wilted and tender, remove from heat and set aside. Reserve the two cups water, and add to it the 4 cups of stock - keep this mixture at a simmer.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, saute the garlic/onion in the oil over medium-high heat until it is soft. Add the steamed greens and cook for about 1 minute. Increase the heat slightly and add the rice; stir for 2 minutes. Add the wine, and when it has been absorbed, gradually add just enough boiling stock to barely cover the rice.

Now, all that is required is patience. Stir frequently - as the liquid is absorbed, gradually add more.

After about 10 minutes, add the lemon rind, stirring well.

(I have found with risotto that the trick is to hover. Watch closely and you will see that the process begins slowly, and you will wonder if that much rice can possibly absorb that much liquid, but as soon as you see the rice begin to soften and expand, it will become easier and easier to tell when to stir and when to add more liquid. Towards the end of about 15-18 minutes, absorption will slow, and it is often best to turn off the heat just after adding the last ladle-full of stock. Keep stirring!)

After the last of the stock, add butter, grated cheese, lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper to taste. A slight drizzle of balsamic vinegar can add a nice twist, and I have to admit, it was hard not to wish for some grilled salmon alongside. Next time!

Tirmimousse

2008-02-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

(another TJ's recipe)
(also, I don't HAVE my cookbook, so I'm going to try to remember the recipe but it might change after I get it back from my friend)

You will need:
1/2 tub mascarpone cheese
2 tbs Marsala wine
Approx 14 oz of DARK chocolate (I used 71% cocoa)
Instant coffee
2 TBS hot water
1 pint heavy whipping creme

I *think* that is everything. Use the water to turn the instant coffee into coffee. Blend together everything except the chocolate in a blender or food processor. Melt the chocolate. I put the chocolate in a glass bowl, and put the bowl in a pot of hot/boiling water. When the cocoa is melted, dump it into the mixture and stir it until everything is a melty gooodness. Dump it into glasses and refridgerate for 2+ hours. If you would like, garnish with a strawberry or a chocolate truffle from Trader joes!

Steph's Super Fantastic Apple Pie

2008-02-29T20:29:00.001-08:00

Pie crust for 9" pie plate-you'll need top and bottom
5 large or 7 small Rome apples, sliced
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
6 slices of butter

Slice Rome apples and arrange into 1st layer in pie shell.
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl (mixture should be dark) and sprinkle mixture over sliced apples.
Repeat until apples are slightly taller than the top of the pie plate.
Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top, placing 6 slices of butter on the top.
Cover with pie crust, cut tiny slices in the top crust for ventilation.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1 hour 15 minutes, top will be brown.

Dessert for Recyclers

2008-02-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

After Kelsey made her mocha cream puffs, there was plenty of leftover chocolate cream filling, which had a weird gluey texture. Never one to throw away perfectly edible food (even if it doesn't taste good), I devised a way to salvage these leftovers.

1 batch Chocolate Cream filling from the Mocha-filled Cream Puffs
1 pint whipping cream
1 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 dash salt
1 pound cake, sliced
Unsweetened cocoa powder

Whip the cream with sugar, vanilla, and salt until stiff but not butter. Mix half of the whipped cream with the leftover chocolate cream filling. Place half of the pound cake slices on the bottom of an 8" x 8" pan, spread with half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat layers, then top the whole creation with reserved whipped cream. Dust top with cocoa powder. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: If desired, drizzle the pound cake slices with coffee or liqueur.

Cool fact...

2008-02-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

Even though the pictures of my desserts aren't mine...my desserts actually DID look like these ones. Hurrah!

Brownie Pudding Cake

2008-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

THIS IS THE REAL ENTRY!!!! This recipe is quite deceitful as there is no pudding involved in the process. Hm.... This cake was eaten during an "The Office" marathon with my radical friends. The general consensus was that it's divine when warm, and not as good when cooled down. A quick and easy recipe. Unlike the cream puffs which were terribly hard.

Heat Oven to 350*F.
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 Cup sugar
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Cup milk
1 TBS cooking oil
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 Cup boiling water

In a bowl add flour, baking powder, 1/4 Cup sugar, and ONE TABLESPOON of cocoa powder. Add milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir till smooth and put in a small baking casserole dishy thing.

Add the remaining TWO TABLESPOONS of cocoa powder and the 1/3 Cup sugar. Gradually add the boiling water.

Pour this mixture over the batter evenly. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Eat warm with some vanilla ice cream or sweet cream of some sort.

ENJOY...it's bomb.

Mocha-Filled Cream Puffs

2008-02-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

I made two desserts for the challenge, but this one I decided should not be considered...

I ate this with two friends. We decided, and tested to prove later, that the recipe turns out better with a few squirts of Chocolate sauce and about 1 cup of whipped cream mixed into the cream filling. You could probably do away with the coffee as well. of course, then, it would just be cream puffs, not mocha cream puffs. But here is the original recipe.

Chocolate-Filled Cream Puffs
Ingredients:
CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLING(recipe follows)
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
Directions:

2. Heat oven to 400°F. Heat water, butter and salt to rolling boil in medium saucepan. Add flour all at once; stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth and velvety. Drop batter by spoonfuls into 12 balls (about 1/4 cup) onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. While puff is warm, horizontally slice off small portion of top; reserve tops. Remove any soft pieces of dough from inside puff; cool completely on wire rack. Fill puffs with CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLING. Replace tops.

CHOCOLATE MOCHA CREAM FILLING

1-1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 Tbs Powdered Instant Coffee

1. Stir together sugar, cocoa, coffee, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan; gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils; boil and stir 1 minute.

2. Remove from heat; gradually stir about 1 cup hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return all egg mixture to saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until cold. Do not stir. About 3 cups filling.

February's Challenge: Dessert

2008-02-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

It's still cold out most places and this is the month when the store shelves are full of pink and red candy. So what to do?

Let's celebrate our sweet-tooth cravings with some real desserts! The rules are as follows:

1) Make it tasty! - all cooking methods are open, all flavors and styles too. Extra credit for attempting a new technique, or putting a new twist on a flavor we might not usually find in desserts. Remember, The Pudding Incident is about being adventerous in the kitchen!

2) Share it! - we will do away with the scoring on this round, and if you enter a recipe, you are encouraged to also vote for your favorite from amongst your competitors (via comments). That said, feedback from your guinea-pigs is helpful and encouraged.

3) Post your recipe by midnight, the 29th of this month. If you would like to vote, please do so by that time as well.

Winner gets a gift card, and will be asked to contribute ideas for the next month's challenge!

(Note: Please do not add your recipes as tags when posting - we would like to keep the tags as more of a category-sorting method, so if you bake, add the baking tag, but please do not add the name of your recipe as a tag.)

Fig and Date Bread

2008-02-10T15:05:00.001-08:00

This recipe is tried and true... and to die for!

Scant 2.5 cups whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 Tbl. salt
1 oz/30 g yeast
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 Tbl. Molasses
1.25 cups water
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
1/2 cup dates, chopped

* Makes 2 small loaves

1. Put the flours, salt, yeast, butter, molasses, and water into a bowl and mix for 5 minutes. Tip out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 5 minutes, then put the dough back in the bowl and let rise for 1 hour.

2. Line a baking sheet. Incorporate the figs and dates into the dough, then divide into two pieces. Shape the pieces into balls, then place on the baking sheet and let rise for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 425F/220C. Dust the loaves with flour and, using a knife, make three equidistant horizontal cuts all around each ball. Bake for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool

I made a mascarpone spread and it was awesome with the bread!

1 Small container marscapone cheese
2 Tbl. honey
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract (add more if you please)

Mix all ingredients together well. Spread on bread- enjoy!

and the winner is...

2008-02-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

Kelsey and her fabulous falafel!

She adventured out into new cooking territory, trying both new ingredients and a new recipe/cooking style, while making something that is an accessible and tasty winter-time meal.

She wins a gift card to Le Gourmet Chef, and the title of First Pudding Incident Challenge winner!

ALERT! ALERT! ALLISON!

2008-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

This recipe is in my "Cooking w/ TJ's" Cookbook:

Perfectly Paired Gorgonzola Quesadillas
4 Tortillas
1 (8 oz) Pkg Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese (or maybe bleu, for the Obsessed?)
1 Pear, thinly sliced (fresh or jarred [preserved, not impacted])
1 Tbsp Butter
1 C Pear Sauce (i guess available at TJs?)
1/4 C Candied Walnuts

(from here there are a lot of instructions, but what they boil down to is this)
1. Assemble Quesadilla
2. Cook quesadilla (preferably in a cast iron skillet)

Make it and tell me how it is. K, thx.

Spinach Pasta with Homemade tomato sauce

2008-01-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

Spinach Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce

I should clarify that my secret ingredient was: spinach pasta.
But also - though I have used most of these ingredients before, I have never used them together in this manner. This was my first time making sauce and melting the goat cheese.

Served with: French Bread with chive and herb goat cheese
Spinach
Eiswein & Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake.

Ingredients:
1 package spinach pasta
4 lage roma tomatoes
1 large red pepper
1 package sliced mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
Basil, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 large yellow onion
1 bag of fresh baby spinach
EVOO
1/2 loaf french bread
garlic and herb goatcheese
2 tsp sugar

Toss the tomatoes (cut up with the red pepper) in the blender until it becomes a liquid solidified mass. Add some EVOO to the pan and diced onions. Let the onions cook until they are almost clear and add the mushrooms and sauce. dice garlic and include that also. Add spices as you see fit, I added salt, pepper, garlic salt, sugar and basil. Cook until it boils and then reduce to a simmer.

Preheat the oven 350. Line baking sheet with tinfoil. Cut french bread into rounds and place on foil. Put goat cheese on top of the rounds.

Put the french bread in the oven for about 20 minutes. Goat cheese will not melt - much.

Boil water and add pasta, it only takes about 4-5 minutes to make it al dente.

I cooked my spinach in a pan with EVOO and salt and pepper on medium until it turns bright green and wilts slightly.

For dessert we will drink Eiswein and eat cheesecake. Good no?

I shared with with Brian - he didn't have anything left on his plate!

Here is Brian's Haiku about the experience:
Cooking with my gal
reminiscent of old world
yum in my tummy

Here is the review::
On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest)

1. Was this dish appetizing? (1-5) What were your first impressions? (smell, appearance)
The dish looked incredibly fresh, and smelled fantastic! 5

2. Did it taste good? (1-5) What stood out about it? (flavors, heat, textures)
It tasted better than expected. 5/ All fresh ingredients for sauce; robust, earthy flavors; very warm, not too hot; felt mushrooms, onions, garlic & pasta dancing in sauce. 5

3. Did the cook appear flustered or swear at all while making it - did this dish appear challenging? Were you apprehensive? (1-5)
Cook never felt or showed frustration or anger; dish did not appear challenging; I was not apprehensive at all. 5

4. Was the special ingredient new to you? How special do you think it was? (1-5)
Special ingredient was not new to me(spinach pasta), though I have seldom had it; in this dish, it wasn't too special, though it added extra flavor. 4

5. Would you eat this again? What is the leftover potential of this dish? (1-5)
I would definitely eat this again!; What leftovers? 5

Tasty Bruschetta Bread

2008-01-28T07:28:00.001-08:00

More love from the Trader Joe's Cookbook!

You will need all of two ingredients:
1 bag of Trader Joe's Pizza Dough
1 jar of Trader Joe's Bruschetta (I like the sun dried tomato, others prefer the olive or the veggie)

Preheat to 425. On a floured surface, roll or man-handle your dough into a rectangle approx 6x15 inches (or whatever will fit on your pizza stone/cookie sheet). Spoon about a 1/2 cup of bruschetta down the middle of the dough. As a crowd pleaser, I usually make half olive, half sun dried tomato. Pull up and pinch the sides of the dough to make a long loaf-like thingie. Pinch well, every single one I've made so far has unpinched itself. Lay it on pizza stone (or cookie sheet) seam-side down. The recipe says to bake for 30-35 minutes, I say start checking in the 20 minute range. Pull it out when the loaf looks browny/done. Let it cool for a few, slice into sections and enjoy.

Haiku:
Like the Winter Frost
This Bread has something hidden
Just below the crust.

::::CHALLENGE::::
I think this recipe would be an EXCELLENT dessert if you swapped the bruschetta for a peanut butter/nutella mix. If someone beats me to the punch on this one, PLEASE POST IT. I have one bag of dough left, and peanut butter, but no nutella.

Blue Cheese, Pear & Carmelized Onion Pizza

2008-01-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

This pizza was so good that between two of us we ate the whole thing before it had time to get cold. Goes great with beer and movies on the couch on yet another windy and rainy winter evening.

You will need:

1 recipe pizza dough - I cheat and use Trader Joe's pizza-dough, and for this recipe I used whole wheat - makes a medium pizza

1 pear, sliced into thin wedges - I can't imagine any variety of pear that wouldn't work, I had an asian pear which, sliced into smaller wedges, baked up sweet but still firm and juicy.

as much mozarella as you like, shredded - I ended up using one of those individually packaged balls

at least 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed

1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled - I had a delicious Danish Blue on hand, and as this is the first time I have cooked/baked with blue cheese, I wanted to be sure the flavor would not overwhelm the sweetness of the onions and pear. The general consenseus was that the pizza needed a little more blue cheese, but not by much!

1 medium onion, carmelized - slice, cook in 1 tbls butter and 2 tbls olive oil over very-low-heat for about an hour (stirring/flipping occasionally), then cook over medium-high heat (stirring often) until golden brown

***optional*** about 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped small - I wanted a little extra filler but not too much flavor

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

If dough is refrigerated, leave out at room temperature for 1/2 an hour.

Mix in a bowl about two-thirds of the shredded mozarella with the chopped broccoli, add half of crushed/chopped garlic, mix, set aside.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface - as often as I try for a nice circular shape, I usually end up with a rustic rectangle, which fits better on my lightly oiled cookie-sheet anyhow. Once desired geometry is achieved, transfer dough to cookie-sheet, rub surface lightly with olive oil.

Spread all of the mozarella-broccoli mixture first. Then pears, onions, blue cheese. Top with the last of the mozarella and garlic.

Bake for about 10 minutes

Spinach and Spicy Turkey Sausage

2008-01-23T03:59:00.000-08:00

I tried this on my husband and a friend of mine and it turned out pretty tasty! The original recipe called for gnocchi or any other pasta you like. I tried a couple different types, finding a long thin noodle (like spaghetti or fettuccine) worked best for me.

2 Tb. Butter
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
2-3 Spicy Turkey Sausages, casing removed
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chopped Cremini mushrooms
1 package baby spinach
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1/2 to 1 lb. cooked pasta of choice

1. Melt butter in pan, then add onion. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the sausage, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces as it cooks. They should be done in about 5 minutes.
3. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, add the mushrooms and let simmer for a minute or two.
4. Add the spinach and cook until wilted.

Serve the Sausage mixture over your choice of pasta. Season with salt and pepper, and (my favorite) a little fresh parmesan or romano cheese. Enjoy!

Cooking Challenge: Fabulous Falafel

2008-01-20T17:06:00.001-08:00

Well, I am a competitor.
Weather: BFC= Butt Freezing Cold.

Meal: Falafel with Cucumber Yogurt and Tahini Sauces.

Special Ingredient: Turmeric spice and Yogurt (I have truthfully never cooked with either, I have eaten both, but never cooked.)

It is best to start with the Cucumber Yogurt sauce as it should be cold when you finish the rest of the meal.

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:
-2 small/medium cucumber
-2/3 Cup plain yogurt
-1/2 Tsp. Dill spice
Optional: 1 tsp fresh mint.

Mix together and chill.

Tahini Sauce:

-1 Cup tahini
-some Lemon
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Water

Finely chop the cloves of garlic. Mix together tahini and garlic. Add 1 tsb. of water at a time until the mixture is like a thick paste. Add lemon juice until delightfully tangy. Add salt and pepper to season to your taste. Set aside. Do no cool as it is better served warm.

Falafels:

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Mix everything together except the oil. Duh. The mixture should be able to stick together, but should not stick to you. Add breadcrumbs as needed. Make little balls of the mixture that are about 1 1/2 inch long and slightly flatten.

Warm up the oil in your deep fryer or, if you're old skool like us, in your skillet. Wait until it's nice and hot. Plop in the falafels and cook until dark brown on the outside.

For serving: Warm up some pita bread, preferable the kind that opens up, and fill with about two spoonfuls of the cucumber yogurt sauce. Put a falafel piece or two inside and top with warm tahini sauce. It's delicious.

Now, you have all read my wonderful recipe, and Taylor, my good friend, was my guinea pig who filled out the survey. Here are her comments that we have posted together:

1. " Yes, this dish was very appetizing. Out of 5 points: 5. My first impression was that it looked and smelled exactly like falafels I've eaten in the past."

2. It tasted delicious. Out of 5 points: 5. It looked a little bit more crumbly that most falafels I'd eaten, but it tasted like a perfect mixture of garbanzo beans and crumbly bread. Also, it wasn't too spicy, which is a problem I have encountered in the past."

3. "No, the cook was very calm, although a bit bewildered when the falafel balls began to crumble. This dish appeared to have taken a lot of effort. Out of 5 points: 4."

4. "The special ingredient was yogurt which is not new to me, but I haven't come across it in cooking besides smoothies, for example. So it was 'special' in the context of the meal. Out of 5 points: 4."

5. "I would definitely eat this again. It was great! However, the leftover potential was not perfect for this size batch, because we finished everything, or maybe we were just really hungry. Out of 5 points: 3."

Meal: Falafels
By: Kelsey Otis
Eaten By: Taylor Norman

Easy Louisa's Tiramisu

2008-01-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

This is my own original recipe, which I haven't made since last century, but I am going to make it today.

2 packages ladyfingers, or one sliced pound cake
1 small carton Cool Whip, or 1 pint whipped cream
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cold, strong coffee
2 Tbs. brandy, rum, or liqueur (Kahlua, for example)
1 package Jello flan mix
Powdered cocoa

Note: When I first developed this recipe, there was a product on the market called Jello Americana egg custard, which is what I used. Apparently that product has been discontinued (at least where I shop it has), but the custard mix in Jello flan is the same. So...

1. Prepare the custard in the Jello flan mix according to the instructions, and let cool to lukewarm.
2. Place half of the ladyfingers or pound cake slices on the bottom of an 8-inch square pan.
3. Mix coffee and liquor, and pour half of that mixture over cake.
4. Mix sour cream with Cool Whip or whipped cream, then mix that with the custard. Spread half of that mixture over the cake.
5. Repeat layers.
6. Sprinkle top with powdered cocoa.
7. Cover and chill 4 hours or overnight. That is, chill the tiramisu.

Kimberly's Entry

2008-01-17T13:43:00.002-08:00

For the competition: Orzo Salad Soup
Desert to follow this: Chocolate Come Volcano Cake

Weather in Tacoma: Grey, cloudy and constant rain

Box of Orzo Pasta
Halved Slepdido Tomatoes
**Cut up Hearts of Palm- never used ingredient
Artichoke Hearts quartered
Perlini Mozzarella Cheese
Chopped Garlic
Cut Scallions
Olives- as many & as small as you want
Olive Oil- enough to keep the pasta loose
Cut up Sun Dried Tomatoes
Diagonally cut Carrots
Veggie Broth
Butternut Squash Soup
Last bit of pasta sauce at the bottom of the jar

Cook the Orzo in water, the bit of pasta sauce, and a bit of veggie broth. Have a large pot of Veggie broth, butternut squash soup (like half a cup, or as much as you like) and combine all the ingredients and mix. Serve warm with preferred kind of bread for dipping.

This will feed you, and another person for about four meals. You can add and subtract what ingredients you prefer. Jack added some Parmesan cheese on top of his. You can also save some of the mixture from the broth and have just Orzo pasta, if your weather is hot.

Come Cake Brownie Explosion

Box of Brownie Mix
Shredded Coconut
**Coconut Milk—never used ingredient
Powered Sugar

Add your preferred amount of shredded coconut to the brownie batter, and include a dash of coconut milk as well. Bake brownie batter in small bunt cake molds.

When brownies are done baking, let them cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from the mold.
Once removed sprinkle brownies with the powered sugar, follow with the shredded coconut. Fill the center of each brownie with the coconut milk- wala! You have make Come Cake Brownie Explosion! To make more indulgent pour warmed chocolate sauce over the top. Enjoy!!

Kimberly

2008-01-17T13:43:00.001-08:00

A trader joe's cheater recipe- aka I had ants

2008-01-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

So my kitchen is invested with black nasties that I CANNOT stand. My roommates are all MIA currently in foreign countries and we have a pretty big kitchen. so half the food we had has been infested and trashed. as a result - I had to make dinner while cleaning and it had to be safe.

Trader joe's battered tilapia from the frozen section

and 1 jar of Corn Tortilla Soup also from TJs

Together- it was good- but it gave me wicked heartburn, so I put it on a low scale. I think it was the soup -the fish was good...

Holy Hotness!

2008-01-16T18:32:00.001-08:00

So, here is my recipe for the Challenge!

Wicked Hot Pasta from Some like it Hot

1 7oz can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo (I have never cooked with this before)
1/2 C Dry Red Wine
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 1/2 Tbsp Pine Nuts

Cooked Spaghetti
Chunks of cooked chicken (optional)

Chop up the Chipotles. Put the chopped peppers, adobo sauce, wine, tomato paste and pine nuts into a sauce pan over medium heat until warmed through. Add to the pasta. Dump a bunch of cheese on top.

OH MY GOD. It's delicious. And roughly the hottest thing ever made! Review to follow!

Hotter than Hades,
the Cheese doesn't help to cut
Though the searing pain

January Challenge - Staying Ahead of the Weather

2008-01-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

For the record, this is not a communist blog. All are not created equal. SOMEONE(S) has to run the show.
That said, the powers that be got together and decided we need to do something to help stimulate more frequent posting.
So.
We are having a food challenge. Probably monthly. I realize its late in the month to start, but you have two weeks to get you crap together.
So here is the Challenge!

"STAYING AHEAD OF THE WEATHER"

Create a dish that helps you beat the weather where you are at using an ingredient you have never used before. Serve it to at least 1 other person, and have them fill out a quick questionairre (we will provide that shortly). We will take an average of the scores given, and pick a winner. The prize will be a gift card to a somehow-approriate venue.

FOR EXAMPLE: Here in Virginia, temperatures are hovering near Absolute Zero on the Kelvin Scale. Co-incidentally, I received a cookbook called "Some Like it Hot". I plan to find a recipe that requires an igredient I have never cooked with before that will sear my senses so entirely that I won't be able to feel the cold till next winter.
If you live in a part of the country/world that is experiencing hot weather, perhaps a cold salad with some odd lettuce? The options are limitless.

To enter, simply post about your culinary adventure by midnight, January 31st. Have your tester rate from 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest) your dish in these categories:

1. Was this dish appetizing? (1-5) What were your first impressions? (smell, appearance)
2. Did it taste good? (1-5) What stood out about it? (flavors, heat, textures)
3. Did the cook appear flustered or swear at all while making it - did this dish appear challenging? Were you apprehensive? (1-5)
4. Was the special ingredient new to you? How special do you think it was? (1-5)
5. Would you eat this again? What is the leftover potential of this dish? (1-5)

Bonus if you somehow manage to get your guinea pigs to write a haiku about your dish.

Things I can't cook to save my life

2008-01-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hashbrowns - the last attempt nearly brought me to tears. Perhaps I am using the wrong potatoes, perhaps I am simply not patient enough...whatever it is, even Joy of Cooking can't save me. I make hopeless hashbrowns.

And pancakes! So simple and yet, most batches come out somewhat edible but neither golden-brown fluffy nor shaped like anything resembling a pancake.

(Yet I was able to make an omelette beautifully for the first-time-ever a few days ago. Everything about it was perfect, and it almost looked too pretty to eat. What gives?)

So there you have it - breakfast is my weakness, and unless you like oatmeal or toast, I suggest you only come over for dinner.

What seemingly simple things have you been defeated by in your kitchen?

Cha Shu Bao

2008-01-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

I remember these Cantonese bread dumplings from childhood, but I currently live in a place where dim sum is nearly impossible to find. My nostalgia finally compelled me to dig into the very confusing Encyclopedia of Chinese Food and Cooking that I purchased at a garage sale. These tasty doughy treats can be stuffed with just about anything, and are great additions to your quick-meal reserves in the freezer. A short steam, and you've got a warm easy meal.

First, the dough:

Yes, it is a word problem of sorts. This cookbook makes me run in circles just trying to keep track of the next step. Let me translate...

Chinese Bread - Man To - recipe from Peking

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pkg. dry yeast
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift the flour, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl.

Mix the warm water and 2 tablespoons sugar in measuring cup. Stir in yeast slowly, mix well.

Add melted butter to the yeast mixture.

Hollow out center of the flour mixture, add the yeast mixture, mix thoroughly.

Knead lightly on floured board until dough is smooth and elastic. DO NOT OVER-KNEAD (like I did - the dough will be more chewy than fluffy)

Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise at room temp. until it doubles in bulk, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Divide dough into 20 3-4 inch round pieces and let rise again while you prepare the filling.

The Filling:

Traditionally, the filling is made up of red bean curd cheese (1 tbls) , sugar (1/2 tsp.), cornstarch (1 tbls.), water (3 tbls.), and chopped BBQ pork (2 cups). Stir fry, then let cool before filling each dough ball with 1 tbls. of the filling mixture, pressing it into the center of the dough and then smoothing over to seal it in.

I shredded some leftover pork rib meat, chopped up some leftover molasses-glazed sweet potatoes, and mixed it all in with a touch of plum sauce, salt and pepper. I imagine there are all kinds of tasty variations on this theme, and vegetarian options would be pretty simple as well.

If you want to freeze some dumplings for later, arrange them on a cookie sheet and stick it the freezer, once frozen toss them into a bag for easy storage.

To cook, simply steam in a steamer or steamer basket over rapidly boiling water for 15 minutes. I can recall microwaving the Cha Shu Baos my mother would buy, but have not yet tried to cook this home-made version that way.

Best Cookbook EVER

2007-12-31T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is an incredible and fantastic cookbook. You want it.

Coconut Mango Rice (aka, Heaven)

2007-12-31T16:54:00.000-08:00

From the Oh So Fantastic "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's":

1/2 C Jasmine Rice
1/2 C water
1 C + 1/4 C Lite Coconut Milk
3 Tbsp Sugar
MANGO!

Combine the rice, water, sugar and 1 C Coconut Milk in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes (or until rice is cooked), stirring occasionally. When rice is cooked, remove from heat and allow to sit for another 10 minutes.

Put dallop of rice on a plate. Drizzle a little of the reserved coconut milk on top, allowing to drip down the sides. Place mango on top. Enjoy!

Green Lentil Soup

2007-11-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Ahhh... comfort food...

1 cup green lentils (red or puy lentils may be substituted)
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, crushed + 3/4 teaspoon tumeric
OR
1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder

2 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

(I added to this recipe 1 bay leaf and 1 sprig of fresh rosemary)

Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Drain.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a pan and saute two-thirds of the chopped onion with the garlic, cumin, tumeric (or curry powder) for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the lentils, stock, and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft.

Saute the remaining onion in the remaining oil until golden.

Use a potato masher to lightly mash the lentils and make the soup pulpy. Reheat gently and season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fried onions and cilantro (I added some grated parmesan cheese and chili-pepper flakes)

A Lovely Autumn Meal

2007-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is the meal I, alone, made from scratch, all of it, for my mother's Birthday! It was divine.

"Warm spices and caramelized onions underscore the natural sweetness of pumpkin and butternut squash in this comforting dish. The easy swirl of ginger butter at the end adds a bit of flavor and a lot of style. Prep and Cook Time: 1 3/4 hours. Notes: You can substitute 3 1/2 lbs. packaged peeled-and-cubed butternut squash for the pumpkin and squash called for below: Skip steps 1 and 3, decrease the amount of broth to 7 cups, and add the squash with the broth and carrots to the onion mixture in step 4. Cook until all vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes."

Ingredients
2 pounds Sugar Pie or other baking pumpkin
2 pounds butternut or acorn squash
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
7 tablespoons butter, divided
2 medium onions, chopped
About 1 tsp. salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger, divided
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seeds (from about 4 pods)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Cut pumpkin and squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and any stringy parts. Put flesh side up in a large roasting pan with 1 cup broth. Cover pan with foil and bake until vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, melt 3 tbsp. butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and 1 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and start to look creamy, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low or medium-low and cook onions, stirring every few minutes, until they turn a caramel color and become quite sweet, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

3. When pumpkin and squash are tender, scoop out flesh and set aside; discard skins. Reserve any liquid in bottom of pan.

4. Return pot with onions to medium-high heat. Add garlic and 2 tbsp. fresh ginger. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add remaining 7 cups broth, the carrots, cooked pumpkin and squash, and reserved liquid from roasting pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.

5. Whirl vegetables in a blender (in batches) until completely smooth. (For silky-smooth soup, you can pour the puréed soup through a strainer.) Return to pot and stir in brown sugar. Season with salt to taste. Keep warm over low heat.

6. Put a small bowl or measuring cup next to the stove. Melt remaining 4 tbsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tsp. fresh ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter starts to foam. Stir mixture constantly until it starts to brown. Pour mixture into waiting bowl or measuring cup. Divide soup among 8 bowls and serve hot, with a swirl of ginger browned butter in each serving.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving.

Yield
Makes 8 servings

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 248(36% from fat); FAT 10g (sat 6.3g); PROTEIN 5.6g; CHOLESTEROL 27mg; SODIUM 982mg; FIBER 3.2g;
CARBOHYDRATE 37g

I ALSO made this!!! From scratch, mind you, and if any of you are familiar with my past cooking endeavors, you will be impressed at my progress!

Ingredients
1 package (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
About 1 cup semolina flour
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 medium red onion
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
4 ounces gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled

Preparation
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water (about 100°). Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in flours, 2 tbsp. oil, and 1 tsp. salt. (Dough will be stiff.) Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place to rise until 1 1/2 times its original volume, about 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, halve onion lengthwise, peel, and thinly slice. In a bowl, combine onion and rosemary with remaining 2 tbsp. oil, the vinegar, remaining 1 tsp. salt, and the chile flakes. Cover; set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly sprinkle 2 baking sheets with semolina and set aside. Turn risen dough out onto a floured surface. Knead dough just until it feels smooth, about 10 times. Divide into 32 balls. Set 16 balls aside and cover with plastic wrap; roll the others as thinly as possible. Put 8 rounds on each baking sheet. Top each with a scant 1 tbsp. onion mixture and 1 1/2 tsp. blue cheese. Bake until browned and sizzling, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls, onion mixture, and cheese. Serve hot or warm.

Wine pairing: Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Vineyard Riesling 2006 (Columbia Valley; $14)

Note: Nutritional analysis is per flatbread.

Yield
Makes 32 small flatbreads

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 80(34% from fat); FAT 3g (sat 1g); PROTEIN 2.4g; CHOLESTEROL 3.1mg; SODIUM 195mg; FIBER 0.5g; CARBOHYDRATE 11g

Yummy!

Seasonal tradition

2007-10-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

We are fast approaching the time of year when everything seems to revolve around food. In particular, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. What are some of your favorite family food traditions from this time of year? What un-traditional things have you added to your holiday menu?

2007-10-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

So, for those who have seen Parker, mine and Marina's brother, we know how skinny that kid is. He also eats immense amount of food. However, he has one snack that I think, if allowed, he would live on forever: Graham crackers with peanut butter and nutella.

Ingredients:

Graham crackers (regular is preferred, but cinnamon, chocolated, etc are acceptable.)
Jar of Peanut Butter
Jar of Nutelle (available in most grocery stores.)
Milk

Utensils:
Spreading knife (butter knife.)
Cup (for the milk)
Massive amounts of napkins

Directions:
1. Fill glass with milk.
2. Take one full graham cracker and snap it in two to make two, equally sized halves.
3. On one half, evenly spread peanut butter
4. On second half, evenly spread nutella.
5. Smoosh halfs together in sandwich fashion
6. Dip in milk for 2-3 seconds.
7. Enjoy.

Though it seems simple and self-explanitory, this snack is filling, fatty, and fantastic. Good for growth, both vertically and horizontally.

Super Easy Yummy Food - Orzo Salad

2007-10-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Check it out-

Boil about 8 oz of Orzo till its al dente. Remove from heat, add some frozen peas to the hot water. While the Peas are warming, in a bowl dump 1/3 c. Olive Oil and Vinegar salad dressing, a package of crumbled feta (i used garlic herb), and if you so desire, fresh mint/garbanzo beans/tuna/whatever turns you on.

Drain the Orzo and Peas, dump into the bowl, mix well and serve.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good, soooooooooooo easy.

Spaghetti Puttanesca, Cooks Illustrated

2007-07-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, last night we prepared Spaghetti Puttanesca from Cooks Illustrated. Since we like anchovies we thought it would be great. And it was...exceeded our expectations. AND it was very easy and quick.

Spaghetti Puttanesca
Italian Classics, Cooks Illustrated

The pasta and sauce cook in about the same amount of time. If you like the fruitiness of extra virgin olive oil, toss 1 tablespoon into the sauces pasta before serving.

Serves four

4 medium cloves garlic, minced to a paste or pressed through a press
Salt
1 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
4 teaspoons minced anchovies (about eight fillets)
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained, reserve ½ cup juice
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed
½ cup black olives (kalamata) pitted and chopped coarse
¼ cup minced fresh parsley leaves and or basil

1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, mix the garlic with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl; set aside. When the water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; stir to separate the noodles. Immediately heat the oil, garlic mixture, hot red pepper flakes, and anchovies in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is fragrant but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.

2. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, then return the pasta to the pot. Add ¼ up reserved tomato juice and toss to combine.

3. Stir the capers, olives, and parsley into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine, adding more tomato juice to moisten if necessary. Adjust the seasonings with salt to taste and serve immediately.

NB: We added some fresh ground black pepper and served with shaved parmesan cheese, soda water, and a fresh green salad, bread may be an option. Enjoy. It served the two of us and leftovers.

Summer Tart

2007-07-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

This was my first foray in the world of tarts, and it was actually far easier than expected. I did learn one thing for certain - when mixing recipes, as I did with the use of a crust recipe from one source and the filling from another - make sure both are adjusted to fit the same size pan. I made slightly more filling than needed, and it did not set quite as expected. Even with some ingredient substitutions, this recipe was simple and delicious.

For the crust:
(recipe from: The Food Lover's Guide to Paris, July 1999)

8 tbls unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup plus 1 tbls unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal for flour

4 tbls finely ground unblanched almonds

Preheat oven to 350 F

Butter (or don't - it seems to work out fine either way) the bottom and sides of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and the sugar, and using a wooden spoon, stir to blend. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to form soft cookie-like dough. Transfer the dough to the center of the buttered pan. Using the tips of your fingers, evenly press the pastry along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. The pastry will be quite thin.

Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake until the dough is slightly puffy and set, 12 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle the ground almonds over the bottom of the crust. (This will help prevent the crust from becoming soggy. I had no ground almonds, so I used a light dusting of the almond meal flour with mixed results.)

For the filling:
(recipe from: Eric Kayser's Sweet and Savory Tarts)

Keep in mind these measurements are for a larger pan than the crust recipe - rectangular 12 x 18 inch or round 10-inch - or one could make more crust and use the bigger pan...

2 lb plums (or any other fruit - the cinnamon seasoning of this tart goes well with all the stone-fruit I tried)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup ground almonds (didn't have this, used some of the almond meal, but not a whole cup. probably why it did not set as hoped)
1 tbls ground cinnamon, and a little more for decoration
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tbls unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 325 F (after the crust is done)

Wash and dry the plums. Cut in two and remove the stones.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs together with the sugar. Add the ground almonds, the cinnamon, and the whipping cream. Mix through. Add the melted butter and stir until blended.

Pour half the batter into the shell and arrange the plum halves on it, overlapping slightly, starting from just inside the edge of the pan. Realize you didn't have enough plums and hurridly wash, dry, and cut some other fruit to fill in the center. Pour the rest of the batter over the plums and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve cool, decorate with confectioner's sugar or icing (more sugar?? I skipped that - the fruit and filling are sweet enough, with just enough plum tartness to make it taste like summer).

Yummy Adult Beverage

2007-06-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

Summer is upon us, and while I can't speak for my California friends, I can tell you that it is hotter than sin here in Virginia. While I loathe the heat and humidity with almost every fiber of my soul, it is good for one thing: Sitting outside in the mid to late evening, chatting with friends, watching the sunset, and sipping on my favorite adult beverage, the Mojito.

While not a necessarily complicated drink to make, our friends at Bacardi have made it considerably easier by producing one of their mixers as a Mojito. Tastes as good as the original, and you don't have to worry about what the hell a "Simple Syrup" is. So grab your glasses, head outside, and enjoy one with me!

You will need:

Fresh Mint

Lime

Bacardi Frozen Mojito Mixer (usually in the freezer section right next to the Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice)

Clear Run (i.e. Bacardi Superior)

Club Soda

The instructions are on the can. Mix the frozen stuff, rum and club soda in a pitcher. Tear up some mint, squash it in your fingers, and put it in the glass. Squeeze some lime over it. Add ice, pour Mojito, garnish with more lime. DRINK!

As I mentioned, this is my favorite adult beverage. I hope you get a chance to try it out, and that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Keeping on with the Black Bean theme...

2007-06-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe for Corn and Black Bean Salsa from a friend, and I'm addicted.

1 can of FiestaCorn, or whatever its called
1 can black beans
Juice of Lime
some chopped cilantro
some chopped green onion

Dump everything in a bowl. I suggest rinsing the black beans of their goopy liquid. Stick in fridge to allow flavors to "marry, rather than simply co-habitate".

You can eat this alone, although I have had it on grilled shrimp tacos, and let me tell you, it's amazing.

My Corn and Black Bean Salsa Haiku:

Black bean corn salsa,
Tiny hills of yellow, black.
Flavors of summer.

Black Bean Chili

2007-05-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Cheap, healthy, delicious, and filling - you'll hardly notice there's no beef in it (though I suppose if that's your thing, you could do it). This recipe actually was listed as a stew, but it tasted flat. I thought the only thing missing was a few tablespoons of chili powder, and wha-la - it became a chili. I was surprised by how good this turned out, and how hearty it is.

15oz can of black beans (don't drain!)
1lb can of mexican style stewed tomatoes (don't drain!)
7 or so B-red potatoes (diced)
2 carrots (sliced)
3 celery stalks (sliced)
1 can of corn (i used mexican corn with chiles and peppers in it)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder (or to taste)
1 small can of tomato paste
(maybe some sour cream, cilantro, and cheese to throw on top - and there's room to tofu this sucker up)

In a large pot, cook the potatoes, celery, and carrots in a bit of olive oil until slightly tender (ten minutes or so). Then throw everything else in, mix, and simmer for about half an hour.

Ode to my Bagel

2007-05-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Oh lovely lovely bagel
With your roundness so complete
Toasted, smothered in peanut butter
Nothing can compete.

Little dots of blueberries
Really pull the whole thing through
I'd eat you every morning,
You're so satisfying to chew.

I usually like to get
a cup of coffee on the side
Although sometimes odwalla's better
Especially after a morning ride

So bagel, with all my love,
I send this poem out to you
Till tomorrow, or the next time
For now it’s simply "Adieu".

The Gorgonzola Cheesecake Dare

2007-05-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

My mother was visiting recently, and downloaded this recipe to my desktop - she swears it is delicious, but I'm a bit wary of stinky cheese getting near the beloved cheesecake recipe - I have not yet been brave enough to try it - anyone else brave enough to take up the challenge?

Gorgonzola Cheese Cake

Crust:
4 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups corn meal
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons dried oregano
½ cup Asiago cheese, grated

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a 12 by 17 sheet pan. In a sauce pan, bring water to a boil and stir in corn meal, garlic, salt and oregano. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. When mixture is cooked, stir in Asiago cheese and pour into the sheet pan and smooth out evenly. Set aside and let cool.

Filling:
12 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound gorgonzola cheese, room temperature
5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
5 eggs, room temperature

In a large mixer, place cream cheese, gorgonzola and garlic. Combine thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Pour into corn meal crust and smooth out. Place cheese cake in middle of center rack. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until “insta-read” thermometer reads 160 degrees. Remove and let cool to room temperature.

This versatile dish can either be served as an appetizer by cutting into 1 inch cubes or as an entrée by cutting into 4 by 4 squares and served with your favorite salad and a glass of chardonnay.

(from Alexander Valley Vineyards)

Chicken Satay

2007-03-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

That's right. With amazing peanut sauce you can make from scratch. This recipe is from Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes.

Marinade for chicken
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon curry powder (yellow)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

Spicy Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
2 teaspoons roasted chili paste (optional - I didn't have any, and it was PLENTY spicy)
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
1/4 chunky peanut butter or very finely ground peanuts
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (didn't have any, used the only citrus in the house right now, orange)

about 60 bamboo skewers (i didn't need nearly so many, 20 ought to be enough) soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Combine the coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar and curry powder in a medium baking dish. Cut chicken thighs into generous bite-size chunks, and cut breast meat lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips. Add the meat to the marinade, mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and as long as overnight.

To prepare the peanut sauce, bring the coconut milk to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the curry paste and roasted chili paste and cook for 4 ot 5 minutes, mashing and stirring occasionally to dissolve them. Add the chicken broth, fish sauce, palm sugar, peanut butter and lime juice and cook 1 minute more, stirring well to make a smooth sauce. Remove from heat, transfer to a serving bowl, and set aside to cool.

Thread meat onto bamboo skewers and cook on a lightly oiled, hot grill or under a broiler, turning often, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. Serve immediately!

The Great Granola Disaster

2007-02-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

The aptly named food writer, Mark Bittman, swept me off my feet with his recipe for no-knead bread, so of course I couldn’t wait to try his recipe for granola. Never mind that no one in my family likes granola. If Mark Bittman said it was good, I wanted to try it.

In his recipe, Mark lists honey or maple syrup as sweeteners, although he prefers to use maple syrup. I would, too, but at the time of my experiment only honey and brown sugar resided in my pantry. He also said to use any combination of nuts and seeds, such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, or sunflower seeds. Well, I had loads of sunflower seeds -- salted ones at that -- so that’s what I used.

The granola I produced, all eight cups of it, turned out salty, sunflowery, and slightly burned. Trying to avoid a total loss, I made about ten dozen granola cookies, which I thought were pretty good, but they haven’t been moving too quickly. Usually, cookies last about 30 minutes at our house, and something tells me that we’ll still be looking at granola cookies 30 days from now.

Crunchy Granola
Makes 8 cups

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups mixed nuts & seeds, unsalted: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pecans, almonds, cashews, walnuts
1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut, optional
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cup maple syrup or honey
1 cup riasins or dried fruit, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine oats, nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sweetener. Place on a sheet pan and put in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture should brown evenly; the browner it gets without burning, the crunchier the granola will be.

Remove pan from oven and add raisins or dried fruit. Cool on a rack, stirring once in a while until granola reaches room temp. Transfer to a sealed container and store in refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely, especially if no one eats it.

Ow

2007-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

While making a spicy Thai Tuna salad last night...

(1 can tuna, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice, 2 chopped green onions, 1 teaspoon minced fresh chili pepper, 1 small chopped shallot, chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger, mix well, serve with crackers, or wrap in lettuce)

...I managed to rub my eyes with fingers saturated in serrano chili pepper oils. Good news: I didn't go blind. Bad news: my eyeballs were on fire for a few hours. Next time, gloves. Or get someone else to chop the peppers.

The best bread ever

2007-01-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

Presented here is an excerpt from an article that apeared last week in the Press Democrat. So far I have made three loaves of this bread, and have two more rising at this moment. It produces a rustic, Italian-style loaf that is delicious!

I have found that it needs more salt than the recipe calls for: 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 teaspoons tastes better. Also, the amount of water is approximate, although in the recipe it appears to be precise. Usually I use closer to two cups of water.

Greatest thing since sliced . . . . . ?

By MARK BITTMAN
NEW YORK TIMES

Jim Lahey's method of breadmaking requires no kneading. It uses no special ingredients, equipment or techniques. It takes very little effort. It produces a loaf that is incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that will blow your mind.

It accomplishes all of this by combining a number of unusual features. Most notable is that you'll need about 24 hours to create a loaf; time does almost all the work. Lahey's dough uses very little yeast, a quarter teaspoon, and he compensates for this tiny amount by fermenting the dough very slowly. He mixes a very wet dough, about 42 percent water, which is at the high end of the range that professional bakers use to create crisp crust and large, well-structured crumb, both of which are evident in this loaf.

The dough is so sticky that you couldn't knead it if you wanted to. It is mixed in less than a minute, then sits in a covered bowl, undisturbed, for about 18 hours. It is then turned out onto a board for 15 minutes, quickly shaped, and allowed to rise again for a couple of hours. Then it's baked. That's it.

What makes Lahey's process revolutionary is the resulting combination of great crumb, lightness, incredible flavor - long fermentation gives you that - and an enviable, crackling crust, the feature of bread that most frequently separates the amateurs from the pros.

Lahey achieves the perfect crust by putting the dough in a preheated covered pot - a common one, a heavy one, but nothing fancy. For one loaf he used an old Le Creuset enameled cast iron pot; for another, a heavy ceramic pot. I have used cast iron with great success. By starting this very wet dough in a hot, covered pot, Lahey lets the crust develop in a moist, enclosed environment. The pot is in effect the oven, and that oven has plenty of steam in it. Once uncovered, a half-hour later, the crust has time to harden and brown, still in the pot, and the bread is done.

The entire process is incredibly simple, and, in the time I've been using it, absolutely reliable. Lahey thinks imprecision isn't much of a handicap and, indeed, his method seems to iron out the wrinkles: "I encourage a somewhat careless approach," he says.

It is best made with bread flour, but all-purpose flour works fine. I've played with whole-wheat and rye flours, too; the results are fantastic. The baking itself is virtually foolproof, so the most important aspect is patience. Long, slow fermentation is critical.

No-Knead Bread

Makes one 1-1/2-pound loaf
Time: About 1-1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours' rising

3 cups (430 grams) all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) instant, or other, yeast

1-1/4 teaspoons (8 grams) salt

- Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/4 cups (345 grams) water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, and up to 24, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

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

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

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

Beefy Jerky

2007-01-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

Homemade jerky = goodness.
Making jerky isn't that hard, it just takes awhile to do it, but it's worth it. Esp since a 1/4 lb pack of it is like $7 now.
The 1st part is to find good meat, you want something lean, I usually use a roast and have the grocery store slice it about 1/8 to 1/4 thick. When you get home you can cut any fat off the individual pieces quickly. Once the meat is prepped you need to marinade it in whatever flavoring you prefer, you can use bottled ones, or I'll put a marinade I like that the bottom of this post. Let the meat soak in the marinade overnight, remove from the marinade and pat it dry with a paper towel.
The heat source, beef jerky needs temps of just above 100 degrees to cure, a toaster oven set on it's lowest setting, a gas oven with just the pilot light lit, rack several ft above a slow burning campfire, etc are all excellent sources. I've seen alot of toaster ovens that 175 is the low setting, if you are using that it'll do, but you have to keep closer check on the jerky to make sure it does not completely dry out.
Place the meat on a rack, it's ok to let it touch, but it needs to be one single layer, and put a drip pan under the rack to catch the drippings from the jerky as it cures. It'll take anywhere from 12-24 hrs or longer depending on how thick you had the meat sliced. Every few hrs check on it by taking a piece, and slicing into it, you're looking for it to have that leathey beef jerky look to the outside, and be cooked completely grey on the inside, if you see any pinkness to it, it needs to cook longer. Once it's done it'll keep for along time as long as you keep moisture away from it, you can vacum pack it if you have one of those little sealer things, or just keep it in a ziploc bag. Realisticly it'll keep for several months, but if you picked a good marinade it'll be gone way before then.
Evil Marinade (this is hot, so dont use it if you dont like peppery jerky)
3tsp white pepper
2tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp crushed black peppercorn
3 tbsp tabasco sauce
1 tbsp worchestishire sauce
1/4 cup molassas
2 tbsp brown sugar.
Combine above in a sauce pan and heat till the molassas thins, dip the slices of meat in it and put on a plate or tray and place in the fridge overnight, then cook as above.

Where to buy your slow cooker!!

2007-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Ok - so a couple of you need a slow cooker. I love mine and I just bought a small one to cook the oatmeal in. I have a couple of good other recipes for the slow cooker that I'll post soon.

Here's where I bought my new slow cooker from. Target.com, they don't sell it in the store and it's only $16.99! Here's the web address if the link doesn't work.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-8/qid=1168625822/ref=sr_1_8/602-3417188-2478247?ie=UTF8&asin=B0006A2ZR0

Thanks,
Tristen

Slow cooker oatmeal

2007-01-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

My name is Tristen and I am a friend of Allison's. Here's my first blog about food. Let me know what you think.

I am a huge fan of Alton Brown & Good Eats on the Food Network. So I tried his recipe for oatmeal cooked in a slow cooker overnight, so it's ready for you in the morning.

1 c. Steel cut oats
1 c. Dried Cranberries
1 c. Dried Figs
4 c. water
1/2 c. Half & Half

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and set cooker on low. Cook for 8 - 9 hours. Enjoy oatmeal in the morning.

As adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ok - so I added all the wet and only the oatmeal because I have fresh fruit to mix in when ready i n the morning. The oatmeal is mushy and some has stuck to the sides of my slow cooker.

I am thinking that because I didn't add the dried fruit I had too much liquid. As for the sticking I think if I butter the sides of the slow cooker first then I won't have this problem.

I really like oatmeal, but don't have the time to fix it every morning.

Let me know what you think I could do to improve the situation.

Thanks for reading,
Tristen

Food Porn

2007-01-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Last year, I received a gift subscription to Bon Appetit - food porn deluxe. I've found a few bits of info and some recipes useful, but overall, a magazine about high-brow entertaining (I don't even own a table and chairs, so "tablescape" means nothing to me) and ambitious, restaurant-quality recipes did little more than provide me with pretty pictures of stuff I would never make.

Now I subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, which, without any ads or glossy color-photos, still manages to inspire me to try new things. The best section has tips from readers, packed full of practical and creative kitchen solutions to common problems.

Still, I'm in the market for a second foodie subscription, preferably one with pretty pictures and healthy recipes. Any recommendations?

PBS Wisdom

2006-12-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

A chinese emperor was once asked "Where do you find the best food in the world?" and he replied "I can not answer that, for the finest food can be made in the poorest of homes. If it tastes delicious and brings you great joy, than it is good food."

From "Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie: China- One Billion Foodies"

Roasted Cauliflower

2006-12-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

Cauliflower is notoriously healthy, and, in my kitchen, inherently bland. I came across this recipe for roasted cauliflower in Cook's Illustrated magazine, and it has a lot of potential - maybe season with curry powder, or sprinkle with parmesaen cheese after it comes out of the oven. Amazingly enough, the cauliflower was crisp and tender, and great dipped in kung pow sauce or ranch dressing (it's probably delicious with any sauce though!).

You will need -
1 Head of cauliflower
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt, ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat over to 475 degrees. Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom. Cut head into 8 equal wedges (so florets stay attached to the stem). Place wedges cut side down on foil or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper - rub to evenly distribute seasoning. Flip cauliflower and season other side with remaining oil, salt, and pepper.

2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of cauliflower pieces are golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove sheet from oven (this is very imporant...i lost a wedge to gravity and the door when trying to flip the pieces while still in the oven) and using a spatula carefully flip wedges. Return sheet to oven and continue to roast until cauliflower is golden all over, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, serve immediately.

potato outrage

2006-12-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Taken from:http://www.phdcomics.com/blog.php

I am annoyed with my favorite cookbook, "The New Best Recipes" from the editors of Cook's Illustrated. Their recipe for scalloped potatoes claims that 1/8 of an inch is the ideal thickness for the potato slices, but it instructs the reader to use a mandolin or a food processor to cut the slices because "you will not be able to slice them thin enough" with a knife.

"Will not"?! Not even a "will probably not" or a "may not"? How dare a cookbook tell me what I can or cannot do? How does it know how well I can handle a knife?

Outraged, I proceeded to slice 5 lbs of potatoes into 1/8-inch thick slices using my trusty Global knife. I totally rocked those potatoes! Take that, cookbook!

Ciabatta Stuffing with Chestnuts and Pancetta

2006-11-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

I made this for thanksgiving this year. Very good indeed.... chestnuts are expensive though.

As taken from the Food NEtwork:

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Italian Thanskgiving

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
8 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (7.4-ounce) jars roasted peeled whole chestnuts, coarsely broken
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 pound day-old ciabatta bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 15 by 10 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a large bowl. Melt the remaining butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and garlic. Saute until the onions are very tender, about 12 minutes. Gently stir in the chestnuts and parsley. Transfer the onion mixture to the large bowl with the pancetta. Add the bread and Parmesan and toss to coat. Add enough broth to the stuffing mixture to moisten. Season the stuffing, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mix in the eggs.

Transfer the stuffing to the prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down, and bake until the stuffing is heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the top is crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.

Cranberry Margaritas

2006-11-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

Could have sworn I posted this last year, but maybe I just sent it in an e-mail to Momo. These margaritas taste delicious, are a beautiful color to behold, and are festive to drink.

6 oz. fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh-squozen lime juice
1 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup triple sec
3/4 cup tequila
ice
More sugar and cranberry juice

Whirl everything in a blender until smooth. To serve, dip rims of margarita glasses in cranberry juice, then in sugar. Garnish with lime slices and a couple of whole cranberries.

Trader Joe's shoppers, take note: TJ's sells bottled cranberry juice, but it is unsweetened, so I do not recommend it for this recipe. Use OceanSpray or a grocery-store brand of sweetened cran juice.

Elephant Stew

2006-11-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

To add to the Stuffed Camel recipe posted earlier...

Elephant Stew

Ingredients:

1 elephant
10 warthogs
100 kilograms tomatoes
1000 kilograms potatoes
2 bags onions
100 kilograms salt
1 wheelbarrow onions (heaped)
10 liters vinegar
20 liters chutney
4 guineafowl

Preparation:

Hunt the elephant, warthog and guineafowl. Hang guineafowl to ripen. Cut elephant into edible chunks (will take about a month). Boil the warthog with other ingredients (except guineafowl) till nice and juicy. Now boil elephant chunks over high flames till tender (will take about 4 weeks) and add everything together. Boil for another 5 to 7 days.

Produces about 3,500 helpings.

Note: If the above isn't enough, add the guineafowl as well.

Whole-wheat Focaccia

2006-11-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

You will need:
3/4 oz fresh yeast, or 1 and a half packets active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup unbleached white flour
2 and a half cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons olive oil (the good stuff if you have it)

4 cloves garlic, sliced in half, then half lenghwise again
chopped fresh rosemary
drained, sliced green olives (any variety you like will work)

To prepare the yeast:

This is not as daunting as it might sound. Place the yeast in a small bowl. Add the sugar and half the lukewarm water and stir carefully until the yeast has dissolved. Set bowl aside for 10-15 minutes, a foam will form on the surface. Stir the yeast again before proceeding to make the dough.

Combine both flours in a large bowl with the salt. Make a hollow in the flour and pour in 3 tablespoons oil, the yeast, and the remaining water. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture, until the flour has almost all been absorbed. *Note* Whatever brand whole-wheat flour I am using, seems to have super-absorbtion abilities, and I needed to add extra water, a little at a time, to get most of the dry ingredients incorporated.

Cover with a dish-towel, and let rise for 1 and a half hours. The bowl I chose wasn't quite big enough, and it started to overflow.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead for 2-3 minutes, adding any chopped herbs you'd like.

Place the dough on an oiled baking sheet, and using your hands, spread it into whatever shape strikes your fancy. At first, this might seem futile, as the dough tends to want to pull back into a small ball, rather than stretch to my whim. Keep working - it will eventually obey you.

Garnish with anything - I scattered the sliced garlic and olives across the top, and then pressed them in. Sprinkled with some rosemary drizzled with the remaining oil, and it's ready to go into the overn, pre-heated to 400 degrees. Other topping variations include sea salt, sliced green chilies, thinly sliced Fontina cheese, chopped sage, basil etc., sliced red onions, and tomatoes. Bake for about 25 minutes, until top is slightly golden brown.

This is a very hearty focaccia, and seems better sliced open for a sandwich, or dipped into sauce, than on it's own. It toasts beautifully, though some of my toppings were more inclined to fall off the top. Next time, I will be mixing the garlic into the dough, so it's flavor is more pronounced.

Tater Tot Tastic

2006-10-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

So I had to go to a potluck on Saturday. I was also house-sitting and was crunched for time. My friend suggested her recipe of TaterTot Casserole, she said she had the ingredients and said I could cook it there. Problem solved! Everyone loved it, except the veggetarians who didn't eat it.

Rebecca's TaterTot Casserole

1 lb ground beef

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 bag of frozen tatertots

shredded cheese

salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes to taste.

Preheat oven 400 degrees.
Cook the beef. Season it until you're happy. Put in the bottom of a pyrex bowl, or casserole dish. Mix in the can of cream of chicken soup and some shredded cheese. Cover with TaterTots until you're satisfied that it's successfully totted. Cover tots with cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy......... it's good.

Trader Joeless cooking.

2006-10-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

For those of us backwoods heathens who cannot benefit from said miricle store:

Quick Steak Ranchero.
1 can Campbells Ranchero Soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 small white onion diced
1/2 red bell pepper diced
1 lb sirloin tips

Mix all above and simmer over low heat till the meat is tender. Spoon the meat into flour tortilla shells, add whatever you like, wrap, and top with sauce. I like mine with just a little more sour cream, some shredded 4 cheese blend. It goes great with refried beans. I dont know about prices nationwide, but $10 will get you everything on the list plus beans, rice, etc here. It actually makes enough sauce for 2 lbs of tips if you want to have plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. Or if you like really thin ranchero sauce you can add milk to the sauce to thin it out and it changes the taste a bit too.

More Nasty Food from Mo's Kitchen

2006-09-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Without getting into the nitty-gritty details, there were Trader Joe's Lobster Ravioli and an Alfredo sauce for which I had none of the ingredients. It was gross. The End.

Totally Trader Joe's Parmigiana di Melanzane

2006-09-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's has saved my life. That store makes it possible for me to have all the dishes I love to eat but hate to cook. All of the ingredients in this recipe come from TJ's.

Parmigiana di Melanzane

1 box frozen breaded eggplant
1 large can marinara sauce
1 tube cooked polenta, sliced into 1/4" thick rounds
1 1-lb. carton marinated fresh mozzarella cheese
A handful of grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Olive oil

Fry the eggplant and polenta slices in olive oil until lightly browned. In a 9"x13" pan, layer the eggplant slices, half the mozzarella cheese, half the marinara sauce, the polenta slices, the other half of mozzarella cheese, the other half of the sauce. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well and mix in the Parmesan cheese. Pour that mixture over the eggplant assembly. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.

Why I Love Making Baklava

2006-08-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

If you remember in my last Baklava post, I talked about how pouring the honey mixture was the best part, tonight I took video.

yay!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Leftover Salmon and veggies

2006-08-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Toast two slices dark, hearty bread. Mash up leftover salmon with mayo and pepper, spread on one slice of bread. A dollop of mayo smeared on the other slice of bread, then layer roasted veggies. Add fresh herbage as you like (I went for garlic chives) and eat furtively so that no one else can ask for a bite. This is not a meal I ever want to share. :p

Clean Out the Pantry Chicken

2006-08-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Faced with low supplies, low funds and extreme laziness, my dinner options were somewhat limited this evening. Here is what I had on hand:
Packet of Saffron Rice
can of RoTel
Can of Tomato soup (condensed)
Frozen TJ's chicken
Can of kidney beans

Here is what I did:
Put rice in rice cooker.
Dump RoTel, about 1/2 the condensed soup, chicken and spices in a pot. Boiled on medium until rice was done. Added kidney beans (rinsed) to chicken pot, then dumped the rice in, too. Mixed and served.
I think its good. SPICY AS CRAP! But good.

Barbie the builder

2006-07-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you have nothing to barbeque, you can always build a boat.

These are my lottery winnings. I won these wineglasses in a radio sweepstakes, although I suspect no one else entered.

Snacks

2006-07-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

Popcorn is now officially my favorite snack.

I love popcorn.

Frankenstein Kitchen

2006-06-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

So, I dont know about you, but in MY kitchen, there are certain appliances that need to...well...to be loved a little extra.

One example for me: my Rice Cooker. My rice cooker is the single most used appliance in my kitchen. However, it has an annoying habit of spitting rice water ALL OVER the kitchen through the little vent hole. The solution? See for yourself.
Yes, thats the top to a cocktail shaker.

What are your genius riggings? (Lulette's Peg Leg Barbie was pretty good)

Least dirty dishes possible

2006-05-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

So let's say every last dish you own is dirty in the sink, and you're not in the mood. But you're dying for a warm, comforting, nutritious meal.

Put some water on to boil (tea pot works just fine), take the last bowl out of the cupboard. Rinse and rip to bite-size pieces some baby bok choy, or other leafy greens (chard, spinach, anything in the family of foliage that is good cooked). Put greens in bottom of bowl, cover in boiling water. Stir with chopsticks for a minute or two. Pour in packet of miso soup, stir, enjoy.

UnPesto

2006-05-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

So, in classic Otis fashion, I knew what I wanted for dinner (Pesto), but had none of the key ingredients, namely Basil and Pine Nuts. Or even Parmesean for that matter. But, as I have learned from my mother, I had two things in my favor:
1. Plenty of sexy power tools and trusty hand tools.
2. A blonde's obliviousness to obstacles.

So, what did I have?
Green leaves: check! (spinach)
Nuts: check! (chopped walnuts)
Cheese: check! (some hard italian cheese that resembles parmesean)

HA! It's ON! The Cheese was in a huge chunk, and because I'm lazy and resourceful and have sexy power tools, I just threw the whole lump into the mini-prep. I was on the phone with Laurel. She described the sounds "like you are mini-prepping your cat!" I told her I would call her back when the shrieking subsided.

So the lump finally broke down into smaller pieces, and I added garlic, spinach and EVOO. See the layers? Like an Ogre. Or Parfait.

Then I dumped on the nuts, and WHIIIIRRR!!!! UNPESTO! Pairs well with Gorgonzola Walnut Tortellini from Trader Joes. I also added some cooked chicken I had laying around.

Seasonal goodness

2006-05-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

I've been recieving a gift subscription to Bon Appetit for nearly 6 months now, and everytime a new issue arrives in the mail I can't help squealing "food porn!" with glee. There are loads of recipes in there I'm not quite ambitious enough to try, but almost without fail, there are a few recipes in very issue that suit my kitchen and cooking sensibilities just fine.

This month it made my day to find a recipe for Fingerling Potatoes with Oyster Mushrooms - I'd just been to Farmer's market and bought a pound of wee little potatoes, and the asian market down the street is a weekly stop for mushrooms and miso.

This recipe was easy, simple, and I imagine it would go well with just about any slab o' animal and veggies. I rounded out this particular meal with chicken cooked in a soy sauce/balsamic vinegar/garlic/cinnamon/sugar mix (ala Joy of Cooking) and some broccoli cooked in olive oil and garlic.

Fingerling Potatoes with Oyster Mushrooms

(makes 6 servings)

7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds small yellow fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, halved lengthwise (i left the smallest ones intact)
4 tablespoons minced shallots, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 pound large fresh oyster mushrooms, torn into inch-wide strips
1 tablespoon chopped italian parsley

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 450F. Brush 2 large rimmed baking sheets with 1 tablespoon olive oil each. Place potatoes on 1 prepared sheet, drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil over and toss to coat. Spread potatoes in single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place potatoes on top rack of oven and roast 10 minutes. Sprinkle half of the garlic and shallots over. Transfer potatoes to bottom rack of oven and continue to roast until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, toss mushrooms on second prepared baking sheet with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and remaining garlic and shallots. Spread in single layer and roast mushrooms on top rack of oven until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Add mushrooms to potatoes, stir to combine. Add parsley to potato-mushroom mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Must Love Butter

2006-05-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

So, I may have posted about Baklava before, but I have made it several times in the last couple weeks, and so I am posting about it again. I like it because it easy, its good, and EVERYONE ALWAYS raves about it. I, of course, never tell anyone that the secret ingredient is enough butter to kill a horse, but what's a heart attack amoung friends?

Baklava:
1 lb Filo (phyllo) dough. Found in the freezer section of the grocery store.
a LOT of butter. I have used anywhere between 2-4 sticks. (.5-1 lb)
Nuts. I prefer walnuts, D prefers almonds. I like the bitterness of the walnuts. So I say walnuts.
Cinnamon.
Water
1 C sugar
1/2 C honey
Vanilla

If you remember ahead of time, pull the Filo out of the freezer and put it in the fridge a day or two before you make it. Filo dough will stay good for about 4 weeks in the fridge, and indefinitely in the freezer. If you DON'T remember, let it thaw for a couple hours on the counter.

Butter the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Melt a couple sticks of butter. In a chopper, blend the nuts (I use about 6-8 oz.) with cinnamon (uh...I just dump some in). Place nearby. GENTLY lift two sheets of the Filo and place it in the bottom of the pan. For the first few layers at the bottom, you may need to trim the ends off, it will be too long. Just use a sharp knife. Using a paintbrush-looking thing, butter the top of the Filo dough. Place 2 more sheets, butter and repeat.

When you are about 8 sheets deep (sheets. that mean about 4 rotations of layer and butter), dump a couple of tablespoons of the nut mixture onto the Filo. Spread it around so its evenly covering the Filo, then go back to the dough and the butter routine. I usually end up doing about 8 sheets, nuts, 8 sheets, nuts, 8 sheets, nuts and then 6-8 more sheets. Make sure you THUROUGHLY butter the top layer.

Now comes the hardest part of the whole adventure...cutting the baklava into square or diamonds. I guess the easiest way to do it is to cut about 4 sections lengthwise, and then diagonally across from there. It's a giant pain in the butt, and I have yet to find a way to do it that is any easier or faster than what I've done before. So, good luck with that.

After you have managed to cut that thing into a couple dozen pieces, put it in a 350* oven for 40-50 minutes. I find its usually done at 40. 25 minutes before the Baklava is going to come out of the oven, mix 1C sugar into 1C water on the stove. When the mix starts to boil, add the honey and a splash of vanilla. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, until the baklava comes out the oven.

Now this is my favorite part!!! When the Baklava comes out of the oven, immediately pour the water/sugar/honey mix over the baklava. It bubble! It steams! It makes neat sounds! I love it!

Let the baklava cool a bit. If you are eating it at home, just get pieces from the pan. If you are taking it to a potluck or something, its far easier to put the pieces into those paper muffin cups. When storing baklava don't store it in an airtight container, or the fridge. The fridge makes it hard, and the airtight makes it soggy. Enjoy the baklava and the compliments!!

Suburban Barbie

2006-05-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

Grandpa failed to see the charm of Buccaneer Barbie with its squeegee pegleg, so he bought us a brand new CharBroil. Some assembly required, and then it rained. I was too lazy to go to the store for dinner, so instead of a fabulous steak barbeque, the menu tonight consisted of beans and lettuce. There's always tomorrow, Mr. CharBroil!

Impromptu Pasta

2006-05-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Impromptu Pasta with sausage veggie sauce, garlic bread and caprese salad.

ingredients -

garlic
1 yellow onion
2 zucchinis
3-4 tomatoes
5 Italian sausages - basil and garlic- from Trader Joe's
fresh basil
fresh whole wheat pasta (or use any kind of pasta you like)
1-2 balls of fresh mozzarella (probably like fist sized ones)
1 jar of trader joe's basil and garlic marinara sauce - or really any kind you like
1/2 cube of butter
olive oil
loaf of whole wheat bread

Turn the oven on 350 to preheat. Turn your frying pan on med heat and heat up. Drop a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. When the pan is warm toss in the sausage. Cook until brown on all sides and no longer pink in the middle. Probably like 10-15 minutes. While the sausages are cooking get to prepping for the rest of the sauce.

Pull off about 15 basil leaves from stems and wash them, and set aside.
slice your remainder tomatoes for the caprese salad. I turn my tomatoes on the side and slice them width-wise or whatever you call it - into pretty good size slices. Put them on a plate.

slice the mozzarella balls into thick circles as well and place on top of the tomato slices
place 1-2 basil leaves on each tomato-mozzarella stack. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper lightly
Place in fridge to chill

slice the bread - or if its already sliced, put it on a cookie sheet and set aside.

get a small sauce pan and put the 1/2 cube of butter in it on low low heat. We will add garlic to this and cook for a while and eventually put on the bread for it's garlic sauce

Okay dice three cloves of garlic (half for the garlic bread and half for the sauce)
dice half of one yellow onion -
dice one tomato for the sauce
Dice a handful of washed basil
set aside. If you want you can put the garlic and onion in one bowl and the tomato, zucchini and basil in another

When the sausage is almost done put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Obviously depending on what kind of pasta you used depends on how long it will take to cook. Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes.

Check your melty butter. If its melted - add the remainder of your set aside garlic and let that cook on low for a while. The house should start smelling good. Open up a bottle of wine and pour yourself a cup. Enjoy.

When the sausage is finished remove it from the pan but leave the drippings Take the sausage and Chunk it. I mean, slice it into thick chunks--, add the garlic and onions to the sausage drippings and brown - return the sausage to the pan, add zucchini, tomato and sauce and then simmer

Check your melted garlic butter sauce. If the garlic smells good and has had a chance to cook for a while, spoon it over your bread and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes.

When the sauce has simmered and the zucchini has cooked so its tender, and your pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta and mix with the sauce. Turn your oven on broil for about a minute to get that garlic bread crispy- but watch that it doesn't burn.

Serve pasta, take out that caprese salad, give everyone some garlic bread and pour yourself another glass of wine.
Enjoy

Grapes and Turkey

2006-05-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I was feeling tired, lazy, and fat. I even debated whether or not I should bother eating dinner at all. I decided on eating what looked good and that I could grab. I had a bunch of fantastic green, seedless grapes and then I ate a few slices of Roasted Turkey From Trader Joe's It was good. Alright so it wasn't "cooking" and it certainly wasn't anything fancy, but I ate it while watching Seinfeld (The Cadillac: PartI). Everytime I eat grapes it makes me think of the ancient Romans. Or that time I was taking a summer school class at CSUMB, well it was really at Moss Landing and we got to eat during our final. As I was writing and reading and thinking, I was mushing up a raisin between my fingers. Before that day, although I knew that raisins came from grapes, I couldn't ever see how. They just looked too different. Like Arnold Schwartzenneger and Danny DeVito in the movie Twins. Okay this is supposed to be about food. Did you know that grapes and microwave can be used as entertainment?

Simple baked chicken parmasan

2006-04-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is quick, and simple, and tastes pretty good. I keep a jar of red sauce in the fridge and was looking for something new.

Take chicken breast or strips, slice into small strips about 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long. Pour just enough olive oil into a skillet to coat the bottom and put the chicken in to simmer in the olive oil on med heat. Turn over the chicken and right before it's done pull the peices out of the skillet and dip into some bread crumbs with your favorite italian spices to bread it and put it back in to get the breading crispy (if you're like me don't worry if you can't get the breading to stick, it'll taste good anyway). After the breading is done, remove the chicken pour off any remaining olive oil. Put the chicken back in the skillet and pour in just enough red sauce to cover the chicken about 1/2 way and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Add in some shredded mozzerrela cheese, feta too if you have any. While the chicken/sauce is simmering prepare some noodles, I usually use alfredo noodles or else thin spaghetti (wheat is good), drain it and put it into a 10x10 casarole dish, add a layer of shredded cheese, a layer of red sauce, another layer of cheese, then the chicken and red sauce. Sprinkle more of the breading mixture over the chicken, add a little more cheese on top and pop in the oven somewhere between 350-375 for 15 minutes or so. Goes great with breadsticks and a bottle of Riuninit Lambrusco .

If you're picking up everything to make it for 2, the wine and everything should be less than $25 and you'll have enough chicken, redsauce, cheese, etc to make another meal of something else later. Labrusco is one of my favorite cheap dark wines, I keep a bottle just to sip on as it's sweet and dark oh yeah, and cheap :P

Speaking of wines, check out the hated walmart super center. They're carrying 2 brands of wine from NC, Biltmore Estates and a brand called Hattaras Vineyards or something like that. Both a nice wines, try a bottle you'll like them.

Panadería

2006-04-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

So, in Costa Rica, bakeries are the place to be. Actually, they are the makers of heavenly food. They make cakes, pastries, bread, and things filled with meat. I have compiled a list of the best things to buy if you ever decide to come to Costa Rica and go to a bakery.

1. Torta Chilena-this is layers of the flaky pastry stuff with caramel between the layers.

2. Lucrecia-a crouissant filled with jalapeño, toasted cheese, ground beef, and onions.

3. Enchilada-also a crouissant filled with potatos, something spicy, and ground beef.

4. Pudding-not real pudding, but it's got the texture of pudding and is really good.

5. Tres Leches-the best thing in the history of the world. It is a normal cakes soaked in sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and regular milk. Hence the name, Tres Leches.

That's it. There are tons more but these are the ones to look for.

Buccaneer Barbie

2006-04-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

This barbie does windows AND shrimp.

Easter S'mores

2006-04-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

We had a barbeque at the house saturday night, and decided to conclude the evening with s'mores roasted over the 'que. We went to the corner store and picked up graham crackers and hersheys bars, but when we got to the marshmallow isle found nothing but wee lil' mallows. Feelin' a tad defeated and more than a little desperate, we walked slowly back up to the checkout line. Along the way we passed the Easter stuff, and lo-and-behold! PEEPS! Those pink and yellow bunnies and chicks..made from...MARSHMALLOWS!! DING DING DING!

Avgolemono (heaven in a bowl)

2006-03-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

I remember this soup from childhood, and my mother used to make it with rice instead of orzo. Quick, easy, simple comfort food.

You'll need...

7 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup orzo pasta
3 eggs
juice of one large lemon
salt and ground black pepper

Pour the stock into a large pan and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes.

Beat the eggs until frothy, then add the lemon juice and a tablespoon of cold water. Slowly stir in a ladleful of the hot chicken stock, then add one or two more. Return this mixture to the pan, off the heat, and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. (Do not let the soup boil once the eggs have been added or it will curdle. Leftovers, if you have any, will keep for a few days). Slice of toast, or maybe garnish some fresh chopped herbs - this soup is as good in summer as it is in winter.

Sunday Morning Fabulousness

2006-03-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Good Morning
Originally uploaded by Allmightymo.

It's been over six months since Dominic left, and there are certain habits I have adopted. For example, I have not eaten off of a non-disposable plate in my own house in well over a month. I try to reduce my dish-doing even more by drinking straight from the milk carton (if it weren't asking for disaster, I would drink water straight from my Brita pitcher, too). And I am indecisive. This morning I went to Dunkin' Donuts and ordered a small cup of coffee, and then couldn't decide if I wanted a chocolate cake, sour cream, or jelly donut. So I ordered all three, came home, busted out the Leche and put my donuts on a paper plate (it would be plain lazy to eat them out of the bag). I the proceeded to take alternating bites out of the three donuts while drinking my milk and coffee. What is your sunday morning fabulousness?

You Can Play With Your Food

2006-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Commentary by Lore Sjöberg
02:00 AM Mar, 01, 2006 EST

Last week, we took a look at the wonderful ways in which technology has improved our food without making it healthier or better tasting. This week, we're doing more of the same, starting with a product that will delight people who wish their toaster waffles more closely resembled plastic toys.

Lego Eggos
It's an obvious idea in retrospect. Not a great idea, but an obvious one: Combine Eggo waffles with Lego-brand-building toys that will cause people to send you annoying mail if you call them Legos. Each waffle is scored into six pieces, each of which is shaped vaguely like a Lego brick. The box suggests you "toast, break and build!" But each waffle is a highly processed rectangle of pure disappointment. The top of each "brick" has eight studs that look, honestly, like meerkat nipples. The bottom has three holes. Just three. You can't build. You can just kind of stack. Heap, really. It's so depressing. I'm going back to bed.

Downside: Will make you sad for the rest of your life.

Hidden Key Lucky Charms
The "hidden key" here refers to certain specially endowed marshmallows. Before you pour milk on them, these marshmallows have vaguely key-shaped dents in them. After you pour milk on them, they have vaguely key-shaped holes in them. Astonishing! Technically speaking, though, it's not really a hidden key, it's a hidden inverse key. Presumably you use the marshmallow as a mold. Pour some molten steel in there, let it cool, and you have an actual tiny key. Which you then use to, I dunno, go through Lucky the Leprechaun's porn drawer or something.

Downside: Clearly, magic like this can only be the result of a pact with Satan.

Scooby-Doo Tattoos Fruit Roll-Rups
The "Rups" is because it's Scooby-Doo, and, you know, Scooby-Doo puts "r" at the beginning of his words. And they let him design the box. Or something. Anyhow, I have at this moment a vaguely rectangular blob of blue on my tongue. It was supposed to be a picture of a bone saying "Rooby Rocks," but it turns out that bumpy, slimy surfaces are not the best place to transfer sharp, intricate images. Maybe I did it wrong, but this blue crap doesn't come off easy and I only have so much tongue. I'd be disappointed, but you know, I didn't really want a cartoon dog bone slogan in my mouth today.

Downside: Pretty much all downside. Hard to find an upside, really.

Easy Writer Food Decorators
Everyone likes cupcakes and cakes with interesting decorations in the frosting! If you don't, then everyone but you likes them. The problem with traditional frosting decoration is that it requires you to clench a little tube, which everyone hates. OK, everyone but you. Well, clench no more! These are like little brush-pens full of food coloring. With a little patience, you can draw the design of your choice on the cupcake of your choice, provided said cupcake has white frosting. They actually work pretty nicely. They don't make the food taste bad, or different for that matter. Finally, a food product that doesn't disappoint. Good going, Ms. Crocker!

Downside: Do you really want to draw carefully on two dozen cupcakes?

Sunsweet Ones
Why is it that people don't eat more prunes? Is it that they taste kind of musty-sweet gross? Is it that they have the texture of a buttered slug? No, no, no. No! It's because you don't have to work hard enough to eat them. When you're able to reach into a sack of prunes and just pull one out, you don't appreciate the treasure lying flaccid in your palm. That's why these prunes are individually wrapped. Once you've experienced the labor involved in unwrapping every single prune you eat, you'll treasure every syrupy, mucilaginous bite.

Downside: Prunes.