Breakfast on a Lazy Saturday

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.

Pumpkin Souffle, Guerrilla Style

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.

Sushi Crispies!

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

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

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

1. 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

1. 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.

KombatKween's Chicken Pot Pie

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.

Blue Cheese, Pear & Carmelized Onion Pizza

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

Holy Hotness!

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

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.

Cha Shu Bao

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.

The Gorgonzola Cheesecake Dare

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)

The Great Granola Disaster

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.

Chapatis and hummus

I had plans to do hummus and pita bread, but being the prepared person that I'm not, I forgot yeast. So, I've found a simple substitute for the pita, Chapatis bread - an Indian staple. The hummus recipe yields 3 times as much as you can buy in the average container for a fraction of the cost. I've added rosemary and extra garlic as a way to spice up the basic recipe, but you can flavor your hummus to your own preferences!

For the Chapatis you'll need...

2 cups chapati flour or ground whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of water


Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and gradually stir in the water, mixing well with your fingers. Form a supple dough and knead for 7-10 minutes. Ideally, coverwith clear film and leave on one side for 15-20 minutes to rest.


Divide the dough into 8-10 equal parts. Roll out each portion in circle on a well-floured surface.


Place a heavy frying pan over high heat. When steam rises from it, lower the heat to medium and add the first chapati to the pan.

When the chapati begins to bubble turn it over. Press down with a clean dish towel or a flat spoon (I used a spatula) and turn once again. You might need to experiment a bit to get your bubbles to the desired golden brown.

Remove the cooked chapati from the pan and keep warm (piled up between two plates works, or foil and parchment paper) while you finish the rest.

For the hummus, you'll need...

3/4 cup dried chickpeas or two 14 ounce cans, well drained
juice of two lemons
2 (or more, to taste) garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of cayenne pepper
2/3 cup tahini paste
salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
extra olive oil and cayenne pepper for garnish

I've also included rosemary in my batch, though most fresh herbs would work. Parsley is a common seasoning and garnish as well.

If using dried chickpeas, put in a bowl with plenty of cold water and soak overnight. Drain and cover with fresh water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 1 hour until soft. Drain.



If you're using canned chickpeas, skip all that. Drain and process the chickpeas in a food processor to a smooth puree. Add the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, cayenne pepper and tahini and blend until creamy, scraping the mixture down from the sides of the bowl.

Season the puree with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and cayenne pepper. Grab pile of warm chapatis and devour!