November was a whirl wind month.  I managed to cook along with my French Friday’s with Dorie friends but I didn’t manage to post anything.  I had a bit of vacation time around Thanksgiving and I’ve stocked up some posts.

In November I made the potato gratin (pp. 360 – 361) the roast chicken for les paresseux (pp 200 – 201) Marie Helene’s Apple Cake and I made a french apple tart using Dories pastry crust recipe.  I loved them all!

The potato gratin is so easy to make and the cheesy crust on the top is heavenly.  As usual I made way too much, but this time we ate it all!  I served it with a roast chicken, though not Dorie’s recipe, that I would tackle later.  I did make an addition to the dish inspired by something I recently saw in a magazine.  I had tons of mushrooms left over from another project so I sauteed them in butter, drained them and made a mushroom layer in the middle.  Divine!  It helped break up the potatoes and added a new flavor.

Marie Helen’s apple cake is actually dangerous, as my friend Mardi at Eat Live Travel Write pointed out.  Dangerous because it’s so easy to make and completely delicious!  The batter is light and airy, almost like a slump and the apples are sweet but not too.  A great dessert, breakfast or afternoon treat.  I didn’t photograph this because I ate it too quickly!

The Roast Chicken for les Paressuex is the easiest roast chicken I’ve ever made, which is pretty impressive since roast chicken is seriously easy to.  Dorie uses bread to rest the chicken during cooking which resulted in a really ugly but luscious treat that Tyler and I nearly fought over.  The juice from the chicken seeps into the bread but the dutch oven keeps it crisp.  We dubbed it “chicken bread.”  The skin on the chicken was crisp while the chicken itself was moist, adding the vegetables later in the roasting process created a great brown crust but they retained a toothsome texture to instead of being mushy.  I really love Around my French Table, but this recipe alone is worth the price of entry!

And lastly my French Apple Tart! This was a labor of love to be certain.  I relied on Dories short crust recipe for the tart, the same recipe I used for the base of Gerard’s Mustard Tart from last month’s challenge.  I broke out the mandolin, which always makes Bill nervous, and sliced about 5 gala apples.  I covered it with a cup of sugar and then dabbed about a half a stick of butter across the top.  Popped it into a 425 degree oven for about an hour and there it was, art on a plate.  I think I can do better presentation wise but that will come with practice.  To me, the tart was not only a visual reminder of France, but one bite and I was sitting in a cafe watching traffic.  All I lacked was a cafe creme.  The crust was crisp, the apples maintained a toothsome texture and it was just sweet enough to be dessert, but not so much I felt guilty.  Which is good because between making the crust, slicing and placing the apples and bake time this was a long process, how bad would it be to feel guilty about eating it after all that work.

Thank you Dorie for taking me back to France when a real trip is out of the question!

Bill’s son Tyler turned 18 last month.  To celebrate I asked him what he wanted for dinner — Mexican!!!!

I invited his girlfriend & my parents over and cooked up a storm.  I got so darn excited about eating dinner that I forgot to take any pictures.  The Menu:

Jalepeno Roasted Chicken
Chili and Cheese Rice
Re-fried Black Beans
Marinated flank steak
Flour Tortillas
Fresh Salsa

If you are reading my blog, you’ve likely come to realize I’m currently obsessed with Mexican food.  I absolutely love the flavors.  My dad used to joke about ordering in a Mexican restaurant “hmm,  do I want the beans, tortilla and cheese or should I have the cheese, beans and tortilla?” For a long time, I thought that was true.  But it’s not, the flavors are so layered with nuance when the cooking is done with passion.  It’s easy to see how Rick Bayless spent 20 years perfecting his Mole.  Every time I cook these foods I learn something.

In July we took a cruise on Princess and had a fantastic time.  The best excursion was in Cozumel.  My wonderful amazing husband researched and found a private cooking class in a woman’s home Cocina con Alma.  Josephina teaches small groups to make traditional dishes.  Along the way she explained the ingredients, the history and methods.  It was a fantastic experience.  Check out her site. We made the pork roast!  I plan to write another post with more detail about the class, but the point I wanted to make here is that she opened my eyes to simplicity.  Her salsa is the recipe I wrote about in my chicken tortilla soup post (linked to above).  It’s a 6 minute recipe and when you make a batch it disappears.  I can buy “fresh” salsa that will sit in the fridge for weeks!  With her recipe I’m lucky to have enough to put on my eggs in the morning.

Her class gave me a good dose of confidence and I’ve been playing around since then.  My family seems to love it as I’m not seeing any leftovers.  So for Tyler’s dinner I made a pretty ambitious menu.  The recipes for the chicken and rice came from the food network (Mexican made easy)  I changed up the rice a little adding more garlic, using chicken stock instead of water and upping the amount of peppers for flavor.  I have to tell you that recipe ROCKS.  It has the trifecta – easy, tasty and cheap.  The roasted chicken recipe came from the same episode.  I’ve made it three times now.  At first I was worried about the Jalapenos making the dish too spicy but when they cook down they are amazing.  The chicken gets flavored all the way through.  It’s stunning.

Josephina teaches tortillas in her class.  We made delightful corn tortillas that were light and flavorful.  When I came home and tried to make them I could not reproduce the results.  Mine were “corny-ier”  and the texture wasn’t light.  I experimented with the recipe, mixing in some flour with the masa trying to reproduce what she did.  I couldn’t.  I am assuming it’s a difference in ingredients.  So I switched to flour tortillas.  They are not effortless, but they are not in the same class as what you can buy in the store.  Worth every second.  I found the recipe online (link above)  I use my mixer to combine the ingredients and they turn out fine.

So now, I’ll finally give some actual original recipes.  I don’t usually link to other people’s recipes but I think it’s part of the learning process.  Research and make it your own.

I’ve made the flank steak about five times since July.  The keys are marinating and quick cooking over high heat.  Flank steak should be sliced thin against the grain or ti will be hard to eat.  This is the current favorite at the house beating out steak.  For the marinade I used my Salsa Rojo which freezes well.  Marinate the steak for about 30 minutes to an hour then cook over high heat for about 3 minutes per side.  The grill works best, cast Iron is second best but beware, it smokes,  a lot!

Re-fried beans are easy enough to buy in a can.  And they aren’t horrible.  In fact they are pretty OK.  So you may think why bother.  Please please please just once try it from scratch.  When you soak dried beans and cook them you get a different texture, a better texture.

Re-fried Beans

1 lb black beans or pinto beans
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 onion in quarter plus 1/2 onion fine dice
2 bay leaves
6 Tbsp Lard (yes lard) divided
3 Tbsp salt
2 whole cloves garlic
2 minced cloves garlic

Soak beans overnight with the baking soda.  Rinse drain.  Cover with water in a dutch oven or stock pot, add 1/4 onion, 3 Tbsp lard, salt,  bay leaves and 2 whole cloves garlic.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 90 minutes or until they are tender.  Remove onion, bay leaves and garlic cloves.  DO NOT DRAIN THE BEANS.

In a large skillet over medium high heat add lard and cook onions until soft.  Add garlic and then add about 3 cups of beans.  Use a slotted spoon so you don’t get too much liquid.  Heat the beans through.  Move to a food processor and process till smooth adding cooking liquid as needed to get the consistency you like.  Return to pan.  Add 1 cup whole beans.  Serve with cheese, sour cream, fresh onions.  I’d tell you what to do with leftovers but I’ve never seen them!

Cheers!

I think Mexican food is better with beer.  I always love IPA.  In this case I like the Stone IPA because it’s crisp and balances the rich foods.

I adore Chili Rellenos.  I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, I grew up in California.  There was fantastic Mexican food available in almost all my neighbors homes and certainly countless family run restaurants.  I vividly remember my first encounter with chili rellenos.  I was playing at a friends house, her mother invited me to stay for dinner.  This was a coveted invitation because her mother made everything from scratch unlike my house where there were lots of packets and an endless supply of hamburger helper.

I watched my friend’s mom split and stuff the chilies, batter and fry them.  She put them on a bed of home-made cooked salsa.  One bite and I was hooked.  The crispy outside, the soft chili and oozing cheese with just the right amount of heat in the background!!!  Heavenly day!.  My friend moved away shortly afterward and I’ve been chasing that food memory for years.  Restaurant chili rellenos never lived up to hers.

I’m a pretty accomplished home cook.  I will take on any recipe I set my mind to, but occasionally I get it in my head that I’m not going to be able to make a recipe and I shy away from it.  Hollandaise sauce was my first nemesis, I thought about it and put if off for a year — then of course I made it and it was hard but it worked.  Chili rellanos are the same.  I was convinced they’d split in the pan and cheese would go everywhere, my batter wouldn’t be crispy enough, blah blah blah.  Then one day I saw beautiful Anaheim chilies (a.k.a. New Mexico chilies) and Oaxaca cheese (a rare find in these parts).  So I decided to grab the bull by the horns and I’m so glad I did.  It was a little time consuming to do everything from scratch (90 minutes or so)  however the dinner turned out magnificent!  I dare say I lived up to my food memory, which shows me that patience and fresh, quality ingredients are CRITICAL to success.

I also made corn tortillas, but I need some more practice before I start trying to teach that skill, mine turned out chewy and really strong tasting.  I was not impressed though they looked pretty.

Chili Rellenos Recipe

6 Anaheim Chilies
8 – 10 oz grated oaxaca cheese (mozzarella or Monterrey jack would also work well)
flour for dredging
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
oil for frying
sour cream for garnish

Roast chili’s under a broiler or over an open flame until skin blisters and blackens.  Put them in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  When the chilies have cooled enough to handle remove the outside skin (it will just slide off).  Using a paring knife, cut a slit into the side of each chili lengthwise and remove and discard the seeds.  Gently stuff each chili with cheese, use toothpicks to secure the cheese inside the chili.  Dredge in flour and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Whip egg whites to soft peaks, add whole egg and whip to stiff peaks.  This will be the batter for the chilies.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet to 350 degrees.  Dip chili in batter and fry until golden (about 2 – 3 minutes per side)  Remove toothpicks and serve over Salsa Rojo, garnish with sour cream and fresh salsa if desired.

Salsa Rojo Recipe

4 dried ancho chilies
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 white onion diced
4 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
2 jalapeno chilies
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
1/2 bunch cilantro

Remove seeds and stems from ancho chilies.  Soak in warm chicken broth to soften.  Meanwhile saute onions, garlic, tomatoes and jalapeno until golden.  Add ancho chilies and chicken broth and cilantro.  Bring to a simmer.  Use food processor or blender to puree sauce, return to pan and reduce to desired consistency.

This meal was highly enjoyed and paired very well with an Avery IPA!  (then again, I think everything pairs nicely with an IPA!).  It was so flavorful and filling we didn’t realize that we had eaten a vegetarian dinner until later that night.

Cheers!

P.S.  the green sauce on the outside of my plate is the Salsa I wrote about in my Chicken Tortilla Soup post

I’m back!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been on hiatus for a few weeks as I took a cooking class and my work world changed a lot requiring more of my attention, but this dish was so tasty and I was so impressed with myself I had to post.

First let me come clean, I’m NOT a fan of boneless skinless chicken breast.  To me, it’s tasteless.   However it seemed like a good choice for the idea that was percolating in my head after receiving samples of Pretzel Crisps. You could do this with pork or even veal just as easily.

Pretzels make me think of Germany which makes me think of mustard and schnitzel.  Most people have heard of Wiener Schnitzel which traditionally meant pounded breaded fried veal scallops until the hot dog chain took its name!  Pork and veal are the most common “schnitzel meats” but in the states we love chicken.  Since Pretzel Crisps have re-thought the idea of the pretzel, I decided to rethink schnitzel.

This dinner was VERY popular at my house with everyone cleaning their plate (though to be honest I did have to argue with teen age son to get him to eat the spinach)

Pretzel Crisp Chicken Schnitzel with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts (boneless skinless)
flour for dredging
1/3 cup whole grain mustard
2 cups Pretzel Crisps (ground into crumbs using food processor)
4T vegetable oil

Directions:

Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.  Dredge in flour, rub mustard on both sides and coat with Pretzel Crisp crumbs. Add oil to pan and cook over medium heat.  Drain all but 2 Tablespoons of fat from the pan.

Mushroom Wine Sauce

Ingredients:
8 0z sliced mushrooms
3T flour
1 Cup dry white wine
2 T whole grain mustard
1 Cup chicken stock

Directions:
Saute mushrooms in same pan as chicken.  Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.  De-Glaze pan with white wine.  Stir in mustard and chicken stock.  Reduce to desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste (but be careful with the salt because the Pretzel Crisps are salty)

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!  The best part of this dinner was it only took about a half hour to make and it was so flavorful

Cheers!

If you are coming to my house for dinner, I have one bit of advice; come hungry.  Especially right now as I’m playing with my MATOFC (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) trying to satisfy my yearning to go back to France when my financial reality does not include a ticket.

Recently we had friends over for dinner and the 5 of us dined on French Onion Soup, Spinach and Mushroom Turnover, Baked Chicken with Lentil and Chocolate Pots de Creme.  Our meal spanned two hours and three bottles of wine.  I had cooked all day to prepare the meal and enjoyed lingering over it as I would have in Paris.  Treating each course as an event and eating in moderation so we could try the next taste.

I’ve been quite obsessed with Julia Childs .  Believe me there is a monster post or series coming on this topic but as a teaser;  I believe I know why she didn’t warm up to Julie Powell and neither should we!  My obsession includes reading four books and watching somewhere in the  neighborhood of 12 hours of “The French Chef”  Mostly I’m watching to see Julia in action, but one meal struck me, “Spinach Twins” in which Julia collaborates with Simca and they produce a beautiful Spinach and Mushroom turnover.  I had to make that dish and I was thrilled at how beautiful and tasty it turned out.  Julia made her own pastry dough, I cut myself some slack and used Pepperidge Farms dough from the freezer otherwise I did everything as Julia did.

As with much French cooking, the dish is deceptively simple.  I say deceptively because you could indeed slap this together quickly, but the beauty of French food is preparing each element separately then composing the dish so that instead of one blended flavor (think spaghetti sauce) you get a complete bite with delightful layers of flavor where each component is recognizable and delicious on its own and the combination is a gastronomic delight.

The base of the dish is blanched and chopped Spinach.  Plunge fresh spinach into boiling water for about 2 minutes then immediately shock it in cold water.  This preserves the spinach flavor, and color (we all remember that black oozing mess they called spinach in the school cafeteria, you didn’t like it then, you won’t like it now.  Squeeze out all the water and then chop up the spinach.  Place it in a pot and set aside.  I used one large salad bag and had a little too much use about 2/3 bag if you are concerned about waste, but spinach is cheap and I’d rather have too much than too little.

Quarter and saute 8 oz of mushrooms, set aside.  Dice 1/2 cup of ham and saute it, set aside.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan dice one onion and sweat it over low heat with about 1/4 cup butter.  Put half the onion in with spinach.

Now comes the Sauce Bouilee.

add 1/2 cup flour to the onion and cook the roux.  Whisk in 1 2/3 cup hot milk.  This sauce is going to be THICK, like paste.  It’s not really a sauce, but a filling.  you want it this thick.  Take the pan off the heat and beat in an egg.  salt and pepper to taste, add a wisp of nutmeg if you like.

put about half that sauce in with the spinach.

Now you are ready to assemble the pastry.

Unroll the dough and coat the inside with an egg wash (1 egg, 1 Tbsp water)

Place roughly half the spinach mixture on one half the pastry sheet

layer in mushrooms and ham

top with a final layer of spinach

Fold the pastry top over, seal the edges, brush with egg wash and bake in a 350 degree oven.

If you have 45 minutes, watch the video.  Julia is just lovely.

]]> http://www.whineaux.com/2010/03/11/spinach-twins-a-la-julia-spinach-and-mushroom-turnover/feed/ 1 http://www.whineaux.com/2010/01/12/smokey-paprika-chicken-with-sour-cream-biscuit-dumplings/ http://www.whineaux.com/2010/01/12/smokey-paprika-chicken-with-sour-cream-biscuit-dumplings/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:19:54 +0000 dawn http://www.whineaux.com/?p=369

This photo landed me my first number 1 slot on FoodBuzz — thanks to my loving husband.  The first attempt at this recipe was the most photogenic.  But I needed to make it a few times and tweak the recipe before I was ready to post it.  My family are troopers (or they just like this dish that much, to be honest it’s amazingly good cold weather food)

A couple notes.  I’ve taken to using turkey stock instead of chicken stock in almost all of my dishes.  Its flavor is bolder and richer than chicken this flavor is obviously imparted into whatever dish you make.  One of my attempts at Paprika Chicken relied exclusively on chicken stock (home made of course) it was, in comparison, like a ghost of a dish I knew I could create a whisper of the wonderful flavors I’d tasted in the past.

I also experimented with bone in chicken thighs and boneless chicken thighs.  (If you are starting to think about using boneless skinless breast meat stop it right now.  This dish is already low on fat and you’ll make it terrible.  Go back two spaces and start again.)  Typically I always prefer to cook meat on the bone for flavor and moisture, but in this case it’s simply too hard to eat it when you are done.  Someone (probably me) is going to end up shooting a chicken thigh right out of their bowl onto the floor.  Plus the smaller boneless pieces pick up more flour and therefore more flavor.

My last little tidbit don’t overfill the pan before you put it in the oven or you will have one heck of a mess to clean up.  After the first time I started  lining the rack with foil.  This is not 5 star pretty food, this is hearty home cooking and it’s gonna spill!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Biscuit Topping

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
4 Tbsp cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 Cup sour cream
1/2 Cup Turkey Stock

Place dry ingredients into bowl of food processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter and pulse to form crumb texture.  Whisk together sour cream and stock, drizzle over the top, pulse food processor until dough comes together.  Set aside.

Smokey Paprika Chicken

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into two inch pieces
flour for dredging
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion finely diced (I used the food processor)
1 large red bell pepper finely diced
3 Tbs flour
2 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbsp Smoked Hungarian Paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup sour cream blended with 1/2 cup turkey stock*** See Note
1 cup Turkey Stock
more ground pepper.

Working in batches over medium high heat,brown the chicken pieces on both sides, set aside in a shallow dish tented with foil.  Add the onions and peppers cook until softened (about 5 – 7 minutes)  Add flour and cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.  Add paprika, garlic and caraway seeds, stir to combine and cook 2 – 3 minutes.  Return chicken to the pan, add mixture of sour cream and stock, then add stock.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Spoon biscuit dough on top of pan I used a 2 oz scoop to keep them even.  Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Turn off the oven, turn the broiler on and cook for 2 more minutes to brown the biscuits.

Serve with extra sour cream!

The biscuits are incredibly tender which I think is what makes this dish so good.  I love Chicken Paprikash but by putting these biscuits on top it became a favorite in my book.  And the biscuit topping could be added to any stew!

*** NOTE: you must must must blend the sour cream with the broth until smooth.  otherwise it’s very likely to curdle when it hits the pan, blending prevents this.

We had this with several wines, some white and some red.  My favorite was the beaujolais nouveau.  It was light and fruity which complimented the smokey flavor.

I really hope you make this, it was FANTASTIC.

Until next time, cheers!

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Every year I make goodies for Christmas to hand out to close friends.  This year my goody tins contained four treats:
Butter Tarts
Praline Cookies
Butterscotch Sticky Buns
Amaretti Cookies

Each recipe holds special meaning to me; the Butter Tarts are a recent memory of teaching my stepson Tyler to bake; the Praline Cookies are a reminder of how far I’ve come with my cooking and loved ones who are far away but dear to my heart; the Butterscotch Sticky Buns are a new recipe but make me think of my mother because she favors a home made sticky bun over most anything in life; and the Amaretti Cookies are for my dear friend Tony because they remind him of being in Sicily with his mother and they are special to me because he’s shared those memories.

I’ve always been a smidge (OK, a ton) sentimental; and2009 has reminded me to prioritize my friends and family, not my stuff.  This year has been miserable in many ways but it has taught me a lot.  No matter how tough things have gotten, I’ve been very lucky to always be within the embrace of my loving husband, the encouragement of a dear friend and the support of my parents.  Maybe I needed this year so I could appreciate and prioritize them and rather than my Le Creuset (which believe me, I appreciate!)

Part of this learning process for me is the lesson that cooking isn’t about perfection, it’s about sharing yourself and your love with your friends.  I’ve made breaded chicken cutlets with “sauce” more times than I can count, but never have I had as much fun as before Christmas making them with Tony who kicked me off the breading station because I wasn’t draining the egg-wash the way he wanted or pounding the chicken into the bread crumbs to his liking.  I’ll forever have the memory of that laughter — and the fact that he’s shared his mother’s recipe with me.

My Christmas dinner this year was one of the best I can remember.  My mom made turkey and her cornbread stuffing for me, because I asked for it.  No matter how hard I try I can’t get mine to turn out like hers so every pan of it is a gift that I greedily gobble up.

I’d like to share my goody recipes and a bit more of me with you.

Butter Tarts:

From the top Clockwise: Butter Tarts, Praline Cookies, Butterscotch Sticky Buns

If you are not familiar with these little gems, they are a Canadian treat similar to a pecan pie, only SO MUCH better and SO MUCH more fattening!  This recipe joined my repertoire when Tyler volunteered us to make “Canadian Food” for his multi-cultural fair.  This was probably because I had just returned from Canada but I was in a huge state of panic because my knowledge of Canadian food was limited to Beer, Maple Candy and Maple syrup; none of which were going to get him a good grade on his project.  Luckily my Twitter family came to the rescue and we made these guys.  Tyler was so excited that he made them and his smile when we finished was priceless.

A word to the wise — this recipe is just as easy as it looks AS LONG AS you: A) use nonstick muffin tins;  do not believe the Pam commercial it can’t keep everything from sticking;  and B) make sure not to over-fill the tarts because the filling becomes like molten dry wall and will stick to anything.  Make this mistake and you will invent swear words trying to get them out of the pan!  I used a recipe I found at Joy of Baking.com. I adopted it (essentially I cheated) for the skills of a teenage boy and a crust challenged mentor.

For the tart crust use your favorite pie crust recipe, mine is the Ready Bake Pre-rolled sheets from Pillsbury.  *wink*  I love to make things from scratch but I know when to acknowledge defeat.  Pillsbury pie crust is good, it’s easy and it’s inexpensive.  Use a 4 inch cookie cutter and cut 12 disks.  Place the disks in the center of greased muffin tins and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toast about 1/2 cup of walnut pieces and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine:
1/3 cup softened butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

You’ll also need 2 eggs and 1/4 cup half and half set aside

Use the lowest setting and combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Next add 2 eggs, one egg at a time making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.  Remove the bowl from mixer and by hand stir in 1/4 cup half and half.

Once the pie dough has chilled a half hour, remove it from the refrigerator, evenly sprinkle walnuts in the 12 muffin cups then spoon the filling into each tart to just below the rim of the dough.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

Praline Cookies

This is a family recipe from my ex-mother-in-law who I love and adore.  She made it for Christmas about 10 years ago and after much begging I was given the soon to be not-so-secret family recipe.  I immediately wanted to make it for her and send some her way.  As I mentioned, I was not always the cook I am today — so there is hope for everyone!  I made the recipe using cornmeal instead of flour (imagine mistaking the two!).  Being as stubborn as I am; I sent them off anyway (and frankly dog food topped with the praline icing would be good).  To this day she laughs at the memory especially now in light of my blog. The cookies are a favorite of family and friends and she graciously agreed to let me post the recipe.

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 1/3 cups of flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 box of dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Cream the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs.  Stir in the dry ingredients.  drop one tsp per cookie onto a prepared cookie sheet.  bake 8 – 10 minutes (*note, these cookies are very rich don’t be tempted to make big cookies or you’ll have lots of half eaten cookies!)

Cool on a rack.

When all of the cookies are made and cooled, place a pecan half on each cookie and prepare the icing.  The icing sets up quickly so you don’t want to make it before you are ready to use it.

Icing:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 box confectioners sugar

Over medium heat bring the brown sugar and evaporated milk to boil in a heavy saucepan and cook for 2 minutes constantly whisking.  Remove from the heat, add confectioners sugar, whisk in until smooth then drizzle over the cookies.

Amaretti Cookies

My friend Tony always speaks of his mother and his memories of Sicily with a special fondness .  Amaretti Cookies are distinctly Italian and take him back home.  So I make these for him.

Amaretti Cookies:
Preheat oven to 35o degrees

4 egg whites
1 1/2 pounds almond paste (not marzipan)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pine nuts

Use a blender or food processor to combine the egg whites and almond paste (if the almond paste is hard, soften it in the microwave — this is important I almost burned the motor out of my food processor because I skipped this).  Once the batter has begun to form add the rest of the ingredients until a sticky dough forms (it is VERY sticky).

Use a 1 oz cookie scoop and put them onto a cookie sheet with parchment (some people spray the parchment because these cookies are very very sticky — did I mention they are sticky?)  top with pine nuts and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.  They should have a little gold color but still be soft and chewy.

You’ll get 60 cookies.

Butterscotch Sticky Buns

Links to Food and Wine Recipe

I make sticky buns at Christmas and pretty much every chance I get because they remind me of being a kid and biting into a warm sticky bun straight out of the oven is like being transported to a fairyland where everything is happy and tasty.  When I saw these on the cover of the January 2010 Food and Wine Magazine I had to make them.  I’m not going to re-post the recipe click on the photo and you’ll go straight to it.  As I was making the sauce I was lamenting “What did I get myself into.”  Well, what I got myself into was one of the most amazing sauces I’ve ever eaten that I will find more uses for.  It’s intimidating, there are lots of ingredients but when you taste it you’ll see it was worth it.  As if the sauce isn’t fattening enough, when you rewarm these if you put a pat of butter on the top; well, as they said in the “Big Night” it’s  so good that “if you eat it, you gotta kill yourself.”  You are forewarned!

I made all of these on December 23.  At the end of the day I had 3 sticky buns in my belly (true) and 6 healthy gift tins.  Is it any wonder that I curled up with some Turnbull merlot?

As a special teaser, stay tuned for a New Year’s give away!  I’m pretty excited about this one and hope you will be too!

Before Tyler (17) moved in with us he told me he wanted to cook his “special” burgers for Bill and I.  We had extensive conversations about how much he liked making burgers.  Being new to the stepmom thing and especially new to the teenage boy thing.  I decided to order the “Build a Better Burger” cookbook for him as a surprise.  I had it delivered to his mom’s house overnight.  I was excited we might be able to find some common ground.  5 days later when I asked if he received it, he said “Yeah, why did you send that to me?”  :SIGH:

I did not learn.  I wanted to, however sometimes I can be what I prefer to describe as “strong willed” or “enthusiastic” but my family calls “stubborn” and occasionally they use the very unkind phrase “hard-headed.”

When Tyler arrived he asked about making his “special” burgers for us every day.  Unfortunately his method required grilling and his arrival coincided with the brutal cycle of afternoon storms that are common for Central Florida in late summer.  Finally the day arrived.  We gathered the ingredients and started to work.  His recipe for a burger was ground beef with a salty store bought sauce, soy sauce, salt and stuffed with hoop cheese.  I’ve never seen a kid so excited, or tasted a burger so SALTY.  But to Ty, it was heaven on a plate so we smiled, praised him and ate ours.  Later I secretly threw out that awful sauce only to be caught.  “HEY!  Why’s my sauce in the garbage?” :SIGH:

Tyler’s dinner menu repertoire has done a 180 since he moved here.  He’s done well to adapt.  Now, he likes Brussels sprouts, he cheerfully consumed my attempt at Chicken Tiki Marsala (bad recipe, going to have to try that again), he ADORES my baked macaroni and cheese.  But much to my dismay, he insists on hating lamb.  I just discovered that I can cook lamb at home (as opposed to only being able to order it in a restaurant) .   I love lamb, I want to have it once or twice a week.  :SIGH:

What to do, what to do???

Hide it in a burger, that’s what.  And keep my opinions to myself when he slathers it with ketchup.  That’s what!

Last night I made lamb burgers and Tzatziki sauce with grilled eggplant.  You may notice the lack of photo.  That’s to protect you.  They were UGLY.  and I do mean UGLY.  But for every degree of ugly, there were two degrees of yummy as proved by the clean plate of a 17 year old self professed lamb hater.  Perhaps I can get him to eat the chop next time if I use the same spices.

Lamb burgers:
1 pound ground lamb
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 clove fresh garlic minced
3 turns fresh ground black pepper
healthy pinch of kosher salt

Mix the spices and meat together gently and then let it rest at room temperature for about a half hour.  Form into 3 patties and cook over medium high heat for 7 minutes or until done through.  Unlike beef, the lamb will not dry out if cooked to well done.  I used our Cuisinart indoor grill and it took about 7 minutes to cook.

For the eggplant I sliced it about a quarter inch thick, salted it and put it in a colander with a weight to remove the liquid.  Then I brushed it with olive oil and also put it on the Cuisinart indoor grill — hence the ugly factor.  I would suggest you either saute the eggplant in oil over high heat or use a real grill.  The Cuisanart didn’t get hot enough, the eggplant stuck, tore, steamed rather than grilled ….. you know the drill :SIGH:

Tzatziki Sauce
7 oz Greek yogurt
1 small cucumber seeded and grated
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice

*note:  Tzatziki sauce traditionally includes mint which I have an aversion to so I omit it.  If you like it add 1 tsp dried mint.

After grating the cucumber spread it on paper towels and blot out all the moisture you can.  Otherwise your sauce will be watery.

Chuck everything into the food processor, give it a whirl, taste it and salt it.  Refrigerate for one hour before using.

I layered one slice eggplant, 1 slice roasted red pepper, one lamb patty, a dab of Tzatziki sauce and feta cheese on the burger.

MMMMM – no leftovers and I sort of wished I had cooked Tyler something different so we could have eaten his.  That’s the trouble with expanding kids pallets, then they want to eat your food!

So back to the question, is a Burger just a Burger?  No.  Burgers are more than the flavorless fatty meat puck that McDonald’s has purveyed for years.  Burgers are comfort; they are a bonding experience; and they can be a vehicle for introducing new flavors.  We still haven’t come clean and told Ty it was a lamb burger.  He knew something was up — but he was happy to eat it.

About two years ago I was in the Le Creuset outlet with my family looking at this exact Swissmar Raclette with the granite top and seriously pondering purchasing it.  I remember it being priced at close to $200 and it was right after Christmas so even though I wanted it, I was hemming and hawing.  As I danced around in front of the delightful device well healed hooligans in their smug cashmere sweaters bombarded the store told me how much fun it would be how much they loved their unit and then bought the last one in the store.  THE NERVE!  I was a bit heartbroken.

While I never forgot that moment (obviously I’m the kind of person that lets things go easily), I didn’t go on a mission to get a Raclette.  That is until I saw a post from Salty Seattle about her Raclette Party.  My obsession went into overdrive and I had to buy one.  After much research and price comparison I bought the Swissmar KF-77045 – it’s the granite top with the red base. Overstock.com had great prices.

When it arrived, I was ill-prepared to “play’ with my new toy (read: I had a poorly stocked pantry); but I couldn’t contain my excitement.  At 4:00 in the afternoon when the UPS man dropped off my prize I stopped everything and boiled potatoes and melted cheddar cheese over them in the trays.  Bill and Tyler were in love,  there was something about watching the cheese slowly melt, then bubble and then crisp up that was memorizing.  We each cleaned our plates and looked about for more, but sadly for now, this gooey snack would have to do.

Then, on a trip to the market, I found Raclette cheese, little smokies, dried red wine sausage, lamb chops and a thin sirloin (Tyler is not a huge fan of lamb, but that’s another post in which I attempt to convert him).  We stopped by our French pastry shop and picked up a loaf of just out of the oven bread and a couple of pastry treats that didn’t last long enough to photograph.

With much officiousness, I cleared the table, put the grill in the center and fired it up (you know I had no idea what I was doing right?  But someone had to be in charge).  With the granite top they recommend at least 15 minutes for it to heat up (or you can heat it in your oven, but because that method sounds like an amazing way to get a trip to the burn ward;  I just put it on the appliance, turned it on and kept my distance.)

I had marinated four of the cutest lamb chops and one small sirloin in olive oil and a paste of fresh parsley, fresh oregano, basil and roasted garlic.  I boiled some baby potatoes, and set up my fondu tray with smokies, cornichons, bread, and potatoes.

We started with the bigger pieces of meat on the top.  There was MUCH less smoke than I anticipated which is a good thing.

Bill and I sipped wine while we tried to keep Tyler from burning himself on the grill.  For some reason he only wanted the pieces farthest away from him!

We each cooked our cheese to our liking — Tyler couldn’t wait, he wanted his as soon as it was melted.  Somehow we talked him out of taking it straight from the pan and into his mouth, thereby preventing what would have been a very painful burn!  I cooked mine until it was bubbled, brown and crisp.  Almost like a chip and Bill had his somewhere in between.

We had a lot of fun having dinner this way and can’t wait to do it again.  I’m sure that we’ll use it at least once during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

What did we drink?  I was conflicted, we had red meat that would be lovely with red wine, but that cheese was meant to be eaten with a dry riesling.  However if you read anything I write you know red wine reigns supreme at our house — so.  Seven Artisans Meritage joined our little party.

Next time, I would put down a table cloth that I don’t mind getting some splatters on to protect the table.  I was surprised at how easy it was to clean the granite cooktop.  It was very browned when we were done.  We let it cool and I thought I was going to need to soak it overnight to clean it, the food and browning easily slid off.  Very easy to use.

Au Revoir!

A couple weeks ago I received an announcement for the new Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook.  The pitch:

The Silver Spoon, THE SILVER SPOON: PASTA (Phaidon Press; October 12, 2009; $39.95 hardcover) presents a collection of more than 350 authentic and definitive pasta recipes for all fans of this tasty Italian staple. Whereas The Encyclopedia of Pasta is more of an A to Z “history” of pasta, our book shows how to actually prepare the pasta dishes.

I own the original Silver Spoon and it is an amazing reference of Italian recipes.  I was excited to review this book based on my previous experience.

The book is divided into two categories, dry pasta and fresh pasta.  Most of the dry pasta dishes seem to be side dishes more than entrees, which makes sense as pasta is typically one of four courses served in Italy, whereas in the U.S. we tend to order pasta as a main course.

The ingredients in the book were easy to come by.  In the original Silver Spoon cookbook they embraced the notion of waste not want not, and many of the cuts of meat recommended are unavailable or undesirable to the squeamish American palate.  The Silver Spoon Pasta relies on easy to find, commonly appealing ingredients (except for some of the pasta shapes).  The downside is that the recipes became repetitive.

I made two dishes from the book, a angel hair and Gruyere and a baked angel hair pasta mold.  The angel hair and Gruyere turned out very nice and was eaten quickly by my family.  The recipe itself would be no surprise to a frequent cook.  It was written as a vegetarian dish, I added chicken and mushrooms because if I don’t have some meat, I don’t feel like I’ve eaten.  Essentially you made a bechamel sauce and added Gruyere then I topped it with chicken breast sauteed in butter with salt, pepper, roasted garlic and mushrooms.

The second dish intrigued me because I’d never seen it.  It was a baked angel hair pasta mold.

To make it, I prepared a roux and added some cooking water from the angel hair pasta.  After the sauce thickened, I added three egg yolks and folded in the whipped whites of three eggs.  All of this went into a 9 inch round cake pan and I topped it with my red sauce.  As I mentioned before I can’t have a meal without meat, so I also cooked a rib eye for the three of us to share.  I’ll post that marinade recipe soon because it was YUMMY.

The pasta mold received a ho hum review by the family me included.

I also passed the book along to a friend of mine from Sicily.  He liked it and picked several recipes he wants us to prepare together.  He did comment that he wished there were more photos.

Overall I think this is a good cookbook for a beginner.  The techniques are easy for a home cook and there aren’t many requirements for specialized equipment or tools.  While each pasta shape and origin is described, the information is basic. It would have been nice to have included substitutions to in case you can’t find the pasta they suggest as many of the shapes in the book aren’t commonly stocked in American grocery stores.

I saw it this weekend at Costco for about $22 if you are interested.

Here’s the recipe that they included with the pitch:

RIGATONI WITH MEATBALLS Silver Spoon Pasta

RIGATONI WITH MEATBALLS

Rigatoni con Polpettine

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves 4

11 ounces ground meat

1 sprig chopped flat leaf parsley

½ garlic clove, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

all-purpose flour, for dusting

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 sprig chopped small fresh rosemary

1 ¾ cups bottle strained tomatoes

12 ounces rigatoni

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Combine the ground meat, parsley, and garlic in a bowl, then stir in the egg and season with salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into small meatballs, dust with flour, and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion, celery, carrot, and rosemary and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Then add the meatballs, and increase the heat to medium. Cook until the meatballs are lightly browned all over, add the bottle strained tomatoes and season with salt. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes. Cook the rigatoni in a large pan of salted boiling water until al dente, then drain, and tip into the pan with the meatballs. Mix well and heat through for 2 minutes. Transfer to a warm serving dish and sprinkle with the parmesan.