You Gonna Eat All That?

2011-09-07T22:57:00.001-04:00

Jim's birthday dinner - Gallileo III

2011-02-13T12:26:00.007-05:00

UPDATE: Galileo III closed September 2011

For Jim's birthday, we chose Galileo III. We had been given a very generous gift certificate to Galileo as a thank you for taking the wedding picture for our friends Ted and Bruce's wedding and decided to use it for Jim's birthday dinner. And not just any dinner but the 12+ course Chef's Choice Tasting Menu. You heard me right boys and girls, 12 courses. Plus dessert. *
*actual number of courses we were served was 10 - see my follow up at the end of this post.

We got to the restaurant about 30 minutes before our reservation and paid a visit to the bar and pestered Chris the bar manager. We each ordered a cocktail and a short time later, were treated to a small plate of the thinnest sliced Mortadella ever and some warm bread. It was heavenly. With drinks and our pre-dinner treat behind us, we were seated at our table to begin our dining extravaganza.

With help from Chris and our server, we selected a nice bottle each of white and red wine to go with the meal.

Reflection from the wine glasses on a shelf behind our table

An assortment of breads were brought to the table with a side of ricotta, parsley and garlic butter.
Then the courses began.
First Course:
Burrata: Imported Burrata cheese over roasted peppers marinated with capers, garlic, Sicilian olive oil.Second Course:
Tonno delle Isolelle Isole: Salad of Fregola, chopped tuna, smoked, bottarga of tuna, curly endive, blood orange dressing.Third Course:
Bagna Cauda: Flan Duo of warm red peppers and Jerusalem artichokes in a Bagna Cauda (anchovy garlic) sauce Fourth Course:
Budino di Parmigiano: Parmigiano Reggiano cheese pudding top with a layer of Burrata cheese, cream of porcini mushrooms, sliced black truffle. (Ours were missing the black truffle) Fifth Course:
Raviolini del Plin: Small “pinched” ravioli filled with beef, veal and chicken. Served in a sauce of veal jus, butter and sage.Sixth Course:
Tortelloni: Tortelloni filled with red beets in a chive cream sauce with poppy seeds.Seventh Course:
Butternut Squash Ravioli: Ravioli stuffed with butternut squash. Topped with crushed ameretti cookies and a butter sage sauce.Eighth Course:
AnatraFettuccine all”Anatra: Spinach fettuccine with duck meat stewed in tomato and vegetables.Ninth Course:
Capesante: Sauteed sea scallops atop yellow & black polenta, sautéed lobster mushrooms, cream sauce.Tenth Course:
Coniglio: Roasted loin of rabbit served over braised legs with pancetta in a sauce “alla Ligure” of stewed celery, onions, olives and walnuts.

Dessert:
Barbara had Crostata di Mele. Apple crostata, honey-roasted pecans, caramel gelato, apple jelly.Jim had Torta All’ Olio D’Oliva. Olive oil cake blood orange sauce, mascarpone sorbetto, crispy pine nuts, vanilla poached fennel.And some lovely coffee
The food was in a word, fabulous! Jim's favorites was the artichoke flan. The delicate texture and flavors were wonderful. My favorite was the budino. I called it sex in a spoon (Jim said I'm not that limber). We would easily order any of the 10 dishes again. In fact, some we had already eaten on two previous visits.

And Chris, Bar Manager extraordinaire, was terrific as always. Thank you Chris!

As good as the food was, we felt the dining experience could have been better. The tab for this meal was $360 meal (before tax and tip). This was the Chef's Choice Tasting Menu which we said we would be ordering when we made our reservations. It's not like they weren't aware what we would be ordering.

Issue 1: You'd think they would have seated us closer to the open kitchen but no, we were in the farthest corner behind a wall from the kitchen between two service stations.

Issue 2: The online menu says the Chef's Choice is 12 plus courses plus desert. Trust me, we were very full after 10 courses but I can imagine there are folks out there that would argue this with the server and either say to bring two more courses or lower the price of the meal. There needs to be consistency with what you advertise and what you actually offer.

Issue 3: Where was the chef? Even if it wasn't Chef Donna in the kitchen, you'd think the who ever was in charge of the kitchen would have made at least one appearance just to ask if we had any questions or to see how things were going. Just sayin'

We'd still say that the food is worth a visit. But to get a better bang for you buck, each person at the table should order the 3 or 4 course meal + dessert and have everyone get different items. You'll be able to get to choose what you want and have slightly larger portions which lends itself to sharing and swapping bites.

Live Octopus

2010-12-11T19:00:00.001-05:00

Live octopus (San Nakji) is a delicacy in Korea. They pull it out of the tank, humanely kill it, chop it up, and serve it with sesame oil and salt. I had it once in Incheon about 20 years ago, and finally got to have it again in LA. We went to Masan Restaurant, which I assume is named after the coastal city of Masan. Here's the video:

It's very tasty, but it's hard to pick up because the suckers stick to the dish. I had to use my chopsticks and my hands to encourage them to let go, then dip them in the sesame oil-salt mix, then pop them in your mouth. The texture is chewy and crunchy. They'll stick briefly to your mouth but come off easily. And they're very tasty to me.

Matsuhisa Sushi Los Angeles

2010-12-10T20:16:00.008-05:00

(By Jim)

Sometimes a trip can be a fortunate accident. This happened to us on Monday. We were in LA for a work conference for me that would be happening on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we came out early to see LA and go to a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (BTW, look at the 12/9/2010 episode at the end of Lucy Liu's segment to see the backs of our heads.)

After seeing La Brea Tar Pits in the morning, we headed over to the Apple Pan for lunch. Unfortunately, after driving 30 minutes, we found it closed on Mondays. Bugger. OK, there were several sushi places we saw on the way back. So, we stop at a big one on La Cienega. And it's closed. And Barbara's getting anxious. Buggershitpisswee. But there's another place across the road that looks like sushi. Matsuhisa Sushi. OK, whatever, sounds Japanese.

I walked in, and realized that it wasn't any sushi place, it was Nobu Matsuhisa's sushi place. Damn, this will be expensive. But we get in, look at the menu, and find some things that were both a good value and incredibly tasty.

Nobu's well known for his black cod with miso sauce, but we were both in the mood for sushi, so we decided to both go with sushi-bar-style food. I know, but we were both addled.

Anyway, so we both got set meals. Barbara got the sushi plate, 8 pieces, a roll, and miso soup. I got the sashimi and tempura plate.

Miso soup

Sushi plate
(from top by line: tuna roll;
Tuna, yellowtail, salmon, squid;
halibut, mackerel, shrimp, egg omelet.)

Salad and mixed tempura (shrimp, pumpkin, onion, zucchini)

Tuna and halibut sashimi

My opinion? One, this was excellent. But to really experience the excellence of Nobu Matsuhisa, you need to order more exotic things, like the crab legs with a knob of crab meat, deep fried, that the ladies who lunch ordered next to us. They were talking about houses (For $8 Million, it's a Steal!!!) Ehh, whatever.

Also, you need to remember you're in LA. The menu is expensive. And cash is the great leveler. They don't care how you're dressed, as long as you have the cash. Barbara was worried about how she was dressed, and we might have ordered more had she been more comfortable.

Nobu was in the house, and came out to visit some of the diners, so we know he was present for quality control.

Finally, there are many places in LA with excellent sushi and cooked Japanese food. These places are usually called izakaya, and have small plates and drinks. We also visited Izakaya by Katsu-ya in Manhattan Beach and Japonica Dining in Redondo Beach. For the price, these two were better deals.

Bottom Line: Matsuhisa is excellent sushi, but you really need to get off the basic plates to get the real Matsushia experience. We'll go back, and we'll do that next time.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T19:44:00.002-05:00

Totally nontraditional scallops with champagne sauce, chanterelle mushrooms, homemade green beans, and roasted potatoes.

Scallops with Champagne Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops
1 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 4 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling wine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pat scallops dry with a paper towel. Add scallops to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add mushrooms and shallots to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms darken. Stir in Champagne, mustard, salt, and tarragon, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream. Serve with scallops.

Dinner at Corduroy

2010-10-27T20:56:00.009-04:00

The bar upstairs at Corduroy has one of the best deals in town. Three courses for $30. We took my sister there for dinner while she was in town last week. Our friend, Beth, joined us.

Dinner was superb, as always. The pictures below speak for themselves.

We started out with the Filipino Spring Rolls. They come with a spicy dipping sauce and are additively delicious.

My sister got the Charred Tomato Soup. The first picture is the bowl before the soup was poured. It is a mixture of tomatoes and basil oil. The soup is poured into the bowl at your table. Rustic, earthy, creamy and one of my favorite soups.

Beth ordered the Duck Confit as her entree. This is perhaps the best duck confit anywhere! I'm normally not a duck fan, but I could eat this everyday if I had to. It's served on a bed of frisée.

I got the Faux Rib-Eye (a cut of beef from the shoulder). It's served withLyonnaise Potatoes and green beans with pearl onions. This is a very tender, very beef cut and far more than I was able to eat. Jim lucked out having the leftovers for lunch a couple of days later.

Gen got the Grouper with Sushi Rice and Hajiki. It's seasoned with ginger and sesame oil. The grouper was outstanding and the ginger/sesame flavors really brought the dish alive.

Jim had the Tuna with Sushi Rice and Hajiki. Same dish as Gen's with different fish. Just as delicious.

For dessert, Jim got the trio of sorbets. Pineapple, Concord Grape and Peach. Absolutely fantastic!

Gen and I each got the Pistachio Bread Pudding. It's served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm a sucker for bread pudding. This one was moist, dense and full of pistachio goodness.

And lastly, Beth got the Flourless Chocolate Cake. This is a big dense hunk of chocolate cake served with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. If I wasn't so full already, I would have gotten this.

Barbara's Birthday Dinner at Galileo III

2010-10-06T22:13:00.008-04:00

Happy Birthday Dinner. Chef Roberto Donna just reopened Galileo. Commentary to come later.
UPDATE: Galileo III closed September 2011

Barbara with a pear Sidecar.

Porcini cake with cheese, roasted caps, and truffle sauce.

Budino pudding of parmesan cheese, truffles.

Mezzeluna filled with lump crab, tomato and orange sauce. Transcendent combination of flavors. Who knew tomatoes and oranges played so well together.

Scallops with yellow and black polenta.

Pinched ravioli stuffed with pork, chicken, and beef, sauce of browned butter and sage.

Squid ink taglianeni with lobster tail and lobster cream sauce.

Veal tenderloin medallion.

Monkfish wrapped with pancetta.

Hazelnut semifreddo ice cream.

Chocolate torte with basil and vanilla ice creams, limes, and coconut.

Steak Wraps with Chimicurri

2010-07-27T19:20:00.010-04:00

The Argentinians are the world's largest consumers of beef. Really? Really. The average Argentinian eats about 150 pounds of beef a year. So naturally they know a thing or two about how to cook it and what to serve with it. A good example of what to serve with beef is chimichurri, a sauce made from primarily with fresh parsley, garlic, lemon juice, shallots and olive oil. There are dozens of variations but we like the traditional version the best.

Jim made up a batch of chimichurri this weekend to go with 2 steaks we had in the freezer. Here is a visual list of the ingredients.And the best part of making a chimichurri is that nothing has to be precisely chopped, minced or diced. Just cut everything into big chunks and toss it into a food processor. Give it a good number of pulses until it looks like this.
It's just that easy. Make it early in the day so it has time to let all the flavors meld together.

And, of course, you need to have steak. We had two NY Strips. Cooked to a nice medium rare, we would usually we'd cook them and serve with the chimichurri spooned on top but this time we decided to cook them and slice them thinly and serve with tortillas.

Along with the steak and chimichurri (which is good all by themselves), we added a little sour cream and red leaf lettuce. Roll them up and eat 'em up. And if you're lucky, you'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Chimichurri Sauce
1/2 cup parsley leaves
3 tbsp. red vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 green onions, white part and most of the green
(you can also use one whole, peeled shallot)
Juice from one lime
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded if you prefer less heat)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything in a food processor and run it for about 30 seconds. Check it to see if everything is evenly blended. Place in a glass container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Spinach pizza?

2010-04-24T20:04:00.003-04:00

[by Jim]

Since Barbara is out tonight at a library murder mystery program, I had to whip something up for dinner alone. Let's see, there's a bag of spinach, a bag of pizza dough, prosciutto, and mozzarella cheese. A half a head of garlic that needs to be used up. So, I quick sauteed the spinach with garlic, and made spinach pizza.

And yes, it's good. Very good, and gets your veggies in. Sophie likes bites of the crust and the prosciutto.

Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Three Cheeses with Truffle Oil

2010-04-19T10:00:00.008-04:00

A truly decadent mac 'n' cheese recipe that I made for Thanksgiving last year. Even though the recipe says it will serve 4, it could easily serve more. The original recipe called for shaved truffles but I opted for a good quality truffle oil (from Wegmans).

Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Three Cheeses with Truffle Oil
1 1/2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1 1/2 cups sliced shitake mushrooms
2 Tbs oil or bacon fat
1 1/2 Tbs sherry vinegar
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
3 cup whole milk, warmed
4 oz herb chevre, crumbled
4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
4 oz parmigiano reggiano, separated in 2 2oz piles
1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp fresh sage, minced
2-3 tbsp truffle oil, depending on how strong you like it (I recommend Wegman's truffle oil)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
10 oz pasta (elbow, shells, bow-tie, etc)
kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a large pot of water over high heat and cover. Place a large saute pan with 2 tbsp oil or lard over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms to the pan and saute for 7-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are fully cooked and slightly caramelized. Toss or stir occasionally. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper then de-glaze the pan with sherry vinegar. Allow all of the vinegar to cook out, then remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.

2. Begin the cheese sauce. Add 4 tbsp butter to a medium-sized sauce pan and place the pan on the stove over medium heat. Once all the butter is melted and hot, whisk in 4 tbsp flour. Cook the flour, whisking, for about 30 seconds , just long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste, but not long enough for the flour to start caramelizing. Add the thyme, rosemary, sage, and red pepper flakes. Continue stirring and allow the herbs to saute for about another 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking continuously, so the roux and milk incorporate smoothly and there are no lumps. Allow the bechamel to come to a simmer (it won't gain it's full thickness until it does), stirring occasionally.

3. While waiting for the sauce to come to a simmer start the pasta. Liberally salt the pot of boiling water, almost to the point it tastes like sea water. This may take a few handfuls of salt . Add the pasta to the water and cook the pasta for a minute or two less than the suggested time on the box.

4. Once the bechamel has reached a simmer, stir in the chevre, cheddar, 2oz of parmigiano, and truffle oil until all the cheese has melted. Turn off the heat and and taste the sauce for seasoning levels. Season with salt and pepper as necessary. In small mixing bowl, mix together the panko and remaining 2oz of parmigiano reggiano.

5. Strain the pasta immediately once finished cooking. In a mixing bowl, toss the pasta, cheese sauce, and mushrooms together. Pour the macaroni and cheese into a deep glass or ceramic loaf pan and sprinkle the panko/parmigiano mixture evenly across the top. Bake the mac-n-cheese in the upper part of the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the topping is golden and the cheese sauce is bubbly. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

Four Layer Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-04-12T10:40:00.009-04:00

I made this cake for Thanksgiving last year. Not only is it a real show stopper, it was much easier to make and assemble than I anticipated and could be made a day or two ahead of time.

Since I work in a library, I have an abundance of cooking magazines at my finger tips every day (as well as several I get at home) which I can peruse during my lunch or dinner breaks. This recipe was from the November edition of Bon Appetit, a magazine that has yet to fail me when trying to make any of it's wonderful recipes. This cake caught my eye while I was looking for Thanksgiving recipes. It's one time of year I usually like to pull out all the stops when it comes to the menu. Everything from using the good china to the table decor to the menu. And dessert is where I really like to show what I'm made of. Although I also made a lamb appetizer that was pretty killer but that's another post.
And I think I did a pretty good job of making my cake look nearly as good as the one in the
magazine.

My Cake (left) Bon Appetit Cake (right)
Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder*
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 (15-ounce can) pure pumpkin
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 (8-ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tbs finely grated orange peel
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Chopped walnuts or walnut halves, toasted

For cake:
Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with 1 1/2" sides with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment; spray parchment.

Whisk flour and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in another large bowl until smooth. Beat in brown sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in pumpkin. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating to blend between additions. Divide batter between pans.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in pans on rack 15 minutes. Run knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks. Remove parchment. Using tart pan bottom as aid, turn cakes over onto racks, top sides up, and cool completely.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap cakes in plastic and store at room temperature.

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add cream cheese and orange peel; beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until smooth.

Trim rounded tops from cakes. Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on large platter. Spoon 2/3 cup frosting atop cake in dollops; spread to edges. Repeat 2 more times with cake and frosting; top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake (layer will be thin).

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Decorate cake with walnuts and serve.

Servings: 16

Happy Easter & Blood Orange Cake

2010-04-04T18:46:00.006-04:00

Don't be alarmed, I know I've been gone for a while but I am going to try to post more this year. I let life and work get me bogged down to the point that I didn't think I had time for this. Turns out, I really missed it. And what better time to start anew than Easter!

A few things to bring some of you up to date. Sophie is all done with her cancer treatments and has a clean bill of health! Work has been crazy. Budget cuts dominate our lives in the library system and for four branches we get the added bonus of going through major renovations. The renovation at my library is nearly complete. We hope to be moved back and re-opened in a few months.

And, of course, my post today also involves food. A trip to Costco a few weeks ago and an impulse buy of a bag of blood oranges. We brought them home, tucked them away in the fridge and forgot about them! Thankfully they were still good so I scoured the internet and my cookbooks for some recipes. I decided on two, Blood Orange Cake and Blood Orange Bars. Jim got the final pick and chose the cake.

I tweaked the recipe a bit and have my revision below. It was fairly easy to make and a taste of the various parts left me optimistic that when assembled they would be great. The cake in the pictures is a mini cake made with left over batter. Using an 8-inch cake pan was too small so I upped it to a 9-inch pan in the recipe below. And since the mini cake was thicker than the bigger one, I cut it into thirds.
*UPDATE*
We had left over syrup and frosting so I bought a pound cake, sliced it, added syrup and frosting and it was fabulous! We liked it better than the cake in the recipe.

Blood Orange Cake (adapted from Cooking Light)
Cake:
Cooking spray
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

Filling:
1 (16-ounce) carton sour cream
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
5 cups blood orange sections (about 5 blood oranges)

Syrup:
1 cup blood orange juice (about 4-6 blood oranges)
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Garnish:
Mint sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare cake, coat an 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray.

Combine eggs, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and salt in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed 2 minutes. Gradually add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, beating until egg mixture is thick and pale (about 3 minutes). Gently fold flour into egg mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare filling, Spoon sour cream into a large bowl. Add honey and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to yogurt, stirring well with a whisk.

Combine cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of the cream mixture into yogurt mixture; gently fold in remaining cream mixture. Cover and chill 15 minutes.

Arrange blood orange sections in a single layer on several layers of paper towels, and let stand 5 minutes. Reserve half of the sections; roughly chop remaining sections. Cover and chill.

To prepare syrup, combine juice and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat; simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat; cool.

Split cake in half horizontally using a serrated knife; place bottom layer, cut side up, on a plate. Brush with 2 tablespoons syrup. Spread with half of yogurt mixture, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Sprinkle chopped blood orange. Repeat with the top layer. Garnish with remaining orange segments and mint (if using). Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serves 12.

A Sophie moment

2009-06-25T09:15:00.002-04:00

In all the years we've had Sophie, we've never seen her dig a hole. That is, until today. While Jim was sitting outside with her while our kitchen floor was being redone, she started to dig. He grabbed my camera and got this video. She seemed very determined

Enjoy.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken

2009-06-16T12:42:00.002-04:00

While shopping at Trader Joe's Sunday afternoon, we spied some whole chickens and thought about how good a roast chicken would be for dinner. We already had some Brussels sprouts in the fridge and some potatoes to help round out the meal. However, Jim saw buttermilk and I knew what he had on his mind...cornbread. Scratch the potatoes, add in cornbread.

But how would we season the chicken? I scrolled through a few recipes and found one that called for smoked hot paprika and salt mixed together and rubbed all over the chicken with a few sprigs of rosemary tucked here and there. Only problem was you then had cover it and let it sit overnight in the fridge. We wanted chicken tonight, not tomorrow night so we modified the recipe a tad. In small bowl we mixed together about 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, about 1 tablespoon each of crushed dried thyme and kosher salt then just enough olive oil to make a thick paste. We rubbed it underneath the skin, saving a little to rub on the outside. With the convection oven preheated to 450, we popped it into the oven for about an hour (for a regular oven, cook about 2 hours - depending on the size of the chicken).

Look at the beautiful paprika colored juice

Not even five minutes after we put it in the oven, we could already smell something good. Even outside on our patio, you could smell it cooking. I wonder if the neighbors were jealous?

Finally it was time to tuck in. It was very tasty and moist. I would have thought I'd taste more of the paprika than I did as the smell was intoxicating. But it was still very good and perhaps I will try letting it sit over night in the fridge over night to see if it makes any difference. Although I will say the crispy pieces of skin were wickedly delicious.

10th Anniversary - Part 3

2009-05-31T11:03:00.001-04:00

On Thursday, the day before our anniversary, we learned that our condo complex STILL hadn't gotten our A/C fixed and we were looking at temperatures in the 80's for the weekend. We joked Thursday night about getting a hotel for the weekend then we looked at each other and thought why not? After some searching online, we snagged a great deal for the Westin Hotel in Annapolis and as a bonus, it was pet friendly so Sophie could go too!

Amazingly, after living just outside Washington, DC for nearly 11 years now, we've never been to Annapolis. It's only a 45 minute drive which makes it a great place to run off to when you want to get out of town as the last minute.

The hotel was very nice and located just at the outer edge of the old part of town. A free shuttle bus from the hotel was available to take you down to the harbor or just about anywhere else nearby. We have a room at the end of the hall which included the Westin pet bed, food and water bowls and doggie placemat for Sophie. She wasn't keen on the bed at first but after walking her little butt off the first day, that changed. She liked our bed too.

The old part of town was easy to walk around and very pet friendly. Sophie was allowed in just about every shop. There was a harbor tour that let us bring her aboard and if we wanted to, we could have taken a horse-drawn carriage tour with her as well.

Jim and I on the hrabor tour.

Sophie on the harbor tour

Any restaurant with outdoor seating welcomed pets, including one place we went to in one of the many marinas that gave pets a little plate of bacon when you came in for breakfast.

Annapolis harbor

The best part of the entire weekend was just being able to relax and enjoy spending time together (all 3 of us).

10th Anniversary - part 2

2009-05-28T19:02:00.010-04:00

So the surprise Jim had for me on Thursday was a very cute card. On the cover were two Hawaiian shirts with hats and sunglasses and two tropical drinks with umbrellas. All of it was made with real cloth or other scrapbook like materials.

On Friday we had dinner planned at Corduroy. We had an absolutely wonderful evening which included a bottle of champagne from my family, great service from Ferhat, Kat and Pinchon and of course, amazing food.

The happy couple

Crab and Squid Ink Pasta - Jim's appetizer.

Chilled English Pea Soup

Seared Sea Scallops atop mashed potatoes
with Morel Mushrooms and Chardonnay Sauce - My entree.

Roast and Confit Guinea Hen with Local Baby Leeks
and Shiitake Mushrooms - Jim's entree

Fresh Strawberries with Strawberry Sorbet and Creme Anglaise - Jim's dessert

Baked Chocolate Sabayon - my dessert

It was decadent and indulgent and the perfect way to celebrate 10 wonderful years with a wonderful husband. And on Saturday morning, we loaded up the hound in the car and drove up to Annapolis for the weekend. More on that in the next post.

Our 10th Anniversary - Part 1

2009-05-21T09:31:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow will be our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Woot! Hard to believe we've been together that long.

Last weekend I surprised Jim with a bottle of Middleton's Rare Irish Whiskey. He was somewhat speechless for a few minutes. He'd look at the box, open his mouth to say something, look up at me, then back at the box again. He cracked it open last night and let me have a sip. Let me tell you, I am not a whiskey drinker, the stuff's usually too harsh for me but this stuff was as smooth as a baby's butt. I could drink this.
My gift from Jim has been a little surprises every night this week. Tuesday he brought home a dozen red roses. They smell so nice!
Last night he brought home some Belgian chocolates from Neuhaus. He hand picked all 16 chocolates in the box. How sweet is that? I had a mandarin orange one last night and it was fabulous. I'm going to savor these and only have one a day which is no small feat for a choco-holic.
I have no idea what my surprise will be tonight but I can't wait.

He tried to surprise me with breakfast in bed yesterday. It would have been a nice surprise except for one thing. About the same time he was coming through the bedroom door, plate in hand, someone started to jack-hammer outside our front door! I bolted upright and hollered, "Oh Shit! Scared Jim too. Needless to say, it wasn't the romantic response he was looking for. After my heart stopped pounding, I came downstairs and enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Jim (and Sophie).

Braised Short Ribs

2009-04-12T20:51:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter! Sorry again for the long absence. Both my brother and sister chastised me this weekend for not posting in so long. So, here I am.

Last weekend while shopping, we found a package of short ribs and added them to the cart. With food already in mind for the week, these were set aside until this weekend and they were worth the wait.

Jim looked through a few cookbooks and found a few recipes online to get an idea how he would make braised short ribs. His recipe turned out wonderful and although it too several hours to make it was a fairly easy recipe.

As the main course was bubbling away, he tossed some potatoes and Brussels Sprouts in the oven for side dishes. Add in a nice bottle of red wine and we had dinner.

Jim's Braised Short Ribs
4 lbs. beef short ribs
1 (750 ml) bottle of red wine, preferably a dry red
1 15 oz can of beef stock
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced
2 stalks of celery cut into 4-inch pieces
2 carrots cut into 3-inch pieces
flour
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp thyme
1 bay leaf

Pour the wine into a medium sauce pan over medium high heat and reduce by half. Set aside.

Coat the meat in flour and brown on all sides in a dutch oven. Rest on a plate when done.Sautee the onions, celery, and carrots until the onions are soft. Add the wine, beef, beef stock, mustard seeds, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce to low, cover and let braise for 3 hours. Strain the liquid and return to the dutch oven, reduce by half. Serve with the beef.

Go Bananas!

2009-02-16T17:19:00.003-05:00

It never fails, I buy a nice bunch of green bananas with the best of intentions and before I know it, they're over ripe. But the bunch I had on the counter this weekend were REALLY over ripe. Black ripe. Banana bread ripe.

I used a recipe from a place that rhymes with America's Test Bitchin' and modified it just slightly. Modification #1: I added shredded coconut. Modification #2: I used sour cream instead of plain yogurt. And modifications #3 & 4: I used a muffin pan with removable bottoms instead of a loaf pan and adjusted the cooking time. The pan looks like this one only with square instead of heart shaped sections. Every once in a while you can find them on Bakers Catalogue.

And I must say, this was one of easiest and best recipes I've used yet. They were very moist and tender and bursting full of banana flavor.

Banana-Coconut Muffins
2 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large (or 4 med sized) very ripe bananas, mashed
(about 1-1/2 cups)
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, eggs, butter, sour cream and vanilla. Gently fold the banana mixture into the flour with a rubber spatula just until combined. Do not overmix. It's ok if the batter looks thick and lumpy.

Scoop the batter into each muffin cup. Fill about 1/2 full. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until they are golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to completely cool. (they're also great still warm from the oven)

Southern Cornbread

2009-02-08T20:50:00.006-05:00

Back in December I bought some cornmeal from the Mount Vernon Grist Mill. I finally got around to using it and made the most delicious cornbread!Just look how moist it is and that crust! Oh my!

Being married to a true Southerner, there's only one way cornbread gets made in this house.....in an iron skillet using buttermilk and butter and good corn meal. And, no sugar. Sweet cornbread is the Nothern version. Since I'm a hybrid (growing up in the north but living in most of my life in the south), I like both versions.

A used a combination of recipes and came up with this:

Southern Cornbread

2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 tbsp. unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 425 and place a 10 inch iron skillet on the lower rack.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk and eggs.

Remove the skillet from the oven after 10 minutes. Place the butter in the skillet and let it melt, swirling it around to coat the bottom and sides. It may sizzle and brown (that's ok). Place the skillet back in the oven.

Pour the butter into the buttermilk and egg mixture and mix til blended. Remove the skillet from the oven.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened (the batter may be lumpy). Remove the skillet from the oven, pour in the batter and return to the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool 10 minutes then turn onto a large plate or a cutting board.

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-22T21:38:00.001-05:00

Yea, I'm still alive. Been sort of slack about blogging lately though. Works been hectic with the library renovation about to start. We closed on Sat and are now in the process of separating the books into two sections. We only have space for about 25% of our collection in our temporary library and we began the process today of deciding which items will be in that 25%. You can just imagine all the books on the shelves going, "Pick me! Pick me!" Deciding, then moving those books to the temporary library and the remaining 75% into storage will take about six weeks. One day down, five weeks and six days to go.

And while we were getting ready to close, I managed to make Christmas cookies in my new kitchen.....which Jim and I really, really love. I made good use of my new little baking corner and at one point had both my kitchen aid mixers in action. It was cool.

But now on to the cookies! First up are Egg Nog Cookies. (recipe at the end of post)This was a recipe I found a few years ago and just now got around to trying. If you like egg nog, you will not be disappointed with these cookies. The icing's even spiked!

Next up are Raspberry Nanaimo Bars. (recipe at the end of post)
I know most of you are probably asking, "What the heck is a Nanaimo Bar?" Well, I'll tell you. It's a delicious no bake bar cookie that was first made in the small town of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. The original recipe does not use raspberry but after trying both versions, I think the raspberry one is by far the better version. Jim and I actually went to Nanaimo several years ago while on a cruise. It's a pretty place and we have talked about going back some day. But for now, we will have to settle for the Nanaimo Bar.

The third cookie recipe I made is a Date Pinwheel cookie. (recipe to be added later)
I asked Jim if there were any favorite cookies from his childhood that he'd like make and with little hesitation he said Date Pinwheels. And he even knew what cookbook to find them in, an old one that his mom used for years and gave to him when he left the nest. We still use it every now and then.

And lastly, my favorite cookie to make for Christmas, Italian Tricolors. (recipe at the end of post)
An almond cake-like cookie with apricot jam in between the layers covered in bittersweet chocolate. Moist, sweet and delish!

Eggnog Cookies with Rum Glaze
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup purchased eggnog
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg*
5½ cups all-purpose flour
4 cups powdered sugar
5 to 6 tablespoons purchased eggnog
4 teaspoons dark rum or ¼ teaspoon rum extract
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In large bowl, beat sugar and butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in 1 cup eggnog, baking soda and nutmeg until blended. Gradually beat in flour until well-blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350°F. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut out with cookie cutters; place cookies on baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Cool on wire racks.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk together all glaze ingredients until smooth. Spread glaze over cooled cookies.

*If desired, a combination of ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg can be used.
Makes about 8 dozen cookies

Italian Tri-Colors
1 tube or can (7 to 8 oz.) almond paste
1¼ cups butter (2½ sticks), softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
10-15 drops red food coloring
8-12 drops green food coloring
1 jar (12 oz.) apricot preserves, strained
4 squares (1 oz. each) semisweet chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 15½" X 10½" jelly-roll pans; line pans with waxed paper, allowing waxed paper to extend over ends of pans. Grease and flour waxed paper.

In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites with ½ cup sugar until stiff peaks form; set aside.

In large bowl, with same beaters, and with mixer at medium speed, beat almond paste and remaining ½ cup sugar until well blended (there will be some small lumps of almond paste remaining). Reduce speed to medium-low; beat in margarine or butter until blended. Beat in egg yolks and almond extract until blended. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour and salt just until combined.

With rubber spatula, fold egg-white mixture into almond mixture, one-third at a time, until combined.

Remove one-third of batter (about 1½ rounded cups) from large bowl to small bowl. Remove half of remaining batter from large bowl to another small bowl. (You should have equal amounts of batter in each bowl.) Stir red food coloring into 1 bowl of batter until evenly blended. Repeat with green food coloring and another bowl of batter.

Spread white (uncolored) batter in 1 jelly-roll pan. With metal spatula (offset, if possible), spread batter as evenly as possible (layer will be about 1/8 inch thick). Repeat with red batter and another pan. Repeat with green batter and remaining pan.

Bake layers 10 to 13 minutes, rotating pans halfway through cooking time, until layers are just set. It is important to undercook this batter slightly to ensure moist cookie layers. (If you don't have enough oven space for 3 pans, you can bake 2 layers at once, and then bake the last layer separately.)

Let layers cool slightly in pans on wire racks, about 5 minutes. Invert layers onto racks, leaving waxed paper attached; cool completely.

When all 3 layers are cooled, remove waxed paper from green layer. Place green layer on serving tray or platter; spread with half of apricot preserves. Place white layer on top of green layer, waxed-paper side up; remove waxed paper. Spread with remaining apricot preserves. Place red layer on top of white layer; remove waxed paper.

With serrated knife, trim edges (about ¼ inch from each side). Spread melted chocolate on top of red layer (not on sides); refrigerate until chocolate is firm, at least 1 hour. If you like, after chocolate has set, cover and refrigerate stacked layers up to 3 days before cutting and serving.

To serve, cut stacked layers lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 12 small rectangles. Store cookies in tightly covered container, with waxed paper between layers, in refrigerator.

Raspberry Nanaimo Bars
Bottom Layer:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup seedless raspberry puree*
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups graham cracker wafers
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place it over medium heat until melted. Add the sugar, cocoa powder and raspberry puree and stir until smooth and well-combined. Add the egg and take the pan off the heat, stirring constantly to incorporate the egg. Once the mixture thickens, stir in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Scrape the mixture into a 9x9 pan lined with aluminum foil, and firmly press it into an even layer.

Middle Layer:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) butter, room temperature
1/4 cup seedless raspberry puree*
3 tbsp instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream the butter in a stand mixer. Add the puree, pudding mix, and powdered sugar and beat for several minutes until fluffy and light. Spread the raspberry cream over the bottom layer and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Top Layer:
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp cream
1 tbsp seedless raspberry puree*
*To make seedless raspberry puree, blend fresh or defrosted frozen raspberries and pour them through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Or use a seedless raspberry jam.

Place the chocolate, cream, and puree in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds and stir. If the chocolate is not fully melted, microwave for an additional 15 seconds and stir until melted. Pour the chocolate over the raspberry cream and smooth it into a thin, even layer. Place the bars in the refrigerator until the top layer is set, about 20 minutes.

You say Obama, they say O'Bama

2008-11-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

It's done! Here's our new kitchen!

2008-11-10T12:21:00.006-05:00

After two weeks of dust, broken water pipes, many dinners out and general upheaval, our kitchen is done. And we love it!

New kitchen

Old kitchen

Moving back in has been interesting. We discovered that the bottom cabinets are taller than the old ones and the quartz counter top is thicker than the old laminate which is about an inch too much to allow me to keep my big Kitchen Aid mixer on the counter. My older one is able to sit up there though. And drawers that are not as deep as the old ones mean finding new places to keep some of our utensils and other ccoking gadgets. But it's still a great kitchen.

New corner area

Old corner area

Having the extra cabinet space in the corner has been nice and we're just about done unpacking. Now if can just remember where things are!

New Fridge

Old Fridge

We love having an icemaker and a water dispenser in the Fridge! No more ice trays! woot

Bring on the holidays! I'm ready to get baking!

Kalbi Tang

2008-11-06T12:08:00.005-05:00

(By Jim)
We haven't written about Gamasot lately. We still go frequently, and I think it's still one of the best places for Korean soups and some other dishes. With the kitchen project underway and Barbara suffering from a cold we decided to head there for dinner to get some restorative soup.
The sollongtang is still fantastic. They add some tendon as well as the sliced beef to it these days. Barbara tried it, and didn't dislike it, but it doesn't have much taste. It's more of a texture food.
My favorite these days is the kalbi tang, beef short rib in beef broth with some egg, green onion, and I think radish. The broth is seasoned with black pepper and is soothing. The meat off the rib is tender, and is supplemented with some thin slices of brisket.
The pan fried dumplings (mandoo gui) are a treat. They can be a little greasy, but I don't care. They're delicious.
The kimchee has been very good lately, having that fizzy feeling on the tongue from the natural fermentation. They've recently added goat to the menu, although I haven't tried it yet.

I'm surprised that the place hasn't been more crowded lately. With fall coming on, it's time to have some soothing, warming soup to sustain us. Go, and go often.

Kitchen Renovation - Part 4 - Light at the end of the tunnel

2008-11-05T19:17:00.009-05:00

Since Friday a lot has happened in the kitchen. The walls were cleaned and prepped and painted, the cabinet doors and handles are in place, the new overhead light is up and we got our counter tops!

The side of the kitchen with the sink, dishwasher and stove.

It doesn't even look like the same kitchen anymore. Tomorrow the final electrical work will be done (without the drama of broken water pipes), some touch up work and it will be done!

This is the new corner cabinets we had added. Now I have a place for all my baking supplies and gadgets.

I want to dance around the kitchen but I think I'll wait until we put the blinds back up. Don't want the neighbors to think that I finally lost what little of my mind I have left.

We'll get final pictures up in a few days once we've moved everything back into the kitchen.

Mo' Pho

2008-11-02T20:48:00.005-05:00

(By Jim)
After our pho throwdown, I promised to head back to Pho Kim to get what had been our favorite pho so far. We started out with our usual starters, the spring roll and fresh roll. Here, the spring rolls were a little greasy, but crunchy and tasty. The fresh rolls were good, but not as good as the ones at Pho Hot. The shrimp seemed skimpier by comparison.
The pho broth is what I like best about this place. It is well-balanced, combining beefiness, star anise, cinnamon, and other aromatic spices to make a warm, soothing broth. It is served with the usual bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime, and jalapeno pepper.
The meatballs are middle of the road, a finer texture than Viet House, but not as smooth as the ones at Pho Hot.

Barbara got the grilled sesame beef with noodles. The sesame oil reminded me of Korean food, an interesting combination with the Vietnamese style and flavors.
So, after this meal I still think Pho Kim has the best broth. I think Pho Hot has better meatballs, and better rolls, but puts too many noodles in the pho. The noodle bowls are a tossup. All three places had excellent grilled pork, chicken, or beef.

I'll keep Pho Kim as my favorite, because of the broth. But Pho Hot will have a place in the repertoire, because of the superior rolls. They also have chicken wings on their menu, one of my favorite treats. I look forward to trying them next time.

Christening the new stove

2008-11-01T20:28:00.002-04:00

What better than one of Jim's pizzas to christen our new stove. While the oven heated up, Jim went to Trader Joe's for the dough, sauce and cheese. By the time he got home the oven was ready.

*burp* It was delicious.

Kitchen Renovation - Part 3

2008-11-01T19:19:00.001-04:00

Friday's work was much less exciting (and much drier) than the day before. The contractors reinstalled all of the bottom cabinets then began working on the upper ones. Just as they were finishing the installation of the cabinets over the fridge are, the appliances arrived! Woot!

The fridge went straight into the kitchen while the stove, dishwasher and microwave were left out on the porch. Once the upper cabinets over the sink and stove area were leveled and firmly in place, the rest of the appliances were put in place. It was beginning to look like a kitchen again!We had a list of things we needed to get this weekend like the cabinet hardware, lights, and a new garbage disposal so we schlepped between Home Depot and Lowes to get everything we need. But at least the fridge is plugged and the stove is hooked up. Things are slowly get back to normal.My sister asked me what we planned for our inaugural dinner for the new stove and after a little bit of thought we decided that it had to be one of Jim's pizzas. And as I type this, Jim is busy in the kitchen putting the pizza together.

Coming up next week: The contractors will install the upper cabinets on the other side of the kitchen, finish up the electrical work (replacing the plugs and light switches, installing the under cabinet lights, and the new ceiling light), paint, and install the sink and countertop. They hope they can get it all done by Wednesday. Jim and I are looking forward to that.

Kitchen renovation - part 2 - Water, water everywhere

2008-10-30T21:02:00.005-04:00

Day three of the renovation was supposed to be the day all the cabinets would be installed. And it almost happened.

By the afternoon, all the lower cabinets were in and leveled. They looked great!Then the electricians came to put in some wiring for under the counter lights, add an outlet and move a light switch. This should have been an easy task and it started out just that way, until one of the electricians was under the sink trying to pull some electric lines down through the wall when he hit a blockage. Seeing some foam insulation in the area of the upper cabinet space, he assumed the blockage was more insulation. Uh, no. It was the cold water line for the kitchen. A geyser of water erupted from the wall and sprayed all the way across the kitchen soaking not only the contractors and electricians but our new cabinets!!!
OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! I just about freaked out.

While we were trying to get the water turned off, the contractor stuck his finger in the wall and did his best to plug up the hole in the pipe while the other contractor broke open the wall to get to the pipe and put a clamp on it. They successfully got it clamped but not before a ton of water covered the floor.The rest of the crew was busily using two shop vacs and every bath towel we own to soak up the water. They also took out all the cabinets they had just finished leveling and attaching to the wall and dried them off out on our patio. Thank goodness we paid more for all wood cabinets. If they had been made from particleboard like our old ones were, they would have been destroyed.

So now, just over five hours later, the pipe is fixed, all the cabinets survived, the electrical work got done and Jim is out getting us some dinner. We briefly contemplated an all-liquor meal but thought a real meal would be better. And my nerves are just about back to normal.

Tomorrow will hopefully be much less eventful. The cabinets will be reinstalled and the appliances will arrive and be installed as well. We hope.

Out with the old.....

2008-10-28T15:41:00.008-04:00

Our kitchen renovation is finally underway. We got the kitchen emptied out completely on Sunday night and the contractors came in yesterday morning to start tearing out the cabinets and floors. All the appliances were removed too.

So why did we jump into this venture? I'll tell you why...our dishwasher betrayed us. For months, it had been stealthily leaking into our subflooring which didn't extend under the dishwasher. So rather than having the water leak out onto the floor where we could see it, all of the water stayed below floor level, seeping further and further into the subfloor until we began to notice soft spots here and there. A quick check under the running dishwasher revealed what we didn't want to see. Water flowing out during the rinse cycle.

After much discussion, we decided that a full renovation was what we would do. We'd been contemplating it anyway but didn't feel the need to jump in right now to do it. But that all changed.

And after nearly three months of shopping, comparing products, picking a contractor and signing on the dotted line, the kitchen begins it's transformation.

This is the old kitchen. The patch of red, ironically called Library Red, is a test patch we did for the back splash. The rest if the kitchen will be painted a very faint peach which you can see a patch of in this picture.
And much to our surprise, the cabinets came out relatively easily. All but two bottom cabinets were donated to Habitat For Humanity. The two bottom cabinets bore the brunt of the water damage and weren't able to be salvaged. The fridge and stove were donated to another charity and the dishwasher and microwave went to appliance heaven.

When everything was removed, the room looks quite big and your voice echos.

Today, the floor was torn out. It was like opening a time capsule. First the old linoleum floor came up to reveal the heavily water damaged subfloor. But wait! What is this? Why it's another linoleum floor. A lovely 1970's vintage brick pattern. This was peeled away to reveal yet another floor which looked like it could have been the original tile. And finally one last plywood subfloor which was mostly in good shape despite it's years. Once the old tile was scraped up and removed the contractor was able to then lay down new plywood and begin putting in the new floor.Tomorrow the cabinets start to get installed. We can't wait.

Pho Throwdown

2008-10-25T17:16:00.005-04:00

(By Jim)

Barbara and I have been busy with the kitchen. We've got our cabinets and flooring being torn out on Monday and Tuesday, flooring being installed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and appliances being delivered on Thursday. It's all finally happening, and we'll be taking pictures and posting them.

We'll be eating out a lot this week, and be able to post some good pictures of good food. Recently, we've tried a new pho (Vietnamese Beef Soup) place, and wanted to do a pho throwdown (Pho-down?). Anyway, two weeks ago we went to Pho Hot, which gets raves on Donrockwell.com. We got our usual orders there, the spring roll, fresh roll, pho with brisket and meatballs for me, and lemongrass pork with rice noodles for Barbara.

The rolls were good, with the fresh rolls being my favorites. The spring rolls were good, made with crab meat in addition to pork, noodles, and carrots. They were a little greasy but not objectionable.
The pho was good. It had a lot more cinnamon in it than I'm used to, and I think I'd like that toned down. It was pleasant otherwise, and had a large portion of meat in it. The meatballs were finely ground, tasty and slightly chewy.

Barbara's pork was excellent, with nice bits of char on it. It was a large portion, with lots of fried onions. Barbara left noodles remaining, but ate all the rest.

Two weeks later, I have a cold. We stopped by the office of the contractor to check on our sink for the kitchen, and noticed that Pho Viet House (Rt. 1, Alexandria) was across the parking lot. So, we stopped in to get some soup for my nose.

We ordered the spring rolls, summer rolls, pho with meatballs, and lemongrass chicken with rice. The rolls came out first. The fresh rolls had a lot of mint and basil in them, and tasted very good. The fried spring rolls, on the other hand, were greasy to the point of inedible for me. Barbara used a napkin to squeeze the grease out of hers.
The pho had a lighter broth, still beefy, but much less star ansie and cinnamon and very salty. The meatballs were more coarsely ground, had more tough bits, and not quite as tasty as Pho Hot. They did provide sawtooth leaf in addition to the basil, jalapeno, and bean sprouts. It wasn't bad, but I think you can get better at other places.Barbara's chicken was very good. It was tasty dark meat that had been marinated and grilled. It came with rice and a small bowl of pho broth. It was a large portion, and too much for Barbara after the rolls, so she brought the rest home for lunch tomorrow.

We will try to get back to our usual pho place, Pho Kim, in the Rose Hill Shopping Center on Franconia Road, for the next part of the pho-down. At this point, I think their pho is still the best, followed by Pho Hot and with Pho Viet House bringing up the rear.

Jim's Grouper Therapy

2008-09-21T22:05:00.001-04:00

By Jim

If I ever get a center console boat to go offshore in, I'll probably name it something like Grouper Therapy for the kind of fish I plan on pursuing. Fortunately, up here, you just have to go to Wegmans or a good fish market to find good, fresh grouper. The kind, when you put it to your nose, smells sweet and salty, not fishy.

Barbara wrote about her version of this a couple of years ago. Here is mine.
Two grouper fillets (5-8 oz each)
Olive oil
8 oz package oyster mushrooms, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
2 shallots chopped fine
4 cloves garlic chopped
12-16 grape tomatoes, quartered
Pinch of thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
Italian parsley, rough chopped, for garnish
Crusty bread

Preheat oven to 450. In an ovensafe skillet, heat olive oil to cover bottom of pan until smoking. Add mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add thyme and a large pinch of kosher salt, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove mushroom mix. Salt and pepper grouper filets. Add more olive oil to cover bottom of pan, heat until smoking, then gently lay filets in pan. Cook until deep golden brown , then turn gently. Add mushroom mix, tomatoes, and wine to pan. Put into oven for 4-6 minutes. Remove from oven, then remove grouper filets and cook down wine sauce with mushrooms and tomatoes. Top filets with sauce and mushroom-tomato mix. Make sure that you have some crusty bread around to soak up wine sauce.

Eat at Joe's

2008-09-15T22:23:00.000-04:00

By Jim

We haven't posted about Joe's Noodle House lately because we're in Alexandria, and it's in Rockville, about 30 miles away, which means we burn at least 2 gallons of gas going there. [You know, considering how much we used to go there, I'm surprised we only posted about it once.] Saturday night, to have dinner with our friends Jason and Abby, was an exception, and we got to have some old and new favorites. And I had a full diner's card there, so we got $20 off dinner.

Appetizers were pressed bean curd with spicy sauce, tender bamboo shoots in sesame oil dressing, and baby wontons with red hot sauce.

This dish has become a favorite of ours, Tibetan Lamb, cubes of lamb wok-fried with red bell peppers, dried hot peppers, szechuan peppers, green onions, and cilantro on top. It's relatively new on the menu. And it's fantastic. Just avoid the dried peppers if you're not a chile-head.

The other dishes were Kung Pao Chicken Home Style (like they make in Szechuan, in other words incindiary), fish filet and soft tofu in Szechuan sauce (Like the old H20, but without veg and adding soft tofu), and another new one, Shanghai cabbage with garlic. This was a perfect, soothing counterpoint to our hot and spicy dining.

Needless to say, we had a lot of leftovers. And Jason and Abby let us take them home. We'll be having those for dinner tomorrow night. And if you live in the Washington, DC area, like authentic Chinese food, or are a chile-head and want something to blow your head off (get the triple pepper dry beef sautee) get up to Rockville. This is seriously good stuff. Just make sure you get some veg with your dinner to cool off with.

Veal Piccata

2008-09-14T19:06:00.000-04:00

I had a weekday off last week which gave me the perfect opportunity to cook Jim a nice dinner. I had no particular meal in mind and would just wing it based on what looked good in the market and what looked good was veal. And the first thing that popped in my head was veal piccata, one of Jim's favorites.

I found this recipe on FoodTV.com. It was an Emeril recipe and very easy to put together. To round out the meal I made another favorite of Jim's...tater tots and for a healthy touch, roasted Brussels Sprouts, also a FoodTV.com recipe and also very tasty.
Veal Piccata
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, FoodTV.com

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 veal scallops, about 3/4 pound, pounded to a thickness of 1/8-inch
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 lemon, juiced, or more to taste, (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoon capers, drained
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, optional, plus sprigs for garnish

In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and pepper and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the veal scallops in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and, working quickly and in batches if necessary, cook the veal until golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Deglaze the pan with wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock, chopped garlic, lemon juice and capers and cook for 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons of butter and the chopped parsley. When the butter has melted, return the veal scallops to the pan and cook until heated through and the sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve immediately.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Recipe courtesy George Duran, FoodTV.com

2 pounds Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the bottoms off the Brussels sprouts and trim off any damaged outer leaves. Soak them in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes and drain them well. Cut them in half and put them into a roasting pan. Add the thyme, oregano, pine nuts, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil and vinegar and toss everything well to coat. Put the roasting pan into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Give everything a good stir and cook for 25 minutes more, or until the Brussels sprouts are nicely browned and caramelized. Serve immediately.

Technical notes

2008-09-10T21:25:00.002-04:00

By Jim

You may have noticed the pictures looked a little different lately. This is because my Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D SLR was in the shop for repairs. It was covered by a service campaign by Sony, who bought Konica Minolta's camera business, so it didn't cost us anything but a couple of weeks of lost use. We've been using our now-elderly (5 years old!) Minolta Dimage S414 for the past two weeks. The Maxxum is back, though, and we took some pictures of dinner that Barbara will be writing about soon.

I bought the Maxxum 5D three years ago. The repair fixed a known shutter defect that showed up on our trip to Malaysia, so now I have a camera with a brand new shutter and should be good for many more years. I love this camera. It's great for relative stealthy photos (Useable ISO3200, large aperature prime lenses, and antishake are great for restaurant pictures or museums without flash). Also, I have to say that Sony did right by us with the repair campaign for these Konica Minolta cameras.

Anyway, we have a lot of dinner pictures waiting for blog posts. So, stay tuned.

Fun stuff on the internet

2008-09-06T18:44:00.007-04:00

By Jim

Something I ran across on the internet: Wordle. It takes any text source, copied in or from a URL, and makes word art from it. Here's one from Barbara's blog from earlier today.

Just click on the image for the larger size. And have fun!

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup - part 2

2008-09-02T22:27:00.003-04:00

(By Jim)

So, I've been making Szechuan Beef Soup monthly since we posted this. I've refined the recipe slightly, to make it taste like the soup we get at A&J Restaurant, a Chinese place with locations in Annandale, VA, and Rockville, MD. I started with the base recipe that we used back in May. I've since doubled the recipe so we could put up plenty of it. The refrigeration also makes it easy to skim the fat off the top. We typically make it on the weekend, and then either refrigerate or freeze all of it until we need a quick meal.

I've been buying broad Shanghai noodles at our Asian market for it. They're cheap, fresh, and taste nearly as good as homemade. Also, I've started using the Shaoxing cooking wine. To offset the extra salt from that, I use low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce. I'm using star anise now, and only using the 5-6 pods, as it was much stronger than our 5-spice powder. Another change is using crosscut beef shank meat with the bone in. It has more chunks of just meat, more good connective tissue that makes it nice and gelatenous, and less fat to trim away before freezing.

Finally, we were eating at A&J after I made the first or second batch, and Barbara said "What is the citrus taste in this?" I immediately figured out "Orange Peel". We use the zest from one whole Florida juice orange. You might find tangerine peel, either dried or fresh, to taste good as well.

This weekend we were at A&J, and Barbara said that she may like my soup more now than she likes theirs. I think they're slightly different, but both are very good expressions of the same thing.

Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup Part 2

4-5 lbs beef shank bone-in, cut into steaks
5 quarts water
1 cup shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine)
1 cup low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce
2 4-inch pieces of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
12 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
20 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces
Zest of one orange
5-6 star anise pods
4 tsp szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp red pepper flakes

Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water

Bring water to boil in stock pot.

Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.

Reduce to simmer, add shaoxing, soy sauce, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.

Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove beef, then strain solids from the broth. Discard solids.

At this point I usually separate the broth into 6 one-quart deli takeout containers. Then I remove the beef from the bone, strip off the fat and cartilage from the beef, then share it among the soup containers. You can now freeze or refrigerate the soup solidify the fat on top to remove it.

When you're ready to serve, take out one quart for each person for a main dish (or 1 for two or three people for a soup course). Bring to a boil, add noodles, and cook until noodles are done.

Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro leaves and green onion tops for garnish.

Fish Stew

2008-08-18T19:30:00.005-04:00

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, a bowl of fish stew, and thou

(By Jim)
I'm helping out Barbara again. Right now she's busy with a lot of work at the library, plus we may be renovating our kitchen due to a water leak from our dishwasher.

Yesterday I was in the mood for fish stew. I rummaged through recipes on Epicurious, and found one that involved tomatoes, parsley, onion, and white wine (See here for more details). However, since our dishwasher is out of commission, I wanted something that would be more like a one-pot meal, with a starch in it so I didn't have to clean as many pots.

I decided to merge in some more recipes with potatoes and garlic. We had leftover lemongrass, so I threw some of that in. And some crushed red pepper, because any recipe is improved with a little spice. Granted, it made more of a mess than a one-pot dinner should, but it was tasty and easy to clean up after. And we had enough to have leftovers tonight. I'll add pictures when I get the leftovers plated up with Barbara gets home.

Fish Stew

Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the Dutch oven)
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 peeled, seeded, and chopped Roma tomatoes
1.5 cup white wine
1.5 cup water
2 pounds fish or seafood (I used 1.5 lb monkfish tail chopped into 1 in steaks and 0.5 lb shrimp)
6 medium white or Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 stalk lemongrass,
2 pinches dried thyme
2 pinches salt
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Dredge the monkfish steaks in corn starch. When olive oil is just starting to smoke gently lay the steaks in until they brown on both sides. Remove the fish to a plate. Dump in onions and sweat until translucent. Peel lower part of lemongrass, chop off the tops from the lowest 6 inches, then split the lower part lengthwise. Discard top of lemongrass. Add garlic, tomatoes, lemongrass, crushed red pepper, salt, and thyme, and potatoes. Add fish. Pour in wine, and add enough water to cover (about 1.5 cups). Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. When potatoes are tender, bring back to a boil and add shrimp. Boil for 3-4 minutes, or until done. Turn off heat and stir in parsley. Serve with a baguette or other crusty bread for dipping.

Beef Rendang, London Broil Tacos and Shrimp

2008-08-13T08:41:00.007-04:00

Yes, odd combination but it's a little sampling of what we've been cooking while I was away from blogging.

London Broil TacosHaving picked up some really beautiful London Broils from the market in addition to having soft tortillas, jalapeno's, and avocado, we made tacos. They were so delicious and simple to make! Lightly season the steak with some salt and pepper then pan sear until medium rare. While the meat is cooking, slice and seed out 1 -2 jalapeno's then slice into thin strips. Slice an avocado and cover with a squeeze of lime juice. Once the meat is done cooking and has had time to rest, slice it thinly, place on a warmed tortilla and add toppings. Wrap it up and enjoy.

Beef Rendang
After tweaking several recipes, I think I finally have a beef rendang recipe that's as close to what we had in Malaysia.
2-2½ lbs rump or stewing steak, cut into large chunks
27 oz. coconut milk
3 stalks lemongrass
6 lime leaves
4 slices galangal (blue ginger)
1 tsp salt

Spice paste
5 tbsp freshly grated coconut
8 dried chilies, seeds removed
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp minced ginger

To prepare the spice paste, fry coconut in a dry wok over medium-low
heat, stirring constantly, until light brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Grind with
remaining spice paste ingredients until fine.

In a large pot, add 2 tbsp. oil over med-high heat. Add all of the beef stirring to coat with oil. Turn occasionally until excess water is released. Remove beef from the pot and drain the liquid. Return beef to the pot and add the spice paste with all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender and gravy is very thick and fairly dry. It will also be shiny with oil. Serve hot.

Serves 4

A simple shrimp boil with baked cauliflower and oven browned potatoes.
What can I say, it was simple, easy, healthy and very good. We boiled the shrimp with some seasoning and beer. The cauliflower and potatoes were cut into chunks. Each was lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin. Toss the potatoes in a bag with a little bit of oil then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. While they are cooking, toss the cauliflower in the same bag and add to the baking sheet. Continue to cook another 15 minutes.

I'm still here

2008-08-07T08:35:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the long unexplained absence. Work's been crazy! Our library is scheduled to be renovated this fall. We have tons of prep work that needs to be done and suddenly the date for the renovation was moved up by a month. EEEK!

I am really going to try to catch up this weekend. We've been making some really good recipes that I can't wait to post.

And for the Sophie fans out there, she's doing great! We go back to the vet in a few weeks to set up a surgery date to remove what is left of the tumor (which is much smaller thanks to the radiation).

Now it's time for me to get in the kitchen and make some cinnamon chip banana bread for a meeting at the library this afternoon.

Shredded Beef Salad

2008-07-08T20:24:00.006-04:00

One of my favorite food magazines is Saveur. Not only does it have some fantastic recipes but the articles are just great. It's probably the only magazine I read from cover to cover.

In one of the very early issues I found a recipe for a shredded beef salad with a chipolte dressing. It intrigued me so I copied it down and tucked it away. A few weeks ago I rediscovered it and decided to make it.

It's a time consuming recipe but well worth the effort and, when made as written, will feed a small army. The only thing I would try differently would be to puree the dressing ingredients for a smoother consistency. Bit aside from that it was very tasty and as we ate it we both commented that this would work well with any meat be it chicken, pork or a fish like tuna.

Shredded Beef Salad with Chipotle Dressing (Salpicón)

serves 12

1 5-lb. top-cut beef brisket, trimmed

2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced

4 cups Beef Stock

4 fresh poblano chiles (or 6 fresh anaheims)

1 7-oz. can chipotle chiles en adobo

2⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄2 cup fresh lime juice

1⁄3 cup white wine vinegar

Salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1⁄2 lb. monterey jack, cubed

1 medium red onion, peeled and diced

3⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 head romaine lettuce, separated into leaves

3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 avocados, peeled and cut into wedges

5 radishes, thinly sliced

1. Place brisket in a large pot and scatter with yellow onions. Add stock and enough cold water to cover by 3". Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until fork-tender, about 4 hours, turning midway through cooking time.

2. Remove pot from heat and let stand uncovered until brisket is cool enough to handle, about 25 minutes. Transfer brisket to cutting surface and shred with two forks or your fingers. Set aside.

3. Char poblanos over an open flame or under a broiler, turning to blacken all over. Place in a paper bag, close, and steam 15 minutes. Rub off skin and remove stems. Slice open, scrape out veins and seeds, and cut into strips.

4. Drain chipotles, reserving adobo sauce. Seed and chop chipotles, then whisk with oil, lime juice, vinegar, salt, and garlic in a large mixing bowl. If sauce is not spicy enough, add reserved adobo sauce. Stir in beef, poblanos, cheese, red onions, and cilantro.

5. To serve, arrange salpicón (beef mixture) on a bed of romaine leaves, and garnish with tomatoes, avocados, and radishes.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #10

Danish Braid - Daring Baker's June Challenge

2008-06-29T00:00:00.001-04:00

This was probably my favorite challenge so far. It provided me the opportunity to again push my baking skills a little further while not turning me into a total stress monkey in the process (well, ok, I stressed just a little but it was late....I was tired) But seriously, it was a fun challenge and a recipe that I will definitely be making again but not all in one day like I did this time.
Many thanks to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cookin'? for providing the June challenge. They gave some great information about the history of the Danish braid as well as some nice variations on how to fill it. I chose to use the apple filling they included with the recipe which made Jim very happy as apple was his choice as well. Kelly and Ben also listed some links to videos and photos on how to make the dough and the braiding. These were most helpful. I have included them at the end of this post.

So, I mentioned that I wasn't as much of a stress monkey with this challenge. I decided to make the recipe last Sunday. Throughout the day, I was fine as I sailed through making the detrempe and beuragge (that's the dough and butter block). Then as the day wore on and I realized that I would be up until nearly midnight with this thing, the stress began to start. This was a school night after all....I needed my beauty sleep, especially since I had just worked a 6-day week. But I was committed to finishing the braid so as soon as we finished dinner, I began the final assembly of the braid.

Here's where I would make a change to the recipe. I would use more flour to dust the work surface (or make two smaller braids which would be easier to move). A light dusting wasn't enough as the braid wound up sticking to my counter top. My stress level ratcheted up a few notches when I tried to lift the braid and realized it was sticking! And I had a perfect braid dang it. My struggle to move this 18" long braid caused it to twist and start to break apart. Thankfully Jim came in and helped me with it. All that was left now was to let it proof for 2 hours. After an hour, I checked to see how it looked. It looked the same, no change. Hmm...the heck with it. I declared the proofing to be done and put that bad boy in the oven. And my stress melted away when I pulled this beautifully baked braid out of the oven. It looked a wonderful as the house smelled good.

Jim took some into work to share with a co-worker who said the dough was perfect and the filling not too sweet, it was just right. We enjoyed the rest of it for breakfast all week and as dessert one night.

Alterations I would make next time would be to make two smaller and easier to handle braids, use different fillings like almond, raspberry or cheese and not forget to put a little sugary glaze on top of the finished braid. And.....I would not try to make this in one day. I'd make the dough one day and assemble everything the next.
Here is the recipe if you want to try your hand at making one.
DANISH DOUGH
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
1. Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well.

2. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated.

3. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky.

4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

(Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.)

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used.

If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes.

If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid.

If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate. They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

1 recipe Danish Dough (see above)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see above)
egg wash (1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk)

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling.

Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. 3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Helpful videos:
Danish Pastry technique on YouTube. Interesting general information on making a dough similar to this one.

PBS.org – Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs
Video cut for a Danish Pastry Braid by Beatrice Ojakangas who is the featured baker of the Danish Braid recipe in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Great information.

Sophie update

2008-06-28T18:05:00.002-04:00

For those of you interested in keeping up with Sophie, here is a quick update. The past few weeks have been hectic as we finished up with her daily visits to the vet for radiation treatments. But I'm happy to report that we are done with them and all went very well.

We are now letting her leg heal and hope for the tumor to continue to shrink. Except for the loss of the nail on her dew claw the after effects of the radiation have been minimal. Her leg was bandaged last week when the nail came off to help it heal. But aside from that she is still her happy, sweet self.

In about 1-2 months she should be ready to have what is left of the tumor surgically removed.

I, on the other hand, managed to have my own need to see a doctor. One week before the radiation treatments ended, I was at work and walked into a book truck full of books.....while wearing open toe shoes.....and the book truck didn't budge. Mt little toe, however, did. Yup, I broke that sucker.

Two of the staff were in the room when it happened but were unaware what had happened. Not wanting to scare the bee-snot out of them, I bit my tongue and sat down in the nearest chair then broke out in a sweat. Had I been by myself, I would have let fly with a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush. But I didn't want to horrify my staff with my language and quietly whimpered.

It was later that night when I got home that I noticed between my toes and the bottom of my foot were purple. Yesterday I was finally able to wear a real shoe on my foot as opposed to the post op bootie I'd been wearing.

Now I'm not saying the doctor's office I had to use (since it was a worker's comp injury) was sketchy but this is the advice the doctor gave me, "As long as you can keep from running your foot foot into things, you can avoid injuries like this."
Gee..... ya think?

Rambutan

2008-06-04T07:25:00.000-04:00

Rambutan, a fruit found in many Asian countries. The word "rambut" is Malay for 'hairy' which refers to the spiky rind. It looks like a lychee with spiky hair.

When opened it reveals a while flesh that surrounds an almond-like pit.

We first tried this fruit several years ago but weren’t impressed by it. Perhaps that’s because it was not fresh rambutan but canned. We finally had fresh ones while in Malaysia back in March. We found them to be quite delicious. Lightly sweet and mild in flavor, they are very refreshing on a hot day.We found these in a local Asian market over the weekend. At $6/pound they are a bit pricey but we went ahead and got a few anyway. We were not disappointed. Jim expertly opened them up and within minutes they were devoured. If you see these hairy little beasts in the market, get a half dozen or so and enjoy.

New kitchen gadget

2008-06-03T21:02:00.005-04:00

Here it is......my new kitchen gadget. A KitchenAid Pro 600. This is a mixer with balls. And it's mine, all mine. (I actually wanted to put a picture of the mixer with two balls underneath but didn't get around to it.)
My mom recently got a great deal on the price and was contemplating one for herself and in a moment of weakness ordered one for me too! Is she cool or what! It comes with the usual attachements, albeit much larger than the ones for my other KitchenAid.
I think Cookie Jar Bear is impressed with the dough hook....
... as well as the beater and whisk attachments.

And what did I make to christen the mixer? Bagels. Yummy, yummy bagels. You can see the dough rising in the left side of some of the pictures. The motor on this bad boy is the most powerful of the KitchenAid stand mixers and it kneaded the dough nicely. No way my old mixer could have done that.

I expect many more tasty delights to be made in my kitchen with this mixer.

Beet Salad

2008-05-30T18:45:00.005-04:00

One of our favorite appetizers at Corduroy is the Salad of Beets, Baby Carrots and Goat Cheese. If I don't get the Lobster Salad (omg, it's good), this is one that I will usually order.

Today while strolling the aisles of Trader Joe's, I spied a bag of baby beets in the produce case. Already cooked, they are ready to use straight from the bag. I immediately thought of the Corduroy salad. Tossing the beets into the cart, I headed right over to the cheeses and picked up a package of goat cheese.

As a starter to our meal tonight, I present my version of Corduroy's salad of beets, baby carrots and goat cheese.

English Muffin follow-up

2008-05-29T11:52:00.004-04:00

Because curious minds wanted to know, these are English muffin rings. I got mine from The Baker's Catalogue. Here's a direct link to the item.
We have really been enjoying a toasted muffin for breakfast in the morning. Jim says a touch of honey is especially tasty. Me, just some butter (or in my case, Smart Balance). And seeing as we are down to two muffins, I may have to make some more this weekend. I plan to make them a little thinner and handle the dough more gently to see if I can get more of the nooks and crannies that make English muffins are famous for. And I will have a new kitchen toy to make them with. What is it? You'll have to come back this weekend to find out.

Daring Bakers May Challenge - Opera Cake

2008-05-28T07:30:00.000-04:00

When I first saw the challenge for this month I thought there's no way I can do this, it's way too complicated. Then I realized that this is what the Daring Bakers is all about, pushing yourself to try something you may not have tried otherwise, to try baking techniques and recipes that you otherwise thought you could not do. So with that in mind I was onboard. The main thing with this cake was that it had to be light in flavor as well as color so using flavors like milk or dark chocolate, coffee, ect were out. The cake itself was almond flavored and we had the option to make the butter cream plain or flavored. I chose to make it orange as it would pair well with the almond in the cake. The mousse topping flavor I chose was almond.

The recipe was quite lengthy but I managed to get it down to 5 pages. I won't post it here due to the length but will be more than happy to e-mail you a copy if you like. You could also check the other Daring Bakers as well to see if anyone posted it. And as a bonus you'll get to see all the other beautiful cakes that were made.

I started the cake the weekend before I intended to serve it. Most of the fillings and glazes could be made ahead and stored in the fridge which was a huge help seeing as this cake was a time consuming project.

Perhaps the part of the recipe that had me the most nervous was making the buttercream. I've heard so many people say they try and try and can never make a buttercream that actually turns out right and tastes good. So I read and re-read this part of the recipe several time to assure I knew what to do. A fellow DB also posted a video on how to make buttercream that was super helpful.

While the water and sugar heated to the proper temperature, I whisked an egg white and a whole egg until it was light and fluffy.
Once the sugar and water reached the proper temperature I slowly added it to the eggs while the mixer was on the slowest speed.
Here is an overhead shot of me adding the sugar mixture. You have to let it run down the sides of the bowl so there is less splattering as it blends into the eggs.Once all the sugar mixture was added I raised the speed on the mixer to medium and beat it for about 5 minutes until the mixture looked satiny and the bowl was cooler to the touch. Then I added chunks of softened butter (1-3/4 cups) a little at a time until it was fully incorporated.Then I turned the mixer on high and beat the butter cream until it was thick and shiny. I also added some orange flavoring at this part of the process. And this is the finished product. At first the butter was the most prominent flavor and I was a little concerned that the orange flavor would be lost but after it mellowed out in the fridge a few days the flavors were much more balanced and the orange was certainly noticed.

I baked the cake itself the night before I planned to serve it. The house smelled so good, toasted almond and butter filled the air. Once the cake was cooled I carefully wrapped it in plastic wrap so it would be ready for assembly the next day.
I had a very full day planned so I got up early and started to get the last part of the cake prepared, the white chocolate mousse topping. One slight mishap with reading the recipe sent Jim to the store at the last minute to buy some more heavy cream but aside from that it all went together very easily. One thing I'd note is that I had almost twice as much buttercream, mousse and glaze than I actually needed. And while most of the other DB's sliced the sides off the cake to reveal the cake and its layers, I left mine as is to help keep in the moisture. I wouldn't be served until late that night and I didn't want it to be dry.

The other part of my day was taken up by a library program. A close friend and collegue, Ted, writes murder mysteries set in libraries. He's written six so far and they are so much fun! We were premiering his latest that night, Mesa Verde Murder. I played Kat L. Russler, a widowed ranch owner and mother to seven sons. The library hosting this program was less than 5 miles from my house so I decided to invite the cast and crew over afterwards to help unwind, have a bite to eat and have some opera cake.Jim did such a great job helping put this all together. He made couscous paella with chicken and chorizo sausage that was very, very tasty (even as leftovers the next day). He also got everything set up while we were still at the library. We had sliced roast beef and rolls, fresh veggies, grapes, cheese and crackers, nuts, and olives. Plus a cooler full of wine, beer and soft drinks.

Once we all had our fill of the food, I brought out the cake. There were lots of ooh's and ah's especially after I sliced it. More nummy noises were heard while we all tried the cake. It was really, really good. I was so happy that it turned out well and that I rose to the challenge and no longer fear making buttercream.

English Muffins

2008-05-26T21:04:00.006-04:00

For Christmas, my in-laws gave me a cache of bread baking supplies. Among the lot was a set of eight English muffin rings that until today have sadly sat unused. I looked at several recipes before I settled on one I found by another blogger named Barbara at Wine and Foodies.

It was a very easy recipe to put together. Even though it said to let the dough rise overnight, you can actually cut that time down to 2-3 hours. Cooking them took about 30 minutes (15 minutes per side) but that time may vary depending on your stove.

The only change I'd make to the recipe isto divide the dough into 12 pieces instead of 8. The muffins are really tall like ones you can get from Wolferman's. I think a slightly thinner muffin may be more to my liking but that may change after we give these a taste test in the morning.
English Muffins

2 teaspoons yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
8½ ounces warm water
4¼ ounces warm milk
2¼ cups high grade flour
2¼ cups standard flour
1 teaspoon salt
fine cornmeal

Put the yeast and sugar in a small bowl with half the warm water. Stir and set aside for a few minutes, then add the remaining water and the milk.

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and use your hand to mix in the yeast, water and milk mixture. Knead the mixture which will be sticky, thoroughly in the bowl (or use the dough hook of an electric mixer).

Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise until more than doubled in bulk. Although this may take only a couple of hours, the dough can be allowed to rise overnight. Deflate the dough by pulling it away from the sides of the bowl. Lift it out of the bowl and divide into 8 pieces.

Drop each piece on to a tray liberally dusted with rice flour or fine cornmeal and roll them over until well coated. Form each piece into a thick disc.Place the disks on a baking tray and place another tray on top.Leave to rest and rise 20 minutes, then remove top tray.

Place a cast iron griddle or large frying pan over low heat. When only moderately hot place four of the muffins on it and cook for about ten minutes until light beige on the bottom. Turn the muffins over and cook the second side for a similar length of time.
Wrap the cooked muffins in a dry tea towel while you cook the remaining four. Pull apart and eat while still warm.

For toasting pull the muffins apart and toast on both sides.

Lack of posting

2008-05-25T19:22:00.008-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting the past two weeks. We've been a little pre-occupied with Sophie. We found out a few weeks ago that what we thought was a fatty cyst on her front leg is in fact cancer. The first veterinarian we saw was a surgeon. Thinking this was just a fatty cyst, our vet referred us to the surgeon to have it removed. Well I wish it had been that simple.
The surgeon was convinced it was a tumor and suggested two ghastly options even before we had the results of a needle biopsy. One was to remove the tumor with most of the skin around that part of her leg then deal with skin grafts. Now I'm no expert but that sounds pretty god awful painful. The other option was to amputate the leg. Uh, no. No way, not until we knew exactly what type and grade of tumor we were dealing with. The vet was not in favor of radiation and gave no reason why.
I was not convinced or comfortable with going any further until we talked to Sophie's regular vet. When we did, she thought these options were a bit aggressive and suggested we go see a veterinary oncologist. We did and we really like her. She laid out all the possibilities, including the ones the surgeon mentioned but said they weren't the first thing we should consider. So after consulting with her, we decided to have a surgical biopsy done to determine the grade of the tumor.
The results came back a few days later and the oncologist said that of the three grades it could have been it was a 2, which is the middle grade and possible the best we could have hoped for in this case. The tumor is too big to just remove with clean margins since that would mean most of the skin around her elbow would need to be removed. A grade 2 tumor is one that will take radiation well enough to shrink it, hopefully enough to make surgical removal possible. A grade 2 is also not the most aggressive and only has a 20% chance of metastasizing.
So we will begin radiation on Sophie's leg this coming Tuesday. 16 sessions every day, Monday through Friday. Dogs do well with radiation thankfully. This isn't to say that she won't be uncomfortable. There will be a lot of tenderness at the site beginning in the 2nd or 3rd week and it will look like a really bad sunburn. That may last a few weeks after radiation ends as things start to heal up. This also means we have to keep her away from licking it. Yes, she will have to wear an Elizabethan collar. She is wearing one now because we don't want her licking the biopsy site as it heals. Poor thing hates it. Although I am trying out the soft collar I wore when I hurt my neck. It fits her and may be wide enough to keep her from reaching her lower leg. We'll see. So far she seems more content with it on vs the other collar.
I've sent several e-mails updating to friends and family of the last few weeks letting them know about Sophie. And if positive thinking has anything to do with healing, then Sophie is in good hands. It almost makes me cry when I think of how much you all have helped with your words of encouragement and advice. Thank you all so very much.

My sister bakes too!

2008-05-13T21:06:00.004-04:00

Looks like I wasn't the only one busy in the kitchen this weekend. My sister sent me some pictures to show off her baking skills. This one caught my eye, a pistachio coffee cake. Doesn't it look good?

PISTACHIO NUT SWIRL CAKE
Cake:
1 package (2 layer cake size) yellow cake mix
1 package Pistachio Instant Pudding
4 eggs
1 Cup sour cream (the real stuff, not light)
1/2 Cup oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup chopped pistachio
1/2 Cup chopped walnuts

Topping:
Powder sugar (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachio

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cake mix, pudding, 4 eggs, sour cream, oil and the almond extract in large mixing bowl. Blend just enough with spoon to get it lightly mixed. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Batter will be very thick. Combine sugars, cinnamon, and nuts in a bowl.

Pour 1/3 of batter into a greased and floured 10" bunt pan; sprinkle with of sugar mixture and top with remaining batter.

Bake in 350 oven for 40 minutes or until cake test come out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled dust with powder sugar & finely chopped pistachios.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup

2008-05-11T20:38:00.009-04:00

Lots of cooking in the kitchen this weekend. As much for the need to eat and prep my Daring Baker's May challenge as it was to relieve stress. While I can't say what I prepped for the Daring Baker's challenge, I can report that we have several containers of strawberry jam that I made yesterday.

Today was the DB prep as well as noodle for some Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup that Jim cooked up. We've only had this dish at restaurants and wanted to make it at home but never found the right recipe. Today while surfing the net, Jim came across a recipe that looked good. Using it and several others he put together a soup that was slap your momma good. I know.....terrible term to use on Mother's Day but it's true, this soup was great! And there is enough leftover for dinner tomorrow night.

To go with it, I also made scallion pancakes, another elusive recipe that I've tried to make several times before with limited success. But after looking at several, I made one that came as close to the real thing as ever.

Scallion Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
vegetable oil

Mix the flour, water and salt in a bowl until a ball is formed. Turn out onto a flat surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until smooth. Add flour or water as needed. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Unwrap the dough and divide into 6 sections and roll into balls. Keep covered until ready to roll out. One piece at a time, roll out the dough into a circle about 1/8" thick and brush with oil.
Scatter about 1-2 tbsp of the scallions on top of the dough.
Roll up the dough like a cigar.
Then coil it up .Cover and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. When all are done, take out one piece and roll it out to about 1/8" thickness. (don't worry if it squishes out green onions)Heat a skillet over medium heat with 1 tsp oil. When hot add one pancake and cook until the bottom is golden brown, flip over and brown the other side. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Slice into 4-6 pieces and serve.

Egg Free Chinese Noodles
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp corn or peanut oil
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients and knead by hand for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Unwrap the dough, cut into 4 equal pieces. Cover set aside. Take one piece at a time and flatten with your hands into a disc. Roll out to a 14 inch square (and less than 1/8" thick), dusting with flour as needed. Move the dough to a cloth or paper towel to dry while you work on the other three pieces.

Taking the first piece you rolled out, liberally dust both sides with cornstarch, smoothing it out with your hands. taking opposite edges, fold the dough into thirds. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into even strips about 1/8" in width (or slightly wider if you like). Unroll the noodles by tossing them with your fingers. Spread them out on a cookie sheet to dry for 15-20 minutes. You can cook them at this point or put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate or freeze them.

To cook them: Place in boiling soup or water for about 3 - 4 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup
3 1/2 lbs beef short ribs bone-in
2 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup aji-mirin (or shaoxing and additional brown sugar if needed)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsp five spice powder (or 5-6 whole star anise pods)
2 tsp whole szechuan peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 inch piece of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, green parts chopped, white parts crushed with the back of a knife
6 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
10 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces

Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water
Bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to boil in stock pot.
Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.
Reduce to simmer, add aji-mirin, soy sauce, five spice powder, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, white part of green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.
Simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Remove beef, then strain solids from soup and add soup back into pot. Debone the beef, then remove fat and cartilage and add back into pot.

Return to boil, use soup to cook chinese wheat noodles (store-bought or use recipe here). Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro and green onion tops for garnish.

Chicken Enchiladas

2008-05-05T08:21:00.004-04:00

I made these last week and just now got around to posting it. But the timing is great as today is Cinco De Mayo. So pop a few Pacifico's in the fridge and start cooking.

I modified this recipe that I found in the Dec. 07 Cooking Light. If was very easy to make and very, very tasty.

Green

Chile

Chicken Enchiladas
3 cups chicken broth
1½ cups finely chopped onion, divided
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
½ cup sour cream
3 cups Green Chile Sauce (see recipe below)
Cooking spray
16 (6 inch) corn tortillas
¾ cup (3 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup (2 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Combine broth, 1 cup onion, and next 5 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan; chill 15 minutes. Shred chicken into bite sized pieces. Combine chicken, remaining ½ cup onion, and sour cream in a bowl, stirring well.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread ¼ cup of the Green Chile Sauce in the bottom of 2 (11” x 7”) baking dishes coated with cooking spray. If the tortillas are stiff, warm them according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place 8 filled tortillas, seam-side down, in each dish; pour 1¼ cups of remaining Green Chile Sauce over filled tortillas in each dish. Combine cheeses in a bowl. Sprinkle half of cheese mixture evenly over filled tortillas in each dish. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Serves 4

Green Chile Sauce

6 Anaheim chiles*
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Preheat broiler.** Place chiles on a foil lined baking sheet; broil 14 minutes or until blackened and charred, turning after 7 minutes. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile. Remove and discard seeds and tops. Chop chilies to measure 3/4 cup.

Heat canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Add chiles, coriander, salt, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Using a stick blender, blend the mixture until smooth; stir well. Cool completely.

* I used poblano chilies.

** I used the gas stove top to char the chilies. I placed each one on a serving fork and held it over the open flame, turning as the skin .

Say Cheese! Cheesecake Pops - Daring Bakers April Challenge

2008-04-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

When I found out that this months Daring Bakers Challenge was cheesecake pops I was excited. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts to make. I've even won a second place in a local baking contest years ago when I was living in Tennessee. It was a white chocolate-raspberry swirl cheesecake. (and not to be out done, I won first place the following year with dark chocolate raspberry brownies)

For those of you who do not know who the Daring Bakers are, let me tell you. We are a group of avid cooks and bakers who all receive the same recipe at the beginning of the month. We have most of the month to make this recipe but we wait until the same day at the end of the month to post. Until that day, our challenge is a secret.

I planned to make the cheesecake a couple of weekends ago but my plans were set aside when we had to take Sophie to the emergency vet. Thankfully she's ok but I was wiped out so no baking. The following weekend was less hectic so the cheesecake was made and set in the fridge to await pop making.

I soon figured out that freezer side of my skinny side by side fridge was way too narrow to fit my cookie sheets. Rats! I had to improvise by using a smaller baking dish and freezing only eight naked pops at a time, letting them set up, moving them to another small baking dish and repeating the process until all 40 pops were formed.

Similarly, I also did this when Jim and I dipped them in chocolate. We could only do about eight at a time because of the skinny freezer space. But once we got a rhythm going all went smoothly. I had an assortment of toppings for the pops set on the counter and Jim stood command at the stove to dip.

We had an assortment of toppings like crushed macadamia nuts, coconut, crushed almonds, mini M&M's and shaved dark chocolate and some pops were just dipped without any extra topping. It took about 2 hours to get all the pops done dipped and back into the freezer. The next day I brought them into work for my staff. Needless to say, they didn't last long and my staff are looking forward to next month's challenge.

And to see other Darking Bakers pops check out the blogroll.

Win Stuff! A Bloggy Giveaway

2008-04-23T18:45:00.004-04:00

If you like to win stuff (and really, who doesn't), head on over to the Clean Plate Club to enter two bloggy giveaways. The first one is for a Williams-Sonoma Gift Card and the second one is for a cake decorating cookbook.

Let me know if you win!

Skillet Fried Corn

2008-04-20T21:39:00.005-04:00

Having three ears of corn sitting in the fridge for a week, I knew I needed to use them and fast before they spoiled. Simply boiling them would have been tasty but messy and I wasn't in the mood for messy. So I did what any good Southern cook would do, I cut the corn kernels off the cob and fried them up in a skillet.

First I cut off the kernels and with the back of the knife, scrapped off all the pulp still left on the cob. Setting that aside, I finely diced half a small onion and cooked them over medium heat until they were lightly browned then tossed in two cloves of finely diced garlic, some salt and black pepper. Once all that was combined together, I added the corn and about 1/4 cup of chicken stock and let it cook over medium heat until most of the liquid was nearly cooked away.

I served it with some sauteed bok choy and pork chops.

Spicy skirt steak

2008-04-20T21:25:00.005-04:00

Kudos to Joe over at Culinary in the Country for this recipe. I saw it last Wednesday and immediately printed it out and made for dinner that night. I substituted skirt steak (or flap steak) for flank steak but otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter. It was so easy to make and tasted absolutely wonderful. All the flavors were perfectly balanced. According to Jim, the leftovers heated up quite nicely the next for lunch.

Check out Joe's recipe and picture here.

I've also copied the recipe below.
Flank Steak with Hot Peanut Sauce
(from Culinary in the Country)

1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
16 ounces trimmed flank steak, sliced diagonally into thin pieces
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons canola oil

In a small bowl, whisk together green onions, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, lime juice, sesame oil, crushed red pepper and garlic. Place 1/4 cup of the sauce into a zip-loc bag along with the sliced steak. Seal the bag, move the steak around so the pieces get coated and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

In a small saucepan, add remaining soy mixture, water, peanut butter and cornstarch. Bring to a simmer - cook for 1 minute, stirring. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Remove steak from the marinade and discard any excess liquids.

Heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high - add beef and cook 2 minutes on each side, or until they are as done as you prefer. Serve with the peanut sauce and hot cooked rice, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

A sick pup and weekend meals by Jim

2008-04-13T21:04:00.002-04:00

I'm glad Jim's been in the mood to cook this weekend. I'm exhausted from being up all night with a sick doggie. Sophie had me up almost all night panting, scratching and acting very hyper. Turns out she was having a bad allergic reaction to something. By 9:00 this morning she was covered in welts and miserable. I'd given her an antihistamine during the night but it didn't seem to help so we put her in the car and took her to the Alexandria Animal Hospital which is, thankfully, about 2 miles from home.

They gave her a shot of Benadryl, we got a bottle of pills to give her for the next 10 days and we were on our way. She slept most of the day from the Benadryl and is now welt-free. I, however, am exhausted. Only 3 hours sleep is not near enough for me. I was dragging my ass all day. But at least our little girl is feeling better. In fact she's curled up next to me while I write this and snoring. I'll be doing the same shortly myself.

But getting back to Jim's cooking this weekend. Yesterday we went to Wegman's and saw them filleting a huge halibut. We picked out two pretty pieces, got some morel mushrooms (gads those things are expensive) and Jim began to put together a plan for dinner. He made a sauce for the halibut out of onion, white wine, a touch of cream and the morel mushrooms. Then he cooked the halibut in an iron skillet while he cooked some pasta. Once it was all done, he plated the pasta and put a piece of the halibut on top then poured some of the sauce over it. We also had a fresh baguette was also on the table to sop up the sauce.
The meal was great. The halibut was fresh and flavorful and topped with the sauce made it out of this world. The sauce had just enough creaminess to it from the cream to give it a nice mouth feel and flavorwise everything was perfectly balanced. The only thing Jim would do different next time would be to use a stick blender to puree the onions and make the sauce completely smooth.

Tonight he prepared a couscous paella. It was fairly easy to put together which made me happy since it meant I could zombie out on the couch with a still sleepy dog. The recipe is a true creation of Jim's that he made using what he thought would be good together and he was spot on. For the meat, he used a smokey chorizo sausage and chicken legs. Poblano peppers, onions and saffron joined the party to boost the flavor. Served with a nice sauvignon blanc, it was absolutely fabulous. I told him to write this recipe down so it can be made again and I'm posting it here to share with everyone.

Halibut with with morel chardonnay cream sauce
Cooked pasta (I used campanelle, other short pastas would work as well)
1 onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons Smart Balance spread (you can use butter)
6 large morel mushrooms
1 cup chardonnay (or other dry white wine)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup cream
2 large halibut fillet pieces with skin (about a half-pound each)
Italian parsley

Sautee onion in Smart Balance (This is the only thing that is healthy in this dish). Slice morel mushrooms longways, wash gently on inside and out. Place in skillet with the onions, cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, put wine and chicken stock in skillet. Reduce with onions until liquid is reduced by 1/2.

While this is reducing, heat olive oil iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Salt and pepper halibut fillets. Add halibut pieces meat side down and cover. After 5 minutes, flip fillets to skin side, reduce heat and cook for 5-10 minutes until done. Skin may stick; that's ok, just take the meat right off and leave the skin in the pan.

After sauce has reduced, add cream, stir, then add mushrooms. Cook for a short time on low heat to let the mushrooms absorb some of the sauce.

To plate, put pasta on plate. Spoon chardonnay cream sauce, with onions and mushrooms, on to pasta. Sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley. Place halibut fillet on top.

Couscous paella
4 chicken legs
4 oz Spanish chorizo (dry sausage)
2 poblano peppers
2 small or 1 large onions
3 cloves garlic
1 box (10 oz) couscous
2 cups chicken stock
large pinch saffron
1 lime

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Salt chicken legs then brown in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove.

While chicken legs are browning, dice onions and poblano peppers, rough chop garlic and slice chorizo into 1/4 inch slices. Sautee onions and poblano peppers until they start to brown, then add chorizo and garlic. While this is sauteeing, put the large pinch of saffron in a little (1 oz or so) hot water to let it bloom.

After chorizo gets a little crispy and brown around the edges, add 2 cups chicken stock and saffron and water. Return chicken legs to skillet. Braise covered for 10 minutes, then flip chicken legs and braise for another 10 minutes. Remove legs, strip meat from legs and return meat to pan. Return pan to boil. Add couscous to skillet, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add lime juice and salt to taste.

Challah Bread French Toast

2008-04-06T19:01:00.005-04:00

A few months ago I made challah bread with thoughts of French toast running through my head. Jim managed to save the last two pieces of the loaf for just that purpose and it was good, very, very good.

Well, the craving was back and with family in town it seemed like a good idea to make challah bread French toast for Sunday breakfast. So about 6 last night I pulled out the recipe and made some bread. It came out of the oven as we all were getting ready for bed and let me tell you, it's pretty dang hard to fall asleep with the aroma of fresh baked bread in the air.

Still, I managed to sleep and wake up looking forward to breakfast. Jim got up ahead of me and sliced some nice thick slices of bread and let them dry out a little before he made the French toast. And the recipe couldn't be any simpler.

Challah Bread French Toast
4 (3/4" thick) slices of challah bread
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup of milk
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar and salt together and place in a shallow bowl. Lay the bread, one slice at a time in the egg mixture for a minute or so then flip it over and let it sit another minute. Place on a plate while you prepare all the slices.

Melt some butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Place the slices in the skillet and cook on each side until golden brown. Serve with butter and maple syrup or honey. YUM!

We're famous......sort of

2008-04-04T17:29:00.003-04:00

Some of my regular readers know that I am part of an online baking group called "The Daring Bakers." Each month a recipe is selected by one of the many members and we all make the recipe but keep it underwraps until the a selected date at the end of the month when we all post our results.

Well it seems the Washington Post knows about us! The group was mentioned in the Post a couple of days ago. You can find the article here.

And if you're wondering where is my post for the March Challenge? Well, I didn't quite have the time because Jim and I were in Malaysia half the month. But the April challenge has been revealed (to the Daring Bakers only) and it's one that I will be participating in. And for any of my library staff who read this, you will be the lucky recipients of the finished product. (makes you want to work for me, doesn't it.)

Chap Chae

2008-03-30T17:27:00.005-04:00

After we got home from our trip, I was tired and jet lagged. I didn't have the energy to do a lot of grocery shopping either. Thankfully Jim hit Trader Joe's before he picked me up from the airport and got essentials like coffee and pizza fixin's. Plus we had a few things in the freezer that held us over until the end of the week until my day off on Friday.

I went to El Grande off Backlick Road in Springfield to stock up on some fresh veggies and to snag a few ingredients I needed for a beef rendang recipe I wanted to try. Just inside the front of the store to the left is a small food court connected by a little area filled with fresh Korean foods like kimchee and various panchan dishes. After looking through all the choices nothing appealed until I spied a package of Chapchae (also spelled japchae). I could smell the seasoning through the package and almost drooled. It was full of cellophane noodles, wood ear mushrooms, watercress, carrots, bean sprouts, red pepper and onion as well as lots of sesame seeds. This would would be a nice dinner once I added some cooked meat.

And it was so easy to serve! I sliced some chicken and cooked it in a skillet until done then tossed in the chapchae noodles and veggies, added a sprinkle of soy sauce and sesame seeds and dinner was served. The flavors were very good, especially for a packaged precooked meal. I'll be sure to look for this item again when we need a quick and easy meal for the week.

Mama's got a brand new blog

2008-03-21T16:26:00.002-04:00

Because our trip to Malaysia will involve so many posts, I have created a brand new blog just for the trip. Hop on over and check it out.....and the best part is no jet lag.
You Gonna Eat All That? - Malaysia

I'll be added new posts for every day of the trip including food pictures (of course), wildlife, and some cool videos (thanks to my sister-in-laws camera).

Malaysia Trip - midway through

2008-03-09T03:25:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting here in Kuching looking out over the Kuching River. Our trip so far has been incredible! We spent four days in Melaka where we took a short river cruise, went to a museum in a bulding that replicates a Sultans palace, visited a home called Villa Sentosa (an unofficialbut way cool museum) and ate lots of absoultely wonderful food. I've discovered a new favorite dish or two. One is Roti, an Indian pancake/crepe that you dip into a curry sauce. I am so hooked on this stuff. Another favorite is Nasi Lamak, coconut rice served with a fried egg, curried baby anchovies, peanuts and hot sauce. It's what's for breakfast here in Malaysia and never would I have thought I'd like eating such spicy food in the morning but it's wonderful.

Singapore in a word is HOT! In two words, HOT & HUMID! Never have I sweated so much in my life. But the city is great. In the two short days we had, we crammed in a lot. First we ate Chicken Rice at the famous Tian Tian in the Maxwell Food Centre. We also had Tom Yum soup and the owner of that stall was so impressed that we liked the soup that he gave us a bowl of a mutton stew to try. It was rich, flavorful and very good. He even offered to show me how it was made. There was a language barrier that was easily overcome with show-and-tell and hand gestures. So now I have a new recipe to try when we get home.

We also hoofed it around the Asian Civilization Museum and the Botanical Gardens. In particular the Ginger gardens and the incredible Orchid gardens. Never have I seen so many orchids and so many differnt varieties. It was simply orchid overload by the time we were done. And these things grow everywhere, not just in the gardens. Around trees, in sidewalk gardens, up in the trees, everywhere you look.

We also took in the Night Safari in the Singapore Zoo. Pretty cool, all the nocturnal animals on display while you ride a tram through the trees. Some animals like the tapirs were freely walking about. Plus you could get off the tram and walk on some paths through the areas to for a closer look at the animals.

Now we are in Kuching. After one night in a hotel that looked better online than it did in person, we moved to nicer digs. So far Jim's been to Bako National Forest, I've been shopping and we've both been having a great time.

We've taken about 1,000 pictures so far and we're only half way through our trip. I'll most likely create a new blog just for this trip so keep a lookout once I get home.

The Daring Bakers February Challenge

2008-02-29T07:30:00.006-05:00

This month's challenge is hosted by Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook). Our recipe: Julia Child's French bread.

This is what French bread is supposed to look like: And this is what mine looks like:

So what would this French bread say if it could talk? My guess is it would say something like, "Don’t' look at me, I'm hideous!" No wait, this is French bread. That means it would say, "Ne me regardez pas, je suis affreux."

When I first saw this month's challenge I thought great, another chance to work on my French bread skills. The recipe looked daunting. Twelve pages in length and a total time of close to 11 hours from start to finish. But this supposed to be a challenge, right? So I carefully studied the recipe before the first scoop of flour was measured.

All seemed to go well….until it came time to move the bread from the floured towels to the cooking sheets. Even with the heavy dose of flour covering the towel, the bread stuck to it and quickly deflated. Phooey! (I actually said something a bit more colorful) One loaf still retained it's loaf shape while the second one simply collapsed upon itself and folded over into a grotesque mass of wrinkly dough. Not a pretty site. In my frustration, I grabbed it up and rolled it into a boule hoping it could be salvaged. The result was mixed. It rose just like it was supposed to.
Taste-wise it was good if not a touch salty. Texture-wise, a nice fine crumb. Looks-wise, hideous. My first (non-obscene) thought was the loaf looked like a Geoduck . See the resemblance?

While my attempt at Julia Child's French bread was not great, it was a learning experience. However, I have other recipes for French bread that are less complicated and take about half the time to make (not including the starter). I think I'll stick to them.

And many thanks to my brother for posting this for me since I will be somewhere in the air on my way to Malaysia on posting day.

French Fry Hash Browns

2008-02-23T20:33:00.006-05:00

So what could be any unhealthier than hash browns made with leftover French fries? The ones I ate the night before with a cheeseburger from Five Guys. Yes, I was bad last night. On my way home from work, I realized that I hadn't taken anything out for dinner. Plus it's only me at home this week since Jim is already in Malaysia and I hate cooking for just myself. And there just so happens to be a Five Guys on my way home from work. Seemed like it was meant to be.

Sophie and I decadently dined on a small cheeseburger and fries and as anyone who's been to Five Guys knows, you always get a ton of fries, even with a small order. There was no way I could eat all of them, even with Sophie's help.

I was about to throw the leftover fries in the garbage last night when I had an idea to make hash browns with them for breakfast this morning. So I bagged them up and tossed them in the fridge.

This morning I put them on a cutting board and diced them up and added some salt and dried onion flakes. Once the skillet was hot I added the mix and let it brown up a little then stirred them around and in about 10 minutes I had hot French fry hash browns. They were delicious! And the best part is that I only used half of what was left over so I get to have them again tomorrow. Yum!

Giving my tastebuds a test run

2008-02-17T19:25:00.004-05:00

With just over a week to go before I fly to Malaysia, Jim and I gave our taste buds a test run and went to Malaysia Kopitam on M St NW in Washington for dinner last night. In addition to the regular menu with just text, they have a three-ring binder version that included pictures of the dishes. This was very handy and I'd recommend it anyone who isn't familiar with Malay food.

Jim posted this his thoughts about dinner on Don Rockwell and since he did such a nice job on his review, here it is in it's entirety. I added pictures from their online menu because we forgot our camera.

Malaysia Kopitam
by Jim
So I've been to Malaysia Kopitiam twice recently, and I've done a better job of ordering. The first time with friends, we didn't tell them that we were going to Malaysia and ask for help ordering, and came out winners. We got the sampler appetizer which was an interesting mix of curry puffs, satay, a fresh roll, something steamed in banana leaf. Then I got the assam sambal shrimp, which was tasty but not that spicy, while my friends got nyonya chicken, a tasty bowl of deep fried small pieces of boneless chicken in a sweet sauce; tamarind beef, which reminded me of potroast and some dishes I've had at Burma in the past, and Malaysian Curry Shrimp, which I don't think I tried. There was beer involved, many bottles of Tiger, a polite and tasty beer that didn't have many distinguising qualities.

Last night I was there with Barbara, and we told the server that I'll be in Melaka next week. She gave us some pointers, and asked about spicyness. I said we liked spicy food, and they cranked it up. First we had the Rembah Udang, sticky rice with curry chicken and shrimp inside, steamed in banana leaf, and Baby Oyster Omlette which is mentioned on several food blogs in Melaka. If you like oysters, it's good stuff. It's like a cross between a pancake (think Korean seafood pancake) and an actual omlette, served with a small dish of sauce with red onions in it.

Our entrees were the Mamak Mee Goreng and the Nasi Lemak. I had the Nasi Lemak, and it was good, with the coconut rice and the chicken and little fish curry, and the pickled pineapple and vegetables. If you're sqeamish about baby fish, bones and all, in curry sauce, you might skip this dish. If you're game, just try to keep the little bones from poking your gums. The curries were moderately spicy. I liked it, because of the mix of flavors and textures in the dish, and would recommend it.

Barbara had the Mee Goreng, and it was the spiciest thing we've ever had there. It was an intermittant thing, she'd be happily eating her noodles with shrimp, tofu, etc, and then all of a sudden she'd take a sharp breath of air and grab some of my rice. She kept trying to figure out what it was, and gave me bits of stuff, but we couldn't pinpoint the incindearies in the dish. Even with her discomfort, it was good, real good. As were all the dishes. I'll let you know how it stands up to street food in Melaka and other places in a month or so.

Malaysia Kopitiam
1827 M St NW
20036 Washington DC
Phone: 202-833-6232

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T21:40:00.001-05:00

I so cheated on making Valentine's Day dinner tonight. The only homemade part of the meal was my pasta sauce, the rest was all store bought. But you know what, it doesn't matter, Jim liked it and that's all I needed to know.

I stopped by a place called The Italian Deli after work. In addition to making great sandwiches, they carry all kinds of Italian products from jars of sauce to cookies to frozen pasta. I picked up a package of cheese manicotti and the last loaf of fresh Italian bread they had.

After taking Sophie out when I got home, I got the manicotti put together and popped it into the oven along with a head of garlic (for some roasted garlic bread) and waited for Jim to come home.
Dinner was very nice. We all enjoyed it, even Miss Sophie got a few nibbles. And to go with it, we opened a bottle of Nipozzano Chianti Reserva that was given to us by a friend at Christmas.And for dessert....yup, more cheating. On my way to work this morning I stopped by Krispy Kreme and got a couple dozen doughnuts for my staff. They were making heart shaped doughnuts topped with sprinkles and I got two extra to take home. And what says love better than a fresh, heart-shaped Krispy Kreme doughnut?

Mushroom Turnovers

2008-02-10T20:58:00.001-05:00

One of the great things about my job is all the fun people I work with. For example, we have a group of us who participate in Murder Mystery programs written by a dear friend and fellow librarian, Ted. I had my first taste of acting in one of these programs three years ago when I played the part of a self absorbed jazz singer named Toni Deff. (get it, tone deaf, hahaha). I never thought I could pull it off but once the program started, I was hooked. I've since played another roll as a gardener called Petunia Budd and I filled on once as a wealthy yacht owner named Marina Swagg. And in May I will be in Ted's newest program as a widowed ranch owner. I can't say much as we haven't even practiced for this one yet alone performed it.

Collectively, Ted refers to the lot of us as the Murder Overdue crew. And last night about 15 of us got together and had a great time. And to help out, I made mushroom turnovers. I found the recipe in Southern Living and changed it a little to make it slightly healthier. I don't think it affected the flavor at all as I got many compliments on them. A bit time consuming to put together but the end result was worth it. The only thing I would do differently next time is to better seal them. Seems most of them opened up at the seams so I referred to them as the exploding mushroom turnovers.

Mushroom Turnovers

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, softened
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup low fat sour cream
3 tbsp sherry

Combine first 3 ingredients. Shape dough into a ball; cover and chill 1 hour.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion, and sauté 12 minutes or until onion is golden. Stir in chopped mushrooms and sauté 3-6 minutes or until liquid begins to decrease. Stir in thyme, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle 2 tbsp flour evenly over mushroom mixture. Stir in sour cream and sherry. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Pat or roll chilled dough to 1/8” thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 3” round cutter.

Spoon 1 tsp mushroom mixture on half of each dough circle, fold dough over filling. Press edges together with a fork to seal. Place turnovers on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Note: To make ahead, place uncooked turnovers in a single layer on baking sheets, and freeze. Transfer frozen turnovers to large zip-top plastic freezer bags, seal and freeze up to 1 month. Place frozen turnovers on ungreased baking sheets. Bake as directed.

Yield: Makes 3 dozen appetizer servings

Planning ahead and Malaysia

2008-02-03T18:31:00.000-05:00

With a busy week for Jim coming up, I decided to plan our dinners for the week. Why is Jim going to be busy, you ask? He and a co-worker are in the final stages of planning a training seminar that they will be teaching in Malaysia. Yes, Malaysia! And guess who's flying over with him? Go ahead, take a wild guess. If said me, you're correct. I'm going to fly halfway around the freakin' world to see Malaysia! Woot! I'm just a little excited, ha!

So back to the weekly dinner planning. The lineup looks like this:
Sunday (tonight): Mexican Braised Pork
Monday: Pizza (home made, Jim's specialty, plus I work late that night and it's something Jim can make in his sleep)
Tuesday: leftover Mexican Braised Pork
Wednesday: Lasagna (mom and I made little two serving lasagnas when she was here and we popped them in the freezer for quick meals)
Thursday: Salad and leftover pizza
Friday: a stir-fry with chicken and veggies
Saturday: A light snack before we head to a friend's place for a party. (which I will be making some goodies for)

Now back to Malaysia! Yes, almost a year ago Jim and a coworker (who Jim has worked with for most of the 9 1/2 years we've lived in DC) found out that two people from their office would be going to Malaysia. The lucky two would teach their counterparts in the Malaysian government to collect and use the same type of data Jim's office does. When Jim and his co-worker were selected, he was thrilled. Not only will be an honor to do this training but the opportunity to see the country was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I plan to fly over two days before his class ends but actually land the day after the class - it's a long ass flight. We went back and forth about where in this beautiful country to see and as of now, I believe we've narrowed it down to these places: Melaka (or Malacca) where the training will take place, Singapore, Borneo (Sarawak region) and Kuala Lumpur. Other places we toyed with were Tioman Island (where the movie South Pacific was filmed), the other side of Borneo - Sabah, and Penang. If we had a month, we'd be able to do it all but as it is, cramming this into two weeks will be plenty.

There will be tons to write about when we get back, especially the night markets where food stalls galore sell some of the country's best food. It will be an amazing trip and if anyone of my readers have ever been to or actually live there, any advice you can lend would be greatly appreciated.

Daring Baker Challenge - Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-01-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

Ta-Da! The unveling of the January Daring Baker's Challenge. Lemon Meringue Pie. Jen from The Canadian Baker came up with this month's challenge and I was happy to have such a sunny, cheerful dish during these cold, cold days of January.

And when I thought about it, I realized that I've never made a Lemon Meringue Pie before. Althgouth I've eaten my fair share.

I made the pie last weekend and nearly had a pie curst malfunction. Thankfully I had extra crust as I was planning to make tartlets as well. The mishap took place when I put foil on the crust before baking it. I didn't have any dried beans to put on the foil (this helps keep the crust from getting puffy and keeps it flat when you bake it) so I put a small saucepan on top of the foil. I guess it was too heavy because the crust stuck to the foil when I took it out of the oven. There was no salvaging it.

So, grumbling under my breath, I scrapped the remaining crust from the pie pan and started over. This time I didn't use anything, instead I poked holes all over the crust and checked it halfway through, pushing down any bubbles that formed. And it worked.

The lemon filling was a breeze to make and it came together just like the recipe said it would. As for taste, it was bright, sunny and delicious. Sophie was pestering me for a sample but I told her it would be too tart for her little doggie tastebuds. She didn't care so I gave her a lick. Those little jowls of hers curled up like I've never seen before, ha!

Using my kitchen aid mixer for the meringue was so easy! I chilled the beater and the bowl beforehand which I've been told helps and it did. Those egg whites just whipped right up in no time flat.

So now that I had all the parts ready it was time to assemble the pie. Th filling was still slightly warm which was a handy piece of advice I picked up from fellow daring bakers. It would help the meringue stick to the pie filling. Once it was smoothed out, I piled on the meringue. Then I used a small offset spatula to make these little fish hook like curls all over the top.

I then popped the pie into the oven to let the meringue get nice and golden brown.

Later on the that night we had some for dessert. I was surprised when I saw how much liquid was in side when we sliced it. My best guess is that it came from the meringue. But as you can see from this slice, it sorta fell apart at the center. Mind you, it still didn't stop us from diving into it. And as for the taste? Let's just say we were hooked.Lemon Meringue Pie - Makes one 10-inch pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup cold butter; cut into ½-inch pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup butter
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

French? Oui! Ugly? Oui Oui!

2008-01-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

But they tasted great!
I guess I still need to work on my forming technique for these French Baguettes. Ya think?

The recipe was easy enough to put together and the dough felt perfect after it was kneaded. They rose fine.....then it came time to slash them so they would have that nice look French breads have. I have a lame that I've used before to slash dough before baking and it's worked well. Not in this case, the lame dragged through the dough instead of slicing through it like butter. That combined with my poorly formed loaves created the world's ugliest French Baguettes. Where the bread was sliced, it looks twisted and distorted. But like the old saying goes, You can't judge a book by it's cover. And such was the case here. The bread had just the right denseness and chew to it with a slight tang from letting the starter sit at room temperature overnight.

But fear not mon ami, I am not one to give up easily. Someday, after a little more practice. I will make pretty baguettes.

French Baguettes
For the starter:
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup cool (room temp) water
1/8 tsp instant yeast

Combine the flour, water and yeast together and mix until well blended. Let it rise, covered in a medium to large container, at room temperature for 12-18 hours. It is ready to use once it forms a nice dome and looks airy and bubbly. It will also have a slightly sour smell to it (which is good).

For the dough:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp. salt
the starter
3/4 cup cool water

Place the flour, yeast ans salt in the bowl of your mixer. Pour about half of the water around the edge of the starter to loosen it from it's container. Pour the starter and the water into the mixer bowl. Use the flat paddle of the mixer to slowly mix the dough until it comes together and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. If needed, add a little flour or water to help the dough form. Stop the mixer and switch out the flat paddle with the dough hook. Knead the dough on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stop the mixer halfway through to clean off the dough hook.

Let the dough rise. You can keep it in the mixer bowl or use a lightly oiled dough rising bucket, but either way, cover it. Leave it for 2 hours, checking after the first hour to fold over the dough onto itself.

Once risen, divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape into logs. Let them rest, covered, for 20 minutes then shape them into baguettes (slightly tapered at the ends). Proof the baguettes for 30-40 minutes in a baguette pan, if you have one. If you don't, placed rolled up kitchen towels in between the loaves and on the outer edges to help them keep their shape.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Once the dough is ready to bake, slash the tops several times with a bread lame or sharp knife. Spritz the bread with water. If you aren't using baguette pan, place the loaves on a cookie sheet. Place the loaves in teh oven and reduce the heat to 475. Bake the loaves for 18-24 minutes or until they are golden brown. Cool on a baking rack.

100,000 hits!

2008-01-20T17:08:00.001-05:00

It may not be much to some of the big-time bloggers out there but for me it's way cool. Somone from East Setauket, NY visited the blog a few minutes ago and was my 100,000th visitor!
Not bad for my four year blogiversary.

Mexican Braised Pork Shoulder

2008-01-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

While flipping through this month's Cuisine at Home magazine, a recipe caught my eye. Mexican Braised Pork Shoulder. Ever since our cruise in November, anything Mexican has been catching our eyes lately. I read through the ingredients and sent Jim to the market this morning to get what we needed.

The only real time consuming part of the prep work was trimming up the pork shoulder. The rest of the prep was much quicker. In less than an hour, it was all wrapped in banana leaves and popped in the oven. Three hours later this is what it looked like:How did it taste? It was delicious! Not spicy at all and the seasoning was so well balanced. The salsa recipe that accompanies this recipe really added a nice flavor as well. And it was my first time using tomatillas too. Yes, the person who has eaten beef tongue tacos and jellyfish has never had tomatillas before yet alone cooked with them. But trust me, I will use them again.

Mexican Braised Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde
as adapted from Cuisine at Home
2 tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pork shoulder, trimmed (about 4-6 lbs)
1 package frozen banana leaves, thawed
1 lb. tomatillas, husks removed, halved
1 cup chopped shallots
2 poblano peppers, chopped
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 jalapeno, seeded, chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. Combine the cumin, coriander, salt, cinnamon, pepper and cayenne; rub all over the pork shoulder. Sear the pork in oil in a Dutch oven over high heat (about 3 minutes per side) until browned on all sides. Remove the pork, pour off the remaining oil and wipe out the Dutch oven.

Line the Dutch oven with a banana leaf leaving the ends hanging over the sides. Place a second leaf crosswise on top of it. Add the tomatillas, onions, poblanos, garlic, and jalapeno, then place the seared pork shoulder on top. Pour in the chicken stockand fold the leaves over the meat and cover the pan tightly. (The handle on the lid to my Dutch oven isn't oven proof so I used foil to cover it) Braise the pork for about 3 hours or until tender.

Remove the pork from the oven and preheat the broiler to high with the rack about 8 inches from the element. Transfer the pork to a baking sheet and broil until the surface is crispy, turning to get both sides. This will take less than 10 minutes. Let the pork stand while you make the salsa. To serve, pull the pork from the bone and shred it. Serve with the salsa verde, flour tortillas and any other topping you choose.

Salsa Verde
Braised vegetables from the pork shoulder
3 tomatillas, husks removed, chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup pan juices, degreased
1 tbsp. lime juice

Strain the vegetables from the Dutch oven. Place them and the remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until chunky.

Dog Biscuits

2008-01-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I bought some things online at the Baker's Catalogue including a pre-packaged dog biscuit mix. Sophie has been very patient with me for taking my sweet time in making them.

But with the opportunity to share them with her Tennessee cousins (KC, Walker and Frazier) since my mom could carry some back with her tomorrow I knew the time had come to make them. Sophie agreed.

For KC and Walker......some larger cookies were made.

For Frazierand Sophie, I made smaller ones.

And what did Sophie think of them?

Challah Bread

2008-01-05T20:23:00.000-05:00

Feeling better from the disc problem in my neck, I'd been anxious to get back into the kitchen and bake. The only major obstacle I had was not being able to move my Kitchen Aid mixer from the cabinet up to the counter top as my doc won't let me lift more than 10 pounds. And that mixer is a heavy beast.

Mom is still here helping us out while I'm healing up or should I say she's trying to keep me from over doing things. I'm not a good patient and have been keeping her and Jim on their toes. But today I had Jim hoist the mixer onto the counter and they turned me loose in the kitchen......whee!

I had three recipes in mind. One was the challah bread, another was a burnt sugar pound cake using some of my newly acquired vanilla beans and the last one was some dog biscuits for Miss Sophie and her Tennessee cousins that would be safely transported home via mom.

The challah bread was so easy to put together. I was only worried about how well I'd braid the dough. But not to fear....with mom holding one end of the dough, I braided with ease.We haven't had any yet and how we've managed not to tear into it is still a mystery. But have no doubt, there will be some French toast made with it tomorrow or Monday.
Challah Bread Recipe
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. water
2 egg whites, whisked until frothy
Sesame or poppy seeds for garnish (optional)

Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your mixer. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, and yolks, 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. water. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until all ingredients gather together and form a ball. Add more flour or water if needed.

Switch out the paddle attachment for the dough hook and knead the dough on medium speed for about 6 minutes, sprinkling in more if needed to make a supple , but not sticky dough. (it may feel slightly tacky to the touch)

Lightly oil a large bowl (I use a rising bucket with a lid that seals). Form the dough into a ball and place it in the oiled bowl. Roll it around a little to coat it with the oil. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 2 minutes to degas. Re-form the dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl, cover and let sit again at room temperature for another hour. It should grow to 1 and 1/2 times it size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into three equal parts. Form each into a ball, cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out all three pieces into equal length strands, thicker in the middle and slightly tapered at the ends. Braid them, tucking in the ends underneath. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and transfer the bread to the pan. Brush the loaf with the egg whites then mist it with spray oil. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap.

Proof the bread at room temperature for 60-75 minutes or until the dough grows to 1 and 1/2 its original size. Preheat the oven to 350 with the oven rack placed on the middle shelf of the oven. Brush the loaf again with the egg whites and sprinkle on the sesame or poppy seeds if you are using them.

Bake the loaf for 20 minutes then rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking for another 20-25 minutes. When done the bread will have a rich golden color and when probed with a thermometer will read to 190 degrees in the center. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack for at least one hour before serving.

New Year's Eve 2007 - Paella

2008-01-01T08:51:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! We celebrated the event with a Spanish Paella last night. It was my first attempt at one and I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. Setting up everything before I began cooking took some time, about 20 minutes. In all it took just over an hour to prepare from the prep work until the paella was done.
I was again inspired by the saffron I received with my package of vanilla beans. I looked through my cookbooks and searched online and finally found this recipe which I have modified a bit. I don't have a paella pan so I used a large sautee pan instead and it seemed to work out just fine.

We thought we'd have a lot left over but between me, Jim and my mom (who's visiting from TN), we ate half of it! We kept getting little spoonfuls of it and finally had to stop ourselves. It was very moist without being wet and soggy (does that make sense?). The chorizo was incredibly delicious. We bought it at Cheesetique in Alexandria. It was a hard spicy chorizo called Salametto Piccante from Framani. I'd highly recommend it if you like hard chorizos.
Here's the recipe:

Spanish Paella

3 cups Arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium shallot, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 (4 oz) can tomato paste
15 large shrimp
2-3 lbs chicken
4 links chorizo sausages, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2-3 tablespoons fresh thyme
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 pinch saffron
3 lemons, quartered (Limes can be substituted)

For the chicken, if using a whole chicken, cut the legs off then dice the rest of the meat into chunks. Set aside. Peel the shrimp, leaving only the tail and then salt them.

Pour the chicken stock into a pot. Heat it up to a low simmer. You will be using it later and will need it to be hot.

Coat the bottom of the paella pan with olive oil (I actually used grapeseed oil). Brown the chorizo over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Do not fully cook, just get the outside well browned. Set aside.

Brown the chicken for 2-3 minutes. It should not be fully cooked. Set aside.

Brown garlic, onion and shallot until they're softened, adding the sun-dried tomatoes shortly before the mixture is finished. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and on the other side add the tomato paste. Caramelize it, flipping it and spreading it until it begins to loosen (1-2 min over high heat). Mix all of the vegetables and meats together with the caramelized tomato paste also adding the paprika, parsley and thyme.

Add rice, mixing together and stirring as the rice browns (1-1½) minutes. As the rice browns mix in the saffron. Make sure to break it between your fingers and stir it in to release the oils. When the rice is slightly translucent add enough chicken stock to cover the whole mixture. If it's been kept warm, it will begin to boil almost immediately. Lower to a medium heat but keep it at a steady boil.

These next steps are crucial to the paella making process. Stir the paella a few times in the first 5-10 minutes, adding broth as necessary to keep the rice fully covered. After this you must let the paella sit, do not touch it! Let it cook another 20 minutes, adding broth bit by bit to keep the rice covered until the rice on the top is al dente. Don't worry about rice burning to the bottom, this part is considered by some to be the best part.

Once you have about 8 minutes left to cook, stir the paella for the last time. Lay the shrimp on top, turning over after 2-4 minutes to cook the other side.

When the 20 minutes are up (the rice on top will still be quite al dente), take paella off of the heat and cover. You must let it sit for 15-20 minutes without touching it. If you lift the lid early, the rice will not finish cooking properly and will be crunchy.

Once you're sure it's ready uncover it and garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

Christmas Dinner 2007 - Roast Capon with Saffron and Lemon

2007-12-27T17:55:00.000-05:00

Last month I won vanilla beans from Jaden at Steamy Kitchen and the company sending me the vanilla included a little packet of saffron. MMMM..... Thoughts of paella, saffron rice and other yummy meals began running through my head. I finally settled on a roasted capon with saffron and lemon.

And as luck would have it, our local Safeway had frozen capons! I thought I'd have to check out one of the high end places like Whole Foods (a.k.a. whole paycheck) so I was quite pleased when we found our bird.

Jim lent a hand fixing dinner since I'm still under doctor's orders and am restricted from lifting much. Actually....Jim did just about everything, and I didn't complain a bit. Once the bird was roasting, he put together some saffron rice and cooked up a few Brussels Sprouts. I set the table and impatiently waited for dinner.The skin got a little more done than we expected (because I didn't think to tent it halfway through the cooking. Nonetheless, it was good and crispy. I'm not one that usually will go after the skin but this one was an exception. The flavor was unbelievable. Lemony, tangy and crunchy. Even Sophie enjoyed a few nibbles from the table. The meat itself was very tasty, especially the legs and wings and some of the breast meat that was just under the skin. We probably could have cooked it a little less as some of the breast meat was a tad on the dry side, but it didn't stop us from cleaning our plates. And tonight we get to have the leftovers. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

The recipe couldn't have been any easier and I'd make it again with a regular roasting chicken or Cornish game hens if I don't want to schlep all over town for a capon.

Roast Chicken with Saffron and Lemons - adapted from Saveur Magazine

1 7-8-lb. capon
2 large pinches saffron threads, toasted
4 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. black peppercorns
2 lemons, thinly sliced
fresh rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Wash and gently pat dry the capon.
2. Grind toasted saffron threads, salt, and peppercorns in a grinder (we use a coffee grinder). Gently separate the skin from the flesh of the capon with your fingers. Rub spices over and under the skin, and inside the cavity. Place lemon slices and rosemary under the skin and inside the cavity.

3. Tuck the wings under the back and tie the bird with a kitchen string to hold the legs together for even cooking. Place in a baking pan and roast for 2 hours. You may want to tent the capon after the first hour to keep the skin from getting too dark.

4. Once the temperature between the leg and the breast reaches 165 F, take the bird out of the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes. Carve and serve.