Cranberry-Almond Crostata

I can hardly describe what a relief it is to finally feel an oh-so-slight chill in the air when you live in Fort Lauderdale. We’ve been regularly having temperatures above 80 degrees, but yesterday that hint of coolness finally crept into the air. Of course, Mike and I still went to the beach on Sunday morning. It was nice enough to lay out in a bathing suit, but I did have my legs covered with a towel for most of the time.

The first weekend of November was a very appropriate time to get our first “cool snap”--it was the weekend when we set back the clocks bringing on shorter, darker days, AND it was the weekend I started rolling out the holiday recipes. There are so many wonderful things to cook and bake during the much-too-short holiday season, so I spread it out over a bunch of little feasts. Since we are going to spend Thanksgiving with the O’Hara side of Mike’s family in Connecticut (a fabulously fun T-Day tradition), I took this weekend to make some Thanksgiving favorites in my own kitchen, and try out a few new recipes from my many food magazines.

I almost never follow a recipe exactly, so when I do, it had better be perfect. Okay, I made a couple hardly-worth-mentioning tweaks to this Cranberry Crostata from November’s Gourmet and still it was flawless. Really just a cross between a pie and a tart, this dessert has incredibly vibrant flavor from the fresh cranberry filling and richness from the almond pastry, but none of it is too sweet or flabby to enjoy after a big holiday meal. I highly recommend it for a Thanksgiving dessert or an anytime holiday treat--it kind of reminds me of a big Linzer cookie now that I think about it!

Here are my tweaks: I used whole wheat pastry flour in place of all-purpose. It’s a natural with the nutty crust, both for flavor and color. The recipe calls for 10 ounces of fresh cranberries, but as you may know, the standard bag of Ocean Spray cranberries in your neighborhood supermarket is 14 ounces. We picked out the smashed or dubious-looking berries, and used all that remained with no problems whatsoever. The dough is very soft and tender and doesn’t depend on being chilled during mixing. Follow Gourmet’s directions for rolling it out between parchment paper, and don’t worry about piecing it together in the pan. My lattice strips broke apart during transfer, but this didn’t matter much in the end. I also used turbinado sugar instead of granulated for sprinkling because I like the crunch. Click here for the recipe on Gourmet's website. What holiday recipes have you already tried?

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In case your cranberry appetite is never sated, here are some more mouth-watering cranberry desserts from blogs I love:

Cranberry Linzer Tart on Orangette
Maury Rubin's Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart on The Wednesday Chef
Cranberry-Orange Cookies (with pistachios!) on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Cinnamon Cranberry Rice Pudding on The Perfect Pantry
Cranberry-Raisin Pie on David Lebovitz
Cranberry Ribbon Cake on Coconut and Lime
Apple-Cranberry Pie on Simply Recipes
Cranberry Banana Bread on Chocolate & Zucchini

Technorati Tags: recipes, thanksgiving, tart, cranberry, almond

Corn and Shrimp Pizza with the Best Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe

Recently, we got a pepperoni pizza from Papa John's for dinner. Mike was craving it, and we never order pizza. Our dial-for-dinner days ended when I bought a food processor and figured out how easy it was to make my own crust. Since then, I've just about perfected the recipe, experimented with all sorts of toppings and never looked back.

There's nothing wrong with good old fast food pizza, and I will admit that Papa John's was much better than I thought it would be--I love when thin slices of pepperoni get a little charred around the edges. With the weekly coupons we receive in the mail, I don't think we will let years go by this time before calling the Papa again.

So, has all the time and effort I have spent making my own pizzas been a waste? No way! Here's the thing: the pizza I make and the Papa John's takeout-or-delivery version are two totally different foods--apples and oranges. Papa John's satisfies a craving for nostalgia, taking me back to eating pizza and drinking soda (a special treat!) on Friday nights when I was a kid, or in college on the way home from a bar. My homemade pizza on the other hand represents the way I like to eat now: nutritious, fresh, topped with the flavors and ingredients that I love. You just can't get a pie topped with arugula, figs or sauteed shrimp from the Papa.

The recipe here is one of the favorites that we seem to go back to when we want something different. It is perfect in summer when corn is flavorful and crisp right off the cob and cherry tomatoes are sweet and inexpensive. This is my standard crust recipe, but I often substitute different flours depending on what I have. All-purpose flour will work and so will whole wheat pastry. You could do this with only white flour, but all whole wheat would probably be a little too intense and heavy.

As often as I make pizza, I've only written about it once on the blog. This fig, caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza is one of my favorite meals (the dough recipe in the fig post is essentially the same, but I have simplified and streamlined the directions in the updated version below). Make it now when fresh figs are in season.

One more note on homemade pizza: it sounds a little daunting to proof yeast and measure flour yourself, especially now that you can buy pizza dough in many grocery stores. I promise that once you do this two or three times, it will be the simplest baking you can imagine. It becomes second nature--something you'll start to fit into your day like taking out the trash or defrosting a chicken. You can do it the night before or if you are at home during the day, make the dough at lunch time and let it do its rising while you go about the rest of your life. Active prep time for this dough is 10 to 15 minutes, including cleanup. Even if you're on a first name basis with the pizza delivery kid, I'm betting you will get addicted to your own homemade creations after a couple of go-rounds.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This recipe makes enough for two pizzas, each one serving 2 to 4 people, depending on how hungry you are and what else you’ve got going. The dough is thin with a chewy, slightly crisp texture. I love that I can make dough once and freeze half so that my next pizza is as effortless as defrosting the dough. My method for measuring flour by volume is to fluff it up, then lightly spoon it into measuring cups without packing it down or shaking the cup causing it to settle. I always eyeball the oil and honey measurements. This recipe could also be made by hand or in a stand mixer.

1 1⁄4 c. warm water
1 tblsp. granulated sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 c. whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat Flour)
1 1⁄2 c. bread flour (I like King Arthur Bread Flour)
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl
1 tblsp. honey

Pour the water into a bowl, add the sugar, then gently stir in the yeast. Let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes or until the yeast forms a foamy layer on the surface of the water. Meanwhile, add the flours, and salt to a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine. Add the olive oil, honey and yeast mixture. Process until the dough comes together, forming a ball. This should only take about one minute. If your ingredients get stuck, you may need to open the lid and move them around a bit so they can come together properly. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and lay a kitchen towel on top. Let it sit in warm, non-drafty place until the dough doubles in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board and knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Divide the dough into two equal balls. Let the two balls of dough rise for the second time on the cutting board, covered with a kitchen towel, for an hour and a half. Knead each piece 2 or 3 times, then proceed with the pizza. At this point, you can also refrigerate the dough in a Ziploc bag to use within 24 hours, or freeze it to use within 3 months.

Another option, especially if you are making the dough before bed or in the morning before work is to let it rise for the second time in the refrigerator, well-covered, for at least 8 hours, after which you can knead it for a few seconds, transfer it to a Ziploc bag, and keep it for use that day or freeze it. Always bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

To make the pizza: Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornmeal on a large rectangle of parchment paper. Flatten one ball of dough into a disk, place in the center of the parchment paper and roll it out with a flour-coated rolling pin to form a large oval, about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle more cornmeal around the border of the dough, if desired. Cover with your toppings to within 1/2 to 1 inch of the edge. Use the parchment to lift the pizza and place the parchment directly onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through (the bottom of the dough should just barely take on some color). Transfer pizza to a cutting board, discarding parchment. Let it rest for 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Shrimp and Corn Pizza
Note: special equipment that I use for cooking homemade pizza is parchment paper and a pizza stone. The directions for rolling out the pizza are repeated here so that both recipes may be used independently.

1/2 tbs. olive oil
1/2 lb. medium or large shrimp, shelled and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tbs. coarsely ground cornmeal for dough (optional)
1 cup grated fresh mozzarella cheese
fresh corn kernels, cut from 1 to 2 ears
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (just under 1 pint)
1 red bell pepper, cut into very thin strips
6 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook until opaque, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes total. Transfer the shrimp to a cutting board and chop into 2 or 3 pieces each.

Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornmeal on a large rectangle of parchment paper. Flatten one ball of dough into a disk, place in the center of the parchment paper and roll it out with a flour-coated rolling pin to form a large oval, about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle more cornmeal around the border of the dough, if desired.

Top the dough with the cheese, corn, tomatoes, shrimp, bell peppers and scallions. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to suit your taste. Use the parchment to lift the pizza and place the parchment directly onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through (the bottom of the dough should just barely take on some color). Transfer pizza to a cutting board, discarding parchment. Let it rest for 5 minutes, cut and serve.




Technorati Tags: recipes, pizza, shrimp, corn

Memphis Barbecue Sauce (for the perfect pulled pork sandwich)

This is what I cooked on the 4th of July: slow-roasted pulled pork with Memphis-style barbecue sauce. Piled onto fluffy cornbread with (healthy) collard greens on the side, this is Southern food heaven.

As I ate, I thought about how surprising it is that things have come this. There is not a lot of food out there I don't like, but Southern food is probably the last thing I ever expected to fall for. I grew up in Los Angeles, then moved to Boston-- I'm a city girl all the way. But I am glad living in Florida led me to try Southern cooking. So much of it is easy to prepare healthfully.

This barbecue sauce, for example, comes from the July issue of Cooking Light magazine. They also include methods to prepare smoked meat and roasts from the various parts of the southern U.S. Lacking a grill and a smoker, we just made the seasoning and basting liquid in this recipe for Memphis Pork and roasted it at 275 degrees for 4 hours. The meat becomes moist and tender, but the star is the sauce--it is a little tangy, a little sweet, and not too thick or too thin. Try it, and you will never reach for store-bought barbecue sauce again.


Memphis Barbecue Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light magazine. Here is the original recipe. I rewrote it here with a few notes for convenience.

Makes about 2 cups.

1 c. ketchup
3/4 c. white vinegar
2 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tbs. onion powder
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbs. mustard (I used Koop's spicy brown mustard)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove and serve warm over shredded pork. May be made in advance and reheated. Keeps for several days in the refrigerator.


Technorati Tags: recipes, southern, Main Course

Brik, or the greatest fried egg ever!

I think I went through most of the past decade avoiding fried foods, with the exception of the occasional french fry. Then I discovered New England fried clams and things went downhill from there. But, wait, fried food, done right, isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just another way to cook things, and when Mike and I do it on occasion, it is usually a lot of fun. On top of that, the results can be a revelation.

We’ve fried donuts and egg rolls; even squash blossoms. When I saw the recipe for Brik, a wonton-like Tunisian turnover, in the May issue of Gourmet, I knew I had met the fried food of my dreams. It seemed to defy logic: a raw egg cracked into a little nest of tuna and parsley, wrapped in egg roll dough and fried to a golden crisp, yet keeping the yolk soft and silky within to create a rich, yellow dipping sauce that would ooze out when the brik was cracked with a fork. Too wonderful to be possible, right? Of course, we had to give it a shot.

Gourmet came through with this one, people. The recipe worked perfectly, and the promise of a soft, runny yolk was fulfilled. I have never eaten anything, much less fried anything, quite like this. As exotic as it sounds, it employs everyday ingredients, and requires a simple skillet for the quick shallow fry. We did watch our oil temperature carefully using a deep-fat thermometer, but this was really easy to do, especially with two cooks.



Just a couple slight changes to the recipe: The egg roll wrappers they sell in our grocery store are 6 x 6, not 8 inches, as the recipe calls for. The 6-inch wrappers were too small to fold over to form a triangle, so we just used 2 wrappers, one on top of the other to form a “pillow” with the egg and tuna nest in the middle. We did not brush the wrappers with oil because we forgot and then it didn’t seem necessary. We fried one brik at a time and pretty much ate as we went. They do keep beautifully for a few minutes in a low oven, however, if you need to fry a bunch and then serve.

These were so much fun, especially if you love a great, runny egg. Here is the link to the recipe, and if you have the magazine, there’s a lot of pictures in there too.

Just a quick note: Mike and I are leaving on Saturday to travel to Seattle to see his family, then on to Tokyo, Singapore where his aunt and uncle live, then Thailand and Vietnam. We'll be gone for over three weeks, but I'm going to blog as we go...I don't know what to expect, but it should be an amazing time; and I absolutely cannot wait for the food!

Technorati Tags: recipes, appetizers, eggs, fried food, Main Course

Phyllo Triangles with Lamb, Onions and Pine Nuts and a Request for Travel Info

This post may be about Middle Eastern food, but right now I've got bangers & mash, crumpets and pints of Caffrey's on my mind because tomorrow Mike and I are going on a much-anticipated trip to London, followed by a few days in Amsterdam. I went to school in London for a year during college, and I love the city. Mike has never been, so I'll get to show him all my favorite places. We have both been to Europe separately, but this is our first time together. I can't wait, and I'm about to go start packing! If anyone has any good restaurant suggestions for us, or anything else for that matter, please leave a comment! I won't be able to post next week, but come back on April 30th and I'll post pictures from the trip. Now on to the tasty...

For a long time, I was scared of working with phyllo dough. Then, determined to develop my own recipe for spanakopita, I channeled a Greek goddess or two, and took the plunge. By the time I finished, I had a very good spinach pie, and I was laughing at my own hesitation to cook with phyllo.

There’s nothing to it whatsoever! I had made pizza dough and yeast breads, but I was afraid of a cooking with dough that was already done for me? It didn’t make any sense, but was rather a case of fearing the new. Now that I’m over it, I can’t get enough of phyllo dough. If you love appetizers and small plates, phyllo can be your best friend.

These simple little lamb triangles are one of my favorite phyllo creations so far. You just cook up the ground lamb with a chopped onion, add spices and pine nuts, and fold the filling into a piece of phyllo, brushing with melted butter as you go. I find that I never need as much butter as most phyllo recipes call for. You don’t need to cover the dough with pools of it, just enough to lightly coat. You will still get golden, crispy, buttery phyllo.

According to Claudia Roden, this simple filling is a classic Arab preparation. The combination of lamb and Middle Eastern spices is a favorite of mine. The recipe sounds good on paper, but the real thing is so beautifully spiced and flaky that you will want to make them again and again.

Update: Not 10 minutes after posting, it has been brought to my attention that I failed to give due credit to the person who performed the horrible, mind-numbing, tedious task of making all the phyllo triangles himself. My wonderful, culinarily gifted husband did a top-notch job...how one man can have so many talents, I'll never know.

Don't worry if the dough gets a little raggedy; you won't notice once it's baked.

Seal up the edge with a little dab of butter.

Phyllo Triangles with Lamb, Onions and Pine Nuts
Adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden

If you do not like lamb or can’t find it, this will work just as well with beef or even ground turkey; although for me, the unique flavor of lamb is one of the best things about this dish. Defrost the phyllo dough in its wrapper and always keep it covered with a kitchen towel once it is unwrapped to prevent it from drying out.

Makes about 20

3-4 tbs. melted butter
8 oz. ground lamb
½ tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
2 tbs. pine nuts, lightly toasted
10 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two baking sheets with melted butter using a pastry brush. Heat a skillet to medium-high and add the ground lamb. Cook, breaking meat up with a spoon as you go, until lamb is no longer pink. If your lamb is on the fatty side, turn the meat out onto a plate layered with paper towels to drain and pour any fat out of the skillet. Add the oil to the skillet and lower heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until soft and lightly browned. Return the lamb to the skillet and season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice. Stir in the toasted pine nuts and remove from heat.

Place the phyllo sheets on a work surface and cut them in half lengthwise. Keep all the phyllo covered with a kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out while you make the triangles. Take one strip of phyllo and lightly coat it with melted butter using a pastry brush. Place about one tablespoon of the lamb filling on one end of the strip, about 1 inch from the edge. Fold the end of the dough over the filling, then continue folding the dough over itself in triangle shapes. Seal up the end with a dab of butter, brush a little butter over the top of the triangle and place on one of the baking sheets. Repeat to use up the rest of the filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden.

Technorati Tags: recipes, lamb, phyllo, appetizers, Middle Eastern

Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Olives and Cumin Vinaigrette

It is easy to forget that the carrot can be a stand-alone vegetable. So often it is just part of the "holy trinity," along with onions and celery, in a soup base; a colorful salad add-in; or a member of the crudite platter, whose presence there, or on any veggie tray, is taken for granted.

I reminded myself how well carrots perform as the main attraction when I made this salad. Easter put carrots in my head. I wasn't up for a rich, indulgent carrot cake, but I needed a hearty side dish, so I thought of this recipe. It is from Once Upon a Tart, a book I have mentioned a lot on this blog (like here & here), always glowingly. The recipe is one of many that I flagged with post-its.

I think chickpeas have to be my favorite bean, and I love olives. I like carrots, but like most people, I wouldn't say I "love" this particular vegetable. I may have to change that assessment now, because I love this salad. It's addictive and, as I discovered a few days after making it, highly adaptable. Toss in chicken, shrimp, avocado--whatever sounds good. Just don't take the spotlight away from the carrots, and you'll be floating.

I wasn't sure what I would turn up when I searched food blogs for "carrots," but I was not disappointed!

Ginger and cumin are perfect flavors for roasted carrots on La Tartine Gourmande.

Moroccan-Style Carrots with pine nuts on Morsels & Musings lends the vegetable to one of my favorite cuisines.

Play with texture in this Shaved Carrot and Fennel Salad from Erin's Kitchen.

Chez Megane does a classic pairing of Roast Carrots and Parsnips with Thyme (if you haven't roasted parsnips, try it; they are even sweeter than carrots!)

And just for fun, take a look at this post from Meathenge and discover the World Carrot Museum!

Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Black Olives and Cumin-Paprika Vinaigrette
Adapted from Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau
I did not change any of the ingredients in this salad, just played with the proportions a bit. I wanted it to be a carrot salad with chickpeas, instead of vice versa, and I cut the amount of cumin in the dressing from a whopping two tablespoons down to one. This salad was gone in a flash, so double the recipe if you want some leftovers. I liked it so much that I made it again a few days later, using poached chicken instead of chickpeas and scattering avocado over the top—very delicious.

Makes 2 generous servings

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2/3 c. kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and shredded in a food processor or coarsely grated
½ c. chopped fresh cilantro
4-5 scallions, white and light green parts, finely chopped

Vinaigrette:
1 medium garlic clove, minced
zest of ½ lemon and juice of the whole lemon
1 tbs. ground cumin
2 tsp. Hungarian paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
black pepper, to taste
3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, olives, carrots, cilantro and scallions. To make the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake until emulsified. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. You may not need all the dressing, depending on your taste. Check the seasoning and serve or refrigerate for a few hours and let salad come back to room temperature before serving.

Technorati Tags: recipes, sides, vegetarian, salads, carrots Course

Fresh Corn Souffles, with Variations

I have written about soufflés before on this blog. My absolute favorite is a blue cheese version that has become a staple for special occasions. If you are looking for a light dessert, whip up this low-calorie banana soufflé. Without a doubt, they are one of my favorite things to make. I love the versatility they offer and the ability to turn any ingredient into a little miracle with a simple technique.

This fresh corn version follows my template for vegetable soufflés. I chose corn to go along with Mole Steaks for a Mexican-themed meal. The sweetness of fresh corn pairs naturally with the light, buttery soufflé. Cotija cheese adds just enough salty tang, but you could use any cheese that sounds appealing to you.

Here are some other ideas for vegetable soufflés using this recipe. The only thing you need to change is the cheese and the veggie for a completely new flavor. Corn is ready to add to your soufflé as is, but you’ll have to finely chop larger vegetables like broccoli.

• Cooked broccoli and sharp cheddar or Parmesan (I made these as a side dish for Christmas dinner)

• Sauteed mushrooms and fontina

• Sauteed spinach and feta (squeeze out as much water as possible from the spinach)

You really can use your imagination. If you haven’t already, it is time to master this incredible dish. For tons of brilliant ideas and inspiration, browse through all the gorgeous soufflés from this past food blogging event.

Fresh Corn Soufflés

Makes 4 (6 oz.) soufflés

Butter, for coating soufflé dishes
Breadcrumbs, for coating soufflé dishes
3 tbs. unsalted butter
4-5 scallions, white and light green parts, finely chopped
3 tbs. all-purpose flour
1 c. milk
¼ tsp. salt
ground pepper, to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
4 large eggs, separated
3 tbs. queso cotija, feta or Monterey jack cheese
1/3 c. fresh yellow corn, cut from the cob
¼ tsp. cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 4 (6 oz.) ramekins with butter and coat with bread crumbs, shaking out excess. Taste the corn. If it is sweet and tender, use it as is. If it tastes a little under ripe, microwave in a bowl with about a tablespoon of water for one minute. Drain and proceed with recipe. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the scallions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until very soft. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the milk and cook until slightly thickened, whisking continuously. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Quickly stir in a spoonful of the milk mixture to temper the egg yolks (so they won’t scramble when added to the hot mixture). Add the yolks to the milk mixture (do not return to stovetop), stirring to incorporate. Stir in the cheese and corn. Set this aside and beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold about one third of the whites into the soufflé batter. You want to still see some white streaks, and maintain the volume of the egg whites, so fold gently and briefly. Fold the remaining egg whites into the batter in two more additions.

Evenly divide the soufflé batter among the prepared ramekins and place on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the tops are tall, golden and just set in the center. Serve right away.

Technorati Tags: recipes, sides, souffle, vegetables

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken and Lime-Honey Vinaigrette

I know I have written about how much I think Gourmet magazine stands out among the mountain of food magazines that overtake my mailbox every month. Lately, however, more of the recipes I actually cook have come out of Food & Wine magazine. The finger-lickin’ tasty Fried Chicken and Biscuits came from the February issue, and I hit the jackpot again in the March issue with an Mole Sauce that used a simple poblano salsa as its base.

Like many complex and iconic dishes, mole sauce inspires feeling of fascination and reverence in me. Maybe even more so, since it is the kind of dish I may never duplicate authentically unless I move to Puebla and become friendly with the cooks there who carry the secrets of mole-making around in their DNA. Having said that, I think the mole I made with the Food & Wine recipe as a guide definitely does justice to the genuine article.

This sauce is smoky from poblanos, spicy from dried chipotle peppers, nutty from toasted sesame seeds, and rich from chocolate, raisins and cinnamon. Complex doesn’t even begin to describe it; all the sweet flavors are perfectly balanced by the chiles and vegetables. Pureeing makes the consistency creamy and opaque, but it is not at all thick or heavy. All of this means that you could feast on this mole sauce for hours because your taste buds will never get tired of sampling the subtle shades of flavor.

The same article also inspired one of the best salad dressings I’ve made in a while: a simple lime-honey vinaigrette that is refreshingly sweet and zingy. I poured it over a salad of sweet baby lettuces (not the spicy greens we usually prefer, like arugula) from a Dole salad mix, tossed it with chopped tomatoes, a few slivers of red onion and fresh orange sections along with the juices that accumulated when I cut up the orange.

By the way, we served the mole sauce over dry-aged sirloin steaks, seared in a skillet over high heat then transferred to the oven to finish cooking. Any good steak would be wonderful; just let the mole be the star of the show. Two nights later, we roasted whole chicken breasts and topped them with the leftover mole. This was also fantastic. This may be the closest I ever get to authentic mole sauce, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine

The original salsa recipe calls for ancho chiles which are dried poblanos. I could not find them, so I used fresh poblanos with amazing results. The recipe for the Poblano Salsa base yields 5 cups of salsa, but you only need one cup to make the mole. I prepared the whole salsa recipe and used some of the leftovers to make an enchilada sauce by mixing about 1 cup of salsa with a can of plain tomato sauce. I froze the rest in 1 cup portions for future use. You could also use the salsa as a dip or a topping for grilled fish or chicken. Two dried chipotle chiles with most seeds should yield a very hot salsa Adjust the amount of chiles and seeds to suit you, but don’t eliminate them completely; they add a unique sweet-smoky flavor.


Poblano Salsa:
8 poblano chiles, stemmed seeded and roughly chopped
1 to 2 dried chipotle chile peppers, stemmed and some seeds discarded, depending on your desired heat level (see recipe headnote)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tbs. canola oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. (approx.) freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs. cider vineger

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand form 10 minutes. Working in batches, roughly puree the salsa in a blender. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the vinegar and set aside.

Mole Sauce (Makes about 1 ½ cups; 6 servings):
1 tbs. sesame seeds
1 c. poblano salsa
½ c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. chopped sweet chocolate (I used half milk and half semisweet)
2 tbs. dark raisins
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan over low heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden. Add the poblano salsa, chicken broth, chocolate, raisins, cinnamon and nutmegs. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Reheat in the microwave and serve over grilled or roasted steak or chicken. Keeps in the refrigerator for 4 days.

Lime-Honey Vinaigrette
Serves 4

2 tbs. honey
3 tbs. fresh lime juice
2 tbs. canola oil
2 to 3 drops red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well until emulsified.



Technorati Tags: recipes, beef, salad, chicken, Main Course

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Today, I want you to talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: coffee cake—discuss.

Finished? Good. Here’s my take: I wouldn’t bother with most coffee cakes. Give me a scone, a muffin, even a doughnut over coffee cake any day. My husband likes coffee cake and orders it occasionally at Starbucks. I never had the urge to make it myself until about two years ago. We had just moved into our condo, and a neighbor brought us a lovely, homemade, mini coffee cake. That was a good cake; nothing fancy, just moist, plain cake with a sugary crumb on top.

I was in no rush to duplicate the neighbor’s cake, but the seed was planted. In a baking mood, I batted around ideas yesterday to Mike. Rhubarb pudding cake? Italian Cream Cake? No dice. When I threw out coffee cake, Mike’s eyes lit up and the discussion was over.

I knew we wanted a plain, very moist cake with sour cream, topped with some kind of streusel or crumb. This is just the kind of recipe I knew I would find in my King Arthur Baker’s Companion book. The sweet recipes in this book can be a little heavy and rich, but they always turn out perfectly.

This cake may be even better than the neighbor’s. The batter is very thick, not pourable like a regular sheet cake. When baked, however, it is not too heavy, just incredibly moist and a little tangy due to the sour cream. I slightly cut the amount of flour and sugar in the crumb topping, and still had more than enough for a very sweet, crumbly cake. I also make this cake at night for breakfast today, and I think it does benefit from having ample time to cool and sit. So, it is the perfect sweet breakfast treat to make in advance. Easter brunch, perhaps?

So, now I am on the coffee cake bandwagon. Due to the intense sugar rush, I may not eat it as often as my beloved scones, but it is definitely a nice addition to my repertoire of breakfast treats.



Bloggers love coffee cake; there way too many great ones out there...

Alpineberry's Mini Cherry Walnut Streusel Coffee Cakes have a lovely pink tint.

Seriously Good's Apple-Ricotta Coffee Cake must be as good as it looks since it uses ricotta, an ingredient that's always in my fridge for spreading on toast.

Go take a gander at the gorgeous Apricot-Almond Coffee Cake at Cream Puffs in Venice.

The Dried Cranberry Coffee Cake from Tartelette is quick and simple and uses a secret ingredient--homemade eggnog!

In the archives of Baking Sheet (now Baking Bites) I found another old-fashioned sour cream coffee cake

I wish I had some fresh blueberries to make this Coffee Cake from Chocolate & Zucchini.

This apple coffee cake from Simply Recipes is easy and looks wonderful.

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
I changed this recipe by using half whole wheat pastry flour in both the crumb and the cake. It works perfectly and is undetectable to the untrained eye. Use only all-purpose flour if you want. I suspect it would also be good with only whole wheat pastry flour. I would not use regular whole wheat flour which would change the flavor, texture and color too much for this tender, sweet cake.

Makes two 9-inch rounds or one 9 x 13-inch cake

Crumb Topping:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
14 tbs. unsalted butter (7 ounces)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ tsp. almond extract

Cake:
8 tbs. (4 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream (I used lowfat)
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round pans or one 9 x13 pan.

Make the crumb: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Pour the butter over the flour mixture and stir to combine until the flour is uniformly moistened and you have a sandy, moist crumb. Set aside.

Make the cake batter: In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add flour mixture to the sour cream mixture and beat on low to medium or stir with a large spoon until evenly combined.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan(s). Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the batter with your fingers, covering the batter completely. Bake for 20-25 minutes for 9-inch rounds or 30-35 minutes for a 9 x 13 pan. Cake is done when a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean and the sides are light gold and slightly pulling away from the edge of the pan. Cool cakes in their pan(s) on a wire rack.



Technorati Tags: recipes, desserts, breakfasts, cakes

Crispy Fried Chicken

In my last post, I promised you easy fried chicken to go with those biscuits, along with a few reasons why you can eat these Southern comfort foods without raising your jeans size.

Take my advice, and you will never again have to have guilty fantasies about yourself and a bucket of Extra Tasty Crispy:

• Marinate overnight in buttermilk—it makes the chicken so tender that you won’t feel horribly deprived if you don’t eat all the skin

• Use canola oil—so if you do end up eating more of the fabulously crispy skin than you planned, at least it will be cooked in heart-healthy fat

• Use tasty chicken pieces—go ahead and fry legs and thighs; the extra moisture and flavor makes them more satisfying than breasts, and they cook quickly

• Do greens on the side—this meal becomes a lot more nutritious if you serve simple greens (I did turnip; kale and collard are good too) sautéed in olive oil, lemon and garlic

• Make your own biscuits—They’ve only got 4 ingredients, not counting salt, so it’s too easy not to whip these up yourself; because you’ll use the best ingredients, they will be worth every buttery bite

Crispy Fried Chicken Leg and Thighs
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine and Tyler Florence for Food Network
Plan on marinating the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Serves 4

8-10 pieces of chicken (any combo of legs and thighs)
3-4 cups buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt, or to taste
2 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste
1-2 tsp. ground cumin
1-2 tsp. Hungarian smoked paprika
½ tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 ½ quarts canola oil

Place the chicken pieces in a large heavy-duty Ziploc bag and pour in 3-4 cups buttermilk. Seal up the bag, swish the chicken around and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Flip the bag over a few times during marinating period so all the chicken has a chance to soak.

In another large Ziploc bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper cumin, paprika and cayenne. Add 3 or 4 pieces of chicken, seal and shake. Shake off any clumps of flour then press the chicken pieces so the remaining flour adheres well. Set chicken on a wire rack and repeat with remaining pieces.

Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large, heavy saucepan. Using a frying thermometer, heat the oil to between 350 and 360 degrees. Add 3 or 4 chicken pieces and fry, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes total. The temperature of the oil will drop when you add the chicken, so keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust the heat so the temperature stays between 325 and 350 while frying. When the chicken is done it will be well-browned, but if you aren’t sure, take one piece out and cut into it. You won’t be able to put it back into the oil if it isn’t cooked through, but you can finish it in the oven, if necessary. This is better than having a whole batch of undercooked chicken.

Use tongs to take the cooked pieces out of the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Serve immediately or later, at room temperature.

Technorati Tags: recipes, poultry, Main Course

Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits

This post is all about why you’ll never go to Kentucky Fried Chicken again. If you are reading this blog, there is a good chance you’re not a big KFC fan, but that’s not important. I know my readers love delicious homemade food, from the healthy to the indulgent, so read on because I want you to have both!

You might contend that fried chicken and biscuits falls into the indulgent category, but it doesn’t have to be the antithesis of healthy eating. We made this classic southern meal for the very first time, and it was so good without being particularly difficult, that we plan on doing it again very soon.

I suggested to Mike that we try our hand at this meal because I really wanted an excuse to make homemade buttermilk biscuits. Being a quick bread, they are not very different from one of my favorite obsessions, the scone. The recipe in a recent issue of Food & Wine was incredibly simple, with only four ingredients. I made one small change and mixed the dough with my fingers instead of a pastry blender or other tool.

I recently read in Cook’s Illustrated that this method would help create a biscuit with more flaky layers because the butter would get pinched and flattened by your fingers instead of getting turned into coarse crumbs by a pastry blender or food processor. Since hand mixing is the easiest way to go, and my biscuits had plenty of flaky layers, I definitely recommend it. Keeping the dough cold (so the butter stays solid prior to baking) and using a sharp biscuit cutter that will not smash together the layers you have created, are also important steps.

In a very distant childhood food memory, I recall the KFC buttermilk biscuit being the best part of the meal, but my homemade version beats the memory hands down. They are even better than the Pillsbury biscuits that come in the paper can that pops open. I’ve written up the biscuit recipe today, and I will give you the fried chicken in my Wednesday post, along with some tips to make this meal just healthy enough to have it whenever you get nostalgic for dinner in a bucket, only tastier.

There are quite a few Buttermilk Biscuit lovers in the blogosphere; here are a few recipes:
Accidental Hedonist's Buttermilk Biscuits

The Buttermilk Biscuits on Baking Sheet rise gorgeously high

Orangette’s Buttermilk Biscuits are made with Southern Flour (I don't know what it is, but I think I'd like it)

Mile High Biscuits from Meathenge look especially tasty modeled by Southern Biscuit Barbie


Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine and Natalie Chanin
With so few ingredients, each one should be the best, so use a good quality unsalted butter that you really like. I used Plugra European style that you can find in most supermarkets. Kerrygold Irish butter and Organic Valley butter are two other brands that are delicious and widely available.

Makes 8

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter
¾ c. buttermilk

Prep the butter up to several hours ahead. With a floured knife, cut it into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Spread the cubes out on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Whisk together the flour baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter, fold into the flour and combine, using your fingers to break up the chunks of butter into slightly flattened bits. At this point, the dough will still be very powdery and should not come together. Add the buttermilk and stir gently with a wooden spoon just until all the flour is dampened. If you still have a lot of excess flour, add a few more drops of buttermilk until you have a barely cohesive, shaggy mass of dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat the dough together with floured hands. Flatten into a thick disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to ½ inch thick. Use a floured metal 2 ½ to 3 inch biscuit cutter to stamp out as many biscuits as you can, dipping the cutter into some flour with each biscuit. Place biscuits on the baking sheet. Collect the dough scraps, quickly re-roll and finishing stamping out biscuits. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until risen and lightly browned. Serve immediately with butter.


Technorati Tags: recipes, sides, breads

Stuffed Shells Florentine with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I rarely cook simple Italian-American food. Tomato sauce doesn’t thrill me (though it’s a great way to get your lycopene!), and the lack of green things in a dish of even the best baked penne leaves me cold. I love pasta dishes that are heavy on vegetables like swiss chard, mushrooms and caramelized onions, or legumes like chickpeas. My favorite pastas involve no red sauce at all, like spaghetti alla carbonara (possibly with arugula tossed in) or my favorite, pasta puttanesca. My lasagna’s got to have at least one vegetable in it, and whole wheat noodles are almost always my first choice.

My way isn’t necessarily better; it’s just my preference. And if you load your spaghetti down with veggies, it feels like you’re eating twice as much. Everything I’ve just written should be sufficient evidence to show that these Stuffed Shells Florentine are quite an about-face for me. Thank goodness I’m not too set in my ways. Making and eating them was an absolute pleasure.

The Roasted Red Pepper Sauce follows the usual method for making marina sauce, but the freshly roasted peppers and a few anchovy fillets give the red sauce an unexpected twist and an extra layer of flavor. Assembling stuffed shells is not too fussy a proposition for relaxing weekend cooking. Of course, I had to get a green vegetable in there somewhere, and the spinach stuffing only serves to make these more delicious and visually alluring (if you aren’t a spinach lover, you might disagree).

If you have one of those days when you don’t know what to cook, or nothing sounds good to you, try going out of your comfort zone. Stuffed shells are hardly an exotic food, but I rarely make that kind of dish in my own kitchen. What kinds of things do you rarely make?

Stuffed Shells Florentine
I glanced over a couple recipes for guidance, then put this together myself.

Serves 4 (this recipe is easy to double)

Salt and pepper, to taste
About half a pound large shell pasta (you will need 16 good shells)
1 tbs. olive oil
¼ c. finely chopped onion or shallot
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 ¼ c. ricotta cheese
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg white
¼ c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
1 to 1 ½ c. Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (or your red sauce of choice)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt and cook shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion or shallot and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds to one minute. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until all the leaves are soft and wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, nutmeg, egg white and Parmigiano. Season with pepper and bit of salt (the cheese already provides some salt). Stir in the spinach mixture.

Coat the bottom of an 8x8 or similar size baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. Fill 16 shells with the ricotta mixture and nestle them into the baking dish. Spoon an ample amount of sauce over the top of the shells. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle some Parmigiano over the top and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted (I skipped the extra cheese, but still baked it uncovered for 5 minutes). Let the shells rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Adapted from 50 Great Pasta Sauces by Pamela Sheldon Johns
If you want to make this sauce vegetarian, leave out the anchovies.

Makes about 3 cups

2 large red bell peppers
2 tbs. olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
5 anchovy fillets from a jar or can
2 c. chicken broth
1-28 oz. can whole tomatoes (use a brand imported from Italy, if possible)
¼ c. chopped fresh parsley

Roast the bell peppers under your broiler or directly on the burner of a gas stovetop until skins are completely black. Cool, then peel off the skins. Remove the stems and seeds, chop the peppers and set aside until you are ready to make the sauce. This may be done up to one day ahead.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the anchovies and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and their juice, the chopped roasted peppers, and the parsley. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes.

Use a hand blender to puree the sauce, or do it in batches in a blender. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if desired. The sauce may be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, Main Course, vegetarian

One-Skillet Lemon Chicken with Red Potatoes

Isn’t it rewarding to execute the proverbial “one-pot meal?” Protein, starch and vegetables all nestled cozily in a single cooking vessel should make anyone sigh with relief on a busy night, yet I never make it a point to cook one-pot meals. Maybe the stigma of crock pot cooking and the idea of haphazardly tossing an "all but the kitchen sink"-style array of ingredients into a large vat deterred me (disclaimer: I do own a crock pot, and admit that it has its own unique set of benefits). I am happy to say that this succulent, moist chicken that creates its own rich, lemony sauce as it roasts, reintroduced me to the very delicious possibilities of one-pot meals.

In all honesty, I am still raving about how wonderful this lemon chicken is and fighting Mike over the leftovers. The method used to create the bright, luscious lemon sauce is ingenious. I wish I could take the credit, but I got this recipe out of one of my Cooking Light cookbooks. I slightly increased the scant amount of olive oil they called for and added extra kalamata olives and grape tomatoes (why on earth would they restrict me to 10 grape tomatoes in their original recipe?!).

To create this fantastic lemon sauce, all you do is line a large oven-proof skillet with lemon slices. Then you toss the chicken in a lemon-rosemary-garlic vinaigrette and layer it on top; toss the red potato wedges in the same vinaigrette and tuck them in around the chicken; and finally sprinkle the olives and tomatoes over all. After baking totally unattended for about 55 minutes, you have a complete meal bathed in the luscious sauce mentioned above. The use of boneless, skinless chicken thighs helps create the rich sauce and is guaranteed to be moist. On a night when I thought I would just be throwing together something simple and unchallenging, this one-pot dinner was an incredibly tasty surprise.

Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken with Red Potatoes
Adapted from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Serves 4

1 to 2 large lemons, sliced
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tbs. lemon juice
¾ tsp. coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 ½ lb. small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch wedges
½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes
12-16 kalamata olives, pitted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In your largest oven-proof skillet, arrange lemon slices in a single layer along the bottom. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and rosemary. Toss the chicken pieces in the vinaigrette and arrange in a single layer over the lemon slices. Add the potatoes to the bowl and toss in the remaining vinaigrette. Place potatoes in the skillet over and around the chicken and pour in any excess vinaigrette. Sprinkle the tomatoes and olives over the potatoes. Transfer the skillet to the center of the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Divide the chicken and vegetables between serving plates and spoon the lemon sauce over. The cooked lemon slices may be eaten as well.

Technorati Tags: recipes, healthy, chicken, Main Course

Honey Cornmeal Scones

Sometimes I think breakfast pastries make me even happier than dessert. After all, I can consider them an actual meal even though they tend to be mostly simple carbs. Then I eat a proper dessert like a chocolate mousse tart or really good tiramisu and know that no muffin or scone could ever match its creamy decadence.

Happily, I don’t have to choose between these two loves, although I try not to indulge in a sweet breakfast and a fabulous dessert on the same day (always moderation!). My favorite kind of baked breakfast item is the scone. The scone is a much maligned and misunderstood food, and I can understand why. Many, especially the big, American coffeehouse-style scones, are way too sweet and have a tendency to leave you with a leaden feeling in your stomach and butter oozing out of your pores. They are good for a few bites, but regret inevitably follows.

I generally like all kinds of scones from the light and dry English style to the dense, substantial types, loaded with fruit, nuts, oats and anything else that strikes your fancy. One thing I have discovered is that shocking amounts of butter and sugar are not required to make a good, moist scone.

I adapted the recipe for these honey-cornmeal lovelies from Once Upon a Tart, a cookbook from two New York City bakery owners who clearly have jumped on the heavy American scone bandwagon. There are over a dozen enticing scone recipes all loaded down with butter and sugar. I love butter (click here and scroll down for butter-related rant). I believe in its power, but this was too much. The original version of this scone has 16 tablespoons and I reduced it to 10. I cut the brown sugar from ½ cup to ¼ cup. I also replaced two cups of the AP flour with whole wheat pastry flour, and I swear, you would never know it.

The point of all this tinkering was not to make a healthier scone or a low-calorie scone; but, in my opinion, a better scone. I think I succeeded. Cutting the sugar allows the flavor of the honey to come forward, and the scone is still pleasingly sweet, like a denser version of cornbread covered in honey butter. As long as you use the right technique—mixing cold cubes of butter into the flour mixture just until it looks like coarse crumbs and quickly folding in the liquid until just combined—there is plenty of butter to give the scones ample moisture and richness. They may never measure up to your favorite dessert, but these scones make breakfast a treat.

Honey Cornmeal Scones
Adapted from Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau

Makes 12 scones

2 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk
½ c. honey
1 scant tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 ½ c. yellow cornmeal (medium ground if you like a little crunch; fine ground if you don’t)
1 tbs. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ c. packed light brown sugar
10 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and chilled for at least 20 minutes before using
1 egg, beat with 1 tsp. water, for glazing (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the 2 eggs, buttermilk, honey and vanilla together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Add the cold, cubed butter and mix it in with your fingers to create a very loose, sandy consistency. You want to smoosh and break up the butter cubes slightly with your fingers, as long as you don’t cause them to melt into the dough.

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and gently combine just until all the flour is moistened (if you over mix, you will get tough dough).

Use a half-cup size measuring cup to scoop the dough out onto the cookie sheet into 12 free-form scones. Use a pastry brush to dab the scones with the glaze. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on baking sheets for a couple of minutes, then move to wire racks to finish cooling.

More scones to try from other bloggers:
Scottish Scones from Orangette--I tried this recipe myself, and they make a delicious simple scone, not too heavy or light, with minimal butter and sugar.
Yogurt Scones from Chocolate and Zucchini--I've never used yogurt before; must give these a try!
Sweet Potato & Vidalia Onion Scones from Tartelette--Now I can eat scones for lunch and dinner too!
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones from The Wednesday Chef
Meyer Lemon Scones from Baking Sheet--Another way to use my favorite lemons!

Technorati Tags: recipes, breakfast, scones,

Exotic Rack of Lamb with Spiced Quinoa

What do you consider exotic? I wonder if the more I cook and eat, the fewer things will be able to fit in that category. I think of hard to find ingredients as exotic, so that would include things like kaffir lime leaves, zucchini blossoms and wild game. Dishes from other cultures that I’ve never tried certainly are exotic, if not always appetizing (fried grasshoppers, anyone?).

In my mind, the word exotic conjures up a stereotypical image of a sultan’s tent with bright fabrics flowing from overhead, music involving a sitar and the scent of warm, aromatic spices wafting through the air. That is what I had in mind when I made up the spice mix for my rack of lamb. I did not adhere to the culinary traditions of any particular culture, but included all my favorite exotic spices to create a vaguely Turkish blend, resonant with the bitter vanilla tang of cardamom, the smokiness of cumin, the wintry spice of cloves and the heat of pepper. I toasted most of the spices whole and ground them in a mortar. The result was an intensely sweet, smoky and spicy crust all over the edges of the meat due to a quick sear followed by roasting to a gorgeously rare interior.

The only thing that could go with the lamb was an equally exotic quinoa dish that took on a more Moroccan bent with its spicing of intense Vietnamese cinnamon and good, sweet paprika. This recipe came from a Passover menu in the latest issue of Bon Appetit. I love using currants in grain dishes like this or the couscous I made here.

The inspiration for this exotically spiced meal was our wedding anniversary. The actual date was Monday, but it has gotten a bit drawn out over several days of celebration. We went out for a romantic dinner on Saturday, but we also wanted to cook something special at home since that is one of our favorite ways to spend time together both now and before we were married one year ago. Even though I use my “exotic” spices as often as anything else in my pantry, they still transport me out of our Florida condo and into that mysterious sultan’s tent. That great bottle of Zinfandel, lush with blackberry, may have had something to do with it too.

Exotic Rack of Lamb
I like to grind whole spices because you get the most intense, fresh flavor this way. If you want to substitute any of the whole spices in the recipe for ground, go right ahead. If you don’t have one of the spices, leave it out. These quantities are just a guideline, so alter them to suit your tastes or your pantry’s inventory.

Serves 2

8 green cardamom pods
1 tsp. cumin seeds
½ tsp. whole coriander
½ tsp. anise seeds
¼ tsp. red chile flakes
5 whole allspice berries
½ tsp. black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 frenched rack of lamb (8 rib chops)
coarse salt to taste
1 tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add the first 8 ingredients to a dry skillet (not nonstick) on medium heat and toast until very aromatic, 2-4 minutes. Add the spices to a mortar or spice grinder, remove the cardamom seeds from their pods, discarding the pods, and grind the spices. Stir in the cinnamon.

Lightly score the fat side of the rack of lamb my making “X’s” with a paring knife. Rub the spice mixture all over the lamb, covering it thoroughly. You may have some leftover. Season all over with salt.

Heat the oil in a large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Sear the lamb, fat side down, until browned. Turn with tongs and sear on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Transfer the skillet to the center of the oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes for rare to medium-rare meat. The meat should still feel somewhat soft when pressed with tongs. Let it rest in the skillet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board and cut into individual chops. Serve immediately over the quinoa.

Spiced Quinoa with Carrots, Zucchini and Currants
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Serves 3

2 c. low sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. quinoa
¼ c. dried currants
1 tbs. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 zucchini, diced
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. sweet paprika

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the quinoa and currants, return to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue cooking until the vegetables are soft and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat until quinoa is done.

Put the vegetables over medium-low heat and add the cooked quinoa to the skillet along with the cinnamon and paprika. Toss to combine and cook for 2-4 minutes to toast the quinoa and bring out the flavor of the spices. Remove from heat, drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve.

Technorati Tags: recipes, lamb, quinoa, Main Course

Mini Corn Cakes with Guacamole

We often find ourselves cooking up tapas or nibbles or afternoon snacks on the weekend. In fact, it is one of my favorite ways to relax. The routine is usually as follows: Go to the gym; eat a late breakfast (for me) or early lunch (for Mike); run errands; hang out with a cocktail and a bite to eat; then go on to whatever we’re doing for the night.

This past weekend took on a similar pattern, except it was even better because we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary on Saturday (the real date is today, but Saturday is a better time for celebrations than Monday). To tide us over until dinner at a romantic Italian restaurant by the water, we made these easy corn cakes. To me, they are an all-American version of blinis, and you can do just about anything with them to create a light appetizer.

If you want to top them with crème fraiche and salmon roe, I think it would be just as appropriate as my southwestern guacamole version. I would also try them with chutney or any variety of fresh or prepared salsa. They would even make a nice crostini for grilled shrimp.

Here are some other variations on corn cakes that I found in the food blogosphere:

Corn Cakes from The Domestic Goddess
Mini Corn Cakes with Avocado and Lime Salsa from The Passionate Cook
Unfried Corn Fritters from Something in Season
Bill Granger's Corn Fritters from The Wednesday Chef
Corn Fritters (made with polenta!) from Fresh Approach Cooking

Mini Corn Cakes with Guacamole
Adapted from this recipe from Foodandwine.com
These corn cakes can be made with either finely ground corn meal or medium ground, if you like a little more crunch. The very coarsely ground corn meal (the kind you might sprinkle on pizza crust) will not have enough time to soften during the quick cooking process. If you are using fresh corn, taste to make sure it is good to eat straight off the cob. If not, you can remove the kernels and cook in the microwave for 1-2 minutes to soften them up and bring out some sweetness.

Makes 24-28 corn cakes

½ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. fine or medium ground corn meal
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
couple of dashes cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 eggs, beaten
1 tbs. water
3 scallions, white and light green parts, minced
1/3 c. fresh corn kernels or frozen, defrosted and patted dry
3 tbs. melted butter
canola oil, for skillet

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. In another bowl, combine the eggs, water, scallions and corn. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

Coat a large cast iron or nonstick skillet with a thin film of canola oil and heat to medium-high. Place spoonfuls of batter in the skillet to make pancakes about two to three inches in diameter. Cook until lightly browned on the first side, then flip and finish cooking. As you cook more batches, your skillet will get very hot, so lower the heat slightly as you go if the pancakes are browning too much. You can keep them warm in a low oven on a baking sheet covered with foil while you cook all the batter. They will stay warm for awhile on a serving tray covered with foil as well; or, you can make them a couple hours ahead and reheat wrapped in foil in the oven, or in the microwave.

Serve topped with prepared or homemade guacamole, fresh tomatoes and sour cream.


Technorati Tags: recipes, appetizers, vegetarian

Cranberry-Orange-Coconut Muffins

I have heard people say that enjoying a lovely homemade muffin for breakfast is the equivalent of downing a piece of cake. I beg to differ. Cake has frosting.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s talk about muffins. A bad muffin (you will know them by their rubbery appearance and dry, crumbly texture) is a sad waste of calories, but a great muffin is a jubilant start to your day. I adore and often physically crave breakfast pastries. Scones are my supreme favorite, but when I say I need a doughnut, I really mean it. I overlook the simple muffin sometimes, and it took a request from Mike for me to come up with this recipe.

Muffins are quick breads, so you’ll have these in the oven in 15 to 20 minutes. These particular muffins require an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar, which gives them a fine, tender crumb (sort of like a c-a-k-e). Muffin recipes that call for the ingredients to be simply stirred together result in a coarser texture, which is especially good for whole grain muffins.

The base for this recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion and is intended as an all-purpose muffin batter to be dressed up any way you fancy. It makes muffins that are not nearly as sweet as a cake and are very moist thanks to the sour cream. I love the high, craggy tops that turn crisp during baking. In the end, there is only one thing that makes these muffins similar to your favorite cake—they are best enjoyed with a really good cup of coffee.


Cranberry-Orange-Coconut Muffins
Adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
I used a combination of whole wheat pastry flour, white flour and regular whole wheat flour. I would have gone with whole wheat pastry entirely, except I ran out. I cannot tell the difference anymore between my WW pastry flour and all-purpose in most baked goods. Use whatever you prefer, but I would not recommend using all regular whole wheat, as the result will likely be a bit heavy. King Arthur notes that the batter can be made and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week and baked at will.

Makes 16 muffins

1 ½ c. dried cranberries
1 c. orange juice
Butter, for greasing pan
3 ½ c. all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tbs. or 4 oz.), softened
1 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1 c. sour cream
2 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
¾ c. sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the cranberries and orange juice in a small bowl and set aside to soften cranberries. Grease 16 muffin cups of two regular size muffin pans (preferably nonstick) with butter.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium high speed until light and fluffy, 2-4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the sour cream and orange zest. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, beating on the lowest speed or stirring with a large spoon until just combined.

Drain the cranberries, discarding the orange juice. Fold the cranberries and coconut into the batter. Divide the batter among the sixteen muffin cups. The cups should be nearly full in order to make sixteen big muffins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

If you like these, check out some more tasty cranberry-orange recipes from other food bloggers:

Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins from Farmgirl Fare
Very healthy, very vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Orange Cranberry Bread from Baking Sheet
Orange Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Buns from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict


Technorati Tags: recipes, muffins, breakfast

Fabulously Simple Whole Wheat Bread—No Yeast Required

It officially does not get any easier than this. This Quick Whole Wheat Molasses Bread is a little sweet, tender as a muffin and ready for the oven in 10 minutes—no rising necessary. And thank goodness, because I was feeling no tolerance for difficult bread recipes this week.

I had a bad run of luck last week due to two attempts at a whole wheat yeast loaf that failed to rise both times. I had made this recipe successfully once before, so it was even more irritating. Consequently, I was a little put off by yeast breads. I had recently pulled this recipe from the New York Times because it reminded me of my favorite Irish Soda Bread both for its simplicity and its use of whole grains. While Irish soda bread may always be my favorite healthy quick bread, this Whole Wheat Molasses loaf is a very tasty and very different option.

The lack of yeast means this is a quick bread, or a baked good that uses baking soda, baking powder or a combination as its leavener (muffins and scones also fall into this category). It does not have the chewy crust of a yeast loaf, but the crumb is dense and soft, kind of like banana bread. Molasses provides the sweetness that develops into a wonderfully nutty flavor that reminds me of a cross between maple syrup and soy sauce (never mind that description; it’s just good).

The molasses can be considered either the best or worst thing about the recipe depending on how you feel about this syrupy sweetener. During the cooking and baking process of this bread, I was very afraid. I thought I would have to redo it with honey because the molasses scent was strong and not entirely appealing. If you feel this way too, stay the course! Once the bread was cool and I slathered it with Irish butter, all was forgiven. Aside from moisture and a completely unique sweetness, the molasses gives this quick bread incredible moisture and a dark sugar-brown color. I know I will jump back on the yeast bread train eventually, but this is a handy recipe to have around when you want bread that is hearty, delicious and fast.

Quick Whole Wheat Molasses Bread
Adapted from Mark Bittman for the New York Times
This is a distinctly flavored bread, but that’s why I like it. If you are wary, Bittman says you can lighten up the texture and flavor and still keep the simplicity of quick bread by doing the following: use 1 ½ c. whole wheat flour and 1 ½ c. white flour; omit the cornmeal; substitute honey for the molasses; beat one egg into the wet ingredients.

Makes 1-9 x 5 inch loaf

Butter, for greasing pan
1 2/3 c. buttermilk or 1 ½ c. lowfat milk mixed with 2 tbs. white vinegar
2 ½ c. whole wheat flour
½ c. stone ground corn meal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
½ c. molasses

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. If you are using milk and vinegar, combine them in a bowl or measuring cup and let them sit while you measure the dry ingredients. Grease a loaf pan (preferably nonstick) thoroughly with butter.

Whisk the flour, corn meal, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl. Mix the molasses into the milk-vinegar mixture or buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently just until combined. Pour the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until bread is firm and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

Technorati Tags: recipes, bread, quick

Curried Lamb & Lentil Stew, Plus a Bonus Lentil Soup Recipe

Lentils never fail to provide warming, hearty and healthy sustenance. Unfortunately they are not the most photogenic legume. I have made two very different lentil soups in the past week, and both yielded wonderful results, but very ugly photographs. My standout favorite, a Green Lentil Soup with Indian Spices and Coconut Milk, also happened to be the ugliest.

Then I remembered this Lamb & Lentil Stew that I made in January, but never blogged about. I don’t know why this oversight was made because this is just the kind of meal I love: a big pot of something fresh and hearty that will provide ample leftovers. We were able to have the butcher at Whole Foods cut the proper-sized chunk off a boneless leg of lamb for us, but you can also get a pack of lamb stew meat already cut into bite-sized pieces at many grocery stores. Beef would be a fine substitute, but I love the flavor of lamb. It is also my favorite kind of meat for Indian curries, so this soup was doubly appealing.

I know I cannot mention how wonderful the un-photogenic lentil soup is without giving the recipe, so that one follows as well. It is from a book I love, and it was even better eaten for lunch the next two days with Irish soda bread. This one is vegetarian, so if you were put off by the lamb, give this soup a try.

Curried Lamb & Lentil Stew
Adapted from the Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
I use French lentils because they hold their shape and have a toothsome texture when cooked. You may have to get them at a health food or gourmet store. Brown lentils are a good substitute.

Serves 4-6

1 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 ½ lb. boned leg of lamb, cut into half-inch chunks
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. red curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
4 c. low sodium chicken broth
1 c. green lentils (also called French or de Puy)
½ lb. baby spinach (the better part of a pre-washed bag)
1- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with their juice

Heat the oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper and add to the pot. Cook until browned on all sides, turning occasionally. Add the carrots, celery and onion; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, curry powder, cumin and cayenne. Stir to combine.

Add the broth and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, then add the spinach, a couple handfuls at a time, stirring until wilted. Simmer for 3 to 5 more minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and serve.

Green Lentil Soup with Indian Spices and Coconut Milk
Adapted from Once Upon a Tart by Jerome Audureau and Frank Mentesana
I resisted grinding whole spices for a long time, but now I love doing it. For a small amount of extra effort, the payoff is a fuller, more intense, more genuine flavor. I recommend it highly for the cardamom and cloves, especially in a simple recipe like this that relies on a few key spices for its unique flavor. However, if using ground spices makes it convenient enough to make this soup on a chilly night, then I absolutely give you my blessing. The spices are toasted in clarified butter before adding to the soup. If this seems unnecessary, just add them with the thyme and turmeric. I liked the toasting technique, and it is easy to do, but it is a little fussy. Click here to learn how to clarify butter, or you could simply use ghee or olive oil.

Serves 6

1 tbs. unsalted butter
½ tbs. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ½ tsp. fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp. dried
1 ½ tsp. ground turmeric
6 c. low sodium chicken broth (I really like the flavor of Swanson’s)
1 ½ c. French green lentils, rinsed (called lentils de Puy)
2 tbs. unsalted butter, clarified; or ghee; or 1 ½ tbs. olive oil
8 green cardamom pods
5 whole cloves
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 can lite or regular coconut milk

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until lightly golden, stirring often. Add the garlic, thyme and turmeric and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add the broth and the lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

Bruise the cardamom pods with a heavy object (rolling pin, glass jar) or in a mortar and pestle until they begin to open. Pop out the cardamom seeds and discard the green pods. Grind the cardamom seeds along with the cloves in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Set aside.

Warm the clarified butter, ghee or oil in small saucepan over low heat. Add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook on low, swirling the pan often, until the spices become aromatic, about 2 minutes.

After the soup has finished simmering for 20 minutes, add the spices with the butter, ghee or oil. Stir into the soup. Shake the can of coconut milk well, open and stir into the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes more, taste for seasoning and serve immediately.


Technorati Tags: recipes, vegetarian, healthy, soup, Main Course

Gingery Pork Tenderloin with Riesling Plum Sauce

In a classic example of the dangers of buying in bulk, I ended up with far more ripe black plums that I could eat this week. Since I can be greedy when it comes to fresh produce and because I hadn’t laid eyes on appetizing plums in several months, this came as no great shock.

Luckily, my greed is balanced by my determination not to be wasteful. The result was gingery pork tenderloin with Riesling-plum sauce, and it helped me mow through half of the plum bounty. I don’t buy pork tenderloin very often which is silly. It’s very healthy (although I wouldn’t mind if the meat was little fattier) and incredibly easy to cook. We always find it in packs of two that weigh about two pounds total, so we cook once and get a couple of meals with leftovers. In the past, we have even used totally different seasonings for each piece of tenderloin so we could have, say, spicy Cajun pork one night and garlic-rosemary pork another.

The plum sauce is open to interpretation, and if you don’t have a dry Riesling (which is a really good match for pork), use another white wine, switch it to red, or just use water as your liquid. I do not usually like to sacrifice too much good wine to a recipe, but in this case, it added notable flavor and complexity to my lightly sweetened plums.

A Quick Word on Butter
I know I don’t get into social consciousness-raising very often on this blog, but yesterday’s article in the New York Times titled, Trans Fat Fight Claims Butter As Victim, had me up in arms. Here’s a summary: butter, an essential ingredient that has no suitable replacement in many foods (like croissants) is, in fact, being replaced by trans fat free margarine (a fake food) and other dicey alternatives by companies (like Starbucks) who want to be able to say that their products are trans fat free. Butter, as well as milk and beef, contains a form of trans fat that occurs naturally in these foods (whether they are organic or not) and is different from the industrially derived, partially hydrogenated type.

In short, they are abandoning reason and throwing the baby out with the bath water by replacing butter with something entirely less wholesome. I encourage you to read the full article and come to your own conclusion on the issue. I’m off to email Starbucks and state my preference for eating scones and croissants made with real butter and milk. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Gingery Pork Tenderloin with Riesling Plum Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2005
If plums have not yet made it to your neck of the woods, you could do the same preparation with apples or pears.

Serves 4-6

2 ½ tbs. olive oil, divided
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced, divided
salt and black pepper to taste
2 lb. pork tenderloin (usually sold in a package of two 1-lb. pieces)
2-3 tbs. chopped shallots
5-6 medium plums, pitted and chopped
2 tbs. brown sugar
½ c. dry Riesling or other white wine
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
½ tbs. unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cover a baking sheet with foil. Add half a tablespoon of the olive oil to a large skillet and heat to high. Rub the pork tenderloins with 1 tbs. of oil and all but 1 tbs. of the ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Sear the pork tenderloin in the skillet, turning until all sides are browned. Transfer the tenderloins to the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the internal temperature is 155 degrees (slightly pink), or until done to your liking. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let the meat rest until you are ready to serve.

After you remove the pork from the skillet, switch the heat to medium, and add the remaining oil and the shallots. Cook until softened and slightly golden. Add the ginger and cook an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Add the plums, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the plums are very soft. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the wine and the vinegar and simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the butter and remove from heat.

Cut the pork on an angle into half-inch slices. Top with the plum sauce and serve.

Technorati Tags: recipes, pork, healthy, Main Course

My 100th Post! Skewered Shrimp Egg Rolls and Culinary Inspiration

Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis, my husband Mike utterly impressed me last week. We were hanging out at home, and the Food Network was on in the background. The episode of Giada’s show, Behind the Bash, was on where she covers a cocktail party put on by an exclusive Miami caterer at the former Versace mansion in South Beach. This was vaguely interesting to us since we don’t live too far from that neck of woods here in Fort Lauderdale.

Anyway, the extravagant caterer was having his staff fulfill his every aesthetic fantasy, but they still managed to turn out some really spiffy finger foods along the way. While I was puttering around doing something else, Mike saw them make these cool fried shrimp and crab rolls and decided he was going to whip some up too. Despite the fact that we’ve deep fried maybe two things in our kitchen, ever, I was encouraging. Mike is a really good cook, but it’s not everyday he goes all haute-asian, so I was excited to see how it would turn out.

I know I already gave away the ending, but let me say again that I was super-impressed. Mike pulled off the chic South Beach finger food thing with complete confidence, and I didn’t even have to lift one. He would be the first to tell you that these deliciously crunchy skewered shrimp rolls were a piece of cake. Still, how often do people see something on TV, gather the ingredients and go for it, no recipe in sight. You have to be a pretty confident cook to pull that off. It also goes to show that if you know your way around a kitchen and you know your ingredients, you can use your instincts and cook anything you want. And that's the moral of this story for my 100th post!

After we ate these fabulous shrimp rolls, we started thinking of other fillings and variations. The egg roll wrappers are a great item that you can use for all sorts of things -ravioli and samosas came to mind.

Here’s how Mike made these shrimp rolls:

1) Thread large shrimp (peeled and deveined) onto long skewers so that the shrimp are straightened out.

2) Lay a piece of egg roll dough (cut to about 3 x 6 inches) out in front of you horizontally. Lay one skewered shrimp on the end of the dough. Place about a tablespoon each of crab meat and seaweed salad next to the shrimp. Starting with the end that the shrimp is on, roll up the dough around the filling and press it together.


3) Quickly dip the skewered egg roll in beaten egg, then roll it in a combination of panko (we used whole wheat), shredded coconut, sesame seeds and a pinch of salt and pepper. Press the panko mixture firmly onto the dough so it sticks.


4) Heat canola oil in a heavy deep pot, using a thermometer to maintain the correct temperature. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the panko is crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and serve right away with spicy cocktail sauce (add fresh horseradish) for dipping. You can do this in a skillet, but if the oil is very hot, it will splatter all over your kitchen. If you enjoy these shrimp rolls as much as we did, you won’t be too upset, but cleaning up is no fun.



Technorati Tags: recipes, shrimp, appetizers

Gruyère Gougères- Nothing Says "Celebration" Like a Cheese Puff

No doubt that a tall pint of Guinness would be the perfect accompaniment for the Guinness Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream in my previous post. Now I want to switch gears just a bit and give you a recipe that is a match made in heaven for champagne. While a good beer (and a cupcake!) can be a frequent indulgence, champagne is a bit more special. And because that bubbly can go to your head awfully quickly, you need an equally special snack to nibble on while you sip.

I made these gougères (pronounced goo-ZHAIR) with Gruyère cheese for the Oscars last weekend. Just because I’m not a movie star doesn’t mean I can’t pop open some sparkling wine and have an Oscar soirée in my living room. That’s the beautiful thing about food…it is an equal opportunity luxury.

Gougères are made with pâte à choux (paht-ah-SHOO), a simple French pastry dough that is also used to make cream puffs. Gougères, however, are a savory hors d’oeuvre that I would describe as the most fabulous cheese balls you’ll ever eat. They get very crisp on the outside, but stay moist, soft and airy on the inside thanks to the steam produced by their high water content and the buttery, eggy dough. They are the ultimate match, in my opinion, for a dry Champagne (brut) with toasty, yeasty flavors or—as I’ve heard wine reviewers describe it—with notes of brioche.

My philosophy is that we need to make as many celebrations in life as we can, from an overrated awards show to an intimate Sunday brunch, to Friday night (ANY Friday night). I was celebrating before we even opened the bubbly because making these gougères made me feel like a sophisticated French pastry chef. They are really easy to put together, but that’s no reason not to feel triumphant. And because I did not have to squeeze into a sample size Versace gown to walk the red carpet, I ate a rather celebratory number of these addictive little tasties!

Gruyère Gougères
Adapted from this recipe at Epicurious.com
You can serve these golden little puffs as they are or cut them horizontally and use as crudite. I sautéed a pint of sliced mushrooms in olive oil and butter, added a couple splashes of cream and some fresh thyme, and used it as a topper for my gougères. I saw Sam something similar on her blog, Becks and Posh, and I think it is a brilliant idea. If you don’t have gruyère, another firm, slightly salty cheese will work fine. I think good cheddar, Parmigiano or Pecorino-Romano would be delicious.

Makes 24 tiny gougères

1 c. water
½ c. butter
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
2 to 4 eggs, as needed
2/3 c. grated gruyère cheese, lightly packed
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
cayenne pepper, a couple dashes or to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Add the water to a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the water is hot (steaming, but not boiling), add the butter, salt and sugar. Stir occasionally until the butter is completely melted. Lower the heat and stir the butter mixture with a wooden spoon vigorously as you gradually add the flour. Keep stirring vigorously until the mixture comes to together and starts forming a tacky ball in the pan.

Turn the dough out into a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, beat in two eggs, one at a time on medium speed. Depending on the size of the eggs, you may only use two, or you may need more. You want the dough to be smooth, firm and waxy. I only required two large eggs when following this recipe. It is important that the dough is firm enough to stand up in round balls when you spoon it onto a cookie sheet without spreading. It should be as firm as cookie dough, but it is much softer and lighter. The waxy quality is unique and you will know it when you see it. Just go with you instincts, and the dough will come out fine.

After you are done adding the eggs, use a wooden spoon to stir in the cheese, mustard and cayenne. Spoon small one inch balls of dough onto a nonstick baking sheet or a use parchment paper. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The gougers are done when they are lightly browned. Mine got a little dark on the bottom, but it produced a delicious, caramelized flavor that was not at all burnt. When they are done baking, turn off the oven and let them sit in the oven for about 5 minutes to dry out, so they don’t “sweat,” due to the high water content of the dough. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Technorati Tags:recipes, appetizers

Guinness Cupcakes & A Radio Show!

I have been looking for an opportunity to make Guinness cake, or cupcakes, or brownies for quite awhile, and I finally found it. On Thursday, March 1 at 1:30 eastern time, I am going to be talking about food blogs with Linda Gassenheimer and Joseph Cooper on WLRN, the NPR affiliate in South Florida. I wanted to come up with an easy recipe to share, and this is it!

You can listen in (and find out if they like the cupcakes) by going to www.wlrn.org and clicking on the live audio feed.

Now, back to the cupcakes. St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and this is the perfect dessert to follow up corned beef and cabbage or any Irish feast you plan to serve. The cake is very light and moist, with a mellow stout flavor that is the perfect complement to the cocoa. They are not overly sweet, so the espresso buttercream is a perfect topper. This frosting has a light coffee scent, but is mild enough for anyone who is not a coffee lover. It is absolutely irresistible on the cupcakes and helps bring out the Guinness flavor.

I just got the name, “O’Hara,” by marriage, so if you don’t want to take my word for it, my Irish husband cannot stop eating these cupcakes.


Guinness Cupcakes with Espresso Cream Frosting
Cakes adapted from a recipe from The Detroit Free Press via Cupcakes Take the Cake and from a recipe by Dave Lieberman from Dave’s Dinners. Frosting adapted from The Betty Crocker Cookbook.
You can find the instant espresso powder for the frosting at specialty stores and many supermarkets. I ordered mine from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalogue.

Makes 24 cupcakes

For cupcakes:
1 stick unsalted butter
12 oz. Guinness
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. granulated sugar
¾ c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ c. sour cream
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill two 12-count muffin pans with paper baking cups.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, Guinness and vanilla. Stir occasionally until butter is melted. Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, gradually combine with the Guinness mixture in three additions. Beat in the sour cream, then beat in the eggs one by one.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup about three-quarters full. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes (mine took 25) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack. Frost when cooled completely.

For frosting:
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter (5 1/3 tbs.), cut into cubes and softened
1 ½ tsp. instant espresso powder dissolved in 3 tbs. water

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on low speed to combine. Pour in the espresso mixture and continue beating on medium-high until frosting is smooth and creamy. If frosting is too thick, add water a couple drops at a time to reach desired consistency. Makes enough for 24 cupcakes or an 8-9 inch two-layer cake.

Technorati Tags: recipes, desserts, holidays, chocolate, cupcakes

Crisp Polenta Triangles with Sherry-Garlic Sausage Saute

I use polenta as a smooth, creamy bed for a huge variety of foods. I love the soft texture of the cornmeal that soaks up all the juices on the plate and fills your stomach with warmth. So, why would I cook polenta any other way?

Try these polenta triangles once, and you'll understand. I definitely did. Pan-fried for a few minutes on each side in a shallow pool of very hot olive oil, the polenta develops an irresistibly crisp golden crust. They are still soft and tender on the inside, but hold together so you can eat them like crostini with fresh tomato-basil salsa or a hot saute of onions, garlic, tomatoes and spicy turkey sausage cooked with sherry.

It may look deceptively basic, but this is an amazing sausage dish. Taking your time to brown the sausage and simmering it in the tomato-sherry sauce brings out intense flavor that is the perfect balance of meat, wine and garlic. Mike created this dish and often uses it as a sandwich filling. But, over our golden polenta triangles, it made me want to light some candles and pretend we were in a homey little Italian restaurant... buon appetito!

Crisp Polenta Triangles
You can also use coarse cornmeal cooked according to package directions. The polenta will need at least two hours to cool, so plan accordingly.

2 c. chicken broth or water
1 c. finely ground cornmeal or instant polenta
¼ c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil, as needed

Bring the broth or water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add the polenta in a slow but steady stream. It will thicken almost immediately, so just keep whisking until the cornmeal is blended and smooth. As soon as you have added the cornmeal, turn the heat to low. The hot cornmeal may spurt up at you as it boils, so stand back. Cook over low heat just until the polenta is smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Coat a shallow baking dish (I used an 8 x 8) with cooking spray and pour the polenta into the dish, spreading it out to form an even layer. Cover and refrigerate until cool and very firm, at least 2 hours.

Cut the polenta into triangles and remove them from the dish.

Add enough olive oil to completely coat the bottom of a large, heavy skillet and heat to medium. Add as many polenta triangles as you can without crowding the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden. Add more salt and pepper if you like.

Turkey Sausage in Sherry and Garlic
Serves 4

1 tbs. olive oil
1 onion, sliced into half moons
salt and pepper
3 links hot turkey sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. dry sherry (not cooking wine)
1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Push the onions to the edge of the pan and add the sausage links. Sear the sausage for 3-4 minutes per side. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, then add the can of tomatoes with their juice. Adjust heat so the liquid is at a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce is well-thickened.

Remove sausage links from skillet and slice on the diagonal. Return to skillet to coat with sauce and serve.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, turkey, Main Course

Swiss Chard Custard Tart with Yeast Crust

As I enthusiastically declared last week, I love savory tarts. This one is really different, as it is make with a yeast dough, sort of like a more elegant deep dish pizza. The dough can be made in advance, and puffs up to form a soft, golden crust. It is filled with healthy sautéed swiss chard leaves that are baked in a light custard flavored with lemon, saffron and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I came across this recipe on The Wednesday Chef, a great blog full of recipes that constantly appeal to my taste. It is by one of my favorite cookbook authors, Deborah Madison from her The Greens Cookbook, and came via the Los Angeles Times food writer, Russ Parsons who printed it in an article back in December. I love the tart recipes in Madison’s book, Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen, which I reviewed here, so I was sure that this one would be great too.

As I poured the liquid custard mixed with tons of sautéed chard into the shell, I wondered how something so wet could possibly firm up into an attractive tart. But Madison’s recipes have always worked for me, so I should not have worried. After just over 30 minutes in the oven, the crust was crisp and golden and the chard was suspended in the tender, just-set custard. I love hearty greens, and the eggs, pine nuts and soft dough make them taste rich. I really loved having the leftover slices for lunch on the days that followed. You can eat this tart with your morning coffee or a glass of wine; it is delicious around the clock.

Swiss Chard Custard Tart with Yeast Crust
Adapted from The Wednesday Chef and the Los Angeles Times; originally by Deborah Madison published in her Greens cookbook.
I doubled the recipe for the tart dough and put half in the freezer after letting it rise and kneading a few times. Now I can pull it out and make another one soon!

Makes one 9-11 inch tart

For Dough:
1 tsp. active dry yeast (1/2 package)
¼ c. warm water
pinch sugar
1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour, plus additional as needed
½ tsp. salt
1 egg
3 tbs. light sour cream

Proof the yeast by gently mixing with the water and sugar in a small bowl. Let it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the flour and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the egg, sour cream and proofed yeast mixture to the flour and process until the dough comes together into a ball, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. If the dough is very sticky or does not form a ball, add more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough is soft and smooth enough to handle. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead several times. You can roll out the dough and shape into your tart pan right now or lightly cover the dough with platic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 24 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature before shaping.

Coat a 9 to 11 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Flatten the dough into a large disk and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Drape over your rolling pin and lay the dough into the tart pan. Fit the dough into the sides of the pan. The edge of the dough should come about ¼ inch over the rim of the tart pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Put the tart pan on a large baking sheet, fill with swiss chard mixture and bake as directed.

For Swiss Chard:
1 tbs. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large or 3 small bunches swiss chard (about 8 c.), spines removed and leaves roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ tsp. coarse salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
1 ½ c. milk (I use 2%)
Large pinch saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbs. hot water
½ tsp. grated lemon zest
3 tbs. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Pinch nutmeg
3 tbs. pine nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the chard, in bunches if necessary, and fold it in the skillet until it begins to wilt and cook down, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, ½ tsp. of the salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then stir in the milk, saffron and water mixture, lemon zest, Parmigiano, nutmeg, the remaining salt and some pepper. Fold the chard into the egg mixture and pour into the tart shell (put your tart pan on a baking sheet to make it easier to handle). Scatter the pine nuts over the tart and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the center is no longer liquid. Serve hot or at room temperature. The leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven.

Technorati Tags: recipes, tarts, vegetarian, Main Course

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Did any of you have a hard time figuring out what to get your significant other/friend/family/lover for Valentine’s day? If you’re in a relationship, it can be a day fraught with pressure, and gifts may or may not be loaded with meaning. I don’t have the time and energy to worry about the formulaic expectations of this Hallmark holiday, so I give my husband the kind of gift that I most like receiving myself—food.

This recipe may be a couple of days late, but luckily, it’s not a particularly Valentine-y dessert. It’s not heart-shape, extra-fancy or filled with raspberry ganache (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Though it’s not pulled from the pages of the February issue of a food magazine, it was the perfect Valentine for my husband because it combines his two favorite things: peanut butter and chocolate.


I decided to combine his two great loves into one fabulous cookie because my mom sent us these adorable mini peanut butter cups she saw in Trader Joe’s. If you live in a community that has its very own Trader Joe’s, I am deeply jealous of you. We don’t have them in Florida, so mom sent these versatile little cuties all the way from Southern California. I thought they would be a great substitute for chocolate chips in a cookie. After extensive chocolate cookie research, I decided to use this recipe from allrecipes.com because it was incredibly simple; promised fudgy, chewy cookies; and got loads of great reviews from members.

These cookies are addictively, wonderfully chocolatey with slightly crisp edges and chewy centers. The chocolate part of the mini peanut butter cups fuses into the cookie, and the centers turn into melting pockets of peanut butter goodness. You do not need mini peanut butter cups to use this fantastically simple cookie recipe. Use chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, nuts, chocolate-covered espresso beans, or whatever you want!

Mike really liked the cookies, but I’ve eaten plenty of them too. When you give a gift of food, whether it is something homemade or dinner at a favorite restaurant, it’s kind of like giving yourself a little gift at the same time. We foodies really have this love stuff figured out.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Adapted from allrecipes.com. It is important that you use natural cocoa powder in recipes with baking soda, like this one. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is made with an alkali that only reacts properly with baking powder. Dutch-processed is not better or worse cocoa, just different. Read more about it here.

Makes 36-48 cookies

2 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. unsweetened natural cocoa powder (such as Ghirardelli or Hershey’s)
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 2 ½ c. mini peanut butter cups, peanut butter chips or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.

In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combined and fluffy.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture with a wooden spoon until all the flour is moistened. Stir in the chips or your additions of choice.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should get about 12 cookies per large baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just set. The cookies may look slightly under done, but they will firm up and the edges will crisp as they cool. I like to do a test by baking 2 or 3 cookies first to see how they will turn out in my oven. It takes extra time, but I hate to ruin a whole tray of cookies. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Technorati Tags: recipes, desserts, cookies, chocolate, Main Course

Caramelized Onion Tart with Blue Cheese and Whole Wheat Crust

I love savory tarts! The buttery homemade crust makes them taste rich, and the vegetable fillings are replete with flavor and nutrition. A simple slice on a plate with lightly dressed greens or crisp roasted vegetables is such an elegant meal that feels very European to me. In the way that the frittata carries an element of breakfast over to lunch and dinner, so the savory tart brings a little intimation of dessert to those main meals. And that certainly can’t be a bad thing.

I think I say this about a lot of things on this blog, but savory tarts really are easy to make, considering the elegant results. After you do your first tart, it will become second nature. The crust is a snap and involves far less stress than pie crust, in my opinion; keep it quick and cold, and you’re set.

This tart recipe comes from the February issue of Food & Wine. There was no picture in the magazine, but I didn’t need one. The name and ingredients were more than enough to appeal to my tastes. I have recently discovered that taking the time to truly caramelize onions—I mean a good 30-35 minutes—produces insanely good results, as you will see if you give this a try. I was surprised and happy to see that the recipe’s creator, chef Dede Sampson, used all whole wheat flour to make this crust, and I was anxious to see how it would turn out (for the record: crisp, buttery and warmly wheaty).

I can honestly say that we loved eating this and savored every bite. I was sad to eat the last piece, but I know I can make it again soon! The recipe is a winner for the crust alone, but the sweet onion filling dotted with mild, creamy blue cheese and hits of fresh thyme was utterly delicious too.

I have been in a baking mood lately, so I have another wonderful, but very different, savory tart in the blogging pipeline. And I think there will be more where these came from!


Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Tart with Whole Wheat Crust
Adapted from Food & Wine and Dede Sampson
You can make the dough for the crust up to one day ahead and leave it in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic. Then, roll it out and pre-bake the shell while the onions caramelize. You can make the whole tart up to four hours ahead and serve it at room temperature or reheat in a 350 degree oven. I recommend eating the leftovers at room temperature.

Serves 4 to 6; 8 as a first course

1 ½ c. whole wheat flour
½ tsp. salt, plus additional to taste
1 stick (4 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch dice
¼ c. water chilled with ice

2-3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 medium onions (about 1 ½ lbs), sliced into half moons (I used 2 red and 2 sweet onions, but any combination will work)
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
freshly ground pepper
3 oz. blue cheese, crumbled (I used a creamy Danish blue, brand name Rosenborg)

In a food processor, pulse the flour and ½ tsp. salt to combine. Add the cold, diced butter and pulse until you have a coarse mixture roughly the size of small peas. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture, then pulse again until the dough just starts to come together. It will still look a little scraggly.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and quickly pat it into a disk. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook stirring occasionally until soft and lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook until lightly browned, soft and sweet, about 10-15 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the thyme and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, roll the chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to a large, 12-13 inch circle. You will have to use some muscle to roll it out, and do not worry about getting a perfect circle. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick and as even as possible. Roll the dough over the pin and lay it into a nonstick (9, 10 or 11-inch) fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the sides of the pan with your knuckles and peel off the pieces that hang over the pan and use them to patch any holes. Your crust may not look pretty now, but it will when the tart is done. Prick the base of the crust all over with a fork and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. I place my tart pan on a large baking sheet to make it easier to handle.

Fill the pre-baked tart shell with the caramelized onions. Strew the crumbled blue cheese all over the onions. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is lightly melted. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack, remove from tart pan and serve immediately. Can also be served at room temperature.

Technorati Tags: recipes, vegetarian, tarts, Main Course

Real Pad Thai from Your Kitchen

If you have been lucky enough to find a very good Thai restaurant, then you have probably already fallen hard for pad thai, the light rice noodle dish that plays on your tastebuds with sweet and umami flavors until you have eaten greater quantities of it than you thought possible. If you have wished you could reproduce the exotic flavors of this deceptively simple dish at home, read on because I have a very manageable recipe for you. If, instead, you're wondering what all the fuss is about, you've probably had the misfortune of tasting, a gooey, sticky-sweet americanized version made with a thick pre-packaged, corn-starch laden "pad thai sauce." In that case, read on and discover an authentic dish that is completely different than what you're used to.

I love pad thai because for years I lived in the delivery radius of the best thai restaurant I have ever found. I could call them at 7:00pm on a Friday night and have a made-to-order steaming hot dish of pad thai in front of me in under 15 minutes. That goes to show how efficient these folks were, but also how quickly this meal comes together once your ingredients are prepped.

I was spoiled rotten with this pad thai. When I moved away from Boston, I tried other thai restaurants, and have never had anything that comes close. I'm sure there are other respectable chefs turning out authentic pad thai, but in my experience, they are a rarity.

It takes a little practice to get the technique just right for this recipe. What you make will still be tasty, but the timing really is everything, and you'll learn just how you like to do it after a couple attempts. Nothing may hold up to Bangkok Bistro in my estimation, but this satisfies me and captures those flavors that made me crazy for this dish from the first bite.


Pad Thai
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Savoring Southeast Asia by Joyce Jue

The most important thing you can do is have all your ingredients prepped and ready to add to the skillet in quick succession. I have tried to lay out the steps below. Once you begin to cook the shallots, you will have a finished dish in under 7 minutes.
Serves 3-4

3 tbs. vegetable or peanut oil, divided
salt and pepper
¾ lb. chicken breast meat, pounded very thin and cut into 1-inch pieces
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
10 oz. flat rice noodles
2 ½ tsp. tamarind concentrate plus 3 tbs. water (or the equivalent of another tamarind product)
2 tbs. sugar
3 tbs. fish sauce
2 tbs. lime juice (about 1 lime)
¼ to ½ tsp. dried red chile flakes
2 tbs. chopped shallot
1 ½ tbs. chopped garlic
3 large eggs, beaten with 1 tblsp. water
2 c. fresh bean sprouts, divided
6 green onions, white and light green parts, chopped
½ c. roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
¼ c. cilantro, chopped
lime wedges, for serving

Heat 1 tbs. of the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and stir-fry until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Lower the heat to medium and add 1 tbs. of oil to the skillet. Add the shrimp, season and cook until opaque, about 1 minute. Add to the bowl of chicken and set aside.

Meanwhile cook the noodles according to package directions. In a bowl or large glass liquid measuring cup, whisk together the tamarind and water, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and chile flakes. Set aside.

Assemble everything you need to put together the pad thai: shallots and garlic, beaten eggs, chicken and shrimp, green onions, noodles, tamarind mixture, bean sprouts and peanuts.

Heat the last tbs. of oil over medium-low heat, add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the beaten eggs, swirling the pan to coat the entire surface. Let the eggs set for a few seconds, then move them around the pan with a spatula, breaking them up. Immediately add the chicken and shrimp and toss quickly with the eggs. Add the noodles and toss them with the egg mixture for a minute or so, until you have cooked pieces of egg throughout. Pour the tamarind mixture all over the noodles in the skillet and toss to coat thoroughly. Immediately add the green onions, half of the bean sprouts and half of the peanuts and toss to combine. Remove from heat. Serve the pad thai with the remaining bean sprouts and peanuts; the cilantro; and the lime wedges.


Technorati Tags: recipes, thai, Main Course

Toasted Pasta with Duck Leg Guazzetto

Sometimes I just want to hunker down and spend some quality time in the kitchen. Occasionally this means baking or setting up a big pot of something wonderful to simmer away on my stove top all afternoon. Sometimes it means I’m up for a challenge; it means I want to tackle something I have never tried before or a recipe with multiple steps that can span a whole weekend. If you are in this kind of mood, make this duck guazzetto, created by Lidia Bastianich. Rich duck, dried porcinis, tomato paste and aromatic spices create an intensely flavorful, silky sauce as the long, slow braise transforms the meat to fall-off-the-bone tender.

A close-up of the finished guazzetto.

Luckily, I have been fawning over the Italy-themed January issue of Gourmet for a couple weeks now, and I decided by Thursday that we (it’s always nicer to face a challenge as “we” instead of “I”) were going to make our own Istrian feast complete with aforementioned duck legs and homemade toasted pasta. Mike was whole-heartedly on board with the toasted pasta, but thought the duck guazzetto (the Istrian term for a braise) might pose a challenge. I was certain that the guazzetto would be utterly glorious, and the recipe did come off without a hitch. Planning ahead was a factor, however, as I had to visit the butcher a day ahead to buy some beautiful frozen duck legs. These folks are not open on Sundays, and I needed the extra day to let the meat defrost in the refrigerator.

To make it easy on ourselves, we made and toasted the pasta one day ahead, as well. It truly came together easily, with rolling out the dough being the only mildly tedious part (that’s where the “we” came in).

Everything about this meal was heavenly. If we paid a lot for this dish in an Italian restaurant, we would have been more than happy. I wouldn’t recommend trying to put it all together in a single day, but if you want to spend a weekend making something really special, you will not be sorry with this one. Toasting the pasta in the oven gives it a nutty flavor, but the real treat is the rustic texture of these noodles. Hand-rolling, baking and breaking the dried dough into pieces creates uneven shapes that make every bite delicious in a slightly different way.

Do not forget to top the guazzetto with some good cheese. We also added our own special touch with some Bahamian sea salt that a friend gave me. Like the pasta, this very freshly harvested salt has an uneven grain and tastes like the warm ocean water of the Bahamas, only sweeter. As the pasta and guazzetto were not too heavily salted, we decided to try this salt, adding yet another incredible flavor note in the dish. If you don’t have a lovely person to bring you salt from the Bahamas, there are lots of different sea salts to experiment with.

Sometimes weekend projects don’t live up to expectations, but this one paid back our efforts in every bite. We gave ourselves all the time we needed to actually enjoy the cooking process, and none of it was terribly challenging after all.

Roll each piece of dough into a thin rectangle...

bake until golden...

and break into pieces before boiling.

Duck Leg Guazzetto
Adapted from Gourmet; Originally published in Lidia’s Family Table by Lidia Bastianich
As in the magazine, we made the rustic toasted pasta to serve with this richly flavored braised duck. If you are not up for doing homemade pasta, I think this would be wonderful over polenta; a large, flat noodle like tagliatelle; or lasagna noodles broken into smaller pieces before boiling.

Serves 4 generously

2 c. boiling water
½ oz. dried porcini mushrooms
3 lb. fresh or frozen duck legs (not confit; about 4 legs)
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 c. dry white wine
3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ California bay leaves, or 3 Turkish
1 (5-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
5 whole cloves
toasted pasta (see recipe below)
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

Pour boiling water over dried porcini in a bowl and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes, or until softened. Pour the contents of the bowl through a fine mesh sieve lined with a slightly dampened paper towel into another bowl, reserving the soaking liquid. Rinse the mushrooms to remove any grit, chop into small pieces and set aside.

Trim the duck. Remove any excess fat and about 2/3 of the skin from each thigh leaving a two inch strip of skin down the center. Leave the drumstick skin intact. Pat duck dry with a paper towel.

Heat 2 tbs. oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Sear the duck, in two batches if necessary, so you do not overcrowd the pot. Cook until lightly browned on both sides. If the oil starts to splatter, partially cover the pot and use tongs to carefully turn the legs. Remove legs to a plate, sprinkle with coarse salt and set aside.

Add onion to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season lightly with a pinch of salt and ground pepper. Add the porcini mushrooms and tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and return all the duck legs to the pot along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Raise heat to bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes to reduce the wine. Add chicken broth, reserved mushroom-soaking liquid, bay leaves rosemary and cloves and bring to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Gently simmer, covered, 1 hour, turned duck legs once halfway through.
Reposition lide to partially cover and continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Turn duck legs again, remove lid and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, until meat is very tender and sauce is thickened. Remove duck legs from pot and set on a cutting board. Allow sauce to continue simmering for 15 to 30 minutes or until you are left with about 3 cups of rich, slightly thick sauce. Remove rosemary sprig, bay leaves and cloves from the sauce and skim off any fat. Cover and keep warm over low heat. When duck is cool enough to handle, remove skin and fat and tear the meat into bite size pieces. Discard the skin and fat and return the meat to the pot. Keep covered over low heat until pasta is ready.

Toasted Pasta
Adapted from Gourmet

Serves 4 generously

2 to 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 ½ tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
4 ½ tbs. ice water, plus more if needed

Add 2 c. flour to a food processor and process for a few seconds to aerate. Whisk the eggs, oil and ice water together in a liquid measuring cup or bowl that pours easily. With the processor running pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and process until a slightly sticky dough forms and gather on the blade, about 30 to 40 seconds. Feel the dough. If it is a bit too sticky to handle, add more flour, a scant tbs. at a time and process until you can handle it. If dough is hard and dry, add more ice water. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperture for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line 2 large (about 17 x 13) baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough and cut into four equal pieces. Put one piece on a lightly floured surface and cover the rest. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out as thinly and evenly as possible into a large rectangle about the size of your baking sheet. Keep the dough moving as you roll and add more flour to your work surface so dough does not stick. Transfer dough to lined baking sheet and repeat with the next piece of dough. Bake the first two sheets, rotating their positions occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Turn the baked pasta sheets over and continue baking until completely dry and golden, about 15 minutes more. Bubbles may form on the pasta during baking, but don’t worry; they add to the textural variation that makes this so delicious. Transfer pasta to cooling racks and let them sit out to continue drying for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Roll the next two pieces of dough, bake, and cool in the same manner.

Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil over high heat. Season with salt. Break the sheets of pasta into large, irregular pieces, about 2 to 3 inches each. Add to pot and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness, until al dente. Drain in a colander and serve immediately topped with duck guazzetto and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and sea salt, if desired.

We also made this easy Italian salad from Gourmet. It is thinly sliced celery hearts and mushrooms, dressed with lemon and olive oil, and topped with salt, pepper and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Slicing the mushrooms as thinly as possible and adding the dressing transforms them.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, duck, Main Course

Big Italian Meatballs with Creamy Polenta

If you hear the word, "meatballs," and immediately think, "spaghetti with...," you need to keep reading.

Forget about fussy little meatballs that take ages to roll and fry. If you want spaghetti, try a Bolognese. The next time you want meatballs, try this recipe. You form them into roughly two-inch patties, so a serving is about 2 meatballs per person. A quick sear in a skillet creates a wonderfully crusty exterior. Then they are smothered in a simple mushroom-tomato sauce and baked so they stay moist within.

The polenta can come together at the last minute, as you take the meatballs out of the oven. Finely ground (not stone ground) cornmeal cooks instantly. You could also use one of the imported Italian products labeled "instant polenta." I like these products, but they are not as smooth as the finely ground cornmeal. It depends on your preference. Make sure you spoon some of the juice from the meatballs over the polenta before serving. Eat this once and you'll never think of meatballs any other way.

Big Italian Meatballs with Creamy Polenta
The idea behind this recipe comes from Tyler Florence, but I have adapted and simplified it down to its delicious fundamentals.
Serves 4-6

3 lb. ground beef sirloin (or a combination of ground beef and pork)
2 tbs. Worchestershire sauce
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs
½ c. dried bread crumbs with Italian seasoning
handful of chopped parsley, divided
handful of chopped basil, divided
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1-28oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, Worchestershire sauce, garlic, eggs and bread crumbs. Reserve about 2 tablespoons each of the parsley and basil and add the remaining herbs to the bowl. Season the meat mixture with salt and pepper and blend everything together gently with your hands. Form the meat mixture into 10-12 large meatballs, about 2 inches in diameter. Shape them more like hockey pucks than tennis balls. Set the meatballs on a large platter.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbs. of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cooking, stirring often until golden. Add the can of tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Coat a large skillet with a thin layer of olive oil and heat it to medium-high. Add about half the meatballs to the skillet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Cook until the bottoms are browned, then flip and brown the reverse side. Remove the meatballs to a large baking dish (I used 9 x 13) baking dish and repeat with the remaining meatballs. Pour the mushroom-tomato mixture over the meatballs and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cooked through. Garnish with reserved parsley and basil and serve immediately over creamy polenta.

Creamy Polenta
Adapted from Tyler Florence

4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ c. finely ground cornmeal
¼ c. half and half or milk
1 tbs. unsalted butter
salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a full boil. Turn the heat to low and start stirring the broth with a wire whisk. Gradually add the cornmeal as you constantly whisk. Keep whisking until the mixture is smooth and thickened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the half and half and butter. If your polenta thickens too quickly, whisk in hot water to thin it out. It can cook alarmingly fast, but it is forgiving and will still taste great if it is a little lumpy. Season to taste and serve immediately.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, Main Course

Banana Soufflés

A Dieter's Dream Dessert!

150 calories. That's really all I need to tell you, but being the garrulous little food writer I am, let me continue for just a paragraph or two.

You may already know that I love to make souffles. They are fun, easy and make me feel more like a domestic goddess than any dish in my repertoire. I also love bananas. If you too, enjoy the exquisite torture of watching a couple bananas ripen to the point of sweet, blackened smooshiness on your kitchen counter, this is the recipe for you. Instead of whipping up the same old banana bread, try these souffles. Did I mention they're only 150 calories each?

The lightness of the pureed bananas, egg whites and sugar create a gorgeous rise. Sweet and airy, they are the perfect dessert to follow a heavier meal, or a whole season of holiday feasting. You could even afford to spoon a little chocolate sauce over them without a bit of guilt.

I love how a souffle goes from this...

To this - stunning!
Banana Soufflés
The original version of this recipe appeared in the January issue of Redbook magazine, and was first published in Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri and David Joachim.
Makes 4-6oz. souffles.

2 large ripe bananas
5 tbs. sugar, divided, plus extra for coating soufflé dishes
2 tbs. water
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large egg whites
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Puree the bananas in a blender or food processor. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the 4 tbs. sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves completely. Cook without stirring for an additional minute until mixture thickens slightly. Slowly stir in the banana puree and cook until mixture reaches a full boil. Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon. Allow mixture to cool slightly in the refrigerator while you prepare the ramekins.

Spray 4-6oz. ramekins with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle sugar all over the bottom and sides. Spin ramekins around to coat completely and shake out any excess sugar.

Put the egg whites and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until white and foamy. Add the remaining 1 tbs. sugar and continue to beat, increasing the speed to medium-high, until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold about one-third of the egg whites into the banana mixture. Continue to fold in the remaining egg whites. Divide soufflé mixture evenly among the prepared ramekins and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until tops have risen and browned lightly. Serve immediately.


Technorati Tags: recipes, desserts, healthy, Bananas

Meyer Lemon Drop Martini

Picture this:

You slowly sidle up to the bar, resting your forearms on its smooth oak surface as you settle yourself onto a stool. Your shoulder lightly brushes against the attractive gentleman (or lady) on the stool beside you, as he greets you with an eager smile and a kiss on the cheek.

You lean back in your chair, languidly tossing your hair over your should and say, “What a day,” as your chest rises and falls with a gentle sigh.

Your companion motions for the bartender and asks what you’d like to drink.

“Lemon Drop,” you reply.

You anticipate the sensation of the cold, smooth liquid on your tongue as the bartender expertly prepares the cocktail. He slides the drink towards you, and you lift it to your lips as the moisture from the icy glass drips down the stem like sweat, wetting your fingertips. You pause, holding the rim of the glass centimeters from your lips and look up at your companion as the corners of your mouth curve into a sly smile, full of promise for the evening ahead.

Your eyes lock with his as you take a slow, full sip of your drink. Suddenly, you register the harsh, sour sting of the lemon juice. You hastily set the drink back down on the bar, spilling a sip or two with your clumsy movement. You scrunch up your nose, pushing your eyes into a squint as the acidic liquid burns the inside of your cheeks. You press your chin downward into your neck as you force yourself to swallow. You open your mouth and take a big breath and rub your watery eyes, leaving a black smear of eye makeup along your cheek.

“What’s wrong?” asks your bewildered companion.

“I didn't expect that drink to be so sour,” you answer.

“We can send it back,” your companion suggests helpfully.

“Good idea,” you say, as you smile sheepishly and order a beer.


Has this ever happened to you or to someone you care about? If this mood killing, awkward scenario could be prevented with one simple ingredient substitution, you’d do it right?

I’m happy to say that no one need suffer a painfully sour Lemon Drop Martini ever again thanks to the Meyer lemon. With pure lemon flavor, but none of the pucker, Meyers are perfect for a lemon cocktail. They are only in season during the winter months, so look for them now. If you can’t bear the sour bite of regular lemons, this drink is the answer you’ve been waiting for. Enjoy it after a long day with someone special.

Meyer Lemon Drop Martini
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living.
Serves 2

2 oz. simple syrup made with zest of 1 Meyer lemon (see below)
Juice of 2 Meyer lemons
3 oz. vodka

To make the simple syrup, combine 1 oz. water, 1 oz. sugar (measure in a cocktail jigger) and the lemon zest in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves.

In a cocktail shaker, combine a handful of ice, the lemon juice, vodka and simple syrup. Shake vigorously and strain into 2 chilled martini glasses.


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