Gotta Keep Cooking!

#10 - If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP!

2010-02-10T14:00:00.002-06:00

The empty beer bottles are piling up, so it's time to lay up a new batch. I was wanting a to try for a Wee Heavy, but I'm not sure whether this recipe qualifies or not. We'll see when it's done!

This recipe is based on a Scottish Ale recipe in The Brewmaster's Bible. That recipe called for a darker malt grain, but I had to go with the darkest I could get from my supply store. It still came out with a good color, so I have high hopes for it!

Scottish Ale
10 oz dark crystal malt 90°
3 lb crushed pale ale malt
4.5 lb dry light malt extract
2 oz 4% AA Fuggles hops
Wyeast scottish ale liquid yeast packet

Mash the grains in 1 gallon of 150° water for 45 minutes. Sparge with cold water to get 4 gallons of wort. Boil the wort for 90 minutes, adding 1 3/4 oz hops at 60 minutes to end, and the other 1/4 oz at 15 minutes to the end.

Add 1 more gallon of cold water during cooling. Pitch yeast when wort has cooled to 75°.

#9 - Sundried Tomato Hummus

2010-02-09T19:41:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday at Whole Foods, the employees had a dip contest, where each department created a dip, had someone giving samples to the customers, and handed out ballots to fill in and vote for your favorite. There were quite a few good ones, but one of the best was "Pizza Hummus."(1)

Tonight I decided that seemed like a good choice for a light dinner, but I didn't have all the ingredients on hand the recipe called for, so I used it as a springboard to invent my own version. In all modesty(2), I think mine is even better. I have included both recipes for your enjoyment.

Pizza Hummus (courtesy of Whole Foods in Arlington TX)
1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
5 tbsp garlic oil
5 tbsp lemon juice
4 oz sundried tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dried basil
1/2 cup water
1/2 container chevre goat cheese with basil & garlic(3)

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Sundried Tomato Chickpea Dip (my version)
6 oz cooked chickpeas(4)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz feta
2 oz sundried tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup warm water

Rehydrate the sundried tomatoes in the water for 5-10 minutes. Place all the ingredients except the water into a food processor and process until well mixed. Add just enough of the water to smooth out the consistency.

In either case, serve with warm pita or naan.

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(1) Many people believe that it can't be called hummus if it lacks tahini. I have been known to sit on both sides of that fence at various times; for the sake of argument, I'll call mine "chickpea dip", and call the one from Whole Foods by the name they gave it.
(2) Yes, I do in fact have modesty, though I try not to let it get in my way too often.
(3) Sadly, the recipe card they handed out didn't indicate the size of the container, so you'll just have to wing it.
(4) About half a can, if you aren't cooking your own beans. Make sure to drain and rinse them to get rid of whatever liquid they are canned in.

#8 - French Bread for French Onion Soup

2010-02-08T14:00:00.002-06:00

The Farmer's Market had a good batch of sweet onions just begging to be made into soup this week, so I loaded up. My recipe is based on this one from Good Eats, though I use a bit more broth and often can't find apple cider, so I have to substitute apple juice. I've used a number of different kinds of wine in the recipe, so it's never exactly the same twice, though it's always excellent!

Of course, French Onion Soup demands a good French style bread, so I once again consulted James Beard and found an excellent recipe. It came out perfect: a little dense with a slightly hard and chewy crust and a great flavor. Definitely a keeper!

If you're susceptible to onion-tears, chopping nearly a dozen onions may seem daunting, but in the end it's well worth it.

French Onion Soup
10 sweet onions (like Vidalias)
3 tablespoons butter
Kosher salt
2 cups white wine
10 ounces canned beef consume
10 ounces apple cider or juice (unfiltered is best)
12 ounces chicken broth
Bouquet garni(1) of thyme sprigs, bay leaf

1 loaf country style bread, cut into thick slices
grated Gruyere cheese

Slice the onions in half and cut into half-moon shapes. Heat a large(2) soup pot over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onions in layers, topping each layer with a bit of salt before adding the next. Cover and allow to cook for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.(3)

Once the onions have reduced and started to turn a nice caramel color, add the wine and boil uncovered to reduce for 10-15 minutes. Add the consumme, broth, apple cider, and herbs and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

To serve, place a bit of cheese in an oven-safe, wide soup bowl and ladle in soup. Leave enough room to top with a slice of the bread, and add more cheese on top of the bread. Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese.(4)

The original recipe for the bread calls for an egg wash on the loaves before baking; I usually like doing that to get a crisp crust, but I left it out this time(5) and it came out just fine.

French style bread
3 1/2 oz (1 1/2 packages) dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 cups warm water (about 100°)
1 tbsp salt
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Combine the yeast, sugar, and water in your mixing bowl and allow to proof. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Knead additional flour in until it is no longer sticky. Place in a buttered bowl to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough, then divide and shape into two long round loaves. Place the loaves on a baking sheet sprinkled with a bit of cornmeal. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes.
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(1) A traditional bouquet garni is a bundle tied up with a bit of string, but lacking any string, I used a small cheesecloth pouch instead.
(2) Seriously. 10 onions take up a lot of space when you start out. By the time it all reduces, you'll only be using half the pot, but initially you need the room.
(3) Don't even try to stir until the first 15 minutes are up. Don't worry about burning, the onions release a lot of water when they cook.
(4) I shouldn't have to mention this, but just to be safe: be careful when you take the bowls out of the oven, they are going to be HOT. I put the bowls all onto a baking sheet for stability and to make it easier to get them in and out of the oven. Make sure your guests know to be careful, too.
(5) OK, I forgot it.

#6.5 - Buttermilk Bread, the right way

2010-02-07T21:59:00.000-06:00

A week ago, I wrote about a loaf of Buttermilk Whole Wheat bread that I made; it was a happy accident, in that I mistakenly used whole wheat flour instead of "hard wheat". I tried doing it the "right" way, and while the whole wheat version was good, this version is awesome. Dorothy has even declared it better than the potato bread I bake for the holidays every year.(1)

This bread is a perfect sandwich bread, with light texture, a good crust, and a nice flavor from the buttermilk. It's also freakishly easy to make; while you have to devote half a day to the two risings and the baking, it only takes about 15 minutes of actual effort, so you can start it before lunch, then get some chores done and have fresh bread for dinner.

I made it the first time on Tuesday, and used it for grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. The loaf was gone by Saturday morning, when Dorothy had the last piece as toast for breakfast. I made another loaf on Sunday so we have sandwich bread for the week. This could easily be a new standing weekly ritual, it's that good.

Buttermilk Bread
2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
4 cups all purpose flour

Combine yeast, sugar, and water and allow to proof. Mix the remaining ingredients until it comes together into a dough, then add the proofed yeast mixture. If you are using a stand mixer, you will still want to knead by hand for 2-3 minutes at the end to make sure the dough comes together into a smooth ball (the dough is very dry and the stand mixer will leave it in clumps). If the yeast mixture doesn't add enough liquid to bring all of the dough together, add water a tablespoon or so at a time until it just does.

Butter a bowl, and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with butter, then allow to rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk (1-2 hours). Punch down, form into a loaf, and put into a prepared loaf pan to rise again (another 1-2 hours). Bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

#7 - Potato Leek Soup

2010-01-28T17:15:00.000-06:00

This is another dinner that came from a request by my wife. She was with me during my grocery shopping and saw some leeks. "Mmmm, potato leek soup!" said she. So into the cart went the leeks and some potatoes.

Later that week, I found myself with half a head of cabbage that needed using, and ended up roasting the potatoes with the cabbage and putting the leeks with some chicken in an Asian-style dish. So this past weekend while shopping, I once again picked up leeks and potatoes, and resolved not to let the soup get missed again.

Now, the most famous potato-and-leek soup is vichysoisse, a dish whose origin is debated, though many sources (as referenced in Wikipedia, for example) ascribe it to Louis Diat of the Ritz-Carlton. I personally don't like cold soups as a general rule, and I also try to limit my use of milk and cream, so I needed to go a different route. Rather than search for recipes, I decided to venture out on my own. What I ended up with was a cross between vichyssoise and baked potato soup, and it was delicious.

Easy Potato Leek Soup
1/4 lb bacon (3-4 slices), cut into pieces 3-4 inches long
2-3 leeks, chopped(1)
2-3 large potatoes, cubed
1 quart vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat your soup pot and cook the bacon. When the bacon is cooked, set aside the pieces to drain and crisp up. Sautee the leeks in the bacon fat for 3-4 minutes until they are soft and have soaked the fat up. Add the potatoes and cover with stock. Simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

When the potatoes are cooked, use an immersion blender or work in batches in your blender to puree the soup. Serve hot with crumbled bacon.

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(1) Remove the root end and the dark leaves, leaving the white and light green sections.

#6 - Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread

2010-01-27T14:00:00.001-06:00

Part of the point of my "Fifty New Things" is to get out of culinary ruts. I love baking, but for most of the last several years, the only loaf breads I have baked have been my Unbelievable Awesome Overnight Potato Bread(1), and my Amazingly Simple Whole Wheat Molasses Bread.This weekend I pulled out my trusty Beard on Bread and started thumbing through it, looking for something to try. I ran across his recipe for "Buttermilk White Bread"(2) and thought it sounded pretty good.

Where I made my mistake was in the ingredient list. His recipe calls for "4 cups unbleached hard-wheat flour". Now, as I later figured out, "hard wheat" refers to the gluten content of different varieties of flour (hard wheat having high protein as opposed to soft wheat which has high starch). "Hard wheat" is not the same as "whole wheat",which has the bran and germ left on when it's milled.

Whole wheat is denser and heavier than all-purpose "white" flour, so typically you see it mixed with all-purpose in a bread recipe. Very few call for nothing but whole wheat(3), so I raised an eyebrow when I mis-read the recipe as calling for 4 cups of whole wheat, but went on, trusting in good Mr. Beard.

Another unusual thing about this recipe is that he has you combine all of the ingredients other than the proofed yeast, then put the yeast mixture in. Most recipes I've made either start with the proofed yeast and add the other ingredients to it, or add the yeast mixture partway in. I was skeptical of this method, but again I trusted Mr. Beard, and it did in fact work out.

Once I had the ingredients all mixed and kneading in my Kitchenaid, I marvelled at how very dry the dough was, dryer than just about any bread I've made. This was when I reread the recipe, correctly read "hard wheat", and scratched my head. I wasn't sure it would even rise, but having gotten that far, I gamely continued on.

As it turns out, it did rise quite nicely, and ended up being a very tasty loaf. I let it cool, sliced it up, and it is now eagerly awaiting use for toast and sandwiches. I will say I am very glad for my stand mixer with its dough hook attachment; this would have been very difficult to bring together with a spoon and kneading by hand.

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread
2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk(4)
4 cups whole wheat flour

Combine yeast, sugar, and water and allow to proof. Mix the remaining ingredients until it comes together into a dough, then add the proofed yeast mixture. If you are using a stand mixer, you will still want to knead by hand for 2-3 minutes at the end to make sure the dough comes together into a smooth ball (the dough is very dry and the stand mixer will leave it in clumps).

Butter a bowl, and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with butter, then allow to rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk (1-2 hours). Punch down, form into a loaf, and put into a prepared loaf pan to rise again. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

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(1) Which I apparently haven't written up in blog form as of yet. I should remedy that...
(2) And if I had actually read the name of the recipe along with the ingredients, I might have prevented the mistake that was about to come ... but on the other hand, I wouldn't have made a discovery, either.
(3) Though the aforementioned Amazingly Simple Whole Wheat Molasses Bread is one of those that does.
(4) The original recipe called for "1 to 1 1/2 cups" of buttermilk. I only had 2 cups on hand, and wanted to keep the other cup for something else, so I only used 1 cup. This contributed to the curious dryness of the dough, but doesn't seem to have adversely affected the bread.

#5: Lamb and Potato Curry

2010-01-26T15:34:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday I decided it was time for something Indian. Going through my current favorite Indian cookbook, cookbynumbers indian, I found something that looked very tasty and a change of pace: Aloo Gosht, described as a "lamb and potato curry". I added a little too much broth and ended up with more of a stew than what was pictured in the book, but it was tasty nonetheless. I couldn't find the garam masala, so I had to do without, but I'm leaving it in my version here for future reference, as I think it would have been helpful to the final flavor.

Aloo Gosht - Lamb and Potato Curry
2lb boneless lamb, cubed
1lb potatoes, peeled and cubed
1c beef stock(1)

Bowl 1:
* 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, coursely chopped
* about 2 inches from a fresh ginger root, grated or finely chopped

Bowl 2:
* 2 tsp turmeric
* 1 tsp coriander
* 1 tsp cumin
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 2 tsp chili powder
* 6 cloves
* 6 cardamom pods

Bowl 3:
* 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
* 3 tsp garam masala
* 1 tsp salt

Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a large pan then add Bowl 1 and cook 3-4 minutes, until the onions are starting to brown. Add Bowl 2 and stir to coat the onion with spice, cooking another 1-2 minutes. Add the meat and again stir to coat with spices and brown the meat. Pour in stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes and stir well. Cover and continue to simmer another 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Add Bowl 3 and stir well. Leave uncovered and simmer another 5-10 minutes.

Normally I would have served a curry with rice, but I totally forgot to start any, so instead I served with naan and a bit of lebneh(2). Yumm!
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(1) I actually used broth, not stock. Culinarily I know I miss out on some flavors doing that, but I can get a good broth in quart boxes from Whole Foods that I like, and it's easy.

(2) To be culturally correct I should have used a regular yogurt, but lebneh is what I had on hand, and besides I love the stuff! Here's to cross-cultural meals!

#4: Roast Cabbage? Really? Yes, really.

2010-01-19T20:16:00.001-06:00

As I was waiting for scripts to run so I could debug them, I started catching up on several weeks backlog of The Kitchn. A couple of weeks back, as a "Easy Winter Recipe", they posted Roast Cabbage with Bacon. As it happens, I've been trying to figure out something to do with the other half head of cabbage leftover from my pot stickers. I don't happen to have any bacon on hand, but after reading the whole article and following a few links, I decided to try just roasting it with a little olive oil and salt as part of a larger dinner.

I pondered what that dinner might be as I drove home, and realized that if I have my oven hot and a pan only half filled with cabbage, I should really make use of the other half of that pan. Roasted potatoes! And now that I have my starch covered, what for the protein? Mentally walking through my freezer, I remembered some chicken breasts that have been around for a bit and needed to be cooked before they got freezer burn.

So once I got home, I defrosted the chicken, whipped up an asian-style marinade, and put together a pretty darn tasty dinner.

Asian Style Chicken and Leeks
1 full chicken breast
2 leeks
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tsp powdered garlic
1 tsp powdered ginger

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Cut the roots and dark leaves off of the leeks and discard; cut the leeks into thin rings. Mix the remaining ingredients into a marinade and pour over the chicken. Set aside for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 1-2 tsp of sesame oil and cook the leeks for 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken and marinade and cook until the chicken is done. Serve over roasted cabbage.

Roasted Cabbage
Quarter a head of cabbage and remove the core. cut the quarters into two or three sections each(1), drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 450° for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Roasted Potatoes
Cut 2-3 potatoes into pieces 1 to 2 inches across. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and garlic flakes. Roast at 450° for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

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(1) The more you cut the cabbage, the more "edge" you create, which will burn slightly, giving the cabbage a smoky flavor. If you like that flavor (as Dorothy does), cut it more; if not, cut it somewhat less.

#3 - Black Bean Soup

2010-01-16T20:47:00.000-06:00

No interesting story today. It's just been a long time since I made any soup, and I happen to have some black beans on hand. I wanted to go for a spicy style, like a Cuban, but every recipe I found calls for bell peppers, which Dorothy can't eat, and serving with sour cream, which I don't like. So, as I do so often, I improvised a bit. I made the sofrito with just onions and garlic, and I served it with lebne. The sharp flavor of the lebne went very well with the soup, and I highly recommend it.

Black Bean Soup
1 cup dried black beans
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1/4 cup water

Put the beans and stock in a soup pot and bring to a simmer for two hours.

Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil until the onions turn clear. Add the cumin, chili powder, and oregano and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Put the mixture in a blender with the water and puree. Stir into the beans and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Serve with a tablespoon of lebne, yogurt or sour cream.

#2 - Pot Stickers

2010-01-10T19:42:00.000-06:00

I got the idea and basic recipe from the wonderful blog The Kitchn. I used regular head cabbage instead of napa (primarily because I wasn't really thinking and picked up the wrong one...), and I couldn't find round dumpling wraps so instead I used square won ton wraps. I also chose to use ground pork as my meat, just because I like it. It's a bit of work, but well worth it. The best part is that each dumpling is only about 50 calories!

Pot stickers
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
1/2 lb ground pork (91% lean)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 package dumpling/won ton wrappers

Dipping sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar (rice preferred)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar

Chop the cabbage and mix thoroughly with the rest of the ingredients.(1) Put about a tablespoon of mixture onto each wrapper. Dip your finger in some water and trace the edge of the wrapper to moisten it. Bring the near and far edges of the wrapper together and pinch, then carefully bring the left and right edges up and pinch with the first two. You will now have a nice pouch; pinch the loose edges together to seal it up.

Once the dumplings are all shaped, heat a heavy lidded skillet over high heat. Once the pan is very hot(2), add about 2-3 tsp of sesame oil to the pan and swirl to cover the pan. Arrange dumplings in the pan in a single layer, then carefully(3) pour in 1/2 to 3/4 cups of water. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed. Once you stop seeing steam come out and can hear the dumplings sizzle on the pan, remove the lid and use a spatula to remove the dumplings. They will be stuck to the pan(4), so be careful with the spatula so that you don't leave the bottom of the dumpling behind.

Mix all ingredients for the dipping sauce and set within reach of everyone, or give each person their own small bowl for dipping.
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(1) If you are using a food processor -- and really, you should be, just sayin' -- you can chop it coarsely, as it will get processed down with the rest of the ingredients. If you live a sad life that lacks a food processor, you'll need to chop it more finely.
(2) Seriously. I rarely let the pan get this hot for anything, but if it's not hot enough it doesn't cook right. I figured this out the hard way on the second batch.
(3) It's going to start boiling immediately. Don't pour it in too slowly, or it will just boil off. Be careful as you pour so that the steam doesn't burn you.
(4) That's why they're called "Pot Stickers"!

Not new, but oh so yummy!

2010-01-07T20:07:00.000-06:00

Last night I pulled out some pork chops from the freezer to have tonight. I had no idea what I was going to do with them at the time. So tonight I opened the pantry and searched for inspiration.

I found it in the form of two cans: one of green beans and another of diced tomatoes. They whispered to me, reminding me that there were slivered almonds in the cabinet and feta cheese in the fridge ...

You see, back in the day when Dorothy and I were doing Middle Eastern music and dancing, we formed a group with several of our friends. We named ourselves the Aladeen family, and performed as Raqsat Aladeen. During this time, I learned about Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking, particularly Lebanese and Greek styles. Green bean dishes are common, mixed with various other ingredients. I experimented, got my family's feedback, and eventually settled on my own dish which we dubbed Green Beans Aladeen.

Having decided that the pork needed to be accompanied by Green Beans Aladeen, I pondered how to cook the meat. Consulting my old mentor(1) Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet), I discovered a simple Greek recipe that looked like it would serve nicely.

Finally, I thought some rice would be a nice finish. I happened to have a lot of rice cooked up from the last batch of spinach wraps, but it's been in the refrigerator long enough to get a bit dry. I plan to use it for fried rice soon, but figured I might be able to revive a bit to go with dinner.

So here's what I ended up with:

Greek Style Pork Chops

3 medium cut pork loin chops

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 stalks celery, chopped, with leaves

2 cloves garlic, diced

1-2 tsp whole cloves

2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Preheat a large pan with a lid on high heat. Put a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan and brown both sides of the meat. Carefully pour in the stock (the pan is hot enough to start the liquid boiling immediately, so watch for steam and splatters!) so that it comes up the sides of the meat without completely submerging it. Reduce the heat to low and cover with the chopped vegetables and cloves. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Green Beens Aladeen

1 15oz can green beans

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

2-3 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Drain the cans of beans and tomatoes(2) and combine in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir in the feta and almonds.

Reinvigorated Rice

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups cold cooked rice

Bring the stock to a simmer in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and stir the rice into the stock. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes or until the rice is heated through and rehydrated.

There you go. 1 hour from start to finish, one awesome meal. I even remembered to take a picture!

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(1) Not that I've actually met the man, of course, but I credit "the Fruge" as my first cooking teacher. For about six months when I was working part time, I watched his show on PBS over lunch and learned quite a bit.
(2) I'm serious here. Drain them well. When the tomatoes heat up they are going to release more liquid, and if you leave too much of the canning liquid, you're going to have soup once you add the cheese. It'll still taste fine, but you'll need to use a slotted spoon to serve it, and you'll lose some cheese to the soup.

#1 - Ragu alla Antonio

2010-01-04T19:27:00.002-06:00

ragu [ra-GOO, rah-GOO]
A staple of northern Italy's Bologna, ragu is a meat sauce that is typically served with pasta. Though different than the French RAGOUT, both are derived from the verb ragoûter , which means "to stimulate the appetite." Ragu usually contains ground beef, tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, white wine and seasonings. (1)

Many of the food blogs and recipe books I read have variations on beef with mixed vegetables, sometimes with cheese, sometimes without, usually with tomatoes. Most of them have at least one ingredient that either I or Dorothy won't (or can't) eat(2), so I decided to make my first of Fifty New Things be an exercise in creativity. I went for cheese but no tomatoes to get a less saucy, more gooey texture.

Ragu alla Antonio
1 cup (4 oz) dry elbow macaroni
1 cup diced onion
1-2 cloves diced garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
8 oz can whole kernel corn
4 oz can green chilies
10oz shredded cheddar and jack cheeses
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta to al dente. Preheat oven to 300°. While pasta is cooking, cook the sofritto of onions, garlic and celery in a tablespoon of olive oil until the onions are soft, translucent, and beginning to brown (about 5 minutes). Add ground beef and cook with chili, cayenne, salt, and pepper until the meat is fully browned. Add corn and mix completely.

Turn off heat and stir in pasta. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, add all but 2oz of the cheese and stir to combine. Top with the remaining cheese and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Makes four servings of approximately 520 calories each.

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(1) © Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbs, as found on Epicurious.com

(2) Like mushrooms. Blech!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T12:18:00.000-06:00

Had a lovely neighborhood New Year's gathering last night. I have awesome neighbors and we enjoy doing stuff together, but as our kids get older and have activities of their own, it gets harder and harder to get together, so these parties are always great. I made a batch of pumpkin bread, then decided that everyone needed a chance to try the new pretzel recipe. But while the large pretzels make great meals, they aren't so great for party snacks. So I made a double batch, then portioned each batch into a full dozen pieces (instead of just six) and made great mini-pretzels. Since they rolled out to the same diameter, they cooked in the same time, but made perfect little finger foods. Everyone loved them, and they went great with the queso dip!

So here we are in the new year, and resolutions are the big thing at this time of year. I don't usually bother, but this year I have two: The first is pretty standard for people my age: to resume my food logging and exercise as I can to maintain my weight and maybe even lose a bit more. My back trouble makes the exercise part difficult, but I'll do what I'm able.

The other is more personal. I am a creature of habit, and tend to find things I like and stick with them. I read a number of cooking and foodie blogs, and have amassed a collection of bookmarks of things I want to try. So my resolution this year is to try them. My theme for this year is going to be "Fifty New Things". This year I plan to make fifty new recipes. Breads, entrees, soups, sauces ... some big, some small, but all new. I picked the number fifty because that comes out to one new recipe a week, with two weeks off.

Today there's a New Year's Day party, then I'll be going through my bookmarks to pick my first new thing. It's going to be a good year!

Mmmm Pretzels!

2009-12-29T13:33:00.001-06:00

I absolutely love soft pretzels. Last night while reading my food blogs, I came across this recipe, and literally went straight to the kitchen to make them. The recipe is below, slightly altered to match my particular way of working.

Perfect Pretzels

1 cup milk
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda dissolved in 3 cups water

Additional butter for basting (2-3 tbsp)
Kosher salt or grated parmesan for topping

Warm the milk to about 110°(1) then add the yeast to proof. Once the yeast is bubbly, put it in the stand mixer and stir in the brown sugar and the first cup of flour. Once that is worked in, add the butter, and salt, then work in the remaining flour in two batches. Once the flour is all incorporated, lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Knead in just enough additional flour to make the dough into a smooth, slightly sticky ball. Place into a buttered bowl and set in a warm place to rise for one hour.

Once the dough has doubled in bulk, Preheat the oven to 450°. Punch the dough down then divide it into six parts. Roll each part into a rope about 30" long, and shape into pretzel shape.

Dissolve the baking soda in the water in a wide bowl. If using salt or cheese topping, put the topping on a plate in a thin layer. Submerge each pretzel in the baking soda bath then shake off the excess. If using topping, lay the pretzel on the topping and press down to coat, then place on the baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they have a nice dark brown color.

While the pretzels are baking, melt another 2-3 tablespoons of butter. When the pretzels come out, baste each one with butter then set aside to cool.

We devoured the entire batch, so today I made more. They are that good.

(1) From the refrigerator, 80-90 seconds in the microwave does the trick nicely

Practice makes perfect, and makes dinner, too!

2009-12-12T22:42:00.002-06:00

Tonight I decided to throw a few things together while trying out some new techniques. First, I've been working to master the art of cheese sauce. My previous attempts have not been successes: first, my bechamel failed; then, once I had a good bechamel, once I added the cheese I got a grainy goo. Fortunately, our local Whole Foods happens to have a wonderful cheese specialist who gave me a key fact: cheddar, on its own, is not suited for sauces. It tends to clump and turn grainy even in the best base. To make a good sauce, you have to mix the cheddar with a better melting cheese. She recommended Italian fontal in an equal ratio with the cheddar. With that in mind, I got a lovely, smooth sauce. Now that I have that worked out, next I will work on different flavors with different cheese blends.

Cheese sauce (Cheddar/Fontal)

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1 cup whole milk, cold

4 oz cheddar, shredded

4 oz fontal, shredded

Shred and blend the two cheeses so that they are evenly mixed and set aside.(1)

Heat a heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pan. Once the bubbles have stopped, add the flour and stir. Continue stirring while the roux cooks for 4-5 minutes. Add the milk and continue stirring for another 5-10 minutes to thicken the bechamel. Do not let the milk start to boil, and keep stirring to prevent burning on the bottom. Once the sauce starts to thicken, remove from the heat and begin adding the cheese a little at a time. Allow each addition to melt and completely incorporate before adding the next. If the sauce cools too much, put back on medium heat for a bit, but take off the heat again before adding more cheese.

The second new technique I wanted to practice was "baked" rice. According to one site I read, cooking rice in the oven rather than the stovetop produces more predictable and better results. My theory is that the oven provides more even heating (rather than all the heat coming from the bottom of the pot). As a side bonus, the pot was easier to clean, too! I usually have at least a little rice stuck/burned on the bottom but not this time. And the rice was well cooked, just a little sticky, and full-flavored. For this batch, I added some onion and garlic, and next time I think I'll try putting some spices in as well.

Oven cooked rice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups white rice

3 cups water

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

Preheat oven to 350°

Heat an oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the hot pot and turn the pot to coat the bottom. Add the rice and stir for 2-3 minutes to coat the rice in oil and toast lightly. Add the onion and garlic, then all the water. Once it comes to a boil, stir once then put the lid on the pot and put into the oven. Cook for 13 minutes, then remove the pot from the oven and set it aside for another 5 minutes before removing the lid. Fluff and serve.

As I said, this worked like a charm. The water was completely absorbed, the rice was perfect, and clean up was a breeze!

To go with my rice and cheese sauce, I decided to brown some ground beef and stir up a casserole.

Cheesy Beef and Rice Casserole

1/2 pound ground beef, with cumin and chili powder to taste

1/2 cup pureed black beans (2)

2 cups cooked rice

3/4 to 1 cup cheese sauce

1-2 oz shredded cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook the ground beef and drain the fat. Stir the meat and rice together, then add the beans and cheese sauce and combine thoroughly. Place in an oven safe casserole dish or pot and top with the shredded cheese. Bake to heat through(3) then turn on the broiler for 3 minutes to get the top bubbly.

Yum! We were both pretty hungry, so Dorothy and I ate the whole dish between us for dinner. As part of a larger meal (or if we had eaten more at lunch) this might have been three servings.
________________________________________

(1) Mixing the cheeses evenly is key. According to Jeaneane (Cheesemonger extraordinaire), this is the way to make sure that the clumping qualities of the cheddar are properly diluted and get a smooth sauce.
(2) Last night was burrito night; for black bean burritos I drain a 15oz can of beans and run them through my food processor with a bit of chili powder and cumin. This is every bit as good as any "refried" beans I've ever had, and doesn't have the added fat of refritos .
(3) In my case, the rice and cheese sauce were still warm from having just been cooked, so it only took 5 minutes to heat the casserole through. If your rice or cheese don't start out warm, you'll need to allow more time to heat it up.

Soup is good food!

2009-12-01T19:38:00.001-06:00

As I was driving home in the dark, dreary, cold rain, I pondered (as I am wont to do in such times) dinner. It occurred to me that this was such a day as my dear wife would enjoy soup. Soup! Just the thing to warm the body and the spirit! But what sort of soup? Again, my thoughts turned to my dear wife, who happens to be partial to potato soup in its various forms. And lo! There are potatoes in my pantry!

I consulted the Interwebz, and was provided with a number of recipes, this one using cream, this other milk, and still another calling for a white roux. The potatoes should be red, and boiled; no, they must be baked russets!

So with a staggering variety of options, I decided to blaze my own trail. The result was quite yummy, and well received by the aforementioned dear wife. Yay!

Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
water to cover
1/2 cup milk
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 strips of bacon. cooked and crumbled

Put the potatoes, onion, and garlic in a soup pot and cover with water. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes). With the heat on low, add the milk and stir to begin breaking up the potato cubes. Add about half of the cheese a little at a time, stirring each addition until it is fully melted and incorporated. Serve in soup bowls topped with additional cheese and bacon.

YUM!

Did someone say "Dessert"?

2009-11-23T22:18:00.002-06:00

I just spent three days in Gamer Geek heaven: BoardGameGeekCon, put on right here in DFW by the good folks at BoardGameGeek. This annual event always scores three of my vacation days, and while it is loads of fun, it also means three days where I don't really see my lovely wife and amazing child, as I come home after they are in bed and either sleep in until after they leave for work and school, or get my sorry butt out of bed and back into the fray early. Either way, they graciously allow me to be absent for a long weekend, for which I am quite grateful.

So grateful, in fact, that I made sure to make time on Sunday to bake for Dorothy's office "Dessert Buffet", with plenty left over to keep for the Big Feast coming up this week (at least, I hope they'll last that long ...). I made two items for her to take along: one family recipe for which I have become well known among my friends, and one I found at the awesome Buns In My Oven blog.

First, I made a batch of these lovely little "donut muffins". I made the first batch exactly according to the directions, and while they were very tasty, the batter didn't mix together quite right and the texture wasn't as light as I'd like. So when I made the second batch, I altered the recipe a bit to follow what Alton Brown calls "The Muffin Method". I achieved my goal: a lighter, fluffier, more muffin-y texture. Here is my version:

Sugar Donut Muffins (based on a recipe from BunsInMyOven.com)
    * 3/4 cup sugar
    * 1/4 cup vegetable oil
    * 3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
    * 1 large egg
    * 1 tsp vanilla extract

    * 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
    * 2 tsp baking power
    * 1/4 tsp salt
    * 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

    * 2 tablespoons melted butter, for dipping
    * 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling
    * 1 tablespoon cinnamon, for rolling

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large bowl beat together sugar, oil, milk, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In another bowl (or a food processor) mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the dry mix to the liquid and stir just enough to bring together. Do not overmix.

Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for about 15 minutes until tester comes out clean.

Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir together sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl. When the muffins are done allow to cool for a few minutes, until you are able to handle them easily. Dunk the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Makes 24 mini-muffins or 12 regular muffins

My other contribution to the Dessert Buffet is a variation on my mother's Pumpkin Bread. When I was a kid, she would make this bread in used coffee tins, which I always found fascinating, as it produced a perfectly circular slice. I don't drink coffee, and while Dorothy does, she doesn't drink the sort that comes in large tins, so I generally just bake this in bread pans. Recently I tried baking it in mini-muffin pans, and that worked perfectly, giving bite sized nuggets of joy. For this time, I decided to try out my new mini-loaf pans, and got a set of lovely little loaves, which I think will be the perfect size to give as part of a baked-goods Winter-Holiday-of-Your-Choice basket.

I also was fortunate to have picked up a batch of fresh cooked pumpkin from a neighbor, which is always a bonus. Alex has given the thumbs-up to fresh pumpkin; the texture (and color) came out a bit lighter, but the flavor is excellent. The fresh cooked pumpkin was watery compared to the canned sort, so I reduced the water a bit. Otherwise, the recipe works the same either way.

Pumpkin Bread (family recipe)
    * 2 cup (or 1 can) cooked pumpkin
    * 3 cup sugar
    * 2/3 cup water
    * 1 cup corn oil
    * 4 eggs

    * 3 1/2 cup flour
    * 2 tsp baking soda
    * 1 1/2 tsp salt
    * 4 tsp cinnamon
    * 1 tsp nutmeg

    * (optional) 1 cup chopped pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease muffin tin or break pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl beat together pumpkin, sugar, water, oil, and eggs until smooth. In another bowl (or a food processor) mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

If making muffins or mini-muffins: Add the dry mix to the liquid and stir just enough to bring together. Do not overmix. If using pecans, add them and stir in. Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until tester comes out clean.

If making bread loaves or mini-loaves: Add the dry mix to the liquid and mix until smooth. If using pecans, add them and stir in. Pour into bread pans. Bake for 35-50 minutes depending on size of pans, until tester comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves, 7-8 mini-loaves, two dozen muffins, or four dozen mini-muffins.

I'm strong to the finich, cuz I eats me spinach!

2009-11-03T16:19:00.002-06:00

... but not that nasty, slimy stuff you get in a can. I suspect that eating that stuff is how Popeye's eye got that way.

No, the way to eat spinach is fresh, and combined with things to help the texture and provide a flavor contrast. Spanakopita is one favorite way, but I just learned a new one. Wil Wheaton made a comment about a spinach wrap from Trader Joe's and linked a recipe; this is my version of that:

Spinach-Lentil wraps
1 cup cooked spinach (about 8 oz fresh leaves or about 2/3 of a package of frozen)
1 cup cooked lentils
1 cup cooked rice
2 oz yogurt or kefir
6-8 oz shredded kesseri cheese
flour tortillas (number depends on size; I get about 8 or 9 wraps using fajita sized tortillas)

Preheat a panini press to medium-high if you have one; otherwise use a griddle or cast iron skillet.

Rinse your spinach leaves and shake off most of the water, then cook, covered, in a lightly oiled skillet or wok, stirring every few minutes until the leaves are all wilted. (If using frozen, microwave the package until hot and drain off the excess water.)

Mix the spinach, lentils, rice, and yogurt in a mixing bowl until everything is coated with yogurt and the mix sticks together a bit.

Prepare the wraps by putting about an ounce of cheese in a strip in the center, then spooning some of the spinach mix on top. Make sure to leave room at both ends for folding. To fold, lay the tortilla so that the strip of filling is running horizontally in front of you. Take the bottom edge up to the top, and pull back, tucking the filling in. Now tuck the left and right edge in and flip the whole thing over onto the last flap. (If you've ever watching a burrito being folded at Chipotle, this is how I'm doing it. It works well.)

Grill the wraps in the panini press for 10-15 seconds to brown the tortilla and seal it. If you are using a griddle or skillet, you'll need to press down to flatten it, and cook both sides. Alternately, if you have a cast iron skillet or two, you can try a technique Alton Brown demonstrated on Good Eats for making grilled cheese: after you put your wrap on the griddle or the larger of the two skillets, set the other skillet on top of it. The heat is just as good on the bottom of the pan as the top, and the weight of the skillet does the same job as the panini press.

The original recipe called for stirring the cheese into the mix, but I like having it separate so it melts against the tortilla.

Let me tell you, these things are seriously good and packed with nutrition. Using fajita tortillas, I calculate these babies are about 250 calories each, and nearly half of that is the tortilla. They also freeze and reheat well: wrap in a paper towel and microwave for about 1 minute 45 seconds. They aren't crispy like they are when freshly grilled, but just as tasty.

Simple Elegance

2009-10-21T20:17:00.002-05:00

Driving home from work, I was considering the various leftover options I had for dinner, and none of them really appealed to me. I mentally worked my way around the refrigerator, and noticed the buttermilk. Pancakes! But that's a big load of carbs; for dinner I want something to go with it ... how about eggs? But how ... scrambled? Over easy? Some sort of omelette?

Then it hit me ... let's step it up a bit, go for something a little more elegant than just "eggs and pancakes". So I give you, "Oeufs al'Antoine":

Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp butter, melted

Stir the dry ingredients together in one bowl, and the wet in another. Pour the wet onto the dry and stir just enough to bring together. There will be lumps, but that's ok. As Alton always says, "Just walk away." Let the batter rest while your griddle warms up to 350°, then use a 1 oz disher to scoop batter out. Cook the first side until you see bubbles popping on top of the batter, and the edges start to dry. Flip once and cook the other side. Store in a cool oven on a plate or cookie sheet with a towel over the top while you finish cooking the whole batch.

Once the pancakes are all cooked, heat a nonstick skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, give it a light coating of butter or oil. Depending on the skillet size, crack one or two eggs, doing your best to center the yolks. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top of the eggs and cover with the lid. In about two minutes or so (depending on the heat) the tops of the eggs should be set. Slide an egg onto each pancake and top with fresh parmesan.

Bon appetit!

Come on down to Tony's Diner!

2009-10-18T18:14:00.000-05:00

We're cooking up burgers today! Not just any burgers, but good old fashioned roadhouse "sliders" on fresh baked potato rolls!

To start with, we need the rolls. Good bread takes time, but even so this recipe isn't all that intensive. Mostly it just needs time to rise:

1 pkg (1/4 oz) yeast
1 1/2 cup warm potato water(1)
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup potatoes, mashed(2)
4-5 cups all purpose flour

In the bowl of your stand mixer, proof the yeast in 1/2 cup of the potato water with 1 tbsp of the sugar. Once the yeast is foamy, add the remaining water, sugar, salt, and butter, and beat until well mixed. Add the potatoes and continue mixing for 2-3 minutes. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next. At around 3 or 3 1/2 cups, the dough will be thick enough to switch to a dough hook if you have one. Continue adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough is pulling away from the bowl. Depending on the humidity, this should be at about 4 or 4 1/2 cups.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until you have a smooth, satiny dough. You may have to add up to another 1/2 cup of flour. Once it is smooth, form into a ball and place into a buttered bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.(3)

When you are ready to continue, take the dough out and punch it down, then let it rest for 10 minutes. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish with baking spray or butter.

To prepare the rolls, place the dough onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into equal sized portions and arrange those portions into your baking dish.(4) Place in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.(5)

Bake at 400° for 16-20 minutes until golden brown.

Once these babies are in the oven, we start preparing the meat. We're doing regular hamburgers as well as grilled chicken, portioned out to fit nicely on the rolls.

Following Alton Brown's instructions from his "Man Food Show" episode, we roll a pound of ground chuck out nice and thin (using a sheet pan, or just eyeballing the size and shape). We sprinkle the top with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and onion and garlic powder, then fold the meat over longways, pat it together, and cut into eight squares with a pizza cutter. Finally we put them on a 350° griddle for 3-4 minutes on a side.

For the grilled chicken burgers, we take a split chicken breast and cut each side into three pieces. The thicker portions get flattened out a bit by folding a piece of waxed paper over each piece, then hitting them with a rolling pin a few times. With a bit of olive oil on the griddle we cook them like the burgers, 4 minutes on a side at 350°.

Each burger is served with a bit of your favorite sauce (mayo is mine), some grilled onions, and a slice of cheese. They're small but packed with flavor! Come on down and order yours now!

__________________

(1) This is the water you cooked the potatoes in. Since I do a lot of potato bread, I'll boil up five or six potatoes at a time, then portion both the potatoes and the water into baggies (1 cup of potato or water in each) and freeze them so I can get out just as much as I need at baking time.

(2) Don't add any salt or butter. This isn't a side dish, it's an ingredient.

(3) Potato bread is a wondrous thing. It does its first rise in the refrigerator, and you can let this go until the next day, allowing you to prep the dough the day before a big dinner. The next day you just get it out, let it warm up, and pop it in the oven.

(4) For the sliders, I went with 16 fairly large rolls by cutting the dough into halves four times. You could also do 24 more dinner-roll sized rolls by cutting the dough first into thirds, then cutting those into halves three more times.

(5) If you refrigerated for the minimum 2 hours, the second rise should take 40 minutes to an hour. If you refrigerate longer, the rise will take longer as the dough has to warm up, so allow enough time and watch the volume of the rolls. I find it helps to put the oven on "warm" (about 170°) for about 5-10 minutes to create a good rising spot. I cover the pan with a towel a spritz a tiny bit of water onto the towel to keep the top of the dough moist but not wet.

Baketoberfest!

2009-10-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I decided that it was time to do some baking. I got my shopping done, washed all the dishes, organized the tupperware, and straightened the kitchen. This morning I got up, emptied the dishwasher, lined up my various ingredients and tools, and started in.

First off I needed breakfast, and two overripe bananas beckoned to me ...

Banana Bread
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 very ripe bananas
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. In another bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs and bananas and mix well. Combine the lemon juice with the milk (the milk may curdle a bit). Alternately add the flour mix and the milk to the main bowl starting and ending with the flour, stirring well after each addition. Stir in the nuts, then pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

Besides the bananas, I had the remains of a pint of strawberries, two plums starting to shrivel up, and an apple. I skinned the apple and plums and diced all the fruit up into their own bowls. Each got 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and bit of flour (plus the apples got some cinnamon) and all got set aside to macerate. Yes indeed, later there will be fruit pies!

While the fruits gave up their juices, I prepared the filling for the meat pies. This is essentially a sloppy joe mix, with a little less liquid than you might use for sandwiches, since I was planning to bake it into pies.

Sloppy Joes
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz tomato paste mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/8 cup ketchup
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp black pepper

Brown the meat in a heavy skillet. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook until the onions are clear. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This mixture got set aside next to the bowls of fruit while I prepared the pie crust. At this point, my brain went in an odd direction, and I made not one, but two complete batches of the WRONG pie crust recipe ...

Pie Crust #1 (Great for large dish pies, not so good for pocket pies)
6 tbsp butter
2 tbsp shortening
6 oz flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water (preferably in a spray bottle)

Cut the butter and shortening into small pieces and place in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Pulse the flour and salt in a food processor to mix and aerate. Add the butter and pulse 4-5 times to mix. Add the shortening and pulse another 4-5 times. Add water a tiny amount at a time to the processor and pulse 2-3 times after each addition. The best way to do this is by spritzing it from a spray bottle, which adds it as a mist rather than all together. Continue adding water and pulsing until the dough is just wet enough that it holds its shape when you squeeze a ball together into your fist. Once it reaches that point, give one more addition of water, then pour the mixture into a gallon sized zip top bag. Compress the flour mixture into a tight ball, then close the bag and refrigerate for 5 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water.

Bring the bag out and open the top, but do not remove the ball. Press it flat in the center of the bag, and then use a rolling pin to roll it out. Once the dough is rolled out to the full size of the bag, use a knife or scissors to open the bag.

I rolled out the first batch of dough and started to cut rounds for the fruit pies ... then when I tried to fold the dough over to seal the pies I noticed it was too dry and flaky ... I managed to get a couple made, but it was clear something was wrong, though I hadn't yet figured out what. While I pondered that, I decided to make some cookies:

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 cup sugar
2 weggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream butter with both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse several times to mix and aerate. Add in small batches to the creamed butter mix and combine well after each addition. Once everything is well combined, stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. Use a spoon or a disher (3/4 oz for smaller cookies, 1 oz for larger ones) to drop dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes at 350°.

While baking the cookies, I finally realized that I had been using the wrong pie crust recipe. I found the correct one and made another two batches:

Pie Crust #2 (Awesome for pocket pies)
10 oz flour (about 2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 oz shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water

Pulse the flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor to mix and aerate. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening and mix with your hands to distribute the shortening through the flour until you get a crumbly texture. Add the milk all at once and stir with a spatula to bring it together. You may have to add a small amount of additional flour to get it dry enough to roll out.

Lightly flour the countertop and roll the dough thinly. The dough will be very springy, and will get more so the longer it rests and even more so when you gather scraps and re-roll for additional pies, so work quickly and carefully.

Cut the dough into disks with a cookie cutter. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of your filling into the center of the disk, brush the edges with the beaten egg wash, and fold over. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges, then dock the pie once or twice with the fork. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°.

Two batches of this gave me enough to make my meat pies and plum pies. For the meat pies, I used a 6 inch diameter disk which I filled with 3-4 spoonfuls of the Sloppy Joe mix and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar. The plum pies went on 4 inch diameter disks, with 1-2 spoonfuls of plums and a little of the juice.

I didn't have enough flour left for another batch of pocket pie dough, so I tried to get creative for the apple and strawberry. I rolled out a batch of the original pie crust and cut it into disks which I used to line the cups of a muffin tin. I spooned apple and strawberry filling into seperate cups and baked it along with the pies. Unfortunately, the dough didn't really firm up right ... it could be the humidity, might be the small amount of whole wheat flour I used along with the white flour, or maybe the oven temperature (the pie crust would normally have baked at 450°, but I didn't want to change the oven temperature while I was baking everything else). When I tried to remove the tarts from the muffin tins, the dough just disintegrated. So I just dumped it all into two bowls (one for the apple, one for the strawberry), stirred it up, and called it "crumble".

So that's it, Baketoberfest 2009. 6 hours, 3 dozen cookies, 1 dozen large meat pies, a half dozen plum pies, a loaf of banana bread, and a small batch each of strawberry and apple crumble. My feet hurt, but I had a good day. Now I just have to find someone willing to help us eat all of this ...

Eggsperimentation!

2009-10-05T20:24:00.002-05:00

OK, yeah, I know. It's not even original. Sometimes you just go with the classics, though. :)
__________________

Several years ago, we had to work on a Saturday to do a major software upgrade; the installation and testing were going to take most of the day, so the head of IT kept us fed. For breakfast, in addition to the usual assortment of bagels, he had something the breakfast shop called "Breakfast Pizza". It turned out to be a buttery biscuit base with scrambled eggs and sausage toppings. Once I had made Alton Brown's biscuit recipe, the buttery taste made me think of that "pizza", so I decided to try to make one of my own. It wasn't quite what I was after, but it's a step in the right direction. I'll give you what I did, then below tell how I plan to change it next time out.

Breakfast Pizza, version 1

1 recipe Alton Brown's biscuits

6-8 strips bacon

1 - 1.5c cheddar cheese, shredded

8 eggs

Cook the bacon, cut into pieces, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 450°. (1)

Prepare the biscuit recipe and spread it out in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish(2). Top with 2/3 of the shredded cheddar and the bacon. Scramble the eggs and pour into the pan, then top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the biscuit is cooked and the egg set.

It turned out quite tasty, but the dough really rises a lot. Also, the egg cooked up more like a quiche than scrambled eggs (which I should have expected, really). Next time I think I'll only use half of the dough recipe in a 9x9 pan, then add the first bit of cheese and start the baking. While it's in the oven, I'll cook the eggs in a pan to get them mostly set as scrambled eggs. At about 8 minutes I'll pull the pan out, add the eggs and bacon (or maybe sausage), and return it to the oven to finish everything off. It'll take a bit of timing to do right, but I think it'll be worth it. I'll report back when I try it.
_______________

(1) I cooked the bacon in the oven (laid out on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet to catch the drippings, oven set at 450°), so that it was already hot enough for the biscuits.

(2) This is easier said than done. The dough is too wet and sticky to roll out, but too thick to spread like a cake batter. Use a silicone spatula and be patient. It won't be smooth, but you can get a pretty even layer if you work at it.

Brisket Tacos

2009-09-29T13:18:00.003-05:00

No stories today, just a nice report of an improvised recipe. One of our many former housemates used to use green chilies to make a very flavorful but non-spicy stew. During my weekly "What should I cook this week?" conversation with Dorothy, she mentioned that. I decided to make a variation to use as taco/burrito filling, and it turned out quite nice. I did this on Sunday afternoon, when I could let it cook for a long time; with the right cut (and shape) of meat, you could do this in the slow cooker just as well.

Green chili brisket tacos
1.5lb flat cut brisket beef (1)
2-3 medium baking potatoes (or 5-6 new potatoes), diced into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, bruised (2)
1 5oz can of diced green chilies
Vegetable or beef stock (about 1 cup depending on your dish)
Red wine (optional) (about 1/2 cup depending on your dish, or to taste)
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Corn or flour tortillas
Oaxaca cheese

Preheat oven to 325°.

Oil a baking dish large enough to hold the meat and vegetables. Salt and pepper the beef and place it in the center of the pan. Arrange the potatoes, onions, and garlic around the meat. Spoon the chilies across the top of the meat. Pour in enough of the stock and wine to come about halfway up the meat. Cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and cook for 2 hours. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the dish and shred it. Return to dish and mix well with the vegetables. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes to let the meat soak up the remainder of the liquid and blend the flavors. Serve on tortillas with oaxaca.

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(1) I'll be honest here, I didn't pay close attention to the actual cut; I asked my butcher if he had anything good for brisket on sale, and just used what he gave me.
(2) I just set the flat of my big knife across the clove and give it a light hit. The idea isn't to smash it flat, just open it up and release some of the oils.

Sometimes magic sounds like tape

2009-09-20T19:17:00.001-05:00

I have quite a collection of pots, pans, bowls, and cooking utensils. Most of the time I only need a fraction of them, though I do find times to use each one, based on size and shape. I could do with fewer, I suppose. I could lose the smaller mixing bowls and just use the larger ones; I really only need a couple of spoons, or a single ladle. But every now and then, the stars misalign, and things don't go quite as planned. You have to press some extra equipment into duty to get the job done. Sometimes magic sounds like tape (around 4:45 here, in case you don't get the reference), and sometimes cooking sounds like muffled curses and extra pots and pans.
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I have a number of cookbooks and websites I read not to actually cook the recipes, but just to kickstart my imagination. Left to my own devices, I'll slowly work myself into a rut of cooking the same two or three things every week; when I realize I'm doing it, I start reading my cookbooks and searching sites for ideas.

One of the books I have is of the "30 minute meals" variety. It features ways to use various frozen vegetables, canned soups and sauces, and premade biscuits(1). One of these was a chicken pot pie, using leftover chicken (from a presumed prior chicken meal), canned Cream of Chicken soup, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and a famous layered biscuit-in-a-tube to make the crust.

Since my purpose is to cook (for fun, health, and profit(2)), I decided to make my own pot pie. Starting at the top, I realized that the only choice for a crust was Alton Brown's amazing biscuits, which I so enjoyed when I made the fruit crostada. For the filling, I had to come up with meat, veggies, and sauce. Since I don't cook a whole chicken very often, and since Dorothy doesn't care for dark meat anyway, I decided to roast and shred a chicken breast. I went with a standard mix of vegetables: potato, celery, carrot, and garlic, with some green onion mixed in, just for fun. Instead of a cream-soup based sauce, I decided to instead do a roux thickened stock.

Thus, with plan in hand, I got to work. Things started out pretty well, but as I was free-wheeling it, I made some mistakes, and had to go into Emergency Management mode. Hence my thankfulness for the extra pots and bowls. Ready to start keeping score?

I started off really well. My timing was nearly perfect. My chicken breasts were frozen from an earlier purchase(3), so I thawed them in the microwave [small dish] then put them in the oven to roast [cookie sheet with aluminum foil]. While that was going I chopped the vegetables and set them aside [cutting board, medium mixing bowl]. Then I made a roux and added some chicken broth [medium heavy pot]. Once I got that to simmering, I added the vegetables to precook and to let the starch help thicken the sauce. About that time, the chicken got done cooking, so I took it out and shredded it, set the meat aside [baking dish], and turned the oven up to 450°.

After a while, the sauce seemed to stop getting any thicker. It wasn't quite where I had hoped it would be, but I decided to just bully on. I went to pour the veggies and sauce into the baking dish, and discovered that it was way more volume than I had intended, so I divided the mixture into two portions [baking dish #2]. Both dishes were still nearly full to the top, leaving little room for the biscuit topping; plus, I just wasn't happy with the consistency of the sauce: it was too thin and soupy. I decided to go back and try to fix it, so I strained the sauce out of the meat and vegetable mixer [colander, reuse mixing bowl from before] and returned it to the heat [reuse heavy pot from before]. This time I cranked the heat and let it boil. I put the meat and vegetables into baking dish #1, and without the thin sauce it actually fit exactly how I had expected it to. I packed it down just a bit, and waited for the sauce. Eventually it did come together, and I poured it over the meat and vegetables, just to the top.

While the sauce was thickening, I made the biscuit dough [food processor, mixing bowl #2 and #3 (because I had to mix the wet and dry separately)]. I knew I was going to have some trouble with it, as it's a very wet dough. Dorothy suggested basically cutting biscuits and laying them across the top(4) which sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, the dough isn't really cuttable; I gave it a good try, but then couldn't effectively lift the dough roudns. In the end, I just ended up spooning it onto the top of the dish and making a layer that way. Into the oven (finally!) it went, and 15 minutes later, it was done.

Final score: cutting board, food processor, cookie sheet, dish for microwave; three mixing bowls; two baking dishes; colander; several wooden spoons; various knives, forks, and spoons. Next time I'll be able to reduce the overall damage, I think. Planning ahead I'll be able to make more efficient use of my equipment.

Despite the issues with the sauce, ultimately I ended up with a wonderful pot pie, and I'll definitely make this again. Next time, though, I'll know to precook the vegetables, then strain them immediately and finish thickening the sauce, and reduce the overall pot and utensil count.

Chicken Pot Pie
1 whole split chicken breast
3 new potatoes, chopped small
2 carrots, chopped small
3 celery stalks, chopped small
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 quart chicken broth
1 recipe Alton Brown's biscuits

Bake the chicken breast in a 350° oven for 15-20 minutes, then shred and place in the bottom of a 9" baking dish. Once the chicken is out, turn the oven up to 450°.

While the chicken cooks, make a roux from the flour and butter in a heavy pot, then add the broth. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes, carrots, celery, green onions, and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes have softened. Strain the vegetables out and stir into the chicken. Return the broth to a full boil and reduce. When the sauce is thickened sufficiently, pour over the meat and vegetables.

Prepare the biscuit dough and spoon into a layer on top of the meat and vegetables. (It is going to rise quite a bit, so don't make it too thick unless you want a LOT of bread with your meal. Use the leftover dough to make a crostata or just some extra biscuits for tomorrow's breakfast. Yum!) Bake for 15 minutes, then let cool before serving.

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(1) In fact, it is filled with very specific suggestions as to which of these to use. I suspect the publisher is related to a particular packaged foods distributor, though I haven't cared enough to actually research it.

(2) The profit is theoretical, in that cooking from fresh ingredients should be cheaper than precooked stuff. Whether that turns out to be true or not I haven't determined, but it's generally tastier and more fun.

(3) I had had plans to make chicken alfredo last week, but things happened, and I ended up having to freeze the chicken for later. Guess what? It's later!

(4) As Alton Brown himself actually did on Good Eats, though with a different (much drier) biscuit recipe.

A beer is a just a beer, but a stout is more like a meal!

2009-09-14T13:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (with some trepidation) I chilled and tasted the stout that I recently made. Part of the trepidation is the "recently" part -- the recipe I followed calls for a single ferment stage of two weeks, and then two weeks bottle conditioning. I really doubted that a stout would come out with such a short rack. The other part of the trepidation was that when I took the specific gravity reading at bottling time, I ended up with a net expected alcohol content of only 3%. If true, what I ended up with was definitely not going to be "stout". But I bullied on, bottled it up, and let it sit.

When I opened the bottle, I was greeted with a good stout aroma, which gave me hope. I poured it into a pint glass and LO! A lovely stout head formed, and stuck around for a pretty good time for a non-nitrogen pour. My heart lifted as I took a sip -- and was rewarded with a lovely flavor. Feeling much better about it, I sat down to enjoy the glass. By the end, I decided that I must have made a mistake on one of the readings, because there was definitely more than 3% alcohol in that glass. Joy!

The recipe is "Ms Bessy's Moo-Moo Milk Stout" from The Brewmaster's Bible, a marvelous book with a load of information for the aspiring brewer and a ton of beer recipes for every style of beer. The name is an intentionally silly reference to the addition of lactose to the brew to give it a creamy mouth feel. I think it also does a nice job of arresting some of the sharp roastiness (that coffee-like flavor) of many stouts. The only variation I made to the recipe was because I couldn't get unhopped dark malt extract, so I used hopped extract and reduced the additional hops down to 1 oz.

So now my beverage fridge is filled with the brown ale from last month plus this stout. In another two weeks there will be a new batch of cider to chill as well. It's going to get a bit crowded in there!

Baking Day! Whole Wheat and Molasses loaf and Fruit Crostata

2009-09-12T20:11:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to try out an idea I found on The Kitchn for a biscuit crostata. They basically say "use your favorite biscuit recipe, then top with thinly sliced fruit." They used peaches, but since Dorothy doesn't like peach, I decided to go with apples. Dorothy also suggested strawberry and kiwi, which sounded pretty nice as well. So off I went to the farmer's market for a load of fruit, and when I came home I started in.

For a biscuit recipe, I turned to Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food, the companion to his earlier I'm Just Here for the Food.(1) In More Food, he breaks down baking into several "methods", including the Biscuit Method, the Creaming Method. and the Muffin method (among others). He explains the science behind what is happening, and why there are different techniques for different types of baked goods. After making this biscuit recipe, I don't know that I can ever make another. It's freakin' messy as a dough, and cutting it to make individual biscuits would be tricky, but even just making a sheet biscuit and cutting it yields an amazing result.

Fruit Crostata on Alton Brown's amazing biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 tbps (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, frozen

1 cup buttermilk (2)

1/3 cup plain yogurt (2)

1 egg

Sliced fruit (see below)

Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 450°.

Mix the dry ingredients together well (pulsing in a food processor does this very well and very quickly). Use a box grater to grate the frozen butter, yielding butter shavings. Put the butter into the flour mixture and toss to spread around and coat the butter with flour. Then use your fingertips to rub the butter and flour together until about half of the butter has disappeared into the flour. Put the bowl in the freezer.

Mix the wet ingredients together and beat well. Bring the bowl of flour back and pour the liquid in. Use a rubber or silicon spatula to mix it all together. When you are done you will have a very wet, sticky dough that is closer to a batter than what you usually think of as biscuit dough.

Lay out a 18-20 inch piece of waxed paper on the counter and dust it lightly with flour. Pour the batter into the center, and use the ends to fold the dough on top of itself. (The paper will protect your hands from getting the dough all stuck to them. Club hand is not your friend!) This is a somewhat messy process, and you'll need to watch that the dough doesn't escape out the top or bottom edge of the waxed paper. Give it about three or four folds from each side to get it "kneaded" and well mixed.

Now we have to get it onto the sheet pan(3). Since I wasn't cutting out biscuits that could be individually put onto the tray, I had to get creative. After a couple of false starts, I found a trick that worked: Get the dough spread out so that it is about 1/2 inch thick (don't worry about getting it uniform, it's not going to happen. Just estimate.) Dust the top with flour, then lay out a piece of parchment paper(4) on top of it. Carefully slide a cutting board underneath your waxed paper, then lay your sheet pan face down on top. Now flip! Peel back the waxed paper (yes, a fair amount of dough will be lost to the waxed paper. Sad, but true.) and you have a somewhat rectangular mass of biscuit dough ready to go.

For the topping you want fruit with some substance and strong flavor, sliced fairly thin. For the apple crostata quarter a medium to large Gala apple, slice the core off each quarter, peel them, then shave off very thin slices. Lay out to cover the biscuit and dust with a sprinkling (less than a tablespoon) of brown sugar and top with cinnamon. For the kiwi-strawberry crostata, peel and slice three kiwis and about slice about 8 strawberries (depending on size). Lay out to cover, alternating fruits, and dust with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes. Allow a few minutes to cool, then enjoy.

I also figured that as long as I was heating the oven up to 450°, I should take advantage of it and bake a loaf of a new favorite whole wheat bread I gleaned from James Beard's Beard on Bread. Pretty much any loaf I bake either comes directly from Beard or is based on one of his recipes. (One potato bread recipe has become a favorite of my family and neighbors, and I spend a week baking loaves to give as gifts.) This wheat loaf is amazingly simple, only requires a single rise, and happens to bake at 450°, meaning I could prep the loaf and let it rise while I made the crostatas, then just pop it right in the oven when the second crostata came out without having to let the temperature adjust. It is also pretty unique in being made entirely from whole wheat, rather than a blend of whole wheat with all-purpose flour.

Fast Whole Wheat and Molasses bread

3 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c oat bran

1 tbsp salt

3 1/2 tsp yeast (1 1/2 packets)

2 tbsp molasses

2 cups warm water

Mix the flour, bran, and salt in a bowl and place in a cool oven(5) to warm up. Stir the molasses into 1/2 cup of the water and add the yeast to proof. Once the yeast is ready, pour into the bowl with the flour and add the remainder of the water. Stir to combine into a very wet, sticky dough.

Turn the oven up to 450° to preheat.

Prepare a loaf pan with butter or non-stick spray, and put the dough in. Set somewhere warm to rise (should take an hour or two). Once the bread has doubled in bulk, put into the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.

This bread has a great texture and lots of flavor. It is great as a dinner bread or for sandwiches.

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(1) I really can't recommend both of these books enough. If I had to pare down to just five cooking related books, Brown's books would be two of them. They don't just list recipes, they teach you how to cook and why you do it that way.

(2) Brown strongly recommends using full-fat buttermilk and yogurt; however, when I went shopping I could only get lowfat or non-fat. I used the lowfat of both, and got great results.

(3) Technically, I'm using a quarter-sheet pan. If your oven holds a full sheet pan, I wanna come use your kitchen some time!

(4) Not waxed paper! Parchment paper is made with silicon, which is oven safe and won't stick to your dough. Waxed paper will melt and leave wax on your bread. Nasty!

(5) My oven has a "Keep Warm" setting that holds at about 170°. If you don't have this, turn your oven to its lowest setting and leave on for just a few minutes to warm up, then turn it off for this step.

Time for some curry

2009-09-07T18:58:00.001-05:00

So today I was trying to decide what to make this week. I have several leftover dishes, and we pretty much count on having zattar and feta(1) at least once a week, so I only needed one new meal. Perusing my cookbook shelf, I noticed a book I didn't recognize, pictured to the right (and available from Amazon). I have a few that I picked up at various book fairs, but I remember most of them. It's possible it was abandoned here by one of our former housemates(2); regardless, I'm glad I found it. I thumbed through it and selected a Delhi chicken curry and a sweet rice pullao.

The thing I really love about this cookbook is the organization. Indian cooking often involves spices and ingredients being added with only a couple of minutes of cook time between additions, so mise en place is critical. This book actually lists the ingredients in the sidebar of the page listed as "Bowl 1", Bowl 2", etc., so that in the recipe itself a step can simply say "Now add bowl 2 and stir for 2 minutes." This lets you not have to think about which things go together when you're in the middle of it, and has the advantage (for me at least) of letting me do the prep, then clean everything while the pan is heating, so that only the bowls and pots have to cleaned afterward.

Delhi Chicken Curry (Delhi Murgh Tarkari)

10-12 pieces of chicken, either all thighs or half thighs, half drumsticks

1 1/4 cup chicken stock

Bowl 1: 1 large onion (sliced), 2 cloves garlic (crushed)

Bowl 2: 4 cloves, 4 cardamom pods, 1 one inch cinnamon stick, 2 two inch pieces of ginger (peeled and sliced)

Bowl 3: 1 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp cumin

Bowl 4: juice of two lemons, 4 tbsp tomato paste

Bowl 5: 1 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper

In a heavy pan, sear the chicken in about 4 tbsp vegetable oil then set aside. Using the same oil, cook Bowl 1 for 5 minutes or until the onions are nicely carmelized. Add Bowl 2 and cook for 2-4 minutes. Add Bowl 3 and cook for 2 minutes stirring continuously to prevent the spices from burning onto the pan. Add Bowl 4 and stir well to make a sauce, then add the chicken back and stir to coat. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 35-50 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Stir in Bowl 5 and mix well, and let sit for 1-2 minutes to blend flavors.

Spiced Pullao Rice (Mushallar Pullao)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 1/4 cup rice

1 tsp salt

Bowl 1: 1 clove garlic (thinly sliced), 10 cloves, 10 cardamom pods, 3 one inch cinnamon sticks

Bowl 2: 2/3 cup golden raisins, 1/3 cup slivered almonds

Cook the onion in vegetable oil until soft and starting to turn golden. Add Bowl 1 and cook gently for 1-2 minutes. Add the rice and mix well so that the rice is well coated with oil and spices. Add the salt and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes until the water is absorbed. In a small pan cook Bowl 2 in 2 tbsp oil for 1-2 minutes, then stir into the rice.

This was the first actual curry I've ever made, and I'm impressed at how well it came out. My only complaint is that I thought it was pretty mild. On the other hand, Dorothy thought it was pretty much perfect, while (as I expected) Alex found it too spicy for her 12 year old palate. I may up the ginger and maybe the chili just a touch next time. Also, Dorothy doesn't really care for the texture of dark meat, so next time I may try using strips of breast meat instead.

The rice had a lovely sweet and crunchy texture from the raisins and almonds, and the onion was so well combined I actually forgot it was in there. I initially served the rice and the curry separately, worried that the sweetness of the raisins wouldn't go well with the curry. Turns out it worked really well, and we ended up just combining the rice and curry together into one dish.

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(1) We discovered zattar at a Palestinian restaurant and have since discovered our local arabic restaurant/grocery serves it and sells it. We put it on pita or naan with olive oil and feta or mozzarella and heat it in the toaster oven. Yumm!

(2) And if you happen to be one of those former housemates and wish to lay claim to this book, feel free to contact me to discuss ransom terms.

Experimental Casserole: Southwestern Shepherd's Pie

2009-08-31T19:58:00.003-05:00

I often get ideas for dinners by scanning the recipe books I've collected over the years. I usually end up not making what is actually in the recipe that catches my eye, but something based on it. The recipe in the book called for making the meat mixture and putting cornmeal breadsticks in decorative spokes. I didn't have cornmeal breadsticks, so instead I just made cornbread and baked on top. I'm sure it's been done many times before, but it's new to me. ;-)

1/2 large onion

1 or 2 cloves garlic

1 lb ground beef

15oz can kidney beans

15oz can diced tomatoes

8oz can corn

4oz can green chilies

chili and cumin to taste

Preheat oven to 425°.

In an oven proof frying pan, sautee the onions and garlic then brown the meat. When the meat is cooked, add the remaining ingredients and simmer to reduce out the liquid while preparing the cornbread.

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients well then stir in the liquids to form a batter. Spread the batter across the top of the mixture in the frying pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cornbread is set and lightly browned.

It ended up pretty good, though I realized after I was done that I should have added some cheddar cheese, either directly in the cornbread mix or between the meat mixture and the cornbread. I also need to up my spices(1) next time, but overall we enjoyed it.

I intended to take a picture of the final result, which actually looked quite nice when it came out of the oven. Unfortunately my proclivity for cleaning the kitchen right away kicked in, and I didn't think about it again until I sat down to write this up. Next time!

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(1) The "to taste" in the recipe is a result of me just doing my usual "that looks right"; unfortunately I didn't account for the cornbread being such a strong sweet flavor and covering up the spices quite a bit.

Adventures in Brewing - Hard Apple Cider

2009-08-30T16:01:00.002-05:00

My first attempt at a hard apple cider was actually a surprising success; the only issue I had with it was that it ended up a bit drier than I would have preferred. We're about out of that batch, so today I set up a new batch with a couple of changes -- one intentional and the other not. The intentional change was to add 4oz of lactose, which is a non-fermenting sugar used in porters and stouts to add residual sweetness. The unintentional change was in the juice: before I had three gallons of unfiltered apple cider. This time of year it's harder to get that, so instead I used half filtered apple juice (not from concentrate) and half unfiltered natural apple juice (partially from concentrate). We'll see how it turns out.

1.5 gallons filtered apple juice
1.5 gallons unfiltered apple juice
1.5 c sugar
1.5 c light brown sugar
4 oz lactose
1 11g packet Nottingham brewing yeast, started in 1c water for 15 min

Dissolv the sugars in 1/2 gallon of juice and bring to a boil, then pour into the rest of the juice. When it cools, add the yeast and seal it up to ferment.

In two weeks I'll bottle it, and in another couple of weeks we'll see how it turned out, and report back!

Spicy + Sweet = Yumm!

2009-08-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

My daughter absolutely loves chicken with Shake n Bake Honey Mustard glaze. For her first day of Junior High, I wanted to make her one of her favorite dinners, so when I went shopping, I went to the spot with all the Shake n Bake stuff, and ... it wasn't there. So when we went shopping for school supplies at Target, I checked the grocery section, and ... it wasn't there either.

At this point, my brain kicks in. Honey mustard glaze. Clearly, this is going to consist of honey and mustard in some proportion, and probably some other spices and such. I can do this. I just have to get an idea of what the proportion should be, and what the "other spices and such" are. To the InterTubes!

After consulting literally hundreds(1) of sites, I came to the conclusion that there really don't need to be any "other spices and such", and the proportion appears to be somewhere between 1:1 and 2:1 in favor of honey. Consensus appeared to be to use Dijon or spicy mustard, though one maverick was using plain yellow mustard. Now I can be as mavericky as the next guy, and yellow mustard does have its place(2), but I decided I'd stick with the majority.

So I heated about 1/4 cup honey in a pyrex measuring cup, then added a few squirts of mustard. After a few stirs, I tasted, and it seemed about right. Alex agreed, so I gave the chicken a soak while I preheated the oven, then baked it up.

Result: Honey mustard chicken! (I know, it's a shock!) Put some green beans on the side, and call it dinner.
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(1) OK, about a half-dozen or so.

(2) Its place is on the door shelf in the fridge, where guests who have no functioning taste buds can use it on their sandwiches or hot dogs, saving the real stuff for the rest of us.

FC Dallas: FAIL. Trinity Hall: WIN. Dinner: Get it yourself.

2009-08-23T18:20:00.001-05:00

There were several good moments in today's FC Dallas v Red Bull New York game, but not quite enough. Fortunately the crowd at Trinity Hall was lively and fun as always, so even with a bad game it was a good afternoon. After three Old Chub Scottish Ales I really shouldn't use anything hot or sharp, so no cooking tonight. Tomorrow there will be something of Alex's choosing to commemorate her first day of junior high school.

Pastitsio

2009-08-22T19:31:00.004-05:00

So today's dinner is Pastitsio. I've tried it before with moderate success, but decided to give it another go once I found that my local middle eastern grocery carries proper pastitsio noodles. The recipe I used came from Jeff Smith's awesome The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome. I modified it a bit(1) but it's mostly his recipe:

Meat Sauce

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp butter for sauteeing

1 1/4 lb ground beef or lamb

1 16oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp butter for sauce

salt and pepper

cinnamon

Sautee the onions and garlic until just starting to turn golden brown. Add the meat and brown. Add the tomatoes, additional butter, and spices and simmer for 15 minutes, allowing most of the liquid to reduce, leaving a hearty meat sauce.

Noodles

3/4 to 1 lb of pastitsio noodles. If you can't get them, ziti will do. (2)

3 eggs

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Cook the noodles for 5-7 minutes. Beat the eggs and cheese together, and toss the noodles in the mixture.

Bechamel

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups warm milk

3 eggs

pinch of salt

pinch of nutmeg

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. When the bubbling stops, add the flour and stir together to make a roux. Add in the milk a little at a time and let the sauce come together. Temper the sauce into the egg then stir the egg in and add the salt and nutmeg.

Put it all together

Put half the noodles into the bottom of a 9x12 inch baking dish. If you are using real pastitsio noodles, lay them out parallel (think of it like a lasagna -- the extra effort is worth it). Layer the meat sauce onto the noodles, then the rest of the noodles on top. Pour the bechamel over the whole thing. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, give it 10-15 minutes to cool a bit and to let the bechamel set up. Slice and serve.

Jeff Smith says this serves 6-8. The bechamel makes it really rich; I cut it into 12 squares. Based on the ingredients, I estimate about 450 calories per square. Put that with a salad and you have a pretty decent meal. (3)

It turned out really well -- Dorothy even called it "awesome". Next time I'll probably scale up the meat sauce to match the noodles, or maybe do a smaller batch in a 9x9 inch pan for fewer leftovers. I'm freezing about 1/2 of the squares, so I'll report back on how well it revives as leftovers.

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Footnotes:
(1) I cut some butter out of the meat sauce (though there's still quite a bit), only used about half the egg wash for the noodles (I can't imagine how he made use of all of it), and used more noodles (because I hate having 1/4 of a package sitting around). Should have scaled up the meat sauce to match the noodles, though the bechamel was probably adequate.

(2) Try to avoid elbow macaroni if you can, but if you can't, just don't tell me.

(3) Of course, as it happens I didn't remember to make a salad, so I ended up having 2 squares. Fortunately, I had eaten light the rest of the day, so my diet isn't horribly blown.

Yet another blog!

2009-08-22T18:16:00.000-05:00

All the cool kids are doing it, right? I did LJ for a while, when LJ was where all the cool kids were. I didn't really have that much to say, though, so I just sort of abandoned it. When I heard about "Julie and Julia", I thought that was a pretty neat idea. So like any good 21st century geek, I decided to steal it. ;-)

I'm not going to blog my way through a cookbook, though. That would just be stealing -- and it would require me to pick a cookbook and make everything in it. I know myself well enough to know I'm not going to do that for very long. So instead I'm going to just blog about what I'm cooking (and baking and brewing), share my recipes and thoughts, and maybe get some folks to share some of theirs. Being mildly ADD (as most geeks are, if you get right down to it), I'll most likely also talk about things other than cooking. I'm sure you can deal with it.

Comments are open, even anonymous, but if you do comment it would be nice to know who you are. Hopefully Blogger's anti-spam systems will work well enough that I won't have to worry about moderation.