Fusiana

AUTUMNPIE

2010-10-18T21:30:00.003-04:00

slice of apple pie made with panela, cinnamon, whiskey, nutmeg, and LOVE.

soondobu jigae (순두부 찌개)

2010-10-17T18:58:00.005-04:00

mmm. just what i need at the end of a rotation, and a day spent climbing and photographing the coming of winter. in this lovely stew: seaweed, fish balls, frozen clams, lotus root, bamboo shoots, garlic, garlic, garlic, and super soft tofu.

next up: 9-4 schedule, free nights to study, cook, and make apple pies til i drop. anyone want to take me in for thanksgiving?

2010-09-29T20:56:00.003-04:00

WHEW. WHAT A DAY. This is something my dad used to make when he had to feed us, minus the peppers. Egg noodles (I found a spinach-pressed version in Toronto) & a fried soy sauce egg. Yum. Just like home.

lime icebox pie

2010-08-29T18:41:00.000-04:00

this is from a LONG time ago. ive since forgotten the exact recipe. made a big one for a friends bday (see first picture), and had some leftover mix that didn't fit in the springform pan, so i decided to make mini sample sizes (bottom pic).

the base was a lime, zest, condensed milk custard that was baked until slightly jiggly in the center. the crust was a graham cracker crust that i added a bit of cayenne to for kick (the sample one i just used a square of the graham cracker i had leftover). after baking, the whole shebang is tossed in the freezer because it is meant to be served ice cold. sort of like an ice cream cake, but so much more refreshing! i topped with homemade whipped cream and some slivered almonds that i candied with brown sugar, salt and cayenne for some extra texture and salt/sweet combo that i love so much.

homemade vanilla bean ice cream with strawberry jam swirl

2010-08-29T18:07:00.004-04:00

broke out the ice cream machine finally.

had some donated vanilla beans and leftover strawberries, and 2 new cookbooks which had recipes for a homemade vanilla bean ice cream and a strawberry jam. just common sense to mix the two together!

ice cream: (from damgoodsweet)

1.5 c milk

1.5 c heavy cream

1/2 c + 3 tbsp sugar

1 vanilla bean, split & scraped

8 egg yolks

bring milk, cream, half the sugar and vanilla bean to a boil in large pot. turn off heat and set pot aside. whisk yolks and the other half of the sugar in a separate bowl. temper with the hot milk mixture, and then add the yolk/milk mixture into the rest of the pot. cook over low heat, stirring often until thickness is enough to coat the back of a spoon. remove from heat and strain into clean bowl. chill in ice bath, and refrigerate overnight. then take out the vanilla bean and pour it into your handy ice cream maker!

strawberry jam: (from good to the grain)

3 lb strawberries

1 c sugar (i used slightly less)

*put a small plate in the freezer first to test the consistency of the jam after its made.

chop strawberries roughly. put 1/2 c water & sugar into a heavy bottom saucepan, swirl to combine. bring sugar mixture to a boil over high flame and cook without stirring until syrup starts to form quarter sized bubbles on the surface. the syrup should stay clear. if it starts to color, then swirl it quickly and add berries immediately. add berries to syrup and cook over med. high heat, stirring constantly until the texture turns jammy. they say the temp of the finished jam should be 210 F, but i don't have a candy thermometer so i just eyeballed it. take off heat, put the jam into an ice bath. to test jam consistency, put a small spoonful of the warm jam from onto the chilled plate and tilt plate. the right consistency should hold its shape, slide slowly down the plate and leave a soft jammy trail.

since i had made the ice cream already before hand and then made the jam, i took the ice cream out of the freezer, let it soften a little and mixed in the cooled jam by hand. but, would probably be easier next time to add the cooled jam to the ice cream in the ice cream maker in the last minute of making.

Mini Pita Stuffed with Grilled Shrimp

2010-08-26T12:09:00.013-04:00

Found a package of 6 pre-grilled shrimp at Wegman's yesterday, on sale for $2.50. Normally, I'd walk right past something like this, but since 3rd year started, my standards for freshness have dropped a few notches. And... it was cheap. Cheaper than a food truck burrito. Cheaper than a latte. BUT the problem of how to handle tough, fibrous crustaceans remained, as I wheeled my grocery cart around, brows furrowed in contemplation. The solution:

Miniature pita bread stuffed with shrimp! Only slightly inspired by thoughts of the lobster roll food truck in DC. I'm obsessed.

I'm somewhat apprehensive to admit this is the second purchase of mayonnaise I've made in my life (it's a slippery slope!). I picked out a bottle of chipotle-flavored mayo, and in the privacy of my home, squirted a tablespoon into the bowl of chopped shrimp. I added minced garlic, minced onion, sliced open a few mini-pitas and red lettuce leaves - and there you have it. Not quite lobster but it beats eating cold pre-grilled shrimp out of the package. Nom nom nom.

Buffalo's First Taco Truck

2010-08-25T13:45:00.006-04:00

I know this is supposed to be about food we make, but I can't help myself, V. I'm just so excited about this taco truck. The great city of Buffalo now lays claim to a street food vendor worthy of any major metropolitan center. It's called "Where's Lloyd" and features an assortment of soft corn tortilla tacos - braised beef, pork, cilantro chicken, bean, tomatillo --- with the option of burritos - or chili corn, on the side. Tacos are dressed with cilantro, smoky chipotle sauce, cabbage, cheese, and a lime wedge. Heavenly. Right now they're only open during the lunch hour but I have high hopes they will expand and drive to the many college campuses we have here in Bufftown.

Love on first bite. I am super impressed. Easily the best tacos in town. THE BEST. Pictured below: Chili corn with butter. Mmmmm. Oh my heavens.

Peach+Blackberry Pie

2010-08-11T22:58:00.005-04:00

I've never made a pie with blackberries. First shot. Critique by budding surgeons-in-waiting to come. From Parade, 2002.

Sweet Plum Ceviche & Salmon

2010-07-27T15:43:00.005-04:00

OK so this sounds weird but I had a bunch of plums last night and decided to make a ceviche from plums, onion, honey, & whole grain mustard. Ladled it over a raw salmon steak, marinated for 10 minutes, then threw it in a 400 deg oven for 15 minutes. Sauteed some spinach on the side. It actually worked well; not terribly sweet, and I think baking it took out some of the acidity of the plums as well. Win! Tomorrow I am on call for the first time in my life. Nervous. At least I will have good food to eat.

Green Papaya Salad

2010-07-13T23:34:00.009-04:00

I can't take credit for this, because JW was kind enough to bring his entire green papaya ensemble to my house yesterday to assembly this work of art. Shredded green papaya + fish sauce + jalapeno + dried shrimp = brilliance invented by Thai people. I made BBQ chicken & tomato salad; JW made sticky rice in the microwave.

The completed dish, above.
And because it's summer.... heirloom tomatoes. Mmm.

quarter rack + portabello shrooms in white wine reduction

2010-06-28T19:23:00.006-04:00

So I splurged a few weeks ago on truffle salt which was the best luxury investment I've ever made to my spice rack. Grilled up some lamb and shrooms and am kicking back before surgery orientation starts tomorrow. Made extra for lunch... for the next two days. Happiness abound. The colors suck, unfortunately, but use your imagination.

Recipe: salt + peppa, sear rack on both sides; bake at 380 for 8 minutes each side for medium rare. toss a few sliced shrooms, basil, white wine, & 1-2 tbsp water together in a high heat pan (separate from the seared lamb so it doesn't taste burnt). It's maybe 10 minutes of work, with ~20 minutes of waiting around and ordering books from amazon.

lime meringue tarts with repurposed gingersnap cookie crust

2010-06-13T20:44:00.003-04:00

so i decided since the gingersnaps i made were a semi-fail due to their too-delicate texture, i would use them instead as a shells for mini lime meringue tartlets to bring to a bbq. basically i threw them in a food processor with some extra whole wheat flour and beat it into crumbs and pressed the crumbs into a cupcake pan and baked for 10 min at 375F. i followed david leibovitz's recipe for the lime filling component, which involved lots of manual labor since i didn't have a juicer. since i also don't own a candy thermometer, i decided to go with good old fashioned meringue topping instead of his marshmallow topping and used the broiler to brown it. the gingersnap crusts were a bit soggy/oily because the cookie crumbs weren't dry enough, but i felt the flavors went well together, so all in all i was pretty satisfied with the results.

photo provided by the most excellent jeff chang.

gingersnaps!

2010-06-11T22:04:00.003-04:00

im getting too lazy to post up the recipes. but i made gingersnaps out of the "good to the grain" cookbook. its dedicated to baking recipes with whole grain flours. this recipe used a mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose, but i was forced to sub whole grain pastry flour in for the all purpose as it was all i had. came out extremely thin and delicate as a result, but incredibly tasty.

i do believe gingersnaps are my favorite cookie.

yes, that is my foot.

no knead wheat bread and spinach-salmon dip

2010-05-17T20:50:00.003-04:00

made for a potluck. no knead wheat bread and dip. sour cream, nonfat greek yogurt, fresh spinach, diced fennel and some flaked canned salmon. nothin fancy. tasted good though!

yogurt custard with mixed berries

2010-05-13T00:01:00.007-04:00

a recipe i found in food and wine. mixed berries baked in a vanilla/cinnamon yogurt based custard. tried unsuccessfully to make a sugar crust on top; my broiler just wasn't able to get close enough to the surface. i need to buy a brulee torch. i heart kitchen gadgets.

whole wheat apple pancakes with homemade syrup

2010-05-12T23:48:00.004-04:00

parents came to visit during mothers day, so for breakfast I made us some healthy whole wheat apple pancakes! they were really fluffy and yummy. i used fuji apples because thats what i had in my fridge, but they were too sweet i think and the apple flavor was lost in the pancake. so i recommend choosing a more tart apple, maybe a jonah or honeycrisp when they come back in season.... mmmmm i cant wait for honeycrisp season!

since i didnt have any syrup, i looked up an online recipe to make my own, which turned out surprisingly tasty. I did tweak a bit by adding some cinnamon and didn't have maple flavoring so i used vanilla extract. it continually amazes me the things that i always thought i had to buy in the store, that you can make from everyday items in your pantry.

adam perry lang

2010-05-11T08:54:00.000-04:00

bbq tips from adam perry lang. excuse me while i wipe the drool off my keyboard.

also here's his website.

blackberry whole wheat ricotta pancakes

2010-05-01T08:08:00.003-04:00

had some random ingredients left from cake making, so i decided to cook myself up some ricotta pancakes! i halved this recipe from eating well, subbed blackberries instead of blueberries, and of course, tossed in the obligatory handful of minichocolate chips and sprinkle of flax seed. had no buttermilk on hand, so i used the standard sub of milk and a squeeze of lemon juice.

the whole wheat flour made these pancakes extremely filling, but they were still nice and fluffy and browned well. the recipe needed a touch more sugar, i thought, but maybe that was just because i didnt have maple syrup to douse it with.

to make up for my syruplessness, i threw in a half can of mandarin oranges with juice, a squeeze of honey and some dried cranberries into a small saucepan and reduced it until it until it turned syrupy. next time i would maybe throw in some ginger to give it more dimension.

devils food cupcakes with cannoli cream and chocolate ganache frosting

2010-05-01T07:13:00.003-04:00

photo courtesy of dan chiang

so for a k's bday, he specifically requested devils food cake with chocolate cannoli cream filling. since i had no round cake pans, and cupcakes are all the rage, i adapted the recipes i found to cupcake form.

devils food cake and chocolate ganache recipe from david guas. i halved the recipe and it made 11 cupcakes and more than enough ganache frosting. reduced baking time to 25 minutes to adapt to cupcake form, which seemed right. the cake turned out an extremely tender crumb, was just sweet enough, and the ganache frosting was out of this world!

cannoli cream filling recipe from giada. i just omitted the fruit part. had no whipping cream, so i used milk, which i think was the reason the filling wasnt fluffy or smooth enough. it still had the grainy quality from the ricotta, and was slightly runny so i had to firm it up in the fridge before stuffing the cupcake. i also threw in some mini chocolate chips into the final cream mixture.

to fill the cupcakes, i waited for them to cool, used a small sharp knife to cut a conical section out of each cupcake top, spooned in some cream filling and replaced the cut out piece of cake. then i frosted. the ganache set up nicely, but i recommend putting it in the fridge for at least an hour before frosting just so its easier to spread.

Banana bread... again?

2010-04-27T22:57:00.003-04:00

I LOVE BANANA BREAD. I am sure I posted this already but I couldn't find my own recipe for it, so here's the brilliant one I used: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Faux Paella

2010-04-26T22:21:00.003-04:00

Done with didactic medical education. Onto the Socratic Method after the board exam this June. Made a faux paella to celebrate, out of wild rice, chicken, mushrooms, onions, white wine, and American saffron. Something was missing; perhaps the fact that I didn't use real saffron (which is more expensive), or the wrong rice, or... lack of sausage? Who knows. I don't mind eating it for the next three days though. Hurray!

i don't even know what's in this but i'm eating it

2010-04-22T23:41:00.004-04:00

so. tired. in this: whole wheat pasta, free range chicken, frozen cilantro, roasted beets with dill, and artichoke hearts out of a can. approximately. no measurements. just do it. school, and my hemoglobin count, is kicking my ass.

Flaxen Strawbanana Smoothie

2010-04-19T14:04:00.003-04:00

Shake shake shake! I'm all about the hand puree gadget these days. Pictured above: 6 strawberries, 1 whole banana, a cup of milk, a few dollops of vanilla yogurt, and ground flax seed. Yields 2 or 3 cups, or enough for a light lunch and dinner dessert.

Borscht (beet soup)

2010-04-15T22:30:00.004-04:00

Modified DD's recipe, and drew it through the fandangled hand puree-er toy. Prep time: 20 minutes; stewing time: 30 minutes. Above, pictured with couscous/parsley, and the last of AB's venison.

Ingredients:
1 stick celery
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic
3 whole beets, peeled and quartered
1 parsnip, peeled and sliced to 1/2 in pieces
parsley (frozen), chopped
1 bouillon cube (vegetable), or 1 c vegetable broth
1 rutabaga, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, chopped (or summer squash would be a fine sub)

splash of wine (1 second pour)
splash of vinegar (1 second pour)
salt, pepper to taste

beet greens, washed and chopped

Directions:
1. Chop celery and sautee with onions, olive oil, and salt
2. Prep other vegetables and toss in the pot as you finish peeling and cutting them. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to finish peeling & cutting everything. Doubling the recipe is not a bad idea (but the beets don't need to be doubled, unless you like it particularly beety-tasting --- they are more for color)
3. Add water until the liquid level is just shy of the vegetable level.
4. Splash 'n dash your wine and vinegar. Add the bouillon cube, and bring to a boil before simmering for 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, add your chopped beet greens. You can also wait to add them after you puree, and then stir them in.
4. You can eat it like this, or puree to make it a nice thick consistency. Serve with parmesan on top.

Roasted Chicken with Zucchini

2010-04-15T22:19:00.005-04:00

New favorite cooking method: throw drumsticks, chunks of veggies, and herbs in a dish, and bake.

That's it. 5 drumsticks, thick zucchini halves, julienne onions, parsley, herbs --- drizzle with salt, pepper, olive oil, white wine, and vinegar in liberal, non-measured proportions - 45 minutes under 375 degrees covered with foil --- and done.

Salted Fudge Brownies

2010-04-11T10:41:00.003-04:00

Mmmm salty and sweet. Followed this recipe from food and wine mag. Except I have to admit that I put a smidge less salt in than written because I was a little wary at first. But after tasting, I actually wish I had put MORE than what was in the recipe! I ended up sprinkling some more sea salt on top of the brownie to really get that salty sweet yumminess. Definitely a dense fudgy brownie, just the way I like 'em!

Spinach Pesto on Whole Wheat Pasta

2010-04-04T13:52:00.002-04:00

Tried out the whole wheat pasta at the Coop last night/this afternoon. It keeps surprisingly well in the fridge with a bit of oil, and I topped it with a homemade pesto. This hand-held puree thing (for soups, tampenades, etc) has changed my life.

Recipe:
2 cloves garlic
2 handfuls of spinach
6-7 basil leaves
a 2-second pour of olive oil
salt, pepper

Grind/crush all ingredients with a processor, raw. Serve.

DIY Vanilla Extract

2010-04-01T18:28:00.000-04:00

4/1/10
UPDATE: Finally got around to getting the supplies to make this. Here she is, a week later. 1 madagascar bean, sliced lengthwise, in 1 cup of unflavored vodka.

1/3/10
I am cheap. So when I found out that vanilla extract was nothing more than vanilla beans soaked in vodka for 3+ months, I had to try it. It's gonna be a long wait for this photo op. Check the Italian Dish's post on the subject til then.

DIY Chocolate Truffles

2010-04-01T17:54:00.006-04:00

Geektacular MIT students explain how to make chocolate truffles --- going into excessive, painstakingly researched detail on the 6 crystalline states of chocolate. Horribly sinful and awesome to watch. Click anywhere below to play, via howtoheroes.com.

Roasted Cauliflower

2010-03-31T23:21:00.005-04:00

An easy weeknight fix.

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves 4.

Directions:'

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Wash cauliflower. Chop off leaves.
2. Cut into florets, following the direction of the stem to the floret as you slice (i.e. instead of "freeing" each floret individually, cut from the base into half, then quarters, then 1/8ths, etc. --- this is a fractal vegetable, which requires fractal cutting technique. If you shove a grid-cutting pattern onto a cauliflower, you will end up with a big, ugly mess. I've done it. For years.
3. Pan fry with a bit of olive oil and julienned onions for 30-40 seconds.
4. Throw it in a pan. Sprinkle with parmesan and any other herbs you'd like. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 deg F.

VOILA!

Walnut & Raisin Cookies

2010-03-31T11:48:00.001-04:00

"Why does everyone think doctors are so respected? Being a teacher is much more painful." -Ma

So. I'm home for the weekend. It's going grrrrreeat. Making my mother's favorite cookies to try to appease her general unhappiness with me, my future profession, and the rest of the world. She said (four times) that if she made these, she'd bake for a few more minutes until everything was crispy and brown on the top. In event, I am pretty happy with them.

Makes 12 cookies
Ingredients
1 1/8 c flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c quick oats

1/4 c dark brown sugar
1/8 c white sugar

1 stick salted butter
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract (oops! I only added 1/4 tsp!)
1 large egg

3/4 c raisins
1/2 c walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven 300 deg F
2. Combine flour, soda, salt, oats, and mix well with a fork.
3. Combine butter (microwaved for 20 s if just out of the fridge), sugar, egg, extract, honey, and mix well until ready to bake.
4. Mix solids and liquids together. Add raisins, walnuts, until just blended (don't overmix).
5. Drop onto a baking sheet, and bake for 27 minutes.

fire roasted tomato frittata

2010-03-30T20:04:00.010-04:00

adapted from a food and wine mag recipe to be healthier and to use up what i had in the fridge.

would be great for brunch or as a light dinner with a lightly dressed arugula salad and a glass of red!

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

8 eggs, 2 yolks removed, beaten

1 16 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes w juice

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 bunches of bokchoy, chiffonaded

3 slices whole wheat bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

thyme, oregano, salt, pepper to taste

steps:

preheat oven to 450 degrees.

heat oil in ovenproof non stick pan. add onions, garlic, bokchoy and saute until softened. pour in tomatoes and add seasonings. bring to a simmer and mix in bread cubes so that liquid is soaked up. (if you have cheese, now is the time to sprinkle it in). pour in beaten eggs.

transfer pan to oven and bake 20 minutes until eggs are cooked and top is brown and puffy.

wait for it to cool a bit, cut into slices and flip over onto the plate to see how purty it looks!

The perfect chocolate chip cookie?

2010-03-27T18:27:00.010-04:00

My latest attempt to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie led me to a recipe from American's Test Kitchen. This recipe calls for browning butter, which I had never attempted before, but it smelled amazing. It also states that you should mix then rest and repeat. I'm not sure if that made a difference but it seemed like the batter got thicker. The result was a cookie with a chewy outer ring of buttery deliciousness surrounding a soft, chocolately center. If you are in to that kinda thing. mmm

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4	cups flour
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
14	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2	cup granulated sugar
3/4	cups brown sugar
1	teaspoon salt
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
1	large egg
1	large egg yolk
1	cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
3/4	cup chopped pecan or walnuts, toasted

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using).
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons. Arrange 2 inches apart on baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.
5. Bake cookies until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Cool cookies before serving.

Flan in a Box

2010-03-21T21:42:00.004-04:00

Courtesy of Goya Flan. 99 cents for 4 little flans. I was actually surprised by how well this turned out. The picture makes the top look a little cruddy, but I don't have real molds and just used teacups to make the flan. Hence the breakage. A touch too sugary, though. More milk next time? And cinnamon.

Bacon-wrapped, brown sugar & soy-marinated venison bites

2010-03-19T17:54:00.011-04:00

One of my friends (the husband of a classmate) hunts deer, and after a recent dinner party, gave me about 3 pounds of venison. He made appetizers out of these little guys and gave me the recipe. Outrageously delicious.

Ingredients:
6 cubes venison (about 1 inch cubes... bite sized?)
2 strips bacon, cut into thirds
garlic clove
soy sauce
brown sugar
red wine, salt, pepper

Directions:
1. Marinate venison cubes in soy sauce and brown sugar overnight. In my case, I cubed about 3/4 lb meat into 20 pieces and used 1/8-1/4 c soy sauce, and 2 tbsp brown sugar. I wasn't measuring it out very carefully (sorry), but you want everything evenly marinated (but not drowned) in soy sauce with a bit left on the bottom. Grate a garlic clove, add a 2-3 tsp wine, and whatever else you want to season with.
2. The next day, wrap a third of a strip of raw bacon over each cube.
3. Throw 6 of those bites onto a medium-high pan. Lower the heat once the bacon starts sizzling, to med/low. Cook for 2 min each side. In general venison cooks VERY quickly, but the bacon fat will save it from overcooking. If you need to test it, a medium/rare steak of venison should bleed purple (not red), so cook accordingly.
4. Eat immediately. Serve over a bed of sauteed greens (in my case... leftover beet greens, spinach, and a tomato salad that I made yesterday).

Poulet Provencal

2010-03-16T22:27:00.007-04:00

Classed it up last week with a dish that supposedly originated from the south of France, for a dinner partay. Modified the recipe below so that it'd cook faster. Drumsticks, quartered tomatoes, a handful of olives, an onion, and herbs de provence (something my father has always been bananas about). Leftovers above.

Took bits and pieces of this recipe and ran with it! Minus the fennel seeds, because really, who has those. Greek olive mix instead of briny black ones (not a big fan of black olives). Drumsticks instead of a whole chicken... and wham. Awesomeness. Here are the exact proportions:

12 chicken drumsticks
5-6 small tomatoes-on-the-vine, each cut into 6 pieces (half, then third them)
1.5 white onions, julienned
1 cup olives, saving 1/4 c brine
pepper
4 cloves garlic, grated
herbs de provence (or the "italian seasoning mix" that is commonly found in the spice mix section.. the only thing I can tell that's missing is lavender)
1/4 c white wine (optional - I left it out because there was a kiddie with us, and even though the alcohol burns off, I get paranoid about stuff like that)
1 c bella mushrooms chopped (also optional - I added those above but the recipe doesn't call for them)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions (preheat oven to 400 degrees)

1. Let drumsticks sit at RT in a baking dish, marinating in herbs de provence & pepper & grated garlic & vinegar, for 5-10 minutes.
2. In the meantime, prep your other two main ingredients - onions & tomatoes.
3. Throw all vegetables together.
4. Add 1 cup olives plus brine to the mix. Cover with aluminum foil (or some sort of cover... if you have a dutch oven I suppose you could slow cook the whole thing at a lower temp?)
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour (check at 45 min)

*optional - marinate mushrooms in 2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp dry red wine for 10 minutes while the chicken is also marinating.

Serves 8.

Morning Glory Muffins

2010-03-16T15:41:00.005-04:00

helloooooo thurrrr!!!!

excuse the awful picture quality. it is a cheap-o webcam that i found.

made some "healthy" oatmeal and bran muffins as a good grab n go breakfast for the week. followed the recipe found here at cooking light, but used raisins instead of dates, almonds instead of walnuts and added some cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest! i absolutely adore the dried pineapple in them.

off to my first of 4 cooking classes tonight taught by the arlington adult education program... will let you know how it goes!

Riddle Me This.

2010-03-12T23:40:00.002-05:00

Why is the foodie world so agog at Meyer lemons? V, can you explain this phenom? They are nowhere to be found in Buffalo.

Blood Orange Upside Down Cake

2010-03-10T21:14:00.005-05:00

FIREWORKS CAKE!!!! Recipe here at citrus and sunshine. Baked for 35 instead of 45 because it started to brown quickly.

It's sort of thin the way the recipe recommends and I will need to experiment with a better (box?) cake but I love the way the slices bleed into each other. Make it while oranges are still in season...

Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2010-02-12T01:11:00.005-05:00

I've decided to not let my broken camera deter me from posting. I hereby happily embrace MS PAINT! (yes, im a pc and proud of it!)

A good friend's bday is approaching, so I decided to make some cookies to send in the mail as a present. Since drop cookies ship best, and I knew that he liked oatmeal, I chose this recipe (dubbed "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" on the Quaker Oats box) to follow for the basic oatmeal raisin cookie base, and threw in some sliced almonds and chocolate chips for some extra birthday pizzazz.

I must say they are excellent. Only 12 fit into the box I'm shipping it in, so I got a whole 'nother dozen to nosh on. Vanishing, indeed.

Wheatberry & Shitake Salad

2010-02-09T19:14:00.006-05:00

It's taken me 25 years to discover that chinese mushrooms (冬菇) and shitake mushrooms are the same thing. It's just that I soak dried shrooms to reconstitute them, instead of buying them fresh from the store.

This is my first venture with wheatberries. They're basically what wheat is, before it gets processed and stripped of its fibrous shell. Raw wheat = more fiber and protein for this growing girl, you dig?

Ingredients
Wheatberries (wegman's - bulk section)
Shitake mushrooms (hoowa supermarket on sheridan and bailey)
celery
pinenuts
scallions
garlic
1/2 onion

Makes 4 servings.

Directions:
1. Soak 1/2 c wheatberries and dried mushrooms (in the same water) overnight
2. Boil wheatberries for 30 minutes, add diced mushrooms during last 5. Test the wheatberries & make sure they're done-zo.
3. Sautee pinenuts, diced celery, diced onion, garlic in olive oil
4. Add wheatberries & dried mushrooms (drained) to the frying pan.
5. Plate it out. Garnish with sliced scallions or grated cheese.

Barley & Lentil Soup

2010-02-05T20:40:00.004-05:00

There's not much you can do with smoked hog necks... 'cept make some zuppa with whatever vegetables you have after a week.

Threw the following into a pot and boiled for about an hour (bring to boil first, then simmer on low heat). Not sure what the proportions were but I have enough soup to last me a few days here. If you're in some kinda hoppin rush to git 'er done, you need 1/2 hr at the very least.

1 large chunk of smoked hog neck, fat trimmed (Camellia's is the local brand in Wegman's, in the scrap section near the turkey, fer a buck sixty)
~ 1.5 c baby carrots
1/2 stalk fennel
1/4 c barley
1/2 c orange lentils (Goya, rinsed)
~ 1 c frozen cilantro (this is what I do with herb bundles before they go bad - straight to the freezer, for a soup another day)
1/4 of a red onion
3 tbsp red wine
salt, peppah

Wish I'd had some celery. Celery makes soup taste better.

Kalbi, part deux (Korean short ribs)

2010-02-04T21:07:00.006-05:00

This is for you, SS. Made the marinade last night for this from memory and though it was good, it wasn't as good as when I followed this recipe verbatim. Subbed 1/4 c beer for the asian pear. If you make the short rib slices thin, it cooks quicker (2 min tops).

Sad that Vicki's camera is broken. =(

Anise-Almond Biscotti

2010-01-25T12:34:00.009-05:00

Why, hello there. It's been a while, yes? Onwards. Baked some biscotti as positive reinforcement for taking my neurology exam today.

Used this recipe. Subbed:

- 1/2 tbsp almond extract + 1/2 tbsp anise extract instead of vanilla extract. It's funny that I have anise extract around; I bought it accidentally in Brooklyn thinking it was almond, and never had any use for it until I found this recipe.
- Used a heavy cleaver instead of a serrated knife to make sharper edges.

sauteed fennel & blood orange

2010-01-12T20:25:00.009-05:00

New adventure: fennel!

I've never cooked with fennel (its odd shape has always weirded me out in the grocery store). But I'm here to report that it makes everything else it's cooked with, taste better. More flavorful. Different. Exciting. Tangy. Anise-y.

Here's what I did to throw this together:

1. Sizzle 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil
2. Sautee 1/2 onion and 1 fennel bulb leaf for 2-3 minutes
3. Add 2-3 T white wine and seasoning
4. Add 2-3 c washed spinach, salt & pepper to taste.
5. Garnish with orange slices

Some sort of cajun pre-marinated pork tenderloin at Weg's to pair. Friggin good.

Taro & Spinach Curry

2010-01-09T20:39:00.007-05:00

Is it just me or is all of my food orange in some way?

I'm on a personal mission to learn how to make curry, not from a premixed jar. I need to progress beyond the premixed jars and into the land of cheaper, better, and slightly more authentic. This first attempt? FAIL. Edible, and tasty, and good-looking, but missing something. Not spicy. Not the kind of curry that hits you in the face and tells you what's real. And definitely not worth putting the recipe down. Perseverance is key.

Black-Eyed Peas & Green Peppers

2010-01-07T21:03:00.009-05:00

I've recently taken a liking to black-eyed peas, in my search for a varied protein source outside red meat & fish. Though I didn't have the necessary ingredients for Texas Caviar, believe you me, it's next on my list.

Wikipedia says that this little bean is a New Year's food in the South, as it was the only crop that Northern forces did not destroy during the Civil War, thinking they were only fit for livestock.

They do take a bit more advanced planning to prepare if you're using the dried bean version. I used the Goya bean version, and sorely regretted not checking more closely for rocks. There is none of that absurdity with canned beans, but I don't think they taste as good. So, it's your call.

Here's what I did, and I think it worked:

1. Rinse well & soak the dried beans in some water overnight.
2. Boil them the next day with a dash of salt in the pot for 20 minutes, or until edible & semisoft.
3. Chop an onion and a quarter of a green pepper.
4. Heat a skillet with some olive oil & garlic. When the garlic starts to sizzle, throw in the onions & green peppers.
5. Spoon beans out of your boiling water (or, strain, but be sure to save some of the water because the stirfry gets too dry otherwise) and throw it in the skillet
6. Season with whatever herbs you have on hand. I threw some parsley, lemon juice, 2 T crushed tomatoes, salt, & pepper in there. But experiment. See what works.

Had that stuff with yams tonight, which I am starting to substitute more frequently in place of potatoes. Yams have a slightly lower glycemic index, which means it takes a bit longer for the starches to process than if you were to eat the same weight in potatoes.

ALSO. An obligatory warning. I just learned that storing garlic in olive oil at room temperature can lead to botulism poisoning. SO DON'T DO IT. It's fatal. Eating garlic in olive oil is obviously okay, just not storing it at room temp. OK, thanks.

Mama Doiron's Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2010-01-06T17:42:00.007-05:00

I regret ever having doubts about the fabled whoopie pie, introduced to me by RD, a lifelong native of Maine. This photo /food article convinced me I had to make an attempt, and I begged RD to ask his mother for the recipe. Thank you so much, Mrs. Doiron!!!

The instructions below are from RD's email, which I followed verbatim (even the part about adding flour AFTER everything else). With a bit of faith, the filling thickens up to a fluffy concoction. A hint: only put ONE spoonful on the baking sheet. I was greedy and threw two spoonfuls of batter on for the first 1/2 batch, but they nearly double in size. Also, I used Royal No Bake Cheesecake Pudding Mix -- the size of a jello packet.

The result: like eating the inside of a pumpkin muffin, except richer and creamier.

Ingredients:

Filling: 1 pint whipping cream
1 pkg instant cheesecake pudding mix
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Beat until thick

Whoopie Pie:
2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix first nine ingredients together then add and mix a 15 oz can of pumpkin and 3 cups of flour. Place dollops on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Cool and fill.

I love carbs and brussel sprouts

2010-01-02T20:09:00.006-05:00

In the words of a sage associate, "How could the American socio-cultural context and the media that perpetuates it be so misinformed when it comes to brussels sprouts?"

This recipe is really nothing special, but I felt the need to balance my posts with something... er, more green, less butter. Brussel sprouts, with a tilapia filet that snuck its way into the photo. Quick rundown before I'm off for the night:

1. Halve 7 or 8 brussel sprouts per serving. Quarter the big guys. Throw away any wilted leaves; trim the stems.

2. Heat about a 1/4 tsp of bacon fat and 1/2 tsp olive oil in a skillet. Make sure the heat's on high.

3. Sautee for 30-45 seconds

4. Green the greens with about 1/4 c starch water. What's this mean? Well, I am one of these weirdos who saves about a cup of potato water or yam water in my fridge if I happen to have boiled these veggies the night before. When you add starchy water to a stir-fry, it makes the greens SUPER green, and not dark and sad looking. I'm not sure of the chemistry behind this but I suspect the starch protects some of the colored proteins & minerals from degrading. My grandmother does this and it makes food look better.

5. Lower the heat to medium. Add a tablespoon of wine; let it cook off & wait another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, serve.

Catalan Spinach

2009-12-30T21:38:00.005-05:00

Pinenuts + raisins + garlic + spinach = Catalan, according to Bon Appetit c. 1992. Who knew? And yes, I skipped the raisins. Call me an impurist.

Sometimes the fastest recipes aren't always the easiest to make. The first time I attempted this, I burned the pine nuts (I'm accustomed to cooking things on high heat). I'd recommend browning them under medium heat FIRST, with your garlic, before adding the spinach. After all the spinach is added, crank the heat to high until it's reduced to your satisfaction. You still get the nice flavor that higher temperatures impart, without burning the little dudes. Extra plus: this only takes about 3 min to prep (wash spinach/chop garlic), & 5 minutes to cook. Also, use regular spinach for this, not the baby stuff (more resilient to heat).

I always pay attention to negative comments on food reviews, because I like some precision to things, and comments can give you a sense of how reproducible or variable a recipe is. Then there's the authenticity complaint, which I usually laugh at, unless it pertains to Cantonese, or East Coast fare. Everyone else, including California, is fair game for ridicule. Nevertheless, the reviewer below gave the recipe 3/4 stars.

This recipe is not the traditional catalan recipe, as it is lacking "pernil", the catalan name for spanish cured ham. The spinach is always washed up in water before boiling it, no matter the dish you're preparing, and must be well drained. The garlic is fried and taken away from the pan when it gets coloured, so all you get is the hint of its flavour. Then add the ham, later the raisins, then the pines, finally the spinach, salt and pepper. Cover, and cook very slowly.

Mussels in White Wine Sauce

2009-12-30T01:09:00.004-05:00

Since break started last week, I've been adding white wine to a lot of things. Like apple pie. And soup. And chicken marinades. So I set out to test out the cliche: mussels in white wine sauce.

I've never actually ordered this in a restaurant, and at home we usually dip them in a soy/rice vinegar/veg oil marinade. Soooo... I'm not sure what this is supposed to taste like. The sauce I made was more of a background flavor; subtle & complementary to the seafood. I followed the ingredients for the dish in "use real butter," which also had a nice take on bouillabaisse that I recreated about a week or two ago. Mine is uglier, but I didn't have any fresh greens around (having just returned from family time). Also, I was hungry and wanted to eat. Such is the dilemma with blogging about dinner.

Mods:
- Barely used butter for the sauce (she recommends 1 stick for 2 lbs; I had 2 lbs mussels and used 1/2 tablespoon). Subbed in clam juice instead and whatever herbs I had lying around. I am not a big fan of dousing everything in butter.
- Cooked the mussels in two batches, since the biggest pot I had wouldn't hold all of them on the bottom. I brought about 1 cm of water to a boil & added the mussels until the bottom surface was covered - sort of like a boil/steam combo, so that the mussels aren't totally submerged in water.
- Mise en place: Boil/steam mussels; heat 1/2 T olive oil & 1/2 T butter on high heat, sautee onions & garlic, douse with 1/2 c of wine, season w/ salt & pepper. Let the alcohol boil off, & drizzle over dish of mussels.

What I might do differently:
- More butter. Maybe 3 tablespoons.
- I think I like sauce to be saucier; i.e. creamier, more substantial; less like mussels doused in wine. Is this what it's supposed to be? Somehow I imagined it to be... thicker. Perhaps this is where my phobia of consuming half a stick of butter in one sitting fits in. I just can't do it, though I know it would be damnably good.

Banana Nut Bread Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2009-12-26T16:52:00.007-05:00

There is just something about cupcakes. I find them more appealing than a slice of one of it's bigger brethren. I think it's because my gluttinous subconscious is gleeful in the fact that I am devouring an entire cake (even if it is in mini form), which is much more satisfying than knowing that you're only getting a measly slice of something bigger.

I used this banana bread recipe as the base for the cupcakes, and since bananas and peanut butter are one of my favorite flavor combinations, I decided what the hey, and found this peanut butter frosting recipe to use as a fluffy topper.

I tweaked the banana bread recipe a bit because I didn't have creme fraiche on hand (I substituted some shaken whipping cream) and because I was wary of using so much oil and sugar. I don't like it when cupcakes are oily and too sweet. So, in order to keep the cakes moist, I substituted half the oil with milk, and to keep the sugarysweetness in check I reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup and added 1/4 cup of honey. I figured the honey would also contribute to moistness. (Is there a synonym for moist with regards to cooking/baking? I can't think of one...). I also tossed in some chocolate chips jus'cuz.

The cupcakes came out perfectly I think. Dense, but tender crumb on the inside, and crunchy on the outer edges of the muffin top. The banana, nut and chocolate flavors were balanced well, and the sweet was just right too. I was pretty satisfied.

The frosting was an excellent addition. I liked that it didn't taste strongly of butter, since I've never been a big fan of buttercream. It wasn't too sweet and it wasn't too peanut buttery to overwhelm the banana-ness of the cupcake. And it was uber fluffy! I could not stop tasting it out of the mixer bowl.

Gonna try jewish applecake cupcakes with peanut butter frosting next. And streusel topping?

vicki's "looks like puke but tastes great, i swear to god, no really it does" lasagna with homemade tomato sauce

2009-12-23T17:19:00.010-05:00

ok, i completely failed to take a picture of just the tomato sauce, and was way too hungry to take a good looking pic of the lasagna because even the steam coming off the thing was making me salivate, and i had spent about 5 hours making and putting together the dang thing! so excuse the ugly picture. i dont even think its in focus because my hand was probably already moving to hurry up and cut a square to stuff in my mouth before the shutter closed completely. ha.

but good lord, this was by farrr the best lasagna i've ever had! the homemade tomato sauce really BROUGHT IT. i mean, like East-Compton-Clovers-times-100 kind of brought it. seriously. so much better than the jarred stuff. and i have this man to thank:

Chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, the star of Chef Academy (one of my new fav cooking reality shows on Bravo). lets all first take a moment to admire and soak in his extreme sexiness....

ok? ok.

in one episode, he shared his grandmas recipe for homemade tomato sauce, and because i just bought a spankin new calphalon 8 qt dutch oven in chive green, i decided to try it out.

I followed this recipe from the show with a few modifications listed below.

i could only find hothouse tomatoes, but made sure they were the ripest ones in stock. because i was dubious of their tomato-iness, i subbed 2 lbs of the tomatoes with one of the big cans of whole peeled roma tomatoes, juice and all. supposed to be canned at their peak of ripeness right? sorry grandma louise, but it is not tomato season in VA right now.
i also decided spur of the moment to add a container of grape tomatoes, thrown into the sauce whole at the very end so they got gushy on the inside but retained their shape. i love the way they burst like little tomato flavor bombs when you bite into them.
i added alot more garlic because i like garlic.

The boy needed something filling and tasty reheated because he was busy studying for finals and didnt have the time to cook for himself so i found this lasagna recipe. followed to the T except for the following:

of course, i subbed their sauce with the sauce i made above. turned out to be the perfect amount of sauce for this lasagna. but i still recommend making more sauce in a batch so that you can pour some on top after you cut it or use it for other dishes. youre always going to wish you had made a bit extra. i sure do.
i used a mix of mild and spicy ground pork sausage because who the heck wants to peel intestine casings just to get the same result? i dont get it.
i did the pasta like they said (just put it in the lasagna without preboiling) but i had to bake it alot longer because the noodles didnt cook all the way through in the specified time. so i would recommend at least presoaking the noodles in hot water for 30 min or so, or a quick boil just to soften them a bit before layering it in the pan.

i will be making this alot over the winter. i can tell that already. i cant wait to make the sauce when tomatoes are back in season to see the difference!

Gingerbread Buffalos

2009-12-21T14:05:00.007-05:00

Followed a recipe from Gourmet, Dec 2002. 'Tis the season...

These cookies rose beautifully and, though they weren't gingery enough for me (perhaps I will double the grated ginger instructions next time), they met my standards for what a tasty cookie should be - not too sweet, with just the right amount of crunch.

I followed these instructions (halving everything as usual, yielding 23 cookies) which were unique as far as cookie recipes go, as you must boil the sugars and spices together first before adding butter, baking soda, flour, & salt.

A few pointers - these took 12 minutes to cook (but watch your oven as the recipe says, because cooking times vary). Since I ran out of baking-sheet surface, I started using Pyrex, which took an additional 3-4 minutes. Also, before you start cutting, I would advise throwing the dough in your freezer for 5 minutes before rolling it out & cutting.

No Knead Dough

2009-12-20T11:38:00.008-05:00

V is a genius. Replicated the bread method below with FANTASTIC results. In 2006, Jim Lahey of Sullivan St Bakery in NYC (NOT to be confused with Trailer Park Boys star, as my dear lab partner LK guessed), offered this recipe to NYTimes food writer Mark Bittman on how to make bread without kneading, excessive time, or getting your hands dirty. The trick is waiting 14-20 hours for the yeast to replicate & do its job. Easiest & tastiest loaf I've ever made. Goodbye, inedible & awful crusts.

For the budget conscious, each loaf costs about $0.50 in materials (3 cups of flour, 1/4 tsp yeast, salt, water). I used this recipe, modified from Bittman's with a few modifications of my own, as I do not own a deep casserole dish with a heavy lid that's large enough to fit a loaf. Namely,

1. I made a cover for my pie dish by taking a sturdy aluminum colander (the kind isn’t coated by plastic… it has to be oven safe) and wrapping it with aluminum foil. Don’t preheat the cover, just the baking dish. Oddly enough, the baking dish doesn’t need to be greased.
2. When it's time, cover the loaf with your colander contraption (or, if you have a big bouillabaisse kind of casserole dish with a cover, that’s even better --- the idea is to trap the steam in & around the bread, & not let the moisture escape --- the recipe above used a pyrex bowl & pie pan for a cover but I thought that was too dangerous & could lead to warping/cracking of my pans.

Rosemary Potato Cakes with Lemon Garlic Aioli

2009-12-16T12:42:00.010-05:00

I had wanted to make a hollandaise for this, but since it seemed against kashrut, I made something else up. Which is silly, since I'm not Jewish, and the potato pancake is not strictly Jewish, but I'm funny like that, being the high holidays and all. It must be the Long Island in our family.

You need:
5 small red potatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
rosemary, salt, olive oil to season
1 egg, beaten
1 T olive oil

For aioli:
2 T mayonnaise
1 small garlic clove, minced
2-3 drops lemon
salt
scallions, sliced thinly.

Whatchoo do:

1. Shred your taters. I used a grater, then switched to a veggie peeler. Marinate everything for the potatoes except for the egg, for 20 minutes. Add you egg.
2. Heat up a nonstick pan to hi-med heat. Lay the potatoes down in THIN, 1/4 inch layers. I messed this up the first time and the slices in the middle didn't cook. BAD idea. Raw potatoes contain solanine, the same poison in nightshade and tobacco, and when ingested in high quantities, cause headaches & vomiting and all kinds of nasty effects. Here is my academic reference (wikipedia). Cooking seems to reduce the levels a bit. And if your potatoes are green under the skin, throw them out. I am the last person to throw food out but it's really not worth it.
3. While your cakes are cookin, mix together the stuff for your aioli. You can make this ahead of time (the longer it sits, the better).

La Bouillabaisse! (sort of)

2009-12-14T20:41:00.014-05:00

(Before adding broth - see below for the finished product!)

In honor of National Bouillabaisse Day, and the last (real) exam I finished this year, I made a fish stew - not quite bouillabaisse (which has a 1001 specifications for it to be called the real deal), and not quite cioppino (the Italian rendering of the stew with tomato).

The first time I had bouillabaisse was at Martick's, in Baltimore, with ML, perhaps three or four years ago. It was wonderfully decadent: rich, buttery, thick, herbal. No, there is no substitute for Martick's and his former hobbit hole. You had to knock to enter, and a pair of eyes would peek at you through a sliding window (or was it just a window? perhaps I romanticize slightly) before letting you in, speakeasy style. But I do think I've found a home cook's version of alternate greatness, in a bowl. Minus lobster, for fiscal reasons (I couldn't justify the cost given the chance this could have gone colossally wrong). My version:
I incorporated ideas from various recipes - mostly this one, which is utterly un-Marseillais, and this one from Gourmet (rest in peace). Below is what I did. Most of the work is waiting for the fish stock to do its job.

Per serving (yes, I happily indulged alone!):
3 jumbo shrimp
2 giant scallops, halved
2 cherrystone clams (or a half dozen little neck clams)
1/2 tilapia filet

For broth:
1 q fish stock
1 c chicken broth
2 cloves garlic
1/3 c chopped white onions
1/2 c white wine
zest from 1/4 orange
2 T tomato sauce
"italian seasoning" (dried thyme/parsley)
dash of Old Bay
salt, pepper
leeks (I forgot this)

linguine

1. Make fish stock. Or defrost fish stock from your freezer. Or (I hesitate to suggest this, because I've never tried it - buy it in a carton?) Boil fish bones for 2 hours with 1/2 c white wine, 1 q water, dried thyme/parsley/tarragon ("italian seasoning"), 1 c chicken broth (heresy, I know, but this is what I did and it was damnably good), 2 T tomato sauce, salt, pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 1/3 c onion (diced). Notice this is a milder recipe & requires less garlic/onion than I usually throw in.

2. When you're ready to eat, boil some water and throw in your dried linguine. Scrub 2 cherrystone clams (they're about 3 times the size of a littleneck clam) clean of dirt/sludge and throw them into the boiling water along with your linguine. Don't cook them with your broth because there will be sand and such that come out of the clams, which you can rinse off linguine by fishing the strands out of the boiling water, but not from a stew.

3. Devein & clean 3 jumbo shrimp. Using a slotted spoon, lower the shrimp in your boiling broth for about a minute. It shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. You want it JUST underdone because it keeps cooking. Once it's done, set it in a separate bowl.

4. Throw in a filet of frozen tilapia (I used half of a filet). Take out the clams from the pasta pot if they're done (they'll open wide when ready) and set them in your shrimp bowl. Clean the scallops and chop them into halves if they're too big for a single bite. Plunge them in your boiling broth again with your slotted spoon. These guys take about 2 minutes as well.

5. When the scallops are done, take them out of the broth and into your bowl. In a second (serving) bowl, arrange the linguine at the bottom (taking care NOT to dump the water the clams were also cooking in), then dump your seafood on top. Ladle the broth over everything and eat immediately. I was so excited to eat this that I forgot to put lemon juice on everything but it really wasn't necessary.

Save the clam/pasta juice, clam shells, and shrimp shells to make stock. If you don't have the time, dump it into a freezer bag and make it later. But for goodness sake, don't throw it out.

Butternut Squash & Black-eyed Pea Soup

2009-12-12T13:24:00.005-05:00

Followed this recipe with the following mods: Used a ginger/lemon/chicken broth base, made out of last night's chicken bones, instead of whatever was written. Green onions for garnish. And a tsp of bacon fat instead of olive oil. Prep time: 10 min, mostly peeling/cutting squash up.

Beer Chicken

2009-12-11T22:42:00.002-05:00

Here's something to do with the leftover beer that I no longer have the chugging willpower for: make it into a marinade.

Note that this recipe is not to be confused with beer can chicken, to be attempted next summer on the grill.Tried this on the quail and figured drumsticks were about the same size. Honestly, I don't think I'm ever going back to baking chicken, now that I've discovered how much more moist/juicier/faster the results are with the steam-n-sear method. Results: Could have used more salt/spices after the searing. Maybe some kind of rub, before throwing it on the pan, might have solved this issue. Still, the meat itself was unbelievably soft and flavorful, and the prep for this took 5 minutes. I would happily eat this for dinner three nights in a row and not get bored.

Ingredients:
1/2 c beer (I used a toasted lager... I'm partial to dark beers and CF tells me that "toasted" is the new thing in the beer world. Whatever. All I know is that the carbonation acts like a tenderizer & makes for good meat.)
1/4 c (or less) soy sauce
1/3 c chopped red onion
pepper

3 chicken drumsticks
ziploc bag

Directions:
Marinate everything in a ziploc bag for a couple hours. Or a day. Open the next day, steam* for 20 minutes (less if you don't have as much chicken), then sear the drumsticks on a high-heat nonstick pan with some olive oil, onions, and pepper. You can also pop it in the oven for 45 minutes (or until flesh is no longer pink) but that takes forever, and I got places to be.

*I realize that not everyone has a steamer, or is familiar with the art of steaming rather than baking/frying your meat/vegetables. I actually do not have a bonafide steamer (like the one below), but I use something like a circular metal rack w/ wire legs to place my meat on. I make a tray out of aluminum foil (folding the four corners up so that the juices don't leak out) and throw my meat/spices/vegetables in the tray before placing it on the rack, which sits in a 1/2 inch of boiling water. The tray has to be face-up so that the steam can actually work at the meat, otherwise it'll just condense on the foil and you'll sit there for hours wondering what the heck happened. Behold, a vegetable steamer:

Schoolmarm note: Just make sure you don't overfill your pot - you don't want the water to rise above the level of your meat & boil your goodies. You also do not want this to dry out because that will ruin your pan and probably cause some catastrophic burn when you try to lift your pot. So make sure you enough water and peer at least once at what's going on under the lid during the steaming process.

Apple Bourbon Chutney

2009-12-11T22:41:00.004-05:00

Had a hankering for chutney - one of those projects that makes the entire house smell like vinegar.

Fair warning: ZING!! This chutney has got some KICK. This is not for the faint of palate. Eat with bread.

Re: the title of this post - I actually used Canadian whiskey. But I'm calling it bourbon because it sounds more American, and noble. Modified from this epicurious recipe. I made 3 small Ball jars out of it (so what is that? 3 cups?)

You need:
2/3 c apple cider vinegar
1/3 c white sugar
1/3 c brown sugar

4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & chopped into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup of raisins, soaked in 1/2 c water + 1/2 c bourbon or whiskey overnight*
1/2 c fresh cranberries (dried cranberries are fine too, just soak them along with the raisins in the bourbon)
1/3 c red onion, chopped (white onions might have been less zingy)
2 T fresh lemon juice
5 garlic cloves
2 thick slices of fresh ginger, chopped finely
salt, crushed red pepper (I would have reduced the red pepper out if I'd known how spicy this would be)
1 tsp mustard seeds

*Save the bourbon-raisin liquid to add if chutney if it's too dry. Or add it to a ginger-lemon tea. Just don't toss a perfectly good infusion away.

Directions:

Bring vinegar and sugar to boil in heavy large nonaluminum saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Toss apples and lemon juice in large bowl. (Skipped this step: Combine garlic, ginger, salt and red pepper in processor; blend until finely chopped.) Add apple and garlic/ginger mixtures, raisins, cranberries, and mustard seeds to vinegar. Simmer until apples are tender and chutney thickens, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. If you taste test at the 15 minute point it will be SPICY but never fear. The flavors will dull as you simmer. Just don't let it become a pulp. Place in bowl. Cool. Cover; chill. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.)

Just to prove I do eat green things (but... lately not as much), I'm taking a picture of the salad I made along with this mess. I used green leaf lettuce (the price of spinach and arugula is way outta line right now). Golden raisins, onions, feta, & a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Kalamata Olive Bread with Thyme and Rosemary

2009-12-09T21:53:00.005-05:00

Sniff.... ssniiiiiiifffff......snrrrrkkkk.... mmmm.......

Does anything smell better than the scent of baking bread wafting through your home?

No. Absolutely nothing. Ok, maybe Taylor Lautner. Or what I imagine Taylor Lautner to smell like..... um, is it ok to have a crush on a 17 year old man-boy-werewolf? Anyway...

This was my first attempt at baking bread! How exciting! I think I've found something that I really want to perfect. Bread making is known to be an intricate and difficult skill to master, but, by god, I will try. I decided to make olive bread because a month or so ago, the boy took me to dinner at a nice restaurant where in the bread basket lay the most amazing piece of bread I had ever eaten. Briny kalamata olives studded a warm, perfectly crunchy on the outside, glutenliciously chewy on the inside, crusty french roll, scented with rosemary, that seriously made me stop midchew to think, "Am I really eating this? Or is this a dream..." 2941 restaurant in Virginia. Highly recommended.

I followed this recipe from Epicurious pretty closely, so I won't repeat the details. The only differences were that I added some finely minced dried rosemary and instead of spraying the oven with water, I filled a cast iron pan with water and placed that on the bottom of the oven when I put the bread in.

Next time, I think I will substitute a little of the room-temp water used in the dough with some brine from the olive jar to increase the olive-y taste. I also recommend only coarsely chopping the olives, and even leaving some intact. I need to learn more about using yeast (I'm a yeast n00b), since my dough didn't rise that much and thus the bubbles on the inside of the bread after it weren't up to par. Also need to somehow find a way to make it more chewy. May try to partially substitute the all purpose flour with a higher gluten content flour. Time to practice practice practice! I think I will use the same bread base and substitute sun dried tomatoes and roasted garlic cloves instead of olives for the next one.... Stay tuned!

Israeli Couscous, Turkish style?

2009-12-09T21:16:00.007-05:00

After reading J's post on giant couscous, I spied some at the local grocery store on sale, and decided to try my hand at this trendy new pasta.

I was going for Turkish type flavors (I think...), so I used a mix of dried fruits and nuts with some spices that I thought were appropriate. I tend not to measure out ingredients when I cook; I just haphazardly scatter things in that I think will taste good together, but I will try for the sake of this recipe (because it was that good!) to convert my dribbles and dashes into quantifiable amounts.

Ingredients:
- 1 box of cooked and drained Israeli couscous (follow directions on the box, but remove when a little firmer than al dente because you're going to keep cooking it for a bit in a pan with the rest of the ingredients)
- olive oil
- 2 shallots, sliced thinly
- 1/2 c. dried cranberries
- 1/2 c. chopped dried apricots
- 1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans
- 1/4 c. chicken stock
- 1/2 c. finely chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. brown sugar
- pinch of cayenne
- salt and pepper to taste

In a large nonstick pan, heat up some olive oil over medium high heat and fry the shallots until they are browned and a little crispy. Turn the heat down to medium and add the cranberries, apricots, pecans, couscous, chicken stock, lemon juice, cumin, sugar, cayenne, salt and pepper and parsley. Mix so everything is nice and even and pretty.

I served this as a side to steak (rubbed with most of the same spices) and some sauteed green peppers and onions. Yum.

Reconsider the Crucifer: Cauliflower Soup

2009-12-09T19:15:00.012-05:00

A former track coach convinced me once that vegetables without much color have little nutritional value. Lies. Cauliflower is, in fact, better for you than eating cheese doodles, and that's all the health information I need.

Was tempted to try this curry/honey cauliflower soup recipe but shied away, preferring to stick to what I know: boiling.

Fact time. Crucifers (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and those veggies whose petals form a "cross" as the Latin root suggests) are high in vitamin C & K, and - !fun med school fact! - potent cytochrome P450 inducers (i.e. they can increase liver enzyme levels, which in turn make the metabolism of some drugs faster). A cup of boiled cauliflower provides 100% of the %daily value of vitamin C. So says this Whole Foods graph. And no, I will not look up a more scientific source.

Ingredients:

1/2 cauliflower head
handful baby carrots (or about a cup of chopped carrots)
1 celery stick, chopped
3-4 slices tomato
4-5 slices raw ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T butter (or bacon fat, but I opted out this time)
Old Bay seasoning (I used to throw this in everything, and now use more judiciously)
dried sage, cilantro
salt, pepper

cornstarch

Directions:
Throw everything in a medium stockpot & boil until the cauliflower florets are dissociated. Simmer for 3-4 hours. When everything is nice and mushy, make a slurry of 3 T cornstarch and about 1/4 c water (the water doesn't have to be exact, so long as the cornstarch is dissolved. It should be the consistency heavy cream, but not yogurt). Add cornstarch into hot soup, while stirring (If you don't stir, you'll get weird cornstarch clumps in your soup which can't be fixed). I think you can also thicken with flour, but I've never done that. Ditto with tapioca flour using the same method.

I also added a 1/2 c of cubed confetti squash that I had leftover from another night, which is why the soup is a bit yellowish. But I don't think it makes a huge impact on flavor.

Just before serving, you can stir in 1/4 cup of milk to the hot (but not boiling) soup if you want it creamier. Or add a few splashes of full cream. I find that cream usually dulls the veggie flavors, so I don't use too much of it (i.e. Campbell's cream of mushroom soup is, to me, overkill).

Here's the pot, post cream (next to the pasta). I may have added 2 T at most (really not too much).

The rest of tonight's delicious meal, courtesy of DD. Lemon & parsley chicken, whole wheat pasta, and steamed broccoli.

CREPES! A work in progress.

2009-12-09T15:09:00.003-05:00

My classmate, MR, received a shiny steel crepe pan from his mama, and recently we experimented with crepe fillings and recipes. Definitely beats making them in a nonstick pan (though seasoning the pan makes for a bit more work). If you have butter/milk/eggs/flour, you can make this at home.

Tried a couple different fillings for this: sauerkraut, curried cauliflower, & confetti squash w/ pinenuts. Dove into 5 or 6 homemade jams courtesy of MS; nutella; pumpkin custard. Lovely.

We'll go with MR's recipe, lifted from Bon Appetit verbatim ("Bacon & Squash Crepes"), since it was tastier (my batch included a wee teaspoon of whiskey that had raisins soaking in it for 3 days, fewer eggs, and had it sit for 2 hours - it was good, but not as light as his). As MS remarked, "Why have pancakes when you can have crepes?"

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 cup (or more) whole milk, divided
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
Melted butter (for cooking crepes)

Directions:
Cook 1/4 cup butter in small skillet over medium heat until butter browns, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes; cool slightly. Blend eggs, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup water, and salt in blender. With machine running, add flour 1/2 cup at a time, blending until smooth after each addition and stopping to scrape down sides of blender as needed. Blend in browned butter. Blend in more milk by tablespoonfuls to thin to consistency of thick cream if necessary. Let batter rest at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Reblend 5 seconds before using. N.B. When making sweet crepes, the secret ingredient is a few drops of orange blossom essence, or orange zest/juice. Thanks to AM for that. And maybe 1-2 T sugar in the batter.

Heat 10-inch-diameter nonstick skillet with 8-inch-diameter bottom over medium-high heat. Brush with melted butter. Add scant 1/4 cup batter, shaking and rotating skillet so batter covers bottom. Cook until crepe is brown on bottom, 30 to 40 seconds. Run heatproof rubber spatula around edge and turn crepe over. Cook until brown in spots on bottom, 30 to 40 seconds. Turn crepe out onto paper towel. Repeat with remaining batter to make 16 crepes, brushing pan with butter each time and stacking crepes between paper towels. Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap crepe stack in foil and refrigerate.

Almond Baklavadakia

2009-12-07T18:22:00.017-05:00

Inspired by VC's puff pastry posts, I decided to revisit an old friend of mine: phyllo dough. Baklavadakia are like baklava, except in a roll form instead of the flaky parallelograms more commonly seen.

I was moderately infatuated with baklava during the summer after my freshman year of college. It took me a while to figure out that you needed rose water to make it taste right, which I made at home yesterday with a bunch of dried rosebuds from the Chinese grocer (basically, you make tea out of the dried flowers, & keep the water in the fridge). This recipe simplifies the parallelogram-shaped baklava, which takes about 3 hours to make per tray -- into rollups that are faster to make. The tray you see above took me about 20 minutes to prep, and 10 minutes to bake. Granted, I am used to working with the dough, so it may take longer on a first try. But this was way faster, and required less skill, than assembling a conventional pan. I also used almonds instead of walnuts, because 1) almonds are cheaper and 2) I am not crazy about walnuts, though they make the pastry taste more baklava-ey. OH WELL. To hell with conventional, per usual.

The results were light, crunchy, and drier than I might have preferred. Given my aversion to sugar and butter, I might have made the syrup the day before, waited for it to thicken and cool, then pour it on my hot pastry.

(makes about 24 bite sized pieces; or a plateful)

Recipe modified from this post.

Ingredients:

phyllo pastry dough (needs to sit in the fridge overnight to thaw out)
2/3 c almond slices
4 tsp white sugar
4 or 5 dashes of cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
2 ground whole cloves (or maybe just a sprinkle if you have the powder form)
2 T melted butter

for syrup:
1/3 c rose tea, cooled
less than 1/3 c sugar
2 T honey
juice of 1 lemon wedge

Directions:

1. Toss almonds, sugar, and spices together in a bowl. Grease your baking sheet with olive oil or melted butter.

2. Keeping the unused phyllo covered with a damp paper towel, lay one sheet of phyllo on your worksurface and brush lightly with butter. I used a square of paper towel as my brush, since I don't have a pastry brush. Layer another sheet of phyllo over that, and brush with butter again. This is your basic layer (2 layers). Orient the sheet so that the long edge is facing you.

3. Sprinkle this layer with your nut mixture, leaving 1/2 inch on all sides and a full 1 inch on the layer closest to you. Take the close (long) edge and begin to roll it up, brushing the underside with butter as you go. Put the roll, edge facing down, on a greased baking sheet.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Make three more rolls accordingly.

6. Baked for 10 minutes. Check to see that the tops are golden brown. If you want them darker, wait another minute. If I had to do this again, I would have baked for 8 minutes and taken them out at 9. These are fast. Unlike the pan version, which takes forever to cook through, on top of being extremely finicky with respect to baking times.

7. While they're baking, boil the syrup ingredients. Let it boil for a minute before taking it off heat. You can do this the day before and let it cool in your fridge. The rule is, if you have hot pastry, pour COLD syrup over it. If you have cooled pastry, pour HOT syrup over it. But if you try to pour hot syrup over hot pastry, the liquid will absorb through the phyllo skins and you will end up with one soggy, undifferentiated mass.

8. Sprinkle with whatever remaining nut mixture you may have. Cut them in half, then into thirds, with a sharp knife. Trim the ends. Here is a cross-sectional view:

And a bird's eye:

Chestnut Soup

2009-12-05T17:15:00.007-05:00

Used leftover quail for this soup, which I made last week for the fam.

Ingredients:
16 oz whole cooked chestnuts (Find them at a Chinese grocer. For some reason, a spaghetti-sized can at Wegmans is $15, but you can buy the same thing in a bag, already cooked, for $3 at the Chinese market down the street)
1 c shredded quail or chicken meat
5-6 c chicken stock
3 sticks celery, chopped
3 or 4 handfuls of baby carrots, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic
herbs (tarragon, thyme, parsley, cilantro)
salt, pepper
1 tsp butter

half-and-half (to desired taste)

Directions:
Boil everything except for chicken/quail meat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add meat and simmer for another 15. Keep warm. When you're ready to serve, add cream to taste (I like to add about 1/4 c - not too creamy, but just enough to complement the chestnuts).

When I made this for my family, I also roasted a dozen chestnuts and peeled them, which was tedious and only moderately improved the soup. I will never do that again. If you really want to know, though, I knifed X marks into the flat sides of all the chestnuts and threw it in the oven at 450 for 10 minutes. I took the hard shells off, then boiled them for 3 minutes and peeled the skins off. It was a horrible, backbreaking experience, and I think roasted chestnuts are totally overrated. But cheers to the holidays, and all that.

--- Scrooge

Potato & Leek Soup

2009-12-05T16:53:00.004-05:00

I'm kind of proud of this, even though it's standard English fare, only because there is nothing else I've been able to do with leeks. Pan-frying them takes too long, and I don't really believe in casseroles. Goes well with a hard cheddar (I had mine with Dubliner, my favorite cheese).

Ingredients:
3 c stock (turkey stock, in my case. turkey forever.)
a bunch of water. Maybe 3 or 4 more cups.
1 celery stick
9 red creamer potatoes (double this, if you like a thick consistency)
1 whole leek, chopped into thin disks
1/4 onion
1/2 T bacon fat
dill
various herbs (sage, thyme)

Directions:
Boil the hell out of everything for a half hour or so, mashing it up the soup with your spat or slotted spoon now and then. You can probably puree it but I'm too lazy for that business, and besides, I like it a little chunky.

Honey Cornmeal Biscuits

2009-12-05T16:31:00.009-05:00

Modified this recipe from cooks.com and added honey to the batch instead of sugar. Also, since I don't usually have buttermilk (eww) in my fridge, I subbed with 1/2 c milk plus 1 tsp vinegar. Added flax seed, too. Results: crunchy on the outside, moist in the inside. Cons: baking soda-ey. Need to branch out on leaveners.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 T T flax seed (you can add more if you like)
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp vinegar
2 T honey
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl thoroughly mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of coarse meal (you can use your fingers for this, or a fork/knife)

Beat the egg lightly into milk and add vinegar, stirring vigorously while you add the acid (if you let it sit, the milk will curdle). Finish whatever you're doing to prep your other dishes, and when you are ready to make the biscuits, pour into the dry ingredients and mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened. The original directions tell you to roll it out and knead 6 times, but I am impatient, and as soon as everything was moist, I molded them into spheres, each about 2 inches in diameter (I made 8 biscuits... you'll make more or less depending on how large your biscuits are).

Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes, then 425 for another 6 minutes (the online recipe says 450 for 12 minutes but I think that's too much). Let them sit for 5 minutes before eating. Serve with honey.

Mini Apple Tartlets

2009-12-05T09:33:00.006-05:00

After making the sweet potato tart tatin, I still had some leftover puff pastry, and decided to try to make mini apple tarts using the same technique.

Really, the only deviation from the original recipe was using apples instead of sweet potatoes, and of course proportionally reducing the amounts since I only had 1 large apple to work with.

I used golden delicious apples, because I read somewhere that they are the best apples for pies. I baked them in a standard cupcake tin which turned out to be perfectly sized for individual tartlets. I tossed the apples in some cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and cornstarch (to soak up the juice which comes out of the apples during baking so it didn't turn out too runny and ruin the pastry) before placing them over the caramel sauce. I waited a little longer to take the caramel off the burner this time, and it had a noticeably deeper caramel flavor than the previous attempt, which I liked. I also made sure to add just enough butter and stopped just before it stopped incorporating completely, and it seemed to work out. I also threw in some leftover nuts and cranberries to give some variety.

Here's a pic of one from the side so you can see how the fruit and pastry were layered.

I think I am now officially obsessed with puff pastry and caramel sauce.

Turkey Cilantro Soup

2009-12-03T20:27:00.011-05:00

I spent most of my childhood hating cilantro, picking it out of my food and cringing whenever my mother served cilantro soup. The version she made involved minced beef, very similar to this recipe (much faster to make than mine). I like cilantro now though, and I found a way to use the stuff, and whatever meats/vegetables are in my fridge at the moment. Not bad for a camera phone.

Ingredients:
1 smoked turkey leg (frozen in my freezer from last week)
4 red potatoes
handful of baby carrots
6 cloves of garlic, minced up real good. If I had to do it over, I'd save some raw garlic for the soupbowl too.
salt, pepper, italian herbs, you know the drill

3 T cornstarch
1 egg

bunch of cilantro (maybe 2 or 3 handfuls, washed & chopped into 1 inch pieces)
1 baby scallion shoot

Directions:
Boil & simmer everything for 45 minutes to an hour. When vegetables are soft and stewey, bring to a boil again. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 c of water to make a cornstarch solution, and stir this into the soup to thicken it.

(Optional) Beat 1 egg in a small bowl and, with the heat OFF, drop it thinly into your soup, in a circular direction. Throw in cilantro & scallion, & take everything off the burner immediately (don't boil your greens at all, otherwise they'll lose their bright green color and be tasteless). ENJOY!

Pomelo-Traminette Granita

2009-11-30T20:39:00.012-05:00

I don't have a photo for this because I got too excited and ate it all before photographing. Does this count? I think it does because it was delicious, and granitas are good to know how to make. Anyway, this recipe is good for the leftover wine that you just can't bear to throw out.

I used Traminette wine for this, which is close to a Gewurztraminer. It was made in the Finger Lakes region, and brought to me courtesy of CF. The taste is very much like drinking lychee fruit (something my grandparents loved to spoil me with as a kid), which makes it a prime target for mixing with pomelo (kind of like a giant, mild grapefruit, which Cantonese people are also fond of).

I liked this. So did my guests, SC and LT (SC often taste-tests my creations). I fantasize now about mixing the remaining 1/4 cup of wine with a mash of Ya Li pears I have in my fridge from my most recent trip to Boston. These are asian pears that originally grew in Western China & were banned by US customs for many years --- but the bans been lifted & they can be found in Korean/Chinese superstores across the US now. They look like mini Barletts except they are much crunchier & juicier than the fat Asian pears that are easier to find. Here is a picture:

This recipe was modified from a Gewurztraminer sorbet version found in one of my mother's "Art of French Cooking" old school books, from the '80's. I got super excited when I saw the varietal, because it was the closest relative to the Traminette dregs I had back in Buffalo - and upon returning from my Thanksgiving break, this was the first thing I attempted to make to absolve the guilt I felt over leaving a 1/2 cup of wine corked on my kitchen counter.

Ingredients:
1/2 pomelo
1/3 c Traminette wine
3 T sugar
1 T honey

Directions:

Peel off the bitter skins of the pomelo, and isolate about 1.5 to 2 cups of pomelo fruit. Mash it all up with the wine, sugar, and honey, and taste test to make sure you like the flavor. Pour into an aluminum 8" pie tin (or a metal tray, in which case you can make more). Slide tray into the freezer.

Wait for an hour, then take the tray out. It should be sort of liquidy but not really frozen. Throw it into a food processor, pulsing on low ("blunt" on my machine). Don't let it melt too much, so do it in small chunks if you have to (if your kitchen is all souped up, you can also use an ice cream maker. I just like to do things on the cheap). Throw it back in and check it every half hour, making sure to mash it with a fork or whatever you have to make sure the ice crystals don't get too chunky. The wine will want to fall to the sides of the pan, so just make sure you fold it back to the middle each time you give it a stir.

Once solidly frozen, let it sit for 5 min or so at room temperature to thaw/soften before scooping into bowls.

Serves 3.

Chinese (Cornish Hen) a l'Orange

2009-11-30T19:58:00.015-05:00

Played with a Cornish Hen recipe this Thanksgiving. Learned that the freshness of the meat is a big factor in your product. As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. Or, in this case, amazingness in, amazingness out.

Made 10 dishes for Turkey Day for the family and was too exhausted by the end to write it all out, but I think the hen recipe bears writing down because it was so easy & delicious. I started out with a Bell & Evans hen, from the Fresh Pond Whole Foods in Cambridge. Needless to say, they were incredible (There is no Whole Foods in Buffalo, and the special chickies I've been able to locate are usually too old/large, and taste just like chicken, which is a shame). At some point I'll write down the recipes for the homemade mashed potatoes/chestnut soup/endive salad, but school calls.

Ingredients:
3 Cornish hens (Bell & Evans is best - or anything that's fresh)
1/2 c soy sauce (the chicken marinade kind)
3 tbsp white cooking wine
half an orange's worth of juice, plus plenty of zest
garlic
ginger
white pepper
Mrs. Dash (yes... I use Mrs. Dash)
dried herbs (thyme would be ideal; tarragon is great)

Directions:

Remove neck & giblets, & defeather anything missed by the machine (or whoever defeathers our poultry... thoughts for another post). You can boil these in some water for 30-40 minutes for stock if you want (except for the liver, which makes stock bitter and untasty). Or throw them in a plastic baggie in the freezer to make stock later. The liver can be chopped finely and sauteed with garlic & olive oil to spread onto toast or crackers.

In a glass mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients together and marinate hens for 4-5 hours, turning every hour or two. Make sure some of the marinade gets into the center of the cavities. The high salt content in the soy sauce dehydrates the meat, which makes it tastier for some reason (I'm really not sure why - but this is also why duck is dried before roasting when making Peking duck).

Preheat oven to 425 deg F. Roast for 10 minutes, breasts up, then immediately turn the heat down to 350, and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Check the meat to make sure the juices run clear. If juices are still pink, throw it back in for 5 minutes but please do not overcook this delicate birds.

Let them sit for at least 10 minutes before chopping them in half (lengthwise) and giving each guest a half bird.

Sweet Potato Tart Tatin

2009-11-27T10:41:00.007-05:00

In addition to the cranberry sauce, my parents charged me with the responsibility of making dessert. I decided to make the Sweet Potato Tart Tatin from Chef David Guas' recently published DamGoodSweet cookbook because it just sounded and looked so, well... damn good, from the photo online.

Since I'm lazy, and I followed the recipe pretty closely this time, I'll just link to it... Sweet Potato Tart Tatin recipe.

Although mine did not come out as aesthetically pleasing, and I made some mistakes along the way, it tasted delicious.

I used the Dufour brand puff pastry, like the recipe says, and it turned out great. It was expensive though, I think around $11, but I did buy it at Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck as my friend Jason calls it, so who knows. Next time, I might try making my own puff pastry.

I also didn't have a candy thermometer to take the temperature of the caramel when I was making it, so I relied mainly on the color and bubble size. I think I took it off the heat a bit early because I was freaked out that I was going to burn it, but I think it still turned out an alright caramel product. One issue I had was the amount of butter which they have down. I used the whole stick this time because I wanted to follow the recipe, but I think there was too much because at one point, the butter wasn't incorporating into the caramel anymore no matter how fast I stirred. Next time, I'll stop at that point.

Pan-Fried Vietnamese BBQ Quail

2009-11-26T12:49:00.009-05:00

Secret's out. I photoshop my food photos. The computer in my parents' house does not have the fancy editing software that comes with my Mac, so there you have it. UNEDITED quail.

Spent yesterday morning in Chinatown shopping for today's upcoming festivities - because most grocery stores are closed today due to antiquated Massachusetts laws. I think a lot of Chinatown business owners are upset by this, because of all the last-minute trips that people need to make on Thanksgiving day. But... hooray for the Puritans. Anyway, I found a pack of 6 frozen quail in the exotic poultry section, and some Vietnamese-style BBQ powder which I stocked up on since I can't take sauces on the plane back to Buffalo.

Traffic was obscene, and by the time I got home, it was t= -1.5 hr to eating time. I marinated the quail for about 45 minutes, then phoned a friend for the following recipe/cooking theory that saved my face.

Ingredients:
6 quail
1/2 c soy sauce (it's best to use the type of soy specifically for chicken recipes)

1/8 c cooking wine (white is preferable but red would also work - just 1-2 splashes)

2 T Vietnamese BBQ powder

garlic

ziploc bag

Directions:

Remove giblets & clean the quail. Throw them in the ziploc bag along with the above ingredients. Turn every 15 minutes, and marinate for 45 minutes (or longer if possible).

Steam quail for 15 minutes (without the marinade). You can make a homemade steamer out of a wire rack in a large pot - just wrap the quails (quail? sp?) in a piece of aluminum foil with the top open. This is an important step! The quails cook without losing their juices this way, and you won't end up with dry gamey birds if you steam first.

Heat olive oil in a pan, until a pinch of garlic starts to bubble/sizzle. Turn the heat to high-med and brown each side of the quail (~6 min, turning birds every minute so it doesn't burn). Arrange on a plate, throw some lemon slices in the middle, and decorate with your choice of garnish.

I served this with a sautee of asparagus tips & onions, rosemary potato fries, and a side of brown rice.

Orange Cranberry Sauce with Crystallized Ginger

2009-11-25T01:50:00.010-05:00

Cranberry sauce is my favorite side for Thanksgiving. I ladle giant spoonfuls onto my turkey and mix it into everything else on my plate. I've never made cranberry sauce from scratch before (I unabashedly admit that I'm a big fan of the canned jelly stuff), but this year, since my parents are coming to stay at my place for T-day, I decided it was time to make an appropriately grown-up version of my favorite side dish.

This recipe is adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe I found on Epicurious.

What you need:
Fresh cranberries > 16 oz. (1/2 qt)
Water > 1/2 c.
Sugar > 3/4 c.
Ginger powder > 1 tsp.
Cinnamon > 1/2 tsp.
Allspice > 1/4 tsp.
Orange juice > 1/2 c.
Orange zest > 1 tbsp. (I like it orange-y)
Crystallized ginger > 1/4 c. minced

Add the first 8 ingredients into a saucepan and heat on high until boiling. Stir to dissolve the sugar, and then keep boiling until the cranberries burst, and mash them up a bit with a spoon. When the sauce reaches the consistency you desire, take it off the heat and cool. Stir in the minced crystallized ginger. Cover and put in the fridge to chill. Easy peasy.

I found this cranberry sauce to have a great balance of tart and sweet, and the orange and ginger really give it another dimension that makes it a winner. Heck, I might even prefer it over the canned. I feel so adult now.

... Here's another picture. Because being all grown up means its ok to star in more food porn.

Enjoy!

Chocolate-Almond Banana Muffins

2009-11-24T12:07:00.004-05:00

Delicious. Some of the chocolate morsels sank to the bottom of the cakes, so I might recommend a touch more flour, but even so, the results were very moist and tasty.

Ingredients:
sliced almonds
semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3/4 c flour
1/3 c sugar (1/2 brown, 1/2 white)
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 egg (or just an egg white)
1/2 stick butter (1/4 c)
1/8 c milk
1 overripe banana, mashed
Makes 6.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Melt butter in the microwave until warm (not hot). Mix milk, beaten eggs, butter together in a bowl with a few drops of anise or almond extract. Mix in the banana. In a separate bowl, combine flour/sugar/salt/rising agents/chocolate chips; mix well.

Toast some almond slices in the oven. Incorporate liquids to the solids, stirring to combine. Don't overstir. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes (or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean).

Persimmon-Cranberry Sauce

2009-11-23T15:06:00.004-05:00

Lesson of the day: all persimmons are not created equal. Fuyus, the squat round kinds that my mother is so fond of, have different ripening characteristics than hachiya varieties (which are bell-shaped and more commonly found in supermarkets).

Will be repeating this on Thanksgiving Day, with the right kind of fruit. I suspect this recipe would have been delicious as pictured above, had Fuyus been available at Wegman's. Will try the Chinese grocery next time.

Modified from Gourmet 2005's Persimmon Cranberry Sauce (via epicurious). I decided to make mine with a bit more kick & holiday spice.

Ingredients:

1/2 c dried cranberries
1 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 c water
1 tsp ground anise seed (rather than star anise, which I don't have)
3 Tbsp red wine
cinnamon
red onion
salt, black pepper

1/2 c persimmon

Directions:

The persimmon:cranberry ratio should be 1:1. Use ripe fuyu persimmons, like the recipe says, and not hachiya. Boil all of the ingredients except for the persimmon in a small saucepan, then after 1 min, reduce to med heat until the mixture is reduced to a syrupy paste. The bottom of the pan should still be wet when done. Fold in the persimmons and season with salt and pepper.

Lessons learned: 1) Use Fuyus, 2) Hachiya persimmons are filled with tannins when unripe, which is why biting into one tastes like drinking an extremely strong cup of black tea --- velvety and dry, 3) Follow directions when it comes to ingredients, but not measurements.

Serves 3.

No Frills Apple Pie

2009-11-22T11:47:00.006-05:00

I like to switch up this recipe, almost every time I make it, which is why my strengths are in cooking, not baking. Nevertheless, this was a big hit at the Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Partay, and I found ways to scrimp on time without losing flavor.

Ingredients:

For the crust - makes about 3 dough balls, which can be used for the tops/bottoms. If you end up with extra, wrap in plastic and throw it in the freezer.

1 c butter (2 sticks)
1/2 c shortening (crisco vegetable is fine)
3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c ice cold water
egg whites (for glazing)

In general, when making a crust, I go by a 2:1 flour-to-fat ratio. You can go with all-shortening, or all-butter, but I like to use a mixture of both because the butter gives the crust flavor, while the shortening gives the crust just the right amount of flaky/airiness that I like.

For the filling:
7-8 granny smith apples (galas and empires are all right, too --- this is a matter of preference)
1/2 c sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg
1/2 shot whiskey
1/2 c apple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 deg F.

Start with the crust. Making sure your butter is COLD, cut butter into tiny cubes and mix with shortening. Cut in your flour, slowly, until the whole thing resembles a crumble. Do not mix with your hands, or do anything to melt or smear the butter/shortening crumbs. This is what makes your crust flaky - when the butter melts into the flour, it leaves air spaces where the butter's been. Very existentialist. Add the 1/2 c of ice water SLOWLY, in drops, for all the flour to stick together. You should have a half-pasty, half crumbling mix at this point - and now, very gingerly and carefully, pat the dough down and separate into three little globes. Don't work the dough too much, or knead it. Stick the whole thing in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, and then transfer to the fridge. Some recipes will tell you to wait a whole day before baking, but I'm a philistine & don't have that kind of patience. You want the dough to sit for at least a half-hour, for the flour to absorb the water, but anything significantly longer than that is unnecessary.

While the dough is "setting," coat apple slices in all the ingredients listed above for the filling. Don't bother with lemon juice or whatever hogwash other recipes will tell you; it all gets baked anyway and a little oxidation is not going to ruin you. If you need more sugar, add more sugar (brown or white is fine; I usually use a mix of the two).

5-10 minutes after you finish peeling/coring/slicing/coating the apples, the dough should be ready. Take it out of the fridge and roll it out into a disk that's wide enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie dish. Fold it in half and transfer onto your baking dish (the folding makes the transfer easier but if you're skilled, you can throw the whole thing on without breaking). If it doesn't break, don't worry about it, just patch up the holes with leftover dough.

Fill up the crust with apples. Dust with brown sugar. Let it sit.

Follow this youtube video on how to make a lattice crust. This little dude is pretty skilled.

With any remaining dough scraps, line the perimeter of the pie pan with a dough noodle and squash it all down with a fork.

Bake for an hour, covered with aluminum foil, at 375 deg F. Let the pie sit for a couple of hours at room temp, for the filling to gel up and get the right "goop" consistency. Enjoy!

Stuffing Gone Wrong

2009-11-22T11:27:00.004-05:00

Tried to make stuffing yesterday with a few slices of stale toast I forgot to eat on Friday morning. Going by the proverbial "There is nothing to fear but the fear of dry stuffing itself," I went ahead and tried to create my own stuffing recipe from scratch. Results: Gooey stuffing, the consistency of baby food. Grade: Delta Airlines

Ingredients:
Crusty, stale whole wheat bread, toasted and broken into crouton-sized bits
celery
chicken stock
Italian herb mix (parsley, oregano)
red onion
garlic
dried sage

Optional: carrots, finely diced

Sautee garlic, celery and onions on high heat in olive oil, frequently turning and making sure the vegetables don't burn. Add 1/2 c chicken stock and let simmer until celery is soft. Dress with herbs, and when the vegetables are soft and edible, slowly throw in the croutons, a bit at a time, while constantly stirring the pan. When all the croutons are incorporated, the pan should not have excess fluid (the idea is for the stale bread to soak up the chicken broth). For the photo above, I used too much stock (3/4 c), and not enough crumbs. After some salt and pepper, the taste and flavor was perfect - the texture, however, left something to be desired.

Pumpkin-Apple Tart

2009-11-22T10:55:00.005-05:00

While preparing an apple pie for a pre-Thanksgiving feast yesterday, I decided to experiment with the leftover ingredients I had on hand - a roasted pumpkin/pear dessert that was less than impressive, a few extra gala apples, and leftover pie dough. The pumpkin layer resembled a custard, and gave some extra body to the apple slices. If I had to do it over, I'd remember to cover with aluminum foil before throwing it in the oven. Grade: Olive Garden.

Ingredients:

roasted/canned pumpkin
milk
cinnamon
nutmeg

4-5 apples, sliced into 1/3" pieces
brown sugar

For an 8" pan:
Preheat oven to 375 deg. Mash up about 3/4 cups of pumpkin (or however much you think it necessary to make a swarthy pumpkin base on top of your crust). Stir in a few spoonfuls of milk until you form a smooth paste. Add in a few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg, and spoon the whole thing onto the crust.

Mix cinnamon, 1/4 c of sugar, and whatever pumpkin or apple spices you may have in a separate bowl. Add 1/3 c of apple juice or cider (this keeps everything moist as it bakes), and 3-4 tbsp of flour.

Layer apple slices on top of the pumpkin base, until the pie is brimming with apple slices (it'll reduced in the oven). Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 45 min.

Chocolate-Banana French Toast

2009-11-22T10:46:00.012-05:00

Using only kitchen/pantry staple ingredients, you can provide yourself with a simple, toothsome breakfast. And it's a quick way to use up random fruits and nuts that you have laying around. I tossed in a banana and some chocolate chips, but the flavor combinations are limitless.

What you need:

Eggs > beaten

Cream > 1/2 c. per 2 eggs used. I like using whipping cream. Lowfat/skim milk will work, but won't give you that yummy custardy texture that french toast is all about.

Sugar > 1 tbsp. per 2 eggs used

Vanilla extract > 1 tsp. per 2 eggs used

Cinnamon > 1 tsp. per 2 eggs used

Nutmeg > pinch

Sliced bread > any variety

Butter > unsalted

Banana > sliced

Chocolate chips

Maple syrup

For the French Toast >> Beat the first 6 ingredients together until mixed well. The whipping cream makes the resultant mixture light and frothy which is why I like to use it. Dunk your bread in the egg mixture, making sure each slice is thoroughly soaked all the way through. Heat up some butter in a nonstick skillet on med. heat, put the bread in, and fry until both sides are nice and browned, and the center of the bread is slightly firm to the touch.

For the Topping >> In a separate pan on med. heat, add a pat of butter, the sliced banana and saute until softened and slightly browned.

Plate it >> Plate the french toast, top with the sauteed banana, sprinkle on chocolate chips and drown in maple syrup.

Food photography

2009-11-21T00:06:00.002-05:00

This is a learning curve for me, and the colors/focus/lighting modes are all over the place in the images below. For those interested, here's a great series on how to shoot food, from a Seattle-based blogger, with a compact digital camera.

EASY ON THE SAUCE, PAL

2009-11-20T21:57:00.010-05:00

In general, I dislike biting into something that has more sauce than meat. As long as your chicken is fresh, your food will come out delicious. This recipe avoids the toothpaste consistency of BBQ sauce commonly found at commercial restaurants - it's too salty, for one thing, and masks the chicken fat & drippings that naturally combine with your sauce. I like using dark meat (thighs/drumsticks/wings) because there's more muscle & fat, and therefore more flavorful. Fat = flavor. In moderation. You dig? An added bonus: no need for pre-marination.

Ingredients

Drumsticks
BBQ sauce
Pepper

Defrost drumsticks. Preheat oven to 375.

Make a slurry of Kansas City style BBQ sauce and water so that the liquid just sticks to your fork. Pour on your drumstick and dust everything with fresh, coarsely ground black pepper.

Bake for 45 minutes (for 5 drumsticks), or longer. Check at the 30 minute mark - if still bloody and pink, stick it in for another 20 minutes until the blood is crimson and meat is a dark pink.

Whole Wheat Couscous

2009-11-20T21:46:00.005-05:00

Not much to this dish; I just wanted to contrast the size of normal vs. large couscous below. The whole wheat makes for a grainier texture and it's much more resilient in case you forget to take it off the heat or overcook, unlike the normal stuff. You can find it at Wegman's in the bulk foods section, at a considerably lower price than the boxed brands. Another very quick dish (see the theme?), and very edible. The beet juice was taken from the pan after the dish below (brown sugar beets) and added with a few drops of olive oil before fluffing the coucous.

Ingredients
whole wheat couscous
garlic
chicken stock + water (in 1:1 ratio)
cilantro/greens for color, or diced and added after the cous cous is done.

Add couscous and stock/water mix in a 1:1 ratio, along with a dash of olive oil, garlic, & salt. Boil on high, then immediately set heat to low and let simmer until water has evaporated/absorbed into the pasta. When it looks barely wet, uncover and let sit for 3 minutes. Remove into a separate dish and fluff with a fork. Add beet juice (or add it before, for a more even color), olive oil, pepper and parsley to taste.

Brown Sugar Beets

2009-11-20T21:23:00.008-05:00

This is a quick one, and if you're preparing a big meal, you want to leave the very last 10 min before serving for its preparation. Can leave the beets for another day and just enjoy the stems/leaves as a vegetable side dish.

Ingredients:

beets - washed, with stems chopped in 2-inch pieces, separate from leaves. Use a vegetable peeler to take the skins off of the beet - or, if you already have the oven on, roast beets for 20 minutes in a 375 deg oven and peel the skins off.

brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon
garlic
bacon grease

Roast sliced beets with olive oil/salt/pepper in a 375 deg oven for 20-25 minutes or when soft to taste (I like them a bit firmer than most, so it may take up to 35 minutes, covered with foil, to get it the way most people like it).

Just when the beets are done, heat a nonstick pan on HIGH with a splash of olive oil, minced garlic, and a dollop of bacon grease (a la Paula Deen, I keep some in my freezer). When the garlic starts to sizzle, throw in your beet stems. Sautee and let sizzle (still on high heat), while preparing the brown sugar. Mix about 1 tbsp of brown sugar and cinnamon with a tea-cup sized amount of water (or stock). It doesn't have to be too exact - just to taste. The sugar brings out the natural sweetness of the beets. Throw in half the liquid when the stems are looking dry.

Sautee until the stems are soft, about 2 or 3 minutes. Keep heat on high. When stems are almost edible, throw in the leaves and the rest of the brown sugar liquid. Season with salt and pepper, serve, with roasted beets laid neatly on top of the stems & leaves.

Giant Couscous Salad

2009-11-20T20:57:00.010-05:00

There are certain meals that you remember for the rest of your life - dishes that stick out and set the tone for the rest of the day or evening. This recipe is one of my favorite starters, borrowed from my friend Justin in Baltimore. He made it for a goodbye party that our coworkers threw for outgoing staff. It's easy to modify, depending on what you happen to have around the kitchen. Substituting the dressing for a honey-dijon glaze can also work.

Ingredients:

giant (Israeli) cous cous
toasted almond slices
red onion
cilantro or parsley
feta
dried cranberries
beets (optional)

red wine vinegar
honey
salt/pepper/olive oil
garlic (roasted or raw. I prefer raw, but I like things spicy)
vegetable/chicken stock

Toast the dry cous cous a little in a pan with olive oil on medium heat. Add vegetable stock (two-to-one ratio with the cous cous should be plenty - or water if you don't have stock), cover and let simmer until done (should be the size of pencil erasers when done). Rinse in a collander with cold water to bring down the heat just a little and keep the cous cous from continuing to cook in it's own heat.

Add roasted beets (diced), thinly sliced red onion, feta, & parsley (any greens will really do here - beet greens, cilantro, etc). Just make sure it's pretty finely chopped, because it's as much for color as anything else - it's not supposed to be too salad-y. If you're using red beets, you might want to add them last or even per serving (unless you want the entire dish to come out red, which looks pretty too).

Dress it with leftover red wine (I keep a bottle of dregs) and/or red wine vinegar, olive oil, honey (mix it in the vinegar first), coarse ground black pepper, and salt and garlic to taste.

Setting the table

2009-11-20T20:45:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Fusiana! This blog is an attempt to relive and revive the culinary dreams of our college years. At the prime of our mid-twenties, we are back in full force, with a little more experience, and the hope of sharing our creations with one another - between Buffalo and Alexandria, with love!

Cheers,
Jen & Vicki