How To Cook A Wolf

French Fridays with Dorie... Quatre-Quarts....a little late

2012-01-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

With all the best intentions in the world I baked this cake last week...in time to post for French Fridays with Dorie. But the pictures never got to the computer until today. This happened...that happened...no excuses, it just is what it is. Nevertheless....we loved this very French version of a pound cake. It is nothing at all like a heavy American pound cake...it was lighter...very flavorful as I used one teaspoon of vanilla and two teaspoon of dark rum to flavor it. I macerated some fresh blackberries with just a touch of sugar and a little bit of dark rum. We had them with the cake and a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.

It has been a long while since I mixed up a cake by hand, and while this is a very simple cake to bake, the batter was very thick and I got my exercise for the afternoon beating the sugar and egg yolks together. I think next time I will just use a good old wooden spoon because I had a little trouble with the batter getting caught in the tines of my whisk, it was too delicious to waste even one tiny bit...no matter. It was worth the effort. Once the melted butter was mixed in everything loosened up and I was able to fold in the beaten egg whites without a hitch...

Sometimes it is the simplest things in life that are the best...this cake is one of those. It is a very European plain cake. We love things like that...the sprinkle of brown sugar over top of the cake...something novel from Dorie...gives the cake just a lovely little caramelized crunch with each bite.

My husband enjoyed a slice or two every day until it was gone. I must say it stayed fresh until the very last piece was devoured. Such a versatile little cake it was...

I know I will be making this again and again...as with just about every other recipe I have made from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table. If you do not own this book yet...you really need to. The recipe can be found on page 433...

As with all the other recipes for French Fridays with Dorie we were asked not to post the recipe...I do hope you will all buy the book.

Banana Bread...

2012-01-10T21:24:00.001-05:00

I always seem to find myself with some very ripe bananas...one day they are green, the next speckled and almost too ripe. I had four little very ripe bananas the other day and while the kids were home decided I just had to make them their favorite banana bread...the recipe calls for about two bananas...but I used all four that I had in the fruit bowl. It was inhaled...I used some little Panibois baking pans I had leftover from the holidays...One son is already back at school and the other is leaving on Sunday...the time flew by...In the blink of an eye it will be summer...and they will be back!

This is our favorite banana bread...I have made many and they are all good. But this one is the blue ribbon winner. It is always moist and just perfect, and even gets better with age ...This recipe made two Panibois pans for me...just perfect. They still took almost 50 minutes to bake.
from Martha Stewart...by way of my friend Becky.

Banana Bread
adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 1 large loaf or 3 or 4 mini loaves
1 stick butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9X5X3-inch loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans.

With electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.

Sift dry ingredients and combine with butter mixture. Blend well. Add bananas and sour cream; mix well. Stir in nuts and pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (careful not to overbake; start checking early). Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Coconut Cake...New Years Eve Birthday Cake

2012-01-07T23:00:00.003-05:00

My friend Suzanne has a birthday on New Years Eve and wanted me to bake her a coconut birthday cake. Her wish was my command...I was given this recipe by my friend Ernie....the Queen of Cakes in my opinion . She never steers me wrong, and this was no exception. We all loved this cake. It has Cream of Coconut in the cake as well as in the cream Cheese frosting...
I also added a touch of organic coconut extract to the icing...it was divine. It had me wishing it was my birthday!
Happy New Year everyone....all my best wishes for a very happy and healthy one!

Coconut Layer Cake
adapted from Bon Appetit/ December 1999
The Shubox Café, Cedar Grove, New Jersey

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)*
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Pinch of salt

Cream Cheese Frosting* recipe follows...

4 cups sweetened shredded coconut

*Canned sweetened cream of coconut is available in the liquor section of most supermarkets nationwide.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and sweetened cream of coconut in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients and then buttermilk, each just until blended.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with pinch of salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into batter.
Divide cake batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.
Place 1 cake layer on cake plate. Spread 1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer. Sprinkle 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut over. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle remaining coconut over cake, gently pressing into sides to adhere. (Coconut Layer Cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before serving.)

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar ( plus up to an additional cup)
1/2 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco López)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon natural coconut extract(optional)

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Add butter and beat to blend. Add sugar, sweetened cream of coconut and vanilla extract( coconut extract if using) and beat until well blended. I added almost an extra cup of powdered sugar to the frosting. This frosting comes out quite loose, you need to let it set up in the fridge for about an hour before icing the cake.

Christmas Eve Paella....

2011-12-29T01:48:00.001-05:00

Paella and Tapas were the dinner of choice here on Christmas Eve ...I may have gone a bit overboard with the addition of too much seafood...but it was delicious. I know it is not traditional to mix seafood with meat, not in Spain anyway, but there is a bit of chicken and some beautiful chorizo in mine this time and lots of seafood. I treated myself to a new 15 inch Paella Pan ...we set the pan in the middle of the table and everyone just dug in. My son had brought me a bag of Bomba Rice and some beautiful saffron from Spain, he was happy that I used it. We had lovely Spanish wine to drink and made a lovely night of it. It was great fun...in fact by the time we had dinner it was 11:00PM...

This recipe is what I used and loosely adapted from for my Christmas Eve Paella...it is from La Tienda. It gives you a really nice starting point. I did add some dry diver's scallops, I used mussels and clams, I had some gorgeous Rock Lobster tails that I split in two, also shrimp and some boneless skinless chicken thighs. I had wonderful chorizo from D'artagnan...I also bought some authentic Piquillo peppers from Spain. Mine served 8 with the amount of seafood I used...

Paella Mixta

This is by far the most popular paella recipe in Spanish restaurants in America. Mixing seafood, meat and chorizo is close to heresy in Valencia, but this 'Americano' version is very tasty and features a variety of flavors sure to please a crowd.
Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 1 hr.

Ingredients:

1 tsp thread saffron
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 medium onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
8 piquillo peppers, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chicken thighs, skinned and cut into 2 inch pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper
12 large shrimp, peeled
12 mussels (or clams)
1 lb Spanish cooking chorizo, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
2 cups Bomba or Calasparra rice
6 cups chicken broth
Lemon wedges

Preparation:

Add stock, paprika and saffron to a pot and heat, covered. In a separate 15" paella pan, add 2 tbsp olive oil and brown the chicken pieces and chorizo, about 5 minutes. Remove. Add the remaining olive oil and cook the onions over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and garlic and simmer for another 5 minutes, until they have a sauce-like appearance. Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour in the rice and stir until the rice is covered with the tomato mixture (known as 'sofrito'). Add chicken and chorizo pieces. Slowly add all of the broth to the paella. Stir the rice mixture around until it is evenly distributed throughout the pan. Important - do not stir after this point.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, then place the shrimp and shellfish into the mixture one-by-one, evenly distributing throughout. Simmer for another 15 minutes, or until all of the broth has been absorbed, adding extra liquid if necessary. Remove from heat, gently cover with foil and let sit for another 10 minutes. Garnish with piquillo pepper slices and lemon wedges.

This would be great fun for a New Years Eve dinner as well. Before the Paella we had Serrano Ham, assorted Spanish cheeses, Piquillo Peppers with garlic and Spanish Olive Oil, bread, olives, Marcona Almonds...and some other things as well.

Happy Holidays....

2011-12-23T22:35:00.001-05:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas ...Happy Chanukah....Peace and light...
Thanks you all for your friendship...your support and your love...

Latkes...Chanukah Joy and Light....

2011-12-20T23:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Chanukah...

I have made Latkes for more years than I can count. I usually do not use a recipe, but last year I started making these. I will make them again this year. They are light and crisp...what could be better? I never met a latke I did not like, but these are especially nice.

On Wednesday night we will have our Chanukah dinner, the kids will be home...we will all be together...I know there will be Latkes, applesauce and sour cream...not sure what else yet.

Potato Latkes...

Mimi Sheraton, "From My Mother's Kitchen", (Harper Collins, 1991)

Makes 6 servings

These should be prepared and fried as close to serving time as possible.
7 or 8 medium old potatoes (about 2 ½ pounds)
1 large onion peeled
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons potato flour or matzoh meal
1 scant tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
Corn oil, for frying
Applesauce, as accompaniment
1. Peel the potatoes and cover with cold water until you are ready to make the pancakes. Grate the potatoes and onion into a strainer that is suspended over a bowl to catch the juices. If this is hard for you to manage, grate the potatoes into a bowl, then turn into a strainer suspended over another bowl. Grate the potatoes and onion alternately, as the onion juice will help prevent the potatoes from darkening. Using a wooden spoon, or picking up handfuls of the grated potato mixture, squeeze or press out as much liquid as possible. Reserve all liquid and let it settle in the bowl for 2 or 3 minutes.
2. Put the pressed potato and onion mixture in a clean bowl. Carefully pour off the watery part of the reserved liquid but do not discard the thick, starchy paste at the bottom of the bowl. Scrape that into the potato mixture. Add the egg yolks, potato flour or matzoh meal, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly. Beat the egg whites to stiff and shiny peaks and fold them into the potato mixture.
3. Heat a ½-inch-depth of oil in a heavy skillet, preferably of black cast iron. Drop the potato mixture into the hot oil, about 2 tablespoons per pancake, and fry, turning once so the pancakes are a deep golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Total frying time for each batch of pancakes should be about 10 minutes. Keep fried pancakes warm while the rest are being fried. To do that, put the fried, drained pancakes on a rack in an open baking pan and place in a low oven (about 250 degrees). Do not hold for more than 15 minutes before serving or they will become soggy. Serve with applesauce and/ or sour cream.

Pecan Pie....

2011-12-16T19:03:00.000-05:00

There is pecan pie and there is pecan pie....I have made many recipes...none bad...but this one is our absolute favorite...I may just make another one for Christmas...

Many years ago I cut this recipe out of the San Francisco Chronicle and still have that now yellowed clipping...this is from none other than Dear Abby...it is not too sweet which can be an issue with some pecan pie recipes, and there are not too many nuts according to my kids...a very easy recipe. Use your favorite pie crust recipe. I use Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee....you can freeze the other half of the recipe well wrapped in plastic and put in a zip lok bag for a month or so.

"Dear Abby's Pecan Pie"

1 unbaked 9" pie crust

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecan halves ( you may need a few more depending on the size of the pecan halves)

Heat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, combine corn syrup, sugar, eggs, butter, salt and vanilla; mix well. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust; sprinkle with pecan halves.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until center is set. (Toothpick inserted in center will come out clean when pie is done.)

If crust or pie appears to be getting brown, cover with foil for the remaining baking time. Remove from oven and cool.

We serve with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.
Sometimes I arrange the pecan halves in a decorative spoke pattern
on top of the filling...you can do as you please....if you do that you may need a few more or less than a cup.

Pate Brisee
adapted from Martha Stewart

The pie dough may be made one day ahead and refrigerated, well wrapped in plastic, or frozen up to one month.

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
* 1 Teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 Teaspoon sugar
* 1 Cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces( or 1/4 cup cold shortening to replace 1/4 cup of the butter)
* 1/4 to 1/2 Cup ice water

Directions

1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, pouring it through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.
2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces, and place on 2 separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form 2 disks. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

Ernie's Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti ...

2011-12-13T23:12:00.002-05:00

These just "feel" like the holidays to me...I have posted them before, but they are worth posting again. This recipe is from my friend Ernie...one of the best bakers I know. I have not even uploaded my Thanksgiving pics yet and here it is almost Chanukah and Christmas. Life flies by...but that is ok with me.

Cranberry/Pistachio Biscotti
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon orange oil (I sometimes use King Arthur's Fiori de Sicilia, which is a blend of citrus and vanilla, or just vanilla extract instead of the orange oil)
1 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees(F.) Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the orange zest and orange oil.
4. With mixer on low speed, gradually stir in the flour mixture until smooth, then stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
5. Divide the dough into thirds. Shape each piece into a 12 inch log. Place two logs on one sheet(apart) and the other in the middle of the other cookie sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the logs turn a light golden color and are somewhat firm to the touch. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and reduce oven to 300 degrees.
Let cool about 15 minutes, then using a serrated knife, slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Place upright on cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, until dry and lightly golden. Let cool on rack, enjoy!
Makes about 3-4 dozen biscotti

Though it is not necessary at all....I sometimes gild the lily and drizzle some melted white chocolate over these babies. The recipe makes a lot and they disappear very quickly...

I want to wish each and every one of you a most magical holiday season....

Thanks to the Graphics Fairy for the pretty greens....

Old Fashioned Apple Pie and other news....

2011-11-17T18:42:00.000-05:00

I really have not been here much lately at all. It seems that one thing after another happens, keeping my computer time to a minimum...our little pre- Halloween snow storm turned into a powerful Nor'Easter, 5 days without power, and a landscape that looked like a war zone. So many trees down all over...during the storm you could hear the branches cracking. It was very unnerving. The leaves still on the trees just could not take the weight of the heavy wet snow...I still had my annuals out on the deck.

I lost the entire contents of my fridge and freezer except for a few things. It really was not fun...I can not complain all that much though, some people had no power for much longer than us and had trees fall onto their homes and cars. You can still see many branches hanging off the high branches, just waiting for the next storm to fall.

We really have been hit hard by Mother Nature so far this year...an earthquake, the hurricane and now the freak snowstorm. Whats next? Locusts? I hope not! The beautiful candle, a gift from a lovely blogging friend, provided magical light for us while we ate our dinners in the dark....thank you again Shel...xo

I baked this pie on the quick last Sunday afternoon after we received a last minute dinner invitation and I had to be fast on my feet thinking about what to bring. I had wanted to try this recipe and I still had some beautiful Farmer's Market apples in my fridge that needed to be used. I really liked that the crust is made with milk rather than ice water....the dough rolled out with great ease, almost like a piece of fabric. I think this might be a great crust for the pie crust challenged. I did adapt the recipe a little bit...I used 2 1/4 cups of flour for the crust and I added two more tablespoons of sugar to my apples because they needed the extra sweetness.You have to taste as you go, even when baking. I also baked the pie in a regular 9 inch glass pyrex pie plate rather than a 10 inch dish. The apples were piled high and it worked just fine.The amount of flour in the filling is perfect, the apples held together nicely and did not run all over the place when it was cut. It was still warm when cut as well. The pie tasted just as good the following day as it did on the first.
My only issue with this recipe was that it bakes entirely at 350*. I pre-heated my oven long enough and chilled my pie in the freezer for about 15 minutes before baking. My beautifully crimped edge kind of drooped and I think it was either my oven acting up or the oven was not at a high enough temperature to set the crust quickly . I think next time I will start the pie out in a hotter, 400* oven for about 15-20 minutes and then reduce the temp to 350*. The droopy crust did not effect the taste however. My husband proclaimed this the best apple pie I have ever made and he is not a huge apple pie fan. I seem to be turning into a walking advertisement for "Mad Hungry"...but I must say that every recipe from Lucinda I have made has been a winner. My men and boys all agree!

Old Fashioned Apple Pie
To qualify as a great apple pie, the mixture of apples should create a combined sweet-tart flavor balance. Serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or with a wedge of cheddar cheese. From the book "Mad Hungry," by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books).

Yield Makes 1 double-crusted 10-inch pie

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 apples (4 tart, 4 sweet)
1 Basic Pie Dough *
1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for sprinkling
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves ( I used a pinch of Allspice instead of the
cloves)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Position the racks in the center of the oven and in the lower third.
Squeeze the lemon juice into a large bowl. Peel, quarter, core, and thinly slice one apple at a time. Toss the slices in the lemon juice to prevent browning. Repeat with each apple.
On a well-floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to about 12 inches in diameter and lay it in the bottom of a standard 10-inch pie plate. Trim the edges of the dough flush with the edge of the pie plate's rim.
Add the 1/4 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and salt to the apples and toss to coat. Pile the apples into the dough-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
Roll out the top crust to a diameter of 12 inches. Lay it over the apples. Trim the edge of the top crust so it hangs over the bottom crust by at least 3/4 inch. Tuck the top crust under the bottom and roll it under all around. Pinch it together to close. Crimp the edges with fingers or press with a fork. Chill the pie for a few minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk. Cut a few slits in the crust top to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush the egg mixture evenly over the whole crust, being careful not to block the slits. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Place a cookie sheet on the lower rack to catch any overflowing juices from the pie. Place the pie on the center rack and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and there is a sign of bubbling juices. Cool on a wire cooling rack for at least 1 hour. Slice and serve.

One week from today is Thanksgiving....my favorite holiday! My boys will be home and we will all be together...I can not wait! Wishing all of you who celebrate....a warm and wonderful holiday...I am very thankful for you all.

Mad Hungry Lentil Vegetable Soup

2011-10-28T21:12:00.001-04:00

The weather here has suddenly turned chilly...in fact there is talk of some snow for us tomorrow. Snow before Halloween is rare...but it has happened. This is great soup weather. I made a pot of this last night and I have to say it is even better the next day.

I make many different Lentil soups but this one is my current favorite and I love that it is easily "tweaked" . It is from Lucinda Scala Quinn's book "Mad Hungry". I have used this cookbook more than just about any of the books I have purchased of late. I like the way she feeds her family. It is very similar to the way I feed mine, and it is nice to have a slightly different take on things...just to keep life interesting.

This soup lends itself to being tweaked. The first time I made it as written, vegetarian. The second time I sauteed the veggies with some finely diced slab bacon I had in the freezer...and then for lunch one day we cut up a Kosher Hot Dog and heated it up in the soup. It was delicious! I also throw in about a 1/4 cup of orzo when the soup is about 10 to 15 minutes from being done. I like my soup on the thinner, brothy side and my husband likes it thicker. You see it here both ways. If the soup is too thick, I just add a little more chicken broth or water.

This last time I made it. I sauteed the veggies with two small diced links of andouille sausage which gave the soup some nice spice, just a little bit of meat goes a long way here... I also made the croutons to go with as I had a little piece of baguette that needed to be used. I like that this can be on the table in about an hour...even though I usually let it cook on a very low flame for about two hours. It freezes well and makes for a great lunch.
There has not been one recipe that I have tried in the book that we have not liked...especially my man and boys.

Lentil Vegetable Soup (Serves 6 to 8)
adapted from Mad Hungry/Lucinda Scala Quinn

2 1/2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped (3/4 cup)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (3/4 cup)
2 celery stalks, peeled and chopped (2/3 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced (1 T.)
1 T. coarse salt
1 small tomato, chopped (1/3 cup)
1 T. tomato paste
2 cups brown or green lentils
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
4 cups water, plus more if needed
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
Optional - Garlic Croutons (see below)

~Heat a large soup pot over high heat and swirl in the olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and 1 tsp. of the salt. Reduce the heat to low and saute until the vegetables are lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another 2 minutes.

~Add the lentils, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and the remaining 2 tsp. salt. Add the broth and water, and bring to a boil, skimming and discarding any foam as it rises to the surface. Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. (The cooking time depends on the age of the dried lentils.) Stir in the vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If needed, thin the soup with additional water or broth for the desired consistency. Serve in a bowl topped with the fresh croutons, if using.

Garlic Croutons

1/2 loaf day-old bread
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp. coarse salt

~To make the croutons, cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the olive oil, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook until it sizzles, about 50 seconds. Add the bread and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Discard the garlic. Sprinkle the croutons with the salt and serve over the lentil vegetable soup.

Pumpkin Bread....

2011-10-22T00:27:00.001-04:00

Wow it has been a long time since I have posted here...the Hurricane is finally behind us and we are just in the process of going through things that we do not want to put back in our basement...things from our kids, toys and Legos and things that they have had a hard time letting go of and we have kept, almost as a shrine to their childhood. But they are almost 19 and almost 21...it is time to let go of these things and have an adult or semi adult space to share together. We now have an empty nest, both of my sons are happily away at college, and we are actually enjoying just being us again. Of course we miss them like crazy...but it is a good thing. The way life is supposed to go on...we give them wings so they can fly...

Son #1 was home two weeks ago for fall break and he was under the weather. I fed him, took care of him, made an emergency pot of chicken soup...we enjoyed him and then sent him back to school rested and much better. Junior year in engineering takes its toll, long nights working with very little sleep. Son #2 was home last weekend for his fall break and it was a very short one....he told me what he wanted to eat for the two dinners he spent with us and in a flash he was gone. A friend of mine was going to visit her son in DC today and was kind enough to bring some food down to mine, he told me he is always hungry, he does not like the food...so I baked him Pumpkin Bread that he loves...he loves this one because it does not contains nuts,or berries , or anything but pumpkin and spice. It has a lovely moist texture...

My friend Becky/chefbeck gave me this recipe quite a few years ago. It comes from Bon Appetit. There is an addition of a Pumpkin whipped cream that can be served with this bread. That is lovely as well, but more often than not I make it straight...I always think of her when I make this. I do that with just about every recipe that I receive from a friend that becomes a tried and true addition to my life....I think of it as a gift that I always treasure. I hope you will enjoy this as much as we do. I am glad to be posting again...I have missed you all.

Pumpkin Bread With Pumpkin Whipped Cream
adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 2 loaves

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup warm water

1 cup chilled whipping cream
3 T. sugar
1/2 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly butter two 9x5x2 1/2-inch loaf pans.

Beat 3 cups sugar, oil, eggs and 15-oz. can pumpkin in large bowl to blend. Sift four, baking soda, baking powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture. Slowly mix in 2/3 cup warm water.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean (about 1 hour). Transfer loaves to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run knife around edges to loosen. Turn onto rack and cool completely. (Can be prepared up to 1 month ahead. Wrap in foil and freeze. If desired, rewarm thawed, wrapped loaves in 350 oven for 10 minutes.)

Beat cream and 3 T. sugar to stiff peaks in bowl. Fold in the 1/2 cup pumpkin. Slice bread and arrange on platter. Serve, passing pumpkin whipped cream alongside.

My Notes: I got 5 of these little French paper baking pans out of this recipe...they took about 45 minutes to cook. If you use smaller baking pans I would start to check them at 25 minutes.

Jewish Pennicillin....and other stories

2011-09-14T18:54:00.000-04:00

The Jewish holidays are coming up very quickly, they are just around the corner...I have not been posting here because we had some damage from the hurricane and our basement flooded. We are trying to get everything back to normal at the moment but I do not have access to my computer which is a desk top and no access to my pics. I am also not able to upload any pics at the moment either....So I thought I would give you link to my chicken soup since the picture is already here. I am on a borrowed lap top at the moment. I am hoping that my dining room which now contains most of the contents of out basement will be cleared out before the holidays. If not...we will have to make other plans.
I am hoping to be back posting here again soon...but in the meantime the soup...I could use a bowl right now myself!

Jewish Chicken Soup

Little Tomato Tartlets and a Pie...

2011-08-18T13:24:00.002-04:00

I can always count on Everyday Food magazine for great ideas and great recipes. This one is so simple and it a keeper, especially since I have tons of gorgeous juicy Jersey tomatoes from the garden. These tomatoes were so big that some were spilling over the edges of the tarts. No matter though...the taste was amazing.

These are really nice to serve as a light dinner with a salad or as a nice nibble with a glass of wine or Prosecco or heck even a martini....sitting under the stars on a hot summer evening...we really enjoyed these little babies.

Tomato Tartlets

adapted from Everyday Food, 2011

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (if you can get all butter puff pastry all the better, I love Dufour or Trader Joe's)
2 1/2 ounces grated Gruyere (2/3 cup packed) (the recipe originally called for Sharp White Cheddar)
3 medium tomatoes, cut into ten 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Ground pepper
1/3 cup small basil leaves, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in upper and middle thirds. Lightly flour a rolling pin and work surface and roll out puff pastry to a 14-by-16-inch rectangle. With a 4-inch cookie cutter, cut out 10 rounds and transfer to two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets; with a fork, prick each round all over. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheese on each, leaving a 1/4-inch border, and top with 1 tomato slice. Brush with oil and season with pepper.
Bake until pastry is deep golden at edges, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let tartlets cool completely on a wire rack. To serve, top with basil.(I had a little extra cheese so I just put a tiny bit atop the tomatoes before baking)

On another note my baby is leaving for college tomorrow... we are all excited and busy packing and wondering if everything is going to fit into the car. I am so excited for him...and so proud of him. In the middle of everything else yesterday afternoon I just had to bake him a pie....what else is a Mommy to do?

It was Blueberry/Blackberry, the same recipe as this one . I had my Pate Brisee waiting in the freezer, defrosted it in the fridge the night before, rolled out my crust just simply this time, threw this pie together and in 10 minutes it was in the oven. The only change I made was to add a scant 1/2 teaspoon of Vietnamese cinnamon to the berries...it added a very nice nuance. The crust was shatteringly flaky...the boy was very happy to smell a baking pie as he walked in the door. He told me he would remember that scent when he is away....I got a big hug from my six foot three manchild. It was a good thing.

Chicken Souvlaki from Monique....

2011-07-24T15:54:00.002-04:00

Thank you Monique for your inspiration and this wonderful recipe! If you have never visited my friend at La Table de Nana you should not delay. Monique is such a talented cook and photographer...a true artiste! More than anything else she is a warm, kind, and just lovely human being. Here is a link to her post and the recipe...
I prepare Greek Food often...but this one is just a little different than the one I usually make. The guys declared it a keeper and so do I. I served this with Tzatziki and a big Greek salad and Greek pocketless pita that I heated right on the grill...never got time to take a pic of my Tzatziki...oh well.

Wonderful summer meal....

I have not been around for a while and more than likely will not be here too much for the rest of the summer.
I am getting my youngest son ready to go away to college. We have been spending a lot of time together and it has been lovely...bittersweet ...but lovely. In a matter of weeks he will be gone. My nest will be empty for the first time in almost 21 years.
This weekend everyone is home and we are all together as a family for the last time until October when both my college boys come home for Fall Break. Today is my birthday and we are having a lovely family day. I made this dinner last night...we all enjoyed it. In fact this is the second time I made it since she posted the recipe. I have made this with both chicken breast and boneless chicken thighs. Comes out great either way.
Thanks again Monique!

Feta Stuffed BLT Burger with New Potato and Green Bean Salad

2011-06-20T17:41:00.006-04:00

It is not often that my darling husband makes a request for something to eat...yes... he will say make some pasta, or something else, but he is usually vague and lets me decide how I am going to make something. He surprised me by requesting this burger for his Father's Day dinner. I had left the June copy of Everyday Food on the kitchen table and he happened to see this...he asked me to make it and I am so glad I did.

Really delicious! I often stuff burgers with some kind of cheese. A favorite is pepper Jack or Maytag Blue. I have never used Feta. And bacon? What could ever be wrong with that?

Feta Stuffed BLT Burger
June 2011 Everyday Food Magazine
Ingredients

8 slices bacon
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
4 ounces feta, crumbled (1 cup)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted
4 leaves Bibb or Boston lettuce
1 large tomato, sliced crosswise

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium-high until fat is rendered and bacon is browned, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Form beef into 8 thin 5-inch patties. Top 4 patties with 1/4 cup cheese each, leaving a 1/4-inch border, then top with remaining patties. Pinch edges to seal; season burgers with salt and pepper.
Pour off fat from skillet, wipe clean, and heat over medium. Add 2 burgers and cook until dark brown and firm to the touch, about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Repeat with remaining burgers. Serve burgers on buns with bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

my notes:
I weighed out six ounce burgers, then I halved them and stuffed with the Feta as per the recipe. I grilled them outside rather than making them in a pan. I used Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon and I partially cooked that and drained on a paper towel, then finished the bacon on the grill over indirect heat. I only used one slice of bacon cut in half per burger as the bacon sliced were rather large. I used Greek Feta from Trader Joe's that comes in a tub with brine...very good feta, not terribly salty and neither was this bacon. We had them on Martin's Potato rolls...the burger bun of choice here, if I am not using homemade.

This was a delicious combination....I served it with a wonderful recipe that I have been making for years now...A Potato and Green Bean Salad...and some wonderful corn on the cob.(not pictured!)

I have gotten recipes from so many friends I have met on the internet over the years. Some stand out and my friend chefbeck/Becky is one of those people. I have gotten countless tried and true recipes from her and if she says something is good I never have to worry about whether or not it will be...When I receive a winner from someone I always feel indebted to them somehow and that recipe always makes me think of them.It becomes their recipe by default, I know that sounds funny, but I always give credit where credit is due. This is one of those...I always call it Becky's Potato Green Bean Salad around here...and smile!

New Potato and Green Bean Salad
adapted from Bon Appetit 1994/source chefbeck/CK
Serves 6

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
1 1/2 pounds small red-skinnned potatoes
3/4 pound haricot vert (see Note below), stems trimmed
1 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

For Dressing:
Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Dressing can be made 1-2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temp and rewhisk before using.)

For Salad:
Steam potatoes until tender. Cool; cut into quarters. Cook green beans in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain. Transfer beans to bowl of ice water and cool. Drain. Cut beans in half. Combine beans, potatoes, onion and basil in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead; cover and let stand at room temp.) Garnish bowl with a small bunch of fresh basil before serving.
Note: If you can't find haricot vert, buy the slenderest green beans available.
My Notes: I soak the chopped red onion in ice water for a few minutes and then rinse in a strainer and dry with paper toweling.That keeps the onion from being too sharp. I also do not add all the dressing at one time...I put in 3/4 of it and that was plenty, sometimes it is and sometimes not, you have to see what works for you. I used baby Dutch Yellow potatoes for this particular salad.

Sour Cream Shortcakes with Fresh Berries

2011-06-09T02:14:00.007-04:00

It is going to be about 100*F here today...a hot one indeed. Not a good day to turn on the oven unless it is done early in the morning. I have been "computerless" for about the past three weeks. It was interesting to see how much I rely on it...in a way it was good to be without it. My days were spent much differently. I missed all of you though....We are in the end of school mode here. My days as a high school parent are quickly coming to an end. My baby will graduate and head off to Washington DC ,to college in August...my nest will be empty. It is going to be an interesting adventure for me...I have been a full time Mommy for so long. Who knows what will be but I am looking forward to the next stage of my life.

I baked these shortcakes a while ago to take to a friends home for dessert...we had a lovely BBQ and then had these. I baked off the shortcakes, whipped up some cream, and washed and prepared the berries and took them with me. I plated everything at my friends home so I have no pics of the finished product...you will have to trust me on that. This is a really nice recipe for the shortcakes...easy and tasty. You could use any summer fruit you like. I have used peaches and blueberries, plums and raspberries, any combination your heart desires.

Sour Cream Shortcakes with Fresh Berries
From Tori Ritchie "Cabin Cooking"
For the shortcakes:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 egg

For the berries:
1 quart (1 pound) mixed berries such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and/or raspberries
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Set aside.

To make the shortcakes, in a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using 2 knives or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the sour cream and egg until moistened. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into a rough circle (the dough will be sticky). Working with about one-sixth of the dough at a time, shape into rough balls and place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 18 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar just after removing from oven.

Meanwhile, prepare the berries: if using strawberries, slice them. In a bowl, combine the fruit with sugar to taste. Stir, then let stand until ready to use.

Remove the shortcakes from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet on a rack. In a bowl, whip the cream with the vanilla until it holds soft peaks. To serve, split each biscuit in half horizontally with your fingers and place a bottom half on each of 6 individual plates. Top generously with the sugared berries and whipped cream. Replace the top half and serve.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon, and Asparagus

2011-05-16T21:00:00.002-04:00

I have really been absent from my blog. I have been checking in on all of my friends but life has just gotten very hectic and something had to give. One boy is home from college for a bit and leaves again in a few days for a summer job. The other one, my baby, is going to graduate from high school and will be leaving the nest very soon. Everything is good...and I feel like I need to be in the moment right now enjoying my family while they are here and we are all together.

As you can see by some of the other posts I have made, that I am a big fan of the easy, delicious, chicken dinner. This one comes from Everyday Food...I had it in my files marked to try, and then a friend from a message board I belong to tried it and loved it and that gave me a little push. I made this for Sunday dinner last night and all of my hungry guys gave this a huge thumbs up!

We have gorgeous local New Jersey asparagus here now and it was perfect for this dish. What I loved about it was one pan to wash...that was it. Very little prep and the guys adored this. The original recipe calls for a whole chicken cut up...but we love the juicy thighs. I used two pounds of new tiny creamer potatoes and there was not a one left. There are lovely, lemony, juices after this is roasted...I will make this one many times again I am sure. The light was horrible in my kitchen last night...so please excuse the pics.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon, and Asparagus
adapted from Everyday Food
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, halved
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Bone in, Skin on chicken thighs , about 3 pounds
1 bunch asparagus (1 pound), trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
6 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place potatoes and half the butter in a roasting pan; season with salt and pepper. Roast, tossing once, until potatoes are golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Place chicken, skin side up, on top of potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken begins to brown, about 20 minutes.

Scatter asparagus,garlic, lemon, remaining butter, and thyme around chicken. Roast until asparagus is tender and chicken is opaque throughout, 5 to 15 minutes. Serve chicken, vegetables, and lemon drizzled with pan juices.

Cream Scones....

2011-03-30T17:41:00.001-04:00

There are lots of recipes for scones out there....lots of really good ones. This one is my favorite of all. They are always tender, flaky, and moist and so easy to put together. No rolling out....no waste...they come together, by hand in a matter of seconds...

I always make this recipe by hand and I use a pastry blender and /or my fingers...for me it is really not worth getting the food processor dirty for this.If you feel that you have an easier time using the processor, by all means do. I have posted this recipe before using blueberries, those are my son's favorite. This time I used the more traditional currants. I always brush some heavy cream over top and sprinkle with some sanding sugar or some Demerera sugar....

Cream Scones
from America's Test Kitchen
Makes 8
The easiest and most reliable approach to mixing the butter into the dry ingredients is to use a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Resist the urge to eat the scones hot out of the oven. Letting them cool for at least 10 minutes firms them up and improves their texture.
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury ( I use Heckers)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup currants
1 cup heavy cream
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl or workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender, or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.
4. Stir in heavy cream with rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Cut scones into 8 wedges. Place wedges on ungreased baking sheet. (Baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
6. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.Variations
Glazed Scones
A light cream and sugar glaze gives scones an attractive sheen and sweeter flavor. If baking scones immediately after making the dough, brush the dough just before cutting it into wedges.
Follow recipe for Cream Scones, brushing tops of scones with 1 tablespoon heavy cream and then sprinkling with 1 tablespoon sugar just before baking them.
Cakey Scones
An egg changes the texture and color of the scones and helps them stay fresher longer, up to 2 days in an airtight container.
Follow recipe for Cream Scones, reducing butter to 4 tablespoons and cream to 3/4 cup. Add 1 large egg, lightly beaten, to dough along with cream.
Oatmeal-Raisin scones
Mix this dough in the food processor; the metal blade breaks down the coarse oats and incorporates them into the dough.
Follow recipe for Cream Scones, making dough in food processor and substituting 1 cup rolled oats for 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. Increase sugar to 4 tablespoons and butter to 6 tablespoons. Replace currants with 3/4 cup raisins.
Ginger Scones
Follow recipe for Cream Scones, substituting 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger for currants.
My notes: I also use fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries or blackberries for this recipe. Toss the berries around in the flour before adding the cream. I do the same with the currants. You can also pat the dough out and cut the scones out with a biscuit cutter...re-roll the scraps and cut again. I usually do not do this though, I like the tender scones that just one quick pat on my marble board gives with out handling the dough too much.

Pollo alla Calabrese... Chicken with Potatoes, Onions, and Tomatoes

2011-03-22T22:06:00.001-04:00

I have been getting a newsletter email from Tori Ritchie every week for quite a while now and get a new recipe with each one. There have been some very good ones. My friend Laura , who is a personal chef told me about this and I signed right up. Recently I got one for this chicken dish and I knew as soon as I saw this recipe, that I was going to make it. It is so very simple...not rocket science...but on a busy night when you need to get dinner on the table with a minimum of fuss, you throw this in the oven....make a salad and or a nice green veggie and you are in business.

You can find the recipe here on Tori's blog called Tuesday Recipe. I suggest you subscribe to her her Tuesday Recipe, I love getting an email with a new recipe almost every week...here is the link to subscribe.

Tuesday Recipe

Everyone loved this...the leftovers were wonderful...it was a good thing! The kid declared it a keeper...what more could I want.

Hamantaschen....again...

2011-03-15T00:48:00.001-04:00

It is March and almost time for Purim, it actually falls this week on the 19th. Along with the recipes that I posted for the Corned Beef and Cabbage and the Irish Soda Bread this has been one of the most visited posts on my blog during the last month or so. So I thought I would give you a little redux...

Here is a link to my previous post. The story of Purim and the recipe are there. I have been making Hamantaschen with and for my kids since they were in nursery school. I have tried many different recipes, but I have been making this particular recipe since 2006 or 2007 and they are always delicious. They are our favorites. These are adapted from Marcy Goldman's "A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking ". I gave my copy of this book to a dear friend from Germany who admired it while visiting me and sat in my home one afternoon reading through it for hours. I just had to give it to her, thinking I would just order another for myself. I went to order another copy and then found it was out of print at the time. Much to my horror I only found one used for over $100.00. I kept on looking and was able to eventually get another used copy. This is a must have book if you are interested in Jewish baking. Luckily for everyone there is a newer edition...a 10th anniversary edition is available now.
A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

I may be working on another recipe this year, stay tuned...but for now...here you go, it has never let me down.

HAMANTASCHEN

I would also like to take a moment to thank all of you who visit my blog...I know not everyone comments, but I know you have been here. I would also like to thank those of you who email me with questions, comments, and compliments...I hope I am answering you as quickly as possible and know I love hearing from you. I am always happy to share recipes that have been favorites of my family...I hope they become favorites of yours as well.

Herbed Irish Soda Bread...Darina Allen Style...

2011-03-12T22:26:00.005-05:00

Some years ago I saw the Irish cooking diva...Darina Allen prepare this bread on Cooking Live, Sara Moulton's cooking show on the old Food Network and I have been making it ever since. It is a real Irish Soda Bread, not adulterated with lots of additions, that while good, are not the real deal. This is a magical bread that somehow comes out tasting and looking like a yeast bread, but is nothing more than flour, salt, buttermilk, a little baking soda, and a few herbs thrown in...it is magnificent. I have posted this before...but I shall post it again as along with the corned beef and cabbage recipe it is one of the most popular and most hit upon posts on my blog...it does not get much easier than this...lots of bang for your buck! I most always use fresh parsley, thyme and chives...love the flavor of that combination with the Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner...it is good anytime.

Herbed White Soda Bread
Recipe courtesy Darina Allen
Ingredients
3 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons freshly chopped herbs, such as rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, and
parsley
12 to 14 ounces buttermilk

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a
large bowl, make a well in the center and pour all of the buttermilk in at once. Using 1 hand, stir
in a full circle starting in the center of the bowl working towards the outside of the bowl until
all the flour is incorporated. The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky. When it all
comes together, a matter of seconds, turn it out onto a well-floured board. WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS.
Roll dough around gently with floured hands for a second, just enough to tidy it up, flip the dough
over. Pat the dough into a round about 1 1/2-inches deep. Sprinkle a little flour onto the center of
a baking sheet and place the loaf on top of the flour. Cut a deep cross on it with a sharp knife,
prick the four sections to let the fairies out. Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make
sure of this.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until
just cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.
Cool on a wire rack.

If you would like to prepare a traditional Irish Soda bread containing raisin or currants...then it would be called Spotted Dog....

Here is Darina's recipe from her book "Irish Traditional Cooking"...

Spotted Dog

4 cups plain white flour
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1 level teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda, sieved
3/4 cup raisins, currants, or golden raisins
1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups sour milk or buttermilk
1 egg, free range is possible (optional - you will not need all of the milk if you use the egg)

First fully preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Sieve the dry ingredients, add the fruit and mix well. Make a well in the center and pour most of the milk in at once with the egg. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out on to a floured board and knead it lightly for a few seconds, just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round about 1 1/2 inches deep and cut a deep cross on it. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400 degrees and continue to cook for approximately 30 minutes. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom: if it is cooked, it will sound hollow.

Serve spotted dog freshly baked, cut into thick slices and smeared with butter.

Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day....redux

2011-03-11T22:16:00.003-05:00

This is one of the most visited recipes on my blog...especially this time of year, so I figured I would post it again. I have been making this recipe just this way for quite a few years and if I change anything there would be a revolt...This is a wonderful recipe from the Silver Palate girls which came to me via my friend Becky to whom I will be forever grateful to for pointing me to this recipe...the sauce alone is worth the price of admission.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
adapted from The New Basics Cookbook; Serves 4-6
1 corned beef brisket (5-6 pounds)
2 onions, studded with 3 whole cloves (onions can be halved or quartered)
4 carrots, peeled and halved
3 or 4 cloves of peeled garlic left whole
2 ribs celery, halved
4 sprigs Italian parsley

1 green cabbage (about 3 pounds), cut into 6 wedges (See *Note below)
12 small red new potatoes
6 small leeks (white part and 2 inches of green), well rinsed (See *Note below)
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 1/2-inch lengths
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 T. chopped Italian parsley

Place corned beef in large kettle or dutch oven. Add the onions, halved carrots, celery, and parsley sprigs (use seasoning packet if provided with your corned beef). Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 3/4 to 3 hours, turning beef over in broth every 30 minutes. DO NOT allow water to boil again; keeping at low simmer will ensure tenderness. When it is very tender, remove it from kettle and keep warm.

Strain the broth and return it to the kettle. Add the cabbage, potatoes, leeks, cut-up carrots, salt and pepper, and 2 T. of the chopped parsley. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes.

Arrange beef on warmed serving plater, and surround it with the cooked vegetables. Ladle broth over beef and vegetables, and sprinkle with remaining 2 T. chopped parsley. Optional - serve with Horseradish Cream Sauce (below).

*Note: Keeping the core in the cabbage wedges will help hold them together while cooking. Remove the core before serving. After thoroughly washing, leeks can be tied together with kitchen twine/string; remove for serving.

Horseradish Cream Sauce
This makes 2 cups of sauce. The recipe can easily be halved or quartered, as needed.

3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained
2 T. Dijon mustard
Pinch of sugar (I leave this out)
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Whip cream in bowl until it forms soft peaks. Combine mayonnaise, horseradish, and mustard in another bowl. Fold in whipped cream. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well, and transfer to serving bowl.

Thai Chicken with Fresh Basil

2011-03-02T18:44:00.001-05:00

My sister in law reached out to me today because she is in need of chicken recipes as my Brother in Law has gout and he can only eat chicken and turkey. I never posted this recipe here because I was not happy with the quality of the photos...but a chicken emergency is a chicken emergency. So Priscilla...this is for you!

I first heard about this recipe while driving and listening to the Everyday Food radio show on Martha Stewart Living and the host was raving about this recipe and how quick, easy and delicious it was. She had dinner on the table in under 30 minutes and she certainly did not lie. I went home and searched around the internet and found the recipe and made it myself that very night. I have since purchased this great cookbook ...
Quick and Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott. It has come in very handy on busy nights. The tastes and flavors are very authentic and the recipes use mostly items you can get in your local supermarket or already have in your pantry.

Thai Chicken with Fresh Basil
adapted from :Quick & Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott

3 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 tablespoon coarsely-chopped garlic
1/2 cup coarsely-chopped onion
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite-size pieces or 1 pound coarsely ground chicken
2 tablespoons fish sauce ( I use Vietnamese- Three Crabs Brand)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or regular soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely-chopped fresh chile peppers (Thai chiles, serranos, or jalapenos)
1 packed cup Thai basil or other basil leaves
2 cups cooked rice, optional

Heat a wok or large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl it to coat the surface. Add the garlic and onion; stir briefly until they begin to release their aroma, about 45 to 60 seconds. Add the chicken pieces, tossing well with a wooden spatula or spoon, to help the meat brown evenly. If using ground chicken you want to break up to meat to achieve a crumbly texture.

Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar; cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing now and then, just until the chicken is cooked and the seasonings form a thin, smooth , sauce. Add the chile peppers and basil; toss and stir fry just until the basil begins to wilt.

Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot or warm with cooked rice ( we love this with Jasmine rice), if you desire. Garnish with some leftover basil leaves.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

My notes: I added some julienned yellow, red ,and orange peppers for some color and crunch at the time I added the jalapenos. I have also added some diced green beans or asparagus to the dish as well.
I did not have Thai basil so I used regular Italian basil and it worked out just fine. I also add about a tablespoon or so more of water if it looks a tiny bit dry toward the end.

I know this says it feeds 4 to 6 ...but in my house with hungry teenagers it feeds two to three. You can easily double this recipe. BUT....I would not crowd the pan with the chicken, so brown it in batches so the chicken browns nicely and does not stew in the marinade. There is not much sauce left over. I garnish it with cilantro and a slice of fresh lime. You could also add some sliced cucumber and tomato to the plate and you have dinner in a flash.

Check your chiles for heat before you use them. I made this last night and used two serrano chiles.They were pretty spicy...we enjoyed the dish but in retrospect one chile would have sufficed.
Now why I did not take a picture of this when I made it last night...I will never know. There were from last June and not very good....please excuse the poor pics...but the recipe is too good to not tell you about.

1770 House Meatloaf via the Barefoot Contessa

2011-03-01T17:47:00.001-05:00

I am not one to wax poetic about a meatloaf...but as far as meatloaves go this is a very, very, good version. This is not something I make often because my kids despise meatloaf. I am not sure why, but they have a thing about meat...formed into a loaf...and, well... they will not eat it. They eat meatballs and hamburgers, but have an aversion for the meatloaf. My husband likes it a lot and especially loves it the next day on a sandwich.

I saw this made recently on the Barefoot Contessa show and Ina Garten declared this her favorite meatloaf, it looked good to me so I knew I had to try it. It had been a long time since we have had meatloaf and it seemed like good comfort food on a cold winter night. This makes a large meatloaf and I froze the leftovers. They froze quite nicely and the leftovers made a great sandwich. This was a very tasty, moist and light meatloaf. I will absolutely make this dish again...

1770 House Meatloaf
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa /Food Network
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients

* 1 pound ground veal
* 1 pound ground pork
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh chives, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh thyme leaves, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh Italian parsley, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/3 cups finely ground Panko( ground with a few pulses in the food processor)
* 2/3 cup whole milk
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* Olive oil
* 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
* 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
* 2 cups chicken or beef stock
* 8 to 10 cloves roasted garlic
* 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the veal, pork, beef, chives, thyme, parsley, eggs, Panko, milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat and film it with extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the celery and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Remove the celery and onion from the pan and let cool. When the mixture is cool, add it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Using clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined and everything is evenly distributed. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan (it should have sides at least 1 1/2 inches high to prevent grease runoff from the pan). Place the meat on the sheet pan and pat it and punch it down to remove any air pockets. Shape the meat into a loaf (about 14 1/2 inches long by 5 inches wide by 2 inches high). Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer indicates an internal temperature of 155 to 160 degrees. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, combine the broth, roasted garlic and butter over medium-high heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly thickened. Add 1 teaspoon of each of the chopped thyme, chives and parsley. Slice the meatloaf into serving portions and spoon the hot sauce over the meatloaf and serve.

MY NOTES:
This makes a very large "loaf" and it was not done at 50 minutes, at 350*...so I turned on my convection roast option, to 350* which is really 375*...I roasted some asparagus during the cooking time along with the meat. I used an instant read thermometer and took it out at about 165*...it was nice and brown. it took a bot more than an hour to finish in my oven. So be sure to start checking yours at 50 minutes becasue everyone's oven is different.

I had 1 3/4 pounds of ground pork, veal, and beef, which is sold in my market in three little piles of individual meats, as meatloaf mix, which I used and made up the difference with some ground chuck. It was fine. I had this in my freezer needing to be used, so I did.

Now for the sauce...I did follow the recipe...roasted the garlic, and I used chicken stock. I put it together as the recipe stated...BUT it really did not thicken. It reduced...it tasted really great...but it was still rather like a broth. It was a golden color because of the chicken broth. At the last minute I decided to put a few drops of Gravy Master in it, and that changed the color to a darker richer one. Then I mixed a little bit of Wondra flour...maybe two shakes of the can( A Tablespoon?) into a 1/4 cup of cold chicken broth, made a slurry....then whisked that into the sauce mixture. It came out just slightly thickened and silky...I liked it much better that way than the original sauce. It had the mouthfeel of a sauce, rather than a broth.

I think the step of grinding the Panko Crumbs in the processor makes a difference in the lightness of this meatloaf, so definitely do not miss that step.

Margaret's Mandelbrot from Sarabeth Levine....

2011-02-28T17:18:00.002-05:00

It is a rainy, gray, last day of February and I suddenly realized I did not have one post for this month. I have been cooking and baking and I have hundreds of pictures to look at and edit, but life just somehow got in the way of this blog. It tends to do that sometimes! My husband is back in Brussels and my college boy will be going there to spend Spring break with him. I am here with my high school senior waiting for all the of the college decisions to come rolling in...this is an exciting month for him and all of us. Stressful as well, but part of the process of growing up and spreading ones wings and flying...hard for me to imagine not seeing his face every day. I have survived my first born going away, so maybe this will be easier. He is more than ready to go I can tell you that.

I have been following Sarabeth Levine's blog...The Goddess of Bakedom for some time now. I have been a fan of Sarabeth and her baked goods for many years. Her new cookbook Sarabeth's Bakery:From My Hands to Yours is a wonderful collection of recipes. I have been reading the book through from cover to cover. If you are a serious baker this is a must have addition to your collection.
Her rugelach recipe was the very first one I ever tried and to this day remains the favorite of all my friends and family. She recently posted this recipe for a jam filled Mandelbrot and a lovely tribute to her Mother in Law, Margaret. The link will lead you to the recipe...the recipe is lovely. The flavor of this simple cookie sends me back to my Bubbe's house. A very nice taste memory. These are perfect for dunking in a cup of tea or coffee....my son has been having them with milk and has declared them a keeper.

I have had Mandelbrot with almonds and other nuts and chocolate chips but never filled with jam. I think these are the best I have ever had. A kind of Jewish biscotti if you will. So stop by and take a look around Sarabeth's blog...you will be very pleased I am sure....

I am looking forward to Spring as I am sure we all are...it has been a very long, snowy, winter.

Vinegar Glossed Chicken....

2011-01-26T15:21:00.003-05:00

This is such a simple dish and so delicious....it comes from Lucinda Scala Quinn's cookbook...Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys...It is a beautiful collection of simple, delicious, and easy recipes. I have been feeding men and boys for over 20 years here and I know what they will and will not eat. I must admit I have a pretty spoiled bunch here. They have loved everything I have tried from this book. Lucinda's recipes are very much in the style that I love to cook. It is never too late to teach an old dog...ME...a few new tricks. It makes everyday cooking more exciting to add a new twist to things. I am going to give this book to my college aged son for his first kitchen. I think it would be a lovely gift for any boy or young man going out on their own. Girls for that matter too... I have been enjoying it a lot myself. Especially when I need to get dinner on the table quickly...this lovely dinner was on the table in less than an hour. A wonderful meal for a busy weeknight, and one I would serve for company anytime. I served this with creamy polenta and roasted greens beans and grape tomatoes.

Vinegar Glossed Chicken
Mad Hungry/Lucinda Scala Quinn
Mad Hungry Blog
Serves 6 to 8

1 cup best-quality red-wine vinegar
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
5 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (each part should be cut in half)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed

At least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours before cooking, combine the vinegar, garlic, and rosemary to marinate.
Thoroughly season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat a 14-inch skillet (or two smaller skillets) over high heat and swirl in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down. Don't crowd the chicken; leave space around each piece. Work in batches if necessary. You should hear an immediate sizzle when the chicken pieces hit the pan. Don't move them; it takes a couple of minutes to sear the chicken so it doesn't stick. Brown all sides; this will take 10 minutes per batch. Regulate the heat so it stays high but does not burn the chicken. Place all the browned chicken back in the skillet.
Add the chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat, simmer, and reduce for 15 to 20 minutes. Increase the heat to high and pour in the vinegar mixture. Swirl the pan and stir around as the vinegar evaporates to form a simmering glaze, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately or refrigerate, and reheat with some extra broth.

My notes: I already had about 4 1/2 plus pounds of small organic chicken legs and thighs to use, so that is what I did. I did not cut the pieces in half because they were already on the small side. I also was a little bit short of my good red wine vinegar so I topped off what I had with a bit of really nice Balsamic vinegar to make a cup. I probably used two or three tablespoons of the Balsamic in all. I admit that I threw in a few more cloves of garlic...so I used 5 in all. What can I say. We really love garlic. Since I had a lot of fresh Rosemary that needed to be used I used more of that as well. I was lucky to have some of my home made chicken stock on hand and I used that for the reduction.The vinegar reduces down to a lovely ,syrupy, sweet and sour sauce...this chicken was wonderful reheated the next day for lunch and great cold. Uh, can you tell we loved this.

I have been making a dish we always called "Vinegar Chicken" in my family for over 30 years. It originally came from a dish called Chicken Savoy...this is very similar. But much better!

My son took this action shot of me stirring the polenta! His first time using my camera...how could I not include it! He was very interested in this dinner, just from the aromas wafting from the kitchen. That was a good thing...

Snowy Day Cinnamon Rolls....

2011-01-21T16:55:00.001-05:00

There is nothing like a snowy day to make me want to bake. We have all had plenty of snow lately that is for sure. The kids were asking for Cinnamon Rolls, so while the boy was home from college , what better time to indulge them a little. These are not something I bake on a regular basis, so they remain special. I use a combination of several recipes that I have tried...
I do use my Kitchen-Aid mixer for these and I start them with the paddle attachment, then I switch to the dough hook once the dough starts to come together. It is very sticky and you will need to keep adding flour by the tablespoon until it is not longer very sticky and slaps around the bowl of the mixer. Then I take the dough out of the mixer and place it on a floured board or the counter and knead it a bit with my hands. It will be smooth and silky , like a baby's bottom.

Cinnamon Rolls
adapted loosely from a recipe by Molly Wizenberg
Dough:
1 cup whole milk ( I used 1 % several times...that was fine)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 to 4 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
2 large room temperature eggs
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast or instant yeast (one packet)
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 of a stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heavy Cream or Half and Half ( or water if you wish)
Preparation
For dough:

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed, 110°F to 125°F, 30 to 45 seconds, it may take a bit longer depending on your microwave, be careful of the milk being too hot as it can kill the yeast. Rapid Rise yeast can take higher temperatures than regular yeast, so keep that in mind. You may need to let it stand for a few minutes, then take its temperature with an instant read thermometer. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, eggs, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and switch to dough hook. Beat on low until flour is absorbed , scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead with the dough hook about 8 minutes. The dough will stick to the dough hook, and slap around the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic... adding a little more flour more flour if sticky. Form into ball.
Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling:
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.
Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide). Sometimes I only get 16 rolls...no matter.

Spray two 9-inch square or round glass or metal baking dishes with nonstick spray.( do not use a 9 x 13 baking pan) Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. If making ahead, refrigerate dough overnight. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 16 -20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.Glaze right away, while still warm.

For glaze:
Mix two cups of powdered sugar with one teaspoon vanilla and enough heavy cream or half and half to make a thin glaze. Drizzle this glaze on the hot rolls, using a fork or spoon. If you are only baking one pan of the rolls then cut the glaze amounts in half, and make another half when you bake the second pan.
These can come back to life when they are a day or two old by putting on a microwave safe dish and nuking for about 15 seconds or so...if they make it that long.

If you wish, you can freeze one pan of the rolls, well wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil for another day.
You can take the rolls out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge over night and then remove for the second rise when ready. It will take longer than 45 minutes to rise if the dough is cold from the fridge.

You might want to use another cooling rack on top of the turned out buns to turn them over again right side up before glazing...I like to line a sheet pan with baking parchment and place the cooling rack over that so that the glaze drips on the parchment, making clean up all the easier.

The middle is the best part...isn't it?

Happy New Year...2011

2011-01-01T22:44:00.001-05:00

Wow...today is 1/1/11...

I have spent the day recovering from a lovely New Years Eve...I steamed 20 live lobsters last night and it took a lot out of me...lol...also the two bottles of champagne we consumed didn't hurt!

A nice brunch of Migas, pinto beans, and Mexican rice along with some freshly made pico de gallo....that would do the trick! Lots of strong coffee too!

I wanted to show all of you my Molten chocolate cake that had been frozen, baked off in a convection toaster oven...not unmolded...ready in no time...

I baked my last batch of holiday cookies yesterday to take to a dear friends house for her birthday...which also happens to be New Years Eve...

Some Scottish Shortbread....

My friend Ernie's wonderful recipe for Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti...

Kissed with a touch of melted white chocolate....

That was it for 2010... I want to thank all of you who visit here for coming...for commenting...for just being there...and most of all for your friendship and support.

I wish all of you a very Happy and Healthy 2011... may each day be filled with all you love!

Molten Chocolate Cakes...another Holiday Tradition

2010-12-27T22:27:00.004-05:00

I think once you have children and you make something they love on a holiday...thats it! There is no changing it. No trying something new...they have to have it. This is one of those recipes that is usually served for dessert after Christmas dinner at our house. This year we were so full that we all decided to wait until Boxing Day to have this wonderful dessert. I have made quite a few different Molten Chocolate cake recipes but this is by far my favorite and it is easy. The ramekins are coated with a bit of butter and some sugar is sprinkled inside and the excess thrown out. It leaves a slight crunch that I love on the outside of the cake. I normally do not unmold them...I leave them right in the ramekin, but this year I just felt like unmolding them...and I did.

They can sit in the fridge for a day or two unbaked, or you can freeze them , right in the ramekin to have a lovely dessert at a moments notice. I froze half of mine, on a sheet tray and then wrapped them well for another day. I make them early in the day and let them sit...right after dinner i heat up the oven, make the coffee, and pop them in for 13 minutes and thats it! Easy Peasy...

I found this recipe in Bon Appetit and it called for coffee ice cream to be served along with it. That is also fabulous....but for the holidays we like to have some fresh raspberries and vanilla ice cream.

Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cakes with Coffee Ice Cream
adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine
January 2003

For best results, use a dark baking chocolate with high cocoa butter content (about 30 percent), such as Valrhona or Callebaut.
12 teaspoons plus 5 tablespoons sugar

8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) chopped, or you can use disks
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon all purpose flour ( I add an extra tablespoon of flour)

1 quart coffee ice cream

Generously butter eight 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Sprinkle inside of each dish with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar.

Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, egg yolks, and remaining 5 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until thick and pale yellow, about 8 minutes. Fold 1/3 of warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture, then fold in remaining chocolate. Fold in flour. Divide batter among soufflé dishes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic; chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place soufflé dishes on baking sheet. Bake cakes uncovered until edges are puffed and slightly cracked but center 1 inch of each moves slightly when dishes are shaken gently, about 13 minutes.

Top each cake with scoop of coffee ice cream and serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

My Notes: I also serve this with vanilla ice cream and some fresh raspberries, sometimes a raspberry coulis as well. If you can not find a 6 ounces ramekin it is fine to use a one cup ramekin or custard cup...just divide the batter evenly.

Cinnamon Bread Custard with Fresh Berries....

2010-12-27T03:32:00.003-05:00

I have made this for Christmas morning breakfast for way over 20 years....in fact I think it might be 24 or 25 years. Back in the 80's when I lived in San Francisco...long before we had kids.
This is a recipe adapted from one by Bradley Ogden. I saw it first in Food and Wine Magazine. It is rich and decadent and I only make it once a year...but it is lovely to make for any special breakfast or brunch.
In fact I think it would be fine way to ring in the New Year...I usually serve this with bacon or breakfast sausage...but this Christmas morning we had it with some beautiful fresh berries and warm real maple syrup...and a nice cup of strong, freshly brewed, French Roast coffee.

This recipe was also named one of the most popular recipes in Food and Wine Magazine a few years ago. It has withstood the test of time in my home...except when they re-printed the recipe in the magazine they cut back on the butter a little bit from one stick to 6 Tablespoons...I am sticking with the stick as the original called for! Hey it is once a year after all.

Please remember to read my notes at the end of this post...I have made the dish according to the original recipe and it is delicious...but I like it better with the changes I have made over the years. One change I made in recent years was to prepare the casserole the night before and park it in the fridge. Then in the morning I take it out and let it sit on the counter for a little bit to come to room temperature before I place it in the oven.

Cinnamon Bread Custard with Fresh Berries
adapted from Bradley Ogden
6-8 Servings

16 slices of cinnamon-raisin bread (See Note)
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Fresh berries and maple syrup, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Brush both sides of each bread slice with some of the butter and arrange in rows in a buttered 9-by-12-inch baking dish. (I shingle the bread into the casserole)
2. In a large bowl, beat together the whole eggs and egg yolks. Whisk in the granulated sugar, milk, cream and vanilla. Strain the custard over the bread slices, making sure that each piece is evenly moistened.
3. Place the baking dish in a roasting pan and pour in enough warm water to reach halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the custard is set. Transfer the baking dish to a rack and let stand for about 15 minutes.(see my notes on this step)
4. Cut into squares, sift confectioners' sugar over the top and serve with the berries.

Note: Packaged, sliced cinnamon-raisin bread works just fine in this recipe, but a sliced bakery-fresh loaf will make it even better.

My notes: I have a raisin hater here in my house so I use Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bread...no raisins. I have also made this with thick cut bakery white bread. You could also use Brioche or challah and in that case add a bit of cinnamon to the custard. While this is really delicious baked in the water bath...I do not do that any longer. I just place directly into the oven and bake. We like it to brown and it puffs up and looks lovely. The 25 minute baking time is not long enough either way for me, the custard is just too loose at that time IMHO. I bake it until it is puffed and the custard has set...more like 45 minutes to an hour...I insert a skewer into the middle to check for doneness. I think you should begin checking at about 30 minutes . Everyone's oven is different....

I can not tell you how many people I have given this recipe to. It has become a holiday tradition for many of my friends and their families now....if there are any leftovers it is lovely reheated in the microwave the next day. I hope you will try this and enjoy it as much as we do...

Merry Melt in your mouth Toffee...and a Happy Christmas to all!

2010-12-24T01:58:00.002-05:00

Ahhhh.....I love this stuff. I am not much of a candy maker but this one is easy and addictive.Great for some last minute gifts. I have a few more batches of this to make tomorrow! I am posting pics from another year as I just got a brand new camera and I am in the midst of learning how to use it. The little hand painted bell on our tree was my first go...I have a long way to go, that is for sure!
Hopefully next year it will be like second nature...

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH TOFFEE
adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
1 Pound butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups sliced toasted almonds
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips ( I use Callebaut)
pinch of kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1 In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, white sugar, and brown sugar, and salt. Cook SLOWLY over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Boil to brittle stage, 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) without stirring. Remove from heat. Add Vanilla.
2. While it's cooking, pour and spread out nuts and chocolate chips (if you're using) into an ungreased half sheet pan that you've lined with a silpat or if not, lightly buttered. Pour hot mixture over the nuts and chocolate, and working quickly, spread out to fill pan evenly with a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let the mixture cool and break it into pieces before serving.

Life has been busy here and as you can see I have not been around much. But it is all good...my nest is full and I am enjoying everyone being here and together. We will be having a quiet holiday this weekend and we are all looking forward to getting over colds, having some good food, and just being together in one place.

I am hoping that life will slow down a bit and I will be able to be here a bit more next year than I have of late.
I wish all of you the happiest of holidays!
Merry Christmas....

Happy Chanukah....Latkes and Birthday cakes

2010-12-04T10:59:00.002-05:00

Today is my baby boy's 18th birthday...it seems like yesterday he was born. Where does the time go? I am off to bake his birthday cake....he is a RED VELVET boy...he requested a repeat of last years cake.
There are delicious memories today of all his birthdays and all of the cakes, all of the smiles, and all of the kisses.
We have given him wings and he is ready to fly...I still feel like I need a Xanax every time he gets into a car to drive... I am going to have to get over that...I am working on it.

It is also Chanukah and last night I tried a new latke recipe that I found on Sarabeth Levine's new blog
"Sarabeth-Goddess of Bakedom" . It is a lovely place to visit. I got her new cookbook, Sarabeth's Kitchen and I have been reading through it cover to cover. It is a gorgeous book. The Latke recipe is from Mimi Sheraton's book "From my Mother's Kitchen". It is a killer recipe. Just click on Sarabeth's link for the recipe. I have an old tattered copy of Mimi's book and I could not find it, despite looking for a long time. I will look again today, it is also a wonderful cookbook.

I have been making latkes for many years and they are pretty darned good...but this recipe is even better than what I have been making. The latkes were light due to the separation of the eggs and beating the whites to fold in at the end. The method of preparing them is key.

I usually use the food processor when making latkes and I grated the potatoes by hand using Mimi's recipe.It was quick and easy, I will continue to use this recipe from now on for sure.

They were crisp and golden brown and not in the least bit greasy.

I like them with both applesauce and sour cream....these were really a hit. They were gone in the blink of an eye.

Happy Chanukah to all my friends and family.....may the light of the candles shine in your hearts...and even if you do not celebrate...no one really needs a reason to eat delicious potato pancakes.

Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving Day

2010-11-18T19:31:00.001-05:00

It is almost here....one week and counting. I thought I would repost our very favorite pumpkin pie recipe. I have been thinking of trying something new this year...but I have been warned!!!!! Do not experiment on Thanksgiving. I will not...I dare not. This pie is pretty perfect as it is and my kids adore it. I better not try something new. I have two new baking books that I am loving...reading them from cover to cover. Sarabeth's new book and Joanne Chang's new book "Flour"...I am sure to be posting several things from both. But for now...the tried and true is expected and I will lovingly comply! My darling boy will be home from UPenn on Monday night and I can not wait to kiss his face! His younger brother now has the flu and I am hoping and praying for a quick recovery. Someone always gets sick during the holidays in our family. It never fails. My Mom had surgery last week and I have been running around and not home very much. I am hoping that she will be well enough to come and enjoy Thanksgiving with us. It is my very favorite Holiday.

For the pumpkin pie I use the recipe on the back of the Libby's can of Pumpkin...but I add an extra egg and use heavy cream instead of the evaporated milk. It is such a velvety, creamy, pie made this way. I have also used half and half and that works well too...but the cream is our favorite. It is only once a year, so I am not going to get all hung up about using the cream...heck, we whip more cream and put it on top.

Jazzy's Pumpkin Pie
adapted from the back of the Libby's Can

3 eggs slightly beaten
1 can(16 oz) Libby's Solid Pack Pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teas. salt
1 teas. cinnamon
1/2 teas. ginger
1//4 teas. cloves
12 fl.oz. heavy cream or half and half
1 9" unbaked pie shell with high fluted edge.( your favorite recipe or a pre-fab one, your choice...I will not tell the pie police)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix filling ingredients in order given. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center of pie filling comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Serve with a nice dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

For the crust I use Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee...sometimes I substitute some shortening for 1/4 cup of the butter.
Pate Brisee
adapted from Martha Stewart

The pie dough may be made one day ahead and refrigerated, well wrapped in plastic, or frozen up to one month.

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
* 1 Teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 Teaspoon sugar
* 1 Cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces( or 1/4 cup cold shortening to replace 1/4 cup of the butter)
* 1/4 to 1/2 Cup ice water

Directions

1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, pouring it through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.
2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces, and place on 2 separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form 2 disks. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

I frequently fore go the processor and just make this by hand, using either a pastry blender, or two butter knives, or just my fingers. I actually like to feel the pastry dough in my h ands. But whatever way is easiest for you...thats what you do.

One week from today....Turkey Day!
For all who celebrate...I wish you a wonderful day with family and friends. I am Thankful for all of you!

Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin...

2010-11-13T12:34:00.003-05:00

This cauliflower gratin is nothing short of fabulous. It transforms the veggie into something so special. My 17 year old walked into the kitchen and said...mmmmmmm...is that Mac and Cheese. I said no...its better...

This is easy to put together...some flour, eggs,cream, milk, Gruyere...steamed cauliflower...thats it really. Oh lets not forget the bacon! What's not great with bacon! But for vegetarians or those who do not eat pork, I think this would be wonderful even without the bacon.
It is almost quiche-like, but not quite. The flour gives it a different texture.
I served this with chicken but it could have easily been a main course on its own. I can imagine it as a great brunch dish as well...cauliflower for brunch you say. Crazy? Maybe...but it would be perfect!

It puffs up and get brown and crisp on top....I had to bake mine longer than the recipe calls for as it was not set in the middle. No matter because what is not set, acts as a creamy sauce.

This is a keeper...I can see this gracing our holiday table at some point this winter. The leftovers were great reheated in the microwave. My husband enjoyed those for lunch the next day. Another wonderful recipe from Dorie Greenspan.

This has not yet been chosen as a recipe for French Friday's with Dorie....but it may be. It should be. So I will not post the recipe. I hope all of my readers get the book...as you can see by my last few posts, I think it is a wonderful resource.
This recipe can be found on page 362 in Dorie Greenspan's..."Around My French Table"

It was also posted on NPR
So now you can have the recipe...perfect for Thanksgiving!

M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken...another Dorie wonder...

2010-11-01T17:12:00.007-04:00

I have not made this many recipes from a newly received cookbook ever. Usually I get them, read them cover to cover and IF I make one or two things from a book I consider myself lucky. All of the things I have made from Dorie's new book"Around My French Table" have been wonderful...I am on a roll. I may just cook my way through the book!

I am not going to post the recipe because this may end up being chosen for a French Fridays with Dorie...but in a nutshell, it is some onions and some potatoes...carrots and some herbs sauteed a bit in a cast iron pot.
A nice plump organic chicken seasoned nicely with salt and pepper is nestled into the pan with the veggies...some Armagnac is added . The pot covered and put into the oven for a hour at 450*...the bird comes out and is kept warm and some water is added to the sauce...
Voila...a one pot meal fit for a Queen, the King and their Prince....so simple and so wonderful.

The chicken was juicy and succulent...the heady aroma of the sauce is magnificent. Dorie calls this an "elixir and that is the perfect description of it. I did not have any Armagnac this day so I used some Calvados...it was wonderful. I ran out the next day and bought a bottle of Armagnac because I know I will make this comforting dish again very soon. I had a really lovely baguette from Balthazar to sop up the lovely juices....

Even the boy who hates carrots...loved the carrots. I had some tiny petite organic carrots with tops....I needed more. Next time! And there will be a next time!

I had a 4 and a 1/4 pound chicken...my 5 quart Le Creuset was a little too small so I used my 9 quart. I think the 7 quart would have been perfect...the 9 was a little bit too large. I think my chicken would have been more well browned in the smaller pot. I am going to try it in the 5 quart and compare....I will have to use smaller potatoes in that case! Hmmmmm...this just might be the perfect reason to buy a new 7 quart Le Creuset....
Someone needs to take me out and shoot me....really...I have no more room!

This recipe can be found on pages 204 and 205 of Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook, "Around My French Table"
The recipe appears in the NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake- French Fridays with Dorie

2010-10-29T18:12:00.002-04:00

I just love this recipe. It was so easy and delicious. I purchased my apples at our last Farmer's Market of the year. Just picked that morning...one Granny Smith...one Golden Delicious...one Winesap....and one Macoun. It was lovely tasting the different flavors of the fresh apple in the cake. I had exactly three tablespoons of Myer's Rum left in the bottle....this cake was meant to be.

The aroma in the house while it was baking was simply amazing....intoxicating! I think the rum and the vanilla really complement the cake beautifully. If I did not have any dark rum in the house I would absolutely use some Calvados which I always have on hand.

I did not have an 8 inch springform pan so I figured that this was the perfect time to get one. I ordered one from Amazon and while I was at it I ordered a 10 inch as well...hey, the shipping was free, right? So two Fat Daddio springform pans arrived and they looked great. I have some other Fat Daddio pans that I have really liked. Anodized aluminum and much less expensive than the German ones I really wanted. What a mistake....it leaked! So they are both going back to Amazon as soon as I get the chance. It does not pay to try to save money on bakeware. The pan has a nice lip on the bottom of the pan, made to catch those leaks! Well...the baked on batter was lovely to pick off and taste I must admit! But I do not like the pan at all. I have another 9 inch springform that I have been using for over 20 years and it has never leaked.
Sorry to vent...it was disappointing.

I decided that I just HAD to remove the cake from the spring form bottom. I should have let it cool a bit longer because I took a bit of the lovely brown top of the cake off when I inverted the cake onto a parchment lined cake board. No matter...a little sprinkle of powdered sugar hides a multitude of sins!

This recipe reminds me of another wonderful French apple cake recipe from Patricia Well's called the
"Apple Lady's Apple Cake". It is similar in that there are more apples than cake and it is made in a similar manner. I think I love Marie-Hélène's cake even more. The Apple Lady's cake is my son Sam's favorite...I can not wait to make this one for him when he gets home from college, I know he will adore it.

Thank you Dorie for another fabulous recipe! The cake was even better the next day....

You can download the recipe HERE...

But I am loving this book so much...I think you really NEED to buy it!

Gerard's Mustard Tart...French Fridays with Dorie...a little late

2010-10-23T10:06:00.001-04:00

I guess blogging without obligation should become my middle name. I have all the best intentions but life just gets in the way. I feel guilty when I have pictures waiting to be uploaded and blog posts to write...but that is the way it is. No excuses. I have been trying to get here and comment on as many of my friends blog posts as I can, but that is about all the time I have had. It is ok...my kids have been busy...my husband is back home from Belgium...real life has been full and I am just fine with that.

I joined French Fridays with Dorie with all of the best intentions to get going from the start...but well...so it goes. No matter, I will try my best to catch up. We had a very Dorie week this week...we had this gorgeous, delicious, Mustard Tart and a salad for dinner one night and I will post the rest of the meals we had when I can. I am delighted so far with this new book...."Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan. Everything I have tried has been wonderful. One of the rules of "French Fridays with Dorie" is not to post the actual recipes...that should encourage all of you to buy this book and try the recipes. I highly recommend it. It is a gorgeous book. A labor of love that is for sure...I am enjoying reading through it and I have made four dinners from it this week alone...which for me is pretty amazing!

We loved the bold flavors in this unusual tart. I also loved Dories wonderful recipe for the tart dough itself. It came together in an instant and rolled out like a dream. It was very easy to handle and tasted delicious.

I made the dough the day before I needed it and parked it in the fridge. It differs from my usual Pate Brisee as it has an egg in it. This may just become my new favorite! After being rolled out and placed in the tart pan it gets stashed in the freezer for a while and since it was frozen it was very easy to blind bake. I just used a sheet of non stick foil to line the dough in the pan...no pie weights, rice, or beans were needed.

We really enjoyed this. My 17 year old not as much, he is not a huge mustard fan and carrots are not his favorite veggie, I would not gauge the success of this recipe by him. He was eyeing it suspiciously as soon as he saw those carrots and the two jars of mustard on the counter. Ahhh.....his loss...more for us!
I had gorgeous thin organic carrots with tops, the leeks were fresh from the Farmer's market and also tender and lovely. When baked into the tart, the veggies were meltingly soft and tender, very easy to eat in this tart. Some folks reported that they had problems with the texture of the veggies being too hard. I did not find that at all. I loved the flavor of the Creme Fraiche in this.We had the tart with a lightly dressed green salad. I made the recipe exactly as written and I know I will make it again and again. I can not wait to make the tomato version.My husband enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. A winner! Thank you Dorie!

Please go out and buy this book...you will be so happy that you did. There is a link to French Fridays with Dorie on my sidebar...take a look and see what wonderful things all of the members there are cooking up!
You can download the recipes for this month only right here....

Kugel Redux for Yom Kippur

2010-09-17T09:02:00.001-04:00

I have not been posting lately...it has been a very busy time. One son back at University the other started his senior year of High School. Husband back to Brussels. Lots of chaos really. I am back to cooking for just the two of us and it is not all that exciting really...as the weather cools, I hope to be posting more often.

I have noticed a lot of traffic to my kugel post from last year so I thought I would re-post it! Tonight at sundown marks the beginning of Yom Kippur...the Jewish Day of Atonement. We fast for this holiday from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow and then some people have a light traditional dairy meal to break the fast.
There will be bagels and lox and salads but for us there also this kugel. It is delicious...not too heavy and goes a long way.
To all who celebrate...I wish you an easy fast! And to those who do not I wish you all peace...

Why I only make this recipe once or twice a year during the Jewish holidays I do not know. It is really a great recipe to make for brunch or a light lunch ,or dinner. It is not too sweet and just delicious. We usually serve this at our Yom Kippur break the fast dinner which consists of bagels, and lox, and lots of salads...this is sweet but it is not dessert. You could of course serve it as dessert. It is delicious piping hot straight from the oven. The top becomes brown and crisp and the inside creamy. It is also very good reheated and can be frozen as well. I adapted this recipe from one I got on a cooking message board I frequent. This is bakinfool's Mom's Famous Noodle Kugel

Famous Noodle Kugel
1 pound Wide Egg Noodles
2 cups Sour Cream
16 oz. container Cottage Cheese
6 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
1 stick Butter
2 tsp Vanilla
splash of Lemon Juice
Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350, grease a 13 by 9 baking dish
cook noodles, drain well
combine sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs, and sugar
melted butter and vanilla, mix well
add the lemon juice, mix well
stir in the noodles, pour into prepared pan
sprinkle the top with cinnamon
bake for 1hr 15 min
optional - Add 1/2 cup raisins and/ or one diced peeled apple
While you can use reduced fat sour cream and cottage cheese, I think this is really best with
full fat. Do not use non fat sour cream or cottage cheese.
This recipe also halves very nicely.
source:bakinfool/ck

New York Times Plum Torte...an end of summer must

2010-08-30T11:04:00.003-04:00

Once the Italian plums are seen in the market I must make the timeless New York Times Plum Torte. It is easy and so delicious. It has been featured in the Times by Marion Burros every year since 1981. It is delicious. You can also make it with apples and cranberries, sliced peaches and blueberries, cherries, all kinds of things. There are several versions of it floating around. One I saw has the plums skin side down and one skin side up. This time I decided to bake it skin side down...
I first learned of this recipe from my dear friend Ernie who is one of the best bakers on the planet. Thanks Ernie!

Original Plum Torte
adapted from the NYTimes recipe

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
24 halves pitted Italian purple plums (prune plums)
Sugar and cinnamon for topping.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs, and beat well.
3. Spoon the batter into a buttered spring form of 8 or 9 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, or to taste.
4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired (but first, double-wrap the tortes in foil, place in a plastic bag, and seal). Or cool to lukewarm, and serve.
5. To serve a torte that has been frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.
Yield: 8 servings.
VARIATIONS: To make an apple-cranberry torte, follow directions for plum torte but peel, seed, quarter and slice two or three large baking apples. Arrange 1/2 cup of raw cranberries over the batter and top with the apple slices. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon; squeeze 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the apples. Sprinkle with sugar. (I find that a quick baking apple works best with this, a Macintosh is fine, and two are more than enough, you do not want to overload this torte with too much fruit)
Alternately, slice two peaches or nectarines and arrange over the batter and sprinkle a 1/2 cup of blueberries over the batter and follow with cinnamon and sugar. I often will use some Demerera sugar over the fruit for a nice little crunch.

I find that in my oven I need to bake this for an hour. Start checking in yours at 40 minutes and go from there.

It is nice to have a little stash of these in the freezer...a taste of summer on a cold winters day...

We do love it best right out of the oven after it has cooled just a little bit....A little vanilla ice cream never hurt anyone either.

Ann's Giveaway!

2010-08-27T11:28:00.000-04:00

I have been away on vacation and busy with the end of summer stuff that comes with getting one kid ready to go back to University and the other to his final year of high school and college applications, etc.... and a husband back to Brussels....so I have not been blogging. I had to take this opportunity to tell you about my friend Ann's giveaway at her wonderful blog...Thibeault's Table. Please check her out. Not only is she going to be selling these wonderful boards but she has fabulous recipes and gorgeous pics to boot! Who would not love to win this beauty!

I will be back soon....enjoy the rest of your summer!

Thai Shrimp Fried Rice with Pineapple

2010-07-28T16:58:00.000-04:00

I seem to have been on a roll here with the Thai style recipes lately. I really like this cook book a lot. The recipes are very easy and adaptable to the normal pantry and supermarket. I made some extra Jasmine rice when I made the grilled chicken because we wanted to try this fried rice. It was very nice. My son had it for dinner last night before he left for work. He was very happy! My kids are both working and they are working different schedules this summer. So we are not able to sit down together as a family for dinner as we usually do. Easy and quick things like this dish have been a lifesaver. Even if I am not eating when they are, I can sit down at table with them and talk about their day or night for that matter and have some peaceful time together. I cherish these moments with both of them. My oldest will be going back to University before you know it and then my youngest will be starting his final year of high school and the college search will begin. My husband will be back on Saturday and we will all be taking a short vacation together to relax, go to the beach, and just be together. Then the summer will be quickly coming to an end....time flies by so quickly.
I remember when summers seemed to last forever....

Shrimp Fried Rice with Pineapple
adapted from Quick and Easy Thai
Nancie McDermott

4 cups cooked Jasmine rice, preferably chilled
2 T. Vegetable oil
1 T. coarsely chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T. fish sauce
1/2 t. sugar
1 can(8 ounces crushed pineapple undrained, or 1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple( I used fresh and did not chop it all that finely)
2 T. thinly sliced green onions

Prepare rice by crumbling it with your fingers, breaking up the bigger lumps, and set aside in a bowl.

Heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add the oil, and when a bit of garlic sizzles at once, add the garlic and onion and toss well until shiny and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook ,tossing now and then, until the onion begins to wilt and the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the rice, fish sauce, and sugar and toss well. Add the pineapple and green onions and cook about 2 minutes more, tossing often, until the rice is tender and heated through. Mound the rice on a serving platter and serve hot or warm.

*I served this with sliced Persian cucumbers and a wedge of lime, which we squeezed on the cucumbers. I showered the rice with a few cilantro leaves...this was an easy and quick meal. I only had large shrimp in the freezer so I cut them in half.

Thai Grilled Garlic Chicken, Issahn Style....

2010-07-24T23:15:00.002-04:00

When we lived in San Francisco there was a wonderful place we went to often that had Thai BBQ chicken, Ribs, Duck, and Salmon. It was served with sticky rice and a sweet chili garlic sauce and a carrot salad. It was called San Francisco BBQ. They also served the BBQ chicken over noodles in a tasty noodle bowl. That was the first Thai style food I had ever eaten back in the very early 80's. We loved it! We still do.
This chicken reminds me of that very same chicken. I actually have the recipe from that restaurant but I find this better. The marinade is also good on pork or beef ribs. I have not tried it yet but I bet it would be great on Salmon as well.

Thai Grilled Garlic Chicken, Issahn Style
adapted from Quick and Easy Thai
Nancie McDermott

3 T. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro root, or stems and leaves
3 T. coarsely chopped garlic
1 t. freshly ground pepper
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
1 t. salt
3 Tablespoons water, or more as needed to grind the paste
3 pounds chicken pieces
Sweet Hot Garlic Sauce.

In a food processor or blender, combine the cilantro, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, and water. Grind to a fine fairly smooth paste. Add another Tablespoon or two of water if needed to help grind evenly.

Transfer the marinade to a large deep mixing bowl and add the chicken pieces ,turning to coat everything well. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, turning occasionally to coat evenly with the marinade.

Prepare a very hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill or oven to 450*. When hot ,place the chicken on a lightly oiled rack, or in a roasting pan in the oven , and cook turning occasionally to brown and and cooked evenly and the chicken is cooked through.
(I cook the chicken until it registers 160* on an instant read thermometer)
Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, with small bowls of Sweet- Hot Garlic Sauce.

You can buy Thai Sweet Chili Sauce in the supermarket. There are several good brands or you can make it yourself. If you make it yourself it keeps well in the fridge in a jar or container.

Sweet- Hot Garlic Sauce.
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce(sambal oelek)
or Sri Rachaa, or minced fresh hot red chili peppers, or 1 to 2 teaspoons dried red chili flakes.
(I use the sambal oelek)

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, vinegar, water, garlic, and salt to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until you have a thin smooth syrup. Remove from the heat, stir in the chili garlic sauce. Set aside to cool. Serve at room temperature with the Grilled Garlic Chicken or any other grilled or crisp fried food. Sealed in a Glass jar this keeps in the fridge for one week.

( my notes: I find that this comes out as a thin marinade rather than a paste. That is fine. I have doubled this and it works really well as I usually use more than 3 pounds of chicken parts when I make it. My organic cilantro comes with the roots attached so I use all of it...roots ,stems, and leaves. Just be sure to wash it really well as cilantro can be sandy and gritty. I sometimes just throw in a big handful of the cilantro and do not measure it...I always use the processor. Also I normally marinate the chicken in a large zip- lok bag and place that on a tray or in a bowl in case it leaks. I find the chicken gets better covered in the marinade that way. I just turn the bag over ever now and then and make sure everything is covered well.)

I use a gas grill and I put this on a hot grill and turn the cooking area down to low and cover the grill, checking often to see that is does not burn.I leave the other burners on medium.

Gazpacho al Estilo de Tichi (Tichi's Gazpacho) by Jose Andres

2010-07-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

Jose Andres says he married his wife because of this recipe. I knew it would be good. It is a bit fussier than other Gazpacho recipes i have made but we really loved this. I was wondering if it was really necessary to strain the solids from the liquid but after eating it I was glad that I did. This was very satisfying and filling. My tomatoes were not all red so the soup itself came out in this lovely "salmon color". I used some tomatoes from my garden...I decided to add a few little basil leaves as they looked pretty when I was out cutting my chives.
I think you can take liberties with this recipe and still have it come out perfectly. Even my kids loved it...It was perfect for the 100* weather we have been having.A lovely lunch or appetizer...I think I will make this version again and again...I used some red pepper in the garnish as I had some that needed to be used. I also did not have any pearl onions so I used a shallot.

Gazpacho al Estilo de Tichi
Serves 4
José's tips: If you want to be original, buy yellow or even green tomatoes. You’ll surprise your guests. Also, if you want to save time, you can simplify the garnish immensely: just use a few cubes of cucumber, tomato, and green pepper

Gazpacho al Estilo de Tichi (Tichi's Gazpacho)

The Washington Post, August 9, 2006

Sherry vinegar lends a robust kick to this summer favorite. At Jaleo, chef Jose Andres offers gazpacho as a soup; at home, he keeps it on hand as a refreshing alternative to soft drinks.

4 main-course servings or 8 first-course servings

Ingredients:
For the gazpacho

* • 10 (2 pounds) plum tomatoes, quartered
* • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
* • 1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
* • 1 clove garlic
* • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or more to taste
* • 1/2 cup water
* • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
* • 1 to 2 teaspoon salt

For the garnish

* • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
* • 1 slice rustic white bread
* • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
* • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* • 4 pearl onions, quartered and separated into segments
* • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
* • Sea salt
* • 4 chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions:

For the gazpacho: In a blender or food processor, add the tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, garlic, sherry vinegar and water and blend until the mixture becomes a thick liquid. Taste for acidity (this will vary with the sweetness of the tomatoes) and add more vinegar if necessary. Add the oil and salt. Blend again briefly to thoroughly incorporate the oil. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher or large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.

For the garnish: Meanwhile, in a small saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it is shimmering, add the bread and cook until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Break the bread into small pieces to form about 16 croutons and set aside.

To assemble the soup, distribute the croutons, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and onions evenly among the bowls and drizzle with sherry vinegar and the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and chives. At the table, pour the chilled gazpacho over the garnish. Serve immediately.

Bill Granger's Rustic Cherry Tart....

2010-07-18T15:48:00.000-04:00

We have a new cooking channel here called the Cooking Channel of all things. It is a breath of fresh air after being barraged with repeats of the same cooking shows over and over on the Food Network. We now have shows by Australian chef and cookbook author, Bill Granger. I like Bill Granger and his recipes very much. He has an easygoing style which I find very inviting. This is a lovely recipe. A simple and quick dessert to throw together with items you have on hand. I am sure this would also be delicious with other fruits or berries besides cherries, sliced pear come to mind. I saw Bill prepare this on his show and he just made the frangipane by hand. I did the same. It was almost not worth getting the food processor dirty. I had some almond meal in the freezer and I used that. I also had some gorgeous cherries. I did not chill the frangipane before spreading it on the puff pastry, I just spread it immediately. I thought it would be too difficult to spread the cold frangipane. Next time I will spread the frangipane on the pastry and put the whole thing in the fridge before baking to firm it all up. I suggest using an all butter frozen puff pastry if you can get it. I had some Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in the freezer that I needed to use and I am not as fond of it as I am the Du Four brand or any other all butter brand you can find. If that is all you can get it is just fine.

Rustic Cherry Tart

Ingredients

Frangipane
2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chopped
1/3 cup caster sugar (superfine)
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cherry Tart
1 sheet puff pastry or 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk
10 1/2 ounces cherries, pitted and halved
Sugar, for sprinkling
Whipped cream, for garnish, optional

Directions:

For the frangipane: Pulse together the butter, sugar, ground almonds, yolks, and vanilla extract in a food processor. Refrigerate the mixture until chilled.

For the tart: Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F.

Slide a baking tray in the oven to heat. Lay the puff pastry sheet onto a separate baking tray, lined with parchment. Trim off the edges of the pastry, this will make the edges rise more easily when baking. Using the point of a sharp knife, score a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the puff pastry, being careful not to cut right through the sheet. Prick the entire surface, with a fork and brush with the egg yolk. Within the scored border, spread the prepared frangipane evenly over the pastry. Place the cherries, cut side up, in a single layer over the frangipane. Carefully, place the tart on the hot tray, and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove the tart from the oven, and sprinkle with an even layer of sugar, and bake until its sides are golden and puffed, about another 5 to 10 minutes. Serve the tart with some whipped cream, if desired.

This was delicious...I can not wait to make some more of Bill's recipes very soon...

On a very sad note...My dear sweet Aunt Sadie passed away last week at the age of 99. This picture is at her 99th birthday dinner just a few weeks ago in June. We went to her favorite Chinese restaurant where she ate seafood stuffed tofu balls and chicken with pea leaf and many things most 99 year old people would not be adventurous enough to eat.. She was a very special person in my life and she will be greatly missed each and every day. She was lucky to have lived a long and healthy life. She took no medication at all and loved to say how she still had all of her marbles, and she certainly did, right up to the very end. She loved me unconditionally from the day I was born until the day she died. She loved to eat whatever I cooked or baked and adored spending holidays here with my family. Her eyes lit up each and every time she saw me...and so did mine when I saw her. She was more than just an Aunt...she was my special someone.

She was a beautiful woman, she loved being admired...she is pictured above in 1928 with all of her brothers except my father who was to be born later on the same year. She lived much longer than all of her younger brothers. She was remarkable.
Rest in Peace Bubbee...I love you

4th of July Tiny Berry Pies...

2010-07-07T00:33:00.003-04:00

If you look at my past few posts it would seem that all we do here is eat pie. Life has been busy and full. My boys are both working and my husband is flying back to Brussels as I type this...
On the 4th we had Porterhouse steaks on the grill, tomato salad, grilled potatoes...no time to take pics of those.
But we did have tiny individual Blueberry/Blackberry pies baked in small 5 inch pie plates. What fun they were!

Delicious too...

I baked a larger version on my husbands birthday...Flag Day. We liked the tiny pies even better.

The recipe is in the July issue of Martha Stewart Living. The same one I made previously...but the Pate Brisee recipe is made twice...do not double. These were a labor of love...turning on the oven on one of the hottest days of the year? Yeah...I know...crazy! But I had fun.

I wish you all beautiful warm summer days....berry juice dripping down your chins...and lots of love. Summer is here and gone before you know it.

The source for the 5 inch pie tins is:
Ultimate Baker.com they are out of Washington State. I spoke to a wonderful gentleman named Doug, who was very friendly and helpful as they were bombarded with orders for these little pans. They offered a discount if you spent a certain amount and of course i found some other things to buy!
This is the url for the pans: 5 inch pie pan set of 4

Everyday Granola

2010-06-25T16:06:00.000-04:00

The June issue of Bon Appetit was chock full of lovely recipes. If you have a chance to get it and check it out I think you will be very happy.
This recipe was in Molly Wizenberg's(Orangette) column "Cooking Life". I think it has to be the best granola I have ever made. It is low in sugar and in fat and is just plain delicious. So many granola recipes are swimming in oil or butter and have a ton of sugar and much too much dried fruit. This recipe is just right...not too sweet, the flavor of the oats are there. We love it. One of my sons says it is the best granola he has ever tasted and already said he wants me to send him containers of it when he goes back to school.
I like to sprinkle a tablespoon or two on my non fat Greek Yogurt in the morning along with a few berries. It is a grand breakfast!

Everyday Granola
Serve this with yogurt or milk—or eat it plain as a snack.
Makes about 5 cups

Recipe by Molly Wizenberg

Ingredients

* 3 cups old-fashioned oats
* 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
* 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
* 3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
* 1/3 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup assorted dried fruit

Preparation

*
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss. Spread on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes. Place sheet on rack. Stir granola; cool. Mix in fruit. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.

My notes: I baked it for 50 minutes, I like my granola to be toasty.
It did not burn at all or get too dark. I used a combo of dried apricots that I snipped into the cooled mixture, dried cranberries and a few raisins. I also added about 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds in with the pecans. I used Bob's Red Mill unsweetened coconut from the health food section of my supermarket, I keep that in the freezer.

Summer Berry Flag Day Pie....

2010-06-22T23:17:00.001-04:00

I have not been here much of late. I have a full house which I love. My husband is working from home and my college boy did not find a summer job until yesterday. So I have been making breakfast and lunches and constantly running to the market for more food...two teen aged boys are eating me out of house and home. We have had some lovely meals but no time to photograph them and share them here.My younger son is still in school, finals are this week and thankfully Friday is the last day of school and summer officially starts.

Last week was Flag Day and also my husband's birthday. I found myself with a lot of blueberries and blackberries and they had to be used so I made a pie. I used my usual crust...Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee. Always wonderful and flaky. The filling was also from Martha Stewart...very simple. It was a glorious pie.

The filling was simple....for a 9 inch double crust pie.
You can use your favorite pie crust recipe....I love Martha's Pate Brisee

Pate Brisee
adapted from Martha Stewart

The pie dough may be made one day ahead and refrigerated, well wrapped in plastic, or frozen up to one month.

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
* 1 Teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 Teaspoon sugar
* 1 Cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces( or 1/4 cup cold shortening to replace 1/4 cup of the butter)
* 1/4 to 1/2 Cup ice water
Directions

1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, pouring it through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.
2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces, and place on 2 separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form 2 disks. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

Summer Berry Pie
adapted( barely) from the July issue of Martha Stewart Living

You need a nine inch pie plate...roll the crust out to about an 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. I prefer using a glass pyrex pie plate.
Trim the excess dough flush with the edges of the plate or crimp the edges.
Combine 6 cups berries. I used 4 cups of blueberries and 2 cups of blackberries, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons Lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Fill bottom crust with the berries and then roll out the top crust. I cut some strips with a pastry wheel and placed them onto the pie and then I cut out some stars with two star cutters, one small and one larger and just placed them here and there. I used an egg wash to "glue" them onto the pie and gave the entire pie a nice brushing with the egg wash( one egg and a tablespoon or so of cream) and a sprinkle of sanding sugar. I baked the pie on a half sheet pan covered with a piece of baking parchment to catch any drips.
Pre heat oven to375* and bake for one hour and 20 minutes. Tent with foil after one hour if the crust is getting too brown.
The recipe in the magazine states to freeze the pie for a hour before baking. I did not have time to do that and my freezer was quite full so I did not do that step. The pie was just fine. I will freeze the pie next time and see if there is much difference. The original recipe is for 6, 5 inch mini pies...I think I will bake those for the 4th of July.

We ate it warm...hardly letting it have enough time to cool and had a slice with vanilla ice cream. It did not look as pretty on the plate as if we had let it cool longer, but no one wanted to wait. The berries were sweet and delicious and the crust was buttery and so flaky.

In the end it was a mess of purple berries and melted ice creamy deliciousness....

It was a nice day....how lovely is it to have too many berries? A problem I wish I were faced with everyday.
This pie held up well at room temperature for several days. The berry filling firmed up and the pie was easier to slice neatly.

I baked this pie the night before my darling husband's birthday. So on the actual day, of course he had a cake.

A yellow cake with milk chocolate ganache frosting, the recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's newest book
"Heavenly Cakes". I used some Callebaut Milk chocolate that my husband recently brought me back from Belgium. But that is a story for another day.

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze and more...

2010-06-01T22:18:00.003-04:00

I have not posted in a long while. Life has been busy. My son came home from University, my husband returned from Brussels on Saturday, I have not been all that well and time just flew by. Where did the month of May go? This past weekend we celebrated being together as a family and it was lovely. We just celebrated Memorial day weekend and this past weekend we had beautiful summer like weather. No rain , no cold....we sat on the deck, ate good food and had fun together. I saw this recipe in the June issue of Bon Appetit and knew I had to try it. We adore Spanish smoked paprika and Andouille sausage so what could be more perfect? I used D'Artagnan Andouille sausage this time and it was good. I usually use Aidells Andouille and I think I prefer that.
I served these with a Roasted Fingerling potato salad, also from the June issue of BA and some grilled zucchini strips...delicious!
The end of May also signals the end of my Peonies...the goddesses of the garden as far as I am concerned, right along with the majestic Iris. I wait so long for them and they are not with me for very long at all. I cut them and brought some into the house when a rain storm was coming...one heavy rain and they are no longer the beauties of my garden.... right now my house smells of Peony....a heavenly scent!

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze
These delicious kebabs are a Spanish take on surf and turf. Because the skewers aren't on the grill long enough to cook fresh sausages, fully cooked sausages are used here.
6 servings

June 2010 Bon Appetit
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
* 5 teaspoons smoked paprika
* 4 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
* 12 uncooked extra-large shrimp (13 to 15 per pound), peeled, deveined
* 12 1-inch-long pieces andouille or other fully cooked smoked sausages (such as linguiça; about 16 ounces)
* 12 cherry tomatoes
* 12 2-layer sections of red onion wedges
* Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Special Equipment

* 6 long metal skewers

*
TEST-KITCHEN TIP
If you're using bamboo skewers instead of the metal kind, be sure to soak them for at least an hour before grilling. Unsoaked skewers will burn on the grill.

Preparation

*
Whisk oil, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, Sherry wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl to blend for glaze. Transfer half of glaze to small bowl and reserve for serving.
*
Alternately thread shrimp, sausage pieces, cherry tomatoes, and sections of onion wedges on each of 6 long metal skewers. Arrange skewers on large rimmed baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill skewers and bowls of glaze separately.
*
Coat grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush skewers on both sides with glaze from 1 bowl. Grill until shrimp are opaque in center, turning and brushing occasionally with more glaze, 6 to 8 minutes.
*
Arrange skewers on platter. Serve with remaining bowl of glaze.

My notes: I had plenty of glaze left over and we really did not need it with these. I used it to brush over Portobello mushrooms and strips of zucchini that I grilled last night. They were wonderful! I also made some skewers with some boneless chicken thighs and the sausage and they were also fabulous.

Roasted potatoes are topped with an herb salad and chopped hard-boiled eggs in this take on the summer staple.

6 servings

June 2010 Bon Appetit

Ingredients

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing
1 1/2 pounds 1-inch-diameter fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon coarse-grained Dijon mustard
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, chopped

Ingredient Tip
To make perfect hard-boiled eggs, start with eggs that are more than a week old (fresh eggs are harder to peel). Place them in a single layer in the bottom of a saucepan; add cold water to cover by an inch. Bring the water to boil; remove the pan from the heat. Let stand covered for 11 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl; cover with ice water. Drain the eggs, tap them gently on the countertop to crack the shells, then peel under running water.

Preparation

Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Brush heavy large rimmed baking sheet with oil. Place potatoes and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss. Arrange potatoes, cut side down, on prepared baking sheet. Roast until potatoes are brown on cut side, about 23 minutes. Using tongs, turn potatoes over. Roast until crisp, deep golden, and tender, about 12 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Stir green onions, parsley, tarragon, vinegar, mustard, and 2 teaspoons oil in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer potatoes to dish. Spoon chopped eggs and herb salad over.

Jacques Pepin's Split Quick Roasted Chicken with Mustard Crust

2010-05-03T16:10:00.003-04:00

I have not been here much lately or cooking all that much for that matter. Almost as soon as my husband returned home from Belgium I got sick with the cold and yuck of the century and stayed that way for the entire time he was here.BY the time he left it was full blown Bronchitis. My son went to Spain and returned home with the same cold. So my dear husband is back in Brussels for another 5 weeks and my 17 year old and I are awaiting his brother to finish finals and join us here at home.
It is difficult to make a spatchcocked chicken sprawled all in its glory in the pan look good in a picture. But let me tell you this chicken is wonderful.These pics do not do it justice. I make a pretty great roasted whole chicken, but once in a while you just need something a little different. This chicken is done in 30 minutes start to finish and is juicy and absolutely delicious . I used a vintage black cast iron skillet to start it on the stove and finish roasting in the oven. It fit my little just under 4 pound chicken quite well. I have made this several times and each time it did not disappoint. You can also deglaze the pan with a bit of white or red wine and a little bit of chicken broth and swirl in a tiny bit of butter at the end with the heat off to make a nice little sauce. The second time I made this dish I did that and served it with mashed potatoes. The first time we had roasted potatoes and asparagus....no sauce , just the de-fatted pan juices. I saw him make this on his show and he did deglaze the pan with wine. Either way it is a wonderful chicken. Jacques has never let me down...every recipe of his that I have tried has always been wonderful.

Jacques Pepin's Split Quick Roasted Chicken with Mustard Crust
adapted from: More Fast Food My Way and Food and Wine Magazine

4 servings

2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Tabasco hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes(optional)

For the crust: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut alongside the backbone of the chicken to split it open. Spread and press on the chicken with your hands to flatten it. Using a sharp paring knife, cut halfway through both sides of the joints connecting the thighs and drumsticks and cut through the joints of the shoulder under the wings as well. (This will help the heat penetrate these joints and accelerate the cooking process.)

Put the chicken skin side down on a cutting board and spread it with about half the mustard mixture. Place the chicken flat in a large skillet, mustard side down. Spread the remaining mustard on the skin side of the chicken. Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then place the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. It should be well browned and dark on top.

Let the chicken rest in the skillet at room temperature for a few minutes, then cut it into 8 pieces with clean kitchen shears. Defat the cooking juices. If you like, mound some Fluffy Mashed Potatoes on each of four warm dinner plates and place 2 pieces of chicken on each plate. Pour some juice on the mashed potatoes and chicken and serve.

Pavlova my love....

2010-04-16T18:25:00.001-04:00

I like to save egg whites in the freezer in a small container and when I have enough...I make Pavlova. I am in love with Pavlova.
It is hard for me to have it around...the crispy outer shell...the marshmallowy inside...the softly whipped cream and the juicy berries...heaven for me. Hard to resist...

This is another of my most visited recipes...it is wonderful for strawberry season which is really just beginning for us here in the Northeast. We have berries shipped from afar. Soon we will have the very short season of our local little berries and I can not wait for that.

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe and I think it is just perfect....I do not care if my meringue shell is slightly tan. It gets that way from the vanilla. The color does not matter to me...the taste is just sublime.

Strawberry Pavlova
adapted from Nigella Lawson

Time: 2 hours, plus up to 2 hours' macerating

For the meringue:
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups superfine or regular granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
A few drops vanilla extract

For the topping:
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered
1/2 teaspoon high-quality vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon high-quality balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
2 cups heavy cream.

1. To prepare meringue: heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and draw a circle on the paper using an 8- or 9- inch cake pan as a guide. In bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and salt. Begin beating at low speed, slowly increasing to high. Continue until satiny peaks begin to form; gradually beat in sugar a tablespoon at a time until meringue is stiff and shiny.

2. Sprinkle in cornstarch, white-wine vinegar and vanilla, and fold in gently. Mound onto parchment within circle, and shape into a disk, flattening top and smoothing sides. Place in oven, and immediately reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off heat, and allow meringue to cool completely in oven.

3. To prepare topping: in a mixing bowl, combine strawberries, vanilla, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.

4. To serve, invert meringue onto a plate, and carefully peel off parchment. (Crisp top of meringue will now be against plate with tender underside facing up.) Whip cream until it is thick enough to hold peaks, and spread it evenly over meringue. Cover cream with strawberries, allowing a small amount of their liquid to dribble onto cream. Serve immediately.

my notes: I do not bother with the inverting step...IMHO you are asking for trouble if you do that so I just move the meringue to a plate and the top is the top...

Asparagus Risotto -Revisited

2010-04-06T19:03:00.000-04:00

I first posted this recipe last Spring and it is indeed a winner...I noticed that during the last week or so this has been one of my most visited recipes....so I thought I would post it again...exactly as it was last March. I am not going to change a word....
My husband is returning from six weeks away in Brussels on Friday, six weeks with no home cooked meals.
I was thinking what to prepare for his homecoming dinner and I think this will be it.
Life has been busy here of late. I am helping my youngest son ready to go to Spain on an exchange program on Thursday.Between sports and schoolwork and this and that it has just been crazy. He will not see his dad until he gets back. He will be gone for 10 days. I am so excited for him. This has been a long time being apart for all of us. It has just been hectic...I have not been blogging much. We have been eating fairly simply...just the two of us.On Saturday my husband and I will go to Philadelphia and see our older son perform in Penn Jazz which is a big band that is student run at the UPenn campus. He is a Sax playing engineering student...I love that he loves music as we all do here. It is going to be so nice to see him too, I need to kiss his face!...I need my whole family together for a while....there are big holes here. Soon....

My husband has been asking for Risotto for quite some time. The asparagus are beautiful...and I was inspired by my fellow bloggers Monique and Mary...so tonight I tried a new recipe. It was delicious. It is a Mario Batali recipe, the same one that Monique used on La Table De Nana...part of the asparagus stems are cooked and then pureed and added to the risotto at the last moment...it was simple and really lovely. Thanks Monique! I used homemade chicken stock that I had, there was not quite enough so I added a bit of broth from a box...I served some pan grilled shrimp marinated in lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and Spanish smoked paprika along side...we had a nice bottle of French Sauvignion Blanc...it was a nice end to a hectic week.

The asparagus puree...I just loved the color of it. I cooked the stems
right in the chicken stock.
                                   The first stage of risotto...saute with the butter and oil

After about 15 minutes
                                  Just about done....

Asparagus Risotto

Adapted from Mario Batali

New York Times-May2,2007

Time: 45 minutes
1 pound asparagus, peeled, trimmed and cut into one-inch-long pieces, tips reserved
4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add half the asparagus stalks and cook until quite soft, at least 5 minutes. Rinse quickly under cold water. Put cooked asparagus in a blender or food processor and add just enough water to allow machine to puree until smooth; set aside.
2. Put stock in a medium saucepan over low heat. Put oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add onion, stirring occasionally until it softens, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is glossy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add white wine, stir, and let liquid bubble away. Add a large pinch of salt. Add warmed stock, 1/2 cup or so at a time, stirring occasionally. Each time stock has just about evaporated, add more.
4. After about 15 minutes, add remaining asparagus pieces and tips, continuing to add stock when necessary. In 5 minutes, begin tasting rice. You want it to be tender but with a bit of crunch; it could take as long as 30 minutes total to reach this stage. When it does, stir in 1/2 cup asparagus puree. Remove skillet from heat, add remaining butter and stir briskly. Add Parmesan and stir briskly, then taste and adjust seasoning. Risotto should be slightly soupy. Serve immediately.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings.
I marinated the shrimp and then skewered them together in twos and grilled them on a stove top grill pan...it was too cold to go out to the grill....

We were in a real hurry to eat here...it looks like I was standing on my head taking pictures...but the rest were , well lets just say this was the best one...you get idea...that parsley leaf looks gigantic in front of my asparagus! But you can see the pale green color of the pureed asparagus...
That was a nice touch...it tasted much better than it looked!

Happy Spring....

2010-04-04T12:37:00.001-04:00

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all who celebrate...
Wishing all of my friends a wonderful season of sunshine and flowers....

Saturday Blog Showcase- Lori's Pecan Waffles

2010-03-27T18:55:00.000-04:00

I struggled for years trying to make fabulous homemade pancakes. I finally got them down pat and now my family never complains. The perfect homemade waffle eluded me. My older son, the waffle critic always declared them too crisp, too soft, too this ,too that...his father always agreed and they finally told me to give it up. They would just eat them at the local Diner." Just admit that you do not make a good home made waffle and move on. "
I refused to go down without a good fight...I took the challenge...I tried a lot of recipes. They just did not cut it.
I gave it one more chance. I tried my friend Lori's waffles....Voila!
The boy examined them carefully, he did not expect much...took a bite and a smile came over his face.
Perfect Mom...these are really good...

Thank you Lori for yet another wonderful recipe that will go in the keeper file. Next time I will have to make some minus the pecans because number two son will not eat nuts...hmmmmmm...picky...
Here is a link to Lori's wonderful recipe...PECAN WAFFLES

Thank to Lori at All that Splatters and Ann at Thibeault's Table for hosting the Saturday Blog showcase each and every week.

Pizza Pizza...Stormy nights and Pizza

2010-03-19T10:54:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday night we were in the middle of a horrible rain storm. It was hurricane like in its intensity. We had 60 - 70 mph winds. It had already been raining for over 24 hours. We had water in the basement which never usually happens, but the ground being so saturated just sent it up right through the basement floor. It had no where else to go...No fun...mopping it up and leaving towels to soak it up.Washing the towels. The basement was not flooded, but it was just enough water to be a real pain and require constant attention for most of the night. My dear husband is in Brussels and this is normally his job if it happens. My younger son was sick and was not able to be much help and the older one was out with his friends who were home for Spring break. No storm was stopping him...even though I was not happy about him being out. Trees were falling everywhere and there was flooding. So I made pizza. Had a glass of wine. And we settled in for the night.

I always have flour and yeast and I had mozzarella and fresh basil and some sauce.I did not have to leave the house thankfully. My boy and I sat in the living room eating pizza, rented a movie, and actually had a nice evening together despite listening to the rain beat against the house, the wind blowing, and sirens blaring all night long. It was a very nerve wracking storm. We have seven inches of rain. I almost would have preferred snow. There would have been over six feet of it, so maybe I take that back...lol...

This is a wonderful quick pizza dough that I have been using for the past four years or so. I saw Wolfgang Puck prepare the dough on Martha Stewart's show and tried it right away. It is quick and easy and does not require a big investment of time. In about an hour start to finish you can have homemade pizza dough. I bake mine on a stone in a very hot oven. Sometimes I make Calzone out of it. The recipe doubles easily...it is a real keeper for me. Not the only one I use...but it is my go to pizza dough. Use it for your favorite pizza...the possibilities are endless...This time I made individual pizzas. I added a little bit of finely diced Prosciutto on top of mine. They were delicious.

Pizza Dough
from Wolfgang Puck's "Pizza, Pasta, and More"

Makes four 8-inch pizzas

One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup warm water, 105° to 115°

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in 1/4 cup warm water; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add oil, yeast mixture, and remaining 3/4 cup warm water; mix on low speed until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and clusters around the dough hook, about 5 minutes.

2. Turn dough out onto a clean work surface, and knead by hand until dough is smooth and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer dough to a large bowl*, and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place bowl in a warm spot, and let rise for 30 minutes.

3. Divide dough into four balls, about 6 ounces each. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball; repeat 4 or 5 times. On a clean unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining balls; cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare as needed and arrange desired toppings; balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
*I put a little bit of Olive Oil in the bowl and move the dough around a bit before I cover the bowl so both the dough and the bowl have a little coating of oil.

Whatever individual pizza I decide to do, I bake them at 500*F on a heated pizza stone for about 10 to 12 minutes. I use a pizza peel dusted with a little bit of cornmeal. That acts as little ball bearings and helps the pizza slide right off the peel onto the stone. You can absolutely make a pizza on a pan instead. Start checking at about 8 minutes and see how they are doing. This dough also works really well for pizzas made directly on a grill. It never fights with you and is very easy to work with, making a thin crust pizza very easy to do.

Redux for St. Patricks Day....Corned Beef and Cabbage

2010-03-09T17:19:00.003-05:00

I first posted this last year around this time and the recipe is really good enough to revisit. This is my favorite...A tall glass of Guinness and a thick slice of my herbed soda bread and we become Irish for the day. I am aware that in Ireland this would be made with bacon and not corned beef... but we follow the Irish American tradition.
This year it will only be my younger son and myself here. My older son is home now on Spring break, having a much deserved rest from his engineering studies...even though he does have some work to do while he is here.. I may just make this dinner before he goes back to UPenn on Sunday night...he said I HAD to make him soda bread before he goes back. I may as well make the whole shebang.
My husband is in Brussels working for the next six weeks.This is one of his favorite dinners of the year, I miss him being here with us.
Wishing all of you who celebrate a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Here is a link to the soda bread recipe...a favorite of mine from Darina Allen.
Herbed Irish Soda Bread
This recipe is definitely not rocket science, but it is my favorite version of corned beef and cabbage. I love the way the veggies come out and the sauce is simply to die for. This makes a ton of sauce, so if you are not having many people I usually cut it in half for my family of four and still have quite a bit leftover. The sauce with the boiled potatoes and the cooked leeks are heaven in my mind, I hardly even need the meat. I came to this recipe via my dear friend Becky and will forever think of her when I make it. It is from the Silver Palate girls...never had a bad recipe from them. I only use flat cut corned beef brisket. It shrinks so even if you think the piece you have is huge...you need more. Becky suggests an uncooked pound per person and I agree....
This with the herbed soda bread and you are in business...as long as the fairies are well taken care of, you will eat like a queen!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

From The New Basics Cookbook; Serves 4-6

1 corned beef (5-6 pounds)
2 onions, studded with 3 whole cloves (onions can be halved or quartered)
4 carrots, peeled and halved
2 ribs celery, halved
4 sprigs Italian parsley

1 green cabbage (about 3 pounds), cut into 6 wedges (See *Note below)
12 small red new potatoes
6 small leeks (white part and 2 inches of green), well rinsed (See *Note below)
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 1/2-inch lengths
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 T. chopped Italian parsley

Place corned beef in large kettle or dutch oven. Add the onions, halved carrots, celery, and parsley sprigs (use seasoning packet if provided with your corned beef). Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 3/4 to 3 hours, turning beef over in broth every 30 minutes. DO NOT allow water to boil again; keeping at low simmer will ensure tenderness. When it is very tender, remove it from kettle and keep warm.

Strain the broth and return it to the kettle. Add the cabbage, potatoes, leeks, cut-up carrots, salt and pepper, and 2 T. of the chopped parsley. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes.

Arrange beef on warmed serving plater, and surround it with the cooked vegetables. Ladle broth over beef and vegetables, and sprinkle with remaining 2 T. chopped parsley. Optional - serve with Horseradish Cream Sauce (below).

*Note: Keeping the core in the cabbage wedges will help hold them together while cooking. Remove the core before serving. After thoroughly washing, leeks can be tied together with kitchen twine/string; remove for serving.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

This makes 2 cups of sauce. The recipe can easily be halved or quartered, as needed.

3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained
2 T. Dijon mustard
Pinch of sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Whip cream in bowl until it forms soft peaks. Combine mayonnaise, horseradish, and mustard in another bowl. Fold in whipped cream. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well, and transfer to serving bowl.

Rugelach....tears and smiles

2010-02-20T20:39:00.003-05:00

This was a difficult week for my family...my dear cousin lost his valiant battle with cancer. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him...

Food is the thing that brings us together. In good times and in bad. It can bring a smile to faces that have no more smiles to give. It gives us memories of the past...it brings us together.

I often wonder why we wait for only those really good times and the really bad times to all be together as a family.

When I was a little girl and we all lived on the same street...houses away from one another. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents...times changed and everyone moved and went in different directions and only memories remain.

Miles separate us...families go their separate ways...but no matter what happens...the love is still there.

I was baking these rugelach at 7:00 in the morning the other day. The light in my kitchen was lovely and I enjoyed baking these. I also enjoyed the happiness they gave...that was a good thing...

This is my most requested cookie. I got the recipe from the now gone Cuisine magazine in the early 80's. The recipe was from Sarabeth Levine...Sarabeth's in NYC...they are special because of the plum jam and the shower of powdered sugar...I know they are wonderful with raspberry jam or apricot but they are not as good as these...I promise you that. I have used mini chocolate chips in place of the nuts, or some grated bittersweet chocolate. I have added to and adapted this recipe to what it is now. I lost the little faded article with the recipe a few years ago...but thankfully it remained in my head.

The recipe makes three dozen. I had to use restraint to bring all of these to my cousin's home and not keep any for us...The dough freezes well. Try them...you will love them too....

Sarabeth's Rugelach
adapted from a recipe printed in a magazine many years ago....

1 cup butter softened
1 8 oz.pkg. cream cheese softened
½ cup + 2 T.sugar divided
½ t.vanilla
¼ t.salt
2 cups flour
¾ cup finely chopped walnuts
½ cup currants
2 T.cinnamon

½ cup plum preserves (I usually use Bonne Maman Damson Plum,that is the easiest to find*)

Confectioners sugar

Pre-Heat oven to 350*
Mix Cinnamon with 1/2 cup sugar and set aside.
Cream together butter and cream cheese,add 2 T.sugar,vanilla,salt ,and flour…I use my hand mixer for this…you could use a processor or the big stand mixer if you want.
Turn out on board and knead quickly until just together and smooth…
Divide into 3 pieces, press each piece into disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or overnight
Roll disc out into a 10 inch or 12 inch circle…don’t worry if the edges are uneven. I use a marble slab for this but a clean counter will work as well. You want to work quickly and not let the dough become too warm.
Spread 1/3 of the jam, the cinnamon sugar,nuts and currants over dough. Leave a 1 inch border without filling around circle. You can roll over filling covered with parchment paper, with rolling pin to press into dough…you don’t have to though
With a long sharp knife or bench knife cut into 12 pie shaped pieces.It is easier to cut the circle into quarters and then cut each quarter into three equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a crescent, long end toward the point. Place on a parchment lined (or silpat) baking sheet. Turn the edges in so it looks like a crescent.
Bake at 350* for 25- 30 minutes or until golden brown. Check them when you smell them....
Cool on rack…dust liberally with powdered sugar..I usually sift the sugar over them while they are on the Rack…I place the rack over a parchment lined baking sheet,to catch the sugar.
Also the Bonne Maman jam has lots of chunks of fruit, if you want to be very precise you can whizz the jam in the processor until smooth....I tend to just work around the chunks...it is your call. One word of caution...the cinnamon sugar in this recipe makes a lot. I do not use it all. I eyeball it...so use your own discretion when you sprinkle it on. I probably use about two Tablespoons or so of the mixture for each round of dough...

*Hero also makes a plum jam as does the Barefoot Contessa. Sarabeth makes a Plum Cherry preserve which is also lovely in these....

Pork and Napa Cabbage Water Dumplings

2010-02-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

I first have to mention my absolute love for Chinese food. I have always loved it. I crave it. If asked where I want to go to dinner, 9 times out of 10 it will be for Asian food of some kind. I also love Chinese New Year and the food and traditions associated with it. So this year I thought I would try to make my own dumpling wrappers and make some pot stickers like I remembered eating when I lived in San Francisco years ago. They were the best I had ever had. I am a little bit nuts... how many other people do you know who have eaten Chinese food in Florence, Athens, Heidelberg, New Delhi, Katmandu, and more places than I can remember.My husband really had to be cajoled into eating Chinese food in Florence...it was not very good I confess, but we had just spent 6 weeks in Greece and I needed a serious "fix"...ah you live and learn!

Well I finally am going to post my wonderful foray into making my first homemade dumpling wrappers. I made them last Wednesday night. I started on a whim at 5:00 and in two hours we had 40 dumplings.

I have to say they were wonderful. My family could not believe how good they were...neither could I.

I made them as fried dumplings/potstickers and they were delightfully crisp on the bottom and chewy and so juicy inside. I put about a tablespoon of canola oil into a large saute pan put the dumplings in and let them brown briefly in the oil then quickly poured in some water and covered the pot steaming the dumplings until the water evaporated and then removing the top of the pan and continuing to cook until they were nicely crisp on the bottom. You can hear them when they are ready.

Chinese Chives

I had ordered a new cookbook called ... Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, spring rolls, samosas and more (Ten Speed Press, 2009) by Andrea Nguyen

The recipes were wonderful and I enjoyed reading the entire book cover to cover. Andrea gives wonderful instructions and I had no trouble at all making the wrappers. I was talking to my friend Mary at Once Upon a Plate about the book and my experience and she also decided to try this dumpling wrapper recipe and liked it. You must visit and see how beautiful hers are. Much prettier than mine....

Here is a link to Andrea's website with many recipes and helpful hints....also videos...Asian Dumpling Tips

I made the wrappers with boiling water and flour...thats it. I made them by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon and my hands. After the dough is mixed and kneaded by hand it is sort of shaggy. It is then put in a zip lok bag for a while to rest. It then becomes a soft like and earlobe-like(that is exactly how Andrea explains the feel) wonderful pliable dough. The dough sort of steams up in the bag. It is pretty amazing. Here is her recipe for Basic Dumpling Dough.

Meanwhile I made my filling. I used ground pork, Napa Cabbage that had been salted and squeezed dry, fresh ginger, Chinese chives, chicken stock, pepper, light soy sauce, canola oil and sesame oil....following Andrea's recipe to the letter.

I had purchased my ground pork at an Asian Market and that made a world of difference in the final outcome. It is more coarsely ground and contain enough fat to make the dumpling filling nice and juicy!

Andrea recommends a tortilla press to assist in shaping the dumpling wrappers. I do not have one. So I followed her suggestion of placing the dough pieces between two pieces of heavy plastic and pressing down on them with a heavy object. I used a 4 cup glass measuring cup.That worked really well. I weighed all of my pieces of dough after cutting the roll of dough into 16 equal pieces. Mine each weighed .5 ounces.

This is not the greatest image of what happens but you get the picture. I was very into doing this and not having such a great time getting floury hands all over the camera. Mary has much better images on her blog...

but you get the idea...

Here is one of my finished wrappers. Not too bad if I say so myself. It took me a few times to get the hang of the rolling pin. But I must say this dough was so elastic and pliable it was even easy to do with my fingers. Leaving the middle of the wrapper thick....the belly as Andrea calls it...again not the greatest image. I found it difficult to take pictures while I was doing this...

These were very easy to fill and pleat...very forgiving dough. I found them much easier to wrap then store bought wrappers and much more delicious.

Anyway here is the finished product...I will most definitely try these again. Hopefully this weekend for Chinese New Year.

I served them with Andrea's Tangy Soy Dipping Sauce....which I adapted just barely

1/3 cup regular soy sauce

2 1/2 T. Chinkiang Vinegar

1/8 t.sugar

1 to 3 teaspoons Chile Oil( I used chili garlic sauce)

1 T.finely shredded fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic(optional)

At this point we were all so excited to eat I did not take many pics. This bowl was right in front of me as I was ready to dive right in! No posing or staging. What you see is what we ate!

I am looking forward to more projects from this book...but if I make absolutely nothing else but this recipe,

it was worth the price of the book and then some!

Pea Leaf ...I love you...I really do....

2010-02-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

I have been visiting my friend Ju, The Little Teochew and always drooling over her delicious looking food. If you have not been to visit her you must. She inspired me to take a trip to an Asian Supermarket on Saturday to get some supplies to make my own dumplings.Ever since Ju blogged about them, I have been dreaming of them. Of course my husband and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering around buying so many wonderful things. I have made homemade gyoza before with store bought wrappers. These pics were of my first try. Not perfectly pleated...but not too bad. We had gone to a huge Japanese supermarket that day and my son the future engineer who also studies Japanese and has been to Japan on an exchange program, wanted me to make gyoza in the worst way.

Like his host Mother had made for him....

So I did...His birthday is coming up and he will be home for Spring Break at the beginning of March, so I would like to be able to have some homemade dumplings for him when he gets home. He will love them.

This time I am going to try to make my own dumpling skins. I even bought a little rolling pin to try to do the job...and I got some ready made dumpling skins to have ready in case I screw up! I will report back when I get to that project. I have a new cookbook called "Asian Dumplings",by Andrea Nguyen and I have been reading it from cover to cover. I wish I could be sitting with Ju at her kitchen table making dumplings, but I will think of her when I am making them.

One of my dear friends is Chinese and she introduced me to Pea Leaf( or pea shoots) at a Chinese New Year luncheon some years ago and I have been hooked ever since. Sometimes I crave it. I have to have it....

I dream about it!!!!!!

I love greens...all kinds of greens, especially Asian greens...but one of my favorite ones is pea leaf. The leaves(shoots) of the snow pea or sugar snap pea. Hard to find unless you go to an Asian market.I have had really tiny baby ones which we eat raw and I love them for salads and for sandwiches. I got a big bag of them and prepared them simply, with no meat. Just a little oyster sauce, some sesame oil,some garlic,a touch of sugar, and ginger. They more or less steamed briefly with just the water that clung to the leaves, almost like spinach. When we go to our favorite Chinese restaurant we usually have Pea Leaf with shredded chicken. One of my favorite dishes. I also got some wonderful tofu and prepared a simple version of Ma Po Tofu( I cheated and used an already prepared sauce, sorry!)....a little rice and Mike and I were in heaven...

I was so happy to spend the afternoon stocking up on some wonderful ingredients. It is difficult to get the right ground pork for the dumplings in our supermarkets. I bought some and made little packages for the freezer. I found some Shanghai Springroll wrappers, those are in the freezer. I got some new soy sauces , light and dark, and wonderful oyster sauce,bean paste, lots of veggies which were so much less expensive then in my usual supermarkets. Some more things that I can not even remember. We also bought some steamed pork buns which we ate in the car on the way home.

We were both feeling sick with bad colds but happy with all of our purchases...and our adventure. We used to have an Asian supermarket fairly close by to home but it closed. This one is a bit out of the way and I had never been there before. I will be going back for sure.

I have some Shanghai Baby Bok Choy in the fridge for tomorrow and I hope to get some dumplings made

if I can....so I will report back. This was so much fun!
I have no actual recipes to give you because I kind of winged it this time...
But for the Pea Leaf I used this as a guide....
Thanks Ju, for being so inspirational to me...I love traveling to your world every time I open up your beautiful blog.

Chicken and Corn Chowder

2010-02-01T17:02:00.003-05:00

When my friend Lori of All That Splatters posted this soup recipe I thought it looked like a really good , quick, soup to make on a busy, cold, night. Then I saw that my friend Mari of Once Upon a Plate also made it and I knew I had to try it soon. Well... today was the day. We have all had bad colds and sore throats...now it is my turn... and our computer has also had its share of illness. Right now it is working fine but for the past week it has been giving me lots of trouble...it has had its own share of the "virus". Malware and all sorts of nasties...thankfully my husband has been around to get this old machine back to running. But it still is not quite right. Some files lost...my photo editing software not working...but at least I am able to get on here which is fine by me for the moment.

I had everything I needed in the house to make this soup so I did not have to go out to get anything in the lovely 20*F weather. I have to say that the soup really comes alive once it receives the toppings and the big squeeze of lime juice.My bacon was very lean so I added a little bit of olive oil to get it going and the bacon was not salty either , so I added some seasoned salt and some cayenne as my chicken broth seemed a little bit bland to me. I poached some bone in chicken breasts that I had in the freezer and used the liquid for the soup in addition to some organic low sodium broth. My pictures are not as lovely as Lori's and Mary's... not by a long shot...they were taken seconds before my spoon dove into the steaming hot soup...and it was gone!

I will definitely make this one again. Thanks for another winner Lori!

Chicken and Corn Chowder

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons flour

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

6 cups reduced-sodium or homemade chicken broth

4 cups shredded cooked chicken (from a 2 1/2- to 3-lb. roasted chicken)

3 cups corn, frozen or kernels cut from 3 ears corn

1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and chopped

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

2 limes, cut into wedges

Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until fat renders and meat starts to brown. Add onion, reduce heat to medium, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring, until flour smells cooked (you should get a whiff of baked piecrust) but hasn't started to brown, about 3 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to keep mixture simmering and cook until potatoes are barely tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and corn and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream to taste. Heat through, about 2 minutes. Serve in soup bowls, garnished with tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, a squirt or two of lime juice, and pepper to taste.

Yields: 6 servings

Easy Butterscotch Sauce/Saturday Blog Showcase

2010-01-23T22:07:00.001-05:00

I saw this a while back on Smitten Kitchen and I felt compelled to make it. It was quick and easy and delicious. I used light brown sugar and I think if I make it again I will use dark. Everyone here enjoyed it but I felt that it hardened too much upon contact with the ice cream. Not a terrible thing, but I would prefer the sauce to stay more creamy and sauce like. So I am still on the hunt for the perfect Butterscotch Sauce. The flavor was a bit salty and sweet...that was right on...so I just need to play with this a bit...but it is quick and if you find yourself with some vanilla ice cream and a yen for something to put on top of it...this may well be just the ticket!

Easy Butterscotch Sauce
Adapted loosely from the Washington Post, who adapted it from The Perfect Cake via Smitten Kitchen
Yield: About 2/3 to 3/4 cup sauce
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (or 1/4 teaspoon regular salt), plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, plus more to taste
Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, cream and salt and whisk until well blended. [A flat whisk works great here.] Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.
Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of the vanilla extract, stirring to combine and this is where, despite the simplicity of the recipe, you get to feel all “chef-y”. Dip a spoon in the sauce and carefully taste the sauce (without burning your tongue!) to see if you want to add additional pinches or salt or splashes of vanilla. Tweak it to your taste, whisking well after each addition. I ended up using a full teaspoon of flaky salt and the listed amount of vanilla to get a butterscotch sauce with a very loud, impressive butterscotch flavor but the strength of your vanilla and intensity of your salt may vary.
Serve cold or warm over vanilla ice cream. The sauce will thicken as it cools. It can be refrigerated in an airtight container and reheated in a microwave or small saucepan.
To do ahead: This sauce will keep at least two weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

I have not been around much in the last week...we are all under the weather here. Not too much time for blogging unfortunately...but I have been checking in on all of my friends when I can...

Thanks to my sweet friends Ann and Lori for co/ hosting the Saturday Blog Showcase.....today is Ann's turn....thanks so much ladies for hosting this!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Chili Dogs and not ashamed to say so...

2010-01-15T11:29:00.004-05:00

I am not ashamed to say that there are just some nights when caution goes to the wind and certain things are screaming to be eaten. My husband walked in the door very late, the boy was out at Jazz Band practice and had eaten earlier, the other boy had gone back to UPenn that morning....there was a pot of chili on the stove...
We had chili dogs...and a beer...and it was really good! There are times when a good hot dog just hits the spot. Usually that would be with mustard and sauerkraut and not all that often. This night it was a chili dog.

This was fairly standard easy night chili prepared with ground sirloin rather than my usual method of taking a chuck roast and giving it a whirl in the food processor to come out with a chunky coarse grind of meat. Meat sauteed and drained with some sauteed onion and garlic, Gebhardts chili powder, ancho chili powder, Spanish smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin,...and maybe a few other things I forgot to mention, a few cans of drained pinto beans...some fire roasted tomatoes,some poblano chilis that I had roasted and frozen, and a bottle of Corona...and the pot was simmering. No recipe really...

A Sour dough roll split in half...two Nathan's hot dogs...the chili...grated cheese,tomato, avocado, red onion, cilantro...a plate attacked with knife and fork kind of chili dog...
We did not even need Tums later on which was a miracle...

My husband looked at me and said, "Babe, you should take a picture of that"....I laughed. I asked what we should call it. He said "A mess, a delicious mess!"....and it was.

Another vote for Lori's White Chicken Chili...YES!

2010-01-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Ann of Thibeault's Table for hosting our very first Saturday Blog Showcase. Please visit her site to see the wonderful dishes found on the web by the other participants!

It has been frigid here in New Jersey the past few days and there is nothing better on a really cold day then a nice bowl of Chili....and this White Chicken Chili recipe that I got from my friend Lori is a winner.

If you have not yet..please visit Lori's blog, she always has something wonderful cooking!

The Dove's Nest White Chicken Chili
From: Lori at All That Splatters
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-1/2 cups tomato, chopped or 2 cans (10 ounces each) of tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
6 fresh tomatillos, chopped
1 medium jalapeno, seeded, minced
2 cups chicken stock
1 7-ounce can green chilies, chopped
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup (heaping) chopped cilantro
2 19-ounce cans cannellini or Great Northern bean, undrained
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
salt & pepper to taste
sour cream
shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar cheese
Fried tortilla strips (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer; do not brown.

Add the tomatoes, tomatillos and jalapeno. Cook until the tomatillos are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add the chicken stock, green chilies, chicken, oregano, cumin, cilantro, beans and lime juice. Cook until heated through, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the chili into serving bowls.

Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese and fried tortilla strips (if using).

Yields 8 to 10 servings

LINDA'S NOTES: I can not always get fresh tomatillos here or even canned. So when that is the case I use some Frontera Tomatillo Salsa from Rick Bayless, which I normally have in the house...works well.
I have used leftover Roasted chicken and have actually roasted some chicken specifically for this dish.
Even a Rotisserie chicken works well....

Redux of Goat Cheese with Olives, Lemon, and Thyme with Rosemary Flatbread

2009-12-31T09:37:00.000-05:00

This is a re-post of one that I made back in October of 2008...this is a perfect recipe for New Years Eve or New Years Day....easy and so delicious...
Once again I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year...I am ringing out 2009 with a bang! Yesterday I sliced off a nice piece of my right thumb trying out my brand new Super Benriner mandoline...stupid? You bet? I was practicing with a little fingerling potato...no pun...and of course did not use the finger guard...stupid? YOU BET! So after a trip to the EMO and a bandage that looks like a baseball bat here I sit...not sure how much cooking I will do today, I can not get it wet and it was glued back together with some surgical glue... it is a beautiful snowy morning here in New Jersey. I am going to slap on the latex glove and get moving here...but I wanted to stop in and say hello!
Wishing all of you a very Happy and Healthy New Year! And lots of love!

This recipe was in the July issue of Gourmet. It is wonderful, especially with some homemade Crisp Rosemary Flatbread, recipe from the same issue. This was so good...each time I have made it we were ready to start licking the plate. So simple...yet the simple things are almost always the best!
The minute I saw this in the magazine it called to me! Love at first sight!
I just may never buy a cracker again!

Goat Cheese with Olives, Lemon and Thyme

Makes 4 (hors d'oeuvre) servings

by Maggie Ruggiero

ingredients

1/2 cup assorted olives
3 fresh thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 (4- to 5-ounces) fresh goat-cheese medallion or 2 (2-ounces) goat-cheese buttons

Accompaniment: crisp rosemary flatbread
preparation

Heat olives, thyme, oil, zest, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a small skillet or saucepan over low heat until fragrant (do not simmer). Cool to room temperature.

Serve olive mixture over goat cheese.

Cooks' note: This dish can be prepared 2 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

This is wonderful eaten with this crisp rosemary flatbread...so easy and there is so much one can do with the recipe...

Crisp Rosemary Flatbread

Serves4

* Active time:15 min

* Start to finish:45 min

Gourmet/ July 2008

Think of it as a cracker version of rosemary-flecked flatbread. But these are the easiest crackers you’ll ever make: Rather than cutting the dough into small pieces, you bake three large pieces, then break them into smaller ones to serve. The jagged edges invite nibbling.

* 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
* Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

*
Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.
*
Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.
*
Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).
*
Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

Cooks’ note: Flatbread can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe by Maggie Ruggiero

Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cakes....Happy New Year Everyone!

2009-12-30T00:08:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite Molten Chocolate cake recipe. It is adapted from one I found a few years back in Bon Appetit. It does not need to be unmolded, can be made well in advance, and popped into the oven while you are making the coffee and clearing the table before dessert. It is a great following a special holiday meal or just anytime. We had this for dessert on Christmas Day. It is great for New Years Eve as well...
I wish all of you a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

The recipe calls for serving with coffee ice cream which I may add is fabulous. I more often serve it with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries and sometimes a raspberry coulis...

BITTERSWEET MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKES
adapted from Bon Appetit

For best results, use a dark baking chocolate with high cocoa butter content (about 30 percent), such as Valrhona or Callebaut.
12 teaspoons plus 5 tablespoons sugar

8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 quart coffee or vanilla ice cream

Generously butter eight 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Sprinkle inside of each dish with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar.

Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, egg yolks, and remaining 5 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until thick and pale yellow, about 8 minutes. Fold 1/3 of warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture, then fold in remaining chocolate. Fold in flour. Divide batter among soufflé dishes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic; chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place soufflé dishes on baking sheet. Bake cakes uncovered until edges are puffed and slightly cracked but center 1 inch of each moves slightly when dishes are shaken gently, about 13 minutes.

Top each cake with scoop of coffee ice cream or vanilla ice cream and raspberries and serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

Molasses Cookies and Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T01:30:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from my sweet friend Becky and made them the other night for the first time...they are spicy and make your house smell like Christmas when they are baking. Very nice little cookie...
Like everyone else I am busy and most likely will not be around for the next few days....I would like to wish all of you the happiest of holidays...peace to you all...

Molasses Cookies
(Makes 24 large flat cookies)
adapted from the Silver Palate....

12 T. butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter, add sugar and molasses, and mix thoroughly. Lightly beat egg and add to butter mixture; blend well.

Sift flour with spices, salt and baking soda, and add to first mixture; mix. Batter will be wet.

Lay a sheet of Release nonstick foil, parchment paper, or a Silpat(all work equally well) on a cookie sheet. Drop tablespoons of cookie batter on foil, leaving 3 inches between the cookies. These will spread during baking.

Bake until cookies start to darken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven while still soft. Let cool on pan.

my notes: I put the dough in a bowl in the fridge for about two hours and it firmed up nicely. I used a tablespoon sized disher to make a ball that I rolled in my hands and then in a bit of Turbinado sugar. I loved the little sparkle and crunch. They do bake up very flat. Becky says they make wonderful ice cream sandwiches.

It is not necessary to flatten the cookie...they do that all by themselves and spread into a perfect circle...they took about 13 minutes in my oven...but start checking at the times listed in the recipe.

How To Cook A Wolf

French Fridays with Dorie... Quatre-Quarts....a little late

Banana Bread...

Coconut Cake...New Years Eve Birthday Cake

Christmas Eve Paella....

Paella Mixta

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Happy Holidays....

Latkes...Chanukah Joy and Light....

Pecan Pie....

Ernie's Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti ...

Old Fashioned Apple Pie and other news....

Mad Hungry Lentil Vegetable Soup

Pumpkin Bread....

Jewish Pennicillin....and other stories

Little Tomato Tartlets and a Pie...

Chicken Souvlaki from Monique....

Feta Stuffed BLT Burger with New Potato and Green Bean Salad

Sour Cream Shortcakes with Fresh Berries

Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon, and Asparagus

Cream Scones....

Pollo alla Calabrese... Chicken with Potatoes, Onions, and Tomatoes

Hamantaschen....again...

Herbed Irish Soda Bread...Darina Allen Style...

Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day....redux

Thai Chicken with Fresh Basil

1770 House Meatloaf via the Barefoot Contessa

Margaret's Mandelbrot from Sarabeth Levine....

Vinegar Glossed Chicken....

Snowy Day Cinnamon Rolls....

Happy New Year...2011

Molten Chocolate Cakes...another Holiday Tradition

Cinnamon Bread Custard with Fresh Berries....

Merry Melt in your mouth Toffee...and a Happy Christmas to all!

Happy Chanukah....Latkes and Birthday cakes

Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving Day

Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin...

M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken...another Dorie wonder...

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake- French Fridays with Dorie

Gerard's Mustard Tart...French Fridays with Dorie...a little late

Kugel Redux for Yom Kippur

New York Times Plum Torte...an end of summer must

Ann's Giveaway!

Thai Shrimp Fried Rice with Pineapple

Thai Grilled Garlic Chicken, Issahn Style....

Gazpacho al Estilo de Tichi (Tichi's Gazpacho) by Jose Andres

Bill Granger's Rustic Cherry Tart....

Rustic Cherry Tart

Ingredients

4th of July Tiny Berry Pies...

Everyday Granola

Summer Berry Flag Day Pie....

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze and more...

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad

Ingredients

Ingredient Tip

Preparation

Jacques Pepin's Split Quick Roasted Chicken with Mustard Crust

Pavlova my love....

Asparagus Risotto -Revisited

Happy Spring....

Saturday Blog Showcase- Lori's Pecan Waffles

Pizza Pizza...Stormy nights and Pizza

Redux for St. Patricks Day....Corned Beef and Cabbage

Rugelach....tears and smiles

Pork and Napa Cabbage Water Dumplings

Pea Leaf ...I love you...I really do....

Chicken and Corn Chowder

Easy Butterscotch Sauce/Saturday Blog Showcase

Chili Dogs and not ashamed to say so...

Another vote for Lori's White Chicken Chili...YES!

Redux of Goat Cheese with Olives, Lemon, and Thyme with Rosemary Flatbread

Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cakes....Happy New Year Everyone!

Molasses Cookies and Happy Holidays