Kee Kitchen

Yogurt Chicken and Stuffed Mushrooms

2011-12-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/yogurt-chicken/

Really simple, easy dinner. Trim and steam green beans for 5-7 minutes

Chicken breasts: dip in yogurt and breadcrumbs. Put on glass baking dish coated with olive oil. Bake at 350 for 45 min or so.

Portobello mushrooms: brush, coat with olive oil, stuff with herbed goat cheese (and additional parmesan, breadcrumbs, anything you like) . . . bake at 350 for around 10-15 minutes (more if they're big).

spinach frittata

2011-12-07T17:24:00.003-08:00

Spinach Frittata Recipe

from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spinach_frittata/

INGREDIENTS

1 lb spinach leaves (about 2 bunches), cleaned, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large clove garlic, minced
9 large eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Sausage, cut into small pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3-6 oz goat cheese

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 400°F.

2 Cook spinach in 1/4 cup of water in a covered saucepan until just wilted, a couple minutes. Drain water and set aside.

3 In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and Parmesan cheese. Add in chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4 Sauté onions in olive oil in an oven-proof, stick-free skillet, until translucent, about 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and cook a minute further. Add cooked spinach and mix in with onions and garlic.

5 Spread out spinach mixture evenly on bottom of skillet. Pour egg mixture over spinach mixture. Use a spatula to lift up the spinach mixture along the sides of the pan to let egg mixture flow underneath.

6 Sprinkle bits of goat cheese over the top of the frittata mixture. When the mixture is about half set, put the whole pan in the oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until frittata is puffy and golden. Remove from oven with oven mitts and let cool for several minutes.

Cut into quarters to serve. Serves four.

pies

2011-11-25T17:41:00.001-08:00

Indian Dinner

2011-11-17T16:09:00.001-08:00

Indian dinner as made before, but with the addition of saag (easy - chop spinach, sautee with garlic and spices, purée with immersion blender + cream) and spiced rice (white basmati with cumin seeds and onion).

Gabi's Pumpkin Mac n Cheese

2011-10-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Gabi's kick-ass pumpkin mac and cheese
I sized up the recipe by about 6 times to feed an army!
4 16-oz packages of fusilli
10 tbsp unsalted butter plus more for the pan
3/4c flour
4.5 cups milk
2.5 cans unsweetened canned pumpkin $1.50 for a 15-oz. can
2 blocks aged white cheddar, approx 4 cups
dash nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray or butter 2 big glass dishes

Cook macaroni in salted boiling water according to package directions.

While macaroni cooks, melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. As soon as it begins to brown, add the flour and whisk until you have a very sticky dough.

Slowly whisk in the milk to form a creamy white sauce.

Continue whisking as you add the pumpkin and 1/2 cup of the white cheddar. You should have a very creamy orange sauce. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and return it to its pot. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the sauce over the pasta and stir to coat the pasta evenly.

Scrape the sauced pasta into the prepared pan(s) and top with the reserved cheddar plus more salt and pepper.

Bake for 30+ minutes or until the cheese is very bubbly and lightly browned on top. Serve hot.

Serves a LOT

Zucchini Spaghetti

2011-10-26T08:26:00.001-07:00

Julienne 6 zucchini

Boil almost 12 oz whole wheat spaghetti

Steam julienned zucchini for about 2-3 minutes until just softened, add in to pasta at end

Make a simple pesto by blending garlic, olive oil, basil, parmesan, and pine nuts, then simmering on stovetop

Toss together, top with extra parmesan

Tagliatelle with Mushroom Cream Sauce

2011-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Cream sauce recipe:

6-8oz of sliced crimini mushrooms
1c cream
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
Dash of olive oil
1c chicken stock
1/2 cup (or more) shredded parmesan
Salt, pepper
Dash of truffle oil - optional

On medium-high heat, sautee garlic for a few minutes before adding mushrooms. Sautee 5-10 minutes until soft. Add cup of chicken stock and bring to simmer, then add cream and continue to lightly simmer until reduced by half. Add parmesan and reduce further til desired consistency. Add truffle oil if using. Season with salt and pepper, toss al dente tagliatele in pot with sauce.

Honey Thyme Flatbreads

2011-10-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Smitten Kitchen

Crisp Flatbreads with Honey, Thyme and Sea Salt

Makes about 16 flatbreads
1 3/4 cups (7 3/4 ounces or 220 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (118 ml) water
1/3 cup (79 ml) olive oil
2/3 to 3/4 cup (about 3 ounces or 85 grams) grated Mahon cheese or Manchego
1/3 to 1/2 cup (79 to 118 ml) honey
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet or pizza stone on a middle rack.

Whisk together flour, 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. It will feel quite oily (but just think of how great your hands will look later!).
Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll out 1 piece at on a sheet of parchment paper into a longish irregular rustic shape; mine were about 12″x6″. The dough should be rolled thin and it be crazy oily.
Slide rolled out dough and parchment paper together onto the preheated baking sheet or stone, and bake about 5 minutes, until lightly golden.
Leaving the oven on, remove tray from oven and quickly sprinkle with 1/4 of grated cheese. Bake an additional 3 to 4 minutes, until browned at edges and in thinner spots.
Remove flatbreads from oven a final time, quickly drizzle each with honey (1 used about a tablespoon per flatbread, but the restaurant used more; they were truly flooded with honey and it was delicious), sprinkle with sea salt and garnish with thyme leaves. Cut each cracker width-wise into 4 sections (about 3″x6″ each) with a sharp knife. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Serve warm.
Do ahead: Should you want to prepare these ahead of time for a party, I’d bake them including the cheese about 1 minute less than needed. Shortly before you’re ready to serve them, re-toast them in the oven and then drizzle on the honey/thyme/sea salt.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

2011-10-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

from treehugger

1 large butternut squash
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups of flour, more as needed
1 egg
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Sauce: butter, thyme or sage, poppy seeds

Peel squash, cut into small cubes, cook in a pan of 1/8 inch water for about an hour at 425.

Let it cool well, then add in all of the other ingredients, mix together and add extra flour to bring dough together - should be sticky but able to roll into logs. Roll on floured surface, cut logs up into slices, then drop into boiling water. Gnocchi are done when they float. Toss with browned butter sauce - brown the butter in a pan on medium/high heat, add thyme leaves (or sage) for flavor, then remove. Poppy seeds optional.

Pies

2011-10-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

2 hours of work, and all for 8 little pies? They looked measly in comparison to the pile of dishes to wash and discouragingly non-chocolatey. I didn't even try one til 4 hours later, because anyone who knows me knows that anything with fruit does not count as a dessert (except chocolate fondue). But then I did try one. And then there were 5 (Bill helped).

All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough - Smitten Kitchen
Makes enough dough for one double-, or two single-crust pies.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold

Filling
3 medium apples, whatever you like to bake with
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon
Few gratings fresh nutmeg
A pinch of any other spices you like in your apple pie

Gather your ingredients: Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside. In a large bowl — I like to use a very wide one, so I can get my hands in — whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Get out your pastry blender.

Make your mix: Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with the pastry blender, using it to scoop and redistribute the mixture as needed so all parts are worked evenly. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop.

Glue it together: Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You’ll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula, take it out and get your hands in there (see how that big bowl comes in handy?). Gather the disparate damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.

Pack it up: Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. I like to use the sides to pull in the dough and shape it into a disk. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out.

Do ahead: Dough will keep in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer longer. If not using it that day, wrap it in additional layers of plastic wrap to protect it from fridge/freezer smells. To defrost your dough, move it to the fridge for one day before using it.

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat rimmed baking sheet and oven to 500°F. Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable).

2. Roll dough on lightly floured work surface or between two large sheets of plastic wrap to 12-inch disk. Transfer dough to pie plate by rolling dough around rolling pin and unrolling over 9 1/2-inch pie plate or by folding dough in quarters, then placing dough point in center of pie plate and unfolding. Working around circumference of pie plate, ease dough into pan corners by gently lifting dough edges with one hand while pressing around pan bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs lip of plate in place; refrigerate dough-lined pie plate.

3. Peel, core and cut apples in half, and in half again width-wise; cut quarters into 1/4-inch slices and toss with lemon juice and zest. In a medium bowl, mix 3/4 cup sugar, flour, salt and spices. Toss dry ingredients with apples. Turn fruit mixture, including juices, into chilled pie shell and mound slightly in center.

4. Roll out second piece of dough to 12-inch disk and place over filling. Trim top and bottom edges to 1/2-inch beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that folded edge is flush with pan lip. Flute edging or press with fork tines to seal. Cut four slits on dough top. If pie dough is very soft, place in freezer for 10 minutes. Brush egg white onto top of crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

5. Place pie on baking sheet and lower oven temperature to 425°F. Bake until top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate pie and reduce oven temperature to 375°F; continue baking until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes longer. OR for small apple pies: 350 degree oven, bake for 25 minutes, or until puffed and bronzed and very pie-like. (If this is your first batch, peer in at them at 20 minutes, to make sure your oven doesn’t run hot.) Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before eating them…

6. Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours

Short version:
DO NOT LET DOUGH GET COLD. EVER. Warm dough melts the butter pieces and results into almost no flakiness.
2.5c flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 sticks butter cubes

Pre-cube butter then re-refrigerate, chill cup of ice water
Blend first 3 ingredients in food processor, then add butter and pulse until pea-like
Transfer to big mixing bowl
Add water, form into dough by hand
Divide into two discs in plastic wrap, refrigerate about 2 hours
Roll out into flat pieces, then re-chill
Assemble: cut with cookie cutter circles (or loosely by hand into circles), re-refrigerate, then take them out only two at a time to add filling (small amount!), add water along edges, add top piece, crimp together using fork, brush with egg yolk, and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. To be fancy (recommended!) use some extra dough scraps to cut out a simple shape (star? diamond?) to stick onto the top of the pie with water.
Bake at 350, check at 20 min.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/pie-crust-102-all-butter-really-flaky-pie-dough/

Pork Tenderloin

2011-10-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Marinated pork tenderloin

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch garlic powder
1 or 2 pork tenderloins
fresh herbs

Sear pork in medium/high heat on skillet

Bake in oven at 350 for about an hour

Pork is done at internal temp of about 150/160 max

Spinach White Bean Stew with Poached Egg

2011-10-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Smitten Kitchen's spinach and white bean stew

1 pound baby spinach
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (5 1/4 ounces) chopped carrots
1 cup (5 ounces) chopped celery
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) chopped shallots, about 4 medium
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 15-ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
1 cup pureed tomatoes (from a can/carton/your jarred summer supply)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf

Heat olive oil over medium in pot. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes. Add wine and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the stew over thick piece of toasted country bread or baguette that has been rubbed lightly with half a clove of garlic, top that with a poached egg (crack egg into dish, create whirpool with spoon in pot of almost-simmering water, drop into middle of whirpool and cook for 3-4 min until egg comes together, dry on paper towel) and a few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese. Also add some chopped chives.

Lamb Burgers

2011-10-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

2 lbs lamb seasoned with 1 tsp each parsley and dill, salt, pepper, 1/4c breadcrumbs, oregano. Sprinkle cumin, cinnamon, and coriander. Top with tzaziki, grilled onions, and crumbled feta.

Dobos Torte

2011-09-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

This was a hit.

Indian Dinner

2011-09-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Indian dinner, recipes from a few different sites

Chicken Tikka Masala recipe:

1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 long skewers
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat a grill for high heat.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

---------------------------------

DAL

Ingredients

2 cups red lentils
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes, with their juice
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt to taste
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

Method

Spread lentils out on a sheet tray and pick through to remove any stones or debris. Rinse lentils and drain well.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, cardamom, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lentils, broth, tomatoes, cilantro, turmeric, salt and jalapeno and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer, stirring often, until lentils are soft, about 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve.

--------------------------------

ROTI

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup water

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add oil and mix in with a fork until flour is crumbly. Mix in water until the dough pulls together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover and set aside for 45 minutes.
Knead dough again until smooth; divide into six equal parts. Form each part into a round. Roll out each round as thinly as possible; dust with flour to keep from sticking.
Invert a heavy cast iron pan over burner and heat. Spread roti over pan and cook. Roti will cook in 40 to 50 seconds. Tiny black spots will appear when it is finished. Fold Roti and serve hot.

Basic Frosting

2011-08-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

2 large egg whites

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Start beating egg whites in heat-safe bowl with hand mixer until frothy. Place over pan of simmering water on stove, keep heat low. Continue beating while adding other ingredients, touch bowl to make sure that temperature stays just warm. After 5 minutes frosting should begin to come together and get fluffy. Or, in my case, this will happen on the fourth try.

Sugar Cookies

2011-08-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and more if needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3-4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Icing:

2 egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Make the cookies: Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Let dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out each disk on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out cookies, transferring to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Roll out scraps, and repeat once. Freeze cookies until very firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake cookies, switching positions of sheets and rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 17 to 19 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Best Chocolate Cake

2011-08-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

2 cups white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 36+ cupcakes, bake for about 20 minutes then check.

Buttercream Frosting

3.5c powdered sugar

2 sticks butter

1 tbsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

Set butter out until just under room temp. Whip butter well with whisk (stand mixer is best). Add other ingredients, whip until fluffy and freakin delicious. Add some cocoa powder to taste if desired. Or if you can't decide do half and half.

Lemon Poppyseed Buttermilk Pancakes

2011-08-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

These are unreal! Planning to make these for James' birthday brunch on Sunday.

2 cups unbleached ap (all-purpose) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup poppy seeds
zest of 4 lemons
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
serve with butter and syrup

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a large bowl. In another bowl the buttermilk, eggs, butter, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Add the wet to the dry. Stir all the ingredients until they are just combined. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix. Grill on medium-high heat in lightly oiled pan.

(stolen from pickycook.com)

Cuckoo Couscous

2011-06-16T08:42:00.001-07:00

Also known as Couscous Surprise, because, surprise, it turned out pretty well despite my throwing together a bunch of random stuff. The Trader Joe's couscous/grain medley with chicken broth, butternut squash, garbanzo beans, dried plums, and slivered almonds. Grilled zucchini and spanakopita too.

Mint Chip Cookie Sandwiches

2011-06-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Homemade chocolate chip cookies with homemade mint chip ice cream. Today in the mission I saw a sign for "homeade" pupusas. Reminded me of lemonade, like the pupusas were made out of houses.

Pierogies

2011-05-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

Pizza and Cinnamon Rolls

2011-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Pizza dough and cinnamon roll dough courtesy of BrokeAssGourmet. Trader Joe's has a bag of mixed sliced veggies which made this very easy - there's no way I was going to prep all of those veggies myself, but a quick sautee and throwing them on top of some tomato sauce and mozzarella made for a fast dinner. The cinnamon rolls were just a bonus with the leftover pizza dough! James is a fan.

Poppy Lemon Cake

2011-03-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Another Smitten Kitchen heart attack on a plate.

Poppy Seed Lemon Cake
Adapted, barely, from Kurt Gutenbrunner via Food & Wine
As excited as I was about finally finding this recipe as I set about baking it I was consumed with doubt. “Only two-thirds of a cup of sugar? A half cup of flour to eight yolks and one whole egg? How can this work? This will never work. I shouldn’t make this. I hate throwing nearly a dozen eggs out, and the skins of two gorgeous organic lemons…” Fortunately I eventually shut up and can assure you, this is the cake I’d been looking for all along: a zillion tiny cracking poppy seeds, fragrant with lemon and loud with butter.
Yes, I reversed the “lemon” and “poppy seed” in the title as I was convinced that the emphasis was on the wrong sylable, as they say.
2/3 cup sugar
8 large egg yolks
1 large whole egg
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt (edited to add this)
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
1/2 cup poppy seeds (I got this from one 3-ounce spice bottle)
Preheat the oven to 325°F Butter and flour an 8-inch* fluted Bundt or tube pan generously. (This cake very much wants to stick. Don’t let it!) Butter the dull side of a 10-inch piece of foil.
* I only had a 10-inch and it worked fine; the cake was done about 10 minutes sooner.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the sugar with the egg yolks and whole egg at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale yellow and very fluffy, about 8 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest. Sift the flour and cornstarch over the egg mixture and fold in along with the pinch of salt with a rubber spatula. At medium speed, beat in the butter, then beat in the poppy seeds.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover tightly with the buttered foil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the side of the pan and a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the foil and let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and let cool completely before serving, at least 30 minutes.
Do ahead: The cake can be wrapped in plastic and foil and left at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Lemon cream spaghetti

2011-03-26T20:59:00.001-07:00

Smitten kitchen's lemon cream spaghetti

3 lemons' juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 c cream
1/4 c olive oil
1c pasta water
1/2c parmesan
Shredded basil

Pizza

2011-03-26T20:57:00.001-07:00

Caramelized onion sausage pizza

7 day rain cream scones

2011-03-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks again smittenkitchen. This rain better end before I gain 20 pounds!

*cube butter and refrigerate in advance

2 cups all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury
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 or chopped dried cranberries
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F.
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. 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 a 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, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with a knife
6. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and 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.

Challah

2011-03-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

I blame SmittenKitchen for destroying any lingering hope of a reduced carb diet. In the past few days I've made the leek-chard quiche, sally lunn (brioche-like) bread, and, tonight, challah.

SmittenKitchen's Best Challah (Egg Bread)
Adapted from Joan Nathan
The secrets to good challah are simple: Use two coats of egg wash to get that laquer-like crust and don’t overbake it. Joan Nathan, who this recipe is adapted from, adds that three risings always makes for the tastiest loaves, even better if one of them is slowed down in the fridge.
Time: about 1 hour, plus 2 1/2 hours’ rising
Yield: 2 loaves
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast (1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 to 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raisins per challah, if using, plumped in hot water and drained
Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling.
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.
2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.
4. At this point, you can knead the raisins into the challah, if you’re using them, before forming the loaves. To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.
5. Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.
6. If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.
7. Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.
Note: Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours, for more deeply-developed flavor. When you’re ready to work with it again, bring it back to room temperature before moving onto the next step.

Killer cookies

2011-03-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

These cookies taste 10 times as good as they look. Thank god I didn't discover how to do this years ago . . . these are a danger!

.75 c butter, melted

1 c brown sugar

1 c white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c flour

2 1/2 c chopped pecans (optional)

1 bag chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Mix together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in rest of ingredients. Optional but helpful: refrigerate dough for a bit. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Make golf-ball size balls and place 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes; 12 minutes for chewy and 15 minutes for crunchy. Let cool.

Birthday Bread

2011-03-15T17:30:00.001-07:00

Sally Lunn bread with honey brown butter in honor of Gabi's birthday! Recipe here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/03/sally-lunn-bread-honeyed-brown-butter-spread/

2 cups (250 grams or 8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25 grams or 7/8 ounce) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
1 1/8 teaspoon (1/2 packet or 1/8 ounce) active dry yeast
3/4 cup (177 ml) milk
4 tablespoons (57 grams or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

In a large bowl, mix 3/4 cup flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast by hand or with an electric mixer.
In a saucepan, heat the milk and butter together until the mixture is warm (105 to 110 degrees); don’t worry if this butter isn’t completely melted.
Gradually pour the warm ingredients into the dry mixture and mix with an electric mixer for 2 minutes
Add the egg, yolk and another 1/2 cup flour and beat again for 2 minutes by machine
Add the last 3/4c flour and beat or stir until smooth.
Scrape down bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour or until doubled.
Meanwhile, butter and flour a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan.
Once the dough has doubled, scrape it into the prepared pan. Cover with buttered plastic wrap and let rise for a total of 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, however, remove the plastic and preheat your oven to 375°F.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Heatter says the bread should make a hollow sound if tapped with your fingertips but I haven’t weathered mine enough yet that I didn’t find it unpleasant.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out to a rack to cool.
Just to note, Heatter suggests that the bread be cooled out of the loaf pan but upside down on the rack, I presume to square off the loaf, so this is an option for more perfectly square bread.

Salted and Honeyed Brown Butter Spread
1 stick (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, divided
1 to 2 tablespoons honey (use less for lightly sweet, more for a more traditional honey butter)
Few pinches flaky sea salt
In a small saucepan, melt half your butter over medium heat. Once melted, reduce heat to medium-low. The butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. While it is cooling, leave the other half of the butter out to soften slightly (semi-firm is fine).
Whip softened butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the room temperature browned butter, honey and salt continue whipping until combined. Chill butter in fridge until a nice spreadable consistency, or until needed.

Praline salmon

2011-03-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Baked salmon with pralines, served with pilaf and green beans.

Cinnamon rolls

2011-03-15T14:04:00.001-07:00

BrokeAssGourmet cinnamon rolls!

Pizza dough recipe:
2.5c flour
1c warm water
1 packet dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil + more for bowl
1 tsp salt

Combine water, yeast and sugar and set aside in a warm place until it begins to foam (4-5 minutes). Meanwhile in a bowl, mixer w/paddle or a food processor, combine salt and flour. Slowly stream in the yeast mixture and add the olive oil. If using a mixer or food processor, turn on and allow ingredients to combine until they form a ball of dough. If you’re using a mixer, now is the time to switch to the dough hook. Knead (either by turning on your machine or by hand) for 2-3 minutes. Set aside in an oiled bowl, covered with a damp dish towel in a warm place (like an oven that has been turned on and then turned off and allowed to cool a bit but is still warm) for 30 minutes. After dough has doubled in size, punch down and allow to rise for another 30 minutes (20 if you’re impatient) then you can do almostANYTHING! See below my favorite uses for pizza dough.
Add:
2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp cinnamon
.5c sugar

Glaze:
.5c powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil or cooking spray and set aside.

Mix cinnamon and regular sugar in a bowl. Combine well.

On a floured surface, roll pizza dough into a 14” x 10” rectangle. Use a spatula to spread 4 tbsp of the soft butter over the dough, making sure the entire thing is covered.

Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over the butter, making sure all is covered. Start at the bottom of the dough and roll the longest way from the bottom to the top, pinching to seal until you have an 10” cylinder.

Cut the cylinder into 10 1” pieces and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Bake cinnamon rolls for 12-15 minutes or until outsides are golden brown and butter-cinnamon mixture begins to lightly bubble. Allow to cool slightly.

Whisk together melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tbsp water until creamy. Add a bit more powdered sugar if needed to achieve a smooth glaze.

Drizzle the glaze over the warm cinnamon rolls and serve.

Makes 10 cinnamon rolls.

Bialys

2011-03-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

Gabi's BrokeAssGourmet pizza dough is no joke! This stuff is easy to make - I did it by hand! I doubled the recipe so that I could make bialys and cinnamon rolls. Deeeeelicious.

JOY: quiche

2011-03-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Divine leek-chard tart courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

I also made the dough from scratch, using this recipe:

A Great Savory Tart Shell (from Smitten Kitchen)
Adapted from Le Pain Quotidien
This doesn’t need par-baking to keep from getting soggy and barely shrinks in the oven. Sold!
1 1/4 cups flour (or 1 and 2/3 c.)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch (or 2 tbsp + 1/2+ tsp)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or 1/3 tsp)
6 tablespoons butter, diced (or 8 tbsp)
1 egg (or 1.5 eggs)
In a food processor, combine all ingredients

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Crimp the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with a filling of your choice, no parbaking required.

Filling:

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
4 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream (I used whole milk)
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Melt butter over medium-low heat, add leeks, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover; cook until tender (10 min)
Add chard; saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool.
Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 425°F.
Whisk cream, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg in bowl.
Mix in cooled leek mixture. Pour filling into crust.
Bake tart 15 minutes at 425.
Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until filling is puffed and just set in center, about 15 minutes longer (this took my oven about 10 minutes longer).
Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes.

Apple salad

2011-03-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Rebecca's apple salad, inspired by BiRite. Apples, spinach, blue cheese, candied pecans, walnuts, fennel, lemon vinaigrette.

Asian dinner

2011-03-08T16:10:00.001-08:00

Rebecca's fried rice

2011-03-08T16:09:00.001-08:00

Chicken fried rice

Rebecca's Asian dumplings

2011-03-08T16:08:00.003-08:00

Rebecca's (ok, Gabi's) meatballs

2011-03-08T16:08:00.001-08:00

Recipe at BrokeAssGourmet by the lovely Gabi. These were really easy to make and a great leftover to have all week!

Rebecca cooked . . . again?!

2011-02-08T05:00:00.001-08:00

Mushroom potato soup
1 lb cremini mushrooms
4 yukon gold potatoes
Fresh thyme
1 onion
Chicken broth
Dash of cream
Garnished with creme fraiche, chives

Lamb ragout
Onion
1 lb ground lamb
28 oz can tomatoes
Thyme
Whole wheat Fusili
Pecorino Romano cheese
Dash of cream

Top Chef VI

2011-01-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

Top Chef VI was a great success! Team Chris (Jared, Cynthia, Rebecca) battled Team Gabi & Bill (Carissa, Dominic) with chocolate-themed dishes. See the action here!

Or go to the direct youtube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mfgyBBsFkQ

Rebecca cooks!

2011-01-29T16:38:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's true.

Squash soup
1 large banana squash or butternut
4 Yukon gold potatoes
2 carrots
1 granny smith apple
1 onion
1 clove garlic
4 cups chicken broth

(optional as garnish: creme fraiche, chives)
Chop onions/garlic, cube everything else, sautee onion/garlic then add everything else, bring to boil, reduce to simmer til soft. Puree. Add dash of salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cream.

Fish Tacos
Mahi mahi filets
Breadcrumbs, egg
Tortillas
Shredded cabbage
Avocado
Cilantro
Cilantro aioli (2 bunches cilantro, 2 tbsp onion, 1/4 cup mayo, 1-2 limes' juice all blended together).

Chard with fried shallots

2011-01-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Pork loin

2011-01-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Persimmon Salad

2010-11-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

Awesome autumn salad by Bill, topped with pomegranate seeds.

Cod

2010-11-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Bill made this the same afternoon as the pumpkin pizza . . . busy day!

Pumpkin pizza

2010-11-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bill used a recipe from BrokeAssGourmet

Scallops

2010-11-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

Steak dinner

2010-11-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Bill

Phyllo Pockets

2010-10-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Another Rebecca creation - using phyllo dough to wrap up broccoli & bleu cheese, mushroom & onions, and brussel sprouts & potatoes. Mmmmmm!

Gourmet Meal #2

2010-09-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

Whole wheat pasta with pesto sauce, goat cheese, sauteed squash, and sausage.

Baby WIN!

2010-09-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day One of being alone with baby and I cooked one of my all-time best gourmet meals! Bistro Salad consists of chopped carmelized walnuts, bleu cheese, bacon, sliced pears, toasted whole wheat baguette, and a baked egg. Chicken corn chowder made with chicken stock, corn, milk, green onions, chicken breast, and topped with shredded cheddar. Truly a successful endeavor and all-around great day. Oh, and I'm typing this while nursing. Booyah!!!

Crepes

2010-06-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Would my diabetic nutritionist approve of my crepe dinner? What if I told her these are whole wheat? Heavy on the eggs and the cottage cheese makes for a reasonably healthy diabetic treat.

Ramekins cooking class

2010-06-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Bill and I had a great time celebrating his birthday with a cooking class at Ramekins in Sonoma. Not cheap, but for a 3 hour extravaganza of food, beer, and socializing, it was well worth it. Especially since Bill will now be cooking pizza for me with some frequency - we learned how to make the dough (easy!) and grill it on a gas outdoor grill - delicious. He'll also be adding grilled salad to his repertoire. Grilled salad, really? Yup. Pretty flammable but adds an intense, smoky flavor to a classic caesar. If you're looking for a really special event in the Sonoma area, Ramekins really did make for a fun evening.

Rebecca cooks too!

2010-06-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite recipes from BrokeAssGourmet . . . hipster dogs! Really simple and amazingly delicious.

It's been a while . . .

2010-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

But we've still been cookin'! Here are some shots of Bill's latest creations.

BBQ Chicken with Farro salad and grilled asparagus

Preparing clams and peas for halibut sauce

Halibut with clam and green pea sauce, served with farro

Olive oil 4 ways

2010-03-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, our good friend Gabi invited Rebecca and I to participate in a cooking contest sponsored by the Olive Press. We were given four nice bottles of olive oil, featuring four different varieties of oil, and asked to create a four course meal using one oil in each of the courses.

I love olive oil, and I use it in almost every time I cook as it is, but wanted to find a way to feature the oil in each dish. I wanted dishes that were known for containing olive oil, or that featured the use of olive oil an uncommon way. As I started to brainstorm, my thoughts turned first to simple ideas: serving of crusty bread with olive oil as a dip; fresh pasta with a light olive oil dressing; meats and vegetables sauteed in olive oil. I then thought about the different types of olive oils I'd been given: ranging from delicate to robust, including one blood orange infused variety. I wanted to find dishes that drew on the simple ideas I started with, but with an added layer of complexity to draw out the quality of each oil.

For the first course, in order to feature bread with the oil, I decided to make a Bruschetta, made with a Romesco sauce of roasted red pepper, slivered almonds, garlic, basil, tomatoes, and a healthy dose of the robust Italian Blend olive oil. For the second dish, I wanted to make a pesto using the light Arbequina olive oil, with arugula and walnuts to match the olive oil with a bit more acidic bite and smokey overtone. Finally, for the protein dish, I decided to feature olive oil being used for a less common cooking technique: poaching. I found some nice salmon fillets, and planned to poach them in the Blood Orange olive oil, to give a light citrus flavor to the dish.

When I was out shopping for ingredients at the farmers market, I happened upon a vendor with some fiddlehead ferns, which I'd had a restaurants before but had never cooked with myself. I knew they were kind of like green beans with a bit more texture and grassy flavor, and I thought they would go well with the fish, sauteed in olive oil with a bit of blood orange zest.

So I had my three savory dishes, but still wasn't sure of what to do for dessert. After poking around online, I learned that baking with olive oil can actually be quite common. I'd been craving a lemon-flavored dessert for some time, and found some great ideas for a Meyer Lemon Olive Oil cake. I chose cake recipe with a particularly fluffy approach, using whipped egg whites folded into the batter.

So to review, the menu:

Romesco Bruschetta

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Arugula-Walnut Pesto

Blood Orange Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Fiddlehead Ferns

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake.

Since the cake would take the longest to bake and cool, I started with that. I'd bought some fresh Meyer lemons, which are a sweeter variety of lemon. The juice from these, along with some zest, would give the cake a lemony flavor without being too tart.

Folding several whipped egg whites into the batter made it airy and light:

Once the cake was in a pan and baking, I turned my attention to the Romesco so I could serve the Bruschetta as an appetizer. Romesco usually features almonds, much in the same way pesto uses pine nuts. So I began by toasting some almond slivers on parchment paper.

Once the almonds were toasted, I pulsed them a few times in the food processor and added roasted red peppers, fresh basil, some tomato paste, and a splash of Meyer lemon juice. As a pulsed the mixture, I slowly poured in the olive oil, creating a thick, red-orange paste. While I let the flavors of the Romesco combine, I toasted some sliced, whole-grain baguette, and then spread on the Romesco, topped with some fresh basil. The warm, crispy bread paired well with the sweet and smooth Romesco.

It was now time to get started on the gnocchi. I'd never actually made gnocchi from scratch before, so this was going to be an adventure. Since I'd gone with an arugula pesto, I wanted to balance some of the sharpness of the arugula with a sweeter gnocchi - so I'd decided to use sweet potatoes. I baked the potatoes for 45 min or so (fortunately, they could go in at the same temperature as the cake!), and let them cool. I spooned out the orange potato, folded in an egg, and began to add flour. I expected the potatoes to get doughy after about a cup of flour, but they ended up soaking in almost 2.5 cups before getting dry enough to form the dough. (Nota bene: mix in some Yukon or Russet potatoes with your sweet potatoes to make your dough more potatoey and less floury. Wish I'd known that.)

Once the raw gnocchi were formed, I got out the food processor again to mix together the pesto. I added a good pile of argula, a couple handfuls of pan-toasted walnuts, some garlic, and then began to pour in the Arbequina olive oil while pulsing the mix. Pesto is so simple to make, and with these alternative ingredients, it makes for an uncommon flavor profile as well.

Combined together, the acidity and smokiness of the pesto did go well with the slightly sweet flavor of the gnocchi. The gnocchi turned out to be a bit more doughy than I would have liked, though, but next time I'll remember to add some white potatoes as well.

It was finally time for the fish. I took out the salmon fillets and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I then prepared a sauce pan with the blood orange olive oil, big enough to hold the fillets submerged in oil. I'd bought some fresh fennel to go with the fiddleheads, so I added some the fennel fronds to the olive oil, along with some blood orange peel.

The oil doesn't need to be very hot for poaching, but should stay steady - at about 180 degrees Farenheit. So while the oil was poaching, I got ready to saute the fiddleheads. I started to blanching them to get out some of the bitterness, and then added blood orange olive oil to my saute pan, along with some shaved fennel. After the ferns had heated a bit, I also added some blood orange juice for extra tang. Finally, alongside, I sauteed some slices of blood orange to serve as a garnish.

I added the fish to the oil, and poached for about 7 minutes. Poaching in oil keeps the fish incredibly moist and the blood orange added a great lightness to the flavor. The fiddleheads tasted really fresh and foresty (if "barnyard" is an acceptable flavor adjective, I'll insist that "foresty" is too).

Finally, it was cake time. The cake had been cooling, but hadn't lost any of its lightness. I'm definitely using egg whites in cakes more often now. The lemon was zesty, and olive oil added just a hint of richness without being overpowering.

The meal turned out to be a ton of fun. What a fantastic excuse to cook!

Boeuf Bourguignon

2010-01-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

Bill spent 6 hours last Friday cooking up an unbelievable Thomas Keller recipe. Thanks to Doug's gift of Keller's Bouchon cookbook, we'll apparently be eating well for years. Part of Keller's philosophy is to cook everything separately to maintain a "clean" feel/taste to each dish. This involved cooking everything from the beef to the mushrooms in separate pots before combining them into the whole right before serving. Results: spectacular.

Top Chef V

2009-12-31T14:49:00.000-08:00

This was our biggest, and possibly best, Top Chef event. People arrived in the mid-afternoon to start planning, shopping, and drinking. After throwing the ingredient submissions of bacon, chocolate, persimmon, egg, and pear into a hat, Judge Katie picked pear, the group divided into teams, brainstormed, shopped, and got to work.

See a bit of the action on YouTube

Team Awesome: Bill, Gabi, Rebecca, Keith, Rusty

Team Perineum: Chris, Doug, Jen, Katie, Robin

Judges: Sandy, Rich, Katie Wolfe

Videographer: Jessica

First Course: Pear Ceviche
- Scallop
- Shrimp
- Asian pears
- Cilantro- Tomato

Served with a pear liqueur shot

Second Course: Grilled Cheese with Pear served with Winter Squash Pear Soup

Sandwich
- Brioche
- grilled pear
- bleu cheese
- balsamic reduction

Soup
- Butternut squash
- Creme fraiche
- Bartlett pears

Third Course, Dessert: Vanilla and Spiced Pear Cupcake with Salted Caramel Frosting

Spiced pear cake recipe from BrokeAssGourmet (Gabi's fabulous website)

Frosting

- Buttercream recipe (see prior post)

- Homemade caramel sauce

The best news of all is that the judges loved every course. The other team rocked it with some great food as well: pear won-ton and swordfish, but a massive fail with baked pear drenched in balsamic vinegar. With my mother as a judge, no fruit dessert is going to beat a solid buttercream frosting!

So, the end result? My first win, ever! Team Awesome let me keep the trophy:

Past Projects

2009-12-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

We plan to blog our future meals with photos and recipes, but to catch you up on some stellar dishes, here's some photos of Bill's creations . . .

Top Chef: A History

2009-12-28T17:19:00.000-08:00

Part of what have inspired and defined our cooking adventures are our Top Chef competitions. Even though we've since learned that our events hardly resemble "Top Chef" (I think the rules are more similar to Iron Chef or something), we've created some pretty amazing meals. Here's a summary of our Top Chef nights . . .

Top Chef I

Secret Ingredient: Banana

Dinner Creations 3.24.07
Top Chef at 1849 Church St.

Team Bernie: Chris, Bill, Dominic
Team Beni: Doug, Meredith, Rebecca

First Course Team Bernie:
- Mixed greens and kale with banana vinaigrette salad dressing, cranberries, slivered almonds and banana chips
- Banana crumb crust with fresh crab and lime

First Course Team Beni:
- Banana bread with candied walnuts
- Wild basmati rice with cranberries and green onions

Main Course Team Bernie:
- Turkey filets fried in a meringue crust
- Plantain mashed potatoes with garlic
- Mixture/stuffing of plantains, chipotle peppers, raisins, hollandaise sauce

Main Course Team Beni:
- New York strip steak with red wine reduction sauce and carmelized onions
- Fried plantains
- Sauteed spring vegetables

Dessert Course Team Bernie:
- Banana custard in mini pie crust topped with strawberries

Dessert Course Team Beni:
- Homemade banana ice cream

Winners: Team Bernie
Rematch!: TBA

Top Chef II

Secret Ingredient: Onion . . . worst ingredient ever. Bill's onion bread "dessert" was a serious disaster. Everything else was pretty great.

Top Chef III

Secret Ingredient: Apple

Top Chef IV

Secret Ingredient: Tomato

We covertly held Top Chef IV at my parents' house without their permission, so there are no photographs of this event. Of course they found out anyway. Also, there were technical difficulties such as the lack of an impartial judge. This has resulted in an epic argument over which team had the worst dessert, with no objective party to intervene. Bill maintains that my team's tomato ice was disgustingly over-vinegared, whereas I maintain that his team's tomato-basil ice was equally, if not more, heinous.

Cakes: A History

2009-12-28T17:13:00.001-08:00

Rebecca's cake-decorating hobby has had a long run. Not going so strong lately, but, here's some of the top ones. Best, easy frosting recipe:

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

In large bowl, beat together sugar, butter, vanilla and milk until smooth. If necessary add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring. Mix everything well. Chocolate buttercream frosting - add 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa.

Baking: A History

2009-12-28T17:10:00.001-08:00

This is all Rebecca too. Most recently, a killer peanut butter cookie recipe has hit the repertoire, recipe below.

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Hersheys Kisses, 1 for each cookie
Pre-Heat oven to 375°F.
Cream together butter, both sugars and peanut butter. Add 1 egg and
vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt.

Form in walnut size balls. Roll in white sugar and place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Press Hershey Kiss into each cookie when
fresh out of the oven.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

Cooking: A History

2009-12-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, Rebecca used to be the cook. Here was an excellent chicken salad served in papaya bowls, served to our favorite bagel lady in New York City.