Author: Wendi

Side Dishes, Vegetables

Molly’s Butter Glazed Radishes

by Wendi8 Comments on Molly’s Butter Glazed Radishes

What the heck does a picture of the cherry blossoms have to do with butter glazed radishes?  Your choices are:

  1. a)  Pink
  2. b)  Things that I “discovered” this year
  3. c)  A distraction for not having a picture of butter glazed radishes

Ok, this one is actually a trick question because it’s all of the above.

It’s funny that I just talked about food prejudices and how I have been guilty of letting my dislike of one form of a food keep me from enjoying it in any form.  I must add radishes to that list.

My previous knowledge of radishes was limited to them as hard rounds in my iceberg lettuce salad.  Not even fresh and peppery, they were blah and bland; so I banished them.  I read curiously about radishes and butter, wondering how people could find that enjoyable.  I could not comprehend the attraction to radishes anymore than I could understand why sane, rational people would brave the crowds of tourists to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.

And then I did.

I realized that people come from all over the world to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.  Here I am with them a short metro ride away and I had never been bothered to see them.  I missed the peak blooming period but was still awed by their gentle grandeur.   I don’t think much can rival the beauty of cherry blossoms falling in the breeze like snowflakes.  And since I got there early enough to avoid the crush of tourists, I enjoyed that beauty in quiet solitude.

I think my visit to the cherry blossoms was right around the same time I decided to give butter glazed radishes a try.  Something about the way Molly described them made me curious…”…sweet, almost, and very delicate.  It’s quiet.”  I admit, I had been wrong about the cherry blossoms.  Maybe I was wrong about the radishes too?

Not only did those butter glazed radishes taste absolutely delightful –  tender and delicate, warm and buttery – the cooking transformed them from hard red to a soft, gentle pink.  Clearly I hadn’t given radishes enough credit to be more than just something crunchy in salad.

So on both accounts, I stand corrected.

Molly’s Butter Glazed Radishes

Adapted from Molly Stevens (All About Braising) as seen on Orangette

  • 1 pound radishes
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/8 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

If your radishes are not already trimmed, trim the roots and greens.  Soak the radishes for 10 minutes in a bowl of water to loosen any dirt then drain the water and scrub the radishes.

Place the radishes in a single layer in a 10 inch skillet.  Add the butter, water, salt, and sugar and bring to a simmer.  Cover the skillet and continue to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until a paring knife can easily pierce the radishes.

Remove the lid and carefully shake the skillet to roll the radishes all around the sauce.  Continue simmering another 5 to 10 minutes or until the liquid cooks down to a glaze that coats the radishes, increasing the heat if necessary.

{printable recipe}

Side Dishes

Butter Roasted Mushrooms

by Wendi11 Comments on Butter Roasted Mushrooms

I’m a mushroom lover.  My brother is a mushroom hater.  We didn’t have exposure to mushrooms growing up so I can’t explain why our paths took these different routes.  I love the earthy, meatyness of mushrooms.  He swears that he can tell if something has mushrooms in it even if they are cut up teeny, teeny, tiny.  I have yet to put this “ability” of his to the test but I’m confident that I could slip some mushrooms past him without causing suspicion.

I think it’s the idea of them skeeves my brother out.  To me that’s a sad reason to banish something from your diet without even giving it a try.  Sure, I guess we all have our own food prejudices.  I wouldn’t touch beets because they grossed me out in their pickled form.  But then after I tried them roasted, I couldn’t get enough of them.  My prejudice against pickled beets kept me from enjoying any beets for years.  I only have myself to blame for that loss.

So to my brother, and any other mushroom haters out there, I say give the mushrooms a chance.

Butter Roasted Mushrooms

Adapted from A Thought for Food

BAH Note:  It’s ok if the baking dish you use isn’t quite big enough for all the mushrooms to fit without being crowded.  They will shrink as they cook.

  • 2 pounds whole mushrooms, stems on
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoon butter
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a shallow baking dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until the mushrooms are beautifully glazed with the sauce and slightly shriveled.

Uncategorized

Flashback Friday – Blogs That Rock, Smitten Kitchen

by Wendi5 Comments on Flashback Friday – Blogs That Rock, Smitten Kitchen

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 1/7/09 on Exit 51.

Blogs That Rock – Smitten Kitchen

Deb, of Smitten Kitchen, is the kitchen goddess I aspire to be.  Her blog has the power to unleash the Seven Deadly Sins from her home kitchen.

Lust is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires.  Take one look at her photos and you will be consumed with the desire for a taste of whatever she’s making.  Doesn’t matter if you like the particular ingredients, you will be mesmerized by the pictures.  Yes, this is food porn at its finest.

Gluttony is the over-indulgence and over consumption of anything.  Seriously, would one taste of the Peanut Butter Crispy Bars be enough for anyone?

Greed is a sin of excess. Greedy behavior, including hoarding of materials or objects, is one possible side effect of making her recipes.  Would YOU really share the Peanut Butter Crispy Bars?  Be honest.  It’s ok, I wouldn’t either.

Sloth is a sin of laziness or indifference.  Like after you’ve eaten the entire batch of Crispy Bars, you will be completely indifferent to whether or not you shared them with anyone.

Wrath is a tricky one.  It may be described as feelings of hatred and anger and is not necessarily associated with selfishness or self-interest, although one can be wrathful for selfish reasons, such as jealousy.  As in you did choose to share some of those Crispy Bars and the jealousy you experience over knowing you won’t be able to enjoy ALL of those tasty treats is overwhelming.

Envy, like greed, may be characterized by an insatiable desire.  On a daily basis, I am envious of what Deb is able to accomplish in 80 square feet of kitchen space AND her ability to capture such stunning pictures of it all.

Pride is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others or excessive love of self.  I can  attest that when I was able to get an edible loaf from her Bread Without A Timetable recipe, I was feeling all kinds of important and prideful.  Not pretty, I know, but it’s the truth.

You’ve been warned, Smitten Kitchen is some powerful juju.  But in moderation, and with deliberate thoughtfulness, its powers can be harnessed for good, instead of evil.

Chicken, Main Course

Butterflied Chicken

by Wendi6 Comments on Butterflied Chicken

Roast chicken is something that I usually reserve for “special” occasions.  Like when we have company or I have more than 45 minutes from the time I walk in the door to get food in my belly.  But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Really, it doesn’t.

There’s no reason why Tuesday night dinner can’t be just as “special” as Sunday supper.  Of course, having guests at our table is special but so is any reason that gets us eating dinner at the dining room table and not in front of the Tivo.

I really think we need to institute a “no tv until after dinner” rule at our house.  I know it would cut down on the amount of food that somehow fails to make it from the plate to the mouth and ends up on the floor.  Of course, this would in no way impact the “breakfast is eaten in front of the tv” rule.  There’s no way I can balance my need for steel cut oatmeal and Good Morning American in HD separately.  They are a combined sport at BAH.

But I digress.  Want to enjoy roast chicken any night of the week?  Then I highly recommend you butterfly it.  Or, as I originally typed, flutterby it.  You could take it a step further and put a hot brick (wrapped in foil) or hot cast iron skillet on top of the chicken while it cooks.  Once you remove the backbone, a whole world of possibilities opens up to you.

Butterflied Chicken

Adapted from Jenna’s Everything Blog

BAH Note: I have to be honest, I had the man at the market cut the back out of the chicken for me.  Yes, he looked at me funny when I asked…I think he was worried I would want him to weigh the chicken without the backbone…but the chicken went into the back completely intact and came out spineless.  That backbone is currently sitting in my freezer waiting for me to try my hand at some chicken stock. I imagine a flattened chicken would be quite easy to brine for some extra moist meat.  Next time, I might give that a try.

  • 1 whole roasting chicken (not a fryer), approximately 3 pounds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 sprigs rosemary
  • 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
  • 1 lemon, cut into quarters

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Remove the giblets from the chicken and place the chicken breast side down on a cutting board.  Carefully cut along one side of the backbone then along the other and remove the backbone.

Turn the chicken over and firmly press on the breastbone to break it and flatten the chicken.  Dry the chicken well with paper towels and transfer to the sheet pan.

Place the rosemary, garlic, and lemon under the chicken and coat the skin with olive oil.  Season generously with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes to an hour until the skin is golden brown and the meat registers 160 to 165 degrees.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving.

{printable recipe}

Baking, Dessert, Sweets

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

by Wendi3 Comments on Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

2011.  The year I turned 40.  Oh my.  The funny thing is that I’m writing this about a week before the actual birthday and it won’t post until well after the day has come and gone and I take my first few steps down the road towards that next big number.

40.  In my mind it doesn’t feel much different than 20 or 30.  Except maybe for the morning after a night with the box of wine.  Then I definitely feel it….damn liver ain’t what it used to be.  But then I start to think about other people I know and what marked their lives at the same age.

For instance, at age 40 my parents had children that were teenagers…closer to college age than the middle school years.  At 40, my grandparents had raised one child and were less than a decade away from beginning to raise two grandchildren.  At age 40, my father and both of my grandfathers had been to war and back.  I tell myself those were different times with different opportunities and expectations.

Could I see myself as the quintessential housewife as personified by Harriett Nelson?  Unlikely.  I’d more likely have been Lucy Ricardo on a good day or Betty Draper on a bad one.  Although I say that from the perspective of living in, and being shaped by, one age and wondering if that version of me would have fit in another age.

I can’t really imagine my life being different than what it is.  Sure, there are hopes that may never be realized but there are also things I never thought to hope for that have been part of my world.  I am not one to believe that the absence of something unknown is greater than the actual presence of something else.

So what is it exactly about the age 40 that strikes fear into the hearts of countless 39 year olds?  What is it that sends people into the first stages of mid life crisis and what symptoms should I be on the watch for to indicate that I’ve stepped into the danger zone?

While you ponder those mysteries of life, I’m going to make myself a batch of peanut butter and jelly bars.  It may not be a traditional treat to celebrate ones birthday but I think I’ve pretty much established over the last 40 years that I’m not exactly traditional.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2011

BAH Note: If it weren’t for the prevalence of peanut allergies, I would say these should be mandatory at all bake sales.  Imagine the best parts of a pb&j (without the pesky crusts) in one bite sized morsel.  If you ask The Googley about peanut butter and jelly bars, you’ll see that all the cool kids are making them.  Not that that’s a reason that you should. But you really should make them…you know you want to.

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup jelly

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and completely line an 8″ square baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving an inch or two overhang around the edges.  Lightly spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the workbowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, and butter until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

Transfer half of the dough to the prepared baking pan and press it into an even layer.  Place the pan in the refrigerator.  Put the remaining dough in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the refrigerator and spread the jelly over the base in an even layer.  Remove the dough from the freezer and use your fingers to crumble the dough over the jelly layer.

Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.  Cool the bars completely in the pan before using the foil handles to remove the bars from the pan.  Peel the foil from the edges and cut into bars.

Store leftovers in an airtight container.

{printable recipe}

Random

Flashback Friday – Stat

by Wendi1 Comment on Flashback Friday – Stat

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 1/5/09 on Exit 51.

Stat

2008.  The year SFC successfully completed his second overseas deployment.  The year that I threw caution, and the dismal exchange rate, to the wind and had a fabulous tour of Scotland with my pal Frau Poshizzle.  The year that was many, many things.

It was also the year that I moved Exit 51 to WordPress.  And according to the Stats, it was also year that many of you found me here.  Exit 51 logged 1,353 views from May to December.  The top five posts of 2008 were:

hny-2009

#1 – Notes on a Recipe: Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobolise.

This was one of my favorite recipes of the year.  If you haven’t already done so, you should check this out.  Really.

#2 – Num Yummy

Based on the search terms associated with this post, I think people were really looking for Mr. Num Yummy or the Num Yummy Guy.  But whatever.  Because I think this ode to caramel is a way better find.

#3 – Fast Food @ Home

Repeat after me – fast food doesn’t have to equal a super value meal.  And good food doesn’t have to mean reinventing the wheel.

#4 – Click! Coffee

My entry into the Click! monthly contest may not have won, but I couldn’t have asked for a better excuse to churn out the most excellent coffee ice cream you’ll ever have.  You can thank David Lebovitz for your eventual addiction to this ice cream.  And thank him you will!

#5 – I Can’t Believe It’s Not Mashed Potatoes

What I can’t believe is that I’m just now noticing the typo in that post’s title.  Oh well, hopefully you stop by here for the food, not the spelling.

My thanks to everyone who has paid me a visit in 2008.  Hope to see you back here in the coming year.

Main Course

Milk Braised Pork

by Wendi6 Comments on Milk Braised Pork

Since I introduced you to Bruce and Mark on Monday, I thought I’d pull out the other recipe of theirs that has been lurking around my kitchen – Milk Braised Pork.  I already knew that milk did stupendous things to proteins from using it to braise chicken, so it should have come as no surprise to me that milk braised pork was just as luscious.  There may have been some happy dance shimmy going on at the kitchen counter as I taste tested for “quality control” purposes.

I will be honest and say that I don’t yet own a single one of Bruce and Mark’s cookbooks.  But if the two recipes I have made from them are any indication, there’s a lot to like in those many, many pages.  Who knows, perhaps after the next round of “tidying up” the cookbook shelf, there may be room for a little something by Bruce and Mark.

Milk Braised Pork

Inspired by Mark Scarbrough

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 1/2 – 3 pound pork shoulder (Boston Butt), bone in or boneless
  • 1 onion, sliced or 1 cup butter braised onions
  • 3 cloves of garlic, skins and papers on
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 can vegetable broth
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon course ground mustard (optional)

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a dutch oven or pot large enough to hold the pork.  Pat the pork dry, season with kosher salt and pepper, and brown it well on all sides.  Carefully transfer the pork to a platter and remove all but a tablespoon of the fat from the pot.

Cook the onion until it is softened, which will be very quick if using the butter braised onions.  Add the vegetable broth and scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, and milk and stir to combine.

Bring the liquid to a boil, return the pork and any accumulated juices back to the pot, cover and transfer to the oven for 3 hours.  Check the pot after 90 minutes to see if you need to add more liquid.  If the liquid is getting low, consider adding more vegetable broth or a dry white wine.

After 3 hours, the pork should be falling apart tender.  If it’s not, stash it back in the oven and keep checking it every 45 minutes or so.  When done, carefully transfer the pork to a cutting board to rest while you finish up the sauce.

Strain the liquid through a mesh sieve into a bowl.  Skim as much fat from the liquid as possible and transfer to a small saucepan.  Set over medium heat and boil until the sauce has reduced slightly.  Whisk in the mustard, if using, and taste for seasoning.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve the sauce over the tender bits of pork.

{printable recipe}

Appetizers, Main Course

Bruce and Mark’s Roasted Shrimp with Herbs

by Wendi9 Comments on Bruce and Mark’s Roasted Shrimp with Herbs

Bruce and Mark are beyond busy.  They write cookbooks… lots of cookbooks. They develop content for magazines and national websites.  They blog.  And they get nominated for James Beard awards.  In the name of full disclosure, I follow Mark on Twitter (and you can too) and I had no idea that this recipe I pulled out of Fine Cooking was his and Bruce’s until I started cooking.  It was then that I noticed the credit at the very bottom of the page.  Ain’t it funny how our worlds sometimes collide?

So then I started conversing with Mark about having made this dish and asking permission to reprint.  Our 140 character or less conversation went something like this:

@bonappetithon: I made the roast shrimp that was in FC this month. Would love your permission to post w/out adapting since there’s not a whole lot to adapt

@markscarbrough:Absolutely. Believe it or not, the recipe is actually an adaptation from our COOKING KNOW-HOW. It’s so easy–perfect summery deck food, no?

@bonappetithon: Greatly appreciated. Was super freaking easy. Perfect for a tasty weeknight dinner.

@markscarbrough: In COOKING KNOW-HOW, we vary the herbs et al endlessly. For example, with Sichuan peppercorns and garlic, then rice vinegar at the end.

So there, from @markscarbrough himself is some additional ways to change up Roasted Shrimp with Herbs.  My apologies to the boys for not capturing a glamor shot to rival what I saw on page 20 of Fine Cooking April/May 2011.  I was hungry and there was roasted shrimp with herbs to be eaten.

Bruce and Mark’s Roasted Shrimp with Herbs

Reprinted with permission

  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large fresh rosemary sprigs, halved
  • 1 1/2 pound extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Pour the oil into a 9×13 baking dish.  Add the thyme, rosemary, and pepper and bake until the oil is fragrant, about 12 minutes.

Add the shrimp to the dish and toss with tongs until coated.  Bake the shrimp until pink and firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar and salt to the shrimp, toss to combine, and let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes for the oil to cool slightly before serving.

{printable recipe}

Fish, Main Course, South Beach Diet

Flashback Friday – Miso Hungry

by Wendi1 Comment on Flashback Friday – Miso Hungry

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 12/29/08 at Exit 51.

Miso Hungry

Many years ago I used to subscribe to Cooking Light.  I wanted to cook light, really. Each month I would sit down and tag pages to remind myself to try this or that.  Sometimes I would follow through.  More often than not, the recipes went untried.  There were just too many to sort through and I ultimately began to drown in a sea of Cooking Light.  So I canceled my subscription.  But I held on to those magazines for ages with the hope that one day I would make good on my intentions.

Good intentions will only get you so far, and ultimately you need to cut your losses and move on.  It was in this manner that I broke up with Miso Glazed Salmon.  I think, no I know, that I made this dish and liked it.  But for reasons that I can’t recall, I never moved the recipe from the test pile to the keep pile.  And when the day came to cull the towering stack of pending recipes, Miso Salmon got the boot.

But memory is a fickle thing.  So after a trip to the store that resulted in 2 pounds of salmon and a tub of miso paste coming home with me, I went to dig out that recipe.  It was nowhere to be found.  How could I have let the Mister Right of recipes get away from me?  Clearly, I must not have been thinking rationally.  Why else would I have parted ways with one of the easiest, tastiest, guaranteed not to fail recipes I’ve ever had?

Fortunately, Miso Salmon did not hold a grudge because after one quick Google search, we were reunited.  Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but I’m not going to let this one get away again.  Try it yourself and you’ll see why.

Miso Glazed Salmon

Cooking Light

Notes:  The recipe calls for this to be broiled.  My irrational fear of the broiler will not allow this.  Instead, I cook it at 425 degrees.  Two pounds of salmon needed about twenty minutes in the oven.  Also, I think 2 tablespoons of soy sauce is too much.  So I mix everything else together and then add the soy sauce to taste.  I probably use more like 2 teaspoons, but you add as much as you like.  To make this a truly South Beach Friendly recipe, substitute Splenda Brown Sugar blend for the brown sugar.

  • 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
  • up to 2  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2  tablespoons  hot water
  • 2  tablespoons  miso (soybean paste)
  • 4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
  • Cooking spray
  • 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh chives

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Arrange fish in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon miso mixture evenly over fish.

Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting twice with miso mixture. Sprinkle with chives.

Main Course, Soup

Tomato Soup With A Twist

by Wendi4 Comments on Tomato Soup With A Twist

Last time on BAH, I discussed the various creative uses I have found for my canning jars.  So there’s some kismet to the fact that this post should come directly after it.  Yes, that is a  picture of soup in a jar.  That soup went from the pot on the stove, into that jar, and then got tucked into my lunch bag.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Adapted from Fine Cooking

BAH Note: I don’t see why you can’t roast the fennel along with the tomatoes and save yourself a step.  And the decision to leave the charred skins on the tomatoes is yours and yours alone…there’s no right or wrong answer.

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves roasted garlic
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon curry powder (optional)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.  Place the tomatoes on the pan, cut side down, and drizzle with half of the oil.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and roast until the skins are charred.

Once the tomatoes are removed from the oven and cooling, heat the remaining oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the sliced fennel and onion and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables soften and begin to brown.  Add the broth and scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the roasted tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and roasted garlic.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes before carefully processing the soup in a blender.

Return the soup to the dutch oven, add the coconut milk, and taste for seasoning.  Add kosher salt to taste and continue to cook until the soup is warmed through.

{printable recipe}