Author: Wendi

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Flashback Friday – Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

by Wendi7 Comments on Flashback Friday – Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/19/08 at Exit 51.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

That endearing phrase is something that SFC says, usually as he’s shaming me in some card game or other.  But today I’m the big winner.  How’s that you might ask?  Because I just won an autographed copy of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook.  No fooling.

The Free Ranger’s over at washingtonpost.com had a copy to give away during today’s Food chat.  So my Ina-centric post was this:

Barefoot Contessa: Where HAS Ina been? She didn’t have any new BC shows on Food Network for ages.

Thanks for posting her Mustard Roasted Fish recipe today. Will we be getting previews of any other items in her new book?

Bonnie Benwick: She was just here 2 weeks ago, signing books at Sur La Table in Arlington. She does a new cookbook every 2 years. She renovated her barn/now kitchen. Be sure to read the Home section tomorrow for more about Ina.

I can tell you that the Brownie Pudding in that book is really, really great, and that Jane Black did a version of the turkey roulade she liked as well. Beseech Joe for that AUTOGRAPHED copy we’re giving away today!

And at the end of the chat, THAT post was the one they chose to get her book.  How freaking awesome.  Guess I will be looking for ways to South Beach the Brownie Pudding recipe that Bonnie mentioned.

Good thing I’ve been clearing out the cookbook collection at home.  I wouldn’t have had any room for her otherwise…..as if.

Sweets

Bluebarb Jam

by Wendi18 Comments on Bluebarb Jam

There ought to be a PSA for home canners – This is your kitchen on bluebarb jam.

Note to self, the next time you want to make seedless jam, try and think about it before the jam is cooked.  Because I bet it would be a helluva lot easier to put the berries in the food processor and then push that through a fine mesh sieve than the way I did it…which was to cook the jam and then spend an hour trying to force it through the sieve.  Yes, I know Ball says not to use the Cuisinart, that it can impact the gelling of the jam.  I know and I am willing to take my chances. In fact, I used the Cuisinart to make a mostly seedless version of this jam since the unfortunate incident pictured above.  And it worked just fine.

I’ve given this jam away to friends, neighbors, and family.  Most recently, I sent my father in law back to Florida with a 4 ounce jar when he was visiting this spring.  He called me a few weeks later to say it was his favorite jam ever and he might have to schedule another trip in order to get resupplied.

In case you were wondering, this is the other half of the lemon/blueberry sauce combo.

Do you really need another reason to make this?

Bluebarb Jam

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving

BAH Note: I got a solid 6 cups out of this recipe.  Please note that you should have your water bath at nearly a full boil and all your jars and supplies prepped and ready to go before you start the jam because this jam is super quick to cook.  I got a little creative when I realized the jam would not cook long enough for the fruit to really break down and I chose to ignore the instruction to roughly chop my blueberries (as if).  Once I had added the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin, I gave the pot a good turn or two with my immersion blender.  If you’re a stickler for the rules, ignore that suggestion and go ahead and chop your blueberries…just don’t ask me to wash your cutting board.

  • 3 1/2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 box dry fruit pectin
  • 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Place the rhubarb and water in a large stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the blueberries, lemon juice, and pectin to the pot.  Stir to thoroughly combine.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the mixture to smooth out the texture and break down the fruit.

Add the sugar and bring the jam to a boil, stirring constantly, letting it reach a hard boil for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat, ladle the jam into heated jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, and process for 10 minutes.

Let the jars cool for 24 hours before checking the seal and storing the jars. Any jars that have not sealed should be refrigerated or immediately reprocessed using new lids.

{printable recipe}

Uncategorized

Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

by Wendi17 Comments on Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

Once I finally bought a pot large enough to boil more than seven quarts of water at a time, I wanted to jump into canning.  The problem was that in our teeny, tiny house, there’s not a lot of room to store the stuff we already have, let alone the stuff that I want to can.  I convinced The Mistah to clean off a shelf in the basement for the canning supplies to live on.  But I still don’t have a great place to store the jars that are filled and sealed.  I see a trip to IKEA in my future to add another shelf to our IVAR system for the exclusive use of jams, pickles, and chutneys.

Fortunately, I made no promise to The Mistah that canning would ever save us any money.  But when he asks why I need to go out and buy a new shelf, especially since we got rid of a bunch of them just a few years ago, I’m going to hand him a jar of jam without saying a word.  The jam speaks for itself folks.

Gingered Rhubarb Jam with Honey

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving

BAH Note: This book has been my canning salvation.  The recipes are all geared towards small batch production which suits my style perfectly.  I thought the Gingered Rhubarb came out tasting more strongly of honey with a gingered undertone.  It was a great addition to my steel cut oats in the morning but could also be used with pork, chicken, or biscuits.  I use a 5.5 quart dutch oven to make my jams and wouldn’t recommend using a pot any smaller than that.  I was able to get seven 4-ounce jars out of this recipe which is as close to the 3 1/4 cup yield stated in the book as I could hope to get.

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped
  • 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely diced

Place the rhubarb, apple, water, and lemon zest into a large stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the fruit is tender.

Add the sugar, honey, ginger, and lemon juice.  Raise the heat and boil uncovered, stirring frequently, until the mixture gels, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Ladle the jam into heated jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, and process for 10 minutes.  Let the jars cool for 24 hours before checking the seal and storing the jars. Any jars that have not sealed should be refrigerated or immediately reprocessed using new lids.

 {printable recipe}

Main Course

Flashback Friday – Some Assembly Required

by Wendi10 Comments on Flashback Friday – Some Assembly Required

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/19/08 at Exit 51.

Some Assembly Required

That phrase has gotten such a bad reputation thanks to our collective experiences putting together Barbie Dream Houses or Huffy Bikes or anything bought at IKEA.  I will admit that just seeing those words sends an icy chill through me…do I want it enough to figure out how it goes together?  Often, the answer is no.  But sometimes, not only is it worth it to say yes but the assembly is actually easy. I’ll give you an example.

I have a recipe for foolproof Shrimp Salad from Cook’s Illustrated.  From start to finish the whole thing takes maybe thirty minutes.  But I was feeling a bit lazy one day and didn’t even want to do that much cooking.  So instead of cooking the shrimp myself, I let the nice man at the Wegman’s seafood counter take care of that for me.  He didn’t seem to mind one bit.  And really, they know how to do shrimp.  I highly recommend using their court bouillon (plain) shrimp and their garlic/old bay shrimp.

All I had to do then was introduce Wegman’s shrimp to Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe.  It only took a few moments for everyone to be mixing and mingling in my big glass bowl.  They got along great and I was sad to see them go (onto other people’s plates that this).

Don’t think that you have to use fancy schmancy store cooked shrimp though.  Whether you cook your own or outsource it like I did, this is some assembly that you won’t mind.

Foolproof Shrimp Salad

From Cook’s Illustrated

CI Notes:  This recipe can also be prepared with large shrimp (26/30); the cooking time will be 1 to 2 minutes less. The shrimp can be cooked up to 24 hours in advance, but hold off on dressing the salad until ready to serve. The recipe can be easily doubled; cook the shrimp in a 7-quart Dutch oven and increase the cooking time to 12 to 14 minutes. Serve the salad on a bed of greens or on a buttered and grilled bun.

Serves 4

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21-25), peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice plus 1 additional tablespoon, spent halves reserved
5 sprigs fresh parsley leaves plus 1 teaspoon minced parsley leaves
3 sprigs fresh tarragon leaves plus 1 teaspoon minced tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns plus ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
Table salt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 small shallot , minced fine (about 2 tablespoons)
1 small stalk celery , minced (about 1/3 cup)

1. Combine shrimp, 1/4 cup lemon juice, reserved lemon halves, parsley sprigs, tarragon sprigs, whole peppercorns, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt with 2 cups cold water in medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and cook shrimp, stirring several times, until pink, firm to touch, and centers are no longer translucent, 8 to 10 minutes (water should be just bubbling around edge of pan and register 165 degrees on instant-read thermometer). Remove pan from heat, cover, and let shrimp sit in broth for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, fill medium bowl with ice water. Drain shrimp into colander, discard lemon halves, herbs, and spices. Immediately transfer shrimp to ice water to stop cooking and chill thoroughly, about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from ice water and pat dry with paper towels.

3. Whisk together mayonnaise, shallot, celery, remaining tablespoon lemon juice, minced parsley, and minced tarragon in medium bowl. Cut shrimp in half lengthwise and then each half into thirds; add shrimp to mayonnaise mixture and toss to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.

Dessert, Sweets

Luscious Lemon Sauce

by Wendi17 Comments on Luscious Lemon Sauce

When I served that divine Kerrygold Shortbread, I topped it with a lemon/blueberry sauce.  Here’s the lemon half of that combo.  I’ve never made lemon curd before but my guess is that this is a simpler sauce that gives a similar end result.  Straight from the refrigerator, it is firm but quickly melts into hot dishes like my morning oatmeal.  More often than not, it goes straight from the jar into my mouth.  I try not to judge…you really shouldn’t either.  At least not until you’ve tasted this sauce.

Lemon Sauce

Adapted from One Perfect Bite

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter

Whisk together the egg, water, lemon juice, and zest in a small saucepan.  Place over medium heat and whisk in the sugar.  Add the butter and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.  The sauce can be served warm or at room temperature.  Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator.

{printable recipe}

Baking, Sweets

Kerrygold Shortbread

by Wendi16 Comments on Kerrygold Shortbread

I don’t often pull the “you really need to use a specific brand” card here.  Today, I’m laying that card squarely on the table.  Because while most of the time I find that attitude to be rather condescending…not that I’m naming names Martha or Ina…it is true that the quality of your ingredients effects your final results.  Especially when you are making a dish that has a small number of ingredients, you notice things.  Like when the butter you use for shortbread is boringly blah.

99.99% of the time, when I reach for a stick of butter, I’m grabbing Land o’ Lakes or the store brand, whichever happened to be on sale.  Usually that’s ok because butter doesn’t typically play a prominent role in my cooking.  If my cooking were the first Harry Potter movie, butter would have played the role of Diagon Alley Boy.  It’s because butter is usually a minor supporting cast member that every so often I get to pull out the really good stuff and let it be the star.  Because you know even Diagon Alley Boy’s understudy aspires to play the role of Severus Snape.

So when a recipe calls for Butter (with a capital B), I pull out my special stash of Kerrygold.  It is richer, creamier, and more buttery than the pale yellow sticks of butter (lowercase b) that get most of the action in my kitchen. Yes, you might have to look a little harder in your grocery store to find it, but I bet you it’s there.  And if you’ve gone to the trouble of putting one block of it in your cart, why don’t you go ahead and just get a few more?  Once you taste what the folks at Kerrygold wrap in that gold foil, you’re going to want to find more reasons to pull out the good stuff.

I suggest you start with Kerrygold Shortbread.  Served with a dollop of Lemon Sauce, Blueberry Jam, or a combination of the two, it is buttery perfection, minimalist style.

Kerrygold Shortbread

Adapted from Kerrygold

BAH Note:  I think I should have popped the uncooked shortbread into the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking.  When I removed it from the oven, I had a noticeable amount of butter leakage on my sheet pan which is a pretty good indication that my dough was too warm when it went into the oven.  It didn’t make the shortbread any less enjoyable; it just meant the bottom of my tart pan was icky.  When you score the dough, go a little deeper than you think you need to.  The dough will puff in the oven which tends to obliterate light score marks.

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 8 ounces cold Kerrygold Irish Butter, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a sheet pan with parchment or aluminum foil and set aside.

Place the flour, cornstarch and salt in the work bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine then add  1/2 cup of the sugar and continue to mix for another 30 seconds.  Add the cubed cold butter and continue mixing for about 2 minutes or until crumbs form and there is no loose flour in the bowl.  Add in the vanilla and continue to mix for about 30 seconds until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl in large clumps.

Transfer the dough to a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom.  Use your hands to press the dough into the pan as evenly as possible to a thickness of 1/2 inch.  Smooth the top of the dough with a plastic bench scraper or thin metal spatula then use the scraper or a sharp knife to score the dough into 12 wedges.  Use a fork to dock the dough every 2 inches and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top of the dough.

Refrigerate the dough at this point for 30 minutes to let it firm back up before baking.  When you put the dough in the refrigerator, heat your oven to 300 degrees.

When ready to bake, place the tart pan on the prepared sheet pan and bake for approximately 1 hour or until the top is lightly golden brown.  Immediately use a sharp knife to cut completely through the score lines.  Allow the the shortbread to cool completely in the pan before removing the bottom and separating the cookies into wedges.  Store in an airtight container.

{printable recipe}

Dessert, Sweets

Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

by Wendi5 Comments on Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/13/08 at Exit 51.

Notes On A Recipe – Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

Rounding out the Fast Food @ Home recipes I tried last week was a baked chocolate mousse cake.  Since going on South Beach, I haven’t made dessert.  That chocolate covered candy crack I made for SFC’s birthday does not count.  Nothing counts on birthdays.

Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

So after months of no cakes or pies or cookies or any sort of homemade treats, I was ready to give baking another try.  I did modify the original recipe to substitute butter blend for the butter and Splenda for the sugar.  Funny thing about Splenda, it dissolves immediately in water.  Not at all like sugar.  Kinda freaky.

Splenda freakiness aside, this recipe is a breeze.  Mix “sugar” and water, boil, add “butter”, once melted add chocolate, stir well to combine and let cool.  Whisk eggs and spices.  Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture.  Do be sure not to overmix so as to avoid little air bubbles in your cake.  Bake in water bath.  C’mon, it does not get much easier than this.

Feel free to add other flavors too.  I love spicy chocolate so I added a bit (maybe 1/8th of a teaspoon) of chili powder to the batter.  Just enough to give it a little heat.  And since coffee really seems to bring out the flavor of chocolate, I threw in a teaspoon of espresso powder as well.  It only sounds scary.  I promise, it tastes good.

The recipe says to bake for 55 minutes to one hour.  I guess if I had a proper roasting pan to use for my water bath that might have been accurate.  But I don’t.  So I used the widest pot that I have.  I think it’s about 6 quarts, short but wide.  Let’s just say that if I had more than a half an inch of space between my 9″ cake pan and the sides of my pot, and if my water bath was greater than one cup of liquid, then maybe it would take almost an hour to cook.  But in my ghetto version of a bain-marie, that cake was done in 45 minutes.  No foolin.  That’s a good thing because all but about a tablespoon of my water had evaporated.  See how close I came to complete oven disaster?

Don’t be in a hurry to eat this cake once it comes out of the oven because it really does need to cool completely before you turn it out onto a plate.  Your patience will be rewarded with is a dense, intense chocolate treat.

Cinnamon-scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake

From “The Modern Baker,” by Nick Malgieri

  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, plus more for buttering the pan
  • 14 ounces bittersweet (but not unsweetened) chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 7 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan, 2 inches deep, and line the bottom with a disc of parchment or buttered wax paper cut to fit. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. At the boil, add the cut-up stick of butter and stir occasionally until the butter is completely melted.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Swirl the pan to submerge all the chocolate in the hot liquid. Let the mixture stand for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and cinnamon to break them up. Whisk in the chocolate mixture in a stream, taking care not to over-mix, or the batter will be riddled with bubbles and not bake to a smooth texture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Place the cake pan in another larger pan, such as a small roasting pan, and place it on the oven rack. Pour in warm water to come halfway up the side of the cake pan.

Bake the cake until it is set, slightly firm and no longer liquid in the center, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove the large pan from the oven, being careful not to tilt it, which would cause hot water to slosh out of it. Place it on the work surface and use oven mitts and a wide spatula to remove the cake pan from the hot water. Cool the cake pan on a rack.

Unmold the cake onto a platter. If the cake has cooled for a long time, it might be necessary to heat the bottom of the pan to slightly loosen it. Cut the cake into wedges and serve it with some sweetened whipped cream.

The cake is best just cooled to room temperature and not refrigerated before it is served. If you must prepare it prior to the day you intend to serve it, refrigerate it, wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month. Bring it to room temperature for several hours before serving.

Fish, Main Course

Paprika Roasted Salmon

by Wendi16 Comments on Paprika Roasted Salmon

I’ve spent the better part of an hour writing, deleting, and rewriting something to accompany this recipe.  To be blunt, I’ve got nothing.  Heck, I don’t even have a photo of the Paprika Roasted Salmon.  But don’t let any of that stop you from trying Paprika Roasted Salmon.

Paprika Roasted Salmon

Adapted from McCormick & Co.

BAH Note:  The original recipe, which was an add in Fine Cooking magazine, called for the salmon to first be marinaded for 30 minutes in a mix of orange juice, olive oil, and thyme leaves.  I’m sure that would be lovely if you were so inclined to give it a try.

  • 4 salmon fillets
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (I heart Penzy’s Chili 9000)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

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

Combine the sugar, paprika, chili powder, cinnamon, orange zest, and salt in a small bowl.  Use a fork, or your fingers, to thoroughly combine the spices.

Place the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet and rub the spice mixture into the salmon.  Roast for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish, until it easily flakes with with fork.

{printable recipe}

Chicken, Main Course

Chicken and Mushrooms

by Wendi22 Comments on Chicken and Mushrooms

The Mistah has this habit that drives me kinda batty.  When we sit down to eat, he’ll say, “So tell me about this”.  I know this is his way of expressing interest but what I want to say most of the time in response is, “It’s a hot plate of food, now hush up and eat before it gets cold”.

When I served up Chicken and Mushrooms, I jumped ahead in our usual script.  As I handed him his plate, I said “It’s chicken and sauce.”  You see, another peculiar habit is his fascination with ‘sauce’.  Doesn’t really matter what kind, he’s into sauce.  And if a dish isn’t served with some, he’ll go rooting around in the refrigerator to see if there isn’t something of the sauce variety that he can put on his plate.  This has seriously led to more than one uncomfortable silence at the table after he’s doused something in soy sauce.

So it really didn’t matter what else I said.  Sauce was the magic word he needed to hear.

Chicken and Mushrooms

Adapted from Melissa d’Arabian

BAH Note:  This is one of those dishes that tastes even better the next day.  You might want to just go ahead and make a double batch to make sure you have some tasty leftovers.

  • 2 pounds bone in chicken thighs, skin removed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 teaspoon herbs de provence
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dry the chicken with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat half of the oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat.  Brown the chicken on both sides, working in batches if necessary.  Transfer the browned chicken to a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the pot and cook the onions until they begin to soften.  Add a quarter cup of the chicken broth to get any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and flour to the mushrooms and onion and cook for a few minutes.  Add the wine and deglaze the pot.  Return the chicken to the pot and add the and herbs de provence and the remaining chicken broth.  It should come almost to the top of the chicken.  Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven.  After 25 minutes, remove the lid and continue to cook another 25 minutes.

Carefully remove the pot from the oven and transfer the chicken to a plate.  Set the pot over high heat and reduce the sauce until it thickens a bit.  Turn the heat off and gradually add some of the sauce into the sour cream until it is loose.  Add the sour cream mixture into the pot and stir to combine.

Return the chicken to the pot, coat thoroughly with the sauce, and serve over noodles.

{printable recipe}

Main Course, South Beach Diet

Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobolise

by Wendi6 Comments on Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobolise

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 11/12/08 at Exit 51.

Notes On A Recipe – Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobolise

Last week ended much the same way it began…by not having an important ingredient for something I had planned to make.  Even after I pledged that I would cross check my grocery list against my menu, I ended up not having any chocolate for the Cinnamon Scented Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake. But I was determined to give both of the Fast Food @ Home recipes a try, even if it meant another trip to the store.  I’d have to say that I’m pretty glad I did.  Because this was one fabulous meal. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Notes on a Recipe Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobolise” →