2012 Kitchen Bucket List Challenge: Roast Chicken

As part of my 2012 Kitchen Bucket List Challenge, I decided to take on roasting a chicken.

I was originally going to use Bethenny Frankel’s Boyfriend Chicken recipe, but then I decided it just had too many ingredients. I wanted a recipe that used salt, pepper and chicken. I found this one  by Thomas Keller. Thomas Keller is the chef behind two of the best restaurants in the United States.

This recipe is the exact opposite of almost every other roast chicken recipe I saw while perusing the internet. Most recipes suggest roasting the chicken at 350 degrees for an hour a half or two hours. Keller’s recipe cranks up the heat to 450 degrees for an hour. This leads to smoke and grease splatters inside the oven. A small price to pay for this awesome chicken.

Before I handled the chicken,I poured some salt and pepper into a bowl so I wouldn’t contaminate my salt and pepper shakers. The first steps are to rinse the bird, remove the sack of yuck from the inside cavity and then pay dry. I coated the bird inside and out with salt and pepper. Then the recipe said to truss the bird. Yep, had to look that one up on the internet. Basically it means tying it together so it cooks more evenly. Here’s a video that I found very helpful:

I tied it up and let it rest while I waited for the oven to pre-heat. This gave the salt sometime to work its magic. Into the 450 degree oven it went.

The spattering sounds started with the first 10 minutes.

Within the first 20 minutes,  wisps of smoke were escaping from the oven.

At 22 minutes, I turned on all the fans in the kitchen and started biting my finger nails.

At 40 minutes, the bird was turning a lovely golden brown.

At 55 minutes, I put a meat thermometer into the breast. It came out 170 degrees so I took it out of the oven.

 I used a basting brush to take the fat from the bottom of the pan and brush over the chicken. Then moved the chicken from the pan to a cutting board. It looked like this:

I did a little dance. The recipe recommended letting it rest for 15 minutes. Do not tent it with foil. If you want crispy skin – you cannot tent. The end result was a delicious, juicy roast chikcken.

2012 Kitchen Bucket List Challenge: What is Quinoa?

As part of the 2012 Summer Kitchen Bucket List Challenge , I decided to figure out quinoa.   Quinoa is usually considered a “whole grain”, but it is actually a seed and therefore, gluten free. The method to make it is very similar to making rice.

Quinoa's rise in popularity may be due to NASA. Some reports say NASA was looking for a nutrient rich "grain" to send to space and stumbled on quinoa - a staple in the Andes mountains. 

One news article  highlighted how the popularity of quinoa has led to a price increase in many of the areas that previously relied on it as a staple. For instance, in Bolivia, noodles have replaced quinoa in many people's diets. This has a big nutrional impact. At the same time, many people are returning to the country side to farm quinoa because now it is a sustainable profession.

For my culinary experiment with quinoa, I used Trader Joe’s Organic Tricolor Quinoa.

The directions are pretty simple. Rinse the quinoa in cold water. Bring the right ratio of water  and quinoa to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.

Quinoa does not have a strong flavor. A lot of recipes recommend using a flavorful liquid like a vegetable or chicken broth to cook it. I decided to just use water and then try to spice it up once it was cooked. I found this great recipe for Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls.

You basically make black beans with onion, garlic, chili powder and a  little cayenne pepper.  Prepare the quinoa according to the instructions, then add some cilantro and lime. The quinoa becomes the base of your bowl and then you add lettuce and the beans on top. 

  Instead of lettuce, I layered super greens (spinach, arugula, Swiss chard) in the layer between the beans and the quinoa. The heat from both wilted the greens just a little.  I loved how filling the dish was. The flavors reminded me of Mexico. I also liked how you could personalize depending on what people in your group like by adding salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc.

Overall, my experience with quinoa was a success. It's very easy to make and I will be replacing rice with it every now and then.

A new twist on lemonade

One of the best tips I picked up from a cooking class is to use dried lavender flowers to fancy up some lemonade. The lavender adds a floral aroma and a slightly sweet flavor.

An easy way to use it is to use brew some lavender to create a lavender lemonade.

 You just follow your favorite lemonade recipe (or the back of the Crystal Light box, in my case) except you replace the water with this:

1. Boil the amount of water needed for your lemonade

2. Add 1 - 2 TBSP of dried lavender depending on your taste to the boiling water.

3. Turn off the heat and allow the lavender to steep in the water. The longer you steep - the stronger the color and flavor will be. Lavender flowers impart a brown color so you may want to steep less unless you are using the pink lemonade mix.

4. Make the lemonade using the recipe.

One variation is to use half the water for your lemonade recipe to make a super concentrated mix. Then, when you are ready to serve - add back in half the amount of sparkling water or club soda. For instance, if you want a gallon of sparkling lavender lemonade - you only use half a gallon of water to make the mix. Then you add back in half a gallon of sparkling water/club soda when you are ready to serve.

Another variation is creating a lavender lemonade sorbet:

Lavender Lemonade Sorbet

4 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 lemon, zest of

1/4 cup lemon juice, fresh

2 -3 teaspoons lavender

Directions:

1.  Over medium heat mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes

3. Refrigerate 4 hours or until well chilled.

4. Strain mixture and pour into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you could put into Popsicle molds or add some ice and blend into a slushee.

How to make pasta from scratch

This week I attempted one of my 2012 Kitchen Bucket List : Making Pasta from Scratch.

Check out the video for the process.
NOTE: This is the first video my husband and I have filmed like this so be gentle! Also - if you grew up with homemade pasta - my methods may be a smidge different. I went for quick and easy.

I decided just to wing it. I had heard on a cooking show that you just take 100g of flour to one egg mix it, let it rest, and roll it out. That's exactly what I tried to do. I measured the flour into a bowl. It seems that everyone digs a hole in the middle for the egg and then stirs it around until the flour and egg combine. After I did that, I noticed that my dough seemed a little dry so I added olive oil until it came together. I kneaded it four or five times on the cutting board.  Then I let it put it back in the bowl with a towel on top while I assembled the ingredients for the pasta dish I was making:

Linguine with Chickpeas and arugula from Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine.

I didn't have arugula or lemons so I changed the recipe just a bit.

2 TBSP butter
1 red bell pepper - diced
1 can of chickpeas rinsed and drained
3 cloves of garlic - minced
1 tsp of dried pepper flakes (or to taste)
3 tsp of salt (2 tsp for the pasta water and 1 tsp for the dish)
Greens - anything Swiss chard, spinach, arugula. I like the super greens packages that supermarkets are carrying these days.
Grated Parmesan

It took me about 10 minutes to pull that together. Then I put a pot on medium high heat so that it would be close to boiling when I was ready for it. Also - set out your bowls. At the bottom of each bowl, place a handful of greens.

Then I took out the dough and began rolling it with a rolling pin. I rolled it until it was as thin as I could get it. I cut it into strips that were narrow enough to fit through the KitchenAid Pasta Attachment about about the length I wanted my noodles to end up.  Then I just fed it through - starting on setting one, then two, then three. At this point,  I switched to the cutting attachment and cut the pasta into noodles. I carefully laid the noodles side by side on the edge of a bowl so they wouldn't clump together.

Now, if you don't have a Kitchenaid don't worry. Just roll out the dough as thin as you can and use a knife or cookie cutter to make the noodles. Call them "rustic" and everyone will think you are a super chef!

While the pasta was drying out, I turned up the heat on my water and added 2 tsp of salt.  I sauteed the chickpeas and red peppers in the butter for about 5 - 7 minutes - until the peppers softened. I added the garlic. Now the water was boiling, I added the noodles. The noodles only take 2 - 3 minutes to cook. Seriously. You'll notice a slight change in the noodle's color. Use tongs or a strainer to take the noodles out of the boiling water and put it into the pan with the chickpeas. It's okay if some of the pasta water drips in - this will help make a little sauce. Add the pepper flakes and 1 tsp of salt. Stir everything together for a couple minutes. Take the pan off the heat. Spoon the mixture into your bowls and then add Parmesan to the top. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes before serving. This will allow the greens to wilt a little bit. 

This dish is great. The  dried peppers spice up the meaty chickpeas and the greens and peppers help balance both. The homemade noodles make a huge difference.

Storing the extra uncooked noodles: First you'll need to dry them out. I laid out each noodle on parchment paper or wax paper on my dining room for just over an hour. They will feel dry like the ones you get from the store. Place into a Ziploc bag and refrigerate or freeze.

Verdict: THIS WAS SO EASY! I feel silly having been intimidated for so long. I'll definitely be making more!

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Kumquats

Kumquat Salsa from Simply Recipes
Ingredients

2 cups chopped cleaned and thinly sliced kumquats

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Dash of cayenne pepper

Pinch of kosher salt

Method

Combine all ingredients. Add more or less red pepper and cayenne to desired heat. Let sit for 1 hour for the flavors to more fully blend.Makes about 2 1/2 cups of salsa.

Great served with steak or seafood such as halibut, black sea bass, or salmon.



Candied Kumquat Recipe from Simply Recipes
Print OptionsPrint (no photos)Print (with photos)

Ingredients

4 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 1-1½ lbs.)

1 cup of water

2 cups of sugar

Method

1 With a pairing knife roughly chop the kumquats. Discard any seeds you can that are easy to get too, but they're edible so don't fret if some get chopped up or stay in the fruit. Feel free to leave any small kumquats whole.

 Heat the water and sugar over high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add the kumquats and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 Drain the kumquats through a sieve set over a bowl. Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the syrup. Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup of the syrup together.

Serve or jar and refrigerate. Can be stored for up to two weeks.



Kumquat Mojito from Chowhound message boards

Tumbler


Muddler

7 or so mint leaves

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp fresh lime juice (1/2-1 lime)

1 1/2 oz light rum

4 kumquats quartered



Muddle the mint leaves with the sugar in the bottom of the tumbler. Toss in the kumquat slices and muddle some more. Pour in lime juice & rum and stir. Dump in some ice and top with club soda, place shaker cup on top, flip and shake gently to mix club soda, flip back and serve. Take a whole kumquat and cut a slit half way through and rest on the rim of the glass. Delicious and refreshing summer adult beverage!

2011 Cookbook challenge: Crockpot Coq Au Vin

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cookingis a great slow cooking cookbook. It evolved from Stephanie O'Dea's blog where she challenged herself to A Year of Slow Cooking- using her slow cooker every day to make healthy gluten free meals for her family. I really like this cookbook. The layout is straight forward and easy to read. She uses the slow cooker to make a lot of unconventional items such as desserts or drinks. This is a huge help when preparing a lot of dishes. Having the slow cooker, stove, oven and toaster oven all cranking at the same time definitely increases the chance that we will have everything ready to serve at the same time. She also gives a "verdict" on many of the recipes.

The recipe we tested as her Coq Au Vin recipe. The only modification was that we used dried thyme instead of fresh thyme.

Coq Au Vin

--6 to 8 frozen chicken thighs


--6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (I used turkey, but you could use PORK)

--8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms (they are right next to the regular mushrooms)

--1 cup baby carrots

--1 chopped yellow onion

--3 cloves chopped or minced garlic

--1/2 t black pepper

--1/2 t kosher salt

--1/2 cup chicken broth

--1 1/2 cup cheap red wine (you can use non-alcoholic wine, if you wish)

--2 large fresh thyme sprigs (I really think the fresh thyme is the key, here. Go steal some from your neighbors garden.)

The Directions.

Cook your bacon. I used turkey bacon, and baked it on a broiler pan. Dump the frozen chicken into your crockpot and start layering in the rest of the ingredients. This is really a no-fuss (albeit amazingly gourmetish) preparation. Just throw it all in.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. You could cook it on high for 4, but it won't taste as good. The flavors meld so nicely when cooked low and slow.

We served it over pasta. We both really enjoyed this recipe. We felt it needed a little more salt added at the end of finish it. The use of fresh thyme matters. It would have given the dish that subtle, but important extra kick of flavor so make the trip to the grocery store.  Next time, we will lightly sautee the mushrooms in the bacon fat. The mushrooms released a lot of water during the cooking that diluted some of the flavors.

Because chicken thighs are so cheap and this recipe is so easy, I can see this becoming a staple in our week work menu.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Breaded Pork Chops and Roasted Kohlrabi

Today's recipes come from Cooks.com and Girl's Gone Child.

MOM'S BREADED PORK CHOPS
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

4 to 6 pork chops (bone-in) or boneless pork loin chops 1/2-inch thick

2 c. crushed cracker crumbs

1/4 c. flour

3 tbsp. paprika

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. onion

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkle pork chops lightly with salt and pepper.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large plastic bag or bowl with lids. Add pork chops and shake.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour on a shallow sided baking sheet (like a cookie sheet) or until pork chops are tender and juices no longer run pink when poked with a fork.

I halved the recipe and used the boneless pork chops from the Omaha Steaks variety pack. I cooked it in the toaster oven since the regular oven was filled with the kohlrabi from the recipe below. These pork chops turned out really well. The breading had a great flavor and the pork was cooked very well. We will definitely make this again.


Roasted Kohlrabi
 (serves 4)

4 kohlrabi, peeled, sliced ¼ inch thick and cut in half

2-3 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Peel and slice kohlrabi into ¼ inch slices. Cut in half (if kohlrabies are big, cut in quarters). Mince garlic. Toss kohlrabi, garlic, and oil in a bowl with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and return to oven to brown for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

I have been struggling with what to do with the kohlrabi from our CSA. Girl Gone Child’s mom to the rescue! This is a fantastic recipe. It was full of flavor. I could have eaten bowl after bowl.

Overall, dinner was a winner!

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Curry Kohlrabi Carrot Soup

So I made up this recipe all by myself  after pursuing the interweb for some curry carrot soup concoctions:

1.5 lbs carrots
2 medium kohlrabi
8 cups chicken stock
4 Tbsp curry
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingrediants in a slow cooker.

THIS IS NOT A GOOD RECIPE.

It was full of heat and virtually no flavor. The carrots were not sweet enough to offset the cayenne. There was no fat to give the soup body. It does however, make a lot of soup that I am stuck trying to eat for the next week. So I had to figure out how to offset the heat to make it edible.

Here's some useful knowledge:  Acid and dairy offset heat. I added parmesan cheese which helped a little. I added some apple cider vinegar which helped a little and I am serving with a huge dollap of greek yogurt which helps a lot.  There you go - maybe my failure be your learning opportunity.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Chicken Adobo with Bok Choy

The February 2011 edition of Real Simple featured Chicken Adobo with Bok Choy. We had all the ingrediants in our fridge and it uses one of my favorite appliances: the slow cooker. I set everything up mid-morning on Sunday so it would be ready by halftime of the 4:00 pm game. It was great being able to just chill out and enjoy the game while everything cooked.

Ingredients


2 medium onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 bay leaf

black pepper

8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 3⁄4 pounds)

2 teaspoons paprika

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 large head bok choy, cut into 1-inch strips

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1.In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle with the paprika.

2.Cook, covered, until the chicken and onions are tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).

3.Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.

4.Ten minutes before serving, if the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. Gently fold the bok choy into the chicken and cook, covered, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

The Verdict - The chicken turned out very tender and moist, but this recipe does need dark meat to work. The sauce had good flavor, but was overly acidic. Next time I make it, I will lower the amount of vinegar and add red wine or stock.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Spiced Peanut Butter Cookies

I just couldn't resist trying this recipe: Wicked Good Peanut Butter Spiced Cookies from Tasty Kitchen. I was intrigued due to the minimal amount of flour and no butter. It was really easy to put together.

•1 cup Peanut Butter


•¾ cups Granulated Sugar Plus Extra For Sprinkling

•¼ cups Dark Brown Sugar (I used light brown sugar)

•1 whole Egg

•2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

•½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

•¼ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

•⅛ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg

•⅛ teaspoons Salt

•1 dash Coarse Sea Salt, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Using your mixer, mix on low for a few seconds then turn it up to medium until well blended. I used my hand mixer because I really wanted to try it out. If you don't feel like getting yours out, you could pretty easily combine all the ingrediants by hand.

Roll dough into balls with your hands. I use a big heaping tablespoon, because I’m too poor to buy a proper cookie scoop. I used the trusty melon baller and ended up with 18 cookies.

Place cookie balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. If you have a silicon baking mat, that works just dandy too. I used silicon.

Use a fork to flatten the balls slightly.

Lightly sprinkle the cookies with a little extra granulated sugar and sea salt. All the ridges you added with fork will help adhere the sugar and salt to the cookies. It also makes them look sparkly and pretty. Now this sea salt and sugar step - I don't think I accomplished. The cookies were not sparkly or pretty. The sea salt did not melt so I basically ended up with a large crystal of sea salt on top of the cookie.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and let stand on baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

The Verdict - These turned out very well. I ended up adding a little more salt to the top. The favors were well balanced. The lack of flour made for a rich dense cookie. We'll add this to the cookie line up.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp

I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website

Ingredients


•2 pounds Raw Shrimp, Deveined, Shells On

•2 sticks Cold Unsalted Butter Cut Into Pieces

•1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

•4 cloves Garlic, Peeled

•¼ cups Fresh Parsley

•½ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper

•1 whole Lemon, Juiced

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and red pepper. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

Bake until shrimp is opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

Serve with hot crusty bread. Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the butter in the bottom of the pan.

The reason I was attracted to this recipe is that the recipe is designed to use frozen shrimp. I am very good at having a stocked pantry and freezer. I am not so good at remembering to dethaw. The other great piece is that it uses peel-on, uncooked frozen shrimp. These are much cheaper than peeled, cooked shrimp and I can easily stock up when it is on sale.

I adjusted the recipe to use up the 1 pound of frozen shrimp we had left. I didn't have hot pepper flakes so it didn't end up spicy, but both my husband and I found it to be very good. Instead of crusty bread, I used whole wheat pasta to soak up the extra sauce. This made it more of an entree.

Overall - a very good, simple recipe that I will definitely make again.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Molasses Cookies

I got this recipe from author Stacey Ballis' blog: The Polymath Chronicles.  I had to bake 2 dozen cookies for a cookie swap so I decided to try it out. I followed the recipe exactly - except I didn't have lemon zest so I left that out.

Spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies


12 T unsalted butter

1 c dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 c molasses (robust or full flavor style)

Cream until blended.

Add:

1 T lemon zest

2 t baking soda

½ t salt

½ t ground white pepper

2 t cinnamon

1 T plus 1 t ground ginger

Blend well.

Sift 2 ¼ c flour and blend into mixture, which should make a fairly stiff dough. Roll balls of 1-2 T and roll in granulated sugar (cane sugar or raw sugar preferred for crunch).

Chill balls for 30 minutes.

Bake on parchment or silpat sheets on cookie sheets at 350 for 10-12 minutes…they will not look done, but should be slightly cracked, important to not overbake, or you will lose the wonderful chewy factor.

I wish the recipe had indicated how many cookies it makes. I had a little anxiety at the beginning wondering if I was going to have 2 dozen cookies at the end. I used our melon baller to measure out the dough balls and ended up with 32 cookies. Perfect - 24 for the cookie swap and 8 for us.

The directions were absolutely right about the cookies not looking done. I trusted the recipe and took the pan out after 10 minutes since cracks had appeared. It does indeed preserve the nice chewy quality.

I wouldn't call these spicy by any measure, but that could be because I left out the zest. My husband could notice the subtle ginger flavor, but I noticed the nice buttery flavor that complimented the molasses flavors.  Overall, a very good cookie with easy on-hand ingrediants that I will make again.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Candied Ginger

The recipe my husband used for our turkey brine called for candied ginger so I decided to make it myself. I have had the best luck and best value buying ginger at the Asian supermarket. Your local grocery store should carry it. At our Publix, it is with the fresh herbs.

This one comes from Alton Brown over at FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients


Nonstick spray

1 pound fresh ginger root  - The hardest part of this recipe is peeling the ginger.

5 cups water

Approximately 1 pound granulated sugar

Directions

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment.

Peel the ginger root and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices using a mandoline.

So, I tried to use the mandoline and it did not work. The ginger I had was too fiberous. I decided to just cut up the ginger into thin pieces. I cut the ginger root in half. Laid it flat and the just cut little half circles as thin as I could make them.

Place into a 4-quart saucepan with the water and set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 35 minutes or until the ginger is tender.

It is important to check to see if the ginger is tender and not just go by the time. The time will vary with stove top temperature and how thick you sliced the ginger.


Transfer the ginger to a colander to drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.

This measurement matters. I used too much water in my first try and the sugar ended up caramelizing before the water evaporated. No good.


Weigh the ginger and measure out an equal amount of sugar.  Yes, I actually weighed it. I trust Alton.

Return the ginger and 1/4 cup water to the pan and add the sugar. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar syrup looks dry, has almost evaporated and begins to recrystallize, approximately 20 minutes.

You have to stir, stir, stir. The sugar will become very dry and then start to come back together and the ginger will look like you dipped it in sugar.

Transfer the ginger immediately to the cooling rack and spread to separate the individual pieces. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the sugar that drops beneath the cooling rack and use to top ginger snaps, sprinkled over ice cream or to sweeten coffee

IT IS SO GOOD!! It's sweet, but spicy and definitely helps with digestion. I thought the process was pretty easy and I will be making it again.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Caramel Sauce

For 2011, one of my goals is try one new recipe per week - preferably from one of the cookbooks piled high on the shelf in the corner. However, to start things off I am going to review a couple recipes I got off the Internet. You know, as a warm up. I hope you'll join and post the recipes you are trying in your comments.

Caramel Sauce

This one comes from Ina Garten over at FoodNetwork.com


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir.

Here I had a problem. I just dumped the suage into the water and did not stir. That was wrong. You should stir the sugar and the water together at the beginning to ensure that the sugar dissolves into the water. You can tell the sugar is dissolving because the liquid will go from cloudy to clear. Once the liquid begins to clear up. That is when you should not stir.


 Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly.

As soon as the sugar mixture had a brownish color I turned off the heat because I was scared of it burning. This resulted in a sweeter caramel sauce.

 Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

And by solidify, she means you will have a hard chunk of what looks like brown glass in the middle of a pan of cream. Don't worry. This is right.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. It took me a little longer, but you'll be able to tell. It's when the hard chunk in the middle is melted into all of the cream.

Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

I struggled with how to store this until my husband had the brilliant idea to store in the empty 12-oz. Squeeze Bottles 3 pk. - Clear we keep for when we make simple syrups or sauces.   They were a great investment and made our brownies look extra fancy.

Overall the caramel sauce came out really really well. We have been eating gran smith apples covered in the stuff after we finished that tub of vanilla ice cream. It took about half an hour to forty minutes to make. This is not a recipe you can really walk away from because the sugar will burn so you do need uninterrupted cooking time. Enjoy!

Recipe: Swiss chard - Almond Pesto Pasta

Photo credit: Dan Robert, http://www.rachelraymag.com/

Yesterday for dinner I decided to test drive a recipe from the most recent Rachel Ray magazine. It was featured in the $10 spot - recipes for a family under $10. The original recipe was for Kale Walnut Pesto Pasta. 

I had rainbow swiss chard from our recent CSA pick up and smoked almonds from our Thanksgiving cheese plate so I decided to substitute. It turned out really well. I love the technique of turning greens into pesto. I had done it with spinach, arugula, and now swiss chard.

Here we go:

1 bunch of swiss chard - stems removed and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 smoked almonds or toasted almonds
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp hot sauce
Rotini pasta - these spiral are important because they hold the pesto really well

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add at least 2 pinches of salt. Put the chard in the water for 5 minutes.
Remove the chard with a slotted spoon. You are going to boil the pasta in the same water.
Place the chard in a colander and run under cold water until all the chard is no warmer than room temperature. Squeeze the chard to remove extra water. Pat dry.
Add your pasta to the water and cook until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, put the garlic and nuts into the food processor. Pulse until chopped.
Add the cheese.
Add the chard.
The mixture will look a little lit tabbouleh. Taste it and add the salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.
Continue to mix and drizzle in olive oil. The chard mixture will form a paste-like clump. You are done.
By now, the pasta should be done.
Reserve at least one cup of the water prior to draining.
Drain the pasta and return to the pot.
Add the clump of pesto. Add the reserved water until all the pasta is coated.

Enjoy!

Cooking for Isaiah

So I had plans. Big huge plans. I was going to cook a recipe from this cookbook and then post pictures of what I created next to the pictures from the book and it was going to be lovely and inspiring and you were going to buy the cookbook and make recipes too and then we would all be happy.

Then I substituted brown rice for arborio rice and my dreams were shattered. This is NOT, I repeat, NOT  a good substitution because brown rice isn't as starchy. This creates irreparable damage if you are trying to make risotto cakes, which I was. So instead we got a very flavorful bowl of brown rice. Oops.

BUT - that doesn't mean this cookbook isn't fantastic, because it is. It is the 100% best gluten free cookbooks I have ever seen. And it is now one of my top ten favorite cookbooks. I present you:


Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals by Silvana Nardone

The recipes are approachable, but not something you would think of yourself. She offers easy substitutions for gluten free flour or pancake mix and covers all parts of the meal. She also has pictures. I love pictures. They inspire, but also let you know if you are on the right track.

 This is a must buy, people. Give it to anyone you know with a gluten or dairy allergy or a commitment to good food. Just don't substitute brown rice for arborio rice. That is a BAD idea.

Recipe: Savory Swiss Chard Muffins

These muffins are great use of CSA greens. They are savory and make a great complement to a bowl of soup on a good day. I found them at the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website.  


Ingredients

3 cups Swiss Chard Green Leafs or Kale thinly sliced

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoons Curry Powder

1 cup Sour Cream (heaping Cup)

3 whole Large Eggs

1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese (heaping)

½ cups Bread Crumbs

½ teaspoons Baking Powder

Preparation Instructions

1. In a glass bowl (or any other microwave safe dish), combine Swiss chard, olive oil, salt and curry. Microwave for 2 minutes, until the greens wilt a bit and smell nice. Drain excess liquid.

2. In a different bowl, combine sour cream, eggs, cheese, bread crumbs and baking powder. Mix well and add the cooked greens. Mix well.

3. Divide mixture between 9 (preferably silicone) muffin pan cups or individual baking cups (oil well or line with paper cups if you are not using silicone) and bake in a 350F (about 180 Celsius) for 35 minutes.

Serve at room temperature or cold from the fridge. These should come out moist and juicy, so don’t overcook them. Next time, I plan to get myself a mini muffin pan and make miniature appetizers.

Hey Good Lookin'! Whatcha Got Cookin'? Hamburger Buns

I was shocked at how easy these hamburger buns were to make. Now I make them at least every 2 weeks.


Hamburger Buns

1 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 1/2 cups flour
1 package instant yeast

1 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)

Heat the milk, water, honey and butter until butter is melted. I usually put it in the microwave for 1 minute. The butter continues to melt. Once it is cool to 120F, you can carefully beat in the egg. Then let it cool some more.

Mix 2 cups of the flour , the yeast, salt and onion powder (optional) Mix into the milk mixture. Stir in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat well after each addition.

When the dough pulls together, (it will form a soft ball) turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take about 5 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces if you want large hamburger sized buns. More if you want smaller buns.

Shape into smooth balls, flatten slightly, and place on a silpat covered baking sheet.Let rise for 30 to 35 minutes.

When buns have almost doubled bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
You can brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse sea salt, or whatever you like.

Hey Good Lookin'! Whatcha Got Cooking? Candy Corn Infused Vodka

So today's recipe is all about vodka. I know - not exactly the best recipe for feeding your family, but very appropriate for feeding your family. I got the idea from Food Network Magazine. The originial recipe is found here.

The recipe used egg whites and I was a little skeeved out by that even though I think the acid in the lemon juice basically cooks them... Maybe??

Anyway - here we go.

"Infusing" vodka (or any liquid for that matter) - basically means soaking something in it for long enough that the flavor transfers to the vodka.

The ration for this recipe is 1/2 cup candy corn to 1 and 1/2 cups vodka. You see here I doubled it:



1 cup candy corn to 3 cups vodka



Just combine them in an airtight container and leave for at least 3 hours. I used a rubbermaid container and forgot about it for a couple days. The candy corn starts to disenigrate and takes on a slightly orange color and sweeter taste.

After you are done "infusing", you just pour the combination through a strainer and voila - you have candy corn vodka.

To make a candy corn martini - I combined:

2 parts candy corn vodka
1 part Triple Sec.
Shake in ice and the strain into a glass

Garnish with a candy corn and you are good to go! Happy Halloween!

Hey Good Lookin'! Whatcha Got Cooking? Taco Seasoning

Homemade taco seasoning


I found this great recipe for a homemade bland of taco seasoning. I tweaked it a bit and it turned out great.

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder (if you use garlic salt lower the kosher salt to 1/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want more heat)

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix together.

For a quick dinner - I cut up some onion and bell pepper, then tossed that in oil and the seasoning and sauteed.

We also had some leftover chicken so I cut that up, tossed in oil and seasoning and added to the pan as well. Heated through.

Then I added some cheese and rolled it up in a whole wheat tortilla. Super easy and pretty tasty!