Southern Saute

One of the nice things about living in the south is the long growing season. Our CSA is able to deliver produce year-round. These days, we're getting lots of leafy greens and root vegetables. Recently, we got a nice big bunch of collards. Despite growing up in the South, I've never particularly liked collards. I think that's because all the collards I grew up with were boiled to the point of becoming mush. I figured there had to be another way to eat collards. I started playing around, and this is what I came up with.

Psycling and I both really liked this. It made for a nice one-dish meal, and was fairly quick and easy to pull together.

While it's actually more of a braise, I like the alliteration of "Southern Saute." This was really good. Turns out I like collards after all :-)

Southern Saute
(makes about 3 servings)

5-6 strips of bacon
1 Onion, vertically sliced
1 Bunch collards, coarsely chopped
~3/4 c. chicken broth
1 c. soaked black eyed peas
2 c. hot cooked rice (I used brown rice)
Hotlanta Hot Sauce (or Tobasco)

1. Cook bacon inlarge skillet. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Crumble into bacon bits.

2. Pour off all but about 2-3 tsp. of bacon grease. Add onion, and saute until getting tender. Add collards, and sautee for a copule of minutes, until leaves are coated in bacon grease and just starting to wilt. Add chicken broth; cover and cook until broth is absorbed, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add black eyed peas, and cook, stirring, until beans are warmed through.

To serve, put about 2/3 c. of rice in a bowl. Top with about 1/3 of collard mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits and drizzle with hot sauce to taste.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash "Lasagna"

I got the idea for this dish when I was looking for something fun to do with the butternut squash we got in our CSA bag. As I was browsing through various recipes, I noticed lots of black bean and butternut squash combos. I decided to see what I could do with it. I ended up with a yummy and filling vegetarian entree.

I was planning on doing either tacos or buritos or something along those lines, but this is one of those dishes that just evolved as I was making it, based on the things things I had on hand. I'm glad I made this "lasagna style." It worked really well, and was quite tasty. Psycling and I both went back for seconds. The spiciness of the pepper jack cheese complimented the sweetness of the squash, which was enhanced by the hint of cloves. This lasagna makes for a filling vegetarian main dish, and

Black Bean and Butternut Squash "Lasagna"

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeds scooped out, and cut into ~1/2" pieces
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 c. vegetable broth
2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
10-12 small corn tortillas (depending on the size of your dish)
1 1/2 c. grated pepper jack cheese

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until soft. Add garlic, squash, and spices and cook about 30 seconds.

2.) Add vegetable broth to skillet and cook, covered until liquid has evaporated and squash is tender (add more vegetable broth if needed to get squash to desired softness). Add beans to skillet and cook until heated through.

3.) Grease a baking dish (I used a smaller one, about 8 x 11, but a 9 X 13 would work too) with cooking spray. Cover bottom of dish with tortillas, tearing them if necessary to fit. Spoon half of the bean mixture over tortillas, and sprinkle with 1/2 c. cheese. Place another layer of tortillas on top of this. Add rest of bean mixture, and sprinkle with another 1/2 c. of cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas.

4.) Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for another 5 minutes until cheese melts.

Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry, no pictures because 1) I'm lazy and 2) the software we use to upload them crashes Psycling's new computer. We're working on fixing that...

I'm Alive! With a Recipe!

Not that you'd know it from this poor neglected blog, but I am still alive, and I have been cooking. The cooking has been much less time and labor intensive since the arrival of LC, but I'm working on getting back in the groove.

I have been planning our meals around the wonderful produce in our CSA. Since we often get the same things several weeks in a row as they hit their peak harvest, it's forced me to cook outside the box, and find new and creative ways to prepare veggies. Tonight, we we had Margarita Fish Tacos with Chipotle-Lime Mayo to use our arugula, and I wanted to make a side dish with our green beans (It seems like we've been eating green beans for months...and they're still coming!). Regular old steamed green beans can be kinda boring, and I wanted to find some way to tie the green beans in with the rest of the meal. So I did what I do best and I started playing. The resulting Chipotle Green Beens were surprisingly good.


Chipotle Green Beans (all amounts approximate)

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp. adobo sauce from canned chipotle chilis

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add green beans, and season with salt and pepper, cumin and chili powder. Saute for about a minute. Add water, cover, and steam for about 3 minutes or until crisp tender. Uncover, and cook until water boils off. Add adobo sauce and tomatoes and cook until mixed and tomatoes begin to soften and brown.

As I was making this, I was skeptical. I was planning on giving Psycling my standard disclaimer that this was an experiment and I wouldn't be offended of he didn't like it. But they were actually really good. I like using the saute/steam method for green beans because the sauteing really brings out the flavor, and the steaming gets them to just the right texture. I also really like adding tomatoes to my green beans. The flavors work well together, and they provide a nice visual contrast as well. The cumin (one of my favorite spices), chili powder, and adobo sauce were surprisingly good on the beans, and this made for a perfect side dish to our fish tacos.

Now...I just need to figure out what to do with the billionth bag of green beans we got today. And the arugula. Apparently it's arugula season. Any ideas?

A 9/11 Remembrance: Baking a Little Love into the World

On September 11, 2001 I was 23 years old, one year out of college, and working as an analyst with the Department of Defense just north of Washington DC. I remember that day like it was yesterday -- the intensity of the fear, the profound sadness, the confusion, and the incomprehensibility of what had happened.

I'd gotten into work early that day, by 8:00, which was highly unusual for me. I answered the phone when one of my co-workers (who was on leave that day) called in to say "Turn on CNN, someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." I remember thinking it must have been an inexperienced pilot who lost control of his little plane when out flying. It NEVER occurred to me that someone had intentionally flown a plane into the WTC with the intent to cause as much death and destruction as possible.

The one TV for our entire office was in my cubicle area, and I went and got someone who knew how to turn it on (with the way it was set up, you practically needed an advanced degree to turn the dang thing on!). When I saw what was really happening, that this was not an unfortunate accident, but rather a terrorist act, my jaw dropped. As word spread around the office, more co-workers trickled into the area, and before long, the entire office was standing around the television watching in a stunned silence, trying to comprehend what was happening.

I remember calling Psycling, who was a grad student at UMD at the time, and I asked him "are you watching the news?" He said he'd been trying to get to the CNN website for his daily news check, but assumed the server was down because the page wasn't loading. Then I told him what was happening. He and his friends found a television and joined the rest of the nation as we watched events unfold.

I remember watching CNN, a journalist reporting live from the Pentagon, when the third plane hit there. I remember hearing the fear and confusion in his voice (his initial assessment was that "a bomb just went off here at the Pentagon"). And I remember the intense fear I felt at that moment. This was not an isolated event in New York City, this was national. And it was happening near me. And they were targeting Defense facilities in the Washington DC area. And there I was, working in a Defense facility in the Washington DC area. It didn't take very long for me to realize "IT COULD HAPPEN HERE!!!" The fear I felt at that realization was deeper and more intense than any other I had ever felt up until then, or since. My legs were shaking, I was feeling nauseous.

At that point I decided to go home. I wasn't getting any work done, and I knew I wouldn't the rest of the day. We were all just standing around the television, and I figured I could do that much more safely from my apartment. After shutting down my computer and locking up my work space, I practically ran out of the building. And then I got outside, where the perfect fall weather seemed so eerily at odds with what was happening in the world. It was warm for September, sunny, with bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and just a hint of red and yellow dotting the green trees that lined the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

I got home and Psycling arrived not too long afterwards, as did my roommate, who also worked for the DoD. It turns out they evacuated the facility. We were out of work for three days, as the powers that be figured out what was going on, and made sure everything was safe.

The next day, I was so overwhelmed with the death and destruction that I could not bring myself to continue watching the non-stop news coverage; I did not want to be continually bombarded with the image of the planes hitting the towers. As it is, that is something that is seared into my brain forever. Amid all this craziness, sadness, hatred, evil, I needed to do something good; I needed to create, to prove to myself that good can and will triumph over evil, and we will get past this. Not knowing what else to do, I baked. I'd recently been to a wedding where the favors were heart-shaped cookie cutters attached to a recipe for sugar cookies. Hearts represent love, and to me, love was the antithesis of the evil and hatred that perpetuated these terrorist attacks. Baking these heart shaped cookies was my way of saying "F$*K YOU" to the terrorists, of saying that despite this horrible thing that you have done, you HAVE NOT WON!! Because I still have love and soul and passion and those cannot be taken away. And those things will over come in the end.

This year, the 9/11 anniversary has hit me harder than it has in recent years. I had a hard time falling asleep last night, as the images and feelings of that day played through my head like a movie. And I knew what I had to do. I had to make cookies.

I still believe that in the end, love and compassion will win out. I have to believe that. So today was spent doing what I love with the people I love.

When I woke up this morning, Psycling agreed to watch LC while I got busy in the kitchen. I couldn't find my original sugar cookie recipe (I tore through all my folders of recipes looking for it), so I looked for a comparable one, one that uses confectioners sugar instead of granualted sugar, and includes Cream of Tartar. None of my cookbooks had an acceptable recipe, and couldn't find one on Epicurious either. So I turned to my friend Google, and after some searching found this recipe.

These cookies came out really well. They were soft and chewy; sweet but not overly so. In essence, exactly what I wanted in my sugar cookies. I baked these cookies in remembrance and honor of all who lost their lives or their loved ones on 9/11, and as an outward display of my faith that the goodness that is inherent in humanity is stronger than evil and hatred. What better way to demonstrate that than to share the love. So we took the entire batch of cookies into Psycling's lab at school to feed hungry grad students.

I may not be saving the world, but at least I can bake a little love into it.



INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Daring Bakers: Better Late than Never

Though I'm not officially "back" from my Daring Bakers maternity leave, but the August challenge, Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé (hosted by Meeta and Tony), was calling my name. Besides, cooking and baking are things I enjoy, and getting back into the kitchen, even though it takes a lot more time and planning than it did before the Littlest Chef arrived, I feel less stressed and overwhelmed after some good kitchen time. So I made it work, but I couldn't have done it without Psycling (who is Super Dad) helping out with LC.


Eclaires are something that I have been wanting to try for a long time, so this seemed like the perfect excuse! This particular recipe is great for chocoholics like Psycling and me. In addition to the traditional chocolate glaze on top, they are filled with a chocolate pastry cream as well. Since I had to fit this baking project in between LCs feedings, I had to break it up and make each component separately (the choux, pastry cream, chocolate sauce, and glaze), then assemble them later.

I noted that the recipe stated that the choux could be made in advance, shaped, and then frozen. So I made that first:


While Psycling took Thea and LC for a walk, I had *just* enough time to make the choux and get it piped out onto some parchment and into the freezer. I've never made a choux before and it took a couple of tries to get it right. The first time, something seemed off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't behaving the way the recipe said it should. So...I grabbed Psycling's laptop and went to the DB forums to see if anyone else had trouble with the choux (something I probably should have done *before* starting to cook), and saw that a few people had trouble with the choux leaking oil. I saw their pictures and they looked how mine was starting to look. It seems that this is the result of the milk/water mixture not being at a full, rolling boil before adding the flour. So I tossed that batch and started over. This time, I made quite sure that the liquids were at a rolling boil before adding the flour. This attempt seemed to go much better, though I was still a little nervous because a crust never formed on the bottom of my pan like the recipe said it would.

Then I went to pipe out the dough. The recipe called for using a 2 cm tip to pipe the dough into little fingers, but the largest tip I had was 1.5 cm. So, I went with it, and decided we'd just have mini eclaires. After I piped out the dough, I stuck the baking sheets in the freezer. The next day, I transfered all the little frozen choux-fingers to a zip lock freezer bag for use later.


The next day, while Psycling was holding a fussy baby, I made the chocolate sauce, which would be used in the glaze. It was pretty straight forward, and there was no real trouble there. But, it was quite yummy! We have a fair amount left over, which other DBs say is really good in chocolate milk. I'll have to give that a try!


Then I made the pastry cream, which for me ended up as more of a pudding. But it still worked, it was just thicker than I expected it to be. I have to admit to taking a little shortcut...LC was getting increasingly fussy and hungry, so I needed to finish up so I could feed him. So, I didn't strain the mixture after tempering the eggs and before putting it back on the heat. Fortunatley, everything worked well, and there were no scrambled eggs in my pastry cream. Once the pastry cream was finished, Psycling helped by "cleaning" the chocolate-covered bowls, spoons, and whisks, and I took over baby duty.

We were planning on unloading these eclaires at a labor day cook out with some friends, so on Monday, I skipped my normal afternoon nap (they say you should sleep when the baby sleeps, but that's surprisingly difficult sometimes) to bake and assemble the eclaires.


While the choux was baking, I made the glaze. It was very easy and stright forward, and also very yummy. It was basically a ganache thinned with the chocolate sauce I'd made the day before. I was a little worried about how the choux would bake up. I know that several of the DBs had trouble with the pastry either collapsing, or just not puffing at all. Because mine were smaller, they needed less cooking time than the reicpe called for, but in the end, I was very happy with how well the puffed up.


See? Nice and puffed and golden, just like they're supposed to be!

Then it came time for assembly. I sliced each eclaire in half and piped on some of the pastry cream.


I then dipped the top in the glaze, and placed it on top, then put them in the fridge until time to eat. They were a big hit at the cook out, with some guests stationing themselves next to them and just eating one after the other. There were hardly any left by the time we left, but with so many volunteers to take home any left overs, we just left them there. I would bet there weren't any left overs to take by the time all the guests left.


The verdict: these eclaires were really good, and fairly straight forward to make. I also liked it that this was a recipe that could easily be broken up and made in stages, making it easier to complete it, even if your life is controlled by the feeding schedule of a new born ;-)

Speaking of LC, look how much he's growing!


He's already 6 1/2 weeks old, and is lifting his head, smiling, gurgling and all the cute stuff babies do. Now, if only we could work on the sleep thing...

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)


• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

CSA Bounty

I believe I mentioned that this year Psycling and I decided to join a CSA. I have really enjoyed cooking with so many wonderful fresh, local, and organic ingredients, and we have made some really good stuff! Earlier this summer, I made a wonderful meal out of the fresh patty pan sqush, cucumbers, and tomatoes that came in one of our CSA bags.

When we got such beautiful fresh tomatoes and cucumbers in the same bag, they were crying out to be turned into a tomato and cucumber salad.

Unfortunately, I don't have an actual recipe to pass on, but this was so simple to throw together that you don't really need one. I chopped up some tomatoes and cucumbers, drizzled them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed it all together. Then I topped it with some chopped basil fresh from the garden. It was delicious!

The same week we got all those gorgeous tomatoes and cukes, we got some patty pan squash, so I made Sauted Baby Squash with Basil and Feta.


Psycling isn't a huge fan of feta cheese to I used goat cheese instead...and, really, how can you go wrong with goat cheese? To go with these two wonderful vegetable dishes, I just did a simple lemon and olive oil marinade for some grilled chicken breasts. It was a perfect meal!

P.S. I apologize for the bad photos. During my pregnancy, just getting the meal made was a big accomplishment. Getting nice pictures after just wasn't happening. Hopefully, as I get back into the swing of things, I'll be able to work on my food photography, as well as my cooking!!

Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Squash

I scan many different food blogs...mostly for new ideas for things to cook and bake. But, even though there's LOTS out there that looks yummy, I'm actually pretty selective about which recipes I "star" in my google reader. If my only criteria is "that looks yummy" I'd star more in a day than I could make in a month. So I really try to limit to the recipes I think I will actually make (and I *try* to be realistic in this assessment...).

All this lead-up is to say that the other day, I found a recipe on Cupcake Muffin for Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage. Given that I love love love goat cheese, and it looked like a simple weeknight meal, I starred it. Later that day, I went to pick up our CSA bag and discovered some gorgeous yellow summer squash!! I knew immediately that it was destined for this recipe!

I made a couple of slight modifications, based on what I had on hand...though to be honest, many fewer modifications than I might normally make to a recipe. I have to say, it was really good (and with all that goat cheese, how could it not be?). In my opinion, the freshness of our straight-from-the-farm squash made a huge difference in this dish. I can honestly say, it is the best squash I have ever had! Psycling and I both really enjoyed it, thought we also had different assessments of it. For instance, I thought the hot sausage almost overwhelmed the delicate taste of the squash, and thought it might have been better with mild sausage (or at least a mix of the two). Psycling, on the other hand, thought that the spiciness of the hot sausage added a punch to the dish that was critical, and that maybe it would be too bland with out it. Either way, we both quite enjoyed the meal!

I'll put my "tweaks" in italics. The tweaks I made were based almost solely on making the dish with what I had on hand, to avoid a shopping trip and make a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Serves 3

Kosher salt
1/2 lb. dried rigatoni (I used penne since it was what I had on hand)
1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage)
2 medium shallots, finely chopped (I used leeks, since we also got those in our CSA bag)
1 1/2 cups yellow and green summer squash, cut into 3/4 inch dice (I just used the yellow summer squash from our CSA bag)
3 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1 tsp finely chopped parsley (I added a little bit of chopped fresh oregano too...I had some, and thought it would taste good...it did!)
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmigiano-Reggiano to serve (I actually left this out...I may have used a little extra goat cheese, and the pasta seemed cheesy enough without the parm. It may have been good with the extra cheese, but I didn't miss it at all.)

So there you have it. For a quick and delicious weeknight meal, this recipe definitely deserves a star. I would highly recommend giving it a try, and tweak it based on what you have on hand. I bet it will still be yummy!

Memorial Day Cook-Out

What better way to celebrate a long weekend than with a cook-out? This weekend, Psycling and I went over to a friend's house for a Tech Chefs Memorial Day cookout. There were only 5 of us there, but seemingly enough food to feed about 30!

The main course was Beer Butt Chicken. We had two 5-lb chickens, which were rubbed inside and out with a rub composed of 1:1:1 paprika:sea salt:brown sugar with a little black pepper added in as well. Next, you drink (or pour out) half a can of beer, and throw a few Tbs. of the rub into the remaining beer. Then (excuse my vulgarity) you stick the can of beer up the chicken's butt.

You then very carefully move the chickens (keeping them upright) to the grill, where you set them over indirect heat, and adjust the legs so that the legs and beer can form a "tripod" to keep the chicken upright while cooking. See our chicken "tripods"?


Then, the chickens cook over indirect heat, with a grill temp of about 350F - 400F for about an hour, or until a thermometer inserted deep into the meatiest parts of the chicken register 180 degrees. At this point, you remove the chicken from the grill, and remove the beer can from the chicken's butt (this was a two person job...one person to use tongs and a meat fork to hold the chicken, and another to use a second pair of tongs to remove the beer can).

While the chicken was the main attraction, we had so much other food, and a very crowded grill.


Along with the chickens you see our chili-rubbed corn and our grilled onions. THis is one of my favorite ways to make corn, and it comes from my Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Cookbook. For six ears of corn, you need:

2 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. (or less to taste) cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1. Peel husks back and remove corn silk. Pull husks back up over corn cobs and soak for about 20 minutes.

2. Mix together melted butter and spices. After soaking corn, brush each ear of corn with spiced butter mixture and pull husks back up over corn. Wrap each ear in aluminum foil.

3. Place on grill and cook for about 15 minutes, or until done.

But I saved the best for last...the grilled onions! By far the best onions I have ever had!! I'm glad I watched the preparation of these because I will definitely be making them again. Peel the onions, and cut a flat surface on both the bottom and the top.


Then, you cut a hole in the top of the onion, as you can (kinda) see in the picture above. Then fill each hole with bullion granules (we used beef...if I make these on my own, I'll probably use chicken, but any kind of bullion will work). Then top off with 1.5 - 2 Tbs. butter. Wrap each onion individually in aluminum foil and place on the grill for about 20-30 minutes, or until nice and soft and tender (you can test with tongs so as not to burn yourself). To eat, place the onion in a bowl with all it's wonderful juices and enjoy the best tasting onion you've ever had in your life!!

I wish I'd taken a picture of the table before we all dug in. In addition to the two chickens, the corn and the onions, we had a fruit salad, a potato salad (with sweet potatoes...yummy!), and a vinegar based slaw made from some cabbage fresh from our CSA share last week. And all this for just 5 people. But, by the time we sat down to eat, there was no time for photographing! We were starving, and couldn't wait to dig in. It was an amazing meal! One I will remember for a long time...and that has set the bar really high for future cook outs!

As for our dessert...you'll just have to check back on May 28 to see what the Daring Bakers had in store for us this month ;-).

Breakfast for Dinner: Stuffed French Toast

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this post. I was already done making this by the time I realized that I wanted to blog about it...I guess I should start getting in the habit of taking pictures while I'm cooking on a regular basis.

Last night we had another Tech Chefs dinner. The group is a little smaller now than it was when it was at it's peak last year, and we've changed the format a bit. Someone is in charge of picking a theme, and we are now doing the dinner pot luck style. This month's theme was breakfast for dinner. It was a big hit! We started by toasting the evening with mimosas (don't worry, I had mine with ginger ale instead of champagne), and we made the bacon and sausage. When that was ready, we had our first course: a crab quiche that was AMAZING!! Unfortunately, I didn't make that one, so I don't have a recipe to post, but if I did, I would tell you to forget any dinner plans you might already have and just make this. It was that good!! Next up were the Eggs Benedict. Such a classic hardly needs elaboration! At the end of that course, I was just sopping up the extra hollandaise sauce with an English muffin. With so much butter, you can't go wrong.

Our dessert course was my original Stuffed Baked French Toast. I made 4 different flavors (peach, raspberry, blueberry, and apple), and it seemed like everyone had a different favorite. We pulled the breadmaker out so we could make the French toast with homemade bread. Mmmmmm....I loved having the house smell like fresh bread for 2 days straight!! It made me remember why we used to make homemade bread every week!

Three of the four fillings were cream cheese based. I mixed together softened cream cheese and sugar. If I were making this again (and for less than 8 people), I would use about 8 oz of cream cheese and 3/8 c. of sugar. This is enough to make the cream cheese a little sweeter, but not overly sweet! I divided my cream cheese filling into 3 bowls:

Bowl One: I added just over 1 c. of frozen raspberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with a hint of cardamom, some cinnamon, and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Bowl Two: I added about 1 c. of frozen blueberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with about a 3:1 ratio of cinnamon:nutmeg. But I was eyeballing it, so don't quote me on it :-)

Bowl 3: I added about 1 c. of chopped peaches (canned), and sprinkled in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of ginger.

For the fourth filling I made an apple compote. I diced up an apple (peeled and cored) and sauteed it in about 2 Tbs. of butter, and added 2-3 Tbs. of regular sugar and 2-3 Tbs. brown sugar. I cooked it over medium heat until it was reduced quite a bit and thickened to a nice apple-pie-filling texture. Nice and sweet and sticky and gooey!

Now that you have your bread and filling, you can assemble your French toast. First, generously grease a 9 x 13 baking dish (or two depending on how big your bread is). Thickly slice your loaf of bread (about 1" - 1 1/4" thick). Using a serrated knife, cut a slit in the top of each slice of bread. The slit should be about 1 1/2" deep, or deeper. The bigger the pocket you make, the more filling you can fit in it :-). Spoon your filling into the pocket of your bread, and place it in the baking dish. Repeat for remaining bread slices.

Next, mix up the custard mixture. I used whole milks and eggs in a ratio of about 1 cup of milk to about 3 eggs. For a full 9 x 13 tray, you will probably need about 2 c. of milk and 6 eggs. Add a little bit of vanilla and couple of teaspoons of sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour custard over bread slices, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Flip slices over, and place in refrigerator for another 15-20 minutes, or until bread soaks up all the custard.

Once bread soaks up the liquid, sprinkle with a little bit of sugar (I like to use turbinado sugar for a nice little crunch), and bake at 400 F for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through. I served this with a choice of powdered sugar or maple syrup, though the French toast is sweet enough on it's own that very little of either is needed. Those who aren't pregnant enjoyed this breakfast dessert with some decaf spiked with a little Bailey's Irish cream liquor. It was a rich, filling, yummy end to a wonderful Breakfast-For-Dinner.

A few notes: If I make this again, I will choose only 1 kind of filling, as I have a fair amount of each kind left over (stay tuned for how those left overs will be used up...I have a fun idea!!). Also, this recipe could be simplified by using regular store bought sliced bread. Rather than cutting a slit in the slices, you can "sandwich" the filling a little bit by placing some of the filling on one slice, and then topping it with another. You can then treat the sandwiches just as you would the thick cut slices mentioned above. If you do make your own bread, I discovered by accident that if you use slightly less yeast than called for in the recipe (by about 1/4 tsp.), you get a denser loaf that is easier to slice pockets into. The one loaf I made that had the right amount of yeast tasted great, but since it was a lighter airier bread, it was more difficult to slice good pockets. And finally, the first time I experimented with this recipe, I used a loaf of challah bread, thickly sliced, and it made for WONDERFUL French toast!

If you are looking for a wonderful, over-indulgent breakfast, this is it!

Yay for fall!

Fall is my favorite season. I love the brisk weather, breaking out the sweaters, the gorgeous colors of the leaves, getting to wear my hats.
In addition to all that great stuff, I love the flavors of fall as well. This weekend, I made one of my favorite fall meals, Curried Winter Squash Soup with Sweet Spices.



I discovered this recipe in an unlikely place. Shortly after I graduated from college, I bought a new computer from Gateway. As often happens when you buy a computer, there was lots of random software that they bundled with the computer. Most of it was of no interest to me, but when I looked through the CDs that they gave me, there was one that caught my eye. It was called MasterCook Deluxe from Sierra Home. It was a recipe software that came loaded with TONS or recipes. This soup was one of them. I've tried several of the recipes from this software and they have all be really good, but this one is a favorite in our household. It's one Psycling and I both look forward once we notice a chill in the air and we see winter squash come into season.



For this dinner, I served the soup with a salad of mixed greens with apple slices, pecans, and dried cranberries, dressed with a basic vinaigrette from one of my favorite cookbooks. It made for a great fall dinner!

Curried Winter Squash Soup with Sweet Spices

1 medium Butternut squash
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. curry powder
2 medium apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 quart chicken stock
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
White pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, brush the outside with olive oil, and place cut-side-down, on a cookie sheet. Bake until tender, 30-45 minutes
3. While squash is baking, chop the onions and applies. When the squash is done, remove it to cool.
4. Melt the butter in a heavy soup pot. Add the onion and cook until softened but not brown. Add curry powder and cook, stirring one minute more. Add the apple. Scoop out pieces of squash and stir them into the pot. Add thyme, salt, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the solids to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, adding liquid to promote circulation. Return to the pot, add cream, and bring back to a boil and remove from heat. Add salt and white pepper to taste, and serve.

Cook's Notes: I added a bit of sage to this recipe, and I've found that it deepens the flavor nicely. Also, this soup can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and it still takes wonderful (I've tried it). Finally, this soup is really good served with whole wheat pita wedges for dipping.

So, as we head into November, enjoy the beautiful leaves, brisk weather, and sweaters. And at the end of the day, warm up with this wonderful soup that has become one of my favorite comfort foods!

A Halloween Post

There are so many Halloweeny things to blog about, I don't really know where to begin! I guess with the appetizer :-)



The Happy Sorceress hosts virtual cocktail parties every month. I made this appetizer for the October Halloween Party, but because life ran away with me this month, I never got around to blogging about it. Basically, the idea is to make a hors d'ouevre for the virtual cocktail party, based on the theme of the month, then blog about it. The Cocktail party happens when the Happy Sorceress rounds up all the entries and posts them on her blog. For the Halloween Party, I wanted to think of something that was Halloweeny, but didn't involve pumpkin. Somehow, I thought about vampires and fangs and this super easy yet delish appetizer was born.

Goat Cheese & Garlic Pitas with Marinara

Marinara sauce of your choice (I used a version of this)
1 4 oz log of goat cheese
1/2 head of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 pitas

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and roast at 425 for about 30-45 minutes, until soft and fragrant
3. Place goat cheese in a small bowl and squeeze garlic pulp into it. Season with salt and pepper and mix until garlic is well incorporated into the cheese
4. Spread goat cheese mixture on pitas and toast in oven for about 4-6 minutes.

To serve, cut pitas into triangular pieces and arrange on a tray surrounding bowl of marinara. Dip the wedges in the sauce and enjoy!




Now on to dinner. I wanted to make a dinner in the spirit of Halloween, but given how busy I've been recently, it had to be 1.) easy and 2.) not require a trip to the grocery store. I came across this pumpkin soup. Since I had everything on hand, I decided to go for it.



As I was browsing soup recipes, I saw one that garnished with popcorn and fresh sage, so I decided I would steal that idea for a more festive presentation. The soup was good, but if I make it again, I will add more spice to it.

I also did a Halloween Goodie Tray for the grad students in Psycling's lab.



I made tarantula cookies and spiderweb cookies (though I used this cookie recipe). Then there were caramel popcorn balls, pumpkin spice bread (with a few modifications), and sugar cookies decorated as ghosts, pumpkins, and bats. Of course there was a bowl of candy, because is it really Halloween without a big bowl of assorted candy? Psycling said this weeks food was a big hit, and that everyone loved the fun of the Halloween goodies. The empty trays at the end of the day are also a good sign.

And, being the dog-lover that I am, I couldn't let Halloween go by without making a treat for Thea!



Pumpkin Dog treats

1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 c. regular flour (plus lots of extra for kneading and rolling)
1 c. powdered milk
1 egg
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. vegetable broth
3/4 c. canned pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. It will be kind of gooey and pasty. Add flour and mix until mixture forms a shaggy dough. Dump out onto floured surface and roll out to about 1/4" - 1/2" thick (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Cut out treats and arrange on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until firm. Reduce oven temperature to 225 degrees and leave cookies in for 1-2 hours to dry out and crisp up.



Of all the Halloween treats I make, these are Thea's favorites!!

So that's my Halloween round up. I've been spending lots of time in the kitchen getting all this stuff ready, so I'm looking forward to some nice relaxing evenings the rest of the week.

I hope all of you had wonderful and spooky Halloweens!

Pizza Pizza Pizza

My mom's birthday is coming up. Because I love cooking for the people I love, I invited her to dinner, along with my dad and my brother. In trying to formulate a menu that wouldn't involve too many added ingredients, I decided to make pita pizzas.





I made a pizza with roasted garlic and eggplant with fresh mozzarella, one with fennel, goat cheese and oranges, (both recipes found here), and one with roasted figs and prosciutto with aged provolone and a balsamic reduction.


The fig pizza was very yummy. I don't even really like red meat, and I liked this. Roasting the figs brought out the sweetness that was so well complemented by the saltiness of the prosciutto. The aged provolone had a nice but understated bite to it that really tied everything together nicely, and the balsamic reduction add a depth of flavor that took this pizza from good to amazing! Of course, it also meant we had appetizers made out of the pizza left overs: a blob of goat cheese on top of a roasted fig and wrapped in a paper-thin slice of prosciutto. Of the three, this was Psycling's favorite pizza.



Pita Pizza with Roasted Figs, Prosciutto, and Balsamic Reduction
(Makes 2 pizzas)
7-10 figs, quartered
2 pocketless pitas
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 oz. aged provolone, shaved (a pecorino or good parmesan would also work here)
1/4 c. thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1-2 Tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Place quartered figs (cut side up) in roasting pan, and roast at 425 for abot 12 minutes, until juicy.
3. Brush pitas with 1 Tbs. each of olive oil. Sprinkle heavily with shaved cheese. Sprinkle about 1 Tbs. of chopped prosciutto over each pita. Arrange figs (cut side up) on pita, and sprinkle with remaining prosciutto. Sprinkle with herbs.
4. Heat balsamic vinegar in small saucepan. Boil until reduced to about 1/4 c. Drizzle 2 Tbs. of reduction over each pizza.
5. Bake pizzas at 425F for about 8-10 minutes.

As for our dessert...well, you'll just have to wait until the October Darin Bakers post on the 29th.

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love having dinner guests. It gives me an excuse to go all-out and cook meals way beyond what we would normally have for dinner. So when Psycling said that he wanted to invite a friend for dinner so they could talk shop, I was all for it. I've been wanting to blog about my Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken breasts, and this was the perfect opportunity to make it! I have to admit, it was really good, and the Zinfandel Psycling chose to have with it was the perfect complement!



This was one of my first original recipes. I came up with it when I went to visit a friend in Boston. She had just moved into her condo and had limited things in the kitchen. I wanted to make her dinner to thank her for hosting me, and looked around her kitchen to see what inspired me. After a quick trip to the grocery store, this is what came together. It's gone through several iterations and revisions since that first time, and I've finally gotten it to a version I'm happy with.

Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts
(Serves 4)
1/2 head garlic
4 oz log of goat cheese
2 Tbs. minced sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil (divided)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. marjoram
salt & pepper to taste
1 small onion
1 red bell pepper
2-3 Tbs. olive oil
4 chicken breasts
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Several strands of kitchen twine or toothpicks for holding rolls together.

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Drizzle garlic with a little bit of olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast at 425 for 45 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Allow to cool then separate cloves.
3. While garlic is roasting, chop onion and red bell pepper, and place in a small roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of basil and toss together.
4. Combine goat cheese, tomatoes, oregano, remaining 3/4 tsp. basil, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Add garlic when ready, and mix together until smooth.
5. Chop onion and red bell pepper, and place in a small roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp. of basil and toss.


6. Place chicken breasts between layers of heavy duty plastic wrap, and use meat mallet or small pan to pound breasts to about 1/4" thickness. Spread 1/4 of the goat cheese mixture on each breast. Roll up chicken breasts (as seen on the right) and use kitchen twine or toothpicks to hold together.
7. Heat 1-2 Tbs. olive oil in a medium to large skillet. While oil is heating, place pan of vegetables in 425F degree oven. Place chicken rolls in skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes, rotating rolls until browned all over. Remove chicken from skillet and place over vegetables in roasting pan. Cook until chicken is cooked through (about 25 minutes), and thermometer inserted into thickest portion reads at least 155F.
8. Remove vegetables from pan, and toss together with balsamic vinegar.

To serve, place chicken roll on plate, remove kitchen twine or toothpick, and top with about 1/4 c. of vegetable mixture.

Add a green salad and some Italian Bread, and you have a wonderful meal!

A few notes about this recipe: I usually use the oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, but you can also use the dried ones. Just be sure to reconstitute them by soaking in hot water for about 30 minutes before adding them to the goat cheese. I also find that my hands tend to be the best kitchen tool for mixing the goat cheese. It makes it much easier to really ensure that everything gets mixed together well.

I have made this recipe now several times, and it never fails to get rave reviews.

We finished the meal with a fabulous, rich, flourless Chocolate Cake, but you'll just have to check back later to get that recipe.

Everything Tastes Better on a Grill

This year we finally got the grill we've been talking about getting for the past several years. Something about getting volunteered to host a cook-out forces you into it...not that we're complaining, because we LOVE our grill. We love it so much, I kinda wonder how we got along so long with out it. And now that we're moving toward fall and it's not so frickin' hot down here, grilling is even more enjoyable. This weekend, I got inspired and made a grilled dinner for us. It was one of those "use up stuff in the fridge" dinners, and I was really pleased with it!



The chicken was great and the vegetables were done perfectly. I marinated the chicken and veggies in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and some fresh herbs before throwing them on the grill. The rice was something that just kind of happened as I cooked it. This was such a great meal, I wanted to share it with you!

Combine the following in each of two zip-top plastic bags:
3-4 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2-3 Tbs. of fresh chopped herbs (I used oregano, thyme, and basil)

In bag one, add two chicken breasts and toss to coat.
In bag two, add the following:
2 small zucchini,halved
1 small summer squash, halved
1 onion cut into 3/4" - 1" slices

Toss to coat. Let these bags of marinade sit and work their magic while you go get the grill started and warmed (about 25-30 minutes). While grill is warming, start on the rice pilaf.

Once grill is warmed, cook chicken and vegetables until done. For chicken, juices should run clear and internal temperature should reach at least 155 degrees, F. Grill veggies until tender and slightly charred.

Chop grilled veggies and toss them together. To serve, place chicken breast atop a bed of the rice pilaf and sever the tossed veggies on the side.

Rice Pilaf:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white rice
1 cup water
2 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley.
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

In a medium sauce pan, sauté shallots in oil until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another 30-45 seconds. Add rice, and stir until rice is coated in oil and slightly toasted. Add water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer rice until all water is absorbed and rice is tender. In a bowl, toss rice with pine nuts, parsely, and lemon juice.

Happy Grilling!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs

DR of Tech Chefs requested my Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs recipe, so here it is.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs
1 quart size basket of fresh figs
1 4oz log of goat cheese
1 1/2 - 2 Tbs. honey (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg


1. Remove stem ends of figs, and slice in half vertically. Using the tip of a knife, scrape a small indentation in the center of the fig half. As you can see, it doesn't need to be a huge hole, just big enough to provide a place for the cheese to rest.


2. Place a small piece of goat cheese in the hole. You're not trying to pack it in, just use the hole as a "resting place" for the cheese as it fills the fig.







3. Once all figs are stuffed, arrange them on a tray or platter and drizzle lightly with honey. You can see I go for a very thin stream of honey that I drizzle over the figs. They shouldn't be overly sweet. Ideally, the honey should merely be a complement to the natural sweetness of a ripe fig.



Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg and serve!


This dish makes a very stunning appetizer, and it will be sure to wow any guests you prepare it for.

Oricchetti with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers

The idea for this recipe came to me as I was drifting off to sleep one night. The first time I made it, there wasn't quite enough spinach. So I tweaked it a bit, and this iteration is better. It's still a rough draft, though, so if you try it out, definitely let me know how it goes.




Oricchetti with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers
1/2 lb. uncooked Oricchetti Pasta
1 large bunch spinach, roughly chopped
1 1/2 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (I use one of my favorite kitchen gadgets)
1/3 c. roasted red peppers, chopped (about one large)
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
3 Tbs. white wine
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbs. Olive oil
2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted
1 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, set aside, and keep warm.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onions in 1-2 tsp. olive oil until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 30 seconds. Add spinach, and saute until wilted. Add roasted red peppers, Italian seasoning, and wine. Cook until liquid is mostly gone. Toss in lemon juice and cook another minute.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss together pasta, spinach mixture, olive oil mixture, and pine nuts. Stir in 1 oz of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve sprinkled with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6 as a main course, 6-8 as a side dish.

Cooks Notes: White balsamic vinegar is slightly less pungent than regular. However, it can also be harder to find. I use it in the recipe partly for the slightly more subtle flavor, but mostly for the visual aesthetic. It doesn't discolor the pasta like regular balsamic would. However, if you don't want to buy white balsamic just for one recipe, regular balsamic would work just as well, though I would use maybe 1-1/2 tsp. instead of the full 2 tsp.

Psycling and I both really enjoyed this dinner, and it will definitely become a regular in my dinner repertoire.

Pure Indulgence

I've been wanting to make a cake for a while...I've been itching to pull out my tool box and play. I've also been quite intrigued by a recipe I saw in the March 2007 issue of Food and Wine magazine for a Malt Ball cake. Well, it took almost six months, but I finally made the cake that I've been thinking about. Well, it was worth the wait!! A dense rich malt cake wrapped in a whipped ganache icing that can be described as nothing short of heavenly decadence.



The cake uses three 8" cake pans, which means that when all is said and done, this makes for one tall cake! And the ganache frosting is rich enough that even this hardcore chocoholic had a hard time finishing it. My parents joined us for dinner, and my dad claimed it was one of the best pieces of cake he's had in a long time...worth of the top shelf at Cafe Intermezzo.




If you're looking for a cake to impress, this is it.

Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup instant malted milk powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups ice cold water
4 large egg whites, room temperature
Frosting and Garnish
10 ounces quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
10 ounces quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch chunks, softened
malted milk balls, for garnish

1. CAKE: Preheat the oven to 325. Butter and flour three 8 inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the flours with the malt powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with the shortening until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches at low speed, alternating with the ice water, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl.
3. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites at medium high speed until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Divide the batter between the pans, spreading it evenly and bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert them onto a rack and let cool completely. Peel off the parchment.
4. FROSTING: Place the chocolate in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the corn syrup; immediately pour the mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for 2-3 minutes until the chocolate has melted, then whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
5. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk. Gradually beat in the butter at medium speed, a few chunks at a time and beat until thoroughly incorporated between additions. The frosting should be smooth and silky. Refrigerate the frosting just until it is thick enough to hold its shape, 10-15 minutes.
6. Place one cake layer on a serving platter and spread 1 1/4 cups of the frosting over the top in an even layer. Repeat to form 2 more layers. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the side of the cake and refrigerate briefly until firm. Frost the side with the remaining frosting. Garnish the cake with malted milk balls and refrigerate briefly to firm up the frosting before serving.
7. The cake and be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature to serve