I made a double cornmeal crust for this and even after baking it twice, once for the crust and again with the assembled tart, the crust did not hold up too well to slicing. Some potluck guests had suggested that instead of it being the crust, to use the cornmeal as a topping on top of the crust. That would be an interesting notion. I'll have to think about how to make it so that it cuts well and is crust-less. It is entirely doable if the bottom layer is comprised of sturdier slices of vegetables like more overlapping layers of eggplant and zucchini. This tart only had a single layer of roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices. Without the 1/4" cornmeal crust it can easily accommodate more layers of vegetables. The inclusion of the shredded Gruyere and Swiss cheese into one of the cheese layers was certainly worth repeating. The original Food Network recipe only called for shredded mozzarella cheese, and three ounces was not enough for a 10" tart. I don't think it would be enough had I used a 9" tart pan.
For roasting:
1 green zucchini
1 Japanese eggplant (the long, thin one)
3 medium tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Slice vegetables into 1/8" slices and lay out in a single layer on a 9" x 13" glass baking dish (for easier cleaning) or onto a Silpat-lined baking tray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake vegetables for 12 minutes. The vegetables should be soft and doesn't have to be cooked all the way through. Take roasted vegetables out and set aside to cool until ready to fill the tart pan.
The cornmeal crust (optional):
One batch will supposedly fill a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. But, that is not the size I had on hand. I made a double batch and packed it all into the 10" tart pan, which turned out to be way too much crust.
2/3 c. finely ground white cornmeal
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
In a food prep, pulse together dry ingredients, then add butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add in the olive oil and pulse until well combined.
If you managed to roast the vegetables first, turn the heat down to 350 degrees F. After packing the crust into the tart pan with a 1/4" edge around the base of the tart. Place a sheet of aluminum foil between the top of the tart and the pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and pie weights and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the crust no longer looks shiny.
Kitchen note: this crust did not hold together and tasted very dry. The combination of olive oil and butter did not do much as a binder. Perhaps just a water, butter, flour crust would have sufficed.
Putting it all together:
The remaining ingredients for this recipe involves shredded cheese, sliced basil leaves, and grated Parmesan cheese (or some comparable tasting hard cheese).
3 oz - 5 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 oz Gruyere and Swiss blend cheese, shredded
5 medium fresh basil leaves, sliced
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano-regianno cheese
Bottom layer: roasted eggplant slices and mozzarella cheese. When I did this, I placed the slices in a circular manner with the slices slightly overlapping each other.
Middle layer: zucchini slices and Gruyere and Swiss cheese
Top layer: tomato slices, fresh basil leaf slices, and the remainder of the mozzarella cheese. Generously scatter the grated hard cheese on top of the tart.
Bake tart for 30 minutes, or until all the cheese has melted. It will smell a lot like a pizza because it is made up of similar ingredients.
Remove tart from oven and let cool before serving.
Chicken Soft Tacos
I wrote in an earlier post that freshly made bacon grease can be turned into fresh flour tortillas. I prepared a nice salsa to go with it and some leftover chicken. Some fast food eateries stuff their soft tacos with lots of shredded lettuce, which is mostly a filler to make it look larger. I'd rather eat the lettuce as a salad.
Salsa for Tacos
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1 1/4 c. roma tomatoes, diced
5 green onions, white part only, thinly sliced
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 c. chopped cilantro leaves, stems removed
juice of one lime
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine all ingredients into a food storage container and shake until the lime juice evenly coats the avocado; the lime juice will keep the avocado from turning brown.
For this batch of soft tacos, I made two batches of soft tacos.. one made with unbleached all-purpose flour and the second with whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour tortillas tasted awful. Maybe it's because whole wheat is such a heavier-tasting flour. Preferentially, I enjoy the lighter texture and flavor of a white flour tortilla than say whole wheat or corn tortillas.
Another note on making the tortillas. Once you remove it from the cast iron pan and put it on a paper towel-lined plate, cover the tortillas with a kitchen towel moistened with water. This will keep the tortillas pliable until they are ready to eat. If you plan to eat them later, seal them in a ziplock bag and refrigerate.
Salsa for Tacos
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1 1/4 c. roma tomatoes, diced
5 green onions, white part only, thinly sliced
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 c. chopped cilantro leaves, stems removed
juice of one lime
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine all ingredients into a food storage container and shake until the lime juice evenly coats the avocado; the lime juice will keep the avocado from turning brown.
For this batch of soft tacos, I made two batches of soft tacos.. one made with unbleached all-purpose flour and the second with whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour tortillas tasted awful. Maybe it's because whole wheat is such a heavier-tasting flour. Preferentially, I enjoy the lighter texture and flavor of a white flour tortilla than say whole wheat or corn tortillas.
Another note on making the tortillas. Once you remove it from the cast iron pan and put it on a paper towel-lined plate, cover the tortillas with a kitchen towel moistened with water. This will keep the tortillas pliable until they are ready to eat. If you plan to eat them later, seal them in a ziplock bag and refrigerate.
Reviews: Downtown Bellevue Eats
Part of exploring a new metro area is eating your way through the lunch week. I've been trying to experience a different eatery for the days that I eat out either by myself or with co-workers. I thought I should keep some notes about finding new places to eat. The alternative is to brown bag it. While the weather is still nice I think I should try something new.
Lemon Pound Cake
...with six egg yolks. Yeah, so we had all these leftover egg yolks from that brown butter hazelnut cake (which, according to Smitten Kitchen's recipe takes six egg whites if using large eggs) from two weeks ago that I thought I'd toss into this recipe. This cake recipe ordinarily takes just four egg yolks, but I wasn't about to do fancy math with the dry ingredients to accommodate two more egg yolks. I'll soon find out in about an hour if the cake came out okay.
Ingredients
1 c. organic granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 1/4 c. unbleached all purpose flour, minus 2 tbsp flour
6 egg yolks
1/3 c. half and half (or whole milk)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
zest of one lemon
pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a stand mixer: cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and lemon extracts. Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Add egg yolks. Beat until pale and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. While the stand mixer is running (on low), alternate while adding half-and-half and flour. Beat until well combined.
4. Butter a loaf pan and fill with cake mixture. Bake for 50 minutes or until edges of the cake are lightly browned and start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Let cool on a rack before removing from loaf pan.
Ingredients
1 c. organic granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 1/4 c. unbleached all purpose flour, minus 2 tbsp flour
6 egg yolks
1/3 c. half and half (or whole milk)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
zest of one lemon
pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a stand mixer: cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and lemon extracts. Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Add egg yolks. Beat until pale and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. While the stand mixer is running (on low), alternate while adding half-and-half and flour. Beat until well combined.
4. Butter a loaf pan and fill with cake mixture. Bake for 50 minutes or until edges of the cake are lightly browned and start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Let cool on a rack before removing from loaf pan.
Wild Game Meat in the greater Seattle area
King County: Butcher Shops, Meat Markets, and Fresh Seafood
After three years of living in the southwest region of Washington state, I relocated (for work) to the Seattle area. Not surprisingly, since this is a very urban metropolitan area with scattered farms on the fringes of suburbia, there are even fewer choices for fresh game meat and nearby butcher shops that can offer up meats and cuts that you just can't get at a Whole Foods or other specialty retail grocery store with a meat counter.
Here's what I have found so far:
Bill the Butcher
7990 Leary Way Northeast, Redmond, WA 98072?
(425) 636-8901
http://www.billthebutcher.com
Meat standards: Organic (No herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or steroids; Fed with organic grass or grain that is not genetically modified), Natural (No herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or steroids; No genetically modified feed. Humanely raised and harvested animals; Pastured and as local as possible.)
Meats: organic and natural beef, free range local poultry, natural pork, wild game (not specified on website), sausages
Other products: raw milk
Hours: Tu-Sun noon-7pm, closed Mondays
Other locations: Woodinville, Seattle (NE 45th St, E Madison St, and 34th Ave W)
Bob’s Quality Meats
4861 Rainier Avenue South Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 725-1221
http://www.bobsqualitymeats.com
Meat: beef, buffalo, lamb, poultry (chicken, turkey, game hen, eggs), oxtails
Whole animals: lamb, goat, rabbit, chicken, smoked turkey
Game meats: duck, venison (ground),
Dairy/Cheese: butter; American cheese, Swiss cheese, Boudin
Other specialty: pancetta, hard salami, beef jerky, oxtails, pork blood
Hours: M-F 9am-7pm, Sa 9am-5pm, closed Sundays
Don and Joe’s Meats (at Pikes Market)
85 Pike Street Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 682-7670
http://www.donandjoesmeats.com
Meats: sausages, beef, lamb, veal, offals
Seasonal meats: turkeys (fresh & smoked), duck, geese, pheasant, quail, rabbit
Hours: M-Sa 9am-6pm, closed Sundays
Fresh Sea Food
Pure Food Fish Market / Pike Place Market
Seattle, WA 98108
Local (Seattle Area): 206-622-5765
http://www.freshseafood.com
Seafood: salmon (fresh & smoked), halibut, crab, shrimp, lobster, squid, shellfish (clams, mussels, scallops), caviar, Columbia River white sturgeon, whole rainbow trout, whole golden trout, sushi grade ahi tuna
Steaks: Hawaiian mahi mahi, Hawaiian ahi tuna
Fillets: monk fish, ling cod, dover sole, pertrole sole, catfish, Alaskan black cod, Alaska true cod, Pacific red snapper, Chilean sea bass
Hours: Mo-Su 7am-9pm
University Seafood and Poultry (u-district)
1317 Northeast 47th Street Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-3900
http://www.universityseafoodandpoultry.com
Meats: poultry & eggs (duck, duckling, pheasant, quail, geese, game hens, turkeys)
Seafood (fresh): king salmon, steamer clams, live Maine lobsters, Pacific oysters, mussels, perch, halibut, sockeye salmon, etc)
Hours: M-F 930am-530pm, Sa 930am-5pm, closed Sundays
Misc: Free parking next to the 76 gas station
World Famous Pike Place Fish Market
86 Pike Street Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 682-7181
http://www.pikeplacefish.com
Seafood: salmon (fresh & smoked), white fish, Dungeness crab, live shellfish (Penn Cove clams, Manilla clams, Pacific oysters, mussels, Kumamoto oysters), fresh (but not alive) shellfish (Alaskan king crab, snow crab legs, shrimp, Alaskan spot prawns, sea scallops, bay scallops, smoked mussels)
Hours: mo-Sun 6am-6pm
After three years of living in the southwest region of Washington state, I relocated (for work) to the Seattle area. Not surprisingly, since this is a very urban metropolitan area with scattered farms on the fringes of suburbia, there are even fewer choices for fresh game meat and nearby butcher shops that can offer up meats and cuts that you just can't get at a Whole Foods or other specialty retail grocery store with a meat counter.
Here's what I have found so far:
Bill the Butcher
7990 Leary Way Northeast, Redmond, WA 98072?
(425) 636-8901
http://www.billthebutcher.com
Meat standards: Organic (No herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or steroids; Fed with organic grass or grain that is not genetically modified), Natural (No herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or steroids; No genetically modified feed. Humanely raised and harvested animals; Pastured and as local as possible.)
Meats: organic and natural beef, free range local poultry, natural pork, wild game (not specified on website), sausages
Other products: raw milk
Hours: Tu-Sun noon-7pm, closed Mondays
Other locations: Woodinville, Seattle (NE 45th St, E Madison St, and 34th Ave W)
Bob’s Quality Meats
4861 Rainier Avenue South Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 725-1221
http://www.bobsqualitymeats.com
Meat: beef, buffalo, lamb, poultry (chicken, turkey, game hen, eggs), oxtails
Whole animals: lamb, goat, rabbit, chicken, smoked turkey
Game meats: duck, venison (ground),
Dairy/Cheese: butter; American cheese, Swiss cheese, Boudin
Other specialty: pancetta, hard salami, beef jerky, oxtails, pork blood
Hours: M-F 9am-7pm, Sa 9am-5pm, closed Sundays
Don and Joe’s Meats (at Pikes Market)
85 Pike Street Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 682-7670
http://www.donandjoesmeats.com
Meats: sausages, beef, lamb, veal, offals
Seasonal meats: turkeys (fresh & smoked), duck, geese, pheasant, quail, rabbit
Hours: M-Sa 9am-6pm, closed Sundays
Fresh Sea Food
Pure Food Fish Market / Pike Place Market
Seattle, WA 98108
Local (Seattle Area): 206-622-5765
http://www.freshseafood.com
Seafood: salmon (fresh & smoked), halibut, crab, shrimp, lobster, squid, shellfish (clams, mussels, scallops), caviar, Columbia River white sturgeon, whole rainbow trout, whole golden trout, sushi grade ahi tuna
Steaks: Hawaiian mahi mahi, Hawaiian ahi tuna
Fillets: monk fish, ling cod, dover sole, pertrole sole, catfish, Alaskan black cod, Alaska true cod, Pacific red snapper, Chilean sea bass
Hours: Mo-Su 7am-9pm
University Seafood and Poultry (u-district)
1317 Northeast 47th Street Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-3900
http://www.universityseafoodandpoultry.com
Meats: poultry & eggs (duck, duckling, pheasant, quail, geese, game hens, turkeys)
Seafood (fresh): king salmon, steamer clams, live Maine lobsters, Pacific oysters, mussels, perch, halibut, sockeye salmon, etc)
Hours: M-F 930am-530pm, Sa 930am-5pm, closed Sundays
Misc: Free parking next to the 76 gas station
World Famous Pike Place Fish Market
86 Pike Street Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 682-7181
http://www.pikeplacefish.com
Seafood: salmon (fresh & smoked), white fish, Dungeness crab, live shellfish (Penn Cove clams, Manilla clams, Pacific oysters, mussels, Kumamoto oysters), fresh (but not alive) shellfish (Alaskan king crab, snow crab legs, shrimp, Alaskan spot prawns, sea scallops, bay scallops, smoked mussels)
Hours: mo-Sun 6am-6pm
Yeast-free, gluten-free pizza crust
Today is game night and for one of the appetizers we are making pizzas with Trader Joe's pizza dough. Two of the expected guests don't eat carbs and the third has been leaning towards a gluten-free diet, so this attempt at pizza blasphemy is for her.
I originally poured the batter into two 8" diameter springform pans but the liquid leaked out and onto the baking sheet that I had below it. I baked the remainder of the batter in a greased 8" x 8" pan. That came out much better. Although, square just seems square for a pizza crust. For the liquid part, rice or almond milk can be used entirely. I just use half rice milk and half-and-half for flavor. You can certainly make this dairy-free too.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 c. organic rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. rice or almond milk
1/3 c. half and half
1 tsp each, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
olive oil or unsalted butter, to grease the baking pans
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
1. Whisk dry ingredients together: rice flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, and herbs.
2. Whisk wet ingredients together: eggs, rice milk, half and half.
3. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, gently whisking to combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
4. Pour into prepared pans to about 1/4" depth. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top no longer looks runny. It will have the appearance of a dense crepe.
I originally poured the batter into two 8" diameter springform pans but the liquid leaked out and onto the baking sheet that I had below it. I baked the remainder of the batter in a greased 8" x 8" pan. That came out much better. Although, square just seems square for a pizza crust. For the liquid part, rice or almond milk can be used entirely. I just use half rice milk and half-and-half for flavor. You can certainly make this dairy-free too.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 c. organic rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. rice or almond milk
1/3 c. half and half
1 tsp each, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
olive oil or unsalted butter, to grease the baking pans
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
1. Whisk dry ingredients together: rice flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, and herbs.
2. Whisk wet ingredients together: eggs, rice milk, half and half.
3. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, gently whisking to combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
4. Pour into prepared pans to about 1/4" depth. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top no longer looks runny. It will have the appearance of a dense crepe.
Chilled Ginger-Watermelon Soup
I made palate cleanser appetizer for a House of Hsi dinner party (think formal meal prep and casual atmosphere). It relies entirely on the sweetness of the watermelon and the subtle heat of the ginger as the only ingredient flavorings. The peppermint mint leaves were just for garnish. There is no added sugar; mostly because watermelons are very sweet at the end of summer. Because the size of the bowls that were used held less than a cup of soup each, the portion sizing of this recipe is an estimate. If you have a water pitcher that can fit (covered) in the refrigerator, it'll make pouring this appetizer really easy.
Serves: 12+
Ingredients
One medium seedless watermelon, cut into chunks
36 watermelon balls, chilled
One 1" x 1/2" peeled fresh ginger root, grated with a ginger grater
2 fresh mint leaves per bowl (optional, as garnish)
Directions
1. In a large 5-quart bowl, use an immersion blender to blend the watermelon chunks, grated ginger, and ginger juice together. Transfer to a serving pitcher and chill for at least an hour before serving.
2. Using a melon baller, scoop out rounded balls of watermelon. Cover and chill in the refrigerator before serving.
3. To plate this, place three watermelon balls inside the soup bowl. Fill the bowl until the balls are barely covered by the soup. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.
Serves: 12+
Ingredients
One medium seedless watermelon, cut into chunks
36 watermelon balls, chilled
One 1" x 1/2" peeled fresh ginger root, grated with a ginger grater
2 fresh mint leaves per bowl (optional, as garnish)
Directions
1. In a large 5-quart bowl, use an immersion blender to blend the watermelon chunks, grated ginger, and ginger juice together. Transfer to a serving pitcher and chill for at least an hour before serving.
2. Using a melon baller, scoop out rounded balls of watermelon. Cover and chill in the refrigerator before serving.
3. To plate this, place three watermelon balls inside the soup bowl. Fill the bowl until the balls are barely covered by the soup. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.
Fresh summer fruits with goat cheese
I had a variety of fresh summer fruits to work with for this appetizer. On this dish are the following: goat cheese (plated first), 1 black fig halved, 1/4 green fig, slice of white nectarine, slice of yellow peach, strawberry slice, blueberries, and clover honey (drizzled last). The plating was totally random, but consistent across all 12 servings.
 |
| Fresh summer fruits with goat cheese and clover honey |
Apple Compote
This was made as part of a larger dessert, brown butter hazelnut cake (Smitten Kitchen recipe); which I had the opportunity of tasting at Trellis. This looks a lot like the process for apple sauce, except with a lot more water.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half
1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
6 Gravenstein apples, peeled, cored, and diced
Directions
In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar, vanilla bean, brandy, spices and salt. Bring to a boil, about 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the apples and simmer for 20 minutes until the apples are tender. It's okay if the apples start to disintegrate upon cooling. Let mixture cool to room temperature and remove vanilla bean halves. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cools.
Makes 12 half-cup servings.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half
1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
6 Gravenstein apples, peeled, cored, and diced
Directions
In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar, vanilla bean, brandy, spices and salt. Bring to a boil, about 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the apples and simmer for 20 minutes until the apples are tender. It's okay if the apples start to disintegrate upon cooling. Let mixture cool to room temperature and remove vanilla bean halves. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cools.
Makes 12 half-cup servings.
Shanghai Styled Soup Dumplings
My dad, who is originally from the Shanghai region, tells me that dumplings, noodles, and all sorts of bread-oriented foods tend to be more Northern in cuisine since wheat and meat are more readily available. You'll likewise find a plethora of vegetarian dishes the farther south you go within China. While these dumplings are very labor intensive and you'll have the satisfaction that you didn't pay a small ransom to eat at Bellevue's Din Tai Fung restaurant, even though they have a visitor's window that lets you see their prep cooks rolling, filling, and making the very same dumplings.
Think of the last bread recipe you've done then multiply the time you spent waiting for that lazy dough to rise up by two and you get the approximate time it takes for all these ingredients to come together. Good thing gelatin that comes in small neat packages or else we'd be scraping down a length of pig skin for its gelatinous properties.
This recipe ratio comes from Brian Yarvin's A World of Dumplings book. The secret to having soup in a dumpling is to add a small amount of jelled soup to the dumpling before it gets steamed. The heat melts the soup that gently bathes the dumpling in a rich meaty broth, enhancing the elements of the dumpling; or at least that's the idea.
Dumpling making is a group affair, and doing this recipe with others is pleasantly more enjoyable. I should also mention that for this batch, I only made the dough and had the patience to pleat one dumpling. Oh, and I wrote the post and took the pics. :)
Think of the last bread recipe you've done then multiply the time you spent waiting for that lazy dough to rise up by two and you get the approximate time it takes for all these ingredients to come together. Good thing gelatin that comes in small neat packages or else we'd be scraping down a length of pig skin for its gelatinous properties.
This recipe ratio comes from Brian Yarvin's A World of Dumplings book. The secret to having soup in a dumpling is to add a small amount of jelled soup to the dumpling before it gets steamed. The heat melts the soup that gently bathes the dumpling in a rich meaty broth, enhancing the elements of the dumpling; or at least that's the idea.
Dumpling making is a group affair, and doing this recipe with others is pleasantly more enjoyable. I should also mention that for this batch, I only made the dough and had the patience to pleat one dumpling. Oh, and I wrote the post and took the pics. :)
Oven Roasted Hamburgers
This method is for those of us who don't own a backyard grill. It's not the best solution and these burgers come out less greasy than if they were to be pan fried. If only I had some brioche buns to go with these. I picked up some lean ground sirloin when it was on sale. Although, with today's meat prices, I'm not sure if "sale" really describes it. These were about $3.50/lb. Try to not knead the meat too much as you mix in the spices. Working the meat too much can make it tough when it cooks.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Form into 3" diameter patties that are no more than 1" thick. Place patties on a broiler pan. Roast for 14 minutes, or less, depending on how done you want these to be.
An internal temp of 130 to 135 degrees will yield a medium rare burger patty. Once removed from the oven and as the burger cools, it will continue to cook. So, keep that in mind for anyone who enjoys a "medium" or well done burger.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Form into 3" diameter patties that are no more than 1" thick. Place patties on a broiler pan. Roast for 14 minutes, or less, depending on how done you want these to be.
An internal temp of 130 to 135 degrees will yield a medium rare burger patty. Once removed from the oven and as the burger cools, it will continue to cook. So, keep that in mind for anyone who enjoys a "medium" or well done burger.
Cornmeal Pound Cake
Last autumn I picked up some stone ground cornmeal from the Grist Mill and thought I'd see if it was still usable. This cake came out pretty heavy and dense. I think it would go well with a fruit or berry compote with a slice of this as its base.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 c. whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Whisk in milk, vanilla extract, and eggs. Gradually stir in flour mixture.
3. Prepare a loaf pan by buttering the insides. Pour in batter.
4. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown on top. Cool in pan on a rack. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before serving or storing.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 c. whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Whisk in milk, vanilla extract, and eggs. Gradually stir in flour mixture.
3. Prepare a loaf pan by buttering the insides. Pour in batter.
4. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown on top. Cool in pan on a rack. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before serving or storing.
Braised Collard Greens
Collard greens have a lot of nutrients, which would make it an excellent addition to one's weekly vegetable fare if it weren't for this recipe that destroys nearly all the nutrients that this vegetable has to offer by its long cooking time. While collards could be eaten raw, most of what is good about it is unlocked with a bit of heat from say... steaming or stir frying. Braising, on the other hand, is a cooking method takes meats and sometimes vegetables and cooks them over very low heat for a long period of time. An hour of stovetop cooking is an eternity for a vegetable. But, collard greens are pretty tough and full of fiber, even after removing the stems from the leaves. This vegetable dish does taste good, however. I have eaten this once as a side dish at a Podnah's Pit in Portland. I've been trying to replicate their flavors ever since.
A lot of braising recipes call for a cup of vegetable broth, which is silly, considering that these greens will be cooking for an hour in a bacon and garlic flavored broth. Anyhow. I just used water, wine, and vinegar for the liquid part.
Ingredients
1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and thoroughly washed
2 slices Applewood-smoked bacon
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. water + more if needed (do not let the pot dry out when cooking)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. white wine
Directions
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, fry two (or more, if desired) slices of bacon. Once cooked, remove bacon to a plate and dice; pour out bacon grease to a separate container (for use in other recipes). Add garlic, water, vinegar, wine, and collard greens.
2. Cover pot and simmer over very low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Transfer vegetables to a serving plate and toss with diced bacon.
A lot of braising recipes call for a cup of vegetable broth, which is silly, considering that these greens will be cooking for an hour in a bacon and garlic flavored broth. Anyhow. I just used water, wine, and vinegar for the liquid part.
Ingredients
1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and thoroughly washed
2 slices Applewood-smoked bacon
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. water + more if needed (do not let the pot dry out when cooking)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. white wine
Directions
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, fry two (or more, if desired) slices of bacon. Once cooked, remove bacon to a plate and dice; pour out bacon grease to a separate container (for use in other recipes). Add garlic, water, vinegar, wine, and collard greens.
2. Cover pot and simmer over very low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Transfer vegetables to a serving plate and toss with diced bacon.
Sweet Butter Bread
I suppose if you wanted a very square looking loaf, you could make this in a bread machine. It is a standard bread recipe that is easy to do in a few hours, start to finish. I ended up baking this in the oven in a real loaf pan because I wanted my loaf to look like a loaf. Besides, it is summer and warm enough that the yeast doesn't need a protected container to retain its heat while proofing. Regardless of how this dough comes together (by stand mixer, food prep, bread machine, or by hand), it still needs to double in size for proofing, then baked for an amount of time.
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp dry milk powder
1 large egg
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 c. water
Directions
Mixing the dough. The easiest way to mix these is to take all the wet ingredients and add them to a bread machine, followed by the dry ingredients with the yeast being the last to be added. Setup the bread machine for the 'dough' cycle and press 'start. Pretty lazy huh? After 1.5 hours of mixing/proofing, take the dough out of the bread machine, squish it a few times and let it rise in a prepared (buttered) bread pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool, slice while it is cooling, or rip it apart while it is still hot (I did the latter). This loaf will not last long in any household with avid bread eaters.
(alternate) Mixing the dough without a bread machine:
1. In a small bowl, add yeast and a pinch of sugar, to warm water (110 degrees F). Set aside for 10 minutes, until yeast foams up a bit.
2. In a food prep, combine flour, sugar, dry milk powder, and salt. Add egg and yeast water. Mix until the ingredients come together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Gather up the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel (or another bowl) and let rise for an hour.
3. Prepare a bread pan by lightly oiling its insides with butter. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, if necessary, and place it in the prepared bread pan.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Once the top and sides are lightly browned, the bread should be done.
This bread tastes good slathered with even more butter. Yum!
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp dry milk powder
1 large egg
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 c. water
Directions
Mixing the dough. The easiest way to mix these is to take all the wet ingredients and add them to a bread machine, followed by the dry ingredients with the yeast being the last to be added. Setup the bread machine for the 'dough' cycle and press 'start. Pretty lazy huh? After 1.5 hours of mixing/proofing, take the dough out of the bread machine, squish it a few times and let it rise in a prepared (buttered) bread pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool, slice while it is cooling, or rip it apart while it is still hot (I did the latter). This loaf will not last long in any household with avid bread eaters.
(alternate) Mixing the dough without a bread machine:
1. In a small bowl, add yeast and a pinch of sugar, to warm water (110 degrees F). Set aside for 10 minutes, until yeast foams up a bit.
2. In a food prep, combine flour, sugar, dry milk powder, and salt. Add egg and yeast water. Mix until the ingredients come together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Gather up the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel (or another bowl) and let rise for an hour.
3. Prepare a bread pan by lightly oiling its insides with butter. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, if necessary, and place it in the prepared bread pan.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Once the top and sides are lightly browned, the bread should be done.
This bread tastes good slathered with even more butter. Yum!
Krispy Kale Khips
I can't believe packages of these sell for $5 for a 1.2 oz bag at the grocery store. Kale is in season almost all year in the PNW. Best pricing at a grocery store will be about a dollar a bunch for fresh green kale during mid-summer. Red and multicolored kale is slightly pricier, but it doesn't matter which variety is used for these "chips". Definitely remove all the tough 'ribs' from the leaves before shredding them by hand. The end product is ideally light, crispy and slightly salty.
[edit: later that day] I weighed the remainder of what I didn't nibble on, and it would appear that a bunch of fresh kale (roughly 1 lb) yields about 2 oz crispy kale chips.
I did three batches with a head of kale; largely because only a third of the leaves would fit on the baking sheet at one time. I found that using a 9x13 glass baking dish did not work so well in evenly drying the leaves. As for flavorings, here's what I used:
[edit: later that day] I weighed the remainder of what I didn't nibble on, and it would appear that a bunch of fresh kale (roughly 1 lb) yields about 2 oz crispy kale chips.
I did three batches with a head of kale; largely because only a third of the leaves would fit on the baking sheet at one time. I found that using a 9x13 glass baking dish did not work so well in evenly drying the leaves. As for flavorings, here's what I used:
- batch #1: coarsely ground Himalayan pink salt with Mrs. Dash tomato/garlic/basil seasoning
- batch #2: lightly sprinkled with black truffle oil salt
- batch #3: lightly sprinkled sea salt
Batch #1 came out way too salty for my taste but light and crunchy. The process is pretty simple and the messiest part is preparing the leaves for baking. Taking time to massage oil into the individual leaves helps the "chips" attract salt and/or spices, or at least stick on better.
As for plating, I suggest a parchment cone in a large glass tumbler or a decorative rectangular dish.
Ingredients
a bunch of kale, washed and stems removed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
1. After you have washed and dried the kale leaves, remove the thick rib from the middle of the leaf. Tear the leafy parts into bite-sized pieces. These will retain most of their size after baking. Toss in a large bowl with olive oil.
2. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt.
3. Bake for 20 minutes. You could rotate the leaves after 10 minutes of baking, but that depends on how much residual oil is on the leaves. I did not flip the leaves on two of the three batches and they came out okay.
4. Serve immediately.
Basic Marinara Sauce
I break even on the raw material cost with this recipe and can reduce my reliance on having to make a special trip to the grocery store to make a sauce for spaghetti or lasagna. June was an abysmal start to summer with all the rain and chilly temps. In the Pacific Northwest, the warm days and clear sunny skies have only just begun. Locally grown tomatoes are just starting to appear on plants and at local vegetable farms. Typically, the ugliest tomatoes leftover from the end of the season are turned into canned tomato goods: tomato sauce, diced tomato, marinara sauce, etc. A local farms these typically go for u-pick pricing of $0.50/lb or cheaper. The average store bought marinara sauce consists of about one or two cans of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce with various herbs, cooked mushrooms, salt, sugar, and onions tossed in for flavor. It makes you wonder about the quality of the tomatoes that are used in mass produced tomato-based sauces.
Use with: Italian pastas, cheese fries, baked summer vegetables
To reconstitute tomato paste into tomato sauce, add an equal amount of water to the tomato paste. An 8 oz can of tomato paste + 8 oz water = roughly a cup of tomato sauce.
Using fresh tomatoes: To make this sauce with fresh tomatoes, peel the tomatoes by blanching them in hot water (this makes it easier to remove the skins). The Smitten Kitchen blog has a very good write-up and photos of this process (details). 4 pounds of roma tomatoes will make 4 cups of tomato sauce.
Ingredients
One 14.5 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced or roughly chopped
6-12 basil leaves, stems removed and sliced
8 oz fresh white or crimini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
8 oz tomato paste + 8 oz water (or tomato sauce)
up to 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
up to 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
a pinch of sugar or a pinch of baking soda (optional, to reduce acidity)
Directions
1. In a 2-quart (or larger) heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaf and purée using an immersion blender.
Use with: Italian pastas, cheese fries, baked summer vegetables
To reconstitute tomato paste into tomato sauce, add an equal amount of water to the tomato paste. An 8 oz can of tomato paste + 8 oz water = roughly a cup of tomato sauce.
Using fresh tomatoes: To make this sauce with fresh tomatoes, peel the tomatoes by blanching them in hot water (this makes it easier to remove the skins). The Smitten Kitchen blog has a very good write-up and photos of this process (details). 4 pounds of roma tomatoes will make 4 cups of tomato sauce.
Ingredients
One 14.5 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced or roughly chopped
6-12 basil leaves, stems removed and sliced
8 oz fresh white or crimini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
8 oz tomato paste + 8 oz water (or tomato sauce)
up to 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
up to 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
a pinch of sugar or a pinch of baking soda (optional, to reduce acidity)
Directions
1. In a 2-quart (or larger) heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaf and purée using an immersion blender.
Leek Pie
This recipe comes from The Ploughman's Lunch and the Miser's Feast by Brian Yarvin. Made it for dinner tonight. Came out really good. It's a stick-to-your-ribs sort of meal. I used the leftover crust dough to make odd shapes on top. Uses 1 hot-water crust recipe (see below).
Filling Ingredients
6 leeks, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten (optional)
Filling Directions
1. In a large skillet, heat oil and fry leeks until they are translucent; about 30 minutes.
2. Remove skillet from heat and combine leeks, cream, cheese, and spices in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Using one of the rolled out pie crust rounds, line a pie dish and add the filling. Cover with the second rolled out pie and trim off the edges. Decorate top of pie with excess crust dough cut into shapes. Crimp edge with fork tines. Brush top of pie with an egg wash (1 beaten egg).
5. Bake on the center rack for 40 minutes.
British Hot-Water Pie Crust
This part of the recipe makes two 9" pie crusts. As far as I can ascertain, the "British" part of this pie crust is using beef suet/lard/shortening. American pie crusts, Brian says, typically use ice water and chilled butter.
Crust Ingredients
4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. shortening
1/2 c. water
Crust Directions
1. Sift flour into a large bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, combine milk, water, shortening, and salt. Bring to a boil then immediately add to the flour and mix together.
3. Once the dough comes together easily, divide into two equal portions. Roll out to fit the pie dish. Take care to not overwork the dough. This is a much thicker crust than what you'd use on a fruit pie.
4. Roll out dough to 11 inches wide and 1/8" thick.
Note: If the crust is too dry to roll out, add 1 tbsp of hot water. If the crust is too wet, add 1 tbsp of flour.
Filling Ingredients
6 leeks, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten (optional)
Filling Directions
1. In a large skillet, heat oil and fry leeks until they are translucent; about 30 minutes.
2. Remove skillet from heat and combine leeks, cream, cheese, and spices in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Using one of the rolled out pie crust rounds, line a pie dish and add the filling. Cover with the second rolled out pie and trim off the edges. Decorate top of pie with excess crust dough cut into shapes. Crimp edge with fork tines. Brush top of pie with an egg wash (1 beaten egg).
5. Bake on the center rack for 40 minutes.
British Hot-Water Pie Crust
This part of the recipe makes two 9" pie crusts. As far as I can ascertain, the "British" part of this pie crust is using beef suet/lard/shortening. American pie crusts, Brian says, typically use ice water and chilled butter.
Crust Ingredients
4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. shortening
1/2 c. water
Crust Directions
1. Sift flour into a large bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, combine milk, water, shortening, and salt. Bring to a boil then immediately add to the flour and mix together.
3. Once the dough comes together easily, divide into two equal portions. Roll out to fit the pie dish. Take care to not overwork the dough. This is a much thicker crust than what you'd use on a fruit pie.
4. Roll out dough to 11 inches wide and 1/8" thick.
Note: If the crust is too dry to roll out, add 1 tbsp of hot water. If the crust is too wet, add 1 tbsp of flour.
Pork Fried Noodles
The best part about tasty leftovers is being able to create a tasty dish that can be enjoyed. We had leftover pork roast and leftover whole wheat spaghetti noodles from two separate meals. You can easily substitute the pork for chicken breast, beef, or shrimp.
Ingredients
cooked spaghetti noodles
1 c. pork roast, sliced or diced
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 c. garlic chives, cut into 1" slices
1 garlic clove, minced
Directions
1. In a large cast iron pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add noodles. Fry over low heat until the noodles have browned. Flip the heap of noodles over so that the other side can brown too.
2. Add garlic, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and slices of pork roast. Stir into the noodles until everything is evenly distributed. Don't let the chives brown. When the chives turn a vibrant green color, they are cooked.
3. Serve in bowls or on plates. Enjoy.
Ingredients
cooked spaghetti noodles
1 c. pork roast, sliced or diced
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 c. garlic chives, cut into 1" slices
1 garlic clove, minced
Directions
1. In a large cast iron pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add noodles. Fry over low heat until the noodles have browned. Flip the heap of noodles over so that the other side can brown too.
2. Add garlic, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and slices of pork roast. Stir into the noodles until everything is evenly distributed. Don't let the chives brown. When the chives turn a vibrant green color, they are cooked.
3. Serve in bowls or on plates. Enjoy.
Chipotle Quinoa Salad
I seem to have put a little too much of the chipotle powder into this recipe. I intended to give the salad a little kick. Made this for a weekend BBQ. It takes the freshness of late spring produce and kicks it up a notch.
Ingredients
2 1/4 c. organic quinoa
4 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp salt
1 organic red bell pepper, seeded, pith removed, and diced
1 organic green (or yellow) bell pepper, seeded, pith removed and diced
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbsp lemon juice (or lime juice, if preferred)
1 green onion, minced
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (optional)
In a pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add quinoa and it back to a boil. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. Fluff with a spoon.
At this point, the quinoa is pretty plain and needs a little dressing up.
In a large bowl, mix green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, lemon juice, green onion, chipotle powder, and paprika until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Gradually mix in the cooked quinoa.
Serve immediately or chill.
Ingredients
2 1/4 c. organic quinoa
4 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp salt
1 organic red bell pepper, seeded, pith removed, and diced
1 organic green (or yellow) bell pepper, seeded, pith removed and diced
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbsp lemon juice (or lime juice, if preferred)
1 green onion, minced
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (optional)
In a pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add quinoa and it back to a boil. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. Fluff with a spoon.
At this point, the quinoa is pretty plain and needs a little dressing up.
In a large bowl, mix green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, lemon juice, green onion, chipotle powder, and paprika until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Gradually mix in the cooked quinoa.
Serve immediately or chill.
Homemade Soft Prezels (batch #1)
This recipe seemed easy enough to do. How could it possibly fail after having such rave reviews by FN commenters. There are a few things wrong with it. For starters, the dough is way too soft. Yeah, I know the title of the recipe is soft pretzels but there is soft, and then there is soft and chewy; the latter of which is what we pay a premium for at amusement parks. These taste okay. I made some alterations to the mustard sauce recipe. And, because our weather went from awesome to sux0rz, I used a bread machine to mix and proof the dough. I don't recommend using coarse salt. With the baking soda bath, it tastes salty enough.
Ingredients
1 c. whole milk
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1 tsp fine salt
1/3 c. baking soda + 3 cups warm water
a stick of cold butter (optional)
Directions
1. In a bread machine, add these ingredients in this order: milk, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast. Set the machine on the "dough" cycle. Come back in 1.5 hours.
2. Take the dough out of the bread machine. It'll be sticky, but manageable. Knead it a few times until it is smooth. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into equal portions. This batch made six pretzels and from the photo, apparently I didn't roll the dough to a long enough rope length.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
4. In a shallow baking dish, dissolve baking soda in warm water. Dip each pretzel into the soda water. Take out and set onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake pretzels for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
6. Remove pretzels to a rack to cool. Optional step: use a cold stick of butter on the hot pretzels to lightly butter them. Don't add any more coarse salt. They should be good to eat.
Pretzel Dipping Sauce
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
2 tbsp Plouchman's mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
splash of smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce
Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. This, btw, makes too much sauce for a mere half dozen pretzels. I'd probably cut the ratio in half again.
 |
| Homemade Soft Pretzels, lightly buttered |
1 c. whole milk
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1 tsp fine salt
1/3 c. baking soda + 3 cups warm water
a stick of cold butter (optional)
Directions
1. In a bread machine, add these ingredients in this order: milk, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast. Set the machine on the "dough" cycle. Come back in 1.5 hours.
2. Take the dough out of the bread machine. It'll be sticky, but manageable. Knead it a few times until it is smooth. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into equal portions. This batch made six pretzels and from the photo, apparently I didn't roll the dough to a long enough rope length.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
4. In a shallow baking dish, dissolve baking soda in warm water. Dip each pretzel into the soda water. Take out and set onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake pretzels for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
6. Remove pretzels to a rack to cool. Optional step: use a cold stick of butter on the hot pretzels to lightly butter them. Don't add any more coarse salt. They should be good to eat.
Pretzel Dipping Sauce
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
2 tbsp Plouchman's mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
splash of smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce
Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. This, btw, makes too much sauce for a mere half dozen pretzels. I'd probably cut the ratio in half again.
Coconut Brown Rice
Saw this at the demo booth at Trader Joe's the other day, except steamed long grain jasmine rice was used. The rice, when made this way, would complement a curry dish pretty well.
Ingredients
1 c. short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Directions
In a heatproof bowl, combine coconut milk and brown rice. Stir to distribute liquid and grains of rice. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 375 degrees F. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork. If the rice looks a little runny, like there is still too much liquid, simply let the rice sit in the oven to cool. The rice will eventually absorb the excess liquid.
Ingredients
1 c. short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Directions
In a heatproof bowl, combine coconut milk and brown rice. Stir to distribute liquid and grains of rice. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 375 degrees F. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork. If the rice looks a little runny, like there is still too much liquid, simply let the rice sit in the oven to cool. The rice will eventually absorb the excess liquid.
Fried Rice
This weekend I am in Chicago visiting relatives and it seemed like a good time to watch some food prep in action. While fried rice is a dish that anyone who knows how challenging leftover rice can be monotonous after a few reheats, fried rice takes some fresh ingredients (eggs, green onions, pork) and accommodates a LOT of leftover rice to make a very satisfying meal that feeds a lot of people. This particular batch made roughly 10 quarts of fried rice, feeding more than 10 adults and children, with plenty leftover. Sure, turning leftovers into more leftovers seems redundant, but fried rice stands on its own really well and can be reheated for lunch or an occasional snack.
 |
| Stir the rice to combine evenly while cooking. |
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp soy sauce + up to 1/4 c water
2 bunches green onions, diced
1.5 pounds pork, small dice
Directions
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat and add the beaten eggs, green onions, and pork. Fry until the pork has lost its pinkness and the eggs are almost entirely cooked.
Add all the leftover rice. Freshly made steamed rice does not work well in a recipe like this. You really need cooked rice made at least a day ahead. Add soy sauce while stirring the rice as it cooks. Really what you are doing in this step is bringing the rice up to the same temperature as the other ingredients. You can add some water to this mix to loosen up the rice, but don't add more than can be evaporated off.
Turn off heat and serve in small rice or soup bowls.
Oven-baked naan
The reason why packages of naan sell for $2.69 at Trader Joe's is because no one has the time to wait around for dough to rise for three hours before a meal. It's a bread that has a very short shelf life and this is because it tastes the best when piping hot and fresh from the oven. But, these reheat pretty well in the toaster the day after too. For today's experiment, I used ingredients that I had on hand. So, the yogurt inclusion isn't plain yogurt, it's vanilla whole milk yogurt. I like whole milk yogurts. The thickness and texture is very similar to Greek-styled yogurt. My pizza stone broke a few months ago (apparently it couldn't survive the self-cleaning setting of the oven), so I used the reverse side of a heavy baking sheet. Most of my bakeware, if it's not glass, is made of steel from the Baker's Advantage product line.
Makes 4.
Ingredients
1 tsp yeast + 3/4 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
pinch of baking powder
2 1/2 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
bowl of water
Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Let the yeast proof for about 10 minutes.
2. In a larger bowl, whisk together: flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in yogurt and olive oil. Next, add the yeast-water liquid. Mix until the dough comes together.
3. With floured hands, knead the dough until it is smooth. Put dough into a clean bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm room for 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Punch down dough and divide into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and set aside.
5. Dip dough ball into flour and roll out into a 1/4" thick oval shape on a clean kitchen towel. If you're using a baking sheet instead of a pizza stone, it's not necessary to preheat the sheet in the oven. Simply place the rolled out dough onto the sheet. As many as will fit on its surface with roughly 1" spacing.
6. Before putting the dough into the oven. Use your fingers to moisten the top of the naan with water. The added moisture help the dough from forming a hard pita-like crust. Bake for 4 minutes, flip the naan over and bake for an additional 1 minute. Remove from oven.
 |
| Freshly baked naan |
Makes 4.
Ingredients
1 tsp yeast + 3/4 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
pinch of baking powder
2 1/2 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
bowl of water
Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Let the yeast proof for about 10 minutes.
2. In a larger bowl, whisk together: flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in yogurt and olive oil. Next, add the yeast-water liquid. Mix until the dough comes together.
3. With floured hands, knead the dough until it is smooth. Put dough into a clean bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm room for 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Punch down dough and divide into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and set aside.
5. Dip dough ball into flour and roll out into a 1/4" thick oval shape on a clean kitchen towel. If you're using a baking sheet instead of a pizza stone, it's not necessary to preheat the sheet in the oven. Simply place the rolled out dough onto the sheet. As many as will fit on its surface with roughly 1" spacing.
6. Before putting the dough into the oven. Use your fingers to moisten the top of the naan with water. The added moisture help the dough from forming a hard pita-like crust. Bake for 4 minutes, flip the naan over and bake for an additional 1 minute. Remove from oven.
Fresh Mushroom Soup
A couple weeks ago I had the worst-ever bowl of cream of mushroom soup at Palomino's in Bellevue. There was no excuse for it. Certainly not on my part since I finished reading Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential that weekend, in which Bourdain clearly says what foods to avoid on certain days. For example, never order seafood on a Monday (because the fresh stuff comes in on Friday morning for F/Sa/Su). And, sure enough, the dungeness crab sliders that came with my soup were cold, soggy, tasteless, and ugh, the crab tasted like it was frozen and reheated a couple times. Never order cream of anything at a restaurant, he warns. That is because you can hide all sorts of things in a cream-based soup. Heck, if I can make a decent crab bisque with a meatless carcass, imagine what an experienced chef can do in the kitchen. Anyhow. Here's a much better rendition of mushroom soup.
Ingredients
8 oz fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1 qt organic beef stock
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp unbleached AP flour + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp organic white wine
1/4 c buttermilk, or cream
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)
Directions
1. In a medium-sized pot, melt butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until tender; about 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from heat and set aside.
2. Add remaining butter and stir in flour. This will make a roux. The flour will clump together into a ball, but not to worry, it will smooth out once the broth is added. Speaking of which, gradually add the broth, whisking until the flour dissolves in the broth. Pour in the rest of the broth and add the wine. Return 2/3 of the mushrooms to the pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and let the soup cool before using an immersion blender. The idea is to not purée the mushrooms, but to chop them up into little bits. Return remaining mushrooms to the pot along with the buttermilk, salt, and black pepper. Bring up to a boil for five minutes.
4. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls.
Ingredients
8 oz fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1 qt organic beef stock
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp unbleached AP flour + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp organic white wine
1/4 c buttermilk, or cream
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)
Directions
1. In a medium-sized pot, melt butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until tender; about 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from heat and set aside.
2. Add remaining butter and stir in flour. This will make a roux. The flour will clump together into a ball, but not to worry, it will smooth out once the broth is added. Speaking of which, gradually add the broth, whisking until the flour dissolves in the broth. Pour in the rest of the broth and add the wine. Return 2/3 of the mushrooms to the pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and let the soup cool before using an immersion blender. The idea is to not purée the mushrooms, but to chop them up into little bits. Return remaining mushrooms to the pot along with the buttermilk, salt, and black pepper. Bring up to a boil for five minutes.
4. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls.
Corned Beef with Cabbage
This is the first year I haven't taken the lazy uninspired route of making this dish...which typically meant going to the grocery store and buying the corned beef already brined in a neat little package. What is a little distressing is that the spices I had to acquire for this dish costed almost as much as the brisket; and the meat was on sale for St Patrick's Day. This dish is an expensive cooking experiment (roughly $15 in ingredients, excluding spices already on hand). I hope I don't screw it up too badly.
Brisket is a pretty unforgiving piece of meat that needs to be slow roasted for its connective muscle tissue to break down into delightful pleasures of eating. If you cook it too fast on high heat, the meat gets tough. If you cook it too slow on high heat, the meat is still tough. But, if you don't want to bother with basting the meat every 40-50 minutes while it roasts in the oven there is another modern convenience called the slow cooker; or as it says on my unit...a Crockpot. I am using Steamy Kitchen's recipe process for this because it looks really easy to do. One of my beer friends advised against using a Guinness dark beer so I am using Pike's Naughty Nelly artisan ale instead. No, I still don't drink beer. I don't care for bitter in my beverages, and while I love the smell of fermenting hops (smells like bread, go figure) it's just not for me. Beer is great in recipes though, like beer can chicken, steamed with clams or mussels, or in chocolate stout cupcakes.
Brisket is a pretty unforgiving piece of meat that needs to be slow roasted for its connective muscle tissue to break down into delightful pleasures of eating. If you cook it too fast on high heat, the meat gets tough. If you cook it too slow on high heat, the meat is still tough. But, if you don't want to bother with basting the meat every 40-50 minutes while it roasts in the oven there is another modern convenience called the slow cooker; or as it says on my unit...a Crockpot. I am using Steamy Kitchen's recipe process for this because it looks really easy to do. One of my beer friends advised against using a Guinness dark beer so I am using Pike's Naughty Nelly artisan ale instead. No, I still don't drink beer. I don't care for bitter in my beverages, and while I love the smell of fermenting hops (smells like bread, go figure) it's just not for me. Beer is great in recipes though, like beer can chicken, steamed with clams or mussels, or in chocolate stout cupcakes.
Irish Soda Bread
Made Irish soda bread today. As I managed to get buttermilk-sticky flour and raisins all over my counter, the process reminded me of a forgetful baker who first conceived the recipe. At first, it is like making a biscuit dough, but then caraway seeds are added and then it seems like you're making rye bread but without the rye flour nor the yeast. You think a savory bread is going to be made until raisins are added. I divided the mass of dough into four portions and shaped them all into mini rounded soda bread loaves. A floured kitchen towel works really well for kneading sticky dough.
This ingredient ratio comes from the Seattle Times. Nearly all of the ingredients are represented, except for the heavy cream for the egg wash. I substituted buttermilk. In retrospect, two cups of raisins is too much for this recipe. There were so many unused raisins, I had to stick the stragglers back into the dough. And, while baking, the dough pushed some of the raisins out to the surface.
Ingredients
4 c. unbleached AP flour, sifted
1/4 c . organic granulated sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cold
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caraway seeds
2 c. organic seedless raisins
1 1/3 c. buttermilk
1 whole egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp buttermilk (for egg wash, optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep: sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in unsalted butter until coarse crumbs form.
2. Empty food prep into a large mixing bowl. Stir in caraway seeds until evenly distributed.
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, an egg, and baking soda. Pour into flour and stir to combine. Fold in raisins. Dough will be sticky.
4. Turn out dough onto a clean, floured kitchen towel. Knead a few times so that the dough comes together and shape it into a large ball; or divide into four equal portions. With a sharp knife or the edge of a pastry scraper, make a cross 1/4" deep in the center.
5. (optional) Brush bread with beaten egg yolk and buttermilk before baking.
6. If baking one large round, bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. If baking smaller rounds, bake for 50 minutes.
This ingredient ratio comes from the Seattle Times. Nearly all of the ingredients are represented, except for the heavy cream for the egg wash. I substituted buttermilk. In retrospect, two cups of raisins is too much for this recipe. There were so many unused raisins, I had to stick the stragglers back into the dough. And, while baking, the dough pushed some of the raisins out to the surface.
Ingredients
4 c. unbleached AP flour, sifted
1/4 c . organic granulated sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cold
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caraway seeds
2 c. organic seedless raisins
1 1/3 c. buttermilk
1 whole egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp buttermilk (for egg wash, optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep: sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in unsalted butter until coarse crumbs form.
2. Empty food prep into a large mixing bowl. Stir in caraway seeds until evenly distributed.
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, an egg, and baking soda. Pour into flour and stir to combine. Fold in raisins. Dough will be sticky.
4. Turn out dough onto a clean, floured kitchen towel. Knead a few times so that the dough comes together and shape it into a large ball; or divide into four equal portions. With a sharp knife or the edge of a pastry scraper, make a cross 1/4" deep in the center.
5. (optional) Brush bread with beaten egg yolk and buttermilk before baking.
6. If baking one large round, bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. If baking smaller rounds, bake for 50 minutes.
Bell Pepper with Shitake Mushrooms
This is also pretty straightforward. I am writing it up as a post because I think the flavors taste good together. To rehydrate dried mushrooms, simply place them in a large bowl and add boiling water. Let them soak before using. The leftover liquid is mushroom dashi and can be used to flavor soups.
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
3 large bell peppers, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated
1 tbsp low-sodium natural soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
olive oil, for frying
Directions
1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil easily spreads across the bottom of the pan, add garlic and stir until lightly browned.
2. Add bell peppers and mushrooms and stir fry until the peppers have changed color. If using green bell peppers, the green with be a much richer lawn-green color. This should take no more than five minutes.
3. Season with soy sauce and sea salt while frying. Remove from heat and serve.
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
3 large bell peppers, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated
1 tbsp low-sodium natural soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
olive oil, for frying
Directions
1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil easily spreads across the bottom of the pan, add garlic and stir until lightly browned.
2. Add bell peppers and mushrooms and stir fry until the peppers have changed color. If using green bell peppers, the green with be a much richer lawn-green color. This should take no more than five minutes.
3. Season with soy sauce and sea salt while frying. Remove from heat and serve.
Foil baked trout
This is a pretty simple recipe and can be done in less than a half hour, provided that the trout is already gutted and cleaned. And, as long as the oil doesn't leak out of the foil packet, clean-up is easy. Assume serving size is one trout per person. I would recommend using olive oil on both sides of the fish to keep the skin from sticking to the foil.
Ingredients
1 trout, cleaned
fresh or dried herbs: thyme, parsley, garlic, poultry seasoning, whatever is available
lemon slices (optional)
unsalted butter, up to 1 tbsp
olive oil
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Tear out enough aluminum foil to wrap the fish in a rectangular package and lay fish, scored diagonally on both sides, in the center. Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the fish before adding herbs, salt and pepper.
2. Place two lemon slices, fresh/dried herbs, and butter inside the fish. You can also sprinkle a salt-free seasoning blend on both sides of the fish, or season with some sea salt and black pepper.
3. Wrap fish with aluminum foil and place on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Ingredients
1 trout, cleaned
fresh or dried herbs: thyme, parsley, garlic, poultry seasoning, whatever is available
lemon slices (optional)
unsalted butter, up to 1 tbsp
olive oil
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Tear out enough aluminum foil to wrap the fish in a rectangular package and lay fish, scored diagonally on both sides, in the center. Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the fish before adding herbs, salt and pepper.
2. Place two lemon slices, fresh/dried herbs, and butter inside the fish. You can also sprinkle a salt-free seasoning blend on both sides of the fish, or season with some sea salt and black pepper.
3. Wrap fish with aluminum foil and place on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Well, definitely this batch of cookie dough needs to be chilled before forming and baking. I did a test batch of six tablespoonfuls of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and the cookies did what I thought they'd do. Melt and spread out into very thin discs. While they are tasty, the cookies did require more baking time than I thought, about 15 minutes, which gave the cookies a rich, dark brown color. Looks like rounded teaspoonfuls will have to be the measure for this ingredient ratio.
Ingredients
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Blend together until well combined.
2. Add to the food prep, flour, salt and spices. Pulse until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix rolled oats and dried cranberries. Fold together with butter mixture.
4. Let the cookie dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before forming into rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven), until the cookies are lightly browned.
6. Cool cookies on a wire rack before storing or eating.
 |
| This is what happens when unchilled cookie dough is used. |
Ingredients
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Blend together until well combined.
2. Add to the food prep, flour, salt and spices. Pulse until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix rolled oats and dried cranberries. Fold together with butter mixture.
4. Let the cookie dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before forming into rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven), until the cookies are lightly browned.
6. Cool cookies on a wire rack before storing or eating.
Beef and Eggplant Ragu
The taste reminded me a lot like a ratatouille. The sauce was burdened by eggplant flavor, however. Perhaps one large aubergine was too much for this simple beef recipe. Also, I couldn't taste the fennel at all. So maybe next time I should use fresh fennel instead of fennel seeds and dice the eggplant into smaller bits. This ragu is traditionally served over pasta, but fried brown rice is an acceptable substitute.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large aubergine, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp EVOO
One 15 oz can organic diced tomatoes
1/3 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. dry marsala wine
1/2 tsp organic granulated sugar
1 tsp each fennel seeds, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, brown garlic, ground beef, and olive oil together over medium heat. When all the pink is nearly gone in the beef, add the eggplant, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes before adding the wine, sugar, and spices. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is cooked.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large aubergine, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp EVOO
One 15 oz can organic diced tomatoes
1/3 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. dry marsala wine
1/2 tsp organic granulated sugar
1 tsp each fennel seeds, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, brown garlic, ground beef, and olive oil together over medium heat. When all the pink is nearly gone in the beef, add the eggplant, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes before adding the wine, sugar, and spices. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is cooked.
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