Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
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Basil Ice Cream
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Say What?! Yep, you read that right and, no, this is not the product of an Iron Chef challenge. Basil ice cream has been around for a while and is surprisingly refreshing and tasty. If you’ve got an ice cream machine then this will be a breeze for you. Click here for the recipe.
I put more than the recommended basil in my batch and it came out really, really flavorful. I’d probably like a little subtler flavor the next time around. The directions call for you to blend the basil and milk, which I was sure would not be possible to do well without some sort of fantastic blender, but my boring old machine ground it up perfectly. When you’re done, you end up with a really lovely colored ice cream. Pair it with some fresh berries, an almond cookie basket, and perhaps some dark chocolate shavings and you have a fabulous and unique dessert.
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Pumpkin Muffins
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
In the last few months I’ve developed a fondness for muffins, as they make a convenient breakfast or snack on the go. However, the muffins at most grocery stores are just oozing with empty calories and little nutrition so I’ve been exploring the world of ‘healthy’ muffins, and have a new winner to recommend.
The combination of wheat and white flour works well – I’ve been using a random wheat flour I bought on sale that doesn’t work well in other baked goods, but it blends right in with these muffins. When I’ve (a little begrudgingly) shared my muffins with others, no one seems to notice the wheat flour, which makes me feel sneaky.
The pumpkin seeds as a topping add a satisfying crunch, although you certainly don’t need to make an extra trip the grocery store if you don’t have them on hand. I’ve made the muffins with and without, and I believe the seeds on top are there to add extra nutrition more than anything. My mother-in-law also tested this recipe, and changed the pumpkin seeds for chopped pecans, which she reported were a welcome addition.
Each time I’ve made these muffins, I’ve ended up with more than the recipe promised, which always makes me happy. Also, I have to confess that I’ve added chocolate chips to the batter, and it only take a few bits of chocolate to take the muffins from “breakfast” to “treat.”
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Lemon-Ginger Marmalade
Monday, May 11th, 2009
Starved for variety with strawberry jam? Disgruntled with grape jelly? This bold marmalade is easy to make and has incredible flavor. Like so many jams, it is easy to imagine multiple uses beyond toast: topping ice cream or yogurt, glazing cakes, devising a marinade for meat, or assembling a sauce. Another application that came to mind for this marmalade is to stir a dollop into a cup of tea instead of sweetener.
Here are a few pointers on getting started:
Unless you are much faster at breaking down lemons than I am, it will take at least 20-30 minutes to peel, trim, quarter, and slice eight lemons. Because I like to be as efficient as possible when cooking, I peeled two lemons first, then added the zest to 1 cup of water and began simmering right away, adding the remaining lemon zest and slices as I went along. Since the pith is so bitter, I was very obsessive about removing it carefully, which was the most time consuming task. I added another 1/2 cup of water to my lemons before moving on to the ginger. I realize the recipe instructs to put everything in the pot first before simmering, but I’m just too impatient. Also, I tend to hold back on adding all the water in preserves recipes at once because I’ve often found the results too runny for my taste with the amount called for in the instructions.
As the lemon zest and bits stewed away on the stove, I grated the ginger. One skill I’m still working to master is determining how much of a produce item to buy when the recipe simply refers to a measured amount. Unless the recipe is specific (6 - 8 lemons), I’m sometimes at a loss. For this recipe, I used a ginger root about the size of my hand, and had no leftovers in generating the half cup of ginger. Again, I know the recipe says finely chopped, but I’ve finely chopped ginger before, and without better knife skills, this is a momentous task. Besides, the person who invented the ginger grater is a genius. The ginger is reduced to a gentle mush, and those pesky threads which make chopping such a bear are left behind in a sort of culinary dust bunny.
My instinct to hold back on the last half cup of water did prove useful in this case, because the ginger grater collected quite a bit of juice. I added the juice instead of the remaining water, which brought up the zing from the ginger quite a bit!
The final tip is to watch for any rogue seeds as you reduce the mixture. Although I was very fastidious about removing any seeds before the lemons went into the pot, it was inevitable that a few sneaked in. This recipe did end up making closer to eight cups of marmalade, and who can complain when a recipe makes more than it promised upfront? The lemon and ginger work naturally together, making quite a wake up call for your taste buds!
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Szekely Gulyas
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
What in the world is this szekely gulyas, you ask? Well, it’s the snooty way of spelling what we know as goulash, a traditional Hungarian dish. Truth be told, I probably don’t have the right to use the snooty spelling, since I am offering up what is likely an Americanized version of a traditional Hungarian dish. It’s a family recipe and it is so delicious that I honestly don’t really care to find out how authentic it is. Like any good comfort food, this is a make-ahead meal that you get to have simmering on your stove for hours causing people inside to salivate and constantly bother you with, “Is it time for dinner yet?” Those are always proud moments for us home chefs, are they not?
On a health note, you can cut down on the fat in this recipe by using leaner pork cuts and reduced fat sour cream. Also, if you can get fresh dill, please do. It makes a lovely difference.
This goulash is a fantastic winter food and I offer it to those of you who, like me, are feeling stuck in a perpetual snowy time-warp. If spring never gets here, at least I have yummy comfort food to keep me warm.
2 1/2 lb. boneless pork, cubed
2 tablespoons oil
3 medium onions sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 lb. sauerkraut well-drained
4 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill
1 cup tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream, divided in half
Brown the meat in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the rest of the ingredients except sour cream and combine. Now add 1/2 cup sour cream, combine and simmer the mixture for 3 hours. Add the final 1/2 cup of sour cream just before serving. Serve over egg noodles. May add additional sauerkraut on noodles as well or on the side.
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Ginger Scones
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Although I’m up for a tea anytime, there is something about Spring that inspires me to consider tea parties. Thinking of tea parties leads me inevitably to baked goods, which is how we now arrive at the ginger scone.
These light, flaky scones have the right balance of sweetness without being sugary, and are surprisingly easy to make, especially if you have a food processor. The only tedious part is cutting crystallized ginger into tiny, tiny pieces, and fortunately, these ginger chips eliminate this time consuming step. However, if you have regular crystallized ginger, I have perfected a method of cutting the chunks into bits. First, a 1/2 cup or larger measuring cup with about a teaspoon of flour in it will be the temporary receptacle for the bits of ginger once they are cut. I flour a small cutting board just little and spray just a touch of cooking oil onto the knife (I use a paring knife) I’ll be using to cut the ginger with. Once my little cutting station is assembled, I begin breaking down the ginger with my oiled knife, and the flour on the board keeps the sticky ginger from being itself. As little piles of ginger bits materialize, I transfer them into the measuring cup with the extra flour to continue keeping the bits separated. Once I have roughly 1/3 cup of ginger bits, I gently sift out the flour from the measuring cup and continue with the recipe.
Also, a scone pan is lovely, but not mandatory. A baking sheet with parchment paper or foil is perfectly fine also, and it lends itself to more homemade looking scones. Although not included in this recipe, eggwashing the tops of the scones and then sprinkling the tops with granulated sugar before baking also adds an elegant touch.
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More Adventures in Puff Pastry
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
What was just an innocent test run for a new recipe is now a budding addiction: puff pastry is my new culinary thrill. So far three new uses for puff pastry have been tested, and all three turned out beautifully. The jam turnovers (jam and puff pastry, how easy it that?) were just as perfect as those in a bakery, but even better since we enjoyed them freshly baked. My one caution is to not be overly enthusiastic with the jam. I have a delicious wild blueberry conserve that seemed perfect for the turnovers, and flagrantly disregarded the 1 tablespoon recommended per turnover. Not only was this a poor idea since the turnovers started weeping the delectable jam in the oven, but also changed one or two of the turnovers into a fork and knife course instead of a hand-held treat.
My mom and I tested puff pastry for homemade cheese danishes (Barefoot Contessa at Home, 2006), and another fantastic appetizer, ham and gruyere in puff pastry. Both were so simple - easier than baking a batch of homemade cookies (in my experience - but am also not a fantastic baker), that I am seriously considering puff pastry as an alternative when certain baking occasions arise. The danishes would make a unique alternative to a plate of brownies or cookies, and how awesome would it be to show up with a plate of ham and cheese puff pastry squares at an office potluck. I suspect this appetizer could be gently warmed in a toaster oven (many offices seem to have a worn but functional one) before serving. In my mind, this is certainly much easier than lugging a crock pot to work.
For both the danishes and the ham/gruyere tart, we rolled out the puff pastry on a chilled baking sheet, skipping the floured countertop altogether. Parchment paper is always ideal as a layer between the pastry and the baking sheet, but aluminum foil coated with a shot of baking spray has always done the trick for me. I highly recommend using a cooling rack for all puff pastry treats - allowing the air to circulate underneath the baking sheet combats the slight sogginess that butter can inflict on the bottom laters of the pastry.
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Homemade Sloppy Joes
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Another sampling of nutritious updates on classic favorites has struck gold again. I have completely bought into the idea that better nutrition in cooking begins with even one baby step, so I’ve been looking for recipes that don’t sacrifice flavor while boosting nutritional content. I have been especially vigilant in looking for recipes with the appeal of being both familiar and not overtly austere in a health conscious way. Honestly - you can’t cook tofu in beef broth and call it a steak.
These “better” sloppy joes are given a nutrition boost by the pinto beans, and although initially the list of ingredients made the recipe look a little more complex, I was able to quickly assemble the sauce in a separate bowl while the beef was browning on the stove. The separate sauce assembly turned out to be a good choice, since I do suggest adjusting an ingredient here and there to suit your own taste.
Knowing how much heat and flavor my husband enjoys, I added about a teaspoon of hot paprika, and am planning to add even more the next time I make these sandwiches, which will be soon. The pinto beans did exactly what I had hoped - adding to the allover heartiness of the dish without taking away the spotlight of the ground beef. If you are looking for a way to sneak more fiber and less sodium into a meal that is universally enjoyed, this is one recipe to add to your weekly menu.
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Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
Friday, March 6th, 2009
One of my favorite things about winter is grapefruit. I love grapefruit and I could eat it at breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. My local market recently had grapefruit on sale 10 for $1.00, so you can imagine my glee and my very, very heavy shopping bags that day. Well, as it turns out, even I can’t eat grapefruit that fast, so I started looking for some alternative ways to use it and I stumbled upon this recipe for grapefruit yogurt cake. This cake is nice and moist with a delightful grapefruit tang and it smells heavenly when it bakes. My husband kept begging to know when it was finally ready to be eaten and it took an embarrassingly short time for the two of us to dig through almost the entire cake.
The recipe calls for using a springform bundt cake pan, but I didn’t have one and just used a round cake pan, which worked fine. Be very sure to use parchment paper or very heavy greasing and flouring of your pan, since the cake is fragile and also a little heavy at the same time.
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Lemon Sorbets
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
One of the best ways to impress guests, I find, is to “razzle-dazzle ‘em,” to quote a well-known Broadway musical. Of course, even the best presentation can’t hide a bad dish, but a great presentation can elevate a good dish. This lemon sorbet recipe in lemon cups is a great way to cause a little stir with something uncomplicated that most people really like to eat. Who doesn’t love lemon, right? In fact, I’d be interested in knowing if lemon is a universal male food. My husband can’t get enough of the stuff, and I’ve known other men that feel the same way. Someone should do a study. Regardless, it’s sure to please and you do not need an ice cream machine to pull this off. I recently took these to a girls’ night out event and they were a big hit. You should note that this recipe produces a very strongly flavored sorbet. If you like your sorbet a little subtler, try cutting back on the amount of zest.
It takes a lot of lemons to make, since the recipe requires a whole lot of zest while also requiring you save the skins of the lemons used for the cups. This means you end up with much more juice and pulp than you need to actually make the recipe. Never fear, just freeze the juice in small bags and use it to make fresh lemonade when the weather gets a little warmer. Your family will be thrilled.
1/3 cup of lemon zest is a lot and I find that instead of reserving the little “hats” to place on top of the finished sorbet, I need those pieces for their zest. It’s easier to prepare if you nix the hats anyway, because it means you don’t have to hollow out all those little pieces. I highly recommend getting one of these if you don’t already have one, or you may be at this step for ages. Since acquiring mine, I use it all the time. Besides being indispensable in cases like this, it can also be used to do quick cheese shredding jobs, like a little parmesan finishing touch on some pasta.
Hollowing out the lemons isn’t as problematic as you might think if you have a proper grapefruit knife. Just make sure you angle it a little too shallow rather than a little too wide so you don’t end up piercing the sides. You can always go back and scrape out whatever you missed.
For some reason, the recipe gets a little unclear at the freezing point, so I’ll just sum up what you need to do. After you’ve finished the mixture in the saucepan, either put it in the freezer and follow the freezer method listed, OR put it directly into your ice cream machine and follow your manufacturer’s directions. Definitely do not freeze it first, as the text seems to suggest, and then try to put it in the machine. It sounds obvious, I know, but sometimes all it takes is not reading ahead enough to miss little problems like that.
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Sweet Orange Salmon
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
I don’t live in a place where I can get fresh seafood most of the time, or at least not without spending a fortune, which makes my self-imposed weekly fish requirement a little tricky to fill at times. Salmon is inevitably what I fall back on when I’m not satisfied with anything else I see at the grocery store. For some reason, it just seems to weather the whole freezing and storing process better than most other fish.
The salmon recipe I keep coming back to using is a simple, ingredients-always-on-hand sweet orange salmon recipe from Cooking Light. It’s fast, easy, and yields a really nice flavor. It’s not the subtlest way to eat fish, but it is undeniably tasty and goes fabulously with some basmati rice and a simple green salad. It’s one of a few recipes that don’t get lost in the constant recipe shuffle at my house. Even the baby loves it.