Confessions of a Cookieaholic

Pumpkin Brownies

2011-10-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

I love anything pumpkin and of course I love brownies, so I knew I would really love pumpkin brownies. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and made some tweeks, Result: Addictively delicious pumpkin brownies.

Here's the recipe

Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 x 8 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.
3. In another medium bowl, mix together sugar, butter, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture. Separate batter evenly into two bowls. (Use the same ones you just used!)
5. Into one bowl, add cocoa powder and chocolate chips and stir to combine. Into the other bowl, add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and stir to combine.
6. Spread half of chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Top with half of pumpkin mixture. Repeat with remaining batter. Using a knife, swirl the two batters together.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until batter starts pulling away from sides of pan and toothpick inserted in center comes out almost completely clean.

Easy as Pie. Frozen Key Lime Pie

2011-08-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Even though I love baking, I can appreciate a super easy dessert recipe. Especially when family is visiting from out of town, I'm cooking dinner and I want to spend more time catching up with everyone than in the kitchen.

Enter Ina Garten's Frozen Key Lime Pie recipe. This recipe doesn't require rolling out pastry dough - it uses a graham cracker crust - or much baking. You bake the crust 10-15 minutes to toast. Then mix the filling, poured it into the crust and freeze. After the pie has frozen through, top with fresh whipped cream and dig in!

The pie was so tasty. I loved the buttery, salty-sweet and crunchy crust, which contrasted so nicely with the sweet-tart filling and whipped cream topping. The lime custard filling was very limey from both fresh lime juice and lime zest. And I really liked the frozen creamy texture, perfect for a hot summer night.

Here's the link to Ina's recipe and a video demo of her making the pie. Frozen Key Lime Pie. I followed her recipe to a "t." Love you Ina!

And here's a picture of everyone who was there to eat (or should I say devour) the pie. Well except Gina, who kindly took the picture. The empty pie plate in the middle of the counter says it all.

Raspberry Scones

2011-07-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

My mom visited a few weeks ago and she has always been a lover of scones. I seem to be following in her footsteps. Over the past few years, I've developed a real fondness for good scones. Scones that are not too dry, but soft and buttery with a rich, slightly sweet flavor.

Luckily for my mom and me, I recently learned how to make fabulously flaky scones. In baking school, I learned that the secret to flaky, moist scones is to cut cold pieces of butter into the dry ingredients and then gently add the wet ingredients, stirring just until mixed. In class, we used dried currants in our scones, but this time around, I had some lovely fresh raspberries on hand. I gently folded them into the scone batter after mixing all the other ingredients. I noticed the batter looked wetter than normal from the berries so I added some extra flour to absorb the excess moisture from the berries.

The extra flour worked to maintain the flaky texture of the scones and the raspberries were really yummy. The berries made the scones summery and fruity - no jam necessary. The raspberries reminded me of summers in Maine and the wild raspberry bushes in my grandparents' backyard.

Just to set the record straight, my favorite scone recipe used to be an all cream (no butter) recipe that's wonderfully easy. It doesn't require cutting in butter, and yields moist flavorful scones. (see my previous post Easy and Delicious Scone Recipe). I still love that recipe, but the butter recipe is just a little bit better. Everything's better with butter, I suppose. So I urge you to try out both recipes, and see which one you like better.

Just writing this post makes me long for more scones. Mom, when you coming back to visit?!

Click here for the Butter Scone with Raspberry recipe

Raspberry Scones

Makes 12 scones

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl and stir to combine.
3. Use fingers to mix butter into dry ingredients, crumbling butter pieces together with dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Handle gently so that butter does not become warm and soft.
4. Add cream, and stir gently until dough just holds together. Dough with be lumpy.
5. Gently fold in raspberries.
6. Turn dough onto floured surface and shape into 1 inch thick disc. Using biscuit cutter (round cookie cutter) or knife, cut out scones.
7. Place scones on prepared cookie sheet. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until light golden in color.

Mint and Artichoke Stuffed Leg of Lamb

2011-07-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe a couple months ago in Martha Stewart Living. It looked so elegant, relatively easy, and most importantly, delicious. I stashed it away in my "recipes to try" stack for a few months and finally got to try it out a few weeks ago.

Avi and I have been trying to use our new dining room table by having dinner parties. I love the process of planning and executing a dinner party - planning the guest list, skimming through recipes to plan the menu, scouring different markets for ingredients, and cooking up a storm. The whole thing is a lot of fun for me (well I could do without all the dishes at the end, but that's the price you pay I suppose).

For our first dinner, I tried the stuffed leg of lamb recipe. And...it's a keeper! I made some adjustments from the original recipe to save time. I omitted the pancetta from the filling. I also used canned artichoke hearts and microwave-sauteed garlic instead of cooking my own 'chokes with steamed garlic, but I guarantee no one noticed the shortcuts.

The recipe calls for combing the filling ingredients in a food processor and processing briefly to combine. Then you spread the filling on the meat, roll it up and tie with kitchen twine. This was my first attempt rolling and tying a piece of meat, and it wasn't so hard. It helped that there's a video of the recipe on the Martha Stewart website (Link to original recipe and video).

You can roll up the lamb ahead of time (I did mine in the morning) and then just pop it in the oven a couple hours before dinner time. It's a great dish to make for a dinner party, because all the labor is done ahead of time and you can do other stuff while the lamb cooks. When it's done cooking, you remove it from the oven, allow the meat to rest and wow all your guests with the fabulous aroma.

After it rests for 20-30 minutes, you slice it into pieces, which makes for easy serving. The stuffed leg of lamb looked so elegant on its serving platter. You know, one of those dishes where you feel like a real adult serving it. And it tasted amazing! I loved the mint, artichoke, and parmesan in the stuffing. They really complimented the strong, somewhat game-y flavor that makes lamb so mouth-watering. I served it with a fresh mint sauce (also part of the Martha recipe), which was an essential part of the dish. The sauce was perfect with the lamb, but perhaps even better as a dipping sauce for bread.

I highly recommend this next time you're looking for something a little special to make for dinner.

Here's the recipe

Mint and Artichoke Stuffed Leg of Lamb

Serves 8

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra for rubbing on lamb
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 leg of lamb, bone removed and butterflied
2 cups water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees [if cooking lamb immediately].
2. Combine garlic and 2 Tbsp olive oil in small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds until garlic is fragrant.
3. In bowl of food processor, combine garlic-olive oil mixture, cheese, breadcrumbs, mint, lemon juice, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Pulse until combined. Add artichoke hearts. Pulse a few times until just combined, but still chunky.
4. Lay lamb on work surface, skin side down. Season with salt and pepper. Spread artichoke mixture evenly on top, leaving 1/2 border on all sides.
5. Starting on one of the short sides, roll lamb as tightly as possible. Tie with kitchen twine at 2 inch intervals to hold together. Stuff any filling that has fallen out back inside lamb roll. [This is the point where you can put it in the fridge for later if you are preparing in advance]. Rub outside of lamb with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer lamb to rack inside roasting pan. Add water to bottom of pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue roasting about 1 hour more or until internal temperature of meat reaches 130-135 degrees (medium rare).
7. Remove from oven, tent loosely with tin foil and let rest for at least 20 minutes. Slice, gradually removing kitchen twine as you cut. Serve with mint sauce.

Mint Sauce

1 bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in small tupperware with lid or jar. Shake to combine.

My birthday cakes!

2011-07-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

As my birthday approached this year, my head was swimming with all the possibilities for a perfect birthday dessert. With all the beautiful berries in season right now, I had to make something with berries. Or even better, two things with berries!

Dessert #1: Lazy Gal's Berry Tart

Thanks to Avi's sister Michelle, I have a recipe for a delicious and visually stunning berry tart that I had never baked myself until this July 1st (my bday of course!). I used the pate sucree (a.k.a. sweet tart dough) recipe from my baking class. Pate sucree is a rich buttery dough, similar to a shortbread cookie. It's easy to make because you can just press it into a tart pan rather than having to roll out the dough first and then place it in the pan, as with pie dough.

For the filling, I used Michelle's recipe. I like this tart, because the filling is like blueberry pie filling (just berries, sugar, cinnamon and flour) so you don't have to go to the trouble of making pastry creme/custard. It's sort of a lazy gal's tart if you will. You press the dough into the pan, fill it with the blueberry mixture and then bake. After it bakes, you top with fresh blueberries and raspberries in whatever pattern you like. For my birthday tart, I was feeling whimsical so I went with a big swirl pattern.

The tart was chock full of blueberry flavor and the buttery tart crust paired really well with the juicy berries.

Dessert #2: Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake

I had to have a cake for my birthday, but I'm not such a fan of frosted layer cakes. I am, however, a big fan of bundt cakes. They always seem to be moist and have just enough frosting/icing to accentuate the cake. With the hot weather in LA, I was craving something refreshing (well as refreshing as a bundt cake can be LOL!) so I made a lemon buttermilk cake. I used the recipe from Baking At Home with The Culinary Institute of America. I had the good fortune of purchasing some very flavorful raspberries the day before, so I folded some in the batter and used a few for topping. And so my lemon raspberry bundt cake was born.

It was moist, lemony, sweet and tart from the raspberries, with just a little drizzle of lemon icing - everything I hoped it would be.

Happy birthday to me!

Click here for the recipes

Blueberry-Raspberry Tart

Pastry (Pate Sucree)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, slightly softened and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

3 pints fresh blueberries (6 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pint (2 cups) fresh raspberries

Directions

Prepare pastry crust
1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in food processor. Pulse a couple times until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse meal. (*You can also do this hand with your fingers if you don't have a food processor).

2. Whisk together egg and vanilla in small bowl. Add egg to flour mixture and pulse a couple time to combine. Transfer mixture to bowl and knead with your hands to form a dough. Dough will be dry and barely hold together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator at least 1/2 hour.

3. Take about 3/4 of the dough* and press into 10 1/2" tart pan. Press dough so it forms an even thickness on the bottom of the pan and rises up the sides. Level off the side edges so the dough does not rise over the sides of the pan.

*You will have a little extra dough, which you can use to make mini tarts or some shortbread cookies.

4. Place tart pan in freezer. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare Filling
5. Sort blueberries. Remove about 1 1/2 cups of the plumpest, prettiest berries and reserve for topping. Wash remaining berries, draining excess water but not drying completely (a little water will help sugar to stick).

6. In medium bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir gently. Spoon berry mixture into tart pan. There will be a mound of berries in the center of the plan, which will flatten as tart bakes.

7. Check tart around 45 minutes and cover edges with foil if they are getting brown. Bake for total of 1 hour or until berries are bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

8. Use remaining blueberries and raspberries to decorate top of tart. You can make a pattern with concentric circles, a swirl, a starburst or whatever you feel like! Remove sides of tart pan before serving.

Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature plus extra for greasing pan
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (*can substitute with 1 1/4 cup milk + 4 tsp fresh lemon juice)
5 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup fresh raspberries, plus a few extra for garnish
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 inch Bundt pan.

2. In large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. In mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest on medium speed until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition.

4. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in three additions, mixing until just incorporated. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix until batter is very smooth - about 2 minutes. Add 4 Tbsp of lemon juice and mix until fully incorporated - about 30 seconds. Gently fold in raspberries by hand.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Allow cake to cool completely in pan on wire rack. Release sides of cake from pan with knife. Invert pan onto rack.

6. Make Glaze. Combine confectioners' sugar, hot water and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Add sugar or water as necessary to achieve the consistency of honey. Drizzle glaze over cake. Allow glaze to firm before transferring cake to serving plate. Garnish with raspberries.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

2011-07-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last month was one of my coworker's birthdays, which gave me a wonderful excuse to bake some cake. I decided to make a Tunnel of Fudge bundt cake, recipe courtesy of Cook's Country magazine. I've made this cake once before for my cousin's birthday, and I was left with very fond memories of its luscious chocolate flavor and tender texture.

The cake gets its name from a tunnel of gooey fudge that forms in the center of the cake as it bakes. Or more accurately, this cake is actually slightly under-baked so that the center of it remains fudgy while the outside sets. Once the cake is baked and cooled, it's coated with a chocolate ganache icing, which is much more fudge than frosting.

I'm happy to report my second attempt at Tunnel of Fudge went even better than the first time (I had some slight problems unmolding my caking on the first attempt). I topped the cake with sliced almonds, but it would also be lovely with raspberries. This cake has a very interesting crumb, I suppose from the slight underbaking and powdered sugar in the recipe. It's moist without being crumbly at all.

I love this cake because it's very homey, while also VERY chocolately - deep, dark chocolate flavor. And I like how the frosting coats the outside like chocolate lava. A perfect indulgence if you've got the chocolate bug.

Read on for the recipe

Tunnel of Fudge Cake
adapted from Cook's Country magazine

Ingredients

Cake

3/4 cups cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
1/2 cup boiling water
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp salt
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
Optional - sliced/chopped nuts or raspberries for garnish

Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Pour boiling water over chocolate in medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool while mixing other ingredients.

3. In large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt. In large measuring cup, whisk eggs and vanilla.

4. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together with electric mixer/KitchenAid on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 min.). With mixer on low speed, add egg mixture and mix until combined (~ 30 seconds). Add chocolate and beat until incorporated (~ 30 seconds). Add in flour mixture and beat until just combined (~ 30 seconds).

5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Place pan on rack in bottom center of oven. Bake until edges are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan - 40-45 minutes. Cool cake upright in pan on wire rack for 1 1/2 hours. Invert cake onto serving plate and allow to cool completely.

6. Prepare Glaze. In small saucepan, cook cream, corn syrup, and chocolate over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool until slightly thickened - about 30 minutes. Drizzle glaze over cake. Top with nuts or berries if desired. Allow glaze to set for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Last Weeks of Baking School

2011-07-12T14:29:00.001-07:00

I've fallen behind in my posts, and I'm sad to report that my Professional Baking program ended a few weeks ago. I really miss all my fresh baked goodies every Wednesday night. Luckily, Pro Baking Level II starts in about a month so only a few more weeks of baking withdrawal for me.

Here's the scoop on the last few weeks of Level 1.

In week 7, we made foccaccia, crackers and pizza. The crackers, which aren't breathtaking to behold, were very tasty and very very easy to make. The dough is just water, flour and salt. You roll it out super thin, top with salt and whatever else you like (we used a herb and red pepper infused olive oil) and bake. The pizza rivaled that of any trendy LA pizzeria (I must purchase a pizza peel so I can finally get that crispy thin crust effect at home). The foccaccia was tender and steeped in the flavor of olive oil.

Week 8, we made brioche dough. Brioche is a rich yeast bread made with butter, eggs. It's slightly sweet and very delicious. We used our dough to make cinnamon rolls, which were heavenly. They were one of my favorite things we made in the class and I must make them again soon. Brunch anyone?

In week 9, we made puff pastry dough and croissant dough. Puff pastry is a laborious process, which involves layering butter between pastry dough, folding the dough over itself and rolling it out over and over and over again. Each time you fold and roll out the dough is called a turn. In between each turn, you have to refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes so that the butter firms up and you can reroll. In class, we did a total of 6 turns (over the course of 2 class sessions), each time rolling the dough out to about 3 times its original size. Croissant dough is similar to puff pastry with the addition of yeast and with fewer turns.

Both doughs take a lot of time and arm stamina, but my efforts totally paid off.

In the final class (week 10) we turned our puff pastry into apple turnovers and palmiers (elephant ears). The cooked dough was the most delicious, most buttery pastry dough I've ever tasted (the pictures really don't do it justice). It was flaky, with tons of buttery flavor. It made store bought puff pastry (usually made with shortening/margarine instead of butter) pale in comparison.

One of these days I must muster up the gusto and clear out my schedule so I can make another batch of puff pastry. It was THAT good. Just thinking of it now makes me long for another bite of the crisp dough encrusting sweet baked apples.

And as if that wasn't enough, the croissant dough was to die for.

We turned the dough into a box full of small croissants. They were sooooooo flaky, buttery (notice a theme here?), and yet also chewy in the center. Like the puff pastry, the flavor of the butter shone through and became ecstasy in my mouth. We made plain croissants but I can only imagine how amazing they would be filled with chocolate or almost paste. I will be making them again some day, preferably with almond paste and topped with sliced almonds. Mmmmmm.

Pro Baking Level 1 ended on a divine note and I can only imagine what's in store for Level II.

Baking School Week 6: Breads

2011-05-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

If you ask me, bread is some of the best stuff on earth. So I was thrilled to improve my breadmaking skills in the New School of Cooking Professional Baking class. In week 6 of the class we learned how to make artisan white bread, challah and rosemary olive bread.

For the challah, I experimented with a 6 strand braid and it paid off. I'm really happy I learned a new way to braid, and I can't wait to make another challah to practice the new braiding technique. I admit, my 6 braid challah from baking class was the apple of my eye. I hope you like it too!

Baking School Week 5: Cake

2011-05-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

In week 5 of baking class, we learned how to make classic white cake with buttercream frosting. The white cake had both vanilla and almond extracts in the batter to give it a lovely flavor.

I totally got my foodie nerd on when we were making the frosting. First we made an Italian meringue by cooking sugar syrup on the stove and then adding it to whipped egg whites. I loved the technicality of cooking the sugar to a set temperature while whipping the egg whites to a certain texture and then combining the two components to make a meringue. To the meringue, we added butter (lots of butter) to transform it into buttercream frosting. The frosting was soft, silky and extremely easy to spread.

Mine even had an extra special toasty flavor. When the teacher was warming my frosting bowl with a blowtorch, she accidentally left the torch in one spot for too long. Everyone standing around noticed the smell of toasted marshmallows but no one knew where it was coming from. A few minutes later, I snuck a taste of my frosting and noticed it tasted oddly toasty. I put almond extract in the frosting, but it was beyond nutty. It actually tasted toasted. It was strange, but in a good way. I couldn't figure out why mine tasted like toasted marshmallows until I fully emptied out my mixing bowl and saw a burnt spot on one side. The teacher's blowtorch had toasted my frosting. The teacher apologized, but her blowtorch mishap actually worked out in my favor. I liked the unexpected toastiness, which mellowed out the sweetness of the frosting.

After making the cake and frosting, we learned how to frost. I've never been a cake baker. I mean I've never loved baking cakes, because I always get frustrated with the frosting process. Well my baking teacher, May, made me into a frosting person. She showed us how to put on the frosting to make it look really smooth and how to do simple embellishments. I liked making my cake pretty.

But the best part of making the cake, of course, was eating the cake. And eat it I did. It was my go-to mid-day snack for the next few days - especially yummy with fresh strawberries!

Baking School Week 4: Pies and Tarts

2011-04-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

This week was pie and tart week, one of my favorite topics. We baked a strawberry rhubarb pie and a lemon tart. Check out my handiwork....

Baking School Week 3: Eclairs!

2011-04-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled when I learned we'd be making eclairs in week 3 of baking school at the New School of Cooking in Culver City. "Eclairs, eclairs!," Avi heard me exclaim repeatedly throughout the week leading up to the class. I couldn't contain my excitement. And the class did not disappoint.

First we made pastry cream filling for the eclairs, which itself was quite delicious (thick and smooth with the flavor and texture of vanilla pudding). While the filling cooled and set, we made the eclair dough, known in the cooking world as pate a choux ("Pat a shoe" for the rest of us).

The pate a choux was surprisingly simple - a lot of butter, flour, eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt - which you cook first on the stove top and then mix in a KitchenAid. We piped our dough onto baking sheets in eclair shapes and baked them.

Then came the really fun part. We filled each eclair with the pastry cream and dipped the tops in chocolate glaze.

They were divine! The filling was rich and thick, the eclair shell was crisp on the outside, yet airy and moist in the center, and the chocolate glaze, well, it was very chocolately.

We also made chocolate souffle in class, which was yummy, although desperately in need of a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Eclairs!!

Baking School Week 2: Bread Pudding

2011-04-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

In week 2 of baking school we studied custards and puddings. In class, we made vanilla creme brulee, chocolate pudding and bread pudding. I forgot to bring my camera to class, so I don't have any pictures of the first two creations. But much to my delight, we got to bring our bread pudding home.

I have always loved bread pudding - the soft, bready texture and the homey spices. I reminds me of really soft and scrumptious French toast. Served warm with a dollop of melting whipped cream or ice cream.....I'm in heaven. I actually can't believe that I'd never made my own bread pudding before this class.

We used challah for our bread pudding. The bread was soft, eggy, and slightly sweet, so it perfectly soaked up the custard. The custard (wet part of the pudding) contains milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. To make the pudding you cut the bread into cubes, mix it with the custard, and add in some brandy soaked raisins. You let the bread absorb the custard for about 15 minutes and then bake. I don't want to post the class recipes here without permission from the school, but you get the idea.

The bread pudding we made in class came out gorgeous and delicious. It had an exquisite texture - silky, smooth and somehow light, despite the heavy cream. It would be great for brunch (it was great for breakfast in the days following the class!). And or I've even heard about savory bread puddings with cheese, leeks, asparagus, etc., which sound awesome.

Bread pudding is one of the easiest desserts to make, so it has a high work/reward payoff. I look forward to making it again soon : ).

Baking School!

2011-03-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I started the Professional Baking class at the New School of Cooking in Culver City. The class runs for 10 weeks and covers a wide range of baking techniques from quick breads to souffles, cakes, custards, and yeast breads.

Class 1 focused on quick breads. We learned the basic food science of leaveners and how to mix a quick bread batter using the two-step method: start with dry ingredients, mix in wet ingredients and a delicious quick bread is born.

Each student made his/her own batch of blueberry muffins with streusel topping and currant cream scones. I had a lot of fun getting my hands dirty in the kitchen, especially with the scones, which we mixed fully by hand. To make the scone dough, you cut butter into the flour so that there are tiny pieces of butter evenly dispersed throughout the dry ingredients. In class, we did this with our fingers, though the easier way is to use a food processor or mixer. As the scones bake, the tiny butter pieces release steam (butter is 20% water) and create flaky layers in the scones. The same thing happens with pie dough and pastry dough.

The scones in class baked up with a flaky and, of course, buttery texture, and they were fantastic. They had the consistency of a flaky biscuit, with the slightly sweet and rich flavor of cream. I added orange zest to my scones to give them some acidity to cut the butter and cream. I do believe they are the best scones I've ever made, and I'm so happy to have this new recipe.

The blueberry muffins had a buttermilk and oil based batter with a walnut, brown sugar and cinnamon streusel topping. They were also tasty, though nowhere near as good as the buttery scones. Perhaps I was missing the luxurious and incomparable flavor of butter in the batter. I also put too much topping on each one so they were a tad messy looking. Of course, I still ate them happily in the days following the class.

This coming week, we're learning how to make custards, including ice cream, creme brulee and bread pudding. Ah, the joys of learning!

Irish Soda Bread

2011-03-19T16:03:00.001-07:00

I love how a holiday, any holiday, gives me an excuse to cook something special. This past week that holiday was St. Patrick's day. To celebrate old St. Patty, I baked a loaf of Irish soda bread. Soda bread is a quick bread leavened with baking soda rather than yeast. It has a dense, cake like texture akin to a scone.

I traveled to Ireland a few years ago and was obsessed with their delicious baked good and their amazing butter. Their butter is rich and has an earthy, grassy flavor - so much so that it reminded me of cheese. Sometimes I splurge and buy Irish butter from the grocery store here, though I haven't had it in a long time since I always have regular butter on hand. But I digress.

I have a super easy and super tasty recipe for sweet Irish soda bread. The bread is great for breakfast or with tea or coffee, especially when toasted and topped with butter (even our own boring American variety will do). It has raisins and a moist texture - in between a biscuit and cake (like a really good scone). It's so good, it's not just for St. Patrick's Day.

Sweet Irish Soda Bread
makes 2 loaves, 8 x 4 inches (half the recipe to make 1 loaf and use only 1 egg + 2 Tbsp milk)

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
4 cups sour cream or plain yogurt (low fat or fat free are fine!)
1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Optional: Rehydrate raisins in bowl of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain before using.

2. Preheat oven to 325. Grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.

3. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl and mix with wooden spoon or spatula.

4. Add the eggs, sour cream/yogurt, and raisins and mix until just combined. If mixture is dry, add 1 Tbsp milk. Dough will be firm and sticky like bread dough.

5. Split dough in half and press each half into bread pan. Bake for 1 hour.

6. Allow loaves to cool in pans on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Invert pans and remove bread.

Banana Cardamom Muffins

2011-03-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

I love cardamom. I love its exotic fragrance and the delightfully interesting flavor it gives to baked goods. It's slightly peppery and gives food a homey, warm-in-the-tummy feeling. It's wonderful in rice pudding, sugar cookies, spice cake and countless other things I look forward to cooking. It's also a common ingredient in Indian curries.

If you haven't cooked with cardamom before, I highly recommend you try it. You can find it in any spice section. Cardamom is so delicious that I've been trying to incorporate it into recipes whenever I can.

Recently I came across a recipe for cardamom banana cake and realized that cardamom would be delicious with bananas. I had two super ripe bananas just calling out to be baked, so I created my first banana cardamom baby. I decided to make muffins instead of cake, since I'm more of a muffin than a cake gal (love the semi-sweetness of muffins and that I can eat them for breakfast!).

The muffins were wonderful (half with chocolate chips and half without). I loved the new flair cardamom gave to something as classic as a banana muffin (aka banana bread in muffin form). I hope this banana muffin recipe gives you some love for cardamom!

Banana Cardamom Muffins
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

6 Tbsp butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 very ripe bananas
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (fat free is fine) + 1/4 cup milk or 1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp baking powder
Optional 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In medium bowl, combine flours, cardamom, salt, and baking powder.

3. With electric mixer, cream butter and sugar.

4. In separate medium bowl, mash bananas. Add eggs, sour cream/yogurt and milk or buttermilk, and vanilla. Slowly mix banana mixture into butter.

5. Gradually add flour mixture to other ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

6. Scoop batter into muffin tins.

7. Bake for 19 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center just comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing muffins from the muffin tin.

Apple Pie

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

If I had to choose my last meal, the dessert would be hot apple pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Warm, cinnamon spiced apple goodness sandwiched between two layers of flaky butter crust and covered in melting ice cream. There's a reason apple pie is an American classic.

A couple weeks ago, I got a craving for apple pie with a crumb topping and quickly got to baking. I love using Granny Smith apples for apple pie, because they make the pie both sweet and tart (the combination of sweetness and tartness is my favorite thing about good fruit). The tartness excites my taste buds while also cutting the richness of my all butter pie crust.

My pie was chock full of apples, and after baking, they were so soft they melted in my mouth with each bite of pie. I seasoned the filling with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt plus some flour to thicken it.

I topped it with streusel instead of a layer of pie crust to give the pie some texture and additional flavor (from brown sugar and cinnamon in the streusel).

This pie was quite yummy, but I'm still tweaking the topping recipe so I won't post the recipe until it's perfect. For now, I hope you enjoy the picture!

Chili con Carne

2011-02-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been rainy in LA - perfect weather for a hearty, slow cooked stew. Instead of my go-to beef stew, I decided to spice things up with some chili con carne.

Chili con carne is a spicy beef stew seasoned with chili peppers, onion, garlic and cumin. Sometimes it also has tomatoes and beans. I wanted my chili to be loaded with beef (and no beans) and full of mouthwatering spice.

I found an interesting recipe that uses cubed chuck roast and a new ingredient for me - canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. From my forays into stews, I've learned that chuck roast produces delectably tender meat morsels when slow cooked in liquid. So I knew it would be awesome in a chili. And I love the smoky flavor of chipotle chilies (which are smoked jalapenos peppers). Chipotle Tabasco much? So I was excited to test out the canned peppers in a recipe.

In addition to the meat and chipotles, the recipe uses diced tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, onion, garlic and a little bit of brown sugar for flavor. It also uses corn meal to give the stew a thick, satisfying texture.

The chili took a while to cook up, but boy was it worth the wait! The flavor was tantalizing to my taste buds - smoky from the chipotles, spicy, rich, and beefy. The ample chuck roast pieces made the chili nice and meaty and practically melted in my mouth.

I'll bet this is a recipe that improves with age, so I can't wait to try the chili leftovers. I had mine with some rustic bread, but it would be even better with cornbread. Here's the recipe
Chili con Carne

Ingredients
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
4 tsp canned chipotle chile in adobo, minced
Vegetable oil
1 (3 lb) boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 serrano chiles, finely diced
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
4 cups water
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornmeal
Salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Blend tomatoes and chipotle in blender or food processor until smooth.

2. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in Dutch oven or heavy duty stock pot over medium-high heat until just smoking.

3. Pat meat dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Place pieces of meat in Dutch oven so they cover the bottom in a single layer (you'll have to cook in 2 or more batches). Cook about 2 minutes per side or until evenly browned. Transfer browned pieces to bowl and repeat with remaining meat.

4. Drain excess fat from Dutch oven so only 1 Tbsp remains. Add onion and serrano peppers to Dutch oven and cook until onion is softened (about 5 minutes). Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in water, tomato mixture, beef, and 1 Tbsp sugar and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

5. Remove cover of pot. Skim fat and foam. Taste chili for seasoning. Add additional salt and/or sugar if you like. Continue cooking at a simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until meat is tender.

6. Combine corn meal and 1 cup of liquid from the chili pot in medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 1 minute. Slowly stir the corn mixture into the chili and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

Garnish with onions or cilantro if desired and serve with cornbread.

Challah

2011-02-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

I just discovered how easy it is to make bread dough in my food processor, so I've been trying out different bread recipes. My first attempt was to make challah, a traditional Jewish bread with a slightly sweet, eggy dough. I used the recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

I'm a sucker for fresh baked bread so I couldn't resist trying the challah as soon as it came out of the oven. It was quite delectable. Not the best challah I've ever tasted, but pretty darn good for my first try. I really liked the slight eggy flavor of the dough and the dense, yet soft texture. My loaf also had a little crunch it the crust - not sure if it's because I cooked it a few minutes too long - but I liked the texture.

I used a cool braiding technique I learned from reading a Cook's Illustrated book to make my challah look extra fancy. Before braiding the dough, separate it into 2 pieces, one piece twice as big as the other. Take the bigger piece and separate it into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and braid the 3 pieces to form a long braid. This will be the base of the bread. Take the smaller piece of dough, separate into 3 pieces and form a second smaller braid. Place the small braid on top of the larger braid and press together.

Aesthetically, I really liked the way the braid turned out, but it made the bread prone to falling into separate pieces when you cut it with a knife. So I recommend the fancy braid if you like to tear apart your challah, but not if you want to slice it (and use it later for toast for breakfast or even some fabulous French toast).

After this successful breadmaking attempt, I can't wait to try out more challah recipes and more bread recipes in general. Stay tuned!

King Cake

2011-02-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

Mardi Gras season is upon us and that means time for some king cake! King cake is a bread-like roll cake, with dough similar to a cinnamon roll. It's oval in shape and traditionally made with a cream cheese or cinnamon, sugar and nut filling.

I found an enticing recipe on Allrecipes.com and have been wanting to make it for weeks. Tonight I gave into my king cake craving and set aside a couple hours to bake my cake. I used my food processor to make and knead the dough so it was really easy. And as soon as it was out of the oven and iced, I cut myself a slice. And then another...

It was everything I hoped it would be. Soft and bready with a delicious pecan cinnamon sugar filling. The light icing made it just sweet enough to satisfy my dessert craving without giving me a sugar overload. I made 2 cakes and left one unfrosted, because I think it will make a wonderful and tasty breakfast bread.

Here's the link to the Allrecipes recipe and my tips on how to make the cake super quick in the food processor.

This is the link to the original recipe for Mardi Gras King Cake
I used instant (aka fast-acting) yeast so I did not have to activate the yeast with water as in the original recipe. Instead, I combined all the dry ingredients, including the instant yeast (4 1/2 tsp is the equivalent of 2 packages of yeast), in the food processor. I pulsed the dry ingredients a few times to combine.

With the machine running, I added the eggs, then the milk and butter mixture and then the water gradually through the feed tube. I let the processor run for about 20 seconds or until the dough was completely combined and pulled away from the sides of the processor bowl. I turned the dough onto a floured surface and kneaded by hand a few times then transferred it to the bowl to rise. From this point on, I followed the recipe exactly.

The icing in the recipe is only enough for 1 cake (ok because I like my second one unfrosted like bread). If you want to ice both the cakes, double the icing. The filling is yummy, but there could definitely be more so next time I will try doubling the filling.

The Best Blueberry Muffins Ever!!!

2011-01-19T23:11:00.000-08:00

OMG I have just made the best blueberry muffins ever! I cannot get enough of my newest batch of blueberry muffins. They have the best flavor and texture of any muffin I have ever tasted - and let me tell you, being a bakeaholic, I've tasted my fair share of muffins. But something about this most recent batch was transcendental. They had big juicy blueberries, buttery flavor, ultra-moist cakelike texture and just enough cinnamon crunch topping. I am in muffin heaven!

Don't know if I can snap a picture before they're all gone but I'll try. For now, I feel it's my duty to share this outrageously good recipe with the world.

Lauren's Blueberry Muffin Recipe
adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/blueberry-coffee-cake-muffins-recipe/index.html

Makes 16 muffins

Ingredients

12 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream (light or fat free are fine)
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2-3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, just make sure they are juicy and delicious!)

Streusel Ingredients
[Note: this recipe gives a light streusel topping - if you like a lotta streusel, double the streusel ingredients]

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp brown sugar
pinch salt
3 Tbsp butter, cold and cut into small pieces

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 16 holes of (2) standard muffin tins.

2. Combine streusel ingredients in medium bowl. Using fingers, crumble butter and other ingredients together until coarse clumps form. Set aside.

3. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. In medium bowl, combine sour cream, milk and vanilla. In another medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. With mixer on low speed, add eggs to mixing bowl, one at a time. Add milk mixture. Then add flour mixture gradually and beat until just mixed. Fold in blueberries. I'm not sure how many I put in my mixture - I just kept adding handfuls until it looked berrylicious and I encourage you to do the same.

5. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins. Top with streusel.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on top and toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack (or just take a bite!).

Struffoli

2011-01-19T21:37:00.001-08:00

Every Christmas, my grandma used to make an Italian dessert called struffoli. And each year, I looked forward to her struffoli as the perfect ending to a big holiday meal. Struffoli are little fried dough balls topped with honey and colored sprinkles. I love the combination of the crunchy fried dough and luscious honey flavor. Come to think of it, struffoli would also make a perfect Hanukkah dessert being fried in oil and utterly delicious.

A few years ago, my grandma showed me how to make struffoli. It's quite simple. You make a simple dough of egg and flour, form it into balls, fry in oil and then coat with honey. Yet somehow I didn't get around to making much struffoli in the years since. Now my grandma has Alzheimer's and doesn't cook anymore so I've found myself wanting to take her place in the kitchen. This year I made sure there would be struffoli on the dessert table at Christmas - my struffoli!

Looking to jazz up Grandma's bare bones recipe, I borrowed a recipe from Mario Batali. His recipe calls for orange zest in the dough and fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in the honey sauce.
The citrus kick was just what Grandma's struffoli needed. They were already irresistible, but with Mario's and my help, they became finger-lickin' good.

Here's the recipe .

Struffoli
adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/honey-drenched-christmas-fritters-struffoli-recipe2/index.html

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour
6 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 lemon, zested and juiced, plus 1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon limoncello or fresh lemon juice
4 cups canola oil or for frying
2 cups honey
rainbow nonpareils

Directions

1. In large mixing bowl mix flour, eggs, yolk, zest of 1 lemon, orange zest, limoncello or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and salt and mix well for about 8 minutes until you have formed a firm dough. Place in the refrigerator and allow to rest 30 minutes.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator and, using your hands, remove golf ball-sized pieces of dough from the main batch. Roll each ball into a 1/2-inch thick rope and cut each rope into 1/2-inch pieces. Set pieces aside. Repeat until finished with entire batch of dough.
Mario says to roll the pieces into balls, but I left mine as rustic pieces a la Grandma. They become ball-like when they fry in the oil.

3. In a large skillet with at least 3-inch sides, heat oil until it reaches 375 degrees F (or until you can drop a dough ball into the oil and bubbles form around the ball and it rises to the surface of the oil). Drop enough balls in to cover about half of the surface of frying oil and cook until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to turn them regularly, and expect them to puff up while cooking. When each batch of balls is cooked, remove balls to a tray covered with paper towels. Allow oil to drain. Continue cooking in batches until all struffoli are done.
This part takes a while so be patient.

4. After all the struffoli are cooked, heat honey, lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon in large saucepan (big enough to fit all the struffoli). When honey is hot and substantially thinner, add struffoli and stir to coat. Remove pan from heat and allow struffoli to cool and absorb the honey, stirring frequently. Transfer struffoli to serving platter (including honey sauce). Top with rainbow nonpareils and enjoy!

Gingerbread House

2010-12-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my friend Brittany and yours truly put together a couple of gingerbread houses. I have to credit Brittany for the idea. I suggested buying one of those handy dandy kits I've been seeing everywhere, but she was dead set on making our houses from scratch.

Brittany found a great recipe and assembly instructions at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes
/how_to_make_a_gingerbread_house/. So we gathered the ingredients, stocked up on candy for decorating, and bunkered down for a long day in the kitchen.

We followed the recipe for the dough, mixing it up, chilling it and then rolling it out. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to roll out the dough and and cut it into shapes for the houses. We printed out shapes from the recipe onto paper and cut them out. Then we used those as stencils on the dough to cut out the parts of our houses.

We ended up with a lot of extra dough so we used that to make gingerbread people. When everything was cut out, we baked the pieces in the oven. It was just like making cookies. We let all the pieces cool on cooling racks before assembling the houses.

Up to this point everything was smooth as silk. All our shapes looked great and the gingerbread actually tasted good (I sampled a gingerbread man just to make sure). Then we hit a major snag. We tried using store bought frosting instead of making our own and it was a disaster. The store bought stuff wasn't strong enough to hold the pieces of our houses together. After about 45 minutes of applying frosting and watching the roofs of our houses slip hopelessly onto the counter, I was ready to give up. We took a break to regroup and eat dinner.

When we got back to our gingerbread fiasco and still had no luck getting our houses to stay together, I decided to make the royal icing from the recipe (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_a_gingerbread_house/). It ended up being a cinch to make (why didn't I just do that to begin with??!!) and worked like cement on the house. The royal icing was thick and sticky and dried into a rock hard mortar.

Finally I could get to the fun part - decorating! I surveyed our assortment of candies and got to work, using as much candy as I could on every surface of my house. I used some sugar cookies we'd made earlier that day to add extra flare (notice Frosty at the front door and Santa at the back).

At the end of the day, I was proud of our efforts. I thought my house would never come together, and then there it was - a glistening, candy-studded beauty! Now that I know how to get the house to stay together (royal icing!), I hope to make gingerbread houses an annual Christmas tradition.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T05:36:00.001-08:00

I had a pieapalooza last night getting ready for Thanksgiving. At the end of the night, I was giddy admiring all my creations. I made, from top to bottom, 2 pecan pumpkin pies, caramel apple pie and cranberry mincemeat pie.

I used my favorite go-to pie crust for all the pies, Mark Bittman's flaky pie crust from How to Cook Everything. For the fillings, I used these recipes.

Cranberry Mincemeat Lattice-Top Pie: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Mincemeat-Lattice-Top-Pie-2595

Caramel Apple Pie: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-challenge/caramel-apple-pie-2003-1st-place-apple-recipe/index.html

Pumpkin Pecan Pie: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pecan-Pumpkin-Pie-I/Detail.aspx

I'll let you know how they taste soon.

Mincemeat filling: It's a lot yummier than it sounds. I was thrown off by this pie when my aunt requested it, but now I'm actually excited to try it. The filling is a mix of apples, dried cranberries, raisins, nuts, brandy, sugar and some spices.

Pizza With Fresh Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, Lemon Glazed Arugula and Pesto Sauce

2010-09-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

You take a whole wheat or regular pizza dough from Trader Joe’s.

You let the dough rest on a floured board until it comes to room temperature. Then you stretch out the dough to the thickness you like. Stretch slowly and it will give a little bit at a time.

Preheat a metal sheet pan or pizza stone in the oven at 450 degrees.

Place pizza dough on pan or stone and bake 5 minutes.

Add pesto sauce, tomato, and fresh mozzarella slices to dough and return to oven for 6 minutes or until crust is crispy.

While pizza cooks, mix diced garlic, fresh lemon juice and oil with salt and pepper. Toss with arugula.

Remove pizza from and oven and top with arugula. Muah!

Thai Spicy Shrimp & Basil Pasta

2010-09-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Mmmm. I love going to the farmers’ market because it always inspires me to cook interesting dishes. Last time I went, I found some seductively fragrant Thai basil and couldn’t wait to use it in the kitchen. I remembered having dishes at Thai restaurants with a stir-fried mixture of meat, hot peppers and Thai basil. I thought I could replicate it at home, transformed into a noodle dish.

The results were mouth-wateringly delicious. I loved this dish. Something about the combination of invigorating fresh Thai basil, sweet juicy shrimp and rice noodles really hit home.

I share the recipe:

Thai Spicy Shrimp & Basil Pasta
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar
• ½ cup peanut or vegetable oil for frying
• 1 package flat rice noodles
• 5 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 Thai red chili pepper, diced
• 3 stalks scallions, diced
• 2 cups sweet Thai basil

Directions

1. Whisk together the oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.
2. Bring large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta for 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil to piping hot in a wok. Add the garlic and Thai chili pepper and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the shrimp. Cook about 1 minute and 30 seconds per side until just cooked through. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.
4. Add bell pepper and cook until slightly softened. Add the sauce and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add the noodles. Stir fry until noodles are heated and sauce is distributed evenly. Add shrimp and cook until reheated.
6. Turn off heat. Stir in Thai basil. Dig in!

Loaded Cookies

2010-09-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Loaded cookies with chocolate chunks, white chocolate chunks, cranberry and pecans.

Lemongrass Curry Chicken Skewers

2010-08-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered a delicious Thai-inspired marinade for chicken and beef. It's easy and delivers a lot of flavor. I few months ago I attended a cooking demonstration at Surfas in LA. The theme was ethnic street foods, something of a craze in LA lately. One of the dishes was Chicken Banh Mi, a Vietnamese chicken sub sandwich. The teacher gave out her recipes, including a lemongrass marinade for the Banh Mi. I've tinkered with the original recipe a little and reprinted my version of the marinade below.

I've used this marinade with flank steak, boneless skinless chicken thighs and boneless skinless chicken breasts. All were delish but the chicken thighs were the best.

Last Friday and tried it again with chicken breasts. I cut the breasts into strips and skewered them. I grilled them up and served them with lettuce and sticky rice so we could make our own lettuce wraps. On the side I made pickled veggies and used cilantro, lime wedges and sweet Thai chili sauce for garnish. Peanuts would be wonderful too!

Here's the recipe for the marinade

Lemongrass Curry Marinade

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1-2 stalks fresh lemongrass, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients except chicken in medium bowl and stir well. Add meat and let marinate at least 1 hour or up to overnight in the fridge.

Peach Blueberry Pie

2010-08-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

My most recent pie endeavor: Peach Blueberry Pie with a crumb crust.

Oatmeal Banana Bread

2010-07-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

I had some overripe bananas and got the idea to make a healthy banana bread. I thought it would taste yummy to use oats in the batter, sort of like an oatmeal cookie, but I didn't know if that would work inside banana bread. After a quick internet search, I happily learned I could indeed make oatmeal banana bread.

Following a recipe from Cooking Light, I baked up a couple loaves adding chocolate chips to one and fresh blueberries to the other. The loaves were tasty and hearty - sort of like the high fiber version of banana bread. The oats give the bread an interesting texture and the blueberries and chocolate chips were both very welcome additions.

Here's the recipe

Banana Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk (soy milk works fine)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup blueberries, chocolate chips or other add in

Directions

Combine brown sugar, eggs and oil in a large bowl. Beat well at medium speed of a mixer.
Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist.
Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Adapted from http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=222215

Strawberry Shortcake Scones

2010-07-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Strawberries are a plenty right now. Every grocery store produce section and farmer's market is brimming with the little red delights, perfectly rip and juicy. Strawberries remind me of summers in New Jerseywhen I was young. There were fresh strawberries for the picking in the rural areas and a festive strawberry fair for us little tikes. I've always been a sucker for strawberry shortcake - the simple combination of barely sweet biscuit with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I love that it's one of those savory/sweet desserts.

I decided to transform the quintessential summertime dessert into a breakfast treat.

I have a wonderful scone recipe that uses a healthy amount of heavy cream for flavor and moist texture (See http://ilovegrub.blogspot.com/2009/07/easy-and-delicious-scone-recipe.html). Perfect for my strawberry shortcake scones, I thought. I'd have the whipped cream baked right into my scones. All I had to do was add some strawberries. I tossed a small bowl of strawberries with sugar and let it sit overnight. Then I drained out the liquid (and saved it for another use of course), coarsely chopped the berries and added them to my scone dough. The result was exactly what I hoped for - moist, biscuit-like, barely sweet scones with bursts of fresh strawberry.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tbs butter, melted (I prefer salted for this recipe for extra flavor)
2-3 Tbs sugar (for strawberries and topping)

Directions

Optional. If your berries are very sweet to begin with, skip this step. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp sugar over strawberries and let sit for at least 1 hour. Drain liquid from berries. Chop.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl. Stir with a fork to mix. Add the strawberries.
Add the cream and stir together with fork until the dough holds together in a rough mass. The dough will be sticky and slightly lumpy.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough 8 times. Separate the dough into 2 pieces and pat each piece into a circle, approximately 6 inches in diameter. Cut each circle into 8 wedges.
Place wedges onto ungreased baking sheet, about 1 inch between each piece.
Brush tops and sides with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake about 12 minutes, until light golden on top and firm to the touch.

Mixed Berry Coffee Crumb Cake

2010-06-07T00:14:00.001-07:00

I was really happy to squeeze in some leisure baking on Memorial Day weekend. I found a recipe for blueberry coffee cake a few months ago and I'd been waiting for my opportunity to test it out. The recipe was one of Ina Garten's creations - a sour cream coffee cake batter with the addition of berries and a crunchy cinnamon spice crumb topping.

The inside was moist and luscious. The juicy berry bits melded perfectly with the not-too-sweet sour cream cake. The cinnamon and nutmeg crumb topping gave the cake mouthwatering flavor and a wonderful crunchy texture. In other words, the cake was way too good to keep the recipe to myself.

I made my cake with frozen mixed berries and low fat sour cream and it still rated an A+ in my book. The recipe was originally posted at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/blueberry-crumb-cake-recipe/index.html. I've also reprinted it here.

Hope you enjoy it!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the streusel:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (frozen work fine too)
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light.

Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined.

Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Shepherd's Pie

2010-03-18T09:55:00.001-07:00

St. Patty's Day inspired me to cook up some Shepherd's Pie for dinner last night. Thank you to my wonderful little sis, Caroline, for giving me the idea. It was a last minute dinner decision so I threw it together with the ingredients I had on hand.

I sauteed chopped onions and carrots and then added ground beef (1 onion, a bunch of baby carrots, and about 1 lb beef). If I had some peas those would've gone in too, but mine was a pealess pie. When the meat and veggies were cooked through, I drained the fat from the pan. Then I added some flour (3 Tbsp or so) to thicken up the stew. I added chicken stock. Beef stock would have been better, but all I had was chicken so I made do. I added salt, pepper and some Worchestershire sauce to beef up the flavor of the sauce. Then I let the beef mixture simmer to thicken.

Meanwhile I boiled potato chunks and turned them into mashed potatoes. I also preheated my oven to broil. I put the beef mixture into a Pyrex pie plate and topped it with the mashed potatoes. Then I popped my pie into the oven and cooked it until the top started to brown slightly (10-15 minutes). At that point, I topped it with a handful of shredded cheddar. I let the cheese melt in the oven for a few minutes.

I pulled out the hearty looking pie and topped with parsley to give it some St. Patty's Day flare. The final result was grubbilicous! Even though my Shepherd's Pie wasn't fully authentic, it satisfied my craving for Irish fare and made our bellies very happy.

Whoopie!

2010-02-10T00:00:00.001-08:00

A little something to brighten your day. Homemade whoopie pies.

~Devil's food cake pies with creamy marshmallow filling.

I can't reveal my secret recipe, but the internet abounds with recipes.

Blueberry Bliss

2010-02-09T23:13:00.001-08:00

My latest culinary inspiration has come from a bountiful bag of frozen blueberries I bought at Costco a couple weeks ago. The berries are plump, juicy and perfectly sweet. I started by tossing a handful into my cereal every morning, and quickly began daydreaming of other uses for the berries....

The obvious blueberry baked goods came to mind first. Pancakes and muffins. Both were wonderful. Some cinnamon, lemon zest and a crunchy streusel topping gave the muffins an extra kick.

Next I envisioned a sweet blueberry bread. Something bursting with blueberry goodness that I could slice up for breakfast or dig into for dessert. I searched for recipes online and found an easy recipe for Blueberry Pound Cake on Allrecipes.com.

I recently learned that pound cake is so called (and so good) because it traditionally has a pound of butter. The Blueberry Pound Cake was no impostor. The recipe calls for a healthy 2 cups (otherwise known as 1 pound) of butter.

I give this recipe 2 big thumbs up. I enjoyed it heartily for a mid-afternoon snack, breakfast and dessert over the 2 short days that it lasted in my apartment. It was not too sweet, and seemed to have the perfect density - tooth-satisfyingly thick without being too heavy. I added some orange zest to the dry ingredients. It gave the cake a fresh zing to compliment the cake's otherwise buttery texture. The cake also has an interesting sugar crust giving it a nice crunchy exterior to contrast with its soft, dense interior.

Here's the recipe. I think it would be equally delicious with chocolate chips in place of the blueberries or any other berry. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom or nutmeg would be yummy too!

Blueberry Pound Cake
reprinted with modifications from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Pound-Cake/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
zest of 1 orange

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Grease a 10 inch tube pan with 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle pan with 1/4 cup sugar.
Mix together 2 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest in medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Dredge blueberries with remaining 1/4 cup flour, then fold into batter Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 70 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Cherry Pie

2010-01-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

My brother Peter was visiting for a week in early January so I took advantage of his visit and baked up a cherry pie. I'm usually too lazy to bake homemade pie for just Avi and me, but Peter's visit pushed me into pie-making fervor.

I use my tried and true flaky pie crust recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. It's a simple and classic pie recipe of flour, butter, water and small amounts of sugar and salt. I made a double crust. I place the first crust in my pie plate. And then, I'll admit it......I cheated a little.

I filed my crust with canned cherry pie filling that I found in the back of my cupboard. I added fresh orange zest and a little bit of almond extract to the filling to give it some pizazz. I topped the filling with the second crust, baked, and presto.

We happily enjoyed a mid-afternoon snack of warm cherry pie. Thanks Peter!

Crispy Burritos

2010-01-19T21:35:00.001-08:00

Ole! What's better than a hot, soft burrito, bulging with chicken, cheese, rice beans and salsa?

A crispy burrito! While leafing through a recent issue of Cooks Country magazine, I stumbled on a recipe for oven toasted chimichangas. They looked easy and muy sabroso.

Chimichangas are typically deep fried, but the recipe called for toasting stuffed burritos in the oven for a few minutes to get a crispy, crunchy crust.

Here's the scoop.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat. Assemble burritos in a flour tortillas however you like 'em. Large burrito style tortillas are best. I filled my "chimichangas" with shredded chicken, brown rice, black beans, salsa and cheese.

Remove the preheated baking sheet from the oven and spray with nonstick spray. Place your burritos on the sheet. Brush each with vegetable oil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until edges are browned.

Bite into the divinely crispy tortilla and proceed to chow down.

Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

2010-01-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

I bake all day long for work, but the professional baking hasn't seemed to put a damper on my lust for recreational cooking. Even though we bake for work, we rarely get to sample the fruits of our labors. The other day Avi and I took a "break" from work, so I decided to make some cookies for us. He made fun of me for wanting to bake even in my free time. I was thrilled.

I came up with a spin on my traditional white chocolate macadamia recipe and threw in a couple handfuls of dried cranberries. The chewy cranberries were a nice textural contrast to the smooth white chocolate chips and the crunchy nuts. They added a tongue-pleasing tartness and some eye-catching rouge to the otherwise colorless cookies.

I can't wait for my next cookie break.

Cookie Gift Bags

2010-01-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

In late November, Avi and I did a cookie catering job for an event planner in LA. We baked over 400 cookies and assembled them into gift bags.

Needless to say, it was my kind of job.

I picked my favorite recipes for the mix - Chocolate Chunk, Dark Chocolate with White Chocolate Chips, Oatmeal Raisin and Snicker Doodles.

Here's a peak at our finished product.

Holiday Baking - better late than never!

2010-01-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

So.....I finally got around to uploading pictures from my holiday baking endeavors. My first project of the holiday season was to bake pies for Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. Given my love of pies, I took to this project with gusto. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I baked a pumpkin pecan pie (link to recipe in my prior post) and a classic apple pie. As I start thinking about pies, I suddenly find myself craving something sweet. Pause to forage through the cupboard for Trader Joe's sea salt chocolate covered caramels. MMMmm.

Ok, back to blogging. I must say, both pies were scrumptious and I enjoyed several slices over Thanksgiving and the days that followed, discovering that pie makes a great breakfast, lunch, or mid-afternoon snack. Oh and of course dessert too. Here are a couple pics.

Post-Thanksgiving, I got festive with some peppermint kissed sugar cookies. I used Hershey's candy cane kisses, which are red and white swirled and peppermint flavor (I highly recommend you snag some next holiday season). Using my favorite sugar cookie recipe, I formed the sugar cookie dough into balls and rolled them in coarse sugar. I baked the cookies and then as soon as I took them out of the oven I gently pressed the kisses into the center of each cookie. Voila! Peppermint cookie bliss!

It's always sad to say goodbye to the holidays, but I have sweet memories (I couldn't resist) and much baking to look forward to in 2010.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

2009-12-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Don't let my infrequent blog posts fool you. I've been a busy baker for the past month. So busy, I haven't had a chance to post any of my recent creations. But rest assure, I've been making cookies, brownies, pies, pizza, and chicken parmigiana whenever I can squeeze them in.

Today, I greet you with words alone and no tantalizing pics. To all my friends and family and to anyone who might come across this - may you feel love, peace and joy this holiday season, because they are the true essence of the holidays.

Thanks for filling my heart with peace, love and joy every day of the year.

I pass along this quote, which is especially meaningful this time of year.

"When I walk into my kitchen today,
I am not alone.
Whether we know it or not, none of us is.
We bring fathers and mothers and
kitchen tables, and every meal we have
ever eaten. Food is never just food.
It's also a way of getting at something else;
who we are, who we have been, and
who we want to be."

(Molly Wizenbery from A Homemade Life)

Mac N' Cheese

2009-11-21T10:09:00.001-08:00

I haven't been a fan of boxed mac n' cheese since childhood, but I love a good baked macaroni and cheese when oozing with flavorful cheese and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. With the weather getting colder, I found myself in the mood for this cheesy indulgence.

I turned to Martha Stewart for a good recipe and she delivered. Find her recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-macaroni-and-cheese

I followed Martha's recipe but used shell pasta and panko breadcrumbs tossed with olive oil (instead of regular breadcrumbs mixed with butter) for the topping. And I halved the recipe, which made more than enough for Avi and me with leftovers. Dig in!

Pie Season

2009-11-21T09:33:00.000-08:00

I love pie. Who doesn't? I happily volunteered to make desserts for my family Thanksgiving this year. Of course that includes at least 2 pies. Currently I'm planning on streusel-topped apple and pecan pumpkin pie (found a great recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-pumpkin-pie-i/detail.aspx).

So in preparation for Thanksgiving (and for my personal enjoyment) I've made a couple practice pies over the past couple weeks. First came a classic blueberry pie (pictured on the right). Notice the small hole in the upper left corner. That's where I had to test out the crust before taking a picture. I used part fresh berries and part frozen and my go to crust recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I've posted the crust recipe below. It was awesome. So good Avi ate it for breakfast and lunch until it was finished (which didn't take long).

Second came a lattice topped mixed berry pie (on the left). I used a frozen medley of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. I just had a slice for breakfast this morning and it's heavenly. The crust is the perfect balance of buttery crispness and soft chewy dough. The filling is berrylicious - just sweet enough, while conveying the texture and rich flavors of the berries.

Luckily Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so I don't have to wait long to bake more pies! Read on for the recipe to lattice topped mixed berry pie.

Mixed Berry Pie Recipe

Flaky Pie Crust
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4" cubes
6 Tbs ice water, plus more if necessary
1 egg, whisked

Filling
5 cups frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
4 Tbs corn starch
1/2 tsp cardamom
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Prepare Crust
1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in food processor. Process for 5 seconds to mix. Add butter. Process about 10 seconds or until butter and flour are blended and mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

2. Transfer flour mixture to medium bowl. Gradually drizzle water on top while incorporating water into dough with spatula. Add water until you can press dough into a ball. Dough should be at the point where it will just barely hold together in a ball. It will be slightly crumbly and not at all sticky. Separate dough into 2 balls and wrap each in plastic wrap. Freeze for 15 minutes.

3. Take one piece of dough from freezer. Lightly coat sheet of plastic wrap with flour. Place dough on plastic wrap and sprinkle flour on top. Place second piece of plastic wrap on top of dough and flatten dough between 2 pieces of wrap. Working from the center outward, roll dough into a circle large enough to cover bottom and sides of 9 inch pie plate.

4. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Using bottom sheet of plastic wrap, transfer dough to pie plate. Press dough into bottom and sides of plate. Place in freezer while preparing filling.

Filling and Lattice Top

5. Combine filling ingredients in medium bowl. Place in pie plate.

6. Remove second piece of dough from freezer. Roll out as you did with the first piece. Using pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 3/4" wide strips. Place half of strips horizontally atop pie, leaving a space between each strip. Use the longer strips for the center of the pie. Weave second half of strips through first half vertically to form lattice design (it's not as hard as it looks!). Re-roll dough whenever necessary to get additional strips.

7. Trim edges so outside of pie is even and press lattice pieces onto bottom crust. Using your fingers, crimp edges of crust for form fluted design (optional). Place pie in fridge while preheating oven.

8. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place pie plate on baking sheet. Brush top of crust with egg. Place in oven. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 45-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

9. Cool on wire rack or overnight before serving.

Martha's Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

2009-10-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite fall cookie recipes is Martha Stewart's Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies. They're oatmeal raisin cookies with applesauce instead of butter. Not only are they lowfat, but the applesauce gives them a yummy and autumny apple flavor. The icing is a mix of powdered sugar and maple syrup (all natural of course) to give the cookies one more layer of fall flavor.

I highly recommend them next time you're in the mood for cookies:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/iced-oatmeal-applesauce-cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Heaven

2009-10-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

I've been dreaming of pumpkin food for the past few weeks. I finally got around to buying some canned pumpkin puree with great plans to make pumpkin cookies, pumpkin curry, pumpkin pasta, etc. I woke up early this morning, eagerly anticipating some fresh baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

As I started baking I realized I'd accidentally bought Libby's "easy pumpkin pie mix" instead of plain ole' pumpkin puree. As much as I love pumpkin pie, I wasn't really up to baking it for breakfast. Luckily, the package directed me to Libby's website for other recipes. I happily found a recipe for pumpkin bread using the pumpkin pie mix. I turned it into pumpkin choclate chip bread and muffins.

If you happen to have some Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix on hand, here's the recipe: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=140534. I used 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips as my "stir in" and topped it with coffee cake crumb (1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp cinnamon).

We devoured the hot muffins for breakfast. The rich, melty chocolate chips were the perfect match for the spiced pumpkin batter. Now we just have to work on the loaf. Not a bad assignment for the weekend.

Orange Chicken & Shrimp

2009-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Chinese food is one of those indulgences that satisfies something deep down in my soul. Something about the mixture of salty, sweet, spice and sour seems to capture everything that's good about food. Unfortunately, Americanized Chinese food is often too heavy on the sugar and fat and lacking in other distinguishable flavors.

I like experimenting with Chinese cooking at home, because I can control the ingredients and the amount of fat in my recipes, making sure there isn't an over-abundance of oil or sugar. One of my favorite Chinese-American dishes is Orange chicken. Not the Panda Express variety, but something more flavorful with the right balance of citrus-y zing, spicy pep, and saltiness and without an overpowering sweetness.

I found a recipe that fits the bill and I've posted it below. I'll admit, it is a sweet recipe, but not too sweet. I use just enough sauce to coat the meat and veggies without creating a sauce-drenched fry-fest a' la Panda Express. It's great with chicken, shrimp or both. I also add some veggies - whatever's in the fridge. It's great with broccoli, bell pepper, and green onion.

Here's the recipe (Reprinted from Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Asian-Orange-Chicken/Detail.aspx?strb=1)

Orange Chicken/Shrimp

Ingredients

Sauce

1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Other Ingredients

3 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces OR 1 pound peeled raw shrimp OR 1 chicken breast and 1/2 pound shrimp
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 heads broccoli, chopped /1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
3 sprigs green onion sliced into 1 inch long pieces

Directions

1. Combine sauce ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil and allow to boil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Set aside.

2. OPTIONAL: Transfer half of sauce and chicken pieces to large ziplock bag and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. (Author's Note: I typically skip this step and find the chicken is still plenty flavorful).

3. Heat oil in wok or large saucepan over high heat.

4. Combine flour, salt and pepper in medium bowl or dish. Dredge chicken or shrimp in flour. Shake off excess flour. Transfer pieces to wok or pan and cook until lightly browned on all sides.

If using shrimp, remove shrimp pieces from pan and set aside. If using chicken, keep chicken in pan.

5. Add broccoli and/or bell pepper to wok. Add 1/2 of sauce. Continue cooking on medium-high heat. Sauce will reduce.

6. Combine cornstarch and water in small bowl and mix thoroughly. Add to wok and stir all ingredients. Cook about 5 minutes in wok or until chicken is just cooked through and sauce is reduced. Stir in green onion pieces and shrimp (if using). Add additional sauce if necessary.

7. Serve with sticky rice.

8. Reserve remaining sauce in small ziplock baggie. It freezes really well. Usually, I make it in a big batch and freeze in separate baggies. That way I can whip up Orange Chicken whenever the mood strikes.

Caramel Candies

2009-10-07T13:15:00.001-07:00

Yum. I just finished chewing my third piece of homemade caramel candy. It's rich, chewy, buttery, tinged with vanilla, and, of course, caramel flavored. I love it. Especially now that it's fall. Ever since October hit, I've been in the mood for fall treats like caramel apples, pumpkin spiced lattes and spiced apple cider.

I've made homemade caramel popcorn before, so I knew caramel wasn't beyond the realm of the home chef. After a little internet research, I found a highly recommended recipe for chewy caramel candy on AllRecipes.com.

Here's the link to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Caramel/Detail.aspx.

I followed as written except that I omitted the vanilla. The cooked brown sugar has plenty of natural vanilla flavor on its own. I made a batch this morning and they are delish! I think I can remelt the finished candies and use the caramel to dip apples....my next project : )

If I see you soon, I promise to give you a sample.

Egg Rolls

2009-10-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'm been trying to learn how to make authentic Chinese cuisine lately. My most recent attempt - homemade egg rolls. I found egg roll wrappers in the refrigerator section of the regular grocery store. I thought of the typical filling: cabbage, carrots, egg and meat. I figured I'd add in some ginger, garlic and soy sauce as seasoning. Nothing too complicated. In fact they seemed very similar to the dumplings I've made in the past, only fried (whoo hoo!).

I perused some internet recipes. They differed on whether to cook the filling before forming the egg rolls. Since it was my first attempt and I wanted to be safe, I precooking my ground turkey and veggie filling first, formed my egg rolls and then deep fried them. It worked great.

Post-fry, the egg rolls were quite hot in the center, so next time I'll try adding the meat and veggies raw to the egg roll wrappers and just letting them cook during frying. I think this would give the cabbage and carrots and nice bite.

My rolls were succulent and flavorful with a good balance of meat and (soft) veggies. Best of all - they were just as good if not better than the Chinese takeout version. The outsides were crisp and not overly greasy. They had more meat than traditional egg rolls, which, in my experience, are always cabbage heavy. Now I can satisfy my Chinese food cravings whenever the mood hits! Read on for the recipe.

Lauren's Chinese Egg Rolls

Makes 8 egg rolls

Ingredients
1/2 Package Egg Roll Wrappers
1/2 lb ground turkey or pork
1/4 of a large head of cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
1 Tbsp Flour
Vegetable or peanut oil

Directions
1. Preheat skillet on medium heat. Sautee garlic and 1 Tbsp ginger in 1 Tbsp of oil one minute until fragrant. Add ground turkey and season with pinch of salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Cook until no longer pink. Remove turkey from pan and set aside.

2. Sautee cabbage and carrots with 1 Tbsp soy sauce about 5 minutes or until tender.

3. Combine turkey, vegetables, 1 Tbsp ginger, and egg in medium bowl. Mix until combined.

4. In small bowl, mix 1 Tbsp flour with 1 Tbsp water until it forms a paste. This will be the glue to hold the egg rolls together.

5. Heat about 2 inches of oil in wok until oil reaches 350 degrees while forming egg rolls.

6. Place egg roll wrapper diagonally on flat surface (so it looks like a diamond). Add about 1/4 cup filling to center. Fold up bottom corner. Fold in sides (like an envelope). Spread "glue" on top corner of egg roll wrapper. Then fold down top to seal the egg roll. Repeat.

For a visual, check out this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY7OaDbYrKQ

7. Place egg rolls in preheated oil. Cook, turning every few minutes, until browned on all sides.

8. Enjoy with Thai sweet chili sauce or duck sauce!

Cookies Cookies Everywhere

2009-09-08T09:27:00.001-07:00

There's been mucho ado about cookies in my life lately. I've been baking up a storm for catering jobs.

It make me happy to think that other people are eating and enjoying my creations.

If you're looking for tasty cookies, look no further.

Catering for Hollywood Bowl

2009-09-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

Lauren's meals to go is officially in business! Yesterday I prepared my second to go meal for a Hollywood Bowl concert.

The Menu
1. Israeli Salad with Jicama, Avocado, Tomato and Cucumber

2. Beet & Orange Salad with Orange Mint Vinaigrette (with and without Feta)

3. Tuna Tartare with Avocado & Lime Dressing

4. Roasted Asparagus and Eggplant with Miso Dressing

5. Sesame Crusted Salmon with Coconut Ginger Sticky Rice

6. Sesame Soba Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms

7. Summer Fruit Salad

8. Lauren's Famous Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I'm just getting my feet wet in catering and looking to expand my business. Thanks to my customers so far for supporting me in my passion!

Contact me if you need help catering your next event.

Won Ton Soup and Steamed Dumplings

2009-08-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've been on a little hiatus from blogging, but that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. In fact, I had my first professional cooking job a few weeks ago, and I'm gearing up for another gig this week! Stay tuned for more information on my catering biz. I'll try to post some pics from my catering work soon.

In the meantime, I share with you my recipe for Won Ton Soup and Steamed Dumplings.

After my success with potstickers, I was eager to experiment with won ton dumplings. I bought won ton wrappers and pulled out my Asian cookbook. It said I could make steamed or boiled dumplings with won ton wrappers, but it didn't have a specific recipe for either. No worries. I adapted my potsticker recipe to the won ton wrappers and it worked out marvelously. Read on for the recipe.

Won Ton Soup with Steamed Dumplings Recipe

Serves 2
Ingredients

Dumplings
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 tsp garlic, minced
3 scallions, minced
3/4 cup cabbage, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
1/3 lb ground turkey
1/2 package won ton wrappers

Soup
3 cups chicken broth
3-4 dried and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, sliced into matchsticks
3 scallions, chopped
1 Tsp garlic, minced
1 Tsp ginger, minced
2 tsp soy sauce

For Steamed Dumplings
1. Sautee garlic, ginger, scallions, cabbage and a little bit of soy sauce for a few minutes until the cabbage is tender. Add sauteed ingredients to ground turkey and mix together with 2 tsp soy sauce.

2. Add small amount of turkey mixture to won ton wrapper. Wet edges of wrapper with water. Fold wrapper in half diagonally. Seal edges. Fold in side corners so one overlaps the other and stick together with dab of water. Tuck down top corner.

3. Steam dumplings for 7-10 minutes or until cooked through. If using bamboo steamer, layer dumplings on top of cabbage leaves so they don't stick to the steamer. If making soup, reserve 6 or so dumplings for the soup.

For Soup
1. Combine chicken stock, 1/2 cup water, garlic and ginger in small saucepan and bring to low boil. Add bamboo shoots, two thirds of the chopped scallions, mushrooms and soy sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Bring soup to boil. Drop in uncooked dumplings. Cook until dumplings rise to surface (should only take a few minutes). Garnish with remaining scallions and serve.

Cooking, the key to humanity?

2009-08-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

I found a fascinating New York times article today (from July 29) discussing the American obsession with food tv, but not home cooking, and the importance of cooking to humanity. The article describes cooking as essential to our identity as human beings. After all, we are the only animals that cook our food.

The article claims it was "the discovery of cooking by our early ancestors — not tool-making or language or meat-eating — that made us human. By providing our primate forebears with a more energy-dense and easy-to-digest diet, cooked food altered the course of human evolution, allowing our brains to grow bigger (brains are notorious energy guzzlers) and our guts to shrink."

I had never previously thought that it was cooking that distinguishes us from other beasts. But I've always felt a strong compulsion to cook. It allows me to create something from seemingly nothing. And the act of eating is extremely pleasurable - surely one of life's greatest joys. With each meal, I make not only food, but also happiness. What could be better?

Interestingly, the article also asserts that the modern trend of not cooking is taking toll on our physical and psychological well-being. "[O]besity rates are inversely correlated with the amount of time spent on food preparation....In fact, the amount of time spent cooking predicts obesity rates more reliably than female participation in the labor force or income." As calorie-rich foods such as taquitos, cupcakes and chicken wings have become cheaper and easier to obtain, we eat more of them.

Lots of food for thought (tee hee). For the entire article, click here
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1.

Phad Thai

2009-08-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit last week and I was thrilled to have someone new to cook for. On Sunday night, I was feeling a little tired from our days of sightseeing and got a case of the food blues. Yes, even I get the food blues. It happens to me sometimes when I'm feeling down or just tired. I lie on the couch, dreading the thought of cooking. The idea of laboring away in the kitchen, chopping vegetables or tending to an open flame sounds like torture. My passion for cooking recedes into the corners of my mind, seemingly never to emerge again.

I previously planned to make pizza, but suggested we eat out, overwhelmed by the prospect of making homemade pizza dough and cooking it over the hot grill. I was moping around the apartment, taking advantage of my mom's nurturing kindness, when I had a revelation. I could make Pad Thai!

I remembered that I'd found a simple (though purportedly authentic) recipe online a few days earlier and emailed it to myself. If I remembered correctly, the recipe only called for a few ingredients and took under 30 minutes to prepare. I had all the ingredients... Perhaps I still loved cooking after all.

I used a recipe from the Food Network website, which I've reprinted here with minor alterations.

Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients

1 package medium-thick flat rice noodles
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
Vegetable oil for frying
2 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
12 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips, 1 inch long
5 scallions (white and green parts), 3 cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 2 chopped
1/3 cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions
1. Cook noodles in boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

2. Whisk the fish sauce, sugar and rice vinegar in small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat wok over medium heat with small amount of oil. Add eggs, tilting the wok to evenly coat the bottom with egg. Cook the eggs just until firm. Transfer to a cutting board, roll into a tube and cut the egg into thin strips. Set aside.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil to wok. Add shrimp, pinch of pepper flakes and salt, to taste. Stir-fry shrimp until they are pink and just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

5. Add 2 tablespoons oil to wok with garlic, shallots, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes and stir-fry on medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken, turn heat to high and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

6. Add the noodles and cook, tossing, until lightly coated with the garlic mixture, about 1 minute. Add the fish sauce mixture and large scallion pieces and heat through. Stir in the cooked egg and shrimp and toss until hot.

7. Divide the Phad Thai among plates and top with chopped cilantro, peanuts, and chopped scallions. Serve with lime wedges.

Zucchini Bread

2009-07-30T11:24:00.001-07:00

I've always been a fan of banana bread and pumpkin bread, and I'd heard that you can make a tasty bread or muffin with zucchinis. Plus, zucchinis are in season now, meaning they're inexpensive and plentiful at the markets and in my veggie drawer. Could a vegetable based bread actually taste good?

I'd never tried zucchini bread, but I'm an adventurous baker so I gave it a whirl. To answer my question - Yes! I baked up a loaf of zucchini bread, seasoning the batter with a robust mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. The bread turned out exquisitely moist, not too sweet and with a palate-pleasing spiced flavor. The recipe uses cornmeal in addition to flour to give the bread a wholesome, slightly grainy texture. Here's the recipe

Zucchini Bread
adapted from "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman
Ingredients

1 medium-large zucchini, shredded
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

2. Mix dry ingredients together in medium bowl.

3. Combine melted butter, egg, and milk and beat by hand until mixed.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and the zucchini. Quickly stir together the wet and dry ingredients using a large spoon or spatula. Mix until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy.

5. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan on rack for at least 10 minutes before removing loaf from pan.

Plum Upside Down Cake

2009-07-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season for ripe, juicy, delicious fruit. It seems like all the fruit I buy lately is perfectly sweet and succulent - be it mangos, peaches, cherries, watermelon, nectarines or strawberries. I've been having a heyday eating fresh, summery fruit everyday. As much as I like fruit by itself, I've been waiting for an opportunity to put all this the bountiful summer fruit to its proper use - in a delectable dessert.

Lucky for me, Avi's parents came over for dinner last night, so I had an excuse to bake up a fruity dessert. I found wonderfully ripe plums at the market, so I scoured the internet for a good plum dessert recipe. Much to my delight, I found a recipe for a plum upside down cake. The recipe reviews said the cake was eye-catching and delicious. I was sold.

My cake turned out as promised - gorgeous, with a caramelized plum topping and mild almond and cinnamon flavors. Read on for the recipe.

Reprinted from Epicurious.com (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Plum-Upside-Down-Cake-288?id=288)

Plum Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
6 large plums, halved, pitted, each half cut into 6 wedges
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar and honey and cook until sugar and honey blend into butter and form a thick, smooth sauce. Transfer sauce to 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Arrange plums in overlapping concentric circles atop sauce. See picture

3. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl.

4. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter in another large bowl until light. Add granulated sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, alternating with milk, mixing just until blended.

5. Spoon batter evenly over plums. Bake cake until golden and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer pan to rack and cool cake in pan for 30 minutes.

6. Using knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Place platter atop cake pan. Invert cake and place platter on work surface. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently lift off pan. Serve cake warm. (If desired top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream).

Note: Cake dries out a little when it reaches room temperature. Reheat for a moist texture. Of course it's still good at room temperature; the texture is similar to coffee cake.

How To Make Potstickers

2009-07-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

Making homemade potstickers is a cinch and fun too. I'll walk you through the steps. You can create your own signature dumplings and you might never buy a bag of frozen potstickers again.

You can buy premade dumpling (gyoza) wrappers at an Asian market or even in some regular grocery stores. They'll be in the refrigerator section in a small plastic package. In LA, you can buy a package of 24-36 for less than $2. (For an interesting article on the best dumpling wrappers, check out http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-dumplingside5mar05,1,766076.story)

You can form the dumplings by hand or with a press. I've made them by hand many times, and it's no biggie. You place filling in the center of the wrapper, dab water on the edges of the wrapper, fold the wrapper in half and cinch together, sealing the edges with your fingertips. I liked to make pretty ridges along the edges, so I pleat the edges back and forth with my fingers. Making dumplings by hand is simple, but can be time consuming.

As luck would have it, I found a dumpling press a few days ago. And, and I got it at Ross! For only $3.50, I bought a package of 4 presses in various sizes (the package says you can make anything from perogies to empanadas). The smallest size fits premade dumpling wrappers. You can also use the press to cut out homemade dough into circles that will fit into the press. It sped up my dumpling making considerably, so I highly recommend one if you're planning to make dumplings often. If not, your hands are just fine.
*Here's a link to a similar dumpling press on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RDFW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0009Q2L5M&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0E8G283T52EW2BF0J15H.

And now, my recipe for Turkey and Shitake Mushroom Potstickers. I encourage you to play around with the ingredients - I created these on a whim for lunch yesterday, so all the measurements are approximate.

Recipe
Makes about 24 potstickers
Dumpling Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey
3 Shitake mushrooms, diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
3 stalks of green onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp soy sauce
1 package Gyoza/Potsticker wrappers
Vegetable oil for cooking

Dipping Sauce:
1 tsp Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp sesame oil
(You can double these amounts if you like lots of dipping sauce)

Directions:

1. Saute diced ginger, garlic and mushrooms on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are tender. While cooking, add 1 tsp soy sauce. After 5 minutes, add green onion and continue cooking for 2 minutes.

2. Combine mushroom and green onion mixture with ground turkey and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Stir thoroughly (mixing with your hands works best).

3. Form potstickers. Put water in a small shallow bowl to be used for wetting the dough.
By Hand
Place approximately 1 1/2 tsp of filling in the center of one gyoza wrapper. Dab the entire outside edge of wrapper with water. Fold wrapper in half and seal edges with your fingers. Pleat edges with your fingers if desired.

With Press
Place gyoza wrapper in dumpling press. Dab entire outside edge of wrapper with water. Place approximately 1 1/2 tsp of filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold press in half and press firmly together. Lift up one side of press and remove dumpling.

4. Heat oil in large skillet. When oil and skillet are hot (drop of water sizzles in the oil), add dumplings. Cook about 2 minutes, or until side facing pan is browned and slightly crisp. Flip dumplings to other side and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup water and cover pan. Cook about 5 minutes or until dough is tender and all water is absorbed. Repeat with remaining dumplings.

5. Mix together dipping sauce ingredients. Dip potstickers in sauce and enjoy!

Finagle a Bagel

2009-07-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Attempt #2 at homemade bagels paid off in a scrumptious assortment of bagels this past weekend. This time, I tried a different recipe from a breadmaker's website.

You can find the recipe here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels

I played around with flavors and made a few different varieties: cinnamon raisin brown sugar, sesame, onion, salt and plain.

Here are a few more pictures of the bagels, pre-boil and post baking.

French Bread

2009-07-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

When it comes to bread-making, I've been on a roll (pun intended). One of my recent endeavors was rustic French bread. There's nothing quite as satisfying as warm, chewy bread topped with a slab of soft butter. Though it's easy enough to pick up bread from the store, I ventured to create my own. I was delightfully surprised by how easy it is to make homemade baguettes, and how tasty they are.

French bread is the simplest form of risen bread, consisting of only 4 ingredients: flour, yeast, salt and water. I turned, yet again, to my trusty How to Cook Everythingfor a recipe. The book has a recipe for "Easiest and Best French Bread." Just what I was looking for! Here's the recipe
The recipe yields bread in as little as 3 hours. I rested my dough overnight in the fridge (see Step 2) to allow more time for the flavor to develop.

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
Scant 1 1/2 cups water

1. Mix half the flour and the remaining ingredients together in stand mixer with the paddle attachment (You can also do this by hand). Switch to the dough hook. Add remaining flour a little at a time until the mixture forms a sticky dough ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. When the mixture is fully incorporated and dough-like, continue to run the mixer for 2 minutes to knead the dough.

2. Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. Alternately, let the dough rest overnight in the fridge.

3. Very lightly flour your countertop. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and form each into a ball. Cover with a towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

4. Spread a large piece of cloth on countertop and sprinkle lightly with flour. You can use a tablecloth. I used a cloth dough mat that I'd purchased from Surfas.

5. On the cloth, press each dough ball flat into a rectangle. Fold the long sides of the rectangle toward the center and seal the resulting seam. Stretch/roll the dough into a long snake. You'll end up with oblong, baguette shaped pieces of dough. Place the loaf, seam side up, in the cloth. When you've formed all 3 pieces of dough, cover with the excess cloth. Let rise for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature until loaves are 1 1/2 times their original size.

6. About 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450 degrees (it takes my oven about 30 minutes to reach 450).

7. Gently transfer the risen loaves to a lightly floured baking sheet. Take care not to deflate the dough. (The first time I did this, the dough deflated and I had to let it rise a little again briefly) Slash the tops of the bread diagonally 3 - 4 times with a sharp knife.

8. Spray the inside of the oven and the tops of the loaves with water. The water creates steam in the oven and helps your bread to form a nice, crunchy crust.

9. Put loaves in the oven. 5 minutes later, spray inside of oven again. Bake 25 to 30 minutes total, or until the crust is crunchy and golden brown. The book says to cook until the internal temperature is at least 210 degrees. I didn't bother taking the temperature of the bread, I just cooked until the crust was very firm and toasty looking (about 25 mins).
The resulting loaves are rustic looking, with a floured exterior, crusty crust and perfectly soft interior. We ate one whole baguette plain just out of the oven as a snack. I used a second to make yummy garlic bread, and the third for meatball subs.

Easy and Delicious Scone Recipe

2009-07-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Growing up, my mom always had a thing for scones so we had them in the house sometimes for breakfast. When I was little, I thought they were a little too bland, but through the years I've grown to appreciate scones for their subtle flavor and creamy biscuit-like texture. I've had some great scones (barely sweet, buttery, tender and moist in the center with a dry, crumbly exterior), the best I can remember from the Gelson's supermarket in Pacific Palisades. And I've had some awful scones, so dry and flavorless that I could barely swallow them.

Luckily, I found a recipe for scones that's incredibly easy and virtually guarantees scrumptious scones.

I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com. I tried it out because of its rave reviews and because it was super easy. It only calls for a few ingredients. Instead of requiring processed cold butter, which most traditional scone recipes require and which I find a hassle when I'm craving scones early in the morning, it uses cream. I've tried it many times with different add-ins: raisins, chocolate chunks, blueberries, dried apricots. All were delicious.

Here's the recipe:

Easy Cream Scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup raisins, chopped dried apricots, chocolate chunks or other fruit
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbs butter, melted
2 tbs coarse sugar (e.g., Turbinado)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in large bowl. Stir with a fork to mix. Add the dried fruit/chocolate.
Add the cream and stir together with fork until the dough holds together in a rough mass. The dough will be sticky and slightly lumpy.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough 8 times. Separate the dough into 2 pieces and pat each piece into a circle, approximately 6 inches in diameter. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Alternately, pat entire dough flat on floured surface. Cut into circles with biscuit cutter or a circular glass. You can also make free-form balls of dough for more rustic looking scones.
Place wedges/circles/balls onto ungreased baking sheet, about 1 inch between each piece.
Brush tops and sides with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake about 12 minutes, until light golden on top and firm to the touch.

Homemade Bagels

2009-07-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Bagels have a unique texture - chewy and soft on the inside with a very thin, yet crisp crust. Heartier and denser than sandwich bread, yet not too heavy to weigh you down in the morning. They have a slightly malty flavor. And topped with a shmear of cream cheese, they prove the perfect bite to gnaw on for breakfast or a midday snack.

Could I make homemade bagels? I knew they're made by boiling the dough first and then baking it and though, hey, I can do that.

So I poked around for a recipe, turning as usual, to my beloved How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Bittman pulled through again. His book list a recipe for "real bagels - crisp - not the puffy kind sold so often nowadays." It was bagel time! The recipe called for bread flour, salt, yeast, water and a sweetener/flavor agent. For the sweetener Bittman gives 4 options: malt syrup, maple syrup, molasses or sugar. Not having malt syrup on hand (or having any idea what it is) I used maple syrup.

The recipe starts as a typical bread recipe. Make the dough, allow it to rise for a couple hours, and then form the dough into bagel shapes. You can make the bagels either my making a long rope of dough, looping it and sealing the ends or by starting with a circle of dough and poking a hole in the middle. I opted for method 1, though I think method 2 may actually yield a prettier bagel.

After forming the bagels, allow the dough rings to rise again for 30 minutes. Then drop the rings into boiling water for about 1 minute per side. Bittman said the dough would drop to the bottom of the boiling pot and then rise to the surface. I guess mine were afraid of the deep end, because they made only a brief drop below the surface before rising to the top.

I allowed the boiled bagels to drip dry on a rack for a few minutes. At this point, their shape was completely set. They were firmer than I thought they'd be, but also seemingly light (in weight). Per the cookbook instructions, I sprayed the inside of my preheated degree oven with water to create steam. Steam helps bread to develop a crisp outer crust in the oven. I put the bagels in the oven and steamed them once more, 5 minutes into baking.

After about 25 minutes, the bagels were golden brown on the outside and ready to come out of the oven. I let them cool down a few minutes, and then Avi and I grubbed on the bagels with cream cheese, tomato and onion for lunch.

They were great! Crisp on the outside, just like Bittman said, but with a soft, chewy interior. I'd say they were slightly denser and chewier than your average bagel store bagel, but the chewiness contrasted wonderfully with their crisp crust. Next time, I'll make a dozen or so and pop some in the freezer. As it was, we quickly consumed all the fresh bagels in one sitting and now I can only fantasize about their satifyingly chewy texture. (This also means we ate them too quickly for me to take a picture of the finished product.)

I highly recommend homemade bagels. The minimal effort was well worth the results, and they blew the pants off most bagels I've tasted in my life. I'm happy to send you the exact recipe by email.

Purchase of the Week: Tub of Sour Gummy Worms

2009-07-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Mmmm, tastes like....iron

2009-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

I bought a big bag of animal crackers today at Food4Less. They were in the Hispanic section of the store (not the cookie aisle) and the bag was only $1.18. I was slightly hungry and had fond memories of a large container of animal crackers bought from Costco a few months ago. I couldn't pass it up.

When I got home, I proudly showed Avi my purchase. A whole bag of animal crackers for slightly more than a dollar! We broke into the bag for our post-lunch dessert. The cookies were everything I'd hoped for and more. They have the standard animal cracker flavor, something bordering a bland cracker and a semi-sweet shortbread cookie, but with a little extra kick. I thought I detected a hint of orange flavor and asked Avi if he was picking up any notes of orange in the cookies. He continued eating the cookies without comment.

I turned to the list of ingredients to investigate, hoping I'd be right and they would list orange extract or at least artificial orange flavor. Much to my surprise, the second ingredient listed, after enriched flour, was reduced iron. In all my years as an avid snack food consumer, I've never noticed reduced iron as a key ingredient. I was slightly alarmed. Why would iron be the number 2 ingredient? On the other hand, the cookies provide 10% of your daily recommended dose of iron which seems liked a good thing. And perhaps reduced iron was the secret ingredient that gave the cookies their alluring zing.

I did some further investigation online. Initially, I was concerned when my first search revealed that reduced iron "has industrial applications in the steel industry," "is an excellent feedstock for the electric furnaces used by mini mills" and "is produced from direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps, pellets or fines) by a reducing gas produced from natural gas or coal" http://coachingparents.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/hyperactivity/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron. Were the animal cracker makers using excess industrial products to bulk up their cookies (thereby allowing them to sell a pound of animal crackers for a measly $1.18)?

Luckily, further research convinced me that the cookie makers don't have any ill intentions. Rather, reduced iron is a common food additive intended to give consumers their daily dose of iron. Knowing that cereal is fortified with vitamins and minerals, I perused my cereal boxes to see if they also contained reduced iron. Hot dowg! Corn Flakes, Frosted Mini Wheats and Grape Nuts all list reduced iron in their lists of ingredients. Incidentally, all 3 cereals contain a higher dose of iron than the cookies - Corn Flakes with 45% of your daily recommended dose, and Grape Nuts and FMW's with 90% of your daily dose.

Reduced iron is actually iron it its pure metallic form, meaning that the cereals and animal crackers contain tiny iron filings. Supposedly, you can even pick the iron bits out with a magnet, though my curiosity didn't take me quite that far. (http://cultureofchemistry.blogspot.com/2007/12/elemental-tales-reduced-iron.html)

I still don't know if the reduced iron is what gives my animal crackers their distinctive zing. But as I sit here with a belly full of animal crackers, I can't help wondering what a magnet would do to my stomach right now.

Cookieholic Strikes Again

2009-06-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

I got a hankering for some cookies yesterday and baked up a couple batches. Crunchy oatmeal raisin and chewy chocolate and cranberry. They're all gone by now, but that just means more baking tomorrow...

Polenta with Mushroom Ragu

2009-06-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday night is Italian night in my apartment. Usually I make pasta, but last night I decided to finally try some homemade polenta. Growing up, my grandma introduced me to polenta. Her variety was baked and topped with marinara and a little parmesan. Nothing fancy, but it was satisfying in its simplicity. I liked the crisp texture of her baked polenta and the way the buttery salty cornmeal contrasted with her sweet tomato sauce. Through the years, I've sampled various forms of polenta, some baked like my grandma's and others creamy, infused with cheese, truffle oil, butter, cream or chicken stock. It was time for me to put my spin on polenta.

A few weeks ago, I bought a bag of cornmeal from Smart N' Final. I hadn't cooked much with cornmeal before the purchase so I thought it would be fun to work with a new ingredient. Up until Sunday, I'd made a few tasty batches of corn bread and some cornmeal crusted chickpea patties, but no polenta.

I found a recipe in Tom Colicchio's Think Like A Chef for a polenta gratin with wild mushroom ragu. Ragu is a traditional Italian meat sauce made with ground veal or beef, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion and seasonings simmered in broth, wine and sometimes cream. Ragu originates from northern Italy's Bologna region (hence its common pseudonym, "Bolognese") and is typically served with pasta. Colicchio's recipe substitutes mushrooms for the meat. As an avid mushroom lover (and as someone who just so happened to have a few 'shrooms in the fridge), I heartily approved of the substitution.

So I set out to make some rustic vegetarian fare for our Sunday supper. I followed Colicchio's ragu recipe with a couple changes. His recipe used an enriched chicken stock as the liquid base. I used diced canned and sundried tomatoes (his called for fresh), fresh parsley and butter to thicken the sauce. His recipe called for assembling a layer of ragu between 2 layers of polenta and baking the polenta in the oven until it became a firm polenta casserole.

I'll confess that I didn't fully read through his recipe before starting, and I realized after starting the sauce that it was supposed to simmer at least 30 minutes before assembling the casserole, which was then supposed to bake an additional 40 minutes. I was way too hungry to wait another hour for my dinner to be done. No problemo - I decided I'd just do a soft polenta and top it with the ragu.

I'd started cooking the polenta while making the ragu. Soft polenta is wonderfully simple. To make 4 servings, add 1 cup of cornmeal to 4 cups of boiling water and stir constantly as the water returns to a boil. Then lower the heat to low and stir the polenta every few minutes, allowing it to cook about 30 minutes, until it reaches a thick and smooth texture. After 30 minutes, add 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and a handful of freshly grated pecorino romano (or parmesan). Some recipes call for chicken stock in place of the water or butter or cream instead of olive oil, though I liked it simple with water and olive oil.

I finished my polenta in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes to give it a crisp outer layer. The inside remained soft, and the pecorino romano melted so that its tangy flavor dispersed throughout the polenta. I scooped polenta onto our plates and topped it with the mushroom ragu and a little sprinkle of pecorino romano. The chunky homey mushroom sauce was a perfect accompaniment to grainy-smooth texture of the polenta.

Best of all were the lumps. I didn't perfectly mix in the cornmeal as I combined it with the water, causing a few small lumps to form in the polenta. I tried to get them out and was afraid my amateurish mistake would ruin the texture of the finished dish. But go figure - my mistake was a blessing in disguise. Every lump was a tiny tactile treasure, a pearl of chewy goodness.

Dry Brined Quick Roasted Turkey

2009-06-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

For my Thanksgiving in June, I tried out 2 new turkey cooking techniques to great success. First, I dry brined my turkey for 3 days in the refrigerator before cooking. Second, I butterflied the whole turkey and roasted it on a broiler tray. The results were magnificent. All of the turkey skin was delightfully crispy. The meat was marvelously juicy, like meat from a rotisserie chicken, and boasted a robust turkey flavor.

Turkey is the cornerstone of Thanksgiving. Some consider turkey to be the least exciting part of the meal - bland, dry meat practically inedible if not for the flavorful accompaniments. I, on the other hand, know that turkey has the potential to be the succulent star of the Thanksgiving meal. Like any food, there's a way to make it good and there's a way to ruin it.

Making good turkey is simple - DON'T OVERCOOK IT. That's it. Overcook and you have something dry, tough and tasteless. But cook it just right and you have tender, juicy meat that boasts a healthy, meaty flavor. The trouble with turkey is that it's poorly designed for proper cooking. The American obsession with big breasts seems to have spread from women to poultry. Because Americans generally prefer white turkey meat to dark, we breed our turkey to be big-busted. The voluptuousness of a turkey ensures a large ratio of white to dark meat. Unfortunately, it also makes it nearly impossible to thoroughly cook the dark meat of a turkey without overcooking the white meat. When a turkey is cooked breast-side up in the oven, as is the custom on Thanksgiving, the white meat is more exposed to the heat than the dark meat and cooks faster. The white meat reaches doneness at the point when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees way before the dark meat makes it to 165.

I've seen several suggested remedies for the overcooked breast-meat dilemma. Alton Brown suggests making a tin foil shield for the breast to use while roasting. Some cooks suggest cooking the turkey breast-side down for most of the cooking time. And many others swear by the deep frying method, whereby the entire turkey is submerged in hot oil to ensure even cooking of the white and dark meat. I can attest that deep fried birds are finger-lickin' good. I've had a couple and they were the best turkeys I've had - with lip-smacking crisp skin and an incredibly moist interior. I considered deep frying my turkey for TIJ, but it seemed difficult in my one bedroom apartment. So I looked for another cooking method that would yield the crisp skin and even cooking of the deep fry method.

Lo and behold, I found a recipe in the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, which I scored a few months ago at a used bookstore in Berkeley, for "Crisp-Skin High-Roast Butterflied Turkey." The recipe called for brining the turkey first and then cutting out the backbone and butterflying the bird, skin side up on a broiler rack. Butterflying the turkey exposes all of the skin to the heat of the oven so that all the skin can get crispy, while allowing the dark and white meat to cook evenly. To top it off, the recipe said to cook the bird at 450 for the entire cooking time so that the whole turkey (12 to 14 pounds) would cook in only 90 minutes! It sounded too good to be true, so I had to put the recipe to the test.

The recipe said to brine the turkey to boost the moistness and flavor of the meat. It advocated wet brining, which has gotten a lot of press in recent years. Wet brining means soaking the turkey in a mixture of salt water (and spices if you like) for a few hours up to a couple days. The salt draws out the natural juices of the turkey and replaces them, in even higher amount, with the flavored salt water through osmosis. I've wet brined a few times before to great results, but it felt so tried and true that I wanted to experiment with a new technique.

I found a recipe in Martha Stewart Living for a dry brined turkey. Intrigued, I turned to the internet and found that the LA Times had done an article about dry brining last year proclaiming that dry brining was superior to wet brining at giving turkey juiciness, flavor and a properly meaty texture (the article says that wet brining gives great flavor and moistness but can result in a soggy texture). Not only was dry brining supposed to yield a better bird, but it was also much easier than wet brining. All you have to do to dry brine is to rub the outside of the turkey with Kosher salt and let it sit in your fridge for 2-3 days. It was settled. I'd dry brine my turkey and cook it per the butterflied, high roasting method.

For dry brining, the LA Times recipe says to use 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt for every 5 pounds of turkey. (For the LA Times recipe click here http://www.latimes.com/theguide/holiday-guide/food/la-fo-saltedturkey,0,3863680.story). So for my 14 pound bird I used a little less than 3 tablespoons of salt. I mixed some ground bay leaves in with the salt. I sprinkled the salt mixture in the cavity and rubbed most of it on the outside of the chicken breasts, thighs, legs and wings. I wrapped the turkey securely in plastic wrap and enclosed it in plastic grocery bags. Per the recipe, I rested it on its back in the fridge for the first two days and then flipped it onto its breast for the last day. The recipe also said to unwrap the turkey and let it dry out in the fridge for the last 24 hours. Around midnight the night before my TIJ I lay in bed, realizing that I didn't unwrap the turkey. Too lazy to get out of bed, I decided I'd just unwrap first thing the next morning. I did this and also patted the skin dry with paper towel before roasting. It seemed to work just as well as a full 24 hours of rest uncovered - the skin was perfectly crisp after cooking.

Thankfully I had Avi as my fearless butcher to prepare the bird for its quick roast. Per the butterflying recipe, he cut out the backbone and ribs from the turkey. He pulled the back cavity apart and splayed the bird on the broiler tray, skin side up. Then came the best part. Avi whacked the turkey breasts repeatedly with a rolling pin until the breastbone cracked and the bird would lie flat. Luckily, I caught all the action on video. As you can see, he did a splendid job!

Then we tied the turkey legs together to shield the breast meat and ensure even cooking. I sprinkled freshly ground black pepper on the outside of the turkey. Then I put it into the oven at 450 with a meat thermometer deep in the breast meat. In about an hour and 45 minutes the breast reached 165. I tested the thigh meat and it was at 175. I took the turkey out and let it rest 30 minutes as we transported all our food to the park for the TIJ picnic.

When we got set up at the park, I carved the turkey. Our guests dug in - tearing pieces of turkey meat from the bone and eating it with their hands before it could reach any plates. I strongly approved. The meat was fabulous, and, I dare say, rivaled the deep fried turkeys I'd had in the past. I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I've found my perfect turkey cooking method for years to come.

Thanksgiving in June

2009-06-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Every Thanksgiving, I'm reminded of the sheer deliciousness of a plate filled to the brim with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I pile my plate high, reveling in the fact that Thanksgiving food actually tastes better if you mix it together with all the other items on your plate. Between bites of buttery cornbread, potatoes, and meat, I give thanks to food and all the joy it brings. When I've stuffed myself to the brim, and then some, I ponder dessert.

Though I more than appreciate Thanksgiving's savory dishes, I spend most Thanksgivings looking forward to a few slices of pie - pumpkin, pecan, apple. The sweet tooth in me can never resist a good pie, especially if topped with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream. I'm especially fond of pumpkin pie (and all things pumpkin). On Thanksgiving, I take full advantage of the occasion to experience some spiced, creamy pumpkin goodness, knowing I may not have it again for another year.

After dinner, I marvel at the wonderful managerie of food I've consumed and wonder why we only get to eat Thanksgiving foods once a year. Usually, I forget about the Thanksgiving feast within a few weeks without another thought of turkey and stuffing until November rolls around again the following year. But not this year.

This year, I couldn't wait until November to have delectable roast turkey with a bevy of sides. This year I would have a Thanksgiving part deux - in June.

Avi and I wrangled up some family and friends to share in the feast and I got to planning.

The Menu:

Dry Brined Quick Roasted Turkey (see my separate post)
Honey Cornbread
Mmmmm, one of my favorite parts of the meal. I used this recipe, which uses sour cream to make the bread incredibly moist and added 1/4 cup honey: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Corn-Bread/Detail.aspx. The bread has a wonderful soft, sweet and cornmeally texture.
Sausage Apple Sage Stuffing
I used small cubes of toasted white and wheat sandwich bread, turkey sausage, Granny Smith apples, celery, onion, chicken broth and fresh sage. The apple and sausage chunks made it really pleasant to chew and even better to swallow. Incidentally a few of the cherries from my salad got mixed in to the stuffin on my plate and yum!
Roasted Vegetable and Giblet Gravy
Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions
I used my handy new potato ricer, which I highly recommend (and it was only $13 at Target). It made exceptionally light and creamy mashed potatoes.
Mixed Green Salad with Cherries, Feta and Walnuts
Cherries are delicious in California right now, and I had some so I thought I'd try it in a salad. Their summery sweetness contrasted well with the salty feta and nuts.
Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars
These were yummy, though a little too rich for my blood. I could only eat half of one, and that says something about a dessert if I can't finish it. (recipe from Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-pumpkin-cheesecake-bars)
Crumb-Topped Apple Pie
I made the apple pie from scratch and feel I've finally mastered the art of making my own pie crust (and it's worth it!). I used a crust recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, currently my favorite cook book (http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Simple-Recipes/dp/0471789186/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245538918&sr=8-2).
Tiny Pecan Pies
I prefer these to a big pecan pie, because they're bit size and not nearly as sweet. The cream cheese crust is like shortbread and the center has just the right amount of nuts and gooey sugary goodness. (Recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tiny-Pecan-Tarts/Detail.aspx)

We had our Thanksgiving at Rancho park in Los Angeles. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to be outside, sharing my labor of love with other people. Eating turkey and pie picnic-style on the grass felt like a nod to a happier, simpler era, and I vowed to plan a few more picnics this summer.

I was so happy with the food, especially considering this is the first time I've made a Thanksgiving feast on my own. Now I just have to wait 5 more months for the next Thanksgiving (or Thanksgiving part 3 anyone?).

Kettle Corn!

2009-06-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

The internet is a wonderful thing. Last night Avi and I popped in a movie, and he slyly mentioned that he was "saving room" for popcorn. At the mention of the word "popcorn" thoughts of warm buttery popcorn kernels floated through my mind. I lost any ability to focus on the movie. At the same time, I was in the mood for dessert. We'd eaten dinner about half an hour ago and I'd been thinking of some strawberries and cream or maybe even ice cream to top off the meal.

But now that Avi mentioned popcorn, it did sound good.... I rarely turn down the opportunity to eat popcorn. I look forward to going to the movie theater for the excuse of indulging in a big bucket of buttery goodness. At home, I often make popcorn in a pot over the stove as a snack.

I have to mention that I absolutely can't stand microwave popcorn. The texture reminds me too much of styrofoam - airy, slightly soggy and devoid of substance or any corn flavor. Popcorn popped on the stove, on the other hand, has a satisfying crunchy interior and natural corny flavor. As I tried to decide whether to make popcorn or have dessert, I thought of the perfect solution - kettle corn!

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, I had a recipe for kettle corn quicker than I could say Jiffy Pop. (Incidentally, while I despise microwave popcorn, I'm a strong supporter of Jiffy Pop, though I think that scene in Scream is the last time anyone has actually seen a Jiffy Pop container). Not only did I have a recipe, but it was simple. All I had to do was cook the popcorn as I usually do, but with sugar.

I counted my lucky stars and got to cooking. To make kettle corn, all you need are popcorn kernels, oil (olive or vegetable), sugar and salt.

First, coat the bottom of a medium to large sized pot with a thin layer of oil. I usually cook my popcorn in olive oil, because I like the flavor of it, but this time I used corn oil. I thought it would be the least conspicuously flavored oil for kettle corn.
After the oil, put in enough popcorn kernels to cover the pan bottom (of course, you can use less if you only want a little popcorn - but who ever just wants a little popcorn?).
Now, turn on the heat to medium high.
As soon as the first kernel pops (about 2-3 minutes after turning on the heat), add 2 tablespoons of sugar. I used raw sugar (a.k.a. Turbinado sugar), as recommended by the recipe. I know from past experience that raw sugar is particularly good at melting and that it has a pleasant caramelly flavor.
Quickly put the lid on the pot. Shake the pot periodically while the kernels pop. Shaking is crucial to ensure even cooking, prevent burning, and to dissipate the sugar.
When the kernels stop popping rapidly and are only popping every few seconds, turn off the heat. Wait 30 seconds or so. A few more kernels will probably pop. If you don't wait, you'll likely get shot in the face with a fiery flying popcorn kernel.
Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and stir.
Eat by fistfuls until you've emptied the bowl. Then lick the sides of the bowl clean (oh wait, maybe that's just Avi).

If you want to check out the original recipe, click http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Kettle-Corn/. The kettle corn was just as good as you'll find at any carnival or farmer's market. It was piping hot, slightly sticky yet crunchy and just sweet and salty enough to make your taste buds constantly yearn for more.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies?

2009-06-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, my inner cookieholic cried out in desire for some chocolate chip cookies. I'd been out of chocolate for a couple weeks and just restocked my supply. Plus, I just came across a recipe for "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" in the recent issue of Cooks Illustrated magazine. It seemed the stars were aligned for a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

This certainly isn't the first time I found a recipe purporting to deliver the perfect chocolate chip cookie. In fact, in devising the chocolate chip cookie recipe for my cookie store plans, I did extensive research into what makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I scoured the internet, cook books and magazines, testing out dozens of chocolate chip cookie recipes. I tried well-known and publicly acclaimed recipes like the Neimann Marcus recipe, the Mrs. Fields recipe and the recipe by Jacque Torres printed last year in the New York times (for some interesting reading on chocolate chip cookies and the recipe, check out http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2).

After countless bites of chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies ranging from barely edible (I don't believe any chocolate chip cookie can really be inedible) to divine, I settled on a cookie recipe that delivered what I considered at the time to be the perfect balance of a luscious amount of dark chocolate pieces, tender chewy texture, and a mildly salty and vanilla-tinged buttery flavor. I felt satisfied with the recipe - testing out it again and again to marvelous results.

But an artist's work is never done. Though I thought I'd found perfection, I kept an open mind, admitting that my own cookie recipe (as fantastically tasty as it was) could stand to be improved. I felt that my cookies could use just a little bit more of the rich caramel flavor that good chocolate chip cookies develop when cooked at a high heat. I've always been a fan of caramel - an exquisitely simple mixture of cooked sugar and cream that never fails to delight my taste buds. It has a slightly salty, nutty and toasty essence that compliments the other fresh and sweet elements in a desserts. For example, caramel compliments the tart, juiciness of a ripe apple, the sweet, juiciness of cooked apples in cobbler or pie, the mild sweetness of vanilla ice cream, and the dark, intense cocoa flavor of chocolate.

I thought a hint of caramel would push my chocolate cookie recipe to a new level of culinary supremacy. I've discovered that browning butter before adding it to baked goods provides a nutty, caramel flavor to the finished product. Browning butter simply means cooking the butter for a few minutes until it achieves a light brown color and toasty flavor. I'd tried the browned butter technique before in other cookies but not in chocolate chip cookies.

Enter the Cooks Illustrated recipe. The article describing the recipe suggested that browning butter before adding it to chocolate chip cookie dough would give the cookies a nutty, toffee flavor. Moreover, the article proclaimed that the secret to a deep, toffeelike flavor was to let the browned butter meld with the egg, sugar and vanilla for several minutes before adding in the flour and baking soda and baking. Alas, it appeared that Cooks Illustrated had read my mind.

I followed their instructions to a tee, eagerly awaiting the yummy caramel flavor I been looking for (I know you're not supposed to end a sentence with a proposition, but "for which I was looking" sounded utterly wrong). The cookies were decidedly scrumptious. They had a wonderfully chewy texture, with just the right amount of crisp along the edges. And more importantly, they boasted a sumptuous vanilla caramel flavor.

My next plan is to combine the techniques in the Cooks Illustrated recipe with my own chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have great hope that the result will be nothing short of extraordinary.

Now That's What I Call a Sandwich!

2009-06-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, I carried on the Italian tradition of Sunday night dinner by making homemade tomato sauce and meatballs. My mom was born in Italy and her family emigrated to the U.S. when she was very young. My mom's parents have always remained true to their Italian roots and instilled in all their children and grandchildren a strong love for family and Italian cooking. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago, so she doesn't do much cooking anymore. But the memories of her hearty meat sauce, meatballs and homemade pasta are still fresh in my mind.

I love Italian cooking, but unfortunately, I didn't get to learn too much from the master cook herself. By the time I'd taken a strong interest in cooking, I was living on the other coast from my Italian grandma and I had to figure out the secret to meatballs and tomato sauce on my own. Through many trials and variations, I've come up with a meatball and tomato sauce I'd be proud to serve Grandma.

For my sauce, I like to use finely chopped carrots, garlic and diced onions as a base. The carrots give the sauce sweetness and a rich homey texture. For the tomato, I use canned crushed tomatoes. They give the sauce a nice thickness without needing to add tomato paste as a thickener. If I have tomato paste on hand, I'll add some, but it's not essential. I add salt and pepper to taste and fresh basil if I have it on hand. Dried basil is ok too, but not as sweet and well "fresh" tasting as fresh. I let all the foregoing ingredients come together in my sauce pot and then add the one ingredient (other than the crushed tomatoes) that I consider essential - red wine. I don't bother with anything expensive, just something drinkable and full bodied. Trader Joe's "2 buck chuck" Cabernet works quite well for those on a budget. The wine gives the sauce a satisfying depth of flavor and some additional sweetness.

As the sauce cooks, I taste it several times to make sure the seasonings are right. Often I'll add some more wine if it still has a tart, uncooked tomato taste, or more salt. The flavors develop as the sauce simmers, so I like to let it cook for at least 1/2 an hour (before adding the meatballs - see below) and ideally more.

I don't do anything revolutionary with my meatballs. The classic combination for meatballs is a mix of ground beef, veal and pork, which yields rich and tender meatballs. I confess that I usually use only beef since it's what I have on hand and Avi doesn't eat pork. One of these days I have to splurge and add in some veal - I suspect it will give the meatballs a more delicate texture. To the meat I add either breadcrumbs or pieces of bread soaked in milk. Many would say that fresh bread instead of pre-made breadcrumbs are essential to a tender, fluffy meatball, but I believe in working with what I have on hand. I don't believe in strict adherence to recipes. In fact, I have a hard time strictly following any recipe, always feeling the urge to put my own spin on the ingredients. So if you're cooking at home, it's ok to take some liberties. As long as you have the basic structure of the recipe in tact and you think about what you're doing, it will probably come out ok (and if not, no sweat, you'll just try again next time!).

Getting back to the matter at hand - delectable, juicy balls of seasoned meat - ah yes. To the meat I add egg, freshly grated parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and finely chopped fresh parsley. The best part of making meatballs comes next. Now I get to mix all the mushy, gooey ingredients together with my hands and form the mixture into balls (as big or small as like on that given day). Something about working my hands through the meat mixture and rolling the balls in the palm of my hands soothes my otherwise frenetic consciousness.

I cook the meatballs first in a frying pan coated with a thin layer of olive oil. After they've gotten a good brown crust on all sides, I transfer them gently to the sauce pot to continue cooking and to give their meaty flavor to the sauce. This past time, there were lots of tasty pan scrapings from the meatballs on my frying pan, so I also added them to the tomato sauce to beef up the meat flavor, so to speak. I let the meatballs cook in the sauce for at least 20 minutes.

The meatballs and sauce make the perfect topping for some hot al dente spaghetti, which is exactly what Avi and I feasted on last Sunday night. Eating the pasta and meatballs was like giving my soul a big hug. To me, Italian is the quintessential comfort food.

Now what about that meatball sub? As I often do, I made extra meatballs and sauce on Sunday so we could enjoy meatballs part deux sometime later in the week. The meatballs and sauce freeze really well, so I sometimes put some in the freezer to be defrosted for a quick meal in the future. They also keep in the fridge for a few days and are delicious again over pasta or even better, on top of a meatball sub. On Tuesday night, I preheated my oven to 375 and sliced up a sourdough baguette (courtesy of Trader Joe's). I put the meatballs and sauce from the fridge and slices of fresh mozzarella on the opposite sides of the baguette. Avi and I sat at the kitchen table reading as the subs cooked - eagerly awaiting their glorious emergence from the oven.

After about 15 minutes, the cheese was good and melty so I took the sandwiches out and threw in a few hand-torn pieces of fresh basil. I pressed the sandwich halves together and my mouth watered as I felt the crunchiness of the bread. Chow-time at last! Avi and I went out on the porch and lavishly devoured our subs, praising the contrast in texture between the rough, rustic crustiness of the bread and the plump wetness of the sauce-covered meatballs. The warm chewy pieces of melted mozzarella clung beautifully to the bread. With every bite of the sandwich, the saltiness of the fresh mozzarella perfectly complimented the sweet richness of the meatballs. We thought, as we often do, of our tremendous fortune at being able to eat.

Break Me Off a Piece of That

2009-06-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Ribs are high on my list of favorite summertime grill foods. To be more specific, big, slow cooked beef ribs. There's something so satisfyingly primal about gnawing hunks of meat off a bone and knowing it's socially acceptable to have bbq sauce all over your face while doing it. I recently saw beef ribs on sale at Albertson's for 99 cents a pound - nice big beef ribs stretching 8 to 10 inches long with lots of meat between the bones. I knew I couldn't refuse the opportunity to practice some hard core barbequeing.

A lot of people think of barbequeing as just throwing some burgers on the grill, but barbequeing traditionally means to slow cook meat over an open fire. Wikipedia says that "in the Southern United States, practitioners consider barbecue to include only indirect methods of cooking over hardwood smoke, with the more direct methods to be called 'grilling'." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue). Through my limited experiences with barbeque, I sense that, in certain parts of our country, barbequing is considered an art and its artistes take to the grill with earnestness and fervor.

While hardly a barbeque-pro, I've eaten my fair share of bbq'ed brisket, pork and ribs. When it comes to ribs, I like fall-off-the-bone tender meat with a sweet and spicy dry rub. I find that a good dry rub gives the meat much more flavor and texture than a wet sauce. Dry rub packs a more concentrated punch of flavor and is more able to permeate than a wet sauce. I like to apply the dry rub a night before grilling and let my ribs sit overnight in the fridge. I've had great results with a dry rub recipe I found online, which I've posted below.

"Magic Dust" Dry Rub:

* 1/2 cup paprika
* 1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup powdered mustard
* 1/4 cup chili powder
* 1/4 cup ground cumin
* 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup granulated garlic
* 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly covered container. For the full rib recipes using this rub, check out http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mike-mills-beef-ribs-recipe/index.html.

I halved the recipe and it made more than enough for my 4 big racks of beef ribs. It's a wonderful mix of sweet, hot and savory spices. The sugar creates nice carmelization on the meat as it cooks and the overall coarse texture of the rub gives the meat a delightfully crunchy exterior while keeping the interior parts tender.

The rub is half the equation, but the other half of great ribs is cooking. Ideally, one would cook the ribs at a very low heat (about 200 degrees) in a smoker for 4-6 hours, whereby the ribs are cooked by the indirect heat of smoky burning wood. Slow cooking the ribs on low heat allows the proteins in the meat to break down and ensures heavenly tender meat. Since I'm limited to a small apartment patio with a cheap gas grill, I had to improvise.

In a smoker or charcoal grill, the smoke imparts its deep, woody flavors on the meat as it cooks. A gas grill, in contrast, doesn't add any flavor, just heat. To simulate a smoker, I used hickory wood chips. I soaked the chips in water for about 30 minutes and then made a couple foil-wrapped packages of the chips. I placed the foil packets right above the heating element on one of my burners. About halfway through cooking I noticed one packet was completely cooked through (all the chips were black), so I replace it with a new one.

I preheated my grill and then turned all the burners off except for one. I turned the heat on that burner to low. I wanted the inside of my grill to be no more than 250 degrees for optimum cooking. I placed my ribs, bone side down, as far away from the flame as I could - 3 racks on the top warmer rack of the grill and one on the bottom on the far side from the flame. I periodically tried to measure the temperature of the grill with my meat thermometer, though I don't know how accurate it is at measuring air temp. If you have a nice grill, and not the cheapest model sold at Home Depot (like me), you may have the luxury of a thermostat on your grill. In that case, you can use that to make sure the temperature stays down. Even with the heat on low, I was worried about the grill getting too hot. I periodically opened the lid to release some heat and I shifted the ribs around a couple times.

As I mentioned, I'm not a big bbq sauce fan so I held back with sauce, but I did baste the ribs with a little bit of sauce about 10 minutes before I took them off the grill. I suppose I couldn't resist the pressure of having sauce on my ribs. After about 4 hours, I removed the ribs from the grill. They looked divine. They had an alluring dry rub crust. All the wetness from the sauce had either soaked into the meat or been cooked off by the grill. However, the meat itself promised a soft interior.

Avi and I had invited his brother and girlfriend to dinner to share in our rib gluttony, and they were running late. We sat staring at the platter of ribs for 10, 20, 30 minutes. It was pure agony. My mouth was drooling for just a little taste of the woody, juicy, crusty beef, but I didn't want to eat without our guests. A few minutes later, we both caved and tore into some ribs. Thinking back now, I can still taste the butteriness of the meat, the spicy-sweet, complex flavors of the rub and the essence of hickory smoke. The meat pieces danced in my mouth, a playful balance of crunch exterior and soft interior. We licked the bones clean, savoring every last little bite of the meat and dry rub.

I must admit, that I think my heat got a bit too high and the ribs were not fall-off-the-bone tender as I'd planned. The meat was more of a soft-chewy than a melt-in-your-mouth tender, but they were still mighty tasty. If you're feeling ambitious or have a hankering for gnawing meat off the bone caveman-style, don't just sit there, get your bbq on!

99 cent Pineapple

2009-06-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Cruisin' through Smart n' Final the other day, I was amazed to find they had fresh, whole pineapples for 99 cents. The sign just said 99 cents. Not 99 cents a pound, just 99 cents. It seemed too good to be true, but then I glanced toward the register and noticed a man checking out with nothing but 5 or so pineapples. Yep, they were 99 cents!

I happily brought home a fresh pineapple, where it sat on my kitchen table for a few days. Avi admired its aesthetics. We differed on whether it was too pretty to eat - I, of course, on the side of eating it. After Avi had a few good days to gaze at the pineapple, I cut it up for some pineapple fried rice.

I have to admit, my pineapple cooking skills are limited. The only things I know to do with pineapple are make fruit salad, put it in a smoothie or make pineapple fried rice. I briefly toyed with the idea of expanding my pineapple repertoire, but decided that pineapple fried rice sounded pretty damn good for dinner that night. Plus, I had shrimp. Shrimp and pineapple fried rice!

With my trusty chef's knife in hand, I set out chopping garlic, ginger, green peppers, green onion, carrots, shrimp and that pesky pineapple. There's no easy peeling a pineapple. Now that I think of it, it's probably the fruit that most doesn't want to be peeled. It has a spikey top and a thick rind that sticks into the fruit in seemingly hundreds of little spots (the "eyes" of the pineapple). You can't just peel it with your hands or skin that baby with a paring knife. Nope, it takes a full on assault. I hacked away for a while, decapitating the picturesque stem, slashing away the thick skin and digging out the eyes. I felt like a surgeon. My arm was tired from the rough sawing I'd done wity my chef's knife, my counter was covered in discarded pineapple parts and my hands were covered in pineapple juice (ok, so it could have been worse).

While I'd been chopping, my new handy dandy little rice cooker was faithfully cooking some brown rice. Untraditional for fried rice, I know, but I love the texture brown rice brings, and what's not to like about a little more fiber in your life? I sauteed the green peppers, carrots, garlic and ginger until tender with some Chinese five spice, hot chili oil and soy sauce. I chopped up some raw, peeled shrimp into bite-sized pieces (I like 'em better that way for fried rice). When the veggies were done, I sauteed up some shrimp (cut into small pieces) and chili pepper.

Then I combined the rice, pineapple pieces (along with all that good juice on my cutting board) and veggies in my pan. I added some more Chinese five spice and soy sauce and fried it all together for a few minutes. The rice graciously soaked up the pineapple juice and some of the flavors of the other ingredients. I stirred the pan every few moments to get some good, browned pieces of rice. I threw in the shrimp a couple minutes before dinner time, tasted and added a little bit more chili oil for some more kick.

The end result was a sweet, salty, and spicy medley with a good balance of fruity pineapple, garlic, ginger, soy and shrimp flavors. The texture was pure pleasure in my mouth - juicy pineapple morsels, succulent shrimp bites, tender carrot and peppers and chewy brown rice. You might have noticed that this rice wasn't all that "fried" either in the sense that I didn't add much oil. I cooked the brown rice in chicken broth to give it some extra flavor - no gratuitous amounts of soy sauce or oil needed!

The pineapple, by the way, was from Guatemala. I can't figure out how the heck a pineapple can get all the way here from Guatemala and only cost 99 cents, but I won't question it. Thanks Smart n' Final.

Nightmares = Muffins?

2009-06-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up from a nightmare this morning where I was an old woman being smothered to death by a man. I tried to gasp for help but nothing came out except a few gurgles and scratchy groans. All of a sudden I was in my bed and Avi was pulling my nightgown from my face. I'd put it there earlier so the sun didn't wake me up. He said it was covering my mouth. I told him someone was trying to suffocate me, and he said, yeah, someone really sinister - you!

This brought us to the confounding question of whether I could have actually strangled myself in my sleep or whether I would have woken up on my own. Finding the whole encounter more silly than sinister, I couldn't help laughing at the thought of me unknowingly strangling myself to death. Maybe I just have a dark sense of humor.

Anyway, it was about 6 a.m. but we were up. Avi said, mmmm muffins. Instantly my mind started spinning through all the different types of muffins I could make. I'd recently had success with some raspberry streusel-topped muffins courtesy of www.Allrecipes.com (combining a raspberry muffin recipe and a blueberry streusel recipe). I was out of raspberries, but had lots of other options. Bananas, pineapple, apples.....All had great muffin potential in my mind.

Then, when I got out to the kitchen, I remembered I had a bunch of apricots. They were on the verge between ripe and yucky. Apricot muffins? I'd never made them or had them, but why not? The apricots were kind of tart, so I decided to cook them down with a little sugar to sweeten them up a bit. I also thought cooking the apricots would help dissipate apricot flavor throughout the muffins when I combined all the ingredients.

I used an apricot muffin recipe from Allrecipes for the basic proportions of the muffins, but toyed around with some ingredients. I added nutmeg, since I love nutmeg. I also added a hearty, crunchy streusel topping with some oatmeal pieces.

I must say, the end result was a tender, fruity muffin with the perfect balance of tart apricot and sweet muffin cake and satisfyingly crunchy top - just what I needed to recover from my near death experience.

The Perfect Duo

2009-06-01T10:38:00.000-07:00