Hi Everyone!
It's me, your friendly neighborhood Silver Spooner, slowly chugging away at some more delicious SS recipies. This week I have been luxuriating in my very own, brand new, big girl Kitchenaid. I've had trysts with other mixers, I even briefly had an antique kitchenaid that gave its life making royal icing. Poor Kitchenaid. All that is behind me now. The world is my oyster; by world I mean difficult recipes involving mixing things, and by oyster I mean I don't have to mix them by hand anymore, or worse, avoid them entirely. So thank you, again to all who gave me a gift certificate to BB and B. You made this part of my life possible. Moving on. . . .
Pizza dough, you tricky temptress. My father is a terrific pizza maker. He would make us pizza pretty frequently, usually with store bought dough, or Naples pizza dough (Guilford People will know to which business I refer) when they were willing to part with it. On a couple of amazing occassions, he made his own pizza dough, confidently, surely as if he had been doing it his whole life. I was petrified to make pizza dough because I am not all that good with baking and I hate being precise. As well, my father set the bar so high with his kitchen successes, and wasn't here to help me.
With a deep breath I piled 1 and 1/4 cup flour, some salt, and 1/2 cup warm water mixed with yeast to my afore mentioned mixer and mixed. A dough was born. At first attempt, this dough was very sticky. I coated my hands with flour and added a tad more flour to the mix before setting it under a bowl and allowing it to rise for three hours.
Well folks, I wasn't sure this whole dough thing was going to work out, and I had 3 hours to agonize over it, so I had my husband pick up some pre-made dough at whole foods. It ended up rising, kinda, so I rolled it out and made Sausage Pizza a la SS. I crumbled a package of hot sausage into a saute pan and cooked it through, then combined it with 1/2 cup of romano cheese. Separately, I cut 5 tomatoes into chunks and sprinkled them onto the dough.
The SS instructs us to bake the crust for 15-20 minutes before adding the meat topping, so I popped my dough into a 425 oven and waited to see the result. In the meantime I used the pre-made dough to whip up a quick Margarita Pizza. The Whole foods dough was harder to roll out and much thicker than the Silver Spoon version.
After 20 minutes I added the sausage topping to the SS crust and put it in the oven for another ten minutes. It was just the way I like pizza, thin crust, ample topping, fresh tomatoes and a spicy zing from the sausage. The Margarita went in the oven completely topped, because SS told me to do it like that. In contrast that pizza was wetter and not my ideal preference of crust thickness.
All in all, dough making was a success and I want to keep making dough until I master it. That is why I will be chipping away at all the pizza recipes this week until they are done. I already made 2 more pizzas, with 2 more SS doughs and they were pretty good. So stay tuned, and hear about more dough making trials and pizza making tribulations!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Dusting off the Old Spoon
Where to begin? First of all, an apology for those left hungry for more Silver Spoon, between the wedding ceremony, thank you notes and wedded bliss I haven't had time for much blogging. The cooking, oh, the cooking has been delicious and I have been desperate to tell you all about it. So here goes nothing:
Tonight I made "Savory Crepes with Smoked Salmon," and "Sweetcorn and Radicchio Salad." It was an easy cooking night (have I ever said that, maybe married life is changing me?!?). It was a great way to ease back into the project.
To start making the crepes I put together a simple batter of flour, eggs, milk and salt. The only ingredient that made my eyes roll slightly was the butter. The Silver Spoon demanded that I melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a double boiler and then cool it "almost completely." Why am I melting it in the first place, shouldn't I just mostly melt it? Anyway, I dirtied three pans instead of one as I could have mostly melted it in the microwave, and moved on. Once the butter was mostly cooled (whatever that is) I combined it with the batter and mixed.
SS then requested I rest the batter for an hour before crepe-ing it up. This worked out perfectly well (who am I?) because I also purchased some delicious and short-seasoned fiddleheads; they required extensive cleaning. Fiddleheads are fern sprouts and are extremely dirty. Once they were triple washed and ready for cooking, I warmed up some olive oil and chopped garlic in a pan, once the garlic was browned I added the fiddleheads and a small amount of water. I let them cook for about a half hour and turned my attention to the Sweetcorn Salad.
To make the "Sweetcorn and Radicchio Salad," I combined radicchio, spinach and romaine in a salad bowl, adding a cup of canned corn, and a half cup of chopped ham. The directions called for a simple dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and salt. I added the dressing just in time to "crepe it up."
To be the most successful I could be without a crepe pan, I chose a small saute pan and added a touch of vegetable oil. SS instructed that I add 2 tablespoons of batter to a hot pan and tilt it so that the batter was evenly distributed. My small saute pan was too large and all the crepes therefore were rectangular instead of circle but it worked really well. I have to say, crepe flipping is much easier than pancake flipping. I poured and flipped while my husband flaked the smoked salmon into the crepes and rolled them up. The whole process took about 10 minutes. Everything was done at once, and my husband and I sat down at a mostly clean dining room table and enjoyed a bistro style dinner.
So, I leave you for now, an unusually cheerful, married domestic goddess who can crepe it with the best of them. I can't wait to tell you how it went with the meatballs with lemon!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Frankfurters with Cabbage
The best laid plans of Meatballs with Lemon sometimes go awry folks, especially if a good friend offers to treat you to Chinese. Clearly, I chose the Chinese last night and cooked nothing (wince). Tonight, I felt as though I had to produce something from the Spoon, but my schedule didn't allow for much preparation. I foolishly chose Frankfurters with Cabbage, thinking how hard can it be? As I was getting ready to go out the door for my exercise class, I reread the recipe and realized the cabbage had to cook for an hour.
That was when your champion of the kitchen (still me, barely) delegated chopping and simmering cabbage in oil to the boys. Thanks P. and N.! When I came back from said exercise there was 18 minutes to go on the cabbage. I referred back to the SS and noted that it wanted me to boil the hotdogs for 10 minutes. I promptly ignored that direction and fired up my panini press. I butterflied the hotdogs and set them to fry in said panini press while whisking up some low-carb mac and cheese. We eat that too often, I think, but it is so good and a really simple recipe. All it takes is boiling some low carb elbow macaroni, start the sauce with 1/4 cup scoop of sour cream and slowly melt 12 ounces of sharp shredded cheese, then combine the sauce with the drained macaroni. Warning, the previous recipe is not SS related, though is a frequent side dish to many Silver Spoon entrees.
By the time the Mac and Cheese was made, the cabbage was ready. I spooned it out onto a platter, drizzled it with white wine vinegar, then topped it with the panini'ed hot dogs. We were all skeptical about the cabbage, how good could cabbage be simmered in olive oil? Turns out, it's pretty terrific. As the cabbage cooks it gets very sweet and tender. The addition of the vinegar offers a nice sour contrast. Yes, yes Silver Spoon, food should not be instant gratification, slow simmered is worth it, good food takes time. . . .Why is it, I always forget that between recipes, oh well. Coming up tomorrow, Lemony Meatballs or bust!
That was when your champion of the kitchen (still me, barely) delegated chopping and simmering cabbage in oil to the boys. Thanks P. and N.! When I came back from said exercise there was 18 minutes to go on the cabbage. I referred back to the SS and noted that it wanted me to boil the hotdogs for 10 minutes. I promptly ignored that direction and fired up my panini press. I butterflied the hotdogs and set them to fry in said panini press while whisking up some low-carb mac and cheese. We eat that too often, I think, but it is so good and a really simple recipe. All it takes is boiling some low carb elbow macaroni, start the sauce with 1/4 cup scoop of sour cream and slowly melt 12 ounces of sharp shredded cheese, then combine the sauce with the drained macaroni. Warning, the previous recipe is not SS related, though is a frequent side dish to many Silver Spoon entrees.
By the time the Mac and Cheese was made, the cabbage was ready. I spooned it out onto a platter, drizzled it with white wine vinegar, then topped it with the panini'ed hot dogs. We were all skeptical about the cabbage, how good could cabbage be simmered in olive oil? Turns out, it's pretty terrific. As the cabbage cooks it gets very sweet and tender. The addition of the vinegar offers a nice sour contrast. Yes, yes Silver Spoon, food should not be instant gratification, slow simmered is worth it, good food takes time. . . .Why is it, I always forget that between recipes, oh well. Coming up tomorrow, Lemony Meatballs or bust!
Monday, March 15, 2010
A Brief Departure from the 'Spoon: Bonus Entry #1
I know this is totally against my self imposed blog rules, but I have to tell you about a non-SS recipe I tried last night from Darina Allen's Traditional Irish Cooking. You may skip the rest of this entry if you want to remain purely Spoonish.
This is the simplest recipe I've ever done for Corned Beef and truly the most successful. All I did was cover a 4 pound cut of corned beef with cold water,added a tablespoon of dried mustard and six small onions in a sauce pan. I brought the liquid to a boil and then covered it and simmered for two more hours. I then added a cut-up cabbage and simmered for about one hour more. Around the 30 minute mark I threw in some potatoes in a separate pan to boil. When everything was done, I had mouthwateringly tender corned beef in a tasty broth with perfectly cooked cabbage. The onions became a part of the broth more or less. I added kosher salt to the potatoes and plated the whole thing with a pot of whole grain mustard. It was delicious!
I didn't stop there, however, and I probably should have with my impending nuptials pretty much one month away. I tried a recipe for Belgian Waffles that came with our brand new Waffle Maker. This was one of the many generous gifts I got from family friends in CT. (Gifts I shouldn't be using yet, according to ettiquette, please don't tell the wedding police!)
N., my Fiance is a big fan of waffles, I usually hate them. That being said, I wanted to try them the non- bisquik way and see if it made any difference. I started out activating some yeast in 105 degree water. Obtaining water at that particular temperature is a pain in the neck. I finally did so and left it to foam for a few minutes while I aerated the flour.
I mixed the flour and salt together trying to fluff it up as much as possible without a sifter. After doing so I set it aside and separated 3 eggs, I added the yolks to the yeast and then added 1/3 cup sugar and combined. I then added the flour and combined that with the sugar mixture, then beat the egg whites until they were stiff and then folded that in with some oil, vanilla and additional water. Then I let it sit while we had dinner (for about an hour) then I made my fiance make the actual waffles. He was thrilled. The machine was incredible! The waffles were really tasty.
I made a salty carmel sauce to go on top. Very simply, I boiled 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of water until it was carmel (about 7 or so minutes). Then I added heavy cream, butter and a healthy teaspoon of kosher salt. P. our new houseguest loved it! He said the salt made all the difference. I thought so too.
To summarize, it turns out I like waffles if made from a fussy recipe that is somewhat challenging. Oh boy, less and less foods I don't like. This cannot be good for my waistline or any part of me for that matter. More positvely, I have found my recipe for corned beef for life. This is it, I will never make it another way again. I have tried corned beef in the slow cooker, and pressure cookers and this preparation was far less salty and more tender. I think maybe, when this whole Spoon thing is over, I might look up Darina Allen's book. I can only imagine what other delicious offerings Traditional Irish Cooking might have.
For now back to the Spoon, tonights plan is Meatballs with Lemon and some Quick Tomato Sauce. I'll probably make some spagetti too, the low carb kind, I swear!
This is the simplest recipe I've ever done for Corned Beef and truly the most successful. All I did was cover a 4 pound cut of corned beef with cold water,added a tablespoon of dried mustard and six small onions in a sauce pan. I brought the liquid to a boil and then covered it and simmered for two more hours. I then added a cut-up cabbage and simmered for about one hour more. Around the 30 minute mark I threw in some potatoes in a separate pan to boil. When everything was done, I had mouthwateringly tender corned beef in a tasty broth with perfectly cooked cabbage. The onions became a part of the broth more or less. I added kosher salt to the potatoes and plated the whole thing with a pot of whole grain mustard. It was delicious!
I didn't stop there, however, and I probably should have with my impending nuptials pretty much one month away. I tried a recipe for Belgian Waffles that came with our brand new Waffle Maker. This was one of the many generous gifts I got from family friends in CT. (Gifts I shouldn't be using yet, according to ettiquette, please don't tell the wedding police!)
N., my Fiance is a big fan of waffles, I usually hate them. That being said, I wanted to try them the non- bisquik way and see if it made any difference. I started out activating some yeast in 105 degree water. Obtaining water at that particular temperature is a pain in the neck. I finally did so and left it to foam for a few minutes while I aerated the flour.
I mixed the flour and salt together trying to fluff it up as much as possible without a sifter. After doing so I set it aside and separated 3 eggs, I added the yolks to the yeast and then added 1/3 cup sugar and combined. I then added the flour and combined that with the sugar mixture, then beat the egg whites until they were stiff and then folded that in with some oil, vanilla and additional water. Then I let it sit while we had dinner (for about an hour) then I made my fiance make the actual waffles. He was thrilled. The machine was incredible! The waffles were really tasty.
I made a salty carmel sauce to go on top. Very simply, I boiled 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of water until it was carmel (about 7 or so minutes). Then I added heavy cream, butter and a healthy teaspoon of kosher salt. P. our new houseguest loved it! He said the salt made all the difference. I thought so too.
To summarize, it turns out I like waffles if made from a fussy recipe that is somewhat challenging. Oh boy, less and less foods I don't like. This cannot be good for my waistline or any part of me for that matter. More positvely, I have found my recipe for corned beef for life. This is it, I will never make it another way again. I have tried corned beef in the slow cooker, and pressure cookers and this preparation was far less salty and more tender. I think maybe, when this whole Spoon thing is over, I might look up Darina Allen's book. I can only imagine what other delicious offerings Traditional Irish Cooking might have.
For now back to the Spoon, tonights plan is Meatballs with Lemon and some Quick Tomato Sauce. I'll probably make some spagetti too, the low carb kind, I swear!
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Dirty 30! Hamburgers, Steak, and Roasted Peppers a La Silver Spoon
Hi all! I am very excited to write to you after a week or two break in which I wrote thank you notes to many generous friends instead of writing blogs to twelve 13 (Thanks J!) generous followers. My apologies!
Over the past weeks I haven't been cooking too much either. Too busy with the showering of gifts for my impending nuptials to slave away at the stove, I mostly ate things that my fiance cooked or demanded to go to Bollywood Grille. I did manage to cook a few recipes to share with you for this, my 30th blog entry, and although it might be formulaic, they were pretty, pretty, pretty good!
One of the recipes that made me giggle when first exploring the SS was the recipe for "American Hamburgers." I don't know about you but I didn't really think american style hamburgers required much instruction. All I've ever done to cook burgers in the past is make patties and throw them on the grille. Of course, The Silver Spoon expects a little more effort.
I got started by chopping a small onion as fine as I could. I recently had to say goodbye to my beloved pampered chef version of the "slap chop" contraption. It finally cracked after ten years of abuse. In order to chop the onions up as small as possible I was forced to use a knife. My knife skills just aren't up to snuff but to get the desired reults, I used the ridges of the onion as my guide to slice then chop across in the other direction. It is not as fast as the "slap chop" but not as embarrasing either. I mixed 3.5 cups of ground beef with the onions and added a healthy amount of nana salt and pepper. Then the recipe takes a weird turn by instructing us to add a beaten egg to the meat mixture. I did, and then formed the patties. I grilled them in my new panini press Le Creuset pan for about 5 minutes, removing the press pan and adding pepper jack cheese for the last minute. The burgers were juicy and tender, and had satisfying char lines on them. (Thanks again for the great pan R.!)
Later that week I tried the recipe for Delicate Peppers. This recipe is fussier than the aforementioned burgers and instructs us to first roast several whole peppers in the oven for an hour. I started the roasting process and cleaned some part of my house until the timer went off. Next the peppers had to cool for a few minutes. As soon as they were workable I peeled off the skin, stem, membranes and seeds. I chopped the pepper meat and added it to a pan with onions. The SS then instructs that the peppers and onions should simmer for ten minutes. I complied. Then I added four chopped up, seeded tomatoes and cooked the mixture for twenty additional minutes. Oh Silver Spoon, how you love to cook your vegetables!
About 5 minutes into the process that was Delicate Peppers I readied a pan for, "Steaks with Sage." This was a definite error in timing. The steak recipe takes almost no time to prepare and I would have been better to start it in the last five minutes of the pepper recipe. Oh well, our steaks served as appetizers to the pepper dish. I dredged the steaks in flour, fried them in butter topped with a few whole leaves of sage. It was simple, aromatic and a flavorful treat. When it was all put together the peppers turned out to be more of a sauce than a side vegetable. The two dishes complemented each other very well. I would definitely do the two together again. And there you have it, I am caught up and back on the path to cooking enlightenment. This weekend, chicken with some form of peppers and dinner at J and C's house. I can't wait!
Over the past weeks I haven't been cooking too much either. Too busy with the showering of gifts for my impending nuptials to slave away at the stove, I mostly ate things that my fiance cooked or demanded to go to Bollywood Grille. I did manage to cook a few recipes to share with you for this, my 30th blog entry, and although it might be formulaic, they were pretty, pretty, pretty good!
One of the recipes that made me giggle when first exploring the SS was the recipe for "American Hamburgers." I don't know about you but I didn't really think american style hamburgers required much instruction. All I've ever done to cook burgers in the past is make patties and throw them on the grille. Of course, The Silver Spoon expects a little more effort.
I got started by chopping a small onion as fine as I could. I recently had to say goodbye to my beloved pampered chef version of the "slap chop" contraption. It finally cracked after ten years of abuse. In order to chop the onions up as small as possible I was forced to use a knife. My knife skills just aren't up to snuff but to get the desired reults, I used the ridges of the onion as my guide to slice then chop across in the other direction. It is not as fast as the "slap chop" but not as embarrasing either. I mixed 3.5 cups of ground beef with the onions and added a healthy amount of nana salt and pepper. Then the recipe takes a weird turn by instructing us to add a beaten egg to the meat mixture. I did, and then formed the patties. I grilled them in my new panini press Le Creuset pan for about 5 minutes, removing the press pan and adding pepper jack cheese for the last minute. The burgers were juicy and tender, and had satisfying char lines on them. (Thanks again for the great pan R.!)
Later that week I tried the recipe for Delicate Peppers. This recipe is fussier than the aforementioned burgers and instructs us to first roast several whole peppers in the oven for an hour. I started the roasting process and cleaned some part of my house until the timer went off. Next the peppers had to cool for a few minutes. As soon as they were workable I peeled off the skin, stem, membranes and seeds. I chopped the pepper meat and added it to a pan with onions. The SS then instructs that the peppers and onions should simmer for ten minutes. I complied. Then I added four chopped up, seeded tomatoes and cooked the mixture for twenty additional minutes. Oh Silver Spoon, how you love to cook your vegetables!
About 5 minutes into the process that was Delicate Peppers I readied a pan for, "Steaks with Sage." This was a definite error in timing. The steak recipe takes almost no time to prepare and I would have been better to start it in the last five minutes of the pepper recipe. Oh well, our steaks served as appetizers to the pepper dish. I dredged the steaks in flour, fried them in butter topped with a few whole leaves of sage. It was simple, aromatic and a flavorful treat. When it was all put together the peppers turned out to be more of a sauce than a side vegetable. The two dishes complemented each other very well. I would definitely do the two together again. And there you have it, I am caught up and back on the path to cooking enlightenment. This weekend, chicken with some form of peppers and dinner at J and C's house. I can't wait!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Pork Loin with Apples
After celebrating the new jobs of two of our friends at Jumbo Seafood in Newton MA (I am already thinking of excuses to eat there again in the near future), I had to turn my attention back to the Spoon. I had been meaning to cook this recipe during the week, but it never seemed to happen. As with most slow cooked meats within this recipe collection SS tells us to brown the meat in oil on all sides. After doing so, I added a healthy portion of red wine, some vegetable stock, mustard powder, cloves, pepper, and sugar to a sauce pan and waited for it to boil.
While waiting for the sauce to boil in an extremely tippy copper bottomed pan, I chopped up two green apples and added them to the pork pan. Once the sauce was boiling I combined it with the pork and apples and put the whole thing in the oven. I baked it at 400 degrees for twenty minutes, and then lowered it to 350 degrees for 45 more minutes. It smelled great but I just wasn't hungry. My fiance and I let it sit longer than we should have because of our lack of hunger and it was a little dry. I served it with a green salad and home made dressing.
Unbelievably, there was no butter used in the making of this recipe. Go figure.
While waiting for the sauce to boil in an extremely tippy copper bottomed pan, I chopped up two green apples and added them to the pork pan. Once the sauce was boiling I combined it with the pork and apples and put the whole thing in the oven. I baked it at 400 degrees for twenty minutes, and then lowered it to 350 degrees for 45 more minutes. It smelled great but I just wasn't hungry. My fiance and I let it sit longer than we should have because of our lack of hunger and it was a little dry. I served it with a green salad and home made dressing.
Unbelievably, there was no butter used in the making of this recipe. Go figure.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Beef Stew One
It has been a rainy and bleak week over in my little corner of New England. Every morning before committing to getting out of bed I would open only one eye and check my phone to see if it had miraculously snowed instead and I could continue sleeping. Alas, no. Over at The Fresh Dish they were cooking lamb stew, I thought stew was just what the doctor ordered to combat the ick factor of the weather.
My first Silver Spoon stew recipe (of many to come!) was very basic. It consisted of sirloin chunks, pureed tomatoes and the basic onion, celery, carrot combo. I started with butter and olive oil (it is pretty much a mandatory cooking action) and added the carrots, celery and onions. While that was sauteing I pureed a can of San Marzano tomatoes and two very pink rocks that they called tomatoes at the store in the food processor, and added 2/3rds cup of water. Do you use San Marzano Tomatoes? They are so much more delicious than other canned tomatoes. I love them! My fiance's family taught me all about them, and it has spoiled me. I now shy away from any other variety.
I squeezed the beef chunks dry a la Julie and Julia in paper towel and then added to the beef to the pan to brown. Beef browns so much better when it is dry! After browning it on all sides, I seasoned and added the tomato puree mixture. Then I let it cook for an hour. The results, delicious but more like a tomato sauce than what I think a stew should be. I served it with a green salad and garlic bread. If you leave out the garlic bread, it is a fairly low carb stew, as stews go. What have you all been cooking this week? Leave a comment and let me know!
My first Silver Spoon stew recipe (of many to come!) was very basic. It consisted of sirloin chunks, pureed tomatoes and the basic onion, celery, carrot combo. I started with butter and olive oil (it is pretty much a mandatory cooking action) and added the carrots, celery and onions. While that was sauteing I pureed a can of San Marzano tomatoes and two very pink rocks that they called tomatoes at the store in the food processor, and added 2/3rds cup of water. Do you use San Marzano Tomatoes? They are so much more delicious than other canned tomatoes. I love them! My fiance's family taught me all about them, and it has spoiled me. I now shy away from any other variety.
I squeezed the beef chunks dry a la Julie and Julia in paper towel and then added to the beef to the pan to brown. Beef browns so much better when it is dry! After browning it on all sides, I seasoned and added the tomato puree mixture. Then I let it cook for an hour. The results, delicious but more like a tomato sauce than what I think a stew should be. I served it with a green salad and garlic bread. If you leave out the garlic bread, it is a fairly low carb stew, as stews go. What have you all been cooking this week? Leave a comment and let me know!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Meatballs with a Tasty Onion Garnish
Thursday nights are tough for me. I usually have nothing left to give energy-wise and am often cooking 6 nights in a row. I have a hard time not ordering take out or *gasp* driving through some slop shop just to keep my sanity. With our upcoming nuptials and a weekend ahead of travel and cake tasting, I knew I had to push through and make something. This recipe has been hanging around for me to cook for a while, so with heavy support from my fiance I launched into making the meatballs.
My fiance started off by sauteeing an onion in some butter. After about ten minutes of cooking time I started to combine half of the onions with a few cups of ground beef, two egg yolks and salt and pepper. I formed meatballs and fried them in more butter. These meatballs really stayed together and developed a nice color.
Because I was having a sentimental craving, I whipped up some Quick Tomato Sauce and my BFF added a box of spaghetti to round out the meal. After the meatballs were cooked through, I topped the meatballs with the remaining sauteed onion and slathered the spaghetti with some sauce. It was a hearty, filling meal and the meatballs were so easy that they didn't even feel Spoon-worthy. The total cooking time was less than 15 minutes. It was just about all I could handle on a Thursday, especially after the cooking storm that was Wednesday. The Silver Spoon even has recipes for Thursday nights, what a versatile book. Coming up, more deliciousness, I assure you. What do you guys make for yourself when you are feeling especially tired? I want to add some quick recipes to my fiance's repertoire!
My fiance started off by sauteeing an onion in some butter. After about ten minutes of cooking time I started to combine half of the onions with a few cups of ground beef, two egg yolks and salt and pepper. I formed meatballs and fried them in more butter. These meatballs really stayed together and developed a nice color.
Because I was having a sentimental craving, I whipped up some Quick Tomato Sauce and my BFF added a box of spaghetti to round out the meal. After the meatballs were cooked through, I topped the meatballs with the remaining sauteed onion and slathered the spaghetti with some sauce. It was a hearty, filling meal and the meatballs were so easy that they didn't even feel Spoon-worthy. The total cooking time was less than 15 minutes. It was just about all I could handle on a Thursday, especially after the cooking storm that was Wednesday. The Silver Spoon even has recipes for Thursday nights, what a versatile book. Coming up, more deliciousness, I assure you. What do you guys make for yourself when you are feeling especially tired? I want to add some quick recipes to my fiance's repertoire!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Dinner Party Number 4, Will I Ever Finish Cooking a Multi-Course Meal on My Own?
Wednesday started off with a snow day! An apparent gift from the no school gods. I am skeptical as I write this about what kind of gift the day off actually was. I slept way too long, made lunch for my fiance, spent way too long at the post office, grocery shopped, hastily cleaned the house and then made a three course meal for a special dinner guest. I was tired Wednesday night. The question remains, was I more tired than usual on a Wednesday, I am not sure.
The Menu: Mushroom and Caper Crostini, Asparagus Mousse, Tomatoes stuffed with Romano and Roman Saltimboca.
I started off by prepping 8 tomatoes for the stuffed tomatoes. I cut the tops off the tomatoes and scooped out the guts, then then salted and flipped them upside down to drain for 30 minutes. Once they were draining I began making Mushroom and Caper Crostini. The SS has taught me the secret of cooking delicious mushrooms: cook them for a long time. Cooking the mushrooms for a long time over a relatively low heat gave them a beautiful crisp and color. I cooked them in olive oil and slowly added a small amount of beef stock for twenty minutes. Once I had added the six tablespoons of stock, I seasoned the mushrooms with salt, pepper, and parsley. I also added two tablespoons of capers and that was it. I topped the already toasted bread with the mixture and put them on the table.
Once the crostini were done it was time to stuff the tomatoes with various romano cheeses. I must confess here that I made a mistake, I didn't realize I needed to find two kinds of romano cheese. I only bought the sharp type when the recipe calls for the crumbly non sharp type and the sharp type. Panicking about my impending dinner date, I looked in the fridge and found ricotta. Alright, I thought, and mixed the ricotta with the sharp romano and slapped them in a buttered dish.
While I was baking the tomatoes, I put a large pot of salted water onto boil for the Asparagus. Once boiling, I added the Asparagus and cooked it for only ten minutes, practically al dente. Right then my guest arrived, a new friend from my fiance's work visiting from Japan. Oh boy, I wasn't even close to done. I attempted to have her sit and eat some crostini but alas she wanted to help.
I set back to work on the mousse. After draining it, I transfered it into my food processor and pureed it. It looked like bad baby food at this point. I, then mixed in an 8 oz package of cream cheese and had G. start beating egg whites, she was begging to help, I swear (I am a cruel and unusual hostess). My fiance juiced 1/2 of a lemon, we folded in the egg whites and it became a light, fluffy, fancy dish. I portioned it off into ramekins and refrigerated the mixture.
Next, I slapped together the Saltimboca. Roman Saltimboca recipe was voted on and approved by real Italians in Italy. According to the Silver Spoon the following recipe is The Recipe: Simply take a huge amount of butter and melt it in a pan and top a piece of veal with a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf. Anchor the conglomeration with a toothpick and fry away.
After I had seared both sides I added a "scant" amount of dry white wine and that was pretty much it.
The tomatoes were done, the mousse was done and the Saltimboca was done all at the same time, thanks to help from G. and my fiance. We sat down to a lovely dinner. The Saltimboca was not only mouthwatering, it was totally easy and quick. I will definitely do it again! The tomatoes were tasty, but lacking something with the cheese mixup. The true star of the evening according to my fiance and G. was the Asparagus mousse. Honestly, I thought that one could have gone either way. It started out looking like baby food and finished as a fancy bowl of goodness. Ah Silver Spoon, a veritable tome of recipes. Some that challenge my perception of what a good recipe could be. Sometimes you have to take a chance and blend your veggies.
The Menu: Mushroom and Caper Crostini, Asparagus Mousse, Tomatoes stuffed with Romano and Roman Saltimboca.
I started off by prepping 8 tomatoes for the stuffed tomatoes. I cut the tops off the tomatoes and scooped out the guts, then then salted and flipped them upside down to drain for 30 minutes. Once they were draining I began making Mushroom and Caper Crostini. The SS has taught me the secret of cooking delicious mushrooms: cook them for a long time. Cooking the mushrooms for a long time over a relatively low heat gave them a beautiful crisp and color. I cooked them in olive oil and slowly added a small amount of beef stock for twenty minutes. Once I had added the six tablespoons of stock, I seasoned the mushrooms with salt, pepper, and parsley. I also added two tablespoons of capers and that was it. I topped the already toasted bread with the mixture and put them on the table.
Once the crostini were done it was time to stuff the tomatoes with various romano cheeses. I must confess here that I made a mistake, I didn't realize I needed to find two kinds of romano cheese. I only bought the sharp type when the recipe calls for the crumbly non sharp type and the sharp type. Panicking about my impending dinner date, I looked in the fridge and found ricotta. Alright, I thought, and mixed the ricotta with the sharp romano and slapped them in a buttered dish.
While I was baking the tomatoes, I put a large pot of salted water onto boil for the Asparagus. Once boiling, I added the Asparagus and cooked it for only ten minutes, practically al dente. Right then my guest arrived, a new friend from my fiance's work visiting from Japan. Oh boy, I wasn't even close to done. I attempted to have her sit and eat some crostini but alas she wanted to help.
I set back to work on the mousse. After draining it, I transfered it into my food processor and pureed it. It looked like bad baby food at this point. I, then mixed in an 8 oz package of cream cheese and had G. start beating egg whites, she was begging to help, I swear (I am a cruel and unusual hostess). My fiance juiced 1/2 of a lemon, we folded in the egg whites and it became a light, fluffy, fancy dish. I portioned it off into ramekins and refrigerated the mixture.
Next, I slapped together the Saltimboca. Roman Saltimboca recipe was voted on and approved by real Italians in Italy. According to the Silver Spoon the following recipe is The Recipe: Simply take a huge amount of butter and melt it in a pan and top a piece of veal with a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf. Anchor the conglomeration with a toothpick and fry away.
After I had seared both sides I added a "scant" amount of dry white wine and that was pretty much it.
The tomatoes were done, the mousse was done and the Saltimboca was done all at the same time, thanks to help from G. and my fiance. We sat down to a lovely dinner. The Saltimboca was not only mouthwatering, it was totally easy and quick. I will definitely do it again! The tomatoes were tasty, but lacking something with the cheese mixup. The true star of the evening according to my fiance and G. was the Asparagus mousse. Honestly, I thought that one could have gone either way. It started out looking like baby food and finished as a fancy bowl of goodness. Ah Silver Spoon, a veritable tome of recipes. Some that challenge my perception of what a good recipe could be. Sometimes you have to take a chance and blend your veggies.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
My First Italian Lamb Chops and Something Undercooked!
Snowmageddon reared its ugly head once again and it left me home alone, at least for a little while, I perused my fridge and found some lamb that needed cooking. Last week I saw it on sale and I bought it under duress because I don't really like lamb.
My mom tells a story about Easter when I was five or six in which I demanded a Swanson TV dinner because she was cooking a leg of lamb instead of turkey. She complied and I loved it, I never got TV dinners. As I aged, my palette expanded and I have liked lamb in the past, usually in greek or turkish style cooking, with copious amounts of Tsatziki or cream, cooked over open fire. I do not like the gaminess or odor of lamb, but I like liver, go figure.
Tonight's recipe was very simple, "Lamb Chops Cooked in Vinegar." It started with a marinade of lamb chops, white wine vinegar, onion, parsley and olive oil. As directed, I let it sit for an hour while I folded wedding invitations. Invitation folding is totally on an as needed basis. After an hour, I drained the chops and added them to a hot pan with some more olive oil. I was then directed to cook them for two minutes on each side. Eager not to overcook the protein for a change, I followed directions and I had barely warm raw meat. I attempted to serve it to my fiance, who as the record shows, pretty much loves everything I cook, but alas no. He asked for a refire, take that J.! I cooked them for about 4 more minutes on each side and they were edible. I ate it, it had no happy zing of vinegar or satisfying crisp and was very gamy smelling.
The true treat of the meal were the green beans which I steamed in the microwave (cringe, I keep it honest) and served with butter and Nana Salt. What is Nana salt you might wonder? It is an herb infused salt that my future mother in law makes and it is delicious. The recipe comes from her grandmother in law, who was an Italian ex-patriate. Once I tried it, I was hooked. So much so that I beg for Nana salt in various weird containers when I go over to my future in law's home. Pretty much everyone who tries it does the same thing. Nana salt saved dinner, thanks Nana and K. I think for the rest of this week I will stick to familiar meats.
My mom tells a story about Easter when I was five or six in which I demanded a Swanson TV dinner because she was cooking a leg of lamb instead of turkey. She complied and I loved it, I never got TV dinners. As I aged, my palette expanded and I have liked lamb in the past, usually in greek or turkish style cooking, with copious amounts of Tsatziki or cream, cooked over open fire. I do not like the gaminess or odor of lamb, but I like liver, go figure.
Tonight's recipe was very simple, "Lamb Chops Cooked in Vinegar." It started with a marinade of lamb chops, white wine vinegar, onion, parsley and olive oil. As directed, I let it sit for an hour while I folded wedding invitations. Invitation folding is totally on an as needed basis. After an hour, I drained the chops and added them to a hot pan with some more olive oil. I was then directed to cook them for two minutes on each side. Eager not to overcook the protein for a change, I followed directions and I had barely warm raw meat. I attempted to serve it to my fiance, who as the record shows, pretty much loves everything I cook, but alas no. He asked for a refire, take that J.! I cooked them for about 4 more minutes on each side and they were edible. I ate it, it had no happy zing of vinegar or satisfying crisp and was very gamy smelling.
The true treat of the meal were the green beans which I steamed in the microwave (cringe, I keep it honest) and served with butter and Nana Salt. What is Nana salt you might wonder? It is an herb infused salt that my future mother in law makes and it is delicious. The recipe comes from her grandmother in law, who was an Italian ex-patriate. Once I tried it, I was hooked. So much so that I beg for Nana salt in various weird containers when I go over to my future in law's home. Pretty much everyone who tries it does the same thing. Nana salt saved dinner, thanks Nana and K. I think for the rest of this week I will stick to familiar meats.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
BLT's Italian Style, a Revelation! and Some Overcooked Steak
Tomatoes with Bacon Au Gratin, a Silver Spoon revelation, this recipe is one of my favorites so far! Wednesday, I had the day off from work due to a snow storm that never arrived. I decided to try one of the more time consuming recipes for dinner that day. To start Tomatoes with Bacon Au Gratin, I scooped out several tomatoes so that they were hollow shells, salted them and turned them upside down. The tomatoes are supposed to drain for an hour so I left them draining and took off to the grocery store.
When I got back it was just about time to flip them over. I added bacon, mushrooms and onions to a pan and sauteed them for a few minutes. I then added thyme and parsley and cooked for a few minutes more. I then removed the pan from the stove and stirred in a beaten egg. I greased a small oven safe pan and filled each tomato with the bacon mixture and sprinkled with a scant amount of bread crumbs. I popped them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and turned my attention to making Salted T-Bone Steak in Sauce.
Silver Spoon instructed me to generously butter a 5 pound T bone steak. Of course I complied. Then I fried the steak for two minutes on each side and put the steak in the oven at 400 degrees. While the steak was cooking I made the sauce. I added six shallots and butter to a pan and cooked it down and then added some wine. Once it evaporated I removed the pan from heat and added two egg yolks, parsley and white wine vinegar. This is where I should have had sauce, but instead I just had sticky shallots. This concoction is best described as a steak topping.
After 15 minutes, I took the steak out of the oven and added my steak topping. The steak was well done, we are more medium rare people. Next time I will cook the steak for 8 or so minutes. Thankfully, I served the steak with the tomatoes and nobody really complained. The tomatoes tasted just like a tender BLT with the lettuce upgraded to mushroom. I really suggest this recipe to anyone who likes the classic combo of tomatoes and bacon.
Ah, I am finally caught up. I have been so busy cooking that I haven't had time to do the writing part of this project.
When I got back it was just about time to flip them over. I added bacon, mushrooms and onions to a pan and sauteed them for a few minutes. I then added thyme and parsley and cooked for a few minutes more. I then removed the pan from the stove and stirred in a beaten egg. I greased a small oven safe pan and filled each tomato with the bacon mixture and sprinkled with a scant amount of bread crumbs. I popped them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and turned my attention to making Salted T-Bone Steak in Sauce.
Silver Spoon instructed me to generously butter a 5 pound T bone steak. Of course I complied. Then I fried the steak for two minutes on each side and put the steak in the oven at 400 degrees. While the steak was cooking I made the sauce. I added six shallots and butter to a pan and cooked it down and then added some wine. Once it evaporated I removed the pan from heat and added two egg yolks, parsley and white wine vinegar. This is where I should have had sauce, but instead I just had sticky shallots. This concoction is best described as a steak topping.
After 15 minutes, I took the steak out of the oven and added my steak topping. The steak was well done, we are more medium rare people. Next time I will cook the steak for 8 or so minutes. Thankfully, I served the steak with the tomatoes and nobody really complained. The tomatoes tasted just like a tender BLT with the lettuce upgraded to mushroom. I really suggest this recipe to anyone who likes the classic combo of tomatoes and bacon.
Ah, I am finally caught up. I have been so busy cooking that I haven't had time to do the writing part of this project.
Beef Stroganoff and Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi
Beef Stroganoff is a recipe I have done for years. Previous to cooking it a la Silver Spoon, I thought I had perfected it. My recipe was some form of beef, onions, mushrooms, mustard and sour cream. It worked great, non fussy and made for great left overs too.
The SS recipe is fussy, doesn't have sour cream and was probably slightly better. I started off by sauteing 4 onions in butter. Onions and butter is clearly a cornerstone of Italian cooking. I then added sliced mushrooms and covered for 10 minutes. Meanwhile I started another pan and added more butter and flour to create a base for a cream sauce. I quickly added a cup of cream and a pinch of sugar and stirred. I removed the sauce from the heat and added a healthy dose of mustard and put it aside while I sauteed strips of sirloin in butter and olive oil. When the beef was cooked, I combined the contents of all three pans and had Beef Stroganoff SS style.
Somewhere in the middle of making the stroganoff, I started washing 2 pounds of spinach. I filled the biggest pot in my house with it and cooked the spinach for 5 minutes. Once it was wilted I made a huge mess in my kitchen trying to squeeze out the excess water. Next time I will bring the whole pot closer to the sink before trying to extract the water. I then dumped the spinach in the food processor and chopped it finely. I combined the spinach with ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and two egg yolks. I added salt and pepper and rolled them into little balls. I delegated some ball rolling to my BFF and started to add the finished ones into boiling water one at a time.
Instantly I had spinach soup. I was getting about 50 percent of the gnocchi out of the water. It may have needed another yolk to bind the cheese and spinach dough together, or I might not have dusted them with enough flour. T. and I were giggling and trying our best to get as many out of the water as possible. We spilled hot butter on each other, panicked for a few seconds and giggled some more.
I really can't say that this recipe was a success but it was fun to make. The gnocchi were on the bland side, despite the copious amount of salt I added and parmesan cheese. The best way to eat them was discovered this morning when I spread some gnocchi on Italian bread and pretended it was spinach bread. So much for low carb living. Coming up soon, another dinner party, stay tuned!
The SS recipe is fussy, doesn't have sour cream and was probably slightly better. I started off by sauteing 4 onions in butter. Onions and butter is clearly a cornerstone of Italian cooking. I then added sliced mushrooms and covered for 10 minutes. Meanwhile I started another pan and added more butter and flour to create a base for a cream sauce. I quickly added a cup of cream and a pinch of sugar and stirred. I removed the sauce from the heat and added a healthy dose of mustard and put it aside while I sauteed strips of sirloin in butter and olive oil. When the beef was cooked, I combined the contents of all three pans and had Beef Stroganoff SS style.
Somewhere in the middle of making the stroganoff, I started washing 2 pounds of spinach. I filled the biggest pot in my house with it and cooked the spinach for 5 minutes. Once it was wilted I made a huge mess in my kitchen trying to squeeze out the excess water. Next time I will bring the whole pot closer to the sink before trying to extract the water. I then dumped the spinach in the food processor and chopped it finely. I combined the spinach with ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and two egg yolks. I added salt and pepper and rolled them into little balls. I delegated some ball rolling to my BFF and started to add the finished ones into boiling water one at a time.
Instantly I had spinach soup. I was getting about 50 percent of the gnocchi out of the water. It may have needed another yolk to bind the cheese and spinach dough together, or I might not have dusted them with enough flour. T. and I were giggling and trying our best to get as many out of the water as possible. We spilled hot butter on each other, panicked for a few seconds and giggled some more.
I really can't say that this recipe was a success but it was fun to make. The gnocchi were on the bland side, despite the copious amount of salt I added and parmesan cheese. The best way to eat them was discovered this morning when I spread some gnocchi on Italian bread and pretended it was spinach bread. So much for low carb living. Coming up soon, another dinner party, stay tuned!
Chicken Liver and Prosciutto Crostini
I have a fondness for food and activities of a 60 year old. I love pinochle, jazzercise and chopped liver. Often I am alone in my love of organ meats, cardio and card games with my peers but it doesn't matter. These are the things I enjoy. SS has given me a valid reason for forcing my penchant for liver onto my friends and family.
For Superbowl, I decided to make a crostini that most likely few guests would try, Chicken Liver and Prosciutto Crostini. The recipe was fairly simple and Silver Spoon like in that it asked me to use a large amount of butter, a fair amount of prosciutto and onions and saute for a long time. Meanwhile I warmed up some milk in a small pan and kept it ready. I added the livers and cooked them for a few minutes with several sage leaves. I added a small amount of milk here and there to keep the mixture from drying out. After a few minutes of cooking I transferred the mixture to the food processor and chopped it for a few minutes. Then put it back in the pan with more butter and a bit more milk.
To make them more people friendly, I topped it with bacon slices. My BFF said it was almost as good as her Nana's. She is a fellow liver lover. Mostly people didn't eat them, but I didn't care. I loved the recipe. It reminded me of late nights with my parents in Connecticut playing pinochle and eating chopped liver. I know, I will fit right in at the old folks home when the time comes. Coming up next, low carb gnocchi and Beef Stroganoff a la Silver Spoon!
For Superbowl, I decided to make a crostini that most likely few guests would try, Chicken Liver and Prosciutto Crostini. The recipe was fairly simple and Silver Spoon like in that it asked me to use a large amount of butter, a fair amount of prosciutto and onions and saute for a long time. Meanwhile I warmed up some milk in a small pan and kept it ready. I added the livers and cooked them for a few minutes with several sage leaves. I added a small amount of milk here and there to keep the mixture from drying out. After a few minutes of cooking I transferred the mixture to the food processor and chopped it for a few minutes. Then put it back in the pan with more butter and a bit more milk.
To make them more people friendly, I topped it with bacon slices. My BFF said it was almost as good as her Nana's. She is a fellow liver lover. Mostly people didn't eat them, but I didn't care. I loved the recipe. It reminded me of late nights with my parents in Connecticut playing pinochle and eating chopped liver. I know, I will fit right in at the old folks home when the time comes. Coming up next, low carb gnocchi and Beef Stroganoff a la Silver Spoon!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Braised Beef, This One is Pretty Easy
The difficulty experienced from the afore mentioned Zucchini a Sopresa, the Braised Beef made up for in ease. I was carrying on a fluid conversation with M., my gold friend, and also making chicken wings and didn't break a sweat. Although the particular page that the recipe on is super greasy now in my Silver Spoon book it was pretty easy.
First I melted butter in olive oil (is this blog formulaic or what?) and then I added some carrots, onions, and celery and cooked for 10 minutes. Next I browned the roast on all sides and seasoned with salt and pepper. I added 3/4th cup of wine and let it cooked off and then added the Meat Stock that I refused to throw away after I made it the last time. It was super expensive to make and all I did is boil leeks in it. So when I drained the leeks, I put the stock in ziplock and froze it. Take that expensive stock! I defrosted it in the microwave and added it to the pan with 4 canned tomatoes and one fresh one. Then I added tomato paste diluted with water and brought the mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, I lowered the heat and set the timer for 1.5 hours and ran around cooking the rest of the food. After it was finished cooking it was remarkably firm. Way more 'toothsome' than the other braises I have made from the SS. I wonder if it has something to do with the tomatoes? My favorite judges said the beef was tasty but not a stand out, and I would have to agree. On Superbowl night the beef was not very tender although the flavor was good. The leftovers have been delicious, way more tender and with an increased amount of tasty. If you are undecided as to which braise you should try, I would suggest Braised Beef with Onions, it was tender and had amazing flavor.
Well, a storm is about to hit us any minute, so I have a natural urge to go to the grocery store and buy things I don't need. Later today, I will catch you up on my tales of chicken livers and maybe some stuffed tomatoes. What are you having for dinner tonight?
First I melted butter in olive oil (is this blog formulaic or what?) and then I added some carrots, onions, and celery and cooked for 10 minutes. Next I browned the roast on all sides and seasoned with salt and pepper. I added 3/4th cup of wine and let it cooked off and then added the Meat Stock that I refused to throw away after I made it the last time. It was super expensive to make and all I did is boil leeks in it. So when I drained the leeks, I put the stock in ziplock and froze it. Take that expensive stock! I defrosted it in the microwave and added it to the pan with 4 canned tomatoes and one fresh one. Then I added tomato paste diluted with water and brought the mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, I lowered the heat and set the timer for 1.5 hours and ran around cooking the rest of the food. After it was finished cooking it was remarkably firm. Way more 'toothsome' than the other braises I have made from the SS. I wonder if it has something to do with the tomatoes? My favorite judges said the beef was tasty but not a stand out, and I would have to agree. On Superbowl night the beef was not very tender although the flavor was good. The leftovers have been delicious, way more tender and with an increased amount of tasty. If you are undecided as to which braise you should try, I would suggest Braised Beef with Onions, it was tender and had amazing flavor.
Well, a storm is about to hit us any minute, so I have a natural urge to go to the grocery store and buy things I don't need. Later today, I will catch you up on my tales of chicken livers and maybe some stuffed tomatoes. What are you having for dinner tonight?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Zucchini a Sopresa, AKA Surprise, this Zucchini is a Pain to Make!
Hi there, I finally found my sink so I am back to writing about our Superbowl party. The recipe that took the longest to make, and by far looked the ugliest, was the zucchini. Zucchini surprise is a recipe that involves deep frying vegetables, who doesn't like that? The problem is that it is fussy and time consuming to do.
As soon as woke up on Superbowl sunday I started slicing the zucchini. The directions were unclear to me, I thought at first The SS wanted me to slice them into circles and make tiny sandwiches. It did not, it wanted lengthwise slices, thin and even enough to make long sandwiches. Too bad I don't have a mandolin, I think that would have made prep time more enjoyable. My fiance showed me how his father slices zucchini for the grill, leaving the stem together and making tiny slices to fan the vegetable out. I did my best but the slices were very uneven. Next, I salted them and let them dry for an hour.
In the meantime I rushed to the grocery store and bought more food because I didn't think we'd have enough. . .I always think there isn't enough. When I returned, I created an assembly line of flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs with my awesome electric wok(A gift from my future Nanny-in-Law). I sandwiched some provolone and oregano in between the slices of Zucchini and dredged them in flour. I then dipped into egg and finally coated with breadcrumbs. The first batch promptly fell apart in my wok, and the second and then I got mad. I stuck toothpicks to secure them and then it was smooth, time consuming sailing.
After I assembled and fried the first successful round, I salted with my Himalayan pink salt and created a paper towel nest to soak up the excess oil. I fried forever and then they were finally done. They looked so ugly, cheese popping out, uneven coating, toothpicks. The presentation was definitely a disappointment, but C. loved them, she says fried zucchini is her favorite, I have to admit the leftovers were pretty tasty tonight. I think I might have to try it again with a mandolin and a better attitude. Coming up next, braised beef and liver crostini. This might be a two entry night, I have a snow day tomorrow!
As soon as woke up on Superbowl sunday I started slicing the zucchini. The directions were unclear to me, I thought at first The SS wanted me to slice them into circles and make tiny sandwiches. It did not, it wanted lengthwise slices, thin and even enough to make long sandwiches. Too bad I don't have a mandolin, I think that would have made prep time more enjoyable. My fiance showed me how his father slices zucchini for the grill, leaving the stem together and making tiny slices to fan the vegetable out. I did my best but the slices were very uneven. Next, I salted them and let them dry for an hour.
In the meantime I rushed to the grocery store and bought more food because I didn't think we'd have enough. . .I always think there isn't enough. When I returned, I created an assembly line of flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs with my awesome electric wok(A gift from my future Nanny-in-Law). I sandwiched some provolone and oregano in between the slices of Zucchini and dredged them in flour. I then dipped into egg and finally coated with breadcrumbs. The first batch promptly fell apart in my wok, and the second and then I got mad. I stuck toothpicks to secure them and then it was smooth, time consuming sailing.
After I assembled and fried the first successful round, I salted with my Himalayan pink salt and created a paper towel nest to soak up the excess oil. I fried forever and then they were finally done. They looked so ugly, cheese popping out, uneven coating, toothpicks. The presentation was definitely a disappointment, but C. loved them, she says fried zucchini is her favorite, I have to admit the leftovers were pretty tasty tonight. I think I might have to try it again with a mandolin and a better attitude. Coming up next, braised beef and liver crostini. This might be a two entry night, I have a snow day tomorrow!
Monday, February 8, 2010
This Sunday Sunday Sunday, Stuffed Mushrooms
Wow, I am just now recovering from an incredible Superbowl party. We had a ton of fun people over, 3/5ths of my bridesmaids and a couple of cool new friends that we'd never met before. It was a great time and was great to see everybody.
I, of course, wanted to do as many new recipes as I could muster to feed all of our visitors and decided on a menu of Stuffed Mushrooms, Zucchini Surprise, Chicken Liver and Proscuitto Crostini, Sausages with Leeks, and Braised Beef. Additionally we had Chili, Chicken Wings, Veggie and Dips and my bff called an audible with Marshmallow Blondies. Thanks T.! So as my friend A. at work asked me incredulously today, "This is relaxing to you?" Actually, no, not relaxing, but boy I sure did learn a lot, and yes I am insane.
On Saturday night, I prepped all the veggies for our tray and made the stuffed mushrooms. The stuffed mushroom recipe is such a keeper. It is easy, vegetarian and tasty. I started off with soaking a few slices of bread in milk and then separated Cremini mushroom stems from the caps. While I was working with the mushrooms, I heated a saute pan and added a few cloves of garlic in butter and olive oil. When the mushrooms were cleaned and separated, I chopped the stems finely and fried them in my prepared pan. After the mushroom stems had cooked for a few minutes I squeezed out the milk soaked bread and added it with a sprig of parsley to the pan. I stirred it for a few minutes and put it aside.
I drizzled some oil into my favorite casserole dish and stuffed each mushroom cap with the dough. At first, I feared there wouldn't be enough to fill each cap but it turned out to be the perfect amount. Once they were assembled I covered and cooked them on the stove top for 15 minutes. I warmed them up right before the guests arrived and had to hide some for my favorite guest judges. This recipe offers a great alternative to seafood or sausage stuffed mushrooms and is relatively inexpensive. I have a lot more to share and will do so as soon as I can locate my kitchen sink underneath the huge pile of dishes.
I, of course, wanted to do as many new recipes as I could muster to feed all of our visitors and decided on a menu of Stuffed Mushrooms, Zucchini Surprise, Chicken Liver and Proscuitto Crostini, Sausages with Leeks, and Braised Beef. Additionally we had Chili, Chicken Wings, Veggie and Dips and my bff called an audible with Marshmallow Blondies. Thanks T.! So as my friend A. at work asked me incredulously today, "This is relaxing to you?" Actually, no, not relaxing, but boy I sure did learn a lot, and yes I am insane.
On Saturday night, I prepped all the veggies for our tray and made the stuffed mushrooms. The stuffed mushroom recipe is such a keeper. It is easy, vegetarian and tasty. I started off with soaking a few slices of bread in milk and then separated Cremini mushroom stems from the caps. While I was working with the mushrooms, I heated a saute pan and added a few cloves of garlic in butter and olive oil. When the mushrooms were cleaned and separated, I chopped the stems finely and fried them in my prepared pan. After the mushroom stems had cooked for a few minutes I squeezed out the milk soaked bread and added it with a sprig of parsley to the pan. I stirred it for a few minutes and put it aside.
I drizzled some oil into my favorite casserole dish and stuffed each mushroom cap with the dough. At first, I feared there wouldn't be enough to fill each cap but it turned out to be the perfect amount. Once they were assembled I covered and cooked them on the stove top for 15 minutes. I warmed them up right before the guests arrived and had to hide some for my favorite guest judges. This recipe offers a great alternative to seafood or sausage stuffed mushrooms and is relatively inexpensive. I have a lot more to share and will do so as soon as I can locate my kitchen sink underneath the huge pile of dishes.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
I Made Hollandaise Sauce!
It's true, I made Hollandaise Sauce and it could stand up against any Hollandaise I've ever enjoyed!!! I rule. So much so that I wonder if I need to write any further, but I cooked other things of the Silver Spoon variety and rules are rules.
Continuing with the pork theme, I prepared, "Ribs in White Wine" and "Leeks with Hollandaise." First, I put the daily combination of olive oil and butter in a large pan and sauteed 4 fresh sage leaves for a few minutes. After the leaves crisped up I added the ribs and turned the heat to high. I browned the ribs on all sides and then turned the heat back down and simmered for 20 minutes.
While the ribs simmered I cleaned 2.25 pounds of leeks and set them to cook in boiling water for 15 minutes. For suggestions on how to clean a pesky leek click here. It was then time salt and pepper the ribs and add a trickle of the 3/4 cup of wine I was set down to slowly add. I have some strange satisfaction from dumping huge amounts of cooking liquid into a pot, I feel like I am really doing something. The directions specifically told me not to do this. The Silver Spoon, breaking one bad cooking habit at a time.
After I misted the ribs with a drop of wine, it was time to get ready to make Hollandaise, a very intimidating sauce. Making this sauce any other way but the blender method my fiance's family taught me seemed out of my cooking league. Obviously the SS wasn't going to let me get away with the blender, so as directed I cut up two sticks of butter, separated three eggs and got a pot of water simmering. The SS told me to rest my bowl on top of the simmering water and whisk in two cups of butter *wince* and make this glorious sauce. The whisking takes 15 minutes. At minute 10 I had flashbacks of aerobics class and asked my fiance to juice the lemon and take over whisking. At minute 15, I removed the sauce from the heat and added the lemon juice, voila it was delicious. I had to restrain myself from eating it out of the bowl.
Soon after the ribs were done, and they held their ground against the "H" sauce. They were beautifully carmelized and very juicy. The pork also retained the flavor of the wine extremely well, maybe the drizzling works better than the dumping, who knew? We ate the "Leeks with Hollandaise," with the leftover "Asparagus and Parmesan" and ribs. I will definitely add this new way to make hollandaise to my cooking repertoire and league. I rule.
Continuing with the pork theme, I prepared, "Ribs in White Wine" and "Leeks with Hollandaise." First, I put the daily combination of olive oil and butter in a large pan and sauteed 4 fresh sage leaves for a few minutes. After the leaves crisped up I added the ribs and turned the heat to high. I browned the ribs on all sides and then turned the heat back down and simmered for 20 minutes.
While the ribs simmered I cleaned 2.25 pounds of leeks and set them to cook in boiling water for 15 minutes. For suggestions on how to clean a pesky leek click here. It was then time salt and pepper the ribs and add a trickle of the 3/4 cup of wine I was set down to slowly add. I have some strange satisfaction from dumping huge amounts of cooking liquid into a pot, I feel like I am really doing something. The directions specifically told me not to do this. The Silver Spoon, breaking one bad cooking habit at a time.
After I misted the ribs with a drop of wine, it was time to get ready to make Hollandaise, a very intimidating sauce. Making this sauce any other way but the blender method my fiance's family taught me seemed out of my cooking league. Obviously the SS wasn't going to let me get away with the blender, so as directed I cut up two sticks of butter, separated three eggs and got a pot of water simmering. The SS told me to rest my bowl on top of the simmering water and whisk in two cups of butter *wince* and make this glorious sauce. The whisking takes 15 minutes. At minute 10 I had flashbacks of aerobics class and asked my fiance to juice the lemon and take over whisking. At minute 15, I removed the sauce from the heat and added the lemon juice, voila it was delicious. I had to restrain myself from eating it out of the bowl.
Soon after the ribs were done, and they held their ground against the "H" sauce. They were beautifully carmelized and very juicy. The pork also retained the flavor of the wine extremely well, maybe the drizzling works better than the dumping, who knew? We ate the "Leeks with Hollandaise," with the leftover "Asparagus and Parmesan" and ribs. I will definitely add this new way to make hollandaise to my cooking repertoire and league. I rule.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Curried Pork Chops and Asparagus with Parmesan
This is a new record, I had all the ingredients I needed! I am so thankful that I had everything necessary because this was my first night working out after a shameful amount of not working out. I was moving a little less jauntily around my kitchen tonight, that is for sure! It is very lucky that curried pork chops is a simple recipe.
All I needed to do was put a little butter and oil in a saute pan and cook the pork chops for a few minutes. At the same time I put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the asparagus. After I cooked the pork chops through it was time to deglaze the pan with a large amount of brandy. This took a fair amount of time, I steeled myself to be patient and then added cream, vegetable stock and curry powder. All that was left to do was simmer the pork chops for 15 more minutes.
It was just about time for the asparagus to be overdone so I drained them and drizzled melted butter over all the slightly mushy veggies. Again, if you like your vegetables on the crisp side reduce cooking times listed for them in The Silver Spoon. Because I am learning to be patient and trust in the experience in others, I will continue to overcook my vegetables as directed, but I will try not to complain about it as much. The asparagus being well buttered and *tender* was then ready to have Parmesan cheese grated over the top. I grated like a demon, this was just like one of the exercises in aerobics. The pork chops had just about finished as well. My fiance plated it for me as I was too sore to finish the job(I wish I was kidding) and included some Parisian Cucumbers from yesterday. They were even better after marinating another day!
I wish I could tell you that I had a pork chop revelation, that the meat was moist and flavorful. The sauce was great, the dish looked great (very carmelized) but the meat was just plain dry. This is the thing that keeps me from cooking pork chops. No matter what I do, the meat isn't moist. Who wants a hunk of dry meat? I would not, unless it is beef jerky. I can't think of what I could have done differently to moisturize the pork chops. So, it is back to the drawing board for me as far as executing a juicy pork chop. Don't worry, I'll have plenty more chances! Tomorrow I move onto Pork Ribs, I hope they will be juicier than tonight.
All I needed to do was put a little butter and oil in a saute pan and cook the pork chops for a few minutes. At the same time I put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the asparagus. After I cooked the pork chops through it was time to deglaze the pan with a large amount of brandy. This took a fair amount of time, I steeled myself to be patient and then added cream, vegetable stock and curry powder. All that was left to do was simmer the pork chops for 15 more minutes.
It was just about time for the asparagus to be overdone so I drained them and drizzled melted butter over all the slightly mushy veggies. Again, if you like your vegetables on the crisp side reduce cooking times listed for them in The Silver Spoon. Because I am learning to be patient and trust in the experience in others, I will continue to overcook my vegetables as directed, but I will try not to complain about it as much. The asparagus being well buttered and *tender* was then ready to have Parmesan cheese grated over the top. I grated like a demon, this was just like one of the exercises in aerobics. The pork chops had just about finished as well. My fiance plated it for me as I was too sore to finish the job(I wish I was kidding) and included some Parisian Cucumbers from yesterday. They were even better after marinating another day!
I wish I could tell you that I had a pork chop revelation, that the meat was moist and flavorful. The sauce was great, the dish looked great (very carmelized) but the meat was just plain dry. This is the thing that keeps me from cooking pork chops. No matter what I do, the meat isn't moist. Who wants a hunk of dry meat? I would not, unless it is beef jerky. I can't think of what I could have done differently to moisturize the pork chops. So, it is back to the drawing board for me as far as executing a juicy pork chop. Don't worry, I'll have plenty more chances! Tomorrow I move onto Pork Ribs, I hope they will be juicier than tonight.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Steak with Mustard Sauce, Spinach in Cream Sauce and Parisian Cucumbers
I managed to make it through a harrowing Monday. It was so Monday-like that I almost thought I would need to buy take out, eat pizza or worse drive through a slop vendor and eat slop. Thankfully my fiance is the best, and agreed to go grocery shopping with me to fight the fast food demons.
I decided to do a fast cooking Silver Spoon trio to mediate the kinda long session of grocery shopping. Steak, creamed spinach and a cucumber salad, how long could it take? Turns out it takes about an hour, but who's counting?!
I first washed and cooked the spinach "in only the water that clings to it," after the rinsing. Something about that line feels fancy even if all I am doing is cooking spinach. After cooking the spinach, I drained and cooked the spinach with butter for ten more unnecessary minutes. I have to say, I protest the long cooking times for vegetables a la The Silver Spoon, please excuse my bias. While the spinach was dissolving into nothing, I chopped three cucumbers for my Parisian Cucumbers, salted them and let them sit for thirty minutes. Oh boy SS, this meal was supposed to be quick. In the meantime I chopped up parsley and garlic to add to the cucumbers once they had drained.
After adding cream to the spinach and egads, cooking it for twenty more minutes, it was time to cook the steaks. Steak with mustard sauce is a truly quick recipe. I simply sauteed the steak for two minutes on each side and put it aside. Then I added a bit of brandy to the pan, this is another thing my dad does! He loves to deglaze the pan and it always infuses his dishes with rich flavor. After sufficiently deglazing, I added cream and mustard and let thicken. I put the steaks back in to the sauce and combined the extraneous ingredients for my "Parisian Cucumbers." All that was left was to make a easy dressing of mustard, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and dump it on the cucumbers.
Dinner was creamy! Creamy spinach topped with a little table side parmesan, with a creamy, mustardy steak actuallymight have been a little too much of a good thing. The "Parisian Cucumbers" helped to cut the cream with their refreshing light taste. I feel like a drank a pint of cream, I might as well after such a decadent meal. However, let the record show that this meal was low carb and despite my foible at a certain French restaurant this weekend, I am back on the straight and cream filled narrow. Tomorrow, I am making ribs in wine sauce, I think there is cream in that recipe too, yikes!
I decided to do a fast cooking Silver Spoon trio to mediate the kinda long session of grocery shopping. Steak, creamed spinach and a cucumber salad, how long could it take? Turns out it takes about an hour, but who's counting?!
I first washed and cooked the spinach "in only the water that clings to it," after the rinsing. Something about that line feels fancy even if all I am doing is cooking spinach. After cooking the spinach, I drained and cooked the spinach with butter for ten more unnecessary minutes. I have to say, I protest the long cooking times for vegetables a la The Silver Spoon, please excuse my bias. While the spinach was dissolving into nothing, I chopped three cucumbers for my Parisian Cucumbers, salted them and let them sit for thirty minutes. Oh boy SS, this meal was supposed to be quick. In the meantime I chopped up parsley and garlic to add to the cucumbers once they had drained.
After adding cream to the spinach and egads, cooking it for twenty more minutes, it was time to cook the steaks. Steak with mustard sauce is a truly quick recipe. I simply sauteed the steak for two minutes on each side and put it aside. Then I added a bit of brandy to the pan, this is another thing my dad does! He loves to deglaze the pan and it always infuses his dishes with rich flavor. After sufficiently deglazing, I added cream and mustard and let thicken. I put the steaks back in to the sauce and combined the extraneous ingredients for my "Parisian Cucumbers." All that was left was to make a easy dressing of mustard, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and dump it on the cucumbers.
Dinner was creamy! Creamy spinach topped with a little table side parmesan, with a creamy, mustardy steak actuallymight have been a little too much of a good thing. The "Parisian Cucumbers" helped to cut the cream with their refreshing light taste. I feel like a drank a pint of cream, I might as well after such a decadent meal. However, let the record show that this meal was low carb and despite my foible at a certain French restaurant this weekend, I am back on the straight and cream filled narrow. Tomorrow, I am making ribs in wine sauce, I think there is cream in that recipe too, yikes!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sausages with Leeks Au Gratin and Meat Stock
The end to another weekend, I hate that! Oh well, I have been meaning to cook this recipe since last Sunday so I thought it was about time to finally get it done. The first step in this recipe is to create a portion of meat stock. This, although a very easy process, takes 3.5 hours, a pretty decent chunk of Sunday.
Upon returning from the store to buy the necessary ingredients, I cubed veal and beef and put it in a stew pot, covering the meat up with water. Once it boiled and I, as directed by The Silver Spoon, skimmed the top for scum. And boy howdy was there a lot of whatever meat scum is. After de-scumming the stock I added onions, celery and a shallot and left it alone for 3 hours.
Around the three hour mark, I started cleaning leeks. Leeks are a very dirty vegetable and are a challenge to clean. Every TV chef tells you a different technique; here's the way that seems to be the most successful for me. I cut the ends off the leeks and trim the tops. Then I cut them in half the long way and pull the layers apart. I, then, put them into a colander and rinse them until the water runs clean.
Once I had managed to clean the leeks, I turned my attention to the sausages. I sautéed them in a pan with olive oil. While they were browning, I separated the liquid of the meat stock from its ingredients and added the stock to a new pan with the cleaned leeks. I boiled the leeks in the stock for 15 minutes and then drained them and added them to a buttered dish. I saved the stock for another day because all I did was boil a vegetable in it. Am I wrong?
Anyway, I popped the sausages on top and poured 2/3 cup of cream to finish it off. Once this creamy buttery casserole was built all it needed was about 15 minutes in the oven to bubble up and brown. The leeks were peppery and the cream sauce rich. My fiance even ate some after eating duck at his parents so it must have been pretty good.
According to my tabulations I have made 22 Silver Spoon recipes so far, used 3 quarts of heavy cream and 4 pound of butter. Yikes, that is a lot of animal fat. This week, I will take on ribs and pork chops and spinach with more butter and cream. Pray for my waistband!
Upon returning from the store to buy the necessary ingredients, I cubed veal and beef and put it in a stew pot, covering the meat up with water. Once it boiled and I, as directed by The Silver Spoon, skimmed the top for scum. And boy howdy was there a lot of whatever meat scum is. After de-scumming the stock I added onions, celery and a shallot and left it alone for 3 hours.
Around the three hour mark, I started cleaning leeks. Leeks are a very dirty vegetable and are a challenge to clean. Every TV chef tells you a different technique; here's the way that seems to be the most successful for me. I cut the ends off the leeks and trim the tops. Then I cut them in half the long way and pull the layers apart. I, then, put them into a colander and rinse them until the water runs clean.
Once I had managed to clean the leeks, I turned my attention to the sausages. I sautéed them in a pan with olive oil. While they were browning, I separated the liquid of the meat stock from its ingredients and added the stock to a new pan with the cleaned leeks. I boiled the leeks in the stock for 15 minutes and then drained them and added them to a buttered dish. I saved the stock for another day because all I did was boil a vegetable in it. Am I wrong?
Anyway, I popped the sausages on top and poured 2/3 cup of cream to finish it off. Once this creamy buttery casserole was built all it needed was about 15 minutes in the oven to bubble up and brown. The leeks were peppery and the cream sauce rich. My fiance even ate some after eating duck at his parents so it must have been pretty good.
According to my tabulations I have made 22 Silver Spoon recipes so far, used 3 quarts of heavy cream and 4 pound of butter. Yikes, that is a lot of animal fat. This week, I will take on ribs and pork chops and spinach with more butter and cream. Pray for my waistband!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Eggs with Mushrooms
For a few days I have been trying to make the recipe for a "Warm Mushroom Salad" from The Silver Spoon. I couldn't make it last night because I forgot that I need corn salad and there is no recipe for it in the book. This morning I woke up hungry with a ton of mushrooms and decided to browse the SS to see if there was any recipe that I could knock off to utilize some of the abundance of mushrooms. I discovered a shirred egg recipe that used 3 and 2/3 white mushroom caps, pretty specific SS but I'll allow it.
The recipe is very simple, first sauté sliced up mushroom caps in butter for 10 minutes. While they are simmering, grease a few ramekins with more butter (especially the sides). Evenly divide the 3.66 mushroom caps among the ramekins (that's 183/200 mushroom cap per ramekin) and crack an egg on top of each one, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then simply bake in the oven for 10 more minutes and there you have it. I added my own twist by frying additional mushrooms while the eggs baked and combining them with the left over pot roast and cream sauce from last night. You can read about that culinary delight here. Boy, was my fiance impressed, two fantastic meals back to back! Shirred eggs are such an awesome morning dish, and they are really easy too!
The recipe is very simple, first sauté sliced up mushroom caps in butter for 10 minutes. While they are simmering, grease a few ramekins with more butter (especially the sides). Evenly divide the 3.66 mushroom caps among the ramekins (that's 183/200 mushroom cap per ramekin) and crack an egg on top of each one, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then simply bake in the oven for 10 more minutes and there you have it. I added my own twist by frying additional mushrooms while the eggs baked and combining them with the left over pot roast and cream sauce from last night. You can read about that culinary delight here. Boy, was my fiance impressed, two fantastic meals back to back! Shirred eggs are such an awesome morning dish, and they are really easy too!
Friday Night Cooking: Fried Fennel and Pot Roast
Friday night, still standing (a miracle in itself, shout out to C, my partner in teaching crimes!) and cooking a delicious meal, look at how domestic I can be! I knew that I would need some time to cook the pot roast, so immediately after walking through the door, and changing into my cookin' pants, I was ready to go. The pot roast recipe was very simple, brown an onion in a large quantity of butter, add meat, add vinegar and cook for two hours. I did these things, not without a huge smoke cloud forming from adding the vinegar. Of course this threatened to set off my smoke alarms. Thank goodness one of my future sisters in-law walked into the kitchen and scared the crap out of me because she helped with life saving ventilation.
After starting the Pot Roast with Cream, I started perusing The Silver Spoon and realized I could make something with my stray fennel. As a child, I had an extreme dislike for two things: meatloaf and black licorice. Suffice it to say, I managed to outgrow my dislike of meatloaf. I still hate the taste, smell, heck even the sight of black licorice. Due to this prejudice, I avoid licorice tasting things such as fennel. I even dislike sweet italian sausage because of the seeds of fennel.
I purchased some fennel because of a recipe I thought I would cook during the week that I didn't have the rest of the ingredients to do. (I know, you are shocked) I wanted to use the alien vegetation before it went bad and luckily found a very simple recipe to keep me occupied as my pot roast roasted. Essentially, to make fried fennel, you first boil the fennel in salted water for 45 minutes, then slice it and bread it with parmesan cheese and fry it in butter.
I set the fennel to boil while my pot roast was roasting and experienced a new feeling in the kitchen, I had nothing to do. My fiance, his brother and my BFF were playing Super Mario on the Wii in the living room omitting the option of me relaxing on the couch, so I cleaned and watched Bones on my tiny kitchen TV, cleaned some more, stabbed the fennel to see if it was softening, cleaned, and finally the fennel was ready to come out of its boil.
The directions say to slice the fennel thinly, pat it dry and bread it with egg wash and cheese. I was lost at "slice thinly." The bulb of fennel had a couple of branches, so the thin slices started to fall apart as I cut them. The sliced, boiled fennel truly looked more like weird onion rings. I went with it, and fried the life out of them in butter. They were so delicious and not licorice like at all! As soon as the fennel was fried, it was time to finish the pot roast. I took the meat aside and added a cup of cream to the pot liquor and stirred until it thickened. Dinner was served. I evened out the spread with a green salad dressed with homemade vinaigrette.
Two more recipes down, less than two thousand to go. I loved the pot roast, but the fennel was the stand out of the evening. Fennel, you have converted me! At 29, I am finally growing up, now there is no food I will avoid. I should have known, C. told me that it was good, and she totally knows what is up when it comes to Italian cooking. What foods have you grown to love?
After starting the Pot Roast with Cream, I started perusing The Silver Spoon and realized I could make something with my stray fennel. As a child, I had an extreme dislike for two things: meatloaf and black licorice. Suffice it to say, I managed to outgrow my dislike of meatloaf. I still hate the taste, smell, heck even the sight of black licorice. Due to this prejudice, I avoid licorice tasting things such as fennel. I even dislike sweet italian sausage because of the seeds of fennel.
I purchased some fennel because of a recipe I thought I would cook during the week that I didn't have the rest of the ingredients to do. (I know, you are shocked) I wanted to use the alien vegetation before it went bad and luckily found a very simple recipe to keep me occupied as my pot roast roasted. Essentially, to make fried fennel, you first boil the fennel in salted water for 45 minutes, then slice it and bread it with parmesan cheese and fry it in butter.
I set the fennel to boil while my pot roast was roasting and experienced a new feeling in the kitchen, I had nothing to do. My fiance, his brother and my BFF were playing Super Mario on the Wii in the living room omitting the option of me relaxing on the couch, so I cleaned and watched Bones on my tiny kitchen TV, cleaned some more, stabbed the fennel to see if it was softening, cleaned, and finally the fennel was ready to come out of its boil.
The directions say to slice the fennel thinly, pat it dry and bread it with egg wash and cheese. I was lost at "slice thinly." The bulb of fennel had a couple of branches, so the thin slices started to fall apart as I cut them. The sliced, boiled fennel truly looked more like weird onion rings. I went with it, and fried the life out of them in butter. They were so delicious and not licorice like at all! As soon as the fennel was fried, it was time to finish the pot roast. I took the meat aside and added a cup of cream to the pot liquor and stirred until it thickened. Dinner was served. I evened out the spread with a green salad dressed with homemade vinaigrette.
Two more recipes down, less than two thousand to go. I loved the pot roast, but the fennel was the stand out of the evening. Fennel, you have converted me! At 29, I am finally growing up, now there is no food I will avoid. I should have known, C. told me that it was good, and she totally knows what is up when it comes to Italian cooking. What foods have you grown to love?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Spicy Indian Meatballs, Spiced Cauliflower and Saag
It was international night at my house this evening a la The Silver Spoon! Due to my upcoming wedding and my perpetual carb bloat, about the face, due to the SS, I am avoiding carbs until I am married. Therefore, I am placing an additional challenge to this already challenging project, no carbs while cooking The Silver Spoon(at least for three months). Because of this additional complication, I will be specially choosing recipes to do until my special day.
Spicy Indian Meatballs are done with ground chicken, chile, garlic, and onion and that's it. No bread needed which is great for me right now. No egg either, although that issue is neutral. As I turned to start assembling the meatballs I realized that I didn't have any chiles or cloves. (This is another emerging theme of this project, my forgetfulness) I blame MarketBasket as they didn't have any chile peppers when I was there, and I also blame myself. Admittedly, I'm not that good at making shopping lists, using them, following them, and organizing ingredients. My fiance agreed to go get the missing items, awww isn't he great? In the meantime I chopped garlic and made Spiced Cauliflower.
Spiced Cauliflower is a simple salad of carrots, cauliflower and spice. I chopped up a head of cauliflower, tossing all the tough root pieces and combined them with two shredded carrots. I then, whisked together paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, white wine and oil, added it to the cauliflower and that was that. Another recipe down in 5 minutes or less!
The fiance returned and I was able to add the chiles to my chicken and mix. The directions instructed me to peel an additional onion and "stud" it with cloves. I, then, fry the "studded onion" in a quarter cup of butter and throw it away. I hate throwing perfectly good onions away, but I am here to listen, so I do.
To recap, I have a pan full of clove/onion flavored butter, and ground chicken with afore mentioned ingredients in meatball shapes. I put the meatballs in the pan and fry them for ten minutes. I do, and they stay together beautifully, way better than the last time I tried to make meatballs from the SS, you can read about my struggles here: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/meatballs-with-potatoes-and-spinach.html
While the meatballs were frying, I whipped up a quick Saag ala Adrian at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. Please check out my friends' wonderful website that literally helps me out on a weekly basis. I have cooked Adrian's Saag before and it is a surefire winner. My BFF doesn't like Saag at our really good Indian restaurant but loves it when I make it, all because of Adrian. That is some good Saag.
After 10 minutes passed, I turned the heat down and cooked them through for an additional 20 minutes. They turned a beautiful carmel color and smelled fantastic. This recipe was easy and went really well with the Saag and Spiced Cauliflower. For a Thursday night, I really outdid myself, and have rewarded myself with a kitchen full of dishes. Oh well, dishes are a fact of life I suppose, SS or no.
Here's a pic for those inclined (Pat, I am looking at you)
Spicy Indian Meatballs are done with ground chicken, chile, garlic, and onion and that's it. No bread needed which is great for me right now. No egg either, although that issue is neutral. As I turned to start assembling the meatballs I realized that I didn't have any chiles or cloves. (This is another emerging theme of this project, my forgetfulness) I blame MarketBasket as they didn't have any chile peppers when I was there, and I also blame myself. Admittedly, I'm not that good at making shopping lists, using them, following them, and organizing ingredients. My fiance agreed to go get the missing items, awww isn't he great? In the meantime I chopped garlic and made Spiced Cauliflower.
Spiced Cauliflower is a simple salad of carrots, cauliflower and spice. I chopped up a head of cauliflower, tossing all the tough root pieces and combined them with two shredded carrots. I then, whisked together paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, white wine and oil, added it to the cauliflower and that was that. Another recipe down in 5 minutes or less!
The fiance returned and I was able to add the chiles to my chicken and mix. The directions instructed me to peel an additional onion and "stud" it with cloves. I, then, fry the "studded onion" in a quarter cup of butter and throw it away. I hate throwing perfectly good onions away, but I am here to listen, so I do.
To recap, I have a pan full of clove/onion flavored butter, and ground chicken with afore mentioned ingredients in meatball shapes. I put the meatballs in the pan and fry them for ten minutes. I do, and they stay together beautifully, way better than the last time I tried to make meatballs from the SS, you can read about my struggles here: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/meatballs-with-potatoes-and-spinach.html
While the meatballs were frying, I whipped up a quick Saag ala Adrian at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. Please check out my friends' wonderful website that literally helps me out on a weekly basis. I have cooked Adrian's Saag before and it is a surefire winner. My BFF doesn't like Saag at our really good Indian restaurant but loves it when I make it, all because of Adrian. That is some good Saag.
After 10 minutes passed, I turned the heat down and cooked them through for an additional 20 minutes. They turned a beautiful carmel color and smelled fantastic. This recipe was easy and went really well with the Saag and Spiced Cauliflower. For a Thursday night, I really outdid myself, and have rewarded myself with a kitchen full of dishes. Oh well, dishes are a fact of life I suppose, SS or no.
Here's a pic for those inclined (Pat, I am looking at you)
Monday, January 25, 2010
"Chicken in Lager," A Partial Fail.
Post number 11, I am well two out of the single digits and was just starting to feel in The Silver Spoon groove. Tonight's recipe, "Chicken in Lager" read like a very easy recipe. Ah Silver Spoon, you elusive creature! This easy recipe is for sure the most unsuccessful I have done.
Essentially, SS says to salt and pepper the cavity of a chicken, cut up leeks, carrots and onion and add everything into a pan with four cups of beer. The recipe also says that the beer should almost cover the chicken entirely. This is where I went wrong. I added a little more than the amount stated and it still didn't cover the chicken, I mean it was not even close, so then I added a lot more. Then, as directed, I brought the mixture to a boil and set a timer for 30 minutes.
After thirty minutes I flipped the bird, as SS told me to, and then began to worry that none of the beer had evaporated as SS had it would. I set the timer for an additional 30 minutes as directed and tried to watch The Wire with my fiance. I don't think I gave it a fair chance because of the beery quality of my chicken. When the timer went off my chicken was still drowning in beer so I gave it a little more time and grilled some left over polenta from my dinner party. Checking in with the chicken again, the beer level was still too high and it hadn't turned the golden brown that SS had described. The color was more of a rubbery tan. Damn.
Ah well, dinner was served and predictably my fiance said it was delicious. He called the left over beer "beer gravy," (more like beer soup, - Ed.) and was excited that it combined two of his favorite things. The chicken was tender and tasted fine, but I wanted the caramel color and crisp skin. If I had it to do over again, I would add only four cups of beer, maybe a little less depending on the size of the bird. I think that would do it. Oh well, I look onward to a week filled with SS recipes including but not limited to "Pot Roast with Cream," " Sausages and Leeks," and "Warm Mushroom Salad."
Essentially, SS says to salt and pepper the cavity of a chicken, cut up leeks, carrots and onion and add everything into a pan with four cups of beer. The recipe also says that the beer should almost cover the chicken entirely. This is where I went wrong. I added a little more than the amount stated and it still didn't cover the chicken, I mean it was not even close, so then I added a lot more. Then, as directed, I brought the mixture to a boil and set a timer for 30 minutes.
After thirty minutes I flipped the bird, as SS told me to, and then began to worry that none of the beer had evaporated as SS had it would. I set the timer for an additional 30 minutes as directed and tried to watch The Wire with my fiance. I don't think I gave it a fair chance because of the beery quality of my chicken. When the timer went off my chicken was still drowning in beer so I gave it a little more time and grilled some left over polenta from my dinner party. Checking in with the chicken again, the beer level was still too high and it hadn't turned the golden brown that SS had described. The color was more of a rubbery tan. Damn.
Ah well, dinner was served and predictably my fiance said it was delicious. He called the left over beer "beer gravy," (more like beer soup, - Ed.) and was excited that it combined two of his favorite things. The chicken was tender and tasted fine, but I wanted the caramel color and crisp skin. If I had it to do over again, I would add only four cups of beer, maybe a little less depending on the size of the bird. I think that would do it. Oh well, I look onward to a week filled with SS recipes including but not limited to "Pot Roast with Cream," " Sausages and Leeks," and "Warm Mushroom Salad."
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Dinner Party Number 2, in Which I use Lard as a Verb
Yay, I am having a great weekend! Friends, the last couple of weekends I was sick, sprained or sick again so this weekend is offering a fantastic contrast. This, of course, despite having to say goodbye to Conan. Two friends joined us for dinner last night, C. a fellow practicioner of the teaching arts and P. a repeat guest from dinner party number one. In case you missed it, you can read about that infamous dinner party here.
The menu: Cucumber Salad, Braised Beef with Onions, Green Beans with Garlic Sauce and Polenta (4 glorious recipes!)
It was great having C. to help me, we even went grocery shopping together which made things go quickly and efficiently. Immediately upon returning, I set upon a 5 pound beef eye of round. My task was to lard it, meaning infuse the meat with additional fat. In order to do this, The Silver Spoon gives us this hint, "make small incisions in a piece of meat and insert pieces of pancetta or bacon fat. . . The fat melts during cooking and tenderizes and seasons the dish (pg.28)."
"Alright, " I say, "I like seasoning and tender things." I started making cuts into the beef and stuffing pancetta into the cuts. Around the third stab I started to feel a little like Dexter Morgan. You can meet him here, in case you are unfamiliar:
The work went quickly and I soon turned to address the onions. The recipe calls for 2.25 pounds of onions. The fiance attempted to help me prep them but I am quicker and wanted to minimize all of our exposures to onion fumes. Once they were all chopped, and I could see straight, I lined the pan with the onions and checked my directions again to see what kind of braising liquid I had to use.
I carefully read the recipe a few more times and it dawned on me, finally, that there was no braising liquid in the recipe. Now, I have an intense love of braising. Braised meat, cabbage, grean beans, I don't care, just give it to me. I've read a whole cookbook on the subject of braising alone thanks to my future mother in law's amazing collection of such things. Every recipe I have ever seen calls for some liquid, without liquid the meat will get tough! "SS, don't make me do it," I cried. I relented, placing the meat on top of the pounds of onions with no liquid, on a very low heat and set the timer for an hour.
C. washed and trimmed green beans while I started the cucumber salad. SS wanted me to blanch cucumbers "Why?" I said. This project is about trusting, so I am trusting The Silver Spoon with a large piece of meat and with a blanched salad, but not without questioning it loudly to anyone who'll listen. I put some salted water on to boil and added the sliced cucumbers to the water. Within a minute the cucumbers turned a beautiful green, I scooped them out and set them to dry on some paper towel.
This is the part of the story when your champion of the kitchen realized she got pre cooked polenta flour. It feels like cheating but I have hungry people to feed, so I put it aside and gather my guests in a game of Rummikub.
After hour one was up for the beef, I excused myself from game time and went to flip it. Anxiously opening the lid, I peered in and saw glorious braising liquid surrounding the meat. Thanks SS! I flipped the meat and checked my green bean recipe.
The recipe calls for a slice of bread to be soaked in white wine vinegar while you boil the green beans for 10 minutes in salted water. I do as directed and set to make the garlic sauce when I realize the recipe calls for a mortar and pestle. Nope, don't have one of those either, though I registered for one for my upcoming wedding. "Okay," I think, "I have to McGyver a mortar and pestle." This didn't go well. The best I came up with is crushing the garlic with my meat tenderizer on a plastic cutting board and scraping the results into a bowl. It didn't have the creaminess that the recipe describes, and I am going to chalk that up to lack of materials and move on. Next I add the bread, after squeezing it out, to the sauce and combine with the cooked (within an inch of their life) green beans. It looked weird. Judge for yourself:
Oh well, it was semi-instant polenta time. Pre-cooked polenta is very easy, although I will offer this word of caution: when stirring the polenta, wear an oven-mitt. When the polenta boils it can pop up and cling to your hand as it burns you. Yes, this happened to me. Once the polenta was stirred sufficiently it was time to eat.
First we had the cucumber salad, and I have to say blanched cucumbers are great! I served them with thin pear slices, feta cheese and a quick balsamic vinaigrette. C. said that it was better than a fancy restaurant. Hey! Thanks C.! The beef was fork tender and flavorful. In fact, the beef was one of those dishes that causes loud, talkative people consuming it to eat quietly for a few minutes.
My fiance and friends played Top Chef over my dishes, I asserted that the polenta was very plain but they insisted it provided a nice textural contrast. I thought the green beans were weird. The other "judges" liked them, one comment was that the bread offered a hint of the vinegar to balance the garlic, asking if she sounded enough like Tom for everyone's liking. P. was very curious as to what larding was and I explained it while we all ate the beef and onions. He commented that my cooking knowledge was growing, and because he was coming over, his was too. That's pretty cool, I think, I am learning and spreading the knowledge of The Silver Spoon one dinner guest at a time.
Now for my first full week as a healthy person in a long while, what to cook. . . .
The menu: Cucumber Salad, Braised Beef with Onions, Green Beans with Garlic Sauce and Polenta (4 glorious recipes!)
It was great having C. to help me, we even went grocery shopping together which made things go quickly and efficiently. Immediately upon returning, I set upon a 5 pound beef eye of round. My task was to lard it, meaning infuse the meat with additional fat. In order to do this, The Silver Spoon gives us this hint, "make small incisions in a piece of meat and insert pieces of pancetta or bacon fat. . . The fat melts during cooking and tenderizes and seasons the dish (pg.28)."
"Alright, " I say, "I like seasoning and tender things." I started making cuts into the beef and stuffing pancetta into the cuts. Around the third stab I started to feel a little like Dexter Morgan. You can meet him here, in case you are unfamiliar:
I carefully read the recipe a few more times and it dawned on me, finally, that there was no braising liquid in the recipe. Now, I have an intense love of braising. Braised meat, cabbage, grean beans, I don't care, just give it to me. I've read a whole cookbook on the subject of braising alone thanks to my future mother in law's amazing collection of such things. Every recipe I have ever seen calls for some liquid, without liquid the meat will get tough! "SS, don't make me do it," I cried. I relented, placing the meat on top of the pounds of onions with no liquid, on a very low heat and set the timer for an hour.
C. washed and trimmed green beans while I started the cucumber salad. SS wanted me to blanch cucumbers "Why?" I said. This project is about trusting, so I am trusting The Silver Spoon with a large piece of meat and with a blanched salad, but not without questioning it loudly to anyone who'll listen. I put some salted water on to boil and added the sliced cucumbers to the water. Within a minute the cucumbers turned a beautiful green, I scooped them out and set them to dry on some paper towel.
This is the part of the story when your champion of the kitchen realized she got pre cooked polenta flour. It feels like cheating but I have hungry people to feed, so I put it aside and gather my guests in a game of Rummikub.
After hour one was up for the beef, I excused myself from game time and went to flip it. Anxiously opening the lid, I peered in and saw glorious braising liquid surrounding the meat. Thanks SS! I flipped the meat and checked my green bean recipe.
The recipe calls for a slice of bread to be soaked in white wine vinegar while you boil the green beans for 10 minutes in salted water. I do as directed and set to make the garlic sauce when I realize the recipe calls for a mortar and pestle. Nope, don't have one of those either, though I registered for one for my upcoming wedding. "Okay," I think, "I have to McGyver a mortar and pestle." This didn't go well. The best I came up with is crushing the garlic with my meat tenderizer on a plastic cutting board and scraping the results into a bowl. It didn't have the creaminess that the recipe describes, and I am going to chalk that up to lack of materials and move on. Next I add the bread, after squeezing it out, to the sauce and combine with the cooked (within an inch of their life) green beans. It looked weird. Judge for yourself:
Oh well, it was semi-instant polenta time. Pre-cooked polenta is very easy, although I will offer this word of caution: when stirring the polenta, wear an oven-mitt. When the polenta boils it can pop up and cling to your hand as it burns you. Yes, this happened to me. Once the polenta was stirred sufficiently it was time to eat.
First we had the cucumber salad, and I have to say blanched cucumbers are great! I served them with thin pear slices, feta cheese and a quick balsamic vinaigrette. C. said that it was better than a fancy restaurant. Hey! Thanks C.! The beef was fork tender and flavorful. In fact, the beef was one of those dishes that causes loud, talkative people consuming it to eat quietly for a few minutes.
My fiance and friends played Top Chef over my dishes, I asserted that the polenta was very plain but they insisted it provided a nice textural contrast. I thought the green beans were weird. The other "judges" liked them, one comment was that the bread offered a hint of the vinegar to balance the garlic, asking if she sounded enough like Tom for everyone's liking. P. was very curious as to what larding was and I explained it while we all ate the beef and onions. He commented that my cooking knowledge was growing, and because he was coming over, his was too. That's pretty cool, I think, I am learning and spreading the knowledge of The Silver Spoon one dinner guest at a time.
Now for my first full week as a healthy person in a long while, what to cook. . . .
Friday, January 22, 2010
Meatballs with Potatoes and Spinach Salad
Okay everyone, did you know spaghetti and meatballs is an American invention? I am sure many of you know that. I knew spaghetti and meatballs is not Italian cuisine but often didn't admit it to myself. Despite its inauthenticity, I love the dish, and I feel guilty because I know it isn't real Italian cuisine. But hey, meatballs are real and Italian AND Silver Spoon has several recipes for us to try. So we will.
The first meatball recipe up is meatballs with potatoes. The recipe asks to boil and mash two potatoes and combine them with raw hamburger meat while they're still hot, yikes, I think, bacteria? What do I know? So I mash and let the hamburger meat fly, add a beaten egg and a couple of slices of chopped up mortadella. The recipe also tells us to season with salt, pepper and parsley. I always use Himayalan pink salt and really really suggest it. After all this, I coat with bread crumbs. A warning, these meatballs are very tender, almost fragile.
Of course, we get to fry the meatballs in the SS's favorite way: butter and olive oil. This is the part the story where your champion of the kitchen (me again) frets about meatballs falling apart. Folks, I don't know if I should have coated more with bread crumbs or used a a bigger egg, but these guys looked like if I blew on the pan I was going to have American chop suey instead. I stepped away and let them really develop a crust over low heat, while I wrung my hands for a good five minutes. Meanwhile, I directed my BFF to make the spinach salad.
The spinach salad is very simple, spinach plus mushrooms sprinkled with lemon juice. My best friend performed the slicing of the mushrooms and washing of the spinach while I combined some more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a dressing. She has dinner here a lot, as it turns out.
When I turn back to the meatballs, they are way more stable. My advice is don't move them too much when cooking, flip them only to cook the sides and middle evenly. By the way, I should learn to follow my own advice more with cooking the protein portions of any meal I cook. I am an over flipper from way back. It makes meat tough, and less juicy. I am really retraining myself to be patient with food and not flip it so much, jeez. Learning patience is a theme emerging through cooking The Silver Spoon, and I really appreciate it and struggle with it at the same time.
The results were excellent. These meatballs were decadent, moist and fiancé approved. I didn't even miss the pasta! The crumb coating with pink salt was a great contrast to the tender quality the meatballs have because of the potatoes. Even the spinach salad was greater than the sum of its parts. Liberate yourself from expensive salad dressings that are full of chemicals; all you need is olive oil, lemon and a brisk stir with The Silver Spoon.
The first meatball recipe up is meatballs with potatoes. The recipe asks to boil and mash two potatoes and combine them with raw hamburger meat while they're still hot, yikes, I think, bacteria? What do I know? So I mash and let the hamburger meat fly, add a beaten egg and a couple of slices of chopped up mortadella. The recipe also tells us to season with salt, pepper and parsley. I always use Himayalan pink salt and really really suggest it. After all this, I coat with bread crumbs. A warning, these meatballs are very tender, almost fragile.
Of course, we get to fry the meatballs in the SS's favorite way: butter and olive oil. This is the part the story where your champion of the kitchen (me again) frets about meatballs falling apart. Folks, I don't know if I should have coated more with bread crumbs or used a a bigger egg, but these guys looked like if I blew on the pan I was going to have American chop suey instead. I stepped away and let them really develop a crust over low heat, while I wrung my hands for a good five minutes. Meanwhile, I directed my BFF to make the spinach salad.
The spinach salad is very simple, spinach plus mushrooms sprinkled with lemon juice. My best friend performed the slicing of the mushrooms and washing of the spinach while I combined some more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a dressing. She has dinner here a lot, as it turns out.
When I turn back to the meatballs, they are way more stable. My advice is don't move them too much when cooking, flip them only to cook the sides and middle evenly. By the way, I should learn to follow my own advice more with cooking the protein portions of any meal I cook. I am an over flipper from way back. It makes meat tough, and less juicy. I am really retraining myself to be patient with food and not flip it so much, jeez. Learning patience is a theme emerging through cooking The Silver Spoon, and I really appreciate it and struggle with it at the same time.
The results were excellent. These meatballs were decadent, moist and fiancé approved. I didn't even miss the pasta! The crumb coating with pink salt was a great contrast to the tender quality the meatballs have because of the potatoes. Even the spinach salad was greater than the sum of its parts. Liberate yourself from expensive salad dressings that are full of chemicals; all you need is olive oil, lemon and a brisk stir with The Silver Spoon.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Chicken with Green Peppers at Long Last
Ah, the joy of having a cold on my day off. I spent most of the day alternating from resting and fretting about my recipe. I was concerned about the chicken going bad. I bought it on Wednesday at Trader Joe's. I try to buy all my meats at McKinnon's or Market Basket because they have better prices and variety. For example at Market Basket, I can get a whole roasting chicken for 2.50. It would have been whole, but I don't mind breaking down the chicken into its parts if it saves money. At TJoe's cut up or whole I had to pay 10.32. Aggravated by the cost however, at that point I might as well get it cut up. So I did.
So I am fretting and coughing, still and it is getting to be around dinner time. I look longingly into the eyes of my dear, dear fiance and point sadly at my very short, very easy Chicken with Green Peppers recipe in the SS and he acquiesces. Yay! Okay, so my fiance starts the dish with melting some butter in olive oil (there is certainly an olive oil/butter pattern developing here and I am fine with it). He then pan fries the chicken pieces for about 15 minutes. I am able to sustain coughing long enough to chop up some green peppers. He seasons the chicken with salt and pepper, then adds the peppers to the pan with some cut up garlic. We let that simmer for another 20 minutes on low heat. My BFF made some delicious homemade macaroni and cheese earlier, and so dinner is served. It is essentially fried chicken, Italian style. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and very juicy. Thanks fiance! Thanks BFF! Maybe this cold thing isn't so terrible.
Next up, meatballs? I might surprise you.
So I am fretting and coughing, still and it is getting to be around dinner time. I look longingly into the eyes of my dear, dear fiance and point sadly at my very short, very easy Chicken with Green Peppers recipe in the SS and he acquiesces. Yay! Okay, so my fiance starts the dish with melting some butter in olive oil (there is certainly an olive oil/butter pattern developing here and I am fine with it). He then pan fries the chicken pieces for about 15 minutes. I am able to sustain coughing long enough to chop up some green peppers. He seasons the chicken with salt and pepper, then adds the peppers to the pan with some cut up garlic. We let that simmer for another 20 minutes on low heat. My BFF made some delicious homemade macaroni and cheese earlier, and so dinner is served. It is essentially fried chicken, Italian style. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and very juicy. Thanks fiance! Thanks BFF! Maybe this cold thing isn't so terrible.
Next up, meatballs? I might surprise you.
Friday, January 15, 2010
An Absent Cook
Hi All,
This week has been a tough one for your champion of the kitchen. I've been really sick with a hacking cough which is super appetizing for a cook. Insert $2.00 sarcasm mark here. http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/news/dpgo-Sarcasm-Mark-Sarcmark-fc-20100113_5538683
(wince fox news) So, I haven't been cooking. I am finally feeling better so tomorrow it is on kitchen! I have a lot of catching up to do, so stay tuned!
Your humble servant
This week has been a tough one for your champion of the kitchen. I've been really sick with a hacking cough which is super appetizing for a cook. Insert $2.00 sarcasm mark here. http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/news/dpgo-Sarcasm-Mark-Sarcmark-fc-20100113_5538683
(wince fox news) So, I haven't been cooking. I am finally feeling better so tomorrow it is on kitchen! I have a lot of catching up to do, so stay tuned!
Your humble servant
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
10 Herb Sausage
Tonight was 10 Herb Sausage, italian sausage cooked with 10 herbs and a little bit of wine. This seemed to be a pretty basic dish until I actually got to cooking it. The directions tell you to chop up two teaspoons of a variety of fresh herbs while you get the sausages started cooking. So far so good, I'm doing fine, chopping up basil, parsley, shallots, celery, rosemary, and sage. I realize that I was a fair few short, and should celery and shallot even count? SS says yes, so we move on.
Here is where the cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head. The Silver Spoon directed me to add two tablespoons of water to a pan and cook the sausage until it turns golden brown. Wait, you want me to steam sausages? Flashes of my mother threatening to make New England boiled dinner flash in front of my eyes, I grab the counter to steady myself. "Come on Balzano," I say to myself, "Listen to the book, it knows more than you!" I wanted to protest and say that the sausages would turn a weird white color, not brown! Also, I wanted to assert that a work colleague of mine from years past would gag if she looked at them, but then I would have been having a full fledged conversation with myself so I just thought these things and cooked the sausages in water.
At first, the sausages were a weird white color, but SS also fosters patience as well as cooking skills. The directions call to cook the sausages for ten minutes in water before adding the herbs. I do so, the sausages are still white, patience. I add the celery and herbs and reach for the white wine. This is the part where our champion of the kitchen realizes she doesn't have any white wine. Crap! I call my best friend hoping she has some upstairs, she says no (damn) but offers to pick some up. That is why she is my bff, phew, the recipe is saved! I put the pan aside and decide to do another bonus recipe. Vinaigrette number 2, vinegar, oil, and anchovy paste, yum, very salty, perfect PMS salad dressing. The fiance tastes the bonus dressing and thinks it is a keeper so I dump it into my salad just in time for my bff to come home. For more vinaigrettes, read this post: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/quiet-monday-steak-pizzaiola-with-salad.html
I put the sausages back on add the wine and cook for a a few more minutes, twenty minutes then they finally turned a golden brown! Ah, much more appetizing, dinner is served. Fiance and friend like the sausages, I thought it was kinda fussy and tame. Later my best friend admits that she likes my preparation of Sausage and Peppers grilled in the oven better. (Me too, I wince)
Everything else that I have cooked so far has been bold and really said, "cooking is serious business." This said, "Eh." Don't get me wrong, I am glad I tried it. This recipe taught me it is acceptable to cook sausages in water as long as you are prepared to wait until they turn the right color. My fear of New England boiled dinner is properly compartmentalized once again, and I look forward to tomorrow, a day in which I have all my ingredients on the first try for "Chicken with Green Peppers!" A dish I hope speaks to me in the bold tones to which I have become accustomed.
Here is where the cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head. The Silver Spoon directed me to add two tablespoons of water to a pan and cook the sausage until it turns golden brown. Wait, you want me to steam sausages? Flashes of my mother threatening to make New England boiled dinner flash in front of my eyes, I grab the counter to steady myself. "Come on Balzano," I say to myself, "Listen to the book, it knows more than you!" I wanted to protest and say that the sausages would turn a weird white color, not brown! Also, I wanted to assert that a work colleague of mine from years past would gag if she looked at them, but then I would have been having a full fledged conversation with myself so I just thought these things and cooked the sausages in water.
At first, the sausages were a weird white color, but SS also fosters patience as well as cooking skills. The directions call to cook the sausages for ten minutes in water before adding the herbs. I do so, the sausages are still white, patience. I add the celery and herbs and reach for the white wine. This is the part where our champion of the kitchen realizes she doesn't have any white wine. Crap! I call my best friend hoping she has some upstairs, she says no (damn) but offers to pick some up. That is why she is my bff, phew, the recipe is saved! I put the pan aside and decide to do another bonus recipe. Vinaigrette number 2, vinegar, oil, and anchovy paste, yum, very salty, perfect PMS salad dressing. The fiance tastes the bonus dressing and thinks it is a keeper so I dump it into my salad just in time for my bff to come home. For more vinaigrettes, read this post: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/quiet-monday-steak-pizzaiola-with-salad.html
I put the sausages back on add the wine and cook for a a few more minutes, twenty minutes then they finally turned a golden brown! Ah, much more appetizing, dinner is served. Fiance and friend like the sausages, I thought it was kinda fussy and tame. Later my best friend admits that she likes my preparation of Sausage and Peppers grilled in the oven better. (Me too, I wince)
Everything else that I have cooked so far has been bold and really said, "cooking is serious business." This said, "Eh." Don't get me wrong, I am glad I tried it. This recipe taught me it is acceptable to cook sausages in water as long as you are prepared to wait until they turn the right color. My fear of New England boiled dinner is properly compartmentalized once again, and I look forward to tomorrow, a day in which I have all my ingredients on the first try for "Chicken with Green Peppers!" A dish I hope speaks to me in the bold tones to which I have become accustomed.
Monday, January 11, 2010
A Quiet Monday: Steak Pizzaiola with Salad
After the cooking smorgasbord that was Saturday, I didn't do too much in the way of the culinary arts for the remainder of the weekend. I made some nice sandwiches with leftover prosciutto but that was about it. On Sunday night, I made a goal of trying 5 new recipes during the work week. Tonight was Steak Pizzaiola.
This was a very easy recipe. The Silver Spoon told me to put some oil and butter in a pan. Hey! This is a cooking trick I have been doing forever, courtesy of my dad. The oil keeps the butter from burning and provides a delicious flavor. After the butter melted I added a few cloves of garlic and let them cook to a golden brown. The SS tells the cook to discard the garlic after browning. This was challenging for me, discard of perfectly good garlic? Alas, whatever The Silver Spoon asks of me, I shall do, so I did.
Next. the steaks seared for one minute, and were salted and peppered and put aside. Meanwhile I was supposed to chop up five ripe tomatoes. Because I live in Massachusetts and it is winter, fresh tomatoes present a problem. I bought mini roma tomatoes and used ten of them instead. I added them to the pan with the oil, butter and steak fat and simmered for ten minutes. Then I put the steaks back in a cooked them until done. I think I flipped them a few too many times because they were chewy, but very flavorful.
While the steak was working I threw together a quick salad and looked up a bonus recipe for vinaigrette. I always make salad dressings from scratch. They just taste better and because I have a lot of food allergies, it keeps life simple. My standard dressing is simple, vinegar, oil and a spoonful of dijon mustard. The Silver Spoon says that's one of their recipes too, but another way is vinegar, oil and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Voila, there you have it a delicious dinner in less than 45 minutes with a new dressing for my repertoire! Recipe Count: 1992 to go, Butter Count: 4 quarters used, Cream Count 2 pints.
Tomorrow: 10 Herb Sausages!
This was a very easy recipe. The Silver Spoon told me to put some oil and butter in a pan. Hey! This is a cooking trick I have been doing forever, courtesy of my dad. The oil keeps the butter from burning and provides a delicious flavor. After the butter melted I added a few cloves of garlic and let them cook to a golden brown. The SS tells the cook to discard the garlic after browning. This was challenging for me, discard of perfectly good garlic? Alas, whatever The Silver Spoon asks of me, I shall do, so I did.
Next. the steaks seared for one minute, and were salted and peppered and put aside. Meanwhile I was supposed to chop up five ripe tomatoes. Because I live in Massachusetts and it is winter, fresh tomatoes present a problem. I bought mini roma tomatoes and used ten of them instead. I added them to the pan with the oil, butter and steak fat and simmered for ten minutes. Then I put the steaks back in a cooked them until done. I think I flipped them a few too many times because they were chewy, but very flavorful.
While the steak was working I threw together a quick salad and looked up a bonus recipe for vinaigrette. I always make salad dressings from scratch. They just taste better and because I have a lot of food allergies, it keeps life simple. My standard dressing is simple, vinegar, oil and a spoonful of dijon mustard. The Silver Spoon says that's one of their recipes too, but another way is vinegar, oil and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Voila, there you have it a delicious dinner in less than 45 minutes with a new dressing for my repertoire! Recipe Count: 1992 to go, Butter Count: 4 quarters used, Cream Count 2 pints.
Tomorrow: 10 Herb Sausages!
Gnocchi Time Part II, in Which our Heroine Loses her Mind and Finds it Again
We left off with your champion of the kitchen (that's me) covered in gnocchi dough with the guests due to arrive at any minute. As I mentioned before, I was in the weeds. In other words the meal is taking too long to cook or is not coming together. Mine was the former, and to remedy my problem I enlisted some help.
I quickly readied the orange sauce for the pork, combining 3 tablespoons of butter with orange juice and some chili powder and garlic. Once the sauce came to a boil, I started shouting to the fiance to lend a hand in getting the pork ready for the oven. Now I should mention that my husband to be is extremely detail oriented and spent a good four minutes looking for "the way to open the pork." At approximately minute three I screeched, "are you joking?" He then used scissors and got the pork into the pan, I topped it with the orange sauce and we were off. In the meantime, I drained the asparagus and created the apple cream by adding cream (obviously), yogurt, a green apple and horseradish in a bowl for the crostini. I made the fiance go and slice the baguette for the crostini in another room where I could not see how detail oriented he was being, fiance finished slicing bread, we toasted it in the oven and the guests arrived.
What to do when no food is ready and your guests arrive? Give them beer and put them to work. The crostini came out of the oven and one of the guests was directed to top the breads with the cream and another to add proscuitto. Guests tried the "Mountain Crostini" and really liked it, "Hurray!" I thought. One of the more silent and stoic guests even asked, "Hey, is there horseradish in here? Cool."
In the meantime, C. the gnocchi snob, and I commenced to getting the asparagus in the oven. Cue brow sweat as I look at the Bechamel which is solid and slightly lumpy. The urge to run from the kitchen was a 7 out of 10 at this point. I remembered that Silver Spoon told me that if the Bechamel gets lumpy I can add more milk, okay, I added more milk and stirred and got the water on to boil for the gnocchi. I asked C. to stir the Bechamel as I buttered the Au Gratin pan. Asparagus was then officially baking and now once again it was "Gnocchi Time."
The directions state that it is best to put in a few Gnocci at a time into boiling water. When the gnocchi floats to the top it should be scooped out with a slotted spoon and put in the serving dish. C. and I worked together to put gnocchi in and scoop them out. Again, Silver Spoon was right! The gnocchi stayed together, cooked beautifully and did I mention that they didn't fall apart? We plated them with the "Quick Tomato Sauce," and my first ever prima piatti was done.
As we sat down together to eat, I realized "gnocci time" was worth it. A disclaimer, they are not the best gnocci I have ever had. The best gnocci I ever had was in Bologna with Bolognese sauce when I was 17, made at a restaurant that had been making them for over a century. I wasn't expecting to top them on the first shot. Accolades were received from all the guests, especially the "gnocchi snob." Though, one complained about the nature of the project. He surmised I won't be able to make this gnocchi again for 2 years. I reassured him that there are plenty of sauces that would count as a new recipe.
Just as we finished discussing how great the gnocchi were, and how great I am (kidding) the pork timer dinged and we moved on to the second course, Orange Flavored Pork and Asparagus Au Gratin. The pork was juicy and had a nice orangy flavor, but I wasn't too pleased with the asparagus. I followed the directions from the SS. It states to boil the asparagus for 15 minutes in salted water, and after combining with the Bechamel and cheeses, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The asparagus was very soft. I prefer crisp or crunchy vegetables. If you are the same I would suggest that the boiling time be decreased 5 or so minutes. When I asked my guests about the consistency of the asparagus, they refused to agree saying it was tasty and good. Wait until I serve them calves brains, they'll have something to say then that might be more constructive.
Next, C. helped me to do dishes and the gentlemen adjorned to the living room to play Super Mario on Wii. C. told me that she is going to try to make gnocchi on her own, I am inspiring people already! I kid, but it still felt great that my friend was willing to try a new, challenging recipe because I did it and the dish succeeded. I think that is what this project is all about in a way. I am just a regular average everyday person who likes cooking. Why should I cut corners all the time and buy pre-made less than healthy things to make a quick dish? One answer is "there are no shoulds," but Karen Horney came up with that before I was even born. Another answer is, you don't have to cut corners, you can try new things and be successful, broadening your cooking scope at the same time.
So join me, put down the take out menu, say no the rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, resist buying chicken nuggets for your children, and try something new. I wager that you will find that you are more capable than you think, that is what I found out. Also I found out it is great to have friends who do the dishes. Tonight, Steak Pizzaiola and maybe some more self-actualization.
I quickly readied the orange sauce for the pork, combining 3 tablespoons of butter with orange juice and some chili powder and garlic. Once the sauce came to a boil, I started shouting to the fiance to lend a hand in getting the pork ready for the oven. Now I should mention that my husband to be is extremely detail oriented and spent a good four minutes looking for "the way to open the pork." At approximately minute three I screeched, "are you joking?" He then used scissors and got the pork into the pan, I topped it with the orange sauce and we were off. In the meantime, I drained the asparagus and created the apple cream by adding cream (obviously), yogurt, a green apple and horseradish in a bowl for the crostini. I made the fiance go and slice the baguette for the crostini in another room where I could not see how detail oriented he was being, fiance finished slicing bread, we toasted it in the oven and the guests arrived.
What to do when no food is ready and your guests arrive? Give them beer and put them to work. The crostini came out of the oven and one of the guests was directed to top the breads with the cream and another to add proscuitto. Guests tried the "Mountain Crostini" and really liked it, "Hurray!" I thought. One of the more silent and stoic guests even asked, "Hey, is there horseradish in here? Cool."
In the meantime, C. the gnocchi snob, and I commenced to getting the asparagus in the oven. Cue brow sweat as I look at the Bechamel which is solid and slightly lumpy. The urge to run from the kitchen was a 7 out of 10 at this point. I remembered that Silver Spoon told me that if the Bechamel gets lumpy I can add more milk, okay, I added more milk and stirred and got the water on to boil for the gnocchi. I asked C. to stir the Bechamel as I buttered the Au Gratin pan. Asparagus was then officially baking and now once again it was "Gnocchi Time."
The directions state that it is best to put in a few Gnocci at a time into boiling water. When the gnocchi floats to the top it should be scooped out with a slotted spoon and put in the serving dish. C. and I worked together to put gnocchi in and scoop them out. Again, Silver Spoon was right! The gnocchi stayed together, cooked beautifully and did I mention that they didn't fall apart? We plated them with the "Quick Tomato Sauce," and my first ever prima piatti was done.
As we sat down together to eat, I realized "gnocci time" was worth it. A disclaimer, they are not the best gnocci I have ever had. The best gnocci I ever had was in Bologna with Bolognese sauce when I was 17, made at a restaurant that had been making them for over a century. I wasn't expecting to top them on the first shot. Accolades were received from all the guests, especially the "gnocchi snob." Though, one complained about the nature of the project. He surmised I won't be able to make this gnocchi again for 2 years. I reassured him that there are plenty of sauces that would count as a new recipe.
Just as we finished discussing how great the gnocchi were, and how great I am (kidding) the pork timer dinged and we moved on to the second course, Orange Flavored Pork and Asparagus Au Gratin. The pork was juicy and had a nice orangy flavor, but I wasn't too pleased with the asparagus. I followed the directions from the SS. It states to boil the asparagus for 15 minutes in salted water, and after combining with the Bechamel and cheeses, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The asparagus was very soft. I prefer crisp or crunchy vegetables. If you are the same I would suggest that the boiling time be decreased 5 or so minutes. When I asked my guests about the consistency of the asparagus, they refused to agree saying it was tasty and good. Wait until I serve them calves brains, they'll have something to say then that might be more constructive.
Next, C. helped me to do dishes and the gentlemen adjorned to the living room to play Super Mario on Wii. C. told me that she is going to try to make gnocchi on her own, I am inspiring people already! I kid, but it still felt great that my friend was willing to try a new, challenging recipe because I did it and the dish succeeded. I think that is what this project is all about in a way. I am just a regular average everyday person who likes cooking. Why should I cut corners all the time and buy pre-made less than healthy things to make a quick dish? One answer is "there are no shoulds," but Karen Horney came up with that before I was even born. Another answer is, you don't have to cut corners, you can try new things and be successful, broadening your cooking scope at the same time.
So join me, put down the take out menu, say no the rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, resist buying chicken nuggets for your children, and try something new. I wager that you will find that you are more capable than you think, that is what I found out. Also I found out it is great to have friends who do the dishes. Tonight, Steak Pizzaiola and maybe some more self-actualization.
A Dinner Party AKA I Do Battle with Gnocchi Part I
In order to eat the massive amounts of food produced from "My Own Silver Spoon Project," my fiance decided to enlist the help of our friends. Saturday I committed myself to a full dinner with as many recipes as I could cram in, knowing that our friends would be there to dig in. Below is the most accurate account of "Gnocchi Time" and side dishes I could muster.
The menu: Mountain Crostini with Proscuitto and Apple Cream, Basic Gnocchi with Quick Tomato Sauce, Asparagus Au Gratin (made with Bechamel Sauce) and Pork with Orange Sauce. Five, count them five glorious recipes for all to enjoy. The one that had me the most worried was gnocchi. It is essentially making my own pasta. Self-efficacy was low my friends, very very low. To procrastinate, I began with making the Bechamel Sauce, while prepping the asparagus for the Au Gratin. This was hectic and unadvisable. My Bechamel was then put aside (another mistake) as I finally took on the gnocchi, by boiling potatoes. The potatoes were ready and it became gnocchi time. Gnocchi time is not unlike "boss time" in that it can be awkward. Please see the following link if my pop culture reference is meaningless to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYhKOZhcG24
I digress, back to the gnocchi. I drained them and mashed them according to the SS. So far everything was calm, too calm. Meanwhile, I started the "Quick Tomato Sauce": tomatoes, parsley, garlic and oil, cook for 10 minutes. "That is quick!" said my inner monolouge. I started to feel reassured that the dinner was coming together with ease.
Back to tending the gnocchi, I added flour and a beaten egg and kneaded and the Silver Spoon was right, a dough was born. A fairly sticky dough that I remedied by putting flour on my workspace and my hands. I rolled them into snakes, thank goodness I was good at that in preschool, and there you had it, gnocchi. It was wonderful. Domestic Goddess status reached and then of course, I realized I still had to form them into gnocchi type shapes.
The directions then told me to use the underside of a grater to make a mark in the middle of the gnocchi. I realized that halfway through, the directions meant a box grater and I was using a plane grater. No, I don't have a box grater. Kitchen things I don't have might become a common theme. I switched to a butter knife dipped in flour and the work became much easier. I set them aside on a linen napkin dusted with flour. Not so bad.
I started boiling the asparagus for the 15 minutes as prompted by the directions and went onto the orange sauce for the pork just as I realized that my guests were to arrive in a half hour. This is what is known as being in the weeds. I also simultaneously remember that C., an invited guest of ours is a self proclaimed "gnocchi snob." Cue cold feeling in the stomach. I have both timers going for different dishes and gnocchi dough on my hands, my jaunty hosting sweater and a little bit in my hair. How will our cook manage in bringing the gnocchi to life? Will the guests arrive early? Only this cook knows, and her 5 dinner guests. Part II coming soon. . .
The menu: Mountain Crostini with Proscuitto and Apple Cream, Basic Gnocchi with Quick Tomato Sauce, Asparagus Au Gratin (made with Bechamel Sauce) and Pork with Orange Sauce. Five, count them five glorious recipes for all to enjoy. The one that had me the most worried was gnocchi. It is essentially making my own pasta. Self-efficacy was low my friends, very very low. To procrastinate, I began with making the Bechamel Sauce, while prepping the asparagus for the Au Gratin. This was hectic and unadvisable. My Bechamel was then put aside (another mistake) as I finally took on the gnocchi, by boiling potatoes. The potatoes were ready and it became gnocchi time. Gnocchi time is not unlike "boss time" in that it can be awkward. Please see the following link if my pop culture reference is meaningless to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYhKOZhcG24
I digress, back to the gnocchi. I drained them and mashed them according to the SS. So far everything was calm, too calm. Meanwhile, I started the "Quick Tomato Sauce": tomatoes, parsley, garlic and oil, cook for 10 minutes. "That is quick!" said my inner monolouge. I started to feel reassured that the dinner was coming together with ease.
Back to tending the gnocchi, I added flour and a beaten egg and kneaded and the Silver Spoon was right, a dough was born. A fairly sticky dough that I remedied by putting flour on my workspace and my hands. I rolled them into snakes, thank goodness I was good at that in preschool, and there you had it, gnocchi. It was wonderful. Domestic Goddess status reached and then of course, I realized I still had to form them into gnocchi type shapes.
The directions then told me to use the underside of a grater to make a mark in the middle of the gnocchi. I realized that halfway through, the directions meant a box grater and I was using a plane grater. No, I don't have a box grater. Kitchen things I don't have might become a common theme. I switched to a butter knife dipped in flour and the work became much easier. I set them aside on a linen napkin dusted with flour. Not so bad.
I started boiling the asparagus for the 15 minutes as prompted by the directions and went onto the orange sauce for the pork just as I realized that my guests were to arrive in a half hour. This is what is known as being in the weeds. I also simultaneously remember that C., an invited guest of ours is a self proclaimed "gnocchi snob." Cue cold feeling in the stomach. I have both timers going for different dishes and gnocchi dough on my hands, my jaunty hosting sweater and a little bit in my hair. How will our cook manage in bringing the gnocchi to life? Will the guests arrive early? Only this cook knows, and her 5 dinner guests. Part II coming soon. . .
Friday, January 8, 2010
So it is 2010, Disclaimer and a Terrifying Look Inside my Mind
It is 2010 and I need a project. I'd love to write about the exciting work that I do encouraging young minds but it is secret and if I told you the ins, outs and what-have-yous of my job, I'd be looking for another one. Plus, who wants to talk about work after work, no thanks. A few years ago another lady named Julie wrote a blog about Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and we all know what happened with that. A colleague of mine has her own website with fabulous recipes and food chat with fans all over the country and I want to play too! Check out my friend's website at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. I know here are a million great blogs out there and I don't expect mine to be one of them, I just need a project and I have an idea. Here goes:
For Christmas this year, I received the Silver Spoon cookbook as a very generous gift from my future husband's Aunt and Godmother. She also gave me a nifty little baking rack. I really needed one of those. I was pleased, happy to receive a generous present. I went home giddy with the potential energy of gourmet meals in my first non Rachel Ray cookbook. My fiance is always telling me what a great cook I am, I love to cook and play around with the websites available to us cooks that wax poetic with chicken breast for the second time in a work week. I grew up cooking delicious homemade meals with my dad, the best cook I know. I thought I was more than ready to transition to the Silver Spoon. Oh how wrong I was. . .
One afternoon of my winter break, I decided to luxuriate in my grown up type person's actual cookbook and whip something up for dinner. As I opened the massive tome that is Silver Spoon I began to realize that 1. I am not a very good cook, 2. nor am I a very informed person of Italian decent and 3. the most surprising, I can have cookbook induced panic attacks! I didn't recognize any recipes, all of the pasta is supposed to be made from scratch, and there is a substantial chapter on sweetbreads. I whined to my fiance about never being able to cook anything from my brand new fancy grown up cookbook, and he said, "course you can." He is a man of few words when I write about him, and a keeper to boot. We ate takeout that night, and I went back to the drawing board.
Onward!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The First Recipe!
Tonight I cooked my first recipe "Bistecche Tritate Con Panna e Funghi," roughly translated into hamburgers with bread and mushrooms and a ton of cream and butter. The recipe was very straightforward, but for hamburgers slightly time consuming. First, I soaked porcini mushrooms in warm water for an hour. By the way, it looked like way less than 7 dollars worth of mushrooms, but for what they lack in volume they made up for in mushroom flavor. Then I drained and chopped the little guys and put them aside. I put a few slices of Italian bread minus the crust in some milk and let it soak. I think that's how my grandma made meatballs a long time ago.
Anyway, I fried the mushrooms in some butter and then I was supposed to put them through a food mill. That was a problem, as I don't have one. I improvised using my Cuisinart to get the desired consistency, maybe? I went back to my milk/bread conglomeration to which my best friend stated, "It looks like Play-Doh!" She is a preschool teacher; I assert a rorschach effect. To me, it looked like bread and milk. I squeezed out the excess milk, combined with the ground beef, dusted them with flour, and put yet some more butter in the pan to fry it. A confession, I almost didn't put flour on the patties, I thought it was unnecessary, but I decided to follow the recipe to the letter. Silver Spoon may just know more than me and that is the whole point in this exercise. Remember, I told you, I needed a project.
To finish the recipe up, I added some cream to the mashed up porcinis and made a simple sauce while frying the patties. The burgers burned a little, I suspect they were too thick and the heat was a touch too high. However, both fiance and best friend gave rave reviews, ah the power of a cream based sauce. I am surrounded by positivity and am domestic goddess with a sink full of dirty dishes from hamburgers for dinner. I served the italian cream butter burgers with salad and home made mac and cheese. It didn't look very italian but I enjoyed it and hey, 1 recipe down 1999 to go.
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