These days, I do more cookbook reading than actual cooking, although I’m trying to get back into the habit of experimentation. However, it means, practically, that I’ve got dozens of recipes I’d like to try, floating around in my brain, at any given time.
There are certain recipes that will appeal to me, and it may take me weeks, if not months, to finally get to them. The catalyst for making it might be a paycheck, the weather, a social event, or simply availability.
For the truffles I made last week, it was partly viability, and partly a social thing. I needed to bring a dish to pass for Memorial Day, and I realized I had all the ingredients on hand to make them.
These truffles are adapted from Sally Schneider’s book “A New Way to Cook,” which is sort of a healthy eating cookbook. Her philosophy seems to be threefold: 1. use quality ingredients, 2. use processed foods sparingly, and 3. go ahead and use tasty fats, but use the minimum amount possible for the maximum punch.
Now, these truffles aren’t healthy, but they are healthier. If you can limit yourself to eating only a few, they are even healthier. Much like my friend The Brass Chef, I’m of the belief that if it doesn’t taste good, it’s not worth eating, even if it’s “healthy.” So something like low-fat pizza (shudder) is really anathema to me. Better to limit myself to one slice, or better yet, just eat pizza less often.
Her truffle recipe uses chestnut puree to thicken and bind the truffles, so you can get away with using less chocolate AND whole milk instead of heavy cream. If you have a food processor, and you can find pre-roasted pre-peeled chestnuts, this recipe is pretty easy to make, as far as truffles go.
You basically simmer the chestnuts in some milk, on very low heat, until the nuts are tender and the milk has reduced. You add your chocolate, and process the bejeezus out of the mixture until the nuts are completely smooth and incorporated into the mix. You add some flavorings or booze at the end, then refrigerate for a few hours to let everything firm up.
Then, you roll the truffles, and coat in cocoa powder. Which is somewhat messy, but fun.
Once I put these out at the party, they didn’t last long.
Schneider talks about how the chestnut puree has a texture similar to a starch like potato starch, and also thicken like a starch. So I’m tempted to rework the recipe to use some other starches such as dried powdered potato starch (found some at my local Asian mart).
I’ve got the rest of the ingredients, other than the chestnuts, still sitting at home, so it’d be a no-brainer. Further updates as events warrant.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pie Dreams (nightmares)
The Journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. – Mark Twain
I’m gonna take this F-ing pie and throw it across the F-ing kitchen. – Carrie P
I am not a patient person. I prefer quick, improvisational recipes with simple steps and lots wiggle room.
As you might imagine, baking is not my thing. Quick breads and batter breads I can do, and I’ve spent the past few winters really getting a good handle on yeast breads and cookie making. But items that require an intense amount of precision and skill, and have little room for error, are still tough for me.
Like, say, pie crusts.
Pie filling is right up my alley. Take some nice fruit, toss it with spices, sugar, and a thickener, then bake it until it’s done. Easy as. But I’ve always had trouble with pie crusts, on several fronts.
First, I have trouble rolling out the dough. It sticks to the board, or is misshapen, or is too thick or too thin, or all of the above.
Second, I have trouble transferring the pie crust from the board to the pie pan.
Third, I’m not very good at blind-baking. The edges of the crust come out burnt, and the inside of the crust sticks to the foil lining and pulls away somewhat.
Fourth, the texture and flavor of my pie crusts are underwhelming. They are usually brittle and burnt-tasting, or tough and burnt-tasting.
So, I decided to practice pie crusts this year. Now that fruit is just starting to come into season, and my oven’s been mended it seemed to be the time to start. I picked up some strawberry, some rhubarb, and some tapioca starch.
My first crust of 2010 was a spectacular—but salvageable—failure.
I used a recipe based on Cook’s Illustrated’s “Foolproof pie dough.” I think it would have gone better had I had the whole recipe and accompanying text to go with it, but I had to make to with a shortened version.
The dough came together fine—it was particularly easy to make in the food processor—but the resulting dough, even after refrigerating, was extremely wet, sticky and soft. I used some, but clearly not enough, flour when rolling, for it stuck to my rolling surface in several places. I tried to use a fish spatula to release the dough, which worked somewhat well for the bottom crust.
I got the bottom crust together, and was able to press down to seal up the large number of holes, tears, and spots where it didn’t come all the way up the side of the pan.
When I blind-baked it, the parts that were draping over the edge of the pan started to burn.
The top crust I rolled out, then put in the fridge in hopes of getting it to firm up.
It was not to be.
To get the crust on the pie, I went with the band-aid method, and tried to move it from the plate to the pie as quickly as possible. In retrospect, I should have gone with the “Cake competition” method, and moved it very, very slowly.
The top crust fell onto my pie in a Jackson-Pollock pile.
It was at this point I uttered the quote above.
After I calmed down somewhat, I got the crust into something resembling a latticed funnel-cake style topping, which covered most of the top of the pie. No huge gaping wounds.
I tried to fashion a bit of foil to put around the edges of the crust so it wouldn’t burn, which, after more swearing (I’m my father’s child) eventually worked.
50 minutes later, I had pie.
It came out looking sort of like this, but with large spaces between the dough where the filling peeked through.
It was an ugly pie, but a delicious pie. The crust came out to be very tender, and flaky. It reminded me of a cross between sugar cookies and shortbread. The crust was almost too tender.
I think part of this was because I used a super-soft All Purpose flour. “They” say that using a soft (aka low-protein) flower helps tenderness because it’s the protein that causes gluten, and it’s the gluten that makes crusts tough. It’s also the gluten that gives them any stability at all, so using the flour may have made the dough softer than it should have been. The recipe I used almost certainly used a higher protein flour. Oops.
I will use this recipe again, with a higher-protein flour, but I will also seek out other recipes. Shirley Corriher has several pie crusts in her book Cookwise, and also a fair bit about the chemistry behind them. I will do some reading up over the next week and try another crust or two Memorial Day weekend.
My goal is not to learn how to make anyone’s specific pie crust recipe. What I want is to find a recipe that I can do (or learn how to do) fairly easy, with a crust that tastes pretty good. So part of it is practice, but part of it may be shopping around for a pie crust that “works” for the way I cook.
But most of it is practice.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. – Mark Twain
I’m gonna take this F-ing pie and throw it across the F-ing kitchen. – Carrie P
I am not a patient person. I prefer quick, improvisational recipes with simple steps and lots wiggle room.
As you might imagine, baking is not my thing. Quick breads and batter breads I can do, and I’ve spent the past few winters really getting a good handle on yeast breads and cookie making. But items that require an intense amount of precision and skill, and have little room for error, are still tough for me.
Like, say, pie crusts.
Pie filling is right up my alley. Take some nice fruit, toss it with spices, sugar, and a thickener, then bake it until it’s done. Easy as. But I’ve always had trouble with pie crusts, on several fronts.
First, I have trouble rolling out the dough. It sticks to the board, or is misshapen, or is too thick or too thin, or all of the above.
Second, I have trouble transferring the pie crust from the board to the pie pan.
Third, I’m not very good at blind-baking. The edges of the crust come out burnt, and the inside of the crust sticks to the foil lining and pulls away somewhat.
Fourth, the texture and flavor of my pie crusts are underwhelming. They are usually brittle and burnt-tasting, or tough and burnt-tasting.
So, I decided to practice pie crusts this year. Now that fruit is just starting to come into season, and my oven’s been mended it seemed to be the time to start. I picked up some strawberry, some rhubarb, and some tapioca starch.
My first crust of 2010 was a spectacular—but salvageable—failure.
I used a recipe based on Cook’s Illustrated’s “Foolproof pie dough.” I think it would have gone better had I had the whole recipe and accompanying text to go with it, but I had to make to with a shortened version.
The dough came together fine—it was particularly easy to make in the food processor—but the resulting dough, even after refrigerating, was extremely wet, sticky and soft. I used some, but clearly not enough, flour when rolling, for it stuck to my rolling surface in several places. I tried to use a fish spatula to release the dough, which worked somewhat well for the bottom crust.
I got the bottom crust together, and was able to press down to seal up the large number of holes, tears, and spots where it didn’t come all the way up the side of the pan.
When I blind-baked it, the parts that were draping over the edge of the pan started to burn.
The top crust I rolled out, then put in the fridge in hopes of getting it to firm up.
It was not to be.
To get the crust on the pie, I went with the band-aid method, and tried to move it from the plate to the pie as quickly as possible. In retrospect, I should have gone with the “Cake competition” method, and moved it very, very slowly.
The top crust fell onto my pie in a Jackson-Pollock pile.
It was at this point I uttered the quote above.
After I calmed down somewhat, I got the crust into something resembling a latticed funnel-cake style topping, which covered most of the top of the pie. No huge gaping wounds.
I tried to fashion a bit of foil to put around the edges of the crust so it wouldn’t burn, which, after more swearing (I’m my father’s child) eventually worked.
50 minutes later, I had pie.
It came out looking sort of like this, but with large spaces between the dough where the filling peeked through.
It was an ugly pie, but a delicious pie. The crust came out to be very tender, and flaky. It reminded me of a cross between sugar cookies and shortbread. The crust was almost too tender.
I think part of this was because I used a super-soft All Purpose flour. “They” say that using a soft (aka low-protein) flower helps tenderness because it’s the protein that causes gluten, and it’s the gluten that makes crusts tough. It’s also the gluten that gives them any stability at all, so using the flour may have made the dough softer than it should have been. The recipe I used almost certainly used a higher protein flour. Oops.
I will use this recipe again, with a higher-protein flour, but I will also seek out other recipes. Shirley Corriher has several pie crusts in her book Cookwise, and also a fair bit about the chemistry behind them. I will do some reading up over the next week and try another crust or two Memorial Day weekend.
My goal is not to learn how to make anyone’s specific pie crust recipe. What I want is to find a recipe that I can do (or learn how to do) fairly easy, with a crust that tastes pretty good. So part of it is practice, but part of it may be shopping around for a pie crust that “works” for the way I cook.
But most of it is practice.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Fondue+Grilling = Raclette
This weekend I discovered Raclette. Raclette is a mild cheese from Switzerland, but it's also a style of dining, similar to fondue. In fondue, you either use oil broth as a cooking medium, or you melt cheese and wine together and dip fresh veggies and such into the mix.
For Raclette, you use a grill to get the meats and veggies toasty warm and golden,and a broiler to melt your cheese. You pour the unadulterated, melty cheese over everything, and drink wine with the meal.
It was love at first bite.
I think that nothing will quite replace fondue in my heart, but this method comes close. It has a few advantages over fondue, in fact. One, it's easier for a large number of people to cook their stuff. Just put it on the grill and turn it, no entangled fondue forks. Two, it's great for vegans or meat-eaters. The cheese is optional and you cook it yourself, so someone who doesn't eat cheese can still participate. Three, the meat (usually smoked sausage and hams) and veggies are all pre-cooked, so you're just warming it up, so there's much less of a concern about food safety. Four, you choose whatever wine you want to drink, and aren't forced into having a certain wine because that's the wine in the fondue.
Also, it's more summery than fondue, what with the grilling and all, and can be adapted to a variety of textures and flavors.
There are, of course, specialized Raclette grills and utensils and suchlike, but it wouldn't be too hard to adapt a barbecue grill for the same purpose.
For further research, check out Raclette grills at Amazon, and some traditional and non-traditional Raclette recipes.
For Raclette, you use a grill to get the meats and veggies toasty warm and golden,and a broiler to melt your cheese. You pour the unadulterated, melty cheese over everything, and drink wine with the meal.
It was love at first bite.
I think that nothing will quite replace fondue in my heart, but this method comes close. It has a few advantages over fondue, in fact. One, it's easier for a large number of people to cook their stuff. Just put it on the grill and turn it, no entangled fondue forks. Two, it's great for vegans or meat-eaters. The cheese is optional and you cook it yourself, so someone who doesn't eat cheese can still participate. Three, the meat (usually smoked sausage and hams) and veggies are all pre-cooked, so you're just warming it up, so there's much less of a concern about food safety. Four, you choose whatever wine you want to drink, and aren't forced into having a certain wine because that's the wine in the fondue.
Also, it's more summery than fondue, what with the grilling and all, and can be adapted to a variety of textures and flavors.
There are, of course, specialized Raclette grills and utensils and suchlike, but it wouldn't be too hard to adapt a barbecue grill for the same purpose.
For further research, check out Raclette grills at Amazon, and some traditional and non-traditional Raclette recipes.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Improv recipe: Butter, Scotch and butterscotch
I was talking with a Facebook friend the other day, and he mentioned that butterscotch doesn't taste like butter or scotch. I disagreed. I thought it tasted a fair bit like butter.
Anyway, it got me thinking. So when the grocery store had butterscotch chips on sale today, I decided to pick up a bag and see if I could make a butterscotch sauce out of butter, scotch and butterscotch.
I only made about a half cup of sauce, and eyeballed the proportions, but, for the most part, it came out well. Well enough for The Mister and I to fight over the last of the sauce during dessert.
Just watch that you don't burn the butterscotch chips in the microwave. Also, make sure you add enough liquid to them. If you don't, it will get gritty and clumpy. If this happens it's an easy fix, just add a little more butter or scotch and stir until melted and smooth.
Butter and Scotch Butterscotch Sauce
Enough for 2 generous servings
1/4 cup butterscotch morsels
1-2 tablespoons butter
2-4 tablespoons scotch.
Let butter come to room temperature. Put butterscotch chips in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring, until butterscotch chips start to melt. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and microwave for 10-15 seconds more, just until the butter is melted, stirring. Don't worry too much if it seems clumpy and grainy. Add 2 tablespoons of scotch and stir. If it's still grainy and isn't coming together, add a bit more butter and/or scotch until it gets smooth.
Serve over ice cream or pound cake.
Anyway, it got me thinking. So when the grocery store had butterscotch chips on sale today, I decided to pick up a bag and see if I could make a butterscotch sauce out of butter, scotch and butterscotch.
I only made about a half cup of sauce, and eyeballed the proportions, but, for the most part, it came out well. Well enough for The Mister and I to fight over the last of the sauce during dessert.
Just watch that you don't burn the butterscotch chips in the microwave. Also, make sure you add enough liquid to them. If you don't, it will get gritty and clumpy. If this happens it's an easy fix, just add a little more butter or scotch and stir until melted and smooth.
Butter and Scotch Butterscotch Sauce
Enough for 2 generous servings
1/4 cup butterscotch morsels
1-2 tablespoons butter
2-4 tablespoons scotch.
Let butter come to room temperature. Put butterscotch chips in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring, until butterscotch chips start to melt. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and microwave for 10-15 seconds more, just until the butter is melted, stirring. Don't worry too much if it seems clumpy and grainy. Add 2 tablespoons of scotch and stir. If it's still grainy and isn't coming together, add a bit more butter and/or scotch until it gets smooth.
Serve over ice cream or pound cake.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
My podcast (with recipes!)
I've started a podcast, "Carrie P's Cocktail Party," where I will talk about, among other things, food and cooking.
My first episode, which will be out later today, gives basic recipes for both saganaki and mint juleps.
So, I figured I'd cross-post the recipes for the podcast here as well.
For those who'd like to check out the podcast, the link is here.
Becky’s Mint Juleps
8 cups water
4 cups sugar
2 tsp mint extract
Good Quality Bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)
Fresh mint
Combine water and sugar in large saucepan. Bring water to a boil, stirring occasionally. When water is fully boiling, remove from heat and let cool. Add mint extract and store in fridge or for up to a week. When making the drinks, mix 2-3 parts sugar mixture to 1 part bourbon over crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint.
Saganaki
1 8 oz square Kasseri cheese or Yanni Grilling cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1/2 shot grand Marnier
1/2 shot "Something Strong" (ouzo, bourbon, etc)
1/2 lemon
Hardware - cast-iron or flameproof pan, heatproof spatula, stick lighter
Cut cheese in half lengthwise, so you have two long, flat, slices. As if you were going to make a kasseri cheese sandwich. Dredge in flour evenly.
Melt butter in skillet. Add cheese. Grill on one side until bottom is golden brown and edges start to melt. Flip over, grill the other side until brown and the center is gooey. (poke it with your spatula to check this).
Turn off heat, remove pan from heat source. Pour in booze. Make sure you're not near anything that can catch on fire. Use stick lighter to light booze on fire, while saying OPA!
Let burn until flames start to die down, then finish them off by squeezing lemon on. Serve in the pan, with good bread.
My first episode, which will be out later today, gives basic recipes for both saganaki and mint juleps.
So, I figured I'd cross-post the recipes for the podcast here as well.
For those who'd like to check out the podcast, the link is here.
Becky’s Mint Juleps
8 cups water
4 cups sugar
2 tsp mint extract
Good Quality Bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)
Fresh mint
Combine water and sugar in large saucepan. Bring water to a boil, stirring occasionally. When water is fully boiling, remove from heat and let cool. Add mint extract and store in fridge or for up to a week. When making the drinks, mix 2-3 parts sugar mixture to 1 part bourbon over crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint.
Saganaki
1 8 oz square Kasseri cheese or Yanni Grilling cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1/2 shot grand Marnier
1/2 shot "Something Strong" (ouzo, bourbon, etc)
1/2 lemon
Hardware - cast-iron or flameproof pan, heatproof spatula, stick lighter
Cut cheese in half lengthwise, so you have two long, flat, slices. As if you were going to make a kasseri cheese sandwich. Dredge in flour evenly.
Melt butter in skillet. Add cheese. Grill on one side until bottom is golden brown and edges start to melt. Flip over, grill the other side until brown and the center is gooey. (poke it with your spatula to check this).
Turn off heat, remove pan from heat source. Pour in booze. Make sure you're not near anything that can catch on fire. Use stick lighter to light booze on fire, while saying OPA!
Let burn until flames start to die down, then finish them off by squeezing lemon on. Serve in the pan, with good bread.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Oven, Part 2
I put some slightly higher rent food in the oven this week. Even so, My savory bread pudding is still pretty much peasant food.
I adapted it from a Cheese and Wine Bake in the “I Hate to Cook Book,” by Peg Bracken. It is a tongue-in-cheek relic from the 60’s and 70’s that is, as advertised, simple, filling recipes for a harried housewife.
I kept the basic recipe, changed up the cheese, removed the mustard, added some sautéed veggies and herbs.
This is literally a refrigerator Velcro recipe. You can change the type and amount of vegetables to your taste. It’s not elegant, but it is delicious.
Savory Bread Pudding
Several thick slices of bread, enough to cover the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish
½ stick butter, softened
2 cloves garlic
3 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup of white wine
½ cup of broth
1 rounded cup vegetables (I used a half an onion and a package of button mushrooms. I’ve also added zucchini and red peppers)
1-2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Several grinds of fresh pepper
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Soften butter. Crush garlic cloves and mush into butter. Spread butter on bread. Put slices face down in baking dish.
Sautee vegetables in a little bit of oil and a pinch of salt, and any herbs you want. You want them to give up their liquid and then let that liquid evaporate off. (If you don’t do this, your end result will be waterlogged). Stir them every couple of minutes, over medium-high heat. Turn it down if it starts to burn.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs, then add broth, seasonings, and cheese. Stir to mix.
When veggies are done, spread them evenly over the bread. Top with wine-cheese mixture.
Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until bread absorbs liquid, eggs set up, and cheese is nice and golden. Serve with a green salad and a small glass of wine.
I adapted it from a Cheese and Wine Bake in the “I Hate to Cook Book,” by Peg Bracken. It is a tongue-in-cheek relic from the 60’s and 70’s that is, as advertised, simple, filling recipes for a harried housewife.
I kept the basic recipe, changed up the cheese, removed the mustard, added some sautéed veggies and herbs.
This is literally a refrigerator Velcro recipe. You can change the type and amount of vegetables to your taste. It’s not elegant, but it is delicious.
Savory Bread Pudding
Several thick slices of bread, enough to cover the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish
½ stick butter, softened
2 cloves garlic
3 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup of white wine
½ cup of broth
1 rounded cup vegetables (I used a half an onion and a package of button mushrooms. I’ve also added zucchini and red peppers)
1-2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Several grinds of fresh pepper
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Soften butter. Crush garlic cloves and mush into butter. Spread butter on bread. Put slices face down in baking dish.
Sautee vegetables in a little bit of oil and a pinch of salt, and any herbs you want. You want them to give up their liquid and then let that liquid evaporate off. (If you don’t do this, your end result will be waterlogged). Stir them every couple of minutes, over medium-high heat. Turn it down if it starts to burn.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs, then add broth, seasonings, and cheese. Stir to mix.
When veggies are done, spread them evenly over the bread. Top with wine-cheese mixture.
Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until bread absorbs liquid, eggs set up, and cheese is nice and golden. Serve with a green salad and a small glass of wine.
Monday, April 12, 2010
My oven's fixed...
...and the first thing I cook is a frozen pizza.
I shall fix this problem soon, hopefully with a fruit pie and from-scratch crust.
I shall fix this problem soon, hopefully with a fruit pie and from-scratch crust.
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