German Choclate Cake (My Current Go-To Cake)

Easy to make, even easier to eat.

This is a great cake recipe to keep on hand. This one comes to you from Fine Cooking.

German Chocolate Cake isn’t actually German. It’s named for Samuel German, the creator of a chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company that became the original cake recipe’s star ingredient back in 1957. German’s chocolate contains only 46% cacao, which makes for a subtly flavored cake. This ultimate recipe for German Chocolate Cake uses a moderate amount of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate—up to 70%—for deeper flavor. You can use any semisweet or bittersweet chocolate you like, as long as it contains 70% cacao or less. Any more than that could adversely affect the cake’s texture.

Serves 16

photo: Scott Phillips

For the cakes
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pans
4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (up to 70% cacao), coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup boiling water
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

For the coconut-pecan filling
7 oz. (about 2 cups) sweetened, shredded dried coconut
4 large egg yolks
1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. table salt
6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1-1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted and coarsely chopped

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Make the cakes
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the sides of three 9x2-inch round cake pans with butter and line the bottoms with parchment circles.
Put the chocolate in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Let stand for several seconds and then whisk until the chocolate is dissolved. Set aside until cool to the touch before mixing the batter.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. Whisk the eggs in a small measuring cup.

Beat the butter for a few seconds in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed. Add the sugar in a steady stream and then beat on medium speed, scraping the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is lightened in color and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Still on medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time, taking a full 1-1/2 minutes to add them all. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat just until blended. With the mixer turned off, add a quarter of the flour mixture.

Mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated. Add a third of the buttermilk and mix until blended. Repeat, each time adding another quarter of the flour, then a third of the buttermilk, until the last of the flour is added. Scrape the bowl as necessary and mix each addition only until it is incorporated.

Divide the batter among the pans and spread it evenly. Bake, rotating the pans and swapping their positions, until the cakes just start to pull away from the sides of the pans and spring back when very gently pressed with a finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes.

Run a knife or small spatula around the edges to separate the cakes from the pans. Turn the cakes out onto the rack and peel off the parchment. Cool completely.

Make the filling
Spread the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350°F, stirring every 2 minutes, until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Scrape the toasted coconut onto a sheet of waxed paper and let cool completely.

Whisk the egg yolks with the evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a heavy-duty, nonreactive 4-quart saucepan. Add the butter. Set over medium heat and stir constantly with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom and corners of the pot. When the mixture starts to boil, adjust the heat so that it boils actively but not furiously, and cook, stirring constantly, until golden and thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the coconut and pecans. Let cool completely.

Assemble the Cake
Put one cake layer on a cake plate. Spread a third of the filling over the top of the cake, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with a second cake layer. Spread with half of the remaining filling. Put the third cake layer on top and cover it with the remaining filling. Leave the sides of the cake exposed. Serve at room temperature.

Make Ahead Tips

The cake will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Let it come back to cool room temperature before serving.

From Fine Cooking 114 , pp. 82-87

October 10, 2011

Saffron...It's What's For Dinner!

Just how many containers do I have to get dirty to make a "one pot meal"???

Tonight for dinner Tim and I are going to make a semi-old favorite. It is Chicken and Rice with Saffron and Almonds. I'd say it was a one-pot meal but that would be a misnomer. We've just started and already I've use 4 containers! Well, I could have shortened that to 2, but come on.

2 cups of rice
1/2 teaspoon of saffron
Warm Water

2-3 Chicken Breasts broken down in to 1/2" cubes
Salt
Pepper

Olive Oil (or your go-to cooking oil)
1/2 cup slivered almonds

4 tablespoons of butter

4 cups chicken broth

Step 1:
Put the rice into something that will accommodate it being covered with warm water such as a pot or a 4-cup measuring cup. In a small container put the saffron and add 1/3 cup warm water. Let both of these soak for 20 minutes. (I use Mexican Saffron, which is a lot cheaper. If you use "real" saffron decrease the amount by 1/2)

Step 2:
If you haven't yet, break down the chicken and season with salt and pepper.

Step 3:
Into a large skillet (which you'll cook everything else in later) add 1/3 cup oil of choice and almonds. Fry them up until brown over medium-high heat (3-5 minutes). Drain almonds on paper towel and set aside.

Step 4:
Wipe out the pan (if needed), add more oil and heat it slightly before adding the chicken. Get some yummy brown on the chicken. [You don't need to cook the chicken all the way through because it will cook more in a bit.] Set chicken aside.

Step 5:
Give the pan a quick wipe out with a paper towel.
Drain the rice.

Step 6:
Add the butter and saute the rice the big pan. Add the saffron and water mixture to the rice. Add the chicken broth and season rice with salt and pepper. Add the chicken.

Step 7:
Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until all the liquid should be absorbed and holes should appear on surface. Remove from heat.

Step 8:
Place a layer of paper towels on top of the rice and cover with lid. Let sit 10 more minutes.

Step 9:
Add the almonds in and serve!

Everyone's Favorite--Pizza!

Pizza is one of our favorite things to eat. It also happens to be one of the easiest and most delicious things to makes, in my opinion. The great thing about pizza is you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. I am going to tell you how we make our favorite pizza!

It all starts with the crust.

I have a couple of different recipes for crust, but I find myself going back to the same one over and over again. It just is so easy and fast:

Jen's Easy-P-Z Pizza Dough
1 cup warm water (110-115 F)
1 package or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (Rapid Rise is fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
4-6 cups all purpose bleached or unbleached flour
olive oil

1. To make good anything that involves yeast, it is important that the water be at the correct temperature. Too cold and the yeast is sluggish. To hot and the yeast is dead. Invest in an instant read thermometer. I use one that I bought at a restaurant supply store for less than $5.

2. Pour the warm water into a medium to large bowl. The bowl should be able to comfortably hold a volleyball.  Sprinkle or dump the yeast into the water and give it a quick stir. Set this aside for a few minutes to let it work.

3. Add the olive oil and the salt and stir.

4. Stir in 2 cups of flour.

5. Add remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments until the dough goes from batter-like to dough-like. You'll be able to tell because it will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It will be somewhat sticky.

6. Dump dough on a floured surface and work in more flour by kneading until you have a soft, non-sticky dough. You'll feel the change in the dough as you work with it.

7. Pour some olive oil into the bottom of the bowl (1-2 tablespoons). Put the ball of dough back into the bowl on top of the oil and using the dough, smear the inside of the bowl. Basically you're just turning the dough upside down so that it and the bowl and coated in a light sheen of oil.

8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and leave it in a warm, draft free place for 1 hour. (If you used Rapid Rise you need only wait 30 minutes) I like to put the bowl of dough in my oven. If it is cold, I will turn my oven on to 500 for 2-3 minutes then turn it off before I put the bowl of dough in.

Making the Pizza.

About half way through the rising process I start gathering the other ingredients for the pizza and getting things together. For our favorite Friday Night Pizza you'll need the following:

Pesto Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Pepperoni
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
Cornmeal
Pizza Stone
Pizza Peel or a cookie sheet

You can make your own pesto sauce which is really easy. All you need is some fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic. All of that gets blended together to make a spreadable paste. You can also purchase prepared pesto sauce like I do. My favorite brands are Trader Joe's (the fresh one!) and Costco's pesto sauce. I get the cold stuff in the deli section. The canned stuff is much too salty. If you've been getting take-out pizza you might not notice the difference, but trust me. Once you've been consistently eating homemade pizza you'll be able to tell just how salty that canned stuff is.

How many pizzas does this dough make? Well, that depends on you.

Thick or thin?

Big or small?

I usually get between 4 and 6 pizzas depending on how thin I roll the dough. I like to be able to tell where my fingers are on the other side of the dough but not to actually see them.

Sprinkle some cornmeal onto your pizza peel or paddle (or cookie sheet without sides) and spread your pre-rolled dough on top. I aim for a 9-10 inch pizza, about the size of a dinner plate.

Smear some pesto sauce on the pizza.

Now add some cheese. You want to be able to see the sauce through the cheese. Trust me. This will be plenty cheesy.

 Now comes the pepperoni....

 ....and the mushrooms. I like to do it this way because sometimes the topping shake loose when you're putting the pizza onto the stone. If I loose a little cheese or a mushroom piece or two I don't care. I do get annoyed when the meat falls off.

Now we bake your pizza in your 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Again. This depends on the size of your pizza and how much color you want on it.

What normally happens in our house is I have the uncooked pizza on the pizza peel and the cooked pizza comes out on a cookie sheet. This way I can keep things moving pretty quick!

For fun on the pizza below I sliced the pepperoni the long way. I also gave the pizza a lot of color. I like the caramelized almost nutty taste you get when you cook things a little while longer.

And there you have it. The beginning of a promising weekend! So open a beer, pull out the yeast and get cooking! And please, let me know how it goes.

Community Supported Agriculture & Certified Organic

So we have heard about these community farms for some time. And about co-ops and such. A good friend of ours, Suzann Leininger, was a member of a Community Supported Agriculture Program in northern San Diego called Be Wise Ranch.

We were always concerned we'd get food we didn't like, or that we wouldn't be able to eat it all, etc. You know, excuses.

Well, I started looking at it again, this time in more detail. There are a number of options available - I think that's a great idea - which help make it more flexible to fit what a family wants/needs. You can choose between the Large and Small boxes (actually I was quite surprised to see how close in size the boxes are). And they have added another option - every-other-week pickup.

We checked in with Suzann. She and her husband Bill get the Small box every-other-week. We decided to go for it, and selected the Large box, every-other-week. Oh ya, and if you find you want the other size, or to pickup every week, you can switch.

So Thursday we picked up our first box!

Too bad you can't see the carrots in the photo. It's really quite a haul. Hard to see it all in the photo. Here's a list of what was in the box this week...

Arugula
Apples
Bok Choy
Carrots
Celery
Kale
Lettuce
Mizuna - this one is totally new to us!
Mustard Greens
Oranges
Radishes
Basil
Spring Mix

The hope is that this will help us to be better about eating our fruits and veggies, and eat more greens. So far so good. Now we need to work on getting creative with all this bounty and work it into our cooking.

Be Wise helps here too, with a page of recipes from other members. We will have to be good citizens and add some recipes there too!

Chocolate Coffee Cake, AKA Chocolate Babka

This is my all time favorite chocolate coffee cake. It isn't hard to make, it just takes a lot of time. The upside is that it makes 3 loaves so you have 1 for you and 2 to give to as gifts. Or, if you really loves these, freeze the other two and pull them out as needed. Please note that coffee cake is never as good as it is when it is freshly made. This is a big serving and in my opinion it is best when you serve it people you really, really like. Or really want to impress!

So here it is, Martha Stewart's....

Chocolate Babka

• 

• 

When shaping the babka, twist dough evenly throughout the length of the roll a full 5 to 6 turns. The babka can be prepared up to step 8 and frozen for up to a month before baking. When ready to bake, remove from freezer; let stand at room temperature for about 5 hours, and bake.

Martha Stewart Living, May 2000

• Yield Makes 3 loaves

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm milk, 110 degrees
• 2 (1/4 ounce each) packages active dry yeast
• 1 3/4 cups plus a pinch of sugar
• 3 whole large eggs, room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for bowl and loaf pans
• 2 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• Streusel Topping (at bottom of page)

Directions

1. Pour warm milk into a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and pinch of sugar over milk; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and egg yolks. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add egg mixture, and beat on low speed until almost all the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Change to the dough hook. Add 2 sticks butter, and beat until flour mixture and butter are completely incorporated, and a smooth, soft dough that's slightly sticky when squeezed is formed, about 10 minutes.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few turns until smooth. Butter a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
5. Place chocolate, remaining cup sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in remaining 1 1/2 sticks butter until well combined; set filling aside.
6. Generously butter three 9-by-5-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pans; line them with parchment paper. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon cream; set egg wash aside. Punch back the dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Let rest 5 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Keep 2 pieces covered with plastic wrap while working with the remaining piece. On a generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16-inch square; it should be 1/8 inch thick.
7. Brush edges with reserved egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of the reserved chocolate filling evenly over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Refresh egg wash if needed. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch ends together to seal. Twist 5 or 6 turns. Brush top of roll with egg wash. Carefully crumble 2 tablespoons filling over the left half of the roll, being careful not to let mixture slide off. Fold right half of the roll over onto the coated left half. Fold ends under, and pinch to seal. Twist roll 2 turns, and fit into prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough and remaining filling.
8. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the top of each loaf with egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of streusel topping over each loaf. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.
9. Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until babkas are deep golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks until cool. Remove from pans; serve.

• Yield Makes 3 3/4 cups

Streusel Topping

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and butter. Using a fork, stir until fully combined with clumps ranging in size from crumbs to 1 inch.

A Dinner for Lions

Tonight Tim has Lions and he has asked me to make dinner for them. So he promised everyone meatloaf, so I'll be making that later today. I love to combine beef and pork together (50/50) with whatever else sounds good at the moment. I usually add egg, breadcrumbs, parsley and onions (and of course salt and pepper!) what comes after that is the mystery! I have picked up a good little trick along the way: Pinch off a small piece of the meatloaf mixture and fry it up in a pan with some oil. This is your best way of finding out what your meatloaf needs while you are still in a position to fix it!

Of course you can't just have meatloaf for dinner. You have to have potatoes. But I am not much of a fan of gravy. Don't get me wrong, I love a good gravy, but I just don't feel like making any. So I picked up box of sweet potatoes instead. I was going to bake, skin and mash them but I think my life will be infinity easier if I just bake them and let everyone do what they want to them.

I will do something for a salad, not sure yet what that will be. I am also going to send some rolls along for dinner. I loooooove me some dinner rolls with a thick slice of butter melting in the middle of a roll. Mmmmmmm. So here are te rolls I am going to make for this evening. I wanted something simple that wouldn't take a lot of my time shaping and rising and rolling and all that stuff. So I chose these: Classic Dinner Rolls - Fine Cooking Recipes, Techniques and Tips.

Lastly, my favorite part of almost any meal is dessert! I wanted to bake a cake, but unless I use a mix I have run out of time. So I think I'll make some bar cookies that I have been eyeing in "Baked: New Frontiers in Bakin" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, their Peanut Butter Crispy Bars (page 133, if you have the book). I think I will also send the leftover chocolate truffles from Linda and Steve's 40's Wedding Anniversary Party. Now that was fun!

Crockpot Pork Tenderloin

My step-mother-in-law (love you, Joyce!) used to make a great slow-cooker pork for Sunday dinner when we used to visit her. (Unfortunately for us, she moved to Texas and took her yummy down home cooking with her.) She said she just threw it in with some water and a package of onion soup mix and cooked it, but it sure didn't taste that way. For dinner tonight I finally made one that turned out as good, or better than, hers!

First I browned the pork in olive oil, then tossed into the crockpot with homemade chicken broth, a package of onion soup mix (the type often used to make brown onion dip), 1 tablespoon of balsamic glaze we got at Restaurant Depot, 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce & 4 tablespoons of soy sauce. Add a little water (if needed) to cover pork. Stir it all up. Cook on high for 3 hours or until cooked through.

I served the pork with a side of white rice that I browned first in some of the left over oil I used to sear the pork. Round that out with a salad and you are good to go.

Next time I think I’ll lightly salt and pepper the pork before I sear it, but aside from that it was really yummy. Sorry, no photos this time..

If you love ordering chicken parmesan when you go out to eat at an Italian restaurant, then you are going to love this...and you'll start to look for other things on the menu to try at that restaurant. Honest. This is just that good and that easy to make.

Quick Chicken Parmesan

Serves 4

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chicken breastscan crushed tomatoes in puréeParmigiano Reggianomore

Nonstick cooking spray
2-1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
4 thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets (about 14 oz.)
Kosher salt
5 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (use the small holes on a box grater)
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes (preferably Muir Glen fire-roasted crushed tomatoes)
1/4 cup packed fresh basil, chopped (1/2 oz.)

---

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a wide, shallow dish. In a second wide, shallow dish, lightly beat the eggs with 1 Tbs. water. Put the panko in a third wide, shallow dish. Season the chicken with salt and coat each piece in the flour, tapping off the excess, then the egg, and then the panko, pressing the panko to help it adhere.

Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, cook the chicken, flipping once, until the crumbs are golden and the chicken is almost cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side, adding 2 Tbs. more oil for the second batch. Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chicken with the Parmigiano and then top evenly with the mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, wipe the skillet clean and set over medium heat. Pour in the remaining 1 Tbs. oil and then add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender and lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and 1/4 tsp. salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

(To see this on FineCooking.com go here: Chicken Parmesan - Fine Cooking Recipes, Techniques and Tips. Recipe by Melissa Gaman)

This is a truly excellent dish and super easy to make. To make this Tim & Jen style substitute crushed saltine crackers for panko and add some of those Topper's lightly salted crispy onions (used for salad) or the ones you use on green bean casserole. We also used a bottle of our favorite marinara sauce instead of making the quick tomato sauce.

This is a great dish to make extra of and freeze. We had a lot of chicken and went ahead and fried up a bunch of breast strips and then froze them on a baking sheet with the cheese on top. From there it was easy to wrap up and freeze for later. Later turned out to be less than a week. This was just too good to keep in the freezer! To reheat just turn the oven on and cook as directed. It may take a minute or two longer, but not much. We found this defrosted and cooked very quickly.

Enjoy!

Steak and Blueberries

Last night we had Suzann, Bill, Linda and Steve over for dinner. It was a great group, and I planned it so I actually got a chance to sit down and enjoy my guests.

First, I set the table ahead of time and decided, since we were such a small group, to serve the meal family style. Also, I  went super easy on the appetizers, which just left the salad and corn, and lighting the candles (Tim handled the main dish) as last minute items.

Our original menu included chips and salsa and a bowl of olives to much on, but at the last minute we decided to leave them off as we had more than enough food. Instead we just opened a container of pub cheese from Trader Joes (TJ’s), some herbed goat cheese, a box of wheat thins and I sliced up the stag salami we got in London at the Borough Street Market while we were on holiday this summer. I finished that off with a plate of green and black grapes with a sprinkling of strawberries for additional color. Alternating the grapes on the plate made the fruit look nice and gave it an additional panache.

For the main event Tim cooked sirloin steaks with a new rub we found in Food Magazine and we served it with individual ramekins of the accompany steak sauce, both of which went over well. I axed the twice baked potatoes, mainly because I remembered them too late and also because we didn’t need them. There was plenty to eat with the fresh green salad (which I topped with sliced beets from TJ’s, carrots, homegrown tomatoes from a friend, red bell pepper and mushrooms) and corn on the cob. I cooked the corn in the microwave, tossing the ears whole the way they come off the plant silk and all. Two ears take about three minutes. Lastly I made fantail rolls from scratch, which we served with butter.

For dessert everyone joined me in the kitchen as I whipped up fresh whipped cream which was spread on top of the Chocolate Pavolva followed by a generous sprinkling of raspberries. I also served a blueberry and lemon marmalade infused with a hint of lavender loose form tart. The tart was my own spin off something I saw on TV and it was delicious! We offered vanilla ice cream for those that wanted it. It was a wonderful meal and a spectacular dinner because we shared great food with great friends. That’s the winning combination!

Recipes

Steak Rub

1/4 cup ancho chile powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Whisk everything in a bowl. Pull steak out of refrigerator about 20 minutes before you want to grill it. Sprinkle rub on one side of steak and let sit. Grill rub side down. (Food Network Magazine June 2010, page 149)

Steak Sauce

1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving. (Food Network Magazine June 2010, page 149)

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
(Food Network Magazine June 2010, page 140)

Blueberry Tart with Lemon Marmalade infused with Lavender

Puff Pasty
Blueberries
Marmalade
Tapioca
Tuberino Sugar
Water

Preheat oven to 400. Defrost 1 sheet of puff pastry. Once the pastry is defrosted roll it out on a very lightly dusted cutting board. Transfer pastry to a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread a good amount of marmalade in the center and as far out as the blueberries will go. Mound blueberries in center. Sprinkle with a dash of tapioca and some sugar. Fold up the edges of the pastry and brush with water, sprinkling with sugar afterwards. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is cooked. Cool.

Tim's Back from Texas

Yup. Tim is back and it is great, make that beyond fantastic, to have him home again. He had a wonderful visit with his step-mother, Joyce, and his dad. He came back with lots of pictures of Denton (geocruise.blogspot.com) which I was just told are not up yet, but there are tons of great photos just the same.

Anywho, he had a good trip, a hot gay-motorcyclin' cowboy named Justin tried to pick him up at Fuzzy's Taco Shop (I think the name of the place says it all!). He ate BBQ at The Prairie House, Tex-Mex at Fuzzy's (stop thinking that!) & good old home-style-Ramona cooking at Joyce's. Unfortunately he did not get to any of the places on our list! So keep any eye out here as we plan to order some mailorder goodies from the bakery & popcorn place for sure. Who knows, maybe you'll be over at our house for dinner when that happens!

Move Over Original Pancake House!

Last night I promised Tim I'd make him something special for breakfast in the morning. You see, last night I opened up "The Best of Fine Cooking: Sweet Cakes", it is one of those super expensive, extra huge magazines they put out every so often. I wasn't looking for breakfast foods. I was looking for some cake recipe to inspire me into a fit of baking. I found one, an applesauce-walnut cake that I've been eyeing for a while, but it was too late to start anything. But as I was flipping I ran across Skillet Puff Pancake, which looks a lot like the Dutch Boy Pancake they serve at The Original Pancake House. So there I was, looking at the Skillet Puff Pancake, ignoring the Parsnip & Pecan Sour Cream Muffins on the same page, but finding my eyes drawn across the next page and the Fastest-Ever Cinnamon Buns across the way. Hmmm. What to do?

This morning Tim decide that the Skillet Puff Pancake sounded better than the Fastest-Ever Cinnamon Buns, and since we didn't want to shower, hop in the car and drive to the Original Pancake House it was a go.

Skillet Puff Pancake (serves 2)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
dash of salt
2 oz (4 tablespoons) butter

Heat oven to 450F and put a large skillet or shallow Dutch-oven in to heat, cast iron is perfect. In a bowl, beat eggs, flour, milk and salt. It's important to mix all ingredients together at once; otherwise, your pancake won't puff. The more air you beat into the batter, the higher it will rise in the oven.* When the oven is hot, toss the butter into the skillet and let it melt. Pour the batter into the skillet and return it to the oven. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pancake is puffed and golden. Cut in half and serve immediately with warm maple syrup, coffee and the newspaper. (Fine Cooking Magazine)

This has become a favorite weekend breakfast for us. Tim and I love it! It is easy, fast and if you start your bacon in the oven and then make the pancake they'll both come out about the same time.

*I have made this using a KitchenAid and just a run of the mill wire whisk. I promise you, the whisk makes a better pancake. You can beat in a lot more air with a whisk then with the whisk attachment and it takes so little time you'll spend half of it just pulling out the mixer if you're like me and store it under the counter. Use the whisk! Use The Whisk! USE the Whisk!!!

Tim's Off to Texas

Tim is off to Texas soon and I just happen to have a list of places I would like him to try while he's there. And of course I also want him to pick up a little something for me!


Machacek Bakery (300 Grant Ave, Strawn, TX 76475). You might be wondering how on earth you pronounce that, right? Well think I'm a hot chick and just remove the "I" part. So it is M-a-hot-chick Bakery, which is famous for their Kolaches. Kolaches are little pillows of dough with a filling set in the middle, where a hole would be if they awere donuts. I have to say that the pecan ones are the one I am drooling over (Tim, make a note: bring me a dozen Pecan Kolaches, please!).


I am also interested in Cornucopia (1914 Guadalupe St. Suite B Austin Texas 78705), which is in Austin Texas. Recently I tried some popcorn at Costco (different company) and wow, what a revelation. I am hoping that Tim will be able to go here and pick up some yummy popcorn to bring home. One of their signature flavors is Dill Pickel, which I think I might just skip. I will have to try the Cheddar, because that is my favorite popcorn flavor of all time. And the Peanut Brittle sounds delicious, as well. I have made Peanut Butter & Chocolate popcorn and it was devine, so we might as well put that on the list too. In fact, I think I might just order a sample box of flavors and let Tim skip this one. Popcorn does take up a huge amount of room, and I'm afraid he'll eat it all before he gets home!


The last place in Texas is the one Tim will want to try the most, famous Black's BBQ (215 North Main Street, Lockhart, Texas 78644) in Lockhart, Texas. Black's is Texas' oldest, continuously run BBQ restaurant owned by the same family, and according to their site, they are also the best! It sounds as it they are famous for their homemade smoked, double sausage, among other things. But if I know my husband it will be the brisket, but I would want the sausage. Their sausage is not made with the scraps of things no one wants to eat, instead it is made with premium meats, just like the rest of their food. Let's go to Black's!


That is all I have for now, and I'll tell you why. I just started writing down all, the places I want to try, as seen on TV. I have been talking about compiling a list for years so that when we travel we know where we want to eat and things we want to try. So here is what I hope will be the first of many such posts. Keep coming back - we'll keep adding things to make it worth your while.

Chocolate Cake with Ganache Icing

Chocolate Cake
This make a 9-inch layer cake

Preheat over to 350 and grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line pans with parchment and grease parchment.

Sift the following together into a large bowl:
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Add to the dry ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk*
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
(At this point if you wish to make a mocha cake add 1 tablespoon espresso powder to boiling water, mix well)

Whisk everything together until well incorporated. Divide batter between pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife, toothpick or such comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing. Cool completely before frosting with Ganache Icing

*if you don't have buttermilk (or don't want to go to the expensive of buying it just for this recipe) add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar OR lemon juice to 1 cup milk (minus 1 tablespoon) and let sit for 5 minutes before using.

Ganche Icing
This makes plenty for the cake, plus enough for a few cupcakes as well.

1 cup heavy cream
10 ounces semi sweet, dark or bitter-sweet chocolate, finely chopped**


Put cream in heavy pan (big enough for both the cream and the chocolate and some wiggle room) over medium heat until bubbles appear around edges. Take pan off heat, add chocolate; shake the pan to submerge the chocolate and leave it to melt for a few minutes. Using a whisk stir gently to mix the chocolate to a smooth cream. Do not beat the mixture or you'll get unwanted bubbles and you'll loose the pretty glossy sheen.

Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes on counter to thicken. You'll want to stir it a few times as the edges will thicken faster than the middle.

Using a wide spatula or icing knife, test the ganache by putting some in the center of the bottom layer of cake. It should fall in thick waves but not run off completely. Allow to set up before serving.

This cake is best at room temperature, but you can refrigerate it. The original recipe suggests sandwiching the cakes together with your favorite jam. I am a bit of a purist and just want chocolate, so  have omitted this step completely.


**For best results do not use chocolate chips. Fresh and Easy has some inexpensive but delicious chocolate. Remember the yummier the chocolate the yummier the icing!


Enjoy!

From the cookbook "Serena, Food & Stories: Feeding Friends Every Hour of the Day" Cheating Chocolate Cake and Ganache.

Bacon Jam – yes, bacon jam

Check out my husband’s BBQ blog for a post on Bacon Jam that we made tonight to dress up hamburgers. Good stuff!

http://timcraig.blogspot.com/

Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

We made this for Christmas dinner 2009 and we all really enjoyed it. Best way to eat brussels sprouts we have found yet.

This simple one-pan preparation is long on flavor, thanks to the pancetta and balsamic vinegar. If pancetta is hard to come by, substitute two thick slices of bacon.
Serves two to three.

2 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
1 to 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
10 oz. Brussels sprouts (about 18 medium sprouts), trimmed and halved through the core
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
Kosher salt

In a heavy 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan set over medium- low heat, slowly cook the pancetta in 1 Tbs. of the oil until golden and crisp all over, 10 to 15 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the fat behind. You should have about 2 Tbs. of fat in the pan; if not, add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil. Have ready 1/2 cup water. Put the pan over medium-high heat and arrange the sprouts cut side down in a single layer. Cook undisturbed until nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes. When the sprouts are browned, add the water to the pan, cover immediately, and simmer until the sprouts are tender when poked with a fork or skewer, about 3 minutes. (If the water evaporates before the sprouts get tender, add more water, 1/4 cup at a time.) With a slotted spoon, transfer the sprouts to a plate.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and if any water remains, let it boil off. Add the balsamic vinegar and a few grinds of pepper. Boil the vinegar until it’s reduced to about 2 Tbs. and looks lightly syrupy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the butter, and stir until melted. Return the sprouts and pancetta to the pan and swirl and shake the pan to evenly coat the sprouts with the sauce. Season to taste with salt and more pepper and serve.

From Fine Cooking 74, pp. 30
November 1, 2005

Online: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/balsamic-glazed-brussels-sprouts-pancetta.aspx

Dry Chimichurri Rub

This recipe came from a magazine – and when I find it again I will add that information to this post. We made this rub up a few year’s ago and gave it out as small gifts to friends. We put it in a shaker bottle and provided the recipe with the rub. We enjoyed ours, and heard good things from our friends about it. We purchased the herbs from Penzeys Spices and were happy with the prices and quality.

OK – here’s the recipe & the notes we included to friends:

In Argentina, this mix of herbs and spices is combined with oil and vinegar and used as a sauce for grilled meats.

Serving Suggestion: Rub all over tri-tip before roasting; sprinkle over halibut fillets before pan-searing; make a marinade for roast chicken by whisking ¼ cup rub with ½ cup olive oil and 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar.

For best results (in case you want to make more!), use dried herb leaves – not powered or ground. We got our fresh herbs and spices from http://www.penzeys.com – the prices are comparable or better to other sites, and the selection is excellent.

This rub recipe makes about ¾ cup

3 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons dried basil leaves
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried savory leaves
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (sometimes labeled Pimentón Dulce)

Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer to an airtight container.

Can be made 1 month ahead.
Store at room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Cruncher Cookies

One of our favorite treats to have around the house.

This is a double recipe...

2 Cups Butter
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Brown Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Soda
4 teaspoons Vanilla
4 Eggs
5 Cups Flour
4 Cups Corn Flakes
2 packages Chocolate Chips

Roll into walnut sized balls, squish a bit on baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees till done. Don't over cook! Place on cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Lo Pollo

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Rum
Serves 2

2 (8 oz) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Dark Rum
2-3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
lime, thinly sliced for garnish (if you want it, we usually skip it)

- Flatten chicken to 1/4" thickness & season with salt and pepper

- Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until oil is hot, but not smoking. Add chicken & saute until browned & almost cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side.

- Remove pan from stove, carefully add rum. Carefully light match (or other lighting tool) & ignite rum. When flames subside, return pan to stove. Add lime juice & butter, shaking skillet to incorporate. Cook, turning chicken in sauce to coat, until chicken is just cooked through, about 1 minute more.

- Transfer chicken to plate. Season pan juices with salt & pepper & pour over chicken.

Enjoy!

We like to pair this dish with a rice pilaf. The one we like is store bought - Near East Rice Pilaf mix (original).

Create Your Own Cookbook

I ran across this article on the site 101 Cookbooks and thought some folks might be interested in it.

It focuses on a web-based publishing concept called TasteBook, which actually looks pretty cool.

Here's the link to the blog posting. If you have a lot of favorite recipes you would like in one place, or you would like to give a book of your favorites as gifts, then you should take a look.

Double Peanut Pie

Simple to make - but very tasty!

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup salted peanuts
whipped cream for garnish

1. Prepare pie crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat eggs with corn syrup, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Stir in peanuts.
3. Place pie plate on oven rack; pour mixture into crust. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted about 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Cool. Garnish servings with whipped cream.


The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1989, Page 356

Roasted Fingerlings with Red and Yellow Piperade

We have only made this once (and we multiplied the recipe by 5!! - which we don't recommend - too much to deal with), took it to a HVOC dog club gathering for the holidays and it was a total hit. We have to agree, it's a keeper of a recipe. So here it is if you would like to try it...


Makes 8 to 10 Servings The small potatoes known as fingerlings have a sweet, buttery flavor. Small red-skinned potatoes would work too. [we recommend the fingerlings. We got ours at Costco]

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, cut into 1/4 - 1/3-inch-wide strips
2 large yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, cut into 1/4 - 1/3-inch-wide strips
1 large red onion, halved through core, thinly sliced crosswise
3 pounds fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise [if there are any really thick ones, cut them in thirds or quarters]
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil onto large rimmed baking sheet. Spread all peppers and sliced onion over, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast 10 minutes.
Place halved potatoes and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in single layer atop peppers. Roast until potatoes are tender and beginning to turn golden, about 50 minutes.

Do Ahead:
Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 425 degree F oven for 10 minutes before continuing.
Sprinkle chopped parsley and shallots over potatoes and toss to coat. Roast potatoes 5 minutes longer. Transfer potatoes to large platter. Sprinkle with chives, basil, and thyme. Drizzle with Champagne vinegar and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Piperade refers to the classic Basque stew made with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and garlic.


Bon Appetit, November 2007 issue, page 155

Lemon Buttermilk Poppy Seed Cake

Serves: 16
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Baking Time: 45 - 50 Minutes

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan (or whatever works for you)
Flour for dusting the pan

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (we have substituted yellow and it is yummy)
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1/3 cup poppy seeds
1 cup low-fat vanilla or lemon yogurt (we use vanilla)
1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, poppy seeds, yogurt, oil, buttermilk, eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute (we use a KitchenAid mixer and can actually make a double recipe in the standard bowl). Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the side down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended and the poppy seeds should be evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that the cake it right side up. Allow the cake to cool completely, 30 minutes or more.

4. Place the cake on a serving platter and serve.


** Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving.

Arroz Mexicana

1 c long grain rice
1 garlic clove
1/2 t salt
2 T lard or vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, chopped (1/2 lb.)
1 c water
1 c chicken broth
1/3 c frozen peas, thawed (I don't like peas either! Leave them out!)
1 small carrot, peeled, cooked, diced
1/2 t salt

Rinse rice in hot water (rub rice to get starch out) and then keep repeating with cold water until water no longer gets cloudy. Place rice on pan to dry out. (If you use it wet just be careful when adding rice to skillet.)

Mash garlic with 1/2 t salt to make a paste; set aside.

Heat lard or oil in large pot. Add rice. Cook and stir over medium heat until lightly browned. Add onion and garlic paste. Cook and stir until onion is tender.

Add tomatoes. Cook and stir until tomatoes are softened and blended into rice mixture. Add water. Cover and simmer until water is absorbed. Stir in broth, peas, carrot and 1/2 t salt.

Cover and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and steam 30 to 45 minutes until rice is tender.

Makes 4 servings.

Rum Cake

1 Package Cake Mix
~ Cup Rum
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
~ Cup Water
3 Eggs

Bake at 325 for 1 hour in a bundt cake pan.
Cool in pan - 25 minutes.
Invert onto serving plate, prick top sides of cake. The more holes, the more the rum glaze is absorbed. Spoon/brush Rum Glaze evenly over cake - allowing cake to absorb the glaze.

When cake is cool, drizzle with Chocolate Glaze and sprinkle with nuts.


Rum Glaze:
1 Stick Butter
~ cup water
1 cup sugar
~ cup rum

Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Chocolate Glaze:
4 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon butter or shortening

Melt over low heat in heavy sauce pan. Drizzle over cake when melted.

Sprinkle chopped nuts over chocolate to decorate.

Different cake flavor mixes make a different cake. Try using chocolate cake and substitute bourbon for rum.

This cake has endless possibilities!

Papaya Seed Salad Dressing

1/2 cup sugar
1 T salt
1 t dry mustard
1 c red wine vinegar
1 c oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 T papaya seeds

Put dry ingredients and vinegar in blender. Add oil and onion, blend. Add seeds, blend until they look like pepper. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Kalamata Cheese Spread

8 ounces cream cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 spoons minced chives or green onions
2 tablespoons cilantro or basil
2 tablespoons minced parsley
17 or 18 pitted and minced Kalamata olives

Combine all ingredients except olives and mix well. Mix in olives. Chill. Serve with crackers.

French Potato Salad

2 lbs Yukon Gold potaotes, scrubbed but not peeled
1/2 cup white-wine vinegarsalt and white pepper to taste
1/2 extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
2/3 cups chopped green onions or scallions

Boil the whole, unpeeled potaotes in generously salted water until fork tender, 20-30 minutes, depending on size. As soon as you can handle the potatoes but while they're still warm, slice them just under 1/2 inch wiuth a very sharp knife.

Combine vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle the salt, pepper and vinegar-olive oil mixture over the warm potatoes; toss gently. Add the shallots nand green onions. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

Fine Cooking Magazine, June/July 1998

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Butter
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
2 Eggs
3 Cups Flour - Sifted
1 Teaspoon Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cut Nuts
1 Pack Chocolate Chips

Cream butter in large bowl. Add brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix until blended. Combine flour, soda and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over flour. Toss to coat nuts and chips with flour.

Mix until combines, adding additional flour until all had been added.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at Cook at 375° for 8-10 minutes.

Carolina Barbecued Pork

Carolina Barbecue Sauce
This recipe produces a marinade, a "mop" (for basting the pork), and a sauce. It should have a sharp edge; if it's too sweet, add more vinegar.
Yields about 12 cups.


1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses
1 head garlic, broken into unpeeled cloves
2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
3 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
8 small dried chilies
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cans (16 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes, with juice
1 quart distilled white vinegar4 cups water* cup salt


Combine honey, molasses, garlic, cumin, coriander, peppercorns, chilies, and bay leaves in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Cook for 30 minuets, stirring occasionally. The garlic will darken, and the mis6ture will be very thick and fragrant. Add the tomato paste and tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to break up tomatoes. Stir in the vinegar, water and salt. The sauce should be thin. Simmer the sauce, uncovered, for at least 2 hours and as long as 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Set aside half the sauce (or more if necessary) for the marinating the pork. Let the remaining sauce cool; fish out any large pieces of garlic peel. Puree the sauce in a blender; some of the spices will remain whole. The sauce should be rather watery and look similiar to a brothy tomato soup.


Carolina Barbecued Pork
Marinade the meat for at least a day; two is even better. You can roast pork in the oven or on a grill. Yields 2+ pounds of barbecue; serves eight to ten.

1 recipe Carolina Barbecue sauce
2 boneless fresh pork butts (3 pounds each) untrimmed
White hamburger buns for serving

One to two days before the barbecue:
Put the pork in a container just large enough to hold it and deep enough for the sauce to cover the meat. Pour in enough sauce to cover the meat, covert the container, and refrigerate for at least a day, preferably two. Reserve the rest of the sauce for basting and dressing the meat. Halfway through the marinating process, turn the pork in the sauce.

Barbecue the pork-If you're using a charcoal grill, start a slow fire; you should be able to hold your hand just a few inches above the grate for 10 seconds without becoming uncomfortably hot. If you are using a gas grill, over or smoker, heat it to 200F.

Put the marinated pork butts fat side up in the grill or smoker and close the lid. (For the oven, put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan.) Leave the pork alone for a about 3 hours, then begin basting with sauce every 30 minutes. Four hours into cooking, turn the pork over and continue cooking for another 2 hours. The pork is ready when the internal temperature reaches between 150 and 160F. This should take about 2 hours per pound. Take the pork off the heat and let it sit until cool enough to handle.
Chop and shred the pork - You can slice the pork or pull it apart with your fingers.

Put the chopped or pulled pork in a large bowl and begin tossing in some of the reserved sauce; the amount is a matter of taste. Serve the pork warm with more sauce on the side.

Szechwan Chicken Meatloaf

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped carrot
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon minced peeled ginger root
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup cooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup water chestnuts
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 tablespoons Szechwan hot & spicy sauce
1 pound ground chicken or turkey

Heat oil in small non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add green onions, carrots, celery, ginger root and garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until tender. Combine green onion mixture, rice, water chestnuts, soy sauce,. and Szechwan sauce in large bowl; stir well. Crumble chicken over green onion mixture, and stir until just blended. Preheat over to 350°. Pack mixture into an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle sesame seeds over top of loaf. Back at 350° for 50 minutes or until meat loaf registers 160°. Let loaf stand in pan 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan; cut into 12 slices. Serve with Chinese hot mustard and sweet-and-sour sauce, if desired.


Calories 163 (27% from fat); Protein 18.1 g; Fat 4.8 g

COOKING LIGHT MAGAZINE MARCH 1996

Orphan's Rice

2 2/3 cups homemade or low-salt canned chicken stock
Pinch saffron threads (about 1/8 tsp.)
3 Tbs. oil
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
1 Tbs. finely minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 oz. bacon (about 1 think slice or 2 thin slices)
1 1/2 oz. finely chopped ham (about 1/4 cup)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
3/4 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 Tbs. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley


Heat the stock in a small saucepan until very hot but not boiling, and add the saffron. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes.

Heat a medium-large, heavy-based pot of Dutch oven (with a good lid) over medium heat until hot, pour in the oil, and then add the rice and sauté, stirring frequently, until a few grains just begin to brown, no more, 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Turn the heat to high, add the saffron broth and salt, bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down to very low, and cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, fry the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels, chop finely, and mix with the ham. Pour out the grease from the pan and add the butter. Melt the butter over medium heat, add the pecans, almonds, and pine nuts, and sauté them, stirring frequently until the almonds begin to turn golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Don't overcook the nuts or they'll be bitter. When the rice has cooked 15 minutes, stir in the bacon and ham, sautéed nuts, and parsley, cover the pot, and take it off the heat. Let the rice steam in the covered pot for 10 minutes.

Serve hot.

Carrots with Ginger and Honey

Serves 8 to 10
Larger carrots cut into pieces can be substituted for the baby carrots.

6 bunches baby carrots (about 2 pounds)
Salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 two-inch pieces fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
3 tablespoons honey

1. Trim stems of carrots to 1/2 inch. Peel carrots, and wash stem area.

2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Salt water, add carrots, and reduce heat. Simmer until carrots are almost tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove carrots from heat, and drain. (Carrots can be prepared earlier in the day to this point.)

3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, and sauté, stirring, until transparent, about 2 minutes. Add carrots and honey, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until carrots are glazed. Serve immediately.

White Bean & Artichoke Dip

Serves six to eight as an appetizer; yields about 2 cups of dip.

1 can (15 ½ ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 ½ ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 small clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigianino Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Cayenne
Olive oil

In a food processor, blend the beans, artichoke hearts, garlic, and lemon juice to a smooth paste. With the processor running, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. If needed, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to get a smooth consistency. Blend in the cheese and rosemary; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a medium bowl, sprinkle with 2 generous pinches cayenne and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with pita chips.


From “The Best Recipes of Fine Cooking: Dinner with Friends 2004”, page 94.
(Original recipe includes directions for making pita chips.)

Artichoke Torta

Yields one 8-inch torta; serves six, plus leftovers.

This dense frittata-like torta takes a bit of time to prepare, but it’s quite easy to cook and the results are terrific: moist, tender and full oil cheesy, herby flavors. It’s a great do-ahead dish that wants to be served at room temperature. You can make it up to a day in advance.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, minced
One 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and very roughly chopped
Juice of ¼ lemon
½ cup water
Kosher salt
1 bunch (10 oz) spinach, cleaned and stemmed
8 large eggs
½ cup half-and-half
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
¾ cup grated creamy Havarti
½ cup grated Parmigianino Reggiano cheese
1 small bunch fresh basil, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 ounces prosciutto, sliced thin and cut into small squares

Heat the oven to 375 ˚F. In a nonstick medium frying pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook about 1 minute. Add the artichokes, lemon juice, water and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook until the artichokes are fully tender and the flavors have blended, 5 to 6 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has evaporated. Let cool.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spinach for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and refresh with cold water. With your hands, squeeze out as much water as possible. Transfer the spinach to a cutting board and chop it finely.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl, pour in the half-and-half, and whisk to combine. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few turns of the pepper mill. Add the cheese, chopped spinach, basil, prosciutto, and the artichoke mixture and stir well.

Choose a baking dish or a small roasting pan large enough to hold an 8-inch non-stick frying pan. Add hot water in the dish to cover about one-quarter of the frying pan’s depth. This will act as a water bath for cooking the torta.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat until a drop of the egg mixture sputters when added to the pan. Add the egg mixture and cook for 4 to 5 minutes over medium-high heat. With a spatula, lift the torta away from the edges of the pan to gauge its progress; when you see that the torta has browned nicely all around, remove the pan from the heat and immediately put it in the water bath to stop the browning. Put the pan and the water bath in the oven and bake until the torta is firm in the center, 40 to 50 minutes.

Remove the frying pan from the water bath and turn out the torta, bottom side up, on a cutting board. Let cool for at least 20 minutes and then refrigerate if you’re making it ahead, or cut it into 1-inch chunks to serve right away. Serve the torta pieces, top side up, at room temperature.


From “The Best Recipes of Fine Cooking: Dinner with Friends 2004”, page 54.

Glazed Carrots and Ginger

20 (about 1/2 pound) baby carrots, peeled, but with 1-inch green top left on
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 3-inch-by-1/2-inch-piece ginger, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-think matchsticks


1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots; cook until just tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain carrots; pat dry with paper towels.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, honey, and ginger, and cook, turning carrots frequently, until carrots and ginger are browned, about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve.