Thanksgiving!!

No matter how dormant I let this blog lie, I always try to do a Thanksgiving post. This year's Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent the night at my mother's, and I cooked there. The only thing I prepared the day before was my only new recipe. And hoo boy, they were worth it. Behold, the eggy cheesy buttery goodness that is gougères:

I stumbled across the recipe when I went to the Splendid Table website for something completely different - I can't even remember what I was there for, originally. These are simultaneously eggy and cheesy and light and air filled, all at the same time. They are similar to gruyère laden mini popovers. I crisped them right before dinner, and they were fabulous. I also recreated the chorizo stuffed mushrooms of Thanksgiving past, and they were a hit again. They disappeared. 

Every thing else was very traditional. I took my time on Thursday. Here is a butter and Trocomare slow roasted turkey. I put a quartered onion, a bundle of fresh thyme and a tangerine with some of its skin removed inside. It turned out perfectly.

I made the cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, tangerine juice, tangerine zest, lime juice, sugar, salt, fresh mint and Grand Marnier. It was divine.

 Very simple pan roasted green beans with shallots. 

 Delicious sweet potatoes! I didn't add any sugar or sweetener to the actual sweet potatoes - they didn't need any. I just added butter and mashed them. The marshmallows were left over from a recent camping trip, and I couldn't resist. The nuts are candied pralines. With so much sweetness in the toppings, I really didn't think the sweet potatoes needed to be doctored at all.

As a nod to Hanukkah, I made a boatload of stuffing with challah. I also made cornbread stuffing with sausage and apple. Both were so delicious. I think the cornbread stuffing may have been my favorite thing on the menu. 

Here is the whole table, including mashed gold potatoes, salad, and the cornbread stuffing. I have been doing this for so many years now, it's very comfortable, laid back and fun. I don't really need recipes for most of it. I consult a few recipes for ratios, but that's usually in the middle of the process, just to confirm what's already happening. 

I hope you all had fun cooking and eating with you and yours!

Farinata!!

I have a new favorite recipe. I saw a food show a while ago. I can't remember the name of the show, or even what channel it was on. I tried to search for the exact recipe, but wasn't able to find it. But, I was able to find another recipe for the same dish, and it was phenom. And cheap. And simple. And almost healthy!

It is a garbanzo (chick pea) flour flatbread. I have seen it described as a "pancake", even though it is entirely savory. It was so easy to make, has very few ingredients, and was soooo delicious. It has a complex, unique texture and flavor, which is amazing considering how simple it is. Garbanzo flour is a specialty ingredient, but it isn't that hard to find if you have access to a health food store. And, it was $3.00 a pound, so it's hard to complain.

I used this recipe. I heated the water before adding it, since every other recipe I found says to do so. I opted to add the onion and rosemary. I also grated some Parmesan-Reggiano on top because I seem to remember the dude in the show doing it. And, why not? Everything is better with cheese.

Oh. wow. I ate it, I ate some more, I ate leftovers for breakfast, and I am making it again tonight so I can have it for breakfast for the rest of the week. I told the kids we will be eating it for every meal for the rest of our lives, so get used to it.

Here is the lousy photo of my farinata:

Maintaining the white / yolk balance

I made macaroons for a favorite aunt:



(They're more attractive than what the bad photo shows)

I recently got a shipment of food from a local-ish farm. Their egg yolks are gorgeous, firm, and richly golden. I couldn't waste them, and didn't want to freeze them. As much as I love Hollandaise sauce, I am going to be alone over the next few days (yes. for real. amazing!) and would have to make a double batch to use all the yolks. I don't even think I could manage to eat that much Hollandaise sauce, and it's best fresh.

So, I used the handy interwebs search engines, and found this recipe for egg yolk cookies.

I didn't have orange or lemon extract. My mother in law makes spice cookies with cardamom and orange juice, and it's a tasty combination. I substituted a few things, added some turbinado sugar to the top, and came up with a sinfully rich, scrumptious cookie.

Cardamom egg yolk cookies:



Ingredients
• 1 cup butter (or shortening for cookies that won't spread quite as much)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Separately, beat egg yolks and add extracts.
3. Add beaten egg yolk mixture to creamed butter and sugar.
4. Blend well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and cream of tartar).
6. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended.
7. Form into balls about the size of a walnut.
8. Roll balls in sugar, place on greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet, and slightly flatten.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on desired softness/crispness.

My adaptation: omit lemon and orange extract. Add 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon dried orange peel to egg yolks in step 2, and 1 teaspoon of cardamom to the dry ingredients in step 5. In step 8, sprinkle each cookie with turbinado sugar, and then gently press the sugar into the flattened cookie.

*****

Next time, I will be making Avgolemono.

Chocolate zucchini muffins

I am praying my zucchini, which has languished in my fridge for a week while I started my new fellowship, is still good. I am making chocolate zucchini muffins. This recipe is fantastic and I have used it before. I am so happy I found it again! I think it's almost healthy, since it has equal amounts of zucchini and sugar.

In fact, if I ever had a food business or a cooking show, I would call it "Almost Healthy." Somehow, I don't think that would work for a medical practice.

Progress at 11 a.m.

I think the worst of the storm is over. We lost electricity for about 5 seconds.

The oven is heating for the almost no knead bread. I am going to put the quest muffins in right after, while the oven is still hot. The chocolate zucchini bread is fantastic. But, we are out of sugar! The horror! How am I going to make the chocolate chip banana muffins?

I may have to hunt down an open grocery store.

Hurricane bake o rama

We have the day off tomorrow because of Tropical Storm Fay. I will do what I always do on a storm day. I will bake my ass off.

Tonight's plans: Make some no knead bread dough to rise overnight.

Plans on the agenda:

Chocolate zucchini bread
Banana chocolate chip muffins
Quest veggie muffinsand of course, the no knead bread.

Since we've been back

I made a great spread on the spot when my sister in law and her friend came over with their kids to swim in our pool. I love cooking informal food for a group like this. So much less pressure than dinner, to me.

I made some delicious mojo chicken wing drummettes and sliced mild Italian chicken sausage on my new panini grill pan. (Thanks MIL! It worked great. Works well for bacon, too! Now I just have to make paninis...) We also had shrimp skewers, mostly for S, who has been asking for them.

Dessert was also for S. Mango shortcakes, with homemade vanilla whipped cream. I followed the Cook's Ill Best Recipe recipe for strawberry shortcake. But, Z is allergic to strawberries (which he feels the need to tell me every time we eat) and S loves mangoes. I picked up four beautiful mangoes from Robert is Here farmer's market on the way back from the Keys, and they were taunting me. They turned out so good, even Picky, who normally doesn't like fruity desserts, scarfed his down.

I actually think this is a good photo. Am I crazy? Am I improving? Look back at the photos of the frittata and the boar...not bad, right? (Ignore the biscuits and gravy and the cheesecake...)

Father's Day dinner was good, but suspiciously similar to last year's. Ribs, peppers, shells and white sauce (instead of mac and cheese), chocolate brownies.

Where to begin?

Just because I haven't put up any posts on here in a little while, it doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. Like a fiend. I went to Sugarloaf Key to stay with my in laws and cooked the entire time.

Most of the stuff came from Paula Deen's new all chocolate special edition cooking magazine. Why did I buy it?

Here are some of the highlights.

This is the flourless dark chocolate cake. I thought it looked so pretty puffed up out of the oven. It is supposed to fall, however.

I served it with a white chocolate sauce (recommended in by Paula) and with a dark chocolate sauce, in homage to the Two Chefs restaurant in Miami. That is how they serve their chocolate souffle. I thought it was much better without the sauce, it was so sweet. Next time I make it it will be sauceless, maybe with whipped cream or berries, and I may reduce the sugar a bit.

This is an awful photo of the malted chocolate cheesecake. It was excellent. The crust (which contained a box of whoppers, chocolate graham crackers, and butter, was way too hard. But, I used a 9" springform pan instead of a 10", and probably didn't reduce the amount of crust material enough. Or, whoppers could make hard candy like crusts no matter what, who knows. I will have to get a 10" springform pan and find out! Bummer! *adding to Christmas list*

I also made creme brulee, but that is so old hat I don't even take pictures anymore. I have perfected the art of not scorching the tops as much. Yum! The other stuff was normal breakfast and dinner stuff. I made tilapia with a recipe that Picky's mom supplied. It was very similar to my tilapia and greens recipe, but instead of the greens on top, it called for a crust with breadcrumbs, parmesan and potato chips. It was tasty. Picky's mom made johnnycakes, like her mom used to, in that kitchen, every time she made fish.

Picky took camera phone pictures of our fancy lunch out. I will post those later.

A new twist on an old muffin

You can teach an old muffin new tricks. My latest makeover for my chocolate chip banana muffins" happened at about 9 p.m. before the last day of school, when I realized that I didn't have any chocolate chips. Huh? I always have a plethora of chocolate chips. I had already started making the muffins, so it was too late to switch. I split the batch in two, and added cocoa powder to one half. I put it in two ziploc bags and cut the tips off to make bobo pastry bags, and squeezed them into the cups together.

Sorry for another horrible picture. I need to read an article on food photography.

Obscene food porn

I made biscuits and sausage gravy from scratch for breakfast today. I am going overboard with this vacation cooking thing. This is my first time cooking with shortening *shudder*, I think. I bought the "0 grams of trans fat" per serving variety by Crisco (I wanted to organic shortening by Spectrum, but forgot to buy it at the health food store, and they didn't have it at the local grocery store). I think it may be zero grams as a technicality, since there are partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients. Anyway, the biscuits were obscenely good, and the trace trans fats may be worth it.

Must...stop...cooking...

I have been cooking like crazy since I got out of school for the summer. Even during the weekend right after, when Picky's folks were here and we went out for every meal, I managed to drag everyone back here afterwards for crème brûlée.

I made chicken soup yesterday with broth from scratch, and chocolate chip pumpkin loaves. I baked a loaf of almost no knead bread today and can't stop munching on it. I need to save the rest for sandwiches for tomorrow's lunches.

I made a scrumptious wheatberry salad today, with sauteed red onions and wild mushrooms. I have had three servings already, and it was supposed to last the rest of the week. I am taking a break for dinner since I am so full from munching all day, and Picky had a luncheon after work.

Berry nice dinner

I cannot resist rhubarb.

I am supposed to be studying. Finals are coming up. I am two weeks from being done with my first year of med school!

But, when I was at the grocery store yesterday, they had rhubarb. I couldn't make it with strawberries, because Z is allergic. I love the raspberry rhubarb preserves from Robert is Here, Florida's quirkiest fruit stand. So, inspired by those, I decided to buy raspberries to go with the rhubarb. I had already grabbed some blackberries because they were a good price and looked delicious.

Tonight we had a wilted spinach salad with red onions, pomegranate balsamic dressing, toasted slivered almonds, goat cheese and the blackberries. After a fish with brown butter course, we are going to have these tarts. I threw in some blackberries, too. The constant chilling steps were annoying. Let's hope it is worth it. Pictures to come.

ETA: Picture up! Hey, my photo isn't half bad this time. Random!

I can't make up my mind...

...if I would try one of these if I was offered one.

Cookies with Bacon

Anyone care to weigh in?

Checkpoint

As of 2:20 p.m.:

Pie, done

Camera, acting up (damn!)

Turkey, in the oven with cornbread apple and sausage stuffing (dang, forgot to put in almonds. I think they will go in the oyster stuffing to make up for the mushrooms. Don't question my logic, because I am NOT going back to the store.)

House, cleaned by husband Picky, who even ironed the table cloth and napkins. Love ya, honey *smack*

Kids, playing up the street

Mom, told to hold back and wait since the kids aren't here and she isn't that into cooking

Beer, open

Feet, up

Rrrrrg stinkin pie

I had noooooo pie plans. None. I am not a dessert maker in general, and tend to shy away from baking or anything that takes too much precision. But, my mom handed over about 6 pounds of apples and some refrigerated pie dough made by a chef for an event at her school that fell through.

I have been wrestling with the pie. Rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper was a dream. I mastered this clockwise 1/4 movement that my cookbook recommends. Then, just as I tried to wrap it around the rolling pin, Z, the 3 year old, senses the horrible timing and comes in to "help mommy" by grabbing the pin. Well, the dough fell apart, and as annoyed as I would like to be at Zach, I think some of it had to do with it being at least 10 degrees warmer in my kitchen in South Florida with the windows open than it is in most kitchens. So, I am chilling my rolled out dough before trying the transfer. Wish me luck!

Now to go tell Coach Stu to corral Z...

Happy breast cancer awareness month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So, get aware, y'all!

I haven't posted in a while, since I am now in medical school. Not as much cooking, not as fancy cooking, not as much picture taking, and not as much blogging.

But, I had to share my breast themed banana chocolate chip muffins that I made for the bake sale. Yummy!

Picky's Father's Day Menu

Salad with fresh tomatoes and red onions and cheddar cheese and my salad dressing (Even my no veggie eatin' brother asked for seconds on salad. Seriously)

Buffalo wings made with my roasted hot sauce (Oops, forgot to buy the wings when I went to the store. We had tons of food, anyway).


Sweet mini pepper "poppers" with roasted hot sauce and cheese

Corn (Red and white sweet corn. It was delish)

Smoked BBQ baby ribs with a dry rub, homemade BBQ sauce on the side (Killer)

Mac n cheese (I used Paula Dean's recipe. Ehhhhh, too eggy)

Brownies a la mode with hot fudge and mini M n Ms (No one wanted the M n M's. I made the brownies with new Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. They were the best I have EVER had, I am serious).

Oh, yeah.

Pictures now posted!

Back with a vengeance!

I got a new camera for Picky for an early Father's Day present. Picky has taken to cooking up batches of my cookie recipe every other day or so recently. There is NO way I am getting into shape for med school this summer.

I went all out for dinner tonight. I was happy S was home from his dad's house. I made French onion soup, green beans with persimmons, and a T-bone with wild mushrooms. It was S's first experience with French onion soup (one of Picky's favorites) and he loved it.

Quest veggie muffins

A friend just reminded me about these muffins. Funny, because I was thinking about making them. I can't believe I haven't posted the recipe here!

I had a fantastic savory muffin in a health food co-op, Sevanandah,(sp?) in Atlanta's Little Five Points area. This was a good 12 years ago at least. It was so good, I remember it. It was moist, salty, and full of tons of shredded veggies. I finally came up with something that fills my savory muffin void. It is not the same - the original had squash and zucchini, and may have had cornmeal in it. But, I call these my quest muffins, since I finally made a good shredded veggie filled muffin after ten years of not being able to find one for sale anywhere near where I live.

Ingredient explanation: broccoli slaw is commonly available in the produce section of my regular grocery store. It is bagged, raw, and shredded broccoli, carrot and cabbage.

Quest veggie muffins
Makes 24 muffins

3 cups all purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 T baking powder
2 t salt
½ t cayenne pepper
¼ t black pepper
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 bag (12 oz) broccoli slaw (or 1 ½ cups shredded veggies of your choice)
2 ½ cups milk
6 T unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 ½ cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat 12-cup muffin tins with nonstick spray

2. Blanch broccoli slaw. One method: Boil water in a medium saucepan. Submerge veggies into boiling water for one minute. Strain and submerge in an ice bath or run under cold running water. Set aside in a colander to dry out.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne and pepper together in a large bowl. Mix in cheese and veggies, breaking up any chunks, until cheese and veggies are coated with flour. Whisk milk, butter, egg, and sour cream together in medium bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (batter will be heavy and thick). Divide batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle Parmesan over batter in each cup.

4. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool before eating.

Speaking of bread

I have recently overcome my fear of yeast breads. I am trying this No-Knead Bread recipe right now. Let's see what happens! I am letting it rise overnight. I will post pics tomorrow. Uh, if Picky figures out why the oven isn't heating.